QA1 JPA S2S System and Resources.pdf

555 West Monroe Street, 5th Floor Chicago, Illinois 60661 ∙ (888) 473-4858 ∙ TTY (866) 325-4949

320 West Washington Street, 3rd Floor Springfield, Illinois 62786 ∙ (888) 473-4858 ∙ TTY (866) 325-4949

JPA Seed to Sale Tracking System and Resources RFP

BidBuy Bid# 23-440DFPR-SECRE-B-29251 Question and Answer Document

Last Revised: September 28, 2022

# Question Answer 1 Attachment A, Mandatory & Desirable Criteria:

For submission, can Attachment A be converted from excel (for example, Word table) and uploaded as a pdf?

If an Offeror chooses to convert Attachment A to a different format, we respectfully ask that a redundant Attachment A is sent back as an Excel sheet. The Excel format will assist in more efficient evaluations of an Offeror’s proposal. We prefer it’s submitted back as an Excel format but it’s not mandatory.

2 D.9. Where Services Are To Be Performed: The RFP indicates that the response must be “N/A” Please confirm that vendors do not need to include a response related to D.9 in proposals.

Section D.9.2. of the RFP allows Offerors to disclose the locations where services will be performed. Please disclose this information in that section with your proposal.

3 D.2.11, Information Technology (IT) Governance and Legal Requirements: “The Offeror shall review, sign, and return the completed attachment [Attachment E] back in Packet 1.” Please confirm that vendors need not submit narrative responses related to Attachment E.

Confirmed.

4 Attachment F, RFP Demo: Could the State provide an estimated timeframe for when vendor system demonstrations are expected to occur?

Please see section B.6.2. of the RFP for more information.

5 A.22. Evaluation Process: Could the State provide an estimated timeframe for when it expects to execute a contract?

A contract will be executed after the RFP evaluation process and Notice of Award are fully executed and the State has the approval to proceed with executing the contract. Each procurement is different and varies depending on the number of proposals receive, evaluator schedules, approvals, protests, negotiations, etc.

6 Attachment A, Mandatory & Desirable Criteria:

Will the State share the percentage of

The current agreement is publicly available and can be made available through a FOIA request with IDFPR’s FOIA Officer.

www.idfpr.illinois.gov

JB PRITZKER

Governor

MARIO TRETO, JR.

Secretary

320 West Washington Street, 3rd Floor Springfield, Illinois 62786 ∙ (888) 473-4858 ∙ TTY (866) 325-4949 mandatory and desirable requirements that are already being met by the incumbent vendor?

7 Attachment A, Mandatory & Desirable Criteria includes numerous requirements that include “I” (D.66, 68, 94, 169, 197, and 211) or “my” (D.54, 64, 108, 109, 110, 113, 153, 163, 164,

181) statements. Should these requirements instead refer to the System, such as “The System should ____?” Furthermore, if these functionalities apply to specific user roles, could the State please specify which roles those are?

Each desirable criteria describes the result in the solution the State would like to procure.

Column D details the specific user/role the criteria apply to. The “I” or “my” can be read as coming from the user/role listed in Column D.

8 D.2.1-11, “Any and all narratives and attachments requested, related to the below requirements documented in subsections D.2.1 through D.2.11, shall be completed and returned in Packet 1 of the Offeror’s proposal.”

Could the State provide additional direction / guidance on the information it's looking for vendors to provide in the narrative section?

Currently, there are only a few sentences describing what vendors should include for each section.

That RFP section further states, “The content provided within the Offeror’s responses to subsections D.2.1 through D.2.11 will be evaluated and scored based on the responsive element points assigned…” The content of your narratives and plans should be concise and justify how your solution and resources meet the RFP’s mandatory and desirable criteria.

9 D.2.1-11, “Any and all narratives and attachments requested, related to the below requirements documented in subsections D.2.1 through D.2.11, shall be completed and returned in Packet 1 of the Offeror’s proposal.”

Could the State provide guidance on page limits or recommended page counts/ranges for each section of the narrative response? It’s unclear if the State is looking for a few paragraphs, a few pages, or a few dozen pages of narrative for each section.

There are no mandatory minimums or maximums when completing these sections of the RFP for your respective proposal. The content of your narratives and plans should be concise and justify how your solution and resources meet the RFP’s mandatory and desirable criteria.

10 A.8.1. Offer Due Date, Time, and Address for Submission of Offer: Would the State consider extending the proposal submission deadline to give vendors adequate time to adjust their response to the state’s answers to vendor questions?

Yes, a due date extension may be considered but it’s not guaranteed.

11 D.3.1. Milestones and Deliverables: Does the State prefer an implementation timeline that’s fewer than 180 days? Or should vendors use a proposed implementation of 180 days and note if they’re able to perform a shorter implementation? Could shorter implementation timelines result in a higher evaluation score?

That is an anticipated milestone/deliverable the awarded Vendor is expected to achieve throughout the life of the awarded contract.

Your proposal should be geared to meet that anticipated milestone/deliverable; however, the State will accept proposals that can implement the solution in a shorter timeframe.

320 West Washington Street, 3rd Floor Springfield, Illinois 62786 ∙ (888) 473-4858 ∙ TTY (866) 325-4949

Scoring details can be found in Section B of the

RFP.

12 Attachment A, Mandatory & Desirable Criteria, Requirement D.33 states, “Describe Proposed solution's ability to decipher between a plant that is frozen or not frozen.” Could the State please confirm that “frozen” refers to the physical state of the plant, eg flash-frozen cannabis material?

Confirmed. This is regarding flash-frozen cannabis material.

13 Attachment A, Mandatory & Desirable Criteria, Requirement D.215 states, “Describe Proposed solution's ability to provide easy access to a help desk within the S2S solution that is available 24 hours/day.” Could the State confirm that 24-hour support applies to State users? If so, does the State have preferred support hours for industry users?

