Washington Office of the Secretary of State Corporations and Charities Division

Washington Office of the Secretary of State Corporations and Charities Division

RFP 16-07 IV&V and QA

Q&A Updated

December 29, 2015

Update: An email containing questions 24 through 32 was timestamped by the OSOS server in advance of Q&A deadline, but was blocked by the OSOS spam filter and therefore, not received by the RFP Coordinator in advance of the original Q&A posting.

This Amendment contains the additional questions (and responses) received by OSOS within deadline as questions and answers 24 through 32.

Q1: Looking at the RFP and the proposed schedule provided by PCC, we believe there are three segments covered by the RFP. They are:

a)In-house Use Cases

b)Online Use Cases

c)Reports, Correspondence, Admin, Interfaces

Are we correction in this assumption? If not, can you clarify what the three segments are?

A1: Yes, there are three segments covered by the RFP, which you have accurately captured.

Q2: Can you quantify Segment C? For example, how many reports are there? How many correspondence items, etc.?

A2: The exact number of reports and correspondence has not been determined at this time. Admin refers to the Administrative console for use by OSOS Development Staff. Interfaces include DOR (data/image exchange), the OSOS internal revenue system (data exchange), the OSOS internal Combined Fund Drive application (batch data feed) and Kofax scanning and imaging.

Q3: Will the QA IV&V vendor be allowed to work remotely with access to the systems for testing?

A3: Yes. Access will be made available via VPN.

Q4: Are there required meetings with SOS and/or PCC where the IV&V vendor will be required to be on site?

A4: Meetings will be required as necessary to ensure satisfaction of the contract resulting of this RFP 16-07. There is no requirement for onsite meeting attendance to the extent that work can be effectively accomplished via web and phone conference.

Q5: Will on-site always be defined at Washington SOS offices in Washington?

A5: Yes.

Q6: What is the OSOS definition and scope of Verification and Validation for this RFP?

A6: IV&V for the purpose of this RFP 16-07 includes review of application software deliverables for completeness, adherence to and satisfaction of business requirements as specified by OSOS and business rules as prescribed in statute and rule. OSOS is open to recommendations from vendors as to what additional IV&V activities would be beneficial to a successful system deployment and stakeholder adoption with consideration of the IV&V vendor insertion point in the project timeline relative to system deployment late July.

Q7: If the Consultant is registered to do business with the state and has a current UBI, does it satisfy all the criteria for being licensed in the state of Washington?

A7: Before entering into a contract with the State, the Consultant must have a valid business license in Washington State. State Business Licenses are obtained through the Business Licensing Services Division of the Department of Revenue. If the Consultant is an LLC, Corporation, or other business entity, they must be formed or registered with OSOS in advance of obtaining their Business License. The Consultant must also be registered with the Department of Revenue, Business Licensing Services.

Q8: Section 2.4 states that, "Consultants are required to submit an electronic copy of their proposal." However, Section 3 states that, "Proposals must be submitted on eight and one-half by eleven (8 1/2 x 11) inch paper with tabs separating the major sections of the proposal." What is the desired method to separate the major sections of the proposal in the electronic submission?

A8: Distinguishing section headings and page breaks between the four major sections of the proposal will satisfy the referenced requirement.

Q9: What is the project org structure, roles and responsibilities to get a better understanding of how the Consultant fits in?

A9: It is anticipated that the Consultant will provide a draft of their team’s roles and responsibilities as necessary to support their proposal. OSOS prefers that vendors identify a Consultant Project Manager to serve as the single point of contact at the Consultant. Roles and responsibilities for the Development effort follow?

