Live 2nd and 3rd line support for ETD Central Application, ETD Centres and global roll-out

Tender description

Why the Work is Being Done A key FCO priority is to support British nationals through modern and efficient consular services. A key service is the provision of Emergency Travel Documents (ETDs) to those who don’t have their passports (loss, theft) and need to travel when overseas. ETD Central is a critical system that supports processing of applications at our global ETD Centres, covering many of our consular posts. We require 24/7/365 support to enable maintenance of the ETD Central system with continuous improvement and support for the ETD Centres. Technical support for six months to transition remaining consular posts to the tool is also required. Problem to Be Solved We require high level technical, security and development expertise to provide second and third-line support for ETD Central 24/7/365. We require ongoing support, incident management and maintenance of ETD Central working with existing suppliers of linked systems and FCO live support; integration and small scale development of ETD Central; triaging of enquiries at second line managing alerts, raising defects against systems and interacting with other systems; and on boarding of new consular posts. We also require support to integrate other Government systems, e.g. an API to link to HMPO's new digital database of passport holders, DVA Digital. Who Are the Users As an ETD processing officer, I need to retrieve, manage and process ETD applications efficiently and effectively. As a customer, I need to complete my ETD application completely online uploading supporting documentation. As a manager, I use this information to manage performance, processes, staffing and resources. As FCO live support, I need to be able to escalate enquiries, problems and major incidents from the Helpdesk and ensure they are managed and resolved within agreed timescales. As a rollout team member, I need to ensure that all relevant FCO systems are reconfigured so ETD applications can be processed by ETD Centres. Early Market Engagement Work Already Done ETD Central has been live and used by ETD Centres since December 2018. DVA Digital is not yet live. Existing Team There is an existing supplier supporting this service, and effective transition shall be required. Within FCO, you will work with a range of policy and digital leads from across the FCO in the UK and overseas, including providing support for frontline Consular staff at our global ETD Centres in Madrid and Singapore. You will also work with existing suppliers of other services to deliver effectively. The team will also need to work with FCO Stakeholders including IT security advisers and First Line Support in line with the Consular IT roadmap and represent the service at quarterly supplier meetings. Current Phase Live Work Location Foreign & Commonwealth Office, King Charles Street, London Working Arrangments Work can be done remotely. In normal circumstances we would expect some regular attendance in London for a face-to-face meetings and service reviews - currently held on MS Teams. The team should be contactable by phone or email and should be able to respond 24/7/365 to major incidents and problems working to resolve them communicating proactively with FCO stakeholders. The resource should: be collaborative, responsive, agile and work effectively with existing suppliers and be comfortable talking to non-technical staff and senior management translating requirements into technical terms Security Clearance All staff working on the FCO platform must be at least SC Cleared or capable of being cleared to SC. Bidders must confirm clearance of nominated resources. If required, FCO will initiate SC clearance. Additional T&Cs ISO 9001, ISO 27001 certification must be held by the supplier by the Service Commencement date. Skills & Experience Experience of supporting solutions run from AWS cloud environments (including management of live and test environments; AWS performance and capacity monitoring; and investigation and resolution of AWS related incidents) Proven track record in delivering to Government Digital Service Manual standards and knowledge of industry-wide standards and guidelines including delivery of services which have passed digital by default assessment Proven record of a culture of continual service improvement & BAU support in line with ITIL-aligned processes (i.e. configuration and change management in alignment with governance, managing & resolving bugs) Strong track record of working and collaborating in a multi-suppliers environment including with developer teams Proven record of agile-development, continual delivery techniques and devops cultures; strong software development & application architecture experience, with knowledge of open source technologies, testing and at least one programming language Understanding and experience of working with the service tech stack– tech stack provided on request Experience of supporting business units with provision of MI and links to service improvement. Nice to Haves No. of Suppliers to Evaluate 4 Proposal Criteria Approach and methodology How the approach or solution meets user needs How the approach or solution meets your organisation’s policy or goal Estimated timeframes for the work How they’ve identified risks and dependencies and offered approaches to manage them Team structure Value for money Cultural Fit Criteria Evidence of user centred design and understanding of user research Evidence of excellent oral communication skills and ability to translate technical concepts and communicate technical terms to non-technical staff Evidence of ability to influence at all levels and extensive experience of tailoring messages to audience (including non-technical staff) Strong track record of working in multidisciplinary teams and with multiple suppliers Evidence of questioning and challenging the value being delivered through IT systems and applications and challenging any gaps Proven experience of working at pace, flexibly and responding to changing demands Payment Approach Fixed price Assessment Method Presentation Evaluation Weighting Technical competence 55% Cultural fit 5% Price 40% Questions from Suppliers Budget range £120,000 p/a for support, £100,000 p/a for development, £30,000 for cutover support to note: fixed price for support + t&m for development and rollout