Commonwealth of Massachusetts Massachusetts State Ethics Commission
Commonwealth of Massachusetts – Massachusetts State Ethics Commission
Request for Quotation RFQ # BD-15-1388-1388C-1388L-00000002831 BD-15-1388-1388C-1388L-00000002835 REQUEST FOR QUOTATION (RFQ)
Statement of Financial Interests (SFI) Application Solution and Implementation Services
January 23, 2015
THIS RFQ AND ALL RESPONSES HERETO INCLUDING THE WINNING BID SHALL BECOME PUBLIC RECORD AS OF THE DATE THE CONTRACT REFERENCED HEREIN IS AWARDED, AND CAN BE OBTAINED BY SENDING AN EMAIL TO
[email protected]. ANY PORTIONS OF A RESPONSE THAT ARE LABELED AS CONFIDENTIAL MAY STILL BE CONSIDERED PUBLIC RECORD.
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Table of Contents I. General Procurement Information ............................................................................................................ 4 1.
Procurement Scope of Services and Term of Contract ..................................................................... 5
2.
Department Information .................................................................................................................... 6
3.
Description and Purpose of Procurement .......................................................................................... 6
4.
3.1.
Background ............................................................................................................................... 6
3.2.
Number of Awards .................................................................................................................... 7
3.3.
Eligible Entities ......................................................................................................................... 8
3.4.
Business Background ................................................................................................................ 8
3.5.
Technical Background and Requirements .............................................................................. 11
3.6.
Procurement of Hardware, Infrastructure and Conversion/Data Migration Services ............. 12
3.7.
Resources ................................................................................................................................ 13
3.8.
Bidder Qualifications .............................................................................................................. 13
Submission Requirements ............................................................................................................... 14 4.1.
Event Calendar ........................................................................................................................ 14
4.2.
Bidder Conference .................................................................................................................. 14
4.3.
Bid Questions and Answers .................................................................................................... 15
4.4.
Locating Bid Q&A .................................................................................................................. 15
4.5.
Amendment Deadline ............................................................................................................. 15
4.6.
Oral Presentations/Product Demonstrations ........................................................................... 15
II. Response Requirements ......................................................................................................................... 15 A. Business and Technical Response ........................................................................................................ 16 1.
Transmittal Letter............................................................................................................................ 16
2.
Bidder Qualifications, Staffing & Availability ............................................................................... 16 2.1.
Company Experience .............................................................................................................. 17
2.2.
Key Resources......................................................................................................................... 17
2.3.
Tools ....................................................................................................................................... 17
2.4.
Bidder Company References .................................................................................................. 17
2.5.
Key Personnel References ...................................................................................................... 18
2.6.
Statement of Bidder’s Availability to Meet the Deadlines Described. ................................... 18
3.
Business Requirements ................................................................................................................... 18
4.
Business Solution Requirements ..................................................................................................... 19 4.1.
Functional Workflow and Application Features ..................................................................... 19
4.2.
Application Solution Functional Specifications Checklist...................................................... 19
4.3.
Software Licenses and Maintenance Agreements................................................................... 20
4.4.
System Architecture and Configuration Management ............................................................ 20 1
5.
6.
7.
4.5.
SDLC Environments ............................................................................................................... 21
4.6.
Hardware Specifications ......................................................................................................... 21
Implementation and Installation Requirements .............................................................................. 21 5.1.
Testing and Installation ........................................................................................................... 21
5.2.
Security ................................................................................................................................... 22
5.3.
Training, Training Materials and Knowledge Transfer .......................................................... 22
5.4.
Warranties ............................................................................................................................... 22
Post Implementation Support Services Specifications, Maintenance and Upgrades ...................... 23 6.1.
Support Services Specifications, Maintenance and Upgrades ................................................ 23
6.2.
Disaster Recovery ................................................................................................................... 23
Data Conversion and Migration of Legacy SFI Application Data .................................................. 23
B. Cost Response: ..................................................................................................................................... 24 1.
2.
3.
Software License and Maintenance Pricing .................................................................................... 24 1.1.
Base Software ......................................................................................................................... 24
1.2.
Software Licenses and Maintenance Agreements................................................................... 24
1.3.
Software Configuration: .......................................................................................................... 25
1.4.
Software Customization .......................................................................................................... 25
1.5.
Other Software Related Fees................................................................................................... 25
Services Pricing .............................................................................................................................. 25 2.1.
Training ................................................................................................................................... 25
2.2.
Software Testing & Quality Assurance................................................................................... 25
2.3.
Implementation Costs ............................................................................................................. 26
2.4.
Security Planning .................................................................................................................... 26
2.5.
Application Maintenance ........................................................................................................ 26
2.6.
Other Services ......................................................................................................................... 26
2.7.
Other Costs.............................................................................................................................. 26
2.8.
Data Conversion/ Migration from Legacy SFI Application.................................................... 27
Time and Materials Rates ............................................................................................................... 27
III. Evaluation Components ...................................................................................................................... 27 1.
Mandatory Requirements ................................................................................................................ 27
2.
Desirable Specifications.................................................................................................................. 27
3.
Alternatives ..................................................................................................................................... 27
4.
Evaluation Criteria .......................................................................................................................... 28 4.1
Functionality of the Solution................................................................................................... 28
4.2 Company Experience .................................................................................................................... 28 4.3
Application Technical Design, Configuration and Functionality ........................................... 28
2
4.4
Implementation and Support Services .................................................................................... 28
4.5
Post Implementation Services and Support Plan .................................................................... 28
4.6
Price ........................................................................................................................................ 29
5
Oral Presentations and Product Demonstrations ............................................................................. 29
6
Technical Corrections, Clarifications and Best and Final Offers (BAFOs) .................................... 29
IV. Additional Requirements ........................................................................................................................ 1 A.
Order of Precedence .............................................................................................................................. 1
Miscellaneous ............................................................................................................................................... 1 1.
General .............................................................................................................................................. 1
2.
Bid/Response Rejection .................................................................................................................... 1
3.
Alterations ......................................................................................................................................... 1
4.
Ownership of Submitted Quotes ....................................................................................................... 1
5.
Prohibitions ....................................................................................................................................... 2
6.
Limitations ........................................................................................................................................ 2
7.
Review Rights ................................................................................................................................... 2
8.
Nonresponsive Bids .......................................................................................................................... 2
9.
Proprietary Notices ........................................................................................................................... 2
Other Terms: ................................................................................................................................................. 3 10.
Security and Confidentiality ......................................................................................................... 3
11
Conflict of Interest ........................................................................................................................ 3
12
Change notification ....................................................................................................................... 3
13
Key Personnel ............................................................................................................................... 3
14
Press releases ................................................................................................................................ 3
V. Attachments and Exhibits ........................................................................................................................ 4 1.
Bidder’s Business and Technical Response Mandatory Attachments .............................................. 4 1.1.
Mandatory Attachments to Bidder’s Business and Technical Response .................................. 4
1.2.
Bidders Proposing SaaS-Cloud Solutions ................................................................................. 4
2.
Bidder’s Cost Response Mandatory Attachments............................................................................. 4
3.
Additional Attachments .................................................................................................................... 4
4.
Exhibits ............................................................................................................................................. 4
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I. General Procurement Information Purchasing Department:
Massachusetts State Ethics Commission
Address:
One Ashburton Place, Room 619 Boston, MA 02108
Procurement Contact:
Michael D. Memmolo, Chief Financial Officer Director of Budget and Administration Massachusetts State Ethics Commission
Telephone:
617-371-9515
E-Mail Address:
[email protected]
RFQ File Number and Title:
CommBuys Bid #:
RFQ# BD-15-1388-1388C-1388L-00000002831 RFQ# BD-15-1388-1388C-1388L-00000002835 Statement of Financial Interests (SFI) Application Solution and Implementation Services ITS53PROJSERVSP: BD-15-1388-1388C-1388L-00000002831 ITS53PROJSERVTS: BD-15-1388-1388C-1388L-00000002835
Attachments: Attachment A: Attachment B: Attachment C: Attachment D: Attachment E: Attachment F: Attachment G: Attachment H:
SOW Statement of Work Template (Available on COMMBUYS) SFI Application Solution Business/ Company Reference Form SFI Application Solution Key Personnel Reference Form SFI Application Solution Functional Specifications Checklist SFI Application Solution Cost Sheets SaaS - Cloud Solution Terms (required if Cloud Solution proposed) Accessibility Obligations for Bidders Intellectual Property Agreement for Contractor’s Employees, Consultants and Agents Attachment I: ITS42 COMMBUYS Reseller List Exhibits:
Exhibit 1: Exhibit 2: Exhibit 3: Exhibit 4: Exhibit 5: Exhibit 6:
Revised SFI Form and Instructions (Draft) Massachusetts State Ethics Commission Workflows PCG Documentation and Recommendations Glossary of Terms Current SFI Technical Environment Legacy SFI Screen Shots
This Request for Quotation (“RFQ”) does not commit the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (“Commonwealth”) or the Massachusetts State Ethics Commission (“Commission”) to approve a 4
