Department of Transportation. REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) Bid Number RFI_LCMS_ for. Legal Case Management System (LCMS)

Transcription

1 . Department of Transportation (RFI) Bid Number RFI_LCMS_ for Legal Case Management System (LCMS) October 17, 2011

2 (INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK)

3 I. INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW This Request for Information (RFI) is released by the State of California, Department of Transportation (Caltrans), Division of Procurement and Contracts (DPAC), on behalf of the Information Technology Project Management Office (ITPMO). This RFI will survey the marketplace to understand what products or services may be available and to approximate the dollars that may be needed for a procurement. I.1. Purpose of this Request for Information (RFI) Caltrans is seeking ideas and information for a Legal Case Management System (LCMS). The responses to this RFI may be used to develop bid requirements. Caltrans plans to procure the necessary software, services and hardware through a competitive bid. Interested parties (Respondents) are invited to describe potential products and solutions, and to suggest strategies to assist Caltrans in determining if a Commercial Off the Shelf (COTS), Modified Off the Shelf (MOTS), integrated product set (i.e., integration of multiple products), or custom solution would best address the required functions described in Appendix A, Workbook. Multiple products may be described in the response. I.2.1. Required Information Responses to this RFI should include the following information: Name of the vendor Address of the vendor (Street, City, State, Zip) Name and title or position of the individual submitting the response Contact information including a telephone number and address A statement by the individual certifying the information in the response is true and accurate to the best of his/her knowledge at the time of the submittal The proposed solutions and strategies to implement them A detailed project management plan (including schedules (year, months, weeks, days) for each stage of the project management plan) Itemized and total estimated costs for the proposed solutions and strategies (see I.2.2., Voluntary Cost Information) Appendix A, Workbook, contains appendices for Respondent to complete and submit (see I.4., Submission of Response), and is provided as a Microsoft Excel file, separate from this RFI. Please do not modify this workbook. The appendices are listed as follows: Appendix A_1 Company-Product Response Template Appendix A_2 Instructions for Functional Needs Response Template Appendix A_3 Functional Needs Response Template Page 3 of 14

4 Appendix A_4 Implementation and Deployment Response Template Appendix A_5 Maintenance Response Template Appendix A_6 Data Conversion/Integration/Technical Interfaces Response Template Appendix A_7 Testing Response Template Appendix A_8 Training Response Template Appendix A_9 Estimated Costs Response Template Respondent may also submit supplemental materials, if desired (e.g., additional product literature). I.2.2. Voluntary Cost Information Caltrans is requesting cost information from Respondents to this RFI. This request is not a requirement. Caltrans understands that the costs provided are non-binding and will be used for informational budgeting purposes only. Respondents are encouraged to provide a list of costs for each stage of the Project Management Plan (PMP), at a minimum, and a cost range for each stage of the PMP in Appendix A-9 of the Workbook. I.3. Contact Information Erlinda Ibarbia is the Caltrans DPAC IT Acquisition Analyst assigned to this RFI. She will issue responses to RFI questions via the Department of General Services (DGS) eprocurement system (known as Bidsync) at Although Ms. Ibarbia s address is erlinda_ibarbia@dot.ca.gov and her telephone number is (916) , organizations responding to this RFI that have questions or require clarification will be directed to submit their written requests via Bidsync please see Section I.6., Submittal of Questions, in this RFI. No other representative of Caltrans is authorized to communicate with Respondents with respect to this RFI. I.4. Submission of Response Please complete the appropriate worksheets in Appendix A, along with requested information identified this RFI s I.2.1., Required Information and I.2.2., Voluntary Cost Information. Please submit three (3) hard copies, and one (1) soft copy in a compact disk (CD), by the response due date and time (see I.5., Key Action Dates). This is the recommended label format for envelopes containing responses*: Caltrans DPAC - IT Acquisitions Office Attn: Erlinda Ibarbia, RFI_LCMS_ th Street, MS-65 Sacramento, CA *Hand-Deliveries: If you hand deliver the envelope, you must date and time stamp the sealed envelope immediately upon arrival. The date/time stamp machine is located in the lobby of the Page 4 of 14

