25-RFI-002-KP (Audit and Report).pdf

An equal opportunity employer/program. Auxiliary aids and services are available upon request to individuals with disabilities. All voice telephone numbers on this document may be reached by persons using TTY/TDD equipment via the Florida Relay Service at 711.

25-RFI-002-KP, Page 1 of 9

FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION

Information Acknowledgement Form

Page 1 of 9 pages SUBMIT RESPONSE TO:

Florida Department of Commerce Purchasing Office 107 East Madison Street, B-047 Tallahassee, Florida 32399-4128 Telephone Number: 850-245-7455

AGENCY RELEASE DATE:

02/10/2025

SOLICITATION TITLE: Audit and Report SOLICITATION NO:

25-RFI-002-KP

RESPONSES WILL BE OPENED: March 19, 2025 @ 3:00 PM, EST

This is a Request for Information as defined by section 287.012(22), Florida Statutes (F.S.). Responses to this RFI are not offers and cannot be accepted by the Florida Department of Commerce (Department) to form a binding contract. §287.012(22), F. S. Information received in response to this RFI, however, may be used to develop future procurements. Respondents to this RFI will not be prohibited from submitting bids to such future procurements based solely on having responded to this RFI in accordance with section 287.057(19)(c), F. S. Vendors, then, are encouraged to respond with solutions that meet all or part of the specified requirements listed in greater detail in Section B of this RFI.

RESPONDENT NAME:

RESPONDENT MAILING ADDRESS:

CITY – STATE – ZIP:

*Authorized Representative’s Signature

PHONE NUMBER:

TOLL FREE

NUMBER:

FAX NUMBER: *Name and Title of Authorized Representative

EMAIL ADDRESS:

FEIN NO.: *This individual must have the authority to provide this Response.

TYPE OF BUSINESS ENTITY (Corporation, LLC, partnership, etc.):

RESPONDENT CONTACTS: Please provide the name, title, address, telephone number and e-mail address of the official contact and an alternate, if available.

PRIMARY CONTACT: SECONDARY CONTACT:

NAME, TITLE: NAME, TITLE:

ADDRESS: ADDRESS:

PHONE NUMBER: PHONE NUMBER:

FAX NUMBER: FAX NUMBER:

EMAIL ADDRESS: EMAIL ADDRESS:

An equal opportunity employer/program. Auxiliary aids and services are available upon request to individuals with disabilities. All voice telephone numbers on this document may be reached by persons using TTY/TDD equipment via the Florida Relay Service at 711.

25-RFI-002-KP, Page 2 of 9

SECTION A

SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE PREPARATION AND SUBMISSION OF RESPONSES

The instructions for this RFI have been designed to help ensure all responses are reviewed in a consistent manner, as well as to minimize costs and response time. Information submitted in variance with these instructions may not be reviewed.

A.1

A.2

A.3

SOLICITATION NUMBER/

TITLE

SOLICITATION TYPE

PROGRAM OFFICE

25-RFI-002-KP/

Audit and Report

Request for Information (RFI)

Economic Accountability and Transparency

A.4 PURCHASING OFFICE Kathryn Peterson, Procurement Officer

107 East Madison Street, B-047 Tallahassee, Florida 32399 850-245-7463 FloridaCommerce.Purchasing@commerce.fl.gov

A.5 CALENDAR OF EVENTS

The anticipated Calendar of Events consists of important actions and dates/times by which the actions must be taken or completed. If the Department finds it necessary to change any of these dates/times, it will be accomplished by an addendum. Time is stated in terms of Eastern Standard Time (EST) in Tallahassee, Florida.

Calendar of Events Date and Time (EST)

Date of issuance and publication on the Florida Vendor Information Portal (VIP) website at:

https://vendor.myfloridamarketplace.com/search/bids

2/10/2025

2 Technical Questions due from prospective Respondents.

(Only email inquiries will be accepted.)

