RFP-IT-ITQ Specific Clauses
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SERVICES ITQ
REQUEST FOR QUOTATIONS FOR
Department of Agriculture – IT Food Safety
ISSUING OFFICE
Department of General Services
Bureau of Procurement
555 Walnut Street
Forum Place, 6th Floor
Harrisburg, PA 17101
RFQ NUMBER
6100013831
DATE OF ISSUANCE
February 1, 2010
This is a restricted bid solicitation under the Commonwealth’s
Information Technology, Invitation to Qualify (IT ITQ) - Contract
#4400004480. Only those contractors qualified in the following
service categories under Contract #4400004480 may submit a proposal
in response to this RFQ.
· Consulting Services - IT General
· Software Development Services
For more information about the IT ITQ, please click on the
following link.
http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/invitation_to_qualify/4641/wher_to_start/495422
REQUEST FOR QUOTATIONS
FOR
Department of Agriculture – IT Food Safety
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
IV
Part I—GENERAL INFORMATION
5
Part II—PROPOSAL REQUIREMENTS
14
Part III—CRITERIA FOR SELECTION
24
Part IV—WORK STATEMENT
27
APPENDIX A, PROPOSAL COVER SHEET
APPENDIX B, DOMESTIC WORKFORCE UTILIZATION CERTIFICATION
APPENDIX C, COST MATRIX
APPENDIX D, LOBBYING CERTIFICATION FORM
APPENDIX E, TRADE SECRET/CONFIDENTIAL PROPRIETARY INFORMATION
NOTICE
APPENDIX F, ACT 315 SHORT DESCRIPTIONS
APPENDIX G, LOCAL HEALTH DEPARTMENTS
APPENDIX H, JOB TITLES & SKILL CATEGORIES
APPENDIX I, SERVICE LEVEL AGREEMENTS
APPENDIX J, PDA’S CURRENT ENVIROMENT
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
The Commonwealth will make every effort to adhere to the
following schedule:
Activity
Responsibility
Date
Deadline to submit Questions via email to :
http://www.dgsweb.state.pa.us/RTA/Search.aspx
Contractors
2/12/2010
By 1:00 pm EST
Preproposal Conference will be held at the following
location:
Department of General Services, Bureau of Procurement, Forum
Place 6th floor, 555 Walnut Street Harrisburg Pa 17101 – Conference
Room 1
Issuing Office/
Contractors
2/16/2010
10am – 12pm
OPTIONAL
Answers to Potential Contractor questions posted to
http://www.dgsweb.state.pa.us/RTA/Search.aspx
no later than this date.
Issuing Office
2/22/2010
Please monitor the DGS website for all communications regarding
the RFQ.
Contractors
Ongoing
Sealed proposal must be received by the Issuing Office at:
Department of General Services
Bureau of Procurement
Attn: Christina Geegee-Dugan
555 Walnut Street, Forum Place 6th Floor
Harrisburg, PA 17101
Contractors
3/9/2010
By 1:00 pm EST
PART I
GENERAL INFORMATION
I-1. Purpose
This Request for Quotes ("RFQ") provides to those interested in
submitting proposals for the subject procurement ("Contractors")
sufficient information to enable them to prepare and submit
proposals for the Department of General Services consideration on
behalf of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania ("Commonwealth") to
satisfy a need for Department of Agriculture IT Food Safety
("Project").
I-2. Issuing Office
The Department of General Services ("Issuing Office") has issued
this RFQ on behalf of the Commonwealth. The sole point of contact
in the Commonwealth for this RFQ shall be Christina Geegee-Dugan,
Department of General Services, Bureau of Procurement, 555 Walnut
Street, 6th floor, Harrisburg Pa 17101-1914
[email protected] the Issuing Officer for this RFQ. Please
refer all inquiries to the Issuing Officer.
I-3. Scope
This RFQ contains instructions governing the requested
proposals, including the requirements for the information and
material to be included; a description of the service to be
provided; requirements which Contractors must meet to be eligible
for consideration; general evaluation criteria; and other
requirements specific to this RFQ.
I-4. Problem Statement
The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture (PDA), Bureau of Food
Safety and Laboratory Services are requesting services to build and
support a new Food Safety state-wide web and disconnected solution
for field users. Additional detail is provided in Part IV of this
RFQ
NOTE: Throughout the RFP and its attachments and appendices, the
word “includes” (or including, or any other form of the word) is
meant to convey that a list is not exhaustive. The word, or any
form thereof, is to be construed to mean “includes (or including)
but not limited to”.
Additional detail is provided in Part IV of this RFQ
I-5. Preproposal Conference.
The Issuing Office will hold a preproposal conference as
specified in the Calendar of Events. The purpose of this conference
is to provide opportunity for clarification of the RFQ. Contractors
should forward all questions to the Issuing Office in accordance
with Section I-6 to ensure adequate time for analysis before the
Issuing Office provides an answer. Contractors may also ask
questions at the conference. In view of the limited facilities
available for the conference, Contractors should limit their
representation to two (2) individuals per Contractor. The
preproposal conference is for information only. Any answers
furnished during the conference will not be official until they
have been verified, in writing, by the Issuing Office. All
questions and written answers will be posted on the DGS website as
an addendum to, and shall become part of, this RFQ. Attendance at
the Preproposal Conference is optional.
I-6. Questions and Answers
If a Contractor has any questions regarding this RFQ, the
Contractor must submit the questions by email (with the subject
line "IT ITQ RFQ 6100013831 Question") to the Issuing Officer. If
the Contractor has questions, they must be submitted via email no
later than the date and time specified in the Calendar of Events.
The Contractor shall not attempt to contact the Issuing Officer by
any other means. The Issuing Officer shall post the answers to the
DGS website.
All questions and responses as posted on the DGS website are
considered as an addendum to, and part of, this RFQ. Each
Contractor shall be responsible to monitor the DGS website for new
or revised RFQ information. The Issuing Office shall not be bound
by any verbal information nor shall it be bound by any written
information that is not either contained within the RFQ or formally
issued as an addendum by the Issuing Office. The Issuing Office
does not consider questions to be a protest of the specifications
or of the solicitation.
I-7. Addenda to RFQ
If the Issuing Office deems it necessary to revise any part of
this RFQ before the proposal response date, the Issuing Office will
post an addendum to the DGS website. Answers to the questions asked
during the Questions & Answers period also will be posted to
the DGS website as an addendum to the RFQ.
I-8. Electronic Version of RFQ
This RFQ is being made available by electronic means. The
Contractor acknowledges and accepts full responsibility to insure
that no changes are made to the RFQ. In the event of a conflict
between a version of the RFQ in the Contractor's possession and the
Issuing Office's version of the RFQ, the Issuing Office's version
shall govern.
I-9. Response Date
To be considered, proposals must arrive at the Issuing Office on
or before the time and date specified in the RFQ Calendar of
Events. Contractors who mail proposals should allow sufficient mail
delivery time to ensure timely receipt of their proposals. If, due
to inclement weather, natural disaster, or any other cause, the
Issuing Office location to which proposals are to be returned is
closed on the proposal response date, the deadline for submission
shall be automatically extended until the next Commonwealth
business day on which the office is open, unless the Contractors
are otherwise notified by the Commonwealth. The time for submission
of proposals shall remain the same. Late proposals shall not be
considered.
I-10. Incurring Costs
The Issuing Office is not liable for any costs the Contractor
incurs in preparation and submission of its proposal, in
participating in the RFQ process or in anticipation of award of the
purchase order.
I-11. Economy Of Preparation
Contractors should prepare proposals simply and economically,
providing a straightforward, concise description of the
Contractor's ability to meet the requirements of the RFQ. The
proposal should not be more than fifty (50) pages, excluding
appendices and resumes. Please keep marketing materials to a
minimum. Resumes are not to include personal information.
I-12. Disadvantaged Business Information
The Issuing Office encourages participation by small
disadvantaged businesses as prime contractors, joint ventures and
subcontractors/suppliers and by socially disadvantaged businesses
as prime contractors.
Small Disadvantaged Businesses are small businesses that are
owned or controlled by a majority of persons, not limited to
members of minority groups, who have been deprived of the
opportunity to develop and maintain a competitive position in the
economy because of social disadvantages. The term includes:
a. Department of General Services Bureau of Minority and Women
Business Opportunities (BMWBO)-certified minority business
enterprises (MBEs) and women business enterprises (WBEs) that
qualify as small businesses; and
b. United States Small Business Administration-certified 8(a)
small disadvantaged business concerns.
c. Businesses that BMWBO determines meet the Small Business
Administration criteria for designation as a small disadvantaged
business.
Small businesses are businesses in the United States that are
independently owned, are not dominant in their field of operation,
employ no more than 100 persons and earn less than $20 million in
gross annual revenues ($25 million in gross annual revenues for
those businesses in the information technology sales or service
business).
