2023UoS-0750 Provision of CRM design, development, implementation and ongoing support.-closed

Tender description

Work done so far Development as a fully hosted managed (SaaS) solution of a Microsoft Dynamics Platform and the following: • Online Portal – Microsoft Power Pages, PowerApps Portal - Existing Operational areas – PGT Admission, Recruitment, Student Communications and Enquiries -Reporting and Dashboard – Power BI. • Bug fixes to live solutions. • Support of the solution and integration technologies including but not limited to portal, triggers, flows, security roles, SharePoint. • Migrations from existing systems. We expect the preferred partner to be able to understand and work with a number of other supporting University systems and extend and improve their existing integrations to deliver a holistic solution . The following integrations have been built and are detailed below: • Alteryx • Gecko • Ellucian Banner • SharePoint • WPM Payment Gateway (using Azure Function) • Azure B2C • Unit 4 Business World • Power BI • Duplicare Data8 (De-duplication tool) • Hobsons Connect • any other data capture products or agencies that may arise Which phase the project is in Not applicable Existing team The University of Southampton CRM Programme team consists of permanent resources across the capability framework, supplemented by contractors this includes but is not limited to: Programme Manager – Responsible for co-ordinating the projects under the CRM Programme within the University. Project Managers – Responsible for individual projects within the CRM programme. Business Analysts – responsible for working with the business to capture their requirements for the projects within the CRM programme. Dynamics platform engineers – responsible for providing a set level of support on the existing Dynamics platform and working with the supplier as necessary to provide that support. Product owners – responsible for overseeing the development and implementation of projects specific to their business areas. Test lead and test analyst – responsible for working with the business and supplier to identify the test plan and the execution of that plan. University Application Architect – responsible for reviewing changes impacting the wider IT estate through superior architecture. HCL Technologies UK Limited are the supplier that provide the current software development services and support. We expect flexibility in any proposed service and financial model to replace supplier resource with internal team members during the contract. Where required, collaboration with other suppliers may be necessary. This contract will not prevent us from using other commercial arrangements. Address where the work will be done Southampton. The CRM Programme Team are based in University of Southampton, 1 Guildhall Square, Southampton. SO14 7HP. The majority of CRM users are based University of Southampton Highfield Campus. University Road, Southampton. SO17 1BJ Working arrangements Remotely & Onsite as detailed below. The supplier will be required to work in our Southampton offices as and when required to support particular project activities, e.g. workshops. As our team is largely remote day to day meetings can be carried out remotely. Rates must be fully inclusive of all costs, expenses, travel and subsistence. Office Hours are 9am - 5pm Monday to Friday based in our offices at Guildhall Square or at Highfield Campus, excluding Bank Holidays and University Closure days that are published on the website here: Closure days and public holidays | Human Resources | University of Southampton Individual statements of work (clearly defining working arrangements) will be agreed and aligned to discrete delivery phases, with robust onboarding and contract management practices in place. We anticipate a maximum of 5-10 concurrent statement of works running at any one time. Provide more information about your security requirements: Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS) Provide more information about your security requirements (optional): Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS) Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) Successful supplier must be able to demonstrate that proposed team members have been subject to Baseline Personnel Security Standards checks. Suppliers will also be required to complete a supplier security assurance form to ensure they meet the required standard. Latest start date 2023-12-08 Enter the expected contract length: 2 years Extension period: 1 year Are you prepared to show your budget details?: Yes Indicative maximum: 10000000 Provide further information: Not committed spend, this is a none exclusive call off requirement. 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 University (of Southampton) wishes to select a preferred partner to assist in design, development, implementation and ongoing support of existing and new solutions and enhancement of the Microsoft Dynamics platform under the Universities CRM programme. This activity will be managed by the University Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Programme. Previously, there were two major streams of delivery that the CRM programme will need ongoing support for: Recruitment & Postgraduate Taught (PGT) Admissions and Student Communications. Future stages of the programme will look to increasingly implement Microsoft Dynamics to more teams across the University and increase the use of its functionality. This will include but is not limited to: • Stabilisation and enhancement of existing solutions • Enterprise Projects - Business to Business CRM • Continual