July 11, 2018
In reading the scope requirements for the Project Manager it states “Propose and implement an information sharing/management platform to keep all stakeholders engaged and informed of the project status”.
Q: Will the county be providing IT resources and support (ie Sharepoint/Access Management) for this or will the expectation be on the vendor to supply?
A: Lake County has used SharePoint as an internal collaborative document sharing platform. What we’re looking for is Vendors to propose solutions that can either build upon this knowledge base or provide a comparable platform (for example, JIRA) to assist in the project and document management.
July 6, 2018
One of your requests in the RFP is:
“In addition to new case management applications for the above justice entities, Lake County is also seeking proposals
for a new Enterprise Service Bus (ESB) or similar application to support existing and new data exchanges between the
three justice entities, their stakeholders, and other related State and County entities.”
Q: Can a vendors response be solely to propose an EBS?
A: Request for Proposal # 18052 is for the procurement of consulting services for professional project management services. Request for Proposal # 17209 which preceded this procurement was for the Court Case Management System in addition to the Enterprise Service Bus (ESB). The opportunity to propose the ESB would have been during the open procurement for RFP 17209, which has now closed.
June 28, 2018
1. What scheduling guidance can the County offer relative to the expected duration of the project?
a. The County’s expectations are that this project will last approximately 18 to 24 months. However, each project is different and presents unique challenges. Therefore, the expectation of the County is that awarded project manager(s) will use their experience and knowledge in order to meet our budget and time constraints as it relates to successfully implementing the selected system.
2. The deadline for questions is July 12. The due date for the proposal is July 19. Given the logistics of answering and publishing questions, and preparing and submitting proposals, proposals received by the County are unlikely to be responsive to and benefit from answers published within one to two weeks prior to the proposal due date. Will the County provide answers to questions as they come in or will the County provide answers to all questions received not until after the question deadline of July 12?
a. Yes, the County will provide answers as they are received.
3. Page 11 stipulates expectations of the Project Manager. The first bullet says: “Serve as a dedicated onsite resource that will represent Lake County during the transition, implementation and post-implementation of the selected system.”
3.1. At what point during post-implementation, in the operation of the new ICMS does the County anticipate the services of the Project Manager may end?
a. The County’s anticipates that the contract will last three to six months post “go live”. However, the County would like to discuss strategies or methods for post-implementation review.
Have users bought in to the new system? How do we communicate new features? These are just a couple methods we may need to review to ensure project success.
3.2. Please provide a definition of “dedicated” and “onsite”.
a. Implementation of the ICMS is a critical function for the Justice Agency stakeholders and will require a consultant to provide the necessary support to complete the project on schedule. Therefore, “dedicated” references a consistent project manager and or team to provide support over the entire term of the project. “Onsite” references the need for the project manager and team to be available for face to face meetings to assist in facilitating discussions with the various stakeholders. Proposers should provide the necessary resources needed to accomplish this task based on their past experience with similar projects.
4. Please indicate which of the following are acceptable, within the context of the definitions provided under 3.2.
i. A full-time project manager, living in the County or nearby for the duration of the project, including post-implementation.
ii. A full-time project manager, commuting to the County so that he/she is onsite each business day.
iii. A project manager commuting to the County on a fixed or default schedule, for example Monday through Wednesday of each week. Work required during Thursdays and Fridays would be performed remotely, via shared collaboration spaces, video and voice calls.
iv. A team consisting of a project manager and supporting SMEs, commuting to the County as-needed. Onsite schedules would be established several weeks in advance as needed and agreed with the County. Remote work would be performed via shared collaboration spaces, video and voice calls.
a. Proposers should provide the necessary resources needed to provide project management support for the implementation of the ICMS based on their past successful experience with similar projects.
5. What is the expected implementation timeline for the system implementations? Section 10 –Contract Term on page 4 of the RFP indicates that “proposers shall submit an implementation schedule showing the actual completion date.” It also indicates that years beyond the fiscal year ending November 30th (2018) are at the discretion of the County and available funding. Can the County please clarify this as it related to this initiative?
a. Based on vendor proposals, the County’s expectations are that this project will last 18 to 24 months. The County asks that the awarded project manager(s) be sensitive to the County’s time and budget constraints.
6. On page 11 (Expectations of the Project Manager), the first bullet indicates that the project manager is to be a “dedicated onsite resource.” Can the County please elaborate on the onsite requirements for the project manager role?
a. The County believes that some activities can be managed remotely, and others require face to face. An experienced project manager (and firm) will understand and plan for that; as well as be flexible depending on the needs of the project. That said, the County believes this relationship to be collaborative and expectations will be that certain go live activities will necessitate the dedicated onsite resource.
7. On page 13 “Development Phase”, can the County please describe what is meant by the project manager’s responsibility in completing “all required configuration, customization, and data imports?” Is this intended to mean that the project manager will be responsible for ensuring that the appropriate stakeholders and vendor conduct these activities on schedule, within budget, and within scope?
a. Yes, that is the expectation.
8. On page 13 “Testing Phase”, can the County please describe what is meant by the project manager’s responsibility in implementing “the workflow processes for the various justice stakeholders?” Is this intended to mean that the project manager will be responsible for ensuring that the appropriate stakeholders will conduct user acceptance testing as described in the project work plan and user acceptance testing plan (once developed), or does the County expect that the project manager will conduct all user acceptance testing activities personally?
a. The project manager’s role is to ensure proper testing of the ICMS prior to implementation. This would include the project manager helping the justice stakeholders develop a user acceptance testing plan and implementing that plan.
9. On page 13 “Training Phase”, can the County please describe what is meant by the project manager’s responsibility in delivering training and providing training documentation? Is this intended to mean that the project manager will be responsible for ensuring that the vendor and appropriate stakeholders (in a train-the-trainer model) will develop and conduct the training curriculum, or does the County expect that the project manager will conduct all training-related activities personally?
a. The project manager will be responsible for ensuring that the vendor and appropriate stakeholders (in a train-the-trainer model) will develop and conduct the training curriculum.
10. On page 21 the County provided a Price Proposal template that includes a single line item for a fixed fee for all project management services for the duration of the project; followed by a rate table for additional services. Since the ICMS vendor has not been selected, and as such the selected vendor’s implementation approach and typical timing has not been identified, can the County please provide additional information on how to approach the development of this Price
a. Lake County is seeking a dedicated, onsite project manager and team to help oversee the implementation of the ICMS. Implementation of the ICMS is a critical function for the Justice Agency stakeholders and will require a consultant to provide the necessary support to complete the project on schedule. The County assumes that the implementation should take a minimum of two years. Proposers should use their previous experience with successful prior projects to provide a cost that reflects the scope of work that they are proposing.
11. May the forms provided in the RFP be retyped into the proposal, or do the forms included in the RFP need to be filled in and returned with the proposal?
a. The provided forms may be retyped into the proposal.
June 7, 2018
Please visit the link to the Sharepoint site below for all documents listed as attachments identified on page 10.
https://lakecountyil.sharepoint.com/teams/FAExtranet/rfp18052ICMSPM