5 first floor to the right of the security guard station at th Street, Sacramento, California. You may use the supplied labels on top of the locked bid cabinet next to the date/time stamp machine. If the envelope is too large for the locked bid cabinet, ask the security guard to call the DPAC reception desk at to have your envelope picked up by IT Acquisitions Office staff. Please do not include any confidential or proprietary information in response to this RFI as it may be disclosed or be subject to the California Public Records Act (CPRA). Caltrans is also interested in learning the reasons for not submitting a response. I.4. Key Action Dates Listed below are the important key actions and dates. If Caltrans deems it necessary to make changes to this schedule, it will do so by posting changes to all interested parties via Bidsync at Table 1. Actions / Dates Action Date 1. Release of RFI October 17, Questions Due October 24, 2011 at 5:00 PM, PST* 3. Release Answers to Questions October 27, RFI Responses Due November 7, 2011 at 5:00 PM, PST *Pacific Standard Time I.6. Submittal of Questions Interested Respondents requiring clarification of the intent, content, or procedural matters may submit questions or requests for clarifications via Bidsync at by the due date and time. Answers will be made available to all interested parties via Bidsync. The parties submitting the questions will not be publicized in the question and answer document. Respondents are strongly encouraged to register with Bidsync or update its current Bidsync account because Bidsync is the vehicle through which Caltrans issues its RFIs or IT solicitations. If Bidsync difficulties occur, Respondents shall contact Bidsync directly at for assistance. Bidsync has requested that Caltrans put Respondents in direct phone contact with Bidsync personnel; therefore, Respondents will be directed to contact Bidsync to resolve their Bidsync issues. Respondents may also Bidsync with their issues at agencysupport@bidsync.com and note in the subject heading: Supplier unable to access Bid # RFI_LCMS_ in Bidsync. I.6. Disclaimer This RFI is issued for information and planning purposes only, and it does not constitute a solicitation. Responses to the RFI will not be returned. A response to this notice is not an offer and cannot be accepted by Caltrans to form a binding contract. Respondents are solely responsible for all expenses associated with responding to this RFI. Caltrans will consider Page 5 of 14

6 vendor responses in developing a Request for Quotation (RFQ), Invitation for Bid (IFB), Request for Proposal (RFP), or other action. The submission of a response does not constitute any commitment on the part of the interested party. However, the Respondent agrees that the submitted information is correct to the best of the Respondent s knowledge. Also, the right to compete in future procurements is not affected in the event that the party chooses not to submit a response to this RFI. Caltrans is also interested in learning the reasons for not submitting a response. The intent of this RFI is to validate project objectives and requirements for possible future solicitations. Please do not include any confidential or proprietary information in responses to this RFI as it may be disclosed or be subject to the CPRA. II. PROJECT DESCRIPTION II.1. Background of the Program Caltrans Legal Division (LD) is a full-service litigation, transactional and in-house counsel law office with statewide responsibility. By statute, California Government Code, Section 14007, Caltrans is self-represented. The LD is divided into four (4) offices, each of which is responsible for a designated geographical portion of the state, handling litigation that arises in its area and providing legal services to Caltrans Districts. In addition, the Sacramento Legal Office (SLO) provides a variety of legal services to Headquarters (HQ) programs. To summarize the 4 offices: SLO oversees Districts 2, 3, 6, 9, 10 and HQ Los Angeles Office (LAO) oversees Districts 7 and 8 San Diego Office (SDO) oversees Districts 11 and 12 San Francisco Office (SFO) oversees Districts 1, 4 and 5 The Chief Counsel manages the LD and reports directly to the Caltrans Director. Each of the 4 legal offices is headed by a Deputy Chief Counsel and includes approximately 300 personnel consisting of a staff of attorneys, investigators, paralegals, legal secretaries and other support staff. Slightly less than one third of the legal staff is located in Sacramento, with the remainder distributed among the other three (3) offices. LD s major activities fall into five (5) practice areas: Public Liability Law (Tort) Real Property Law Transportation Law Contract Law Environmental Law In addition to these major practice areas, the LD also provides miscellaneous legal services and litigation support. The LD s primary function is to protect Caltrans resources by providing expert representation in litigation and prompt, efficient and reliable legal services for Page 6 of 14

