14-RFP 00 Request for Proposals.pdf

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS (RFP)

Incorporated County of Los Alamos Procurement Division

101 Camino Entrada, Building 3 Los Alamos, NM 87544

RFP26-66 Access Management System for Telecom

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NOTIFICATION REGARDING SUBMISSION PROCESS AND REGISTRATION INSTRUCTIONS

The Incorporated County of Los Alamos (“County”) has recently implemented a new on-line eProcurement portal. This new platform, Euna Procurement powered by Bonfire, provides the County’s electronic Bid and Proposal process (“County’s Procurement Portal”). It is where the County will post solicitation opportunities, including Invitation for Bids (IFB), Request for Proposals (RFP), Request for Qualifications (RFQ) and Request for Information/Interest (RFI). The County’s Procurement Portal will streamline the County’s Bid process for Bid or Proposal submission, acceptance, evaluation, and award. For vendors, the County’s Procurement Portal will enhance communication, allow for fast and accurate Bids and Proposals, and provide automatic notification about projects.

Registered vendors will view and submit Bids and Proposals electronically. The past practice of submitting electronic Bids and Proposals by email or submitting paper Bids and Proposals is being phased out. If you are seeing this notification in a solicitation document, submissions will be accepted ONLY electronically through the County’s Procurement Portal for this solicitation. It is every Offeror’s responsibility to read, understand, and submit Bids and Proposals in accordance with the instructions provided in and specific to each solicitation document.

Requested Action: Please register as a vendor on the County’s Procurement Portal by visiting https://losalamosnm.bonfirehub.com and click on “Register”. Registration is free and only takes a few minutes. Please be sure to select the applicable NIGP: The Institute for Public Procurement (“NIGP”) Commodity Codes for your business when you are prompted so that you can receive notification of recommended opportunities when they are sent out by the County to the NIGP Commodity Codes you have selected.

Already Have a Bonfire Vendor Account? If you already have a Bonfire vendor account and are already registered for another agency’s portal, you will still need to visit the County’s Procurement Portal at https://losalamosnm.bonfirehub.com and click on “Log In” to provide County-requested information, view open opportunities, receive opportunity notifications, and submit Bids and Proposals through the County’s Procurement Portal. You will be able to manage the multiple agencies with whom you do business through the button labelled “My Supplier Hub” in your Bonfire account.

For Bonfire Support, visit the Vendor Help Center at https://vendorsupport.gobonfire.com where you can view support articles and videos and search FAQ’s on all aspects of Bonfire. For personal assistance, you can email Support.Bonfire@eunasolutions.com . Support is available Monday to Friday from 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Mountain Time.

https://losalamosnm.bonfirehub.com/ https://vendorsupport.gobonfire.com/ mailto:Support.Bonfire@eunasolutions.com

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NEEDS STATEMENT

The Incorporated County of Los Alamos (“County”) Information Management Division is seeking proposals from qualified firms to provide an asset management system to manage its fiber optic plant, model connectivity, and plan future expansions. The desired solution is one that provides the functionality described further in this RFP, including, but not limited to, a solution that will store data for a fiber optic plant using a mapping interface, has tools that allow the user to model outage locations, shows connectivity between strands over complex paths, and has a robust interface with ArcGIS software.

SOLICITATION INFORMATION

Solicitation No. RFP26-66

Solicitation Title Asset Management System for Fiber Optic Infrastructure

Single-step or Multi-step Multi-step

Requesting Dept. Administrative Services Department – Information Technology

STEP 1 SOLICITATION SCHEDULE

Advertised April 2, 2026

Pre-Proposal Conference Non-Mandatory April 9, 2026, 10:30 a.m. Mountain Time Virtual Via MS Teams https://teams.microsoft.com/meet/21962540509353?p=T6zB76cjVdmKLL1w75

Question Submission Deadline

April 14, 2026, 2:00 p.m. Mountain Time

Responses to Questions Issued by County

April 16, 2026, 5:00 p.m. Mountain Time County reserves the right to issue responses at any time prior to this date.

Proposal Due Date and Closing

April 21, 2026, 2:00 p.m. Mountain Time Late responses will not be considered

ESTIMATED STEP 2 SOLICITATION SCHEDULE

The estimated dates of the Step 2 solicitation schedule are tentatively planned as follows, are provided here for informational purposes only, and at County’s discretion, may be subject to change without prior notification.

