EXHIBIT N- GLOSSARY OF TERMS.pdf

EXHIBIT N: GLOSSARY OF TERMS

EXHIBIT N: GLOSSARY OF TERMS

GLOSSARY OF TERMS

TERM/ACRONYM DEFINITION

Ad-Hoc In legal contexts, ad hoc often refers to something done for a particular case or situation, without wider application.

Agency/State entity

Agency: When used in lower case (agency), refers to any office, department, board, bureau, commission or other organizational entity within state government. When capitalized (Agency), the term refers to one of the state’s super agencies, such as the State and Consumer Services Agency or the Health and Human Services Agency.

State Entity: Any entity within the executive branch that is under the direct authority of the Governor, including, but not limited to, all agencies, departments, boards, bureaus, commissions, councils, institutions, offices, or other distinct governmental organization not specifically exempted from adherence to the legal and regulatory requirements related to information security and privacy set forth herein.

Agreement A legally binding obligation or contract by whatever name known or in whatever format used (including purchase orders), between the State and another entity, public or private, for the provision of goods or services.

Alpha Numeric A character that is either a letter or a number.

State of California Department of Technology

RFP 26-014-280

GLOSSARY OF TERMS

October 2, 2026

Amazon Web Service

(AWS)

AWS is a hyperscale cloud computing infrastructure that provides a collection of remote computing services—including virtualization, containerization, serverless computing, managed databases, and storage—delivered over the internet via a multi-tenant, shared-pool model using Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Software as a Service (SaaS) delivery models, where resources are provisioned on demand, metered for pay-per-use billing, and orchestrated through API-driven interfaces.

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

A comprehensive civil rights law that prohibits discrimination based on disability in employment, state and local government services, public accommodations, transportation, and telecommunications. The ADA requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations to employees with disabilities, unless doing so would cause undue hardship.

Annually Once a year; every year.

Application Programming Interface

(API)

An Application Programming Interface (API) is a set of defined rules and specifications that allow different software applications to communicate with each other, acting as an intermediary, enabling one piece of software to request services or data from another without needing to understand the internal workings of the other system.

Array An arrangement of numbers, pictures or objects formatted into rows and columns according to their type.

State of California Department of Technology

RFP 26-014-280

GLOSSARY OF TERMS

Available in System

Indication of how a bidder will meet a project requirement. Values include:

• B - Out-of-the-box. Feature or functionality is native to the solution and available immediately without customization, modification, configuration, or third party tools.

• C - Customization required. The code must be modified to meet the requirement.

• T - Third-party software integration required. Integration of third-party software is needed to meet the requirement.

• U — Unable to meet requirement. The requirement cannot be met by the proposed solution.

Azure

Azure is a hyperscale, multi-tenant cloud operating system that extends enterprise infrastructure by providing a unified suite of Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Software as a Service (SaaS) capabilities—including virtual machines, Kubernetes services, managed AI/ML pipelines, and integrated data analytics—orchestrated through a global network of data centers and accessed via RESTful APIs, PowerShell, and .NET SDKs, with deep integration into on-premises Active Directory and hybrid cloud architectures.

Azure DevOps (ADO) A cloud-based platform that provides integrated tools for software development teams.

Best and Final Offer

(BAFO)

The last and most favorable proposal submitted during a negotiation or bidding process.

Bidder

1. A supplier who submits, or has identified their intention to submit, a bid to the State in response to a solicitation.

2. An individual, sole proprietorship, firm, partnership, corporation, or any other business venture that responds to a solicitation.

Bidder References A reference that was in a management or supervisory role for an external organization (external to the Bidder’s organization and corporate structure) for whom the project was completed.

State of California Department of Technology

RFP 26-014-280

GLOSSARY OF TERMS

Binary A system using two options or components, often represented as 0 and 1.

BLOB

Binary Large Object, is a data type used in database management systems to store large amounts of binary data.

Boolean Represents a logical value that can be either true or false.

