Amendment 1 - DS 250000000012 PHA Improving Business Requirements Gathering Operational Consulting Prequal - Tier 2.docx

SCHEDULE A – TIER-TWO INSTRUCTIONS & STATEMENT OF WORK

Statewide Operational Consulting Services Tier-Two Bid Process Instructions Department of Health and Human Services

Operational Consulting Services Tier-Two: The MDHHS Public Health Administration, and MDHHS Strategic Integration Administration are seeking a vendor to recommend, develop, and guide the implementation of standardized, efficient, and consistent processes and supporting tools for gathering business requirements and conducting market research for MDHHS public health business areas pursuing Information Technology (IT) procurements Direct Solicitation No. DS 250000000012

Solicitation Manager Name: Nathaniel Oliver Direct Phone: 517-241-0084 Email: OliverN@michigan.gov

Tier-two Direct Solicitation (DS) Timeline

*A bidder’s proposal received at 11:59:01 a.m. Eastern is late and subject to disqualification.

This solicitation is subject to change. Check www.michigan.gov/SIGMAVSS for current information.

1. PROPOSAL PREPARATION. The State recommends reading all solicitation materials prior to preparing a proposal, particularly these Proposal Instructions and the Vendor Questions Worksheet. Bidders must follow these Proposal Instructions and provide a complete response to the items indicated in the DS Structure and Documentation table below. References and links to websites or external sources may not be used in lieu of providing the information requested in the solicitation within the proposal. Include the bidder’s company name in the header of all documents submitted with your proposal. Note that all documents and information submitted as part of a proposal will become public record immediately upon receipt by the State. Proposals received by the State may be posted on the State’s publicly available website after bidders are notified of the award recommendation.

DS Structure and Documentation

2. CONTACT INFORMATION FOR THE STATE. The sole point of contact for the State concerning this solicitation is listed on the Cover Page. Contacting any other State personnel, agent, consultant, or representative about this solicitation may result in bidder disqualification.

3. MODIFICATIONS. The State may modify this solicitation at any time. Modifications will be posted on www.michigan.gov/SIGMAVSS. This is the only method by which the solicitation may be modified.

4. QUESTIONS. Bidder questions about this solicitation must be emailed to the Solicitation Manager no later than the time and date specified on the Cover Page. In the interest of transparency, only written questions are accepted. Answers to questions will be posted on www.michigan.gov/SIGMAVSS. Submit questions using the format below; a Microsoft Excel format or similar is suggested.

5. DELIVERY OF PROPOSAL.

Electronic – The bidder must submit its proposal, all attachments, and any modifications or withdrawals electronically through www.michigan.gov/SIGMAVSS. The price proposal should be saved separately from all other proposal documents. The bidder should submit all documents in a modifiable (native) format (examples include but are not limited to Microsoft Word or Excel and Google Docs or Sheets). In addition to submitting documents in a modifiable format, the bidder may also submit copies of documents in PDF. Attachment file size is limited to 30 MB per document. Bidder’s failure to submit a proposal as required may result in disqualification. The proposal and attachments must be fully uploaded and submitted prior to the proposal deadline. Do not wait until the last minute to submit a proposal, as the SIGMA VSS system requires the creation of an account and entry of certain information, in addition to uploading and submitting the materials. The SIGMA VSS system will not allow a proposal to be submitted after the proposal deadline identified in the solicitation Closing On/Closing Date fields (Summary view/Detail view), even if a portion of the proposal has been uploaded.

Questions on how to submit information or how to navigate in the SIGMA VSS system can be answered by calling (517) 284-0540 or (888) 734-9749. The Solicitation Manager will not provide assistance related to the submittal of the proposal and all attachments on the day of the proposal deadline. Responsibility for a complete submission lies with the bidder. Note that all documents and information submitted in any manner as part of a proposal will become public record immediately upon receipt by the State. Proposals received may be posted by the State on the State’s publicly available website after bidders are notified of the award recommendation.

Only proposals meeting the mandatory minimum requirements will be considered for evaluation.

6. EVALUATION PROCESS The State will evaluate each proposal based on the following factors:

Proposals receiving 80 or more technical evaluation points will have pricing evaluated and considered for award.

The State may utilize all bidder information, without regard to a proposal’s technical score, to determine fair market value for goods or services sought. The State is not obligated to accept the lowest price proposal. If applicable, the State’s evaluation will include consideration of a bidder’s qualified disabled veterans/service-disabled veteran owned business(QDV/SDVOB) status under MCL 18.1261(8). Additional information on the SDVOB preference is available at: Michigan.gov/SDVOB.

