RFP No. 6421- Microsoft Purview Document Classification Architect.docx

RFP 5299

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

RFP NO. 6421

Microsoft Purview Document Classification Architect

MACOMB COMMUNITY COLLEGE

WARREN, MICHIGAN

PROPOSALS DUE NO LATER THAN

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 11, 2025, at 2:00 P.M.

Submit Proposal To:

Macomb Community College Dennis Costello Purchasing Director costellod@macomb.edu and bids@macomb.edu

Phone: (586) 445-7308

1. PROJECT OVERVIEW

The College has recently completed a comprehensive review and update of its document retention schedule. The College is seeking proposals from qualified document classification architects/firms to design and implement a Microsoft Purview based document classification ecosystem that enforces the retention periods defined in the schedule.

Bids will only be accepted for consultants/architects/firms designated as a certified Microsoft Solutions Partner for Data and AI (Azure) and/or Digital and App Innovation (Azure). The Lead consultant(s) assigned to the engagement must hold a current “SC-400: Microsoft Information Protection Administrator” certification. The College believes engagement success demands specialized competency in designing and implementing document classification using Microsoft Purview. The College will not be evaluating proposals for other document classification and control systems.

The required response format may be found in section #6 and the full bid specifications are detailed in section #9.

2. PUBLIC STATEMENT

Macomb Community College (MCC) is the second largest community college in Michigan serving more than 38,000 degree-credit students. MCC also offers pre-college programs, continuing and professional education programs, customized workforce training, and many cultural and community service programs.

3. CURRENT ENVIRONMENT

Microsoft A5 deployed across the entire tenant. Documents exist within the College’s Microsoft 365 tenant and on SAN-based network file shares. Current document count sits at approximately 8.5M, but that will be reduced approximately 40% once a planned purge of older documents takes place later this year.

4. RECEIPT OF PROPOSALS

To be considered for acceptance, all vendors wishing to submit a proposal must adhere to the following schedule:

Clarifications will be published once weekly and be shared with all bidders. Proposals must be e-mailed by 2:00 p.m. EDT time on the Final due date posted above.

Proposals should be submitted to:

Dennis Costello, Purchasing Director Macomb Community College Email: costellod@macomb.edu and bids@macomb.edu Proposals submitted via email, should not include any zipped or executable files as these will be blocked by the College’s e-mail security system and may not be considered as received on time.

Proposals must be signed by an individual with authority to enter into a binding contract and the authority of the individual signing must be stated thereon.

5. INQUIRIES

Inquiries pertaining to this RFP are to be directed to:

Dennis Costello, Purchasing Director bids@macomb.edu and costellod@macomb.edu Responses to clarifications will be shared with all organizations that were invited to submit a proposal. MCC will not be bound by any oral responses.

Information contained in proposals may be subject to FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) requests.

6. PROPOSAL RESPONSE FORMAT

Responses should be submitted in electronic format to the contact listed above in Section 4. organized by section with contents of each as listed below. Acceptable electronic formats include Microsoft Word or PDF. Responses MUST be sectioned and completed as listed below:

Section 1: Provide a company overview including core services and products.

Section 2: The completed bid response form located in APPENDIX A. Bid responses MUST include this form to be considered. Vendors shall include all applicable taxes, (Federal, State, and Local) in the proposal price. Macomb Community College is exempt from State Sales Tax.

Section 3: Narrative describing engagement completion methodology, expected timelines, project plan and delivery modality (remote/on-campus/hybrid). Bidders must clearly illustrate their ability to meet RFP specifications, deliverable expectations and the accuracy of good faith estimates. Bidders must provide resumes (names may be redacted) of the team member(s) who will be assigned to the project illustrating their experience, education and certifications that are relevant to the RFP specifications. Bid finalist interviews must be attended by the team members AND THE LEAD ARCHITECT that will be assigned to the engagement should the vendor be awarded the bid.

