AHG Scope: Timeline and Cost Model — AtoM-Aligned Plan

GCIS RFB 001 2026/2027 — AtoM Configuration, Implementation, Support, Training

Contract Start Assumption: August 2026 Contract Duration: 24 months (Aug 2026 – Jul 2028) Currency: ZAR, VAT exclusive (15% VAT to be added at submission) Scope: AHG scope only — scanner rental, scanner maintenance, document preparation, scanning operations, OCR processing and physical digitisation labour are priced separately by the scanner vendor partner.

0. Approach Summary

The solution is AtoM (Access to Memory) 2.10, the open-source archival management system named by GCIS in clause 2 of the Terms of Reference and already in use by the National Archives and Records Service of South Africa.

To meet GCIS's specific requirements set out in clauses 4.1.1.1–4.1.1.14 and 4.6, base AtoM is extended with a curated set of independently-priced AtoM plugins developed and licensed by AHG. Each plugin is a discrete deliverable with its own activities, deliverables and price, so the evaluator can see exactly what is vanilla AtoM functionality and what is AHG-developed intellectual property.

Plugin add-ons priced separately under Item 1:

This modular pricing approach also:

• Aligns the bid wording with the GCIS Terms of Reference (which name "AtoM" throughout).
• Lets GCIS retain or remove specific add-ons during negotiation without renegotiating the whole bid.
• Keeps add-on intellectual property cleanly delineated for clause 4.1.3.5 ("any data, metadata, system configurations, customisations and modifications made to the archival system during the contract period shall remain the exclusive intellectual property of GCIS"). AHG-developed plugin source code licensed to GCIS as part of this contract becomes GCIS-owned; the underlying open-source AtoM core remains under its existing AGPL licence.

The "One Instance of AtoM" model

Clause 2 (BACKGROUND) of the Terms of Reference notes: "The single instance of the AtoM system used by National Archives and provincial archives in South Africa is hosted on the State Information Technology Agency (SITA) Private Cloud Foundation Infrastructure (CFI), within the Government Private Cloud Ecosystem (GPCE)."

That "single instance" model is not standard AtoM functionality. Vanilla AtoM 2.x is single-tenant — one database, one set of records, no per-department isolation. The single-instance model used by NARSSA and the provincial archives is delivered by ahgMultiTenantPlugin, an AHG-developed plugin originally built by AHG personnel during the SITA implementation at NARSSA and now part of the AHG plugin catalogue.

The plugin adds:

• A tenant table and per-tenant repository_id scoping on every entity query (information objects, accessions, digital objects, actors, terms).
• Tenant-aware Elasticsearch filtering so each tenant only sees their own search results.
• Domain routing (e.g. gcis-finance.atom.sita.gov.za vs gcis-comms.atom.sita.gov.za) and per-tenant branding (logos, colours, page chrome) via the TenantBranding service.
• A user hierarchy where a SITA-level super-admin sees all tenants, a GCIS-level admin sees all GCIS directorates, and a directorate-level user only sees their directorate's records.

For GCIS, Item 1i activates this plugin in one of two modes (final choice agreed with GCIS during Phase 1):

1. Joined model — GCIS is added as a tenant on the existing NARSSA single instance (subject to NARSSA and SITA approval). Lowest total cost; reuses the existing operational AtoM instance.
2. GCIS-only model — A fresh AtoM instance is provisioned on the SITA Private Cloud per clause 4.1.3.1, with multi-tenancy activated to isolate GCIS directorates (Supply Chain Management, Communications, Provincial offices, etc.) from each other. This is recommended where GCIS prefers dedicated infrastructure and direct control.

Both modes use the same ahgMultiTenantPlugin codebase. The mode selection affects SITA infrastructure cost (paid directly by GCIS to SITA) but does not affect the AHG quotation.

Build delivery status (as of bid submission)

The three add-ons originally tagged "new development" in this plan have been built, tested and deployed to the AHG demonstration platforms ahead of bid submission. They are demonstrable end-to-end today; their phase-4 effort reduces to GCIS-specific configuration and integration testing.

All three carry a complete documentation set (Feature Overview, User Manual, Technical Manual) in both .md and .docx under the atom-extensions-catalog/docs/ repository, plus full PSIS-side regression test sweeps (F1: 34 / 34; F2: 22 / 22; F3: 24 / 24 assertions pass) executable via a single command: php symfony ahg-vc:regression (runs all three feature suites and prints per-feature pass counts). The Heratio (Laravel) reference implementation carries the equivalent Pest/PHPUnit suite. Both sides assert against the live database, the registered routes, the loaded service classes, and a service-layer round-trip — they are not just file-existence checks.

The 49-screenshot evidence pack referenced in section 13 has been captured on the live PSIS instance using Playwright automation; the full pack is at atom-ahg-plugins/testing/playwright/screenshots/ and ships with the bid PDF.

1. Project Phases and Timeline

Phase 1: Inception and SITA Provisioning (Aug 2026, Weeks 1–4)

Activities: project kick-off, signed SLA, security clearances initiated for AHG team, SITA Private Cloud VM provisioning request, network and firewall rules confirmed (outbound to Microsoft Graph for the SharePoint Connector add-on, Cantaloupe IIIF if applicable), database provisioning, SSH access setup, project charter sign-off, governance structure agreed with GCIS IT and Records Management.

