MS-06795.pdf

NATO Communication and Information Agency Boulevard Leopold III 110 Brussels Belgium www.ncia.nato.int

NCIA/ACQ/2025/06795

06/May/2025

To: Distribution List (Annex A)

Subject: NCI Agency Market Survey MS-06795

1. NCI Agency requests the assistance of the Nations and their Industry to identify a commercially available solution that can meet or exceed NATO requirements for an outsourced capability to provide End User support at L0 and L1 for issues below NATO

RESTRICTED.

2. A summary of the requirements is set forth in the Annex B attached hereto. Respondents are requested to reply via the questionnaire at Annex C. Other supporting information and documentation (technical data sheets, descriptions of existing installations, etc.) are also desired.

3. The NCI Agency reference for this Request for Information is MS-06795 and all correspondence and submissions concerning this matter should reference this number.

MARKET SURVEY

PROJECT “ENTERPRISE SERVICE

OPERATIONS CENTRE

LEVEL0/LEVEL 1 SUPPORT AND

CALL CENTER CAPABILITY

ENHACEMENT”

NCI Agency Reference: MS-06795

NCI Agency is seeking information from Nations and their Industry in order to assess the http://www.ncia.nato.int/ mailto:Esteban.Diaz@ncia.nato.int

NATO Communication and Information Agency Boulevard Leopold III 110 Brussels Belgium www.ncia.nato.int

NCIA/ACQ/2026/06795

4. Respondents are invited to carefully review the requirements in Annex B.

5. Responses shall in all cases include the name of the firm, telephone number, e-mail address, designated Point of Contact, and a NATO UNCLASSIFIED description of the capability available and its functionalities. This shall include any restrictions (e.g. export controls) for direct procurement of the various capabilities by NCI Agency. Non-binding pricing information is also requested as called out in Annex C.

6. Responses are due back to NCI Agency no later than 12:00 Brussels time on 06 June 2025.

7. Clarification requests can be submitted no later than 10 calendar days prior the Market Survey closing date.

8. Please send all responses via email to the following NCI Agency Point of Contact:

For the attention of: Mr Esteban Diaz at Esteban.Diaz@ncia.nato.int

9. NCI Agency reserves the right to request for a service demonstration to selected suppliers.

However, the NCI Agency may seek additional clarification from respondents.

10. Respondents are requested to await further instructions after their submissions and are requested not to contact directly any NCI Agency staff other than the POC identified above in Paragraph 7.

11. Any response to this request shall be provided on a voluntary basis. Not responding will not prejudice or cause the exclusion of companies from any future procurement that may arise from this Market Survey.

12. Responses to this Market Survey, and any information provided within the context of this survey, including but not limited to pricing, quantities, capabilities, functionalities and requirements will be considered as information only and will not be construed as binding on NATO for any future acquisition.

13. The NCI Agency is not liable for any expenses incurred by firms in conjunction with their responses to this Market Survey and this shall not be regarded as a commitment of any kind concerning future procurement of the items described.

14. Your assistance in this Market Survey request is greatly appreciated.

FOR THE CHIEF OF ACQUISITION:

Enclosures:

Annex A (Distribution List) Annex B (Market Survey - Requirements) Annex C (Market Survey - Questionnaire)

Esteban Diaz Senior Contracting Assistant http://www.ncia.nato.int/ mailto:Esteban.Diaz@ncia.nato.int

Annex A

ANNEX A

Distribution List for Market Survey

MS-06795

All NATO Delegations (Attn: Investment Adviser)

NATO Members Embassies in Brussels (Attn: Commercial Attaché)

NCI Agency – All NATEXs

NCI Agency – (reserved)

Page A-1

Annex B

Page B-4

ANNEX B

Requirements

1. Purpose

1.1. The purpose of the project is to outsource Level 0 and Level 1 support, including the call center function, to improve efficiency and enhance technology. While AI integration will play a role in automating processes, the primary objective is to optimize support operations, ensuring improved service quality.

1.2. This initiative will cover all primary aspects of user support, including incident management and request fulfillment, call center function, ticket handling and escalation management. The integration of automation and AI will further enable efficient ticket classification, prioritization, and self-service workflows.

2. Project Scope

2.1. The project will include a comprehensive solution that automates routine support tasks, enhances ticket management and call center function

2.2. The solution will be built to support a wide range of support channels, from call center interactions to backend support services, with AI integration to assist in automating specific workflows. The ultimate goal is to improve operational efficiency, service quality, and modernization.

2.3. The scope includes leveraging commercially available tools that integrate self-service portals, virtual agents, back-end decision trees, and automation libraries to enhance user experience and operational support.

3. Technical Requirements:

3.1. Infrastructure: The outsourced solution will utilize an off-premise cloud-based service ensuring redundancy and resilience.

3.2. High Level Requirements: The implementation will encompass the following functionalities:

3.2.1. Communication and Call Center Integration:

The solution must provide Omni channel communication (web, phone, email, chat) with a unified ticketing system.

Seamless call center integration for effective single point of contact, queue prioritization, real-time reporting, and intelligent call routing.

3.2.2. Automation and AI:

Automate repetitive tasks such as (but not limited to) password resets, account unlocks, and ticket classification.

Virtual agents should intelligently route tickets, escalate when necessary, and provide immediate solutions for common issues.

3.2.3. Self-Service Workflows:

Enable users to resolve common issues independently through user-friendly self-service portals.

