# Presentation: 840815

## RFPs & Procurement

## Reuse!   Revise!

- Don't Reinvent!

**Notes:**
Just a quick comment before we get started -- As we go through this discussion on RFPs and Procurement, you’re going to hear a lot of familiar terms  - like Functional Requirements Document, or Management Plan.  These are terms you heard earlier in the session on IAPDs.   I hope you’ll begin to see that many of the documents or chapters that you created already are the tools that you will use again and again throughout the process of getting the system that you want.  

## Learning Objectives

- The Power of the RFP – Getting What YOU want
- Open Competition & Conflicts of Interest
- Essential Components of an RFP
- The Importance of Being Specific
- Contractor Selection Criteria
- Bid Scoring
- The Contract is Your Protection

- RFP

-     IFB

- RFB

- IFP

- RFQ

**Notes:**
Invitation For Bids....Request For Bids.....Invitation For Proposals......Request For Quotations....
A lot of different terms are used by different states or organizations to mean a competitive bidding procurement process.  We’re going to use RFP for our purposes, to mean any of these.

## 		 Planning

- Development

- Project Management

- Quality Assurance

- IV&V

- Implementation Specialties

**A World of Contractors**

**Notes:**
Contractors can fill a variety of roles in a project, so RFPs may come up throughout the SDLC.

Tell what IV&V is – Independent Verification and Validation.

## FNS Thresholds for RFP Approval

- FSP > $5M total acquisition cost
- WIC > $100K total acquisition                             		cost
- FSP > $1M total acquisition cost
- WIC > $100K total acquisition    			cost

- Competitive {

- Non-competitive  {

## FNS Timeframes

- 60 DAYS

**Notes:**
For any procurement, you need to build 60 days into your timeline for the review of any FNS-required document.  If you submit a planning document that assumes shorter review times, that’s one of the first things that we’ll probably ask you to revise in your timeline.  We try to beat our own deadline whenever possible, but... 

## 50 States 
x 2 programs (WIC & FSP)
+ states with multiple systems 
+ WIC ITOs & US territories
x ~3-6 docs/project
÷ 4 of us
----------------
60 days

- x 2 programs (WIC & FSP)
- + states with multiple systems
- + WIC ITOs & US territories
- x ~3-6 docs/project
- ÷ 4 of us
- ----------------
- 60 days

**Notes:**
If you do the math, we often need the 60 days.  Just plan on it.  We are held accountable for that.

## 
HHS
Easier on you if we talk and agree!

- HHS
- Easier on you if we talk and agree!

**Notes:**
Another reason why we need that 60 days:  We want to TRY to be consistent with our friends at ACF and CMS – for you Food Stampers. It’s better for you if we talk to each other as we are reviewing, and try to give you a coordinated response.  

## Slide 10

**Notes:**
So now lets get back to the interesting stuff.  When you are beginning the process of getting a new computer system, it’s like setting off on a journey.  It’s going to be a long journey, and you are going to need lots of people.  So you are going to need THREE SHIPS.

## 
Stewardship

			Ownership

						Partnership

- Stewardship
- 			**Ownership**
- 						Partnership

**Notes:**
For those of you who didn’t learn this in Elementary school – this is actually the translation of Pinta, Nina and Santa Maria!

## 

Stewardship									

- Stewardship

**Notes:**
When you are responsible for spending State and Federal dollars, MILLIONS of dollars, you have to have a strong commitment to stewardship.  It’s different in WIC and FS, but both need to have a strong sense of stewardship.  In Food Stamps, there are state dollars involved, and the project leadership is likely accountable to department heads, the governor, the legislature, or ALL of these, to show fiscal responsibility.  In WIC, your accountability is to your fellow WIC state agencies.  In WIC, funding is a zero sum game.  Since it’s a limited grant program, every dollar that is wasted in one state, is basically at the expense of others who might have been able to use it more effectively.  And of course, both are accountable for Federal funds – to FNS, to auditors, to congress, to the public and to the press.

## 

				Partnership

- 				Partnership

**Notes:**
Partnership is critical.  Projects are all about partnerships – with your procurement office, your technology experts, your program policy experts, your financial people, your advocacy groups, with FNS and more.  And some of the most important partnerships are with your contractors.  You’ll work with them more closely than you could ever imagine.  You’ll wish you had one of those little bank suction tubes to get documents back and forth instantly between their offices and yours, 

NEXT SLIDE

- Scotty, beam me a copy of the latest change order. And some coffee.

**Notes:**
...and little STAR TREK communicators on your lapel.  You’ll love them and you’ll hate them.  You’ll depend on them.  People who may have never set foot in a poor neighborhood, much less a Food Stamp local office will be trying to understand every intricacy of how mind-boggling federal and state policy works in real life.  In WIC, software developers who don’t have children or grocery shop are about to learn more about breastfeeding and the price of formula than they ever wanted to know!  

## Ownership

**Notes:**
But the most important ship in your fleet, your FLAGSHIP, is OWNERSHIP.  You own this project.  You can hire one contractor to help you plan it, another to be your project manager, another to build it for you, another to monitor the quality of the results, and so on.  Indiana is working with a coalition of ...How many companies?  But YOU HAVE TO OWN IT.  Yes, you hire contractors because you don’t have the time, the skills, the staff, the resources, to do all these things yourself.  If you knew how to build a system, or do testing, or write federally approvable documents, you wouldn’t have to hire them.  But you do need them.  You do have to rely on them.  But you can’t turn over the helm of the ship to them.  When a state sets up a web of contractors and then thinks that all that expertise will take care of itself, and look out for the state’s interests – that’s when projects start to sink.  So we’re going to talk in this session about how to write your RFPs and handle the procurement process in a way that helps you keep control of your flagship.  Helps you keep OWNERSHIP of your project right from the start.  

## Agency leaders

**Agency leaders**

**have left the ship.**

**I’m a mid-level**

**career bureaucrat**

**trying to hold on**

**to ownership**

**of this project**

**with one policy specialist**

**and a part time**

**IT guy.**

**PIRATES ON STARBOARD!**

**Notes:**
By the way - I’m pretty sure this is the nautical semaphore flag signal for
MY AGENCY LEADERS 
HAVE LEFT THE SHIP 
I’M A MID-LEVEL 
CAREER BUREAUCRAT 
TRYING TO HOLD ON
TO OWNERSHIP 
OF THIS PROJECT
 WITH ONE POLICY SPECIALIST 
AND A PART TIME 
IT GUY. 
 PIRATES ON STARBOARD.  
This would be a good time to send a signal to FNS!

