The Department of Industry, Science and Resources (DISR) has a Smartforms service accessed by users internal and external to the department. The department is an informed user of Smartforms and is looking to test the market for options for both internal and externally accessed SmartForm service providers.

The service is a scalable, cloud model (Temenos’ Journey Manager platform), with enhanced capability to support SmartForms, including:

• Form development using HTML5.
• Templates that enable form development to meet government accessibility guidelines (WCAG 2.0)
• Compatibility with a range of electronic devices including desktops, tablets and smartphones.

A simplified form development capability designed around reusable form components that facilitate quick and easy development by technical and non-technical users, leading to reduced development costs.

Example of form here - https://forms.uat.business.gov.au/smartforms/servlet/SmartForm.html?formCode=vc-s9-4-application

The Department is seeking a Software as a Service (SaaS) solution to support the ongoing delivery of a SmartForms Service. Vendors should consider business continuity by supporting the existing baseline functionality of all Department-used forms currently hosted on the SmartForms Service, including their associated integrations and delivery processes.

There are currently 22 active forms, with an annual submission volume of between 2,000 and 4,000 per annum. The Department is not seeking to increase the number of forms in use.

The users and their needs

The department anticipates that a cloud based, online forms management and form data delivery application that hosts, delivers and manages online forms, their metadata, settings and submission data will likely be suitable for its requirement:

Forms creation – a mechanism for the Department to create (design and develop) and publish HTML forms online.

Forms hosting – a mechanism for the Department to store forms online and provide capabilities for form owners to edit, update and version control forms, configure forms delivery and submission processing.

Forms delivery - ensure rendering of forms to desktop and mobile clients, allowing forms data pre-population, digital signature, offline and online save and submission.

Forms lifecycle – extract and send user input data to agency systems (including attachments) via the Internet. As a minimum requirement data transfer must support XML data or XML file. Manage partly filled forms through saving and storage capabilities. Allow date stamp, digital signature or confirmation for submission. Keep required logs and records about submissions.

Process management, monitoring and audit –provide an interface for administrators, form owners and service support to track submission records and manage and monitor all activity across the system, including audit trail that provides documentary evidence to ensure end-to-end traceability of events, submissions and transactions.

User accounts management – provide an interface for administrators, form owners and help desk operators to create, update, delete accounts according to their level of permissions.

Analytics – provide an analytics capability to evaluate and report on forms activity globally, including statistical reports about form usage and submissions.

Service Management – include documented service management processes to facilitate service support, incident, problem, configuration, change, continuity, capacity, availability and security management.

Backup and Recovery – the service must support rapid recovery from unforeseen operational failure if the HA fault-tolerant protection mechanisms fail. The SaaS provider must provide capability to recover services in the event of a disaster.

Security Compliance and Management - The hosted service must be compliant with the Australian Government Protective Security Policy Framework (PSPF) and the current Government Information Security Manual (ISM) for an ICT service classified as ‘Official: Sensitive’ and maintain that compliance with ISM monthly updates.

Usability and Accessibility - The design of the SmartForms application interfaces, including the hosted forms should comply with Commonwealth Government Web Guide, Accessibility & Usability guidelines - http://webguide.gov.au/accessibility-usability/.

Assumptions

Forms will be delivered in HTML/HTML5 formats.

Form users can be anonymous or authenticated before accessing or submitting online forms.

Form users will be able to pre-populate forms using web service calls for profiles or data sets stored at a server or client agency.

Currency of the Service will be maintained by deploying software updates and new release to the infrastructure at no additional cost

All interactions between the SaaS and agencies clients takes place over HTTPS based web services

Capability to rapidly implement the SaaS and relevant integration with engaged agency systems

Flexibility to meet future changes in technology and technical standards advancement and maintain progressive security compliance

Products supporting the service should maintain currency and be updated as new technologies emerge and browsers are upgraded

Payments processing not required