REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT (CRM) SYSTEM DATE ISSUED: 12/03/2010

Transcription

1 REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT (CRM) SYSTEM DATE ISSUED: 12/03/2010 DATE DUE: 01/14/2011

2 CONTENTS DESCRIPTION INTRODUCTION CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION PROJECT BACKGROUND STRATEGIC VISION RFP SCOPE OF WORK SUMMARY PROJECT TIMELINE PROJECT PRICING DISTRIBUTION OF RFP AND PROPOSAL REQUIREMENTS ENVIRONMENT INFORMATION CURRENT COMPUTING ENVIRONMENT TECHNOLOGY OBJECTIVES WORK DEFINITION AND REQUIREMENTS PROJECT STRATEGY PRODUCT REQUIREMENTS Technical requirements Functional Requirements HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS Server Environment RDBMS Software Client Environment and Connectivity PROPOSAL INSTRUCTIONS GENERAL INFORMATION Transmittal Letter Executive Summary Implementation Vendor and Product Vendor Profile PRODUCT VENDOR SOLUTION ONGOING SUPPORT PRICING PROPOSAL EVALUATION SCHEDULE OF EVENTS Request for Proposal Notification Questions from Proposers Implementation and Product Vendor Proposals Due Identification of Finalists Funding Approval Contracts Awarded Project Initiation EVALUATION CRITERIA TERMS AND CONDITIONS BASIS FOR PROPOSAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS P a g e 2

3 6.3 DISCLOSURE OF PROPOSAL CONTENTS SIGNING OF PROPOSALS COST OF PROPOSAL CONFLICT OF INTEREST, NON COLLUSION AND ANTI LOBBYING OWNERSHIP OF PROPOSALS DISQUALIFICATION OR REJECTION OF PROPOSALS RIGHT TO WAIVE IRREGULARITIES WITHDRAWAL OF PROPOSALS AMENDING OF PROPOSALS PROPOSAL OFFER FIRM EXCEPTIONS TO RFP SPECIFICATIONS CONSIDERATION OF PROPOSALS TERMINATION GOVERNING LAW NO OBLIGATION AWARD OF CONTRACT EXECUTION OF CONTRACT CONTRACT TERMS AND CONDITIONS-SAMPLE P a g e 3

4 DESCRIPTION The City and County of Denver, acting by and through its Board of Water Commissioners (hereafter Denver Water), is seeking a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) System. 1.1 CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION 1.0 INTRODUCTION Denver Water is providing this information so that you may better understand our utility and our Request for Proposal. Please take the time to read and understand the following. Confidential Business Information This document contains confidential information about Denver Water, and is not to be copied, reproduced, lent, or used for any purpose other than that specified herein without the express prior written permission of Denver Water. 1.2 PROJECT BACKGROUND Currently, our Community Relations section uses a third party online hosted system to send communications. The current system is used to send newsletters as well as other communications to customers and non-customers. addresses are gathered through a variety of ways: direct contact, customer records, and collection from people using subscription forms on Community Relations also uses a Microsoft Access database and Excel spreadsheets to track contact information and print mailing labels for those customers who do not have . Other divisions in Denver Water have similar systems to send information to their specified distribution lists for postal mailings and share the need to send s to certain groups and different mailing lists. Denver Water currently manages communications differently than postal mailing communications and would like an integrated solution to ensure there is no duplication of information to recipients by using one system to manage our and postal mail communications throughout the company. 1.3 STRATEGIC VISION Denver Water communicates with a variety of audiences including customers, e-newsletter subscribers, stakeholders, employees, vendors and key leaders at all levels of government. This solution proposes a system based on requirements that will integrate with Customer Care & Billing (customer information system), PeopleSoft (HR/payroll) and JDEdwards (vendors) as the major repositories for a master contact list utilized for sending electronic and standard mail communications. Nearly all divisions of Denver Water maintain separate lists. These lists will be gathered and consolidated into the appropriate repositories. Integration with our in-house developed Customer Correspondence Library (CCL) for tracking communications is desired. The system must also integrate with for recipient subscription maintenance purposes. P a g e 4

