Resource Augmentation for the Development and Live Support DWP Technology Children Platform teams

Tender description

Summary of the work Resource Augmentation for Development and Live Support of the Children Platform technology estate, primarily the Child Maintenance Scheme (CMS) 2012 System. Augmented resources will support the delivery of outcomes for required regular releases of changes, repairs and Live Support to remain current with legislation and optimised for performance/service. Expected Contract Length 2 years Latest start date 01/12/2016 (up to +4 weeks) Budget Range The resources are expected to flex in size to meet requirements during the life of contract. Why the Work is Being Done DWP has existing contracts, that come to an end in 2016-17, including for Provision of Core Business Systems (Development and Live Support of the CMS 2012 System). In accordance with its strategic objective DWP intends to have a core team which will be supplemented by additional supplier augmented resources that will enhance DWP’s internal capability. Therefore contract(s) are required to provide flexible capacity and capability to support DWP by providing resources that comprise of technical specialists and can deliver outcomes. Problem to Be Solved A Supplier is required to provide flexible capacity and capability to support DWP by providing resources that can deliver outcomes in the areas of development activities necessary to satisfy the requirements for development/change/repair across a series of releases, and Live Support necessary to satisfy the requirements for a stable performance application/system. Key technologies are Siebel, BPM, OBIEE, BaNCS, Adobe and Documentum. Please note that Development and Live Support requirements relating to BaNCS will be delivered via by a separate contract agreement that will be interfaced into by DWP and the Supplier appointed to deliver outcomes for these requirements. Who Are the Users As a DWP Technology Function I need to be able to augment my development and live support teams to ensure they have the capability and capacity to deliver necessary change and system stability for the Child Maintenance Group (CMG) and its clients. Work Already Done Applications have been developed on the Children Platform technology estate in support of various child maintenance schemes, including the CMS 2012 system that was developed for the latest scheme, which went live in 2012. Development work is ongoing to deliver against a range of additional business and technical requirements. Support of the production system continues to be required within a complex multi-application, multi-supplier environment. Existing Team The Supplier will be expected to be Primarily co-located with the Customer on DWP sites based within Newcastle Upon Tyne and Leeds with the ability to augment resources using a remote model. Current Phase Not applicable Skills & Experience • Experience of delivering development capability using a wide range of methodologies including agile and waterfall across five or more concurrent projects with teams of 50 to 100 development resources 2.00% • Experience of aligning development activities with other parallel work streams across split sites, ensuring quality standards are maintained 2.00% • Experience of delivering ITIL v3 live support capability across two or more concurrent applications with a team of 15 to 30 live support resources 2.00% • Have immediate capacity to supply technical skills (3-5 years’ experience) in Siebel Public Sector, Siebel Sales, detailed technical knowledge of Siebel architecture, deployment model and data model 2.00% • Have immediate capacity to supply technical skills (3-5 years’ experience) in TelephonySolutionImplementation and CallCentreSetup, SiebelCTIntegration using third party GenesysAdaptors, third party Adaptor Administration and Integration, CTIdef.FileDevelopment and Administration 1.25% • Have immediate capacity to supply technical skills (3-5 years’ experience) for IBMWebSphere suite of products including: WebSphereApplicationServer, BusinessProcessManager, WebSphereService Registry&Repository, WebSphere MQ, IBM WebSphereDataPowerAppliance, ProAtria 1.25% • Have immediate capacity to supply technical skills (3-5 years’ experience) for Adobe LiveCycle[LC]Designer&Workbench ES4, FlashBuilderPremium, LCBarcodedForms, CMSA, EMCDocumentumConnector, LCDigitalSignatures, LCReaderExtensions, LCProcessMgt, LCForms, LCOutput, LCConten Services 1.25% • Have immediate capacity to supply technical skills (3-5 years’ experience) for Documentum Administrator, Documentum Content Server, Documentum Retention Policy Services, Documentum Webtop client 1.25% • Have immediate capacity to supply technical skills (3-5 years’ experience) for development&support of web&mobile portals using Java and IBM WebSphereExperience FactoryProducts, including: IBMHTTPServer, IBMWebSphereExperienceFactory, JQueryMobile, HTML5, CSS3, Java1.7, Javascript 2.00% • Have immediate