Beta Public for Report Official Development Assistance Digital Service

Tender description

Summary of the work Continue design and implementation of reporting fields and functionality for improved user interface into RODA for users to report against in January 2021 and onwards. RODA's aim is to improve quality and completeness of financial and programme data collected and in turn improve the process for data assurance. Expected Contract Length 6 months (with a possibility for an extension if necessary) Latest start date Monday 12 October 2020 Budget Range The budget for 6 months of Public Beta is £823,695 (excl. VAT). This includes any necessary hosting costs. All travel, subsistence and other expenses must be included in the overall cost. Applicants should supply day rates for each role, with details of management processes and mitigation for poor service delivery, staff handover, turnover, quality maintenance and corrective actions. Why the Work is Being Done The current tool for collecting ODA financial and programme spend information is not fit for purpose. ODA is open to scrutiny by the media, DFID, Cabinet Office, HMT, Publish What You Fund, Ministers etc., and poor quality of reporting can be detrimental. Data and reporting requirements are increasing - new ODA Transparency commitment, as well as more information required to fulfil portfolio and fund management functions. There is a huge operating burden, the current system (excel) is lacking stability, and accuracy of data is compromised due to poor version control and confusing nature of the tool. Problem to Be Solved Programme managers in various organisations need to easily and efficiently report on their programme and financial information into one place, taking into consideration the need to specify particular funding models and ability to review and amend data once submitted to ensure accuracy. Data reported should be a single version of the truth, addressing version control issues. Data should be easily extracted in different views, and filtered in the service in various ways (by country/organisation/theme etc). Who Are the Users As a reporting officer: 1. I need to know what data to provide, when to provide it, and see guidance, so I can provide correct and timely information. 2. I need to access the latest version of previous data so that I update the right data. 3. I need to see which programmes have been added/removed. As a knowledge and information manager: I need to share reports with peers, for knowledge transfer and informing senior management. As a programme manager, I need to analyse and report on spend data, so I can mitigate risks, and produce reports. Work Already Done We have completed a Discovery, Alpha and Private Beta phase. This involved: - Running user experience workshops to understand the user journey. - Liaising with other ODA spending government departments and teams, and assessing whether there are any existing reporting systems we could use. We have now a working service which will be in use by a limited number of users at the end of September to submit their first reports for ODA. This has functionality for reporting financial and qualitative activity data, including CSV and XML exports for data analysis and report generation off system. Existing Team We work across two teams: ODA team in BEIS, London - ODA Policy and operations Project Management Office and Research Management Team in Swindon - programme managers working on day to day management of funds/reporting, and oversight of project development. This will require regular travel to our Swindon office to meet key users/stakeholders and work with the BEIS Project Team. There is a dedicated Service Owner, Product Owner and Service Manager working on ODART from one of the teams, but regular engagement will be necessary with multiple individuals within each team for user engagement, tracking progress etc. Current Phase Beta Skills & Experience • Have experience in delivering a financial and programme management and information dashboard service to be used by multiple organisations or businesses. • Have experience of meeting multiple organisations' requirements for reporting and secure online access to a cloud delivered service • Have experience in delivering an agile project, adhering to and prioritising user needs, and presenting effective data visualisations. • Have experience of transitioning services/data from physical infrastructure to cloud. • Have experience of successfully transitioning projects into a live service environment within a government department within the last 12 months • Have experience of meeting the Government's Digital Service Standard, with every service team member having knowledge of or having completed the Digital Service Standard Assessment in the last 24 months. • Have good knowledge of ODA and IATI reporting requirements. Nice to Haves Have evidence of experience of working with user groups that store information in different operating environments, for example MS Office 365, Google G-Suite, and various databases. Work Location The supplier can work from their own premises or remotely. Interactions with the client team and partner organisations will be between Central London and Swindon offices, and may require some travel to one of our delivery partners based in Exeter. Covid restrictions have meant that all of this engagement has taken place remotely. Working Arrangments Travelling between London and Swindon offices for user engagement, due to a wide range of users located in different organisations. The supplier team should be available to participate in weekly catch-ups in central London or Swindon. We expect face to face interactions between client and users (approx. 16 teams) across central London, Swindon and Exeter, plus regular show and tells, and development updates to ODA stakeholders. Covid restrictions have meant that all of this engagement has taken place remotely. Security Clearance No security clearance required as supplier will not be based in BEIS offices. No. of Suppliers to Evaluate 3 Proposal Criteria • Proposed approach and methodology • Demonstrating an understanding of our requirements • Estimated and credible time-frames for the work • Identifying risks and dependencies, and offering approaches to manage them • Demonstrating value for money • How the approach or solution meets user needs Cultural Fit Criteria • Work as a team with our organisation and other suppliers • Be transparent and collaborative in decision making, user acceptance, and transferring knowledge • Take responsibility for their work • Approach to knowledge transfer and training • Can work with clients with low technical expertise • Demonstrate very high quality interpersonal communications, especially showing sensitivity to established relationships and competing pressures. • Be adept at applying agile methods in the context of more traditional working practices • Understand the need to work with client timelines and priorities and able to balance these with the agile methodology. Payment Approach Capped time and materials Evaluation Weighting Technical competence 50% Cultural fit 20% Price 30% Questions from Suppliers 1. Is there an incumbent having delivered Discovery, Alpha and/or Private Beta and will the incumbent be able to bid for this opportunity? Yes, there is an incumbent and they can bid for the opportunity. 2. Is there an incumbent supplier who has delivered the Private Beta (and earlier phases) and if so, who is that supplier? Yes, there is an incumbent – dxw ltd. 3. How does this procurement differ from the procurement in October 2019 – titled 'Beta for Official Development Aid Financial and Programme Reporting Transformation Digital Service'? The previous procurement in October 2019 was to deliver Private Beta. This procurement is now for a supplier to deliver Public Beta. 4. Is there an incumbent supplier for this service and if so who is that supplier? Yes, there is an incumbent – dxw ltd. 5. Can you advise whether you have had a supplier working with you during the Discovery, Alpha and Private Beta phases, and if so who they are? The supplier that delivered Private Beta is dxw ltd. 6. Who is the incumbent supplier? Dxw ltd. 7. Please could you outline the technologies/IT products being used to provide the current Beta service? It's a Ruby on Rails application, hosted on GPaaS. 8. "Have good knowledge of ODA and IATI reporting requirements." is making the tender no complaint to Digital marketplace requirements. This essentially means only DXW can apply? The opportunity expects suppliers to have knowledge of IATI and ODA reporting requirements which are critical to a timely and correct continuation of the development for Public Beta. These requirements can be researched online given IATI is an open international standard. Furthermore, there are other suppliers/individuals that have previously worked with IATI/ODA as it is becoming more prominent, so we believe the opportunity is not limited only to dxw.