7 management and staff. The LD handles all of Caltrans' general and specialized legal needs and representation, including: Furnishing litigation and related legal support services in such areas of the law as: o public liability, construction claims, contracts, eminent domain, inverse condemnation, o procurement, environmental law, aeronautics, mass transportation, employment law, o outdoor advertising, and administrative law actions Providing legal advice to prevent lawsuits and to strengthen risk management activities Preparing legal opinions and conducting research on legal questions Reviewing legislative proposals Handling government claims and other claims filed against Caltrans Supporting regulatory activity and Administrative Procedures Act (APA) rule-making Providing counsel on administrative law issues, including personnel and CPRA and Political Reform Act (PRA) compliance The LD is currently handling approximately 2,000 cases and claims. The single largest area of litigation is tort defense actions involving dangerous conditions of public property. These cases principally involve personal injury and wrongful death and are generally concerned with the design, construction, maintenance, and/or operation of the State Highway System (SHS). The LD typically resolves some 300 tort cases each year and is successful in at least ninety percent (90%) of these, most of which result in defense verdicts or settlements with no payout. Over the last five (5) years, annual payouts have ranged from $35 million to $65 million. The LD is limited by the capabilities of its existing software application. Legal Information Case System (LInCS) requires an extensive amount of data entry and relies on a manual import/export function to generate reports. This adversely affects the ability of the staff to conduct business. Further the FileMaker Pro platform is not a preferred environment for enterprise-level applications. The reasons for a legal case management system (LCMS) include the following: Attorneys need to know the current status of a case; what documents have been produced; who has been hired to assist in the case; which Judge is assigned to the case; etc. Management needs to know the financial exposure of the case; the costs associated with each case; caseloads of each attorney; etc. Legal management needs to know how many cases are being filed, the case-type and total expenditures to respond to inquiries from Business Transportation and Housing Agency (BT&H), Department of Finance (DOF), Legislative Analyst Office (LAO), the Governor s Office, and Caltrans Divisions and Districts. Four (4) business problems and two (2) business opportunities were identified that may be solved or achieved by implementing a LCMS see Table 2 below. Page 7 of 14

8 Table 2. Summary of Business Problems/Opportunities Business Problem or Opportunity (as stated in the Feasibility Study Report (FSR)) Problem: Dissatisfaction with the level of service available from current database. Problem and Opportunity: Inconsistent and incomplete tracking of actual case costs. Opportunity: Alignment with the Department s Strategic Plan. Problem: Executive level requests for information cannot be responded to in a timely manner and results are inconsistent or incorrect. Problem: Limited ability to develop and revise current system. II.2. LCMS Project Vision The LCMS Project vision is to replace the current case management system, LInCS, with industry proven solution(s) through a competitive procurement process. Caltrans is seeking information for demonstrated histories of successful implementations of similar solution(s). Should a future competitive process be completed, a new LCMS is anticipated to be deployed at the Office of Technology Services (OTech) Federated Data Center (FDC) located in Sacramento. The system will be managed by Caltrans IT Staff. All 4 legal offices must have access to the server via a web portal. This RFI focuses on the following areas of the System Development Lifecycle (SDLC): Development Data Conversion Testing Training Configuration Technical Interfaces, and Integration Please refer to II.5, Areas of the SDLC, in this RFI. II.3. Functional Description The primary purpose of implementing a new LCMS is to improve LD s data gathering, management, tracking, storage, reporting, and retention functions. In order to achieve this goal it is anticipated the new system will include the following functionalities and features: Standardize the workflow process. Integrate with Caltrans System - Microsoft Exchange/Outlook. Provide contact management function. Provide ad hoc financial reports. Interface with Caltrans current accounting system, Enterprise Resource Planning Financial InfraStructure (EFIS). Page 8 of 14

9 Enforce business rules during data entry. Establish a single application to support legal case management statewide. Provide accurate and timely management reports. Provide document assembly and tracking capability. Contract with an industry leader. Allow for long-term support and improvements. A complete list of detailed functional requirements is located in the Appendix A, Workbook, as Appendix A_3. The instruction for Functional Needs is found in Appendix A_2 of the workbook. Please refer to this page when responding to the questions in Appendix A_3. Page 9 of 14

10 II.4. Technical Description II.4.1. Existing System Existing System -- Figure 1 The current system is a FileMaker Pro v11.0 application running on a Windows 2003 server platform at the Federated Data Center in Rancho Cordova. This is a dedicated server that provides access for all four legal offices via Caltrans LAN and WAN network infrastructure. Backups are performed nightly; a UPS system is in place. Data sharing is accomplished by providing users with FileMaker Pro client software that communicates with the server. Authentication is required, but periodic password updates are not required. Application support is provided by existing LD IT staff. Page 10 of 14

11 II.4.2. Proposed New System Proposed New System- Figure 2 The proposed production system is expected to reside in the FDC portion of the OTech in a virtualized environment as illustrated above. The proposed technical platform will be using a n- tier architecture: Presentation Tier communicates with other tiers by outputting results to browser/client tier and all other tiers in the network. Application Tier business logic controls and application s functionality by performing detailed processing. Data Tier consist of document storage and the database. All 4 legal offices must have access to the server via a web portal. In addition, there should be development, testing and training environment. Page 11 of 14

