Border Force Data Products Business Change Services

Tender description

Summary of the work Provision of business change services to build and deploy a range of services focused on data quality analysis and reporting. Services are to be hosted in UK-based public cloud services and all team members must be UK based. The Supplier will be required to work as part of multi-supplier team. Expected Contract Length Maximum 24 months Latest start date Saturday 15 August 2020 Budget Range Rate caps for the Service Charges will be applied based on Home Office bench marked rates for technical resources at SFIA levels range 3 to 5, further guidance will be provided at RFP stage. Range for rates is £465 - £810. Why the Work is Being Done Data Services & Analytics (DSA) is a centralised service within DDaT’ s Enterprise Services and has been at the forefront of efforts to re-imagine the department’s relationship with data. It has led the way in professionalising our approach to the acquisition and analysis of data, promoting dynamic insight-led and evidence-based decision-making tools and techniques. Border Force currently assess and report on the quality of “Advance Passenger Information” supplied by airlines for compliance purposes. The current service is mature but requires enhancements during its Beta phase to enable more accurate reporting. Problem to Be Solved As a result of new business priorities, changes are required to the Beta phase solution. The current service is designed to process large volumes of data for the purposes of data quality. It is not currently designed to adequately scale or flex to provide support for changing business requirements. The service requires enhancements to enable improved granular scoring of the information supplied and greater control of reports. The service also requires integration of additional external data sources from airports, which will provide a better reflection of what happens in the real world. The enhanced system will need to be highly granular to process large data volumes and operate in real time. There are requirements to enhance business reports to be aligned to the new business Who Are the Users The users are typically business users from the Home Office family, who use DSA data products to triage, search and draw further insight from data. Occasionally users will be other Government bodies, from outside the Home Office family. Work Already Done The Beta service for handling commercial carriers Advanced Passenger Information, and its analysis, has been running for several years and now require further enhancement. We are also delivering required data from external sources to make operational decisions on general aviation activity which also needs additional functionality added. Existing Team The Supplier will be working with existing suppliers, support and project teams. The DSA is seeking a supplier with flexible processes to provide surge resource to meet shorter periods of high demand Current Phase Beta Skills & Experience • Proven experience of developing a secure AWS data platform for the UK Government, including evidence of being an AWS partner • Expertise in design and development of real-time and event-driven data pipelines using AWS serverless technologies and cloud-native microservice applications, including implementation of extensive data quality scoring frameworks • Proven experience of designing, developing and deploying complex dashboards in Tableau 2018 and 2020 • Proven experience in full stack web application development using Node.js, Python (particularly Django), Redis, RabbitMQ and cloud databases • Proven subject matter expertise in aviation and freight sectors, contribution to improvement of the industry sector, including a deep understanding of the sector-specific data and ICAO PNR data standards • Proven experience of continuous delivery of cloud services on AWS and Kubernetes, including using Terraform, Ansible and Packer to manage Infrastructure-as-Code for CI/CD pipelines, with Docker for containerisation • Proven experience building products and services that have passed the Government Digital Service (GDS) standard assessments • Proven User Interface Design experience using the GDS Frontend Toolkit, including mobile optimised services, including experience in WACG accessibility guidelines • Proven experience delivering services to GOV.UK Technology Code of Practice principles, or equivalent, in a large public organisation or ones of equivalent scale Nice to Haves • Experience security architecture and assurance experience in UK Government environment on a cloud tooling platform mitigating security risks, including supporting ITHC testing • Experience in Test-Driven Development and Test Automation for data pipelines and relational databases, including such as SonarQube, DBFit and Fitnesse Work Location The Services will be normally be carried out from a Home Office location primarily in Bedfont and occasionally at Croydon. Following the Government’s COVID-19 guidance, the team is required to work from home or in a safe environment and to attend meetings using digital channels, Once the current restrictions are lifted, occasional working from home may be permitted with agreement from the relevant Product Managers and in line with Home Office policy. Working Arrangments The team will work from the base locations as required, Monday to Friday 09:00 – 17:30 to allow collaborative working and sufficient stakeholder engagement and support. Due to the COVID19 pandemic the team will be required to work from home or in a safe environment until notified in line with Government guidelines to conduct the Services either in Croydon or Bedfont. Occasional travel to regional sites may be required. Security Clearance All staff must have SC level security clearance prior to commencing work. Supplier staff not in current possession of SC security clearance must undergo SC security clearance. Additional T&Cs The work will be conducted under Statements of Work which will be subject to either Fixed priced, T&M,Capped T&M as required. 1.Travel expenses are payable outside the M25 (for Greater London based SOWs) or > 10 miles other base locations, subject to approval and HO Travel policy (no subsistence). 2. Professions rate caps will be applied to all standard roles at all SFIA levels. SFIA 1, 2,6 and 7 levels are not required. 3. Seasonal furloughs may be required. 4. Maximum sub-contractor margin caps will be applied. 5. Individual SOWs may be required at fixed price, T&M or capped T&M. No. of Suppliers to Evaluate 4 Proposal Criteria • Value for Money and Commercial Flexibility • Mobilisation Approach • Proposed Team/Flexibility and CV's • Technical Skill and Ability Cultural Fit Criteria • Ability to function effectively and collaborate in a multi-supplier environment • Working successfully in complex public sector organisations • Approach to proactive issue management, problem resolution and improving ways of working • Commitment to diversity, inclusion and tackling issues relating to bullying, harassment and discrimination Payment Approach Capped time and materials Evaluation Weighting Technical competence 55% Cultural fit 5% Price 40% Questions from Suppliers 1. Can you please say what the anticipated team size and structure would be to deliver this service? This is a decision that the bidder will need to make based on the requirements stated. 2. How many people are you intending to hire here? This is a decision that the bidder will need to make based on the requirements stated. 3. The budget range listed – is it for one role? If so, do you need identical roles here? The budget range is an indication of the SFIA Rates that should be used to bid for this work