IT Sourcing Event Template

STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL NO. 24-RQ150385-KR
North Carolina Department of Public Contract Name:
Instruction College Readiness Assessments
Division of Standards, Accountability, and
Research Bid Opening Date: October 7, 2026
Issue Date: September 4, 2026
Refer ALL inquiries regarding this RFP to:
Commodity Code:811620-Cloud-based software as a
service
Krystle Rice
Purchasing Agency: Department of Public Instruction
procurement@dpi.nc.gov
Requisition No. RQ150385
OFFER
The Purchasing Agency solicits offers for Services and/or goods described in this solicitation. All offers and
responses received shall be treated as Offers to contract as defined in 9 NCAC 06A.0102(12).
EXECUTION
In compliance with this Request for Proposal (RFP), and subject to all the conditions herein, the undersigned
offers and agrees to furnish any or all Services or goods upon which prices are offered, at the price(s) offered
herein, within the time specified herein.
Failure to execute/sign offer prior to submittal shall render offer invalid. Late offers are not acceptable.
OFFEROR:
STREET ADDRESS: P.O. BOX: ZIP:
CITY, STATE & ZIP: TELEPHONE NUMBER: TOLL FREE TEL. NO
NAME & TITLE OF PERSON SIGNING: FAX NUMBER:
AUTHORIZED SIGNATURE: DATE: E-MAIL:
Offer valid for three hundred sixty (360) days from date of offer opening unless otherwise stated here: ____ days
ACCEPTANCE OF OFFER
If any or all parts of this offer are accepted, an authorized representative of Purchasing Agency Krystle Rice shall
affix its signature hereto and any subsequent Request for Best and Final Offer, if issued. Acceptance shall create
a contract having an order of precedence as follows: Best and Final Offers, if any, Special terms and conditions
specific to this RFP, Agency terms and conditions, Specifications of the RFP, the Department of Information
Technology Terms and Conditions, and the agreed portion of the awarded Vendor's Offer. A copy of this acceptance
will be forwarded to the awarded Vendor(s).
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FOR DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION USE ONLY
Offer accepted and contract awarded (Effective Date)
By:
Maurice Green, Superintendent of Public Instruction
(Authorized representative of NC Department of Public Instruction),
By:
Alexis Schauss, Chief Financial Officer of Public
Instruction (Authorized representative of NC
Department of Public Instruction)
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Table of Contents
1.0 ANTICIPATED Procurement Schedule ....................................................................................... 5
2.0 Purpose of RFP ........................................................................................................................... 6
2.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 6
2.2 Agency Background ................................................................................................................ 6
2.3 SUMMARY OF PROBLEM Statement .................................................................................... 6
2.4 Contract Term ......................................................................................................................... 6
2.5 Effective Date ......................................................................................................................... 7
2.6 Contract Type ......................................................................................................................... 7
3.0 RFP requirements and Specifications ......................................................................................... 7
3.1 General requirements and Specifications ............................................................................... 7
3.2 Security Specifications ............................................................................................................ 8
3.3 Enterprise Specifications ...................................................................................................... 10
3.3.1 ARCHITECTURE DIAGRAMS ............................................................................................... 11
3.3.2 SOLUTION ROADMAP .......................................................................................................... 11
3.3.3 IDENTITY AND ACCESS MANAGEMENT ............................................................................ 11
3.3.4 INTEGRATION APPROACH .................................................................................................. 12
3.3.5 DISASTER RECOVERY AND BUSINESS CONTINUITY ...................................................... 12
3.3.6 DATA MIGRATION ................................................................................................................. 13
3.3.7 Data Exchange ....................................................................................................................... 13
3.3.8 APPLICATION MANAGEMENT ............................................................................................. 13
3.3.9 ACCESSIBILITY ..................................................................................................................... 13
3.4 Technical Specifications ....................................................................................................... 14
3.4.1 Assessment ........................................................................................................................ 14
3.4.1.2 Content Alignment ........................................................................................................... 14
3.4.1.3 State-specific website ...................................................................................................... 14
3.4.1.4 Configurations .................................................................................................................. 14
3.4.1.5 Technology Readiness .................................................................................................... 14
3.4.1.6 Test registration system ................................................................................................... 14
3.4.2 Assessment Administration ................................................................................................. 15
3.4.3 Security ............................................................................................................................... 17
3.4.4 Access ............................................................................................................................... 17
3.4.5 Reporting and Analytics ...................................................................................................... 17
3.4.6 Data Management .............................................................................................................. 18
3.4.7 Service Level ...................................................................................................................... 19
3.4.8 User Experience ................................................................................................................. 20
3.4.9 Quality Assurance ............................................................................................................... 20
