Questions and Responses RFQ 2425-61, AEBEA.pdf

Vendor Questions & Department Responses RFI # 24/25-61 Automated Employee Benefits Election Assistant (AEBEA)

Good Afternoon:

Questions received timely and the Department response are below:

1. Question: What tools are you currently using to support your employees in their benefit selections? (Ben Admin, Decision Support, Communication Tools, etc.)

Department Response: Employees are directed to the DMS MyBenefits Page https://www.mybenefits.myflorida.com/ to perform their own research.

2. Question: Are you currently receiving any credits from your broker/carriers that you could apply toward your Automated Employee Benefits Election Assistant?

Department Response: No.

3. Question: Can you share your current benefits guide?

Department Response: The State of Florida benefits guide is here:

https://www.mybenefits.myflorida.com/

4. Question: Are there any other solutions that this one will need to integrate with?

5. Question: Do you want this tool to be used by active employees only or active employees + retirees?

Department Response: Active employees only.

6. Question: Do you have a particular budget in mind?

7. Question: Could you clarify if this RFI will directly result in an RFP, and if so, do you have an estimated timeline for release?

8. Question: In the marketplace portal we could download “RFI 24/25-61 AEBEA” Attachment 1 but “Cost Methodology Information” Attachment 2 and “Additional Information – Industry Trends, Innovations, Products, Services, or Best Practices” Attachment 3 are missing. Would you be releasing an addendum for the same?

Department Response: Attachment 2 “Cost Methodology Information” and Attachment 3 “Additional Information – Industry Trends, Innovations, Products, Services, or Best Practices” are included in the RFI.

9. Question: Could you provide a list of all existing systems that the solution must integrate with, including any third-party benefit providers?

Department Response: The solution should be linked to PeopleFirst (peoplefirst.myflorida.com) and MyBenefits Florida (www.mybenefits.myflorida.com) , and draw upon the latter site as one source of benefits information. Those two websites are managed by the Florida Department of Management Services and are not under the Department of Revenue’s control.

10. Question: Is there a desired or required timeline for the full implementation of this solution?

11. Question: What specific types of analytic reporting are expected beyond basic employee usage and trend reports?

Department Response: Ad-hoc reporting.

12. Question: Are there any mandatory data formats or standards required for the solution to interface with existing Department reporting or analytics tools, beyond Tableau?

Department Response: No

13. Question: Could you provide specific examples or scenarios illustrating typical employee interactions with the system?

Department Response: New employees establishing their benefits, open enrollment, and miscellaneous ongoing changes.

14. Question: What level of ongoing training and support will be expected post-implementation (e.g., annual refresher training, self-service materials)?

Department Response: 24/7 customer service, self-service materials, vendor supported administrative and end-user training.

15. Question: Could you provide more detailed information regarding current departmental standards or protocols related to data security and confidentiality (e.g., encryption standards, audit requirements)? Are there additional compliance standards, apart from ADA and Section 508, that the vendor should anticipate meeting?

Department Response: Application security audit logs may be ingested by the Department’s SIEM if provided in one the following formats: CEF, LEEF, JSON, XML, and unstructured delimited data. Encryption must use TLS 1.2 or higher. Authentication must integrate with Azure AD.

Compliance standards are provided in the response to Question 37.

16. Question: Could you clarify how vendors' responses to this RFI will influence future solicitation criteria or requirements?

Department Response: See section 10.2 of the RFI

17. Question: If product demonstrations are required, can you specify key areas the

Department will emphasize in evaluation?

Department Response: See section 9 of the RFI

18. Question: Does the Department have any specific UI/UX guidelines that must be followed?

Department Response: All Web content must be compliant with WCAG 2.1 AA level standards for Web accessibility. More information at Guide to Accessible Web Design & Development | Section508.gov

19. Question: Are there requirements for multilingual support beyond English? If so, which languages?

20. Question: For Single Sign-On (SSO), is there an existing identity provider (e.g., Active Directory, Okta, Google Workspace), or will this need to be implemented as part of the solution? What authentication protocols are required for Single Sign- On (SSO)?

Department Response: In general, we use Azure AD SAML for Single Sign-On (SSO).