Statement of Work, pay any costs incurred in the preparation of a Bidder’s response to this RFQ or to procure or contract for products or services. The Commission reserves the right to accept or reject any and all proposals received as a result of this RFQ and to contract for some, all or none of the products and services offered in response to this RFQ. The Commission further reserves the right to negotiate with any or all qualified Bidders and to cancel in part or in its entirety this RFQ if it is in the best interest of the Commission or the Commonwealth to do so. The Commission reserves the right to amend this RFQ at any time prior to the date the responses are due. Any such amendment will be posted on COMMBUYS and emailed to eligible Bidders on the statewide contracts ITS53PROJSERVSP (solution providers) and ITS53PROJSERVTS (technical specialists). Bidders are prohibited from communicating directly with any employee or member of the Commission or any member of the Project Management Team (“PMT”) regarding this RFQ except as specified in this RFQ, and no other individual Commonwealth employee, member or representative is authorized to provide any information or respond to any question or inquiry concerning this RFQ. Bidders may contact the contact person using the contact information provided in the Header Information of this RFQ in the event that this RFQ is incomplete or information is missing. Bidders experiencing technical problems accessing information or attachments stored on COMMBUYS should contact the COMMBUYS Help Desk (see the document cover page for contact information). This RFQ is limited to Bidders qualified on statewide contracts ITS53PROJSERVSP and ITS53PROJSERVTS. 1. Procurement Scope of Services and Term of Contract The Commission is seeking the services of a Bidder with demonstrated expertise in personal financial information reporting applications to provide a solution that both meets the statutory requirements of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Statement of Financial Interests (SFI) application and reporting process and additional Commission requirements. The winning response will include a software solution and professional services to implement a new SFI Application Solution. The selected SFI Application Solution will replace the current legacy system (the “Legacy System”) with a scalable enterprise wide web-based application. The Bidder’s response to this RFQ must propose: software for SFI filing that is easily configurable for the Commission’s initial needs and for program changes that occur following the implementation, and professional services including but not limited to necessary customization or configuration of the software, installation, training, testing, warranty related implementation services, data conversion and migration and post-implementation support services (including but not limited to support options, help desk, and technical and user support). The Commission reserves the right to contract for services related to the migration and conversion of data contained in the Legacy System through either the Contract entered under this RFQ or a separate procurement. Responses to this RFQ must be limited to those proposing existing Commercial Off the Shelf (“COTS”) or implemented software products, and Software as a Service (“SaaS”) cloud solutions which meet the Commonwealth's security and privacy requirements for SaaS, and prevent disclosure of Personally Identifiable Information (“PII”). The proposed solution must meet the Commission's requirements out-of-the-box or through configuration or customization. Additionally, the solution must enable the Commission to redact from the application’s free text data fields material exempt from production under the Commonwealth’s Public Records Law, M.G.L. c. 66 § 10 (such as the names, addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses of family members). Time is of the essence and responses which propose only new application product development or “build from scratch” approaches to replace the current SFI application will not be considered. The term of the contract entered under this RFQ (the “Contract”) will commence on the date that the Contract is executed with the winning Bidder and end on or about 6/30/2016. The Contract will be executed for this initial duration and will run from the date of execution (the “Contract Effective/Start 5
Date”), estimated to be 5/30/2015 through 06/30/2016. No renewal options have been identified at this time. Warranty and Post-Warranty Support are included in the requirements of this RFQ. The Commission reserves the right to extend the Contract and to engage the Bidder for additional post implementation support services at the Commission’s discretion according to the terms of statewide contracts ITS53PROJSERVSP and ITS53PROJSERVTS. 2. Department Information The Commission is an independent state agency, charged with the administration and enforcement of the state financial disclosure law and the resulting SFI application and reporting process. The Massachusetts financial disclosure law (M.G.L. c. 268B) requires public officials, certain political candidates and certain public employees to disclose their and their immediate family members’ private business associations and other financial interests by filing annual SFIs. The law covers all elected state and county officials and candidates for these positions as well as all state and county employees who are designated by their appointing authority as holding a major policymaking position. The reporting process involves Commission staff and liaisons from governmental entities at the state and county level (“Agency Liaisons”) whose personnel include public employees and public officials as defined in the statute, who are required to file an annual SFI, and candidates for office who are also subject to the SFI process. A more complete description of the SFI process and details regarding the business requirements, and scope of the application and process, including the number of Filers, is available on the Commission web site: http://www.mass.gov/ethics/commission-services/statement-of-financial-interests/. Concurrent with the development of the SFI Application Solution, the Commission is making improvements to the form itself to make it easier for Filers to understand what information they are being asked to provide. A copy of the draft revised SFI form is attached as Exhibit 1: Revised SFI Form (Draft). The Commission workflows regarding the SFI process that must be captured in the SFI Application Solution are set forth in as Exhibit 2: Massachusetts State Ethics Commission Workflows and the process is narratively described in Exhibit 3: PCG Documentation and Recommendations attached to this RFQ. The Commission staff is organized into three separate divisions:
Legal Division -http://www.mass.gov/ethics/about-the-commission/organization/the-legaldivision/ Public Education and Communications Division- http://www.mass.gov/ethics/about-thecommission/organization/the-public-education-division Enforcement Division- http://www.mass.gov/ethics/about-the-commission/organization/theenforcement-division/
Each of these divisions has responsibility for the management and administration of some part of the SFI process. 3. Description and Purpose of Procurement 3.1. Background The Commission is seeking the services of a Bidder to recommend and provide application software, and to provide professional services including among others installation, configuration, testing, warranty, and post-warranty support, and professional services, to implement an SFI Application Solution. The new application and services contracted for under this procurement will replace the Legacy System with a scalable enterprise-wide web-based application. Through the contract entered into under this RFQ, the winning Bidder will provide implementation services (installation, configuration or customization,
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testing, activation), data conversion and migration planning and support services, training and warranty services, and post-warranty support services. The Commission is seeking to replace its 12-year-old Legacy System with a new SFI disclosure reporting and management application solution utilizing scalable and modified COTS application functionality or a SaaS solution. The procurement includes the services necessary to implement a modified and customized application as an enterprise-wide web-based solution. Definition of the options for conversion/ migration of the existing historic data maintained by the Commission are included in the project scope. The Commission reserves the right to contract for data conversion and migration either with the winning Bidder under this RFQ or with either the winning Bidder or another bidder under a separate RFQ. In 2013, the Commission procured the services of the Public Consulting Group, Inc. (“PCG”) through an RFQ under ITS43, to assist in a review of the current system and development of the requirements, functionality and scope of services for the new application. PCG completed a market sector review and technical and operational program analysis, documented the workflows and functional requirements for the SFI Application Solution, and defined the training, testing and required implementation scope of services. The relevant findings from the PCG project including workflows, SFI processes and SFI application requirements are set forth in Exhibit 3: PCG Documentation and Recommendation; Exhibit 5: Current SFI Technical Environment; Exhibit 6: Legacy SFI Screen Shots, and reflected in the incorporated in this document and included in Attachment D SFI Application Solution Functional Specifications Checklist. A financial benefits and Return on Investment (ROI) analysis were completed by the Commission leading to the development of a Request for Capital Funding Brief for FY2015/2016. PCG is precluded from responding to this RFQ. This project is funded through the use of IT Capital Bond funding. The RFQ defines specific deliverables to be provided under a fixed price agreement, with options, at the discretion of the Commission, to contract for additional related services beyond this initial contract term. The fixed price deliverables include, among others, the installation, configuration or customization of a software application proposed by the winning Bidder to enable online creation, tracking and management of SFIs for approximately 4,000 Filers (“Filers”). The statutory SFI requirements, additional Commission requirements, filing process, form and other pertinent data regarding the functionality to be proposed are highlighted in Exhibits 3, 5 and 6; in Attachment D; and in the following pages of the Commission’s website: 1. The text and an explanation of the state Financial Disclosure Law is located at: http://www.mass.gov/ethics/laws-and-regulations/financial-disclsoure-law.html 2. Disclosure Forms and instructions are located at http://www.mass.gov/ethics/disclosureforms/.http://www.mass.gov/ethics/disclosure-forms/ This Bid is issued under the following law: M.G.L. c. 7, § 22; c. 30, § 51, § 52; and 801 CMR 21.00 (Goods and Services) 3.2. Number of Awards The Commission seeks to contract with a single Bidder to propose a new solution and deliver the related implementation services described in this RFQ. The Commission, in conjunction with Massachusetts Office of Information Technology (“MassIT”) will procure any recommended software and software maintenance and support through the Commonwealth’s statewide contract ITS42, and any hardware, maintenance and support for the IT infrastructure and connectivity services required for the installation and implementation of the selected SFI Application
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Solution through other statewide contracts. Bidders must also respond to the functional checklist migration and data conversion planning requirements for moving legacy data into the new system set forth in Attachment D: SFI Application Solution Functional Specifications Checklist. However, the actual migration and conversion process may be separately priced and contracted by the Commission as an optional service under this RFQ or through a separate procurement. The Commission reserves the right to contract under a separate RFQ the actual data migration and conversion services. 3.3. Eligible Entities Any contract resulting from this Bid will be open for use by the Commission only. The application will either reside at a MassIT Data Center and be hosted by MassIT or comprise a SaaS solution. 3.4. Business Background The selected Bidder should review the business processes and workflows included as Exhibit 2: Massachusetts State Ethics Commission Workflows; Exhibit 3: PCG Documentation and Recommendations; and Exhibit 6: Legacy SFI Screen Shots, as well as the website links listed in section 3.1, when preparing their response, including completing the Business and Technical response, Attachment A: SOW Statement of Work Template, and Attachment D: SFI Application Solution Functional Specifications Checklist. These documents are mandatory templates that must be completed and included with the Bidder’s response. The Legacy System currently used which is being replaced by the SFI Application Solution is the Commission’s SFI disclosure reporting application. SFIs are public records (although some of their contents are exempt from disclosure under the Public Records Law) which list Filers’ and their family members’ private financial interests. For example, they include a Filer's salary range, business holdings, government securities, stocks, bonds and other financial investments, real estate holdings and mortgage information. The SFI also includes a listing of gifts, honoraria and reimbursements received from certain sources during the calendar year in excess of $100. The filing of SFIs helps ensure that public servants at the state and county level are providing their undivided loyalty to the government that they work for and acting in the public interest rather than for private gain. The Commission is responsible for the administration and enforcement of the state financial disclosure law and the resulting SFI application and reporting process. Currently, SFIs can either be filed in paper form, or electronically by logging on to the Legacy System application. About 90% of the approximately 4,000 Filers each year utilize the Legacy System to complete their SFI electronically. The Bidder’s response to this RFQ must address the functionality of the SFI Application Solution, training, testing, related implementation services necessary to install and activate the proposed software as an enterprise-wide web-based solution which is accessible to persons with disabilities and uses userfriendly technology, as well as warranty and post-warranty support. The SFI Application Solution must accomplish the SFI Filer, Commission and Agency responsibilities, and, by making it easier to file electronically, encourage more electronic filing. The Bidder’s proposed solution must provide:
Capability for Filers who are public employees and public officials to receive a password and ID and complete their SFI online. Capability for candidates for public office to self-register and request a Password and ID, and complete their SFIs online. Online capabilities for the public to request and access through the Commission’s SFI website/ portal link SFIs from which the non-public record data has been redacted.
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Tools that enable the Agency Liaisons 1 in each participating agency to update their agency Designation Lists2 and communicate with Filers. An online process through which the Commission can automatically redact PII protected by law from disclosure prior to producing copies of filings in response to public records requests, subpoenas and requests for production. Improvements to the SFI filing process by using directed workflows and drop down table values to help the Filer complete the SFI form online and limit the entry of PII data to specific questions in the SFI form. Online review and updating by Commission staff of Designation Lists. Online access to the overall filing and review process for Commission and Agency staff users including Agency Liaisons and Agency staff who complete the Designation Lists.
