LNER Web & App Development and Support

Description

About adding context and requirements test Pre-market engagement The market has been engaged by publishing a PIN on the Find A Tender website: https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/001169-2023 inviting suppliers to complete a brief questionnaire about the requirement and their ability to meet it to inform LNER’s choice of procurement route and the scope of the requirement. Suppliers on the DOS framework have also been alerted to this PIN by email Work done so far Our website and app are live and in active use, with somewhere in the region of 2M monthly active users combined. This contract is to take on both platforms, and evolve existing functionality as well as help define the future strategy and feature development. The LNER retail ecosystem is powered by a proprietary Ticket Issuing System referred to as the Central Booking Engine (CBE). CBE and the front-end web/app infrastructure is all hosted within Amazon Web Services (AWS) environments under the LNER organisation for administration and billing. The AWS LNER organisation has under it multiple AWS accounts and Virtual Private Clouds (VPCs) to provide separation between production and non-production environments and to also facilitate delegated account management to third parties for the operation of the services they manage. Each system/supplier operating within the LNER ecosystem must ensure their development and releases are aligned to the LNER release schedule (4x Major and 4x Minor releases per annum) and to facilitate this will need to ensure their promotion pathways and environments are configured with a 1:1 environment mapping for integration to the corresponding CBE environments. At present the environments in place are: • Dev 1 • Dev 2 • Test 1 • Test 2 • Performance Testing • Staging • Production All development and test environments are anonymised and must contain no PII/Live data. This tender will provide access to the existing accounts for handover of development, management and administration of the Web, App, Middleware, Auth Service and Payments Gateway. In addition to the accounts/environments listed above there are also internal development environments that will be handed over. Connectivity to the CBE environment is via both SOAP and REST currently and with a dedicated API gateway created on CBE last year there will be a piece of work to be completed to move existing SOAP connections to REST via the API gateway going forward Which phase the project is in Live Existing team The team: LNER Product managers for: • Web, covering desktop and mobile web, our onboard QR code portal and Wi-Fi systems • Our LNER app on iOS and Android. • Our central booking engine system Range of product owners for specific initiatives as well as general product support. Internal LNER leads for: • Digital Products • User experience • User research • Solutions architecture • Acceptance testing • Release management • Commercial leads in Fares, CEM and Comms • Marketing and content management Internal delivery team of project managers and business analysts The suppliers: The web and app along with the payments and auth middleware form part of a wider retail ecosystem which encompasses many suppliers and services to form the LNER Digital Retail Ecosystem. At the centre of this ecosystem is the LNER Ticket Issuing System (TIS) or Central Booking Engine (CBE) referred to here on out as CBE. As the services within this contract form key dependencies for the wider ecosystem it is vitally important that the supplier is able to work well in a partnership arrangement with the other suppliers within the ecosystem. Address where the work will be done Any location where legal jurisdiction for data access can be protected as being under UK law. Otherwise, have an office location somewhere on the East Coast Main Line franchise route to enable co-location and in-person collaboration when needed. Working arrangements Typical working arrangements will involve daily sprint and weekly/periodic account and project status meetings, via Microsoft Teams and at our offices in London, York and along our route locations. We are always open to newer and better ways of working, but currently work with Microsoft Office, Jira and Confluence. Our partners are expected to be available remotely or on-site to manage relationships with senior stakeholders, project managers and our customers. Provide more information about your security requirements: No security clearance needed Latest start date 2023-10-30 Enter the expected contract length: 2 years Extension period: 1 year Special terms and conditions The successful bidder must undergo the LNER Information Security Assessment and work with the LNER Information Security Team to ensure all of their requirements are met. Special terms and conditions The Supplier acknowledges that LNER is under a duty under section 149 of the Equality Act 2010 to have due regard to the need to eliminate unlawful discrimination (on the grounds of a Relevant Protected Characteristic), to advance equality of opportunity, and to foster good relations, between persons who share a Relevant Protected Characteristic and persons who do not share it. In performing its obligations under this Agreement, the Supplier shall assist and co-operate with LNER where possible in satisfying this duty. “Relevant Protected Characteristic” means the characteristics referred to in section 4 of the Equality Act 2010. Special terms and conditions The Supplier shall comply with all the Customer policies and procedures notified by the Customer to the Supplier from time to time insofar as they are relevant to the Services including, without limitation: (a) all relevant security and code of conduct policies; and (b) the Customer’s Alcohol and Drugs Policy Statement as set out in Schedule 8 (Alcohol and Drugs Policy). Special terms and conditions In respect of information relating to the Agreement that will result from this procurement exercise, the Customer shall be entitled to: (a) disclose a copy (or any part thereof) of the Agreement to the Secretary of State upon request by the Secretary of State; and (b) permit the Secretary of State to disclose a copy (or any part thereof) of the Agreement to: (i) any third parties who have qualified to bid for a rail franchise that is currently operated by the Customer, provided always that such third parties have entered into appropriate confidentiality agreements with the Secretary of State; and (ii) any third party who is appointed to operate a rail franchise as a successor operator to the Customer. Special terms and conditions Shortlisted bidders will be evaluated on their Social Value offer, which will be evaluated externally by the Social Value Portal. The successful supplier is required to enter a contract with the Social Value Portal. Where the Social Value Portal carries out the assessment: The successful bidder pays 0.2%/year with a minimum annual payment of £750/year up to a maximum of £7,500/year. Special terms and conditions Change of franchise ownership or control – additional termination event 1. The parties acknowledge that, during the term of the Call-off Contract and at the direction of the Secretary of State for Transport (or its successor), (a) the entire issued share capital of the Buyer may be acquired by a third party, such that the Buyer is no longer a "Buyer" as defined in the Framework Agreement, or (b) responsibility for the operation of the Franchise may transfer to a third party that is not a "Buyer" as defined in the Framework Agreement (each a Relevant Event). If a Relevant Event is announced by the Secretary of State for Transport (or its successor), the parties agree that: a. within 5 Working Days following such announcement, the parties will commence discussions to agree how to replace this Call-off Contract with a new contract between the Buyer or the new franchise operator (as the case may be) (the Replacement Contract); b. the Replacement Contract will be on the same terms and conditions as this Call-off Contract, amended only (i) as necessary to reflect the occurrence of the Relevant Event, including to allow the Replacement Contract to be valid and operate as a standalone contract, rather than one made under the Framework Agreement, (ii) to remove references to the CCS, government requirements and the