Data_Analytics_Services.pdf

REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATION

RFQu 2021-WAD-472-06

DATA ANALYTICS SERVICES

CITY OF PHOENIX

WATER SERVICES

200 W WASHINGTON ST

PHOENIX, AZ

85003

RELEASE DATE: September 18, 2025

DEADLINE FOR QUESTIONS: September 29, 2025

RESPONSE DEADLINE: October 9, 2025, 2:00 pm

City of Phoenix

REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATION

RFQu 2021-WAD-472-06

Data Analytics Services

1. INTRODUCTION

2. INSTRUCTIONS

3. SCOPE OF WORK

4. EVALUATION PROCESS

5. STANDARD TERMS AND CONDITIONS

6. SPECIAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS

7. DEFENSE AND INDEMNIFICATION

8. INSURANCE REQUIREMENTS

9. SUBMITTALS

10. PRICING PROPOSAL

Request For Qualification #RFQu 2021-WAD-472-06 Title: Data Analytics Services

1. Introduction

1.1. Contact Information

Victor Sainz

Water Services

Email: victor.sainz@phoenix.gov

Phone: (602) 495-5407

1.2. Schedule of Events

The City reserves the right to change dates, times, and locations, as necessary. The City does not always hold a Pre-Offer Conference or Site Visit. All times in the Schedule of Events are

Local Phoenix, AZ Time.

To request a reasonable accommodation or alternative format for any public meeting, please contact the Procurement Officer (Victor Sainz) at (602) 495-5407/Voice or 711/TTY, or victor.sainz@phoenix.gov, no later than two (2) weeks prior to the meeting.

Solicitation Issue Date: September 18, 2025

Pre-Offer Conference (Non-Mandatory): September 24, 2025, 10:00am

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Written Inquiries Due Date: September 29, 2025, 2:00pm

Offer Due Date: October 9, 2025, 2:00pm https://cityofphoenix.webex.com/cityofphoenix/j.php?MTID=m8b7f2f02208b6aa66fe67241c2e04c2f https://cityofphoenix.webex.com/cityofphoenix/j.php?MTID=m8b7f2f02208b6aa66fe67241c2e04c2f https://cityofphoenix.webex.com/cityofphoenix/j.php?MTID=m8b7f2f02208b6aa66fe67241c2e04c2f mailto:23495891677@cityofphoenix.webex.com http://173.243.2.68/

2. Instructions

2.1. Description - Statement of Need

The City of Phoenix invites sealed offers for qualifications to conduct data analytics services which commenced on March 1, 2022, and will be effective through February 28, 2027, in accordance with the specifications and provisions contained herein or the “Effective Date” which is upon award by City Council, conditioned upon signature and recording by the City Clerk’s department, as required by the Phoenix City Code, whichever is later.

Approximately every six (6) months a Request for Qualifications (RFQu) will be issued to afford vendors the opportunity to submit a statement of qualifications for the purpose of being added to the Qualified Vendor's List (QVL). RFQu 2021-WAD-472-05 is the sixth release of the original

Data Analytics requirements.

This solicitation is available through the City’s Procurement Portal. For technical support issues related to the OpenGov e-Procurement Portal, Offeror may use the support bubble on the bottom right, or email procurement-support@opengov.com for any assistance. For other issues related to this solicitation please contact the procurement officer listed under Contact

Information.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, this Agreement will terminate upon the earliest occurrence: by reaching the end of the term including any extensions exercised, or termination pursuant to the provisions of this Agreement.

2.2. Preparation of Offer

All forms provided must be completed and submitted with the Offer. The signed and completed

Conflict of Interest and Transparency form must be included or your Offer may be deemed non-responsive.

It is permissible to copy Submittal forms if necessary. Erasures, interlineations, or other modifications of the Offer must be initialed in original ink by the authorized person signing the

Offer. No offer will be altered, amended or withdrawn after the specified offer due date and time.

The City is not responsible for Offeror’s errors or omissions.

All time periods stated as a number of days will be calendar days.

It is the responsibility of all Offerors to examine the entire solicitation and seek clarification of any requirement that may not be clear and to check all responses for accuracy before submitting an offer. Negligence in preparing an offer confers no right of withdrawal after due date and time. Offerors are strongly encouraged to:

A. Consider applicable laws and/or economic conditions that may affect cost, progress, performance, or furnishing of the products or services.

B. Study and carefully correlate Offeror’s knowledge and observations with the solicitation and other related data.

C. Promptly notify the City of all conflicts, errors, ambiguities, or discrepancies that Offeror has discovered in or between the solicitation and other related documents.

D. The City does not reimburse the cost of developing, presenting or providing any response to this solicitation. Offers submitted for consideration should be prepared simply and economically, providing adequate information in a straightforward and concise manner. The Offeror is responsible for all costs incurred in responding to this solicitation. All materials and documents submitted in response to this solicitation become the property of the City and will not be returned.

