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2015-233-B
Request for Information (RFI) for Contract Management and Project Management Software Solutions
SECTION 1 – GENERAL INFORMATION
1.1 INTRODUCTION
The Purchasing Department for the City of Plano, Texas (City) is issuing this Request for Information (RFI) regarding available Contract Management and Project Management Software Solutions that may work in conjunction with an e-Procurement system. The City has identified a list of challenges regarding a software solution, which is the reason for the issuance of this RFI. A list of these challenges can be found in section 2.2. This RFI is strictly for Contract Management and Project Management Software Solutions. Please note that this is not a solicitation for products and/or services and this inquiry will not result in an award or contract.
The specifications and information gathered from this RFI will be used to evaluate the offerings of the current marketplace and may lead to the development and preparation of a Competitive Sealed Proposal (CSP).
The City is soliciting information from commercial vendors, application service providers, associated integration service providers, and other interested parties capable of assisting the City in meeting its objectives for a more efficient delivery of City contract and project management services. Information submitted by any interested party will be done so voluntarily and with the understanding that this RFI is for information gathering purposes only and is not a formal solicitation. Similarly, cost ranges will be used solely for budgetary analysis and establishing a potential target budget. Information presented during this information gathering process will not be considered as a response to any solicitation subsequently issue by the City of Plano. Respondents may be asked to provide a demonstration of their products and services. This would include a guided tour of their product, business capabilities and technology. Demonstrations may be presented at a City of Plano site, through Internet web conferencing, or a combination of the two. No compensation will be made by the City of Plano for demonstrations.
1.2 VENDOR INQUIRIES AND QUESTIONS
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1.3 SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS
The City will accept responses prior to 10:00 AM Central Time, Tuesday, June 23, 2015. Responses received after this date and time may not be considered for review. Responses should be prepared simply and economically, and provide a straightforward and concise explanation of the information requested to be furnished. Emphasis should be on completeness and clarity.
Please submit one (1) hardcopy and two (2) electronic copies (Travel Drive or CD) of your response to the following address:
City of Plano Purchasing Division 1520 K Avenue, Suite 370
Plano, Texas 75074
The electronic copy of the submittal may also be submitted to Corey Isaacs via e-mail at: [email protected] (Please put “Electronic Response to RFI 2015-233-B” in the subject line). Respondents should note that any electronic copy being submitted via e-mail must be limited to a maximum size of 25 GB.
1.4 RESPONSE FORMAT
The response should have numbered pages and also include an index or table of contents referencing the appropriate page numbers for the given sections.
Section I
i. Executive Summary
a. A concise narrative of the entire response, highlighting any key or unique features.
ii. Overview of the Software Solution
iii. Capabilities and Limitations of the Software Solution Section II
i. Response to Section 2.1(a) Preliminary Performance Characteristics
a. Include screenshots documenting the process of creating a contract and project from source-to-settle.
Section III
i. Any additional information regarding the Software Solution
a. Information presented here would include any marketing or advertising material.
ii. Attachment A – Respondent Information Section IV
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1.5 CONFIDENTIAL/PROPRIETARY INFORMATION
Any restrictions on the use or inspection of material contained within the responses shall be clearly marked “CONFIDENTIAL” on each page in the response itself. SECTION 2 – SCOPE OF THE PROJECT
2.1 GOAL
The goal of this RFI is to identify Contract Management and Project Management Software Solutions that may work in conjunction with an e-Procurement system to substantially meet the business requirements of the City. The solution will also bridge the challenges of varying business rules, stakeholders, legacy contract and projects, and their respective capacities for budget, technology, and organizational change. The software solutions could begin to deliver immediate benefits to City procurement operations.
At this time, the City has limited knowledge of a comprehensive SaaS solution that provides these tools and services, via secure internet access, that provides a complete source-to-settle solution to efficiently manage every aspect of the process.
a. Preliminary Performance Characteristics
At this time, the preliminary performance characteristics have been identified for consideration of the RFI results. The characteristics of the envisioned comprehensive SaaS are listed below. This is not an all-inclusive list and is not meant to restrict the capacities of the software.
• Contract Management
o Interoperability with e-Procurement and Project Management o Manage procurement contracts
o Automate and accelerate the entire contract lifecycle Contract authoring
Workflows
Automated notifications
o Contract synchronization to Microsoft Outlook Functionality Currently utilizing Office 365, which is Cloud based o Standardize and control contract development
o Strengthen operational, contractual, and regulatory compliance o Contract repository
o Track expiration dates o Track insurance certificate
o Ability to add custom fields and reports o Ability to integrate with multiple projects o Dashboard for quick review of all contracts
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Cycle time, amount by type of contract, amount by personnel, cost savings, cost avoidance, contract expiring by month, etc.
• Project Management
o Interoperability with e-Procurement and Contract Management o Task scheduling
o Timeline
o Task synchronization to Microsoft Outlook Functionality Currently utilizing Office 365, which is Cloud based o Automated Task Notifications
Automated recurring task notifications o Automated and customizable reports
o Project and portfolio management
Application portfolio management o Analytics and metrics
o Iteration planning o Risk management
o Ability to integrate with multiple contracts o Assignment and tracking of resources
Manage and check for resource availability o Change Management
o Issue Management o Track deliverables
o Prioritization of projects by department and by organization o Dashboard for quick review of projects
Dashboard for each project and for overall
2.2 CHALLENGES
The City has identified a list of challenges to determine if they can be addressed by a SaaS solution. The City may need the following:
• Solution provider(s) who can offer modular components which can be effectively used individually or together depending on the need over time. • A central repository for contracts with features to enhance access to contract
data in useful forms.
• Tools to promote the aggregation of data among the end-user departments. • Tools to improve reporting and administration efficiencies.
• A system that includes workflows and associated approval(s).
• Access to tools for managing electronic documents with data retention cycles suitable for State of Texas record retention requirements.
• Access to tools with the ability to communicate and confirm transactions via email.
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• The ability to upload and view key project documents.
• The ability to notify project team members when new documents are uploaded. • The ability to extract key milestones from uploaded schedules to be easily
presented to stakeholders.
• The ability to enter and view the budget information including cost estimate and line items used to calculate the total project budget.
• The ability to view all team members assigned to a project, along with their role and contact information for ease of collaboration.
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ATTACHMENT A
RESPONDENT INFORMATION
The purpose of this attachment is to provide the City with the respondent company’s general information and contacts for follow-up on any questions, clarifications and to possibly schedule a demonstration of the respondent’s products and services relative to this RFI.
Respondent Company Name: Address:
City: State: Zip Code:
Phone Number:
Contact Name: Phone:
Title: Email:
Contact Name: Phone:
