Request for Information - Proviso 93.22.docx

State of South Carolina

Request for Information

(RFI)

Solicitation: Date Issued: Procurement Officer:

Phone: E-Mail Address: Mailing Address:

5400029015 11/07/2025 Nathan Dawson

(803) 896-1161 nathan.dawson@admin.sc.gov Office of Technology & Information Services 4430 Broad River Road Columbia SC 29210

DESCRIPTION: Centralized Financial Oversight Overlay for SC Technical Colleges (Proviso 93.22)

Submit your response via email to nathan.dawson@admin.sc.gov with RFI# 5400029015 in the subject line.

SUBMIT RFI RESPONSE BY: November 21, 2025, at 11:00am EST

Table of Contents

OVERVIEW

The South Carolina Legislature has directed the Department of Administration (Admin) to implement a pilot program in the State’s 16 technical colleges using a centralized third-party software that integrates with existing systems to improve financial oversight. Admin will be assisted in this task by the State Board for Technical and Comprehensive Education. The requirements of this pilot are outlined in Proviso 93.22 for FY 2025-2026, a copy of which is included below.

In broad terms, the software will standardize data, use AI to detect anomalies, and provide plain-language financial insights, all while supporting secure, multi-campus, multi-year access. Admin is required to report on the program’s outcomes, including cost savings and transparency improvements, by June 30, 2026, to the Chairmen of Senate Finance and the House Ways and Means Committee. Although reference is made in the Proviso to “funds appropriated”, no funds have been allocated at this time to complete this project.

The technologies currently being used by the State’s 16 technical colleges is as follows:

· ERP Technology: Ellucian Colleague (12), Ellucian Banner (4)

· Database Technology: SQL or Oracle (15), Unidata database (1) This RFI does not constitute a solicitation or request for proposal, and participation does not provide preference in any future procurement.

PROVISO 93.22

93.22. (DOA: Centralized Software Pilot) From the funds appropriated, the Department of Administration shall implement a pilot program in the sixteen technical colleges to utilize a single, third-party centralized software system that operates above existing accounting or enterprise resource planning (ERP) software without requiring major workflow changes, automatically standardizes naming conventions across all colleges to enable direct comparisons of key financial measures, employs AI-driven analytics to detect anomalies, outliers, or compliance flags while providing plain-language summaries of trends and findings, supports multi-campus, multi-fiscal-year data with secure role-based access, and grants the department top-level oversight to view aggregated data in real time, compare performance across colleges, and identify compliance concerns or best practices that could enhance statewide financial oversight. The State Board for Technical and Comprehensive Education and the sixteen technical schools must assist the department as directed with the coordination and technical facilitation of data collection, the implementation of the software and any additional assistance as requested. The department shall provide an assessment report on the pilot’s impact, cost savings, and improved financial transparency to the Chairmen of Senate Finance and the House Ways and Means Committees no later than June 30, 2026.

DISCLAIMERS

This is an RFI issued solely for information and planning purposes. The South Carolina Department of Administration (Admin) does not intend to award a contract as a result of this RFI, nor does Admin guarantee that a public solicitation will be issued as a result of this RFI.

Admin will acknowledge receipt of the information provided by Respondents, but is not under obligation to provide evaluative feedback to them.

This RFI shall not limit any rights to respond if duly qualified. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, Admin expressly reserves the right, at their discretion:

· to seek subsequent information or initiate discussions with any firm, including firms who did not respond to this RFI;

· to initiate direct negotiations for the procurement of any goods or services with any firm or firms regardless of whether the firm or firms responded to this RFI;

· to contact a limited number of firms, which may be limited to those who responded to this RFI or may include firms who did not respond to this RFI, for the purpose of competitive procurement of any good or service;

· to elect to proceed by way of an open tender call where all potential firms, including those who did not respond to this RFI, are eligible to compete for the award of a contract for the supply of any good or service; or

· to elect not to procure the good or service subject to this RFI.

These expressly reserved rights are in addition to any and all other rights of the State.

Any pricing information provided by Respondents is for general information purposes and is not intended to be binding on Respondents. Any legally binding pricing or purchasing commitments will only be established where specified by the express terms of a subsequent tender call process or were established through the execution of a written agreement. Admin and their advisors make no representation, warranty, or guarantee regarding the accuracy of the information contained in the RFI or issued by addenda. Any quantities shown or data contained in this RFI, or provided by way of addenda, are estimates only provided as general background information.

Admin shall not be liable for any expenses, including the expenses associated with preparing responses to this RFI. The parties shall bear their own costs associated with or incurred through this RFI process, including any costs arising out of or incurred in: (a) the preparation and issuance of this RFI; (b) the preparation and making of a submission; or (c) any other activities related to this RFI process.

The Respondent acknowledges that the information provided is complete and accurate to the best of its knowledge. The Respondent must ensure that the submitted material is approved for distribution to Admin and any affiliates. A Respondent should identify any information in its submission, or any accompanying documentation supplied in confidence, for which confidentiality is to be maintained by Admin. The confidentiality of such information will be maintained by Admin, except where an order by a law enforcement agency or a court requires Admin to do otherwise. As mentioned under “Confidentiality”, the Respondent is responsible for specifying company-specific trade secrets in need of protection from potential FOIA requests, where public disclosure of said trade secrets would harm the company.