Socially disadvantaged businesses are businesses in the United
States that BMWBO determines are owned or controlled by a majority
of persons, not limited to members of minority groups, who are
subject to racial or ethnic prejudice or cultural bias, but which
do not qualify as small businesses. In order for a business to
qualify as “socially disadvantaged,” the Contractor must include in
its proposal clear and convincing evidence to establish that the
business has personally suffered racial or ethnic prejudice or
cultural bias stemming from the business person’s color, ethnic
origin or gender.
Questions regarding this Program can be directed to:
Department of General Services
Bureau of Minority and Women Business Opportunities
Room 611, North Office Building
Harrisburg, PA 17125
Phone: (717) 783-3119
Fax: (717) 787-7052
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.dgs.state.pa.us
A database of BMWBO-certified minority- and women-owned
businesses can be accessed at
http://www.dgsweb.state.pa.us/mbewbe/VendorSearch.aspx.
The federal vendor database can be accessed at
http://www.ccr.gov by clicking on Dynamic Small Business Search
(certified companies are so indicated).
I-13. Information Concerning Small Businesses in Enterprise
Zones
The Issuing Office encourages participation by small businesses,
whose primary or headquarters facility is physically located in
areas the Commonwealth has identified as Designated Enterprise
Zones, as prime contractors, joint ventures and
subcontractors/suppliers.
The definition of headquarters includes, but is not limited to,
an office or location that is the administrative center of a
business or enterprise where most of the important functions of the
business are conducted or concentrated and location where employees
are conducting the business of the company on a regular and routine
basis so as to contribute to the economic development of the
geographical area in which the office or business is geographically
located.
Small businesses are businesses in the United States that are
independently owned, are not dominant in their field of operation,
employ no more than 100 persons and earn less than $20 million in
gross annual revenues ($25 million in gross annual revenues for
those businesses in the information technology sales or service
business).
There is no database or directory of small businesses located in
Designated Enterprise Zones. Information on the location of
Designated Enterprise Zones can be obtained by contacting:
Aldona M. Kartorie
Center for Community Building
PA Department of Community and Economic Development
4th Floor, Commonwealth Keystone Building
400 North Street
Harrisburg, PA 17120-0225
Phone: (717) 720-7409
Fax: (717) 787-4088
Email: [email protected]
I-14. Proposals
To be considered, Contractors must submit a complete proposal to
this RFQ, using the format provided in PART II, providing ten (10)
paper copies of the Technical Submittal and two (2) paper copies of
the Cost Submittal and two (2) paper copies of the Disadvantaged
Business Submittal. In addition to the paper copies of the
proposal, Contractors shall submit two (2) complete and exact
copies of the entire proposal (Technical, Cost and Disadvantaged
Business Submittals, along with all requested documents) on CD-ROM
or Flash drive in Microsoft Office or Microsoft Office-compatible
format. The electronic copy must be a mirror image of the paper
copy and any spreadsheets must be in Microsoft Excel. The
Contractors may not lock or protect any cells or tabs. Contractors
should ensure that there is no costing information in the technical
submittal. Contractors should not reiterate technical information
in the cost submittal. The CD or Flash drive should clearly
identify the Contractor and include the name and version number of
the virus scanning software that was used to scan the CD or Flash
drive before it was submitted. The Contractor shall make no other
distribution of its proposal to any other Contractor or
Commonwealth official or Commonwealth consultant. Each proposal
page should be numbered for ease of reference. An official
authorized to bind the Contractor to its provisions must sign the
proposal. If the official signs the Proposal Cover Sheet (Appendix
A to this RFQ) and the Proposal Cover Sheet is attached to the
Contractor’s proposal, the requirement will be met. For this RFQ,
the proposal must remain valid for one hundred and twenty (120)
days or until a purchase order is executed. If the Issuing Office
selects the Contractor’s proposal for award, the contents of the
selected Contractor’s proposal will become, except to the extent
the contents are changed through Best and Final Offers or
negotiations, contractual obligations.
Each Contractor submitting a proposal specifically waives any
right to withdraw or modify it, except that the Contractor may
withdraw its proposal by written notice received at the Issuing
Office’s address for proposal delivery prior to the exact hour and
date specified for proposal receipt. A Contractor or its authorized
representative may withdraw its proposal in person prior to the
exact hour and date set for proposal receipt, provided the
withdrawing person provides appropriate identification and signs a
receipt for the proposal. A Contractor may modify its submitted
proposal prior to the exact hour and date set for proposal receipt
only by submitting a new sealed proposal or sealed modification
which complies with the RFQ requirements.
I-15. Proposal Contents
a. Confidential Information. The Commonwealth is not
requesting, and does not require, confidential proprietary
information or trade secrets to be included as part of Contractors’
submissions in order to evaluate proposals submitted in
response to this RFQ. Accordingly, except as provided herein,
Contractors should not label proposal submissions as confidential
or proprietary or trade secret protected. Any Contractor who
determines that it must divulge such information as part of its
proposal must submit the signed written statement described in
subsection c. below and must additionally provide a redacted
version of its proposal, which removes only the confidential
proprietary information and trade secrets, for required public
disclosure purposes.
b. Commonwealth Use. All material submitted with the
proposal shall be considered the property of the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania and may be returned only at the Issuing Office’s
option. The Commonwealth has the right to use any or all
ideas not protected by intellectual property rights that are
presented in any proposal regardless of whether the proposal
becomes part of a contract. Notwithstanding any Contractor
copyright designations contained on proposals, the Commonwealth
shall have the right to make copies and distribute proposals
internally and to comply with public record or other disclosure
requirements under the provisions of any Commonwealth or United
States statute or regulation, or rule or order of any court of
competent jurisdiction.
c. Public Disclosure. After the award of a
contract pursuant to this RFQ, all proposal
submissions are subject to disclosure in response to a request
for public records made under the Pennsylvania Right-to-Know-Law,
65 P.S. § 67.101, et seq. If a proposal submission contains
confidential proprietary information or trade secrets, a signed
written statement to this effect must be provided with the
submission in accordance with 65 P.S. § 67.707(b) for the
information to be considered exempt under 65 P.S. §
67.708(b)(11) from public records requests (See Appendix E, Trade
Secret/Confidential Proprietary Information Notice). Financial
capability information submitted in response to Part II, Section
II-8 of this RFQ is exempt from public records disclosure
under 65 P.S. § 67.708(b) (26).
I-16. Contractor’s Representations and Authorizations
By submitting its proposal, each Contractor understands,
represents, and acknowledges that:
a. All of the Contractor’s information and representations in
the proposal are material and important, and the Issuing Office may
rely upon the contents of the proposal in making an award. The
Commonwealth shall treat any misstatement, omission or
misrepresentation as fraudulent concealment of the true facts
relating to the proposal submission, punishable pursuant to 18 Pa.
C.S. § 4904.
b. The Contractor has arrived at the price(s) and amounts in its
proposal independently and without consultation, communication, or
agreement with any other Contractor or potential Contractor.
c. The Contractor has not disclosed the price(s), the amount of
the proposal, nor the approximate price(s) or amount(s) of its
proposal to any other firm or person who is a Contractor or
potential Contractor for this RFQ, and the Contractor shall not
disclose any of these items on or before the proposal submission
deadline specified in the Calendar of Events of this RFQ.
d. The Contractor has not attempted, nor will it attempt, to
induce any firm or person to refrain from submitting a proposal on
this contract, or to submit a proposal higher than this proposal,
or to submit any intentionally high or noncompetitive proposal or
other form of complementary proposal.
e. The Contractor makes its proposal in good faith and not
pursuant to any agreement or discussion with, or inducement from,
any firm or person to submit a complementary or other
noncompetitive proposal.
f. To the best knowledge of the person signing the proposal for
the Contractor, the Contractor, its affiliates, subsidiaries,
officers, directors, and employees are not currently under
investigation by any governmental agency and have not in the last
four years been convicted or found liable for any act prohibited by
State or Federal law in any jurisdiction, involving conspiracy or
collusion with respect to bidding or proposing on any public
contract, except as the Contractor has disclosed in its
proposal.
g. To the best of the knowledge of the person signing the
proposal for the Contractor and except as the Contractor has
otherwise disclosed in its proposal, the Contractor has no
outstanding, delinquent obligations to the Commonwealth including,
but not limited to, any state tax liability not being contested on
appeal or other obligation of the Contractor that is owed to the
Commonwealth.
h. The Contractor is not currently under suspension or debarment
by the Commonwealth, any other state or the federal government, and
if the Contractor cannot so certify, then it shall submit along
with its proposal a written explanation of why it cannot make such
certification.
i. The Contractor has not made, under separate contract with the
Issuing Office, any recommendations to the Issuing Office
concerning the need for the services described in its proposal or
the specifications for the services described in the proposal.
j. Each Contractor, by submitting its proposal, authorizes
Commonwealth agencies to release to the Commonwealth information
concerning the Contractor's Pennsylvania taxes, unemployment
compensation and workers’ compensation liabilities.
k. Until the selected Contractor receives a fully executed
purchase order from the Issuing Office, there is no legal and valid
contract, in law or in equity, and the Contractor shall not begin
to perform.