## 				YOU need:

- Knowledge
- Confidence
- Backing

**Notes:**
You DON’T have to have all the knowledge and skills that your contractors do – but you DO have to have enough knowledge, expertise, and confidence, and BACKING to:

## 
Know what you want
Describe it accurately
Recognize what resources you need to hire
Describe them accurately
Hire the contractor that has the right stuff
Use tools to hold contractor accountable

- Know what you want
- Describe it accurately
- Recognize what resources you need to hire
- Describe them accurately
- Hire the contractor that has the right stuff
- Use tools to hold contractor accountable

**State staff MUST:**

**Notes:**
KNOW WHAT YOU WANT
Describe it accurately – this is what goes into your RFP
Recognize what resources you’ll need to hire – this means having a clear and complete grasp of what resources, skills and strengths you already have
Describe them accurately – if you can’t describe the skills you expect your contractor to have, choosing one is like pin the tail on the donkey - blindfolded
Recognize when a contractor has it – this means meaningful selection criteria, a logical points system, correct weights for each of your criteria, and a selection team that is trained and committed
Use the tools you created!  You put careful legal wording into your RFP and contract, along with a lot of time, and a little blood!   All that work, and blood, and legal language, is there to protect you.  Write it as if you are going to need it!  And when or if you do – USE IT!  

**What **_**you**_** want**
**Reasonable cost**
**Low risk**
**Reliable outcome**
**Happy Execs**
**On time**
**Happy customers**
**No bad press**

**What **_**they**_** want**

**Notes:**
Don’t get me wrong.  All the things that you want are what contractors have to achieve in order to make a profit.  If you aren’t happy, if your execs aren’t happy, if your project isn’t a success, then they can’t market that success to other customers and win more contracts, and make more profit.  Good companies know that your success is their success.  But they are a company, not a non-profit, for a reason. They are not in business to reduce YOUR risk!  They are not in business to feed America.  You are.  They are in business to make a profit at planning, or developing, or implementing, or evaluating computer systems.  Don’t confuse your goals with theirs. YOU CAN BE SURE THEY WON’T.  They are your partners, and they want that to be a successful partnership as much as you do.  But they will never lose sight of their objective.  Don’t lose sight of yours and don’t forget that theirs and yours are not the same thing.  

## 		What we want 

- Fair and                  competition
- Stewardship of Federal funds
- A process that results in access & integrity in benefit delivery
- A process that holds up to legal challenges
- Evidence that you are in control of your destiny

**HINT: **
**Use the RFP Checklist in 901!**

**Notes:**
Just for the record....
We are your partners too.  Contrary to how it might feel when we are picking apart your RFP, we are on the same side as you.  It IS our job to feed America.  
(READ THE BULLETS)
 I’m going to use this nice green graphic to point out all the places where OPEN competition is in danger during the procurement process.

## RFP =

- Getting What YOU Want

**Notes:**
If you don’t do it right – you likely won’t get what you want.  

**Planning RFP**
**vs.**
**Development/Implementation RFP**

**Notes:**
First, lets distinguish between a planning RFP and a development or imp RFP, or any others that come later in the process.

## 
   Used to hire professional services to help a State agency plan the project thoroughly, prepare the required documents, and secure state and federal approvals.  

-    Used to hire professional services to help a State agency plan the project thoroughly, prepare the required documents, and secure state and federal approvals.

**Planning RFP**

## DIY

**Notes:**
The planning RFP may be the only RFP you really do have to write YOURSELF.  You can’t hire somebody to write it for you, without doing some kind of procurement, like an RFP. 

 In the beginning, there is you, and you have to do the first step yourself to get the help.  But this is a good thing, because a planning RFP is a lot simpler than a development or implementation RFP.  It’s good practice for you to understand how an RFP needs to be structured, what you need to include, how to describe your needs and requirements carefully, how to select a contractor, and so on.  You’ll work with your procurement office and establish that relationship that will become even more critical when you get to the bigger procurements.  

FNS can share examples from other states.

## The Exception to the Rule:
  State blanket purchase agreements or master contracts

-   State blanket purchase agreements or master contracts

**Notes:**
States usually have a list of contractors or suppliers that have already been through a competitive process and been pre-qualified to provide products or services through a task order or purchase order.  This is a good time to talk about them, so we can clarify how they can and cannot be used in Federally funded procurements.  

## If the original contract or master agreement:
Was competitive  
Included THIS type of work
Had scope or $$ parameters

   Often used for hardware purchases or small consulting tasks, such as assistance with writing a small scope RFP

- Was competitive
- Included THIS type of work
- Had scope or $$ parameters
-    Often used for hardware purchases or small consulting tasks, such as assistance with writing a small scope RFP

## If the original contract or agreement:
Wasn’t competitive, but just a process of signing up on a list or meeting minor qualifications
Was for unrelated services

Not meant for major procurements!

- Wasn’t competitive, but just a process of signing up on a list or meeting minor qualifications
- Was for unrelated services
- Not meant for major procurements!

## Blanket purchase agreements or master contracts should not allow 
Conflicts of Interest

- Conflicts of Interest

**Notes:**
So, you may not have to write that first RFP, to get a planning contractor, yourself.  But BEWARE conflicts of interest! (CLICK FOR MOTION EFFECT)  You can’t choose a contractor off your master agreement list and have them write an RFP for professional services, and then allow them to BID on that RFP.  

##  All Federally funded procurements must be ...

(No unfair advantages in the bidding process)

- (No unfair advantages in the bidding process)

**Contractor who develops requirements, specifications, or tasks, or writes the RFP...**

**Bid on that work**

**Notes:**
Similarly, you can’t have one contractor write the requirements, specifications, roles or tasks, or the RFP, for other contracted roles such as a development contractor, QA contractor, or project manager, and then bid on those jobs.  They clearly have an unfair advantage.  

