REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL (RFP) for Metered Work and · PDF fileREQUEST FOR PROPOSAL (RFP) for...

REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL (RFP)

for

Software Implementation of

Oracle Customer Care & Billing (CC&B)

Metered Work and Asset Management

Customer Self Service

Mobile Workforce Management

For Greenville Utilities Commission

RFP Number: 14-06

Key Proposal Dates

OFFERORS’ NOTICE OF INTENT TO RESPOND: MARCH 10, 2014 MANDATORY OFFERORS’ CONFERENCE: MARCH 11, 2014; 1:00 – 2:00 EASTERN

PROPOSAL DUE DATE AND TIME: APRIL 2, 2014; 4:00PM EASTERN ORAL PRESENTATIONS FOR SELECTED RESPONDERS: APRIL 29 – MAY 2, 2014

http://www.guc.com/Default.aspx

Confidential 2/27/2014

1 Contents

1 General Introduction ________________________________________________ 6

1.1 Introduction ___________________________________________________________ 6

1.2 Company Background __________________________________________________ 7

1.3 Project Background _____________________________________________________ 7

1.4 Notice to all Recipients of this RFP _________________________________________ 9

1.5 Copyright _____________________________________________________________ 9

1.6 Minority Business Participation Program ___________________________________ 10

1.7 Good Faith Statement __________________________________________________ 10

1.8 Preparation Of Proposal ________________________________________________ 10

1.9 Proposal Withdrawal ___________________________________________________ 10

1.10 Governing Laws And Adminstrative Code __________________________________ 10

2 Proposal Information ______________________________________________ 11

2.1 Table of Key Proposal Dates ____________________________________________ 11

2.2 General Instructions and Submission Requirements __________________________ 13

2.3 Proposal Manager and Contact with GUC __________________________________ 13

2.4 Ethics and Conduct of Offerors ___________________________________________ 14

2.5 RFP Submission ______________________________________________________ 14

2.6 Minimum Qualifications _________________________________________________ 15

2.7 Evaluation Criteria _____________________________________________________ 16

2.8 Choosing to Respond __________________________________________________ 16

2.9 Cost of Proposal ______________________________________________________ 17

2.10 Oral Presentations ____________________________________________________ 17

2.11 Company Rights ______________________________________________________ 17


2.12 Confidentiality ________________________________________________________ 17

2.13 Other General Information ______________________________________________ 18

2.14 Due Diligence ________________________________________________________ 19

2.15 Exceptions and Clarifications ____________________________________________ 19

3 Information and Guidance for Offerors ________________________________ 20

3.1 Current State Technology _______________________________________________ 20

3.1.1 Current CIS _______________________________________________ 20

3.1.2 Interfacing Systems/System Inventory __________________________ 21

3.1.3 Greenville Utilities ORACLE Application Infrastructure ______________ 21

3.1.4 User Authentication Requirement ______________________________ 22

3.1.5 ORACLE WAM Integrations (Engineering/ Outage /Mobile) __________ 22

3.1.6 Integration ________________________________________________ 23

3.1.7 System Objectives _________________________________________ 24

3.2 Project Management and Resources ______________________________________ 24

3.2.1 Program Organization _______________________________________ 24

3.2.2 Implementation Planning Guidance ____________________________ 26

3.2.3 Functional Area/Project Teams ________________________________ 27

3.2.4 Work Control ______________________________________________ 28

3.2.5 Work Schedule ____________________________________________ 29

3.2.6 Training __________________________________________________ 29

3.2.7 Change Control Process _____________________________________ 29

3.3 Scope of Work _______________________________________________________ 30

3.3.1 Methodology and Planning ___________________________________ 30

3.3.2 Scope by Suggested Project Methodology _______________________ 31

3.3.3 General __________________________________________________ 31

3.3.4 Software Configuration, Customization and Testing ________________ 32

3.3.5 Fit/Gap Analysis and Future State Business Process Flow Design ____ 33

3.3.6 Data Conversion ___________________________________________ 33

3.3.7 Interfaces ________________________________________________ 33


3.3.8 Training Plans _____________________________________________ 34

3.3.9 Roles and Responsibilities ___________________________________ 35

3.3.10 GUC Furnished Services ____________________________________ 36

3.3.11 Technical Documentation and Requirements _____________________ 37

4 SI Response Content and Format ____________________________________ 39

4.1 Executive Summary ___________________________________________________ 39

4.2 Qualifications and Experience ___________________________________________ 39

4.3 Methodology _________________________________________________________ 41

4.4 Project Plan __________________________________________________________ 42

4.5 Proposed Staffing _____________________________________________________ 44

4.6 Price Proposal ________________________________________________________ 46

4.7 Specified Agreement Concepts __________________________________________ 47


Under separate cover:

APP-A Functional Requirements – Functional requirements workbook. This list is

representative of the current requirements. GUC is expecting to work with the chosen

System Integrator during an analysis and functional design phase to determine how

these specific requirements will be included in the system design. This workbook

includes the following information:

o CIS Functional Requirements, including Customer Self Service

o “Metered” WAM Functional Requirements

o Mobile Workforce Management Requirements

APP-B To-Be Process Flows – GUC has completed work on an initial set of future state

process flows. These are being provided for informational purposes to help Offerors

scope the work. GUC is expecting to work with the chosen System Integrator during an

analysis and functional design phase to determine how these process flows will be

included in the system design.

APP-C GUC Interfaces – Current interface inventory

APP-D GUC Letters – Current letter inventory

APP-E GUC Metrics – Key metrics for certain business processes

APP-F Offeror Insurance Requirements – Minimum requirements the selected provider

will need to maintain

APP-G North Carolina E-Verify Statement – to be Completed by Offerors and Returned

to GUC

APP-H Certified Good Faith Statement – to be Completed by Offerors and Returned to

GUC

APP-I GUC Reports – Current reports inventory

APP-J Greenville-Logical-Physical-Architecture – Overview of current Oracle

environments

APP-K GUC System Diagram – GUC System Map

Pricing workbook – to be Completed by Offerors and Returned to GUC in Microsoft

Excel.xlsx Format (compatible with version 2010)

o SI Pricing.xls – System Integrator Pricing Workbook


1 General Introduction

1.1 Introduction

Greenville Utilities Commission (GUC) has chartered a program to Optimize Processes

and Technology to Improve Customer Service (OPTICS). This program modernizes

GUC’s information systems through the implementation of a suite of Oracle products.

The eBusiness Suite has already been implemented for Finance and Human

Resources. There is an ongoing initiative to implement Work and Asset Management

(WAM) for unmetered services. The next project under the OPTICS program is to

implement Oracle’s Customer Care & Billing (CC&B) solution, Customer Self Service

(CSS), Mobile Workforce Management (MWM) and the metered services within WAM.

GUC is considering two options for this implementation and asking for pricing on both.

Option 1: Full Scope. This includes CC&B, “metered” WAM, Mobile Workforce

Management (MWM), and Customer Self Service (CSS)

o The implementation of core ORACLE CC&B functionality and the establishment of core business logic for customer care and billing work, including Customer Self Service.

o The implementation of core ORACLE WAM functionality and the establishment of core business logic for enterprise management of assets and field work for customer and metered functions.

o The implementation of core ORACLE MWM functionality and the establishment of core business logic for mobile workforce management work.

o The integration of processes, data, and related systems between the above components, including implementation of the Field Work Process Integration Pack (PIP) and the productized integration between CC&B and e-Business Suite (EBS) (collectively, the “Integration”).

Option 2: Partial Scope. This includes CC&B and “metered” WAM.

o The implementation of core ORACLE CC&B functionality and the establishment of core business logic for customer care and billing work, including Customer Self Service.

o The implementation of core ORACLE WAM functionality and the establishment of core business logic for enterprise management of assets and field work for customer and metered functions.

o The integration of processes, data, and related systems between the above components, including implementation of the Field Work Process Integration Pack (PIP) and the productized integration between CC&B and e-Business Suite (EBS) (collectively, the “Integration”).


The requirements for the four scope components are defined in APP-A.

The purpose of this Request for Proposal (RFP) is to provide the requirements and

guidelines that will be used to select a System Integrator (SI) to assist GUC in this

implementation. GUC is seeking an experienced System Integrator to assist with the

integration and implementation of this solution into the overall GUC system landscape.

