Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)System Upgrade

1 Request for Proposal Request for Proposal - Title Page One Arlington Public Schools Procurement Office Request for Proposal 41FY23 Request for Proposal Title: Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) System Upgrade Request for Proposal Number: 41FY23 Request for Proposal Issue Date: September 09, 2022 Pre-Proposal Conference: September 23, 2022, (Refer to Request Title Page 2) Proposal Due Date and Time: October 21, 2022, No Later Than 11:59 P.M. (EST) Procurement Office Hamed Hameedi Representative: Senior Procurement Specialist (703) 228-7643, hamed.hameedi@apsva.us _________________________________________________________________________________ This is Arlington County School Board, operating as Arlington Public Schools (“APS” or “Owner”) Request for Proposal (RFP) #41FY23 for the establishment of a Contract for Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) System Upgrade (“the Work”). Sealed Proposal shall not be received in response

to the RFP at the Syphax Education Center (“Syphax”) by mail, express mail, in person, or by courier, but will do so instead electronically through a secure cloud-based file sharing platform (“Platform”). Firms wishing to submit a Proposal in response to the RFP (“Offerors”) are required to upload the information requested in Tabs 1 – 8 of Section III, Proposal Requirements, E. Format and Content, into the Platform through the link found on the Current Solicitations webpage under the Procurement Office website. A link to the webpage is provided below. Found under the Due Date column for RFP 41FY23 of the Current Solicitations table is a link for Offerors to submit its Proposal. (“Link to submit Proposal – RFP 41FY23”). To assist Offerors with its Proposal submission, screenshots of the steps required to submit a Proposal are attached as Appendix H to this RFP. For a Proposal to be considered for award of a Contract the Proposal must be received in the Platform by no later than 11:59 p.m. on Friday, October 21, 2022 (“Proposal Due Date”). Offerors are strongly encouraged to submit their Proposals in advance of Proposal Due Date to allow sufficient time for the Proposals to be uploaded into the Platform before the Proposal Due Date. The time a Proposal is received shall be determined by the time shown under the Activity in the Folder log (“the Log”). If the upload time shown in the Log is after Proposal Due Date the Proposal mailto:hamed.hameedi@apsva.us 2 Request for Proposal Request for Proposal - Title Page Two will be considered non-responsive and will not be considered for Contract award. Proposals received after the Proposal Due Date shall not be considered. For further information please contact Hamed Hameedi at hamed.hameedi@apsva.us or at (703) 228-7643. Link to the Current Solicitations webpage: Link to Current Solicitations. Pre-Proposal Conference: A non-mandatory pre-Proposal conference (“Conference”) will be held for this RFP on Friday, September 23, 2022, at 10:00 A.M. (EST). The Conference will take place virtually, to discuss the Work and answer general questions concerning the RFP. Attendance at the Conference is encouraged. Offerors seeking to attend the Conference can access the Conference via a link in the Current Solicitations table on the Procurement Office website. It is recommended Offerors have a copy of the RFP with them during the Conference. Minutes of the Conference, including but not limited to questions and answers presented at the Conference, will be issued in writing by the Procurement Office as an Information Item and distributed in the same manner as an Addenda, as set forth below Questions: All questions regarding this RFP, other than those submitted at the Conference, must be submitted in writing via email addressed to: Hamed Hameedi, Senior Procurement Specialist, hamed.hameedi@apsva.us and Girish Rajput, APS Project Manager, via email: girish.rajput@apsva.us and must be received by 5:00 PM (EST) on September 29, 2022. The Procurement Office will issue written responses to questions received as an Information Item, in the same manner as an Addenda, as set forth below. Refer to Section II, Instructions to Offerors, for additional instructions and requirements. Addenda: Changes to this RFP will be made only by written Addenda issued by the Procurement Office and designated as “Addendum No.____.” No other form of communication shall modify this RFP. Addenda will be posted on Virginia’s online electronic procurement system (“eVA”), the Procurement Office website, and on a public bulletin board in Syphax. Offerors shall ascertain prior to submitting a Proposal that all Addenda issued have been received and shall acknowledge receipt and inclusion of all Addenda by marking here, or by including a signed copy of all Addenda with the Proposal: Addendum #. Date: Addendum #. Date: Addendum #. Date: Information Items: Questions received timely in response to this RFP, including those at the Conference, will be answered by written Information Items issued by the Procurement Office. This RFP shall not be modified by an Information Item. Information Items will only be posted in the same manner as an Addenda, as set forth above. mailto:hamed.hameedi@apsva.us https://www.apsva.us/procurement-office/current-solicitations/ mailto:hamed.hameedi@apsva.us mailto:girish.rajput@apsva.us https://eva.virginia.gov/ https://www.apsva.us/procurement-office/current-solicitations/ https://www.apsva.us/procurement-office/current-solicitations/ 3 Request for Proposal Request for Proposal Title Page Three Trade Secrets or Proprietary Information: Each Offeror shall confirm whether their Proposal contains any information the Offeror deems proprietary or a trade secret. Information considered to be proprietary or a Trade Secret is to be included in the Proposal response at Tab 8. See Section III. Proposal Requirements, D, Submission of Trade Secrets or Proprietary Information, for additional information. Please mark one: ( ) Yes, My Proposal contains information deemed to be proprietary or a trade secret. The information deemed to be proprietary or a trade secret can be located under Tab 8 ( ) No, My Proposal does not contain information deemed to be proprietary or a trade secret. Acceptance of Work: By submitting a Proposal, Offeror confirms that it can deliver all of the Work contained in the RFP. State Corporation Commission (SCC) Identification Number: Mandatory Requirement: Under subsection C.8. of Section III, Instructions to Offerors, subsection 35 of Section VI., Contract Terms and Conditions, and the Virginia Public Procurement Act (VPPA) § 2.2 4311.2, the Offeror shall be authorized to “transact business” in the Commonwealth of Virginia as a domestic or foreign business entity if so required by Title 13.1 or Title 50 or as otherwise by law. The Offeror shall include in its Proposal the identification number issued to it by the State Corporation Commission (SCC). For more information on how the SCC can expedite a request for an identification number, please contact the SCC at (www.scc.virginia.gov ) or the Clerk’s office at 1-804-371-9733. Please complete the following by checking the appropriate line that applies and providing the requested information: 1. Offeror is a Virginia business entity organized and authorized to transact business in Virginia by the SCC. The Offeror’s identification number issued by the SCC is . (The SCC number is NOT your federal tax Identification number nor your eVA registration number). 2. Offeror is an out-of-state (foreign) business entity that is authorized to transact business in Virginia by the SCC and such Offeror’s identification number issued to it by the SCC is . 3. Certain limited business activities, however, are specifically excluded from the definition of "transacting business” The Offeror does not have an identification issued to it by the SCC and such Offeror is not required to be authorized to “transact business” in Virginia by the SCC for the following exclusion(s). Exclusion(s) can be found at https://www.scc.virginia.gov/clk/befaq/forinva.aspx#a2. Please attach additional sheets to explain in further detail why such Offeror is not required to be authorized to transact business in Virginia. Proposals that fail to submit supporting details regarding option 3 above may be considered non- responsive by APS. Debarment: If you answer yes to any of the following, on a separate attachment, state the person or entity against whom the debarment was entered, give the location and date of the debarment, describe the project involved, and explain the circumstances relating to the debarment, including the names, addresses and phone numbers of persons who might be contacted for additional information 1. Is your organization or any officer, director, project manager, procurement manager, chief financial officer, partner or owner currently debarred from doing federal, state or local government work for any reason? Yes __No ___ http://www.scc.virginia.gov/ https://www.scc.virginia.gov/clk/befaq/forinva.aspx#a2 4 Request for Proposal Request for Proposal - Title Page Four 2. Has your organization or any current officer, director, project manager, procurement manager, chief financial officer, partner or owner ever been debarred from doing federal, state or local government work for any reason? Yes _No ___ Type of Business: Please check the following information relevant to your firm: Minority Owned Business: Yes No ___ Small Business: Yes No ___ Woman Owned Business: Yes No ___ Service Disabled Veteran Owned Business: Yes ______ No ______ Employment Service Organization: Yes No ___ None of the Above: Yes Ethics in Public Contracting/Certification of Non-Disclosure: Any Contract awarded as a result of this RFP will incorporate by reference Article 9 of the APS Procurement Resolution (Procurement Resolution), as well as any state or federal law related to ethics, conflicts of interest, or bribery, including by way of illustration and not limitation, the Virginia State and Local Government Conflict of Interests Act (Code of Virginia § 2.2-3100 et seq.), the Virginia Governmental Frauds Act (Code of Virginia § 18.2- 498.1 et seq., and Articles 2 and 3 of Chapter 10 of Title 18.2 of the Code of Virginia, as amended (§ 18.2-438 et seq.). The undersigned certifies that its offer is made without collusion or fraud and that it has not offered or received any kickbacks or inducements from any other person(as defined in Code of Virginia Section 59.1-68.6 et seq.) and that it has not conferred on any public employee having official responsibility for this purchase any payment, loan, subscription, advance, deposit of money, services, or anything of more than nominal value, present or promised unless consideration of substantially equal or greater value was exchanged. In compliance with this RFP and all the conditions imposed therein, the undersigned offers and agrees to furnish the Work in accordance with the attached Proposal or as mutually agreed upon by subsequent negotiations. By my signature below, I certify that I am authorized to bind the Offeror in any and all negotiations and/or contractual matters relating to this RFP. Sign in blue ink and type or print requested information. My signature certifies that the Offeror has no business or personal relationships with any other companies or persons that could be considered as a conflict of interest or potential conflict of interest to APS, and that there are no principals, officers, agents, employees, or representatives of this firm that have any business or personal relationships with any other companies or person that could be considered as a conflict of interest or a potential conflict of interest to APS, pertaining to any and all Work to be performed as a result of this RFP and any resulting Contract with APS. 5 Request for Proposal Request for Proposal - Title Page Five This Proposal is Submitted By: Full Legal Name of Offeror: (to be used for Award): _________________________________________________ Mailing Address: Remittance Address (If Different): ________________________________________ ________________________________________ ________________________________________ Phone: ( ) Fax: ( ) Email Address: Contact Person: ___________________________ Tax Identification (FIN/SSN#): Title:____________________________________ Typed/Printed Name: Signature: _______________________________ (Person signing must be authorized to bind Date: the Offeror in contractual matters) A W-9 Form should be attached showing correct Full Legal name for award of Contract. Include Pages 1 - 5 of this RFP as the first 5 Pages of the Proposal Response Under Tab 1 6 Table of Contents Table of Contents Request for Proposal Title Pages ............................................................................................................................. 1-5 Table of Contents ........................................................................................................................................................ 6 I. Special Provisions .......................................................................................................................................... 8 A. General Information ................................................................................................................................ 8 B. Background ............................................................................................................................................. 9 C. Scope of Work....................................................................................................................................... 11 II. Instructions to Offerors ................................................................................................................................ 24 A. Information Requests ............................................................................................................................ 24 B. Tentative Schedule for RFP #41FY23 ................................................................................................. 24 C. Additional Information.......................................................................................................................... 24 III. Proposal Requirements ................................................................................................................................ 29 A. General Requirements................................................................................................29 B. Unnecessarily Elaborate Responses ...................................................................................................... 29 C. Use of Information and Documents ...................................................................................................... 30 D. Submission of Trade Secrets or Proprietary Information ..................................................................... 30 E. Format and Content................ .......................................................................................................... 30 IV. Proposal Evaluation Process, Method of Contract Award and Proposal Evaluation Criteria ..................... 36 A. Proposal Evaluation Process and Method of Contract Award .............................................................. 36 B. Proposal Evaluation Criteria ................................................................................................................. 37 V. Appendix A. Contractor Certification Regarding Criminal Conviction................................................39 VI. Appendix B. Conflict of Interest Statement ................................................................................................ 40 VII. Appendix C. Non-Disclosure and Data Security Agreement ...................................................................... 41 VIII. Appendix D. Insurance Checklist ................................................................................................................ 43 IX. Appendix E. Sample Form Agreement ..................................................................................................... 45 X. Appendix F. Contract Terms and Conditions ............................................................................................. 48 XI. Appendix G. Sample Purchase Order ......................................................................................................... 68 7 Table of Contents XII. Appendix H. Screenshots of Steps Required to Submit a Proposal ........................................................... 79 XIII. Appendix I. Pricing Schedule, Milestones, Deliverables, Staffing ............................................................ 74 XIV. Appendix J-1 APS Finance and Management Services Requiremnts for Cloud Ver1.0............................. 75 XV. Appendix J-2 APS Human Resources Requirements for Cloud Ver1.0...................................................76 XVI. Appendix K. Offeror Information................................................................................................................ 77 XVII. Appendix L. Schedule B-1 APS-Finance and Management -Reports - Integrations -Customizations....... 77 XVIII. Appendix L. Schedule B-2 APS- Human Resources -Reports - Integrations – Customizations.............79 XIX. Appendix M- Sample Job Authorization Form ..................................................................80 8 Special Provisions I. Special Provisions A. General Information: Arlington Public Schools (APS) is soliciting Proposals to acquire the services of a qualified Systems Integrator) (SI) to assist in its business transformation, including the migration from its current portfolio of ERP solutions, largely based on Oracle EBS R12.1.3, to its new portfolio of ERP solutions, based on Oracle ERP Cloud. This includes the delivery of Implementation Services (i.e., Planning, Designing, Configuring, Building, Testing, Deploying, Initially Supporting, the new solution as well as providing Organizational Change Management, Training, Governance, and Project Management services). The end result of the project will be a production instance of Oracle ERP Cloud that can perform the APS’ financial and human resource transactions. The selected Contractor will work with the Information Services (IS), Finance and Management Services (FMS) and Human Resources (HR) Departments, as well as other APS Oracle EBS subject matter experts (SMEs). Through this RFP, APS intends to identify a Contractor that will most fully meet the needs of APS as outlined in this RFP. The Contract must comply with all APS policies, codes and regulations, including those outlined within this RFP. APS has already negotiated a Contract with Oracle to acquire the necessary licensing of the Oracle Cloud ERP. Project Scope and Guiding Principles Arlington Public Schools (APS) invites Offerors to submit a written Proposal to provide implementation and integration services for Oracle ERP Cloud solutions. APS seeks an experienced System Integrator (SI or Contractor) that has implemented a similar scope of Oracle ERP Cloud solutions which are operational in other school districts or State or Local Governments or Agencies thereof. Offerors are to propose a firm fixed price solution based upon APS’s requirements and state all the assumptions made in the process. The following two functional areas form the basis of the overall ERP scope: Finance - Budgeting, Procurement, and Accounting and Human Resources – Talent acquisition, Payroll and Benefits It is APS’s intent to utilize the delivered ERP functionalities with maximum process standardization and minimal customization. As part of the overall Change Management, Offerors are expected to conduct business process reengineering and enable end users across the Finance and Management Services and Human Resources Departments to support Financial and Human Resources functions in order to drive solution adoption. Minimum Qualifications The Offeror must have implemented or currently be implementing Oracle ERP Cloud including Oracle Finance and Human Resources Management solutions at K-12 school districts in the United States. The Offeror or one of its Sub-Contractor (s) must have delivered a minimum of one (1) Oracle Payroll solution on any version of the Oracle ERP at K-12 school districts in the United States. In the event that all services and products are not provided by the Offeror, the Offeror may partner with a Sub- Contractor(s) to submit a single Proposal that meets the minimum qualifications of this RFP. Responses must indicate which minimum requirements the Offeror and its Sub-Contractor(s) meet in order to meet the minimum qualifications in total. Offerors who do not meet the minimum qualifications stated above will not have their Proposals considered for Contract award. 9 Special Provisions B Background: 1. Application Arlington Public Schools (APS) is currently using the Oracle e-Business Suite (EBS) to support its Finance and Management Services and Human Resources related system needs. The application has been live with Oracle since April 2006 and is commonly referred to as STARS. APS is currently using version 12.1.3 of the software and version 19C of the database. All of the APS Oracle EBS modules are hosted and maintained by Oracle Managed Cloud Services. 2. Modules Implemented APS has currently implemented the following Oracle ERP modules: • General Ledger • Accounts Payable • Budgeting** • Procurement • Receivables* • iProcurement • iExpense • Human Resources • Payroll • Advanced Benefits • Time and Labor • Self Service Human Resources • Self Service Benefits *Oracle Receivables is used sparingly only to enter manual Cash Receipts that are then interfaced to the Oracle General Ledger. **Oracle Budgeting is not used fully. Instead Questica Budgeting (www.questica.com) is used for budgeting at APS. APS Staff use Self Service Benefits to participate in the Benefits Open Enrollment Process. 3. Current State STARS was implemented in 2006 and since then has undergone one technical upgrade (from 11i to 12.1.3). The application is currently hosted by Oracle Cloud Managed Services and supported by an APS team of six technical and functional application specialists that reside in Finance and Management Services, Human Resource and Information Services departments; this team includes APS employees as well as contractors. STARS serves as the system of records for APS and is used primarily by Finance and Management Services and Human Resource Departments for the core functional processes and is the source for generating necessary State and Federal reporting. APS follows a centralized model for most processes including purchasing, payments to vendors and budgeting. The current system is 16 years old, and the system is set up and configured to meet the requirements defined at that time. APS seeks a system with a modern interface that leverages the technological advancements made in the past several years as well as one that supports current modern business practices and streamlines process flows. The current payroll programming is based on the capabilities of the versions of Oracle Payroll and Benefits in existence at that time. APS expects a simpler and better streamlined ‘out of the box’ process flow and function with the current Oracle Human Resources Management Cloud version. APS also wants to empower all employees and expand on the current available self-service employee options. 10 Special Provisions 3.1. Finance and Management: 3.1.1 Budgeting: The Questica Budgeting system is used for APS Budgeting needs. Staff Pay and Benefits accounts for 70%+ of the annual operating budget. Current Human Resources staff and Benefits Information is interfaced from the Oracle Human Resources based STARS system. This information along with other allocations is used to engage in What If scenarios and support the budgeting process and result in a Final budget. 3.1.2 Procurement: Requisitions are created and go through an approval workflow. Purchase Orders (PO) are autocreated for amounts under $750. Procurement creates other POs. POs are emailed automatically to vendor contacts email addresses. Vendor invoices are entered in STARS by Payables staff and payments are sent over to our bank and checks issued by the bank. 3.1.3 iProcurement: School, custodial and departmental staff use punchouts to Kurtz Brothers , School Specialty and Grainger to order supplies. Staff also use iProcurement for submitting other non-catalog requisitions. The requisitions created end up going through the procurement process defined above. 