3-Prerequisite Content - Professional Services Solicitation.pdf

PREREQUISITE CONTENT

Addenda Vendors are encouraged to periodically check the eProcurement portal for posted questions, answers, and addenda. Any modification to this procurement will be made by addendum issued by USBE. Addenda to this RFSQ may be made for the purpose of making changes to: the statement of qualifications, the schedule, the qualification requirements, the criteria, the weighting, or other requirements of this RFSQ.

Authorized and properly issued addenda shall constitute the official and binding position of

USBE.

Any response to this RFSQ which is based on any communications or information received from sources other than this RFSQ or related addenda may be considered non-responsive and be rejected at the sole discretion of USBE.

After the closing date for submitting a response to this RFSQ, addenda to this RFSQ may be limited to the vendors that have submitted a response, provided the addenda does not make a substantial change to this RFSQ that likely would have impacted the number of vendors responding to the original publication of this RFSQ.

Question and Answer Period The Question and Answer period closes on the date and time specified in the eProcurement portal. All questions must be submitted through the portal during the Question and Answer period. Answers from USBE will be posted in the portal. Questions may include notifying USBE of any ambiguity, inconsistency, scope exception, excessively restrictive requirement, or other errors in this RFSQ.

Questions are encouraged.

Questions may be answered individually or may be compiled into one document. Questions may also be answered via an addendum. An answered question or an addendum may modify the specification or requirements of this RFSQ. Answered questions and addenda will be posted in the portal. Vendors should periodically check the portals for answered questions and addenda before the closing date. It is the responsibility of the vendors to submit their statement of qualifications as required by this RFSQ, including any requirements contained in an answered question and/or addenda.

Restrictions on Communications From the issue date of this RFSQ until an award is made, vendors are prohibited from communications regarding this RFSQ with any evaluation committee members or other associated individuals EXCEPT the USBE procurement officer overseeing this RFSQ. Failure to comply with this requirement may result in disqualification.

Submitting your Statement of Qualifications By submitting a response to this RFSQ, the vendor acknowledges and agrees that the requirements, assignment of work process, and the evaluation process outlined in this RFSQ are understood, fair, equitable, and are not unduly restrictive. Any exceptions to the content of this RFSQ must be addressed within the Q&A period. The vendor further acknowledges that it has read this RFSQ, along with any attached or referenced documents.

All costs incurred by a vendor in the preparation and submission of a response, including any costs incurred during any interviews, oral presentations, and/or product demonstrations are the responsibility of the vendor and will not be reimbursed.

Responses must be received by the posted due date and time posted (“deadline”). Responses received after the deadline will be late and ineligible for consideration.

Responses must be submitted electronically through the eProcurement portal. When submitting a response electronically through the portal, please allow sufficient time to complete the online forms and to upload response documents. The RFSQ will end at the deadline. If a vendor is in the middle of uploading a response when the deadline arrives, the system will stop the upload process, and the response will not be accepted, and the attempted submission will be considered late and ineligible for consideration.

Responses may require uploading of electronic attachments. The portal will accept a wide variety of document types as attachments. However, USBE may be unable to view certain documents. Therefore, DO NOT submit documents that are embedded (zip files), movies, wmp, encrypted, or mp3 files. All documents must be uploaded in the portal as separate files.

Standard Terms and Conditions Any contract resulting from this RFSQ will include, but not be limited to, the Standard Terms and Conditions as attached in the Buyers Attachment.

Exceptions and/or additions to the Standard Terms and Conditions are strongly discouraged. However, vendors requesting exceptions and/or additions to the Standard Terms and Conditions must be submitted with the response. Exceptions and/or additions submitted after the date and time for receipt of responses will not be considered. Vendors may not submit requests for exceptions and/or additions by reference to a vendor's website or URL.

USBE may refuse to negotiate exceptions and/or additions that are determined to be excessive;

that are inconsistent with similar contracts of the procurement unit; to warranties, insurance, or indemnification provisions that are necessary to protect the procurement unit after consultation with the Attorney General's Office or other applicable legal counsel; where the solicitation specifically prohibits exceptions and/or additions; or that are not in the best interest of the procurement unit.

For any proposed change(s), Offeror must provide the Standard Terms and Conditions for this solicitation in Microsoft Word format with redline edits. Additional terms or documents must be submitted in separate Microsoft Word documents. Offeror must also provide the name, contact information, and access to the person(s) that will be directly involved in legal negotiations.

Any mandatorily required acceptance of a vendor’s terms and conditions may result in the response being determined to be non-responsive.

An award resulting from this RFSQ is subject to successful contract terms and conditions negotiation (if required). USBE, at its sole discretion, will determine when contract terms and conditions negotiations become unproductive and will result in termination of award to that vendor and USBE may move to the next eligible vendor.

Given the time sensitive nature of implementation, any negotiations to the Standard Terms and Conditions MUST be completed within 7 days of awarding a contract. Vendors are therefore encouraged to be selective and judicious in the quantity and scope of their requested changes.

Protected Information Pricing may not be classified as confidential or protected and will be considered public.

Process for Requesting Non-Disclosure: To protect information under a Claim of Business Confidentiality, a vendor must complete the Claim of Business Confidentiality form, submit the form with the vendor's proposal, and include the following information:

• A concise statement of reasons supporting the claim of business confidentiality (see Utah Code Subsection 63G-2-309(1)).

• An electronic, “redacted” (excluding protected information) copy of the proposal (in addition to the non-redacted original). The copy must be clearly marked “Redacted Version.”

The Claim of Business Confidentiality form is attached in the Buyer Attachments section of this solicitation.

An entire proposal cannot be identified as “PROTECTED”, “CONFIDENTIAL” or “PROPRIETARY”.

Redacted Copy: If a vendor submits a proposal that contains information claimed to be confidential or protected, the vendor MUST submit two separate proposals: one redacted version for public release, with all protected business confidential information either blacked-out or removed, clearly marked as "Redacted Version"; and one non-redacted version for evaluation purposes clearly marked as "Protected Business Confidential."

All materials submitted become the property of USBE. Materials may be reviewed by anyone designated by USBE as part of the evaluation committee or a consultant to the evaluation committee. Materials submitted may be returned only at USBE's option.

Background Check USBE reserves the right to require any vendor (including vendor's employees, subcontractor, or others associated with vendor) with access to secure state facilities, sensitive data, or technology to complete a background check.

USBE reserves the right to determine what state facilities, sensitive data, or technology applies to the background and disclosure/notification requirements.

Public Information By submitting a response to this RFSQ Vendor acknowledges that its response, subject to the Protected Information section above, will be made public upon the USBE’s receipt of a GRAMA request.

Closing Date When submitting a statement of qualifications or modification to a statement of qualifications electronically, vendors must allow sufficient time to complete the online forms and upload documents. This RFSQ will close at the closing time posted in the eProcurement portal. If a vendor is in the middle of uploading a statement of qualifications when the closing time arrives, the portal will stop the process, and the statement of qualifications or modification will not be accepted.

It is the vendor's responsibility to ensure that they have completed all requirements, read and reviewed all documents, submitted all required information, uploaded all required forms, and submitted their statement of qualifications prior to the closing time. Even if a vendor completes all sections, but does not submit their statement of qualifications, USBE will not be able to receive their statement of qualifications and they will be deemed non-responsive.

eProcurement Portal Submission Vendors who fail to submit their response will not have their response reviewed and will be ineligible for further consideration under this solicitation.

Response Format Vendors must provide their qualifications and quotes for completing the Scope of Work. The Scope of Work can be found in the Files. Vendors must complete and submit any required form(s).