New Style of IT (NSoIT) Managed Evolution Red Applications De-Risk

Tender description

Summary of the work Agile, multidisciplinary team needed to optimise the provision of operational applications and data services to deployed warfighters in the UK Armed Forces through innovation and iteration within the New Style of IT (Deployed) programme. Expected Contract Length funding is for discovery phase & subject to approval of successful discovery findings onto alpha Latest start date The start date is anticipated as being week commencing Monday 10 October 2016 Budget Range Initial funding of £244,800 including VAT for discovery and alpha phase activity, Further funding is subject to approvals later in 2016. Why the Work is Being Done PLEASE NOTE THIS REPLACES REQUIREMENT PUBLISHED 13/09/16, REVISED ASSESSMENT METHODS UPDATED . "ISS is transforming the technology being made available to warfighters when they are away from fixed office locations through the New Style of IT (Deployed) programme. NSOIT(D) is moving MOD from its history of creating many stovepiped systems to a future where quality new or redesigned services are made available on our common platform, which will be supported by generic infrastructure. NSOIT(D) wishes to optimise the provision of applications and data services to warfighters, identifying best fit solutions that are based on a deep understanding of user needs." Problem to Be Solved "scope is operational capabilities that are often referred to as command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (C4ISR). The initial focus will be to optimise services for Royal Navy warfighters working at SECRET. Example problems: • deployed warfighters can't share information easily with fixed office locations • warfighters manually inputting information that could be sourced more efficiently Discovery will identify opportunities that will be prioritised against desired outcomes: 1. Warfighters make more effective decisions 2. Warfighters are more productive 3. Financial costs are reduced These outcomes are rooted in ISS’s Hierarchy of Outcomes and point 6.41 (p.74) of SDSR15." Who Are the Users The overarching need is: As a warfighter in the UK Armed Forces, I need to create, consume, share and store information so that I can plan and execute operations and exercises. Example needs within C4ISR include: As a warfighter, I need to: • Give and receive orders • Plan operations • Know where things are in the battlespace • Interoperate with allies • Access geographical and meteorological information Work Already Done Analysis of processes from joint doctrine, identification of incumbent applications in different security tiers, pre-discovery user research and stakeholder engagement, technical assessment of existing systems. Existing Team You'll be joining the NSOIT(D) Apps team (including an Apps Innovation delivery manager). The NSOIT(D) Apps team includes technical experts familiar with NATO applications. Work with other third party suppliers will be required. Current Phase Discovery Skills & Experience • • Delivering successful outcomes that are aligned to the user centred, agile principles of the Digital Service Standard (https://www.gov.uk/service-manual/service-standard) and Technology Code of Practise (https://www.gov.uk/service-manual/technology/code-of-practice.html) (15%) • • User research (6%) • o Planning, designing and conducting in-house user research and usability testing sessions (2%) • o Generating findings, insights and actions that teams need to build a clear picture of their users and deliver solutions that they need (2%) • o Communicating findings and related design/business recommendations and customer insights (2%) • • Business analysis (6%) • o Identifying business needs through analysis and research with business areas (2%) • o Generating findings, insights and actions that teams need to understand business implications and how those might be magnified or mitigated as appropriate (2%) • o Communicating findings and related recommendations and insights (2%) • • Technical (6%) • o Rapid creation of user need-driven prototypes to identify technical options and inform architectural approaches (2%) • o Identifying technical options that factor in robust performance, load and security considerations (2%) • o Engaging with technical and non-technical colleagues and stakeholders to communicate options, recommendations and insights (2%) • • Product (6%) • o Succesfully achieving best “product-user fit” (2%) • o Aligning the team and stakeholders to a product vision (2%) • o Communicating strategy and priorities through tools including the product roadmap and backlog (2%) • • Knowledge sharing and skills transfer to in-house colleagues to build capability and experience of agile delivery and user-centred service design (6%) Nice to Haves • Evidence of delivering successful technology transformation outcomes, where principally off-the-shelf products are evaluated against user needs in an agile, iterative way to identify best “product-user fit” (4%) Work Location MOD Corsham, Westwells Road, CORSHAM, Wilts, SN13 9NR. Working Arrangments MOD Corsham will be the team's home location. Face to face interaction is preferred where possible. Remote / flexible working is encouraged if beneficial to getting work done more efficiently and effectively. Some travel required across the UK for