Texas Department of Health



The Department of State Health Services (DSHS)

is soliciting responses to this

Request for Offers

for

Business Continuity Management

Software/Services

|RFO Number: |537-8-41096 |

|Date Offers are Due: |January 31, 2008 |

|Time Offers are Due: |5:00 PM |

Direct all inquiries regarding this RFO to:

CHRISTY HUYNH, CTP

Texas Health and Human Services Commission

Enterprise Contract and Procurement Services

Phone: (713512-206-5468) 767-2412

Christy.Huynh@hhsc.state.tx.usApril.Barber@hhsc.state.tx.us

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Introduction 3

2. Response Instructions, Selection Process, Execution of Offer 44

2.1 Procurement Schedule 44

2.2 Respondent Inquiries 44

2.3 Offer Preparation Instructions 44

2.4 Packaging and Copies 55

2.5 Offer Submission 55

2.6 Offer Screening 76

2.7 Offer Evaluation 76

2.8 Demonstrations 76

2.9 Negotiations and Award 76

3. Execution of Offer 87

4. Executive Summary 98

5. Solution Requirements 109

5.1 Hosting Requirements 109

5.2 End User Functional Requirements 109

5.3 Administrative Functional Requirements 109

5.4 Import and Export 109

5.5 Security and Auditability Requirements 1110

5.6 Compliance with Standards and Regulations 1110

5.7 Start Up Requirements 1110

5.8 Maintenance and Support 1110

6. Contract Term, Pricing, Payments and Reimbursements 1211

6.1 Contract Term 1211

6.2 Price Offer 1211

6.3 Payments 1312

7. VENDOR QUALIFICATIONS 1413

7.1 Company Qualifications 1413

7.2 References 1413

7.3 References Form 1413

8. TERMS AND CONDITIONS 1514

9. GLOSSARY 1514

10. RESPONDENT ATTACHMENTS 1615

10.1 Service Level Agreement 1615

10.2 Import / Export Features 1615

10.3 Security Features 1615

10.4 Training Offerings 1615

10.5 Maintenance and Support 1615

Introduction

DSHS is accepting Offers for the provision of a hosted service to which DSHS can subscribe for the purpose of establishing and maintaining its Continuity of Operations Plan (COOP). This service will:

• Be hosted in the respondent’s data center with no hardware or software required at DSHS except for workstations equipped with a standard internet browser.

• Be sufficiently distant from the DSHS site in Austin to ensure it is available under common disaster scenarios.

• Provide the functional capabilities and data storage capacities necessary for a COOP for a large and diverse state agency.

• Provide excellent service levels, data and application security, and maintenance and support.

• Allow for integration to existing sources of information with the capability to import information in all Microsoft Windows file types

• Provide user access at multiple levels of authority, with no-cost access for read-only users.

• Be configurable by DSHS personnel after receiving provided system administrator training, without requiring additional consultation from the service provider.

• Be usable by DSHS personnel after receiving train-the-trainer training.

Response Instructions, Selection Process, Execution of Offer

Enterprise Contract and Procurement Services (ECPS), an organization within the Heath and Human Services Commission (HHSC) is administering the process described in this section in consultation with the DSHS and other organizations as needed.

1 Procurement Schedule

The schedule for this procurement is as follows. There will be no bidder’s conference.

|Event |Date |

|Deliver to the following address: |Mail to the following address: |

|Texas Health and Human Services Commission |Texas Health and Human Services Commission |

|Enterprise Contract and Procurement Services |Enterprise Contract and Procurement Services |

|4405 North Lamar Blvd Room 107 |4405 North Lamar Blvd |

|Austin, Texas 78756 |Austin, Texas 78756 |

| |909 West 45th Street, Mail Code 2020 |

|Austin, Texas 78751 |Austin, Texas 78751 |

|Attn Purchaser: Gayla SchultzChristy Huynh |Attn Purchaser: Christy Huynh |

|RFO #537-8-41096 |RFO #537-8-41096 |

|BID Closing: 5 pm (CST) on 01/31/2008 |BID Closing: 5 pm (CST) on 01/31/2008Gayla Schultz |

|Deliver offers during normal working hours only, 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM, Monday |Note that due to potential delays in the USPS and the State’s mail service, |

|through Friday, excluding state holidays. |there may be significant delays in delivery to ECPS. ECPS will not be |

| |responsible for any delays associated with delivery by mail. |

FAX:  Bids/Responses faxed to ECPS must be received in the ECPS Office, to the “bid” fax machine on or before the specified time for bid/response closing.

