Subject Question Answer
Frequent questions What CMS are you currently using? Is there a preferred CMS solution? Currently using Sharepoint and a Microsoft solution is preferred. What is the budget for this project ? Budget will not be disclosed
Morgtage Calculators
The site currently has calculators for 1) Home Affordability (max price a buyer can afford; 2) mortgage payment calculator (monthly cost), and 3)Buy v. rent Is there a timeline for this project? Quality is more important than speed, we do not have a date in mind Please define what do you mean by “Compatible with”: Constant Contact, HR
Career Software, Event invitation/registration software, HR software Link to these - see also Q 147 Page 2 - Scope of services: There is a requirement that Site must be capable of
hosting video files (including long training videos). What is the expected size of the
After discussion, we will not host video files on the site, but use YouTube or other option
CHFA business areas for user engagement
Do we need to integrate with systems such as Loan Origination System, Asset
Management, Staff list search, Lender List,). If so, is it read-only iteraction or both Read only CHFA’s interest rate
publishing system
Do we need to create the web service for updating the interest rate on CHFA's website or is there any existing service which we can expose from website for
Vendor will need to create a new web service for the interest rate. Rate must update in real time and refresh if a user is on a page with rates.
Accessibility
Section 508's new version will be released in early 2016. The new version of Section 508 will be based on Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 Level A and AA. We would recommend complying with WCAG 2.0 Level A and AA to comply with the future regulation, which will in turn make the section 508 compliant also. Kindly confirm we should consider WCAG 2.0 Level A and AA or Section 508 for Accessibility scope?
Reference:
http://www.access-board.gov/guidelines-and-standards/communications-and-it/about-the-ict-refresh/proposed-rule Yes
Accessibility
As per HHS, PDF & office documents need to be accessible. Please provide the number of such documents A sample PDF/office document will also be helpful to
calculate the effort for making the PDFs accessible Not at this time Accessibility
Accessibility compliance for 3rd party software mentioned under Page 3 is
considered out of scope. Please confirm. Yes
Analytics
Is there a tag management solution under consideration (
GTM/DTM/Ensighten/Tealium)? No
Analytics
Are there any challenges that are being faced by the users with the existing
analytics reports? Unknown
Analytics
Can you please elaborate on the kind of metrics and reports that needs to be
tracked for the using Google Analytics? All available Authentication
How would the internal and external users authenticate into the new website (e.g.
via Active Directory)? Open to options
Branding
Would you provide branding guidelines, logos, color themes, etc. that can be re-used/enhanced by vendor? Or would the vendor be required to provide entirely
new branding guidelines? Yes - CHFA will provide guidelines
Browsers What are the different targeted browsers for testing cross browser functionality? All popular browsers
Content
Would you please email/share 2-3 photographs you intend to use on the new website? We have experience where clients insisted on using their photographs, which were of mediocre quality, and that led to mediocre-looking website. Since then, we are very cautious of accepting projects where we have no say in how our work will turn out.
We have professional photographs of some of properties that are appropriate for the website. We would not want to use our own in-house photos for the website.
Content
What tasks - other than basics such as reading text, watching videos, submitting simple contact requests, registering to receive updates (interest rate changes, news, etc.) – do you want website visitors to perform on the site?
Provide calculators to determine mortgage payments, affordability,(see Q4); allow users to navigate based on a set of choices - I am a (veteran, teacher, homebuyer). We would like to add the ability for property owners to create accounts and log in and see their account balances. Currently there are no log-in options on the CHFA site.
Subject Question Answer Content
What database is used to maintain the current datasets? (i.e.: metro area, median
income, name of development, etc.) Currently data from internal systems uploaded into Sharepoint
Content
How drastic of a reduction in site content does the CHFA anticipate? Approximately how many pages are anticipated to be migrated to the new site?
We have not completed site map, so this can not be answered accurately at this point. Our goal is to reduce the overall number of pages.
Content
The Scope of Services section mentioned that the website should have “space for archives, organized by date, year, audience”. Could you please elaborate on what content will be archived? Is it just documents, or will it be all current web page content?
Types of documents posted inlcude PDFs, PPT presentations, Excel workbooks and forms. Some are only posted for a few weeks, other items can be archived after 1 year. If its possible to have an auto-archive option for certain types of documents (minutes, presentations, newsletters,) and set up exceptions for other document types (construction standards, Qualified Allocation Plans), that would be useful.
