Reemployment Assistance (RA) Fund Accounting Software

Agency:	State Government of South Dakota
State:	South Dakota
Type of Government:	State & Local
Category:	70 - General Purpose Information Technology Equipment (including software). R - Professional, Administrative and Management Support Services
Posted:	Apr 9, 2024
Due:	Apr 26, 2024
Solicitation No:	24RFI10504
Publication URL:	To access bid details, please log in.

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Entity Name: South Dakota State Government

Event Number: 10504

Event ID: 24RFI10504

Event Name: Reemployment Assistance (RA) Fund Accounting Software

Requested By: Missy Schuetzle

Created By: Missy Schuetzle

Due By Date: 04/26/2024 11:59 PM Central Time

Q&A Cutoff Date: 03/15/2024 3:46 PM Central Time

Invitation Type: Invitation Only

Assigned Commodities: 208-10 Accounting/Financial: Bookkeeping, Billing and Invoicing, Budgeting, Payroll,

Taxes, etc.; 209-11 Accounting/Financial: Bookkeeping, Billing and Invoicing,

Budgeting, Payroll, Taxes, etc.

Allow Supplier Terms and Conditions: No

Public Responses: No

Display Awardee: Display

Posting Board Status: Published

Event Status: Ready for Responses

Section #: Name:

1 Section 1 - 24RFI10504

Do not submit responses through ESM Sourcing; please submit your response as specified in the RFP document.

The Invitation Type for this RFI designated as "Invitation Only," indicates that vendors who have chosen the applicable NIGP codes for the requested

services will receive an autogenerated system email notification. The Invitation Only designation does not impose exclusivity or restrictions on access;

it does not limit who can respond. Also, the RFI document is accessible to all interested parties for download via the Central Bid Exchange on OPM’s

website: https://sourcing.esmsolutions.com/postingboard/entities/3444a404-3818-494f-84c5-2a850acd7779.

All vendors are encouraged to download the RFI and submit their proposals following the instructions outlined in the RFI document.

Objective and Purpose

The State of South Dakota Department of Labor and Regulation (DLR) is seeking planning information for a Reemployment Assistance (RA) Fund

Accounting Software to replace its current integration. This request for information (RFI) is intended to gather information on industry approaches and

solutions to develop, operate, and support a modernized Fund Accounting System from vendors with proven experience in accounting software. The

information gathered through this process will be used for Reemployment Assistance modernization planning purposes and may be used in the

development of a request for proposal (RFP) soliciting vendors to assist the State in implementing a RA modernization solution.

Responses will be reviewed by DLR and Bureau of Information Telecommunications (BIT) staff. Respondents providing clear, concise information may

be invited to make oral presentations to staff members. Presentations may be requested to be held via telephone or visual electronic conferencing. It is

possible some respondents will not be invited due to logistical and time constraints.

This RFI is designed to:

•Identify technology that may provide new or improved RA software benefits;

•Gather preliminary cost estimates to assess the scope and size of the project;

•Invite respondents to demonstrate their products/services; and

•Enable state staff members to compare Fund Accounting systems or prototypes.

Disclaimers

This RFI is issued solely for information and planning purposes and does not constitute a solicitation for bid. This RFI should not be seen as intent,

commitment, or promise to acquire services, supplies, or solutions offered. No contract will result from any response to this RFI.

DLR and/or BIT will not pay for any information herein requested nor is it liable for any cost incurred by the vendor. The information gathered through this

process may be used in the development of future documents. However, DLR and/or BIT do not guarantee this will occur.

All information included in this RFI is confidential and only for the recipient’s knowledge. No information included in this document or in discussions

connected to it may be disclosed to any other party.

Reemployment Assistance Fund Accounting System Background

South Dakota’s Department of Labor and Regulation (DLR) is responsible for collecting employer contributions and paying unemployment benefits to

workers who are eligible for reemployment assistance.

DLR’s current system utilized to administer benefits, taxes and trust fund accounting is a collection of Mainframe based systems utilizing COBOL and

ADABAS data storage developed in the 70s and 80s. The current legacy systems have been modified periodically over the years to meet new legislative

and business requirements.

Reemployment Assistance Fund Accounting System Initiative

For the UI modernization initiative, DLR is seeking to replace legacy automated applications with a solution that encompasses business processing for

both RA Tax and RA Benefits. These business processes and automated applications must adhere to stringent Federal and State UI processing

requirements.

For the RA Fund Accounting System Initiative, DLR is seeking to replace the existing software currently being utilized by the RA Accounting Staff. The

new software must improve customer service by expanding the capacity and functionality of the current software. Features DLR will seek with a new

accounting system include:

•Accounts Payable

•Accounts Receivable

•Bank Reconciliations

•General Ledger

RFI Response Scope

Since it is not feasible to convey an all-inclusive functional scope for South Dakota’s RA Fund Accounting Software with this RFI, the State anticipates

receiving varied responses. The State acknowledges this constraint and encourages vendors to provide a reponse based on their best understanding of

the RFI content.

Each respondent is being asked to provide the following information:

Product Overview

Respondents must provide clear statements about RA product information that would satisfy DLR’s RA Fund Accounting Initiative as outlined in this

RFI. Additional RA products or solutions that may be of value or interest to DLR are also encouraged. Such information should be accompanied with

related cost estimates, product and services description information.

