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Addendum II

May 4, 2020

Dear Vendor,

Find below, an addendum to the Request for Proposals (RFP) for City of Cleveland Website

Redesign and Supply of a High-Performance Cloud-Based Drupal Web Hosting with Professional

Services.

This is following the optional pre-proposal conference held at 205 W. St. Clair Avenue. Rm.307

on February 28, 2020

Review of Submission Schedule and Method:

1. The final day for proposal submission is Monday, May 18, 2020.

2. All proposals must be submitted electronically via email to rbobiwe@clevelandohio.gov

3. Do not send zipped files by email, send large multiple files as separate emails.

4. Limit email attachment sizes to 25MB per email.

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Response to Vendor Questions:

Questions Answer

1. Is there a budget threshold or range that you have in mind?

The City will select the proposal that is most advantageous in cost and services.

2. Do you have a preferred methodology for projects of this nature? (Waterfall, Agile/Scrum)

We would like the vendor to utilize a hybrid of Waterfall and Agile project management methodologies.

3. How closely would you like the departments/divisions to be within the site? Could they use a similar template to help unify the experience?

The branding experience should be consistent. Provisions should also be made for some business units to use their logos, etc.

4. How does your development team interact with ours during the project? For example:

Will the City of Cleveland team

observe, stay informed, and then we

would hand it off to them at the

end?

The City will be involved in the process as

much as required during the process.

5. Would they actively participate in

the development as part of our team

and development cycles?

The City will be involved in the process as

much as required during the process.

6. Will there be hands off completely,

and just require consulting to ensure

the website is in line with technical

expectations.

The City will be involved in the process as

much as required during the process.

7. Will there be a designated decision-maker on the project, or will decisions be made by the committee?

Some decisions will be made via the working group/committee. Go or no-go decision will be made by the Project Steering Committee

8. How many content authors will be using the website?

We would limit access to publish content to a small number of authors. This will be based on the agreed workflow with the business units.

9. Do you have marketing campaigns to drive traffic?

No, we do not have specific campaigns to drive traffic to the website. We do incorporate links to the current site for some social and print materials.

10. How developed are user personas? We have not developed any formal user personas.

11. How developed are user journeys? We have not developed user journeys.

12. Who will be generating content for the new site?

The content generation will be a collaboration between the vendor, Communications Dept., and the other departments.

13. What does the content team look like? That will be determined during the content development phase of the project.

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14. Can you provide more detail around the quantity and nature of generating graphical content?

The City has a photo bureau that can provide limited photos as needed. The style of photography is journalistic. If the vendor recommends a different photo style, then they will need to provide those types of photos.

15. Will the new website support login, and if yes, will it integrate with a CRM?

It will require login for the content editors and approvers. There is no integration at this point, but the website should be scalable for enhancement and future integrations.

16. For author generated web forms do you have a preference over CMS generated forms or using a marketing platform such as Marketo?

For consistency and ease of support, we prefer to use the CMS generated forms unless the vendor can justify otherwise

17. For legacy content and PDFs, is there content you would like migrated to the new site (either manually or automated), or will all content be re-written.

Some PDFs and forms, videos and legacy content will be migrated. The different departments will work with the vendor to develop new content.

18. Is it a correct understanding from the RFP that PDFs will be migrated, and some content will be migrated?

Yes, some content will be migrated, but we will not know which content until after the vendor meets with the departments.

19. Will strict WCAG 2.1 AA compliance be required, or what degree of accessibility is desired?

AA compliance is the minimum requirement.

20. Confirming that this is the blog site referenced in the RFP: https://clecityhall.com/

Yes, it is.

21. Can you describe the level of integration required for the blog site for this project? Will it simply be content that links to the blog site, or will blog content be automatically listed and/or searchable on the main site?

The vendor can make a recommendation based on best practices.

22. Will authoring roles and permissions need to be set up per department or is it okay to have general roles for author, approver, publisher style workflows that allow access to content for all departments?

We can start with the general roles and changes will be applied after assessments.

23. Can you please tell us a bit about the team we’d be working with? How many people at the City of Cleveland are working on this project and in what roles?

