Questions and Responses RFI 25.26-123.pdf

RFI 25/26- 123 1

Vendor Questions & Department Responses RFI 25/26- 123 - Intelligent Document Processing and

Workflow Automation for Tax Administration Modernization

Good afternoon:

Questions received timely and the Department responses are below:

1. Question: What is the anticipated contract value for this service?

Department Response: The budget / value of this project is not known at this time.

2. Question: Is there a timeline in pursuing the project?

Department Response: The timing, structure, and implementation approach for any future solicitation have yet to be determined. Should any future solicitation result in a project, a phased approach may be considered with a high-level timeline that could extend beyond a year. Impacted business areas, success criteria, and implementation timeline would depend on future planning and procurement efforts and are subject to change.

3. Question: The RFI questionnaire asks about a willingness to participate in demonstrations. Is there a target date range for demonstrations or is it invite-only?

Department Response: At this time, no demonstration schedule, proof of concept, or vendor meeting process has been established. The Department may invite one or more vendors to participate in demonstrations, may ask vendors to provide an MP4 video walkthrough of their solutions, or may not request demonstrations at all.

4. Question: Is there a current vendor providing this service or is it a new requirement? If there is a current vendor, could you please provide the current contract documents/information?

Department Response: No, and N/A.

5. Question: Could you kindly advise whether there is an estimated budget range or anticipated funding allocation for this initiative.

Department Response: See response to question 1.

6. Question: Could the Department describe the current document capture and imaging environment that fronts SUNTAX today (for example, scanning hardware or software, email intake, or an existing capture platform), and identify any components the Department expects to retain in a future solution?

Department Response: The Department currently utilizes a combination of document capture, imaging, workflow, and automation technologies to support its business processes. Through this RFI, the Department is seeking information regarding commercially available solutions and approaches that could integrate with, complement, or replace portions of the existing environment, as appropriate. Detailed information regarding the Department's technical environment, existing software platforms, automation tools, and integration requirements will be included, as appropriate, in any future solicitation.

7. Question: Does the Department have a preference between licensing a commercial intelligent document processing software product and commissioning a solution built and operated within the Department's own cloud tenancy on FedRAMP-authorized services, or is the Department seeking information on both models through this RFI?

Department Response: The Department has not identified a preferred deployment model for this initiative. Through this RFI, the Department is seeking information regarding available deployment approaches, including Department-hosted, vendor-hosted, cloud-based, hybrid, and other models that can support the Department’s business objectives while meeting applicable technical, security, privacy, and regulatory requirements. Detailed hosting, infrastructure, security, and operational requirements will be defined, as appropriate, in any future solicitation.

RFI 25/26- 123 2

8. Question: For demonstrations, does the Department expect to provide sample documents/test data, or should vendors describe their own demo approach?

Department Response: The Department has not determined whether demonstrations will be conducted or whether sample data or documents will be provided. If demonstrations are conducted and sample data is made available, the Department will provide appropriate guidance regarding the format, timing, evaluation process, and handling of the data.

9. Question: For SUNTAX/SAP integration, is the Department mainly looking for API-based integration, file exports, workflow queues, direct SAP integration, or is that still open for vendor input?

Department Response: The Department’s enterprise environment includes SUNTAX and other supporting Department systems. The Department is seeking information regarding available integration approaches, solution capabilities, and industry best practices that support interoperability with existing enterprise applications. Detailed technical requirements, architecture, interface specifications, supported integration methods, environments, and other technical considerations will be defined, as appropriate, as part of any future solicitation.

10. Question: Are there any specific security, privacy, accessibility, or data residency standards you want vendors to address in the RFI response?

Department Response: The Department expects any proposed solution to meet applicable federal and State of Florida security, privacy, accessibility, and data protection requirements appropriate for the information processed by the solution. Respondents should describe how their solution addresses industry-recognized security standards, regulatory compliance, data protection, identity and access management, audit capabilities, and secure deployment practices.

Detailed security, compliance, and technical requirements will be defined, as appropriate, in any future solicitation.

11. Question: Of the document types listed in the RFI, are any highest priority for an initial pilot or proof of concept? For example: scanned checks, bank statements, correspondence, mixed document packets, handwritten documents, or poor-quality scans.

Department Response: The Department processes a variety of document types and formats in support of its business operations. Through this RFI, the Department is seeking information on solutions capable of supporting diverse document types, including structured and unstructured documents, while providing flexibility to accommodate evolving business needs. Detailed document requirements, supported formats, and business-specific processing requirements will be identified, as appropriate, in any future solicitation.

12. Question: Is the Department interested in human review features such as confidence scores, exception queues, correction workflows, and audit trails?

