Creation of a new intranet built on Microsoft SharePoint Online (existing Tenant)

Description

Summary of the work You will join our team to design, build and test a new intranet built on Microsoft SharePoint Online (existing tenant). Delivery of the intranet and knowledge transfer must be completed within a three-month window. You will demonstrate your continuous progress to us throughout delivery. Expected Contract Length 3 months Latest start date Monday 3 April 2023 Budget Range This project is capped at £25,000 (including VAT). Why the Work is Being Done We shut down our previous intranet platform in August 2021 after extensive user research which showed that it was no longer fit-for-purpose. As such we currently only have a temporary holding solution linking to other sites/portals. We want to build a modern intranet built on Microsoft’s SharePoint Online to maximise the potential offered by the Microsoft 365 suite for integration and useability with existing tools such as Microsoft Teams, Forms, Yammer, events, and SharePoint. We use Teams and Microsoft 365 products on a daily basis within the Gambling Commission and are growing our capability in this area, bringing our colleagues with us on the journey to maximise the opportunities Microsoft 365 offers. Problem to Be Solved Create a new intranet based on the SharePoint Online , including design, build and test. You will complement our team in delivering the intranet in a four-month delivery window. We will provide an indicative site map and graphic design for you to use as an input to your design of the intranet as well as a suite of user insights and user research that was conducted in stage one of the project which included the closing down of our old intranet site. You will design and build the intranet to comply with the latest WCAG standard adhering to level AA or greater. The content to be served on the intranet includes static pages with significant document content (predominantly in SharePoint online), dynamic pages (e.g. news), video and search. You will oversee the development of the platform and subsequent set up. You will configure the SharePoint Online out-of-the-box analytics capability to provide meaningful data on usage of the intranet. You will design and build the intranet to operate to performance, data protection and security standards to be agreed with us during the design phase. Following delivery, you will complete a knowledge transfer to the Commission’s ICT Team and internal communications team. Who Are the Users As a member of staff working in the Commission I need to be able to: • have a ‘go-to place’ to access important updates and information that I am confident is maintained • find the latest Corporate communications, news feeds from the landing page • as a manager be able to find supporting information, resources, policies and procedures to support and manage my staff • as a new starter find all the onboarding information and useful information I need to feel welcomed and included as a colleagues • have easy access/links to HR, Finance systems to activate processes such as book leave, approve absences • find and share information about my and other teams, to understand peoples’ roles • find quick links to other business systems to enable the day job • access SharePoint documents from across the organisation • be supported systematically to curate content I am responsible for to ensure it is managed as current, required and relevant or removed in accordance with our retention policy. Early Market Engagement None Work Already Done We have undertaken extensive user research and mapping of information needs and wants from our audience. We would expect you to use this information to inform the design of the intranet. We are making good use of the Microsoft 365 suite, including Teams, OneDrive and SharePoint as well as Yammer for social sharing and updates and have the correct licenses in place. We've created a network of communications champions who will support our drive to embed the new intranet into day-to-day ways of working. We use PowerBI for reporting and would like to see this feature further in our Intranet. Existing Team Your team will join our team to deliver the project and be overseen by the Intranet project working group which comprises colleagues from People Services, Digital and Communications functions. Core points of contact during the project will include the Head of Internal Comms, and Digital Service Owner. We expect your team to be dedicated and to drive the project forward maintaining regular touchpoints with core points of contact. If you feel you can deliver this as a sole trader you will need to demonstrate the range of skills expected within your proposal. Current Phase Discovery Skills & Experience • Have relevant experience of delivering an intranet on Microsoft 365 • have technical expertise in Microsoft 365 • have experience of overcoming challenges delivering an intranet on 365 • have experience of delivering a project jointly with a client • have an experienced and capable team to deliver an intranet using Microsoft 365 • have experience of delivering a website or intranet to the latest WCAG standard at level AA or greater • have experience of transitioning support of a Microsoft SharePoint Online implementation to a client’s support team • have a proven delivery methodology for Microsoft 365 intranet implementations • have experience of integrating all Microsoft 365 components and bringing the components together in a central place • have experience delivering a Microsoft SharePoint Online intranet to brand and design principles • have experience of delivering Microsoft SharePoint intranet in a complex environment • have knowledge and experience of delivering reusable templates that can be re-purposed and used on specific areas of an intranet • have experience of using video, images and other media to enhance intranets Nice to Haves • • It would be good if the supplier