Marketing automation solution for VR Group - Invitation to participate

VR-Yhtymä Oyj / VR-Group Plc (hereinafter also "VR" or "contracting entity") is starting a public tendering process to procure a marketing automation and customer communications system. The system handles automated marketing processes and customer communications such as newsletters and application messaging and loyalty program events. The goal of this procurement …

CPV: 72000000 IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support, 72212480 Sales, marketing and business intelligence software development services
Place of execution:
Marketing automation solution for VR Group - Invitation to participate
Awarding body:
VR-Yhtymä Oyj / VR-Group Plc
Award number:
569408

1. Buyer

1.1 Buyer

Official name : VR-Yhtymä Oyj / VR-Group Plc
Legal type of the buyer : Public undertaking
Activity of the contracting entity : Railway services

2. Procedure

2.1 Procedure

Title : Marketing automation solution for VR Group - Invitation to participate
Description : VR-Yhtymä Oyj / VR-Group Plc (hereinafter also "VR" or "contracting entity") is starting a public tendering process to procure a marketing automation and customer communications system. The system handles automated marketing processes and customer communications such as newsletters and application messaging and loyalty program events. The goal of this procurement is to acquire a modern marketing automation/customer engagement system for VR’s passenger traffic operations in Nordics. The procurement includes the system license, possible other licenses required for system add-ons (such as email gateways etc.), support, monitoring and maintenance services to ensure the system remains operational throughout the contract period. The supplier will also be responsible for managing the hardware, software, and security required for the system. This procurement focuses on providing the system as a service (SaaS). This does not include implementation and ongoing services for operational tasks. The preliminary description of the procurement is attached to this invitation to participate (Annex 1). The description and related documentation will be specified during negotiations and the final subject-matter will be described in the final invitation to tender. This procurement is made for VR-Group Plc and VR Snabbtåg Sverige AB. The agreement can be extended to other VR-Group's subsidiaries during the contract period. The aim is that the procurement process would end in Q1/2026. The schedule of the procurement may however change during the procurement procedure. VR is looking for partner which has a capacity to meet VR’s future needs in effectively managing customer engagement, personalized marketing, and communication strategies.
Procedure identifier : 6fb5a856-d5ec-4e49-9654-575a8b4c5938
Internal identifier : 569408
Type of procedure : Negotiated with prior publication of a call for competition / competitive with negotiation
The procedure is accelerated : no

2.1.1 Purpose

Main nature of the contract : Services
Main classification ( cpv ): 72000000 IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support
Additional classification ( cpv ): 72212480 Sales, marketing and business intelligence software development services

2.1.2 Place of performance

Anywhere

2.1.4 General information

Additional information : Requirements will be specified during the negotiation phase and the final requirements regarding the whole procurement will be described in the final invitation to tender. More detailed information regarding the content and schedules of the negotiations will be provided to the selected tenderers. Functional and non-functional requirements as well as system architecture and information flow requirements will be provided later during the procurement procedure. The Finnish Act on Procurements and Concession Contracts of Entities Operating in the Water and Energy Supply, Transport and Postal Services Sector 1398/2016 (later "Act on Public Contracts in the Utilities sector") applies to the procurement. The procurement will be carried out by means of negotiated procedure. All requirements for the procurement, as well as the contract terms, will be defined during the procurement procedure. All final requirements will be presented in the final invitation to tender. This procurement is a joint procurement of VR-Group Plc and VR Snabbtåg Sverige AB as referred to in Article 57 point 4 of the Utilities Directive (25/2014/EU), section 32 subsection 3 of the Finnish Act on Procurement Contracts in the Utilities Sector (1398 /2016) and chapter 7, sections 9, 12, 13 and 14 of the Swedish Act on Procurement in the Utilities Sectors (2016:1146). VR-Group Plc will conduct the procurement procedure on behalf of both VR-Group Plc and VR Snabbtåg Sverige AB. VR-Group Plc will be responsible for the entire procurement procedure including all stages of the procurement procedure and possible appeal and rectification procedures. All of these processes will be entirely conducted according to Finnish law according to applicable legislation. The Finnish Act on Procurement Contracts in the Utilities Sector (1398/2016) is applied to the procurement. A candidate must fulfil all suitability requirements set in the contract notice and its appendices in order to be qualified as a tenderer to the procurement procedure. Due to the need to manage the procurement process, the number of selected tenderers has been limited to four (4). Suitability requirements are presented in the ESPD form (European Single Procurement Document) attached to the contract notice. If more than four (4) requests to participate are received from candidates fulfilling the suitability requirements, the number of candidates will have to be reduced. In this case, VR will compare the additional references provided by the candidates as described in section "Grounds for decision" and annex 2 "Reference Form" in the invitation to participate. If there are four (4) or fewer candidates fulfilling the suitability requirements, references will not be scored and compared. If there are more than four (4) suitable candidates and if the scoring of the additional references leads to a tie situation, all candidates with the same points as with candidate ranked number 4 will be selected to the procurement procedure (i.e. in this case the number of selected tenderers may be more than four (4)).
Legal basis :
Directive 2014/25/EU

