BPDTS Ltd is a company that provides services exclusively to DWP.
PIPCS 2019 / 2020 Apps Dev & Apps Maintenance Development Services
11 Incomplete applications
10 SME, 1 large
3 Completed applications
1 SME, 2 large
Important dates
- Published
- Monday 1 October 2018
- Deadline for asking questions
- Monday 8 October 2018 at 11:59pm GMT
- Closing date for applications
- Monday 15 October 2018 at 11:59pm GMT
Overview
- Summary of the work
- Personal Independence Payment Computer System (PIPCS) Release Development work over the period 2019 / 2020 alongside Application Maintenance problem fix work. Java developers required, with Curam accreditation and previous PIPCS experience. Specific tasks include perform analysis, design, development and unit testing of software applications from user requirements and design documents.
- Latest start date
- Monday 3 December 2018
- Expected contract length
- 2 years
- Location
- North West England
- Organisation the work is for
- BPDTS Ltd is a company that provides services exclusively to DWP.
- Budget range
About the work
- Why the work is being done
- To deliver development changes to PIPCS as requested of BPDTS Ltd by DWP in a number of releases. Additionally to continue Application Maintenance work providing problem fixes into the releases. The supplier is required to provide Digital services comprising Software Engineers at 'working level '. Our definition of 'working level' being the Software Engineer will be responsible for (1) the development of fit for purpose products (2) operational stability of the products they build (3) affect change in ongoing resilience of these products and (4) contribute to the overall Software Development Lifecycle Process, following agreed Architectural and Software Engineering principals.
- Problem to be solved
-
Development work within 3 Releases of the PIPCS - estimated Release dates of February 2019, October 2019 and March 2020. Additionally, the continuation of Application Maintenance development work feeding into the releases. PIPCS is based on a core Curam (V7.0) customised using Java.
The indicative resource profile is: for first 12 months 13 resources (9 application development resources and 4 problem fix developers) with the ability to potentially flex down to 7 resources for the second 12 months as an internal core team is recruited in parallel. - Who the users are and what they need to do
- The existing project team will engage and work with the new Development supplier to carry out work as part of an overall team.
- Early market engagement
- Any work that’s already been done
- Some work will start on the first Release before the end of 2018.
- Existing team
- PIPCS Project team established at Peel Park, Blackpool includes Project Manager, Business Analysts, Technical Lead and Test resource. There is an existing development supplier in contract until the end of December 2018 following which a period of Knowledge Transfer will be required to the new Development supplier. In parallel the existing team will recruit internal resources to the team who will potentially replace some of the new supplier Development Team as time goes on.
- Current phase
- Not started
Work setup
- Address where the work will take place
- Peel Park, Brunel Way, Blackpool, FY4 5ES
- Working arrangements
- On site 5 days a week in Blackpool. All expenses must be pre-approved and adhere to BPDTS Ltd expenses policy.
- Security clearance
- BPSS
Additional information
- Additional terms and conditions
-
Inclusion of a definition of HMG Baseline Personnel Security Standard and amendments to the following Call-Off Contract Clauses:
* Supplier staff
*Records and Audit Access
* Exit Plan
*Prevention of Bribery and Corruption
Detail to follow
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
-
- A1. Must have significant and demonstrable experience of development in java (2 >5 years)
- A2. Must have significant and demonstrable knowledge of SQL database applications such as MySQL (2>5 years)
- A3. Working knowledge of Software Engineering best practices and an awareness of the Software Engineering profession and its principles.
- A4. An awareness of the importance of adopting a modern standards approach and the importance of development process efficiency.
- A5. An ability to understand user stories and convert business requirements into technical solutions.
- A6. A minimum of 2 years experience of Curam V7.0
- A7. A minimum of 2 years experience of PIPCS
- Nice-to-have skills and experience
How suppliers will be evaluated
- How many suppliers to evaluate
- 3
- Proposal criteria
-
- Technical solution
- Value for money
- How the approach or solution meets user needs
- Cultural fit criteria
-
- Your approach to working as a blended team with our organisation to build joint ways of working
- Your experience of successful collaborative working as part of a blended team sharing knowledge within the team
- Evidence of a culture of continuous improvement where individuals learn from past mistakes and offer improvement opportunities
- Payment approach
- Time and materials
- Assessment methods
-
- Written proposal
- Case study
- Work history
- Reference
- Presentation
- Evaluation weighting
-
Technical competence
65%Cultural fit
15%Price
20%
Questions asked by suppliers
-
1. This is an initial process to short-list potential suppliers for the requirement. Following the short listing process against the essential requirements the shortlisted Bidders will be required to undergo further evaluation / assessment by providing a response to an RfP.