The State strongly encourages strict adherence to the Contract Terms. The State reserves the right to deem a bid non-responsive for failure to accept the Contract Terms. Nevertheless, the bidder may submit proposed changes to the Contract Terms in track changes (i.e., visible edits) with an explanation of the bidder’s need for each proposed change. Failure to include track changes with an explanation of the bidder’s need for the proposed change constitutes the bidder’s acceptance of the Contract Terms. General statements, such as that the bidder reserves the right to negotiate the terms and conditions, may be considered non-responsive. Failure to respond timely to requests for proposed changes to Contract Terms during ongoing negotiations may be cause for disqualification.

The State may but is not required to conduct an on-site visit to tour and inspect the bidder’s facilities; require an oral presentation of the bidder's proposal; conduct interviews, research, reference checks, and background checks; and request additional price concessions at any point during the evaluation process.

7. NOTICE OF DEFICIENCY. The State reserves the right to issue a Notice of Deficiency to bidders if the State determines after the proposal deadline that a portion of the solicitation was deficient, unclear, or ambiguous. Failure to respond to a Notice of Deficiency timely may be cause for disqualification.

8. CLARIFICATION REQUEST. The State reserves the right to issue a Clarification Request to a bidder to clarify its proposal if the State determines the proposal is not clear. Failure to respond to a Clarification Request timely may be cause for disqualification.

9. RESERVATIONS. The State reserves the right to:

a. Disqualify a bidder for failure to follow these instructions.

b. Discontinue the solicitation process at any time for any or no reason. The issuance of a solicitation, your preparation and submission of a proposal, and the State’s subsequent receipt and evaluation of your proposal does not commit the State to award a contract to you or anyone, even if all the requirements in the solicitation are met.

c. Consider late proposals if: (i) no other proposals are received; (ii) no complete proposals are received; (iii) the State received complete proposals, but the proposals did not meet mandatory minimum requirements or technical criteria; or (iv) the award process fails to result in an award.

d. Consider an otherwise disqualified proposal if no other proposals are received.

e. Disqualify a proposal based on: (i) information provided by the bidder in response to this solicitation; (2) the bidder’s failure to complete registration on www.michigan.gov/SIGMAVSS ; or (3) if it is determined that a bidder purposely or willfully submitted false or misleading information in response to the solicitation.

f. Consider prior performance with the State in making its award decision.

g. Consider overall economic impact to the State when evaluating proposal pricing and in the final award recommendation. This includes but is not limited to: considering principal place of performance, number of Michigan citizens employed or potentially employed, dollars paid to Michigan residents, Michigan capital investments, job creation, tax revenue implications, and economically disadvantaged businesses.

h. Consider total-cost-of-ownership factors (e.g., transition and training costs) when evaluating proposal pricing and in the final award recommendation.

i. Refuse to award a contract to any bidder that has failed to pay State taxes or has outstanding debt with the State.

j. Enter into negotiations with one or more bidders on price, terms, technical requirements, or other deliverables.

k. Award multiple, optional-use contracts, or award by Contract Activity.

l. Evaluate the proposal outside the scope identified in the Evaluation Process section of this document if the State receives only one proposal.

10. AWARD RECOMMENDATION. The contract will be awarded to the responsive and responsible bidder who offers the best value to the State, as determined by the State. Best value will be determined by the bidder meeting the minimum point threshold and offering the best combination of the factors stated in the Evaluation Process section of this document, and price, as demonstrated by the proposal. The State will post an Award Recommendation and Evaluation Synopsis on www.michigan.gov/SIGMAVSS or in the manner it was originally published.

11. DEBRIEF MEETING AND BID PROTEST. The State will publish an Award Recommendation and Evaluation Synopsis which will provide instructions on how to request a debrief meeting.

If you wish to initiate a protest of the award, you must submit your written protest to MDHHS-BGP@michigan.gov no later than 3:00 p.m., five business days after posting the Award Recommendation and Evaluation Synopsis. The State reserves the right to adjust this timing and will publish any change.

Additional information about the protest process is available at DTMB - Programs and Policies (michigan.gov) under the “Bidder Protests” link.

12. STATE ADMINISTRATIVE BOARD. Contracts equal to $250,000 or greater than require approval by the State Administrative Board. The State Administrative Board’s decision is final; however, its approval does not constitute a contract. The award process is not complete until the awarded contractor receives a contract fully executed by all parties.

