RFQ ITS81 DESE Website Modernization Requirements Design Solution Architecture Migration Services 09012026.pdf

Commonwealth of Massachusetts Executive Office of Education

Request for Quotation RFQ# 27ITS81MP01

COMMBUYS BID# BD-27-1036-EDU02-EDU02-133022

DESE Website Modernization Services Requirements, Architecture Design & Implementation Prototype, and Migration

Date: September 01, 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 EDUCATION LEGAL UNIT

BY SENDING AN EMAIL TO EOE.RAO@MASS.GOV ANY PORTIONS OF A RESPONSE

THAT ARE LABELED AS CONFIDENTIAL WILL STILL BE CONSIDERED PUBLIC

RECORD.

1. GENERAL PROCUREMENT INFORMATION

Purchasing Department: Executive Office of Education Address: 135 Santilli Hwy, Everett, MA 02149.

Procurement Contact/Email Address: EOEFiscal@mass.gov

Attachments:

Attachment A - Background, Goals and Scope Attachment B - Business Requirements Attachment C - Current Process Documentation Attachment C1 - Current Process Diagrams Attachment D - Technical Requirements Attachment D1 - User Interface Consideration Attachment E - Accessibility Requirements Attachment F - Site Inventory and App Inventory Attachment G - Finalist Oral Presentation Instructions Attachment H - Template Statement of Work Attachment I - Bidder Submission Checklist Attachment J - Cost Response Workbook Attachment K - CORI Check Requirements Attachment L- Enterprise Use and Development of Generative Artificial Intelligence Policy Attachment M - HRiA CPLAN-DESE Website Assessment Report

Bidders must review all attachments in their entirety.

This Request for Quotes (“RFQ”) does not commit the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (“Commonwealth”) or the Executive Office of Education (“EOE” 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. EOE reserves the right to accept or reject any and all proposals received as a result of this RFQ and to contract for some, all or none of the products and services as a result of this RFQ. EOE further reserves the right to negotiate with any or all qualified Bidders and to cancel in part or in its entirety this RFQ if it is in the best interest of EOE or the Commonwealth to do so.

EOE reserves the right to 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) Bidders are advised to check this site regularly, as this will be the sole method used for notification of changes.

This RFQ is restricted to Vendors on the statewide contracts ITS81.

mailto:EOEFiscal@mass.gov https://www.commbuys.com/bso/

Interested Bidders must submit their bids through the Commonwealth’s online procurement system, COMMBUYS. Responses must be received no later than the response due date and time indicated in the Event Calendar below or they will not be evaluated.

2. SECRETARIAT AND AGENCY

EOE works with the Department of Early Education and Care (“EEC”), Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (“DESE”), Department of Higher Education (“DHE”), and the state's 29 public colleges and universities to connect programs and policies across the entire public education system. EOE Information Technology (“EOE IT”) supports EEC, DESE and DHE in developing, maintaining, and supporting their information technology systems, including hardware, software applications, and data. Accordingly, should EOE or any EOE agency require similar services to those described herein, during the Term of RFQ ITS81, EOE may leverage this RFQ and engage Bidder(s) to deliver such services.

3. BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE OF THE SOLICITATION

The Executive Office of Education (“EOE”), on behalf of the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, is seeking responses from qualified Bidders to provide professional services for the DESE Website Modernization Initiative.

This solicitation seeks qualified Bidders to provide professional services for one or more of the following procurement service phases:

• Business Requirements Refinement

• Solution Architecture Design

• Implementation with Prototype

• Data and Content Migration

The purpose of this project is to modernize the DESE public website:

Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

Generally, we will be implementing the strategic recommendations in Attachment M - HRiA CPLAN-DESE Website Assessment Report, which arose out of a business process review. The future website will be a user-centered, accessible, secure, and maintainable digital solution that meets EOE and DESE's business and technical objectives. The selected Vendor(s) will use an Agile methodology to refine and validate the documented business and technical requirements, develop a solution architecture, design and implementation with a prototype, and support data and content migration.

