Spend Controls Online Tooling Platform

Tender description

Summary of the work CDDO require a team with good service delivery experience to run a Beta, building an online case management system/tooling platform for combining user journeys through Cabinet Office Spend Controls. Expected Contract Length 9 months Latest start date Monday 9 January 2023 Why the Work is Being Done Spend Controls (including, for example, controls for Digital and Technology, commercial, property, consultancy spend - more info here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/cabinet-office-controls ) are being reformed. At present, there is no single system or process supporting CO or HMT spending controls. As a result the process can be duplicative within CO/HMT, departments and across all c300 cross government ALBs. Often documentation is reformatted and submitted CO / HMT a number of times for slightly different approvals. Problem to Be Solved The controls process can be lengthy and involves a high level of repetition and duplication. A single online system, the online tooling platform (OTP), would meet the public commitment and support a number of strategic aims, benefitting assurance teams at the centre, departments and ALBs, and the taxpayer. Who Are the Users As a product owner, I need to get approval to procure a team, so that I can proceed with my service delivery. As an IT manager, I need to get approval from multiple controls, so that I can purchase technology hardware. As a Spend Controls Advisor, I need to track spend cases and issue approvals, so that I can authorise spend from Treasury budgets. As a data scientist, I need to aggregate spend data across Government, so that I can feed into reports for Government spending. Work Already Done A Discovery and Alpha were conducted to identify user needs and prototype a potential platform. Existing Team The supplied team will work within the Performance and Assurance team under the Head of Product who will be responsible for final delivery. SMEs will also be provided to the supplier. Current Phase Beta Skills & Experience • Experience designing digital services in a user-centred way • Experience of running private and public beta phases • Experience working in a complex multi stakeholder project • Ability to conduct user research, including end users and stakeholders, understand needs and motivations for each group. • Experience of using fully agile working practices • Experience of prototyping different solutions to check assumptions • Experience of developing services built in low and no code environments • Ability to communicate with stakeholders clearly and regularly, and advocate for user needs and content design principles. Nice to Haves • Knowledge of the government Service Standard • Experience designing user-centred case management systems • Experience with the spend controls process in government • Keeping the client informed of progress and key decisions, whilst having the ability to work without constant supervision Work Location Government Digital Service, 10 Whitechapel High St, London E1 8QS Working Arrangments The supplier staff will keep Performance and Assurance team hours in order to maximise knowledge transfer and integrate with team development processes: Monday to Friday starting work by 9.30am, 7.5 hours per day + lunch time. There is only an expectation for the supplier to be present in the London office for specific pre-arranged meetings. Security Clearance SC will be needed for those working directly with the data. No. of Suppliers to Evaluate 3 Proposal Criteria • How the team will understand the user needs of the tool to lead to the creation of an accessible reporting mechanism for spend controls • How the team will approach the beta to explore the problem space and test assumptions • Team structure and organisational make up • Estimated timeframes for the Discovery and Alpha stages of delivery • How the team will investigate the business needs of tool including measurements and automation of data between departments • How the team will investigate the technical viability of the existing tools and/or shadow systems • How the team will approach meet HMG reporting requirements for the tool • How the team will demonstrate the scalability of the suggested solution in alpha and how it could be implemented across different departments • How the team will approach the any training requirements for teams using the tool beyond alpha • How the team will understand the involvement of stakeholder participation required for the beta stage Cultural Fit Criteria • Have a no-blame culture and encourage people to learn from their mistakes • Work openly putting users at the centre of the approach • Work as a team with the CDDO organisation, in a self-starting fashion: not over-reliant on the spend controls team. Payment Approach Capped time and materials Assessment Method • Case study • Work history Evaluation Weighting Technical competence 70% Cultural fit 10% Price 20% Questions from Suppliers 1. Who delivered the discovery and alpha? Internally or through an external supplier? The discovery and alpha phases were delivered through an external supplier, previously procured via the DOS framework. 2. Through the prototyping has a particular platform / technology been selected? A shortlist of lowcode platforms was explored in the Alpha including Mendix, GOSS and Equiniti. The specific platform is determined by central Cabinet Office, but is likely to be one of those listed above. 3. What was the output of the Alpha, a report, a prototype or something functional and can any information on this be shared? The Alpha detailed a large user research piece, as well as assessment of different platforms and approaches to solve the problem. Simple prototypes (<5 functional pages) were generated to enable initial user testing and layouts. The Alpha also detailed potential roadmaps and planning to deliver the Beta phases. 4. What's the timeline for this procurement? We are looking to award as soon as possible with a likely start date in the first half of January 2023. 5. In ‘Any work that’s already been done’, you say: ‘A Discovery and Alpha were conducted to identify user needs and prototype a potential platform’, yet one of the Stage 2 proposal criteria is, ‘Estimated timeframes for the Discovery and Alpha stages of delivery’. Could you please clarify expectations around Disco and Alpha? Please disregard this reference to the previous stages of delivery, the scope of this procurement is for the private and public beta phases only. 6. Are there any technical constraints to be aware of? The tooling will need to conform to the Technology Code of Practice and will be built on a specific low/no code platform procured by the Cabinet Office. 7. What is the platform explored in Alpha, and do you envisage beta continuing with that? The platforms explored were Mendix, GOSS & Equiniti with the more functional prototypes built in Mendix. The Beta will utilise the low/no code platform procured by Cabinet Office, likely to be one of those listed. 8. Who will be on the evaluation panel for the procurement? A panel made up of CDDO staff in the Performance & Assurance directorate, with roles likely including User Researchers, Product Managers and DDaT Advisors. 9. Is the goal of this phase private beta or public? This procurement is for both private and public beta phases. 10. You have listed Mendix, GOSS & Equiniti and platforms already explored, would Cabinet Office be open to other platforms being considered as part of this requirement? The platform to be procured is outside of the scope of our department and is a central Cabinet Office system that we will utilise. 11. Please can you advise how pricing is to be submitted for this opportunity? We cannot see a section to complete for this requirement? Only providers shortlisted to stage two of this process will be required to submit pricing information. This is stage one of the process. 12. Normally by Beta a specific platform has been selected. Is it then a mandatory requirement that a partner has expertise in all 3 stated platforms? The platform choice is not held by CDDO and as such we cannot guarantee which platform will be taken forward. Therefore, we require experience in low-code/no-code platforms to be prepared, however preliminary work will take place on the incumbent platform, Mendix. 13. Are you open to exploring other solutions, outside the 3 low-code platforms listed? Specifically, a packaged case management system? The Beta has been scoped to utilise the existing and future platforms utilised by Cabinet Office. If a different solution can be adopted and budgeted for in the timeframes of the Beta, then it is possible. However, there is a level of technical ability to maintain the tooling in Live that must remain within the skillset of existing staff members after the Beta. 14. How will a user login and authenticate for this application? There will need to be a user management layer to control access rights and account management. Users will use a credentials webpage with MFA to authenticate with their .gov.uk email accounts. 15. Can this application run in a public cloud provider such as AWS or Azure? The application should be cloud-hosted, and AWS/Azure would be appropriate. 16. What third party integrations does this application require in terms of external data? As the tooling will replace existing systems, there should not be a need for integration with existing data stores. There will need to be the functionality to upload data via a spreadsheet and such, a file parser compatible with .xlsx will be required. 17. Are there any requirements to generate documents as part of the process? Document template pre-filling is a nice to have feature of the tooling, but is not a strict requirement. The tool would need to be able to generate reports of case management on demand and at a pre-determined cadence. 18. Can we have access to the alpha outputs please? Outputs from the Alpha will be provided at the second phase of procurement.