13. GENERAL CONDITIONS. The State will not be liable for any costs, expenses, or damages incurred by a bidder participating in this solicitation. The bidder agrees that its proposal will be considered an offer to do business with the State in accordance with its proposal, including the Contract Terms, and that its proposal will be irrevocable and binding for a period of 180 calendar days from date of submission. If a contract is awarded to the bidder, the State may, at its option, incorporate any part of the bidder’s proposal into a contract. This solicitation is not an offer to enter into a contract. This solicitation may not provide a complete statement of the State’s environment or contain all matters upon which agreement must be reached. The bidder understands that their proposal will become public record immediately upon receipt by the State. Other than verified trade secrets, proposals submitted via www.michigan.gov/SIGMAVSS are the State’s property.

14. CONFIDENTIAL TREATMENT FORM AND THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT. As a public record, all portions of the bidder’s proposal and resulting contract are subject to disclosure as required under Michigan’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), MCL 15.231, et seq. However, the State may exempt some information from disclosure as permitted by law. Under MCL 18.1261(13)(b), records containing “a trade secret as defined under section 2 of the uniform trade secrets act, 1998 PA 448, MCL 445.1902,” are exempt from disclosure under FOIA. In addition, “financial or proprietary information” submitted with a bidder’s proposal is exempt from disclosure under FOIA. A bidder’s failure to comply with this Section is grounds for rejecting a bidder’s proposal as non-responsive. As a part of its proposal, each bidder must follow the procedure below.

a. SUBMIT A COMPLETED CONFIDENTIAL TREATMENT FORM WITH YOUR BID. Completion and submission of the Confidential Treatment Form (CT Form) is required regardless of whether the bidder seeks confidential treatment of information. Failure to submit a completed CT Form may be cause for disqualification from the solicitation process. If a bidder fails to properly complete and submit the CT Form or otherwise fails to follow CT Form instructions, the proposal may be publicly disclosed in its entirety without redaction after an award recommendation.

Complete and sign Section 1 of the CT Form if the bidder does NOT request confidential treatment of information contained in its proposal; or Complete and sign Section 2 of the CT Form if the bidder requests confidential treatment of certain information. Bidder must also submit a copy of the proposal with the trade secret, financial, and proprietary information redacted and clearly labeled as the “PUBLIC COPY.”

Failure to complete and sign a CT Form may result in disqualification of the bidder. If a bidder fails to properly complete and submit the CT Form or otherwise fails to follow the CT Form instructions, the proposal, in its entirety, may be publicly disclosed by the State without redaction after an award recommendation.

b. FOIA REQUESTS. If a FOIA request is made for a bidder’s proposal, the Public Copy may be distributed to the public along with the bidder’s CT Form. The CT Form is a public document and serves as an explanation for the redactions to the Public Copy. Do not put any trade secret, financial, or proprietary information in the CT Form. Do not redact the CT Form itself.

c. NO ADVICE. The State will not advise a bidder as to the nature or content of documents entitled to protection from disclosure under FOIA or other laws, as to the interpretation of such laws, or as to the definition of trade secret or financial or proprietary information. Nothing contained in this provision will modify or amend requirements and obligations imposed on the State by FOIA or other applicable law. The State is not obligated to notify a bidder if a FOIA request for bidder’s proposal is received nor if bidder’s proposal is made available to the public.

d. FAILURE TO REQUEST CONFIDENTIAL TREATMENT. Failure to request material be treated as confidential as specified herein relieves the State, its agencies, and personnel from any responsibility for maintaining material in confidence.

e. Bids containing a request to maintain an entire proposal as confidential may be rejected as non-responsive. Bidders may not request confidential treatment with respect to resumes, pricing, and marketing materials. The State reserves the right to determine whether material designated as exempt by a bidder falls under MCL 18.1261 or other applicable FOIA exemptions. If a FOIA request is made for materials that the bidder has identified as trade secret, financial, or proprietary information, the State has the final authority to determine whether the materials are exempt from disclosure under FOIA.