3.4.10 Project Management ......................................................................................................... 21
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3.4.11 Artificial Intelligence (AI) ................................................................................................... 21
3.4.12 Training ............................................................................................................................. 21
3.4.14 Change Management ....................................................................................................... 23
3.4.19 Grade Eight Diagnostic Test ............................................................................................. 25
4.0 Cost of Vendor's Offer ............................................................................................................... 25
4.1 Offer Costs ........................................................................................................................... 25
4.2 Payment Schedule ................................................................................................................ 25
5.0 Evaluation ................................................................................................................................. 25
5.1 Source Selection................................................................................................................... 25
5.2 Evaluation Criteria ................................................................................................................ 26
5.3 Best and Final Offers (BAFO) ............................................................................................... 26
5.4 POSSESSION AND REVIEW .............................................................................................. 26
6.0 Vendor Information and Instructions ......................................................................................... 26
6.1 General Conditions of Offer .................................................................................................. 26
6.2 General Instructions for Vendor ............................................................................................ 28
6.3 Instructions for Offer Submission .......................................................................................... 30
7.0 Other Requirements and Special Terms ................................................................................... 32
7.1 Vendor Utilization Of Workers Outside of U.S. ..................................................................... 32
7.2 Financial Statements ............................................................................................................ 32
7.3 Financial Resources Assessment, Quality Assurance, Performance and Reliability ............ 33
7.4 Vendor's License or Support Agreements ............................................................................ 33
7.5 Resellers ............................................................................................................................... 33
7.6 DISCLOSURE OF LITIGATION............................................................................................ 33
7.7 CRIMINAL CONVICTION ..................................................................................................... 34
7.8 Security and Background Checks ......................................................................................... 34
7.9 Assurances ........................................................................................................................... 34
7.10 Confidentiality of offers ............................................................................................................ 35
7.11 Project Management ............................................................................................................... 35
7.12 Meetings .................................................................................................................................. 35
7.13 Recycling and Source Reduction ............................................................................................ 35
7.14 Special Terms and Conditions ................................................................................................. 36
7.15 AGENCY Terms and Conditions ............................................................................................. 36
Attachment A: Definitions .................................................................................................................... 37
Attachment B: Department of Information Technology Terms and Conditions.................................... 39
Attachment c: Description of Offeror ................................................................................................... 63
Attachment d: Cost Form .................................................................................................................... 64
Attachment e: Vendor Certification Form ............................................................................................ 66
Attachment F: Location of Workers Utilized by Vendor - Disclosure Statement .................................. 67
Attachment G: References .................................................................................................................. 69
Attachment H: Financial Review Form ................................................................................................ 70
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1.0 ANTICIPATED PROCUREMENT SCHEDULE
The Agency Procurement Agent will make every effort to adhere to the following schedule:
Action Responsibility Date
RFP Issued Agency September 4, 2026
Written Questions Deadline Potential Vendors September 14, 2026
Agency's Response to Written Agency September 21, 2026
Questions/
RFP Addendum Issued
Offer Opening Deadline Vendor(s) October 7, 2026
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Offer Evaluation Agency TBD
Selection of Finalists Agency TBD
Oral Presentations and/or Product Selected Vendors TBD
Demonstrations by Finalists (Optional)
Negotiations with Finalists Agency designees and selected TBD
Vendor(s)
Best and Final Offers Deadline from Selected Vendors TBD
Finalists
Contract Award Agency TBD
Protest Deadline Responding Vendors 15 days after award
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2.0 PURPOSE OF RFP
2.1 INTRODUCTION
The purpose of this RFP is to solicit offers through a competitive bid process as required by North Carolina
General Statutes (NCGS) for a nationally norm-referenced college admissions test for all students in the
eleventh grade ( 115C-174.11(c)(4)), a diagnostic test in the tenth grade that aligns to the nationally norm-
referenced college admissions test ( 115C 174.22), and a diagnostic test in the eighth grade that aligns
to the nationally norm referenced college admissions test adopted by the State Board through the

competitive bid process pursuant to 115C-174.22. The nationally normed test of college readiness
contributes to school level achievement scores in the State's accountability model ( 115C-83.15(b)(2)e).
