RFP NSCC17-03 Questions and Answers.docx

North Shore Community College RFP NSCC17-03 Website Redesign – Content Management Questions and Answers

1. Whether companies from Outside USA can apply for this?

(Like, from India or Canada) A. Yes. Geographical headquarters of the company does not matter as much as the responsiveness and accessibility of the team that would be responsible for implementation, training and support. Preference would be for a company that has a regional office in the USA.

2. Whether we need to come over there for meetings?

A. Yes. There is an expectation that vendor awarded the bid would hold meetings on the NSCC campus. There would be option for initial training on-site with additional follow up potentially remote/online. It is also expected that the vendor responsible for the website redesign and strategy/governance development meet on campus with stakeholders.

3. Can we perform the tasks (related to RFP) outside USA? (Like, from India or Canada) A. Some tasks, but others would need to be performed on NSCC campus. Some face time will be required, particularly for initial training of College staff. Some follow up could potentially be remote/online but time scheduling for College staff must be EST

4. Can we submit the proposals via email?

A. Yes. NSCC will amend the submission requirement to email form only. Send to Reynaldo Ramos rramos@northshore.edu

5. I am therefore just wondering about the degree to which NSCC is going to emphasize the need for education domain experience in particular.

A. We definitely are looking for vendors with experience in higher education.

6. Would similar enterprise-level experience and expertise at the State level suffice?

A. Without knowing the specifics we cannot say. We are looking for experience with higher education, but if a vendor feels they have similar expertise and can do the job they should submit a proposal.

7. Would like to understand if we could be both cost effective and competitive for you in anticipation of responding to the RFP.

A. Both cost effective and competitive are welcome. One of the reasons for RFP process is to be open, fair and competitive as required by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

8. We wanted to reach out to see if you could provide any guidance on budget parameters? We also wanted to confirm that being located outside of Massachusetts would not be a disadvantage.

A. Companies outside MA have the same opportunity to bid per the RFP timeline and requirements. Proposals will be evaluated based on criteria on the RFP. Also see #9

9. What is the current budget for this project?

A. NSCC does not provide specific project budget amounts. Vendors are asked to submit proposals based on their understanding of total project cost. NSCC will evaluate all proposals based on criteria on RFP including cost. Selection will be made from vendor(s) whose proposal gives NSCC best value as solely determined by NSCC’s RFP team.

10. Can we obtain and use the North Shore Community College's logo(s) to incorporate into bid/creative when appropriate?

A. Yes

11. Will preferential consideration be given to agencies based in MA? Or will regionally base agencies be strongly and fairly considered based on the merits of their proposal?

A. Companies outside MA have the same opportunity to bid per the RFP timeline and requirements. Proposals will be evaluated based on criteria on the RFP.

12. When was the last time that a "best practices" evaluation was performed?

A. We try to stay on top of best web practices as we can. We also do our best to stay on top of best practices and trends in Higher Ed web. These are things we pay attention to continually, even though we may not always have time to implement.

13. What social media platforms are currently utilized by the NSCC brand for marketing purposes? What are the numbers of followers per platform?

A. Facebook - 5,598 likes Twitter - 1,871 followers LinkedIn - 13,607 followers Instagram - 587 followers

14. What is the approval process for the SCDA? How many stakeholders will need to provide feedback and approvals?

A. NSCC expects stakeholders to be identified in the discovery process. However, we are looking keep process moving efficiently and effectively. Thus, teams will be kept agile and strategic.

15. Do you want the proposal submitted in both mediums? Or do you have a preference for one?

A. Email proposals to Reynaldo Ramos rramos@northshore.edu only.

16. Can we know about the current content management system and the technology stack in place for the website?

A. There is a small, homegrown CMS that handles a portion of the website. One of our goals is to completely retire this and move everything into the selected CMS. Course and program pages are all populated using Java and the MySQL tables which are populated out of the MySQL tables behind the scenes. The rest of the site is static HTML and maintained by hand.

17. Can we propose to use an open source content management system customized on NSCC requirements?

A. NSCC is looking for a proprietary solution, rather than an open source solution.

18. Who would take ownership of providing the new content aligned with the digital marketing strategies proposed by the vendor (us)? Will this be provided by an NSCC Copy writer with the guidance from the vendor's digital communication and content strategist?

A. NSCC’s Marketing Department will provide the new content aligned with the digital marketing strategies proposed by the vendor with the guidance from the vendor's digital communication and content strategist

19. The RFP says that NSCC would like to remove the hybrid hosting model of multiple servers and technologies. Can the vendor host the solution completely in our or a commercially available cloud infrastructure like AWS? If yes, would NSCC will be willing to move the Banner ERP DB /CAS to that cloud infrastructure?

A. Yes the solution can be hosted in the company’s local infrastructure - it would be preferred if it is a solution like AWS. NSCC in the future may be willing to move the ERP DB / CAS solution to the cloud but we are several years away from making any decision on this.