Technology

Respondents must provide technology requirements for their product(s) including, if necessary, any special needs for making application modifications

or deployment. If special third party or proprietary hardware or software is required in the environment, the respondent must include those details in their

response.

It is recommended that the proposed solution be cloud-hosted, preferable in the State’s Azure Cloud environment. If not proposing this, then please

explain the reasons. The contract doubles as an agreement for the State to own the data tables and is able to manipulate data, run reports as needed,

pull code tables, access raw data, and develop dashboards as needed through Microsoft Power BI, ESRI, Tableau and associated platforms

As part of the State’s Identity and Access Management (IAM) strategy, the proposed solution will need to integrate with the State of South Dakota’s

standard identity management service single sign-on (SSO) which enables custom control of how citizens and state employees sign up, sign in, and

manage their profiles.

The SSO supports the industry standard protocols OpenID Connect and OAuth 2.0. This identity management will handle password recovery and Multi-

factor Authentication (MFA). MFA is required for all application Administrators and may be required for other users. Microsoft’s official documentation

on the identity provider the State has implemented can be found at: 1) https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/active-directory-b2c/ and

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/active-directory-b2c/integrate-with-app-code-samples for public/citizens (Azure B2C), 2)

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/active-directory/architecture/auth-oauth2 and https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/active-

directory/develop/v2-protocols-oidc for state employees, businesses, partners, providers, etc. (Microsoft Entra ID).

The offeror must describe how new users are onboarded/provisioned in the system using an external identity provider an Identity/SSO/Login Design

Document.

The offeror must describe how the system can adapt to business necessary interfaces using widely adopted open APIs and standards. Additionally,

DLR expects that the offeror will make available/expose software services and publish documentation for those software services that would enable third

party developers to interface other business applications. A detailed description of system capability shall be included in the proposal.

The offeror must provide a solution diagram providing specific details of how the entire solution will meet the requirements of the RFI. This will include

integration with the State’s infrastructure, existing systems that will integrate with the proposed solution, how data would flow between systems, the

technology stack of the solution including any dependencies, and include user onboarding/provision, SSO, etc.

State standard technology should be utilized unless there is a reason not to. If your proposal recommends using non-standard technology, the proposal

should very clearly indicate what non-standard technology is being proposed and why it is necessary to use non-standard technology. The costs of

such non-standard technology should be reflected in your cost estimate. See https://www.sd.gov/bit?id=bit_standards_overview

for lists of the State’s standards. The proposal should also include a link to your hardware and software specifications.

If non-standard technology is used, the costs must include support since BIT can only guarantee best effort support for non-standard technology. The

proposal should also include the development and implementation of a disaster recovery plan since non-standard technology will not be covered by the

State’s disaster recovery plan. This should also be reflected in the cost estimate.

Project Approach

South Dakota is interested in exploring alternative approaches and innovative solutions that would be efficient, cost-effective and satisfy DLR’s RA Fund

Accounting Initiative. This may include leveraging existing state technology – including the customizing commercial off the shelf (COTS) technology, or

any combination thereof.

Respondents must provide information that describes their particular project approach for implementing UI solutions and overall project schedule.

Estimated Costs

One of the primary purposes of this RFI is to obtain initial, estimated costs information for RA Fund Accounting Initiative planning purposes.

Respondents should include the appropriate initial and on-going costs to implement and maintain a solution, including as separate items, those

associated with proprietary third party hardware and/or software (if applicable). Include all details on the licensing structure for product and support. If

there are multiple proposed options, please list the details of each option separately.

Vendor Response

To answer this RFI, please fill in the attached appendices, unless otherwise noted. South Dakota does not have a specified format for vendor response

beyond the inclusion of the required forms.

Timeframe and Schedule

The table below illustrates the schedule for this RFI. Milestone Date

RFI Release Date March 15, 2024

Deadline for Questions March 27, 2024 by 11:59 p.m.

Deadline for Response to Questions April 10, 2024

RFI Response Due Date April 26, 2024 by 11:59 p.m.

Vendor Presentations (Optional) TBD

Submittal Instructions

Send the attached completed appendices in a Word document (format unchanged) and other product and vendor information by email to

pauline.heier@state.sd.us and andrew.szilvasi@state.sd.us.

Questions Regarding the RFI

Questions requesting clarification of this RFI must be submitted to: pauline.heier@state.sd.us and andrew.szilvasi@state.sd.us. No telephone inquiries

will be accepted.

Appendix A – Response Questions

Include answers to these questions in a Microsoft Word or PDF document.

1. Company Name;

2. Company Address, City, Zip;

3. Company Website address;

4. Contact person responsible for answering this RFI;

5. Contact person telephone;

6. Contact person email;

7. Description of products currently offered that are related to the topics of interest as identified in the Objectives and Purpose section.

Terms and Conditions

ESM Sourcing Terms

None

General Terms and Conditions

None

Event Specific Terms and Conditions

See attached RFI Document

This is the opportunity summary page. You are currently viewing an overview of this opportunity and a preview of the attached documentation. For more information, please visit the Publication URL Web page.

	Attachments
	RFI Document.pdf
	24RFI10504 Reemployment Assistance Fund Accounting Software Response to Vendor Questions.docx

Reemployment Assistance (RA) Fund Accounting Software

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See also