Prototype a service pattern for Change my Tenancy on low code platforms

Tender description

Summary of the work We are seeking a design partner to help develop a service pattern for the change of tenancy process(es) and to test how effectively that can be delivered on three low code platforms. Expected Contract Length 2-3 months Latest start date Monday 3 January 2022 Budget Range £50k - £60k Why the Work is Being Done Traditional housing management systems (HMS) are monolithic ERP systems. Much of the functionality they package, e.g. workflow management, basic CRM and property databases, is commoditised. Despite this they are characterised by a poor UX that does not well meet user needs. LB Redbridge believes that the functionality required to deliver Housing Management services* could be better delivered via low code platforms and recently secured funding from the Local Digital Fund to conduct an alpha to test this hypothesis. *defined as tenancy management, home ownership, customer services and ASB, rather than repairs / asset management or financial management. Problem to Be Solved The purpose of the alpha is to demonstrate the feasibility or otherwise of delivering tenancy management services on low-code. To do this, we are focusing on the change of tenancy process(es) as we consider them to be the most complicated and so most likely to expose limitations in the platform. For this alpha we are seeking a design partner that will help us a) define a service pattern for the change of tenancy process(es), and b) work with us and the providers of three low code platforms to implement this pattern into their platform Based on this we should gain an understanding of the pros and cons of this approach vs traditional housing management systems, and working in native code. Details of the full application are available at - https://www.localdigital.gov.uk/funded-project/low-code-patterns-for-housing-management/ Who Are the Users As a tenant, I need to tell the council my partner has moved in with me, so I can get them added to the tenancy. As the next of kin, I need to tell the council that a family member has died so that the tenancy can be transferred to me. As a housing officer, I need to check the details of someone being added to a tenancy so that I can issue a new rental agreement. As a housing officer, I need to verify that someone has recently lived at the property so that they can take over the tenancy agreement. Work Already Done A discovery has been undertaken with the Housing Management team by our in-house team. Existing Team 1x User Researcher / Service Designer 1x User Researcher / Content Designer 1x Delivery Manager Current Phase Alpha Skills & Experience • Demonstrate experience working with Tenancy Management services and processes for a social landlord - 2% • Demonstrate experience of user-centered design and agile approaches to delivery - 2% • Demonstrate experience of developing applications to meet a government Service Standard - 2% • Demonstrate experience designing to meet public sector accessibility guidelines - 2% • Demonstrate experience working collaboratively in a multi-vendor environment - 2% • Share their work freely and openly with the partner organisations and the wider community - 2% Nice to Haves Demonstrate experience designing for implementation on low-code platforms - 2% Work Location Lynton House, 255-259 High Road, Ilford, IG1 1NY Orchard Housing Office, Broadmead Road, Woodford, IG8 0AG Working Arrangments We are mainly working remotely but would likely want the team to be on-site 1-2 days per week for key meetings, stakeholder engagement, etc. No. of Suppliers to Evaluate 3 Proposal Criteria • Understanding of the brief - 6% • Proposed approach to delivery - 20% • Experience from similar project(s) - 15% • Proposed team structure, including skills, experiences and relevance of individuals - 10% • Identification of risks and how to mitigate them - 5% Cultural Fit Criteria • work as a team with our organisation and other suppliers - 2% • be transparent and collaborative when making decisions - 2% • have a no-blame culture and encourage people to learn from their mistakes - 2% • challenge the status quo - 2% • share knowledge and experience with other team members - 2% Payment Approach Time and materials Evaluation Weighting Technical competence 70% Cultural fit 10% Price 20% Questions from Suppliers 1. Can you please elaborate what skills are needed under the Tenancy management (Essential Skills) rather than just mentioning previous experience in those areas ? For this point we are only looking for experience of having worked with Tenancy Management services and processes, i.e. that the supplier has a general understanding of the subject matter. The skills used when working with these teams is not important.The following point "experience of user-centered design and agile approaches to delivery" would ensure the supplier has the necessary skills to deliver the project.This means for example that a supplier could demonstrate experience of UCD / agile from other projects, and experience of tenancy management in a non-UCD / agile context. 2. Can you please explain how does the listed Essential skills enable non-incumbent SME suppliers to bid fairly for the project ? Also the listings are not complaint with the DOS5 guidelines. We would expect most SME design agencies that have worked with social housing providers to meet the essential criteria. As per the sections "Any work that’s already been done" and "Existing team" there is no incumbent supplier, all work to date has been delivered by our in-house team.Please provide more detail as to where you feel the listing is not compliant with DOS5 guidelines and we can discuss with our Procurement team / CCS as appropriate. 3. How are the incumbent suppliers for the project and would you consider them in this tender? As per the sections "Any work that’s already been done" and "Existing team" there is no incumbent supplier, all work to date has been delivered by our in-house team. 4. Hi. What’s your tech stack please? Our existing Housing Management System is Northgate OHMS, which can expose data through an XML web service. OHMS has an Oracle database, and runs on a Windows VM.The low code platforms we will be working with are still TBC and there is another procurement exercise running to select these.To clarify, in this procurement we are looking for a design partner and so we would expect all technical work around integration etc to be completed by the low code platform providers. 5. The evaluation panel will be made up of which job roles? The evaluation panel will be the existing team:1x User Researcher / Service Designer1x User Researcher / Content Designer1x Delivery Manager 6. Who’d be responsible for the architecture, UI and content?Given that the client has a team of 3 on the project, would we be leading the process or contributing to it? UI and content would be the responsibility of the combined in-house and supplier team. Rather than leading / contributing we would see the supplier collaborating with us on this, providing additional people and expertise. We are aware that due to reputational risk some suppliers prefer to provide their own Delivery Managers on projects and this is fine.Technical architecture would be the responsibility of Redbridge and the low code platform providers we work with. This procurement exercise is purely for a design partner. 7. Do you already have a preferred low code solution? No, there is a separate procurement in process to select three vendors to work with. We hope to have this completed shortly and should be able to share details with shortlisted suppliers should they wish to reference this in their proposals.