IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support

Tender description

What we are looking for The company is seeking tenders from a suitable organisation that can provide a full service comprising a public facing website including design, back-end functionality, and a full maintenance service preferably utilising standard commercially available hardware, software and associated systems. The successful tenderer must provide a full service package and ensure that serviceability, external and restricted internal access to our members and maintain a robust security system. The offering will also provide integrated project management and content management systems. Part of the company's development will exploit where the application of information and technology can raise the performance of the company and optimise the delivery of value to the membership. The broad objectives of the digital approach will be to: — build awareness of the UKWIR brand and our work in leading the research agenda; — establish UKWIR as the ‘go to’ place for water related research; — reach out for external support and collaboration for strategic work; — improve the efficiency of the organisation, impact and service to members. It is intended that this is achieved by: — optimising the functionality and usability of the UKWIR website; — modernising IT applications; — exploiting social media tools such as LinkedIn and Twitter; — development of a deep search engine for rapid location of reports and content; — user friendly systems 4 Key elements UKWIR require a partner to deliver the following: — Design, development and on-going maintenance of a UKWIR web presence — The generation and distribution of printed reports and CD ROMs — The hosting/management of all aspects of the service including resilience and backups The service must provide the following capabilities: 4.1 Reports — The storage of electronic reports for on-line retrieval by subscribers — The printing and distribution of reports to subscribers and site visitors procuring reports — The secure taking of payments from customers and the processing of orders to fulfilment — The 6 monthly generation and distribution of CDROMs containing all additional reports in the last period — A proof reading service to validate compliance with defined report templates 4.2 User Management — Support the self-registration of site users — The ability UKWIR to use the user contact details for promotional activities (subject to Data Protection policies) 4.3 Web Site Content — UKWIR, or their representatives, must have the ability to update website content through an easy to use CMS — The site must provide clear organisation and navigation of content — Report content must be fully searchable by a user — Options for navigation must include a hierarchical display of report categories — Report abstracts (short-form and extended) should be used to support user navigation.