ESBD_378620_1728492211456_RFI 507-25-001 BON Information Technology Modernization.pdf

Texas Board of Nursing (BON)

Information Technology Modernization

RFI

RFI Number: 507-25-001

October 09, 2024

Request for Information

BON Information Technology Modernization

RFI No.: 507-25-001

RFI Main Document — Page 2

Table of Contents

1.0 Introduction

2.0 Information Technology Modernization Overview

2.1 Anticipated Legacy System Replacement Scope

2.1.1 Current State Volume & Metrics

2.2 Future State Solution Capabilities

2.2.1 Business Capabilities

2.2.2 Technical Capabilities

2.2.3 Implementation Services

3.0 RFI Overview Instructions

3.1 Schedule of Events

3.2 Designated Contact

3.2.1 Attachment(s)

4.0 RFI Response Requirements

4.1 Submittal Instructions

4.1.1 Section 1 — Cover Letter

4.1.2 Section 2 — Executive Summary

4.1.3 Section 3 – Solution and Implementation Services Overview

4.1.4 Section 3 — Attachment A — Pricing Estimate Workbook

5.0 Attachment(s)

RFI Main Document — Page 3

Glossary of Terms

Table 1. Terms and Definitions

Term/Acronym Definition

COTS Commercial Off the Shelf

Contractor A business entity or individual that has a contract to provide goods or services to the State.

Designated Contact Sole BON point of contact for this RFI

Respondent Entity submitting a Response to this RFI

Response(s) Vendor information provided in response to this RFI

RFI Request for Information

SaaS Software as a Service

Solution The System and services required to satisfy the Objectives.

System A fully functional application, including any related hardware and software required to satisfy the partial or full scope set forth in the RFI.

Vendor A potential provider of goods or services to the State.

RFI Main Document — Page 4

1.0 Introduction

The Board of Nursing (BON) is responsible for licensing, regulating, and monitoring the status of approximately 560,813 licenses issued to nurses in Texas. BON is seeking information from qualified vendors regarding technology Solution(s) and associated implementation services for the following modernization initiatives:

▪ Enforcement System Modernization (ESM): Update the enforcement database to a modern cloud-based platform with case management functionality and interoperability with the Texas Nurse Portal.

▪ Education Program System Modernization (EPSM): Digitize programs using a cloud-based platform to streamline application processes for external customers, provide status updates, and organize the process.

▪ Website Modernization (WM): Redesign BON website to enhance the user experience and strengthen defenses against cybersecurity.

The purpose of this Request for Information (RFI) is for BON to gather information regarding market capabilities and potential costs (e.g., implementation costs as well as ongoing hosting and maintenance of the Solution(s)), to inform Agency planning activities.

Information provided by a Respondent to this RFI (referred to as “Responses”) should include:

▪ A high-level description of the Respondent’s Solution(s) that address the scope outlined in this RFI.

‒ Note: Respondents may respond to all, or a subset, of the scope outlined in this RFI.

▪ The estimated costs of full implementation services, including but not limited to, project management, Solution design and configuration, integration, data migration, documentation, testing, training, Solution provisioning, and ongoing support by a qualified and experienced implementation team.

BON invites qualified vendors to submit the above-mentioned information and a price estimate for informational purposes only. This RFI is not a formal solicitation. If BON decides to acquire any product or service based on the information submitted in response to this RFI, the appropriate procurement method will be used. BON offers no assurance or guarantees that a solicitation for procurement will result from this RFI.

All Responses should be submitted in the format specified in this RFI, with a Cover Letter, Executive Summary, and a completed Attachment A — Pricing Estimate Workbook.

Respondent may also attach marketing materials and/or other information that the Respondent thinks may assist BON in its planning.

BON recognizes that preparing a Response to this RFI requires time and investment from the vendor community. BON thanks vendors in advance for participating. Respondent participation in this RFI will contribute to the following beneficial outcomes for both BON and vendors:

▪ Future solicitation(s) released by the Agency will be accurate and reflective of market capabilities

▪ Agency can better justify requests for budget for the required solutions and services, including long-term costs

▪ Agency stakeholders participating in the procurement process will be educated and aware of market solutions, trends, and innovations, enabling informed decisions related to vendor and solution evaluation and selection

RFI Main Document — Page 5

▪ BON can proactively identify risks and potential challenges, allowing for proactive risk management and mitigation strategies

2.0 Information Technology Modernization Overview

The information provided in the sections below are intended to help the Respondent respond to this RFI. Additional information will not be provided and there will be no Question & Answer (Q&A) period.

Respondent should include assumptions used to estimate pricing in the tab “5. Cost Assumptions” within their Attachment A — Pricing Estimate Workbook to help BON understand the Respondent’s approach to pricing.

2.1 Anticipated Legacy System Replacement Scope

BON programs are supported by a variety of digital and manual processes today. The table below outlines the existing high-level application landscape relevant to the three modernization efforts.

