Cloud Solution Provider Services

The Ohio Benefits Program provides support to millions of Ohioans through programs administered through the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (“ODJFS”), the Ohio Department of Medicaid (“ODM”), and the Ohio Department of Children and Youth (“DCY”), including Cash Assistance, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance, Child Care, and Medicaid services. Through this Request for Qualifications (“RFQ”), the State of Ohio (“State”), through the Department of Administrative Services, is seeking information and guidance from established and experienced cloud service suppliers that best aligns with the needs of the Ohio Benefits Program.

As a portion of the Ohio Benefits Program technical refresh, the State is seeking to transition to a cloud based solution that will provide great resiliency and high availability. The Ohio Benefits system must be hosted in the State’s tenant. In issuing this RFQ, the State is seeking to better understand the core cloud capabilities as well as additional cloud capabilities that the State may be able to utilize in the future. Following evaluation of all submitted responses, it is the State’s intent to identify a cloud service provider that will be utilized to host the Ohio Benefits system in the cloud in the future. Responses will only be accepted from enterprise focused cloud computing platform owners that provide infrastructure or platform as a service (IaaS or PaaS) that either 1) Have a current Master Cloud Services Agreement with the State, or 2) can demonstrate compliance with State Supplement A State IT Policy, Standard and Service Requirements and the Data Security and Privacy Terms attached as Exhibits 1 and 2.

The State of Ohio - Department of Administrative Services (DAS) is is seeking information and guidance from established and experienced cloud service suppliers that best aligns with the needs of the Ohio Benefits Program.

Please be sure to include the state contract number in your proposal, if applicable.

If the supplier has a current contract with the State of Ohio, that contract applies to this solicitation. If not, a new contract, that includes the State Standard Terms and Conditions, must be entered into as a result of this solicitation.

If there is a license agreement and/or privacy policy, please attach a copy to your response.

Fulfillment of the questionnaire is required and will be considered as part of the response for evaluation.

Instructions for Supplement A (State IT Policy, Standard and Service Requirements) and Data Security and Privacy Terms

Supplement A Response – State IT Policy, Standard and Service Requirements: If the supplier does not already have a completed Supplement A for the proposed solution, the supplier must include a fully completed copy of Supplement A and follow the completion instructions contained in the supplement.

Data Security and Privacy Terms Response: The supplier must include the entire content of the Data Security and Privacy Terms* in a single section in its response.  The supplier must include a statement at the beginning of the section indicating that the supplier read, understands, and agrees to all of the terms and conditions contained in the Data Security and Privacy Terms.

All submitted responses will be evaluated based on the suppliers’ qualifications, including:
1. Technical expertise and capabilities;
2. Expertise and experience in implementing health and human services (such as Medicaid, SNAP and CASH) benefit eligibility determination;
3. Alignment with State enterprise capabilities;
4. Discount and incentive opportunities; and
5. Performance on previous projects (if applicable).

Selection will be based on the response that is determined to be most advantageous to the State for utilization in the Ohio Benefits system. Please note that the State reserves the right to independently verify data and responses.

Responses will only be accepted from enterprise focused cloud computing platform owners that provide infrastructure or platform as a service (IaaS or PaaS) that either:
1) have a current Master Cloud Services Agreement with the State, or;
2) can demonstrate compliance with State Supplement A State IT Policy, Standard and Service Requirements and the Data Security and Privacy Terms attached as Exhibits 1 and 2.

The State may reject any submitted response that is not in the required format or does not address the requirements of this RFQ. At the sole discretion of the State, the State may cancel this RFQ and seek to do the work through a new RFQ or other means.

All responders to this solicitation must be fully registered as a Supplier to do business with the State of Ohio.  Please follow all steps below to be fully registered.

To register as a Bidder, navigate to https://ohiobuys.ohio.gov and click the OhioBuys Log In and follow the instructions to sign in or create an account. Registering an OhioBuys account will allow you access to view and respond to solicitations in OhioBuys.

All suppliers should register as a Payee at https://ohiopays.ohio.gov/.  OhioPays is the system where businesses and individuals monitor payments and update their profile when needed.

Suppliers must be properly registered with the Ohio Secretary of State by navigating to https://www.ohiosos.gov/businesses/