Trafford Council - Microsoft 365 Technical Implementation and Programme Delivery

Description

Summary of the work Opportunity to support Trafford Council and CCG with the technical implementation and programme delivery of Microsoft 365. This is a critical component of the Borough’s Digital Strategy and Modernisation Programme supporting employees to work more productively, and providing tools to better manage security, simplify infrastructure and to modernise services. Expected Contract Length 18 months Latest start date Monday 7 September 2020 Budget Range Maximum of £300,000 plus VAT Why the Work is Being Done Implementing Microsoft 365(E3) is the main component of the Digital Workforce Strategy due to be delivered during 2020/21. The intention is to provide employees with modern digital tools so they can work more flexibly and productively. It will also provide tools to better manage security, simplify infrastructure and to modernise services. It will address existing challenges e.g. limited collaboration between partners; inconsistent ways of communicating; unproductive time when out of the office; over reliance on physical meetings and lost time due to travelling; time spent on mundane tasks due to lack of automation. Problem to Be Solved Trafford has a small IT Team that doesn't have the capacity, experience and skills to undertake a programme of this size and complexity without external support. Trafford require a Technical Delivery and Programme Management partner who will work in conjunction with the in-house team to fully implement and rollout to the workforce all components of Microsoft 365. This will consist of: Technical and Programme Design – (Technical Architecture, Design Principles); Programme Planning, Management and Delivery (milestone/resource plan, risk and governance; monitor delivery); Technical Implementation (Technical design including pre-requisites, governance design, rollout plan). Who Are the Users Users of the M365 platform are the Council and CCG workforce and Councillors. There are 2,400 users who undertake a wide variety of roles across the Local Authority and Health sector. A Workforce User Adoption/Business Change/Training partner will be procured separately to compliment the Technical Implementation and Programme Delivery partner as this is a vitally important element of the programme. The user adoption activity will need to align with the existing Council modernisation programme. Potential delivery partners must evidence how they will work with other partners in the successful delivery of this programme, should two separate partners be procured. Early Market Engagement A small piece of work was concluded in October 2019 with a Microsoft partner to build an outline business case for investment in Microsoft 365. A further small engagement was undertaken with another Microsoft partner to consider Trafford's requirements ahead of procuring a Technical Implementation and Programme Delivery Partner. Trafford also conducted brief conversations with a range of Microsoft Partners regarding procurement route options ahead of deciding to pursue with the Digital Outcomes. Work Already Done Technical pre-requisites are underway but not finalised mainly because there is an incompatibility issue caused by a period in the Net BIOS name. Work has begun to replace the existing domain but this isn't complete. Work has started to migrate the existing Microsoft 2010 Exchange Servers to Microsoft 2013 Exchange Servers as part of the transition to Exchange Online. Work is underway to implement W10 with approximately 40% complete and those devices run Office 2013. The remaining Windows 7 and 8.1 devices running Office 2010 will all be migrated to Office 2013 by October. Existing Team The Council and CCG maintain an in-house IT department that support the IT applications and infrastructure. The team is quite lean and working on a large number of projects and ongoing support and maintenance, so there is an expectation that the delivery partner will bolster the programme and technical implementation with resources where there is a capacity or skills issue. Knowledge share is also a key component of this programme to ensure that the in-house team acquire the skills to support and maintain the M365 platform. Current Phase Alpha Skills & Experience • Developing a detailed analysis of an organisation’s technical architecture relating to the M365 products and the production of detailed proposal to shape the implementation plan and future architecture decisions. • Implementing M365 products including: Identity, Tenancy and Exchange; Intune; Teams; SharePoint; OneDrive; W10 Modern Deployment; Power Apps; Planner; Stream; Yammer; Flow; Power BI; Telephony/Audio Conferencing; Security and Compliance Package. • Developing a detailed implementation plan for M365 tailored to a similar sized organisation and complexity; which included detailed activities, key milestones, resource and skills requirements, communications plan and risks management. • Successfully delivering technical deliverables on similar sized implementation. Covering governance design / information security architecture; technical and non-technical prerequisites; solution design and implementation; deployment aligned with user adoption