Request for Proposal.pdf

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Contract Lifecycle Management Solution Atlanta Regional Commission

I. Introduction

Atlanta Regional Commission (“ARC”) is requesting proposals from qualified vendors (“Vendor”) for a Contract Lifecycle Management Solution (CLMS), as detailed herein, with an option for a later phase of E-procurement system implementation in the same solution.

ARC’s Office of General Counsel seeks a Contract Lifecycle Management system that will manage contract drafting requests, templates and contract development, third party negotiations within a single system, contract execution, and a contract repository with reminders for administration. As a later possible second phase, ARC would like to see options for an E-procurement system that streamlines and automates the development of solicitations, as well as evaluation and award of competitively solicited contracts while fostering the collaboration and communication of all parties involved from the creation process to the review and awarding of a contract.

II. Background

ARC’s mission is to foster thriving communities for all within the Atlanta region through collaborative, data-informed planning, and investments.

ARC uses Deltek Costpoint 8.1.0 for financial management and does not currently have an automated solution for either procurement or contract management. The final award of contracts through the issuing of purchase orders (POs) or other financial documents will occur within the Deltek Costpoint 8.1.0 system so the proposed solution must have the ability to integrate with this system. Full integration is not required if a publicly accessible API allows the bilateral transfer of data.

ARC desires a new solution that standardizes the process for the entire organization and makes the process more efficient using industry best practices. The proposed solution will manage the lifecycle of all contracts, which includes all existing active contracts stored on cloud servers and all new contracts created in the new proposed solution. The proposed solution will also maintain all major information contained within the contracts.

III. Vision and Objectives

The Contract Lifecycle Management Solution, and potential later E-procurement phase, will be enterprise level solutions. Ideally, they shall include the capability to interface with other ARC solutions such as Deltek Costpoint 8.1.0 and potentially other project management systems.

Vendors shall submit proposals for one (1) solution that encompasses the requirements for the Contract Lifecycle Management Solution, with an option for a phased E-procurement implementation. Vendors may also propose potential solutions for both, 2 | P a g e provided there is integration between the two systems that allows for a single end user experience, and that pricing for each solution is individually identified for each a Contract Lifecycle Management Solution (CLMS) and optional E-procurement.

IV. Proposal Guidelines

This request is governed by ARC’s purchasing and procurement guidelines. Interested vendors should submit a Proposal that addresses the specifications listed in the Scope of Work (“SOW”). Proposers must respond to this Request for Proposal with written proposals following all requirements outlined in this document. ARC reserves the right at any time to reject any and all proposals, cancel this solicitation, or, solely at its discretion, follow up for any clarification needed from vendors. ARC has the right to determine responsiveness or lack thereof with no opportunity to cure.

Interested vendors should ensure that any proposal submitted includes all the required information. Any questions regarding this solicitation should be submitted in writing via e-mail to procurements@atlantaregional.org no later than Wednesday, May 22, 2024, at 5:00 PM EST. All questions received and responses to those questions will be posted on the ARC website by 5:00 PM EST, Wednesday, May 29, 2024, @ https://atlantaregional.org/procurement/.

V. Instructions

Proposals are due by 5:00 PM EST on Monday, June 10, 2024. It is anticipated that the contract award will be made on or near Wednesday, July 31, 2024.

All proposals must be submitted to the below-listed address.

Atlanta Regional Commission ATTN: Britany Zwald, General Counsel

Interna�onal Tower 229 Peachtree Street NE, Suite 100 Atlanta, GA 30303

ARC must receive a sealed package that contains one (1) hard copy and one (1) USB drive (a.k.a., jump or flash drive]) with a copy of its proposal and all required information contained herein. The hard copy and USB drive copy received by ARC must be identical in content, and it is the responsibility of the vendor to ensure content matches. If conflicting copies are received, ARC will utilize the digital copy for the evaluation process.

VI. Evaluation Criteria

Proposals will be evaluated on the basis of the information presented in the proposal package and on an analysis of other publicly available information. ARC may conduct such investigations or interviews, as it deems necessary, to assist in the evaluation of any proposal submitted and to establish to ARC’s satisfaction the qualifications of any respondent.

mailto:procurements@atlantaregional.org https://atlantaregional.org/procurement/

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The criteria outlined below and described further hereinafter will be used to evaluate the response. Criteria are listed in order of importance.

1. System Functionality – System functionality satisfactorily meets the needs and requirements of ARC. (30%)

2. Approach – Evaluation of the overall understanding of the scope of the proposed project; completeness, adequacy and responsiveness to the required information.

