State of Massachusetts - Contract ITS43SolProv - ITS43SolProvRFR

THE COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS
EXECUTIVE OFFICE FOR ADMINISTRATION AND FINANCE
OPERATIONAL SERVICES DIVISION

ONE ASHBURTON PLACE, 10TH FLOOR, ROOM 1017, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02108-1552
Request for Response (RFR)
Document Title: IT Services RFR Solution Providers
Document Number: ITS43SolProv
February 4, 2011
Please Note: This is a single document associated with a complete

Solicitation that can be found on Comm-PASS. All Bidders are responsible
for reviewing and adhering to all information, forms and requirements found
in all tabs and related forum records for the entire Solicitation. To locate the
Solicitation associated with this document, go to www.comm-pass.com,
select the “Search for solicitations” link, enter the above Document Number
in the “Document Number” field, and select the “Search” button. Bidders
who need help regarding Comm-PASS navigation may refer to the Comm-
PASS Resource Center at www.mass.gov/osd for documents and guides.
Bidders may also contact the Comm-PASS Helpdesk at comm-
pass@state.ma.us or the Comm-PASS Helpline at 1-888-MA-STATE. The
Helpline is staffed from 7:30 AM to 5:00 PM Monday through Friday Eastern
Standard or Daylight time, as applicable, except on federal, state and
Suffolk county holidays.
Document Sensitivity Level: High during development; Low once published.

1 RFR INTRODUCTION AND GENERAL DESCRIPTION............................................................ 1
1.1 PROCUREMENT SCOPE AND DESCRIPTION........................................................................................1

1.2 NUMBER OF AWARDS..........................................................................................................................1
1.3 ADDING ITS43 CONTRACTORS AFTER INITIAL STATEWIDE CONTRACT AWARD..........................1
1.4 ACQUISITION METHOD(S)...................................................................................................................2
1.5 CONTRACT DURATION........................................................................................................................2
1.6 PERFORMANCE AND PAYMENT TIME FRAMES THAT EXCEED CONTRACT DURATION..................2
1.7 ESTIMATED VALUE OF THE CONTRACT (INCLUDING ALL OPTIONS TO RENEW)..........................2
1.8 MAXIMUM PROJECT SIZE FOR ITS43 SOLUTION PROVIDER ENGAGEMENTS................................2
2 ESTIMATED PROCUREMENT CALENDAR............................................................................... 3
2.1 WRITTEN QUESTIONS VIA THE ONLINE BIDDERS’ FORUM..............................................................3

2.2 LOCATING AN ONLINE BIDDERS’ FORUM..........................................................................................4
2.3 DEBRIEFING.........................................................................................................................................4
3 SPECIFICATIONS............................................................................................................................. 5
3.1 TOTAL SALES.......................................................................................................................................5

3.2 YEARS OF SOLUTION PROVIDER EXPERIENCE..................................................................................5
3.3 REPEAT BUSINESS................................................................................................................................5
3.4 OPEN RATINGS/DUN & BRADSTREET (D&B)....................................................................................5
3.5 PROJECT MANAGEMENT METHODOLOGY.........................................................................................7
3.5.1 DEFINITION........................................................................................................................................7
3.5.2 DESCRIPTION......................................................................................................................................7
3.5.3 PROJECT MANAGEMENT ARTIFACTS.................................................................................................7
3.5.4 PROJECT MANAGEMENT TOOLS.........................................................................................................7
3.5.5 PROJECT MANAGEMENT STAFF.........................................................................................................8
3.6 SUBCATEGORY DESIGNATIONS...........................................................................................................8
3.7 SUBCATEGORY QUALIFICATIONS AND REQUIREMENTS APPLICABLE TO ALL/MOST
SUBCATEGORIES............................................................................................................................................9
3.7.1 PROJECT EXPERIENCE (ALL SUBCATEGORIES)..................................................................................9
3.7.2 REFERENCE LETTERS FOR EACH PROJECT (ALL SUBCATEGORIES)...................................................9
3.7.3 QUALITY (ALL SUBCATEGORIES EXCEPT GIS)..................................................................................9
3.8 REQUIREMENTS SPECIFIC TO EACH SUBCATEGORY......................................................................10
3.8.1 SOFTWARE AND SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT......................................................................................10
3.8.2 GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS (GIS)..................................................................................11
3.8.3 SYSTEMS INTEGRATION / NETWORKING..........................................................................................13
3.8.4 SYSTEMS PLANNING.........................................................................................................................13
3.9 SOLUTION PROVIDER SPECIALTIES..................................................................................................13
3.10 SERVICE SPECIFICATIONS...............................................................................................................13
3.10.1 BACKGROUND/ CRIMINAL OFFENDER RECORD INFORMATION (CORI) CHECK REQUIREMENTS. .13
3.10.2 INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY.............................................................................................................15
3.10.3 SUBCONTRACTING..........................................................................................................................15
3.10.4 FIXED PRICE PROJECTS..................................................................................................................15
3.10.5 TRAVEL EXPENSES AND ALL OTHER EXPENSES..............................................................................15
3.10.6 PROJECT STATEMENT OF WORK....................................................................................................16
3.10.7 ADDITIONAL DUN AND BRADSTREET REPORTS............................................................................16
Table of Contents Page i
3.10.8 LICENSE AGREEMENTS..................................................................................................................16
3.10.9 REQUIREMENTS AT STATEWIDE CONTRACT OR ENGAGEMENT TERMINATION.............................16
3.11 EXECUTIVE ORDER 515, ESTABLISHING AN ENVIRONMENTAL PURCHASING POLICY..............16
3.12 COMPENSATION STRUCTURE/PRICING..........................................................................................17
3.12.1 STATEWIDE CONTRACT ADMINISTRATION FEE.............................................................................17
3.12.2 PROMPT PAY DISCOUNTS (PPD)....................................................................................................17
3.12.3 VOLUME DISCOUNTS.....................................................................................................................18
3.12.4 MAINTENANCE AGREEMENTS........................................................................................................19
3.12.5 WARRANTY....................................................................................................................................19
3.13 SUPPLIER DIVERSITY PROGRAM (SDP) PLAN...............................................................................20
3.13.1 SUBCONTRACTING..........................................................................................................................20
3.13.2 GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT:......................................................................................................20
3.13.3 ANCILLARY USES OF CERTIFIED M/WBE FIRM(S):......................................................................21
3.13.4 PERCENTAGE COMMITMENTS VS. DOLLAR COMMITMENTS..........................................................21
3.13.5 HOW TO COMPLETE THE SDO FORM............................................................................................21
3.14 PARTICIPATION IN OSD’S ANNUAL MARKETING EVENT, GREENSTAR....................................21
3.15 REQUIREMENTS FOR DOING BUSINESS AFTER A CONTRACT HAS BEEN AWARDED..................22
3.15.1 STATEWIDE CONTRACT ADMINISTRATION FEE AND REPORT.......................................................22
3.15.2 SECURITY AND CONFIDENTIALITY.................................................................................................24
3.15.3 REPRESENTATIONS BY RESOURCES...............................................................................................24
3.15.4 CONTRACT MANAGEMENT.............................................................................................................24
3.15.5 REPORT REQUIREMENTS AND DUE DATES....................................................................................25
3.15.6 RESTRICTION FROM NEW BUSINESS..............................................................................................26
4 EVALUATION CRITERIA............................................................................................................. 27
4.1 MANDATORY REQUIREMENTS...........................................................................................................27

4.2 DESIRABLE SPECIFICATIONS.............................................................................................................27
4.3 “GENERIC” SCORING AND SUBCATEGORY SCORING......................................................................27
4.4 MAXIMUM POINTS.............................................................................................................................28
4.5 BASIS FOR POINT ALLOCATION.........................................................................................................28
4.5.1 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE (EXCEEDING 2)...........................................................................................28
4.5.2 REPEAT BUSINESS............................................................................................................................28
4.5.3 OPEN RATINGS / DUN & BRADSTREET REPORTS............................................................................28
4.5.4 PROJECT MANAGEMENT METHODOLOGY........................................................................................28
4.5.5 PROMPT PAY....................................................................................................................................29
4.5.6 VOLUME DISCOUNTS.......................................................................................................................29
4.5.7 SUPPLIER DIVERSITY PROGRAM......................................................................................................30
4.5.8 SUBCATEGORY SCORING..................................................................................................................30
5 HOW TO SUBMIT A BID RESPONSE.......................................................................................... 35
5.1 BID RESPONSE METHOD...................................................................................................................35

5.2 SMARTBID TRAINING........................................................................................................................35
5.3 SMARTBID SUPPORT..........................................................................................................................35
5.4 BID RESPONSE DEADLINE.................................................................................................................35
5.5 BID PACKAGE....................................................................................................................................35
5.6 BID RESPONSE CONTENTS................................................................................................................35
5.6.1 RFR CHECKLIST AND BIDDER RESPONSE FORM.............................................................................36
5.6.2 ADDITIONAL TERMS.........................................................................................................................36
5.7 BID RESPONSE MATERIALS..............................................................................................................36
Table of Contents Page ii
5.7.1 ELECTRONIC SIGNATURES...............................................................................................................36
5.7.2 INK SIGNATURES..............................................................................................................................36
5.8 LIMITS AND RESTRICTIONS..............................................................................................................36
5.8.1 DOCUMENT PAGES...........................................................................................................................36
5.8.2 FILE NAMING CONVENTIONS...........................................................................................................36
5.8.3 FILE SIZE LIMITS..............................................................................................................................37
5.8.4 DUPLICATE FILE NAMES NOT ACCEPTED........................................................................................37
5.8.5 FILE FORMAT RESTRICTIONS...........................................................................................................37
5.9 WITHDRAWING A RESPONSE............................................................................................................37
5.9.1 PRIOR TO CLOSE DATE....................................................................................................................37
5.9.2 AFTER CLOSE DATE.........................................................................................................................37
6 APPENDIX 1 – REQUIRED TERMS FOR ALL STATEWIDE RFRS.......................................38
6.1 GENERAL PROCUREMENT INFORMATION........................................................................................38

6.1.1 ALTERATIONS...................................................................................................................................38
6.1.2 BIDDER’S CONTACT INFORMATION.................................................................................................38
6.1.3 COMM-PASS SMARTBID SUBSCRIPTION.........................................................................................38
6.1.4 COSTS...............................................................................................................................................38
6.1.5 ELECTRONIC FUNDS TRANSFER (EFT)............................................................................................39
6.1.6 MINIMUM BID DURATION................................................................................................................39
6.1.7 OWNERSHIP OF SUBMITTED RESPONSES..........................................................................................39
6.1.8 PROHIBITIONS..................................................................................................................................39
6.1.9 PUBLIC RECORDS LAW....................................................................................................................40
6.1.10 REASONABLE ACCOMMODATION...................................................................................................40
6.1.11 SYSTEM OF RECORD......................................................................................................................40
6.2 EVALUATION – BEST VALUE SELECTION AND NEGOTIATION.......................................................40
6.3 TERMS AND REQUIREMENTS PERTAINING TO AWARDED STATEWIDE CONTRACTS....................40
6.3.1 COMM-PASS SMARTBID SUBSCRIPTION.........................................................................................40
6.3.2 COMMONWEALTH TAX EXEMPTION................................................................................................41
6.3.3 CONTRACTOR’S CONTACT INFORMATION.......................................................................................41
6.3.4 CONTRACTUAL STATUS OF ORDERS AND SERVICE CONTRACTS.....................................................41
6.3.5 ELECTRONIC PROCUREMENT SYSTEMS (EPROCUREMENT)..............................................................41
6.3.6 EMERGENCY STANDBY COMMODITIES AND/OR SERVICES..............................................................41
6.3.7 HIPAA: BUSINESS ASSOCIATE CONTRACTUAL OBLIGATIONS........................................................41
6.3.8 PRICING: FEDERAL GOVERNMENT SERVICES ADMINISTRATION (GSA) OR VETERAN’S
ADMINISTRATION SUPPLY............................................................................................................................42
6.3.9 PRICING............................................................................................................................................42
6.3.10 PUBLICITY......................................................................................................................................43
6.3.11 SAVE SMART PROGRAM ($AVE $MART)........................................................................................43
6.3.12 STATEWIDE CONTRACTOR MARKETING REQUIREMENTS..............................................................43
6.3.13 SUBCONTRACTING POLICIES..........................................................................................................43
6.3.14 TRANSACTION FEE.........................................................................................................................43
7 APPENDIX 2 – REQUIRED TERMS FOR ALL INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

STATEWIDE RFRS................................................................................................................................ 44
7.1 ENTERPRISE POLICY AND STANDARDS............................................................................................44

7.2 CLARIFICATION OF LANGUAGE IN SECTION 11, INDEMNIFICATION OF THE COMMONWEALTH
TERMS AND CONDITIONS...........................................................................................................................44
Table of Contents Page iii

8 APPENDIX 3 - INSTRUCTIONS FOR EXECUTION AND SUBMISSION OF
COMMONWEALTH STANDARD FORMS........................................................................................ 45
8.1 FORMS LOCATED ON THE SOLICITATION’S FORMS & TERMS TAB...............................................45