IT, PMO and Communications will be working with the vendor throughout the project life cycle.

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Sub teams from the departments will also be involved intermittently.

24. Can you tell us about the approval process? Specifically:

Please see the RFP Pg. 30. Proposal Evaluation.

25. Who are the stakeholders who own approval?

Please see the RFP Pg. 30. Proposal Evaluation.

26. The RFP requires several pauses between phrases. How long do you anticipate those pauses being? We’re assuming 2 weeks - should we shift that up or down?

We are open to recommendations that will maximize efficiencies within the timeline available.

27. In the Prototyping phase, you request 3-5 prototypes. We’re interpreting that to mean 3-5 differentiated approaches to visual design and information organization on the site, rather than prototypes of 3-5 pages’/user flows. Is that correct?

For the initial proposal, we are expecting 3 differentiated approaches to visual design and information organization for at least the home page.

These do not have to be elaborate or detailed.

28. We believe it’s possible for the work represented in Phases 3: Detailed Design and 4: Website Content Development and Managed Services can be delivered concurrently. Would that approach be acceptable, or would you prefer to run them sequentially?

We are open to recommendations that will maximize efficiencies within the timeline available.

29. The multi-phased approach with several pauses for approval will lengthen the overall project timeline, and we see that your target launch date is October 2020. In addition to proposing your phased approach, might we propose an alternative project structure geared towards getting a live beta site launched rapidly? This is the approach we took with Mass.gov, and we think it’s potentially a good fit for the City of Cleveland.

We are open to recommendations that will maximize efficiencies within the timeline available.

30. A list of aspiration sites is listed because those sites represent the design elements and features that we need to address in this RFP Response. Please list what the specific design elements and feature sets are so that

Extensive use of videos on the home page to support the brand message of the Cities,

The pages are very visual, modern with contemporary design.

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we can account for them in our solution.

Simple content, user-friendly navigation. Overall, provides a positive user experience.

31. What city services would you like to promote more or make more accessible on the new website?

The Mayor and his initiatives, Cleveland livability (Safety, education, housing, economic development, etc.)

32. What percentage of traffic is "direct", meaning, visitors are going right to the www address?

Refer to the RFP. Pg. 9 Site Audience Metrics.

33. What are the 3 most popular uses of the website as it exists today? Is that in line with what the City deems as the 3 most popular uses?

Refer to the RFP. Pg. 9 Site Audience Metrics.

34. What are the 3 most significant changes that need to be made to the current website site to achieve your goals?

The three most significant changes we are expecting are: visuals, content, organization/usability

35. In the Site Media section, it is noted that we need to outline a plan for the delivery of digital graphic assets and that this plan shall include methods generating new graphic assets, the usage of stock graphic assets and a plan to work with City of Cleveland team members to analyze and curate any existing graphic assets that are usable and/or relevant to the new site design. Is the ask here to recommend how staff members at the City will publish existing graphic assets to the website or is the ask for a system for the staff to create graphic assets?

The requirement here for the vendor to streamline and manage existing digital graphic assets.

36. To confirm, this RFP would be classified as a Professional Services Contract with a target of 10% of the total contract value through a CSB Subcontractor. The Subcontractor needs to have a headquarters in Cleveland. Correct?

The goal is 10%, if the primary contractor is not able to meet this goal, they should provide evidence to show good faith efforts and an explanation as to why they couldn’t meet the goal.

All OEO schedules, 1-4 must be submitted.

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Vendors are not required to have an office in Cleveland to participate in this process.

37. For the staffing plan, is it expected that resumes are provided for those team members that will be working on the project or can they be a sample resume of any staff member who is currently performing that role?

Sample resumes can be substituted for the process, but we recommend having the Project Manager available during the presentation stage of the evaluation If shortlisted.

38. Please provide the list of pages that need to be translated in Spanish so we can scope and address this in the proposal.

The vendor can make a recommendation on the most cost-effective option.

39. Is the City expecting to perform the Spanish translation services or should translation services be part of the RFP response? Is the City expecting Google translate to perform the translation?

The vendor can make a recommendation on the most cost-effective option.