Content
The Scope of Services mentioned that the website should be compatible with third party software. Will this be a total integration with the software, or a link to the
page where the software is installed? Link only
Content
For developing the new Calculator feature for the website, Infinite will require assistance from the CHFA staff. Will the CHFA staff be available to share inputs during the Project Requirement Gathering stage? Yes
content
Please clarify what is meant by "website will be dynamic”?
o How is dynamic defined? Do you mean “controllable by a CMS (Content
Management System)”? Yes
Content Does the new site need the ability to email or print site content? Yes - section 508 requirement content
Are RSS feeds output and subscription on certain sections of the site a
requirement? Yes
content
Are there any re-branding efforts currently underway that would be included or
integrated with this project? No
Content Strategy
Do you have a formal content strategy already in place for the new website? Or is
the vendor expected to build the strategy as a part of Discovery phase? Yes - we'd like recommendatins from the vendor Content workflow
Is there a current workflow for how CHFA will handle reviewing, updating and
approving content as it’s added/migrated? Currently using Sharepoint workflows. Open to suggestions Content/Services Which are the content/services that user can access without login? All are open
Contract Model
Are you looking for an overall firm fixed price for the entire project? Or are you
looking at hourly rates of technical resources? Overall price with price breakdowns by task Current Platform
Please provide some insights on the current platform and infrastructure that hosts
the current application. Is CHFA planning to move to cloud? Not relevant to the scope of this project
Current Platform
Are there any custom forms or workflows in the current website that are to be
replicated? Open to options
Current Website
What would be the size of the current website (e.g. # of static/dynamic pages, # of
custom/core widgets/plugins, content types, users, roles, # of forms, etc.) Not available at this time Current Website
What is the typical frequency of update of content on the website (e.g. every day,
every week, etc.)? Every day
Current Website
Can you indicate the amount of effort/timelines it took to build the current
website? Not available at this time
Data/Content Migration
Would the vendor be required to migrate existing data/content into new website?
Subject Question Answer
Data/Content Migration
Do you have an idea of how much of the site content will be new and how much will be carried over from the existing site?
All exsiting site content to be revised/rewritten. Some may be like-to-like carry over but at this point we can't provide an accurate assessment.
Digital Content
Page 1 - Background: It is assumed that as an outcome of the Kaizen, a Content
Inventory & Audit was conducted and that content gaps have been identified. Not available at this time
Digital Content
Page 4: By ‘providing training to CHFA staff on revising copy’ – does this mean an
editorial style guide? Or is it documentation for using a CMS tool? Open to discussion Digital Content Is there an existing Editorial Style Guide? Or is there a need to create them new? Open to discussion
Digital Content
Since new content will be added by a CHFA moderator, we anticipate the need for a robust Content Strategy, including a content roadmap and editorial calendar
outlining key updates. Is this in line with CHFA expectations? Open to suggestion Functionality
Does the current/new website require any support for monetary transactions (e.g.
Paypal)? No
General Any kind of Report or Dashboard is required in new website? Google Analytics
Multi-lingual Support
We have observed that Google Translate is being used to render the website in 5 languages. Can we assume that the same approach will be used in the new
website? Yes
Other Integrations
What will be the level of interaction with third party softwares such as Constant Contact, HR Career Software, Event invitation/registration software, HR software.
Would a link to such software would suffice? yes
Performance Requirements
What kind of user base would be there for this application? (numbers, locations, Hit-rate on site etc) & what would be performance benchmarks/requirements, if
any? Unknown at this time
Post Production
Please reconfirm that you want the vendor to maintain the website. Do you have
any prefernece on the kind of support coverage required (e.g. 18x5, 24x5, 24x7)? Yes, vendor to maintain webiste. Please quote for all SLA options.