3.1.4 iExpense: Staff enter their expense claims and upload images of their receipts. The expense reports go through an approval workflow and are electronically deposited to staff bank accounts. Staff with Official Purchasing Cards issued to them reconcile their charges using iExpense and the expenses go through an approval workflow. The charges are loaded into STARS using a data interface from the bank. 3.1.5 Accounting and General Ledger: All sub-ledgers, including Payroll transfer over to the General Ledger and is the primary source of reporting 3.2. Human Resources 3.2.1. Time and attendance: Leave is entered into STARS by designated Time Keepers for every school and office location, Time is entered by Time Keepers for Hourly employees for payroll purposes. For employees with multiple assignments, this is sometimes a challenge as two different timekeepers may enter in time for the same hourly employee. This results in disagreements in case the employee’s time entered results in overtime. 3.2.2. Payroll process: Time entries are transferred over to Oracle payroll to be paid out. Since the payroll has to account for complex scenarios and rules such as employees with multiple assignments, 10, 11 and 12 month positions, benefits to be paid over the summer for 10 month positions, the current payroll process is cumbersome. 3.2.3. Benefits: Employee benefits are maintained in Oracle Advanced Benefits. 3.2.4. Talent acquisition: The Winocular application is used to recruit and post jobs It is outdated and inefficient due to the lack of functionality and an aged User interface. 3.2.5. Employee Evaluations: Employee evaluations are entered in Oracle Performance Management. 3.2.6. Employee Self Service: Employees can view their pay slips, W-2's, update their address, enroll and change their benefits during Open Enrollment season and designate their payroll deposit bank accounts. 11 Special Provisions 3.3 Application Architecture and Inventory Multiple applications interface with STARS_ to allow for complete financial, procurement and Human Resources processes. Please see Figure 1 below for details: Figure 1: Current State Architecture Please refer to Appendix L - Schedule B-1 and Schedule B-2 Reports Integrations and Customizations for a list of interfaces and reports that are currently in use. C. Scope of Work: 1. Deliverables The deliverables of this project, at a minimum, are as follows: • An assessment of system configuration and process changes required to support transaction processing in Oracle Cloud. The assessment will include listing of report and setup changes that need to occur during the implementation and recommendations of specific functionality to be turned on or implemented in the future. • A detailed implementation plan with milestones based upon results from initial assessment and Contractor recommendations. 12 Special Provisions • Step by step implementation roadmap listing each step that needs to be taken during the actual implementation. • Weekly status reports that include progress of the project, upcoming tasks, issues, and issue resolution. • Updated configuration documents for all modules. • Test scripts required . • Documented Testing results for all testing cycles and sign offs. • Updated training and user support documentation. • Post production support matrix that documents the knowledge transfer to APS team members. • Oracle Cloud environment that seamlessly supports APS business process transactions. All Deliverables must be accepted, as defined herein, by the APS Project Officer. Deliverables will be timely submitted in accordance with the (to be negotiated prior to Contract award) Deliverable/Milestone Schedule. Within five (5) calendar days of receipt, the APS Project Officer or designee shall review the deliverable and notify the Contractor of either the acceptance of the Deliverable or any changes, corrections, errors or deficiencies that must be addressed. The Contractor will have seven (7) calendar days thereafter to make the changes or to correct any errors, deficiencies or problems with the Deliverable to allow the APS Project Officer to accept the Deliverable. Payment of a Deliverable will not be made until the Deliverable has been accepted by the APS Project Officer. Payment of any future Deliverable(s) will not be made until all the previous Deliverable(s) have been accepted by the APS Project Officer. APS reserves the right to shorten the time the Contractor has to make any changes, corrections, errors or deficiencies to a rejected Deliverable if the project completion date will be impacted. Prior to imposing a shorter time period, APS and the Contractor shall agree upon a mutually acceptable date for resolution. Upon Acceptance, the Deliverable shall be eligible for payment in accordance with the Contract Documents. 2. Future State APS has decided to migrate to the Oracle ERP Cloud to meet its functional requirements with as much out- of-the-box capabilities as can be delivered. Figure below depicts the anticipated application solution scope. Figure 2: Proposed Future State Architecture 13 Special Provisions APS intends to replace the following applications with capabilities within Oracle ERP Cloud: • Winocular Recruiting and Talent Acquisition System (www.winocular.com) • Questica Budgeting Solution (www.questica.com) 3. Functional Requirements APS is seeking a solution that is configured to handle all of its mandatory requirements through standard out-of-the-box configurable processes. However, any anticipated customizations required should be highlighted along with justifications and priced within your response to provide full transparency. For the scope of this project, it is expected that the proposed solution will implement leading ERP functional capabilities. Detailed functional requirements for each in-scope process area are provided within Appendix J Schedule J-1(Finance and Management Services) and J-2(Human Resources) . Each process area has its own worksheet in the respective workbook. The Offerors need to respond to each requirement as directed in above mentioned appendixes. Please articulate in Tab 4 Proposal Document: Please describe how you will meet the needs defined below in the new Oracle ERP Cloud. APS has conducted a number of workshops internally with participation from representatives of various offices within the Finance and Management Services and Human Resources departments to gather the business and technical requirements, solution nuances and implementation preferences. Provided below are some of the key solution considerations that the Offerors must factor in their proposal as they prepare their implementation approach and efforts estimation. 3.1. Finance and Management: Please articulate in Tab 4 Proposal Document: Please describe how you will meet the needs defined below in the new Oracle ERP Cloud. 3.1.1 Chart of Accounts: APS current Chart of Accounts is currently defined using a six-segment string comprising the following - Fund, Cost Center, Location, Object, Function (Future Use) and Budget Fiscal Year (Encumbrance Period). APS needs to provide yearly reports to the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) which is being generated through a custom program. It is time consuming and labor-intensive exercise as it requires segment values mapping to adhere to format provided by VDOE. VDOE has its own chart of accounts and part of the effort in reporting at the end of the year is the exercise to map our own accounts to VDOE’s. 3.1.2 Oracle Grants and Projects: APS is not using Oracle Grants and Projects in the current environment. Grants and Project related details are being tracked using the accounting strings within the General Ledger. APS would like to consider implementation of Oracle Grants and Projects modules as part of the upgrade project either as part of the initial go live or in phased manner. 3.1.3 APS would like to also consider the following: 3.1.3.1. Review and redesign Chart of Accounts, if required, to streamline the State and Internal Reporting, 3.1.3.2 Explore the implementation of Oracle Grants and Projects and its impact on Chart of Accounts 14 Special Provisions 3.1.4 Budgeting Process 3.1.4.1 APS uses “Questica” application for budgeting. It is mainly used to record the budget details whereas most of the budgeting process is managed using Excel Spreadsheets which is labor intensive, time consuming and prone to errors. 3.1.4.2 APS plans to replace “Questica” with Oracle Cloud Planning and Budgeting application to streamline and automate the budgeting process. 3.1.4.3. The Offerors should provide their approach for helping the APS make this transition to have minimum impact on the current operations and facilitate users’ adaptability for above desired changes. 3.1.5. Financial Reporting: APS need to furnish financial reports on periodic basis to various departments, schools, State and other external agencies on periodic basis, Offerors should provide clarity on financial reporting including dashboard capabilities of Oracle Cloud ERP and details of the optimum method of delivering them that are business-user friendly as against building hardcoded and customized reports requiring technical skills. 3.1.6 Strategic Sourcing, Procurement and Payables: 3.1.6.1 Vendor Management (iSupplier): APS wishes to enable self-service for the suppliers to improve their visibility to the transaction progress status such as invoice and payment processing, Vendor Onboarding, Vendor Information Maintenance thereby cutting down substantially on follow-ups that the APS employees must handle while responding to supplier queries. A supplier self-service portal would also automate/streamline documents submission for the suppliers thereby making correlation with the transaction and document retrieval easier in the future. 3.1.6.2. Invoice Processing: APS would like to implement Oracle Intelligent Document Recognition (IDR) for Payables Invoices to eliminate manual data entry of payables invoices as much as possible. 3.1.6.3. Expense Reporting: APS would like to implement Oracle Fusion Mobile Expenses to enable employees to quickly capture their expenses and mileage as they are incurred with minimal data entry. The Offerors should articulate their solution/point of view not only on how their proposed solution would be intuitive to the end users but also how they can enable the supplier community to adapt to the change so that there are minimal administrative efforts from APS to onboard the suppliers. 3.2. Human Resources: Please articulate in Tab 4 Proposal Document: Please describe how you will meet the needs defined below in the new Oracle ERP Cloud. Please provide details on any time clocking solutions that you recommend and include the pricing in Appendix I. 3.2.1. Leave entry: All APS employees are required to submit leave slips. This is currently done outside the system and on paper. Then timekeepers enter in the leave on the time card in STARS. APS would like to have staff enter in their leave request and have leave approved inside the new 15 Special Provisions Oracle HCM Cloud system. APS is looking to design a process that would work with the payroll time submitted and process timelines. 3.2.2. Time entry: All salaried APS employees have timesheets pre-populated for payroll processing to occur. Time for hourly employees is entered in by the responsible timekeepers attached to that department or school. While timekeeping is the primary responsibility of the individual Departments, payroll is processed centrally by the Human Resources Department. APS is looking at discontinuing the entry by timekeepers and shift the entry of time to hourly employees themselves. APS would like to evaluate the time recording capabilities directly within the ERP solution and as to how individuals with a less than desirable technology skillset will be able to record their timesheet and be included in the payroll. Hourly employees are paid in arrears which means they are paid in the next pay cycle. APS is also seeking proposals for a Time clocking solution as part of this RFP. About 5 sites and 500 users would use time clocking and the information would have to automatically interface into the Oracle Cloud. 