Step 1 Proposal Evaluation April 21, 2026 – May 8, 2026

Step 2 Issued to Finalists May 11, 2026

Finalist Demonstrations and Step 2 Closes

May 12, 2026 – May 29, 2026

Step 2 Finalists Evaluation May 29, 2026 – June 12, 2026

CONTACT INFORMATION

Procurement Contact Name Jaime Kephart

Title Procurement Contracts Manager

E-Mail jaime.kephart@losalamosnm.gov

Phone No. 505.662.8191

ESTIMATED PROCESS SCHEDULE AFTER STEP 2 EVALUATION

The estimated dates of the solicitation process after step 2 evaluation are tentatively planned as follows, are provided here for informational purposes only, and at County’s discretion, may be subject to change without prior notification. Discussions may be conducted with responsible Offerors who submit Proposals determined to be reasonably likely to be selected for award for the purpose of clarification to ensure full understanding and conformation with the solicitation requirements for the purpose of obtaining best and final offers.

https://teams.microsoft.com/meet/21962540509353?p=T6zB76cjVdmKLL1w75

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Contract Drafting, Legal Review, and Negotiations

June 12, 2026 – July 24, 2026

County Council Approval Required for contracts >$300,000.00 August 4, 2026

Estimated Contract Award August 5, 2026

1. ELECTRONIC SUBMISSIONS

A full copy of the solicitation and all associated documents can be found on the County’s Procurement Portal at https://losalamosnm.bonfirehub.com/. Only Proposals submitted through the County’s Procurement Portal by the Proposal Due Date stated herein, or as may be modified by addendum, will be considered. Late responses will not be considered. To register to view and download solicitation documents and submit a Proposal through the County’s Procurement Portal, follow the instructions on page 1 of this solicitation.

2. ADDITIONAL DOCUMENTS AND INFORMATION INCLUDED AS A PART OF THIS RFP

Additional documents are referenced in this RFP, which may include, but are not limited to, exhibits, attachments, links to documents online, and documents that are provided through the County’s Procurement Portal. Any such documents are considered to be a part hereof and constitute, along with this solicitation document and any addenda, the complete solicitation package. Documents required to be submitted as a component of Offeror’s Proposal will be noted as such in each individual solicitation posted on the County’s Procurement Portal, and Offerors will be unable to submit their Proposals through the County’s Procurement Portal until all required documents and information have been uploaded or provided by Offerors.

Please also reference “Proposal Format and Response Components” below.

3. GRANT RELATED INFORMATION

It is not anticipated that this project will be funded by a grant; no additional grant-related information provided.

4. QUESTIONS

Any questions must be received in writing at least five (5) business days prior to the submission due date, unless otherwise stated herein or in an addendum. Questions must be submitted through the County’s Procurement Portal. Please follow the instructions on page one (1) of this document to register for the County’s Procurement Portal to submit written questions. Offerors who submit questions via e-mail or by phone shall be redirected to submit written questions through the County’s Procurement Portal.

Offerors must submit in writing through the County’s Procurement Portal, as stated herein, any questions or requested clarification necessary for Offeror to provide a complete response with all Proposal response components and pricing included. Offerors are asked to refrain from including in Proposals statements such as “more information available upon request,” “pricing to be determined,” or other similar statements. Such statements and failure of Offeror to seek clarification needed for Offeror to provide the requested information may result in an Offeror being found non-responsive or non-responsible. This in no way may be construed to conflict with County’s right to hold interviews and discussions for clarification with Offerors, as further described herein.

5. PRE-PROPOSAL CONFERENCE

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The County will hold an optional, non-mandatory pre-Proposal conference via a virtual format on the date and time noted in the Solicitation Schedule for this RFP and on the County’s Procurement Portal.

The purpose of this conference is to allow potential Offerors to ask questions regarding this RFP and the County’s RFP process. Information about the virtual meeting will be sent to all entities that have registered for this solicitation opportunity through their County Procurement Portal Vendor Account.

County reserves the right to send pre-Proposal conference information to any vendors or requesting individuals.

6. MULTI-STEP PROCESS

This is a multi-step RFP. This document comprises Step 1.

Step 1. After Proposals are received in response to Step 1, the evaluation committee will conduct an evaluation of the responses using the evaluation criteria set forth in Step 1. During Step 1, County may, at County’s sole option, request clarification from any Offerors for the purpose of ensuring full understanding and conformation with the solicitation requirements and adjusting initial Step 1 scoring.

Step 2. Following Step 1 evaluations, Step 2 will then be issued, limited to the finalist(s) Offeror(s) (“Finalists”) whose Proposals have been determined by the evaluation committee to be qualified under the criteria set forth in Step 1 and who may be determined to be reasonably likely to be selected for award. Step 2 may include a discussion, held via a virtual meeting format, with those Finalist(s) for the purpose of clarification to ensure full understanding and conformation with the solicitation requirements;

may be used to obtain best and final offers; and will include demonstrations of Finalist’s software. Step 2 instructions, County’s questions for Finalist(s), and Step 2 evaluation criteria will be issued to Finalist(s) after Step 1 scoring has concluded.

7. DEMONSTRATION INFORMATION

Finalists selected for Step 2, as described above, are required to give a demonstration of their software during a virtual meeting held via MS Teams, or other virtual format acceptable to County. The primary purpose of demonstration is to evaluate how the software can meet the required software functionality and technical specifications as described in Finalists Proposals.

