RFQ01.2019 USTOMER PORTAL · 3. At least one of the reference implementations must be within the last two (2) years 4. The optional reference implementations, if provided, must be

REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS

RFQ01.2019

CUSTOMER PORTAL

Responses submitted on the included bid form ONLY via email marked:

“RFQ #RFQ01.2019 – Customer Portal”

Addressed to:

Halifax Water

Attn: Amanda LeVangie Procurement Officer

[email protected]

Responses will be received until 2:00 p.m. Atlantic Time, September 9, 2019 for the above RFQ as per the

specifications and terms and conditions.

Check for changes to this request - Before submitting your response, visit the Provincial Government Web Portal

at www.novascotia.ca/tenders or contact our office to see if any Addenda detailing changes have been issued on

this RFQ. Changes may be posted up until the RFQ closing time. It is the proponent’s responsibility to

acknowledge and take into account all Addenda.

Proponents shall be solely responsible for the delivery of their Responses in the manner and time prescribed.

Responses received after the time and date specified shall be rejected.

Electronic Responses will be accepted.

The lowest or any submission will not necessarily be accepted.

RFQ Issue Date – August 16, 2019

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.novascotia.ca/tenders

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Customer Portal Closing: September 9, 2019 at 2:00pm Atlantic Time

PROPONENT’S SUBMISSION SHEET

The undersigned hereby acknowledges that he/she, as an officer of the stated corporation, has read and understands the specifications, requirements, and proposed agreement regarding RFQ #RFQ01.2019 – Customer Portal required by Halifax Water. He/she further acknowledges that the seller’s proposed product, equipment, materials, and services fully meet or exceed those as specified in Halifax Water’s RFQ. The following information must be completed to ensure tender acceptance.

ADDENDA No. ______________ to ______________ INCLUSIVE WERE CAREFULLY EXAMINED.

DATED THIS DAY OF , 2019.

PROPONENT’S COMPANY NAME: _____________________________________________________________ ADDRESS: _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ CITY/ PROVINCE: ____________________________ POSTAL CODE: ________________ PHONE NO.: _________________________ EMAIL ADDRESS: _____________________________________________________________ WEBSITE: _____________________________________________________________ CONTACT NAME (please print): _________________________________________________________________ TITLE (please print): ________________________________ PHONE NO.: _____________________ AUTHORIZED SIGNATURE: ________________________________________________ HST REGISTRATION NO: _________________________________________________ WCB COVERAGE: YES NO

* The proponent shall list and initial all addenda received during the period and shall take them into consideration when preparing their submission. A signed copy of each Addendum must be included with the submission. Failure to comply may be cause for rejection of submission.

HALIFAX WATER RESERVES THE RIGHT TO REJECT ANY OR ALL SUBMISSIONS THE LOWEST OR ANY SUBMISSION WILL NOT NECESSARLIY BE ACCEPTED.

This Qualifications will adhere to Halifax Water’s Standard Terms & Conditions. They can be found on our website at:

https://halifaxwater.ca/procurement-tender-opportunities

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GENERAL

Halifax Water is currently executing on a Five Year IT Strategic Plan that will implement a number of

transformational changes to the utility’s Information Systems. Included in this plan is the implementation

of a Customer Portal to provide customers with self-serve access to their information and Halifax Water

services.

Halifax Water customers are requesting, now more than ever, online access to their information and

Halifax Water is moving forward with addressing this need. As a result of the Customer Connect project,

the advanced metering infrastructure now in place is generating consumption information for customers

on an hourly basis. This information can be used to inform customers of their usage patterns, project bill

amounts, and to detect leaks or flowing toilets in a timelier manner than the current 3-month billing

information.

The purpose of providing timely, personalized information is to help our customers better manage their

overall water consumption by being more proactive in responding to water waste/leakage and over-

usage trends. In addition, the ability to be notified of service issues or interruptions, billing schedules,

and service request updates will greatly improve our customers’ experience with Halifax Water’s

services.

This enhanced online customer experience will be provided by the implementation of a Customer Portal

serving both Residential and Commercial customers.

All questions must be in writing and directed to Amanda LeVangie, Procurement Officer, Halifax Water,

by email: [email protected]. Questions should be submitted no later than two (2) business

days prior to the closing date of this RFQ.

Responses must be received no later than 2:00 p.m. Atlantic Time Monday, September 9, 2019.

REQUIREMENTS

To determine if the proponent’s solution meets Halifax Water’s qualification requirements, information

is being requested regarding:

A) Any organizational information that the proponent deems relevant to the requested Customer Portal solution implementation (maximum one (1) page),

B) References from prior implementations of the proposed solution, and C) The range of functionality that currently exists within the proposed solution.

