Technical Architect - Dev/Ops

Tender description

Summary of the work The DVSA is undertaking a review of its Contract that currently provides Technical Support Services. The contract ensures the running, maintenance and integrity of it's cloud platforms and digital services, including all technologies, tools and software. The applications include external facing services such as MOT and VOL and Internal services. Specialist role Technical Architect Expected Contract Length up to six weeks Latest start date Monday 12 November 2018 Who Speclialist Work With DVSA requires a Technical Architect to work alongside a Project Manager, Service Analyst and Business Analyst to engage with stakeholders and undertake a Discovery exercise which will inform its future procurement strategy for Technical Support Services (TSS). What Specialists Work On DVSA requires a Technical Architect to work in DS&T to undertake a Discovery exercise which will inform its future procurement strategy for Technical Support Services (TSS). The output from this Discovery phase will be to produce a business case for the recommended approach. The Technical Architect will contribute to all aspects of the outcome but consider how the DevOps composition of the TSS Contract can be structured. They need to understand the service and the blend between Dev/DevOps and Ops across the Agency, differences between TSS and a managed service model. Skills & Experience • have experience of different modes of Dev/Ops Operations eg immutable vs update in place • demonstrate experience of Dev/Ops and automated pipeline approach • have experience of Systems Development Life Cycle • have experience of Business Continuity on cloud platforms • have experience of operational monitoring and incident management • demonstrate experience and deep understanding of cloud – specifically AWS • have experience of operating in a cloud environment with mixed estate • working knowledge of digital and cloud technologies • experience of working in a shared service / consultancy environment Nice to Haves • experience of the practical application of ITIL theory in an environment like that expected for TSS • experience of working with shared responsibility models Work Location The primary location is Nottingham, maybe required to travel to other locations e.g. Bristol, Leeds and Swansea. Working Arrangments Up to 20 days over the 6-week period. Work Schedule to be agreed with the DVSA project team. Security Clearance Suppliers should only put forward interims who have a valid Basic Disclosure Scotland Certificate, or higher if requested and are reminded that interims must be security cleared to Baseline Personnel Security Standard level before they can start in a role. No. of Specialists to Evaluate 5 Cultural Fit Criteria • Culture of Agile method – and flexibility to respond to changing needs • Fast moving user needs centric environment • Digital environment where there is a mixed skill base rather than very strict roles • Innovative and forward looking • Challenging and honest • Low friction, low ceremony – but used to working in environments where high quality outcomes are expected • Flexibility to deal with varying degrees of maturity Evaluation Weighting Technical competence 50% Cultural fit 20% Price 30% Questions from Suppliers 1. Can you confirm the length as the contract as 6 weeks (not e.g. 6 months)? Also, you mention 20 days over up to 6 weeks, is this intended to be around 3 or 4 days per week for 6 weeks? Is this a strict interim role only, and is there any scope for the role's length to be extended? The contract length is for the duration of the discovery phase which is solely to define the replacement of service. We expect this to take up to 6 weeks but there may be periods during this time where we are awaiting information or activity from other parties. As such, the work load will vary over the duration and we expect the resource to be flexible in covering this.There is no anticipation of extension for this role. 2. Is there a current incumbent in this role? There is no current incumbent; this is a project based role for a fixed period of discovery activity. 3. Is the engagement likely to be extended beyond the 6 weeks? There is no anticipation of extension for this role. 4. Can you confirm whether this assignment sits in-scope or out of scope of IR35?Can you confirm what the daily pay rate is? Outside of IR35 - Our assessment shows that the Intermediaries legislation doesn’t apply to this engagementThis role has a specific set of requirements and we wish to attract the most suitable candidates to apply. We are therefore expecting the market to define the daily rate for this role. 5. Does the DevOps component of the TSS include development of software (changes) for the applications or is the software related element limited to the practices applied to the configuration management, build, automated testing and deployment of the resultant software? If it does include development then is this limited to fixes / point changes or does it include full scale project software development work? As a general guidance production ready software will be created outside the TSS arrangement, with the TSS arrangement then there to deploy and run, or to enable agile development teams to deploy and run themselves re dev ops model. So the software element is as above re configuration management etc.... 6. When the following is mentioned "differences between TSS and a managed service model." is this referring to differences in (a) whether a supplier is responsible for supplying outcomes or capabilities (b) whether the service is organised around disciplines or solutions ? Some clarity in around what sort of differences need to be assessed would be helpful. The purpose of the discovery is to determine the core strategy and outcomes we would like from a service. Once this is clear we then, as a separate piece of work, need to determine the best way to provision and procure what is required. This may be something akin to a or b and the ideal candidate will understand how the different models enable delivery of the to be state.