RFQ-27-05699 Accela Software Solution and Support~1.docx

Commonwealth of Massachusetts The Executive Office of Technology Services and Security

Commonwealth of Massachusetts Executive Office of Technology Services and Security

Request for Quotation EOTSS RFQ-27-05699 Accela Software Solution and Support

COMMBUYS Bid Number(ITS81): BD-27-1060-ITD00-ITD00-133948 COMMBUYS Bid Number(ITS86-Cat 1): BD-27-1060-ITD00-ITD00-133949

September 28, 2026

IN ACCORDANCE WITH M.G.L. C. 66 AND M.G.L. C. 4, § 7 (26), THIS RFQ AND ALL RESPONSES HERETO INCLUDING THE WINNING BID SHALL BECOME PUBLIC RECORD, AND CAN BE OBTAINED FROM THE EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF TECHNOLOGY SERVICES AND SECURITY BY SUBMITTING A REQUEST AT https://www.mass.gov/executive-office-of-technology-services-and-security-prr. ANY PORTIONS OF A RESPONSE THAT ARE LABELED AS CONFIDENTIAL WILL STILL BE CONSIDERED PUBLIC RECORD.

General Procurement Information

General Information

Purchasing Entity: Executive Office of Technology Services and Security (“EOTSS”) or (“Agency”)

Address: One Ashburton Place, Eighth Floor, Boston, MA 02108

Procurement Contact: Nelson Wong

Telephone: 617-626-4553

E-Mail Address: nelson.wong@mass.gov

RFQ File Number and Title: EOTSS RFQ-27-05699 Accela Software Solution and Support

Attachments: Attachment A – COMMBUYS Instructions

This Request for Quotes (“RFQ”) does not commit the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (“Commonwealth”) or Agency to approve a Statement of Work, pay any costs incurred in the preparation of a Bidder’s response to this RFQ or to procure or contract for products or services. The Agency may: (i) accept or reject any and all bids received as a result of this RFQ; (ii) contract for some, all, or none of the products and services offered by Bidders in response to this RFQ; (iii) negotiate with one or more qualified Bidders; or (iv) cancel, in part or in its entirety, this RFQ if it is in the best interest of the Commonwealth to do so.

The Agency may amend this RFQ at any time prior to the date the responses are due. Any such amendment will be posted to the Commonwealth’s procurement website, COMMBUYS (www.commbuys.com).

Bidders must submit their bids through the Commonwealth’s online procurement system, COMMBUYS, as detailed in Attachment A. Bidders are advised to check this site regularly, as this will be the sole method used for notification of changes.

Eligible Bidders

This RFQ is restricted to Bidders on the following Statewide Contracts:

__ ITS86 Software and Service Category 1 ITS81 Project Services and GIS __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Event Calendar

All times in this RFQ are in prevailing Eastern Time. Responses must be received no later than the response due date and time indicated below or they will not be evaluated. Bidders must have their responses fully loaded and accepted in COMMBUYS prior to the RFQ Response Due date and time listed below. Bidders are urged to allow sufficient time to upload their entire response.

Purchasing Agency

The Executive Office of Technology Services and Security is responsible for the development of IT policy and implementation and oversight of all information technology investments for the Commonwealth and its respective agencies. EOTSS has broad statutory authority to effectuate the goals prompting IT consolidation in Chapter 64 of the Acts of 2017, as memorialized and articulated in M.G.L. c. 6A, s. 7A and M.G.L. c. 7D. As the lead enterprise IT and cybersecurity organization for the Executive Branch, EOTSS provides responsive digital and security services, and oversees and manages the enterprise technology and digital infrastructure and services for over 125 state agencies and over 43,000 state employees. EOTSS provides Enterprise Cybersecurity and Risk Management services, Infrastructure and Network services, End-User Support and IT services, Digital and Data services, Strategy Management and Consulting services, and additional IT-focused services to the Executive Branch and other Commonwealth users.

☒ If checked, the contract resulting from this RFQ will be made available to other Executive Department entities for the purchase of products or services. EOTSS may, in its option, require its prior approval for such entities to purchase products or services.

Description and Purpose of Procurement

Background

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts offers online access to licensing, permitting, and certificate services via the licensing tool known as Accela (ePLACE). The agencies currently served by this program are:

· Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission (ABCC)

· Division of Labor Standards (DLS)

· Massachusetts Department of Transportation (DOT)

· Department of Professional Licensure (DOL)

DOL will transition off the Accela platform prior to the start of the resulting contract and will not require ongoing support, however, limited support for legacy DOL data issues may be required following the transition.

The ePLACE Program requires support and maintenance services for their instance of the Accela Software Suite (“Accela”). The Commonwealth seeks a bidder to provide professional services to support Accela, including issue resolution, new configuration implementation, operational support, and project management. The ePLACE Program is currently hosted on Accela’s “On-Premises” (Version 22.2.3.0) offering, but it is expected that by the start of the resulting contract, the program will be hosted on Accela’s SaaS offering(Version 26.3.0.3).

