Data services

Tender description

UK Power Networks (UKPN) recognise data as an increasingly critical business asset, and the ability to generate and consume reliable data to inform fundamental business decisions is a key determinant to UKPN’s future success. To this end, we recognise that our data landscape must be rapidly developed to ensure it is highly accessible, reliable and interoperable. The purpose of this exercise it to request information from market around the potential solution for enterprise data management. Recognising that undertaking an enterprise-wide approach concurrently is likely to be too complex, and too disruptive to business operation, we wish to quantify the benefits that a revised data landscape may offer. Intent is to test the enterprise data management for a specific dataset related to Distributed Energy Resources (DER) that’s used to populate the monthly production of the System Wide Resource Register (SWRR). Whilst the dataset is relatively small, it is spread across multiple systems with limited reference to which fields are held across these systems. In addition there is no metadata definition, data glossary or any measure of the quality and completeness of that data. The solution to manage DER data effectively, enabling the publication of the SWRR to be simplified and expedited. It must deliver outputs clearly aligned with the four component parts highlighted above. It is anticipated that with minimal additional work, the DER dataset can be augmented to offer benefit to a wider group of stakeholders with an interest in DER data and the vendor will need to consider how to achieve this enhanced DER dataset. In addition to delivery of a DER data solution, it must demonstrate, and quantify, the following: 1) the benefits associated with the transition to a new data environment; 2) the likely costs; 3) the challenges that the business faces in making this transition; 4) the opportunity to develop the solution at a scale which addresses the requirements of the wider enterprise; 5) the resources required to manage and operate an enterprise data landscape suitable of meeting increasing real-time and open data requirements. Throughout the delivery of the solution we require: — feedback from the vendor regarding the suitability of the technological approach that takes in relation to our broader strategic objectives; — structured engagement between the vendor and our Subject Matter Experts (SME) to ensure that sufficient knowledge sharing occurs to enable our SMEs to independently manage the solution on an on-going basis. Key deliverables 1) Development of a DER data model, implementation of an enterprise architecture platform and a documented understanding of how future data model development should be undertaken. Vendor’s proposals should ideally be cognisant of UKPN’s ambition to ultimately align their enterprise-wide data landscape with the recommendations of IEC61968. 2) Design of a suitable, scalable cloud data infrastructure to host the data model, including a data pipeline to ingest and integrate from source systems. 3) A framework for the enduring management of the data landscape. The majority of the material will be produced by UKPN, but the vendor is expected to provide clear guidance of the salient aspects which the framework should consider. 4) UKPN will produce a report detailing all recommended modifications and developments of underlying business processes and systems required to provide an efficient and sustainable end-to-end process for the provision of DER data. The vendor is expected to highlight all relevant learnings from delivery of the solution to aid development of this report. 5) Knowledge transfer to UKPN SMEs to enable a degree of independence in ongoing support and development of the cloud data architecture and enterprise data model. 6) A roadmap for full development and scaling of the DER solution, documented in a suitable format such as a report or presentation, to cover: (i) activities on the fringe of DER data such as other assets reported in the long term development statement such as transformers, circuits and switchgear; and (ii) wider business activities and data domains which rely on non-network asset data e.g. customer, financial, commercial data activities.