Digital Services - Development Capability Partner

Tender description

Why the Work is Being Done We require up front delivery support to help implement our digital strategy and 3-year roadmap. Our aim is to exit legacy contracts and technology and to implement a Microsoft Cloud (Dynamics 365 and Azure) platform-based environment. This will mean retirement of most, if not all, legacy applications alongside delivery of new features and the transition to a digital services delivery model. We are seeking a single supplier to support us in growing internal digital capability and help design and deliver early proofs of concept during an 18-month period. The delivery pipeline includes a number of time and cost-boxed work packages. Problem to Be Solved The Council's in-house team does not have the capacity or the capabilities to fully design and manage end-to-end digital services as yet. Within 18 months, we want to transition to a fully functioning 'software factory' approach having been trained in Microsoft Cloud technologies with initial services having been designed and configured in the Dynamics 365 platform. A range of skill sets will therefore be needed throughout an 18 month pipeline of work that will provide the technical design and development skills to support a single Dynamics 365 platform, deliver business process and service improvements and fully documented documentation and training. Who Are the Users As a Customer Services Manager I need to manage complex customer information with all customer details in one place so that important issues aren't missed. As a resident of Chelmsford, I need to be able to see what services are on offer from my Council so that I can request these through my phone or online As a member of staff I need to be able to access my documents and email whereever I am so that I'm not limited to being at my desk to work. Early Market Engagement We have conducted early market engagement in a number of ways. This early market engagement has helped shape our thinking and given us a broad understanding of the different models we might adopt to deliver our digital roadmap. We have looked at a full spectrum of solutions from complete outsourcing of our technical requirements to a mixed economy of internal and external skills. We have met with a number of Microsoft partners. We have now reached the conclusion that the best all round solution is for us to build internal capability by using specialists alongside our internal teams to allow us total control of the implementation and costs associated and to assure a long term legacy for the Council. Work Already Done The digital vision and strategy has been approved by the Management team and the investment case will be delivered for full Cabinet approval in April. Our in-house team have begun scoping work on a number of proofs of concept including business analysis. We do not require digital transformation strategy skills as part of this brief. Existing Team Chelmsford City Council's existing team is structured along traditional local government ICT lines. Our team consists of service management, system administrators, GIS and data experts and security and infrastructure support. There is little or no experience in cloud based digital service delivery or in user experience, business process re-engineering or software development. Current Phase Discovery Work Location Civic Centre, Duke St, Chelmsford, Essex CM1 1JE Working Arrangments We would expect full-time engagement from our chosen supplier team to meet our desired outcomes, and we particularly value the capacity to mobilise resources quickly and flexibly. We value very highly co-located integrated teams and face-to-face dialogue in the spirit of the service standard. We are seeking a supplier that can scale up and down through the life of the contract. We will expect the supplier to deliver to our agreed work packages c 15 across the project. Travel and expenses remain the responsibility of the supplier. Security Clearance Not required Additional T&Cs Standard call off contract Skills & Experience Have demonstrable experience of implementing 'software factory' processes and documentation Have demonstrable experience of successfully understanding user needs and designing services to support them. Have demonstrable experience of implementing a whole platform approach with minimum integrations to legacy applications Have demonstrable experience of user centric development and how this is balanced against business and technology considerations. Have demonstrable experience of building digital solutions for the leisure, arts and heritage industry within an MS Dynamics environment Have demonstrable experience in MS Dynamics 365 solutions Have demonstrable experience of working with Microsoft technologies including Azure, Office 365 etc Have demonstrable experience of successfully developing using a pragmatic Agile and other programme methodologies and practices. Have demonstrable experience of supplying cross-functional agile teams to deliver defined outcomes Have demonstrable experience of successfully and collaborative working with existing teams, coachingt and mentoring, particularly those with limited agile development experience Have demonstrable expertise in automated testing and DevOps approaches Have demonstrable depth of resource and expertise in supplying the following roles: delivery lead, agile BA, developer, QA, lead developer/architect Have demonstrable experience in data migration, particularly from legacy systems commonly used in local government Nice to Haves Have demonstrable experience of successfully and collaboratively working, coaching and sharing knowledge with Public Sector and commercial client teams Have demonstrable experience of scaling up and down teams within the delivery pipeline Have demonstrable experience of providing a broad range of digital skill sets beyond technical skills Have demonstrable experience in data compliance and security No. of Suppliers to Evaluate 3 Proposal Criteria Ability to mobilise team quickly and in line with agreed work packages Technical solution Approach and methodology Proposed team structure How the approach meets Chelmsford City Council's needs Depth of knowledge and experience in latest versions of Microsoft Dynamics/AX and Azure Approach to training and development of the in-house team Cultural Fit Criteria Demonstrate a willingness to coach and mentor the team alongside their specialist role Demonstrate willingness to continually articulate the benefits of our approach Demonstrate desire to leave a sustainable legacy (documentation, cultural change etc) Be flexible Be collaborative and generous with their knowledge and experience Be resilient in the face of resistance to change Payment Approach Capped time and materials Assessment Method Written proposal Case study Work history Reference Evaluation Weighting Technical competence 60% Cultural fit 20% Price 20% Questions from Suppliers Budget range £0.5 - £1.6m