Replacement IT System and Services

Tender description

Summary of the work A public inquiry needs to replace its IT system and support contract to ensure that staff can work collaboratively and remotely in a secure manner. The system needs to include hardware, a cloud-based document storage system and a support service. Latest start date Monday 31 May 2021 Why the Work is Being Done The public inquiry uses a Windows 10 platform classified at Official to conduct their business internally and communicate externally with stakeholders. The inquiry has a document storage system that it currently uses to organise, manage, access, change and store documents. Current IT hardware includes laptops, printers and smartphones. The contract for the current provision of the system, support and hardware expires in September 2021. This is a REQUEST FOR INFORMATION in order to scope the technological and support options available to us to replace the system, hardware and support. We are looking to use Windows 10 and Office 365. Problem to Be Solved The software of the current system runs on Windows X and Sharepoint 2016 and these fall out of vendor support in 2021. Our current IT solution is not supporting required videoconferencing or remote working in the most efficient manner as it is an on premise solution and does not support the current business need. The system will not be supported and therefore raises security issues. Who Are the Users As a user, I need to be able to communicate and collaborate effectively with colleagues working remotely and at different sites, as well as external stakeholders. As a user, I need an easy to use system that is compatible with common file types and applications. As a user, I need to be able to work on and store various types of documents that are easy to find and track change. As a user, I need to be provided with hardware to access the system and to be provided with support if I encounter problems with the hardware. As a user, I need to be supported when I encounter technical issues. As an administrator I need to know that my system is secure, accredited to the correct standards and can be easily configured with different permissions in different areas. As an administrator I need a system that is resilient with high availability and that is backed up regularly. Work Already Done We have conducted a scoping exercise to define our requirements, understand our users, and understand the business need underpinning the change. We feel we have a good understanding and are seeking a partner to help us deliver our requirements. Existing Team The organisation consists of 70-80 civil servants and contractors. The delivery team is a small team of 3-4 that would be working with the new supplier to deliver. If the work proceeds further then the new supplier will need to work with our current supplier to migrate data to the new Windows 10/Office 365 system (including Sharepoint to replace our existing document management system). Current Phase Discovery Skills & Experience • have experience designing services for users with low digital literacy. • have experience in migrating systems. • have experience in setting up and managing an Office 365 platform. • have experience in delivering a support service. Work Location Our offices are based in central London - it is anticipated that work will take place remotely as most of our staff currently work remotely. Working Arrangments The team will work collaboratively with suppliers to help them understand our needs and business. Security Clearance The system must be able to hold Official classified material. For the purposes of the RFI SC clearance is not required, however, when the work proceeds the team working on the system must all be security cleared to SC. No. of Suppliers to Evaluate 10 Proposal Criteria • Technical solution • How the solution meets our users' needs • Confidence on timelines and smoothness of migration • The support framework • Value for money Cultural Fit Criteria • Work as a team with our organisation and other suppliers • Be transparent and collaborative when making decisions • Can work with clients with low technical expertise Payment Approach Fixed price Evaluation Weighting Technical competence 70% Cultural fit 10% Price 20% Questions from Suppliers 1. Are you able to confirm which government department the Public Inquiry is associated with, or the line of work the Inquiry relates to? The Home Office 2. The digital market place outlines this advertisement as an RFI rather than an RFP, please could you confirm which one is correct? As stated in the ‘About the work’ section this is a Request For Information only in order to help scope potential options. We are trying to gauge market interest as to whether organisations would be interested in completing an RFP should we decide to take this forward. 3. Have you judged that your current supplier is not capable ( or not suitable ) for implementing O365, migrating your data to O365 and providing refreshed hardware support? We are still currently exploring options but due to the nature of the current build and the status of the current contract, any implementation of a new O365 platform would require us to tender for the contract, hence the current pre-tender activity and if this evolves into a full tender then the current supplier would be able to bid if they are registered on the framework, together with any other interested suppliers. 4. Can you please confirm who the organisation/client is? The organisation is an arm’s length body of the Home Office. 5. Is there any SharePoint development work expected as part of the assignment? No, off the shelf products can be used to meet our requirements and development work is not expected. 6. Will the organisation sponsor SC clearance for the selected supplier when needed? Yes, the organisation would act as a sponsor if required. 7. What is the anticipated budget range for delivery please? As with other government departments, budgets are significantly constrained. Should we proceed to RFP, we will be looking for the most economically advantageous tenders. For the purposes of this RFI we are not able to provide anything more than a very broad financial range of between £200k-£300k for delivery costs, not including running costs. 8. Are you looking for Agile Delivery of this service? Agile Delivery is an option but we are open to all ways to deliver the service. 9. Please advise on the expected contract length? The expected initial contract length would be 3 years with the provision for extensions. 10. Will this requirement specifically include supply of hardware? Yes, the requirement includes the supply of hardware such as laptops and smartphones. 11. Does the budget listed in question 7 include hardware costs? No, it does not include hardware costs for laptops etc. 12. what is current email solution e.g. exchange 2010 or 2013 We currently use an on premise deployment of Exchange 2016. 13. Will you be remaining with existing provider for licenses or look for alternative options? We will be looking for alternative options. 14. Low digital Literacy question?Is this related to any specific applications or just referencing the ease of use for devices and associated software? This is solely related to the ease of use for devices and standard associated software.