I-17. Restriction Of Contact
From the issue date of this RFQ until the Issuing Office selects
a proposal for award, the Issuing Officer is the sole point of
contact concerning this RFQ. Any violation of this condition may be
cause for the Issuing Office to reject the offending Contractor's
proposal. If the Issuing Office later discovers that the Contractor
has engaged in any violations of this condition, the Issuing Office
may reject the offending Contractor's proposal or rescind its
purchase order award. Contractors must agree not to distribute any
part of their proposals beyond the Issuing Office. A Contractor who
shares information contained in its proposal with other
Commonwealth personnel and/or competing Contractor personnel may be
disqualified.
I-18. Prime Contractor Responsibilities
The selected Contractor will be required to assume
responsibility for all services offered in the proposal whether it
produces them itself or by subcontract. The Issuing Office and
Project Manager will consider the selected Contractor to be the
sole point of contact with regard to contractual and purchase order
matters.
I-19. Resources
Contractors shall provide all services, supplies, facilities,
and other support necessary to complete the identified work, except
as otherwise provided in this Section I-19.
PDA will provide three workspaces and telephones for the
contractor project manager and other contractor staff members
during the requirements gathering and implementation phases of the
project. However, PDA will not provide workspace, PCs and a
telephone for the rest of the development staff. The location for
the project coordination will be: 2301 Cameron Street, Harrisburg,
PA 17110. All development and support work must occur within the
Harrisburg area.
Access to the PDA building is controlled by the Pennsylvania
Capitol Police. PDA building is open from 8:00am to 4:00pm Monday –
Friday. Access outside these hours requires Capitol Police to allow
entry to the building or a security badge.
All on site work needed must be performed during the PDA hours,
unless authorized by the OIT Project Manager. Contractors and
subcontractors needing access to the building after normal hours or
on weekends must submit their request to the PDA IT Project Manager
at least two (2) working days in advance.
The Contractor may need to spend time at other project member
locations, (please refer to Appendix G). It is highly encouraged to
use video conferencing equipment and remote control tools to limit
the travel. If needed, PDA IT will provide use of PDA owned
implementation of OnSync by Digital Samba
(www.digitalsamba.com).
PDA will provide a core set of business users from each of the
components to be developed. These people are knowledgeable of PDA
food safety and will be available throughout the project. Access to
additional business experts will be available as needed
PDA will provide PDA IT resources to answer technical questions
about the environment or IT procedures. These people will be
available throughout the project however they will only be
accessible on a limited basis
I-20. Rejection Of Proposals
The Issuing Office reserves the right, in its sole and complete
discretion, to reject any proposal received in response to this
RFQ, or to negotiate separately with competing Contractors.
I-21. Discussions for Clarification
Contractors may be required to make an oral or written
clarification of their proposals to the Issuing Office to ensure
thorough mutual understanding and contractor responsiveness to the
solicitation requirements. The Issuing Office will initiate
requests for clarification.
I-22. Best and Final Offer (BAFO)
While not required, the Issuing Office reserves the right to
conduct discussions with Contractors for the purpose of obtaining
“best and final offers.” To obtain best and final offers from
Contractors, the Issuing Office may do one or more of the
following:
a. Schedule oral presentations;
b. Request revised proposals; and
c. Enter into pre-selection negotiations, including the use of
an online auction.
The Issuing Office will limit any discussions to responsible
Contractors (those that have submitted responsive proposals and
possess the capability to fully perform the contract requirements
in all respects and the integrity and reliability to assure good
faith performance) whose proposals the Issuing Office has
determined to be reasonably susceptible of being selected for
award. The Criteria for Selection found in Part III, Section III-4,
shall also be used to evaluate the best and final offers. Price
reductions offered through any reverse online auction shall have no
effect upon the Contractor’s Technical Submittal. Dollar
commitments to Disadvantaged Businesses and Enterprise Zone Small
Businesses can be reduced only in the same percentage as the
percent reduction in the total price offered through negotiations,
including the online auction.
I-23. Notification of Selection
The Issuing Office will notify the selected Contractor in
writing of its selection for negotiation after the Issuing Office
has determined, taking into consideration all of the evaluation
factors, the proposal that is the most advantageous to the Issuing
Office.
I-24. Purchase Order
The successful Contractor will be issued a purchase order with
reference to IT ITQ Contract 4400004480. The term of the purchase
order will commence on the Effective Date and will end in three (3)
years with two (2) optional one (1) year renewals which may be
exercised as single or multiple year terms at the Commonwealth’s
discretion. No work may begin or be reimbursed prior to issuance of
the purchase order. The selected Contractor will be paid after
submitting invoices, provided it is in accordance with the work
plan and approved by the Commonwealth Project Manager. Final
payment will not be made until all Project work has been
successfully completed.
I-25. Debriefing Conferences
Contractors whose proposals are not selected will be notified of
the name of the selected contractor and given the opportunity to be
debriefed. The Issuing Office will schedule the time and location
of the debriefing. The debriefing will not compare the contractor
with other contractors, other than the position of the Contractor's
proposal in relation to all other contractor proposals. A
Contractor's exercise of the opportunity to be debriefed does not
constitute the filing of a protest.
I-26. News Releases
Contractors shall not issue news releases, internet postings,
advertisements or any other public communications pertaining to
this project without prior written approval of the Issuing Office,
and then only in coordination with the Issuing Office.
I-27. Terms and Conditions
The requirements and terms and conditions of IT Services ITQ
#4400004480 ("4400004480") shall govern all work conducted as a
result of this RFQ.
PART II
PROPOSAL REQUIREMENTS
II-1. General Requirements
Contractors must submit their proposals in the format, including
heading descriptions, outlined below. To be considered, the
proposal must respond to all requirements in this part of the RFQ.
Contractors should provide any other information thought to be
relevant, but not applicable to the enumerated categories, as an
appendix to the Proposal. All cost data relating to this proposal
and all Disadvantaged Business cost data should be kept separate
from and not included in the Technical Submittal. Each Proposal
shall consist of the following three separately sealed
submittals:
a. Technical Submittal, which shall be a response to RFQ Part
II, Sections II‑1 through II‑9;
b. Disadvantaged Business Submittal, in response to RFQ Part II,
Section II‑10; and
c. Cost Submittal, in response to RFQ Part II, Section
II‑11.
The Issuing Office reserves the right to request additional
information which, in the Issuing Office’s opinion, is necessary to
assure that the Contractor’s competence, number of qualified
employees, business organization, and financial resources are
adequate to perform according to the RFQ.
The Issuing Office may make investigations as deemed necessary
to determine the ability of the Contractor to perform the Project,
and the Contractor shall furnish to the Issuing Office all
requested information and data. The Issuing Office reserves the
right to reject any proposal if the evidence submitted by, or
investigation of, such Contractor fails to satisfy the Issuing
Office that such Contractor is properly qualified to carry out the
obligations of the RFQ and to complete the Project as
specified.
II-2. Statement of the Problem
State in succinct terms your understanding of the problem
presented or the service required by this RFQ.
II-3. Management Summary
Include a narrative description of the proposed effort and a
list of the items to be delivered or services to be provided.
II-4. Work Plan
Describe in narrative form your technical plan for accomplishing
the work. Use the task descriptions in Part IV of this RFQ as your
reference point. Modifications of the task descriptions are
permitted; however, reasons for changes should be fully explained.
Indicate the number of person hours allocated to each task. Include
a Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT) or similar type
display, time related, showing each event. If more than one
approach is apparent, comment on why you chose this approach. The
work plan must include, at a minimum:
1. An overview of your proposed solution, a detailed narrative
description and proposed methodology for each of the items in
Section IV – Statement of Work.
2. A description of your plan for quality assurance and quality
control. Describe how you will conduct assessments of items for
completeness, comprehensiveness, accuracy and any other attributes
pertaining to their quality and appropriateness of their intended
function.
3. Describe how you will evaluate the completeness of collecting
requirements.
4. Describe the methodology you will use to identify and address
any problems that might arise and describe how the issues and
deficiencies will be documented and tracked.
5. Indentify the risks associated with this project and possible
mitigation strategies.
6. Include a document explaining the solution concept and
underlying architecture\approach. This should include a schematic
diagram.
7. Include a high level project plan with major milestones and
time duration for each of the tasks listed. The current contract
expires on January 30, 2011. The Commonwealth reserves the right to
exercise the 90 day extension at its sole discretion. The
Commonwealth requires the initial production deployment start on or
prior to November 15, 2010. It must be piloted and acceptable to
the PDA Food Safety staff for one month prior to the release to any
other entities. The Phase I deployment must be fully implemented at
PDA, 315, and local Health Departments prior to April 30, 2011. For
purposes of evaluation, please assume a start date of May 1, 2010.
