Beacons Beta Phase

Tender description

Summary of the work To build, test, and iterate Beta phase (both private and then public), including undertaking ongoing user research and GDS beta assessments, data modelling, cleansing and migration, and a managed handover back to the internal team. Expected Contract Length 2 years Latest start date Saturday 4 January 2020 Budget Range Inception circa £15k inc VAT Initial MVP Beta Private circa £280k inc VAT Public Beta circa £500k inc VAT Why the Work is Being Done The UK Distress & Security Beacon Registry, part of the MCA, is the UK National Administration with responsibility for the registration of all UK encoded 406 MHz beacons. The current system is built on an older database that needs to be replaced, and the public-facing user journey needs to be updated in line with the GDS Service Standard. https://www.gov.uk/maritime-safety-weather-and-navigation/register-406-mhz-beacons For information about the Cospas-Sarsat satellite system and types of 406 MHz beacons: https://www.cospas-sarsat.int/en/system-overview/cospas-sarsat-system and https://www.cospas-sarsat.int/en/pro/18-frontpage-articles/603-what-is-a-cospas-sarsat-beacon Problem to Be Solved MCA are looking for a strategic partner to deliver an online registration service from private beta to public beta. MCA request suppliers to respond to a tender with a proposal to undertake both beta phases. Who Are the Users Users will be globally based individuals or companies that own single or multiple 406 MHz beacons. These can be individual vessel owners to large international shipping companies and commercial airlines, for example. They will need to register and manage their beacons for use in maritime, land, air, or multiple environments. Internal users will be Coastguard Operators investigating beacon activations for search and rescue purposes and Beacon Registry administrators who will need to interrogate and report on the data. Work Already Done Proof of concept has been developed as part of the Alpha stage and will be used for reference throughout the Beta Stage Existing Team The Project Team includes MCA staff: Senior Delivery Manager Senior Technical Architect Senior Lead Service Designer Product Owner To support with 1.Front-end development work and provide support and guidance to the project team. 2. Implement workflows, content management toolkits and MI to optimise the governance and performance of the new site" Current Phase Beta Skills & Experience • Detail how you delivered a similar beta service, prefably a registration service. • Detail a service where you contributed data modelling and simplified data structure. • Detail how you plan and manage the design, build and migration of data/information • Proven track record of advising, planning, designing and building services of a similar nature, using agile methodology, to time and budget • Experience successfully delivering user-friendly, responsive and mobile device compatible websites -Experience with incorporating the needs of accessibility and assisted digital users -Experience in passing a GDS beta assessment Nice to Haves • Evidence a good understanding of best practice information management to assist in the development of structured data • Experience of incorporating GDS guidelines and principles into client organisations or with less familiar service owners • Experience working in Agile environment using SCRUM or other Agile frameworks • Previous experience working with Public Sector clients in emergency services • Knowledge across the digital design sector applying research in new design technologies to the benefit of the team and service Work Location No specific region, eg they can work remotely Working Arrangments The Team should be available to work with the project team for the duration of Beta within office hours (09:00 - 17:30). The Team should be able to access the MCA Office 365 site to support the project team Development of the Beta Private site should be completed no later than 31 March 2021, followed by GDS assessment and then Beta Public phase Security Clearance Nice to have - SC Clearance, can arrange SC clearance for the term of the contract Additional T&Cs Standard Terms and Conditions will apply to this contract No. of Suppliers to Evaluate 3 Proposal Criteria • Technical solution • 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 • Work transparently and collaboratively in a no-blame culture, encouraging all to fail fast and learn from mistakes • Demonstrate experience of supporting and coaching other team members Strong team working experience with the ability to think and problem solve independently • Engaging with team to create an environment for knowledge sharing • Evidence their confidence to challenge the status quo • Evidence of taking responsibility for their Work Payment Approach Fixed price Assessment Method • Case study • Work history Evaluation Weighting Technical competence 50% Cultural fit 20% Price 30% Questions from Suppliers 1. Do MCA have a preferred technology stack for delivery of the service? Can you please detail this? The preferred approach is to use serverless technology from either Microsoft or AWS. MCA is currently building another application using Power Apps and SQL but an acceptable alternative is AWS Lambda/Dynamo DB. 2. Have MCA worked with any external supplier to deliver Discovery and Alpha stages an if so will said supplier(s) be bidding for this opportunity? MCA worked with an external supplier who carried out the Discovery Phase and provided a Discovery Report as an outcome.Alpha Phase was carried out by different external Supplier to Discovery and produced an Alpha Prototype as an outcome.This opportunity is open and fair to all parties and if said suppliers from both Discovery and Alpha would like to tender, they can do so. 3. Can you share the output of the alpha stage and whether this was completed by an external company or the MCA? MCA will share the Alpha outputs to those Suppliers who have successfully passed stage 1 evaluation process. Alpha was completed by a Third Party 4. Can you share the timetable post Stage 1 submission, downselect and proposal submission? The timetable for the downselect and proposal submission will be a further 14 days 5. Have any technical standards been defined for this delivery. For example, Java/JEE for back-end services, Angular for front-end etc? No standards have been defined but the MCA is currently deploying systems using node.js and Angular. 