NOG website redevelopment, guidance database and app

Tender description

Summary of the work Complete redevelopment of the National Operational Guidance Programme website and development of an online database, mobile application and platform integration tool. Expected Contract Length Maximum length of project is 18 months, plus ongoing maintainence support. Latest start date We would like to appoint a supplier by mid-November and commence work ASAP after that appointment. Budget Range £100k, but we are flexible within limits. As a local government body we are looking for value for money. Why the Work is Being Done The National Operational Guidance Programme is rewriting and streamlining over 8000 pieces of legacy guidance into a new online only framework of guidance. This project will provide a smarter, more interactive and user friendly solution to sharing our guidance products with UK Fire and Rescue Services. The new website and online guidance database must go live by April 2017 External integration to undergo discovery by Summer 2017 and go live by Autumn 2017 The MDT app must be in place by March 2018 Problem to Be Solved The current website is old-fashioned, cluttered and text-heavy. UI is poor. Our branding is not incorporated into the design. The platform will soon be unsupported [website redevelopment]. The current website is inflexible and content is static. Our guidance products interrelate within a hierarchical framework and we cannot currently display information across multiple outputs from a single input [database]. UK fire services need the ability to take our guidance and review/risk assess it before implementing into local policy and practice, potentially with amendments/additional material [integration-facility]. Operational crews need to view some of our products (sometimes offline) on MDTs at incidents [app]. Who Are the Users As authors of online guidance we need to be able to update individual guidance components at a single source which is then reflected across multiple locations on the website. As a fire and rescue service we need to quickly and efficiently view national guidance, either in its entirety or component parts, to ensure that local policies and procedures are up to date with national best practice. We need a hassle-free way of reviewing and risk-assessing updates and integrating into local policy. As an incident commander I need to access ‘scenarios’ and be able to risk assess hazards on an incident-ground. Early Market Engagement User feedback suggested improvements include: * Smarter user interface (e.g. better/more modern layout/interface, quick and easy to find what you need) * Greater flexibility in how the guidance can be used and interacted with (e.g. filter by section/interest/category, different access routes) * User profiles to subscribe to updates and areas of interest * Discussion forum * Technical solution to allow fire and rescue services to easily transfer and adapt NOG guidance into their own policy and procedure While we have a full understanding of what is required for our organisation’s new website (phase 1), further discovery work will need to be done with UK fire and rescue services to fully understand the technical requirements and processes needed to support the hassle-free transfer and use/modification of our national guidance content into their local policy and practice (phase 2). This discovery will extend to the requirements of the mobile app (phase 3). After discovery and specification development for the integration facility, the working relationship (and financial arrangements) to implement the solution(s) will be directly between the developer and the individual (or groups of) services who wish to take on the proposed solution(s). Work Already Done "Discovery completed to date: * User identification * User needs identification for website redevelopment and app * Identify scope * Identify stakeholders * Identify internal project team * Identify minimum requirements for website redevelopment and app * Identify how success is measured * Draft user specification/design brief Additional discovery work will be required for phases 2 and 3 - service integration and mobile application. A full design brief has been developed that is available to view upon request. Please read in full before expressing further interest in this project. To request a copy, please contact contractssection@London-fire.gov.uk. Existing Team We are looking to work with one supplier for all the work in the project, but there is a possibilty that more than one supplier will be involved. The supplier(s) will be working with members of the NOGP team and will report to the Project Manager Current Phase Discovery Skills & Experience • Extensive and proven experience of working on complex, successful website development projects. • CMS agnostic and be focused on the user’s needs. • Have substantial experience designing services for users with low digital literacy • Have experience designing services that can digitally integrate with other organisations to meet their needs • Have experience designing services for users with a range of accessibility requirements • Substantial experience of developing complex databases • Substantial experience of developing interactive and user friendly mobile and web applications. • Experience of working with teams with low technical understanding of websites, databases and apps Nice to Haves Experience of working on public sector and charity projects would be an advantage. Work Location We are based in London, but the supplier can work from their base location. Limited hotdesking is available if occasional local working is required. This will be at your own cost: London Fire Brigade HQ 169 Union Street Southwark SE1 0LL Working Arrangments Reporting to the Project Manager, the