Invitation.pdf

RFI-2405BM

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION

Point of Sale Software-School Store

The Gwinnett County Public Schools (GCPS) Board of Education is soliciting a Request for Information (RFI) from interested service providers for a proposal to address a Point of Sale Software for our School Stores for Gwinnett County Public Schools.

RFI submissions will be received digitally until 10:00 AM EST, Tuesday, May 21, 2024 through the Bonfire Interactive online portal located at https://gwinnett.bonfirehub.com or by visiting the GCPS Purchasing website at https:publish.gwinnett.k12.ga.us/gcps/home/public/about/business-and-finance/p-and-p.

A list of submitting firms will be available the following business day on our website.

Questions regarding this RFI should be submitted in Bonfire under the Message Center of the RFI before the cutoff date of May 14, 2024 at 10:00 AM.

https://gwinnett.bonfirehub.com/

Introduction/Project Overview Gwinnett County Public Schools (GCPS) is inviting service providers to submit information about their Point of Sale (POS) Software for our School Stores. GCPS is one of the largest school systems in the country made up of 142 schools and approximately 182,000 students.

The purpose of this RFI is to allow GCPS personnel to learn about services provided by various Point of Sale (POS) Software suppliers for our school stores providers to determine which one best meets the needs of the size of the district as well as the breadth of desired uses of the tool. GCPS will not enter into a contractual agreement based on this RFI. At some point in the near future GCPS may elect to issue a more detailed Request for Proposal (RFP) in order to solicit solutions for a Point of Sale (POS) Software for our system vendor.

Confidentiality Requirements This document is released for the sole purpose of inviting a response to this RFI and must be considered confidential. Any use, reproduction, or disclosure of the requirements, specifications, or other material in the response is strictly prohibited.

Retention of Responses The service provider will provide a clear and complete response to the services listed in direct response to the requirements set forth in this RFI. RFI responses are not publicly available until after an award by the Gwinnett County Board of Education is made or a contract is entered into.

RFIs must be signed by a company official that has authorization to commit company information and resources before uploading in Bonfire.

All RFI responses become the property of GCPS when submitted. GCPS will make all reasonable efforts to maintain responses in confidence and will release responses only to personnel involved in the review of materials submitted. Release of any information submitted shall be handled in accordance with Georgia’s Open Records Laws. Any supplier’s proprietary information shall be clearly identified as such and the Georgia Code covering such declaration shall be cited by Title, Chapter, Section, Sub-Section, etc. GCPS accepts no responsibility for the release of any information not so noted.

Communication Gwinnett County Public Schools Personnel: Individuals, firms, and businesses seeking an award of a Gwinnett County Public Schools contract may not initiate or continue any verbal or written communications regarding a solicitation. RFI submissions will be received digitally until 10:00 a.m. on Tuesday, May 21, 2024, through the Bonfire Interactive online portal located at https://gwinnett.bonfirehub.com/portal/?tab=openOpportunities or by visiting the GCPS Purchasing website at https://www.gcpsk12.org/about-us/divisions-and-teams/budgets-and-financial-reporting/bids-purchasing-opportunities. A list of submitting firms will be available the following business day on our website. All communications concerning the RFI must be submitted in writing to the Gwinnett County Public School’s Purchasing Department via Bonfire under the “Message Center” section of the bid.

No response other than written communication by the Purchasing Department will be binding upon Gwinnett County Public Schools. Violations will be reviewed by the Purchasing Director. If determined that such communication has compromised the competitive process, the offer submitted by the individual, firm, or business may be disqualified from consideration for award. The Purchasing Department, in its discretion, may call upon user departments for clarification in their area of expertise. All questions or commentary must be received in Bonfire under the “Message Center” section no later than 10:00 AM, Tuesday, May 14, 2024 to allow for appropriate and timely responses.

https://gwinnett.bonfirehub.com/portal/?tab=openOpportunities https://www.gcpsk12.org/about-us/divisions-and-teams/budgets-and-financial-reporting/bids-purchasing-opportunities https://www.gcpsk12.org/about-us/divisions-and-teams/budgets-and-financial-reporting/bids-purchasing-opportunities

Assessment GCPS will assess the RFIs received and will be evaluating the received proposals based on the service provider’s responses to the stated GCPS requirements, the completeness of the service provider’s response, and the perceived service provider’s capabilities to perform the overall objective of the RFI.

GCPS reserves the right to withdraw this RFI by written notice. GCPS shall incur no liability whatsoever to prospective service providers by reason of such withdrawal, rejection, or acceptance.

General Guidelines The submitted response should be clear, coherent, legible, and prepared in sufficient detail for further consideration.

The response should include both general information and, as best as possible, address the specific information requested by this RFI. Pricing information may be provided for purposes of reference.

In preparing the RFI response, emphasis should be placed on brief, complete, and factual data in the areas that are set forth in the response. Maximum use of tables and information summaries should be used in the response. Paraphrasing the specifications in part or whole will be considered insufficient.

content and quality are more important than quantity.

GCPS assumes no responsibility for the cost of preparation or other expenses incurred by responding to this RFI.

Optional Demo/Interview The decision to conduct a demonstration/interview and the number of service providers included in the demonstration/interview of the services requested in this RFI solution are at the sole discretion of GCPS.

Service providers selected to participate in the demonstration/interview will be notified in writing. All costs associated with the demonstration/interview (if required) will be at the expense of the proposing firm, and the services provider should be available within five (5) working days after request.

Letter of Transmittal A letter of transmittal must accompany each response. This letter must be signed by a person authorized to verify the accuracy of and legally obligate the service provider contractually to the scope, terms, and specifications of the submitted qualification application response.

Supplemental Information Service providers may provide supplemental information for a requirement as an appendix to the RFI response. Information included in the appendix should be referenced in the main body of the RFI response. Information such as product brochures, financial reports, manuals, or sample contracts should also be included in the appendix. This information should be uploaded under the additional information section within Bonfire.

References Please provide three (3) references of contracts of a similar scope and size. Include client name, address, telephone number, contact information, and how long they have been a client.

General Requirements:

Section A: Requirements:

• Accepts Credit Cards

• Tablet Based – Wi-Fi and Cellular

• Inventory Reporting

• Receipt Printer

• Gift Cards

• Bar Code Scanner

• Cash Drawer

• Multiple Log In’s (By Shift)

• Online Store Front w/Online Ordering

• Face to Face Training

• Ongoing Customer Support Plans/Options

• Bar Code Printers

• Works/Functions/Updates on GCPS Network Systems

• Ability to generate bar codes for merchandise

• Daily and Monthly Transaction Reports

• **Apple Pay and Google Wallet (Would be ideal to have this for modern transaction methods;

however not a necessity).

Section B: Technology Requirements:

• Platform – Android, iOS, or Windows

• Devices - Ability to be managed using Moysle (ios), Tanium, Altris, Active Directory (Windows devices).

• Transaction logging

• Integration with Active Directory

• Agree to sign our data privacy documents

• Agree to present solution to our ARB committee

• All transactional data processing, including sales, returns, and inventory management, occurs in the cloud

• The cloud service provider and the POS system comply with PCI DSS standards for handling payment card information

• The POS system supports secure device management, including lock screens and device encryption, to protect against unauthorized access

• Supports role-based access control within the POS application to limit access based on employee roles

• Enforces end-to-end encryption for data in transit between the POS devices and the payment processor

• Support for Wi-Fi, cellular, and ethernet data connections to ensure continuous access to cloud services.

• Support for cash, magstripe, contactless and chip payment processing

• Support for Wi-Fi WPA2 encryption or higher

• Bluetooth support for connecting peripheral devices

• Disaster recovery procedure for restoring POS functionality in the event of hardware or software failure

• **Cloud-based monitoring and analytics tools to track system performance, sales trends, inventory levels, and customer behaviors in real-time –(preferred but not a necessity)

Technology Requirements Continued:

In person credit cards Ability to accept tap to pay, chip cards to be consistent with our other platforms. Magnetic stripes on the back of cards are being phased out.

Gift Cards If this is intended for employees to make charges on account and pay later, an invoicing feature would be required.

Sales/Financial Reports Ability to reconcile daily sales to a one-page report from the system. Reporting should include cash sales, credit card sales and sales on account.

Section C: Strategy, Performance & Accountability Requirements:

• Compliance/acceptance with Gwinnett County Public Schools Data and Privacy Terms

• Usage/transaction reports

• User credentials to monitor and provide oversight

• Integration with other Gwinnett County Public Schools systems as needed