25-43232605-RFI.pdf

4050 Esplanade Way

Tallahassee, FL 32399-0950 850-488-2786

Ron DeSantis, Governor

Tom Berger, Interim Secretary

FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF MANAGEMENT SERVICES

Request for Information

Transparency and Investigative Tool

25-43232605-RFI

I. PURPOSE:

The Department of Management Services (Department) hereby issues this Request for Information (RFI) as defined in section 287.012(22), Florida Statutes. The Department is seeking information from experienced vendors for information on web-based transparency and investigative tools to research companies’ supply chains and corporate financial and business networks.

The RFI process is used to gather information on whether to competitively procure the services sought and if so, to determine which solicitation process to use. The Department may also use the information provided by the vendor community to determine general, special, or technical specifications to include if the Department does issue a competitive solicitation for these services.

This is not a “competitive solicitation”, as defined in section 287.012(6), Florida Statutes. Vendor responses to this RFI will be reviewed for informational purposes only and will not result in the award of any contract.

The Department seeks to obtain information on available, operational, web-based transparency and investigative tools that can assist with verif ication of statutory requirements. The Department has a statutory responsibility to ensure the integrity of public contracting and purchasing, per section 287.132, Florida Statutes.

Information is needed to determine a web-based transparency and investigative tool, if one exists, that can verify what information is provided in the attestations as subject to the below statutes:

1) Section 287.1346(4)(b), Florida Statutes

2) Section 787.06(13), Florida Statutes

3) Section 287.138(4)(b), Florida Statutes

4) Section 287.138(2)(a)-(c), Florida Statutes

5) Section 287.135 (5), Florida Statutes

II. REQUESTED INFORMATION:

Please provide answers to the following statements below.

A. Does your company have a transparency and investigative tool that can provide the information requested as described in Section I. Purpose? If yes, describe the tool and provide any additional information.

B. Describe how frequently your company updates the information that is provided by the transparency and investigative tool. Do the updates run overnight/in the background, or will there be any interruption to services while updates are happening?

C. How does your company sort data returned? Is the data filterable, and if so by what categories?

https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2024/287.1346 https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2024/787.06 https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2024/287.138 https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2024/287.138 https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2024/287.135

D. How does the supply chain visualization look? Does it have links to all the companies and their corporate information? Will each supply chain have a categorization for their type of risk and level of risk?

E. Describe your company’s approach to displaying how information is shared when results are shown using this transparency and investigative tool (including but not limited to physical address, ownership by country, corporate network, subcompanies, etc.).

F. Describe how your company answers customer questions.

G. Describe how your company will run training and support new users.

H. What information does your company include on service tickets after support is given or questions answered? What type of reports does your company provide to the Customer on these tickets?

I. Are there any additional terms, industry standards, regulations, or other information that the

Department should consider if competitive solicitation is developed? If so, please provide.

III. ELECTRONIC SUBMISSION OF VENDOR RESPONSES:

Please provide a response to this RFI electronically to the Procurement Lead, Lynzie Sauls, at Lynzie.Sauls@dms.fl.gov by 5:00 p.m. ET on Wednesday, February 11th, 2026.

In addition to responses to items A through I above:

• Please include any written material that your company would like the Department to consider in connection with this RFI.

A Vendor’s response to this RFI is not a formal offer and vendors submitting a response to this RFI are not prohibited from responding to any related subsequent solicitation. The Department is not required to utilize any information gathered from this RFI.

This RFI will not result in a “term contract” as defined in section 287.012(29), Florida Statutes. This RFI is not a binding contract. This RFI is not subject to a challenge pursuant to section 120.57, Florida Statutes.

IV. PUBLIC RECORDS

Any material submitted in response to this RFI is subject to the Public Records Act, Chapter 119, Florida Statutes. If a responding vendor (“vendor”) to this RFI considers any portion of the documents, data or records submitted in response to this RFI to be confidential, proprietary, trade secret or otherwise not subject to disclosure pursuant to Chapter 119, Florida Statues, the Florida Constitution, or other authority (“Confidential Information”), the vendor must mark the document as “Confidential” and simultaneously provide the Department with a separate, redacted copy of material submitted in response to this RFI. For each portion redacted, the vendor is to briefly describe in writing the grounds for claiming its exemption, including the specific statutory citation for such exemption. On the cover page of the redacted copy, the vendor is to provide its name and this RFI number and clearly title it, “Redacted Copy.” Only portions of material that the vendor claims are Confidential Information are to be redacted.