E. Offerors are reminded that the specifications stated in the solicitation are the minimum level required and that offers submitted must be for products or services that meet or exceed the minimum level of all features specifically listed in this solicitation. Offers offering less than any minimum specifications or criteria specified are not responsive and should not be submitted.

F. Offer responses submitted for products considered by the seller to be acceptable alternates to the brand names or manufacturer’s catalog references specified herein must be submitted with technical literature and/or detailed product brochures for the

City’s use to evaluate the products offered. Offers submitted without this product information may be considered as non-responsive and rejected. The City will be the sole judge as to the acceptability of alternate products offered.

G. Prices will be submitted on a per unit bases by line item, when applicable. In the event of a disparity between the unit price and extended prices, the unit price will prevail unless obviously in error.

H. The Offeror shall limit its narrative response submittal to no more than thirty (30) pages, excluding resumes, cover letters, reference questionnaire, and the pricing proposal.

Pages exceeding the 30-page limit will not be taken into consideration when evaluating proposals.

2.3. Fixed Offer Price Period

All offers shall be firm and fixed for a period of 180 calendar days from the solicitation opening date.

2.4. Obtaining a Copy of the Solicitation and Addenda

Interested Offerors may download the complete solicitation and addenda from the City's

Procurement Portal: https://procurement.opengov.com/portal/phoenix/projects/187035/. Any interested Offerors without internet access may obtain this solicitation by calling the

Procurement Officer or picking up a copy during regular business hours at the City of Phoenix, Water Services Department, 200 W. Washington St. 9th floor Phoenix, AZ 85003. It is the

Offeror’s responsibility to check the City's Procurement Portal, read the entire solicitation, and verify all required information is submitted with their Offer.

2.5. Exceptions

Offeror must not take any exceptions to any terms, conditions or material requirements of this solicitation. Offers submitted with exceptions may be deemed non-responsive and disqualified from further consideration in the City’s sole discretion. Offerors must conform to all the https://procurement.opengov.com/portal/phoenix/projects/187035 https://solicitations.phoenix.gov/ requirements specified in the solicitation. The City encourages Offerors to send inquiries to the

Procurement Officer rather than including exceptions in their Offer.

2.6. Inquiries

All questions that arise relating to this solicitation should be directed via City’s Procurement

Portal and must be received by the due date indicated in the Schedule of Events. The City will not consider questions received after the deadline.

No informal contact initiated by Offerors on the proposed service will be allowed with members of City’s staff from date of distribution of this solicitation until after city council awards the contract. All questions concerning or issues related to this solicitation must be presented in writing.

The Procurement Officer will answer written inquiries on the City’s Procurement Portal.

2.7. Addenda

The City of Phoenix will not be responsible for any oral instructions made by any employees or officers of the City of Phoenix regarding this solicitation. Any changes will be in the form of an addendum. The Offeror must acknowledge receipt of any/all addenda through the City's

Procurement Portal.

2.8. Licenses

If required by law for the operation of the business or work related to this Offer, Offeror must possess all valid certifications and/or licenses as required by federal, state or local laws at the time of submittal.

2.9. Certifications

By signature in the Offer section of the Offer and Acceptance page(s), Offeror certifies:

• The submission of the Offer did not involve collusion or other anti-competitive practices.

• The Offeror must not discriminate against any employee, or applicant for employment in violation of Federal or State Law.

• The Offeror has not given, offered to give, nor intends to give at any time hereafter, any economic opportunity, future employment, gift, loan, gratuity, special discount, trip, favor, or service to a public servant in connection with the submitted Offer.

2.10. Submission of Offer

Offers must be in possession of the Department on or prior to the exact time and date indicated in the Schedule of Events. Late offers will not be considered. The prevailing clock will be the

City Department’s clock.

Offers should be submitted electronically via the City’s Procurement Portal by clicking on “Draft

Response” via https://procurement.opengov.com/portal/phoenix/projects/187035. Offerors that are unable to submit electronically should contact the Procurement Officer to discuss the logistics of hard copy submittals. Offerors must be registered with OpenGov by signing up via https://procurement.opengov.com/signup. Vendor training guides can be found at: https://opengov.my.site.com/support/s/article/ca6d1285-1e48-4a21-bb0d-715edb7794ed

Any original documents (such as bonds, guaranties, powers of attorney), if required by the solicitation, must be separately delivered to and received by the City on or prior to the exact time and date indicated in the Schedule of Events, with a clear indication of the Offer for which it is attributed.

It is the responsibility of the Offeror to ensure that the Offer is timely and to confirm that there are no technical reasons that any offer submitted electronically may be delayed. The date and time on the upload as received/stamped by the City’s Procurement Portal will provide proof of submission and verification whether the Offer was received on or prior to the exact time and date indicated in the Schedule of Events.

For assistance with submittals, vendors are welcome to use the OpenGov support chat (blue chat bubble in the bottom right corner) to connect with a member of OpenGov's support team who will be able to assist you with your submission.

Please DO NOT submit links to Google Docs, Dropbox Paper, or similar services. Your offer may be deemed non-responsive if your offer is supplied utilizing these services.