8.1.1 COMMONWEALTH STANDARD CONTRACT FORM............................................................................45
8.1.2 COMMONWEALTH TERMS AND CONDITIONS...................................................................................45
8.1.3 CONTRACTOR AUTHORIZED SIGNATORY LISTING...........................................................................46
8.1.4 REQUEST FOR TAXPAYER IDENTIFICATION NUMBER AND CERTIFICATION (MASS. SUBSTITUTE W9
FORM) 46
8.1.5 EXECUTIVE ORDER 504 CONTRACTOR CERTIFICATION FORM........................................................46
8.2 FORMS LOCATED ON THE SOLICITATION’S SPECIFICATIONS TAB.................................................47
8.2.1 SUPPLIER DIVERSITY PROGRAM PLAN FORM..................................................................................47
8.2.2 CONSULTANT CONTRACTOR MANDATORY SUBMISSION FORM......................................................47
9 EXHIBIT A – SAMPLE PROJECT DESCRIPTIONS.................................................................... 1
10 glossary............................................................................................................................................... 1
Table of Contents Page iv

1 RFR INTRODUCTION AND GENERAL DESCRIPTION
1.1 Procurement Scope and Description

This RFR is to create the successor Contract to the ITS33 Solution Provider Contract, one of the
four ITS33 Information Technology (IT) Services Contracts. The ITS43 Technical Specialist
Contract began on July 1, 2010, and the two ITS43 Staff Augmentation Contracts began January
1, 2011.
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the ITS43 IT Services – Solution Providers
Procurement Management Team (PMT) are soliciting Bidders for the acquisition of information
technology professional services, including applications/systems design and development,
software and systems integration, and information technology planning, across a wide range of
tools and platforms. ITS43 Contractors will be a group of contractors from whom Commonwealth
Contracting Departments can select to perform specific engagements. In and of itself, award of a
Contract as an ITS43 Contractor is not a guarantee that the Contractor will obtain engagements.
Hardware and pre-existing software may not be offered through this Contract, with the
exception of software for which no license fees are charged. This Contract is for information
technology professional services only.
This RFR is limited to companies with a gross annual income of more than $2,000,000 that have
been in business for at least two years providing project-based information technology
professional services. Solution Providers will perform project work, as opposed to providing staff
who work under the supervision of Contracting Department personnel. Projects will have a
defined ending, after which the Contractor may in some cases be engaged to provide
maintenance/support on an ongoing basis. Bidders whose specialty is expertise in a particular
type of software may be engaged to provide planning, installation, maintenance and ongoing
support for software products which have been obtained through other Statewide Contracts.
The IT Services Solution Providers category differs from the Staff Augmentation categories of
ITS43 in that Bidders are asked to supply solutions, as opposed to providing staffing resources to
assist Departments in developing solutions. This RFR is for project work, not staff augmentation.
Specifically excluded from the scope of this contract are any services other than
intellectual work done by information technology professionals. Services which may not be
provided under this contract include, but are not limited to, call center operations, automated
network monitoring or any other service provided principally through an automated process, data
entry, equipment maintenance, data collection which can be performed by non-IT professionals,
standardized training courses, managed services, and application service provision. Document
scanning and web hosting are also prohibited except for Geographic Information Services
projects.
The resulting Contract will be the primary Statewide Contract used by Executive Agencies of the
Commonwealth for the goods and services covered by the Contract. The Statewide Contract will
also be available for use by other eligible entities listed on the Issuer(s) tab on Comm-PASS.
Each Commonwealth Agency and eligible entity is responsible for executing its own purchase
orders and paying its own invoices for goods and/or services acquired from this Statewide
Contract. ITS43 Contractors will be responsible for marketing their services to Commonwealth
Agencies and other eligible entities.
1.2 Number of Awards
The target number of awards is 52; additional awards may be made if there are tie scores. This is
a target number; the PMT may increase or decrease the number of Bidders awarded Contracts if it
is in the best interests of the Commonwealth to do so. For additional information, please see RFR
Section 4.
1.3 Adding ITS43 Contractors After Initial Statewide Contract Award
If, over the life of the Contract, the PMT determines that additional ITS43 Contractors should be
added, these may first be drawn from qualified Bidders that responded to this Solicitation but were
RFR ITS43SolProv Page 1
not awarded contracts. If necessary to meet the requirements of the Commonwealth, the
Solicitation may be reopened to obtain additional bids.
1.4 Acquisition Method(s)
The acquisition methods to acquire services from this Solicitation are Fee for Service and license.
Licenses to pre-existing software may only be provided under the Contract if they are provided
free of charge.
1.5 Contract Duration
The term of this contract is three years with no renewal options.
1.6 Performance and Payment Time Frames that Exceed Contract Duration
All agreements for services entered into during the duration of this Contract whose performance
and payment time frames extend beyond the duration of this Contract shall remain in effect for
performance and payment purposes (limited to the time frame and services established per each
written agreement). No written agreement shall extend more than 3 years beyond the final
termination date of this Statewide Contract. No new agreements for services may be executed
after the Contract has expired.
1.7 Estimated Value of the Contract (Including All Options to Renew)
Please refer to the “Estimated Value (US$)” field on the Summary tab for this Solicitation on
Comm-PASS. The “Estimated Value (US$)” on the Summary tab for this Solicitation on Comm-
PASS was derived by reviewing expenditure information from the Commonwealth’s Information
Warehouse for FY10, and does not include data from municipalities.
The Commonwealth makes no guarantee that any services will be purchased from any Contract
resulting from this Solicitation. Any estimates or past procurement volumes referenced in this
Solicitation are included only for the convenience of Bidders, and are not to be relied upon as any
indication of future purchase levels.
1.8 Maximum Project Size for ITS43 Solution Provider Engagements
There are no limits to project size or dollar amount for engagements under this Statewide
Contract. However, Contracting Departments with very large projects sometimes prefer to
conduct their own procurements rather than using the Statewide Contract, particularly in cases
where the Statewide Contract does not include all of the market leaders specializing in the subject
matter of their project. Agencies may request approval from the Purchasing Agent, following the
process described in OSD’s policy memo 05-19 (found at www.mass.gov/osd), to conduct their
own procurements for services available through Statewide Contracts. Each such request is
reviewed by the State Purchasing Agent. During the term of ITS33 to date, and its predecessor
contracts, only a small number of such requests were received and approved.

2 ESTIMATED PROCUREMENT CALENDAR
EVENT DATE
Solicitation: Announcement of Intent to Procure 12/21/2010
Solicitation: Release Date 02/04/2011
Forum: Start date for Bidders to submit written 02/04/2011
questions to the Comm-PASS forum
Forum: Deadline for submission of written 02/25/2011 3:00 PM
questions
Forum: Official answers published (Estimated) 03/10/2011
Online Bidder Training Dates and Times Available:
February 16, 2011, 10am to noon
February 16, 2011, 1pm to 3pm
March 2, 2011, 10am to noon
March 2, 2011, 1pm to 3pm
Location:
Operational Services Division
One Ashburton Place, Room 1017
Boston, MA 02108
Limited seating – reserve your
seat now by e-mailing:
comm-pass@state.ma.us
Solicitation: Online submission begins. 03/29/2011 2:00 PM
Solicitation documents will not be amended after
this date (the “Amendment Deadline” on Comm-
PASS).
Solicitation: Close Date / Submission Deadline 04/06/2011 2:00 PM
Solicitation: Announcement of awarded Bidder(s) 05/11/2011
on Comm-PASS in the Solicitation Update tab
(Estimated)
Contract: Estimated Contract Start Date 07/01/2011
Times are Eastern Standard/Daylight Savings (US), as applicable. If there is a conflict between the
dates in this Procurement Calendar and dates on the Solicitation’s Summary tab or Forum pages, the
dates on the Solicitation’s Summary tab or Forum pages on Comm-PASS shall prevail. Any changes
in the Estimated Procurement Calendar that are made after the RFR has been published will not
result in amendments to the Estimated Procurement Calendar. Such changes will appear only on the
Solicitation’s Summary tab and/or related Forum pages on Comm-PASS. Bidders are responsible for
checking the Solicitation’s Summary tab and related Forum pages on Comm-PASS for Procurement
Calendar updates.
2.1 Written Questions via the Online Bidders’ Forum
The Bidders’ Forum or Online Forum is the opportunity for Bidders to ask written questions and
receive written answers from the Procurement Management Team (PMT) regarding this
Solicitation. All Bidders’ questions must be submitted through the Bidders’ Forum found on
Comm-PASS (See RFR Section 2.2 below). Questions may be asked only between the “QA
Start” and “QA End” dates, when the “Ask a Question” link (located in the right-hand corner above
the Forum’s “Question/Answer” tab) is available.

Please note that any questions submitted to the PMT using any other medium (including those
that are sent by mail, fax, email or voicemail, etc.) will not be answered. To reduce the number of
redundant or duplicate questions, Bidders are asked to review all questions previously submitted
to determine whether the Bidder’s question has already been posted.
Bidders are responsible for entering content suitable for public viewing, since all of the questions
are immediately accessible to the public. Bidders must not include any information that could be
considered personal, security sensitive, inflammatory, incorrect, collusory, or otherwise
objectionable, including information about the Bidder’s company or other companies. The PMT
reserves the right to edit or delete any submitted questions that raise any of these issues or that
are not in the best interest of the Commonwealth or this Solicitation.
Only written response(s) posted on a Bidders’ Forum that has been “finalized” will be binding on
the Commonwealth. The last entry in a Forum’s Summary tab indicates whether answers are
final.
2.2 Locating an Online Bidders’ Forum
 Go to www.Comm-PASS.com.
 Select the “FORUMS” tab from the main navigation bar.
 Select the “Search for Bidders’ forum” link.
 Enter the Document Number appearing on the front of this document in the
“Referenced Solicitation Number” field.
 Select the “Search” Button.
 Select the search results link appearing at the top of the Search page.
 Select the view icon (eyeglasses) to access the Forum. There may be more than one
Bidders’ Forum for a Solicitation.
2.3 Debriefing
The PMT may conduct debriefings for non-selected Bidders, if requested within 14 calendar days
of Contract awards being posted on Comm-PASS. The PMT will provide debriefing guidelines in
advance of each debriefing.

