RFPs and Procurement

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RFPs Procurement
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Reuse! Revise! Don't Reinvent!
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Learning Objectives

• The Power of the RFP Getting What YOU want
• Open Competition Conflicts of Interest
• Essential Components of an RFP
• The Importance of Being Specific
• Contractor Selection Criteria
• Bid Scoring
• The Contract is Your Protection

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• RFP

IFB
RFQ
RFB
IFP
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Planning
A World of Contractors
Development
IVV
Project Management
Quality Assurance
Implementation Specialties
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FNS Thresholds for RFP Approval

• FSP gt 5M total acquisition cost
• WIC gt 100K total acquisition
  cost
• FSP gt 1M total acquisition cost
• WIC gt 100K total acquisition cost

Competitive
Non-competitive
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FNS Timeframes

• 60 DAYS

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• 50 States
• x 2 programs (WIC FSP)
• states with multiple systems
• WIC ITOs US territories
• x 3-6 docs/project
• 4 of us
• ----------------
• 60 days

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• HHS
• Easier on you if we talk and agree!

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• Stewardship
• Ownership
• Partnership

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• Stewardship

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• Partnership

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Scotty, beam me a copy of the latest change
order. And some coffee.
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Ownership
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career bureaucrat
Agency leaders
have left the ship.
Im a mid-level
to ownership
with one policy specialist
trying to hold on
of this project
IT guy.
and a part time
PIRATES ON STARBOARD!
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YOU need

• Knowledge
• Confidence
• Backing

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State staff MUST

• Know what you want
• Describe it accurately
• Recognize what resources you need to hire
• Describe them accurately
• Hire the contractor that has the right stuff
• Use tools to hold contractor accountable

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• What you want
• Reasonable cost
• Low risk
• Reliable outcome
• Happy Execs
• On time
• Happy customers
• No bad press

• What they want

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What we want
HINT Use the RFP Checklist in 901!

• Fair and competition
• Stewardship of Federal funds
• A process that results in access integrity in
  benefit delivery
• A process that holds up to legal challenges
• Evidence that you are in control of your destiny

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Getting What YOU Want
RFP
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• Planning RFP
• vs.
• Development/Implementation RFP

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Planning RFP

• Used to hire professional services to help a
  State agency plan the project thoroughly, prepare
  the required documents, and secure state and
  federal approvals.

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• DIY

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• The Exception to the Rule
• State blanket purchase agreements or master
  contracts

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• If the original contract or master agreement
• Was competitive
• Included THIS type of work
• Had scope or parameters
• Often used for hardware purchases or small
  consulting tasks, such as assistance with writing
  a small scope RFP

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• If the original contract or agreement
• Wasnt competitive, but just a process of signing
  up on a list or meeting minor qualifications
• Was for unrelated services
• Not meant for major procurements!

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• Blanket purchase agreements or master contracts
  should not allow
• Conflicts of Interest

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• All Federally funded procurements must be
• (No unfair advantages in the bidding process)

Contractor who develops requirements,
specifications, or tasks, or writes the RFP
Bid on that work
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TRICKIER (AND NOT APPLICABLE TO THE DEVELOPMENT
CONTRACTOR!)

• Option 1
• All possible roles or functions
• In one RFP at the beginning
• All bidders must bid on all the parts, priced
  individually
• State can pick and choose

OR
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• Option 2
• Make it clear in the first RFP that the winner
  will help define other roles and that they will
  NOT be eligible to bid on those functions.

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The same contractor should

• NEVER
• define the work and
• then bid on it
• do the work, and then evaluate it.

OR
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So far we know

• FNS thresholds and 60 day review time
• The importance of project OWNERSHIP
• An RFP is to get you what YOU want
• The allowable uses of a master contract
• The pitfalls of conflicts of interest
• FNSs obsession with
  competition

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Implementation RFP

• Used to hire professional and technical skill
  sets to design a new system, write or adapt the
  software, produce documentation, and test and
  implement the system.

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Components of an RFP

• Introduction Overview
• Current processing environment
• Workload data
• New system environment (including projected
  growth)

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Hint This stuff is in 901s procurement chapter!
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Components of an RFP

• Solicitation Instructions and Conditions
• Boilerplate language legal and purchasing
  requirements
• Proposal structure and content
• Procurement schedule
• QA process
• Submission process

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Components of an RFP

• Statement of Work (SOW) the MEAT!
• Desired project schedule
• Deliverables
• Installation, Conversion, Maintenance
  requirements
• Personnel requirements
• Functional requirements

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Dont start from scratch!
Did they get what they asked for?
How did they stay on schedule?
Did they win that lawsuit?
Only 3 change orders?!
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FReD
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Tasks and Deliverables

• Create a detailed project timeline
• Guide state through design or functional
  verification process
• Document requirements and tech specs
• Write or adapt the application code
• Create user and technical documentation
• Conduct testing
• Convert data from the old system
• Conduct or support training
• Operate or train the Help Desk

