Application Development, IT Operations, Hosting, Testing and Assurance, Design and Advisory Services

Descriptions

CMA Scotland is responsible for administering the competitive retail water Market in Scotland, in accordance with its obligations under the Scottish Market Code. CMA Scotland maintains, develops and operates a bespoke software application, the ‘Central Systems’, in order to meet these obligations. The existing system went into operation in 2008 with the opening of the market and the current contracts to support these systems were setup in 2010 and are due for renewal in January 2017. (Details of the market can be found at www.cmascotland.co.uk)The purpose of this procurement is to appoint suppliers across six lots being:— Lot 1 — Application Development and Maintenance.— Lot 2 — Central Systems Operations.— Lot 3 — Hosting.— Lot 4 — Testing and Market Assurance.— Lot 5 — Market Design Authority (MDA).— Lot 6 — Technical Advice and Project Assurance.Lot 1 — Application Development and Maintenance.Services required will include provision of application development and maintenance services of the Central Systems in-line with Market and Regulatory requirements. This will involve delivery of a several releases of software each year and production of related documentation.Lot 2 — Central Systems Operations.Services required will include day-to-day operation of the central systems and provision of service to agreed service levels, maintain overall reliability and security levels. Maintain service management processes and documentation and operate a Service Desk.Lot 3 — Hosting.Services required will include provision of physical hosting location and physical security and connectivity between the hosting location and the CMA Scotland location in Scotland and CMA Scotland's end customers the Market Participants. The supplier will also be responsible for implementation of patches and fixes and maintenance of related records.Lot 4 — Testing & Market Assurance.Services required will include development of overall Test Strategy and Test Plans for the Central Market Systems and co-ordination and execution of necessary tests. Services will also cover delivery of training for Market Participants and Market Assurance testing of new Market entrants.Lot 5 — Market Design Authority (MDA).Services required include managing the industry-wide change control process. Included in this is the management of the Impact Assessment process, and the prioritization, co-ordination and scheduling of Market Change requests. The MDA is also responsible for maintaining appropriate working documentation / records.Lot 6 — Technical Advice and Project Assurance.Services required include the provision of technical advice in relation to the Central Systems, the provision of Enterprise Architecture advice in relationship to the overall Market Solution, and the Provision of ad-hoc technical advice in relationship to the broad aspects of CMA Operations, such as data management and analytics. With respect to project assurance, the services include the production of an assurance strategy and plans and conducting assurance reviews.It is anticipated that more than one supplier will be required to deliver the service across all six lots. Suppliers will be required to have the necessary Microsoft based skills, applicable IT Standards and appropriate project management certifications such as Prince2.