RFP27006832 Questions and Answers.xlsx
XLSX spreadsheet 33 KB Posted
- Attached to
- DOIT - Managed Application Services
- Solicitation number
- RFP27006832
- Issued by
- Providence County, Rhode Island
About this file
This is a Questions and Answers document for Rhode Island's Division of Enterprise Technology Strategy and Services (ETSS) Application Managed Services RFP27006832. The RFP seeks proposals for managed application services covering low-code platforms (Salesforce, Microsoft Power Platform/Dynamics, ServiceNow, and Workday), legacy applications (COBOL, Informix, .NET), mainframe systems, and Oracle database administration. The State intends to award all or part of the scope to one vendor but reserves the right to make multiple awards (no more than two) structured by technical group—one award for Low Code Group 1 and potentially one for Legacy Group 2. The initial contract period runs January 1, 2027 through three years, with options to renew for up to two additional 24-month periods. Vendors must hold all mandatory qualifications including Salesforce Crest/Summit Certified Partner status (not through subcontractors), Workday Application Managed Services references, and Legacy Mainframe AMS references. Proposals must address complete groups rather than individual platforms; responses limited to single platforms within a group are not permitted. Support hours vary by application—standard hours are 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET Monday-Friday, with certain applications such as Crisis Care providing 24/7 availability. The vendor Q&A period closed July 27, 2026, with proposals due August 11, 2026 at 10:00 a.m. EDT through Ocean State Procures.
Pricing is based on hourly rates or alternative fee structures, with Group 1 (Low Code) priced on a time-and-materials basis and Group 2 (Legacy and Mainframe) priced as fixed-price managed services. Phase 1 pricing covers years one through three, while Phase 2 pricing covers years two through three. The State prefers one offshore location for support delivery and requires vendors to identify this location in both the rate card and technical proposal. Minor enhancements up to 40 hours per month are included in base pricing, with discretionary hours for major enhancements billed separately. Minority and women-owned business enterprise (ISBE) participation is required, with vendors submitting proposed participation rates that must be maintained throughout contract performance. Required insurance includes $1,000,000 general liability, $100,000 workers compensation, $2,000,000 professional liability/errors and omissions, $5,000,000 technology errors and omissions, and either $1,000,000 umbrella or $2,000,000 aggregate general liability. A contract administrative fee of 0.33 percent of annual spend is withheld from invoices. The current environment includes low-volume operational metrics—approximately 64 daily batch jobs on mainframe, 12 monthly incidents and changes on mainframe, and 20 weekly Workday L3 tickets—with ticket volume and application complexity varying by platform. Key pain points driving the RFP include retiring workforce, application consolidation, and contractor attrition. Workday and Crisis Care are rated High complexity; Salesforce and ServiceNow are Medium; Legacy applications are Medium except COBOL for DLT (High); and Microsoft applications are Low complexity.
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Other files
| File | Type | Posted |
|---|---|---|
| Addendum B RI General Conditions of Purchase - IT Policies - Revised.docx | DOCX document | |
| RFP27006832 Solicitation Specifications.pdf | ||
| RFQ27006835 Generator SOW.pdf | ||
| RFP27006832_Aug_10_26_solicitation_doc.pdf | ||
| RFP27006832_Jul_20_26_solicitation_doc.pdf | ||
| Addendum E Business Associate Agreement.docx | DOCX document | |
| Appendix F Vendor Checklist to RI GCOP Addendum B IT Policies - Revised.xlsx | XLSX spreadsheet | |
| Exhibit 1 AMS Minimum Service Level Agreement.docx | DOCX document | |
| Appendix F Vendor Checklist to RI GCOP Addendum B IT Policies.xlsx | XLSX spreadsheet | |
| ISBE Form - RFP Appendix B - 12.01.2025.pdf | ||
| Appendix E RI ETSS Application Inventory.docx | DOCX document | |
| RFP27006832_Jul_15_26_solicitation_doc.pdf | ||
| Supplemental Bidder Attestation - 12-01-2025 (1).pdf | ||
| Addendum B RI General Conditions of Purchase - IT Policies.docx | DOCX document | |
| Appendix C AMS RFP Cost Proposal.xlsx | XLSX spreadsheet | |
| Appendix D Security Questionnaire.xlsm | XLSM spreadsheet |
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Sheet1
| # | Question | Answer |
| 1 | How will multiple-award decisions will be structured? | As Stated in RFP - "The State intends on awarding all or part of the scope to one vendor, however, at its sole discretion, reserves the right to make one or multiple awards for this solicitation and/or to reject any or all bids." ; As part of Evaluation , State will review Vendor capabilities across 2 Groups [Low Code and Legacy ] from a Technical , Demo and Cost to determine the multiple award ; In any case the state intends NO MORE THAN TWO AWARDS ONE FOR EACH GROUP |
| 2 | Can the Salesforce Crest/Summit Certified Partner requirements can be met through a subcontractor/teaming partner. | No |
