[CWG-RFP3] Seperabilty

Mon Nov 24 20:04:13 UTC 2014

Hi Milton

We in the ccTLD community are very satisfied with the quality of service 
currently provided by IANA so we would see no immediate need to RFP the 
service for this reason. In the recent survey, 95.6% wanted to keep the 
status quo.

On the question of ‘separablity’, as I see it there are two main reasons 
to issue an RFP: i) dissatisfaction with the service currently being 
provided and ii) to seek to discipline the price of the service – e.g. 
try to get it cheaper. On the question of price, as you know, this is 
currently a zero dollar contract, so you can’t get it for less money 
than that!

To be credible, any RFP would need to carry with it the real possibility 
of the contract being moved to another supplier. Proceeding with an RFP 
would therefore likely require the contracting entity have funding to 
pay for the services. While some have suggested that the registries 
could easily pay for this, for the ccTLD community this could be 
problematic as the vast majority of ccTLDs have no contract with ICANN 
in respect of financial contributions, nor do they want contracts. 
Requiring them to contribute to the financing of a new entity to 
contract for IANA services would be, at best, difficult to negotiate and 
implement, or, at worst, impossible to achieve. While I do believe that 
the authority to issue an RFP should remain an option, making it an 
explicit requirement as part of any transition would be problematic from 
a ccTLD perspective.

Best

Paul

Milton L Mueller wrote:
>
> Very helpful Mathieu. The tradeoffs (heightened accountability and 
> stronger incentives to improve vs. cost of the tender) are exactly 
> what we have been expecting, it’s just that you’ve given us a concrete 
> data point about how that actually works. Judging from AFNIC’s record, 
> a 5 year cycle seems to work well. One curiosity point for me, have 
> there been competitors in the tender, or have you been the only one?
>
> *From:* cwg-rfp3-bounces at icann.org [mailto:cwg-rfp3-bounces at icann.org] 
> *On Behalf Of *Mathieu Weill
> *Sent:* Monday, November 24, 2014 6:42 AM
> *To:* cwg-rfp3 at icann.org
> *Subject:* Re: [CWG-RFP3] Seperabilty
>
> Dear Colleagues,
>
> This discussion is really useful and clearly a key aspect of the 
> proposal for the transition. Without any pretention, I'd like to share 
> an experience that we have developed at Afnic on such an issue of 
> regular tenders and how they impact both accountability and 
> operational stability.
>
> Afnic is the manager of the .fr ccTLD. French legislation indicates 
> that the Government appoints the .fr ccTLD manager, after a a public 
> tender. Two RFPs were launched, in 2009 and 2012, and we were 
> confirmed twice. Of course we have investigated the theory of such 
> systems, but I can also testify from experience of the impact.
>
> Here is what I can share.
>
> First, regarding duration of contract it is generally advised to adopt 
> a duration that is consistent with the investment cycle of the 
> operations. If you are contracting for an electrical plant, aim at 25 
> years but for an IT contract, 3 to 5 years is more appropriate. What 
> happens if the duration is too short ? The contractor may not have 
> time to implement changes and improvements, it may remain focused only 
> on the RFP process instead of advancing operations. If it is too short 
> ? Once the changes that are contractually mandatory are implemented, 
> the contractor may rely on its laurels and wait for the next RFP. The 
> pace of improvement may then be too slow.
>
> At Afnic, contact duration is 5 years, which is consistent both with 
> technical investments and with implementation of some changes, which 
> include PDPs and technical implementation, and may take in some cases 
> up to 2-3 years. The current contract dates from 2012 and we plan to 
> have everything implemented by 2015.
>
> Regarding IANA, investments are probably 3 to 5 years, and 
> implementing changes in process or policies takes between 6 to 18 months.
>
> Then, regarding implicit renewal or systematic tenders. I do testify 
> from experience that regular re-bids DO create a strong feeling of 
> accountability and an incentive to deliver on contractual commitments 
> as well as operation performance. Tenders have a cost, however, and 
> during the "tender period", there is so much attention given to the 
> tender process that, while stability of operations remains key, you 
> don't put a lot of emphasis on improvements ;-)
>
> The duration of the RFP process is also quite important as during this 
> period there tends to be a "freeze" of operation improvements.
>
> As far as .fr is concerned, we have a 5 year contract, with an option 
> to renew only once without tender.
>
> I hope this helps, I am sure the CWG might find other examples out 
> there, within or outside our industry, and learn from these 
> experiences, which are quite common. There is no perfect solution 
> though, so some kind of compromise between stability, cost and 
> incentives will have to be found.
>
> Best
> Mathieu
>
>
>
>
> Le 24/11/2014 10:35, Guru Acharya a écrit :
>
>     Olivier,
>
>     I don't agree that consensus was found on Option 2.
>
>     Malcolm and Matthew strongly objected to Option 2 as reflected in
>     the transcripts.
>
>     Please read
>     https://community.icannorg/download/attachments/49363373/MeetingF2F_Session3_20Nov.doc?version=1&modificationDate=1416525744000&api=v2
>     <https://community.icann.org/download/attachments/49363373/MeetingF2F_Session3_20Nov.doc?version=1&modificationDate=1416525744000&api=v2>
>
>     On Mon, Nov 24, 2014 at 1:50 PM, Olivier MJ Crepin-Leblond
>     <ocl at gih.com <mailto:ocl at gih.com>> wrote:
>
>         Dear Avri,
>         Dear Milton,
>
>         On 24/11/2014 05:11, Avri Doria wrote:
>         > 1. Strong separability: every n (n= 2-7?) years a new RFP is
>         released
>         > and all comers, current contract holder included, apply for
>         the IANA
>         > contract and the best candidate is picked.
>         >
>         > 2. Weak seperability: every n (n=2-7?) years a review of the
>         current
>         > contract holder is reviewed and the review committee has the
>         option to
>         > put out an RFP for the IANA contract if there are unresolved
>         issues.
>
>         What I heard at the face to face meeting is that the directly
>         affected
>         customers were looking for operational stability and therefore
>         preferred
>         option 2. My understanding was that consensus was found at 2
>         rather than 1.
>         Kind regards,
>
>         Olivier
>
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>
>
>
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>
>
> -- 
> *****************************
> Mathieu WEILL
> AFNIC - directeur général
> Tél: 01 39 30 83 06
> mathieu.weill at afnic.fr  <mailto:mathieu.weill at afnic.fr>
> *****************************
> ATTENTION : L'Afnic a déménagé le 31 mars 2014 !
> Notre nouvelle adresse est :
> Afnic - Immeuble Le Stephenson - 1, rue Stephenson - 78180 Montigny-le-Bretonneux
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