ESBD_399058_1740510197100_1 - Proposal Specifications -Final JS.pdf

25RFP21

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) System

Responses Due:

Wednesday, April 9, 2025, at 5:00 PM CT

Purchasing Department

100 Wilco Way, Suite P101

Georgetown, TX 78626

512-943-3553

Wilcotx.gov

pg. 2 Version January 2025

Wilco.org

Page

Purpose 3

Definitions 3

Background 4

Scope of Work 6

Budget 19

Contract Term 20

Evaluation Criteria and Award Process 20

RFP Schedule of Events, Due Date, Submission and Delivery 27

Instructions and Response Requirements 31

Terms and Conditions 35

Federal Requirements 48

TABLE OF CONTENTS

pg. 3

PURPOSE

Williamson County, Texas, herein “the County”, is issuing this Request for Proposal (RFP) to Respondents capable of meeting the needs for software, consulting and implementation services for a new Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software system.

In addition to soliciting written responses, this document provides information to assist Respondents in preparing their submittal and outlines the subsequent evaluation process. In that regard, this RFP:

• Provides information essential to soliciting meaningful Proposals and realistic commitments from the Respondents.

• Specifies the desired format and content of Proposals in response to this RFP;

• Outlines the County’s evaluation and selection procedures.

• Establishes a schedule for the preparation and submission of Proposals in response to this RFP.

This solicitation document and the Successful Respondent’s submittal will be incorporated into the contract resulting from this solicitation.

DEFINITIONS

Addendum/Addenda - means any written or graphic instruments issued by the County prior to the consideration of Proposals which modify or interpret the Proposal Documents by additions, deletions, clarifications, or corrections.

Buyer - means the designated Williamson County Purchasing contact.

Contract - means this RFP and the Proposal of the Successful Respondent shall become a Contract between the Successful Respondent and the County once the Successful Respondent's Proposal is properly accepted by the Williamson County Commissioners Court (sometimes referred to herein as the Commissioner's Court"). In the event of a conflict between the terms and conditions contain in this RFP and the Proposal, an Ensuing Agreement may be required.

Commissioners Court - means the Williamson County Commissioners Court.

County - means Williamson County, a political subdivision of the State of Texas.

Ensuing Agreement(s) - means the Successful Respondent may be required by the County to sign an additional agreement containing terms necessary to ensure compliance with the RFP and the Respondent's Proposal. Such Ensuing Agreement(s) shall contain the Proposal specifications, terms and conditions that are derived from the

RFP.

Proposal Documents - means the, RFP including attachments, and any Addenda issued by the County prior to the consideration of any Proposals.

Proposal - means the complete, properly signed document, and ALL required forms and documentation listed in the proposal package which have been submitted in accordance with this RFP package. A Proposal submitted in accordance with this RFP is irrevocable during the specified time period for evaluation and acceptance of Proposals, unless a waiver is obtained from the Williamson County Purchasing Agent. Submission of any Proposal indicates a Respondent’s acceptance of the terms and conditions contain in this RFP, unless clearly and

pg. 4 specifically noted otherwise in the Proposal. In the event of a conflict between the terms and conditions contain in this RFP and the Proposal, an Ensuing Agreement may be required.

Public Announcement – The newspaper advertisement and Bonfire posting of the solicitation.

Respondent - means a person or entity who submits a Proposal in response to this RFP.

Request for Proposals (RFP) - means this document, together with the attachments thereto and any future Addenda issued by the County.

Successful Respondent - means the responsible Respondent who, in the County's sole opinion, submits the Proposal, which is in the best interest of the County, taking into account factors identified herein, and to whom the County intends to award the Contract.

BACKGROUND

Williamson County is home to more than 617,000 residents according to the US Census Bureau. Located in the Central Texas Hill County just north of the state capitol in Austin, and the University of Texas, Williamson County has emerged as an exceptional place to live.

The Commissioners Court is the overall governing and management body of Williamson County and is responsible for all budgetary decisions in addition to setting the tax rate each year. Among its duties is the administration of all County business, including the building and maintenance of County roads and bridges.

Commissioners' Courts are governing bodies of County government in several US states, including Texas. The principal functions of the Commissioners' Court are legislative and executive. Although called courts, Commissioners' Courts generally exercise only limited judicial powers. The Commissioners' Court consists of five members. The County judge presides as Chairman and is elected every four years by voters countywide. Four

Commissioners are elected by single-member precincts every four years.

The following table contains statistics related to the County. These statistics are estimates and are provided for planning purposes only. Additional information has been provided in Table 03: Functional Area Statistics.

Table 01: Statistics

No. Area Statistic

1 Operating Budget Approx. $635,129,938

2 Population Served Approx. 617,000

3 Total FTEs Approx. 2,000

4 Fiscal Year October 1 – September 30

PROJECT OBJECTIVES

pg. 5

The overall goal of this project is to procure the newest technology and harness efficiencies to enhance existing business processes performed by the County departments. The County is planning to replace its current

Enterprise Resource Planning financial software systems environment with a new system or combination of software systems, and to adopt systems functionality to support core processes. In doing so, the County seeks to address several challenges in the current environment, and gain future efficiencies, including, but not limited to:

• Key Objectives and Outcomes:

o Enhance operational effectiveness by making more timely, accurate, and complete information available to citizens, the County personnel, and Respondents.

o Enhance reporting capabilities that leverage an improved system with more analytical and reporting capabilities, the County will be able to track, analyze, and report on various metrics and key performance indicators (KPIs) via scheduled and ad hoc reports.

o Adopt a user-friendly interface that will help minimize the learning curve and maximize user adoption.

o Enhance features and functionality to support increased automation and operational efficiencies by streamlining and integrating use of systems.

o Increase productivity by eliminating redundancy and unnecessary tasks.