20. What version of the Banner software are you using? Can you provide the technical documentation for the Banner ERP Database structure and applicable APIs? Can you provide the current specification of NSCC server where the site is now hosted?

A. Banner version 8.x latest releases - for our integration we are really not using any Banner APIs - we are simply extracting data from Banner and depositing into a MySQL database nightly. The primary web server is Linux running Apache Tomcat - the site is completely custom utilizing java. The core database feeding campus directory, course search, programs of study, etc. is a MySQL database.

21. Is there any load balancing done currently now?

A. We currently do not do any load balancing with our Public web site - we have a load balancer and will be using this on our new campus portal solution. The load balancer can be used for other systems.

22. Can you provide our technical team access to community.northshore.edu so that they could inspect the functionality under the community page?

A. If this is needed, we can provide.

General RFP Questions:

23. What is your budget range for this project?

A. See Question 9.

How many vendors have been included in your RFP process?

A. There is no limit of how many vendors. This is an open, fair and competitive bid process. All vendors who satisfy the RFP requirements have the same opportunity.

24. Will NSCC require separate vendors provide creative services/CMS implementation or is the college open to contracting with one vendor for the entirety of this project?

A. See Purpose of RFP on Page 3.

25. What are NSCC’s expectations as it relates to onsite meetings with their selected vendor? At what points in the rebranding and website redesign will on site meetings be most valuable?

A. NSCC expects vendor awarded the bid will hold meetings on the NSCC campus. There would be option for initial training on-site with additional follow up potentially remote/online. It is also expected that the vendor responsible for the website redesign and strategy/governance development meet on campus with stakeholders. Some tasks, but others would need to be performed on NSCC campus. Some face time will be required, particularly for initial training of College staff. Some follow up could potentially be remote/online but time scheduling for College staff must be EST. NSCC looks to vendor to identify points in the rebranding and website redesign that on site meetings be most valuable.

Marketing Research, Analysis, and Creative Initiative Questions:

26. Does NSCC wish to involve outside participants or organize focus groups for usability and UX testing? If so, does NSCC wish to organize these sessions or will the vendor be responsible for providing participants?

A. We expect that there will be extensive research done with stakeholders at the College. NSCC will work with the vendor(s) to select and organize stakeholders from within the College community.

27. When did NSCC last conduct marketing research of similar scope? What were those findings and how do they compare to NSCC’s current or anticipated perception of the college/website?

A. NSCC conducted an Image Study via an outside consultant in 2004 and 2007. While fundamental aspects of the study might remain the same, much more research has been conducted on prospective students and demographics. NSCC is willing and able to share all data as needed.

28. Is NSCC currently using a specific tool or software for conducting and collecting feedback?

A. We do not have a specific or preferred tool for this process.

29. Please rate on a scale of 1-10 (10 = ideal, 1 = completely unsatisfactory) the current perception of the College website internally as it pertains to the following creative areas: 1) Branding 2) Messaging/Content Strategy 3) Access to Information 4) Usability 5) Functional Performance A. NSCC prefers to survey stakeholders as part of the discovery phase of the project, rather than the RFP phase, and as opposed to the opinions of the in-house RFP development team.

CMS Questions:

30. Is NSCC looking at any preferred CMS products at this time? Do you have any preferred platform (.NET, Open-source or other)?

A. We are not interested in an open-source solution at this time.

31. Are all subdomains expected to be included in the redesign as well as the implementation of the new CMS?

A. The domains that are part of this process are:

www.northshore.edu community.northshore.edu Corporate.northshore.edu News.northshore.edu (wordpress) R3p.northshore.edu (wordpress)

32. Does NSCC wish to own the CMS software licenses directly? Or do they wish to have the implementation vendor procure, own and manage the software license for the client?

A. NSCC will own the license

33. How many content authors will be accessing the system? How often per day, week or month will these users be updating content?

A. We are expecting that the system will be rolled out in stages to the user community. In the first stage we will most likely begin with 5 - 8 users that are technologically savvy and part of high use areas. These users will probably update their pages several times a week to daily, and these updates will range anywhere from updating a link to redoing a page. Once we feel comfortable with implementation and internal support, we will look to move more users into the system. Ultimately we hope to have 25 - 30 users capable of updating their pages. Our initial idea is that the second group of users will be moved into the CMS beginning with Year Two, but this may be too long of a timeframe.

34. Will the content authors be located in only in the USA or other international locations?

A. People responsible for updating content will only be located in the US.

35. Will all content authors have access to all the sites? Or will some content authors only have access to specific sites or specific pages within these sites?

A. NSCC content authors will mostly be responsible for their own department pages, which reside on specific subdomain. There are occasionally instances where a content author has to work on pages “owned” by other departments. We are hoping to be fairly granular in access rights given to users.