GUC encourages qualified RFP recipients, who can provide full system integration

services for the listed scope, to respond with details on their services and project

approach. GUC will only consider proposals from implementers that will

implement the full scope of the software indicated in this RFP. Offerors

submitting bids for less than the total scope contained in this RFP will not be

considered. GUC understands that this approach may result in the Offerors use of

subcontractors. Offerors are asked to carefully read the contents of this RFP for what

information must be communicated about subcontractors to GUC.

Proposals should include all costs as they relate to professional services, travel, and

any other expenses associated with the Offeror’s proposal.

1.2 Company Background

GUC provides electric, water, wastewater and natural gas services to the City of

Greenville encompassing 75% of Pitt County and serves a combined total of more than

135,800 customer connections. In addition, GUC provides billing and collection for other

municipal entities. GUC is a municipally-owned utility and operates under a separate

charter issued by the N.C. General Assembly.

GUC is guided and managed by an eight-member Board of Commissioners. The Board

is responsible for approving rates, strategic plans, the annual budget and setting

operating and extension policies.

1.3 Project Background

As noted above, GUC has chartered a program to Optimize Technology and Processes

to Improve Customer Service (OPTICS). This program modernizes GUC’s information

systems through the implementation of a suite of Oracle products. OPTICS has three

primary phases:


1. Cornerstone: This covers the implementation of Finance and HR-related

solutions. Oracle’s eBusiness Suite for Finance and Human Resources was

implemented in July 2013.

2. Synergy: This is an ongoing initiative to implement Work and Asset Management

(WAM) for unmetered services, which is scheduled for production deployment in

the fall of 2014.

3. Navigate: This is the project to implement Oracle’s Customer Care & Billing

(CC&B) solution, Customer Self Service, Mobile Work Force Management and

the metered services within WAM.

The primary drivers for change in Customer Service (CS) are related to two key factors:

1. Inability to perform CS functions (meter to cash) in alignment with customer

expectations (one-stop shopping, visibility into the full lifecycle of the customer

experience, etc.).

2. Current system is beyond end-of-life.

Replacement of the current CIS application is motivated by the need for an architecture

that will support future operational needs and customer expectations. When E-

CIS/Orcom was implemented in 1999 it was a contemporary solution. However, over

time, vendor investment in this software system has failed to keep pace with the market

for CIS software. Additionally, GUC’s business has expanded to include services to

other regional accounts, which requires a more flexible customer information system

than the current Orcom system.

GUC’s expectation is that meter inventory will be maintained within CC&B and that

CC&B will integrate meter-related service orders/field activities with WAM to allow work

for field and service crews to receive and manage their work from the WAM system.

This is what is meant by “metered WAM” or “WAM for metered services.” The integrator

for this project should assume that WAM for non-metered services will be fully

configured prior to starting the Navigate project.

The project objectives include:


Support the stated goal of GUC to optimize technology and processes to improve

customer service

Minimize customizations, maintain maximum software vendor maintenance

coverage over deployed software

Provide for a tight integration of the software footprint at GUC

Plan for and support Business Transformation Management through needs

assessment, communication campaigns, training, focus groups, etc.

Documented processes including process maps

Identify those business processes that need to be analyzed to reduce cost

Use information technology systems to build institutional knowledge and

automation of workflow processes

Support the strategic vision, mission, and business objectives

Solution addresses and supports all regulatory compliance

Establish adequate application design controls and ensure business rules are

documented as living requirements

Provide for knowledge transfer to GUC technical employees so that GUC can

leverage the capabilities of the installed solution and provide for the long term

technical support of the system.

Provide for knowledge transfer to GUC functional employees so that GUC can

leverage the capabilities of the installed solution and provide for the long term

functional support of the system.

1.4 Notice to all Recipients of this RFP

Neither submission by GUC nor your acceptance to respond to this RFP, in whole or in

part, constitutes acceptance by GUC of any contractual terms contained in your

response, if any, and shall not form a binding agreement between the parties. Such an

agreement shall only exist upon the execution of a mutually acceptable contract by both

parties. Except as otherwise set forth in such a contract, GUC makes no

representations or warranties to bidders.

1.5 Copyright

This entire document is considered protected in favor of GUC by copyright according to

US law. The contents of this document, including annexes and additions thereto, are the

intellectual property of GUC. No part of it may be reproduced or retransmitted in any form

or means without the prior written permission of GUC, which may be withheld in GUC’s

sole discretion.


1.6 Minority Business Participation Program

GUC has adopted an Affirmative Action and Minority and Women Business Enterprise

Plan (M/WBE) Program. Firms submitting a proposal are attesting that they also have

taken affirmative action to ensure equality of opportunity in all aspects of employment,

and to utilize M/WBE suppliers of materials and/or labor.

1.7 Good Faith Statement

All information provided by GUC in this RFP is offered in good faith. Individual item(s) are

subject to change at any time. GUC makes no certification that any item(s) are without

error. GUC is not responsible or liable for any use of the information or for any asserted

claims.

1.8 Preparation Of Proposal

Proposals must be in envelopes clearly marked on the outside with the name of the

proposal and the proposal due date and time. Proposals shall be addressed to:

Greenville Utilities Commission

ATTENTION: Purchasing Department, Cleve Haddock, Buyer II

401 S. Greene Street

Greenville, North Carolina 27834

1.9 Proposal Withdrawal

A proposer must notify GUC in writing of its request to withdraw a proposal within

seventy-two (72) hours after the proposal opening, not including Saturdays, Sundays, or

holidays. In order to justify withdrawal, the bidder must demonstrate that a substantial

error exists and that the proposal was submitted in good faith.

1.10 Governing Laws And Adminstrative Code

All contracts, transactions, agreements, etc., are made under and shall be governed by

and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of North Carolina. Bids,

proposals, and awards are subject to applicable provisions of the North Carolina

Administrative Code.


2 Proposal Information

Proposal Title: OPTICS Software Implementation

GUC RFP Number: 14-06

An Offerors’ conference call will be held on March 11, 2014 by GUC for all organizations

that will be responding to this RFP. This conference is scheduled from 1:00 PM – 2:00

PM Eastern Time. Attendance at this conference is mandatory for all Offerors.

2.1 Table of Key Proposal Dates

Item/Action Mandatory for

Responding

Offerors

Date

RFP Release Date No February 27, 2014

Offerors’ Notice of Intent

via email to Proposal Manager

Yes March 10, 2014, 4:00

PM Eastern

Offerors’ Conference

Overview and Q&A Session

Conference Bridge: 1-800-356-8278

Passcode: 758622

Yes March 11, 2014, 1:00 –

2:00 PM Eastern

Offerors’ Written Questions No March 19, 2014, 4:00

PM Eastern

GUC Written Response to Questions No March 24, 2014

Proposal Due Date

via FTP submission; hard copy responses

to follow within 2 business days

Yes April 2, 2014, 4:00 PM

Eastern

Oral Presentation Agenda to Selected

Offerors

No April 15, 2014

Selected Offerors Oral Presentations Yes April 29 – May 2, 2014


Item/Action Mandatory for

Responding

Offerors

Date

Held at GUC’s offices in Greenville, NC

GUC reserves the right to adjust any of the RFP key dates. If the dates are adjusted, all

Offerors who received a copy of the RFP from the Proposal Manager will be notified in

writing.

Any prospective Offeror failing to meet any milestone without prior notification and

consent of GUC will constitute cause for disqualification. The response format described

later in this RFP is mandatory. All formatting, outline numbering, specific explanations,

and examples must adhere to and match the GUC response format.


2.2 General Instructions and Submission Requirements

This section contains information on contact with GUC, assembling the RFP, content,

revisions, communications, presentations, interviews, proposal preparation costs,

proposal submission and company rights.

2.3 Proposal Manager and Contact with GUC

All communication/information should be channeled through the Proposal Manager listed below.

Proposal Manager: Cleve Haddock

Title: Buyer II

Mailing Address: Greenville Utilities Commission

401 S. Greene Street

Greenville, N.C. 27834

Email: [email protected]

Please submit all questions by email and limit communication related to this RFP

to the Proposal Manager.

Guidelines for contacting GUC during the RFP process and proposals:

1. If your organization might have any conflict of interest, including employment of an

immediate family member or in-law of a GUC employee, contact the Proposal

Manager immediately for resolution.

