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 ra-itpurchases@state.pa.us 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: gs-bmwbo@state.pa.us

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: akartorie@state.pa.us

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