Business rule configurability

Creating, modifying, and managing the logical conditions and actions that define how a software system behaves.

Business Rules Engine

(BRE)

A sophisticated software system designed to externalize and manage an intricate web of organizational policies and decision-making logic, separating them from the core application code. It offers high configurability through user-friendly interfaces, accessible by WaterTAP Admin, allowing them to define, test, and instantly deploy complex rules—including interdependent logic, time-sensitive criteria, and hierarchical decision tables—without requiring software developer intervention or application downtime. This externalization, paired with robust version control and execution algorithms, ensures that DDW can rapidly adapt its operational workflow to changing regulations while maintaining a clear audit trail and high decision throughput.

California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA)

A privacy law that grants California consumers rights over their personal information, including the right to know what data is collected, the right to delete that data, and the right to opt-out of its sale by businesses.

California Department of Technology (CDT)

CDT is tasked with securing statewide information assets by providing oversight and infrastructure for many state departments and serves as the custodian of information for mission-critical and essential business applications.

California Government Enterprise Network

(CGEN)

Mandatory, statewide Wide Area Network (WAN) infrastructure managed by the California Department of Technology (CDT), which provides executive branch agencies, departments, and external business partners with secure, consolidated network connectivity. Serves as the mandatory primary transport network required to route secure traffic between an agency’s local offices, CDT data centers, and public cloud environments (e.g. Azure, AWS).

State of California Department of Technology

RFP 26-014-280

GLOSSARY OF TERMS

California Information Practices Act (IPA)

A law that protects the privacy of individuals by regulating how state agencies collect, use, maintain, and disclose personal information.

California Laboratory Intake Portal (CLIP)

A point-of-access intake portal for laboratories for drinking water quality data reporting requirements to help facilitate reporting.

California Project Management Framework (CA-PMF)

The CA- PMF offers guidance and insight on project management methods and approach through the use of scalable resources, tools, and templates.

The CA-PMF is intended as a practical and useful guide to lead a Project Manager and project team through the project management lifecycle for projects of all sizes so that they achieve expected outcomes.

California State Administrative Manual

(SAM)

A resource for statewide policies, procedures, requirements and information developed and issued by authoring agencies which include the Governor's Office (GO), Department of Finance (DOF), Department of Human Resources (CalHR), Department of General Services (DGS), and the California Department of Technology (CDT).

California State Contract Manual (SCM)

A resource for those in California state government who are involved in the state’s contracting process. It provides the policies, procedures and guidelines to promote sound business decisions and practices in securing necessary services for the state.

Char A fundamental data type in many programming languages used to store a single character.

Client Defined the same as customer.

Client's Developed System

A system that is developed by the Bidder for a client.

Comma Separated Values (csv)

A plain text file format used to store tabular data, like spreadsheets or databases.

State of California Department of Technology

RFP 26-014-280

GLOSSARY OF TERMS

Commercial Off-The- Shelf (COTS)

A computer hardware or software product that is ready-made for specific uses and available for sale to the general public. COTS products are designed to be installed without requiring custom development. For example, Microsoft Office is a COTS product that is a packaged software solution for businesses and individuals. The set of rules for COTS is defined by the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR).

Completed Implementation

A solution that has received system acceptance from the customer and is in a production environment.

Complex IT project

An information technology initiative that involves multiple separate, but interconnected components and requires a high level of technical expertise to execute. These projects often involve the development, implementation, or upgrade of software systems, hardware infrastructure, or network architectures.

Continuous Integration/ Continuous Delivery

(CI/CD)

A set of processes that help software development teams deliver code changes more frequently and reliably.

Contact management and credentialing

The process of recording contact details and tracking their interactions and access to an organization's systems and/or data.

Contract A legally binding obligation or agreement by whatever name known or in whatever format used (including purchase orders), between the State and another entity, public or private, for the provision of goods or services.

Contractor The business entity with who the State enters into a contract.

