C14113 National CD Service Engineering Development Transition Partner

Tender description

Summary of the work Home Office National Communications Data Service require Engineering Development services , to support ongoing development of our live products. Expertise will be required in Solution and Business Architecture, Systems and Software Engineering; forming blended teams ranging between SFIA levels 3 and 7. Expected Contract Length 2 years Latest start date Thursday 31 January 2019 Budget Range £4.5M to £9.4M estimated Total Contract Value Why the Work is Being Done The National CD Service (NCDS) is a new organisation within the Home Office, transitioning from a change delivery programme to a sustained service, delivering vital capability to the UK Law Enforcement Community. Between now and 2020, NCDS will be changing from a programme delivery organisation to a service delivery organisation which delivers consistently high quality services which respond rapidly to changes in operational needs and emerging technologies. The purpose of this requirement is to provide Engineering Development services to deliver change for in-life services and deliver new services into operation. Problem to Be Solved The requirement is for a flexible and responsive means of providing Engineering Development supporting new capabilities, augmenting or replacing existing capabilities, in an environment of change in: (1) How NCDS operates; (2) The services that NCDS provides; and (3) The third party suppliers who underpin these services: while mitigating the impact of these changes. Engineering Development needs to assure the technical delivery of suppliers as well as maturing the operating model to bring delivery in-house where appropriate. This will require capabilities in Solution and Business Architecture, Systems and Software Engineering; forming blended teams ranging between SFIA levels 3 and 7. Who Are the Users The main customer will be the Head-of-Engineering of the NCDS who needs to maintain a consistent and high quality approach to the technical assurance of both delivery projects and ongoing services, especially change. The users of the Engineering Delivery Service provided by the Transition Partner will be the service and delivery teams within NCDS who are required to ensure the technical integrity of the projects and services they deliver. There are also external organisations whose own solutions for the provision and use of data will require assurance of technical approach and integrity as a criteria for receiving Home Office funding. Early Market Engagement Early Market Engagement was conducted at an event on 19th July 2018. A Q&A summary together with the day's presentation were shared with all Digital Marketplace/DOS2 Suppliers on 24th August 2018. Work Already Done The programme that has delivered NCDS to Initial Operating Capability (IOC) incorporated an Engineering Development function supporting our Delivery Partners.There are a number of delivery projects currently under way that will transition to operations during the Transition Period and Engineering Delivery must continue to support the pace and quality of delivery. During Transition and following FOC Engineering Development will need to support the change and improvements we need to core systems in-life. The ultimate outcome is to formalise this function as an integral part of FOC. Existing Team The team(s) are expected to collaborate with the blended team comprising Civil Servants and third-party supplier subject matter experts. Current Phase Not applicable Skills & Experience • Provide recent and demonstrable evidence of each of the following skills: • Developing using a range of skills including Drupal, Java, .Net and C#.Net, MySQL, SQL Server, UI, Talend or ETL, ELK or Log Search • Testing, to include functional (including automation), non functional (including automation) and UAT, OAT and Integration Testing • Solution and Business Architecture, Systems and Software Engineering • Operating in small cross-functional engineering teams to build supportable, sustainable, and reliable services Nice to Haves • Knowledge of the legislative framework and policy requirements under which the CD is collected, processed and analysed • Experience of working in a challenging, complex and regulated environment • Evidence of providing a scalable, SC-cleared including DV-cleared resource pool, whilst maintaining governance and delivery Work Location 2 Marsham Street, London SW1P 4DF. Work may be required at other locations nationally from time to time. Working Arrangments We expect team(s) to reflect the roles and capabilities listed in the Essential Skills section. Team(s) will need to be familiar with providing Engineering Delivery to change projects being delivered through Agile methodology or 'Waterfall', or in a hybrid of both disciplines. Team(s) will typically be expected to be on site at least 3 days/ week, although this will depend on the nature and volume of work being delivered through the contract duration. Security Clearance SC level clearance is required for all Supplier staff working under the call-off contract. Access to a pool of DV cleared staff is also essential. Additional T&Cs 1. We intend to award C14111, C14112, and C14113 Services to three separate suppliers, reflecting our desire to promote supplier diversity and functional separation. 2. We will retain ownership of the Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) created during the contract. 3. Travel and Expenses will not be paid. 4. Key Supplier staff included at the proposal stage will be expected to work on the contract; replacing resources with Civil Servants is within outcome. 5. We reserve the right to agree fixed price Statements of Work (SoW); the Supplier shall not unreasonably withhold its agreement to such requests. 