2.11. Withdrawal of Offer

At any time prior to the solicitation due date and time, an Offeror (or designated representative) may withdraw the Offer by clicking “Unsubmit Response” on the Offer submission via the City’s

Procurement Portal.

2.12. Offer Results

Offers will be opened on the offer due date, time and location indicated in the Schedule of

Events, at which time the name of each Offeror, and the prices may be read. Offers and other information received in response to the solicitation will be shown only to authorized City personnel having a legitimate interest in them or persons assisting the City in the evaluation.

Offers are not available for public inspection until after the City has posted the award recommendation on the City's Procurement Portal.

The City will post a preliminary offer tabulation on the City's Procurement

Portal: https://procurement.opengov.com/portal/phoenix/projects/187035 within five business days of the offer opening. The City will post the information on the preliminary tabulation as it was read during the offer opening. The City makes no guarantee as to the accuracy of any information on the preliminary tabulation. Once the City has evaluated the offers, the City will post an award recommendation on the City's Procurement Portal. By signing and submitting its

Offer, each Offeror agrees that this posting of the award recommendation to the City's

Procurement Portal effectively serves as the Offeror’s receipt of that notice of award recommendation. The City has no obligation to provide any further notification to unsuccessful

Offerors.

2.13. Pre-Award Qualifications

Offerors responding to this Request for Qualifications (RFQu) must provide documentation that demonstrates how the Offeror meets the below minimum Pre-Award Qualifications.

https://procurement.opengov.com/signup https://opengov.my.site.com/support/s/article/ca6d1285-1e48-4a21-bb0d-715edb7794ed

Pre-Award Qualifications shall relate specifically to the following items, listed in general order of importance, for evaluation and selection purposes:

a. Offeror must have been in operation a minimum of three-years years or possess a minimum of five-years experience in the related field.

b. The City prefers the Offeror's employee's have a bachelor's degree in one or more of the fields below:

• Data Sciences

• Computer Sciences

• Project Management

• Engineering

• Economics

• Business

c. Other combinations of experience and education that meet the minimum requirements may be submitted.

2.14. Evaluation and Selection

After evaluating all submissions, the City may ask some or all the firms that submitted a response to participate in interviews. Upon completion of the evaluation process, the City may assign a detailed scope of work to the selected candidate and negotiate fees for services.

RFQu responses should be concise, well-organized per the requested information, clearly written and limited to no more than 30 pages, excluding resumes. The review process places considerable emphasis on the responsiveness of the RFQu response to the requirements outlined above. RFQu responses that are not written specifically in response to this request cannot receive serious consideration.

All RFQu responses will be evaluated based on the criteria listed above in the Qualifications

Section of this RFQu.

The firms under consideration for this RFQu, will be evaluated in accordance with the solicitation by an Evaluation Committee and/or the Procurement Officer. The City reserves the right to request supplemental information that the Evaluation Committee deems necessary to make a selection. The Committee may be supplemented by outside professionals or professionals from other City departments who can provide additional expertise.

2.15. Agreement

The City will require the selected Offeror to participate in negotiations and to submit such cost, technical or other revisions of the submittals as may result from negotiations. The City shall draft all final contracts and documents that result from this RFQu.

The language contained in this RFQu and the Offeror's statement of qualifications will form the basis of any resulting Contract. However, this RFQu does not commit the City to enter a

Contract, to pay any costs incurred in the preparation of a submittal to this request or in subsequent negotiations, or to procure a contract for the project(s).

2.16. Certificates of Insurance

Upon notification of a recommended award, the Offeror will have 14 calendar days to submit a complete certificate of insurance in the minimum amounts and the coverages as required in the

Insurance Requirements of this solicitation. Insurance requirements are non-negotiable.

2.17. Award of Contract

Unless otherwise indicated, award(s) will be made to responsive, responsible Offeror(s) who are regularly established in the service, or providing the goods, contained in this solicitation and who have demonstrated the ability to perform in an acceptable manner.

A. Factors that may be considered by the City include:

1. Technical capability of the Offeror to accomplish the scope of work required in the

Solicitation. This may include performance history on past and current government or industrial contracts; and,

2. Demonstrated availability of the necessary manpower (both supervisory and operational personnel) and necessary equipment to accomplish the scope of work in the Solicitation; and,

3. Safety record; and,

4. Offeror history of complaints and termination for convenience or cause.

B. Notwithstanding any other provision of this solicitation, the City reserves the right to: (1) waive any immaterial defect or informality; or (2) reject any or all offers or portions thereof; or (3) reissue a solicitation.

C. A response to a solicitation is an offer to contract with the City based upon the terms, conditions, and specifications contained in the City’s solicitation. Offers do not become contracts until they are executed by the Chief Procurement Officer or Department

Director. A contract has its inception in the award, eliminating a formal signing of a separate contract. For that reason, all of the terms, conditions and specifications of the procurement contract are contained in the solicitation, and in any addendum or contract amendment.