Department Response: The Department is interested in receiving information concerning solutions that support configurable human review and exception handling processes for documents that require additional validation or manual intervention. Respondents should describe how their solution supports work queues, exception processing, user review, and configurable business workflows. Detailed business requirements will be defined, as appropriate, in any future solicitation.

13. Question: For pricing, would a high-level description of pricing models be sufficient, or would you prefer illustrative ranges/examples for licensing, implementation, training, and support?

Department Response: We are interested in understanding how vendors in this market typically price for the products and/or services they offer. Please provide “ranges” or “examples” if you believe this will help us understand your pricing model(s).

14. Question: Federal Tax Information (FTI): Will the solution be expected to store, process, or transmit FTI? If so, are respondents expected to comply with IRS Publication 1075, including any requirements related to U.S. data residency and personnel screening?

Department Response: See response to question 10.

RFI 25/26- 123 3

15. Question: SUNTAX / SAP environment: Which SAP platform and version underlies SUNTAX (e.g., S/4HANA or ECC), and does the Department prefer particular integration patterns (e.g., REST/OData APIs, RFC/BAPI, middleware such as SAP PI/PO, or file-based exchange)?

Department Response: See response to question 9.

16. Question: Deployment model: Is a cloud-hosted/SaaS solution acceptable, or is on-premises or state-hosted deployment required? Are there specific data-residency constraints?

Department Response: See response to question 7.

17. Question: Document volume: Beyond the approximately 3,000 Refunds applications per month, can the Department provide an estimated total document or page volume across in-scope programs, along with typical and peak pages per case, to support accurate pricing?

Department Response: The Department currently processes approximately 3,000 new Refunds applications per month, as identified in the RFI. Beyond this estimate, document volumes, pages per case, and enterprise-wide processing volumes vary significantly across programs and are not consistently measured. Respondents should base their responses on the information provided in the RFI and clearly identify any assumptions used in developing their proposed solution.

18. Question: Contract pathway: For any future solicitation, will the Department consider awards through existing cooperative purchasing vehicles (e.g., OMNIA Partners, TIPS, NASPO), or is a Florida state term contract or competitive solicitation anticipated?

Department Response: Unknown at this time. However, per question 4. of the RFI we are interested in knowing what our procurement options are, which may include state contracts and agreements, cooperative purchasing agreements, and / or alternate contract source options.

19. Question: Demonstration data: Will the Department make de-identified sample document packets available to support a demonstration, and if so, on what timeframe?

Department Response: See response to question 8.

20. Question: We are preparing our response to RFI-16398 and would like to submit a redacted copy. However, the restrictions on the Word document don't allow me to edit the format in order to apply the redactions. Could you either send over a template that permits redactions, or confirm whether it's sufficient for me to note the specific sections we'd like redacted via email when I submit our final response?

Department Response: The Department requests that vendors not provide any confidential or proprietary information in response to the RFI. See RFI, Part IV. paragraph 2. Respond as you are able without providing confidential or proprietary information.

21. Question: Our software employs a named user licensing model tied to two main types of users: Full Users and

Participant Users. Full User can be granted the ability to do anything within the repository including administering the system, importing documents, and editing metadata. Participant Users are read-only users who can also participate (submit/approve) in forms processes. Do you know the number of users between these two licenses? Or would you like us to submit general pricing tiers only?

Department Response: The Department has not finalized the number or types of users that will require access to the future solution. Respondents should describe how their solution supports multiple user roles, configurable permissions, and scalability to accommodate changing business needs. Detailed user requirements will be provided, as appropriate, in any future solicitation.

22. Question: For accessing Department will need full rights (upload, edit cases) and how many will need read-only rights

(only view the Document or participate in workflow process)?

Department Response: See response to question 21.

RFI 25/26- 123 4

23. Question: Is the Department preference more towards Cloud or On-Premises Intelligent Document Processing and Workflow Automation?

24. Question: Do you have a budget already available for this project? If yes, what is the maximum budget you are planning to spend on this project?

25. Question: Has the Department seen demonstrations of Intelligent Document Processing and Workflow Automation. If yes, what is the name of the solution and vendor which provided the demonstration?

Department Response: See response to question 3.

26. Question: Is there any expected timeframe within which you would like this system to go live?

Department Response: See response to question 2.

27. Question: Is this a new requirement? If not, can you please provide the name of the incumbent, the current contract value and eligibility criteria to re-compete?

Department Response: See response to question 4.

28. Question: Please confirm whether an international remote technology provider may respond to this market-research

RFI and participate in a future solicitation.