CROMERR

Cross-Media Electronic Reporting Rule provides the legal framework for electronic reporting under EPA’s regulatory programs. The Rule sets performance-based, technology-neutral system standards and provides a streamlined, uniform process for Agency review and approval of electronic reporting.

Customer An external organization who receives and pays for goods or services.

State of California Department of Technology

RFP 26-014-280

GLOSSARY OF TERMS

Custom Solution Typically, computer software developed for a specific customer to accommodate the customer's particular requirements, preferences, and expectations.

Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

A comprehensive strategy and set of technologies that businesses use to manage and analyze customer interactions and data throughout the customer lifecycle.

Daily Occurring every day.

Data Executive Steering Committee (DESC)

The Data Executive Steering Committee (DESC) is responsible for providing leadership and expertise to continuously improve the Division of Drinking Water's operational efficiency and enhance services provided by leveraging information technology while strategizing, developing, and supporting data needs for the Division of Drinking Water's business functions.

Data input validation The process of inspecting, testing, and confirming that data entered into a system meets predefined rules and criteria for accuracy, completeness, and format before it is processed or stored.

Data Schema A well-defined set of rules that organizes, structures, and ensures the integrity, consistency, and efficiency of data within a system or across multiple systems.

Date/Time Date refers to a specific day, month, and year, while time refers to a specific point within that day, measured in hours, minutes, and seconds.

Decimal A fraction whose denominator is a power of ten and whose numerator is expressed by figures placed to the right of a decimal point.

Defect

A system defect (informally known as a bug) is a flaw or weakness in WaterTAP or one of its components that could cause it to behave in an unintended, unwanted manner or to exhibit an unintended, unwanted property.

State of California Department of Technology

RFP 26-014-280

GLOSSARY OF TERMS

Deliverable Acceptance Document (DAD)

A Deliverable Acceptance Document (DAD) is a formal record that verifies a specific output has been reviewed, meets agreed-upon acceptance criteria, and is officially accepted.

Deliverable Expectation Document (DED)

A Deliverable Expectation Document (DED) defines requirements, acceptance criteria, and other details for a specific project deliverable to ensure all parties involved have a shared understanding of what needs to be produced and how it will be evaluated for acceptance.

Design, Development, and Implementation

(DD&I)

The process by which the system architecture and detailed technical specifications are designed, developed, and then implemented.

Division of Drinking Water (DDW)

The Division of Drinking Water is responsible for regulatory oversight of public water systems in the State of California and plays a crucial role in safeguarding public health by ensuring that the water Californians drink is safe, potable, and wholesome.

Division of Information Technology (DIT)

The State Water Board's Division of Information Technology provides leadership and vision in the area of information technology to the State and Regional Water Boards.

Document generation, distribution, and management

The creation of documents, forms, and other materials, and the process of delivering, sharing, and providing those documents to others.

Domain Driven Design

(DDD)

Means organizing domain concepts into bounded contexts and domain aggregates (representing transaction scope). DDD also includes modeling workflow, program/practice, and “life” events as first-class domain concepts, which are key to designing event-driven integration between WaterTAP and other auxiliary systems.

Electronic Vendor Application of Qualifications (eVAQ)

The process used by the California Department of Technology (CDT) to pre-qualify vendors for IT and telecommunications solicitations.

Enterprise Content Management (ECM)

A comprehensive approach to managing an organization's information throughout its lifecycle, from creation to disposal.

State of California Department of Technology

RFP 26-014-280

GLOSSARY OF TERMS

Enterprise Geodatabase (a.k.a.

multiuser geodatabase)

A large-scale, central repository for Geographic Information System (GIS) data that leverages the capabilities of a commercial Relational Database Management System (RDBMS), such as Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server, PostgreSQL, or IBM Db2.

Enumerated Type

(ENUM)

A data type in computer programming that allows for the definition of a set of named constants.

Environmental Laboratory Accreditation Program

(ELAP)

Provides evaluation and accreditation of environmental testing laboratories used for regulatory purposes to meet the requirements of the State's drinking water, wastewater, and hazardous waste programs.

