1. Introduction The Joint Workplace Solution (JWS) team will shortly complete the migration of some 2000 users from SharePoint 2007 to 20 and alongside this a programme of developing a series of line-of-business applications has been established, leveraging the comprehensive functionality of SharePoint 20 and associated tools. The JWS SharePoint team is charged with supervising the SharePoint environment delivered by our outsourcing partner and coordinating and delivering application development projects either within the team or through chosen partners. Two short-term SharePoint resources are required to sit within the JWS SharePoint team, reporting directly into a line of business application project which is currently in development phase. 2. Background HM Treasury is the United Kingdom s economics and finance ministry. It is responsible for formulating and implementing the government s financial and economic policy. Its aim is to raise the rate of sustainable growth, and achieve rising prosperity and a better quality of life with economic and employment opportunities for all. Within HM Treasury, the Corporate Centre Group provides corporate systems, services and facilities to enable HM Treasury to deliver effectively and efficiently. This includes taking forward a number of significant programmes and projects to improve services and systems to enable HM Treasury to continue to operate effectively within a challenging budget allocation. Joint Workplace Solutions (JWS) is a joint Cabinet Office and HM Treasury team, based in Corporate Centre Group, which currently supplies the majority of both Departments ICT services. This includes the hardware, software, key Departmental applications, network infrastructure for c.3000 staff over 15 sites, service management, remote and mobile services, video conferencing and ICT security. 3. Requirement Role Basics This requirement is for 2 Posts. Location: Central London (occasional travel outside London may be required). Length of Contract: 2 months (with an option to extend for a further 5 months). Start Date: Immediate. Charge rates: Competitive. Security Clearance: Successful candidates will need to undergo security clearance procedures to CTC level, if not already cleared. Page 1 of 11
Role Description The successful candidate will be working on a project to develop a line of business solution for HM Treasury using SharePoint 20, InfoPath Forms, SharePoint Designer Workflows, SQL Reporting Services and other leading-edge technologies. The candidate will: 1. Develop, configure and deploy SharePoint-based solutions and customise SharePoint sites to meet defined business requirements. 2. Leverage out of the box SharePoint functionality wherever possible in order to ensure that the environment remains manageable and supportable on a long term basis. 3. Develop applications and sites using Agile application development techniques in order to deliver them to required timescales. 4. Communicate clearly with users to understand their requirements and explain the detail of proposed solutions. 5. Ensure a high quality standard is maintained in the solutions developed by following coding and testing best practices. Essential Competencies, Skills and Knowledge (including professional qualifications) 1. Proven experience with SharePoint 20, InfoPath Forms, SharePoint Designer Workflows and SQL Reporting Services. 2. Knowledge of agile development methodologies. 3. Proven experience in implementing and supporting line of business applications through SharePoint 20 within a fast changing environment. Deliverables Key deliverables are as follows: The individual will report directly into an in-flight SharePoint project and will be responsible for: 1. Understanding the defined business and system requirements already captured. 2. Understanding the design principals already in place for the first series of prototypes. 3. Based on the above, progressing work to develop, configure and apply changes to the SharePoint prototypes within the project timeframes based on the initial requirements & feedback during User Acceptance Testing. Page 2 of 11
4. Evaluation Criteria Please complete Appendix B for each candidate as well as submitting CVs. The Evaluation Criteria Criteria Suitability of the proposed resource (See competency / skills / knowledge listed above) Evidence of at least two years working with SharePoint, exploiting the out-of-the-box functionality, together with SharePoint Designer Workflows, InfoPath Forms and Reporting Services to develop line of business applications using SharePoint lists. Evidence of working in a small team in an agile project development environment, sharing knowledge and expertise with other team members, and working to deadlines in what can be a demanding delivery environment. Evidence of prior experience with SharePoint User acceptance testing processes. A strong commitment to delivering a quality solution to the business requirements. Ability to communicate with end users during UAT and pilot evaluation to understand their detail requirements and explain the solutions An appreciation of the different implications for ongoing support and viability of a SharePoint application developed with and without custom code in an outsourced environment Criteria Weighting (%) 80 35 15 Cost 20 Page 3 of 11
