NCDHHS DAP RFP - #30-2025-008-DHB.pdf

Page 1 of 2 RFP #30-2025-008-DHB-Data Analytics Platform Rev. May 11, 2026

STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA

Department of Health and Human Services

Division of Health Benefits

Request for Proposal #30-2025-008-DHB

Data Analytics Platform

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Request for Proposal

#30-2025-008-DHB

For internal State agency processing, please provide your company’s Federal Employer

Identification Number or alternate identification number (e.g., Social Security Number). Pursuant to North Carolina General Statute 132-1.10(b) this identification number shall not be released to the public. This page will be redacted before the procurement file is made available for public inspection.

This page is to be filled out and returned with your Proposal.

ID Number:

Federal ID Number or Social Security Number

Offeror Name

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FOR STATE USE ONLY: Offer accepted and Contract awarded this ____ day of _______________, 20____, by

(Authorized Representative of NC Department of Health and Human Services)

EXECUTION

In compliance with this Request for Proposal (RFP), and subject to all the conditions herein, the undersigned Offeror offers and agrees to furnish and deliver any or all services proposed, at the cost proposed and within the time specified herein. By executing this proposal, the Offeror confirms it has read, understands, and will comply with all specifications and requirements in the RFP and any addenda in the event of contract award. By executing this proposal, the undersigned Offeror certifies that this proposal is submitted competitively and without collusion (N.C. Gen. Stat. § 143-54), that none of its officers, directors, or owners of an unincorporated business entity has been convicted of any violations of Chapter 78A of the General Statutes, the Securities Act of 1933, or the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (N.C. Gen. Stat. § 143-59.2), and that it is not an ineligible Contractor as set forth in N.C. Gen. Stat. § 143-59.1. False certification is a Class I felony. Furthermore, by executing this proposal, the undersigned certifies to the best of Offeror’s knowledge and belief, that it and its principals are not presently debarred, suspended, proposed for debarment, declared ineligible or voluntarily excluded from covered transactions by any Federal or State department or agency. As required by N.C. Gen. Stat. § 143-48.5, the undersigned Offeror certifies that it, and each of its subcontractors, for any Contract awarded as a result of this RFP, complies with the requirements of Article 2 of Chapter 64 of the NC General Statutes, including the requirement for each employer with more than 25 employees in North Carolina to verify the work authorization of its employees through the Federal E-Verify system. N.C. Gen. Stat. § 133-32 and Executive Order 24 (2009) prohibit the offer to, or acceptance by, any State Employee associated with the preparing plans, specifications, estimates for public Contract; or awarding or administering public Contracts; or inspecting or supervising delivery of the public Contract of any gift from anyone with a Contract with the State, or from any person seeking to do business with the State. By executing this proposal, you attest, for your entire organization and its employees or agents, that you are not aware that any such gift has been offered, accepted, or promised by any employees of your organization. Failure to execute/sign proposal prior to submission shall render proposal invalid and it WILL BE REJECTED. Late proposals will not be accepted.

OFFEROR:

STREET ADDRESS: P.O. BOX: ZIP:

CITY & STATE & ZIP: TELEPHONE NUMBER: TOLL FREE TEL. NO:

PRINCIPAL PLACE OF BUSINESS ADDRESS IF DIFFERENT FROM ABOVE

PRINT NAME & TITLE OF PERSON SIGNING ON BEHALF OF OFFEROR: FAX NUMBER:

OFFEROR’S AUTHORIZED SIGNATURE: DATE: EMAIL:

Offer valid for at least 240 calendar days from date of proposal opening unless extended by the State in writing. After this time, any withdrawal of offer shall be made in writing, effective upon receipt by the agency issuing this RFP.

ACCEPTANCE OF RESPONSE

If any or all parts of this proposal are accepted by the State of North Carolina, an authorized representative of the Department of Health and Human Services shall affix his/her signature hereto and this document and all provisions of this Request for Proposal along with the Offeror’s proposal, and the written results of any negotiations shall then constitute the written agreement between the parties. A copy of this acceptance will be forwarded to the successful Offeror.

Department of Health and Human Services

Refer ALL Inquiries regarding this RFP to:

Kevin Barlage Contract Specialist kevin.barlage@dhhs.nc.gov Medicaid.Procurement@dhhs.nc.gov

Request for Proposal # 30-2025-008-DHB

Date RFP Issued/Posted: 5/11/2026

Date RFP Submissions due to the Department: 7/17/2026 at 2:00 p.m. EST

Proposals will be opened: 7/17/2026 at 2:00 p.m. EST

Contract Type: Open Market

Commodity Number: 811620 - Cloud-based software as a service

Description: Data Analytics Platform Using Agency: Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Health Benefits Requisition No.: N/A mailto:kevin.barlage@dhhs.nc.gov mailto:Medicaid.Procurement@dhhs.nc.gov