(30%)

3. Cost – Evaluation of overall cost as detailed in the RFP. (25%)

4. Experience and Qualifications – Vendor shall have experience with providing similar systems; evaluation of the list of personnel specifically assigned to the proposed operation, including their overall experience and recent experience on projects of a similar nature. (15%)

VII. Proposal Format/Content

Proposal Format

To assist in the evaluation of proposals resulting from the SOW, it is requested that each response be written in a concise and forthright manner and that unnecessary marketing statements and materials be avoided. The proposal shall consist of nine sections; vendor solutions for each of the required criteria listed below (and described further in the sections to follow) must be clearly stated. Additional relevant information may be placed in appendices.

Section Section Name Section Description

1.

Executive Summary

This section shall contain a summary of the Respondents understanding of the organizations need for review by senior management. The required statement found below shall be included in the Executive Summary.

2.

Brief Company Overview

This section shall contain a brief overview of the responding company and include the following information. Please include the same information for companies you may be partnering with:

• Company name

• Address

• Telephone number

• Email Address

• Website

• Year company was established

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3.

Financial Statements

This section shall contain a copy of the three (3) most recent financial statements for the responding company and their proposed partners. If financial statements are lengthy, they may be included on the flash drive instead of a hard copy.

4.

Qualifications and References

This section shall contain responses to the Respondent’s Experience and Qualifications section below and describe the proposer’s experience with providing complete solutions.

5.

Implementation Plan and Project Schedule

This section shall contain a draft of the implementation plan for this project including a preliminary project schedule as described in the Professional Services section below. It shall also list which documents will be provided as part of the project described in the same section below.

6.

Maintenance and Support Plan

This section shall contain responses to the Additional Requirements section and describe the proposer’s guaranty maintenance and support capabilities.

7.

Proposal Response This section shall contain the proposer’s response to all items in the System Functionality section.

8. Supporting Documentation for Response

This section shall contain responses and any supporting documentation to the list of requirements and questions located in the System Technical Requirements in Section VII.

9.

Cost Section

This section shall contain a completed Cost Proposal Form found at the end of the RFP. Costs for additional services and features not covered on the Cost Proposal Form may be provided in an appendix.

No changes shall be made to the Cost Proposal Form. Not using the provided Cost Proposal Form may result in disqualification.

Statement Content

Each response shall include a description of the software, recommended hardware, and implementation services necessary to meet the requirements to implement the system(s).

The proposal is not complete unless it contains both a Proposal Response Section and a Cost Section as described above. A response that lacks either a Proposal Response Section or a Cost Section will not be evaluated and therefore will not be eligible for a contract award.

The response shall include a proper response to each requirement contained in the System Technical Requirements section. The Respondent shall return the forms provided in this section with responses marked as detailed below in Proposal Response Format. The proposal shall also include any additional comments necessary to fully describe the functional capabilities of the proposed system and give enough technical detail to allow the evaluation team to assess the feasibility of the proposed approach.

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The response shall include the following statement:

“This response represents all costs to cover and include all labor and supervision, materials, equipment, machinery, apparatus, tools, services, transportation, and all other facilities, licenses, permits, taxes, fees, charges, excises, services, expenses and incidentals of any description whatsoever necessary to perform and complete in a professional manner and to the complete satisfaction and approval of ARC, free from all liens or claims of laborers, material, suppliers, or subcontractors and in conformity in all respects with all applicable federal, state, ARC or municipal laws, ordinances, rules or regulations, all working things contemplated by the RFP in contract.”

It shall be clearly understood that, although the cost of the system is important, the overriding cost consideration will be the total anticipated cost of installing, operating, and supporting the system over its lifetime, including ultimate replacement considerations.

The Response’s Cost Section shall detail the individual components of the system cost.

These components include hardware, software, professional services, ongoing maintenance, and support costs. Respondent shall include costs for all line items as listed on the Cost Proposal Form. The prices quoted in the response shall be firm and best prices.

Prices for phases/expansions/upgrades of each/all components of the response shall be included and guaranteed as “not to exceed” pricing for two (2) years from contract signing.

Proposal Response Format

The following section contains the response documents, which shall be completed and submitted as part of the Statement Response Section. Failure to complete and return this section of the Statement of need will be a basis for disqualification.

Each item in this response document shall be marked with one of the following "status codes" unless proposers are asked to provide descriptive information:

[ E] Existing - Requirement is fully and completely met by proposed system and can be demonstrated in the current version that is operational and in use by other clients.

[ M] Modification - Requirement can be provided by custom modifications that may or may not be supported in future releases. Any additional costs shall be indicated and if customizations will be supported in future releases.

[ T] Third Party - Requirement will be met using proposed software tools, third party integration, or API.

[ X] Requirement cannot be provided.

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In the event that additional information is to be provided on a separate sheet to further describe how the solution meets the specific requirement, an asterisk shall be entered on the response form following the "status code", such as [M*].

