Office of Information Technology Services RFI C000670

Office of Information Technology Services

RFI C000670

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION CIVIL SERVICE EXAM AND APPLICANT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

1.0 INTRODUCTION

The New York State (NYS) Office of Information Technology Services (ITS) is presenting this Request for Information (RFI) to query the vendor community for information related to out-of-thebox solutions and industry standards for examination services and application management for use by the Department of Civil Service, human resources staff at NYS agencies, and civil service administrators at the municipal government level.

1.1 PERTINENT DATES

Milestone RFI Release Date

Closing Date for Inquiries Responses to Inquiries Posted (Estimated) RFI Response Due Date Submission of Request for Vendor Demonstration (See Section 6.2) (Optional) Vendor Demonstrations

Date and Time October 7, 2020 October 22, 2020 October 30, 2020 November 5, 2020 TBD See Section 7.2

2.0 BACKGROUND

The Department of Civil Service (DCS) is the central personnel agency for the Executive Branch of New York State government, serving approximately 150,000 employees. In addition, DCS is also responsible for oversight of administration of the merit system of 94 local governments. The New York State Constitution mandates that appointments and promotions into civil service be made according to merit and fitness as ascertained by competitive examination. DCS fulfills this mandate by providing examination services to New York State Agencies and Municipal Civil Service Agencies. Further, DCS is mandated to manage applicants through the examination process.

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3.0 CURRENT STATE

Existing processes require many systems to perform individual components of the exam and applicant management processes. The individual processes of the exam and applicant management processes include:

A web portal through which agency users can: o submit requests for specific examinations; o review the status of their requests, including whether it has been assigned an exam date and which group of exams it has been assigned to; o make changes to or cancel a request; o download the rosters containing the candidates who participated in a specific exam along with their respective scores; and o upload/enroll exam applicants from local users.

An internal application through which DCS staff can review, organize and process agency examination requests and manage announcement development and publishing.

A Master Examination Schedule that tracks what exams are scheduled on which days of the upcoming year, as well as how many expected applicants will be taking each exam. This allows users to know when an examination will be held during the upcoming testing year or years.

An internal application that allows the business user to easily enter and manipulate examination-related data. This system can accept examination selections, schedule examinations, interface with the Testing Management System (TMS) and the Eligible List Maintenance system (ELMS) and control the ability to collect applications for examinations. The application allows users to group requests for similar examinations together into a program or examination group.

A web portal through which individuals can apply to upcoming exams. The portal: o integrates with the ITS central Directory Store for user authentication through the Okta Identity Cloud using the OpenId or Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML) protocols; o allows individuals, once authenticated, to select the exams from a list to which they want to apply; o collects the necessary information on the individual, including Veteran status and religious, physical, and other accommodations; o calculates the total fee for the exam(s) selected based upon rules determined by Civil Service; o collects the fee from the applicant at the time of application submission or at a later point in time; uniquely identifies the transaction with a Bates number; interacts with an outside vendor for payment collection; o allows each applicant to review the status of their application(s) and view any related information; and, o allows the ability to enroll applicants individually or en masse by credentialed users.

An internal application that allows Civil Service staff to: o review applications and make determinations on their eligibility;

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RFI C000670

o move applicants to a different examination date; o view an individual's application history; o manually enter in applications submitted on paper forms and uniquely identify the

transactions with a Bates number; o review a list of scheduled examinations; o view a roster of all applicants for an examination (paper and online); o group applicants so that they can be tested at a certain time to support the

Department's continuous recruitment programs; o automatically approve applications that meet certain criteria determined by Civil

Service Staff; o link to the NYS personnel system database to view an individual's personnel record; o disqualify an application and automatically email disqualification letters to applicants,

including the reason for the disqualification; o review, track, approve/deny any special accommodations needed for each

examination; o categorize applicants based upon responses to background questions (e.g.

termination from employment or resignation in lieu of termination) and to interact with existing systems (e.g., TMS and (ELMS); and;

A Fee Maintenance System which allows the Civil Service Finance Unit to produce various reports, such as fees owed to DCS by local agencies, and letters that can be emailed to applicants, etc.

A Veterans' Determination Processing System, which is a permanent electronic history file for storage of records for veterans who used their credits for permanent appointment and veterans who have a verified war-incurred permanent disability. The system can make a determination for all veterans' claims on both written and non-written, open competitive, and promotion exams and produces a printed notification of determination for the candidate. The system should allow credentialed users to view a candidate's veteran credit status.

