OFFICIAL QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS FOR QUESTIONS RECEIVED
Labor and Industry Unemployment Compensation Tax Services Field Audit SystemRFP 6100036707 /
/ Questions Received / Official Answers /
1. / Could you please help me with the following questions:
1. Whether companies from Outside USA can apply for this? (like, from India or Canada)
2. Whether we need to come over there for meetings?
3. Can we perform the tasks (related to RFP) outside USA? (like, from India or Canada)
4. Can we submit the proposals via email? / 1. Yes, but see RFP, II-11 and III-4(D). Domestic Workforce Utilization Certification and Appendix L.
2. L&I allows teleconference meetings but also expects in-person meetings for instances where they feel that it would be more effective.
3. Yes, but key personnel must perform normal day-to-day work efforts at Commonwealth premises during the core hours of 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. ET, unless otherwise authorized by the L&I project manager see RFP Section II-5-B, II-11 and III-4(D). Domestic Workforce Utilization Certification and Appendix L.
4. Proposals are not accepted via email. Proposals must be delivered as stated in the RFP Section I-12. Proposals. ; and the Calendar of Events on page iv of the RFP.
2. / RFP Pg. 3 and 14, Section I-12 & Part II:
In formatting the paper copies and the mirrored electronic copy for the Technical Submittal (Part II, Section II-1 through II-8), please identify which Appendix items must be returned as part of the Technical Submittal and identify the preferred placement of those Appendix items within the Technical Submittal in relation to the narrative content requested.
Also, please clarify for those Appendix items that are referenced outside of the span of Section II-1 through II-8 whether they should be included in the Technical Submittal and if so, please clarify the placement of those Appendix Items. It is our understanding that Appendix K will be separately sealed and part of the Cost Submittal and Appendix J and Appendix S will be separate and will be part of Small Diverse Business and Small Business participation submittal. / Except for the Appendices that are specifically for Cost Submittal (Appendix K) and the SDB Submittal (Appendix J, S and T), all the other Appendices are part of the Technical Submittal. Please reference the Table of Contents of this RFP. In particular vendor should submit Appendices C, D, E, G, L, M, N, and O.
Include the Appendices that are referenced outside of the span of Section II based on where they fall within the RFP.
The Cost submittal shall be received in a separate sealed envelope/package.
The Small Diverse Business and Small Business Participation shall be received in separate sealed envelope/package.
3. / RFP Pg. 17, Section II-5, B3:
To meet the requirements for Section B3, is the State seeking an agreement statement that the Offeror resources will complete these forms prior to the start of the engagement or does the state require the proposed resources to complete and return Appendix H Acceptable User Policy Agreement oit_8_rev_03_14 and Appendix I, Computer Resources User Agreement oit-6 with the Technical Submittal? / Completion prior to the start of the engagement is required. Proposals should indicate agreement that these forms will be completed at the appropriate time.
4. / RFP Pg. 25, Sections IV-1 and IV-3:
Section IV-1 states that the Offeror must specifically address how it will work with L&I to meet the stated objectives. Section IV-3 Requirements states that the Offeror(s) shall describe how its solution will meet the requirements listed in that section.
1. Does the state desire this narrative to be included in the Technical Submittal?
2. Should this section follow Section II-8? / 1.Yes
2. See Part II Proposal Requirements which states, in part, that Offerors must submit their proposals in the format, including heading descriptions, outlined in the RFP. Offerors should provide any other information thought to be relevant, but not applicable to the enumerated categories, as an appendix to the Proposal.
5. / RFP Pg. 26, Section IV-3.A #5:
Does the software to be acquired by the offeror include the database management system (i.e. SQL Server) and Microsoft Office products that might be used by an auditor to supplement the proposed COTS solution? / The software listed in Appendix U will be installed on the auditors’ laptops. All other required software, including database management system software, should be included in the offeror’s proposal.
6. / RFP Pg. 30, Section IV-3.I:
Please explain what the agency expects out of the converted data. Are you wanting data from active / in progress audit converted only or historical data also?
Will the desired converted data come from the current Microsoft Access database only or from active Excel files and other sources as well?
How does the agency plan to handle the many data elements that are unlikely to be available in the legacy audit data that a robust COTS solution is going to have and require to function correctly? / 1. L&I expects historical audit data to be converted to the extent it is needed to develop reports and statistical data. L&I does not expect the full audit details to be converted for closed audits. L&I does expect to be able to fully convert active audits (started but not completed) and pending audit assignments.
2. Access and Excel only.
3. This should be addressed as part of the vendor’s proposal.
7. / RFP Pg. 31-32, Section IV-4.B:
Will the agency accept standard offeror interface design documents that we have refined over our successful implementations as the basis for the design deliverable(s)? / Yes. The offeror shall provide a detailed listing and description of the deliverables the offeror proposes as part of its solution.