2.1.6 Grounds for exclusion

Analogous situation like bankruptcy under national law : The economic operator is in any analogous situation like bankruptcy arising from a similar procedure under national laws and regulations.
Bankruptcy : The economic operator is bankrupt.
Corruption : The economic operator itself or any person who is a member of its administrative, management or supervisory body or has powers of representation, decision or control therein has been the subject of a conviction by final judgment for corruption, by a conviction rendered at the most five years ago or in which an exclusion period set out directly in the conviction continues to be applicable.
Arrangement with creditors : The economic operator is in arrangement with creditors.
Participation in a criminal organisation : The economic operator itself or any person who is a member of its administrative, management or supervisory body or has powers of representation, decision or control therein has been the subject of a conviction by final judgment for participation in a criminal organisation, by a conviction rendered at the most five years ago or in which an exclusion period set out directly in the conviction continues to be applicable.
Agreements with other economic operators aimed at distorting competition : The economic operator has entered into agreements with other economic operators aimed at distorting competition.
Breaching of obligations in the fields of environmental law : The economic operator has breached its obligations in the field of environmental law.
Money laundering or terrorist financing : The economic operator itself or any person who is a member of its administrative, management or supervisory body or has powers of representation, decision or control therein has been the subject of a conviction by final judgment for money laundering or terrorist financing, by a conviction rendered at the most five years ago or in which an exclusion period set out directly in the conviction continues to be applicable.
Fraud : The economic operator itself or any person who is a member of its administrative, management or supervisory body or has powers of representation, decision or control therein has been the subject of a conviction by final judgment for fraud, by a conviction rendered at the most five years ago or in which an exclusion period set out directly in the conviction continues to be applicable.
Child labour and other forms of trafficking in human beings : The economic operator itself or any person who is a member of its administrative, management or supervisory body or has powers of representation, decision or control therein has been the subject of a conviction by final judgment for child labour and other forms of trafficking in human beings, by a conviction rendered at the most five years ago or in which an exclusion period set out directly in the conviction continues to be applicable.
Insolvency : The economic operator is the subject of insolvency or winding-up.
Breaching of obligations in the fields of labour law : The economic operator has breached its obligations in the field of labour law.
Assets being administered by liquidator : The assets of the economic operator are being administered by a liquidator or by the court.
Purely national exclusion grounds : Any person who is a member of the economic operator’s administrative, management or supervisory body or has powers of representation, decision or control therein has been the subject of a conviction by final judgment for work safety offence, working hours offence, work discrimination, extortionate work discrimination, violation of the right to organise or unauthorised use of foreign labour.
Conflict of interest due to its participation in the procurement procedure : The economic operator is aware of any conflict of interest, as indicated in national law, the relevant notice or the procurement documents due to its participation in the procurement procedure.
Direct or indirect involvement in the preparation of this procurement procedure : The economic operator or an undertaking related to it has advised the contracting authority or contracting entity or otherwise been involved in the preparation of the procurement procedure.
Guilty of grave professional misconduct : The economic operator is guilty of grave professional misconduct.
Early termination, damages or other comparable sanctions : The economic operator has experienced that a prior public contract, a prior contract with a contracting entity or a prior concession contract was terminated early, or that damages or other comparable sanctions were imposed in connection with that prior contract.
Breaching of obligations in the fields of social law : The economic operator has breached its obligations in the field of social law.
Payment of social security contributions : The economic operator has breached its obligations relating to the payment social security contributions, both in the country in which it is established and in Member State of the contracting authority or contracting entity if other than the country of establishment.
Business activities are suspended : The business activities of the economic operator are suspended.
Payment of taxes : The economic operator has breached its obligations relating to the payment of taxes, both in the country in which it is established and in Member State of the contracting authority or contracting entity if other than the country of establishment.
Terrorist offences or offences linked to terrorist activities : The economic operator itself or any person who is a member of its administrative, management or supervisory body or has powers of representation, decision or control therein has been the subject of a conviction by final judgment for terrorist offences or offences linked to terrorist activities, by a conviction rendered at the most five years ago or in which an exclusion period set out directly in the conviction continues to be applicable.