Department Response: An “international remote technology provider” may respond to this RFI. Terms that may be applicable to any future solicitation have not been determined at this time. However, see 287.135, F.S.

29. Question: Please confirm whether MyFloridaMarketPlace vendor registration is required for the RFI response or only for future procurement;

Department Response: MyFloridaMarketPlace vendor registration is not required to respond to this RFI. Terms of any future solicitation have not been determined at this time.

30. Question: Please confirm whether the Department is open to a configurable/custom solution using privately deployed components, or is seeking information only from vendors with an existing commercial IDP product; and

31. Question: Please confirm whether a future demonstration may use representative sample data and named-team experience where the responding entity does not yet hold a Florida government contract.

Department Response: Unknown at this time. Guidance will be communicated as appropriate if demonstrations are conducted as part of this RFI.

32. Question: SAP landscape: What SAP version and components does SUNTAX currently run on (e.g., ECC or S/4HANA, and relevant modules or add-ons such as TRM/PSCD, SAP CRM, BW)? Are any SAP upgrades or migrations planned during the anticipated timeframe of this initiative?

33. Question: Document repository: What system(s) are currently used to store taxpayer-submitted documents (e.g., SAP content server, OpenText, SharePoint, file shares)? Would a proposed solution be expected to integrate with the existing repository or provide its own storage?

Department Response: The Department currently utilizes enterprise document management and repository capabilities to support its business operations. Through this RFI, the Department is seeking information regarding

RFI 25/26- 123 5

solutions that can integrate with existing enterprise systems or provide comparable document management, document repository, and records management capabilities, as appropriate. Detailed functional and technical requirements, including document storage, retention, records management, repository architecture, and integration requirements, will be defined, as appropriate, in any future solicitation.

34. Question: Ingestion channels: Through what channels does the Department receive taxpayer documentation (email, mail/scanning, portal upload, fax)? Can the Department provide an approximate volume breakdown by channel?

Department Response: The Department currently receives documents through multiple intake channels, including physical mail and electronic submissions. Respondents should describe how their proposed solution supports multiple document intake methods. Detailed intake requirements will be provided, as appropriate, in any future solicitation.

35. Question: Taxpayer status visibility: Do taxpayers currently have a self-service way to check the status of a refund application? Is status visibility in scope for this initiative?

Department Response: Yes. Taxpayers currently have a self-service method to check the status of a refund application. Whether additional taxpayer status visibility or self-service capabilities are within the scope of this initiative has not been determined. Detailed functional requirements and project scope will be defined, as appropriate, in any future solicitation.

36. Question: Staffing and review process: Approximately how many staff are involved in processing the ~3,000 monthly refund applications, and can the Department briefly describe the review workflow (review tiers, routing to audit, typical end-to-end processing time)?

Department Response: See response to question 21.

37. Question: Current tooling: What tools currently support document intake, classification, and routing (capture/OCR software, SAP CRM workflow, shared mailboxes)? Are any existing capture or IDP licenses in place that a solution would need to coexist with or replace?

Department Response: See response to question 6.

38. Question: What % of documents are handwritten (partial vs. full), and is machine handwriting recognition mandatory or is 'human in the loop' acceptable?

Department Response: See response to question 11.

39. Question: Can DOR provide any pages/documents-per-month estimate or range?

Department Response: See response to question 17.

40. Question: Is initial scope the Refunds/SUNTAX use case or enterprise-wide across all programs?

Department Response: Through this RFI the Department is hoping to gather information relevant to supporting business processes associated with this initiative. Vendors are encouraged to describe solutions that can support multiple business functions and provide flexibility to meet evolving operational needs. The specific participating business areas and functional scope will be described, as appropriate, in future solicitation.

41. Question: What integration methods does SUNTAX/SAP expose, and will DOR provide SAP-side support and a non-prod environment?

42. Question: Does any data constitute Federal Tax Information under IRS Pub 1075, and what hosting/accreditation (StateRAMP, FedRAMP) is required?

RFI 25/26- 123 6

43. Question: Given Ch. 119 public records rules and the request for no proprietary info, how should vendors submit pricing and case study metrics?

Department Response: See response to question 20.

44. Question: For demonstrations, will DOR provide representative redacted sample documents, and what accuracy benchmark applies?

45. Question: The RFI requests capabilities such as automated document classification, OCR, handwritten text recognition, confidence scoring, multi-document packet separation, and continuous learning/model improvement. Are these considered core requirements that must be provided natively by the proposed solution, or would the Department consider solutions that deliver these capabilities through integration with specialized Intelligent Document Processing (IDP) technologies as part of a broader workflow automation platform?