The meeting date, time, location, questions, and software demonstration instructions will be coordinated with and e-mailed to all Finalists before the demonstration. County will release demonstration scripts to each Finalist via-e-mail approximately one (1) week in advance of scheduled demonstrations. Scripts may include instructions and questions common to all Finalists and may also include questions specific to a Finalist for the purpose of clarification to ensure full understanding and conformation with solicitation requirements for the purpose of obtaining best and final offers.

Each demonstration will consist of no more than two (2) hours for Finalist to demonstrate how the proposed software provides the requested software features and functionality as described in the RFP and no more than one (1) hour for Evaluation Committee Member questions and answers.

The Finalist’s team should include, but not be limited to, the following individuals unless otherwise proposed and accepted by County:

Person(s) who supports server and database hardware.

Person(s) who support integrations with those County systems specified herein.

Person(s) who are able to discuss helpdesk support functions and roles.

Person(s) who will answer committee member questions.

The person with primary responsibility and final authority for the project throughout the term of any potential Agreement.

8. GENERAL INFORMATION

8.1. About Los Alamos County. The Incorporated County of Los Alamos is situated at the foot of the Jemez Mountains on the Pajarito Plateau with an elevation ranging from 6,200 feet to 9,200 feet. Los Alamos is an incorporated county, established under a special provision of the State constitution, giving it both county and municipal authority and powers. Two distinct communities, Los Alamos Town site and White Rock, each with its own visitor center, are home to ~19,000 people. Los Alamos is mostly known for the historic accomplishments of its largest employer, Los Alamos National Laboratory, and continues to gain notice for its vast scenic assets and recreational opportunities. Visit the Los Alamos County website (www.losalamosnm.us) and the tourism website (www.visitlosalamos.org) for more information.

8.2. Unless otherwise defined, the following terms may be used interchangeably throughout this RFP:

“Offeror,” “Contractor,” and “Vendor” “Proposal,” “Response,” and “Submittal” “Software,” “Solution,” and “System” “Project” and “Services” “RFP” and “Solicitation”

8.3. The County invites Proposals from all qualified respondents. No Proposal may be withdrawn after the scheduled closing time. Proposals will not be accepted after the scheduled closing time. Please make note of the submittal requirements outlined in this solicitation. Read and follow the instructions carefully.

Include the required documents stated in this RFP as part of your submittal packet. Any misinterpretation or failure to comply with the submittal requirements could result in rejection of the Proposal. Proposal preparation is at the Offeror’s expense.

8.4. Any change(s) to the solicitation will be conveyed through the written addenda process. Read carefully and follow all instructions provided on any addendum, as well as the instructions provided in the original solicitation. Offerors are expected to acknowledge receipt of addenda by submitting signed copies of addenda with the submitted Proposal.

8.5. County reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to accept or reject any Proposals; to waive any and all irregularities in any or all statements or Proposals; to request additional information from any or all respondents; and to award a contract to the responsible Offeror whose Proposal is most beneficial to County. While County intends to execute a contract for the services listed herein, nothing in this document shall be interpreted as binding County to enter into a contract with any Offeror.

8.6. Proposals are Public Records. Pursuant to the New Mexico Inspection of Public Records Act, NMSA 1978, Chapter 14, Article 2, all materials submitted under this RFP shall be presumed and considered public records. Except to the extent any information may be protected by state or federal law, Proposals shall be considered public documents and available for review and copying by the public. County declines to sign any non-disclosure agreements or confidentiality agreements submitted by potential Offerors. If an Offeror fails to submit information requested in the RFP that Offeror considers to be confidential, the County reserves the right to find any Offeror’s Proposal non-responsive or non-responsible based on the information provided in or excluded from Offeror’s response.

8.7. The County contemplates a multi-term contract as a result of this RFP. The term of the contract may be for a period of up to fifteen (15) years. This is the written determination of the Chief Purchasing Officer that such a contract will serve the best interests of the County by promoting economies in County procurement.

8.8. Offerors are notified that they must propose pricing for each potential year of the contract. County may consider, but is under no obligation to accept proposed cost escalators (e.g., a proposed specific dollar amount) or a cost escalator mechanism (e.g., an annual percentage escalator or use of a Consumer Price Index or Producer Price Index) for future years of an agreement. Pursuant to County Ordinance, the use of a cost-plus-a-percentage-of-cost contract is prohibited.

8.9. Offerors are informed that State law requires that all foreign corporations (NMSA 1978 §53-17-5) and limited liability corporations (NMSA 1978 §53-19-48) procure a certificate of authority to transact business in the state prior to transacting business in the State of New Mexico.

8.10. The Chief Purchasing Officer has determined a preference is applicable to this solicitation. Offerors must submit a written request for preference, using the Request for Preference form provided through the County’s Procurement Portal, with a copy of the applicable state-issued preference certificate, with its Proposal to qualify for preference. Ref. County Code Section. 31-261(b) and Section13-1-21 NMSA 1978 et al.