• Primary Challenges in the Current Environment o The County heavily relies on third-party spreadsheets and databases for tracking and reporting. Examples include tracking and managing Respondent contracts, assets and inventory, grants, payroll adjustments, retiree census data, and premium repayments plans.

o Duplicative data entry points require County staff to enter employees into NeoGov, Oracle, Benefitfocus, ServiceNow, and Kronos. Purchasing processes require County staff to enter data in Origination (SharePoint) which eventually is duplicated in Oracle. Duplicate data entry into these systems has, in some cases, doubled the work for staff and often causes delays in workflows and business processes.

o Many workflows and communications are managed outside of the current ERP and timekeeping systems. Processes such as onboarding, benefit enrollment, and performance management live on separate platforms such as SharePoint, MS Outlook, and employee’s personal drives. Purchasing and receiving processes are facilitated by third-party systems such as SharePoint and Yooz;

o The County does not maintain full employee files. The upkeep of employee certifications, trainings, and performance reviews are decentralized across departments.

o The current system lacks key reporting capabilities, making it challenging to monitor metrics, the County must pull data from multiple sources and manually manipulate the data to develop

State-required reports.

pg. 6

In order to address these challenges and others, the County has initiated this project to adequately plan for, select, and implement a replacement or upgraded the ERP software environment. The Scope of

Work/Specifications contained herein, outlines the features and functionality desired in a future system(s), as well as the professional services necessary to implement that system(s).

SCOPE OF WORK/SPECIFICATIONS

FUNCTIONAL AREAS

The following table contains the list of functional areas of the desired future systems environment.

Table 02: Functional Areas

Functional Areas

No. Functional Area No. Functional Area

1 General Ledger and Financial Reporting 8 Capital Asset Accounting

2 Budgeting: Operating, Personnel, Capital 9 Human Resources, Personnel Management and Employee Relations

3 Budgeting: Capital 10 Benefit Administration

Purchasing, Solicitation, and Contract

Management 11 Recruitment

5 Accounts Payable 12 Learning Management

Accounts Receivable, General Billing and

Miscellaneous Cash Receipts 13 Payroll

7 Project Accounting and Grant Management 14 Compensation

The List of Functional and Technical Requirements/Capabilities contained in Attachment B – Functional and

Technical Requirements/Capabilities contains the detailed functionality the County requires within each functional area in a future systems environment, as well as general and technical system requirements, data conversion and interface scope.

The following table contains functional statistics of the County. These statistics are estimates and are provided for planning purposes only.

pg. 7

Table 03: Functional Area Statistics

No. Functional Area/Metric Statistic

General Ledger and Financial Reporting

Number of Funds 111

Number of Accounts 20,722

Number of Journal Entries Annually 1,037,123

Chart of Accounts Structure

The County chart of accounts (COA) structure:

• Entity (2 digits)

• Fund (4 digits)

• Department (4 digits)

• Object (6 digits)

Budgeting

Budget Narrative: The County currently operates using a zero-based budgeting approach. The County’s budget process begins in March with departments submitting personnel requests and position reclassifications to the Budget Office via Questica. Budget requests that require supporting salary information are forward to HR to input. After the last payroll in March, the Budget Office imports salaries for filled positions and position budgets for vacant positions. Operating expense requests must be submitted in

Questica by May 1. Budget staff perform a detailed review of past cost history and actuals associated to budget requests before being finalized around mid-July. Departments are given a week to review and provide feedback before the budget is submitted to the Commissioner’s Court for consideration. Staff forecast revenues in mid-August, primarily in MS Excel. This data is then imported into Questica. Actual revenue figures are uploaded and verified before budget adoption. The recommended budget is presented to the

Commissioner’s Court in the first week of August. Department heads may also petition the Commissioner’s

Court for additions to the budget. Once the budget is accepted, it is formally adopted through a vote by the end of August.

Once adopted, departmental requests, recommended budget scenarios, and adopted budget scenarios are configured in Questica. The budget is extracted on a line-item basis to MS Excel. The data is then entered into a test environment in Oracle. Once verified, IT and finance then import the budget into Oracle where it is incorporated into the General Ledger. A final budget report is generated, stamped by the County Clerk’s office, and archived.

The budget book is created in MS Word. Budget staff work with County departments for data and content and the auditor’s office provides the associated financial schedules. Once finalized, the budget book is converted to PDF, posted on the County website, and submitted to GFOA for the annual Distinguished Budget

Presentation Award Program.

Throughout the FY line-item transfers (i.e., budget adjustments) requested by departments require

Commissioner’s Court approval if these transfers are under $1,000. For transfers less than $1,000, County departments email requests to the auditor’s office for review, approval, and processing.