Detailed project background, goals, scope of work, business requirements, technical requirements, and expected deliverables are provided in:

https://www.doe.mass.edu/

Attachment A - Background, Goals and Scope of Work Attachment B - Business Requirements Attachment C - Current Process Documentation Attachment D - Technical Requirements Attachment E - Accessibility Requirements Attachment F - Site Inventory and App Inventory Attachment L - Enterprise Use and Development of Generative Artificial Intelligence Policy

Also, Vendors and Vendor deliverables must comply with the Commonwealth’s Enterprise Security Policies, here: Enterprise Information Security Policies | Mass.gov. Vendor staff must comply with the Attachment K - CORI Check Requirements.

4. MANDATORY MINIMUM BIDDER REQUIREMENTS (Required Qualifications)

The following are the mandatory minimum qualifications a Bidder project team must meet for the Bidder response to be evaluated and scored:

a) All proposed project staff must have a minimum of three (3) years of experience delivering enterprise-wide website modernization or digital transformation projects of comparable size, scope, and complexity within the past five (5) years, including at least one (1) project for a government agency, higher education institution, or similarly regulated organization. Bidder experience must align with the project phases identified in the Bidder proposal.

b) All proposed project staff must have experience implementing at least one (1) Drupal solution hosted by Amazon Web Services (“AWS”). If invited to do so, the Bidder must be able to demonstrate a Drupal solution of comparable size and scope during the finalist oral presentation to validate the Bidder’s experience and technical capabilities.

5. PREFERRED EXPERIENCE/QUALIFICATIONS

The following are the preferred qualifications for a Bidder project team:

a) The Bidder should demonstrate experience delivering large-scale, user-centered website modernization efforts that include digital accessibility, service design, content design, user research, information architecture, and content governance. Experience should include integrating accessibility and user-centered design practices throughout discovery, design, development, testing, and implementation.

b) The Bidder should demonstrate experience designing and developing digital services that conform to Enterprise Digital Accessibility Statement | Mass.gov, Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) Title II Digital Accessibility Information | Mass.gov, and applicable public-sector accessibility standards, including accessibility testing with both automated and manual methods.

c) Bidder has adequate staff to complete the assigned project phases on time and with the originally proposed staff and with minimal turn-over.

https://www.mass.gov/handbook/enterprise-information-security-policies https://www.mass.gov/info-details/enterprise-digital-accessibility-statement https://www.mass.gov/info-details/americans-with-disabilities-act-ada-title-ii-digital-accessibility-information https://www.mass.gov/info-details/americans-with-disabilities-act-ada-title-ii-digital-accessibility-information

d) EOE prefers Bidders that can complete all phases of the project, especially when they offer economies of scale, but will also consider strong proposals for individual phases.

e) The Bidder must submit a complete Bid package, including all required forms, certifications, attachments, and supporting documentation, by the submission deadline. Failure to submit a complete Bid by the deadline may result in the Bid being deemed non-responsive and disqualified from further consideration.

f) Full-Stack Web Development certifications. Front-End Development certifications in HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript, and Twig. Back-End Development certifications in PHP, Drupal 11, Symfony, REST APIs, and PostgreSQL 16.

g) Architecture & Security Certifications equivalent.

h) The Bidder should have personnel with industry-recognized certifications, credentials, or equivalent demonstrated experience appropriate to their assigned responsibilities. Preferred certifications may include, but are not limited to:

1. Drupal certifications (e.g., Acquia Certified Drupal Developer),

2. AWS certifications (e.g., AWS Certified Developer or AWS Certified Solutions

Architect),

3. Accessibility certifications (e.g., IAAP CPACC, WAS, or CPWA).

6. SCOPE OF WORK

A. 6.1 Solution Requirements The modernized DESE website must meet all the requirements of this RFQ, including Attachments.

The delivered solution must maximize the use of standard platform capabilities, minimize custom development, and support future scalability, accessibility, and innovation. The new DESE website must incorporate modern cloud architecture, and:

a) Align with Commonwealth digital standards:

o Digital Policies and Guidelines | Mass.gov o Enterprise Digital Accessibility Policy | Mass.gov o The Commonwealth Digital Roadmap | Mass.gov

b) Leverage the Massachusetts Design System:

o Massachusetts Design System | Mass.gov

c) Use Drupal 11:

o Commonwealth of Massachusetts | Drupal.org

d) Operate within the AWS environment provided by EOE; hosting services are not required from Bidder.