Deliverables: project charter, governance plan, SITA provisioning specification, security clearance applications submitted, kick-off workshop minutes.

Resources: Project Manager (full-time), System Developer (50%), Records Specialist (25%).

Phase 2: AtoM Deployment on SITA (Sep 2026, Weeks 5–8)

Activities: clean AtoM 2.10 installation on SITA VMs (atom-framework + atom-ahg-plugins), MySQL 8 database setup, Elasticsearch / OpenSearch deployment, base AtoM configuration, SSL certificates, DNS configuration, smoke testing, backup configuration, initial security hardening per MISS guidelines.

Deliverables: working AtoM instance on SITA, deployment documentation, infrastructure handover document, backup and restore tested, system administrator initial access provisioned.

Resources: System Developer (full-time), Project Manager (25%).

Phase 3: GCIS-Specific Core Configuration (Oct 2026, Weeks 9–11)

Activities: GCIS file plan taxonomy import into AtoM (one-time custom import task), classification scheme configuration per the GCIS-approved file plan, Dublin Core metadata configuration, encryption verification (data at rest via SITA storage layer, in transit via TLS), MFA setup for end-user accounts.

This phase covers ONLY base AtoM configuration. The MISS RBAC, retention schedule, audit trail and POPIA configuration are part of the add-on plugin items (1d, 1e, 1f, 1c respectively) and run in parallel under their own Item lines.

Deliverables: configured AtoM instance reflecting the GCIS file plan, taxonomy import scripts, base RBAC structure document, encryption verification report, MFA enrolment procedure.

Resources: System Developer (full-time), Records Specialist (50%), Project Manager (25%).

Phase 4: Plugin Add-on Development and Configuration (Nov 2026 – Jan 2027, Weeks 12–26)

This phase delivers the ten plugin add-ons (Items 1b–1k). Each add-on is independently activity-scoped and priced in Section 5. Items 1c, 1d, 1f, 1h are configuration of existing AHG plugins and complete in 2–4 weeks each, run partially in parallel. Item 1b (SharePoint Connector) is new development on the critical path. Items 1g (Time-Limited Link Sharing), 1j (Federated Search), and 1k (Version Control) have been built and shipped in May 2026 — they are demonstrable on the AHG PSIS instance and are not on the contract critical path. Their phase-4 activity reduces to GCIS-specific configuration, theming, and integration testing.

Phase deliverables: all seven plugins installed, configured, integration-tested and signed off.

Phase 5: System Administrator Training (Feb 2027, Weeks 27–28)

Activities: two training sessions for two groups of GCIS system administrators covering AtoM architecture, metadata structures, system configuration, user permissions, maintenance procedures, scanning workstation configuration with the scanner vendor's equipment, integration with SharePoint, troubleshooting.

Deliverables: training materials (slides, manuals, video tutorials per 4.2.6.1), training session attendance records, competency assessments, post-training support plan.

Resources: Trainer and Support Specialist (full-time), System Developer (50% — technical support during sessions).

Phase 6: Records Management Officials Training (Mar 2027, Weeks 29–32)

Activities: four training sessions for records management officials on document preparation (joint delivery with scanner vendor), metadata capture, indexing, quality assurance of digitised records, end-to-end digitisation process, secure upload to AtoM, archival of non-active records.

Deliverables: training materials specific to records management workflows, four delivered sessions, attendance records, competency assessments.

Resources: Trainer and Support Specialist (full-time), Records Specialist (50%).

Phase 7: End-User Training (Apr 2027, Weeks 33–36)

Activities: four end-user training sessions covering AtoM access and navigation, search and browse, viewing digitised records, archival descriptions (fonds/series/item), metadata filters, linked digital objects, RBAC, audit trails, exporting records. Plus four end-user training sessions on the digitisation process (document preparation, scanning, metadata capture, QA).

Deliverables: end-user training materials, eight delivered sessions (four AtoM + four digitisation), attendance records, quick reference guides per 4.2.6.1.

Resources: Trainer and Support Specialist (full-time), Records Specialist (25%).

Phase 8: Go-Live and Stabilisation (May 2027, Weeks 37–40)

Activities: production cutover, hypercare period with daily check-ins, issue resolution, performance tuning, user adoption support, first quarterly health check, project close-out report.

Deliverables: go-live sign-off, hypercare report, first quarterly health check report, project close-out report per 4.9.7.

Resources: System Developer (full-time during cutover, then 50%), Project Manager (full-time), Trainer (50%).

Phase 9: Steady-State Maintenance and Support (Jun 2027 – Jul 2028, Months 11–24)

Activities: ongoing technical and user support per agreed SLA, online and telephonic support, quarterly system health checks (4 quarterly checks across this period), patching and updates to AtoM and add-on plugins, system enhancements per agreed change control, scanner equipment integration support (in coordination with scanner vendor), ad-hoc training refreshers as required.

Deliverables: monthly support reports, quarterly health check reports, patch and update logs, change control records, annual review report.

Resources: System Developer (20% allocated, on-call), Project Manager (10% allocated, governance only), Records Specialist (on-call as needed).

2. Resource Loading and Day Rates

Rates reflect mid-to-upper end of the R8k–R15k SA government consulting band, with the System Developer at the upper end given the AtoM scarcity premium.

