Awarded to NTT DATA UK Limited

Start date: Wednesday 4 August 2021
Value: £4,950,000
Company size: large
Home Office

C20972 Delivery Partner required for Discovery as a Service (DaaS)

23 Incomplete applications

17 SME, 6 large

39 Completed applications

24 SME, 15 large

Important dates

Published
Monday 12 April 2021
Deadline for asking questions
Monday 19 April 2021 at 11:59pm GMT
Closing date for applications
Monday 26 April 2021 at 11:59pm GMT

Overview

Off-payroll (IR35) determination
Summary of the work
The Innovation - Law Enforcement (I-LE) function within Police and Public Protection Technology Portfolio (PPPT) is developing a ‘Discovery as a Service’ (DaaS) function. DaaS is a centralised capability, as part of Demand Management (DM), with a vision of standardising and scaling the delivery of Discovery projects across PPPT.
Latest start date
Wednesday 30 June 2021
Expected contract length
2 years
Location
London
Organisation the work is for
Home Office
Budget range
£4.5M - £5M

About the work

Why the work is being done
The Innovation - Law Enforcement (I-LE) function within Police and Public Protection Technology Portfolio (PPPT) is developing a ‘Discovery as a Service’ (DaaS) function. DaaS is a centralised capability, as part of Demand Management (DM), with a vision of standardising and scaling the delivery of Discovery projects across PPPT.

We require an experienced Delivery Partner to help deliver and operate the DaaS capability. The Delivery Partner will have:

1. A proven track record in delivery of Discovery projects across the Public Sector or equally large organisations, ideally with significant experience working with Policing, wider Law Enforcement, Justice and National Security
2. Experience of managing successful delivery through a blended team of civil servants, SME’s and multiple suppliers
3. Demonstrable technical and wider subject matter expertise around emerging technologies within the criminal justice system and challenges faced across the sector
4. Demonstrable understanding of business case development
5. The ability to quickly flex to meet demand, providing a range of resource, skills and experience to ensure successful delivery
6. Demonstrable experience identifying and engaging relevant stakeholder groups both internal to PPPT (the client) and external organisations (further detail on indicative stakeholder groups is provided in a later section of this document).
Problem to be solved
Provide a Delivery Partner to set up and operate, on an ongoing basis, the DaaS capability including:
• Provision of portfolio/programme management expertise to run and manage the DaaS portfolio of in-flight and future Pre-discoveries and Discoveries
• Provision of core resource, working with the Demand Management function, responsible for scoping and defining Pre-Discoveries and Discoveries, translating an initial problem statement into a fully scoped and costed plan. They will also determine the appropriate route to deliver any DaaS requirements, which includes the Partner themselves but also alternative supplier routes as appropriate
• Provision of resource to conduct the delivery of Pre-Discoveries and Discoveries, providing a range of suitable expertise to ensure successful delivery of the desired outcomes for our customers and for PPPT.

An initial view of the expected demand profile has been developed and PPPT is anticipating to receive and accept circa 1-3 requests a month of varying size and complexity. The supplier must be ready to deliver the above requirements in accordance with the anticipated demand profile.
Who the users are and what they need to do
Users of DaaS services will vary dependent on the specific requests. All work will be managed through PPPT, but it is anticipated that requesting organisations of DaaS services will likely include Law Enforcement Agencies; Intelligence Agencies; Ministry of Justice departments; Home Office Policy makers; and existing delivery programmes within PPPT.

