Common Platform Programme - 10-30 Dev Ops up to 24 Months.

Tender description

Summary of the work HMCTS digital transformation projects for HMCTS services. Expected Contract Length 2 years. The first SOW will be for a 3 month duration with other SOWs developed over the term. Latest start date 5th September 2016 Budget Range Suppliers should note that proposals are assessed on DOS using the cheapest price. For this requirement we will be using this methodology but applying it against the average day rate of the roles proposed to compare bids on a like for like basis. Why the Work is Being Done The CJS Common Platform Programme is a business transformation programme which will enable the criminal justice system as a whole, and the individual agencies working within it, to fundamentally change the way they work, to be more efficient and effective and deliver a better service for society and taxpayers. For the first time, criminal case information will be kept together in one place, instead of being re-entered and replicated on numerous different systems. Parties will be able to access and update the same data set based on their security profile and associated access rights. Problem to Be Solved The CJS Common Platform Programme is looking to expand the support team to help HMCTS and CPS transition and run great digital services. Suppliers resources must have strong Dev Ops skills and be ready to quickly get to work within a multi-disciplinary team of developers, designers, editors and analysts focussed on one or more products or projects providing services capable of running high volume, reliable and flexible services that are relentlessly user-focussed and continually improved through iterative development. Who Are the Users The focus is on systems in Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) and Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), in partnership with the legal defence community, Police, NOMS and other prosecuting authorities with respect to cases heard in the Magistrates’ and Crown Courts in England and Wales. benefits include: • that staff are working from and sharing the same set of accurate data; information being readily available and easily accessible; • reduction of workplace duplication and the need for paper based systems ; increased efficiency and productivity through joined up, flexible and innovative ways of working; Work Already Done We have completed a series of discovery and alpha phases for the various strands of work within the service. Existing Team The supplier will be working with Civil Servants and multiple Suppliers across various strands of work for delivery of the Programme. Current Phase Beta Skills & Experience • The Web Operations role will have specific skills, including: A deep understanding of the target operating system. • Experience of multiple programming languages and common deployment patterns • Capacity planning and load and performance testing techniques • Highly-available systems design • Administration and tuning of production database systems and installation and usage of monitoring tools • Knowledge of configuration, deployment and management of web application stacks configuration managementand • The Web Operations role must have demonstrable experience configuring web and application servers and possess a fundamental understanding of the technology stack specified for the project • Operational management of servers, delivering a complex web application stack .The outcome - A stable application platform within the constraint of the stability of the IaaS provider. • Building and configuring new server platforms and the automated tooling to do so. The outcome - All infrastructure deployment to be automated. • Testing, debugging and troubleshooting of platform level problems • Help everyone understand constraints around security, performance, cost and resulting tradeoffs • Supporting development teams with configuring applications for deployment. The outcome - Dev teams are able to automate deployment and configuration of applications. • Working with developers to optimise existing applications and to design new ones • Participate in stand-ups, planning sessions and retrospectives • Encourage everyone (developers, delivery managers, product owners) to think about how new applications will be run and maintained • Design, build and run systems for application deployment, systems orchestration and configuration management. • The outcome- All applications are deployed and configured automatically and repeatedly through scripts, artefacts and configuration files held within the programmes version control and repositories. • Contribute to designing internal processes needed in the running of a high performance development and operations organisation. • The outcome-Design DevOps process and tooling to maintain and improve velocity of programme deployment. Nice to Haves • Have experience of working on three or more digital by default government services with high transaction volumes (100k p/a) and meeting digital by default service standard criteria. • Be able to hit the ground running and deploy an effective multi-discipline team able to fulfil the required outcomes. • Have experience of working on migration between different cloud vendor technologies. • An interest in or some experience with compliance, auditing and security Work Location Rose Court, 2 Southwark Bridge Road London SE1 9HS, Southern House, Wellesley Grove Croydon CR9 1WW ( the "Base locations" , although some visits to other locations may be required.) Working Arrangments The suppliers team will be required to work onsite at the base location working a five (5) day week. The Service is being delivered against the GDS Service Manual (e.g. agile delivery aligned to scrum methodology). For any work performed at a location different to that of the Base location and London (outside of the M25), all reasonable travel and expenses costs shall be met in