RBGKEW1038 Development & Support of RBG Kew's Digital estate

Description

Summary of the work Improving RBG Kew's digital landscape, through continuous improvements to kew.org and other supporting digital products, across commercial and non-commercial areas. Expected Contract Length 2 years Latest start date Monday 1 August 2022 Why the Work is Being Done Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew is a world leading plant science and conservation organisation, with two botanic gardens - Kew Gardens in London and Wakehurst in Sussex. Kew Gardens is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and leading visitor attraction, welcoming 2m visitors in 2018/19. Wakehurst is our wild botanic garden and welcomes over 300k visitors per year. We are looking for a partner agency to work with us on continuing to improve the Kew's digital estate, including the continuous improvement of kew.org, new developments around our ecommerce and online learning offers, alongside on-site improvements to visitor experience through digital channels. Problem to Be Solved We're looking for a development partner to work with us to improve kew.org (currently Drupal 9) and our wider digital estate, meeting commercial and non-commercial objectives. Over the next 1-3 years, we are improving our back-end visitor systems which will enable significant improvements to customer journeys across kew.org and our digital estate. From improving upsells of memberships to encouraging donations, and increasing our online retail capabilities, our offer is broad and at times confusing for users. Alongside improvements to our commercial and non-commercial offers, we need a partner to provide ongoing support and maintenance. Who Are the Users As a potential visitor: information about what's there, what's on and costs As a botanist: find out about world-leading research into plants and fungi As a potential member: information on cost and benefits of becoming a member As a potential donor: to know about RBG Kew's charitable cause, how I can help to support the organisation, and what I may receive in return for my support. As a teacher: information on activities available for my class. As a content producer: reliable and intuitive CMS to build sites As IT manager: secure site Early Market Engagement Incumbent supplier is aware of our roadmap. Work Already Done This contract is to continue the support and development of existing sites. We re-launched kew.org in March 2019, and also added in two subsites which had been hosted separately in the last 6 months. These are Endeavour (offering school resources), and Grow Wild (a community outreach programme) The site is hosted independently of this contract (Acquia) Existing Team You'll be working primarily with Kew's Digital Experience team, and primarily with the Head of Digital Experience, Senior Product and Design Manager, Product Manager, Junior Product Manager, Product Designer, Senior Content Manager and Content Producers. We work closely with RBG Kew's IT team, particularly on hosting and monitoring. Where relevant you'll also work with stakeholders in other teams across Kew. Current Phase Live Skills & Experience • Experience of delivering and supporting a multi-site instance of Drupal 9 for clients with both commercial and non-commercial objectives, optimised for a range of devices • Experience of delivering income-generating digital products for a not-for-profit organisation with a range of different product types (online donations, membership, events or experience booking, retail) using different technical solutions. • Experience of integrating websites and web applications with a range of business systems such as ERP, CRM, Email, and Payment Gateways. • Evidence of taking an agile approach to development work (in particular, experience of implementing agile when working in partnership with clients) • Experience of a user research/data-driven approach to development, including use of prototyping and proof of concepts. • Experience of working alongside additional suppliers and in-house teams to deliver complex technology change projects. • Experience of delivering value for money by working in partnership with clients to scope and prioritise against business/user needs. • Experience of delivering digital products that meet WCAG 2.1 AA level, with code validating to W3C specifications. • Experience of working with an in-house IT team on hosting, monitoring, security and DNS, including facilitation of regular security tests, acting promptly to mitigate and fix issues once reported. • Able to demonstrate proactive approach to maintenance and managing CMS updates (e.g. monitoring and implementing Drupal security updates, as well as larger upgrades) • Demonstrate a robust testing and QA process that meets essential digital criteria and standards, including UAT, accessibility and device responsiveness Nice to Haves • Experience of integrating ecommerce platforms (e.g. Magento 2) with Drupal 9 • Experience of working with a multi location visitor attraction with a retail and membership offer alongside fundraising ambitions Work Location Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, Surrey TW9 3AE and remotely Working