Crown and to replace relevant requirements where necessary with provisions having a broadly similar commercial impact and risk profile, (iii) to include a provision that the Replacement Contract is deemed to have come into effect from the commencement of this Call-off Contract, and (iv) as the parties may otherwise agree; c. each of the Supplier and the Buyer (or if applicable the new franchise operator) will enter into the Replacement Contract prior to the occurrence of the Relevant Event; d. if the parties have not agreed the terms of the Replacement Contract before the Relevant Event occurs, the Supplier will enter into the Replacement Contract in the form presented by the Buyer, provided that such form complies with the requirements of sub-paragraph (b) above and that, in relation to amendments to be made under sub-paragraph (b)(iv) above, the Buyer has included only those to which the Supplier has previously given its explicit assent; and e. on the occurrence of the Relevant Event, this Call-off Contract will terminate. Special terms and conditions Order of precedence If there is any conflict between any provision of this Call-Off Contract, its Schedules and any Statement of Work, the conflict will be resolved in accordance with the following order of precedence: a) the Statement of Work b) the Call-Off Contract c) the remaining Schedules Are you prepared to show your budget details?: Yes Indicative maximum: 12000000 Provide further information: The indicative maximum is the maximum value of all individual statements of work called off over 3 years. Confirm if you require a contracted out service or supply of resource Contracted out service: the off-payroll rules do not apply Summary of work The maintenance, support and further development of a market-leading digital customer experience on web and app. The work will involve collaborating with LNER and our industry partners on future initiatives including (but not limited to) retail, fares simplification, customer self-service, account management and loyalty. This would cover customers booking directly with LNER as well as customers booking their tickets elsewhere Where the supplied staff will work North East England Where the supplied staff will work Yorkshire and the Humber Where the supplied staff will work East Midlands Where the supplied staff will work East of England Where the supplied staff will work London Where the supplied staff will work Scotland Who the organisation using the products or services is LONDON NORTH EASTERN RAILWAY LIMITED Why the work is being done From simpler ticketing and booking through to an enhanced journey experience and world-class customer service, LNER are on a journey to revolutionise the digital landscape to provide a world-class customer experience for rail travellers in Great Britain and beyond. We are re-procuring to provide a renewed basis for continued investment in our website and app over the next 3 years while building upon the efficiencies we have identified by having a single provider for both. The business problem you need to solve As this is a continuation of live products, there is no single problem to be solved as such. Full details of our web and app roadmaps will be shared with shortlisted applicants as part of the proposal stage. Work activities will include exploration & innovation in solution design, scoping requirements, UX & design, user research, development, testing, delivery, support, measurement & insight gathering, and continuous improvement of the LNER website and mobile app on iOS and Android. Key features include rail ticket purchasing, ticketing, change of journeys and journey repair, ancillary product integration, live journey information, management of our payments and account authentication layers, account management, loyalty scheme management and development, customer service initiatives and personalisation. The chosen supplier will form part of a collaborative multi-supplier team, working closely with LNER and our partners to deliver a market-leading, innovative retail solution. First user type: LNER Book Direct Customer First user type: LNER customers who book with 3rd parties First user type: Prospective LNER customers Enter more details about this user type: As an LNER customer who books tickets directly with LNER, I need to be able to search for, book, track and manage my journeys with LNER, so that I can complete my journey. Enter more details about this user type: As an LNER customer who books tickets with third parties, I need access to information on LNER services, products, locations and policies, so that I can complete my journey and gain access to relevant journey support tools and loyalty scheme benefits provided by the LNER app. Enter more details about this user type: As a prospective LNER customer, I need access to information on LNER services, products, locations and policies, so that I can complete my first LNER purchase. Questions and Clarifications 0. After taking an initial look through the DOS 6 FC L1 Bid Pack - Attachment 1 Statement of Requirements, there seems to be an important document missing from the bidder attachments in this portal. This is referred to in the technical criteria as "9644 Website & App Roadmap Examples.docx" and I believe will form the basis of the technical response that we need to complete. Is this something you could upload to the portal for us? The Website & App Roadmap examples will be shared with the shortlisted suppliers when they are invited to Stage 2. At this stage, to be considered for shortlisting, you only need to provide a response to your essential and nice-to-have requirement questions. Last Updated: <strong>2023-07-19T14:30:08.588213Z</strong> 1. Hello, The maximum budget is stated as £12m. Can you please confirm this figure is correct? Thanks. The maximum budget of £ 12m is the maximum of all Call Offs covering bespoke developments as well as retainers against the awarded contract for the contract period including the maximum extension period. Last Updated: <strong>2023-07-21T14:47:30.85026Z</strong> 2. Hi, Please could you advise where the 9644 Website & App Roadmap Examples.docx can be found within the ITT documents? Many thanks Please refer to earlier clarification. The Website & App Roadmap examples will be shared with the shortlisted suppliers when they are invited to Stage 2. At this stage, to be considered for shortlisting, you only need to provide a response to your essential and nice-to-have requirement questions. Last Updated: <strong>2023-07-21T14:48:28.897441Z</strong> 3. Can bidders submit any additional documentation at this stage in support of our core submission file? As per the rules of the framework at this stage bidders may only provide text answers up to the maximum wordcount. We are unable to receive nor evaluate additional documentation received outside the CCS's CAS service. Last Updated: <strong>2023-07-21T14:49:13.962783Z</strong> 4. Where do we need to upload the clarification questions on the portal. You submit clarification questions using the dialogue tool you used to submit this question. Last Updated: <strong>2023-07-21T14:50:04.406751Z</strong> 5. Where do we need to upload the clarification questions on the portal. You submit clarification questions using the dialogue tool you used to submit this question. Last Updated: <strong>2023-07-21T14:50:04.792426Z</strong> 6. The documents indicate that 4 companies have been shortlisted. How do I know if my company has been shortlisted for these agreement? Shortlisting will take place after stage 1 has completed and will be based on the evaluation of the responses to the Essential and Nice to have criteria. Once the evaluation has taken place bidders will be informed if they have been shortlisted or not. Please refer to the time table for approximate timings when this will take place Last Updated: <strong>2023-07-24T12:11:03.540084Z</strong> 7. Could you please confirm the tech stack that your web site and app have been built with - operating systems, languages and frameworks with current versions please. There is a mix of O/S and languages across the platforms. We will share details with shortlisted suppliers under an NDA. Last Updated: <strong>2023-07-24T15:57:55.244412Z</strong> 8. "Bid Pack Attachment 3: Responses to Essential and Nice-to-have skills and experience: The documents says - ""Responses