NDE DMS RFI Q&A.xlsx
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- Solicitation number
- 30DOE-S3097
- Issued by
- Nevada
About this file
This document contains question and answer responses from an RFI issued by the Nevada Department of Education (NDE) regarding the implementation of a statewide Data Management System (DMS). The RFI seeks information from qualified vendors about implementing a phased DMS that would consolidate approximately 40 major data systems and additional minor systems, with key components including data inventory, mapping, collection, validation, integration, migration, configuration, workflows, reporting, testing, launch and monitoring. The system must follow CEDS standards for database definitions and naming, include both ETL and API capabilities, and adhere to strict data security requirements including FERPA compliance and CIS Controls.
The DMS will be hosted in NDE's Azure environment rather than vendor environments, with all data required to reside in the continental US at a FedRAMP security level. NDE seeks a configurable commercial off-the-shelf solution that can handle student, financial, and HR data domains while eliminating manual processes and spreadsheet-based data collection. The system must support both internal dashboards for approximately 150-200 NDE employees and external public-facing dashboards. Key requirements include real-time bi-directional integration capabilities, AI-readiness in the database architecture, and the ability to migrate at least two years of historical data. No budget information was provided, as NDE is seeking cost estimates from vendors to inform their legislative budget request.
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| Quote Instructions.pdf | ||
| NDE_DMS_RFI_2024-12-13.docx | DOCX document |
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Bid Q&A Pre-Final
| Bid Q&A | |||||||
| QUESTION_NBR | CREATED_BY | QUESTION_SUBJECT | QUESTION_TEXT | STAT | ANSWER_TEXT | COMMENTS | |
| 1 | MPLAZEK | Vision for Data-Driven Success in Education | Given the importance of data-driven decision making in education, how do you envision your ideal data management system supporting the organizationâ??s strategic goals? | ||||
| Please describe the key outcomes you hope to achieve through the use of data, such as improved student achievement, enhanced operational efficiency, or better resource allocation | NDE is in the process of developing its data strategy, which is aligned to its business strategy, and will become a major driver in the RFP development. At a high level, the business strategy begins with NDE's Strategic Improvement Plan https://doe.nv.gov/about/strategic-improvement-plan coupled with a suite of prioritized ROI objectives (TBD). The data strategy begins with defining a phased implementation of consolidated data systems into a single DMS. Each data system will be prioritized according to an alignment of the business and data strategies, and re-designed with data collection, validation, and processes to maximize automation. Ultimately, the most important strategic goal is to demonstrate high ROI yield, but this will come with expectations of elimination of manual processes and workload for school districts and NDE staff, reduction in data error rate, and a significant increase in operational efficiency. | ||||||
| 2 | MPLAZEK | Long-Term Sustainability of the Data Management System | Considering the diverse data sources and evolving needs of the education sector, how do you plan to ensure the long-term sustainability and adaptability of data management system? What mechanisms will you put in place to accommodate new data sources, changing regulations, and evolving technology? | Adaptability will be an important aspect of the DMS design, and NDE will look to potential solution providers for best practice recommendations in order to attain it. Various important concepts will come into play such as master data management, redundancy avoidance, data mapping, integration, and data architecture - areas which are most directly impacted by the introduction of new data sources. In the end, NDE is looking for a solution that will recommend processes that integrate new data systems into the DMS with minimal redundancy, not create new siloes. | |||
| 3 | MPLAZEK | Organizational Commitment to Data-Driven Decision Making | What role do you see in the organization playing in the successful implementation and ongoing maintenance of the data management system? How will you ensure data quality, promote data literacy among your staff, and foster a culture of data-driven decision making | NDE's Data Systems Management (DSM) team will be directly involved with the implementation as the future supporters of the system. Their role in the implementation will be as prescribed by the implementation partner, along with recommendations for future long-term support. The DSM team will continue to uphold their current high standards for data quality, and expect those standards to be improved through improvements in data collection and validation, and error reduction. By documenting current data business processes, data literacy will improve through future processes (data flows) bridging gaps, and facilitating data-driven decision making by elminating time consuming manual tasks required for those decisions today. | |||
| 4 | MPLAZEK | Data Integration and Migration | Do you have a current data inventory that details the data sources, formats (e.g., CSV, Excel), and data quality aspects (e.g., completeness, accuracy) for your various educational programs? |
Can you describe the current process for exchanging data files with Nevada school districts and the Public Charter School Authority? Are there any specific challenges you face with this data exchange?
Beyond traditional data sources, are there any unconventional data sources (e.g., social media, student surveys) that you envision incorporating into the future data management system? The data systems inventory is in the process of being updated. With the exception of a few systems, a comprehensive data map of the data they process does not exist and will need to be created.
The PCSA is treated like its own school district with data file exchanges following the same format as the 17 counties. Specific data exchange challenges will be documented for each data system as part of their data business processes which are included in the data systems inventory currently underway.
The data systems inventory will reveal all file types traditional and unconventional, and prioritization of those systems will determine if any unconventional data sources are to be included during initial phases of implementation.
5 MPLAZEK Data Architecture and Security How do you envision the role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the data architecture? Are there specific use cases for AI-driven analytics or reporting that you have in mind?