Stephanie Goebel / OSOS Project Manager / -Partner with the PCC project manager to plan, develop and ensure adherence to overall Project Management Plan
-Partner with the PCC project manager to plan, develop and ensure adherence to overall Project Management Plan
-Lead OSOS communication effort and communicate any deviations in timelines or costs
-Partner with OSOS business lead/SMEs to ensure that priorities and strategies are consistent across programs and that all business requirements are satisfied
-Manage the availability of subject matter experts, leads and other key business personnel
-Manages OSOS resources associated with the project
-Monitor and approves change management with the PCC project manager
-Deliverable and system acceptance signoff
Scott Cooper, Matthew Edwards / OSOS Development Lead, OSOS Web Master / -Provide access to and expertise in existing technical systems/environment
-Monitor architecture and coding compliance with the PCC technical lead through code reviews
Primary: Pam Floyd/Dan Speigle
Program Area: Tobi Snyder, D.Ann Peters, Jennifer Salzer, Cassie Fishel / OSOS Subject Matter Experts / -Participate in Req. validation sessions
-Provide OSOS - specific requirements and clarification to PCC
-Provide existing artifacts for analysis
-Execute user acceptance testing (UAT)
-Provides subject matter expertise on the OSOS statutes and rules
-Provides support in elaborating inputs, outputs, and other processes of the proposed system
Todd Wellington / OSOS QA/UAT Lead / -Serve as technical lead for Quality Assurance and User Acceptance Testing
-Specific tasks of responsibility to be further defined with assistance from QA/IV&V Consultant
Venkat Talatam / PCC Project Manager / -Manage/control the on-time progress and delivery of all aspects of the project from a PCC perspective
-Single point of contact between OSOS and PCC resources
-Drive Communication and Reporting mechanisms to reduce risk
-Monitor and initiates Change Management activities
-Act as liaison between Business and Technical teams
-Provide status information and create, maintain, and distribute a project tracking document as the implementation work progresses
-PCC resource manager
Abhishek Khade / PCC Business Analyst/Functional Lead / -Assist with the business use cases
-Plan and monitor to make sure all business requirements are captured
-Elicit requirements
-Translate and simplify requirements to PCC team
-Requirements management and communication
-Requirements analysis
-Act as a liaison between OSOS Business and PCC technical team
-Assist the PCC testing team in making sure all the Business requirements are captured in the test plan
Tom Bryers / PCC Quality Assurance Lead / -Software Test Plan Preparation andImplementation
-Review Test Cases
-Analyze requirements during the requirements analysis phase of the project
-Track and report testing activities - testing results, test case coverage, required resources, defects discovered and their status, performance baselines, etc.
-Log project related issues in the defect tracking tool identified for the project
Aditya Vasireddy / PCC Technical Lead / -Architect the solution design according to OSOS business requirements
-Lead development effort of the solutions Architecture
-Provide Platform technical subject matter expertise during all project phases
-Provide PCC decision making and design for all major architecture decisions
-Ensure conformance to all standards and practices for coding, data and security concerns
-Lead the PCC development team and customization management process.
-Create data conversion plan and data mapping documents
-Develop data conversion scripts
-Provide cycle-end exception reports to the project manager for risk assessment
-Ensure quality and conformance with standards throughout the process
-Develop and enforce solution database standards, guidelines and operational policies and procedures
-Review physical structures and design of the database
-Review SQL performance, Tuning Review maintenance and utilities associated with each structure
PCC Development Team / -Provide all coding, database integration, data conversion script development, and unit testing under the direction of the PCC Technical Lead

Q10: What materials will be provided by the Development Contractor for verification?

A10: Software releases in a QA environment. The IV&V Consultant will be required to track issues via the OSOS installation of Microsoft Team Foundation Server (MSFT TFS).

Q11: What are the requirements, if any, on use of specific quality assurance tools such as HP ALM, Jira, etc.?

A11: OSOS prefers use of MSFT TFS for ongoing QA practices. However, OSOS will consider alternative recommendations made by the Consultant that align with the ongoing support model, which will be designed with the guidance of the Consultant.

Q12: What are the requirements, if any,for working on site vs. working off site? What resources are available for the team to use while working on site?

A12: There is no requirement for onsite meeting attendance to the extent that work can be effectively accomplished via web and phone conference. Resources available while working onsite include internet access and desk/conference table.

Q13: What environments are available/required for independent validation? Is there production check list available to make sure transition to Production goes smoothly?

A13: New system environments include: Development, QA and Production. A checklist is not available, but could be created under the guidance/recommendation of the Consultant.

Q14: What are the requirements, if any, for data conversion?

A14: Data conversion is not a requirement of the Consultant for this RFP 16-07. Data conversion will be completed by PCC and OSOS.

Q15: What development methodology is being used by the development contractor PCC?

A15: PCC uses a hybrid of agile and waterfall with an iterative, segmented approach.

Q16: Is there a dedicated UAT team at OSOS who’d be responsible for the management and execution of the UAT process, incl. creation and execution of test scripts and reporting on the same?

A16: With the guidance of the Consultant, OSOS will develop a UAT team. However, resources will not be dedicated. UAT/QA will become a new function of existing positions within OSOS Development and Division business workgroups.

Q17: For the QA best practices, do we need to include training sessions for the staff? If yes how many people do we need to train?