must be made in English. If you exceed the 750 character count in any response your application may be considered non-compliant and rejected"" Do you mean 750 characters or 750 words? Please confirm the word count." The character count of 750 characters has been set by CCS. Questions regarding this must be fielded to info@crowncommercial.gov.uk Last Updated: <strong>2023-07-24T15:59:35.124894Z</strong> 9. "Bid Pack Attachment 1: Statement of Requirements: The document says - ""Social value criteria - Please complete the social value assessment at the Social Value Portal - the URL will be shared with shortlisted suppliers."" Do we need to fill this right now or in the next phase?" Only shortlisted bidders will be required to submit a social value bid. They will be provided with a link to the social value portal where this can be submitted when stage 2 opens. Last Updated: <strong>2023-07-24T16:01:08.001009Z</strong> 10. "Bid Pack Attachment 1: Statement of Requirements: Pricing model - There is no pricing sheet shared. Do we need to provide pricing in the current phase or in the next phase? What is expected to be submitted from commercials perspective under the current phase of procurement?" Financial evaluation will take place in stage 2. We will share a pricing model to be used for evaluation with the shortlisted suppliers. In the current phase you will only need to submit your responses to the essential and nice to have criteria, which form the basis of the evaluation of stage 1. Last Updated: <strong>2023-07-24T16:02:48.863079Z</strong> 11. "Bid Pack Attachment 1: Statement of Requirements: Additional assessment methods - • Presentation • Reference • Interview • Case study • Work history Is there anything to be submitted for these additional assessment methods for the current phase of procurement?" No. In the current phase you will only need to submit your responses to the essential and nice to have criteria, which form the basis of the evaluation of stage 1. Last Updated: <strong>2023-07-24T16:03:27.727026Z</strong> 12. "Bid Pack Attachment 1: Statement of Requirements: For the Technical criteria - Please advise on what needs to be submitted for the technical response for the current phase of procurement" In the current phase you will only need to submit your responses to the essential and nice to have criteria, which form the basis of the evaluation of stage 1. Last Updated: <strong>2023-07-24T16:05:38.7244Z</strong> 13. "Bid Pack Attachment 3: Responses to Essential and Nice-to-have skills and experience: Under Essential skills and experience - Q9. Demonstrable experience within the last 3 years of delivering or facilitating conversion optimisation programmes. What do you mean by conversion optimisation programmes? Ex:Customer conversions, marketing conversions etc Pls provide addnl clarity" We mean all types of conversions that the bidder feels would be of value to LNER and our customers. Last Updated: <strong>2023-07-24T16:06:53.741599Z</strong> 14. "Bid Pack Attachment 1: Statement of Requirements: Please confirm that responses to Technical criteria and Cultural fit question are NOT required to be responded to at this stage of the procurement." In the current phase you will only need to submit your responses to the essential and nice to have criteria, which form the basis of the evaluation of stage 1. Last Updated: <strong>2023-07-24T16:09:17.278561Z</strong> 15. Bid Pack & questions on in-housing teams: Why is there a specific need to demonstrate in-house experience? Yet the bid packs talk about teams working remotely and meeting in person occasional. Is the requirement actually to be on site. We would like to contract with a supplier who can provide an engaged, invested and collaborative team who can work effectively across all supplier and LNER teams. To satisfy this requirement, along with others regarding some in-person working, social value, and data access jurisdiction etc. we believe an in-house team would be required. Last Updated: <strong>2023-07-24T16:10:00.664272Z</strong> 16. Would you be accepting of a joint supplier bid? Please refer to clarification 35. LNER seeks to contract with one prime contractor to provide the full range of requirements. The framework does allow prime contractors to subcontract. Last Updated: <strong>2023-07-28T14:55:58.27984Z</strong> 17. Bid Pack - customer SME's (design): Please confirm who would be leading the conversation for the respective disciplines. LNER or partner. If LNER, would our designers be expected to report into LNER? LNER are looking to work with a supplier providing the services, there would be no direct reporting lines between supplier staff and LNER. Last Updated: <strong>2023-07-24T16:10:44.63868Z</strong> 18. Bid Pack - design methods: Are there any specific design methods/ processes the partner would be expected to adhere to? No Last Updated: <strong>2023-07-24T16:11:32.444771Z</strong> 19. Bid Pack - design location: Is there any preferences on team structure and lcoation? Onshore vs offshore As the succcessful supplier will be working with sensitive customer personal data LNER's preference is that they are located in the UK. Last Updated: <strong>2023-07-24T16:12:24.262752Z</strong> 20. Bid Pack - customer SME's (design): Would LNER be responsible for the outputs / deliverables? Or the partner? LNER are looking to work with a supplier who will be providing the services. Last Updated: <strong>2023-07-24T16:13:14.780274Z</strong> 21. Bid Pack - multiple suppliers (design): Would there potentially be multiple partners supporting the same discipline, working together (such as in design)? For research, development and delivery the expectation is that there would be multiple partners working together. In terms of design we expect to use a team from a single partner. Last Updated: <strong>2023-07-24T16:14:07.197984Z</strong> 22. Is the 750-character limit for answers inclusive of spaces? The character count of 750 characters has been set by CCS. Questions regarding this must be fielded to info@crowncommercial.gov.uk Last Updated: <strong>2023-07-24T16:14:43.141603Z</strong> 23. Bid Pack - UX Design: Can you give an indication of the number of designers currently supporting Design in LNER, and how many you anticipate being required for the engagement in year 1? LNER currently use 2-3 people, however we are open to suggestions from bidders as to what they believe is appropriate. Last Updated: <strong>2023-07-24T16:15:42.588293Z</strong> 24. After reviewing the nature and capabilities needed for this bid, we would like to collaborate with our sister agency. Is there a modification I need to make to our response? Only suppliers that are on the framework can submit a bid and be a prime contractor to supply the services. The framework however allows the use of subcontractors, and you should list all subcontractors that you intend to use to provide the services in your submission. Last Updated: <strong>2023-07-26T09:38:54.852762Z</strong> 25. In your PIN notice and Market Engagement Questionnaire, you mentioned SEO Management, Content Management services as being part of this tender. Reference to these are missing from the requirements document in the ITT, can you explain if you expect the chosen supplier to deliver SEO and Content Services? (for instance will you expect pay per click and media buying type services as part of the services provided?) SEO will be subject to a separate procurement exercise that is yet to be published. There will be no media buying or PPC work as part of this process, however, technical implementation of tracking will be required with support from our media agency. Content creation wouldn't be part of your services, however, ad hoc requests may be made to amend content within the CMS or in hardcoded areas of the website. Last Updated: <strong>2023-07-26T14:52:23.627449Z</strong> 26. LNER appears to have separate web and mobile partners today. Will LNER consolidate these providers, or do you withhold the right to retain multiple suppliers? It is LNER's intention to award a single contract covering both Web and App. Last Updated: <strong>2023-07-26T15:03:39.044042Z</strong> 27. When do the existing contracts expire for the current Mobile and Web development service providers please? It is LNER's intention to award a single contract covering both Web and App to be in place from the date indicated in the project schedule in the bid pack and timelines have been drafted to allow a sufficient transition period allowing the transfer from the existing suppliers to the successful bidder. Last Updated: <strong>2023-07-26T15:13:10.744862Z</strong> 28. What Support SLAs do LNER apply to the Mobile and Web services?  "The expected Service Availability is 99.99% P1 Incidents have a Target Response Time of 5 mins and Restoration within 4 hours (24/7/365) P2 Incidents have a Target Response Time of 5 mins and Restoration within 12 hours (24/7/365) P3 Incidents have a Target Response Time of 1 hour and Restoration within 3 Working Days P4 Incidents have a Target Response Time of 1 day and Restoration within 10 Working Days More detail will be provided to shortlisted bidders." Last Updated: <strong>2023-07-26T15:13:54.092925Z</strong> 29. What languages are used, i.e. 1. Web Application & API tiers (what languages/frameworks/vendors are used) 2. Mobile App (is it separate native iOS & Android builds, or a single codebase eg. React Native?) 3. Infra in AWS .. is it Infra as Code/automated or manually provisioned 4. What DR/Scalabilty is currently architected (this will impact cost of service as may be multi region multi vendor on stand by etc) There is a mix of O/S and languages across the platforms. We will share details with shortlisted suppliers under an NDA. LNER pay AWS directly for the accounts, so the successful bidder is not responsible for the running costs of the AWS infrastructure with regards to DR/Scaleability Last Updated: <strong>2023-07-26T15:15:42.780237Z</strong> 30. Please confirm that the skills matrix is not included in the 750 character count response As per the rules of the framework at this stage bidders may only provide text answers up to the maximum wordcount. We are unable to receive nor evaluate additional documentation received outside the CCS's CAS service. Last Updated: <strong>2023-07-26T15:17:45.554085Z</strong> 31. Please provide more detailed information around your frontend (mobile and web) and backend (AWS and other open-source technologies) tech stack and current as-is architecture. There is a mix of O/S and languages across the platforms. We will share details with shortlisted suppliers under an NDA. Last Updated: <strong>2023-07-26T15:19:02.981924Z</strong> 32. What is meant by “conversion optimization programmes”? Does this refer to improving the basket/checkout conversion? We mean all types of conversions that you feel would be of value to LNER and our customers. Last Updated: <strong>2023-07-26T15:20:02.170841Z</strong> 33. Continuous improvement: 2 expected contract lengths are mentioned on page of requirement document, please could to confirm the expectations from these two numbers ? 2 years, 0 months, 0 days 1 years, 0 months, 0 days The expected contract length is 2 years with the option to extend for a further 1 year Last Updated: <strong>2023-07-26T15:37:23.71728Z</strong> 34. Dear all, Are there any priority web development languages, frameworks or products required to deliver the scope of this contract, and are these anticipated to be constant throughout the contract duration or is there any planned technology transformation? • Is delivery from UK, Nearshore and Offshore acceptable to LNER? Are any locations preferred or not permitted? There is a mix of O/S and languages across the platforms. We will share details with shortlisted suppliers under an NDA. As the succcessful supplier will be working with sensitive customer personal data LNER's preference is that they are located in the UK. Last Updated: <strong>2023-07-26T15:39:43.952332Z</strong> 35. Your requirement covers both Web and App, but our specialism is in only one of the two and we believe the specialisms are very different. Would you accept a bid that was submitted with a partner that covers the other specialism? LNER seeks to contract with one prime contractor to provide the full range of requirements. The framework does allow prime contractors to subcontract. Last Updated: <strong>2023-07-26T15:59:15.989757Z</strong> 36. The timing for the response is also very tough when recognising that we are right in the middle of holiday season. Having held back on holidays whilst waiting for the RFP to be published, we have had to let some key staff take holidays with their families which means they will not be available to us in the next two weeks. In fairness, it is also a big ask to respond to such a big and important RFP in just over 10 working days, especially when considering the issues that you have struggled with in publishing it. At this stage bidders only need to respond to the "essential" and "nice to have" criteria, and LNER will evaluate responses to these to establish a short list. Only the shortlisted bidders are expected to provide a full bid in line with the published time lines Last Updated: <strong>2023-07-26T16:00:49.169949Z</strong> 37. AWS Infrastructure: Are these all Infrastructure as Code / automated/scripted or manually created instances of hardware? There is a mix of automated/scripted infrastructure as well as areas that require manual creation. We will share details with shortlisted suppliers under an NDA. Last Updated: <strong>2023-07-26T16:03:36.491469Z</strong> 38. what languages are the API's written in? There is a mix of O/S and languages across the platforms. We will share details with shortlisted suppliers under an NDA. Last Updated: <strong>2023-07-26T16:06:02.082138Z</strong> 39. Can you supply the Social Value registration code for this opportunity, it is currently blank in the documentation supplied. Only shortlisted bidders will be required to submit a social value bid. They will be provided with a link to the social value portal where this can be submitted when stage 2 opens. Last Updated: <strong>2023-07-28T14:58:23.501586Z</strong> 40. My understanding is that the first stage is to answer the questions in the "Essential and Nice-to-have skills and experience" and that all other attachments can be put to one side in terms of first deliverables. However what is the mechanic for responding? I understand we upload a file to this site but is there a template/file that you want us to complete then upload? I can see that Attachment 3 is called "Responses to Essential and Nice-to-have skills and experience" which implies we would use that document but I can't see where we would add our answers? Thank you, "We have shared the query with CCS and have been advised the following: The current CAS implementation requires buyers to download each supplier's response as a separate document. (Note: suppliers are only able to upload a single file onto eSourcing). When queried, suppliers are advised to edit the 'Bid Pack - Attachment 3 Responses to Essential and Nice-to-have skills and experience' to populate their individual responses to each question; and upload it to eSourcing so that buyers can view it via their CAS interface. Last Updated: <strong>2023-07-27T07:50:47.040663Z</strong> 41. Will there be another opportunity to ask questions in case we are shortlised and receive new documents? Current timeline does not show this as a next step. There is no official clarification stage in stage 2, however questions about documents that are published in that phase will be reviewed on a case by case basis Last Updated: <strong>2023-07-28T15:19:06.03615Z</strong> 42. In order for bidders to assess their match with the opportunity, and with summer holidays around the 2nd stage dates, would you please share the Social Value criteria and scoring breakdown , rather than waiting to release it for the second stage. It's understood that any review of this by bidders would be subject to your shortlisting, and therefore may not be relevant In particular, could you please list the TOMs that you will include on the Social Value Portal,; any supporting questions or evidence you will require; and how you will weight scoring between quantitative and qualitative answers for social value within the 10%? The standard set of TOMs will be used with a 50/50 split between quantitative and qualitative element Last Updated: <strong>2023-07-28T15:25:27.847915Z</strong> 43. A further follow up. Please confirm that the deliverables for this stage are: 1. a single document which includes our answers to the "essentials and nice to have" questions 2. character