RFP 2026-002_ Addendum # 1.pdf

ADDENDUM 1-RFP No 2026-002 May 6, 2026

4174 Lankford Hwy Exmore, Virginia 23350 • www.esvba.com

MEMO TO: ALL BIDDERS

FROM: Eastern Shore of Virginia Broadband Authority

Robert Bridgham, Executive Director

DATE: May 6, 2026

SUBJECT: ADDENDUM 1

RFP No 2026-002

This listing of addendum items is distributed to all bidding contractors and is to be included as part of the New ERP system RFP documents. To be considered responsive, you must sign and certify on your RFP response that you have received and acknowledged Addendum 1.

Response to Queries:

Q1: Can we provide a copy of an existing invoice?

Answer: Yes, at the bottom of this addendum, we have embedded a copy of an invoice for reference. We are looking for the flexibility to make changes to the existing format as needed.

Q2: How stringent are we on the NIST framework for cybersecurity and checklists?

Answer: The ESVBA is compliant with the NIST cybersecurity framework and has a modified checklist that will be required to be complete upon being selected as a successful proposal.

Q3: What is your expectation for the number of licensed users?

Answer: We are looking for a platform that does not limit our number of licensed users. We have approximately 20 staff members and would like the licensing to include that but not be a limiting factor as we grow the team.

Q4: Are you asking for a fixed price?

4174 Lankford Hwy Exmore, Virginia 23350 • www.esvba.com

Answer: Yes, we require a deployment cost plus a fixed cost over three years for subscription-based platforms. If it is a software platform that we purchase then the purchase price, the deployment costs including equipment and the maintenance for three years. The fee should also include migration from our current system (Netsuite by Oracle).

Q5: Can you provide more insight into the processes we are expecting to automate?

Answer: The intent is to have the system be able to onboard customers from a public-facing portal including automatic contract processing, payment processing. We also expect the platform to integrate with Calix (www.calix.com) which is our customer-facing equipment to automate provisioning of initial services as well as automatic updating of billing and systems provisioning as customers choose, through this platform we are requesting proposals for, to change their subscriptions. We also need automated customer suspensions and re-activations if paying for a suspended service. As an ISP, we also need the system to generate FCC 499 quarterly and annual reports. Lastly, we would like the system to automatically update against universal service contribution factor and update USF (Universal Service Fund) taxation rate.

The system also needs to be able to generate taxation against Virginia Communication Tax and report against these two rates.

Q6: How are your field services currently handled?

Answer: We currently use Wrike (www.wrike.com) to manage our customer onboarding workflow. We would like the new system to incorporate more of the onboarding process to unify our platforms and reduce the number of disparate systems. Additionally, our accounting system currently tracks inventory across multiple locations, and we expect the new system to maintain this capability.

Q7: Can you elaborate on the User Form Storage requirement?

Answer: We currently have the ability to manage user panes/dashboards and modify templates as needed, and we require similar functionality in the new system. This allows us to customize the employee user experience as appropriate for each job role.

Q8: Do you need this system to be working by the end of 2026?

Answer: Yes, the new system should be ready in time to allow for a few months of parallel operation with our current system to ensure any issues are resolved before a full transition.

The existing system’s licenses will expire 12/31/2026 so that is a hard end date.

4174 Lankford Hwy Exmore, Virginia 23350 • www.esvba.com

Q9: Can you explain how your current platform’s CRM contact management platform works as well as your account billing and collections?

Answer: The current CRM allows us to create “leads” that we can document contact info, notes/messages/files or any communication engagement. We move customers into a “prospect” phase to indicate interest and sending contracts. These leads/prospects all are reportable so we can track onboarding of new potential clients. The system weighs opportunities at each levels showing the higher probabilities of closing the opportunities. At each phase, we have the ability to indicate the customer’s status (received contract, initial contact, out of our territory.) All of this focused on flowing the funnel to closing as a customer contact.

A/R and collections are standard features. We recommend looking at the Netsuite by Oracle public documentation for this functionality.

Q10: How do you use job numbers / work order numbers / project numbers?

Answer: Nearly all work we do is project based. We need to make sure that we can link inventory-out transactions, purchases and revenues to project numbers. Typical project numbers are 6-digit auto-incrementing numbers. We require that jobs allow us to see all linked transactions and to be able to report any materials, tracked labor, or bills associated with the project.

Q11: Do you require grant tracking?

Answer: Yes, we are the recipient of different grants and we need to track jobs or multiple jobs under a grant to be able to generate a profit & loss statement with details rolling-up any jobs linked to that grant.

Q12: How many companies are we operating and are we using departmental functionality?

Answer: We have one EIN that we are operating and reporting under, we are not currently splitting roles/responsibilities on a per-department basis but would like to understand if this functionality is there.

Q13: Do you load and track budgets?

Answer: Yes, we are a public body and we have to have our budget approved by our governing body and then we load it into our current system for reporting and for variances.

4174 Lankford Hwy Exmore, Virginia 23350 • www.esvba.com

Q14: What system do we use for inventory/warehouse management and job costing?