plan. • Lead for managing and coordinating an M365 programme. Including support for implementation of appropriate governance arrangements; oversee delivery of outcomes; adherence to agreed timescales; risk mitigation and facilitate decision making. • Providing technical and programme resource to support in-house IT team on similar implementation. To include provision of additional capacity/technical expertise to the internal team; utilise support provided by Microsoft. • Developing design principles tailored to a specific organisations requirements that include approaches to information governance and process design to ensure that implementation of M365 is sustainable and secure. Nice to Haves • Aligning with or influencing related business change opportunities, e.g. modern work spaces; designing and equipping meeting rooms. • Supporting and delivering public sector transformation. Work Location Trafford Town Hall, Talbot Rd, Stretford, Manchester, M32 0TH Working Arrangments A standard business working day, hours and working pattern as needed to deliver the programme in an efficient way (Monday to Friday). Remote working is expected during Covid-19 lockdown which would revert to a mixed on-site and remote delivery model once lockdown restrictions are removed. Additional T&Cs Social Value As part of the submission you are required to complete the TOMs LITE spreadsheet and sign up to the Social Value Portal. This is a mandatory part of the process and submissions will not be considered without this. Information on this will be provided at the shortlist phase for the written proposal. No. of Suppliers to Evaluate 5 Proposal Criteria • How well the proposed technical solution meets requirements. • How well the proposed programme approach meets requirements. • How well the proposed resourcing model meets requirements. • How well the proposed approach to risk and dependencies meets requirements and how they will be managed. • Work History Cultural Fit Criteria • Share knowledge and experience with other team members and commitment to building Council employees’ capability and skills. • Flexibility to source resources and specialist skills from within your organisations within tight timescales to meet programme milestones. • Work collaboratively as part of a multi-disciplinary team with our organisation and with another partner (preferably a business change/user adoption partner) on a joint M365 implementation. • Ability to effectively engage with staff and stakeholders at all levels to progress outcomes while understanding other demands on their time and other priorities. • Ability to challenge and question existing behaviour or perspectives while maintaining good working relationships. Payment Approach Capped time and materials Assessment Method • Work history • Reference • Presentation Evaluation Weighting Technical competence 60% Cultural fit 20% Price 20% Questions from Suppliers 1. Can you please confirm the budget of 300k is correct for the duration of 18 months? Yes, we are asking potential partners to consider how they would resource the programme over that period to support the in-house team with delivery. 2. Can you confirm the duration of the Alpha phase? We expect that the successful delivery partner will work with us to develop effective timelines for the programme 3. Who’s in the incumbent and how long they havebeen the incumbent? There is no incumbent supplier. 4. Who is on the panel? We do not see this as a tender related clarification question. Panel members will be disclosed if bidders reach the interview stage. 5. The budget seems quite tight for a 18 month M365 migration programme – can you confirm whether you are looking for a partner who will do the work for you or whether you are looking for a partner who will guide you completing the work? We are asking potential partners to consider how they would resource the programme over that period to support the in-house team with delivery. We would like proposals to include details on how potential partners would provide techincal and programme resource to work with our delivery teams during delivery and ensure effective knowledge transfer. 6. The budget is tight for a 18 month M365 migration programme including all components of M365. Can you confirm whether the scope is fixed or if the scope can change to accommodate what's achievable within the budget? I.e. is there a minimum viable product that you will require for example including Win10 enterprise, O365 email, sharepoint but not PowerBI, PowerAutomate, Stream etc. We are asking potential partners to consider how they would resource the programme over that period to support the in-house team with delivery. Implementation of M365 is the minimum viable product including all elements, but some aspects will predominantly be delivered by the in-house team, e.g. the rollout of W10 has already commenced and will continue to be delivered predominantly by the in-house team. 7. Is this solution hosted by the Council or by leveraging the M365 environment? The solution is the Microsoft hosted M365 environment. 