SAP Service Charges

Description

Summary of the work Sanctuary Housing Association requires a partner with suitable experience of the Social Housing sector and the following technologies SAP R/3, SAP Data Warehouse Cloud, SAP Analytics Cloud and Analytics Cloud for planning to provide a robust system for management of service charges. Expected Contract Length 12 months, with an optional extension of up to 3 months (if required). Latest start date Monday 2 August 2021 Budget Range It is expected that the work can be delivered within the budget range of up to £250,000, with the initial Proof of Value not exceeding £75,000. This may be revised on further understanding of the proposed solution. Why the Work is Being Done Sanctuary is looking to modernise its Service Charge process. A service charge is where a tenant pays a service charge if Sanctuary provides services for the upkeep of communal areas, such as gardening, window cleaning, door entry systems, lift maintenance, plus an administration charge to cover the cost of managing these services. The current solution is highly dependent on Excel. Sanctuary wants to utilise its current technology investment in SAP and create efficiencies within the process. Problem to Be Solved Improvements to settlement units, participation groups and schemes which are all held in SAP. Understand where impacting data quality can be improved. Replacement of approx. 3,376 excel spreadsheets currently used to support the process. Provision of modern automated and insightful modelling and reporting tools. This should allow anyone with the need to access the data with either current (employee) or future (tenant) digital access. Design and build a solution that will provide the capacity for Sanctuary to grow without concern that the solution will not be capable of supporting that growth. Who Are the Users The solution will be used by the Service Charge Team, Housing Officers and outputs will be provided to tenants. Early Market Engagement A pre-market engagement event was held in June 2021, to provide suppliers with a more detailed background on the requirements. The information shared during the event and subsequent questions and answers are available upon request. Work Already Done Discovery work has taken place and this is available as part of the pre-market pack, upon request. Existing Team Sanctuary Project Manager, Functional Architect, Technical Architect and SME X2 Current Phase Alpha Skills & Experience • Demonstrate substantial experience of delivering a project of this type. • Demonstrate substantial experience of all potential solution components. • Demonstrate substantial experience of solution design and documentation. • Demonstrate the ability to clearly communicate with all project members and sponsors • Demonstrate substantial experience of relevant impact assessments and change control. • Demonstrate substantial experience of working within the Social Housing sector Work Location Sanctuary Housing Association, Chamber Court, Worcester WR1 3ZQ Also, remotely at the supplier's location. Working Arrangments The supplier will be expected to work remotely for most of the development period, however they must be available for regular virtual meetings during Sanctuary office hours (9am -5pm) and must be prepared to attend the Worcester office at request, subject to reasonable notice. Travel Expenses should be factored into the overall cost and will not be paid separately unless agreed with Sanctuary, in which case they will be paid in line with the Sanctuary expenses policy, copy available on request. Security Clearance No additional requirements for this project. Additional T&Cs All expenses must be pre-agreed between the parties and must comply with the Cabinet Office (CO) Travel and Subsistence (T&S) Policy. All vendors are obliged to provide sufficient guarantees to implement appropriate technical and organisational measures so that the processing meets the requirements of GDPR and ensures the protection of the rights of data subjects. For further information please see the Information Commissioner's Office website https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/data-protection-reform/overview-of-the-gdpr/ No. of Suppliers to Evaluate 3 Proposal Criteria • Present how you will meet the key opportunities defined in the pre-market pack • Demonstrate understanding, technical knowledge and competence, skills capability and capacity, approach, project delivery, governance and adoption both by end users and support teams. Cultural Fit Criteria • Demonstrate how you would meet Sanctuary's Mission and Values, as defined in the pre-market pack. • Explain how you will work collaboratively with Sanctuary Payment Approach Capped time and materials Assessment Method Presentation Evaluation Weighting Technical competence 70% Cultural fit 10% Price 20% Questions from Suppliers 1. How can we get a copy of the pre-market engagement pack and the Discovery information? Please send your request by email to paul.raymond@sanctuary.co.ukNote, you may be asked to sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement if one is not already in place. 2. Can we hold an interactive Q&A session with Sanctuary? Yes. We would like to offer interactive Q&As sessions (via TEAMS) on either 5th/6th July. Please send an email to paul.raymond@sanctuary.co.uk for further details. 3. Is there a preference to use models that are based on the SAP master data or is a bespoke model to be considered, or a hybrid of the two? SAP Standard should be used where available. An extended or custom data model will only be considered where SAP standard does not exist. The data model must make use of core SAP Real Estate components such as settlement units. SAP is the digital core and therefore is the master data source. 4. What scale of growth is anticipated over the coming 1 year and 5 year time horizons? M & A activity within the sector is highly regulated and dependent on a number of factors and approvals, therefore it is not possible to provide a firm forecast. In order to provide a guide to ensure that the solution is sustainable, we have asked that the performant scalability is at a least 200,000 units. 5. It appears that it is the ultimate intention to provide a platform for ‘tenants’ to have access to the budgeted service charges for their scheme(s). If so, is the Association sufficiently licensed to provide access using SAP software (or will it become sufficiently licensed in the future)? The appropriate licensing will be in place at the appropriate time. Should any additional licencing be required, for any part of the solution, then this will be done through our approved SAP VAR. 6. Do the current spreadsheets reference SAP master data, or will a mapping exercise be required? The spreadsheets are built from SAP downloads and do hold SAP Master Data, however due to the changes that will be required we believe that mapping will be necessary.