Proposal No. P14/9829

Transcription

1 Answers to Vendor Questions Questions are in black, Answers are in red 1. Question: Page 7, section 2 number 3, you state that a minimum expectation for consideration is Experience and knowledge of multiple products and vendors. Vendor- or product-affiliated proposals/consultants will not be considered. We are a business partner with both IBM and Informatica. Do our partnerships constitute product-affiliations and mean that you will not consider us as a consultant for this assessment project, or are we still eligible since we are knowledgeable about both products as well as others?, your partnerships do not constitute product-affiliations. PCC will consider you as a consultant for this assessment project. You are still eligible since you are knowledgeable about both products as well as others. 2. Question: Page 7 of the RFP under Miscellaneous states, PCC will only reimburse at the state government rate. What does this refer to specifically? If travel costs associated with onsite consulting, what is the state rate? Answer: The State reimbursement rates are as follows: Mileage, 44.5 cents per mile Meals, $44 per day Lodging: Oct 1 - Dec 31, $83 per day/jan 1 - Mar 31, $119 per day/apr 1 - Sep 30, $83 per day 3. Question: As stated in the RFP, Pima uses the Banner ERP system in addition to Desire2Learn. Please confirm which of the following modules/additional products are currently in use and should be included in our proposal: Banner Student, Banner Finance, Banner Human Resources, Banner Financial Aid, Banner Advancement, Banner Relationship Management (BRM) of Recruiter, Banner CAPP, Banner Operational Data Store (ODS), Banner Enterprise Data Warehouse (EDW), Luminis, Degree Works Answer: Banner Student, Banner Finance, Banner Human Resources, Banner Financial Aid, Luminis, Degree Works are currently used. If other modules are not used, it does not mean that PCC does not intend to use them. The analysis of why they are not used will be the part of the assessment. 4. Question: Page 5 Background and Environment: It seems the initiation of this project is at the highest levels and connected to strategic planning. Who is the executive sponsor of this project? If not the President, Provost or CFO, what kind of visibility will this project have at the cabinet level? Answer: This project is sponsored by the Chancellor Cabinet through the Capital Approval process. 5. Question: Page 5 Background and Environment: Is there an existing Business Intelligence/Reporting team? Answer: Several departments have reports developers; the majority are concentrated in the Planning and Institutional Research and the Information Technology departments.

2 6. Question: Page 5 Background and Environment: Does Pima CC have an Institutional Research office or team of people currently responsible for official state and federal reporting? Answer: Yes, PCC has an Institutional Research office currently responsible for official state and federal reporting. 7. Question: Page 5 Background and Environment: Are there any departments or areas that are more successful than others when it comes to BI/reporting? Answer: To find the response to this question will be the part of the project. 8. Question: Page 5 Background and Environment: The RFP mentions a lack of historical or a lack of comprehensive data in the bullet list of keys areas to address. Do the business questions of the college requiring this data have a source today? Or is it necessary to build repositories of historical and additional data and begin new collection efforts using new systems? Are those systems in scope of this project? Answer: Yes, our regular data freeze process captures snapshots that serves as our repository of historical data. We are open to an evaluation of how this data is collected and reported; it is within the scope of this project. 9. Question: Page 5 Current IT Environment: When was Banner first implemented? Answer: Question: Page 5 Current IT Environment: Since the implementation of Banner, has there been a review of business processes by department and do these review documents exist as a source to this project? and No; piecemeal throughout departments, at best. 11. Question: Page 5 Current IT Environment: Does the original Banner implementation team exist? Do they meet on an ongoing basis? Answer: A Banner working group exists which manages patches and upgrades but the majority of original implementation team are no longer with the college. 12. Question: Page 5 Current IT Environment: Have you licensed the Ellucian Banner ODS/EDW? Was it ever implemented? If so, are any departments using it?

