TOR: Acquisition and deployment of SOS CVE planning and reporting system/app

Background

Since its establishment in 1974, SOS Children’s Villages Ethiopia has been at the forefront of improving the lives of vulnerable children, families, and communities. Over the years, the organization has significantly expanded its program portfolio, geographic coverage, and target reach across different parts of the country. In response to the evolving internal and external changes as well as fulfilment of the minimum NGOs industry standards, SOS CVE has been continuously adapting and worked to standardize its programmatic and operational processes. Planning and reporting are among the key processes where SOS CVE has shown significant improvements, resulting from the vast experience and building on the lessons it has obtained through the journey.

However, despite the efforts and long-standing improvements in the planning and reporting practices, the current NA’s systems remain largely manual, fragmented, and time-consuming. These inefficiencies limit timely decision-making, reduce data quality and consistency, and constrain the organization’s ability to effectively and timely monitor performance and generate actionable insights.

Given the increasing scale and complexity of the organization’s program operations, coupled with the ongoing challenges in planning and reporting processes, there is a critical need to address the problem and improve overall efficiency and effectiveness. To address this, SOS CVE plans to standardize and fully digitalize its planning and reporting systems at both National Office and Program Locations levels, which strongly aligns with the ambition indicated in the refreshed strategy to digitalize the internal processes to boost program and operational efficiency. This initiative aims to address the challenges the processes have been currently experiencing and ultimately improve the overall quality of the processes. Throughout the process, due consideration will be given to ensuring alignment with federation and national requirements.

Objectives of the assignment

The purpose of this Terms of Reference (TOR) is to transform and digitalize the SOS CVE’s annual planning and regular reporting processes

Hence, the primary objective of the task is to acquire a robust system/app that enhances SOS Children’s Villages in Ethiopia’s annual planning and reporting processes which is aligned with the federation and internal requirements. Specific objectives include:

• Replace the current Microsoft excel and word which has been in use for annual planning and reporting processes
• Establish a fully automated and standardized annual planning and reporting system across the NO and program locations levels to enhance data quality, improve efficiency, and significantly reduce inconsistencies and errors
• Provide real-time reporting to support decision-making.
• Enable every employee to access quality and standardized plan and reports
• Support Results-Based Planning and Performance Management through automated tracking of outcomes, outputs, activities, indicators, targets, and achievements.

Scope of Assignment

The assignment encompasses the selection, customization, and deployment of planning and reporting system that is capable of meeting the specific SOS federation’s and SOS Children’s Villages in Ethiopia organizational requirements. The assignment includes, but is not limited to the following tasks:

• Conducting requirements verification phase to validate system fit and finalize necessary customization.
• Customizing the selected system to reflect SOS Ethiopia’s planning, & reporting processes.
• Ensuring data security, encryption, and backup mechanisms are properly configured
• Conducting system testing and technical validation
• Supporting data migration activities
• Provide technical support post go-live in the lifetime of the product.
• Setting up user interfaces, access roles, and self-service portals.
• Delivering comprehensive training to the system administrators and end users.
• Providing detailed documentation and system manuals.

1. Minimum business/functional requirements

The task will have the specific requirements in the area of planning and reporting processes:

Planning

• System/app showing planning data/info starting from 2026
• System/app should show aggregated and disaggregated planned data by program locations and NO functions
• Specific data type inputting (texts, #, %, etc.,.) for planned outcome, output & activity statements, activity details, implementation timeline, indicators, responsible person, annual and monthly targets into the specific cells.
• The system/app is able to provide a dashboard functionality which display a real-time data and automatically generate graphical visualizations (bar charts, line graphs, pie charts, etc.) of the planned data/information with proper disaggregation (PLs, service types, functions, etc.,)
• Space to write additional remarks that might not be captured in the specified rows