B. 6.2 Minimum Deliverables At a minimum, the selected Bidder shall provide the following payment milestone deliverables:

• Business Requirements Refinement Report https://www.mass.gov/handbook/digital-policies-and-guidelines https://www.mass.gov/handbook/digital-policies-and-guidelines https://www.mass.gov/info-details/enterprise-digital-accessibility-policy https://www.mass.gov/the-commonwealth-digital-roadmap https://www.mass.gov/massachusetts-design-system https://new.drupal.org/commonwealth-of-massachusetts

• Solution Architecture Design that aligns with Attachment D – Technical Requirements

• Implementation, including a Prototype

• Accessibility Audit and Testing Report (See Attachment E – Accessibility Requirement)

C. Data and Content Migration

The Bidder shall provide regular progress updates and obtain EOE and DESE review and approval of key deliverables for each project phase. The selected Bidder shall also provide a warranty period and appropriate knowledge transfer (“KT”), including documentation and transition sessions, for each applicable phase.

Bidders should propose additional deliverables that they consider necessary to successfully complete the DESE Website Modernization Services.

Bidders shall propose a realistic project timeline for each milestone demonstrating how they will meet the project objectives and anticipated completion date of June 30, 2027.

7. STATEMENT OF WORK AND ORDER OF PRECEDENCE

The professional services delivered under this RFQ by the successful Bidder will be subject to a Statement of Work (“SOW”) in the form of the Template Statement of Work attached hereto as Attachment H – Template Statement of Work. EOE will work with the winning Bidder(s) to complete this SOW as part of the execution of a contract with the successful Bidder. Most of the standard terms of the SOW are nonnegotiable (including without limitation the warranties set forth therein) but the parties will negotiate the specific approach to and timeline for the Professional Services to create Tasks and Deliverables (as defined in the SOW).

IPAWE Agreement - The selected Vendor shall ensure that each of its personnel providing professional services under the resulting agreement, regardless of whether the individual is an employee, contractor, or agent of the Vendor, shall, prior to rendering any services under this agreement, sign the “Intellectual Property and Work Effort Agreement for Vendor’s Employees, Contractors, Consultants, and Agents” (the “IPAWE Agreement”) which is included in Attachment H: Template Statement of Work as Exhibit A in SOW. Selected Vendor shall return the signed copies of the IPAWE Agreement to EOE’s project manager prior to the rendering of any services.

The contract resulting from this RFQ shall consist of the following documents defined in Attachment H – Template Statement of Work:

1) The Commonwealth’s Standard Form Contract, which includes Instructions and Certifications, and the Commonwealth’s Terms and Conditions for Information Technology Contracts.

2) The Commonwealth’s applicable statewide contract RFR ITS81.

3) The Bidder’s response thereto

4) This RFQ (as it may be amended, including without limitation by amendments to the RFQ, answers to questions received, requests for clarification and requests for best and final offers),

5) The SOW and any other documents negotiated between the parties, and

6) The Bidder’s response to this RFQ, including clarifications and best and final offers.

Bidders that cannot accept this order of precedence should not submit a bid response.

In accordance with Section 7.4 of the SOW (Title and Intellectual Property Rights) EOE will own all work products and deliverables. Because the website will be wholly owned by the Commonwealth, EOE generally discourages Bidders from including software licenses as part of their proposal, unless they provide demonstrable value to the project.

EOE reserves the right to contract with the successful Bidder for services that are related to the services identified herein but not expressly identified.

The Term of any resulting SOW or agreement shall not be limited by the terms of this RFQ. The Term may extend to the maximum length allowed by the statewide ITS81 contract, including any options to renew and extend beyond that date, which is currently June 30, 2037, to support related services not specified herein.

8. RFQ AND PROJECT TIMELINE AND CALENDAR

The estimated timeline for this procurement and project is as follows:

RFQ Posted September 1, 2026 Q&A - Bidder Questions Due September 8, 2026, 3:00 PM Q&A - EOE Answers Posted (Estimated) September 10, 2026, 3:00 PM Proposals Due September 28, 2026, 1:00 PM Finalist Presentations (Estimated) Week of October 12, 2026 Notify Successful Bidder (Estimated) Week of October 20, 2026 Finalize Contract (Estimated) November 2, 2026 Start Work (Estimated) November 5, 2026 Project Completion Date (Production Live) June 30, 2027

Note: All dates, including the anticipated project start date, are estimates for planning purposes and are subject to change.