5. Lot

5.1 Lot technical ID : LOT-0000

Title : Marketing automation solution for VR Group - Invitation to participate
Description : VR-Yhtymä Oyj / VR-Group Plc (hereinafter also "VR" or "contracting entity") is starting a public tendering process to procure a marketing automation and customer communications system. The system handles automated marketing processes and customer communications such as newsletters and application messaging and loyalty program events. The goal of this procurement is to acquire a modern marketing automation/customer engagement system for VR’s passenger traffic operations in Nordics. The procurement includes the system license, possible other licenses required for system add-ons (such as email gateways etc.), support, monitoring and maintenance services to ensure the system remains operational throughout the contract period. The supplier will also be responsible for managing the hardware, software, and security required for the system. This procurement focuses on providing the system as a service (SaaS). This does not include implementation and ongoing services for operational tasks. The preliminary description of the procurement is attached to this invitation to participate (Annex 1). The description and related documentation will be specified during negotiations and the final subject-matter will be described in the final invitation to tender. This procurement is made for VR-Group Plc and VR Snabbtåg Sverige AB. The agreement can be extended to other VR-Group's subsidiaries during the contract period. The aim is that the procurement process would end in Q1/2026. The schedule of the procurement may however change during the procurement procedure. VR is looking for partner which has a capacity to meet VR’s future needs in effectively managing customer engagement, personalized marketing, and communication strategies.
Internal identifier : 569408

5.1.1 Purpose

Main nature of the contract : Services
Main classification ( cpv ): 72000000 IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support
Additional classification ( cpv ): 72212480 Sales, marketing and business intelligence software development services

5.1.2 Place of performance

Anywhere
Additional information :

5.1.3 Estimated duration

Duration : 36 Month

5.1.4 Renewal

Maximum renewals : 1
Other information about renewals : The contract is valid for a fixed term of three years. After the three-year fixed term, the contract will continue to be valid until further notice.

5.1.6 General information

Reserved participation : Participation is not reserved.
The procurement is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA) : yes
This procurement is also suitable for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) : yes
Additional information : Requirements will be specified during the negotiation phase and the final requirements regarding the whole procurement will be described in the final invitation to tender. More detailed information regarding the content and schedules of the negotiations will be provided to the selected tenderers. Functional and non-functional requirements as well as system architecture and information flow requirements will be provided later during the procurement procedure. The Finnish Act on Procurements and Concession Contracts of Entities Operating in the Water and Energy Supply, Transport and Postal Services Sector 1398/2016 (later "Act on Public Contracts in the Utilities sector") applies to the procurement. The procurement will be carried out by means of negotiated procedure. All requirements for the procurement, as well as the contract terms, will be defined during the procurement procedure. All final requirements will be presented in the final invitation to tender. This procurement is a joint procurement of VR-Group Plc and VR Snabbtåg Sverige AB as referred to in Article 57 point 4 of the Utilities Directive (25/2014/EU), section 32 subsection 3 of the Finnish Act on Procurement Contracts in the Utilities Sector (1398 /2016) and chapter 7, sections 9, 12, 13 and 14 of the Swedish Act on Procurement in the Utilities Sectors (2016:1146). VR-Group Plc will conduct the procurement procedure on behalf of both VR-Group Plc and VR Snabbtåg Sverige AB. VR-Group Plc will be responsible for the entire procurement procedure including all stages of the procurement procedure and possible appeal and rectification procedures. All of these processes will be entirely conducted according to Finnish law according to applicable legislation. The Finnish Act on Procurement Contracts in the Utilities Sector (1398/2016) is applied to the procurement. A candidate must fulfil all suitability requirements set in the contract notice and its appendices in order to be qualified as a tenderer to the procurement procedure. Due to the need to manage the procurement process, the number of selected tenderers has been limited to four (4). Suitability requirements are presented in the ESPD form (European Single Procurement Document) attached to the contract notice. If more than four (4) requests to participate are received from candidates fulfilling the suitability requirements, the number of candidates will have to be reduced. In this case, VR will compare the additional references provided by the candidates as described in section "Grounds for decision" and annex 2 "Reference Form" in the invitation to participate. If there are four (4) or fewer candidates fulfilling the suitability requirements, references will not be scored and compared. If there are more than four (4) suitable candidates and if the scoring of the additional references leads to a tie situation, all candidates with the same points as with candidate ranked number 4 will be selected to the procurement procedure (i.e. in this case the number of selected tenderers may be more than four (4)).

