ATTACHMENT 18- PHASE 2- NARRATIVE RESPONSE REQUIREMENTS.pdf

ATTACHMENT 18: PHASE 2: NARRATIVE RESPONSE

REQUIREMENTS

PHASE 2: NARRATIVE RESPONSE REQUIREMENTS

Qualified Bidders invited to Phase 2 will be required to respond to the Phase 2 Narrative Response Requirements. The Phase 2 narrative responses must be in the format described in SECTION 5.

PROPOSAL FORMAT AND SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS and SECTION 5.4. PROPOSAL CONTENT AND STRUCTURE . The combined number of pages for the Phase 2 narrative response shall not exceed one hundred twenty-five (125) pages. Pages must include page numbers. If the Bidder's submission exceeds the page limit, only the first 125 pages will be reviewed and evaluated.

See SECTION 3.4.3. NARRATIVE REQUIREMENTS (MS) (DUE WITH PHASE 2 RESPONSE) for complete instructions and SECTION 6.4.2.1. PHASE 2 NARRATIVE RESPONSES EVALUATION for evaluation criteria.

The Bidder's Phase 2 narrative responses must address the following:

1. Proposed Solution Approach (800 Points Maximum)

The Bidder shall describe the software products they will implement to meet the business needs to be identified in the requirements. If multiple products are proposed, the response should describe how they are integrated to meet requirements. Please address the following functional areas:

1. Contact Management and Credentialing — Describe how your solution will ensure compliance with the Cross-Media Electronic Reporting Rule (CROMERR) including ensuring that only verified users may submit documents/data and attest to their veracity.

2. Business Rule Configurability — Describe how your solution will allow customizable business rule configurations to apply the regulatory framework set forth in the federal and state Safe Drinking Water Acts.

3. Violation Determination and Enforcement — Describe how your solution will automatically determine violations of the federal and state Safe Drinking Water Acts for staff review and support the generation of enforcement documentation.

4. Data Input Validation — Describe how your solution will validate data inputs, including both warnings that allow submission of out-of-bounds data and errors that prevent invalid data entry.

5. Document Generation, Distribution, and Management — Describe how your solution will support automated, or partially automated, document generation, including identifying a subset of users to receive said documents based on both a picker list and via user criteria (e.g., specific characteristics).

6. Workflow Management — Describe how your solution will intake submissions and route workflow automatically, including electronically filing the submission with the appropriate taxonomy, so that the appropriate internal users receive the submission for review and processing. This should also include how workflow can be routed to one or multiple users as well as re-routed to other users.

7. Reports and Dashboards — Describe how your solution can interface with external systems to generate reports and dashboards. Provide search and reporting capabilities.

8. GIS & Mapping — Describe how your solution will incorporate GIS mapping and other location-based data management capabilities. Explain which GIS platforms or tools will be used to provide this functionality.

2. Product – Solution Requirements (375 Points Maximum)

Describe your approach to addressing expectations and interactions with existing database applications through solutioning WaterTAP. This includes, but is not limited to, the push/pull of data between applications, ensuring a single database of record and data uniformity, and a cohesive single point of access to all related applications via WaterTAP.

Please refer to EXHIBIT C: FUNCTIONAL AND NON-FUNCTIONAL REQUIREMENTS and EXHIBIT H:

DATA CONNECTIONS.

3. Product – Solution Architecture (600 Points Maximum) Provide the detailed logical and physical architectural drawings for the proposed solution.

a. Logical Diagram – Indicate the context of the proposed WaterTAP architecture in relation to needed connectivity to support the logical operation of the system. For SaaS offerings, indicate the cloud software provider.

b. Physical Diagram – Indicate actual system components required to provide the full solution, including all cloud and on-premises components. For cloud-based components, describe the nature of the component(s) and indicate ongoing data exchanges with directional arrows and labels.

c. Flow Diagram — Indicate the data exchange between WaterTAP and SWRCB systems, including hosting environments:

i. Relative to the Flow Diagram, describe the proposed:

1. Approach,

2. Types of information flows,

3. Validation and exceptions (and what happens to the data that is not valid),

4. Solution model entities, relationships and common entities.

d. Describe your approach to system integration and/or sunsetting of existing applications.

e. Describe all proposed products and/or services. This includes all hardware and software required for the complete solution.

