2025 - 0278 Support For Microsoft Power Business Intelligence (NS) - FRI 12 Sep

Microsoft Power Business Intelligence Support

To strengthen the Alliance through connecting its forces, the National Cyber Infrastructure Agency (NCIA) delivers secure, coherent, cost effective and interoperable communications and information systems in support of consultation, command & control and enabling intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities, for NATO, where and when required. It includes IT support to the Alliances' business processes (to include provision of IT shared services) to the NATO HQ, the Command Structure and NATO Agencies.

The NATO Business Application Centre (NBAC), as part of the NCIA, and in line with the Agency's Charter and its Cloud broker role, is to provide Business Applications Capabilities & Services to the Agency, and across NATO Enterprise, and ensure their harmonization rationalisation, and coherence, with the aim to enable overall efficient day-to-day operations, support transparency, and foster internal control.

In the light of these activities, NBAC is seeking Microsoft Power Business Intelligence support to contribute to the NBAC Business Area – the Analytics and Core Business Applications Branch. This service will aim to support multiple ongoing BI initiatives and will focus on working closely with stakeholders to clarify incomplete or evolving requirements, translating them into clear functional specifications, and supporting the development of a set of PBI Dashboards.

The Contractor is expected to primarily support BI development by contributing to the design, modelling, and build of Power BI dashboards, ensuring they are performant, accurate, and aligned with stakeholder expectations. Alongside this, the Contractor will provide business analysis support by engaging with stakeholders to refine requirements, documenting them into clear specifications, and assisting in validation activities through data checks and dashboard testing. The service will therefore combine hands-on BI development (approximately two-thirds of the effort) with targeted business analysis (about one-third), to both accelerate delivery and ensure solution quality.

The service shall bring strong analytical and communication capabilities, together with proven experience in creating PBI dashboards rich with KPIs (design and modelling) in the area of Finance, Procurement, Project and Asset Management.

The Analytics and Core Business Applications is a Branch in NATO Business Application Centre (NBAC) consisting of multiple flavours. It provides technical, architectural, and operational support for enterprise business applications and data analytics platforms; and enables business users to access, interpret, and leverage data-driven insights across NATO entities, including ACO, NATO HQ, and the NCIA.

The work depicted in this SOW is expected to be carried by a SINGLE RESOURCE and aims to enhance the support model for NBAC Analytics and Core Business Applications, focusing on the data pipelines development, data modelling, data integration and end-user enablement.

Under the direction / guidance of the local NCIA Point of Contact or NBAC Analytics and Core Business Application Head, the contractor will support the following:

• Develop Power BI Dashboards and Reports
• Implementation of Data Models and Measures
• Application of Visualization and Performance Standards
• Delivery of Documentation and User Guidance
• Production of Functional Specifications and User Stories
• Support Testing and Validation Activities
• Facilitation of Stakeholder Alignment and Approvals
• Coordinate Delivery Tracking and JIRA Updates

The contractor will be part of the project management and implementation team, working closely with the Analytics and Core Business Application team, ensuring the secure, available, managed and compliant delivery of Power BI services to NCIA, NATO and its Strategic Commands.

The measurement of execution for this work is sprints, with each sprint being planned for a duration of 5 working days.

Due to the AGILE approach of this project, the specific deliverables and associated acceptance criteria will be defined for each sprint between the NCIA and the contractor. This includes sprint planning, execution and review processes, which are detailed below:

Sprint Planning:

• Objective: Plan the objectives for the upcoming sprint
• Kick-off meeting: Conduct a monthly meeting with the contractor to plan the objectives of upcoming sprints and review contractor`s manpower to meet the agreed deliverables.
• Set sprint goals: Define clear, achievable goals for the sprint and associated acceptance criteria, including specific delivery targets, Quality standards as well as Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for each task to be recorded in the sprint meeting minutes.
• Agree on the required level of effort for the various sprint tasks.
• Backlog Review: Review and prioritise the backlog of tasks, issues, and improvements from previous sprints.
• Assess each payment milestone cycle duration of one calendar month. State of completion and validation of each sprint status and sign off sprints to be submitted for payment as covered in Section 5.

Sprint Execution:

• Objective: Contractor to execute the agreed "sprint plans" with continuous monitoring and adjustments.
• Regular meetings between NCIA and the contractor to review sprint progress, address issues, and make necessary adjustments to the processes or production methodology. The Meetings will be physically in the office, or in person via electronic means using Conference Call capabilities, according to the NCIA staff instructions.
• Continuous improvement: Contractor to establish a continuous feedback loop to gather input from all stakeholders for ongoing improvements and their subsequent implementation depending on NCIA approval.
• Progress Tracking: Contractor to use a shared dashboard or tool to track the status of the sprint deliveries and any issues.
• Quality Assurance/Quality Check: Contractor shall ensure that the quality standards agreed for the sprint deliverables are maintained throughout the sprint.
• Quality Control: NCIA to perform the Final Quality Control of the agreed deliverables and provide feedback on any issues.

Sprint Review:

• Objective: Review the sprint performance and identify areas for improvement.
• At the end of each sprint, there will be a meeting between the NCIA and the Contractor to review the outcomes against the acceptance criteria comprising sprint goals, agreed quality criteria and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).
• Define specific actions to address issues and enhance the next sprint.

Sprint Payment:

• For each sprint to be considered as complete and payable, the contractor must report the outcome of their work during the sprint, first verbally during the retrospective sprint review meeting and then in writing within three days after the sprint's end date. A report must be sent by email to the NCIA manager, highlighting all work performed against the agreed tasking list set for the sprint.
• The contractor's payment for each sprint will be depending upon the achievement of agreed Acceptance Criteria for each task, defined at the sprint planning stage. This will include specific delivery targets, quality standards as well as Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for each task.
• The payment shall be dependent upon successful acceptance as set in the above planning/review meetings. This will follow the payment milestones that shall include a completed Delivery Acceptance Sheet (DAS) – (Annex B)
• Invoices shall be accompanied with a Delivery Acceptance Sheet (DAS) – (Annex B) signed by the Contractor and project authority.
• If the contractor fails to meet the agreed Acceptance criteria for any task, the NCIA reserves the right to withhold payment for that task/sprint.

Each sprint has a duration of 5 working days. The content and scope of each sprint will be agreed during the sprint‐planning meetings.

It is expected the service to start as soon as possible but no later than 1 October 2025 and ending no later than 31 December 2025.

If the 2026 option 1 is exercised, the period of performance is 1 January 2026 to 30 April 2026.

If the 2026 option 2 is exercised, the period of performance is 1 May 2026 to 31 December 2026.

Braine-l'Alleud, BE – primary location

Full time on-site: No

Time on-site: 30 %

The services will be delivered during normal office hours following the Braine l'Alleud calendar.

NCIA in Braine l'Alleud recognized Business hours and Official Holidays schedule will be provided to the contractor.

There may be requirements to travel for periods not exceeding 2 weeks to other sites within NATO nations, including but not limited to NATO Headquarters (Brussels).

Travel expenses will be reimbursed to the individual directly (outside this contract) under NATO rules. Travel arrangements will be the responsibility of the contractor and the expenses will be reimbursed in accordance with Article 5.5 of AAS Framework