For position control, budgets are currently managed manually in Oracle. The County is required by state law to budget at the position level, with any new positions going through a Position Action Sheet or Payroll Action

pg. 8

No. Functional Area/Metric Statistic

Sheet in Oracle for mid-year hires and promotions. Each position's record must be manually updated, and changes are reflected in a Manager's Portal, which is reconciled weekly.

The County develops a capital budget to fund projects, such as the construction of roads, bridges, buildings, parks, and IT infrastructure. Projects typically have an expected lifespan of at least 7 to 10 years. There are three sources of revenue for these projects: general fund budget, road and bridge fund budget, and debt service fund budget. The Budget Office coordinates with the County Auditor to determine the funding amount for the annual capital budget (“pay-as-you-go” program). The County Auditor certifies the amount of funding available which is presented to the Commissioners Court through the budget process. The amount adopted is typically 1/5 of the available funds (per financial policy), though Commissioners can determine to be more aggressive in some years. The approved budget officially accepts the amount the County Auditor recommends the County can draw from cash reserves.

The capital budget process begins in October when the new budget year is opened. County departments submit budget requests, supporting documents, and photos in Questica for Budget Office for consideration.

The deadline for capital budget requests is April 1. Submitted information is reviewed by Technology Services, Facilities Management, and County Audit staff for accuracy and feasibility. The Assistant Budget Officer then meets with Facilities Management and Technology Services to confirm pricing for each initiative. If a project is approved, the project is placed on the Commissioners Court agenda where the initiative is voted on. Capital and infrastructure projects receive final approval by the board in November. Once approved, the budget is set up in Oracle as individual projects for management.

The Assistant Budget Officer is responsible for compiling a MS Excel spreadsheet of approved projects, which includes the project details and dollar amounts. This information is passed on to the County Auditor and each project is assigned a unique "P Number" for tracking purposes. Staff reported the financial management of these projects is done using a budget workbook developed in MS Excel, which contains fields such as the P Number, project name, priority number, and funding amount.

The County Auditor determines the amount allocated for the capital budget's "pay-as-you-go" program. A fund sheet and fund balance are provided to the Commissioners Court, and the Court makes a motion to accept the program and finalize necessary budgets.

Operating Budget Approx. $635,129,938

Capital Budget Approx. $250,000,000

Purchasing, Bids, and Contract Management

Number of Purchase Orders per Year 2,900

Number of Blanket Purchase Orders per Year

Number of bids, RFPs, RFIs, RFQs issued annually

Number of purchase cards in use 350

Accounts Payable

Number of Active Respondent File 50,000

pg. 9

No. Functional Area/Metric Statistic

Number of Invoices Submitted for

Payment per Year

FY22 - Invoices: 30,189 / P-Cards: 13,466

FY23 - Invoices: 39,165 / P-Cards: 14,507

FY24 - Invoices: 40,713 / P-Cards: 15,819

Number of 1099’s issued per Year 2022 - 650; 2023 - 700; 2024 - 800

Number of Payments per Year

FY22 - Checks: 7,781 / Electronic: 6,138

FY23 - Checks: 7,961 / Electronic: 7,097

FY24 - Checks: 8,102 / Electronic: 7,640

Type of Check Stock Safechecks -Laser Check Legal 14

Accounts Receivable and Cash Receipts

General Accounts Receivable transactions per Year 8,441

Number of Cash Collection Points

(including all tender types)

One collection point; Cash, Checks, Money Orders, All Major

Credit Cards, ACH, and Wires

Project Accounting and Grant Management

Number of Active Grants 40

Number of Active Projects 219

Fixed Assets/Capital Assets/Inventory

Number of Fixed Assets 11,213

Fixed Assets Classification The County capitalizes all assets with a value over $5,000.

Assets under $5,000 are considered inventory.

Human Resources and Personnel Management, Benefit Administration, Applicant Tracking

Total Full-time Equivalents (FTE) Approx: 2,000

Total Seasonal or Temporary

Employees Approx: 30

Number of Full-Time Employees

(exempt) Approx: 500

Number of Full-Time Employees

(non-exempt) Approx: 1,400

Number of Recruitments per Year

FY22: 316

FY23: 363

FY24: 380

Number of Applicants per Year FY22: 8,957

pg. 10

No. Functional Area/Metric Statistic

FY23: 9,720

FY23: 13,605

Number of Retirements Processed per Year

FY22: 44

FY23: 41

FY24: 33

Number of Personnel Transactions Pay assignment actions: 11,772,226 per year plus

Other personnel actions: 56,822 per year

Bargaining Units/Unions 0: The Sheriff’s and Correction’s office have civil service employees

Benefit Plans

• Medical insurance

• Dental insurance

• Vision insurance

• Basic Life and Accidental Death & Dismemberment

• Voluntary Life and Accidental Death &

Dismemberment

• Voluntary Short-Term Disability

• Voluntary Long-Term Disability

• Health Savings Account

• Flexible Spending Accounts

• TCDRS Retirement Plan

• 457B Deferred Compensation Plan

• Employee Assistance Plan

• Additional Voluntary Benefits

• Financial Wellbeing Benefits

Number of Workers Compensation

Claims per Year

FY24: 273

Open Enrollment Period August/September

Time and Attendance

Departments using time clocks

(current list)

