Design and Development

of an
Assessment Suite
For
Barracuda Far East

A Proposal
Submitted by

ABC Advisory Services Private Limited

Jodhpur, India

Proposal Version 3.0

Dated June 19, 2013

Confidential between Barracuda Far East and ABC Advisory

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 Contents

1) Executive Summary ………………………3

2) Background and Requirements ………………………4

3) The ABC Advisory Assessment Library for Barracuda Far East:

2a. How is it Different? …..………………….5

2b. Test Design Specifications ………………………6

2c. List of Assessments & Delivery Schedules ……………………..7

2d. Deliverables ……………………..8

4) Costs and Revenue Model ……………………..9

5) Commercial Terms & Mutual Responsibilities ……………………..10

6) Summary ………………………12

7) Appendix Contents ……..…………….. 13

Confidential between Barracuda Far East and ABC Advisory

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1) Executive Summary

a) ABC (ABC) submits this proposal to Barracuda Far East (Barracuda) based on
discussions held in April 2014.

b) This proposal outlines the ABC offer to Barracuda to design and develop a
suite of technology-enabled assessments in the Information Technology area,
which will form the basis of a proposed Technical Assessment Library on the
Barracuda e-learning site.

c) In summary, the major aspects of this proposal are:

i) ABC will develop 12 technology-enabled assessments based on the

generic areas represented by the existing Barracuda Libraries.

ii) These assessments will incorporate advanced techniques and features

such as Computer Adaptive Testing, On-line scoring, On-line Student
Dossier, as well as innovative and interactive test items. The assessment
design specifications are given in the body of this document.

iii) These tests will be delivered in 14 weeks from the date of go-ahead, in a
three-phased manner.

iv) The cost of developing these tests as per the specifications set out is
estimated at US$ 750,000.

v) Barracuda and ABC will jointly evolve a revenue model for meeting the
costs of designing and development, as well as a revenue sharing model
as and when these assessments become chargeable. Suggestions for a
possible revenue model are part of this proposal.

d) The benefits that will accrue to Barracuda and ABC by taking up this project
are:

i) Building of both in-site assessment and certification capability

ii) This will not compete with any existing partnerships already in place
iii) Mandarin language assessment capability upon translation, a unique
advantage for Barracuda
iv) The possibility of long-term growth as the business transitions from
assessment to professional certification.
v) The model can be scaled up on a global basis – providing a new revenue
opportunity for both Barracuda and ABC.

e) ABC is confident that this proposal provides for high-quality assessment at a

substantially lower cost than what would be available in the international
market for a project of this nature.

f) ABC thanks Barracuda for giving us this opportunity to present this proposal
and to being of service to Barracuda Far East.

Confidential between Barracuda Far East and ABC Advisory

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2) Background and Requirements

a) Barracuda Far East (Barracuda) is the leading provider of e-learning

services in the Far East. Barracuda is also a pioneer in the provision of e-
learning courses in Mandarin.

b) Barracuda is part of Barracuda Inc., a global organisation that has

provided online and traditional corporate training solutions to more than
8,000 clients for over two decades.

c) Barracuda currently provides over 600 courses, classified into eleven

Libraries, covering the fields of Business Management, Information
Technology, Office Productivity and Workplace Safety.

d) Barracuda services are accessible on the worldwide web, as well as

through a dedicated Chinese website.

e) Many of the courses in Barracuda libraries incorporate pre-and post-

training assessment modules. These are intended to provide the course-
taker with inputs and highlight the content areas within the course that
the learner needs to focus on. These are not designed or intended to test
the learners’ knowledge of the subject.

f) Barracuda is focused on developing the Far East market for IT e-learning

services, and is desirous of creating quality technical assessment libraries,
which will be part of their overall service repertoire. In the longer term,
these assessments could become standardised benchmarks for the region,
and will transform into certification standards.

g) ABC Advisory Services Private Limited (ABC), is a leading provider of

assessment services. ABC is keen to work as partner with Barracuda in
developing a long-term business relationship with Barracuda in the Far
East region.

h) Barracuda and ABC have discussed strategies in the area of incorporating

assessment into the Barracuda service offering, and the longer-term
vision of creating assessment and certification standards in the Far East.
Based on these discussions, the following agreement was reached:

i) Barracuda would consider incorporating a new Library for Technical

assessment as part of the Barracuda websites.
ii) These assessments would be generic in nature, rather than application
specific, and would be used to assess the learners’ skills in the subject
area. These tests could be taken at any time, either before, during or
after the course of instruction.
iii) The assessments thus created would roughly correspond to as many of
the existing Libraries that Barracuda already has.
iv) The Tests would be made available in Mandarin or both English as well
as Mandarin.