The SFI Application Solution must be capable of providing the following features out-of-the-box, or through configuration or customization to be performed by the Bidder under this RFQ to enable:
Online access by Commission and Agency Liaison staff to update information concerning the Filer including position, official title, agency, employment dates, multiple contact information, and historical information accessible by date and SFI filing year. A running history of the SFI Filer’s actions and events including agency designation, notifications, communications, filing date, filing history, etc., to be accessible online to the Commission and Agency staff. Document Access Feature – The ability for the Commission to download relevant documents from the system necessary to prosecute cases of late and non-Filers, including Designation Lists, notifications, SFI filing date, the SFI, and other information. Document Upload Feature – The ability for the Enforcement Division to upload documents for use in prosecution. (Note: The ability to scan and attach documents to the SFI is included in the technical requirements set forth in Attachment D: SFI Application Solution Functional Specifications Checklist.) Legal Division Notes Feature – The ability for the Legal Division to maintain notes about the Filers (such as filing extensions, computer problems, etc.). Enforcement Division Notes Feature – The ability for the Enforcement Division to maintain notes about each case involving an SFI. Commission and Agency user ability to access computer generated forms and letters – The ability for the Commission and Agency users to generate letters including notifications, reminders, late notices, reviews, amendment requests, training notices and materials, opinions, customer support requests and responses, and other letters or notifications necessary to complete their workflow and administration of the SFIs filed annually. Enforcement Division - The ability to generate letters including notifications, reminders, penalty notifications, mitigation notifications, Preliminary Inquiry Authorization Notifications, Attorney General Preliminary Inquiry Notifications, Reasonable Cause Letters,
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Agency Liaison - Staff member responsible for assisting the Agency Designator in compiling, maintaining and updating an agency’s Designation List and providing it to the Commission on an annual basis with updates throughout the year. Also responsible for notifying the Commission about new and departing individuals entering major policymaking positions throughout the calendar year. There are approximately 190 agency liaisons. 2 Designation List – The list of the major policymaking positions within his or her jurisdiction that Agency Designators are required to submit to the Commission on an annual basis pursuant to the financial disclosure law, General Laws, Chapter 268B. The Designation List includes the names, employee ID numbers, home addresses, office and personal telephone numbers and office and personal email addresses for the individuals holding such positions.
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Closing Letters, Orders to Show Cause and other letters and/or filings. These documents are currently generated using systems and functionality outside of the capabilities of the Legacy System and have specific security and privacy considerations. Case Maintenance – List of cases and histories including real time status of SFI filings and case status. Civil Penalty Maintenance – An ongoing list of civil penalties paid and relevant information to be used for record keeping, annual report and website publication. SFI Review and Content Checklists for the Commission staff to use prior to referral of a case to Enforcement, as explained in Exhibit 2: Massachusetts State Ethics Commission Workflows, Nos. 6 and 7. Ability to search the database by specific word or defined index field value. Ability to develop and generate reports relating to Filers as well as responses to various questions on the SFI.
3.4.1 Data Conversion and Migration of Legacy SFI Application Data Data conversion and migration of specific data fields maintained in the Legacy System is required as part of this project. Data conversion and migration requirements in this RFQ include: 1. Migration of prior year data for Filer to auto-fill certain data in the new filing year SFI form: The Bidder’s solution must be able to migrate certain fields in the Legacy System to auto-fill certain key fields on the next year’s SFI filing form for Filers who completed an SFI filing during the prior filing year. Only the immediate prior year’s SFI data is currently available for auto-filling the SFI form. While some Filers need to update certain information in their filing each year, certain static data fields (such as name, agency title, address, employee ID (if the Filer is part of the HR/CMS employee data records) and real estate/ stock holdings tend to remain constant from year to year. The current Legacy System provides limited capability to auto-fill this data into the next year SFI’s form to make unnecessary re-entry of the data by the Filer. A description of the auto fill requirement is included in Exhibit 2: Massachusetts State Ethics Commission Workflows and Exhibit 3: PCG Documentation and Recommendations.3 This requirement appears as a mandatory feature in Attachment D: SFI Application Solution Functional Specifications Checklist which Bidders must complete as part of their technical response. 2.
Historical Data Migration: The Commission is required to maintain the annual SFI forms for six years (6) years. Under the public inspection provisions of the statute, the Commission must also provide public access to redacted versions of all SFIs held by the Commission. The Commission would prefer to retire the Legacy System as soon as possible and migrate the current 6 years of legacy data to the new solution or a separate storage format where it can be made available to meet the public inspection requirements of the statute. This data is currently maintained in the legacy SFI database environment in SQL. The Bidder’s response may propose, at the Bidder’s option, a strategy, and tasks and deliverables related to, the conversion and migration of data from the Legacy System. The Commission reserves the right to procure these services either under this RFQ from the Winning Bidder or under a Contract entered under a separate RFQ from either the Winning Bidder or another vendor. The Commission reserves the right to contract for this capability under the current RFQ as an option or separately.
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Where Exhibit 3: PCG Documentation and Recommendation, is referenced in this document, it is solely for the purpose of providing a description of the Commission’s business workflow. Bidders should treat the recommendations in PCG’s document as preliminary and informational only, and not as replacing the functional specifications of this RFQ.
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Bidders should review the most current overview of the Financial Disclosure Law at http://www.mass.gov/ethics/laws-and-regulations/financial-disclsoure-law.html; Attachment D; and Exhibits 1, 2, and 3, to understand the required functionality necessary in the proposed application to meet statutory requirements and to improve user and Filer access and ease of use. 3.5. Technical Background and Requirements The configuration environment proposed by the Bidder must include a production environment, development environment and a test/training/backup environment. If the Bidder proposes a COTS solution, the hardware for the production environment will be located in the MassIT Data Center and the test/training environment hardware will be located in the Commission’s office. Documentation describing the current IT infrastructure in the Commission and the MassIT Data Center and required technical specifications is included in Exhibit 5: Current SFI Technical. The winning Bidder will: Work with the PMT and assigned MassIT staff to install and establish the system environments. Prepare a system test plan, including unit, integration, accessibility and system performance stress and reliability testing. The system testing must demonstrate the successful operation of the proposed system, ensuring that the solution is functioning and data is processed correctly. Provide a mechanism for tracking expected versus actual test results, and for tracking all errors, problems, and their resolution. Create separate system development, testing (unit and integration), and user acceptance testing, training, and production environments. Work with the PMT to develop the criteria for determining significant, medium and low impact bugs. Resolve problems identified in the functioning of the system and integration transactions, and support all retesting efforts, without additional expense to the Commission. Establish and maintain a Stress Testing controlled technical environment that will enable them to develop valid Stress Testing results and properly diagnose the source of performance problems with the system and a Disaster Recovery Plan (DRP)/ business continuity and backup plan that address recovery of the SFI Application Solution and the technology infrastructure that complies with all Commonwealth, Commission and federal mandates. Maintain a Requirements Traceability Matrix ensuring that all requirements are mapped to specific testing scenarios. Maintain the security of the data and access to the SFI Application Solution. The Bidder’s proposed solution must provide logging, reporting and accessing errors and exceptions. The winning Bidder will also: Develop a system deployment plan that defines key milestones, deliverables, tasks, and responsibilities. Develop an Acceptance Test Plan. The acceptance test will include all activities that will take place during the actual deployment and is to include, but not be limited to, verifying the following: All functional aspects of the system Response time and overall system performance and reliability Accuracy and performance of system interfaces System, data, and application security Accessibility according to the requirements included in Attachment G: Accessibility Obligations for Bidders.
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The Commission staff currently provides training to Agency Liaisons through in-person training, web training and guidance through telephonic and email responses regarding the preparation of the Designation Lists. The winning Bidder will provide a training plan for use of the SFI Application Solution which includes details regarding the scope, type, methodology and training duration; conduct a Train the Trainer (“TTT”) onsite training class(es) for up to 12 Commission and/or Agency staff; provide documentation and customizable training materials in electronic form, and provide technical and operational knowledge transfer to designated Commission and/or MassIT staff responsible for maintaining the system and Commission/ Agency staff designated as Trainers. The application user and technical administrator training and knowledge transfer must include key processes for Commission and Agency users, Filers, and members of the public accessing the proposed application. The Train the Trainer (TTT) content, training materials, and technical/user application knowledge transfer services are included in the required support services for this RFQ. All training and testing will be done on site at the Commission’s office unless otherwise determined and defined in the Statement of Work (“SOW”) to be negotiated with the winning bidder. MassIT supports data centers at Chelsea, MA (“MITC”) and Springfield, MA. The proposed solution must support deployment to both. The Commonwealth’s Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC) environment for the solution proposed separates production from non-production environments as a best practice to segregate access and enforcement of security and other policies. The winning Bidder will be required to develop, deliver, maintain, and execute a Disaster Recovery Plan (“DRP”)/ Business Continuity and backup plan that addresses recovery of the SFI Application Solution and the technology infrastructure. These plans must comply with all Commission, state and federal mandates. As part of the testing process the winning Bidder will perform a Disaster Recovery/Business Continuity exercise to demonstrate that the DRP has been correctly implemented and is operational. The winning Bidder will be required to warrant that the system will conform to the RFQ requirements and the Bidder’s design specification and that it shall be free from defects in materials for a minimum period of one (1) year after the acceptance of the system by the Commission. If the winning Bidder proposes a solution to be hosted by the Commonwealth, it will be hosted at MITC, with daily operations, on-site support and supervision by the Commission’s IT resource. The winning Bidder will be expected to establish a plan for mitigating risks associated with the production environment and the implementation of the software. In their response to this RFQ, Bidders should describe their approach to risk mitigation planning to reduce the impact of system outages (planned and unplanned) on Commission business. The Bidder should also describe the software upgrade, release and version control procedures planned for the proposed application. 3.6. Procurement of Hardware, Infrastructure and Conversion/Data Migration Services The Commission, in conjunction with MassIT, will procure any necessary software, hardware, IT infrastructure and connectivity services required for the installation and implementation of the selected SFI software separately from this RFQ. Bidders shall include in their response to this RFQ the technical requirements and minimum software, hardware and infrastructure requirements and recommended platform on which the proposed solution software will reside. Because the core software comprising any COTS application, or, in the alternative, the SaaS solution, proposed by the Bidder will be acquired through statewide contract ITS42, the Bidder’s proposal must include a quote from any one of the three software resellers on statewide contract ITS42. The list of the ITS42 resellers and their contact information are set forth in Attachment I: ITS42 COMMBUYS Reseller List. The proposed application must use an Internet Web Portal for displaying web pages and configurable forms to the users. The SFI Application Solution must comply with the Commonwealth’s Enterprise 12
Information Technology Standards available at http://www.mass.gov/anf/research-and-tech/policieslegal-and-technical-guidance/it-policies-standards-and-procedures/ent-pols-and-stnds/accessibilitystandards/enterprise-it-accessibility-standards.html and the Commonwealth’s Web Accessibility Standards Version 2. The Web Accessibility Standards Version 2 can be found here http://www.mass.gov/anf/research-andtech/policies-legal-and-technical-guidance/tech-guidance/accessibility-guidance/web-accessibility/webaccessibility-standards.html. Attachment G: Accessibility Obligations for Bidders defines the required sections of the Bidder’s response which must address the accessibility requirements. As noted above, Bidders may also propose as optional services, migration and data conversion planning requirements for moving legacy data into the SFI Application System. The Commission reserves the right after reviewing the bids to incorporate such services into the Contract, or to acquire them through a separate procurement process. Bidders who respond to this RFQ MAY submit a response to any future RFQ for separate data conversion/ migration services, should it be issued. 3.7. Resources Relevant documentation to assist Bidders in preparing their responses to this RFQ is provided on the RFQ COMMBUYS site and includes the following: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
Exhibit 1: Exhibit 2: Exhibit 3: Exhibit 4: Exhibit 5: Exhibit 6:
Revised SFI Form and Instructions (Draft) Massachusetts State Ethics Commission Workflows PCG Documentation and Recommendations Glossary of Terms Current SFI Technical Environment Legacy SFI Screen Shots
In addition, the Bidder may reference specific webpages on the Commission website for additional information regarding the filing, registration, inspection and review process and the responsibilities of the Commission and Agency staff and users. Specific web pages are referenced throughout this RFQ as relevant and include the following:
Sample SFI form: http://www.mass.gov/ethics/about-thecommission/organization/the-legal-division/financial-disclosure-lawinformation/2013-manual-file.html The text and an explanation of the state’s Financial Disclosure Law: http://www.mass.gov/ethics/laws-and-regulations/financial-disclsoure-law.html. SFI Procedures and Processes: http://www.mass.gov/ethics/commissionservices/statement-of-financial-interests/.