**Option #1**
- All possible roles or functions
- In one RFP at the beginning
- All bidders must bid on all the parts, priced individually
- State can pick and choose

**OR**

- TRICKIER
- (**AND NOT APPLICABLE TO THE DEVELOPMENT CONTRACTOR!)**

**Notes:**
There’s really about 2 ways to protect against conflict of interest in contracting roles...
Either:
Describe all the roles in the initial procurement, so that all bidders have equal opportunity to bid on the whole package.

This option can be tricky.  Why?  Because at the very beginning, before you’ve even hired a planning contractor, you don’t know yet how your project is going to go.  You don’t know how big it will be, the scope, the timeframe, the cost.  You started out needing a planning contractor to help you figure that out, right?  But how can you know NOW what services you might need LATER from a project manager, or a QA contractor, or a business process consultant, or whatever.  How can you accurately define your needs now for roles that come later, when you haven’t planned your project yet????  You can do it, but it requires a lot of homework on your part, to define your needs accurately before you really know where your project is headed.  

**Option #2**
- Make it clear in the first RFP that the winner will help define other roles and that they will NOT be eligible to bid on those functions.

**Notes:**
Keep it easy!!  

Make it clear in the first procurement that the winning contractor will help define other roles and responsibilities, tasks and functions that they will not be eligible to bid on 

Just remember, you can NEVER...

## The same contractor should

- NEVER
- define the work and
- then bid on it
- 				do the work, and 				then evaluate it.

**OR**

## So far we know...

- FNS thresholds and 60 day review time
- The importance of project OWNERSHIP
- An RFP is to get you what YOU want
- The allowable uses of a master contract
- The pitfalls of conflicts of interest
- FNS’s obsession with                   competition

**Notes:**
So – let’s summarize what we know so far:
(READ THE POINTS)
Now let’s get into the nuts and bolts of what goes into an RFP...

HAND OFF TO GREGG

## Implementation RFP

- Used to hire professional and technical skill sets to design a new system, write or adapt the software, produce documentation, and test and implement the system.

**Notes:**
A few slides back we had the purpose of a PLANNING RFP.  Now we’re going to talk about an RFP for development or transfer and implementation. 
The things we’ve said about fair and open competition, and conflicts of interest apply to ANY RFP.  

But now, as we go through the discussion about the components of an RFP, and putting together a quality document, try to keep in mind how these things would be slightly adapted if you were writing an RFP for planning, or for QA or other kinds of consultative services.  Ok?  Here we go!

## Components of an RFP

- Introduction & Overview
- Current processing environment
- Workload data
- New system environment (including projected growth)

**Hint:  This stuff is in 901’s procurement chapter!**

- 1

**Notes:**
WE HAVE 5 SLIDES OF “COMPONENTS”
The first components is the introduction and overview...
Current processing environment – Not just your TECHNICAL environment.  
Tell them: 
who you are, 
what your mission is,
 how you do business, 
where you operate, 
who you serve, 
what your product is 
how you deliver it.  
what the operating system is, the database platform, applications used, hardware configuration, and components that must remain compatible.  
why you need to replace it.  Be clear and specific.
what the workload data is – Statistics of online transactions – volumes of regular and peak loads. How many workers, how many customers, how many on the system at one time, how many transactions per minute, hour or day, how big is the current database? Estimates for incremental growth over the life of the new system.
New system environment – what operating system, architecture and database platform you want.  Do you want it web-based?  Do you want it housed in your central data center?  Be as specific and descriptive as possible.
Let’s pause a minute to talk about how this would be different if it were an RFP for planning services – You would still want to describe your current environment, wouldn’t you?  Maybe not with all the technical details, but certainly with the operational details.  You wouldn’t be able to describe your desired new system environment, because you haven’t planned it yet.  You’re just trying to hire the planning contractor, right.  So your description of what you think your future looks like will be much less detailed in the planning RFP.  Just a rough sketch.

## Components of an RFP

- Solicitation Instructions and Conditions
- “Boilerplate” language – legal and purchasing requirements
- Proposal structure and content
*Procurement* schedule
- Q&A process
- Submission process

- 2

**Notes:**
The next component is the Solicitation Instructions and Conditions...

Proposal Structure and Content—Describes expected proposal appearance and organization, attachments, supplements, and other supporting documentation you want. 
Detailed procurement schedule.  Rough project schedule is later.

All of these things would be nearly the same no matter what kind of services you are procuring through this RFP.

## Components of an RFP

- Statement of Work (SOW) – the MEAT!
- Desired project schedule
- Deliverables
- Installation, Conversion, Maintenance requirements
- Personnel requirements
- Functional requirements

- 3

**Notes:**
So this is where you have to devote serious time and effort to describing 
what you want, 
how you want it to look and function, 
what your expect your contractor to do, and 
what defines a successful outcome.  
You say how long you think it should take, and why.  
You define the level of professional staff you expect to get, and your requirements for staff that is offered to you to STAY on your project .
You outline all the tasks you want done – not just the deliverables, but the performance requirements in addition to concrete deliverables.

## Don’t start from scratch!

**Did they get what they asked for?**

**How did they stay on schedule?**

**Did they win that lawsuit?**

**Only 3 change orders?!**

**Notes:**
You don’t have to start from scratch.  You can’t COPY another state’s RFP, but you CAN LEARN A LOT by reading and adapting if you don’t know where to begin to describe your system requirements.  And you can use another states detailed functional design document as a guide too, if there is a specific state model that you’d like to transfer or adapt.  
And here’s an important aspect of looking at other state’s RFPs – Ask other states if 
 CLICK FLY they got the results they originally asked for, 
CLICK FLY with relatively few change orders,   
CLICK FLY close to their original budget and schedule, or   
CLICK FLY won the disagreements or even legal battles that occurred during the process.  
If they did all that, it means they wrote a strong, accurate RFP, managed their project well and enforced the terms of their contract.  

##  FReD

**Notes:**
Before we go on, I want to take just a minute to talk about FReD.  You’ll remember the discussion of the Functional Requirements Document from the session on IAPDs.  And remember I just said that you can learn a lot from looking at other states’ RFPs.  But it’s extremely important to ADAPT other examples to your needs.  

The FRD is where you describe all of the inputs into your system, the processes and the outputs.  And while it’s true that there are a lot of similarities among states, just as there are a lot of Freds in the world, none of them is exactly like you.  In WIC, there’s the model FReD provided by FNS.  It’s also not exactly like you.  If you just use the model FReD, it won’t be specific enough about YOUR requirements. 