capacity to supply technical skills (3-5 years’ experience) for IBMTivoliMonitoringAgent, ITCAM for AppsAgent, ITCAMforTransactions, TivoliWorkloadScheduler, TivoliDirectoryServer, TivoliFederatedIdentityManager, TivoliAccessManager, TivoliIdentityManager 1.00% • Have immediate capacity to supply technical skills (3-5 years’ experience) in InformaticaPowerCentre ETL, DatawarehouseApplicationConsole, OracleBusinessIntelligenceEnterpriseEdition 1.00% • Have immediate capacity to supply technical skills (3-5 years’ experience) for DatabaseAdministration for Oracle11g&12c, DB2, SQLserver, OperatingSystemAdministration for AIX6.x, AIX7.x, RHEL5.x, RHEL6.x, Windows2008, & CiscoFirewalls, routers, switches and LoadBalancers 1.00% • Have immediate access to a resource pool to undertake the following roles; Project Manager, Solution Architect, Functional/Technical Designer, Developer, Test Analyst, Live Support Analyst, Infrastructure Analyst/Administrator 3.00% • Have experience of working with incumbent suppliers to transition knowledge of legacy systems and takeover responsibilities within demanding timescales (~2 months) 1.00% • Have Experience in functional, non-functional and automated testing. ISTQB certified test professionals. Prior testing experience on CMS 2012 technologies (Siebel, BPM, WebSphere, Adobe, Documentum) 1.00% • Have capability to augment resources using a remote model (i.e. not at a DWP location), and have capability to deliver with compliance to ISO27001 standards 1.00% Nice to Haves • Have experience of working within DWP or a comparable organisation within the last 3 years 0.50% • Have experience of ServiceNow 0.50% Work Location The Supplier will be expected to be Primarily co-located with the Customer on DWP sites basd within Newcastle Upon Tyne and Leeds with the ability to deliver certain services using a near shore and/or offshore model. Working Arrangments The new supplier will need to gain an understanding of the existing solution to be able to provide support and to deliver future developments with minimal disruption. DWP retains the right to place resources into a team from other suppliers where a supplier or resource has a particular strength. Typically resource will be required to work a minimum of 7.5 hours/day, 5 days/week. NB: Some weekend work will be required for discrete project work and support resource will be required to cover 24/7 on an on call basis. Security Clearance All resources must be BPSS (Baseline Personnel Security Standard) compliant or equivalent (or prepared to undergo clearance process prior to commencement of work). Additional T&Cs The Call-Off Contract will be supplemented by additional T&C's, a copy of which can be downloaded from Bravo using the hyperlink provided in Question & Answer 1 below. Furthermore, in reference to pricing - suppliers must provide a Rate Card for all of the defined roles. Bids must be on a T&M basis, however different pricing models ranging from Fixed Price, T&M and Capped T&M may be used for SoW's. No. of Suppliers to Evaluate 3 Proposal Criteria • Experience of your resources delivering major change via concurrent releases and Live Support services for a comparable customer 5.00% • Evidence of adoption and alignment to customer methodology and approach for offering suggestions for improvement 5.00% • Capability of standing up a team from the contract award date, managing resource scaling with related timeframes, managing staff rotation, managing attrition and managing under-performance 5.00% • Ability to gain, at pace, a detailed understanding of the solution to allow ongoing support and further development 5.00% • Ability to deploy, a working arrangements solution for providing out of hours support and how security clearance up to BaselinePersonnelSecurityStandard (BPSS), or equivalent, is managed including related timescales 5.00% • Whether the available supplier resource pool, inc. subcontractors/partners. In instances of sub-contractor and/or partnered resources then evidence to demonstrate the structure of the relationship and how it is governed 5.00% • Inclusion of value for money proposals associated with provision of resources 5.00% Cultural Fit Criteria • Work as a blended team with our organisation and other suppliers, able to take direction within a DWP team (3.75%) • Experience of successful collaborative working as part of a multi-supplier delivery team sharing knowledge within the team (3.75%) • Have a culture of continuous improvement and to learn from past mistakes (3.75%) • Recruitment and retention, training, and on-boarding through the course of the contract (3.75%) Payment Approach Time and materials Evaluation Weighting Technical competence 60% Cultural fit 15% Price 25% Questions from Suppliers 1. Given the size of this piece of work, please could you provide a briefing or any additional background information? This is an initial process to short-list potential suppliers for the Delivery Partner requirement. Following the short listing process against the essential and, if necessary, nice-to-have requirements, the shortlisted Bidders will be required to undergo further evaluation. More information of the shortlisting and evaluation process can be downloaded from https://dwp.bravosolution.co.uk/esop/toolkit/opportunity/opportunityDetail.do?opportunityId=29076&oppList=CURRENT (login credentials are not required to access the documents). As necessary more information will be provided to the short-listed suppliers under appropriate obligations of confidentiality. 