This part of the response shall include a response to each element of the System Technical Requirements section below. To avoid ambiguity, any additional comments or explanation required by the respondent(s) shall be identified by element number.

VIII. System Functionality

A) Cyber Security Requirements

B) Platform, Security, User Access, and Support Requirements

No. Requirement Response B-1 The system shall offer a Cloud-based hosted environment B-2 The system shall be device agnostic.

No. Requirement Response

A-1 Contractor represents and warrants that it will comply with all applicable federal, state, and local privacy and data protection laws, as well as all other applicable regulations.

A-2 Contractor shall implement administrative, physical, and technical safeguards to ensure security of Protected Information that are no less rigorous than accepted industry practices including National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Center for Internet Security (CIS) controls, [the International Organization for Standardization’s standards: ISO/IEC– Information Security Management Systems – Requirements and ISO/IEC– Code of Practice for International Security Management,] the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) standards, [or] [other applicable industry standards for information security]), and shall ensure that all such safeguards, including the manner in which Protected Information is collected, accessed, used, stored, processed, disposed of and disclosed, comply with all applicable data protection and privacy laws, as well as the terms and conditions of this Agreement.

A-3 Contractor shall ensure all ARC Data remains within the United States and is not trans bordered out of the country without the prior written authorization by the

ARC.

A-4 All employees and subcontractors given access to any Protected Information must agree to abide by the terms of the Agreement and restrict use of Protected Information only for subcontractors or employees’ internal business purposes and only as necessary for the execution of the Agreement.

A-5 Contractor shall maintain Cybersecurity Insurance

A-6 Contractor shall provide ARC Information Technology Team with a recent cybersecurity vulnerability assessment upon request

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B-3 The system shall be OS and Web browser agnostic - i.e. Windows, MacOS, iOS, Android, other

B-4 The system shall be available at all times outside of communicated maintenance windows.

B-5 The system shall leverage single sign-on through Azure Active Directory for authentication and group membership

B-6 The system shall provide role-based security – ability to assign roles for various user levels to secure content so access to view, edit, and manage records, documents and artifacts can be controlled and restricted. This ensures confidential/sensitive materials are only viewable/editable by authorized users.

B-7 The system shall provide the ability to audit status, access, and usage of system resources

B-8 The system shall provide live support on platform and use collaboration tools for all platform users, internal and external.

B-9 The system shall provide the ability to apply ARC’s branding B-10 The Contractor shall provide documentation of all changes from updates/upgrades in advance of their release.

C) Core Functionality Requirements

C-1 The system shall provide the ability to create, collaborate, review, store, categorize, retrieve, and remain proactive with all contracts documentation

C-2 The system shall provide secure storage for contract and related documents.

C-3 The system shall provide the ability to create, update, and edit all contract records from within the platform.

C-5 The system shall provide Comprehensive Search capabilities by a wide range of variables and data fields (e.g., submitter, addendum, deliverables, contract number, contract name, vendor, contract type, buyer, clauses, terms, and general keyword searches.

C-6 The system shall provide the ability to support native file formats including all versions of .doc, .pdf, .ppt, .xls file types, and image file formats such as .tiff, jpg, gif, bmp, etc.

C-7 The system shall provide the ability to import documents in their native format with version control functionality to identify the most recent copy.

C-8 The system shall provide the ability to add fields specific to ARC specific forms, user screens and processes/workflows.

C-9 The system shall provide the ability to collect and track vendor documentation, whether submitted by the vendor or system generated.

C-10 The system shall provide the ability to export documents in their native format.

C-11 The system shall provide the a “legacy load” capability, which enables batch uploading digital contracts and contract related documents.

C-12 The system shall provide a Workflow engine which can support reviews and approvals, either parallel or successive

C-13 The system shall allow workflow tasks to be auto assigned to a group or to an individual

C-14 The system shall provide the ability to escalate tasks that are past due or have no

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C-15 The system shall provide the ability to delegate assigned tasks to other users to accommodate users that are out of the office

C-16 The system shall provide the ability to create, edit, track, and maintain a variety of procurement and contract types whether they are predefined or specific to ARC.

C-17 The system shall provide the ability to capture multiple approvals if needed

D) Notifications, Audit and Reporting Requirements

D-1 The system shall provide a configurable dashboard with visibility into such things as contract artifacts, data, milestones, approvals, reminders, status, expiration and historical information.

D-2 The system shall provide a role-based dashboard view for contracts whether they are predefined or specified by ARC

D-3 The system shall provide a list of standard reports to minimize custom report creation.

D-4 The system shall provide the ability to generate audit reports surrounding changes, history, comments, all associated actions.

D-5 The system shall provide the ability to report by status.

D-6 The system shall provide automatic reminders/notifications whose frequency can be scheduled or ad hoc.