3.2.3 Recruitment: APS currently uses the Winocular application for talent acquisition and would like to move to the Fusion Recruitment Cloud Services solution as a replacement for Winocular. APS would also like to implement the onboarding capabilities existing in the solution. 3.2.4 Improved Payroll Process: APS currently uses Oracle Payroll to pay its employees. Time entries are transferred over to Oracle payroll to be paid out. Since the payroll has to account for complex scenarios and rules such as employees with multiple assignments, 10, 11 and 12 month positions, benefits to be paid over the summer for 10 month positions, the current payroll process is cumbersome. Payroll is extremely cumbersome for employees that have two assignments with each assignment having a different compensation. The current solution has been to transfer time entries time to each assignment and then roll up the payroll elements to the primary assignment for paying out. APS would like to know how this can be accommodated within the cloud solution. Overtime Calculations and benefits are two other areas that are affected by the multiple assignments case scenario. 4. Technical Requirements 4.1. The system architecture must be designed to allow for optimal scalability, flexibility and interoperability. We see this as a factor in delivering a sustainable ERP that offers a total cost of ownership (TCO) in- line with industry standards/averages. See Appendix J - Schedule J-1 APS Finance and Management Services Requirements for Cloud Ver 1.0 and Appendix J - Schedule J-2 APS Human Resources Requirements for Cloud Ver 1.0 for detailed requirements. The sections below highlight several critical technical requirements. 4.1.1. Reporting — The solution shall provide native analytical reporting using static two-dimensional reports as well as real-time dashboards and business user ad hoc querying and reporting. The ERP Cloud will also provide the ability to generate ad hoc reports. 4.1.2. Security — The ERP must offer comprehensive security controls which adhere to Software-as- a-Service security guidelines for government entities. 4.1.3. Mobility — The Offeror must account for deployment of mobile applications that allows field users to access the ERP and perform their activities using cell phones and tablets. 4.1.4. Interfaces — The Offeror shall implement the interfaces as real-time web services or batch jobs depending on the detailed requirements. The ERP shall include the ability for administrators to schedule and manage batch jobs using a graphical administrator console. Additionally, the ERP shall provide a common framework leveraged by all interfaces where possible to simplify maintenance. 16 Special Provisions 4.2. Integrations 4.2.1. Offerors are expected to integrate the ERP with a number of APS’s applications and third-party entities / systems. Offerors should incorporate any temporary interfaces that need to be built as a result of proposed phasing of the ERP implementation roll-out. For a list of applications and related details, please refer to Appendix L Schedule B-1 and B-2 Reports, Integrations and Customizations. 4.2.2. Offerors should use this information as the basis for any services and/or tools you may propose to assist in integration development. Any services or tools should be clearly stated and priced in your pricing responses. 4.2.3. While APS has stated a preferred phasing and sequence of rolling out the ERP functionalities, Offerors are expected to propose an approach so that the resulting implementation is manageable, the end state solution is seamless, and the system architecture is designed to allow for optimal scalability, flexibility, interoperability, and low ongoing TCO. 4.2.4. The applications are currently integrated using point to point connections and information is exchanged using batch file transfers. While APS is satisfied continuing to operate in this mode, in the future they are open to exploring options that deliver tangible business benefits. Offerors are encouraged to propose suitable alternatives based on experience implementing Oracle ERP Cloud. 4.3. Data Conversion Arlington Public Schools intends to migrate and convert about three years of financial data including all open transaction items and master datasets such as Suppliers and Employees into the new ERP. APS is also seeking as part of this proposal an option and potential cost to convert all data since 2006 in the specified data sets. APS intends to separately keep (outside scope of this RFP) a copy of the current Oracle database (since going live in 2006) available for core business users of Human Resources and Finance and Management Services and queryable in some format. APS expects that this will keep the need for converting data to open items and master data sets only. The exception would be employee master record information such as assignments and salary schedules that would need to be converted fully. In addition, APS intends to continue to provide access to payslips as available since 2006 via Employee Self-Service for all employees. The payslips presented through Oracle Employee self Service are based on payroll archive tables and APS hopes that APS staff will continue to have access to their historical payslips in the Oracle Human Resources Cloud. Please articulate in Tab 4 Proposal Document: Please describe your Data Conversion strategy and any tools to assist with data conversion. Please provide the additional option and associated pricing to convert all data since 2006 in the specified data sets. Include the pricing in Appendix I. For a list of dataset to be converted into the new Cloud ERP, please refer to Appendix J - Schedule J-1 and J-2 APS Finance and HCM Requirements for Cloud For a list of applications and related details, please refer to Appendix J - Schedule J-1 and J-2 for APS Finance and HCM Requirements for Cloud 17 Special Provisions 4.3.1. The table below provides an overview of key volumetrics. The Offeror is advised to use this information to estimate the level of efforts required for data migration. Table 1: Key Volumetrics Function Volumes Chart of Accounts Approximately 50,000+ codes consisting of six segments: Fund, Cost Center, Location, Object Code, Function, and Budget Fiscal Year For FY 22: approximately 30,000+ journal entries (JE) Accounts Payable Approximately 20,000 invoices per year Approximately 6,000 checks and 3,000 electronic payments per year Approximately 1,000 P-card transactions per month by 420 card holders Grants Approximately 80 active grants with total worth of $45 million Capital Projects Approximately 15 projects per year with total worth of $150 million Budget For FY2023,APS approved budget is $746.1 million Payroll – Staff paid by APS Below is a list of staff that are currently paid by APS and the types of staff that are paid: Salaried Employees – 4725 Hourly Employees – 2130 In 2021: ~7262 W2’s and ~5761 1095’s Payroll – Frequency Semi-Monthly pay cycle (approx. 24 semi-monthly pays) with occasional special pays (for retirement incentives, health buybacks) Procurement Approximately 2,000 active vendors over the past 36 months and 40 currently active BPAs and CPAs For FY21: Approximately 10,000 Purchase Orders and Requisitions 4.3.2 APS expects the Contractor to perform data extraction from the current APS Oracle E-Business database in consultation with APS project staff. APS staff will engage in data cleansing activities, where needed and Contractors are expected to provide guidance on these activities, templates to perform data conversion / migration activities and assistance with addressing any errors or data quality issues encountered during the conversion/migration process. 4.3.3. Offerors should use this information as the basis for any services and tools proposed to assist in data conversion and migration. Any services or tools should be clearly stated and priced in your response. Offerors are expected to describe its approach to data conversion and provide a data conversion plan, including examples of core data conversion templates and clear articulation of 18 Special Provisions processes, methods, tools and techniques used to ensure the highest quality and efficient data conversion. 5. Implementation Services and Support 5.1. The following table depicts the breakdown and estimated user base by functional roles. Table 2. Aggregate User Count by Function Function Users Human Resources 195 Finance and Management ~350 Strategic Sourcing & Procurement ~350 Employee Self-service ~7000** Manager Self-service ~900 Timekeeping ~3300 Admin and Developers 8 ** 7000 users include 5000 salaried and hourly employees and 2000 users that are substitutes in schools and may not be part of every payroll. Substitutes have limited access to the ERP and have limited visibility such as their pay slips and W-2's. 5.2 As part of the ERP implementation and deployment, the Contractor will provide the services as referenced below: 5.2.1. Planning and Design : Describes activities and responsibilities guidance for planning and design services. Planning services include initial planning for scope, resources, schedule, overall approach, tools/environment, budget, integration, data cleanse/conversion, Organizational Change Management (OCM), training and deployment/rollout. Design services will include up-front design activities as well as subsequent design required for retrofit, gap/fit and requirements analysis, core design, test planning and design, and value realization design. Please articulate in Tab 4 Proposal Document : Approach to planning and designing the solution and implementation, include the following: ● The requirements assessment process, how they will be captured and the final work product that feeds into the solution design ● Organization of team and methodology to build and test the solution based on resource constraints and APS’ operational priorities; ● Validation and verification steps to ensure solution functionalities adequately address APS’ requirements and replaces the core functionality within STARS prior to the GoLive 19 Special Provisions 5.2.2 Configure-Build-Test : Describes activities and responsibilities guidance for the applicable activities required to precede rollout. Configuration services include leveraging built-in best practices and Public Sector-specific configuration that allow for process standardization and flexibility while limiting customization and continued evolution of the process/role changes that are required to optimize the usage of the configured solution. Build Services include developing custom code (as required), integrations, unit testing, and specification/documentation maintenance. Testing services include development of test scripts, integration testing, mock migration testing, performance testing, security testing, and user acceptance testing (UAT). Additionally, testing services should also include defining the standard operating procedures and tools for incorporating the periodic releases for Oracle ERP Cloud. Performing multiple Conference Room Pilots (CRP) with Finance and Management Services and Human Resource, Payroll and Benefits staff to confirm the end-to-end process flows and data validation will be important to validate intricate Payroll and Benefits calculations and scenarios Please articulate in Tab 4 Proposal Document: Description of the Contractor’s testing with the following details: ● How the Offerors will include APS resources in UAT and how UAT results will be used to make systems corrections/modifications/ updates ● Tools/technologies that will be used for testing and how the Contractor will work with APS to validate test results ● Indicate timing and duration of ERP testing cycles ● Recommended tools and best practices for how APS should work with Oracle as a SaaS provider to test modifications to the system before they are released into APS’ operational environment. 