supplier can work remotely but would be expected to come to the NOGP office in London for meetings and to demo updates - the costs of which will be covered by us. Contact can be maintained with the team via phone and email. Limited hot desking is available for occasional on-site working, but this will be at your own cost. Expenses will paid in accordance with London Fire Brigade policy (inc. standard-fare transport costs, overnight accommodation and meals [to defined values] if required when travelling on our request). Additional T&Cs To ensure the project continues to be effective, we wish to include review and breakpoint at milestones of the contract. Ongoing maintenance of the website, database and app will be required. Beyond discovery, working and financial arrangements associated with implementation and support of phase 2 integration solutions will be between the developer and each FRS. No. of Suppliers to Evaluate 5 Proposal Criteria • The proposed technical solution (15) • How the approach or solution meets our business goal (15) • How the approach or solution meets user needs (15) • Estimated timeframes for the work (15) • How they’ve identified risks and dependencies and offered approaches to manage them (10) • Team structure and organisational makeup (5) • Value for money of the proposed solution (10) Cultural Fit Criteria • Work as a team with our organisation and other suppliers • Transparent and collaborative when making decisions • Have a no-blame culture and encourage people to learn from their mistakes Payment Approach Fixed price Evaluation Weighting Technical competence 60% Cultural fit 20% Price 20% Questions from Suppliers 1. Hello there. This is the first time using this service and wondered if you could let me know what it means where it states maximum number of suppliers to be evaluated = 5? Does this mean it will only allow 5 responses and then close off the ITT? Thanks Thank you for your question. This means we will be accepting all expressions of interest, shortlisting to 5 suppliers and inviting 5 to write a written proposal which will then be evaluated to arrive at preferred supplier. 2. We have gone through the operational guidance content available on Website. We observed that most of the guidance content is arranged in paragraphs without any codifications (i.e. unique bullet numbering system e.g. 1.2, 1.2.1, 1.2.1.1 ). Do you have any plans to codify the guidelines such so that it is easy to identify content relationships? The guidance is coded in this manner when in the drafting stage, but is removed for publication on the website. We are currently developing a spreadsheet that codifies and lists all of the relationships between individual components of content across the framework to support the future development of the guidance database. This is important because one item could apply to multiple other items (for example, one control measure could apply to ten different hazards). 3. Would you be prepared to extend the clarification deadline up to the submission date, to allow us more time to confirm working assumptions with you as we work through some of the detail? Thank you for your question. For clarity, once the 2 weeks for questions on this portal has expired, please note that shortlisted suppliers will be invited to submit written proposals through the our E-tendering portal (www.bluelight.gov.uk – EU supply). It is free to register and once registered, shortlisted suppliers will have a further opportunity to ask any additional questions at this point. 4. The indicated budget is £100K. Is this total budget available for executing all three phases or just Phase #1? This budget is a guide figure and it relates to all three phases. 5. Please read in full before expressing further interest in this project. To request a copy, please contact contractssection@London-fire.gov.uk'. The email address given appears incorrect - can you please confirm? I can confirm that the email address is contractssection@London-fire.gov.uk and is correct and we've had successful requests from interested parties. 6. Is the budget inclusive or exclusive of VAT? * What activity needs to be completed within this budget? * We are assuming that we should be estimating for all phase 1 and phase 2 discovery only? * Does the budget include hosting, support and maintenance and if so what period does this need to cover? * Are you aware of a solution that does all that you need or come close? The budget is a guide, exclusive of VAT.The activity required within this is the development of website and database for NOGP (phase 1), discovery for phase 2, and app development (phase 3) tying in with phase 2. Developing solution(s) identified through phase 2 would require additional costs, either through additional cost to individual, or groups of, UK FRS (directly with the supplier) or, for a core solution, additional cost to NOGP. Shortlisted suppliers should include ideas and estimated costs in proposals. We are open to ideas. Hosting, support and maintenance are outside the budget. These will be reviewed annually. 7. How many visitors currently visit your site? * How many visitors are anticipated to come to the new site? * Roughly how many of these should we assume will have set up an account? * Where can we find details for the Code of Connection for emergency services (mentioned in 4.4.6)? What are the key things that need to be considered from this CoCo? In the last month we have had 5000+ new and returning users visit our site. We anticipate that this number will rise with the launch of the new website as more and more content and products are added. We currently have approximately 1100 subscribers to our website, which we also expect to increase. The ESN CoCo is still under development and there are currently no published materials. Until this time fire and rescue services may subscribe to the Public Services CoCo but this remains unknown (https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/517497/PSN_Code_of_Connection_v1.3.odt),. We will inform the successful supplier of developments when they become known. 