Presentation
Will wireframes be made available by CHFA? If not, please suggest an approximate number of wireframes that need to be developed to represent the overall website
experience? open to suggestion
Presentation
Wireframes to be created for both portrait and landscape orientations? Or only
Portrait orientation would be sufficient? open to suggestion
Presentation
We are assuming that the new website will have new branding, and the Style Guides and collaterals (logo, images, fonts) will be provided by CHFA. Yes Presentation
What are the specific operating systems, devices and browsers that need to be
supported? Please provide as a list Please check RFP
Presentation
Do we need to provide custom templates for admin pages like content authoring
pages? Yes
Requirement Documentation
Do you already have a detailed documentation for the requirements (e.g. Software Requirements Specification document)? If yes, please share it. No Scope
Please reconfirm if CHFA will be hosting the new website, and would provide necessary server space, SSL certificates, etc. Yes
Scope
Should the proposal also include cost for the Hardware and Software needed for setup of site infrastructure? Or would CHFA would be handling that internally No
Scope
Can end user of the site register themselves on the site and create their login credentials? If yes, what all data can user save on the site for future use?
Currently, there are no login credentials required. We would like to add a portal for Property owners to view their account information.
Scope
Do you want the functionality of complaints redressal in the new website?
Subject Question Answer
Scope for migration
How many unique templates are the 400 pages using ? Please provide details on the templates being used in current system to understand the possibility of
reduction of pages Unknown
Scope for migration
Apart from the 400 content pages, what's the approximate size and total number
of documents/images/videos to be migrated as is? Unknown Scope for migration
Are there any pages among the 400 pages, that requires authorized access? If yes, are there any additional features in those pages? No
Search
Page 3- Scope of services: Which search engine is currently being used for Search. Provide more details in case the Search functionality and crawl is also to be re-built
with the new web site. Google
Search
Which search engine is used currently by existing website? Do you plan to retain
the same search engine? Google - yes
Security
Please specific the Security Requirements for the new website. Would you be using a 3rd-party for conducting security testing before the new website goes live? What
type of authentication is implemented in existing application? No to 2nd Q, CMS authentication, open to suggestion Security
Would you require SSL certificates for your website? If yes, would the vendor be
responsible for procuring them? No
Security
Would any of the data/content on the website be restricted by US Export Control requirements (i.e. it can only be handled by US citizens)? If yes, please provide
some details. No
SEO
Page 3- Scope of services: How is the current SEO implemented. Do we need to use
this AS IS or any optimization is required. Optimization is required Site Administration What level of data retention does CHFA require (180 days, 1 year, etc)?
CHFA complies with State of CT date retention policy: http://ctstatelibrary.org/publicrecords/state Site Administration How many staff personnel are expected to be trained on the new CMS? contributors and moderators to be trained as needed Site Administration
How many staff members will have access to the Content Management system for
updating web content? There are approximately 12 staff designated as contributors and moderators Staffing Can the vendor provide some services from "offshore" (non-US) locations? Vendor will need us base to provide W-9 for billing purposes
Staffing Can the vendor provide some services from "onshore" (US) locations? Yes
Staffing
Can the vendor place some staff members at your office location? This would primarily be required for requirement analysis, deployment, training, etc. Yes
Target Platform
Does CHFA possess or has decided procure any licensed web content management product (Adobe EM, SDL Tridion, Sitefinity, Drupal, Joomla, SharePoint etc.) to host the new application? Are there any preferences or constraints that could
influence the choice? We are open to options, and they must be quoted separately
Technical
What technology is being leveraged to compromise your current hosting
environment (hardware, software, computer resources, storage, bandwidth, etc)? Not relevant to the scope of this project Technical Will hosting at CHFA be on bare metal machines or virtualized? Not relevant to the scope of this project Technical
How many environments does CHFA require (testing, development, production,
etc)? At least 2 - testing and production
Technical Will the system require failover capabilities to a backup site? Not in scope of the rfp Technical
What licensing/contracting agreements do you have with software, hardware,
and/or service providers? Not relevant to the scope of this project
Technical Would you be open to using our hosting environment as a solution?
Please list hosting options separately along with security compliance/certifications
Technical What event invitation and registration software do you use? None are used on current site, but we would like to add on the new site Technical What level of integration, if any, would you like with social media accounts? Social media feed on the Press release page
Technical What kind of compatibility do you want with your third party software? third party software will be linked or framed from the existing website Technical What HR software are you currently using? Not in scope of the rfp
Subject Question Answer Technical What is the size of your existing site (pages, hosted files, etc)? No details available at this time
Technical
Is there any Personally Identifiable Information (PII) housed within the system, and if so, what legal regulations does CHFA need to meet? No
Technical What are the current/historical statistics for site visitors/traffic? October 2015 - roughly 32,000 visits (excluding staff) , 60% new, 40% returning Technical
What is the expected growth of the site, both in terms of hosted content and site visitors?