8. What components of the M365 technology stack have you completed to date? Due to a period in the net bios name (trafford.gov.uk) and therefore an incompatibiltiy with M365, we have created a new domain. We anticipate that the domain and exchange will have been created and will be ready for migration by the contract start date. Due to the increased need for a remote working solution, we have also deployed the video conferencing and chat elements of Teams, which is not yet linked to the exchange, but we want to work with the partner to complete a full rollout of Teams. 9. Is applications rationalisation and consolidation in scope of this budget? There will be a seperate piece of work from the in-house IT teams to rationalise and consolidate applications. As part of the Win10 rollout, applications will also be upgraded or decommissioned by the in-house IT teams 10. Are you looking to utilise the full suite of office products? I.e.Yammer, Stream, Shifts, Bookings? Yes 11. Is there an Existing Intranet for the organisations and is the intention to migrate and merge these to M365 platform? Yes there are existing intranet sites for both organisations, currently hosted by the Council. Migrating the intranet sites to M365/Sharepoint will be considered as part of this programme from a technical deisgn and Infromation Governnance perspective but delivery will potentially be out of scope. 12. Have you already expressed an interest in taking part in the N365 agreement or are the authorities under an EA or DTA? The CCG will be utilising N365 licences. 13. Is the intention to have a single tenant across the 2 authorities, working on assumption it isn’t going to be on the NHS shared tenant? The current plan is that the CCG staff will be on the NHS tenant and the Council staff on a local tenant but this could be adapted as the technical architecture is developed. 14. What position is the exchange migration project at and when will it complete? It is anticipated that the preliminary work will be completed and the new exchange will be ready to start a complete migration by the contract start date. 15. Has a champions network been setup yet and have departmental leads been identified? We have created an initial cohort of 10 Digital Eagles who champion digital and support colleagues and the intention is to grow this. No departmental leads have yet been identified, but this will be a piece of work for the user adoption partner 16. Is the CCG already utilising the Free E1 NHS Mail tenancy licences? Yes 17. Is it expected that a physical presence on site to deliver all training or can it be mixed with remote delivery? We would expect there to be on-site delivery during the contract but we will need to reflect the Government's advice during the Covid-19 pandemic. We'll be looking to suppliers to propose their preferred delivery model. 18. How many different locations are there to migrate and how many users are at each location and what type? Working on the assumption the user base has been profiled. Most staff operate out of the two main locations but there are a total of 28 premises and a significant increase in home workers during Covid-19. It is hoped that migration can be completed for most users remotely. Some light user profiling has been completed. All users will receive E3 licences this year but we hope to do more thorough profiling to prepare for licence renewals in June 21. 19. How will the authorities provide external access to their networks and what are the security requirements for remote connections? Both organisations currently use Juniper Pulse Secure for VPN with some Remote Access Points. We will consider M365's Always On VPN as part of this programme. 20. Are the authorities looking for a front-line service desk function during project phase or will support requests be routed through their existing channels to the project team? If routing through existing channels what service desk management tool sets are used to understand how we can connect to them? The Council/CCG Service Desk will front support queries throughout so handovers will be required from the technical teams as solutions and functionality are deployed. The Service Desk use Axios Asyst but this is currently under review. 21. What is your Unified Communications landscape today?a. Using Skype for Business or other UC tools (e.g. WebEx, Zoom etc.)?b. Is Teams Voice to be rolled out to all staff?c. Are there disparate legacy PBXs to be decommissioned and is this in scope? Currently Teams is the preferred UC tool for Video and Chat, but a small number of staff have been given temporary access to Zoom Enterprise. Webex, Zoom, Skype and others are available through browsers. The intention is for Teams to be the default UC tool for all staff, unless there is a specific use case for some users. There are currently no plans to decommission existing PBXs, although this will be reviewed. Implementing Audio Conferencing is within scope of this contract. 22. Do you have an existing BYOD policy for mobile use? No 23. “The user adoption activity will need to align with the existing Council modernisation programme.”, Can we get details of this modernisation programme to ensure we align? https://www.digitalmarketplace.service.gov.uk/digital-outcomes-and-specialists/opportunities/10133 24. Can we get more details on “outline business case for investment in Microsoft 365”? The relevant information has been included in the supplier opportunity description. 