46. Question: Are there specific solution areas (e.g., document processing, workflow automation, SAP integration, or public-sector implementations) that the Department would like vendors to highlight?

Department Response: The Department encourages respondents to provide information that best demonstrates their solution's capabilities and experience relative to the objectives of this RFI. This may include document processing, workflow automation, integration capabilities, security, implementation approach, public-sector experience, and other relevant solution capabilities. Respondents are also encouraged to provide industry best practices and recommendations where appropriate and to clearly distinguish current capabilities from planned or future functionality.

47. Question: Can the Department provide additional detail on the document-processing workload, including estimated document volumes, percentage of handwritten documents, number of document types to be classified, and whether the primary objective is document understanding/data extraction or workflow automation/process orchestration?

Department Response: See response to question 17, 39.

48. Question: Beyond the illustrative SUNTAX Refunds use case (~3,000 applications/month), which other SUNTAX modules or DOR programs (e.g., registrations, collections, audit, returns processing) is the Department considering, and over what timeframe?

Department Response: See response to question 2, 40.

49. Question: Is the Department envisioning an agency-wide platform or a point solution for the Refunds process first, with phased expansion? Are there seasonal/peak volume swings the solution must scale to handle?

Department Response: See response to question 40,85.

50. Question: What automation, job scheduling, or workflow tools are currently in place around SUNTAX today, and is the Department looking to replace or integrate with them?

51. Question: Is SUNTAX currently running on SAP ECC or S/4HANA, and how does this initiative align with the

Department's broader S/4HANA / BW/4HANA modernization efforts?

52. Question: Beyond a yes/no on SAP integration, which specific integration points matter most (e.g., SAP workflow, IDoc, BAPI, RFC, S/4HANA APIs, event-driven triggers)? Is the target deployment on-premises, state private cloud, or public cloud? Is secure managed file transfer (MFT) of taxpayer documents across systems/agencies a requirement?

RFI 25/26- 123 7

53. Question: What specific compliance frameworks must the solution meet (e.g., IRS Publication 1075 for FTI, CJIS, SOC 2, StateRAMP/FedRAMP, or Florida-specific standards), and are there in-state data residency requirements for taxpayer data?

54. Question: What are the audit-trail, role-based access, and records-retention requirements tied to Ch. 119 Public

Records obligations?

Department Response: The Department expects any proposed solution to comply with all applicable federal and State of Florida laws, regulations, security standards, and policies appropriate to the information processed by the solution.

To the extent the solution stores, processes, or transmits Federal Tax Information (FTI), respondents should address compliance with applicable IRS Publication 1075 requirements. Respondents should also describe how their solution addresses applicable industry-recognized security and compliance frameworks, as appropriate. Detailed security, compliance, hosting, and data residency requirements will be defined, as appropriate, in any future solicitation.

55. Question: How will the Department define and measure success (e.g., reduction in manual handling, processing cycle-time, accuracy/exception rates, cost per case), and what does the Department consider the biggest current bottleneck in the Refunds workflow?

Department Response: The Department is seeking information regarding the performance, scalability, reliability, and availability of proposed solutions. Respondents should describe the expected performance characteristics of their solution, including system availability, scalability, dependencies, limitations and methods for maintaining performance under varying workloads. Detailed performance requirements and service-level requirements will be defined, as appropriate, in any future solicitation.

56. Question: What relative weighting will the Department place on workflow automation/orchestration versus document-extraction (IDP) capabilities when evaluating solutions?

Department Response: The Department is interested in receiving information from vendors that may assist with understanding measurable business and operational outcomes relevant to the services and solutions offered by your organization. Respondents are encouraged to describe how their solution supports performance measurement, operational reporting, and continuous process improvement. Specific key performance indicators (KPIs) and success measures will be identified, as appropriate, in any future solicitation.

57. Question: The RFI notes that customer-ready proposals, brochures, white papers, industry case studies, and marketing materials may be submitted with the response. Are these requested solely as supplemental reference, or will they be evaluated as part of the overall solution assessment?

Department Response: Pursuant to this RFI the Department is requesting information to better understand solutions and services currently available in the market. In accordance with question 6. of the RFI, please feel free to submit supplementation information you believe would be beneficial for the Department to review to better understand the solutions / services your organization offers that are within the scope of this RFI.

58. Question: Following this RFI, what is the anticipated timeline and vehicle for a formal solicitation (RFP/ITN), and is a budget range established? Will the Department accept responses via existing state term contracts, NASPO ValuePoint, or alternate contract sources?

Department Response: See responses to questions 1., 2. and 18.

59. Question: Is the Department open to a multi-vendor / prime-subcontractor teaming approach (e.g., an IDP specialist paired with a workflow-orchestration platform)?

