EOI: IT Audit Consultancy Services

1.      Introduction

The National Water and Sewerage Authority (Nawasa) was established under the National Water and Sewerage Authority Act 25 of 1990, with its subsequent amendments. Through this Act, Nawasa is mandated as the sole national authority, with the responsibility of ensuring safe and reliable municipal water supply and wastewater management to the state of Grenada.

Safeguarding customer, financial, and operational data is of paramount importance in Nawasa’s day-to-day operations. It is crucial to continually minimise potential risks that might disrupt different aspects of Nawasa’s functions.

The purpose of conducting an IT Audit is to assess Nawasa’s preparedness in mitigating both identified and unforeseen risks. This evaluation ensures that the workforce possesses the essential skills to adeptly manage the growing inventory of acquired assets.

Disclaimer

• The information contained in this TOR or information provided subsequently to bidder(s) whether verbally or in documentary form/email by or on behalf of Nawasa, is subject to the terms and conditions set out in this TOR
• This TOR is not an offer by Nawasa, but an invitation to receive responses from the eligible bidders. No contractual obligation shall arise from the TOR process unless and until a formal contract is signed and executed by duly authorised officials of Nawasa with the selected bidder
• The purpose of this TOR is to provide the bidder(s) with information to assist preparation of their bid proposals. Nawasa may in its absolute discretion update, amend or supplement the information in this TOR
• Nawasa, its employees, and advisors make no representation or warranty and shall have no liability to any person, including any applicant or bidder under any law, statute, rule or regulations, principles of restitution or unjust enrichment, or otherwise for any loss, damages, cost or expense which may arise from or be incurred or suffered on account of anything contained in this TOR or otherwise, including accuracy, adequacy, correctness, completeness or reliability of the TOR and any assessment, assumption, statement or information contained therein or deemed to form or arising in any way for participation in this bidding process
• Nawasa accepts no liability of any nature whether resulting from negligence or otherwise, howsoever caused arising from reliance of any bidder upon the statements contained in this TOR
• The issue of this TOR does not imply that Nawasa is bound to select a bidder or to appoint the selected bidder for the project, and Nawasa reserves the right to reject all or any of the bidders or bids without assigning any reason whatsoever
• Failure to furnish all information required by the bidding document or to submit a bid not substantially responsive to the bidding document in all respects will be at the bidder’s risk and may result in the rejection of the bid

2.      Terminology

• Bidder/Audit Firm: Eligible entity/firm submitting a proposal/bid in response to this TOR
• Vendor: Selected bidder/Audit Firm under this TOR
• Nawasa: National Water and Sewerage Authority
• Proposal/Bid: The bidder’s written reply or submission in response to this TOR
• TOR: Terms of Reference in its entirety, inclusive of any addenda that may be issued by Nawasa
• Services/Work/IT Audit: All services, scope of work and deliverables to be provided by a bidder as described in the TOR and include auditing and other obligation of the supplier covered under the TOR
• Committee: The committee formed by Nawasa for the purpose of evaluating submitted proposals
• Contract: The agreement entered into between Nawasa and the selected bidder

3.      Schedule of Events

4.      Invitation to Bidders

• The bidders interested in this IT Audit project for Nawasa are invited to submit their proposals in response to this TOR. The criteria and the actual process of evaluation of the responses to this TOR and subsequent selection of the successful bidder will be entirely at Nawasa’s discretion
• This TOR seeks proposals from eligible bidders which have the necessary experience, capability and expertise to provide Nawasa service for the IT Audit adhering to Nawasa’s requirements outlined in this TOR
• No contractual obligation whatsoever shall arise from the TOR process unless a purchase order has been issued by the bank to the selected bidder
• This document shall not be transferred, reproduced, or otherwise used for purposes other than for which it is specifically issued
• This document shall be downloaded from Nawasa’s website nawasa.gd
• Interested bidders are advised to go through the document in its entirety before submission of bids to avoid any chance of elimination

5.      Bid Submission

• The bidder has to submit electronic copies of proposals via email, in PDF format, to the email address above. The subject must include “TOR — IT Audit”
• Nawasa will only consider for further detailed evaluation those bidders and bids that have been deemed to meet the eligibility terms and conditions during the preliminary assessment
• Any proposal not submitted in the prescribed format or submitted incomplete is liable for rejection. Nawasa is not responsible for non-receipt of proposals within the specified date and time due to any reason
• The proposal will be evaluated for technical suitability as well as for other terms and conditions. Previous experience, methodology, and professional skillsets available and allocated for the project, will be taken into consideration while evaluating the proposal
• Nawasa will not allow/permit changes to the bid once it has been submitted after the deadline for submission is over
• The offer may not be evaluated by Nawasa in the case of non-adherence to the format or partial submission of proposals as per the format given in the offer
• Nawasa may at its discretion abandon the process of the selection of Vendor at any time before notification of award

6.      Eligibility Criteria

The Bid is open to all eligible entities as of the date of publishing this TOR

• The bidder should have conducted at least 3 IT audits
• The bidder should appoint a single point of contact, qualified and experienced persons for the duration of the project for project management
• The bidder should have good and relevant knowledge of global IT policies

7.      Audit Objectives

The major objectives of the Audit are:

• To assess the current state of the Information Technology Management System of Nawasa
• To perform a comprehensive Information Technology Risk Analysis
• To assess the Human Resources needs of the management of the current and proposed IT Management System
• To recommend potential operational structure adjustments
• To recommend Information Technology Security Policies

8.      Audit Approaches

1. Based on globally accepted standards (such as ISO 27001)
2. Information Technology (IT) Act 2000, and amendments thereon

Based on the audit findings the observations are to be classified as Low, Medium, and High in each specific audit area.

9.      Audit Methodology

Based on the contents of the TOR, the selected vendor shall be required to independently arrive at the Audit Methodology, based on globally acceptable standards and best practices. The bidder should describe in detail the audit methodology to be undertaken by them.

10.   Audit Scope

An IT audit of Information Security Architecture and Posture, Implementation of Information Technology Security Policies, and efforts to enhance the Human Resources.

11.   Audit Findings & Report

An IT Audit draft and final report of all the areas covering the objectives.

12.   Applications

• Nawasa’s Core Applications
• Email Application
• Intranet
• Website

13.   Audit Locations

• Headquarters: Lucas Street, St George’s, Grenada
• South St. George Branch: Dusty Highway, St George, Grenada
• Town of St. George: Carenage, St George’s, Grenada
• Nawasa Sub Offices Outer parishes

14.   Vendor Obligations

• The Vendor is responsible for and obligated to conduct all contracted activities in accordance with the contract
• The Vendor is obliged to work closely with Nawasa’s staff, act within its authority, and abide by directives issued by the bank from the time of acceptance to the time of completion of this project
• The Vendor is responsible for managing the activities of its personnel and will hold itself responsible for any misdemeanors
• The Vendor shall treat as confidential all data and information about Nawasa, obtained in the process of executing its responsibilities

15.   Other Terms & Conditions

1. Nawasa reserves the right to:

• • Reject any responses received in response to this TOR
  • Modify the marks allocated during the evaluation process
  • Negotiate any aspect of the proposal with any bidder, and negotiate with more than one bidder at a time
  • Extend the time for submission of all proposals
  • Share the information provided in response to any bidder, regarding this TOR, with any other bidder(s)
  • Cancel the TOR at any stage, without providing any reason

2. Substitution of Project Team Members

During this project, the substitution of team members identified for the project will not be allowed. In unavoidable situations, any substitution shall be done with the agreement of Nawasa with a resource of similar or higher experience and qualification.

3. Professionalism

The Vendor should provide professional, objective, and impartial advice at all times and hold Nawasa’s interest paramount, and should observe the highest standard of ethics while executing the assignment.

4. Adherence to Standards

The Vendor should adhere to the Laws of Grenada, regulations, and guidelines prescribed by various regulatory, statutory, and Government authorities.

16.   Subcontracting

The Vendor shall not subcontract or permit anyone other than his personnel to perform the work, service, or other performance required of the Vendor under the contract without the prior written consent of Nawasa.

17.   Vendor Selection / Evaluation Process

The evaluation of proposals will be based on the following parameters and also given the percentage of marks:

• Prior work experience of the bidder in undertaking audits in the given areas will carry a maximum of 35% of the total marks
• The proposed audit approach and methodology to be adopted for the audit, estimated time and deliverables architecture will carry a maximum of 25% of the total marks
• Qualifications, certifications, expertise, and skills of the proposed project team members will carry a maximum of 40% of the total marks

18.   Timeframe & Deliverables

The selected Vendor should complete the audit and submit the final report within an agreed number of calendar days from the date of acceptance of the assignment. Before submitting the final report, the Vendor is expected to discuss the observations and recommendations with Nawasa. The Vendor should adhere to the working days and time of Nawasa.

While the Vendor may prepare the report in their format, we expect the same to contain the following:

• An Executive Summary should form part of the report
• The report should contain observations on the gaps in the existing practices, regarding best practices and industry standards
• The report should contain the risk associated with non-adherence to best practices in the short and long term
• The report should classify observations into Low, Medium, High, and Urgent
• The report should contain any recommendations for improvement, based on best practices, and industry standards

The report should be in a document format (preferably in a PDF format). The report should not be in a presentation format.

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