Invitation to Expression of Interest for SOFM architecture review and improvement project

Low Carbon Contracts Company (LCCC) intends to invite tenders shortly for the delivery of a project described below (ref: CRN2018-012) and invites you to express your interest if you are interested in bidding for this requirement.

Background

SOFM was originally specified by Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) and developed in 2015. A number of enhancements have been made since which have improved the functionality, including several enhancements to the transparency tool.

The solution provided consisted of a Monte-Carlo model written in C#, with interfaces to numerous Excel spreadsheets, and an API to EnAppSys (a data provider). In addition, a tool was created to process files received from settlement via a two-stage process: the first stage took the raw files and created SOFM-friendly versions which contain only require data, and the second stage reads those files for process which require the use of settlement data. Finally, SOFM also reads MT940 bank balance files. The main SOFM run is typically run with 10000 Monte-Carlo simulations. In addition, SOFM includes the transparency tool, which is a capability to generate a micro-site using data outputs from SOFM. It is written in a mixture of C# and HTML.

Scope of the work:

The main purpose of the project is to improve the user experience of using the Supplier Obligation Forecasting Model (SOFM) and reduce the risk associated with the high number of Excel spreadsheets and interfaces, without adversely impacting the maintenance and support arrangements for the core functionality.

The scope includes the SOFM (originally developed by Lane Clark and Peacock- LCP), as well as the interface with the LCCC's Data Warehouse (DWH) and specific SOFM utility tools created to assist with the preparation of input data files.

The focus of this work is on non functional requirements, since the existing functional specification of core SOFM and Nostradamus is not expected to change materially.

The user interface shall be designed around the team's workflow, based on a workflow calendar.

The solution will be database-driven, and all data inputs shall be contained within the database.

All automatic data feeds shall be subject to appropriate data validation and automated alerts should be sent when data falls outside expected ranges or where it is not available within expected timescales.

Next step

If you are interested in providing the SOFM architecture review work as explained above, please email Andrew Miller: andrew.miller@lowcarboncontracts.uk on or before 18 June 2018.