Description of Services

The ePLACE program currently includes four state agencies:

· Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission (ABCC)

· Division of Labor Standards (DLS)

· Massachusetts Department of Transportation (DOT)

· Department of Professional Licensure (DOL)

There is the possibility of agencies being added to the ePLACE system in the future, or agencies migrating their system outside of ePLACE. Respondents to this RFQ should be capable of implementing a start to finish process of onboarding an agency to Accela. Any onboarding project would be outside the base scope of support services and would be separately addressed through a Task Order under the resulting contract, with separate cost considerations.

Our current Accela offering processes roughly 26k transactions a year related to 316k records. These users utilize the system to renew, amend, and otherwise interact with the licenses issued by the agencies we serve. Respondents to this RFQ should have experience with dealing with critical data of a similar scale.

Bidders must provide the following Accela integration services:

1. Installation, configuration, scripting, reporting, and setup tasks involving the Accela product

2. Triage issues (Tasks, Bugs, Change Requests) including a thorough review and grooming of the backlog of tickets in addition to assessing technical feasibility and effort level estimates

3. Resolution of Bugs identified in the system

4. Work with agencies to define work required for Tasks, Bugs, and Change Requests

5. Implementation and testing of Tasks, Bugs, and Change Requests, as requested by agencies (i.e. via Accela configuration, scripting, etc.) Agency representatives are also required to perform business validation testing

6. ePLACE System operations and maintenance of the ePLACE solution to ensure that the system is up and running 24x7

7. The integration of the Accela product with other Commonwealth systems, Commonwealth Enterprise solutions, and third-party products through standards-based Service Oriented Architecture

8. The data conversion, where applicable, to support the replacement of a legacy system

9. The development of custom interfaces or configurations to the Accela product that meet the Commonwealth’s system requirements

10. Testing services based on a full set of test cycles that includes unit, integration/systems, user acceptance, and performance testing of the integrated Accela product

11. Regression testing to ensure that newly implemented changes or bug resolution do not impact existing functionality

12. The production implementation and stabilization of the integrated Accela products, as needed and as defined in a Task Order.

13. Documentation of the project, including documentation of design, interfaces, configurations, processes developed, and major decisions made

14. The ability to quickly respond to changes required by legislative processes, which may include updates to the current configuration to meet those needs

15. Training related to Accela processes and features

16. Collaboration with Accela SaaS team on scheduled product version updates

C. Additional Requirements:

1. Bidder must have demonstrated experience in managing Accela implementations, integrations, and maintenance for customers of similar size as the Commonwealth of Massachusetts

2. Bidder must have experience with the entire Accela Suite including but not limited to:

Accela Automation: Licensing & Case Management Accela Citizen Access Accela Mobile Office or Mobile Application

3. Bidder must have experience with Agile software development and deployment methodology

D. Technical and Business Submission Requirements

Bidders should provide the following information:

1. A description of the types of Accela Integration solutions and services the Bidder delivers that meets the requirements listed under the Services Description, Additional Requirements, and Service Level agreements sections.

2. Accela Experience:

Bidders must describe their knowledge and experience of the Accela platform. Include a detailed narrative description of Bidder’s Accela experience and expertise, with reference to specific projects as appropriate. List any relevant Accela or general IT trainings or certifications completed by your organization or personnel who you will propose to work with the Commonwealth under this RFQ.

3. Project Management Methodology:

Bidders must describe their IT Project Management Methodology in the context of each project, including their processes for achieving high-quality outcomes.

4. The Bidder must provide a summary of IT Implementations of all Business Application Contracts executed with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts within the last 5 years, if any, and include the following information in the summary:

· Description of the Contract Scope

· Commonwealth of Massachusetts Contract Information

· Current Status of the Project

· Contract Amount

If this is not applicable, please include a statement that the Bidder has not executed any contracts for IT implementations with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts within the last 5 years. Experience performing IT implementations for the Commonwealth in a subcontractor capacity may also be included. The Commonwealth reserves the right to take into account the Commonwealth’s past project experience with the Bidder when evaluating and scoring bids.

5. Hourly Rates Bidders must provide a rate sheet including all roles of personnel that Bidder expects to use for work under this RFQ and hourly rates for each role. Rates must be inclusive of all expenses. Hourly rates must be valid for at least three years following execution of this Contract and may increase by no more than 3% per year thereafter.

6. Response Time Bidders must provide an estimate on typical turnaround times for addressing operational support issues, reported defects, and other reported items. If you have service level commitments to share, please provide this in your response.

Support and Maintenance would be a fixed price model, and the Task Orders for professional services would be on time and materials basis or fixed price model, at the sole discretion of the Commonwealth.

EOTSS reserves the right to procure additional, related services as a result of this RFQ.

