City of Seattle
Request for Proposal SPU-161
Project & Portfolio Management System
Closing Date & Time: December 2, 2008, 4:00 PM Pacific
Schedule of Events / Deadline DateRFP Issued / 10/22/2008
Pre-Proposal Conference / 10/29/2008 10:00AM (Pacific)
Deadline for Questions / 11/12/2008
Sealed Proposals Due to the City / 12/2/2008
Proposal Evaluations Completed / 12/19/2008
City Identifies Top-Ranked Proposers / 12/23/2008
Software Interviews and Demonstrations / 1/9/2009
Announcement of Apparent Successful Proposer / 2/26/2009
Contract Award / 3/16/2009
The City reserves the right to modify this schedule at the City’s discretion. Notification of changes in the response due date would be posted on the City website or as otherwise stated herein.
All times and dates are Pacific Standard Time.
PROPOSALS MUST BE RECEIVED ON OR BEFORE THE DUE DATE AND TIME AT THIS LOCATION:
If delivered by the U.S. Postal Service, it must be addressed to:
Michael Mears
City of Seattle Purchasing Services
PO Box 94687
Seattle, WA 98124-4687
If delivered by a courier, overnight delivery or other service, address to:
Michael Mears
City of Seattle Purchasing Services
700 5th Ave., #4112
Seattle, WA 98104-5042
1. BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
By responding to this RFP, the Proposer agrees that he or she has read and understands all the requirements and documents in this package.
Purpose:
The purpose of this RFP is to select a vendor to provide software that meets our goals and requirements and to plan, analyze, design, configure, test, train, and implement a Project/Portfolio Management (PPM) system for the City of Seattle.
The initial implementation will focus on the PPM requirements of Seattle Public Utilities (SPU). The system will replace an internally developed portfolio management tool used by SPU. In Phase 1, the new system must track key project decisions (including but not limited to scope, schedule and budget) within multiple portfolios of projects, from the initial approval to proceed by City Council throughout the project delivery life cycle. Support for portfolio development, including prioritization within and across portfolios and tracking decisions, will also be important for this phase. Future phases will support tactical project management and resource management.
Background:
Seattle Public Utilities is the City of Seattle department responsible for providing water, drainage, wastewater, and solid waste services to customers within our service area. It is a highly project-focused organization with the majority of its projects in construction, engineering, and scientific fields, and a small minority in technology. Adhering to an asset management philosophy is critical for SPU as it seeks to manage all assets over their lifecycles while considering the social, environmental and economic impacts of decisions.
Currently, SPU utilizes an internally developed system to capture project information such as budget, spending plan, projections, milestones, and other project details. Aging technology, limited reporting capability, and changes to governance and other processes have resulted in a desire to take a comprehensive look at Commercial-Off-the-Shelf (COTS) PPM tool capabilities, and their applicability to improving SPU project delivery.
The PPM tool will be implemented in phases. The first phase will focus on high-level project details and portfolio planning and management. Future phases will be directed toward tactical project management support and resource management. In Phase 1, the PPM tool will interface with the PeopleSoft financial system. Future phases may include interfaces with our HRIS and timekeeping systems.
This initial implementation will be rolled out to up to 500 individual users within SPU, including management staff, portfolio managers, project managers and Finance. SPU Finance will be an important stakeholder in this phase, as the area with overall responsibility for budget and reporting to the Mayor and City Council. Each line of business (water, drainage, wastewater, and solid waste) maintains its own portfolio of projects and revenue stream and budget. In addition, there are some central services that are supported by all lines of business. Prioritization within and across the lines of business is an important area of focus.
Future implementations may involve one or more City of Seattle Departments and/or rollout to a broader base within SPU. The City of Seattle employs nearly 10,000 people at multiple locations in the area.
Single Award:
With this solicitation, the City intends to award to the highest ranked Vendor that will assume financial and legal responsibility for the contract. Proposals that include multiple vendors must clearly identify one Vendor as the “prime contractor” and all others as subcontractors.
2. OBJECTIVES
2.1. General Objectives:
The City is seeking a robust packaged software application and assistance with implementing the product to meet our goals and requirements. All responses must address both components in a single packaged response.