Except where expressly set out to the contrary in this RFI or in the Respondent’s submission, the submission and any accompanying documentation provided by a Respondent shall not be returned.

CONFIDENTIALITY

If any of the information in the Respondent’s submission is considered confidential, proprietary, or a trade secret, it must be clearly indicated on the appropriate page of the Respondent’s response. Respondent must provide a public redacted copy suitable for release. Release of such materials is governed by the South Carolina Freedom of Information Law, which in pertinent part requires the requester to provide specific justification as to why disclosure of particular information in the response would cause substantial injury to the competitive position of the Respondent. As stated under "Disclaimers" above, it is incumbent upon the Respondent to specify company-specific trade secrets in need of protection where public disclosure of said trade secrets would harm the company.

Public Access to Procurement Information in South Carolina:

http://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t11c035.php SECTION 11-35-410. Public access to procurement information.

(A) Procurement information must be a public record to the extent required by Chapter 4, Title 30 (The Freedom of Information Act), except as otherwise provided by this code, and with the exception that commercial or financial information obtained in response to a request for proposals or any type of bid solicitation that is privileged and confidential need not be disclosed. (B) Privileged and confidential information is information in specific detail not customarily released to the general public, the release of which might cause harm to the competitive position of the party supplying the information. Examples of this type of information include:

(1) customer lists;

(2) design recommendations and identification of prospective problem areas under an RFP;

(3) design concepts, including methods and procedures;

(4) biographical data on key employees of the bidder.

(C) The board shall promulgate regulations directing the public availability and disposition of documents submitted in response or with regard to a solicitation or other request where no award is made.

(D) For all documents submitted in response or with regard to any solicitation or other request, the person submitting the documents shall comply with instructions provided in the solicitation for marking information exempt from public disclosure. Information not marked as required by the applicable instructions may be disclosed to the public.

(E) A governmental body, with the approval of the appropriate chief procurement officer, may keep portions of a solicitation confidential and release the information to prospective offerors only upon execution of a nondisclosure agreement, provided the information is otherwise exempted from disclosure by law.

(F) If requested in writing before a final award by an actual bidder, offeror, contractor, or subcontractor with regard to a specific intended award or award of a contract, the procurement officer shall, within five days of the receipt of any such request, make documents directly connected to the procurement activity and not otherwise exempt from disclosure available for inspection at an office of the responsible procurement officer. Without otherwise limiting any other exemptions granted by law, and except as provided herein, documents of and documents incidental to proposed contractual arrangements, including those used for contract negotiations, are not exempt from disclosure after the date notice of intent to award is posted, unless the notice is subsequently canceled.

INSTRUCTIONS

Respondents are requested to respond to all questions included in this RFI.

Document Format Responses should be provided within the document directly below each question, maintaining the original formatting of this document. Please provide the information in the exact order listed below to facilitate the review of the responses.

Please rename this document with the following naming convention: Centralized Financial Oversight Overlay for SC Technical Colleges (Proviso 93.22) RFI#5400029015 VENDOR NAME.docx (.doc format is also acceptable).

Please include in your response Company Name, Point of Contact (Name/Title), Email Address, Phone Number and Company Website Address.

Questions to this RFI must be received by November 12, 2025, at 5:00pm EST.

Submit questions via email to: nathan.dawson@admin.sc.gov .

Responses to the RFI are due by November 21, 2025, at 11:00am EST.

Submit responses via email to: nathan.dawson@admin.sc.gov .

Late responses will not be considered.

QUESTIONS FOR VENDOR RESPONSE

NOTE: When answering the following questions, please be as detailed as possible in your response. Remember, the purpose of the RFI is to allow the vendor community to educate the State in their specific industry so that we may ultimately decide how we will proceed with this project.

Question 1 Which requirements in the Proviso are clear and reasonable, and which may require clarification or adjustment?

Question 2 Are there services or capabilities missing from the Proviso that you believe should be included?

Question 3 How much do you estimate this pilot project will cost to fully implement? (**Please note: Respondents will not be held to any costs/pricing submitted. Admin understands further information is required to accurately price such a project, and any pricing submitted is merely a good faith estimate.)

Question 4 Which requirements are likely to be the largest cost drivers? How could these be adjusted to manage costs effectively?

Question 5 Are any requirements unnecessarily restrictive or inconsistent with industry best practices?

Question 6 What risks or challenges do you foresee with complying with the Proviso? What mitigations would you suggest?

Question 7 If a solicitation were to be issued, what further information is required to more accurately respond? What assumptions are you having to make in such a response?

Question 8 Does an application exist that can meet the requirements of the Proviso without the need for configuration/customization?

Question 9 If no ready-made application exists, what level of configuration/customization is required to implement the pilot?

Question 10 What is a reasonable timeline to complete a pilot program such as this?

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