The actual date may vary. While the dates listed here are the
preferred Commonwealth approach, Contractors may propose
alternative timelines in their response provided the full
implementation does not go beyond the current contract end date
with extension.
8. Contractors must submit a high level implementation plan as
part of their proposal. The response needs to include a plan for
training and implementing the solution across the state to all the
entities.
9. Contractors must submit a customer support plan as part of
their proposal. The response needs to include a summary plan for
supporting the solution across the state to all the entities.
10. Describe the escalation procedures and remedies. Escalation
procedures must ensure that appropriate discussion and actions are
taking place in the case of issues or problems between the support
personnel and end users that are not readily being resolved.
11. Describe the proposed ability/tool to support the end-users
remotely.
12. Contractors may demonstrate and/or explain any additional
value added services the contractor provides as part of this
solution not already discussed in their RFQ response. However,
these value added services are expected to be included at no
additional cost to the Commonwealth.
II-5. Prior Experience
Include current or previous experience with a minimum of three
(3) references from projects of similar size and scope. This
section should not exceed three (3) pages. Please include the
following elements:
1. Disconnected solutions for field users with similar number of
users and sites
2. Microsoft SQL Server 2005 replication methods
3. Inspection systems with similar number of users and sites
4. List all previous Agriculture system development/support
5. Microsoft .NET
6. Enterprise data management
7. Workflow
8. Credit card processing
9. Supporting 300+ remote/field users
10. Help desk / system support
11. Implementation at the ESF, including required protocols,
test scripts and backup procedures, and coordinating with the
ESF
12. Data conversions of similar scope and size
13. State-wide deployments with similar number of users and
sites
14. Post-implementation maintenance and support, including SLA
management
Experience cited should be for work performed by members of the
project team who will be assigned to this project. Studies or
projects referred to must be identified and the name of the
customer shown, including the name, address, and telephone number
and email address of the responsible official of the customer,
company, or agency who may be contacted.
II-6. Personnel
1. The contractor must submit the organizational structure of
the team. This should include the individual names, role on
project, resumes, and references of who would be assigned to the
project, to validate their technical abilities. Each project member
must match up to the current job titles and skill categories
provided in Appendix H. Based on previous size and scoped projects,
PDA has estimated the below number and types of resources:
Pre Implementation Support:
Qty
Role
IT Staff Augmentation Equivalent
Years Experience
Resume
Needed
References Needed
1
Project Manager
PM3
10
Yes
Yes
1
Database Administrator/ Data Architect
DBA3
5
Yes
No
5
Sr Programmer
PS3
5+
Yes
No
1
Jr Programmer
PS2
3+
No
No
1
Report Writer/Programmer
PR2
3+
No
No
Post Implementation Support:
Qty
Role
IT Staff Augmentation Equivalent
Years Experience
Resume
needed
References needed
1
Project Manager
PM3
10
Yes
Yes
2
Sr Programmer
PS3
5+
Yes
No
1
Customer Support
HDA2
3+
No
No
2. As part of the proposal, the contractor should indicate if
the estimate above should be modified and explain why the resources
should be different for the project.
3. Indicate the roles, responsibilities, tasks, and duration
that each individual will have in this Project. Identify by name
any subcontractors you intend to use and the services they will
perform. Indicate whether these personnel will be full time or part
time.
4. The contractor must submit a resume and references for the
Project Managers. The contractor must also submit the individual’s
resume that will act as the Project Manager when the assigned
Project Manager is unavailable for an extended period of time. The
substitute/temporary project manager must have qualifications
similar to or greater than the named Project Manager possesses.
5. The Project Manager must have a minimum of 10 years
demonstrated experience with increased levels of responsibility in
project management in information technology. The Project Manager
must have experience managing large scale projects involving state
implementations with remote locations. Additionally, the Project
Manager must have demonstrated highly effective oral and written
communication skills.
6. List where contractor staff will be physically located during
the time they are engaged in the Project. Each individual must have
a minimum of number of years’ experience in the field for which
they will be supplying services (as noted in the above table on
page 17).
7. All staffing replacements must be submitted to the PDA-IT
Project Manager as soon as they are known. A “substitution” is
defined as an individual temporarily filling in for a permanent
resource. A “replacement” is defined as an individual permanently
replacing an already assigned resource. The replacement may be done
for various reasons including but not limited to, death, loss of
employment, long-term sickness, subcontract default or retirement.
If either a substitution or a replacement is requested, the
Contractor must provide resumes for alternate resources within two
weeks of the notification. All substitutions and replacements must
be made with the PDA-IT Project Manager’s approval.
a) The PDA-IT project team requires at least three business days
to evaluate a proposed candidate’s resume, skills and references.
This 3-day period may be concurrent with the required background
check.
b) The PDA-IT Project Manager reserves the right to interview
any proposed candidates and reject any proposed candidate who does
not meet the project requirements. In such a case, the Contractor
must provide alternate candidates for interview until a suitable
candidate is selected.
8. PDA-IT project team has the right to require replacement of
Contractor personnel if dissatisfied with their performance or if
contractor personnel fail to meet the security and confidentiality
requirements specified in this RFQ.
II-7. Training
Indicate recommended training for all end users of the system.
Include the method of training, duration of the program, place of
training, curricula, training materials to be used, number and
frequency of sessions, and number and level of instructors. Note,
not all users will be traveling to Harrisburg for training.
II-8. Financial Capability
Provide the last three (3) year’s financial reports, which must
include Income Statements and Balance Sheets. Financial
Reports should be Certified and/or Audited. Public companies
may provide a direct link to online financial statements rather
than submitting paper versions. All financial data will be
confidential and will not be made public
II-9. Emergency Preparedness.
To support continuity of operations during an emergency,
including a pandemic, the Commonwealth needs a strategy for
maintaining operations for an extended period of time. One part of
this strategy is to ensure that essential contracts that provide
critical business services to the Commonwealth have planned for
such an emergency and put contingencies in place to provide needed
goods and services.
a. Describe how you anticipate such a crisis will impact your
operations.
b. Describe your emergency response continuity of operations
plan. Please attach a copy of your plan, or at a minimum, summarize
how your plan addresses the following aspects of pandemic
preparedness:
i) Employee training (describe your organization’s training
plan, and how frequently your plan will be shared with
employees)
ii) Identified essential business functions and key employees
(within your organization) necessary to carry them out
iii) Contingency plans for:
· How your organization will handle staffing issues when a
portion of key employees are incapacitated due to illness.
· How employees in your organization will carry out the
essential functions if contagion control measures prevent them from
coming to the primary workplace.
iv) How your organization will communicate with staff and
suppliers when primary communications systems are overloaded or
otherwise fail, including key contacts, chain of communications
(including suppliers), etc.
v) How and when your emergency plan will be tested, and if the
plan will be tested by a third-party.
II-10. Disadvantaged Business Submittal
a. Disadvantaged Business Information.
i) To receive credit for being a Small Disadvantaged Business or
a Socially Disadvantaged Business or for entering into a joint
venture agreement with a Small Disadvantaged Business or for
subcontracting with a Small Disadvantaged Business (including
purchasing supplies and/or services through a purchase agreement),
a Contractor must include proof of Disadvantaged Business
qualification in the Disadvantaged Business Submittal of the
proposal, as indicated below:
1) A Small Disadvantaged Businesses certified by BMWBO as an
MBE/WBE must provide a photocopy of their BMWBO certificate.
2) Businesses certified by the U.S. Small Business
Administration pursuant to Section 8(a) of the Small Business Act
(15 U.S.C. § 636(a)) as an 8(a) Small Disadvantaged Businesses must
submit proof of U.S. Small Business Administration certification.
The owners of such businesses must also submit proof of United
States citizenship.
3) Businesses, which assert that they meet the U.S. Small
Business Administration criteria for designation as a small
disadvantaged business, must submit: a) self-certification that the
business meets the Small Business Administration criteria and b)
documentary proof to support the self-certification. The owners of
such businesses must also submit proof of United States
citizenship, and provide any relevant small disadvantaged business
certifications by other certifying entities.
4) All businesses claiming Small Disadvantaged Business status,
whether as a result of BMWBO certification, or U.S. Small Business
Administration certification as an 8(a) or self-certification as a
U.S. Small Business Administration small disadvantaged business,
must attest to the fact that the business has 100 or fewer
employees.