Section 4: Proposed project workplan illustrating milestones and project completion dates, including bid alternates if submitted, assuming a July 1, 2025, start date.

Section 5: A sample of the MSA/SoW.

Section 6: Document certifying bidder is a Microsoft Solutions Partner for Data and AI (Azure).

Section 7: Three RELEVANT customer references with contact information. All references must be from Higher education for the bids to be considered.

Section 8: (optional) Bid alternate narratives and explanations.

7. CONTACT PERSON

If different from that provided on the mandatory bid response form, please identify by name, telephone number and e-mail address, the person or persons whom the College can address questions to during the evaluation of proposals.

8. AWARD OF PROPOSAL

The College may award a contract based upon the initial proposal without further discussion of such proposals. Accordingly, each initial proposal should be submitted with each respondent’s most favorable fee and service capabilities.

The College will award a contract to the firm(s) which it believes offers a proposal that is in the best overall interest of the institution. The bid award will be based on accuracy, thoroughness and transparency of bids, not the grand total of the good faith estimate provided in the bid form. The College is seeking a partner in this engagement.

Prices are to be guaranteed for a minimum of 180 days from bid opening to allow for bid review, purchase authorization and contract development, as applicable. Contractor understands that the College reserves the right to reject any or all proposals and to waive any informalities therein.

9. WORK SCOPE:

The College has recently completed a comprehensive update of its records retention schedule:

a) With a few exceptions, this schedule mimics the State of Michigan’s General Schedules for College and Universities. To best understand the scope of this RFP, bidders are encouraged to review that document set before submitting a bid.

b) The College has aligned nearly all document classifications into eight primary event-based retention periods, each envisioned as a selectable/assignable M365 retention label. Event examples include date created, last date changed, employee termination date plus x years, superseded plus x years, fiscal yearend plus x years, etc.

c) A few dozen unique retention periods remain (primarily related to HR and business office records), the implementation/optimization of which will be a deliverable of the engagement. The data owners in these departments understand the granularity of the retention periods for the documents better than the general staff.

d) Governance is a single jurisdiction (Archives records management); some document types require “approval to delete” by the College’s legal counsel.

9.1 Macomb Community College Archives & Records Management (ARM) in collaboration with the Information Technology department, seeks a company/consultant to create, structure, configure, and implement a college-wide Microsoft Purview Records Retention ecosystem (including policies and labels) in alignment with the college’s records retention schedules, data classification, and other Microsoft Purview Information Protection (MPIP) policies throughout the College’s single Microsoft tenant. Deliverables shall include:

· Structure an information architecture needed for MS Purview with Macomb’s SharePoint/Outlook/other data pools, records retention schedule, data classifications, and MPIP

· Configure document libraries and metadata architecture, if applicable

· Apply labels to all content sources (assumed to be automated by consultant)

· Explore and recommend use of Microsoft Copilot, Syntex and other AI-driven capabilities for auto-classification, if applicable

· Create a File Plan management by translating all records retention schedules into MS Purview to bulk upload retention labels where possible

· Utilize Standard Retention Label (v. Record Retention Label) for added flexibility

· Automate or Default label classification with retention policies aligned with Macomb’s records retention schedules

· Develop disposition review processes and workflows

· Create and implement records retention policies in Purview

· Create and implement records retention labels to document types in Purview

· Provide off-boarding training to select college employees to oversee continued maintenance of the system by the college A successful engagement is defined by completion of all deliverables listed above across the college’s entire document set as defined in CURRENT ENVIRONMENT section. Vendor shall provide regular status meetings. Invoicing shall occur monthly for hours consumed for the previous period.

Bidders MUST be a certified Microsoft Solutions Partner for Data and AI (Azure) and/or Digital and App Innovation (Azure). The lead consultant(s) assigned to the engagement must hold a current “SC-400: Microsoft Information Protection Administrator” certification and have extensive experience working in Higher education environments. Bids that do not clearly illustrate this competency through candidate resumes, references and detailed project lists will be eliminated from further consideration.

