Agile Microsoft Power Platform Specialist Partner

Tender description

Summary of the work Looking for a supplier who can deliver enhancements and integration work to our existing portfolio delivery and reporting tools across the BEIS programme estate - predominantly in Power Platform/Power BI. This will consist of delivery of existing backlog items as well as technical discoveries and delivery of future enhancements. Expected Contract Length 12 months dependent on backlog volume Latest start date Friday 29 April 2022 Why the Work is Being Done The BEIS Digital Portfolio Office (DPO) Programme is a body of work which will look at properly integrating the end to end Digital journey for BEIS Project stakeholders (at a project, portfolio and SRO level). Our technical scope is the enhancement and integration of underpinning technical tools and technologies which support project/portfolio activities as well as the associated reporting and data management. In turn the backlog's objective is to enhance the assurance, reporting and facilitation of good project practises across BEIS. Initial work had begun on integrating our Reporting Tool, Business Case Analytics and our ‘to be’ PPPM Tool however, recognising that the scope of work lies outside of BEIS Digital’s traditional capabilities, DPO was directed to procure a MS Gold/Silver Partner who specialises in MS Power Platform and who has the ability to flex resources as scope expands and contracts. BEIS Digital will act as assurance whilst any Partner would form a core delivery engine, managed by the DPO Programme. While we anticipate the vast majority of the work will be done on PowerPlatform, we may require use of other products to meet some requirements We would like a core team in place as early as possible in April. Problem to Be Solved The digital project capabilities of BEIS have grown organically over many years with a variety of tools and platforms being developed and utilised as needs manifest and change. BEIS also manages a significant number of projects/programmes with no one unified toolset, mandated templates, nor means of ensuring a consistent way of managing and reporting on projects. Finally, reporting at a project and portfolio level involves too many manual processes, duplicate inputs or offline data records. DPO Programme seeks to address all of these by creating a new baseline service, utilising a mixture of existing and new tools if necessary, and integrating them around the core Project/Programme User Journeys. We have begun a period of development throughout FY 21/22, have recently procured Service Designers/User Research to aid in the design of a future roadmap – initially we need is the delivery engine to enable us to provide the necessary integrations and enhancements. Other requirements are in Discovery, we may look to expand the team to cover : - Assurance reviews - Business case approvals - Portfolio management (projects moving through life cycle) As such we expect this work to include a fair mix of technical discovery, flex in deliverables and resource. Who Are the Users Core user personas are currently being developed by our recently onboarded Service Design team but on a foundational level the core Epics could be considered to be: As a Project Manager I want to input project information into one source without having to manually input it into separate tools so that I can lessen my admin overhead, reduce the possibility of mistakes and ensure that I am following the best in department processes As a Resource manager I want to be able to pull up to date information from systems without having to aggregate them from separate tools or rely on individuals utilising spreadsheets As a Snr Manager I want to be able to view a snapshot of programme progress so I can easily understand the areas which require intervention in real time. I also want reassurance that the correct processes are being followed. As a User I want to be assured that data duplication and separate inputs are avoided so that I can encourage stakeholders that data is fit for purpose, up to date and usable so that we can make tactical and strategic decisions in an informed manner Work Already Done We have already begun a period of development throughout FY 21/22 and have recently procured Service Designers/User Research to aid in the design of a future road map. Other requirements are in Discovery and once investigations are complete we will look to expand the team to cover : - Assurance reviews - Business case approvals - Portfolio management (projects starting, moving through life cycle and finishing) Existing Team The existing DPO team are predominantly contracted resource who are specialists in their areas. They answer to the BEIS SRO for this work. He is supported by members of his team who will act as product managers for each of the different tools / collections of features within a tool. Resource presently include : - DPO Programme Manager - Service Designer - User Researcher - DM and B.A. working on PPPM tool only - Technical Architect Whilst your new team will be working within DPO, they will be required to collaborate and work with BEIS Digital who will provide assurance. Current Phase Discovery Skills & Experience • Have experience or understanding of working to the Government Service Standards, including Service Design Manual, Technology Code of Practice and wider industry standards • The supplier must be a Microsoft certified gold or silver partner (or in the process of receiving this status) with experience of delivering PowerPlatform applications • Extensive experience of delivering Dynamics (Customer Service module) solutions, PowerAutomate and PowerBI reporting. • The supplier must have experience developing solutions which adhere to Accessibility standards covered by the Equality Act 2010. • The supplier must have experience delivering IT in HMGs and working with HMG stakeholders • The supplier must have experience of working with a range of users and experts to help move manual processes into programmatic applications. • The supplier must have experience of working with other teams to deliver an overall programme including where the interfaces between applications are not always clear. • The supplier must have strong Agile/Scrum capabilities including the ability to refine or support the refinement of user stories, work within sprints and deliver to quality • Have the ability to mobilise a team quickly for a late April/early May start • Have the ability to scale or augment said team (with notice) as and when new requirements have greater resource demands. Nice to Haves • have a proven track record of delivering successful user needs research for Government • have experience with WCAG 2.1 to AA Standard, this includes any online help, password verification, and all end user communication • The supplier must have experience delivering solutions using the .Gov design system • Have the ability to bring in specialist resource, with appropriate notice, (UX, Data Architects etc) as new requirements are refined. Work Location Majority of work will be performed remotely. There may be the occasional need for workshops when refining specific Epics - these will most likely take place in London, Birmingham or Manchester (depending on proximity of colleagues) Working Arrangments This team will act as the core 'delivery engine' for DPO activities but will be integrated with our wider team members. 