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/gcloud-kit:lot-questions

Answer the G-Cloud 15 lot questions for each lot group you bid for.

Overview

G-Cloud 15 scores bids, and most of the quality score comes from the lot questions. They are answered once per supplier for each lot group, not per service, so they live in their own documents:

Lot groupOutputWhat it coversWeight
Lots 1a and 1b (IaaS and PaaS)lot-questions-1.mdConditions of participation (reseller or sole control, ISO certificates including ISO 27018 where services include public cloud, Carbon Reduction Plan, Cyber Essentials Plus); two written quality questions; non-scored mandatory questions; standardsQuality Cloud Services 40%, Maximising Buyer Value 40%
Lots 2a and 2b (iSaaS and SaaS)lot-questions-2.mdUser support, asset protection (data location), penetration testing frequency, data sanitisation; Cyber Essentials (mandatory); other standards2.5% each
Lot 3 (Cloud Support)lot-questions-3.mdUser support, staff security clearance checks, clearance level, being prepared to hold Cyber Essentials if a buyer requires it; Cyber Essentials (mandatory); other standards2.5% each

Social value (10% on every lot) is handled by /gcloud-kit:social-value, and price (10% on Lots 1a/1b, 80% on the others) by /gcloud-kit:pricing.

Where GCA's later documents win. GCA's Updates to Tender Documents, Framework Schedule 1 v2.1 and Attachment 2 v5.0 changed two requirements after the question export was published, and the command follows them:

  • ISO 27018 is mandatory for Lots 1a and 1b whenever your services include public cloud, not only for Lot 1b. A reseller relying on its provider's accreditations doesn't need it, and nor do services offered only on private cloud. The export's Lot 1b question is kept word for word, with a note.
  • Cyber Essentials is mandatory for call-off contracts under Lots 2a, 2b and 3, although the export lists it among the non-mandatory standards. Lots 1a and 1b need Cyber Essentials Plus.

Lots 1a and 1b written answers. Each part is marked only on whether it fully addresses what it asks. Quality Cloud Services has two parts worth 20% of the total score each. Maximising Buyer Value has three parts worth about 13.3% each. Each part is limited to 250 words, so 500 and 750 words for the two questions. Answer the parts in order, without attachments, hyperlinks, cross-references or costings. A mark of zero on either question disqualifies the tender for Lots 1a and 1b. The command drafts each part from your evidence, with a checklist of what "fully addresses" needs and a live word count.

Lots 2a, 2b and 3 award criteria. Each criterion is marked by the option you choose (for example user support 24/7 scores 100, 9 to 5 Monday to Friday scores 33). A "No" scores zero and disqualifies the tender. The answer covers all your services in the lot, so the command checks it against every service's SDD and flags any service that disagrees.

Usage

/gcloud-kit:lot-questions 2b
/gcloud-kit:lot-questions 1a 3
/gcloud-kit:lot-questions all

Arguments: Optional. Lots or lot groups (1a, 1b, 2a, 2b, 3, or all). Without them, the command asks, suggesting the lots your service designs record.

Prerequisites

  • Supplier profile (services/supplier/supplier-profile.md)
  • Recommended: service designs, SDDs and security documents for the services in the lot group, which supply the evidence for the answers

Output

services/supplier/lot-questions-1.md (Lots 1a/1b), lot-questions-2.md (Lots 2a/2b) and lot-questions-3.md (Lot 3), for the groups you bid for

Template used: .gcloud/templates/lot-questions-template.md if you've customised it with /gcloud-kit:customize, otherwise the plugin's templates/lot-questions-template.md

What it does

  1. Loads the supplier profile, the services and the lots their designs record, and any existing lot question documents (a re-run updates them)
  2. Works out the lot groups from the arguments, or asks
  3. Reads the official lot questions for each group, and the evidence from that group's service designs, SDDs, security and pricing documents
  4. Lots 1a/1b: asks the conditions of participation questions and follows the export's branches to the certificates required, checking each service's deployment model for the ISO 27018 public cloud rule; records the Carbon Reduction Plan and Cyber Essentials Plus answers; drafts the five scored parts and the exit and change-of-service answers from evidence, with a checklist for each part; counts every answer's words against its limit
  5. Lots 2a/2b and Lot 3: reads each service's answer to every award criterion, recommends the option all of them support, asks you to confirm, and calculates the marks and quality score
  6. Records Cyber Essentials for Lots 2a/2b and 3 (mandatory) and fills the other standards from the supplier profile, and records the requirements outside the lot questions (Technical Ability Certificate, financial viability assessment, pricing, social value)
  7. Writes one document per lot group. Never invents a fact: anything the evidence doesn't support is [PENDING], and declarations such as NCSC adherence are left for you to answer
  8. Summarises each document: answers and marks, word counts, missing certificates, services that disagree with a lot answer, and anything that would fail the tender as written

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