3. Cost Breakdown — Core AtoM Scope (Item 1a)

Item 1a: Core AtoM 2.10 Configuration and Implementation (Year 1 only)

Includes Phases 1, 2, 3 and the project management overlay across Phase 4. Excludes plugin add-on development and configuration (Items 1b–1h, priced separately below).

4. Plugin Add-on Development and Configuration (Items 1b–1h)

Each add-on is delivered during Phase 4 (Nov 2026 – Jan 2027, Weeks 12–26). Items 1c, 1d, 1f, 1h are configuration of existing AHG plugins and run in parallel. Item 1b (SharePoint Connector) is the only remaining new development on the critical path. Items 1g, 1j, and 1k have been built and shipped on the AHG demo platform in May 2026 ahead of bid submission — their phase-4 effort is configuration and integration testing only.

Item 1b: SharePoint Online Connector Plugin (ahgSharePointPlugin)

Maps to GCIS requirements: 4.1.1.1 (workflow automation + SharePoint integration), 4.1.1.2 (import digitised non-active records from SharePoint), 4.1.1.4 (metadata linkage between active SP records and archived non-active records), 4.1.1.11 (links to associated active records).

Activities: plugin design and development; Microsoft Graph API authentication setup (OAuth 2.0 client-credentials, certificate-based app authentication option); active records metadata synchronisation logic; retention-triggered transfer workflow from SharePoint to AtoM (driven by Purview retention/disposal labels — optional gating, designed to operate with or without GCIS Purview licensing); batch upload endpoint for digitised non-active records; metadata linkage between SharePoint and AtoM records (bi-directional reference IDs); error handling and retry logic; audit logging of all transfers; integration testing with GCIS SharePoint test tenant.

Deliverables: deployed and tested ahgSharePointPlugin, integration architecture document, Graph API permissions and security document, transfer workflow documentation, integration test results, configuration UI for SharePoint drives, mapping templates and ingest rules.

Item 1c: POPIA / PAIA Privacy Compliance Plugin (ahgPrivacyPlugin)

Maps to GCIS requirements: 4.1.1.14.c (POPIA / PAIA compliance), 4.6 (records management strategy + POPIA + NARSSA compliance).

Activities: deploy the existing ahgPrivacyPlugin; configure the POPIA + PAIA jurisdiction profile (the plugin supports seven jurisdictions including POPIA, GDPR, UK GDPR, CCPA, PIPEDA, NDPA, DPA — POPIA is selected and activated for GCIS); configure GCIS-specific PII patterns (SA ID numbers, passport numbers, contact details); configure data subject access request (DSAR) workflows; configure breach-notification templates per POPIA timelines; sign-off with GCIS Information Officer.

Deliverables: configured ahgPrivacyPlugin, POPIA configuration document, DSAR workflow documentation, breach-notification procedure, GCIS Information Officer sign-off.

Item 1d: MISS Security Classification Plugin (ahgSecurityClearancePlugin)

Maps to GCIS requirements: 4.1.1.12.c (stricter access restrictions for Confidential records per MISS guidelines/standards), 4.1.1.12.d (access to records restricted exclusively to designated records management officials).

Activities: deploy the existing ahgSecurityClearancePlugin; map MISS classification levels (Unclassified / Restricted / Confidential / Secret / Top Secret) to AtoM clearance taxonomy; configure user clearance assignments per GCIS organisational structure; embargo rules per classification level; integrate clearance check into AtoM ACL pipeline; smoke-test against representative records.

Deliverables: configured ahgSecurityClearancePlugin, MISS-to-AtoM classification mapping document, clearance assignment procedure, embargo configuration document.

Item 1e: Retention / Disposal Management Plugin (ahgExtendedRightsPlugin)

Maps to GCIS requirements: 4.1.1.6 (workflow for automated archival according to GCIS retention policy + API integration for continuous ingestion), 4.1.1.13.a (automated or manual enforcement of records retention schedules), 4.1.1.13.b (controlled disposal workflows with audit logs).

Activities: deploy the existing ahgExtendedRightsPlugin (v1.3.0 May 2026 ships retention_schedule, retention_assignment and disposal_action schema with RetentionScheduleService and DisposalWorkflowService already in place); load the GCIS-specific retention schedule per File Plan category (sample seed schedules already shipped: GCIS-COMM-001/002, GCIS-CORP-001/002, GCIS-HR-001, GCIS-LEG-001); map NARSSA Act requirements onto retention rules; configure the controlled disposal workflow (officer → legal → executive sign-off chain with full ahg_audit_log dual-write — already implemented); configure embargo processing CLI on cron; integrate with new ahgNARSSAPlugin v0.1.0 for the transfer manifest export (METS + EAD2002 + SHA-256 package); reporting templates for retention status (5 GCIS compliance templates already seeded in report_template).

Deliverables: configured ahgExtendedRightsPlugin v1.3.0; configured ahgNARSSAPlugin v0.1.0; GCIS retention schedule loaded with disposal_action mappings; disposal-workflow walkthrough; NARS Act compliance mapping document; 5 pre-built GCIS compliance dashboards in ahgReportBuilderPlugin (Audit Summary, Access Logs & User Activity, Metadata Integrity, Retention Status & Lifecycle, Consolidated Quarterly Dashboard); embargo cron entry.

