PS-17-36: Build and Release Resource as a Service

Tender description

Why the Work is Being Done In line with government policy, the Agency has set out to transform its ICT estate to a digital, cloud hosted, open source, multi-supplier environment within a cloud-hosted environment to deliver a transformed ICT estate and reduce total cost of ownership. This request is to support the DVLA pipeline of work providing Build and Release (Software Configuration and Tooling) resource as a service that will supplement the existing DVLA resources. Problem to Be Solved In order to support the pipeline of work the level of in house expert knowledge needs to be supplemented in order to continue support the delivery of the pipeline and enablement of the in-house team. The initial commitment is for 2 Build and Release (Software Configuration and Tooling) resources to be provided preferably by 20th March but no later than the 27th March. The contract will also be able to provision for a possible further 3 resources over the life of the contract to be provided as and when required. Who Are the Users Multiple both internal and external customers. The resources will be required to supplement the existing Build and Release (Software Configuration and Tooling) community staff. Scope is the software configuration management and associated tooling appropriate to the supported DVLA business services. Each call off will be supported by a predefined Statement of Work which will define individuals outcomes and success criteria. Early Market Engagement Work Already Done Existing Team A team of providing Build and Release (Software Configuration and Tooling) resources exist. This resource will bolster current skills on an as needed basis with an initial commitment for 2 resources to be provided preferably by 20th March but no later than the 27th March. The contract will also be able to provision for a possible further 3 resources over the life of the contract to be provided as and when required. Current Phase Beta Work Location On site, DVLA Morriston, Longview Road, Swansea, SA6 7JL Working Arrangments 5 days a week (40 hours per week/8 hours per day) on site. And to be available to undertake out of hours activities to support the service. Out of hours working is done with prior agreement of individual when required. Hours will be paid at pro–rata of the day rate (£87.50 per hour). Weekend working may be required and will be done with prior agreement of the individual. Weekend work will be paid at: Saturday – time and a half, Sunday – Double time. Security Clearance BPSS is required as a minimum for site access. SC cleared and be able to evidence is desirable. DVLA will sponsor SC clearance so the candidate must have the ability and be willing to work towards obtaining SC clearance. Additional T&Cs T&S charges only apply for staff that commute over a 75 mile journey in each direction. This is based on the distance that would be reasonable to expect a person to commute to the principal location(s). T&S is only applicable at the following maximum rates (excluding VAT): i. For T&S including travel but no overnight stay: Suppliers plain day rate plus £45.00. ii. For T&S including overnight stay: Suppliers plain day rate plus £90.00. Suppliers will need to be available for telephone interviews between 13th and 17th of March. Skills & Experience A minimum of one year experience of a SCM tool e.g. GIT A minimum of one year experience and use of Apache Maven or equivalent. A minimum of one year experience of working with UNIX and Linux environments. Must have day to day experience of working in a software build, release deployment and configuration management team. A minimum of one year experience in taking ownership of work all the way to production. A minimum of one year experience of applying SCM principles and best practices to ensure that build and release process and procedures are followed. A minimum of one year experience in generating and maintaining configuration management records for releases and software builds. Must be available to be on site 5 days a week. Extensive knowledge of software configuration principles & practices, generating software builds and deploying releases in controlled environments. A minimum of one year experience and use of software configuration management tooling and software build tooling . To be available to undertake out of hours activities to support the service and weekend working. Nice to Haves Amazon Web Services experience Atlassian Stash (Bitbucket), Jira, Confluence Jenkins SonaType Nexus Rational Clearcase Rational ClearQuest Weblogic ANT Perl CA Gen / GuardIEn CA Harvest Software Configuration Manager No. of Suppliers to Evaluate 10 Proposal Criteria Proposal Value for money Telephone Interviews Cultural Fit Criteria Ability to demonstrate identifying and contributing to continuous service improvement initiatives. Supporting enablement of in-house development capabilities, engaging with staff and creating an environment of knowledge sharing. Payment Approach Capped time and materials Assessment Method Written proposal Evaluation Weighting Technical competence 70% Cultural fit 10% Price 20% Questions from Suppliers Budget range up to £700 per day (net) plus t&s