For SSO integration, the primary technical protocol used is SAML 2.0.

21. Question: What level of configurability is expected in the solution? Should it allow significant customization, or should it remain largely a standardized solution?

Department Response: Unable to answer.

22. Question: Are there any restrictions or preferences regarding cloud providers?

Department Response: We don’t have any restrictions or preferences, as long as they have data centers available in the United States.

23. Question: What specific data sources should the chatbot access for providing accurate benefit recommendations?

Department Response: Information provided by DMS via the MyBenefits website and guides.

24. Question: Can you describe the current systems (if any) used for benefits enrollment, communication, and administration? Are there any legacy systems that the new solution would need to interact with or potentially replace?

Department Response: Employees currently use People First to enroll in benefits.

https://www.section508.gov/develop/guide-accessible-web-design-development/ https://www.section508.gov/develop/guide-accessible-web-design-development/

25. Question: What are the most significant pain points or inefficiencies with the current benefits selection process for employees and administrators?

Department Response: Employees find benefits selection overwhelming and confusing.

As an agency we cannot provide guidance to make any recommendations to employees who have questions about the benefits the state offers. We can only provide contact information and direct them to websites for more information.

26. Question: If there is an existing system, what is the estimated volume of data (e.g., employee records, benefit plan details) that would need to be migrated to a new solution? What format is this data currently in?

Department Response: No existing system.

27. Question: Can you provide more detail on the expected user roles (e.g., employee, HR administrator, benefits specialist) and the specific permissions each role should have within the system?

28. Question: Integration with payroll is mentioned in System Functional Questions.

Does DOR have a payroll provider, or specific software? Which?

Department Response: We are not integrating with any payroll provider or software.

29. Question: Can you provide a comprehensive list of all benefit types offered to employees (e.g., health, dental, vision, life, disability, retirement plans, supplemental plans, flexible spending accounts, etc.)?

Department Response: Reference https://www.mybenefits.myflorida.com/

30. Question: Are there publicly available documents (e.g., Summary Plan Descriptions, benefit guides) that provide detailed information about each benefit plan option?

31. Question: Can you describe the eligibility rules for each benefit plan (e.g., waiting periods, employment status requirements, dependent coverage rules)?

32. Question: Can you describe the typical open enrollment process, including timelines, communication methods, and any special considerations?

Department Response: Open Enrollment occurs in October and lasts for 2 or 3 weeks.

The employee is solely responsible for researching the benefit changes and completing enrollment in our HRIS. Open enrollment is communicated in the state HRIS, via email to work and home addresses, and regular (post) mail.

33. Question: How are qualifying life events (e.g., marriage, birth, job change) currently handled, and how should the new system manage these changes?

Department Response: Qualifying events handled the same as any other change.

34. Question: Who are the current providers for each of the major benefit categories

(health insurance, retirement plans, etc.)? Would the system need to integrate directly with these providers' systems?

35. Question: What SSO system does the Department currently use? Are there specific technical requirements or protocols for SSO integration?

Department Response: In general, we use Azure AD SAML for Single Sign-On (SSO).

For SSO integration, the primary technical protocol used is SAML 2.0.

36. Question: Beyond SSO, are there any other specific systems (e.g., HRIS, payroll, accounting) that the benefits election system would need to integrate with? Are APIs available for these systems?

37. Question: Can you provide more specific details about the Department's data security requirements and compliance standards (beyond the general references to Chapter 119, Florida Statutes, and Section 501.171, F.S.)?

Department Response: All Florida state agencies, including the Department of Revenue, must comply with Chapter 60GG-2, F.A.C., also known as the “State of Florida Cybersecurity Standards”. The rule is based on NIST CSF v1.1 and is expected to be revised in the future per CSF v2.0. Although not yet a requirement, the Department has chosen to align its security practices with CSF v2.0.

In addition to the Florida Statutes referenced in the question, agencies must also abide by 282.318, F.S., the “State Cybersecurity Act”. The reporting timeframes for incidents should be noted. If an incident impacts the Department’s data, the vendor must inform the Department in a timely manner to be defined in the contract.