In addition to the requesting organisations and their direct user communities, the successful delivery of DaaS services is dependent on significant engagement with both stakeholders internal to PPPT and wider DDaT and Home Office such as:
• PPPT Delivery sub-portfolios
• Business Design Authority
• Technical Design Authority
• Commercial
• Finance
• PPPT Portfolio Office
• Compliance and Standards
Early market engagement
N/A
Any work that’s already been done
The DM and DaaS Operating Model are in a fledgling state, and it is anticipated these will continue to evolve as they build maturity. The DaaS lifecycle consists of the following four phases:
Collate, understand and triage
DaaS will work with DM and take an active role to define Discovery work.
Pre-discovery
Taking a historic view of the situation to explore opportunities and constraints to help focus full Discovery
Discovery
Focused on capturing operational and sponsor user needs, exploring various options to maximise the outcomes needed.
Prepare for delivery
Ensuring a seamless transition from Discovery in to full exploitation.
Existing team
This I-LE function is led by the Head of I-LE to whom the supplier will have direct accountability. The I-LE lead for DaaS will be the day to day contact for the Supplier.
Within I-LE there are wider functions that the supplier will need to seamlessly engage with, such as:
• Police Digital Service (PoDS).
• Lead for Data Exploitation
• Lead for LE stakeholder engagement
• Portfolio Management Office
• Commercial
• Leads of I-LE sub portfolio areas.

In addition, the supplier will be expected to engage and seamlessly integrate and collaborate with PPPT DM and sub Portfolios.
Current phase
Not applicable

Work setup

Address where the work will take place
It is expected that work will take place flexibly between supplier offices, Home Office locations and remote working. Resources will be expected to travel and work from locations within London as required, as well as occasional travel nationally.

In line with COVID pandemic lockdown regulations, work will initially be completed remotely.

The primary location(s) for this work will be:

The Home Office
2 Marsham Street, Westminster, London
SW1P 4DF

The Home Office
40 Wellesley Rd, Croydon London CR9 2BY

This location may change to an alternative London location in line with return to office arrangements post lockdown.
Working arrangements
Resources will be expected to travel and work at locations within London as required, at the expense of the supplier.

The core standing resources will be provided with secure IT equipment and access to secure networks for the duration of this project. Surge resources that are used for a limited period of time may need to provide their own IT with CJSM accounts as a minimum.
Security clearance
SC clearance will be required as a minimum. All resources must additionally meet criteria and be willing to apply for NPPV3 vetting.

There may be requirements for DV cleared resources, but this is not essential for the initial DaaS Capability.

Home Office will sponsor clearances where it is appropriate.

Additional information

Additional terms and conditions
Pricing Options - Fixed Price and Capped Time and Materials

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
  • Expert understanding/demonstrable experience of planning and delivering user, digital and data driven Discovery projects; with domain knowledge across Government and Law-Enforcement or similar organisations over the last 3 years.
  • Evidence of an ability to provide suitably skilled resource to undertake Discovery activity, resourcing flexibly to demand. Including an ability to deploy any Agile Discovery team within 1-2 weeks.
  • Demonstrable experience, skills and techniques in Portfolio Management. Including the use of Agile/Scrum methodology to deliver against Project and Portfolio Outcomes required.
  • Collaboration and alignment - Demonstrable experience of working as a joint team with commissioning organisations and delivering as part of a blended team across the host and customer organisations.
Nice-to-have skills and experience
  • Experience and practice of using innovation tools and techniques – such as Lean Start Up, Agile Engineering, Business Model Canvas, Value Proposition Design, Corporate Entrepreneurships.
  • Evidence the use of GDS Service Standards in Discovery work with examples of your approach to better understand the user needs as-well-as your choice of tooling, process and design decisions.

How suppliers will be evaluated

All suppliers will be asked to provide a written proposal.

How many suppliers to evaluate
3
Proposal criteria
  • Demonstrate your proposed Teams’ expertise, solution, approach, methodology and innovation will ensure the delivery of DaaS Capability. Demonstrate how your Teams’ approach will develop and manage the overall DaaS Portfolio.
  • Detail your proposed Team structure, skills and experience, to demonstrate an ability to surge appropriate resource to meet fluctuating demand.
  • Transparent financial structures and fair pricing, showing how value for money will be achieved for the duration of the contract, recognising the future use of capped and fixed pricing.
  • Provide details of your perceived key risks to this Proposal and how you would plan for mitigating against them
  • Relevant track record and reference case studies.
Cultural fit criteria
Social Value - equal opportunity
Payment approach
Fixed price
Additional assessment methods
  • Case study
  • Reference
  • Presentation
Evaluation weighting