A17: Yes. OSOS prefers train-the-trainer sessions. It is anticipated that approximately 10 individuals participate in these sessions. However, OSOS will look to the Consultant to provide recommendations on this topic in order to achieve implantation of best practices within the Division.

Q18: Will the contractor run the tests remotely or does the contractor need to be on site?

A18: Tests can be conducted remotely.

Q19: How many development and testing hours are planned for the construction and configuration of Segments 1, 2, and 3?

A19:

Segment / Total hours /resource / Dev resources
In-house & Reports… / 640 / Resource 1
640 / Resource 2
640 / Resource 3
640 / Resource 4
320 / Resource 5
Sub Total / 2880
Online / 320 / Resource 1
320 / Resource 2
320 / Resource 3
320 / Resource 4
Sub Total / 1280
Grand Total / 4160

Segment 3 Reports… will be done in parallel with Segment 1 In-house development.

Q20: What types of testing will the development contractor be performing as part of their work? Will they be using any automated testing?

A20: PCC will conduct unit and integration testing. No automated testing will be conducted by PCC.

Q21: Will the three segment releases be separated into smaller iterations allowing the IV&V contractor incremental access to features? If so, could you provide a more detailed schedule?

A21: Smaller iterations are not planned.

Q22: Will the IV&V contractor be responsible for validating the data conversion?

A22: Yes.

Q23: Will the IV&V contractor be a participant in Acceptance Testing or will we lead Acceptance Testing?

A23: It is OSOS’s preference for the Consultant to guide OSOS in conducting UAT with the goal of OSOS being self-sufficient at the time of contract completion. OSOS anticipates Consultants will describe their recommended approach to this question within their proposal.

Q24: Exhibit C Development Project Schedule - Is the project on schedule?

A24: Yes.

Q25: What types of testing is the Development Contractor responsible for performing?

A25: While answer 20 reflects that the Development Contractor, PCC, will conduct unit and integration testing of the system, the Consultant for this RFP, 16-07, is who the OSOS will look to for guidance regarding UAT.

OSOS requires that PCC complete unit testing in advance of releasing software to OSOS. PCC has committed to also conduct integration testing. The PCC contract includes a milestone of UAT testing, upon satisfaction of which the specified contractual cost proposal amount will be billable to OSOS by PCC. This does not mean that PCC will conduct UAT Testing, but that UAT Testing will be successfully completed in order to succeed the milestone.

OSOS looks to the Consultant for this RFP, 16-07, to prescribe testing best practices as they pertain to IV&V and QA, including what testing should be conducted by themselves and/or OSOS Staff.

Q26: What deliverables are the Development Contractor contractually required to provide?

A26: Billable deliverables and/or milestones contracted with PCC include the list below.

Project Management Plan
Project Kickoff
Requirements Validation
Environments Setup
Segment 1 Programming
Segment 2 Programming
Segment 3 Programming
Data Conversion Plan and Scripts
UAT Data Conversion
UAT
Project Sign-off

Q27: Page 6: Please confirm that we should include cost within our technical proposal.

A27: Cost should be provided by the Consultant as a separate section: the Consultant’s Cost Proposal. Details of the Technical Proposal should be contained within the Consultant’s Technical Proposal responsive to RFP Section 3.2. Details of the Management Proposal should be contained within the Consultant’s Management Proposal responsive to RFP section 3.3. The Cost Proposal should include all costs to be billed to OSOS in order to accomplish the Management and Technical Proposals and should be provided as specified in RFP section 3.4.

Q28: Page 7: Will the ASC be provided access to Microsoft Team Foundation Server?

A28: Yes.

Q29: Page 7: Section 3.2B indicates "three parties" - OSOS staff, OSOS IV&V/QA vendor, and please confirm the third party is the Development Contractor.

A29: Confirmed, the three parties referenced in Section 3.2B are OSOS, the Consultant of this RFP, 16-07 and PCC, the Development Consultant.

Q30: Page 8: Section 3.3B asks us to include a list of contracts during the last five years including contact information. Do you require a minimum number of contracts be listed? Will they be contacted like the references listed in Section 3.3C? Can they be the same as the references listed in Section 3.3C?

A30: We do not require a minimum number of contracts to be listed. They might be contacted like the references listed in Section 3.3C, yes. However, if the Consultant requests otherwise, please state so and why within your response. They can be the same as the references in Section 3.3C, yes.

Q31: Is Exhibit A the only form you require to be included in our proposal?

A31: Yes.

Q32: Is there a maximum budget that you have for this project and can you share it with bidders?

A32: No.