5 days/week predominantly remote working Daily stand ups and other rituals as per Agile/Scrum methodologies Other meetings/workshops as required - some onsite but by exception rather than regular events No expenses unless directly authorised Security Clearance None No. of Suppliers to Evaluate 5 Proposal Criteria • Proposed team structure • Value for money • The experience (years) and resource profile the supplier proposes to provision for the Core Team • How well does the supplier understand the need to work and lead work across team boundaries to deliver a whole programme approach. • How well does the supplier understand, and propose to work in, an Agile Method • How quickly the supplier will be able to provision or augment the team • How they’ve identified risks and dependencies and offered approaches to manage them Cultural Fit Criteria • Work as an embedded team with our organisation • Be transparent and collaborative when making decisions • Have a no-blame culture and encourage people to learn from their mistakes • Share knowledge and experience with other team members • Take responsibility for their work • Be comfortable challenging the status quo and supporting Discovery activities • Be comfortable standing up for their discipline and quality standards • Can work with clients with variable technical expertise • Communication - open and timely sharing of all information relevant to decision-making ability • Understand the focus for common purpose, task clarity, and direction Payment Approach Time and materials Assessment Method Work history Evaluation Weighting Technical competence 60% Cultural fit 10% Price 30% Questions from Suppliers 1. Who from your team will be scoring applications for this opportunity and what positions do they hold? Responses will be scored by : - BEIS Digital : Snr Assurance Manager- BEIS Digital : Technical Partner- Implementation & Delivery Directorate : DPO Programme Manager- Implementation & Delivery Directorate : DPO Technical Architect 2. Who is the incumbent and how long they have been the incumbent? The previous incumbant (rolled off Q4 2021) represented BEIS Digital's in-house FTE development capabilities. They have now transitioned to an assurance role. 3. Could you give an indication of budget please? We have an approximate budget of up £850,000 for what we perceive as the 'core delivery engine' - we have a further budget which may be drawn down from during the year to increase capacity to augment with SME's as needed but that is not guaranteed scope or budget under consideration at this time. 4. Can you please provide an anticipated timeline for this procurement that includes dates for: 1) Shortlisting Notification for Stage 2 2) Submission Deadline for Stage 2 3) Presentation 4) Evaluation period 5) Award Notification We anticipate : 1) Shortlisting Notification by 21st March2) Deadline for Stage 2 by 28th March3) Presentation on or around 31st March or 6th April depending on Evaluation Period and stakeholder availability4) Evaluation Period 1-2 weeks5) Award Notification by 4th or 14th April dependent on time required to evaluateIn all things we are aiming to onboard as soon as possible - end April/early May ideally. The Department reserves theright to alter this timetable by notice to tender. 5. Can you confirm if shortlisted suppliers will have the opportunity to present? Yes - dependent of course on supplier/stakeholder availability every effort will be made to allow presentation time. 6. Has any external supplier been involved in the initial scoping work? If so, who? External suppliers (User Research/Service Design) have been involved in identifying the current 'as is' technical infrastructure and user journeys as well as highlighting opportunities for the coming financial year. From this an internal scoping session is to take place end Mar which will act as high level scope for this financial year (capacity and inputs from team dependent) 7. Who is the incumbent supplier for the current project ? No incumbent supplier 8. Amendment : Security Requirement Update on Security Requirements: We would anticipate that all team members would be at a minimum BPSS cleared 9. As yet, we are not a MS Gold Partner. As consortium bids are allowed, can we partner with a MS Gold partner to score the required points in the question about Silver / Gold partnership? We are comfortable accepting consortium bids however we would expect lines of responsibility and ownership to be clearly articulated. We would prefer a lead Supplier highlighted and an understanding as to how you will scale up any resource requirements as well understanding how you will be leveraging the experience/quality of said Partner (or indeed vice versa. In turn we would expect all consortium partners to be registered on relevant Gov marketplaces etc. 10. "How is this requirement from recently BEIS published requirementshttps://www.digitalmarketplace.service.gov.uk/digital-outcomes-and-specialists/opportunities/16840 ?" This is a wholly separate team focussed on delivery of DPO objectives. BEIS Digital will provide assurance/support for this team but their notice and team will have different objectives and deliverables. 11. Can you confirm this is a different requirement to the “Microsoft Power Platform Specialist Partner” notice issued by BEIS Digital on 18th Feb. Assuming yes, what is the relationship between the two requirements? This is a wholly separate team focused on delivery of DPO objectives. BEIS Digital will provide assurance/support for this team but their advert and team will have different objectives and deliverables. 12. How does this procurement relate to the recent BEIS digital procurement for a Power Platform partner? This is a wholly separate team focused on delivery of DPO objectives. BEIS Digital will provide assurance/support for this team but their advert and team will have different objectives and deliverables. 13. The supplier must have experience delivering IT in HMGs and working with HMG stakeholders’.Please specify which HMG’s are you referring at ? Any experience with working and supporting stakeholders within Her Majesty's Government will be considered 14. Can you confirm which all Roles are you envisaging for this opportunity? We are anticipating a delivery team in an Agile/Scrum configuration - so broadly speaking Scrummaster/PM Hybrid, B.A., Developers and Testers. We are however welcome to conversations around alternative or expanded team configurations 15. Can Authority confirm, if location for larger team could be offshore with key resource staying/leading from onshore? The preference would be onshore however we are open to the discussion around offshore assets if, in comparison, it opens up demonstrable opportunities or benefits in this resource profile approach. 16. We are a Microsoft Gold Partner (Data Analytics) and separately we have demonstrable experience of delivering Power Platform Applications. We can provide a 100 word answer articulating the above.Is this sufficient for Question 2 of the Essential Questions? Yes 17. Can you confirm that having Microsoft Gold Partner status in Cloud Platform, Data Analytics, DevOps, Security, and Application Development meet the requirement as per question n.2? Yes