As such, the requirements and specifications set forth in this RFP contemplate the use of these scores to
determine school-level performance grades as part of the State's accountability model as well as individual
student performance.
Proposals shall be submitted in accordance with the terms and conditions of this RFP and any addenda
issued hereto.
2.2 AGENCY BACKGROUND
The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI) is charged with implementing the State's
public-school laws for pre-kindergarten through 12th grade
public schools at the direction of the State Board of Education and the Superintendent of Public Instruction.
The Offices of Accountability and Testing promote the academic achievement of all North Carolina
public school students and assist stakeholders in understanding and gauging this achievement
against state and national standards. The purpose of this mission is three-fold: the design and
development of reliable and valid assessments, uniform implementation of and access to suitable
assessment instruments for all students, and the provision of statistically accurate reports.
2.3 SUMMARY OF PROBLEM STATEMENT
Schools and students need the ability to determine if they are on track to be remediation-free at a
community college or university. The NCDPI is seeking assessment tools that will allow students and
schools to make that determination. The NCDPI seeks vendors who can provide (through a Software-as-
a-Service solution) a nationally norm-referenced college admissions test to all students in the eleventh
grade, a diagnostic test for students in the tenth grade that aligns to the nationally norm-referenced
college admissions test to help assist with their community college or university readiness determination
and a diagnostic test in the eighth grade that aligns to the nationally norm-referenced college admissions
test.
For the purpose of this RFP, an assessment is defined as the tests (paper or online) and platform for
operation, delivery and reporting.
2.4 CONTRACT TERM
A contract awarded pursuant to this RFP shall have an effective date as provided in the Notice of Award.
The term shall be five (5) year(s) and will expire upon the end of the contract term unless otherwise stated
in the Notice of Award, or unless terminated earlier. The State retains the option to extend the Agreement
for two (2) additional one (1) year periods at its sole discretion.
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2.5 EFFECTIVE DATE
This solicitation, including any Exhibits, or any resulting contract or amendment shall not become effective
nor bind the State until the appropriate State purchasing authority/official or Agency official has signed the
document(s), contract or amendment; the effective award date has been completed on the document(s), by
the State purchasing official, and that date has arrived or passed. The State shall not be responsible for
reimbursing the Vendor for goods provided nor Services rendered prior to the appropriate signatures and the
arrival of the effective date of the Agreement. No contract shall be binding on the State until an encumbrance
of funds has been made for payment of the sums due under the Agreement.
2.6 CONTRACT TYPE
Indefinite Quantity Agency Specific Contract - Pursuant to 9 NCAC 6B.0701, this solicitation will establish
an indefinite quantity agency specific contract between a Vendor and the State. The quantity of Goods or
Services that may be used by the State is undetermined. An estimated quantity based on history or other
means may be used as a guide but shall not be a representation by the State of any anticipated purchase
volume under any contract made pursuant to this solicitation.
The State reserves the right to make partial, progressive or multiple awards where it is advantageous to
award separately by functional areas, where more than one supplier is needed to best meet the State's
overall needs.
3.0 RFP REQUIREMENTS AND SPECIFICATIONS
3.1 GENERAL REQUIREMENTS AND SPECIFICATIONS
3.1.1 REQUIREMENTS
Requirement means, as used herein, a function, feature, or performance that the System must
provide. If the offer cannot meet the requirements, they will not be evaluated.
3.1.2 SPECIFICATIONS
Specification means, as used herein, a detailed description that documents the function and
performance of a system or system component.
The apparent silence of the specifications as to any detail, or the apparent omission of detailed
description concerning any point, shall be regarded as meaning that only the best commercial practice
is to prevail and that only processes, configurations, materials and workmanship of the first quality
may be used. Upon any notice of noncompliance provided by the State, Vendor shall supply proof of
compliance with the specifications. Vendor must provide written notice of its intent to deliver alternate
or substitute Services, products, goods or other Deliverables. Alternate or substitute Services,
products, goods or Deliverables may be accepted or rejected in the sole discretion of the State; and
any such alternates or substitutes must be accompanied by Vendor's certification and evidence
satisfactory to the State that the function, characteristics, performance and endurance will be equal
or superior to the original Deliverables specified.