2.18. Solicitation Transparency Policy

Commencing on the date and time a solicitation is published, potential or actual Offerors or respondents (including their representatives) shall only discuss matters associated with the solicitation with the Mayor, any members of City Council, the City Manager, any Deputy City

Manager, or any department director directly associated with the solicitation (including in each case their assigned staff, except for the designated Procurement Officer) at a public meeting, posted under Arizona Statutes, until the resulting contract(s) are awarded to all offers or responses are rejected and the solicitation is cancelled without any announcement by the

Procurement Officer of the City’s intent to reissue the same or similar solicitation.

As long as the solicitation is not discussed, Offerors may continue to conduct business with the

City and discuss business that is unrelated to the solicitation with the City staff. Offerors may not discuss the solicitation with any City employees or evaluation panel members.

Offerors may discuss their proposal or the solicitation with the Mayor or one or more members of the Phoenix City Council, provided such meetings are scheduled through the Procurement

Officer, and are posted as open meetings with the City Clerk at least 24 hours prior to the scheduled meetings. The City Clerk will be responsible for posting the meetings. The posted notice shall identify the participants and the subject matter, as well as invite the public to participate.

With respect to the selection of the successful Offerors, the City Manager and/or City Manager's

Office will continue the past practice of exerting no undue influence on the process. In all solicitations of bids and proposals, any direction on the selection from the City Manager and/or

City Manager's Office and Department Head (or representative) to the proposal review panel or selecting authority must be provided in writing to all prospective Offerors.

This policy is intended to create a level playing field for all Offerors, assure that contracts are awarded in public, and protect the integrity of the selection process. OFFERORS THAT

VIOLATE THIS POLICY SHALL BE DISQUALIFIED. After official Notice is received by the City for disqualification, the Offeror may follow the Protest process, unless the Solicitation is cancelled without notice of intent to re-issue.

“To discuss” means any contact by the Offeror, regardless of whether the City responds to the contact. Offerors that violate this policy will be disqualified until the resulting contract(s) are awarded, or all offers or responses are rejected and the solicitation is cancelled without any announcement by the Procurement Officer of the City’s intent to reissue the same or a similar solicitation. The City interprets the policy as continuing through a cancellation of a solicitation until Council award of the contract, as long as the City cancels with a statement that the City will rebid the solicitation.

2.19. Protest Process

Offeror may protest the contents of a solicitation no later than seven days before the solicitation deadline when the protest is based on an apparent alleged mistake, impropriety or defect in the solicitation. Protests filed regarding the solicitation may be addressed by an amendment to the solicitation or denied by the City. If denied, the opening and award will proceed unless the City determines that it is in the City’s best interests to set new deadlines, amend the solicitation, cancel or re-bid.

Therefore, unless otherwise notified by a formal amendment, the Protester must adhere to all solicitation dates and deadlines, including timely filing of an offer, regardless of filing a protest.

Offeror may protest an adverse determination issued by the City regarding responsibility and responsiveness, within seven days of the date the Offeror was notified of the adverse determination.

Offeror may protest an award recommendation if the Offeror can establish that it had a substantial chance of being awarded the contract and will be harmed by the recommended award. The City will post recommendations on the City’s Procurement Portal to award the contract(s) to an Offeror(s). Offeror must submit award protests within seven days after the posting of the award recommendation, with exceptions only for good cause shown, within the

City’s full and final discretion.

All protests will be in writing, filed with the Procurement Officer identified in the solicitation and include the following:

• Identification of the solicitation number;

• The name, address and telephone number of the protester;

• A detailed statement describing the legal and factual grounds for the protest, including copies of relevant documents;

• The form of relief requested; and

• The signature of the protester or its authorized representative.

The Procurement Officer will render a written decision within a reasonable period after the protest is filed. The City will not request City Council authorization to award the contract until the protest process is complete. All protests and appeals must be submitted in accordance with the

City’s Procurement Code, (Phoenix City Code, Ch. 43) and any protests or appeals not submitted within the time requirements will not be considered. Protests must be filed with the

Procurement Officer.

2.20. Public Record

All Offers submitted in response to this solicitation will become the property of the City and become a matter of public record available for review pursuant to Arizona State law. If an

Offeror believes that a specific section of its Offer response is confidential, the Offeror will isolate the pages marked confidential in a specific and clearly labeled section of its Offer response. An Offeror may request specific information contained within its Offer is treated by the

Procurement Officer as confidential provided the Offeror clearly labels the information

“confidential.” To the extent necessary for the evaluation process, information marked as

“confidential” will not be treated as confidential. Once the procurement file becomes available for public inspection, the Procurement Officer will not make any information identified by the

Offerors as “confidential” available to the public unless necessary to support the evaluation process or if specifically requested in accordance with applicable public records law. When a public records request for such information is received, the Procurement Officer will notify the

Offeror in writing of any request to view any portion of its Offer marked “confidential.” The

Offeror will have the time set forth in the notice to obtain a court order enjoining such disclosure.

If the Offeror does not provide the Procurement Officer with a court order enjoining release of the information during the designated time, the Procurement Officer will make the information requested available for inspection.

