California Health and Human Services Agency Office of Technology and Solutions Integration 2870 Gateway Oaks Drive, Suite 150 Sacramento, California 95833

Request for Information

The California Health and Human Services Agency (CalHHS), Office of Technology and Solutions Integration (OTSI), hereinafter referred to as the “CalHHS OTSI” or “State,” is releasing this Request for Information (RFI) to identify potential vendors that can provide a cloud-based, Software as a Service (SaaS) performance management platform to track objectives and key results (OKRs).

CalHHS OTSI is seeking to advance its current performance management services with a SaaS performance management platform that is highly scalable, reliable, flexible, and feature rich. The goal is to advance how OTSI performance management data is used to be more efficient, innovative, accessible, and transparent while driving continuous improvement and strategic prioritization.

Please read this RFI document thoroughly and adhere to the response submission guidelines.

RFI Disclaimer This RFI is issued for information and planning purposes only and does not constitute a solicitation. A response to this RFI is not an offer and cannot be accepted by the State to form a binding contract. Responders are solely responsible for all expenses associated with responding to this RFI.

Responders must be aware that responses to this RFI are the property of the State and may be subject to the California Public Records Act (Government Code Section 7920.000 et seq.). As such, please do not include any proprietary information or any specific solutions in your response to this RFI.

Submitting a response to this RFI will not enhance the review of that respondent’s proposal(s) to any future solicitations. Not submitting a response to this RFI will not prohibit a response to any future solicitations nor disadvantage the evaluation of a response to any future solicitation. By submitting a response to this RFI, a responding vendor is agreeing with these conditions.

RFI Key Action Dates Actions should be taken or completed by the dates listed below. If the CalHHS OTSI finds it necessary to change any of these dates, an update may be made to this RFI and posted on the State’s eProcurement website: https://www.caleprocure.ca.gov/pages/index.aspx

RFI KEY ACTION DATES

Background The current CalHHS IT and Data Strategic Plan (hereinafter referred to as “Plan”) presents an execution-focused roadmap for technology and data, recognizing their interdependencies and the need to address them in tandem. As CalHHS continues to build its understanding of the populations it serves, CalHHS will also identify and monitor indicators of progress towards the Plan’s objectives. These indicators of progress will be captured in a performance and value measurement plan utilizing OKRs. Measuring success and derived value is critical to meeting the objectives and strategic priorities of the Plan. The CalHHS OTSI is currently using Excel spreadsheets and Power BI to track OKRs.

Scope The CalHHS OTSI is seeking to procure a SaaS performance management platform that is highly scalable, reliable, flexible, and feature rich. The goal is to advance how CalHHS OTSI performance management data is used to be more efficient, innovative, accessible, and transparent while driving continuous improvement and strategic prioritization.

The platform should allow management and staff to have multi-level access for viewing, reporting, and updating individual OKRs. The system will log OKR changes and updates so progress can be reported. Key requirements are fully detailed in Attachment A.

Vendor Questions Vendors must submit questions regarding this RFI via e-mail by the specified date in Section 2, RFI Key Action Dates. Questions must be submitted by using the State’s Q&A template, which can be downloaded here: Questions and Answers Template. Attach and submit the Q&A template via email to the contact person listed in Section 8, Contact Information. The following must be included in the e-mail inquiry:

· On the subject line of the e-mail, include RFI # 21150720 - Objectives and Key Results Tracking and Reporting Platform - Vendor Questions;

· Vendor name, contact person, telephone number, and e-mail address, as part of the sender’s contact information.

At its discretion, the State may contact vendors to seek clarification of any inquiry received. The State may respond to questions directly to the vendor or release an update to the RFI.

RFI Format and Submission Responses to this RFI are due by the date stated in Section 2, RFI Key Action Dates. Responses must be submitted via e-mail to the State’s contact identified in Section 8, Contact Information, and must include the following information in the e-mail subject line:

RFI # 21150720 - Objectives and Key Results Tracking and Reporting Platform A vendor’s response shall contain the following:

1. A cover letter that includes the following elements:

a. Vendor name, address, and telephone number; and

b. Contact information, including the name, title, address, phone number, and e-mail address of the vendor’s primary contact person for this RFI.

2. A detailed narrative describing the following:

a. The vendor’s response to Attachment A, RFI # 21150720 Objectives and Key Results Tracking and Reporting Platform Questions. Please ensure that the format and numbering of the response correlates to that within Attachment A.

Demonstrations Additional information will be provided to vendors if the State chooses to hold demonstrations.

