Home Office Enterprise Services - SolarWinds Orion Design Augmentation

Tender description

Summary of the work •Technical Design Augmentation: Full implementation of a fully resilient platform and architecture SolarWinds Orion monitoring system based upon the upgrade of the existing installation; •Business Monitoring Systems: The design augmentation of technical systems enabling proactive monitoring rich event and alert management information supporting efficient and effective business functions. Expected Contract Length Up to 3 months Latest start date Monday 21 January 2019 Budget Range Maximum day rate £850 for 2 resource (Data Engineer / Data Architect) Why the Work is Being Done Home Office Enterprise Services requires a fully resilient IT system for monitoring key business services supported by: • Defining future monitoring capabilities of ITOC and introducing the ability to support effective/efficient event and alert management monitoring; •Equipping ITOC with fully resilient platform and architecture SolarWinds Orion monitoring system will be enhanced providing monitoring services for the HO infrastructure and business services; •Ensuring technical information in place to give HO full control and visibility of service performance and availability. •Enable proactive monitoring for HO services •Provide tooling to monitor network, infrastructure/application activity; user journey and synthetic transaction monitoring Problem to Be Solved ES has multiple IT monitoring tools covering multiple services and a lack of specialised, industrialised monitoring/support in place. The capability for deciding on the interim and future event/alert monitoring design needs maturing. The aim is to augment further by: •Analysis/scoping •Enabling fully resilient platform/architecture design; •Enabling scalability of toolset to support ongoing service needs; •Provision of separate development environment for testing; •Long term technology roadmap. Ensuring HO is supported technically, staff are appropriately skilled and trained to lead and support HO and that the appropriate business monitoring systems are in place Who Are the Users The ES ITOC Business function is the primary user group for the work. The augmentation design capability and the ownership of the technology systems sits with the ITOC Business Solutions Architecture team. There is scope for the Supplier to define the most appropriate group for the operation and use of the system. As an ITOC analyst I need to be able to rely on resilient and available monitoring tools to understand performance and availability of the business services I am supporting. In turn, allowing business users reliant on these services to continue activities for which the HO is responsible. Work Already Done Some high level requirements and outputs for the monitoring system and the operational design work have been documented. HODDaT are currently reviewing other business service IT monitoring tools, and recommendations will need to be incorporated into the overall plans for the augmentation of ServiceNow. A Suite of recommendations and a Project Initiation Document (PID) has been written as part of the Enterprise Services programme for the next phase(s) of augmentation design. Existing Team The existing Enterprise Services ITOC Design team will manage the project and the ITOC Solution Architect will lead the project to enhance Solarwinds. One technical engineering support and one business analyst in the Enterprise Services ITOC Design team function will be available part-time to assist the project although, depending on the Supplier’s suggested approach, their involvement may not be required. Current Phase Live Skills & Experience • Past experience delivering technical design projects with SolarWinds Orion • Past experience establishing technical design and toolset augmentation capabilities with SolarWinds Orion; • Past experience developing and delivering technical strategies for senior management; • Past experience with technical monitoring systems in the following areas: • Event & Alert Management information; • Resilience management; • Technical capability management. • Past experience successfully delivering change in an IT operations environment; • Past experience delivering toolset enhancement in service based organisations; • Past experience of working within the Public Sector; • Experience of working in transforming Service Management functions; • Experience of delivering these capabilities in SIAM structured support services. Nice to Haves • Experience working in “agile teams” of mixed customer staff, other suppliers and contractors. • Evidence of delivering on time and to budget Work Location SoapWorks, Block C, 4th Floor, Colgate Lane, Salford, M5 3LZ Occasional travel to other London and Croydon based Home Office locations may be required. Working Arrangments Required on-site full-time 5 days a week to work with ITOC and with other co-located Home Office departments. No travel expenses as assumed to be included in day rate. Security Clearance Current valid SC Security Clearance is required to operate on this project. No. of Suppliers to Evaluate 3 Proposal Criteria • Proof of past experience where the supplier has successfully applied the essential skills and experience • Demonstration of relevant experience in delivering technical solutions to senior management; • Value For Money Cultural Fit Criteria • Ability of the Supplier to demonstrate the Home Office Values, which are: • Commitment to excellence e.g. seek actionable feedback, know users, deliver cost effective high level customer satisfaction); • Open and collaborative team approach; • Flexible working; • Commitment to team working; • Shares skills and knowledge; • Works well in a collaborative team. Payment Approach Capped time and materials Evaluation Weighting Technical competence 60% Cultural fit 10% Price 30% Questions from Suppliers 1. Can you please confirm if the day rate for both resources combined is £850/day or if you require two resources and the maximum rate for each resource is £850? The maximum rate of £850 per day (inclusive of expenses) is per individual resource and the requirement is for 02 individuals to work on this design augmentation. 2. You are asking for two roles to be filled here, an architect and and engineer however the application process only allows for submission for one candidate, are you wanting us to apply for both candidates in one application? If so this limits our responses for giving evidence to 50 words per person – please advise? The requirement is posted on Digital Outcomes to find a team of 2 resource to deliver the outcome so the response should cover both applicants. If the supplier proposes to deliver this requirement with a different mix / type of resource this will be considered. 3. I have been in touch with a SolarWinds consultant and due to location / travel – would it be possible for a 50/50 split of time, 50% on site in Salford and 50% working from home? On-site full-time 5 days a week is required for team working and also to ensure staff are appropriately skilled and trained through knowledge transfer. 4. We have a candidate available who currently holds DV clearance – would you be able to transfer the clearance across to yourselves to maintain validity, and would this be acceptable in place of SC clearance as it is a higher level? A higher level of clearance than that required is acceptable, however transferring security clearance can only be accepted from other UK government departments. If this is applicable, in your application please give details of which department your clearance is for and the start / end date.