2. After receipt of the RFP, no Offeror can contact any employee or consultant working

on this RFP on behalf of GUC other than the Proposal Manager. No GUC employee

or consultant working on this RFP may discuss the RFP with any Offeror without

written permission from the Proposal Manager. Failure to adhere to this policy may

result in disqualification of the Offeror’s bid.

3. Any contact from Offerors via email must be sent to the Proposal Manager.

4. If you are unclear about the RFP prior to the Offerors’ Conference, send questions to

the Proposal Manager by email.

5. GUC will conduct an Offerors’ conference to answer general questions about

philosophies, strategies, policies, procedures, and requirements.

6. Once a selection is made by GUC, the successful Offeror will work with project

managers and functional team leaders as assigned by GUC.

7. Questions about the RFP


All questions should be submitted to the Proposal Manager via email only, no exceptions.

GUC will compile questions and send written responses via email to all Offerors

who have submitted their intent and attended the Offeror’s conference.

2.4 Ethics and Conduct of Offerors

By signing the proposal, the Offeror certifies this proposal is made in good faith and

without collusion or connection with any other person responding on the proposal. It is

also certified that this proposal is made in good faith and without collusion or connection

with any GUC employee(s). Finally, it is also certified that this proposal is made without

outside control, fraud, or other illegal or unethical actions.

The conduct of Offerors during this RFP and evaluation period will play a part in the

evaluation of the proposed solutions. Instructions to Offerors within the RFP are

expected to be followed and any contravention will be considered in assessing the

Offeror’s professional attitude in this respect.

2.5 RFP Submission

All Proposals must reference the Proposal title and GUC RFP Number noted on the title

page.

Submit one (1) electronic copy of the entire Proposal to the Proposal Manager by

FTP site by the Proposal due date and time.

Submit five (5) paper copies of the complete Proposal including pricing

information. The paper copies may follow the electronic submission within 1-2

business days. Front and back printing is preferred but not required. If file

attachments are embedded within the electronic submission, be sure that the

printed copies include all embedded files.

Requirement sections, pricing forms and response forms have been provided as

separate Excel and Word documents to facilitate Offeror responses. Offerors are

expected to respond within the document formats provided (compatible with

Microsoft Word and Excel 2010).

GUC reserves the right during the evaluation and selection process to review all

responses of Offerors and pursue multiple Offerors that best meet the needs of GUC.

Emphasis should be placed on conformance to the RFP instructions and templates,

responsiveness to requirements, and completeness and clarity of content. Elaborate

Proposals are neither necessary nor desirable. If the Offeror’s Proposal is presented in


a fashion that makes evaluation difficult or overly time-consuming, points will be lost in

the evaluation process.

Each proposal page should be numbered for ease of reference and should include

index tabs denoting each section.

Proposals should include responses to all items listed in section 4. Each proposal

response must explicitly reference the corresponding RFP section number. Proposals

that do not address these questions risk being disqualified.

All materials submitted with the proposal become the property of GUC and may be

returned only at GUC’s option. GUC has the right to use any or all ideas presented in

any proposal. Selection or rejection of the proposal does not affect this right.

Proposals that arrive late may be rejected.

2.6 Minimum Qualifications

GUC is inviting qualified SIs to bid on this RFP. Minimum SI qualifications are:

The implementation SI must be either a certified United States entity

Implementation Partner of Oracle or the software vendor.

The SI must assume responsibility as prime contractor for the contract.

Subcontracting is allowed for this RFP, subject to the prior written

approval of GUC and the provisions set forth in this RFP. Proposed

subcontractors must be clearly identified in the Proposal.

The SI must have acted as the prime contractor on a successful

implementation of CC&B for a United States utility, preferably a multi-utility

with services in electric, natural gas, wastewater or water. They must

also have implementation experience with WAM and the Field Work

Process Integration Pack.

The SI must be able to provide certified consultants experienced in the

proposed methodology, or equivalently qualified and experienced in a

comparable alternate implementation methodology.

The SI must be able to provide consultants certified and experienced in

the utility sector implementation of the Solution Set software.


Offeror must provide a price for a payment and performance bond in the

pricing workbook (SI Pricing.xls) in the appropriate line.

2.7 Evaluation Criteria

GUC will conduct a comprehensive, fair and impartial evaluation of all Proposals

received in response to this RFP.

GUC will award this Project based on an evaluation of how well each Offeror meets the

evaluation criteria listed herein. The criteria will be applied based on the information

contained in the response submitted by each Offeror and for those selected to provide

an oral presentation. Therefore, it is in the best interest of Offerors to provide

informative, concise, well-organized technical and business information relative to this

Project.

Evaluation criteria will include the following:

Qualifications and experience of Offeror and proposed assigned personnel

Experience in conducting similar projects for organizations of similar type

and size in the utility space

Methodology and Implementation Plan

Cost to GUC of the proposed solution, both the initial project cost and

costs throughout the life of the project

Financial stability/Risk Assessment of the Offeror

Completeness of Proposal

All proposals will be reviewed by GUC to determine if they contain the minimum

essential requirements outlined in the RFP, including instructions governing submission

and format and compliance with standard GUC requirements. Those proposals deemed

non-responsive may be disqualified without further evaluation.

2.8 Choosing to Respond

Should you elect to respond to this RFP, please inform the GUC Proposal Manager of

your intent via email by March 10, 2014. Upon receiving your response, you will be

supplied with a offeror ID to use for identification during the Offerors’ Conference.


2.9 Cost of Proposal

All of the costs related to the preparation and submission of a Proposal, including,

without limitation, the attendance at any oral presentations, personnel interviews and/or

any site visits, will be borne by the Offeror.

2.10 Oral Presentations

Subsequent to GUC’s preliminary review and evaluation of the submitted Proposals

GUC may, but is not required to, invite one or more Offerors to make presentations or

participate in interviews. For those Offerors who are invited, attendance will be

mandatory. Therefore, Offerors are encouraged to “save the date” for the presentations

and interviews which are anticipated to be held the week of April 29 – May 2, 2014.

Offerors who are selected to participate in the presentation and interview process will be

informed regarding the location, date and time.

2.11 Company Rights

This RFP does not commit GUC to award in response to this RFP. GUC reserves the

right to reject any or all Proposals, in whole or in part, and at its discretion, to cancel or

amend this RFP at any time. GUC also reserves the right to unbundle the deliverables

and contract with one or more Offerors for the production of one or more of the

deliverables.

By submitting a Proposal in response to this RFP, the Offeror grants to GUC the right to

contact or arrange a visit in person with any or all of the Offeror’s clients, whether or not

identified as a reference by Offeror.

The Offeror shall refrain from any publicity regarding this RFP, the contents hereof or

Offeror’s submission of a Proposal. The Offeror shall not release any information to

newspapers, magazines, journals or any other medium, about the acceptance of the

Proposal or the award of the contract without the prior written approval of GUC, which

GUC may withhold in its sole discretion.

2.12 Confidentiality

The existence and contents of this RFP are confidential and must be treated as such by

recipients. Recipients of this RFP may not use the information contained within this

RFP, nor disclose such information to anyone other than recipients’ employees who are

directly involved in preparing a Proposal in response to this RFP, without the prior

written consent of GUC. Recipients of this RFP are liable for all damages in case of

breach of confidentiality by recipient. The selected Offeror will be expected to sign a

confidentiality agreement upon award.


2.13 Other General Information

1. GUC expects to enter into negotiations with one or more of the Offerors determined

by GUC to be most able to meet the requirements as defined within this RFP.

2. Proposals should be based upon information supplied within this RFP; however

additional/alternative responses/information, if deemed appropriate by GUC, will be

considered and evaluated. Offerors are requested to list such responses/information

separately at the end of the RFP submission and clearly state any assumptions made

in the absence of GUC information.

3. The project team will evaluate the Proposals when all responses have been

received. All evaluations will be based on the contents of the written document. In

this stage no meetings or presentations with Offerors will be arranged. Offerors may

be contacted during this stage to clarify the content and meaning of details within

their respective Proposal.

4. Revisions to any Proposal before the final deadline must specify clearly in writing any

previous elements removed or new elements added.

5. The closing date for Proposals is April 2, 2014 at 4:00 PM Eastern. Responses

received after this time will not be considered unless an extension to the deadline

has been granted to all Offerors.