Arrangments We expect to negotiate a flexible arrangement with the supplier and believe it is important to have regular face-to-face meetings when government guidelines on COVID19 allow. When in the midst of ongoing sprints, we would like to explore co-locating on a regular basis (once a week or once a fortnight) - this can take place either on site at Kew or at the supplier's offices. No. of Suppliers to Evaluate 6 Proposal Criteria • Please provide an overview of any improvement opportunities you can identify that could improve user journeys and increase revenue, and what are the dependencies/challenges of a project like this. (5) • Provide an outline of what you think makes a successful agency/client partnership, and provide an example of where you feel you have achieved this. (4) • Please include role profiles (relevant skills /experience) of team we would work with on a day-to-day basis. Please provide your rate card for these roles and other relevant ones (5) • Please give an example on how you manage continual improvements and release cycles on a live site? (8) • Please outline your approach to sprint planning and delivery working with inhouse multi-disciplinary team i.e. product, design and content. Please give an example of this with a client (8) • Provide an example of how you have worked with a client going through a large-scale digital transformation to determine and deliver against their digital roadmap (6) • Demonstrate how you develop accessible products and validate the code against WCAG 2.1 AA (6) • Give an outline of your approach to testing (both functional and technical), which explains your approach to testing new features before they are released. (8) • Detail your approach to ongoing maintenance/support of websites, outlining your SLA and how issues are processed. Include example of how you work with a client to deliver this. (10) Cultural Fit Criteria • Demonstrate understanding of the different and competing priorities (both commercial and non-commercial) faced by complex non-profit organisations (5) • Demonstrate an evidence-driven approach with an example of where you have used analytics or user research to change perception or requirements on a project and how you communicated that (3) • Provide an example of how you have collaborated with in-house teams and (e.g. Digital and IT) to deliver on a project (4) • Provide evidence of supporting an in-house digital team with stakeholder engagement to deliver solutions that meet both user and business needs (3) • Provide evidence of working with clients transparently to show clarity over spend/hours worked and delivering excellent value for money 3) • Provide an example of where you have co-located with a team - either at client-site or in your offices (this could be on a part-time basis) (2) Payment Approach Capped time and materials Assessment Method • Reference • Presentation Evaluation Weighting Technical competence 60% Cultural fit 20% Price 20% Questions from Suppliers 1. Can you advise if there is an indicative budget for this contract? The contract value will be a maximum of £520,000 over two years. We expect to work with the appointed supplier to scope relevant Statements of Work and associated budgets over that time in line with our digital roadmap priorities, to draw down from the contract value. 2. Who is the incumbent? Manifesto 3. Please can you give an indication of the budget range to assist with us qualifying this opportunity The contract value will be a maximum of £520,000 over two years. We expect to work with the appointed supplier to scope relevant Statements of Work and associated budgets over that time in line with our digital roadmap priorities, to draw down from the contract value. 4. What is your method of achieving multisite (e.g. domain access, Custom Upstream etc)? We use Drupal's native multisite function to manage our three (currently) sites. Drupal allows separate, independent sites to be served from a single codebase. Each site has its own database, configuration, files and base domain or URL. 5. Why are you doing this now – e.g. end of current contract? Market test pricing? The current contract covering development and support of the digital estate is coming to an end. 6. Can you give examples of the systems you’ve namechecked (which CRM system, payment gateway, ERP system etc are you using) and say whether any of these are going to change (e.g. as part of the programme of improvements across the Kew digital estate, you are procuring new systems in these areas)? The current kew.org, Endeavour, and Grow Wild websites are connected with Kew's Dotdigital ESP. We have various payment gateways (e.g. PayPal, Braintree, Opayo) in use across the rest of the estate, managed under other support contracts, which are not currently integrated into the three sites above supported by this tender. We are currently in the process of implementing a Microsoft Dynamics ERP and CRM solution, which the integration is yet to be determined for these sites 7. You mention separate (Acquia) hosting for subsites, but who is your underlying host for kew.org and related digital RBG Kew realty? The estate is hosted across various hosting setups and suppliers. The primary host relationship under this tender is Acquia. 