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Table of Contents

1.0 General Procurement Information and Notice to Offerors

1.1 Important Notices

1.2 Procurement Information

1.3 Request for Proposal Functionality and Related Notices

1.4 Schedule and Important Events

2.0 Purpose of RFP

2.1 Introduction

2.2 Contract Term

2.3 Contract Type

2.4 Agency Background

3.0 RFP Requirements and Specifications

3.1 Scope Of Work

3.2 General Requirements and Specifications

3.3 Security Specifications

3.4 Enterprise Specifications

3.5 Business and Technical Requirements

3.6 Business and Technical Specifications

3.7 Option Requirements and Specifications - Reserved

4.0 Cost of Vendor’s Offer

4.1 Offer Costs

4.2 Payment Schedule

5.0 Evaluation

5.1 Source Selection

5.2 Evaluation Criteria

5.3 Best and Final Offers (BAFO)

5.4 Possession And Review

5.5 Competitive Range

5.6 System Demonstrations

6.0 Vendor Information and Instructions

6.1 General Conditions of Offer

6.2 General Instructions for Vendor

6.3 Instructions for Offer Submission

7.0 Other Requirements and Special Terms

7.1 Vendor Utilization Of Workers Outside of U.S

7.2 Financial Statements

7.3 Financial Resources Assessment, Quality Assurance, Performance and Reliability

7.4 Vendor’s License or Support Agreements

7.5 Resellers - Reserved

7.6 Disclosure Of Litigation

7.7 Criminal Conviction

7.8 Security and Background Checks

7.9 Assurances

7.10 Confidentiality of offers

7.11 Project Management

7.12 Meetings

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7.13 Recycling and Source Reduction - Reserved

7.14 Special Terms And Conditions

7.15 Technical Operations

7.16 Help Center

7.17 Testing

7.18 Incident Prioritization

Attachment A: Definitions Attachment B: Department of Information Technology Terms and Conditions

Section 1: General Terms and Conditions Applicable to All Purchases Section 2: Terms and Conditions Applicable to Information Technology Goods and Services Section 3: Terms and Conditions Applicable to Personnel and Personal Services Section 4: Software as a Service (SaaS) Terms and Conditions (Only Applies to Proposed SaaS Solutions)

Attachment C: Agency Terms and Conditions Section 1: NCDHHS Department of Health Benefits (DHB) Section 2: NCDHHS Privacy and Security Office (PSO) Section 3: NCDHHS Development of Artificial Intelligence Systems

Attachment D: Description of Offeror Attachment E: Cost Form Attachment F: Vendor Certification Form Attachment G: Location of Workers Utilized by Vendor – Disclosure Statement Attachment H: Vendor References/Past Performance Attachment I: Financial Review Form Attachment J: Enterprise Architecture Attachment K: Vendor Key Personnel Attachment L: Service Level Agreements Attachment M: Contract Administrators Attachment N: Deliverables And Milestones Schedule Attachment O: Business Continuity Plan Attachment P: Disaster Recovery Plan Attachment Q: State Certifications Attachment R: Federal Certifications Attachment S: Business Associate Agreement Attachment T: Technical / Management Proposal Attachment U: Conceptual Architectural Diagrams Attachment V: Medicaid Integration Services Core Capabilities Attachment W: Work Products Attachment X: Request for Proposed Modifications to The Terms and Conditions Attachment Y: Minimum Qualifications Attachment Z: Subcontractor Identification Form Attachment AA: Reports Attachment AB: Interfaces – Reserved Attachment AC: GenAI Disclosure and Fact Sheet

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1.0 GENERAL PROCUREMENT INFORMATION AND NOTICE TO OFFERORS

1.1 IMPORTANT NOTICES

Offerors are Cautioned to Read Carefully

1.1.1 READ, REVIEW, AND COMPLY

It shall be the Offeror’s responsibility to read this entire document, review all enclosures and attachments, and any addenda thereto, and comply with all requirements specified herein, regardless of whether appearing in these Instructions to Offerors or elsewhere in this Request for Proposal (RFP) document.

1.1.2 EXECUTION OF PROPOSAL

Failure to sign the Execution Page in the indicated space and return all attachments, tables, charts, exhibits, diagrams, and appendices completed and signed where required shall render the proposal non-responsive.

1.1.3 RESULTING CONTRACT

Under the State’s procurement process, any contract resulting from this RFP will consist of the RFP and the Offeror’s response, along with any addenda to the RFP, written Clarifications, Best and Final Offers (BAFO), and negotiation documents. The Contractor will be obligated to perform services as proposed in its offer, unless otherwise modified by Clarification, BAFO, negotiation, or Contract amendment, or superseded by a document with higher order of precedence. See Attachment C:

Agency Terms and Conditions, Section 1, Paragraph 14 Entire Agreement and Order of Precedence, of this document for more information and the order of precedence of the contract documents. See Section 1.3 Request for Proposal Functionality and Related Notices in this section for more information on the RFP, changes in specifications, and instructions regarding modifications to the terms and conditions.

1.1.4 POTENTIAL NEGOTIATIONS

The Department reserves the right to enter into negotiations with one or more Offerors to establish a contract that is in the best interest of the Department. Negotiations are specific to each Offer and shall be conducted to maximize the State's ability to obtain the most advantageous offer based on the evaluation factors set forth in the RFP. Such negotiations are at the Department’s sole discretion and may result in modifications to the RFP and/or Offeror’s proposal/response to the RFP.

1.1.5 EVENTS AND DEADLINES

a. Pre-proposal Conference will be hosted by the Department on the date and time indicated in the RFP Schedule in Section 1.4.1 Anticipated Procurement Schedule.

b. Questions concerning this RFP must be submitted in writing by the date and time indicated in the RFP Schedule in Section 1.4.1 Anticipated Procurement Schedule.

c. Submission of Proposals will be accepted until the date and time indicated in the RFP Schedule in Section 1.4.1 Anticipated Procurement Schedule.

1.1.6 BIDDER’S LIBRARY

The Bidder’s Library is a collection of documents, data, and reference materials that the Department provides to prospective Offerors during the RFP process. Its primary purpose is to give Offerors access to relevant background information necessary to develop informed, accurate, and compliant proposals. The contents of the Bidder’s Library are provided solely for informational purposes and will not be included as part of the final contract.

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The documents contained in the Bidder’s Library will be available only while the solicitation remains open in the Ariba Sourcing Tool. Offerors are strongly encouraged to review the Bidder’s Library section found in the solicitation in the Ariba Sourcing Tool and download the documents for review and future reference. After the solicitation closes in the Ariba Sourcing Tool, the documents in the Bidder’s Library will no longer be accessible.

The content of the Bidder’s Library reflects the current state of information at the time the RFP is issued and is not guaranteed to be updated throughout the procurement process.

1.2 PROCUREMENT INFORMATION

1.2.1 INFORMATION AND DESCRIPTIVE LITERATURE

The Offeror shall furnish all information requested as part of this RFP. Each Offeror shall submit detailed information with their proposal (e.g., narratives, diagrams, exhibits, examples, sketches, descriptive literature, complete specifications) to support the services and products offered.

1.2.2 MISCELLANEOUS

Pronouns, whether masculine, feminine, or gender-non-specific, shall be read to be inclusive of all genders and shall be read to include the plural and vice versa.

1.2.3 INFORMAL COMMENTS

The Department shall not be bound by informal explanations, instructions or information given at any time by anyone on behalf of the Department prior to or during the competitive process or after award, including but not limited to policy papers or any written or verbal statements whatsoever made outside of this RFP and any formal Addenda issued herewith. The Department is bound only by information provided in this RFP and in formal Addenda issued.

1.2.4 OFFEROR’S REPRESENTATIVE

Each Offeror shall submit with its proposal the name, title, email address, physical address, and telephone number of the person(s) with authority to bind the Offeror and answer questions or provide clarification concerning the Offeror's proposal. This information must be included in the Offeror’s proposal and response.

1.2.5 INSPECTION AT OFFEROR’S SITE – RESERVED

1.2.6 DISCLOSURE OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) USE

The Offeror shall disclose whether Artificial Intelligence (AI), including generative AI tools, was used in the preparation of any portion of its response to this RFP. If AI tools were utilized, the Offeror affirms that it has reviewed and verified the accuracy, completeness, and appropriateness of all AI-generated content. The Offeror shall remain solely responsible for the content of its submission, including any errors, omissions, or misrepresentations resulting from the use of AI.

1.3 REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL FUNCTIONALITY AND RELATED NOTICES

1.3.1 RFP FUNCTIONALITY

a. This RFP serves two functions:

i. Define the specifications of the Solution sought by the Department; and

ii. Provide the requirements and terms and conditions of any contract resulting from this procurement.

b. All Terms and Conditions in this RFP shall be enforceable. The use of phrases such as “shall”, “will”, “must”, “required”, and “requirements” are intended to create enforceable Contract conditions. In determining whether proposals should be evaluated or rejected, the Department

Page 8 of 9 RFP #30-2025-008-DHB-Data Analytics Platform Rev. May 11, 2026 will take into consideration the degree to which the Offeror has proposed or failed to propose solutions that are responsive to the Department’s needs as described in this RFP.

1.3.2 NOTICES REGARDING RFP AND TERMS AND CONDITIONS

a. It is the Offeror’s responsibility to read all instructions, terms and conditions, specifications, requirements, attachments and appendices, and any other components made a part of this RFP and comply with all instructions and directives. The Offeror is responsible for obtaining and complying with all addenda and other changes that may be issued relating to this RFP.

b. All questions and issues regarding any term, condition, instruction, or other component within this RFP must be submitted in accordance with Section 6.2.2 Questions Regarding this RFP. If the Department determines that any changes will be made because of the questions asked, then such decisions will be communicated in the form of an Addendum posted on the North Carolina electronic Vendor Portal (NC eVP). The Department may also elect to leave open the possibility for later negotiation and amendment of specific provisions of the Contract that have been raised during the question-and-answer period. Other than through this process, and except as provided in Section 1.3.3 Proposed Modifications to Terms and Conditions, the Department rejects and will not be required to evaluate or consider any additional or modified terms and conditions submitted with Offeror’s proposal. This applies to any language appearing in or attached to the RFP document as part of the Offeror’s proposal that purports to vary any terms and conditions, or Offeror’s Instructions therein to render the proposal non-binding or subject to further negotiation.

c. The Offeror’s proposal to this RFP shall constitute a firm offer. By execution and delivery of a proposal to this RFP, the Offeror agrees that any additional or modified terms and conditions, whether submitted purposely or inadvertently, or any purported condition to the offer, shall have no force or effect, and will be disregarded. Noncompliance with, or any attempt to alter or delete, this paragraph shall constitute sufficient grounds to reject the Offeror’s proposal.

1.3.3 PROPOSED MODIFICATIONS TO TERMS AND CONDITIONS

a. Offerors are urged and cautioned to inquire during the question period, in accordance with the instructions in this RFP, about whether specific language proposed as a modification is acceptable to or will be considered by the Department.

b. Identification of objections or exceptions to the terms and conditions in the proposal itself shall not be allowed and shall be disregarded or the proposal rejected.

c. If the Offeror wishes to suggest changes to any of the terms and conditions included In Attachments B and C of this RFP, those must be submitted in Attachment X: Request for Proposed Modifications to the Terms and Conditions. The Department, in its sole discretion, may consider any proposed modifications identified by the Offeror. Where necessary, any modification(s) to the terms and conditions agreed upon by the Department may be incorporated as part of an Addendum to the RFP, BAFO, negotiation document, Execution of Contract, or Contract Amendment after award. Other than through this process, the Department rejects and shall not be required to evaluate or consider any additional or modified terms, conditions, or instructions included in the Offeror’s proposal.

1.3.4 CHANGES IN REQUIREMENTS AND SPECIFICATIONS

a. The Offeror is cautioned that the requirements of this RFP can only be altered by written

Addendum issued or other documents issued by the Department as described in this RFP, and that oral or emailed communications from whatever source(s) are of no effect.

b. Any modification to specifications will be specified in an Addendum which shall be posted to the NC eVP prior to the opening of proposals or through Negotiation after opening the proposals.

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1.4 SCHEDULE AND IMPORTANT EVENTS

1.4.1 ANTICIPATED PROCUREMENT SCHEDULE

The Department will make every effort to adhere to the schedule detailed below in Table 1.4.1-1 RFP Schedule. The Department reserves the right to adjust the schedule and will post an Addendum on the NC eVP website for any schedule changes occurring prior to the opening of proposals.

Action Responsible Party Due Date Time (ET)

RFP Issued Department 5/11/2026

Register for Pre-Proposal Conference Offeror(s) 5/13/2026 10:00 am

Pre-Proposal Conference Offeror(s) and Department

5/14/2026 2:00 pm

Written Questions Deadline Offeror(s) 5/21/2026 2:00 pm

Agency’s Response to Written Questions / RFP Addendum Issued

Department 6/5/2026

Proposals Due Offeror(s) 7/17/2026 2:00 pm

Proposals Evaluation Begins Department 7/20/2026

System Demonstrations Offeror(s) 10/20/2026

Estimated Contract Award Department 2/26/2027

Protest Deadline Responding Vendors

15 days after award

Table 1.4.1-1 RFP Schedule

1.4.2 PRE-PROPOSAL CONFERENCE

a. The Department will hold a virtual Pre-Proposal Conference on the date and time indicated in the RFP Schedule in Section 1.4.1 Anticipated Procurement Schedule for one hour via Microsoft (MS) Teams. No purchase is required to use the MS Teams application.

b. The purpose of the conference is to allow the Department to review key priorities and objectives of the RFP and to review the submission requirements and instructions.

c. While attendees may ask questions at the Pre-Proposal Conference, the Department is not required to respond during the conference. The Department will respond to written questions per the process described in this RFP.

d. Potential Offerors are not required to attend the Pre-Proposal Conference in order to submit responses to this RFP; however, they are urged and cautioned to attend the Pre-Proposal Conference to apprise themselves of the conditions and requirements of the submission.

e. To ensure receipt of the Pre-Proposal Conference invite and instructions for participation, interested parties are required to pre-register for the conference by sending an email to Medicaid.Procurement@dhhs.nc.gov stating the name of the potential Offeror, the names and email addresses of representatives who will attend, the current title or role of each representative, and requests for a sign language interpreter or other accommodations.

Interested parties must pre-register at this email address by the date and time indicated in the RFP Schedule in Section 1.4.1 Anticipated Procurement Schedule.

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f. The Department limits the number of representatives attending on behalf of each Offeror or organization to two (2) representatives to ensure adherence to videoconference capacity limits.

g. Audio and video recording of the Pre-Proposal Conference will not be permitted. Statements and materials discussed at the conference are informational only, are not binding upon the Department and do not replace reading, reviewing and complying with this RFP.

h. Attendees will be required to announce their name or otherwise confirm their presence via a roll call during the Pre-Proposal Conference.

2.0 PURPOSE OF RFP

2.1 INTRODUCTION

The Purpose of this RFP is the for the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS), Division of Health Benefits (DHB or Department) to solicit offers for the acquisition of a Data Analytics Platform solution.

The Decision Support System (DSS) / Data Warehouse (DW) (DSS/DW) business area encompasses software tools used by the Department to extract and/or analyze Medicaid data to inform program and policy decisions, and to report on the delivery of the Medicaid program. The DSS/DW module has been named by the Department as the Data Analytics Platform (DAP), which will serve as the formal reference for this initiative and solution.

2.2 CONTRACT TERM

A contract awarded pursuant to this RFP shall have an Effective Date as provided in the Notice of Award.

The initial term shall be five (5) years unless otherwise stated in the Notice of Award and unless otherwise terminated in accordance with the Contract.