Reporting

• System/app showing reporting data/info starting from 2026 in powerBI
• System/app should show the necessary aggregated and disaggregated actual/reported data/info by program locations and NO functions.
• The system should be workable offline and automatically sync the data/info when connected with the internet
• Strict specific data type inputting (texts, numbers, %, etc.,) for reporting on outcomes, outputs & activities into the specific cells
• The system/app is able to provide a dashboard functionality to automatically generate graphical visualizations (bar charts, line graphs, pie charts, etc.) of reported data/information with proper disaggregation (PLs, service types, functions, etc.,)
• Space to write additional remarks for capturing info/data that can’t be captured in the specified rows

Technical Requirements

It defines the technical, architectural, security, compliance, and operational specifications that the app/system must fulfill to ensure proper performance and alignment with the organization’s infrastructure and regulatory environment.

• Web-based compatible with major browsers including Microsoft Edge and Google Chrome.
• implement Capabilities in authentication and access control, including enforcement of password complexity policies, secure password encryption mechanisms, support for secondary verification methods (e.g., multi-factor authentication), secure session management, and implementation of role-based access control to ensure appropriate user privileges.  OR use Microsoft Entra SSO
• Apply data protection measures, including encrypting data at rest, secure and redundant backup solutions & disaster recovery mechanisms, and the use of TLS encryption to safeguard data in transit
• Activity logging capabilities, including detailed records of access attempts, permission changes, and execution of sensitive actions
• Deploying in SOS Owned environment with the option in Azure platform
• Comply with GDPR and Ethiopian data protection regulations
• Scalable to support future growth
• Integration capability with finance systems (if required)
• Technical support in the lifetime of the product
• Bug fixing and system updates/patching
• Data migration of plans and migration of actual reports/ data for 2026.
• Ethiopian data protection registration
• IT security certification of the product
• Sign SOS Data Privacy Agreement

Non-Functional Requirements

• User-friendly interface
• High system availability (minimum 99% uptime for cloud systems)
• Fast response time

Deliverables

The task team is expected to produce the following key deliverables:

• Fully functional NA Ethiopia planning and reporting system/app
• User manual.
• Printable dashboard for plan and report.
• Post-implementation support services including troubleshooting, updates, and maintenance.
• Task completion report
• Incident response management process

Implementation Timeline

The expected timeline for implementation is August to November 2026. Key milestones include:

 

Activity                                                                                    Timeline

• Kick-off and Planning                                                           September 2026 (Week 2)
• System Customization and Configuration                            September 2026 (Week 3 – 4)
• Data Migration and Integration Setup                                  October 2026 (Week 1 – 2)
• Pilot Implementation                                                              November 2026 (Week 1- 3)
• Full Rollout and Go-Live                                                          November 2026 (Week 4)

Roles and responsibilities

SOS Children’s Villages in Ethiopia:

• Provide access to current planning and reporting information/data and systems.
• Coordinate system testing and feedback.
• Assign staff from relevant functions to support the process.

Vendor:

• Provide the system/app based on the agreed specifications.
• Migrate/upload and validate 2026 planning and reporting data.
• Conduct user training and provide documentation.
• Ensure timely delivery, post-implementation support.

Confidentiality and Data Protection

The vendor shall comply with applicable data privacy and protection regulations and maintain strict confidentiality of all organizational data accessed during the assignment. All data generated, processed, stored, or migrated under this assignment shall remain the sole property of SOS Children’s Villages Ethiopia.

Vendor Qualifications and Evaluation Criteria

The selection criteria for the vendor will be specified in the RFP document. However, preliminary considerations include:

• Demonstrated experience in developing and deploying a planning and reporting system/apps in Ethiopia or similar context.
• Strong client portfolio, preferably including NGOs and nonprofit institutions.
• Cost-effectiveness and scalability of the proposed solution
• Availability of ongoing, responsive, and competent technical support.
• Preferably a local presence in Ethiopia or a partnership with a local firm for onsite support.
• Availability of technical support and ongoing system updates for at least one year