Data security and privacy are paramount for educational data. Can you elaborate on your current data security practices and any specific compliance requirements (e.g., FERPA, HIPAA) that the new system must adhere to? A strategically designed database architecture is absolutely essential for AI systems to function efficiently and effectively for several key reasons: Optimized data storage and retrieval mechanisms ensure AI algorithms can rapidly access large datasets, reducing latency and accelerating processing times, which is critical for machine learning and deep learning models. Scalability is equally important, enabling AI systems to handle growing data volumes without compromising speed or efficiency. Maintaining data quality and integrity through validation, cleansing, and normalization processes ensures reliable AI outputs, as poor data quality can lead to inaccurate predictions. Additionally, efficient data integration and interoperability allow seamless incorporation of structured, semi-structured, and unstructured data from diverse sources, enriching datasets and streamlining workflows to support AI processing and decision-making. At this time there are no specific AI-driven use cases in mind - these will emerge as part of the RFP when the aligned business and data strategy is better known.
The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), outlined in 20 U.S. Code §1232g and 34 CFR §99, is the primary federal law protecting student privacy, establishing guidelines for sharing student information. Nevada builds upon FERPA with additional state laws to safeguard student data, including NRS 288.267, requiring the Nevada Department of Education (NDE) to adopt privacy policies aligned with federal and state regulations; NRS 388.272, mandating contract provisions for protecting personally identifiable information (PII); and NRS 388.273, requiring a data security plan for pupil data. The state enforces general data security through the Consolidated State Information Security Policy (SISP), developed by the Nevada Department of Enterprise Information Technology Systems (EITS) and based on ISO/IEC 27002:2005 and NIST 800-series standards. Compliance with SISP is mandatory for most state agencies, with exceptions requiring documented approval by the Office of Information Security (OIS). These policies ensure robust data security, integrating federal and state requirements to protect sensitive student information.
6 MPLAZEK Data Analysis and Reporting What types of reports and data visualizations do you currently generate for educators, administrators, and policymakers? Are there any specific reporting needs that the new system should address?
| Beyond basic reporting functionalities, are there any data analysis capabilities (e.g., trend analysis, predictive modeling) that you would like the new system to support? | NDE will apply the definition of "report" to span the full spectrum of tools currently in use from data extracts to interactive visualizations, some static and some dynamic. Education is a broad field which encompasses many domains, including student, HR, and financial data. Thousands of data points are currently used to generate hundreds of reports to meet very specific and targeted needs. NDE is in the process of updating the report inventory and will conduct a thorough analysis and cleansing of redundant or obsolete reports. The new system will require a new approach to providing visibility into ROI measures through a series of highly interactive data dashboards and visualizations, which will provide variability in outputs based on user controlled input parameters. | ||||
| 7 | CWHITEHEAD | Current State | What are the biggest pain points you have with your current solutions? | The biggest pain points are: accessibility to data across the Department; lack of understanding of data and data use; apathy in NDE offices to understand and use data; and having many different types of systems used throughout the State. Standardization was never adopted leaving districts to find their own solutions. This has led to systems that don't integrate well with each other. A strategy over the long run will be standardization through NDE's involvement with the selection of technology that aligns with data collection . | |
| 8 | CWHITEHEAD | Integrations | Will the solution need to integrate with your new licensing system on Cardinality? | The key word is Interoperability. Any solution will need to provide a single point of access to any data/information solution or application used by the Departmet.The DMS solution needs to follow the CEDS standards for database definitions and naming. An API will be required for external communication with other systems that follow the same CEDS standards. Creating standards within the database structure allows queries to be written with minimal data mapping. The main ingredient here is following standards both with the API and database definitions. | |
| 9 | CWHITEHEAD | Staffing | Will you allow resources to work on the program who are located outside of the United States? | No. | |
| 10 | CWHITEHEAD | Platform Preference | Are there any specific tools or platforms this team is happy with and would want to continue using in the future state? Are there any specific technical skillsets that are prevalent on this team that you would want to continue to leverage in the future state? | With this RFI, the Dept. wishes to discover tools and platforms that would at a minimum, meet the needs of this project as detailed in the RFI. We are considering involving some of our database administrators into the RFP panel that can weigh in on technical design. The most important part is having a system that is flexible, follows current standards, and uses communication protocols that best adhere to practices to allow for AI integration, data analytic tools, and system data imports by .csv file and API. The API must be robust and realtime not restful, and the data standards must adhere to CEDS. | |
| 11 | CWHITEHEAD | RFP Context | Is there a compelling event you are reacting to? | No specific compelling event. The concept of a DMS for consolidation and efficiency has been discussed for a number of years, and NDE made the decision to move forward following actions proposed in Senate Bill 89 (SB89) and Assembly Bill 400 (AB400) from the 2023 Nevada legislative session. | |
| 12 | CWHITEHEAD | Scope | In general how many data sources/systems are there in the NDE ecosystem? Structured vs unstructured? | There are approximately 40 major data systems since the last asset inventory update, and more minor data systems not included in that list. NDE is in the process of updating the data systems asset map which will be used to identify and prioritize systems for inclusion with DMS implementation phases. | |