4.0 CURRENT ? AGENCIES / END USERS

94 local civil service agencies Over 70 State agencies State Examination Applicants Local Examination Applicants

4.1 CURRENT ? CONTENT VOLUMES CALENDAR YEAR 2019 (CY 19')

893 State Exams held 5,400 Local Exams held 196,034 Exam applicants processed (121,916 State and 74,118 Local) 988 State Applicants processed through Investigations' Case Management System 1,095 State and Local Applicants received Reasonable Accommodations (803 State and 292

Local)

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5.0 OBJECTIVE

New York State's primary objective is the replacement of outdated and unsupported applications with a scalable commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) solution for administering Examination Services and Application Management processes. These services and processes include, but are not limited to, receipt of examination requests from user entities; acceptance of applicants; and appropriate processing of applicants. Through this RFI, the State seeks to identify potential COTS solutions in the marketplace to administer the Examination Services and Application Management processes. This does not include the development or administration of job-related tests (i.e., written, oral, evaluation of training and experience, performance or other), as that functionality is currently delivered in the Testing Management System (TMS). Rather, the examination services NYS is seeking to provide include a system that will allow user entities to request an examination, allow the Department of Civil Service to review and announce examinations for user entities, and provide a means for people to apply and be processed for examinations.

6.0 RFI QUESTIONS

The questions in the Attachment 1, Functional Requirements Matrix, are specific to the respondent's COTS solution. Please answer all of the questions in Attachment 1, Functional Requirements Matrix, by indicating how the solution meets the requirement in the "Meets Requirement" column and identify the "Solution Type" in its column, respectively. There is a dropdown menu in the attachment.

Also, in responding to this RFI, please indicate the following profile information about your company's business:

What is your company's primary business? Where is your company headquartered? Does the company have an office in the United States? Does your company currently provide the type of solution described in this RFI? If so, is

the solution provided directly by the respondent or through subcontractors?

Please provide in a written summary with your response:

Examples of potential approaches to provide the functionality summarized in Section 2. Responses should include strength and weakness comparisons of potential solutions.

Information regarding potential issues or concerns that should be considered. An overview of the specific solutions you would be able to provide. The overview should

include: o any COTS packages to be used; o notation of what aspects of the solution are custom built; o whether it is wholly on-premise, in the Cloud, or a hybrid approach; o what operating system(s), web platforms, and database platforms your solution accommodates; o whether the solution can integrate with other existing DCS systems (i.e., PeopleSoft, ELMS, and TMS) through web services or APIs.

If there are limitations in the ability to meet requirements as described in Attachment 1, Functional Requirements Matrix, please identify that limitation in the written response (e.g., file size or format).

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7.0 DESIGNATED CONTACT/WRITTEN INQUIRIES/RFI ELECTRONIC SUBMISSIONS

Primary Contact:

Warren Joscelyn, Contract Management Specialist Office of Information Technology Services Email: its.sm.bestvalue@its.

Alternate Contact:

Susan Martin, Contract Management Specialist Office of Information Technology Services Email: its.sm.bestvalue@its.

7.1 RFI ELECTRONIC SUBMISSIONS

Please email all RFI Electronic submissions to: its.sm.bestvalue@its. with the subject line Response to CS, EAM.

7.2 VENDOR DEMONSTRATIONS

For purposes of this RFI, ITS may elect to have vendors provide a demonstration as a part of the vendor's response. Please email all RFI Vendor Demonstration Requests to: its.sm.bestvalue@its.

Demonstrations may include a demonstration of the vendor's proposed product demonstrating functionality and operation. The demonstrations should provide answers to situational businessrelated questions as well as illustrations of how the vendor's solution would meet the business challenges described in this RFI. All Vendor staff in attendance must fully understand the response submitted, be able to address concerns and comments, and be able to provide additional information regarding the original information provided within the vendor's response. Marketing/Sales oriented demonstrations that are unable to illustrate functionality of a proposed system may be ended, at the sole discretion of ITS, prior to the one (1) hour vendor demonstration time limit.

Overall, demonstrations will be held to 1.5 hours. Questions from Section 6.0 should be addressed in the presentation. Time allotment should be as follows: identification of all parties on the call, 60 minutes vendor presentation and discussion, 30 minutes Q&A period and closeout.

Vendor demonstrations will be held via WebEx and dates/times will be scheduled in the future, as necessary, based on vendor requests that shall include:

Notified vendors are required to provide names and titles of attendees. Vendors may be required to setup a teleconference/WebEx to demonstrate their system

*Note: All materials submitted by a respondent shall become the property of the State and may be returned to the respondent at the sole discretion of the State. The State has the right to adopt, modify, or reject any or all ideas presented in any material submitted in response to the RFI.

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NYS is not liable for any costs incurred by Respondents in the preparation and production of a Response to this RFI or for any costs incurred by a Respondent to participate in a demonstration.

