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ATTACHMENT C – Software Specifications Instructions:
Quoter shall enter a functionality level and description/explanation for each Functional requirement below. Quoters are cautioned not to indicate functionality as "included in standard offering" when, in fact, that particular feature is in development. When that is the case, Quoters should note that fact in the comments column and indicate the expected date that such a feature will be made available.
Functionality Levels:
a) Functionality not provided: Feature not included in the quoted application. (Please note: failure to provide all “Required” features may result in a non-responsive quote and removal from award consideration)
b) Functionality provided by third party, with customization: Feature requires customized integration with third party: Quoter has established a relationship with a business partner to provide this functionality, but it needs customizing or working around.
c) Functionality provided by the quoted product, with customization: The functionality can be accomplished with the quoted products, but some customizing or working around is required.
d) Functionality provided third-party, seamlessly: The Quoter has established a relationship (for example, as an OEM) with a business partner to provide this functionality integrated in its application. No customizing or working around is needed. The criterion may also be met if an appropriate architecture (for example, service-oriented architecture [SOA]) can be exploited to provide the necessary functionality. In this case, an explicit business partner would not be a core requirement.
e) Functionality provided out of the box: The quoted software provides the functionality from its own code base. No customizing or working around is required.
Functional Requirements:
Network Infrastructure and Basic Software Functionality
| Feature |
| Explanation |
| Functionality - Level and Comments |
| Hosting |
| The software shall be hosted inside the Department of State's firewall. (REQUIRED) |
| Login |
| The solution shall support single sign-on through Active Directory. (REQUIRED) |
| Security Configuration |
| The site shall function with a Federal Desktop Core Configuration (FDCC) compliant Internet Explorer configuration. For a Linux operating system, the configuration shall be done using a NIST approved checklist. See National Checklist Program Repository (REQUIRED) |
| Interoperability |
| The Quoter shall describe whether the software can be made available to both employees of the Department of State and the U.S. Agency for International Development, who share a network but different Active Directory forests. |
| Extensibility and API |
| The content should enable tie-ins into other sites, through widgets (such as Share Point) or an API. The Quoter shall describe the coding available, programming languages compatible with the API, and whether extending modules or codes to other sites requires Quoter support or can be achieved by Department of State staff. |
| Branding |
| The software shall enable Department of State branding and look-and-feel customization. (REQUIRED) |
| Performance |
| The Quoter shall describe the level of activity the software can handle and how it scales. (For reference, the historical number of hits on the site per day has been below 10,000 page views, but could grow in the future.) |
| Support |
| The Quoter shall describe the level of help desk support - by level/tier and response time. The Quoter shall illustrate response time for 2 scenarios - one where VPN access to the system is granted to the Quoter, and the case where VPN access is not granted. |
Idea Submission
| Feature |
| Explanation |
| Functionality - Level |
| Multimedia |
| The software should enable user generated content to include rich text, images, and attachments, as well as provide for spell checking. The Quoter should describe whether the software can enforce images to be uploaded according to a specific file size and type, such as in the case of issuing a challenge for the best photo. |
| Cross-reference |
| The software should allow users or administrators to cross-reference existing ideas/content. |
| Categories/tags |
| Users should be able to categorize and tag ideas/content, and the software should automatically suggest tags. |
| Custom fields |
| The software should allow administrators to specify custom fields for ideas that the submitter shall fill out and that are shown with the idea. |
| Idea preview |
| The software should allow the user to preview and save drafts of the idea before submitting. |
Initial Moderation
| Feature |
| Explanation |
| Functionality - Level |
| Moderation |
| The software shall support moderation of newly submitted ideas - i.e., the ideas would be visible only to moderators, who then approve for publishing. (REQUIRED) |
| Editor workflow |
| The software should allow for a multi-stage editor workflow (ex. first review, second review), with moderators able to view where ideas stand in the workflow. |
| E-mail notification |