f. Bidder forever releases the State, its departments, subdivisions, officers, and employees from all claims, rights, actions, demands, damages, liabilities, expenses and fees, which arise out of or relate to the disclosure of all or a portion of bidder’s proposal submitted under this solicitation. Bidder must defend, indemnify and hold the State, its departments, subdivisions, officers, and employees harmless, without limitation, from and against all actions, claims, losses, liabilities, damages, costs, attorney fees, and expenses (including those required to establish the right to indemnification), arising out of or relating to any FOIA request, including potential litigation and appeals, related to the portion of bidder’s proposal submitted under this solicitation that bidder has identified as a trade secret, or financial or proprietary information. The State will notify bidder in writing if indemnification is sought. The State is entitled to: (i) regular updates on proceeding status; (ii) participate in the defense of the proceeding; (iii) employ its own counsel; and to (iv) retain control of the defense, or any portion thereof, if the State deems necessary. Bidder will not, without the State’s written consent (not to be unreasonably withheld), settle, compromise, or consent to the entry of any judgment in or otherwise seek to terminate any claim, action, or proceeding. If a State employee, official, or law is involved or challenged, the State may control the defense of that portion of the claim. Any litigation activity on behalf of the State, or any of its subdivisions under this Section, must be coordinated with the Department of Attorney General. An attorney designated to represent the State may not do so until approved by the Michigan Attorney General and appointed as a Special Assistant Attorney General.

Confidential Treatment Form INSTRUCTIONS. A signed and dated Confidential Treatment Form (CT Form) must be submitted with your proposal, regardless of whether your proposal contains confidential information.

1. Complete either Section 1 or Section 2 of this form and sign where indicated. Do not complete both sections. Note: Completion of Section 2 is required to request confidential treatment.

2. This form must be signed by the individual who signed the bidder’s proposal.

Failure to submit a completed CT Form with your bid is grounds for rejecting the proposal as non-responsive.

In addition, failure to follow the instructions on this form or to properly complete and submit it may result in the entire proposal being publicly disclosed by the State without redaction after an award recommendation.

See the Confidential Treatment Form and the Freedom of Information Act section of the Proposal Instructions for additional information.

Section 1. CONFIDENTIAL TREATMENT IS NOT REQUESTED This section must be completed, signed, and submitted with the proposal if the bidder does not request confidential treatment of any material contained in the proposal. If this section is completed, do not complete Section 2.

By signing below, the bidder affirms that confidential treatment of material contained in their proposal is not requested.

DS Number

DS Title

Signature

Date

Printed Name, Title, Company

Section 2. CONFIDENTIAL TREATMENT IS REQUESTED Bidders must complete, sign, and submit this section with the proposal, to request confidential treatment of any material contained in the proposal. If this section is completed, do not complete Section 1.

Bidders must specifically identify the information to be protected as confidential and/or proprietary and state the reasons why protection is necessary. As shown in the table below, the following details are required for each confidentiality request.

1. The proposal page number, section number, and paragraph number.

2. Whether the material referenced is Trade Secret (TS), Proprietary Financial Information (FI), or Proprietary Information (PI). Bidders may not request confidential treatment of resumes, pricing, and marketing materials.

3. An explanation of the specific legal grounds that support treatment of the material as TS, FI, or PI and a complete justification as to how the material falls within the scope of an applicable FOIA exemption or relevant case law. Bidders must not simply cite an applicable exemption or case name.

4. The person at their organization authorized to respond to inquiries by the State concerning the material and their contact information.

REQUIRED: Bidders completing this section must also submit a copy of the proposal with the trade secret, financial, and proprietary information redacted and clearly label this redacted copy as the PUBLIC COPY.

(1) Proposal Page #, Section #, Paragraph # (2) Material is Trade Secret (TS), Proprietary Financial Information (FI), Proprietary Information (PI) (3) Applicable FOIA Exemption with Written Justification (4) Bidder Contact Information

Bidders may add rows or additional pages using the same format shown in the table.

State of Michigan FOIA Requests The State reserves the right to determine whether material designated as exempt by a bidder falls under MCL 18.1261 or other applicable FOIA exemptions.

If a FOIA request is made for materials that the bidder has identified as trade secret, financial, or proprietary information, the State has the final authority to determine whether the materials are exempt from disclosure under FOIA.

The State is not obligated to notify a bidder if a FOIA request for bidder’s proposal is received nor if bidder’s proposal is made available to the public. This form, and any additional justification letters, are not exempt from release under FOIA.

By signing below, the bidder affirms that confidential treatment of material contained in their proposal is requested and has attached to this form a redacted “Public Copy” of the bidder’s proposal.

DS Number

DS Title

Signature

Date

Printed Name, Title, Company

Vendor Questions Worksheet Provide a detailed response to each question. “You” and “company” refers to the bidder.

Participation in Solicitation Development or Evaluation

Did your company, an employee, agent, or representative of your company, or any affiliated entity participate in developing any component of this solicitation?

For purposes of this question, business concerns, organizations, or individuals are affiliates of each other if, directly or indirectly: (1) either one controls or has power to control the other or (2) a third-party controls or has the power to control both. Indicia of control include, but are not limited to, interlocking management or ownership, identity of interests among family members, shared facilities or equipment, and common use of employees.