2.21. Late Offers

Late Offers must be rejected, except for good cause. If a late Offer is submitted, the Department will document the date and time of the submittal of the late Offer, keep the Offer and notify the

Offeror that its Offer was disqualified for being a late Offer.

2.22. Right to Disqualify

The City reserves the right to disqualify any Offeror who fails to provide information or data requested or who provides materially inaccurate or misleading information or data. The City further reserves the right to disqualify any Offeror on the basis of any real or apparent conflict of interest that is disclosed by the Offer submitted or any other data or information available to the

City. This disqualification is at the sole discretion of the City. By submission of a solicitation response, the Offeror waives any right to object now or at any future time, before any agency or body including, but not limited to, the City Council of the City or any court as to the exercise by the City of such right to disqualify or as to any disqualification by reason of real or apparent conflict of interest determined by the City. The City reserves the right to replace the disqualified

Offeror.

2.23. Contract Award

The City reserves the right to award a contract by individual line items, by group, all or none, or any other combination most advantageous to the City. The City reserves the right to award multiple contracts.

2.24. Determining Responsiveness and Responsibility

Offers will be reviewed for documentation of minimum qualifications, completeness, and compliance with the Solicitation requirements. The City reserves sole discretion to determine responsiveness and responsibility.

Responsiveness: Nonresponsive Offers will not be considered in the evaluation process. The solicitation states criteria that determine responsiveness, and the solicitation includes terms and conditions that if included or excluded from Offers (as the case may be) will render an Offer nonresponsive.

Exceptions, conditions, reservations, or understandings are presumed to be unacceptable, and an Offer that includes unacceptable exceptions, conditions, reservations, or understandings may be rejected as nonresponsive. Alternatively, the City in its sole discretion may instruct in writing that any Offeror remove the conditions, exceptions, reservations or understandings. If the Offeror fails to do so in writing, the City may determine the Offer to be nonresponsive.

Responsibility: To obtain true economy, the City must conduct solicitations to minimize the possibility of a subsequent default by the Contractor, late deliveries, or other unsatisfactory performance that may result in additional administrative costs. It is important that the Offeror be a responsible Contractor. Responsibility includes the Offeror’s integrity, skill, capacity, experience, and facilities for conducting the work to be performed.

The Procurement Officer will review each Offer to determine if the Offeror is responsible. The

City’s determination as to whether an Offeror is responsible will be based on all information furnished by the Offeror, interviews (if any), and information received from Offeror’s references, including information about Offeror’s history, terminations for convenience or cause, contract breach lawsuits or notices of claim and any other sources the City deems appropriate. Award of the Contract resulting from the solicitation will not be made until any necessary investigation, which each Offeror agrees to permit by submitting its Offer, is made by the City as it deems necessary. A review of responsibility may occur up to contract award.

The Offeror’s unreasonable failure to promptly supply information about an inquiry with respect to responsibility may be grounds for a determination of non-responsibility with respect to such

Offeror.

2.25. Equal Low Offer

Contract award will be made by putting the names of the tied vendors in a cup for a blind drawing limited to those bidders with tied offers. If time permits, the offerors involved will be given an opportunity to attend the drawing. The drawing will be witnessed by at least three persons, and the contract file will contain the names and addresses of the witnesses.

2.26. Evaluation of Competitive Sealed Offers

The City will use its discretion in applying the following processes to this solicitation. Any ties in scoring will be resolved with a best and final price request and the lowest price will prevail.

2.27. Detailed Evaluation of Offers and Determination of Competitive Range

During deliberations, the Evaluation Panel will reach a consensus score for each evaluation criterion except price. The Procurement Officer will score the price, which will be added to the overall consensus score. The overall consensus scores will determine the Offerors’ rankings and which offers are within the Competitive Range, when appropriate.

2.28. Offers Not Within the Competitive Range

The City may notify Offerors of Offers that the City determined are not in the Competitive

Range.

2.29. Discussions with Offerors in the Competitive Range

The City will notify each Offeror whose Offer is in the Competitive Range or made the ‘short list’ and provide in writing any questions or requests for clarification to the Offeror. Each Offeror so notified may be interviewed by the City and asked to discuss answers to written or oral questions or provide clarifications to any facet of its Offer. The Offerors in the competitive range may be required to provide a demonstration of their product.

Demonstrations - Offerors in the competitive range may be invited to construct a hands-on sample or presentation of their solution at the City of Phoenix. In addition, each finalist may prepare and deliver a presentation of their proposed solution based on the script developed by the evaluation panel. The City may also require a hands-on lab demonstration designed specifically for the evaluation panel. The results of the surveys will be tabulated and delivered to the evaluation team for the final review and solution selection session(s).

If an Offer in the Competitive Range contains conditions, exceptions, reservations or understandings to or about any Contract or Solicitation Scope requirement, the City may discuss or negotiate the conditions, exceptions, reservations or understandings during these meetings. But the City in its sole discretion may reject any and all conditions, exceptions, reservations and understandings, and the City may instruct any Offeror to remove the conditions, exceptions, reservations or understandings. If the Offeror fails to do so, the City may determine the Offer is nonresponsive, and the City may revoke its determination that the Offer is in the Competitive Range.