Current Environment:

Documents exist within the College’s Microsoft 365 tenant (Teams, Outlook, OneDrive and Sharepoint), on traditional NTFS SAN-based network file shares. A smaller, isolated environment exists on an EVO SAN.

The current document count sits at approximately 8.5M files, but that will be reduced approximately 35% once a planned purge of older documents takes place later this year. The scope of work solicited via this RFP will take place after those files have been removed from production.

Working hours and Services delivery methodology Bids will be accepted for onsite, remote or hybrid service delivery. The number of onsite days is not a contractual requirement. However, preference will be given to proposals received where team members are local to southeast Michigan and can work on any of the Macomb County campuses when/if necessary, with 48 hours’ notice. Also, travel costs will be a consideration during bid review. The College strongly believes a successful engagement will include face-to-face time with the College’s stakeholders but leaves the burden of proving otherwise on the bidder in their RFP response and finalist interview, if selected for one. The actual amount of on-site work depends on how well the contractor can build relationships, communicate, and gather the intel required solve problems and complete project deliverables remotely.

The working hours of college employees are between 7 AM and 5 PM, Eastern time, M-F. The College recognizes that a portion of the work can be performed outside of that time window and without interaction with college employees.

BASE BID OUT OF SCOPE:

· Evaluation of the College’s existing document retention schedule

· Sensitivity Label creation and implementation

· Operation and support of the environment after project completion

BID ALTERNATES

Bidders are invited to also provide bids for any of the bid alternates below.

Bid alternate #1:

Develop and provide training modules to educate MCC’s staff on data retention practices and other data handling processes, aligned with the retention labeling deliverables of this RFP:

· Create training modules focused on data retention, including secure data interaction, proper classification, labeling, storage, and procedures for archival and destruction.

· Ensure that training content covers the use of encryption tools when handling sensitive data and aligns with CIS Controls safeguards.

· Develop department-specific and role-specific training content that details relevant retention periods and the legal, regulatory, and institutional reasons for these requirements.

· Modules will be delivered as SCORM-4 or MP4 format Bid alternate #2:

· Developing a playbook for periodic audits and compliance checks to ensure adherence to MCC’s data retention policy across all departments.

10. CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION

Information contained in proposals may be subject to FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) requests.

11. RIGHT TO REQUEST ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

MCC reserves the right to request any additional information, which might be deemed necessary after the completion of this document.

12. PROPOSAL PREPARATION COSTS

The Vendor is responsible for all costs incurred by the Vendor or his/her subcontractors in responding to this request for proposal.

13. STANDARD FORMS AND CONTRACTS

Any forms and contracts the Vendor proposes to include as part of any agreement resulting from this proposal between the Vendor and MCC must be submitted as part of the proposal. Any forms and contracts not submitted as part of the proposal and subsequently presented for inclusion may be rejected. This requirement includes, but is not limited to, the following types of forms: subcontractor, franchise, warranty agreements, maintenance contracts, and support agreements.

14. PROPOSAL TO BECOME PART OF AGREEMENT

This RFP, Vendor’s response and any subsequent written communications, along with any formal, signed agreement will become part of the contract documentation governing performance of this project. Where conflicts exist, the later dated document will govern.

15. GENERAL CONDITIONS

a) Vendor as Independent Contractor This is not an Agreement of partnership or employment of Vendor or any of Vendor's employees by MCC. Vendor is an independent Vendor for all purposes under this Agreement.

b) Conflict of Interest/Disclosure No company or corporation in which an employee of the College has a direct or indirect interest shall transact business with the College unless such interest is disclosed to the Purchasing Department prior to entering into any contract or agreement with the College. Further, the employee shall not take part in the negotiations for or approval of such contract or agreement.