Technical competence

70%

Cultural fit

10%

Price

20%

Questions asked by suppliers

1. Who’s in the incumbent and how long they have been the incumbent?
There is no incumbent as this is a new requirement in PPPT. External providers have been involved in pre-discovery and discovery projects, but all relevant information will be provided to shortlisted bidders via a data room.
2. Can the buyer clarify the intended location of the delivery team – within the UK or delivered through offshore capabilities? Would it be possible to use nearshore resources for this work?
Due to the nature of the customer and the need for clearances near-shoring and/or off-shoring is not a possibility at this time. However, supplier delivery centres can be based anywhere in the UK, recognising that not all resource will be able to operate remotely due to the nature of product delivery.
3. When office operates in normal pattern (post Covid-19 situation) will the Authority provide the work desktop within secured network in the office for product development and support activities?
Arrangements for office working, when resumed, will be agreed on a case by case basis for roles requiring secure access to Home Office systems.
4. Please confirm the IR35 status of this assignment for Product Team-1.
The delivery will be outcome-based so the team size and structure will be determined by the Supplier in order to achieve this. Our expectation is that, to the extent the “Off-Payroll Working Legislation (IR35)” is applicable to your team, that this would likely fall ‘outside’. However, a formal determination will be made at contract award in light of the Supplier response and finalised contract. In addition, Suppliers will also need to make their own assessment for any resource within their supply chains, as these resources may be classified as ‘inside’ given they will likely be working at the Supplier’s direction.
5. What are requirements for demonstrating Security Clearance (SC).
Evidence of existing Security Clearance will be requested at the written proposal stage. Current SC can be transferred from a relevant Government department if evidence can be provided. Staff cannot commence work until SC clearance has been confirmed, or an equivalent waiver been approved.
6. Can you confirm what the HO DDAT maximum rates are so that we can ensure our rates do not exceed.
We have a Maximum Rate which will be supplied to the shortlisted bidders. These maximum rates will be mandated and failure to meet this mandatory requirement will lead to disqualification. Ideally suppliers will provide rates at or below the Target Rate parameters
7. Who is the incumbent and how long they have been the incumbent?
Please see supplier clarification question number 1.
8. Who from your team will be scoring applications for this opportunity and what positions do they hold?
The evaluation team will be led by a grade 6 civil servant. Other evaluators will be selected from current, experienced team members within PPPT.
9. Are you planning to award a contract to more than one supplier?
The contract award will be awarded to one supplier.
10. Please could the buyer confirm the IR35 status of this work. Is this inside or outside of IR35?
Please see supplier clarification question number 4.
11. Would the successful supplier be precluded from delivering subsequent phases (Alpha/Beta/Live/Retirement)?
Any commercial conflicts of interest, relating to follow-on opportunities, will be assessed on a case-by-case basis.
12. Do you expect surge resource to hold SC clearance as well?
Yes
13. Are team members able to start onsite while SC clearance applications are pending?
Yes, but with limited access
14. Do you have expectations re the approx size of the retained team and the peak surge demand?
The requirement will be outcome based and it is therefore up to the bidders to assess how best to achieve the outcome. Required capacity requirements will be defined and presented to shortlisted bidders.
15. Will the engagement need to adhere to HO DDAT max rate card? If so please can you share this so we can ensure we meet it.
Please see supplier clarification question number 6.
16. Can you confirm what the HO DDAT maximum rates are so that we can ensure our rates do not exceed.
The HO DDAT maximum rates are (where "::" represents a new column in a table):

Role Type:: Maximum Daily Rates (ex VAT)::SFIA 3::SFIA 4::SFIA 5
Architecture::£600::£750::£950
Data::£550::£650::£900
Delivery::£500::£700::£850
Engineering::£450::£650::£800
IT Operations::£450::£650::£800
Product::£540::£680::£800
QAT::£460::£575::£800
UCD::£425::£575::£825