8. The ‘Latest start date’ is Monday 1 August 2022 – can you confirm that is correct and what (if anything) you expect to happen over the next four months (that is, what’s the process beyond this point)? Yes, the date is correct, reflecting the end of the current development and support contract with the current incumbent. Allowing for one (1) month crossover of contracts as necessary. 9. What are the most complex and sophisticated parts of the current kew.org site and RBG Kew digital estate? We have an extensive estate of approximately 70 web-based products or services. This contract is primarily for the development and support of kew.org, endeavour.kew.org, and growwild.kew.org, which are Drupal 9 multisite sites. 10. Are you sticking with Drupal long-term? We have used Drupal for over five years, across the last two iterations of kew.org. We do not intend to change content management systems in the coming two years under this contract. 11. At its heart, the contract has improvements to kew.org and other supporting digital products, across commercial and non-commercial areas. Within this is a clear desire to improve what are confusing user journeys and the overall user experience. However, as it stands, accessibility and inclusivity don’t get much emphasis within the opportunity. Will there be room for accessibility reviews and improvements to inclusivity hooks throughout this project? We have a separate contract for accessibility consultancy that the outputs of feed into the ongoing Drupal development improvements to the sites covered under this tender. We expect the appointed supplier to be competent in developing and testing code to WCAG 2.1 AA. 12. Is there any documentation relating to the current site – e.g. specification, branding, annotated sitemap and/or wireframes, training and/or style guides? Will any of those documents be shared ahead of the new supplier appointment? Kew-owned documentation on each site will be made available to the appointed supplier after the contract start date. 13. You mention running the project using an “agile approach”. Is adhering to the strict letter of the law with agile methodology a requirement or are hybrid approaches welcome? When working in development sprints, our preference is to work agile. Through other areas of work, we encourage collaborators to work using an agile approach but ultimately want to find a way for all collaborators to work well together. 14. You reference an ambitious programme of improvements across the Kew digital estate over the coming years and that you have a roadmap: how finalised is this roadmap (priorities, order of play, resource allocation – players and budget)? We have a Kew-wide roadmap of digital initiatives across 2022-25, the majority of which are high-level problem/outcome focussed, requiring scoping and resource allocation as we approach them, usually 3-6 months in advance of project commencement. 15. can you give an indication of traffic levels (averages and what your peaks are like and if there a recognised frequency to them) and whether there is any history of stability or speed issues? The sites covered under this tender are hosted by a third-party supplier, Acquia, under a separate contract. This tender is only for the development and support of the sites. 16. Has the work of the incumbent agency been documented OR (if not) is it fully understood and owned by the in-house team? Depending on what is expected, we have various documentation or knowledge. 17. Does Kew have existing bodies of user research available? We undertake user research on a per project basis. Kew's Sales & Marketing department have a set of audience segments that can be made available to the appointed supplier after the contract start date. 18. What user testing has or is being used, and what methodologies are used to conduct this testing? We undertake user research on a per project basis, involving both qualitative and quantitative methods - online and in-person. 19. Are there any digital performance frameworks in place? What form do these frameworks take? We are currently in the process of working with business owners to define a performance framework for products and services at Kew. 20. Are you happy with the service currently provided by the incumbent? We have a good working relationship with the current incumbent. 21. How long has the incumbent been providing your service? The current incumbent have been working with Kew since 2018. 22. Did the incumbent build the original platform? Yes, the current incumbent built the Drupal 9 multisite instance. 23. What will the shortlisted firms need to do in the next phase, i.e. what will this evaluation entail exactly? – Timelines/Process/Etc. We will shortlist a maximum of six (6) suppliers to progress to the next stage. Suppliers will respond to technical/ proposal criteria. We may then ask shortlisted suppliers to present and provide references. We intend for all tender activities, including contracting, to occur between March - July. 24. What are the job roles of the evaluation panel please? The evaluation panel is made up of members of Kew's Digital Experience Product team