Environmental Systems Research Institute

(ESRI)

AESRI (Environmental Systems Research Institute) is a software company that develops geographic information system (GIS) technology, including the ArcGIS platform, which is used for mapping, spatial analysis, and data management.

EPA

The Environmental Protection Agency is an independent agency of the United States government tasked with environmental protection matters.

Excel A spreadsheet application that organizes and analyzes data using rows and columns.

Extensible Markup Language (xml)

A markup language defined by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) primarily for storing, transporting, and sharing data in a structured, plain-text format.

External Users Individuals or entities outside a specific organization who utilize the organization's information or services.

Extract, Transform, and Load (ETL)

The process of combining data from multiple sources into a large, central repository called a data warehouse.

Federal Information Processing Standards

(FIPS)

These are publicly announced standards developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) for use by U.S. federal government agencies and their contractors.

State of California Department of Technology

RFP 26-014-280

GLOSSARY OF TERMS

Federal/other state agencies

Federal agencies are government organizations within the executive branch established to carry out specific functions, such as managing resources, regulating industries, or overseeing national security. Other state agencies are similar organizations, but they operate under the authority of a state government, not the federal government.

File Geodatabase

A proprietary, file-based data container used in a Geographic Information System (GIS) to store, manage, and query both spatial (geographic) and nonspatial data within a common file system folder. It is the recommended, highly scalable format for single-user or small workgroup projects within the Esri ArcGIS ecosystem.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

A document or page that provides answers to a list of typical questions that users might ask regarding a particular subject.

Full-Time Month Equivalents (FTE)

The workload of a full-time employee representing a forty (40) hour workweek.

Functional Requirements

Functional requirements represent the business objectives, needs and outcomes of all stakeholders. They should be organized and presented in context of and with a baseline business process/workflow that they describe.

They provide a description of what an enabling solution should provide and specifies essential details of a solution for stakeholders as a means to express and manage expectations. They describe actions and operations that the solution must be able to perform. They can describe services, reactions, and behaviors of the solution. They also describe information the solution will manage. The requirements should be expressed in business terms and should not include any technical references. The requirement should identify “what” is required to meet the business objective, not “how” the requirement will be implemented.

Geodatabase

A centralized, intelligent data container used in a Geographic Information System (GIS) to store, manage, and query geographic information and its associated attributes. It's more than just a simple file format; it's a comprehensive data model that allows for the implementation of advanced spatial capabilities and data integrity rules that aren't possible with simpler file structures.

State of California Department of Technology

RFP 26-014-280

GLOSSARY OF TERMS

GeoJSON geospatial web services

An application programming interface (API) that serves geographic data over the internet, using GeoJSON as its data transfer format.

Geospatial data Information that identifies the geographic location and characteristics of natural or constructed features and boundaries on Earth.

GIS mapping A method of visualizing spatial data using interactive maps.

Government County, State or Federal

Graphical User Interface (GUI)

A means of interacting with electronic devices using visual elements.

GUID See UUID

High Level of Effort (High LOE)

High LOE. 41+ hours required to make necessary customizations (e.g. code changes in multiple modules, addition of a function that impacts solution architecture).

HTML

Hypertext Markup Language, a standardized system for tagging text files to achieve font, color, graphic, and hyperlink effects on World Wide Web pages.

HyperText Transfer Protocol Secure

(HTTPS)

A secure protocol used for transmitting data over the internet.

Immaterial Deviation

A deviation can be accepted by the State when it is determined to be of such a minor concern that it carries little or no importance, and by accepting it, it doesn’t provide the bidder with any material advantage over other bidders.

Example: A bidder referenced the wrong page in their supporting technical literature. The bidder directed the evaluator to page 4 and the correct page should have been page 5.

Incident Any deficiency, issue, defect, bug, request, or inquiry that meets the definition of a Level 1, Level 2, Level 3, or Level 4 Incident in software or hardware.