interaction with users and business areas, including show & tells, user research and usability testing.Travel and Subsistence is payable for duty away from MOD Corsham Security Clearance All members of the team need to have SC clearance. This clearance is required in advance of the work due to required start-date. Additional T&Cs suppliers are required to confirm the approach dealing with Conflict of Interest.Please provide a limit of liability for Travel and Subsistence . No. of Suppliers to Evaluate 5 Proposal Criteria • • Approach and methodology (2%) • • How the approach meets user needs (3%) • • How the approach achieves the desired outcomes (3%) • • Team structure (3%) • • Approach to knowledge and skills transfer (3%) • • Value for money (2%) Cultural Fit Criteria • • Work collegiately with colleagues in the Ministry of Defence and with other suppliers, seeking the best for the organisation beyond immediate team (3%) • • Demonstrate commitment to excellence and improvement (for example through seeking actionable feedback and setting targets) (2% • • Be transparent and collaborative when making decisions (2%) • • Demonstrate enthusiasm (for example, share passion and energy with others, bring whole self to work, celebrate success, be positive) (2%) • • Demonstrate simplicity (for example, take simple steps to goals, talk straight with respect, do less but better) (2%) • • Demonstrate pragmatism (seek constructive outcomes in discussions, challenge assumptions but remain willing to compromise when it is beneficial to progress) (2%) • • Have a no-blame culture and encourage people to learn from their mistakes (2%) Payment Approach Fixed price Evaluation Weighting Technical competence 65% Cultural fit 15% Price 20% Questions from Suppliers 1. IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT SUBMITTING QUESTIONS The email account registered for receiving questions is currently not accessable . Please resubmit any questions to the email address -claire.hussey920@mod.uk. Apologies for any inconvenience this may cause . 2. please clarify meaning of “Payment approach: Fixed price”? Does this mean:1. fixed budget for the work the supplier will supply resources to work as team in ISS for a period up to but not exceeding the budget, paid on a time and materials basis; or2. supplier required to provide fixed price for delivery of fixed set of outputs?Only the first option works for an agile project since, by definition, agility achieved by varying scope based on business/ operational priority within a set timeframe. If you mean the second interpretation, provide information about how you envisage this working? We ask for a fixed price for a Discovery phase that will seek to understand the needs of warfighters in the Royal Navy when working at SECRET so that they can plan and execute operations and an initial Alpha phase. MOD invites bidders to advise on how the mix of skills and amount of resource they will provide would best enable us to meet our desired outcome (reference: https://www.gov.uk/service-manual/agile-delivery/how-the-discovery-phase-works). MOD has the option to commission follow-up activity (e.g. subsequent Alpha phase activity) as additional funding is potentially available (subject to approval). 3. 926 and 960 appear to be duplicates. Is this an administrative error? Which dates take precedence? 926 has been removed, there was an error identified in the assessment methods.960 replaced this. 4. Is it really fixed price or T&M up to a ceiling? We ask for a fixed price for a Discovery phase that will seek to understand the needs of warfighters in the Royal Navy when working at SECRET so that they can plan and execute operations and an initial Alpha phase. MOD invites bidders to advise on how the mix of skills and amount of resource they will provide would best enable us to meet our desired outcome (reference: https://www.gov.uk/service-manual/agile-delivery/how-the-discovery-phase-works). MOD has the option to commission follow-up activity (e.g. subsequent Alpha phase activity) as additional funding is potentially available (subject to approval). 5. Are there fixed deliverables? MOD wishes to meet the needs of warfighters in the Royal Navy when working at SECRET so that they can plan and execute operations.We would expect to finish Discovery with a prioritised list of user needs, a prioritised list of user stories, a broad scope for the service, agreed features for the minimum viable product if we did move into Alpha and an understanding of how we would run the Alpha. (Reference: https://www.gov.uk/service-manual/agile-delivery/how-the-discovery-phase-works)For Alpha we would want to assemble and test potential best fit solutions against an agreed goal (Reference: https://www.gov.uk/service-manual/agile-delivery/how-the-alpha-phase-works) 6. What is the timeframe? MOD invites bidders to advise on how the mix of skills and amount of resource they will provide would best enable us to meet our desired outcome (reference: https://www.gov.uk/service-manual/agile-delivery/how-the-discovery-phase-works). As a general steer, we anticipate that the Discovery phase will take approximately eight weeks (the upper boundary of the duration for Discovery advised by the Government Service Design Manual). The initial alpha (and any subsequent phases) will be informed by the Discovery phase. 