3 SPECIFICATIONS
Additional required terms appear in the Appendices to this RFR.
Bidders must respond to all specifications requiring a response with respect to the Bidder’s company,
rather than referencing the experience and qualifications of the Bidder’s partner(s), parent company,
affiliate(s) or subsidiary company(ies). The “Bidder” is the entity whose Tax Identification Number
appears on the Commonwealth Terms and Conditions form.
3.1 Total Sales
The Bidder’s gross annual income for their most recently completed fiscal year as reported on the
Response Form must exceed $2 Million.
3.2 Years of Solution Provider Experience
Bidders must state the number of years the company has been in the business of providing
project-based information technology professional services.
This must be answered with respect to the entity whose Tax Identification Number appears on the
Commonwealth Terms and Conditions. However, in the case of entities that have new Tax
Identification Numbers as a result of a merger or acquisition, the PMT wishes to consider the
experience and qualifications of the companies that combined to create the new entity.
In the response to this section, Bidders must identify any changes to the company’s Tax
Identification Number that took place as a result of a merger or acquisition within the past 8 years.
Provide a sufficient description for each merger or acquisition to enable the PMT to easily
determine the years of experience of the combined entity.
Changes to the Tax Identification Number that did NOT involve another organization – for
example, a change in Tax Identification Number as a result of changing from a corporation to an
LLC – are not considered Tax identification Number changes for the purposes of this section.
3.3 Repeat Business
Bidders must identify up to five clients for which the Bidder has performed repeat business since
1/1/2008. A change order or contract amendment shall not be counted as repeat business. A
new contract for modifications or enhancements to a system after a project has been accepted
may be counted as repeat business.
A “client” in this context is a legal entity authorized to independently execute contracts. Units or
divisions of agencies or private entities which may independently execute contracts are each
considered a client.
Example 1: Within the Massachusetts Executive Office of Health and Human Services (EOHHS),
the Departments of Public Health, Mental Health, and MassHealth, while all components of
EOHHS, are each able to independently sign contracts and therefore are each separate clients.
Example 2: The Bidder contracted with and performed work for an independent small firm on two
separate occasions. After executing the second contract with the Bidder, the small firm was
acquired by a larger private entity. The small firm may be used as a client for repeat business
under this Section given that it entered both contracts with the Bidder before being acquired.
Example 3: The Bidder contracted with and performed work for an independent small firm on one
occasion. After executing the contract with the Bidder, the small firm was acquired by a larger
private entity. The larger private entity then entered a contract with the Bidder to provide
services. Under this scenario, neither the small firm nor the larger entity may be used as a client
for repeat business under this Section given that the contracts were entered with separate legal
entities.
Bidders must be prepared to supply contact information (name, telephone number, and email
address) for any clients named in response to this section if requested to do so.
3.4 Open Ratings/Dun & Bradstreet (D&B)
The PMT has chosen to utilize independent parties, Open Ratings and Dun and Bradstreet
Information Services (D&B), to assist in the evaluation process in two areas, reference checking
and financial stability. The required reports are the “Supplier Evaluation Report” and the “Past
Performance Evaluation (Supplier Performance Review).” Bidders are urged to request the Open
Ratings / Dun and Bradstreet reports as soon as possible. Typically, reports can be prepared
within 30 days, however, there can be delays in report preparation, so Bidders should NOT wait
until 30 days before the Solicitation is due to request the reports. In particular, delays can be
lengthy if Open Ratings is unable to contact a sufficient number of a Bidder’s references to
prepare a report, and must contact the Bidder for additional references. It is the Bidder’s
responsibility to submit references that can be contacted readily. Bidders must provide up to 20
references. References will be emailed a survey invitation. If Open Ratings is unable to receive 4
completed surveys or 50% completed by the 14th day of the Bidder’s order, the references will then
be called between the hours of 9:00 A.M. and 5:00 P.M. E.S.T. Monday through Friday until Open
Ratings has obtained the minimum. Bidders should note that Open Ratings will use the
company’s legal name when requesting surveys. If clients are more likely to recognize the
company’s “doing business as” name, it is up to the Bidder to let their clients know they may be
asked by Open Ratings to complete surveys referencing the company’s legal name.
If Bidders have had the required reports completed by Open Ratings and Dun and Bradstreet
within six months of the release date of the RFR, those reports may be submitted in lieu of
obtaining new reports. However, the Bidder must arrange for Dun and Bradstreet to email
copies of the reports directly to marge.macevitt@state.ma.us. Reports will not be accepted if
they are simply included in the Bidder’s Response or emailed by the Bidder to
marge.macevitt@state.ma.us.
If Dun and Bradstreet does not have a current Supplier Evaluation Report on file for the Bidder’s
company and must update the report, this can require up to an additional 10 business days. If a
Bidder receives the reports but believes they contain errors, it is the Bidder’s responsibility to
contact: D&B's Customer Resource Center at 888-299-3118 to report any changes/updates if the
issue concerns the “Supplier Evaluation Report,” and the Open Ratings Coordinator (727-329-
1184; orders@openratings.com) at Open Ratings if the problem is with the “Past Performance
Evaluation (Supplier Performance Review)” in time to obtain a corrected version to include with
the RFR Response.
Bidders must ensure that the company name given on the Open Ratings/Dun and Bradstreet
reports matches the name on the Bidder’s Response, unless the company’s name has changed
during the time period between requesting the Dun and Bradstreet report and submitting the RFR
Response. In that case, an explanation of the change, including the date of the change, must be
provided.
Important Note: Failure to include these two reports with the response may result in
rejection of the Response. Bidders are advised to contact the Open Ratings Coordinator
(727-329-1184; orders@openratings.com) if they have not received their reports by two
weeks in advance of the Proposal due date.
Open Ratings and D&B will send the reports to the Bidder’s contact person named on the Request
form in the recipient section. Bidders must request that a copy of each report be sent to the PMT,
to marge.macevitt@state.ma.us. The online request form may prompt for additional contact
information for the report recipient. If so: Marge MacEvitt, Operational Services Division, 10 th
Floor, 1 Ashburton Place, Boston MA 02108, Tel 617-720-3121, Fax 617-727-4527.
It is required that all Bidders submit the request for the reports directly to Open Ratings via
http://www.ppereports.com/. When placing an order for the Past Performance Evaluation
(Supplier Performance Review) and the Supplier Evaluation Report, select the “State and County”
report option at the appropriate prompt during the ordering process. The Bidder must pay online
with Open Ratings for both reports.

Important Note: In the past, some Bidders with accounts at D&B have ignored the above
instructions and simply contacted their D&B representative and requested that a report be
run. The report that is generated may or may not be the correct Supplier Evaluation Report,
and that process most certainly will NOT generate the Past Performance Evaluation
(Supplier Performance Review), which is prepared by Open Ratings. Please follow the
instructions above. Also, please see samples of the correct reports on the Forms & Terms
tab, under the Description “Sample Open Ratings / Dun and Bradstreet Reports.”
Bidders whose “Supplier Risk Score” on the Supplier Evaluation Report is above 7 must provide a
satisfactory explanation to the PMT regarding the company’s financial position. Bidders whose
“Overall Performance Rating” on the Past Performance Evaluation (Supplier Performance Review)
is below 80 must provide an explanation to the PMT regarding their customer satisfaction score.
The PMT may disqualify Bidders if, in the sole judgment of the PMT, the explanations provided are
not satisfactory.
3.5 Project Management Methodology
3.5.1 Definition
Project management is defined for the purposes of this RFR as the business process of
planning, estimating, acquiring, scheduling, allocating, assigning, directing, tracking, and
controlling capital and human resources to complete a technology project. Successful project
management also involves forecasting, communicating and closing out a technology project. A
project management methodology is a standardized method of delivering these services in a
repeatable way.
3.5.2 Description
Bidders must describe their repeatable project management methodology at a summary level.
Bidders may choose to use different methodologies for different types of projects, for example,
the Bidder may use one methodology for a project requiring software development and testing
and another for a project involving infrastructure design, specification, procurement and
installation. In that case, the Bidder’s response to this section should reference multiple
methodologies.
3.5.3 Project Management Artifacts

Bidders must include two project management artifacts from one of the projects they present in
response to Section 3.7.1. These are: a) The Project Plan and b) a Status Report (neither the
first nor last Status Report for the project). Bidders must also provide a list of the titles of all
other standard reports and deliverables associated with the project. The following examples of
titles of reports/deliverable are included to indicate the level of reports/deliverable to be listed,
and do not represent an all-inclusive list:
 Vision Document
 Project Schedule, showing dependencies and resources
 Risk and Issue List
 System Test Plan, Cases, Results
 User Manuals
Bidders should redact any confidential information or proprietary information, as responses to

this RFR are subject to the Massachusetts Public Records law. Client name may not be
redacted as the PMT must be able to associate the artifacts with one of the projects described
in response to RFR Section 3.7.1.
3.5.4 Project Management Tools

The Bidder must identify any nationally recognized project management tools they use
routinely, by name. If proprietary tools are used, the Bidder must provide a brief description of
the tools and their functionality.

3.5.5 Project Management Staff
Bidders must state whether or not they have substantially dedicated project management staff
(Bidder’s employees who spend at least 80% of their time managing projects). Bidders must
also indicate, for dedicated project managers on staff as of the issue date of this RFR, what
percentage of these staff have the following credentials:
 PMP certification and/or Sigma Six Certification
 Other nationally recognized project management certification (specify)
 Certification or training in Bidder’s proprietary methodology (Bidders who have staff in
this category must briefly describe their training program, providing enough information
to allow comparison with nationally recognized programs [course titles, classroom
hours, other pertinent factors])
3.6 Subcategory Designations

Bidders must present their qualifications in at least one, and at most two, of the subcategories
listed below:
Software and Systems Development
Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
Systems Integration / Networking
Systems Planning
Subcategory qualifications will be evaluated based on descriptions of three projects, each

supported by a client reference letter, and responses to additional questions and submission
requirements specific to each subcategory.
The target number of awards in each subcategory and the method of scoring proposals are
specified in the Evaluation Criteria (RFR Section 4). Bidders will receive only one contract award
under ITS43 Solution Providers, but they will not be limited to doing business in the Subcategory
or Subcategories that qualified them for an award.
The subcategories are defined in terms of the specialty definitions found in the Glossary (RFR
Section 10) under Specialties.
Subcategory Software and Systems Development includes all aspects of planning, design,
coding, testing, validating, and maintaining a software application or system. The relevant
specialty definitions are: Architecture Services, Business Process Management Services,
Electronic Content Management Consulting, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Systems,
Independent Verification and Validation Services, Information Security Services, Software
Development, Software Systems Support, Technology Courseware Development, Usability
Services, Wireless Applications.
Subcategory Geographic Information Systems (GIS) is defined under the specialty Geographic
Information Systems (GIS).
Subcategory Systems Integration / Networking includes the following specialties: Architecture
Services, Cloud Computing, Electronic Content Management Consulting, Electronic Forensics,
Independent Verification and Validation Services, Information Security Services, Network Planning
Services, Systems Integration Services, Telecommunications Services, Virtualization, Wireless
Applications.
Subcategory Systems Planning includes these specialties: Architecture Services, Business
Continuity Planning Services, Business Process Management Services, Electronic Content
Management Consulting, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Systems, Information Security
Services, Network Planning Services, Systems Planning Services, Telecommunications Services.
Bidders who wish to propose services which are subsets of these subcategories or tangentially
related to one or more of them should choose the subcategory which is the best match with their
specialty.

3.7 Subcategory Qualifications and Requirements Applicable to All/Most Subcategories
3.7.1 Project Experience (All Subcategories)
Bidders must describe three projects that they have completed by or before the issue date of
this RFR, and subsequent to 1/1/2008, either as the prime contractor or a principal
subcontractor. The description must include the client name, the start and end dates, the
approximate dollar value, the purpose of the project, and the outcome. If a project is being
completed in phases, bidders may describe a project which is not complete but has one or
more completed phases, provided that the completed phases constitute accepted deliverables
that the client is using. Clients must be able to describe the outcome of the completed work.
Each subcategory also has specific questions to be addressed as part of the response, as
described below:
Software and Systems Development: RFR Section 3.8.1
Geographic Information Systems: RFR Section 3.8.2
Systems Integration / Networking: RFR Section 3.8.3
Systems Planning: RFR Section 3.8.4
The Response Form for each subcategory includes limitations on the number of words for
narrative responses. Bidders should note that these limits are maximum rather than target
numbers.
In the describing their project experience, Bidders should be as specific as possible. It is

important that the PMT be able to identify the Bidder’s role in the project if more than one
company was involved. For example, if multiple Bidders take full credit for the same project,
the PMT may take this into consideration in the evaluation.
Appendix A of this RFR provides examples of project descriptions and how they would be
scored. The examples may be helpful in providing insight into the types of descriptions the
PMT is, and is not, looking for.
3.7.2 Reference Letters for each Project (All Subcategories)

A client reference letter is required for each project. The reference letter must be specific to the
project, as opposed to a general letter of recommendation. If the reference letter does not
clearly pertain to the project, both the reference letter and the project will receive a score of
zero.
The format for the reference letters is included as an MS Word form under the “Specifications”
tab of this RFR, entitled “Reference Letter Template.”
If the client cannot provide a reference on their company’s letterhead, this must be explained in
the “Additional Comments” area of the Reference Letter Template.
3.7.3 Quality (All Subcategories except GIS)

The quality of the delivered product is of great importance to Contracting Departments who rely
on ITS43. For solutions whose deliverables include code, quality is measured by the number of
defects at each stage in the development, and the removal of Severity I and II defects (see
RFR Section 3.12.5.2) as the code progresses through testing, such that there are no Severity I
or II defects at the time the code is migrated into production.
For projects whose deliverables include narrative or other types of documents, quality includes
not only intellectual content but review of the documents for correct grammar and punctuation,
accurate footnoting and cross-referencing, and consistency and completeness.
In responding to this Section, Bidders should describe their quality control processes for all
phases of a project. Bidders proposing under Software Development must describe their
processes for developing quality code, over and above unit and system testing.

3.8 Requirements Specific to Each Subcategory
3.8.1 Software and Systems Development

3.8.1.1 Project Descriptions
Bidders must provide the information for three projects detailed in RFR Section 3.7.1, as well
as reference letters for each project per RFR Section 3.7.2. In addition, for each project,
Bidders must also provide the following information:
 Describe how the Bidder’s solution was integrated into an existing system or used to
replace outdated technology so as to produce value to the client and to the client’s
customers.
 Describe the software development methodology(ies) used for the project, as either
waterfall, agile methodologies such as Scrum, XP (Extreme Programming), Unified
Process, or the Bidder’s own proprietary methodology. Describe how the Bidder’s
software development methodology was used on this project. The PMT is not
interested in general marketing or textbook language, but rather in the specifics of how
the methodology was used on this particular project and the impact its use had on the
project.
3.8.1.2 Architecture
In responding to this section, Bidders must describe their experience (if any) in creating or
modifying systems based on Service Oriented Architecture (SOA).
SOA is an architectural style that guides all aspects of creating and using business
processes, packaged as services, throughout their lifecycle, as well as defining and
provisioning the IT infrastructure that allows different applications to exchange data and
participate in business processes regardless of the operating systems or programming
languages underlying those applications. SOA represents a model in which functionality is
deconstructed into small, distinct units (services), which can be distributed over a network
and can be combined together and reused to create business applications. These services
communicate with each other by passing data from one service to another, or by coordinating
an activity between two or more services.
In addition to describing Bidder’s SOA experience, Bidders must indicate the dollar value of
the largest project the Bidder has completed based on this type of architecture, and also
indicate whether SOA-based projects comprise a large part of the Bidder’s practice.
3.8.1.3 Use of Open Source Software in a delivered application

This section addresses use of open source projects which are included in a delivered
application. Bidders who have used open source frameworks/APIs in delivered applications
must describe the two projects completed since 1/1/08 (or one, if there was only one) which
used open source code most extensively. These are not required to be the same projects
described in response to the previous Section. Bidders must review the Section below
entitled “Open Source Project Categories” before preparing a response to the Section, since
not all open source projects qualify for the purposes of this RFR.
The description must include:

 A very brief description of the application
 Listing of open source projects from the following list of categories
 Link to the Open Source project repository if hosted other than www.apache.org,
http://sourceforge.net/, http://codehaus.org/, http://code.google.com, http://jboss.org
Open Source Project Categories