Estimated Term

The estimated term of any contract entered into under this RFQ shall consist of an initial 6 month term and may be renewed or extended upon written agreement by the awarded Bidder and the Agency. The initial term and all renewals or extensions shall be referred to collectively as the “Term.” The maximum Term length will be governed by the applicable Statewide Contract.

Order of Precedence

The agreement resulting from this RFQ shall consist of the following documents in the following order of precedence:

Data Classification and the Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI)

Data Classification

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts collects, manages, and stores information to support its business operations. The Commonwealth is committed to preserving the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of its information assets. Such information assets may include, without limitation, personal information, confidential information, and information protected under applicable law. Bidder agrees and acknowledges that its access, or potential access, to certain information assets may require certifications, background checks, or other additional requirements. Agency anticipates that the awarded Bidder will have access, or potential access, to the following data types as a result of providing services/products to Agency under this RFQ.

M. G. L. c. 66A

-Commonwealth of Massachusetts Dept. of Revenue background check

NCIC 2000 Operating Manual CJIS Security Policy Title 28, CFR Part 20 -Dept. of Criminal Justice Information certification -background check

NCIC 2000 Operating Manual CJIS Security Policy Title 28, CFR Part 20 -Dept. of Criminal Justice Information certification -background check

5 U.S.C. 552a s. 1106 -background check

Bidder certifies that its products or services, as offered in its RFQ response, meet all applicable legal and regulatory requirements pertaining to the identified data types indicated above. Bidder also agrees to enter into additional agreement(s), as reasonably requested by the Commonwealth prior to gaining access, or potential access, to Commonwealth information assets. Bidder acknowledges that the list above is not exhaustive, and Agency may designate additional data types, applicable laws and regulations, and additional required documentation in the contract resulting from this RFQ or any amendment thereto.

Use of Generative AI

The following provisions apply both to Generative AI (“GenAI”) that the Contractor proposes to use or will use to fulfill its obligations under a contract, and to GenAI tools that Contractor will provide directly to the Agency for its own use.

Use of GenAI Conditioned on Compliance with these Terms

Contractor shall not use GenAI to fulfill any obligations under the contract with the Agency or provide any GenAI tools to the Agency unless the contract includes terms consistent with this section, “Use of Generative AI”.

Use and Deletion of Agency Data

Contractor shall not use Agency Data (defined as data provided by Agency and any data derived therefrom, including metadata (collectively, the “Agency Data”) for training, tuning, or testing the GenAI model unless required for the performance of Services and where the Agency has provided written consent for both the use of the GenAI tool and the Agency Data. Any permitted Agency Data inputs will be strictly limited to the data and inputs provided under this Agreement and will not extend to other Agency intellectual property. If the GenAI system/solution or Contractor’s provision of other services under the Contract require the use of Agency Data as GenAI training data, Contractor shall only use Agency Data as strictly necessary to provide the Services. Both the Contractor and Agency shall retain control over their data and have the ability to delete their data. Contractor shall delete all Agency Data within 30 days of receiving written notification from the Agency and shall confirm in writing that all Agency Data has been deleted.

Intellectual Property, Accuracy, Bias, Discrimination, Mitigation and Quality Control of GenAI

Contractor’s use of GenAI will be specifically limited to the automated creation of the material expressly defined in this Agreement’s scope. All GenAI usage will be configured to strictly align with the Agency’s brand guidelines. Contractor will implement robust quality control measures to review and approve, through non-automated means, all content generated by the GenAI tool before it is published, distributed or used in any business context. The review process must occur prior to any content being deployed or utilized in business operations, and every month thereafter, and must ensure that the content aligns with all the relevant policies, regulations and quality expectations. Additionally, the Contractor must identify, document and mitigate any biases, discrimination or otherwise unlawful outcomes based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, age, genetic information, or any other protected characteristic under applicable law in the AI solution or services.

Breach and Termination

Notwithstanding any other terms to the contrary in the Solicitation, or any contract entered by Contractor, Contractor’s failure to meet any of the obligations set forth in this provision “Use of Generative AI” will constitute a breach of the contract entitling the Commonwealth to terminate the contract for cause and without penalty and to pursue damages and any other legal or equitable remedies to which it may be entitled.

Amendments to GenAI Terms

The Commonwealth reserves the right to negotiate an amendment incorporating additional GenAI contract provisions into the contract or terminate in whole or in part any contract that, in the sole determination of the Commonwealth, presents an unacceptable level of risk to the Commonwealth with respect to GenAI.

Provision of Evaluative Information

Contractor shall regularly monitor the performance of the GenAI system to detect and rectify system behavior that violates any of these provisions. Contractor shall promptly communicate the discovery of system behavior that violates any of the requirements in this ‘Use of Generative AI’ section to the Commonwealth, including the potential impact to the services.

Order of Precedence

This section “Use of Generative AI” will take precedence over any conflicting GenAI contract terms provided by the Contractor to the Agency.