40. In terms of managing photos, does there simply need to be a photo repository, or are you looking for a solution that can provide brand guidelines and workflows for image approvals and publishing, and advanced features like the ability to update the image wherever it's being used when you make changes?

We are looking for a solution that will provide guidelines and best practices for creating and managing photos.

41. Are you looking for a high level of design/branding consistency across the city's sites?

Yes, we are looking for a high level of design and branding consistency across the site.

42. Are there any internal sites or portals, or are all of the websites public facing?

No, there are no internal sites, the website is public facing.

In the future, we would like the options to do this.

43. Can you share a list of domains & subdomains that fall into the scope of this project?

Refer to the RFP Pgs. 7-9

44. Does the Content need to be written? If so, what is the amount of the content to be written?

Yes, the content needs to be rewritten. The actual volume of work will be determined during the discovery phase.

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45. Does the vendor need to provide the prototypes of the potential site with the response?

For the proposal, we are expecting 3 differentiated approaches to visual design and information organization of at least the home page.

These do not have to be elaborate or detailed.

46. Are the Vendor meetings to be onsite

or offsite? If onsite, how many meetings would be preferred?

This will be determined by the project. communication plans.

47. Are expenses related to onsite support

can be reimbursed or should this be included in the project budget?

Vendors should make provisions for reimbursable in the project budget.

48. The RFP requires to submit an affidavit, is there any standard format for this affidavit, if so please provide?

This is not required at this time.

49. RFP mentions there is no subcontractor participation goal, does the vendor still need to provide Schedule 4

Subcontractor participation is a goal and the vendor should show good faith efforts in cases where it is not met.

Submit schedules 1- 4 even if the goal cannot be met.

50. What is your estimated budget for this project? This helps us determine the complexity of various features.

The City will select the proposal that is most advantageous in cost and services.

51. Who built your current site, and when was the last refresh?

Recess Creative.

52. Please describe your current hosting setup.

The City’s Servers are hosted on AWS.

53. Who currently provides you with ongoing support services?

Our websites are supported by internal IT staff of the City.

54. Please describe your technical / IT staff. How many members do you have and what is their level of experience, particularly with Drupal and/or PHP? This helps us determine the level of support you may require.

We have 1 Drupal developer with the experience level of "beginner to moderate" who is familiar with D7 and is making changes to the pages, creating/managing content types and handling some structural changes. Have not made custom mods or deployed one-off patches with a very basic understanding of PHP. We are looking for a vendor to fully support

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the installation, implementation, and configuration of the new CMS.

55. Pg. 10: You have many content requirements, are you looking for content guidance and strategy, content-specific training, and/or content writing services?

We are looking for content strategy and writing services.

56. Pgs. 15-16, Addendum 1, #14: The RFP states that the vendor (not bidders) should provide prototypes for the new website – this is, of course, standard procedure when designing a new website. However, the RFP also indicates that the prototypes should be provided with bidders’ submissions – this is not standard procedure for design bids because bidders cannot know the necessary information to create a custom design for your site and users, and it essentially requires bidders to provide free design work before being awarded the contract.

For the proposal, we are expecting 3 differentiated approaches to visual design and information organization of at least the home page.

These do not have to be elaborate or detailed.

57. Can you confirm whether you require prototypes to be submitted with proposals and if so, please clarify what you mean by prototypes?

For the proposal, we are expecting 3 differentiated approaches to visual design and information organization of at least the home page.

These do not have to be elaborate or detailed.

58. The RFP states “each prototype alternative must have a detailed cost attached at the time of submission” – design/development bids are usually a flat fee and do not have a different cost associated with different designs. Please clarify this requirement.

As stated in the RFP, vendors are to provide hourly estimates required to complete each phase of the project. The totals will determine the cost of the project.

59. If you are intending to require bidders to submit design prototypes with bid submissions, we strongly encourage you to reconsider this. Vendors who are willing to submit sample design prototypes with bids are merely guessing at what will work best for you and your users. Any quality design will require in-depth research of your organization to understand your goals, and your end-users to understand your

For the proposal, we are expecting 3 differentiated approaches to visual design and information organization of at least the home page.

These do not have to be elaborate or detailed.

