Standalone System Transformation 2020 Development Delivery

Description

Summary of the work HMPO is seeking a supplier to maintain and build products and services in SST for a 2-year contract period. The supplier shall support HMPO to improve, deliver and support a standalone system that replicates the main services offered by the business. Expected Contract Length 2 years with an optional 6-month extension period Latest start date Monday 20 July 2020 Budget Range £3m - £3.6m over the 2-year contract period Why the Work is Being Done HMPO has a requirement to produce passports on a standalone system that is transitioning between two suppliers. The SST project consists of the releases below: Release 1 - modify an existing application, utilising the latest versions of the applications to enable the transition between two suppliers. Release 2 - develop a new application called Standalone System Transformation (SST) to replace, and bring in-house an application that has been developed and is currently supported by an external supplier. Release 3 - develop a solution that is a secured conduit for sending data to a cloud based terminal repository. Problem to Be Solved SST is a "whitelisted" service meaning some details are intentionally restricted. The objective of the new Contract Provision is to ensure the supplier: - Provides development and support into the Operational Service management teams - Delivers a flexible, responsive yet predictable service provision, supporting HMPO’s Digital Services and specifically SST. - Aligns with exiting delivery strategies but devises improvements and enhancements - Support the live services and Operational Support teams - Improve the products in order to enhance the live services - Build new features to maintain the relevance of the live services - Work in partnership with all stakeholders in HMPO Who Are the Users The users will be an internal team who will access the service (all releases) on a standalone system from dedicated HMPO sites to process and produce passports. Work Already Done Release 1 is in an advanced state and is due for completion in July 2020. Release 2 is in Beta stage. The User Interface is well into development. Release 3 is currently in design and due for installation in July 2020. Existing Team SST consists of multi-disciplinary delivery teams of Civil Servants and Contractors. The contracted roles are currently through the Specialist lot of the DOS Framework. The roles contracted are: - x1 Technical BA - x1 Technical Lead - x2 Developer - x2 System Engineer These roles are still to be required as part of this contract. Shortlisted suppliers may want to explore the possibility of on-boarding the existing contractors, however this is not an essential criteria if suppliers are able to provide their own resource cleared to the appropriate level. All individuals in these roles are either SC or DV cleared. Current Phase Beta Skills & Experience • Demonstrable experience of providing digital staff to work in a challenging, complex environment handling sensitive information up to SECRET (GSC). • Demonstrable experience of providing digital resources to work as a joint team with a commissioning organisation and operating within its governance. • Demonstrable experience in using Agile/Scrum methodology to iteratively architect/develop high quality digital services • How do you identify digital staff who have, or can achieve, SC and DV clearance? At what stage does this take place? • How do you identify digital staff with technical skills required for the project? At what stage does this take place? • Demonstrable experience in providing skilled resources in Business Analysis, Technical Design, Developers, System Engineers. • Demonstrable experience in providing digital staff with skills in Java, Node.js, Microsoft Azure and Microsoft Azure Stack. • Confirmation that your organisation is Cyber Essentials certified (pass/fail question) Nice to Haves • Demonstrable experience of providing on the job coaching and mentoring on agile delivery and specialist digital skills to the client’s ‘in house team’. • Demonstrable experience of working with a wide range of user groups including commissioning organisation business stakeholders, technical design authority, NCSC and other GCHQ agencies. • Demonstrable experience of delivering digital services in the Public Sector.. • Confirmation that your organisation is Cyber Essentials Plus certified. Work Location HMPO, Globe House, 89 Eccleston Square, London SW1V 1PN Working Arrangments The supplier will be required to work from the HMPO London office 5 days per week once the COVID-19 lock down restriction are lifted. Flexible, remote working until then will be possible. Security Clearance Individuals contracted to work on SST must be cleared to DV level. HMPO is willing to accept individuals with clearance of SC level, providing they are willing and able to obtain DV clearance. HMPO will sponsor DV clearance as required. Additional T&Cs Suppliers bidding for this work should familiarise themselves with the full 'HMPO SST Requirements'. This can be found on the Home Office e-procurement platform; https://homeoffice.app.jaggaer.com/ Suppliers can view the requirements document by clicking on 'View current opportunities' on