Updates to the Model/Platform

Contractor shall provide reasonable notice to the Agency of any updates to the GenAI model/platform that substantially impact the services prior to the updates taking place.

Audit

Contractor certifies that on an annual basis, or upon request of the Agency, its GenAI systems, models, or platforms, and related processes, training materials, training data sets, and its use and management of synthetic data, comply with the requirements of the Agreement. Contractor further certifies that it retains GenAI audit logs consistent with the terms of Schedule F of the Commonwealth’s Records in Common Schedule. Such certification shall be made in writing by an authorized officer of the Contractor and shall be subject to the same confidentiality protections as set forth in the Agreement, except as disclosure is required by law.

Control

For GenAI solutions/systems/models developed for the Agency, Contractor shall provide mechanisms through which the Agency can oversee the development and testing of the GenAI and where necessary override its functionality through human intervention.

Disentanglement

As of the termination date of the contract, or other date agreed upon by the Parties or determined by the Commonwealth, the Contractor shall cease the use of Generative AI in service delivery to the Agency; disengage Generative AI components; and comply with the transition/termination assistance obligations set forth in the contract.

Right to Use

During the term of the contract, Contractor shall ensure that the Agency has access to the full functionality offered by the GenAI systems/solutions used in the scope of services, including without limitation the ability to use the system, develop and test solutions, and make copies (with appropriate commercial mechanisms) without any limitations or restrictions. This clause shall survive the term of the contract if, in the contract, the Agency identifies the use of the Generative AI system as of strategic importance.

Localization

GenAI systems/solutions and data shall be hosted and stored in a cloud location controlled or approved by the Agency.

Representations

Each representation and warranty set forth in the contract applicable to information technology shall apply with equal force to GenAI solutions/systems. In addition, Contractor warrants that the GenAI that is part of the system/solution shall be accurate and generate unbiased results and, should Contractor fail to deliver on this warranty, it shall remedy, at no cost to the Agency, any such defects in the GenAI system/solution.

Additional Requirements

Enterprise Information Security Standards and Policies

All products and services provided to the Commonwealth must comply with all applicable policies adopted by the Agency, which shall be made available to Bidder prior to contract execution. At a minimum, all goods and services provided to the Commonwealth must comply with the Enterprise Information Security Standards and Policies (https://www.mass.gov/handbook/enterprise-information-security-policies-and-standards). Bidders shall provide information that demonstrates that their security practices meet the requirements detailed in these policies.

Accessibility for IT Solutions Contract Language

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts’ Enterprise Digital Accessibility Policy drives ongoing efforts to make Massachusetts’ Digital Assets, including those delivered by a third-party, accessible and usable by all persons as required by state and federal laws. Where a Deliverable includes a Digital Asset, such Deliverable must meet the Commonwealth’s Digital Accessibility Standards.

The Commonwealth’s Digital Accessibility Standards include the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) version 2.1 level A and AA developed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). Bidder must comply with the digital accessibility obligations set forth in the Vendor Digital Accessibility Contract Language and Vendor Digital Accessibility Testing Obligations and any subsequent versions or amendments.

During the bidding process and upon request, Bidder shall cooperate and provide the Commonwealth, or any third-party digital accessibility service provider procured by the Commonwealth, access to test its digital products for accessibility at no additional cost to the Commonwealth. The digital products must be available to the Commonwealth for evaluation prior to purchase and on an ongoing basis.

Contract Negotiation and Amendments

The Agency may negotiate changes to the original performance measures, quantities, Term length, and requirements identified in this RFQ at any time, provided that such changes are consistent with the scope of this RFQ. The Agency may negotiate and execute contract amendments with the awarded Bidder(s) which the Agency reasonably determines are within the scope of this RFQ and necessary to result in best value to the Commonwealth.

Promotional Materials

Bidder must not reference the Agency or the Commonwealth in any promotional or marketing materials, including but not limited to use of the Agency’s or the Commonwealth’s name or logo, without first obtaining the Agency’s prior written approval for such use. Bidder must not use the Commonwealth’s seal in any promotional or marketing materials.

Bidders are discouraged from including extraneous promotional or marketing materials in their responses to this RFQ and excessive promotional or marketing materials may detract from the Bidders’ overall score.

Pending Litigation

Bidder must affirm that there is no pending litigation involving the Bidder, Provider, or the services provided in the response, that may impair or interfere with the Agency’s right to use the services. Bidder must warrant that there are no actual or threatened actions arising from, or alleged under, any intellectual property rights of any third party.

Oral Presentations and Demonstrations

In its discretion, the Agency may invite one or more Bidders whose responses have been judged competitive and responsive in the course of the evaluation to participate in a facilitated oral presentation, including a demonstration of the proposed services. The Agency may use these demonstrations and oral presentations to clarify aspects of the Bidder’s response or to inquire as to the Bidder’s approach, recommendations, and experience. The Agency may adjust its scoring of a prospective Bidder based on the Bidder’s performance during production demonstration and/or oral presentation.

