MCSS IT-Supplemental.docx

Information Technology (IT) Supplemental

This supplemental contains additional requirements under Section 2 of the solicitation.

1.1 Deliverables

1.1.1 Deliverable Submission

A. For every deliverable, the Contractor shall request the Contract Monitor confirm receipt of that deliverable by sending an e-mail identifying the deliverable name and date of receipt.

B. For every deliverable, the Contractor shall submit to the Contract Monitor, by email, an Agency Deliverable Product Acceptance Form (DPAF), an example of which is provided on the DoIT web page here:

https://procurement.maryland.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2024/07/Exhibit-3.-Deliverable-Product-Acceptance-Form-DPAF.docx C. Unless specified otherwise, written deliverables shall be compatible with Microsoft Office, Microsoft Project or Microsoft Visio within two versions of the current version. At the Contract Monitor’s discretion, the Contract Monitor may request one hard copy of a written deliverable.

D. A standard deliverable review cycle will be elaborated and agreed-upon between the State and the Contractor. This review process is entered into when the Contractor completes a deliverable.

A. For any written deliverable, the Contract Monitor may request a draft version of the deliverable, to comply with the minimum deliverable quality criteria listed in Section 2.4 Minimum Deliverable Quality. Drafts of each final deliverable, except status reports, are required at least two weeks in advance of when the final deliverables are due (with the exception of deliverables due at the beginning of the project where this lead time is not possible, or where draft delivery date is explicitly specified). Draft versions of a deliverable shall comply with the minimum deliverable quality criteria listed in Section 2.4 Minimum Deliverable Quality.

1.1.2 Deliverable Acceptance

A. A final deliverable shall satisfy the scope and requirements of this RFP for that deliverable, including the quality and acceptance criteria for a final deliverable as defined in Section 2.4 Deliverable Descriptions/Acceptance Criteria.

B. The Contract Monitor shall review a final deliverable to determine compliance with the acceptance criteria as defined for that deliverable. The Contract Monitor is responsible for coordinating comments and input from various team members and stakeholders. The Contract Monitor is responsible for providing clear guidance and direction to the Contractor in the event of divergent feedback from various team members.

C. The Contract Monitor will issue to the Contractor a notice of acceptance or rejection of the deliverable in the DPAF (see online sample). Following the return of the DPAF indicating “Accepted” and signed by the Contract Monitor, the Contractor shall submit a proper invoice in accordance with the procedures in Section 3.3. The invoice must be accompanied by a copy of the executed DPAF or payment may be withheld.

B. In the event of rejection, the Contract Monitor will formally communicate in writing any deliverable deficiencies or non-conformities to the Contractor, describing in those deficiencies what shall be corrected prior to acceptance of the deliverable in sufficient detail for the Contractor to address the deficiencies. The Contractor shall correct deficiencies and resubmit the corrected deliverable for acceptance within the agreed-upon time period for correction.

1.1.3 Minimum Deliverable Quality

The Contractor shall subject each deliverable to its internal quality-control process prior to submitting the deliverable to the State.

Each deliverable shall meet the following minimum acceptance criteria:

A. Be presented in a format appropriate for the subject matter and depth of discussion.

B. Be organized in a manner that presents a logical flow of the deliverable’s content.

C. Represent factual information reasonably expected to have been known at the time of submittal.

D. In each section of the deliverable, include only information relevant to that section of the deliverable.

E. Contain content and presentation consistent with industry best practices in terms of deliverable completeness, clarity, and quality.

F. Meets the acceptance criteria applicable to that deliverable, including any State policies, functional or non-functional requirements, or industry standards.

G. Contains no structural errors such as poor grammar, misspellings or incorrect punctuation.

H. Must contain the date, author, and page numbers. When applicable for a deliverable, a revision table must be included.

C. A draft written deliverable may contain limited structural errors such as incorrect punctuation, and shall represent a significant level of completeness toward the associated final written deliverable. The draft written deliverable shall otherwise comply with minimum deliverable quality criteria above.

1.1.4 Deliverable Descriptions/Acceptance Criteria

In addition to the items identified in the table below, the Contractor may suggest other subtasks, artifacts, or deliverables to improve the quality and success of the assigned tasks.