To qualify as “Open Source” projects for the purposes of this RFR, the open source project(s)
used must fall into one of the following categories:
 Algorithms
 Code Generators

 Compilers
 Debuggers
 Design
 Frameworks
 Modeling
 Object Brokering
 Object Oriented
 Web & Application Servers*
*Simply having used open source web and/or application servers will NOT be considered as
a use of Open Source Project(s) for the purposes of this RFR. The Bidder must provide
documentation describing how the Bidder extended these projects.
Open Source projects in the following categories will NOT be considered as a use of Open
Source Project(s) for the purposes of this RFR:
 Build Tools
 Cloud Infrastructure
 Communications
 Database
 Desktop Environment
 Formats and Protocols
 Multimedia
 Office Tools
 Software Administration
 Text Editors
 Version Control & Software Distribution
3.8.2 Geographic Information Systems (GIS)

Bidders responding to this subcategory ideally will provide an array of GIS services including
GIS planning, GIS data development (automation and database design) and maintenance,
software application development (including technical support for applications developed using
a combination of ESRI and open source software), and web map application hosting, subject to
the conditions noted later in this paragraph. Software application development may include
tools to support data development and maintenance as well as desktop computer applications
or intra- or internet applications for accessing, viewing and querying GIS data. Hosting of web
mapping applications is permitted except for agencies within any of the Commonwealth’s eight
Executive Agencies or their successor agency or agencies. At present, these are
Administration and Finance, Energy and Environmental Affairs, Public Safety and Security,
Labor and Workforce Development, Transportation and Public Works, Housing and Economic
Development, Education, and Health and Human Services. For executive agencies, GIS
service providers building applications must adhere to ITD’s Enterprise Technical Reference
Model - Service Oriented Architecture and incorporate GIS web mapping services available
from MassGIS into their applications in order to avoid redundant data and map engine
infrastructure management, unless this requirement is waived by ITD. Note that data
compilation from aerial photography in a stereo imaging environment (planimetric compilation)
is not part of the scope of this contract and such experience will not be relevant for bidder
responses. Ideally, reference projects used to illustrate qualifications will reflect the mix of
services sought through this procurement.
After an initial scoring of bidder responses, up to ten of the top scoring respondents may be
selected for a short list interview. Following the interviews, previous scoring may be adjusted to
reflect information provided in the interviews. Based on these adjusted scores the winning
bidders will be selected.

3.8.2.1 Company Capacity
Company capacity refers to the types of services offered, the production capacity of the firm,
staff qualifications, and the types and strengths of existing business relationships. Bidders
must provide an overview of the types of services and capabilities they provide to clients. In
addition, bidders must provide a summary of current staff that would perform work under this
contract and of their individual qualifications as they pertain to the services sought through
this procurement. Any employees that are not salaried but are deployed on a project-by-
project basis must be separately presented. Bidders must also describe and document
(formal agreements and/or existing or past project work) existing relationships (domestic or
international) with other companies that extend their capacity for completing data
development projects (e.g., parcel mapping) or software application development.
3.8.2.2 Qualifications and Project Experience

Evaluation of qualifications and project experience is based on evaluating responses as they
pertain to the four expertise areas described below: GIS Planning, GIS Data Development
and Maintenance Experience, GIS Application Development and Technical Support, and Web
Mapping Application Hosting. The project experience narrative must include, in addition to
the requirements stated above for Project Experience under RFR Section 3.7.1, “Project
Experience (All Sub-Categories)” the information requested in the sub-sections below.
3.8.2.2.1 GIS Planning

Bidders must describe their experience with GIS planning, with particular emphasis on
assisting clients with planning for multiple departments using a single application (e.g. a
permit system) or enterprise GIS supporting a suite of applications. Activities considered as
GIS planning include needs assessment, business process analysis, implementation
planning, and business case development which may include analysis of return on
investment. Application design is not considered GIS planning as it is part of application
development (see below).
3.8.2.2.2 GIS Data Development and Maintenance Experience
Bidders must also, either as part of the above project descriptions or separately, describe
their experience with converting hard copy maps or digital files into GIS-compatible files. If
that experience includes delivering GIS parcel data that comply with state or Federal
standards, the standard(s) should be identified and that experience should be described.
3.8.2.2.3 GIS Application Development and Technical Support
Bidders must describe their capabilities for developing GIS software applications, whether
as extensions for an existing commercial product or as stand-alone desktop or
Inter-/Intranet applications. The response must identify the software development
environments in which they have current expertise and describe the range, in terms of both
business and software functions, of applications that current staff has worked on the past
three years.
3.8.2.2.4 Web Mapping Application Hosting
Bidders must also, either as part of the above project descriptions or separately, describe
experience they have providing web hosting services for web mapping applications. Identify
clients and provide URLs and/or instructions for accessing up to five of these applications.
A complete response to this section of the RFR must include pricing information for
providing these hosting services in the following format:

Small Communities** Medium Communities** Large Communities**
(<= 10,000 records) (10,001 – 45,000 records) (> 45,000 records)
One-Time
Set-Up Fee
Monthly
Hosting
Fee
** Community size is defined based on the number of assessing records as of January 1 of
each year.
The fees quoted above will become those charged clients under ITS43; these fees will be
permitted to increase by up to 2% on each 12 month anniversary of the hosting agreement.
3.8.3 Systems Integration / Networking
Bidders must provide the following information:
 Describe the software/hardware platform and major tools used.
 Describe the milestones in the overall project described here. For example, did the
Bidder perform the original analysis of a problem or circumstance the Bidder was
brought in to address, did the Bidder manage the procurement of equipment
associated with this effort, did the Bidder provide formal training during and/or after the
project, did the Bidder’s final deliverable include any plan to keep the client current?
 Describe the systems integration methodology used in this project, at a summary level.
If the same methodology was used for two or three of the projects described, the
methodology and tools need only be described for the first project which employed
them, with a reference back in the second and/or third project descriptions.
3.8.4 Systems Planning

Bidders must also provide the following information:
 Was the referenced project a completely new system, or a replacement of an existing

system? How did this influence how the project was conducted?
 Did the Bidder supply a ROI calculation with the project?
 Did the Bidder rely on industry research and case studies when developing the
solution?
 Bidders must describe the systems planning methodology used for this project, at a
summary level. If particular software tools are used, these should be named and
briefly described. If the same methodology and tools were used for two or three of the
projects described, the methodology and tools need only be described for the first
project which employed them, with a reference back in the second and/or third project
descriptions.
3.9 Solution Provider Specialties

Responses to this Section will not be scored.
Bidders may identify up to five specialties from the list found in the Glossary (RFR Section 10)
under “Specialties” as their company’s top areas of expertise. Contractors will not be limited to
providing services in those areas; however, these specialties will be published for awarded
Contractors, in addition to the subcategory(ies) under which they qualified for an award.
Contracting Departments may limit requests for quotations to Contractors who have identified one
or more subcategories/specialties relevant to the project the Contracting Department plans to
undertake.
3.10 Service Specifications
3.10.1 Background/ Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI) check requirements

ITS43 Contractors must absorb the cost of background checks, even if the Contracting
Department has special requirements (e.g., a child care agency may have specific
requirements pertaining to child abuse or neglect). ITS43 Contractors should expect that
Contracting Departments will require publicly available CORI checks for any Resources who
will be on-site at Contracting Department locations or who will have access to information
systems operated within the Commonwealth’s MAGNet (Massachusetts Access to Government
Network). ITS43 Contractors may use the companies they normally use for background
checks, provided that the information is at least as detailed and complete as that provided by
publicly available CORI checks. Contracting Departments may waive this requirement. Checks
that have been done previously may be used provided that they are not more than six months
old.
CORI checks are done by the Criminal History System Board, located at 200 Arlington Street,
Chelsea MA 02150. To request publicly available CORI, go to www.mass.gov/chsb, which
includes instructions and forms for requesting publicly available CORI.
The following categories of crimes will disqualify a Resource from providing services to
Contracting Departments:
 Data Security/Privacy
Violation of any state or federal law or regulation pertaining to data security and/or privacy,
including, without limitation and for example, the Fair Information Practices Act, M.G.L. ch.
66A, and the privacy and security provisions of the Federal Health Information Portability
and Accountability Act (“HIPAA”).
 Wiretaps
Violation of the state wiretap law, M.G.L. ch. 272, sec. 99, or its Federal counterpart, 18
U.S.C. sec. 2511.
 Computer Crimes
Violation of Federal or State laws specific to computer crime, including without limitation and
for example, the Federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, 18 U.S. C. sec. 1030 and the
Massachusetts state law prohibiting electronic transmission of threats, M.G.L. ch. 269, sec.
14.
 Crimes using information technology

Violation of any state criminal laws if follow-up communication with applicant discloses that
information technology (computers, networks, and peripheral devices) was used to commit
the acts on which the conviction was based. The following are examples of state laws under
which crimes committed using computers could theoretically be prosecuted: M.G.L. ch. 272,
sec. 29B (dissemination of child pornography); M.G.L. ch. 272 sec. 29C (possession of child
pornography); M.G.L. ch. 265, sec. 43 (stalking) and 43A (harassment). M.G.L. ch. 275 s. 2
(threat to commit crime); M.G.L. ch. 266 sec. 30 (larceny statute used in hacking and other
data theft cases); M.G.L. ch. 266, sec. 12 (willful and malicious destruction of property, for
use in website defacement and other hacking cases); M.G.L. ch. 266, sec. 30 (theft of
intellectual property); M.G.L. ch. 266 sec. 37E (identity fraud); M.G.L. ch. 266 sec. 120F
(unauthorized access to computer system).
 Intellectual Property
Violation of laws pertaining to trade secrets, copyrights, patents, or any other form of
protection of intellectual property.

 White Collar Crime
Violation of state criminal laws pertaining to theft, fraud, misrepresentation, tax evasion, and
other forms of white collar crime.
 Felony Convictions for Crimes of Violence

Violation of laws pertaining to felonies committed with violence.
 Identity Theft
Violation of “An Act Relative To Security Freezes And Notification Of Data Breaches,”
M.G.L. ch. 82 of the Acts of 2007.
 Agency-specific Restrictions
Contracting Departments may augment this list if necessary depending on the Contracting
Department’s mission.
3.10.2 Intellectual Property

Title and Intellectual Property Rights are addressed in the “Project Statement of Work.” These
terms may be modified for specific engagements, but only with the approval of the General
Counsel of the Information Technology Division. Otherwise they must appear without alteration
in the “Project Statement of Work” for each engagement under this Statewide Contract.
Determinations regarding licensing software back to the Contractor, and other modifications
which may be negotiated for specific engagements, will be made on a case-by-case basis.
Guidance provided to Contracting Departments allows for the possibility of licensing software
back to the Contractor, if the Commonwealth will benefit substantially as a result, and if
approved by the General Counsel of the Information Technology Division.
During the bidding of previous Solution Provider contracts, numerous questions were raised by
Bidders concerning the Intellectual Property provisions. Concerns were raised that these
provisions were at variance with industry practices and would be a barrier to bidding. The PMT
has always received a sufficient number of bids for the Solution Provider contract. Bidders are
asked not to propose changes to the wording or content of these provisions insofar as the
Statewide Contract is concerned. Any changes to the provisions must be negotiated on a
case-by-case basis for specific engagements, as opposed to being incorporated into the
Statewide Contract.
3.10.3 Subcontracting
Subcontracting is permitted under ITS43. However, Solution Providers may not subcontract
more than 80% of the work under any engagement, except as approved in writing by OSD’s
Contract Manager or by the Commonwealth’s Chief Information Officer. At a minimum, the
ITS43 Contractor must take full responsibility for project management, which will be done by an
employee of the ITS43 Contractor, NOT by an Independent Contractor. The ITS43 Contractor
must submit all subcontracts for approval by the Contracting Department if requested to do so.
The ITS43 Contractor will be responsible for its Subcontractor’s compliance with all terms of the
ITS43 Contract, and with any Statements of Work for which a Subcontractor is used, including
but not limited to warranties and covenants.
3.10.4 Fixed Price Projects

The intent of the Solution Provider category is to obtain companies to perform projects on a
fixed price basis. Although time and materials work is permitted, it should be done only in
cases where the Contracting Department and the Contractor agree that a reasonable fixed
price cannot be determined. The time and materials portion of a project should continue only
until such time as requirements are sufficiently well known to provide a fixed price quotation. If
a fixed price cannot be provided for one phase of the project until an earlier phase is
completed, the project should be structured as a series of fixed price deliverables. In this case,
the Contracting Department must solicit quotes from at least three Contractors for each phase
of the project, unless the initial Contractor owns intellectual property which is essential to the
completion of the project, and the initial Contractor declines to make such intellectual property
available for the use of other Contractors. If this is the case, the Contracting Department may
award subsequent phases to the initial Contractor without further competition. However, only
those phases and project components which require the use of the intellectual property owned
by the initial Contractor may be awarded without competition.
Contractors must supply fixed price quotes if requested to do so, unless the parties agree that a
reasonable fixed price cannot be determined.
3.10.5 Travel expenses and all other expenses