The Agency reserves the right to apply restrictions to the structure and content of Bidder’s product demonstrations and oral presentations. Demonstrations and oral presentations shall not be open to the public nor to any competitors. The schedule of the demonstrations and oral presentations will be arranged directly with the Bidders selected by the Agency. Failure of a Bidder to agree to a date and time may result in rejection of the Bidder’s response.

Review Rights

Responses to this RFQ may be reviewed and evaluated by any person(s) at the discretion of the Agency including non-allied and independent consultants retained by the Agency for the sole purpose of evaluating and analyzing responses.

Permitted Copies

If applicable, Bidders must authorize the Agency to make, keep and retain a reasonable number of machine-readable copies of all licensed, core software components included in the deliverables for testing, backup or archival purposes (the “Permitted Copies”). Such authorization shall be provided to the Agency at no additional cost.

Risk Management

Bidder must indicate the types of system audits or assessments (e.g. SOC 2) it conducts or engages third parties to conduct on its behalf, pertaining to the quoted products or services, and the frequency of such audits or assessments. Any time after submitting its Bid, upon Agency's request, Bidder shall provide audit or assessment reports to the Agency.

Warranties

Bidder shall provide all warranties listed below. Additional warranties may be agreed to in the contract resulting from this RFQ.

Bidder must provide all warranties required by the applicable Statewide Contract.

Bidder and its subcontractors will be sufficiently staffed and equipped to fulfill Bidder’s obligations under any SOW or engagement resulting from this RFQ. Bidder warrants that it shall be responsible for the actions and omissions of all subcontractors and shall ensure all subcontractors’ compliance with the terms of an agreement resulting from this RFQ.

Bidder’s services will be performed: (a) by appropriately qualified and trained personnel; (b) with due care and diligence and to a high standard of quality as is customary in the industry; (c) in compliance with the Milestone Schedule and the terms and conditions of this RFQ and any contract hereunder; and (d) in accordance with all applicable professional standards for the field of expertise.

The Deliverables will substantially conform with the Deliverable descriptions set forth in any SOW or engagement resulting from this RFQ.

All media on which the Bidder provides any software shall be free from defects.

All software delivered by the Bidder under the applicable Statewide Contract or this RFQ shall be free of Trojan horses, back doors, and other malicious code.

Bidder will obtain all rights, grants, assignments, conveyances, licenses, permissions and authorizations necessary or incidental to any materials owned by third parties, including data to train Generative AI models, supplied or specified by the Bidder for incorporation in the Deliverables to be developed under the applicable Statewide Contract.

Documentation to be provided by the Bidder shall be in sufficient detail so as to allow suitably skilled, trained, and educated Agency personnel to understand the operation of the Deliverables. Bidder agrees to promptly, at no additional cost to the Agency, make corrections to any documentation that does not conform to this warranty.

Bidder warrants that any systems that Bidder creates or modifies will operate in conformance with the Specifications for the system or modifications for six (6) months after acceptance (“Warranty Period”). As used in this RFQ, “Specifications” means (i) the requirements set forth in this RFQ, (ii) the functional, performance, and interoperability requirements set forth in any agreement entered hereunder; and (iii) the functionality and description provided in Bidder’s response to this RFQ. If EOTSS discovers a non-conformity during the Warranty Period, then the Bidder shall use commercially reasonable efforts to correct the non-conformity or provide a work around that is acceptable to the Agency (a “Fix”). If Bidder is unable to remedy a non-conformity or to provide a Fix that is acceptable to the Agency within a reasonable period of time, then the Agency may terminate any agreement effective immediately upon written notice to Bidder. Any replacement or error correction will not extend the original Warranty Period. During the Warranty Period, Bidder will not charge the Agency for services, parts, labor, or transportation

All content that may be created by GenAI is a work made for hire under U.S. Copyright law. To the extent any GenAI content may not be considered a work made for hire under applicable law, as part of the Contract, Contractor assigns to Agency, in perpetuity, all right and interest to such GenAI content without the need for further consideration. In addition, content created from the Commonwealth provided prompt is not a derivative work of the GenAI training data. Notwithstanding the preceding sentence, in the event a court of competent jurisdiction determines that content created from a Commonwealth-provided prompt constitutes a derivative work of the GenAI training data, Contractor agrees to grant the Commonwealth unlimited, irrevocable, worldwide, perpetual, royalty-free, non-exclusive right, and license to use, modify, reproduce, perform, release, display, create derivative works from, and disclose the content for any Commonwealth business.

EOTSS GenAI Policy

The Commonwealth consistently seeks to realize the benefits of new technology, in particular generative artificial intelligence (AI). Contractor must comply with the Enterprise Use and Development of Generative Artificial Intelligence Policy issued by EOTSS on January 31, 2025, as it may be amended from time to time. Please follow this link to the policy: www.mass.gov/doc/enterprise-use-and-development-of-generative-artificial-intelligence-policy/download.

Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC)

Contractor solutions should support migration to post-quantum cryptographic standards approved or recommended by NIST or other recognized industry, governmental, or international standards bodies, and maintain cryptographic agility without requiring complete system replacement. If complete system replacement is necessary to support such migration, the transition shall be performed at no additional cost to the Commonwealth.

Bidder Responses

Bidders must complete the attached RFQ Response Form (Form 1) and a Template Statement of Work (Form 2).

The responses to this RFQ will be evaluated based on the criteria listed below, in descending order of importance with the most important criteria listed first. The procurement management team may remove from further consideration non-responsive bids and bids that do not include all required items listed in Section VII (Bidder Responses). Prior to such an exclusion, the Agency may request one or more clarification(s) from Bidder. A Bidder’s response may be excluded for failure to meet the Agency’s budgetary thresholds. Should this RFQ result in a contract with an annual spend amount of less than $250,000, bids from certified small businesses are highly desired, in accordance with ReOrg Plan S.2937 “An Act to Elevate the Supplier Diversity Office to Ensure Equal Opportunity in State Contracting,” and Agency will follow guidance provided by the Supplier Diversity Office in evaluating Bidder responses.

Any remaining responses will be evaluated based upon:

1. Fit to Requirements of the RFQ

2. Relevant experience

3. Price as provided in the Cost Table

ATTACHMENT A – COMMBUYS Instructions

Interested Bidders must submit their response using COMMBUYS.

Useful links:

1. Job aid on how to submit a quote: https://www.mass.gov/doc/how-to-create-a-quote-in-commbuys/download

1. Webcast: How to Locate and Respond to a Bid in CommBuys, which will familiarize bidders with CommBuys terminology, basic navigation, and provide guidance for locating bid opportunities in CommBuys and submitting an online quote.

1. Bidders MUST have their complete bid fully loaded and submitted prior to the time and date listed in the calendar. COMMBUYS will not allow for bids to be submitted after the posted time.

Bidder may contact the CommBuys Help Desk at CommBuys@state.ma.us or call during normal business hours (8AM – 5PM, Monday – Friday) at 1-888-627-8283 or 617-720-3197.

Written questions via the Bid Q&A on COMMBUYS

The “Bid Q&A” provides the opportunity for Bidders to ask written questions and receive written answers from the Strategic Sourcing Team (SST) regarding this Bid. All Bidders’ questions must be submitted through the Bid Q&A found on COMMBUYS (see below for instructions). Questions may be asked only prior to the Deadline for Submission of Questions stated in the Procurement Calendar. The issuing department reserves the right not to respond to questions submitted after this date. It is the Bidder’s responsibility to verify receipt of questions.

Please note that any questions submitted to the SST using any other medium (including those that are sent by mail, fax, email or voicemail, etc.) will not be answered. To reduce the number of redundant or duplicate questions, Bidders are asked to review all questions previously submitted to determine whether the Bidder’s question has already been posted.

Bidders are responsible for entering content suitable for public viewing, since all of the questions are accessible to the public. Bidders must not include any information that could be considered personal, security sensitive, inflammatory, incorrect, collusory, or otherwise objectionable, including information about the Bidder’s company or other companies. The PMT reserves the right to edit or delete any submitted questions that raise any of these issues or that are not in the best interest of the Commonwealth or this Bid.

All answers are final when posted. Any subsequent revisions to previously provided answers will be dated.

It is the responsibility of the prospective Bidder and awarded Bidder to maintain an active registration in COMMBUYS and to keep current the email address of the Bidder’s contact person and prospective contract manager, if awarded a contract, and to monitor that email inbox for communications from the Purchasing Department, including requests for clarification. The Purchasing Department and the Commonwealth assume no responsibility if a prospective Bidder’s/awarded Bidder’s designated email address is not current, or if technical problems, including those with the prospective Bidder’s/awarded Bidder’s computer, network or internet service provider (ISP) cause email communications sent to/from the prospective Bidder/Awarded Bidder and the Purchasing Department to be lost or rejected by any means including email or spam filtering.

Locating Bid Q&A

Log into COMMBUYS, locate the Bid, acknowledge receipt of the Bid, and scroll down to the bottom of the Bid Header page. The “Bid Q&A” button allows Bidders access to the Bid Q&A page.

FORM 1 – RFQ RESPONSE FORM

Bidders should avoid including additional components in their responses which are not expressly requested in the RFQ. If multiple options are available and responsive to the RFQ, Bidders must clearly identify the differences in cost and functionality of each option.