6. The evaluation, which will be carried out by GUC, will progress through the following

stages:

Receipt and review of proposals

Clarification of detail

Invitations to selected Offerors to participate in oral presentations

Offeror reference calls/visits

Negotiations and contracting At the end of the formal evaluation period, the project team will make its

recommendation to GUC’s executive leadership team. Offerors will be notified of the

outcome after this step has been completed.

7. All Proposals to this RFP hereafter referred become the property of GUC.

8. Proposals shall be valid for a minimum of 90 days following the proposal due date.


2.14 Due Diligence

This RFP is intended to provide enough information for Offerors to provide both creative

solutions and their best indicative pricing. GUC is providing Offerors with the opportunity

to ask questions both during the Offerors’ Conference and via email should Offerors

require any additional information to complete their response.

GUC further recognizes that Offerors will need a detailed due diligence effort prior to

final contract negotiations. The due diligence phase will be a collaborative effort

between GUC and selected Offerors. The due diligence phase will give the Offerors a

chance to ask questions in a greater level of detail than the RFP. GUC will determine

the timing, depth and logistics of the due diligence with the selected Offerors post RFP

response evaluation.

Offerors should include a copy of their proposed Due Diligence process with the RFP

response.

2.15 Exceptions and Clarifications

Offerors are requested to detail any exceptions to this RFP; provide exception detail

and reference the applicable section number. If there are no exceptions, provide a

statement indicating so.

Offerors may provide comments to clarify or expand its Proposal and/or to demonstrate

its understanding of the Request for Proposal.


3 Information and Guidance for Offerors

3.1 Current State Technology

3.1.1 Current CIS

GUC’s existing CIS is an Orcom system known as E-CIS, currently supported by

Vertex. The application and DB2 database run on an iSeries. The system was originally

installed in 1999. The system supports collections, credit, rates, billing, customer

information, service orders, meter reading, meter inventory, and customer contacts.

Storm water and refuse transactions are fed into the billing system from an outside

source but included on the GUC bill and collected by GUC. For some of our customers,

wastewater consumption is based off of a third party water usage which is fed into our

system. Customers can receive a paper bill, electronic notification or both for their

statements. Interfaces with E-CIS have been written in-house. See APP-C for expected

list of interfaces.

Electronic Bill Presentment and Payment was written by Utilities Solutions and their

subcontractors and is secured using Entrust. We allow: requests for services,

payments, bill view, usage graphs per meter and account information modifications. Self

Service Bill Payment options are: a onetime payment feature from customer bank

account and a link to the third party credit/debit card vendor. The web application

resides on a Windows server interfacing with the iSeries, the bill archive data used for

the bill view resides on a separate Windows server and is maintained with an in-house

application. These servers reside behind a reverse proxy server and firewall.

The Oracle software versions GUC expects to install are:

CC&B version 2.4, including:

Oracle Utilities Customer Care and Billing Base for Residential Customers

Oracle Utilities CC&B Credit and Collections for Residential Customers

Oracle Utilities CC&B Rating and Billing for Residential Customers

Oracle Utilities CC&B Rating and Billing for Interval Data for Res Customers

Oracle Utilities CC&B Cashiering for Residential Customers

Oracle Utilities CC&B Task Optimization Tools for Res Customers

Oracle Utilities CC&B Base for Commercial & Industrial Customers


Oracle Utilities CC&B Credit and Collections for C&I Customers

Oracle Utilities CC&B Rating and Billing for C & I Customers

Oracle Utilities CC&B Rating and Billing for C & I Customers for Interval

Oracle Utilities CC&B Cashiering for C & I Customers

Oracle Utilities CC&B Task Optimization Tools for C & I Customers

Oracle Utilities CC&B to Oracle EBSuite Financials for GL and AP

Micro Focus Net Express for CC&B (Mfr is Micro Focus International)

Micro Focus Server Express for CC&B (Mfr is Micro Focus International)

WAM version 1.9.1.1

GUC has also purchased 5 licenses of User Productivity Kit Professional, plus is

considering purchasing Oracle’s Customer Self-Service.

3.1.2 Interfacing Systems/System Inventory

GUC wishes to improve its business by replacing the aging software and business

processes with a process based solution thereby taking advantage of integrated

software, new technology, enhanced functionality, and creating an opportunity for

technology to help drive the business to further excellence. A high-level drawing of

GUC’s current major systems/applications is included as APP-K GUC System Diagram.

3.1.3 Greenville Utilities ORACLE Application Infrastructure

Greenville Utilities Commission (GUC) currently manages two datacenters that contain

Oracle systems. These two datacenters are designed to be as similar as possible. The

infrastructure for the ORACLE applications and databases consists of Cisco UCS, Cisco

Nexus switches and NetApp SAN storage. The USC environment is currently version

2.0(3a) utilizing all B22-M3 blade servers. In most cases these servers are configured

with a single 8-core CPU and 64 Gb of memory. The network utilizes Nexus 5500

series and 7900 Series switches utilizing FCoE and 10Gig Ethernet backbone with 1Gig

to the desktop. The NetApp storage is made of paired FC3070 controllers running in

version 7-mode with shelves containing fiber channel, SAS and SATA drive shelves.

Connections to this SAN consist of FCoE and iSCSI and are shared with the other

systems at GUC. The different ORACLE environments (DEV, staging/UAT,PROD)

have their own subnet, but do share one common iSCSI network for access to storage.

On top of this hardware, we are utilizing Oracle Linux operating systems within Oracle’s

virtualization Management. The only exceptions to virtual servers are the database


servers in production and staging/UAT. A PDF provided shows the logical design of the

Oracle environments. GUC is currently running version 11g R2 of the Oracle database

and Linux 5.9 operating system.

3.1.4 User Authentication Requirement

The Oracle Application and Database(s) tier for all instances will be installed in a non-

RAC deployment method. The Oracle Utilities Framework must leverage GUC’s existing

LDAP-complaint directory service, Active Directory for user provisioning and single sign-

on purposes. The intent is to have a person’s credentials from logging into their

workstation passed to the application. All user provisioning and any changes to the user

account must be done through Active Directory. We require that GUC staff be

automatically logged into the system from the Active Directory credentials that were

used to log into the workstation. If the person is logging in from a device that does not

have the Active Directory credentials, they should be prompted to enter them. It is also

required that permissions be setup with a role based security model.

3.1.5 ORACLE WAM Integrations (Engineering/ Outage /Mobile)

Mobile

Current WAM (v 1.9.1.1) integration is focused on exposing a REST/JSON based API to

support mobile application development. The API is built utilizing both existing ORACLE

WAM stored procedures and custom procedures. The API utilizes Ruby on Rails and

the Oracle Database driver to remotely execute stored procedures and future services.

A custom IOS library is utilized to connect to the REST/JSON API. The library utilizes

the RestKit library in additional to custom functionality. The application development is

heavily based on CocoaPods. CocoaPods is the dependency manager for Objective-C

projects. The CocoaPods framework is the basis for our organizations rapid application

development.

While future plans may include Android and HTML support, existing efforts are solely

focused on IOS mobile application development. The WAM Integration strategy outlines

potential future use of technologies such as node.js for specific application support

processes such as mobile push notifications, and application settings management.

Overall, the means by which the REST/JSON API and other supporting interfaces are

delivered will be scrutinized for applicability inside Oracle SOA and like technologies as

both the technology and organization mature in its use.

Engineering


In addition, the organization leverages GeoNexus and ESRI ArcGIS Server (v 10.1 sp1)

for its GIS to WAM integration. Specifically, the WAM System is planned for integration

to Schneider Electric’s Designer (v 10.1 sp1). This is a custom integration. The

Designer System supports the graphical design of infrastructure and is a critical system

in regards to managing the assets through its lifecycle. The main integrations between

Schneider Designer and Oracle WAM will focus on the work order task and the

inventory checkout.

Outage

Schneider’s outage management system Responder (v 10.1 sp1) is natively integrated

to the ESRI GIS system. A custom interface is proposed for the integration between

Responder and Oracle WAM, CC&B and MWM.

3.1.6 Integration

GUC prefers and supports service oriented architectures where possible. Service

oriented architectures offer us the best ability to re-package and reuse functionality from

any system as our needs change. GUC would also prefer that systems provide and

consume services as the mechanism for integration. A key component in the

implementation of this strategy is the use of Oracle's SOA Suite of technologies which

provide the platform for enablement of a Service Oriented Architecture.

