Professional Services for the Multi-channel Digital Tax Platform

Tender description

Why the Work is Being Done We are looking for up to two partners with expertise in building and operating a Continuous Integration-Continuous Delivery (CI-CD) capability in public cloud. MDTP is a Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) currently hosted in AWS (London Region) and all of HMRC's modern, customer-facing digital services accessed via Gov.uk reside on this platform. MDTP also provides services and dashboards to many thousands of internal staff. MDTP went live in February 2014 and is always evolving to meet changing user needs. The platform vision and roadmap set out the future direction, centred on continually improving MDTP's usability, operability, security and simplifying the path to Production. Problem to Be Solved Maintaining and enhancing MDTP's ability to serve up online content to HMRC's customers, as well as services to internal staff, while ensuring an optimal user experience. Without a performant, secure and highly available platform, HMRC's customers will not be able to access MDTP's constituent services or may suffer a degraded user experience. The successful supplier may be asked to conduct work on various areas of the project simultaneously. Who Are the Users As a user of services on tax.service.gov.uk, I need to interact with HMRC/perform my duties as a HMRC staff member, So that I can, e.g. file my tax return/monitor any attempted repayment fraud Early Market Engagement Bristol supplier day 12th July 2019. Suppliers may also request a copy of the presentation slides and the Q&A document that followed by emailing andrew.cullenaine@hmrc.gov.uk. Please note: 1. The Classic Services have been removed 2. Transaction Monitoring is being procured as a separate DOS exercise Work Already Done MDTP went live in February 2014 and is now in its third major iteration: 2014 - 1 x SME cloud provider 2016 - 2 x SME cloud providers (active-active) 2017 - 1 x hyperscale cloud provider The platform roadmap envisages MDTP's continued evolution as a cutting edge PaaS, so there is plenty of transformative feature work in addition to the live running aspects. Existing Team HMRC expect the Service Providers to work alongside other suppliers and internal staff, including apprentices, as part of blended teams. There are six platform teams, typically comprising the following roles: - infrastructure engineer - software developer - QA/tester - Delivery Lead - Product Owner - Business Analyst Current Phase Live Work Location Bristol - 3 Glass Wharf, BS2 0PS Secondary location (occasional travel only and only up until the site's planned closure in November 2020): London, Canary Wharf, E14 4PU Working Arrangments The supplier will be required to co-locate with the existing platform teams, mixed teams comprising both internal staff and other contractors, 5 days per week. Occasional travel may be required to other HMRC Delivery Centres. Expenses will be paid as per agreed contract rates. We expect the successful supplier to provide upskilling to permanent staff to increase internal capability. Security Clearance Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS) clearance will be needed for all supplier contractors. Additional T&Cs All personnel engaged in the provision of this service must have a minimum of three years experience in their designated role/skill specialism, with an expectation of five years minimum experience for lead roles. Skills & Experience Provide additional and/or value added activities when acting in the role of a partner supplier to an organisation Translate business problems and user needs into technical designs Proficient at writing code (Scala, Python, Ruby) to solve problems, automating wherever it adds value and incorporating security best practices at all times Hands on experience of various AWS services like Cloudformation, S3, ECS, EC2, RDS, Lambda, SQS, SNS, Stacks and IAM Proponents of test-driven development (TDD) practices, writing top quality unit tests and code Devising and implementing unit/component, integration, system and acceptance tests to meet functional and non-functional requirements Deep understanding of distributed Source Control, preferably git/GitHub Deep understanding of application deployment strategies and Continuous Integration Deep understanding of inter-application communication protocols Deep understanding of navigating and troubleshooting Linux servers Experience of developing, using Terraform, Kubernetes, ELK, Sensu, Clickhouse, MongoDB Nice to Haves Evidence significant, similar contract with a public sector body No. of Suppliers to Evaluate 4 Proposal Criteria Earliest start date Providing the relevant skills, roles and resources across a variety of open source technologies Collaborative working with other suppliers and a client's in-house teams, including coaching, mentoring and knowledge sharing Providing additional and/or value added activities when acting in the role of a partner supplier to an organisation Translating business problems and user needs into technical designs Proficient at writing code (e.g. Scala, Python, Ruby) to solve problems, automating wherever it adds value and incorporating security best practices at all times Hands on experience of various AWS services like Cloudformation, S3, ECS, EC2, RDS, Lambda, SQS, SNS, Stacks and IAM Proponents of test-driven development (TDD) practices, writing top quality unit tests and code Devising and implementing unit/component, integration, system and acceptance tests to meet functional and non-functional requirements Practising pair programming and understanding the value of peer review as part of maintaining focus on quality Deep understanding of distributed Source Control, preferably git/GitHub Deep understanding of application deployment strategies and Continuous Integration Deep understanding of inter-application communication protocols Working knowledge of navigating and troubleshooting Linux servers Working knowledge of Terraform, Kubernetes, ELK, Sensu, Clickhouse, MongoDB Working in agile delivery teams within a product-centric environment, and particularly comfortable with kanban Good communicator, having the soft skills to talk to the business as well as techs Teams will have demonstrable DevOps experience, showing ability to release at least every sprint and ideally much more frequently Experience of delivering to Government Digital Standards Significant, similar contract with a public sector body (Desirable) Cultural Fit Criteria Operates a no-blame culture, encouraging people to learn from their mistakes Able to start work immediately Have excellent communication skills with staff at all levels of the organisation Will take responsibility for their work while also pairing/peer reviewing by default Willing to collaborate and partner, including with other suppliers and HMRC staff at all levels Proactively share knowledge and experiences with members of team, especially with HMRC staff Be innovative and promote ideas and suggestions as applicable Focus on achieving value for money in all activities Payment Approach Time and materials Assessment Method Evaluation Weighting Technical competence 50% Cultural fit 10% Price 40% Questions from Suppliers Budget range the anticipated budget is £6m per annum split between 1 – 2 suppliers depending on the result of this dos exercise.