c) Use of Qualified and Experienced Personnel Vendor agrees at all times to maintain an adequate staff of experienced and qualified employees for efficient performance under this Agreement. Vendor agrees that, at all times, the employees of Vendor furnishing or performing any services shall do so in a professional, work-person like, and dignified manner.

d) Equal Opportunity Employer Vendor shall be an equal opportunity employer and shall conform to all Affirmative Action and other applicable requirements; accordingly, Vendor shall neither discriminate nor permit discrimination in its operations or employment practices against any person or group of persons on the grounds of race, color, religion, national origin, age, or sex in any manner prohibited by law.

e) Compliance with Rules and Regulations Vendor agrees that all persons working for or on behalf of Vendor whose duties bring them upon MCC's premises shall obey the rules and regulations that are established by MCC and shall comply with the reasonable directions of MCC's officers. MCC may, at any time, require the removal and replacement of any of Vendor's employees for good cause.

In the event of such a removal, the Vendor shall, within fifteen (15) days, fill this representative vacancy. Regardless of whom the Vendor has designated as the representative, the Vendor organization remains the ultimate responsible party for performing the tasks and responsibilities presented in this Agreement.

f) Non-interference with Institution Operations College's operations must continue uninterrupted throughout the completion of the work contemplated herein. Certain portions of the work must be performed and completed in such order as directed by MCC's representative as to permit the orderly operation of MCC's activities. Vendor shall review the work to assure that operations will not impede the utilization of the facilities.

g) Copyright Indemnity The awarded Vendor shall indemnify and hold MCC harmless from any claim that a product or accessory or its use, infringes on another person or company’s patent, copyright, trade secret or other property right.

h) General Indemnity To the fullest extent permitted by law, the Vendor shall indemnify, hold harmless, and defend Macomb Community College and its agents, employees, officers and successors, from and against any claims, causes of action, damages, losses and expenses, including but not limited to attorney’s fees, arising out of or resulting in any way from Vendor’s performance of this contract, provided that such claim, cause of action, damage, loss or expense is attributable to bodily injury, sickness, disease or death to any person, including employees or agents of the Vendor, subcontractor, or construction manager, or to injury to or destruction of tangible property including loss of use resulting there from, but only if caused in whole or in part by a negligent act or omission of the Vendor, a subcontractor, the construction manager, anyone directly or indirectly employed by them or any for whose acts they may be liable, regardless of whether or not such claim, cause of action, damage, loss or expense is caused in part by a party indemnified hereunder. Vendor shall not be obligated to hold harmless, indemnify or defend Macomb Community College or its agents, employees, officers, or successors if any claim, cause of action, damage, loss or expense arises from the sole negligence or fault of a party indemnified hereunder.

i) Submitting Disputes to Arbitration Should the parties agree to submit claims, disputes or other matters arising out of this Agreement to arbitration, they may do so only with the specific, written agreement of all parties, including Macomb Community College.

j) Advertising / Permission Vendor shall not use, in its external advertising, marketing programs, or other promotional efforts, any data, pictures, or other representation of MCC except on the specific written authorization in advance of MCC’s Purchasing Agent. Vendor will limit and direct any of its advertising on MCC’s premises to MCC’s student media and bulletin boards and shall make arrangements for such advertising through the Student Activities Department. Vendor shall not install any signs or other displays anywhere on MCC's premises unless in each instance the prior written approval of MCC's Purchasing Agent has been obtained. However, nothing in this clause shall preclude Vendor from listing MCC on its routine client list for matters of reference.

k) Survival Clause The terms, conditions, representations, and warranties contained in this Agreement shall survive the termination or expiration of this Agreement.

l) Governing Law This Agreement, and all matters or issues collateral to it, shall be governed by, and construed in accordance with, the law of the State of Michigan.

m) Entire Agreement This Agreement constitutes the entire agreement between the parties and supersedes all prior agreements or understandings, written or oral, prior to signing of a contract.

