Technical Roadmapping Exercise For ONS Dissemination

Tender description

Summary of the work ONS require technical expertise to challenge our technical approach and architecture setting out the roadmap, advising on buy-or-build approaches, to support with moving to "dissemination as a Service", publishing high volumes of data and statistical analysis in more innovative ways and to a more inclusive citizen audience. Expected Contract Length 3 months Latest start date Monday 4 October 2021 Why the Work is Being Done ONS website and technical architecture underpinning is complex, bespoke, carrying significant technical debt. The team is working on the outputs from census, focusing on delivering rich content and features improving legacy systems. ONS strategy is moving to "dissemination as a Service", publishing high volumes of data and statistical analysis in more innovative ways. Alignment is required of all work within the service to set the technical capabilities and sequence, to deliver value to the ONS in the short and medium term, delivering cross-government strategic ambitions in the longer term. We are integrating third-party products that need to be considered as part of this exercise and in-house products such as dynamic data table service, using real-time disclosure control for flexible dissemination. We require a strategy for structured data store, including implementation plan to off-board NOMIS and/or retire in-house services by end 2024. This work must align to technical roadmaps as findings emerge. Kick off technical assessment and timeline for road-mapping by04/10/21 Deliver technical assessment of existing architecture (presentation or report) by11/10/21 Begin technical road-mapping exercise by13/10/21 Deliver an integrated product roadmap including a data Store recommendation, buy/build proposals, ensuring this is aligned with ONS vision and CMS initiatives by15/12/21 Handover/project by14/01/22 Problem to Be Solved ONS require technical expertise to challenge our technical approach and architecture setting out the roadmap, advising on buy-or-build approaches. Technical assessment • Review existing roadmaps, end-to-end technical architecture documentation, across existing services (including APIs), products and programmes • Technical assessment of AS-IS estate determining future approaches and technical blueprint, supporting proposed product roadmap/s Roadmap development • Run workshops with ONS stakeholders mapping out capabilities to be developed • Discuss and propose buy-or-build approaches for each capability based on workshops outcomes • Set out provisional timescales,capabilities and resources required to deliver developments • Support development of an integrated product roadmap and specific product roadmaps as needed, e.g. a geography roadmap that sets out delivery of ONS ambitions. Data store • Assess needs for a datastore based on existing solutions and identified needs; provide a strategic roadmap to retire solution/s and provide a roadmap to move off existing products/services. • Specifically build on existing analysis, setting out the off-boarding timescale for Nomis and the replacement capabilities to be developed in house. Reporting • Weekly check-in meetings with the programme team – moving to fortnightly • Show and Tell sessions with stakeholders • Align to timescales and findings of associated pieces of work. Who Are the Users Digital Publishing (Core ONS) team - Business areas and contents team Existing Team Technical Leads Developers (front/back/full stack) Business Analysts User Research Product Owner Service Owner Data Visualisation Specialists Content Editors Publishing Officers Delivery Data Architects Social Media Solution Architects Deputy Director and the Senior Management Team Statisticians Current Phase Discovery Skills & Experience • Demonstrate experience by a successfully delivered contract within the last 3 years, undertaking technical assessment and product road mapping initiative for a large-scale online estate • Demonstrate experience by a successfully delivered contract, capability to run a technical road mapping process working closely with tech leads from across the organisation and aligning several programmes • Demonstrate experience by a successfully delivered contract of setting out the technical capabilities required to deliver the service based on the dissemination service vision for a data centred publishing service. Nice to Haves Demonstrate experience by a successfully delivered contract of capability to demonstrate innovative use of technology including prototyping methods. Work Location Work to follow Covid-19 guidelines with remote working. ONS Newport and Titchfield is main locations Working Arrangments Remote working but with a need to come to offices when required for collaboration purposes Expenses must be agreed in advance on a case-by-case basis inline with the ONS Travel and subsistence policy. Security Clearance BPSS - clearance required Additional T&Cs All ONS personas accounted for, building on existing learning. IDP is a cross-government programme, wider user needs must be accounted for. Timescales –Milestones achieved at 90%, all delivered on/before 14/01/22. Solutions will account for necessary security Information assurance involvement and approval of security requirements. With the Programme Manager, run workshops and feedback sessions with technical/wider teams, Programme plan setting out involvement