STATE OF WASHINGTON

ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICE OF THE COURTS

1206 Quince Street Southeast

Post Office Box 41170

Olympia, Washington  98504-1170

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

RFP 2003-012

Document Assembly Software

The Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) is initiating this Request for Proposals (RFP) to solicit responses from vendors interested in providing web-based Document Assembly software.

1.      PURPOSE AND DESCRIPTION:

1.1.    Purpose: 

The Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) is initiating this Request for Proposals (RFP) to solicit responses from vendors interested in providing a web-based Document Assembly solution.  This solution should allow citizens, in an interview format, to complete forms for presentation to their local Courts.   AOC’s goal is to provide an easy to use system of assembling proper court forms presently found here: http://www.courts.wa.gov/forms/?fa=forms.list.  

The successful vendor will assist AOC with training, coding and creation of the first interview set consisting of helping citizens with Dissolution. 

You can view the listing of forms, self help resources and instructions which will be the content of the initial interviews here:  http://www.courts.wa.gov/forms/?fa=forms.search&category_list=2 and here: http://www.courts.wa.gov/forms/?fa=forms.search&category_list=3

1.2.     Goals:

Our plan is to create a Dissolution center where citizens can obtain the required information, self-help, tutorials, tools and forms necessary to complete a Dissolution of Marriage (with and without children).  As such, the goal of this RFP will be to convert these sections of the Website into an interview format and give citizens the ability to file (print and submit a hard copy) the proper forms using the Document Assembly product. 

1.3.     PRODUCT and Services Required:  

The PRODUCT is to meet all of the mandatory requirements listed in Exhibit A.  Additionally, we will expect the vendor to provide 80 hours of on-site support for installation, training, and programming support in helping AOC create the first interview/answer set as outlined in Exhibit B.

1.4.     Funding:

The budget must not exceed 67,000 thousand dollars ($67,000) for all costs for this project including product licensing, implementation, training, consulting, maintenance and/or support, any travel costs associated with the implementation, and taxes.  Proposals in excess of this amount will be rejected as non-responsive.

Proposals must itemize the costs of hardware, software, licensing, consulting, annual maintenance and/or support, upgrades, taxes, and any other costs for initial implementation and 2 (two) subsequent years.  The license should allow unlimited users and a minimum of 2 production (AOC uses a failover system) and 1 test environment.  The license should also include 2 developer seats.  The license term will begin on June 30, 2003.

The details of the amount of support will be agreed upon in a contract with the AOC. Any contract awarded as a result of this procurement is contingent upon the continued availability of funding.

.

2.         RFP ADMINISTRATION AND INSTRUCTIONS TO VENDORS:

2.1.     RFP Coordinator: Upon release of this RFP, all vendor communications concerning this acquisition must be directed to the RFP Coordinator listed below.  Unauthorized contact regarding the RFP with other state employees may result in disqualification.  Any oral communications will be considered unofficial and non-binding on the State. Only written statements issued by the RFP Coordinator may be relied upon.

Brian Lonardo, RFP Coordinator

Administrative Office of the Courts

1206 Quince Street Southeast

P. O. Box 41170

Olympia, Washington  98504-1170

E-mail:  brian.lonardo@courts.wa.gov

Telephone:  (360) 705-5281

FAX:  (360) 586-8869

2.2.    RFP Schedule:

RFP released ................................................................. 05/12/03

Responses due not later than 12 noon Pacific Time................ 05/26/03

Evaluation Period............................................ 05/27/03 -- 05/28/03

Apparently successful vendor announced............................. 05/29/03

Protest Period................................................. 05/29/03 – 06/05/03

Contract signed and work commences................................. 06/15/03

2.3.     Vendor Questions:  Vendors may contact the RFP Coordinator at the address and/or numbers listed in Subsection 2.1 above with any questions concerning this RFP.  All questions must be received prior to the response due date and time listed in Subsection 2.2 above.  Written questions are preferred and should be submitted by e-mail to ensure receipt and timely response.

2.4.    Response Format:  The proposal must be sent electronically via e-mail in Microsoft Word 97 or newer version, RTF, or Adobe PDF format to the RFP Coordinator designated in Section 2.1 of this RFP.  The e-mail subject should be clearly marked “Document Assembly Software”.