3.1.3 SITE AND SYSTEM PREPARATION
Vendors shall provide the Purchasing State Agency complete site requirement specifications for the
Deliverables, if any. These specifications shall ensure that the Deliverables to be installed or
implemented shall operate properly and efficiently within the site and system environment. Any
alterations or modifications in site preparation, which are directly attributable to incomplete or
erroneous specifications provided by the Vendor and which would involve additional expenses to the
State, shall be made at the expense of the Vendor.
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3.1.4 EQUIVALENT ITEMS
Whenever a material, article or piece of equipment is identified in the specification(s) by reference to
a manufacturer's or Vendor's name, trade name, catalog number or similar identifier, it is intended to
establish a standard for determining substantial conformity during evaluation, unless otherwise
specifically stated as a brand specific requirement (no substitute items will be allowed). Any material,
article or piece of equipment of other manufacturers or Vendors shall perform to the standard of the
item named. Equivalent offers must be accompanied by sufficient descriptive literature and/or
specifications to provide for detailed comparison.
3.1.5 ENTERPRISE LICENSING
In offering the best value to the State, Vendors are encouraged to leverage the State's existing
resources and license agreements, which can be viewed here:
https://it.nc.gov/resources/statewide-it-procurement/statewide-it-contracts
a) Identify components or products that are needed for your solution that may not be available
with the State's existing license agreement.
b) Identify and explain any components that are missing from the State's existing license
agreement.
c) If the Vendor can provide a more cost-effective licensing agreement, please explain in detail
the agreement and how it would benefit the State.
3.2 SECURITY SPECIFICATIONS
3.2.1 SOLUTIONS HOSTED ON STATE INFRASTRUCTURE
RESERVED
3.2.2 SOLUTIONS NOT HOSTED ON STATE INFRASTRUCTURE
NCDPI has designated this solicitation to receive and securely manage data that is classified
as:
X Restricted - Restricted data represents the highest risk to the State, State Agencies, and
constituents if it is disclosed or compromised. This information is likely to be regulated by State or
Federal law, and access to it is restricted to a limited audience (e.g., State and Federal Tax Information
[FTI], Payment Card data, Protected Health Information [PHI], Criminal Justice Information [CJI], Social
Security Administration provided information, etc.)
Confidential - Includes information that is limited to a small audience with a need-to-know or
legitimate business case (e.g., State employee personnel records, trade secrets, student records,
sensitive public security information, etc.). If exposed to unauthorized parties, data from this category
will cause high impact consequences such as regulatory fines, inability to recruit talent, loss of
confidence, and/or damage to vendor relationships. This is not a complete list and is subject to
legislative changes.
Internal - This is information typically used within the agency and not for public sharing.
Most documents are classified as Internal within the organization, and most State employees would
have access. This type of data, if exposed to unauthorized parties, would have a very limited impact on
an agency's reputation, compliance requirements or ability to achieve strategic goals. Internally
classified data does not contain direct identifiers. Often, the effects of the loss of data can be
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recognized in very subtle ways and may not lead to clear negative consequences causing confusion
due to lack of context or minor reputational harm.
Public - Data that is open to public inspection according to state and federal law, or readily
available through public sources.
Refer to the North Carolina Statewide Data Classification and Handling policy for more
information regarding data classification. The policy is located at the following website:
https://it.nc.gov/document/statewide-data-classification-and-handling-policy.
To comply with the State's Security Standards and Policies, State agencies are required to
perform annual security/risk assessments on their information systems using NIST 800-53
controls.
This requirement additionally applies to all Vendor-provided, agency-managed Infrastructure as
a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Software as a Service (SaaS) solutions
which will handle data classified as Internal, Confidential, or Restricted.
(a) To comply with the State's Security Standards and Policies, cloud products
are required to comply with applicable FedRAMP or GovRAMP security requirements,
including but not limited to, continuous monitoring, incident response, and data
classification as outlined in GovRAMP documentation.
(b) To streamline and standardize this requirement the State has adopted GovRAMP which is
a Risk and Authorization Management Program that provides a standardized approach to
security assessment, authorization, and continuous monitoring for cloud products and
services. GovRAMP's security verification model is based on NIST 800-53 Rev. 5 (or
current).