GUC currently uses a standards-based, hot-pluggable middleware approach to system

integrations with Oracle’s SOA Suite(SOA) and Oracle’s Service Bus (OSB). The

current version is 11.1.1.6 for the Development, Staging, and Production environments.

All three environments are single instance. GUC operates with a single domain. We

have an Administration Server managing three standalone Managed Servers: SOA,

OSB, and BAM. We are also making use of Node Manager as a way to automatically

restart Managed Servers in the event of a failure and to allow Managed Server control

from the Administration Console.

GUC has purchased Oracle’s Field Work Process Integration Pack (PIP) to link the field

work and planning functions in Oracle Utilities Customer Care and Billing, Oracle

Utilities Mobile Workforce Management, and Oracle Utilities Work and Asset

Management. We expect the Integrator to use this component for integration when

applicable.

Interfaces currently in place or needed for GUC 3rd party applications are provided in

the accompanying document APP-C GUC Interfaces.


3.1.7 System Objectives

The Offeror must take advantage of the characteristics and features within the

application framework to retain:

Modular design

Standard interfaces

Pre-built common components and services

Component reusability

Reliability of components and operations for High Availability daily operations as

well as Disaster Recovery planning

Interoperable and standard components

Adherence to agreed upon standards

Secured sharing of information

Maximized use of existing resources while transitioning

3.2 Project Management and Resources

3.2.1 Program Organization

GUC recognizes the important partnership we are embarking on with the chosen SI.

GUC is dedicated to providing our most experienced resources throughout this

implementation effort. GUC wishes to be thoroughly involved throughout the process in

order to foster internal change advocates, knowledge transfer, and user buy-in.

The governance of this implementation is recognized as paramount to the successful

go-live within time, budget and quality constraints. GUC expects to use an overall PMO

group as oversight for the OPTICS program and to facilitate coordination across the

multiple project teams. At the project level, GUC will provide internal project

management leadership to mirror the SI project leadership. Each of the functional

areas will have a “Process Owner” covering a breadth of experience across that

operational area. Additional Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) are included as needed for

their specific expertise or to augment due to spikes in work load such as during testing,

training or rollout support. In order to foster cross area coordination, each project lead

is part of the Leadership Core Team along with the PMO for weekly pulse meetings. A

representative organization chart is included below, with the green boxes representing

the scope of this RFP.


Steering Committee

OPTICS Program Management

Cornerstone Project

Team 1

Synergy Project

Team 1

Navigate Project

Functional Team

Account Billing

Customer Service

Meters/ Devices

Tech Infrastructure

Development Team

Development Conversion

Change/ Training Team

Issues and Change Control Management governance would flow from the Process

Owners to the Project Lead to the Program Manager. Most issues and approvals

should be resolved at this core team level. If needed, issues would then escalate to the

Steering Committee. The Steering Committee is comprised of the Executive Sponsors

as well as other corporate executives in order to communicate status updates and key

decisions or milestones reached throughout the project.

The OPTICS program is nothing short of a business transformation effort at GUC. All

key business processes will be up for redesign. GUC will provide their current utility

business expertise and look to the chosen SI to provide knowledge of industry and

application best practices for guidance in designing and configuring these new

transformational processes.

GUC will provide dedicated project management resources during the engagement.

Our current resource commitment is as follows :

Program Manager (1) – 40%

Project Manager (1) – 100%


PMO/Organizational Change Management (1) – 100%

3.2.2 Implementation Planning Guidance

1. It is expected that the proposed project will start July 14, 2014.

2. GUC is open to leveraging the value and efficiencies of pre-configured solutions that

are relevant to the business processes and software being implemented.

3. GUC has an internal PMO and functional area project managers that will coordinate

the implementation plan, work and resources for GUC along with the SI’s program

and project managers. GUC will dedicate key full-time resources per functional area

to be involved throughout planning and implementation. GUC will also supplement

with part-time subject matter experts in functional areas as needed. GUC wishes to

work with the implementer throughout implementation in order to foster knowledge

transfer and be able to internally continue to support and configure the system post

implementation.

4. GUC has successfully utilized a pilot approach in the past as part of a quality-

assurance testing phase and feedback for change-management issues. Whenever

schedule time permits, walkthroughs with novice users will help to identify key

change-management issues and allow for time to address them in training materials

and project communication. We realize that the key to successful adoption of any

software solution will be the change management. Significant communication and

training campaigns will be needed throughout implementation to foster a smooth

rollout and system adoption.

5. GUC wants to minimize any customization. Our goal is to adopt standard practices

and only add the complexity and cost of customization if there is no other way to

handle a regulated requirement. We want to be able to minimize cost of the

implementation project and be able to upgrade software in the future with a minimum

of development rework and avoid the dependence on a large internal

support/programming staff.

6. Operational reporting will need to be in place before any roll out. Often times a

continued use of the old system and a delay in the acceptance can cause a distrust

in the new system. The implementer should factor in sufficient time to include

development of key operational reporting prior to go-live.

7. GUC is considering licensing automated testing software as part of the technology

stack licensing. The implementer should recommend the testing solution that best

fits the application Solution Set and a deployment of this size. In the past, GUC has

written test plan/script documents and manually executed the tests with sign-offs.


Please propose the appropriate level of either the development of automated testing

or manual processes throughout the Solution Set implementation effort.

8. GUC expects to use SharePoint for managing project documents, but is open to

using an Offeror-supplied repository/tool if it supplies additional value. If an Offeror-

hosted solution is proposed, GUC requires a full extract of data from the repository

upon project completion and the data must be in a readily accepted format for

viewing and editing.

9. GUC’s legacy database systems have long established fixed format data structures

with seemingly simplistic conversion requirements. However, as is common with

older systems, comment fields have become “multi-purpose” to accommodate ways

of adding information while trying to avoid significant system modifications. Although

this is not unusual for companies with 15-plus-year-old legacy applications, it should

be taken into account in the implementer’s estimates for data conversion.

10. GUC is open to vendor’s recommendation for data conversion. GUC’s CC&B core

team has analyzed the various approaches to data conversion and the initial thought

is that GUC would be agreeable to a “balance forward” conversion with 13 months of

historical data. Historical data includes the following areas – meter, usage, billing,

payment, and adjustments. At a minimum, enough data will be converted from the

current legacy system to:

o Allow collection activities to continue o Allow customers to view historical information via web o Allow customers to sign up for budget billing o Allow employees to have some historical data at finger tips, without having to

access the legacy system o Have little or no impact on the General Ledger o Have enough data to do year end, monthly, and quarterly reporting without

having to access two separate databases

3.2.3 Functional Area/Project Teams

The following is a detailed description of GUC resources and their areas of expertise

that GUC plans to dedicate to the implementation effort for each of the program areas.

It is assumed that these resources will be in use throughout the length of their

functional area’s implementation effort and assume their normal job roles soon

after Go-Live of their application modules. The SI should consider these levels of

involvement from GUC while making their implementation effort estimates and

completing the SI Pricing.xls workbook.


Navigate Project Team (10-14 FTE’s)

Functional Lead

Billing Process Owner

Financials Process Owner (AR, GL, & Collections)

Meters/Field Work Process Owner

Customer Service Process Owner (includes Credit/Revenue Protection)

Operations Process Owners/SMEs (included in overall functional team)

Organization Change/Training Lead

Development Lead, Developers

Data Conversion (Legacy) Lead

Technology Program Team (2-4 FTE’s)

Technology Team Lead

Application DBAs/System Administrators

Server Administrator

3.2.4 Work Control

Throughout the project the SI will attend weekly status meetings and employ

ongoing Project Management techniques to ensure a comprehensive project plan

is developed, monitored, and maintained.

The work plan submitted with the proposal will serve as the basis of the plan to

be used throughout the project. This draft plan is to be updated and submitted in

electronic and paper form to the GUC Project Manager as required.

The SI will be expected to maintain an up-to-date work plan of all project tasks,

activities and resources including estimated start and completion dates, actual

start and completion dates, estimated and actual task hours, and completion

percentage for all in-process tasks.

The SI shall not make any change to GUC’s current production environment

without explicit written permission.

All development objects shall be stored and controlled in GUC’s environment. SI

shall propose configuration management and version control processes to

control the to-be system.