limit per answer is 750 characters 3. we add the characters to the document and re-upload the document 4. there are no further questions re. turnover, corporate structure etc. Thank you. This is correct. Please refer to previous clarifications 30,35 and 39 Last Updated: <strong>2023-07-28T08:44:39.308533Z</strong> 44. Is the main focusing of the project on a new customer facing website and related SEO services? The scope of the procurement is the ongoing development, maintenance and support of the LNER App and Website . Please refer to Bid Pack Attachment 1: Statement of Requirements for further detail. As per Clarification 25, SEO will be subject to a separate procurement exercise that is yet to be published. There will be no media buying or PPC work as part of this process, however, technical implementation of tracking will be required with support from our media agency. Content creation wouldn't be part of your services, however, ad hoc requests may be made to amend content within the CMS or in hardcoded areas of the website. Last Updated: <strong>2023-07-28T11:36:10.703901Z</strong> 45. Are you expecting a full tender response by 7th August 2023 As set out in previous clarifications and the instructions set out in the Bid Pack Attachment 2 and Attachment 3, you only need to respond to the Essential and Nice to Have Criteria by the deadline of 07/08/2023. Please edit Bid pack Attachment 3 to add your responses to each criterion, observing the character limit. Last Updated: <strong>2023-07-28T12:05:57.522953Z</strong> 46. Are you looking for an agency with all these services you have defined in your documentation at the level you should be insisting on under one roof? As set out in clarification 35, LNER seeks to contract with one prime contractor to provide the full range of requirements. The framework does allow prime contractors to subcontract. Last Updated: <strong>2023-07-28T12:09:29.127114Z</strong> 47. Please could you confirm whether at this stage the evaluation of the criteria is pass/fail, or whether the evaluation criteria in attachment 1 applies to this stage, meaning we have to exceed requirements to score full marks? Essential and Nice to Have criteria will be evaluated in line with the evaluation criteria set out in attachment one. As per the CCS DOS 6 Buyer Guide, we will exclude suppliers who get less than ‘Met’ for any essential skills and experience criteria. Last Updated: <strong>2023-07-28T12:29:18.132366Z</strong> 48. Are mobile apps pure native IOS & Android (multi codebase) or Single Codebase (eg React Native) There is a mix of O/S and languages across the platforms. We will share details with shortlisted suppliers under an NDA. Last Updated: <strong>2023-07-28T14:49:16.663754Z</strong> 49. Scoping requirements: Web Application, IOS and Android  - 3 applications of LNER (Current released version 4.24.1 on 10th July) in scope. LNER Door to Door (Current Version 1.0.3) should be considered in scope or not, please could you confirm? The LNER Door to Door application itself is not in scope for this contract. Last Updated: <strong>2023-07-28T14:51:30.486569Z</strong> 50. Do LNER wish to retain all IP for the future Mobile and Web solutions? Yes Last Updated: <strong>2023-07-28T14:52:31.583504Z</strong> 51. Clarification Question 22 leaves unclear the question of whether suppliers should count spaces in their responses. In our experience with other tenders (e.g. Cabinet Office), the limits are set by the organisation running the tender. In either case, would you be able to provide a clear statement on whether you wish spaces to be included to ensure that you receive comparable responses from Bidders? In line with the guidance from CCS, each response should not exceed 750 characters in length (the equivalent of about 150 words). Last Updated: <strong>2023-07-28T15:27:47.185308Z</strong> 52.  How many organisations are you expecting to respond Any supplier awarded to Lot 1 on the DOS6 framework is eligible to respond. LNER is not in the position to guesstimate how many will. Last Updated: <strong>2023-07-28T15:29:45.148733Z</strong> 53. Is this tender related only for a limited-time project, or for longer term cooperation? LNER intends to award the maximum contract length allowed under the framework (2 years initial term plus maximum extension of 1 year). Last Updated: <strong>2023-07-28T15:32:23.349983Z</strong> 54. Scoping requirements: This RFP scope is to cover the application maintenance, application support and application development (BAU - Business as Usual and Project), please could you confirm? Please refer to the requirement as set out in Attachment 1 for details of the scope. Last Updated: <strong>2023-07-28T15:42:58.741092Z</strong> 55. Please explain if the same should be read as 2 years mandatory and an option to extend to an additional year? Please refer to clarification 34.The expected contract length is 2 (two) years with the option to extend for 1 (one) year. Last Updated: <strong>2023-07-31T14:44:02.798765Z</strong> 56. What are your ambitions for the programme? (e.g., increase velocity, increase impact, increase efficiency, etc) Comfortable with velocity, always looking for efficiency in cost or investing in future efficiency for ease of future change. Our key focus for the programme is improving our digital customer experience, and creating new features and services that help our customers choose rail for their journeys, and choose LNER to book with. Last Updated: <strong>2023-07-31T14:55:11.95209Z</strong> 57. What are your ambitions for the programme? (e.g., increase velocity, increase impact, increase efficiency, etc) Comfortable with velocity, always looking for efficiency in cost or investing in future efficiency for ease of future change. Our key focus for the programme is improving our digital customer experience, and creating new features and services that help our customers choose rail for their journeys, and choose LNER to book with. Last Updated: <strong>2023-07-31T14:55:20.821971Z</strong> 58. Is there a central release governance and coordination process and team in place? Yes, we currently have a release manager coordinating releases across a range of products in our ecosystem. We would also rely on whoever wins this contract providing delivery resource to help update stakeholders and plan releases. The process itself is evolving, and we would look to the winner of this contract to help us deliver a best-practise release management process. Last Updated: <strong>2023-07-31T14:56:37.672275Z</strong> 59. What is the headcount of the existing team? If possible, could you break this down by role type or area? "The team size has varied over time and is currently approximately 40 people. This breaks down into approximately: 5 Product/UX/UI/UR 28 technical, QA, release - rough split between native and web 5 delivery/programme management" Last Updated: <strong>2023-07-31T14:57:24.802909Z</strong> 60. "Is Level 1 Support (Contact Centre) in scope of the supplier services or will the LNER/ existing contact centre supplier continue to own the L1 support? Also, will the SRE, Monitoring, Level 2, Level 3 support be in the scope of supplier under this bid?" Level 1 support will not be in scope for this contract, and that will stay with our existing teams. Some parts of level 2 and all of level 3 support will be in scope for this contract. Last Updated: <strong>2023-07-31T14:58:32.077356Z</strong> 61. "Could you confirm if the ""product lifecycle"" here implies the overall lifecycle of Development, Deployment and Support for the LNER web and apps please? Also, is it related to product (LNER web and app) lifecycle or the customer journey data to provide personalised experience to customers? " Yes, it implies the overall lifecycle of development, deployment and support of the LNER website and the LNER app on iOS and Android. Personalisation that adds value to the end-to-end customer journey will naturally form part of the web and app development, and thus become part of the product lifecycle. Last Updated: <strong>2023-07-31T14:59:47.284617Z</strong> 62. What data design, collection and management activities are expected to be provided by the supplier under this skill? Everything from the basic implementation of analytics tagging events and parameters, through to crafting robust A/B testing and measurement approaches as well as