PPM Tool Proof of Concept

Tender description

Summary of the work Devon County Council’s ICT Commissioning team wish to undertake a proof of concept for a PPM Tool to enable a further refinement of their requirements, test a tool to evidence its suitability to the DCC ICT project environment, and establish the approach that would be taken to full implementation. Expected Contract Length 4 weeks Latest start date 10/08/2016 Budget Range £5,000 Why the Work is Being Done The implementation of a Project Portfolio Management (PPM) tool will support the DCC ICT Commissioning team to better manage its project portfolio, provide greater visibility at senior levels on performance of projects against time, cost, and quality criteria and ensure that the use of project resources is maximised and controlled. It will also increase the efficiency and accuracy of current project processes and enable ‘real-time’ reporting of project progress and emerging risks and issues. Problem to Be Solved Continuing to use a manually updated Project Register in Excel, with monthly individual highlight reports documented separately, is an overly resource intensive process which increases the risk of inconsistent management information on project progress, spend, risks and issues, which undermines DCC ICT’s ability to manage projects effectively. The option of establishing a PPM tool is therefore being explored to replace the existing Project Register and compliment other existing sources of data such as Hornbill Support Works and MS SharePoint. Who Are the Users As the ICT PMO Manager, I need a single, accurate, and comprehensive record of all project activity within ICT, so that I can manage the portfolio of ICT projects effectively. As a Senior ICT manager, I need visibility of project activity, risks, issues and financial spend and confidence that information is accurate so that I can provide oversight and control of the ICT project portfolio. As a project lead, I need a means of effectively and efficiently managing projects and capturing risks and issues effectively, so that I can deliver my projects on time and on budget. Early Market Engagement No significant market engagement has been carried out beyond desk-based research on G Cloud and of relevant supplier websites. Work Already Done A project brief has been completed which includes a detailed requirements log and options analysis, and has recommended the procurement of a cloud-hosted, web-based PPM tool, to be preceded by a proof of concept stage to help refine DCC’s requirements and inform a choice on the most appropriate product to meet those requirements. Existing Team The supplier will be working with the ICT Commissioning Team, in particular the ICT Project Office Manager. Current Phase Not applicable Skills & Experience • be a provider of or a partner of a provider of a cloud-hosted, web-based PPM tool - 10 points • demonstrate experience of implementing proof of concepts of its product to enable buyers to reach a decision on whether to proceed with implementation - 10 points • provide a PPM tool which provides a central repository of information about all ICT projects including name, lead, timescales, budget, risks and issues - 10 points • provide a PPM tool which enables existing project information to be imported quickly and efficiently from standard desktop products - 10 points • provide a PPM tool which can group individual projects in different ways (e.g. workstreams, programmes) to allow different views of the data for different audiences - 10 points • provide a PPM tool which allows an individual project lead to access a single view of their individual project(s) - 10 points • provide a PPM tool which allows project risks and issues to be captured at individual project level and viewed at a programme/portfolio level - 10 points • provide a PPM tool which enables project planning at an individual project level - 10 points • provide a PPM tool which enables the completion of regular highlight and status reports to track progress of individual projects - 10 points • provide a PPM tool which enables the creation of dynamic dashboards for reporting progress at a programme level - 10 points • provide a PPM tool which allows multiple users to access and edit the tool simultaneously - 10 points • provide a PPM tool which updates information in real-time once changes have been made - 10 points • provide a PPM tool which has an easy to use interface which requires minimal training - 10 points • provide a PPM tool which is accessed through a secure log-in and password - 10 points • provide a PPM tool which can be accessed by multiple users at once through an agreed number of individual and/or concurrent licences - 10 points • provide a PPM tool which can be integrated with Support Works ITSM tool (Supportworks ESP v.7.5, Core Services v.3.1.3 and ITSM Enterprise v.3.4.13) and all future versions - 10 points • provide a PPM tool which will remains compatible with supported version of market leading web browsers (e.g. Internet Explorer and Chrome) - 10 points • provide a PPM tool which is always available and supported 8am - 6pm Monday to Friday with maintenance and upgrades outside of these hours - 10 points • provide a PPM tool which is compliant with relevant security standards (i.e. UK Government Cloud Security Principles) - 10 points • have extensive experience of successfully implementing PPM tools to similarly sized organisations, preferably within the public sector - 10 points Nice to Haves • provide a PPM tool which can track the progress of potential projects through the project pipeline (Initiation) process - 5 points • provide a PPM tool which allows project costs to be captured at project level and viewed at portfolio level - 5 points • provide a PPM tool which allows key project metrics (RAG status, KPIs) to be captured at individual project level and viewed at a programme/portfolio level - 5 points • provide a PPM tool which has wizard functionality to enable the development of customised work flow (e.g. to reflect DCC's own project pipeline process) - 5 points • provide a PPM tool which can include data validation rules on certain data fields to ensure the correct information is captured - 5 points • provide a PPM tool which retains an auditable archive of all amendments made - 5 points • provide a PPM tool which allows the addition or creation of tags and fields against projects - 5 points • provide a PPM tool which can pre-populate information into set templates (e.g. highlight reports) to avoid re-keying of data - 5 points • provide a PPM tool which conforms with GDS open standards for software interoperability and enables software to interoperate through open protocols - 5 points • provide a PPM tool which enables data to be exported to standard desktop products (e.g. Microsoft Excel) - 5 points • provide a PPM tool which is accessible via laptops and tablets (i.e. remote access as well as desk-based) - 5 points • provide a PPM tool which interfaces with SharePoint Online - 5 points Work Location Devon County Council, County Hall, Topsham Road, Exeter, EX2 4QD Working Arrangments We would expect the majority of the time to be spent onsite with key ICT staff building and iterating the Proof of Concept PPM tool. Any costs submitted as part of the assessment stage should be inclusive of expenses Security Clearance None required Additional T&Cs Devon County Council shall use the Framework Terms and Conditions No. of Suppliers to Evaluate 5 Proposal Criteria • A detailed demonstration of your understanding of the requirement - 25 points • The proposed approach and methodology - 100 points • Estimated timeframes for the work - 25 points • Evidence of experience of delivering similar projects in the last three years - 50 points Cultural Fit Criteria • Work as a team with our organisation - 25 points • Transparent and collaborative when making decisions - 25 points Payment Approach Fixed price Evaluation Weighting Technical competence 50% Cultural fit 10% Price 40% Questions from Suppliers 1. Can you confirm what are the expected deliverables/outputs of the proof of concept? Is the budget stipulated to cover the entire effort? The budget stipulated covers the effort to deliver the proof of concept. The supplier will work alongside the ICT PMO Manager who will support the delivery of the proof of concept. The deliverables/outputs required are a live instance of the PPM tool on to which the council's ICT project data can be loaded and used for the duration of the PoC to demonstrate that a PPM tool can meet the council's requirements and is suitable for the Devon CC ICT project environment and to inform a decision on how to proceed. 2. Can you confirm the precise requirements for this opportunity? - Are you looking for a specialist? Or an outcome? For 4 weeks at your location? - The budget in its total is £5,000 - Are you looking for the supplier to carry out the proof of concept? or to support the proof of concept? Thanks We are looking for a supplier to deliver a proof of concept which will inform a decision on how to proceed with the implementation of a PPM tool. The supplier will work alongside the ICT PMO Manager in partnership to deliver of the proof of concept. The 4 week timescale is to allow one cycle of our monthly project reporting cycle to completed with the PoC tool. The outcome we expect is a working product with appropriate support to configure the tool to the council's requirements as set out in the Technical Competence section of the brief.