Redevelopment of the Ofgem website: Alpha and beta phase

Description

Summary of the work We require a supplier to work with us to develop the new ofgem.gov.uk website. The project must comply with GDS Digital Service Standards and user expectations, translating key outcomes from our discovery phase of work into a user centred design service on Drupal 8. Expected Contract Length Alpha - 3 months. Option to extend for the beta and live phase of work. Latest start date Friday 29 June 2018 Budget Range We have estimated £250,000 - £350,000 for the whole project. Why the Work is Being Done 1. Enhance and transform the services through: a. An evolving and deepening understanding of the needs of our users and the services required to meet them b. To drive change by challenging the current “push” model of information publishing. c. To reflect changes in Ofgem’s role, responsibilities and service offering (eg, the retail price cap that Ofgem needs to implement). 2. To mitigate risk of performance degradation: the current version of the website was built in 2013 on Drupal 7, which is reaching the end of its natural lifespan, with the expectation of gradually diminishing support. Problem to Be Solved 1. Website service needs to evolve to meet specific and evolving needs of users, particularly to minimise dissatisfaction and confusion. 2. The technical platform is aging and needs to be replaced. Who Are the Users • Consumers – need to know how to progress a supplier complaint, how to switch and who to trust. • Gas and electricity industry professionals – need to know about licence conditions, changes and decisions to help them understand their obligations • Renewable scheme applicants & participants need to know how to apply, stay compliant, recieve payments, and remain up to date on changes to legislation. • Government, media, investors & analysts, academics & researchers, industry & consumer organisations – need to know about Ofgem‘s historic, current and future work in the energy regulation space Early Market Engagement Not applicable. Work Already Done We have completed our discovery phase of work, which has included identifying user needs and a comprehensive technical audit of the current website. Existing Team In house team: 1x Delivery Manager, 1 x Product Owner, 2 x User Researchers Current Phase Alpha Skills & Experience • Have experience of delivering digital services as part of a multidisciplinary agile team • Be able to supply minimum of QA/Security x1, Full Stack Developer x2, Interaction Designer/Frontend Developer x1 and a Content Designer for Alpha • Experience of delivering large-scale government websites • supply personnel who have been employed by them for a year or more and have proven track-record • supply suitably experienced people with the appropriate skills required for beta and live phases • have delivered digital services which meet the required Agile scrum techniques (as in GDS Service Manual) that meet GDS Service Standards and have passed GDS Alpha Service Assessments. • have experience of user research with range of users alongside analysis of existing research on the service to ensure good understanding of users and needs. • have delivered rapid development of prototypes created iteratively via user testing - based on Discovery findings to meet user needs (including assisted digital and accessible users) • have experience in reviewing existing technical architecture and making successful recommendations for legacy systems as well as suitable alternative solutions. • have demonstrable experience of a website development that has led to proven improvements in user engagement and user satisfaction • provide evidence of website development which, supports photographs, video clips, other rich media as well as social media integration. • must demonstrate their experience of redesign and redeployment of websites in a mobile-first manner; to include how this was done and the improvements in business outcomes • provide evidence demonstrating their experience of providing an easy-to-use, simple interface for website content contributors to upload, edit and manage content • demonstrate experience of redesign and a phased deployment of websites with a high volume of users and content • demonstrate experience of developing digital products, including release management from development, testing, pre-production and production environments using Drupal 7 / Drupal 8 modules beyond what is available from the community • demonstrate their experience with integrating external services such as media hosting, document hosting, visualisation libraries and analytics tools into a CMS • In examples given, show who in their expected team has been involved and what role(s) they played Nice to Haves • demonstrate experience of managing the entire project lifecycle, including the planning, design, development and delivery of projects in line with Government Digital Service Standards https://www.gov.uk/service-manual/service-standard • show how they lead an agile team as well as coach, mentor and upskill people in agile techniques and roles to build capability within existing teams. • demonstrate their knowledge of the energy sector through direct experience with energy stakeholders Work Location Ofgem: 10 South Colonnade, Canary Wharf, London, E14 4PU Working Arrangments The team are required to be co-located with the existing team in London, Monday-Friday usual office hours. The project will follow the technology code of practice using agile methodology: daily stand-ups, sprint planning, sprints, demos, retrospectives, show and tells. The supplier will need to take a lead by being a role model in agile ways of working, and invest time in knowledge sharing and coaching to increase the capability of the Ofgem digital team. Security Clearance Baseline Personnel Security Standard clearance will be required for all personnel working on site. The current clearance level of named team members shall be provided in written proposal. Additional T&Cs Ofgem shall have the right to terminate the Contract at any time, by giving 4 weeks written notice to the Supplier, and Ofgem’s liability thereto shall be for costs reasonably incurred by the Supplier up until the termination date. Suppliers must confirm acceptance of this term. No. of Suppliers to Evaluate 5 Proposal Criteria • Relevance of proposed technical solution • Demonstrate an agile working environment • Estimated timeframes: proposed programme for alpha, beta and live phases • Demonstrate relevant skills and experience of the team offered by phase • relevance of identified risks and proposals for mitigating against them • Suitable on-boarding plan • Competitive pricing versus quality of bid – overall value for money Cultural Fit Criteria • demonstrate your approach to engaging with internal senior stakeholders undergoing cultural change and how this will support project