The proposal must be received no later than 12:00 p.m., Pacific Daylight Time (PDT), on the date specified in section 2.2 of this RFP.

Vendors should allow enough electronic delivery time to ensure timely receipt of their proposals by the RFP Coordinator.  Vendors assume the risk for any e-mail delay problems.  The AOC assumes no responsibility for delays, not withstanding the provisions of RCW 1.12.070.

Proposals that exceed 20 pages in length will not be accepted.  Late proposals will not be accepted and will be automatically disqualified from further consideration.

2.5.    Response Requirements and Content:  Vendors must respond to each question/requirement contained in Exhibit A, Vendor Response.  In preparing their response, vendors should restate each requirement and then give their response.

2.6.    Response Date and Location:

2.6.1.    The vendor's response, in its entirety, must be received by the RFP Coordinator in Olympia, Washington, in accordance with the schedule contained in Subsection 2.2 above.  Late responses will not be accepted and will be automatically disqualified from further consideration.

2.6.2.    Vendors assume the risk of the method of dispatch chosen.  The AOC assumes no responsibility for delays caused by the U.S. Postal Service, state mail delivery systems, or any other party or communication device.  Postmarking by the due date will not substitute for actual response receipt.  Late responses will not be accepted, nor will additional time be granted to any vendor.  Responses may be delivered by mail, courier, hand-delivery, facsimile transmission or email.

2.7.    Costs of Preparing Responses:  The AOC will not pay any vendor costs associated with preparing responses, submitted in response to this RFP.

2.8.    Responses Property of the AOC:  All responses, accompanying documentation and other materials submitted in response to this RFP shall become the property of the AOC and will not be returned.

2.9.    Proprietary Information/Public Disclosure:  All responses received shall remain confidential until the evaluation is completed and the vendor is selected and approved.  Thereafter responses shall be deemed public records.

2.10.    RFP Amendments/Cancellation/Reissue/Reopen:  The AOC reserves the right to change the RFP Schedule or issue amendments to this RFP at any time. The AOC also reserves the right to cancel or reissue the RFP.  All such actions will be posted on AOC's procurement website.

2.11.    Minor Administrative Irregularities:  The AOC reserves the right to waive minor administrative irregularities contained in any response.

2.12.    Inability to Enter Contract:  The AOC reserves the right to eliminate from further consideration any vendor that the AOC, because of legal or other considerations, is unable to contract with at the time responses are due in accordance with the schedule contained in Subsection 2.2 above.

2.13.    No Obligation to Enter a Contract:

2.13.1.    The release of this RFP does not compel the AOC to enter any contract.

2.13.2.    The AOC reserves the right to refrain from contracting with any vendor that has responded to this RFP whether or not the vendor's response has been evaluated and whether or not the vendor has been determined to be qualified.  Exercise of this reserved right does not affect the AOC's right to contract with any other vendor.

2.13.3.    The AOC reserves the right to request an interview with any vendor and/or a demonstration from any vendor prior to entering a contract with that vendor.  If a vendor declines the request for an interview or demonstration for any reason, the vendor may be eliminated from further consideration.

2.14.    Multiple Contracts:  The AOC reserves the right to enter contracts with more than one vendor as a result of this RFP.

2.15.    Non-Endorsement:  The selection of a vendor pursuant to this RFP does not constitute an endorsement of the vendor's services.  The vendor agrees to make no reference to the AOC in any literature, promotional material, brochures, sales presentations, or the like without the express written consent of the AOC.

2.16.    Contract Payment Limitations:  The Washington State Constitution provides that the state of Washington shall make no advanced payment for goods or services.  Therefore, vendors should anticipate payment at the end rather than the beginning of the invoice period in which they provide services or after they submit any deliverable for which a payment is due.

3.     RFP EVALUATION:

3.1.    An AOC Evaluation Team (Team) of at least two (2) persons will evaluate the responses to this RFP.  In the evaluation, the Team will review the capabilities of the proposed application, the implantation/mentor plan, references of the vendor, and the cost quoted.  The Team may also consider past contract performance and check references beyond those listed in the vendor’s response.

