Request for Proposal for Web-based Self-Assessment Tool for Seedco Financial Services
Can we see the preliminary paper assessment upon which the RFP mentions the web tool will be based?
Yes, for those vendors who submit a request, we will provide a sample of three of the questions/areas to give vendors an idea of the paper assessment. We will also provide a list of the industries and functions that we expect the online assessment to cover. We expect that the vendor will take the paper assessment as a guide to create algorithms that will drive the online assessment tool. We anticipate that the vendor will decide which questions should be kept, edited and/or other questions created. If you would like a sample, please make request to cwallace@seedco.org.
What's driving the June 6th launch date?
Seedco Financial has many programs. Some of them begin in June and July and would like the online assessment tool to be completed before the start of one of our programs.
How often does the assessment criteria change?
We do not anticipate that the assessment criteria will change for some time.
Will the questions based on industry be unique to each industry or will there be overlap between industries? Likewise, are the questions listed in the question categories referenced?
We anticipate that each industry should have unique questions. We expect the vendor to assess which functions are the most important to a particular industry. Some industries might have similar questions. At the beginning of the assessment, the user will be asked what industry he/she operates in and then specific questions will be asked based on the industry.
Will users represent only a single organization or would there be individuals who would be filling out assessments for multiple organizations?
A user will represent a single, distinct organization/business.
What data specifically will need to be exported to or imported from Salesforce, Access, Excel?
We expect that any data that is unique to a business/user will be exported to Excel, Access and Salesforce. Seedco Financial wants the ability to take data and analyze it for reporting purposes.
How many simultaneous users need to be supported?
We anticipate that 5-6 simultaneous users at one time and 75-100 new, unique users will use the assessment tool/year.
Are there any EDA technical mandates that will apply to this contract? (e.g. Project Reporting, Security, Availability, Data Protection, Accessibility, etc.)
This online assessment tool is no longer specific to EDA. We anticipate that any and all of our clients will use this tool, regardless of the program.
Is there an existing system in use by Seedco with data that would need to be migrated, or will this project start with no data?
This project will start with no data.
Will Seedco have a dedicated project manager assigned to make decisions on this project?
Yes.
How many users do you expect to be using this system?
Please see response above.
When are acceptable downtimes for maintenance purposes?
Acceptable downtimes would be 12am-6am. We anticipate that the first page of the online assessment tool will post an announcement if the system is down for maintenance purposes.
In your previous system, how many transactions per hour was the average and the peak?
There was no previous system for this tool. This will be the first time that we have an online assessment tool.
Does Seedco have a preferred backup and recovery vendor separate from icdsoft?
ICD Soft is our website hosting vendor, not a backup and recovery vendor specialist.
What was the previous system that Seedco staff used to service this product?
This product has never been serviced. This project will be the launch of the online assessment tool.
Are Salesforce and Dabble on the RFP referring to salseforce.com and dabble.com?
SFS no longer uses Dabble and yes, it’s Salesforce.com.
Can you provide a sample rating scorecard?
We expect the vendor to create and give recommendations for the scorecard.
Are all of the questions and answers available in a database or is everything on paper as of today?
Currently, everything is on paper. For those vendors submit a request to cwallace@seedco.org, we are providing sample of three of the questions to give vendors an idea of the paper assessment. We will also provide a list of the industries and functions that we expect the online assessment to cover. We expect that the vendor will take the paper assessment as a guide to create algorithms that will drive the online assessment tool. We anticipate that the vendor will decide which questions should be kept, edited and/or other questions created.
If the questions and answers are in paper format, is data entry a part of this proposal scope?
There is no data that needs to be entered. This project will start with no data.
We are assuming that all of the questions and answers are pre-defined in the system and that there are no requirements for generating questions on the fly using meta-data/data fields. Is this assumption correct?
We anticipate that the vendors will create logic-based, pre-defined questions that the user will complete depending on the industry that the user/business operates in.
Is this site expected to be an intranet site only?
We are open to different options.
With which browsers is compatibility expected?
All the main ones, and the latest version, IE, Firefox, Chrome, Safari.
Will the users of this system upload documents?
No, we do not anticipate that there will be a need to upload documents.
Will it be required to generate Email to publish questionnaires and provide reminders?