To gather the information for B) and C) above, the proponent must complete the information sheets in

APPENDIX A – Implementation References and APPENDIX B – Solution Functionality.

To determine if the proponent’s solution meets Halifax Water’s implementation timelines:

D) a high-level description of the proponents approach (maximum two (2) pages) is required outlining the general phases of the project, the key deliverables produced, and the estimated timeline from signed contract to go-live; this approach will be based on implementation of all the

https://halifaxwater.ca/customer-connect


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functional elements that the proposed solution identifies as currently supported in the proponent’s solution in the response to APPENDIX B – Solution Functionality.

This proposed timeline will not be binding, however it will be assessed for completeness, practicality, and

appropriateness.

Solution Implementation References: The proponent must provide a minimum of 1 and a maximum of 3 implementation references using the

table format in APPENDIX A – Implementation References.

Mandatory Requirements:

1. The reference contacts must be available to be contacted by Halifax Water for a minimum of one (1) hour during regular business hours (8:30am-4:30pm ADT) between September 10 – 20, 2019

2. The reference contact must have been employed by the Water Utility and involved in the Customer Portal implementation project

3. At least one of the reference implementations must be within the last two (2) years 4. The optional reference implementations, if provided, must be within the last three (3) years 5. All of the reference implementations must be for the same Customer Portal solution product that

is being proposed 6. All of the reference implementations must be for Water Utility organizations;

For clarity electricity + water or electricity + natural gas + water utilities are acceptable, but electricity only or electricity + natural gas only utilities are not acceptable

Additional Criteria:

1. Preference will be given for Water Utilities that have integrated with an AMI solution 2. Preference will be given for Canadian Water Utilities 3. Preference will be given for reference contacts that are still currently employed with the client

Water Utility (i.e. have not left the organization since the Customer Portal implementation project was completed);

Solution Functionality Requirements: The proponent must identify at a high-level, which of the functional elements desired by Halifax Water

outline in APPENDIX B – Solution Functionality are:

1. Supported by the current functionality of the proposed solution, 2. Not currently supported by the proposed solution but has a planned release date, or 3. Not supported by the proposed solution, and have no planned release date

The functional requirements are at a high-level and can each be met in a variety of ways. For each

requirement that the proponent indicates is “1. Supported by the current functionality of the proposed

solution” the proponent must articulate in the Details column how the requirement is met. Responses

that simply state “compliant” or “Requirement met” or “Out of the box functionality” without providing

sufficient evidence of how the requirement is met may be assessed as not meeting the functional

requirement.

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For each requirement that the proponent indicates is “2. Not currently supported by the proposed

solution but has a planned release date”, the proponent must state in the Details column the calendar

quarter and calendar year (e.g. Q2-2020 for Apr-Jun 2020) that the functionality is officially planned to be

available.

If the requirement is not currently supported and there is not an officially planned release date for the

functionality, then the proponent must indicate “3. Not supported by the proposed solution, and have no

planned release date” and no value should be entered in the Details column.

INSURANCE COVERAGE

The successful proponents of this RFQ will be required to provide professional liability insurance in the RFP stage of this procurement. POLICE RECORD CHECK

All contractors, consultants and their employees working on site for Halifax Water must obtain a “Police Record Check” (PRC).

EVALUATION CRITERIA

Halifax Water will evaluate the Tender based upon the following criteria:

Criteria Score

A) Corporate Biography 5

B) References 30

C) Solution Functionality 45

D) Implementation Approach 20

Total 100

The top scoring proponents of this Request for Qualifications (RFQ) will be invited to respond to a

Request for Proposals (RFP) for the solution selection and implementation and integration services.

TENDER RESPONSE SUBMISSION FORMAT

The following information is to be provided in order to ensure each Response receives full consideration.

Responses not containing this information may be considered incomplete, and may be rejected:

A cover page stating at a minimum: the proponents name and contact information, the RFQ identifier (#RFQ01.2019 – Customer Portal), and the product name of the proposed solution

A fully completed and signed proponent’s submission sheet. (Use enclosed Form – Pg. 2).