3.10.5.1 Standard Business Expenses
The Bidder’s quoted fixed price or hourly rates must include all standard business expenses
(including but not limited to fringe benefits, overhead, profit, telecommuting, office equipment
and supplies) that the Bidder incurs in connection with its performance of IT Services. The
exception is “Travel Expenses” as described below.
3.10.5.2 Travel Expenses

The Bidder may bill for reasonable travel expenses, excluding commuting, only with the prior
written approval of the Contracting Department. No administrative or other markup is
permitted for travel expenses. The Statement of Work will define compensation for travel, if
any.
3.10.6 Project Statement of Work

All project engagements entered into under ITS43 will require a Statement of Work in the form
of the “Project Statement of Work” template found under “Forms & Terms.” Contracting
Departments may include additional terms in the Statement of Work.
3.10.7 Additional Dun and Bradstreet Reports

Contracting Departments may require that Bidders submitting quotes on projects in excess of
$1,000,000 submit Dun and Bradstreet Supplier Evaluation reports completed within three
months of the quote due date prior to being awarded a contract. The Bidder will be responsible
for costs associated with obtaining the report.
3.10.8 License Agreements

If the Bidder has any standard license agreements for Open Source software (or other software
to be provided free of charge) which Contracting Departments will be asked to sign, such
agreements must be included in the RFR submission. The license(s) may not include terms
which are inconsistent with the Commonwealth Terms and Conditions or other provisions of the
Contract resulting from this RFR, and must be approved (after negotiation, if needed) by OSD
prior to Contract execution. If, during the life of the Contract, awarded Bidders develop such
license agreements, each agreement must be submitted to OSD for approval before it is
presented to a Contracting Department for signature. Only Open Source software or other
software provided free of charge may be licensed to Contracting Departments under this
Contract.
3.10.9 Requirements at Statewide Contract or Engagement Termination

When an engagement with a Contracting Department terminates or expires, the Contractor
must immediately deliver to the Contracting Department any copies of Contracting Department
content, the application and/or other products developed pursuant to the engagement, and any
Contracting Department confidential information in its custody and control. Subject to the
Contractor’s record keeping obligations under paragraph 7 of the Commonwealth’s Terms and
Conditions, and the Commonwealth’s record keeping obligations under the Records
Conservation Law, M.G.L. c. 30, § 42, the Contractor shall erase and remove all copies of
Contracting Department content, site, application and confidential information from computer
equipment and media in the Contractor’s possession, custody and control, and return such
content, site, application and confidential information to the Contracting Department. The
Contractor shall cooperate fully with the Contracting Department in the transfer of the
application and/or other engagement products to the Commonwealth or to another vendor in
accordance with the requirements of the Project Statement of Work.
3.11 Executive Order 515, Establishing an Environmental Purchasing Policy
Products and services purchased by state agencies must be in compliance with Executive Order
515, issued October 27, 2009. Under this Executive Order, Executive Departments are required
to reduce their impact on the environment and enhance public health by procuring environmentally
preferable products and services (EPPs) whenever such products and services perform to
satisfactory standards and represent best value, consistent with 801 CMR 21.00. In line with this
directive, all contracts, whether departmental or statewide, must comply with the specifications
and guidelines established by OSD and the EPP Program. EPPs are considered to be products
and services that help to conserve natural Resources, reduce waste, protect public health and the
environment, and promote the use of clean technologies, recycled materials, and less toxic
products. Questions concerning the EO or the appropriate specifications may be directed to
OSD’s EPP Procurement Program, www.mass.gov/epp. The Order can be seen at
http://www.mass.gov/Agov3/docs/Executive%20Orders/executive_order_515.pdf.
3.12 Compensation Structure/Pricing
3.12.1 Statewide Contract Administration Fee
This Statewide Contract is subject to a 1% Contract Administration Fee, which is created
pursuant to M.G.L. c. 7, § 3B, 801 CMR 4.02. For information on the Statewide Contract
Administration Fee, please see the RFR Section 3.15.1.
3.12.2 Prompt Pay Discounts (PPD)

All Bidders must agree to offer discounts through participation in the Commonwealth Prompt
Payment Discount (PPD) initiative for receiving early and/or on-time payments, unless the
Bidder can provide compelling proof that it would be unduly burdensome.
The requirement to offer a PPD may be waived by the PMT on a case-by-case basis if
participation in the program would be unduly burdensome on the Bidder. If a Bidder is claiming
that this requirement is a hardship or unduly burdensome, the specific reason must be
documented in the Response.
All discounts offered will be taken by the Commonwealth’s accounting system when the
payment date is within the specified number of calendar days listed on the Response From.
The turnaround time for payments will be measured from the date of receipt of a valid,
acceptable invoice after services have been provided. Bidders should note that if an invoice is
rejected because it is incorrect, incomplete or otherwise invalid, the date that the corrected
invoice is received will be considered as the receipt date of a valid, acceptable invoice.
All PPDs must be based on a 10, 15, 20 and/or 30 calendar day turnaround time for payments.
Bidders may offer a 1%, 2%, 3%, 4% or 5% discount for any or all of the turnaround times
listed. For example, the Bidder might offer:
Payment within the following number of calendar days Discount

after an acceptable invoice is received by the Agency
10 5%
15 4%
20 3%
30 1%
This would be interpreted to mean that a 5% discount would be applied to payments received
within 10 calendar days, a 4% discount would be applied to payments received on calendar
days 11-15, a 3% discount would be applied to payments received on calendar days 16-20,
and a 1% discount would be applied to payments received on calendar days 21-30.
Another example:
Payment within the following number of calendar days Discount
after an acceptable invoice is received by the Agency
10 5%
15
20
30 1%
This would be interpreted to mean that a 5% discount would be applied to payments received
within 10 calendar days, and a 1% discount would be applied to payments received on
calendar days 11-30. Bidders must not propose lower discounts for longer periods of time, i.e.,
it is not acceptable to propose a 5% discount for payments within 30 days and lower discounts
for payments in fewer than 30 days.
Bidders should be aware that Commonwealth Agencies may require invoices to be submitted
monthly, twice per month, or weekly.
3.12.3 Volume Discounts
Approximately 26% of the Solution Provider engagements under ITS33 exceeded $50,000,
based on reports received from ITS33 contractors. It is desirable that Bidders offer volume
discounts on engagements once the cumulative total value of engagements with an agency
exceeds $50,000, with increasing discounts as higher thresholds are reached. Only whole-
number percentages may be offered. The discount will apply to any invoice or portion of an
invoice that brings the total amount expended with a specific agency over $50,000 (or higher
threshold), and to all subsequent invoices with that agency while operating under the terms of
ITS43.
Example: Vendor X has a project with Agency ABC that will cost $90,000. Vendor X has bid a
2% volume discount for projects between $50,000 and $100,000. The project begins in May.
May incurred: $25,000 - no discount, bill $25,000

June incurred: $30,000 - discount applied to $5000, bill $29,900
July incurred: $25,000 - discount applied to $25,000, bill $24,600
If the contractor has also offered a Prompt Payment discount, only the amounts actually paid to
the contractor will be counted toward the total amount expended by an agency for the purposes
of determining when the volume discount will be applied.
The following information was reported under ITS33:

Projects over $1,000,000 – 2%
Projects $500,000 - $999,999 – 3%
Projects $200,000 - $499,999 – 6%
Projects $100,000 - $199,999 – 8%
Projects $50,000 - $99,999 – 7%
Bidders will be directed on the Response Form to indicate the discount band representing the
largest project they have completed since 1/1/2008. Bidders offering discounts must quote
discounts for all discount bands at that level or lower. Scoring will be based on the discounts
bid. If an awarded Bidder obtains a project larger than any project completed since 1/1/2008,
the highest discount bid will be applied to the project.
For example, a Bidder whose largest project was $150,000 would bid only on 2 discount bands.
If the Bidder bid 0% for projects $50,000 to $99,999, and 5% for projects $100,000 to
$199,999, the Bidder would receive 1.5 points, or half of the maximum points for Volume
Discounts. The maximum number of points (3) is divided by 2 (the number of discount bands
which were bid), resulting in a maximum of 1.5 points per discount band. The Bidder would get
0 points for the 0% discount bid, and 1.5 points for the 5% discount bid. Any contracts awarded
during ITS43 for more than $199,999 would be discounted at 5%.
If a Bidder had projects since 1/1/2008 exceeding $1,000,000, the Bidder would submit
discounts (again, possibly a 0% discount) for all 5 discount bands. Each discount bid would be
awarded a maximum of .6 points (3 points divided by 5 discount bands). The maximum points
for the various discount levels are shown in RFR Section 4, Evaluation Criteria.
It is the Bidder’s responsibility to track discount requirements for each Commonwealth agency.
Discounts must be reported as part of the semi-annual reporting requirement (see RFR Section
3.15.5).
For a specific engagement, Contracting Agencies may choose to negotiate alternate

considerations in lieu of the volume discount. If this is done, Bidders must attach a copy of the
email from the Commonwealth Agency or other documentation provided by the Commonwealth
Agency to the Bidder’s semi-annual reports, showing what the Commonwealth Agency
received in lieu of the volume discount. This must also be reflected in the Statement of Work.
In calculating the total dollar amount of work with a Contracting Agency over the life of the
Contract, the dollar amounts invoiced for any project wherein the Contracting Agency and the
Vendor have negotiated an alternate to the Volume Discount will be deducted.
3.12.4 Maintenance agreements

For time and materials maintenance contracts, hourly personnel rates may be increased only
once in any state fiscal year. Increases are limited to the lower of
 the negotiated rate; or
 twice the percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index for the city of Boston from
the time the previous rate was established.
3.12.5 Warranty
3.12.5.1 All Subcategories and Engagements
The Bidder agrees that (1) Contractor and its subcontractors will be sufficiently staffed and
equipped to fulfill the Contractor’s obligations under any SOW or engagement resulting from
this RFR; (2) Contractor’s services will be performed: (a) by appropriately qualified and
trained personnel; (b) with due care and diligence and to a high standard of quality as is
customary in the industry; (c) in compliance with the Milestone Schedule and the terms and
conditions of this Agreement; and (d) in accordance with all applicable professional standards
for the field of expertise; (3) the Deliverables will substantially conform with the Deliverable
descriptions set forth in any SOW or engagement resulting from this RFR; (4) all media on
which the Contractor provides any software under ITS43 shall be free from defects; (5) all
software delivered by the Contract under ITS43 shall be free of Trojan horses, back doors,
and other malicious code; (5) Contractor will obtain all rights, grants, assignments,
conveyances, licenses, permissions and authorizations necessary or incidental to any
materials owned by third parties supplied or specified by the Contractor for incorporation in
the Deliverables to be developed under ITS43; (6) documentation to be provided by the
Contractor under ITS43 shall be in sufficient detail so as to allow suitably skilled, trained, and
educated Contracting Department personnel to understand the operation of the Deliverables.
Contractor agrees to promptly, at no additional cost to the Contracting Department, make
corrections to any documentation that does not conform to this warranty.
3.12.5.2 Where Contractor has created or modified a system (Software and Systems
Development and Systems Integration / Networking only)
Bidders must warrant that any systems they create or modify will operate in substantial
conformance with the specifications for the system or modifications for three months after
acceptance. During the warranty period, Bidders will correct any Severity Level I, II or III
defects at no charge. Longer warranty periods are desirable. Points will be assigned as
specified in RFR Section 4, Evaluation Criteria.
 Level I: This is either a safety issue or an issue that affects a central requirement for
which there is no workaround. It prevents either use or testing of the system.
 Level II: This is an issue that affects a central requirement for which there is a
workaround, where use or testing of the system can proceed in a degraded mode, or
an issue that affects a non-central requirement for which there is no workaround, where
the feature cannot be used.

 Level III: This is an issue that affects a non-central requirement for which there is a
workaround, or a cosmetic issue, i.e. information is correctly shown but the appearance
is wrong, such as misspelled words, wrong font, wrong indentation, etc.
For a specific engagement, Contracting Agencies may choose to negotiate alternate

considerations in lieu of any additional warranty months bid in response to this RFR Section
(for example, a three month warranty is required, but Bidders may bid up to a 12-month
warranty). If this is done, it must be reflected in the Statement of Work.
3.13 Supplier Diversity Program (SDP) Plan

Important Note:
The former State Office of Minority and Women Owned Business Assistance (SOMWBA) is
now known as the Supplier Diversity Office (SDO). The Affirmative Market Program (AMP) is
now known as the Supplier Diversity Program (SDP), and the AMP Plan Form is now the
SDP Plan Form. SOMWBA-certified M/WBEs (Minority and/or Women Business
Enterprises) are now referred to as SDO-certified M/WBEs.
Transition: Any requirements or desirable specifications in this RFR, or any documents

associated with this RFR, for SDO Certification, or an SDO Certification Letter, may be met
by a current (prior to expiration date) SOMWBA Certification Letter. When SOMWBA
certification comes up for renewal, SOMWBA certifications will be replaced by SDO
certifications. This provision shall remain in effect until all current SOMWBA certifications
have been replaced by SDO certifications.
Massachusetts Executive Order 524 established a policy to promote the award of State Contracts
in a manner that develops and strengthens Minority and/or Women Business Enterprises
(M/WBEs). As a result, M/WBEs are strongly encouraged to submit bid Responses to this RFR,
either as prime vendors, joint venture partners or subcontractors. All Bidders, regardless of their
certification status, are required to submit a completed SDP Plan Form as part of their Response
for evaluation. It is required that Supplier Diversity Program participation accounts for no less than
10% of the total points in the evaluation.
The PMT requires Bidders to make a significant commitment to partner with certified Minority- and
Women-Owned Businesses in order to be awarded a Contract. An SDO-certified (formerly
SOMWBA-certified) Bidder may not list itself or an affiliate as being a Supplier Diversity Partner to
its own company.
IMPORTANT NOTE:
The SDO form is a standard form however, the instructions for completion found in
this Section are NOT STANDARD. Please read the instructions carefully and complete
the form(s) accordingly. For this RFR, it is not necessary to identify the Bidder’s SDO
partners as part of the Bid. However, awarded Bidders will be required to submit
copies of their partner(s)’ SDO M/WBE certificates when they submit their semi-annual
reports (See RFR Section 3.15.5).
Please note that no Bidder will be awarded a Contract unless and until they agree to commit to at
least one (1) of following three (3) SDP Components selected by the PMT:
3.13.1 Subcontracting
All Bidders should note that subcontracting is not restricted to subcontracting engagements
under ITS43SolProv – subcontracting engagements with private or out-of-state clients can be
counted toward the SDP requirement, provided, of course, that the subcontractor is a
Massachusetts SDO Certified M/WBE.