This RFP also covers product warranty, long-term maintenance and support, and the ability to purchase enhancements and new interfaces for the system. For the initial phase, the desired date for completion of implementation is by December 31, 2009.
We need the solution which best supports the following:
2.2. Technology Objectives:
2.2.1. Replace the current legacy system with a COTS system that provides the stability, availability, and reliability necessary while conforming to SPU hardware, software, and security requirements.
2.2.2. Support system availability to business users 24 x 7, with technical support available Monday through Friday, 6 AM – 6 PM Pacific.
2.2.3. The proposed solution may be provided as Software as a Service (SaaS), or hosted arrangement, or it may involve installing software on SPU’s hardware, as long as SPU’s requirements are met.
2.3. Functional Objectives:
The first phase focuses on providing a central location for all SPU project/portfolio financial information, milestones, and decisions affecting scope, schedule, budget, and governance. An enhanced user experience and improved reporting are essential. The software must include a warranty, long-term maintenance and support, and extensibility to meet objectives and requirements of future phases.
Functional areas of interest for the first and future phases are shown below. Mandatory functionality for Phase 1 includes Portfolio Cost and Schedule Management and Reporting in Section 2.3.1, and Prioritization and Approvals under Section 2.3.2. Other functional areas may be partially implemented in Phase 1, as necessary to support the above (such as high level project and program features), or reserved for future phases:
2.3.1. Portfolio Management (Key focus of Phase 1, except as noted)
As new projects are approved and move into execution, they become a part of the organization’s investment Portfolio. Portfolio Management focuses on monitoring the schedule, cost, and quality performance of projects to inform decision making and corrective action if needed.
· Portfolio Cost and Schedule Management
· Project and Portfolio Reporting
· Benefit Realization Tracking (not critical for Phase 1)
2.3.2. Portfolio Planning
Generating, organizing, prioritizing, and selecting the right projects for SPU’s investment. Portfolio Planning includes:
· Business Case Development (i.e. Cost vs. Benefit)
· Time and Cost Estimation
· Prioritization (Focus of Phase 1)
· Approval (or Selection) (Focus of Phase 1)
2.3.3. Project Management
Providing the capabilities required to complete projects on-time, on-budget, and with quality. The Project Management areas of interest include the following:
· Cost & Schedule Management
· Risk, Issue, and Change Management
· Forecast and Budget Management
· Status Reporting
· Document Management
· Lessons Learned
2.3.4. Program Management
Activities and Projects can be grouped into Programs to facilitate their organization, execution, and reporting. The day-to-day management of Programs relies upon many of the same capabilities that will be captured as a part of the Project Management category, but at the Program level.
2.3.5. Resource Management
Ensuring the organization’s resources are effectively utilized given their unique skill-set and the needs of the projects. An important aspect of Resource Management is balancing the demand for resources against a limited resource pool. This category will include:
· Project Staffing
· Demand vs. Capacity Planning
2.3.6. Time-Keeping
This category of the RFP will be designed to understand the product’s ability to support two possible Time-Keeping scenarios:
· Time entered in a system outside the vendor’s product (current state)
· Time entered directly into the vendor’s product
The information gathered will help inform any future decisions regarding the direction of Time-Keeping at SPU.
3. MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS
This RFP seeks both a COTS product and the implementation services required to successfully deploy it at SPU. All responses must address both components in a single, packaged response.
The following are the minimum qualifications that the Vendor must meet in order to be eligible to submit a proposal. Proposals must clearly show compliance to these minimum qualifications. The City requests a one-page or appropriate-length document as part of your proposal response, to clearly show compliance with these mandatory minimum qualifications. Those that are not clearly responsive to these minimum qualifications shall be rejected by the City without further consideration:
3.1. Certified Reseller, if applicable:
The Proposer, if other than the manufacturer, shall submit with their proposal a current, dated, and signed authorization from the manufacturer that the Vendor is an authorized distributor, dealer or service representative and is authorized to sell the manufacturer's products. This includes the certification to license the product and offer in-house service, maintenance, technical training assistance, and warranty services.
3.2. Vendor must have successfully executed and maintained at least five contracts with an organization that has a similar or greater number of users compared to SPU. These contracts must have been active for a minimum of three years.