D.215 is for “All Users” as stated in column D.

All Users refers to any regulatory/State and business/licensee/public user of the system.

14 Attachment A, Mandatory & Desirable Criteria, Requirement D.215 states, “Describe Proposed solution's ability to provide easy access to a help desk that is available 24 hours/day.” Could the State further describe what “easy access” means? For example, does it include live support via phone, chat, and/or email during business hours? What are the expectations for after-hours access?

The State recommends Offerors provide accurate and attainable information in their proposals and anticipate their respective response(s) to be part of the future contract, if awarded.

15 2.E, Pricing: Could the state estimate the number of industry and state users?

There are currently 5 main State agencies that oversee the cannabis industry and 13 total agencies involved in the regulatory structure.

Currently, the State has issued 21 cultivation center licenses, 76 craft grow licenses, 54 infuser licenses, 98 transportation licenses, and 295 dispensary licenses.

The law authorizes up to 30 cultivation center, 150 craft grow, 100 infuser, unlimited transportation, and 500 dispensary licenses unless by administrative rule the State increases those caps.

Each agency or licensee may have a number of users to the solution.

16 2.E, Pricing, Item #4, #5, and #6: Could the State clarify the difference between Tier 1, 2, and 3 roles?

Please refer to Section D.3.4. of the RFP for this information.

17 2.E, Pricing, Item #4, #5, and #6: Could the State confirm that it seeks a total of 6,000 labor

The State wanted to include a higher estimate of mandated enhancement resource work

320 West Washington Street, 3rd Floor Springfield, Illinois 62786 ∙ (888) 473-4858 ∙ TTY (866) 325-4949 hours for mandated enhancements during the initial term of the contract? In our experience, this is a very high estimate for enhancement labor hours and effectively equates to an employee working full-time each year on system enhancements.

hours to ensure minimal or no amendments/change orders would be executed against the awarded contract for this work. Also, the State legislative process varies annually. This could mean zero mandated enhancements be executed one year and a dozen mandated enhancements executed another year. The State wants to ensure budget appropriations for any and all services are included on an annual basis in the awarded contract.

18 2.E, Pricing, Item #4, #5, and #6: Are the initial term’s estimated labor hours for the for mandated enhancements covered by the RFP requirements? Or are they for enhancements that are not covered by the RFP requirements (and may not yet be contemplated)?

They are enhancements covered by the RFP’s mandatories and desirables and subsequent requirements required by future mandates from legislative, judicial or administrative actions during the life of the awarded contract.

Please see Sections D.2.10. and D.3.3. of the RFP for more details.

19 2.E, Pricing, Item #4, #5, and #6: Will the cost of the initial term’s estimated 6,000 labor hours be scored in the pricing evaluation or are these estimates provided to help inform vendor resources allocation?

Yes. The pricing formula score can be found in Section B.7.

20 2.E, Pricing: How is the State calculating and scoring the total proposed cost of each vendor in the Pricing section? Is it scoring the sum of all costs for Items 1-21? Or is the State excluding any price Items from scoring, such as optional renewal years?

Pricing formula scoring is based on the total cost of the potential entire contract term (10 years)

21 A.23. BUSINESS ENTERPRISE FOR

MINORITIES, WOMEN, AND PERSONS WITH

DISABILITIES ACT PARTICIPATION AND

UTILIZATION PLAN includes a BEP goal of 20%. How is this goal calculated? Is it the percentage of the total proposed contract price? If so, will it be based off the initial term (three years) or based off the total possible contract, including optional renewals (ten years)?

The goal is calculated based on specific NIGP codes, as stated in Section A.23 of the RFP.

The BEP goal is approved by the State’s established process with the Commission on Equity and Inclusion. The percentage is the minimum goal for the contract term. The only term awarded is the initial term. All renewals are optional and mutually agreed upon.

22 A.23. BUSINESS ENTERPRISE FOR

MINORITIES, WOMEN, AND PERSONS WITH

DISABILITIES ACT PARTICIPATION AND

UTILIZATION PLAN: Will BEP percentages be calculated on an annual basis or across the term of the contract? For example, if a vendor wants to meet the 20% goal for a three-year term and charges $1 million per year for the

Based on the current State and CEI process, BEP goals on contracts are established during the solicitation stage (EX: RFP) and during contract renewals to re-calculate and/or re-verify the BEP goal for the optional contract terms that will be executed. The 20% is a minimum goal during the active term.

320 West Washington Street, 3rd Floor Springfield, Illinois 62786 ∙ (888) 473-4858 ∙ TTY (866) 325-4949 initial term, will that vendor need to subcontract with a BEP every year for $200,000 (for a total of $600,000 for three years) – or is the vendor able to subcontract with a BEP for one year for $600,000 (and not subcontract anything the remaining two years)?

23 A.23. BUSINESS ENTERPRISE FOR

MINORITIES, WOMEN, AND PERSONS WITH

DISABILITIES ACT PARTICIPATION AND

UTILIZATION PLAN: Will the BEP goal be inclusive of the 6,000 estimated labor hours for mandated enhancements? If so, how should vendors address the likely variability in those hours, since they’re estimates? (For example, if a vendor has $1 million pricing inclusive of the 6,000 estimated hours, its SOW with a BEP would need to be $200,000 to fulfill the 20% goal. If the actual hours wind up being 2,000, and the vendor’s actual pricing is reduced to $400,000 to reflect that change, then the BEP’s portion of the contract would jump to 50%, exceeding the 40% subcontractor threshold.)

Offerors can document their respective BEP goal implementations/plans in the required Utilization Plan document. The U-Plan is attached in the BidBuy Bid attachments tab.