| 3 | Are there any scope restrictions, evaluation penalties, or requirements that would apply to a partial-scope Salesforce bid? | RFP not limited to Salesforce |
| 4 | Can Rhode Island clarify whether they intend to allow specialized solution providers versus requiring a single SI to cover all technologies in the RFP? | The State intends on awarding all or part of the scope to one vendor, however, at its sole discretion, reserves the right to make one or multiple awards for this solicitation and/or to reject any or all bids. |
| 5 | If a vendor submits a Salesforce-only response, will that proposal receive full consideration during the evaluation process? | The State intends on awarding all or part of the scope to one vendor, however, at its sole discretion, reserves the right to make one or multiple awards for this solicitation and/or to reject any or all bids. |
| 6 | Is support, implementation, or management of Workday, ServiceNow, and other listed applications required, or can vendors bid solely on Salesforce-related work? | No ; by group only |
| 7 | Will Rhode Island accept and evaluate proposals that address only the Salesforce portion of the RFP? | No ; by group only |
| 8 | On page 2 of the RFP, it states “The State intends on awarding all or part of the scope to one vendor”. Further on page 7 the RFP states “The State will only consider proposals that fulfill ALL the minimum qualifications as outlined in Section C”. This will require a vendor desiring to respond to this RFP to have proficiency and reference-ability within all areas to include: Salesforce, ServiceNow, Workday, Microsoft M365 PowerPlatform, .Net, Cobol, Informix 4GL, Oracle, IBM Power and DOS VSE. As the State has implemented independent Center of Excellence hubs (COE), has ETSS considered evaluating vendors for their proficiency within each COE as opposed to a generalist award? It may be beneficial to consider best of breed vendors for each COE. Further multiple awards would provide the state with competitive bargaining power and the ability to shift contract awards in future based on the merit and price/performance each vendor delivers. | This is an Applications Managed Service RFP and will not be specific to any of the State's COEs |
| 9 | What does the release lifecycle look like (build, test, deploy, validate), and who performs each step? | Varies by application type. |
| 10 | Oracle DBA – service management. Please provide: |
a. What ITSM tool is used?
b. Monthly incidents escalated to the L2/L3 admin team (Environment, Linux & OS, Database, Middleware)
c. Monthly service requests executed by the admin team (same areas)
d. Monthly changes deployed by the admin team (same areas)
e. Monthly problem tickets assigned to the L2/L3 admin team
| f. Availability & service levels | A. Utilize ServiceNow for tickets and OEM for Jobs and TOAD B. 10 per month C. 2 per month D. 5 to 10 changes deployed monthly F. 2 per month F. System at DOC is 24/7 | |
| 11 | Oracle DBA – patching and upgrades. Please provide: |
a. What are the middleware components?
| b. Number of middleware instances per environment? | A. Middleware and OEM - quarterly B. One instance | |
| 12 | Oracle DBA – database administration. Please provide: |
a. How many database instances per environment?
b. How many databases per instance?
| c. Total database size in GB per environment? | A. One instance B. 8 databases C. Product 348 gb and Test/QA 633 gb | |
| 13 | Oracle DBA – Linux and OS administration (DBA-focused). Please provide: |
a. How many virtual machines by operating system? How many are Cloud vs on-prem? If Cloud, which platform?
b. How many servers per environment?
| c. Does virtualization administration include server-level patching, storage and backup administration, and alert monitoring? | A. two virtual machines B. Production, QA, Test C . Yes | |
| 14 | Mainframe service management. Please provide: |
a. What ITSM tool is used?
b. Monthly incidents escalated to L2/L3 MF team (Operations & Monitoring, OS & Storage, Network, DBA)
c. Monthly service requests executed by the MF team (same towers)
d. Monthly changes deployed by the MF team (OS & Storage, Network, DBA)
e. Monthly problem tickets assigned to the MF team
| f. Availability & service levels | a. Manual Process b. 12 c. 12 d. 12 e. 12 | |
| 15 | Mainframe transactions and communications. Please provide: |
a. Transaction processing systems used (e.g., CICS, IMS DC)
b. Number of CICS/IMS DC regions managed
c. Network administration (VTAM, TCP/IP, Enterprise Extender)
d. External servers (Windows, Unix)?
e. Communication card configuration (OSA / OSA ICC)
f. What file transfer tool is used, and how many transfers (external / between LPARs)?
g. MQ server in scope? If yes, how many per LPAR?
h. WebSphere app server in scope?
| i. Is CICS Transaction Gateway (CTG) in scope? How many connections per LPAR? | A. CICS B. 2 - Test & Prod C. Enterprise Extender D. N/A E. N/A F. GlobalSpace SFTP, G. N/A H. N/A I. N/A | |
| 16 | Mainframe database administration. Please provide: |
a. Which database management systems are used (DB2, IMS DB, Adabas)?
b. Number of DB2/IMS/Adabas subsystems supported
c. Any DB2 tools available? Which (IBM, CA, BMC, others)?
