Amendment 1.docx

SAP

State of South Carolina

Amendment 1

Solicitation:

Date Issued:

Procurement Officer:

Phone:

E-Mail Address:

Mailing Address:

5400021318 05/17/2021

ZACH YARBROUGH

803-896-0284 zyarbrough@mmo.sc.gov SFAA, Div. of Procurement Services, 1201 Main Street, Suite 601 Columbia SC 29201

DESCRIPTION: Continuing Education Tracking System

USING GOVERNMENTAL UNIT: South Carolina Department. of Labor, Licensing & Regulation

SUBMIT YOUR OFFER ON-LINE AT THE FOLLOWING URL: http://www.procurement.sc.gov

SUBMIT OFFER BY (Opening Date/Time): 06/04/2021 11:00:00 ET (See "Deadline For Submission Of Offer" provision)

QUESTIONS MUST BE RECEIVED BY: 05/11/2021 16:00:00 ET (See "Questions From Offerors" provision)

NUMBER OF COPIES TO BE SUBMITTED: One (1) on-line submission and, if necessary, One (1) Redacted Copy submitted online.

Initial here if NO redacted copy is necessary___________

CONFERENCE TYPE: Pre-Proposal

DATE & TIME: 05/11/2021 10:00 ET

(As appropriate, see "Conferences - Pre-Bid/Proposal" & "Site Visit" provisions) LOCATION: Tele-Conference Email Procurement Manager for dial-in instructions.

You must submit a signed copy of this form with Your Offer. By signing, You agree to be bound by the terms of the Solicitation. You agree to hold Your Offer open for a minimum of ninety (90) calendar days after the Opening Date. (See "Signing Your Offer" provision.)

NAME OF OFFEROR

(full legal name of business submitting the offer) Any award issued will be issued to, and the contract will be formed with, the entity identified as the Offeror. The entity named as the offeror must be a single and distinct legal entity. Do not use the name of a branch office or a division of a larger entity if the branch or division is not a separate legal entity, i.e., a separate corporation, partnership, sole proprietorship, etc.

AUTHORIZED SIGNATURE

(Person must be authorized to submit binding offer to contract on behalf of Offeror.)

DATE SIGNED

TITLE

(business title of person signing above)

STATE VENDOR NO.

(Register to Obtain S.C. Vendor No. at www.procurement.sc.gov)

PRINTED NAME

(printed name of person signing above)

STATE OF INCORPORATION

(If you are a corporation, identify the state of incorporation.)

OFFEROR'S TYPE OF ENTITY: (Check one) (See "Signing Your Offer" provision.)

___ Sole Proprietorship ___ Partnership ___ Other_____________________________

___ Corporate entity (not tax-exempt) ___ Corporation (tax-exempt) ___ Government entity (federal, state, or local)

COVER PAGE - ON-LINE ONLY (MAR. 2015)

SAP

SAP

PAGE TWO

(Return Page Two with Your Offer) HOME OFFICE ADDRESS (Address for offeror's home office / principal place of business)

NOTICE ADDRESS (Address to which all procurement and contract related notices should be sent.) (See "Notice" clause)

_________________________________________________ Area Code - Number - Extension Facsimile

_________________________________________________ E-mail Address

PAYMENT ADDRESS (Address to which payments will be sent.) (See "Payment" clause)

____Payment Address same as Home Office Address ____Payment Address same as Notice Address (check only one) ORDER ADDRESS (Address to which purchase orders will be sent) (See "Purchase Orders and "Contract Documents" clauses)

____Order Address same as Home Office Address ____Order Address same as Notice Address (check only one)

ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF AMENDMENTS

Offerors acknowledges receipt of amendments by indicating amendment number and its date of issue. (See "Amendments to Solicitation" Provision)

DISCOUNT FOR PROMPT PAYMENT

(See "Discount for Prompt Payment" clause)

PREFERENCES - A NOTICE TO VENDORS (SEP. 2009): On June 16, 2009, the South Carolina General Assembly rewrote the law governing preferences available to in-state vendors, vendors using in-state subcontractors, and vendors selling in-state or US end products. This law appears in Section 11-35-1524 of the South Carolina Code of Laws. A summary of the new preferences is available at www.procurement.sc.gov/preferences . Per Section 11-35-1524 (E), preferences are not applicable.

AMENDMENTS TO SOLICITATION (JAN 2004)

The Solicitation may be amended at any time prior to opening. All actual and prospective Offerors should monitor the following web site for the issuance of Amendments: www.procurement.sc.gov (b) Offerors shall acknowledge receipt of any amendment to this solicitation (1) by signing and returning the amendment, (2) by identifying the amendment number and date in the space provided for this purpose on Page Two, (3) by letter, or (4) by submitting a bid that indicates in some way that the bidder received the amendment. (c) If this solicitation is amended, then all terms and conditions which are not modified remain unchanged. [02-2A005-1]

1. INFORMATION FOR OFFERORS TO SUBMIT -- EVALUATION (MODIFIED) is hereby replaced with the following:

“PLEASE NOTE THAT IF TERMS AND CONDITIONS ARE OBJECTED OR QUALIFIED, OR OFFEROR INCLUDES ADDITIONAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS TO BE CONSIDERED, THE OFFER MAY BE DEEMED NON-RESPONSIVE AND WILL BE ELIMINATED FROM FURTHER CONSIDERATION.

