DDaT23179 - Simpler & Better Funding (SBF): Delivering The Funding Service (TFS) through Public Beta and in to Live.

Tender description

About adding context and requirements test Describe any pre-market engagement done We have not conducted any pre-tender market engagement. Work done so far TFS is in Private Beta with less than 20 Research Council Grants Opportunities presently running in various stages of completion. TFS completed a CDDO Alpha Assessment against the old 18-point Service Standard in 2019. The only remaining Alpha recommendations we have not yet mitigated are: Recommendation 1 Focus more research on users who are not already familiar with UKRI and the funding service. There should be more work into how people who aren’t familiar with UKRI funding are finding the grants platform. This could point to additional needs outside of the digital service such as comms and marketing Update 1 This is being fulfilled by another DP through ongoing User Research (UR). Recommendation 2 Carry out research into any need for two factor Authentication for external users. Update 2 Was not raised in the last external Security (Penetration) Test. We will keep this under review. As we prepare to commence Public Beta, we have broken down the remaining functionality required to enable all 7 Research Councils to run all their Grants on TFS into a Minimum Viable Service (MVS). We have further decomposed the MVS into smaller Missions each of which is underpinned by a series of Milestones. Delivery of each of these Missions will enable our Outcomes (a full breakdown of each of the Missions defined to date is included in the attachments to this specification). Mission 1: We have a proven end to end MVP: • Milestone 1: Implement TFS Minimum Viable Product (MVP), from Application to Award by 31-March 2023 (this Mission will be achieved before this contract is awarded). Mission 2: AHRC/EPSRC & ESRC responsive mode opportunities: • Milestone 1: Onboard a high-volume opportunity with a reduction in administrative effort required by both councils and research office users. Needed by May 2023 (this Milestone will be achieved before this contract is awarded). • Milestone 2: Review a high-volume opportunity with a reduction in administrative effort required by both councils and research office users. Needed by September 2023. • Milestone 3: Award a high-volume opportunity with a reduction in administrative effort required by both councils and research office users. Needed by 30-November 2023. The dates above are ‘needed by’ dates, i.e. the required TFS functionality can be delivered earlier but no later than the above date. We recognise that it may not be possible to develop all required Service functionality digitally (through TFS) in time to meet Grant Opportunity demand (i.e. when Grants must run on TFS rather than on the legacy service) and we will work with Research Councils to support interim processes when digital functionality cannot be provisioned in time. The product team are working to determine the Missions & Milestones that address the user needs to complete the Minimum Viable Service. The current scope is focused on the mitigation of the of licencing expiration and to move the service into ‘LIVE’ state, including: • Mission 3: Managing maturing awards > comprising of the ability to manage an award over the lifecycle (from payment to closure) and the migration of awards data from the burning platform (currently in Discovery via another Supplier-led statement of work). • Mission 4: Ability to cater for all research opportunity types including flexible payment mechanism, studentship data needs and digital data capture of all application information. The Programme is seeking a Digital Delivery Partner to provide delivery teams to produce deliverable increments in a buyer-led agile development. Therefore, clarity on the future missions and milestones will drive more defined statements of work be managed in collaboration with the supplier. Which phase the project is in Beta Existing team UKRI is currently providing the following Agile Delivery roles: • 1 x Service Owner (SBF Programme Director). • 1 x Product Lead. • 4 x Product Managers. • 1 x Delivery Manager. • 1 x Technical Lead (Enterprise Architect). • 2 x Solution Architect. • 1 x Lead Service Designer. • 2 x Service Design. • 4 x Interaction Designer. • 3 x User Researcher. • 4 x Software Developers. • 1 x Tester. • 2 x Content Designer. • 1 x Performance Analyst. We also have 2 x Discovery Teams (each comprising of 1 x Product Manager, 1 x BA, 1 x Service Design 1 x UR). There is a Helpdesk Function within UKRI that acts as First Line Support for TFS. A separate Data Migration team is onboard but we expect our DP to support and help to enable this work. We also have 4 x Council Business