Department for Infrastructure - New planning portal IT system – Discovery exercise

Tender description

Summary of the work To identify system requirements for a new planning IT system in the form of a detailed product backlog, including data migration and costs, and interaction / integration with existing council systems. Define a minimum viable product (MVP). Identify all options for service delivery and provide indicative costs for each option. Expected Contract Length 8 - 12 weeks. Latest start date 06/03/2017 Budget Range The budget for this procurement is estimated to be c.£200,000 (excl VAT). Why the Work is Being Done The objective of the planning system is to secure the orderly and consistent development of land whilst furthering sustainable development and improving well-being. The current Northern Ireland planning portal underpins and supports this objective. The contract for the current planning portal expires 31 March 2019. This Discovery exercise is needed to ascertain user requirements and options for a new planning portal IT system that will effectively serve the new two-tier planning system. The Discovery needs to be completed no later than the end of May 2017. Problem to Be Solved The contract for the current planning portal expires on 31 March 2019. Work needs to begin now on identifying user needs and options for any replacement portal IT system (for the Department, the 11 councils and the Regional Property Certificate Unit). Without an effective planning IT system, planning cannot operate efficiently and effectively. Who Are the Users As a council and Departmental member of staff I need to be able to: process planning applications and consents (including enforcement); see GIS maps and layers; run reports and monitor performance across the planning system. As a consultee I need to be able to input consultee responses to the planning system. As a planning agent and / or member of the public I need to be able to input and access planning applications online. As a member of council staff I need to be able to process property certificates for solicitors. Work Already Done A pre-discovery exercise was undertaken earlier in the year (report issued June 2016), which recommended that, in order for stakeholders to agree a way forward, councils and the Department should work collaboratively to complete a comprehensive Discovery exercise. Outputs from the pre-discovery exercise will be made available to bidders on request. Existing Team The provider will be expected to work closely with a team within the Department for Infrastructure and staff from both councils (including the Regional Property Certificate Unit) and the Department as product owners and subject matter experts. Current Phase Discovery Skills & Experience • Demonstrable level of experience in delivery of successful Discovery outcomes to support complex service and technology needs, including undertaking service design (9%). • Demonstrable experience of designing an overall delivery approach from solution architecture and service design (6%). • Demonstrable experience of carrying out user research with a diverse mix of users and stakeholders (4%). • Demonstrable experience of facilitating public service teams, particularly those with no experience of the Discovery process (3%). Nice to Haves • Can demonstrate experience of planning-related IT projects. • Experience of delivering similar Discovery projects that are under time and budget constraints. • Demonstrates a clear understanding of the complexities of the NI planning environment and has experience of working within the NI planning environment or a similar environment. Work Location The provider will be expected to work on a full time basis with business users and stakeholders, initially, in the Department for Infrastructure, Clarence Court, Adelaide Street, Belfast. The provider will be expected to travel as required across N. Ireland in order to conduct stakeholder consultations. Working Arrangments The Discovery team will be a cross-functional, multi-disciplinary team in order to produce a product backlog and user stories that will articulate the scope of requirements. The provider will also be required to contribute to the business case for development and implementation by providing costed delivery options and timeframe for development. The provider will be expected to work on a full time basis, 5 days a week. All necessary additional costs such as flights, day to day travel, subsistence and accommodation costs must be included to establish total cost of engagement. Security Clearance All staff will require basic security clearance before contract award. Additional T&Cs Any outputs from the Discovery exercise (e.g. reports, documentation etc.) will be considered to be the property of the Department for Infrastructure. No. of Suppliers to Evaluate 6 Proposal Criteria • How the proposed solution will meet user requirements, including approach and methodologies (15%). • Proposed deliverables, timeline with expected activities and outputs, and clearly defined roles and responsibilities (12%). • How risks and interdependencies have been identified and how these will be managed (5%). • Detail all costs (excl VAT) to meet the project requirements, including staff rates and days. Costs must include all travel and subsistence costs (40%). Cultural Fit Criteria • How the team will work with staff and stakeholders at all levels. (2%) • How the team will encourage a collaborative approach to problem-solving. (2%) • How the team will share knowledge and experience with other team members (2%). Payment Approach Capped time and materials Evaluation Weighting Technical competence 54% Cultural fit 6% Price 40% Questions from Suppliers 1. I note that assessment will be by "written proposal". Please can you indicate the procedure for submitting our proposals, and supply details/documents/information on your requirements for these proposals? Please note that interested suppliers will not be ask to submit a proposal until they can confirm that they: . Meet the service commencement date and. Meet the 'nice to have' requirements.Only those suppliers who confirm that they meet the above will be shortlisted and ask to submit a proposal. Details of the proposal requirements will be emailed to shortlisted suppliers after the 14/2/2017 and they will be given a timeframe of 5 working days to respond. 