working with our BigQuery datasets to manage product reporting. Last Updated: <strong>2023-07-31T15:01:36.397021Z</strong> 63. Regarding the Auth and Payment services specified, are these enterprise services built and managed by LNER? Alternatively, are these external SaaS/ 3rd party solutions integrated with the LNER Web and app? These are external SaaS/ 3rd party solutions integrated with the LNER Web and app Last Updated: <strong>2023-07-31T15:03:17.201678Z</strong> 64. Which Agile methodology is currently being followed at LNER? None Last Updated: <strong>2023-07-31T15:31:11.259636Z</strong> 65. Are you currently using any Customer Data Platform (CDP) and Personalisation & Recommendation engine to drive Customer 360 and Personalised experiences for the end customers? If so, could you elaborate please? By the time this contract is awarded we will have completed implementing Bloomreach for our CDP, personalisation and recommendation platform. Last Updated: <strong>2023-07-31T15:38:30.51753Z</strong> 66. Do you have a preference to see multiple examples of our experience per question? A single fantastic example is better than multiple mediocre examples, but multiple fantastic examples is even better, as long as each question is fully answered. Please ensure you stay within the maximum character limit (750 characters/125 words) per requirement. Last Updated: <strong>2023-07-31T15:43:34.362428Z</strong> 67. Are all team members and all work done expected to be within the UK, or is leveraging the cost benefits of a partial offshore team an option? If partial offshoring is an option, which roles would you not accept being offshored? We would like to contract with a supplier who can provide an engaged, invested and collaborative team who can work effectively across all supplier and LNER teams. To satisfy this requirement, along with others regarding some in-person working, social value, and data access jurisdiction etc. we believe an in-house UK-based team would be preferred, but we're not ruling out some non-UK working. However there is a need for assurance that from the relevant local regulator that any data belonging to LNER stored/processed outside the UK can be recovered and returned without contradicting local GDPR legislation. Last Updated: <strong>2023-07-31T15:45:01.578847Z</strong> 68. Can you confirm the split of orders by desktop/ios/android at this stage? The split is approximately 35% app-only bookers, 56% web-only bookers, and 9% using both, per rail period (4 weeks). Last Updated: <strong>2023-07-31T15:45:48.576081Z</strong> 69. Regarding the preference for onshore/in-house talent already answered - What is the expectation for them to be in the LNER offices each week? Would it be right for us to assume that working out our offices part of the week would be also acceptable? The in-person working requirement will vary by role type. We currently have leads for delivery, design, product, support etc. and we try and get together once per week across the route (London, York, Newcastle). We tend to work face-to-face with broader teams of developers, testers etc. when we visit the supplier offices. Last Updated: <strong>2023-07-31T15:47:14.253786Z</strong> 70. Regarding payment service providers/payment integrations - Are you expecting a supplier to have firsthand experience in building custom payment solutions or is the focus primarily on where the supplier has integrated a 3rd party payment solution into LNER infrastructure? the focus is primarily on where the supplier has integrated a 3rd party payment solution into LNER infrastructure Last Updated: <strong>2023-07-31T15:51:59.449206Z</strong> 71.  Payments integration: Apple Pay, Google Pay and PayPal – is it limited by the 3rd party services integration for online payment or NFC physical payments as well?  Currently just the 3rd party services integration for online payment, but we're not ruling the other option out. Last Updated: <strong>2023-07-31T15:52:44.509336Z</strong> 72. What is current level of automation? Specifically automated tests (including unit tests, integration tests, visual tests, api contract tests) as well as deployment automation in the form of CI/CD? The level of automation varies by component, with high unit test coverage on app, with visual snapshot testing on iOS. Back-end services have high unit test coverage, and the web varies based on the age of the element. There are supplier-hosted automated CI./CD pipelines covering all components which cover build, test, security scanning and release to supplier-controlled integration environments. Releases to LNER-managed environments are manually triggered and for the website in particular can require significant manual intervention. Last Updated: <strong>2023-07-31T15:53:53.811776Z</strong> 73. How do you manage backlog? Do you use TDD, BDD, or any other approach? We have a jira backlog at varying levels of detail and specification. At the point where we progress a backlog item toward development we'll use BDD with user stories and acceptance criteria. Last Updated: <strong>2023-07-31T15:54:54.681232Z</strong> 74. Is this project focusing on customized ticketing systems and a full customer digital experience? The scope encompases as much of the end-to-end customer experience as can be delivered via the LNER website and app. This will include personalisation and will include our ticket retailing elements of the website and app. Last Updated: <strong>2023-07-31T15:55:32.074918Z</strong> 75. Are you expecting a tendering agency to suggest an appropriate technology for use at LNER? Only if a change in technology is a fitting answer to the questions set out in the tender. Last Updated: <strong>2023-07-31T15:56:08.84635Z</strong> 76. Is offshore development work allowed provided the Bidder has GDPR compliant data process? As the succcessful supplier will be working with sensitive customer personal data LNER's preference is that they are located in the UK, and there is a need for assurance that from the relevant local regulator that any data belonging to LNER stored/processed outside the UK can be recovered and returned without contradicting local GDPR legislation. Last Updated: <strong>2023-07-31T15:57:59.307338Z</strong> 77. What is the technology stack currently used across LNER products? Mobile: Multi-platform Kotlin with shared Kotlin business logic and Kotlin (Android) and Swift (IOS) Web: Optimisely EpiServer based front end with ASP.net running on windows server, sql server and a mixed javascript front-end (jquery through React) Api: Express.js Node Last Updated: <strong>2023-07-31T15:58:55.946064Z</strong> 78. Document 9644 Website & App Roadmap Examples.docx is not available in the RFP documents shared. Request to please share the same. Please refer to clarifications 1 and 3. Last Updated: <strong>2023-07-31T16:01:41.625634Z</strong> 79. Are there any technology governance roles - such as technical architect, solution architect, or technical lead - provided by LNER that will drive overall solution and make key architecture decisions or should we provide such service? Both. We have LNER governance roles who will be key stakeholders, but we'll want technical lead input provided. Last Updated: <strong>2023-07-31T16:02:46.499804Z</strong> 80. If a 3rd party SaaS service is being used for Payment, could you specify which payment processor is being integrated with please? Globalpayments Last Updated: <strong>2023-07-31T16:03:44.189838Z</strong> 81. From a Website point of view - is this asp.net / c#? It is ASP.net running on windows server, sql server and a mixed javascript front-end (jquery through React) Last Updated: <strong>2023-08-01T08:10:24.162837Z</strong> 82. Is the content management system EPIServer, and if so what version? Yes it is EpiServer and exact version will be disclosed to shortlised bidders under NDA Last Updated: <strong>2023-08-01T08:11:33.097295Z</strong> 83. We understand that LNER's Central Booking Engine (CBE) or Ticket Issuing System (TIS) is deployed within Amazon Web Services (AWS). Could you please specify the deployment strategy? Additionally, are AWS services such as EC2, ECS with ECR, ECS with Fargate, EKS, or Elastic Beanstalk being utilized? The Central Booking Engine is hosted on LNER owned AWS accounts. Require more information on the reason for this question being asked as the CBE platform is not part of the scope of management and as such we would not disclose the backend infrastructure beyond the interfaces available to front end services which have been covered at high level in the ITT and more detail of these connections can be provided to shortlisted bidders under NDA. Last Updated: <strong>2023-08-01T08:13:33.558138Z</strong> 84. Have the databases been provisioned on AWS? If so, are they RDBMS or NoSQL instances? Please provide the types (PostgreSQL or MySQL or Aurora DB or DynamoDB etc.) of the databases as well. The web and app databases are hosted on AWS and using SQL RDS instances. Further details on these can be provided to shortlisted bidders under NDA Last Updated: <strong>2023-08-01T08:14:19.248754Z</strong> 85. From a security standpoint, is certificate management being conducted within AWS? Require further clarification on this question. It will be the supplier responsibility to manage certificates including renewals and these are a mix of AWS hosted and managed certificates and third party provided certificates from external Domain Registrar and Apple/Google for mobile app. Last Updated: <strong>2023-08-01T08:17:30.701412Z</strong> 86. Have the AWS IAM roles for various teams already been set up, or is it expected that we manage the IAM roles, policies, permissions, and groups ourselves They are already created and managed as part of the current service offering. It is expected that the supplier here will take over this management and manage these roles going forward. Last Updated: <strong>2023-08-01T08:18:35.904594Z</strong> 87. Are all the AWS accounts making use of a dedicated region and availability zones? If yes, then which one is it? Yes the accounts are all hosted in eu-west2 with eu-west1 as a secondary region where required. Last Updated: <strong>2023-08-01T08:19:30.279335Z</strong> 88. Are there any plans of making use of Infrastructure-as-Code (IaC) using AWS CDK or CloudFormation in place? This is an approach we would like to adopt though no active plans in place currently. Last Updated: <strong>2023-08-01T08:20:45.613224Z</strong> 89. Delivery: Assuming infrastructure management would remain with LNER team, please can you confirm?? We would have flexibility to have secure or amend the configurations where/f if needed through LNER change management process. Infrastructure management would be your responsibility. LNER provision the accounts themselves when required for new environments etc. but once provisioned all infrastructure build and management within it is supplier responsibility under the managed services contract. Last Updated: <strong>2023-08-01T08:22:23.280918Z</strong> 90. Scoping requirements: Testing - functional, UAT, vulnerability, performance would be in scope. Are you expecting Penetration testing and BCP in scope of this RFP, please can you confirm? Yes we are, pen testing is part of the annual assurance that you are required to do on the platform and after major releases. BCP of your services is required as an annual assurance Last Updated: <strong>2023-08-01T08:24:15.127934Z</strong> 91. If a 3rd party SaaS service is being used for Payment, could you specify which payment processor is being integrated with please? The payments service itself is a bespoke middleware hosted within the AWS account which the successful bidder will be required to be maintained and developed under this contract. This integrates to GlobalPayments as the Payment Service Provider and also Ravelin Fraud Engine. Last Updated: <strong>2023-08-01T08:29:34.520046Z</strong> 92. Is TUPE expected to apply to these services? No Last Updated: <strong>2023-08-01T08:30:44.073003Z</strong> 93. Regarding the PCIDSS, PSD2, DPA - Do we need to have direct experience in all 3 where we were ultimately responsible for compliance or is it ok to share where we have worked under those guidelines on-behalf of the client (where they took responsibility for compliance) Direct experience in PCI DSS and DPA is advantageous. Where you do not have this please list any experience you do have in these areas with existing clients. Last Updated: <strong>2023-08-01T08:32:17.064388Z</strong> 94. Could you clarify on the scope of services expected from the supplier in terms of development and maintenance of WAFs and API Gateways for the Auth and Payment services please? We are assuming that these WAFs and API Gateways are COTS offerings and LNER is expecting the supplier to only integrate with them. Is this assumption correct? As the front end services form perimeter protection for the retail ecosystem security management of the WAF and AWS Shield services is part of this managed services contract and responsibility of the supplier. Regarding API Gateway there are those hosted within the CBE environment for its connectivity of which the responsibility is to maintain integration with them and ensure keeping up with version and release changes. There are also API gateways hosted within your environments which you will be responsible for managing and maintaining directly that provide connectivity to the middleware and hosted within the Auth and Payment AWS accounts. Last Updated: <strong>2023-08-01T08:38:22.39329Z</strong> 95. Are you looking for an Optimizely specific agency? Not necessarily though we do require a supplier who is able to work well with EpiServer/Optimizely for managing our current environments from day one. Last Updated: <strong>2023-08-01T08:40:15.420621Z</strong> 96. Hello Please can you confirm platform technologies that you use in the LNER website and the state of any documentation covering bespoke modules created for you (fully documented and maintained, documented on delivery but not updated, partially documented, no documentation). Also please can you advise on the state of documentation available for the app. We would also like any information you can provide on the hosting set up - do you have separate dev, staging and production environments and any information on how they are deployed to currently We do have separate dev, test, staging and production environments. There is a mix of O/S and languages across the platforms. We will share details with shortlisted suppliers under an NDA. Last Updated: <strong>2023-08-01T08:52:13.342513Z</strong> 97. DOS 6 FC L1 Bid Pack - Attachment 1 Statement of Requirements mentions that your website and app are live and in active use, with somewhere in the region of 2M monthly active users combined. Could you share the approximate split of users across these two platforms if known? The split is approximately 35% app-only bookers, 56% web-only bookers, and 9% using both, per period. Last Updated: <strong>2023-08-01T08:53:03.33834Z</strong> 98. Scoping requirements: From response in Q&A towards the team structure query, its mentioned team to be onsite for personal data usage. Are you looking whole team to be in UK or it can be hybrid as well? We would like to contract with a supplier who can provide an engaged, invested and collaborative team who can work effectively across all supplier and LNER teams. To satisfy this requirement, along with others regarding some in-person working, data access jurisdiction etc. we believe a strong UK presence would be required, but we aren't opposed to some level of working elsewhere. Last Updated: <strong>2023-08-01T08:54:37.047408Z</strong> 99. Scoping requirements: LNER and other supplier teams are already in place, which all areas would be expected to be covered by the new supplier as part of this RFP? As indicated in the must-haves and nice-to-haves, and as laid out in the tender, we will need researchers, analysts, ux and visual designers, developers and testers for web and app. Last Updated: <strong>2023-08-01T08:58:23.523546Z</strong> 100. Please advise if there is a preferred location within UK for supplier associates to co-locate Our teams can be distributed across the LNER route, but our main office locations are London and York, so these would be preferred. Last Updated: <strong>2023-08-01T08:59:29.4265Z</strong> 101. Our understanding when having first been approached by LNER to respond to the RFP was that this was a brief for a new customer facing website and related SEO services. At this stage no technologies were specified. However, it appears we would need to be a partner of Optimizely which would suggest that you would wish to work with this CMS. Are you open to changing