DIT Investment Support Development Team

Tender description

Summary of the work The Buyer's Digital, Data and Technology team requires a call-off contract to provide support in delivering against DIT’s investment promotion priorities. The appointed supplier should provide teams to deliver outcomes such as discoveries, alphas and betas. The Supplier will be responsible-for-providing a handover-of work-at-the conclusion-of-each Statement of Work. Expected Contract Length 24 months duration, plus an optional extension period of up to 6 months. Latest start date Monday 20 September 2021 Budget Range "The Buyer-will-issue-a range of work packages. A maximum budget of £1,500,000.00 for a 24-month-duration, exclusive of VAT. This budget range excludes-any-extension-options. The-value-of-the-optional-extension-period-is £375,000 excl VAT. Pricing submission documents will be issued to suppliers who pass Round 1 and pricing-will-have-an-overall-weighting-of 20% (in Round 2). In accordance with-the-DOS-criteria, the lowest-price-attracts-the highest-score. Although capped t&m is-the-expected pricing-mechanism for any SOW entered-into-under-the-contract, the Buyer reserves the right, in the contract to use alternative payment mechanisms such as time-and-materials, fixed price or incremental fixed price to enable the Buyer to have flex to choose the most-appropriate-pricing model based on the-requirements-needed-for each SOW. " Why the Work is Being Done "The Buyer (DIT) is a global organisation with representatives in over 100 countries across the world. It operates across about 50 industrial sectors across every region in the UK. The Digital, Data and Technology team works to build-new services, and develop those-already-in-existence, to promote international trade. These services-provide-advice, support- and-end-to-end services for businesses in the UK and overseas looking-to-trade-or invest. DDaT is a growing function, and requires support-to-help it deliver-its-work during this time. Much of-the-team's-work is exploratory, and suited to outcome-based teams. In-accordance with DOS guidance, the evaluation for this contract will be undertaken over 2 rounds, the highest scoring 5 suppliers (with scores of 2 or more in the essential criteria) will-be-invited to submit proposals for Round 2. However, if there is a tie for 5th place resulting in more than 5 highest scoring bidders, the Buyer will select all 5th placed suppliers. Round 2 will be issued via the Buyer's eSourcing portal Jaggaer at https://uktrade.app.jaggaer.com/web/login.html, with responses being evaluated offline. Please register if-you have-not-already-done so. The individual weightings for essential skills and experience criteria will not be used as part of shortlisting at Round 1, but will form part of the overall score at Round 2." Problem to Be Solved "The Buyer's Digital, Data and Technology team requires a call-off contract to provide support in delivering against DIT’s investment promotion priorities. The appointed supplier shall-provide-teams-to-deliver outcomes such as discoveries, alphas and betas. The teams will sometimes work independently, led by the investment programme team (in particular, service owner, portfolio delivery manager, service designer); and other teams will fit in as-part-of-established product teams. If a product-or-service progresses into beta, the Buyer-will look to in-house a team and will expect-the-managed-service-team to support transition of knowledge. Amongst others, we would expect the supplier to-be-able-to-provide the following roles: • Product manager • User researcher • Interaction Designer • Software developers The chosen supplier will be expected-to-undertake-the work in all cases according to: • DIT content lifecycle, approvals and standards • GDS service manual • DIT approach to user needs and acceptance criteria • GDS and DIT style guides • Accessibility directive • DIT security policy and procedures The supplier-will-be-required to: • Support delivery of new projects and transformation of existing services • Identify gaps and build capability in the Department to support emerging skills needed in the future • Ensure a successful-transition-of-knowledge to the in-house team " Multiple SOWs can operate concurrently. Who Are the Users "We are looking for a supplier to help our Digital, Data and Technology team deliver against its investment support priorities. DDaT is a growing function, and we need extra capacity to deliver new projects and transform existing services, identify gaps and build departmental capability as we help the Buyer to deliver against its priorities. We have a number of planned exploratory projects that would suit outcome-based teams. Our services include both staff-facing and public-facing products. Staff-facing services are used by ~4,000 of the Buyer's and partners around the world, enabling the Buyer to support UK investment and overseas investors and to inform UK trade policy. The Buyer's public-facing digital services are used by overseas investors to support them in their international trade journey." Early Market Engagement No early market engagement has been done Work Already Done No work has been done Existing Team "The Buyer's DDAT team consists of a range of multi-disciplinary teams, working across all areas. It is a fast-growing team. The supplier will support DDaT during this phase to deliver departmental priorities either by supplementing existing product teams or by taking forward new Discoveries, Alphas and Betas independently, under the leadership of the programme team. Documenting the work and handing over is a critical part of the contract to ensure that DDaT owns and retains the knowledge created during the work. There is no incumbent supplier for this work." Current Phase Not applicable Skills & Experience • Experience working on user-centred, agile projects, following the Government Service Standard and Technology Code of Practice. (3%) • Experience delivering as part of a wider product team, under the leadership of a programme team, as part of a wider portfolio (3%) • Experience in linking multiple loosely coupled systems, with different data models and data quality, as part of a production service. (3%) • Experience of hypothesis-driven iterative & explorative approach to meeting user needs. (3%) • Experience of developing digital services or staff-facing digital tools to support transnational business activity. (3%) • Demonstrate experience working as a strategic supplier for another organisation to improve their use of data (3%) • Demonstrate the ability to work with stakeholders to refine and validate their ideas. (2%) Work Location "Department for International Trade Old Admiralty Building Admiralty Place Whitehall