6. Have any technical standards been defined for this delivery. For example, Java/JEE for back-end services, Angular for front-end etc? No standards have been defined but the MCA is currently deploying systems using node.js and Angular. 7. Hi what development language do you require please? We are agnostic but the supplier must comply with the GDS Service Manual and Technical Code of Practice. 8. Is the MCA willing to consider a customised COTS package if the Total Cost of Ownership can be shown to be minimised with this approach, or will the solution have to be entirely open-source and built from scratch? MCA will consider an off the shelf COTS package if it fits, otherwise it will need to meet GDS requirements. 9. The required start date is 4 January 2020 (rather than 2021). Can this be corrected, should we put a date prior to 04/01/20 or should we put a realistic date, e.g. 01/12/20, in response? This is a typo in the Digital Market Place, and we will correct this. The start date for Beta Private is 04th January 2021. 10. Please could you confirm who completed the Alpha phase of the work? Alpha Phase was conducted by Catapult CX 11. Please can you advise who delivered Discovery and Alpha? Discovery was delivered by DXW and Alpha was Catapult CX 12. Please can you provide estimated dates/timescales for the proposal and presentation stages? The timetable for the down select and proposal submission will be a further 14 days. 13. The final 'Nice to have' question seems to have inadvertently compounded three questions, can this be corrected, or how should we answer? It's already difficult to fully answer any one question within 100 words. The MCA would like you to answer the questions to the best of your ability -succinctly & precisely within 100 words. 14. Given a Technical Architect and Service Designer are already provided and an Alpha has been developed could you please share any firm decisions that have arisen from this process, or are the MCA team open to a most economically advantageous solution even if it doesn't necessarily follow on from the Alpha technology stack choices? MCA is open to ideas and would expect the Third Party to be an integral part of the team. 15. The final essential requirement appears to be three separate questions, will you be reissuing, or should we answer as fully as possible in 100 words? The MCA would like you to answer the questions to the best of your ability -succinctly & precisely within 100 words. 16. Would MCA consider an offshore delivery? MCA is open to this solution but would need to understand the percentage of team that is offshore/ onshore and what aspects of the work will be offshore. The MCA will also need confirmation that all personnel working on this project meet BPSS clearance as that is the minimum clearance requirement for this project. 17. Could you please confirm that the following question is indeed one question and not three separate questions:Experience successfully delivering user-friendly, responsive and mobile device compatible websites -Experience with incorporating the needs of accessibility and assisted digital users -Experience in passing a GDS beta assessment. The MCA would like you to answer the questions to the best of your ability -succinctly & precisely within 100 words. 18. Could you please confirm that the Latest start date of Saturday 4 January 2020 is meant to be Monday 4th January 2021? Yes, we can confirm that it is Monday, 4 January 2021 and that ‘Saturday’ is a typo in the digital marketplace. 19. Please can you confirm which elements of the digital design sector you would like us to demonstrate experience/knowledge of MCA would like you to use any knowledge/ technology you consider to be most relevant, as long as it is GDS approved 20. Please can you confirm which design technologies you would like evidence/knowledge of. Would you like knowledge of the design tools we have experience in currently? MCA would like you to use any design technology you consider to be most relevant, as long as it is GDS approved 21. • How does the data proceed from the database into the back office systems?• Are there any integrations or lookups required as part of the application form process? Data processes will be dependent on the service/ solution you offer. We are looking to integrate with API for HEX id codes and also link to the Registry of Shipping and Seamen and other internal MCA networks. 22. Please can you provide further insight on what information and examples you are looking for from suppliers to answer:"Knowledge across the digital design sector applying research in new design technologies to the benefit of the team and service"? We are looking to undertake significant user research to develop and iterate our MVP. 23. Could you please confirm what you mean by new design technologies, our assumption is that you are referring to things such as, AI, IoT. Is this correct or do you mean something else? We can confirm that no link to IoT required, but new technologies will be dependent on the solution you are providing.