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RPVCCA_CC_SR_2015_03_17_04_IT_RFP_ResultsCITY OF kiRANCHIJE, PALOS VERDES MEMORANDUM TO: HONORABLE MAYOR &CITY NCIL MEMBERS FROM: DAN LANDON, IT MANAGER DATE: MARCH 17, 2015 SUBJECT: INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SERVICES REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL RESULTS (Satisfies a 2014 City Council Priority Goal on Government Efficiency, Accountability, Fiscal Control, Transparency and Oversight) REVIEWED: DOUG WILLMORE, CITY MANAGER''�'�"'� CAROLYNN PETRU, DEPUTY CITY MANAGE RECOMMENDATION Authorize the City to begin negotiations with Prosum Technology Services (Prosum) for an Information Technology Managed Services (IT Services) agreement, with a total annual contract amount not to exceed $185,705, not including transition costs and potential minor costs for out of scope system implementations and special projects assistance. Negotiations will focus on possible further reduction in on-site staffing in future years as efficiencies are realized. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Staff has completed the Request for Proposal (RFP) process for an IT Services Provider. Five (5) proposals were received on or prior to the bid closing date for evaluation that met the Administrative Review requirements for a complete submittal. The current City IT Services Provider, Palos Verdes on the Net (PVNET) did not submit a proposal for consideration. The comprehensive review process featured evaluation steps that included a majority of evaluators from outside the City serving on an IT RFP Evaluation Committee, an in-person interview of the top two (2) proposals that included eleven (11) City staff members, and a final set of clarifying questions. A City Council member monitored and advised on much of the process including the critical IT RFP Evaluation Committee and the in-person interviews. 4-1 INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SERVICES REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL RESULTS MARCH 17, 2015 PAGE 2 The recommended IT Services Provider after this comprehensive review process is Prosum Technology Services, selected based on a wide range of factors that include: • Higher rating by the IT RFP Committee evaluators who best understand all of the aspects involved in the complex IT Services management of a City; • The use of Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) processes, a proven system to insure that IT governance, documentation, and change processes are properly controlled. • Experience in supporting several municipalities and the service aspects required by a municipal government. • Planned rotation of top level technical staff to the City to review and insure systems are properly configured and operating at peak efficiency; • Familiarity with systems the City of Rancho Palos Verdes uses including email, telephone and virtual server infrastructure as well as other line of business applications such as GIS, CityWorks and Granicus; • Direct access to a dedicated technical manager with the ability to remote into systems and perform repairs during off hours or emergencies; and • Microsoft Gold Managed Services Partner allows Prosum to get the highest level of Microsoft expertise in order to provide a higher level of value to customers. With the selection of Prosum as the City IT Services Provider, the City is prepared to implement the cutting edge technologies that will help improve efficiency, productivity and the ease with which the public interfaces with the City. Prosum gives the City a structured and managed IT environment with a comprehensive specific set of criteria for tracking and measuring performance, and the capacity to implement technologies that accomplish community and City Council goals. BACKGROUND The City Council has authorized three independent management assessments of City operations to identify efficiencies and areas that need improvement since 2008. One study conducted in 2012 specifically examined IT services. All three reports prepared by these independent consultants recommended that a Request for Proposal (RFP) process should be undertaken for the City IT Services that have been performed by Palos Verdes on the Net (PVNET) since 1998. As a result of these recommendations, the City Council identified conducting an RFP process on IT Services as a high priority goal in 2013, which was carried over to 2014. The project agreement to complete the RFP with Nexlevel Information Technology (Nexlevel) was approved by the City Council and begun in September of 2014. 4-2 INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SERVICES REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL RESULTS MARCH 17, 2015 PAGE 3 IT Services RFP Submittal Process The IT Services RFP process was approved by the City Council in December 2014 and included several steps: • IT Services RFP document and a comprehensive technical documentation package was prepared by Staff and Nexlevel that included City technical specifications such as the total number of users, types of services and systems that must be supported. • The IT Services RFP document was released to the public. The proposal process involved steps such as a question and answer period and a site tour of the facilities. • Proposals were screened during an Administrative Review process for completeness and accuracy. • RFP Evaluations were completed by a panel of industry experts, three (3) IT Manager from other cities, one industry consultant separate from Nexlevel, and the City IT Manager. A City Council member was also on the panel in an advise and monitor role. The IT Services RFP was released to the public on January 