Deliverables Summary Table*

Agreed upon agenda and presentation materials in Microsoft Office formats for kick-off meeting. The kick-off meeting materials shall cover:

· Introduction of personnel from the Contractor team and MCSS

· Review of work plan

· Discussion of assumptions, risks, and issues Logistics for communications.

· Additional topics as determined necessary

Planned within five Business Days of Notice to Proceed (NTP)

The Contractor shall deliver the Training documentation. The Training Plan includes the following sections at a minimum:

· In-depth administrator-level training for MCSS administration team.

As outlined in the Contractor’s proposed development increments and updated as the initial RFP fixed scope of work progresses.

· Dashboard that provides charts on credits usage, number of communications, registration stats and overall project progress.

· High level summary of the overall project status, including accomplishments for the reporting period.

· Description of project milestones achieved in the reporting period, and status of upcoming milestones.

· Summary of risks and issues impacting the project Monthly – date determined by the Contract Monitor

The Transition Plans shall include the following:

· Transition from current Event Management vendors

· Transfer of user data, metadata, exhibitor and speaker data, and associated materials

· Transfer/remapping of MCSS owned domain used in conference website.

· Plan for measuring Metrics/Outcomes

· Interface Control Document

· Security Plan & Disaster Recovery Plan

· Infrastructure Plan

· Outage Communication plan

· Field Training Roadmap and plans Initial Delivery:

NTP + 10 Business Days, and updates as needed or requested.

Updates for Project Schedule: Weekly

· Description of the process to be used by MCSS to obtain operational system support for the System;

· A description of the Contractor’s support organization with contact names, e-mail addresses and telephone numbers;

· A description of the SLA between the Contractor and MCSS, plus the process to be used by the Contractor to ensure that these service levels are maintained;

· Trouble Ticket escalation procedures;

· A description of pre-scheduled maintenance policies and windows for operation;

· Backup and restore procedures As outlined in the Contractor’s proposed development increments and updated as the initial RFP fixed scope of work progresses.

*The deliverables summary table may not list every contractually required deliverable. Offerors and Contractors should read the RFP thoroughly for all Contract requirements and deliverables.

Maintenance and support, and Contractor’s ongoing maintenance and support obligations, are defined as follows:

1) Contractor shall furnish Help Desk services for the Event Management Platform.

2) Help Desk services are available during Normal State Business Hours.

3) Contractor shall utilize a help desk ticketing system to record and track all help desk calls. The ticketing system shall record with a date and timestamp when the ticket was opened and when the ticket was closed as well as which personnel at the organization handled and resolved the ticket with a full audit trail of activity as well as which personnel at the organization handled and resolved the ticket with a full audit trail of activity.

1.4.2 Backup

The Contractor shall:

The Contractor shall:

Beginning on the SLA Activation Date, for any performance measurement not met during the monthly reporting period, the SLA credit for that individual measurement shall be applied to the overall Charges.

Service credits will be cumulative for each missed service requirement. The State, at its option for amounts due to the State as service credits, may deduct such from any money payable to the Contractor or may bill the Contractor as a separate item. In the event of a catastrophic failure affecting all services, in addition to all other rights and remedies available to the State, all affected SLAs shall be credited to the State.

1.5.6 Service Level Measurements Table (System performance)

Offeror shall complete the table below with its proposed service level metrics and SLA credits.

No. Service Requirement Measurement Service Level Agreement SLA Credit

The Contractor shall comply with the service level measurements in the following table:

1.5.7 Problem Response Definitions and Times

The Contractor shall meet the Problem Response Time and Problem Resolution Time requirements.

The Contractor shall provide a monthly report to monitor and detail response times and resolution times.

1.6 Required Project Policies, Guidelines and Methodologies

The Contractor must comply with all applicable laws, regulations, policies, standards and guidelines affecting Information Technology projects, which may be created or changed periodically. These include, but are not limited to:

https://csrc.nist.gov/publications/detail/fips/140/3/final https://csrc.nist.gov/Projects/cryptographic-module-validation-program/fips-140-3-standards

a) Unless specified otherwise, throughout the Contract term, the Contractor shall maintain or cause to be maintained disaster avoidance procedures designed to safeguard State data and other confidential information, Contractor’s processing capability and the availability of hosted services. Any force majeure provisions of the Contract do not limit the Contractor’s obligations under this provision.

b) The Contractor shall have robust contingency and disaster recovery (DR) plans in place to ensure that the services provided under the Contract will be maintained in the event of disruption to the Contractor/subcontractor’s operations (including, but not limited to, disruption to information technology systems), however caused.