7.3 NO AWARD

ITS will not make an award for the potential future services described in this Request for Information (RFI). ITS is conducting this RFI solely for the purpose of gathering information to determine the feasibility, reliability and potential of the "Exam and Applicant Management System".

7.4 BUILDING ACCESS PROCEDURES FOR VISITORS Due to Covid-19 safety practices no visitors will be granted to NYS facilities in response to this RFI.

7.5 COMMUNICATIONS FROM NYS TO VENDORS

ITS has established a procurement website for the purpose of disseminating information relating to this RFI, and vendors are encouraged to monitor the site. The website URL is .

7.6 NO LATE SUBMISSIONS

All responses shall be submitted and received by the submission dates and times specified in this RFI. Responses received after the deadline may or may not be reviewed in time to be included. Faxed responses and mailed responses will not be accepted. All responses shall be submitted via email to its.sm.bestvalue@its..

7.7 MULTIPLE SUBMISSIONS Vendors may submit more than one submission for the purpose of offering alternative possibilities, but each response must be complete.

7.8 GENERAL REQUIREMENTS FOR SUBMISSIONS

Responses that make extensive use of color photographs or illustrations, or that include separate brochures or marketing materials and overly elaborate embellishments, are discouraged. All submissions in response to this RFI, must be written in the English language.

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7.9 FREEDOM OF INFORMATION LAW

Disclosure of information related to this RFI shall be permitted consistent with the laws of the State of New York and specifically Article 6 of the New York State Public Offers Law, the Freedom of Information Law ("FOIL"). ITS shall take reasonable steps to protect from public disclosure any records or portions thereof relating to this RFI that are exempt from disclosure under FOIL. Information constituting trade secrets or critical infrastructure information for purposes of FOIL must be clearly marked and identified as such by the Contractor upon submission. Requests for exemption of the entire contents of Contractor's response to this RFI, and any other documentation, from disclosure have generally not been found to be meritorious and are discouraged. If the Contractor intends to request an exemption from disclosure under FOIL for trade secret materials or critical infrastructure information, the Contractor shall at the time of submission, request the exemption in writing and provide an explanation of (i) why the disclosure of the identified information would cause substantial injury to the competitive position of the Contractor, or (ii) why the information constitutes critical infrastructure information which should be exempted from disclosure pursuant to ? 87(2) of FOIL. Acceptance of the identified information by ITS does not constitute a determination that the information is exempt from disclosure under FOIL. Determinations as to whether the materials or information may be withheld from disclosure will be made in accordance with FOIL at the time a request for such information is received by ITS.

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7.10 GLOSSARY OF TERMS

Applicant: A person who applies for an examination.

Examination: A plan of evaluation used for employee selection for an appointment or promotion to a position in a State or local government agency.

Examination Services: The full suite of services provided by DCS and used for employee selection for an appointment or promotion to a position in a State or local government agency including, but not limited to minimum qualifications, job-related tests (written, oral, evaluation of training and experience, performance or other), job interviews, reference checks, and probationary periods.

Class (of positions): Positions sufficiently similar with respect to duties and responsibilities that the same title may be used to designate each position in a group, the same salary may be equitably applied, the same qualifications required, and the same examination used to select qualified employees. A class may sometimes consist of one position.

Investigations' Case Management System (CMS): Provides the ability to screen and track specific applicants based on predetermined criteria to determine eligibility for certain positions. Once a determination is made, CMS provides output determination letters for each applicant based on unique codes.

Reasonable Accommodations: Refers to the physical accessibility of examination services as well as the development of policies to ensure that all people can take part in, and benefit from, State programs and services as well as all employment practices, including recruitment, job application, examination and testing, hiring, training, compensation, transfer and reassignment, and promotions.

Special Accommodations: Refers to providing a candidate a Sunday test date due to religious observance or practice or other testing accommodations needed due to pregnancy, for nursing mothers, or other circumstances that fall outside accommodations needed due to a disability or religious observance/practice.

Test Management System (TMS): The system used to develop and score civil service examinations for positions in State and local government. This system is also used to manage test sites for paper and pencil examinations and for computer-based testing.

Test Date: The day(s) scheduled for test administration. Paper and pencil tests administered State-wide are commonly scheduled for Saturday test dates (along with a Sunday alternate test date) or a Saturday/Sunday testing weekend. Computer-administered tests may utilize a "testing window" or period of testing. Some examinations may also be held on two different test dates due to the number of test items included or to control for test material exposure.

Title: The `label' used to officially designate a class of positions. Titles are descriptive of the work performed and its relative level.

Title Catalog: Existing system of record for competitive, non-competitive, and labor class titles.

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