State of California Department of Technology

RFP 26-014-280

GLOSSARY OF TERMS

Independent Verification & Validation

(IV&V)

The process where an independent organization assesses a system or software throughout its development lifecycle to ensure it meets its requirements and functions as intended.

Infastructure as a Service (Iaas)

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) is a cloud computing model that provides on-demand access to fundamental computing resources like servers, storage, and networking over the internet.

Information Technology

(IT)

Systems for storing, retrieving, and sending information.

Integer A number that is not a fraction; a whole number.

Interactive Voice Response (IVR)

Automated telephony systems that interact with callers, gather information, and route calls to the appropriate recipient.

Internal Users Individuals within an organization who utilize accounting information to make informed decisions regarding the company's operations.

Intrusion Prevention System (IPS)

Aonitors network traffic for potential threats and automatically blocks them by alerting the security team, terminating dangerous connections, removing malicious content or triggering other security devices.

Json JavaScript Object Notation, is a lightweight, human-readable data interchange format. It is used for transmitting data between a server and web applications, as well as for storing data.

Key Action Dates (KADs)

Key Action Dates (KADs) are dates and times by which actions must be taken or completed for this procurement.

Key Staff Contractor staff roles identified in SECTION 10.2.4. KEY STAFF ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES of this Statement of Work or in an executed

WOA.

KML geospatial web services

An application programming interface (API) that delivers geographic data over the internet, using Keyhole Markup Language (KML) as the primary data format.

Laboratories A place equipped for experimental study in a science or for testing and analysis.

State of California Department of Technology

RFP 26-014-280

GLOSSARY OF TERMS

Large-scale

A project that is extensive in scope and complexity with over 1,000 end users. It typically involves a high level of resources, including a significant budget and a large team of professionals. These projects often span multiple years and may involve multiple departments and organizations.

Level 1 Incident Critical production issues affecting all users, including system unavailability and data integrity issues with no workaround available.

Level 2 Incident

Major functionality is impacted, or performance is significantly degraded. The issue is persistent and affects many users and/or major functionality. No reasonable workaround is available. It also includes time-sensitive requests such as requests for feature activation or a data export.

Level 3 Incident System performance issue or bugs affect some but not all users. Short-term workarounds are available, but not scalable.

Level 4 Incident

Inquiry regarding a routine technical issue; information requested on application capabilities, navigation, installation, or configuration; bug affecting some users. Reasonable workarounds available. Resolution is required as soon as reasonably practicable.

Local Primacy Agency

(LPA)

Local health departments or other agencies certified by the State Water Resources Control Board to implement and enforce the Safe Drinking Water Act, primarily for small public water systems.

Low Level of Effort (Low

LOE)

0–40 hours required to make necessary customizations (e.g. minor to moderate code changes, addition of new attributes and related GUI updates).

Machine Readable Data, documents, or formats that are structured and presented in a way that computers and other automated systems can easily process, import, and extract information from without human intervention.

Master Test Plan (MTP) The master test plan is a document that describes in detail how the testing is being planned and how it will be managed across different test levels.

State of California Department of Technology

RFP 26-014-280

GLOSSARY OF TERMS

Material Deviation

A deviation in the bid response that cannot be accepted by the State because it is not in substantial accord with the solicitation requirements, provides an advantage to one bidder over other bidders, or has a potentially significant effect on the delivery, quantity, or quality of items bid, amount paid to the Contractor, or on the cost to the State. Material deviations cannot be waived.

Example: The solicitation required a system that would serve 500 users and the bidder only offered a system that would serve 250 users.

Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL)

A health-based drinking water standard that defines the highest concentration of a contaminant allowed in public water systems.

Minute A period of time equal to sixty seconds or a sixtieth of an hour.