E) Integration with External & Third-Party Services Requirements

E-1 The system shall provide the ability to integrate via open API

F) Contract Lifecycle Management (Contract Request and Initiation)

J-2 The system shall have the ability to provide autofill data from other systems such as solicitation number, procurement method, solicitation title, procurement type or other database views.

J-3 The system shall provide the ability to support complex contract types, such as master and sub-agreements so contract types can be easily incorporated and tracked.

J-4 The system shall provide the means to validate submission information and prompt for input if data is missing from required fields.

J-5 The system shall allow for the setup of a checklist of required documents for a contract packet submission for review.

J-8 The system shall provide the ability to assign a project manager.

J-9 The system shall provide the ability to create and assign user defined fields such as Legal Department identifier, and Contract identifier.

J-10 The system shall provide the ability to allow unlimited user defined, and free form comment fields.

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J-11 The system shall provide the ability to view and monitor the status of contract requests by all roles involved.

J-12 The system shall provide notifications and reminders for stakeholders on progress or when action is needed.

J-13 The system shall provide ability to bring in active contracts from another location, preferably through a mass import process (e.g., SharePoint and file shares).

J-14 The system shall provide the capability to copy/duplicate contract information, enabling edits.

J-15 The system shall provide the ability to view a contract’s status against the contract lifecycle, so contract stages would reflect where they are in the contract lifecycle process. (e.g., open, closed, for retention, legal hold, expired, completed, archive, etc.).

J-16 The system shall provide the ability to attach supporting documents to a contract throughout the contract management process.

G) Contract Lifecycle Management (Contract Authoring/Creation)

K-1 The system shall provide a wizard-like experience when authoring contracts where users will be asked questions to assist with the drafting of the contract.

K-2 The system shall provide the ability to draft contracts leveraging information from the contract initiation request.

K-3 The system shall provide the ability to create, administer, and manage a library of preapproved contract templates, clauses, terms, and conditions.

K-4 The system shall provide the ability to easily develop and manage templates and submit them to an approval workflow.

K-5 The system shall provide the ability to upload received vendor agreements or contracts into contract draft based on user security.

K-6 The system shall provide the ability to pull pre-approved library clauses and language libraries, including fallback clauses, into the contract draft.

K-7 The system shall provide the ability to enter custom text, tag metadata in the document, and tag other data such as exhibits, appendices, supplementals, etc.

K-8 The system shall provide the ability to add comments upon approval or rejection from necessary stakeholders.

K-9 The system shall have the ability to associate contract and related documents to projects using a Project Number or other user defined data field.

K-10 The system shall provide the ability to collaborate on documents and records so that multiple users can edit/modify documents at the same time.

K-11 The system shall provide the ability to restrict collaboration ad-hoc so changes can only be made by a single user or group when necessary.

K-12 The system shall provide versioning so that all changes are tracked, and users can have access to review the complete revision history, and also have the option to revert to a prior version based on security rights

K-13 The system shall provide the ability to update, edit and amend existing contracts from within the platform.

K-14 The system shall provide the ability to draft contract modifications or renewal of terms and language leveraging versioning, collaboration, and approval workflows.

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K-15 The system shall provide the ability to control the workflow of the end users' execution of tasks or steps as they process a contract through its life cycle, and notify a specified person when steps are skipped based on security rights.

H) Contract Lifecycle Management (Contract Negotiation)

L-1 The system shall provide the ability to conduct an automatic workflow-based negotiation process (successive, parallel, or mixed type).

L-2 The system shall provide the ability to redline contract draft directly within the platform.

L-3 The system shall provide access for external stakeholders/vendors to redline and submit revisions directly within the platform.

L-4 The system shall provide version control, tracking and audit trail so all changes are tracked, and users can have access to review the complete revision history, redlined language, and the option to revert to a prior version based on security rights.

L-5 The system shall provide the ability to record both internal and external comments associated with negotiations.

L-6 The system shall provide the ability to revise contract based on comments and proposals received.

L-7 The system shall provide the ability to view and monitor the status of contract negotiations based on security rights.

I) Contract Lifecycle Management (Approvals, Routing and Contract Execution)

M-1 The system shall provide configurable approval workflows, either parallel or successive.

M-2 The system shall provide the functionality to be flexible with workflows for contract routing that can be customized based on business process needs for Contract Review/Approvals and Signature.

M-3 The system shall have the ability to allow status codes to be defined and set by requestor based on contract life cycle phase (e.g., "Draft", "Awaiting Signature", "Signing", "Signed", "Overdue").

M-4 The system shall provide for digital signature routing to internal and external parties to execute contracts, agreements, and modifications.

M-5 The system shall provide the ability for e-signature via the platform (preferred) or through 3rd party integration (specify 3rd party).

M-6 The system shall provide the ability to store a fully executed contract within the solution platform.