5 1.4 RFP SCOPE OF WORK SUMMARY Denver Water anticipates a phased implementation of CRM functions. This Request for Proposal (RFP) represents a scope of work to acquire, install and initiate the implementation of an CRM system. Customer Relationship Management System. The proposed CRM solution must include all hardware specifications, CRM software, and services required to install, implement, and support the required CRM functions including contact management, campaign management, management, reporting, workflow and integration with enterprise and line of business transactional systems and office applications and tools. 1.5 PROJECT TIMELINE The importance of this project as an enterprise communication tool requires that the solution is placed into production during 2011, with the initial implementation beginning in the first quarter of However, the level of complexity, resource constraints, and funding considerations all dictate a realistic phasing and timeline of activities. Denver Water is committed to completing the scope identified in this initial project. 1.6 PROJECT PRICING Denver Water Senior Executives have reviewed and approved the initial concepts and blueprint that form the basis for this RFP. Through this RFP, Denver Water is requesting that Proposers identify, analyze, confirm and price available solutions; describe their technology platform, implementation services, methodology, and strategy; and provide level-of-effort and price estimates. The identified system, implementation strategy, and associated pricing will be presented to Senior Executives and the Board of Water Commissioners for funding approval. 1.7 DISTRIBUTION OF RFP AND PROPOSAL REQUIREMENTS Denver Water has identified Aprimo, Assetlink, Microsoft (Dynamics), Oracle (Siebel), SAP, Talisma and Unica as the prospective CRM product and implementation vendors for this initiative and has provided this RFP to each. 2.1 CURRENT COMPUTING ENVIRONMENT 2.0 ENVIRONMENT INFORMATION Server and Infrastructure. Denver Water currently utilizes a mixture of Microsoft Windows (Server 2003 or greater) and HP Unix (11i V2 or greater) servers in their data center environment. Either platform is acceptable for the CRM solution. A centralized storage area network (SAN) solution is utilized for data storage and must be utilized by the proposed solution. Denver Water also utilizes shared database environments (non-clustered) for both Microsoft SQL (2005 or greater) and Oracle ( or greater). The proposed solution must be able to function in a shared environment and meet the required security parameters of the shared environment (no elevated system administration permissions required for daily operations). Denver Water utilizes Microsoft Exchange 2007 and Microsoft Office SharePoint Services (MOSS) Both products are utilized as business applications and therefore need to be integrated with the CRM. P a g e 5

6 Upgrades to server OS and database versions are anticipated in Desktop. Most Denver Water desktops are Pentium 4 (2.4 GHZ, 2 GB RAM) and have a Windows XP Operating System running a common desktop environment, Microsoft Office 2007 (Word, Excel and Access), Microsoft Internet Explorer 7.0 or greater, Microsoft Exchange/Outlook, and Acrobat Reader. Work has begun on evolving the desktops to Windows 7, Microsoft Office 2010 and Internet Explorer 8 in the 2011 timeframe. 2.2 TECHNOLOGY OBJECTIVES Denver Water is committed to the implementation of best-of-breed business solutions and related technology enablers in order to achieve the level of operational efficiencies and excellence set out in its mission. Denver Water s general technology platform is Microsoft and Intel centric, particularly from an application software development perspective (i.e.,.net), an infrastructure software perspective (e.g., Windows Server 2003 and 2008, AD, Exchange, SMS, IIS, WSS, etc.), and a desktop perspective (approx. 1,300 PCs running Windows XP & MS-Office with intentions to migrate to Windows 7 and MS Office 2010 in the 2011 time frame). The server infrastructure consists of a combination of approximately 300 physical and virtual servers. The server O/S environment consists of Windows Server 2003/2008 and HP/UX. Denver Water s enterprise database platforms include Oracle, hosted on high-end HP UNIX servers, and SQL-Server hosted on high-end HP Windows servers. A multi-terabyte data storage/management system (approximately 70 TB) is implemented via an HP EVA SAN and is inter-connected with the server farm via a fabric of fiber channel switches. Denver Water will consider products that will be easy to implement within its technology environment and support our integration philosophy. The Proposal should address the following technical topics: Configurable role based security Comprehensive health and performance monitoring tools Audit trails Exception handling Strategy and techniques to support business process workflow modeling and automation Public API exposed through Web Services and an SDK Denver Water prefers to support and operate the new solution in-house; however, subscription-based or hosted solutions will also be considered. Denver Water seeks to integrate the new CRM using a services-oriented architecture, rather than point-to-point interfaces. Integration will be accomplished primarily through our Tibco middleware using a publisher/subscriber philosophy. 3.1 PROJECT STRATEGY 3.0 WORK DEFINITION AND REQUIREMENTS Denver Water is planning to implement a Customer Relationship Management System. This RFP is a request for product and services for a full implementation. This RFP requests implementation services for a defined scope of work that includes the installation of the core CRM product and services. Throughout the project, Denver Water will apply the technology to business processes to become more efficient by using the capabilities of the CRM application. Denver Water would like to eliminate as many existing disparate P a g e 6