The SI shall be responsible for reporting and obtaining approval from GUC to

proceed on any event that materially affects scope, schedule, cost, or quality.


3.2.5 Work Schedule

GUC projects the full Implementation to run between 1.5 and 2 years. This

projection can be adjusted based on input from the SI.

Normal hours of work are Monday through Friday 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Eastern.

The SI shall not schedule any activity involving GUC personnel outside this

timeframe without prior GUC approval.

3.2.6 Training

GUC’s desired end user training approach is “Train the Trainer.” Key change advocates

within the organization are typically chosen to learn and test the system, they then in

turn, become the internal trainers and are augmented support during roll out.

GUC desires knowledge transfer to the project delivery team members throughout the

project lifecycle, including pre-phase delivery team training on the applications and the

Integrator’s delivery methodology as necessary.

3.2.7 Change Control Process

All issues will be expected to be logged during the project. Those which impact the

project schedule, budget or scope will need to be quantified. Low impact items should

be taken care of within that team’s leadership. Weekly pulse meetings with all Team

Leads can be used to report on outstanding issues and review actions/decisions made

from those low impact items. Change Control will pertain to those issues which are

deemed of higher impact. The tolerance levels of impact will need to be established by

the project team and approved by the GUC Program Manager at the beginning of the

project.

It is expected that each functional area team should have the ability to handle most of

the day to day decisions with the knowledge and authority of the Team Lead or Project

Manager. If the issue or change impacts other functional areas, or is above an

established tolerance, then the next level of escalation for review/approval should be to

the Project Managers. If the issue is of an even higher tolerance level which will

significantly impact the overall project budget or schedule it should then escalate to the

GUC Program Manager.

Each escalated issue which proposes a change to the project schedule, budget or

scope will need to be estimated and risk analysis completed prior to review and

approval. The establishment and use of a tool or templates will be critical to the

continued documentation and tracking of these issues throughout the life of the project.


3.3 Scope of Work

3.3.1 Methodology and Planning

The SI, with participation by GUC’s Program Manager, will develop and implement a

methodology and process. The SI will coordinate with GUC in designing, developing,

and implementing an effective Business Transformation Management Plan to adjust

work performance to the new business processes and the Solution Set software.

Expected milestones for the SI include the successful implementation of redesigned

business processes, ensuring staff readiness prior to go-live, demonstration of

comparable performance levels for production staff as compared to the current system

performance, and plans to minimize performance issues. As part of this work effort, the

SI will be responsible for producing the following:

A detailed Business Transformation Management Plan including an analysis of

the business impact of the “to be” processes

A detailed Risk Management Plan that includes:

1. Risk Identification

2. Qualitative Risk Analysis

3. Quantitative Risk Analysis

4. Risk Response Planning

5. Risk Monitoring and Control

An organizational alignment strategy mapping the new business processes to the

appropriate roles and responsibilities within GUC. This should define roles and

responsibilities in the new organization, and identify the positions or individuals

associated with each role. The organizational alignment strategy should also

discuss timelines, detailed steps for executing the strategy, and will be

incorporated into the Integrated Work Plan.

An Organizational Development Plan that addresses leadership readiness and

acceptance of new business processes and functions for front line staff.

Implementation strategy for the new roles and responsibilities defined in the

organizational alignment strategy and the associated “to be” processes.


3.3.2 Scope by Suggested Project Methodology

1. Planning: The purpose of this phase is to plan for the project and document all

project strategies and procedures. A critical deliverable is the project work plan. It is

expected that a final output of this phase is a full team kick-off meeting.

2. Analysis & Functional Design: The purpose of this phase is to create the solution

design, which is a detailed documentation of the results gathered during

requirements workshops/meetings. It will allow the implementation project team to

clearly define their scope and only focus on the processes needed to run the

business. This includes validating/defining all requirements and developing the

functional specs/detailed process flows.

3. Configuration & Development: This phase includes technical design,

configuration, development, preparing test plans, and unit testing.

4. Testing: This phase includes system testing, integration testing, and other forms of

system validation.

5. Transition: The purpose of this phase is to prepare the production environment,

conduct end user training, finalize the system configuration and databases, and

conduct final system functional and stress testing. It also includes go-live

contingency planning.

6. Production Support: This includes post-implementation support of the new system.

3.3.3 General

GUC has spent time documenting “To Be” business process flows, which are being

provided as part of this RFP in APP-B To-Be Process Flows. All requirements,

specifications and process maps for the “to-be” system shall have bidirectional

traceability to:

Individual

Department

Procedure

Regulation

Best Practice

Application Screen

Test Plans


Security, reports, forms, data needs, interface identification, unique configuration

points

All specification and requirement documents shall undergo verification and validation to

address quality attributes, to uncover inconsistencies and redundancies, and to verify all

technical requirements have been incorporated and that they are testable.

The SI shall work closely with GUC’s Information Technology organization for adhering

to existing standards. Where such standards do not exist, the SI must help institute new

standards or assist in modifications to existing standards.

Business Models should be produced that are reflective of existing suggested best

practices for utilities. SI should propose the toolset to be used for this purpose; process

mapping will be performed using the SI’s toolset, and the process maps produced shall

be left in an updateable format upon completion of the project. The Business Models

should provide for 4 views as follows:

Organization View

Data View

Control View

Function View

A Business Process Architecture should be produced that shows the following levels.

Level 1 Enterprise Map

Level 2 Process Area Maps

Level 3 Main Process Models

Level 4 Process Models

Level 5 Activity Models

3.3.4 Software Configuration, Customization and Testing

The SI will perform all necessary activities to:

Install and configure the Solution Set Software to GUC specifications.

Successfully deploy a baseline version of the Solution Set Software.


Produce documentation of the software configuration specifying the configuration

values within the system to support GUC business practices.

Deliver functional and technical design documentation for all customizations or

advanced configurations of the Solution Set Software.

Deliver a detailed System Test Plan for both functional and stress/load testing.

Offerors should assume that 40 custom reports/data exports will need to be

developed across the entire solution footprint. Offerors should also propose how

additional reports will be estimated and priced if required.

3.3.5 Fit/Gap Analysis and Future State Business Process Flow Design

The SI will perform a gap analysis to identify GUC’s requirements that are not

addressed by the Solution Set packages as delivered, and to recommend how these

gaps will be handled. If no solution exists, the SI will provide information sufficient to

allow integration with a third party solution or to otherwise provide for the custom

development of the same or similar functionality.

3.3.6 Data Conversion

The SI will be responsible for mapping all agreed upon legacy data from GUC legacy

systems into the newly configured and customized system(s). GUC will provide subject

matter experts to assist in conversion mapping activities and extraction of data from

GUC legacy systems. As part of this work effort, the SI will at a minimum:

Deliver a detailed Data Conversion Plan.

Produce documentation for all conversion programs and/or methods of

converting the required legacy data.

Design, develop, and test the data conversion process.

Manage and execute, with the assistance of GUC IT resources, the data

conversion process.

3.3.7 Interfaces

The SI will be responsible for ensuring that all required inbound and outbound interface

files are successfully produced, read and processed by the System. As part of this work

effort, the SI will produce, at a minimum:

Interface design documentation for all new or modified interface programs.

Design an interface architecture that is compliant with the GUC integration

architecture utilizing web services and real time interfaces whenever possible.


Develop a complete and thorough testing methodology of all inbound and

outbound interfaces to ensure accurate extraction of all data required for the

interface.

Develop and test the interfaces.

A detailed list of existing system interfaces are provided in APP-C GUC Interfaces. It is

expected that there will be consolidation of individual components during the

implementation projects.

3.3.8 Training Plans

The SI will design, create, and provide training plans for Project and GUC staff. As part

of this implementation effort, the SI will:

Produce a detailed training strategy including comprehensive course catalog that

lists all training classes required for the implementation project.

Produce a training strategy/process that ensures that all users are trained in their

roles prior to go-live. This training strategy/process should state whether the

approach to be used for training is a “train the trainer” approach or a “train

everyone” approach.

Produce as part of the training plan the detailed steps that will be used for

knowledge transfer to GUC technical personnel so that GUC can be self-

sustaining in the ongoing technical support of the installed solution.

Produce a detailed audience analysis identifying the types of users and their

associated training needs. The detailed audience analysis should also identify

the training delivery method best suited to each audience and the size of the

training effort.