3.13.2 Growth and Development:
Growth and Development refers to education, training, mentoring, resource sharing, joint
activities, and assistance to companies in the field of IT Services. It could include (but is not
limited to) such activities as:
 Sharing or funding a booth at GreenSTAR
 Paying for attendance at other trade shows or industry conferences
 Providing or funding training or other skill development assistance
Bidders should be aware that in bidding/reporting Growth and Development activities, only hard
dollars expended by the Bidder can be counted toward the AMP plan commitment. The Bid
and reports must reference the metric used to calculate dollars, i.e., x hours of staff time at x
dollars per hour; x cost for travel expenses to conference, etc.
3.13.3 Ancillary Uses of Certified M/WBE Firm(s):

Includes but is not limited to the following types of expenditures:
 Purchasing office or Information Technology equipment or supplies;
 Making travel arrangements;
 Subcontracting with commercial or other non-state government clients;
 Catering;
 Janitorial services;
 Landscape or gardening services.
Bidders should note that ancillary expenditures are not limited to expenditures associated with
ITS43SolProv. For example, if a business unit of the Bidder’s organization that did work other
than IT Services purchased computers from a Massachusetts SDO certified M/WBE, that
expenditure could be counted toward the AMP Plan commitment.
3.13.4 Percentage Commitments vs. Dollar Commitments

Bidders should be aware that if they offer dollar commitments rather than percentage
commitment, the dollar commitment will apply regardless of how much income is received
under ITS43SolProv. Also, for Bid evaluation purposes, any dollar amount bid will be
converted to a percentage. Each $10,000 bid will be evaluated as 1% (i.e., a $100,000
commitment would be evaluated at 10%). This will be done for evaluation only; a dollar
commitment will not be treated as a percentage commitment for contract monitoring purposes.
3.13.5 How to Complete the SDO Form

Because this SDO Plan is not standard, there are some areas of the form that must be
completed differently than provided in the printed instructions. The printed instructions direct
Bidders to name their SDO partners, which is not required as part of this Bid.
Part I, Bidder/Contractor Information: Complete as directed in the instructions.
Part II, SDO Partner: For M/WBE Business Name, enter “Massachusetts SDO Certified
Company(ies)” and leave the rest of the section blank.
Part III, Description of Business Relationship: It is recommended that all three relationship
types (Subcontract, Ancillary and Growth & Development) be checked, as this will allow
ITS43SolProv Contractors maximum flexibility in meeting their commitments. In the box
provided for a description of products and services, enter “The financial commitment shown
below will be met through expenditures with Massachusetts SDO Certified M/WBE
Company(ies) in one or more of the areas checked above.”
Part IV, Financial Commitment: Clearly indicate whether your commitment is a dollar amount
or a percentage. If there is no indication, amounts of 100 or less will be considered
percentages and amounts over 100 will be considered dollars. See RFR Section 3.13.4,
Percentage Commitments vs. Dollar Commitments, above.
Part V, Past Performance: Leave Blank
Once an SDO Plan is submitted, negotiated and approved, the PMT will then monitor the
Contractor’s performance. Bidders who do not keep their SDO commitments will be required to
submit a Corrective Action Plan (CAP) satisfactory to the PMT showing how they will meet their

commitments. If they fail to do so, or fail to carry out the CAP, they will be suspended from new
business until the commitment is met.
Bidders must make a significant SDO commitment in order to be awarded a contract under ITS43.
Resources available to assist Prime Bidders in finding potential M/WBE partners can be found at:
SDP Procurement Resources and Guides or www.mass.gov/sdp.
3.14 Participation in OSD’s Annual Marketing Event, GreenSTAR
OSD hosts an annual marketing and training trade show, usually in late April or early May, to
educate public purchasers and contract end-users on the commodities and services available on
statewide contracts, highlight innovative environmentally preferable (green) products and provide
marketing and networking opportunities to the business community. The event, recently renamed
GreenSTAR, represents the blending of two highly successful long running OSD trade shows, the
Statewide Training And Resource (STAR) Exposition and the Environmentally Preferable Products
(EPP) Vendor Fair and Conference.
The attendees at these events have included public purchasers and contract end users
representing all Commonwealth Agencies, cities and towns across the state, independent
authorities, higher education and eligible not for profit human and social service organizations.
The venue for GreenSTAR has significant marketing value and is extremely cost effective as it
provides exceptional opportunities for statewide contractors to market directly to thousands of
attendees.
The GreenSTAR Exposition is scheduled each year at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center
(BCEC) and is 100% supported by statewide contractors as exhibitors. The cost to exhibit is
approximately $1100. OSD believes that the show is important because it provides public
purchasers and end users with an opportunity to meet over 300 statewide contractors and receive
important information on new products, particularly those that save energy, conserve water or
other Resources, reduce waste as well as the use of toxic substances and may also contain
recycled materials. It provides statewide contractors with the unparalleled opportunity to establish
and renew business relationships with existing customers and to market their business to
approximately 2,000 attendees, many of whom represent potential new customers.
Please note that exhibiting at the GreenSTAR Exposition is not required and no points will be
awarded to those Bidders who commit to participate. However, Bidders who indicate their
willingness to exhibit at GreenSTAR in their RFR Response will be required to honor their
commitment each year that the event is held for the duration of their contract, if awarded a
contract.
3.15 Requirements for Doing Business After a Contract Has Been Awarded
The requirements below are specific to the Statewide Contract, if any, awarded as a result of this
Solicitation. Awarded Bidders (Contractors) must also comply with the requirements stated in
RFR Section 6.3, “Terms and Requirements Pertaining to Awarded Statewide Contracts.”
3.15.1 Statewide Contract Administration Fee and Report
This Statewide Contract is subject to a 1% Contract Administration Fee, which is created
pursuant to M.G.L. c. 7, § 3B, 801 CMR 4.02 and the Transaction Fee section in this solicitation
and/or incorporated by reference into Statewide Contracts with the Operational Services
Division (OSD). The price stated in any Bidder’s bid price and any Contractor’s Statewide
Contract shall be inclusive of this fee and Contractors shall not reflect this fee as a separate
line item on customer invoices.
This fee will be based on 1% of the total dollar amounts, adjusted for credits or refunds, paid by
Eligible Entities to the Statewide Contractor based on your statewide contract. All ”Statewide
Contracts” awarded and all purchase orders and purchases made pursuant to this RFR are
subject to this fee regardless of whether the contract was awarded for statewide or regional
coverage. Eligible entities include, but are not limited to: a) Cities, towns, districts, counties and
other political subdivisions; b) Executive, Legislative and Judicial Branches, including all
departments and elected offices therein; c) Independent public authorities, commissions, and
quasi-public agencies; d) Local public libraries, public school districts, and charter schools; e)
Public hospitals owned by the Commonwealth; f) Public institutions of higher education; g)
Public purchasing cooperatives; h) Non-profit, UFR-certified organizations that are doing
business with the Commonwealth; i) Other states and territories with no prior approval by the
State Purchasing Agent required; and j) Other entities when designated in writing by the State
Purchasing Agent. For a list of other entities that are eligible to use your specific Statewide
Contract, please check the Issuers Tab for each Solicitation or Contract on Comm-PASS at
www.comm-pass.com.
Note that if the 1% Administration Fee is deductible as a business expense for federal income
tax purposes, it is also deductible as an expense for Massachusetts tax purposes.
3.15.1.1 Quarterly Fee Payment:

For each Payment Period, Contractor shall pay to OSD a Fee equal to one percent (1%) of
the total payments (adjusted for credits or refunds) received from all Eligible Entities that have
purchased from the Contractor pursuant to this Agreement. All payments will be based on full
calendar quarters (Payment Periods) and must be received by OSD on or before 45 days
after the last day of the Payment Period (as specified below) or a contractor will be
considered in breach of contract:
Quarter Payment Quarterly Payment Due on or

Period Before Date
First Quarter January 1st – March 31st May 15th
Second Quarter April 1st – June 30th August 15th
Third Quarter July 1st – September 30th November 15th
Fourth Quarter October 1 – December 31st February 15th
Quarterly payment will include any periods less than a full calendar quarter if a contract does
not start at the first day of a quarter or end on the last day of the quarter.
Payments are to be made by check made payable to the “Operational Services Division,
Comm. of Mass.” and mailed to: Operational Services Division, Attn: Contract Admin. Fee,
One Ashburton Place, Room 1017, Boston, MA, 02108. Please include the following
information in the memo field of each check: 1) “Contract Administration Fee”, 2) the
Statewide Contract Number and 3) your Commonwealth of Massachusetts Vendor Code (VC)
number. Please do not list social security numbers on the check. If the total Administration
Fees due for the Payment and Reporting Period (see Quarterly Reporting below) are less
than $50, a Statewide Contractor may carryover that balance to the next Payment and
Reporting Period until the cumulative amount owed is $50 or greater.
3.15.1.2 Quarterly Reporting:

Contractor shall submit one Statewide Contractor Administration Fee Report for each
Statewide Contract for each Payment Period, even if no payment is due for the Payment
Period. The Statewide Contractor Administration Fee Report for the applicable payment
period must be completely filled out and signed by the Statewide Contractor under pains and
penalties of perjury.
3.15.1.3 Audit:
During the term of this Agreement and for a period of six years thereafter, the Operational
Services Division, its auditors, the Office of the Inspector General or other authorized
representatives shall be afforded access at reasonable times to Contractor's accounting
records, including sales information on any system, reports or files, in order to audit all
records relating to goods sold or services performed pursuant to this Agreement. If such an
audit indicates that Contractor has materially underpaid OSD, then the Contractor shall remit
the underpayment and be responsible for payment of any costs associated with the audit.

3.15.1.4 Other Terms:
Contractors are responsible for compliance with all other contract reporting requirements
including, but not limited to, contract detailed spend, Affirmative Market Program (AMP) and
other contract reports, as required by this contract.
All amounts payable by the Contractor to OSD under this Agreement that are not received by
the due date specified shall bear simple interest from the date due until paid. The Late
Payment Interest Rate is set by the Office of the State Comptroller on an annual basis and
can be found by selecting the fiscal year in question on the Comptroller’s Fiscal Year Updates
webpage.
In the event of the Contractor’s breach of this policy including, but not limited to, non-
reporting, non-payment, late reporting/payment, under-reporting/payment, the
Commonwealth reserves the right to pursue any and all recourse and penalties available
including, but not limited to, contract suspension and contract termination. The
Commonwealth is allowed to suspend, terminate or debar pursuant to Massachusetts
General Laws Chapter 29, Section 29F, as amended, and pursuant to Section 4 of the
Commonwealth Terms and Conditions. In addition, in the event the Contractor fails to make
any payment when due, the Contractor shall be liable to the Commonwealth for all expenses,
court costs, and attorneys' fees (including inside counsel) incurred in enforcing the terms and
conditions of this Agreement.
3.15.2 Security and Confidentiality

The Contractor shall comply fully with all security procedures of the Commonwealth and
Commonwealth Agencies in performance of the Statewide Contract. The Contractor shall not
divulge to third parties any confidential information obtained by the Contractor or its agents,
distributors, resellers, subcontractors, officers or employees in the course of performing
Contract work, including, but not limited to, security procedures, business operations
information, or commercial proprietary information in the possession of the Commonwealth
Agency.
3.15.3 Representations by Resources

All Resources placed with a Commonwealth Department must sign a document entitled
“Intellectual Property and Work Effort Agreement for Vendor’s Employees, Consultants, and
Agents,” which is found on the “Forms & Terms” tab of this RFR as “Appendix A” of the Project
Statement of Work. The document covers confidentiality, assignment of inventions and
representation of non-infringement, and other representations.
3.15.4 Contract Management

3.15.4.1 Commonwealth Contract Manager
The contact on the Issuer tab for this Contract on Comm-PASS is the Commonwealth
Contract Manager. All Statewide Contract questions must be directed to the Commonwealth
Contract Manager. The Commonwealth Contract Manager shall have the final authority, with
the approval of the PMT, in all operational matters pursuant to the Contract. The
Commonwealth Contract Manager must approve in advance any proposed substitutions,
additions or modifications to this contract.
3.15.4.2 ITS43 Contractor Account Team

3.15.4.2.1 Single point of contact (Contractor’s Contract Manager)
The individual named on the Standard Contract Form as “Contract Manager” will be
responsible for the proper operation and administration of the Contract.
3.15.4.2.2 Replacement of Contractor’s Contract Manager
If the Contractor’s Contract Manager leaves the employment of the Contractor, or ceases to
perform that role relative to the Contract, the Contractor must offer a replacement to the
Commonwealth Contract Manager within ten (10) business days.