9. BIDDER RESPONSE REQUIREMENTS

Bidder responses must include, at a minimum, the following:

A. Cover Letter, including:

1) The name, phone number, and e-mail address for the primary point of contact for all correspondence related to the bid.

Keane, Carolyn (EOE) subject to change

Suwal, Navin (EOE) @Keane, Carolyn (EOE) , just to make sure this gets resolved, closed and deleted before posting today. Thank you!

2) Express confirmation that the Bidder understands and accepts the terms and conditions of this RFQ, including the terms and conditions set forth in all Attachments. A statement that the Bidder agrees to negotiate the terms of the RFQ is not acceptable.

3) An express statement that the Bidder meets all the Mandatory Minimum Requirements.

If a Bidder cannot agree to any term or condition in this RFQ, the Bidder must expressly identify such exceptions in an attachment to the Cover Letter, labeled “Bidder Exceptions”. Bidder exceptions should be limited. Excessive exceptions may negatively impact EOE’s evaluation and scoring of the Bidder proposal. Any Bidder exception which is not identified in accordance with this requirement shall be void and shall not be an enforceable term of the resulting agreement.

B. Narrative Business Response, including:

1) Describe in detail how Bidder’s proposed services will meet the requirements set forth in this RFQ, particularly those outlined in Section 6, Scope of Work, and Section 8, Project RFQ Estimated Timeline and Calendar. Please limit this description of proposed services to 10 pages or less.

2) Describe three comparable projects that the Bidder has completed, preferably for state government, or for customers with similar size and complexity, within the past five years.

If Bidder has previous experience working with multiple Vendors in the same website modernization engagement, please also describe this project and provide pros and cons of that experience.

a) Provide three client references, including phone and email contact information. Bidders must use the OSD Reference Form available here.

b) Provide a staffing plan and full resume for each proposed key resource staff individual, including applicable certifications. For staffing requirements see Sections 4 (Mandatory Minimum Bidder Requirements) and Section 5 (Preferred Experience/Qualifications).

c) A red-lined copy of the Attachment H - Statement of Work, focusing on completing Tables 1-4 reflecting Bidder’s proposal, including the list of deliverables, timeline for delivery, and proposed fixed price milestone payments.

d) ITS81 allows subcontracting, if a Bidder intends to subcontract, related details must be disclosed.

e) A completed Attachment I- Bidder Submission Checklist.

a. Narrative response to Attachment B - Business Requirements (Limit to 5 pages).

b. Narrative response to Attachment D – Technical Requirements (Limit to 5 pages).

C. Cost Proposal, including:

1) The Cost Proposal must be a FIRM-FIXED-PRICE for each Phase of the project using Attachment J: Cost Response Workbook. Bidders shall provide separate pricing for each procurement service Phase.

2) While this is a firm, fixed price cost proposal, Bidders must also provide hourly rates for the proposed key resources. EOE reserves the right to hire the awarded Vendor at the proposed rates for work that is related in scope but not expressly identified herein. Bidders https://www.mass.gov/doc/business-reference-form-2/download must include a chart of the names, titles/roles, and hourly rates of all key personnel.

Hourly rates must be fully loaded and include all costs and expenses, including, but not limited to, delivery services, travel, and all other related costs and expenses.

Hourly rates must be identified in the Bidder’s Cost Response Workbook.

3) Hourly rates shall not change for the first three years of any resulting contract. Any increases thereafter shall be capped at a 3% increase, annually.

The Bidder must submit a complete Bid package, including all required forms, certifications, attachments, and supporting documentation, by the submission deadline. Failure to submit a complete Bid by the deadline may result in the Bid being deemed non-responsive and disqualified from further consideration.

D. Oral Presentations Please see the attached Attachment G - Finalist Oral Presentation Instructions.

10. EVALUATION CRITERIA

EOE and DESE are seeking one or more Vendors (successful Bidders are referred to as “Vendors”) that can deliver the functional, technical, and non-functional needs explicitly specified in this RFQ and Attachments.

The responses to this RFQ will be evaluated based on the criteria listed in this section.

A Bidder’s response may be excluded as materially non-responsive for failure to meet one of the mandatory requirements (see Section 4) of this RFQ. Any remaining responses will be evaluated based upon:

a) The overall quality and specificity of the Bidder’s Narrative Business response.

b) The overall quality of the Bidder’s proposed key resources and whether their resumes reflect the “Preferred Experience” identified in Section 5.

c) Overall competitiveness of the firm, fixed price cost proposal. Hourly rates are also considered.

d) Bidder Demonstrations, as applicable.