Professional Development (CPD) • Marketing and Admissions across a number of different course offerings • Student experience The programme will deliver in a number of projects, each with its own business case. For each project there may be a requirement to carry out discovery, design and build , test, business change, training, implementation and support. Where the supplied staff will work South East England Where the supplied staff will work South West England Who the organisation using the products or services is University of Southampton Why the work is being done The University of Southampton are keen to support our Triple Helix Strategy which includes Education, Research and Knowledge Exchange and Enterprise with people being at the core of what we do. The Universities core purpose is to inspire excellence to achieve the remarkable and build an inclusive world. We want to provide the best student experience possible. To support this strategy, we have implemented Microsoft Dynamics CRM as the Customer Relationship Management system (CRM). It is being used by Postgraduate Taught (PGT) Admissions, Recruitment, applicant Enquiries and Student Communications advisors to support applicants, students and agents and build up management information. It holds records of PGT Applications, Recruitment Events, applicant and agent enquiries and Student Communications and helps the University manage the student journey and enables us to track and report on the targeted support provided. To deliver on the University's collaborative vision: "We build sustainable, inclusive communities through strong partnerships", demands new tools and processes for managing the relationships with our students, research community, commercial partners and stakeholders. We believe Microsoft Dynamics CRM will be the strategic platform for delivering this vision. We are seeking to: • stabilise our current functionality. • improve the portal offering. We also wish to expand functionality to support additional direct applications and future marketing requirements. Thus, enabling agile communications journeys which can be built and adapted by internal teams according to changing market needs. We are seeking the ability to centrally log, maintain and report on all internal and external partner activity in order to provide organisational excellence and align with the University’s strategy including having digitally enabled modern IT systems as well as refining processes to improve efficiency and reduce complexity of our front and back- office processes. We also want provision of support for existing and future solutions. The business problem you need to solve The University has an existing contract that is coming up for renewal and we want to take the opportunity to revisit the current offering and new opportunities. The University requires capability and access to resources specifically Microsoft Dynamics CRM Specialists that can: • Build and provide an ongoing support model. • Maintain the software element of our technology products. • Integrate with multi-disciplinary and (typically) agile project teams to design, build and deliver the required services. The partner will be able to provide appropriately skilled resources to work alongside the University of Southampton team to deliver on these activities and to upskill or transfer knowledge to the current team where appropriate. We envisage that capability will be supplied within two weeks of request (via a Scope of Works (SoW)) so that we can: • Quickly flex up and down the right delivery capacity to meet the scale of change for each activity. • Onboard/Utilise the correctly skilled personnel for the right period of time. • Bridge existing gaps in capability with the right experienced resource. Stabilise and build upon existing live solutions, this includes: • Applications for Postgraduate Taught (PGT) • Recruitment • Student Communications • Student Application Enquiries New developments will include but not limited to: • Enterprise projects - business to business • Continual Professional Development (CPD) • Marketing and Admissions across a number of different course offerings • Student experience Direct student applications service improvements will include: • Improve applicant/student/agent/user experience by reducing turnaround times impacted by lack of automation and decentralised systems. • Provision of a technical support model for the existing and proposed solutions including support for MS Dynamics CRM wave releases and other updates or changes from Microsoft that impact the Dynamics platform.  Analysis will be completed over the next 6-12 months to define projects and outcomes and enter into discovery phases. First user type: As a Programme team, we need to run discoveries and develop software services to design, build, run and provide ongoing support services. This may require a full team, or individuals to complement the team we have (subject to outcome need). Enter more details about this user type: As a Programme team, we need to run discoveries and develop software services to design, build, run and provide ongoing support services. This may require a full team, or individuals to complement the team we have (subject to outcome need). The Data and Performance team need to develop data services that provide information and decision support, discovery insights, share knowledge and track performance. The admissions team use the current product to view, review and manage Postgraduate taught applications, through to final decision, monitoring numbers at each stage and communicating with applicants and agents via case management and