5.2.3. Deployment-Initial Support: Describes activities and responsibilities guidance for applicable activities required to complete rollout. Deployment Services include data cutover, conducting pre GoLive checks, coordinating with the support organization from pre-cutover through cutover. Initial support services include immediate post-cutover support through a defined warranty period as well as support transition to the intended APS support team (including any third parties working on behalf of APS, if applicable). Please articulate in Tab 4 Proposal Document: Transition approach to the new ERP; include the following: ● Describe in detail how the Contractor will organize its team and leverage its methodology both to deliver an enterprise wide solution while achieving deployment synergies resulting in a cost-effective, high quality, and accelerated deployment. ● Describe how the Contractor will organize the deployment phases to seamlessly transition to the required support structures and processes with minimal business disruption. ● Describe how the Contractor will continue to implement subsequent phases while simultaneously providing the necessary site and support for phases that are already in/have gone into production. 5.2.4. Organizational Change Management & Training Services : Describes activity and responsibility guidance for applicable activities required to plan for and execute process and organization changes, drive stakeholder engagement and communications, and develop/deliver training. The main objective of these services is to help drive solution adoption. Describes the OCM and training support that the Offeror will provide to APS to assist with adoption of Oracle ERP Cloud and the results of the overall business transformation. This includes strategic communications to build awareness and support for the business transformation and training users on how to use the new Oracle ERP Cloud system. 20 Special Provisions Please articulate in Tab 5 Proposal Document: The OCM and training approaches you will use to assist with user adoption. The description should provide specifics on how the Contractor will provide stakeholders and users understanding and ability to support the adoption of the new ERP, through a combination of training approaches (i.e., train the trainer, Contractor lead training, and e-learning). Specific descriptions are to include: ● Stakeholder identification and mapping perception/level of support ● Change management strategy ● Change impact assessment ● Business impact assessment ● User role mapping ● Strategic communication and outreach activities ● E-learning formats and contents that will be used ● APS’ ability to keep the content updated 5.2.5. Governance and Relationship Management : Describes activities and responsibilities guidance for the full life-cycle project management, governance and relationship management activities through all project phases in order to ensure project delivery as per agreed terms and conditions. 6. Expected Benefits APS has identified the key benefits that it intends to realize with the new ERP below. The Offerors should provide examples of quantitative benefits achieved at other similar clients and should be prepared to discuss these during on-site due diligence activities as part of our evaluation process. 6.1. Tangible Benefits Benefits that can be quantified and measured: ● Reduction in the transaction processing times and increased visibility into the processes themselves which will help identify areas for improvement ● Less effort invested in accessing and curating data to develop insights rather more time spent on identifying deviations and planning course corrections ● Reduced costs for system support, training and other operational aspects including deployment of future functionalities 6.2. Intangible Benefits Benefits that are more qualitative and indirectly impact the tangible benefits: ● System-driven automation, workflow approvals, electronic timekeeping and a redesigned user experience, which will serve to increase efficiency, accelerate training and onboarding and release staff time for higher-value-added activities ● Maintain up-to-date software version and avoid risks of falling behind industry standards and potentially losing both existing functionality and access to new functionality ● Improved data security, internal controls and ease of use, including easy access to data and reporting analytics 7. Project Team Organization 7.1. The project to upgrade current STARS (Oracle EBS 12.1.3) to Oracle ERP Cloud applications was presented by the Superintendent and the Sponsors Committee to the Arlington School Board. 21 Special Provisions 7.2. The project is governed by a Sponsors Committee comprised of the Chief Operating Officer, Asst. Superintendent Finance and Management Services, Asst. Superintendent Human Resources, and the Asst. Superintendent Information Services. All Proposals must include the services of a full time Project Manager that will manage and co-ordinate the project as well provide weekly project update along with the APS Project Manager. 7.3. The governance structure will also include a Project Operating Committee compose of the key leaders from Finance and Management Services, Human Resources, and Information Services with the mission of supporting the vision of the sponsors, ensuring appropriate participation of their respective department and informing major decision regarding the project. 7.4. The project will also include SMEs from Finance and Management Services and Human Resources that will be involved part time. SMEs contribution will be around department or specific functional requirements. The SMEs will be key to change management and communication of new processes, testing and training. 7.5. The APS Information Services team will provide knowledge of the current APS data interfaces, they will work with the Contractor on the integrations/ interfaces with other APS systems (and external providers). 7.6. Key APS roles and responsibilities Sponsors • Provide overall project guidance, aligning with the strategic direction of APS’s overall transformation initiative • Set overall goals, milestones, and performance criteria • Establish that the project direction is consistent with APS’s overall plans and transformation initiative • Resolve major business policy issues and internal conflicts that impact the project • Approve all scope changes that impact funding and/or timing • Approve system plans and budgets • Review the project’s progress • Resolve escalated project issue 7.7. APS Project Manager (PM) • Participate in the Sponsor Committee meetings to provide project status updates and present alternatives and recommendations for issue resolution • Work closely with the project team and monitor the project’s progress • Work closely with APS offices to make sure APS staff resources and SMEs are available and participating. • Escalate any items that need attention. 7.8. Business Leads • Provide business-specific expertise and have the authority to make decisions regarding the implementation of the software within the business area unless there is an impact to general scope; dollars; or timeline • Understand the business requirements and process in the business area and the impact of the strategic vision and stakeholder objectives on the development of the future state of the implementation components • Manage project activities within the functional track and monitor progress • Provide regular status updates to the Project Management Office(PMO)on progress against schedule and budget under the specific track 22 Special Provisions • Lead functional specifications, testing, training and data migration/conversion validation for modules within their respective track 8. Draft Project Implementation Timeline and Phases 8.1. The APS anticipates awarding the project to the selected Offeror by the end of December 2022, with an anticipated project start date in January 2023. APS believes this large business transformation initiative would benefit from an iterative, phased deployment and strongly prefers completion of all in-scope implementation phases by June 2024 to coincide with the end of the school and financial school year. APS’s desire is to deploy the first phase of functionality by June 2024, which will consist of core functionality and other modules under Phase 1. Phase 2 should be on going, with incremental improvements and has no end date. This work will consist of improvements to Human Resources and Finance and Management Services processes that enables the in-scope services to be executed in a seamless, integration manner and provides APS staff with access to data that allows them to make informed decisions. 8.2. The APS deployment preference is as listed in Phases below. APS would live to Go-live with all core functions required to maintain business continuity at the same time as part of Phase 1. Phase 1 Core functions required to maintain Business Continuity ▪ General Ledger, Period End Closing ▪ Cash Management ▪ Account Receivables ▪ Projects Accounting & Management ▪ Grants Management ▪ Vendor Management, iSupplier ▪ Procurement (Requisition to Purchase Order) ▪ Contracts Management ▪ Accounts Payable, Automated Invoice Processing ▪ Expenses ▪ Planning and Budgeting ▪ P-cards (card administration and current functionality) ▪ Core Human Resources ▪ Payroll ▪ Benefits ▪ Evaluations and Performance Management ▪ Recruiting ▪ Onboarding ▪ Self-service Human Resources (employee and managers) ▪ Time Entry ▪ Absence Management ▪ Help Desk Phase 2 ▪ Propose and implement further improvements to above modules including processes, reporting, personalization and internal audit functionality 8.3. Offerors should consider APS’s preference as the basis for creating their Proposals. Offerors are also encouraged to suggest improvements as well as detail any alternative approaches for consideration. These approaches may include logically sequenced deployments across departments and/or functionalities as 23 Special Provisions appropriate that reduce project risk while also demonstrating successful releases of functionalities within the period of performance. 8.4. Offerors should propose a realistic timeline that allows adequate time for all project activities necessary for a successful and quality deployment. Explanation and justification of the proposed timeline and phasing must be addressed in the response. Please note timeline is a sample below, merely for guidance and is not prescriptive. Figure #: Sample Proposed development and implementation timeline 8.5. Critical milestones that must be taken into consideration with the timeline include blackout dates in which the ERP cannot be deployed. During the October to December timeframe, APS does open enrollment for benefits. The fiscal and budget APS year is defined as July 01st to June 30th. So the large majority of PO’s are closed by June 30th and invoices paid out. The APS hiring activity is at its peak between March to August for summer school and regular school year. Employee Onboarding is at its highest between June and August. The budgeting activities cycle begins in October and culminates in to a School Board approved budget in April. 9 Ad-Hoc Tasks During the Contract Term, APS reserves the right to make ad-hoc requests that are not included in the Scope of Work set forth in this RFP. In such instances, all requests will be made by APS Project Manager in writing using the JAF in Appendix M, and Offeror shall respond to such requests in writing with a time to fulfill APS’s request. Pricing of an ad-hoc request will be based upon the hourly rates in the Pricing Schedule at Attachment B to the Contract. 