3.8. Bidder Qualifications Bidders responding to this RFQ must provide recent (within the past 3 to 5 years) references demonstrating experience in personal financial information reporting applications administered by a public agency. Understanding of federal, state, county, or city ethics commission agencies and/or public financial reporting for public officials and/or candidates is required. . References should demonstrate successful completion of similar reporting and registration projects that included the installation, configuration and customization of COTS for public sector agencies. Responses must include references to demonstrate the Bidder’s recent experience in providing the same, or similar, application software, implementation and related services for public sector commissions including federal, state, large county or municipal ethics commissions; state or other public sector economic disclosure/background registration type systems; or similar individual (personal reporting not financial institution) financial status and background assets disclosure, recording and reporting applications.
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4. Submission Requirements Interested Bidders must submit their response though COMMBUYS, at the bid page for this RFQ. If a Bidder is having a problem submitting their response, they may work with the COMMBUYS Help Desk. The Help Desk can be reached by email at
[email protected] or by phone during normal business hours (8AM – 5PM Monday – Friday) at 1-888-627-8283 or 617-720-3197. Bidders can find instructions on submitting a response through COMMBUYS www.mass.gov/anf/docs/osd/forms/instructions-for-vendors-responding-to-bids.docx.
here:
Responses must be received no later than the response due date and time indicated in the Event Calendar below or they will not be evaluated. 4.1. Event Calendar CALENDAR EVENT
DATE
TIME
RFQ Posting and Release
1/23/2015
3 PM
Non Mandatory Bidder’s Conference (In Person or Call In) Questions Due
1/30/2015
11AM
2/1/2015
Noon
Answers Provided By
2/4/2015
5PM
RFQ Responses Due
2/20/15
3 PM
Bidder On-Site Demonstrations
Est. Week of 3/19/2015
TBD
Best and Final Offers
Est. week of 3/23/2015
TBD
Apparent Successful Bidder Selection
Est. 3/30/2015
Noon
Anticipated Contract Start Date
5/1/2015
9 AM
All times are shown in Eastern Standard/Daylight Savings (US), as displayed on the COMMBUYS system clock to Bidders after logging in. If there is a conflict between the dates in this Procurement Calendar and dates in the Bid’s Header, the dates in the Bid’s Header on COMMBUYS shall prevail. Bidders are responsible for checking the Bid record, including Bid Q&A, on COMMBUYS for Procurement Calendar updates. 4.2. Bidder Conference A Bidder Conference is scheduled for 11 AM to 1 PM, January 30, 2015, in the Commission’s Conference Room (located in the Commission Office at One Ashburton Place, Room 619, Boston, MA 02108. The Bidder’s Conference provides the opportunity for the Commission to review the RFQ content and provide clarifications. The Bidder Conference is not mandatory. In person attendance is limited to two persons per company. Bidders should indicate their intent to participate in person or by remote dial in by sending an email to the Procurement Contact not later than 1/28/2015. A telephone call-in bridge line will be provided to the Bidders requesting to participate remotely. Any questions answered orally during the conference will not be binding upon the Commission unless submitted in writing.
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4.3. Bid Questions and Answers The “Bid Q&A” provides the opportunity for Bidders to ask written questions and receive written answers from the PMT regarding this Bid. All Bidders’ questions must be submitted through the Bid Q&A found on COMMBUYS (see below for instructions). Questions may be asked only prior to the Deadline for Submission of Questions stated in the Estimated Procurement Calendar. The Commission reserves the right not to respond to questions submitted after this date. It is the Bidder’s responsibility to verify receipt of questions. Please note that any questions submitted using any other medium (including those that are sent by mail, fax, email or voicemail, etc.) will not be answered. To reduce the number of redundant or duplicate questions, Bidders are asked to review all questions previously submitted to determine whether the answer to the Bidder’s question has already been posted. Bidders are responsible for entering content suitable for public viewing because all of the questions are accessible to the public. Bidders must not include any information that could be considered personal, security sensitive, inflammatory, incorrect, collusory, or otherwise objectionable, including information about the Bidder’s company or other companies. The PMT reserves the right to edit or delete any submitted questions that raise any of these issues or that are not in the best interests of the Commonwealth or this Bid. All answers are final when posted. Any subsequent revisions to previously provided answers will be dated. It is the responsibility of the prospective Bidder and the winning Bidder to maintain an active registration in COMMBUYS and to keep current the email address of the Bidder’s contact person and prospective contract manager, if awarded a contract, and to monitor that email inbox for communications from the Commission, including requests for clarification. The Commission and the Commonwealth assume no responsibility if a prospective Bidder’s designated email address is not current, or if technical problems, including those with the prospective Bidder’s computer, network or internet service provider (ISP) cause email communications sent to/from the prospective Bidder and the Commission to be lost or rejected by any means, including email or spam filtering. 4.4. Locating Bid Q&A Log on to COMMBUYS, locate the Bid, acknowledge receipt of the Bid, and scroll down to the bottom of the Bid Header page. The “Bid Q&A” button allows Bidders access to the Bid Q&A page. 4.5. Amendment Deadline The PMT reserves the right to make amendments to the Bid after initial publication. It is each Bidder’s responsibility to check COMMBUYS for any amendments, addenda or modifications to this Bid, and any Bid Q&A records related to this Bid. The PMT and the Commonwealth accept no responsibility and will provide no accommodation to Bidders who submit a quote based on an out-of-date Bid or on information received from a source other than COMMBUYS. 4.6. Oral Presentations/Product Demonstrations Oral Presentations/Product Demonstrations will be scheduled within a two-week period with approximately a week’s notice to the selected Bidders. An agenda for the presentation and scripted scenarios will be sent at that time. Selected Bidders who are asked to participate in Oral Presentations/Product Demonstrations will be expected to prioritize this in their schedules. Failure to appear at the scheduled time of the presentation/demonstration may result in disqualification, reduction of points or other action that the PMT deems appropriate. II. Response Requirements The Bidder Response shall be formatted as described in this section.