Choose an item.

If you enter “YES”, you are not eligible for contract award or to work as a subcontractor for the awarded vendor.

If you enter “YES,” you are not eligible for contract award. An awarded vendor may not partner or subcontract with anyone to provide goods and services required under a resulting contract if that subcontractor or partner assisted in the development of this solicitation.

If you enter “YES”, you are not eligible for contract award or to work as a subcontractor for the awarded vendor.

Qualified Disabled Veteran/Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Business Program

Under MCL 18.1261, a “qualified disabled veteran” means a business entity that is 51% or more owned by 1 or more veterans with a service-connected disability.

This business is a qualified disabled veteran and provided proof of service-connected disability and ownership in the Tier 1 solicitation.

Choose an item.

State of Michigan Experience and Prior Experience

Does your company have experience working with the State of Michigan?

If so, please provide a list (including the contract number) of the contracts you hold or have held with the State for the last 10 years.

Describe at least 3 relevant experiences, including dates service, from the last 5 years supporting your ability to successfully manage a contract of similar size and scope for the IT pre-procurement process modernization work described in this solicitation (business requirements gathering and market research).

Experience 1

Company name.

Contact name.

Contact role at time of project.

Contact phone.

Contact email.

City.

State.

Zip.

1. Project name and description of the scope of the project.

2. What role did your company play?

3. How is this project experience relevant to the subject of this solicitation?

Dollar value.

Start and end date (mm/yy – mm/yy)

Status (completed, live, other – specify phase)

Results obtained.

Experience 2

Company name.

Contact role at time of project.

City.

1. Project name and description of the scope of the project.

3. How is this project experience relevant to the subject of this solicitation?

Dollar value.

Start and end date (mm/yy – mm/yy)

Status (completed, live, other – specify phase)

Results obtained.

Experience 3

Company name.

Contact role at time of project.

City.

1. Project name and description of the scope of the project.

3. 3. How is this project experience relevant to the subject of this solicitation?

Dollar value.

Start and end date (mm/yy – mm/yy)

Status (completed, live, other – specify phase)

Results obtained.

Michigan Economic Impact

Number of employees currently employed at locations within the State of Michigan.

Number of additional employees to be employed at locations within the State of Michigan if awarded this Contract (if any)

Minimum wage paid to employees employed at locations within the State of Michigan.

Average wage paid to employees employed at locations within the State of Michigan.

Percentage of employees employed at locations within the State of Michigan that are covered by employer-provided health insurance.

Response to State Requests

SCHEDUELE A - OPERATIONAL CONSULTING SERVICES – TIER-TWO STATEMENT OF WORk Direct Solicitation No. 250000000012 Business Requirements Gathering and Market Research Process Improvement Support The Contractor selected will be issued a Contract Change Notice and/or Delivery Order for which the terms will be governed by the Contract Terms from appropriate Pre-Qual contracts: 250000000415, 250000000416, 250000000417, 250000000418, 250000000419, 250000000420, 250000000421, 250000000422, 250000000423, 250000000424, 250000000425, 250000000426, 250000000427, 250000000428, 250000000429, 250000000430, 250000000431, 250000000432, 250000000433, 250000000434, 250000000435, 250000000436, 250000000437, 250000000438, 250000000439, 250000000440, 250000000441, 250000000442, 250000000443, 250000000444, 250000000445, 250000000446, and this Statement of Work (SOW).

This solicitation will result in a Contract Change Notice (CN) for Operational Consulting Services through the awarded Contractor.

This schedule identifies the anticipated requirements of any Contract resulting from this solicitation. The term “Contractor” in this document refers to a bidder responding to this solicitation, as well as the Contractor who is awarded the contract. The term “Bidder” is used to identify where specific responses to the solicitation are required.

The Contractor must respond to each requirement or question and explain how it will fulfill each requirement. Attach any supplemental information and appropriately reference within your response.

IMPORTANT NOTE TO CONTRACTORS/BIDDERS: There are specific requirements for which acceptance must be simply acknowledged through a checkbox(es), and others that require further explanation. Click the appropriate checkbox and complete the entries as appropriate.