To the fullest extent permitted by law, the City will not provide any information, financial or otherwise, to any Offeror about other Offers received in response to this solicitation. During discussions with Offerors in the Competitive Range, the City will not give Offerors specific prices or specific financial requirements that Offerors must meet to qualify for further consideration.

The City may state that proposed prices are too high with respect to the marketplace or otherwise unacceptable. Offerors will not be told of their relative rankings before Contract award.

2.30. Best and Final Offers (BAFO)

A BAFO is an option available for negotiations. Each Offeror in the Competitive Range, which is determined in the City’s sole discretion, may be afforded the opportunity to amend its Offer and make one BAFO.

If an Offeror’s BAFO modifies its initial Offer, the modifications must be identified in the BAFO.

The City will evaluate BAFOs based on the same requirements and criteria applicable to initial

Offers. The City will adjust appropriately the initial scores for criteria that have been affected by offer modifications made by a BAFO. Based on the criteria defined in the solicitation as weighted, the City will then perform final scoring and prepare final rankings.

The Evaluation Panel will recommend the Offer that is the best value and most advantageous to the City based on the evaluation criteria.

The City reserves the right to make an award to an Offeror whose Offer is the highest rated, best value, and most advantageous to the City based on the evaluation criteria, without conducting written or oral discussions with any Offeror, without negotiations, and without soliciting BAFOs.

2.31. Special Requirements

Any required certifications will be identified in individual Tasks Orders.

2.32. City's Engagement Process With The Consultants On the QVL

The City will contact qualified Consultant(s) within the above categories to request a Call for

Task Orders for projects within the scope of services on an as needed basis.

2.33. Task Order Process

A. To initiate a project using this QVL, WSD will issue a Call for Task Order that includes a scope of services. WSD will then request a technical and pricing proposal. For all projects, a minimum of three (3) qualified consultants will be invited to submit proposals;

however, WSD reserves the right to select and request proposals from more than three qualified consultants from the QVL for any specific Task Order.

B. The Call for Task Order request sent to Consultants on the QVL may include the following:

1. Deliverables and services to be provided, including ongoing maintenance and support.

2. Implementation schedule for the deliverables and services.

3. Applicable technical standards required by the City.

4. City and/or department policies and procedures applicable to the project.

5. A list of any documentation required to be submitted by the Consultant with the project response (e.g. reports, manuals, analysis, or other documentation as required by the WSD).

6. Evaluation, performance, and acceptance requirements.

7. WSD requirements for status reporting.

8. Hours, schedule, location of project.

9. Submittal instructions and due date.

C. Task Order responses shall, at a minimum, include the following:

1. Position Title, name, resume and credentials for each of Consultant’s resources who will be performing work under the Task Order.

2. Proposed milestones, including:

a. A description of the deliverables for each milestone; and,

b. Period of time and number of hours for delivery/completion of each milestone.

3. Description of how the requested services are to be delivered, to include how technical requirements will be met.

4. Proposed project cost for deliverables and services. Proposed project cost should include any or all of the items below that are necessary to ensure successful completion and ongoing performance of the project activities/functions:

a. Estimated WSD resources needed.

b. If applicable, any software, equipment, services, or agreements (e.g. Licensing, Hosting, Maintenance, Support, Services) that will be necessary for the project.

Copies of any agreements must be submitted with the proposal.

c. Ongoing maintenance and support.

5. Consultant’s cost for preparation and submission of the Task Order responses will not be reimbursed.

D. In the event of a conflict between the terms in the Call for Task Order (including any terms in Consultant’s response) and the terms of Request for Qualifications RFQu-2021-

WAD-472-06 (Master Contract), the terms of the Master Contract are controlling.

E. WSD reserves the right to accept or reject Consultant proposals, personnel and/or project cost estimates.

F. WSD reserves the right to conduct discussions and negotiations with the Consultants whose responses have been determined responsive to the Task Order. A request to participate in the discussions does not assure an award

2.34. Task Order Agreement

A. WSD will finalize the scope of services and project pricing in consultation with the

Consultant. Upon finalization of the scope of services, cost, and project schedule, a Task

Order agreement will be executed.

B. Project Implementation:

1. Consultant is not to begin work on the project before receiving both a fully executed copy of the accepted Task Order and notice to proceed by the WSD Project

Manager.

2. Revisions to Task Orders, including delivery schedules and approved timelines, must be mutually agreed upon in writing and must be signed by authorized representatives for both the Consultant and WSD.

3. In the event either WSD or Consultant requires any change to the project, the requesting party shall notify the other party in writing. The Consultant shall submit a revised project cost estimate to WSD, within a mutually agreed upon timeframe, which includes any and all items of the Task Order which will be affected by the requested revision.

4. Revisions which fall outside the original scope of the Task Order are not allowed. A new Task Order must be submitted and approved in writing by all parties.