50% increase in visits and reduced bounce rate. We hope to reduce, not increase hosted content.
Technical Is there API documentation for the database(s)? not applicable Technical
Are there any specific Platform requirements? for example only Microsoft (.NET
ASP) or it’s up to a vendor to suggest? Microsoft web based solutions are preferred Technical
Since it will be hosted by CHFA, what type of hosting platform (Microsoft or Unix
type) and resources CHFA is planning to utilize for new website? Mircosoft Technical
How many people are currently maintaining the website and can you provide their
areas of expertise? Not applicable
Technical
How are you hosting the website; onsite with your own servers or through a site
similar to the likes godaddy.com etc? Onsite
Technical Will the Publishing system need to be rewritten or rebuilt? Rewritten Technical What hosting language are you currently using (.net, PHP, etc.) .net Technical
Will the code supporting any of these dynamic pages be available to pick up from
where appropriate? If so, for which pages? question is unclear
Technical
Do any of these dynamic pages communicate with third-party applications or database to work properly? (Besides the Home Mortgage Program Interest rates, which was discussed in the RFP document). If so, please explain the nature of the
communication. Currently data from internal systems uploaded into Sharepoint
Technical
Please describe expectations for how cfha.org will integrate with the Lender log in for Loan Reservation System. Will cfha.org simply link out to the Lender Log In as an external application? Or is cfha.org expected in any way to store and/or verify user login credentials? Will the los.chfa.org application remain as is, or is design or
development work associated with that application part of this RFP in any way? Yes - link out Technical
What technology is CT Housing currently using to manage/deploy their existing
websites Microsoft
Technical Is there an MBE or WBE preference? See RFP, MBE/WBE are encouraged to apply Technical
Is there a preference for the website to be hosting internally or externally? Is there
a hosting provider preference? Hosting internally
Technical Do you have a technology preference? i.e. .NET, Linux, etc. .net Technical
What web and technology resources does CHFA have, and what role do you
anticipate them to have in the project? Microsoft technology and hosting. Product will be hosted on site
Technical
• Some of the parameters listed under Service Level Agreement (bullet #1 on p.7) include services that are related to hosting and not website design and development. Does CHFA require that the chosen web development firm also
provide hosting services? No
Technical
Can you provide the names of the HR Career Software, Event invitation/registration software, and HR software that are referenced in the RFP that the new site will
need to be compatible with? Not available at this time
Technical
Please confirm that development or enhancements to CHFA's Single Family Loan
Origination System is NOT included in this project? Not included in this project
Technical
The RFP mentions that CHFA will host the new site, can you provide details on your
server structure (i.e. do you support Windows server, LINUX servers, etc.)? Windows servers
Technical
For the mortgage rates the RFP mentions that CHFA will require the site to integrate with internal systems, can you provide technical details on these systems
Subject Question Answer
Technical
Many of the third party systems on page 11 of the RFP document simply link off to these third party systems, will the new site continue to just link off or do you
anticipate additional integration requirements? Link only
Technical
We noticed that the current site is written in ASP.NET. Is it a requirement that the site stays on this platform and if so, what is the backend language (C++, C#, VB,
etc)? Microsoft technologies are preferred
Technical
There is a directive that states "CHFA must own the code" - with this in mind would it be acceptable to build the new site on top of an open-source CMS or web
framework such as Wordpress or Django? Open to suggestions
Technical
CHFA stated that no particular content management system has been selected..