| d. GB of DB2 space | A. VSAM & Db2 Server for VSE&VM (formerly SQL/DS) B. One SQL Instance C. No D. 1 database and 107 tables | |
| 17 | Mainframe storage administration. Please provide: |
a. DASD subsystems: vendor/model, volume types (e.g., 3390-9), total DASD, total disk space unmirrored, total disk space mirrored
b. Tape subsystems: vendor/model, quantity, total drives, total tapes cataloged, type, tape mounts per month (approx.), MF GB mirrored tape space
c. Backup policy (daily/weekly/etc.): which tool (HSM, FDR, etc.), and which HSM/CADISK functions are defined A. IBM ds8910F, raid 5, 7.5tb B. Total cataloged tapes allocated = 109,999. tape volume numbers 800001-909999 Average tapes mounted daily for batch jobs: 23 (monthly average 490–500) fcopy/adrdssu 17 c: nightly mainframe system backup 18 Mainframe system administration. Please provide, by mainframe model:
a. MIPS per MF model and estimated growth/reduction rate (MIPS) per model
b. Total number of CPUs per model
c. Total number of LPARs per model, and MIPS per LPAR
d. Sysplex environment?
e. Data sharing?
f. Scheduled maintenance window and frequency
| g. How many on-call contacts per month? | A . IBM 2828-h06/50 mips B. c. 1 LPAR d. N/A e. Yes f. Sundays if needed g. Maybe 1 | |
| 19 | Mainframe operations, performance & capacity. Please provide: |
a. How many scheduled IPLs are performed per month across all LPARs? Are IPLs automated or semi-automated (e.g., system automation)?
b. What enterprise monitoring tools are used for mainframe operations?
c. Is any auto-operator used? Which one?
d. How many alerts are managed and % requiring L1 action monthly? Are there documented operator instructions for alerts and job failures?
e. Should capping be monitored? Is there a tool for it? Are LPAR weight/capping adjustments in HMC in scope?
f. Does the ops team have access to the robot console?
g. Is there an auto-ticketing system for alerts and job abends, using an accurate CMDB for classification?
| h. Is there an output manager for the sysouts? | A. Semi-automated B. Alerts are provided (email), C. N/A D. Rarely - minimal E. N/A F. Yes, G. No, H. No | |
| 20 | Mainframe configuration management and scheduling. Please provide: |
a. What life-cycle tool is used (Endevor, Changeman, etc.)?
b. How many changes are performed in the job scheduler per month on average?
c. Are these changes on a 24x7 service basis?
| d. What tool is used to manage job-scheduler change requests? | A. Manual process, B. 0-1 C. No D. Manual process | |
| 21 | Mainframe batch monitoring. Please provide: |
a. What job scheduling tool is used? Is batch across all LPARs centralized in one scheduler, or is there one scheduler per LPAR?
b. Total number of jobs to monitor
c. Volume of jobs (daily/weekly/monthly) executed and failure rates
d. Is there any job/tool to detect loops in the batch?
| e. Do all jobs have instructions on criticality and how they can be restarted? | A. Manual Process B. average 64 batch jobs run daily C. 64 daily/320 week/1340-1410 monthly executed D. No E. most do - probably not all | |
| 22 | Mainframe key information / architecture. Please provide: |
j. Is auto-ticketing implemented using an accurate CMDB for proper classification?
| k. Are there documented operator instructions to help L1 manage alerts and job failures? | J. No K. Yes | |
| 23 | Mainframe key information / architecture. Please provide: |
a. Mainframe hardware architecture diagram (z/OS servers and model, storage devices, network, etc.)
b. Complete list of software installed (IBM and other vendors), including version numbers
c. List of homegrown tools and utilities in use, if any
d. Environment/application volumes: MIPS; active LPARs; environments per LPAR; database subsystems per environment; defined transactions per environment; CICS or IMS regions per environment; MQs per environment; number of databases and tables per environment
e. Volume of jobs (daily/weekly/monthly) executed and failure rates
f. Number of alerts managed by L1 per day and % requiring L1 action
g. Number of changes deployed by the MF team (by tower: OS, Network, DBA)
h. Number of incidents escalated to L2/L3 per month
i. Number of requests executed by the MF team (by team/tower: Operations & Monitoring, OS, Network, DBA) A. ZOS 2.5 VSE 6.2 B&C. GoAnywhere MFT, Surveyor/400, VITL Backup/HA, Turnover, XL Print Paris, OnBase, FiServ IVR, Linoma AMB Encryption, IBM iLicense These are standard IBM tools [B&C] ; For D-M - Given very low volume and minimal change with "keep the lights on " as provide in scope and ticket volume
| 24 | For the Cannabis Licensing Platform, Appendix E permits offshore support personnel but also states no access to production data. Please clarify how offshore staff are expected to resolve production tickets without production data access. | Off shore is provided non-production access with fake data but is otherwise a mirror of production. | |
| 25 | Given that the RISES implementation and releases are expected to complete in 2026, what is the rationale for initiating Application Services only in 2028? | We are staging AMS App Manage Services in a phased manner - to ensure stable Vendor to Vendor transition -which allows RISES to be added subsequently ; which gives Incumbent vendor contract, support needed to stablize this App | |