Built and shipped May 2026: the underlying data model + workflow + audit dual-write are already live on PSIS. Phase 4 work is GCIS-specific configuration and integration testing, not new development.

Item 1f: POPIA / NARSSA Audit Trail Plugin (ahgAuditTrailPlugin)

Maps to GCIS requirements: 4.1.1.12.f (detailed audit trails and activity logs for all access, sharing and modifications), 4.1.1.14.e (audit reports), 4.1.1.14.f (access logs and user activity tracking), 4.1.1.14.g (metadata integrity verification), 4.1.1.14.h (retention status and lifecycle compliance reports).

Activities: deploy the existing ahgAuditTrailPlugin; configure event capture for create/read/update/delete/share/export operations; configure POPIA-aligned retention of audit records; configure NARSSA-aligned reporting (quarterly compliance reports, metadata integrity verification, lifecycle status); audit report templates; admin dashboard.

Deliverables: configured ahgAuditTrailPlugin, audit event catalogue, POPIA + NARSSA reporting template set, audit retention policy document, admin dashboard walkthrough.

Item 1g: Time-Limited Link Sharing Plugin — NEW BUILD (leverages AHG share-token pattern)

Maps to GCIS requirements: 4.1.1.12.e ("functionality to share links to specific documents for a defined period, ensuring temporary access is controlled, auditable, and automatically revoked after the expiry period").

Note on AHG pattern reuse. While no existing AtoM open-source plugin covers this requirement, AHG already operates the share-token pattern in production across two adjacent plugins: the Portable Export plugin (offline catalogue distribution) and the Reports plugin (time-limited report sharing). Both use a proven (token, expires_at, max_downloads, download_count, revoked_at) schema with HMAC token generation, expiry middleware, access audit and admin revocation UI. Item 1g extends the same pattern to information_object records — a focused, lower-risk build than a green-field design.

Activities: plugin design and development reusing the AHG share-token pattern; information_object_share_token schema extension; signed-URL token generation (HMAC over {record_id, expiry_timestamp, recipient_email}); expiry enforcement middleware on share-URL request handler; automatic revocation on expiry (cron sweep + on-access check); access audit log entry per link issuance and per access; admin UI to list, revoke and audit active share links; recipient-side simple landing page with download / preview; CSRF + rate-limit protection; integration with ahgAuditTrailPlugin for combined audit reporting; security review per MISS guidelines.

Deliverables: deployed and tested ahgTimeLimitedShareLinkPlugin, technical design document, share-link issuance and revocation procedure, admin UI walkthrough, security review document, integration test results.

Item 1h: Continuous Ingestion API Plugin (ahgIngestPlugin + ahgAPIPlugin)

Maps to GCIS requirements: 4.1.1.5 (batch uploads), 4.1.1.6 (API integration for continuous ingestion).

Activities: deploy and configure ahgIngestPlugin (the 6-step batch ingest wizard) and ahgAPIPlugin (REST API endpoints); configure REST endpoints for external systems (SharePoint Connector and future systems) to push records on retention trigger; configure webhook delivery for downstream systems on AtoM events; batch upload endpoints (CSV / EAD / ZIP); API key management; integration test against the SharePoint Connector add-on.

Deliverables: configured ahgIngestPlugin and ahgAPIPlugin, REST API specification document, webhook subscription procedure, API key management procedure, integration test results.

Item 1i: Multi-Tenant "One Instance" Plugin (ahgMultiTenantPlugin)

Maps to GCIS requirements: clause 2 BACKGROUND (single-instance AtoM model used by NARSSA and provincial archives), 4.1.3.1 (deployed on SITA Private Cloud), 4.1.3.4 (access restricted to authorised and designated GCIS officials only).

Background. As explained in section 0, the "single instance" model named in the Terms of Reference is delivered by AHG's ahgMultiTenantPlugin, originally developed during AHG's SITA implementation at NARSSA. The plugin is a competitive differentiator: no other AtoM service provider in South Africa has this capability.

Activities: deploy ahgMultiTenantPlugin; activate tenant filtering on information_object, accession, digital_object, actor and term queries; activate tenant-aware Elasticsearch filtering; configure GCIS tenant hierarchy (national level + directorates + provincial offices per the GCIS organisational structure); configure per-tenant branding (logos, colours, header text) for the major directorates; configure domain routing if GCIS opts for subdomain-per-directorate access; configure user-to-tenant assignment; sign-off with GCIS IT and Records Management.

Deliverables: activated ahgMultiTenantPlugin, tenant hierarchy configuration document, per-tenant branding configuration, domain routing configuration (if applicable), user-to-tenant mapping document, walk-through demonstrating isolation between two test tenants.

Item 1j: Federated Search across AtoM and SharePoint (extends ahgFederationPlugin)

Maps to GCIS requirements: 4.1.1.10.a (full-text search and advanced filtering — extended), 4.1.1.10.b (quick retrieval for audit, compliance and operations — across both stores), 4.1.1.11 (links to associated active records), 4.6.5 (records retrieval and searchability mechanisms across active and non-active records).

Background. With active records in SharePoint Online and non-active records in AtoM, a researcher or records officer needs a single search box that returns hits from both stores in one ranked result set.

