OGGO – Competitive Process – McKinsey And Company Inc. – February 15, 2023
Key Messages
Two contracts for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) work were awarded to McKinsey and Company Inc. following solicitations in 2018 and 2019.
The competitive processes were open, fair, transparent and followed Government of Canada established procurement rules and regulations.
To ensure an efficient process and to access pre-qualified suppliers, Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC)’s existing Task and Solutions Professional Services (TSPS) supply arrangement was leveraged for both requirements.
Both procurement processes were successful and free of complaints from the supplier community.
Supplementary Messages
In 2018 IRCC had a requirement for an experienced strategic external partner for the development of a service transformation strategy; future-oriented operating model; service transformation roadmap; and to provide recommendations regarding how the Department should organize to deliver the transformation.
In 2019, IRCC had a new requirement for Transformation Office Support Services including to enable the Department to manage and execute its Service Transformation Strategy, maximize the potential benefits of the transformational initiatives and provide ongoing guidance towards the evolution of the transformation roadmap, implementation approach and plan.
The two distinct requirements were completed through the use of an existing PSPC supply arrangement which resulted in contract awards by IRCC and PSPC (on behalf of IRCC) to McKinsey and Company Inc. in 2018 and 2019 respectively. PSPC is required to manage procurement processes which exceed IRCC Departmental contracting authority of $3.75M.
Contracts were successfully awarded and there were no official complaints or objections from the supplier community on neither procurement processes nor the ensuing contracts.
Supporting Facts And Figures
PSPC Supply Arrangement
A supply arrangement is a method of supply used by PSPC to procure goods and services. They include a set of predetermined conditions that apply to bid solicitations and resulting contracts.
Supply arrangements allow PSPC and client departments such as IRCC to solicit bids from a pool of pre-qualified suppliers for specific requirements. They save time and money by prequalifying suppliers and establishing the basic terms and conditions that will apply to a specified range of goods or services.
Background
2018 Contract - IRCC Service Transformation Strategy And Roadmap
This procurement process was processed by IRCC within its delegated contracting authority (in 2018 IRCC contracting authority was $2M contract entry and $1M amendment).
As per the supply arrangement procedures, 16 suppliers pre-qualified under the Business Services / Change Management Services and Project Management Services categories were invited to bid; 11 (including major consulting firms such as KPMG, Ernst & Young, Pricewaterhouse Coopers, Deloitte, etc.) chosen by the IRCC Project Authority and five randomly chosen by PSPC.
A Request for Proposals (RFP) outlining the bidding process was sent to suppliers on June 27, 2018; IRCC answered 13 supplier questions and shared responses with participating bidders; and, the RFP closed on July 13, 2018, at which time two bids were received.
Upon completion of the technical evaluation by IRCC personnel, only one bidder (McKinsey and Company Inc.) was found to be compliant while the others did not meet the minimum mandatory criteria. Financial evaluations were completed on August 1, 2018, where McKinsey and Company Inc. was found compliant. The contract was awarded on August 8, 2018 with a value of $1,593,300.
The contract was increased on December 5, 2018 by $339,000.00 and again on January 29, 2019, by $958,522.50. The additional work and deliverables were specifically defined and managed with Task Authorizations. The contract ended on August 7, 2019, with a final value of $2,890,922.50.
There were no supplier complaints filed with the Office of the Procurement Ombudsman nor the Canadian International Trade Tribunal on this procurement.
2019 Contract - Transformation Office Support Services
This procurement process was above $3.75M and managed by PSPC.
As per the supply arrangement procedures, all 38 suppliers qualified in the Business Services / Change Management Services and the Project Management Services categories were invited to bid for the contract.
An RFP outlining the bidding process, was sent to suppliers on April 2019; IRCC answered 16 supplier questions and shared responses with participating bidders; and, the RFP closed on May 3, 2019, at which time a single bid was received.
IRCC personnel completed the technical evaluation while PSPC assessed the financial bids. McKinsey and Company Inc. was found to be compliant. The contract with a value of $16,373,700 was awarded by PSPC on June 26, 2019.
The contract was amended on May 8, 2020 and November 10, 2020 for administrative purposes with no financial implication. The contract was amended for a third time on March 5, 2021, to increase the value by $8,475,000 to expedite the build of departmental capabilities to sustain, scale and accelerate the digital transformation. The contract ended on December 31, 2021, with a final value of $24,848,700.
During the solicitation period, questions were raised by a bidder implying that, as the incumbent, McKinsey and Company Inc. would have an advantage. PSPC (with input from IRCC) shared the question and response to all bidders specifying that new requirements were not a continuation of work but a new set of deliverables based on transformation recommendations. The summary of findings from external expert recommendations (including McKinsey and Company Inc. and Gartner) was made available to assist bidders.
There were no supplier complaints filed with the Office of the Procurement Ombudsman nor the Canadian International Trade Tribunal on this procurement.