2.2.1 OPTIONAL EXTENSIONS

After the initial term, the State shall have the option to extend the Contract for two (2) additional one

(1) year periods at its sole discretion. Each year that the Contract remains in effect shall be a “Contract Year.” The Department will give the Contractor written notice of its intent whether to exercise each option year no later than thirty (30) Calendar Days before the end of the Contract’s then current term.

2.2.2 EFFECTIVE DATE

This solicitation, including any Exhibits, or any resulting contract or amendment shall not become effective nor bind the State until the appropriate State purchasing authority / official, or Agency official has signed the document(s), contract or amendment; the effective award date has been completed on the document(s), by the State purchasing official, and that date has arrived or passed. The State shall not be responsible for reimbursing the Vendor for goods provided nor Services rendered prior to the appropriate signatures and the arrival of the effective date of the Agreement. No contract shall be binding on the State until an encumbrance of funds has been made for payment of the sums due under the Agreement.

2.3 CONTRACT TYPE

Definite Quantity Contract - This request is for a close-ended contract between the awarded Vendor and the State to furnish a pre-determined quantity of a good or service during a specified period of time.

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The State reserves the right to make partial, progressive or multiple awards: where it is advantageous to award separately by items; or where more than one supplier is needed to provide the contemplated specifications as to quantity, quality, delivery, service, geographical areas; and where other factors are deemed to be necessary or proper to the purchase in question.

2.4 AGENCY BACKGROUND

NCDHHS manages the delivery of health- and human-related services for all North Carolinians, especially our most vulnerable citizens – children, elderly, disabled and low-income families. The Department works closely with health care professionals, community leaders and advocacy groups; local, state and federal entities; and many other stakeholders to make this happen. Within NCDHHS, NC Medicaid is dedicated to providing access to physical and behavioral health care and services to improve the health and well-being of over 3 million North Carolinians.

NCDHHS is replacing the Department’s Medicaid Management Information System (MMIS) with a Medicaid Enterprise System (MES), also referred to as the Medicaid Integrated Modular Solution (MIMS).

MIMS will be implemented through a multi-phase initiative, the MMIS Replacement Project. The MMIS Replacement Project will implement a series of interrelated modules. These modules will have functionality designated by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) in support of obtaining compliance with Medicaid Information Technology Architecture (MITA) Framework and CMS certification for each module.

The NC MIMS system will modernize and transform North Carolina Medicaid and its sister divisions, including the Division of Mental Health (DMH), Division of Public Health (DPH), and Office of Rural Health (ORH). NC MIMS will improve the Provider and Medicaid beneficiary experience across the enterprise.

3.0 RFP REQUIREMENTS AND SPECIFICATIONS

3.1 SCOPE OF WORK

The DAP solution will be a scalable, cloud-based platform that enables faster, data-driven decisions. It will replace legacy systems with modular, secure, and automated solutions. This shift supports improved transparency, operational efficiency, and healthcare outcomes. The DAP solution will facilitate faster, data-informed decisions that improve care delivery, policy evaluation, and population health. It will enhance reporting accuracy, reduce operational delays, and support compliance with federal and legislative mandates. Overall, it advances the Department’s mission to deliver high-quality, efficient, and equitable healthcare to Medicaid beneficiaries. The anticipated go-live date for the DAP solution must occur no later than July 1st, 2029.

The figure in Attachment U: Conceptual Architectural Diagrams provides an architectural diagram of the envisioned future state. This diagram serves as a general reference for the solution architecture envisioned by the Department and illustrates top-level information flow. Vendors are encouraged to propose innovative approaches and solutions that achieve the outcomes and functionality described in this document.

3.1.1 SOLUTION OVERVIEW

The State seeks to implement a modern, secure, cloud-based data and analytics platform built on a cloud provider such as Microsoft Azure, Amazon AWS, or Google GCP, along with a Data Warehousing solution that includes a user-friendly interface and built-in BI capabilities such as Snowflake, Databricks, or similar. The platform will provide a unified, scalable, and governed foundation for ingesting, storing, transforming, and consuming enterprise data in support of analytics, reporting, and AI-driven decision-making. The goal of the solution is to enable the State Business

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Intelligence (BI) team and non-technical Business teams to easily interact with the data and generate insights using SQL and/or drag-and-drop functionalities.

The solution shall adopt an API-first, modular architecture consistent with MITA modularity principles, enforcing clear domain separation (e.g., claims, provider, eligibility services) through secure, versioned APIs while also supporting additional integration patterns such as batch data ingestion, ELT/ETL pipelines, streaming, events, and secure file-based exchanges based on the operational needs of the Department.

The Vendor will propose a technology stack with associated tools and services to meet the stated technical requirements and specifications within this document, and to ensure the overall solution remains cost-optimized, maintainable, and compliant with State and Federal security standards. The Department intends for the Solution to use the following technology elements as the foundation of the Solution:

a. Cloud hosting and infrastructure services.

b. Enterprise data warehouse and governed data sharing platform for business and technical users.

c. Business intelligence and visualization layer supporting AI-assisted analytics and self-service dashboards.

d. Primary programming languages such as Python, PySpark, and SQL, or similar for data engineering, transformation, and analytics.

e. The Solution will use existing State procured SAS EG Desktop licenses or set up Vendor procured SAS licenses initially to integrate and connect with the data warehouse for transition continuity, with a planned phased retirement as workloads migrate to the new programming languages such as Python, PySpark, and SQL.

f. Version control, CI/CD automation, and DevOps pipeline orchestration.

g. Infrastructure as Code (IaC) implementation.