2/24/2025

4:30 PM

Anticipated posting of Questions and Answers to the Florida VIP website (via addendum) at:

3/12/2025

Responses Due FloridaCommerce.Purchasing@commerce.fl.gov

3/19/2025

3:00 PM

5 Oral Presentations (if scheduled) March-April 2025 mailto:FloridaCommerce.Purchasing@commerce.fl.gov

An equal opportunity employer/program. Auxiliary aids and services are available upon request to individuals with disabilities. All voice telephone numbers on this document may be reached by persons using TTY/TDD equipment via the Florida Relay Service at 711.

25-RFI-002-KP, Page 3 of 9

A.6 QUESTIONS

Any questions from Respondents concerning this RFI shall be submitted via email to Kathryn Peterson at FloridaCommerce.Purchasing@commerce.fl.gov by the date and time specified in section A.5, Calendar of Events. Only e-mail inquiries will be accepted. All emails to the Procurement Officer should contain the solicitation number in the subject line of the email. Respondent’s questions should be submitted as an attachment via email in the format included in Attachment A– Technical Questions Submittal Form.

This RFI may be amended as necessary to incorporate new information or clarification as it is received. Any modifications to this RFI will be posted on the Florida VIP as an addendum. It is the prospective Respondent’s responsibility to monitor the Florida VIP System for any solicitation updates. The Department bears no responsibility for any delays, or resulting impacts, associated with a prospective Respondent’s failure to obtain the information made available through the Florida VIP System.

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An equal opportunity employer/program. Auxiliary aids and services are available upon request to individuals with disabilities. All voice telephone numbers on this document may be reached by persons using TTY/TDD equipment via the Florida Relay Service at 711.

25-RFI-002-KP, Page 4 of 9

SECTION B – INTRODUCTION AND PURPOSE

B.1 INTRODUCTION AND PURPOSE

The Economic Accountability and Transparency (EAT) Office at Florida Commerce (Department) is requesting information regarding a web-based, Software as a Service (SaaS) solution to support the Department’s report and audit scheduling due dates, collaborative editing, historical response archiving and comparison, inter and intra agency coordination, approval, and standardization for our federal and state reports as well as audit responses. The Department seeks information for a scalable SaaS solution to streamline its report and audit management processes.

Pursuant to Rule 60A-1.042, Florida Administrative Code (F.A.C.), an agency may request information by issuing a written RFI. Agencies may use a RFI in circumstances including, but not limited to, determining whether or not to competitively procure particular commodities or contractual services, determining what solicitation process to use for a particular need, or research general, special, and/or technical specifications for a solicitation.

B.2 BACKGROUND

Currently the Department uses Smartsheet and automation workflows to send out 30-day reminders and update requests. This system is cumbersome because the staff that must update it constantly change, and it must be manually updated by the ‘owner’ of the document. There is no view of any of the relevant information needed for the approval process. The software only displays whether an approval has been completed and a source data link. It does not include a repository of past submitted reports. The Department submits approximately 200 reports, see Exhibit 1, required by state and federal requirements on weekly, monthly, and annual time schedules.

Examples include:

• Office of the Secretary – Department of Commerce Annual Report, Continuity of Operation Plan (COOP).

• Bureau of Economic Self Sufficiency - Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) Annual Report, Low Income

Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) Annual Grantee Survey and Performance Measures Report.

• Bureau of Small Cities and Rural Communities - Minority Business Enterprise / Women Business Enterprise

Report, Consolidated Annual Performance and Evaluation Report (CAPER).

• Bureau of Community Planning and Growth - Biennial Local Government Certification Report, Rural

Economic Development Initiative (REDI) Report.

• Office of Long-Term Resiliency - Disaster Recovery Quarterly Performance Reports on All Active Grants

(CDBG).

• Office of Broadband - Broadband Opportunity Program - Project and Expenditure Report.

• Bureau of Small Business Innovation - Homeowner Assistance Fund (HAF) Annual, State Small Business

Credit Initiative (SSBCI) Annual Report.

