Scout RFP. User Guide for Applicant Companies Capability and Innovation Fund. Banking Competition Remedies Limited

Transcription

1 Scout RFP User Guide for Applicant Companies Capability and Innovation Fund Banking Competition Remedies Limited 1

2 Contents Welcome Slide 3 Application Guidance Slide 4 5 Accessing the Application Documents Slide 6 Registering on Scout RFP Slide 7 8 Agreeing to the Terms of Participation Slide 9 Navigating the homepage Slide 10 Changing the time zone Slide 11 Confirming the Applicant Company s Intent to Respond Slide 12 Navigating the Application Documents Slide Completing your application Slide 17 Submitting questions Slide 18 Message Centre Slide 19 Exporting and importing an application Slide 20 Completing an application in Excel Slide 21 Submitting an application Slide 22 Accessing Support Slide 23 Guidance on completing an application Slide 24 2

3 Welcome Dear Applicant Company, Scout RFP is the online tool which Banking Competition Remedies Ltd are using to manage the submission of applications for the Capability and Innovation Fund for Pool A, B, C and D. The tool is intuitive and easy to navigate. This user guide is intended to help Applicant Companies familiarise themselves with the tool ahead of the pool opening dates. Applicant Companies are invited to register an account by sharing the full name and company address of the employee you have nominated to manage your application and the pool(s) for which you deem your Applicant Company eligible and would like the opportunity to apply for. You will then receive a link to test event in order to familiarise yourself with the system. Access to the Application Documents will be available at 09:00 on the date of the pool opening. This guide will sign-post where Applicant Companies can find additional support. In the event of technical questions, please use Scout s online helpdesk or support team at support@scoutrfp.com. Thanks, The Capability and Innovation Evaluation Team 3

4 Application Guidance (1/2) The Applicant Company is expected to submit: A completed Application Form which contains: Applicant Company Information; Eligibility Criteria; Public Commitments; and Authorisation. A completed Business Case which contains, but is not limited to: Executive Summary; Current Position; Initiative Benefits; Financial Analysis; Implementation; and Governance. 4

5 Application Guidance (2/2) All Application Documents must be submitted via Scout RFP. This is a secure online portal, which the Independent Body will use to receive applications and communicate with Applicant Companies. Any applications submitted via other means will be rejected. The first submission will be treated as final. Acceptance of resubmissions will be at the discretion of the Independent Body but will only be granted in exceptional circumstances and it should be assumed these will not be accepted. Applicant Bodies are advised that all responses must be in English. Applicant Bodies are advised that the upload of any additional documents will not be permitted. Applicants must only attach requested documentation, any additional documents will be disregarded. This guide will walk through the key functionality of Scout so you can familiarise yourself with the layout and functionality. Further guidance on completing an application can be found within the Application Documents. 5

6 Accessing the Application Documents Register for Scout via the BCR website Instructions for accessing the Application Documents are available on the BCR website. Applicant Companies will need to the BCR mailbox from 8 th October stating the full name and company address for the employee you have nominated to manage your application and the pool(s) for which you deem your Applicant Company eligible and would like to apply for. You will then receive a link to the Application Documents for your eligible pools at 09:00 on the date of the pool opening. The Independent Body strongly recommends that Applicant Companies complete a test application to familiarise themselves with the tool and the submission process. Once you have set up an account, you will be able to access the test event, available from 8 th October at 09:00 BST. 6

7 Registering on Scout RFP (1/2) Sign-up for a free Scout RFP account The Applicant Company should designate a primary contact to register for a Scout account. The primary contact is responsible for completing and submitting the Application Documents. Once the primary contact has indicated their interest through the BCR mailbox, they will receive an invitation to register for a free account on behalf of the Applicant Company. 1. To create an account, the primary contact should enter their: Work ; First Name; and Last Name. 2. The primary contact should set a password which meets the Scout password requirements 1 3. The primary contact may also enter additional optional information 2 4. The primary contact must accept the terms of service of Scout 5. Click Next to continue

8 Registering on Scout RFP (2/2) Finalize Scout account setup 6. To verify the address provided, the primary contact should log into their mailbox and open the from Scout Applicant Companies should whitelist Scout s support address to avoid any correspondence going into their spam filter NB If you do not receive this shortly after registering, please contact support@scoutrfp.com 6 7. Click on the green button Finalize Your Account to verify the address to access your account and begin using Scout 7 8

9 Agreeing to the Terms of Participation Read and accept the Terms of Participation 8. Applicant Companies must agree to the Terms of Participation before they can view the Application Documents. Applicant Companies that do not accept the terms will not be able to submit an application The Terms of Participation are taken from the Capability & Innovation Fund Terms and Conditions 8 9

10 Navigating the homepage Navigate the key features of the homepage 9. Click Home to navigate to the homepage at any time 10. Click Support to contact Scout and access the support centre 11. Access your user profile to change your settings and sign-out 12. View and complete your Application Documents

