Awarded to PA Consulting Services Limited (UK)

Start date: Tuesday 1 June 2021
Value: £119,000
Company size: large

Queen's University Belfast

QUB/2057/21 Development and Delivery of Digital Transformation Roadmap

40 Incomplete applications

34 SME, 6 large

47 Completed applications

42 SME, 5 large

• Published: Wednesday 10 February 2021
• Deadline for asking questions: Wednesday 17 February 2021 at 11:59pm GMT
• Closing date for applications: Wednesday 24 February 2021 at 11:59pm GMT

Overview

• Summary of the work: Assist Queen’s in building a 5 year digital transformation roadmap including cost benefit analysis and developing a governance model for the transformation.; ; The Solution Designer must have a proven track record of scoping and costing a Digital Transformation roadmap.
• Latest start date: Wednesday 10 March 2021
• Location: Northern Ireland
• Organisation the work is for: Queen's University Belfast

About the work

• Why the work is being done: Queen’s Univerity Belfast wish to initially engage an experienced Solution Designer who has also a proven track record of scoping and costing a Digital Transformation roadmap, to augment the existing Information Services team at the University.; ; The Digital Transformation Roadmap for project 1 is expected to run from contract start for 3 months. The assigned resource will be engaged full-time during this initial phase.; ; Milestone - Indicative Dates; Complete stakeholder engagement and compile backlog of initiatives 31 Mar 2021; Prepare high-level cost benefit analysis 30 Apr 2021; Agree sequencing 14 May 2021; Build programme roadmap and cost estimate for first year 31 May 2021; Prepare collateral for presentation to Digital Steering Group 31 May 202
• Problem to be solved: Queen’s wish to initially engage an experienced Solution Designer who has also a proven track record of scoping and costing a Digital Transformation roadmap, to augment the existing Information Services team at the University.; ; Project 1 – Assist the Head of Digital Transformation in building a 5 year digital transformation roadmap including cost benefit analysis and developing a governance model for the transformation.; ; The first project will be to compile the backlog of digital transformation initiatives and agree the sequencing with the Digital Transformation Steering Group, based on a cost benefit analysis.; ; Queen’s will require the Economic Operator to appoint a dedicated Solution Designer who has also a proven track record of scoping and costing a Digital Transformation roadmap.
• Who the users are and what they need to do: .
• Existing team: Queen's Information Service team
• Current phase: Not applicable

Work setup

• Address where the work will take place: Queen's University Belfast ; https://www.qub.ac.uk/
• Working arrangements: 3 months initally

Additional information

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:
  • Proven track record of scoping and costing a Digital Transformation roadmap.
  • Design of enterprise scale solutions.
  • Delivery of feasibility studies including cost benefit analysis to senior executives.
  • Development of appropriate governance models
  • Experience of dealing with senior stakeholders (e.g. C-Suite/Board of Directors) and strong communications skills.
• Nice-to-have skills and experience: It is desirable that the solution designer can demonstrate at least 2 years’ experience in the education sector, ideally Higher Education.

How suppliers will be evaluated

All suppliers will be asked to provide a written proposal.

• How many suppliers to evaluate: 6
• Proposal criteria: approach and methodology
• Cultural fit criteria: Economic Operator’s Additional Resources
• Payment approach: Fixed price
• Additional assessment methods:
  • Case study
  • Work history
  • Reference
  • Presentation
• Evaluation weighting:

  Technical competence

  60%

  Cultural fit

  10%

  Price

  30%

Questions asked by suppliers

• 1. Is the expectation to carry out the work onsite throughout the 3-months duration of the project from the start date of 10th March 2021?: Due to the ongoing COVID restrictions Offsite is acceptable but there may be some requirement over the life of the contract for the Economic Operator to be onsite i.e. Key Stakeholder meetings some onsite; ; Please e-mail Gerard Fegan Senior Procurement Officer to request QUB/2057/21 Specification. This document will provide you with the full details of the requirement.; E-mail address is gerard.fegan@qub.ac.uk; ; Unfortunately; this platform will not allow a document to be uploaded.
• 2. What are the working arrangements and will this work be carried out remotely?: Due to the ongoing COVID restrictions Offsite is acceptable but there may be some requirement over the life of the contract for the Economic Operator to be onsite i.e. Key Stakeholder meetings some onsite
• 3. What is the budget for this project?: Thank you for your clarification. Queen’s will not be sharing the budget for the project.
• 4. Is the budget for the proposal to cover only the initial 3-months piece of work to be done prior to full kick-off?: The 1st Project is to – Assist the Head of Digital Transformation in building a 5-year digital transformation roadmap including cost benefit analysis and developing a governance model for the transformation.; ; There is no guarantee of any future projects
• 5. Given current circumstances, will this work be able to be done remotely? And if not, could a majority of it be done remotely with face-to-face meetings as and when required by the client.: Due to the ongoing COVID restrictions Offsite is acceptable but there may be some requirement over the life of the contract for the Economic Operator to be onsite i.e. Key Stakeholder meetings some onsite
• 6. Hi, we are looking for some clarity on your referring to an “Economic Operator”. As this is for the provision of services in NI & nothing is getting exported, it is our understanding that the contracted party will not need to be an Authorised Economic Operator. Is this correct?: Economic Operator is the term Queen’s use for the successfully Supplier /contractor etc.
• 7. Is there a current or preferred supplier?: There is no Incumbent or preferred supplier(s)
• 8. Is experience designing a digital transformation roadmap with either a university or within the public sector important in your decision-making process?: It is desirable that the solution designer can demonstrate at least 2 years’ experience in the education sector, ideally Higher Education.
• 9. Is there an incumbent and is this inside or outside IR35?: Outside IR35
• 10. Are you expecting the consultant to work onsite for the entire period: Due to the ongoing COVID restrictions Offsite is acceptable but there may be some requirement over the life of the contract for the Economic Operator to be onsite i.e. Key Stakeholder meetings some onsite
• 11. Can this service be delivered remotely?: Due to the ongoing COVID restrictions Offsite is acceptable but there may be some requirement over the life of the contract for the Economic Operator to be onsite i.e. Key Stakeholder meetings some onsite
• 12. The request is for a ‘Solution Designer’ but without a budget we cannot estimate how many roles could be supplied to carry out this work. Is your request intended to refer to a single individual, or to a single supplier who can supply a multi-disciplinary team to achieve this solution?: As per the Specification, the initial project is for one individual (Solution Designer) to augment the existing Information Services team at the University.; ; But we reserve the right to use this contract for any Subsequent Projects that may arise that fall under the scope of the specification
• 13. Project 1 is expected to run for 3 months and will produce a roadmap. What training requirements do you expect to be delivered during this period?: Although there will be some knowledge transfer within the first project i.e. for the cost benefit analysis, there will be no requirement for any official training for the initial work but may be required if there is additional work under this contract
• 14. Can you please confirm the full scope of response required is 100 words against each bullet in the ‘Skills & Experience’ section? We note that under ‘How suppliers will be evaluated’, six suppliers will be evaluated and additional assessment methods are ‘case study, work history, reference and presentation’. This suggests an additional stage where an approach and methodology would be written (and perhaps presented), however, given the time between the deadline of the 24th February and latest start on 10th March, we do not believe there is sufficient time for an additional stage to this tender. Is this correct?: Economic Operator must demonstrate that they have the necessary skill sets i.e. ; • Proven track record of scoping and costing a Digital Transformation roadmap.; • Design of enterprise scale solutions.; • Delivery of feasibility studies including cost benefit analysis to senior executives.; • Development of appropriate governance models; • Experience of dealing with senior stakeholders (e.g. C-Suite/Board of Directors) and strong communications skills.; After we shortlisting on the 24th we intend to realise a tender response pack consisting of 5 questions to be submitted by 4/5th March ; We intend to award by the 10th March
• 15. Have the technology choices been agreed to deliver the digital transformation: Where it makes sense to do so, we will be using Microsoft’s portfolio of products. Only where their offerings are inadequate will we consider alternatives.
• 16. Has the strategy for the digital transformation been agreed?: For a copy of vision narrative and the guiding principles; ; Please e-mail Gerard Fegan Senior Procurement Officer to request QUB/2057/21 Specification. This document will provide you with the full details of the requirement.; E-mail address is gerard.fegan@qub.ac.uk; ; Unfortunately; this platform will not allow a document to be uploaded.
• 17. Are there any “technical skills” you would expect the Solution Designer to have to complete this work?: Queen’s wish to engage an experienced Solution Designer who has also a proven track record of scoping and costing a Digital Transformation roadmap, to augment the existing Information Services team at the University.; They must demonstrate that they have the necessary skill sets i.e. ; • Proven track record of scoping and costing a Digital Transformation roadmap.; • Design of enterprise scale solutions.; • Delivery of feasibility studies including cost benefit analysis to senior executives.; • Development of appropriate governance models; • Experience of dealing with senior stakeholders (e.g. C-Suite/Board of Directors) and strong communications skills.
• 18. Is there an overarching wider-organisational strategy that the University is looking to achieve, that the: Digital Transformation is a strand of the overall QUB Strategic Plan which is currently being developed.
• 19. Please advise what level of security clearance is required for this role and if resources need to come with an active clearance or whether they just need to be eligible to pass one: We do not require security clearance.
• 20. Are you looking for a specific SFIA Level for the Solution Designer?: At least level 6
• 21. Does the university have any enterprise and business architecture artefacts, e.g. a business capability model, that can be used to tie the digital roadmap to?: We do have some enterprise architecture diagrams that we can share with the successful bidder
• 22. While you have asked for an individual Solution Designer, would you consider a blended team with a senior-level individual to shape, lead, ensure alignment to the University’s wider-strategy and provide the executive/senior stakeholder engagement, and a second individual who would focus on the detail and “leg work” in gathering backlogs and conducting cost/benefit analysis? The team would jointly work on prioritisation and road mapping.: For Project one we would require one individual