The world is full of Freds!  Some of them have many fine qualities.  But ...

## Slide 40

**Notes:**
Some don’t.  Wouldn’t it be a shame if you got the wrong FReD!

## Tasks and Deliverables:

- Create a detailed project timeline
- Guide state through design or functional verification process
- Document requirements and tech specs
- Write or adapt the application code
- Create user and technical documentation
- Conduct testing
- Convert data from the old system
- Conduct or support training
- Operate or train the Help Desk

**Notes:**
So, here are some really basic examples of typical tasks and deliverables for a development and implementation contractor.

The statement of work is just as important if you are hiring consultant services, such as planning or QA, but instead of the work being conversion and testing, it would be things like developing the risk management plan and the work breakdown structure, or developing a QA plan and deliverable review process.

## Slide 42

**Notes:**
Here’s a clue!

If you can’t describe what you want, you are not ready to issue an RFP!  If you find yourself (or your planning contractor) preparing an RFP with a lot of vague language about “efficiency” and “effectiveness” and “better management tools” and “better customer service” and that leaves it up to the vendors to tell you what’s best for you – you are not ready to issue an RFP!  Those things are OUTCOMES, and yes, you need those in there too.  But they are not concrete requirements, tasks, deliverables, and FUNCTIONAL AND TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS.  

Remember that slide...

## RFP =

- Getting What YOU Want

**Notes:**
If you don’t do it right – you likely won’t get what you want.  

## 
Know what you want
Describe it accurately
Recognize what resources you need to hire
Describe them accurately

- Know what you want
- Describe it accurately
- Recognize what resources you need to hire
- Describe them accurately

**State staff ****MUST****:**

**Notes:**
If you can’t clearly articulate these things you’ll still get a system.  But it won’t be the system you need, at the price you can afford.  It may be the system that your planning contractor is most familiar with, so that’s what they described in the requirements.  Or it will be the system with the flashiest, most impressive bid.  Or it will be the system with the lowest price, and all that that implies.

## Slide 45

**Notes:**
Here’s another clue ...

## Rely on bidders’ questions
to clarify things you didn’t explain fully.

Bid the product they built for the last customer
Guess
Bid high enough to cover the unknowns

- to clarify things you didn’t explain fully.
- Bid the product they built for the last customer
- Guess
- Bid high enough to cover the unknowns

**Don't**

**Notes:**
Don’t rely on bidders to ask questions during the Q&A phase of the process to clarify anything that you didn’t describe well.  Some will.  
CLICK FLY Others will simply bid the product that they already have in another state.  
CLICK FLY  Others will fill in your gaps with guesses.  
CLICK FLY And still others will simply bid high enough to cover the unknowns you left in your requirements.  We’ll come back in a minute to recognizing lazy or persuasive bidding styles.

AND YOU CAN’T BLAME THEM!

## So what??? 

**Notes:**
So what, you ask?  What are the risks of not being specific enough?  Why can’t I let the bidders propose options? The industry has the experts, right?   ...

## 
“Pay me now or

Pay me later”

- “Pay me now or
- Pay me later”

**and**

**Notes:**
If you let vendors tell you what you need, there is a 100% chance that when you get into the actual process of going over your requirements and defining your system functionality during the design process, you will start to realize what you REALLY want and need, and your project will be awash in CHANGE ORDERS!  That “fixed price” contract you signed becomes only the beginning of what you will pay to get what you REALLY need, since you didn’t know up front.  

So, now I want you to picture the CRRREEEEEPIest character you know...

## Slide 49

**Notes:**
A dementor, for you Harry Potter fans...

## Slide 50

**Notes:**
Gollum – for Lord of the rings fans

## Slide 51

**Notes:**
Your mother in law

## Slide 52

**Notes:**
Now, whatever your creeeeepiest image is....

## Slide 53

**Notes:**
Picture that CREEP carrying away ALL YOUR MONEY.  That, my friends, is SCOPE CREEP!  And that is what happens when you aren’t clear and detailed in your RFP, and later, in your requirements definition.  So, keep that mental image of your scope creep, because Kathy is going to talk more about scope creep in our session later on project management.

To clarify: We are saying that scope creep, not the vendor, is the thief. 

## Components of an RFP

**Management Plan**
- Identify who the contractor will report to
- Describe the project management structure
- Define the type and frequency of status reports required
- Specify who will review and approval of work performed
- Clarify roles of state staff and other contractors

- 4

**Notes:**
Ok, back to the components of an RFP - #4 – The Management Plan
This is where you outline your own roles and responsibilities, and what the process will be for holding contractors accountable for their work
Who the contractor will report to
How often you expect formal and informal reporting
Any specific reporting tools or methods you want
How their work and deliverables will be evaluated and the basis on which they’ll be paid (We highly recommend that you have performance criteria besides just deliverables – such as staffing quality and consistency, communication quality and consistency, timeliness of responses, transparency of process, and so on)
And you’d ask bidders, as part of their proposal, to tell you THEIR management plan – how they manage their projects, their staff, their internal reporting structure, their tracking tools, etc.

## Components of an RFP

**Evaluation and Award Process**
- Identify evaluation criteria
- Specify weight or points for each one
- Describe the scoring process
- Specify the minimum technical score
- Explain how bidders will be notified

- 5

**Notes:**
If you are publishing your evaluation criteria bidders need to know what it will take to get this contract.  You should lay out your evaluation criteria so they can see what’s important to you.  Your criteria needs to be balanced, and should support what you said your requirements were. 
For example: 
It wouldn’t make any sense to say in the solicitation instructions that you want to see résumés for every level of staffing assigned to the project, right down to the janitor in their data center, and then assign no points to professional experience.  
Or requiring references of previous customers, and then assigning no points at all to that element. 
You cannot rank a vendor up or down in your evaluation of them on the basis of things that were not in your evaluation criteria.  
We’re going to do an exercise on selection criteria here shortly that will demonstrate the importance of good criteria and good points or weights.  

## Reuse!   Revise!

- Don't Reinvent!