Confidential between Barracuda Far East and ABC Advisory

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 v) Initially, these tests would be made available on a gratis basis; based
on acceptance and usage, there would be a fee for taking the test.
vi) Barracuda requested ABC to prepare a proposal for designing and
developing the Assessment Libraries for Barracuda.

i) This proposal is based on the above requirements. ABC acknowledges the

support and consideration extended by Barracuda is granting them this
opportunity.

j) The major benefits of this exercise are:

i) Building of both in-site assessment and certification capability

ii) This will not compete with any existing partnerships already in place
iii) Mandarin language assessment capability upon translation, a unique
advantage for Barracuda
iv) The possibility of long-term growth as the business transitions from
assessment to professional certification.
v) The model can be scaled up on a global basis – providing a new
revenue opportunity for both Barracuda and ABC.

3) The ABC Advisory Assessment Library for Barracuda Far East

a) How is it different from what Barracuda is doing currently?

i) Barracuda currently offers assessment from a learning perspective.

The intention here is to provide the learner with a guide to using the
course material. This could be either pre- or post-learning. Little or no
analysis of this data is carried out, nor is there any comparative
measurement done.
ii) ABC proposes to create more technical assessment that is intended to
test the knowledge and skills of the learner on a stand-alone basis
iii) The assessment will result in a report that indicates the current skill
level of the learner. The report will indicate whether the person is a:
(1) Novice: One who has inadequate of low skills in the area
(2) Entry-Level: One who has the skill to perform with guidance
(3) Intermediate: One who has consistent performance in the area,
with only occasional inputs from others, or
(4) Expert: One who is capable of performing completely
independently, and in turn, able to provide guidance to others.
iv) This will be achieved through a process of Computer Adaptive Testing,
whereby the individual will receive fresh questions based on the
answer provided for previous questions. This is based on a pool of

Confidential between Barracuda Far East and ABC Advisory

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 graded questions. Through this process, it is possible to assess the
overall skills of the individual to the level at which there is no further
improvement in performance.
v) This basic report will be supported by more detailed reports, which
could be part of a paid service.
vi) The report will allow third parties, such as recruiting or admitting
agencies to assess the suitability of the person for a job or for further
studies. This report will provide comparative performance information
to allow for making relative judgements about the applicant.
vii) Every assessment that is taken will be stored in a database and
analysed in a variety of ways to provide more meaningful feedback to
the individual.
viii) The test results of the individual will be securely stored and may be
accessed by the individual or his/her nominee by providing a password.
This will allow for easy sharing and transmission of the information.
ix) The individual may take the test multiple times, and may replace his or
her scores with the best performance. This multiplicity is achieved
through the use of a dynamic selection of test items from a pool, and
through the use of parameterization, wherever possible.

b) Test Design Specifications

i) The Technical assessments proposed to be developed by ABC will

conform to the following specifications:
(1) The tests will be, as far as possible, generic in nature and not
specific to any product or products.
(2) The tests shall be available in two versions:
(a) The Long Version, consisting of around 50 items; this will be
developed first, and is part of the Deliverables. This test will be
used for certification purposes.
(b) The Short Test, consisting of around 20 items; this will be
derived from the long test, and will be delivered later, after
analysis of the item performance.
(3) Each test shall be based on a pool of a minimum of 500 items,
each item being graded for difficulty level.
(4) All tests will be computer adaptive, and will use dynamic item
selection as well as parameterization, wherever possible.
(5) The Test will consist of various types of items, including multiple
choice questions, graphical items, code and questions, interactive
and multimedia.
(6) The tests will be developed in the English Language
(7) The Test will be tech-enabled, that is provided in a web-friendly
and computer-ready format. These will be based on commonly