Number of employees to use time clocks (future) 1,500 Hourly (non-exempt) EE / 500 Salaried (exempt)

Departments to use scheduling functionality (future)

pg. 11

No. Functional Area/Metric Statistic

Number of employees to use advanced scheduling (e.g., shift swaps, bidding, minimum coverages)

Payroll

Number of Legal Entities 3: Health District, Community Services and Correction

Department (CSCD) and Williamson County

Number of W2’s per Year Approx: 100 – 150 for the Health District and CSCD, and

2,000 – 2,500 for Williamson County

Pay Frequency Biweekly

Number of Employees Paid per Cycle

(average) Approx: 2,000

Useful Links

• 2023 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report:

https://wilco.mygovcenter.com/uploads/cms/WilliamsonCountyTX2023ACFR-1711590460941-

1711590463814.pdf

• 2024 – 2025 Adopted Budget: https://www.wilcotx.gov/DocumentCenter/View/13408/Fiscal-Year-

2024-to-2025-Adopted-Budget-PDF

• County Job Opportunities: https://www.governmentjobs.com/careers/williamsonco

• Employees Benefits: https://www.wilcotx.gov/DocumentCenter/View/12249/2025-Williamson-

County-Employee-Benefits-Guide?bidId=

ALTERNATE PROPOSALS, PARTNERSHIPS AND RESPONDENTS OF SUBSETS OF FUNCTIONALITY

Alternate Proposals:

• The County will not be accepting alternate Proposals for evaluation.

• Respondents may submit multiple Proposals for evaluation. For example, if a Respondent offers one or more “branded” products that may meet the needs of the County they are encouraged to separately propose each software package for consideration.

• Software companies that deliver their solution through one or more consulting firms (system integrators) are also allowed to submit more than one Proposal for consideration through differing consulting firms.

• A separate Proposal package submitted in accordance with Section 4 is required in order for the County to accurately evaluate each Proposal independent of the other.

https://wilco.mygovcenter.com/uploads/cms/WilliamsonCountyTX2023ACFR-1711590460941-1711590463814.pdf https://wilco.mygovcenter.com/uploads/cms/WilliamsonCountyTX2023ACFR-1711590460941-1711590463814.pdf https://www.wilcotx.gov/DocumentCenter/View/13408/Fiscal-Year-2024-to-2025-Adopted-Budget-PDF https://www.wilcotx.gov/DocumentCenter/View/13408/Fiscal-Year-2024-to-2025-Adopted-Budget-PDF https://www.governmentjobs.com/careers/williamsonco https://www.wilcotx.gov/DocumentCenter/View/12249/2025-Williamson-County-Employee-Benefits-Guide?bidId= https://www.wilcotx.gov/DocumentCenter/View/12249/2025-Williamson-County-Employee-Benefits-Guide?bidId=

pg. 12

Partnerships:

Respondents are encouraged to establish partnership relationships to fully provide all requirements defined by the RFP.

• Respondents engaged in a partnership relationship shall submit a single proposal in response to this RFP.

• Partnership relationships shall be clearly defined by proposal responses. Such definition shall identify the entity in the partnership relationship deemed to be the Prime Respondent.

• Each Respondent engaged in the partnership shall respond to any and all applicable portions of this RFP that relate to the work that will be performed, or the capabilities provided. For example, each

Respondent shall provide references, and each Respondent shall respond to the Company Background and History questions.

Respondents of Subsets of Functionality:

As part of this process the County will be allowing Respondents to submit point solutions (best of breed) and encourages Respondents to participate in this process in order to consider and evaluate a range of marketplace offerings.

• The County recognizes that the scope of functionality in this RFP may be met through a combination of systems that specialize on a modular or functional area basis. The County is willing to consider best-of-breed solutions (“point” solutions), subject to certain conditions as outlined in this section.

• The County has a preference on software solutions that provide for the highest level of fit and facilitate the exchange of information between any disparate systems.

• Respondents are encouraged to propose on a subset of functionality if the proposed software cannot provide functionality for all requested modules. Respondents may propose solutions that address a subset of functionality, provided the software is able to address, at a minimum, one of the following areas:

i. Financial Management System (Tabs 2 - 9 of Attachment B) – Respondents must also respond to Tabs 1 and 16 – 17.

ii. Human Capital Management system (Tabs 10 - 15 of Attachment B) – Respondents must also respond to

Tabs 1 and 16 – 17.

This does not preclude Respondents from partnering or addressing more than one of the above areas but is rather intended to identify the minimum scope that must be presented in each proposal.

The County will consider Respondents of a subset of functionality on the relative merit of the functionality proposed based on the evaluation criteria laid forth in this RFP and reserves the right to enter into negotiations for one or more Respondents in order to achieve a “best–of-breed” solution.

pg. 13

The County reserves the right to make one or more awards to competing Respondents for subsets of functionality as a result of this RFP. In the event the County should make awards to one or more competing

Respondents, it shall be expected that additional discussion will take place between the County and the

Respondents to define requirements and an approach to building an integration or interface between the selected systems. In such instance, the County expects that the Respondents will work together as necessary to develop the necessary integration once one has been identified.