8. Can you provide a link to the Scottish FRS SOP web application? * How many people will be editors for the NOG database? * How many people will be editors for the NOG website? * How many existing subscribers need to be added and what information about each one do you have? * Who will input content to the NOG database? * How do you see the duplication-finder working with regards to draft content? [4.3.4] * How did you see the solution 'interacting' with Office 365 (mentioned in 4.4.5. We cannot link to the Scottish FRS SOP; it requires a login. The LearnPro Blood app is similar - https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/learn-blood/id1008794243?mt=83 people will have editing rights. After April 2018 these rights may transfer to different people who will need to know how to use the software and CMS.We want to transfer all subscribers. We have their names and email.We envision a duplication finder to operate in the database; an alert to the editor's attention when entering content, or a function to identify duplication / similar content.It is not essential for the solution to interact with Office 365. 9. Support for 'all major browsers' (mentioned in 4.5.4). Can you confirm the oldest version of Internet Explorer required? * How formal is the requirement for a historical view? Is it just for convenience, or does it have strict audit requirements to "prove" what the NOG said on a given day? [4.3.1, 4.3.2] * Is there a need for a separate writing and editing phase, to allow content to be verified before publication, or should changes appear on the live site immediately? The assumption is IE8 is the oldest, awaiting confirmation. If impacting on functionality of solutions we could extend this to a later version.Historical view: essential, e.g. to demonstrate what guidance was considered best practice at any point.Website: we want to draft and save content prior to live. Database: we want it to hold draft content alongside the ‘current’; a stakeholder group reviews changes before live. This would happen via the website (only this group) viewing the ‘current’ version & proposed version side-by-side. Once approved the ‘current’ version be replaced immediately with new content on the live site. 10. How many people need to be involved in the discovery phase? * Would it be possible to get them together for a workshop? * Do you have any thoughts on the best way the discovery could be structured based on the work done to date? * Would you consider a solution where the developer supplies an API to the NOG database for the 50 fire services, which would allow them to implement their own solutions FRS's may have differing requirements to modify the guidance. The exact numbers are unknown at this time, ideally a representative from each service, using a variety of engagement methods: open to suggestions.Open to a range of solutions for phase 2. Some want differing functionality. For example, one may only want to edit Scenario content while another needs a local version to publish modified NOG & material unique to them. An API could be sufficient, but more required for others. The discovery phase will identify these needs. Working relationships to implement solutions will be between each service/group and the supplier. 11. The current draft website uses Sharepoint and you make mention of things like “MDT application” which I believe refers to Microsoft Deployment Toolkit. Is there a requirement for Microsoft technology for this project, or are you open to other technologies such as Open Source? We only work with Open Source technologies, such as PHP7 and Apache Solr. These are very capable of building a web application such as the one you require, but I did want to check your technical requirements first. MDT in this context means Mobile Data Terminal. These are the devices that are installed within all fire and rescue appliances for use en route and at an incident. Many (but not all) FRSs use MDT software supplied by Airbus (Astrium) called SAFEcommand solution. This generally runs on the Windows platform, with the latest version being deployed utilising Windows 10. We would like any solution to work across Windows, Android and iOS. Further discovery work will fully identify requirements. We are open to all technologies for this project. 12. Do you want data to be migrated from your existing website or other third party sources? You do mention possible data import / synching from Skills for Justice though this will require further discovery work to review what is possible. We also noted a requirement to migrate existing users from your current system, we have experience of this in other projects and tailoring the user migration process to ensure it is easy and seamless for end-users. Content on the existing website (that isn’t guidance) is relatively small and some (e.g. About Us, FAQ) could easily be copies across. All news articles and blog posts to transfer to the new site with publication dates intact. Synchronisation with Skills for Justice would need to be within the guidance database. Conversations have started with this organisation and they are open to cooperation, but further discovery with the supplier would be beneficial; it may be that they need to update their technology (which they are open to). Existing users subscribe to our updates and we have their names and emails. 