DAS - IOP Contractors

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

RFP NUMBER: SRC0000021641

The State of Ohio, through the Department of Administrative Services, Office of Procurement Services, on behalf of the Department of Administrative Services, is issuing the following Request for Proposals (RFP):

Enterprise - IOP Contractors

Proposals received after the due date and time will not be evaluated.

This RFP consists of seven sections, eight parts, and three exhibits, totaling 69 consecutively numbered pages excluding the exhibits. Please verify that you have a complete copy of all documents.

Table of Contents

RFP Details

Section 1 Overview of Work

Section 2 Procurement Authority, RFP Overview, and Calendar of Events

Section 3 Instructions to Offeror

Section 4 Requirements for Proposals

Section 5 Evaluation Process

Section 6 Evaluation Metrics

Section 7 Contract Award

Contract

Part 1 Scope of Work

Part 2 Contract-Specific Terms and Conditions

Part 3 RFP-Specific Terms and Conditions

Part 4 Standard Terms and Conditions

Part 5 Reserved

Part 6 Reserved

Part 7 Required Forms

Part 8 Sample Contract

Exhibits to RFP and Contract

Exhibit 1 IOP PMO Methodology

Exhibit 2 Data Security and Privacy Terms

Exhibit 3 State IT Policy, Standard and Service Requirements

RFP DETAILS

Section 1 - Overview of Work

A. Term of Contract

Once awarded, the term of the Contract will be from the effective date stated in the Contract through June 30, 2025. The State may solely renew this Contract at its discretion for a period of one month. Any further renewals will be by mutual agreement between the Contractor and the State. The cumulative time of all mutual renewals may not exceed four years and each renewal is subject to and contingent upon the discretionary decision of the Ohio General Assembly to appropriate funds for this Contract in each new biennium. The State may renew all or part of this Contract subject to the satisfactory performance of the Contractor and the needs of the Agency.

B. Purpose and Background

The purpose of this RFP is to add additional pre-qualified Contractors to the existing pool of pre-qualified Contractors under contract #0A1337. The existing contract, #0A1337, is a contractual vehicle that satisfies statewide procurement requirements for the provision of consulting services for information technology projects and established a pre-qualified pool of Contractors that are eligible to respond to future Statement of Work (SOW) Solicitations (Projects) issued and awarded by DAS.

The State maintains several solutions that have been implemented to serve the core needs of the State Enterprise by way of common platforms that most, if not all, State agencies, boards, and commissions utilize daily in performing the “business of the State” – delivery of services, support and value to Ohioans and Ohio businesses. They include the State’s digital engagement platform known as the InnovateOhio Platform (IOP) that bridges the gap between the State and its constituents (customers) in a modern, digital, and mobile world. Over the past three years, the State, via Executive Order 2019-15D , has promoted a focus and priority of migrating and building State (both agency and enterprise) Identity (ID) and User Experience (UX) solutions on the IOP Customer Experience (CX) platform. IOP hosts a wide variety of solutions representing Statewide enterprise business and citizen-facing services and functions (e.g. ohio.gov, gateway.ohio.gov), as well those representing State agencies and their services (e.g. ohiomeansjobs.ohio.gov, transportation.ohio.gov).

The State seeks, via this competitive solicitation, to identify one or more Offerors that have the requisite skills, experience, and capabilities that continue to support the State in the design and creation of State Enterprise and State Agency websites. These websites foster better relationships between the State and citizens, businesses, service providers and suppliers that interact with or depend upon the State.

Projects will be solicited competitively via structured SOW Solicitations to pre-qualified Contractors that are awarded contracts as a result of this RFP. Details including requirements and additional terms and conditions will be part of each solicitation.

C. Scope of Work Overview

An overview of the Work is provided below. The scope of work and requirements are provided in greater detail within Part 1, Scope of Work.

The general scope of work to be executed under this contract is to migrate, or build, agency and State enterprise websites and front-end functions on the IOP CX platform. Contractors must utilize IOP Experience Principles, products, and tools to provide guidance on improving the user experience of agency websites and leveraging modern and industry standard UX best practices.

All Contractors executing Projects must follow the approach and methodologies detailed throughout Part 1 to this RFP.

D. Objectives

The State has the following objective that it wants this Work to fulfill, and it will be the Contractor’s obligation to ensure that the personnel the Contractor provides are qualified to perform their portions of the Work:

Add additional pre-qualified Contractors to the existing pool of pre-qualified Contractors awarded under contract #0A1337.