8. / RFP Pg. 33, Section IV-4.E.1.f:
Will the agency accept standard offeror documents used to collect configuration choices to meet requirements that we have refined over our successful implementations in the past in lieu of specific Use Case documents for each requirement? / Yes. The offeror shall provide a detailed listing and description of the deliverables the offeror proposes as part of its solution.
9. / RFP Pg. 33, Section IV-4.E.1.j:
Does the agency have an existing Top Team operational environment that it plans to be used for this project or is this software cost and environment to be included in the proposal?
Are agency staff who will be assigned to the project for collaboration, requirement verification and testing experienced and knowledgeable in Top Team? / L&I has an existing Top Team environment and will provide licenses to the selected Offeror. Offerors should not include the cost of Top Team licenses in their proposed costs, but should indicate the number and type of Top Team licenses required in their technical proposal.
Top Team is new to agency staff at this time, and they are currently gaining more knowledge with further use.
10. / Appendix A, Pg. 3, 4.c:
Please clarify the URL address for the IT Standards. The hyperlinked address provided does not open a working web page or document. / The correct link for this RFP is subject to the Information Technology Policies (ITPs) {formerly known as Information Technology Bulletins} issued by the Office of Administration, Office for Information Technology (OA-OIT). ITPs may be found at http://www.oa.pa.gov/Policies/Pages/itp.aspx. Reference Addendum 3 for the revised Appendix A
11. / Appendix A, Pg. 53, Exhibit B #8:
The URL provided for the Background Check form and procedure does not open a working web page or document. Please provide an updated URL or a copy of the document. / The correct link for the Background Check is http://www.psp.pa.gov/Pages/Request-a-Criminal-History-Record.aspx
Reference Addendum 3 for the revised Appendix A.
12. / Appendix A, Pg. 54, Exhibit B Paragraph following #11:
Where should the offeror include our software license agreement within the proposal? / In any objections to the Commonwealth’s Terms and Conditions.
13. / Appendix P, Pg. 1, All:
Where should the offeror include our service level agreement which covers other aspects of the terms of engagement for ongoing maintenance and support (i.e. defining Helpdesk Contact protocols etc.)? / The Offeror must accept the SLAs contained in Appendix P. Any SLAs proposed by the offeror will not be part of any contract awarded pursuant to this RFP, unless specifically accepted by the Commonwealth during negotiations.
14. / Appendix N, Requirement #9:
Please clarify and provide an example of the possible "multiple" classifications that may be assigned to an audit or investigation. Is this referring to the Source and Source Sub-classifications or an independent higher level means of identifying an assignment? If independent can an individual audit/investigation have multiple values?
Does "The classifications should be able to be modified, added and deleted by an Administrator" refer to maintaining the list of valid classifications or maintaining the classification(s) assigned to a specific audit/investigation? / This refers to source and source sub-classifications. An example: “IRS” as a source type with source sub-types of “1099,” ”FUTA Assessment,” “SS-8,” “Tip,” or “Other.”
There should only be one source and sub-source per audit.
The reference is to maintaining the list of valid classifications.
15. / Appendix N, Requirement #10:
Does this refer to maintaining the list of valid classifications? If so, will there be separate lists of classifications for Audit vs Investigation? / Yes. The list of classifications will initially be the same unless a valid reason for any difference is found.
16. / Appendix N, Requirement #14:
Please confirm that an individual audit or investigation can have multiple "Source" values assigned to it. Not a Source and Source Sub-classification meaning multiple for this requirement. / There will only be one source with multiple source sub classifications to choose from a list. The Department does not wish to assign multiple source or sub-source values to the audit as the analytical reports would be less useful.
17. / Appendix N, Requirement #15:
Will Source Sub-Classification values be valid for specific Source values? For example Sub-class 1099 is permitted for "IRS" source but not "Tip" source.
1099 is used an example of a Source and as a Source Sub-classification. Can the agency provide several example of how they envision the Classifications, Sources and Sub-sources working together? / In this example, “Tip” would be a legitimate sub source type. “Tip” would also be a legitimate sub-source for the primary source of Fraud. L&I welcomes the selected Offeror to provide recommendations during design.
Two examples:
Source: IRS.
Sub-sources: 1099, FUTA Assessment, SS-8, Tip, and Other.
Source: Fraud
Sub-sources: Worker Misclassification Campaign, Department Website, State Police, USDOL, Tip, and Other.
18. / Appendix N, Requirement #18, 19 & 20:
Please clarify how DLI conducts team audits and breaks up the work. / The work may be broken up differently for each audit. Example: two auditors are assigned, one is responsible for 1099 and disbursement work papers and the other to the remaining work papers. Each agent should receive credit for the audit but the system should not consider them as two separate audits.