It is the Contractor’s responsibility to ensure continuity of Contract Management role. If the
Contractor’s Contract Manager leaves, email and phone calls should be forwarded to
someone knowledgeable about the Contract until a replacement is appointed. The
Contractor is also responsible for maintaining a copy of the Contract, for submitting reports
as required, and otherwise remaining in compliance with the Contract.
3.15.4.2.3 Timely response to requests
The Contractor’s Contract Manager shall respond within five (5) business days in writing
unless instructed otherwise, to all information requests from the Commonwealth Contract
Manager.
3.15.4.2.4 Meetings
The Contractor’s Contract Manager will attend meetings at the Operational Services
Division or at other sites, if required by the Commonwealth Contract Manager. The
Contractor’s Contract Manager will be responsible for arranging the attendance of
representatives of subcontractors if requested to do so.
3.15.4.3 Change notification
Changes to the Contractor’s contact information, company name, legal address, payment
address, tax identification number, authorized signatories, SOMWBA-certification status, or
EFT information must be promptly reported via email to the Commonwealth Contract
Manager. In some cases additional paperwork will be required to effect the change.
If the Contractor is acquired by another company, the Commonwealth Contract Manager and
the PMT will determine whether or not to offer the acquiring company a place on the
Statewide Contract.
3.15.5 Report Requirements and Due Dates

3.15.5.1 Semi-Annual (twice per year) Report Requirements
The Bidder must agree that if awarded a Contract resulting from this RFR, the Contractor will
submit Semi-Annual reports to the Commonwealth Contract Manager. Reports will be due on
February 15 for the period covering July 1 through December 31 of the previous year, and on
August 15 for the period covering the entire previous fiscal year (July 1 through June 30).
3.15.5.1.1 Report Content

The Bidder must agree that the report content will include, for each engagement in the
reporting period, the following information:
1.1.1.1.1.1 Contractor Information
Contractor’s name, address, phone, and email address must be included.
1.1.1.1.1.2 Contractor Engagement Report
Information concerning engagements for which services were provided during the reporting
period, including, for each engagement, the name of the Eligible Entity, and the start and
end dates of the engagement. For each, identify the project as “Fixed Price” or “Hourly
Rate” and provide the project title, a brief one or two sentence summary of the services
being provided, the total dollars invoiced during the reporting period, and the total dollar
value of the engagement.
1.1.1.1.1.3 Supplier Diversity Program (SDO) Report
The Affirmative Market Program Report will be cumulative from the beginning of the
Contract, with subtotals for each fiscal year. Contractors must include actual dollars spent
with SOMWBA-certified companies during the reporting period and all previous reporting
periods. If subcontracting was done for an engagement with a Contracting Department, the
name of the Contracting Department must be included. The Massachusetts SOMWBA or
SDO certificates for all of the contractor’s SDO/AMP partners appearing on the report must
also be submitted with all reports. If the contractor does not appear to be on track for
meeting their AMP commitment, or has not met the commitment on the annual report, a
plan must be included showing how and when the commitment will be met.

1.1.1.1.1.4 Discounts
Discounts must be reported if these were offered in the Bidder’s Response.
1.1.1.1.1.5 Additional Information as Required on the Report Template
Report templates will be posted on Comm-PASS. If additional information to that listed
above is requested on the report template, Contractors must provide this information if it is
available.
3.15.5.1.2 Late Reporting
Companies that do not submit reports as required by the report due dates may be subject to
financial assessments, unless they have requested and obtained an extension. Each week
the report is late may incur an assessment of up to $500. Unless otherwise specified by the
Commonwealth Contract Manager, the amount of the assessment will be credited by the
Contractor towards an engagement with a Contracting Department. Contractors may also
be suspended from new business for late reporting.
3.15.5.2 Quarterly Report – Statewide Contract Administration Fee Quarterly Report
This report is due November 15 for July – September, February 15 for October – December,
May 15 for January – March, and August 15 for April – June. Note that two of the dates,
February and August 15, coincide with the dates of the semi-annual reports discussed
in the previous section. On those dates, the semi-annual reports must be completed and
submitted electronically as directed in the Report Template, and the Administration Fee report
must be completed in hardcopy and mailed or delivered to address provided on the template
for the Administration Fee report.
3.15.6 Restriction from New Business

Any action performed by the Contractor, or any condition caused by Contractor’s failure to
perform in accordance with the Contract, including, but not limited to those listed below, could
result in restriction from entering into new engagements. Restrictions can be either temporary
or permanent, i.e., throughout the remaining life of the Contract. A restriction would take the
form of a temporary or permanent removal from the approved Contractor list(s). Nothing in this
section shall affect the rights of the Commonwealth under the Commonwealth Terms and
Conditions or Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 29: Section 29F Debarment from bidding.
These actions or conditions include but are not limited to the following:
 failure to commence performance of an engagement under this Contract at the time
specified due to circumstances within the Contractor's reasonable control;
 failure to perform under this Contract in a manner reasonably satisfactory to the
Commonwealth Contract Manager and the PMT;
 discontinuance of the services for reasons not beyond the Contractor’s reasonable
control;
 failure to negotiate replacement Contract language after determination was made that
a Contract provision is void;
 failure to comply with any material term of this Contract;
 material misrepresentations made by Contractor; and
 any other acts specifically and expressly stated in this Contract as constituting a basis
for termination of this Contract.

4 EVALUATION CRITERIA
Bidder scores will be used to rank Bidders and will determine which Bidders will proceed to
subsequent stages of the evaluation and/or enter into negotiations with the Commonwealth to receive
a Contract award.
4.1 Mandatory requirements
Mandatory Specifications must be met in order for a Bid to be evaluated and may be used to
disqualify Bidders. In addition, certain mandatory specifications have desirable components to
them that may be evaluated by the PMT. The PMT reserves the right, in its discretion, to
determine if non-compliance with a Mandatory Specification is insignificant or can be easily
corrected. Unless otherwise stated, all specifications in this RFR are mandatory.
4.2 Desirable specifications
Desirable specifications will be scored according to the Evaluation Criteria.
4.3 “Generic” Scoring and Subcategory Scoring
38 points will be allocated to the RFR components which are common to all Bidders regardless of
subcategory (“generic” score).
62 points will be allocated to the subcategory responses.
Bidders must score a minimum of 22 “generic” points and 38 subcategory points to be considered
for a contract award. Bidders who do not score at least 22 “generic” points will not be given a
subcategory score.
Bidders will receive a separate score for each subcategory they submit. The subcategory score
will be added to the generic score. Bidders who submit bids in two subcategories will receive two
independent scores. Each score will be the sum of the “generic” score and the subcategory score.
Competition will be within each subcategory only. For example:
Bidder A bids in two subcategories: “Software and Systems Development” and “Systems
Integration / Networking.”
Bidder A scores 25 of the 38 points for the “generic” components.
Bidder A scores 50 of 62 points for the Software and Systems Development subcategory.
Bidder A scores 40 of 62 points for the Systems Integration / Networking subcategory.
Bidder A’s score for Software and Systems Development is 75 (25 for generic, 50 for subcategory)
Bidder A’s score for Systems Integration / Networking is 65 (25 for generic, 40 for subcategory)
Bidder A’s score of 75 will be compared with those of other bidders in the Software and Systems
Development subcategory. Bidder A’s score of 65 will be compared with those of the other
bidders in the Systems Integration / Networking subcategory.
In the above example, it would be possible for Bidder A to lose in the Software and Systems
Development subcategory, if 35 other Bidders in that subcategory scored more than 75 points, but
win in the Systems Integration / Networking subcategory, if a score of 65 was among the top 5
scores.
The target numbers for subcategory awards are:
 Software and Systems Development – 35
 GIS – 7
 Systems Integration / Networking – 5
 Systems Planning – 5

4.4 Maximum Points
Generic Maximum Points
Years of experience 3
Repeat Business 5
Project Management Methodology 12
Prompt Pay Discount 5
Volume Discount 3
Supplier Diversity Plan 10
Total 38
Subcategory Maximum Points
Software and GIS Systems Systems

Systems Integration / Planning
Development Networking
References 8 18 19 22
Project Experience 27 18 30 36
Architecture 9
Quality 4 4 4
Open Source 5
Warranty 9 9
GIS only - 10
Company Capacity
GIS only - 16
Qualifications
Total 62 62 62 62
4.5 Basis for point allocation

4.5.1 Years of experience (exceeding 2)
8 years or more - 3 points
At least 6 years but less than 8 years - 1.5 points
At least 3 years but less than 6 years - 1 point
Fewer than 3 full years - 0
4.5.2 Repeat Business

1 point for each client with repeat business up to maximum of 5 points
4.5.3 Open Ratings / Dun & Bradstreet Reports

4.5.3.1 Financial Strength (Dun & Bradstreet)
8 or 9 - explanation needed to satisfy PMT regarding company’s financial status, otherwise
disqualify
4.5.3.2 Reference Check (Open Ratings)

If “Overall Performance Rating” is below 80, explanation needed to satisfy PMT regarding
company’s level of customer satisfaction, otherwise disqualify
4.5.4 Project Management Methodology
4.5.4.1 Description
Good or Outstanding – 6 points
Well established, standardized, reproducible, based on templates, complete for intended
purpose
Satisfactory – 3 points
May be repeatable but not as standardized or complete as methodologies scored as “Good
or Outstanding.”
Unsatisfactory, does not describe a repeatable project management methodology – 0 points
4.5.4.2 Artifacts
Good or Outstanding – 2 points
Artifacts relate to one of the projects described; list of report/deliverable titles appears
comprehensive and appropriate to project; submitted artifacts are of high quality
Satisfactory – 1 point
Artifacts relate to one of the projects described; list of report/deliverable titles appears
appropriate to project; submitted artifacts are of adequate quality
Unsatisfactory – 0 points
Does not meet above criteria
4.5.4.3 Tools
Bidder uses nationally recognized project management tools – 1
Bidder uses proprietary tools with a satisfactory description provided – 1 (if no points awarded
for nationally recognized tools)
Neither of the above – 0
4.5.4.4 Certified/Trained Project Management staff %

80% or more – 3
65% to 79% - 2
50% to 64% - 1
Does not have substantially dedicated Project Management staff – 0
Staff with in-house training/certification only will be counted only if in-house training program
appears to be comparable with nationally recognized programs.
4.5.5 Prompt Pay

Discounts for each of the four time periods will be summed and divided by 4. A discount bid for
payment within 30 days will be considered to apply to all shorter time periods which do not
have higher discounts; similarly, a discount bid for 20 days will apply to 15 days and 10 days, if
15 and 20 days do not have higher discounts, and a discount bid for 15 days will also apply to
10 days unless a higher discount is bid for 10 days. Thus, a 5% discount bid for 30 days will be
treated as a 5% discount for all four time periods, and the score will be 5 ((5 + 5 + 5 + 5) / 4). A
bid of 5% for 10 days, 4% for 15 days, 1% for 20 days, and 0% for 30 days will receive a score
of 2.5 ((5 + 4 + 1) / 4). A bid of 5% for 30 days and 1% for the three shorter time periods will be
construed as a bid of 5% for all four time periods, and any resulting contract will read
accordingly.
4.5.6 Volume Discounts

Maximum points – 3
Maximum points per discount band:
Largest Largest Largest Largest Largest
Project Project Project Project Project
$1 M+ $500,000- $200,000- $100,000- $50,000-
$999,999 $499,999 $199,999 $99,999
Projects $1,000,000 or over .6
Projects $500,000- .6 .75
$999,999
Projects $200,000- .6 .75 1

$499,999
Projects $100,000- .6 .75 1 1.5

$199,999
Projects $50,000-$99,999 .6 .75 1 1.5 3

5% Discount – 100% of points per discount band
4.5.7 Supplier Diversity Program

The PMT plans to award 0 points for plans with a commitment of less than 2%, to award a
substantial number of points for 2% commitments, and to provide some differentiation among
greater percentage commitments. Scoring will not necessarily be proportional, that is, a 10%
commitment would not necessarily receive twice as many points as a 5% commitment or five
times as many points as a 2% commitment.
If fixed dollar amounts rather than percentages are offered, the dollar amounts will be
converted, for the purposes of evaluation only, at the rate of 1 percentage point per $10,000
dollars. This is for evaluation only; the Bidder’s commitment will be in dollars as bid.
4.5.8 Subcategory Scoring

4.5.8.1 Reference Letters
The same scoring method will be used for all reference letters, however the number of points
differs by subcategory. Each of the three reference letters will be scored as shown below.
4.5.8.1.1 Timely project completion within budget