Answer: The current accounting system manages our inventory. We do use OzLink Mobile Warehouse from Descartes (https://www.descartes.com/) for scanner functionality to receive and send out materials.

Q15: Will the award be granted to a single solution?

Answer: This award is intended to be awarded to a single entity to ensure operational uniformity.

Q16: Are there any payroll requirements

Answer: No, we have a third party handle our payroll and pension plan however, we do directly pay 1099 contractors and have to produce our filings to the IRS as well as 1099 forms to those that are 1099 eligible entities.

Q17: Is there a requirement for fixed asset functionality?

Answer: Yes, we have much of our assets rolled into fixed asset tracking and need to put items on different depreciation schedules that we report on annually.

Q18: How many physical warehouses do we track/operate?

Answer: We have a single main warehouse but we do have small stocking locations that we may track. Less than 10.

Q19: What types of inventory? (cable, routers, modems..)

Answer: Our inventory consists of electronics (serialized and non), reels of items that we track as lot items with reel numbers and footages, and then smaller expensible items like nuts/bolts/screws.

Q20: Approximately how many inventory items/SKUs?

4174 Lankford Hwy Exmore, Virginia 23350 • www.esvba.com

Answer: We currently have under 1,000 non-inventory items and under 400 inventory items (serialized and non)

Q21: Does the ESVBA website support API integrations?

Answer: Yes it does.

Q22: What is our website platform?

Answer: We are currently running on Wordpress.

Q23: What is the budget for this deployment?

Answer: We are not sharing our budget for this project, we encourage vendors to put their best foot forward and provide the most cost-competitive proposal.

Q24: Will ESVBA accept e-mail proposals?

Answer: No, the bid was clear that we are expecting hard copy bids to be sent to the ESVBA offices. This is detailed in section V. paragraph A subsection a.

Q25: Can price/cost proposal be attached as a separate document?

Answer: Yes, you may provide the cost proposal as a separate document that is part of the bid as long as the requisite number of complete copies are included as outlined in the bid.

Q26: Can vendors submit proposed exemptions and/or redlined terms and conditions as part of their response. If so, please clarify if they should be a separate document.

Answer: Bidders may propose exemptions and/or redlined feedback. They may include this as a separate document clearly stating exceptions or alternative options. ESVBA reserves the right to accept/reject the bid if it materially changes the bidders responsiveness.

Q27: Can a confidentiality claim be submitted as a separate document?

Answer: Yes.

Q28: Will the ESVBA consider a two-week extension to proposal?

Answer: No

Q29: Are offshore and nearshore resources permitted for the project?

Answer: Yes, however, any development must comply with the NIST cybersecurity requirements including compliance for any subcontractors under the awardee.

Q30: Do we require any mandatory onsite staffing or can remote staffing be accepted?

Answer: We do not have an on-site requirement.

Q31: Do we require background checks on all vendor personnel?

Answer: We do not require this however, we believe it is very prudent to ensure qualified and secure personnel.

Q32: Please confirm funding for this proposal has been approved.

Answer: Yes it has been approved and is available.

Q33: Is there a minimum spend or volume commitment associated with this contract?

Answer: We are currently generating near 5,000 invoices for our current customers, we would expect that number to increase by 50-150 / month over the term of the contract.

Q34: Do we have a preferred solution/platform or technology for this?

Answer: No, that is up to the bidder.

Q35: Will we consider vendor-proposed solutions or architectures that differ from the examples described in the RFP, provided all functional and technical requirements are met?

4174 Lankford Hwy Exmore, Virginia 23350 • www.esvba.com

Answer: The expectation is that the functionality and technical needs are met. The solution/architecture proposed is up to the proposer. We urge bidders to consider that we expect a product that will be used for a long-term solution and is upgradable, expandable and will continue to work and be maintained. We do not want a group of small individual packages pieced together that will not have a guarantee of continuing to work as each package goes in its own development direction.

Q36: Does the scope listed in this RFP match the current vendors scope or is this a material change or expansion?

Answer: The scope requested is an expansion of our current functionality to improve efficiency, provide a better customer experience, and to enable more sophisticated solutions to our customers.

Q37: Do we expect conducting a best and final offer phase?

Answer: That depends on the quality of proposals. We do not expect to need it but it will depend if our top choices are very close.

Q38: Will post-submission discussions be limited to proposal clarifications, or may limited negotiations occur prior to award?

Answer: Post-submission discussions will not just be used for clarification but also discussions with references on similar deployments, as well as other items we may find useful to select the best proposal.

Q39: Will the ESVBA permit any further questions or discussion?

Answer: No, this addendum will end the Q&A period, there will be no further communication until the bid closes.

4174 Lankford Hwy Exmore, Virginia 23350 • www.esvba.com

ALL OTHER SPECIFICATION, TERMS &CONDITIONS, AND BID DUE DATE REMAIN

AS ISSUED IN THE ORIGINAL RFP.

NOTE: Signature on this addendum does not constitute your signature on the RFP Form.

Sincerely, Robert Bridgham, Executive Director

Bidder Acknowledgement of Addendum #1

Name of Firm

Signature/Title

Date