2. By what method will the authority down select interested suppliers in order to identify the three suppliers to take forward for further evaluation? DWP is following the DOS assessment process for shortlisting. Following the shortlisting process against the essential and then nice-to-have skills and experience, if there are still more than three Bidders, DWP will request evidence to support the shortlisting by evaluating evidence of essential and nice to have skills and experience prior to the further evaluation stage (request for proposal). If there are three or less Bidders following the shortlisting process then they will be taken forward to the further evaluation stage (request for proposal), where evidence of essential and then nice-to-have skills and experience will be requested and evaluated against. 3. What are the time-frames and steps for the procurement up to and including contract award? Specifically, when will suppliers be notified of their progression to the next round, and what are the intended timings for this next phase? Time-scales for the next step depend upon the outcome of the initial process step, described in the answer to question 2 above. If a further step is required bidders will have one week to provide evidence. Evaluation of this evidence will take in the region of one week. Following this we will issue the documentation to short list Bidders for the next stage; and anticipate in the region of 21 calendar days for responses. 4. What information do you require by the closing date for applications? When will you be releasing the full tender documents and what are the associated time-scales? The information that can be provided by the closing date for applications is determined by the Digital Marketplace tool. The information that can be submitted is the email address of your contact for this opportunity, a series of yes/no responses to questions and when you could start work. See answer to question 2 above for further information. 5. The evaluation contains weightings for Technical, Cultural Fit and Pricing. How will these be evaluated? Please see the criteria on our requirements under the section ‘How Suppliers will be Evaluated’. Bidders will be scored against each of the criteria in accordance with the Digital Outcomes and Specialists buyers’ guide. 6. In the instance of the authority evaluating essential and nice to have skills and experience at shortlisting stage; assuming more than three Bidders meet the shortlist criteria would the Authority expect to issue the Request for Proposal to more than three Bidders? No. In the instance of more than three Bidders meeting the shortlist criteria, then DWP will only take the top three ranking (scores taken from evaluated evidence of essential and nice to have skills and experience). Bidders forward to the Request for Proposal stage. 7. (Q7 - Part 1of2) Are there any additional pre-conditions bidders must conform in order to qualify for contract award? (Q7 - PART 1of2) Yes, Bidders must strictly note that award of a contract to the preferred Bidder will be subject to the Bidder conforming to the Security Clearance (See security clearance requirements) and Financial Standing requirements for this requirement. If the preferred bidder does not conform to one or both, then DWP will be unable to award them a contract and will refer back to the next highest scoring bidder who is compliant with both. 8. (Q7 - Part 2of2) Are there any additional pre-conditions bidders must conform in order to qualify for contract award? (Q7 - Part 2of2) Bidders must also note that there is an expectation that the preferred Bidder will conform to the DOS Call-Off Agreement Supplementary Terms, which shall be incorporated into the Call-Off Contract. A copy of the DOS Call-Off Agreement Supplementary Terms can be downloaded from Bravo using the Hyperlink provided in Q&A 1 above. 9. (Q9 - Part 1of2) Why and how will Financial Standing be assessed? (Q9 - Part 1of2) DWP will perform a Financial Variable Risk Assessment prior to entering into contract with the preferred Supplier, to ensure the Supplier is sufficiently financially stable to deliver against the requirements and meet their obligations under the agreement. In the instance of this requirement, the system under development and support is deemed to be a critical and high profile system. Details of the FVRA process are set out in the Request for Proposal document, a copy of which can be downloaded via the hyperlink provided in Question 1 above. 