Veterans Benefit Mngmnt System DVA

The Illinois Department of Innovation and Technology, on behalf of the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs, is soliciting a web-hosted Software as a Service Veterans Benefit Management System (VBMS) with proposals due September 2, 2026, and a non-mandatory pre-submission conference on July 29, 2026 at 1:30 PM CST via WebEx. A Business Enterprise Program (BEP) utilization goal of 3 percent applies to this solicitation; failure to submit a complete utilization plan renders offers non-responsive. All offerors not registered in the Illinois Procurement Gateway must complete the State Vendor Disclosure form; registered vendors must complete the IPG Active Registered Vendor Disclosure form.

The system must provide labor, personnel, services, hardware, software, equipment, and supplies for installation and implementation of a fully operational veterans' benefits information system. Deliverables include data conversion and migration from the legacy CyberVet system (19 gigabytes of SQL database data and 1.2 terabytes of .TIF image files totaling 3 to 5 million records, requiring 100 percent accuracy), training, monthly system access subscription, technical support, and system maintenance. The system must enable secure and compliant electronic claims submittal to the United States Department of Veterans Affairs and support approximately 75 users initially, expanding over time. The solution must comply with State of Illinois Standard Security Requirements aligned with NIST Special Publication 800-53 Revision 5; Cloud Security Alliance recommendations for cloud-based solutions; Illinois Information Technology Accessibility Act; Illinois Identity Protection Act; Illinois Personal Information Protection Act; FERPA; FBI CJIS Security Policy; and CMS requirements. All data storage and processing must occur within the contiguous United States unless expressly authorized in writing. Vendors must maintain SOC 2 Type 2 audit reports, implement FIPS 140-compliant AES-256 encryption at rest and in transit, integrate with the State's Identity and Access Management platform with multifactor authentication, provide a Software Bill of Materials, and begin remediation within 24 hours of discovering critical and high-severity vulnerabilities. Artificial intelligence use in contract performance is prohibited without explicit prior written authorization from the State.

The contract term is five years from final execution, with renewal options available for up to an additional five years in one-year increments, not to exceed a total contract term of ten years. Evaluation criteria allocate 1,000 points to technical and demonstration, 200 points to commitment to diversity, and 240 points to price (1,440 maximum available points). Vendors must achieve a minimum of 700 points across technical and commitment to diversity categories to be eligible for demonstrations and price evaluation. Offeror questions must be submitted within two weeks of publication; answers will be posted three weeks after publication. Evaluation will occur three weeks after bid opening, demonstrations four weeks after opening, and anticipated notice of award five to seven weeks after opening.