Modified Off-The-Shelf

(MOTS)

Typically, a COTS product with source code is made available to the purchaser to allow for modifications. The product may be customized by the purchaser, by a vendor, or by another party to meet the requirements of the customer. Since MOTS product specifications are written by external sources, purchasers may not have control of future changes to the product.

Monthly A measure of time corresponding nearly to the period of the moon's revolution and amounting to approximately 4 weeks or 30 days or ¹/₁₂ of a year.

MuleSoft Provides a platform for connecting applications, data, and devices focusing on API-led integration strategies.

Multi-factor Authentication (MFA)

A security process that requires users to provide two or more different types of evidence, factors, to verify their identity before granting access to a system.

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)

An agency of the United States Department of Commerce whose mission is to promote American innovation and industrial competitiveness.

State of California Department of Technology

RFP 26-014-280

GLOSSARY OF TERMS

Non-Functional Requirements

Non-functional requirements provide criteria to evaluate the operation of an enabling solution and primarily represent qualities of (expectations and characteristics) and constraints on (e.g., governmental regulations) the solution. They capture conditions that do not directly relate to the behavior or functionality of the solution, but rather describe environmental conditions of an effective solution or productive qualities of the solution. Mid-level non-functional requirements also define quality of service requirements, such as those relating to required capacity, speed, security, privacy, availability, response time, throughput, usability, and the information architecture and presentation of the user interfaces.

Number An arithmetical value, expressed by a word, symbol, or figure, representing a particular quantity and used in counting and making calculations and for showing order in a series or for identification.

Office of Statewide Technology Procurement (OSTP)

The Office of Statewide Technology Procurement conducts independent project oversight for state project acquisitions of IT and Telecommunications goods and services.

State of California Department of Technology

RFP 26-014-280

GLOSSARY OF TERMS

Open Source Software/ Code

Software that includes distribution terms that comply with the following criteria provided by the Open-Source Initiative. The open source definition used here is from the Open Source Initiative and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License (http://creativecommons.org/ licenses/by/2.5/)

1. Free Redistribution: The software can be given as part of a package with other applications;

2. Source Code: The code must either be distributed with the software or easily accessible;

3. Derived Works: The code can be altered and distributed by the new author under the same license conditions as the product on which it is based;

4. Integrity of the author's source code: Derived works must not interfere with the original author's intent or work;

5. No discrimination against persons or groups;

6. No discrimination against fields of endeavor: Distributed software cannot be restricted in who can use it based on their intent;

7. Distribution of license: The rights of the program must apply to all to whom the program is re-distributed without need for an additional license;

8. License must not be specific to a product; Meaning that an operating system product cannot be restricted to be free only if used with another specific product;

9. License must not contaminate other software; and

10. License must be technology-neutral.

Organizational Change Management (OCM)

The process of guiding organizational change to a successful resolution.

Pacific Time (PT) The standard time in a zone including the Pacific coastal region of the United States, and Canada, and Mexico.

PDF

A file format that provides an electronic image of text or text and graphics that looks like a printed document and can be viewed, printed, and electronically transmitted.

State of California Department of Technology

RFP 26-014-280

GLOSSARY OF TERMS

October 2, 2026

/tmp/(http:/creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/ /tmp/(http:/creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/

Platform as a Service (PaaS)

Platform as a Service is a cloud computing model that provides a platform for developing, running, and managing applications, offering a comprehensive environment that includes hardware, software, and infrastructure.

Potentially Shippable Increment (PSI)

A valuable, usable, and releasable product or product increment produced at the end of a sprint.

Private Sector An organization that is not a local government or State Agency/Entity.

Product Increment (PI) The sum of all the work completed during a Sprint in the Agile framework, integrated with all prior increments.

Project Approval Lifecycle (PAL)

The structure process in the State of California to assess and approve Information Technology projects.

Project of Similar Size, Scope, and Complexity

A Project of similar size, scope, and complexity means that there was a large-scale system integration that included at least two (2) of the following elements:

• 500 or more users of Client's developed system.

• Similar Client industry (e.g., water resources, environmental resource quality management/oversight).