10. (Q9 - Part 2of2) Why and how will Financial Standing be assessed? (Q9 - Part 2of2) The financial viability risk assessment will not count towards the overall evaluation scores, but will be used to highlight any financial risks to the Authority. This will be used to provide feedback to Potential Providers on issues they need to consider and resolve in order to satisfy DWP's confidence that the potential provider can deliver the proposed contract. In the event a potential provider is unable to satisfy, then they may be excluded from the process. 11. Where work is detailed as already done are you able to share whether external support was provided to the Authority, i.e. Is there an incumbent supplier? Yes, there are a number of suppliers that have been, and currently continue to be supporting delivery including, Tata Consulting Services and HPE. 12. Does the Authority anticipate if the supplier is expected to co-locate, and would all require co-location from Contract Start, or if there would be a 'ramp-up' in the team size? Co-location is preferable, but we will consider near-shore and off-shore offerings. As part of the evaluation we will seek to understand the proposed ramp up and transition plans as it is expected that not all suppliers bidding will be able to resource a number of teams immediately. 13. When completing the skills, experience and evidence document, does the Authority intend to request suppliers to provide evidence for the specific people who will be doing the work? At this stage DWP expect bidders to provide evidence based on their organisational capability. 14. Are the written proposal and case studies likely to be issued by the Authority together or separately and if separately what are the timelines for each? Yes, they will be issued together to the shortlisted Bidders. This will include details of what is expected in terms of proposal and case studies. 15. Does the Authority expect to award to more than one supplier and if so how many? As part of this procurement, DWP will award to a single supplier. Bidders should also note that DWP reserve the right, as part of a non-exclusive award, to also subsequently obtain certain services from other routes. 16. Will the Authority only use one pricing methodology at SoW level? For the pricing submission, Bidders need to provide a cost that includes all the roles identified. Bids must be priced on a Time and Materials basis, however bidders must note that due to the nature of the requirement the DWP may raise different scopes of work with different pricing models ranging from Fixed Price, T & M or Capped T &M. 17. Why are the word count limits for some questions described in the request for proposal document higher than typically set within the DOS guidance notes? The word count allowance limits have been moderately increased for the Request for Proposal, Case Study and Cultural Fit questions because in the context of these requirements it is believed an increased word count will allow suppliers a better opportunity to describe and evidence their capability/experience to each of the requirements set out, which in turn will allow for a more informed evaluation. 18. When I use the hyperlink in Q1 to access the BRAVO website I recieve the following error message "Warning! Your session is invalid or expired". Please advise how I can access the documents on BRAVO. If when you click the hyperlink you are taken to a webpage that states "Warning! Your session is invalid or expired". Please do the following:1) Click the "Main Page" button on the right of the webpage;2) Click "view current opportunities" on the left of the Bravo homepage;3) Click on the project title "DOS_009a Augmented Resource for the Children Platform";4) The attachments can be downloaded formthe bottom of the webpage. 19. Why are the word count limits for some questions described in the request for proposal document higher than typically set within the DOS guidance notes? The word count allowance limits have been moderately increased for the Request for Proposal, Case Study and Cultural Fit questions because in the context of these requirements it is believed an increased word count will allow suppliers a better opportunity to describe and evidence their capability/experience to each of the requirements set out, which in turn will allow for a more informed evaluation. 20. In the core applications for CMS BaNCS is cited however it's understood that no resources from this contract will be allocated to neither AD nor LS on that. Could you please confirm that there are no expectations from supplier about knowing / understanding this platform or having skills which are related to it? DWP can confirm there is no expectations for prospective suppliers to have an understanding of the BaNCS platform under this proposed contract. 