Department Response: Guidance regarding desired business models will be identified in any future procurement.

However, we are interested in understanding which business model / approach your organization utilizes. E.g., see questions 3. and 10. of the RFI.

RFI 25/26- 123 8

60. Question: What is the Department’s anticipated timeline for issuing a formal solicitation (RFP/ITN) following the review of these RFI responses?

61. Question: What is the expected implementation timeframe after procurement?

62. Question: Has a specific budget been allocated, estimated, or identified for this modernization effort?

63. Question: How many internal users (FTEs) will use the system?

Department Response: The Department is seeking information regarding available licensing models and user access options and associated cost considerations. Respondents should clearly describe their licensing approach, including any user-based, concurrent user, enterprise, or subscription licensing models, along with any assumptions used in developing their response. Respondents should identify any factors that may impact licensing costs, such as number of users, transaction volumes, storage requirements, environments, integrations, or optional capabilities, along with any assumptions used in developing their response.

64. Question: Will any external users, taxpayers, or third parties access the system?

Department Response: See response to question 21,63.

65. Question: What systems must the IDP/workflow solution integrate with?

66. Question: What specific version of SAP is SUNTAX built upon, and what integration protocols (e.g., SAP RFC, BAPIs, OData REST APIs, or intermediate files/IDocs) are currently supported or preferred?

67. Question: Are there specific security or network architecture constraints (e.g., VPN, ExpressRoute, API

Gateway) required to connect an external IDP solution to the SUNTAX SAP environment?

68. Question: How many document repositories or legacy systems would need to be migrated?

Department Response: The Department currently utilizes enterprise document management, repository, and records management capabilities to support business operations. Through this RFI, the Department is seeking information regarding available solutions and approaches that can integrate with, enhance, complement, or provide alternative capabilities to support enterprise document management needs. Respondents should describe capabilities related to document storage, retrieval, retention, records management, repository services, and integration with existing enterprise systems. Detailed functional, technical, security, and integration requirements will be defined as appropriate, in any future solicitation.

69. Question: Is there an existing document management system (DMS) or content services platform where the 3,000 monthly applications and supporting documents are stored before or after processing?

Department Response: See response to question 33.

70. Question: What are the primary file formats and resolutions of the “poor quality scans” and “images” currently received by the Department?

RFI 25/26- 123 9

71. Question: What is the expected ratio of structured, semi-structured, and unstructured documents that the system will need to process?

72. Question: How are multi-page packages currently received (e.g., mailroom scanners, taxpayer portal uploads, email), and what is the maximum page count typically seen in a single packet?

73. Question: What is the Department’s target threshold for “confidence scoring” before a document is automatically routed to a human reviewer?

Department Response: See response to question 12.

74. Question: Are there specific handwritten languages or specialized tax forms/fonts that the handwritten text recognition (HTR) engine must support?

Department Response: The Department is interested in commercially available capabilities for optical character recognition (OCR), intelligent document processing, and related document recognition technologies. Respondents should describe their solution’s capabilities for extracting, classifying, and validating information from structured, semi-structured, typed, and handwritten documents; improving recognition accuracy; and supporting configurable validation, exception handling, and workflow integration. Detailed functional and technical requirements will be defined as appropriate, as part of any future solicitation.

75. Question: Are there specific compliance and security standards (e.g., IRS Publication 1075, CJIS, HIPAA, or SOC 2

Type II) that the solution must natively support?

76. Question: Does the Department prefer an on-premises deployment, a fully managed SaaS solution, or a hybrid model?

77. Question: Is the Department looking for a single end-to-end platform vendor, or is it open to best-of-breed point solutions integrated together?

Department Response: The Department is seeking information regarding commercially available artificial intelligence (AI) and intelligent document processing (IDP) capabilities that enhance document classification, data extraction, workflow automation, and operational efficiency. Respondents should describe the AI and IDP capabilities currently available within their proposed solution and identify any required configuration or implementation considerations.

78. Question: Does the Department have a strong preference between volume-based transaction pricing (per-page/per-document) versus user-based licensing?

Department Response: The Department is seeking information regarding commercially available artificial intelligence (AI) and intelligent document processing (IDP) capabilities that enhance document classification, data extraction, workflow automation, and operational efficiency. Respondents should describe the AI capabilities currently available within their proposed solution and identify any required configuration or implementation considerations.

79. Question: What is the estimated growth rate for the volume of refund applications (currently ~3,000/month) over the next 3 to 5 years?