C. Project Management:

1. The project must be assigned a Project Manager by each party and each Project

Manager will serve as liaison for their respective party (WSD or Consultant).

2. Each Project Manager will be responsible for assembling and coordinating a project team consisting of varying disciplines and professional levels relative to the project.

3. The Consultant’s Project Manager will:

a. Have the overall responsibility for the project, including performance, reporting, and quality control responsibilities.

b. Establish a schedule for periodic review by all interested parties regarding progress towards completion of deliverables.

c. Submit, by a date established by the WSD, reports that include, but are not limited to, the following:

• A report of current and completed milestones or deliverables.

• Monthly expenditure and activity reports.

• Total expenses accrued as of the report date; and,

• Overall assessment of project status including a description of any outstanding problems and recommendations for corrective action.

d. Be required to remain on-site for certain projects depending on the complexity or importance and/or as requested by the department.

2.35. Task Order Duration

Duration of services for projects to be completed under this contract may vary from a few weeks to several months or multiple years and will be dependent on the scope of services of each project. The schedule and duration will be as specified in the executed Task Order for each project.

3. Scope of Work

3.1. Statement of Need

A. The City of Phoenix (“City”) Water Services Department (“WSD”) is inviting Consultants to participate in this RFQu to expand the department’s Qualified Vendor List (“QVL”).

The Water Services Department requires greater agility and additional analytics to address current and future administration and operations challenges. The selected vendor will translate new and existing data into useful information for improved decision making. This work will also provide a broader, system-wide view of operations, improve efficiency, and identify potential opportunities to streamline processes.

B. Through this RFQu, the City will establish a QVL of companies with demonstrated experience in providing these types of services.

C. Offerors selected to be added to the QVL does not guarantee any number of assignments or any other measure of work.

D. Offerors will submit a written Statement of Qualifications (SOQ) to conduct consulting work in the general areas listed throughout this document, emphasizing the following:

1. Performing data mining to identify dependencies, relations, patterns, and trends to enhance business operations.

2. Using predictive analysis to foresee future events that may impact operations or identify areas of enhancement.

3. Developing design recommendations for secure public facing and internal software solutions.

4. Creating integrations to combine data from disparate systems into a single usable source for reporting, dashboard development, and analysis.

5. Identifying options to securely harness, store and aggregate data from sensitive environments.

6. Performing cloud migration analysis to identify utility systems capable of being migrated to the cloud, considering cost, security, and supportability.

E. Projects will be initiated and managed by the WSD. Vendors may also be required to coordinate projects with other departmental partners but only upon the request of the department.

F. The ideal outcome of each project will enable Water Services leaders to make informed strategic decisions and empower the City of Phoenix community with timely, accessible, and actionable insights.

3.2. Proposed Types of Work

A. Operational Projects:

1. Analytics to improve the visibility of operational issues, create logical business cases, improve decision making, plan strategic initiatives, gain new insights, and solve business challenges.

2. Provide data insights that increase situational awareness of operations challenges.

3. Rework and improve existing reporting; including those reports utilized to support investment decisions.

B. Procurement Projects:

1. Utilize spend, contract and supplier data to produce supply chain optimization strategies.

2. Measure savings and spending trends to get more accurate insight.

3. Help to quickly identify the anomalies in utility data, investigate issues with utility suppliers using audit trails and source documentation.

C. Facility Projects:

1. Understand the needs of built environment and physical workplaces – energy management, space utilization and how to use it to reduce overhead.

2. Identify key trends, patterns, and insights within facility data for ongoing optimization.

D. Utility Billing Projects:

1. Rework existing data sets and reporting to provide additional insight into customer behavior and improve customer service outcomes.

2. Assist in the selection of new data analytics tools/platforms for COP WSD – consolidate and manage call center data, call center processes, and call center workforce management to update and improve on the customer experience.

3. Support targeted customer communication, payment methods and associated analytics.

E. Financial Projects:

1. Research and evaluate the effects of utility rates in a large urban community. Advise and support City staff with utility rate modeling efforts.

2. Model water utility rate elasticity of demand and evaluating financial impacts, as well as developing projections of various types of residential and commercial development, as well as demographic and economic variables like migration, birth rates, and household formation that will have an impact on water use and wastewater generation.

3. Prepare strategies to address financial shortfalls and windfalls as well as preparing risk management profiles for a large, urban, public utility provider.

4. Integrate financial data and data modeling for the purposes of analysis and strategy.

5. Deliverables may also include development of analytical tools for:

a. Tracking trends in costs, cost drivers, service pricing variability contracting parties with a standard set of reports.

b. Ongoing monitoring of operational cost growth, quality, and spending.

c. Statistical modeling of financial initiatives across the department. Identifying cost stratified by social risk factors including income, race/ethnicity, geographic region, and language.

d. Ad hoc analyses to support other data use strategy for regulatory, policy, and program objectives and decision making.

e. Web-based reports and dashboards including a cost estimator, online consumer services, and asset management practices.

f. Leveraging cloud-based, enterprise-grade solutions, platforms and services that have widespread adoption, scale easily and are cost-effective to acquire, implement and maintain.

