706007450 (DInfoCom/0233) Provision of Army Digital Services Service Management as a Service (SMaaS)

Tender description

Summary of the work Working alongside the existing in-house team, this “as a Service” will provide the capability to fulfil the service support wrapper outputs and allow veering and hauling to react quickly to changing requirements. Expected Contract Length 2 years Latest start date Wednesday 15 February 2023 Why the Work is Being Done ADS is currently developing or onboarding several applications to support business requirements. All applications require through-life support for the duration of the application lifecycle and need an in-service support solution. Working alongside the existing in-house team, this “as a Service” will provide the capability to fulfil the service support wrapper outputs and allow veering and hauling to react quickly to changing requirements. Problem to Be Solved Provision of a cost effective, flexible and scalable supplementary service management service that can meet the demands of the services provided by ADS. Service requirements are technology agnostic, although predominately Oracle APEX. Copies of the Statement of Requirement are available from Eleanor.Pybus100@mod.gov.uk Who Are the Users The users of the applications are members of HM Forces and Civil Servants across the Army and wider Defence. The users are required to log on to the Ministry of Defence Network and browse to the appropriate url. Access is predominately granted via single sign on. The users need secure, performant and available application services to provide information in the right context to undertake their business functions to enable the day-to-day operation of the Army and wider Defence. Existing Team The existing Army Digital Services Team operates under the direction of the Assistant Head and consists of about 45 business analysts, developers, testers, scrum master, delivery and change managers. Enabling support is provided by a combination of military personnel, civil servants and contracted services from external suppliers. Current Phase Live Skills & Experience • Demonstrable experience within the last 3 years (with dates), of delivering service management capabilities, to meet business requirements. 4% • Demonstrable experience within last 3 years (with dates), of delivering poly-skilled SFIA level 2-3 service management and service desk technician resources with a minimum of 5 years’ recent experience. 4% • Demonstrable experience of maintaining service management services working with multi-skilled teams within an Agile/DevSecOps organisation. 4% • Demonstrable experience of Business Engagement, delivering SLA based service support, carrying out stakeholder expectation management, managing the progress of change within agreed timeframes, notification management using tools i.e. Remedy. 4% • Demonstrable experience of best practice document renewal required for applications and evidence of currency regarding application services. 3% • Demonstrable experience of exploitation of electronic communication methods to keep relevant application communities informed of progress, showing innovation. 3% • Demonstrable expertise in Continual Service Improvement, management of incidents, performing trend analysis based upon incidents and problems to inform the Change Process, and upskilling of teams. 3% Nice to Haves • Experience of working within Government Digital Services (GDS) standards. 8% • Demonstrable experience within last 3 years (with dates), of supporting applications and services exploiting some of the following - cloud services, low code (MS PowerApps, Flow and Dynamics.) 7% Work Location The place of delivery for the contract shall be at such location(s) as agreed between the outcomes supplier and the Authority. The primary location for ADS is Andover, Hampshire. Working Arrangments The supplier will deliver in-line with ADS direction and within ADS standards, policies and processes. Expenses are only to be incurred with the prior agreement of the Authority. All claims are to be in line with MoD Civil Servant rates and practices. Security Clearance Security Clearance (SC) will be required for the duration of the role. Incumbents are to follow both the letter and spirit of Army Headquarters security regulations. The minimum acceptable security standard is BPSS, SC will be required on a case by case basis. Additional T&Cs DEFCON 5J (Edn 18/11/16)Unique Identifiers, DEFCON 76 (Edn 11/22)Contractors on site, DEFCON 129J (Edn 18/11/16)Electronic business Delivery Form, DEFCON 513 (Edn 04/22)Value Added Tax, DEFCON 516 (Edn 04/12)Equality, DEFCON 518 (Edn 02/17) Transfer, DEFCON 531 (Edn 09/21) Disclosure of Information, DEFCON 534 (Edn 06/21) Subcontracting/Prompt Payment, DEFCON 537 (Edn 12/21) Rights of Third Parties, DEFCON 550 (Edn 02/14) Child Labour/Employment Law, DEFCON 566 (Edn 10/20) Change of control of contractor, DEFCON 642 (Edn 07/21) Progress meetings, DEFCON 658 (Edn 10/22) Cyber, DEFCON 671 (Edn 10/22) Plastic Packaging Tax DEFCON 694 (Edn 07/21) Accounting for Property of the Authority. No. of Suppliers to Evaluate 5 Proposal Criteria • Say how you will meet the buyer's requirements. 1% • Describe the approach and methodology to meeting the requirements outlined in RFP. 1% • Describe the approach for transition of service, running and knowledge transfer and working in a multi-vendor environment. 1% • Give examples of KPIs and SLAs that you would be prepared to commit to for this contract. 1% • Provide evidence of skills and experience of the team who could be doing the work. 2% • Provide illustrative CVs of resources that could meet the authority’s essential and desirable requirements. 2% • Ability to mobilise the team resources quickly and the approach to service continuity. 1% • Explain how you plan to retain key resources/ skills for the duration of the contract and how you can commit to meet ADS’s continuous need for service management activities. 2% • Ability to scale up and down resources, whilst ensuring quality and consistency to meet the evolving demand of users. 2% • Identification of the risks and dependencies associated with this requirement and potential mitigation. 1% • Provide an exit plan for the transition to an alternative supplier at the end of the contract to enable the transition. 1% Cultural Fit Criteria • Recent proven experience in working with a product owner to derive requirements. 2% • Recent proven experience of an open and collaborative working relationship at all levels with a no blame culture. 1% • Recent proven ability and willingness to work collaboratively within a multi-vendor delivery environment with effective communication and co-ordination across stakeholders. 1% • Proven ability to add value to ADS through the use of innovation, continuous improvement and cost savings utilising technology. 1% • Social Value (Fighting Climate Change): Describe the commitment your organisation will make to ensure that opportunities under the contract deliver effective stewardship of the environment. (5%) • Social Value (Equal Opportunity): Describe the commitment your organisation will make to ensure that opportunities under the contract deliver a reduction in the disability employment gap. (5%) Payment Approach Capped time and materials Evaluation Weighting Technical competence 55% Cultural fit 15% Price 30% Questions from Suppliers 1. 1. How many service users does the Army Digital Services Service Management as a Service serve? There would be roughly 90 users 2. Regarding pricing submissions: will the Authority require all bidders to submit prices against the same prescribed Resource Types, SFIA Levels and quantities to ensure a like-for-like price comparison is possible (noting the requirement for a “scalable” and “flexible” service, this would not commit the Authority to any particular resourcing profile but would simply be to allow like-for-like comparison)?If the Authority won’t be mandating such a process to ensure a like-for-like pricing comparison is possible, please can the Authority confirm what minimum Resource Types/SFIA Levels/Quantities will be acceptable within any pricing proposal for the core element of the service? The authority will be asking suppliers to quote against a pricing scenario. This means we can evaluate suppliers on a like for like basis. 3. 3. We note in the SOR: “There will be a minimum (core) level below which the quantity of outputs will not fall.”.Please could the Authority indicate the minimum core level they have in mind here (in terms of quantities and types of resource)? The minimum expected core level is two, one in Service Management (SFIA 2/3) and one in the Service Desk (SFIA 2/3).