Contact Information The RFI responses and all correspondence and/or questions related to this RFI shall be directed to the State contact person:

Taylor Corder Acquisition and Contracting Services Division Office of Technology and Solutions Integration Phone: (916) 263-4264 E-mail Address: solicitations@otsi.ca.gov

Attachment A RFI # 21150720 Objectives and Key Results Tracking and Reporting Platform Questions The State is requesting responses to the questions below to gain an understanding of a SaaS performance management platform that is highly scalable, reliable, flexible, and feature rich. Please answer as many questions as possible based on your firm’s experience. Supporting documentation may be attached to provide clarity or additional information.

1. Describe your experience in developing and maintaining IT systems of similar nature and scope in the public sector and provide a description of your technology solution.

2. Describe any technical or business assumptions for implementation of the solution (number of users, scalability, security, data conversion, OCM, etc.).

3. Describe your company’s contractual/client experience implementing the solutions or services described in response to Question #1. (Note: Question #1 was a description of the technical solution the vendor offers.) Describe the following, as applicable:

a. Describe client staff size, number of users, complexity of engagement, etc.

b. If the solution or service is currently utilized by a client, describe its use and benefits to the client.

c. Describe your experience implementing the solutions or services, including high-level timelines for implementation and training for all user populations.

d. Describe implementation challenges and summarize lessons learned. Describe how to overcome implementation challenges.

4. Please state your policy for help desk support of previous versions/releases of your solution.

5. Describe your pricing model for your solution. Please include estimated one-time vs. ongoing costs, services and software costs, M&O costs, and any assumptions that impact the estimated costs.

Please answer YES or NO if your solution meets the following key requirements. Provide additional details where indicated:

Key Requirements

1. An intuitive user experience.

2. Ability to track strategic priorities, program, and performance OKR progress.

3. Ability to automate data preparation, updates, and uploads (replace manual, labor-intensive processes).

4. Data visualizations (provide interactive visualizations, enable creation by end users, and improve generation and maintenance).

5. The software must be a commercial off-the-shelf solution that has been successfully implemented in at least three (3) public agencies within the past five (5) years. The solution must have been similar in requirements and function to the CalHHS OTSI requirements described in this RFI.

6. The solution is a fully integrated system, which has functionality to meet standard performance measurement data across systems. Integration or data extract-transform-load (ETL) from Excel or database tracking systems.

7. The solution requires no modification to base code and is highly configurable to meet the CalHHS OTSI’s needs and can be fully integrated with any current and future systems containing performance data.

8. Ability to provision different portals/dashboards for different audiences (e.g., public vs. State portals, or staff vs. management).

9. Ability to provide reports to public users from outside the State’s network.

10. Contains a standardized interface with any of the following systems (please provide details and examples of integration process with the systems):

· Brightwork;

· Power BI;

· Jira;

· SmartSheets;

· Microsoft (MS) Project;

· Zendesk; and

· MS Lists/Kanban Cards (for use with MS Teams).

11. Ability to download or integrate dashboards into MS Office products such as PowerPoint, Excel, and Word.

12. Ability to produce reports with customizable set-ups, including sorts, groupings, and selection criteria generated in a variety of exportable formats.

13. Ability to produce graphical representations, drill-down capabilities, performance measure indexing capabilities, and automated scheduling (Please provide print screen examples.)

14. Contains data visualization capabilities that include the ability to produce charts, graphs, multiple dashboard components, and multiple output formats. (Please provide examples.)

15. Application should have pre-determined OKRs and status categories (e.g., Not Started, On Track, At Risk, Overdue, Completed, Backlog, etc.)

16. Ability to assign/maintain relationships between metrics and strategies, programs, program objectives, departments, initiatives, funding, priorities, and tasks. (Please provide an example of how these relationships can be seen graphically.)

17. The OKR system must support full hierarchical alignment across CalHHS OTSI, enabling cascading and bottom‑up alignment from Department → Project → Unit → Individual levels. The system must allow many‑to‑many relationships so that OKRs can be shared across multiple teams or projects.

18. All Key Results must be traceable to one or more strategic objectives, and the system must support multiple nested levels of strategic objectives (e.g., objective → sub‑objective → sub‑sub‑objective).

19. Ability to utilize role-based security. Users should have specific permissions for editing objectives and/or key results.

20. Supports remote access: The system provides the State users with the ability to access the system on any secure computer through a Web Browser (SSO).

21. Views must include performance data both graphically and narratively through a dashboard (please provide examples in the form of screen shots from other clients).

22. Reporting must support top‑down and bottom‑up perspectives, include static and projected scoring graphs, incorporate both quantitative and qualitative updates, and surface organizational performance insights and trends.

23. Workflow Capability – capability to trigger email notification to a hierarchy of users.

24. Embedded help or chat tool tip functionality.

25. Ability to tag (metadata) objectives or key results.

26. Indicate if the software will utilize GenAI technology, including GenAI from third parties. If yes, please describe how GenAI would be used to complete all or part of any potential deliverable.

image1.png image2.png