Department Response: The Department expects any proposed solution to be scalable and capable of supporting future business needs. At this time, the Department has not established projected growth rates or long-term capacity

RFI 25/26- 123 10

estimates. Respondents should describe how their proposed solution accommodates future growth and increasing document volumes while identifying any assumptions used in their response.

80. Question: What level of ongoing support (e.g., 24/7, business hours only) and training (e.g., train-the-trainer, self-paced

LMS, on-site) does the Department expect to procure?

Department Response: Through this RFI, the Department is seeking information regarding available implementation, training, support, maintenance, and managed service options associated with proposed solutions. Respondents should describe available service offerings, including implementation assistance, knowledge transfer, training approaches, ongoing support models, maintenance processes, and managed service capabilities. Respondents should identify any assumptions, dependencies, or optional services associated with their proposed support model. Detailed service requirements will be defined as appropriate, as part of any future solicitation.

81. Question: Will the Department allow for individual vendor clarification meetings or interactive workshops after the

August 13, 2026, response deadline?

82. Question: Under Florida Public Records laws (Ch. 119, F.S.), if a vendor must submit technical architecture diagrams that contain trade secrets, what is the Department’s specific process for marking and protecting those redacted portions?

Department Response: See response to question 20.

83. Question: Can bidders assume that all documents to be processed will be provided in electronic format (e.g., PDFs, emails, images, and electronic files), and that no physical document scanning or paper-to-digital conversion services will be required as part of the proposed solution?

Department Response: The Department is subject to Florida's public records laws. Respondents are responsible for clearly identifying any information they believe to be confidential, proprietary, trade secret, or otherwise exempt from public disclosure and for citing the applicable legal basis supporting such designation. Any request for confidential treatment will be evaluated in accordance with applicable Florida law. Respondents should follow the instructions provided in the RFI regarding the identification and submission of confidential information.

84. Question: Can the Department provide estimated annual document volumes, including the approximate number of documents, pages, and cases to be processed, as well as any anticipated growth over the contract period?

Department Response: See response to question 17, 79.

85. Question: Are there seasonal or peak processing periods (e.g., tax filing season) that require the solution to support significantly higher document volumes or accelerated processing times? If so, please provide the expected peak volumes and performance expectations.

Department Response: The Department has not established specific peak processing, throughput, or performance requirements for this initiative. Respondents should describe the scalability and performance characteristics of their proposed solution, including its ability to accommodate fluctuations in workload and support enterprise-scale operations.

Any assumptions regarding processing capacity or performance should be clearly identified in the response.

86. Question: What document retention, archival, and records management requirements must the proposed solution support, including any statutory retention periods or public records obligations?

87. Question: Can the Department confirm whether the Intelligent Document Processing solution may be deployed within the existing SAP ecosystem or within the State's on-premises or cloud infrastructure to minimize the movement of sensitive data and reduce potential data security risks?

RFI 25/26- 123 11

88. Question: Please specify the minimum security, compliance, and certification requirements expected of the proposed solution

89. Question: Can bidders assume that the necessary SAP APIs, integration services, or extension points will be available to support document indexing, case association, metadata synchronization, and other required integrations, or will any new APIs or modifications be developed and provided by the Department's SAP team?

90. Question: Are there any OCR, IDP, or document management tools currently in use at the Department? Would the selected solution need to replace existing tools, run alongside them, or integrate with them?

91. Question: Does the Department of Revenue have a web-based portal that allows taxpayers to capture and upload documents? If so, does it support mobile phone capture?

Department Response: The Department currently supports electronic document submission through existing taxpayer-facing applications and other electronic submission methods. Through this RFI, the Department is seeking information on solutions that can integrate with existing capabilities or support future enhancements. Specific integration requirements and future-state expectations will be defined as appropriate, in any future solicitation.

92. Question: The RFI invites responses across all programs. Could the Department identify two or three high-priority use cases beyond the refund process? e.g., Audit documentation, collections, and registration filings come to mind as examples, but we'd like to hear what matters most to you.

Department Response: Unknown currently. Beyond the Refunds use case identified in the RFI, the Department has not identified or prioritized additional business areas or used cases for this initiative. Respondents are encouraged to describe how their proposed solution can support phased implementations and future expansion across multiple business areas. Additional scope and rollout requirements will be defined as appropriate, in any future solicitation.

93. Question: Prior to any formal solicitation, does the Department plan to host vendor demonstrations or a structured proof-of-concept phase using sample documents?

94. Question: The RFI notes that document volume per case "is not consistently measured." Can the Department provide an estimated average range of documents per application, or a monthly total document volume? This would help us size the solution appropriately.

95. Question: Is it the intent that the proposed solution would need to accommodate both written and electronic submissions?