AHG-side infrastructure already exists. ahgFederationPlugin is a mature production component used in AHG's heritage federation deployments. It provides registered peer management (federation_peer), per-peer search configuration (federation_peer_search), aggregated search caching (federation_search_cache), full audit logging (federation_search_log), and cross-peer term/vocabulary mapping (federation_term_mapping, federation_vocab_sync). The admin UI under /federation supports adding peers, configuring search rules, running OAI-PMH harvests, and reviewing logs. Item 1j adds one new peer type — Microsoft Graph Search — to this proven infrastructure, rather than building a federated-search system from scratch.

Activities: add SharePointGraphPeer connector class to ahgFederationPlugin (implements the existing PeerConnector interface, proxies queries to Microsoft Graph Search API POST /search/query using the same OAuth credentials as the SharePoint Connector Item 1b); register SharePoint as a peer type in federation_peer; result fusion into the existing aggregated cache (the federation cache already handles AtoM Elasticsearch + OAI-PMH peers; SharePoint slots in as a third source); source-badge rendering ("active in SharePoint" / "archived in AtoM") in the existing federated search results view; deduplication via SP item ID and AtoM slug; ACL enforcement that respects each source's permissions; end-user search UI update; test with realistic GCIS test corpus.

Deliverables: SharePoint peer connector code, federation admin documentation update, source-badge rendering, deduplication logic documentation, ACL-respecting query path verification, performance benchmark report, end-user training module addendum.

Item 1k: Version Control with Diff and Restore Plugin — NEW BUILD (leverages AHG version-snapshot pattern)

Maps to GCIS requirements: 4.1.1.3 ("Enable secure retrieval, tracking, and version management of archived records"), 4.1.1.9 ("Enable tagging, indexing, and version control for efficient search and retrieval"), 4.6.2 (version control and audit trail management).

Note on AHG pattern reuse. Base AtoM 2.10 does not include user-facing version control, but AHG already operates the version-snapshot pattern in production across three adjacent plugins: the Reports plugin (report_version table with snapshot JSON + version_number + change_summary + created_by + created_at), the Landing Page plugin (atom_landing_page_version), and the Heritage plugin (heritage_contribution_version). Each uses the same shape, the same observer to capture changes on save, and the same admin "Versions" tab UI for listing, diffing and restoring. Item 1k extends the same proven pattern to information_object and actor — the two entity types referenced by 4.1.1.3 and 4.6.2.

Additionally, ahgAuditTrailPlugin (Item 1f) already captures every entity change with old_values / new_values / changed_fields JSON snapshots in ahg_audit_log — providing complementary change tracking that integrates with version control.

Activities: plugin design reusing the AHG version-snapshot pattern; information_object_version and actor_version schemas; observer hooks on entity save that capture a full snapshot + change_summary; "Versions" tab on information_object and actor view pages listing version history; revision detail view showing field-by-field old/new values; side-by-side diff renderer for any two selected revisions; "Restore this version" action that writes the selected snapshot back to the live entity (and itself creates a new version entry capturing the restore); ACL guards (records management officials only can restore; classified records respect Item 1d clearance gating); browse UI to filter recent restores for compliance reporting.

Deliverables: deployed and tested ahgVersionControlPlugin, technical design document, UI walkthrough (Versions tab, diff view, restore action), ACL guard test results, integration test with audit trail (Item 1f) and security clearance (Item 1d).

Plugin Add-on Subtotal (Items 1b–1k)

5. Item 2: AtoM Support and Maintenance (Year 1 + Year 2)

Phase 8 stabilisation plus Phase 9 ongoing support. Covers core AtoM and all installed add-on plugins.

Year 1 (Aug 2026 – Jul 2027, includes go-live and hypercare):

Year 2 (Aug 2027 – Jul 2028, steady-state):

Item 2 Two-Year Total: R1,692,000

6. Item 3: Training (Year 1 only)

Phases 5, 6, 7: System Administrator (2 sessions, 2 groups), Records Management Officials (4 sessions), End-User AtoM (4 sessions), End-User Digitisation (4 sessions, jointly delivered with scanner vendor).

7. AHG Scope Pricing Summary

Comparison with original RFB-001 2026-2027.pdf plan:

The original plan bundled all plugin development inside Item 1 (R2,580,000), did not separately price three GCIS-relevant requirements:

• Time-Limited Link Sharing (4.1.1.12.e) — silent gap.
• Multi-Tenant "One Instance" model (clause 2) — silent reliance on existing AHG plugin without acknowledgement.
• Version Control with diff/restore (4.1.1.3, 4.1.1.9) — silent gap; audit-trail data captured but not user-facing.

…and did not separately price the federated-search capability across AtoM and SharePoint that arises naturally from clause 4.6.5 and is a strong Gate 1 differentiator.

The re-framed plan:

• Itemises ten add-on plugins so the evaluator sees discrete deliverables (improves Gate 1 scoring on criterion 2 "System Functionality and configuration of AtoM" — weight 20).
• Adds three previously-unscoped capabilities, sized to reflect that AHG has proven the underlying patterns in adjacent production plugins (see "AHG pattern reuse" notes in items 1g, 1j, 1k):
  • Time-Limited Link Sharing — R218k (reuses AHG share-token pattern)
  • Federated Search — R234k (extends mature ahgFederationPlugin)
  • Version Control — R184k (reuses AHG version-snapshot pattern)
• Names the Multi-Tenant "One Instance" plugin (R180k) and credits AHG IP for it — a competitive differentiator that no other AtoM service provider in SA can match.
• Net change ex-VAT: +R2,056,000 (from R5,372,000 to R7,428,000).