25. Can we get more details on “small engagement was undertaken with another Microsoft partner to consider Trafford's requirements ahead of procuring a Technical Implementation and Programme Delivery Partner”? The relevant information has been included in the supplier opportunity description. 26. What is the Impact, Risk Assessment and timeline for the following and are these elements out of scope?-“incompatibility issue caused by a period in the Net BIOS name. Work has begun to replace the existing domain but this isn't complete.”-“Work has started to migrate the existing Microsoft 2010 Exchange Servers to Microsoft 2013 Exchange Servers as part of the transition to Exchange Online”-“Work is underway to implement W10 with approximately 40% complete and those devices run Office 2013”-“The remaining Windows 7 and 8.1 devices running Office 2010 will all be migrated to Office 2013 by October” Creation of the new domain and exchange are fundamental pre-requisites for the programme and will be completed by the project start date. The subsequent respective migrations will be in scope. The server migration will also be completed by the contract start date.Windows 10 deployment will run in parallel to the programme. All users will be upgraded from Office 2010 by October 2020. The rollout of W10 has already commenced and will continue to be delivered predominantly by the in-house team with completion expected in the first half of 2021. 27. Is there any intention to share data between the Council and the CCG? If yes, will the sharing be at patient level data? Data for both organisations is currently hosted on the Trafford Council on-premise network and staff from both organisations do share data with one another. The Council staff will receive M365 licences and CCG staff will receive N365 licences. It is anticipated that data will need to be shared between organisations. 28. What Governance agreements are in place for data sharing and can we assume DPIA has been signed off by both authorities? Data Governance will be considered as part of the implementation and any work on developing Data Sharing Agreements and undertaking DPIAs will be undertaken with support from the Council's Information Governance Team. 29. Apart from AD what other identity management solutions are in place that you would be looking to connect with? None. 30. Assuming the authorities are looking to migrate existing data to M365 what is the total volume of this data? Is versioning currently enabled on the data to migrate and if so how many versions are being kept? Versioning is not currently enabled. Unable to specify the total volume of data for files and mailboxes as work to be done around housekeeping/ retention. 31. What EDM tool is being used by the authorities to support deployment and is there support to build deployment packages internally? SCCM/ Adminstudio/ APP-V used for deployment of software packages. 32. 1) Why the work is being done – “limited collaboration between partners” – Please give an example of a partner, and how the council envisions collaboration with a said partner?2) Why the work is being done – “time spent on mundane tasks due to lack of automation” – Please provide an example of automation that wouldreally help the Council?3) Why the work is being done – Besides the M365 initiative, what other significant programmes of change are being undertaken? (if any) 1) To support increased multi-disciplinary working across health and care, e.g. collaboration with Primary care, Acute Care, Community Services, Care Homes and other Local Authorities.2) Use of Microsoft Forms, for example, to assist services to build automated processes, where they are manually handled presently3) As detailed in the tender documentation, Trafford is undergoing a modernisation and digitisation programme 33. Who the users are and what they need to do – “A Workforce User Adoption/Business Change/Training partner will be procured separately to complement the Technical Implementation and Programme Delivery partner …” – Is the change and adoption partner being separate from the technical implementation partner a deliberate choice? Would the Council consider procuring change and adoption services from the technical implementation partner? The users are Trafford Council and Trafford CCG staff. Yes, it was a deliberate choice. We will consider bids from the successful technical and programme delivery partner but wanted to open up the opportunity to specialist user adoption suppliers. 