36. Do you have roles for content authors today? Creators, editors, approvals, etc?

A. NSCC does not currently implement a full CMS. We have a small, internally grown CMS that has approximately 6-10 content authors and their content needs approval before it goes live.

37. What is your volume of traffic today? Monthly? Yearly?

A. NSCC uses Google ANalytics to track website use.

For the year 2016, the main NSCC website saw:

823,174 users 2,548,647 sessions 7,070,577 page views Monthly visits ranged from a high of 264,237 visits (September) to a low of 134,503 visits (July).

Our Community Education and Corporate Education subdomains see less traffic. For all of 2017:

Community Ed for 2017 48,070 users 70,845 sessions 278,370 page views Corporate Education 3,971 users 4,525 sessions 10,370 page views

38. What is their current hosting server size for your web and DB servers? Can the College elaborate on their desire to move to a cloud solution?

A. We are looking to have as much of the solution in the cloud as possible - for example can we bypass the MySQL server and import the data directly into your solution. We are looking to reduce staff time to maintain servers, etc.

· Main web site - 1 processors, 6 gig ram and 200gig storage with 106gig being used

· MySQL database -2 processors, 6 gig ram, 66gig storage with 41 gig being used Content Questions:

39. What percentage of the existing content that will need to be migrated to the new website?

A. We are expecting that the majority of existing content will be migrated over, with editing based on vendor recommendations/assistance.

40. Who will be managing this content on going? Is all of the content written by in-house staff, or are external contributors every responsible for providing content?

A. On-going maintenance of website content will be done mostly in-house based on guidelines and standards developed in conjunction with the vendor. There may be occasions where we work externally with a content author for specific projects.

41. Who will be writing new copy for the website? Page copy? Instructional and help text? Error messages? Other?

A. NSCC’s Marketing Department will provide new copy based on content provided by stakeholders and based on a well-planned calendar and workflow process developed with assistance from vendor.

42. How many people are involved in the editorial cycle and what roles do those people play? Writer, editor, copy editor, graphics creator (for charts), legal approval, manager approval, etc.?

A. Roles vary according to content. Typically an approval cycle would appear as:

Request for/identification of need for new content > Marketing Director > Web Administrator > web posting

43. Will there be a web publishing model or process of approving content before it is displayed on the site? Can you describe this process?

A. We are expecting that existing content will be edited by content authors and approved by website administrators. New content development will be a collaborative process between the two. However, having never undergone a process like this and having only talked to a few peers about how they manage their systems, we are very open to best practice suggestions.

44. How do workflow requirements change based on the source of the content or the target section of the site?

A. See Question 42.

45. Is there any content that is automatically added to your site (such as a live news feed or “harvested” content)?

A. No, not at this time.

46. Do you have any videos or heavy media that will take up data space or effect download performance? (Large files, video, animation, etc.) How many of these types of files do you have today? Will you see large files increasing greatly in the future?

A. Currently the only media files we use on our site are embedded files via YouTube. We have no multimedia files on our website that we wish to use moving forward. We do not foresee this changing.

47. Today you do not have security requirements for website content. In the future – will there ever be a need for secured content?

We currently have security requirements in place. Forms taking data back have “https”.

Administrator for the custom content all have varying forms of access, etc.

48. Will this site need to be multi-lingual? If so, how many languages will be required?

A. We would like to have certain information in the site be multi-lingual and manually translated, and we expect that at least some of the site will need an automated translate function. We expect to work with the vendor(s) in terms of guidance and best practices for this.

49. Who will be translating the web content?

A. A professional translation service will provide initial translation which will then be vetted by in-house staff fluent in a specific language.

50. What is the current process for archiving or removing content from the site for any reason?

A. We remove outdated content from our site manually, and keep it backed up on local machines and in our repository. We do not have site archives that are available to users.

51. Has the new information architecture – the basic site map and content for the new site structure been decided?

A. No. We expect to work with the vendor to decide this based on collaborative stakeholder research and best practices.

52. Has a full audit been performed on the current content to determine what needs to be moved to the new system? Will some content be dropped from the site?

A. A full content audit has not been conducted. Some content will presumably be dropped from site after a review of whether content meets goals of site.

53. Does the content have any tagging today? How is content tagged? What fields are tagged (e.g., company, topic, industry) and what terms are used in each category? How is the taxonomy managed right now?

A. Site content that originates in Banner is grouped together by Banner table and or field. However, the bulk of the site is maintained manually and this is not tagged in any way.

Design Questions:

54. Who will be approving the design? How many people will be involved?

A. Initial approval of design options will be conducted by RFP development team consisting of managers and staff from the following departments: Marketing Communications and IS, with supplemental reviews/feedback from select NSCC staff and students. Final approval will be authorized -- based on recommendations from RFP development team -- by senior staff.

55. Will they be using existing photography or will new photos need to be taken or procured?

A. It is hoped that existing photo assets can be used, supplemented by new photography. However, the approved templates will dictate whether this is the case.