96. Question: Related to electronic submissions, should the proposed solution plan to integrate with an existing taxpayer facing portal? Or does the Department seek recommendations for a new taxpayer facing portal which could leverage additional capabilities like AI to streamline the submission and accuracy of artifacts?

97. Question: Does the Department prefer solutions that are certified by SAP for such purpose, or that are part of the SAP

S/4HANA Suite of products, that would be included in an enterprise solution for a tax agency like FDOR?

RFI 25/26- 123 12

98. Question: Does the Department currently have an existing cloud infrastructure in place, or is a SaaS-based solution the preferred approach?

99. Question: Does the Department need scanning capability to digitize incoming paper documents?

Department Response: The Department currently utilizes document scanning capabilities as part of its business processes. Detailed information regarding existing scanning equipment and any future scanning requirements will be provided, as appropriate, in any future solicitation.

100. Question: Could you please provide an estimate of the volume of documents that will need to be processed through the Intelligent Document Processing solution?

101. Question: Is there an existing Document Management System (DMS) that the proposed Intelligent Document Processing solution will be required to integrate with? If so, please provide details of the platform(s) involved.

102. Question: Apart from SAP, are there any other enterprise applications, business systems, or third-party platforms with which the proposed solution is expected to integrate and operate seamlessly? Please specify.

103. Question: Scope and priority business processes: Beyond the illustrative Refunds process, has the Department identified specific programs, business units, document-intensive processes, or workflow use cases that should be treated as priorities when respondents describe enterprise-wide applicability and scalability?

Department Response: Through this RFI, the Department is seeking information to better understand commercially available solutions and implementation approaches. The final project scope, implementation phases, and any future expansion beyond the initial implementation have not yet been determined and will, as applicable, be established during the procurement process.

104. Question: Processing volumes and capacity assumptions: In addition to the approximately 3,000 new Refunds applications processed per month, can the Department provide available current and projected estimates or reasonable ranges for documents per case, pages per document or case, total monthly and annual pages, transactions, concurrent users, named users, and peak-period processing volumes?

105. Question: Representative document characteristics: Can the Department provide an estimated distribution of document types and characteristics, including structured, semi-structured, and unstructured documents;

handwritten content; poor-quality or rotated scans; mixed-document packets; email bodies and attachments; image formats; languages other than English; and the most common exception or unreadable-document scenarios?

106. Question: Performance and accuracy objectives: Has the Department established target performance measures for classification accuracy, data-extraction accuracy, confidence-score thresholds, straight-through-processing rates, false-positive or false-negative tolerances, turnaround times, queue-processing times, or service-level availability; and, if not, should respondents recommend achievable targets based on stated assumptions?

Department Response: The Department is seeking information regarding confidence scoring, validation capabilities, and methods for identifying documents or extracted data requiring additional review. Respondents

RFI 25/26- 123 13

should describe how confidence thresholds are established, configured, monitored and presented to users, as well as how exceptions, validation workflows, and human-in-the loop review processes are managed within the solution.

107. Question: SAP/SUNTAX technical environment: Can the Department provide additional information regarding the current SAP/SUNTAX technical environment, including applicable SAP product and version information, hosting arrangement, available APIs or integration methods, middleware or integration platforms, supported protocols, identity and access mechanisms, interface documentation, development or test environments, and any technical constraints respondents should consider?

108. Question: Preferred deployment model: Does the Department have a required or preferred deployment model— such as vendor-hosted SaaS, government cloud, private cloud, Department-hosted on-premises, or hybrid deployment—and are there approved cloud providers, State of Florida hosting standards, network-connectivity restrictions, or environment-separation requirements that respondents should address?

109. Question: Security, privacy, and compliance requirements: Which specific security, privacy, and compliance requirements should respondents use in describing their solutions, including requirements for data residency, taxpayer-information handling, encryption in transit and at rest, data retention and destruction, audit logging, role-based access, multifactor authentication, single sign-on, incident reporting, background screening, accessibility, disaster recovery, and applicable State or federal standards?

110. Question: Human review and model-governance responsibilities: How does the Department envision human-in-the-loop processing, including the roles authorized to review or correct results, required approval or escalation paths, ownership of workflow configuration and document models, validation of extracted data, use of corrections for continuous learning, and any required Department approval before updated models are placed into production?

111. Question: Demonstration and sample-data expectations: For a potential demonstration or sample-data test, can the Department clarify the anticipated timing, format, duration, evaluation criteria, expected use cases, approximate sample size, whether data will be anonymized or synthetic, whether the test must occur in a Department-controlled environment, and whether respondents will receive sample data and instructions in advance?

Department Response: See response to question 31.