| 13 | CWHITEHEAD | Scope | Has a comprehensive inventory of current reporting requirements been completed? If so, how many reports and dashboards on the inventory? How many are based on structured data? How many on unstructured data (ie, Excel spreadsheets)? If not, what is the current estimate? | NDE is in the process of updating its reporting inventory. The inventory will identify all reports, report types, requirements driving the need for the reports (KPIs or metrics), data sources, recipients, security, and frequency. The list and types of reports required of the new DMS will in some ways reflect the current list, but will be reduced through the elimination of redundancies and simultaneously expanded based on new ROI requirements. The current number of reports from the most recent update is 72, but the complete number of reports including dashboards and visualizations is expected to be higher. Since the specifications for the reports to be included with each implementation phase is in development, it is premature at this time for NDE to provide details on data sources, KPIs, or metrics required for those reports and their recipients. | |
| 14 | CWHITEHEAD | Program Objectives | The Commission on School Funding established by SB98/AB400 primarily focuses in its recommendations on sources of revenue to support education spending and the per pupil expenditure. Are these the data elements of the key ROI measures that will need to be supported by the statewide data management system? If not, what other ROI measures or metrics are anticipated? | Yes, these will play an important role in determining priority ROI measures for DMS reporting. | |
| 15 | CWHITEHEAD | Team Skillsets | Are there any data scientists on the NDE data team? | The NDE Data Systems Management (DSM) team is comprised of highly qualified and experienced Business Process Analysts and IT Professionals at all levels, with job descriptions for each located on the state website at https://hr.nv.gov/Resources/ClassSpecs/7_0/7_0a-Financial/. None of these can be classified as a "data scientist." | |
| 16 | CWHITEHEAD | Team Skillsets | Are there enterprise data architects on the NDE team that has been part of previous enterprise and data system deployments? If so, are those persons involved in the current data sources /systems inventory projects? | NDE has a database architect that has private and public sector experience who will be involved with the project. | |
| 17 | CWHITEHEAD | AI Goals | In seeking to have a data visualizations/dashboards built on an artificial intelligence (AI) optimized system architecture utilizing traditional and AI driven techniques, is the intention to have elements of the DMS that promote AI data readiness for future AI use cases and/or use AI driven techniques for building data visualizations/dashboards? Are there currently AI driven data use cases defined? | A strategically designed database architecture is absolutely essential for AI systems to function efficiently and effectively for several key reasons: Optimized data storage and retrieval mechanisms ensure AI algorithms can rapidly access large datasets, reducing latency and accelerating processing times, which is critical for machine learning and deep learning models. Scalability is equally important, enabling AI systems to handle growing data volumes without compromising speed or efficiency. Maintaining data quality and integrity through validation, cleansing, and normalization processes ensures reliable AI outputs, as poor data quality can lead to inaccurate predictions. Additionally, efficient data integration and interoperability allow seamless incorporation of structured, semi-structured, and unstructured data from diverse sources, enriching datasets and streamlining workflows to support AI processing and decision-making. At this time there are no specific AI-driven use cases in mind - these will emerge as part of the RFP when the aligned business and data strategy is better known. | |
| 18 | PUBLIC.SECTOR@INNOVASOLUTIONS.COM | Scale of Data and Number of Users | What is the anticipated scale of data (volume, variety, velocity) the system must handle, including the number of concurrent users? | The scale of data is typical of a state level education agency of similar size. For reference, please visit https://nevadareportcard.nv.gov/di/; this represents the federal compliance reporting required annually by the Dept and represents specific data elements that comply with state and federal law. One way to arrive at an estimate of the scale of data for the proposed work, currently at this time, is to peruse the Report Card to understand its scale of data; that scale would be representative of each individual NDE office. As a DMS system, it must also scale to handle the data loads of the State. Without the full scope of the system design, it is difficult to project scale. From prior experience, the structure must be able to handle both storage growth and compute growth on demand without disruption. | |
| 19 | PUBLIC.SECTOR@INNOVASOLUTIONS.COM | Data Standards or Compliance Frameworks | Are there specific data standards or compliance frameworks (e.g., Ed-Fi, SCORM, FERPA) the system must adhere to? | NDE will seek to adhere Ed-Fi educational data standards as closely as possible, with data security and privacy addressed as follows: |
The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), outlined in 20 U.S. Code §1232g and 34 CFR §99, is the primary federal law protecting student privacy, establishing guidelines for sharing student information. Nevada builds upon FERPA with additional state laws to safeguard student data, including NRS 288.267, requiring the Nevada Department of Education (NDE) to adopt privacy policies aligned with federal and state regulations; NRS 388.272, mandating contract provisions for protecting personally identifiable information (PII); and NRS 388.273, requiring a data security plan for pupil data. The state enforces general data security through the Consolidated State Information Security Policy (SISP), developed by the Nevada Department of Enterprise Information Technology Systems (EITS) and based on ISO/IEC 27002:2005 and NIST 800-series standards. Compliance with SISP is mandatory for most state agencies, with exceptions requiring documented approval by the Office of Information Security (OIS). These policies ensure robust data security, integrating federal and state requirements to protect sensitive student information.