Section 2 – Procurement Authority, RFP Overview, and Calendar of Events

A. Procurement Authority and RFP Overview

This is a request for competitive sealed proposals (RFP) under Section 125.071 of the Ohio Revised Code (R.C.) and Section 123:5-1-08 of the Ohio Administrative Code (OAC). The State of Ohio, through the Department of Administrative Services (DAS), Office of Procurement Services, on behalf of the Department of Administrative Services (the Agency), is soliciting competitive sealed proposals (Proposals) for this IOP Contractors RFP.

If a suitable Proposal is made by an offeror (Offeror) in response to this RFP, the State of Ohio (State), through DAS, may enter into a contract (Contract). The selected Offeror (the Contractor) will perform all or part of the scope of work described in this RFP (the Work). This RFP provides details on what is required to submit a Proposal for the Work, how the State will evaluate the Proposals, and what will be required of the Contractor in performing the Work.

B. Schedule of Events

The schedule of events for the RFP process and Work is provided in the solicitation general information section in OhioBuys for this RFP. The State may change this schedule at any time. If the State changes the schedule before the Proposal due date, it will post an amendment to this RFP in the OhioBuys public portal. It is each Offeror’s responsibility to monitor the OhioBuys public portal for current information regarding this RFP. Offerors must not contact Agency staff or DAS (except as provided in this RFP) until the Contract award is announced.

There are references in this RFP to the Proposal due date. Unless it is clearly stated to the contrary, any such reference means the date and time that the Proposals are due.

Proposals received after 1:00 p.m. on the Proposal due date will not be evaluated. Any failure to meet a deadline or any objection to the dates for performance of the Work may result in the State refusing to consider a Proposal.

Section 3 – Instructions to Offeror

A. Introduction to General Instructions

The following sections provide details on how to get more information about this RFP and how to respond to this RFP. All responses must be complete and in the prescribed format.

B. Contacts

During the performance of the Work, a State representative (Agency Representative) will represent the Agency and be the primary contact for matters relating to the Work. The Agency Representative will be designated in writing after the Contract award.

C. Inquiries

Offerors may not contact the State directly at any time during the solicitation process, however Offerors may make inquiries regarding this RFP any time during the inquiry period listed in the Calendar of Events.

To make an inquiry, Offerors must login to OhioBuys, navigate to the solicitation, open the Inquiry tab and submit their inquiry. Offerors will not receive a personalized e-mail response to their question, nor will they receive notification when the question has been answered. Offerors may view inquiries and responses on the OhioBuys Public Solicitations page by opening the Solicitation Overview and navigating to the inquiries section of that page.

Offerors are to base their proposal responses, and the details and costs of their proposed projects, on the requirements and performance expectations established in this RFP.

The State is under no obligation to acknowledge questions submitted through the Q&A process if those questions are not in accordance with these instructions or deadlines. The State does not consider questions asked during the inquiry period through the inquiry process as exceptions to the requirements or the terms and conditions of this RFP.

The State will try to respond to all inquiries within three business days of receipt, excluding State holidays. The State will not respond to any inquiries received after 8:00 a.m. on the inquiry end date. The State will use its discretion in deciding whether to provide responses as part of this RFP process. Responses to inquiries are not considered changes to the RFP.

D. Restrictions on Communication

Other than the communication options described in this RFP, Offerors must not make unsolicited contact with any elected official or office of the State, any staff member of DAS or the Agency, or any agent or representative of DAS or the Agency, regarding this RFP. Offerors must not represent themselves to anyone as having the endorsement of the Agency or the State, nor as the Agency’s next supplier of the Work. For contractors currently doing business with the Agency, any communication regarding this RFP is prohibited except as provided for in this RFP. Any such unauthorized contact may result in an Offeror being disqualified from further consideration under this RFP. The State will not discuss the particulars of this RFP process with external parties.

E. Reserved

F. Reserved

G. Amendments to this RFP

If the State decides to revise this RFP before the Proposal due date, an amendment will be issued in OhioBuys as a new round. If an Offeror has submitted a Proposal prior to an amendment being issued and wishes to be considered, the Offeror must resubmit their Proposal in response to the latest round of the RFP. Proposals submitted in response to amended RFPs prior to the most recent amendment will not be opened or evaluated. The State may issue amendments any time before Proposals are due, and it is each prospective Offeror’s responsibility to check for amendments and other current information regarding this RFP.