13. How many users do you anticipate will need to enter content into the NOG web application (i.e. CMS administrators)? Will you require access levels for different types of users? For example, some users who can only enter content but not publish, other users who can review changes and publish content? We anticipate that three people would need to have admin access, but we would need to be able to easily increase this number or change the users if necessary. Different levels of access would be very desirable. 14. Do you have any feedback from individual fire and rescue services on what they need to fulfil requirement 2.2. Is a RESTful web service the sort of flexibility they are looking for? Or is this more about local fire and rescue services taking managing a subset of the national NOG content for their own publication? A little like a sub-site of your main web application that contains local guidance for the local fire and rescue service. This seems to be suggested in section 5.3 In any case, a RESTful web service will be required for the mobile application. Feedback received from a small number of FRS on this area. Their requirements vary from just wanting to edit content that makes up the Scenarios product (which are a compilation of the Tactical Actions held within the NOG), and wanting a version of our website with all the same publication tools, alongside a triage and workflow area to review and assess new and updated NOG, and to publish further content in a similar fashion that is separate from NOG. Further discovery work will be required with the chosen supplier and the optimal technological solution(s) can be identified through this process. 15. Does the content for the NOG website require a login for users, or are you planning to make this public content? The content for the NOG website, including the guidance is all public. Anything confidential is and will continue to be stored elsewhere and is not in the scope of this project. 16. Do you have any preferences for the technology stack within which the new web site will sit? So long as it does what we want, it’s easy to use and update, and you can maintain it easily, we have no preference. 17. Should suppliers include cloud and non-cloud hosting options? Cloud is our preference. 18. Can you provide any information about the systems and technology the 50 UK fire and rescue services use to manage their websites? Not at this stage. Further discovery will help to identify this. 19. You mention tablets as a target device on which the mobile application should be usable. Do you have a full list of device types on which you anticipate the application being used? Not at this stage. Further discovery will help to identify this. We want the mobile application to run on Windows, Android and iOS. 20. Do you envisage the mobile application exchanging data or otherwise integrating with the 3rd party software currently used by many fire services, SAFEcommand (Airbus)? It would be beneficial if the incident number and the Incident Type Code (national scheme) is passed automatically to the mobile application from the command and control system to prompt the correct scenario/potential hazards to appear. 21. Is it intended that the £100k guide figure includes any of the following: VAT; managed (e.g. cloud VM) hosting; maintenance, support or updates post-launch? The stated budget is a guide and is exclusive of VAT, there is flexibility available. Hosting, support and maintenance costs are outside of the budget. These will be required on an annual renewal basis. 22. Would it be possible for shortlisted agencies to quote at this stage for phase 1 and for discovery for phases 2 and 3, while providing estimates for phases 2 and 3, pending discovery? We are looking for quotes and cost breakdowns on development of the website and online database (phase 1), discovery for the service integration functionality (phase 2), and development of mobile app to display the pure NOGP version of fixed scenarios/custom scenarios (phase 3). Development of solution(s) in phase 2, and linking to data in phase 3, additional cost – either NOGP's if the solution is centralised, or individual/groups of services if local. Working arrangements will be direct between supplier and individuals/group of service(s) that choose to implement a solution. It would be useful for suppliers to provide estimates for this. 23. Do you have any preferred technology platform(s) - for instance you name-check a couple of MS platforms in your design brief? So long as it does what we want, it’s easy to use and update, and you can maintain it easily, we have no preference. 24. You mention W3C compliance - is that to AA level? We want to facilitate access and participation for people with dyslexia, low literacy, English as a second language, and those with mild visual impairments. We understand this is the equivalent of AA level. We have already tried and tested the Browsealoud software and like how it works. This software can easily be added to a website developed by the chosen supplier, but we are open to discussion on alternative options. 25. Can you confirm whether you intend to adopt a fully Agile approach to delivery or whether you expect a more hybrid approach? We notice that any team put in place by the successful supplier would be reporting into a client side PM. Does this mean that we do not need to account for PM costs and in effect will just be providing resource on a T&M basis as opposed to fixed scope? The chosen supplier will not cover any costs for the client-side PM. We are happy to work in a way that allows the chosen supplier to structure their team and manage the development of the products in a way that works best for them based on their experience. We value individuals and interactions, working collaboratively and responding to change in an efficient and flexible manner. The stated deadlines, however, remain fixed and we are looking for a fixed price arrangement for this project.