Respond to:

Purchaser: Christy Huynh, CTP

Fax Attn: Gayla Schultz - Bid Coordinator

Fax Number:  512-206-5006

2 Offer Screening

1 ECPS and will screen all Offers received. Offers that do not satisfy the requirements in the sections listed below will be rejected and will not be considered further.

▪ Section 2.4 Packaging and Copies

▪ Section 2.5 Offer Submission - deadline, delivery method and location

▪ Section 3. Execution of Offer

2 Offers that satisfy the ECPS screening requirements will be screened by the evaluation team for compliance with the Section 2.3 Offer Preparation Instructions. Offers that deviate substantially from these requirements may be rejected and not considered further. Whether the failure to comply with the instructions is sufficiently substantial to warrant rejection of the Offer will be decided solely upon the judgment of DSHS.

3 Offer Evaluation

1 Vendor responses that meet the Offer screening criteria will enter the evaluation process.

2 A team of evaluators, which may include technical and business subject matter experts, financial, specialists and project managers, will evaluate Offers and assign a score to each Offer in each of the following categories, weighted as follows

▪ Ability to meet solution requirements – 40

▪ Respondent qualifications – 30

▪ Price – 30

3 If an Offer receives less than 25% of the possible points in one of the first 2 categories listed above or the respondent’s price exceeds the average of the other submitter’s prices by more than 50%, upon consensus of the evaluation team and approval by the senior business manager on the team, the Offer may be rejected as inadequate.

4 Remaining Offers will be ranked according to their scores.

5 Compliance with Terms and Conditions will not be scored. Rather, any objections to the terms and conditions referenced in Section 8 will be addressed during demonstrations or negotiations. Failure to reach an acceptable resolution of one or more objections will result in rejection of the offer.

4 Demonstrations

1 The top two or more respondents will be asked to provide a demonstration of their proposed solution that will cover topics and processes as requested by DSHS staff.

2 Demonstrations will be conducted over the internet to a live version of the vendor’s product with voice communications over the internet or by phone.

3 Requirements that have a negative, incomplete or unclear response in the Offer as determined during evaluation or the demonstration will be submitted to the respondent for written clarification.

5 Negotiations and Award

1 DSHS intends to determine the respondent whose Offer provides the best value to DSHS and to enter into final negotiations with that respondent. DSHS may award the contract to that respondent, decide not to award to that respondent and move on to the next best respondent or may decide to make no award.

Execution of Offer

|Complete the form below. The person signing the form must have the authority to bind the respondent to a contract. The actual signature is required only on|

|the master paper copy of the Offer. An unsigned Offer will be excluded from further consideration. |

|The Payee ID Number is the taxpayer number assigned and used by the Comptroller of Public Accounts of Texas. A sole owner should also enter social |

|security number |

|Payee Identification Number: | |

|Sole Owner Social Security Number: | |

|Respondent’s Company Name: | |

|Name of Person Signing this Form: | |

|Title: | |

|Contact information: | |

|(Phone number, email address) | |

|Signature: | |

|Date: | |

Executive Summary

|Prepare an Executive Summary below that introduces the company making the Offer and provides an overview of the respondent’s Offer and the value it will |

|provide to the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS). |

Solution Requirements

|Respond to every numbered requirement (statements numbered at outline level 3) in this section immediately following the requirement. Attach required |

|documents in Section 10 as specified. |

|A requirement with no response will be interpreted during initial evaluation as negative; the respondent is unable to satisfy the requirement. |

1 Hosting Requirements

1 Respondent will host the Continuity of Operations Planning (COOP) application and data in its own data center.

2 The hosting site will be located at least 25 miles away from any DSHS facility in Austin, TX.

3 User access to the system will be via a web browser (identify the supported browsers) – no client code will be required.