EOE may host Bidder Demonstrations consistent with Section 9(D) of this RFQ and may evaluate selected Bidder’s abilities to demonstrate the processes represented in Attachment G: Finalist Oral Presentations Instructions.

EOE may consider prior experience with the Bidder and/or public information about the Bidder.

Bidders that are disbarred may not submit a proposal.

EOE has described its requirements and expected deliverables in detail, and prefers a tightly aligned response, but will consider alternate Vendor proposals that might frame the project differently and/or present best value to the Commonwealth.

11. BID Q&A SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS

A. 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 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.

B. 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 there are 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.

C. 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.

12. RESPONSE SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS

Interested Bidders must submit their response using COMMBUYS.

Useful links:

• Job aid on how to submit a quote: Download - Instructions for Vendor Responding to bids.

This site will familiarize Bidders with COMMBUYS terminology, basic navigation, and provide guidance for locating bid opportunities in CommBuys and submitting an online quote.

• Locating and Responding to Bid Solicitations in COMMBUYS | Mass.gov https://www.mass.gov/doc/instructions-for-Vendors-responding-to-bids/download https://www.mass.gov/info-details/locating-and-responding-to-bid-solicitations-in-commbuys

Bidder may contact the CommBuys Help Desk at OSDHelpDesk@mass.gov or call during normal business hours (8AM – 5PM, Monday – Friday) at 1-888-627-8283.

13. MISCELLANEOUS

A. General By submitting a proposal in response to this RFQ, Bidders agree to the following terms:

a) All bids submitted in response to this RFQ must be valid for a minimum of ninety (90) calendar days.

b) Extraneous marketing or promotional materials are discouraged, and such information will not be factored into the evaluation of Vendors.

B. Bid/Response Rejection

EOE reserves the right to reject any or all Bidder responses, in whole or in part and for any reason deemed non-compliant or non-responsive, its attachments or any subsequent changes. Bidders are advised to check prior to submitting a response to ensure that they have the most recent RFQ files.

Bidders may not alter (manually or electronically) the RFQ language or any RFQ component files.

Modifications to the body of the RFQ, specifications, terms and conditions, or which change the intent of this RFQ are prohibited and may disqualify a response. EOE reserves the right not to enter into any agreement under this RFQ.

C. Contract Amendments

EOE reserves the right to amend this RFQ or any contract resulting from this RFQ. EOE may negotiate changes to the original performance measures, reporting requirements or payment methodologies tied to performance at any time during the contract duration if they are consistent with the specifications of this RFQ. EOE reserves the right to negotiate and execute contract amendments with the contractor(s) which EOE determines as necessary to result in the intent of this RFQ, to amend the specifications for necessary requirements, or to result in a better-valued contract. Negotiation would be with the successful contractor(s) of this RFQ. Amendments may include, but are not limited to, contract dollars, contract performance, increased or decreased obligations, scope of work, quantity, etc.

D. Review Rights

Responses to this RFQ may be reviewed and evaluated by any person(s) at the discretion of EOE including non-allied and independent consultants retained by EOE now or in the future, for the sole purpose of obtaining an analysis of responses. All respondents may be asked to further explain or clarify in writing areas of their response during the review process. EOE retains the right to request further information from respondents.

mailto:OSDHelpDesk@mass.gov

E. Replacement of Personnel

EOE expects that the winning Bidder will manage their staffing resources and will ensure the availability of all proposed key resources for the duration of the project.

The skills of the replacement individual for any staff member who is removed from or leaves the project for any reason must match or exceed the replaced staff member in terms of skill level and experience. EOE reserves the right to approve/reject the replacement prior to assignment.

Further, any Vendor-initiated staff replacement which is not occasioned by unexpected loss of the staff member must be assigned so as to overlap at least two weeks with the staff member being replaced to provide for a smooth, effective transition/transfer. In such an event, a transition/transfer plan must be provided to EOE in writing two weeks before the start of the transition. Any knowledge transfer that is required due to staffing turnover must be completed at the Vendor’s cost.

EOE reserves the right to address individual staff performance with the Vendor’s Project Manager or the Vendor’s executive team should the need arise during the project.