the right hand side of the login page. This document will be used as the basis for the Request for Proposal, HMPO would encourage suppliers to read the document in advance of the RfP stage in order to further understand our requirements. No. of Suppliers to Evaluate 3 Proposal Criteria • Approach: ability and capacity to recruit and on-board a team to deliver customer outcomes in the required timescales. • Resources: the capability to meet availability and flexibility-to-scale requirements by providing defined resource-types with required skill levels and security clearances in accordance with customer’s need. • Stakeholder engagement: approach to managing across the disparate interests of internal and external stakeholders in a complex, cross-organisational environment. • Collaboration: demonstrate effective ways of working as a joint team within commissioning organisations and operating within its governance. • Training & Handover: demonstrate effective ways of working to ensure progress and support of the strategic outcomes remains aligned. Cultural Fit Criteria • Works collaboratively within a joint team of Customer staff and other suppliers. • Demonstrates a commitment to knowledge-sharing and active participation in the upskilling of Customer staff. • A committed, proactive and ethical approach to work. • Flexibility in adapting to meet changing priorities and business requirements. Payment Approach Time and materials Assessment Method • Work history • Presentation Evaluation Weighting Technical competence 65% Cultural fit 10% Price 25% Questions from Suppliers 1. Can you provide the procurement timeline post Stage 1 submission, and will a presentation and a proposal be required? Post stage 1 submissions, there will be an internal evaluation which we expect to conclude on 15th June. Request for proposals will then be sent out to the shortlisted suppliers, and presentations are to be held virtually on either 25th or 26th June. The dates detailed above are indicative and subject to change at any time. 2. Is there an incumbent supplier, if so, who? There is not an incumbent supplier. All work delivered to date has been through the in-house team made up of interim contractors and Civil Servants. 3. Who is on the evaluation panel? Our evaluation panel will consist of a Project Manager, Senior Business Analyst and a Technical Architect, all of whom are familiar with the SST project. The Commercial Lead will be on the panel as a moderator. 4. If we have Cyber Essentials but not Cyber Essentials Plus, is that likely to preclude us from being shortlisted? Cyber Essentials accreditation is an essential criteria. If your organisation is unable to confirm this, then you will be precluded from the shortlist.In regards to Cyber Essentials Plus, this is a nice-to-have meaning your organisation won't be precluded from the shortlist, however this may impact your overall Stage 1 score and as such could mean you are not in our shortlist of 3 suppliers. We will only be taking the top 3 suppliers from Stage 1 through to the second 'request for proposal' stage. 5. A nice-to-have experience relates to Cyber Essentials Plus certification. Will an organisation which has commenced but not yet completed its certification get 0, 1 or 2 marks? 0 = Supplier unable to confirm Cyber Essentials Plus certification1 = Supplier confirms they have started to process to obtain certification2 = Supplier confirms they already have certification 6. The Authority indicates the following:These roles are still to be required as part of this contract. Shortlisted suppliers may want to explore the possibility of on-boarding the existing contractors, however this is not an essential criteria if suppliers are able to provide their own resource cleared to the appropriate level.Could suppliers please be provided with contact details for us to make contact with the existing contractors to explore the possibility of working collaboratively. Alternatively if preferred our contact details could be passed to them and for them to make contact with us. We do not deem it to be appropriate at this initial shortlisting stage. HMPO may consider facilitating these conversations at the second stage of the tender. 7. Are you able to recruit and provide access to users for the purpose of any user research? No user research is required as part of the delivery of this project. 8. Is it permissible to provide more than one example where required to fully address the question? This is permissible. HMPO will leave this open to supplier discretion but would recommend limiting number of examples and ensuring sufficient detail of each example is provided. 9. Do you have any preference between public sector or private sector examples? Or will both be treated equally as long as they are relevant to the question? Providing the response is relevant to the question, public or private sector examples can be used - they will be treated equally. 10. For the first evaluation round (evidence), what would you expect to see from an answer for it to be deemed 'exceeding' and score 3 marks? We are unable to give exact details of what we would expect to see as it is up to suppliers to provide responses that exceed what the questions are asking. To obtain a 3 (exceeds requirements), suppliers would be expected to provide an exceptional level of detail with an outstanding example that is highly relevant to what is being asked. 