Table 2. BON Systems

Name Technology Function Future State Role in

Modernization

Optimal Regulatory Board System

(ORBS)

Cloud-based license management system

System to process the initial portion of the licensing process.

Also provides support for Education program’s previous WEB-AOG Database.

Maintained – not in scope for replacement.

Note: New solution(s) for Enforcement and Education must be able to integrate with this system.

Enforcement Legacy Database

N2 system; built in PowerBuilder user interface and backend MS SQL.

The existing database is 12 years old, incompatible with the Texas Nurse Portal (hosted by the National Council of State Boards of Nursing), and often requires IT intervention, which creates inefficiencies.

Today, a customer complaint is generated on ORBS, after which it is picked up by the BON Complaints Web App using ORBS API's and a stored in-house database.

Upon BON determining the validity of the complaint, the complaint moves from the Complaints Web App to a separate table on the database.

At this point, a complaint converts to a case.

In the database, TBON can add comments, notes, and categorize the case based on the Enforcement Department’s set definitions and policies.

Replace - New solution(s) for Enforcement must allow BON to retire use of this completely.

The enforcement database needs to be updated to a modern cloud-based platform with case management functionality and interoperability with the Texas Nurse Portal.

BON

Website

EC2 instances in Texas.gov; HTML https://www.bon.texas.gov is the main website for the Agency providing a wealth of publicly available information about the agency, its functions and

BON desires replacement and redesign of the existing website, inclusive of user experience, site taxonomy, information https://www.bon.texas.gov/

RFI Main Document — Page 6

Name Technology Function Future State Role in

Modernization

The Board's website was last redesigned in 2013.

programs, and other relevant data.

The website is updated regularly and contains rich content, inclusive of web pages, documents, images, and links to other sites.

architecture, and other enhancements.

In addition to making it easier for visits to find information more efficiently, modernizing the website will empower staff to manage content more effectively and strengthen defenses against cybersecurity threats.

N/A Currently all manual processes

The system supports the Texas Board of Nursing education program approval process.

The Board has approved 106 new nursing education programs since 2006, and new proposals continue to arrive.

This total does not include the volume of proposals for curriculum changes, new director approvals, enrollment change requests, remedial education course approvals, and various other requests the education team must receive, evaluate and track.

The continued demand to increase nurse graduates to meet the ongoing nursing shortage will drive increases in the requests to review and approve new nursing programs.

BON desires a cloud-based platform to assist with streamlining the application processes for external customers, provide status updates, and organize the process.

All legacy databases and tools would be replaced.

2.1.1 Current State Volume & Metrics

The table below provides additional information to be used by Respondents to develop their Responses.

Table 3. Additional Information

Scope Area Description

Number of Users

Number of licensed internal users:

• Enforcement: 75

• Education: 15

• Website: 10

Data Conversion Scope

Enforcement

• 327,000 closed cases will need to be converted into the new system

RFI Main Document — Page 7

Scope Area Description

Education

• Existing data is maintained across various spreadsheets.

Website

• Site content, related modules, and underlying databases would need to be migrated (and may need remediation and/or upgrades)

System Interfaces

All solutions should have modern integration capabilities (e.g., APIs) to support interoperability.

There will not be extensive integration necessary, but example integrations include:

▪ Integrations between Education/Enforcement system(s) to ORBS

▪ Integration with BON Document Management System

Volume/Metrics

Enforcement

▪ 20,000 annual complaint investigations

Education

▪ 106+ nursing education programs

Website

▪ 616 Indexable HTML pages

▪ 119 Non-indexable HTML pages (redirects and 404 errors)

▪ 224 images

▪ 3,794 pdfs

▪ 36 other (word and excel documents)

Hosting

BON would prefer the Solution be cloud-based. Hosting costs should be provided in the cost estimates.

Note - any potential vendor must meet BON and Texas security requirements.

Additional information can be found at the link below:

Texas Risk and Authorization Management Program (TX-RAMP) | Texas Department of Information Resources

Training

TBON desires appropriate technical and end-user training, inclusive of development of training materials, to be part of the future scope. Respondents should provide information regarding their approach to training and potential cost(s).

https://dir.texas.gov/information-security/texas-risk-and-authorization-management-program-tx-ramp https://dir.texas.gov/information-security/texas-risk-and-authorization-management-program-tx-ramp

RFI Main Document — Page 8

2.2 Future State Solution Capabilities

2.2.1 Business Capabilities

BON desires modern, configurable solutions that can be easily maintained and updated as regulatory needs change. Other key objectives include improved user experience, comprehensive ad-hoc reporting capabilities, and increased automation and self-service options to streamline business processes and improve efficiency.

The below three capability models provide a high-level overview of the capabilities each future state Solution should support.

Note: Given the similarity in foundational workflows between Enforcement and Education — BON is open to pursuing one modern solution to meet both requirements. Respondent can provide information regarding its capabilities to provide one single solution (or justification as to why two solutions make sense) in its response.

Figure 1. Enforcement Capability Model

RFI Main Document — Page 9

Figure 2. Education Capability Model

Figure 3. Website Capability Model

2.2.2 Technical Capabilities

Workflow & Business Rule Automation

During the Education and Enforcement projects, the Respondent will lead sessions to document BON business processes. The Solution should automate applicable BON business processes and/or provide screens to allow users to perform transactions where there is not automation.

RFI Main Document — Page 10

The solution should support the enforcement of business process and rules across multiple functional areas relying on a common set of technical components. They include the following technical components:

▪ Rule Automation;

▪ Macro Process Automation;

▪ Workflow Execution; and

▪ Workflow Modeling.

Online Portal

The Education Solution must provide basic online portal capabilities that allow BON’s external users (e.g., license holders and applicants) to be able to perform most of their business transactions with BON online including, but not limited to, application and electronic document submission, monitoring and tracking education requirements, management of account settings, and making online payments.

The Respondent may, optionally, propose any features that come “out-of-the-box” with the Solution that may benefit BON.

Mobile responsive design is expected (no separate mobile application is requested).

Website

BON expects that the Contractor will utilize TexKit Design system for the redesign. Site content should leverage Custom Drupal templates and a Drupal Content Management System (CMS).

Redesign shall be inclusive of user experience, interface design, site taxonomy, and information architecture. Scope is inclusive of keyword research and Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and replacement of existing Contact us form, Site Search, URL/DNS, and site pages.

2.2.3 Implementation Services

Respondent must include in their Responses information and costs regarding implementation services (including requirements gathering, design, development and configuration), data conversion, testing, training, go live support, and ongoing support, maintenance, and hosting within the statewide data center.

An iterative, Agile-based approach to implementation is desired.

RFI Main Document — Page 11

3.0 RFI Overview Instructions

3.1 Schedule of Events

The following schedule of events will be followed to complete this RFI process. BON reserves the right to change this schedule at any time. Respondent must comply with all deadlines.

Table 4. Anticipated Event Schedule

Activity Date/Time

RFI Distributed 10/09/2024

Deadline for Submission of Response 10/23/2024 2:00PM

3.2 Designated Contact

Responses to this RFI must be sent, via email, to BON’s Designated Contacts below.

Texas Board of Nursing

ATTN: Brian Miller and Abel Martinez

Email: Brian.Miller@bon.texas.gov; CC: Abel.Martinez@bon.texas.gov

Brian Miller – Assistant General Counsel and Abel Martinez – Purchaser, are the sole points of contact for this RFI. Questions concerning the content of this RFI will not be addressed by the Agency. Respondents are encouraged to include relevant information, clarifications, and/or assumptions in their response as appropriate.

Respondent shall make no contact concerning this RFI with other BON personnel, except as permitted by the point of contact.

3.2.1 Attachment(s)

This RFI includes an attachment identified as “Attachment A — Pricing Estimate Workbook.”

Respondents should include a completed Attachment A in the Response.

mailto:Brian.Miller@bon.texas.gov mailto:Abel.Martinez@bon.texas.gov

RFI Main Document — Page 12

4.0 RFI Response Requirements

4.1 Submittal Instructions

The Response, including Attachment A — Pricing Estimate Workbook, should follow the rules and format herein established. Adherence to these rules will ensure a fair and objective analysis of all cost estimates.

4.1.1 Section 1 — Cover Letter

Respondent should submit a Cover Letter that identifies the entity submitting the cost estimate.

The Cover Letter must include the title, address, and telephone number of the person or people authorized to represent the Respondent in all matters related to the cost estimate. The Cover Letter should not exceed two (2) pages.

4.1.2 Section 2 — Executive Summary

Respondent should also submit a document, titled Executive Summary, that provides a brief overview of the company, its experience, and the available Solution(s) applicable to this RFI.

The Executive Summary should not exceed five (5) pages.

4.1.3 Section 3 – Solution and Implementation Services Overview

Respondent should provide an overview of the relevant solutions and implementation services it offers as related to this RFI. Respondent may provide information regarding all, or a subset, of the scope of modernization identified in this RFO.

For the Enforcement and Education modernization initiatives, please identify if the Respondent recommends one, or separate, solution(s) and reasoning.

This section may also include general marketing material relevant to the RFI.

4.1.4 Section 3 — Attachment A — Pricing Estimate Workbook

Respondent shall ensure that the Attachment A — Pricing Estimate Workbook is submitted as a separate file from the Cover Letter and the Executive Summary. Respondent should follow the instructions provided in Attachment A.

RFI Main Document — Page 13

5.0 Attachment(s)

▪ Attachment A — Pricing Estimate Workbook