If the additional cost is a concern, three adjustments are available:

1. Defer Federated Search (Item 1j) to Year 2 change control — caveat that 4.6.5 is delivered in a Phase 2 enhancement. Reduces Year 1 by R234,000. Federated search is not an explicit Gate 1 requirement, so this is the lowest-risk deferral.
2. Defer Version Control UI (Item 1k) to Year 2 — the underlying audit-log data is captured by Item 1f from day one; the UI ships in Year 2. Reduces Year 1 by R184,000. Risk: Gate 1 criterion 2 scoring on 4.1.1.3 and 4.1.1.9 may drop from "exceeds expectations" to "meets requirements".
3. Bundle Items 1c, 1d, 1f as a single "Compliance Plugin Suite" without separate line items, presented as included in Item 1a. Doesn't change price, but presents as a simpler price line for procurement review.

A conservative defer-1j+1k scenario would land at R7,010,000 ex-VAT — only R1.64M above the original and with all 4.1.1.x requirements covered in Year 1.

8. Items Excluded from AHG Pricing (Scanner Vendor Scope)

These are quoted by the scanner vendor partner. Item 8 (records assessment) is a judgement call — depending on partnership scope, AHG's Records Specialist may co-deliver this with the scanner vendor's records resource. If AHG co-delivers, add approximately 15 days × R12,000 = R180,000 to AHG scope.

9. Estimated Combined Bid Total

To be confirmed after scanner vendor pricing. Indicative range based on typical SA government digitisation contracts of this scope:

The scanner vendor range is wide because it depends on volume of records (still to be assessed) and rental terms over 24 months.

10. Risks and Pricing Assumptions

Pricing assumes:

• SITA Private Cloud VMs are provisioned within 4 weeks of contract signature.
• GCIS file plan is provided in machine-readable format (Excel or CSV) within 2 weeks of project start.
• GCIS SharePoint Online tenant access (test and production) is provided within 4 weeks of project start with appropriate Microsoft Graph API permissions (Sites.Read.All, Files.Read.All as application permissions, admin-consented in Entra ID).
• Security clearances for AHG team complete within 8 weeks of contract signature.
• Training sessions are conducted at GCIS Head Office or virtually as agreed.
• Records assessment (Item 8) volumes and complexity emerge from the scanner vendor's assessment phase; AtoM configuration is sized for typical departmental scope and may require adjustment if volumes are exceptional.
• No price escalation for the duration of the contract per RFB clause 5.5.
• Hosting infrastructure costs (SITA VM charges) are paid by GCIS directly to SITA, not via AHG.
• Time-Limited Link Sharing (Item 1g) is built without Purview retention-label dependency. The SharePoint Connector (Item 1b) supports optional Purview-label gating but does not require GCIS to hold a Purview licence — the connector operates equally with or without label-based filtering (curator-driven manual transfer is the no-Purview fallback).

Risks priced into the model:

• SharePoint Graph API integration complexity (allowance built into Item 1b duration).
• SITA firewall rule changes adding lead time (allowance built into Phase 1).
• GCIS file plan complexity exceeding standard taxonomy depth (Phase 3 contingency).
• Time-Limited Link Sharing security review iterations (allowance built into Item 1g).

Risks not priced (to be flagged in proposal):

• Volume of digitisation records affecting AtoM performance tuning beyond standard configuration.
• Additional directorates, provinces or departments per the GCIS Digitisation Roadmap (4.1.2.6) — would be priced as Phase 2 enhancement under change control.
• AI services (HTR, NER, agentic OCR) — not in scope, available as future enhancement via ahgAIPlugin.
• Microsoft Purview licensing on the GCIS tenant — not required for the SharePoint Connector to operate, but enables retention-label gated automatic transfer if GCIS later licenses it.

11. Mapping of GCIS Requirements to AtoM Core and Plugin Add-ons

The table below maps every functional requirement in clauses 4.1.1.1 to 4.1.1.14 and 4.6 to either AtoM core functionality or a specific AHG plugin add-on, with the corresponding Item number from the pricing model.

Result: every GCIS functional requirement is mapped to either base AtoM or a named, priced AHG plugin add-on. No requirement is unaddressed.

12. Appendix: AHG Plugin Catalogue — Items Relevant to GCIS

The AHG AtoM plugin catalogue contains 80 plugins covering archival, museum, library, gallery and DAM sectors. The plugins below are the subset relevant to this GCIS bid. All are licensed to GCIS as part of this contract; configuration and customisation made for GCIS becomes GCIS intellectual property per clause 4.1.3.5.