BACKGROUND

Original Contract requirements apply for this Section, in addition to the following:

The State of Michigan (the State), through a collaborative effort by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services’ (MDHHS) Public Health Administration, MDHHS Strategic Integration Administration, the Department of Technology Management and Budget (DTMB) Agency Services, and DTMB Central Procurement, seeks to engage a Contractor to recommend, develop and guide the implementation of standardized, efficient and consistent processes and supporting tools for gathering business requirements and conducting market research for MDHHS public health business areas pursuing Information Technology (IT) procurements. IT solicitations represent a significant workload demand for the State. Over the course of the past five years, there have been approximately 65 unique IT solicitations completed. Roughly one-third of these IT solicitations were initiated by public health teams at MDHHS.

SCOPE

Original Contract requirements apply for this Section in addition to the following:

The path to IT procurement must be effective, easily understood by all parties who participate in these processes and align with industry-standard best practices. It should also include clearly defined, measurable criteria and objective evaluation methods to ensure transparency and accountability at every step. To support the System Development Lifecycle (SDLC) of IT systems and applications, specifically during business requirements gathering and market research activities, the State seeks to procure an impartial Contractor to make process improvement recommendations based on industry standard best practices that will address the challenges that the State is currently experiencing. Contractor activities will may include, but are not limited to collecting, documenting and managing the requirements that define the features and functionalities of a system or application in support of procurement activities and the assessment of available technologies and vendors that should be evaluated as potential bidders. Along with process improvement recommendations, the Contractor must develop tools to support implementation, pilot test the revised processes and tools and modify and refine recommendations, as needed. The Contractor must develop training and knowledge transfer support to enable the ongoing implementation of these revised processes and tools for designated State employees.

The Contractor must develop, document and optimize a set of standardized process and procedures for gathering business requirements and performing market research to support the procurement of IT applications that may include Commercial Off the Shelf (COTS), Software as a Service (SaaS) or custom developed software.

1. REQUIREMENTS

The Contractor must:

A. Provide services as required by the Tier-Two SOW issued by any State agency or MiDEAL member to develop project work plans, consult with all stakeholders, provide performance metrics, provide recommendations for improvements for projects, and identify, assess, and prioritize risks to projects. General deliverables may include but are not limited to.

1. Developing a scope or charter to document desired outcomes.

2. Developing project plans to specify timelines and milestones for initiatives.

3. Identifying, capturing, analyzing, researching, and summarizing relevant data.

4. Facilitating meetings with internal and external stakeholders

5. Evaluating existing processes and organizational structures,

6. Determining best practices to recommend opportunities for improvement.

7. Providing consultation and advisory services to achieve business goals.

8. Developing and documenting improved processes and procedures.

9. Developing tools and materials necessary to support implementation of improved processes and procedures.

10. Developing implementation or action plans that are appropriate to existing policies and statutory requirements.

11. Supporting the agency during implementation of changes.

12. Transferring knowledge and providing support necessary to sustain long term success.

13. Developing workforce, organizational and training programs, including deployment strategies.

14. Assisting with policy and procedure development.

15. Facilitating strategic plans with leadership groups.

16. Providing project documentation in secure and accessible formats.

B. Contractor confirms proficiency in virtual facilitation of services to be delivered if required by the individual SOW, and the platform must be approved by the State of Michigan. The Contractor:

1. Is proficient in utilizing various platforms for virtual facilitation of meetings and trainings (i.e. Microsoft Teams, Zoom).

2. Has the ability to leverage breakout room functionality for training and client meetings.

3. Has experience conduct hybrid meetings (combination of client facing and virtual attendees).

General Requirements The Contractor will be responsible for complying with all the original Contract Requirements and for providing all Deliverables, Services, and Staff to perform the work as indicated below.

The Contractor must:

A. Create and provide two (2) briefs to the State on industry standard best practices and propose optimized business requirements gathering and market research processes that are responsive to the MDHHS business, DTMB procurement, and DTMB agency services contexts. The Contractor must:

1. Conduct discovery with MDHHS public health business and DTMB teams to ensure that the assessed best practices and recommended solutions are responsive to teams’ readiness to understand and participate in revised business requirements gathering and market research processes.

2. Make recommendations as to how the State should reorganize and optimize business requirements gathering and market research tools and processes.

The State will provide Government-Furnished Information (GFI) that speaks to recent business requirements gathering and market experience, policy interpretations and limitations. The Contractor must use this information to advise the State on how best to overcome or adapt to those limitations.

B. Develop revised optimized business requirements gathering and market research tools, processes and roles and responsibilities to provide clear, consistent and repeatable guidance to the State teams involved in these activities. Revised tools and processes must be accessible at all levels of business. The Contractor must create tools and processes that provide for understandable practices that result in the full and complete elucidation of business requirements and market research findings necessary for successful IT procurements.