Produce a comprehensive training curriculum and the associated logistical

support that will work in conjunction with the Master Schedule and ensure that

training has been completed for users prior to go-live.

Produce an evaluation process for all training courses which will ensure that

each course establishes the required skill level for the end user of the new

System and/or technical support of the System.

The training strategy shall include at a minimum:

A sustainable learning approach to refresh skills and meet needs of new users

Role-based learning curriculum


A method of validating that users have accessed and used the training sandbox

A method of validating role-based curriculum and schedules to ensure relevancy,

gain support and meet business needs

Providing end-users with a clear understanding of:

1. The purpose, importance, and benefits of adopting the Solution Set and

new business processes

2. The “To-Be” or future business processes taking into account Utility

industry standard practices

3. Role requirements (i.e., "who will do what") at go-live and beyond

4. How to use the system through hands-on exercises and access to a

sandbox

5. Integration across role and functional areas

6. The impact of their role on the process

7. How to find appropriate help

3.3.9 Roles and Responsibilities

The GUC Project Manager and Functional Area Team Leads will be responsible

for guiding overall project management.

The SI will be responsible for managing the day to day activities and tasks

necessary to complete each implementation phase.

The SI may wish to partner with specialist consultancy/service providers or

broker a team arrangement with subcontractors to accomplish the system

implementation. However, the SI as prime contractor shall retain responsibility for

delivery and performance.

The SI shall supply design, customization, documentation and implementation

planning for the Solution Set that meets the specific requirements contained in

this RFP.

The SI shall lead the design/planning workshops and document the high-level

process designs and decisions by participants.


The SI shall supply an implementation path and strategy to retire current

applications.

The SI will be responsible, with the assistance of GUC IT, for establishing at least

five system environments. These environments are: Development, Conversion,

Test, Training, and Production.

The SI shall ensure that the proposed design solution to the maximum extent

possible provides a path for the Solution Set enhancement packages and

upgrades.

The SI shall supply technical support to implement interfaces with mobile

computers, iPads, hand held devices, RFID, bar code, scanning and other

electronic monitoring equipment that may be integrated for use with the “to be”

solution.

The SI shall specify appropriate end user training and materials.

The SI shall supply complete integration planning, design and comprehensive

scope of work to implement all technologies and interfacing systems required to

support the Solution Set.

The SI will interface as necessary with the GUC management, members of the

project teams and Subject Matter Experts.

The SI shall provide experienced consultants with sufficient knowledge of the

proposed Solution Set such that the SI can suggest alternatives to custom

development and thereby maximize use of existing code.

The SI shall be responsible for training their own staff and subcontractors, GUC

shall not bear any costs associated with the training of the SI or SI subcontractor

staff.

3.3.10 GUC Furnished Services

GUC shall provide business expertise and resources.

GUC shall provide a work area.

GUC shall provide a secure Local Area Network access that allows VPN access

out of GUC’s network, and VPN access to GUC’s network.

If a GUC workstation or laptop is used, the workstation shall not be removed from

GUC.


GUC shall provide hardware to support all required environments.

GUC shall provide access to existing applications, as required to complete the

project.

3.3.11 Technical Documentation and Requirements

The following describes the minimal set of documentation to be provided by the SI

during the project. Additional documents based on the SI methodology are expected.

Document Description

Design Workshop Summary The workshop summary includes a comprehensive

listing of each workshop held by functional area and

the key objectives of the workshop.

To-Be Business Process

Maps

The Business Process maps identify the core set of

transactions for the baseline implementation of the

solution set. Throughout the phases, the project team

will adjust the maps as necessary when the solution

matures through the development lifecycle. The maps

from design serve as the starting point for transaction

identification and will also be used for identification of

training documentation, customization, interface,

conversion, security and testing materials.

Communication Plan

Risk Management Plan

Issue Management Plan

Scope Management Plan

Project Work Plan (MS

Project format)

Organization Change

Management Assessment

and Action Plan

Data Migration Plan Includes plans for Extraction, Transformation, Load,

Validation, and Balancing/Audit


Document Description

Development Procedures

and Conceptual Design of

Development

Includes

o System Design Standards

o Current application retirement plan

o Software Development Plan

o Alternatives to Custom Development

o Cost Projection for each Approved

customization

Security Requirements Includes

o Authorization Requirements and Design

o Portal User Management Concept

o Security Concept

o User Role Requirements

Technical Architecture

Design and Project

Installation

Includes

o Technical and Integration Design

o System Interface Design Document

o Form and Report Design

o Development Environment

o System Administration Procedures

o Portal User Interface Design and

Personalization Concept

o Mobile Device Management

o Support Procedures

o Hardware, Network, and Database

configurations


4 SI Response Content and Format

Emphasis should be placed on conformance to the RFP instructions and templates,

responsiveness to requirements, and completeness and clarity of content. Elaborate

proposals are neither necessary nor desirable. If the Offeror’s Proposal is presented in

a fashion that makes evaluation difficult or overly time-consuming, points will be lost in

the evaluation process. Each proposal page should be numbered for ease of reference.

Proposals should include responses to all items listed below. Each proposal response

must explicitly reference the corresponding RFP section number. Proposals that do not

address these questions risk being disqualified.

4.1 Executive Summary

The proposal must include an Executive Summary of the Offeror’s proposal. This

Executive Summary should concisely convey what the Offeror sees as the most

important messages of the proposal, the factors that differentiate the Offeror’s solution,

and the critical points for GUC to consider in its implementation. GUC expects the

Executive summary to be no longer than two pages.

4.2 Qualifications and Experience

The Offeror must include in its proposal a summary of its qualifications and experience,

including the following:

Company Information for Prime Contractor and each Subcontracted

organization

o Provide legal name of organization, address, telephone and fax numbers

o Provide name of primary contact, title, telephone number and email

address

o Type of organization (corporation, partnership, proprietorship or joint

venture)

o Date Offeror entity was founded

o Offeror’s corporate mission and vision statements

o The industry or regional focus that the firm’s services partnership is based

upon


o Provide audited Respondent’s financial statements for the past three

years

o Dun & Bradstreet numbers

References for Prime Contractor and each Subcontracted organization

o Provide at least three references from the United States, preferably utility

customers with a similar implementation as GUC.

o Additional references are to be provided for each subcontracted

organization that will add five or more resources to the project (“material

subcontractors”). These references should preferably be utility clients with

similar implementations as GUC. The references for subcontractors must

show the scope of work they provided for the referenced account, and it

should be similar to the scope of work the subcontractor is being proposed

to do at GUC.

o Reference information to be provided for the Prime contractor and each

material subcontractor should include:

Client name, type of utility (electric utility, natural gas distribution,

water, wastewater, etc.) and customer base

Contact name, title, address, telephone and email address

Prime contractor or subcontractor

Project details including duration (days), functional areas (modules

implemented by contractor), prime contractor or subcontractor’s

roles and installation date

Current product version in production

Performance / cost saving metrics (if available)

Certification

o Joint or combined proposals by firms or companies must be certified on

behalf of each participant by a responsible officer.

Other

o Provide any additional information about the Offeror’s experience and

qualifications to be the prime contractor for GUC including:


Historical implementation success in electric, natural gas, water,

and waste water utilities

Industry knowledge, experience and time since last implemented

4.3 Methodology

The Offeror must include in its proposal the following information regarding its proposed

methodology in providing services:

Describe the proposed duration and methodology for the Solution Set

implementation.

Project Management:

o Describe the critical factors for success for the proposed project.

o Describe the key performance indicators (KPI) the Offeror will use

to monitor the project. At a minimum, KPI’s shall address Scope,

Schedule, Budget, and Quality. Provide sample project reports.

o Describe the method of regaining schedule compliance should

slippage occur.

o Describe the Offeror’s scope control plan/process.

o Describe the methodology proposed for Risk Management.

o Identify and describe the methodology proposed for post-

implementation support.

o Describe the roles and responsibilities for both the SI and the GUC

personnel for the project. Include a detailed list of activities that the

GUC staff is expected to undertake.

Organizational Change Management:

o Describe the methodology proposed for Business Transformation

Management/Organizational Change Management.