3.2.    The AOC funding for this acquisition is limited to $67,000.  This amount must cover all costs of the project (including taxes). 

3.3.    As part of the evaluation process, at the discretion of the Team, vendors may be asked to clarify specific points in their response. However, under no circumstances will the vendor be allowed to make changes to the response.

3.4.    Responses will be scored according to the information provided in Exhibit B.

4.      POST EVALUATION

4.1.    Notification of Selection of Apparently Successful Vendor:  Vendors whose responses have not been selected for further negotiations or award will be notified via e-mail.

4.2.    Debriefing of Unsuccessful Vendors:

Vendors who submitted responses that were not selected will be given the opportunity for a debriefing conference.  The request for a debriefing conference must be received by the RFP Coordinator within three (3) business days after the notification to unsuccessful vendors is sent to the vendor.  The debriefing must be held within three (3) business days of the request.

Discussion will be limited to critique of the requesting vendor’s response.  Comparisons between responses or evaluations of other responses will not be allowed.  Debriefing conferences may be conducted in person or on the telephone, at the discretion of the RFP Coordinator, and will be scheduled for a maximum of one (1) hour.

4.3.    Protest Procedures:

4.3.1.    Vendors submitting a protest to this procurement shall follow the procedures described herein.  Protests of vendors that do not follow these procedures shall not be considered.  This protest procedure constitutes the sole administrative remedy available to the vendor under this procurement.

4.3.2.    All protests must be in writing and signed by the protesting party or an authorized agent.  The protest must state all facts and arguments on which the protesting party is relying.  All protests shall be addressed to the RFP Coordinator.

4.3.3.    Only protests stipulating an issue of fact concerning a matter of bias, discrimination, or a conflict of interest, or non-compliance with procedures described in the procurement document shall be considered.  Protests not based on procedural matters will not be considered.

4.3.4.    In the event a protest may affect the interest of any other vendor, such vendor(s) will be given an opportunity to submit their views and any relevant information on the protest to the RFP Coordinator.

4.3.5.    Upon receipt of a protest, a protest review will be held by the AOC to review the procurement process utilized.  This is not a review of responses submitted or the evaluation scores received.  The review is to insure that procedures described in the procurement document were followed, all requirements were met, and all vendors were treated equally and fairly.

4.3.6.    Protests shall not be accepted prior to selection of the apparently successful vendors.  Protests must be received within five (5) business days from the date of the notification of the apparently successful vendor.  The Administrator or her delegate will then consider all the information available to her/him and render a written decision within five (5) business days of receipt of the protest, unless additional time is required.  If additional time is required, the protesting party will be notified of the delay.

4.4.    Contract Award/General Terms and Conditions:

Vendors selected to provide application services will be expected to enter into a contract with AOC which is substantially the same as the contract posted on the AOC procurement website.

STATE OF WASHINGTON

ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICE OF THE COURTS

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

DOCUMENT ASSEMBLY SOFTWARE

RFP-2003-012

ExHIBIT A  -  Vendor RESPONSE

 

Responses must contain the following information in the following format.  Please number your responses to correspond with the information requested here.

1.        Vendor’s Name, address, federal tax identification number or Social Security Number (SSN), Uniform Business Identifier (UBI) number, and a description of the vendor’s legal status, e.g., corporation, sole proprietor, etc.

2.        Vendor contact’s Name, telephone number, fax number and email.

3.        A statement that guarantees that the response constitutes a firm offer valid for sixty (60) days following receipt and that the AOC may accept any time within the 60-day period.

4.        A statement that no assistance in preparing the response was received from any current or former employee of the state of Washington whose duties relate(d) to this RFP, unless such assistance was provided by the state employee in his or her official public capacity and that neither such employee nor any member of his or her immediate family has any financial interest in the outcome of this RFP.

5.        A statement on whether the vendor or any employee of the vendor is related by blood or marriage to an AOC employee or resides with an AOC employee.  If there are such relationships, list the names and relationships of said parties.  Include the position and responsibilities within the vendor's organization of such vendor employees.

