GLA Java Products Development

Description

Summary of the work We expect the outputs of this program of work to deliver: Continuous development to our existing and new Java services Rebuild some of our legacy back office applications as java micro services Work with our support partner who provides code guardianship responsibilities across our Drupal and Java digital services. Expected Contract Length 24 months with additional 12 months extension Latest start date Tuesday 1 November 2022 Budget Range £250k however, please note supplier prices quoted must include an appropriate adjustment to reflect travel to the GLA’s offices if applicable and subsistence costs. Why the Work is Being Done The majority of services and websites which comprise our digital estate were built on an open source system, Drupal9. Saying that the GLA also have an increasing number of Back office (and/or partner) digital services built as java micro services with integrations to feed data to the public web estate. This work is primarily aimed at delivering continuous and new development for any Java digital services as part of the GLA’s digital estate. This will involve architecting solutions, designing and developing secure, robust, scalable and resilient Java solutions to support the long-term development plans and growth of the Java services within the GLA's digital estate. Problem to Be Solved We are after a digital agency with Java capabilities to deliver continuous development to our existing and new Java services. We also want to reduce the complexity of our digital estate by reviewing and ensuring the most appropriate technology is applied for building new products and services to meet user needs. Whilst the majority of the estate is focussed on Drupal9 sites, alternative technology such as Java should always be considered when appropriate, rather than developing in Drupal. In particular, we need to look at breaking our monolithic architecture, streamlining our microsites and third party integrations and reducing technical debt. Who Are the Users Users/personas of our digital estate: - Residents (adults/kids) - Media - Professional Audience (Informational Seekers) - Partners and Local Councils - Businesses - GLA Staff Further details can be provided upon request. Early Market Engagement N/A Work Already Done Functional audit and code reviews Existing Team Technical Lead Cloud System Engineer DevOp Delivery Manager Tester Content Manager BA Performance Analyst Product Owner Current Phase Live Skills & Experience • Experience developing Java micro services (ideally using spring framework) with light weight front end (e.g. node, react, etc...) using an existing pattern library to WCAG 2.1 AA standards • Experience in PostgreSQL and bash shell. • Experience building secure Java micro services and APIs (compatible with serverless hosting) • Experience of delivering large-scale complex data products to industry standards (e.g. design, security, coding, automated test coverage, etc...) built with Java. • Delivering high quality documentation for integration (e,g, APIs), inventory, support, maintenance, etc • Using 3rd party modules to accelerate development and reduce costs. • Reuse shared code to build a maintainable system. • Developing custom modules to deliver bespoke functionality. • Minimizing technical debt and ensuring that a site remains maintainable as it grows in scale and feature-set. • Integrating Java with other services and technologies. • Optimising user experience in response to data and user testing. • Optimising code for search. • Working with an open data platform. • Experience of migrating content/data away from Drupal Nice to Haves • Experience working with local or national government • Demonstrable experience of risk assessment and future-proofing of legacy systems • Experience in supporting complex, large organizations through programmes of digital change • Experience of migrating content/data from a multi-platform web estate Work Location London Working Arrangments We expect the work to be carried out from both the GLA’s offices in London/ the supplier location as well as remotely. Regular meetings, workshops, show and tells might be held at one of the GLA’s offices in London, and If not applicable, remotely. The chosen agency would need to fully integrate with our team, share their knowledge and insight; work in an open and transparent way and demonstrate good agile product delivery practice. Security Clearance Bidders will be expected to meet the Baseline Personnel Security Standard. Additional T&Cs None No. of Suppliers to Evaluate 5 Proposal Criteria • Technical solution • Approach and use of agile methodology • How the Approach or solution meets user needs • How the Approach or solution meets your organisation’s policy and GDS standards • Estimated timeframes for the work • How they’ve identified risks and dependencies and offered approaches to manage them • Team structure • Value for money Cultural Fit Criteria • How will you ensure that you work with the GLA team and our suppliers as a single team with a shared purpose? • How will you ensure that you communicate with the GLA team frequently, openly, honestly and constructively challenging any pre-conceptions and involving them in decision making? • Have a no-blame culture and encourage people to learn from their mistakes Payment Approach Time and materials Assessment Method Presentation Evaluation Weighting Technical competence 60% Cultural fit 20% Price 20% Questions from Suppliers 1. Does the GLA have further details they can share for the scope of work to be covered? Existing Java digital services• Mayor Question Time - https://www.london.gov.uk/questions/ • NRMM - https://www.london.gov.uk/what-we-do/environment/pollution-and-air-quality/nrmm • SafeStats - https://www.london.gov.uk/what-we-do/research-and-analysis/safestats/about-safestats • GLA OPs - https://www.london.gov.uk/what-we-do/funding/open-project-system-ops The rebuild work from Drupal to Java:• Rogue Landlord Checker - https://www.london.gov.uk/rogue-landlord-checker New services:• New products coming into support as adopted such as the new London Datastore. Out of scope: standalone Drupal sites for the wider GLA group; TFL, London Fire etc. Partner sites which are supported by the Mayor of London, but are not run or managed by the GLA. 2. Given the budget range, is the expectation to have 1 developer or a part-time arrangement from the agency? We'll have team members dedicated to any projects that get commissioned under this call off contract. The Vendor would be expected to provide the team/roles they will need to deliver any projects within this call off contract while working with the GLA's dedicated team as a one single high-performing multidisciplinary team. 3. Please can you clarify what exactly you expect for £250k over two years? Separate individual statements of work under this call off umbrella contract for any specific requirements that might come up on any of our Java digital services. Please refer to Q1 for details on sites included in the scope. 4. Do you perceive this to be a full time resource or umbrella contract with an individual statement of work for any specific work? An umbrella contract with different individual statements of work for any specific requirements on our Java digital services. Please refre to Q1 for details on sites included in the scope. 5. Do you have any incumbent supplier? No 6. What’s the percentage of travel to the GLA’s offices expecting? We expect the work to be carried out from both the GLA’s offices in London/ the supplier location as well as remotely. Regular meetings, workshops, show and tells might be held at one of the GLA’s offices in London, and If not applicable, remotely. 7. Do you allow offshore development team along with onsite team? Nothing stopping us doing so as long as it's agreed in the contract that no data will be transferred outside the UK whatsoever and that the supplier company accepts that all work will fully comply with UK data security legislation and regulations at all times, no matter where in the World any of the technical work takes place. 8. Can this service be delivered on an Offshore / Onsite basis (India / London)? We deliver similar services to our global clients on this basis and are looking at this model for offering this service to GLA. Nothing stopping us doing so as long as it's agreed in the contract that no data will be transferred outside the UK whatsoever and that the supplier company accepts that all work will fully comply with UK data security legislation and regulations at all times, no matter where in the World any of the technical work takes place.