5) All businesses claiming Small Disadvantaged Business status,
whether as a result of BMWBO certification, or U.S. Small Business
Administration certification as an 8(a) or self-certification as a
U.S. Small Business Administration small disadvantaged business,
must submit proof that their gross annual revenues are less than
$20,000,000 ($25,000,000 for those businesses in the information
technology sales or service business). This can be accomplished by
including a recent tax return or audited financial statement.
ii) All businesses claiming status as a Socially Disadvantaged
Business must include in the Disadvantaged Business Submittal of
the proposal clear and convincing evidence to establish that the
business has personally suffered racial or ethnic prejudice or
cultural bias stemming from the business person’s color, ethnic
origin or gender. The submitted evidence of prejudice or bias
must:
1) Be rooted in treatment that the business person has
experienced in American society, not in other countries.
2) Show prejudice or bias that is chronic and substantial, not
fleeting or insignificant.
3) Indicate that the business person’s experience with the
racial or ethnic prejudice or cultural bias has negatively impacted
his or her entry into and/or advancement in the business world.
BMWBO shall determine whether the Contractor has established
that a business is socially disadvantaged by clear and convincing
evidence.
iii) In addition to the above verifications, the Offeror must
include in the Disadvantaged Business Submittal of the proposal the
following information:
1) Those small disadvantaged businesses submitting a proposal as
the offeror, must include a numerical percentage which represents
the total percentage of the work (as a percentage of the total cost
in the Cost Submittal) to be performed by the offeror and not by
subcontractors and suppliers.
2) Those small disadvantaged businesses submitting a proposal as
a part of a joint venture partnership, must include a numerical
percentage which represents the total percentage of the work (as a
percentage of the total cost in the Cost Submittal) to be performed
by the small disadvantaged business joint venture partner and not
by subcontractors and suppliers or by joint venture partners who
are not small disadvantaged businesses. Contractor must also
provide:
a) The amount of capital, if any, each Small Disadvantaged
Business joint venture partner will be expected to provide.
b) A copy of the joint venture agreement signed by all
parties.
c) The business name, address, name and telephone number of the
primary contact person for the Small Disadvantaged Business joint
venture partner.
3) All offerors must include a numerical percentage which
represents the total percentage of the total cost in the Cost
Submittal that the Contractor commits to paying to Small
Disadvantaged Businesses as subcontractors. To support its total
percentage DB subcontractor commitment, Contractor must also
include:
a) The dollar amount of each subcontract commitment to a Small
Disadvantaged Business;
b) The name of each Small Disadvantaged Business; and
c) The services or supplies each Small Disadvantaged Business
will provide, including the timeframe for providing the services or
supplies.
d) The location where each Small Disadvantaged Business will
perform services.
e) The timeframe for each Small Disadvantaged Business to
provide or deliver the goods or services.
f) A signed subcontract or letter of intent. For a subcontract,
a signed subcontract or letter of intent. The letter of intent must
identify the specific work, goods or services each small
disadvantaged business will perform and how the work, goods or
services relates to the project.
g) The name, address and telephone number of the primary contact
person for each Small Disadvantaged Business.
The Offeror will not receive credit for stating that it will
find a Small Disadvantaged Business after the contract is
awarded.
4) The total percentages and each subcontractor commitment will
become contractual obligations once the contract is fully
executed.
5) The name and telephone number of the Offeror’s project
(contact) person for the Small Disadvantaged Business
information.
iv) The Contractor is required to submit two (2) copies of its
Disadvantaged Business Submittal. The submittal shall be clearly
identified as Disadvantaged Business information and sealed in its
own envelope, separate from the remainder of the proposal.
v) A Small Disadvantaged Business can be included as a
subcontractor with as many prime contractors as it chooses in
separate proposals.
vi) A Contractor that qualifies as a Small Disadvantaged
Business and submits a proposal as a prime contractor is not
prohibited from being included as a subcontractor in separate
proposals submitted by other Contractors.
b. Enterprise Zone Small Business Participation.
i) To receive credit for being an enterprise zone small business
or entering into a joint venture agreement with an enterprise zone
small business or subcontracting with an enterprise zone small
business, a Contractor must include the following information in
the Disadvantaged Business Submittal of the proposal:
1) Proof of the location of the business’ headquarters (such as
a lease or deed or Department of State corporate registration),
including a description of those activities that occur at the site
to support the other businesses in the enterprise zone.
2) Confirmation of the enterprise zone in which it is located
(obtained from the local enterprise zone office).
3) Proof of United States citizenship of the owners of the
business.
4) Certification that the business employs 100 or fewer
employees.
5) Proof that the business’ gross annual revenues are less than
$20,000,000 ($25,000,000 for those businesses in the information
technology sales or service business). This can be accomplished by
including a recent tax return or audited financial statement.
6) Documentation of business organization, if applicable, such
as articles of incorporation, partnership agreement or other
documents of organization.
ii) In addition to the above verifications, the Contractor must
include in the Disadvantaged Business Submittal of the proposal the
following information:
1) The name and telephone number of the Contractor’s project
(contact) person for the Enterprise Zone Small Business.
2) The business name, address, name and telephone number of the
primary contact person for each Enterprise Zone Small Business
included in the proposal. The Contractor must specify each
Enterprise Zone Small Business to which it is making commitments.
The Contractor will not receive credit for stating that it will
find an Enterprise Zone Small Business after the contract is
awarded or for listing several businesses and stating that one will
be selected later.
3) The specific work, goods or services each Enterprise Zone
Small Business will perform or provide.
4) The total cost amount submitted in the Contractor’s cost
proposal and the estimated dollar value of the contract to each
Enterprise Zone Small Business.
5) Of the estimated dollar value of the contract to each
Enterprise Zone Small Business, the percent of the total value of
services or products purchased or subcontracted that each
Enterprise Zone Small Business will provide.
6) The location where each Enterprise Zone Small Business will
perform these services.
7) The timeframe for each Enterprise Zone Small Business to
provide or deliver the goods or services.
8) The amount of capital, if any, each Enterprise Zone Small
Business will be expected to provide.
9) The form and amount of compensation each Enterprise Zone
Small Business will receive.
10) For a joint venture agreement, a copy of the agreement,
signed by all parties.
11) For a subcontract, a signed subcontract or letter of
intent.
iii) The dollar value of the commitment to each Enterprise Zone
Small Business must be included in the same sealed envelope with
the Disadvantaged Business Submittal of the proposal. The following
will become a contractual obligation once the contract is fully
executed:
1) The amount of the selected Contractor’s Enterprise Zone Small
Business commitment;
2) The name of each Enterprise Zone Small Business; and
3) The services each Enterprise Zone Small Business will
provide, including the timeframe for performing the services.
II-11. Cost Submittal
The information requested in this Section II-11 and Appendix C
(Cost Matrix) shall constitute the Cost Submittal. The Cost
Submittal shall be placed in a separate sealed envelope within the
sealed proposal and kept separate from the technical submittal. The
total cost you are proposing must be broken down into the
components listed on Appendix C. The deliverable 1 for Project
Management must be priced for the term of the Purchase Order, but
PDA may, at its discretion, pay this as a monthly fee. All other
deliverables will be one time payments, upon PDA acceptance of the
deliverables. These remaining deliverables occur in two duplicate
sets: one for the Phase I implementation, and another set for the
implementation of the remaining components. Please see the
instructions contained in Appendix C for further information.
Contractors should not include any assumptions in their cost
submittals. If the Contractor includes assumptions in its cost
submittal, the Issuing Office may reject the proposal. Contractors
should direct in writing to the Issuing Office pursuant to Part I,
Section I-6 of this RFQ, any questions about whether a cost or
other component is included or applies. All Contractors will then
have the benefit of the Issuing Office’s written answer so that all
proposals are submitted on the same basis.
The Issuing Office will reimburse the selected Contractor for
work satisfactorily performed after execution of a purchase order
and the start of the purchase order term, in accordance with
contract requirements.
II-12. Domestic Workforce Utilization
Contractors must complete and sign the Domestic Workforce
Utilization Certification attached to and made a part of this RFQ
as Appendix B. Contractors who seek consideration for the Domestic
Workforce Utilization Certification criterion must complete, sign
and submit the Domestic Workforce Utilization Certification Form in
the same sealed envelope with the Technical Submittal.
II-13. Lobbying Certification and Disclosure of Lobbying
Activities
This Project will be funded, in whole or in part, with federal
monies. Public Law 101-121, Section 319, prohibits federal funds
from being expended by the recipient or by any lower tier
sub-recipients of a federal contract, grant, loan, or a cooperative
agreement to pay any person for influencing, or attempting to
influence a federal agency or Congress in connection with the
awarding of any federal contract, the making of any federal grant
or loan, or entering into any cooperative agreement. All parties
who submit proposals in response to this RFQ must sign the
“Lobbying Certification Form,” (attached as Appendix D) and, if
applicable, complete the “Disclosure of Lobbying Activities” form
available at:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/assets/omb/grants/sflllin.pdf.
PART III
CRITERIA FOR SELECTION
III-1. Mandatory Responsiveness Requirements
To be eligible for selection, a proposal must be:
a. Timely received from a Contractor; and
b. Properly signed by the Contractor.
