Response to Offeror's Questions document.pdf

23RFP8886 -- Questions/Answers:

(black = questions, red = answers)

Can you clarify the scope and cost estimates for this RFP? Is it tech development for migrating the current site to the new CMS platform, as well as training, QA, and launch? Or are you looking for new strategy, UX and creative design as part of this scope? Or alternatively, a refresh of the current design/UX as you replatform to the new CMS?

We will need hosting requirements/options, licensing costs, training, template development training.

Strategy, UX, Design is not part of the scope of this RFP. Design will be handled in-house.

Cost estimate is not to exceed $120,000 for Year 1; $44,000 for Year 2; and $46,000 for Year 3.

How many pages need to be migrated? Will your team want to assist or own that process, or would you like the vendor to take it on?

The in-house team will handle the migration; however, we would like information on migration assistance costs if needed.

What third party integrations and imports exist as part of the current site?

The current site does not integrate any third-party systems directly on the primary domain.

How many users do you plan to have in the CMS? Do you have developers on staff that will be making changes to the site post go live, and that will require training? If so, will they want to do any co-development during the migration?

There will be no more than 25 active users needed. There will be one on-staff developer that will require training. Co-development information should be provided.

When do you need to have this project completed and what is driving that date, if any?

4/1/2024 - Website design and development completion.

7/1/2024 - Website launch with completed migration.

Our preferred timeline for this completion is based on contractual obligations and fiscal year change over.

In regards to content migration:

Will the entire .edu domain need to be migrated?

Many pages will be removed before migration. Most information being migrated will be merged or restructured.

Are there parts of the site that will not be migrated?

Most directory information may not need to be migrated since directory should be directly integrated. Subdomains are not hosted on our current CMS, so they will not need migration.

Are there additional domains that need to be migrated?

No.

In regards to migration, how many different page layouts do you have on your current site?

There are currently 12 layouts, however, once redesigned this number may change.

Who currently hosts your website(s)? Are you looking to change this arrangement?

Beacon Technologies is the current host. We are open to CMS vendor solutions or continuing hosting with Beacon.

How many developers do you have to work on templates, and other CMS-related development??

One developer in-house with options to hire contractors for specific needs.

How many individuals at your institution will need to use the CMS?

No more than 25.

What is the established budget for this project?

Cost estimate is not to exceed $120,000 for Year 1; $44,000 for Year 2; and $46,000 for Year 3.

You briefly mention a new design for the site, will you need support on the redesign or will the BHSU team handle that?

The BHSU team will handle the design.

Can you provide details and use case of the integration with TDX iPass?

TDX iPass will be used to interface with Banner.

For the Cost Proposal, you request that “the cost proposal by these three general areas”, but only two items are listed. Should there be a third area? If not, should the initial Web Development and Content Migration be included within the costs for “Website Content Management System (CMS)”?

Only 2 areas are part of the cost proposal. Web Development and Content Migration cost information should be included with Website Content Management System for year one.The in-house team will be performing much of the development and migration but may require some assistance from the CMS vendor.

What websites do you aspire to?

Not Applicable to the scope of this project.

If content migration services and costs should be included, please indicate:

What sites/domains are being migrated?

BHSU.edu primary domain only.

Are sub-domains included in the migration?

No subdomains included.

Approximately how many pages/assets of content will the vendor be expected to migrate?

Most migration should be done by the in-house team, therefore the vendor should expect minimum migration, but should provide basic costs for migration services for the purposes of the RFP.

What format can/will the content be provided?

Primarily the existing website.

If we are migrating from the existing website, please estimate the approximate number of templates that are used by this content on the current website.

The current website uses approximately 12 layouts templates, but many are modified for certain pages.

Please advise how many end-users require training? Are you interested in a train the trainer approach?

Less than 10 trainees. A train the trainer approach is preferred.

http://bhsu.edu/

We note that one of your goals is personalization. Would this be considered a core requirement for the initial go live, or this is a future aspiration that the CMS should support?

This is not a requirement for initial Go-Live, but the CMS should support personalization options.

We note the requirement for integration with TDX iPass. Please provide a use case/scenario for the integration to describe more about the level of integration required?

TDX iPass is the ‘middle man’ software that will pull the data from Banner and then either use the software API or ftp a csv file to the destination at a scheduled time. Most external software solutions we now have use the FTP option. There won’t be a need to know how to connect to BANNER, but there should be a process to load a csv file unless there is an API we can program against.

We note the requirement for integration with Ellucian/Banner, Banner Ethos APIs, EMS Everbridge Management System, Active Directory/ Azure AD, Salesforce/TargetX, Acalog. Please provide a use case/scenario for each integration to describe more about the level of integration required?

Ellucian/Banner, Banner Ethos APIs: This will now go through TDX iPass to pull data from banner to the website.

EMS Everbridge: Set up a push from Everbridge to the website for alerts.