your CMS provider? LNER currently uses Optimizely to host its main Content Management System, we would expect the successful bidder to continue working with Optimizely (ideally as a partner but not essential) until the LNER owned CMS licenses are reprocured. Last Updated: <strong>2023-08-01T09:00:27.24762Z</strong> 102. Can you please clarify your budget and project scope as it currently appears that the budget for the project is £12m and that the project includes ticketing systems and basically the full customer digital experience for LNER? We anticipate to spend a maximum of £12m across the 3-year maximum duration of the contract. The scope covers our web and app, and its associated components such as auth service, payments, etc. This does encompass the maintenance and support of the existing platform, but around 90% of the budget will be spent on building new features and services for the web and app across the life of the contract. Our mid and long-term roadmaps are constantly subject to change, so the full scope cannot be stated here. Last Updated: <strong>2023-08-01T10:07:16.957883Z</strong> 103. Can remote work be done from outside the UK? 2. If yes, would it be acceptable if the account executive and delivery manager are based in the UK with the delivery team based off-shore in a similar timezone and culture as the UK?  We would like to contract with a supplier who can provide an engaged, invested and collaborative team who can work effectively across all supplier and LNER teams. To satisfy this requirement, along with others regarding some in-person working, social value, and data access jurisdiction etc. we believe an in-house UK-based team would be preferred, but we're not ruling out some non-UK working. Last Updated: <strong>2023-08-01T10:08:44.020762Z</strong> 104. Please advise if there is a preferred location within UK for supplier associates 'to co-locate as an inhouse team' Our teams can be distributed across the LNER route, but our main office locations are London and York, so these would be preferred. Last Updated: <strong>2023-08-01T10:09:43.906322Z</strong> 105. What is the current tech stack across both web & mobile ? Are you looking for changing your tech stack ? If so, would you elaborate on the reason for the same? We're not specifically looking to change the tech stack on mobile, but we're also not ruling it out. For web we plan on making some changes to modernise the stack and make future changes easier and cheaper to make. The current stack consists of: Mobile: Multi-platform Kotlin with shared Kotlin business logic and Kotlin (Android) and Swift (IOS) Web: Optimisely EpiServer based front end with ASP.net running on windows server, sql server and a mixed javascript front-end (jquery through React) Api: Express.js Node Last Updated: <strong>2023-08-01T10:10:53.442697Z</strong> 106. Are there any specific capabilities or experiences that you are looking for around any particular technologies ? Do you have any on-going partnerships with any product vendors that you would like the supplier to leverage ? Partnerships we're interested in are specified in the must-haves or nice-to-haves. If items are not mentioned there then we don't have a preference. Last Updated: <strong>2023-08-01T10:12:15.921283Z</strong> 107. "For Question 3 - ""Demonstrable experience within the last 3 years of designing and creating innovative interfaces, functions or features. Detail the recency, the problem solved and why the deliverable can be considered innovative for each example given" Can you elaborate on what you mean by innovative interfaces? Are these the interfaces with users, or are these interfaces among systems?" The question is aimed at demonstrating creativity in engineering and/or solution design for customer-facing interfaces, functions or features. Those interfaces should be customer-facing and sit in the space between a user and a problem that needs solving. So this could be as simple as a visual user interface, a voice-based interface, or a complex process involving device sensors, data and back-end systems. Last Updated: <strong>2023-08-01T10:14:24.129412Z</strong> 108. The Statement of Requirements is clear: "The maintenance, support and further development of a market-leading digital customer experience on web and app." But what's not so clear is if this will be delivered through a predefined series of SOWs, a post-defined series of SOWs or if you are interested in hiring people/resource on a day rate? Thank you. It will be delivered through a post-defined series of SOWs. Our requirements will change and evolve as we go. There'll be a continuous stream of smaller continuous changes and improvements, as well as chunky projects. Last Updated: <strong>2023-08-01T10:17:20.529346Z</strong> 109. A few Essential Skills questions don’t mention “… within the last 3 years …”. Is that on purpose or is it an oversight? This is an oversight and recent experience is advantageous. Last Updated: <strong>2023-08-01T10:18:36.951912Z</strong> 110. Demonstrable experience within the last 3 years Please explain what level of detail regarding an engagement is expected here. Is the bidder allowed to mask the name of the client to fulfill NDAs. For any response given, it should clearly answer the question asked but it should also allow us to assess the quality, scale and applicability to the question and to LNER's business goals and industry. If, through NDA, your example is not able to provide that clarity, then it will not be scored as well as a similar answer that do give that clarity. Last Updated: <strong>2023-08-01T10:21:02.677093Z</strong> 111. How does your team currently incorporate user research as part of their ideation, design, and optimisation practices? How many research studies would you submit per month? User research is conducted as and when required - and we have a number of tools available to undertake research and user testing. General feedback and satisfaction can be gathered from our post journey Satisfaction survey, which receive approximately 10k response per period (4 weeks) and can be split by app and web. We have a customer community panel of circa 3k LNER customers that are surveyed once a period, this is on the behalf of all directorates and not limited to digital insight. We have a relationship with UserTesting.com where we can undertake user research as and when required. We are able to undertake ad hoc research for significant front end developments that require a complex sample of existing and non customers. Our incumbent supplier undertakes user research to test designs and features to showcase back to the LNER Products Team, and we would antipcate that any partner would be able to perform the same to demonstrate the rationale behind design decisions and the benefits of their work. The LNER products team are also able to craft surveys on specific topics using GetFeedback as and when there is a need. Last Updated: <strong>2023-08-01T10:20:04.141537Z</strong> 112. Is there any way of being removed from these messages and emails please? For any questions regarding the system settings you will need to contact info@crowncommercial.gov.uk Last Updated: <strong>2023-08-01T11:06:09.984627Z</strong> 113. Is the CI/CD pipeline available on AWS, or are other 3rd-party tools like GitHub Actions or GitLab or Bitbucket Pipelines also being utilized? Currently the CI/CD pipeline is hosted within the supplier premises on local GitLab Server instance. LNER is looking to procure a Cloud/SaaS GitHub enterprise account for our own internal development teams and will also be looking to migrate the CI/CD pipelines from GitLab into separate instances under this enterprise account. Last Updated: <strong>2023-08-01T11:09:30.568117Z</strong> 114. How do you manage technical debt? What is it's level at the moment and does it cause any problems? We have an internal architecture team who work closely with supplier architects to identify tech debt and put plans in place around these where required. All material changes on the system go through our internal design authority processes and as part of our architectural principles we will always be looking to simplify and reuse wherever possible and also look for the opportunities to remove tech debt within these changes/pieces of work where applicable to do so. Last Updated: <strong>2023-08-01T11:11:15.855521Z</strong>