3 13. Question: Page 5 Current IT Environment: Have you licensed any of the Ellucian Banner Performance Applications (Recruitment Admissions Performance (RAP), Student Retention Performance (SRP), Advancement Performance (AP)? Were they ever implemented? If so, are any departments using them? 14. Question: Page 6 Project Deliverables: Pima requests an estimate for how long it will take to complete the project from date of award. Is there a time frame that Pima expects the entire project to be completed? Answer: The project is to be completed on or before February 1, Question: Page 6 Project Deliverables: Are there any significant/key staff departures in the last few years that would impact the availability of persons to interview and knowledge base of data/reporting?. 16. Question: Page 6 Comprehensive review: What is the count/proportion of open staff positions that might affect the availability or persons for interviewing and the available assignment of time resources to this project? t significant. 17. Question: Page 12 Proposal response format, item 8, Cost proposal is this document to be provided in a separately sealed envelope, or are the cost and functional/technical proposal to be delivered together? Is the cost proposal being evaluated separately from the rest of the proposal response? Answer: The cost and technical proposals should be delivered together. The cost proposal will not be evaluated separately from the rest of the proposal response. 18. Question: Are the 3 higher education references/experience and unchangeable requirement? Answer: Yes. 19. Question: What level of Banner experience are you looking for? Answer: Proficiency. 20. Question: What is the state government reimbursement rate? Answer: See answer to Question 2.

4 21. Question: Is there a state government consulting rate that you re tied to? 22. Question: Page 8 Organization of the Project: 1. Describe the timeline and main stages of the project. Would a sample project plan suffice for this? (with the full breakdown by task, duration, type of resources i.e. our resource and/or PCC resource) Answer: Yes. 23. Question: Page 8 Deployment and outcomes of the project: Describe how you intend to deploy the project. If this phase/project is the Assessment, is this just asking how we would normally deploy the solution when design and implementation is finished? Answer: In the RFP response you need to indicate only how you plan to conduct the assessment and develop the recommendations based on the assessment. However, the understanding of the Assessment can vary, that s why we precise, that you need to conduct such Assessment that will result in recommendations and corresponding road maps for implementing a business intelligence solution at PCC. In RFP you need to describe the structure, timelines and phases of such assessment. In Deliverables, the consultant will describe the structure, timelines and phases of the proposed solutions. 24. Question: Section 3, page 10, 4. Qualifications, g.: Description of project structure and detailed project timelines and phases (if applicable). Without going through the actual Assessment, a detailed project timeline cannot be tailored to PCC. Does this question just want a sample of our usual project plan and breakdown of tasks and phases in the actual design and implementation project? Answer: In the RFP response you need to indicate only how you plan to conduct the assessment and develop the recommendations based on the assessment. However, the understanding of the Assessment can vary, that s why we precise, that you need to conduct such Assessment that will result in recommendations and corresponding road maps for implementing a business intelligence solution at PCC. In RFP response you need to describe the structure, timelines and phases of such assessment. In Deliverables, the consultant will describe the structure, timelines and phases of the proposed solutions. 25. Question: Page 5 Current IT Environment: The main source of data resides in the Banner ERP transactional database. Some other data sources, mostly in Microsoft Access and Excel formats, exist at different locations. We assume you are open to a central repository or more properly a Data Warehouse for reporting that

5 would be modeled in a proper dimensional approach? Answer: The primary objective of this assessment is to identify the business intelligence solution that is most appropriate for Pima Community College. If a data warehouse based on a dimensional model is recommended, we would be open to it. 26. Question: Page 5 Current IT Environment: Business Object 9.0 with Crystal Reports is used now with some deficiencies as the primary reporting tool. Also, some Webi licenses are used for standard reports, as well as Microsoft suite tools. A small number of reports are also run through Oracle Forms and Reports. Are you looking to consolidate license fees and platforms to a solution that will meet all of your business needs? Answer: Consolidation of platforms/tools confers many advantages and would be a major consideration. However, the assessment must be platform/tool-agnostic. 27. Question: Page 6 Project Deliverables: The successful firm will conduct a comprehensive needs and requirements assessment resulting recommendations and corresponding road maps for implementing a business intelligence solution at PCC. At its conclusion, the College will be able to: Identify main BI stakeholders, determine current and future functional BI requirements, prioritize BI requirements, generate data source inventory and hierarchy. In the RFP response, do we need to go to the level of design and implementation, or is this to be kept at the level of an Assessment? Answer: In the RFP response you need to indicate only how you plan to conduct the assessment and develop the recommendations based on the assessment. However, the understanding of the Assessment can vary, that s why we precise, that you need to conduct such Assessment that will result in recommendations and corresponding road maps for implementing a business intelligence solution at PCC. In RFP response you need to describe the structure, timelines and phases of such assessment. In Deliverables, the consultant will describe the structure, timelines and phases of the proposed solutions.