5.1.7 Strategic procurement

Social objective promoted : Human rights due diligence in global supply chains, Fair working conditions

5.1.9 Selection criteria

Criterion :
Type : Economic and financial standing
Name : Please see suitability requirements in full in the ESPD document
Use of this criterion : Used
Criterion :
Type : Suitability to pursue the professional activity
Name : Please see suitability requirements in full in the ESPD document
Use of this criterion : Used
Criterion :
Type : Technical and professional ability
Name : Please see suitability requirements in full in the ESPD document
Use of this criterion : Used
Information about the second stage of a two-stage procedure :
Minimum number of candidates to be invited for the second stage of the procedure : 1
Maximum number of candidates to be invited for the second stage of the procedure : 4

5.1.10 Award criteria

Criterion :
Type : Price
Description : Price 50-70 %
Criterion :
Type : Quality
Description : Quality 30-50 %

5.1.11 Procurement documents

Languages in which the procurement documents are officially available : English
Deadline for requesting additional information : 23/07/2025 09:00 +00:00

5.1.12 Terms of procurement

Terms of submission :
Electronic submission : Required
Languages in which tenders or requests to participate may be submitted : English
Electronic catalogue : Not allowed
Variants : Not allowed
Tenderers may submit more than one tender : Not allowed
Deadline for receipt of requests to participate : 14/08/2025 09:00 +00:00
Terms of contract :
The execution of the contract must be performed within the framework of sheltered employment programmes : No
Conditions relating to the performance of the contract : To the extent relevant, conditions and terms of performance will be specified during the procurement procedure in the final invitation to tender
A non-disclosure agreement is required : yes
Additional information about the non-disclosure agreement : The candidate participating in the negotiated procedure undertakes to sign a Non Disclosure Agreement submitted separately by VR to the selected tenderers after the selection of tenderers. Signing the Non Disclosure Agreement is required in order for the candidate to be able to proceed to the negotiation phase.
Electronic invoicing : Required
Electronic ordering will be used : yes
Electronic payment will be used : yes
Financial arrangement : To the extent relevant, finance and payment terms will be specified during the procurement procedure in the final invitation to tender

5.1.15 Techniques

Framework agreement :
No framework agreement
Information about the dynamic purchasing system :
No dynamic purchase system

5.1.16 Further information, mediation and review

Review organisation : Markkinaoikeus
Organisation providing additional information about the procurement procedure : VR-Yhtymä Oyj / VR-Group Plc

8. Organisations

8.1 ORG-0001

Official name : VR-Yhtymä Oyj / VR-Group Plc
Registration number : 1003521-5
Postal address : PL 488 (Radiokatu 3)
Town : Helsinki
Postcode : 00096
Country subdivision (NUTS) : Helsinki-Uusimaa ( FI1B1 )
Country : Finland
Contact point : Procurement unit
Telephone : +358 294343
Internet address : http://www.vrgroup.fi
Roles of this organisation :
Buyer
Organisation providing additional information about the procurement procedure

8.1 ORG-0002

Official name : Markkinaoikeus
Registration number : 3006157-6
Postal address : Radanrakentajantie 5
Town : Helsinki
Postcode : 00520
Country subdivision (NUTS) : Helsinki-Uusimaa ( FI1B1 )
Country : Finland
Telephone : +358 295643300
Roles of this organisation :
Review organisation

8.1 ORG-0003

Official name : Hansel Oy (Hilma)
Registration number : FI09880841
Postal address : Mannerheiminaukio 1a
Town : Helsinki
Postcode : 00100
Country subdivision (NUTS) : Helsinki-Uusimaa ( FI1B1 )
Country : Finland
Contact point : eSender
Telephone : 029 55 636 30
Roles of this organisation :
TED eSender

Notice information

Notice identifier/version : fe1933f2-5101-4d77-9dcb-a2366bce1a3b - 01
Form type : Competition
Notice type : Contract or concession notice – standard regime
Notice dispatch date : 08/07/2025 15:40 +00:00
Notice dispatch date (eSender) : 08/07/2025 15:41 +00:00
Languages in which this notice is officially available : English
Notice publication number : 00450068-2025
OJ S issue number : 130/2025
Publication date : 10/07/2025