24 Instructions to Offerors II. Instructions to Offerors A. Information Requests All questions relating to this RFP shall be submitted in writing to Hamed Hameedi, Senior Procurement Specialist at hamed.hameedi@apsva.us and Girish Rajput, Director, Office of Enterprise Solutions at girish.rajput@apsva.us. For a question to be considered, the subject line of the email must state the following: “RFP #41FY23 Questions”. Questions should be succinct and must include the submitter’s name, title, company name, company address, and telephone number. Prior to the award of a Contract resulting from this solicitation, Offerors and prospective Offerors are prohibited from contacting APS staff other than Hamed Hameedi B. Tentative Schedule for RFP #34Y22 RFP Issuance September 09, 2022 Pre-Proposal Conference September 23, 2022 Question Deadline September 29, 2022, by 5:00 PM, EST Information Item/Addendum 1 Issuance Week of September 29, 2022 Proposal Due Date October 21, 2022, No Later Than 11:59 PM, EST Shortlist Interviews Week Commencing November 07, 2022 Negotiations Stage Week Commencing November 28, 2022 Contract Award Anticipated Award Date December, 2022 Questions may not be considered if they are received after September 29, 2022, by 5:00 PM, EST. Any questions related to the answers provided in Addendum #1 may be addressed in an additional addendum. If any questions or responses require revisions to this RFP as it was originally published, such revisions will be by formal amendment only. Offerors are cautioned that any written, electronic, or oral representations made by any APS representative or other person that appear to change materially any portion of the RFP shall not be relied upon unless subsequently ratified by a written amendment to this RFP issued by the Office of the Procurement Agent. C. Additional Information 1. Debarment Status The Offeror shall indicate, in the spaces provided on Title Pages 3 and 4, whether or not it, or any of its principals, is/are currently debarred from submitting bids or proposals to APS, or any other state or political subdivision, and whether or not it is an agent of any person or entity that is currently debarred from submitting proposals to APS, Virginia, or any other state or political subdivision. An affirmative response may be considered grounds for rejection of the proposal. This statement shall also apply to any subcontractor(s) the Offeror intends to use in the performance of a resulting contract. 2. Conflict of Interest Statement The Offeror must provide a statement regarding potential conflict of interest. The certification shall be in the form provided in this solicitation, signed by an authorized agent and principal of the Offeror and notarized. The completed Conflict of Interest Statement (Appendix B) shall be provided in Tab 1 of the Proposal. 3. Expenses Incurred in Preparing Proposal APS accepts no responsibility for any expense incurred by any Offeror in the preparation and presentation of a Proposal. All expenses related to an offer are the sole responsibility of the Offeror. 4. Incomplete Documents Each Offeror is responsible for having determined the accuracy and/or completeness of the RFP upon which it relied in making its Proposal, and has an affirmative obligation to notify the Procurement Agent immediately upon discovery of an apparent or suspected inaccuracy, error in, or omission of any pages, drawings, sections, or addenda whose omission from the documents was apparent from a reference or page numbering or other indication in the RFP. If a potential Offeror downloaded an electronic version of the RFP, that potential Offeror is responsible for mailto:rebecca.hoffman2@apsva.us mailto:girish.rajput@apsva.us 25 Instructions to Offerors determining the accuracy and/or completeness of the electronic documents. If the successful Offeror proceeds with any activity that may be affected by an inaccuracy, error in, or omission in the solicitation documents of which it is aware but has not notified the Procurement Agent, the Offeror hereby agrees to perform any work described in such missing or incomplete documents at the Offeror’s sole expense and at no additional cost to APS. Failure to acknowledge all Addenda issued during the solicitation process on the Request for Proposal Title Page 3, or by including a signed copy of all Addenda with the Proposal, is considered an incomplete Proposal document. 5. Offeror Investigations Before submitting a Proposal, each Offeror shall make all investigations and examinations necessary to ascertain all conditions and requirements affecting the full performance of the contract and to verify any representations made by APS that the Offeror will rely upon. No pleas of ignorance or mistake, inaccuracy, misrepresentation of such conditions and requirements resulting from failure to make such investigations and examinations will relieve the successful Offeror from its obligation to comply in every detail with all provisions and requirements of the contract documents, or will be accepted as a basis for any claim whatsoever for any monetary compensation on the part of the successful Offeror. 6. Competitive Negotiation for Non-Professional Services This RFP is let under the procedure for "Competitive Negotiation for Goods and Services Other Than Professional Services" as defined in the Procurement Resolution. Under this procedure, the content of the Proposals, and the identity of the Offerors are not public record until an award determination has been made. Because of this restriction, the opening of Proposals is not public. 7. Arlington County Business Licenses The successful Offeror must comply with the provisions of Chapter 11 (“Licenses”) of the Arlington County Code, if applicable. For information on the provisions of that Chapter and its applicability to this solicitation, prospective offers should contact the Arlington County Business License Division, Office of the Commissioner of the Revenue, 2100 Clarendon Blvd., Suite 200, Arlington, Virginia, 22201, telephone number (703) 228-3060. Website: www.arlingtonva.us/Government/Programs/Taxes/Business 8. Authority to Transact Business` Any Offeror organized as a stock or non-stock corporation, limited liability company, business trust, or limited partnership or registered as a registered limited liability partnership shall be authorized to transact business in the Commonwealth of Virginia as a domestic or foreign business entity if so required by Title 13.1 or Title 50 of the Code of Virginia, or as otherwise required by law. The proper and full legal name of the firm or entity and the identification number issued to the Offeror by the Virginia State Corporation Commission must be written in the space provided on the Proposal Form. Any Offeror that is not required to be authorized to transact business in the Commonwealth shall include in its Proposal a statement describing why the Offeror is not required to be so authorized. APS may require a firm to provide documentation prior to award which: 1) clearly identifies the complete name and legal form of the firm or entity (i.e. corporation, limited partnership, etc.), and 2) establishes that the firm or entity is authorized by the State Corporation Commission to transact business in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Failure of a prospective and/or successful Offeror to provide such documentation shall be grounds for rejection of the Proposal or cancellation of the award. For further information prospective Offerors should refer to the Commonwealth of Virginia State Corporation Commission website at: www.scc.virginia.gov. 9. Insurance Requirements Each Offeror must review the insurance requirements section carefully with its insurance agent or broker prior to submitting a Proposal to ensure they can provide the specific coverage requirements and limits applicable to this solicitation. If the Offeror is not able to meet the insurance requirements of the solicitation, alternate insurance coverage satisfactory to APS may be proposed by the Offeror and considered by the APS. Written requests for consideration of alternate coverage must be received by the Procurement Agent at least ten (10) calendar days prior to the date set for receipt of Proposals. If APS denies the request for alternate coverage, the coverage required by the Insurance Requirements or Checklist section must be provided. If APS permits alternate coverage, an amendment to the Insurance Checklist will be issued prior to the time and date set for receipt of Proposals. The Insurance Checklist can be found at Appendix D. 10. Interest in More Than One Proposal, and Collusion http://www.arlingtonva.us/Government/Programs/Taxes/Business http://www.scc.virginia.gov/ 26 Instructions to Offerors If more than one Proposal is received in response to this RFP from an individual, firm, partnership, corporation, affiliate, or association under the same or different names, all Proposals will be rejected. Reasonable grounds for believing that an Offeror is interested in more than one (1) Proposal for a RFP both as an Offeror and as a subcontractor for another Offeror, will result in rejection of all Proposals in which the Offeror is interested. However, a firm acting only as a subcontractor may be included as a subcontractor for two (2) or more Offerors submitting a Proposal for the Work. Any or all Proposals may be rejected if reasonable grounds exist for believing that collusion exists among any Offerors. Offerors rejected under the above provisions shall be disqualified if they respond to a new RFP for the same work. 11. Proposal Withdrawal No Proposal may be withdrawn after it is filed unless the Offeror makes a request in writing to the Procurement Agent prior to the time and date set for the receipt of Proposals or unless APS fails to award or issue a notice of intent to award a Contract within ninety (90) calendar days after the date and time set for receipt of Proposals with the successful Offeror. 12. Parking Where parking is not provided at an APS location, the Contractor is responsible for the payment of any parking charges or fines resulting from parking at any worksite(s). 13. Contract Award is in the Best Interest APS reserves the right to accept or reject Proposals, to cancel this solicitation, to waive any informalities or irregularities therein, (an informality is a minor defect or variation of a Bid or Proposal from the exact requirements of the ITB or RFP, which does not affect the prices, quantity or delivery schedule for the goods, services or construction being procured), and to contract as the best interests of APS may require in order to obtain the firms that best meet the needs of APS, as expressed in this RFP. Selection of a Proposal does not mean that all aspects of the Proposal are acceptable to APS. APS reserves the right to negotiate the modification of terms and conditions with the Offeror offering the best value to APS in conjunction with the evaluation criteria contained herein prior to the execution of a Contract, to ensure a satisfactory Contract. 14. Notice of Intent to Award APS will post a written Notice of Intent to Award on a public bulletin board in Syphax, 2110 Washington Blvd., Arlington, Virginia, 22204, stating the date the award will be made, and identifying the name(s) of the awardee(s). 15. Replacement or Augmentation of Key Personnel and Subcontractors The key personnel and sub-contractors submitted by the Offeror in its Proposal in order to qualify, are considered essential to the Offeror’s qualifications and may not be replaced, substituted or augmented after qualification of the Offeror’s Proposal without prior written approval of APS. A request to replace or substitute any key personnel or subcontractor must be submitted to and approved by APS prior to substitution or augmentation. 