9. PROPOSAL REVIEW AND EVALUATION

Proposals shall be handled so as to prevent disclosure of the identity of any Offeror or the contents of any Proposal to competing Offerors during the process of negotiation.

After the RFP has closed, Procurement Division staff prepares a register of Proposals containing the name of each Offeror, the number of modifications received, if any, and a description sufficient to identify the item offered. The register of Proposals is open to public inspection only after contract award.

Procurement Division staff releases Proposals to the Evaluation Committee. The Evaluation Committee reviews and evaluates the submittals. If interviews are conducted, they may only be for the purpose of clarification and may be used for adjusting the final score. Discussions may be conducted with responsible offerors who submit Proposals determined to be reasonably likely to be selected for award for the purpose of clarification to ensure full understanding and conformation with solicitation requirements for the purpose of obtaining best and final offers. For proposals that qualify for Preference, as described in the Request for Preference form provided through the County’s Procurement Portal, preference factors will be applied as applicable in accordance with the most current County Code Section 31-261(b) and NMSA 1978 Section 13-1-21 et al., as may be modified from time to time.

The Evaluation Committee Chairperson provides final evaluation results to the Procurement Division.

Award shall be made to the responsible Offeror whose Proposal is determined in writing by the Evaluation Committee to be the most advantageous to the County, taking into consideration the evaluation criteria set forth in the solicitation.

10. AWARD OF SOLICITATION

Following award of the solicitation, the successful Offeror will be required to execute a contract with County in accordance with the terms and conditions set forth in the Sample Agreement, which is provided through the County’s Procurement Portal. Offerors must identify any exception or other requirements, if any, to the terms and provisions in the Services Agreement, along with proposed alternative language addressing the exception. County, as a governmental entity, is subject to certain laws and prohibitions and may, but is not required to, negotiate changes in contract terms and provisions, but will not agree to language that is in violation of the law. The Agreement as finally agreed upon must be in form and content acceptable to County.

11. OBLIGATIONS OF FEDERAL CONTRACTORS AND SUBCONTRACTORS; CONTRACT CLAUSES

Federal Contractors and Subcontractors shall abide by applicable state and federal requirements, which may include but are not limited to all the provisions set forth in 29 CFR Part 471, Appendix A to Subpart A, and may be required to be included or incorporated by reference into the Agreement.

12. ILLEGAL ACTS

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The County Procurement Code, Article 9, imposes remedies and penalties for violation of the County Code. In addition, New Mexico criminal statutes impose felony penalties for illegal bribes, gratuities, and kickbacks.

13. CERTIFICATION FORM REGARDING DEBARMENT, SUSPENSION, AND OTHER

RESPONSIBILITY MATTERS

Offerors are requested to complete the Certification Regarding Debarment, Suspension, and Other Responsibility Matters Form, provided through the County’s Procurement Portal, and submit with the Proposal. If this completed document is not included with the Proposal, it must be provided prior to the evaluations of the received Proposals, otherwise the Offeror’s Proposal will not be considered. This Form serves as a warrant of the Offeror’s responsibility and may not necessarily preclude the Offeror from consideration for award.

14. CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTION DISCLOSURE FORM

A Campaign Contribution Disclosure Form is provided through the County’s Procurement Portal.

Offerors are requested to complete and submit with the Proposal. If the Form is not submitted with the Proposal, upon award, Contractor must submit this form prior to County’s obligation to pay for the services.

15. VERIFICATION OF AUTHORIZED OFFEROR

A Verification of Authorized Offeror Form is provided through the County’s Procurement Portal.

Offerors are requested to complete and submit with the Proposal. This Form provides County with the name and information of the authorized Officer who can obligate the selected firm in providing the services to the County.

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16. BACKGROUND INFORMATION RELATED TO THE SCOPE OF WORK OR SERVICES

The County’s Information Management Division maintains a county-wide fiber optic network to connect the various buildings and facilities the county uses to provide services to the public. This network has grown substantially in recent years, which requires software to help manage the various components and connections in the network. The County fiber optic plant is currently composed of the following assets:

110 miles of cable, ranging from 12 to 288 strands in each cable 14 miles of underground conduit duct bank 86 splice points 253 slack points 601 poles 401 access points (vaults, boxes, etc.)

137 cable terminations 74 buildings that are connected by the network

The Information Division has these assets currently in Network Manager Telecom Professional Edition v 1.11.0, a cloud-based system provided by iqGeo. Prior to that, the County used OSPInsight, an on-premises system also provided by iqGeo.

The County has a significant investment in ArcGIS software, including desktop (ArcGIS Pro), Enterprise (ArcGIS Server and Portal), and cloud (ArcGIS Online). One of the uses of the County’s GIS is to show fiber optic assets (especially buried conduit and cables) to utility technicians, so that they can avoid damaging assets during utility work. Another use is to provide the same data to project planners, so that they can also avoid fiber damage in construction projects. With OSPInsight, the County used a direct database connection to accomplish this, and with Network Manager the County uses manual database exports.