| 26 | Is recording of knowledge-transfer sessions via Microsoft Teams permitted? If not, please advise the approved platform/process for recording and retaining KT sessions. | Yes | |
| 27 | Will knowledge transfer for the RI Early Start System (RISES) be conducted in English by the incumbent team during transition? | Yes | |
| 28 | How many FTEs (internal or vendor) currently support each service tower? Please break down by Low Code (Salesforce, Workday, Microsoft, ServiceNow), Legacy (COBOL, Informix, .Net), IBM Mainframe, and Oracle DBA. | Given most are Third Party provided fixed price services , it is suggested to use Scope of Services , Support Coverage , Ticket volume details in App inventory | |
| 29 | What are the top 2–3 pain points with the current support model that prompted this RFP? | Retiring workforce, application consolidation, contractor attrition | |
| 30 | There are conflicting definitions of business/support hours across the documents: the Solicitation Specifications state 8:30 AM–4:00 PM ET (Mon–Fri, excl. State holidays); Exhibit 1 states 7:00 AM–7:00 PM ET; and Appendix E lists CCC as 24x7. Please confirm the applicable support window(s), by application where they differ. | Standard hours are 8:30-4 EST, however, individual applications may need additional availability due to nature of citizen service offering of 24 hour availability such as Crisis Care. | |
| 31 | Please provide the application complexity and business criticality (High/Medium/Low) for all in-scope applications. | Crisis Care and CCWIS are High, Other Salesforce are Medium. Microsoft are Low. Workday is High, ServiceNow is Medium. Legacy are Medium with the exception of COBOL for DLT which is High. | |
| 32 | Please provide the severity levels for all in-scope applications. | See the reply to question # 31 | |
| 33 | Please provide the level of documentation available for in-scope process areas, and confirm whether any process optimization is required. | No process optimization as part of supporting applications | |
| 34 | What is the frequency of patching and version upgrades for the low-code applications? | Varies by application type. | |
| 35 | How is monitoring currently performed for the low-code applications? | Salesforce by individual service provider, Workday by internal staff, Microsoft by internal staff | |
| 36 | Please describe the automation tools and use cases currently in place, and identify the areas the State sees as opportunities for further automation. | This is an area of opportunity through advisory services | |
| 37 | For Group 2 (Mainframe & Legacy), the .Net scope is not reflected in Appendix E. Please provide the .Net application inventory and details. | As stated in Appendix E, this will be roughly 12 supported applications per phase which have not yet been finalized. | |
| 38 | What is the Power Platform used for, and how is it used (Power Apps, Power BI reporting, workflows)? Please provide details. | Varies per application; most applications are internal only and for business processes, which depend on the agency/division/team. Power Apps, Power BI and Power Automate are all in use. | |
| 39 | What is the Dynamics platform used for – ERP or CRM – and how is it being used? | Case Management, Customer Service & numerous public-facing Power Pages. | |
| 40 | Please provide the modules currently implemented in ServiceNow, and the ServiceNow roadmap for future implementations. | ITSM currently, roadmap includes CMDB and asset management | |
| 41 | Please clarify the Workday support scope: is it limited to integrations/reports only, or does it also include support for functional modules (e.g., Finance, Payroll)? | Primarily integrations/reports, however, potential for functional modules are a possibility. | |
| 42 | For Microsoft applications, Appendix C (Phase 2) lists 18 Power Apps, but only 10 Microsoft apps are listed in Appendix E. Please clarify the remaining 8. | Remaining 8 are in pipeline and still in discussions and will start for year 2 as planned | |
| 43 | For the Workday platform (Tier-3 support), Appendix E lists 20 tickets/week and notes it recently entered M&O. Please confirm whether all 20 are L3-only. | Yes L3 only | |
| 44 | Please provide the number of Salesforce production orgs. | As listed in Appendix E | |
| 45 | For the Cannabis Licensing Platform, please confirm whether the 28 user-provisioning/service requests are annual or monthly. | 28 users are internal users. External users self register. Total of 300 annual ticket requests. | |
| 46 | Please provide the number of tickets and number of users for Enterprise IT Service Management (ServiceNow). | To be clear the AMS RFP does not include management of ITSM it is for Application Development. There are 16 current open tickets for requests specific to SNOW. Total volume of tickets in SNOW is not relevant to the scope of this project. There are 350 Licensed users for SNOW. | |
| 47 | For the RI Early Start System (RISES), please share the volume of tickets requiring Spanish-language support. | All Spanish requests are translated prior to request for technical support | |
| 48 | To support ticket analytics and productivity baselining, please provide a ticket export for the RFP scope including the following fields: | ||
| Ticket ID, Business Area, Application Name, Issue Type, Category, Ticket Logged Date, Description, Priority, Resolved Date, Ticket Closed Date, Assigned To, Ticket Status, SLA Status, Resolution Details. | The State is not able to provide as content within could be sensitive in nature | ||