application portal. The Student Recruitment Marketing and Events team track and manage the applicant journey from enquirer through to application. They need to be able to send relevant transactional and conversion emails, monitoring performance at each stage, and adapting the messaging or campaign build in response to market needs. They also need to be able to log bespoke communications with potential applicants via case management. They need to be able to identify trends and patterns across the whole prospect life cycle enquiry, application and events. The student communications team track and send comms to enrolled students. The academics use the system currently to review applicants on the academic portal and inform the admissions team of their recommendation for the postgraduate taught applications. The agents apply on behalf of post graduate taught applicants and manage the application through the admissions process on the agent portal. As a PGT applicant applies for a post graduate taught programme and application is managed through the admissions process on the applicant portal. As Service Delivery Manager the University need effective support for our users for existing and new CRM Dynamics solutions to ensure stability of the platform. In the future we envisage the following: As an agent, applicant /student applicants need to be able to apply for a course/event/enquiry in an efficient, effective and accessible way and track progress of that application/event/enquiry. As a member of staff who deals with course applications (this could be Faculty of arts and humanities, study abroad team, graduate school, admissions, continued professional development team in health sciences) the need is to improve upon the current PGT functionality and extend to other programmes. The need is to be able to review and manage any applications through to final decision. Monitoring numbers at each stage and manage communications with applicants and agents via case management and application portal. Marketing needs to inform external and internal partners of events and have tailored communications. Questions and Clarifications 1. Hello, Within 'Attachment 1 Statement of Requirements' it is stated that 'this is a none exclusive call off requirement', could you please clarify whether you intend or may choose to appoint multiple suppliers. The intention is to engage a single supplier for this procurement. However, it is none exclusive to allow for related programs of work to be competitively tendered if not within the scope. Last Updated: 6 October 2023, 15:18 2. Hello, Within 'Attachment 1 Statement of Requirements' it is stated that 'this is a none exclusive call off requirement', could you please clarify whether you intend or may choose to appoint multiple suppliers. The intention is to engage a single supplier for this procurement. However, it is none exclusive to allow for related programs of work to be competitively tendered if not within the scope. Last Updated: 6 October 2023, 15:18 3. Should stage 1 responses be provided within the provided word document? It appears that the document only provides a single cell for all essential responses The response should be via the DoS portal for all questions. However, for the 17 question in the Essential Skills and Experience, the attached response documents can be used, as the on line CAS tool has a single Cell, limiting. See Annex 4 Stage 1 Bid Pack. This is only for the 17 questions within that section. Supplier should note on the portal - See attachment Annex 4 if used. Last Updated: 6 October 2023, 15:15 4. In reference to question #17, we have delivered Microsoft Dynamics solutions to local authorities, but not to the HE sector. Will this be acceptable from a qualification point of view or will it be considered a 'fail' and as such, a disqualified bid? In response to your question regarding the following ‘Confirm that you have delivered Microsoft Dynamics solutions to a Higher Education provider within the last 3 years. (Yes/No Pass/Fail)’ – However, similar highly regulated / public sector organisation will be acceptable if the supplier demonstrates they are comparable in complexity. Where this threshold is not met the submission will be awarded ‘Fail’. You are directed to File 2, 4.2 Procurement Evaluation, which explains further the scoring methodology and states: ‘Where a question has a discretionary “Pass/Fail” score, the University is entitled to exclude you from consideration if you are unable to provide a compliant answer to the question’. ‘The information provided will be taken into account by the University in considering whether or not you will be able to proceed any further in respect of this procurement’. Last Updated: 6 October 2023, 13:28 5. In reference to question #17, we have delivered Microsoft Dynamics solutions to local authorities, but not to the HE sector. Will this be acceptable from a qualification point of view or will it be considered a 'fail' and as such, a disqualified bid? In response to your question regarding the following ‘Confirm that you have delivered Microsoft Dynamics solutions to a Higher Education provider within the last 3 years. (Yes/No Pass/Fail)’ – However, similar highly regulated / public sector organisation will be acceptable if the supplier demonstrates they are comparable in complexity. Where this threshold is not met the submission will be awarded ‘Fail’. You are directed to File 2, 4.2 Procurement Evaluation, which explains further the scoring methodology and states: ‘Where a question has a discretionary “Pass/Fail” score, the University is entitled to exclude you