56. If we are using existing photography – do have the source files, so we may re-size them to fit a new design layout?

A. Yes.

57. Are there specific websites that NSCC considers to be well designed and looks to as a source for inspiration?

A. Yes. Window-shopping is a valuable way to reveal tastes and preferences, but we expect our site to be original and reflective of NSCC’s brand.

Training

58. How many resources will need to be trained and to what level?

A. 2 -3 people will need to trained as administrators in the CMS system 3-5 additional people will need to be trained as content managers. We expect that these initial trainees will then train the next group of content managers.

59. Can this be a train the trainer session or will we need to have multiple training sessions?

A. See above, #58

60. Are all the trainees located in one location or off-site?

A. Trainees are split evenly between our Danvers and Lynn campuses, but we expect that the training will all take place on one campus and trainees will all be there in person.

61. Do you require developer trainer on the new CMS system or only content editing training?

A. Our desire is to have a system that minimizes the needs for software developers.

Additional Technical Questions:

62. Will the college provide API information for all 3rd party applications that need to be integrated?

A. Yes.

63. What new features/functionality are expected to be implemented on the new website that do not exist today?

A. In terms of a CMS:

· Reuse of content

· Content expiration dates

· Notifications

· Approval process

· Asset management In terms of the website:

· Updated architecture/navigation

· Stronger content

· Better implementation of goals/action items We are open to interactivity and rich website features, but we don’t want features for the sake of having features. Content is king. Features must support content.

64. Does NSCC have any stand-alone mobile applications? Will the current mobile site be abandoned/archived with responsive development of the new college website?

A. We do not currently have a supported mobile site or app. We expect to only have the responsive website.

65. What internal keyword search system do you use?

A. We have a custom, homegrown system where keywords are manually maintained. They are stored behind the scenes in a MySQL database, and brought into the website using a custom java system.

67. For ADA compliance, is WCAG 2.0/AA guideline satisfactory?

A. Yes, the new website should comply to WCAG 2.0, level AA.

68. Are there multimedia capabilities requirement beyond incorporating illustrations, photos, and videos?

A. Not at this time.

69. For social media integration, are you seeking a social media feed embed, or simply a way to share content?

A. We are looking for both. There are pages where we will want to embed a feed as well as pages we would want users to have the ability to share.

70. Are key conversion data shared among the marketing, admissions, and advancement departments on a regular basis?

A. Not yet, but we anticipate this to be part of strategic site planning.

71. Are you seeking the vendor to conduct an in-depth gap analysis through quantitative surveys, or will an overview qualitative interview with key stakeholders be sufficient?

A. See RFP page 12

· User research and usability testing—site must be user-focused

· Needs assessment for prospective students, internal stakeholders, academic and administrative departments;

We anticipate that research will be qualitative and quantitative and will be based on feedback from key stakeholders and users, as well as existing data available from the college’s Institutional Research department.

72. Does the request for three layout options mean wireframe or design concepts (fully mocked with images and navigation)?

A. Design concepts showing images, navigation and branding.

73. Will you need migration services?

A. We are expecting to handle most of the migration, but it partially depends on the migration process/workflow.

74. About how many pages total will be migrated into the new CMS?

A. Once a full content audit is conducted for existing site, then the information to be contained in the anticipated templates can be identified. This will inform how many pages will migrate to new CMS.

75. What other third party systems, besides Banner, will the new CMS integrate with?

A. All of our other integrations are simple links or embeds. The most important is some way to get information from Banner.

76 AS per the RFP it is mentioned that Full contact information of CMS and Digital Marketing Strategy teams. Do we need to submit brief of resumes?

A. Yes, please describe their role in the project 77 Can we deliver this project from offshore? E.g. India?

A. See #1.

78 What is the estimated budget of this project?

A. See Question 9.

79 Are you looking/given preference to any technology? We are planning to propose WordPress for the CMS development. Please share your thought on this.

A. Our preference is for a proprietary CMS rather than an open source CMS. However, we are open to all submissions.

80 NSCC has identified 12 templates for inclusion in the new website design. Can you clarify the specific use of each of the 12 templates and where they are intended to be used, i.e. news site, community site, all sites.

A. We are saying 12 templates as a minimum guideline. The templates should be spread across all sites, and vendors should use their best judgment on how many templates are actually created and how they are distributed across the sites based on best practices and industry standards.

81 On page 11 you indicate one of your functional objectives is “Integration of the existing news and event content management system”, yet you ask for a new design for this site.

1. Can you please clarify if the http://news.northshore.edu will remain in WordPress (page 16) or if it will be moved to a new design and new CMS? If it will be moved, will the old news items need to be migrated to the new CMS system?

A. http://news.northshore.edu will need to migrate to new site. However, not all news items would need to transfer. NSCC would look to vendor for recommendations on content migration in concert with NSCC’s External/Public Affairs.

2. Will the event content management system remain? If so, can you identify the system that is being used? If not, will the new calendar replace the event content management system?

A. We would like the news site to be redesigned and are planning on it being moved from WordPress into the selected CMS platform. We will handle moving whatever content needs to be migrated. We are hoping that events can be handled by whatever calendar system is native to the CMS.

82 In addition to http://northshore.edu , can you please verify that the following sites will be maintained in the new CMS? Which of those sites will need to have the content migrated?

1. http://community.northshore.edu

2. http://corporate.northshore.edu

3. http://r3p.northshore.edu - WordPress site

4. http;//news.northshore.edu - WordPress site A. All will be in the new CMS and all will need content migrated.

83 Besides the WordPress sites, are you editing the content through source editing or are you using another CMS? If you are using another CMS, which one(s) and for which site(s)?

A. Much of our current site is static HTML edited by hand. Program pages, all searches, course information, and calendar pages are dynamic and populated using java and jsp.

84 Can you provide additional detail on the decision making process such as how the evaluation results will be used, will the selection be based purely on score or will it be used as a basis for discussion. Who will make the final decision?

A. See #92, Marketing Director and Web & Portal administrator are the project managers. Their office reports directly to the College President who will make final decision.

85 May we submit our standard W-9 in lieu of the one provided?

Yes, your W-9 Form is acceptable.

86 What is NSCC’s budget for this project?

A. See Question 9

87 For the public facing production server can you please identify the following:

· Will NSCC prefer a Windows or Linux Operating system?

Windows preferred but Linux Acceptable

· How much storage space (disk) is required.

Depends on the scope of the project

· How much RAM is required?

** Our Current Web Server has 6092 MB Ram - we would expect recommendation from bidder.

· How many of CPUs will be required?

**Current Web Serv is 1 CPU - we would expect recommendation from Bidder

· Are there any databases required (outside of what’s managed in OU Campus)?

We currently use our MySQL database(and Oracle/Banner database) to feed info to the website

· Are there any server side languages required (ColdFusion, PHP, .NET, etc.)?

· Java and java based frameworks are used on the current site –

89. Can you please verify the Single Sign ON (SSO) solution in use or the one that is intended to be used for NSCC?

A. Yes we would like to integrate with our CAS / LDAP single sign on

General Questions

90. What is the preferred launch date for this project?

A. Spring 2018 91 How many bids do you expect to receive as part of this process?

A. This is an open and competitive bid process to all vendors who satisfy the RFP requirements.

92 What is your decision making process for the RFP?

A. Vendors proposals will be evaluated on the criteria in RFP. Finalists will be selected based on such criteria and asked to do live presentation on Campus. The contract will be awarded to the vendor (partners of vendors) who best satisfies NSCC requirements.

Contract(s) may be negotiated with contractor(s) whose proposal is determined to be most responsive to NSCC’s needs and provides the highest value to NSCC, considering cost as well as other factors based on the criteria described in the RFP, all as solely determined by NSCC.

North Shore Community College reserves the right to accept bids in whole or in part, or to cancel the bid process entirely. While cost is a consideration, the College will choose the bid that fits the specifications and is overall in the best interests of the College 93 Do you require copywriting services or will you be providing all website copy?

A. See Question 18 94 Is it expected that the website meet ADA (American Disabilities Act) requirements (i.e. WCAG2.0 “AA”)?

A. Yes, WCAG 2.0, level AA.

95 Can you provide us with any current style guide documentation that would give us insights into the governance of the style – brand parameters for the new design?

A. Yes. Style guide will be provided to selected vendor.

96 Can you provide us with any other websites that you have looked at and admired which might serve as a model for the new site? Are there any “pain points” in any of those site that you can point out which must be resolved in your new site approach?

A. Yes. Window-shopping is a valuable way to reveal tastes and preferences, but we expect our site to be original and reflective of NSCC’s brand. There are enough pain points in our own existing site to keep us busy.

97 Can you please list your target user audience segments and what you see as their primary site goals? Do you have any existing user research data that you can share?

A. See Page 9 of RFP for demographics, Question 71 in Q&A 98 Are there any design preferences and process workflows that you would like us to consider as requirements?

A. See Questions 18, 41

99 Will the selected vendor be charged with (a) providing photography services, (b) selecting stock photography, or (c) will you be providing all photography that is to be incorporated into the new website?

A. See Question 55 100 Can you provide more detail on expected integrations that need to be included as a part of the scope? Please provide a detailed review of “Banner ERP and external networks” systems. Please provide a list of all systems that are expected for integration.

A. MySQL database - we would like to have this data brought into your proposed solution. One application of the web site, “course search tool”, gets data from the MySQL database - except for one data element “Seats Taken” that checks live against out Banner Database.

101 Is it expected that the following urls will be rolled under one domain? How are these sites managed now?

· A complete redesign of www.northshore.edu

· A complete redesign of news.northshore.edu

· A complete redesign of community.northshore.edu

· A complete redesign of corporate.northshore.edu A. They are separate entities that share a related but distinct look and feel. We would like them to remain separate entities on their own subdomains. They are all managed in the same process - a mix of static HTML pages maintained by hand with imports from Banner that populate course and program information.

Existing System Questions:

102 Please provide a detailed description of the current systems & infrastructure.=

A Website – This a Java based (and associated frameworks) web application running on Apache Tomcat Server. Databases are MySQL and Oracle 103 Is there any workflow setup in your current CMS? If yes please provide the details.

A. Content managers log in and make their edits to pages. When they save, an email is sent to an administrator to review and approve them.

104 Is there an existing digital library system / Asset management tool used? If yes please provide the full details.

A. No, not at this time.

105 How is user management done in the CMS? E.g. CMS, LDAP A. Users are assigned a role within the tool which is then pushed into our MySQL tables.

106 Please provide any specific capabilities, custom functions of the existing website?

A. The course and program search/listing is all custom built, as is the A-Z directory, the keyword search and the calendar feed. There is a small internally built CMS for a limited selection of pages.

Performance Requirement Questions:

107 Expected number of maximum and the average user hits?

A. NSCC would look to vendor to assist in establishing benchmarks.

108 What's the approximate size of the digital content (images, videos, texts etc.) to be handled?

A. Standard web sizes apply.

109 Any other specific performance requirements A No 110 Is there a CMS currently in place for the main site?

A. The majority of the site is maintained by hand. There is a small, homegrown CMS for a couple of areas that we wish to retire.

111 Is it the school's desire to consolidate all the listed sites (including the WordPress sites) into one CMS?

A. Yes, very much so. They should still be distinct sites because they serve different clientele, however. We want to keep them as subdomains.

112 Do you have preferences for the CMS?

A. NSCC has strategic goals for this project as outlined in RFP, rather than preferences.

113 Is there a preference for open source versus a proprietary CMS?

A. We prefer a proprietary CMS.

114 What CMS' do the existing staff have experience with?

A. None of the people responsible for editing or administration have any significant experience.

115 Do you want to consolidate the calendars into the CMS, or is sticking with the Google Cal solution preferred?

A. A calendar system within the CMS is the preferred solution.

116 Is there a target launch date for the new site?

A. Spring 2018 117 How will the winning vendor be selected? Is there a scoring matrix or something similar?

A. See #92 118 What schools are your primary competitors for students?

A. NSCC will make a list of competitor schools available to the vendor selected for this project.

119 Can you point to several college websites that you really like?

A. See Question 201 120 Do you expect the vendor to complete content migration to the new site, or will the school handle that?

A. We are expecting to handle most of the migration, but it partially depends on the migration process/workflow.

121 If vendor is the answer to the question above, would you describe the HTML content (not coming from the ERP) as well structured with consistent separation of content and markup or code?

Does site search need to index the content of pdf / Word files?

A. It would be helpful for us to have some way to index/tag/maintain ancillary files like this. It’s something we are hoping for.

123 Other than the Banner system, are there any other integrations more complex than an iFrame or Embed code?

A. Not at this time.

124 Is WCAG 2.0 AA the accessibility target?

A. Yes.

125. What is your plan for editing / creating content during the migration? Writing or editing do you expect from the vendor?

See Question 18 126 Blank 127 Blank 128 Please confirm that the vendor will do most development remotely, with onsite meetings as needed.

A. Vendors should submit with their proposal a project timeline including number of onsite hours for implementation and training.

129 Are there any restrictions concerning our overseas staff's ability to contribute to the project?

A. It is preferable that vendor has at least one office located in US and that if overseas staff they had to provide service during EST hours.

130 Please describe the expected post-launch relationship with the developer?

A. We are expecting that the vendor would provide limited support for a period after the launch if there are questions.

131 Should travel costs for onsite meeting meetings be built into proposal, or are they billable separately?

Yes, reasonable travel costs for onsite implementation meeting should be included in the proposal

132 This looks like a $100K+ effort to us. Is that consistent with your budget expectations?

A. Yes, Also see Question 9

Content Management System (CMS) Questions:

133 Is NSCC’s current platform a roll-your-own - meaning a combination of J2EE and Dreamweaver?

A. Yes.

134 If not, what is the current CMS being employed?

A. There is a custom, home-grown CMS for a couple areas of the site; however we want to retire this.

135 Does NSCC have a preferred CMS (e.g., WordPress)?

See #30 136 If WordPress, does anyone on staff already have experience in the platform?

A. We are leaning against an open source solution like WordPress or Drupal for many reasons, not the least of which is expertise on hand.

Architecture Questions:

137 Can NSCC furnish us with a current site map for the parent (www) and sibling (community, news, etc.) sites?

A. If a vendor requires this we can provide one.

138 Is the end goal of this initiative to have the sub domains (e.g., community.northshore.edu, news.northshore.edu, etc.) function as separate sites or administered via a tool like WordPress Multisite?

A. We want all subsites to be incorporated into the CMS. However, they should all maintain a unique but related look and feel, and should all stand alone. The Corporate and Community sites serve separate and distinct clientele. The News site has to support a reference all three.

139 http://news.northshore.edu/ is already a WordPress site – is the goal to bring that content into the new main site / WP Multisite (including the same new theme), or leave running separately as-is?

A. See #138 above.

140 What is the full functionality of the Online Application system (http://www.northshore.edu/admissions/online_app/) and how is it powered?

A The online Admissions application is an Ellucian Banner Self Service application. This allows users to create an account and apply for admission. Data is brought into Banner from this entry point - processes exist to allow the enrollment department to manage potential duplicates. We will be implementing a new CRM for Enrollment beginning in summer 2017 - once the CRM is implemented the existing admissions application process will be replace by the new CRM application process.

Migration Questions:

141 Note: This is assuming NSCC’s current web presence has been scaffolded via J2EE and Dreamweaver:

142 What, if any, of the content is static HTML?

A. Much of our current site is static HTML. Program pages, all searches, course information, and calendar pages are dynamic. Just about everything else is static.

143 Does the existing sitemap translate into the new sitemap, or will content be added / deleted from the current state of the site?

A. This is going to be on the recommendation of the digital marketing vendor. We are assuming the best practice and stakeholder discovery will probably lead to a new sitemap.

Third-party software questions:

144 What type of authentication (e.g., OAuth) is currently being used?

A CAS based authentication and a non cas based authentication for the ‘intranet’ 145 Is the course search feature (http://www.northshore.edu/search/courses) powered by a third-party scheduling tool, or done within the website architecture?

A. A nightly feed exports course schedule information from Banner into a MySQL table. This table contains all the data for the course search. It was developed completely in-house and is currently unsupported. Our hope is to move away from this tool.

146 What e-Commerce solution(s) are currently being used?

A. The only thing we have on our site currently is PayPal links for donations.

147 How is the current admin, faculty, student and staff data being pulled in (e.g., Active Directory, LDAP, other)?

A The faculty staff directory is being pulled in from the MySQL database Program of Study and Course information is being pulled in from the MySQL database.

The live Official Program of Study sheet is generated with a direct call to our Banner database (this is calling an SQR report) Content Editors get their role information from out LDAP system Basically no specific student information is brought into the public web site 148 How are calendars currently managed?

A. Currently we have a custom-built tool that parses a Google iCal feed and displays it on our website. Our hope is that they will be maintained in the CMS once implemented.

149 Is there any content on the site that’s powered by / altered by a connection or active login to Pipeline/CAS?

A. No, not at this time.

Hosting Question:

150 Does NSCC have preferred hosting vendors (e.g., WP Engine, AWS, internal)?

A. No.

Digital marketing Questions:

151 Can NSCC furnish metrics re: the various sites’ visits, bounces, conversion rates, etc. as well as the tools responsible for this data (e.g., Google Analytics)?

A. Yes, if a vendor would like to see this data we would be happy to share it.

152 What type of SEO strategies have been employed to-date since the current sites went live?

A. NSCC has recently introduced SEO tactics, but we are looking to make SEO a significantly larger part of site planning with assistance from vendor.

Support:

153. What are the preferred communication / support channels for during the project as well as post-launch?

A. Probably email, but we are open as to the best way to handle this.

154. What is the expected availability of support (Monday - Friday 9-5, 24/7, etc.)?

A. CMS support should be available as much as is possible. The bulk of the content management will be done during normal business hours on the east coast. Support must be available during these times at the absolute minimum.

155. How long after the initial launch is there an expectation of included support?

A. It is not expected that the Digital Marketing vendor will be needed for more than the occasional question should they arise. The CMS vendor is expected to provide support as needed throughout the contract.

Timeline Questions:

155. Can you expand on either the schedule &/or deliverables past July 1st, 2017?

A. This will be determined in conjunction with the vendor(s) selected. We are expecting that the discovery/design phase will last well into the Fall, to be followed by the implementation phase. We are hoping to go live at some point Spring 2018.

156. We understand the scope includes the redesign of the website proper, as well as News, Community Education and Corporate Education, all of which are currently treated as sub-domains. Is the college’s vision to incorporate all this content into one comprehensive user experience (best practice)? Or, does the college prefer to keep and maintain these sites as their own “microsites” with their own personalized navigation and design templates? If the latter, does the scope include creating the information architecture and design for these microsites in addition to the information architecture and design for the website proper?

A. It is the college’s vision to incorporate all this content into one comprehensive user experience. However it is also important that some areas remain distinct. Community Education and Corporate Training speak to completely different clientele and there is a lot of confusion between credit and noncredit programs. For these reasons we implemented subdomains.

157 The RFP mentions expanding and refreshing the NSCC brand. Is creation of new brand messaging and visual marks included in the scope? Or, is this RFP language more a reference to the fact that the website will be an expression of the college’s pre-existing brand?

A. See Question 180.

158 The News site is built on WordPress and managed as a separate site. Will this continue? Or, does the college want to incorporate news into the main site managed through the same CMS?

A. We want the News site incorporated into the CMS.

159 The RFP calls for a minimum of 12 templates. Has the college already identified what those templates ought to be based on your goals? For example, homepage, news, faculty and staff directory, course listings, program page, etc. If yes, could you share your list of proposed templates?

A. Twelve templates is meant to be a rough guideline. Templates will be spread across the sites we have - main College site, Community Education site, Corporate Training site and the News site. Vendors should use their discretion as to number of templates and how/where those templates should be deployed based on their experience, industry standards and best practices.

160 The RFP mentions design layout options and templates for “web, mobile, and print.” Is the reference to “print” an oversight?

A. See Question 175 161 We work with a number of content management systems well-suited for higher education including open-source (Drupal and WordPress) and commercial (OmniUpdate, TerminalFour, HannonHill, others, etc.). Is the college leaning any particular direction in terms of the CMS that is best-suited for NSCC? Or, are you truly “on the fence” at this point, looking for recommendations?

A. NSCC is not seeking open source solutions. In keeping to a fair and open bid process, NSCC holds no preferences for content management system vendors except as clarified in RFP document.

162 Are there any deadlines (e.g. a specific launch date)? If yes, is there flexibility in these dates or are they hard deadlines?

A. Launch date is expected in Spring semester 2018 (Jan- May) Dates are flexible and agreed between NSCC and vendor(s) 163 Who will be involved in reviewing and approving deliverables (i.e. general approach and strategy, information architecture, visual design, etc.) during this engagement? For example, is there any kind of committee or group involved?

A. Marketing Director and Web Administrator are the project managers with support from IS 164 What institutions does the college consider to be among its peer institutions/competitors?

A. See #118 165 Approximately how many pages of content exist on the current site?

A. Because of the dynamic nature of many areas of our site, we do not have an accurate count of pages. It is at least a thousand.

166 Do you want the vendor to develop new written content for the website? Do you plan to re-use existing written content? Or, do you plan on producing new written content in-house?

A. The final solution will most likely be a mix of the three. We want to use as much of the content we currently have as possible, but a fair amount of this content will need to be reworked to some extent. Much of this will probably be done in-house with guidance from the digital marketing vendor. There is a good chance the vendor will recommend a page or pages that currently do not exist on our site (perhaps a college comparison, for example) and this may need to be done by the vendor, or at least with the vendor’s guidance.

167 Has a budget been allocated for this project? If so, can you share what that budget is to assist us in designing the most appropriate project plan?

A. Yes, See #78 and 132 168 Number 3 under Proposal Presentation references “itemized project budget individually provided…” Is this where we would complete Appendix A and Appendix B?

A Yes, Appendix A is for Itemized Pricing for Communication & Design and Appendix B is for Itemized Pricing for Content Management System Solution

Technical/project-related questions:

169 When you say "Support integration with student portal, CRM, sub-domains" can you explain in more detail the integrations. Is this to simply provide template support or do programming? What might the purpose be?

We need to incorporate the entry point to our campus portal in the new website. For our CRM project for prospect and applicants we will need to embed inquiry forms and the application page. This really should not include any programming, rather just the ability to seamlessly integrate pages or access to other systems.

170 When you mention "Support social media integration/engagement/blogging capabilities to provide additional information, dynamic content and functionality" would this be to provide basic social embed to provide a robust social mashup?

A. Yes.

171 When you say "Multimedia capabilities" does this mean to provide the ability to include video and other assets in the template? Or does this mean to produce assets?

A. Include them in the template(s).

172 When you say "Include tracking and other remarketing options to support the university’s marketing efforts" does this mean to provide the ability to insert remarketing code? Or to actually create remarketing campaigns. If campaigns, can you provide some boundaries or budgets to shoot for?

A. We mean to provide the ability to insert code.

173 When you say "Integration of the existing news and event content management system" does this mean that the recommended CMS will not need to handle news and calendar functions but import a feed from the current system? If no, the news site is a deliverable so would this be a static template for news?

A. Yes, the News site is a deliverable and we are talking about static templates for that. However, we would like to have the ability to have news content displayed in other areas of the site as related content, for example.

174 When you say "PSD files must contain notes with references to separate documentation" if we use a tool like Sketch or HTML prototyping instead of Adobe photoshop would this be a concern?

A. Yes, this is fine as long as there is clear documentation.

175 When you say "Variations for…