The Queen's Award for Voluntary Service Website and Database

Tender description

Summary of the work Replace the existing website with the Government Digital Service Design. Replace the existing database, written in ‘ruby on rails’, Provide SAAS for QAVS with bespoke functionality Ensure both are easy to use and maintain. Transfer maintenance contract at the end of contract life maintenance has a service plan in place. Expected Contract Length 2 years with 2 year possible extension Latest start date Monday 15 March 2021 Budget Range Between £120-170k for website, content development, database enhancements, maintenance and software licence. Why the Work is Being Done The Queen's Award for Voluntary Service (QAVS) is the highest award given to volunteer groups across the UK. It is part of the Honours System and equivalent to an MBE. It is aimed at groups of volunteers who are providing an outstanding service to their local community and are leading this work themselves. Any voluntary group of 3 or more people can be nominated for the award, as long as they meet certain eligiblity requirements explained in the nomination guidance. Nominations can only be submitted by someone who is independent of the group need to be accompanied by letters of support from two more independent people. Recipients of the award receive a certificate signed by The Queen and a domed glass crystal. Representatives from the group may also be invited to attend a royal garden party. Problem to Be Solved Management of award process Who Are the Users As a QAVS service provider, we need an interactive website and database that serves all user personas ( nominees, nominators, assessors and awardees) to process, promote and retain all nominations and awards so that we can ensure that the quality, integrity and timeliness of The Queen's Award for Voluntary Service. Early Market Engagement The Queen's Award existing service is unique to the UK, and is similar to the Queen's Award for Enterprise which is run by BEIS. It currently has an existing website and database written in Ruby on Rails. The new requirement is for a nomination and award software service that can support bespoke functionality and provide portability for flexible ongoing maintenance. Work Already Done QAVS is administered using an existing website and database written in ruby on rails. User Stories have been captured during the discovery phase and have identified an MVP. The supplier and the QAVS team will need to work through the user stories and conduct back log refinement Existing Team The supplier will be expected to work closely with the QAVS team and existing supplier using the agile development process. Current Phase Not started Skills & Experience • Agile software development against GDS methodology (6) • Have ruby on rails knowledge (6) • Have experience of award and nomination SAAS user stories and MVP (10) • Have experience of marketing, brand and social media (10) • Have experience of website development (10) • Have experience of interaction design/UX and integration to database (8) • Have experience of Seamless database migration (8) • Be able to develop adhoc reporting (8) • Be able to automate processes and improve efficiency (10) • Be able to future proof with Machine Learning and AI (6) • Be able to archive historical data (6) • Be able to demonstrate user journey (from nomination to award) (8) • Be able to show service management- working towards kpi's (8) • Demonstrate prioritisation using kanban (4) • be able to offer 24/7 support at peak service times (6) • Manage 600 records per year. 3000 records archived (not all the data required- name,location) (6) Nice to Haves • Experience of DCMS (5) • Experience of Queen's Award process (2) • Experience of marketing and branding of government website(5) • Be able to deliver at scale (5) • Evidence of remote working with sharing tool (4) • Demonstrate similar nomination and award databases (5) • Be able to convert ruby on rails to efficient code (5) • Evidence of code re-use (3) Work Location 100 Parliament Street, London SW1A 2BQ Working Arrangments The supplier will be expected to work with the QAVS team, supplying access to a secure online sharing tool eg. MS teams/jira/ trello- using the agile software development method for full transparency and remote working. The supplier will be expected to attend meetings in London when required. Expenses are to be included in the Tender price Security Clearance BPSS Additional T&Cs standard No. of Suppliers to Evaluate 10 Proposal Criteria • Supplier will be expected to provide a word document of no more than 10 pages that provides the Summary of Company solution: (10) • How to approach technical, cultural and nice to have solution against the criteria specified above (15) • Provide a roadmap from legacy system to fully integrated off prem solution, using the GDS development lifecycle.(15) • Provide an explanation on why this fits user needs and show how the supplier will work with the QAVS team, and DCMS content management Team.(10) • Demonstrate capability of Must have delivered MVP 1 by June 2021 and with iterative releases through discover/ alpha/beta and live(Description of timescales).(10) • Demonstrate service management plan to include knowledge base repository to Description of risks/issues and mitigation (10) • Description of team and skills and CV. Demonstrate value for money against MEAT (8) Cultural Fit Criteria • Have knowledge of DCMS (10) • Demonstrate understanding of the Queens Award (10) • Able to work remotely and be transparent with deliverables (8) • Able to take responsibility for their workload (8) • knowledge share expertise with members of the QAVS Team (6) • demonstrate collaborative ways of working (10) • work collaboratively with existing suppliers (10) • challenge existing processes and recommend improvements (8) • operate as a no blame culture and learn from mistakes (8) • comfortable working with clients who have low expertise in technology (8) Payment Approach Capped time and materials Evaluation Weighting Technical competence 70% Cultural fit 10% Price 20% Questions from Suppliers 1. Q1. Are you looking for new website on Ruby on Rails? What is the preferred technology stack? A1. There is no preferred technology stack. We are looking for technology that fit across government services that are easier to maintain. However, knowledge of ruby on rails may be useful as the 'open source' code may be re-used and translated if applicable. We are looking for the supplier to recommend a best practice technical roadmap 2. Q2. The tender states that this project is to replace the existing website (which has been written in Ruby on Rails) - Does the new website have to actually be written in Ruby on Rails also? - If so then what is the justification for this architectural constraint for the new system? A2. There is no architectural constraint. We are looking for the supplier to recommend and provide justification for the next generation technology stack that fits in with government services. 3. Q3. How many workflow processes and can you share them? A3. We have a workflow and are happy to share this. 4. Q4. How many user forms and pages in total A4. User forms and pages are dependent on the workflow and are looking for the supplier to recommend the best approach 5. Q5. The existing system was built using Ruby on Rails. Do you want the new system to be developed using Ruby on Rails or any other language such as Java ? A5. We are looking for the new system to have the most efficient and maintainable technical platform. However, if appropriate, we may want to re-use the open source code developed in ruby on rails 6. Q6. The budget of £120-170k is that for the entire project to be completed for the entire duration? so e.g if it were to take the estimated 2 years the budget is £120-170 for the entire duration? or would it be £120-170 per year A6. The cost is set for the lifecycle of the service which is 4 years maximum ( 2 years plus 2 years ) 7. Q7. Can you clarify whether the intention is to fully replace the existing system or extend the Ruby on Rails solution? A7. We are looking for the supplier to recommend the most efficient way to manage the nominations and award process on an easy to maintain technical platform 8. Q8. Can you clarify if Ruby on Rails is the proposed technical solution for the new system or is the knowledge requirement more about being able to migrate existing functionality? A8. If the supplier can demonstrate the best technical option for the new system and also show ability to migrate existing functionality if appropriate 9. Q9. Is the budget of up to £170k for the entire duration of the project (2 years) or an annual budget? A9. The budget is for 2 years plus two years extension 10. Q10. Do you have a statement of work or a list of service requirements and expectations to help evaluate the size of the project? Q10. We have a list of user stories that define the service requirements that reflect the nomination and award process 11. Q11. Please can the weighting for each question be confirmed? A11. We will be updating the evaluation and weighting criteria for each question on Monday 15th February