| 49 | Appendix C states vendors should assume minor enhancements up to 40 hours/month for Low Code Group 1, but Appendix E requests 80 hours (CCC) and 150 hours (RISES). Please clarify the enhancement hours to be assumed. | To clarify, up to 40 hours for minor enhancements should be included in the cost. The discretionary column would be used for major enhancements which may include those requested in Appendix E by CCC/RISES or others as they are implemented. | |
| 50 | Given the 3-year overall duration, should Phase 2 pricing be provided for 2 years (i.e., the remaining term after Phase 1)? Please confirm the pricing duration expected for each phase. | Yes - As clearly shown in Cost Proposal RFP[marked as "NA" ] provide Phase 1 pricing for Year 1-2-3 and Phase 2 pricing for year 2-3 | |
| 51 | Please confirm whether pricing is required for Phase 3 and Phase 4 applications. If so, please provide total and active user counts for: |
- DOS – Business Registry and Online Filing System
- DLT – Workforce Regulation and Certified Payroll
- DCYF – Child Welfare Information System
| - BHDDH – Crisis Care Continuum | No | ||
| 52 | The T&M rate card includes a single column for Offshore rates. May vendors propose multiple offshore delivery locations and corresponding rates (e.g., India, Philippines), or should vendors provide a single consolidated/blended offshore rate per role? If multiple are permitted, please advise how they should be presented in the template. | T&M Rate Card State prefers ONE OFFSHORE LOCATION FOR THIS CONTRACT; Based on the location you choose provide the Name of Location in Column G ; ALSO NAME THE LOCATION IN TECHNICAL PROPOSAL [in STAFFING & CAPABILITY] ; if you choose 2 locations - add 2 offshore locations in Rate card | |
| 53 | The T&M rate card lists eight roles/skill categories. Should vendors provide rates only for the listed roles, or may vendors add additional roles they believe are necessary to support the scope of work? | 8 roles will suffice | |
| 54 | For the T&M rate card (Advisory and Architecture services), does the State expect rates by named role (e.g., Solution Architect, Senior Developer, PM), or is a blended rate acceptable? What level of rate-card detail is expected? | blended hourly rate for Advisory and Architecture services | |
| 55 | "Low Code Platform Architecture and Design Services (on demand)" does not appear in Appendix C. Is this scope included under Consulting/Advisory Services, and if so, where should it be priced? | Yes included in Consulting/Advisory Services. Group 1 item 6, Low Code Consulting | |
| 56 | Section B of the Solicitation Specifications describes Group 2 (Legacy, Mainframe, Oracle) as Fixed Price, but Appendix C labels these as "Staff Aug." Please confirm whether Group 2 should be priced as (a) a fixed-price managed service, (b) staff augmentation (T&M), or (c) vendor's choice. If staff augmentation, please clarify the roles required. | Fixed Price | |
| 57 | General. If the State would kindly provide us with a 2-week extension, that would be greatly appreciated! Would that be possible? | The State cannot grant this extension | |
| 58 | General. The term Salesforce is used throughout the RFP. Is the scope of this project inclusive of all technologies that Salesforce can provide to a customer for support (for example, MuleSoft, Tableau, Marketing Cloud, Data360 (formerly, Data Cloud 360), Own Backup & Recovery, Informatica, etc)? | Yes | |
| 59 | Appendix D (Security Questionnaire) and Appendix F (Addendum B checklist) request the responding entity’s security program artifacts (e.g., SOC 2 Type 2, ISO 27001, FedRAMP). For a multi-party team, may each team member submit its own artifacts for its own scope, and does an existing State agreement / FedRAMP authorization for the Salesforce platform satisfy the relevant items? | Responding entity is responsible for submitting all application artifacts as requested with their response. | |
| 60 | For the mandatory qualifications and referenceable-client requirements, may these be satisfied at the **prime + subcontractor team level** (i.e., different team members providing the Salesforce, Workday, and Mainframe references), or must a single entity hold all qualifying references? | Primary must hold all qualifying references | |
| 61 | Section C lists five mandatory Pass/Fail qualifications, including a Workday AMS reference, a Legacy Mainframe AMS reference, and Workday-certified-partner status. If a vendor proposes only a subset of the scope (e.g., Salesforce), will the mandatory qualifications be applied **only to the scope proposed**, or must every bidder satisfy all five regardless of the scope they pursue? | Only to the scope proposed | |
| 62 | The Cost Proposal template (Appendix C) breaks out Salesforce as a discrete line item within Group 1. Does this line-item structure indicate the State will consider and award individual platform scopes separately? | By group only | |
| 63 | Q2. If a single-platform proposal is permitted, will each platform (or sub-scope) be evaluated and scored independently, or is a Group 1 proposal evaluated only as a complete multi-platform submission? | Not permitted | |