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 available standards and software environments based on Microsoft
products. All tests will be Microsoft IE 11 compatible.
(8) Reporting: The test will provide the test-taker with two types of
reports:
(a) The Basic Report that indicates the current skill level of the
person, whether Novice, Entry-Level, Intermediate or Expert.
This will be part of the initial deliverable
(b) The Detailed Report that provides more detailed analysis and
comparative data to help assess the candidate’s current skill
level. This report will we part of later delivery, and will be based
on accumulated data of users, in the region, and later on a
global basis.

c) List of Assessments & Delivery Schedules

i) The Table that follows details the list of assessments that will be
delivered as part of this proposal. Other tests will be added in the
future as part of separate assignments.
ii) ABC has studied the available Libraries and selected the listed
assessment areas based on our understanding of the Far East market,
as well as transition from a level of lower content complexity to higher
levels.
iii) The term ‘Priority’ indicates the developmental priority, and the term
‘Class’ refers to the category of test based on complexity as well as
value to the test-taker. Typically all assessments with fall into one of
three classification levels:
(1) Class 1: Basic Topics
(2) Class 2: Intermediate Topics, and
(3) Class 3: Advanced Topics.
iv) The Delivery schedules are also provided, with the rider that ABC shall
have flexibility in delivery, provided the twelve tests are delivered
within the overall 14-week period specified.

Confidential between Barracuda Far East and ABC Advisory

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Table 1: List of Assessments and Delivery Schedule

Serial Barracuda Assessment Priority Deliver

Number Far East Library Name & Test y Lead
Class Time-
Wks
1. Networking & Hardware & PC Priority 1 8
Operating Systems Technology
Class: 1
2. Networking & Unix Operating Priority 1 8
Operating Systems System &
Environment Class: 2
3. Networking & Microsoft Priority 1 12
Operating Systems Operating
System & Class: 2
Environment
4. Networking & Networking Priority 1 8
Operating Systems Technology
Hardware & Class: 1
Software
5. Programming & Programming & Priority 1 8
Development Systems
Analysis Class: 1
6. Programming & C++ Priority 2 12
Development Programming
Language Class: 2
7. Programming & File Systems Priority 1 8
Development and Database
Class: 1
8. Telecommunicatio Data Priority 2 12
ns & Data Communication
Communication Class: 1
9. Office Productivity Microsoft Word Priority 3 14

Class: 2
10. Office Productivity Microsoft Excel Priority 3 14

Class: 2
11. Office Productivity Microsoft Power Priority 3 14
Point
Class: 2
12. Office Productivity Microsoft Priority 3 14
Access
Class: 2

Confidential between Barracuda Far East and ABC Advisory

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 d) Deliverables

i) Each Test will be delivered as per the schedule given above, and will
include the following as deliverables:
(1) Item pool of a minimum of 500 graded items using SQL Server
software
(2) Application to run the application: Long Test
(3) Customised look-and feel in line with existing Barracuda look and
feel
(4) Delivery in English language only – translation will be to Barracuda
account. ABC will provide all technical assistance during the
translation period.
(5) Basic Report generation facility
(6) On-line Dossier capability
(7) All the above will be in soft form:
(a) On CD-ROM
(b) Uploaded to a site designated by Barracuda
(8) ABC will provide all assistance in integrating the application with
the Barracuda site and existing databases as required. This will
have to be studied and a mutually agreed upon list of activities to
be determined.
(9) Warranty support on a remote basis for six months in case of
defective workmanship (English tests only).

4) Costs and Revenue Model

a) ABC has estimated the cost of designing and developing the twelve
assessments listed above at US$ 750,000. This cost will need to be shared
in a mutually agreed fashion by Barracuda and ABC.
b) The current revenue model for this Library does not envision any charges
for taking the assessments. It is intended to be free to all enrolled users
on the Barracuda site. Barracuda may also offer the test on a gratis basis
to select corporations, institutions and business partners with a view to
popularize the use of the assessments as well as to build region-specific
data for certification and analysis.
c) However, it is envisioned that these tests will be transitioned to a paid
model in the future. When this happens, it is suggested that they be
priced based on their Length and Class. The pricing model would be as
given below:

Confidential between Barracuda Far East and ABC Advisory

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 Table 2: Suggested Pricing

Class of Length of Type of Price in

Test Test Report US$
Class 1 Short Basic 15
Short Detailed 20
Long Basic 20
Long Detailed 25
Class 2 Short Basic 20
Short Detailed 25
Long Basic 25
Long Detailed 35
Class 3 Short Basic 25
Short Detailed 35
Long Basic 45
Long Detailed 55

d) A suitable and mutually agreeable royalty arrangement will be worked out

between Barracuda and ABC.