COUNTY PROJECT STAFFING

The County intends to have functional and technical resources available during Project implementation, though it is noted that the County does not anticipate dedicating staff full-time to the implementation in addition to managing their core job responsibilities. This applies to both functional resources as well as technical resources internal to the County. It is anticipated that some functional leads will serve as the functional lead, or a subject matter expert, across one or more modules – particularly within the financial modules of a future system – during the implementation process.

Staffing considerations are a factor for the County in terms of both the implementation process as well as supporting the software once in an operations mode. Respondents are encouraged to submit questions to the

County during the RFP questions period to solicit such additional information as is necessary to adequately estimate the resource commitments that would be expected of the County during implementation, and post go-live for ongoing support of the system(s). Additional resource planning will be performed based upon the selected Respondent(s).

Respondents shall clearly indicate in the proposal responses the estimated level of the County resource involvement in the implementation process, in order to allow the County to perform adequate planning. The

County will utilize the response to Respondents’ Resource Hour Estimates in Tab 3 of Attachment A – Project

Approach and Implementation Methodology, of Proposals as an input into the staffing plan the County develops, and requests that Respondents clearly articulate estimated staffing considerations in their responses.

DEPLOYMENT MODEL

The County is open to considering various deployment models and has structured the RFP to allow for the evaluation of the deployment model as but one factor in the overall procurement process. The County wishes to evaluate the greatest range of marketplace offerings feasible through this process.

The County recognizes there are many factors contributing to a comparison of cost Proposals for these various deployment methods including needed infrastructure and/or hardware costs, the potential for reduced hardware and support costs in hosted/SaaS models, a particular Respondent’s approach to managing upgrades, and technical staffing needs. The County has a strong preference toward a Software as a Service (SaaS) deployment model, but also recognizes that the scope of this opportunity may result in the award to two or more Respondents to address all functionality and the County wishes to evaluate the greatest range of available solutions in the market including those that may be locally hosted by the County. As such, the County is open to considering deployment models in light of the breadth of functionality and available solutions in the marketplace

pg. 14 to address those functional areas. The County will consider, in no particular order, the following deployment models:

a. On Premise (locally hosted at the County on a virtualized server, perpetual licenses)

b. Respondent hosted (hosted and managed by the Respondent, perpetual licenses)

c. Software as a Service (SaaS or subscription-based models)

Cost sheets have been provided under Attachment C1 – Cost Worksheets for pricing each of the deployment models.

This solicitation is not a bid process nor will it follow a lowest-priced responsive Proposal process, but will be based on most advantageous Proposal(s) utilizing the Evaluation Criteria listed in the RFP, including the review of life cycle costs (i.e., recurring costs, hardware, third-party licenses, etc.).

In developing proposals, Respondent’s shall clearly define the proposed deployment model including the licensing model as well as any perceived benefits of the proposed model. In the event two or more products are proposed under the same proposal (e.g., through a partnership or offered by the same company) the

Respondent shall clearly indicate in both the technical proposal (Attachment A, Tab 2) and cost proposal

(Attachment C1) the deployment model for each proposed software product.

The County does not have a preference as to a specific hosting location but does have a requirement toward the hosting being within the contiguous United States. Respondents are requested to specify the hosting location in proposal responses, specifically as part of Tab 8 to proposal responses (please see Attachment A for further instruction).

NUMBER OF USERS

The following user counts by module contained in the table below are estimates and are provided for planning purposes only. The number of users represents the anticipated future number of users of a new system.

• Departmental (Core/Power) Users: This category of users includes those the County staff that will interact with the system modules on a regular basis and conduct core business processes within the system as power users. Such generic examples include, but are not limited to: Payroll Clerk, Financial

Analyst, System Support Specialist, etc.

• Customer Department Users: This category of users includes those County staff that will interact with the system modules as internal customers by either initiating transactions (e.g., entering a payment or entering a requisition), reviewing/approving transactions (e.g., reviewing leave requests, reviewing requisitions entered by a subordinate), or consuming information (e.g., reviewing departmental budget).

Table 04: Number of Users

pg. 15

Functional Area Departmental

(Core/Power) Users

Customer

Department Users

Read Only Users

Financial Management

• General Ledger and Financial Reporting

• Budgeting: Operation and Personnel

• Budgeting: Capital

• Accounts Payable

• Accounts Receivable, General Billing and

Miscellaneous Cash Receipts

• Project Accounting and Grant Management

• Capital Assets

Approx: 50

Approx: 227 Budget

Approx: 200

Financial Management

• Purchasing, Solicitation, and Contract

Management

Approx: 130

Originators

Approx: 200

Purchasing

Human Capital Management

• HR and Personnel Management

• Learning Management

• Recruitment

• Benefit Administration

Approx: 25 for HR, Benefits

2000+ HRMS

2200 Self Service HR for Managers and

Employees

N/A Human Capital Management

• Recruitment

Approx: 258 for Hiring

Managers N/A

Human Capital Management

• Payroll

• Compensation

Approx: 25 Payroll

Approx: 250 for HR salaries and related info

Approx: 2,000

Payroll

It is anticipated that some users will use multiple modules, causing overlap in each functional area. The counts are broken down by functional area to allow Respondents to formulate responses based on each. The County estimates that:

a. The total number of licensed regular daily users of the system (requiring the ability to add, edit, and view content) using a named-seat basis may be around 75

b. The total number of regular daily concurrent users to be around 2,000 (unnamed license seats – in other words, how many people are expected to be accessing the system/module at the same time. This is in contrast to named users who have dedicated licenses tied to a unique login/user ID). The County’s capacity is higher because some of the AP/GL/payroll Users log into the system twice concurrently – so that they may have 2 modules open at the same time. In the TEST instance of our current ERP, the County allows 25 – 200 concurrent users depending on the module that is being used.