will you consider an open source platform? Web framework is preferred
Technical ODBC database? Any known security issues/concerns connecting the website? No
Technology
Looking at current site it seems it is developed on MOSS 2007, Is CHFA looking for migration and redesign to Latest version of SharePoint (i.e. SharePoint 2013 or
Office 365 SharePoint Online) or Drupal? Open to suggestions Technology Are there any custom solutions deployed on the SharePoint site. If yes, how many? No
Technology
Are any third party components deployed on SharePoint farm, like Nintex/K2,
InfoPath forms etc. No
Testing
What test management tools are available? What are the tools stack available for
Test life cycle (Test Management, Automation/Performance testing etc.)? Open to suggestions Testing
Is any Service virtualization currently in place and what type of products are being
used? Not relevant to the scope of this project
Timelines
Would you like to release the new website in a Beta phase for end-users, while the existing website is still in operation? If yes, what would be the duration (e.g. 2
weeks)? No
Tools
Are there any specific tools for project management, defect management, and testing that you already have, and would like the vendor to use while executing the
project? E.g. HP Quality Center, Bugzilla, JIRA, Asana, etc. Open to suggestions Training
What your preference for user training - onsite classroom or through video
conferencing? open to options
UAT
How much time do you anticipate for conducting User Acceptance Testing (e.g. 8
weeks)? Open to suggestions
User Roles and Permission
What are different user roles which we need to consider? Please describe
permission matrix for them Contributors, moderators, end users
Vendor
Is CHFA open to negotiating the indemnification clause? As drafted, the
indemnification is open to broad interpretation. Will CHFA entertain a limitation on the indemnity for actions directly related to the technical development of the site, and limitations on monetary damages, such as no indemnification for punitive and
indirect damages? Not at this time
Vendor
Will we have to meet in person anytime before or after the contract is awarded? If
so, do you have an estimate of how many times? Yes and number of meetings can't be estimated at this time. Vendor How long of a service agreement would you like? Up to 3 years
Vendor
You state that you would like the project manager’s references, What would you
like for these references; names of people?; companies previously worked at? Projects the manager has worked on. Vendor
Will meetings with assigned CHFA staff require in person/on-site presence, or will
remote communications be acceptable? Both will be needed.
Vendor
The current architecture appears to be fairly complex. Would you be open to having an onsite (your offices) workshop to review what content is to be retained
Subject Question Answer Vendor Does redesign of the loan origination system fall within the scope of the project? NO
Vendor
Will personnel resume be enough included with links from the private sector
projects or is there a need for government website links of past projects? (pg.6) Yes, we need links of prior projects
Vendor
Our firm has a long standing partnership with a staffing agency that supplies personnel in the specific areas of expertise needed for each of our project; would you consider such personnel as subcontractors, thus eliminating our qualification
to bid? See RFP page 6 and sample contract attached to RFP
Vendor
For question "Provide, in tabular form, information on the employee composition of your firm indicating the total number of employees and the total number and percentages of minorities and women employed and their titles." What is "Tabular form" & can it be a sole-proprietor firm with freelance support
from our staffing agency partnership? (pg. 7) An excel chart showing employees. If sole proprietorship, see RFP.
Vendor
Can proof of insurance be provided based on the liable amount needed by the client after the contract has been awarded or is proof of insurance required as part of the bid package?
See RFP pages 21-22. The successful firm wold need to submit proof of insurance and endorsements prior to signing a contract.
Vendor
Is CT Housing expecting a Software proposal and a Services solution to support the
RFP Requirements? Services - yes, software -yes
Vendor Is there a preference for local versus out of state vendors? No Vendor Can the work be performed offsite with some onsite meetings? Yes
Vendor Will an out of state vendor be considered? Yes
Vendor
• In evaluating responses to this RFP, will any preference be given to
Connecticut-based firms? No
Vendor
• Under "Project Deliverables" on p.4, the RFP states that the applicant will be required to meet with CHFA staff with twenty-four hours' notice. Can this meeting be conducted remotely (e.g., via WebEx or conference call), or must it be
conducted in person? Yes
Vendor
• Bullet #8 on p. 6 – Is it required that respondents have prior experience building
websites for government entities? No it is not required, but it is a plus. Vendor Would you be open to ideas of functionality not outlined in RFP? Yes
Vendor
Page 3 - Website must be compatible with "third party software such as Contact Contact, HR Career Software, Event invitation/registration, HR software". Is it just redirection to outlinks or data transaction between applications. What is the integration approach utilized now? (Web Service/API etc).
Integrations a)Constant Contact - Constant Contact API for sign up
b)HR Career Software - framed application
C)Event invitation/registration - not using any software currently d)HR Software
-<<Add if any other>> Loan Origination System is a link
a) End Users public website
b) Content Contributors -c) Moderators -
a) Content Testing (Y/N) - Y
b) Security Testing (Y/N) - Y