III-2. Technical Nonconforming Proposals
The Issuing Office reserves the right, in its sole discretion,
to waive technical or immaterial nonconformities in a Contractor's
proposal.
III-3. Evaluation Committee
Proposals will be reviewed and evaluated by a committee of
qualified personnel selected by the Commonwealth. This committee
will recommend for selection the proposal which it determines is
the most advantageous to the Commonwealth after considering all of
the evaluation factors. Award will only be made to a Contractor
determined to be responsible in accordance with Commonwealth
Management Directive 215.9, Contractor Responsibility Program.
III-4. Criteria for Selection. The following criteria will be
used in evaluating each proposal. In order for a proposal to be
considered for selection for best and final offers or selection for
negotiations, the total score for the technical submittal of the
proposal must be greater than or equal to 70% of the highest
scoring technical submittal.
a. Technical: The Issuing Office has established the weight for
the Technical criterion for this RFQ as 50 % of the total points.
Evaluation may be based upon the following:
· Understanding the Problem
· Soundness of Approach
· Personnel Qualifications
· Contractor Qualification
b. Cost: The Issuing Office has established the weight for the
Cost criterion for this RFQ as 30 % of the total points.
c. Disadvantaged Business Participation:
BMWBO has established the weight for the Disadvantaged Business
Participation criterion for this RFQ as 20 % of the total points.
Evaluation will be based upon the following in order of
priority:
Priority Rank 1Proposals submitted by Small Disadvantaged
Businesses.
Priority Rank 2Proposals submitted from a joint venture with a
Small Disadvantaged Business as a joint venture partner.
Priority Rank 3Proposals submitted with subcontracting
commitments to Small Disadvantaged Businesses.
Priority Rank 4Proposals submitted by Socially Disadvantaged
Businesses.
Each proposal will be rated for its approach to enhancing the
utilization of Small Disadvantaged Businesses and/or Socially
Disadvantaged Businesses. Each approach will be evaluated, with
Priority Rank 1 receiving the highest score and the succeeding
options receiving scores in accordance with the above-listed
priority ranking
To the extent that a Contractor qualifies as a Small
Disadvantaged Business or a Socially Disadvantaged Business, the
Small Disadvantaged Business or Socially Disadvantaged Business
cannot enter into subcontract arrangements for more than 40% of the
total estimated dollar amount of the contract. If a Small
Disadvantaged Business or a Socially Disadvantaged Business
subcontracts more than 40% of the total estimated dollar amount of
the contract to other contractors, the Disadvantaged Business
Participation scoring shall be proportionally lower for that
proposal.
d. Enterprise Zone Small Business Participation:
In accordance with the priority ranks listed below, bonus points
in addition to the total points for this RFQ will be given for the
Enterprise Zone Small Business Participation criterion. The maximum
bonus points for this criterion is 3% of the total points for this
RFQ. The following options will be considered as part of the final
criteria for selection:
Priority Rank 1Proposals submitted by an Enterprise Zone Small
Business will receive three percent bonus for this criterion.
Priority Rank 2Proposals submitted by a joint venture with an
Enterprise Zone Small Business as a joint venture partner will
receive two percent bonus for this criterion.
Priority Rank 3Proposals submitted with a subcontracting
commitment to an Enterprise Zone Small Business will receive the
one percent bonus for this criterion.
Priority Rank 4Proposals with no Enterprise Zone Small Business
Utilization shall receive no points under this criterion.
To the extent that a Contractor is an Enterprise Zone Small
Business, the Contractor cannot enter into contract or subcontract
arrangements for more than 40% of the total estimated dollar amount
of the contract in order to qualify as an Enterprise Zone Small
Business for purposes of this RFQ.
a. Domestic Workforce Utilization: Any points received for the
Domestic Workforce Utilization criterion are bonus points in
addition to the total points for this RFQ. The maximum bonus points
for this criterion is 3% of the total points for this RFQ. To the
extent permitted by the laws and treaties of the United States,
each proposal will be scored for its commitment to use domestic
workforce in the fulfillment of the contract. Maximum consideration
will be given to those Contractors who will perform the contracted
direct labor exclusively within the geographical boundaries of the
United States or within the geographical boundaries of a country
that is a party to the World Trade Organization Government
Procurement Agreement. Those who propose to perform a portion of
the direct labor outside of the United States and not within the
geographical boundaries of a party to the World Trade Organization
Government Procurement Agreement will receive a correspondingly
smaller score for this criterion. Contractors who seek
consideration for this criterion must submit in hardcopy the signed
Domestic Workforce Utilization Certification Form in the same
sealed envelope with the Technical Submittal. The certification
will be included as a contractual obligation when the contract is
executed.
PART IV
WORK STATEMENT
IV-1. Objectives.
· General. The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture (PDA),
Bureau of Food Safety and Laboratory Services is requesting
services to build and support a new Food Safety state-wide web and
disconnected solution for field users.
· Specific. The Bureau of Food Safety is responsible for
administering regulatory actions associated with Food Safety and
Consumer Protection programs. To ensure continuing compliance with
sanitation standards, facilities must first demonstrate that
sanitation requirements are met prior to a Food Establishment
License/Registration being issued.
Bureau Inspectors routinely conduct inspections and
registrations for 6,389 Food Manufacturing Firms, 2,544 Warehouses,
16,110 Retail Food stores; Licenses and inspects 32,863 Public
Eating and Drinking places and 5,979 Frozen Dessert operations;
inspects 2,999 Schools and approximately 600 Camps and Summer Food
sites, in addition to, permitting and inspecting approximately 300
Seasonal Farm Labor Camps. As of August 27, 2005 the
Department had issued nearly 55,000 Food Employee Certification
Certificates to management employees of Food Establishments and
6,332 Non-Profit Certifications to non-profit organizations that
serve food to the public.
The Division of Milk Sanitation issues approximately 871 Milk
Permits (including Out-of-State) and inspects approximately 278
Dairy Processing, Manufacturing and Distribution facilities.
The Division also issues 119 Approved Inspector Licenses and 1,300
Approved Dairy Sampler’s Certifications. Approximately 855
Farm Bulk Milk Tanker and Milk Transport Tanker Inspections are
conducted, as well as approximately 400 Dairy Farm Equipment
Installation and Dairy Plant Plan Reviews.
The Eggs, Fruits and Vegetables Division conduct inspections to
comply with state Food Safety regulations. The Division provides
inspections for egg processing plants, grocery stores and
warehouses relative to Eggs, Fruits and Vegetables grading service
for the Food Industry and issues Egg Licenses for the Pennsylvania
Certified Egg Program. Also, the Division is a third party monitor
for the PEQAP (Pennsylvania Egg Quality Program) in the State. The
Division also takes care of all business aspects of the Fruit and
Vegetable Inspection Association to include hiring and training of
all inspectors.
The PDA Dairy Lab provides quality assurance for the testing of
milk products. In addition, this Lab also provides certification
and accreditations of Milk Laboratories and Analysts through
on-site evaluations and Split Sample surveys and issues Dairy
Laboratory Director’s Certificates.
The Bureau programs to be included in this new application
are:
Food Safety Programs/Components
Certifications
Inspections
Laboratory Services
Must be in Phase I:
Fair and/or Temporary Food Concessions
X
X
Frozen Dessert
X
X
Milk Sanitation Program
X
X
Restaurant / Retail Food Facilities
X
X
Wholesale - Processing, Manufacturing and Distribution
X
X
*The above MUST BE implemented in Phase 1 by November 15,
2010
Future Phases:
Fair and/or Temporary Food Concessions
X
Frozen Dessert
X
Milk Sanitation Program
X
Wholesale - Processing, Manufacturing and Distribution
X
Eggs, Fruits and Vegetables
X
X
X
Certificates of Free Sale
X
X
Restaurant / Retail Food Facilities
X
Food Employee Certification
X
PEQAP - PA Egg Quality Assurance Program
X
X
X
Seafood Program
X
X
X
Shellfish, Intra and Interstate
X
X
X
Additional information about each of the programs, forms and,
legal regulations can be found on the PDA website at:
http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/gateway/PTARGS_0_2_24476_10297_0_43/AgWebsite/OrganizationDetail.aspx?name=Bureau-of-Food-Safety-and-Laboratory-Services&navid=34&parentnavid=0&orgid=13&
The Food Safety programs/components listed above have a number
of different inspection reports and forms.
The list below shows the different types of forms and reports
that are needed for each program/component.