4 Identify the wireless devices that can be used to access the system (e.g. Blackberry)

5 Service Level Agreement (SLA) – Describe, or attach a document in section 10.1 that describes the service levels provided. Cover topics that include availability (24x7 is optimum), response time, backup and recovery (daily) and help desk support

2 End User Functional Requirements

1 Unlimited cost-free, read-only access for all view-only users.

2 Access by URL to responsibility areas which can be easily bookmarked for repetitive access.

3 Software provides document change management functions

4 Incident Command functionality - IC incident assignments, GIS mapping resources, wireless access, and activity logs for after-action reporting.

5 Orientation and training for system use

6 Functional analysis capable of supporting Business Impact Analysis (BIA) and risk data collection, questionnaires capable of being distributed via URL links to respondents and information analysis capable of export to Microsoft products for further analysis.

7 Capability of importing Microsoft based content and support of all MS Windows file types.

3 Administrative Functional Requirements

1 DSHS is building existing data into a flexible environment. The environment grants users secure access at multiple levels of authority.

2 Storage and reuse of test exercise information/elements.

3 Software must be specifically designed for Business Continuity Planning (BCP) with modules for BCP testing and logging.

4 Import and Export

1 The system will provide the ability to import data from files in any Microsoft Windows File Format and to export data in the same formats.

2 Imports will be designed to add data to the database without overwriting existing data as well as a specified field overwrite capability in the system

3 Exports will allow selection of the data to be exported

4 The system will provide the capability to transfer files from DSHS to the system for import and to transfer exported files from the system to DSHS.

5 Respondents will describe, or attach a description in section 10.2, the system’s ability to import and export data and to interface with other systems.

5 Security and Auditability Requirements

1 Security – Describe, or attach a document in Section 10.3 that describes the security features provided, including the hosting environment itself, the security of the application and client’s data, and the transmission of data between the client and the hosting environment.

2 Does the software system have a method of logging changes to data, who made them and when they were made (i.e., an audit trail)?

6 Compliance with Standards and Regulations

1 Does the application support current Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requirements? Please specify methods.

2 Does the application conform to existing Disaster Recovery International Institute (DRII) and Business Continuity Institute (BCI), Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) formatting standards?

7 Start Up Requirements

1 The vendor shall provide training for 3 system administrators, and will provide the technical documentation required for performing all system administrative functions

2 The system must allow skilled DSHS staff who have received system administrator training to configure the system for use by DSHS without consultation beyond what is included in the maintenance and support offered by the vendor.

3 Startup will include transferring files containing current data from DSHS and importing them into the system.

4 The vendor shall provide end user training for up to 8 key users who will in turn train the remaining users, and will provide the training materials that can be copied for additional training and user guides for performing all end user functions.

5 Training provided by the vendor will be online and will require no travel of trainers or trainees

6 Respondents shall provide, or attach in Section 10.4 a copy of its training offerings.

7 The documentation referred to in this section must be available through online help and tutorials accessible by users through an internet connection or in MS Word or Acrobat PDF files that can be duplicated by DSHS as needed.

8 Maintenance and Support

1 Describe, or attach a document in Section 10.5 that describes the ongoing maintenance (change management) and support (problem management) to be provided.

2 Include any maintenance and support options (levels of support)

3 Include services levels for help desk if they are not already included in the SLA requested in section 5.1.5

4 Indicate whether help desk support includes responding to usage questions.

Contract Term, Pricing, Payments and Reimbursements

|Respond to every numbered requirement (statements numbered at outline level 3) in this section immediately following the requirement, complete the Price |

|Offer form. |

|A requirement with no response will be interpreted during initial evaluation as negative; the responder is unable to satisfy the requirement. |

1 Contract Term

1 The initial contract term will be for one year beginning on a mutually agreed date after the contract award date. This date is currently anticipated to be on or before February March 1, 2008. Upon mutual agreement of DSHS and the vendor, the contract may be renewed annually for up to four renewal periods of one year each.