pg. 16

Functional Area Departmental

(Core/Power) Users

Customer

Department Users

Read Only Users

c. The County anticipates that all employees (up to 2,200 during peak seasons) would have access to self-service portal functionality

POTENTIAL PHASING AND TARGET LIVE DATES

The County requests that offerors provide potential phase start and target go-live dates in proposal responses per Attachment A – Proposal Response Forms, Tab 5. These dates should be estimates based on anticipated resource requirements and dependencies between functional areas. These dates are subject to negotiation. The

County anticipates that implementation activities would begin in September 2025. The County would like to target October 2026 as a potential go-live date for financial modules, January 2027 as a go-live date for human resources and payroll modules. The County follows an October 1 – September 30 fiscal year, and open enrollment occurs August/September.

CURRENT APPLICATIONS ENVIRONMENT

The County uses Oracle E-Business Suite v.12.2.10 as the enterprise financial and human capital management

(HCM) system. Originally implemented in 1998 for accounting purposes, Oracle has been upgraded and expanded across many functional areas at the County.

Table 05: Current ERP Functions

Current ERP Functions

1 Finance 8 Fixed Assets

2 Purchasing 9 HR and Personnel Management

3 Accounts Payable 10 Payroll

4 Accounts Receivable 11 Compensation

The Oracle application is not customized, that is, IT staff do not make schema change to the Oracle database.

Instead, the County relies on personalization updates to make changes to the application user interface (UI).

In addition to Oracle, the County relies on several other enterprise applications to supplement necessary financial and HCM related functionality not configured in Oracle.

• Benefitfocus: Benefits administration

• Laserfice: Document management

• Questica: Budgeting

• UKG Pro WFM and Telestaff: Timekeeping and scheduling

The County also relies on various digital workflow applications to supplement the workflow and approval functionality lacking in Oracle. These systems are outlined below.

• Laserfiche

• ServiceNow

pg. 17

• SharePoint

• Yooz

OTHER MAJOR APPLICATIONS

The County also uses a wide variety of applications to provide capability and functionality in specialized areas.

Many of these applications are listed in Table 06. Identification of any potential future system interfaces is provided in Attachment B to this RFP.

Table 06: Additional Software Applications

Additional Software Applications

No. Application Use/Summary

1 Active Directory Security Management

2 ActiveNet Payment Processor

3 Adobe Electronic Document Editor

4 AgendaQuick Electronic Agenda Creation Tool

5 Benefitfocus Benefit Administrator

6 BizLibrary Learning Management System

7 Bonfire Bid Solicitation Platform

8 Camtasia Video Editing Software

9 Excel Spreadsheet Editor

10 KnowBe4 IT LMS

11 UKG Pro WFM Timekeeping System

12 Kronos Workforce Central Timekeeping System

13 Laserfiche Document Management System

14 NeoGov Recruiting Software

15 Odyssey Courts System

16 OneDrive Cloud-Based Application Management Platform

17 Oracle Legacy ERP System

18 Origination Procurement Processor

19 Performance Center Reporting and Data Management System

20 Personify (Previously Virgin Pulse) Wellness Application

21 PowerDMS Workflow Management Platform

22 Powtoon Digital Video Creation Platform

pg. 18

Additional Software Applications

No. Application Use/Summary

23 Pre-Employ Background Investigator

24 Questica Budgeting Platform

25 ServiceNow IT Digital Workflow Manager

26 SharePoint Document Repository and Workflow Management

27 TCDRS Retirement System

28 Telestaff EMS and 911 Scheduling Tool

29 Texas SDU ACH Generator ACH Generation Tool

30 Tyler Payments Payment Processor

31 United Healthcare County Health Care Claims Processor

32 Wells Fargo Banking Institution and ACH Payment Processor

33 Yooz Payables Processor

PROJECT MANAGEMENT DOCUMENTATION

The following information establishes the expectation of the minimum level of project management documentation to be provided by Respondents as a part of, but not exclusively, the resulting implementation services offered. As part of the implementation scope, following signing of a contract, the selected

Respondent(s) shall develop and provide the County with the following items:

• Project Management Plan: a detailed Implementation Project Plan that, at a minimum, includes the following:

o Objectives o Deliverables and Milestones o Project Schedule o Resource Management Processes o Scope Management Processes o Schedule Management Processes o Risk Management Processes o Quality Management Approach o Communication Management Approach o Organizational Change Management Approach o Status Reporting

• Data Conversion Plan

• Training Plan

pg. 19

• System Interface Plan

• Testing and Quality Assurance Plan

• Pre- and Post-Implementation Support Plan

• System Documentation

• Risk Register

Additional documentation about each Plan may be found in Attachment A – Proposal Response Forms, Tab 3, attached to this RFP.

