HMPPS & Digital Prisons Reporting

Tender description

Summary of the work MOJ Justice Digital requires a supplier to continue work started on a HMPPS Data & Reporting platform. A discovery in prisons has been completed and a proof of concept developed. The platform will provide reporting, data visualisation and support to end users, and partners such as digital Product Teams. Expected Contract Length 24 Months Latest start date Monday 30 January 2023 Budget Range Up to £4,000,000 Why the Work is Being Done The MOJ Digital Strategy 2025 has a bold strategic vision for the delivery of digital, data & technology services to HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS). These include: - replacing legacy systems with simpler, clearer, faster digital services - capturing, storing and sharing high quality data across services leading to better and faster decision-making. The current legacy reporting system and infrastructure is outdated and cannot deliver and support our technical strategy. It is a priority to be replaced as it is blocking the work to replace other legacy systems. Replacing the legacy HMPPS reporting systems is an integral part of the 2025 strategy and provides a unique opportunity to improve reporting within HMPPS. Problem to Be Solved Accurate, responsive data and reporting in HMPPS is essential to running the day to day operations and providing management information and performance data to manage the estate, improve safety and reduce reoffending. A recent discovery in prisons has found that reporting does not meet user needs and is often inefficient, complicated and time consuming. We require a modern, flexible reporting capability that will enable improvements in the quality of reporting, reduce staff time spent producing and understanding reports and ultimately improve performance, safety and reoffending. As a result of the discovery into prison reporting, a data and reporting platform proof of concept has been built. We are seeking a supplier who will build on this work and • Take the proof of concept and build and deploy a data & reporting platform to production. • Integrate, ingest and join data from additional legacy and digital services. • Build a number of exemplar reporting services for HMPPS users. • Design, test and document processes for the further build and deployment of additional reporting services. • Hand over the ongoing support of the platform and the creation of additional reporting services to internal MOJ teams. Who Are the Users HMPPS staff • Management • Operational grades • Administration MOJ & HMPPS regional and HQ teams • HMPPS Digital Product Teams • Digital Data and Reporting Teams • Performance & Policy groups • Operation Teams • Statistics and dissemination team These users need to complete real time and historical reporting to support day to day operations, assess performance, monitor the effectiveness of policies and practices and publish official statistics and reports. Work Already Done The Reporting discovery has been completed. It included visits to HM Prison Establishments, discussions with area and HQ based teams, as well as interactions with Justice Digital and MOJ Data colleagues. A solution has been proposed that utilises data domains and products to provide a sustainable and adaptable approach. A proof of concept (PoC) has been designed and built. Existing Team A HMPPS product manager is in place and will be available to work with the team along with advisory support from a HMPPS Technical Architect & Service Owner. All other delivery roles are expected to be resourced by the managed service provider. Current Phase Alpha Skills & Experience • Proven track record of design, development, and delivery of digital and data services using agile techniques and evidence of meeting the Government Service Standard and technology code of conduct. • Proven track record of building user facing data reporting platforms and processes, using multiple sources of data • Experience of using open source development languages and providing services with a test-driven development, continuous integration and delivery approach. • Experience of creating infrastructure-as-code using Terraform and deploying into a public cloud environment. • Experience of modern data techniques in a cloud environment that take advantage of SAAS, IAAS and PAAS • Experience of building secure systems and adhering to modern security best practice and standards. • Experience of integrating modern reporting tools into an enterprise environment. Nice to Haves • Demonstrable experience of successfully assisting clients in managing the business transition from legacy systems to new services. • Demonstrable experience of defining target operating models for cloud base platforms. • Experience working within a large government portfolio environment, with multiple teams, dependencies and stakeholders. Work Location Working remotely although occasional travel may be required to : MoJ Digital Studio, 32 Scotland Street, Sheffield, S3 7BS MoJ, 102 Petty France, London, SW1H 9AJ HM Prison & Probation Locations Working Arrangments There will be a requirement for visits to prisons, regional