from consideration if you are unable to provide a compliant answer to the question’. ‘The information provided will be taken into account by the University in considering whether or not you will be able to proceed any further in respect of this procurement’. Last Updated: 6 October 2023, 13:28 6. Will UoS consider a hybrid delivery model (i.e., teams located onsite / onshore as well as teams located outside UK) for this project? . The response must meet the needs of the Contracting Authority the individual project need. Therefore, this will be agreed at time of SoW issue. Address where the work will be done Southampton. The CRM Programme Team are based in University of Southampton, 1 Guildhall Square, Southampton. SO14 7HP. The majority of CRM users are based University of Southampton Highfield Campus. University Road, Southampton. SO17 1BJ To support the deliverables the working arrangements are a mix of Remotely & Onsite as detailed below. The supplier will be required to work in our Southampton offices as and when required to support particular project activities, e.g. workshops. As our team is largely remote day to day meetings can be carried out remotely. Rates must be fully inclusive of all costs, expenses, travel and subsistence. Office Hours are 9am - 5pm Monday to Friday based in our offices at Guildhall Square or at Highfield Campus, excluding Bank Holidays and University Closure days that are published on the website here: Closure days and public holidays | Human Resources | University of Southampton Individual statements of work (clearly defining working arrangements) will be agreed and aligned to discrete delivery phases, with robust onboarding and contract management practices in place. We anticipate a maximum of 5-10 concurrent statement of works running at any one time. I draw attention to Essential Skills and Experience Quest number 7: 7. Must be able to work on site at Guildhall Square or Highfield campus when required to deliver the project. Please confirm. (Yes/No, Pass/Fail). Suppliers will be expected to meet the above requirement, the university does not seek to limit beyond these requirement. Last Updated: 6 October 2023, 13:26 7. Please can the Authority provide guidance on how it wishes bidders to response to the down selection question phase as the template for responses states "Responses must be made in English. If you exceed the 750 character count (including spaces) in any response to a question, your application may be considered non-compliant and rejected."? Supplier will respond via CAS to the Stage 1 Questions as follows. The Buyer does not see the supplier side and supplier should utilise the CAS tool . The evaluation of stage 1 will be as follows: There are 17 Essential skills and experience & 2 Desirables Questions. Each has a word limit of 750 words (Key Stroke). Each response should be clearly identified with the question number for example Question 1) Response 1) should be no more than 750 words. Question 2) Response 2) 750 words etc Question 3) Response 3) 750 words etc Suppliers who exceed this should now that those additional words will not be evaluated. Where suppliers include URL, those will not be evaluated. There are within the Essential skills and experience 12 question that require a yes/no response. Those question are pass/fail. Further information can be found in File 2, an attachment. Last Updated: 29 September 2023, 09:04 8. As per our understanding, the only repsonse required to be submitted for this bid for stage 1 is overview of the company and pen portraits of the people who will be doing the discovery across the roles - user researcher, business analyst , service designer. Is our understanding correct? No, Suppliers at stage one are required to respond to the questions with the essential skills and experience & 2 Desirables Questions. These are a mix of yes/no pass/fail questions and scored questions. The top 4 scoring suppliers from stage 1 will be requested to submit a proposal (as per File 2, 3 & 4). Last Updated: 29 September 2023, 09:01 9. Could you please confirm whether the buyer is open to considering the implementation of alternative platforms to Microsoft Dynamics? No, the requirement is for MS Dynamics. Last Updated: 29 September 2023, 09:00 10. CAS does not contain a space for the 'nice to have responses'. Are we expected to respond to these in this document or separately in the document titled 'ocds-pfhb7i-27925-FC-DOS 6 FC L1 Bid Pack - Attachment 3 Responses to Essential and Nice-to-have skills and experience'. Suppliers may use ocds-pfhb7i-27925-FC-DOS 6 FC L1 Bid Pack - Attachment 3 - to respond to the nice to have (2 Questions), as well as the Essential Skills (17 questions), where the CAS tool does limits the response beyond the maximum word count allowed for each question. Last Updated: 10 October 2023, 10:17 11. Good afternoon, I hope you are well. Could you please provide final clarification around the word count for each of the 17 + 2 questions? We are aware that some questions only require a yes or no response. However, for the questions that require a larger answer, can you please confirm that a 750-word count will be accepted? We are keen to gain clarity and ensure that our response aligns with the rules of this engagement. Many thanks! All questions should be responded to in CAS. Each question has a word count of 750 characters. Note for the 17 questions within the Essential Skills, the CAS tool limitation may require suppliers to provide there response as an attachment in word. A template is available by emailing s.lewies@soton.ac.uk. Last Updated: 10 October 2023, 09:04