1. Statement of Interest and Contact Information

Company or Organization Name:

_______________________________________________ (“Bidder”)

Bidder Address:

Bidder Contact(s):

References

___ If marked, Bidder must describe three references to the Agency illustrating examples in which Bidder has provided similar hardware, software, maintenance, and services to organizations of comparable size to the Agency within the last five to ten years, if applicable. Bidder must provide the name and contact information for an individual employed by the customer. Bidders are encouraged to provide references of government organizations within the Commonwealth. Bidder agrees that the Agency or its agents may contact any individual(s) named as references hereunder. References must be submitted in the format specified on the OSD business reference form, which is available at https://www.mass.gov/files/documents/2016/08/wd/business-reference-form_0.doc?_ga=2.37941354.891907013.1563542725-372871650.1562964984.

Data Classification

Bidder must describe its information security practices and policies with respect to the Data Types identified in Section V (Data Classification) of the RFQ. Additional documentation may be attached to this Response form.

Business and Technical Response

Description of the specific products/service offered:

Description of warranty, maintenance, and support applicable to the products and services listed. Note that warranty, maintenance, and support must be consistent with requirements set forth in the applicable statewide contract.

If Bidder is providing services, provide a list of assumptions on which it is basing its bid.

Attach an unlocked, editable copy of any relevant license agreement, subscription agreement, warranty or maintenance agreement, technical support description and any other forms or agreements related to the procurement of the Bidder’s proposed solution, in MS Word format.

Cost Response

Include a redline (track changes) version of the Statement of Work (Form 2). Insert pricing, assumptions, and descriptions of Tasks, Deliverables, and milestone due dates, as applicable. Proposed professional services rates must include all costs and expenses, including without limitation delivery services, travel and all other costs and expenses. EOTSS strongly prefers that the services be provided by resources located in the United States. If the resources are not located in the United States, please specify their location in the table below. Bidder must provide a total fixed price cost for all deliverables and tasks. Bidder must provide hourly rates if bidding either Firm Fixed Price or Time and Materials work, to be used in the event that additional work is required during the SOW Term. Bidder agrees that all professional services will be documented in substantially the same form as Form 2.

Please follow the example below to include the proposed staff/roles and time commitment.

Attach a valid quote that can be used to issue a purchase order. The quote must include address and contact information for the person to whom the quote can be sent. All quotes must be valid for a minimum of ninety (90) days after the date of submission.

Certification and Acknowledgment

By submitting this RFQ Response, the Bidder hereby agrees and acknowledges that any agreement resulting from the RFQ will be subject to the documents incorporated therein, as provided in Section IV (Order of Precedence) of the RFQ. The Bidder agrees to all terms of the RFQ including all documents incorporated into the agreement. Any clarification requested to the terms of this RFQ must be itemized in the table below, identify the applicable section(s) of the RFQ, provide an explanation for requesting a clarification, and propose alternative language. A request for clarification will in no manner bind the Commonwealth unless such clarifications are expressly incorporated into an agreement negotiated between the Agency and Bidder. A clarification request to materially deviate from a required term of the RFQ may result in the response being considered non-responsive, as provided in Section VII (Bidder Responses).

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Services RFQ (5.19.2026)

FORM 2 - STATEMENT OF WORK TEMPLATE

STATEMENT OF WORK

BETWEEN

[AGENCY]

AND

[CONTRACTOR NAME]

FOR THE

[PROJECT NAME]

INTRODUCTION

The following document will serve as a Statement of Work (“SOW”) between [AGENCY] (“[AGENCY ABBREVIATION]” or “Agency”) and [CONTRACTOR NAME] (“Contractor”) governing Contractor’s work on the [PROJECT NAME]. The entire agreement (the “Agreement”) between the parties consists of the following documents, in the following order of precedence. In the event of a conflict, the document of higher precedence shall govern.

(1) The Commonwealth Terms and Conditions or Commonwealth Terms and Conditions for Information Technology Contracts, as applicable

(2) The Commonwealth Standard Contract Form

(3) Request for Response [RFR NAME] (“RFR”)

(4) Contractor’s response to the RFR

(5) Request for Quotes [RFQ NAME, RFQ NUMBER AND DATE] (“RFQ”)

(6) Appendix A to this SOW

(7) this SOW, attachments, and any Task Orders or other documents negotiated between the parties

(8) Contractor’s response to the RFQ

DEFINITIONS

The following terms shall have the following meanings. All other terms used in this SOW shall have the meaning ascribed to them in the other documents that constitute the Agreement between the Parties.

“Business Days” means all days except for weekends and Commonwealth holidays. A list of Commonwealth holidays is available at https://www.sec.state.ma.us/divisions/cis/holiday-info.htm.

“Deliverable” means any work product that Contractor delivers for the purposes of fulfilling its obligations to Agency.

“Key Personnel” means Contractor personnel directly responsible for management of the SOW or those personnel whose professional/technical skills are determined to be essential to the successful implementation of the SOW.

“Party” or “Parties” means, as applicable, one or both of Contractor or Agency.

“Services” means the activities engaged in by Contractor for the purpose of fulfilling its obligations under the terms of the SOW, which may or may not result in the creation of a Deliverable.