Functional:


o Describe the methodology proposed for solution design. Be as

specific as possible on how GUC’s requirements will be

mapped/broken down into business processes, how business

processes will be covered in workshops, how a

sandbox/development system will or will not be used during design,

and what work products will be delivered by the end of design.

GUC is open to and interested in leveraging the value and

efficiencies of pre-configured solutions that are relevant to the

business processes and software being implemented. If proposing

a pre-configured or partially configured solution, please be specific

on the scope of the existing configuration, how it would be

leveraged during design, where the cost savings/efficiency gains

would be, the level of documentation included for the pre-

configured components, and how the use of pre-configured

components has been incorporated into the project timeline and/or

resource plan.

o Identify and describe the methodology proposed for system

configuration. Include significant inputs, process steps, and

outputs.

o Identify and describe the methodology proposed for software

testing. Include significant inputs, process steps, and outputs.

o Identify and describe the methodology proposed for staff training.

Include significant inputs, process steps, and outputs.

Technical

o Identify and describe the methodology proposed for development

(reports, interfaces, enhancements, letters, workflow). Include

significant inputs, process steps, and outputs.

o Identify and describe the methodology proposed for data

conversion. Include significant inputs, process steps, and outputs.

Provide a clear and thorough description of all assumptions made.

4.4 Project Plan

The Offeror must provide a preliminary Project Work Plan that describes the proposed

schedule of activities to be performed. The plan must indicate the proposed activities,


schedule and resource commitments of both GUC and the SI. The Plan must be

furnished in both hard copy and Microsoft Project format. In the event of a discrepancy,

the hard copy shall govern.

Provide the hierarchical outline (work breakdown structure) for major

activities included in the project. Work Breakdown Structure shall be to at

least Level 2: PMI's Practice Standard for Work Breakdown Structures.

Provide a Gantt chart representing key milestones, project activities, and

deliverables.

Describe the methods that were used to optimize the schedule.

Explain how the the work plan will be used to track progress of the project

and how progress is measured.

The methodology for data conversion (the “how”) should be described in

section 4.3. In this section, describe how that conversion methodology fits

within the proposed schedule of the overall project and project phases (the

“when”). Highlight significant predecessor activities, successor activities,

and stage gates.

The methodology for solution design (the “how”) should be described in

section 4.3. In this section, describe how that methodology fits within the

proposed schedule of the overall project and project phases (the “when”).

Highlight significant predecessor activities, successor activities, and stage

gates.

The methodology for system configuration (the “how”) should be described

in section 4.3. In this section, describe how that configuration

methodology fits within the proposed schedule of the overall project and

project phases (the “when”). Highlight significant predecessor activities,

successor activities, and stage gates.

The methodology for development (the “how”) should be described in

section 4.3. In this section, describe how that development methodology

fits within the proposed schedule of the overall project and project phases

(the “when”). Highlight significant predecessor activities, successor

activities, and stage gates.


The methodology for testing (the “how”) should be described in section

4.3. In this section, describe how that testing methodology fits within the

proposed schedule of the overall project and project phases (the “when”).

Highlight significant predecessor activities, successor activities, and stage

gates.

The methodology for user training (the “how”) should be described in

section 4.3. In this section, describe how that user training methodology

fits within the proposed schedule of the overall project and project phases

(the “when”). Highlight significant predecessor activities, successor

activities, and stage gates.

If not covered in above, describe how legacy system integration fits within

the overall project plan.

4.5 Proposed Staffing

Offeror should enclose a resume of each known person projected to be assigned to the

project. Offeror should denote or emphasize staff experience and roles in any utility

projects similar to what GUC is asking for. Offeror should stipulate the proposed “key

resources” that will not be removed from the project nor will their level of participation be

lessened without prior written approval from GUC. Offeror should provide mitigation

plans for loss of key project members. Offeror should describe existing or potential

contractual obligations for each proposed staff member and the Offeror’s strategy for

dealing with such situations. Should Offeror not currently have available all personnel or

resources required for completing the project, a statement should be included which

specifies the Offeror’s plan to acquire necessary staff and resources.

Additionally, the following should be covered:

Provide a proposed staffing plan indicating the number, characteristics,

and schedule for the consultants proposed to support the project.

Provide a proposed GUC staffing plan indicating the number,

characteristics, and schedule for the GUC employees expected to support

the project.

GUC is open to having offshore/nearshore resources perform portions of

the implementation. The following criteria and information must be

provided if offshore/nearshore resources are being proposed:


o The Prime Contractor will be responsible for the timeliness and quality of

the work done by the offshore/nearshore organization.

o The Prime Contractor must disclose the nature of the relationship between

the Prime Contractor and the offshore/nearshore provider (i.e. wholly

owned subsidiary, third party contractor, partial owner etc.)

o The Prime Contractor should discuss how the work will be managed by

the Prime Contractor and the offshore/nearshore provider.

o The Prime Contractor must disclose what country or countries the work

will be done in by the offshore/nearshore provider.

o The Prime Contractor must disclose how knowledge transfer will be

provided to GUC.

Provide certifications, education and experience in the Solution Set

products.

Provide the number of certified Solution Set consultants in the SI’s pool,

by functional area and skill level. Note how many of these consultants

have utilities experience, and how many have electric, water, wastewater

and natural gas experience.

Provide anticipated and historical consultant turnover rates.

Discuss the offeror’s intent to subcontract for implementation personnel.

Specifically, describe the functions to be subcontracted and the expertise

and credentials required from the subcontractor. Identify each

subcontractor company by name and location.

Provide the number of certified Solution Set consultants available to the SI

from subcontractors, by functional area and skill level. Note how many of

these consultants have utility experience, electric, water, wastewater and

natural gas experience.

Identify the specific individual that will be proposed as project manager,

and provide his or her resume, qualifications, background, and references

(more than one candidate may be proposed.)

For key personnel assigned to the project, identify their role/position and

anticipated duration of participation on the project.


Describe the process by which the Offeror requests the removal or a

change of a GUC resource on the project.

Describe the process by which GUC requests the removal of a consultant

(prime or subcontractor) from the GUC project.

4.6 Price Proposal

GUC expects each Offeror to present its best price and documented

pricing methodology based on the requirements documented within this

RFP. GUC further expects each Offeror to complete the pricing workbook

(SI Pricing.xls) attached to this RFP.

GUC expects the project to have multiple phases, which are being

generically referred to as Planning, Analysis & Functional Design,

Configuration & Development, Testing, Transition, and Production

Support. GUC desires Time and Material pricing for the Planning and

Analysis & Functional Design phases, and Fixed Price pricing that will be

set at the end of functional design for the remainder of the project. Offeror

should incorporate this pricing method into their overall pricing estimate.

Provide a separate pricing proposal for travel-related expenses and the

rates and assumptions included in developing this proposal. Travel

expenses should not be included in the section above. An optional

template for Travel Assumptions is provided in the document SI

Pricing.xls. Offerors may use this template or their own format for Travel

Assumptions; all assumptions must be clearly documented.

Itemize any cost items that are not included in the price proposal.

Define all project roles, estimated hours by project role and provide a

matrix of hourly rates for each role – at various skill levels and for both

functional and technical consultants. This matrix will serve as the

maximum rates for negotiated work and services beyond the scope of the

Offeror’s proposal, and for additional contracted programming services if

necessary. The Offeror is allowed to use its own format or template for

responding to this data request.

Describe the Offeror’s procedure for pricing change orders.


Provide fiscal year annual cost estimates based on a project initiation date

of July 14, 2014, and lasting over a 3-year effort projection. GUC’s fiscal

year starts July 1. In addition to the above, respondents are encouraged

to present contract pricing strategies that would best fit their ability to

maintain schedule and reduce costs through an incentive based contract.

In all cases of pricing, it is incumbent on the Offeror to adequately explain

how the pricing will work. GUC must have a clear understanding of the

proposed software’s solution’s Total Cost of Ownership.

4.7 Specified Agreement Concepts

Offerors are expected to returned completed and signed copies of the following

attachments:

APP-G North Carolina E-Verify Statement

APP-H Certified Good Faith Statement

Include proposed replacement language in all cases where an exception is being taken.

The inclusion of contract-related forms shall in no way be construed as an award of a

contract for the services described in this RFP, or any portion thereof, or as an intention

to award a contract. GUC reserves the right to alter, amend or delete any portion of

these forms, to exclude any form, or to require additional forms not listed herein prior to

execution of a contract.

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