• Bureau of Business Development – monthly Proviso and Escrow Report.

• Bureau of Military & Defense - Florida Defense Support Commission Annual Report.

• Division of Workforce Services – FL WINS Workforce Services Integration Monthly Report.

• Bureau of Reemployment Assistance – quarterly ETA 191 Statement of Expenditures & Financial Adj. Of federal funds-UCFE/UCX, monthly ETA 5130 Benefit Appeals Report (PEUC), monthly ETA 5159 Claims and Payment Activities (Extended Benefits), weekly ETA 538 - Advance Weekly Initial and Continued Claims Report.

• Bureau of Labor Market Statistics - Workforce Information Grant (WIG) Statewide Economic Analysis Report.

An equal opportunity employer/program. Auxiliary aids and services are available upon request to individuals with disabilities. All voice telephone numbers on this document may be reached by persons using TTY/TDD equipment via the Florida Relay Service at 711.

25-RFI-002-KP, Page 5 of 9

• Bureau of One Stop & Program Support – Annual Performance Reports (to measure the performance of workforce related programs and services for participants who receive benefits pursuant to chapters 414 and 445, F.S.), REACH Report on Implementation of the Employment First Act.

• Division of Information Technology – Cybersecurity Plan.

• Division of Finance & Administration – Debt Collection Report, Indirect Cost Plan, monthly LMS

Cooperative 2024.

Many of these reports include collaboration between Divisions, Bureaus, and Offices with the Divisions of Finance & Administration and Information Technology. Examples of these include Foreign Labor Certification, Jobs for Veterans State Grants Grant Application/Modification (Annual), FL WINS, Recovery Housing Program Performance Report, and the Long-Range Program Plan (LRPP).

B.3 SPECIFICATIONS

The goals and requirements include but are not limited to: A SaaS solution proposed for all Department Divisions, Bureaus, and Offices. The Respondent(s) should have the ability to provide an integrated SaaS solution that provides consistent, uniform information across the entire enterprise supporting program management requirements, which shall include, but not limited to, the following:

• Optimal integration for collaborative expectation setting and editing (e.g., compatibility with Microsoft

365, SharePoint, and Smartsheet migration tools);

• Report assignment and delegation;

• Review and due dates;

• Collaboration;

• Archiving;

• Comparison; and

• Scalability.

Required commodities/contractual services needed:

SaaS integrated, adaptable, and scalable web-based report and audit coordination and management solution to:

• Allow for Microsoft Word-Like production and collaborative editing ability (e.g., version history tracking, simultaneous editing).

• Use of pre-existing templates and formats (PDF preferred) required by our federal and state stakeholders.

• Provide a due-date based dashboard for Executive and Program Director information and planning.

• Executive Leadership Team initial direction and comment capacity.

• Provide visibility well before actual due date, as well as calendar/email reminders.

• Allow for intra and inter agency collaboration.

• Load historical reports as well as archive current reports so that historical comparisons can be made.

• Report and audit report categorization as to type and program.

• Assign audit history linkages – initial findings so that as it evolves in the fullness of time the Department can see everything in the context of an initial audit.

• Facilitate increased transparency with internal and external constituents and partners.

• Allow for Application Programming Interface (API) or another integration.

An equal opportunity employer/program. Auxiliary aids and services are available upon request to individuals with disabilities. All voice telephone numbers on this document may be reached by persons using TTY/TDD equipment via the Florida Relay Service at 711.

25-RFI-002-KP, Page 6 of 9

B.4 GOALS

The Department’s goal is to seek Information for an effective and efficient report and audit collaboration and response/development management business solution and dashboard.

B.5 OBJECTIVES

To use the results from this RFI to determine whether or not to competitively procure particular commodities or contractual services, determine what solicitation process to use for this particular need, and to research general, special, and/or technical specifications for a solicitation, per Rule 60A-1.042, F.A.C.