Unless otherwise stated in the notice by the State, modifications and withdrawals must be submitted within OhioBuys prior to the end date of the amendment response period. If this RFP provides for a negotiation phase, this procedure will not apply to changes negotiated during that phase. Any modification that is broader in scope than the State has authorized may be rejected and treated as a withdrawal of the Offeror’s Proposal.

H. Proposal Submittal

Each Offeror must submit a technical proposal and a cost proposal as separate sections of its Proposal before the opening time on the Proposal due date and pursuant to the instructions in Section 4.

Each section must be submitted in its own separate, electronic submission as indicated by the solicitation questionnaire. The submission with the technical proposal will be electronically sealed (the electronic envelope), and the submission with the cost proposal will be separately electronically sealed (the electronic envelope).

Each requirement of a Proposal represents only a part of the total basis for a decision to award the Contract, and a failure by an Offeror to make a required submission or meet a Mandatory Requirement normally will result in a rejection of that Proposal. The value assigned to each requirement is used to determine which Proposal is the most advantageous to the State in relation to the other Proposals received. It is not a basis for determining the importance of meeting that requirement.

Offerors must submit their Proposals electronically in OhioBuys before the noted time on the Proposal due date. OhioBuys will not allow submission or modification to a submission after the deadline. An Offeror submitting an electronic Proposal must allow for adequate time for uploading a Proposal prior to the due date and time. Technical difficulties experienced by the Offeror will not be an exception.

Each Offeror must carefully review the requirements of this RFP and the contents of its Proposal. Once opened, Proposals cannot be altered or withdrawn, except as allowed by this RFP.

The State is not responsible for the accuracy of any information regarding this RFP that was gathered through a source other than the inquiry process described in the RFP.

The State may reject any Proposal if the Offeror takes exception to the terms and conditions of this RFP, includes unacceptable assumptions or conditions in its Proposal, fails to comply with the procedure for participating in the RFP process, or fails to meet any requirement of this RFP. The State also may reject any Proposal it believes is not in its interest to accept, cancel this RFP, or decide not to award a Contract to any or all of the Offerors responding to this RFP.

Offerors may not prepare or modify their Proposals on State premises.

All Proposals and other material that Offerors submit will become the property of the State and may be returned only at the State's option. All Proposals will be open to the public after the State has awarded the Contract.

The State will retain all Proposals, or a copy of them, as part of the Contract file for at least 3 years. After the three-year retention period, the State may return, destroy, or otherwise dispose of the Proposals and any copies of them.

The State is not responsible for any costs an Offeror incurs in responding to this RFP or from participating in the evaluation process or negotiations process (if any), regardless of whether the State awards the Contract through this process, decides not to go forward with the Contract award, cancels this RFP for any reason, or contracts for the Work through some other process or through another RFP.

I. Rejection of Proposals Generally

The State may reject any Proposal for the reasons listed in this RFP, that fails to comply with the procedure for participating in the RFP process, that fails to meet the RFP requirements, or that is not in the State’s interest to consider or to accept. In addition, the State may cancel this RFP, reject all Proposals, and seek to do the Work through a new RFP or by other means.

J. Exceptions

The State may reject any Proposal if the Offeror takes exception to the terms and conditions of the Contract or includes unacceptable assumptions or conditions in its Proposal.

K. Proprietary Information

As set forth in Ohio Administrative Code 123:5-1-07 and 123:5-1-08, if an Offeror includes in its Proposal information it considers exempt from disclosure in a public records request, it must submit a redacted version of any document containing such information, as further described in this paragraph.  Offerors must only redact (black out) the specific language that is exempt from disclosure pursuant to the Ohio Public Records Act.  Examples of actions that are not acceptable for the protection of information in a Proposal include: (a) redaction of sections in their entirety simply because they may contain some information exempt from disclosure pursuant to the Ohio Public Records Act; (b) inclusion of a blanket confidentiality or copyright notice anywhere in the Proposal; and (c) redaction of the cost proposal in its entirety.  Prices, makes, models, catalog numbers of the items offered, deliveries, and terms of payment will be available for public inspection regardless of any designation to the contrary.

In addition to the redacted document(s), Offerors must submit a list of each redaction, using the Offeror Redaction Justification Form (Form 7j) in Part 7, with a detailed legal explanation for each redaction to demonstrate that the redacted information is protected under the Ohio Public Records Act.  A blanket statement that all redactions are exempt from disclosure pursuant to the Ohio Public Records Act and/or the Uniform Trade Secrets Act is not a sufficient explanation.  The redacted version(s) must be submitted as an electronic copy in a searchable PDF format.  The redacted version(s) and accompanying explanation, as submitted, will be available for inspection and released in response to public records requests.

