Apprenticeships Digital Solution

Tender description

Summary of the work Crown Commercial Service requires a team to build a digital service for the public sector to find and transact with apprenticeship training providers. The service will also integrate with a dynamic purchasing system as part of the CCS Supplier Registration Service. Expected Contract Length 12 Weeks Latest start date Wednesday 18 July 2018 Budget Range up to £300,000 Why the Work is Being Done A new Apprenticeship Training framework (RM3823) agreement starts in September 2018. This framework gives access to a ‘one stop shop’ solution that allows Central Government and WPS users to spend their “Apprenticeship and Training Levy” (0.5% levy on employer’s payroll) by purchasing Education and Skills Funding Authority (ESFA) approved training standards and frameworks. The framework will be under the Light Touch Regime (LTR) and will use a Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS) provided by NQC (for supplier registration) and a custom catalogue built by CMp (user interaction). Problem to Be Solved This work will develop a tool to give employers access to information about apprenticeships on offer at ESFA approved training organisations. It will also allow training providers to upload information, giving them the opportunity to demonstrate the range and quality of their training to facilitate easy filtering and selection by the employer. This should be delivered on a platform with environments for development and production. The Alpha phase is in the process of testing prototypes/wireframes and business requirements will be available to the successful supplier. Who Are the Users As an employer: -Understand the apprenticeships available; -Understand how to filter by requirements. -To make informed decisions, employers may also want to speak to suppliers about other options before making a decision -Understand the service offered and make informed decisions, at the end of which, employers should be able to select and buy (legal commitment) the appropriate training scheme (all within the digital solution). As a training provider: -Be able to upload information about the apprenticeship -Be able to update information as required -To be able to get help either on or offline Early Market Engagement Extensive market engagement has been carried out. Work Already Done An internal CCS team has completed discovery and requirements have been identified. Wireframes and prototypes created by the team are in test and will be complete and available to the successful supplier before Beta commencement. Existing Team The Supplier will be working within a development team that consists of a Delivery Manager and UX designer and NQC. Design & Development will take place on a mix of supplier premises and the CCS location but releases must be made available to the Delivery Manager and end user community. The suppliers shall make themselves available to attend key meetings at the request of the programme. Current Phase Alpha Skills & Experience • The Supplier must be able to start design and development from the 19 July 2018 5% • Provide examples of where they have provided an iterative delivery of high value, web-based applications using AGILE methodologies, where Python has been used for development and release to production. 10% • Provide examples where the supplier has defined and set up environments for development and production on an AWS platform and subsequently tested and released a new product into production 5% • Provide examples of where, within the past 12 months, they have delivered user research and testing with user groups from a combination of internal service provider and external consumer organisations-5% • The Supplier must demonstrate experience in the last 18 months of delivering web-based applications that provide dynamic and easily updatable content management for the client to maintain as required. 5% • The supplier should provide examples of where they have provided a solution at Government OFFICIAL security level. 5% Nice to Haves • The supplier should give examples of where they have applied Agile practice and methodology to ensure timely delivery according to an agreed plan. 5% • The supplier should confirm that their resources could work as a mixed disciplined team with both on-site and off-site working as required. 5% Work Location The Supplier will work in a mix of premises (including their own) and travel as required to work and to attend key meetings, stakeholder engagement events etc. at the client's premises in London at 45 – 59 Kingsway, Holborn WC2B 6TE or other locations as defined by the Client. Working Arrangments Client-side delivery and engagement with the supplier will be provided by the CCS Delivery Manager. The Delivery Manager will provide the supplier interface to Crown Marketplace Programme and the operational user community. The supplier shall align to the HM Government Digital Service Standards and deliver Beta and live releases for assessment by the end user community and the Programme. Security Clearance BPSS Check completed by contract start date Additional T&Cs All expenses must be pre-agreed and must comply with the CCS Travel and Subsistence Policy. All vendors must provide sufficient guarantees to meet the requirements of GDPR. Further information The supplier is expected to deliver a Minimum Viable Service No. of Suppliers to Evaluate 3 Proposal Criteria • Technical solution – examples showing where the above technologies were applied and how these fitted within the GDS guided environment. 5% • Approach and methodology – examples that demonstrate a solid understanding of Agile and core principles and how these were applied 5% • How the approach or solution meets user needs – an example of where the supplier has applied a good understanding of UX centric website development 5% • Value for money- examples where the supplier has applied a transparent financial structure and fair pricing for the service 5% Cultural Fit Criteria • Examples where the supplier has worked collaboratively in a multi-disciplinary team with other service providers. 5% • There is a need to be transparent and collaborative when making decisions. Explain your understanding of a transparent and collaborative environment 5% • Provide examples of where applying Scrum core values has enabled timely delivery of product 10% Payment Approach Capped time and materials Evaluation Weighting Technical competence 65% Cultural fit 15% Price 20% Questions from Suppliers 1. In the Essential skills and experience section, you have requested experience of using Python for development and release to production. Can you please clarify why Python is being specified? Are you looking to re-use code produced during alpha? CCS currently operates digital services built using Ruby, Python, and Java. We may consider other languages if there is a justifiable reason. This service may need to integrate with/reuse components from another service developed with Python, so an understanding of Python is essential. Digital services should also use HTML5, CSS and Javascript. We expect services to follow the GDS Digital Service Standard, and to have a consistent user experience. 2. Is the procurement being run for the Alpha phase only? This procurement is for the beta build. 3. Can you share any of the Discovery outputs to provide some context of the scope of the Alpha (either the full report or the backlog of user stories currently in play for the Alpha)? This procurement is for the beta build. We are unable to release the discovery documents at this time. 4. Did CCS perform the Discovery internally or use a third party? It was carried out by a combination of both. 5. Can CCS provide some information about the proposed technology to be used in Alpha and beyond? This is for the beta phase. In order to ensure that various digital products are hosted on a common platform, it should be assumed that this services will be hosted on AWS. 6. Please could you confirm who is currently delivering the Alpha phase of this project? Xoomworks Ltd. 7. In question 2 you have asked for suppliers to provide examples of where they have provided an iterative delivery of high value, web-based applications using Python - Please can you confirm if this MUST be Python or if it can be another high level language? Will suppliers be excluded if they don't use Python? CCS currently operate digital services built using Ruby, Python, and Java. We may consider other languages if there is a justifiable reason. This service may need to integrate with/reuse components from another service developed with Python, so an understanding of Python is essential. Digital services should also use HTML5, CSS and Javascript. We expect services to follow the GDS Digital Service Standard, and to have a consistent user experience 8. Is there a mandated choice of front end/web technologies to use for the front end application? It seems Python is the preferred tech to deliver the project, are there specific python web frameworks that must be used? Is there a mandated team size to deliver this outcome? Is there a mandated team composition/make up of roles? No