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17. SCOPE OF WORK OR SERVICES (“SCOPE”)

1. Software Licensing and/or Subscription. Selected Offeror (“Contractor”) will provide for County a Software-as-a-Service (“SaaS”) Solution, or other XaaS type Solution such as a Platform as a Solution (“PaaS”) that is a cloud based and hosted Software program, developed, owned, and operated by Contractor (“System,” “Software,” or “Solution”) that complies with all federal, state, and local laws, rules, and regulations to provide an access management system for telecom.

County’s preference is to implement a fully hosted Solution but may consider other types of Solutions. Offerors are asked to describe in their RFP response all related licensing or subscription information County will be asked to consider prior to utilizing the Services.

2. Warranty. Contractor will, at a minimum, warrant that the Software will be without material defects for the term of an Agreement. If Software does not perform as warranted, Contractor will use reasonable efforts, consistent with industry standards to cure the material defects or provide County with a functional equivalent at no additional cost. Offerors are asked to describe in their RFP response their warranty for Software performance.

3. Compliance with and Understanding of Laws, Regulations, and Industry Standards and Audit Reports. Contractor and Software will, throughout the term of an Agreement, comply with any and all applicable provisions of local, state, or federal law regulating such Software. It is expected that Offerors have knowledge of all applicable industry standards, laws, and regulations and are able to fully describe how they comply.

3.1. FedRAMP Authorization. The selected Software may, at any time throughout the term of an agreement, process, store, or transmit Los Alamos National Laboratory (“LANL”) data.

County may give additional points in the evaluation criteria to providers who can provide, at the time of Proposal submission, evidence of FedRAMP authorization from the FedRAMP Program Management Office, or the official issuing agency, or other documentation sufficient to demonstrate FedRAMP authorization. It is the Offeror’s responsibility to know and understand FedRAMP requirements and authorization levels necessary to process, store, or transmit LANL data. County reserves the right to independently verify FedRAMP authorization. If applicable, and if costs associated with obtaining and maintaining FedRAMP authorization are proposed to be charged to County separate from and not embedded within the proposed software licensing or subscription fees, Offerors are asked to include any such cost in the Cost Proposal Worksheet as a line item under additional and optional services.

4. Sandbox and Testing Environment.

4.1. Sandbox Trial During Evaluation. If Offeror provides a free Software sandbox, trial version, online demonstration, or video library for the Evaluation Committee to utilize during RFP evaluation, describe such offerings and describe how access to such an environment will be provided during evaluation. This is not a required component of the RFP response and is not a scored Evaluation Criteria. County declines to sign any non-disclosure agreements, confidentiality agreements, or end-user licensing agreements prior to receiving access to such an environment during evaluation.

4.2. Sandbox and Testing Environment During Implementation. County prefers, but does not require, provision of a sandbox or testing environment in a secure isolated environment for testing the Software or analyzing configurations, features, and functionality without affecting the live production system to use during implementation. County may consider but is under no obligation to accept other Software testing methods proposed and provided by Offeror.

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4.3. Sandbox and Testing Environment Post Implementation. County prefers, but does not require, provision of a sandbox or testing environment in a secure isolated environment for testing the Software or analyzing configurations, features, and functionality post implementation, throughout the term of and agreement, without affecting the live production system. County may consider but is under no obligation to accept other Software testing methods proposed and provided by Offeror.

5. County Technical Standards. Software will conform to the applicable County requirements for Solutions as defined in the Los Alamos County Technology Standards provided on the County’s Procurement Portal. Offerors are asked to affirm in their RFP response, using the County Technology Standards Form, that their proposed Software Solution is in conformance with the applicable requirements and to briefly describe how they meet the requirements, or describe alternate methods for how they meet applicable requirements. County may, at County’s sole option, consider proposed Software Solutions that offer an alternate method for meeting applicable requirements. County data must be stored in the United States.

6. Software Questionnaire. Contractor will provide the following Software services as requested by County and described by Offeror on the Software Questionnaire provided in the County’s Procurement Portal. Software services and expectations outlined in the Software questionnaire include the following:

6.1. Service Level Agreement and Support Maintenance;

6.2. Data Ownership/Recovery;

6.3. Administration and System Users and Use;

6.4. Security, Compatibility and Requirements;

6.5. Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery;

6.6. System Monitoring and Alerting; and

6.7. Hardware and Software.

7. Software Functional Descriptions and Technical Specifications. Contractor’s Software will substantially conform to the functional descriptions and technical specifications proposed in Offeror's RFP response and agreed to by County. Using the Software Functionality Matrix provided on the County’s Procurement Portal, Offerors are asked to provide the following:

7.1. A complete and comprehensive list and description of all Software features and functionality currently offered that may be considered by County for inclusion in an Agreement with the selected Offeror, whether they are included as a standard part of the base Software subscription or offered optionally for free or optionally for purchase for an additional fee.