The Offeror agrees to indemnify the State, DAS, and the Agency for any court costs, statutory damages, attorney fees, or other award issued against the State, DAS, or the Agency for any violation of the Ohio Public Records Act resulting from the State, DAS, or the Agency providing the Offeror’s redacted version of its Proposal in response to a public records request.

By not submitting a redacted version of the Proposal with accompanying explanation, an Offeror consents to the release of the original Proposal submission in response to a public records request. If redacted version(s) with the accompanying explanation are not submitted, or if an improperly redacted version or insufficient explanation is submitted, the State will advise the Offeror in writing what portions of the Proposal are subject to disclosure in response to public records requests.

L. Changes to Proposals

The State will allow modifications of Proposals only if the State receives them before the Proposal due date. No modifications will be permitted after the Proposal due date, except as authorized by this RFP.

M. Offeror Warranties

By submitting a Proposal, the Offeror acknowledges it has read this RFP, understands it, and agrees to be bound by the requirements of this RFP.

Ohio Revised Code 9.24 prohibits the State from awarding a contract to any entity against whom the Auditor of State has issued a finding for recovery (a "Finding") if the Finding is unresolved at the time of the award. This also applies to renewals of contracts. By submitting a Proposal, the Offeror warrants it is not subject to an unresolved Finding under R.C. 9.24 at the time of its submission. Additionally, the Offeror warrants it will notify the Ohio Department of Administrative Services in writing immediately upon becoming subject to such an unresolved Finding after submitting its Proposal and before the award of a Contract under this RFP. Further, the State may treat any unresolved Finding against the Contractor that prevents a renewal of the Contract as a breach in accordance with the provisions of the Contract.

N. Notice on Use of Social Security Numbers as Federal Tax Identification Numbers

If an Offeror uses its Social Security Number as its Federal Taxpayer Identification Number, please be aware that the information submitted is a public record, and the State may be compelled by Ohio law to release Federal Taxpayer Identification Numbers as a public record. If an Offeror does not want to have its Social Security Number potentially disclosed as a Federal Taxpayer Identification Number, the State encourages Offerors to use a separate Employee Identification Number (EIN) obtained from the United States Internal Revenue Service to serve as the Federal Taxpayer Identification Number.

O. Supplier Registration

Offerors must provide evidence that they are registered with Ohio Shared Services to do business in the State of Ohio. To register to do business in Ohio and to access supplier forms, see Form 7b.

P. Multiple or Alternate Proposals

The State will not accept multiple Proposals from a single Offeror or any alternative solutions or options to the requirements of this RFP. Any Offeror that submits multiple Proposals may have all of its Proposals rejected.

Q. Debriefing and Protests

The State maintains a policy that debriefing of the evaluation process will not be conducted. Offerors should not contact the State either during or after the solicitation process to request a debriefing. In lieu of a debriefing, Offerors may file a public records request with the State.

This protest language only pertains to this RFP. A protest may be filed by a prospective Offeror objecting to the process of soliciting the Proposals or an actual Offeror objecting to the subsequent award of a Contract resulting from the RFP. The protest must be in writing and contain the following information:

1. The name, address, and telephone number of the protester;

2. The name and number of the RFP being protested;

3. A detailed statement of the legal and factual grounds for the protest, including copies of any relevant documents;

4. A request for a ruling by the State;

5. A statement as to the form of relief requested from the State; and

6. Any other information the protester believes to be essential to the determination of the factual and legal questions at issue in the written request.

A timely protest will be considered by the State if it is received at the filing location below within the following periods:

7. A protest based on alleged improprieties in the issuance of the RFP, or any other event preceding the Proposal due date, which are apparent or should be apparent must be filed no later than five business days prior to the Proposal due date.

8. If the protest relates to the recommendation of the evaluation team for an award of the Contract, the protest must be filed as soon as practicable after the Offerors are notified of the decision by the State regarding the Proposals.

All protests must be filed at the following location:

Department of Administrative Services

Office of Procurement Services

Records_Admin@das.ohio.gov

SUBJECT: Insert this RFP Number and Index Number

R. Disclosure of Proposal Contents

The State will seek to open the Proposals in a manner that avoids disclosing their contents. Additionally, the State will seek to keep the contents of all Proposals confidential until the Contract is awarded; however, the State will prepare a registry of Proposals that contains the name of each Offeror. The public may inspect that registry after the State opens the Proposals and before the Contract award.

S. Unfair Competitive Advantage

Any and all prior work performed by the Offeror or its proposed subcontractor(s) that the State determines results in an unfair competitive advantage to that Offeror, including but not limited to the development of specifications for this RFP, may result in the Offeror’s Proposal being precluded due to a conflict of interest.

Section 4 – Requirements for Proposals

A. Proposal Format

These instructions describe the required format for a responsive Proposal.

Each Proposal must include sufficient data to allow the State to verify the Offeror's claims of meeting the RFP's requirements. Each Proposal must respond to every request for information in this RFP, whether the request requires a simple "yes" or "no" or requires a detailed explanation. Simply repeating the RFP's requirement and agreeing to comply may be an unacceptable response and may cause the Proposal to be rejected.

Proposals should use a consistent contrasting font and color so that the responses are readily distinguishable to the State; using the color blue to provide responses is suggested to contrast with the black text of this document. Formats are acceptable that use different typefaces, styles, or shaded backgrounds, so long as the use of these formats is consistent throughout the Offeror’s Proposal and readily distinguishable from the original RFP. Below is an example of the required format for responding to the RFP requirements. Alterations to the State-provided RFP language are strictly prohibited. The State will electronically compare Offeror Proposals to the posted RFP, and deviations or alterations to the State’s RFP requirements may result in a rejection of the Proposal.

Illustrative Example: Customers Served in the Widget Space Instructions: The Offeror is to describe the customers (i.e., companies, agencies, entities, etc.) served in the Widget domain and the nature of the services provided, as well as the duration of the service. Offeror Response: The Acme Corporation has been in business for over 20 years. Acme is a leading supplier of Widget and Widget-based services with clients in a variety of sectors, including public (23 states) and private (125 companies).

Offerors are advised to limit Offeror marketing statements and pre-printed technical inserts to the area(s) of the Proposal applicable to those statement(s) and not include duplicative or otherwise repetitive statements throughout its Proposal.

Any additional links or documents incorporated by reference by the Offeror will not become part of the Contract unless expressly accepted by the State.

The Offeror may include any additional information it believes is relevant. All pages, except pre-printed technical inserts, must be sequentially numbered. Any material deviation from the format outlined in this RFP may result in a rejection of the non-conforming Proposal.

Technical Proposal: The Offeror’s technical proposal must be submitted in Microsoft Word® through OhioBuys as instructed in the technical questionnaire in OhioBuys. The technical proposal shall consist of all questionnaire responses and documents submitted in response to this RFP excluding the cost proposal.

B. Proposal Specifics

Each Proposal must contain the following components.

1. Technical proposal components

a. Required Forms. Each Proposal must include the completed forms listed below. All required forms are included in Section 7 unless otherwise indicated.

i. Offeror Certification Form (Form 7a). The Offeror must complete the Offeror Certification Form.

ii. Independent Contractor Acknowledgement Form (Form 7c). Unless the Offeror is a “business entity” as that term is defined in R.C. 145.037 (“an entity with five or more employees that is a corporation, association, firm, limited liability company, partnership, sole proprietorship, or other entity engaged in business”), the Offeror must have any individual performing services under the Contract complete the Independent Contractor Acknowledgement Form

iii. Subcontractor Utilization Form (Form 7d). For each proposed subcontractor, the Offeror must submit a completed Subcontractor Utilization Form signed by someone authorized to legally bind the subcontractor.

iv. Offeror Prior Project Experience and Qualifications Form (Form 7e). The Offeror must utilize the Offeror Prior Project Experience and Qualifications Form to document the Offeror’s previous experience and expertise by completing a form for projects in the previous three years. These projects must be of similar size, scope, and nature to the Work in this RFP. Details of the similarities must be included.

The form(s) must be filled out completely for each of the projects required. The form(s) contained in this RFP have been customized for the applicable Offeror requirements. Each page of the form(s) may contain minor variations. If an Offeror elects to duplicate the form electronically, the Offeror must carefully review each page of the form to ensure that it has been copied accurately. Failure to duplicate the form exactly may lead to the rejection of the Proposal.

When contacted, each reference provided must be willing to discuss the Offeror’s previous performance on projects detailed on the form(s).