7 contact repositories as possible and move towards an environment where all contacts can be managed via one system. 3.2 PRODUCT REQUIREMENTS TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS Integration 1. SOA compliant 2. Extensible to other applications, API etc 3. Allow Denver Water personnel to see the history of modifications to a contact record 4. Ability to integrate with Enterprise Content Management (ECM) systems 5. Integrate with our internal Customer Correspondence Library for appropriate tracking of customer records as determined by the Records and Document Administration (RDA) Manager 6. Use Oracle or Microsoft SQL as the system database 7. Integrate with our Customer Care and Billing (CC&B) system for a centralized database tracking contact information of customers, stakeholders, leaders, etc 8. Integrate with PeopleSoft for employee contact information 9. Integrate with JDEdwards for vendor contact System Administration 10. Allow multiple users access for maintenance and administrative functions 11. Allow multiple levels/roles of access categories including, at a minimum: a. Administrator Role b. Internal Support Role c. Internal Customer Role d. External Customer Role 12. Allow an Administrator to subscribe or unsubscribe a contact from one or more categories 13. Only allow an Administrator to delete categories. 14. Ability to archive s sent based on category type P a g e 7

8 3.2.2 FUNCTIONAL REQUIREMENTS Contact management 15. Ability to store multiple methods of contact a. address i. HTML ii. Text b. Mailing (postal) address c. Phone numbers (multiple) d. SMS/MMS address e. Social network contacts (Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, etc ) Integration with Denver Water s website 16. Integrate with Denver Water s website(s). a. Allow Denver Water to control which categories can be subscribed/unsubscribed from the website b. Allow the contact to change their contact information through the website c. Contacts may stop all communication methods from a single page on the website d. Contacts may subscribe themselves to categories on the website e. Contacts may unsubscribe themselves from categories on the website Campaign management 17. Ability to choose to send a. A combination campaign (those on the list that have addresses will receive s and all others will generate mailing labels with no duplication) b. only (for events/notices that do not allow time for standard mail) c. SMS messages (text messages) d. Standard mailing (for brochures or other bulky items) e. Variable, multiple or specific methods, based on customer contact preferences 18. Allow the creation of categories (customers, government leader, location improvements, etc.) a. Each contact may belong to several categories b. The categories should be able to be either static or dynamic, and easily configurable as Denver Water s business needs change c. Dynamic categories must include geographical targeting for instance, creation of a category, or campaign, by physical address or location (irrespective of customer s contact preference) d. The system will allow an expiration date to be on a category e. There must be the ability to easily add, delete and/or inactivate categories 19. Ability to de-duplicate members of the list created by merging multiple categories 20. Appear to send each as an individual or to a group 21. Send s by default to a BCC address list 22. Ability for system to enforce permissions on who may or may not use generic or aliased sender addresses 23. Easy WYSIWYG interface to compose messages P a g e 8