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All referenced mandatory forms and templates which are to be completed as part of the Bidder Qualifications sections of the Business and Technical Response and Cost Response to this RFQ are included on the RFQ site as downloadable forms. (1) (2) (3) (4) (5)
Attachment A: Attachment B: Attachment C: Attachment D: Attachment E:
SOW Statement of Work Template SFI Application Solution Business/Company Reference Form SFI Application Solution Key Personnel Reference Form SFI Application Solution Functional Specifications Checklist SFI Application Solution Cost Sheets
Any proposal submitted with material deviations from the prescribed format, as determined by the PMT, may be considered non-responsive and excluded from further consideration or evaluation at the sole discretion of the PMT. All supporting material should be attached as an appendix to the Bidder’s response and cross-referenced in the appropriate section of their responses. A. Business and Technical Response Bidder’s Business and Technical Responses should be a straightforward description of the Bidder’s qualifications and proposed services, and should follow the outline defined in this section. Extraneous marketing or promotional materials are discouraged and will not be considered in the evaluation. 1. Transmittal Letter The Bidder’s Business and Technical Response will include a Transmittal Letter/Executive Summary. The Summary is to provide a brief narrative highlighting the major elements of the proposal, explaining how the solution meets the requirements of the RFQ and must include: 1.1. A statement that the solution satisfies the functional, technical and support/implementation requirements outlined in the RFQ, signed by a Company Official who is authorized to legally bind the firm to all commitments made in the Bidder’s response. 1.2. The name of the Bidder’s representative who may be contacted for all contractual matters. 1.3. A statement that the Bidder accepts all terms and conditions contained in the proposal, including without limitation the terms of the RFQ, all Attachments and Exhibits hereto (including without limitation Attachment G: Accessibility Obligations for Bidders, and all documents referenced herein. 1.4. A statement that the Bidder’s proposal and cost are valid for the time period defined in the solicitation, no less than 90 days after the submission of the proposal, or, upon mutual agreement, for an extended period of time. 1.5. A complete disclosure of any litigation in which the Bidder (or any subcontractor) has been involved/named in during the last 5 years. 1.6. If SaaS solution is proposed, a statement accepting the MassIT SaaS terms as set forth in Attachment F: SaaS – Cloud Solution Terms attached to this RFQ. 1.7. All assumptions on which the Bidder’s response is based. The Summary may not contain any cost information. Bidders are encouraged to provide a concise Summary of 2 pages or less. 2. Bidder Qualifications, Staffing & Availability The Bidder is expected to provide a description of the Bidder and any subcontractor’s qualifications to complete the work described in this RFQ responsive to the requirements of section 3.8 “Bidder Qualifications” included above in Chapter I, General Procurement Information. Bidders are encouraged
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to describe qualifications that demonstrate an understanding of public sector ethics commissions, personal economic disclosure processes and experience with Commonwealth public sector clients. 2.1. Company Experience The Bidder’s response must demonstrate the Bidder’s actual recent (past 3 to 5 years) experience in the following areas: 2.1.1.Software applications and related services for public sector commissions including federal, state, large county or municipal ethics commissions or agencies; and state or other public sector personal/ individual economic disclosure/ background registration type systems. 2.1.2.Web based individual financial reporting application projects for public sector clients. 2.1.3.Electronic or web based financial assets reporting and tracking related applications including but not limited to campaign finance, employment fiscal applications, and applications utilized by public agencies for disclosure of personal/employee financial assets. 2.2. Key Resources The Bidder’s response must include experienced resources that will be committed to the successful completion of the project. 2.2.1.Bidder’s Response will include named/ key resources whom the Bidder intends to assign to the engagement, the resource’s position on the project, estimated commitment (as a percentage of time) on site (if applicable), a description of the type and number of years of experience with disclosure applications, and participation in similar delivery and applications. 2.2.2.Resumes for named key personnel of no more than 3 pages which include current technical and business experience, certifications and licenses relevant to this RFQ, may be attached. The successful Bidder’s personnel may subject to Background/CORI checks and conform to all intellectual property, security and privacy conditions prior to commencing work on the project. Key Personnel under the contract will be subject to the Massachusetts conflict of interest law, and should consult the Commission’s General Counsel with any question about how it applies to them. 2.3. Tools Bidder shall include a description of any development tools or methodologies proposed by the Bidder to configure or modify the application. Bidder must indicate if these tools are proprietary or open source. Any proprietary tools which will be required to maintain or support configuration changes, table updates or reporting must be defined. Bidder must describe their process for providing orientation and training of the PMT on methods, processes and tools the Bidder proposes to use on the SFI Application Solution which are proprietary and or outside of the MassIT accepted methodologies and processes. In addition, the Bidder should describe its approach to orientation of the PMT to the Bidder’s processes, tools, and methodologies. 2.4. Bidder Company References Bidder must include references with contact information for at least three projects completed for other clients similar to the project described in this RFQ. Bidder must demonstrate prior experience by providing at least one reference where Bidder has completed a specific ethics commission or related individual financial registration/ disclosure software project. Bidder must complete the Attachment B: SFI Application Solution Business/Company Reference Form for a minimum of 3 but no more than 5 references. The reference form includes: 2.4.1. Identification of the nature and size of the client for which the Bidder completed an engagement. 2.4.2. The Bidder’s specific role in the engagement(s). 17
2.4.3. The name, role and contact information (phone number(s) and email) for a representative of the client who is able to speak about the Bidder’s performance and delivery. 2.5. Key Personnel References The Bidder must provide up to two recent (last 3 to 5 years) references for each proposed Key Personnel in the Bidder’s response, using the Attachment C: SFI Application Solution Key Personnel Reference Form included in the RFQ Attachments. At least one key personnel reference should reference experience with a specific ethics commission or related individual financial registration/disclosure software project, or similar solution to the one sought in this RFQ. 2.6. Statement of Bidder’s Availability to Meet the Deadlines Described. The SFI Application Solution must be implemented and available for Commission and agency designation staff to begin the CY 2015 SFI process no later than October 2015. The Bid must include an affirmative statement that the Bidder can meet this deadline. 3. Business Requirements The business requirements section of the response must include: 3.1. An affirmative point-by-point response to the requirements of sections 3.4 “Business Background” and 3.5 “Technical Background and Requirements” included above in Chapter I. General Procurement Information of this RFQ. 3.2. A proposed high level work plan for assessment, analysis, documentation and presentation activities. The work plan must be submitted in Excel. 3.3. An unlocked, editable SOW in the form of the SOW attached hereto as Attachment A: SOW Statement of Work Template (the SOW for both statewide ITS53 contracts). The apparent successful Bidder will be given the opportunity to negotiate a SOW based on Attachment A, in which the parties will more clearly define the deliverables, milestones and reporting structure for this project.4 Bidders must define the key milestone deliverables which include, but are not limited to, general and detailed design documentation to meet the functional requirements including operational functionality, SFI creation and annual file creation/maintenance, software modifications, interfaces and reports, triggering events at a functional level, and technical oversight, implementation, training, testing, warranty and support services. These deliverables are further defined in of this RFQ, at I.3.5; II.4.5; and II.6; and in the following Exhibits and Attachments included with this RFQ:
Attachment D: SFI Application Solution Functional Specifications Checklist Attachment F: SaaS - Cloud Solution Terms (required if Cloud Solution proposed) Attachment G: Accessibility Obligations for Bidders Attachment I: ITS42 Reseller Exhibit 2: Massachusetts State Ethics Commission Workflows
4
Although the Bidder must submit a draft SOW in the form of the ITS53 SOW, note that the Commission intends to replace the ITS53 Representations by Resources document, which is an attachment to the ITS53 SOW, with Attachment H hereto, Intellectual Property Agreement for Contractor’s Employees, Consultants and Agents, which is an edited version of the corollary ITS53 document.
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3.4. Given the short timeframe for this procurement, the winning Bidder must be prepared to make its business and legal team available for the purpose of negotiating and executing a contract no later than 4/1/2015. 3.5. Do not include costs or hourly rates in the SOW tables. All costs must be recorded in Attachment E: SFI Application Solution Cost Sheets. 3.6. A statement of the Bidder’s expectation of the level of commitment required by Commonwealth business and technical teams. 4. Business Solution Requirements The Bidder’s response to this RFQ section must address how the proposed solution will replace the Legacy System with an enterprise-wide web-based SFI disclosure reporting and management application utilizing existing software applications which the Bidder will configure and customize to meet the SFI Application Solution functionality. Bidders are reminded that this is not a custom software development RFQ. Solutions which have the capability to accommodate future enterprise data sharing links with other Commonwealth enterprise applications including HR/CMS and the Information Warehouse are desirable. 4.1. Functional Workflow and Application Features The Bidder’s Response must address how the proposed software application will be modified and configured to provide the Commission with the capability to complete the activities defined in the Attachment D: SFI Application Solution Functional Specifications Checklist. The Bidder’s response must describe in brief narrative form, how the Bidder proposes to configure or customize the application software (if necessary) to meet the application features and functionality required. The Bidder shall provide a narrative description summarizing the proposed application solution’s features and functionality and describing the configuration and customization processes necessary to enhance the base application to meet the Commission’s requirements. Bidders shall include in their response to this RFQ their overall approach to addressing the workflows and application features through the software’s out of the box capability or through configuration or customization including without limitation functionality necessary to: 4.1.1. Enable a filer to complete the annual SFI application online. 4.1.2. Enable the Commission and Agency Users to manage the administration and tracking functions of the statute including designation, oversight, enforcement, and other functions defined in the workflows. 4.1.3. Enable the public to complete online inspection of redacted copies of the SFIs. 4.1.4. Enable the completion of technical support and management functions of the Commission and Agency. 4.1.5. Ensure the security of the SFI data and enable redaction to create the Public View of the SFIs filed. In addition, the Bidder must describe: 4.1.6. The base application (or SaaS solution) selected for modification. 4.1.7. The flexibility of the application to be configured to meet the requirements set forth in Attachment D. 4.1.8. The configuration, customization and modification process. 4.1.9. Any workflow configuration or other optional features the Commonwealth could complete as needed following system implementation to changing SFI needs. 4.2. Application Solution Functional Specifications Checklist The Attachment D: Application Solution Functional Specifications Checklist defines the specific functionality and features to be addressed in the Business and Technical Response. The checklist is 19
formatted to enable Bidders to comment upon the features, functionality and capabilities of the proposed application. Bidders must complete Attachment D: SFI Application Solution Functional Specifications Checklist and include commentary to describe how the specific feature, function or requirement will be addressed in the Bidder’s proposed system. The Response Codes in the instructions at the beginning of the Checklist document identify the extent to which requirements would or would not be available in the Bidder’s Solution. Bidders should include in the Comments Column of the checklist any notes which explain the selected Response Code. Bidders should also indicate by cross-reference any sections of the Bidder’s Business and Technical Response narrative that clarify or expand upon their response. Bidders must note any exceptions to the requirements in their response. No cost information is to be included in the Application Functional Specifications Checklist. The Bidder’s recommended modifications to the base application software should be centered upon maintaining a flexible configuration model for the application software which will enable flexibility for future interfaces, expansion and to accommodate changes to the SFI procedures and statute which may increase the number or type of Filers, change or increase the management oversight and administrative responsibilities of the Commission and the agency users, or expand the enforcement, public access or SFI filing requirements themselves. The bidder must stress flexible configuration and workflow management capabilities to ensure the application is scalable, flexible and requires limited programming or modifications by the Commission and MassIT technical staff. The Bidder must also submit all VPATS and other documentation of recent accessibility testing. 4.3. Software Licenses and Maintenance Agreements Bidders must provide editable copies of the software licenses and maintenance agreements for the proposed application software. Bidders shall include any narrative descriptions in this section of the response. License and maintenance documents which contain cost information should only be included in the Cost Response. No cost information is to be included in the Bidder’s Business and Technical Response. 4.4. System Architecture and Configuration Management The Bidder’s response to the RFQ technical requirements must include a description of the application software configuration management, minimum operating software and hardware and infrastructure requirements and a recommended platform on which the proposed solution software will reside. The Bidder shall provide a narrative description summarizing: 4.4.1. Proposed application’s technical appearance, features, functionality, architecture, infrastructure, and design. 4.4.2. A solution which supports Transmission Control Protocols (TCP) / Internet Protocols (IP) using current MassIT network. 4.4.3. The advantages to the Commonwealth of the proposed solution architecture and its scalability. 4.4.4. The ability to have SFI Application Solution software responses configured as free text/ textboxes, drop-down form fields and navigational aids/ radio buttons/ paging links. 4.4.5. Any software configuration capabilities which increase the flexibility and scalability of the proposed solution. 4.4.6. Any operating system, third party software/ add-ons, installation and or infrastructure architecture and design requirements required for implementation.