• Data governance and system integration of over ten (10) or more information systems.

• Project cost of at least $10 million, excluding hardware, licensing, maintenance and operations, and data center/hosting costs.

Project/Transitional Requirements

Project/transition requirements describe capabilities that the solution must have in order to facilitate the transition from the current state of the enterprise to a desired future state. Mid-level project/transition requirements are differentiated from other requirement types because they are usually temporary in nature and will not be needed once the transition is complete.

They typically cover process requirements imposed through the Contract, such as mandating a particular design method, administrative requirements, data conversion and migration from existing systems, interfaces, skill gaps that must be addressed, and other related changes required to reach the desired future state.

State of California Department of Technology

RFP 26-014-280

GLOSSARY OF TERMS

Proposal An offer made in response to a Request for Proposals (RFP). Also referred to as a Bid and response.

Public Ordinary people in general; the community.

Public Water System

(PWS)

A Public Water System (PWS) means a system for the provision of water for human consumption through pipes or other constructed conveyances that has 15 or more service connections or regularly serves at least 25 individuals daily at least 60 days out of the year. A public water system includes the following:

(1) Any collection, treatment, storage, and distribution facilities under control of the operator of the system that are used primarily in connection with the system.

(2) Any collection or pre-treatment storage facilities not under the control of the operator that are used primarily in connection with the system.

(3) Any water system that treats water on behalf of one or more public water systems for the purpose of rendering it safe for human consumption.

Quarterly Occurring once every quarter of a year.

Release Review Board

(RRB)

A group of individuals responsible for reviewing and approving new releases in a software development process.

State of California Department of Technology

RFP 26-014-280

GLOSSARY OF TERMS

Release Types

• Major

• Minor

• Patch

• Emergency

(Hotfix)

• Maintenance /

Service Pack

• Alpha

• Beta

• Major Release

• Indicates significant, fundamental changes to the software.

• Introduction of significant new features, architectural overhauls, or changes that break backward compatibility.

• Minor Release

• Indicated the introduction of new features and functionality in a way that is compatible with previous versions.

• Introduction of new, smaller features or significant enhancements that maintain backward compatibility.

• Patch

• Indicated a small, low-risk changes primarily focused on stability and security.

• Focused on bug fixes, security patches, or minor performance improvements.

• Emergency (Hotfix)

• An unscheduled urgent release deployed to fix a critical production issue or security vulnerability that is severely impacting users or system integrity.

• Maintenance / Service Pack

• A cumulative collection of all previously released bug fixes, patches, and sometimes minor, low-risk updates since the last Major or Minor release.

• Alpha

• The earliest phase of a feature-complete or partially complete build.

• Beta

• A more stable version than Alpha, where core functionality is complete, but some bugs and performance issues may remain.

State of California Department of Technology

RFP 26-014-280

GLOSSARY OF TERMS

Reports and dashboards

An account given of a particular matter, especially in the form of an official document, after thorough investigation or consideration by an appointed person or body, and a graphical summary of various pieces of information, typically used to give an overview of a process or system.

Representational State Transfer Application Programming Interface

(REST API)

A set of rules or guidelines for creating web application programming interfaces that allow different software systems to communicate with each other over the internet.

Requirements Traceability Matrix

(RTM)

A requirements traceability matrix is a table that demonstrates the relationship between requirements and test cases.

Responsible Bidder

A Bidder who is fully capable of performing the contract. Considerations include a supplier deemed to satisfactorily demonstrate some or all of the following, pertinent to the specific transaction:

1. The capability to comply with the required or proposed delivery or performance schedule considering all existing commitments;

2. A satisfactory record of performance;

3. A satisfactory record of integrity;

4. Qualified and eligible to receive an award under all applicable laws and regulations; and/or

5. Necessary organization, experience, operational controls and technical skills (or the ability to obtain them).

A Bidder is responsible if they possess the experience, facilities, reputation, financial resources and are fully capable of performing the contract.