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needs. A data-driven design process is based on the premise that design must be based on specific data gathered from you and your users. Prototypes created without this data may look pretty but will almost certainly not provide you with a quality, functional design that meets your users' needs. If you want to evaluate bidders’ design skills, a better option is to look at their past work, including active websites they have designed. Please let us know if this is acceptable.

60. Pg. 27: The proposal format is outlined on page 27, but doesn’t indicate where information requested in the Scope of Services should go. Should we include this information in the Proposed Section? For example, staff resume (page 25) be included?

Include all information requested under the Scope of Services in Section E: Proposed Services.

61. Pgs. 27-28: Since Section F should be submitted separately, may we re-letter Sections G and H?

Do not reletter. For Section F, you can include language like “ Refer to Fee Proposal Document”

62. Pgs. 30, 34, 39: One of the evaluation factors is Equal Opportunity / MBE/FBE Factor. However, the RFP states on page 34 that “There is no subcontractor participation goal for this contract.” While we understand the standard subcontractor goal for professional services is 10%, the OEO forms also clearly state that this can be overridden by project-specific goals, and in this case, the language of the RFP appears to override it. Please confirm the subcontractor participation goal for this RFP.

Vendors are required to complete the OEO forms and submit whether they meet the goals or not. Failure to submit the completed forms is grounds for disqualification.

63. Pgs. 30, 34, 39: If there is a subcontracting goal of 10%, please clarify whether this is an aspirational goal or a strong preference. How will firms be evaluated based on these criteria? Is there a specific point value associated with this evaluation factor? Will firms that do not meet this goal still be considered?

Vendors should make good faith efforts or justify their inability to meet the goal by completing Schedule 4.

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64. Pgs. 30, 34, 39: We are a certified Small, Minority-Owned Business in Virginia – would you accept this certification?

Certification is not required from vendors at this stage.

65. Attachment D: Checklist: The items listed in the checklist do not match up with Section 5: Proposal Contents.

Provide all the information that didn’t match in addition to what matched up.

66. Is the “Management Letter” the same as the Cover Letter, Tab A?

Yes, it is.

67. In what tab should we include Vendor Background Information (Attachment E) - Tab H: Additional Required Documents?

Section D: Qualifications.

68. In what tab should we include Vendor Client Reference Form (Attachment F) - Tab D: Qualifications, which requests 3 references, or Tab H: Additional Required Documents?

Section D: Qualifications.

69. In what tab should we include the Staffing Plan - Tab E: Proposed Services?

Section D: Qualifications.

70. May we include resumes in an appendix?

Yes, you may.

71. In what tab should we include the Northern Ireland Fair Practices Affidavit - Tab H: Additional Required Documents?

Section H: Additional Required Documents.

72. In what tab should we include the Checklist (Attachment D) - Tab H: Additional Required Documents?

Tab H: Additional Required Documents.

73. In what tab should we include Vendor Background Information (Attachment E) - Tab H: Additional Required Documents?

Section D: Qualifications.

74. Please provide the PowerPoint presented in the pre-proposal conference that was unavailable to online attendees.

See the link below for response to the questions from the Vendors Conference.

RFP Addendum 1

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75. Please provide a full list of attendees for the pre-proposal conference, including web attendees.

List of attendees is attached to RFP Addendum 1

76. The site in question is http://www.clevelandohio.gov/. However, there are some related sites listed on the “City of Cleveland Department/Divisions” section of RFP. Is this proposal will only be related to only one site (http://www.clevelandohio.gov/)?

Yes, this proposal will only be for the City of Cleveland website.

77. What is the estimated contract value for the project, and if that is an unknown, what is the allocated budget?

The City will select the proposal that is most advantageous in cost and services.

78. What is the expected launch date for the new website?

We plan to launch by the 4th quarter of 2020.

79. What is the level of Compatibility with ADA compliance and Web Content Accessibility Guidelines?

The minimum level is AA across the website.

We can look to the best practices to use the level AAA for different sections of recommended.

80. Does the City have a branding or style guide available at this time or will be the Vendor create the City’s branding and style guidelines?

The vendor will provide the branding and site guidelines for the website.