The Department currently utilizes Microsoft-based analytics, Power BI, and Co-Pilot as enterprise AI assistant capabilities as part of its analytics and AI strategy. The proposed technology stack should enable a cloud-native architecture optimized for the analytics and AI platforms in use by the Department.

The project is intended to be delivered in two main stages:

1) Design, Development, and Implementation (DDI): A period during which the Vendor will provide services, including platform design, implementation, testing, and migration of reports, data, and code. This stage is intended to include a substantial period for a parallel run of the current analytics platform solution and the DAP solution;

2) Operations & Maintenance (O&M):

i. Hypercare: A period during which the Vendor will provide training, coaching, change management support, remediation of migration-related defects, and begin to provide data engineering services for pipeline maintenance and enrichment, and full platform administration;

ii. Steady State: The Vendor will continue to maintain and administer the platform, provide data engineering services, and continue to address any residual migration defects.

Refer to table 3.1.1-1 Stage Activities below for a more detailed breakdown of activities across the stages.

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Area of Activity During DDI O&M - Hypercare O&M - Steady State Platform / Infrastructure

Design and implementation

Maintenance and Administration

Maintenance and Administration

Data Security & Privacy

Design and implementation

Maintenance and Administration

Maintenance and Administration

DevOps Design and implementation

Maintenance and Administration

Maintenance and Administration

Data Governance

Implement broader NC Medicaid solution, if one is adopted, or stand up and populate a data catalog /glossary if not adopted.

Maintenance and Administration of Catalog and its content

Maintenance and Administration of Catalog and its content

Data Architecture Design and implementation

Maintenance and continuous alignment to Data Architecture

Maintenance and continuous alignment to Data Architecture

Data Engineering Design and implementation. Provide training and change management to the State

Lead Data Engineering activities, maintain existing data pipelines, resolve data pipeline defects, coach / train State resources in this area.

Lead Data Engineering activities, maintain existing data pipelines, and resolve data pipeline defects

DataOps Design and implementation. Provide training and change management to the State

Lead Data Ops activities and coach / train State resources in this area.

Lead DataOps activities

Data Product Management

Migrate existing data products and build new data products.

Maintain existing Data Products, deploy to production data products developed by the State, and coach / train State resources in this area.

Maintain existing data products and deploy to production data products developed by the State.

BI/Reporting Migrate existing reports and dashboards

Resolves any new defects found on migrated reports and dashboards

Resolves any new defects found on migrated reports and dashboards

Data Science / ML / Advanced Analytics

No work required Consult and advise the State in this area.

Consult and advise the State in this area.

Change Management & Adoption

Develop training and develop a change management plan for platform adoption

Provide training and guidance and execute the post go-live elements of the change management plan

Provide periodic training

Table 3.1.1-1 Stage Activities

3.1.2 SOLUTION DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES

The development of the Solution is expected to be executed in distinct phases, beginning with initiation and planning activities such as workgroup kick-off, stakeholder engagement, and development of a comprehensive project plan with finalized milestones and deliverables. Subsequent phases will include design, development, and configuration of the solution, as well as data, code, and report migrations, using an agile or similar methodology. Testing phases will encompass system integration, Page 14 of 15 RFP #30-2025-008-DHB-Data Analytics Platform Rev. May 11, 2026 user acceptance, and end-to-end validations, ensuring performance, security, and compliance with regulatory standards. The State expects to run the Solution and the existing system in parallel for several months prior to Solution go-live. The project will culminate in go-live deployment, operational transition, and post-implementation support, with ongoing operations and maintenance activities to address enhancements, change requests, and system updates. Throughout all phases, the Vendor will work closely with the State, provide regular status reporting, and adhere to project management best practices for schedule, issue, budget, and resource management.

The graphic in Image 3.1.2-1: Development Activities Overview below provides a representative high-level view of the activities expected to be included in the development of the Solution.

Image 3.1.2-1 Development Activities Overview

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3.1.3 PLATFORM ENABLEMENT

The key elements of the work to be performed include designing, building, testing, and operationalizing a modern data platform and migrate legacy assets into the new environment prior to go-live. Work will be executed using automated, secure, and risk-controlled delivery patterns, ensuring quality, continuity, and adoption. The Vendor will provide design and implementation services during the DDI phase of the project and ongoing operational support of the platform after solution go-live.

The main elements and outcomes of the platform enablement include:

a. Cloud Platform and Infrastructure: The objective is to build a secure, scalable, and resilient cloud-based analytics infrastructure. This effort includes designing and deploying multiple environments across the tech stack (e.g., cloud platform, data warehouse, BI tool, Data Governance tool), with robust networking, access controls, disaster recovery, monitoring, and metadata management to support enterprise-wide data operations. This effort also includes work to develop APIs, FHIR, and HL7 interfaces to ensure secure and high-performance access to curated datasets.

b. DevOps, Automation, and CI/CD: The objective is to use Infrastructure-as-Code (IaC) and CI/CD pipelines to automate provisioning, testing, deployment, and promotion of environments, platform components, and data pipelines. This work includes enforcing change-control gates and sprint-based release management to ensure structured and compliant delivery.