offices and teams in London headquarters and to travel for meetings in Sheffield or London. Outside of these visits and any meetings, there is no requirement to be office-based and individuals can work from home. The supplier team will be supplied with Justice Digital provided devices. Security Clearance Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS) standard will be required in all instances. Security Clearance (SC) will be required of most, if not all, of the team due to live production data access. No. of Suppliers to Evaluate 3 Proposal Criteria • Explain overall approach you will take and how you will draw on your experience from a similar project (including management and mitigation/resolution of risks) to successfully execute this project 15% • Demonstrate how your approach will successfully deliver MOJ’s goal to build and iterate a product that meets user needs, including for users with low technical expertise 15% • Provide an example team structure including skills, experience, responsibilities in this approach and relevance of individuals, and how you will ensure the team delivers their responsibilities throughout this approach 10% • Demonstrate how you will support the MOJ in building internal capability, and an effective hand over to an in-house team 10% • Demonstrate how you will deliver value for money throughout this project, across both Private and Public Beta phases 5% • Demonstrate how you will deliver against the MOJ’s timeline for transitioning this service from private to public Beta within 6 months 5% Cultural Fit Criteria • Share knowledge and experience with our organisation and other suppliers, ensuring we can deliver after the contract has ended - 5% • Be transparent and collaborative when making decisions - 5% • Encourage new entrees to digital & data professions. Upskills and develops their workforce taking a no-blame culture and encouraging people to learn from their mistakes - 5% • Encourages diverse representation in their workforce - 5% Payment Approach Capped time and materials Assessment Method • Case study • Presentation Evaluation Weighting Technical competence 60% Cultural fit 20% Price 20% Questions from Suppliers 1. Can you please share details around the proof of concept, technology stack, etc, he proof of concept has been built on the MoJ AWS Modernisation Platform and utilises: - AWS DMS for data ingestion from Oracle and RDS Postgres data sources.- Delta lake using S3 for the storage layer- AWS Glue for data catalog and data integration.- AWS Redshift for the Data Mart / Warehouse- A simple Spring Java app utilising Apache echarts for the visualisation layer. (Visualisation and BI tooling will be considered during the next phase)The infrastructure has been built using terraform and AWS Glue ETL jobs have been built in Java/Scala using Spark. 2. Who undertook the work to date, proof of concept, discovery etc? Equal Experts 3. You mention that the Discovery report is completed, which supplier(s) did you work Equal Experts 4. You mention that the Discovery report is completed, which supplier(s) did you work with, to complete the Discovery phase please? Equal Experts 5. Hi, you have put under experience “evidence of government security standards and technology code of conduct”. We have been servicing private sector with data integration on the cloud with threat modelling and strict controlled security to land and ingest data and report but not in the government space. We believe that we are suitable but do not meet the above. Is it possible to make the above clause “Nice to have”? This makes fairer for organisations like ours to serve public sector too The security standards & technology code of conduct are publicly available. It is essential that the supplier can demonstrate that they have met these requirements previously. 6. What technology or tools was the PoC done with and is that the desired platform going forwards? The proof of concept has been built on the MoJ AWS Modernisation Platform and utilises: - AWS DMS for data ingestion from Oracle and RDS Postgres data sources.- Delta lake using S3 for the storage layer- AWS Glue for data catalog and data integration.- AWS Redshift for the Data Mart / Warehouse- A simple Spring Java app utilising Apache echarts for the visualisation layer. (Visualisation and BI tooling will be considered during the next phase) 7. What technology or tools was the PoC done with and is that the desired platform going forwards? The infrastructure has been built using terraform and AWS Glue ETL jobs have been built in Java/Scala using Spark.It is expected that the winning supplier will aid the MoJ to evaluate the proof of concept to date. Any future platform will need to align to the MoJ/HMPPS strategic hosting and tech stack. 8. A data and reporting platform proof of concept (PoC) has been designed and built. Please can HMPPS outline the technologies employed in the PoC? The proof of concept has been built on the MoJ AWS Modernisation Platform and utilises: - AWS DMS for data ingestion from Oracle and RDS Postgres data sources.- Delta lake using S3 for the storage layer- AWS Glue for data catalog and data integration.