Awarded to Butterfly Projects Ltd

Start date: Thursday 1 July 2021
Value: £250,000
Company size: SME

HMRC Customer Compliance Group

Expert SAS Technical Assurance Services

6 Incomplete applications

4 SME, 2 large

5 Completed applications

3 SME, 2 large

• Published: Thursday 15 April 2021
• Deadline for asking questions: Thursday 22 April 2021 at 11:59pm GMT
• Closing date for applications: Thursday 29 April 2021 at 11:59pm GMT

Overview

• Summary of the work: HMRC requires support to assure that the solution being developed meets its' requirements in a cost effective manner.
• Latest start date: Tuesday 1 June 2021
• Expected contract length: Contract expected to last until the Project delivers . Expected to be in February 2022
• Location: London
• Organisation the work is for: HMRC Customer Compliance Group

About the work

• Why the work is being done: Replacement of substantial element of an existing HMRC application with a new system that will also provide opportunities for use of the technology in other areas. The system is being built using SAS technology. The system is used by HMRC to target non-compliance with tax returns and submissions. The system is expected to be delivered in February 2022.
• Problem to be solved: Existing HMRC risking system (called CONNECT) is coming to end of life and to ensure service continuity a new system is being developed to replace it. HMRC also has need to develop a strategic analytical solution that will enable it to carry out risking in other areas.
• Who the users are and what they need to do: As a HMRC Project Team, we need to ensure that the SAS implementation is being carried out in an effective and efficient manner so that the project can be successfully delivered.
• Existing team: HMRC - Customer Compliance Group; HMRC - CDIO; SAS; Capgemini
• Current phase: Not applicable

Work setup

• Address where the work will take place: London
• Working arrangements: The team will be expected to support HMRC development teams in assuring that the SAS solution being delivered is fit for purpose and implemented in a cost effective manner. This may involve attendance at regular meetings and/or submission of reviews of designs and proposals. There will be some flexibility over the working pattern, especially given the current pandemic situation. There is a need for the resource to be independent from the SAS organisation.
• Security clearance: Must have BPSS before employment commences and resources come on site.; Must be SC eligible. SC process can start after employment commences. Clearance costs to be met by supplier

Additional information

• Additional terms and conditions: HMRC Mandatory Terms and Conditions

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:
  • In depth knowledge of the SAS product set particularly VIYA 3.5 & later and SAS 9.4
  • Design of large scale implementations is imperative as the design needs to be able to support parallel delivery operating in an agile approach
  • Wider industry knowledge around compliance and risking
  • To be able to perform knowledge transfer to help build and support the ongoing internal capability
  • Working towards the organisation becoming more proficient leading to self sufficiency being able to tackle design and implementation issues
  • Knowledge of risking concepts and methods
  • Knowledge of large scale implementations in the SAS product set
  • Knowledge of HMRC CONNECT system, HMRC delivery methods and HMRC data structures
  • Ability to communicate at all levels within the organisation
  • Provide best practice concepts and detailed knowledge around usage of framework and tools
• Nice-to-have skills and experience:
  • Knowledge of HMRC risking processes and arrangements
  • Oracle Skills

How suppliers will be evaluated

All suppliers will be asked to provide a written proposal.

• How many suppliers to evaluate: 3
• Proposal criteria:
  • HMRC require evidence that the applicant can demonstrate detailed knowledge of the following:
  • Demonstrate knowledge of relevant SAS products
  • Demonstrate knowledge of SAS development tools
  • Demonstrate knowledge and ability of designing and implementing large/enterprise scale solutions
  • Demonstrate as a supplier understanding of SAS development methodology
  • Demonstrate as a supplier your flexibility to be able to provide additional resources when required
  • Demonstrate knowledge of HMRC risking systems and methodologies
  • Demonstrate as a supplier where you have produced a design that is capable of being taken forward and being worked on in parallel by Agile feature teams
  • Demonstrate you are a Practitioner in Agile deliveries
  • Demonstrate you have the ability to communicate at Board Level and to the engineering community
• Cultural fit criteria:
  • Be able to constructively challenge the delivery teams
  • Be solution orientated
  • Be highly proactive and collaborative
  • Be able to work independently to identify potential improvement opportunities and mitigate risks related to the way the SAS product set is being built and deployed
  • Expect to provide challenges to HMRC delivery teams and external suppliers where appropriate
• Payment approach: Time and materials
• Additional assessment methods:
  • Case study
  • Work history
  • Reference
• Evaluation weighting:

  Technical competence

  70%

  Cultural fit

  10%

  Price

  20%

Questions asked by suppliers

• 1. Is there a current incumbent or preferred supplier for this programme?: There is no current contract in place. This is a new opportunity.
• 2. 1. There are 2 parts to the problem statement – ensuring service continuity via connect replacement, and also the need to develop a strategic analytics solution for risking in other areas outside of those covered by Connect:2. Will the scope of this work involve assurance\advice\support for both parts?3. Has the technology been decided on for the 2nd part (e.g. is that also SAS), or does our support also need to be able to provide cross vendor knowledge to support vendor selection for example?: 1) The main focus will be on supporting the Connect replacement while providing wider analytical input to the Programme.; 2) The role will need to provide assurance, advice & guidance, promoting best practice and providing feedback to senior stakeholders and will required across the Connect replacement & analyitical capability.; 3) Currently the tooling is predominately SAS based, SAS D & I & SAS 9.4 although knowledge of other technologies particulary open source e.g. R & Python would be welcomed.
• 3. 1. Is an existing agile methodology already being followed and how mature is it? e.g. is the current development team part of an existing agile release train with release train engineer, product managers, product owners, scrum masters and agile teams already in place?2. Will we need to provide assurance regarding how the agile methodology is running (e.g. advise on \ help improve efficiency?)3. Will the role sit within CDIO or CCG (or span both)?: 1) There are existing Dev Teams and normal Agile roles as suggested in place. ; 2) Proving design and engineering best practice to support Agile teams velocity although the running of scrum, etc. is catered for although any observations in terms of previous experience for SAS related Agile delivery would be welcomed.; 3)CDIO
• 4. 1. What is the expected level of effort (e.g. expected hours or days per week)?2. Is the expectation that it will solely be based in London (or potentially travel to other areas of UK also).3. SC eligibility is mentioned. Can we check that this necessary (e.g. will the role involve actual data access), or can we include non-UK residents (e.g. Irish, other EU)?: 1)The overall expected effort is 7.4 hours per day and Monday to Friday.; 2) Staff are currently working from home, but the post is expected to be working out of London.; 3) The role will provide access to configuration and potentially live data, and will therefore require SC accreditation.
• 5. 1. Will we need to provide support to training sessions; will we also need to collaborate in the generation of training material?2. Is the request for a single SAS-technical resource, or a team that can support on the activities mentioned?3. Is there more information on the SAS solution that is expected to be used?: 1) Unlikely; 2) More than one person is likely to be involved, to cover variations in workload or specialist topics; 3) The SAS solution is based around SAS D&I with extensive use of SAS VI. SAS 9.4 is also used. SAS DI is one of the main tools and knowledge of Intelligent Decisioning.
• 6. 1) How many resources are required in this team ?2) Is there a maximum day rate available for each resource?: 1) More than one person is likely to be involved, to cover variations in workload or specialist topics; 2) Value for money is one of the evaluation criteria
• 7. Are the resources expected to work on site or are they allowed to work from home until the lockdown is eased?: Staff are currently working from home, and will be expected to work on site once lockdown is eased but there may be flexibility to do some work remotely.