19. / Appendix N, Requirement #41:
Did the agency mean to include 'xlsm' as a file type or should it be xls, xlsx? / It should also include XLSM, XLS and XLSX file types. Reference Addendum 3 for Revised Appendix N.
20. / Appendix N, Requirement #48:
Please clarify or provide an example of "user defined criteria".
Should removal of attachments during the review and approved status be allowed? / Example: When an audit is in a completed state, individuals with the auditor role must not be permitted to remove an attachment. At that point, it should only be the administrator or a higher-level role that could remove or add an attachment.
21. / Appendix N, Requirement #72:
Please provide some specifics if this includes calculations and statistics beyond the ETA 581 report requirements / The current report of audit displays information for each audit that may or may not be reported on the ETA 581. Current fields:
· Account number
· Employer name
· Address (plus city, state, zip)
· NAICS code
· Entity Type
· Date of liability
· FAS cost center
· Date assigned
· Audit Control Number
· Tax agent ID
· Field selection code
· Number of Employees
· Number of quarters audited
· Most current QTR/YR of Audit
· Oldest QTR/YR of audit
· Errors Found
· Total Audit Time
· Audit Travel time
· Audit completion date
· Gross payroll audited
· Taxable payroll audited
· Pre-audit gross wages
· Number of new employees discovered
· Number of over reported employees
· Adjustments (Gross Wages, Taxable Wages, Employee Withholding, Employer contributions)
· Pre-audit gross wages
22. / Appendix N, Requirement #79:
Please provide examples of "UCTS" defined workpapers. As a COTS product exporting to agency specific 'workpapers' could require costly customization instead of using product formats. Or are you referring to the correspondence in Appendix Q? / The Department would like to take data from a workpaper in the audit program (such as 1099 information, W2 information, employee adjustments) and export that data to a general Excel spreadsheet. From there the information can be saved by the user in different formats (Word, PDF, etc.).
23. / Appendix N, Requirement #103:
Please clarify the types of rules the agency anticipates an administrator needing to create, modify and remove. / Examples: interest rate, employee withholding rate, penalty calculations, and possibly workflow rules.
24. / Appendix N, Requirement #223:
Does the offeror need to include costs for hardware (signature pads) in the proposal or does the agency already have equipment for the auditors in place today? / Yes. The Offeror shall include any necessary hardware in revised Appendix K Cost Matrix and Appendix O DLI Offeror proposed Software and Hardware. See Revised Appendix N, #223 and added Appendix U, UC Tax Auditor Workstation Information.
25. / Appendix N, Requirement #242:
Does this mean physical signature via a hardware device or is indicating via a required certification action that they completed the audit sufficient? / This is not necessarily a physical signature. The preference is an electronic certification of some type.
26. / Appendix N, Requirement #268:
Please provide clarification or a list of 'misclassification types'. / The Department has a current need to break out misclassified workers under Act 72, the Construction Worker Misclassification Act. There are currently no other misclassification types at this time, but that does not negate the possibility of additional misclassification types being added. The Department must separate those workers from others as the employer will be subject to penalties issued by a separate agency.
27. / Appendix N, Requirement #301:
By 'local' does this requirement refer to each user's laptop/computer?
If so, is this a hard and fast 'Required' item if our potentially proposed solution does not use a relational database on the individual user computers while working on audit / investigation assignments? / Local refers to individual user’s laptop or desktop computer.
No, a proposed solution may include a local repository that is not a relational database for working on audit/investigation assignments, provided it meets the Commonwealth ITPs for data at rest. See revised Appendix N # 301.
28. / RFP Pg. 4, Section I-13:
If the Offeror completes the self-certification as a small business and serves as the Prime Contractor does that meet the requirement to receive 1/3 of the points for Small Diverse and Small Business vendor program?
If acting solely at the small business Prime Contractor, is it correct that only Appendix S and not Appendix T needs to be completed and returned with the RFP response? / Yes, If you are bidding as a Prime and you are self-certified as a Small Business you will receive 1/3 of the points allocated for the Small and Small Diverse Business points.
You are correct. If you are acting solely as the Small Business Prime Contractor and there are no other Small Businesses or Small Diverse Businesses as subcontractors, then the Subcontract Agreement is not necessary.
29. / What is the requirement for a SDB Business to Prime in terms of how much work they should be performing on the contract? Previously the requirement was 60%. Is there a new requirement per the modified rules? / The RFP Section I-17. Prime Contractor Responsibilities language is corrected to read as follows:
The selected Offeror must perform at least 60% of the total contract value. Nevertheless, the contract will require the selected Offeror to assume responsibility for all services offered in its proposal whether it produces them itself or by subcontract. Further, the Issuing Office will consider the selected Offeror to be the sole point of contact with regard to all contractual matters. See Addendum 3.
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