16. Contractor Certification Regarding Criminal Convictions All Contracts with APS, where the Contractor or its employees, or its Subcontractors or their employees, will have direct contact with students on school property during regular school hours, or during school-sponsored activities, shall require the Contractor to certify that neither it nor any of its employees nor any of its Subcontractors’ nor any of its Subcontractors’ employees, who will have direct contact with students, have been: (1) convicted of a felony or of a sexually violent offense as defined in Va. Code Ann. § 9.1-902 as mandated by Va. Code Ann. § 18.2-370.5, (2) convicted of an offense occurring on or after July 1, 2006, where the offender was more than three years older than the victim involving: (a) the rape of a child under age 13 pursuant to Va. Code Ann. § 18.2-61.A(iii), (b) forcible sodomy of a child less than 13 years of age pursuant to Va. Code Ann. § 18.2- 67.1.A.1, 27 Instructions to Offerors (c) object sexual penetration of a child under 13 years of age pursuant to Va. Code Ann. § 18.2-67.2.A.1, or (d) any similar offense under the laws of any foreign country or any political subdivision thereof, or the United States or any political subdivision thereof. This requirement is applicable without exception for a person convicted of a felony or of a sexually violent offense as defined in Va. Code Ann. § 9.1-902, but for all other offenses set forth above this requirement does not apply unless the qualifying offense was done in the commission of, or as a part of the same course of conduct of, or as part of a common scheme or plan as a violation of: (a) abduction or kidnapping in violation of Va. Code Ann. § 18.2-47.A, (b) abduction with intent to extort money of for immoral purpose in violation of Va. Code Ann. § 18.2-48, (c) burglary in violation of Va. Code Ann. § 18.2-89, (d) entering a dwelling house with intent to commit murder, rape, robbery or arson in violation of Va. Code Ann. § 18.2-90, (e) aggravated malicious wounding in violation of Va. Code Ann. § 18.2-51.2, or (f) any similar offense under the laws of any foreign country or any political subdivision thereof, or the United States or any political subdivision thereof. The Contractor certification covers its employees, its Subcontractors and the employees thereof. (Submit completed Appendix A). The Contractor certification shall also cover its employees, its Subcontractors and employees thereof, assigned to the Work after Contract award. The Contractor, upon demand from APS, shall provide all information which allowed for the Contractor’s certification 17. Cooperative Contract for Use by Other Public Bodies: This procurement is being conducted by APS not only for its benefit but for the benefit of any other public body eligible to participate in use of the services herein solicited by means of cooperative procurement as provided by, and to the extent permitted by, §2.2-4304 of the Virginia Public Procurement Act. 18. Contractor Prohibited in Assisting Person for New Job if Engaged in Misconduct With Minor As a condition of awarding a Contract, or Contract Renewal, the Contractor acknowledges it is prohibited from assisting the elected and appointed officials of APS, its officers, current and former employees, agents, departments, agencies, boards, and commissions employee, and contractors, including all levels of subcontractors, in obtaining a new job if the Contractor knows or has probable cause to believe that the elected and appointed officials of APS, its officers, current and former employees, agents, departments, agencies, boards, and commissions employee, and contractors, including all levels of subcontractors, engaged in sexual misconduct regarding a minor or student in violation of law. 19. Request for Comments: Following the award of any Contract or Contracts, or the cancellation of this RFP, all Offerors or potential Offerors are invited to provide to APS written comments regarding the manner in which this RFP was conducted and any suggested modifications to that process which might make future RFPs by APS more efficient, more productive, and more attractive to potential Offerors. 20. Number of Contracts to be Awarded: 28 Instructions to Offerors APS intends to award Contracts to a minimum of one (1) successful Offeror (Contractor) to perform the Work. 21. Vaccine Requirement Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, APS has taken various steps to protect the welfare, health, safety and comfort of its employees and students. As part of these steps, APS has implemented various requirements with respect to health and safety including policies with respect to social distancing the use of face-coverings, and vaccine requirements. To protect APS’ employees and students, all employees and subcontractors of the Contractor who are assigned to this Contract, must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Any Contractor employee or subcontractor who is not fully vaccinated, must follow a weekly testing protocol as established by the Contractor unless exempt pursuant to a valid reasonable accommodation under state of federal law. By submitting a Proposal, the Offeror certifies that it will comply with this provision and will ensure that its subcontractor, if any, do so as well. 29 Proposal Requirements III. Proposal Requirements A. General Requirements One (1) electronic copy of the Proposal with a completed Fee Schedule. The Offeror’s Proposal shall address the below areas, not exceeding the stated page limitations. The Proposal shall be limited to a page size of 8 1⁄2” x 11”, single space and type size shall not be less than ten (10) point font for each response item. Note: for page-counting purposes, a page equals a one-sided sheet. If a page limit is not noted within the section below there is no page limit. Offerors are responsible for having their Proposal received in the Platform prior to the Proposal Due Date. Failure to comply with this or other requirements of this RFP may be grounds for APS to reject such Proposals. Proposals must be submitted electronically through the Platform. The Platform can be accessed through the link found on the Current Solicitations webpage under the Procurement Office website. Found under the Due Date column for RFP 41FY23 of the Current Solicitations table is a link for Offerors to submit its Proposal. (“Link to submit Proposal – RFP 41FY23”). Nothing herein is intended to exclude any responsible Offeror or in any way restrain or restrict competition. All responsible Offerors are encouraged to submit Proposals. Proposals shall be submitted with the required information in the order listed below. Additional instructions are in the Instructions to Offerors (Section II) of this solicitation. Modification of or additions to any portion or terms of the RFP by the Offeror may be cause for rejection of the Proposal; however, APS reserves the right to decide, on a case by case basis, in its sole discretion, whether or not to reject such a Proposal as nonresponsive. Mandatory provisions of this RFP are indicated by the inclusion of the words "shall" or "must" to identify the Offeror’s obligations. Failure to comply with these requirements or with any other requirements stated as mandatory either in this RFP or in the Instructions to Offerors shall result in rejection of the Offeror’s Proposal as not responsive, except to the extent the failure or omission either is not a mandatory statutory requirement or does not affect price, quantity, quality or time. APS proposed Contract Documents and this RFP contain terms and conditions APS favors and intends to use for the resultant Contract. If the Offeror wishes APS to consider any changes to these documents, such changes must be submitted in writing in the Proposal, and such exceptions shall be considered during negotiation. Any Offeror receiving a Contract award shall be required to execute a Contract in substantial compliance with APS standard Agreement and will be required to furnish all other required Contract Documents including tax identification or social security number within fifteen (15) days after receipt of notification that the Contract is ready for signature; otherwise, APS may award the Contract to another Offeror. Proposals having any erasures or corrections must be initialed by the Offeror in blue ink. An Offeror may request in writing to withdraw its Proposal at any time. In the event an Offeror discovers an error in their Proposal and desires to make a correction after the Proposal Due Date, the Offeror shall submit in writing the requested correction, along with a written explanation and justification for the change, no later than one (1) business day following the Proposal Due Date. If APS is satisfied that the identified error was the result of a clerical or mathematical error, APS may permit the correction. APS shall issue its written decision to the requesting Offeror within three (3) business days of receipt of the correction request. If the request is approved, the Proposal shall be deemed modified by incorporation of the correction requested. If the requested correction is denied, the Proposal shall be considered as originally submitted. APS may request additional information or clarifications from an Offeror at any time after the review process has begun. B. Unnecessarily Elaborate Responses Unnecessarily elaborate brochures or other presentations beyond those sufficient to present a complete and 30 Proposal Requirements effective response to this RFP are not desired and may be construed as an indication of the Offeror's lack of cost consciousness. Elaborate or expensive artwork, paper, bindings, and visual and other presentations are neither necessary at this time nor desired by APS. C. Use of Information and Documents APS and its officials, employees and agents will copy and use the response of the Offeror and documents included with the response, for various purposes related to analysis, evaluation, and decision to award a contract. Proposals shall be the property of APS. Following award APS may be required to allow inspection and copying of documents and may also use the Offeror’s documents in connection with any resulting contracts with that Offeror. The Offeror is responsible for obtaining any necessary authorizations for all such use of the documents and information, and for assuring that such copying and use is in conformance with laws related to trademarks and copyrights. Any documents or information for which the Offeror has not obtained such authorization, or for which such copying and use is not authorized, shall not be submitted. The undersigned Offeror agrees to indemnify, defend and hold APS, its officials, employees and agents harmless from any claims of any nature, including claims arising from trademark or copyright laws, related to use of information and documents submitted with the Offeror’s response. D. Submission of Trade Secrets or Proprietary Information Trade secrets or proprietary information submitted by an Offeror in connection with this procurement transaction shall not be subject to public disclosure under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act; however, the Offeror must invoke these protections upon submission of the data or the materials, and must identify the data or other materials to be protected and state the reason why protection is necessary. [Virginia Code Section 2.2-4342(F)]. Offerors shall submit, under Tab 8 of the Proposal, any data or materials it considers to be a trade secret or proprietary information, or falls within the exceptions to the VFOIA and shall state the reason why protection is necessary. Offerors may not declare the entire Proposal proprietary nor may they declare proposed pricing to be proprietary. References may be made within the body of the Proposal to proprietary or trade secret information; however, all information contained within the body of the Proposal not in the separate section labeled proprietary shall be public information. It is the Offeror’s sole responsibility to defend such exemptions if challenged in a court of competent jurisdiction. E. Format and Content The Proposal should address the items included in the Scope of Work and in the Criteria for Proposal Evaluation. Failure to do so will result in a lowered evaluation. Incomplete Proposals may be determined nonresponsive. Offerors should organize their Proposals using the following tabular format: Tab 1: Administrative 1. A fully executed Request for Proposals Title Pages 1 - 5 of this RFP should be included as the first five pages of your Proposal. The name stated on the Title Sheet on, page 5 must be the full legal names of the Offeror and the address must be that of the office which will have the responsibility for the services provided. The following forms should be completed and also provided in this section: 2. The Contactor Certification Regarding Criminal Convictions found at Appendix A 3. The Conflict of Interest Statement found at Appendix B 4. The Non-Disclosure and Security Agreement found at Appendix C 5. The Insurance Checklist found at Appendix D 6. A completed W-9 Form showing correct full legal name for award of Contract. Tab 2: Mandatory Requirements, Firm Industry and Oracle ERP Cloud Experience and References The following requirements are mandatory. If they are not met, Proposals will not be reviewed or evaluated: • The Offeror must have implemented or currently be implementing Oracle ERP Cloud including Oracle Finance and Human Resources Management solutions at K-12 school districts in the United States. 