2. With reference to the previous question - can you please confirm if "nice to have" requirements are mandatory, or desirable. The authority can confirm that the 'nice to haves' and meeting the 'delivery deadline' are the criterion used to shortlist suppliers. If a supplier cannot meet any or all these criterion they will not be invited to submit a proposal and will be eliminated from the competition. 3. Hi, May we please request a copy of the outputs from the pre-discovery exercise ? Kind Regards, In order for the authority to issue a copy of the outputs of the pre-discovery exercise the requesting supplier's email address is required. Could you please provide an email address. 4. Hi, When we expressed interest, I put in in the wrong start date. Can we change this to: 27/2/16 Many thanks, If the system does not let you amend the date, in order for the authority to respond to your request they require a correspondent's email address and they will email you directly regarding this matter. 5. 1. Can you confirm that the successful supplier for the Discovery phase will not be precluded from competing for any future phases of the project?2. Is it possible to view the outputs from the pre-discovery exercise? Many thanks. 1. Once the outcome of this discovery exercise has been delivered, the appointed Contractor may not be able to tender for any potential further phases of the requirement only if a conflict of interest is perceived. 2. In order for the Authority to send a copy of the outputs from the pre-discovery exercise they require the supplier to provide an email address. Please resubmit the request with an email address. 6. The documentation suggests that only six participants will be asked to submit a proposal. If more than six bidders have all the essential and nice to have skills and experience, on what basis will you shortlist bidders to invite to submit proposals? This figure of 6 was an estimate to complete a mandatory field only and will not be applied. All bidders that meet the short list criterion will be invited to submit proposals. 7. Can you confirm our assumption that the supplier who carries out the Discovery work will be disqualified from later providing the software itself? Those suppliers who carry out the discovery phase will not necessary be disqualified from providing the software unless a perceived conflict of interest is brought to light. This cannot be determined until the discovery exercise has been completed. 8. 1.Can we confirm if any more information on requirements will be provided at the next stage of the procurement? All information regarding this requirement has been provided. At the next stage of the process short listed suppliers will be issued with proposal templates which will repeat the criteria and weightings that have already been provided and the template will also have the maximum word count required for each response. 9. 2. If you get more than 6 suppliers who tick all of the essential and nice-to-have requirements, will you run a shortlisting exercise before the proposal stage? If yes, can you please tell us the word limit you will apply for each of the essential and nice-to-have criteria and the timeline for response? No decision has yet been taken on whether to run a short listing exercise but the option remains open, depending on the number of interested parties. If a further short listing exercise is required, it will be based on the nice-to-haves – suppliers will be asked to show how they meet the nice-to-have criterion on a pass/fail assessment and be given 5 working days to respond. If they pass they will be asked to submit their final proposal. Word count will be defined in the proposal templates. 10. 3. Please can we confirm the procurement process timeline for this opportunity? The detailed proposals have to be received by 21 February 2017, the evaluation panel is meeting WC 27/02/2017 and bidders will be informed approximately WC 27/02/2017. However this will depend on the number of supplier bids. If a further short listing exercise is required for the nice-to-haves this time-table will have to be revised. 11. 4. Please can you clarify your detailed evaluation criteria and weighting split for technical competence between the essential skills and experience, nice-to-have skills and experience and overall proposal submission? Essential Skills: 22%, Nice-to-have: Pass/Fail (this is only used if we decide to short list), Overall proposal 32%, Cultural fit 6% and cost 40%. 12. 5. Can we confirm the expected word count for each of the essential and nice-to-have skills and experience question responses, and for the individual proposal questions? Demonstrable level of experience in delivery – 800 wordsDemonstrable experience of designing an overall delivery approach – 800 wordsDemonstrable experience of carrying out user research – 400 wordsDemonstrable experience of facilitating public service teams,- 400 wordsHow the proposed solution will meet user requirements,1600 WordsProposed deliverables, timeline with expected activities – 1600 words 13. 5. Answer continued - Can we confirm the expected word count for each of the essential and nice-to-have skills and experience question responses, and for the individual proposal questions? Answer continued: How risks and interdependencies have been identified – 400How the team will work with staff and stakeholders – 200 wordsHow the team will encourage a collaborative approach to problem-solving – 200 wordsHow the team will share knowledge and experience with other team members – 200 wordsPlease note that nice-to-have proposal will only be asked for if a further short listing exercise is required. 14. 6. In order to comply with word counts in the response template, can you clarify if any words contained within diagrams included in our response contribute to the word count? Words within diagrams would not be included in word count. 15. 7. Can you please provide further clarity on the business case process. For example, is it expected that the business case will be compliant with the Northern Ireland Guide to Expenditure Appraisal and Evaluation(NIGEAE)? Can you clarify the anticipated supplier role on the business case process, for example, is it expected that the supplier will lead the business case work or just provide support to the client across key sections e.g. options and costs? Yes, it is expected that the business case will be compliant with the Northern Ireland Guide to Expenditure Appraisal and Evaluation(NIGEAE). The supplier will support the client in completing the business case.