DfE Digital Service Transformation Pipeline Delivery Programme

Tender description

Why the Work is Being Done DfE is transforming from a policy to a delivery department. Following discoveries in 2017, research identified 250 potential services and 50 potential service lines. Work has already begun to deliver some of these. DfE wishes to scale its delivery capability and requires support in developing services to meet the Government Service Standard. DfE aims to initiate the first phases of this scaling up work in August 2018 Problem to Be Solved DfE needs a delivery partner that can deliver outcomes based on user needs and government service standards. This contract will provide teams with core sets of skills capable of supporting a range of projects from inception through to live. Typical roles would include delivery manager, business analyst, user researcher and service designer. This approach would provide continuity through the lifecycle of projects, ensuring no break in support and expertise built up in the team leading to improved opportunities for shadowing and knowledge transfer. We anticipate up to 3-5 concurrent projects maximum. Who Are the Users - Teachers - Parents - Students - Education advisors - School administrators - People that deliver children’s services - Our own staff For example: I need to train to be a teacher so that I can be employed as a qualified teacher” As a person or body wanting to establish an academy I/we need to establish an academy as simply as possible As a school leader I need to know about funding opportunities so that my school can apply for relevant grants As a parent I need to know how to apply for financial support for my child Early Market Engagement Not applicable Work Already Done Some digital education services are live via the GOV.UK website. For example: https://www.gov.uk/apply-online-for-student-finance However there is still a lot of potential to deliver development work and enhancement. Digital programme discovery is well underway with potential services identified and prioritised. Some service discovery, alpha and private beta activity has been completed. Two services,teaching jobs and apply to become a teacher, are awaiting service.gov.uk domains and should be published shortly. Existing Team The supplier will work with internal DfE stakeholders from a range of disciplines, including architecture, security, policy, service and product management, finance, and delivery management. Knowledge transfer back into DfE will be a requirement to enable DfE to improve internal capability to build and support the applications. Where required in the development cycle, collaboration with other suppliers maybe necessary, for example, data extract, transformation, load and migration and in the setting up of dev/test environments. This contract will not prevent us from using other commercial arrangements, including using capability contracts to pull together a team from a range of suppliers. Current Phase Not applicable Work Location For any given SoW the work is likely to be based in London, Coventry or Manchester, however research activity may be required UK wide. Regular travel will be required to DfE's offices in these locations. The primary base will be detailed in each Statement of Work (SoW) and expenses will not form part of the cost unless the supplier is asked to work from a secondary location instead during the execution of the work relating to the SoW. e.g. If SoW primary base is in Coventry then no expenses will be paid for Coventry. Working Arrangments The existing DfE digital team comprises lead roles in product and service management, and agile delivery, as well as stakeholders from our finance, HR and legal services teams. The output from our discoveries will inform the products and services to be explored with our development partner. We are looking for a development partner to complement our agile development capability in roles including; product and delivery management, user-centred design, user research and business analysis. We anticipate a maximum of 3-5 concurrent projects. Each Statement of Work will cover a particular project/phase and have associated outcomes and deliverables Security Clearance DfE requires all supplier staff to have baseline personnel security standard clearance (BPSS). There may be a requirement for some of the work to require security clearance checks. This will be detailed in the statement of work. Additional T&Cs Standard Framework and Call Off Terms and Conditions. Expenses must be pre-agreed and comply with CCS Travel and Subsistence Policy. Any expenses shall be submitted in line with DfE standard T&S policy. Primary work location stated in SoW will not attract expenses. Contract and Vendor Management will form a key part of governance and suppliers will be expected to co-operate in a manner that fosters healthy working relationships and quality delivery. Suppliers must provide sufficient guarantees to meet the requirements of GDPR in line with Procurement Policy Note 03/17 Changes to Data Protection Legislation & General Data Protection Regulation Skills & Experience Clear evidence of planning and delivering user-centred digital services that follow the Government Service Manual, corresponding service assessment process, and Technology Code of Practice Clear evidence of delivering digital services using agile development approaches and continuous delivery techniques Experience in conducting user research, designing and developing working digital services, user journey mapping, delivering evidenced, prioritised user stories and designing assisted digital support Experience of successful collaborative working, coaching and sharing knowledge with Public Sector client teams, particularly those with limited agile development experience Ability to provide core team roles, to supplement our existing capability, including delivery managers, user researchers, service designers and business analysts Nice to Haves Experience of working successfully with UK Government and/or Arms Length Bodies A demonstratable track record of successfully passing GDS service assessments Ability to provide experienced agile product managers to support projects if required for the statement of work No. of Suppliers to Evaluate 5 Proposal Criteria Demonstrate understanding/ability to deliver digital products/services to government Digital Service standards How you plan to transfer knowledge to permanent staff within the client organisation Team scalability, flexibility, deployment, time and pause capability Illustrate core team skills/strengths, including CVs of key personnel How value for money will be achieved for the duration of the contract Demonstrate understanding of the challenges of implementing user centred design in a government agile environment Sector knowledge of DfE business requirements and issues Case studies and references. We will follow up on all references given during evaluation so contact must be clear Presentation supporting proposal criteria Clear evidence of planning and delivering user-centred digital services that follow the Government Service Manual, corresponding service assessment process, and Technology Code of Practice Cultural Fit Criteria Experience of working with an organisation which is at the beginning of changing the culture to a more agile way of working Payment Approach Capped time and materials 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 budget approval is subject to cabinet office spending controls, service assessments and dfe governance. a pipeline of activity is foreseen over the next 24 months for which the approval process has commenced. the budget is very difficult to determine at present as business cases are still under review. based on the scope being considered the budget could range up to £5m consisting of multiple sows, but that scope could expand or contract. dfe does not commit to any minimum or maximum spend at this point. a pricing template will be given at the proposal stage to those suppliers we shortlist