of stakeholders. Roadmap solutions – alignment to existing cross-government standards: commercial, service manual and technical code of practice, accessibility standards, including new ONS guidance for accessible datasets. The plan must include approach to upskill ONS product teams through involvement. No. of Suppliers to Evaluate 3 Proposal Criteria • Please confirm, in detail, your Methodology for delivering the requirements for a content management system, taking a structured approach to content development, management and publication • Confirmation that you will meet the deadline • Provision of a Gantt Chart (or similar) to illustrate your programme for delivery, including confirmation of dates for completion Milestone/Deliverables • Explanation of how the method to deliver a technical road mapping exercise that will bring a broad set of challenging technical stakeholders towards a common agreement (needs and solutions). • Explanation of how the proposed method will be accurate in determining a technical roadmap to deliver the transformational outcomes envisaged. • Please provide an explanation as to how you will determine the case for change to move from our existing architecture to the new roadmap. • Explanation of the involvement and accountabilities of ONS. • Please illustrate how the approach will support our ‘Statistics for the Public Good’ strategy - https://uksa.statisticsauthority.gov.uk/statistics-for-the-public-good/ Cultural Fit Criteria • How will the resources put forward by the supplier ensure that they communicate effectively to other team members, and AUTHORITY as appropriate: • Please describe how the resource will report effectively up the management chain within the AUTHORITY; • Please describe how the resource will deliver specialist technical information to an experienced technical end-user; and • Please describe how the resource will deliver specialist technical information to an end user assuming that the end user has no technical knowledge. Payment Approach Fixed price Evaluation Weighting Technical competence 70% Cultural fit 10% Price 20% Questions from Suppliers 1. Please could you confirm if it would be possible to arrange a meeting to discuss this opportunity further? Ensuring a level playing field in the commercial competition is essential. Therefore, it will not be possible to arrange meetings with prospective bidders.If you are unsure of any aspect of the requirement or tender process, please continue to utilise the clarification period. 2. Please could you confirm if there is an incumbent providing these services? There is no incumbent. 3. Please could you confirm what further information about the opportunity will be provided at DOS stage 2? There is no further information other than that generated by the clarification process. 4. Please could you confirm the opportunity value? It is our policy not to confirm the budget. 5. Would you be able to provide an indicative budget/budget range for this opportunity? It is our policy not to confirm the budget. 6. Good morning, do you have a budget range for this project? It is our policy not to confirm the budget. 7. Please could you confirm the budget for this piece of work and ideally a little more detail around what exactly it is you are looking for. It is our policy not to confirm the budget.If you are unsure of any aspect of the requirement or tender process please continue to utilise the clarification period. 8. Please could you confirm how this opportunity will need to align with the delivery of the following opportunities:a. 15439 – ADVICE AND SUPPORT TO SET OUT REQUIREMENTS FOR A STRUCTURED/COMPONENTISED CONTENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEMb. 15455 – Provision of Advice and Support to ONS for a Review of ONS Web Estate All 3 opportunities are closely aligned and help to set the strategic direction for the ONS web estate and beyond for the next 3 to 5 years. Because of the need to complete the work within this financial year, we have taken the decision to run the work in parallel rather than sequentially. There are dependencies and overlaps between each of the pieces of work and the ONS programme manager will work with the successful bidder(s) to ensure that duplication is minimised and bidders are able to collaborate and share information as needed to ensure the success of the programme. 9. Is there any flexibility on the milestone dates outlined in ‘why the work is being done’? The Authority can confirm the following: -The deadline for completion of the contract has been moved to 31st March 2022.Aside from the target dates for Contract Commencement and Completion, the Authority confirms that bidders can disregard the interim milestones DATES provided in the ITT and instead propose their own dates for achievement of the interim milestones. 10. If successful with this opportunity for delivering this Technical Roadmapping exercise will bidders be excluded from subsequent phases? No. Bidders will not be excluded from subsequent phases. 11. IMPORTANT NOTE TO BIDDERS The Authority confirms that evaluation of price is based only on the Total Price (£ exc VAT).However, the Authority requests an elemental breakdown, showing the price of each milestone listed in the ITT. 12. Are you just looking for partner for the road mapping and strategy? or are you looking at implementation partners at this point in time? We are not looking for implementation partners at this time.