Partners who work directly with Research Councils to understand their Grant Opportunity demand to help us shape the schedule of Grants coming on to TFS. Roles currently fulfilled by our incumbent DP: • 1 x Delivery Manager. • 3 x Tech Lead. • 20 x Software Developer (front and back end). • 3 x Business Analyst. • 3 x Test. • 3 x DevOps. It’s important to state that we are not wedded to the existing resource profile, ways of working or balance of skills. We are keen for bidders to propose the optimal composition of capability to deliver the required Outcomes to high levels of quality and just as crucially within time & budget. The above complement is the current resourcing structure with the incumbent DP. We expect the successful bidder to offer flexibility in the number/balance of resource profile needed, depending on what we need to deliver the stated outcomes. The SBF Programme has the following workstreams to support the delivery of Outcomes: Digital: Lead by the Product Lead and Technical Lead, who are both members of the SBF Senior Leadership Team (SLT), this workstream oversees digital delivery of TFS, defines Service Missions & Milestones and assigns priority to all digital work. It also steers and assures the overall technical direction of the work. Policy: Lead by the Head of Policy, who is a member of the SBF Senior Leadership Team (SLT), this workstream ensures that UKRI Grants Policy is up to date with the transformational objectives of the Programme. Business Transformation: Lead by the Head of Business Transformation, who is a member of the SBF SLT, this workstream works closely with Research Councils through a network of Business Partners to understand their Grants demand (i.e. when Grants must run on TFS). It also works to understand the impact of limited digital or non-digital capability on Research Councils business processes and Operations. Communications and Training: Lead by the Head of Communications & Training, who is a member of the SLT, this workstream works closely with Research Councils to ensure they are receiving the right messages from the Programme, that we are receiving the right messages from Councils and that Training is in place to support their onboarding to TFS. Programme Management Office (PMO): Lead by the Programme Delivery Manager, who is a member of the SLT, this workstream tracks the delivery of the SBF Programme (inc. the delivery of TFS), manages budgets, tracks risks & issues, manages Assurance activities. All SBF workstreams report to the Service Owner / Programme Director Anne Sofield. The Senior Responsible Office (SRO) is Professor Sir Duncan Wingham. The total SBF Programme staff complement, including the incumbent DP is some 90 FTE. The resource complement is comprised of UKRI staff, independent contractors, the incumbent and one other DP. Address where the work will be done UKRI Polaris House Swindon Wiltshire SN2 1FL The office is 2 mins walk from Swindon train station. We offer a hybrid working environment, so home working or supplier office working is also expected. Working arrangements In order to succeed and deliver Outcomes to challenging timelines, we expect to forge a strong, open and collaborative partnership with the successful DP founded upon transparency, visibility of progress, swift discussion of barriers, mutual respect and trust. We expect to work in lockstep to achieve success. The programme operates with a ‘one team’ mindset and we expect the DP to work with us in this way too. While we make extensive use of video conferencing to collaborate, we do have access to a large open-plan Agile space at Swindon and we expect to make regular and proactive use of this collaborative workspace. As stated above, we expect our DP to bring people to our Swindon HQ at least once a week (usually Tuesdays) and sometimes more often as need arises. A formal Contract Management Plan will be agreed as part of the onboarding process, which will contain further clarity on how all the relevant resources work together, clear delivery risk responsibilities and how success will be measured Provide more information about your security requirements: Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS) Provide more information about your security requirements (optional): Onsite attendance at Polaris House requires basic security disclosure (BPSS). It is government policy that individuals should not be expected to hold an existing security clearance in order to apply for posts that require vetting, except where such posts are short term and need to be filled urgently. UKRI is willing to organise security clearance and sponsor the successful supplier through this process if they are successfully awarded a contract and need the BPSS. Latest start date 2023-06-27 Enter the expected contract