If this RFP allows qualifications and experience to be met through a subcontractor, the Offeror must identify the subcontractor by name in the appropriate part of the form(s) for each reference.

v. Affirmation and Disclosure Form (Form 7f). The Offeror must complete, sign, and submit the Affirmation and Disclosure Form by uploading the signed document with its Proposal.

vi. Candidate Information Education and Training Form (Form 7h). The Offeror must complete a Candidate Information Education and Training Form for each candidate named in this RFP.

vii. Candidate Experience Requirement Form (Form 7i). The Offeror must complete a Candidate Experience Requirement Form for each candidate named in this RFP.

viii. Offeror Redaction Justification Form (Form 7j). The Offeror must complete the Offeror Redaction Justification Form pursuant to the instructions in Section 3(K) and Form 7j if the Offeror includes in its Proposal information it considers exempt from disclosure in a public records request.

ix. Mandatory Requirements Form (Form 7l). The Offeror must complete the Mandatory Requirements Form(s). The Offeror must demonstrate that it meets all of the Mandatory Requirements listed in the Mandatory Requirements table (Section 7, Table 1). The State will evaluate the Mandatory Requirements Form(s) to determine whether the Proposal meets all of the Mandatory Requirements.

Mandatory Requirements must be met by the Offeror, itself. Offeror’s subcontractors will not be accepted.

b. Scope of Work Response. The Offeror must provide a response to Part 1 – Scope of Work in this section of its Proposal. The content of Part 1 must not be modified. If the content of Part 1 is modified in any way, the applicable Proposal may be disqualified. The Offeror must provide complete and coherent responses to Part 1 and demonstrate the ability to quickly undertake and successfully complete the Work under the Contract.

c. Acceptance of Terms and Conditions. The Offeror must include the entire content of Parts 2 through 4 as a single section in its Proposal. The Offeror must include a statement at the beginning of this section indicating that the Offeror read, understands, and agrees to all of the terms and conditions contained in Parts 2 through 4.

d. Acceptance of Exhibit 2. The Offeror must include the entire content of Exhibit 2 as a single section in its Proposal. The Offeror must include a statement at the beginning of this section indicating that the Offeror read, understands, and agrees to all of the terms and conditions contained in Exhibit 2.

e. Exhibit 3 Response. The Offeror must include a fully completed copy of Exhibit 3 in its Proposal. The Offeror must follow the completion instructions contained in Exhibit 3 and must not modify the content of Exhibit 3.

f. Assumptions. The Offeror must provide a comprehensive list of all the assumptions the Offeror made in preparing the Proposal in Part 6. If any assumption is unacceptable to the State, the State may, in its sole discretion, request that the Offeror remove the assumption or choose to reject the Proposal entirely. No assumptions may be included regarding the outcomes of negotiation, terms and conditions, or requirements. Assumptions should be provided as part of the Proposal as a stand-alone response section that is inclusive of all assumptions with reference(s) to the section(s) of the RFP to which the assumption is applicable. Offerors should not include assumptions elsewhere in their Proposals.

g. Proof of Insurance. The Offeror must provide the certificate of insurance required by Part 2 - Contract-Specific Terms and Conditions. The policy may be written on an occurrence or claims made basis.

h. Payment Address. The Offeror must provide the address to which the State should send payments under the Contract.

i. Affirmative Action. An Offeror must supply as part of its Proposal either a copy of its Affirmative Action plan that has been approved by the State of Ohio or an attestation to the fact that the Offeror has completed the Affirmative Action Program Verification application that is pending approval by the State of Ohio.

j. Legal Notice Address. The Offeror must provide the name, title, and address to which the State should send legal notices under the Contract.

k. The SOW Solicitation Process. Deliverables-based services will be awarded via the Solicitation process. All SOW Solicitations will be issued by the Office of Procurement Services, Enterprise IT Contracting. A single pre-qualified Contractor will be selected to perform the work contained in each SOW Solicitation. The selected pre-qualified Contractor may partner with one or more subcontractors. All subcontractors shall be identified within the pre-qualified Contractor’s proposal submitted in response to the SOW Solicitation. The steps identified below describe the process of a SOW Solicitation.

When determined to be in the best interest of the State, EITC will issue a SOW Solicitation for a scope of work. A Contractor will not be required to respond to every SOW Solicitation issued as a result of this Contract, but they will be expected to respond to a majority of the SOW Solicitations issued during the course of a fiscal year. Should a Contractor not respond to a majority of the Solicitations issued, it may be removed from the list of pre-qualified Contractors.