| 64 | Q1. Section B states the State “intends on awarding all or part of the scope to one vendor” and “reserves the right to make one or multiple awards.” Will the State accept a proposal limited to a single platform **within** Group 1 (e.g., Salesforce only), or must a Group 1 response cover all listed low-code platforms (Salesforce, Microsoft Power Platform/Dynamics, ServiceNow, Workday)? | See the reply to question # 8 | |
| 65 | How many resources currently support each service area? | It varies and some are cross trained | |
| 66 | Is the client interested in awarding this to one vendor or multiple vendors? | See the reply to question # 4 | |
| 67 | If the vendor who has the contractors in the state on some of these items, should we incorporate them into the response as proposed staff? | Yes | |
| 68 | Oracle EBS: What are the regularly scheduled maintenance windows? | Weekend - EBS and RIFANS - please note RIFANS will be decommissioned next year | |
| 69 | Oracle EBS: What is the level of customizations or third-party integrations within the EBS environment? | Deep level for EBS, related to Time & Labor and Grants management / RIFANS low level | |
| 70 | Oracle EBS: What is your roadmap for planned upgrades, migrations, or cloud initiatives? | EBS Oracle db 26ai upgrade, OID/OAM 14c upgrade for SSO | |
| 71 | Oracle EBS: Is there a documented patch testing and regression testing process prior to PROD deployment? | Yes documents exist for both EBS and RIFANS | |
| 72 | Oracle EBS: What is the patching cadence, and what change control process is followed? | Quarterly - Dev/Patch/Prod | |
| 73 | Oracle EBS: Which team currently provides Oracle EBS functional support? |
Internal/Contractors
| 74 | Oracle EBS: Has a DR switchover or failover been tested recently? If so, how often is it tested? | Yearly |
| 75 | Oracle EBS: What is the current backup strategy (RMAN, backup frequency, retention period, offsite/tape/cloud storage)? |
RMAN+Apps File backup daily, 2 weeks retention, Cohesity to offside
| 76 | Oracle EBS: Is Oracle Data Guard configured? If so, is it a physical or logical standby, and how many standby sites are there? | Data Giuard physical, 1 site |
| 77 | Oracle EBS: Is database encryption (TDE) enabled? Is encryption configured both at rest and in transit? | No TDE |
| 78 | Oracle EBS: What storage configuration is used for the database: ASM or filesystem-based storage? | Filesystem |
| 79 | Oracle EBS: Is the database configured as RAC? If so, how many nodes are in the cluster? | No RAC |
| 80 | Oracle EBS: What is the current database size, and what is the expected growth rate? | 500 GB /10% yearly |
| 81 | Oracle EBS: What is the Oracle database version? | 19C |
| 82 | Oracle EBS: How frequently are non-PROD environments cloned from PROD? | Quarterly |
| 83 | Do you have any non-PROD environments that mirror the PROD environment? | Yes for some applications |
| 84 | Are multi-node Concurrent Managers configured using Parallel Concurrent Processing (PCP)? | No RAC |
| 85 | How many application nodes are used in the PROD environment? | One |
| 86 | What EBS version are you currently running (e.g., 12.1.3, 12.2.x)? | 12.2.15 |
| 87 | What operating system and version is EBS running on (Oracle Linux, RHEL, Solaris, AIX, etc.)? | Oracle Linux/KVM |
| 88 | What systems are targeted for migration and what is the expected migration timeline? What is the expected data volume to be migrated? | Legacy applications are planned for migration at various timelines as listed. Data volumes vary per application. |
| 89 | What are the top 3 business and technology outcomes the agency expects from the selected vendor over the next 3–5 years (cost reduction, modernization, service stability, automation, cloud migration, technical debt reduction, etc.) | Consolidation, reduce cost, modernization |
| 90 | Are there any plans for future Workday enhancements or upgrades, and how do you see the AMS provider supporting these initiatives? | Per Appendix C, allocate 1000 discretionary hours for this purpose. |
| 91 | How does the State currently measure the success of its Workday. Are there any specific key performance indicators (KPIs) or metrics that you use to evaluate the effectiveness of the Workday implementation, and how do you see the AMS provider contributing to these metrics? | As we are early in M & O, current metrics are measured by ticket submissions, nature of requests, employee success rate in completing transactions. |
| 92 | Can you provide more details on the current pain points and challenges faced by the State’s Workday implementation, and how do you envision the AMS provider addressing these issues? | Current pain points/challenges include limitations in staff support for configuration changes needed to fulfill varying agency requests. |
| 93 | Which modules/functional areas are currently implemented for the State's Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system? | |
| + Finance | ||
| + Human Capital Management (HCM) | ||
| + Payroll | Finance/HCM/Payroll as stated in the RFP | |
| 94 | What enterprise systems integrate with ServiceNow today, and what dashboards, reporting, and analytics capabilities are actively used? | JIRA, Workday. Custom dashboards and reports have been created. |
| 95 | What are the current operational performance metrics, including ticket volumes, self-service adoption, SLA attainment, and major operational pain points? | As stated this RFP is not for the management of ITSM but for application development. Therefore, these questions are not relevant to scope. |