n) Effect of Regulation Should any local, state, or national regulatory authority having jurisdiction over Macomb Community College enter a valid and enforceable order upon the College which has the effect of changing or superseding any term or condition of the Agreement, such order shall be complied with, but only so long as such order remains in effect and only to the extent actually necessary under the law. In such event, this Agreement shall remain in effect, unless the effect of the order is to deprive the College of a material part of its Agreement with the Contractor. In the event this order results in depriving the College of materials or raising their costs beyond that defined in the Agreement, the College shall have the right to rescind all or part of this Agreement (if such a rescission is practical) or to end the Agreement term upon thirty (30) days prior written notice to the Vendor. Should the Agreement be terminated under such circumstances, the College shall be absolved of all penalties and financial assessments related to cancellation of the Agreement.

o) Termination In the event that either party shall fail to maintain or keep in force any of the terms and conditions of this Agreement, the aggrieved party may notify the other party in writing via certified mail of such failure and demand that the same be remedied within ten (10) business days. Should the defaulting party fail to remedy the same within said period, the other party shall thereupon have the right to terminate this Agreement by giving the other party thirty (30) days written notice. Notwithstanding the foregoing, due to lack of State or County funding, MCC may at any time during the life of this Agreement, terminate same by giving thirty (30) days notice in writing via certified mail to Vendor. In addition, if at any time a voluntary petition in bankruptcy shall be filed against the Vendor and shall not be dismissed within thirty (30) days, or if the Vendor shall take advantage of any insolvency law, or if a receiver or trustee of the Vendor's property shall be appointed and such appointment shall not be vacated within thirty (30) days, MCC shall have the right, in addition to any other rights of whatsoever nature that it may have at law or in equity, to terminate the contract by giving (30) days notice in writing of such termination.

p) Assignment This Agreement or any part thereof shall not be assigned or subcontracted by Vendor without the prior written permission of MCC; any attempt to do so without said prior permission shall be void and of no effect.

q) Ownership of Documents All plans, studies, documents and other writings prepared by and for Vendor, its officers, employees and agents in the course of implementing this Agreement, except working notes and internal documents, shall become the sole property of MCC upon payment to Vendor for such work, and MCC shall have the sole right to use such materials in its sole discretion without further compensation to Vendor or to any other party.

r) Employment of Other Vendors, Specialists or Experts Vendor will not employ or otherwise incur an obligation to pay other vendors, specialists or experts for services in connection with this Agreement without the prior approval of MCC.

s) Warranty of Fitness for a Particular Purpose The College has presented detailed technical specifications of the particular purpose for which the network and technology is intended. The College has provided detailed descriptions and criteria of how the system can be defined to accomplish a particular purpose. The College has also defined the exact procedures and techniques to be employed in testing whether the system has achieved the defined performance of this particular purpose. Given this advanced preparation concerning, and documentation about the College’s particular purpose, the Vendor at the time this Agreement is in force has (1) reason and opportunity to know the particular purpose for which products are required, and (2) that the College is relying on the Vendor’s experience and knowledge of these products to provide those which are most suitable and appropriate. Therefore, the Vendor warrants that the system is fit for the purpose for which it is intended as described in this document.

t) Non-Collusion Covenant The Vendor hereby represents and agrees that it has in no way entered into any contingent fee arrangement with any firm or person concerning the obtaining of this Agreement. In addition, the Vendor agrees that a duly authorized Vendor representative will sign a non-collusion affidavit, in a form acceptable to the College that the Vendor firm has received from the College no incentive or special payments, or considerations not related to the provision of automation systems and services described in this Agreement.

u) Vendor Not an Agent of Institution Macomb Community College retains all rights of approval and discretion with respect to the projects and undertakings contemplated by this Agreement. Vendor, its officers, employees and agents shall not have any power to bind or commit MCC to any decision.