7.2. Describe any additional and optional tools, features, and functionality that are included by Offeror as part of the base Software subscription pricing, which may not already be described in the Software Functionality Matrix and include the pricing in their cost proposal.

7.3. Describe any additional and optional tools, features, and functionality offered that are not included by Offeror as part of the base Software subscription pricing but may be purchased and included in an Agreement upon County request, and include pricing in their cost proposal.

7.4. Integration with County Systems. Offerors are asked to describe in detail if and how their proposed Software can share data with all of the County Systems described in The Software Functionality Matrix and the integration process for any of the data requirements defined therein. The exact manner in which systems integrate or data is shared between systems is to be determined based on methods proposed.

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8. Project Initiation Meeting. Contractor will, within ten (10) business days from the Effective Date of an Agreement, or within a timeframe proposed in Offerors RFP response and agreed to by the County, schedule a Project Initiation Meeting with the County’s Project Manager and designated County staff (“Project Team”) at a date, time, and format to be agreed upon by both Parties. Offerors are asked to propose in their RFP response their process for scheduling and conducting a virtual Project Initiation Meeting, the length of the meeting, the materials Offeror would provide, any deliverables to be prepared in advance, and any additional topics to be addressed during the Project Initiation Meeting. As part of the Project Initiation Meeting, the Parties will, at a minimum, unless otherwise proposed by Offeror in their RFP response and agreed to by County:

8.1. Establish a mutually agreed upon Project Schedule to accomplish key tasks with durations for each task conforming substantially to the Offeror’s Proposed Project Plan and Schedule. The Project Plan and Schedule will include, at a minimum, due dates for deliverables, Project phases, and milestones.

8.2. Review the scope of work and identify any Project issues to be addressed in the course of the Project.

8.3. Establish communication protocols, meeting frequency, and meeting format, with meetings occurring online in a virtual format.

8.4. Identify document format and data transfer methods between Contractor and Project Team related to the performance of the Agreement.

8.5. Contractor will provide detailed and complete written documentation of this meeting and a Project Plan and Schedule to the County within ten (10) business days of the meeting. The Project Plan and Schedule will be subject to the County Project Manager review and approval and Project Implementation will commence only after the County approval of the Project Plan and Schedule, which may be adjusted throughout Project implementation upon mutual written agreement of both parties.

9. Project Management

9.1. Contractor will provide experienced, competent, and knowledgeable staff to provide Project management services for the successful implementation of the Software, which may include, but may not be limited to Project planning in coordination with the County’s Project Manager; Project monitoring, control, and reporting; Project development and execution of tasks; scope management; risk management; and Project scheduling.

9.2. County and Contractor will designate in writing a primary contact (the “Project Manager”) to represent each party to serve as a primary point of contact, to manage the overall implementation, and help coordinate personnel during the design, development, installation, training, and maintenance of the System.

9.3. County will not be liable for, and will not provide insurance for, any loss or damage incurred by Contractor or its employees, agents, contractors, or subcontractors or to equipment or property owned by Contractor, regardless of whether such losses are insured by Contractor.

9.4. Contractor will provide experienced, competent, and knowledgeable staff to successfully complete the implementation and any mutually agreeable Project Implementation Management Plan and Project Plan. In the event that any Contractor employee is found to be unacceptable to County, in County’s reasonable discretion, Contractor will be given an opportunity to cure the deficiency upon notice thereof from County. In the event the deficiency persists, County may require removal of the employee. Contractor will provide

Template Version: 20250321 a suitable replacement, acceptable to County in its reasonable discretion, as soon as reasonably possible. To the extent County delays in confirming Contractor's proposed replacement, Contractor will not be held liable for project delays that arise because of County’s delay.

9.5. County acknowledges that Contractor assigned personnel may leave the project for reasons outside Contractor's control, such as resignation, medical leave, or similar absences. Contractor will use its best efforts to ensure the continuity of Contractor employees assigned to the County’s implementation. Should Contractor remove or reassign its employees assigned to perform Services, Contractor will, a) provide reasonable advance notice to County, and b) assign alternate employees with equivalent or greater competence, knowledge, and experience to perform Services hereunder within a commercially reasonable timeframe. Contractor's failure to provide the continuity of Contractor employees will result in Contractor's sole responsibility for any delay and/or cost for such failure and may result in breach of an agreement.

9.6. Contractor's personnel and subcontractors, if any, will observe all applicable laws, rules and policies of County, while providing Services to County, working on County’s premises, including working remotely on County systems.

9.7. Contractor will represent and warrant to County, with respect to the Services to be performed, that each of its employees assigned to perform those Services will have the proper skill, training, and background to be able to perform his or her assigned Service(s) in a competent and professional manner, and that all Services will be performed in accordance with the resulting Agreement.

9.8. County acknowledges that the implementation is a cooperative process requiring the time and resources of County personnel. County will, and will cause County personnel to, use all reasonable efforts to cooperate with and assist Contractor as may be reasonably required to timely implement the Products as mutually agreed Contractor will not be liable for County’s failure(s) to comply with the foregoing commitment.

