Statement of Work_Email Subscription Services.docx

Section C – Statement of Work Table of Contents

C.1 BACKGROUND

The Department of Labor (DOL) has made extensive use of its email subscription services, building large-scale subscriber lists to use in its communication with the public and integrating these services into its outreach and communications activities. Additionally, Agencies have made use of advanced features of the system, including connections to customer relationship management tools, targeted campaigns, such as “drip” and “welcome” campaigns, and A/B message testing. These services are used to meet the missions of DOL and its individual Agencies. The system was used to send 268,146,077 emails in Calendar Year 2023, indicating the need for a high-capacity yet affordable solution.

DOL’s Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO) is conducting market research to seek information on email subscription services. The purpose of this notice is to obtain information regarding the availability and capability of all qualified sources to provide DOL with government-oriented email subscription services capabilities hosted within a FedRAMP and FISMA compliant cloud environment.

C.2 SCOPE OF WORK

The scope of work for this RFI includes email subscription service capabilities and associated licensing (“Solution”) that meets federal requirements as well as DOL’s needs. The Solution will need to integrate with existing CRM systems and will need to be able to accommodate the existing subscription topics, campaigns, subscriber lists, and other mission critical templates and information. DOL will also require some implementation and post go-live support for a successful go-live of a new Solution, but that assistance will vary depending on the Solution and its alignment with DOL’s current email subscription services. DOL requirements for a Solution are listed below under C.3 Requirements.

Optionally, DOL may need assistance with preparing users for a transition to a new Solution. DOL has prepared questions to better understand what the approach would be to transition to a new Solution, such as change management and training support. DOL’s questions are listed below under C.4 Questions for Vendor.

C.3 REQUIREMENTS

The requirements for licensing to support DOL’s email subscription service needs are as follows:

Email Subscription Service Capabilities Service Capabilities refers to how the email subscription service and licensing functions, and what the provider offers to meet DOL’s needs.

· Ability to send mass notifications to multiple devices

· Ability to provide text-to-subscribe functionality

· Provide unlimited email sends with delivery and management of all bounces

· Provide the ability to create subscription topics, including the ability to replicate existing subscription topics

· Ability to add, remove, export, import, consolidate, and archive subscription topics/campaigns

· Provide SMS/text messages from a shared short code within the US

· Provide simple testing (A/B, 10/10/80)

· Ability to support automated timed email campaigns, where timed messages can be scheduled in advance based on user’s actions and/or behavior

· Ability to suggest popular topics to inactive and dormant users

· Ability to provide a series of customized messages to acquaint new subscribers with Agency or DOL mission(s)

· Ability to provide dynamic subscriber filters

· Ability to handle high profile communications, such as mine fatality alerts and workplace safety reminders

· Ability to create customized “From” email options when creating and sending out bulletins

· Ability to create page watch updates and send bulletins based on content updates to specific sections of page content

· Ability to create page watch updates and send bulletins based on updates to RSS feeds

· Ability to generate code snippets for subscription of individual topics

· Ability to create customized user account questions for users to provide information that can be used for campaign filtering

· Provide the ability to unsubscribe users who are dormant or inactive

· Provide the ability for users to unsubscribe in “one click” Reporting Capabilities Reporting capability refers to the amount of data collected by the provider, level of detail within data reports provided, and ease of access to these reports.

· Ability to schedule monthly run and view standard reports and visualizations

· Ability to run and view ad hoc reports and visualizations

· Ability to provide dynamic subscriber filters for ad hoc and other subscriber reporting

· Ability to categorize users and user groups for reporting purposes (e.g., ability to report at an Agency or program level)

· Provide monthly analytical and reporting functionality and support, including ability to view engagement and impact metrics (e.g., subscriber counts, send counts, recipient counts, open rates, click rates, etc. for specific sends, for specific topics)

· Provide access to an archive of all data created by covered website accounts for up to 18 months (rolling) Integration and Implementation Support Capabilities Integration and Implementation Support Capabilities refers to the integrations and implementation support DOL will need for a replacement solution to meet the needs of users being fulfilled by the current solution.

· Support to import and export existing email lists

· Ability to provide web-hosted training sessions

· Provide message templates and integration development

· Ability to accommodate, replicate and/or maintain existing custom templates

· Ability to integrate with an existing CRM solution, such as Salesforce

· Ability to support 24/7 system monitoring, email and phone support during business hours, auto- response to inbound messages from end users, and emergency support Understanding of Federal Requirements This refers to whether the provider understands and is well versed in Federal Government requirements.

· Provide a government – oriented solution

· Meet DOL security standards, including but not limited to, FedRAMP and FISMA

· Capacity to obtain and maintain proper Authority to Operate

· Meet Section 508 compliance standards

C.4 QUESTIONS FOR VENDOR

In addition to the requirements listed above, DOL is considering other optional services that may be required depending on the solution offered:

Email Subscription Services

· What are the parameters for your tiers of service, including pricing estimates?

· Is there a maximum number of subscription topics that can be created? If yes, what is the maximum?

· Can subscription topics in the existing system be replicated in your solution? Are there any constraints, such as number, complexity, or other factors?

Reporting

· What dashboarding/tracking options are available?

· Are these options available out-of-the-box (i.e., included in the tiered service plans) or is there separate pricing tiers?

· Can the dashboards/tracking options be separated at the Agency level?

Integration and Implementation Support

· What is your approach to replacing an existing email subscription service? What support do you typically provide for similar projects?

· Are you able to accommodate existing custom templates?

· What is your approach to training about 200 users on your solution?

· Do you provide message templates?

· What is your approach to integration development?

· Do you offer certification programs for your solution?

· What is your change management approach when replacing an existing email subscription solution with your solution?

· Are there pricing tiers for integration and implementation support? If so, can you describe the tiers, including if any is built-in to the base solution?

· Do you offer post go-live support and, if so, what is your approach and pricing structure, if separate from previously identified tiers?

· Do you offer periodic usage reviews?

Understanding of Federal Requirements

· Is your solution FedRAMP approved and, if so, at what level?

· What is your experience with the process of obtaining and maintaining an Authority to Operate (ATO) either with DOL or other federal departments and/or agencies?

· How does your solution ensure Section 508 compliance?

· Are there FedRAMPed and non-FedRAMPed versions of your solution and, if so, what are the differences between the two?

C.5. GLOSSARY OF TERMS

· DOL: Department of Labor

· OCIO: Office of the Chief Information Officer

· FedRAMP: Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program

· FISMA: Federal Information Security Modernization Act

· A/B testing: A marketing technique that compares two versions of content to determine which one is more appealing to visitors or viewers

· SMS: Short Messaging Service

· CRM: Customer Relationship Management

· Section 508: Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act (29 U.S.C. 794d) is a federal law that requires agencies to provide individuals with disabilities equal access to electronic information and data comparable to those who do not have disabilities, unless an undue burden would be imposed on the agency

· ATO: Authority to Operate