**Notes:**
Remember this from the beginning of this discussion?  We mentioned that some of the documents that you create are used again and again throughout the project lifecycle. We’ve just talked about 2 of them.
The Functional requirements document has at least 4 lives: 
In your IAPD, where you described what you want your system to DO.  
In your RFP, maybe slightly improved or modified, maybe the same.  
In your bidders proposal, they will use it to prepare their proposal and describe your needs back to you accurately and in detail to prove they understand your project.  
In your development process, you’ll use your functional requirements to make sure that your contractor is designing/building what you asked for.
The Management plan:
In your IAPD, you first described roughly your state’s approach to managing the project and your expectations for your contractors’ management.  
In the RFP, you went into more detail about what you expect from vendors in terms of managing the project overall, including staffing, reporting to you, project management tools and methods, and so on.  
In their bids, they will propose their project management approach back to you.  You’ll agree on the details, and it will become part of your contract.  Later, that’s what you’ll hold them accountable to.  
So the things you are creating right from the beginning go on to actually guide and govern your project.

## 
DO

√ Ensure that RFPs contain enough detail to clearly define requirements. 

- DO
**√ ****Ensure that RFPs contain enough detail to clearly define requirements. **

**Notes:**
So, here are a few guidelines ...

## 
DO

√ Describe requirements and timeline expectations in specific terms to provide the contractor with adequate information to develop a responsive bid.

- DO
**√ ****Describe requirements and timeline expectations in specific terms to provide the contractor with adequate information to develop a responsive bid.**

## 
DO

√ Describe acceptable levels and measures of performance for products and/or deliverables. 

- DO
**√ ****Describe acceptable levels and measures of performance for products and/or deliverables.**

**Notes:**
Holding back a % of the payment until performance targets are met is one way hold the vendor accountable for results.

Note:  You can’t bill FNS for the full amount while you are holding back a part of the payment to assure performance.

**Notes:**
And since we are relying on mere mortals, who are busy with the full time jobs they already have...

## 
DO

√ Assign people with enough technical expertise to the evaluation panel 

√ Allow them enough time to really read and score all the proposals

√ Provide them training on how the process works and what the selection criteria mean

- DO
**√ ****Assign people with enough technical expertise to the evaluation panel **
**√ ****Allow them enough time to really read and score all the proposals**
**√ ****Provide them training on how the process works and what the selection criteria mean**

**Notes:**
(READ SLIDE FIRST) Beware of group think!  My definition of this is when everybody in the group assumes that somebody else has more time, more expertise or more technical or project understanding than you do.  So you notice something that might be a problem, in a document, in a process, in evaluating bids, in reviewing a deliverable, but you don’t say anything because you think that it’s just you.  You didn’t have time to read carefully, or you just don’t think you are very smart about this aspect of the project.  You let it go.  You know that if it was really important, somebody ELSE would notice it and bring it up.  But what if everybody’s doing that?  What if everybody is not bringing up their fears or concerns or questions, because they don’t want to be the one to slow down the process, or because they think it will make them look stupid, or because they think that’s somebody ELSE’s territory.  Isn’t that what happened on the space shuttle, when some people knew there was a problem with those little tiles, but they didn’t say anything.  DON’T ASSUME THAT “THE GROUP”  will catch a problem.  YOU are the group.  

## DO

**Describe the **_**performance**_** and other relevant requirements of the procurement.**
- DON’T
**Specify a “brand name” product instead of allowing “an equal” product to be offered, unless you’re talking about a state technical standard. **

**Notes:**
Unless a particular brand is required by state specifications.

## DON’T

**Place unreasonable requirements on firms to qualify to do business.**

- Keep it

**Notes:**
Can anybody think of an example of an unreasonable requirement?
How about requiring their firm to locate the entire project team in your city – what would be wrong with that? (PAUSE FOR ANSWERS)
How about requiring them to keep the entire project team on reserve for the entire life of the project, even though you won’t need technical doc writers until 9 months in, and trainers until 2 years in?

## DON’T

**Specify geographical preferences.**

**Notes:**
Anybody know why not?  

## DON’T

**Require unnecessary experience and excessive bonding **
**Include unlimited liability clauses **

**Notes:**
What would be an example of requiring unnecessary experience?
How about requiring 10 years experience in WIC systems as a minimum pass/fail requirement?  What would be wrong with that?
Don’t make something a pass/fail minimum requirement that should be on a points scale.  Sure, give more points for 10 years of experience than for 2 years.  But what if you require 10, and nobody bids, because all of the contractors out there have 7, 8, 5, 9, years?  We’ll come back to this point in a minute.

## DON’T

**Use noncompetitive pricing practices between firms or affiliated companies **
**Permit organizational conflicts of interest **
**Allow noncompetitive awards to consultants on retainer contracts **
**Take any arbitrary action in the procurement process **

**Notes:**
These are all about keeping the bidding process fair and open!!

Now I am going to turn it back over to Karen.

## 

Mandatory Criteria
vs.
Scored Factors

- Mandatory Criteria
- vs.
- Scored Factors

**Notes:**
Now let’s come back, just for a moment, to this question of unreasonable requirements for bidders.  We talked about requiring 10 years of experience.  There’s nothing wrong with wanting strong experience from your contractor, or with hiring  a contractor with the most experience.  But that’s different from REQUIRING a specific number of years of experience.  Can anybody tell me what I mean by that difference?  

Right, it’s like I said a few moments ago – if you require 10 years, then really good contractors with only 8 years might not bid.  Or you could get bidders with 10 years experience but whose other qualifications stink.  So number of years of experience is something that should be scored – more points for more years.  Less points for less years.  And calculated in with other qualifying factors.  It would be a mistake to make it a MANDATORY criterion, or “minimum mandatory requirement”.  Let me give you an example to clarify what things should be mandatory, and what things should be scored with different amounts of points.....