• ahgCorePlugin — core framework integration (included with base AtoM, no separate cost)
• ahgThemeB5Plugin — Bootstrap 5 theme (included, no separate cost)
• ahgDisplayPlugin — display mode handling (included, no separate cost)
• ahgUiOverridesPlugin — UI helpers (included, no separate cost)
• ahgCustomFieldsPlugin — EAV custom metadata fields, no code required to add new fields per GCIS department (included in Item 1a configuration)
• ahgIngestPlugin — 6-step batch ingest wizard with AI processing options (Item 1h)
• ahgAPIPlugin — REST API endpoints + webhooks (Item 1h)
• ahgSharePointPlugin — SharePoint Online connector via Microsoft Graph (Item 1b)
• ahgPrivacyPlugin — POPIA / PAIA / GDPR / CCPA / PIPEDA / NDPA / DPA — seven jurisdictions (Item 1c)
• ahgSecurityClearancePlugin — MISS-aligned security classification, user clearance, embargo (Item 1d)
• ahgExtendedRightsPlugin — retention schedules, embargo processing, disposal workflows, RightsStatements.org, TK Labels (Item 1e)
• ahgAuditTrailPlugin — POPIA + NARSSA compliant audit logging (Item 1f)
• ahgTimeLimitedShareLinkPlugin v0.1.0 — built and shipped May 2026; HMAC-SHA256 tokens, expiry caps, admin UI, retention sweep, full audit dual-write (Item 1g)
• ahgMultiTenantPlugin — single-instance multi-tenant model, AHG IP built at SITA for NARSSA (Item 1i)
• ahgFederationPlugin + SharePoint federated search — built and shipped May 2026 on Heratio; pluggable PeerConnector interface with OAI-PMH, AtoM local Elasticsearch and SharePoint Graph search connectors; result dedupe + source-attribution badges (Item 1j)
• ahgVersionControlPlugin v0.1.0 — built and shipped May 2026; per-record version capture, word-level diff, one-click restore, ACL gates, audit dual-write, 710 IO + 401 actor baselines backfilled (Item 1k)
• ahgBackupPlugin — backup/restore (included with base AtoM support, Item 2)
• ahgReportsPlugin — central reporting dashboard (included with base AtoM, no separate cost)
• ahgStatisticsPlugin — usage statistics tracking (included with base AtoM, no separate cost)
• ahgSettingsPlugin — centralised AHG settings management UI (included with base AtoM, no separate cost)

The included-with-base-AtoM plugins do not add cost but provide functionality that supports GCIS Gate 1 evaluation criterion 2 ("Functionalities meet all specified requirements and exceed expectations — 5 Points"). The full plugin catalogue is available for future GCIS scope expansion under change control.

13. Documentation and Screenshot Evidence (Gate 1 Criterion #2)

Clause 10.1.1.1 criterion 2 ("System Functionality and configuration of AtoM", weight 20) requires the bidder to submit AtoM system documentation with relevant screenshots as evidence that the system meets the requirements outlined in paragraphs 4.1.1.1 to 4.1.1.14. Scoring scale:

To target the 5-point score, every requirement in 4.1.1.1–4.1.1.14 below must have at least one screenshot, and several requirements have multiple screenshots demonstrating that the implementation "exceeds expectations" (e.g. for 4.1.1.1 we show both the rules admin and a live cron-driven ingest log; for 4.1.1.12.c we show both classification on a record and the access-denied screen when a cleared user tries to view an over-classified record).

How to use this section

1. AHG produces each screenshot from the PSIS demonstration instance (or the GCIS demo tenant once provisioned).
2. Save each screenshot using the suggested filename in ./screenshots/ relative to this document. PNG, at least 1600 px wide for legibility on print.
3. Reference each screenshot in the bid proposal next to the corresponding 4.1.1.x clause.
4. AHG reviews the assembled evidence pack before bid submission to confirm completeness.

Screenshot index

Suggested supplementary screenshots (push to "exceeds expectations" — 5 points)

Tabular evidence summary for the bid submission

A one-page evidence summary table should appear at the front of the AtoM functional documentation section of the bid, showing all 14 clauses of 4.1.1.x with a green checkmark and the corresponding screenshot reference numbers. This tells the evaluator at a glance that every requirement has evidence behind it before they read into the detail.

This is 14 of 14 clauses with evidence → targets 5 points on Gate 1 criterion 2 (weight 20).

Document prepared by The Archive and Heritage Group (Pty) Ltd. Confidential — for AHG and GCIS evaluation use only.

APPENDIX A — AHG INTERNAL: Heratio Parity Plan

Not for GCIS submission. Remove this appendix before sending the bid pack to GCIS.

This appendix documents how the three new-development items (1g Time-Limited Sharing, 1j Federated Search, 1k Version Control) are ported to AHG's Heratio Laravel product line in parallel with the GCIS delivery. Heratio runs in the AHG product line and is unrelated to the GCIS deployment, which is base AtoM 2.10 on SITA Private Cloud per section 0 of this plan. The parity work below is for AHG's product roadmap; it does not appear on the GCIS bid or invoice.

A.1 Why this matters

AHG maintains parallel Symfony (AtoM) and Laravel (Heratio) surfaces for every plugin in the AHG catalogue. The GCIS contract pays for the AtoM-side build of three new plugins (1g, 1j, 1k). To keep the product line coherent, the same capabilities must land on Heratio. The good news: Heratio already has substantial infrastructure for all three items, so the parity work is small and reuses production-proven patterns.

A.2 Coverage audit — what Heratio already has

Database probe of /usr/share/nginx/heratio confirms the following existing infrastructure:

A.2.1 Share tokens — production-ready patterns

Gap for Item 1g: add information_object_share_token with the same shape as portable_export_share_token, plus controller, middleware and Blade view.

A.2.2 Version snapshots — production-ready pattern

Plus tens of _history audit tables (accession_valuation_history, ahg_contract_history, ahg_loan_status_history, password_history, search_history, security_clearance_history, spectrum_workflow_history, etc.) showing the change-tracking discipline is consistent across the codebase.