f. Describe architectural abilities including:

i. Accessibility – Platform accessibility utilizing multiple clients (browser and devices).

ii. Scalability – Horizontal (adding capacity through additional components) and vertical

(adding capacity through larger components) scaling options to include data volume, analytical and user scalability options.

iii. Modular Design – Ability to add and integrate future modules to build on core architecture.

iv. Interchangeability – Utilize multiple components to provide functionality, including support for third party products.

v. Flexibility – Configurable to meet changing business needs, e.g., ease of business rules engine in-house modification.

vi. Availability – Resilience options to ensure long-term system usability.

vii. Reliability – High availability that meets or exceeds service levels in SECTION 12.

SERVICE LEVEL AGREEMENTS (SLAS).

viii. Maintainability – Knowledge, skills, and abilities required to maintain the system, including ongoing activities such as adding/modifying components.

ix. Interoperability – Receive and provide information common to business system technologies such as relational databases, service-oriented architectures, and similar contemporary business system components.

g. Describe your approach to process business rules on large amounts of water quality data.

Note: Diagrams and drawings count toward the page limit.

4. User Experience (600 Points Maximum)

Utilizing diagrams, screenshots, and narrative text, describe the anticipated user experience in order to demonstrate the following:

a. Ease of use with a user-friendly basic interface layout where all major areas can be found.

b. Intuitiveness of system for unfamiliar users with minimal to no training.

c. Speed of system responsiveness to queries or functionalities used or selected.

d. Integration of user support such as automated prompts or help functions.

e. Minimization of duplicate data entry.

f. Minimization of clicks within a workflow for efficient utilization of the solution.

g. Integration of all functions within the solution.

5. Data Management (350 Points Maximum)

Describe your approach to data management, including but not limited to the following:

a. Ability to ingest large volumes of data from external applications and simultaneously run the ingested data through multiple business rules in a business rules engine.

b. Ability to interface with other external applications and platforms to push and pull large volumes of data in a secure and efficient manner in terms of cost, data integrity, and schedules.

c. Ability for the solution to merge data based on user-configured rules when dealing with master data conflicts to ensure data integrity.

d. Ability for the solution to cache data within selected fields, applications, petitions, etc.

e. Ability for data cataloging such as data lineage, structural/descriptive/administrative metadata, data curation, data governance, search capabilities, data quality monitoring, and customization.

f. Ability for the solution to filter data fields / data elements for reporting and extraction.

g. Ability to consolidate data from multiple sources and load it into the data warehouse.

h. Ability for the solution to back up/restore and archive/restore the data at specified schedules.

The descriptions of the above items should include specifically how each item is achieved with Out-of-the- Box functionality or with new functionality. Clearly identify what is Out of the Box and requires Customization and Third-Party Software Integration.

Please refer to Deliverables Group #4: Data Management and Conversion of SECTION 11.

CONTRACTOR DELIVERABLES, SECTION 10.4.3. DATA MANAGEMENT AND CONVERSION, and

EXHIBIT H: DATA CONNECTIONS.

6. Testing Approach (155 Points Maximum)

Describe your approach to managing testing activities throughout the WaterTAP project in regard to the software development lifecycle (SCLC). This includes your approach to integration, load and performance, user acceptance, accessibility, and security testing. Describe your parallel testing approach. Identify any automated testing tools used to manage the testing process. In addition, provide the overall and individual testing approaches to address the following:

a. Test Environment Management

b. Integration Testing

c. Load and Performance Testing

d. Regression Testing

e. Accessibility Testing

f. Security Testing

g. User Acceptance Testing

h. Penetration Testing

Please refer to Deliverable Group #5: Testing of SECTION 11. CONTRACTOR DELIVERABLES, SECTION 10.4.4. TESTING TASKS and +SECTION 10.5.1. SYSTEM TESTING AND ACCEPTANCE

PROCEDURES.

7. Development Framework (155 Points Maximum)

Provide your proposed development framework for WaterTAP, including but not limited to, configuration deployment, sprint planning, training, testing, data conversion, interfaces, project management, etc.

Describe your phased approach for addressing project deliverables as identified within tab "4. Base Contract Deliverables" in the SECTION EXHIBIT E: COST WORKBOOK.

Please refer to SECTION 10.3. STATE DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK.