RFP#202512160 - Digital Communications_Amendment 1.pdf

This is a Solicitation Amendment issued by the State of Maine Department of Administrative and Financial Services (DAFS/MaineIT) for RFP# 202512160 concerning Digital Communications. Amendment 1, revised on October 16, 2025, adds Appendix H as an attachment to the original solicitation and involves no other revisions to the solicitation language. The RFP seeks a commercially available Software as a Service (SaaS) solution capable of delivering real-time messages and alerts to state employees, constituents, and stakeholders through multiple channels including email, SMS/text, RSS, and social media. Required capabilities include bulk messaging functionality, subscription management with public self-service options, message scheduling and automation workflows, comprehensive reporting and analytics with exportable data, and role-based access controls. The solution must provide communication archiving with a minimum 10-year retention period and disaster recovery capabilities maintaining 99.9% uptime with a two-hour Recovery Time Objective. Questions must be submitted by March 11, 2026, at 4:00 p.m. local time, and proposals are due March 27, 2026, at 4:00 p.m. local time via the Vendor Self Service System. The contract period runs from January 1, 2027, through December 31, 2027, with two optional renewal periods extending through December 31, 2029.

All implementation, licensing, support, training, and operations costs must be included in a firm fixed price proposal. Eligible bidders must demonstrate that their solution is currently operational and actively used by at least one enterprise-scale organization. The evaluation utilizes a 100-point scoring system allocating 25 points for organizational qualifications and experience, 50 points for proposed services, and 25 points for cost proposal, with the lowest cost bid receiving maximum cost points. The solution must integrate with enterprise systems including Microsoft Active Directory and Okta and comply with ADA accessibility standards with multi-lingual support. Bidders must complete comprehensive technical assessment forms demonstrating compliance with MaineIT policies, including NIST 800-53 security controls, data classification requirements, and all applicable state and federal regulations, with all work to be performed within the Continental United States. The State anticipates awarding one contract and does not intend to solicit best and final offers. Payment terms are net 30 upon receipt of accurate invoices; specific contract award values or budget ranges are not disclosed in the available materials.