accordance with the rates set out in the MoJ travel and subsistence policy. All expenses will require prior approval from HMCTS before being reimbursed. Security Clearance Disclosure Scotland. See www.disclosurescotland.co.uk/basicdisclosureonline/index.htm Additional T&Cs Any expenses shall be submitted in line with the Ministry of Justice standard Travel and Subsistence policy and agreed in advance of expenditure. No. of Suppliers to Evaluate 5 Proposal Criteria • Overall Technical Solution and Approach - High Level Delivery Plan, Approach and Method, Timescales, Risks and Dependencies and Quality (30%) • Proposed team structure (including CVs of key members) - Reference contract/ case studies examples including linked CV’s (20%) • Value for Money - how the proposal will optimise costs and generate savings. (10%) Cultural Fit Criteria • Proposed approach for working with co-located, multi-vendor HMCTS team - demonstration of transparency and collaboration, inclding ability to engage and work with users at all levels (4%) • Proposed approach for enabling digital team and capability.(3%) • Have a no-blame culture and encourage people to learn from their mistakes (3%) Payment Approach Time and materials Evaluation Weighting Technical competence 60% Cultural fit 10% Price 30% Questions from Suppliers 1. Does the 10-30 in the contract title refer to the number of staff required? Yes, we are looking for 10-30 resources over the 24 months of the Contract. 2. Can you confirm the security clearance required? It states Disclosure Scotland however the base Locations are in London. All personnel are subject to the Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS) recruitment check that should be completed by the Contractor before an individual commences work. The Contractor must carry out the following checks as part of the BPSS process:-One of which is A Disclosure Scotland check, which can be completed online. 3. Are you looking for one supplier to provide the 10-30 resources or will you accept resources from multiple suppliers? We are looking for one primary supplier who may partner with other suppliers to provide resources as necessary . The contract however will be with the Primary Supplier. 4. Could you provide more information about the current chosen technology stack ? Should this be adhered to for the remainder of the project ? Would people be open to stacks/languages/cloud providers/databases ? The tech stack is predominantly based on Open Source technologies with emphasis on Java, JEE, Apache, PostgresSQL etc for runtime and GIT/Gerrit, Ansible, Artefactory, Sonarqube/OWASP for deployment and operations. Candidates ideally should be familiar with hosting service provision from Skyscape and MS Azure. 5. Can you advise which technology platforms / skills would be required to support the outcomes identified? The tech stack is predominantly based on Open Source technologies with emphasis on Java, JEE, Apache, PostgresSQL etc for runtime and GIT/Gerrit, Ansible, Artefactory, Sonarqube/OWASP for deployment and operations. Candidates ideally should be familiar with hosting service provision from Skyscape and MS Azure.The skills required are specified in the requirements specification. 6. How do you see the work ramping-up (so how many people do you need from day 1) We would anticipate that we will need 6-10 people from Day 1 7. Will the devops team expected to manage both development and production environment? The DevOps team will be expected to manage both development and production environments. 8. Team size is mentioned as 10 to 30, so what is the ramp up duration expected for the team ? AS stated 6-10 to start and then depending on Business decisions. 9. How many development teams (/or no. of developers) expected to work on this CPP programme? In the region of 6 teams. 10. Can you advise which technology platforms / skills would be required to support the outcomes identified? The Technology Platforms are mainly "Open Source" and the skills required are highlighted in the requirement. 11. Nice to have has mentioned that the candidate must have worked three digital programme earlier, is there a minimum experience duration required. There is not a minimum duration but the candidates must be able to demonstrate their capability, skills and experience in a digital environment. 12. Essential skills sets the expectation of the candidate, can we have the list of tools / technologies used across the platform which will help to identify the right fit? The skills are set out in the requirements specification and are common in a Digital environment. The tech stack is predominantly based on Open Source technologies with emphasis on Java, JEE, Apache, PostgresSQL etc for runtime and GIT/Gerrit, Ansible, Artefactory, Sonarqube/OWASP for deployment and operations. Candidates ideally should be familiar with hosting service provision from Skyscape and MS Azure. 13. Could you provide more information about the current chosen technology stack ? Should this be adhered to for the remainder of the project ? Would people be open to stacks/languages/cloud providers/databases ? There are programme approved stacks, the language is predominately Java and databases are dependent on development needs. The Cloud providers are selected by the Programme and products are constantly evolving to meet the business requirements. 14. Do you expect this opportunity to fall under the proposed changes to off payroll working within the Public Sector, and will you be deducting tax at source? https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/off-payroll-working-in-the-public-sector-reform-of-the-intermediaries-legislation ‘It is too early to say. The consultation period ends on the 18th August and we like all other public sector bodies are working with HMRC on the proposals for April 2017 and will continue to monitor these developments to ensure processes are adapted to meet any changes in HMRC legislation’