As an organization that receives Federal Tax Information (FTI) from the IRS, the Department must also comply with the extensive security requirements defined in IRS Publication 1075, which is based on NIST 800-53. If the application being considered for procurement will not process or store any FTI, then the IRS requirements will not be applicable, but many of the same security controls may be required by 60GG-2. For example, the application must have its security impact categorized (low, moderate, or high) per FIPS 199 with Information Types defined by NIST 800-60. The categorization determines if multifactor authentication or other security controls will be required for the application.

38. Question: Are there any specific requirements or preferences regarding the cloud hosting environment (e.g., specific cloud providers, geographic location of data centers)?

Department Response: We would want all of our applications, servers and databases to be located in the United States. Otherwise, we have no specific requirements or preferences.

39. Question: What are the specific expectations for mobile access (e.g., native mobile app, responsive web design)? What types of mobile devices should be supported?

Department Response: Employees should be able to access from their personal smart devices (phones, tablets). Also, employees would need to be able to access the system outside of work.

40. Question: Which browsers or browser versions are used by the largest percentage of employees?

Department Response: Microsoft Edge and Google Chrome.

41. Question: Is Tableau the required reporting tool?

42. Question: Can you provide more detail on the desired capabilities of the interactive chatbot? For example, should it be able to handle complex scenarios, provide personalized recommendations, or integrate with a live agent escalation path?

43. Question: Does the Department have any specific branding guidelines or UI design preferences that should be considered?

Department Response: Yes.

44. Question: To what extent should the system be customizable to accommodate future changes in benefit plans or Department policies?

Department Response: Ability to make timely updates based on changes to available benefits, rule or policy changes, and other requirements when needed.

45. Question: Can you provide examples of the specific types of reports and analytics that are most important to the Department (e.g., enrollment trends, cost analysis, employee satisfaction)?

46. Question: How many employees will be included in any pilot program? How long should the pilot be to confirm functionality and acceptance?

Department Response: Unknown small population of employees and pilot for at least three months.

47. Question: Does the Department have a desired timeline or target date for implementation of the new system?

48. Question: What is the expected level of training that will be required for end-users and system administrators? Can you provide more detail on the preferred training methods (e.g., online tutorials, in-person sessions)?

49. Question: What are the Department's expectations for ongoing technical support and maintenance (beyond the general requirement for 24/7/365 support)?

Department Response: No response

50. Question: While specific pricing is not requested at this stage, can the Department provide a general indication of the budget range or expected cost structure for this type of solution?

51. Question: Given the interest in Alternate Contract Sources, GSA MAS, or other cooperative purchasing contracts, can the DOR clarify acceptable contract types?

Department Response: State Term Contracts or Alternate Contract Source contracts approved by the Florida Department of Management Services are acceptable, and may be viewed at: State Contracts and Agreements / State Purchasing / Business Operations

- Florida Department of Management Services

52. Question: Can you provide more information on the criteria that will be used to evaluate vendor responses to this RFI?

53. Question: Page 13 section 1c requests the cost for similar products and/or services delivered, but the bolded text specifies not to provide pricing information. Is this section looking for the actual cost or the cost methodology used on prior engagements?

Department Response: We are seeking the cost methodology.

54. Question: Please provide additional clarity on expectations for 24-7 technical support. Is level 1 support for end users or IT support for system issues required?

Department Response: Yes to both.

55. Question: I wanted to reach out to clarify whether nearshoring would be acceptable for RFI # 24/25-61?

https://www.dms.myflorida.com/business_operations/state_purchasing/state_contracts_and_agreements https://www.dms.myflorida.com/business_operations/state_purchasing/state_contracts_and_agreements

Department Response: Yes.

56. Question: I wanted to check to see if there were any blanket contracts that we would have to be part of to bid on this RFP?

Thank you for your interest in doing business with the Florida Department of Revenue.

Sincerely:

Ed Valla, FCCN, FCCM, FCPM, CPPB

Purchasing Analyst EXE Program/Office of Financial Management/Purchasing Florida Department of Revenue

(850) 717-7567 edwin.valla@floridarevenue.com mailto:edwin.valla@floridarevenue.com