BUDGET

The County is committed to funding the one-time and recurring annual costs for the acquisition of the software

(whether a licensed model or a subscription model is selected as a result of this process). The County does not have an established budget in place for this project but intends to use the proposals received through this process to inform the budget development process. The County has performed initial, high-level estimations, for the acquisition of either a hosted or cloud-based software solution including professional services and recurring maintenance/subscription costs. Recognizing the cost and payment differences between deployment models, a final budget will be programmed based on the results of this RFP and final contract negotiations.

The County is sensitive to the total costs and has listed cost as one of the several evaluation criteria in the RFP;

however, this is not an opportunity to identify the lowest priced solution. This RFP opportunity is being presented as a best value solicitation, and not a lowest priced bid, opportunity.

PERSONNEL

All of Respondent’s personnel providing goods and services under the contract shall possess the necessary skills, experience, and knowledge, to perform their assigned duties. In the event assigned personnel are providing non-conforming or unsuitable services, the County shall notify Respondent and provide the opportunity to rectify the deficiency. If unable to cure the nonconforming services, Respondent shall remove from the project and replace the Respondent’s personnel that the County deems unsuitable for the project with a resource possessing the necessary skills, experience, and knowledge, to perform their assigned duties in a satisfactory manner.

Software Upgrades

The County shall be entitled to any and all upgraded versions of the software covered in the contract that becomes available from the Respondent. Such upgrades shall be provided at no cost to the County so long as a valid maintenance and support agreement, or if applicable software as a service licensing agreement, is in place.

PERFORMANCE REVIEW

The Respondent may be required to meet with the County’s Project Manager not less than once per quarter to conduct a performance review of the Respondent. These meetings will be either in person at the County offices, or via teleconference or web-conference. This performance review will include a review of the pricing, delivery performance, customer service, and improving operational efficiencies.

pg. 20

SILENCE OF SPECIFICATIONS

The apparent silence of these specifications as to any detail or to the apparent omission from it of a detailed description concerning any point, shall be regarded as meaning that only the best practices are to prevail. All interpretations of these specifications shall be made on the basis of this statement.

AMBIGUITY, CONFLICT, OR OTHER ERRORS IN THIS RFP

If a Respondent discovers any ambiguity, conflict, discrepancy, omission or other error in this solicitation, the Respondent shall immediately notify the County Purchasing Department of such error in writing and request modification or clarification of the document.

Modifications will be made by issuing Addenda. If the Respondent fails to notify the County prior to the date and time fixed for submission of responses of an error or ambiguity in the solicitation known to the Respondent, or an error or ambiguity that reasonably should have been known to the Respondent, then the Respondent shall be deemed to have waived the error or ambiguity or its later resolution.

The County may also modify the solicitation, no later than seventy-two (72) hours prior to the date and time fixed for submission of responses, by issuance of an Addendum. All Addenda will be numbered consecutively, beginning with one (1).

CONTRACT TERM AND RENEWALS

If applicable, at the end of the Initial Contract Term, the Commissioners Court reserves the right to renew the Initial

Contract Term, by mutual agreement of both parties, as it deems to be in the best interest of the County.

However, the County may terminate the contract at any time if funds are restricted, withdrawn, not approved, or if service is unsatisfactory. Any renewal will be in twelve (12) month increments with the terms and conditions remaining the same. The renewal of the contract is contingent on the appropriation of necessary funds by the

Commissioners Court for the fiscal year in question. Upon the failure of the Commissioners Court to so appropriate in any year, the Successful Respondent may elect to terminate the contract, with no additional liability to the

County. The County and the Successful Respondent agree that termination shall be the Successful Respondent's sole remedy under this circumstance.

EVALUATION CRITERIA AND AWARD PROCESS

EVALUATION AND AWARD

The County reserves the right to use all pertinent information (also learned from sources other than what is disclosed in the solicitation process) that might affect the County's judgment as to the appropriateness of an award to the lowest and best evaluated solicitation. This information may be appended to the solicitation evaluation process results. Information on a Respondent from reliable sources, and not within the Respondent’s response, may also be noted and made part of the evaluation file. The County shall have sole discretion for determining the reliability of the source.

pg. 21

The County reserves the right to reject any or all responses, or delete any portion of the response, or to accept any response deemed most advantageous, or to waive any irregularities or informalities in the response received that best serves the interest and at the sole discretion of the County. In addition, the County reserves the right to make one or more awards to competing Respondents for subsets of functionality as a result of this RFP. The County reserves the right to abandon the Project and/or to re-advertise and solicit other Proposals. The County reserves the right to create a Project of lesser or greater expense than described in this RFP or the Respondent's reply, based on the component prices or scope submitted. The County reserves the right to cancel this solicitation or to change its scope if it is considered to be in the best interest of the County.

