**IMPORTANT NOTICE**
§ The format of this RFP has been simplified.
§ Only the following pages require signatures:
1. Exhibit A – Bid Response Packet, Bidder Information and Acceptance page
a. Must be signed by Bidder
Please read EXHIBIT A – Bid Response Packet carefully, INCOMPLETE BIDS WILL BE REJECTED. Alameda County will not accept submissions or documentation after the bid response due date.
COUNTY OF ALAMEDA
REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL No. 901199
for
Dashboard Implementation Project
For complete information regarding this project, see RFP posted at http://www.acgov.org/gsa_app/gsa/purchasing/bid_content/contractopportunities.jsp or contact the County representative listed below. Thank you for your interest!Contact Person: Ryan DeCoud, Procurement & Contracts Specialist
Phone Number: (510) 208-9619
E-mail Address:
RESPONSE DUE
by
2:00 p.m.
on
September 19, 2014
at
Alameda County, GSA–Purchasing
1401 Lakeside Drive, Suite 907
Oakland, CA 94612
Alameda County is committed to reducing environmental impacts across our entire supply chain.
If printing this document, please print only what you need, print double-sided, and use recycled-content paper.
COUNTY OF ALAMEDA
REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL No. 901199
SPECIFICATIONS, TERMS & CONDITIONS
for
Dashboard Implementation Project
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
I. STATEMENT OF WORK 4
A. INTENT 4
B. SCOPE 4
C. BACKGROUND 4
D. BIDDER QUALIFICATIONS 5
E. SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS 6
F. DELIVERABLES / REPORTS 8
II. CALENDAR OF EVENTS 9
G. NETWORKING / BIDDERS CONFERENCES 10
III. COUNTY PROCEDURES, TERMS, AND CONDITIONS 10
H. EVALUATION CRITERIA / SELECTION COMMITTEE 10
I. CONTRACT EVALUATION AND ASSESSMENT 15
J. NOTICE OF RECOMMENDATION TO AWARD 16
K. TERM / TERMINATION / RENEWAL 17
L. QUANTITIES 17
M. PRICING 17
N. AWARD 18
O. METHOD OF ORDERING 19
P. INVOICING 19
Q. ACCOUNT MANAGER / SUPPORT STAFF 20
IV. INSTRUCTIONS TO BIDDERS 20
R. COUNTY CONTACTS 20
S. SUBMITTAL OF BIDS 21
T. RESPONSE FORMAT 23
ATTACHMENTS
EXHIBIT A - BID RESPONSE PACKET
EXHIBIT B - INSURANCE REQUIREMENTS
EXHIBIT C - VENDOR BID LIST
Specifications, Terms & Conditions
for Dashboard Implementation Project
I. STATEMENT OF WORK
A. INTENT
It is the intent of these specifications, terms and conditions to describe the dashboard services requested by Alameda County Social Services Agency (SSA).
The County intends to award a one-year contract (with option to renew for two additional one-year terms) to the bidder(s) selected as the most responsible bidder(s) whose response conforms to the RFP and meets the County’s requirements.
B. SCOPE
Alameda County Social Services Agency (SSA) understands the need for metrics to measure the amount of success it’s having in fulfilling its mission, “To promote the economic social well-being of individuals, families, neighborhoods and communities.” To this end, SSA is seeking dashboard services to create operational and analytical dashboards. The analytical dashboards will allow the Agency to view its progress over time longitudinally at a glance, and the operational dashboards will give staff, from Agency Executives to individual caseworkers, the answer to the question: “How am I doing?”
SSA is seeking a dashboard solution that includes software and implementation services that will leverage the requirements provided by its four Departments to help the Agency measure its current initiatives and identify issues proactively. Departments throughout the Agency currently use a hybrid of reports, electronic tools and analysis to measure their success operationally and analytically.
Contractor will be responsible for the creation and configuration of the required Dashboards, and will be responsible for providing training to Agency staff on the use of its system.
Contractor must bring the entire range of necessary corporate and key staff capabilities and experience, either as a single contractor or in conjunction with complementary subcontractors or partners. A single organizational entity must assume responsibility for all work and services performed under the executed contract regardless of whether any subcontractors or partners are involved.
C. BACKGROUND
Alameda County Social Services Agency (SSA) works in partnership with community-based-organizations (CBOs), neighborhood groups and policy makers to serve the needs of the community. Each of the Agency’s departments has its own distinct function but all work with the same goal of fulfilling the above mission.
Agency Administration provides operational support to the agency and ensures program integrity.