We anticipate that the database and tool should have the capacity to send emails to certain users depending on the scope and content of the email.
The RFP states to indicate the areas of improvement- who and how will this be determined?
The vendor should build algorithms that, based on the user’s/business’s responses, give a list of recommendations or ‘areas of improvement’.
The RFP mentions a registration system and the ability to have roles for menu mapping and with multiple users for each role. Are roles restricted only for internal users or do they exist for external clients too? Is the registration System expected to handle payments too?
We anticipate that some users will pay a fee. We would like the vendor to recommend the most affordable way to do this. The roles are for Seedco Financial staff who will be given various levels of access and/or privileges.
The system is expected to allow 1 or 2 assessments, after which should the client be disabled or should there be an ability to extend this? Please clarify.
We anticipate that each client will take the assessment twice and then will not be able to take the assessment again.
RFP mentions external clients monitoring and tracking the Output of the Assessment. What does this mean- will this result in the client, based on recommendations, will ask some questions online or want to schedule appointments for clarification/support?
After a client completes the assessment, they will receive a report that lists recommendations based on their answers to certain questions. Seedco Financial staff will also receive a copy of the report and review it with the client to offer advice on how to implement the recommendations from the online assessment.
RFP Indicates need for specifying annual fees for hosting (page 1 ): For this do you mean that you need the following to be hosted from our end
- Database
- Web Server with Intranet and Extranet Application.
- Reporting Server if needed
Yes, we would like quotes on all of the above.
What will be expected data growth rate and user growth on an annual basis? What will be estimated concurrent users of this system?
Please see response above.
Page 1 in RFP states a Secure web Layer. Is only HTTPS protocol sufficient or what is SFS security policy comprised of (Page 8 item H) ?
SSL 128 bit at least, 256 preferred.
Does the system need any failover system? What is the backup and recovery frequency and time needed?
Daily backups. Recovery within 1-2 business days.
Do you have any reporting tools available or are you open to SSRS/Crystal Reports. Do you have licenses with respect to these tools?
We have no licenses, and the reporting solution would be considered as part of the RFP proposal but it should include training and skill sets needed to operate and maintain.
Can you distribute a copy of the paper-based tool, so we can better understand the scope of the content and thereby create a better informed estimate of the work?
Please see response above.
SFS security guidelines, policies and procedures conformation. We need to have these documents.
A copy of these can be provided upon request. Please send request to cwallace@seedco.org.
We need existing printed copies of forms and flow of these forms. E.g. client fills in form,
how it is processed and submitted for data analyses (if there is any).
We expect the vendor to create and recommend the flow of the form to Seedco Financial
Are they paid or free users?
We anticipate that some users will pay a fee. We would like the vendor to recommend the most affordable way to do this.
Are the questions at assessment form are flexible to be changed by SEEDCO management or they will be same for every user using the tool?
Please see response above.
Is there any paper written algorithm to identify or prioritize the areas of improvement for the user based on the questions asked by the tool?
We expect the vendor to prioritize.
What is meant by initial assessment? Are we providing some pre assessments before the final to each client?
The client will complete the initial assessment and then potentially retake the assessment to see whether or not there have been improvements.
Can we have a copy of the paper based assessment tool?
Please see response above.
Does the ratings score card exist or do you want us to develop?
We expect the vendor to develop it.
How do you want the information stored if the answer to “Has there been a change in ownership? Management since inception?” answered if the answer is yes. Do you want details?
We expect the vendor to recommend a viable option.
The tool is supposed to populate questions based on the Industry. Is there already a cross reference of what industries trigger which questions?
SFS has a draft but is depending on the vendor to edit/create this using the paper-based assessment as a start.
How do you want the user to answer the industry based questions? Text fields?
The vendor should decide which questions should be text vs. not. However, the assessment must produce a report, which SFS believes is hard to do with too many text questions.
Do you to give the users to save an incomplete assessment and come back to complete?
Yes.
Do you want to provide the ability to do unlimited assessments?
Yes.
Under the list of compatible with SFS current systems:
- By Salesforce do you mean Salesforce.com.? YES
- By Dabble do you mean Dabble.com? If so, have any plans been made for its replacement? System has been retired.
- What current applications are written in PHP? Public website for SFS
- Do you have MySQL and PHP developers on staff? No