F. Water Meter Projects

1. Provide ways to monitor water meters, determine meter health and accuracy, collect usage data, perform data analyses, identify issues for corrective action and/or provide other analytics.

G. Engineering

1. Forecast the anticipated asset’s end-of-life based on asset attributes such as age, condition, maximum potential life, maintenance cost, type, environmental condition, etc.

2. Forecast the anticipated asset’s replacement cost

3. Forecast the anticipated asset’s rehabilitation cost

4. Forecast the asset’s risk for failure based on the probability and consequence of failure.

5. Prioritize and group the replacement or rehabilitation of various assets into logical capital improvement program or project budget planning

H. Potential list of work project includes but is not limited to the following:

1. Strategy Development and Master Planning

2. Business Process Optimization

3. Safety Management Systems

4. Risk Based Cost Optimization

5. Generating Assets Strategy

6. Support Function Review

7. Advanced Metering Project Management

8. Federal Regulatory Compliance Framework

9. Operations and Performance Improvement/Optimization

10. Utility Asset/Portfolio Management

11. Treatment Plant Performance

12. Utility Storm Water

13. Fleet Safety Management System

14. Treatment Plant Major Outage Management

15. Risk for Work Management

16. Demand Forecasting Benchmark

17. Water and Sewer Leak Detection

18. Controls and Regulatory Compliance

19. Operations Based Water Distribution

20. Regulatory Compliance Framework

21. Operational Review of Environmental Compliance

22. Risk Based Internal Audit Planning

23. Operational Readiness Review

24. Billing, Metering, and Estimation

25. Business Metrics, Risk Management and Decision Making

26. Water Reliability

27. Data Analytics

28. Distribution Asset Management Value Modeling

29. Service Delivery Optimization

30. Customer Satisfaction

31. Demand Forecasting Improvement

32. Treatment Plant Asset Management Value Modeling

33. Billing Estimation Methodology

34. Non-Revenue Water Loss Monitoring

35. Geographical Information System (GIS) Integration and optimization

36. Water Conservation Activity

4. Offer Evaluation Criteria

No. Evaluation Criteria Scoring Method Weight (Points)

1. Company History, Experience, and

Qualifications N/A N/A

5. Standard Terms and Conditions

5.1. Definition of Key Words Used in the Solicitation

Shall, Will, Must: Indicates a mandatory requirement. Failure to meet these mandatory requirements may result in the rejection of Offer as non-responsive.

Should: Indicates something that is recommended but not mandatory. If the Offeror fails to provide recommended information, the City may, at its sole option, ask the Offeror to provide the information or evaluate the Offer without the information.

May: Indicates something that is not mandatory but permissible.

For purposes of this solicitation, the following definitions will apply:

“A.R.S.” Arizona Revised Statute

“Buyer” or “Procurement Officer” City of Phoenix staff person responsible for the solicitation.

The City employee or employees who have specifically been designated to act as a contact person or persons to the Contractor, and responsible for monitoring and overseeing the

Contractor's performance under this contract.

"City" The City of Phoenix

"Contractor" The individual, partnership, or corporation who, as a result of the competitive process, is awarded a contract by the City of Phoenix.

"Contract” or “Agreement" The legal agreement executed between the City of Phoenix, AZ and the Contractor.

“Days” Means calendar days unless otherwise specified.

“Chief Procurement Officer” The contracting authority for the City of Phoenix, AZ, authorized to sign contracts and amendments thereto on behalf of the City of Phoenix, AZ.

“Employer” Any individual or type of organization that transacts business in this state, that has a license issued by an agency in this state and employs one or more employees in this state.

Employer includes this state, any political subdivision of this state and self-employed persons. In the case of an independent contractor, employer means the independent contractor and does not mean the person or organization that uses contract labor. (A.R.S. 23-211).

“Offer” Means a response from a Supplier, Contractor, or Service Provider to a solicitation request that, if awarded, binds the Supplier, Contractor, or Service Provider to perform in accordance with the contract. Same as bid, proposal, quotation or tender.

“Offeror” Any Vendor, Seller or Supplier submitting a competitive offer in response to a solicitation from the City. Same as Bidder or Proposer.

“Solicitation” Means an Invitation for Bid (IFB), Request for Proposal (RFP), Request for

Quotations (RFQ), Request for Qualifications (RFQu) and request for sealed Offers, or any other type of formal procurement which the City makes public through advertising, mailings, or some other method of communication. It is the process by which the City seeks information, proposals, Offers, or quotes from suppliers.

“Suppliers” Firms, entities or individuals furnishing goods or services to the City.

“Vendor or Seller” A seller of goods or services.

5.2. City’s Vendor Self-Registration and Notification

Vendors must be registered in the City’s Procurement Portal at https://procurement.opengov.com/portal/phoenix to respond to solicitations and access procurement information.

Vendors must also be registered in the City’s procurePHX…