A textile factory located in Calgary Alberta needs to procure or build a new software solution to capture the data readings from their emissions systems and consolidate them into a government-mandated secure internet site (portal). The software needs to analyze 10 emission gas types in 5 different manufacturing processes. The data will be compiled every hour and the figures posted to a secure portal with a limited number of allowable viewers.

The date is July 11, 2022, and the portal must be ready by October 01, 2022, or the company will be fined by the government $5,000 per day for non-compliance. The Department of the Environment has provided a detailed specification of the data requirements and the exact format to be displayed in the portal. After checking the IT department availability, the company has nobody skilled or available to complete the urgent project, however a senior project manager from the company has availability to manage the activity and is looking for your help as a project procurement specialist to lead the procurement activities. A Buy decision has been made and a competitive bid is approved.

1. Define the Scope of Work (SOW) required to properly define the work, making any necessary assumptions as to the specifications required?

2. A competitive bid using an RFP has been decided as the most way to drive competition among several pre-qualified vendors. Outline in bullet form what should be included in the RFP to be sent to the prospective vendors?

3. Of the 4 prospective vendors, 2 are locally based IT companies that have a track record of success with this type of portal. One of these has worked with the Textile company before and the other has limited capacity and has been in the news lately due to the unexpected resignation of their CEO. The third is based in Toronto with no Calgary presence but has recent experience with this exact type of portal for a company in British Columbia. The VP of sales for the Textile factory also has a brother who owns the fourth, a small IT company specializing in retail websites. Assuming all have been prequalified, which suppliers should be invited to this procurement, and which should not? State your reasons why or why not?