Top ICT tenders: RAF to upgrade SAP as part of transformation

It’s a somewhat low-key week for the ICT industry on National Treasury’s eTenders Portal, despite the appearance of the Department of Defence and two provincial education departments.

However, the Road Accident Fund (RAF) grabs attention with its announcement that it wishes to comprehensively upgrade its SAP ECC 6.0 landscape to the SAP S/4HANA platform. This critical initiative demands adherence to SAP’s recommended roadmap and best practices for upgrade and migration, it says.

The advertisement follows reports last week that the Legal Practice Council had briefed Parliament’s Standing Committee on Public Accounts on the status of the RAF and medico-legal claims against the state. This revealed that system errors and dysfunction at the fund had resulted in erroneous payments of R350 million to 101 law firms in 2021.

In the tender documentation, the fund reveals it has commenced its transformation journey, which began with the approval of the 2020–2025 strategy. One of the strategy’s focus areas is ‘system modernisation’ which strives to improve the RAF’s service delivery to its internal and external stakeholders by introducing cutting-edge technology.

The RAF’s technology and digital division has adopted a cloud-based strategy, with current on-premises solutions being moved to the cloud.

The RAF’s current landscape is SAP ERP EHP8, SP19, on an Oracle 19G database, it says. This configuration means a Unicode conversion is not required for this upgrade project, it says. Bidders should note the HCM is highly-customised. Furthermore, the existing system utilises an enhanced CVI cockpit tool for customer vendor integration activities.

“This upgrade will modernise the enterprise solutions, providing a robust, scalable and efficient platform with best-in-class functionalities and regulatory compliance. Replacing our end-of-life SAP system and infrastructure is critical to the project as this will reduce costs, enable new capabilities (reduced sign-on, SAP Fiori, SAP Ariba and SAP SuccessFactors), and drive significant improvements in business performance,” it says.

In a second request for proposals, the RAF is calling for the supply and implementation of a cloud-based e-mail security solution.

“RAF recognises the ever-evolving cyber threats that use e-mail infrastructure as a primary entry point into organisations. In line with the cloud migration strategy and the need to address the evolving cyber security landscape and the changing nature of network access, the technology and digital security unit seeks to invest in a cloud-based e-mail security solution,” it explains.

The RAF currently uses Microsoft Exchange Online to safeguard it against e-mail-based threats. Key e-mail security requirements include protection against known and unknown attacks, business e-mail compromise, phishing, targeted attacks, account takeovers, ransomware and unauthorised data loss, among others. The current solution does not fully cater to RAF’s requirements and therefore there is a need to deploy a fully-fledged cloud-based e-mail security solution.

The proposed solution’s management engine or portal must be deployed and delivered as a cloud-based software-as-a-service solution and must have capabilities to safeguard RAF e-mail users, both from a pre-delivery and post-delivery perspective. The solution must also integrate with the RAF’s Microsoft Sentinel Security Information and Events Management system, Microsoft Exchange Online and Active Directory.

Other tenders that make this week’s top 10:

• The Department of Defence wishes to outsource its website development, hosting and maintenance. The specifications include website design and user experience; content management system; complaints submission portal integration; user registration and access control; security and data protection; search engine optimisation; and hosting and maintenance.

• The Border Management Authority is inviting accredited service providers to submit proposals for the design, development and implementation of an integrated document and records management system with file plan and workflow capabilities. The aim of the project is to enhance document and records management, streamline workflows, improve efficiency and ensure compliance with legal and regulatory requirements, it says.

• The State Information Technology Agency (SITA) is advertising for the provision of planning, design, supply, installation and configurations to upgrade its access switches at its Pretoria headquarters and regional offices with maintenance and support. The agency notes its current access switches have reached end of life and support warranty. The project presents an opportunity to improve the performance of systems and stabilise the infrastructure.The agency is also inviting tenders for the upgrade and redesign of its local area network WiFi infrastructure with maintenance and support. The tender forms part of a large-scale project of hardware refreshment to replace WiFi infrastructure to all its offices in an effort to improve quality of service, availability and overall reliability.

• Limpopo’s Department of Education wishes to appoint a service provider to conduct a data quality audit of the education management information system (EMIS) in 250 public and independent schools. The EMIS collects, processes, reports and disseminates education data and information to support planning, decision-making and the effective monitoring and evaluation of the performance of the education system in the province, the department says.

• The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) is inviting proposals for the provision of a 10Gbps managed bandwidth link from the Tshwane University of Technology in Mbombela to the University of KwaZulu-Natal in Pietermaritzburg. Due to increased vandalism, theft and other risks, the CSIR prefers underground fibre solutions, but overhead fibre solutions will be accepted if there are no underground fibre solutions available and/or affordable.

• SITA returns to invite requests for accreditation for last-mile transmission links. Successful service providers will join a panel of accredited suppliers capable of delivering reliable and scalable last-mile transmission services to support SITA’s private electronic communication network and services for government. This includes providing connectivity from points of presence to government client premises on an as-needed basis.

• The Eastern Cape Department of Education closes the issue with a request for information (RFI) on the provision of knowledge management, electronic records management, digitisation and performance systems. The RFI will help the department understand available technologies; assess vendors’ technical capability, security posture and scalability; gauge industry readiness to comply with POPIA, ISO standards and government integration requirements; as well as determine cost models and delivery approaches.