M-7 The system shall provide the ability to delegate approval and contract execution tasks to others, minimizing delays when staff is out of office.

M-8 The system shall allow Legal the ability to define and update the status of the contract under review with status labels such as Rejected, Approved as to Form, etc.

M-9 The system shall provide the ability to notify specified users when the contract has been signed by signatory.

M-10 The system shall have the ability to define a specific routing workflow based on ARC standards for signature (both internal and external).

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M-11 The system shall provide the ability to categorize contracts into a list format or portal view based on user defined fields such as year and/or department.

J) Contract Lifecycle Management (Contract Terms and Conditions, Performance, Compliance and Maintenance)

N-1 The system shall provide the ability to view and monitor the status of contract terms and conditions, vendor performance, and compliance by all roles involved based on security rights.

N-2 The system shall provide ability to track expiration of contract related documents and generate automated notification prior to expiration at intervals specified by the system administrator or the end user (e.g., certificate of insurance, insurance endorsements, bonds, sole source approval, etc.).

N-3 The system shall establish relationships and links between contracts and related documents, such as solicitation and contract, contracts and amendments, contracts and vouchers, vendor records, etc.

N-4 The system shall provide a notification reminder to Contract Administrator as expiration date of "Sole Source" contract approaches, with directions to contact the General Counsel Office for further instructions.

N-5 The system shall provide the ability for vendor/3rd party to submit required documentation such as insurance certificates, and supplementary documentation.

K) Contract Lifecycle Management (Contract Amendments, Renewals and

Closeout)

O-1 The system shall provide the ability to initiate, draft, execute, and store contract amendments, modifications, and renewals.

O-3 The system shall provide automatic notifications, reminders, and alerts to internal staff regarding contract expiration and closeout and next steps.

O-5 The system shall provide the ability to set notification verbiage and alert frequency based on the type of document that is expiring.

O-6 The system shall provide the ability to configure and apply ARC records retention policies.

O-7 The system shall provide the ability to connect contract amendments to a new procurement request.

O-8 The system shall provide the ability to produce a notice to proceed notification to the vendor.

L) Optional Functionality for Contract Lifecycle Management

P-1 Provide the ability to incorporate ARC related graphics, such as ARC seal and ARC

Logo, into all forms of generated artifacts (e.g., RFx, contracts, forms, documents, footers, headers, etc.).

P-2 Provide Global Search functionality with full-text and keyword search of documents, 12 | P a g e contracts, and associated records.

P-3 Provide Search capability that extends to contract artifacts, such as attachments, documents, and text found within documents regardless of file type.

P-4 Leverage filters and other search characteristics (i.e. Boolean or keyword) to improve and limit the search results.

P-5 Provide the ability to group and filter search results and remember last filter.

P-6 Provide the ability to save searches for future use.

P-7 Provide Optical Character Recognition (OCR) for scanned/imported artifacts so they can be included in global search results.

P-8 Provide a Configurable workflow engine which does not restrict the ability to create and implement additional workflows

P-9 Provide the ability to create concurrent and consecutive tasks associated with a single request.

P-10 Allow users to pull workflow task from a shared queue.

P-11 Ability to collaborate via conversations or chat and associate them with tasks or records.

P-12 Provide the ability to establish review and approval groups so that any member can review and approve on behalf of the group

P-13 Provide the ability to define and connect solicitation and contracts to ARC strategic goals (department, agency, ARC wide)

P-14 Provide automated report generation and delivery P-15 The system shall provide the ability to create ad hoc reports including individual and group.

P-16 Provide the ability to report on progress, key performance indicators (KPIs), service level agreements (SLAs), risk assessments, compliance rates, etc.

P-17 Provide configurable self-service transparency tools for the citizens / public.

P-18 Provide self-service transparency tools for registered bidders/vendors P-19 Provide seamless integration with Office productivity software - Microsoft Office

365 apps (Word, Excel, Access, PowerPoint, and Visio)

P-20 Provide seamless integration with the Shared Document Repositories (Permanent Record Storage) – SharePoint

P-21 Provide integration with other systems such as ERP.

P-22 Provide the ability to define parameters that can make automated determinations of procurement complexity, procurement method, solicitation type, procurement threshold, and procurement requirements based on intake request, if so desired.

P-23 Provide the ability to assign a point of contact (submitter and requestor) including contact name, email, and phone. The title should be configurable.

P-27 Provide progress tracking specific to various roles within the system.

P-45 Direct users to provide additional information necessary to proceed with contract creation. (e.g., verification of proposal documentation, staff reports).

P-46 Allow assignment of single or multiple contract administrators.

P-47 Provide the ability to establish rules and approvals before new and updated templates become available for contract creation.