21. What is the ratio between FTEs required for the different technologies (i.e. Siebel vs. IBM WS vs. Documentum)? Siebel is the core application for the CMS2012 system and therefore represents probably 50% of the total FTE effort. IBM WS would represent  20-25% with the remainder spread evenly over the remaining technologies. However, the basis of the requirement is to augment the team with resources that can deliver outcomes with the required technologies to meet demand flex so the ratio is subject to change as demand changes. 22. If for a given role, there are different proficiency levels recommended (i.e. junior vs. intermediate vs. senior), is it expected that the average daily rate is provided in the pricing template? If Bidders have variance in their rate card for proficiency they should submit an average daily rate for the applicable role, which will be used for the evaluation. If a bidder is using an average price then they should also supplement their submission with their rate card showing the variance in pricing by proficiency level, so it can be distinguished on how the average has been calculated. 23. How do skills map to roles? Is there an expectation that skills will be met by all roles or is it left to bidders to identify the roles which the skills can be applied to? There is no skills map – it is expected that bidders will identify the roles which the skills can be applied to as part of your experience. 24. Is there a specific template for providing the answers? Biddersmust intially respond to the Essential and NtH skills (Yes/No) using the DOS portal. If bidders are taken forward for shortlisting then a template will be provided at the point of issue. 25. Do you want to have sample CVs as part of the response? CV’s are not required at this stage of the process, but may be requested at a later date at DWP’s discretion. 26. Do you want bidders to provide a self-assessment of how they would meet the requirements? DWP will carry out the assessment of bidders responses. Bidders are required to provide an initial response through the DOS portal to the essential and nice to have skills and experience requirements. Bidders will be required to provide evidence and a response against the requirements as set out within the answer to Q24 above. 27. Is there a set of key information you’re going to look for the technical criteria? i.e. “Have immediate capacity to supply technical skills (3-5 years’ experience) in […]” On top of answering, what additional information you need to evaluate bidders? Technical criteria is already set out within the requirements on the DOS Portal, under the sections of “Skills and Experience”, “Proposal criteria” and “Cultural fit criteria”. 28. If DWP hold an initial evaluation of essential skills and experience, how long will bidders be given to respond? Following the date of evaluating expressions of interest, dependent upon the level of interest Bidders will be given either:·         Approximately 5 days to respond to the essential skills and nice to have criteria; and then if shortlisted approximately a further 10 working days to answer the remaining questions; or·         Approximately 15 working days to answer the full RfP questions. 29. Will there be an opportunity to ask questions about the additional legal terms associated with this procurement post this initial question phase or should all questions be asked here? Yes, Bidders will be given the opportunity to ask written questions during each stage of the procurement process, including post this initial phase. However, it should be noted that whilst Bidder's will have the opportunity to ask questions on the additional legal terms, DWP does not intend to enter into negotiation of changes to the proposed terms. 30. As part of the RfP response is there an expectation that shortlisted Suppliers will be required to answer the questions contained within the Offshoring Policy contained within the Supplementary Terms 2of2. Yes, as part of the RfP response shortlisted Bidders will be required to answer the questions contained within the Offshoring Policy and submit them with there response. A response template will be provided to shortlisted Bidders. 31. Notice to Bidders from DWP in relation to the word count allowance stated for Q1.1 of the RfP (page 7). The word count allowance in Q1.1 on page 7 of the RfP is stated as no more than 1,600 words. This has been updated to permit no more than 2,000 words for question 1.1. This change will be reflected in the response template that will be isused to shortlisted Bidders. 32. Our understanding is, by 29-Sep-2016, we need to respond only to the Yes/No questions on the portal and not to any questions in the document "DOS_009a Request for proposal". Please confirm. Yes, your understanding is correct. 