Adult, Aging & Medi-Cal Services offers a coordinated service delivery system that protects, supports, and advocates for an aging population, particularly those with disabilities. Publicly-sponsored health coverage programs are also available to assist with individual health needs.
Children & Family Services works to improve the lives of Alameda County Children and Families by serving children and youth who have experienced or are at-risk of experiencing abuse or neglect.
Workforce & Benefits Administration works to promote self-sufficiency and provide continuing economic assistance while fostering a workforce development system that supports individuals and families.
Currently, SSA’s four Departments use the Agency’s Program Evaluation and Research Unit (PERU) and the Social Services Integrated Reporting System (SSIRS) for their Operational and Analytical reporting. There are a small number of dashboards being created currently on an ad hoc basis. These dashboards should be able to be incorporated into the Dashboard Services detailed in this RFP, or be consumable in parallel.
The Dashboards created by Contractor should be able to be sourced by a myriad of repositories, from MS Excel and Access to Enterprise databases like DB2, Oracle and SQL Server. The Dashboards may leverage existing reports and/or dashboards created by the PERU and/or SSIRS Units, or may use data obtained outside of the two Units.
The Dashboards’ use of communicative technologies such as email would benefit the Agency’s operational needs.
D. BIDDER QUALIFICATIONS
1. BIDDER Minimum Qualifications
a. Bidder shall be regularly and continuously engaged in the business of providing services resulting in the creation of analytical and operational dashboards for at least five (5) years.
b. Bidder shall possess all permits, licenses and professional credentials necessary to supply product and perform services as specified under this RFP.
E. SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS
Contractor must provide all elements required for the Dashboard system, including software and connections into existing hardware platform (or detailed requirements for compatible standalone server); and have the ability to aggregate data needed for operational and analytical dashboards, deployment accessibility via the Web and training or other forms of knowledge transfer with existing SSA staff, within the one-year term of this contract.
Contractor—through the use of Requirements-Gathering Sessions—should review and establish whether there are deficiencies in the current reporting model, the data sources available and the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) of the Divisions and Units that make-up the four SSA Departments. These discussions should result in the creation of process documents detailing the above.
Below is a listing of the Units and Divisions that make-up the four SSA Departments:
1. Agency Administration
a. Program Integrity
b. Policy
c. Information Systems
d. Finance
e. Office of Public Affairs
f. Training and Consulting Team
g. Workforce Investment Board
h. Human Resources
i. Contracts Office
j. Facilities
2. Adult, Aging & Medi-Cal Services
a. In-Home Supportive Services
b. Medi-Cal
c. Adult Protective Services
d. Public Administrator
e. Public Guardian Conservator
f. Veterans Services Office
g. Area Agency on Aging (AAA)
3. Children & Family Services
a. Prevention & Intake
b. Gateways to Permanence
c. Eligibility Transitions & Placement Services
4. Workforce & Benefits Administration
a. Eligibility
i. Refugee Cash Assistance
ii. CalWORKs
iii. CalFresh (formerly Food Stamps)
iv. Medi-Cal
v. General Assistance
b. Employment
i. Welfare-to-Work
ii. Cal-Learn
iii. Food Stamps Employment & Training (FSET)
The Policy and Information Systems Units house the current Enterprise reporting platforms for the Agency, the PERU and SSIRS Units. PERU provides planning, research, data and evaluation for case management, program accountability and evaluation as well as the Child Welfare Title IV-E evaluation.
SSIRS is the Agency Data Warehouse, providing a repository for the data extracted from the case management systems of Child Welfare, Workforce Benefits and In-Home Supportive Services. SSIRS also contains select data from partner agencies such as Health Care Services, Probation Department, and various school districts throughout Alameda County. SSIRS models and relates the data from these disparate systems and allows for the provision of Business Intelligence Reporting.
The PERU and SSIRS units also produce Geographical Information Systems (GIS) reports for the Agency, where x, y coordinates are created for all clients and other entities in the Agency’s respective case management systems which allows for positioning on a map. This functionality allows for all information shown in table or other graphical format on a report to be correlated to its relational position on a map.
The dashboard solution implemented by Contractor will need to leverage the data from PERU and SSIRS to create operational and analytical dashboards, as well as be able to be sourced from spreadsheets, lightweight and standalone databases.
Along with the flexibility for a multivariate of data sources, the dashboard solution should allow for sourcing from a disparate user community, to reflect the Agency’s partnerships with its public agencies as well as CBOs whose metrics will be measured individually and collectively with that of the Agency itself.
The dashboard solution implemented by Contractor will be called on to provide additional functionality to that previously mentioned, including electronic communication such as email and the ability to support GIS mapping.