Page B-5

3.2.4. Back-End Decision Trees:

Implement decision trees for rapid triaging, issue diagnosis, assisting virtual agents and support personnel in resolving tickets efficiently.

3.2.5. Smart Templates for Ticket Creation:

Provide dynamic templates that automatically populate key fields such as category, priority, and urgency based on user input.

3.2.6. Real-Time Analytics and Observability:

Offer high granularity metrics monitoring for response times, ticket volumes, and backlog management.

Provide real-time monitoring and event management, dashboards for data-driven decision-making and predictive insights.

3.2.7. Security and Compliance:

Ensure data encryption, compliance with industry and NATO security standards

3.2.8. Self-Healing Automation:

Enable automated self-healing capabilities using scripting and machine learning.

Correlate events and anomalies, identifying underlying issues and suggesting preventive actions.

3.2.9. Knowledge Base Integration:

Offer relevant knowledge base articles to users and support staff.

Enable continuous improvement by updating articles based on ticket trends.

3.2.10. Cloud Environment Support:

Support cloud-based environments, offering scalability and flexibility.

3.2.11. Reporting and Customizable Dashboards:

Provide configurable reporting tools to track KPIs, including ticket resolution times and escalation frequency.

Dashboards must allow for team collaboration and intuitive visualization of performance metrics.

3.2.12. Smart Learning Capability:

Continuously learn from incident history to improve automation accuracy and efficiency.

Leverage past data to improve predictive maintenance and reduce downtime.

3.2.13 Ticket Management and Escalation:

Handle the full lifecycle of ticket management, including creation, updating, prioritization, and closure.

Provide intelligent escalation recommendations to appropriate support groups.

3.2.14 Direct Context-Based Interaction:

Allow virtual agents to interact with users and support personnel throughout the ticket lifecycle.

3.2.15 Integration with Existing Tools:

Integrate with the Agency's existing ITSM tools

3.3. Training: Comprehensive training will be provided, along with clear documentation and guides.

3.4. Support & Maintenance: Professional service support and maintenance will be included.

Page B-6

3.5. Security Clearance: Participating outsourced staff should have security clearance.(Security Clearance level to be defined).

• Penetration and Integration Testing: Comprehensive interoperability, verification, validation and penetration testing will take place. After successful testing, the full packages will be part of the Agency’s DML.

3.6. User Testing: Detailed user testing will be planned and performed.

Annex C

Page C-7

ANNEX C

Questionnaire

Organization name:

Contact name & details within organization:

Please DO NOT enter any company marketing or sales material as part of your answers within this Request for Information. However, please submit such material as enclosures with the appropriate references within your replies.

Please DO try to answer the relevant questions as comprehensively as possible.

All questions within this document should be answered in conjunction with the summary of requirements in Annex B.

Cost details required in the questions refer to Rough Order of Magnitude (ROM) Procurement & Life Cycle cost, including all assumptions the estimate is based.

Please provide the following information:

1. The details of your solutions where you can meet the requirements totally or partially.

2. Any additional capabilities of your solution that go above and beyond those included in

ANNEX B.

3. Any other supporting information you may deem necessary including any assumptions.

Questions:

1. Service Desk Models & Operational Approach:

Q 1.1. What service desk models (tierless, hybrid, or traditional) do you support, and how do you implement them?

Q 1.2 How do you approach swarming, collaboration, and shift-left strategies to enhance efficiency?

Q 1.3 How do you ensure seamless handoff between automated and live support, especially for escalations?

2. AI, Automation & Self-Service:

Q 2.1 How do you leverage AI for ticket categorization, routing, and resolution?

What percentage of L0/L1 tickets can be automated under your solution?

Q 2.2 How do you monitor and optimize AI-driven automation to maintain accuracy and user satisfaction?

Q 2.3 How does your predictive analytics solution work to prevent incidents and improve service efficiency?

Annex C

Page C-8

3. Omni channel & User Experience:

Q. 3.1 What channels (voice, chat, email etc.) are included in your offering?

Q 3.2 How do you ensure a seamless user experience across multiple support channels?

Q 3.3 How do you measure user satisfaction beyond traditional SLAs, and do you provide real-time reporting dashboards for XLAs?

4. Scalability, Security & Compliance:

Q 4.1 How do you handle seasonal or unexpected spikes in call volumes while maintaining service quality?

Q 4.2 How do you ensure compliance with industry standards (e.g., ISO/IEC 27001, ISO/IEC 20000, and GDPR) and ITSM best practices (ITIL)?

Q 4.3 What contingency plans do you have for disaster recovery and business continuity?

5. Workforce, Knowledge & Continuous Improvement:

Q 5.1 How do you ensure knowledge base accuracy and continuous improvement of self-service resources?

Q 5.2 What is your approach to training service desk agents to keep pace with evolving technologies?

Q 5.3 Can you share examples of how you have improved user satisfaction through experience-driven metrics?

6. Cost Structure & Tailoring:

Q 6.1 Please provide a ROM pricing data for solution.

Q 6.2 What pricing models do you offer (per ticket, per user, fixed cost, outcome-based, etc.)?

7. Service Integration & Context Awareness:

Q 7.1 How does your system ensure personalized support based on user history and previous interactions?

Q 7.2 Can your solution integrate with ITSM tools to provide contextual recommendations for users and agents?

Q 7.3 Can you provide a provisional list of ITSM tools compatible with your service offerings?