GLA OPS – continuous development and technical support

Tender description

Summary of the work The GLA is looking to continue hosting, maintenance & support of the Open Project System &the Skills Gateway including; -Enhancement and development of new features; conducting discovery work, user experience &continuing to deliver solutions which support in house configuration. -Provide hosting, infrastructure & managed services for GLA OPS & reporting. Expected Contract Length Initial two years + option to extend a further six months Latest start date Tuesday 1 June 2021 Budget Range Approx £1.1m per annum Why the Work is Being Done GLA OPS was created in 2016 and is digital tool for grant and capital projects management including reporting and performance management. It currently supports 39 grant programmes at the GLA with throughput of over £5Bn in grant funding. GLA OPS has been delivered using an Agile development method, with user input at its core. GLA OPS is hosted in AWS and uses the Java Spring framework and JasperSoft as the reporting tool. GLA OPS administrators can also configure and launch new programmes quickly without always needing bespoke software coding. GLA OPS is compliant with the WCAG v2.1 AA accessibility standards. Problem to Be Solved Further enhancements are required to allow new programmes to be managed via GLA OPS. A set of prioritised feature enhancements have been identified for 2021/22 to support new programmes and for existing programmes to be enhanced. We are seeking a supplier, experienced in the technologies used for GLA OPS, to partner with us to deliver the following; To continue enhancement and development of GLA OPS. This includes conducting discovery work, user experience and continuing to deliver solutions which support in house configuration. To provide hosting, infrastructure and technical support services for GLA OPS and Jasper reporting. Who Are the Users The main users are split into two groups; 1. Partner Organisations requesting grant funding to deliver projects or services. How they use GLA OPS includes: Submitting projects with grant requests Submitting project delivery/output information periodically Evidencing expenditure periodically Claiming grant amounts and requesting payment (via GLA OPS interfacing with SAP, the GLA's finance system) 2. Internal staff The way these users will use GLA OPS will include; Reviewing and assessing grant requests Tracking progress and output of projects Checking validity of grant claims Requesting/authorising grant payments by sending payment files to SAP Reporting on achievements and forecasts by programme/department. Work Already Done GLA OPS consists of: The Open Project System (OPS), used for managing the GLA’s grant projects. It is deployed in AWS and accessed through the web.  The GLA Skills Gateway (SGW) is a sub-product of OPS for managing details of individual learners for the GLA’s Skills directorate. The Reports server is an implementation of the JasperSoft reporting solution. GLA OPS is a HTML5 web application, which uses a RESTful Service layer built using Spring and Java, to communicate with a Postgres database. GLA OPS uses open source technology which we wish to maintain going forward (with bi-annual code publication). Existing Team Senior Manager Product Owner (New development) Product Manager (Business as Usual) OPS Support Officers x 2 Reporting Analyst Business Analyst Java Developers (mix of Back End, User Interface and Fullstack) Quality Assurance Testers Project Manager User Experience Lead (as required) Current Phase Live Skills & Experience • Demonstration of high level of expertise in user research and user experience (including research methods, tools and design principles). • Experience of conducting user testing at all levels of the design process • Experience of designing applications which support digital inclusion - excellent knowledge of inclusive design, accessibility guidelines - specifically WCAG 2.1 AA - and understanding of GDPR Regulations • Experience in agile delivery, knowledge of the GDS service standard and design principles • Demonstrable evidence where product development has complied with user centred design, using a diverse set of technologies and digital channels • Experience of Java/Angular and Spring Framework • Demonstrable evidence of knowledge of data platforms and technical architecture e.g. working with RESTful Service Layer, Open source technology stacks, PostgreSQL database and cloud-based technologies • Demonstrable evidence of knowledge of migration of domain driven packages to maven modules • Demonstrable experience of drawing up technical infrastructure recommendations and options, ensuring robustness and scalability in using appropriate technology to meet user needs. • Evidence of designing modular reusable, repeatable systems that are adaptable as new requirements surface • Evidence of reducing technical debt and using the best technology for the task (while adhering to expected technical standards) Nice to Haves • Experience working with local or national government • Demonstrable experience of risk assessment and future-proofing of legacy systems • Experience in supporting complex, large organisations through programmes of digital change • Experience of migrating content/data Work Location We expect the work to be carried out from both the GLA’s location at Union Street, SE1, as well as from the supplier location remotely. Regular meetings, workshops, show and tells should be held at Union Street, SE1 or if not applicable, remotely and the chosen supplier would need to fully integrate with our team, share their knowledge and insight; work in an open and transparent way and demonstrate good agile product delivery practice. Working Arrangments Carry out the work using Agile methodology (GLA works in accordance with the GDS Service Manual whenever possible). Ensuring all development work delivered is accessible. It must meet the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) version 2.1 AA standard. Working within the customers standards for software delivery, including compliance with standards and regulation applicable to security and data protection (with the Supplier being the data processor). Be able to act as part of the GLA team, in an adaptable & agile way aiming to meet the outcomes we are working towards, testing, gaining learnings and adding value to the process. Security Clearance Must meet the Baseline Personal Security Standard. Participants will also be required comply with the ESFA Data Sharing Agreement requirements as set out below; Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) check Individual declaration form Organisational