length: 1 year, 9 months and 5 days Special terms and conditions Not applicable Write the term or acronym: UKRI Write the term or acronym: SBF Write the term or acronym: TFS Write the term or acronym: Public Beta Write the term or acronym: Live Write the term or acronym: CSF Write the term or acronym: DP Write the term or acronym: FBC Write the term or acronym: VfM Write the term or acronym: BAU Write the term or acronym: CDDO Write the term or acronym: IPA Write the term or acronym: ERM Write the term or acronym: DB Write the term or acronym: SHARP Write the term or acronym: RE Write the term or acronym: IUK Write the term or acronym: UK SBS Write the term or acronym: MVS Explain the term or acronym: UK Research & innovation (UKRI) – the name of our organisation. Explain the term or acronym: Simpler & Better Funding (SBF) – the name of the Programme. Explain the term or acronym: The Funding Service (TFS) – the name of the digital Grants Funding service that we are delivering. Explain the term or acronym: Public Beta – the specific phase of the Service delivery where a digital service is deemed compliant with the Government Digital Service Standard Beta Phase. Explain the term or acronym: Live – the specific phase of Service delivery where a digital service is deemed compliant with the Government Digital Service Standard Live Phase. Explain the term or acronym: Critical Success Factor (CSF) – a key measure of delivery success. Explain the term or acronym: Delivery Partner (DP) – we assume that the winning Supplier will act as a principal Delivery Partner, ensuring the delivery of SBF Outcomes on time. Explain the term or acronym: Full Business Case (FBC) – a written document that drives the purpose of the programme, described the approach and budget and forecasts the benefits. Explain the term or acronym: Value for Money (VfM) – the most advantageous combination of time, cost, quality and sustainability to meet requirements. Explain the term or acronym: Business As Usual (BAU) – the expected standard operating capacity & capability. Explain the term or acronym: Central Digital and Data Office (CDDO) – the Government Body accountable for Digital practices & standards across Gov. Explain the term or acronym: Infrastructure and Projects Authority (IPA) – an Assurance framework that SBF is subject to. Explain the term or acronym: Enterprise Resource Management (ERM) – a separate project within the Data Programme, which itself is a separate Major Programme within UKRI. ERM will provide Customer Relationship Management (CRM) capability, a key dependency for TFS. Explain the term or acronym: DataBank (DB) – a separate project within the Data Programme, which itself is a separate Major Programme within UKRI. DB will enable an enterprise information repository service with analytics capability, a key dependency for TFS. Explain the term or acronym: Services for HR, Accounting, Reporting and Procurement (SHARP) – a separate Major Programme within UKRI that will provision a new Cloud-based Oracle suite to enable Grants payment capability (along with other UKRI enterprise pay and HR functionality not relevant to SBF), a key dependency for TFS. Explain the term or acronym: Research England (RE) – a member of the UKRI Group responsible for funding and engaging with English Higher Education providers and within scope to onboard to TFS. Explain the term or acronym: Innovate UK (IUK) – a member of the UKRI Group responsible for funding business-led innovation in all sectors, technologies and UK regions and within scope to onboard to TFS. Explain the term or acronym: UK Shared Business Services (UK SBS) – the 3rd Party Shared Services Directorate the currently supports the legacy Grants Service (Jes, Siebel and associated systems) and the Grants Finance Service (GFS), a critical interface that rests between the old and the new Grants services and the Oracle payment system. Explain the term or acronym: Minimum Viable Service (MVS) – the defined minimum amount of functionality required in TFS to allow each of the 7 Research Councils to run all their Grants Opportunities end to end on TFS Are you prepared to show your budget details?: Yes Indicative maximum: 8250000 Provide further information: We anticipate a per calendar month (pcm) rate no higher than £450k. We expect the pcm rate to reduce as we move through Beta and into Live / BAU. We reserve the right to review the budget for FY 2024/25 based on UKRI Finance approval of our overall Programme budget and reduce the overall budget accordingly. Confirm if you require a contracted out service or supply of resource Contracted out service: the off-payroll rules do not apply Summary of work The Simpler & Better Funding (SBF) Programme in UKRI is building a new Cloud-based digital Service (The Funding Service – TFS) to simplify and harmonise the funding process for its 9 Research Councils (including Research England – RE and Innovate UK – IUK) to support research and innovation in the UK. The transformation includes major simplification and standardisation of Grants Funding Opportunities & Funding Types and the Business Operations and Processes clustered around them, as UKRI grows to support the needs of its stakeholders and UK Gov. At the time of writing this specification, TFS is in Private Beta with a small number of Pilot Grants Opportunities (less than 20) presently running through the new Service. We are seeking a Delivery Partner (DP) to roll out Public Beta at high volume throughout the remainder of 2023 (300+ Grants Opportunities and 9000+ Grant Applications). This will see all 7 Research Councils run their Grants on the new TFS service by the end of 2023. Throughout 2024-25 we will broaden TFS to onboard the remaining UKRI Grants types (those Grants sponsored by RE & IUK) and move from Public Beta into Live (Business As Usual – BAU) phase. One of our Critical Success factors (CSFs) is to be able to decommission the old legacy Grants Funding service by 31-December 2023. Enabling decommissioning of legacy services through ensuring that all Grants can run on TSF is an essential milestone. The DP will augment the programme in the areas of technical digital delivery, using an iterative or agile approach. Where the supplied staff will work South West England Where the supplied staff will work No specific location (for example they can work remotely) Who the organisation using the products or services is UK Research & innovation (UKRI) Why the work is being done UKRI & SBF are building TFS to respond to Government drivers to make Grants Funding processes more transparent, less bureaucratic and easier navigate (see Tickell Review). UKRI was formed from nine independent organisations, with different funding systems, services and processes. With the creation of UKRI as a single entity, there is an urgent need to deliver standardisation, consistency and predictability through our funding service, to the benefit of internal and external users. Furthermore, the existing UKRI Grants Funding Service is out of date, not user centric, expensive to run and difficult to maintain & improve. There is a great deal of duplicative and non-value add processes and too many different ways whereby Grants are launched, assessed and awarded. The SBF Programme was created to streamline and simplify this. A new digital Grants service (TFS) is being built in line with Government Best Practice from a ‘Green Field’ to ensure the new service meets both user and UKRI needs, is cheaper to run and can be regularly & easily improved. SBF is underpinned by a Full Business Case (FBC). This describes in detail what the Programme will achieve internally and externally. At a high level SBF is looking for a technical DP to deliver the following FBC Outcomes through the delivery of the new Digital Service: Internal Outcomes: • Streamline & simplify Grants Funding business processes. • Digitise the Grants Funding Service (to allow all UKRI Grants to run end to end on TFS). • Enable the retirement of legacy Grants Funding services (in part by migrating all legacy Grants Data off this service). • Improve the overall quality of Grants Funding data. External Outcomes: • Make it easier for external applicants to apply for Grants Funding. • Make it quicker for external applicants to receive Grants Funding. The legacy Grants Service will be unavailable to run new Grants from 31-December 2023. So TFS must encompass the functional capability and non-functional capacity (inc. User Support capability & capacity) to run all Research Council Grants at BAU volumes by that date. The DP will be accountable for delivering the technical / digital elements of the SBF programme, while working with business specialists using a ‘one team’ mindset. The business problem you need to solve The DP must provide the technical capability to deliver: 1. Public Beta iteration of TFS that allows all 7 UKRI Research Councils to run all their Grants by 31-December 2023. 