Educator Licensing System RFI

The State of Montana's Office of Public Instruction (OPI) issued a Request for Information (RFI) numbered OPI-RFI-2018-0039 for an Educator Licensing System (ELS) on March 1, 2018, with responses due by March 30, 2018, at 2:00 PM MST. The procurement seeks comprehensive information from potential vendors about a new software solution for managing educator licensing processes. The RFI covers multiple commodity codes related to computing services, including software, cloud services, system analysis, and professional licensing testing. OPI is specifically interested in understanding potential vendor solutions, including vendor-hosted versus customer-hosted systems and commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) versus custom-developed approaches. Vendors were required to provide detailed responses addressing their interest in the project, past relevant experience, potential project risks, estimated project completion timeframes, and pricing ranges. The state expects to receive multiple responses from vendors with diverse technological approaches to meet their licensing system requirements.

While the RFI document does not explicitly outline specific set-aside designations or vendor restrictions, it indicates an open procurement process seeking comprehensive system solutions. The solicitation appears to be targeting technology vendors with experience in developing professional licensing management systems. Two supplemental attachments—2018 Educator Licensing System Project Information and 2018 Educator Licensing System Project Description Details—were included to provide additional context for potential vendors. The RFI does not specify a precise budget range or potential contract value, but the complexity of developing a statewide educator licensing system suggests a significant potential investment. The procurement appears focused on obtaining comprehensive market research and vendor capabilities rather than immediately initiating a formal request for proposals, which would likely follow this information-gathering phase.