Information Security Questionnaire Details will be required for key personnel based/located outside of the UK. No. of Suppliers to Evaluate 3 Proposal Criteria • Technical solution • Approach and methodology • Team structure and skills • How risks and dependencies will be identified and the approaches to mitigate and manage them Cultural Fit Criteria • Work with the GLA team as a single team with a shared purpose • Understand and adopt the Mayor's vision for London and apply this to your work with the GLA • Communicate with the GLA team frequently, openly, honestly, and constructively challenging any pre-conceptions and involving the GLA team in the decision making process Payment Approach Time and materials Evaluation Weighting Technical competence 50% Cultural fit 15% Price 35% Questions from Suppliers 1. How many and what type of resources are required? We require a mix of developers ranging from Back End, User Interface and Full stack. A pool of resources we can draw from is preferable. To begin with we anticipate the need for 3 or 4 developers, 1 QA tester, part time Scrum Master (2 to 3 days a week), Business Analyst and Technical Architect on ad hoc basis as required. We also require technical support and maintenance services to manage the hosting infrastructure, incidents and problems along with a Service Delivery Manager to oversee and co-ordinate the support and maintenance services. 2. What will be the minimum required qualification and experience for the resources? The essential skills listed must be met. 3. Please share detailed scope of work. Some key areas of enhancements to existing features are required. These are enhancements which allow previous minimum viable product (MVP) solutions to be built upon or tweaked.Ongoing work to tackle technical debt to improve performance and tidy the code base to continue as required. Furthermore, new core features have been identified as priority enhancements which we require to be developed as per the delivery model used to date. All enhancements will be required to meet the key requirement of being reusable via in house configuration and must build on the current architect, permissions model and status models. 4. Please share detailed scope of work. Answer continued:• Further enhancements to the user interface to support OPS configuration • Reporting enhancements across GLA OPS • Enhancements to the Budget block to distinguish between forecast and actual spend & add workflow for requesting/approving changes • Affordable Homes 2021-26 programme enhancements • Skills enhancements to increase efficiencies • Performance monitoring • Grant Offer/Contract workflow - Digital contracts simple solution • Manage team workloads - Assign projects/tasks to individuals based business rules and monitor their workload. • Personalised dashboard reporting • Email notifications/broadcasting 5. Are you OK with resources working from offshore with required security clearance? We require roles such as Developers, QAs and Business Analyst to be based in the UK to allow for onsite co-location when possible. Some roles, such as technical support, may be acceptable offshore but we would need to review on a case by case basis. The supplier will need to have alternative UK based resource available. 6. What evidence / documentation will be required to show the desired experience? We will require details of previous work undertaken reflecting experience of the skills we have listed. We will require details of knowledge and skills and examples of projects where this has been used. 7. Is the existing system based on a fully custom java/angular application? GLA OPS is a HTML5 web application, which uses the Angular development framework, RESTful Service layer and built using Spring and Java. The back end database is Postgres. The OPS environment is hosted on Amazon's AWS cloud infrastructure. 8. Can you please provide details of which open source technologies are currently in use as part of your data stack Java, Angular and Postgres are the main Open Source technologies / frameworks in use on GLA OPS. 9. Hi, is there any compelling reason to switch from incumbent supplier? The previous procurement's contractual terms and extensions have been exhausted. Therefore we are running a re-procurement process. 10. Could you please confirm if you wish to modernise the legacy systems based on risk assessment or just put the right service in to support them as is? This is a nice to have skill should we require further legacy systems replaced with GLA OPS. It is desirable that suppliers have experience/knowledge of risk assessing legacy systems and working with us to identify the best way forward in terms of migration and or retention of legacy systems. 11. Who is the incumbent? Deloitte LLP 12. Is there scope for suppliers to propose some of the work be delivered from off-shore? We require roles such as Developers, QAs and Business Analyst to be based in the UK to allow for onsite co-location when possible. Some roles, such as technical support, may be acceptable offshore but we would need to review on a case by case basis. The supplier will need to have alternative UK based resource available. 13. Who is the incumbent supplier? Deloitte LLP 14. What is meant by future proofing? For example, are you expecting to re-factor an application or move it to a more modern environment/architecture for support and maintenance? This is a nice to have skill should we require further legacy systems replaced with GLA OPS. It is desirable that suppliers have experience/knowledge of risk assessing legacy systems and working with us to identify the best way forward in terms of migration and or retention of legacy systems. 15. Is there an incumbent supplier and will they be tendering Yes there is an incumbent supplier. They are able to participate in the re-procurement process should they wish to do so. 16. What do you mean by a diverse set of technologies and digital channels? We would like you to show your experience of a range of different technologies for code development, deployment, testing, reporting, monitoring etc. We would also like you to present your experience of developing applications for different digital channels e.g. web, mobile / tablet. 17. In answering the questions are you seeking vendors to name specific company accounts in most/ any instances ? Please advise as we have these but are under NDA with several as you might imagine/appreciate Where possible, it is useful to know the company as this often helps elaborate the context of the work undertaken. If not possible, details of the work undertaken and the knowledge/skills demonstrated will be key in evidencing previous experience.