Data Science Services – Oracle Policy Automation

Description

Summary of the work We require project delivery and development services to support the development of a wide variety of Online Collection Services. Expected Contract Length 18 months Latest start date Tuesday 1 September 2020 Budget Range The budget could range up to a maximum of £1.5m consisting of multiple Statements of Work. Why the Work is Being Done The Online Collections Service (OCS) utilises a variety of technical products to provide and support business critical data collections for the DfE and ESFA. The current service covers a wide variety of high-tech skills that encompass a technology stack that supports development of funding calculations used in the Individual Learner Record (ILR) and key business online forms collecting data to support the DfE’s legal, financial and statutory obligations allowing the department to account for over £15 billion of taxpayer’s money and minimising sector burden. These services are also currently supporting the DfE’s response to COVID-19 supporting emergency funding for the school sector, along with a wide range of collections that support high needs funding. The integrity of these services is paramount to supporting DfE's and ESFA's goals and visions. Problem to Be Solved Without this service working effectively this will limit the ESFA and DfE’s ability to collect data from key stakeholders to underpin the support of education and skills in England, limiting the accurate allocation of funding and understanding how that funding has been spent particularly in relation to T-levels, reporting to parliament on academy trust accounts as well as understanding their land assets, managing school and college’s funding, reporting on compliance of asbestos in educational estates and having the ability to prevent academies from entering into related party transactions as well as maintaining DfE’s goal to support the government’s management of the COVID-19 crisis. To address these needs we need supplier expertise for delivery of defined outcomes. Who Are the Users As an education setting I need to be able to share data that will help my business to access government funding, ensure the safety of staff, pupils and students, and to improve the quality of the education and skills offered. As the ESFA I need to distribute government funding in line with policy, that is accurate and timely, assure all money spent by education settings, ensure safety of pupils and students and monitor the quality of education and skills in education settings. As the ESFA I need to ensure I have in place the systems and resources to assure government funding, safety of pupils and students, and monitor the quality of education and skills in education settings. Work Already Done There are a variety of services that are already live and require further support as well as a pipeline of new work. Existing Team The existing teams are comprised of multi-disciplinary agile delivery skills. These teams are involved in service development for providing brand new digital services, going through the standard GDS phases. Typical team size is up to 6 with a skills mix such as Microsoft Sharepoint O365, .NET, .NET Core, MVC, C# , Microsoft Dynamics O365 and Oracle Policy Automation (OPA) 10 and 12 as well as OPA DevOps weblogic and Microsoft PaaS SQL and Azure DevOps infrastructural and environment support. Current Phase Not applicable Skills & Experience • Within the last two years’ experience in scalable server-side cloud-based web applications (preferably Microsoft Azure) detailed knowledge of the C#,.NET,ASP.NET MVC programming languages • Within the last two years’ experience in sucessfuly building front-end web applications using standard HTML/CSS/JS and Oracle Policy Automation (OPA) • Within the last two years’ experience in sucessfuly building and supporting document libraries, work flow and case management systems (Microsoft Sharepoint O365, Microsoft Dynamics O365) • Within the last two years have demonstrable experience in User Centred Design Services (User Research, Content Design and Interaction Design) • Within the last two years have experience in delivery management, project support and BAU services such as agile, scrum • Within the last two years have demonstrable experience in succesfully working in multi-team agile delivery programmes • Proven experience of using a range of agile and lean practices, tools and techniques, working in multi-team agile programmes • Strong verbal, written and visual communication skills with the ability to proactively manage stakeholders and tailor to the needs of audience by collaborating on decisions • Experience of being able to succesfuly challenge and influence decisions of both a technical and business nature • Within the last two years’ experience in sucessfuly delivering architecture services and ensuring new and updated platforms, products, transactions and system architectures are robust, scalable, open and secure Nice to Haves • Experience of passing service assessments within a highly regulated market e.g. GDS, Experience of Microsoft product suite • Experience in delivering products/services within a government agile environment • Understanding of DevOps services including running production applications and optimising existing applications • Experience in delivering products/services within a government agile environment • Within the last two years have experience in development and delivery of digital products/services to GDS standards within a government agile environment Work Location Primary location will be ESFA Cheylesmore House, Coventry. For the duration of restrictions on movement due to COVID-19, all teams are expected to work and collaborate remotely. Occasional travel to other DfE/ESFA sites across the country may be required. Working Arrangments This will be a 5 day per week (Monday to Friday) commitment and detailed working arrangements, including team location, size and make-up, will be contained within each statement of work. Day to day delivery will be governed by standard agile delivery techniques. These could be either a Kanban or a scrum approach (depending on the work) but the standard agile ceremonies appropriate to those will be undertaken. These will be monitored by the Scrum Master and the Business Product Owners will be responsible for prioritising backlogs in refinement sessions. Security Clearance Personnel from the Service provider need to have a BPSS check. In exceptional circumstances, clearance of up to SC may be required Additional T&Cs Expenses must be pre-agreed and comply with DfE Travel and Subsistence Policy. Any expenses shall be submitted in line with DfE standard T&S policy. Primary work location stated in Statement of Work will not attract expenses. No parking is available on site. No. of Suppliers to Evaluate 5 Proposal Criteria • Demonstrate working experience in delivering digital products/services and understanding the challenges of implementing user centred design in a agile environment • Demonstrate understanding to deliver digital products/services to Government digital service standards • Experience and methodology in approach to agile project using both Kanban and scrum • Demonstrable experience of working alongside clients in co-located, integrated teams • Demonstrate approach to knowledge and skills transfer • Technical competence in a wide range of relevant technologies and agile practices • Ability to scale up team and flex resource when needed on-site • Value for money Cultural Fit Criteria • Innovate – Act on initiative, drive improvements, balance risks • Build capability – Encourage learning, share knowledge, address capability gaps, act on feedback • Focus on delivery – Focus on goals, set stretching targets, take responsibility for delivery • Approach to developing a "One Team" approach • Work as a team – Collaborate, establish good working relationships, generate team spirit Payment Approach Capped time and materials Assessment Method Presentation Evaluation Weighting Technical competence 30% Cultural fit 10% Price 60% Questions from Suppliers 1. Please can the Authority confirm if this engagement is considered to be inside or outside of IR35? This is a fully outsourced managed service which falls outside of IR35. 2. Could the Authority please confirm the different roles required for this engagement? The roles required can be found through this link - https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/digital-data-and-technology-profession-capability-framework 3. Please can you confirm whether there is an incumbent supplier or whether any previous market engagement has taken place? The supplier currently providing Oracle Policy Automation services is Magia CX UK Ltd . There was no pre-market engagement for this requirement.