has evidence of relevant certifications • It would be good if the supplier has experience in dealing with rapidly iterating requirements • have experience of adoption with user-groups resistant to change • have experience of IT delivery in a similar organisation • It would be good if the supplier has evidence of successful remote delivery of projects Work Location Remote working is acceptable although attendance in our Birmingham office may be preferable for in-person meetings where there is a particular value. Our Birmingham office is based in Victoria Square House, Victoria Square, Birmingham B2 4BP Working Arrangments Remote working is acceptable although attendance in our Birmingham office may be preferable for in-person meetings where there is a particular value. Our Birmingham office is based in Victoria Square House, Victoria Square, Birmingham B2 4BP Security Clearance Government BPSS (identity, right to work and DBS check) Additional T&Cs Intellectual Property in relation to the development of the intranet will sit with the Gambling Commission. No. of Suppliers to Evaluate 5 Proposal Criteria • The proposed delivery approach and methodology • • How well the proposed solution meets requirements set out • • How well the proposed solution meets the required timeline • How the supplier identified risks and dependencies and offered approaches to manage them • • How closely the supplier can work/integrate with the existing team and the established user research Cultural Fit Criteria • recognise that inclusivity is central to our ways of working and therefore accessibility is a core objective of the intranet, so it can be used effectively by all. • recognise that everyone across the organisation is empowered to be their best • work as a team with our organisation and other suppliers • be transparent and collaborative when making decisions • recognise that we want staff to become experts in content management and will require any other knowledge transfer such as metrics set up and insight on use • recognise that we embrace hybrid working Payment Approach Time and materials Assessment Method • Work history • Reference • Presentation Evaluation Weighting Technical competence 40% Cultural fit 20% Price 40% Questions from Suppliers 1. Please could you provide more clarity on whether you are looking to augment an existing team for this delivery – “Your team will join our team to deliver the project and be overseen by the Intranet project working group” or whether you would consider a full turn-key solution by a supplier. We have extensive experience in the delivery of SharePoint Online Intranets to the UK Public Sector and Regulated Industries but would typically deliver an end-to-end solution working collaboratively with our clients. We have a Digital team who have completed the initial user research which has informed our requirements, which we will share with the successful supplier. Our Comms team are undertaking a rebrand exercise which will need to be incorporated into the work. We have a technical team that are proficient in O365 implementation. Therefore the key for the successful supplier is to concentrate on the build rather than research/branding/O365. We see this a very collaborative project working closely with the internal teams as above, with regular reviews and touch points. 2. Can you please confirm the volume of users the system needs to cater for? Around 330 currently with capacity to easily scale up to 450 3. Please can you confirm that the budget stated is the total and entirety of the project budget or just the budget for the “Discovery” phase? The budget is for implementation. The majority of discovery has already been completed internally. 4. Are there any 3rd party line of business systems to integrate? No, the intranet will simply contain links to any external LOB systems but it will need to integrate with all other O365 components 5. Is there any existing content (pages/documents/lists etc) to migrate? We extracted all of the content of our previous intranet into plain text before we closed it down. We do not anticipate migrating very much of it as it was very out of date. We currently have a temporary holding site with a few pages of current content only. We anticipate that most of the content will have to be rewritten from scratch (by us). 6. How many users do you have?Where are they located?What M365 licences do they have?Are you prepared to accept an intranet accelerator as as means to develop an intranet on top of SharePoint out of the box functionality? 330 users currentlyLocated either at home or in our Birmingham office (or a hybrid mix of the two)All users have an O365 E3 licence as a minimum plus some additional add on licences (e.g. Project, Visio, Teams Calling Plans)We must be able to manage the solution ourselves and had not anticipated purchasing any other products, so if using an intranet accelerator means making a software purchase and/or that is new software for our admins to learn it is unlikely we would want to go down that route. 7. You say “We will provide an indicative site map and graphic design for you to use as an input to your design of the intranet” – are you aware of some of the limitations that SharePoint imposes on the ability of a supplier to customize the interface design? Intranet accelerators add some capability to this but Microsoft and SPO are still a limiting factor Yes, we are aware and will most likely need to work within those limitations 8. You say ” Budget range: This project is capped at £25,000 (including VAT).” – is this a one off payment or intended to cover support and maintenance for a year? This is a payment for implementation. We anticipate that we will be able to support and maintain the site ourselves with our internal skill set. Where this is not possible we would approach the supplier on a time and materials basis or look to put a new support contract in place - however that is not part of this contract award.