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A Corporate Biography of information relevant to the proposed solution and implementation

A completed Reference Form (APPENDIX A – Implementation References)

A completed Solution Functionality Form (APPENDIX B – Solution Functionality)

An implementation approach and timeline The complete submission must be no longer than:

Content Length in pages

Cover Page 1

Proponent Submission Page 1

Corporate Biography 1

Reference Form 3

Solution Functionality Form 6

Implementation Approach / Timeline 2

Total: 14

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

1. INQUIRIES All inquiries related to this Request for Qualifications shall be directed to:

Amanda LeVangie

Procurement Officer

Halifax Regional Water Commission

Email: [email protected]

Phone: (902) 490-4272

2. EXPLANATION TO PROPONENTS No verbal agreement or conservation with any officer, agent or employee of Halifax Water either

before or after execution of the contract shall effect or modify any of the terms or obligations

contained in any of the documents comprising the said contract.

3. RIGHT TO REJECT; FINANCIAL STABILITY; NON-COMPLIANCE Failure to comply with any of the mandatory terms or conditions contained or referenced in the

Request for Qualifications (RFQ) documents may result in the rejection of the response.

All of the terms, conditions and/or specifications stated or referenced in the RFQ are assumed to

be accepted by the proponent and incorporated in the Response.

Proponents may be required to demonstrate financial stability, authorization to provide the

goods/services being acquired, and/or regulatory agency approval, licensing or registration as

needed, or otherwise clarify Proponent’s capability to satisfy the Invitation requirements. Halifax

Water reserves the right to reject Responses from any proponent that it feels is incapable of

providing the necessary labour, materials, equipment, financing or management resources to

perform the work or supply the goods in a satisfactory and timely manner.


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Halifax Water reserves the right to waive minor non-compliance where such non-compliance is

not of a material nature in its sole and absolute discretion, or to accept or reject, in whole or in

part any or all Responses, with or without giving notice. Such minor non-compliance will be

deemed substantial compliance and capable of acceptance. Halifax Water will be the sole judge

of whether a Response is accepted or rejected.

Halifax Water reserves the right to split an award amongst proponents as deemed in the best

interest of Halifax Water.

4. CANCELLATION; NO AWARD Issuing a RFQ implies no obligation on Halifax Water to accept any Response or a portion of any

Response submitted. Halifax Water does not bind itself to accepting the lowest or any Response

received, but reserves the right to award the RFQ to its best advantage.

RFQs may be cancelled in whole or in part without penalty, when a) the price Response exceeds

the funds allocated for the purchase; b) there has been a substantial change in the requirements

after the RFQ has been issued; c) information has been received by Halifax Water after the RFQ

has been issued that Halifax Water feels has substantially altered the procurement; or d) there

was insufficient competition in order to provide the level of service, quality of good or pricing

required. If no compliant responses are received in response to the RFQ, Halifax Water reserves

the right to enter into negotiations with one or more vendors in order to complete the

procurement.

Halifax Water will be the sole judge of whether there is sufficient justification to cancel any RFQ.

No action or liability will lie or reside against Halifax Water in its exercise of its rights under this

section.

5. INDEMNIFICATION If the contract is awarded, the successful proponent agrees to indemnify and save harmless

Halifax Water from and against all claims, actions, losses, expenses, costs or damages including

Solicitors fees, howsoever arising or incurred, alleging damage to property or injury to, or death

of, any person arising out or attributable to the contractor’s performance of the contract

awarded.

Any property or work to be provided by the contractor under this contract will remain at the

proponent’s risk until written acceptance by Halifax Water.

6. ADDENDA, CORRECTIONS OR EXTENSIONS OF THE REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS Periodically, Halifax Water is required to issue notification of changes or corrections to a

proponent’s response. Normally these notifications will have a direct bearing on the cost of a

project and will influence the way you respond. Halifax Water reserves the right to modify the

terms of the RFQ at any time prior to closing, at its sole discretion.

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It is the sole responsibility of the vendor to monitor the Nova Scotia Government website for any

addenda that may be issued. Halifax Water will make information available to the public regarding

any changes made to the Solicitation, or any change in the closing date or time. Proponents are

responsible for ensuring that they are aware of and have complied with any Addenda. Halifax

Water no longer maintains plan taker’s lists, and will no longer have knowledge of who has

downloaded opportunities.

A signed copy of each Addendum must also be included with the proponent’s response. These

will not be included in the overall page limit for the submission.

Failure to comply with the instructions on an advisory of addendum may result in rejection of your

submission, regardless of whether the changes noted in the advisory or addendum are included

in the RFQ document or not.

7. HOURS OF WORK Halifax Water’s core hours of operation are Monday to Friday, 8:30 am to 4:30 pm.

8. COOPERATIVE PURCHASING The Proponent may only provide the services specified under this RSO to the Province of NS and

MASH Sector entities by entering into a separate contract “Subsequent Contract”. The

Proponent acknowledges and agrees that Halifax Water will not be a party to any Subsequent

Contract, nor will Halifax Water be liable in any respect for any obligation under, or act or

omission by a party to, a Subsequent Contract.