Responsive Bidder A Bidder whose solicitation response is compliant with the solicitation requirements and indicates performance without material deviation from the terms and conditions of the proposed contract.

Role-Based Access Control (RBAC)

Access control based on a user's role(s).

State of California Department of Technology

RFP 26-014-280

GLOSSARY OF TERMS

Salesforce A cloud-based software company that offers a customer relationship management platform and related business applications.

Security Acceptance Test Description

(SATD)

The description of a process used to verify that a system meets the requirements of the customer or user.

Security Acceptance Test Report (SATR)

The report of the process used to verify that a system meets the requirements of the customer or user.

Security Incident Report

(SIR)

A strategic approach to identifying, prioritizing and containing a cyberattack, as well as managing the resolution and aftermath of such an attack.

Shapefile A widely used geospatial vector format for Geographic Information System (GIS) software.

Snowflake A cloud-based data warehousing platform designed for storing and analyzing large amounts of data.

Software as a Service (SaaS)

A method of software delivery and licensing in which software is accessed online via subscription, rather than bought and installed on individual computers.

Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC)

A structured process used to plan, design, develop, test, and maintain software applications.

State government Any State Agency/Entity.

State Information Management Manual

(SIMM)

Contain standards, instructions, forms and templates that State agencies must use to comply with Information Technology (IT) policy.

State Water Board, Water Board, State, (SWRCB)

State Water Resources Control Board

Stock Keeping Unit

(SKU)

A unique identifier or code used to specify an exact software license and/or product.

State of California Department of Technology

RFP 26-014-280

GLOSSARY OF TERMS

Subject Matter Expert

(SME)

A person who has accumulated great knowledge in a particular field or topic and this level of knowledge is demonstrated by the person's degree, licensure, and/or through years of professional experience with the subject.

System Acceptance State’s approval of the Contractor’s System Acceptance Report.

System Design Specification (SDS)

A detailed document that describes all aspects of a system’s design.

System/Solution (WaterTAP)

The entire system which the Contractor provides, including all system components, third-party components, environments, configurations, etc.

Tableau Data visualization software used for business intelligence and analytics.

Technical Approach Outlines the specific methods, procedures, and tools used to complete a project or deliver a service. Demonstrates a team's expertise and ability to meet requirements.

Technical Review Team

(TRT)

A group of technical experts who provide guidance, expertise, and feedback on projects, proposals, or designs to ensure quality, compliance with standards, and successful delivery.

Text Used to store character strings.

Tri-annually Occurring three times a year.

txt A common file format that stores plain text, without any formatting like bolding or italics.

Universally Unique Identifier (UUID)

A 128-bit number used to uniquely identify information in computer systems.

User Acceptance Testing (UAT)

The final phase of software testing is where the intended end-users of a system or application verify that it meets their needs and requirements before it is released to them.

Variable Character (Varchar)

A data type used in databases to store character strings of varying lengths.

Violation determination and enforcement

The process in which a competent authority formally decides that a rule or agreement has been broken.

State of California Department of Technology

RFP 26-014-280

GLOSSARY OF TERMS

Web Content Accessibility Guidelines

(WCAG)

A set of recommendations for improving web accessibility, primarily for people with disabilities—but also for all user agents, including highly limited devices, such as mobile phones.

Weekly Occurring once a week.

WFS geospatial web services

An open-standard interface developed by the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) that allows users to retrieve, query, and modify vector geographic features over the internet.

Word Microsoft Word, often abbreviated as MS Word, is a word processing application developed by Microsoft.

Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)

Breaking work into smaller tasks is a common productivity technique used to make the work more manageable and approachable.

Workflow management The process of defining, automating, and optimizing a series of tasks to achieve a specific business goal more efficiently.

Work Order Authorization (WOA)

Documentation that approves and directs commencement of a specific task or project.

State of California Department of Technology

RFP 26-014-280

GLOSSARY OF TERMS