33. With respect to evidence towards the availability of a skilled resource pool, please can you clarify any specific expectations around the 'type of evidence'. We would expect the Bidders to provide details of the numbers of resources at their disposal with the required skills, and of those how many resource have the required experience. As part of the RfP response shortlisted Bidders will be required to answer the questions related to the approach for supplying resource within the pool, which will include timeframes for scaling (stand up a team) against each skill pool. 34. DWP Offshoring Proposal document - Section 6 and Appendix A refer to "including Landed Resource". Please clarify what Landed Resource means in the offshoring context? As defined under section 3 (page 2) of the Offshoring Policy, “Landed Resources” are foreign nationals brought to the UK to provide services. 35. Offshoring - In case the bidder have already an accredited offshore delivery centre used for delivering work with the Department, are they also required to provide the DWP Offshore Proposal Questionnaire as part of the response? If so, is it due by 29/09? Yes, the Bidder will still be required to complete the questionnaire if they already have an accredited offshore delivery centre with the department.No, this is not due by 29/09/16. Bidders will only be requested to complete the Offshore Questionnaire if they are shortlisted and requested to submit an RfP, for which extended timescales have been detailed in Q28 above. 36. Response - Linked to Q24: to confirm our understanding, at this stage the Buyer requires:- Yes / No answers to the Essential and NtH Skills which bidders will be able to submit via the portal - Furthermore, if answers are yes to all requirements, bidders are also required, by the 29th September, to email the PDFs and XLS containing responses to the Technical, Cultural and Pricing questions setIs the above understanding correct? Bidders are required to answer the Yes/No via the DOS portal by 29/09/16.Bidders are not also required to provide answers to the Technical, Cultural and Pricing questions by 29/09. Bidders will be given additional time, as set out in Q28 above, to respond to the Technical, Cultural and Pricing questions by 29/09. 37. Framework - Please can you confirm if this request is categorized as a ‘Lot 1 Digital outcome’ request? Yes, this has been categorised as a Lot 1 Digital Outcome request. 38. Criteria - As part of the Proposal Criteria, one of them states: "Whether the available supplier resource pool, inc. subcontractors/partners. In instances of sub-contractor and/or partnered resources then evidence to demonstrate the structure of the relationship and how it is governed". Can you please clarify what is meant by "Whether the available supplier resource pool, inc. subcontractors/partners"? This is referring to the resources Bidders will/can make available for this opportunity, which could include their own resources or those of sub-contractors/partners where appropriate relationships are/can be established to meet the needs of the requirement. 39. Notice from DWP to Bidders in relation to the answer to Q36 above. Answer to Q36 above should read: "Bidders are required to answer the Yes/No via the DOS portal by 29/09/16. Bidders are not also required to provide detailed answers to the Technical, Cultural and Pricing questions by 29/09. Bidders will be given additional time, as set out in Q28 above, to respond to the Technical, Cultural and Pricing questions." 40. Please elaborate on the scope of work required from support (L1, L2, L3) and enhancements perspective, essentially the activities expected from vendor. Provide details on nature of support with  % distribution across production support, minor enhancements and major enhancements DWP intends to have a core team which will be supplemented by supplier augmented resources to deliver outcomes in support and development. The core team support scope will be predominantly L3 - the vendors will be expected to provide resource to perform outcomes at the direction of DWP. These activities could also be performed by DWP resource. In this context, the percentage distribution is not seen as relevant. 41. Please share the current team split for AD, AM and testing from the total team members in present setup by technology or application DWP intends to have a core team to deliver outcomes on a continuous basis across support and development - the basis of the requirement is to augment the team with resources with the required technologies/skills to meet demand flex under the direction of DWP. In this context, the request for team split is not seen as relevant. 