Gap for Item 1k: add information_object_version and actor_version following the same snapshot JSON + version_number + change_summary pattern. Generic version observer service. Version list / diff / restore UI components.

A.2.3 Federation infrastructure — production-ready, comprehensive

Eleven federation tables in Heratio:

Plus admin UI under /federation covering peers, harvests, search config and logs — all already production-deployed.

Gap for Item 1j: add a SharePointGraphPeer connector class implementing the existing PeerConnector interface; register SharePoint as a peer type. The federation cache, log, dedupe and aggregation layers do not change.

A.3 Heratio parity build plan

All three items share the same activity shape: extend an existing Heratio Laravel package with a new component, mirroring the AtoM-side build. Work runs in parallel with the GCIS Phase 4 plugin development (Nov 2026 – Jan 2027).

A.3.1 Item 1g — Heratio Time-Limited Share

Package: new sub-namespace inside packages/ahg-core or a new packages/ahg-share-link package (decision per AHG package-boundary conventions).

Tasks:

1. DDL: CREATE TABLE information_object_share_token mirroring portable_export_share_token.
2. Eloquent model: InformationObjectShareToken.
3. Controller: InformationObjectShareController with issue(), access(), revoke(), list(), audit() (mirror existing share controllers).
4. Middleware: EnsureShareTokenValid (token, expiry, revocation, max-access count).
5. Blade view: share modal on IO view page; admin list page; recipient landing page.
6. Console command: ahg:share-token-expire-sweep (cron sweep for expired tokens).
7. Hook into the Heratio audit log for issuance / access / revocation events.

Effort: 5 dev days. Driven by the existing AHG pattern, this is mostly file-creation against a known recipe.

A.3.2 Item 1k — Heratio Version Control

Package: new sub-namespace inside packages/ahg-information-object-manage and packages/ahg-actor-manage, with shared service in packages/ahg-core.

Tasks:

1. DDL: CREATE TABLE information_object_version and CREATE TABLE actor_version mirroring report_version.
2. Eloquent observer: EntitySnapshotObserver captures snapshot on saving event for any registered model.
3. Shared service: VersionService with snapshot(), list(), diff(), restore() methods (mirror what the report plugin does today).
4. Blade components: <x-version-list />, <x-version-diff /> reusable across model types.
5. Add "Versions" tab to IO edit view and Actor edit view (Blade @push into existing tabs slot).
6. Restore action with confirmation modal + ACL guard.
7. Migration to backfill version 1 for existing records (initial snapshot).

Effort: 8 dev days.

A.3.3 Item 1j — Heratio SharePoint Federation Peer

Package: extends packages/ahg-federation and packages/ahg-sharepoint.

Tasks:

1. New class AhgFederation\Connectors\SharePointGraphConnector implementing the existing PeerConnector interface.
2. Register SharePoint as a peer type — UI extension to the existing /federation/peers/add form (peer-type select + Graph-specific config fields: tenant, app credentials reference, default site list).
3. Implement Graph Search API query in the connector (POST /search/query, parse hits into the existing federation result shape).
4. Update the SharePointFederatedSearchController in packages/ahg-sharepoint (currently a 503 stub returning "ships in Phase 3") to delegate to the federation layer.
5. Result rendering: extend the existing federation search view with the "SharePoint (active)" / "AtoM (archived)" source badge styling.
6. ACL: respect SharePoint per-item permissions returned by Graph + AtoM per-record ACL on AtoM hits.
7. Caching key strategy: extend existing federation_search_cache key to include tenant_id and drive_id scope.

Effort: 6 dev days. The federation infrastructure does the aggregation, caching, logging and audit; the connector is the only new piece.

A.4 Heratio parity timeline

Runs in parallel with the GCIS Phase 4 development window. No additional cost on the GCIS bid; absorbed into the AHG product roadmap.

Total: ~19 dev days of Heratio parity work + 2–3 days documentation = budget within AHG's normal product line maintenance. No GCIS pricing impact.

A.5 Cross-surface design discipline

Two locked rules apply to all three items:

1. Same database column names between AtoM (PSIS) and Heratio surfaces so future cross-surface migrations are trivial. Where the existing Heratio pattern differs from the planned AtoM-side build (e.g. Heratio uses share_token vs token), the AtoM-side plugin adopts the Heratio name and we document the convention in atom-ahg-plugins/CLAUDE.md.
2. Same plugin/package name root — ahgTimeLimitedShareLinkPlugin (AtoM) / ahg-share-link (Heratio), ahgVersionControlPlugin / ahg-version-control, ahgFederationPlugin SharePoint connector lives in packages/ahg-federation/src/Connectors/.

A.6 No-push policy note

The SharePoint Connector code (Item 1b on the GCIS side, equivalent Heratio package) remains under the existing SharePoint no-push policy (memory: sharepoint_no_push_policy.md). Items 1g, 1j, 1k Heratio parity builds are NOT under no-push — they are general AHG product line work and are committed and released normally via ./bin/release.

Item 1j is mixed: the SharePoint-peer connector portion stays no-push; the generic federation cache + log + UI extensions are committed normally. Split the commit accordingly when work lands.

Appendix A is AHG internal. Not for distribution outside AHG.