## The Nanny Interview

_***Minimum Mandatory Requirements***_
- At least 18 years old
- Has a driver’s license
- No arrests or convictions
- Can read
- Has taken CPR class

**Notes:**
Minimum requirements should be absolute non-negotiable, non-qualitative requirements.  If they can have a range of acceptable skill or experience, it should be a scored factor, with more points for better qualifications.  But for things that either they have ‘em or they don’t, - those are your minimum mandatory requirements.  For example, if you were hiring a nanny for your children, your minimum requirements might be:
(click to fly in the bullets)
These are yes/no conditions.  Either she has them or she doesn’t.  Without them, you won’t evaluate the nanny’s qualifications any further.  
In the world of RFPs and procurements, a proposal that doesn’t meat your MINIMUM MANDATORY REQUIREMENTS is called “Non-Responsive”, and you wouldn’t read any further.  This is really important because your team could spend DAYS reading a poor proposal, long after it’s obvious that it stinks, and can’t possibly meet your needs – because you didn’t define your mandatory minimums!  If you did, you can throw out a non-responsive bid and move on.  Many RFPs say, in the boilerplate language, that the state reserves the right to throw out “Non-responsive bids” but then they don’t say what constitutes non-responsive.  You have to spell it out.  

THEN, once you have candidates that have met these minimum requirements, you will go on to evaluate the things that demonstrate skill, experience, understanding of your needs, etc.  

## The Nanny Interview

_***Scored Factors***_
- Years of experience
- Number of children supervised at one time
- Experience with your children’s ages
- References from previous employers
- Formal education

**Notes:**
These are the things that each candidate will have a different amount of, and you will need to score accordingly. 

These are qualitative and quantitative, and can be measured.  The scores for each of these will vary, and you’ll decide which qualifiers are most important to you.  But you didn’t throw somebody out based on one of these factors.  This is NOT saying that all experience is the same, or that experience is the same as education.  You’d award more or less points for qualifications in each factor.  The best candidate will win if your criteria are fair.  

## 
Let’s Try It!

Minimum mandatory requirements
Determining and Weighting Scored Selection Criteria
Choosing the Best Proposal

- Let’s Try It!
- Minimum mandatory requirements
- Determining and Weighting Scored Selection Criteria
- Choosing the Best Proposal

**Notes:**
We’re going to do an exercise now, where we’ll work with 
CLICK TO FLY IN
I’m going to walk you through the instructions, and then we’ll do it.  
Your director has asked you to plan a meeting for a group of agency representatives.  As a part of the meeting, you are to provide LUNCH for an expected 40 attendees.  You have a budget of $300 to cover the meal.  In the spirit of the department’s new health initiative, you want to ensure a nutritious breakfast and remain within budget.

You’ll need to decide on the minimum mandatory requirements that the lunch provider has to meet before you’ll even evaluate their offer and price.  These are your YES/NO elements.  Either the caterer has them or they don’t.
As a group, what are a few examples of YES/NO criteria?  -- Must actually sell food.  Is ability to deliver a yes/no for you?  Or maybe you are willing to pick up?  Must be licensed to operate by the health department?
So those are some ideas.  You’ll choose a few like these of your own.  For the purposes of this exercise, you can assume all the food vendors have passed their health inspections!  

You’ll decide on the criteria that you’ll use to choose a lunch, and how important each one is – how much weight it will have in your decision.  These are the things that have quality or quantity.
As a group, what are some examples of scored criteria? --  Maybe nutrition?  Maybe appearance?  

You’ll divide up into groups of about 5-6 people to do this (NOT YET!!) , and you’ll have 10 minutes for this task. We’re passing out a worksheet (ONLY , not the menus) -  Each group will complete ONE worksheet together.   At the end of the 10 minutes, we’ll pass out the rest of the stuff you’ll need, and tell you how to do the second half of the exercise!  OK?

Divide into groups, and get started.....

## 
Let’s Try It!

Minimum mandatory requirements
Determining and Weighting Scored Selection Criteria
Choosing the Best Proposal

- Let’s Try It!
- Minimum mandatory requirements
- Determining and Weighting Scored Selection Criteria
- Choosing the Best Proposal

**Notes:**
Wasn’t that FUN?!
Everybody has their minimum mandatory criteria, and some weighted criteria, right?  Great!

In a minute we’re going to pass out the bids that you’ve received in response to your RFP for breakfast!  You got bids from Corner Bakery, Chipotle, and Subway.  Your team is going to evaluate each proposal against the criteria that you just chose.  Let’s go over a few basic points....

## If the proposal doesn’t meet one of your minimums, it may be “non-responsive”.

You can only award points for the criteria you already chose.  You can’t modify your criteria now.  

No matter how beautiful or tempting a proposal may be, you can only evaluate it on the things you put in your RFP. (The assumption is that these are the same things you listed on the worksheet!)  

- You can only award points for the criteria you already chose.  You can’t modify your criteria now.
- No matter how beautiful or tempting a proposal may be, you can only evaluate it on the things you put in your RFP. (The assumption is that these are the same things you listed on the worksheet!)

**Notes:**
Review

You’ll have 15 minutes for this part of the exercise, and then we’ll come back together to discuss your results!  So be prepared to discuss who you chose and why.
Ready?  Ok, here come your proposals from the bidders....
PLEASE DON’T MARK THESE UP – WE’LL BE COLLECTING THEM AGAIN TO USE IN THE REST OF THE WORKSHOPS.  Please take notes on other papers.  ThankS!  Save a tree!
PASS OUT MENUS 

## Results?

**Notes:**
Trainer Note - As the time nears end, find groups that are done first.  Have approximately 6 of them write their criteria and values, and selected winner on a sticky flip chart page.  Put all of the 6 at the front of the room for discussion.

Debrief – compare the different outcomes.  Anybody get results they didn’t expect?  Anybody not happy with their winner?  Why?  What criteria were helpful?  What should you have asked for in your RFP to get what you wanted?  

Nice job!  Obviously this exercise had to be a LOT simpler than really defining your criteria, and really choosing a contractor.  But it helps illustrate the point that your selection criteria can make a HUGE difference in your outcome.  You might have really written a great RFP, and you might get some terrific proposals.  But if your selection criteria aren’t right, and aren’t weighted right, you could end up with the wrong results.

## $$$

**Notes:**
Now, what about the money.  We haven’t really talked about that yet.  A few states have a requirement to go with the lowest bidder.  Anybody got that in your state?

We all feel very badly for you.....

## Slide 76

**Notes:**
because as we all know, price is NOT always the best indicator of value.  Price is only ONE factor in choosing the right contractor. 

## PRICE

**TECHNICAL**

**Notes:**
Price has to be balanced against technical score, or you can end up with some very unpleasant results.   

VERY IMPORTANT – remember that a HIGH cost score means a low price.  They get a higher score, more points, for a lower price, right?