14, 2015 and respondents had until February 20, 2015 to submit a proposal that includes details such as their experience, expertise, technology offerings, approach, tools, and cost information. Each proposal then went through an Administrative Review process to insure all requirements were met and accepted proposals were then forwarded to the IT Services RFP Committee for review and selection. The IT RFP Evaluation Committee rated each proposal based on five (5) separate categories: • Methodology to Meet RFP Requirements — weighted 15% - thoughtfulness, completeness and the likelihood that the respondent was able to successfully implement the proposed plan; • Organization Experience — weighted 20% - the quality and complexity of similar engagements, size and technical competency of staff, and the financial strength of the organization in order to determine the likelihood of completion of the agreement; • Organizational Capabilities — weighted 20% - the number of staff with applicable certifications, years of experience of the company and staff and quality of the references; • Implementation — weighted 15% - clarity and strength of the plan to satisfy the RFP requirements, and the capacity of the organization to fulfil the plan; and • Cost — weighted 30% - the overall cost model of the proposal including base cost, transition cost, additional services and the relation between the proposed hours and cost per hour. 4-3 INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SERVICES REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL RESULTS MARCH 17, 2015 PAGE 4 The IT Services RFP Solicitation process was designed to be organized, comprehensive, and transparent with multiple levels of control so that the City Council and the public can be assured that the best combination of information technology services to satisfy the needs of the community is procured at the most reasonable cost. DISCUSSION IT RFP Evaluation Process The RFP was released to twenty-five (25) IT Services Providers and posted on the City website for the public on January 14, 2015. During a six (6) week process, potential respondents reviewed the City's technical specifications and support requirements and were able to ask questions with the City Clerk as the conduit for all communications that took place. Answers to those questions were supplied to all nine (9) respondents that had submitted an "Intent to Propose" letter to show their interested in responding. In addition, the opportunity for an onsite visit was availed, each onsite visit was attended by two (2) separate respondents and answers to questions asked during that visit were sent to all interested respondents. Seven (7) proposals were received by the City Clerk's office on or before the February 20, 2015 deadline. The current IT Services Provider, PVNET did not submit a proposal for consideration. The Administrative Review process began on February 23, 2015 and included a comprehensive review of references and submitted documents to insure all required documents were included in the responses. During the Administrative Review, two (2) proposers were considered "Non-responsive" as they failed to include critical information as required by the proposal. One (1) of the proposals did not include a mandatory detailed pricing sheet. One (1) other proposal did not include mandatory financial documentation. Information surrounding the potential rejection of those two (2) proposals was presented to the City Attorney who concurred on the "non-responsive" status. Five (5) proposals were forwarded to the IT RFP Evaluation Committee for evaluation on March 3, 2015. The Committee met from 9:30am until approximately 4:OOpm and after a brief tour of the City IT environment, began a comprehensive discussion of City technical service needs in general, and the City of Rancho Palos Verdes in particular, and spend the balance of the time evaluating the various proposals. IT RFP Evaluation Committee was composed of: • City IT Manager with over 15 years of IT experience; • IT Services Consult with almost 40 years of experience including managed services consulting; • CIO of a large City in California with over 40 years of IT experience; INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SERVICES REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL RESULTS MARCH 17, 2015 PAGE 5 • IT Director of a major California city with 25 years of IT experience; and • IT Manager of another full service California city with 25 years of experience. • Councilman Jerry Duhovic volunteered to serve as the City Council participant in the process, in an observe and advise capacity and to gather information to assist the full City Council during deliberations. After an overview of all five (5) proposals, it was determined unanimously that three (3) proposals were clearly deficient in one or more critical factors for success. Lack of municipality and/or managed IT services experience, number and/or quality of staff and the financial or capacity strength to complete the scope of the implementation without excessive risk. The majority of the remaining evaluation time concentrated on the two (2) vendors, Prosum Technology Services (Prosum) and Golden Star Technology (GST) that were deemed most capable in accomplishing City objectives. The members of the IT RFP Evaluation Committee unanimously selected Prosum as the top candidate. Prosum had more experience and a better overall plan for success in maintaining the City's technical environment and the Evaluation Committee felt they would be more stable and successful long term. Ratings for each of the five (5) proposals reviewed were: In-person Interviews The City invited the top two (2) prospects for an in-person interview with a team of City Staff across all departments in order to clarify capabilities and to add another aspect of review to the selection process. Both Councilman Duhovic and the IT RFP Consultant, Ken Watts participated in that review remotely, along with eleven (11) City staff members. Both proposers were given forty-five (45) minutes to respond to seven (7) questions designed to evaluate customer service aspects and portions of the proposal that were unclear. The result of the in-person evaluation process was mixed. Prosum was seen as the more comprehensive organization, a better partner to the City, closer ties to the area and likely faster response as they are headquartered in EI Segundo, and a more comprehensive knowledge of municipal government IT requirements and operations. Prosum manages their services using Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) standards, which is a generally adopted framework for managed service organizations. GST was seen as comprehensive and capable, they had a more flexible approach to services, working with the City to use management tools the City already has implemented and were clear about the aspects of the engagement including working with new systems and hardware as they are implemented. 4-5 INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SERVICES REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL RESULTS MARCH 17, 2015 PAGE 6 Clarification Questions As a final step to better insure all due diligence was followed, several final clarifying questions were submitted to both organizations. Questions to both parties centered on the scope of the project, with a specific question to Prosum about cost as they were a more expensive proposal. A question was posed to GST about specific staffing they were proposing for the engagement as they had not indicated specifically who they were potentially going to place at the City. The results of the final clarification questions were that Prosum had a more liberal scope in regards to any future additional services requests, and importantly reduced their cost proposal from an average base cost of $259,562 annually to $185,705 annually. The City expects that there may be opportunity for further cost reductions as we negotiate the scope of work, potentially regarding the number of on-site staff. IT RFP Decision Process After the comprehensive review of the proposals, in person interviews and the responses to the final clarifying questions, the City is recommending Prosum as the City's ongoing IT Services Provider. Specific differentiators that drove the City's decision to recommending Prosum are: • Higher rating by the experienced IT Management evaluators who best understand all of the aspects involved in the complex IT services management of a City; • The use of the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) framework for managed services, a proven system to insure that IT governance, documentation, and change processes are properly controlled. • Experience in supporting municipalities and the service aspects required by a municipal government. • Planned rotation of top level technical staff to the City to review and insure systems are properly configured and operating at peak efficiency; • Familiarity with systems the City of Rancho Palos Verdes uses including email, telephone and virtual server infrastructure and other line of business applications such as GIS, CityWorks and Granicus; • Direct access to a dedicated technical manager with the ability to remote into systems and perform repairs during off hours or emergencies; and • Microsoft Gold Managed Services Partner allows Prosum to get the highest level of Microsoft expertise along with a wide range of other technical benefits in order to provide a higher level of value to customers. Me INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SERVICES REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL RESULTS MARCH 17, 2015 PAGE 7 CONCLUSION After a comprehensive nine (9) month RFP process, the City technical environment is prepared to migrate to a new IT Services Provider. The RFP was designed to solicit the widest array of providers possible while providing for the processes necessary to select the most qualified provider with the lowest risk at the most reasonable cost. The entire process was controlled and documented and the evaluation process included established, external professionals in evaluating proposals. Each step of the process had separate and transparent components. The RFP was prepared by one consultant and the RFP evaluations were led by a separate IT consultant. The custody of all communications during the process was with the City Clerk's Office and references were verified by the Human Resources Division. The evaluation phase included five (5) experienced IT professionals from different cities with over 140 years of combined IT experience and was monitored by a City Council member. Finally, a team comprised of Staff from almost every City department met as a final step in the evaluation process to vet the top two (2) proposals. With the selection of Prosum as the City IT Services Provider, the City is prepared to implement the cutting edge technologies that will help improve efficiency, productivity and the ease with which the public interfaces with the City. Prosum gives the City a structured and managed IT environment with a comprehensive specific set of criteria for tracking and measuring performance, and the capacity to implement technologies that accomplish community and City Council goals. FISCAL IMPACT There is no projected fiscal impact at this time, annual budgets will reflect the agreement terms. 4-7