REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) Date: December 12, 2011
Subject: Online Business-to-Business Network
Requesting Organization: The Michigan Economic Development Corporation Background:
The Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) is the lead agency for the state’s burgeoning economic gardening initiatives. Economic gardening emphasizes a grow-from-within philosophy and approach to economic development, and is designed to take advantage of the state’s “entrepreneurial DNA.” MEDC’s Pure Michigan Business Connect (PMBC) program kicked off in June 2011 as one key component to the initiative. PMBC has three main sections: (1) a pilot program targeting second-stage growth companies with customized consulting services, (2) a stable of free, donated business services for small businesses, and (3) a business-to-business network that matches existing Michigan companies with procurement opportunities from other Michigan companies. Already nearly a thousand Michigan companies have registered at the PMBC portal (www.michigan.org/business-connect) to take advantage of these available services.
The MEDC is preparing to release a Request for Proposals (RFP) for an online business-to-business (B2B) application for PMBC. The MEDC wants an online tool to enable Michigan companies to connect with other Michigan companies in a true, dynamic, online marketplace. The principal, core function of the system is to allow Michigan companies to make available procurement contract opportunities to other Michigan firms. On a secondary level – yet an important level –the application will act externally as an online directory for the public to find Michigan-based products and services. Finally, the system will act as a source for “bulletin board” announcements and news, as well as being a self-contained social network that allows companies to communicate with each other.
Under an active B2B system, businesses will voluntarily register on the PMBC online portal and will establish an account with the system. A registered business will then have an active account in which it can control the content of its profile page. During the initial account enrollment, the company will answer a series of screening questions to improve B2B matches in the system. Once registered, the business can use the system to find Michigan products or services as a buyer or, conversely, to be listed as a potential supplier.
Since June 2010, MEDC has collected registrations for over 400 Michigan companies interested in being part of PMBC’s B2B system. It is not known how many companies will register for the system once it is launched online. Several thousand participating companies may end up registering. At the initial launch, the MEDC will need the online network to accommodate at least 10,000 companies.
Purpose of this Request for Information:
MEDC is seeking a contractor to provide a customized online B2B structure that meets the needs of the PMBC program. This RFI is to solicit contractors to submit written responses that will assist us with writing an RFP. Based upon the written responses, we will invite selected respondents to make in-person presentations.
In the RFP, we plan to seek proposals for an online, interactive business-to-business network that will include the following functionality:
buyers can find and offer procurement opportunities to other Michigan companies business registrations are listed as potential suppliers
forums, bulletin board for news and announcements about available opportunities. social networking capability to allow companies to communicate directly to each other publically available online business directory
The attached addendum provides additional details about some of the needed components and structure of PMBC’s B2B system.
THIS RFI IS SEEKING INFORMATION ONLY AND DOES NOT IMPLY, COMMIT OR GUARANTEE FUNDING IN ANY MANNER NOW OR IN THE FUTURE TO ANY PARTY
ANY DOCUMENTS PRESENTED AS A PART OF THE RFI ARE SUBJECT TO FREDOM OF INFORMATION ACT REQUIREMENTS.
Request for Information (RFI) Guidelines: A. Guidelines:
Responses will be accepted from December 19, 2011, through December 30, 2011. Oral Presentations will be conducted from January 9, 2011 through January 13, 2011. Response submissions should be sent by email only to: contracts&[email protected].
The MEDC will be evaluating RFI responses as they are submitted and will be scheduling oral presentations beginning January 3, 2011 for selected respondents that are willing to provide more information in presentations. Respondents will be selected for informational presentations based upon the experience of the company, suitability of the company’s products and services for the MEDC, and available presentation slots. You are encouraged to respond as early in the response period as possible to increase the likelihood that presentation slots will be available. The oral presentations will include time for product demonstrations, and we will welcome further discussions of information needed in our upcoming RFP to enable your accurate, low risk fixed bid pricing and phasing recommendations. Specific agenda for the oral presentations will be communicated to selected respondents.
B. Responses to this RFI
Objectives: This RFI encourages respondents to submit timely information in sufficient detail to allow us to qualify vendors to come in for oral presentations.
General Schedule: The following summarizes the RFI schedule: RFI Issue Date: Monday, December 19, 2011
Questions Due: 5:00 PM EST on Wednesday, December 21, 2011
*Answers to all questions will be posted by close of business on Thursday, December 22, 2011
Deadline for RFI Responses: 5:00 PM EST on Friday, December 30, 2011
Review Process: Completeness, relevant experience, perceived value and compatibility with our needs will be the main considerations to be selected for a follow-up presentation.
C. Response Outline
Respondents are asked to respond to the following items: 1. Contact Information of the Respondent
a. Organization or business name and address,
b. Name, title email and phone number of the individual(s) responsible for the respondent’s RFI response
2. Background, Area of Expertise and Experience of the Respondent
Provide a brief overview and history or your company. Describe the organization of your company and include an organizational chart. Include specific data outlined below:
Company name and address
Contact name, title, address, email, phone Headquarter address (if different)
Local sales address (if different) Years in business under this name Previous company name(s)
Years in business under previous name(s) Ownership structure
Total number of employees
3. References for similar projects
Please describe your company’s experience in developing and/or implementing online business applications that are the same or similar to the B2B system described here. If you have done similar projects as a vendor, include the company name, contact name and title, phone number, email address and brief project description for each reference. Reference contacts should be able to discuss the technical and performance aspects of your installed solutions(s) as well as your implementation services.