EX PARTE COMMUNICATION

Please note that to ensure the proper and fair evaluation of a response to a solicitation, all inquiries concerning this procurement are to be directed only to the County’s Purchasing Agent in writing. The County prohibits ex parte communication (e.g., unsolicited communication) initiated by the Respondent to any Elected Official/Department Head, County Employee or Committee Member evaluating or considering the responses prior to the time a formal decision has been made. Questions and other communication from Respondents will be permissible by the means established by the County’s Purchasing Agent until the day and time specified as the deadline for questions. Any communication between Respondent and the County after the deadline for questions will be initiated by the appropriate County Official or Employee in order to obtain information or clarification needed to develop a proper and accurate evaluation of the response. Ex parte communication may be grounds for disqualifying the offending Respondent from consideration or award of the solicitation then in evaluation. If a Respondent violates these provisions more than once in a three (3) year period, the Purchasing Officer may debar the Respondent from the sale of goods or services to the County for a period not to exceed three (3) years.

The issuance of a written addendum is the only official method by which interpretation, clarification, or additional information will be given by the County. Only questions answered by formal written addenda will be binding. Oral and other interpretations or clarifications will be without legal effect.

CLARIFICATION

Respondents shall submit questions or requests for clarification through the solicitation portal:

https://wilco.bonfirehub.com/. All responses to said question or requests shall be posted in the portal.

RESPONSIBILITY AND RESPONSIVENESS

The County intends to award a Contract to the Respondent whose response will be most advantageous to the County. In accordance with Texas Government Code and Local Government Code, the County may consider, to the extent allowed by law, the following:

1. Price.

2. The Respondent's experience and reputation.

3. Quality of the Respondent's goods and/or services.

4. The Respondent's safety record.

5. The Respondent's proposed personnel.

6. The Respondent's financial capabilities; and https://wilco.bonfirehub.com/

pg. 22

7. Any other relevant factors specifically listed in this solicitation or authorized by law.

All Proposals received by the designated date and time will be evaluated based on the Respondent's Proposal.

Other information may be taken into consideration when that information potentially provides an additional benefit to the County, and further helps the County in receiving the services listed in the RFP.

Respondents' proposals must meet all mandatory (minimum) requirements in order to be scored. Scoring may also be based on total information gathered by the County at its discretion, including but not limited to respondent's ability to perform without delay or interference, character, responsibility, integrity, and experience or demonstrated capability; quality of prior work; compliance with laws; and noncompliance with requirements as to submission of relevant information.

Additionally, the County has the sole discretion and reserves the right to cancel this RFP, to reject any and all proposals, and/or to readvertise with either identical or revised specification if it is deemed to be in the County’s best interest. The County reserves the right to accept or reject any or all of the items in the Proposal, and/or negotiate any or all items with individual Respondents if it is deemed in the County’s best interest.

The County reserves the right to enter into a Contract, Ensuing Agreement or a Purchase Order with a single award, split awards, non-award, or use any combination that best serves the interest and at the sole discretion of the County.

EVALUATION COMMITTEE AND SELECTION PROCESS

All Proposals will be evaluated by a County appointed Evaluation Committee. The Evaluation Committee may be composed of County Staff that may have expertise, knowledge, or experience with the services and/or goods being procured hereunder. Those Respondents meeting all requirements and deemed most qualified may receive further evaluation via telephone or in-person interviews with members of the Evaluation Committee. The County will select a Respondent determined to be the best and most responsible Respondent meeting minimum specifications and qualifications.

Respondents are advised that the Evaluation Committee, at its option, may recommend an award strictly based on the initial RFP responses, or in addition, may have interviews with firms to determine its final recommendation.

The Evaluation Committee will present its recommendation to the Williamson County Commissioners' Court for approval and award of contract.

Finalist shall be determined by the Respondent receiving the most points in relation to the Evaluation Criteria outlined herein. Additional scoring may be conducted based upon Respondent's presentation during the interview process and may or may not include previous scores from Respondent's Proposal. Respondent Interviews shall be conducted in person and not remotely.

The County also reserves the right to communicate with select Respondents at any time to gather additional information.

A. Respondent shortlist: the County evaluation committee will initially review and evaluate each proposal received to determine the Respondent’s ability to meet the requirements of the County. The evaluation criteria described herein will be the basis for evaluation. The evaluation committee will determine the Respondents best suited to meet the needs of the county based on the scoring of the evaluation criteria. These Respondents will form the Respondent shortlist.

pg. 23

B. Respondent demonstrations: the County, at its sole discretion, reserves the right to have system demonstrations with those Respondents on the Respondent shortlist, or any other Respondent. Demonstrations may be conducted at the County offices. Demonstrations will involve a scripted demonstration. The schedule, scripts, and demonstration requirements will be provided with the invitation to participate in demonstrations. A pre-demonstration Respondent web conference will take place for those Respondents that have been shortlisted, and Respondents will have an opportunity to review the format of the demonstrations and ask questions related to procedure and specific demonstration scenarios. Respondents that are invited to participate in demonstrations are advised that the provided scripts must be strictly adhered to while presenting. Optional modules or functionality shall not be presented if they fall outside the scope of requested functionality or that functionality which has been proposed by the Respondent. The proposed version of the software must be shown and must not include any software that is under development or in beta testing. Evaluation committee members will view the demonstrations, and additional the county staff may also be in attendance to observe and provide informal feedback.

C. Reference checks: the county may employ a process of contacting references provided through Respondents’ proposals. This process may include teleconference meetings, web conferences, and in-person meetings with references.