6. Sub-contracting is permitted. No. of Suppliers to Evaluate 5 Proposal Criteria • Approach and Methodology • Value for Money • Ability to plan and anticipate for risks and provide potential mitigations • Team structure and composition (including CVs, technical skill-sets, and key staff) • Mobilisation and service continuity plan Cultural Fit Criteria • Work as a team with our organisation and other suppliers • Have a no-blame culture and encourage people to learn from their mistakes • Share knowledge and experience with other team members • Be transparent and collaborative when making decisions • Demonstrate engagement of SMEs as part of their supply-chain Payment Approach Time and materials Evaluation Weighting Technical competence 50% Cultural fit 20% Price 30% Questions from Suppliers 1. "Given the 30% evaluation criteria for price, please can the Authority confirm how and when pricing information is to be provided.Is the answer for this the same for all 5 lots under this opportunity (C14111-C14115)?" "Home Office will evaluate the Essential Skills & Experience and Nice to Have Criteria to shortlist for the Evaluation Stage up to 5 potential providers for each of the requirement sets (C14111-C14115) on a 'highest scoring' basis.This suppliers taken through to the Evaluation Stage will be provided details of the relevant requirements, and will be invited to submit a more detailed proposal, pricing and presentation for assessment." 2. "From our understanding of the DOS2 framework, the assessment methods proposed in this lot are usually applied to a further evaluation of additional material, e.g. a more detailed proposal and presentation.Can the authority clarify the next steps following the submission of our initial application on 26th September.Will this process be the same regardless of the number of applicants that you receive?Is the answer for this the same for all 5 lots under this opportunity (C14111-C14115)?" "Home Office will evaluate the Essential Skills & Experience and Nice to Have Criteria to shortlist for the Evaluation Stage up to 5 potential providers for each of the requirement sets (C14111-C14115) on a 'highest scoring' basis.This suppliers taken through to the Evaluation Stage will be provided details of the relevant requirements, and will be invited to submit a more detailed proposal, pricing and presentation for assessment." 3. Following supplier questions on the Work Set Up statement/Security Clearance, we are publishing the following clarification: Access to some DV cleared staff may be required from time to time for some statements of work. The HO will work with the supplier to ensure that capabilities dependent for the achievement of such outcomes are understood and planned for, including sponsorship of appropriate clearances where necessary. 4. In the essential skills response template we are asked to provide a 100 word response to "Provide recent and demonstrable evidence of each of the following skills:" – do you require suppliers to respond to this or just the subsequent skills which appear as separate 100 word responses in the templates. Please only respond to subsequent skills which appear as separate 100 word responses in the templates. 5. Can you please confirm that ""Access to a pool of DV cleared staff is also essential"" as this will immediately rule out a large number of potential suppliers. This seems to contradict Section 14 of the HMG Personnel Security Controls Document V4.0 from May 2018. Please refer to the clarification published in Question 3 6. Can you please confirm that the full 24 month engagement will take place at Marsham Street? Work will take place at 2 Marsham Street, London SW1P 4DF. Work may be required at other locations nationally from time to time. 7. "We need additional information please, to provide the best suited examples to your essential/nice to have questions.Can we please have all information associated with the early market engagement. What vital capabilities, will HO-NCDS deliver to the UK Law Enforcement Community?Please give more detail on HO-NCDS in-life services & core systems in-life?The delivery projects underway, transitioning to operations, can HO-NCDS please expand further? Please give more detail on technologies used, the projects actually delivered, the functionality of the delivered projects, etc.?" Information relating to the Market Engagement Event was issued to all companies registered on the Digital Marketplace on 24/08/18. Home Office does not intend to release any further information at this stage regarding the specific services required, but will provide further information to up to 5 suppliers shortlisted for the Evaluation Stage to allow them to develop more detailed written proposals and presentations.We would encourage you to provide what you consider to be the most relevant examples based on the Essential Skills & Experience and Nice-to-Have criteria published in relation to these opportunities C14111 - C14115. 8. "Developing using a range of skills including Drupal, Java,.Net and C#.Net, MySQL, SQL Server, UI, Talend or ETL, ELK or Log Search.Does the above count for 80% of your technology stack requirements or are there a number of required technologies missing?" These skills cover around 70% of the current in-house development, however as we change the operating model and bring on new suppliers we would expect that there would be additional skills required. 9. Question 1 does not appear to require an answer as it refers to the subsequent questions – “Provide recent and demonstrable evidence of each of the following skills:”. Please can you confirm if this assumption is correct. That is correct 10. "1. Will the authority sponsor SC and DV clearance if necessary ?2. We note the Authority's stance with respect to appointing separate suppliers for lots C14111, C14112 and C14113. If a supplier applies in the first phase for all these lots, will this result in a supplier being downselected for only one lot or – if successful – would a supplier be restricted to submitting a single proposal for one of the lots affected in the next phase?3. Does the Authority have a view on the number of teams that may be deployed ?" "1. Please refer to the clarification published in Question 3 2. If a supplier is short-listed for the Evaluation phases in C14111 to C14113 opportunities, and furthermore, they find themselves in the enviable but unlikely position that they are successful in all three evaluations, and mindful of our need to ensure functional separation and supplier diversity, we will ask the supplier to consider which requirement set can best be served by that supplier's capabilities. 3. Further information will be provided at the Evaluation Phase on current and planned work. " 11. Can you clarify whether the successful applicant for this opportunity would also be able to operate as a prime for supply-side technical delivery? Should the supplier be awarded the call-off contract for this opportunity, then it is at liberty to consider applying for any other future opportunities to work with the Home Office, subject to managing appropriately any potential conflicts of interest it might identify.