3.3. Vendor must have a proven track record of a minimum of five years continuous experience supporting PPM software solutions.
3.4. Vendor must have demonstrated experience in providing PPM tools for non-IT projects.
3.5. The primary staff assigned to the project must have completed at least three previous successful implementations of PPM software and must have at least three years experience with the selected product.
4. MINIMUM LICENSING AND BUSINESS TAX REQUIREMENTS
Any resultant contract requires proper business licensing as listed below. The Vendor must meet all licensing requirements immediately after contract award, or the City will retain the right to reject the Vendor.
Companies are required to license, report and pay revenue taxes for (1) a Seattle Business License and all associated taxes, and (2) a Washington State Business License unless exempted by the State of Washington. Such costs should be carefully considered by the Vendor prior to submitting their offer.
4.1. Mandatory Seattle Business Licensing and Associated Taxes:
4.1.1. You must obtain a Seattle Business license and have taxes due paid to date before the Contract is signed. All costs for any licenses, permits and Seattle Business License taxes owed shall be borne by the Vendor and not charged separately to the City.
4.1.2. The apparent successful Vendor shall immediately obtain the license and ensure all City taxes are current, unless exempted by City Code. Failure to do so will result in rejection of the bid/proposal.
4.1.3. If you believe you are exempt, provide an explanation to the RFP Coordinator and/or confirmation by the Revenue and Consumer Affairs Office (RCA). Out-of-state and foreign-owned businesses are NOT exempt.
4.1.4. Questions and Assistance: The City Revenue and Consumer Affairs (RCA) is the office that issues business licenses and enforces licensing requirements. The general e-mail is . The main phone is 206-684-8484. You may also call RCA staff for assistance: Anna Pedroso at 206-615-1611, Wendy Valadez at 206-684-8509 or Brenda Strickland at 206 684-8404.
4.1.5. The licensing website is http://www.seattle.gov/rca/taxes/taxmain.htm.
4.1.6. You may apply and pay for your Seattle License on-line: https://dea.seattle.gov/self/Account/Login/selfHome.aspx
4.1.7. A cover-sheet providing further explanation, along with the application and instructions for a Seattle Business License, are provided below for your convenience.
4.1.8. Please note that those holding a City of Seattle Business license may be required to report and pay revenue taxes to the City. Such costs should be carefully considered by the Vendor prior to submitting your offer. The City retains the right to pursue compliance to taxes and license fees, including withholding of final invoice payments as provided for within SMC 5.45.060.
4.2. Mandatory State Business Licensing and Associated Taxes:
Before the contract is signed, you must provide the State of Washington business license (a State “Unified Business Identifier” known as UBI #) and a Contractor License if required. If the State of Washington has exempted your business from State licensing (for example, some foreign companies are exempt and in some cases, the State waives licensing because the company does not have a physical presence in the State), then submit proof of that exemption to the City. All costs for any licenses, permits and associated tax payments due to the State as a result of licensing shall be borne by the Vendor and not charged separately to the City. Instructions and applications are at http://www.dol.wa.gov/business/file.html.
5. STATEMENT OF WORK AND SPECIFICATIONSThe contractor will be responsible for providing both the software system and technical support described below:
5.1. Software System and Technical Support:
The contractor will be responsible for the design, testing, implementation, training, and provision of a completed operational, integrated PPM system according to the functional descriptions prescribed within this Specification. Any and all incidental components or parts not specifically called out in this document, but required for the function of the technology system, will be provided by the Contractor without additional cost to SPU.[1] Delivery of the work described in this Specification will include, but not be limited to, the following Basic Services:
5.1.1. Configuration and Customization of PPM system: The Contractor will provide both software and hardware designs to develop the complete systems described herein. Design will include all necessary databases, User Interface, Servers, Workstations, and System diagrams. The Contractor will be responsible for all required PPM software development, setup, configuration, programming, testing to meet the requirements. The new system should meet all technical requirements listed in the Technical Response sheet.
5.1.2. Interfaces Between the PPM System and Other Systems: The design, implementation, testing and support to implement interfaces to other systems (i.e., PeopleSoft Financial System) will be the primary responsibility of SPU project team staff with expert assistance from the contractor.