ICT Services Tender — Independent Expert Report on Economic Sustainability

Overview

I was engaged as an independent expert to assess the economic sustainability of bids submitted in a public tender for ICT services. The objective was to determine—using a traceable and replicable method—whether the proposed rates covered at least the minimum cost of labor and were consistent with the professional profiles required by the tender specifications. The assignment concluded with a comprehensive expert report suitable for use in due-diligence processes and administrative litigation.

Client Profile

The client is an Italian operator that participates in major tenders in the postal-logistics and IT services sectors. The tender concerned a framework agreement structured by service categories and senior/expert profiles, and required a third-party review of price adequacy relative to labor costs under the applicable collective bargaining agreements.

Approach

The report rebuilt labor costs starting from official ministerial tables and relevant national agreements, mapping level equivalences between the Metalworkers and Commerce national collective labor contracts and setting annual worked hours at 1,700. On this basis, an average hourly and daily cost was calculated for each profile. I then simulated two resource-allocation scenarios across the three service areas specified in the tender, comparing—bidder by bidder—the offered rates with the reconstructed minimum costs, expressly noting that overhead and general corporate costs were not included, which makes the conclusions even more conservative.

Results

The simulations documented that certain components of the bids lacked margin and, in specific cases, were below the minimum labor cost, creating a risk of loss-making performance if the entire scope of the framework agreement were called off. The final report—complete with assumptions, sources, and appendices—was delivered in a replicable format, enabling verification, requests for clarification, and immediate use in decision-making and any subsequent contentious or administrative proceedings.