Attachment G - Finalist Oral Presentation Instructions.docx

Attachment G – Finalist Oral Presentation Instructions Overview EOE and DESE may invite high scoring Bidders to participate in a finalist oral presentation and live demonstration based on their proposals. The oral presentation and demonstration are intended to validate the Bidder's proposed approach, technical capabilities, project experience, and ability to successfully deliver the requirements of this procurement. Performance during the oral presentation and demonstration will be considered as part of the overall evaluation.

Oral presentations will be conducted remotely using Microsoft Teams, Zoom or another web conferencing platform designated by EOE and DESE. The presentation schedule, meeting invitation, and any additional instructions will be provided directly to invited Bidders. Each Bidder will be allotted the same amount of time for its presentation and demonstration and is responsible for managing its allotted time. Additional time will not be provided.

During the presentation, Bidders will be expected to present their proposed project team, discuss relevant experience delivering Drupal website modernization projects of comparable size and complexity, and demonstrate a functional solution or working implementation using the use cases provided by EOE and DESE. Static screenshots or slide-only demonstrations will not satisfy this requirement. EOE and DESE may ask follow-up questions to clarify the Bidder's proposed solution, technical approach, recommendations, and prior experience.

The Bidder shall be responsible for all costs associated with preparing for and participating in the oral presentation and demonstration. Failure to participate at the scheduled date and time, unless otherwise approved by EOE and DESE, may result in the Bidder being removed from further consideration.

Timeline The timeline for selected oral presentations and demonstrations is as follows:

Oral Presentation – Bidder Introduction – 10 Minutes Total

· Introduction of the Bidder team and project solution methodology Bidder Demonstration – 80 Minutes Total

· 60-minutes: Demonstration of use cases. Bidders may determine how much time on each use case but cannot exceed the 60-minute time limit.

· 20-minutes: Q&A period. Bidders must open the floor for Q&A following completion demonstration. The SST may ask clarifying questions during the demonstration but will hold the majority of questions for the Q&A period. Comment by Klau, Kenneth (EOE): Will there be a written Q&A period prior to the submission due date as well? Comment by Kinaci, Suzan (EOE): That is standard with the procurements. I believe we cover that in the timeline table on the main RFQ narrative. Comment by Klau, Kenneth (EOE) [2]: It is, I saw it later!

Expectations EOE and DESE do not expect selected Bidders to use the finalist oral presentation to repeat information already included in their written proposals. Instead, Bidders should lead a live demonstration of prior large-scale Drupal website modernization work that is comparable to the needs described in the provided use cases. Bidders may use examples from their multiple implemented websites projects to demonstrate relevant capabilities.

The use cases are intended to guide the demonstrations, not limit them. Where appropriate, Bidders are encouraged to present best practices, innovative approaches, and alternative solutions. If a prior implementation addresses only some of the listed use cases, Bidders may demonstrate the alternative approach and explain how it could meet EOE and DESE’s needs.

Use Cases for Demonstration Bidders will be expected to provide examples of the core functionality and demonstrate their ability to address the use cases below in their live demonstration.

Use Case #1: Demonstrate Public Information and Data Journey Scenario:

This use case focuses on the Bidder’s ability to help users find, understand, and navigate public information and data across website content, reports, dashboards, data portals, or related applications.

Bidder to demonstrate the ability to:

Help users find relevant information, data, reports or resources using search or navigation.

Present complex or data-heavy information in a clear and understandable way.

Help users distinguish between current, historical, archived, and downloadable information.

Support clear movement between website content, reports, dashboards, data portals, or related applications without losing context.

Provide share, bookmark, or return-to-result functionality, where appropriate.

Use clear labels, contextual help, metadata, responsive design, and accessibility to support understanding.

The Bidder should demonstrate a comparable Public Information and Data Journey previously implemented by them and briefly explain how the demonstrated approach and capabilities could be applied or adapted to DESE’s Website Modernization approach.

Use Case #2: Demonstrate a Transactional Service Journey Scenario:

This use case focuses on the Bidder’s ability to help users understand requirements, determine what applies to them, and transition from informational website content to a separate system to complete a transaction.