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4.5. SDLC Environments The solution must be deployable in two production-level environments (production and disaster recovery), as well as two non-production environments. Bidder must describe how software will be migrated from one environment to another (release management procedures). The Commonwealth has multiple non-production functions that need to be addressed by the nonproduction environments, including but not limited to development, unit testing, end-to-end testing, integration testing, accessibility testing, user acceptance testing, and training. Bidder may describe how its proposed solution will support multiple SDLC functions in the two non-production environments. 4.6. Hardware Specifications Bidders shall include in their response to this RFQ technical requirements and minimum software, hardware and infrastructure requirements and recommended platform on which the proposed solution software will reside. The Bidder shall describe in this section of their response all recommended hardware component specifications necessary to support the proposed configuration. The Bidder’s response must specify the minimum and recommended desktop configurations which should be used with the proposed solution. Bidders should reference: Attachment F: SaaS - Cloud Solution Terms (required if Cloud Solution proposed), Attachment G: Accessibility Obligations for Bidders and Exhibit 5: Current SFI Technical Environment documentation and requirements. 5. Implementation and Installation Requirements The Bidder’s narrative response to this section must describe the implementation and installation tasks and activities proposed and included in the work plan and SOW. Specific subsections of the response must detail the various activities and tasks and include the commitment of staff and resources from the Commission, Agency Users and MassIT. 5.1. Testing and Installation Bidder’s response to this section shall: 5.1.1.Describe the proposed approach and detailed testing strategy, plan, and scope allowing for all testing cycles (Unit Testing, Accessibility Testing, End-to-End System Testing, Integration/ Regression Testing, User Acceptance Testing and Performance Testing). 5.1.2.Describe the setup/establishment and maintenance of separate testing and production environments. 5.1.3.Describe estimated hardware and software requirements for conducting all Integration and System Testing. 5.1.4.Describe the process for resolving system performance problems identified during testing, implementation and post-implementation support. 5.1.5.Provide a brief summary describing the measures included in the proposed solution to prevent catastrophic failures, and/or enable recovery should a failure occur. This should include demonstrated ability to recover and restore business operations utilizing archived data, files and redacted data. 5.1.6.Conversion/ Migration Testing - Provide recommendations or suggested conversion/migration testing alternatives relevant to the Bidder’s proposed application solution. Bidders must describe the proposed system response time for system users and identify any factors that will affect those times; and describe the system’s capability to accommodate an increase in transaction volume at peak Filer registration periods without performance degradation or upgrade. The Bidder’s response must describe the Bidder’s approach to performing acceptance testing, defining how the Bidder intends to establish the scope, approach, required resources, and schedule.
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5.2. Security Bidder shall describe methods for ensuring that only authorized personnel access data and ensuring compliance with state and federal security standards for transmission of PII. The proposed solution must meet the Commission's requirements out of the box or through configuration or customization. Additionally, the solution must prevent the disclosure of PII and demonstrate the capability to redact any SFI free text data field entries which contain personal information that may not be disclosed. The Bidder’s response must also address the Commonwealth security policies included in Section 5 of the SOW and describe the security features of the proposed application solution including: 5.2.1.Methods for ensuring that only authorized personnel access data. 5.2.2.Methods for ensuring compliance with Commonwealth and federal security standards for transmission of PII and restricted financial and family data required on the SFI. 5.2.3.Safeguards included in the proposed application to enable redaction of the data entered in the free text fields of the SFI form which upon review by the Commission staff may contain sensitive or PII information which is not subject to disclosure. 5.2.4.A security administration solution that will ensure security for the defined users, public and Filers without degrading performance of the application. 5.2.5.The use of industry best practices in the design of the system including consistency in public user inquiry, error handling, and help facilities for Filers and Commission/ Agency Users. 5.3. Training, Training Materials and Knowledge Transfer Bidder shall describe all training materials, plans, documentation and training planned in this section including: 5.3.1. Proposed methodology and training processes for proposed TTT onsite training class(es) for up to 12 Commission and/or Agency staff. 5.3.2. Training Plan and Training Materials. The Bidder shall describe their approach to developing and delivering training including key objectives, PMT and Agency staff participation, documentation of the approach for developing, modifying and delivering training materials including media format, customization processes and any restrictions or copyright limitations on the materials. 5.3.3. An evaluation and testing process through which the Bidder will test the success of TTT classes. 5.3.4. How training materials will be developed/ customized to meet the varying needs, skills, and abilities of end-users (e.g. Filers, Commission staff, Agency users and the public). 5.4. Warranties Bidder’s Response will provide a description of a minimum one year warranty for the proposed solution and describe their approach to providing warranty services, including key staffing roles and policies and procedures the Bidder’s staff will employ. The warranty must be consistent with the warranty provision of Attachment A: SOW Statement of Work Template. 5.4.1.Definition of a warranty period to ensure no degradation of performance during the period of highest access to the SFI filing solution. Note: The peak period for SFI Filers to access the system is January through May. October through December is the peak period for Agency Users to access the system. 5.4.2.A full definition of the coverage provided. 5.4.3.A warranty extension period. 5.4.4.Exceptions to the proposed warranty coverage. 5.4.5. Tasks related to warranty services which are included in the project plan and SOW. 5.4.6. Bidder’s process for ensuring media and any software delivered on any media is free from Trojan horses, back doors, and other malicious code. 5.4.7.Process for correcting any defects during the warranty period. 22
5.4.8.Provide a guarantee that any software proposed in the RFQ is in substantial conformance with the specifications for the system or modifications and will operate for a minimum of one year (the “Warranty Period”) after System acceptance pursuant to Section 6 of Attachment A. 6. Post Implementation Support Services Specifications, Maintenance and Upgrades This section of the Bidder’s response addresses post implementation support, maintenance, upgrade and maintenance and post implementation services. 6.1. Support Services Specifications, Maintenance and Upgrades The Bidder’s response must highlight support and services options available to the Commonwealth under this RFQ and include any available support services, user group, support plans and Service Level Agreements (“SLAs”). No cost information should be included in the Bidder’s Business and Technical response or included in any documentation, sample agreements, plans or examples attached. (Financial terms of SLAs must be included in the Cost Response). The Bidder’s response to this section shall summarize the Bidder’s approach and include: 6.1.1. Process for technical knowledge transfer to project technical staff (including Commission and MassIT) to enable ongoing maintenance and upgrades to the SFI Application Solution. 6.1.2. Key technical and administrative (help desk and support) roles the project will require post implementation including Administrative and User support documentation, and may include a brief sample from a similar project. 6.1.3. Technical support documentation: this may include a brief sample of technical documentation from a similar project. 6.1.4. Approach to providing post-warranty application and database support service. 6.1.5. Support options available including support levels, contact, staffing, times available (e.g. 9AM – 5PM EST), response time (e.g. within x hours), and escalation procedures. 6.1.6. Process for correcting software defects including Bug Fix, remote diagnostics, installation and updates pre/post-warranty, including recognizing critical issues and designing, developing, and implementing quality fixes for critical issues in a timely manner. 6.1.7. Process for implementing Customer specific modifications into the base application and the process for receiving, installing and upgrading the application. 6.1.8. Documentation regarding maintenance agreement and options available to the Commission for the SFI Solution Application. 6.1.9. SLAs with MassIT or as part of another enterprise application project currently in place or SLAs available under this RFQ. 6.2. Disaster Recovery The proposed solution must support deployment to the Commonwealth’s data center in Springfield, Massachusetts. Bidder must describe how its solution proposes to support this requirement and provide a brief summary describing the measures included in the proposed solution to prevent catastrophic failures, and/or enable recovery should a failure occur. This should include demonstrated ability to recover and restore business operations utilizing archived data, files and redacted data. The Commonwealth understands there are alternate ways of keeping data synchronized/updated between live and disaster recovery (“DR”) sites. It is preferable for solutions to keep data as current and consistent as possible between the live and DR sites. Bidders may describe how the proposed solution will support data synchronization between live and DR sites. 7. Data Conversion and Migration of Legacy SFI Application Data Bidders should provide any recommendations or suggestions for data conversion/ migration relevant to the proposed application in their response to this section. Options and recommendations may include alternative maintenance processes. Bidders to provide a description of the conversion and migration process or recommendations for converting/ migrating the 6 years of data required to be maintained by 23
applicable records retention requirements into the proposed application. The Bidder’s response to this section “Data Conversion and Migration Plan” will be included in the scoring of the Bidder’s Business and Technical Response. B. Cost Response: The Commission is issuing this procurement as a fixed price best value bid. All implementation, license, personnel, software and related services costs should be included as specified in the cost sheets provided. Bidders must provide for all proposed application software a quote from a statewide reseller contract ITS42 vendor and an editable copy of the relevant software license. Bidders must not include any costs or cost information for this project in any portion of their response except in this Cost Response. Bidders must submit a Cost Response using Attachment E: SFI Application Solution Cost Sheets included with this RFQ. Failure to comply with this instruction may be grounds for rejection of the response. All other costs or expenses, including deliverable reproduction and presentation preparation costs, travel, and other indirect costs, must be included within the firm fixed fully loaded price. Compensation will be based solely on the cost tables supplied by the Bidder, accepted by the PMT, and incorporated into the Contract as the Total Cost of Ownership. The Cost spreadsheet must contain all goods and services to be provided on this Contract. As described above, all deliverables in this Contract will be based upon a Milestone Deliverables Pricing Process. The Commonwealth will not compensate the Bidder for any costs not set forth in the Cost Table. Any labor costs must be shown as fully loaded and include all travel, expense and other indirect costs. Detailed instructions on filling out the Attachment E: SFI Application Solution Cost Sheets including price categories are included in the Attachment template and the categories are described below. 1. Software License and Maintenance Pricing 1.1. Base Software The Bidder’s Pricing Response in the category of base software must include the license fees (if any) for base application software that meets the functional requirements described in this RFQ, (either out-of-thebox or through configuration or customization to be provided by Bidder through the professional services described in this RFQ), and any modification currently in development. The Pricing Response must include functionality/features which currently exist and are operational in the proposed base software as well as features that can be achieved through configuration or customization, including any function/feature that is currently in development though not yet operational in the generally available release but which will be included at no additional charge in the proposed application and through all future releases of the system. Costs for in Development features are to be included in the base software price in the Pricing Section of the Cost Tables. Any items included on the SFI Solution Application Functional Checklist coded as Existing or Modification must be included in this category. 1.2. Software Licenses and Maintenance Agreements All software license and maintenance costs, consistent with the ITS42 reseller quote, must be included on the Cost Sheets as software licenses. Software maintenance must be fixed for three years and subject to annual increases of no more than 3% thereafter.
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1.3. Software Configuration: Costs to be described include any costs for configuring or customizing the software which are defined in the Business and Technical Response as configuration costs , including those items coded on Attachment D: SFI Application Solution Functional Specifications Checklist as “F-Function is Configurable.” 1.4. Software Customization Costs to be described here include those for functions/ features developed by customization made to the base system specifically to meet the functional specification of this RFQ at a defined cost. The specific cost associated with each requirement met via customization, including description of the customizations coded as C-Customization on the SFI Solution Application Functional Checklist. Also included here are any Functions/ Features which the Bidder coded as “NA” (Not Available) on the SFI Solution Application Functional Checklist which include a cost to perform the work-around. The total cost for customization must also be summarized on the Cost Sheets. 1.5. Other Software Related Fees Include other license fees for application components necessary to run the modified application. Include word processing software, third party embedded COTS or report writing/ other software products necessary to operate the propose solution. If there are multiple costs, explain and itemize in narrative. Developer licenses, and per seat/enterprise license costs must be included here. Bidder must describe any other software costs not included above in this section. 2. Services Pricing All required costs for services defined in the narrative sections below must be recorded on the cost spreadsheet. Any optional costs which are not part of the Bidder’s firm fixed price bid should be noted as optional. Optional costs will not be included in the cost scoring, and may be purchased as options or under a separate RFQ. 2.1. Training Include all costs for completing the training services included in the Bidder’s Business and Technical Response. 2.1.1.Training Material: Bidder shall identify all costs of preparing training material defined in their Technical Proposal. 2.1.2.Training Technical Environments: Bidder shall price all hardware, software and other items necessary to achieve the technical training environment described in their Business and Technical Response. 2.1.3.Training Implementation a. User training: Include all costs for TTT training of Commission and Agency staff. b. Operations training/knowledge transfer: Include all training costs associated with ensuring that Commission staff understand and are able to perform operational application support procedures. c. Technical Support Training: Include all costs for technical support training and documentation. 2.1.4.Training Plan: Include all costs related to preparation of the training plan. 2.2. Software Testing & Quality Assurance Include all costs for completing the Testing and Quality Assurance services included in the Bidder’s Business and Technical Response. 2.2.1. Unit, Integration and Systems Testing 2.2.2. User Acceptance Testing 25
2.2.3. Accessibility Testing (to be performed according to the terms included in Attachment G: Accessibility Obligations for Bidders). 2.3. Implementation Costs Describe any costs for implementation of the Commission’s SFI Application Solution. Include all costs for Bidder to perform onsite/remote installation, configuration of server software. 2.3.1.Client software installation/configuration/ customization 2.3.1.1 On-site: Include all costs for Bidder to perform on-site installation, configuration, and customization of client software. 2.3.1.2 Off-site: Include all costs for Bidder to perform off-site installation, configuration and customization of client software. 2.3.2.Database preparation (non-conversion related): Include all costs for preparation of the new SFI Application Solution database for Commission. (Do not include data conversion or migration here.) 2.3.3.Support/supervision: Include all costs for Bidder to support and supervise Commission in installation, configuration of client software prior to Acceptance and Go Live date. 2.4. Security Planning Include all costs for ensuring conformance with MassIT and Commonwealth security policies referred to in statewide contracts ITS53PROJSERVSP and ITS53PROJSERVTS and described in this RFQ. 2.5. Application Maintenance Bidder must propose a flat three years itemized application maintenance plan with an increase of no more than 3% after Year 3. The Bidder’s costs must be itemized by required application maintenance costs. The breakdown must include any application components associated with base and final customized application. If there are multiple costs, explain and itemize in narrative. Help Desk/ User Support Costs should be described in the narrative section and itemized costs shown on the cost sheets. 2.6. Other Services Include all costs for completing the following tasks not included in other specific categories and any other required services components Bidder proposes in the Business and Technical Response which are not addressed by the categories above. 2.6.1. Services and Support Costs 2.6.2. Application Configuration & Design 2.6.3. Database Design /Technical Approach Documentation 2.6.4. Documentation of Software Modifications 2.6.5. Configuration Management Plan including SDLC environments 2.7. Other Costs Describe and itemize costs in narrative and include on the Cost Sheets any other costs not addressed in the above categories (except data conversion/migration which is covered separately). Any costs which are not part of the firm fixed price should be designated as Optional. 2.7.1. Additional Hardware & Telecommunications Costs: Include all costs for deliverables not indicated elsewhere. 2.7.2. Alternative Infrastructure (Optional) Costs: Include all costs for deliverables not indicated elsewhere. 2.7.3. Warranty Options: Enhanced warranty services for S/W (Optional).
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2.8. Data Conversion/ Migration from Legacy SFI Application Data Conversion and Migration Plan: Include all estimated costs for planning/analysis related to development and implementation of this component as defined in this RFQ in Chapter I.3.4.1. 2.8.1. Data Conversion and Migration Plan: Include all estimated costs for planning/analysis related to development and implementation of this component. 2.8.2. Conversion/Migration Cost: Include all costs for performing data conversion/ migration. If the Bidder proposes to provide historical data migration, those costs should be indicated separately from the cost of migration of prior year data. 2.8.3. The Data Conversion pricing and costs will be included in the price scoring. The Commission reserves the right to contract separately through a task order or independent RFQ for this service. 3. Time and Materials Rates As additional tasks may be assigned on a time and materials basis, Bidders must fill in the Cost Sheet #4 showing time and material rates. The table may be expanded as necessary. The hourly rates must be allinclusive, covering all travel costs, expenses, and fees, and must be consistent with any rates provided by the Bidder under statewide contracts ITS53PROJSERVSP and ITS53PROJSERVTS. Any narrative necessary to explain the roles or justifications for rates should be included in the narrative section of the cost response and cross-referenced with the cost sheets. III. Evaluation Components The responses to this RFQ will be evaluated based on the criteria listed below. Business and Technical elements will be scored separately from Cost. Bidder scores will be used to rank Bidders and will determine which Bidders will proceed to subsequent stages of the evaluation and/or enter into negotiations with the Commonwealth to receive a Contract award. This is a “best value” procurement. 1. Mandatory Requirements Mandatory specifications must be met in order for a Bid to be evaluated and may be used to disqualify Bidders. In addition, certain mandatory specifications have desirable components to them that may be evaluated by the PMT. The PMT reserves the right, in its discretion, to determine if non-compliance with a mandatory specification is insignificant or can be easily corrected. Bid sections that include terms such as: “must,” “shall,” “will” and “required” are “mandatory.” Failure to meet the requirements of a mandatory specification without providing an alternate that is acceptable to the evaluators may result in the disqualification of a Bidder's proposal. 2. Desirable Specifications Desirable specifications will be scored according to the Evaluation Criteria. RFQ specifications prefaced with language such as: "desirable," "could," "can," "should," "preferably," "prefers," "suggested," and "requested" identify a desirable or discretionary item or factor that is considered by the PMT to be "desirable." 3. Alternatives Any quote which fails to meet any material term or condition of this RFQ, including the submission of required attachments, may lose points or be deemed unresponsive and disqualified. Unless otherwise specified, Bidders may submit quotes proposing alternatives which provide equivalent, better or more cost effective performance than achievable under the stated Bid specifications. These alternatives may include related commodities or services that may be available to enhance performance during the period 27
of the Contract. The quote should describe how any alternative achieves substantially equivalent or better performance to that of the Bid specifications. The PMT will determine if a proposed alternative method of performance achieves substantially equivalent or better performance. 4. Evaluation Criteria The goal of this Bid is to provide the best value of commodities and/or services to achieve the goals of the procurement. The responses to this RFQ will be evaluated based on the criteria listed below. The criteria are listed in descending order of importance with the most important criteria in each section listed first. Business and Technical elements will be scored separately from Cost. The following subsections are listed in the descending order of importance with the most important criteria listed first: 4.1 Functionality of the Solution Ability to Meet Requirements: Points will be assigned reflecting the Bidder’s ability to meet business, functional, and technical requirements defined in the RFQ and Attachment D: SFI Application Solution Functional Specifications Checklist. This will include scoring the Bidder’s Functional Checklist and the Bidder’s response to business, functional and technical response requirements set forth in sections II of this RFQ, the Business and Technical Response and evaluation of the solution’s demonstrated capability to provide online, scalable enterprise-wide web-based functionality. 4.2 Company Experience Previous Experience/References: Points will be assigned for the Bidder’s corporate and proposed key staff capabilities based on previous experience and references. Bidders who provide descriptions of experience successfully completing personal financial disclosure applications for public sector agencies, comparable to the services described in the RFQ, and those who provide references which demonstrate an understanding of public sector ethics commissions operations, personal economic disclosure and financial assets reporting requirements and prior related successful experience installing similar size and scope application software for other states, will be awarded more points. Higher points will be awarded to Bidders with proven references in successfully completing warranty and post-warranty implementation support services similar to those defined in this RFQ. 4.3 Application Technical Design, Configuration and Functionality Points will be assigned based on technical feasibility, functionality and technical design. Higher points will be assigned to responses proposing software that meets the required functionality out-of-the-box as opposed to configuration or customization; that propose software that meets such requirements through configuration rather than customization; and that, post implementation, will enable the Commission to use configuration to make changes responsive to changes in the law or Commission needs. Higher points will also be assigned to responses proposing software that require the least amount of Commonwealth personnel resources to assist in the technical tasks related to implementing and installing the system; offer a scalable solution which can accommodate future interfaces; and provide user friendly web based capabilities for Filers, the Commission, Agency users and online search and SFI inspection capabilities for the public, Commission and Agency staff. 4.4 Implementation and Support Services Points will be assigned to higher quality proposals for successful and timely implementation and related services (including installation, modification, training, testing, meeting acceptance criteria, and provision of warranty services). 4.5 Post Implementation Services and Support Plan Points will be assigned based on the quality of the Bidder’s proposed customer support including service issues, break/fix, on-site and remote support, user group, backup and restore capabilities and other 28
pre/post- warranty support options and services. Higher points will be assigned to responses which reduce potential down time, increase user access and support and promote integrity of the system. 4.6 Price Cost Points will be assigned with the lowest total price receiving the maximum points in this category. Upon completion of the Business and Technical response scoring, the cost points will be added to the Bidder’s Score. 5 Oral Presentations and Product Demonstrations Following the completion of the scoring of the Bidder Responses, the top two or more Bidders will be invited to onsite oral presentations, and product demonstrations will be conducted with the selected Bidders. These demonstrations will include a scripted series of scenarios for demonstration and specific Bidder presentation requirements, which will be assigned point values. The demonstrations will be scored and the points added to the Bidder’s compiled Business and Technical response and cost score. No cost information will be discussed or presented during the demonstration phase. 6 Technical Corrections, Clarifications and Best and Final Offers (BAFOs) The Commission at its discretion may choose to request a technical correction, clarification, and one or more Best and Final offers from one or more of the responding Bidders.