2 Could the application be available within 5 working days of initiation of contract? If not, why and when would it be available?

3 If the contract is terminated or is not renewed, the vendor will provide access to the system for an amount of time that is sufficient for DSHS to extract its data using the vendors export tools defined in the system requirements.

4 Acceptance of a mutual confidentiality agreement will be required. Terms to be finalized during final negotiations with the apparent winner, if any.

2 Price Offer

1 Respondents shall enter their price Offer in the Price Offer form below.

2 Enter the first year costs – In formatting the Price Offer form, first year cost assumptions were made that are listed below. If the respondent’s price offer is based on other assumptions, the respondent shall describe those differences and make adjustments to the Price Offer form as needed.

• The price offer will be a fixed price offer for the first year

• Base pricing is by seat, with 30 as the number of seats required for the first year plus 3 Administrators (This is an estimate and may change before a contract is signed). This includes usage by both system administrators and system users, hosting and maintenance and support.

• Only 1 level of maintenance and support is offered

• The cost per seat does not vary based on the number of seats

• An unlimited number of read only users can access the system at no cost

• One time costs are limited to training, which can be priced on a per student or group basis and is the same for both system administrators and system users

• 3 System administrators and 8 key users will be trained by the vendor

• The number of users and trainees are estimates. Actual numbers will be determined before the contract is signed

• Unit prices are not estimates but the actual price for the first year

3 Enter the estimated costs for years 2 through 5. The assumptions for these costs are:

• The contract will be renewed for years 2 through 5

• All costs will be incorporated into the per seat cost.

• The number of seats will increase by 5 each year

• The per seat cost may vary from year to year

• The number of seats and the unit prices are estimates. Actual numbers will be determined at the time of contract renewal.

PRICE OFFER

|Request for Offer: | | |

|Company Name: | |

|Pricing Contact Name: | |Title: | |

|Phone Number: | |Email: | |

1st Year Costs

|Qty |Description |Unit Price |Extended Price |

|30 |First year usage and maintenance cost, per seat | | |

|4 |Training per system administrator or user | | |

|Total | | | |

2nd through 5th year Cost Estimates

|Qty |Description |Unit Price |Extended Price |

|35 |2nd year usage and maintenance cost, per seat | | |

|40 |3rd year usage and maintenance cost, per seat | | |

|45 |4th year usage and maintenance cost, per seat | | |

|50 |5th year usage and maintenance cost, per seat | | |

|Total | | | |

3 Payments

1 The 1st year payment will be authorized by DSHS after access to the system is provided, system administrator and end user training is complete, and DSHS has had an additional time period of no more than ten work days to verify the functionality of the system. Payment will be made upon subsequent receipt of an invoice for the authorized amount.

VENDOR QUALIFICATIONS

|Respond to every numbered requirement (statements numbered at outline level 3) in this section immediately following the requirement, complete the |

|reference form for each reference |

|A requirement with no response will be interpreted during evaluation as unfavorable to the ability of the Respondent to provide the services requested in |

|this RFO. |

1 Company Qualifications

1 Provide an overview of your company including a description of its lines of business, its primary products and services, its size in terms of employees and markets, the number of years in business, and the customer sets to whom you market your goods and services. Include related products and services that you offer that support your expertise in providing the offered service.

2 Describe the growth of the client base. Include the date the first external client began using the system and the growth (or decline) since that time. Describe the diversity of the client base in terms of lines of business and number of users.

3 Describe the evolution of the service being offered, the major releases and increases in capability over time.

2 References

1 Provide a list of 3 references that meet the following criteria, using the References Form that follows.

• All references must be clients who have contracted with the respondent to provide the service that is being requested in this RFO.

• At least one reference shall be a client that is diverse and needs multiple department level business continuity plans for a governmental entity.