5. Evaluation Methodology The Evaluation Methodology. Candidates will be evaluated against each of the set criteria as follows: Suitability of the proposed resource. Each candidate will be scored, as per the scoring regime set out in Appendix A, against each of the individually detailed evaluation criteria. The maximum available percentage score for each individually detailed evaluation criteria is detailed in the evaluation criteria table above. The overall score for this criterion will be the summation of the individual requirement percentages. I.e. (tender score / highest attainable score) x 0. Cost. The tender price will be awarded a score based on its price relative to the lowest price tender. I.e. (Lowest tender price / highest tender price) x maximum available score. Total score. The candidates overall percentage score will be the summation of the scores for the two individual criteria. 6. Documents required in response to this Invitation to Quote 6.1. Completed Appendix B for each proposed candidate, full CV s of proposed candidates, reference details for the last two posts held and day rates, limited to three candidates per organisation. Please note that references will not be evaluated but may be used to validate the information provided in Annex B and CVs. 6.2. A cover sheet including full contact details, security clearance status and a summary of candidates and the respective charge rates. The day rate quoted must be the full charge rate which HMT would be invoiced, excluding VAT. A breakdown of day rate and agency margin should also be stipulated and should be in line with the framework rates. Page 4 of 11
7. Indicative Tender Timetable The proposed tender timetable is: Milestone Date Issue Invitation to Quote (ITQ) 19 April 2013 Deadline for Clarifications 5pm 22 April 2013 Deadline for submission 5pm 23 April 2013 Proposed dates for short-listed candidate Interviews (if required) 25 April 1 May 2013 Contract award 3 May 2013 Contract start 7 May 2013 8. Communication All communications, at all stages of this tender, must be conducted via the Group Commercial inbox (GroupCommercial@hmtreasury.gsi.gov.uk) unless expressly agreed by a member of HM Treasury Commercial Team. Communications outside of this mechanism may render your proposal null and void. 9. Clarifications Clarification questions about the required Services should be submitted via email to the Group Commercial inbox by 5pm 22 April 2013. HM Treasury reserve the right to respond to clarification questions received after this deadline at its discretion. It will normally reject questions raised after this deadline. Where HM Treasury consider any question or request for clarification to be of material significance, it may communicate both the query and the response, in a suitably anonymous form, to all interested parties who have responded. If a Tenderer does not wish for a query or response to be disclosed to other Tenderers it must communicate this and the reason why to HM Treasury with the query. HM Treasury will consider the request but reserves the right to disclose the query and/or the response to other Tenderers.. Closing Date CVs and day rates must be uploaded to the Government Procurement Service (GPS) e-sourcing portal with a copy e-mailed to GroupCommercial@hmtreasury.gsi.gov.uk. Tenders must include contact details for the purpose of follow-up and planning of candidate interviews. Suppliers should ensure that candidates are available on the stipulated dates for interview if they are required. Page 5 of 11
11. Terms and Conditions This requirement is competed via the Government Procurement Service (GPS) - Non-Permanent Staff ICT CG) (Ref RM692/L3b) framework. Framework T&Cs apply - no others will be accepted. Specific terms to obtain assurance of tax arrangements of off-payroll contractors shall apply. More information on the HMT-led tax review can be found here: http://www.hmtreasury.gov.uk/tax_pay_appointees_review.htm 12. Government Transparency Agenda Suppliers should note that the terms of the proposed contract will permit the Contracting Authority to publish the text of this contract, subject to possible redactions at the discretion of the Contracting Authority. In submitting a tender, a supplier is acknowledging the Contracting Authority s right to publish information contained within that tender, should that information be incorporated into any contract awarded. 13. Freedom of Information Act 2000 Tenderers should be aware of the HM Treasury s obligations and responsibilities under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) to disclose, on request, recorded information held by HM Treasury. Information provided by Tenderers in connection with this procurement exercise, or with any Contract that may be awarded by HM Treasury, may therefore have to be disclosed by our Suppliers and Tenderers in response to such a request, unless HM Treasury decides that one of the statutory exemptions under the FOIA applies. HM Treasury may also include certain information in the publication scheme, which it maintains under the FOIA. In dealing with requests for information under the FOIA, HM Treasury must comply with a strict timetable and HM Treasury would, therefore, expect a timely response to any such consultation within five working days. In certain circumstances where information has not been provided in confidence, HM Treasury may still wish to consult with you about the application of any other exemption such as that relating to disclosure that will prejudice the commercial interests of any party. The decision as to which information will be disclosed is reserved to HM Treasury, notwithstanding any consultation with you. Further information on FOIA is available at http://www.foi.gov.uk. 14. Terms of Offer 14.1. Travel and Subsistence. Any travel and expenses incurred will require pre-approval and will be capped at HM Treasury travel and subsistence rates. 14.2. Pricing Prices stated must remain open for 30 days and be firm for the duration of the contract, including any extension. Prices stated must be the total chargeable day rate (invoice price), exclusive of VAT. Day rates stated in the offer should be clearly defined and free from caveat. We would expect Tenderers to recognise the current requirement within HM Government to reduce the costs of contingent labour and reflect any agreed or further reductions in rates in their response. Page 6 of 11
