The Australian Department of Finance (DOF) intends to
approach the market in order to continue the operation of the
whole-of-government Content Management System, govCMS, through a Request for
Proposal (RFP) in January 2018.
For the same, it
recently released a draft version of the govCMS Statement of Requirements
and is seeking industry feedback.
DOF entered into arrangements with Acquia Inc. for govCMS in
September 2014. The contract expires in September 2018, thereby providing an
opportunity to go back to the market with redefined requirements to meet the
needs of users in the evolving service.
govCMS is an open source web content management system hosted on the public cloud. Agencies using govCMS are able to create and manage unclassified websites cost effectively, in compliance with Australian government standards. Since the launch of govCMS in March 2015, 180 websites are
live on the platform, 26 websites are in development and 66 agencies have
signed up – well above its expected uptake rate.
govCMS delivers
cost savings to agencies through coordinating government activity and economies
of scale. Using a common and scalable cloud based technology platform to host websites reduces the total cost to the Commonwealth of maintaining their web presence. govCMS also seeks to make it easier for agencies to comply with government policies and
standards in areas such as security, accessibility, privacy and government
digital design standards.
The RFP will contain these mandatory requirements for
participation that service providers must meet in order to respond:
- The solution must use Drupal open-source software – multiple
versions (Drupal 7 and Drupal 8) – as the Software-as-a-Service Content
Management System - The solution must support common, customised and bespoke
codebases - The solution must use public cloud infrastructure, that is,
or can be IRAP (Information
Security Registered Assessors Program) audited and can be accredited, in
accordance with the Australian Signals Directorate’s Information
Security Manual, to Unclassified-DLM - There must be a Software as a Service option for Finance to
manage and a Platform as a Service option on which agencies will self-manage
their sites - Responding suppliers must be willing to co-fund the
establishment of the security accreditation of the solution; both
infrastructure and application layer, and agree to continue co-funding ongoing
review and re-accreditation activities over the life of the contract. Suppliers
not already listed on the ASD Certified Cloud Services List (CCSL) must
obtain ASD certification for their platform. - Suppliers must accept the “Web Development Services Head
Agreement” as written. Specific terms and conditions that arise out of
negotiations will be agreed and documented under a specific module attached to
the Head Agreement. A copy of the Head Agreement and any draft module will be
attached to the RFP when issued
The DOF is looking for innovative proposals that make use of
modern, open source technologies and implement flexible and scalable business
models.