1) The Contractor shall furnish a DR site.

2) The DR site shall be at least 100 miles from the primary operations site, and have the capacity to take over complete production volume in case the primary site becomes unresponsive.

c) The contingency and DR plans must be designed to ensure that services under the Contract are restored after a disruption within 24 hours from notification, with a recovery point objective of one hour or less prior to the outage to avoid unacceptable consequences due to the unavailability of services.

d) The Contractor shall test the contingency/DR plans at least twice annually to identify any changes that need to be made to the plan(s) to ensure a minimum interruption of service. Coordination shall be made with the State to ensure limited system downtime when testing is conducted. At least one annual test shall include backup media restoration and failover/fallback operations at the DR location. The Contractor shall send the Contract Monitor a notice of completion following completion of DR testing.

e) Such contingency and DR plans shall be available for the State to inspect and practically test at any reasonable time, and subject to regular updating, revising, and testing throughout the term of the Contract.

1.7.2 Data Export/Import

a) The Contractor shall, at no additional cost or charge to the State, in an industry standard/non-proprietary format:

1) perform a full or partial import/export of State data within 24 hours of a request; or

2) provide to the State the ability to import/export data at will and provide the State with any access and instructions which are needed for the State to import or export data.

b) Any import or export shall be in a secure format per the Security Requirements.

1.7.3 Data Ownership and Access

As set forth in the Contract, data, databases and derived data products created, collected, manipulated, or directly purchased as part of the solicitation are the property of the State. The purchasing State agency is considered the custodian of all State data. The use, access, and distribution of all data shall comply with the requirements of the Data Use Agreement (Attachment Y).

The Contractor may not access State data other than as necessary to perform the services under this Contract.

The Contractor shall limit access to and use of State data to Contractor Personnel whose responsibilities require such access or use and shall train such Contractor Personnel on the confidentiality obligations set forth herein.

At no time shall any data or processes – that either belong to or are intended for the use of the State or its officers, agents or employees – be copied, disclosed or retained by the Contractor or any party related to the Contractor for subsequent use in any transaction that does not include the State.

The Contractor shall not use any information collected in connection with the services furnished under the Contract for any purpose other than fulfilling such services.

Provisions in Sections 1.8.1 - 1.8.3 shall survive expiration or termination of the Contract. Additionally, the Contractor shall flow down the provisions of Sections 1.8.1 - 1.8.3 (or the substance thereof) in all subcontracts.

1.8 Security Requirements

The following requirements are applicable to the Contract:

1. Employee Identification

a) Contractor Personnel shall display his or her company ID badge in a visible location at all times while on State premises. Upon request of authorized State personnel, each Contractor Personnel shall provide additional photo identification.

b) Contractor Personnel shall cooperate with State site requirements, including but not limited to, being prepared to be escorted at all times, and providing information for State badge issuance.

c) Contractor shall remove any Contractor Personnel from working on the Contract where the State determines, in its sole discretion, that Contractor Personnel has not adhered to the Security requirements specified herein.

d) The State reserves the right to request that the Contractor submit proof of employment authorization of non-United States Citizens, prior to commencement of work under the Contract.

2. Security Clearance / Criminal Background Check The State reserves the right to refuse any individual Contractor Personnel to work on State premises, based upon certain specified criminal convictions, as specified by the State.

1. A criminal background check for each for any Contractor Personnel providing on-site or for any specific services shall be completed prior to each Contractor Personnel providing any services under the Contract.

1. The Contractor shall obtain at its own expense a Criminal Justice Information System (CJIS) State and federal criminal background check, including fingerprinting, for all Contractor Personnel listed in sub-paragraph A. This check may be performed by a public or private entity.

The Contractor shall provide the Contract Monitor with certification of completion of the required criminal background check described in this IFB for each required Contractor Personnel prior to assignment, and that the Contractor Personnel have successfully passed this check.

1. Persons with a criminal record may not perform services under the Contract unless prior written approval is obtained from the Contract Monitor. The Contract Monitor reserves the right to reject any individual based upon the results of the background check. Decisions of the Contract Monitor as to acceptability of a candidate are final.

