Scottish Enterprise Seeks Digital Network Management Platform (SaaS) for the GlobalScot Network

Documented in this RFP is the requirements for Scottish Enterprise, for a ‘Digital Network Management Platform’.

This solution would continue to support and engage the GlobalScot community to achieve the best outcomes from a long-standing network of globally based influential business leaders, with the current platform hosted at www.globalscot.com.

The expectation is that this will be a Software as a Service (SaaS) solution. The web-based platform solution will:

• Allow the promotion of the GlobalScot support services to the Scottish ecosystem.
• Enable stakeholders (business leaders, entrepreneurs, Scottish public sector) to register to access GlobalScot expertise and connect with GlobalScots.
• Onboard new GlobalScots and provide features and functionality to enable the network to self-serve and collaborate; enabling them with the information to do so.
• Additionally, enable back-office administration and management of the network including reporting.

In 2020, a new digital platform was launched as part of a SaaS procurement, this represented a whole-scale digital transformation for the network. For the first time this enabled the:

• Digital onboarding/registration of GlobalScots and service users.
• Self-service of service users in finding and connecting to GlobalScots.
• A digital shop-front enabling the hosting of:
  • Articles and content promoting network expertise and successes.
  • The promotion/hosting of network events, webinars, and podcasts.
  • An area for posting communications to the network.
  • Virtual collaboration areas for GlobalScots.
  • Information resource accessible by a limited audience.
• Collation of data in one repository for reporting purposes.

The GlobalScot team within Scottish Enterprise manage this expanding network and its activities. As a key objective they are seeking to scale activities and impact of the network by promoting the support to more Scottish companies and enabling GlobalScots to self-organise their activities.

Scottish Enterprise is now reprocuring the digital network platform for the GlobalScot website www.globalscot.com, and are looking to appoint a supplier with a knowledgeable team, capacity and the understanding to deliver on the requirements outlined.

Areas identified for development:

• The platform must now comply with Cyber Essentials Plus with MFA but needs to accommodate users who have busy lives with multiple email and phone contact numbers who use the site sporadically on demand.
• Alerts from the platform to users to drive them to use the platform are critical. This needs to be more robust and targeted; users complain of not receiving or understanding communications directing them to site activities. This leads to lack of resilience in the connecting of GlobalScots to service users.
• We would like to improve the speed of loading for the site and the user experience on mobile browsers.
  Currently all three user groups use one portal access; this has caused confusion in who the site is targeted for and how to best use the network.
• Current infrastructure does not enable marketing of the service; the site is not identified by google searches and does not enable tracking of user journeys/interests.
• Ability for admin to log activity and connections retrospectively for reporting purposes.

The audience for the site has a large range of technological capabilities. A simple, intuitive site accessible for all users is vital.