9 24. Ability to count, and categorize, number of messages sent via each method before being sent 25. Ability to preview messages before being sent 26. Allow images within body with appropriate text box alternates for text only recipient 27. Comply with anti-spam laws and Denver Water s privacy policy 28. Send HTML messages with text-only display and/or URL for users experiencing difficulty viewing HTML messages 29. Ability to generate a mailing label for a customer with a physical address when messages bounce 30. Send all messages with easy unsubscribe link for specific category of message received as well as to stop all future communications 31. Ability to update and post on blogs, group-following and social networking sites (Facebook, Twitter, Google, MySpace, etc ) Reporting 32. Track message a. Opens b. Click-thru rates c. Bounces (hard and soft) 33. Track how many subscribers and unsubscribers per category 34. Track how many versus postal mailings are sent 35. Report on the mailing sent and date per category or contact 36. Campaign, category and message level reporting 3.3 HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS Each Proposal must include a recommendation for a comprehensive solution complete with all recommended hardware, required software, and services necessary to successfully implement the solution in line with Denver Water s current environment as outlined in section 2.1 and 2.2. A brief description of each is provided in the following paragraphs SERVER ENVIRONMENT Denver Water s required Application Server O/S environment is Microsoft Server 2008 or HP-UX. The Proposal must include a thorough description of the recommended hardware solution that will support the processing requirements and response times associated with the proposed CRM implementation. P a g e 9

10 3.3.2 RDBMS SOFTWARE Denver Water requires the latest stable version of Oracle implemented according to OFA (Optimal Flexible Architecture) standards on HP-UX. The Proposal must include a proposed database solution that will support the requirements and performance associated with the proposed CRM implementation utilizing either Oracle or Microsoft SQL CLIENT ENVIRONMENT AND CONNECTIVITY Denver Water requires a CRM solution that allows most business users to interact with the CRM through their business applications, e.g., Microsoft Office, SharePoint, and many line of business and enterprise applications. Administrative and end users of the CRM solution should interface with it via a web browser or a thin client user interface: Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE) with minimal client plug-ins, Active-X, or other client-side components. The Proposal must include recommendation of the minimal client hardware and software configuration required to implement and operate the proposed solution components. The proposed solution will include all necessary desktop or connectivity hardware or software requirements. The CRM must remain current with underlying product upgrades and patches, including Microsoft Office, Microsoft SharePoint, and Oracle upgrades and patches. 4.0 PROPOSAL INSTRUCTIONS The Proposals should clearly identify the capabilities of the implementation vendor to design, implement, configure, maintain, and support the solution as outlined in this RFP. The Proposer will segment the Proposal into the sections presented in the following paragraphs. 4.1 GENERAL INFORMATION All Proposals will include the General Information requested in this section TRANSMITTAL LETTER The transmittal letter will indicate the intention to adhere to the provisions described in the RFP without modification. The letter of transmittal will: 1. Identify the submitting organization 2. Identify the person, by name and title, authorized to obligate the organization contractually 3. Identify the contact person responsible for this response specifying phone, fax, and address 4. Explicitly indicate review and acceptance of the Terms and Conditions and identify exceptions or "deal breakers" 5. Acknowledge the Proposal is considered firm for three-hundred and sixty-five (365) days after the due date for receipt of Proposals or receipt of the last best and final offer submitted 6. Acknowledge submission of pricing as requested P a g e 10

11 7. Acknowledge completion of the requested items in the CRM Requirements (Section 3.0) 8. Contain the signature of the person authorized to contractually obligate the organization EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Proposer will provide an Executive Summary of the contents of the Proposal. The summary should not exceed three pages IMPLEMENTATION VENDOR AND PRODUCT VENDOR PROFILE The implementation vendor must provide a profile of its organization and all other companies who will be providing products or services under the proposal. At a minimum the implementation vendor must provide the following information and update this information as required during the Proposal process: 1. Number of completed CRM implementation projects using the proposed solution, including client names and project start and completion dates 2. Year established and a history of mergers, acquisitions, spin-offs, etc. 3. Business organization 4. Subsidiary offering product 5. Recent Acquisitions 6. Serving office for this project 7. Project Management methodology 8. Brief history of your company including a summary of all products and services offered 9. Proposed product current release number and date of release 10. Proposed product history 11. Expected date of next release of product and proposed enhancements 12. Number of employees focused on the product offering 13. Number of client installations, and number using current release 14. Information regarding any CRM product or implementation contracts (any CRM product in the past) terminated for any reason, including but not limited to "for cause" or convenience by either or both parties, if applicable. Please provide information on the customer and the cause(s)/reason(s) cited 15. List of all CRM or utility related litigation, mediation, arbitration or alternative dispute resolution cases involving your company, subsidiaries or parent company within the last five years 4.2 PRODUCT VENDOR SOLUTION Responses to requirements should be structured with answers referencing, by number, the sections of this RFP and the requiments outlined in Section 3. A scoring system will be used so number-annotated responses, particular for section 3.2, are important. 4.3 ONGOING SUPPORT At a minimum, the Proposal must include information and costs associated with all aspects of ongoing product maintenance and support. The maintenance and support agreement should include product help desk, product patches, product enhancements process, and regular product releases. In addition, describe the post production support and warranty provisions that will be provided by the implementation vendor. P a g e 11