11 Changing the time zone Change the time zone from EST to GMT 13. Click User Profile under your username Select the time zone from the drop-down list NB The Independent Body strongly recommends that you set the time zone to: (GMT+00:00) London Click Save 15 11

12 Confirming the Applicant Company s Intent to Respond Confirm intent to respond 16. Click I Intend to Submit to confirm your intent to respond NB There is no deadline for confirming intend to respond, it is an additional safeguard to prevent an early and/or incomplete submission, however, selecting I do not intent to submit will lock the Applicant Company from accessing Application Documents 16 12

13 Navigating the Application Documents (1/4) Read the guidelines on how to submit an application 17. Select the Application from the homepage Read the guidelines on how to submit an application, this includes: Background; Terms of Application; Application Guidance; Timeline for application; How to submit your application; How to submit queries; and Further information (useful links) 18 13

14 Navigating the Application Documents (2/4) Read the guidelines on how to submit an application 19. Review the Terms of Participation (accepted before accessing the Application Documents) 20. Download the User Guide Access the Message Centre to submit questions and view responses to all questions 21 14

15 Navigating the Application Documents (3/4) View the event timeline and invite team members to an application 22. View the two deadlines; the Question Deadline and the Submission Deadline Invite team members to the online application NB The Independent Body strongly recommends that this functionality is considered carefully, all invited team members will have administrative access which will enable them to edit, delete and submit an application 23 15

16 Navigating the Application Documents (4/4) View the event timeline and invite team members to an application 24. Access the Application Form and Business Case 25. View progress (percent complete) 26. No attachments should be added in the Additional Documents box, any files attached here will be disregarded No information should be added in the Details box, any text written here will be disregarded

17 Completing your application View the event timeline and invite team members to an application 28. Click on the section heading to access the Application Form or the Business Case 29. Navigate between the event home page, and the Application Form and Business Case 30. Read the guidance notes for each section Enter your response, noting the response type (140 characters, long answer, multiple choice and file attachment) and the * symbol for required answers NB There is no word count in Scout, Applicant Companies must ensure their answers are within the stated word count

18 Submitting questions Submit questions and view responses via the Scout Message Centre 32. Draft a new message to the BCR team in the message centre 33. Click the Send Question button to send the question

19 Message Centre View answered / unanswered questions 34. View responses to your questions NB Information contained within questions which identifies who asked the question will be anonymised with only the original text visible to the original Applicant Company who raised the question 35. View questions and responses from other applicants (the original question text, who asked and date will not be visible)

20 Exporting and importing an application Export and import the Application Documents to and from Excel 36. Export the Application Documents to Excel 37. Import the Application Documents from Excel Select the file you wish to import (it must be the Excel template, no other file formats are accepted) 39. Confirm the import, the Excel import will over-write all existing answers 40. View the response once the file has successfully been imported

21 Completing an application in Excel Work on the Application Documents offline 41. Read the Instructions tab for further details about filling out an application in Excel The other tabs are: Message Centre a copy of the questions and answers at the time of the extract Questionnaire a copy of the Application Documents Bid Details not relevant Extra Data supplementary information, e.g. the last login Edit the Application Documents in the Questionnaire tab of your Excel Follow the guidelines: Only enter text in blue cells Do not write text elsewhere Do not add / delete any cells

22 Submitting an application Submit the completed application 43. Preview the application at any time using the Preview button 44. Save the application at any time using the save button 45. Click the blue Submit button to submit the final application note the first submission is final NB Please note pressing Submit will automatically submit your application. To view your Application Documents before final submission, use the Preview button

23 Accessing Support Technical support from the Scout team In addition to this User Guide the Scout team offers a wealth of technical support 46. Click Walk Me Through It at the top of every section for a pop-up with quick tips 47. Click Support at the top of the page to access the Knowledge Base Scout and search the help library 48. Click Support at the top of the page to Contact Scout and send an instant message (please be aware Scout s standard Support hours is from 14:00-22:00 GMT time, however, all queries raised in the morning should be resolved by the end of the business day) NB Scout only offers support with technical questions, for any questions related to the application use the Message Centre

24 Guidance on completing an application These are some general hints and tips to ensure Applicant Companies meet the guidelines for completing an application General Guidance All responses must be in English The Scout tool does not limit the word count, therefore Applicant Companies are responsible for ensuring their answers are within the stated word count limit any text above the word count will be disregarded When copying text from a document into the Scout tool, the bullets and spacing are maintained, however, text formatting (bold, italicised and underline) is not Questions marked with a * are mandatory, an application cannot be submitted until all mandatory questions have been answered The Intent to Respond RSVP does not have a deadline. It is intended to prevent Applicant Companies from submitting an early and/or incomplete application, however, if you click Do not intend to respond then all access to the Application Documents will be removed and you will not be able to submit an application through that account Guidance on Attachments Text contained in all attachments must be a minimum of size 10 font Attachments with embedded files are not permitted Attachments with macros are not permitted Attachments should not be password protected No additional attachments should be uploaded. Applicants must only attach documentation where requested, any additional documents will be disregarded 24

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