| 96 | Which ITSM processes are currently implemented and enforced in ServiceNow (Incident, Problem, Change, Request, Knowledge, Major Incident), and what support tiers (L1/L2/L3) are supported? | Incident, Change, Request, Knowledge, and Major Incident. All three tiers are supported for the support of SNOW |
| 97 | What is the current maturity of ITSM, ITAM (HAM/SAM), and CMDB, including asset inventory coverage, CMDB completeness, and key adoption challenges? | Not relevant to scope. See annswer to Question #95 |
| 98 | What ServiceNow products, modules, and capabilities are currently licensed and in use, and which capabilities are prioritized for expansion over the next 1–3 years? | ITSM currently, roadmap includes CMDB and asset management |
| 99 | Is the Power Platform Center of Competence as mentioned in the RFP already setup and existing? Are there any tools being used for the Power Platform apps operations management? | Center of Excellence kit installed and maintained. No other tools used to do the Operations Management other than PAC CLI and PowerShell |
| 100 | What are the operations management activities expected or required for the Power Platform apps administration and governance? Is user and licensing assignment management including onboarding and offboarding part of the scope of work? | Development of new applications and support of implemented applications as listed. |
| 101 | Regarding the low code Apps to be managed for Microsoft Power Platform we would like to know - 1. The # of environments to be managed? For example Dev / Test / QA / UAT / Pre-Prod and Prod? 2. The list of integrations in the Apps with existing State or external systems if any. | We have standard DEV/TEST/PROD per application. Most integrations are with SQL, Oracle and Access. No other existing live integrations in place. |
| 102 | Does the AI disclosure requirement apply only to AI capabilities exposed to State users, or also to vendor? | Most of the integrations are with SQL, Oracle and Access. No other existing live integrations in place. |
| 103 | Will the fixed-price AMS scope include unlimited enhancement demand, or will there be defined monthly/annual capacity limits, service units, backlog thresholds, or effort assumptions? | Minor enhancement [<40 hrs effort] will be provided as part of FIXED PRICE Services |
| 104 | How does the State define an included “enhancement” or “minor change” under the fixed-price AMS scope versus separately authorized project work, advisory services, or architecture/design services? | As stated above in Q 103 , anything other than Minor Enhancement will be estimated , approved and consumed from discretionary hours |
| 105 | What is the integration tool used for Salesforce? | Mulesoft |
| 106 | What is the current ticket backlog for DEM - Agriculture & Water Resources application and what is ETSS ETA to remediate the backlog? | Agriculture 13 Open Tickets |
Total Enhancements 16 5 Enhancements underway 11 Enhancements backlog (Some no cost to DEM) Water Resources 274 Open Tickets 92 in progress the rest on hold or open for discussion for enhancements or fixes, or requirements Total Enhancements 111 documented 1 Enhancement underway 17 Enhancements backlogged at no cost to DEM The rest need requirements ETA to complete is unknown
| 107 | Do the applications in Phase 2-4 utilize Salesforce Public Cloud functinality? Request you to map the applications to the respective Salesforce Public Cloud functionality like Benefits Management, License Management, Permit Management, Grants Management etc. Alternately, please confirm the applications are based on bespoke development over the Salesforce platform. | In scope Phase 2 is RISIS: Public and uses Bespoke. Crisis Care: Field Service Lightning and Health, |
| 108 | We assume these applications are deployed in Salesforce US Government Cloud infrastructure. Please confirm. | Yes |
| 109 | Please share the details of the AppXchange products that are connected to the existing application landscape | MuleSoft, SMS Magic, Salesforce Data Backup & Recovery, Salesforce Connected Apps, Salesforce Mobile Apps, and Salesforce CRM Dashboards |
| 110 | What ETL tool are being used to load-data? | Assuming Salesforce: Anypoint SW, Data Loader |
| 111 | What is the frequency of deployment to PROD and UAT? | Assuming Salesforce: Implementations in progress are in 2/3 week sprints based on project, however daily UAT deployments are common and potential weekly prod deployments for those already implemented. |
| 112 | Do you have any DevOps implemented - please provide details | DevOps is in progress and please note as stated in the RFP; Establish and implement enterprise level DevSecOps model and CI/CD pipelines. |
| 113 | Request you to provide the following details |
a.) # of orgs b.) # of sandboxes utilized c.) # of Current users utilizing the systesm (Phase 1) - both core as well as Community Users
| d.) Anticipated User growth for Phase 2-4 | Orgs listed in Appendix E, all include at least one Sandbox. The number of users are per org and range from 28-100. Community users up to 250. Anticipated user growth is unknown for Phase 3-4 at this time. | |
| 114 | For the applications that will be implemented in Phase 2 onwards, could you share the anticipated volumetrics as below? |
a.) Anticipated % of OOTB code / configuration for the respective application?