Bidder to demonstrate the ability to:

Help users find and understand applicable requirements, eligibility, steps, documentation, deadlines, or other relevant information.

Help users determine which requirements or pathway applies to their situation.

Provide related guidance, forms, FAQs, and contact or support information.

Use plain language, clear labels, responsive design, and accessible page structure to communicate complex requirements.

Provide a clear transition from informational website content to a separate transactional system without losing context.

Allow users to return to relevant website guidance when additional information or assistance is needed.

The Bidder should demonstrate a comparable Transactional Service Journey previously implemented by them and how the demonstrated approach and capabilities could be applied or adapted to DESE’s requirements.

Use Case #3: Technical Platform Demo Scenario:

DESE requires a modern Drupal-based platform that provides an accessible public-facing experience, structured and reusable content, effective search and discovery, and a secure, maintainable cloud-based technical architecture.

Bidder to demonstrate implementation of:

Drupal Platform and Content Management — demonstrate Drupal 11, content types, structured fields, taxonomy and metadata, documents and media, roles and permissions, editorial workflows, and publishing controls.

User and Authoring Experience — demonstrate audience- or task-oriented navigation, landing pages, reusable components, responsive design, accessibility, and how an authorized content editor creates, updates, previews, and publishes content.

Search and Discovery — demonstrate how structured content and metadata support search, filtering, related content, synonyms or acronyms, and content lifecycle/status where applicable.

Technical Architecture and Operations — explain or demonstrate the solution architecture and deployment approach, including PHP 8.3, PostgreSQL, Drush, AWS, Docker/ECS Fargate, EFS, Aurora PostgreSQL, Infrastructure as Code (IaC), GitHub, CI/CD, rollback, monitoring, APIs, and future AI readiness, as applicable to the demonstrated solution.

If the Bidder cannot show an exact example, please show similar Drupal, AWS, CMS, public-sector, education, or content-heavy website experience.

Use Case #4: Demonstrate and Discuss Content and Application Migration Scenario:

Attachment F - Site Inventory and App Inventory identifies DESE’s current website and application inventory. Items within the inventory may require different modernization approaches, including direct migration, redesign, content rewrite, archival or removal, linking or redirecting, or integration with another application or search experience.

Bidder to demonstrate and discuss how they would:

Assess and classify the inventory — determine the appropriate treatment for webpages, documents, applications, data, media, URLs, and related content.

Define migration and disposition rules — identify what should be migrated as-is, transformed or redesigned, rewritten, archived, removed, redirected, linked, or integrated with another application.

Map to the future state — align content being migrated or transformed with the future information architecture, taxonomy, metadata, content types, templates, URLs, and search experience.

Execute and validate — demonstrate how content, documents, links, redirects, metadata, integrations, and other migrated items would be reorganized, tested and reconciled to confirm completeness, accuracy, accessibility, and production readiness.

Demonstrate relevant experience — show a publicly available website previously modernized or migrated by the Bidder and briefly explain how different types of content or applications were handled.

If Bidder cannot provide an exact example, they may demonstrate similar data and content migration experience for a large public website, Drupal implementation, government website, or education-sector platform.

Use Case #5: Demonstrate a Family-Facing Public Service Journey (Only if time permits) Scenario:

This use case focuses on the Bidder’s ability to help a family or members of the public find, understand, and act on complex, rights-based, or public-service information.

Bidder to demonstrate the ability to:

Help users find relevant information without requiring knowledge of agency-specific terminology.

Present complex or rights-based information in clear, plain language with understandable next steps.

Provide related guidance, FAQs, forms, documents, or multilingual resources, where available.

Help users identify the appropriate contact, office, or support pathway when additional assistance is needed.

Allow users to move between related webpages and downloadable resources without losing context.

Support accessible and responsive experiences for users with different needs and levels of familiarity with the subject.

The Bidder should demonstrate a comparable Family-Facing or Public-Service Journey previously implemented by them and briefly explain how the demonstrated approach and capabilities could be applied or adapted to DESE’s Website Modernization requirements.