LNER Web & App Development and Support

Description

About adding context and requirements test Pre-market engagement The market has been engaged by publishing a PIN on the Find A Tender website: https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/001169-2023 inviting suppliers to complete a brief questionnaire about the requirement and their ability to meet it to inform LNER’s choice of procurement route and the scope of the requirement. Suppliers on the DOS framework have also been alerted to this PIN by email Work done so far Our website and app are live and in active use, with somewhere in the region of 2M monthly active users combined. This contract is to take on both platforms, and evolve existing functionality as well as help define the future strategy and feature development. The LNER retail ecosystem is powered by a proprietary Ticket Issuing System referred to as the Central Booking Engine (CBE). CBE and the front-end web/app infrastructure is all hosted within Amazon Web Services (AWS) environments under the LNER organisation for administration and billing. The AWS LNER organisation has under it multiple AWS accounts and Virtual Private Clouds (VPCs) to provide separation between production and non-production environments and to also facilitate delegated account management to third parties for the operation of the services they manage. Each system/supplier operating within the LNER ecosystem must ensure their development and releases are aligned to the LNER release schedule (4x Major and 4x Minor releases per annum) and to facilitate this will need to ensure their promotion pathways and environments are configured with a 1:1 environment mapping for integration to the corresponding CBE environments. At present the environments in place are: • Dev 1 • Dev 2 • Test 1 • Test 2 • Performance Testing • Staging • Production All development and test environments are anonymised and must contain no PII/Live data. This tender will provide access to the existing accounts for handover of development, management and administration of the Web, App, Middleware, Auth Service and Payments Gateway. In addition to the accounts/environments listed above there are also internal development environments that will be handed over. Connectivity to the CBE environment is via both SOAP and REST currently and with a dedicated API gateway created on CBE last year there will be a piece of work to be completed to move existing SOAP connections to REST via the API gateway going forward Which phase the project is in Live Existing team The team: LNER Product managers for: • Web, covering desktop and mobile web, our onboard QR code portal and Wi-Fi systems • Our LNER app on iOS and Android. • Our central booking engine system Range of product owners for specific initiatives as well as general product support. Internal LNER leads for: • Digital Products • User experience • User research • Solutions architecture • Acceptance testing • Release management • Commercial leads in Fares, CEM and Comms • Marketing and content management Internal delivery team of project managers and business analysts The suppliers: The web and app along with the payments and auth middleware form part of a wider retail ecosystem which encompasses many suppliers and services to form the LNER Digital Retail Ecosystem. At the centre of this ecosystem is the LNER Ticket Issuing System (TIS) or Central Booking Engine (CBE) referred to here on out as CBE. As the services within this contract form key dependencies for the wider ecosystem it is vitally important that the supplier is able to work well in a partnership arrangement with the other suppliers within the ecosystem. Address where the work will be done Any location where legal jurisdiction for data access can be protected as being under UK law. Otherwise, have an office location somewhere on the East Coast Main Line franchise route to enable co-location and in-person collaboration when needed. Working arrangements Typical working arrangements will involve daily sprint and weekly/periodic account and project status meetings, via Microsoft Teams and at our offices in London, York and along our route locations. We are always open to newer and better ways of working, but currently work with Microsoft Office, Jira and Confluence. Our partners are expected to be available remotely or on-site to manage relationships with senior stakeholders, project managers and our customers. Provide more information about your security requirements: No security clearance needed Latest start date 2023-10-30 Enter the expected contract length: 2 years Extension period: 1 year Special terms and conditions The successful bidder must undergo the LNER Information Security Assessment and work with the LNER Information Security Team to ensure all of their requirements are met. Special terms and conditions The Supplier acknowledges that LNER is under a duty under section 149 of the Equality Act 2010 to have due regard to the need to eliminate unlawful discrimination (on the grounds of a Relevant Protected Characteristic), to advance equality of opportunity, and to foster good relations, between persons who share a Relevant Protected Characteristic and persons who do not share it. In performing its obligations under this Agreement, the Supplier shall assist and co-operate with LNER where possible in satisfying this duty. “Relevant Protected Characteristic” means the characteristics referred to in section 4 of the Equality Act 2010. Special terms and conditions The Supplier shall comply with all the Customer policies and procedures notified by the Customer to the Supplier from time to time insofar as they are relevant to the Services including, without limitation: (a) all relevant security and code of conduct policies; and (b) the Customer’s Alcohol and Drugs Policy Statement as set out in Schedule 8 (Alcohol and Drugs Policy). Special terms and conditions In respect of information relating to the Agreement that will result from this procurement exercise, the Customer shall be entitled to: (a) disclose a copy (or any part thereof) of the Agreement to the Secretary of State upon request by the Secretary of State; and (b) permit the Secretary of State to disclose a copy (or any part thereof) of the Agreement to: (i) any third parties who have qualified to bid for a rail franchise that is currently operated by the Customer, provided always that such third parties have entered into appropriate confidentiality agreements with the Secretary of State; and (ii) any third party who is appointed to operate a rail franchise as a successor operator to the Customer. Special terms and conditions Shortlisted bidders will be evaluated on their Social Value offer, which will be evaluated externally by the Social Value Portal. The successful supplier is required to enter a contract with the Social Value Portal. Where the Social Value Portal carries out the assessment: The successful bidder pays 0.2%/year with a minimum annual payment of £750/year up to a maximum of £7,500/year. Special terms and conditions Change of franchise ownership or control – additional termination event 1. The parties acknowledge that, during the term of the Call-off Contract and at the direction of the Secretary of State for Transport (or its successor), (a) the entire issued share capital of the Buyer may be acquired by a third party, such that the Buyer is no longer a "Buyer" as defined in the Framework Agreement, or (b) responsibility for the operation of the Franchise may transfer to a third party that is not a "Buyer" as defined in the Framework Agreement (each a Relevant Event). If a Relevant Event is announced by the Secretary of State for Transport (or its successor), the parties agree that: a. within 5 Working Days following such announcement, the parties will commence discussions to agree how to replace this Call-off Contract with a new contract between the Buyer or the new franchise operator (as the case may be) (the Replacement Contract); b. the Replacement Contract will be on the same terms and conditions as this Call-off Contract, amended only (i) as necessary to reflect the occurrence of the Relevant Event, including to allow the Replacement Contract to be valid and operate as a standalone contract, rather than one made under the Framework Agreement, (ii) to remove references to the CCS, government requirements and the Crown and to replace relevant requirements where necessary with provisions having a broadly similar commercial impact and risk profile, (iii) to include a provision that the Replacement Contract is deemed to have come into effect from the commencement of this Call-off Contract, and (iv) as the parties may otherwise agree; c. each of the Supplier and the Buyer (or if applicable the new franchise operator) will enter into the Replacement Contract prior to the occurrence of the Relevant Event; d. if the parties have not agreed the terms of the Replacement Contract before the Relevant Event occurs, the Supplier will enter into the Replacement Contract in the form presented by the Buyer, provided that such form complies with the requirements of sub-paragraph (b) above and that, in relation to amendments to be made under sub-paragraph (b)(iv) above, the Buyer has included only those to which the Supplier has previously given its explicit assent; and e. on the occurrence of the Relevant Event, this Call-off Contract will terminate. Special terms and conditions Order of precedence If there is any conflict between any provision of this Call-Off Contract, its Schedules and any Statement of Work, the conflict will be resolved in accordance with the following order of precedence: a) the Statement of Work b) the Call-Off Contract c) the remaining Schedules Are you prepared to show your budget details?: Yes Indicative maximum: 12000000 Provide further information: The indicative maximum is the maximum value of all individual statements of work called off over 3 years. Confirm if you require a contracted out service or supply of resource Contracted out service: the off-payroll rules do not apply Summary of work The maintenance, support and further development of a market-leading digital customer experience on web and app. The work will involve collaborating with LNER and our industry partners on future initiatives including (but not limited to) retail, fares simplification, customer self-service, account management and loyalty. This would cover customers booking directly with LNER as well as customers booking their tickets elsewhere Where the supplied staff will work North East England Where the supplied staff will work Yorkshire and the Humber Where the supplied staff will work East Midlands Where the supplied staff will work East of England Where the supplied staff will work London Where the supplied staff will work Scotland Who the organisation using the products or services is LONDON NORTH EASTERN RAILWAY LIMITED Why the work is being done From simpler ticketing and booking through to an enhanced journey experience and world-class customer service, LNER are on a journey to revolutionise the digital landscape to provide a world-class customer experience for rail travellers in Great Britain and beyond. We are re-procuring to provide a renewed basis for continued investment in our website and app over the next 3 years while building upon the efficiencies we have identified by having a single provider for both. The business problem you need to solve As this is a continuation of live products, there is no single problem to be solved as such. Full details of our web and app roadmaps will be shared with shortlisted applicants as part of the proposal stage. Work activities will include exploration & innovation in solution design, scoping requirements, UX & design, user research, development, testing, delivery, support, measurement & insight gathering, and continuous improvement of the LNER website and mobile app on iOS and Android. Key features include rail ticket purchasing, ticketing, change of journeys and journey repair, ancillary product integration, live journey information, management of our payments and account authentication layers, account management, loyalty scheme management and development, customer service initiatives and personalisation. The chosen supplier will form part of a collaborative multi-supplier team, working closely with LNER and our partners to deliver a market-leading, innovative retail solution. First user type: LNER Book Direct Customer First user type: LNER customers who book with 3rd parties First user type: Prospective LNER customers Enter more details about this user type: As an LNER customer who books tickets directly with LNER, I need to be able to search for, book, track and manage my journeys with LNER, so that I can complete my journey. Enter more details about this user type: As an LNER customer who books tickets with third parties, I need access to information on LNER services, products, locations and policies, so that I can complete my journey and gain access to relevant journey support tools and loyalty scheme benefits provided by the LNER app. Enter more details about this user type: As a prospective LNER customer, I need access to information on LNER services, products, locations and policies, so that I can complete my first LNER purchase.