• At least one reference shall be for a client for whom implementation has been completed and has been in full operation for a significant period of time (at least 6 months)

2 DSHS reserves the right to contact any known customers of the respondent for references.

3 References Form

1 Complete a copy of this form for each of the 3 references

|Client Company Name and Address | |

|Contact’s Name and Position | |

|Contact’s Telephone Number and Email Address | |

|Brief description of the client’s business including business volumes.| |

|Other relevant products and services that you are providing to this | |

|client | |

|Timeframe of the engagement and the current status. | |

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

|A response to a statement in the terms and conditions document is required only if the respondent objects to the statement. |

|To object to a term or condition, paste a copy of it below these instructions and enter the objection. |

|No response will be interpreted to mean that the respondent accepts the terms and condition. |

Refer to the Terms and Conditions document posted on the Electronic State Business Daily with this Request for Offers

GLOSSARY

|Respondents shall retain the glossary in their response and may add terms they wish to define |

| |

|CMBL |The Central Master Bidders List is a database used by State of Texas purchasing entities to develop a mailing list for vendors to |

| |receive bids based on the products or services they can provide to the State of Texas. For more information, go to the Texas |

| |Procurement and Support Services (TPASS) web site at window.state.tx.us/procurement. |

|DSHS |The Texas (Department of State Health Services) |

|ECPS |ECPS (Enterprise Contracts and Procurement Services) is the organization within the Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) that |

| |is administering this solicitation. |

|Electronic State |The state procurement section of the Texas Marketplace, described in Texas Government Code, Section 2155.083, where state agency |

|Business Daily |procurement opportunities over $25,000 are posted, i.e., where this RFO is posted. For further information visit the Electronic State|

| |Business Daily web site at: |

|HHSC |The Texas (Health and Human Services Commission) |

|HUB |A HUB (Historically Underutilized Business) is an entity with its principal place of business in Texas, and is at least 51% owned by |

| |an Asian Pacific American, Black American, Hispanic American, Native American and/or American woman who reside in Texas and have a |

| |proportionate interest and demonstrate active participation in the control, operations and management of the entity's affairs. For |

| |more information, go to the TPASS HUB web site at: window.state.tx.us/procurement/prog/hub/ |

|RFO |Request for Offer – a form of solicitation document |

|Solicitation |A document requesting submittal of offers for goods or services in accordance with the advertised specifications. |

|Vendor |An individual or business entity that offers goods or services to the state for sale, lease, lease-purchase, or contract. In this |

| |RFO, the term Respondent is used to refer to the vendor who is responding to this RFO |

|Business process |An organized set of activities (which break down into tasks) that are performed for the purpose of achieving a specific set of |

| |business purposes or objectives. |

|Authentication |Process by which a secure system verifies the identity of someone or something that is attempting to gain access. The use of digital |

| |certificates or secure tokens in conjunction with a challenge phrase or password are common examples. |

|Authorization |Permission associated with accessing functions or subsets of data. Generally, an administrator will define the users who are |

| |authorized to access an application functions or data. |

|Data Migration |Data Migration refers to the process of transferring some or all of the data from files and databases used by the system being |

| |replaced to those of the system being implemented. This includes converting the data from the format of the old database to the |

| |format of the new. It also includes what is commonly referred to as Data Conversion, which involves changing the content of data to |

| |fit the new system. For example, data in the old system that divides the country by states needs to be converted for the new system |

| |that divides the country by zip codes. |

|ICS |Incident Command Management- the system used for commanding, controlling and coordinating the efforts of individual agencies as they |

| |work towards the common goal of stabilizing an emergency in an effort to protect life, property and the environment. |

|IT |Information Technology – both the hardware and software that are used to stored, retrieve, and manipulate information. |

RESPONDENT ATTACHMENTS

|Include the documents in this section that were requested previously in this RFO. If a document is not available in MS Word Form, paste a scanned copy of |

|the document in the appropriate section. |

| |

|Respondents may attach additional documents if they choose to do so. Create a Header 2 for each document added. |

1 Service Level Agreement

2 Import / Export Features

3 Security Features

4 Training Offerings

5 Maintenance and Support

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