34. Early Market Engagement – “A small piece of work was concluded in October 2019 with a Microsoft partner to build an outline business case for investment in Microsoft 365. A further small engagement was undertaken with another Microsoft partner to consider Trafford's requirements ahead of procuring a Technical Implementation and Programme Delivery Partner” – Are the Partners that developed the business case and helped define requirements also taking part in this RFI/RFP process? We are running an open and competitive process on the Digital Outcomes framework and will base the shortlisiting decision on the quality of the submissions. There will be a further stage with more detailed written submission that we will use to base our final decision on. We are aware that the partner who supported developing the requirements is not on the Digital Outcomes framework so will not be bidding. Our choice of framework was not related to the performance of that supplier during that piece of work. 35. Why the work is being done – “unproductive time when out of thenoffice” – Is there a remote access requirement or users’ expectation that partners should be aware of? Will remote access to line of business apps be in scope for the proposal?Problem to be solved – “Trafford require a Technical Delivery and Programme Management partner who will work in conjunction with the in-houseteam” – Are you able to provide a list of roles that the Council (or another partner) is dedicating to the programme? E.g. Project Manager, Enterprise Architect, 3rd line support etc. A remote-access VPN corporate solution is already implemented. New technologies such as the Microsoft Always On VPN) will be considered as part of this programme. Plans to migrate line of business applications to a cloud solution will form part of a separate workstream that is not part of this tender.Further information on roles within Trafford's ICT service will be provided to those shortlisted for the next stage. 36. Any work that’s already been done – “The remaining Windows 7 and 8.1 devices running Office 2010 will all be migrated to Office 2013 by October” – What is the plan for the Windows 7 devices remaining once they’ve been Migrated to Office2013 by the October deadline? Existing Team – “The Council and CCG maintain an in-house IT department that support the IT applications and infrastructure” – What technologies do the IT team currently use to manage and deliver operating systems and applications to client devices? The remaining Windows 7 devices will be upgraded to Windows 10 by January 2021. The remaining Win 8.1 devices will be upgraded soon after and no later than the Summer. SCCM/ App-V/ Admin Studio used to package and deliver software to clients. 37. Existing Team – “…there is an expectation that the delivery partner will bolster the programme and technical implementation with resources where there is a capacity or skills issue” – Will there be an expectation for the chosen partner to supply general IT support and skills outside of M365? No 38. In terms of the reference to Office 2013, is there any requirement for M365 apps (ProPlus?)When is the W10 rollout due to complete?Do Trafford Council see a need for additional skills and capacity beyond what is currently specified to fill the gaps they have in their current team. If additional skills are needed would these befunded separately?What is the exact subscription for M365, e.g does this include EMS components?Do Trafford Council already own the M365 licences? The expectation is that M365 apps will be rolled out on W10 devices. E3 licence includes desktop versions.W10 will continue to be delivered predominantly by the in-house team with completion expected in the first half of 2021.The supplier would be expected to potentially provide or bolster the full range of skills relating to an M365 implementation. Any other skills are outside the scope of this contract/partnership.M365 E3 subscription purchased for all staff, including OS (W10) and EMS. Approx 120 CCG staff will have N365 licences (E3). 39. Do Trafford Council expect to have automated licence and user provisioning implemented?Does any reporting services need to be setup, Power Bi O365 Adoption pack for example?Is the assumption correct that all Trafford Council internal IT Team will have responsibility for the O365 service administration and security administration?Do Trafford Council have any existing meeting room and conferencing equipment?Is the assumption correct that all technical pre-requisites are already known and will be completed by the council?When are the technical pre-requisites expected to be completed? Part A answer:No current plans to have automated licence and user provisioning implementedThis may be something Trafford would want to exploreCertain roles within Trafford Council ICT will have service and security admin responsibility for O365, this will differ based on role (i.e. 1st line vs 3rd line) 40. Do Trafford Council expect to have automated licence and user provisioning implemented?Does any reporting services need to be setup, Power Bi O365 Adoption pack for example?Is the assumption correct that all Trafford Council internal IT Team will have responsibility for the O365 service administration and security administration?Do Trafford Council have any existing meeting room and conferencing equipment?Is the assumption correct that all technical pre-requisites are already known and will be completed by the council?When are the technical pre-requisites expected to be completed? Part B Answer:Current meeting rooms do need to be upgraded. There will be limited opportunity to reuse this equipment due to age/condition. A review of meetings rooms will be linked to M365 programme. Any additional equipment is not be included as part of this tender.Various technical pre-requisites are being addressed by Trafford Council. However, we may not have an exhaustive list of pre-requisites so there may be further work. Resource would have to be determined based on the extent of requirements (internal vs partner)See above - known technical pre-reqs are scheduled to be completed by August 2020. 