31 Proposal Requirements • The Offeror or one of its Sub-Contractor (s) must have delivered a minimum of one (1) Oracle Payroll solution on any version of the Oracle ERP at K-12 school districts in the United States. • In the event that all services and products are not provided by the Offeror, the Offeror may partner with a Sub-Contractor(s) to submit a single Proposal that meets the minimum qualifications of this RFP. • Responses must indicate which minimum requirements the Offeror and its Sub-Contractor(s) meet in order to meet the minimum qualifications in total. • Offerors who do not meet the minimum qualifications stated above will not have their Proposals considered for Contract award. The Offeror shall demonstrate that it has the resources, ability and capability to provide the services described in this RFP. The Offeror shall demonstrate meeting the mandatory requirements as stated above. The Offeror shall describe its experience and expertise to perform the work described in this Request for Proposal. At a minimum, the Offeror shall include the following information for all firms included in the proposal: 1. Executive Summary: • Summarize why your Offeror team is the most qualified for this scope of work. • Describe how your Offeror team handles situations when a client is not satisfied with a resource assigned to the project. How quickly is the issue resolved? • Total number of US-based Consultants for Oracle ERP Cloud • Total number of Consultants for Oracle ERP Cloud (globally) 2. Provide the number of years your firm has performed the services stated in this RFP. 3. Provide a minimum of one (1) Oracle ERP Cloud implementation project and the project scope included implementing Oracle Finance and Management Services and Human Resources solution at K-12 school districts in the United States And a minimum of one (1) Oracle Payroll solution on any version of the Oracle ERP at K-12 school districts in the United States. 4. The project scope should have included the planning, design, build, testing, training, deployment, and go-live and stabilization support of Finance and Human Resources requirements. Tab 3: Project Team Qualifications and Experience Provide the following information, at minimum, regarding the proposed project team to be used for this project: 1. Identify the dedicated full-time SI Project Manager (PM) who will serve as the day-to-day lead throughout the duration of the project. Submit with your response a detailed resume for this team member and describe why he or she is qualified to serve in this capacity. The Project Manager must have delivered a minimum of one Oracle Cloud ERP efforts in the past five years, with the project scope including the planning, design, build, testing, training, deployment, and go-live and stabilization support of Finance and Management Services and Human Resources Cloud. 2. Identify the Key Personnel of the Project Team who will be assigned to this project as set forth in the scope of work. The personnel shall have demonstrated experience and qualifications to perform the work and have the availability to provide the services during the term of the contract. Provide a resume for each Key Personnel, including subconsultants, if applicable (max 1 page per person) detailing: • Qualifications, including specific experience with state or local governments if applicable • Area(s) of expertise • Responsibilities in performing the scope of work 32 Proposal Requirements 3. Provide an organizational chart detailing the division of responsibility of each Key Personnel of the Project Team and subconsultants, if applicable. 4. Provide estimates for the Offeror’s staff resources necessary to meet the needs of the project, including any subconsultants’ staff and hours. 5. Describe the level and types of executive sponsor project support for each Sub-Contractor included in the Offeror’s Proposal. These individuals will be expected to stay engaged with the project for its duration and would be available to help negotiate solutions for any significant impasses or challenges with the Offeror’s assigned project team that might arise during the engagement. Tab 4: Approach To Implementation Services (Planning/ Design, Configure/ Build/ Test, and Deployment/ Initial Support) Demonstrate that the Offeror fully understands the scope of work by including the following information: 1. Identify and describe the proven methodology and associated tools: • To deliver a design aligned with the scope, best fit processes, APS objectives and guiding principles utilized by the Offeror. • To conduct the necessary Gap/Fit and Requirements analysis based on the APS’s business and technical requirements included in Appendix J and elsewhere in this RFP document. • To determine the end-to-end approach for testing during the implementation project. • To provide a design solution for system integrations. • To support the CBT effort. Furthermore, the Offeror shall proactively apply industry, process, and solution expertise, with knowledge transfer to APS, to minimize any downstream re-work and to optimize the end-to-end business process and technical performance of the deployed solution. 2. Narrative of project approach and methodology describing how the Offeror intends to accomplish the tasks requested under this RFP. Provide the Offeror’s understanding of APS’s intent for this RFP, including: • How the Offeror intends to perform the overall planning and design efforts needed to support the APS’s implementation of the Oracle Cloud ERP solution. • Planning services that include an overall recommended implementation timeline with key milestones. • A design that includes full implementation of Cloud ERP mobile functionality. • How the Offeror intends to partner with Oracle and APS to establish an Oracle Cloud ERP sandbox environment to support the project. • How the Offeror intends to deliver the initial functional and technical training to APS Core Team (Functional and Technical Leads and selected SMEs) for Oracle Cloud products and the use of F&A and Human Resource as relevant to support the implementation process. • How the Offeror will approach data cleansing, data conversion/migration, data validation for the project and provide data access for data that will not be migrated. • A detailed recommended approach to the delivery of all Planning and Design, CBT, and Deployment and Initial Support services. • A proposed offer for full implementation of each of the functional areas listed below as separate from the base scope of work in the cost proposal. The Offeror shall incorporate the costs of assessing these functional areas during the Planning and Design phase in its base price proposal. Costs associated with all other project phases shall be separated out in the pricing response. • Proposed testing tool and approaches, including scripts/scenarios additional tools for the project delivery (e.g., a tool for data conversion/migration or integrations/interfaces), if any. 33 Proposal Requirements 3. Identify any recommended meetings, workshops, or activities that may need to be held in person or remotely. 4. The Offeror shall complete Appendix J– Functional and Technical Requirements included in the solicitation. In Appendix J, the Offeror shall place an "X" within the appropriate response column (i.e., under column Y, C, F, 3 or N, as defined below) next to each requirement. Where applicable and where requested, the Offeror shall provide additional information that describes the module/solution and the customization complexity, if any. Short responses may be provided in the "Comments" column, while longer answers may be provided on a separate page. The Offeror must not insert rows into any portion of the attachment. A response is needed for each requirement. Omitted responses will be evaluated as “N” response code, meaning that the Offeror cannot meet the requirement. If proof is requested in Attachment A, the Offeror must provide proof of meeting that requirement. The Offeror shall use the following codes to indicate the ability to meet the Scope of Services requirements: Response Code Yes, Offeror meets this requirement out-of-the-box or with configuration capabilities provided within the software Y Offeror can meet this requirement via customization (if this is the case, please provide an indication of High, Medium, or Low development complexity) C Offeror can meet this requirement with a future release of our software (if this is the case, please provide the version and timing of the release in the Comments column) F Offeror can meet this requirement by partnering with another 3rd party solution (if this is the case, please provide the name of the 3rd party product in the Comments column 3 No, we cannot meet this requirement N A Completed Appendix J - Detailed Requirements: • Finance and Management Services Business Capabilities • Human Resources Requirements Tab 5: Program Support Services (Project Management, Change Management, and Training) The Offeror shall provide a proposed approach to implementing a comprehensive Organizational Change Management (OCM) and training services plan. The Offeror’s approach should include the appropriate resources needed to work alongside APS’s resources on these efforts. The Offeror shall consider the current APS ERP governance structure and provide a proposal for full life cycle project management, governance, and relationship management activities. The Offeror shall: 1. Provide an example of your firm’s successful implementation and the methodology used (provide supporting documentation if possible). 2. Describe your firm’s approach to knowledge transfer (i.e., how APS resources will be integrated to the project) to assure that the APS will be able to operate, support and maintain the system once the project is completed (i.e., after the support/stabilization period is finish). 3. Describe your approach to training. 4. Describe your approach to project communication. 5. Describe your approach to managing project risk. 6. Describe your approach to organization change management. 7. Describe how your firm’s approach to governance will deliver on the objectives identified below and the overall project objectives and guiding principles listed in this RFP. Describe how your firm’s project 34 Proposal Requirements management and governance approach will work in a complex, transformative project such as this. The objectives of governance and project management are to: • Develop a milestone-based project plan for all to follow. • Develop a risk management plan to ensure risk mitigation strategies are in place for all phases of the project. • Utilize APS’s project team throughout all project phases to enable timely project execution and decision making. • Utilize a network of technology leads and business analysts across APS departments and processes to develop solutions specific to the APS’s requirements that meet various end user’s needs. • Optimize the governance processes to make informed decisions on escalated items when appropriate. • Clearly define governance roles (e.g., who has decision rights vs. input rights) and refine/optimize such roles when needed. • Provide information to all stakeholders in a consistent and timely manner to keep the project execution within budget and on schedule. • Minimize instances where decisions are re-visited due to lack of proper participation, lack of information, lack of decision documentation, or lack of adherence to the governance rules established. • Provide full transparency and clea