“Task” means a material activity engaged in by Contractor for the purpose of fulfilling its obligations to Agency.

“Task Order” means an amendment to this SOW that specifies Tasks or Deliverables to be completed by Contractor within a specified time period.

EFFECTIVE DATE AND TERM

This SOW’s term (the “Term”) begins on the date it is executed by both Parties (the “Effective Date”) and shall terminate on [END DATE] (“Termination Date”) unless extended or renewed via written amendment executed by the Parties.

PROJECT BACKGROUND AND OVERVIEW

[Provide background and high-level overview of project.]

FIXED PRICE TASKS AND DELIVERABLES

This Section describes the Tasks to be completed by the Contractor, the Deliverables to be provided by the Contractor, and a timeline for delivery. A Task or Deliverable will be considered “complete” when all the acceptance criteria set forth in this SOW have been met. All written Deliverables shall be delivered in a format specified by Agency. All meetings shall be held on-premises at the address of Agency, unless agreed to otherwise by the Project Managers.

For the Fixed Price Tasks and Deliverables of this Agreement, Contractor shall perform Tasks and deliver Deliverables in conformance with the Description and Metrics of Acceptance on or before the Due Dates set forth in Table 1. Upon acceptance by Agency of the Deliverables or Tasks, the amounts specified in Table 1 associated with each Deliverable or Task shall be payable to Contractor.

TABLE 1: FIXED PRICE TASKS AND DELIVERABLES

TOTAL

KEY PERSONNEL

6.1 Commonwealth Project Manager(s)

[NAME] ([email address], [phone number]) will serve as the Agency Project Manager (“PM”) and will: (i) work closely with the Contractor PM to ensure successful completion of the project; (ii) consult with Contractor PM to develop the Project Management Plan; (iii) review [weekly] status reports and schedule [weekly] meetings with Contractor, as necessary; (iv) coordinate participation from other agencies and/or vendors as required during the engagement; (v) acquire Agency project team members as needed; and (vi) coordinate Agency’s review of the Deliverables and sign an acceptance form to signify acceptance for each accepted Deliverable.

[OPTIONAL: [NAME] ([email address], [phone number]) will serve as the Agency Technical Project Manager (“Technical PM”) and will: (i) work closely with the Agency PM and Contractor PM to ensure successful completion of the project; (ii) consult with the Agency PM and Contractor PM to develop the Project Management Plan; and (iii) serve as a technical resource for Contractor PM and Contractor personnel.]

[OPTIONAL: [NAME][email address][phone number]] will serve as the [OTHER AGENCY] Project Manager (“PM”) and will: (i) work closely with the Agency and Contractor PM to ensure successful completion of the project; (ii) consult with the Agency and Contractor PM to develop the Project Management Plan; (iii) review [weekly] status reports and schedule [weekly] meetings with Contractor, as necessary; (iv) coordinate participation from other agencies and/or vendors as required during the engagement; (v) acquire [OTHER AGENCY] project team members as needed; and (vi) coordinate [OTHER AGENCY]’s review of the Deliverables and sign an acceptance form to signify acceptance for each accepted Deliverable.]

6.2 Contractor Project Manager

[NAME] ([email address], [phone number]) will serve as the Contractor Project Manager (the “Contractor PM”) and will (i) be responsible for administering this SOW and the managing of the day-to-day operations under this SOW, (ii) serve as an interface between the Agency PM and all Contractor personnel participating in this engagement; (iii) develop and maintain the Project Management Plan in consultation with the Agency PM; (iv) facilitate regular communication with the Agency PM, including [weekly] status reports/updates, and review the project performance against the project plan and facilitate [weekly] project status meetings for the duration of the engagement; (v) update the Project Management Plan on a [weekly] basis and distribute it at [weekly] meetings for the duration of the engagement; (vi) sign acceptance forms to acknowledge receipt; and (vii) be responsible for the management and deployment of Contractor personnel.

The PMs bear the primary responsibility for issue resolution. If an issue cannot be resolved by the PMs, the Agency PM shall escalate to [NAME] and the Contractor PM shall escalate to [NAME]. The PMs shall be responsible for coordinating a meeting with Agency and Contractor leadership to review and resolve any issues.

6.3 Contractor Personnel

Contractor will provide the following personnel for the following estimated time commitment. All services shall be performed exclusively by personnel who are physically located and operating in the United States.

TABLE 2: PERSONNEL

If a change to the assigned personnel is necessary, the Contractor PM will provide a written change request at least two (2) weeks prior to the change to the Agency PM. The Agency PM may reject or accept such change. Any personnel replacements must have the same or similar qualifications (educational background and certifications) and experience as that of the Contractor resources being replaced. Contractor shall take full responsibility for project management and for conducting a knowledge transfer to the new personnel at no additional cost to the Agency or extension to the agreed-upon timelines. Contractor shall take full responsibility for project management.