If you say that technical score – things like contractor qualifications, experience, staff, management plan, etc. is SO important, that you give it 90% of the available points in your scoring system, and give price only 10% of the weight, what can happen?

Right!  A vendor with the highest technical score will win NO MATTER HOW MUCH HE’S CHARGING!  

What if you say that your state is on a tight budget, and you say that price is the most important factor.  Not the only factor, but the most important.  So you give price 80% of the weight in your scoring system.  What can happen?  

Right!  A vendor with the lowest price will win NO MATTER HOW LOUSY HIS PROPOSAL IS!

So when you are making up your scoring criteria, and deciding how much of the weight or the available points to assign to price, you have to test your math, and make sure that you haven’t allowed price or technical to be so strong that highest technical score or lowest price is a slam dunk, no matter how the other scores turn out.  

## TEST YOURSELF

| High Technical score
High Cost score (meaning a low price) | High Technical score
Low Cost score (meaning the price is high) |
| --- | --- |
| Low Technical score
Low Cost score (meaning the price is high) | Low Technical score
High Cost Score (meaning the price is low) |

## EXAMPLES1000 possible points with 700 to technical & 300 to cost

| High Tech score         625
High Cost score          275

Total Score         900 | Highest Tech score     700
Low Cost score           100

Total Score         800
 |
| --- | --- |
| Low Tech score         350
Low Cost score          100

Total Score         450
 | Lowest Tech score      300
Highest  Cost score     300 (low bidder)

Total Score         600
 |

**Notes:**
Now, remembering that a HIGH cost score, means that they gave you a good price – look who wins here, when our scores are weighted with 70% of the available points going to technical and 30% of them to cost.  

The bidder in the upper left wins.  He didn’t have the highest technical score, but it was pretty high, and he had a good score for cost, though not the lowest.  So this might mean that the balance of points for technical score and cost were pretty good.  Now let’s look what happens when you shift the weight.

## EXAMPLES1000 possible points with 300 to technical & 700 to cost

| High Tech score         250
High Cost score          550

Total Score          800 | Highest Tech score     300
Low Cost score           300

Total Score          600
 |
| --- | --- |
| Low Tech score         150
Low Cost score          300

Total Score        450  
 | Lowest Tech score      125
Highest Cost score      700 (lowest bidder)

Total Score         825
 |

**Notes:**
Now we’ve reversed the weights – and made only 30% of the points available for technical score, and 70% of the points for cost.  Look what happens.  Upper right has the highest technical score, so he might be who you’d like to hire, but ohhhh, look, he also had a low cost score.  His proposal was really expensive.  So then maybe you’d like to hire the company with the next highest technical score.  His price was pretty good!  He got a pretty high cost score.  But wait – 
CLICK for FLY IN

The vendor in the lower right wins!  Even though he had the LOWEST TECH SCORE, because he was also the lowest bidder. He wins, because price was weighted so heavily.  Yikes!

## 3 Phases of Bid Scoring

- Mandatory Minimum Requirements
- Minimum Technical Score
- Price and Final Score

**Notes:**
Ok, so here’s a summary of how you want to structure your selection criteria.  First you define your mandatory minimum criteria – those things that are absolutely not negotiable – like in our Nanny example.  If bidders don’t have those things, their bids are non-responsive, and you don’t evaluation any further.  

Next, you should consider requiring a minimum technical score.  This means that if a proposal doesn’t get at least a certain minimum score on the technical evaluation, you won’t consider it further.  You never open the cost proposal.  This can be EXTREMELY valuable, especially if you are in a state that requires you to take the low bidder.  Most states that require you accept the low bid, say you must accept the lowest RESPONSIVE bid.  If you put in your requirements that a proposal must get a minimum technical score in order to be considered responsive, then you are protencted.

Let’s look back at our example...CLICK

## EXAMPLES1000 possible points with 300 to technical & 700 to cost

| High Tech score         250

 | Highest Tech score     300

 |
| --- | --- |
| Low Tech score         150

 | Lowest Tech score      125

 |

**Notes:**
What would have happened here if the state had used this very COST heavy scoring system, but had at least had a minimum technical score requirement of, say, 200.  
That would throw out the two low scores, and the state would be able to choose the offer with the better balance of scores.

## And the winner is........

| High Tech score         250
High Cost score          550

Total Score          800 | Highest Tech score     300
Low Cost score           300

Total Score          600
 |
| --- | --- |
| Low Tech score         150
Low Cost score          300

Total Score        450  
 | Lowest Tech score      125
Highest Cost score      700 (lowest bidder)

Total Score         825
 |

**Notes:**
Because even though this one didn’t have the absolute highest technical score, or the absolute lowest cost, it had the best balance of those two scores, and the state was protected by a minimum technical score requirement.

We recommend – WRITE THIS DOWN – 25-40% of the points for cost.  And note – 40% is high!  There may be a place for it, like in a state with very tight budget constraints, but more flexibility with time, scope and other resources.  But it makes a minimum technical score even more important. You can see why!  

## TEST YOURSELF

| High Technical score
High Cost score (meaning a low price) | High Technical score
Low Cost score (meaning the price is high) |
| --- | --- |
| Low Technical score
Low Cost score (meaning the price is high) | Low Technical score
High Cost Score (meaning the price is low) |

**Notes:**
So remember this slide.  When you’ve chosen your scoring factors and points – test yourself.  Go ahead and put a sticky flag on this page!