The Draft Request for Proposal Documentation for the Assessment stage of this procurement can be found at the 'View Current Opportunities' page of the DWP BRAVO pages, via the link below. -
https://dwp.bravosolution.co.uk/esop/toolkit/opportunity/opportunityList.do?
Log in credentials are not required to access the documents.
As necessary, more information will be provided to the short-listed suppliers under appropriate obligations of confidentiality. - 2. Is it mandatory to have an experience working on Personal Independence Payment Computer System (PIPCS)?
- Yes as part of the Technical Competence criteria, it is one of the Essential Skills and Experience
- 3. The published Evaluation criteria includes Cultural fit (15%) and Price (20%). Do we enter details/evidence for these now (and if so where) or is that criteria evaluated a later stage?
- This is the initial shortlist stage where interested suppliers provide evidence of how they can meet the Essential Skills and Experience (and Nice to Have Skills if applicable). At the time we publish the requirements, as part of the Digital Outcomes and Specialists process we have to state the percentages to be applied to each of the Evaluation Criteria - to be open and transparent. Cultural fit and Price will be evaluated / assessed at the evaluation stage for the three suppliers who will be taken through to the next stage.
- 4. Post the initial sift / shortlist - are you able to give more information as to which of the 'Assessment Methods' you will be using for the three successful suppliers?
- We are currently planning on using a Written Proposal (RFP incorporating a Case Study) and Presentations . It is anticipated the Presentations will be on Wednesday 31st October 2018 in Blackpool. The purpose of the Presentations will be to expand and for the supplier to present the information from their RFP.
- 5. What is the minimum term for this contract?
- No minimum term has been set, however the maximum term is 24 months.
- 6. Do you have any plans yet for Knowledge Transfer from the incumbent supplier?
- As yet, we haven’t planned this. However, for the three successful suppliers who will be taken through to the evaluation / assessment stage - the draft RFP asks for evidence of the suppliers capability and approach to knowledge sharing.
- 7. What do you mean by certified resource?
- If the resources are not certified / accredited there needs to be evidence that they are skilled Curam developers.
- 8. Can you provide more information about the timescales of the evaluation / assessment stage of the exercise?
- The indicative timescales are: Supplies will be notified of the shortlisting outcome 17/10/18 and the three successful suppliers will be sent the RFP. RFP’s to be returned 24/10/18. Presentations on 31/10/18 in Blackpool, for the supplier to present the information in their RFP and not additional information. Presentations will be used to clarify RFP information. It is anticipated that suppliers will be notified the outcome on 02/11/18. Subsequently, we will work at pace to put the contract in place. We are not anticipating a protracted negotiation on the contract as we are using DOS3, which suppliers have signed up to.
- 9. There is reference to additional Terms and conditions in the publication. Can more information be given on these?
- These additional terms are for completeness and will be shared with the three successful suppliers who are sent the RFP.
- 10. Can you give more information about why ‘MySQL’ is called out?
- This is purely by way of an example and is to highlight experience of DWP Oracle Database
- 11. What are your thoughts on ramp up of personnel once the contract has gone live?
- We are potentially open to flexible option suggestions, subject to logistics, locations etc.,
- 12. Can you explain what you mean by A4 ……..’An awareness of the importance of adopting a modern standards approach and the importance of development process efficiency’?
- By this we mean being able to react to requests in an Agile way, such as delivering in Sprints and not in an iterative Waterfall way.
- 13. The requirement states a minimum of 2 years’ experience of Curam V7.0 and PIPCS – can you say more about this?
- We know that over 250 people have worked on PIPCS in the last few years, so there is relevant experience in the market. This essential criteria is required to facilitate swift productivity and will reduce knowledge transfer.