| 20 | PUBLIC.SECTOR@INNOVASOLUTIONS.COM | Security Protocols and Certifications | What security protocols and certifications (e.g., SOC 2, ISO 27001) are required for data storage and access control? | Peter/Cameron - Cameron - In 2019, NRS 603A was amended to identify the Center for Internet Security (CIS) Controls as a baseline security framework for the Executive Branch of Nevada State Government. In situations where neither the state nor the agency has established a policy or standard on a specific security control, the requirements of NIST 800-53 Security and Privacy Controls and 800-100 Information Security Handbook will be the de facto state standard. | ||
| 21 | PUBLIC.SECTOR@INNOVASOLUTIONS.COM | Preference for Public Cloud Providers | Does the Department have a preference for public cloud providers (e.g., AWS, Azure, Google Cloud), or is a private cloud or on-premises solution required? | NDE has experience with AWS and Azure, but would welcome any cloud proposal that satisfies the reuqirements of the project. We must follow the elements as laid out in the State Security Standards S.5.06.01. Public data must reside in the continental US and be at a security level of a government offering / Fedramped. | ||
| 22 | PUBLIC.SECTOR@INNOVASOLUTIONS.COM | Migration of Historical Data | Will historical data need to be migrated into the new system, and if so, what is the estimated volume and format of this data? | Historical data will need to be migrated into the new system, but the estimated volume and format information is not known at this time. Information about historical data to be migrated into the DMS will be determined and included in the RFP based on an updated retention schedule along with ROI goals for longitudinal reporting. At a minimum, at least two school years from major systems are expected to be imported for use in testing and proofing of analytical tools. | ||
| 23 | PUBLIC.SECTOR@INNOVASOLUTIONS.COM | Built-In Advanced Analytics Features | Does the Department require built-in advanced analytics features, such as predictive analytics or machine learning capabilities, for student performance insights? | NDE is open to built-in advanced analytics features as part of a proposed solution to provide predictive analytics or machine learning. | ||
| 24 | PUBLIC.SECTOR@INNOVASOLUTIONS.COM | Training Requirements | Are there specific requirements for user training, documentation, and ongoing technical support? | Specific requirements for user training, documentation, and ongoing technical support will be developed as part of the RFP. | ||
| 25 | PUBLIC.SECTOR@INNOVASOLUTIONS.COM | Anticipated Future Requirements | Are there anticipated future requirements or expansions the system should account for, such as additional data sources or integration with emerging educational technologies? | Adaptability will be an important aspect of the DMS design, and NDE will look to potential solution providers for best practice recommendations in order to attain it. Various important concepts will come into play such as master data management, redundancy avoidance, data mapping, integration, and data architecture - areas which are most directly impacted by the introduction of new data sources. In the end, NDE is looking for a solution that will recommend processes that integrate new data systems into the DMS with minimal redundancy, not create new siloes. | ||
| 26 | PUBLIC.SECTOR@INNOVASOLUTIONS.COM | Specific Dashboard or Reporting Capabilities | Are there specific dashboard or reporting capabilities the system must support for educators, administrators, and policymakers? | NDE will apply the definition of "report" to span the full spectrum of tools currently in use from data extracts to interactive visualizations, some static and some dynamic. Education is a broad field which encompasses many domains, including student, HR, and financial data. Thousands of data points are currently used to generate hundreds of reports to meet very specific and targeted needs. NDE is in the process of updating the report inventory and will conduct a thorough analysis and cleansing of redundant or obsolete reports. The new system will require a new approach to providing visibility into ROI measures through a series of highly interactive data dashboards and visualizations, which will provide variability in outputs based on user controlled input parameters. | ||
| 27 | DILYTICS | DiLytics Inc. Questions | 1. | What is your preferred cloud platform for hosting the data warehouse? (e.g., AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, or other?) | ||
| 2. | Do you have a preference for a specific data warehouse solution? (e.g., Snowflake, Amazon Redshift, Google BigQuery, or Microsoft Azure Synapse) | |||||
| 3. | Are there any existing APIs to integrate the various source systems? | |||||
| 4. | What are your Data Governance policies? As part of the implementation, do you want us to propose any Data Governance software like Microsoft Purview, Oracle Enterprise data quality tools, Meta data manager etc. | |||||
| 5. | What is your current technology stack? | |||||
| 6. | What is your preferred visualization tool for the dashboards? Are you currently using Power BI, Tableau, or any other tool? | |||||
| 7. | Kindly provide the following details regarding the size of data: |
a) Size of data contained in each data source
b) Size of the data collected on a daily basis
c) Total number of tables in the data sources that need to be modelled
d) Approximate number of reports to be generated
e) Volume, frequency, and types of data coming from the data sources
| 8. | What kind of different end users or stakeholders use the reports and dashboards? | |||||
| 9. | What are the various KPIs or metrics important for each of the stakeholders (e.g., attendance rates, student performance)? | |||||
| 10. | How much historical data should be included in the system? Is there a need for year-over-year comparisons or trend analysis across multiple years? | |||||
| 11. | What is the current process for extracting, transforming, and loading (ETL) data into your systems? Do you require a new ETL process, or should we integrate with your existing ones? | |||||
| 12. | What is the estimated budget for the project? | |||||
| 13. | Are there any existing licenses for tools (e.g., Power BI, Tableau, etc.) that we should account for, or do we need to plan for new license purchases as part of the project? | These questions are split out into the following 13 questions - they are repeated. Do not answer them here. | ||||