While the Contractor may ultimately recommend a singular best practice methodology or an approach that is a combination of multiple best practices, the Contractor must clearly cite the evidence base that is informing the recommended approach.

List all exception(s):

Bidder must describe how they comply with the above requirement(s):

C. In conjunction with the State, conduct at least one pilot test of the revised business requirements gathering and market research tools, processes and roles and responsibilities as applied to an MDHHS IT procurement. This will ensure success by validating the revised tools and processes through real-world application, identifying any potential issues and refining the processes before full implementation.

1. Note: the selected Contractor will not be considered an eligible vendor for any MDHHS IT solicitations where Contractor is piloting revised business requirements gathering and market research tools, processes and roles and responsibilities.

2. The results of pilot activities will serve as one set of indicators informing project success (i.e., whether the recommended, amended process meets project goals).

3. The State will assist in identifying a pilot to test the revised business requirements gathering and market research tools, processes, and roles as applied to an MDHHS IT procurement.

List all exception(s):

Bidder must describe how they comply with the above requirement(s):

D. Validate the performance of the revised business requirements gathering and market research tools, processes, and roles and responsibilities and document pilot findings. The Contractor must evaluate the success of pilot activities by measuring outcomes, capturing participant feedback, and identifying previously unknown challenges. Validate the performance of the revised business requirements gathering and market research tools, processes, and roles and responsibilities and document pilot findings. The Contractor must evaluate the success of pilot activities by measuring outcomes, capturing participant feedback, and identifying previously unknown challenges.

E. Refine and optimize the final market research tools, processes, and roles and responsibilities based on pilot findings prior to formal, full-scale implementation of recommended changes.

F. Create a detailed plan for implementing the new business requirements gathering and market research tools, processes, and roles and responsibilities within MDHHS and DTMB. The Contractor must facilitate knowledge transfer through a training curriculum and other materials to ensure that State teams can implement the revised business requirements gathering and market research activities, on an ongoing basis.

In the implementation plan, the Contractor must identify key personas at the State who are involved in business requirements gathering and market research. Curriculum materials must enable the training of individuals representing these personas.

List all exception(s):

Bidder must describe how they comply with the above requirement(s):

G. Provide a continuous improvement plan that the State can adopt for ongoing review and management of the resulting business requirements gathering and market research tools, processes, and roles and responsibilities. This plan must support monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of the revised processes and tools. This plan must include at least all the following:

1. Monitoring Mechanism: Create a structured approach for regularly monitoring and evaluating the performance of the new processes and tools.

2. Feedback Collection Mechanism: Establish a feedback strategy to capture input from key stakeholders and end-users.

3. Remedy Mechanism: Establish a process by which tools and process performance issues may be elevated in near real-time for rapid resolution.

4. Continuous Refinement Approach: Develop strategies to address issues, leverage emerging opportunities, and adapt processes to evolving organizational needs.

List all exception(s):

Bidder must describe how they comply with the above requirement(s):

1.2 Other Considerations

In addition to the above General Requirements, the Contractor must perform the work such that services and deliverables are also responsive to the following considerations.

A. It is assumed that current business requirements gathering, and market research processes and tools are insufficient and not meeting State needs. While the experience of MDHHS business teams, DTMB agency services members, and DTMB central procurement experts should be included in discovery steps to ensure that resulting recommendations account for nuances in the State context, a full-scale landscape assessment of the current state is not necessary. The State will provide the Contractor with qualitative examples of recent procurement examples as part of the GFI to be used in discovery efforts.

B. In the Project Workplan, to be delivered to the State within 10 business days after project kickoff, the Contractor must propose how they will develop the tools and processes, how they will pilot and test them, how they will validate and refine them, how they will train State teams to use them, and the time needed to accomplish each of these steps.

1. These revised approaches should inform a customer-focused set of tools and processes that elucidate a clear understanding of time and resource inputs needed to engage in business requirements gathering and market research (e.g., how much do DTMB Agency Services supports cost MDHHS public health business areas).

2. The Project Workplan must include indicators and measures that the Contractor intends to use to evaluate the success of revised tools and processes during the pilot testing phase.

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Bidder must describe how they comply with the above requirement(s):

C. The Contractor must provide a business requirements gathering brief, that will include but not be limited to:

1. Reflection of what the State need is and how to meet it.

2. Reflection of industry standard best practices.

3. Recommendations as to which tools, processes, and approaches will best meet the State’s need.

D. The Contractor must provide a market research brief, that will include but not be limited to:

1. Reflection as to what constitutes standard market research practices.

2. Reflection on who has which roles and responsibilities (MDHHS business areas and DTMB).

3. Clearly defined, measurable success criteria.

E. The Contractor must propose clear standards to evaluate the completeness of output resulting from the use of the revised business requirements and market research tools and processes.

