Best_Practices_Assessment

Assessment of Current Capabilities and Improvement Recommendations Q&A

As of 5/29/08

Question: Can a vendor partner with other RFP recipients and be provided a list of RFP recipients to contact them?
Answer: Yes. The District has posted the list of RFP recipients on the internet for RFP #ISD-001-08 - Assessment of Current Capabilities and Improvement Recommendations.

Question: I would like to know if I could speak with you about this over the phone

Answer: EBMUD is a public entity and we are required to make information equally available to all vendors. Please email your questions and the District will respond. Your questions and answers will also be posted to the web site.

Question: Is it possible to have an overview of ISD’s current set up and its interaction with other divisions and department?

Answer: The District’s Information Services Department is comprised of three divisions; Applications Development, Data Center, and Security. ISD works with and provides support to all departments in the District. This RFP is to address Best Practices and Support Capabilities in the Applications Development Division. The Applications Development Division is comprised of six sections; Project Coordination, Design and Development, Application Operations, Applications Infrastructure, GIS, and Special Projects. Other Departments make requests to Applications Development primarily through either the Project Coordination section for new projects or the Application Operations section for maintenance and support requests.

Question: Is there any other such needs assessment done for ISD in the past 5 years?

Answer: A study of our Application Development process was performed by internal staff in 2006. The 2006 study was not in the same depth as the assessment we are looking for with this RFP.

Question: Are you looking to make a short list of preferred vendors here or are you looking for one company to come in and run this as one project?

Answer: We are looking for one vendor to run the assessment and provide improvement recommendations.

Question: It also appears you are looking for a single consultant to do this work or are you expecting a team to perform this assessment?

Answer: We will select the best proposal regardless of whether one consultant or a team of consultants is proposed.

Question: Also, the weight around the minority-owned businesses may put us at a disadvantage?

Answer: We are looking for the best proposal from the most qualified vendor. Questions regarding the District's Contract Equity Program should be directed to the Contract Equity Office at (510) 287-0114.

Question: Has any single big event given impetus for EBMUD to want this assessment? For example, a recent development project that failed or was significantly delayed? Or is it a consequence of many projects falling somewhat short of full satisfaction?

Answer: We have been attempting to improve our development and support capabilities over the past two years and are hoping to expedite the process by bringing in experts who are familiar with best practices and can help us identify the areas of improvement that will buy us the most gain.

Question: How many significant software development projects has EBMUD attempted in the past 10 years? And what was the result of each (e.g., successful, cost overrun, delayed, failed to meet user functional expectations, slow performance, unreliable/unstable, cancelled before completion)?

Answer: The District is typically involved in one or two large (greater than 2 staff years) projects at a time. During the course of a year, we might have somewhere around a dozen smaller development projects underway. In addition, we provide support, bug fixes, and feature improvements for over 100 internally developed or vendor developed packages. EBMUD does not have comprehensive historic project metrics. It would be fair to say that historically, a significant portion of these projects have been outside of the expected schedule and budget.

Question: My sales guy tells me that EBMUD may have adjusted the scope, such that this RFP would ask for just the assessment and recommendations, with the planning and implementation of recommendations to be a second phase, contracted separately. Is this something that EBMUD is considering, or did we misunderstand?

Answer: The scope of the RFP has not been changed since it was initially published on May 2nd. Assessment and Improvement Recommendations are the core components of the request. EBMUD may optionally add Planning, Support, and Progress Evaluation and/or Training as part of the contract, based on the responses received from vendors.

Question: Will the district be open to vendors submitting a proposal for one area of expertise? We are a PeopleSoft Consulting firm that could offer the District valuable assistance analyzing your current PeopleSoft system and providing a roadmap for the future.

Answer: Not at this time. We are looking for one vendor to provide assessment and improvement recommendations for all of our Application Development processes and capabilities. We do occasionally request services for PeopleSoft consultants to assist in specific projects so please check the web site for PeopleSoft specific requests in the future.

Question: When should we expect the next round of Q/A posted on the Web site? I see the last one was on 5/9/08.

Answer: For more prompt response to your questions, please include the RFP ISD-001-08 in the subject line as directed in the RFP.

Question: Section 5., item number 10), of the RFP asks: “Please provide an example of a standard contract with your company.” The RFP also includes a sample contract in Appendix C. Is the District wanting an example of our standard contract, or are you looking for us to complete the sample contract included in the RFP appendix?

Answer: The District prefers to use its own standard contract and use of this standard contract will expedite the contracting process. If the vendor requires a different contract we will need a sample for review by our Legal Department.

Question: I just want to learn if the solicitation only seeks to find a vendor with an adequate process for your needs. And if this process should be communicated by emailed proposal.

