Digital Services at the Border (DSAB) Support Services Capability for pilot phase (and beyond)

Tender description

Why the Work is Being Done Digital Services at the Border (DSAB) is an agile programme within the Border Systems Portfolio that is building functionality to transform the way the Home Office manages Borders into the UK. There are currently two services within DSAB; Border Crossing and AFTC, both in pilot phases and with more services planned. We require a 2nd line application support function, with an option to extend to 3rd line application support, to provide a highly available 24x7 gold standard of service to these critical projects. Problem to Be Solved The Home Office require a 2nd, and an optional 3rd line, 24x7 support capability with elements running at both SECRET and OFFICIAL within the timescales required by the programme. A partner is therefore sought who can stand up this service within the time constraints. Who Are the Users As a Border Force officer at a UK port I need to be able to check the legality of passengers and freight attempting to enter the UK, day or night. Early Market Engagement Work Already Done The 2nd line support is being provided for the pilot phases by an external partner, with 3rd line support provided by internal Dev Ops teams. The output of this phase has been the development of a number of support run books and also a stronger understanding of the tasks which the eventual support function should comprise. Existing Team The support stack combines new in-house support capabilities with some components serviced by external partners. The immediate interfaces for the 2nd line support service will be the current existing service desk for 1st line support and the Home Office internal IAAS teams, security and platform services for 3rd line support. Current Phase Beta Work Location The primary work site will be central Croydon at the Home Office Campus site (Lunar House, Apollo House and Metro Point). The supplier will be required to provide a secondary site for 24x7 resources. The secondary site must be on the UK mainland and ways of working must be in place to allow for a free exchange of information between the teams. It is therefore assumed, although not compulsory, that the sites would be a maximum of 50 miles apart to allow for travel between the sites. Working Arrangments 24x7x365 team at supplier’s own location following runbook type activity - monitor applications, investigate incidents and problems, plan changes and fixes. Smaller team on site with programme team, working hours only, to increase depth of knowledge, discuss service improvements, arrange change windows, attend Agile daily stand-ups and other team meetings, take an active part in the project in order to continually improve the service. Regular transfer of knowledge between teams, either with rotation of staff between sites or on-site staff spending 1-2 days per week at supplier location. Security Clearance Home Office SC required for all staff. The Home Office can sponsor applications for staff without current clearance. Additional T&Cs Skills & Experience Have experience of providing ITIL based 2nd line support for a critical application Be able to provide a UK location suitable for securing to SECRET level and suitable for 24x7 working Have a workforce with technical skills •Linux • Java •Hadoop and big data technologies • Monitoring tools ELK and Sysdifg• Cloud hosting technologies Have a workforce which is UK based and capable of being security cleared to Home Office SC. Nice to Haves 1. Evidence a strong service culture with service improvement central to operations 2. Provide an example of a similar service already in place 3. Mobilise a workforce with experience of more than 5 of the following - InformaticaBDRM •Docker •Kubernetes •Postgres •Forgerock •Vault •Yaml •Rest/Json • ServiceNow No. of Suppliers to Evaluate 5 Proposal Criteria • Service solution for 2nd line application support • Approach and methodology • Proposed location • Team structure • How the approach or solution meets the cultural challenge • Estimated timeframes for the work • Risks and dependencies and approaches to manage them • Example of a similar contract successfully delivered • How the service would be scaled to extend to further DSAB services Ability to stand up a 3rd line application support service is of interest and should be included within the proposal as a costed option. Cultural Fit Criteria 1. Strong pro-active approach to incident and problem management, CSI, striving to improve 2. Learning culture, encouraging training to expand skill-sets. Payment Approach Fixed price Assessment Method Written proposal Case study Work history Reference Presentation Evaluation Weighting Technical competence 60% Cultural fit 20% Price 20% Questions from Suppliers Budget range