IF YOU QUALIFY YOUR OFFER WITH A STATEMENT SUCH AS, “THIS IS NOT AN OFFER”, THE OFFER WILL BE DEEMED “NON-RESPONSIVE” AND REMOVED.

In addition to information requested elsewhere in this solicitation, offerors should submit the following information for purposes of evaluation. Offerors should state each item and respond directly to each:

Response Format

1 Cover Page 2 Table of Contents 3 Solicitation Documents

3.1 Solicitation Cover Page One & Two (acknowledgement of Amendments if applicable)

3.2 Evidence of Insurance (or ability to obtain)

3.3 Minority Participation

3.4 SPSAQ

4 Technical Response

4.1 Proposed Technical Solution - Provide information about your system, detailing dashboards/interfaces for licensees, licensing Boards and LLR. This should include all requirements from Section III, Scope of Work. Include copies of any license agreement or SLA that end users would need to approve to participate.

4.2 Funding Model - Provide a detailed explanation of the model used to fund your system without cost to users.

4.3 Qualifications and Experience - Detail your company’s background, years in business. Detail at least two projects of similar scope and size to the scope of this solicitation. Also include:

4.3.1 Response to SECTION V, QUALIFICATIONS – REQUIRED INFORMATION (MAR 2015)

4.3.2 Response to SECTION V, QUALIFICATIONS – SPECIAL STANDARDS OF RESPONSIBILITY (MAR 2015)”

QUESTIONS FROM OFFERORS - AMENDMENT (JUN 2017)

The solicitation is amended as provided herein. Information or changes resulting from questions will be shown in a question-and-answer format. All questions received have been reprinted below. The “state’s response” should be read without reference to the questions. The questions are included solely to provide a cross-reference to the potential Offeror that submitted the question. Questions do not form a part of the contract; the “state’s response” does. Any restatement of part or all of an existing provision of the solicitation in an answer does not modify the original provision except as follows: underlined text is added to the original provision. Stricken text is deleted. [02-2A097-1]

1. Whether companies from Outside USA can apply for this (like,from India or Canada)? Companies from outside the U.S. may submit offers. Prospective Offerors should review the clauses titled “OFFSHORE CONTRACTING PROHIBITED (FEB 2015)” and “INFORMATION SECURITY – LOCATION OF DATA (FEB 2015)”.

2. Whether we need to come over there for meetings? Meetings will be held as described in the solicitation, or as agreed upon by the State and Contractor.

3. Can we perform the tasks (related to RFP) outside USA (like, from India or Canada)? See answer to question #1.

4. Can we submit the proposals via email? No proposals will be received by email. Offerors shall submit proposals as stated in the solicitation.

5. Could you please clarify what you mean by “no cost” ? It’s mentioned a few times in the proposal.

The System must be provided at no cost to the State, continuing education providers, and Licensees.

Funding Model - Provide a detailed explanation of the model used to fund your system without cost to users Funding Model – How the Offeror’s funding model best meets the State’s goal of a no-cost system to LLR, Boards and end users. 20 Points

a) Are you looking for the vendor to provide the system to the state pro bono, or is it that you will not charge you users who need to manage their licenses? The system is to be provided at no cost to the state, licensees, or continuing education providers. We expect that the vendor will develop other revenue streams, such as additional levels of service to licensees and/or continuing education providers.

b) Can I assume that the state is intending to pay for the system? No, see response to question 5 (a).

c) Is there a budget allocated for the project? No, see response to question 5 (a).

6. What is the required information to be collected? The vendor will collect information necessary to verify that CE has been completed. This can include course information, provider information, copies of completion certificates, etc.

7. Will PII, PHI, sensitive data, electronic PII, PHI) need to be collected? No. LLR will collect and hold this information.

8. How is PII, PHI, sensitive data, or electronic PII used? LLR uses this information in the administration of licensing, regulatory, investigative, and disciplinary activities. This information is not generally shared outside of the agency unless where required by statute.

9. Is this for CE tracking only? Yes; however, the Agency will also use the system to perform CE audits as sometimes required by statute or at the direction of the various professional boards.

10. Will you require training material to be housed on this platform? Hopefully the system is built in such a way that it is intuitive to use for LLR staff, licensees, and continuing education providers. That being said, some sort of FAQ and/or “getting started” instructions should be included in the platform. LLR staff will be unable to field technical questions on how to use the platform, those questions and customer support requests from users should be answered by the vendor.

11. Should the application include links to Renew License, Apply for a license, submit applications license, License lookup, Board orders, Military Spouse licensure, Policy, and Regulation? No. This information and links are provided directly by LLR.