B.6 PROCESS

Responses to this RFI will be reviewed by the Department’s subject matter experts for informational purposes only and will not result in the award of a contract. This is an RFI as defined by section 287.012(22), F. S.

Responses to this RFI are not offers and cannot be accepted by the Department to form a binding contract pursuant to section 287.012(22), F.S. Information received in response to this RFI, however, may be used to develop future procurements. Respondents to this RFI will not be prohibited from submitting responses to such future procurements based solely on having responded to this RFI in accordance with 287.057(19)(c), F.S. The Department will review responses received from this RFI to determine the feasibility of issuing a competitive solicitation for commodities or contractual services. Any request for cost information is for budget purposes only.

B.7 INSTRUCTIONS TO RESPONDENTS

The instructions for this RFI are designed to ensure all responses are reviewed in a consistent manner. The response must include:

1. Information Acknowledgement Form (Cover Page)

Respondents are required to complete, sign, and return the Information Acknowledgment Form with their submittal. This form must be completed and signed by a representative who is authorized to provide information on behalf of the Respondent.

If a Respondent fails to submit a signed Information Acknowledgment Form with their response, the Department reserves the right to contact the Respondent by telephone to inform the Respondent to submit this document via email. This right may be exercised when the Respondent has met all other requirements of the RFI.

In the event more than one Respondent submits a joint response, each Respondent of the joint response must complete and sign a separate Information Acknowledgement Form.

2. Details

Interested Respondents shall include the following information in their responses, using the following as a guide:

• Company Information

An equal opportunity employer/program. Auxiliary aids and services are available upon request to individuals with disabilities. All voice telephone numbers on this document may be reached by persons using TTY/TDD equipment via the Florida Relay Service at 711.

25-RFI-002-KP, Page 7 of 9 o Provide information such as the name of the company, address, telephone number, valid email address, and contact person(s).

• Background/Experience (2 page maximum) o Provide a brief description of your company and its proposed solution and services for the purposes of this RFI. Include a brief history of the company, length of time in business, organizational structure, and company literature, if available.

• Solution Features (10 page maximum) o Describe all features that your solution offers to meet the business requirements:

(Sections B.1. Introduction and Purpose, B.2. Background, B.3. Specifications)

B.8 RESPONSE

RFI responses are to be submitted electronically via email to the address(s) specified in Section A.4, Purchasing Office. Responses should be prepared in accordance with the instructions provided in this RFI. The Department is not responsible for and will not reimburse any costs incurred in the preparation or submission of information in response to this RFI.

This is strictly an RFI, and in no way does this request bind the Department to solicit bids or proposals in the future. In no way does submittal of information pursuant to this RFI give any Respondent any advantage in any solicitation if the Department elects to solicit bids or proposals in the future.

B.9 ORAL PRESENTATION AGENDA

Based upon the completeness of the response, the Department, at its sole discretion, may invite some or all Respondents for an oral presentation. Each presentation may be scheduled from one (1) to two (2) hours depending on the submitted response and should include a high-level overview of the information outlined in B.7.2, Details. The Respondent shall allow enough time during the scheduled presentation to provide an opportunity for questions and answers.

B.10 RESPONSE DATE

RFI responses are due, via email, to FloridaCommerce.Purchasing@commerce.fl.gov at the time and date specified in Section A.5, Calendar of Events.

B.11 DISCLOSURE AND OWNERSHIP OF RESPONSES

A Respondent’s response shall be a public record and subject to production, disclosure, inspection, and copying consistent with the requirements of Chapter 119, F. S.

B.12 RESPONDENT’S DUTIES TO ASSERT EXEMPTION FROM DISCLOSURE AS A PUBLIC RECORD

Any response content submitted to the Department which is asserted by the Respondent to be exempted by law from disclosure as a public record shall be set forth on a page or pages separate from the rest of the response, and clearly marked “exempt,” “confidential,” or “trade secret” (as applicable), with the statutory basis for such claim of exemption specifically identified in writing on each and every such page. Failure to segregate and so

An equal opportunity employer/program. Auxiliary aids and services are available upon request to individuals with disabilities. All voice telephone numbers on this document may be reached by persons using TTY/TDD equipment via the Florida Relay Service at 711.