## Proposal:
States your requirements back to you

Promises you anything you want (even if you don’t know what that is)

Offers what they have to sell, not what you asked to buy

- States your requirements back to you
- Promises you *anything* you want (even if you don’t know what that is)
- Offers what they have to sell, not what you asked to buy

**Notes:**
Remember when I said earlier I’d come back to some bidding tactics to watch out for?  
The first one is simply stating your requirements back to you.  This might be great for a psychotherapist or a date who’s trying to win your affections, but not good in a contractor. You say you want a modularized approach, they say “A modular approach would help your state manage the impact of funding cycles.”  Duh – you knew that.  That’s why you asked for it. The proposal should show an UNDERSTANDING of your requirements, and how to achieve them.
Promising you anything you want.  It’s a way of saying “We don’t really understand what you want, but whatever it is WE CAN DELIVER!!! They aren’t really analyzing your needs.
This is a tough one.  And states that don’t really KNOW what they want, are really vulnerable to this.  You put out an RFP that basically says “We want a modern solution to all our problems.”  And they say “Great, we HAVE  your solution!”  And it FEELS SO GOOD because it seems like someone has read your mind.  They’ve done all the thinking for you.  What a relief!  But there are big risks here.  First, they are offering you a system that was designed to meet some OTHER state’s needs.  Up to a  point, that’s ok.  The programs are a lot alike from state to state, and you shouldn't’ have to reinvent the wheel.  But beware of getting what YOU need only at additional cost, with expensive change orders.  Remember that slide that said “Pay me now AND pay me later!”  

 If you DID spell out your needs pretty clearly, and they still offer you something they already have built, you should still watch out.  As in – “Well, here are your requirements and we could do that, but LET US SHOW YOU WHAT WE HAVE TO OFFER YOU INSTEAD!”  or “We CAN do anything you want, BUT AS SOON AS YOU SEE what we already have to offer, WE KNOW THIS IS WHAT YOU’LL WANT!”  If they aren’t listening to you in your RFP, they may not listen to you as your contractor.

## SUB-

- Did you invite this?

**Notes:**
Sometimes vendors do these things
Simply quote your requirements back to you
Promise you vaguely anything you want
Try to sell you something else
Because they can’t tell from your RFP WHAT you want!!!  So if you are seeing a lot of proposals like these in response to your RFP, take a step back and consider withdrawing the RFP and re-issuing it with better clarified requirements.

## Withdraw and Re-Issue???!!!Are you kidding?!

**Notes:**
My boss would boil me alive!
Why would I want to do that?    

## If you don’t have time to do it right, 

you don’t have time to spend in court.

**you don’t have time to spend in court.**

**Notes:**
If you accept a bid that offers a brilliant solution that seems to solve all your problems, but it is NOT what you asked for in your RFP, other vendors can protest.  They’d be able to make a valid case that if they had known THAT’S what you wanted, they would have bid on that.  But you didn’t say that.  Sure, they might lose.  Sure, you could end up with the contractor you wanted in the first place.  Sure, your attorney general might be able to find that one little clause in your RFP that says something vague and flexible about the right to negotiate or the right to choose whatever is in the state’s best interests.  Yup, you could win fair and square.  But do you have time for that?  If you don’t have time to write your RFP carefully in the first place, or time to withdraw it and re-issue it when you see that you didn’t get the proposals you needed, then you don’t have time to become best friends with your AG and sit in hearings.  
Anybody have experience with a protest?  

## It is ok for bidders to improve upon your ideas.  That’s GREAT!

- YES

**Notes:**
Yes!  The one who can best understand your needs and your ideas and show you how they can make the most of them is a winner!  

## Slide 90

**Notes:**
You just shouldn’t be doing an Ilsa.  You know what an Ilsa is?  Remember that wonderful scene in Casa Blanca when Ilsa goes to see Rick late at night, and after they talk, she finally says “I can’t think anymore Rick, you’ll have to do the thinking for both of us!”  
Great movie.  Great line.  Bad way to choose a contractor!

## 3 Phases of Bid Scoring

- Mandatory Minimum Requirements
- Minimum Technical Score
- Price and final score

**Notes:**
So you’ve tossed out any that don’t meet your mandatory minimums, like no convictions for insider trading by the CIO. CLICK

And you’ve tossed out any that didn’t get at least a reasonable minimum technical score.  CLICK

Now, finally, you are ready to open the cost proposals, score them, do the math, and choose your winning bidder.  CLICK

## Go shopping for ideas in Handbook 901

**Company stability**

**Experience**

**Staffing plan**

**Notes:**
Need ideas for what some of your selection criteria be?  Again, look at what other states have used.  And see what Handbook 901 has to offer!  
Some ideas for criteria include
Company stability
Experience in providing similar services

CHECK IT OUT!

## Handbook 901
Chapter 6 – Procurement
Section 6.6.2
Criteria for Evaluating Proposals

- Chapter 6 – Procurement
- Section 6.6.2
***Criteria for Evaluating Proposals***

**Notes:**
EACH LINE IS A FLY IN!!!

## WHEW!

Are we done yet?

- Are we done yet?

## One more thing...

## Slide 96

**Notes:**
Contracting!
Taking out a contract...uh...I mean, writing a contract is SOOOO important. It’s your protection.  It may seem like a lot of legalistic boilerplate jargon.  But we’ve seen, in even some very recent examples, how important your contract language is.  It’s THIS document that will protect you against poor performance by your contractor, and give you the tools you need to protect the investment you are making.  You went to great lengths to choose the right contractor. Now don’t lose your steam before you finish putting into place a strong contract.  Your best resource is your state’s procurement office.  No doubt they have a basic contract that nearly everyone starts with.  Again, look to other states who’ve succeeded in enforcing the terms of their contracts for good examples.  And of course – turn to Handbook 901.

## Contracts

- 				***Handbook 901***
***	******	******	******	******Chapter 6 – Procurement***
- All the goodies – Contract components, terms and conditions, checklists – ***including FNS-required provisions***

**Notes:**
First of all, if you recognize this band, congratulations! The census bureau says you are eligible to retire this year.  
But my point is to let you know that this part of the procurement chapter in 901 is full of goodies.  It gives you specific terms and conditions and what they mean.  It includes a checklist of some basic boilerplate language that should be in your contracts.  It gives you a great idea of what FNS will be looking for when we review and approve your contracts – like the Federal ownership clause (yes, we have a required one) and the order of precedence that protects you in a disagreement with your contractor. GO READ THIS PART before you start editing the standard language from your procurement office or, god forbid, drafting a contract from scratch.  

So, consider this ...  NEXT

## 

An engraved invitation from Handbook 901

**An engraved invitation from Handbook 901**

## Slide 99

## Learning Objectives

- The Power of the RFP – Getting What YOU want
- Open Competition & Conflicts of Interest
- Essential Components of an RFP
- The Importance of Being Specific
- Contractor Selection Criteria
- Bid Scoring
- The Contract is Your Protection

## 

Any Questions?

*Any Questions?*