Food Safety Programs/Components
Input Forms
Printed Reports
Certificates of Free Sale
Eggs, Fruits and Vegetables
1. Egg Inspection
2. Egg Weights Inspection
3. USDA Shell Egg Inspection
4. Fruits And Vegetables Inspection
5. Financial Transactions of Egg Checks for PA Certified Program
by # of cases produced
6. Water Test Results
7. Licensed Egg Graders
1. Egg Inspection Form
2. Egg Weight Report
3. USDA Inspection Form
4. F&V Inspection Form
5. Water Test Results
6. Licensed Egg Graders Certificate
Fair and/or Temporary Food Concessions
8. Temp Food Inspection
7. Temp Food Inspection Report
8. Temp Food Certificate
Food Employee Certification
9. Certification Course
10. Certification Food
11. Non Profit Certified Food Manager
12. Course Sponsor
9. Food Employee Certificate
10. Non Profit Food Certificate
Frozen Dessert
13. Frozen Dessert Inspection
11. Frozen Dessert Certificate
12. Frozen Dessert Inspection
Milk Sanitation Program
14. BTU Record Inspection
15. IMS Rating Inspection
(IMS Rating Ins. PLT
IMS Rating Ins. Bulk Tank
IMS Rating Ins. Transfer/Receiving Station
IMS Rating Ins. Single service)
16. Milk Plant Equipment Inspection
17. Milk Plant Inspection
18. Milk Tanker Inspection
19. Raw Milk Permit Dairy Farm Inspection Single Service
Manufacturing Plant Inspection
20. Distributor Inspection
21. Transfer Wash Station Inspection
22. Plant Sampler
23. Bulk Weigher & Sampler
13. BTU Record Inspection
14. IMS Rating Inspection
15. Milk Plant Equipment Inspection
16. Milk Plant Inspection
17. Milk Tanker Inspection
18. Raw Milk Permit Dairy Farm Distributor Inspection
19. Single Service Manufacturing Plant Inspection
20. Transfer Wash Station Inspection
21. Plant Sampler
22. Bulk Weigher & Sampler
PEQAP - PA Egg Quality Assurance Program
24. PEQAP Inspection
23. Inspection Report
Restaurant / Retail Food Facilities*
25. Retail License
26. Food Inspection
24. Retail License Certificate
25. Retail Food Inspection
Seafood Program
27. Domestic Seafood HACCP Inspection
26. Domestic Seafood HACCP Inspection
Shellfish, Intra and Interstate*
28. Shellfish Inspection
27. Shellfish Inspection
Wholesale - Processing, Manufacturing and Distribution*
29. Wholesale License
30. Wholesale Food Inspection
28. Wholesale Food Inspection
29. Wholesale Food Certificate
Inspected Facilities
31. Owner Information
32. Court Hearing
33. Enforcement Case
34. Establishment Characteristics
35. Account/Facility Information
36. Facility Variance
37. Fee Schedule
38. Financial Transactions
39. Jurisdiction
40. Plan Review
41. Warning Letters
42. Citations
43. Seasonal Farm Labor Camp Permit
44. SFLC Camp Checklist
45. SFLC Camp Survey
30. Detail of the Facility History
31. Court Hearing Disposition
32. License Eligibility
33. Out of Compliance Facilities
34. Variance Report
35. Daily Transmittal
36. Delinquent licenses
37. EHS E1 Checks Entered By Staff
38. EHS E3 Memorandum and List of Checks
39. EHS E5 Multi Service Revenue Memo
40. Warning Letters
41. Citations
42. SFLC Facility Permit
Inspections
46. Inspection
47. Inspection Violation
48. SFLC Inspection
49. H2A Inspection
43. Inspections
44. Delinquent Inspections
45. Inspections to be Performed
46. Inspections Performed
47. Schools Inspected
48. SFLC Inspection
49. H2A Inspection
Inspectors
50. Inspector Exams
51. Instructor Instructors
Laboratory Samples
52. Lab Samples
50. Lab Form Report
Complaints
53. Complaint Form
51. Complaint Form Report
Management reports Reporting
The application must include a number of management reports.
Below is a list of non-exhaustive reports that are required.
1. Detailed synchronization report which must include user,
status, time started, time completed, number of records.
2. Delinquent Inspections
3. Violations cited
4. Inspection Activity
5. Summary listing of Weekly Hearing
6. Summary and status of the Complaints submitted
7. Adhoc Reporting capabilities
IV-2. Nature and Scope of the Project.
· Scope- The application will be used throughout PA by three
separate entities: PDA Bureau of Food Safety, Act 315 entities, and
the staff of Local Health Departments. Other project stakeholders
will ultimately include the general public as users of the
informational aspect of the website.
Information regarding the three separate entities can be found
in Appendix F and Appendix G. The 3 entities list above will be
referred to in this document as ‘users’.
IV-3. Requirements and Deliverables.
The design and implementation of this project will be managed in
seven parts which are referred to in this document as requirements
and deliverables. Development of the requirements and deliverables
may overlap or occur sequentially at the Contractor’s discretion;
however, project plans must reflect an approach that will allow for
a completion of all seven requirements and deliverables pertaining
to this project. The requirements for the following deliverables
are described in this section.
Requirement 1: Project Management
A. The Project Manager will function as the contractor’s
authorized point of contact with PDA and must be available to
respond promptly and fully to all contract requirements. The
Project Manager’s responsibilities will include, but are not
limited to: providing administrative, supervisory, and technical
direction to project personnel; monitoring work performance for
accuracy, timeliness, efficiency, and adherence to contract
requirements; coordinating the resolution of problems and the
implementation and completion of problem escalation procedures.
Provide oversight for all levels of this effort.
B. The contractor will be responsible for outreach to all
relevant project members:
a. Work with PDA to lead communications and outreach
b. Ensure appropriate processes and lines of communication
exist
C. The Project Manager must meet weekly with the PDA designated
staff in a group, individual, or conference call setting for the
first 6 months of the contract. PDA may continue meetings with the
Project Manager as necessary.
D. The Contractor must follow the defined project plan and
development methodology which is listed on the OAIT PM site. In all
cases, the Offeror must submit a Project Management Plan, including
Risk Assessment, Communications Plan, and QA Plan showing how it
will conform to all SLA requirements. This plan must specifically
address management of post-implementation support, in addition to
the development and implementation tasks.
E. PDA will not be responsible, either directly or indirectly,
for the cost for any additional training/certifications a
contractor may be required to receive to perform their duties under
the resulting PO with PDA.
F. The contractor must work with CTC and PDAIT staff members to
implement the application to the staging and production
environments. The process is outlined in this link:
http://www.esfportal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/enterprise_server_farm/460
G. The contractor must meet the Project Management Service Level
Agreements attached as Appendix I.
Deliverables in reference to IV-3 Requirement 1: Project
Management
A. Contractor must submit a detailed project plan of dates for
major milestones. These milestones will at minimum include
requirement gathering, application development, customer testing,
data conversion, PDA pilot, and implementation of the system.
B. Develop a specific communications plan which includes
how/when each Act 315 and local health department are
contacted.
Requirement 2: Requirements Gathering:
A. Contractor must review, understand, and document the current
business processes and provide options on how the proposed
technology will reduce the current manual efforts.B. The contractor
must identify and address the needs of the local health departments
and Act 315 health departments. C. Contractor must have the ability
to meet as required by PDA (in person) with PDA Food Safety
employees and as needed with the local health departments and Act
315 health departments. It is expected that the majority of the
work will take place onsite in Harrisburg at the Department of
Agriculture.
Deliverables in reference to IV-3 Requirement 2: Requirements
Gathering
A. Create a detailed system architecture document including a
schematic diagram.
B. Create a detailed requirements document
C. Identify each requirement separately for ease of
identification
D. Develop and stock relevant documents in a repository for
ready reference in the future to include, but not be limited to,
transition documentation, inventory and diagrammatic drawings,
project timelines, service level agreements, contractual
documentation, agency specific documentation, governance
documentation and organization, process flow charts, etc. All these
will be the property of the Commonwealth and will be provided in a
non-proprietary format when asked for or upon termination of the
Purchase Order.
Requirement 3: Application Development:
1. Develop and maintain a secure, customized web-based solution,
a disconnected solution for the field users, and a public facing
component. PDA is looking for an innovative technology solution to
meet the field staff’s needs.
a) The disconnected application must give the inspectors the
ability to work in the field and synchronize the data back to the
main database.
i. The synchronization will occur over various low and high
speed connections (disconnected from the commonwealth
network-CWOPA) such as: air card (primarily), dialup, wi-fi hot
spots, cable, DSL, and others.
ii. Estimated Transaction volumes:
1. 100,000 establishments/facilities to maintain
2. ability to process 60,000 inspections per year.