| 28 | DILYTICS | Cloud preference | 1. | What is your preferred cloud platform for hosting the data warehouse? (e.g., AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, or other?) | NDE has experience with AWS and Azure, but would welcome any cloud proposal that satisfies the requirements of the project. We must follow the elements as laid out in the State Security Standards S.5.06.01. Public data must reside in the continental US and be at a security level of a government offering / Fedramped. We prefer to align with our current data offering which resides in Azure to make it more consistent and follow a standard. The data space must be in our Azure environment vs a vendor to maintain control over our data. | |
| 29 | DILYTICS | Data warehouse preference | 2. | Do you have a preference for a specific data warehouse solution? (e.g., Snowflake, Amazon Redshift, Google BigQuery, or Microsoft Azure Synapse) | NDE has experience with Snowflake, but prefers to standardize and stay within the Microsoft cloud offerings. | |
| 30 | DILYTICS | APIs | 3. | Are there any existing APIs to integrate the various source systems? | No. | |
| 31 | DILYTICS | Data Governance policies | 4. | What are your Data Governance policies? As part of the implementation, do you want us to propose any Data Governance software like Microsoft Purview, Oracle Enterprise data quality tools, Meta data manager etc. | NDE has a Data Governance Manual that includes policies for data privacy, data collection, access to and disclosure of data, data sharing, data request management, and protocols for storage, retention, breaches, disclosure avoidance, and secure transmission methods. As part of the DMS implementation, NDE will revisit and update current governance policies and procedures, and welcomes inclusion of data governance software as a proposed option. | |
| 32 | DILYTICS | Technology stack | 5. | What is your current technology stack? | We have one data lake, one data warehouse, an Azure database structure, an SSO provider, and a series of data file loads from miscellaneous systems. | |
| 33 | DILYTICS | Data visualization tool | 6. | What is your preferred visualization tool for the dashboards? Are you currently using Power BI, Tableau, or any other tool? | At this time NDE does not have a preferred data viz solution. In general, Power BI is utilized by database administrators and technical personnel, whereas Tableau is common among the business users. | |
| 34 | DILYTICS | Data Volume and Size | 7. | Kindly provide the following details regarding the size of data: |
a) Size of data contained in each data source
b) Size of the data collected on a daily basis
c) Total number of tables in the data sources that need to be modelled
d) Approximate number of reports to be generated
| e) Volume, frequency, and types of data coming from the data sources | NDE is in the process of updating its data systems inventory, after which prioritization of systems for a phased implementation will follow. While it is expected that data metrics of the kind requested here will be included in the RFP specifications, NDE is currently not ready to provide data metric information at this time. | ||||||
| 35 | DILYTICS | Stakeholders or Users | 8. | What kind of different end users or stakeholders use the reports and dashboards | Education is a broad topic which impacts and involves many different types of stakeholders and partners. Reports of any kind can be produced by request at any time for agencies within the federal and state government, the Office of the Governor, the State Board of Education, school districts, peer agencies or organizations nationwide, professional organizations or associations, public and private partner groups, parent or student groups, the media, or through public records requests. This list is not exhaustive, but provides an idea of the potential scope and magnitude of reporting expectations of NDE. | ||
| 36 | DILYTICS | KPIs | 9. | What are the various KPIs or metrics important for each of the stakeholders (e.g., attendance rates, student performance)? | NDE is in the process of updating its reporting inventory. The inventory will identify all reports, report types, requirements driving the need for the reports (KPIs or metrics), data sources, recipients, security, and frequency. The list and types of reports required of the new DMS will in some ways reflect the current list, but will be reduced through the elimination of redundancies and simultaneously expanded based on new ROI requirements. The current number of reports from the most recent update is 72, but the complete number of reports including dashboards and visualizations is expected to be higher. Since the specifications for the reports to be included with each implementation phase is in development, it is premature at this time for NDE to provide details on data sources, KPIs, or metrics required for those reports and their recipients. | ||
| 37 | DILYTICS | Historical data | 10. | How much historical data should be included in the system? Is there a need for year-over-year comparisons or trend analysis across multiple years? | Historical data will need to be migrated into the new system, but the estimated volume and format information is not known at this time. Information about historical data to be migrated into the DMS will be determined and included in the RFP based on an updated retention schedule along with ROI goals for longitudinal reporting. At a minimum, at least two school years from major systems are expected to be imported for use in testing and proofing of analytical tools. | ||
| 38 | DILYTICS | ETL Process | 11. | What is the current process for extracting, transforming, and loading (ETL) data into your systems? Do you require a new ETL process, or should we integrate with your existing ones? | We need both ETL and API data loads to be included. Our existing product is called Zip Line with SQL scheduled jobs. | ||
