Government Commercial Function data analytics platform development

Description

Why the Work is Being Done A key commercial system for the Government Commercial Function (GCF), CaSIE was initially developed to bring together two pre-existing sources of information (contracts data and spend data), to perform data-cleansing on this data and to display this in a useful way for commercial colleagues through interactive dashboards. Further information sources have been added in the last year, including future procurement activities, supplier news, financial information and risk ratings for key suppliers. Supplier matching has also been introduced to improve the quality of information. The next stage is to ensure we optimise the use of this information across government and provide useful visual data views of this system focused around different user needs. Information is sourced via application processing interfaces (API’s) which run daily, from both public sector systems (department systems and Contracts Finder) as well as a number of private sector suppliers who offer additional relevant commercial information. The system is available for use by commercial colleagues across government and is a key enabler in providing transparency of the commercial information government holds and displaying it in the right format to allow commercial leads greater understanding of the procurement landscape and supplier health informing key commercial decision making. Problem to Be Solved The next stage in CaSIE development is focused on increasing the number of interfaces from departmental systems into CaSIE, improving timeliness, quality (and confidence in quality among stakeholders) and the breadth of the information held. The development of alternative methods of data-set upload such as a user friendly way for departments to submit flatfiles for ingestion is also required. The system will be used to monitor key commercial data quality across a set of key defined metrics with the ability to track improvement in data quality over time. Alongside this is an ongoing aim to optimise re-use of the information held, improving visual displays of the data in line with user needs and ensuring clients can quickly hone in on the key data they require to inform commercial decision making. Finally, support will be needed for user training and onboarding as well as engagement and change management activity to drive adoption of the platform. Who Are the Users As a government Commercial Lead I need to be able to view key commercial information for government on the Contracts and Spend Insight Engine (CaSIE) in an intuitive and insight-driven display to inform my commercial decision making. As a technical lead I need to ensure that the data I provide from my own internal systems is correct, cleansed and up to date to ensure that CaSIE provides the correct view. As a Commercial Continuous Improvement team member I need to be able to examine whether the data is to the required standard for key commercial information including data standards and track changes in data quality to show improvements over time. Early Market Engagement Not undertaken. Work Already Done CaSIE has been operating (and developing) for a couple of years so this work will build on that already undertaken. The CaSIE system is currently hosted within the Microsoft Azure cloud platform. It uses a number of the reporting resources within this platform. This includes Data Lake storage for the landing of data, DataFactory and DataBricks for ETL activities, Analysis Services and Power BI for modelling and visualizing the data respectively. We are therefore looking for providers with deep technical experience of the Azure stack. Existing Team CaSIE is a cross-government service which is managed by the Digital Data and Insights part of the Cabinet Office’s Commercial Continuous Improvement Team. The Digital Data and Insights sub-team consists of 6 members currently but will be expanding by a couple more people during the coming year. The team comprises of a mix of data and systems specialists, a reporting lead, a data scientist and a data analyst. The CaSIE work is also supported by the GCF network across government including Commercial Leads and Super Users within each central government department. Current Phase Beta Work Location Remote working from supplier home offices is acceptable. Supplier may be required to attend some scoping meetings and playback sessions in person where virtual meetings are not viable, but daily working in virtual teams is the standard way of working. ‘In person’ meetings will usually occur at 1 Horseguards Road, Westminster, London, SW1A 2HQ. Working Arrangments Collaborative agile developments will be employed with virtual daily SCRUM sessions and Playback sessions to occur post each sprint. Ongoing communications by email, telephone calls or online instant messaging such as SLACK. Monthly service management meetings to occur (can be virtual). Security Clearance Any provider will need to agree to apply for SC security clearance for at least 2 FTEs. All FTEs working on the project must be BPSS cleared or working towards this at the point of being on boarded to the project. Additional T&Cs You must sign up to CCS’s eSourcing system in order to be invited and submit proposals at the further evaluation stage. https://crowncommercialservice.bravosolution.co.uk/ Skills & Experience We require applicants to be a Microsoft Gold partner in Data analytics, Cloud platform, and Data platform. Have experience of successfully applying and utilising Agile delivery skills in the course of delivering a Digital Service. Have experience of successfully working with Microsoft Azure cloud platform services. Evidence of developing DataFactory and DataBricks for ETL activities, Analysis Services and Power BI for modelling and visualizing data. Must cover evidence of working with multiple, desperate sources of data. Have Managed service expertise for Azure analytics and reporting solutions at an Enterprise scale (over at least 1,000 users). Have experience of implementing effective master data management solutions and establishing data governance structures in large organisations. Have experience in successfully performing UI/UX design. Have experience of performing Testing & Quality Assurance in delivering or developing a Digital Service. Have experience of business change including end-user training, maturity assessments, and workshopping using Business Event Analysis and Modelling or similar agile frameworks. Have experience of effective documentation and transition of products into a live services team, including resolving defects after launch. Have expertise at development and implementation of data science projects, including machine learning models Nice to Haves Have experience of successfully applying the skills and principles outlined in the Government Digital Service Standards. Have experience of working in and navigating a highly regulated environment. Have experience of working in environments with rapidly changing requirements and priorities. Have a good knowledge of NCSC guidelines and principles including the 14 cloud security principles. No. of Suppliers to Evaluate 4 Proposal Criteria Demonstrate how you would use your expertise with Azure to process data at large scale across a large number of complex and disparate data sets. Demonstrate how you would document your work to ensure effective hand over to the business. Demonstrate how you would assist the business through service management support to react quickly to issues and pro-actively spot problems in data through automated monitoring. Demonstrate to us how you would successfully lead on embedding internal business change to support wider uptake of the platform and hand over approach at the end of engagement. Detail how you could help set up robust processes and structures with the function to support successful data governance and master data management. Demonstrate your approach to identifying areas where advance analytics/machine learning could add value, how you would measure this value add to determine success and how you implement such technologies. Cultural Fit Criteria Please detail and demonstrate how your approach will ensure successful engagement and communication with all Stakeholders, including project scoping sessions, standups, and sprint sessions. Please detail how you will identify opportunities to continuously improve the product/service through on-going changes or innovative approaches. Please detail your approach to service management, including monitoring progress, issue resolution and adherence to service level agreements. Please demonstrate approach to collaborative working including working with a diverse set of stakeholders and upskilling clients. Payment Approach Time and materials Assessment Method Evaluation Weighting Technical competence 50% Cultural fit 15% Price 35% Questions from Suppliers No questions have been answered yet Budget range overall budget of £1.2m for first 20 months with possible additional extension of £300k. for each piece of work to be undertaken, the ‘project’ shall be scoped and a provisional development time and cost estimate provided by the supplier.