2. Live iteration of TFS that allows Research England (RE) & Innovate UK (IUK) Grants to run by 31-March 2025. Timeline: Outcome 1. Q1 23/24 TSF must Pass CDDO Public Beta Assessment. • TFS must be deemed compliant with the (old) 18 Service Standard: https://www.gov.uk/service-manual/service-assessments/pre-july-2019-digital-service-standard. • Note that this contract may be awarded after we have passed the Beta Assessment or have recommendations to address. Outcome 2. Q1 23/24 TFS Public Beta phase must commence: • All 7 Research Councils able to run all Grants at BAU scale & volume on TFS by December 2023. • Note that this contract may be awarded after we have commenced the Public Beta phase. Outcome 3. Q3 23/24 TFS must Pass IPA Gate 4 Readiness for Service: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ogc-gateway-review-4-readiness-for-service-guidance-and-templates. Outcome 4. Q3 23/24 All Grants data migrated off legacy Grants Service and onto TFS and other systems (for example, ERM / DataBank). Outcome 5. Q4 23/24 TSF must Pass CDDO Live Assessment. • TFS must be deemed compliant with the (old) 18 Service Standard: https://www.gov.uk/service-manual/service-assessments/pre-july-2019-digital-service-standard. Outcome 5. Q1 to Q4 24/25 TFS Live phase must commence: • Innovate UK (IUK) and Research England (RE) able to run all Grants at BAU scale & volume on TFS by March 2025. In order to deliver the above Outcomes, we expect the DP to provide the following capabilities: • Manage Agile delivery to time (Delivery Management). • Deliver the functional features to allow all UKRI Grants to run in TFS (Technical Leadership, Business Analysis, Software Development, Environment Management, Release Management). • Deliver the non-functional features to allow TFS to operate reliably at high volumes (Technical Leadership, Business Analysis, Software Development, Environment Management, Release Management). • Harden the service, eliminate technical debt (Technical Leadership, Business Analysis, Software Development). • Offer Continuous Improvement & User Support capability (Delivery Management, Business Analysis, Software Development). • Oversee all Testing of TFS (Test Leadership, Test Management, QA). • Support Data Migration off legacy platforms (Business Analysis, Software Development, Data Engineering). • Work with other Major Programmes (such as ERM / SHARP / DataBank) to enable seamless System and Data Integration and System Integration Testing (SIT) (Technical Leadership, Business Analysis, Data Engineering). Capabilities to enable the above Outcomes not required from the DP because they will be met by the SBF Programme include: • Service Ownership. • Product Management. • User Centred Design (UCD). • Service Design (SD). • User Research (UR). • Interaction Design (IX). • Programme Management. • Business Change. • Policy Change. • Communications. • Training. • Discovery. Risks Include: • Dependencies on other Major Programmes (e.g. ERM / SHARP / DataBank). • Complex SIT between systems (e.g. TFS > GFS > SHARP). • Challenging timelines to deliver. • Must provide Service Support capacity while we continue to scale Beta. • Appropriate scalability is in place to allow Grants to run at volume. Please find attached to this specification a Statement of Work, which covers the next 6 months’ digital build. Suppliers that have been successful to the award stage will be asked to price against this Statement of Work (SoW) during the second stage of this procurement. Suppliers are encouraged to ask as many questions as possible during the permitted clarification period in order to fully understand the requirement and cost accurately for the SoW. Cost provided for this SoW will be used for the price evaluation of this procurement. The successful supplier will need to sign a non-disclosure agreement at contract award stage. Suppliers must provide proof of GDPR compliance. Necessary DP accreditation is required or evidence that you are "working towards" attaining official accreditation. Suppliers must adhere to UKRI’s information security and GDPR policies. First user type: As an external applicant, I need to: First user type: As an external Research Office user, I need to: First user type: As an external Reviewer or panellist, I need to: First user type: As an Internal User, I need to: First user type: As UKRI, we need: Enter more details about this user type: • Apply for and manage my grant funding. • Have a single, simplified gateway to all UKRI funding. Enter more details about this user type: • Oversee, approve, and manage the grant applications submitted by applicants. • Have a single, simplified gateway to all UKRI funding. Enter more details about this user type: • Review, score, and submit feedback on applications. Enter more details about this user type: • Create and manage an opportunity. • Manage applications, peer review, award offers, project setup. • Pay funding and claims. • Manage project assurance. • Evaluate impact of the funding. Enter more details about this user type: • A future proof, secure, fully tested, integrated digital Grants funding service delivered on time that enables all UKRI Grants to run, can be easily iterated and improved, and represents good Value for Money (VfM). • A new Funding service that enables internal efficiencies through delivery of this service (for example, an overall reduction in the internal staff time needed to operate TFS).