RFP Title: RFP #: RQ14036 WEB-BASED CUSTOMER TRACKING, SCHEDULING, ONLINE SYSTEM FOR EMPLOYMENT CONNECTION QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS As of 5/4/09 We request a demonstration of the current Area 3 Customer Tracking System by a member of the Area 3 staff. In order to minimize any delay in the closing of the RFP process and any possible associated cost for either Area 3 or the proposing vendors, we suggest that such demonstration be conducted through the use of a web-conference facility. During the pre-bid meeting, we indicated that all Employment Connection locations are open to the public, therefore you can go to a location and ask a supervisor for a 30-minute tour and see equipment we use. We also suggest you go online as well at www.employmentconnection.us. In addition, we provided a detailed Scope of Work in the RFP and feel that is sufficient for vendors to respond to in a proposal format. Therefore, we are not planning a web-based demonstration and are not extending the RFP deadline. As of 4/28/09 Can we assume power and internet are available to support card reader stations, kiosks and OCR scan stations at each facility? Yes. Is the budget narrative and Appendix C-1 for purposes of detailing cost the same thing? Or do you want prose and C-1? The budget narrative is separate and details the cost listed on Appendix C-1. Can I use Cuyahoga County (you) as a reference for this RFP? Yes, if you are a current or previous vendor of Cuyahoga County, the contact can be used as one of the references. As of 4/24/09 Is SBE certification part of the rating for this RFP? 1
No, however, if two contractors are scored equally in the rating evaluation of their proposals and one is supplying the 30% SBE requirement and one is not, the one with a 30% SBE partnership would way more heavily in the decision. Is 100% SBE certified better than being 30% certified? No, it is allowable, but would not give more weight in rating the proposal. If we want to apply for SBE certification, the timeframe for approval is longer than the proposal due date. Will there be any consideration given for that? The Office of Procurement and Diversity will work with you to be SBE certified if you are not currently certified. That will be taken into consideration. There is a 10-page application online at http://opd.cuyahogacounty.us/. John Palazzo, Contract Compliance Officer, SBE, tel: (216) 698-2839 can meet with you if necessary. The process usually takes about 15 days; John will work with you to get it done more quickly, if necessary. The RFP indicates the top rating vendors will be required to do a presentation. What is date of presentation? Not finalized yet but would like to schedule it for week of May 18 th. Is there a cut off date for questions? Obviously, no more questions will be taken after the proposal due date/time. What are you expecting the proposed system to do in relationship to Rapid Response? At a minimum, record/report to whom presentations and information are provided, track services provide, set up online accounts for individuals and develop Rapid Response report for the State. From how many systems will data be migrated to the new vendor s system? Two one that performs scheduling and one that performs customer tracking and online services. What are you looking at in terms of a secure website? Vendor will host web-based data but there is no SLA requirement mentioned. Is security a concern? If so, it doesn t give requirements. Are you expecting that capability mentioned in the proposal? 2
We will consult with our ISC department once we have a vendor. They approve criteria the vendor is using. If vendor can t secure anything, it would be a noted concern for us. We would make sure security is ironclad before we enter into an agreement. Vendors should include capability and explanation in proposal. Regarding security, what mechanism do you have in place to compare apples to apples, e.g., how much downtime a year will be experienced? Vendor concerned a cheaper way may be put into system online providing cheaper pricing. Is there a service level statement of performance and expectations of what county IT group approves? The answer can be found on page 4, #13: Web-based for remote use 24 hours a day, seven days a week, except for brief maintenance outside regular business hours. Page 2, #4 says All hardware proposed (computers, touch screens, card readers, ID cards, keyboards, keypads, etc.) must be non-proprietary and obtainable from and serviceable by sources other than the vendor. Proposed system should be compatible with current staff computers supporting industry standard web browsers. Does this mean that the vendor will not support scan stations, kiosks, etc? Our IT department would handle problems with computers but any mechanisms that you advise us to purchase to support your system must be maintained by you. Page 3, #13 says For budget and forecasting purposes, proposed solution must have not to exceed pricing available and must provide a fee schedule that provides for all requirements in this RFP. In particular, the budget narrative must include costs for It mentions up to 500 employers. Does this mean 500 employers will be using this system with one staff member each or will it accommodate one employer with up to 500 staff users? It could be either, but we guess that there will be multiple users with each employer. How much data storage is required? Enough to make it work. We don t have an exact guess. We want to store information on scheduling, online workshops, and all the online customer forms and demographics. In order to write to environment you have now, could we get a demonstration on the current data storage system you are using relative to how we do migration? No, we would not want to ask current vendors to demonstrate for bidders. However, all Employment Connection locations are open to the public, therefore you can go to a location and ask a supervisor for a 30-minute tour and see equipment we use and what we do without having a demo. We also suggest you go online as well at www.employmentconnection.us. 3