7. Do they just require resources, or resources and environments plus tooling? We expect a part of Discovery to involve identifying how we’d start working with potential “best fit” solutions once we have a better understanding of user needs. MOD is developing environments and tooling. They could be drawn on if appropriate and if they are sufficiently mature. We would be interested to learn if bidders could potentially provide an alternative route to environments and tooling in the event that we progressed to Alpha. This option would help us ensure that we take the most appropriate tools into Alpha. 8. Given that the desired start date is 10th October but 960 submission deadline isn’t until 30th September, would this follow the normal sequence or should we expect an accelerated selection process There is not an accelerated process. This will follow the timescales advised in the Government Digital Service process. 9. What are the desired outcomes from the discovery exercise? MOD wishes to conduct a Discovery phase that will seek to understand needs of warfighters in the Royal Navy when working at SECRET so they can plan and execute operations.We want to know:• user needs • extent to which those needs are currently being met• scope of service we want to provide (referenced against user needs)• whether to move into Alpha • team of people we’d need if we did move into Alpha• how we’d start working with potential “best fit” solutions if we did move into Alpha• how we’ll measure success (Reference: https://www.gov.uk/service-manual/agile-delivery/how-the-discovery-phase-works 10. Can the authority share the outputs of any pre-discovery conducted till date to provide further background and context? This will be shared with the successful supplier upon award of contract. 11. Can the authority hold a supplier briefing call to provide a voice overlay to their requirements? Unfortunately this is not possible within our timescales. 12. Where does this opportunity fit in with NSOIT delivery, DaaP etc in MOD’s roadmap This is an initiative for New Style of IT (Deployed) (NSoIT (D)) and fits within the strategic principles and direction of DaaP. 13. What is the expected duration of the Discovery and Alpha work packages? As a general steer, we anticipate that the Discovery phase would take approximately eight weeks (the upper boundary of the duration for Discovery advised by the Government Service Design Manual).The duration of the Alpha phase will be informed by the Discovery phase. We are happy to take advice on how long an initial Alpha might be within your fixed price quote. MOD has the option to commission follow-up activity (e.g. subsequent Alpha phase activity) as additional funding is potentially available (subject to approval). 14. What is the expectation of team size, structure and roles? MOD invites bidders to advise on how the mix of skills and amount of resource they will provide would best enable us to meet our desired outcome (reference: https://www.gov.uk/service-manual/agile-delivery/how-the-discovery-phase-works). We anticipate that we’ll need a mix of product management, user research, business analysis and some technical skills. We are open to proposals that include other skill areas. The team will report to the NSOIT(D) Apps Lead and will join a Delivery Manager (sourced separately).Moving into Alpha, the skills required will depend on the findings made and decisions taken during Discovery. We envisage that technical resourcing might marginally increase. 15. Will project management support be required or will this role be provided by the Authority Project Management is undertaken by the Authority 16. Who is the Apps Innovation delivery manager and where in the ISS organisation does this role fit The Apps Innovation Delivery Manager sits within the NSOIT(D) Apps team.Details of who this is will be disclosed upon contract award. 17. Could you tell me the anticipated durations for the project stages covered by this tender: The Discovery stage and the Alpha stage.On the understanding that the £244,800 of funding covers both of these stages, the durations are required in order to understand the type of team size required to deliver. Please provide a fixed price for a Discovery phase that will seek to understand the needs of warfighters in the Royal Navy when working at SECRET so that they can plan and execute operations and an initial Alpha phase. MOD has the option to commission follow-up activity (e.g. subsequent Alpha phase activity) as additional funding is potentially available (subject to approval).As a general steer, we anticipate that the Discovery phase would take approximately eight weeks (the upper boundary recommended by the Government Service Design Manual).The Alpha phase will be informed by the Discovery phase 18. Do you have an expected team size in mind? We ask for a fixed price for a Discovery phase that will seek to understand the needs of warfighters in the Royal Navy when working at SECRET so that they can plan and execute operations and an initial Alpha phase. MOD invites bidders to advise on how the mix of skills and amount of resource they will provide would best enable us to meet our desired outcome (reference: https://www.gov.uk/service-manual/agile-delivery/how-the-discovery-phase-works 19. Will there be a more detailed requirement provided at the next stage of the procurement? Thanks No.