1. The CJIS criminal record check of each Contractor Personnel who will work on State premises shall be reviewed and documented by the Contractor for convictions of any of the following crimes described in the Annotated Code of Maryland, Criminal Law Article:

a) §§ 6-101 through 6-104, 6-201 through 6-205, 6-409 (various crimes against property);

b) any crime within Title 7, Subtitle 1 (various crimes involving theft);

c) §§ 7-301 through 7-303, 7-313 through 7-317 (various crimes involving telecommunications and electronics);

d) §§ 8-201 through 8-302, 8-501 through 8-523 (various crimes involving fraud);

e) §§9-101 through 9-417, 9-601 through 9-604, 9-701 through 9-706.1 (various crimes against public administration); or

f) a crime of violence as defined in CL § 14-101(a).

1. Contractor Personnel that would have access to systems supporting the State or to State data who have been convicted of a felony or convicted of a crime involving telecommunications and electronics or convicted within the past five (5) years of a misdemeanor from the above list of crimes shall not be permitted to work on the Contract.

1. A particular on-site location covered by the Contract may require more restrictive conditions regarding the nature of prior criminal convictions that would result in Contractor Personnel not being permitted to work on those premises. Upon receipt of a location’s more restrictive conditions regarding criminal convictions, the Contractor shall provide an updated certification regarding the Contractor Personnel working at or assigned to those premises.

1. On-Site Security Requirement(s)

THIS SECTION IS INAPPLICABLE TO THIS IFB.

The Contractor shall:

A. Contractor shall ensure a secure environment for all State data and any hardware and software (including but not limited to servers, network and data components) provided or used in connection with the performance of the Contract according to a written security policy (“Security Plan”) no less rigorous than that of the State and using best practices that comply with an accepted industry standard, such as the NIST cybersecurity framework.

1) The Security Plan shall detail the steps and processes employed by the Contractor as well as the features and characteristics which will ensure compliance with the security requirements of the Contract. Such Security Plan shall be provided to the State for its review with solicitation response. If awarded a contract, the Security Plan shall be provided on an annual basis or whenever updates are made.

2) The Contractor shall supply a copy of such policy to the State for validation, with any appropriate updates, on an annual basis.

3) If any Security Plan information, including procedures, are different based on a Task Order, Contractor shall furnish such differences to the respective TO Manager.

B. To ensure appropriate data protection safeguards are in place, the Contractor shall implement and maintain the following controls during the Contract Term (the Contractor may augment this list with additional controls):

1) Establish separate production, test, and training environments for systems supporting the services provided under the Contract and ensure that production data is not utilized in test or training environment(s).

2) Apply hardware and software hardening procedures as recommended by Center for Internet Security (CIS) guides, Security Technical Implementation Guides (STIG), or similar industry best practices to reduce the systems’ surface of vulnerability, eliminating as many security risks as possible and documenting what is not feasible or not performed according to best practices. Any hardening practices not implemented shall be documented with a plan of action and milestones including any compensating control. These procedures may include but are not limited to removal of unnecessary software, disabling or removing unnecessary services, removal of unnecessary usernames or logins, and the deactivation of unneeded features in the Contractor’s system configuration files.

3) Ensure that State data is not commingled with non-State data through the proper application of compartmentalization Security Measures.

4) Apply data encryption to protect Sensitive Data at all times, including in transit, at rest, and also when archived for backup purposes. Unless otherwise directed, the Contractor is responsible for the encryption of all Sensitive Data.

5) Apply data encryption to all Contractor managed or controlled State data when the data is in transit over untrusted network segments.

6) Utilize encryption algorithms for encrypting data that comply with current Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS), “Security Requirements for Cryptographic Modules.”

7) Enable appropriate logging parameters to monitor user access activities, authorized and failed access attempts, system exceptions, and critical information security events as recommended by the operating system and application manufacturers and information security standards, including the Maryland Department of Information Technology’s Information Security Manual.

8) Retain the aforementioned logs and review them at least daily to identify suspicious or questionable activity for investigation and documentation as to their cause and remediation, if required. The State shall have the right to inspect the logs and the Contractor or subcontractor’s performance to confirm the effectiveness of these measures for the services being provided under the Contract.