In this RFP, we are proposing not only what we are currently using, we are proposing new things that aren t yet being used, i.e., what we are using and what we need for the future. For your reporting environment is ad hoc based on what you are doing now? Do you have a preference, i.e., more sophisticated ad hoc built into supplier s system or extract all data into Excel spreadsheet, etc.? We can currently export data into graphs or Excel spreadsheets. We d like vendor to propose all suggested capabilities. Do you have employers searching current database? We have a pilot program in place through an MOU that is not part of our current system. Employers involved in the pilot can see the resume and assessment scores. Are you looking for ability to replace pilot program? We are looking for a system as outlined in the RFP. However, we are learning about the capabilities of the State s system, OhioMeansJobs. If we find that OMJ meets those requirements, we may not implement this in our system or may terminate this portion at a later time. If State gives us these capabilities, there is an Escape Clause in our contract that we can cancel service with a 30-day notice to you. There is a hard requirement of 3+ years experience in developing workshops. Is that related to content or systems? The experience is related to systems and the ability to transfer the content to an online, interactive workshop that tracks the progress and completion of all customers. Are you uploading SCOTI now for information? Yes. Only nine required fields on a quarterly basis. We want the ability to do that with more frequency and more fields. How much information do you allow job seekers to register themselves? We allow job seeker to register as information as is on our customer registration paper form. You are able to view this by setting up a job seeker account through www.employmentconnection.us. What about tracking the summer youth program through the system? 4
We want to capture that information eventually. It is too late this year to do so. Do you want to use this for ITA management, training dollars? No, we are not using the system for ITA management. Do you have a budget expectation? Yes, but we can t share it. What is cleanliness of data to be migrated? Is data verified before going to State? We believe the current systems provide clean data as we are uploading to the State currently. We are uploading to SCOTI demographic data in nine State-specified fields. We require the data be verified. There is not a lot of clean up. Our concern is that no customer information is dropped when migrating from the old systems we have locally to the new system. Is the enrollment form currently used open to modification if it will enhance its ability to be entered via OCR? The Customer Registration form is currently in review for changes so most likely it can be modified to enhance ability if we implement an OCR component. It looks like you want to be able to have some analysis based on locations, I see that there is currently 11 locations. Are there any other locations or departments that may need to be separated out, for instance an Administration site, or another agency (government or nonprofit)? Part of our pricing is based on sites, and within sites we have programs, how many sites should we account for? We operate 11 core locations, but would like flexibility to add satellites as needed. For example, as lay offs occur, we set up onsite transition centers temporarily at employer locations and would need the capability to track customers during that time at that location. One element calls for a power point slide training that is to be done by the consumer, is developing the training materials to be included in the RFP or will they be provided for us to be included in the system? You are asking for some expert advice, is this specific to setting up web-based systems or does this extend to what should be included and tracked in a workforce development system? 5
We will provide the content and the vendor needs to create an interactive application on the website that tracks progress and completion. Is appendix C1 cost submission format available in soft copy? No The RFP indicates data integration/exchange with the Sharing Career Opportunities and Training Information system (SCOTI). Does Workforce Area 3 have an agreed upon data exchange format and a commitment of support from the state for this integration/exchange requirement? Yes, we currently upload nine fields on a quarterly basis into SCOTI. There are references to optical character recognition as a method to reduce data entry into the "system". Is this a specific requirement for the solution? The reason for my asking is that electronic applications would also achieve the same result. If OCR is a requirement, then can you clarify the following: a. How many scan stations does Workforce Area 3 currently have? b. If none then how many scan stations does the county believe it will require or is that something for the vendor to propose? c. How many document types are there? d. How many pages on average in the different document types? e. There is no mention of electronic document management are you also interested in scanned image retrieval or just OCR for data collection? a. Currently we have no scan stations. b. We ask the vendor to propose. c. We estimate there will be up to five documents. d. We estimate up to four pages. e. We would use the OCR for mostly data collection. Scope of work Section I A-5 states that "Be flexible with easy-to-create screens, fields and varied reports." Can you clarify whether this is a general system characteristic, a characteristic of the online course management-course creation-knowledge testing capability referred to, or a general ability for the system to be adaptable as new needs and capabilities are identified? We would like the system to be user friendly for local administrators and to have a general ability for the system to be adaptable as new needs and capabilities are identified. Section B-14 refers to an automatic check out system. Does this mean if a client leaves the premises of an EC center without "scanning out" then the system at some predetermined time frame, say end of day will automatically time-stamp there record as having left? 6
Yes, we would like an automatic time-stamp at the end of the day so the record doesn t remain open for multiple days. How many local administrators are there? Currently, there are two, but we would like to have the capability to have up to five. Who is issuing the RFP? Workforce Area 3, Cuyahoga County, or the City of Cleveland? Workforce Area 3 is a partnership between Cuyahoga County and the City of Cleveland. 7