112. Question: Budgetary pricing scope: For the pricing information requested in Part IV, should respondents provide budgetary pricing for a limited pilot, an initial Refunds implementation, an enterprise-wide deployment, or multiple scenarios; and should pricing separately identify software licensing or subscription fees, usage charges, implementation and integration services, configuration, data or model preparation, environments, training, support, maintenance, and optional services?

113. Question: Implementation planning, pilot, and users: Does the Department have a desired timeframe for a pilot or future implementation, an anticipated pilot scope and success criteria, expected implementation phases, procurement-planning assumptions, and estimates of the number and roles of users—such as processors, auditors, supervisors, administrators, developers, and reporting users—who may access the solution?

114. Question: Response fields and supplemental materials: When a complete response cannot reasonably fit within the fields provided in the Word document, may Infocap include additional narrative in a separate attachment, appendix, addendum, or continuation document; which file formats are permitted; are there page, file-size, or

RFI 25/26- 123 14

attachment-count limits; how should supplemental content be labeled and cross-referenced to the applicable Part IV questionnaire item; and should brochures, architecture diagrams, case studies, pricing exhibits, white papers, and other supporting materials be submitted as separate files or incorporated into a single consolidated response package?

Department Response: Please use the text fields contained in the RFI to submit your responses to each item – they should expand as information is entered. As to the supplemental information mentioned in the last sentence of question 6. to the RFI, the Department has no preference whether this information is submitted as separate files or bundled.

115. Question: What is the State of FL’s policy for AI usage & integration when using Intelligent Document Processing?

Department Response: See response to question 78.

116. Question: What are the document ingestion channels for this project (paper, email, fax, web, etc.)?

Department Response: See response to question 34.

117. Question: What hardware scanners are in place today? Make, Model, Quantity?

118. Question: SAP is mentioned as an ERP. Are there any Content Management Systems or other electronic storage / workflow repositories in place at Dept of Revenue?

119. Question: Are there any RPA (Robotic Process Automation) tools in place at Dept of Revenue? If so, which?

120. Question: Are there any RPA (Robotic Process Automation) tools in place at Dept of Revenue? If so, which?

121. Question: Volume and mix: Beyond the roughly 3,000 refund applications per month noted for the SUNTAX Refunds use case, can the Department share the expected total document volume (documents or pages per month) and the mix of document types across the broader programs it intends to modernize?

122. Question: Deployment model: Does the Department anticipate requiring an on-premise or air-gapped deployment within State infrastructure, or is a cloud-hosted deployment that meets the State's security requirements acceptable?

123. Question: Security and data residency: What specific security, hosting, or data-residency requirements should a vendor plan for?

124. Question: Integration responsibility: For the eventual solution, does the Department expect the vendor to build the integration into SUNTAX, or will the Department's integration team handle downstream posting from a vendor-provided API and webhook output?

RFI 25/26- 123 15

125. Question: Integration responsibility: For the eventual solution, does the Department expect the vendor to build the integration into SUNTAX, or will the Department's integration team handle downstream posting from a vendor-provided API and webhook output?

126. Question: Does FDOR apply verification controls or accuracy standards independent of confidence scoring (e.g., mandatory double-key / second-person review on financial fields), and what maximum error-rate must the solution meet?

127. Question: Can handwritten/low-quality fields be sourced from SUNTAX/SAP instead of OCR’d, and which must come from the document regardless?

Department Response: See response to question 11, 40.

128. Question: Besides the Refunds process, which additional tax administration programs could be candidates for this initiative?

Department Response: See response to question 40.

129. Question: Which business processes currently generate the highest manual document processing workload?

Department Response: See response to question 3. 17.

130. Question: Can the Department provide estimated annual document volumes for physical mail, electronic submissions, email attachments, and uploaded documents?

Department Response: See response to question 40.

131. Question: Can the Department describe the current document capture process from receipt through final disposition?

Department Response: Documents received by the Department are reviewed, classified, and routed through established business processes to support case management and processing activities. Through this RFI, the Department is seeking information on solutions that can improve document intake, classification, routing, and workflow automation. Detailed workflow requirements, business process documentation, and any applicable process diagrams will be provided, as appropriate, in future solicitation.

132. Question: What scanning hardware is currently deployed?

133. Question: Is OCR currently utilized? If so, which platform?

134. Question: What workflow or document management systems exist today outside of SUNTAX?

Department Response: The Department is interested in solutions that support integration between document management, workflow, and related business applications to improve business process efficiency and information accessibility. Respondents should describe how their solution supports document routing, workflow orchestration, metadata management, business process integration, and interoperability with enterprise systems.