Any SOW Solicitation must be issued not later than 30 days prior to the expiration of the Contract. A Purchase Order for any SOW Solicitation must be issued prior to the expiration of the Contract, and all work under the SOW must be completed not later than six months after the expiration of the Contract.

l. The SOW Solicitation Content. Each SOW Solicitation will contain a Statement of Work including, but not be limited to, the following components, which will be defined in each SOW Solicitation. The State may revise or refine the SOW Solicitation format and content requirements as needed.

Content. Each SOW Solicitation will contain the sections listed below:

A. Background information for the deliverables-based project, including:

i. Agency information

ii. Project name

iii. Project objective

iv. Project description

v. Project schedule

vi. Project milestones

vii. Bill to Address

viii. Ohio Certified MBE Set-Aside Requirement

B. Scope of Work: Description of scope of work (in and out) and project requirements:

i. Description of constraints, assumptions

ii. Contractors Work Effort Requirement – The Contractor’s full-time regular employees must perform at least ___% of the effort required to complete the Work. The Contract may use its personnel or subcontractor personnel to meet the remaining ___% of the effort.

iii. Detailed description of deliverables

iv. Deliverable acceptance criteria

v. Description of roles and responsibilities

vi. Expected duration

vii. Restrictions on location of data & work

viii. Resource Requirement

ix. Reports

C. Deliverables Management:

i. Submission/format

ii. Reports and meetings

iii. Period of performance

iv. Performance expectations

v. Pricing and payment schedule

D. State Staffing Plan

E. SOW Response Submission Requirements:

i. Response format, content requirements

ii. Staffing plan, personnel resumes, time commitment, organizational chart

iii. Contingency plan, if applicable

iv. Work plan, project plan

v. Fee Structure including estimated work effort for each deliverable

vi. Cost summary

F. Communication Plan

G. SOW Evaluation Criteria

H. SOW Solicitation Schedule

I. Risk management plan (may include issues management)

J. Quality management plan

K. Project schedule (Work Breakdown Structure using MS Project or compatible)

L. Limitation of Liability (Identification of Limitation of Liability) applicable to the specific SOW Solicitation. Unless otherwise stated in this section of the SOW Solicitation, the Limitation of Liability will be as described in Attachment Two, Part Two: Special Provisions.

m. Work Hours and Conditions. Each SOW Solicitation will provide applicable information regarding work hours, workspace, and facility and equipment furnishing.

n. Contractor Responsibilities and Deliverables. The Contractor must meet all requirements for the Work contained in the applicable Statement of Work and this Contract and complete all Work. The applicable SOW Solicitation will specify additional Contractor responsibilities and deliverables.

Section 5 – Evaluation Process

A. Evaluation of Proposals Generally

To maintain fairness in the evaluation process, all information sought by the State will be obtained in a manner such that no Offeror is provided an unfair competitive advantage.

The evaluation process may consist of up to seven distinct phases:

1. Initial review;

2. Mandatory requirements evaluation, if applicable;

3. Technical evaluation;

4. Requests for more information;

5. Determination of responsibility; and

6. Contract negotiations.

The State may decide whether phases four and six are necessary, and the State may reorder the sequence of phases. The State also may add or remove sub-phases to any phase at any time if the State believes doing so will improve the evaluation process. The phases and some sub-phases are described below.

B. Initial Review

The State will review all Proposals for formatting and completeness. The State may reject incomplete or incorrectly formatted Proposals. The State may also waive any defects or allow an Offeror to submit a correction as described in subsections I, Waiver of Defects, and J, Clarifications and Corrections, below. After the initial review, the State will forward all timely, complete, and properly formatted Proposals to an evaluation team for review, led by a representative from the Office of Procurement Services.

C. Mandatory Requirements Evaluation

The Offeror must demonstrate that it meets all of the Mandatory Requirements listed in the Mandatory Requirements table in Section 7 using the Mandatory Requirements Form 7l in Part 7. A Proposal meeting all of the Mandatory Requirements may be included in the next part of the evaluation phase as described herein.

The State will evaluate the Mandatory Requirements Form(s) to determine whether the Proposal meets all of the Mandatory Requirements. If the information contained in Mandatory Requirements Form(s) does not clearly meet every Mandatory Requirement, the Proposal may be disqualified without further evaluation.

If no Proposal meets all of the Mandatory Requirements, the State may notify the highest ranked Offeror and allow the Offeror an opportunity to cure its failure of the Mandatory Requirements. If a notified Offeror does not cure the failure, the State may reject that Proposal and consider lower ranking Proposals. If a notified Offeror cures its failure to meet Mandatory Requirements, the State maintains sole discretion to continue consideration of the Proposal.