11. Will you be able to organise access to users and other stakeholders throughout the project? HMPO can facilitate this as required. 12. Has the work been fully defined, bounded and prioritised? There are three releases to this project. Releases 1 & 2 have been fully defined, bounded and prioritised. Release 3 development has not been started yet. 13. Will your Product Owner/Service Owner be allocated full time to this project? They are not full time, but they will be accessible. 14. Will the scores from the evidencing round be taken through to final evaluation? Or will they only be used for the purposes of shortlisting suppliers? Scores from the first stage will be carried over to the second stage to give a combined overall final score. 15. At the proposal stage, in order to compare suppliers like for like, how will price be evaluated: will you be evaluating by the total price, rate card or both? How do you ensure that you are completing a genuine value for money comparison rather than just a rate card comparison? A SFIA rate card will be the only pricing assessment method for this procurement. Value for Money will be determined not only through the price evaluation, but also through the technical responses that the suppliers submit. 16. What roles are you expecting suppliers to provide? In addition, are you expecting all roles to have the ability to be full time for the duration of the project? HMPO require a team made up of the following roles;x1 PMx1 BAx1 Tech Leadx5 Developersx3 System Engineersx2 Azure Stack EngineerSome of these roles are currently filled by contractors under the Specialists lot of the DOS framework. The contracts for these individuals will soon come to an end. The successful supplier can either seek to on-board the existing contractors, or provide their own resource to fill the roles. Approaches will be further explored at the proposal stage of the tender.Further details can be found in the full requirements document referenced in 'additional T&C's'. 17. You say that 'Shortlisted suppliers may want to explore the possibility of on-boarding the existing contractors, however this is not an essential criteria if suppliers are able to provide their own resource cleared to the appropriate level.' 1. Does this suggest that the new supplier on-boards all or some of the existing contractors? 2. Does the buyer have a preference for the new supplier to a) provide continuity using the existing team as far as possible, but with a new service wrap, b) bring on new resources and refreshed delivery approach or c) a combination of a) and b)? HMPO requires the listed roles with the appropriate DV clearance level. If suppliers are able to provide all the roles with DV clearance and can demonstrate that there is value for money in this approach, then we have no problem with it being recommended by suppliers. HMPO recognise however that this may not be possible as DV cleared resource can be limited within the market, which is why reference to on-boarding existing contractors has been made. Suppliers will not be marked down for either, providing suitable justification for the suggested approach is given. 18. Can you provide more information about which SST project team roles are currently filled by civil servants in addition to the 6 contracted roles? HMPO have a Business Analyst and Senior PM that are Civil Servants. All other roles within the team are contractors through the Specialist lot on the DOS framework. 19. "How do you identify digital staff with technical skills required for the project? At what stage does this take place?"Given the current phase is Beta and the opportunity mentions 3 releases that are already well into development or near completion, could you please clarify what information you are seeking from the question above, especially with respect to "At what stage does this take place?". HMPO require a number of individuals with appropriate technical skills (see requirements doc reference in 'additional T&Cs). When recommending a team for this project, how would you ensure the individuals you are putting forward have the skills we require, and at what stage would you do this? For example, would you recommend individuals once the contract has commenced, or would you be looking to do that at an earlier/later stage? 20. Are consortium bids allowed? Consortium bids are acceptable providing the lead contractor is a supplier on the DOS Framework Agreement. 21. If the lead bidder in a consortium has the cyber essentials plus, will that be considered? HMPO would accept this if the primary contractor had Cyber Essentials Plus certification. 22. Do you have a cap on day rates? Below is a full list of the capped day rates that apply across DDaT clusters:- Architecture: £600(SFIA 3); £750(SFIA 4); £950(SFIA 5)- Data: £550(SFIA 3); £650(SFIA 4); £900(SFIA 5)- Delivery: £500(SFIA 3); £700(SFIA 4); £850(SFIA 5)- Engineering: £450(SFIA 3); £650(SFIA 4); £800(SFIA 5)- IP Ops: £450(SFIA 3); £650(SFIA 4); £800(SFIA 5)- Product: £540(SFIA 3); £680(SFIA 4); £800(SFIA 5)- QAT: £460(SFIA 3); £575(SFIA 4); £800(SFIA 5)- UCD: £425(SFIA 3); £575(SFIA 4); £625(SFIA 5)