- AWS Redshift for the Data Mart / Warehouse- A simple Spring Java app utilising Apache echarts for the visualisation layer. (Visualisation and BI tooling will be considered during the next phase)The infrastructure has been built using terraform and AWS Glue ETL jobs have been built in Java/Scala using Spark. 9. Who from your team will be scoring applications for this opportunity and what positions do they hold? There will be a mixture of product, data and technical people involved. 10. Could you please advise who conducted the Discovery work? Equal Experts 11. 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 are working to the following indicative timeline:Notify short-listed suppliers for stage 2 and provide additional briefing – 12.12.22Proposal Submission deadline – 06.01.23Stage 2 Presentations – 09.01.23Stage 2 Evaluation period – 07.12.22 to 10.01.23Award Notification – WC 23.01.23 12. Can you confirm if shortlisted suppliers will have the opportunity to present? Yes, they will. 13. Has any external supplier been involved in the initial scoping work? If so, who? Equal Experts 14. Please could you let us know whether any organisation supported the Discovery and Proof of Concept work and, if so, which company? Equal Experts 15. Please could you disclose the name of the incumbent supplier? Equal Experts 16. Is it possible to get access to the prototype and/or discovery report please? No, this is not possible. 17. What are the technologies on which the data platform is being built on please? The proof of concept has been built on the MoJ AWS Modernisation Platform and utilises: - AWS DMS for data ingestion from Oracle and RDS Postgres data sources.- Delta lake using S3 for the storage layer- AWS Glue for data catalog and data integration.- AWS Redshift for the Data Mart / Warehouse- A simple Spring Java app utilising Apache echarts for the visualisation layer. (Visualisation and BI tooling will be considered during the next phase)The infrastructure has been built using terraform and AWS Glue ETL jobs have been built in Java/Scala using Spark. 18. Who has carried out the discovery and prototype work? Equal Experts 19. Which reporting tool was tested, and would you consider bids for alternate tools for similar/improved functionality? No reporting tools have been tested yet. 20. Can you please advise if the Reporting Discovery mentioned in the work done so far is part of the contract awarded earlier this year under IMPROVING OPERATIONAL REPORTING IN PRISONS’ or is this something different? Yes, it is. 21. Please provide the technical details of the POC solution and confirm whether this will be built upon to take to live or as a true Alpha phase other options for a solution need to be explored. he proof of concept has been built on the MoJ AWS Modernisation Platform and utilises: - AWS DMS for data ingestion from Oracle and RDS Postgres data sources.- Delta lake using S3 for the storage layer- AWS Glue for data catalog and data integration.- AWS Redshift for the Data Mart / Warehouse- A simple Spring Java app utilising Apache echarts for the visualisation layer. (Visualisation and BI tooling will be considered during the next phase) 22. Please provide the technical details of the POC solution and confirm whether this will be built upon to take to live or as a true Alpha phase other options for a solution need to be explored. The infrastructure has been built using terraform and AWS Glue ETL jobs have been built in Java/Scala using Spark.It is expected that the winning supplier will aid the MoJ to evaluate the proof of concept to date. Any future platform will need to align to the MoJ/HMPPS strategic hosting and tech stack. 23. Is there an incumbent supplier for the Alpha phase and was there an external supplier for the Discovery phase? If so please could you identify them? Equal Experts 24. Can the Authority act as an SC clearance sponsor if some potential team members have yet to gain clearance? Yes, the MOJ can act as the Sponsor for SC Clearance applications. 25. Please can you confirm what technology has been used for the Proof of Concept? he proof of concept has been built on the MoJ AWS Modernisation Platform and utilises: - AWS DMS for data ingestion from Oracle and RDS Postgres data sources.- Delta lake using S3 for the storage layer- AWS Glue for data catalog and data integration.- AWS Redshift for the Data Mart / Warehouse- A simple Spring Java app utilising Apache echarts for the visualisation layer. (Visualisation and BI tooling will be considered during the next phase)The infrastructure has been built using terraform and AWS Glue ETL jobs have been built in Java/Scala using Spark. 26. In relation to previous tenders in this space – has any work alpha commenced? Discovery was undertaken in Prisons, and a Proof of Concept has been built. 27. For Q5 you state “Service Design” – please can you clarify whether you mean ITIL based Service Design or User Centric/GDS Service Design? Unable to respond, as this does not refer to the published requirements. 28. Have any other suppliers helped with the Discovery or Proof of Concept work for HMPPS Data & Reporting platform? Yes - Equal Experts 29. 