42. Provide the tools landscape used by your organization in the following areas and their usage level [high /medium/low]:1. Service Management (Incident, Service Request, Problem, Change, Release Management)2. Batch Scheduling / Monitoring3. Application / DB Monitoring4. Event Correlation 5. Software Configuration and Source Control 6. Knowledge Management 7. SLA Management8. Data Analytics9. Code Quality10. Access Management The Technical criteria is already set out within the requirements on the DOS Portal - this includes knowledge of Servicenow as our service management tool. There are no other specific tooling requirements relevant to this bid at this time. 43. Of total efforts spent by support, what is % of efforts are spent for non-ticketed activities. (eg. Knowledge Management, Reporting Management, etc.) DWP intends to have a core team to deliver outcomes on a continuous basis across support and development - the basis of the requirement is to augment the team with resources with the required technologies/skills to meet demand flex under the direction of DWP. In this context, the request for total effort spent by support is not seen as relevant. 44. What is the shift coverage that is expected for production support? Production support for Sev 1 & 2 incidents is 24*7 on an on call basis. On site support is normally 08.00-18.00 (Mon-Fri) and 09.00-12.00 (Sat) although can change to meet business requirements 45. What is the spread of user base? Is there a need to provide multi lingual support? The user base is UK - there is no requirement for multi lingual support. Resources should be proficient in English both written and oral 46. Release management, patches, DB management and general housekeeping tasks, is service provider expected to perform these activities with full access on underlying IT infrastructure or will coordinate with the Infrastructure team? The level of access is related to the environment in use i.e. Dev/Test/Prod. For production then there will be a requirement to collaborate with different teams or suppliers producing the necessary outcomes to allow deployment. The intent is work as a blended team with our organisation and other suppliers, able to take direction within a DWP team appropriate to the requirement. 47. What is current release window and average monthly releases supported by production support team? There are releases every week ranging from major deployments to certificate renewals/SQL runs. The release window is dependent on the nature of the change and will be planned to avoid downtime on the service. 48. DOS_009a Request for Proposal.pdf - Section 2 - List any in-scope activities that are not being tracked in the ticketing system? Indicate the activity, the frequency and the average effort per occurrence. DWP intends to have a core team to deliver outcomes on a continuous basis across support and development - the basis of the requirement is to augment the team with resources with the required technologies/skills to meet demand flex under the direction of DWP. In this context, the request is not seen as relevant. 49. DOS_009a Request for Proposal.pdf and digitalmarketplace site - Summary or work & Skills and experience - The RFP document only talks about Genesys CTI adaptor skill where as the digitalmarket site asks for Telephony Solution Implementation and call centre set up skill, the question is which one is required or is it both? Both. Genesys CTI is referenced within the summary of work section of the RfP and it is also referenced within the Essential Skills and Experience section of the Digital Marketplace. Bidders will be expected to provide evidence of essential skills and experience against section 1.1 of the RfP if they are shortlisted. 50. DOS_009a Request for Proposal.pdf and digitalmarketplace site - Summary or work & Skills and experience - If Telephony solution implementation skill is required then please provide the contact centre techonology landscape other than Genesys, like switch, IVR, Recording, Outbound, WFM systems? Our Telephony solution is supported by another supplier. This requirement is for resources who understand how Siebel integrates with our Telphony solution. 51. Please can you also confirm my understanding that the next round, if Bidders are short selected to the list of 3 selected vendors, it will have a round of its own clarifications? Yes, as per Q&A 29 Bidders will be given the opportunity to ask written questions during each stage of the procurement process, including post this initial phase. 52. Please can I ask for one more confirmation with regards to next rounds. In case there are more than three vendors short selected on 29th Sep after first round, you would seek evidence in the form of number of resources per skill set (Tech and Nice to have skills mentioned on Digital MarketPlace) and also responses to questions 1.1, 1.2, and 1.3 in the RFP PDF. Is there anything else you would look at to arrive at a further short selection of interested vendors. If on 29/09/16 more than 3 bidders have expressed they have the necessary essential and nice to have skills and experience, DWP will request bidders to provide evidence of their essential and nice to have skills, via providing a response to the criteria under Q1.1 of the RfP. DWP will provide a response template and Bidders will have approximately 5 working days to respond. Bidders will then be shortlisted down to 3 bidders (on the basis of the evaluation of this criteria). These 3 bidders will then be requested to provide a full RfP response.