P-48 Provide the ability to easily identify changes made to the contract template and clauses, and compare contract iterations, preferably side by side

P-49 Provide the ability to notify appropriate stakeholders of changes made to preapproved clauses and templates

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P-50 Provide the ability to notify appropriate stakeholders of changes made to preapproved clauses and templates

P-51 Allow the option for user defined risky language that should be reassessed.

P-52 Provide the automatic completion of standard fields in a contract.

P-53 Provide the ability to automatically link digital correspondence such as emails, faxes, and messages received during the negotiation phase to the contract record and alert the appropriate parties involved.

P-54 Provide a graph/dashboard view of approval workflows that can display where a contract is in the approval process, who still needs to approve it, and can note the role and relevance of each approver.

P-55 Provide the ability for vendors to integrate with an online notary.

P-56 Provide tracking of warranty expirations.

P-57 Provide the ability to notify Project Manager/Contract Manager when vendor insurance is associated to multiple contracts.

P-58 Provide the ability to view vendor information through dashboard and reporting.

P-59 Provide the ability to generate a report for all contracts tied to a specific capital project and/or funding source.

M. Optional Later Phase E-Procurement

M-1 The system shall have the ability to pull data from a requisition request generated in the Financial Management system via API or other connectivity.

M-2 The system shall have the ability for Procurement staff to communicate with the submitter and edit the request with additional information and details in the submission.

M-3 The system shall provide the ability to request review, approval routing, and notifications.

M-4 The system shall provide requestors the ability to include/attach background documentation, bid estimates, and scope of work to the request

M-5 The system shall provide the ability to notify involved parties of request status and when action is required.

M-6 The system shall provide the ability to create a variety of informal and formal solicitation documents such as RFx, ITB, RFP from either a standardized list or from a manual field.

M-7 The system shall provide the ability to update or change template used at any stage of the process without having to start over.

M-8 The system shall provide the ability to categorize solicitations using commodity and service codes.

M-9 The system shall provide the ability to develop evaluation criteria and points to automate electronic scoring and bid tabulation.

M-10 The system shall provide solicitation draft management, routing, and notifications.

M-11 The system shall provide automated notification to staff for procurement due dates, such as bid due date, pre-bid, or pre-proposal meeting, etc.

M-12 The system shall provide the ability for ARC post additional information as needed, addendum, Q&A, etc, after virtual bid opening.

M-13 The system shall provide a self-service portal for vendors with a wizard like experience, with defined fields, to begin the procurement process.

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M-14 The system shall provide a centralized database of all registered vendors.

M-15 The system shall provide the ability to invite prospective vendors to participate via email.

M-16 The system shall provide the ability for vendors to identify and subscribe to notifications for selected NIGP commodity codes (goods and services).

M-17 The system shall provide the ability to track and report if vendor is a Disadvantaged Business Enterprise, a Small Business Enterprise, or a Minority or Woman Owned Business Enterprise (“DBE”, “SBE”, “MWBE”).

M-18 The system shall provide options for vendors to submit secure electronic proposals/bid online.

M-19 The system shall provide time and date stamp for when proposals are received and an automated confirmation email for successful electronic uploads and/or downloads.

M-20 The system shall prevent a vendor from submitting a late quote/bid/proposal and alert staff if an attempt is made. The system shall also document any late submission attempts.

M-21 The system shall have the ability to track vendor performance by sending evaluation to PM for completion

M-22 The system shall provide the ability to collect, compile, and analyze scores.

M-23 The system shall provide the ability to distribute responses electronically to evaluators.

M-24 The system shall provide the ability to accommodate multi-phased evaluations and narrowing of the field of candidates.

M-25 The system shall provide the ability for the ARC to publish scoresheet summaries.

M-26 The system shall provide the ability to auto calculate and finalize submission ranking per evaluation member.

M-27 The system shall provide the ability to store all bids and awards, for reference purposes, per Georgia records retention laws.

M-28 The system shall provide the ability to produce a solicitation trail that is fully transparent and auditable by ARC.

A) Narrative Questions for General Functionality – These requirements apply to the

Contract Lifecycle Management solution. Please explain the following in a concise manner.

P-1: Explain how the system is Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliant.

P-2: What is the suggested solution for sharing information from the system for Open Records Requests?

P-3: Discuss any integrations that are being proposed to meet the requirements of the system.

B) Narrative Questions for Contract Lifecycle Management Solution - Please explain the following in a concise manner. If the system does not offer or provide what is requested, please explain, and include any alternatives to meet the request, if applicable.

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R-1: Explain how versioning works for documents, templates, and the language/clause library? How is security used or leveraged for this versioning?

R-2: Explain how ARC would bring active contracts and contract data into the system on an ongoing basis (e.g., existing contracts and POs).

R-3: Can ARC define different types of contract/document workflow based on different types of contracts? How does it work? How is it typically used by other customers?