9) Ensure system and network environments are separated by properly configured and updated layer seven firewalls.

10) Restrict network connections between trusted and untrusted networks by physically or logically isolating systems from unsolicited and unauthenticated network traffic.

11) By default “deny all” and only allow access by exception.

12) Review, at least annually and after changes, the aforementioned network connections, documenting and confirming the business justification for the use of all service, protocols, and ports allowed, including the rationale or compensating controls implemented for those protocols considered insecure but necessary.

13) Perform regular internal and external vulnerability testing of operating system, applications, and all network devices utilized in this Contract. Such testing is expected to identify outdated software versions; missing software patches; device or software misconfigurations; and to validate compliance with or deviations from the security policies applicable to the Contract. Contractor shall evaluate all identified vulnerabilities for potential adverse effect on security and integrity and remediate the vulnerability no later than 30 days following the earlier of vulnerability’s identification or public disclosure, or document why remediation action is unnecessary or unsuitable. The State shall have the right to conduct vulnerability testing and inspect the results of similar Contractor performed vulnerability testing to confirm the effectiveness of these measures for the services being provided under the Contract.

14) Enforce strong user authentication and password control measures to minimize the opportunity for unauthorized access through compromise of the user access controls. At a minimum, the implemented measures should be consistent with the most current Maryland Department of Information Technology’s Information Security Policies, including specific requirements for password length, complexity, history, and account lockout.

15) Ensure State data is not processed, transferred, or stored outside of the continental United States (“U.S.”). The Contractor shall provide its services to the State and the State’s end users solely from data centers in the U.S. Unless granted an exception in writing by the State, the Contractor shall not allow Contractor Personnel to store State data on portable devices, including personal computers, except for devices that are used and kept only at its U.S. data centers. Contractor Personnel may access State data remotely only as required to provide technical support and with the prior approval of the State.

16) Ensure Contractor Personnel shall not connect any of their own equipment to State IT assets without prior written approval by the State. Any such approval may be revoked, rescinded, or curtailed at any time for any reason. The Contractor shall coordinate requests for approval with the Contract Monitor and is subject to all State approval processes as they may be revised from time to time.

17) Ensure that anti-virus and anti-malware software is installed and maintained on all systems and end points supporting the services provided under the Contract; that the anti-virus and anti-malware software is automatically updated; and that the software is configured to actively scan and detect threats to the system for remediation. The Contractor shall perform routine weekly vulnerability scans and take corrective actions for any findings.

18) Conduct regular external vulnerability testing designed to examine the service provider’s security profile from the Internet without benefit of access to internal systems and networks behind the external security perimeter. Evaluate all identified vulnerabilities on Internet-facing devices for potential adverse effect on the service’s security and integrity and remediate the vulnerability promptly or document why remediation action is unnecessary or unsuitable. The State shall have the right to inspect the Contractor’s processes and the performance of vulnerability testing to confirm the effectiveness of these measures for the services being provided under the Contract.

1.8.6 Security Logs and Reports Access

a) For any cloud hosted, or Contractor, or third party hosted solution, the Contractor shall provide security logs and reports to the State in a mutually agreeable format.

b) Reports shall include latency statistics, user access, user access IP address, user access history and security logs for all State data, systems, and software data, systems, and software related to the Contract.

1.8.7 Security Incident Response

A. The Contractor shall notify the State when any Contractor system that may access, process, or store State data or State systems experiences a Security Incident or a Data Breach as follows:

1) notify the State within twenty-four (24) hours of the discovery of a Security Incident by providing notice via written or electronic correspondence to the Contract Monitor, State Chief Information Security Officer and Maryland Security Operations Center (MD-SOC);

2) notify the State within seventy-two (72) hours if there is a threat to Contractor’s solution as it pertains to the use, disclosure, and security of State data; and

3) provide written notice to the State within one (1) Business Day after Contractor’s discovery of unauthorized use or disclosure of State data and thereafter all information the State requests concerning such unauthorized use or disclosure.

B. Contractor’s notice shall identify:

1) the nature of the unauthorized use or disclosure;

2) the State data used or disclosed,

3) who made the unauthorized use or received the unauthorized disclosure;

4) what the Contractor has done or shall do to mitigate any deleterious effect of the unauthorized use or disclosure; and

5) what corrective action the Contractor has taken or shall take to prevent future similar unauthorized use or disclosure.