12 4.4 PRICING The vendor must provide a full and detailed breakdown of all costs required for the successful implementation of the proposed solution. Denver Water recognizes that the implementation of a CRM is a complex effort and that not all possible variables are provided for within this RFP document. Therefore, it is acknowledged that the vendor may be required to make some assumptions about Denver Water s environment or about specific requirements. Any assumptions made by the implementation vendor in regard to this RFP shall be documented in this section. Provide the following: Pricing for all software required to implement the proposed solution on a configured server If more than one licensing model is available, license provisions and detail pricing for each option Description and pricing for annual maintenance and support 5.0 PROPOSAL EVALUATION Denver Water will conduct a fair, comprehensive, and impartial evaluation of all eligible and responsive Proposals submitted by experienced product vendors and implementation vendors in response to this RFP. DENVER WATER INTENDS TO EVALUATE EACH PROPOSAL TO DETERMINE THE OPTIMUM SOLUTION AND INTENDS TO AWARD ONE IMPLEMENTATION CONTRACT. 5.1 SCHEDULE OF EVENTS Denver Water has established the following sequences of events and a tentative schedule for the evaluation of Proposals REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL NOTIFICATION On December 3, 2010, Denver Water will transmit the RFP to the product vendors referenced in section 1.7 and to BidNet. Proposers must notify Denver Water of their intention to respond to the RFP by ing contact information to Cinnamon.East@DenverWater.org QUESTIONS FROM PROPOSERS Please submit all questions and requests for clarification in writing not later than December 20, 2010, via to Cinnamon.East@DenverWater.org. Questions and clarification requests received after this deadline may not be answered. Denver Water will broker and distribute answers to submitted questions to all proposal respondents no later than December 27, P a g e 12

13 5.1.3 IMPLEMENTATION AND PRODUCT VENDOR PROPOSALS DUE Responses must be received by January 14, p.m. Mountain Standard Time. Bound or hard copy, AND electronic response (preferably in PDF format) on a CD or flash drive are acceptable. No submissions will be considered. All electronic submissions must be readable on Microsoft Windows computers. Proposals may be mailed or delivered in person to: DENVER WATER PURCHASING 1600 WEST 12 TH AVENUE, BUILDING 12 DENVER CO Attention: Tony Hassman, Manager of Purchasing IDENTIFICATION OF FINALISTS Denver Water will evaluate the proposed solutions to identify no less than TWO and no more than THREE finalists. These numbers may change at Denver Water s discretion. Finalists will proceed to Interview and Demonstration activities. Following Interview and Demonstration of the finalist solutions, Denver Water will select one. The selected company will be required to participate in a solution confirmation activity that will demonstrate CRM capabilities around Denver Water specific scenarios/problems FUNDING APPROVAL Denver Water approval to proceed with this project will be determined upon budget finalization in the 4 th quarter Final funding and contract approval is anticipated during the April 2011 meeting of the Board of Water Commissioners CONTRACTS AWARDED Based upon Board approval, Denver Water will award the product and implementation contracts PROJECT INITIATION The successful implementation vendor will initiate the project no later than thirty (30) days from the contract award date. 5.2 EVALUATION CRITERIA The implementation contract will be awarded to the vendor whose Proposal is determined to be the most advantageous to Denver Water. Denver Water reserves the right to disqualify a solution during any point of the evaluation process. In rendering this decision, the following evaluation criteria will be utilized as a general guideline: Product Technical Fit and Completeness Company Profile, Financial Stability and Experience (Level of Risk and Uncertainty) Product Functional Fit and Completeness P a g e 13

