More than 70 companies have submitted bids for the South African Revenue Service (SARS) tender for the modernisation of its tax and customs business, products and systems, with more expected.
It is believed to be one of the three biggest tenders announced by SARS to date.
Sources have told ITWeb that the tender, which closes on 17 February, is worth R750 million and has generated substantial international interest.
Speaking at a briefing session in Pretoria yesterday, SARS CTO Ken Jarvis said the tender is a world first as it will replace multiple legacy systems with a single processing engine.
"The single processing engine will cut across all SARS products and, for the first time ever, revenue and customs services will fall under the same engine. This has been one of the most eagerly awaited tenders in SA and internationally," Jarvis said.
International investigation
The announcement of the tender follows a 15- to 18-month international investigation by SARS. The investigation concluded that the single-processing engine concept would be a unique implementation. Other countries are said to be keenly awaiting the finalisation of the project with a view to copying the SARS model.
Sources at the briefing session indicated that the technology component of the project, which forms part of the SARS 2010 strategy, would most likely form the biggest segment of the tender. It will take into account components such as solutions, licensing and implementation. It is anticipated that 14 000 user licences will be acquired by the revenue service.
It is understood that SARS' ICT strategy takes into account and utilises existing investments in technologies such as IBM, SAP and Siebel, as well as key initiatives like open source.
It is expected that systems must incorporate consolidation and reuse at a high level, through the use of common processes, consolidation of information, reusable infrastructure services and vendor rationalisation.
It is believed SARS is seeking a migration away from proprietary legacy solutions to a more open and standardised environment. Applications must move away from bespoke development towards acquisition of applications, using suites and best-of-breed applications where appropriate.
BEE a requirement
Jarvis told potential bidders that consortiums participating in the tender must meet the required black economic empowerment (BEE) criteria and international groups will have to find suitable local BEE partners to participate. For the first time, Jarvis said, companies tendering for the project will not be allowed to belong to more than one consortium.
Some of the potential bidders later expressed concern that this may cause an uncertain market dynamic, as it is open to speculation as to who will partner with whom. Bidders have also speculated that the one-consortium-per-company restriction could stem from the fact that SARS does not wish to be in a position where it has to effectively choose an implementation partner for the winning technology company, which may be partnering with a range of companies in various consortiums.
Jarvis stressed that the four-year modernisation project will not result in any retrenchments, and any freed up resources will be reabsorbed by SARS.
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