This opportunity is closed for applications

The deadline was Tuesday 2 March 2021

Welsh Government

eProcurement Landscape Wales - Discovery

26 Incomplete applications

24 SME, 2 large

27 Completed applications

25 SME, 2 large

• Published: Tuesday 16 February 2021
• Deadline for asking questions: Tuesday 23 February 2021 at 11:59pm GMT
• Closing date for applications: Tuesday 2 March 2021 at 11:59pm GMT

Overview

• Summary of the work: We are looking for a supplier to work with us to help us understand the user needs of public buyers, including procurement tools and data. We also want to understand the user needs of suppliers to the Welsh public sector.
• Latest start date: Wednesday 5 May 2021
• Expected contract length: 3 months with option to extend for up to another 3 months
• Location: Wales
• Organisation the work is for: Welsh Government
• Budget range: Up to £80,000

About the work

• Why the work is being done: There is an opportunity to make changes and improve the user experience and the way the Welsh public sector uses eProcurement tools to buy and manage the procurement lifecycle, including how to maximise the use of procurement data. There are a number of upcoming potential policy changes to procurement and a new digital strategy. The current eProcurement tools are also nearing their contract review points. ; ; Welsh Government would like to review the current experience for buyers and suppliers with a view to future improvements and creating a refreshed eProcurement digital action plan for the future.
• Problem to be solved: We are looking for a supplier to help us understand the needs of Welsh public sector buyers as well as suppliers: ; ; What is the current experience for buyers, across a range of tools and platforms? ; How can buying be made easier, faster and better? ; What is the current experience for suppliers? ; How can doing business with the Welsh public be made easier, faster and better?; How can the changing policy landscape be best used to make improvements? ; Are we collecting the right data? Is it usable? Is it being collected the best way? ; How can the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act have an impact on procurement in Wales and growing the foundational economy?
• Who the users are and what they need to do: Buyers across the public sector in Wales; Suppliers (and potential) to the public sector in Wales; Data teams; Policy makers
• Any work that’s already been done: This is a new project, there is no incumbent supplier working on this project.
• Existing team: The discovery will be led by the Centre on behalf of the Welsh Government (WG). ; ; WG Commercial & Procurement and Sell2Wales will be key partners. ; ; They will play several roles: ; part of the evaluation panel for this procurement; facilitators to access user groups; key stakeholders; owners for future roadmap / digital action plan of work
• Current phase: Discovery

Work setup

• Address where the work will take place: We expect this work will be done remotely for the foreseeable future. Should official guidance change during the duration of this engagement, you may be expected to attend meetings across Wales.
• Working arrangements: We expect this work will be done remotely for the foreseeable future. Should official guidance change during the duration of this engagement, you may be expected to attend meetings across Wales.
• Security clearance: At minimum a security clearance at Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS) will be required.

Additional information

• Additional terms and conditions: Please note that this discovery and any subsequent phases will be conducted under the standard contract, and to the Welsh Digital Service Standards. Please also bear in mind the implications of the Welsh Language Act and the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act.

Skills and experience

Buyers will use the essential and nice-to-have skills and experience to help them evaluate suppliers’ technical competence.

• Essential skills and experience:
  • Demonstrable experience of completing rapid discovery projects involving user research and business analysis in relation to digital products/services.
  • evidence of working on agile projects as part of a multidisciplinary team
  • In-depth understanding and experience of presenting clear, compelling, evidence-based recommendations for change based on primary and secondary research.
  • Describe your processes (supported by an example) for identifying and engaging the users/stakeholders and how the needs/requirements will be understood and documented.
  • Describe your capability or experience of capturing complex user journeys/interactions, with a view to identifying where needs are being met or not being met.
  • Demonstrable experience on a discovery that involves data (disparate sources, structures, etc).
• Nice-to-have skills and experience:
  • Experience of working in the open and regularly sharing with a wide audience
  • Experience working on public sector procurement projects at national, UK or global level
  • Provide an example of where policy & technology constraints were identified and considered as part of a Discovery.

How suppliers will be evaluated

All suppliers will be asked to provide a written proposal.

• How many suppliers to evaluate: 5
• Proposal criteria:
  • Your proposed team and their roles
  • The proposed approach to conducting the discovery phase
  • How to create a compelling case for change after discovery
  • How to create understanding and alignment with senior leaders and stakeholders
  • Your proposed timeframes
  • Costs
  • Risks and mitigations
• Cultural fit criteria:
  • Working as a team with our organisation and other suppliers
  • Being transparent and collaborative when making decisions
  • Sharing your work frequently, openly, honestly
  • Challenging the status quo and preconceptions
  • Provide evidence of your company's approach to diversity and inclusion
• Payment approach: Capped time and materials
• Additional assessment methods: Presentation
• Evaluation weighting:

  Technical competence

  50%

  Cultural fit

  20%

  Price

  30%

Questions asked by suppliers

• 1. What role will Proactis play in this Discovery, given the support they provide to Sell2Wales? Will they be key partners in the project?: There is no specific role for Proactis in this discovery other than as a potential stakeholder.
• 2. Buyer Clarification: Please note this work will be led on a day-to-day basis by the Centre for Digital Public Services
• 3. can you please confirm the organisations which are in scope for the discovery phase and the number of participants from each organisation: The whole of the public sector in Wales is in scope and should have the opportunity to feed into the research in the most appropriate ways.
• 4. can you please confirm how many suppliers are anticipated to be in scope for the discovery review: There are two types of suppliers:; 1. eProcurement tooling suppliers. This is a defined market.; 2. Suppliers to the welsh public sector. ; We would expect the supplier that is successful in delivering the Discovery phase to be able to propose suitable engagement methods and an approach which will provide the opportunity for all types of stakeholders to inform the way forward
• 5. can you please confirm the eProcurement tools which are in scope for the review?: The current tools that WG fund for the WPS are:; Sell2Wales (via Proactis); eTenderwales (eSourcing via Jaggaer);; eTradingwales (via Basware);; ePaymentcards (via Barclaycard);; Sell2Wales; Spend data analysis (via Atamis). ; However, some organisations have invested in their own tools. The focus of the review is primarily the tools that WG fund. We don’t currently have a remit to instruct organisations to use the tools.
• 6. Any indication of the volume of stakeholders both buy side and supply side: This will be determined as part of the discovery exercise
• 7. Any indication of volume of existing data sets/databases with relevant data owners and policy units: The successful bidder will be asked to engage with the WG Data Science Unit who have been and are currently reviewing the data sets that are available. No direct access will be needed to the actual data sets. The successful bidder will asked to validate the approach being taken by the data science unit and to provide options on how we could potentially get more from the data.
• 8. Are costs (equipment, travel, accommodation) to be included in proposal price?: This work can be undertaken remotely so it is expected that there will be none of these costs involved.
• 9. Is the ‘Future Roadmap / digital action plan of work’ the actual output/objective of Discovery?: Yes, a draft roadmap which will be subject to approval by WG is the output.
• 10. Can we confirm that the nine open questions are all to be answered in this study before deriving the conclusions and Future Roadmap?: Yes
• 11. Please confirm that the appointed stakeholders can facilitate access to policy matters?: Policy clarifications will be directed through a nominated WG contact point.
• 12. Is £80K the max budget over 3 or 6 months?: £80k is the maximum budget including any extension period up to 6 months
• 13. Is this an activity that is expected to be completed in English or both languages?: User research and associated activities will need to be conducted in the language of choice of the participant. This may be Welsh or English. You may need to be able to provide translation facilities
• 14. When was the last user research/testing conducted in this area? Which methodologies were used for this? Can we see the outcomes of that please: This will be the first user research testing undertaken
• 15. Are there existing analytics applied to the existing procurement tools? If so, upon award is access able to be provided for this?: Can you clarify what analytics you are specifically looking for please.
• 16. Are there existing personas for the user groups identified? If so, how were these generated? E.g. stakeholder discussions or based on user research data?: There are no existing personas for the user groups.
• 17. Are there existing user journeys documenting the existing journeys users experience when going through the current process? If so, are these able to be shared upon award?: There are no existing user journeys.
• 18. How many sites and apps are included in the eProcurement landscape? How many users do they have? How many visits per month do they have, and what are the drop-off rates?: The current eProcurement tools mentioned above are available for use across the Welsh Public sector. Usage information will be made available to those suppliers invited to stage 2 of this process
• 19. When will the upcoming policy changes and new digital strategy be released?: The new draft digital strategy for Wales has been blogged about recently. https://digitalanddata.blog.gov.wales/category/digital-strategy/. The strategy is still subject to formal approval by Ministers. A consultation on procurement reform and the UKG green paper is currently ongoing and no decision has yet been made about whether Wales adopts the green paper or not.
• 20. For ‘experience working on public sector procurement projects’, would any project working within the public sector suffice or do you require procurement projects in that sector specifically?: We would expect the successful supplier to have specific experience of procurement projects in the public sector.
• 21. Can you clarify how the Welsh Language Act and the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act will impact on the project?: All digital tools are required to meet standards set under the Welsh Language Act these will be shared as part of the invitation to submit a proposal at stage 2 of this process. The implications of the Well-being of Future Generations Act is one of the policies that the successful supplier will be required to assess as part of the Discovery exercise.
• 22. Can you tell us more about what your project team structure looks like (roles & responsibilities on the project) and also about how we will come together/interface/collaborate to make one working project team?: The Centre for Digital Public Services will be responsible for the day to day running of this work. The Centre will provide a delivery lead for the duration of the work. Welsh Government will provide expert input as required. We expect to work as one team with the successful supplier.
• 23. You mention that your team members will be there, in part, to act as ‘facilitators to access user groups’. By this do you mean you’ll be giving us access to relevant stakeholders or that you will be involved in the recruitment of research participants?: The successful supplier will be provided with contact details of organisations to be included within the engagement exercise. It will be the responsibility of the successful supplier to recruit research participants within those organisations, with support from the Delivery Lead.
• 24. Supplemental clarification to question 21: Bidders will be expected to fully understand all existing Welsh legislation and its importance across Wales