6) The Contractor shall provide such other information, including a written report, as reasonably requested by the State.

C. Discussing Security Incidents with the State should be handled on an urgent as-needed basis, as part of Contractor communication and mitigation processes as mutually agreed upon, defined by law or contained in the Contract. The Contractor shall obtain approval from the State prior to communicating with outside parties regarding a Security Incident, which may include contacting law enforcement, fielding media inquiries and seeking external expertise.

D. The Contractor shall comply with all applicable system security breach laws.

1.8.8 Data Breach Responsibilities

A. If the Contractor reasonably believes or has actual knowledge of a Data Breach, the Contractor shall, unless otherwise directed:

1) Notify the appropriate State-identified contact within 24 hours by telephone and email to the Maryland Security Operations Center (MD-SOC) in accordance with the agreed upon security plan or security procedures unless a shorter time is required by applicable law;

2) Cooperate with the State to investigate and resolve the data breach;

3) Promptly implement commercially reasonable remedial measures to remedy the Data Breach; and

4) Document responsive actions taken related to the Data Breach, including any post-incident review of events and actions taken to make changes in business practices in providing the services.

B. With respect to State data within the possession or control of the Contractor, the Contractor shall bear the costs associated with (1) the investigation and resolution of the data breach; (2) notifications to individuals, regulators or others required by State law; (3) a credit monitoring service required by State or federal law; (4) a website or a toll-free number and call center for affected individuals required by State law; and (5) complete all corrective actions as reasonably determined by Contractor based on root cause; all [(1) through (5)] subject to the Contract’s limitation of liability.

C. The public disclosure of a cybersecurity incident shall be pursuant to Guidelines for the Public Disclosure of Cybersecurity Incidents or any successor thereto.

1.8.8.1 The State shall, at its discretion, have the right to review and assess the Contractor’s compliance to the security requirements and standards defined in the Contract.

1.8.8.2 Provisions in Sections 1.8.1 – 1.8.8 shall survive expiration or termination of the Contract. Additionally, the Contractor shall flow down the provisions of Sections 1.8.4 - 1.8.8 (or the substance thereof) in all subcontracts.

1.9 SOC 2 Type 2 Audit Report

A SOC 2 Type 2 Audit Report applies to the Contract. The applicable trust services criteria are: Security, Availability, Processing Integrity, Confidentiality, and Privacy. The Contractor shall cause an SOC 2 Type 2 audit report to be conducted annually covering the previous 12- month period of the contract.

1. The Contractor shall provide to the Contract Monitor, within thirty (30) calendar days of the issuance of the final SOC 2 Type 2 Audit Report, the audit results and a documented corrective action plan that addresses each audit finding or exception contained in the SOC 2 Type 2 Audit Report, identifying in detail the remedial action to be taken by the Contractor along with the date(s) when each remedial action is to be implemented. The scope of the SOC 2 Type 2 Audit Report shall include work performed by any subcontractors that handles, store or process Sensitive Data or are responsible for security controls and provide essential support to the TO Contractor for or essential support to the Information Functions and Processes for the services provided to the State under the Contract. The Contractor shall ensure the audit includes all such subcontractors operating in performance of the Contract or, in the case the subcontractor’s services are covered by a separate SOC 2 Type 2 Audit, that separate SOC 2 Type 2 Audit reports are obtained from all subcontractors and submitted to the Contract Monitor via the Contractor’s primary point of contact.

1. All SOC 2 Type 2 Audit Reports shall be submitted to the Contract Monitor as specified in Section a above. The initial SOC 2 Type 2 Audit shall be completed within a timeframe to be specified by the State. The audit period covered by the initial SOC 2 Type 2 Audit shall start with the Contract Effective Date unless otherwise agreed to in writing by the Contract Monitor. All subsequent SOC 2 Type 2 Audits after this initial audit shall be performed at a minimum on an annual basis throughout the Term of the Contract, and shall cover a 12-month audit period or such portion of the year that the Contractor furnished services.

1. The SOC 2 Type 2 Audit shall report on the suitability of the design and operating effectiveness of controls over the Information Functions and Processes to meet the requirements of the Contract,…