success. • demonstrate how you will work transparently, collaboratively and share your approach with the project team and seek actionable feedback • demonstrate how you will take responsibility to challenge the status quo and stand up for your discipline whilst involving staff • provide evidence of working with a similar government department or agencies • provide evidence of how you work with clients with different levels of technical expertise Payment Approach Capped time and materials Evaluation Weighting Technical competence 50% Cultural fit 20% Price 30% Questions from Suppliers 1. You've mentioned that the existing platform on Drupal 7 is aging - is there a particular reason for choosing Drupal 8 as a replacement, other than simply continuing in the same vein? Would you be open to alternative proposals? The discovery phase included a technical audit. The audit reviewed both the bespoke modules customised for our specific business needs and the implications of upgrading existing core Drupal 7 modules to 8. The outcomes of the audit concluded that a transistion to Drupal 8 was the most feasible option. 2. Will you be open to use subcontractors via an agency/supplier whom would manage them? We would prefer suppliers to use their own in-house team for this project. We will only accept subcontractors that suppliers have worked with previously subject to providing sufficient evidence of projects worked on. 3. The budget is stated for the whole project however the phasing states Alpha (with an option to extend to Beta and Live). Please, can you clarify how much you expect the Alpha to cost and the reasoning behind this budget? We expect suppliers to cost the alpha phase based upon the team we have requested and the expected 12 week delivery time for alpha. 4. Is there an in-house team to produce and manage the website content or is this something the supplier is expected to lead? The current ofgem.gov.uk website will continue to be managed by the central digital team and content authors from across the business. The supplier will be responsible for providing a content designer for the redevelopment of the new site. The content designer will be responsible for developing content for the services to be delivered in alpha. Content provision for beta will be determined at a later date. 5. Can you please define what you mean by 'supply personnel who have been employed by them for a year or more and have proven track-record' You will need to demonstrate that the team you want to appoint for the project have a proven track record of delivering comparable projects in an agile manner. 6. Can you elaborate on what you mean by 'live'? The point at which the entire existing site is retired and replaced by new services. Some of these services will be developed within the beta phase (publication management). 7. Can you give us a break down of how the budget is spread across the different phases? See response to question 4 above. 8. Please can you clarify what you are expecting for the answer to question: "In examples given, show who in their expected team has been involved and what role(s) they played" Do you want this answered for all of the previous questions as we have multiple teams working on projects. If so are you expecting specific details about members of staff or just general info on the roles? We expect information on the team you hope to appoint for the project. What comparable work have they done in the past and why they are the best fit for the needs of the project. 9. What do you anticipate the budget split between Alpha and Beta will be? See response to question 4 above. 10. Hi, Can you please tell me how this opportunity relates to the January 2018 tender opportunity here. https://www.digitalmarketplace.service.gov.uk/digital-outcomes-and-specialists/opportunities/5955? which was to cover discovery, alpha and beta? We were under the impression this contract had been awarded. The previous tender was for discovery with optional alpha and beta. Following completion of the discovery, we’ve decided to go back out to tender for the alpha with optional beta. 11. What is your vision of the MVP? Or is this still to be worked out? During the alpha phase of work the supplier will be responsible for translating key outcomes of the discovery phase into a tangible and testable product and service which meets the following requirements:Consumer contact: An online routing service to answer common queries quickly – increasing satisfaction and potentially reducing calls to the businessSupplier licence hub: An online iteration of the Supply Licence Conditions (for electricity and gas) and a mechanism for surfacing and grouping associated information against these conditions. The objective is to make licence conditions and guidance much easier for suppliers to access and understand. Cont'd... 12. What is your vision of the MVP? Or is this still to be worked out? /Cont'd... Consultation and engagement: A function that provides: ability to have rolling conversations on policy development and less “gating” in the consultation process; clearer grouping of “invitations to engage”; display of longer-term narratives of the consult/decide process in the development of policy and regulation. Note: We expect that some of the above services will be scalable, for example consumer contact could be amended to manage contact for other kind of stakeholders. Supplier licence hub could be scaled for other licence services. cont'd... 13. What is your vision of the MVP? Or is this still to be worked out? cont'd... We expect that by developing these services we will also realise improvements in:1. Publishing: a simpler & more efficient process for creating, approving and publishing information2. Information management: Organising & tagging information that matches the way users think, making it easier for them to find what they want3. Content audit and review of current site areas not within the scope of the alpha phase services, including development of an information archive function /cont'd... 14. cont'd...What is your vision of the MVP? Or is this still to be worked out? During the beta stage there will be a wider phase of work consisting of the following:1. Content audit and review of current site areas not within the scope of the alpha phase services, including development of an information archive function2. Taxonomy review3. Review and redevelopment of IA.4. Copy-writing5. Transfer, amendment or discontinuation of existing site functions & services. The main functions are:a. Data portalb. Offshore Transmission Mapsc. Capacity Market Change Proposalsd.Notify/alert/subscription functionalitye. CommentingEND. 15. Re Answer to Question 13, please ignore point 3. This was added in error (see Answer 14, point 1). See question. 16. Re Answers to questions 7. and 9., these should refer to our response to question 3., not question 4., as stated. Please refer to question.