10. Project Implementation.

10.1. The County’s preference is to conduct all project implementation and training tasks remotely with Contractor. County may consider, but is under no obligation to accept, proposed onsite project implementation and training.

10.2. The County’s preference is that Offerors use a table or spreadsheet format or a critical path schedule generated from a project management software to provide a Project implementation schedule in summarized form with a more detailed narrative provided separately to explain Offeror’s approach, methodology, responsibilities of both parties, and deliverables for each phase and task. The headings and phases of the narrative should match those on the proposed Project implementation timeline.

10.3. Project phases proposed should include, but should not be limited to, a phase for initial set-up, implementation, training as described in more detail as requested in section 11 below, testing, and final Go Live.

10.4. Offerors are asked to state the estimated length of complete implementation for the County.

Rather than using a specific start date, Offerors are asked to use “Upon the Effective Date of an Agreement” as their starting date and conclude with the conclusion of System testing and acceptance and a minimum “30-day System Reliability Testing Post Go Live” period to define the estimated length of time project phases or tasks may take to complete.

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10.5. Offerors should include in the proposed schedule phases or tasks that include coordination with the County’s Project Manager, and Information Management staff, to perform any system integration described herein and specifically identified in the Software Functionality Matrix.

10.6. Offerors are asked to describe their methodology for developing Test Plans during implementation to ensure proper setup and functionality of all features prior to the County acceptance of each deliverable and prior to the County’s overall System acceptance prior to Go Live. Describe the methodology for User Acceptance and Final Acceptance and describe any other processes that are employed for quality assurance. Include these phases or tasks in the proposed implementation strategy and schedule.

10.7. The proposed strategy, schedule, and naming conventions used in the narrative and proposed schedule should align clearly with the Project Management and Implementation costs and deliverables proposed in the Cost Proposal Worksheet and clearly demonstrate costs associated with each task or phase of implementation.

10.8. Offerors are asked to describe their project change order process and controls during the implementation.

10.9. If proposing progress payments throughout Project implementation, Offerors should affirm their understanding through the County’s Procurement Portal that the County will only pay for services successfully provided and accepted as complete by the Project Manager.

Offerors should describe their proposal their process for obtaining acceptance of completion by the Project Manager, and should describe at which stages or phases in the implementation payments would be requested by Offeror after deliverables or milestones are accepted by the County.

10.10. Offerors are asked to disclose if any national and regional user groups exist or if Offeror provides online forum access for users to meet and discuss the different ways in which the System can be implemented.

11. Training and Consulting. Contractor will provide, upon County’s request, training and consulting to County staff for the use of the Software. Offerors are asked to describe in detail in their RFP response, using the Cost Proposal Worksheet all training and consulting Offeror may provide throughout the term of an Agreement, the length of the training, the format of the training (e.g., virtual or in-person), the cost per session, the total number of attendees allowed, and specifically which training and consulting is included in Year 1 Project Management and Implementation Services and which training is available after conclusion of Project Implementation. Costs proposed should include any costs to scale up or scale down the number of attendees or number of sessions upon County request.

11.1. Year 1 Training during Project implementation should include, at a minimum: Training session(s) to help onboard the 2 main users.

12. Additional, Optional, and Future Functionality and Services. For award of an agreement, County requires a not to-exceed (“NTE”) amount for total compensation for the entire term of an agreement. In order to estimate the total NTE amount of a potential agreement, the County requests proposed pricing, a proposed pricing mechanism or pricing escalation mechanism, and process for requesting and receiving additional, optional, and future functionality and services, which may include, but is not limited to tools, modules, apps, add-ons, or professional services not specifically named or requested herein.

County’s desire is for Offerors to propose all potential additional, optional, and future functionality and services and all associated fees for County’s consideration.

12.1. New Features and Functionality. Contractor may continually develop, alter, deliver, and provide to the County ongoing innovation to the Services in the form of new features, Template Version: 20250321 functionality, and efficiencies as long as the functionality of the Services and Licensed Software does not fall below the functionality requirements proposed and agreed to by County. Upon County request, and at County’s sole discretion, Contractor will provide additional, optional, managed, and professional services as proposed and in accordance with fees proposed and agreed to by County.

12.2. No-Cost Offerings. Contractor, as part of the Service, throughout the term of an Agreement may offer at no additional cost to the County, additional, optional, and future functionality and services not specifically named herein or in the RFP response and may provide such free services upon County request.

12.2.1. For such free offerings and enhancements, Offerors are asked to describe in their

RFP response their migration, customization, upgrade process, and change order process and controls for the addition of these additional, optional, and future functionality and services after completion of Project Implementation and initial System acceptance and how they would be made available to County.