14.3. Confidentiality All information supplied in connection with this invitation shall be regarded as strictly confidential. 14.4. Liability HM Treasury shall have no liability for any cost or expense you may incur as a direct or indirect consequence of your tendering for the provision of the services. By responding to this tender, Tenderers acknowledge and agree that HMT will have no liability for payment of bid costs incurred at any time during this procurement and that the costs of responding to the tender and of preparing any bid in connection with this procurement are exclusively for the Tenderers' accounts. 14.5. Communication All communications, at all stages of this tender, must be conducted via the contact point outlined in section 8 - Communication unless expressly agreed by a member of HM Treasury Group Commercial Team. Communications outside of this mechanism may render your proposal null and void. 14.6. Acceptance HM Treasury does not bind itself to accept the lowest or any tender. You are advised that nothing in this letter or its appendices or any other communication made between HM Treasury and any other party shall be taken as constituting a contract, agreement or representation between HM Treasury and any other party (save for the award of contract made in writing by HM Treasury), nor shall such be taken as constituting a contract, agreement or representation that any contract shall be offered in accordance herewith or at all. 14.7. General HMT will not be committed to any course of action as a result of: - issuing this ITQ; - a candidate being invited to be interviewed; or - communicating with a Tenderer or a Tenderer s representatives or agents in respect of this tender. HMT reserves the right to amend, add to or withdraw all or any part of this tender at any time prior to the tender submission date. 15. Small and Medium Enterprises 15.1. An aspiration was set, in the Coalition Programme for Government, that 25% of Central Government procurement spend directly and in the supply chain should go to SMEs by the end of this Parliament. 15.2. The Authority will seek to encourage SME involvement amongst Tenderers in delivering the requirement. The Authority will collect and report, where appropriate, the involvement of relevant SME s both directly and indirectly within the successful Tenderers supply chain in delivering the requirement. Page 7 of 11
16. Conflicts 16.1. HMT require that any actual, potential or perceived conflicts of interest in respect of this mandate are identified in writing during the tender process and that Tenderers outline what safeguards would be put in place to mitigate the risk of actual or perceived conflicts arising during the delivery of these services. 16.2. Tenderers may be disqualified from this tender where they identify potential conflicts of interest (taking into consideration any mitigating actions proposed) that adversely affect the interests of the Agency and/or HMG. Page 8 of 11
Appendix A Scoring Definitions. Scoring Definitions Essential Criteria. Assessment Score Interpretation Excellent 5 Good 4 Acceptable 3 Minor Reservations Serious Reservations 2 1 Unacceptable 0 Exceeds the requirement. Exceptional demonstration by the candidate of the relevant ability, understanding, experience, skills, and resource & quality measures required to provide the services, with clear evidence to support the response. Satisfies the requirement with minor additional benefits. Above average demonstration by the candidate of the relevant ability, understanding, experience, skills, resource & quality measures required to provide the services, with clear evidence to support the response. Satisfies the requirement. Demonstration by the candidate of the relevant ability, understanding, experience, skills, and resource & quality measures required to provide the services, with clear evidence to support the response. Satisfies the requirement with minor reservations. Some minor reservations of the candidate s relevant ability, understanding, experience, skills, and resource & quality measures required to provide the services, with little or no evidence to support the response. Satisfies the requirement with major reservations. Considerable reservations of the candidate s relevant ability, understanding, experience, skills, resource & quality measures required to provide the services, with little or no evidence to support the response. Does not meet the requirement. Does not comply and/or insufficient information provided to demonstrate that the candidate has the ability, understanding, experience, skills, resource & quality measures required to provide the services, with little or no evidence to support the response. Page 9 of 11
Appendix B Response template The Evaluation Criteria Criteria Criteria Weighting (%) Suitability of the proposed resource 80 Response Evidence of at least two years working with SharePoint, exploiting the out-of-the-box functionality, together with SharePoint Designer Workflows, InfoPath Forms and Reporting Services to develop line of business applications using SharePoint lists. Evidence of working in a small team in an agile project development environment, sharing knowledge and expertise with other team members, and working to deadlines in what can be a demanding delivery environment. Evidence of prior experience with SharePoint User acceptance testing processes. A strong commitment to delivering a quality solution to the business requirements. 35 15 Page of 11
Ability to communicate with end users during UAT and pilot evaluation to understand their detail requirements and explain the solutions An appreciation of the different implications for ongoing support and viability of a SharePoint application developed with and without custom code in an outsourced environment Page 11 of 11