b.) Anticipated # of real-time integrations c.) Anticipated # of batch integrations
| d.) Anticipated # of Custom Objects | RISES is not fully implemented, Crisis Care a) 65% OOTB b) 2 c) 0 and d) 26 | ||
| 115 | The required coverage window for all other in-scope applications (DEM, Workday, Power Platform, ServiceNow, and Group 2 legacy/mainframe/Oracle) that do not list a specific schedule in Appendix E. | See answer to Question #30 | |
| 116 | Whether CCC requires true 24×7 support for all severities, or 24×7 for Critical only with Business Hours for High/Medium/Low. | CCC can follow 8:30-4 standard hours | |
| 117 | Per Sec. 5 Managed Services-Phased Approach, As on Jan 1 2027, only the Salesforce, CCC and DEM applications are ready to be transitioned. Other applications like DHS-RISES, BHDDH will be ready for transition on or after Jan 2 2028. Is this a correct understanding? | Yes as noted in the RFP | |
| 118 | Which Business Hours definition applies (8:30 a.m.–4:00 p.m. or 7:00 a.m.–7:00 p.m. ET)? | See answer to Question #30 | |
| 119 | Are there any non-compete, exclusivity, or conflict-of-interest constraints for vendors currently performing work on in-scope applications who also wish to bid this RFP? | None | |
| 120 | For Microsoft Power Platform/Dynamics (later phases): how many production apps, environments, and Dataverse capacity are currently in scope (Appendix D application list referenced)? | Duplicate - please refer to question #101 | |
| 121 | What are the major pain points with the current incumbent? | The specific application was not refered to in the question. | |
| 122 | Low Code Platform Strategy Advisory and Architecture & Design Services are listed as on demand. Should vendors include a rate card only, or also estimate annual hours/volume for evaluation? | Both Low Code Platform and Architecture and Design as part ot " 6. Low Code consulting " and capped at Annual 1000 hours ; As stated in Q 54 - any additional hours needed beyond the base 1000 will be pro-rated at this hourly rate as incremental annually | |
| 123 | If allowed, can a vendor bid on individual platforms? i.e. Salesforce, Microsoft only | By group only | |
| 124 | In "Appendix-C Cost Proposal" document you mentioned Service Type as "Staff Aug" for "Group 2 - MAINFRAME & LEGACY APP". Could you please clarify how many positions to be staffed by skills and locations. And what would be selection process? | Group 2 Apps - although it is called Staff Aug - it should be delivered as Managed Services - they are "low touch" "no new " "keep the lights on " apps ; Vendor should refer to Scope and Ticket volume to assess staffing and provide a Fixed Price | |
| 125 | Can vendors bid Group 1 only, Group 2 only, or must proposals cover both? The RFP allows multiple awards — please confirm acceptable bid configurations. | By groups | |
| 126 | Would you allow integration with vendor's ITSM and use of vendor's Ai-Ops solution. | No | |
| 127 | Is there a specific RI labor requirement that affects staffing location (onsite/offsite/offshore)? | Per Agency requirements due to nature of data | |
| 128 | Travel/onsite expectations: what percentage of key staff must be onsite vs remote, and are travel costs included in Fixed Price? | Remote is an option, the State does not cover travel costs | |
| 129 | What are the applications and IT environment monitoring tool being used by ETSS? | Varies by application type. | |
| 130 | What are the activities involved in L1 scope - do you want us to provide Helpdesk support? | No helpdesk support, tickets will be assigned through Service Now to the AMS provider | |
| 131 | Sec A, 1.3 - You have mentioned that ServiceNow is planned to be used for ITSM functionality progressively, as a strategic driver. Can we make the assumption that the vendors will interact only with Servicenow as ITSM tool when the contract is awarded? | Yes | |
| 132 | How long it takes for any new resource to be on-boarded, complete formalities like background check and provisioning of application access to start regular work. | Resources onboarding are handled by vendor, provisioning of access to be granted within one week of contract award and kickoff | |
| 133 | Is there any extended support required? E.g., End of month, quarter or year or specific audits. | No extended support this would be part of normal function | |
| 134 | What are the peak business periods or blackout windows? (e.g., month end/year-end close, audits) | Vary by agency | |
| 135 | How is knowledge management currently done? Please share the tools & processes for this purpose. | Via ServiceNow, JIRA, and SharePoint based on application type | |
| 136 | Are there any Contractual constraints with the current vendor like contract end date? | No ; Vendors will be transitioned out / offboarded by Phase as per plan | |
| 137 | Would you accept a response with solution for Group-1 scope alone or Group-2 alone, or does vendor need to provide full solution of Group-1 and Group-2 together to be accepted for evaluation. | By group | |
| 138 | Are there any specific requirements for resources to be in the US for other scope areas. Such as for RISES applications it was mentioned "No offshore access to production data". | Any environment that contains HIPAA. PHI, PII, FTI or federally administered data will be limited to such requirements | |
| 139 | Could you share data about current team members and application environment for all applications similar, to how you shared for RISES applications. | Assuming Salesforce: Each org has their own Managed Support vendor with a POC that manages requests. Details not available for each team member. For environment see answer to Question 107/108. | |
| 140 | Could you provide last 6 months of Incident, Service Request, Change request, Problem management ticket data for all in-scope applications with below key details: |
a. Issue description
b. Priority
c. Resolver group
d. Cause code
e. Resolution notes
f. Resolution code
| g. Creation date, resolution dates | See answer to Question #48 | ||
| 141 | To allow sufficient time to develop a complete a high-quality response that best meets the State’s requirements, would the State be willing to grant a 14-day extension to the proposal due date? | The State cannot grant this extension |
File details come from the government source that posted it. Updated .