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Getting What YOU Want
RFP
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State staff MUST

• Know what you want
• Describe it accurately
• Recognize what resources you need to hire
• Describe them accurately

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Don't

• Rely on bidders questions
• to clarify things you didnt explain fully.
• Bid the product they built for the last customer
• Guess
• Bid high enough to cover the unknowns

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So what???
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• Pay me now or
• Pay me later

and
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Components of an RFP

• Management Plan
• Identify who the contractor will report to
• Describe the project management structure
• Define the type and frequency of status reports
  required
• Specify who will review and approval of work
  performed
• Clarify roles of state staff and other
  contractors

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Components of an RFP

• Evaluation and Award Process
• Identify evaluation criteria
• Specify weight or points for each one
• Describe the scoring process
• Specify the minimum technical score
• Explain how bidders will be notified

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Reuse! Revise! Don't Reinvent!
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• DO
• v Ensure that RFPs contain enough detail to
  clearly define requirements.

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• DO
• v Describe requirements and timeline expectations
  in specific terms to provide the contractor with
  adequate information to develop a responsive bid.

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• DO
• v Describe acceptable levels and measures of
  performance for products and/or deliverables.

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• DO
• v Assign people with enough technical expertise
  to the evaluation panel
• v Allow them enough time to really read and score
  all the proposals
• v Provide them training on how the process works
  and what the selection criteria mean

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DO

• Describe the performance and other relevant
  requirements of the procurement.
• DONT
• Specify a brand name product instead of
  allowing an equal product to be offered, unless
  youre talking about a state technical standard.

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DONT

• Place unreasonable requirements on firms to
  qualify to do business.

Keep it
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DONT

• Specify geographical preferences.

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DONT

• Require unnecessary experience and excessive
  bonding
• Include unlimited liability clauses

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DONT

• Use noncompetitive pricing practices between
  firms or affiliated companies
• Permit organizational conflicts of interest
• Allow noncompetitive awards to consultants on
  retainer contracts
• Take any arbitrary action in the procurement
  process

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• Mandatory Criteria
• vs.
• Scored Factors

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The Nanny Interview

• Minimum Mandatory Requirements
• At least 18 years old
• Has a drivers license
• No arrests or convictions
• Can read
• Has taken CPR class

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The Nanny Interview

• Scored Factors
• Years of experience
• Number of children supervised at one time
• Experience with your childrens ages
• References from previous employers
• Formal education

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• Lets Try It!
• Minimum mandatory requirements
• Determining and Weighting Scored Selection
  Criteria
• Choosing the Best Proposal

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• Lets Try It!
• Minimum mandatory requirements
• Determining and Weighting Scored Selection
  Criteria
• Choosing the Best Proposal

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• If the proposal doesnt meet one of your
  minimums, it may be non-responsive.
• You can only award points for the criteria you
  already chose. You cant modify your criteria
  now.
• No matter how beautiful or tempting a proposal
  may be, you can only evaluate it on the things
  you put in your RFP. (The assumption is that
  these are the same things you listed on the
  worksheet!)

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• Results?

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PRICE
TECHNICAL
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TEST YOURSELF
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EXAMPLES1000 possible points with 700 to
technical 300 to cost
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EXAMPLES1000 possible points with 300 to
technical 700 to cost
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3 Phases of Bid Scoring

• Mandatory Minimum Requirements
• Minimum Technical Score
• Price and Final Score

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EXAMPLES1000 possible points with 300 to
technical 700 to cost
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And the winner is..
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TEST YOURSELF
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• Proposal
• States your requirements back to you
• Promises you anything you want (even if you dont
  know what that is)
• Offers what they have to sell, not what you asked
  to buy

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SUB-

• Did you invite this?

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Withdraw and Re-Issue???!!!Are you kidding?!
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• If you dont have time to do it right,
• you dont have time to spend in court.

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YES

• It is ok for bidders to improve upon your ideas.
  Thats GREAT!

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3 Phases of Bid Scoring

• Mandatory Minimum Requirements
• Minimum Technical Score
• Price and final score

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Go shopping for ideas in Handbook 901
Company stability
Staffing plan
Experience
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• Handbook 901
• Chapter 6 Procurement
• Section 6.6.2
• Criteria for Evaluating Proposals

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• WHEW!
• Are we done yet?

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• One more thing

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Contracts

• Handbook 901
• Chapter 6 Procurement
• All the goodies Contract components, terms and
  conditions, checklists including FNS-required
  provisions

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• An engraved invitation from Handbook 901

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Learning Objectives

• The Power of the RFP Getting What YOU want
• Open Competition Conflicts of Interest
• Essential Components of an RFP
• The Importance of Being Specific
• Contractor Selection Criteria
• Bid Scoring
• The Contract is Your Protection

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• Any Questions?