12 II.5. Areas of the SDLC II.5.1. Development Approach Caltrans envisions a solution that will require minimal customizations. Respondents should take into consideration what has been defined in the requirements and provide feedback on ways to minimize any customizations. Appendix A_1 in the Appendix A, Workbook, requests information based on Respondent s current product or potential solution approach regarding specific functional needs of the LCMS. Please complete and submit Appendix A_1 with the response (refer to I.2.2., Submission of Response). II.5.2. Data Conversion Approach Caltrans needs to retain the current data from the existing case management system. Caltrans also wants to explore the possibilities of transferring the existing data to the new LCMS. The type of data to be converted consists of an a initial one-time load of: 20,000 legal case matters/filings; 20,000 files containing information about the opposing counsel; 61,000 data fields containing plaintiff and defendant (parties) names and roles; 6,000 activity entries which include notes pertaining to a specific case; 9,000 expert contracts, and a on-going load of 4,000 legal cases/matters received on an annual bases. In the Appendix A Workbook, Appendix A_6 requests information based on Respondent s current product or potential solution approach regarding data conversion activities necessary to store data into the LCMS environment. Please complete and submit Appendix A_6 (refer to I.2.2., Submission of Response). II.5.3. Testing Approach Caltrans would like unit test scripts developed based on the functional requirements as defined in Appendix A_3 of the Appendix A, Workbook. Caltrans LD Subject Matter Experts (SME) and IT staff are anticipated to perform acceptance testing. A testing plan should be developed based on the functional requirements. Appendix A_7 in the Workbook, requests information based on Respondents current product or potential solution approach regarding testing activities necessary to verify configurations. Please complete and submit Appendix A_7 (refer to I.2.2., Submission of Response). II.5.4 Training Approach Caltrans would like the training plan to be developed by the Contractor in cooperation with the Caltrans Legal Division Business Lead. All four legal offices will require training. Caltrans anticipates the training to be held at each location in a designated computer training facility. Approximately 290 legal staff to be trained consist of: Administrative staff End User Staff IT Support Staff Page 12 of 14

13 Appendix A_8 in the Workbook requests information based on Respondents current product or potential solution approach regarding training activities necessary to train Legal staff on how to use the new LCMS. Please complete and submit Appendix A_8 (refer to I.2.2., Submission of Response). II.5.5. Technical Interfaces Caltrans would like the proposed solution to interface with the following applications: Caltrans current accounting system, Enterprise Resource Planning Financial InfraStructure (E-FIS). The interface to E-FIS will allow Caltrans to extract various information related to any given legal case. The type of information consists of: legal staff names, job classifications, salary, and the total amount of hours expended on a case. Microsoft Office 2007 Suite (e.g. MS Excel, MS Word). The interface with MS Office Suite will allow Legal Staff to export queries to MS Excel. External Legal Services The interface with external legal services will allow Caltrans to receive updated case law information from legal websites. Appendix A_6 in the Appendix A, Workbook, requests information based on Respondents current product or potential solution approach regarding technical interfaces for the LCMS. Please complete and submit Appendix A_6 (refer to I.2.2., Submission of Response). II.5.6. Integration Approach Caltrans would like the proposed solution to be compatible to integrate with the Caltrans current System, Lotus Notes and future System MS Exchange/Outlook. Please see the functional requirements as defined in Appendix A_3 of the Workbook. Appendix A_6 requests information based on Respondents current product or potential solution approach regarding integration activities necessary to integrate with the new LCMS. Please complete and submit Appendix A_6 refer to I.2.2., Submission of Response). II.6. Implementation and Deployment Description II.6.1. Rollout Approach Caltrans anticipates the LCMS project will be completed in a single phase, but is open to receive suggestions as to how the system should be deployed and implemented. Appendix A_4 requests information based on Respondents current product or potential solution approach for the LCMS implementation and deployment activities necessary to carry out this task. Please complete and submit Appendix A_4 refer to I.2.2., Submission of Response). II.6.2. Maintenance & Operation Approach Caltrans envisions support for the new system during the first year of deployment. On-going support for the solution (e.g., application) will be provided by existing Caltrans IT staff. If a COTS solution is advised, a software maintenance contract of at least one year of maintenance Page 13 of 14

14 and support may be procured as becomes available. Caltrans IT Technical staff along with LD IT staff may require training in the solution in order to provide ongoing support of the system. Appendix A_5 requests information based on Respondents current product or potential solution approach regarding maintenance activities necessary to operate the LCMS. Please complete and submit Appendix A_5 (refer to I.2.2., Submission of Response). Page 14 of 14