Note: HO DDaT does not believe that any resource above SFIA Level 5 is required in support of this delivery.
17. Who’s in the incumbent and how long they have been the incumbent?
There is no incumbent as this is a new requirement in PPPT. External providers have been involved in pre-discovery and discovery projects, but all relevant information will be provided to shortlisted bidders via a data room.
18. The provision of portfolio & program management expertise/business case development/subject matter expertise around emerging technologies, suggests the Service may have a requirement on occasion for SFIA level 6 and possibly even level 7 – could these be considered on a case-by-case basis?
It is not envisaged that SFIA 6 or SFIA 7 grade resources will be required.
19. Can you please provide definitions along with high-level roles and responsibilities for: 1) the Commissioning Organisations ; 2) the Host; and 3) the Customer Organisations?
Can you please provide definitions along with high-level roles and responsibilities for: 1) the Commissioning Organisations ; 2) the Host; and 3) the Customer Organisations?
20. Are you willing to sponsor SC-clearance for staff that do not currently have it?
Yes, if appropriate on a case by case basis.
21. Would the commercial relationships with additional Service Providers reside with Home Office or new supplier?
Home Office.
22. Is there an expectation that delivery would require operating at Tier 2 and above?
It is for the bidder to submit their solution to best provide the service to meet the requirement.
23. Is this work outside of IR35?
see answer Q4.
24. Will HO sponsor any DV clearance if required?
DV sponsorship will be considered on a case by case basis dependent on need.
25. Is it possible to have examples of requests that the DaaS would be expected to take on, naturally we expect some information to be redacted.
Further details will be shared with shortlisted bidders.
26. How much work for PPPT (DaaS) comes via Law Enforcement Partners vs via internal stakeholders,
Further details will be shared with shortlisted bidders.
27. The Working Arrangements section refers to the ‘core standing resources’. Can you advise the anticipated size of the ‘core standing’ team?
The requirement will be outcome based and it is for the bidders to submit resource profiles to best meet the needs of the requirement.
28. Can you advise the anticipated resource requirement for the first 3 months of this engagement including number of resources, capabilities and levels required?
Not at this stage.
29. Are the Users listed in the ”About the Work” section an exhaustive list or which additional users are anticipated?
The list contains anticipated DaaS users.
30. You note that “it is anticipated that requesting organisations of DaaS services will likely include Law Enforcement Agencies; Intelligence Agencies; Ministry of Justice departments; Home Office Policy makers; and existing delivery programmes within PPPT”: Can you advise as to whether the DaaS function would be the first point of contact for the various “external” bodies, or whether some upstream funnelling/ratification will take place?
The overarching point of contact structure is still being formalised. This will be shared with shortlisted bidders.
31. Are the Pre-Discoveries and Discoveries anticipated to be IT- or business process focused, or a mix?
There are no limits on types of pre-discovery or discovery projects.
32. Can you clarify the expected responsibilities of the chosen supplier in terms of setting up and operating the DaaS function; establishing best practices; supporting Discovery planning and pricing; and delivering the Pre-Discoveries and Discoveries themselves?
Further information will be shared with shortlisted bidders.
33. You make reference to “providing a range of suitable expertise to ensure successful delivery” of Pre-Discoveries and Discoveries, but also look for experience delivering through a blended team: What skillsets is the supplier expected to provide, and what skillsets do you already have access to through existing internal capabilities and supplier relationships?
It is for bidders to identify their pre-discovery and discovery experience and skills to best answer the question.
34. Will being the DaaS provider preclude us from bidding for any of the delivery work post Discovery?
The DaaS provider is expected to make recommendations for post discovery work, which may include association to the DaaS provider if this is deemed the best solution.
35. Must staff work on Home Office provided equipment?
Yes
36. Can we use other Gov Dept OFFICIAL equipment and networks, if available to us?
No.