| 39 | DILYTICS | Budget | 12. | What is the estimated budget for the project? | Section 5 of this RFI states, "Provide NDE with an approximate cost range for a phased DMS implementation based on solution alternatives, including an estimate for NDE staff expected to be dedicated to the project. These costs will assist NDE with determining an appropriate budget and resource allocations for the project." Any information you can provide in response to that request will help NDE as it enters a biennial legislative session where the state budget will be reviewed and finalized. A lack of high-level budget information through this RFI will require NDE to wait until costs are proposed in response to the RFP, which will be long after the legislative session has ended. | ||
| 40 | DILYTICS | Tool Licenses | 13. | Are there any existing licenses for tools (e.g., Power BI, Tableau, etc.) that we should account for, or do we need to plan for new license purchases as part of the project? | |||
| Also, detail if you have any other tool licenses | At this time NDE does not have a preferred data viz solution. In general, Power BI is utilized by database administrators and technical personnel, whereas Tableau is common among the business users. NDE has existing licenses for Power BI and a Tableau pilot. More licenses will need to be calculated for Tableau and department wide use case scenarios. | ||||||
| 41 | POWERSCHOOLGROUP | Current Framework | The RFI mentions that NDE would like to â??augment its current data management framework.â?? Please describe this framework and any current technology that should be considered. | NDE recognizes 10 major components of an enterprise data management framework (DMF), several of which presently exist in some capacity and require updating. The main purpose of this question is to determine whether some of those components will be developed by the solution provider as part of their proposed solution, or if NDE will be expected to have those components in place in support of a successful implementation. Specifically, NDE will expect a robust data architecture as part of the proposed solution, whereas responsibilities for data mapping, data integration, and data quality management are not as clearly delineated. NDE is fully expecting to augment other areas in preparation for the project including master data management, data business rules and processes, and data privacy. As part of your response to this RFI question, please inform NDE of your expectations for DMF components to be in place prior to implementation, or services you expect to provide to augment or create those components according to your best practices. | |||
| 42 | POWERSCHOOLGROUP | Data Security | To what level will security need to be applied, particularly to dashboards that are delivered for â??educators, administrators, and legislatorsâ?? to make real-time decisions? Will data need to be secure by role and by location (i.e., state, district, school) within the state? | Encryption at rest and in transit is required following CIS controls NRS 6093A. | |||
| 43 | POWERSCHOOLGROUP | Data Sources | Where does NDE anticipate the vendor will need to source the data from? | NDE works with many different forms of source data including .csv files, Excel, FTP files, APIs, and sql extracts as examples. | |||
| 44 | POWERSCHOOLGROUP | Data Source | Will student data come directly from districts or the State Infinite Campus database? | Although Infinite Campus is the primary source, student data will come from various other major and minor systems. 24 of NDE's 40+ major data systems targeted for consolidation into the DMS manage student data for different purposes. | |||
| 45 | POWERSCHOOLGROUP | Data Source | Will data of funds provided by the Department to districts (i.e., district revenue) come from a central database at NDE or will the vendor need to collect this data from each district? | Data for funding from NDE to the local education agencies (LEAs or districts) will come directly from NDE. | |||
| 46 | POWERSCHOOLGROUP | Data Source | Will expenditure data come from a central source at NDE, or will the vendor need to collect this data from each district? | NDE expenditure data will come from NDE. Expenditure data from the LEAs is currently collected by NDE in the form of spreadsheet templates and centralized. An important goal of this DMS project is to eliminate the spreadsheets and create a more robust solution for data collection and validation of NDE and LEA financial data, which is then centralized through automated processes. | |||
| 47 | POWERSCHOOLGROUP | Data Source | Are there any other anticipated data sources beyond student data and financial revenue and expenditures, or will this be discovered during the â??data inventoryâ?? mentioned in the RFI? | The three major domains identified so far include student, financial, and HR data. As the NDE project team continues to work through its business and data strategies, additional domains might come into play. Some additional domains may have to wait for future implementation phases depending on the priority of ROI measure reporting. | |||
| 48 | MBEPROGRAM@CCSGLOBALTECH.COM | technical and cost proposal | Could NDE please clarify in which section vendors have to upload their technical and cost proposal in files or forms as it is in the portal? | Please refer to the vendor quote instrucutions listed on the Nevada EPRO website https://nevadaepro.com/bso/ | |||
| 49 | MBEPROGRAM@CCSGLOBALTECH.COM | Forms | Could the NDE kindly clarify which forms vendors are required to include in the section labeled "Forms" within the portal? | Technical proposal and Cost information | |||
| 50 | MBEPROGRAM@CCSGLOBALTECH.COM | Cost Information | Could the NDE kindly confirm if there is a specific format required for submitting the cost information? | No specific format is required | |||
| 51 | MBEPROGRAM@CCSGLOBALTECH.COM | Offshore | Does NDE accept offshore resources to execute the project? | No. | |||
| 52 | MBEPROGRAM@CCSGLOBALTECH.COM | Bid | Could the NDE please confirm whether firms must submit a bid for this RFI in order to be eligible to bid on the subsequent solicitation? | Potential solution providers are not required to submit a response to this RFI to be eligible to submit a response to the forthcoming RFP. The objective of this RFI is to solicit information that can be helpful in the development of the RFP. As stated in section 4, "4.1. This RFI is informational only - reply to as many questions in section 2.1 as possible with no more than one (1) page per question response. The information provided will assist NDE in making reasonable determinations about their role and the solution provider’s role in a complex implementation, and which components of a DMF and Data Strategy to be included in the RFP scope of work (SOW)." | |||
| 53 | MBEPROGRAM@CCSGLOBALTECH.COM | Format | Could the NDE please clarify the required format and structure that firms must follow when submitting their proposals? | reply to as many questions in section 2.1 as possible with no more than one (1) page per question response. | |||
| 54 | MBEPROGRAM@CCSGLOBALTECH.COM | Budget | What is the estimated budget for the project? | Section 5 of this RFI states, "Provide NDE with an approximate cost range for a phased DMS implementation based on solution alternatives, including an estimate for NDE staff expected to be dedicated to the project. These costs will assist NDE with determining an appropriate budget and resource allocations for the project." Any information you can provide in response to that request will help NDE as it enters a biennial legislative session where the state budget will be reviewed and finalized. A lack of high-level budget information through this RFI will require NDE to wait until costs are proposed in response to the RFP, which will be long after the legislative session has ended. | |||
| 55 | MBEPROGRAM@CCSGLOBALTECH.COM | brief background and experience | Could NDE kindly allow the vendors to add a section for their brief background and experience? | Yes, potential solution providers may include a brief section for their background and experience. | |||
| 56 | MBEPROGRAM@CCSGLOBALTECH.COM | COTS | Is NDE looking for a COTS solution? Or a customised solution as per the requirements? | NDE is looking for a configurable commercial off-the-shelf-solution as much as is possible. This is expectation applies to the central DMS and endpoint data collection and validation processes. If a recommended tool exists to convert spreadsheet templataes into a web-based data collection and validation apps, NDE is interested in long-term use of that tool for future adaptations. | |||
| 57 | MBEPROGRAM@CCSGLOBALTECH.COM | Educational experience | Would NDE prefer vendors having educational experience? | Familiarity with education related data is a plus, but not a requirement for a DMS implementation. NDE is more interested in a solution provider with knowledge and experience with industry best practices in the implementation of complex data management systems using state-of-the-art tools and technologies. | |||
| 58 | MBEPROGRAM@CCSGLOBALTECH.COM | References | Are firms supposed to add their references in the response? If yes, then how many? | No | |||
| 59 | MBEPROGRAM@CCSGLOBALTECH.COM | Case studies | Can firms add case studies to their response to show prior experience? | Only if the case studies directly answer one or more questions in Section 2. The narrative length for each question should be limited to one page, including the case study information - which may need to be condensed. | |||
| 60 | MBEPROGRAM@CCSGLOBALTECH.COM | Commercial experience and references | Can firms utilize commercial experience and references (if required)? | Only if the commerical experience directly answer one or more questions in Section 2. The narrative length for each question should be limited to one page, including the experience information - which may need to be condensed. No references are required | |||
| 61 | MBEPROGRAM@CCSGLOBALTECH.COM | Ongoing contracts | Can firms showcase ongoing contracts to demonstrate their experience? | Showcasing ongoing contracts would be more appropriate during a presentation if NDE chooses to entertain one. | |||
| 62 | MBEPROGRAM@CCSGLOBALTECH.COM | Page limit | Is there a page limit for the response? | There is no page limit stated for the overall response, although a one-page limit has been requested for each question presented in Section 2. That is an indicator of expected overall response page limit. | |||
| 63 | MBEPROGRAM@CCSGLOBALTECH.COM | Section 4 | Under section 4. SCOPE OF WORK, item 4.1, states: "This RFI is informational only - reply to as many questions in section 2.1 as possible with no more than one (1) page per question response. " Could NDE please confirm whether vendors have the option to select which questions to respond to? If so, could NDE also specify the minimum number of questions that firms must answer to be considered responsive? | As also stated in Section 4, "The information provided will assist NDE in making reasonable determinations about their role and the solution provider’s role in a complex implementation, and which components of a DMF and Data Strategy to be included in the RFP scope of work (SOW)." The main purpose of this RFI is to aid NDE in the development of an RFP, the more questions you are able to answer will benefit NDE toward that end. There is no constraint on the number of questions requiring answers, and there is no guage on a minimum number of questions answered to be considered responsive. | |||
| 64 | MBEPROGRAM@CCSGLOBALTECH.COM | executive summary | Could NDE please confirm whether vendors are permitted to include an executive summary outlining their qualifications and experience along with their responses to the questions in Section 2.1 of this RFI? | Yes, potential solution providers may include a brief executive summary outlining their qualifications and experiences along with their responses to the questions in Section 2. Bear in mind, NDE is not looking for lengthy proposals with this RFI, NDE is interested in guidance from experts in the field to help shape the content of the forthcoming RFP. Lengthy descriptions of qualifications and experience should be reserved for an RFP response. | |||
| 65 | ALMAVENDOR2025 | NDE's Data Governance Board and Policy | From Question 12: What changes to NDEâ??s data governance Board and policy can be expected with your companyâ??s implementation of a DMS? - Can a copy of these (NDEâ??s data governance Board and policy) be provided? | Perhaps Question 12 is better stated as follows, "As part of the DMS implementation, can NDE expect guidance or recommendations from you as their implementation partner to improve their current data governance policy? What kind of recommendations can they expect?" | |||