Active Directory/Azure AD: Single Sign-on (Support for SAML 2 is sufficient).

Salesforce/TargetX: No longer required.

Acalog: Embedding information from our academic catalog into program pages.

What integrations would be considered as a “must have” for launch, versus a future need/goal that you wish the CMS to support?

TDX iPass for Banner, Acalog, and Active Directory/Azure AD will be required for launch.

What is driving the anticipated completion date of April 2024?

Our preferred timeline for this completion is based on contractual obligations and fiscal year change over.

For/if there is a presentation/demonstration, could we please request 90 minutes for our product demonstration? As we will be presenting enterprise software, we want to ensure that we thoroughly cover your topics.

We are open to scheduling based on your needs if a demonstration is needed.

What is your desired/preferred agenda for the presentation?

To be determined.

Do you have a year one development budget? If so, could you please detail what it is so we can ensure we provide appropriate pricing?

Can you please advise how the cost is to be evaluated, for example, is it year one development and license & support costs or the total cost over 2,3, or 5 years?

We are looking at three years with the first year to include the initial setup costs, and years two and three to include the annual fee.

Do you have a preference for an open-source or a commercial solution?

We are open to all CMS options that meet our requirements.

What is your current system, and what are your principal pain points with this system?

We currently use Cascade CMS and are currently evaluating other CMS opportunities.

Do you currently pay any annual fees such as License, Support, or Hosting (application/web)?

Yes, we pay our CMS for an annual license which includes support. We pay our hosting company separately.

If so, could you please detail if there is a specific budget so we can ensure we provide appropriate pricing?

We are using the university budget for year one, therefore, we must have it approved and fall under the $120,000 mark.

Are you open to an annual license fee for the proposed CMS?

Yes, annual is an option.

Can you please confirm that you still expect 25 concurrent users to be logged into the CMS at the same time? I.e. 25 users making edits at the same time.

We will have a maximum of 25 users, but most likely all of them will not be making edits at the same time.

Can you tell us more about the evaluation team members and their roles?

Becca Walters - Senior Director of Marketing and Communications

Chuck Williams - Web Communications Specialist

Kathy Johnson - VP of Finance and Administration

Ven Thompson - Senior Application/Business Analyst

Ryan Delzer - Academic System Administrator

Garrett Stevens - Cybersecurity Engineer

Is your current web environment hosted in-house or externally? If externally, who is the provider? What is your current setup?

We currently are hosted with Beacon Technologies who host our Cascade instance.

Have you received any CMS demonstrations as part of your pre-RFP process?

Yes.

Could you please let us know why you require, “Development environments will include development, staging and production” ?

The requirement is to be able to provide a way for changes to be made and tested before being made live on the site. Other set ups are acceptable if they meet that requirement. Changes may include single pages, multiple pages, templates, integration, and testing.

Could you please clarify if you have any more requirements around a Search tool?

A capability of a custom search as part of the CMS is part of the scope of this project. Requirements are customization of search results based on keyword, filters for searching, customizable look & feel, and the ability to have different custom search tools on pages.

Is a new search tool for your website part of the scope of this project

Yes.

What are your website marketing goals? You ask about a free marketing tool.

We would like some marketing tools that can help with promotions such as easy to make landing pages, email tools, blog options with social media integration. All of these do not have to be offered.

Could you please confirm that the questions you want answered start after section, ‘4. PROPOSAL REQUIREMENTS AND COMPANY QUALIFICATIONS’? I.e. the questions under ‘scope of work’ from ‘3 - 3.14’ are for information only purposes?

Yes. Questions to be answered are in Section 4, and Section 3 is for our information.

Is there a concrete scoring criteria per each requirement we are to answer?

In the RFP (Section 6), the criteria is listed. There will be an internal scoring matrix used.

Could you please confirm how you will evaluate each tender by ‘6.1.3. Record of past performance, including price and cost data from previous projects, quality of work, ability to meet schedules, cost control, and contract administration;’. We ask because we cannot see any question about past project cost or contract administration etc.

This evaluation is geared towards previous CMS systems we have used.

Do you require a project plan as part of the proposal submission?

No project plan will be required as part of the proposal.

Do you need the project to include a comprehensive user research phase?

Not applicable

3.5.2 - Please describe the required functionality of the iPass integration with the CMS.

TDX iPass is the ‘middle man’ software that will pull the data from Banner and then either use the software API or ftp a csv file to the destination at a scheduled time. Most external software solutions we

3.5.5 - Please identify which integrations are API based, and which are iframe or embedded content. The others integrations will probably need to be answered by IT.

Ellucian/Banner, Banner Ethos APIs: Integration using TDX iPass.

EMS Everbridge: API

Active Directory/Azure AD: API / SAML 2 support

Google Analytics: Embed

Salesforce/TargetX: This is no longer a requirement

Acalog: API or Embed

3.5.7 - Are you using any tools currently to monitor ADA compliance on the site?

