Ofsted Intranet Refresh

Description

Summary of the work We require a supplier to make the following improvements: • Engaging and personalised Intranet homepage • Design of team site pages and site templates • Site structure and navigation • Managed metadata and search • Redesigned Life at Ofsted section • Meet government accessibility guidelines Expected Contract Length 6 months Latest start date Tuesday 18 January 2022 Why the Work is Being Done The current intranet is 5 years old and no longer meets user need or government accessibility standards. We want to refresh the intranet to achieve this and to build on our platform of MS SharePoint online applications. Problem to Be Solved Ofsted requires a supplier to work with to design a new Intranet structure based on SharePoint Communication sites. We require a supplier to work with on the development of the sites, with transfer knowledge of how to build and maintain new sites to the appropriate Ofsted staff. Who Are the Users The Users are Ofsted's staff. Early Market Engagement None Existing Team The internal communications team within Ofsted. Current Phase Not applicable Skills & Experience • Experience of building websites/intranets using SharePoint online and SharePoint 2013 • Knowledge of SharePoint online (new experience) • Experience of building developing SharePoint dynamic templates and task workflows • Experience of working with Azure AD connect • Experience of working with Active directory • Have experience of testing end-to-end service • Have experience of assessing and mitigating security and privacy issues • Have experience using agile methods and building websites using the agile, iterative and user-centred methods expected by Government Digital Standards • Have experience of working effectively as part of a multidisciplinary team • Technical expertise of front-end, UI web development and responsive web design (HTML5/CSS/JS) • Knowledge of web accessibility standards with associated accreditation • Experience of creating data connections in SharePoint • Experience of integrating SharePoint with legacy and third party applications • Experience of developing BOT functionality for self service • Experience of improving search functionality • Ability to train and upskill customer to ensure they have knowledge to self-manage going forward Nice to Haves • Experience of developing content strategies and information architectures for new websites and services • Experience of migrating data into SharePoint 365 • Have experience of successfully delivering digital projects using iterative development • Experience of working with central or local government Work Location Most of this work will be virtual, however there may be travel to Ofsted Offices in Manchester and London. Working Arrangments The supplier will need to work with the Ofsted internal communications team. Additional T&Cs None No. of Suppliers to Evaluate 3 Proposal Criteria • Approach and methodology • How the approach will meet user needs • Estimated timeframes for the work • Skill transfer process • Value for money Cultural Fit Criteria Share knowledge and experience to upskill Ofsted staff Payment Approach Time and materials Evaluation Weighting Technical competence 70% Cultural fit 5% Price 25% Questions from Suppliers 1. Can you clarify what you mean by accreditation when it comes to accessibility? We need to ensure the intranet complies with the government accessibility guidelines. 2. Can you disclose your anticipated budget and preferred commercial model (fixed price vs T&M) please? Our budget is around £50k including VAT and we looking at T&M as the commercial model. 3. Has any discovery or user research taken place? Yes, we have undertaken a discovery phase and also have a clear understanding of user needs. 4. 6 months does not sound like long for an overhaul of your intranet, if that is to include discovery, training and so on. Is 6 months a fixed schedule and what is driving this deadline? We believe this is sufficient time considering previous work and the current knowledge level within the team. 5. What is the current usage in terms of the number of Departments, Divisions, and Users? 1800 users all within Ofsted. 6. For what workloads are you currently using SharePoint/M365 (e.g. Intranet, collaboration, document mgmt.) Intranet, document management and storage, collaboration. 7. What, if any, problems or dissatisfaction have you experienced with SharePoint? Search functionality is poor on current site. 8. Is Data Migration in scope for this project? If yes, has a data discovery exercise been completed? Yes, no. 9. Can you provide details on volume, file types, etc.? Not at this stage. 10. What 3rd party applications are in scope for integration? Other SharePoint online apps including Teams and Active Directory. 11. Are any custom solutions deployed onto the current SharePoint Platform? Yes. 12. With regards to Knowledge Transfer, who would be receiving it? Administrators, Content Authors, End Users or all of them? Administrators (internal communications team and IS colleagues). 13. Are you already using Office 365 workloads, such as Microsoft Teams, SharePoint Online, OneDrive for Business, etc? Yes. 14. Are there any other standards apart from WCAG 2.1 that you need to comply with? This would be something the new supplier would recommend. 15. How are you currently measuring your compliance to accessibility standards? Internal audit and user groups including staff networks. 16. Have you already integrated/sync’d your Active Directory with Azure Active Directory? Yes 17. Is the new platform going to be used solely by internal users or are external parties expected to access content? Yes. 18. What is your current licensing model, if any, for Office 365? Please provide details on users split. Unknown. 19. Is the current environment managed/supported by an external supplier or by internal resources? Day to day by internal resources, but with some external support. 20. Can you explain what you mean by “Dynamic Templates” – it’s not immediately clear what aspect of SharePoint you are referring to? Dynamic page templates. 21. You’ve listed “experience of developing BOT functionality for self service”, are you referring to Microsoft’s Power Virtual Agents bots (part of the Power Platform)? If so, would you consider experience of developing a bot for internal use (as opposed to for a customer) as sufficient experience to score at least 2 out of 3 for this question? (Based on the understanding that shortlisted suppliers must score at least 2 for every essential experience and skill.) Yes. 22. What are the timescales for the next stage of the bidding process? If submission is on the 20th, are any activities anticipated to take place before the 4th of January? We will be looking to issue a request for a written proposal on the 23 of December, asking for that to be returned by the 10 of January 2022. We will evaluate those responses and look to award a contract by the 17 of January 2022. 23. RFP states you will only evaluate 3 suppliers. What will determine which suppliers will be evaluated? The evaluation of examples of essential and nice to have skills that are submitted by suppliers. 24. What are your security clearance requirements? (e.g. BPSS, SC, etc.) BPSS 25. Is there an existing vendor already providing SharePoint services? If yes, please provide the names of the current vendor(s) providing the services Ofsted has worked with a supplier called Risual on it’s intranet services in the past. 26. What versions/licensing are currently in use (e.g. SharePoint 2019, M365)? SharePoint online, part of Microsoft 365.