If the vendor fails to mark a record it claims contains Confidential Information as “confidential,” or fails to submit in accordance with this section a redacted copy of a record it claims contains Confidential Information, the Department shall have no liability for release of such record. The foregoing will apply to every instance in which the vendor fails to both mark a record “confidential” and redact it in accordance with this section, regardless of whether the vendor may have properly marked and mailto:Lynzie.Sauls@dms.fl.gov redacted the same or similar Confidential Information in another instance or record submitted to the Department.

In the event the Department receives a request for public records pursuant to Chapter 119, Florida Statues, the Florida Constitution, or other authority, to which documents that are marked as “confidential” are responsive, the Department will provide the redacted copy to the requestor. If the vendor has marked a record as “confidential” but failed to provide a redacted copy to the Department, the Department may notify the vendor of the request and the vendor may have up to ten (10) Business Days from the date of the notice to provide a vendor-redacted copy, or else the Department may release the unredacted record to the requestor without liability. If a requestor asserts a right to the redacted Confidential Information, the Department will notify the vendor that such an assertion has been made. The notice will provide that if the vendor seeks to protect the vendor-redacted Confidential Information from release it must, within thirty (30) days after the date of the notice and at its own expense, file a cause of action seeking a declaratory judgment that the information in question is exempt from section 119.07(1), Florida Statues, or other applicable law and an order prohibiting the Department from publicly disclosing the information. The vendor shall provide written notice to the Department of any cause of action filed. If the vendor fails to file a cause of action within thirty (30) days the Department may release the unredacted copy of the record to the requestor without liability.

If the Department becomes subject to a demand for discovery or disclosure of documents that are marked as “confidential” in a legal proceeding, (whether by oral questions, interrogatories, requests for information or documents, subpoena, or similar process), unless otherwise prohibited by law, the Department will give the vendor notice of the demand or request prior to disclosing any Confidential Information to allow the vendor to seek a protective order or other appropriate relief at the vendor’s sole discretion and expense. If the vendor fails to take appropriate and timely action to protect the materials it has designated as Confidential Information or fails to provide a redacted copy that may be disclosed, the Department will provide the unredacted materials to the requester.

By submitting a response to this RFI, the vendor agrees to protect, defend, and indemnify the Department for all claims, costs, f ines, settlement fees, and attorneys’ fees, at both the trial and appellate levels, arising from or relating to the vendor’s determination its records contain Confidential Information. In the event of a third-party claim brought against the Department for failure to release the vendor’s redacted Confidential Information, the vendor shall assume, at its sole expense, the defense or settlement of such claim, including attorney’s fees and costs at both the trial and appellate levels. If the vendor fails to continuously undertake the defense or settlement of such claim or if the vendor and the Department mutually agree that the Department is best suited to undertake the defense or settlement, the Department will have the right, but not the obligation, to undertake the defense or settlement of such claim, at its discretion. The vendor shall be bound by any defense or settlement the Department may make as to such claim, and the vendor agrees to reimburse the Department for the expense, including reasonable attorney’s fees and costs at both the trial and appellate levels associated with any defense or settlement that the Department may undertake to defend vendor’s Confidential Information. The Department will also be entitled to join the vendor in any third-party claim for the purpose of enforcing any right of indemnity under this section.

If at any point the Department is reasonably advised by its counsel that disclosure of the Confidential Information is required by law, including but not limited to Florida’s public records laws, the Department may disclose such Confidential Information without liability hereunder.

V. DEPARTMENT CONTACT FOR THIS RFI:

Lynzie Sauls, Senior Purchasing Analyst, Information Technology and Special Projects Florida Department of Management Services Division of State Purchasing 4050 Esplanade Way Tallahassee, Florida 32399-0950 Phone: (850) 487-1463 Lynzie.Sauls@dms.fl.gov