Data Science services – DevOps

Tender description

Why the Work is Being Done The Education and Skills Funding Agency (DfE) are undertaking the Further Education Sector Reform Programme. Part of this review will be looking at the future system and business needs of the Department. Submit Learner Data (SLD), Further Education Data Improvement (FEDI), Online Forms Services and Further Education Workforce Collection (FEWC) are Government Digital Service (GDS) platforms that underpin the Department's needs for high quality business data and support the current COVID-19 crisis. These services have simplified the collection of data, reduced operational overhead on post-16 providers, are more intuitive and support integration with other government services. The services align with Cabinet Office expectations for a user centric data collection service. We expect to be supporting academy finance reporting division (AFRD), ESFA PMO and Funding teams over the next 2 years, along with closer working with the DfE Data group. We will continue to progress DfE's plans to build holistic data collection services looking to exploit cloud services and automate data collections in order to reduce sector burden and provider costs on MIS services. We expect the need for Dev Ops and Architecture development work to continue. Problem to Be Solved These existing, and any new, services needed as part of the Further Education Sector Transformational Programme are the life blood of the Agency. As the organisation moves forward there will be a strong need to support the existing BAU services and any new ones falling out of the Transformation Programme. For example, there may well be a need for the business to actively support a new range of stakeholders and users in the delivery of T Levels. An initial discovery for a T Level Service identified potential service areas and user touchpoints. We have identified three priority service areas for the T Level Service in the first instance: Marketing and Communications; matching providers and employers to facilitate industry placements for students; and issuing results and certification. There is also a strong possibility we could see significant extra demand placed on the Agency as Central Government devolves data collections to Combined Mayorly Authorities and other similar authorities. COVID 19 has placed extra pressure on existing platforms and applications. There is a strong likely hood there will be a need to continue to support these initiatives and demand is likely to be high for new and additional collections. Who Are the Users Our users are external and internal, for example: As a provider I need to submit data so that I can be paid accurately and in a timely manner and as the ESFA I need access to accurate and timely data so we can pay providers, produce national statistics and carry out audits. Early Market Engagement Work Already Done Submit Learner Data is in Public Beta and is preparing for the transition to a Live service. Existing Team The existing teams are comprised of multi-disciplinary agile delivery skills. These teams are involved in service development for providing brand new digital services, going through the standard GDS phases. Typical team size is up to 15 with a skills mix such as product/service managers, delivery managers, business analysts, user research and design professionals. Teams are made up of managed service suppliers, supported by a small number of permanent staff Current Phase Not applicable Work Location Primary location will be ESFA Cheylesmore House, Coventry. Some work will be done from home. Occasional travel to DfE/ESFA site in London may be required. Working Arrangments This will be a 5 day per week (Monday to Friday) commitment and detailed working arrangements, including team location, size and make-up, will be contained within each statement of work. Day to day delivery will be governed by standard agile delivery techniques. These could be either a Kanban or a scrum approach (depending on the work) but the standard agile ceremonies appropriate to those will be undertaken. These will be monitored by the Delivery Manager and the Product Owner will be responsible for prioritising backlogs in refinement sessions. Security Clearance Personnel from the Service provider need to have a BPSS check. Additional T&Cs Expenses must be pre-agreed and comply with DfE Travel and Subsistence Policy. Any expenses shall be submitted in line with DfE standard T&S policy. Primary work location stated in Statement of Work will not attract expenses. No parking is available on site. Skills & Experience Within the last two years have experience in Dev Ops and delivery of digital products/services to a highly regulated standard Within the last two years have experience in delivery management and project support services such as agile, scrum standards Within the last two years have demonstrable experience in working in multi-team agile delivery programmes Proven experience of using a range of agile and lean practices, tools and techniques, working in multi-team agile programmes Strong verbal, written and visual communication skills with the ability to proactively manage stakeholders and tailor to the needs of audience by collaborating on decisions Experience of being able to challenge and influence decisions Within the last two years experience in architecture services and ensuring new and updated platforms, products, transactions and system architectures are robust, scalable, open and secure Within the last two years experience in scalable server-side cloud-based web applications (preferably Microsoft Azure) detailed knowledge of the C#,.NET,ASP.NET MVC programming languages Within the last two years experience in building front-end web applications (HTML/CSS/JS) Understanding of DevOps services including running production applications and optimising existing applications Nice to Haves No. of Suppliers to Evaluate 4 Proposal Criteria Demonstrate working experience in delivering digital products/services and understanding the challenges of implementing user centred design in an agile environment Demonstrate understanding to deliver digital products/services to Government digital service standards Experience and methodology in approach to agile project using both Kanban and scrum Demonstrable experience of working alongside clients in co-located, integrated teams Demonstrate approach to knowledge and skills transfer Technical competence in a wide range of relevant technologies and agile practices Ability to scale up team and flex resource when needed on-site Value for money Cultural Fit Criteria Innovate – Act on initiative, drive improvements, balance risks Build capability – Encourage learning, share knowledge, address capability gaps, act on feedback Focus on delivery – Focus on goals, set stretching targets, take responsibility for delivery Work as a team – Collaborate, establish good working relationships, generate team spirit Payment Approach Capped time and materials Assessment Method Presentation Evaluation Weighting Technical competence 30% Cultural fit 10% Price 60% Questions from Suppliers No questions have been answered yet Budget range the budget could range up to a maximum of £4.2m consisting of multiple statements of work, but that scope could expand or contract. dfe does not commit to any minimum spend at this point. a pricing template will be given at the proposal stage to those suppliers we shortlist.