12. Will you require certification # for each user as an identifying number? LLR will provide a unique identifier for all licensee users.

13. What type of communication do you require between Board staff and CE providers/sponsors (in-app chat, in-app email, etc.)? Email and phone communication with board staff and CE providers would be preferred.

14. Must support staff be familiar with all CE requirements for each Board; if so, will LLR provide CE requirements? Not necessarily, but this could be useful. LLR will provide and update CE requirements to the vendor.

15. Can training be conducted via remote? Yes, but some level of initial onboarding should be conducted in person with board staff.

16. Will LLR require any training to be conducted in person? We would ask that some level of onboarding / training occur in person for board staff who will be using the platform.

17. Does LLR currently have an LMS in place? If so, does it need to be integrated? Are there multiple systems? LLR uses a single, in house licensing management system for all licensees and license types. Minimal integration, such as the ability to verify CE completion from our system may be a possibility.

18. Does the LLR require project management services? No.

19. Does LLR plan to manage and administer training/ certifications in the platform, or will this solely be used to track licenses? For example, do you intend for learning activities to be completed in the platform to satisfy the criteria for a license or certification, will you conduct and complete learning OR will the training take place elsewhere and only be reported to the licensing platform? This platform will be used solely for the purposes of tracking CE compliance, and to provide an audit function to LLR. LLR uses its own system for the purpose of managing licenses. LLR does not plan to offer its own training programs within the platform, but this is not out of the question in the future. Normally, the trainings occur outside of the platform, and only reporting is done through the platform; however, if the chosen vendor would like to offer that option to course providers, that is fine.

20. Is user account provisioning going to be self-registered by the user or created in some other way (Data feed, API, manual one by one user creation by admin, etc.)? Users will need to create their own account in the platform. LLR adheres by strict PII sharing rules, which do not allow LLR to “push” all licensee data to any third-party provider. Alternatively, LLR will provide limited data, such as name / unique identifier (credential type and professional license #) so that the vendor can verify and match users that sign up on their platform.

21. If learning is completed elsewhere and reported to the platform, who is submitting these completions or credentials? Is this a learner activity or is this being driven by an API or data feed? Licensees can self-report and the platform should be able to accept reporting from continuing education providers.

22. Has the department seen demonstrations for the product? If so by whom? The Agency has not participated in demonstrations in preparation for this solicitation.

23. How are you currently managing this process today? Do you have an existing platform, if so, what is it and why are you looking to change? A contract is currently in place, and can be found at: https://webprod.cio.sc.gov/SCSolicitationWeb/contractSearch.do?solicitnumber=5400011771. The contract is near the end of its life cycle, and needs to be re-solicited per the South Carolina Procurement Code.

24. There are numerous references for no cost so is it safe to assume you will not need any ecommerce functionality in the future? That is correct.

25. Under section RESPONSIVENESS/IMPROPER OFFERS (JUN 2015) (F) it says not to submit bid samples or descriptive literature. Can this be further explained? What are examples or descriptions of these types of improper offers?

(f) Do not submit bid samples or descriptive literature unless expressly requested. Unsolicited bid samples or descriptive literature will not be examined or tested, will not be used to determine responsiveness, and will not be deemed to vary any of the provisions of the solicitation. S.C. Code Ann. Reg. 19-445.2077(D). [02-2A105-2] Prospective Offerors shall not submit samples or descriptive literature unless expressly requested. In other words, the State is only requesting to receive the information listed in “INFORMATION FOR OFFERORS TO SUBMIT -- EVALUATION (MODIFIED)”. Examples of these types of improper offers would be:

26. Question 2: Under section EFT INFORMATION (FEB 2021), it states must furnish information necessary to make an electronic payment. Since this is a no-cost contract and no payment will be exchanged, is this still required by the offeror?

EFT INFORMATION (FEB 2021)

The Contractor must furnish to the State Treasurer’s Office information necessary for making a payment by electronic funds transfer (EFT). You may do this by completing STO Form 4 and filing it with the STO. Additional information is available at the STO’s website at https://treasurer.sc.gov (.) The Contractor is responsible for the currency, accuracy and completeness of the EFT information. Updating EFT information may not be used to accomplish an assignment of the right to payment, does not alter the terms and conditions of this contract, and is not a substitute for a properly executed contractual document. [07-7A027-1] The Awarded Contractor is not responsible for completing this activity. This requirement is hereby removed in its entirety.

27. Question 3: Under section INFORMATION FOR OFFERORS TO SUBMIT -- EVALUATION (MODIFIED), it states under response format that the funding model falls under the "Technical Response" section - however under section CONTENTS OF OFFER (RFP) (FEB 2015), it states that the Technical Proposal and Business Proposal should be uploaded separately. Can you confirm the correct format and if the funding model should go under the "business proposal" or the "technical proposal"? Prospective Offerors shall submit their proposal as requested in “INFORMATION FOR OFFERORS TO SUBMIT -- EVALUATION (MODIFIED)”.

Page image1.emf