Voluntary ex ante transparency notice – Translation software package which is memory based.

Description

This Voluntary ex ante transparency (VEAT) notice acknowledges that Houses of the Oireachtas Service proposes to renew a contract with SDL Limited with reference to Article 32(2)b(ii) of Directive 2014/24/EU. Specifically, competition is absent for technical reasons. The original contract, established in 2017, has evolved to a customised software implementation integrating into multiple integration technology systems supported by dedicated network and infrastructure components. The software has interfaces to other internal and external systems. Lot 1: This Voluntary ex ante transparency (VEAT) notice acknowledges that Houses of the Oireachtas Service proposes to renew a contract with SDL Limited with reference to Article 32(2)b(ii) of Directive 2014/24/EU. Specifically, competition is absent for technical reasons. The original contract, established in 2017, has evolved to a customised software implementation integrating into multiple integration technology systems supported by dedicated network and infrastructure components. The software has interfaces to other internal and external systems including: - Bespoke middleware, to transform and orchestrate the translation requests for parliamentary work items; - A bespoke API layer which has been developed to integrate with translation software; - Custom templates developed and configured for parliamentary work items; - Tight integration with a Microsoft technology stack for notification and authentication; - Custom plugins developed to allow for batch preview of translation jobs; - Rule based completion of custom meta data associated with translation memories; and - Active performance monitoring of middleware components. Based on the extensive technical integrations and functionality outlined above, and the bespoke development and implementation, the contracting authority proposes that any alternative or substitute presents sufficient technical challenges to constitute a disproportionate risk to ongoing digital transformation programmes of work. Specifically, the implementation of an alternative that addresses the complexity and number of integrations, presents both a technical and business resourcing challenge that would require partial or complete disintegration of the end-to-end translation solution.