81. Is the vendor expected to write new content? Review and update existing content?

Yes, Vendors will be expected to review and update existing content and also write new content.

82. Does the City know the number of pages and digital assets to be migrated over to the redesigned website?

Not at this time, more information will be provided during the discovery phase.

83. Will the City provide all digital assets for the project?

The City will provide some photographs.

84. Photo & Video Gallery – will the City be responsible for the acquisition costs of new photo/video assets and how should those added charges be reflected in the proposal?

We can provide some photos and video from our in-house team; if there is another recommendation, the vendor needs to add it to cost .

85. Is there a required MBE/WBE/HUB set aside for this project? If so – how much

Vendors are required to complete the OEO forms and submit whether they

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will that status affect the scoring of the Vendor for the project?

meet the goals or not. Failure to submit the completed forms is grounds for disqualification.

86. Is the current site does not appear to be a Drupal multisite configuration? Does the city want to maintain a single site approach with D8, or are you looking to implement Drupal multisite?

The City will not be opposed to anything that will enhance the performance, scalability, and ease of use.

87. The RFP implies that the city expects the vendor to write web or edit web site content. Is that correct? How much rewriting of content do you expect to be needed?

Yes, Vendors will be expected to review and update existing content and also write new content.

88. Will the Spanish language content for the site be provided by the City?

A vendor recommendation for translation service will be considered.

89. Is the blog referenced in the RFP the blog at https://clecityhall.com/? If not, where is the blog content that needs to move into Drupal?

Yes, it is.

90. Does the search need to index the contents of PDF and Word docs on the site?

Yes, the search is required to index contents of PDF and Ms. Word documents on the site.

91. Will city departments be responsible for working with the vendor to migrate their department's content, or will a central web committee coordinate content migration across the entire site?

Yes, City departments will work with the vendor to migrate their content where applicable.

92. Where is the current site hosted? Will the new D8 site be hosted with the same provider?

The servers are currently hosted on AWS and IT is responsible for maintaining the Drupal environment and the content. We are looking for the hosted vendor to host, maintain and support the infrastructure and the new CMS (D8)

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93. Please expand on what is expected for Daily Status Reports.

Daily status reports are not required during the project but weekly project status reports are expected.

94.

The vendor background information form requests financial statements and annual reports. What are acceptable substitutes from smaller private companies that don't produce audited financial and an annual report?

Financial and Audited reports are not required for the proposal submission.

95. Do we need to answer all vendor background questions in the actual form? There is not sufficient space for many of the questions.

Use additional sheets when required.

96. Please clarify, if any, the small/MBE subcontracting requirements for this project.

Vendors are required to complete the OEO forms and submit whether they meet the goals or not. Failure to submit the completed forms is grounds for disqualification.

97. We see similar RFPs with budgets ranging from 250K to over $1 million. Is there a target budget or range we can use as a sanity check against our interpretation of the requirements?

The City will select the proposal that is most advantageous in cost and services.

98. How many Drupal developers do you have on staff currently? What will their role be in the project?

We have 1 Drupal developer with the experience level of "beginner to moderate" who is familiar with D7 and is making changes to the pages, creating/managing content types and handling some structural changes. Have not made custom mods or deployed one-off patches with a very basic understanding of PHP. We are looking for a vendor to fully support the installation, implementation, and configuration of the new CMS.

99. Please list the content types used on the current site.

We are currently using Drupal Content Types.

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100. Please describe any existing taxonomy that needs to migrate to the new site.

Nothing will be migrated as the site needs a complete overhaul.

101. How many nodes exist on the site? What percentage do you expect to migrate to the new site?

We currently have over 157k nodes (the count was taken from node table). Nothing will be migrated as the site needs a complete overhaul.

102. Please briefly describe the content architecture of the existing site. Is mostly Drupal core features such as pages, posts, content types, etc.? Are Paragraphs or Panels used extensively?

We are currently using Drupal Content Types.

103. Please list the user types in the current site.

We have 3 roles:

• administrator (full access)

• webmaster (a few restrictions

• Department content editor. 104. What is the accessibility standard

target for the new site? (WCAG 2 A or AA?)