Contractor will be responsible for training selected staff from the PERU, SSIRS and other Agency Departments on the use of the Dashboard system to be implemented during its contract term. The overall goal of these trainings will be to provide sufficient knowledge transfer to allow the agency to scale with the growth of Dashboard technology and capabilities itself. System Documentation regarding maintenance and basic usage will also be required.
F. DELIVERABLES / REPORTS
1. Contractor must provide a document that details the software, applications, training materials, etc. to be delivered.This document should include estimated completion dates as well as listing the responsible member of Contractor’s implementation team.
2. Before work begins, Contractor must provide a final Implementation schedule and timeline.
3. Contractor must conduct requirements-gathering meetings with the following four Agency Units and Divisions: “Agency Administration”, “Adult, Aging and Medi-Cal Services”, “Children and Family Services” and “Workforce and Benefits Administration” to identify the data source systems and determine the Key Performance Indicators that the Unit wishes to be measured, as well as identifying data integrity and data retention policies.
4. Subsequent to completion of the meetings, Contractor must produce discovery documents that list the KPIs, source data information and desired positioning of dashboards.
5. Contractor must hold regular status meetings during implementation with Agency designated staff and Contractor’s implementation team.
6. Contractor must provide a training schedule and training materials for designated Agency staff on the use and maintenance of the Dashboard solution.
7. Contractor must provide a summary document that lists and describes all system, discovery and training documentation regarding system setup, modifications and/or other changes made during implementation.
II. CALENDAR OF EVENTS
EVENT / DATE/LOCATIONRequest Issued / August 4, 2014
Written Questions Due / by 5:00 p.m. on August 22, 2014
Networking/Bidders Conference #1 / August 21, 2014 at 2:00 p.m. / at: General Services Agency
11th Floor, Room 1107
1401 Lakeside Drive
Oakland, CA 94612
Networking/Bidders Conference #2 / August 22, 2014 at 10:00 a.m. / at: Public Works Agency
Conference Room 405
4825 Gleason Drive
Dublin, CA 94568
Addendum Issued / September 5, 2014
Response Due / September 19, 2014 by 2:00 p.m.
Evaluation Period / September 19, 2014 – October 17, 2014
Vendor Interviews / October 16 – 17, 2014
Board Letter Recommending Award Issued / November 18, 2014
Board Consideration Award Date / December 2, 2014
Contract Start Date / December 8, 2014
Note: Award and start dates are approximate.
G. NETWORKING / BIDDERS CONFERENCES
Networking/bidders conferences will be held to:
1. Provide an opportunity for bidders to ask specific questions about the project and request RFP clarification.
2. Provide bidders an opportunity to view a site, receive documents, etc. necessary to respond to this RFP.
3. Provide the County with an opportunity to receive feedback regarding the project and RFP.
All questions will be addressed, and the list of attendees will be included, in an RFP Addendum following the networking/bidders conference(s).
Potential bidders are strongly encouraged to attend networking/bidders conference(s) in order to further facilitate subcontracting relationships. Vendors who attend a networking/bidders conference will be added to the Vendor Bid List. Failure to participate in a networking/bidders conference will in no way relieve the Contractor from furnishing goods and/or services required in accordance with these specifications, terms and conditions. Attendance at a networking/bidders conference is highly recommended but is not mandatory.
III. COUNTY PROCEDURES, TERMS, AND CONDITIONS
H. EVALUATION CRITERIA / SELECTION COMMITTEE
All proposals that pass the initial Evaluation Criteria which are determined on a pass/fail basis (Completeness of Response, Financial Stability, and Debarment and Suspension) will be evaluated by a County Selection Committee (CSC). The County Selection Committee may be composed of County staff and other parties that may have expertise or experience in the Information Technology (IT) field and/or dashboard services-specifically the development and maintenance of operational and analytical dashboards. The CSC will score and recommend a Contractor in accordance with the evaluation criteria set forth in this RFP. Other than the initial pass/fail Evaluation Criteria, the evaluation of the proposals shall be within the sole judgment and discretion of the CSC.
All contact during the evaluation phase shall be through the GSA–Purchasing Department only. Bidders shall neither contact nor lobby evaluators during the evaluation process. Attempts by Bidder to contact and/or influence members of the CSC may result in disqualification of Bidder.
The CSC will evaluate each proposal meeting the qualification requirements set forth in this RFP. Bidders should bear in mind that any proposal that is unrealistic in terms of the technical or schedule commitments, or unrealistically high or low in cost, will be deemed reflective of an inherent lack of technical competence or indicative of a failure to comprehend the complexity and risk of the County’s requirements as set forth in this RFP.