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IV. Additional Requirements A. Order of Precedence The contract resulting from this RFQ shall consist of the following documents in the following order of precedence: 1) the Commonwealth’s Terms and Conditions; 2) the Commonwealth’s Standard Form Contract; 3) the Commonwealth’s RFQs for statewide contracts ITS53PROJSERVSP and ITS53PROJSERVTS as applicable; 4) the Bidder’s response thereto; 5) this RFQ (as it may be amended, including without limitation by amendments to the RFQ, answers to questions received, requests for clarification and requests for best and final offers); 6) any documents negotiated between the parties under this RFQ, including the SOW; 7) the Bidder’s response to this RFQ, inclusive of all attachments, as amended by any technical correction, clarification, or best and final offer. Miscellaneous 1. General
By submitting a proposal in response to this RFQ, Bidders agree to the following terms: a. The Commission will not pay for any costs other than those set forth in the Bidder’s response to this RFQ. b. All bids submitted in response to this RFQ must be valid for a minimum of 90 calendar days. c. Extraneous marketing or promotional materials are discouraged and such information will not be factored into the evaluation of Bidders d. The Commission will not pay any charges not set forth in this RFQ. 2. Bid/Response Rejection The Commission reserves the right to reject any or all bids (responses), in whole or in part and for any reason deemed non-compliant or non-responsive to this RFQ, its attachments or any subsequent changes. Bidders are advised to check prior to submitting a response to ensure that they have the most recent RFQ files. Bidders may not alter (manually or electronically) the RFQ language or any RFQ component files. Modifications to the body of the RFQ, specifications, terms and conditions, or which change the intent of this RFQ are prohibited and may disqualify a response. The Commission reserves the right not to enter into any agreement in response to a quote received in response to this RFQ. 3. Alterations Bidders may not alter (manually or electronically) the RFQ language or any Bid component files, except as directed in the RFQ. Modifications to the body of the RFQ, specifications, terms and conditions, or which change the intent of this RFQ are prohibited and may disqualify a quote. 4. Ownership of Submitted Quotes The PMT shall be under no obligation to return any responses or materials submitted by a Bidder in response to this RFQ. All materials submitted by Bidders become the property of the Commonwealth and will not be returned to the Bidder. The Commonwealth reserves the right to use any ideas, concepts, or
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configurations that are presented in a Bidder’s Response, whether or not the Response is selected for Contract award. Responses stored on COMMBUYS in the encrypted lock-box are the file of record. Bidders retain access to a read-only copy of this submission via COMMBUYS, as long as their account is active. Bidders may also retain a traditional paper copy or electronic copy on a separate computer or network drive or separate media, such as CD or DVD, as a backup. 5. Prohibitions Bidders are prohibited from communicating directly with any employee or member of the Commission or any member of the PMT regarding this RFQ except as specified in this RFQ, and no other individual Commonwealth employee or representative is authorized to provide any information or respond to any question or inquiry concerning this RFQ. Bidders may contact the RFQ contact person using the contact information provided in the Header Information of this RFQ in the event that this RFQ is incomplete or information is missing. Bidders experiencing technical problems accessing information or attachments stored on COMMBUYS should contact the COMMBUYS Help Desk (see the document cover page for contact information). In addition to the certifications found in the Commonwealth’s Standard Contract Form, by submitting a bid, the Bidder certifies that the quote has been arrived at independently and has been submitted without any communication, collaboration, or without any agreement, understanding or planned common course or action with, any other Bidder of the commodities and/or services described in the RFQ. 6. Limitations This RFQ does not commit the Commonwealth or the Commission to approve a Statement of Work, pay any costs incurred in the preparation of a Bidder’s response to this RFQ or to procure or contract for products or services. The Commission reserves the right to accept or reject any and all proposals received as a result of this RFQ and to contract for some, all or none of the products and services offered as a result of this RFQ. The Commission further reserves the right to negotiate with any or all qualified Bidders and to cancel in part or in its entirety this RFQ if it is in the best interest of the Commission or the Commonwealth to do so. 7. Review Rights Responses to this RFQ may be reviewed and evaluated by any person(s) at the discretion of the Commission including non-allied and independent consultants retained by the Commission now or in the future, for the sole purpose of obtaining an analysis of responses. Any and all Bidders may be asked to further explain or clarify in writing areas of their response during the review process. The Commission retains the right to request further information from Bidders. 8. Nonresponsive Bids The Commission reserves the right to exclude from further consideration nonresponsive bids that fail to meet the submission requirements of this RFQ. 9. Proprietary Notices All bids submitted in response to this RFQ shall be public record. All notices included in such bids to the effect that bid content is confidential or proprietary, that the distribution of such bids is prohibited or that by opening or accepting the bid the Commission is accepting such terms, are null and void, and any portions of the response so marked shall still be considered public record.
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Other Terms: 10. Security and Confidentiality The winning Bidder shall comply fully with all security procedures of the Commonwealth and Commonwealth Agencies including the Commission in performance of the Contract. The winning Bidder shall not divulge to third parties any confidential information obtained by the Contractor or its agents, distributors, resellers, subcontractors, officers or employees in the course of performing Contract work, including, but not limited to, security procedures, business operations information, personally identifiable information, or commercial proprietary information in the possession of the Commonwealth Agency. Information held by the Commission is subject to all of the general statutory requirements concerning the protection of personal data or information that apply to Commonwealth agencies, including, but not limited to, M.G.L. c. 4, § 7, clause 26th; M.G.L. c. 93H; G.L. c. 66A; M.G.L. c. 268A, § 23(c); applicable evidentiary privileges; and protective orders in particular matters. In addition, there are statutory confidentiality requirements that apply specifically to certain types of Commission documents. Specifically, M.G.L. c. 268B, § 3(g) and 930 CMR 3.01 require that requests to the Commission for advice, and responses to such requests, be kept confidential. M.G.L. c. 268B, § 4(a) and (b) and 930 CMR 3.01 require that Commission investigations be kept confidential. Civil penalties may be imposed for violations of the confidentiality requirements of M.G.L. c. 268A and c. 268B. In addition, anyone who violates the confidentiality of a Commission investigation is potentially subject to imprisonment for up to one year, and/or a fine of $1,000. In order to comply with these requirements, employees of the winning Bidder and its Subcontractors working under the contract will be required to sign a Confidentiality Agreement concerning Commission information, to be drafted by the Commission. The winning Bidder will designate an employee to receive and maintain the signed agreements and to make them available to the Commission upon written request by the Commission’s General Counsel. The draft form is included hereto as Attachment H: Intellectual Property Agreement for Contractor’s Employees, Consultants and Agents. 11 Conflict of Interest Key Personnel under the contract will be subject to the Massachusetts conflict of interest law, and should consult the Commission’s General Counsel with any question about how it applies to them. 12 Change notification Any Changes to the winning Bidder’s contact information, company name, legal address, payment address, tax identification number, authorized signatories, SDO-certification status, or EFT information must be reported via email as soon as possible upon knowledge of such change to the Commission’s Contract Manager. In some cases additional paperwork will be required to effect the change. 13 Key Personnel Key Personnel may not be replaced without prior notice and approval of the replacement staff by the Contract Manager. 14 Press releases All press releases, advertising or public announcements of this project or the winning Bidder’s role, including notifications of award, or contractor website postings and announcements must be preapproved by the Commission.
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V. Attachments and Exhibits The following attachments and exhibits are provided on the RFQ site except. 1. Bidder’s Business and Technical Response Mandatory Attachments The following attachments designated as mandatory must be completed and included in the Bidder’s Response. These attachments are included as attachments on the CommBuys RFQ site and should be downloaded by the Bidders and completed as part of their Response. 1.1. Mandatory Attachments to Bidder’s Business and Technical Response Bidder must download, complete and include the following attachments with the Bidder’s Business and Technical Response. Attachment A: SOW Statement of Work Template (available on COMMBUYS) Attachment B: SFI Application Solution Business/ Company Reference Form Attachment C: SFI Application Solution Key Personnel Reference Form Attachment D: SFI Application Solution Functional Specifications Checklist 1.2. Bidders Proposing SaaS-Cloud Solutions Bidders proposing SaaS Cloud Solutions are required to include a statement in the Business and Technical Response Transmittal Letter accepting the terms and conditions in Attachment F. Attachment F: SaaS - Cloud Solution Terms 2. Bidder’s Cost Response Mandatory Attachments Bidders must download, complete and include the following attachment with the Bidder’s Cost Response. Attachment E: SFI Application Solution Cost Sheets 3. Additional Attachments Bidder’s response must conform to the requirements included in the following attachments. Attachment G: Accessibility Obligations for Bidders Attachment H: Intellectual Property Agreement for Contractor’s Employees, Consultants and Agents (To be completed by all assigned of the winning Bidder’s staff employed on the project) Attachment I: ITS42 COMMBUYS Reseller List 4. Exhibits The following exhibits provide background documentation for the Bidder’s describing the State Ethics Commission, Statement of Financial Interests (SFI) process, workflow, etc. These exhibits are included on the CommBuys RFQ site as reference materials only and are not part of the Bidder’s response. Exhibit 1: Revised SFI Form and Instructions (Draft) Exhibit 2: Massachusetts State Ethics Commission Workflows Exhibit 3: PCG Documentation and Recommendations 4
Exhibit 4: Glossary of Terms Exhibit 5: Current SFI Technical Environment Exhibit 6: Legacy SFI Screen Shots
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