Answer: We are looking for a vendor with the expertise to evaluate our current capabilities and to make recommendations for improvement that fit our business. We expect that these recommendations would be customized to our specific needs and environment. We are not soliciting a prepackaged solution. However you could include an overview of your process in your proposal as an example of how you would approach the recommendations if you felt that would clarify the services you offer.

Question: I am in California this week and next with my resources and would be able to come by your office for awareness.

Answer: We will not be meeting with any vendors prior to the RFP submission deadline.

Question: Does the District currently employ any development methodologies or best practices?

Answer: We do not currently have many formalized standards and procedures but have been implementing best practices as part of our process improvement efforts.

Question: Does EBMUD have deadlines or timelines for completing the assessment or for the following phases

Assessment Phase
Planning, Support and Progress Evaluation Phase
Training Phase?

Answer:

Assessment Phase – complete within 3 months of contract
Planning, Support and Progress Evaluation Phase – as soon as possible after the evaluation has identified improvement actions.
Training Phase – as soon as possible after the evaluation has identified training needs

Question: Are the optional components (planning, support, progress evaluation, and training) part of the RFP cost bid? If so, are you looking for a time-and-material estimate or a fixed price? Please note that a fixed bid for these components would require more information than currently available -- information that will become evident once the assessment is underway.

Answer: The optional services are a separately priced part of the RFP bid. Please include them in your response to the RFP and price them based on the information available before the assessment is underway. Either fixed price or time and materials are acceptable.

Question: Overview of current hardware at EBMUD (servers, mainframes, pc’s, etc.)

Answer: EBMUD has Windows and *NIX servers, Windows and Mac PCs, and an IBM mainframe that will be decommissioned at the end of 2009.

Question: What is the architecture and what are the components of your

a. management tools?
b. project change controls or change management tools?

Answer: We do not currently use specific software tools for management, change control, or change management. These activities are performed manually using spreadsheets or Microsoft Project. We do use tools such as Perforce for Software Change Control and JIRA for issue tracking.

Question: Approximate number of personnel involved with software development and support:

Number of Full-Time employees
Number of Consultants

Answer:

Number of Full-Time employees – there are 42 full-time positions in the Applications Development Division
Number of Consultants – there are currently 5 vendors (approximately10 people, most part-time) providing support to the Applications Development Division

Question: Estimated number of staff that would require training.

Answer: This would depend on the areas of training recommended. It is possible that all Application Development staff would require training. When we provide training to Applications Development staff, we also offer it to developers in other departments in the District so it is possible that up to another 10 students may attend any training.

Question: You ask for resumes for candidates. We would have a problem if the privacy of our consultants was compromised by public release. Does EBMUD policies and state law permit certain parts of our proposal to be marked "Confidential" such that they would be redacted in any public release of our proposal?

Answer: If the District receives a public records act request we will not release any information that is marked “Confidential” in an RFP response. However, if the confidentiality of the material is contested by legal action the District will notify the vendor and it will be the vendor’s responsibility to defend the confidentiality of the material. If the vendor is not able to successfully defend the confidentiality of the material the District will release it.

Question: Do we need to submit Form P-025, P-040, P-041, P-042 along with our response to the proposal? It seems, it needs to be provided only by apparent low bidders which will be identified only after opening the bids. Is that right? P-025, P040 can be signed and provided. But P-041.

Answer: These forms are required for any vendor submitting a response to an EBMUD RFP, not just the low bidders. Questions regarding the District's Contract Equity Program should be directed to the Contract Equity Office at (510) 287-0114.

Question: Another question on Errors and Omission Insurance - We had this insurance in the past, but since nobody asked for it, we discontinued it. We can renew it or go for new one if we are short listed. Is it OK if we wait till we know we are being considered for this opportunity and likely candidate? We will provide E&O insurance details before commencing the work if we get selected and assigned the contract. Do we need to submit all insurance details along with the proposal? We certainly have General Liability insurance and we can provide the copy of certificate along with the proposal.

Answer: These forms have been provided to show what EBMUD will require when contracting with a vendor. You do not need to submit insurance details with your proposal. The selected vendor will be required to provide the signed forms and proof of insurance before a contract can be signed however the insurance can be obtained after negotiations with EBMUD have been initiated.

Question: Who is the IT Director or executive sponsor of this project?

Answer: This contact information will be provided to the selected vendor after the selection has been made.

Question: Must the Additional Documentation identified in Item 6 be supplied as part of the RFP response, or is it acceptable to provide after contract award?

Answer: The Contract Equity forms are required in the response to the RFP. Questions regarding the District's Contract Equity Program should be directed to the Contract Equity Office at (510) 287-0114. The selected vendor can submit the Insurance forms once contract negotiation has been initiated