ADDENDUM
Details of B2B Online Network Application
The B2B procurement network will be branded under the Pure Michigan Business Connect (PMBC) economic gardening initiative and will reside on the internet in conjunction with MichiganAdvantage.org. The project will result in a directory of Michigan businesses and a procurement marketplace where Michigan businesses may post procurement opportunities available for other Michigan businesses and, conversely, the participating businesses may themselves look for and find opportunities posted by other companies. So buyers can be potential suppliers and suppliers can be potential buyers through this system. Also, company participants may use the system as a business-oriented social network whereby companies can between each other directly and as self-designated groups or clusters. The network will also be a tool for MEDC and other authorized program partners to post available business opportunities for general or targeted members of the network.
A. Brand Identity
The branding will match PMBC and MichiganAdvanteage.org as determined by the MEDC. B. Web Design
The system’s website header, footer, site interior and e-mail templates will be consistent with the MI Advantage website and PMBC branding.
C. Public Site
The site will consist of the content and organization of the pages within the website. There will be two parts to the site: (1) a publically available site and (2) a private “registrant”-only site.
Publically Available Site :
Portion of the site will be available to the public to view anonymously. About
Searchable Directory by Name Searchable Directory by Product Searchable Directory by Industry Searchable by Keyword
D. Private Site for Registered Users
This is the dynamic, interactive B2B marketplace system. General Outline of Private Site:
Home
Overview Getting Started News
Join Network
Post Procurement Opportunity Find a Buyer
Procurement Opportunity Posting (for Buyers) Overview
Create Procurement Opportunity Fields to include:
Opportunity Ref # Service/Product Name Service/Product Description
Service/Product Categories (list/checkboxes) Special Requirements (descriptive text field) Transaction Rating
Quote Details, Instructions & Specs Quote Section
NDA Acceptance
Targeted Supplier Notification By Region
By Industry
By Selected Vendor
Minority/Women Owned Businesses Certification Requirements
Other Requirements Purchase Order Page
Search Procurement Opportunities (for Suppliers) Overview Search Opportunities Fields to include: Search by Industry Search by Product/Service Search by Location/Region
Social Network for System Businesses
Add capabilities for companies to communicate directly between each other and among designated groups or forums.
E. Company Account
Company representatives with admin rights can add/remove individual contacts from the company record. When a contact is added, he/she may be assigned Administrative rights within the company. Only contacts with Administrative rights within a company may add or remove other users. By default, the user creating a company record via the Join page will possess Administrative rights. This feature will allow multiple users to sign into PMBC under the same company account to create opportunities and manage company data. The registered company will have a custom, searchable URL associated with the system account.
Overview
Company Profile Company Name
Company Phone Number Company Website Contact Name Contact Title
Contact Phone Number E-mail Address Address Line 1 Address Line 2 City County State Zip Code Public/Contact Profile Ratings Other Details
F. Additional functionality for site system: Region & County Tracking
A subset of the statewide system must be available to MEDC’s regional partners to sort buyers and sellers on a regional basis and allow branding using the local partner’s logo and color scheme in conjunction with PMBC. An initial regional site must be created for the City of Detroit’s Detroit Economic Growth Corporation (DEGC). Users will have the ability to use the
regional subset system and data and have the ability to gain immediate access to the statewide system for extended searches. Admin rights for DEGC and potential future local partners must be determined.
G. Additional Administrative Functions
Annual Renewal and Confirmation: Upon sign up, all member companies will be granted a free, one-year membership. At the end of each year of membership, the following process will occur: (1) Expiration Notice: An e-mail notice will be sent to the company’s primary contact record to indicate the annual membership has expired. (2) Renewal & Confirmation: The e-mail will contain a link to a company information and renewal page. Companies will be required to indicate their desire to renew and confirm the accuracy of their company information. Failure to perform this action will result in expiration of the company record and removal of the company profile from the active directory. Existing Records Imported in to System
The developer will build functionality to enable import of existing company data from PMBC and potential other sources.
Existing PMBC company registrants will be sent email invitations to join the system and set up an account.
MEDC reserves the right to accept or reject any business registrants in the system. The system must include the ability to send bulk email messages and surveys to system
users and company admin reps.
The system must have a full-range of capabilities for PMBC staff to track usage of the site and run reports as needed.
H. Interfaces/Integration to other systems/websites
MEDC currently uses Salesforce.com for its CRM needs. The B2B system will need to interface with the Salesforce system to update relevant company related activities. MEDC currently maintains other portals/websites, and is exploring options for Single Sign-On (SSO), or a federated identity management solution. The registration process for this system may need to fit into this solution.