c. Data Architecture and Modeling: The objective is to design a modern data architecture with subject-area-aligned data models tailored for analytics, reporting, and performance. Curated silver, gold, and consumption data layers are expected, in addition to an Operational Data Store (ODS), to support the creation of governed and high-quality data products and reports.

d. Ingestion, Transformation, and Pipeline Modernization: The objective is to define best-practice-aligned data ingestion and consumption patterns, build automated data pipelines, implement Change Data Capture (CDC), orchestration, and performance optimization to ensure efficient and scalable data operations.

e. Analytics and BI Enablement: The objective is to establish the enterprise Power BI environment, semantic models, and data marts aligned with the new architecture, accompanied by the implementation of robust governance practices. This effort also includes setting workspace standards, enforcing row-level and column-level security, and applying performance optimization techniques to ensure secure, efficient, and scalable analytics operations.

f. Advanced Analytics Foundation: The objective is to prepare platform services and data structures to enable advanced analytics, Machine Learning, GenAI, and AI capabilities.

g. Analyst Workspaces and Innovation: The objective is to provision on-demand analyst workspaces to enable self-service for approved users, offering read-only access to production data, the ability to load and analyze user-supplied data, and the capability to develop reports and queries in isolation. These analyst workspaces will be strictly restricted from writing back or modifying production data. A formal promotion workflow will be established to allow analyst workspace-developed assets to move into production.

h. Security, Observability and SLA Monitoring: The objective is to deploy tools to monitor pipeline health, detect data drift, track usage patterns, provide real-time alerting, and monitor the Solution to enforce adherence to the SLA’s in Attachment L: Service Level Agreements.

Dashboards will be configured to enable cost control and system performance insights. The platform is expected to be secured using modern best practices aligned with federal and state regulations for managing PII and PHI, including row- and column-level security, private endpoints, single tenancy, encryption, role-based access controls, auditing, data privacy, and data-sharing controls.

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i. Change Management, Training, and Adoption: The objective is to deliver structured training tailored to technical staff, analysts, and business users to enable data literacy and self-service in the organization. Part of this work will include the development of standard operating procedures (SOPs), operating playbooks, governance documentation, and onboarding guides.

These efforts are meant to facilitate organizational change and ensure a smooth transition to the enhanced data environment.

3.1.4 ASSETS MIGRATION AND VALIDATION

The key elements of the work to be performed involve migrating approximately 110-120 TB of historical data and metadata into the DAP environment, which includes around 2000 tables, and aligning them with the new data model. This process includes validating data completeness, structure, and business rule fidelity against legacy systems, and authenticating datasets through automated data quality checks, audit controls, and robust testing.

This work will include rewriting and modernizing legacy ETL logic, scripts, and views, including the conversion of SAS code to DAP-based programming languages (such as SQL and Python / PySpark).

SAS files and datasets stored in the current analytics platform will need to be moved to DAP object storage. Additionally, over 650 reports and dashboards will need to be converted from platforms like Cognos and Tableau to Power BI, ensuring alignment with the new model. It is expected that side-by-side parallel testing and reconciliation will be conducted to ensure accuracy before final cutover.

Tables 3.1.4-1 Migration Assets, 3.1.4-2 Scripts/Views, and 3.1.4-3 Reports provide an inventory summary of the data, scripts, and reports that are expected to be migrated to DAP as a part of the effort.

Complexity

Migration Assets Migration Activity Total Simple (Pass

Through

ETL)

Medium (Few joins, transformatio ns)

Complex (Aggregations, Transformatio ns)

BIDP Tables (Internal AWS Redshift Data Warehouse)

Migrated in DAP, populated into Bronze and Silver layers via new ETL/ELT logic to be written as part of this initiative

550 550 0 0

Tables Ingested in DAP, populated into Bronze and Silver layers leveraging existing ETL/ELT (DataStage) logic

2,020

(most of these are stand alone, used as intermediat e tables for data processing

ETL/ELT Jobs (DataStage)

Rewritten and optimized for DAP data model and architecture, applied to migrated tables to build Bronze and Silver layer

1,959

1,159

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Complexity

Migration Assets Migration Activity Total Simple (Pass

Through

ETL)

Medium (Few joins, transformatio ns)

Complex (Aggregations, Transformatio ns)

Database Procedures

Existing Jobs/Scripts/Views might reference these procedures, and the logic needs to be preserved and rewritten in DAP

Table 3.1.4-1 Migration Assets

Scripts/Views Migration Activity Total Simple

(<300 lines of code)

Medium (300 -1000 lines of code)

Complex (>1000 lines of code)

PCDU ad-hoc

XLS, XLSX,

CSV, and TXT files

ETL/ELT scripts developed to process landing data in DAP, apply data quality (DQ) checks (currently via Python-based Data Quality Script), and generate required JSON and Excel response files with results sent to PCDU. After passing DQ checks, the scripts ingest files in DAP, and populate into Bronze and Silver layers

550 550 0 0

SQL Views (Both Materialized and regular)

Rewritten and optimized for DAP data model

2,232

2,121

Encryption / Decryption Scripts

Certain assets being migrated might use these, and they need to be correctly decrypted/encrypted using equivalent logic

SAS Macros (Functions)

No migration necessary but existing SAS reports might reference these, and the logic needs to be preserved not applicable not applicable not applicable