| 66 | ALMAVENDOR2025 | Other systems in use 1 | If the desire is to consolidate data to make more evidence-based decision-making, are any of the 37 data systems open to elimination if proven redundant? | Yes, and the same is true of reports. Efficiency through redundancy elimination is an important goal of this project. There will need to be strict rules defining "redundant", and conditions under which redundancy is acted upon. For example, if one field is different among datasets, can one be eliminated as redundant? No, but consideration should be given to a single data collection with the uncommon field present, and with no disruption to distinct business processes requiring the data. Also, eliminated systems or artificacts will need to be decommissioned and communicated in proper fashion. | |||
| 67 | ALMAVENDOR2025 | Other systems in use 2 | Is the intention of the project to build NDE a back-end State system (not replacing systems used in LEA data collection)? | That is partially correct, with the exception that NDE is interested in developing a data collection and validation solution that is standardized and adaptable to new data domains future data collection needs in a rapidly changing environment. | |||
| 68 | SalesForce | Have you seen any demonstrations for this use case? If so, who and when? | If the question is in reference to the previous question (#67), the answer is no - there have been no use case demonstrations related to this issue. NDE has not seen a system that is attempting to incorporate so many non standard systems into a single pane of glass. We recommend approaching the outlying systems with the intent to standardize them within a common State portfolio. | ||||
| 69 | SalesForce | What is the estimated budget that you will be requesting for this project? If the budget is already allocated, how much and for how many years? | Section 5 of this RFI states, "Provide NDE with an approximate cost range for a phased DMS implementation based on solution alternatives, including an estimate for NDE staff expected to be dedicated to the project. These costs will assist NDE with determining an appropriate budget and resource allocations for the project." Any information you can provide in response to that request will help NDE as it enters a biennial legislative session where the state budget will be reviewed and finalized. A lack of high-level budget information through this RFI will require NDE to wait until costs are proposed in response to the RFP, which will be long after the legislative session has ended. | ||||
| 70 | SalesForce | What systems does the new Data Management system need to integrate with? | The DMS solution will need to integrate with all systems over time in a phased approach. Details about these integrations will be provided in the RFP, but for illustration some familar system include Infinite Campus, NPWR, Imart lake, Azure database environment, the Teacher Licensure System, the SSO provider following SAML or OAUTH standards, local district based HR systems, local district based financial systems, the State HR system, and the State financial system. More information about NPWR and Imart will be provided in the RFP. | ||||
| 71 | SalesForce | Is there a desire to include API management as part of the integration scope? | Yes, API is a required component as well as ETL capabiliites exposing all required database tables. The solution needs to be realtime vs. restful. | ||||
| 72 | SalesForce | Are there integration patterns that DOE would like to see (bi-directional, real-time,batch,etc.)? | NDE will need bi-directional realtime batch with Infinite campus, teacher licensure, and the Snowflake data warehouse. | ||||
| 73 | SalesForce | How many internal users will be creating dashboards? | A select number of technical users TBD (approximately in the 10-20 range). | ||||
| 74 | SalesForce | How many internal users will be viewing dashboards? | All NDE employees (approximately 150-200). | ||||
| 75 | SalesForce | Will this external (public facing) dashboards be a requirement for this project, or will the dashboards be for internal use only? | Both internal and public facing dashboards will be a requirement. The API needs to be capable of realtime requests vs. restful. | ||||
| 76 | SalesForce | Is there interest from NDE in creating an enterprise platform approach for use cases beyond those outlined in the RFI? If so, how many applications would need to be migrated and how many internal users would require access? | Ideally yes, through a configurable system that can adapt to various data domains and integration methods as they become known. NDE is concerned with the adaptability of new data systems through an ever-changing business envrionment - the creation of new siloes must be in the past with the DMS. The complete list of systems will be included in the RFP when the data systems inventory is complete and a phased implementation plan is developed as part of the algined business and data strategies. That number of systems is currently unknown, along the with number of internal and external users. |
https://doe.nv.gov/about/strategic-improvement-planhttps://nevadareportcard.nv.gov/di/ Bid Q&A - Backup 192025
| Bid Q&A | |||||||
| QUESTION_NBR | CREATED_BY | QUESTION_SUBJECT | QUESTION_TEXT | STAT | ANSWER_TEXT | COMMENTS | |
| 1 | MPLAZEK | Vision for Data-Driven Success in Education | Given the importance of data-driven decision making in education, how do you envision your ideal data management system supporting the organizationâ??s strategic goals? | ||||
| Please describe the key outcomes you hope to achieve through the use of data, such as improved student achievement, enhanced operational efficiency, or better resource allocation | NDE is in the process of developing its data strategy, which is aligned to its business strategy, and will become a major driver in the RFP development. At a high level, the business strategy begins with NDE's Strategic Improvement Plan https://doe.nv.gov/about/strategic-improvement-plan coupled with a suite of prioritized ROI objectives (TBD). The data strategy begins with defining a phased implementation of consolidated data systems into a single DMS. Each data system will be prioritized according to an alignment of the business and data strategies, and re-designed with data collection, validation, and processes to maximize automation. Ultimately, the most important strategic goal is to demonstrate high ROI yield, but this will come with expectations of elimination of manual processes and workload for school districts and NDE staff, reduction in data error rate, and a significant increase in operational efficiency. |
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