Design & Build Customer Portal for Clarion Housing Group

Tender description

Summary of the work To design and build a new digital customer portal for external customers to self serve online. Must be built on a CMS that fully integrates with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Enterprise Cloud solution comprised of Operations and Finance Enterprise (previously known as Ax7) and Customer Engagement (previously known as CRM Online) Expected Contract Length 2 years Latest start date Monday 18 September 2017 Budget Range £500,000 to £750,000 Why the Work is Being Done Clarion Housing Group (CHG) is currently going through a transformation ERP programme to develop new platforms, processes and ways of working. Aligning to its digital first strategy, Clarion needs to build a new online residents portal that integrates with Microsoft D365 CRM & AX to allow residents self-service functionality such as viewing rent statements, making payments, and requesting a repair. There are three phases, aligned to the larger programme: Phase 1 - replacement of the current ex-Affinity Sutton online Portal Phase 2 - replacement of the current ex-Circle online Portal Phase 3 - all additional requirements and enhancements completed Problem to Be Solved Residents need a wider range of seamless online self serve options, on a single platform, to allow them to choose to engage with us on their channel of choice, reducing calls to the customer contact centre and allowing the contact centre to deal with matters where the phone channel can add value. The new portal will also address the issue of two separate housing associations with different ways of working and systems, and allow alignment of services and offerings. It will need to offer a multi channel, single customer view to allow better communication. Who Are the Users Clarion Housing Group residents need to log on to an authenticated area Quick self serve and manage resident housing needs online Clarion Housing Group residents need to receive relevant information and updates at the right time and be kept informed of local incidents and news, and keep on top of their account and payments Clarion Housing Group Digital Internal Team need to be able to manage content and publishing of information on a secure online portal to enable residents to have access to relevant tailored information in the right place at the right time Early Market Engagement Initial early market engagement with an agency has taken place to assess technology options, high level costs and project approach Work Already Done > Initial requirement scoping has taken place including development of some user story boards. > High level requirements are in process of being validated with senior stakeholders. > Digital brand guidelines are being developed for use on the portal design. Existing Team Internal PM and BA Digital team lead and representatives Director of Customer services (sponsor) ERP programme team business lead ERP programme team lead architect ERP programme director There will also be requirement to work with other third parties including Hitachi and a CMS provider Current Phase Discovery Skills & Experience • Extensive experience designing online solutions for multiple audiences and industries for large organisations, to include successfully launched mobile apps (on iTunes and Google play), responsive websites, ecommerce and authenticated solutions • Design methodology that follows user centric and mobile first design principles, reflected in portfolio of work • Extensive experience designing digital services for various different industry sectors including private and public • Extensive experience developing online solutions on different CMS platforms • Experience integrating and working with Microsoft Dynamics Platforms building near real-time interfaces • Experience of delivering successful discovery outcomes • Experience of carrying out user research, using digital tools where appropriate • Experience working with an Agile Project environment involving clients • Experience using rapid prototyping on digital projects • Understanding of non-functional requirements and experience of building these into a web project i.e. usability, security, accessibility, interoperability, reliability, maintainability, availability, scalability, portability and compatibility • Evidence of content design skills • Experience developing brands and guidelines including digital guidelines • Strong QC processes in place which demonstrate accuracy and quality of deliverables issued to client for review • Team structure dedicated to the project comprised of various different skill sets including senior management, project management, account management, technical and design leads Nice to Haves Experience working with not for profit organisations Work Location London (various offices). Some travel to Norwich and Kent may be required. Working Arrangments It is expected that the supplier's team will partner and work closely with CHG, mainly onsite but this may vary depending on the project phase. There is an expectation for weekly meetings with the CHG project team and daily meetings may be required during sprints. Close working between multiple teams and vendors will be required particularly for technical implementation, integration activities and testing. Security Clearance no security clearance is required Must adhere to Clarion Data Protection requirements. Additional T&Cs none No. of Suppliers to Evaluate 3 Proposal Criteria • Technical solution • Approach and methodology • How the approach or solution meets user need • How the approach or solution meets your organisations policy or goal • Estimated timeframes for the work • How they have identified risks and dependencies and offered approaches to manage them • Team structure • Value for money Cultural Fit Criteria • Work collaboratively across multiple internal teams and different suppliers • Work in close partnership with key stakeholders in the Clarion Housing Group with frequent contact and updates to avoid unnecessary escalation • Transparent communication including early highlighting of potential issues • Able to validate and endorse recommendations across multiple groups of stakeholders with varying levels of digital and technical knowledge • Show flexibility when business needs change rapidly due to circumstances such as industry external events • Have a cultural work ethic which includes a desire to work with nor for profit organisations Payment Approach Capped time and materials Evaluation Weighting Technical competence 40% Cultural fit 20% Price 40% Questions from Suppliers 1. Are you able to share what CMS options were identified as part of the exercise with the existing agency please? Three WCM solutions were considered: Drupal, Umbraco and Sitecore 2. In terms of giving evidence of content design (in the essential skills section), are you wanting see evidence of solely web design i.e. examples of websites we have created? We wish to see examples that show digital design – this can include websites, mobile applications and marketing creative 3. In terms of the platforms considered, are you open to alternative suggestions or are you only looking at those 3 exclusively? We have a recommended platform to proceed with at this stage. We would only consider an alternative if very strong evidence was provided that it was more beneficial that our preferred solution and did not delay commencing the project 4. Is it possible to respond to this tender as a partnership. We work closely with a technology (portal) provider as their project management partner but they are currently not on the DOS framework. We are seeking responses from suppliers who can deliver the scope of the project as a single supplier 5. Can you please advise what the outcome of CMS research previously carried out was? Has a preference for one of the three CMS considered been identified based on their suitability for this project? At this stage the recommended CMS platform is Sitecore 6. Please can you expand further on how you reached the decision to select Sitecore as your preferred CMS? A number of standard criteria were used to evaluate the technologies. Some of the key areas that influenced the recommendation were: platform’s marketing and content re-use capability, Clarion’s internal technology stack and fit with selected WCM; ongoing support and maintenance. 7. You mention there is an expectation for weekly meetings with the CHG project team and daily meetings may be required during sprints. Are you ideally looking for a dedicated team from an agency that is based on your site in London (with some travel to Norwich and Kent may be required)? We are looking for an agency that can meet the requirement to meet regularly in London. Some onsite work in London will be required, the frequency and arrangements for this will vary depending on the stage of the project. 8. Is possible to know who the supplier was for the Discovery and CMS selection? This is not deemed as relevant at this particular time in the process. 9. You mention that early market engagement with an agency has taken place to assess technology options, high level costs and project approach. Is this agency also bidding for the design and build work? We cannot confirm information about any other potential bidders at this stage as the process is not complete and this is deemed commercially sensitive. 10. as per the guidance laid out for this framework - https://www.digitalmarketplace.service.gov.uk/suppliers/opportunities/4846/responses/start Please can you confirm that you would like just 1 client example per 100 word question, and following the structure set out below - what the situation was, the work the team did, what the results were? Please can you confirm that we can use the same client example for more than 1 question? Please can you confirm if you would prefer public or private examples or a mix of public/private client examples? Suppliers must follow guidance given by CCS for the responses. We would suggest you choose the examples you feel best represent your experience relevant to the project and meet the skill requirements outlined. 11. You mention you've worked with an agency to assess technology and budgets, will this agency be bidding for this work? We cannot confirm information about any other potential bidders at this stage as the process is not complete and this is deemed commercially sensitive.