SAS Program Files (.sas)

No rewrite is needed, but files need to be stored in DAP object storage as-is for archival/auditing purposes

114,699 not applicable not applicable not applicable

SAS Dataset Files (.sas7bdat)

No rewrite is needed, but files need to

108,467 applicable not applicable not applicable

SAS Project Files (.egp)

No rewrite is needed, but files need to

4,517 applicable not applicable applicable

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Scripts/Views Migration Activity Total Simple

(<300 lines of code)

Medium (300 -1000 lines of code)

Complex (>1000 lines of code)

Existing Data Products (including intermediate tables created that are not exposed to end users)

Rewritten and optimized for DAP data model and architecture, applied to migrated tables to build Gold layer

Python-based Data Quality Script

Rewritten and optimized for DAP. Might be extended if needed

Table 3.1.4-2 Script/Views

Reports Migration Activity

(applicable to both scripts/code and dashboards)

Total Simple (<200 lines of code)

Medium (200 -1500 lines of code)

Complex (>1500 lines of code)

Cognos Migrated and optimized for DAP

Excel Migrated and optimized for DAP not applicable not applicable not applicable

SAS Migrated and optimized for DAP

SAS - Desktop Migrated and optimized for DAP

Tableau Migrated and optimized for DAP

Table 3.1.4-3 Reports

3.1.5 DATA MANAGEMENT AND GOVERNANCE

The work includes implementing a lean and native Data Governance tool for DAP and creating a unified Data Catalog featuring a technical Data Dictionary and Business Glossary. Data profiling activities can leverage the data warehouse engine directly rather than external tools. The Vendor will be expected to engage business data stewards and owners to populate the Data Catalog, align with the Medicaid Enterprise Data Governance guidelines and policies (to be shared during DDI), and curate business, technical metadata, and CDEs. A data quality framework will be defined and automated for critical data elements, validation, and stewardship workflows. It is expected that security will be enforced through role-based and attribute-based access controls (RBAC/ABAC), encryption, and key management for data at rest and in transit. Additionally, auditing and cost tracking will be enabled for platform visibility, and secure data sharing and collaboration will be supported through cloud native capabilities and managed identities. Data management will emphasize transparency, compliance, and usability across all stakeholders.

3.1.6 DATA PRODUCTS

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The Vendor will be expected to design and deliver 30 new data products—curated, domain-aligned datasets created by joining multiple source tables and applying standardized transformation, validation, and business logic. These data products must serve as reusable building blocks that streamline and accelerate future reporting, analytics, and data science by providing consistent, analysis-ready views of major data domains.

3.1.7 ONGOING SUPPORT AND OPERATIONS

Upon completion of implementation, the Vendor is expected to transition to Ongoing Maintenance and Operational Support (O&M) in collaboration with the State team. This support will unfold in two stages:

1) Hypercare stage, a two-year period focused on training, coaching, change management, defect remediation, and full platform administration including data engineering services; and 2) Steady State stage, where the Vendor continues platform and pipeline maintenance and addresses any remaining migration issues, though without dedicated BI developer support.

Following go-live, the State will assume ownership of new Data reporting development, while the Vendor will be responsible for the continued operation, optimization, and enhancement of the cloud environment, DevOps toolchains, data engineering workflows, data integration pipelines, and underlying platform services. The Vendor is expected to ensure high availability, performance tuning, incident response, and continuous improvement of all production data pipelines and platform components in accordance with the Department’s enterprise architecture and operational governance standards.

Hypercare and Steady State O&M stages both include the following key elements of work:

a. Platform and Infrastructure Management: Administer and maintain the platform, including periodic review and implementation of performance and cost optimization recommendations.

b. Security and Compliance: Ensure continuous monitoring, patching, vulnerability management, and preventive maintenance, including enforcement of security posture management and adherence to NIST 800-53 controls.

c. Data Engineering and DataOps: Maintain and continuously optimize all production data pipelines, enhance Bronze/Silver layers, provide guidance to the State in developing new data products, and deploy the State developed data products to production.

d. Monitoring and Optimization: Provide continuous monitoring, alerting, and incident response.

e. Training and Knowledge Transfer: Provide documentation, training sessions, and mentoring to ensure the State team is enabled for self-service and can independently sustain operations.

f. General Administration: Support user onboarding, access management, testing, and cost reporting.

g. Ad-Hoc Data Needs: The Department may require the Vendor to perform supplemental data ingestion, integration pipeline development, transformation logic updates, semantic layer modifications, and support reporting conversions on an ad-hoc basis. All such requests shall be executed in alignment with the State approval processes and governance committees.

3.1.8 CONSULTING SERVICES

During the Operations and Maintenance phase of the work, the Department expects the Vendor to provide consulting services, upon request, that may include activities such as advanced analytics, statistical analysis, AI/ML/Gen AI use case development and support, and other similar ad-hoc requests. The Department expects to have consulting resources available on a fully burdened hourly rate basis to use toward these services activities. For example, the Vendor may support initial GenAI and Machine Learning use cases and transition eventual ownership of the activities to the Department.

Additionally, the Department expects the Vendor to provide hands-on training in topics such as Data

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Science tools, algorithms, techniques, GenAI, and others. Any consulting services must be proposed and adjudicated through the change request management…