41. What skills and average FTE level of resources will be made available to the programme from the inhouse team? Further information on roles within Trafford's ICT service will be provided to those shortlisted for the next stage. 42. What deliverables are in scope for alpha phase? We will work with the delivery partner to agree on the order in which solutions are scheduled. For clarity, this tender covers all stages of M365 implementation for the full product suite. 43. What phases are agreed/planned beyond the current Alpha phase? We will work with the delivery partner to develop the timeline of deliverables. 44. What is the headcount of the existing IT team? Further information on roles within Trafford's ICT service will be provided to those shortlisted for the next stage. 45. What is the skills gap within the existing IT team that would need to be augmented to deliver this project? Further information on roles within Trafford's ICT service will be provided to those shortlisted for the next stage. 46. What capacity does the existing IT team have to support this project? Further information on roles within Trafford's ICT service will be provided to those shortlisted for the next stage. 47. Which element of M365 will you be rolling out? We intend to utilise the full suite of products in M365. 48. Has the domain gone live and do you have logical file structures? - The domain and exchange have both been created and we are hoping to have them ready for migration by the contract start date- There will need to be some housekeeping of the file structures, retention policies created etc. 49. Will the CCG staff share the same tenant or have a separate one, and will there need to be some interoperability? - The current plan is for the CCG staff to join the National Shared Tenant, with Council staff on a local Trafford tenant.- There will need to be interoperability with some federation. Any limitations with federations would need to be considered. 50. Does the programme include NHS GP Practices? No delivery and rollout to Trafford GP Practices is not in scope. The CCG is in scope. 51. Do you use group policy or third party of management for end user devices? Group policy with SCCM 52. What are the tender timelines? - The intended timelines are:- Go Online 26th June- Deadline for Submissions 10th July- Panel Scoring 15th July- Communicate Shortlisting 16th July- Presentations 3rd-4th August- Panel Scoring 4th August- Communicate the Decision 10th Aug 53. Do you have an end user piece with regards to migration? - The end user element is a separate tender, which will focus on the workforce adopting the new technology, training, supporting the workforce to familiarise with tools, using the technology to work in new ways.- This has been made easier by the change in working styles that COVID has forced such as the introduction of Teams. 54. Do you have deadlines for specific elements? We have an idea of the high level order we would like to deliver the programme in, for example starting with the exchange server, but this is something we are keen to develop together with the delivery partner and use their expertise and experience. 55. What Exchange Server do you have? We are migrating from Exchange 2010 to 2016 as a pre-requisite. 56. Do you have ECALs licences This will be covered by the M365 licences 57. What are immediate needs of resource and what gaps are in Trafford Council ICT? Trafford has a relatively small IT team so has some capacity issues and while Trafford has a competent team, we don’t have anybody who has been through the journey before 58. Does the social value spreadsheet need to be completed as part of the bid or once initial shortlisting has been completed? Once initial shortlisting has been complete and we move to the next phase of the tender process. 59. Do you intend to publish details of the resources in your team and what skills you have? Further information on roles within Trafford's ICT service will be provided to those shortlisted for the next stage. 60. Is there a view to have sensitive information being transferred between TTH and CCG? Moving to M365 will help sharing that info across partners 61. Are the CCG staff using current NHS Mail service? Yes. 62. Do you have defined ROI targets or metrics for success? Trafford has a very supportive leadership team that has recognised the assumed benefit of M365 and are therefore not expecting an overly bureaucratic or industry heavy benefits analysis. ROI of the M365 platform will a minor aspect of the delivery partner’s work. 63. Would you be looking for partner to provide first line service desk? The in-house Service Desk Team will provide the first line support during the programme. Support handovers will be required when solutions are released. 64. Will the current service desk and indeed wider ICT team handle an increase in volume of calls at various go live dates? We expect the service desk to handle the influx, but we are looking for a flexible partner who can bolster support where required, particularly for other sections of the service. We would like potential partners to consider this and include a capacity and resource boost where needed.