12.3. Offerings for a Fee. Contractor, as part of the Service, throughout the term of an Agreement may offer additional, optional, and future functionality and services, not specifically named herein, at an additional cost to the County, provided sufficient information about the process for requesting such offerings, implementation, customization, upgrades, costs and pricing details are provided in the Offeror’s RFP response and included in the awarded Agreement. County may at any time, as the need arises, request additional and optional services and functionality in accordance with any applicable County Laws, policies, and procedures.

12.3.1. Offerors are asked to describe in their RFP response their migration, customization, upgrade process, and change order process and controls for the addition of additional, optional, and future functionality and services after completion of Project Implementation and initial System acceptance; how they would be made available to County; and describe how they would be priced as they become available (e.g., on a per quote/per project basis).

12.3.2. Using the Cost Proposal Worksheet on the County’s Procurement Portal, Offerors should propose in their RFP response any fees and hourly rates, for all applicable personnel types, that would be charged throughout the term of an Agreement to provide any future implementation or professional services County may require and request.

13. Possible Future Replacement or Implementation of Integrated Systems. If the County replaces or updates any of its systems throughout the term of an Agreement with the selected Offeror or implements other new software that must integrate with the Contractor’s Software, Contractor will work with County to ensure integration between County’s updated or new systems and Contractor’s Software, if integration is possible, and will provide other implementation and project management services that may be necessary for integration. Offerors are asked to propose hourly rates, or some other type of fee structure, to provide such professional services throughout the term of an agreement, describe in detail their process for County to request such integration and project management services in the future, and describe in detail Offeror’s process to provide such integration and project management services.

18. PROPOSAL FORMAT AND RESPONSE COMPONENTS

18.1. Offerors must submit a Proposal to the County in the format described herein, subject to Section 8.5, and through the County’s Procurement Portal. Information provided in the Proposal may be used in the contract between the successful Offeror and the County.

18.2. To facilitate the review process, unless otherwise stated herein, County’s preference, though not a requirement, is that Proposals be limited to fifty (50) pages, not including exhibits, attachments, or marketing materials; that Proposals are 8.5 x 11 inch format, unless otherwise provided by County in a different format; and that general marketing materials should not exceed ten (10) pages, unless otherwise specified herein.

18.3. Unless otherwise specified herein or on the County’s Procurement Portal, Proposal documents should be submitted in PDF format.

18.4. For uniformity in the Proposal review process, please sequence Proposals as shown below using the same header names as below. Additional information may be included by Offerors in attachments, provided that Proposals include and address, in the sequence requested, the elements requested in the Proposal Format and Scope.

18.5. Whenever describing Offeror’s ability to provide the services described in the Scope, reference the header for that section and restate the section to which Offeror is responding.

18.6. As determined acceptable by the evaluation committee, the successful Offeror will be selected to provide some or all of the services described herein, to meet the County’s needs. Offerors are expected to identify in their Proposals any modifications to the proposed Scope that may be deemed necessary or might aid in successfully delivering services

18.7. Proposal Response Components. Responses should include the following Proposal Response Components:

Sect.

No. Section Title

Submission Information

(In addition to any other information requested herein.)

1 Cover Sheet (One page only)

1. Provide the full legal name of the Contractor who will execute the contract, and the name, phone number, and e-mail address of the primary person responsible for responding to questions and communication related to the RFP.

2. Reference the RFP number and name.

Cover Letter and

Executive Summary (One page only)

1. Include qualifications and a narrative description of the characteristics that set the Offeror apart such as unique examples of service or added value, and any recognition or endorsements received.

2. Provide a clear, concise overview of Offeror’s Proposal.

3 Qualifications and Experience

1. Describe Offeror’s prior experience performing similar work, particularly providing examples from the last 3-5 years.

2. State qualifications of Offeror’s staff who might be assigned to provide services. List all applicable licenses and certifications for each individual. Describe training and ability to perform the required services.

Previous and Current Clients

1. The County reserves the right to contact some or all the previous and current clients to verify any information provided and to request that previous clients provide additional information.

2. If previous client information is confidential, you may state so, Template Version: 20250321

Sect.

No. Section Title

Submission Information

(In addition to any other information requested herein.)

however, evaluation scores may reflect Offeror’s inability to include requested client information in the Proposal.

3. Using the Previous Client Worksheet provided on the County’s Procurement Portal, provide a minimum of 3 previous clients where similar services were performed in the last 3-5 years.

4. Previous clients should include company name, e-mail address, contact name, position, telephone number, and the period during which services were provided.

SCOPE OF SERVICES

Description of Services and Ability to Provide the Scope of Work or

Services

1. In Sections 5.1 – 5.11 below in this table, use the headers from the Scope in the response.

2. Summarize, in narrative form, Offeror’s understanding of the requested Services, and describe Offerors process, planning methodology, approach and ability to fulfill the Scope of Services and identify any modifications to the proposed Scope that may be deemed necessary or may aid in successfully delivering the Services described.

3. Identify and describe any known constraints in fulfilling the Scope of Services as described.

4. Describe responsibilities of Contractor versus County for each item under Scope.

5. Identify any…