5) Commercial Terms & Mutual Responsibilities

a) The intellectual property developed under this arrangement in English

shall be the property of ABC, subject to clause 5(b) following.
b) Once the tests are made available on a chargeable basis, and upon ABC
reaching a revenue level of US$ 250,000, on account of both cost-sharing
by Barracuda as well as royalty payments, the intellectual Property
developed under this arrangement, both English as well as the Mandarin
Versions, shall be the joint property of Barracuda and ABC
c) The right of use of these assessments shall be limited to Barracuda sites
only. Any extension of these rights shall be subject to further charges by
Barracuda.
d) Upon finalisation of the cost-sharing arrangement, Barracuda shall pay
50% of its share of the costs to ABC. The balance 50% shall be payable
on delivery of each of the three phases, in equal installments.
e) Barracuda shall release a firm Purchase Order on ABC for purposes of
commercial records. The value of the PO shall be limited to a value that is
equal to Barracuda share of the costs.
f) Delivery Lead-time shall be reckoned only after the receipt of PO and 50%
advance payment.
g) Barracuda and ABC shall enter into necessary legal and non-disclosure
agreement(s) to give effect to this arrangement.
h) This proposal shall be valid for a period of one month from the date
mentioned on Page 1 of this document, unless specifically extended by
ABC.

Confidential between Barracuda Far East and ABC Advisory

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Mutual Responsibilities
In order to ensure smooth delivery of the products and services outline in this
document, the following specific responsibilities are required to be fulfilled by
both parties:

1) Barracuda
a) Barracuda shall provide access to its assessment platforms,
documentation and all other technical assessment
b) Barracuda will be solely responsible for the translation and re-hosting of
the multi-lingual assessment suites
c) Barracuda will designate a Project Manager from their side to serve as an
interface between the two teams
2) ABC Advisory
a) Will adhere to the deliverables as detailed in preceding sections of this
proposal
b) Will designate a project manager from their side to serve as the interface
between the two teams
c) Will provide necessary consultation and feedback to the translation teams
to ensure that multi-lingual implementations are implemented in a
rigorous manner.
3) Both Parties
a) Agree to participate in weekly video conference meetings every week on a
mutually agreed to schedule
b) Shall participate in a monthly face-to-face meetings (at their own cost),
the venue of which shall be either the Barracuda Offices in Singapore or
the ABC Offices in Jodhpur on an alternating basis
c) Enter into non-disclosure and other IP related agreements for mutual
protection of intellectual property and information security
d) In case of disputes, both parties agree to participate in internationally
agreed-upon arbitration processes and shall not bring the other party to
suit until such time that such arbitration is established to be inconclusive.
e) Shall jointly and mutually agree upon courses of action in the event of
force majure or other similar events.

Confidential between Barracuda Far East and ABC Advisory

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6) Summary

This proposal provides Barracuda with the possibility of building a powerful as

well as much-needed assessment platform for the assessment of information
technology skills. Based on the suggested strategy, after an initial free-to-user
launch, the model will become revenue generating and deliver substantial
returns to Barracuda.
The proposal outlines a novel cost and revenue-sharing partnership model
between ABC and Barracuda. This approach will result in shared costs and risks
while the assessment suite is developed and launched; however, once steady-
state revenue is achieved, the revenue flows to Barracuda will be substantial.
Other benefits that accrue to Barracuda include the future capability to deliver
certification, multiple implementations in local languages and the resultant
global scalability of the business.
ABC looks forward to receiving comments and feedback on this proposal. To
enable this process, ABC will be delighted to present and discuss this proposal
with the members of the Board of Barracuda Far East. Mr. Rahul Burhan,
President, ABC Advisory will be in touch to take this forward.

Confidential between Barracuda Far East and ABC Advisory

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Appendix: List of Annexures
The documents presented here provide further information on ABC and its
services

1) About ABC Advisory

2) Partner Profiles

3) Select List of Clients

4) Services Portfolio and Case Studies

5) ABC Advisory Corporate Brochure

6) ABC Certificate of Incorporation

7) Contact Information

Confidential between Barracuda Far East and ABC Advisory

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