3. ability to process 20, 000 lab samples
4. 400 users
5. Wireless data synchronization several times a day
iii. All synchronizations based on air card speeds must not
exceed the requirements listed in Appendix-I. The end-users should
normally expect to see synchronization times under 2 minutes.
b) The secure website must allow users to enter/edit data and
information, generate reports, create invoice transmittal
documents, create and view maps of facilities, update information
on the PDA website.
c) The secure website must have the ability for the public
to:
i. Look up ‘approved’ inspections for all programs, such as:
http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/gateway/PTARGS_0_2_24476_10297_0_43/AgWebsite/Page.aspx?name=Food-Safety-Inspection-Results&navid=31&parentnavid=0&pageid=50&navcol=true&
ii. Submit complaints about establishments, such as:
http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/gateway/PTARGS_0_2_24476_10297_0_43/AgWebsite/contact/FoodSafetyComplaint.aspx?navid=26&parentnavid=0&
A. The application will execute on Commonwealth infrastructure;
the Offeror is responsible for ensuring that software releases in
its development environment are properly installed into the PDA
repository as part of standard release management.
B. The applications must follow the PDA IT and Office of
Administration Information Technology standards:
a) The source code and reports must be delivered to the PDA IT
after each release to be added to source control.
b) The entire solution (code, reports, and database) will become
sole property of the PDA with the exception of any 3rd party tools
or software.
c) Contractors are obligated to comply with standards and
policies issued as Information Technology Bulletins (ITBs) by the
Office of Administration. (See current ITBs at:
http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt?open=512&objID=416&PageID=210791&mode=2
Adherence to these policies is mandatory. When an agency and/or
Contractor believes there is a need to deviate from these
standards/policies, the agency must first receive approval to do so
from the OA/OIT’s Deputy Secretary.
d) The application architecture must pass the Office of
Administration Information Technology Application Certification and
Accreditation (CA) 2 Process. See
http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/cyber_security/337
e) The web application must be secure by using hypertext
transfer protocol over secure socket layers (HTTPS).
f) The applications should be developed in Microsoft Visual
Basic .NET framework 2.0 or greater (preferred .NET 3.5 framework).
Application development is performed using Visual Studio 2008.
g) The main database must be developed in Microsoft SQL Server
2005 plus. Innovative solutions will be considered, but must be
compatible with the ESF-lite offering (see j below) and PDA
infrastructure.
h) The disconnected database may be developed in Microsoft SQL
Server Express 2005, or the contractor may propose an innovative
solution.
i) The Reporting should be developed in Microsoft Reporting
Services 2005 plus.
j) The main application and database must be located at the
Commonwealth Technology Center - Enterprise Server Farm. – Managed
Services Lite:
http://www.esfportal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/managed_services_lite/742
k) The application and architecture must be developed in the
similar layout and flow as other PDA applications or reuse the
application framework currently at PDA (PaPlants, PaPlants
Inspector, or DogLaw online/offline). Cd’s are available upon
request to explain PDA’s current application and architecture.
C. Solution must have the ability to track all synchronizations
(successful and failure) including but not limited to user, status,
time started, time completed, number of records. In the event of a
synchronization failure, the contractor must have a detailed
process for ensuring the data is not lost.
D. Solution must be compatible with the current food safety
computer equipment (desktop, IBM Lenovo X61, and IBM x200 tablet
computers, with Windows XP as the operating system). PDA will
provide the contractor with one IBM Lenovo X61 tablet for
application testing.
E. The end-users of the system are familiar with using the ‘pen’
functionality on the tablet to use applications. The application
developed must be compatible with using this functionality for
ease-of-use and digitally signing the inspections.
F. Contractor is responsible for all software and hardware
required to support the development of the system and for ensuring
it matches the new production environment at PDA. PDA IT will be
responsible for all hardware and software for the staging and
production environment. See appendix J. Proposals must include a
list of hardware and software needed to support the proposed
staging and production environments.
G. Each business program area described in the objectives
section above (IV-1; B) must be developed as individual
subcomponents to the main solution.
H. Various security roles for each component such as, but not
limited to administrator, edit and read only must be established to
allow for quality control of data entry and management.
I. Reports must be interactive, allowing the user to select from
all fields to be searched (for example: program, types, date
ranges, regions, and counties).
a. The system must permit users to select the fields to be
displayed. Reports should be extractable in Excel, PDF, HTML and
Access formats.
b. The system must have ad-hoc reporting capabilities and
interface with Business Objects and or Cognos
J. The system must integrate with existing geospatial systems to
provide full traceability across the food chain, particularly for
tainted food and/or bioterrorism. Maps must be interactive and
allow for whole-state, regional, and by county display. Maps must
allow for the user to interactively query the data, such as:
https://www.paplants.state.pa.us/Licenses/PlantMerchantSearch.aspx
K. The system must allow integration to the PDA AgTrans system,
eLEXNET, and credit card processing with the state approved .NET
ePay program. Format of data and data fields must be compatible
with these databases. The frequency of data transfer and
integration is to be determined by PDA IT. PDA will be responsible
for PDT scans.
L. The system must have mass email alert capabilities to the
facilities in the system.
M. The system must have the ability to create RSS feeds that
would be used for product recalls or other food safety alerts to be
posted on the Agriculture Website.
N. The selected Contractor will be given access to the design
documentation, forms, etc from Agriculture owned forms and
processes.
O. Although it is the Commonwealth’s plan for the Act 315
organizations to use the system, PDA does not have authority to
require them to use the newly developed solution. The solution must
have the ability to import data from their applications based on
the predefined format and process protocol the selected Contractor
develops. The selected Contractor will not be responsible for
extracting the data from the 315 system.
Deliverables in reference to IV-3 Requirement 3: Application
Development
A. Develop the solution per the requirements gathered.
B. The initial implementation must include: the components
listed in the table under Section IV-I Objectives – Phase I.
Requirement 4: Customer Testing
A. Prior to end user testing, the application will be tested by
the contractor to ensure that any programming errors are acceptable
as defined by the Customer Testing Service Level Agreements- See
Appendix I.
B. All test cases must be maintained throughout the support
period and re-executed to regression-test any subsequent releases
of software, including major enhancements and fixes.
Deliverables in reference to IV-3 Requirement 4: Customer
Testing
A. The contractor must create a detailed test plan document
B. The contractor must set up a small customer testing group
which will include PDA Food Safety staff from each of the
components being released. Upon approval from the testing group of
the new functionality, the PDA IT project manager must sign off
prior to the production release.
Requirement 5: Data conversionA. The contractor must convert the
Bureau of Food Safety data from the existing system, which may be
in format of text files and MS Excel documents to the new system.
This includes any data cleansing needed to pre-populate the
production environment correctly.
Deliverables in reference to IV-3 Requirement 5: Data
Conversion
A. Access to the data will not be provided until after the
initial design of the system. Assume that the data will be
available by either a comma-delimited or Microsoft Excel
document.
B. Once the initial system design is completed, the contractor
must convert the data extracts from the current system as described
in the above statement.
Requirement 6: Implementation Plan
a. Contractor must submit a detailed implementation plan,
preferably as a Microsoft Project file attached to the proposal.
This detailed plan must include how the contractor will implement
the solution across the state to all the entities. It is critical
that the contractor provide a clear plan for managing the
implementation of the various programs, which will take place in a
peak period of demand for PDA Food Safety Inspectors (May through
September).
b. To ensure a timely and satisfactory implementation, the
contractor and PDA must jointly agree to an implementation strategy
and plan. The plan must also address all training as well as
physical distribution of the software across the Commonwealth.
Deliverables in reference to IV-3 Requirement 6: Implementation
Plan
A. The contractor must thoroughly test the application as
described in the customer service section.
B. The contractor must create online training documents
(integrated into the application)
C. The contractor must develop a working application that meets
the requirements and objectives described in this document.
D. The selected contractor must meet with PDA to review
potential technical and logistical issues of the implementation
plan. The contractor must present one or more sessions with agency
representatives to demonstrate the usage of the remote tools as
well as review any additional services and processes that agencies
will need to be aware of.
E. To ensure a timely and satisfactory implementation, the
contractor and PDA must jointly agree to an implementation strategy
and plan.
F. Provide a list of all the training dates scheduled for the
county municipal health department.
G. Since the current contract expires on 1/1/2011, with a six
(6) months possible extension, the initial Phase I deployment must
be fully be implemented at PDA, 315, and local Health Departments
prior to April 30, 2011. The new system must be piloted for at
least a week and found acceptable to a small group of PDA Food
Safety staff. The new system then must be acceptable to the rest of
the PDA Food Safety staff for one month prior to the release to any
other entities.
Requirement 7: Customer Support:
1. The Contractor must support the solution across the state to
all the entities.
2. The Contractor must establish an IT support process that
includes a single email address and contact phone number.
3. The Contractor must provide technical support and assistance
with application troubleshooting and problem resolution during
implementation and post-production.
4. Customer support and the new system must be available to
users to complete their business functions during the business
hours of 7:30 am - 4:30 pm EST.
5. The contractor must support Break/Fix Urgent issues 7 days a
week, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The Contractor must provide
a contact mechanism to achieve access to Contractor resources for
Break/Fix Urgent issues. The Contractor must respond within 2 hours
for any Break/Fix Urgent issue that occurs outside of the business
hours.
6. Once the problem is corrected, the Contractor must submit