14 Experience, Best Practices, Understanding of Project, Installation Approach, Timeframe, Organization and Staffing Installation Pricing and Ongoing Cost Terms and Conditions Denver Water will utilize its business judgment in identifying the Solution Finalist(s). Denver Water reserves the right to conduct other evaluations and measurements of Solution responses as may be required in order to render an informed and optimum decision. 6.0 TERMS AND CONDITIONS The terms and conditions under which the Proposal will be made are detailed within this section. Denver Water specifies this RFP as the framework to be used by the Proposer in preparing and submitting the Proposal. Proposer to become familiar with the paragraph items within this section, as they will prevail in the event of any conflicts, discrepancies or differences among project related or contractual documents. 6.1 BASIS FOR PROPOSAL Information about Denver Water from other sources can be used for background information; however, only information supplied in writing by Denver Water through this RFP contact should be used in the preparation of Proposals. Only replies by formal addenda shall be binding. Oral and other interpretations or clarifications shall not be binding. Each company must acknowledge all addenda by signing and including such documents in the Proposal. 6.2 TERMS AND CONDITIONS Proposers must submit a complete set of any additional terms and conditions that they propose to have included in a contract negotiated with Denver Water, including product license agreements and maintenance and support terms. 6.3 DISCLOSURE OF PROPOSAL CONTENTS Proposers acknowledge that the Board may be required to disclose any or all of the documents submitted with a bid for this Contract, pursuant to the Colorado Open Records Act, C.R.S , et seq. Under C.R.S (3)(a)(IV), the Board may deny inspection of any confidential commercial or financial information furnished to the Board by an outside party. Therefore, a Proposer must clearly designate any documents submitted with its bid that the Proposer deems proprietary or confidential, to aid the Board in determining what it is required to disclose following a request for documents under the Colorado Open Records Act. 6.4 SIGNING OF PROPOSALS The submission and signature of a Proposal shall indicate the intention to adhere to the provisions described in this RFP. P a g e 14

15 6.5 COST OF PROPOSAL This Request for Proposal (RFP) does not commit Denver Water to pay any costs incurred by any Proposer in preparation and/or submission of a Proposal or for procuring or contracting for the items to be furnished under the RFP. All costs directly or indirectly related to responding to this RFP (including all costs incurred in supplementary documentation) will be borne by the Proposer. Each Proposer will be responsible for all costs incurred in preparing or responding to this RFP. The Proposer agrees to bear all risks for loss, injury, or destruction of goods and materials (ordered or supplied as the result of the eventual contract) that might occur prior to delivery to Denver Water. Such loss, injury, or destruction shall not release the Proposer from any obligations under this RFP or any resulting contract. 6.6 CONFLICT OF INTEREST, NON COLLUSION AND ANTI LOBBYING The Proposer promises that its officers, employees or agents will not attempt to lobby or influence a vote or recommendation related to the firm s Proposal response, directly or indirectly, through any contact with Board members, or Senior Executives between the proposed submission date and award of contract by Denver Water. The Proposer promises that during the application process any real, implied, or perceived collusion or conflict of interest will be immediately reported to the Denver Water project manager. 6.7 OWNERSHIP OF PROPOSALS All documents submitted in response to this RFP will become jointly owned by the Proposer and Denver Water. 6.8 DISQUALIFICATION OR REJECTION OF PROPOSALS Denver Water reserves the right to disqualify or reject any Proposal for any reason at any point during the evaluation process. The following is a non-exclusive list of reasons for which Proposals may be instantly disqualified: There is reason to believe that collusion exists among the Proposers; The Proposer is in arrears on an existing Denver Water contract or has defaulted on a previous Denver Water contract; The Proposer lacks financial stability; The proposed CRM solution does not meet Denver Water s technical or functional requirements; The Proposer has failed to perform under previous or present Denver Water contract; The Proposer has failed to adhere to one or more of the provisions established in this RFP; The Proposer has failed to submit its Proposal in the format specified herein; The Proposer has failed to submit its Proposal on or before the deadline established herein; or The Proposer has failed to adhere to generally accepted ethical and professional principles during the Proposal process. 6.9 RIGHT TO WAIVE IRREGULARITIES P a g e 15