The minimum accessibility standards required is AA

105. Please describe all integrations with other sites or data sources more complex than an iframe or embed code.

Currently integration does not exist, however, the architecture should be scalable for future needs.

106. Will single-sign-on be used to control administrative access to the site? If yes, please elaborate

Not required, but good to have for the future as we are adding more content editors to manage their content.

107. Please confirm that the awarded vendor will primarily work remotely, with periodic onsite meetings as needed.

The City and the awarded vendor will work on an agreed schedule for onsite and offsite work as needed.

108. A We are a US company will some remote employees working from outside of the US. Is there any restriction on their ability to contribute

No, there is no restriction for foreign developers.

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109. How do you envision the relationship with the developer post-launch? Do you need a maintenance contract to keep sites patched and secure?

Yes, the City will seek a separate maintenance contract when they deem appropriate.

110. Who built the current Drupal site? Recess Creative with assistance from the City of Cleveland staff.

111. If a development agency built the original site, have they maintained a relationship with the city of Cleveland?

N/A

112. How much is the local Cleveland business aspect weighing into the decision criteria (percentage-wise)?

N/A

113. How many unique sites/domains are there in total?

The City's primary domain is clevelandohio.gov, which is the main domain/site. The city of Cleveland, however, owns several other domains, that are either A) handled by other departments; or B) being deprecated. All of the other domains are listed in the RFP.

114. What is the City’s thoughts on Drupal

multisite approach (building a multi-site instance from a single Drupal codebase)

The City will not be opposed to anything that will increase the performance, scalability, and ease of use

115. Are there any security compliance

requirements like FEDRAMP, HIPAA, PCI, PII?

As of now, there is no information, but the compliance will be required as the City will add additional functionality.

116. What does “OS conversations” mean on page 19, section 3?

The RFP says "conversions", this means assistance if we should decide to "convert" from Windows to Linux.

117. Are you asking for just a WAF (for DDoS protection) or would you like a CDN as well?

As of now the WAF and DDos is sufficient, however as the City expands the functionality the CDN might be required as well.

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118. Google Translate was dropped as an

offering but is listed in the RFP. Does the CMS need to maybe do more of that?

We do not have a preference for the tool, it is the function that we are interested in.

119. Is a DAM (digital asset management) tool of interest given the “photo bureau"?

Yes a DAM is of interest.

120. Are a lot of non-technical users handling day-to-day site updates?

No.

121. Is a no-code site-building tool of

interest to facilitate easier development for non-technical users?

We do not intend to ask non-technical users to "develop", but we would like to allow non-technical users to make simple additions and updates to the site content. Structural changes and development would be handled by technical members.

122. Does the team wish to port the existing Drupal7 site over to the new platform while the new site is being built?

No

123. Are you willing to consider other options for email outside Mail Champ and Exchange?

MS Exchange is our internal email system and there will be no replacement.

124. Per Section VII (Agreement Process), on Page 35 (Indemnification and Insurance) of the RFP, ICF would like to request the city’s position as to whether the city would consider negotiating the Indemnification and Insurance term to be mutually acceptable to both parties?

Yes, the City is open to negotiations.

125. Upon reviewing the subject RFP, under Section F on pg. 28, it is the understanding that pricing would be based on an FFP proposal. However, reading the preceding sections in addition to reviewing the provided pricing Attachment-G, ICF interprets the proposal pricing strategy as Time

An estimation of the efforts required for the deliverables will determine the total cost.

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and Materials. Can the city confirm if the pricing for this proposal shall be FFP or T&M?

126. Can you elaborate on what type of content you will be requiring the vendor to create for Cleveland?

We will require written and visual content. The scope will be determined at the discovery phase.

127. Are there any sub sites within the scope of this project

Sub sites are not included at this time.

128. Can a vendor submit different package options that would have different pricing structures?

All submissions should be in line with RFP.

129. As part of the website redesign, is Cleveland interested in digitally enabling services that may be offline today?

Yes.

130. Aside from hosting from Cleveland consider a non-Drupal CMS solution? What sort of justification would be acceptable to Cleveland for a non-Drupal CMS solution?

Justification to show the advantages the proposed solution has over Drupal e.g. cost, maintenance, reliability, stability, etc.