We would like the CMS to have ADA compliance monitoring options if available.

4.9.1.1 - Please describe what you mean by "push-based CMS."

That when a data request is sent by a user the information would already be assembled and resting on the web server as changes will have already been "pushed" from the database and housed on the web server in standard files vs. a "pull" system requiring the web server to access the database and assemble the the files when the user request is made.

4.9.14 - Does Velocity mean the Velocity.js library?

Velocity templating engine available at https://velocity.apache.org/

Is there a target launch date? Is it tied to an event or deadline like a fiscal year or contract expiration?

Our preferred timeline for this completion is based on contractual obligations and fiscal year change over.

How will the winning vendor be selected? Is there a scoring matrix or something similar?

In the RFP (Section 6), the criteria is listed. There will be an internal scoring matrix used based on that criteria.

We see higher ed website projects50K to well into six figures. Where in that range are you expecting to fall?

Is there an organizational preference for open source vs. a proprietary CMS?

https://velocity.apache.org/

Both will be considered based on functionality and usability.

What is the current CMS? What shortcomings of the current CMS do you hope to remedy with this effort?

We currently use Cascade CMS and are currently evaluating other CMS opportunities.

Please describe your current website team. What are their primary skill sets?

Not Applicable

Are there multi-lingual requirements? Is Google Translate or similar sufficient?

This would not be a requirement for the CMS.

Where is the site currently hosted?

The current host is Beacon Technologies.

Please provide usage data, or estimate expected traffic to the site.

25K - 30K per month based on current usage.

What are the data storage requirements (files, database, etc) for the site?

Requirements are yet to be determined.

Please describe how content is stored in the current CMS. Is content structured in a database with distinct fields in each content type, or is all the content essentially in a "content" field?

Not applicable.

How many pages are on the current site?

There are approximately 1200 pages currently.

Is the entire site contained on the www.bhsu.edu domain? Please list any subdomains that are in scope for this project.

The scope of this project is for the bhsu.edu primary domain only.

http://www.bhsu.edu/ http://bhsu.edu/

Do you expect copywriting or editing services as part of engagement?

No. This will be handled in-house.

Please confirm that one design theme will carry across the entire site. If we need sub-themes of any type, please specify.

One design theme will be used with multiple design templates.

Are there any CMS platforms that the University prefers to stay away from, or are you open to any that meet your requirements?

Open to platforms that can meet our requirements.

Is there a budget you can share for the project, or potentially a budget for both the CMS yearly subscription costs AND budget for the website development services. There are obviously CMS platforms that are relatively inexpensive and expensive, just trying to narrow it down a bit as we partner with many CMS companies.

Is the University interested in Usability Testing as part of the website development process to tailor the site specifically to the needs of different audience groups?

Although not required, we would be interested in pricing on this option.

Does the University prefer to have any onsite (in-person) meetings, or can the project be completed remotely?

The project can be completed remotely.

Can you expand on the integration required for TDX iPass? One way? Two way? What functionality needs to be integrated?

TDX iPass is the ‘middle man’ software that will pull the data from Banner and then either use the software API or ftp a csv file to the destination at a scheduled time. Most external software solutions we

Is BHSU open to staying on their current CMS application?

We are open to all CMS vendors who meet the requirements.

Where is the new design being procured from? Design firm, internally made, purchased online, etc.

Internal design.

Who will be creating the HTML templates from the designs? Design firm, internally made, implementation partner, other third-party, etc.

Internal.

Is a development/CSS framework expected to be used? Pure, Skeleton, Bootstrap, Foundation, etc.

Yet to be determined.

Who will be testing the HTML templates for accessibility, cross-browser compatibility, and multi-device support?

Internal.

Approximately how many pages are currently on the website right now?

1200.

How many pages are expected to be migrated into the new design?

Will there be a content audit in order to determine which content needs to be moved, edited, created, or left in the old site?

Yes, conducted internally.

Is the information architecture expected to change as compared to the current website?

Will a spreadsheet of pages to be migrated be able to be provided?

Migration will be handled internally.

Approximately how many page types will the new design have?

10-15, but still being determined.

Approximately how many content components will be available across all page types? Rich-text/WYSIWYG, calls to action, forms, image embeds with/without links/text, accordion sections, tabbed sections, news feeds, statistics boxes, submenu boxes with/without links/text, forms, etc.

Approximately how many web developers will manage the design/templates/HTML in the CMS?

1 full-time with contracted developers as needed.

Approximately how many end users will receive training?

1-10, based on needs.

Under Section 3. Scope of Work, 3.9 Search, is it expected that the CMS will provide the described requirements out-of-the-box as part of internal asset search, live website search, or both?

Live website search.

Under Section 7. Cost Proposal, offerors must organize their cost proposals by three general areas and include specific project details within each. What are those three areas? It appears there are only two listed.

It is only the two listed. Website Content Management System (CMS) and ongoing maintenance options and associated costs.