APPENDIX “A” – MANDATORY BID RESPONSE FORM (PRICING)

TO: Macomb Community College June 11, 2025 14500 Twelve Mile Road Warren, MI 48088

ATTENTION: Purchasing Director

The contractor, in compliance with the Request For Proposal for a Microsoft Purview Document Classification Architect having examined the RFP documents and being familiar with the scope of required services, including the availability of materials and labor, hereby proposes to furnish and install all applications, labor, materials, tools, equipment and all services to provide work described herein in accordance with the RFP documents for the amounts stated below. Proposal pricing shall remain valid for 180 days from the proposal due date to allow for bid analysis, funding authorization and contract review.

Contractor, if awarded a contract, agrees to commence work upon receipt of a written “Notice to Proceed/Letter of Intent” / Purchase Order and to fully complete the work in a mutually agreeable time. Contractor understands that the College reserves the right to reject any or all proposals and to waive any informalities therein.

A.0 Eligibility

Bids will only be accepted for consultants/architects/firms designated as a certified Microsoft Solutions Partner for Data and AI (Azure) and for consultants holding a current “SC-400: Microsoft Information Protection Administrator” certification.

Bidder complies with both requirements (check one):

[ ] Yes [ ] No (not permitted to bid)

A.1 BASE BID: Document Classification Architect services

If one hourly rate is provided, it shall be inclusive of project management. Bidders are encouraged to expand this section detailing rates of the different team members that might be required to fulfill engagement obligations.

Good faith estimates based on experience performing similar services for other clients. These will only be used as a general, high-level comparison between bids and for budget planning. Bidders will not be bound to good faith estimates, but they will be used to evaluate the bidder’s comprehension of the requirements and experience performing similar work for others. Purposeful or flagrant underestimation of effort will disqualify proposal from further consideration. The College encourages bidders to expand this table with tasks/effort they know to be necessary based on performing similar work for others. Bid award will be based on accuracy, thoroughness and transparency of bids, not the grand total of the good faith estimate.

(estimated hours X hourly rate)

Structure an information architecture needed for MS Purview with Macomb’s SharePoint/Outlook/other data pools, records retention schedule, data classifications, and MPIP

Configure document libraries and metadata architecture, if applicable

Apply labels to all content sources (assumed to be automated by consultant)

Explore and recommend use of Microsoft Copilot, Syntex and other AI-driven capabilities for auto-classification, if applicable

Create a File Plan management by translating all records retention schedules into MS Purview to bulk upload retention labels where possible

Automate or Default label classification with retention policies aligned with Macomb’s records retention schedules

Develop disposition review processes and workflows

Create and implement records retention policies in Purview

Create and implement records retention labels to document types in Purview

Provide off-boarding training to select college employees to oversee continued maintenance of the system by the college

Other tasks as deemed necessary by bidder. Add table rows as required.

Entire proposal scope (Grand total)

A.2 BID ALTERNATE #1: Develop and provide training modules

If one hourly rate is provided, it shall be inclusive of project management. Bidders are encouraged to expand this section detailing rates of the different team members that might be required to fulfill engagement obligations.

based on experience performing similar services for other clients.

A.3 BID ALTERNATE #2: Developing a playbook for periodic audits

If one hourly rate is provided, it shall be inclusive of project management. Bidders are encouraged to expand this section detailing rates of the different team members that might be required to fulfill engagement obligations.

based on experience performing similar services for other clients.

DECLARATION. The undersigned agrees to the provisions of RFP documents and hereby affix authorized signature(s):

Signature(s):_____________________________________________________

Title: ____________________________________________________________

Company Name: __________________________________________________

Address: ________________________________________________________

City: __________________________State _________ Zip Code____________

Telephone Number: ___________________________________

E-mail address: __________________________________________________

Print Name of Signature: ___________________________Date: __________

IT IS MANDATORY OF ALL CONTRACTORS TO RETURN THIS SHEET FULLY COMPLETED WITH THEIR PROPOSAL.

image1.jpg