Could this be used to track approvals needed by Legal that are not necessarily contracts?

R-4: Can the system be used to submit legal matters (documents/packets) for review, redline, and/or approval by Legal? These documents would follow a workflow that is similar to but not the same as contracts.

R-5: Discuss how the system provides the ability for Legal to indicate a status of "awaiting required documents" and display a list of the missing documents. If there is a delay, does the system allow for the reason for the delay to be noted?

R-6: Discuss how the system provides the ability for vendor performance management. Does the system allow for Vendor performance evaluation?

R-7: Explain any artificial intelligence (AI) the system uses.

M. Respondent’s Experience and Qualifications

Respondent submitting a response to this Statement of Need must have experience with providing similar systems as proposed in this document. Respondent must provide the following information with their response:

a. Respondent shall identify the proposed implementation staff, post-implementation staff, support staff and their related experience. Resumes shall be included for key implementation staff members.

b. The Respondent shall explain what role (if any) user groups have towards new development and enhancements of the product. If there is a formal process for this, please explain. Include an explanation for how these enhancements are communicated and if any training is available.

c. The Respondent shall list the number of customers that have implemented the proposed solution in the last three (3) years. These references should use similar data sources and technologies to Atlanta Regional Commission. Include contact persons and current telephone numbers and email addresses where services such as those proposed by the vendor have been delivered.

d. The Respondent shall explain how they support organizations as their needs change. What are the costs to the organization for upgrades or customizations

16 | P a g e after the system is implemented? Do most customers perform their own upgrades or customizations, or do they seek professional services from the proposer for this task?

e. The Respondent shall explain what steps they are taking in the development of their product to stay updated and stable in a competitive environment. What are growth and stability plans? Include a development roadmap if available.

f. Litigation History – Submit a summary of the litigation history for the company for the past five (5) years that includes the parties in litigation, nature of the claim, whether the case is pending or resolved and the date and manner of the resolution if applicable.

MI. Approach

This section describes the services to be provided by the successful Respondent in the course of implementing and supporting the system.

1) System Evaluation

The response shall include an executive summary describing an overall implementation plan including a detailed approach for migration of existing ARC data. The successful Respondent shall develop detailed plans to be included as deliverables in the contract.

The respondent must include hours to evaluate the current business processes and procedures and recommend necessary changes to implement the proposed solution effectively and most efficiently. Implementation services will need to be extensive with the Respondent providing most of the effort in both documenting/integrating business processes and configuration of the system. However, there shall be enough training during the implementation to allow ARC to change and support the system as needed after implementation is complete.

2) User Training Manual

Respondent(s) shall provide solution documentation during the project. This documentation shall include procedures for end users and system administrators. The documentation shall be provided in both written and electronic format. Documentation shall include Installation/Set-up & Configuration, Application, Process Flow and References. This documentation will be for both the application and equipment.

3) User Training and System Testing

The types and amounts of user training that will be supplied at no additional cost shall be described. The Proposer shall include a plan that results in acceptable training for system operation.

4) Project Schedule

Respondent(s) shall provide a project implementation plan with Gantt chart showing estimated starting and ending times for each major activity within the project. A Statement of Work shall be included that defines the level of responsibility for each major

17 | P a g e activity for both the Respondent and the ARC. The project implementation plan shall also detail what work will be done onsite versus remotely.

Prior to contract signing, the successful Proposer will resubmit the draft project implementation plan as indicated above with starting and ending times established.

Payments will be tied to the major project milestones. The specific milestones and the amount of these payments will be agreed upon during contract negotiations.

5) System Acceptance

The system will undergo a process of certification, which shall include the following, prior to acceptance by ARC.

Respondent(s) shall certify in writing to the ARC that the application system is completely installed, meets all design requirements, is free of defects, accurate, correct and the total system (application, file building, back-up and recovery procedures) is ready for operation.

Respondent(s) shall be prepared to demonstrate all functions of the system prior to the start of user acceptance testing.

Upon receipt of the letter of certification from the Proposer by ARC, a thirty-day (30) period of user acceptance testing will commence. User acceptance testing will include an intensive exercise of each component and module of the system simulating a normal workload. This testing will provide assurance that the various components and modules of the system operate as specified. During this period, the system shall demonstrate a total availability of 99% or more.

The system will be considered "unavailable" if any of the following conditions occur:

• Any component or module capability is not available to all active workstations.

In the event that the required level of reliability is not demonstrated at the end of the thirty-day (30) period, the ARC may, completely at its own discretion, allow a period, not to exceed sixty (60) days, during which the Proposer is allowed to correct any deficiencies with the system. If this extension is allowed, the Proposer shall reinitiate certification by submitting a revised letter of certification to the ARC within the sixty-day (60) extension period specifying the corrections made to the system. The certification process described here will then be repeated. This statement of the possibility of extension in no way obligates the ARC to do so.