1. These evaluation standards must be accessible to all parties involved in business requirements gathering and market research activities, in advance of use, and should serve as the basis of business requirements and market research review and approval standards.

F. The Contractor must propose specific indicators and measures that will be used to evaluate the effectiveness of the revised business requirements and market research processes, tools, and training curricula.

1. The State will provide the Contractor with IT readiness and procurement readiness materials as core GFI components during the discovery process.

2. The State will provide the Contractor with some established metrics (delayed projects, change notices to contracts, etc.) to help inform context of existing issues.

3. The State will proactively share needs and constraints that must be accommodated in the revised business requirements and market research processes, tools, and training curricula.

G. The Contractor must provide a set of revised, comprehensive business requirements gathering tools and processes, that include but are not limited to the following:

1. A detailed, standardized template for capturing business requirements, ensuring consistency and completeness across all stakeholders.

2. A step-by-step guide outlining the process of gathering, documenting, validating, and approving business requirements, including roles, responsibilities, and tools.

3. Clearly defined, measurable success criteria and objective evaluation methods to assess business requirements that elevate the role of subject matter experts in assessing public health needs.

a. Revised processes should detail what is both necessary and sufficient for business requirements gathering and market research. When business requirements or market research is rejected in the course of review, the success criteria and evaluation process should require clear rejection feedback with a description of the remedy required, rooted in objective policy and process.

4. Where requirements that are responsive to the unique needs, terminology, and approaches to public health practices may not be fully understood in the course of applying objective success criteria and measures (i.e., professional terminology, practice descriptions, and needs that may not be understood by the layperson), the needs of public health practice should be prioritized. For example, public health practice applies very specific meaning to a number of terms and conditions that commonly represent a shared professional understanding across public health practitioners. Business requirements should not require rewriting or reframing of criteria when public health business areas have vetted the requirements. The supporting tools and processes developed by the Contractor should anticipate these challenges and provide approaches to remedy (e.g., the Public Health Data Strategy Council Pre-Procurement Process Improvement Subcommittee could serve as an arbiter).

H. The revised set of business requirements and market research processes and tools must include remediation approaches to address deficiencies in the ongoing use and output of these processes and tools, if initial submissions of business requirements or market research are deemed insufficient or non-conformant with industry standard best practices. If initial business requirements or market research are deemed insufficient or nonconformant, the process must include a mechanism that objectively identifies the issues and enables clear, actionable remediation steps that are accessible to business areas who may not be technology, business requirements gathering, or market research experts.

I. The Contractor must provide a revised, comprehensive market research process, that includes but is not limited to the following:

1. A detailed, standardized template for capturing market research needs, ensuring consistency and completeness across all stakeholders.

2. A step-by-step guide outlining the process of gathering, documenting, validating, and approving market research, including roles, responsibilities, and tools.

3. Clearly defined, measurable success criteria and objective evaluation methods to assess market research findings and recommendations.

List all exception(s):

Bidder must describe how they comply with the above requirement(s):

J. The Contractor must describe the plan for implementing and managing test pilot activities. This should include, at a minimum, the number of pilots needed, the amount of time necessary to run pilot testing, the support that the Contractor will provide to implementing teams, the monitoring that the Contractor will conduct to ensure compliance with the revised processes, and how the Contractor will systematically document the implementation for validation and refinement. This plan will be negotiated with the State and finalized in the project workplan, within 10 business days after project kickoff.

List all exception(s):

Bidder must describe how they comply with the above requirement(s):

K. The Contractor should must:

1. Develop an IT product categorization methodology that enables a clear representation of the joint MDHHS-DTMB IT product portfolio that can subsequently be used in support of market research with MDHHS business units.

2. The State will provide existing categorization GFI that can be used in discovery. This will help to inform requirement needs for specific categories of solutions.

3. The State is asking for the development of a product and services catalogue that is logically categorized by various criteria and assists in business unit awareness and market research pre-procurement activities.

4. This catalogue should also be designed and implemented in a manner that it is easily maintained by the State, after project close-out.

List all exception(s):

Bidder must describe how they comply with the above requirement(s):

L. The Contractor must ensure the revised tools and processes are accessible to varying levels of expertise - i.e., non-technical business areas must be able to engage with them such that they can meaningfully participate in, and contribute to, business requirements gathering and market research activities that result in…