| The software should enable automatic e-mail notifications to contributors at initial submission and final approval. |
Interacting with Ideas
| Feature |
| Explanation |
| Functionality – Level |
| Ranking/voting |
| The software should enable users to rank or vote on ideas. The Quoter should describe how the software weights the votes based on reputation or previous participation, whether there are vote limits. Administrators should be able to customize the ranking/voting methodology and configuration. |
| Comments |
| Users shall be able to comment on ideas. The Quoter should describe whether users can include rich text or images, whether the user can preview the comment before submitting, and whether or not the comment field includes spell check. (REQUIRED) |
| Flagging |
| The software should enable users to flag content (ideas/comments) as inappropriate. The Quoter shall describe how flags are tracked/handled. |
| RSS/alerts |
| The software shall enable users to subscribe to RSS feeds or sign up for e-mail alerts for ideas in certain categories or containing certain keywords, comments on an individual idea, or all ideas. (REQUIRED) The Quoter shall also describe whether the email alerts can be sent in digest form (ex. weekly). |
| Search |
| The software shall include an advanced search functionality. (REQUIRED) The Quoter shall describe the search functionality, which fields are searchable, whether searchable fields can be customized, and whether users could save/reuse 'favorite' queries. The Quoter shall also describe whether DoS staff could make a query of the database using standard methods such as SQL outside of the front end display. |
| Wiki |
| The software should enable the user community to refine or edit an idea through a wiki-like functionality. |
| Bundling |
| The software should enable similar ideas to be merged or "bundled" or grouped together. |
| Subsets |
| The software should enable a group of users from the community to use the tool for just their group of project ("subsets"). The Quoter shall describe whether the ideas can be copied to private areas for discussion among experts away from the general community. |
| Idea status |
| The software should enable marking ideas with a status either manually or automatically. The method/configuration of the status should be customizable by the site administrators. |
| Views |
| The software should enable printer-friendly views. The Quoter shall describe whether mobile views are enabled. |
| Sharing |
| The software should facilitate easy sharing of ideas and content - by e-mailing, linking or favoriting ideas within the application. |
Analyzing ideas
| Feature |
| Explanation |
| Functionality - Level |
| Reports |
| The software shall enable production of standard and customized reports. The Quoter shall describe which standard reports are included and how custom reports could be generated, whether the software enables different roles (user, administrator, expert, moderator) to generate reports, and how the reports can be displayed or shared. If custom reports shall be built by the Quoter, the Quoter shall describe whether the cost is included in the license/maintenance fees. (REQUIRED) |
| Usage Statistics |
| The software should enable easy presentation of site usage statistics. |
| Dashboard |
| The software should enable a dashboard of reports. The Quoter shall describe whether different dashboards can be made available according to the different user roles (user, administrator, expert, moderator, etc.) |
Community Management
| Feature |
| Explanation |
| Functionality - Level |
| Reputation |
| The Quoter shall describe whether users establish a visible reputation by using the site, whether they are they scored in any way. If so, the Quoter shall describe how and where are scores presented, whether the criteria for the scores be tweaked, and whether the functionality can be tweaked to balance collaboration and privacy concerns. |
| Profiles |
| The software should enable users to specify biographical information and identify specialties. |
| Experts |
| The software should enable identification of experts in certain areas by the site administrator or other roles. The Quoter shall describe how a user's expertise is highlighted when the user comments on an idea relevant to his or her expertise and whether the expert feedback is weighted more highly than other feedback. |
| Connections |
| The software should enable users to form teams or otherwise connect with each other. The Quoter shall describe whether and how users can follow one another and whether the functionality can be tweaked to balance collaboration and privacy. |
| Roles |
| The software should enable role based administration - for example, the assignment of the different roles (user, administrator, expert, moderator) by identifying users through Active Directory. |
| Static content |
| The software should support static content separately from ideas/discussions, such as blog entries, news, videos, and other multimedia featured on the front page of the site. The Quoter shall describe where this content can be placed and the method for editing it. |