D. Technical Evaluation

The State will evaluate each Proposal that it has determined is timely, complete, properly formatted, and meets all of the Mandatory Requirements. The evaluation will be scored according to the requirements identified in this RFP.

All Offerors, including current contract holders, if applicable, must provide detailed and complete responses. Proposal evaluations and subsequent scores are based solely on the content of the Proposal. No assumptions will be made or values assigned for the competency of the Offeror who is a current or previous contract holder.

The State may have the Proposals or portions of them reviewed and evaluated by independent third parties. Additionally, the State may seek reviews from end users of the Work or State personnel who have subject matter expertise or an interest in the Work. The State may adopt or reject any recommendations it receives from such reviews and evaluations, or the State may give them such weight as the State believes is appropriate.

During the technical evaluation, the State will calculate a point total for each Proposal evaluated. The State maintains sole discretion to reject any Proposal receiving a significant number of zeros for sections in the technical proposal evaluation. Additionally, the State reserves the right to reject any Proposal failing to meet an average of three out of five of the maximum available points for the Proposal's technical requirements. The State may select any number of the higher-ranking Proposals for the next phase. The number of Proposals advancing to the next phase is within the State’s sole discretion.

The State may consider one or more higher-ranking Proposals, but the State may not consider any lower-ranking Proposals unless all higher ranked Proposals are also considered, except as provided herein.

E. Requests for More Information

The State may request some Offerors to interview, make presentations about their Proposals, or demonstrate the products or services. If the interviews, presentations, or demonstrations are held as part of the technical proposal evaluation, all Offerors having Proposals under evaluation may participate. The State may then use the information gathered from this process in evaluating the merits of the Proposals. The demonstrations, presentations, and interviews may also result in an adjustment of a Proposal’s evaluation. The State may evaluate the demonstrations, presentations, and interviews as a separate scoring criterion.

Alternatively, if the interviews, presentations, or demonstrations are held after the technical proposal evaluation, the State may limit them to one or more of the higher-ranking Offerors. The State may limit such interviews, presentations, and demonstrations to areas in which it seeks further information from the Offerors.

Typically, these discussions provide an Offeror with the opportunity to do one or more of the following:

• Clarify its Proposal and ensure a mutual understanding of the Proposal content;

• Showcase its approach to the Work; and/or

• Demonstrate the professionalism, qualifications, skills, and knowledge of its proposed candidates.

The State will schedule the interviews, presentations, and demonstrations at its convenience and discretion. The State will determine the scope and format of any such interviews, presentations, or demonstrations and may record them. Additionally, if the State moves more than one Offeror to this phase, the scope and format of these interviews, presentations, or demonstrations may vary from one Offeror to the next, depending on the issues or concerns the State may have.

F. Reserved

G. Determination of Responsibility

The State will review the highest-ranking Offeror and proposed subcontractors to ensure that the Offeror is responsible prior to Contract award. The State may reject any Proposal if an Offeror or a subcontractor is determined not to be responsible. The State’s determination of an Offeror’s responsibility may include the following factors: (i) experience, (ii) financial condition, (iii) facilities, (iv) past conduct and performance on previous contracts, (v) ability to execute the Contract properly, and (vi) management skills. The State will make such determination of responsibility based on the Proposal, reference evaluations, and any other information the State requests or determines is relevant.

Part of State’s determination of an Offeror’s responsibility may include the Offeror's financial ability to perform the Contract. While the RFP may expressly require including audited financial statements in the Proposal, in the absence of such requirement, the State still may require an Offeror to submit audited financial statements for up to three prior years. The State may consider financial information other than the information that the RFP requires as part of the Offeror’s Proposal, such as credit reports from third-party reporting agencies.

H. Contract Negotiations

The final phase of the evaluation process may be Contract negotiations. The State may limit negotiations to specific aspects of the RFP, the Contract, or the Proposal. The State may also limit the Offerors with whom the State negotiates. The State maintains discretion whether to permit or dispense with negotiations. An Offeror must not submit a Proposal assuming that there will be an opportunity to negotiate any aspect of the Proposal; any Proposal that is contingent upon the State negotiating with the Offeror may be rejected. If negotiations are held, they will be scheduled at the convenience of the State, and the selected Offeror or Offerors must negotiate in good faith and without unreasonable delay.

...