(c) The required GovRAMP verified status will depend on the sensitivity of the data and
processes supported by the solution as defined in the Statewide Data Classification and
Handling Policy.
(d) For purposes of this solicitation, in accordance with the North Carolina Department of
Information Technology Statewide Information Security Manual, a GovRAMP verified
status of Restricted is required. At offer submission, if the protected system does not
currently hold a validated GovRAMP status, the Vendor will be required to provide their
GovRAMP Security Snapshot Score and upon request, the complete Snapshot Matrix. If
awarded the contract, Vendor shall have an interim period from the effective date of the
contract to achieve the verified GovRAMP status outlined above. The interim time periods
for each data classification that requires a verified status are further described below. The
Vendor shall provision access to the State to their continuous monitoring packages at a
standard access level within fourteen (14) days of contract award, and seven (7) days of
any subsequent GovRAMP status changes
a. Public - For third-party cloud services where the highest category of information to be
processed is Public data, the Vendor must submit an updated score for the product
annually throughout the contract duration that meets or exceeds the original score at
time of contract award. Products with GovRAMP Core, Ready, Authorized or
Provisionally Authorized statuses or FedRAMP Rev. 5 authorization also satisfy the
security requirement.
b. Internal - For third-party cloud services where the highest category of information to
be processed is Internal data, the Vendor must either achieve the status of
GovRAMP Core prior to award, or agree to achieve GovRAMP Core status within an
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interim time period, no later than twelve (12) months from the effective date of the
contract.
c. Confidential - For third-party cloud services where the highest category of
information to be processed is Confidential data, the Vendor must either achieve a
status of GovRAMP Ready, or agree to achieve GovRAMP Ready status no later
than fifteen (15) months from the effective date of the contract.
d. Restricted - For third-party cloud services where the highest category of information
to be processed is Restricted Data, the Vendor must either achieve a status of
GovRAMP Authorized, or agree to achieve GovRAMP Authorized status no later
than twenty-one (21) months from the effective date of the contract.
Upon contract award, Vendors who submitted a GovRAMP Security Snapshot Score will be
required to enroll in the GovRAMP Progressing Snapshot program prior to any data being
transferred, stored or processed. The Vendor must complete their first Progressing Snapshot
within ninety (90) days of award, with the expectation that progress will be made on a quarterly
basis and access to progress reports must be provisioned to the State. Products must maintain
their participation in the Progressing Snapshot program and continued access to progress
reports must be provisioned to the State until such time that they have achieved the minimum
verified status outlined above. The State will review the Vendor's progress on a quarterly basis
and, in its sole discretion, may determine that the Vendor is not making satisfactory progress in
the Progressing Snapshot program. Satisfactory progress shall be a material requirement of the
contract.
(e) If the Vendor holds a FedRAMP Rev. 5 authorization at time of award, this authorization
can be accepted in lieu of a GovRAMP authorization. Authorizations obtained via the
FedRAMP 20x Pilot Program will not be permitted.
If the Vendor's cloud product currently holds a FedRAMP Authorized designation, at the time of
award, the State may require the Vendor to initiate and actively pursue, within thirty (30) days of
award, the GovRAMP Fast Track Process, to achieve a GovRAMP Provisionally Authorized or
Authorized status in order to satisfy Statewide continuous monitoring requirements.
(c) Additional Security Documentation. Prior to contract award, the State may in its discretion require the
Vendor to provide additional security documentation, including but not limited to, vulnerability assessment
reports and penetration test reports. The awarded Vendor shall provide additional security documentation upon
request by the State during the term of the contract.
Refer to: https://it.nc.gov/documents/statewide-glossary-information-technology-terms for descriptions of the
Application Criticality categories.
Refer to: http://nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/FIPS/NIST.FIPS.199.pdf for descriptions of NIST system
confidentiality, integrity, and availability categories.
3.3 ENTERPRISE SPECIFICATIONS
Agencies and vendors should refer to the Vendor Resources Page for information on North
Carolina Information Technology enterprise services, security policies and practices, architectural
requirements, and enterprise contracts. The Vendor Resources Page can be found at the following
link: https://it.nc.gov/vendor-engagement-resources. This site provides vendors with statewide
information and links referenced throughout the RFP document. Agencies may request additional
information.
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