London SW1A 2DY or remotely during current restrictions as a result of COVID-19." Working Arrangments "Typically, a substantial portion of the work will be performed on-site at DIT’s premises in Westminster, London, unless otherwise agreed. However, at the time of publication, government measures to reduce Covid-19 are in operation and as such, work should be done remotely and in observance of social distancing and shielding guidance. DIT will continue to observe all government advice in the coming months aimed at reducing the spread of the disease. Security Clearance All supplier staff will be required to have BPSS clearance before they start; exceptionally SC clearance may be required. A copy of the clearance from the supplier will be required. It is the responsibility of the supplier to ensure clearance is received. Additional T&Cs "All expenses must be pre-agreed between the parties and must comply with the Cabinet Office (CO) Travel and Subsistence (T&S) Policy. The initial SOW will be agreed with the successful supplier following award, however our underlying requirements will not change. DIT reserves the right to treat any bid which is caveated by reference to the UK's relationship with the EU and / or COVID-19 as non-compliant and, as with any procurement exercise, a bidder in submitting its prices for evaluation does so in acceptance of all business risks and circumstances arising from time to time." No. of Suppliers to Evaluate 5 Proposal Criteria • Please outline how much resource you will-be-able-to-provide-to meet call-off requests under this contract, including the volume of parallel requests that you could meet (6%) • Explain your approach to onboarding and retaining key resources within changing market conditions (6%) • Explain how you'll meet DIT's need for appropriately-skilled-individuals - what internal tests/processing will-you- undertake-to-ensure these specialists-meet-our-requirements? How will-you-measure-and-manage the quality and speed-of-delivery? (6%) • Based on the initial requirements (deliverables in the SOW), please provide outlines of the team profile / work history of the individuals who would be working to deliver the outcomes(6%) • Explain how you will ensure DIT staff are ready to take on operational control and support upon completion of work. (6%) • Presentation-question: Demonstrate-how-you'll-deliver-SOW-deliverables-with-reference-to-3 client-focused-case-studies, identify-proposed-team-members-that-were-part-of-the-delivery-team-provide-1-example-where-you-operated-independently, and-1-example-where-you-were-part-of-a-wider-product-(10%) Cultural Fit Criteria • Demonstrate your ability to work with multiple teams on the same platform, sharing components, reviewing each other's work and promoting a collaborative working environment. (5%) • Demonstrate your ability to deliver in an open, collaborative, agile way according to the principles outlined in the Government Service Design Manual (5%) • Different-organisations-may-have-insights-into-new-ways-of-working-that-we-are-looking-to-promote. DIT-is-keen-to-ensure-that-its-supply-chain-includes-a-diverse-range-of-businesses-e.g. new-businesses-and-entrepreneurs-start-ups-SME's-VCSE's-&-mutuals. Explain-how-you-will-support-this-goal (5%) • Explain how your work in areas related to the scope of the procurement has helped organisations recover from the impact of COVID-19. (5%) Payment Approach Capped time and materials Assessment Method • Case study • Work history • Reference • Presentation Evaluation Weighting Technical competence 70% Cultural fit 10% Price 20% Questions from Suppliers 1. Please could the client confirm if Stage 1 scores will be used in the final evaluation at the end of Stage 2? Bidders are alerted to the following statement which is included in the section on 'Why the work is bieng done' in the published document - "The individual weightings for essential skills and experience criteria will not be used as part of shortlisting at Round 1, but will form part of the overall score at Round 2." Therefore, scores, not weighted score will be used for round 1 and we confirm that stage 1 weighted scores will be used in the final evaluation at the end of stage 2 in accordance with CCS guidance. 2. Is there a current incumbent fulfilling this work? Bidders are alerted to the following statement which is included in the section on 'Existing team' in the published document - "There is no incumbent supplier for this work." 3. Will services provided by the managed service be as deployed as teams or as individuals augmenting internal capabilities? The following is outlined in the published requirements document under 'Summary of the Work' and 'Problem to be solved', - "the appointed supplier should provide teams to deliver outcomes such as discoveries, alphas and betas". Therefore, the requirement is to provide teams, not individuals. 4. "What is the envisaged demand split across roles?:• Product manager• User researcher• Interaction Designer• Software developers" DIT are unable to provide the information at this stage in the process as the breakdown is dependant on the outcome of the discoveries. 5. Please can you confirm your definition of “strategic supplier” In the context of this project, strategic supplier means an organisation who, under a long term contract provides support in delivering against DIT’s priority outcomes. 6. Will DIT make its content, research, and security policies available to bidders at Round 2? A number of relevant policies can be shared as part of Round 2. 7. Are there any particular skills/capability that DIT would require coaching in as part of delivery? The supplier would work with DIT to ensure that DIT staff are able to take on the project after completion. The exact scope of the knowledge transfer will depend on the outcome of discoveries. An initial draft SOW will be shared in Round 2, which will indicate the areas in which the supplier will be expected to support with knowledge transfer. 8. If you have a preferred technology stack, what are the main technologies? Our Technology stack comprises the following:"language: python (django)hosting: gov.uk PaaSdb: postgresqlsessions: redissearch: elasticsearchtools: github, circle-ci, jenkins" 9. What technologies / technology product are used within DIT? "The technology products used within DIT are: language: python (django)hosting: gov.uk PaaSdb: postgresqlsessions: redissearch: elasticsearchtools: github, circle-ci, jenkins" 10. Could DIT please describe the technology stack that bidders would be working with? "The technology stack bidders will be working with are: language: python (django)hosting: gov.uk PaaSdb: postgresqlsessions: redissearch: elasticsearchtools: github, circle-ci, jenkins"