6.        A statement on whether any of the vendor’s employees are a current state employee or a former state employee during the past two years.  For current or former state employees list the employer agency, title, and termination date.  Do not include any contract work performed for a state agency.

7.        State whether the vendor has been a party in any litigation during the past five (5) years, all such incidents except employment-related cases must be described, including the other parties' name, address, and telephone number.  Present the vendor's position on the matter.

8.        Provide two (2) references where the proposed software has been installed and is operational and include a URL reference for AOC to view the production system for that reference.  Please include a phone number or e-mail address of the referencedindividual so he/she may be contacted.

9.        Describe, in detail, within Exhibit B how the proposed solution(s) meets the requirements listed.

STATE OF WASHINGTON

ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICE OF THE COURTS

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

DOCUMENT ASSEMBLY SOFTWARE

RFP-2003-012

EXHIBIT B - REQUIREMENTS AND SCORING

Requirements

Vendors shall analyze the questions/requirements in this section and propose the most appropriate and cost effective Document Assembly System.

Scoring

Items which are scored will be scored according to the following scoring criteria.  In response to the RFP, vendors should briefly describe how their proposed solution meets the requirements specified.

Scoring will be as follows:

·         Total cost will comprise twenty percent (20%) of the total score.

·         Technical evaluation will comprise forty percent (50%) of the total score.

·         Ease of use and user experience will comprise twenty percent (20%) of the total score.

·         Ease of setup, management and maintenance will comprise ten percent (10%) of the total score.

For each requirement, proposals will receive a score of zero through ten as shown in the table below.  Scores for each requirement will then be weighted as indicated.

0	Response to the requirement is non-responsive or wholly inadequate; if a mandatory requirement (MR), it will result in the disqualification of the proposal.
5	Response indicates approach is effective and of average capability, performance, efficiency.
10	Response to the requirement is clearly superior to that which is average or expected as the norm.

Item	Description	Weight	Score	TOTAL
1.	Cost (10%)
1.1.	Please outline all of the cost factors of your proposal.  Break down all components, including software, maintenance, renewals for future years, per hour charges on consulting services ect. The total cost may not exceed $67,000.	10
2.	Technical Evaluation (40%)
2.1.	Platforms.  Does your product work in a Windows 2000/IIS, SQL server environment.   If not applicable, describe your please describe your platform requirements.	5
2.2.	Security.  Please describe your products ability to use custom authentication/access control.  AOC will store security information in a SQL Server 2000 database.  AOC allows the use of Cookies or session variables.  Is this a standard part of your product, or is it a customization?  Describe the customization.	10 MR
2.3.	Describe your products ability to share questions/logic and blocks of data across more than one form.	5 MR
2.4.	Describe how your product stores answers and is the answer separated from display/business logic?	5 MR
2.5.	Will your product work in a clustered environment?	5
2.6.	Describe your products load capabilities.  How many concurrent interviews can your product handle? How many per day?  Assume the server is running W2K, IIS, is a dual Xeon processor (1.7 MHz) and has 2 Gigs of RAM.	10
3.	Setup, Administration and Maintenance (20%)
3.1.	Does your product require on-site consultants to assist in the installation of your produce?  Y/N Explain.	5 Y/N MR
3.2.	Describe your technical/developer support policies/offerings.	5
3.3.	Describe how you would use the 80 hours of consulting time to help AOC setup, administer and maintain the product.  Be sure to include the number of hours you feel you can allocate to programming support and training of developers.	10
4.	User Experience (20%)
4.1.	The software will allow the State’s Website GUI, look and feel and style sheets to be used.	5 MR
4.2.	The software will work with a range of browsers and versions:  Internet Explorer, Netscape Navigator, Opera (optional) and will be compatible as far back as 4.x on IE and Netscape.	5 MR
4.3.	Describe your products ability to provide contextual help down to the field level.  Also describe your help system in general.	5
4.4.	Describe your products ability to do client side error checking on Date Ranges, logical evaluation of ages, addresses ect.  For example, can your product compare date ranges of different fields (i.e. comparison of divorce date/married date to determine that the married date is before the divorce date)  Explain how this would be done.	5