Objectives

The primary objective of this tender is to appoint a service provider to deliver a comprehensive Customer Insights Platform for SARS over a three-year period. The platform aims to enhance SARS's ability to collect, analyze, and report on taxpayer and employee feedback, enabling data-driven, proactive, and taxpayer-centric service delivery. It also supports internal employee psychometric assessments to improve talent management and organizational development.

Scope

The scope includes the full implementation, operation, support, migration, and enhancement of a cloud-based Customer Insights Platform. Key components involve:

• Automated and manual feedback collection across SARS channels (eFiling, MobiApp, SARS website, WhatsApp, USSD, etc.)
• Integration with existing SARS systems and data warehouses
• Data migration of historical survey responses and metadata
• Advanced analytics, AI-powered sentiment and trend analysis
• Real-time dashboards and reporting tools
• Support for large survey volumes (up to several million responses annually)
• Training, support, and platform hosting within the vendor’s environment
• Support for feedback lifecycle management, service recovery workflows, and compliance with data privacy laws

Technical Requirements

The platform must:

• Support dynamic survey design with conditional logic and large questionnaires (~90 questions)
• Enable multi-channel distribution with response volume capacity (e.g., 50,000 responses per campaign, 1 million responses in 24 hours)
• Allow real-time data ingestion, batch data exchange, and integration via APIs (e.g., RESTful, Webhooks)
• Provide comprehensive dashboards with visualizations, sentiment analysis, and actionable insights
• Support automated feedback triggers based on events (e.g., transaction completion, service encounter)
• Ensure secure user and access management with role-based controls and audit trails
• Include monitoring, alerting, and reporting capabilities for system health and security
• Facilitate data migration of historical responses and metadata in standard formats (XLSX, CSV, etc.)
• Support integration with SARS’s existing digital platforms and data warehouses
• Meet compliance standards such as POPIA, ISO 27001, and SARS internal policies
• Be hosted in the vendor’s environment or approved cloud infrastructure, with no hosting burden on SARS

Skills Requirements

The service provider must demonstrate:

• Proven experience in delivering large-scale customer insight platforms, preferably in the public or financial sector
• Capability to implement, migrate, and support enterprise-level survey and analytics solutions
• Expertise in system integration, data migration, and API development
• Strong knowledge of data privacy laws (POPIA) and security standards (ISO 27001)
• Ability to provide comprehensive training and ongoing technical support
• Experience in AI-powered sentiment analysis, real-time dashboards, and advanced statistical tools
• Capacity to host and manage the platform within a secure, scalable environment
• Capability to deliver strategic consulting and platform optimization services throughout the contract period