6) Software Warranty

Respondent(s) shall warrant the entire system for a period of at least one (1) year from the date of system acceptance. All warranty activities shall be provided on-site in ARC unless specifically waived in writing by ARC.

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The first year’s maintenance fees will not be due until after Go-Live of the solution and user acceptance. No maintenance fees will be paid until that time. The first year of maintenance fees will begin at the end of the Warranty Period and may be invoiced 60 days prior to the end of the Warranty Period.

7) Software Licenses

Respondent(s) shall provide a list of software and database required to develop, maintain, and execute the proposed system including the name of the third-party software, the version of the software and the manufacturer of the software. The licenses of all software required to develop, maintain, and execute the proposed system software shall be in the name of Atlanta Regional Commission.

While we expect that the Respondent will suggest the most appropriate software to run their system, both short term and long-term costs of these software licenses shall be considered. The minimally required software shall be considered if it will support the system and be more cost effective. For example, if the Respondent suggests Oracle versus SQL database, ARC expects suggesting Oracle Standard edition versus Oracle Enterprise if the system does not utilize functionality of Oracle Enterprise edition.

8) Maintenance/Extended Support

For software maintenance and support, the Respondent shall provide responses to the items below and include any supporting documentation:

a) Respondent(s) shall provide details of product support services available during system start up and after the product is installed including details of expected training, technical support, hardware and software support. Please describe your Service Level Agreements (SLAs) for each level of incident.

b) Respondent(s) shall provide the normal hours of operation for support and the associated cost.

c) Respondent(s) shall provide the average amount of time between a report of a non-mission critical bug and the “fix” becoming available in the software.

d) Respondent(s) shall provide details of providing maintenance on an as needed basis.

e) Respondent(s) shall provide details of uptime averages for the past three (3) years along with information about how outages are communicated to end users.

9) Contract Term

The initial term of the contract shall be for three (3) years. ARC shall have the right to renew the contract for two (2) successive one-year terms (“Renewal Terms”) upon written notice to Vendor prior to the expiration of the Initial Term, or each Renewal Term, as applicable. The vendor’s proposal must clearly state any increase in the annual fee for

19 | P a g e subsequent renewal terms.

The successful respondent shall be required to enter into a contract containing required federal clauses. A list of clauses is attached.

10) Firm Prices

Prices submitted shall be firm and best prices. All prices for services must be valid for thirty-six (36) months from the date of award.

Reasonable price changes based on market conditions and price/cost analysis may be made after the initial Contract period. The Contractor shall supply documentation satisfactory to ARC, such as: documented changes to Producers Price Indexes; Consumer Price Indexes; or a manufacturer’s published notification of price change(s).

ARC will evaluate this information to determine if revising the pricing is considered fair and reasonable to the satisfaction of the Commission. Requests for any such change must be received in writing by the ARC General Counsel Office thirty (30) days prior to the expiration of the original contract term. ARC may cancel the contract if the price increase request is not approved.

All price reductions at the manufacturers or distributors’ level shall be reflected in a reduction of the contract price(s) to ARC retroactive to the effective date of the price reduction(s).

11) Prime Contractor

Respondent(s) submitting responses may sub-contract the services contained in this Statement of Need. However, a Prime Contractor must be designated, and the proposal must state the name of the Sub-Contractor(s) providing the services and the ability and experience of that Sub-Contractor in delivering those services. References must be included. Respondent(s) are encouraged to provide considerable detail in their response in order for ARC Information Technology to evaluate those services more efficiently.

12) Added Value

Respondent(s) may include anything unique in their proposed solution which adds value to the products/services provided to Atlanta Regional Commission. The cost of this added value must be clearly explained and justified in the proposal.

13) Payment Terms

• The Contractor shall submit to ARC an invoice for payment documenting allowable labor costs incurred during the invoice period. As used herein, allowable costs incurred shall only include those costs authorized in Cost Proposal Form.

Appropriate supporting documentation must accompany invoices. Any reimbursement requested may be disallowed at ARC’s discretion if not properly

20 | P a g e documented, as determined by ARC.

• Final payment shall only be made upon determination by ARC that all requirements hereunder have been completed. Upon such determination and upon submittal of a final invoice, ARC shall pay all compensation due to the Contractor, less the total of all previous progress payments made.

14) Termination of Contract

Upon contract termination for any reason, the vendor must provide all data not hosted in ARC data stores, to be provided in a standard agreed-to format such that it can be imported into other systems. Some examples of suitable formats are SQL database, CSV files, spreadsheets, etc.

15) Award

Award will be made to the highest scoring responsive and responsible proposer according to the criteria stated in the proposal documents.