25-RFI-002-KP, Page 8 of 9 identify any such content shall constitute a waiver of any claimed exemption as applied to the portion of the response or other document in which the content is set forth.

Any claim of exemption from public disclosure is waived upon submission, unless addressed as set forth above.

The Department will attempt to afford protection from disclosure of any trade secret as defined in section 812.081(1)(c), F.S., or section 688.002, F.S., where identified as such in the response, to the extent permitted under section 815.045, F.S., or section 288.075, F.S., and Chapter 119, F.S. Each Respondent acknowledges that the protection afforded by section 815.045, F.S., is incomplete, and hereby agrees that no remedy for damages may arise from any disclosure by the Department.

The Department takes its public records responsibilities under Chapter 119, F.S., and Article I, Section 24 of the Florida Constitution, very seriously. If a Respondent considers any portion of the documents, data, or record submitted in response to this RFI to be exempted by law from disclosure as a public record, the Respondent must also provide the Department with a separate Redacted Copy of its response, in hard copy and on compact disk, at the time of response submission.

This Redacted Copy shall contain the Department’s RFI name, number, and the name of the Respondent on the cover, and shall be clearly titled “Redacted Copy.” The Redacted Copy shall be provided to the Department at the same time the Respondent submits its response to the RFI and must only exclude or obliterate those exact portions which are exempted by law from public disclosure. Each individual portion of the Redacted Copy that Respondent asserts is confidential must contain a citation to the specific law making the content of the redacted portion confidential.

If it is determined the response does not contain any information which is exempted by law from public disclosure, Respondent shall provide as part of the response, a written statement to that effect which is executed by an authorized representative of the Respondent’s company with legal authority to make this determination on behalf of the Respondent.

Respondent shall protect, defend, and indemnify, save and hold harmless, the Department from any and all claims, demands, liabilities, and suits of any nature arising out of, because of, or due to the failure of, the Department releasing information redacted by the Respondent, and to further indemnify the Department for any other loss the Department incurs due to any claim being made against the Department regarding portions of its Redacted Copy being confidential, proprietary, trade secret, or otherwise not subject to disclosure. The Department expressly retains all rights, benefits, and immunities of sovereign immunity in accordance with Section 768.28 F. S., and nothing in this RFI shall be deemed a waiver of sovereign immunity or limits of liability beyond any statutory waiver.

B.13 RIGHTS TO DATA AND COPYRIGHT

Writings, publications, films, videos, technical reports, equipment, computer hardware and software, recordings, computer programs, computerized data bases, data processing programs, pictorial reproductions, maps, drawings, specifications, graphical representations, and works of similar nature (whether copyrighted or not copyrighted), which are submitted with a response maintained by the Department and may be released as public records.

An equal opportunity employer/program. Auxiliary aids and services are available upon request to individuals with disabilities. All voice telephone numbers on this document may be reached by persons using TTY/TDD equipment via the Florida Relay Service at 711.

25-RFI-002-KP, Page 9 of 9

ATTACHMENT A

TECHNICAL QUESTIONS SUBMITTAL FORM

Respondents shall complete this form based on their questions relating to this RFI. The completed form shall be submitted in accordance with the instructions provided in Section A.6. The electronic response must be submitted as a Microsoft Word file format. This form may be expanded as needed to facilitate responses to this requirement.

Respondent’s Name: ________________________________________

Respondent Question Number*

RFI Page Number, Section

Number, Subsection Reference*

Question*

*Add rows as necessary.

**Authorized Representative’s Signature

**Typed Name and Title of Authorized Representative

**This individual must have the authority to provide this Response.