16 Proposals shall be considered as being "irregular" if they show any omissions, alterations of form, additions, or conditions not called for, or irregularities of any kind. Denver Water reserves the right to waive minor irregularities and mandatory requirements and the failure to do so does not otherwise materially affect the procurement. This right is at the sole discretion of Denver Water WITHDRAWAL OF PROPOSALS Proposals may be withdrawn by written or verbal notice received by Denver Water prior to the exact hour and date specified for receipt of Proposals. A Proposal also may be withdrawn in person by a bidder or his/her authorized representative, provided his/her identity is made known and he/she signs a receipt for the Proposal, but only if the withdrawal is made prior to the exact hour and date set for the receipt of Proposals AMENDING OF PROPOSALS Proposers must submit an amended Proposal before the deadline for receipt of Proposals. Such amended Proposals must be complete replacements of a previously submitted Proposal and must be clearly identified as such in the transmittal letter. Denver Water will not merge, collate, or assemble Proposal materials PROPOSAL OFFER FIRM Responses to this RFP, including cost, will be considered firm for three hundred and sixty-five (365) days after the due date for receipt of Proposals or receipt of the last best and final offer submitted. All Proposals must include a statement to that effect EXCEPTIONS TO RFP SPECIFICATIONS Although the specifications stated in the RFP represent Denver Water s anticipated needs, there may be instances where it is in Denver Water s interest to permit exceptions to specifications and accept alternatives. It is extremely important that the Proposer make very clear where exceptions are made to the specifications and how alternatives will be provided. Therefore, exceptions, conditions, or qualifications to the provisions of Denver Water s specifications must be clearly identified as such, together with reasons for the exception, and inserted into the Proposal. If it is not made clear that an exception is being made, Denver Water will assume the Proposal is responding to the specifications and will meet the specifications as written. Where the Proposer does not agree with Denver Water s terms and conditions, the Proposer must enumerate in the Proposal the specific clauses that the Proposer wishes to amend or delete and suggest alternative wording. Any minimum terms to which Denver Water will have to agree to in order to enter into a contract with the Proposer and that the Proposer considers to be a deal breaker must be submitted with the Proposal CONSIDERATION OF PROPOSALS Denver Water may discuss the Proposal with the Proposer for the purpose of clarification to assure full understanding of the Proposal. In any such discussions, there shall be no disclosure of any information derived from Proposals submitted by competing product vendors and/or implementation vendors. P a g e 16

17 Until such time as a contract has been awarded, Denver Water reserves the right to reject any or all Proposals, waive technicalities, re-advertise for new Proposals, amend the RFP to request additional information, or to proceed with the work in any manner as may be considered in the best interest of Denver Water TERMINATION Denver Water reserves the right to cancel this RFP at any time. Denver Water reserves the right to reject any or all Proposals submitted in response to this RFP GOVERNING LAW This agreement is to be governed by the law of the State of Colorado. Venue shall be in the District Court for the City and County of Denver NO OBLIGATION This procurement in no manner obligates Denver Water to the eventual rental, lease, or purchase of any software or services offered until confirmed by a fully executed written contract AWARD OF CONTRACT Denver Water reserves the right to withhold final action on the Proposal for a reasonable time, not to exceed three hundred and sixty-five (365) days after the date of opening Proposals. The award of the contract, if an award is made, will be to the most responsible and responsive product vendor and/or implementation vendor whose Proposal meets the requirements and criteria set forth in the Request for Proposal as determined by Denver Water. Denver Water reserves the right to abandon, without obligation to the Proposer or any third party, any part of the project, or the entire project, at any time before the Proposer begins any work authorized by Denver Water. The award of the contract shall not become effective until the contract has been executed by the successful Proposer and Denver Water EXECUTION OF CONTRACT Denver Water will require the successful Proposer to sign the necessary documents entering into the required Contract with Denver Water and be able to meet all of the necessary Terms and Conditions as laid out in the attached document in section 7.0. Denver Water s Board of Water Commissioners shall authorize award of a contract to the successful Proposer and shall designate the successful Proposer as Denver Water s product vendor and/or implementation vendor. No contract for this project may be signed by Denver Water without the authorization of the Board of Water Commissioners. No contract shall be binding on Denver Water until it has been approved by the Board of Water Commissioners. P a g e 17

18 7.0 CONTRACT TERMS AND CONDITIONS-SAMPLE Consulting Agreement.docx is a sample agreement that the successful Proposer would be required to sign as part of the final contract process. P a g e 18