1. Was the Discovery completed in-house or externally? If the latter, could you please confirm who?Are suppliers required to have SC cleared resources available to onboard at contract commencement? Equal ExpertsNo - SC clearance isn’t required at contract commencement 30. Can you please advise what the technology solution was used for the POC, which is now requested to be taken forward for build and deploy? The proof of concept has been built on the MoJ AWS Modernisation Platform and utilises: - AWS DMS for data ingestion from Oracle and RDS Postgres data sources.- Delta lake using S3 for the storage layer- AWS Glue for data catalog and data integration.- AWS Redshift for the Data Mart / Warehouse- A simple Spring Java app utilising Apache echarts for the visualisation layer. (Visualisation and BI tooling will be considered during the next phase)Infrastructure has been built using terraform and AWS Glue ETL jobs have been built in Java/Scala using Spark. 31. Can you please clarify what is meant by “• Build a number of exemplar reporting services for HMPPS users.” To take a number of user needs and build reporting solutions from data ingestion to visualisation that can be handed over to MOJ teams and prove the processes & technology. 32. Please confirm the followingWhat is the technology stack in Proof of concept?Please provide details such as number and technologies of the additional legacy and digital services.• How many exemplar reporting services will you want built?• How many processes for the further build and deployment of additional reporting services will you want building?How many staff in the internal MOJ teams and do you want proper training or just shadowing? Please see previous answers regarding technology stack. Legacy applications utilise Oracle DBs, Digital Services RDS Postgres.Exemplar reporting services and further builds would demonstrate and prove solutions. The number would depend on the proposed approach.The solution would highlight skills required by MOJ teams, and would help contribute to future team sizing and any training / shadowing needs 33. Please could you share the report/findings from the Discovery mentioned under section “Any work that’s already been done”? We are not sharing discovery report / findings at this stage. 34. Are you content for suppliers to cite multiple examples for a single question where their experience is best represented across several examples. Yes 35. Are you content for suppliers to cite private sector examples as long as they are relevant to the question being posed? Yes 36. For question “Demonstrable experience of defining target operating models for cloud base platforms.”, please could you elaborate on what you mean by a “cloud base platform” A platform that has been built from the ground up to be hosted and operated in the cloud utilising SaaS, IaaS and PaaS.Note: the text should read: “Demonstrable experience of defining target operating models for cloud-based platforms.” 37. Are you able to share if there is an incumbent supplier? If the answer is yes – a) Are they able to respond to this opportunity? b) What are MoJ/HMPPS going to do to level the playing field for suppliers who won’t have the same level of insight as an incumbent? An incumbent supplier provided the Discovery and initial PoC build. It is up to the incumbent to respond if they wish, however all submissions will be evaluated fairly and on merit against the publicly listed opportunity. 38. Can the authority please clarify whether it will consider alternative platforms to AWS within the response. Any new work within HMPPS Digital must adhere to the current HMPPS and MoJ Tech stacks. Where capability is not defined currently, then we will consider proposals/options as part of the delivery.The work to date, including the POC build and wider technical landscape, has made use of the MoJ strategic hosting environments, currently built on AWS. 39. As part of the proof of concept, were other platforms considered? If so, what other platforms were considered, and which were ruled out (and why)? See previous response. 40. Can the Authority confirm the relationship between this opportunity and the “Improving Operational Reporting in Prisons” opportunity which was released earlier in the year? Noting the similarities between the scope of this tender and the scope and timelines of the previous tender, can the MoJ confirm why this tender is required? This opportunity follows ‘Improving Operational Reporting in Prisons’. Whilst there are similarities, we can confirm that delivery is required for this new opportunity. 41. For Q7 “Experience of integrating modern reporting tools into an enterprise environment.”, please could you expand on what is classified as a modern reporting tool? Reporting tools that can interoperate with the latest cloud data architectures and be integrated within an enterprise environment. 42. For question “Experience of modern data techniques in a cloud environment that take advantage of SAAS, IAAS and PAAS”, do you intend IAAS to mean Infrastructure as a Service, Integration as a Service or something else? Infrastructure as a Service.