In DfE all services need to have a service assessment. Getting assessed is a condition of your Cabinet Office spend approval.
This includes:
- transactional
- non-transactional, and
- information services
Service assessments happen at the end of alpha, private beta and public beta phases. If you're in the discovery phase, you should have a peer review.
A service may be assessed by a panel of people from across government or within DfE.
Cross-government panel service assessment
You need a cross-government panel assessment if your service or product is:
- a transactional service with over 100,000 transactions per year, or
- users are from more than one public sector organisation
The Service Assessment Plus team will work with CDDO (Central Digital and Data Office) to arrange the panel of cross-government assessors.
Book a cross-government service assessment by using the Service assessment service.
DfE panel service assessment
You need a DfE panel assessment if your service or product is:
- transactional and will have less than 100,000 transactions per year
- non-transactional, or
- an information service
Book a DfE panel service assessment using the Service assessment service.
Discovery peer reviews
You need a peer review if you're in the discovery phase.
The outcome will be a report sharing what the team has done well and what they need to improve. You will no longer get a RAG rating.
Book a discovery peer review using the Service assessment service.
Mid or end of phase peer reviews
If you would like a mid-phase alpha or beta peer review, you can arrange this yourself within your team or ask other DDT colleagues to review your work. They do not need to be assessors.
Mid-phase peer reviews can be a useful way to get feedback and recommendations as you prepare for a service assessment.
End of phase peer reviews are now service assessments.
How to run a mid-phase alpha or beta peer review
- Gather a panel of peer reviewers from relevant disciplines.
- Create a copy of a mid-phase peer review report template.
- Email a copy of the report to the Service Assessment Plus team. They will share the report with assessors when you have an end-of-phase assessment as evidence of self-assurance within the team.