APPENDIX A – Implementation References

Customer #1 Customer #2 Customer #3 Example

Required Optional Optional

Water Utility Customer: Within the last 2 yrs Within the last 3 yrs Within the last 3 yrs

Name: Halifax Water

Location: Halifax, NS

AMI in use (Y/N)? Y

If Y, # of AMI End Points: 80,000

Population served by water utility: 350,000

Does the utility provide non-metered services (e.g. stormwater, wastewater, tipping fees, bulkwater, etc.)? Y

Portal product implemented: Water Portal Pro, v. 19.8

Project duration (in months, from signed contract to go-live): 8

Customer Portal implementation date (MMM, DD, YYYY): Jul 01, 2020

Customer Contact:

Name: John Doe

Title: Manager, Customer Svc

Role on the Portal project: Project Owner

Phone: 902-420-9287

Email: [email protected]

Is contact available between Sept 10 - 20, and has agreed to be contacted by Halifax Water? Y


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Implemented Features (Y/N):

Customer Registration:

Automated self-registration including account validation and authentication N

Automated recover password Y

Self-serve information: -

Responsive web-design (mobile friendly) Y

Customer Dashboard (with consolidated information) Y

Bill presentment (including data export) Y

Personalized conservation tips N

Service Request submissions Y

Web forms Y

Guest or proxy account access N

Bill payment: -

Link to bill payment Y

Embedded bill payment N

Consumption data: -

Consumption graphs Y

Consumption Comparisons (e.g. last year, last month, similar customer type, etc.) Y

Trend information Y

Forecast bill and consumption data Y

Alerts and Notifications: -

Leak detection analytics Y

Leak detection alerts Y

High-usage trend alerts N

Mass notifications Y

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Customer communication preferences (e.g. email, text, voicemail, etc.) Y

Integrations: -

IVR / Telephony N

AMI Consumption Y

AMI Alerts and Notifications N

CRM / CIS Y

Billing Data system Y

Bill payment engine N

Consolidated date from multiple sources in an enterprise data warehouse (EDW) Y

Results, After 1 Year (if available / applicable):

# of active customer portal accounts (Adoption Rate) 3,500

# of personalized alerts and notifications sent 25,400

# of leak detections self-resolved Unknown

APPENDIX B – Solution Functionality

Proposed Solution Name: ________________________________________________________

Current Solution Version: _________________________ Date version 1.0 of the Solution was originally released: __________________________

Date of most recent major revision to the proposed solution: _______________________

Level of Support responses to be used:

1. Supported by the current functionality 2. Not currently supported but has a planned release date 3. Not supported and have no planned release date

Functionality: Level of support (1, 2, or 3)

Details

Customer Registration: - -

Automated self-registration including account validation and authentication

Automated recover password

Self-serve information: - -

Responsive web-design (mobile friendly)

Customer Dashboard (with consolidated information)

Bill presentment (including data export)

Personalized conservation tips

Service Request submissions

Web forms

Guest or proxy account access

Bill payment: - -

Link to bill payment

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Functionality: Level of support

(1, 2, or 3) Details

Embedded bill payment

Consumption data: - -

Consumption graphs

Consumption Comparisons (e.g. last year, last month, similar customer type, etc.)

Trend information

Forecast bill and consumption data

Alerts and Notifications: - -

Leak detection analytics

Leak detection alerts

High-usage trend alerts

Mass notifications

Customer communication preferences (e.g. email, text, voicemail, etc.)

Customer Service Representative Access:

- -

Reports on user activity and adoption

BI reporting on portal usage

Customer online account administration including de-activation

Technical:

Integrations: - -

IVR / Telephony

AMI Consumption

AMI Alerts and Notifications

CRM / CIS

Billing Data system

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Functionality: Level of support

(1, 2, or 3) Details

Bill payment engine

Consolidated date from multiple sources in an enterprise data warehouse (EDW)

Hosted Environment: - -

SaaS model, or capable to be hosted in a Cloud Infrastructure environment

Hosting in a Canadian data centre

Mirrored non-production environments available (e.g. Development, Testing, Training)

Client Environment: - -

Full support for desktop browsers (MS-Edge, MS-IE, Chrome, Safari, Firefox) and mobile browsers (iOS, Android)

RFQ01.2019 USTOMER PORTAL · 3. At least one of the reference implementations must be within the last two (2) years 4. The optional reference implementations, if provided, must be

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