Fixed Price projects:
On time or ahead of schedule – 30% of points
References .8 1.8 1.89 2.2
At or under budget – 30% of points

References .8 1.8 1.89 2.2
OR*
Time and Materials projects:
Met expectations – 60% of points
References 1.6 3.6 3.78 4.4
*Each project is categorized as Fixed Price or Time and Materials. A fixed price project will
not receive points for meeting expectations and a time and materials project will not receive
points for meeting the schedule or being at or under budget.
For fixed price projects, if one of the two metrics (timeliness or budget) is left blank, and the
other is checked as “on time” or “at or under budget,” the missing metric will be given the
same score as the completed metric if the overall performance rating is “Excellent,”
otherwise the missing metric will be scored as 0 points.
4.5.8.1.2 Overall Performance:
Excellent – 40% of points
Good – 30% of points
Fair – 0 points, but allow any points awarded for timeliness, budget, and/or meeting
expectations to stand.
Poor – Score entire letter as 0 points (no points awarded for timeliness, budget or meeting
expectations)

Excellent 1.07 2.4 2.53 2.9
Good .8 1.8 1.89 2.2
Fair 0 0 0 0
Poor 0 0 0 0
4.5.8.1.3 Project Description:

Applicability to specialty
Not applicable – Score entire letter as 0 points
Description of outcome and general favorability of narrative

Poor outcome – reduce score for letter and for project to 0
Narrative unfavorable – reduce score for letter and for project to 0
4.5.8.1.4 Project Description Comments

For fixed price projects, if the time and budget questions are checked “over budget” or
“behind schedule,” but the narrative or comments explains that this was due to causes
unattributable to the Bidder and the reference is positive, award full points to Bidder.
4.5.8.1.5 Contradictions or ambiguities
In general, reference letters will be scored as written, but the PMT reserves the right to
assign points as it believes reasonable in the event that reference letters are contradictory
or ambiguous.
4.5.8.2 Project Experience

The three project descriptions have the maximum points below for each subcategory:
Project 1 9 6 10 12
Project 2 9 6 10 12
Project 3 9 6 10 12
GIS 3
Development
Planning
Exp. GIS data 5
development
Exp. GIS 5
Application Dev.
& Tech Support
Web Map 3
hosting
Experience
Project experience descriptions will be evaluated first based on their relevance to the
subcategory. Projects which are not relevant will receive no points.

If the reference letter for a project gives an overall rating of “poor” or if the identifying
information given in the reference letter regarding the project title, dates, dollar value,
subcategory or description conflicts with the information provided by the bidder in the project
narrative to a degree which brings into serious question whether the reference is describing
the same project described in the bidder’s project narrative, the bidder will receive a score of
0 for that project experience description and for the reference letter.
Responses will be evaluated based on:

o Specificity
o Clarity
o Vendor’s role in project
o Complexity / Scope
o Methodology(ies)
o Apparent quality of work
Outstanding:
Project size is at least the following: GIS - $10,000; Software and Systems Development -
$400,000; Systems Integration / Networking - $50,000; Systems Planning - $200,000.
Description is clear, specific and succinct, including dates, products, hardware/software (if
applicable). Bidder’s role in the project is clear. The project is large and/or complex in
terms of requirements. Methodologies are explained in the context of the project. Based on
“Results” and/or client reference, it appears that the quality of the work was outstanding.
100% of points.
Excellent/Good:
Similar to “Outstanding” but a) less specificity is provided and/or b) size of project is smaller
than minimum required for a rating of “Outstanding” and/or c) based on “Results” and/or
client reference, rating of “Outstanding” is not warranted.
80% of points
Satisfactory:
Less specificity is provided than for Excellent/Good, however, enough information is given
to provide the PMT with a sense of the Bidder’s role in the project and their
accomplishments. The size/scope of the project is significant. Some detail on methodology
is provided. Based on “Results” and/or client reference, it appears that the quality of the
work was satisfactory.
50% of points
Poor/Non-Responsive
None or little detail about project specifics. Narrative does not demonstrate that the Bidder
has significant capabilities relative to the subcategory in which they are bidding. This score
may also be given if the project selected is relatively small and requires minimal capability.
0% of points.
4.5.8.3 Company Capacity – GIS only
Company capacity will be evaluated (up to ten points) based on:
10 points = Outstanding: bidder has the capability to execute the variety of services sought
through this RFR, more than one highly qualified staff person in each function, and significant
project capacity (more than 5 substantive projects simultaneously or a project involving
statewide data development or regional data development), directly or through tested
business relationships.

8 points = Very good: bidder capability, capacity, and staff qualifications are strong but in one
or more of these areas not strong enough for an outstanding rating
6 points = good: bidder provides the services sought but has limited project capacity
compared to other bidders, or less breadth and depth in their staff qualifications.
4 points = fair: bidder lacks capability to provide one or more of the desired services, or has a
limited project capacity, or has staff that is less experienced.
2 points = poor: bidder’s ability to provide desired services, qualified staff, or project capacity
is very limited.
0 points = unsatisfactory: bidder is not qualified to provide GIS services
4.5.8.4 GIS Development Planning

3 points = Outstanding: company experience with GIS development planning includes more
than one project involving single applications used by multiple-departments and more than
one project involving enterprise GIS with multiple departments using multiple applications
2 points = Good: company has experience (at least one project each for multi-department
single application or enterprise GIS) but not at the highest level
1 point = Fair: company has some experience performing GIS development planning
0 points = Unsatisfactory
4.5.8.5 Experience with GIS Data Development

5 points = Outstanding: bidder has broad and deep data conversion experience that includes
both converting source records (e.g., Mylar or paper maps) and CAD file formats to GIS data
formats.
4 points = Very good: bidder has good experience but has less breadth or depth
3 points = Good: bidder has experience primarily with one kind of data development
2 points = Fair: bidder has data development experience but it is not one of their core
services
1 point = Poor: bidder has limited data development experience
0 points = Unsatisfactory: bidder has no data development experience.
4.5.8.6 Experience with GIS Application Development and Technical Support

5 points = Outstanding: bidder has broad and deep application development experience in
two or more development environments and including experience supporting software
applications developed with open source software
4 points = Very good: bidder has good experience but has less breadth or depth or does not
have experience supporting applications developed with open source software
3 points = Good: bidder has experience primarily with one kind of software development
environment
2 points = Fair: bidder has GIS application development experience but it is not one of their
core services
1 point = Poor: bidder has limited GIS application development experience
0 points = Unsatisfactory: bidder has no GIS application development experience.
4.5.8.7 Experience with Web Map Hosting

3 points = Outstanding: company capacity and experience are very extensive
2 points = Good: company capacity and experience are extensive but not at the highest level
1 point = Satisfactory: company has some experience performing web hosting but has not
done so extensively and does not have a high capacity
0 points = Little or no capacity or experience

Pricing
The pricing formula will result in a number from 0 to -1 which will be deducted from the
Bidder's score for experience with Web Map Hosting, as follows:
Maximum Bid $ = -1
Minimum Bid $ = 0
Bids between maximum and minimum bid:
Score = -1 * ( 1 - ( Max $ - Bid $ ) / ( Max $ - Min $) ) )
Where Bid $ = (Average setup fees for 3 cost categories / 12 ) + (Average monthly fee for 3
cost categories)
4.5.8.8 Architecture (Software and Systems Development Only)

9 points = Outstanding: description shows extensive experience with use of SOA
Architecture
7 points = Excellent/Good: description shows substantial experience with use of SOA
Architecture
4 points = Satisfactory: description shows limited experience with use of SOA Architecture
0 points = Unsatisfactory: description shows no experience with use of SOA Architecture
4.5.8.9 Quality (All Subcategories Except GIS)

4 points = Outstanding: bidder shows processes in place to ensure both quality of code (if
applicable) and quality of written deliverables including standardized review processes,
independent reviews, reproducible results
2 points = Excellent/Good: bidder shows processes in place to ensure both quality of code (if
applicable) and quality of written deliverables using written processes
1 point = Satisfactory: bidder shows casual processes
0 points = Unsatisfactory: bidder does not demonstrate consistent review processes
4.5.8.10 Open Source (Software and Systems Development Only)

A maximum of 5 points will be awarded for Open Source projects for Software and Systems
Development.
2 Open Source projects used – 5 points
1 Open Source project used – 2 points
4.5.8.11 Warranty (Software and Systems Development, Systems Integration / Networking Only)
12 months – 9 points
4 months - 1 point
Less than 4 months – 0 points

5 HOW TO SUBMIT A BID RESPONSE
All Bidders may begin creating and compiling response materials as soon as the Solicitation
containing files on the Forms & Terms tab and the Specifications tab is in an OPEN Document
Status. When submitting response materials prior to the Solicitation Close Date, the ability to upload
documents is only available to active SmartBid account holders after the Solicitation Amendment
Deadline has passed. Once the Solicitation Close Date and Time has passed, interested Bidders
will be unable to submit a Response online.
5.1 Bid Response Method
Online Bid Submission via SmartBid is required to eliminate direct and indirect costs associated
with the production, delivery/receipt, storage and management of traditional paper bids incurred by
Bidders, the Operational Services Division, and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Bids
submitted via the SmartBid tools also promote environmental conservation and preservation by
eliminating printed materials as well as fossil-fuel consumption associated with delivery. All
Bidders must submit Responses online using tools available to Comm-PASS SmartBid
Subscribers only.
Comm-PASS SmartBid requires an annual subscription. To subscribe, go to www.comm-
pass.com. Complete the SmartBid subscription process by selecting the JOIN tab from the main
navigation bar to review subscription benefits, submit payment by credit card, and create a custom
account.
5.2 SmartBid Training
Training sessions targeting the online submission tool, if offered, are noted in RFR Section 2,
“Estimated Procurement Calendar.”
5.3 SmartBid Support
Technical assistance is available during the procurement process. Every effort is made to
respond to inquiries within one business day.
Website: go to www.mass.gov/osd and select the Comm-PASS Resource Center link offered
within the Conduct a Procurement menu
Email: Send inquiries to the Comm-PASS Helpdesk at comm-pass@state.ma.us
Telephone: Call the Comm-PASS Helpline at 1-888-MA-STATE (1-888-627-8283). The Helpline
is staffed from 7:30 AM to 5:00 PM Monday through Friday Eastern Standard or Daylight time, as
applicable, except on federal, state and Suffolk county holidays.
Bidders are advised that Comm-PASS will be unavailable during regularly scheduled maintenance
hours as displayed under the “Comm-PASS System Availability” link offered at the bottom of any
Comm-PASS page.
5.4 Bid Response Deadline
All Bids must be received by the Operational Services Division before the specified date, month,
year and time displayed on the Solicitation’s Summary page within the Close Date field. Times are
Eastern Standard/Daylight Savings (US), as applicable. All Bidders are advised to allow adequate
time for submission by considering potential online submission impediments like Internet traffic,
Internet connection speed, file size, and file volume. OSD is not responsible for delays
encountered by Bidders or their agents, or for a Bidder’s local hardware failures, such as
computers or related networks, associated with bid compilation or submission. Bids submitted via
SmartBid are time stamped by the Comm-PASS system clock which is considered the official time
of record.
5.5 Bid Package
Bidders submitting via SmartBid must name their Response by entering
BidderName_ITS43SolProv in the Response Nick Name field in Step 3 of the submission wizard.

5.6 Bid Response Contents
Bidders must comply with the requirements below.
5.6.1 RFR Checklist and Bidder Response Form
Procurement Management Teams seek to reduce the number of Bidder disqualifications based
on incomplete submissions. Therefore, Bidders must complete and submit the RFR Checklist
and all required documents referenced in the Checklist. By submitting the RFR Checklist with a
response, Bidders agree to all specifications on Comm-PASS for this Solicitation, including the
RFR and all the documents within all the tabs, including the Forms & Terms tab and the
Specifications tab, and the Solicitation’s related Forum, if any.
The RFR Checklist is found in the Bidder Response Form. All Bidders must complete this form.
5.6.2 Additional Terms

Bidders must not, as part of their Bid Responses, propose additional contractual terms, or
supplemental or clarifying language pertaining to contractual terms, even if the proposed
additions/clarifications are not in conflict with the Commonwealth Terms and Conditions, the
Standard Contract Form, or other documents comprising this RFR. It is essential for
Contracting Departments that all Contractors’ Statewide Contracts can be depended upon to
incorporate the same terms and only those terms. Contractors who wish to propose additional
contractual terms, or supplemental or clarifying language, may do so ONLY on a case-by-case
basis, negotiated for each specific engagement and memorialized in the Project Statement of
Work.
5.7 Bid Response Materials

5.7.1 Electronic Signatures
Bids submitted via SmartBid must be signed electronically by the Bidder or the Bidder’s Agent
by selecting the Agree to All link in Step 2 of the Online Submission wizard. By selecting “Next
Step” on the “Forms & Terms” tab after acknowledging all of the forms on that tab, the
submitter attests that s/he is an agent of the Bidder with authority to sign on the Bidder’s behalf,
and that s/he has read and assented to each document’s terms.
5.7.2 Ink Signatures

Original ink signatures are required only after contracts have been awarded. The
Commonwealth of Massachusetts requires Contractors to submit original ink-signature versions
of the following forms:
 Standard Contract Form
 Commonwealth Terms and Conditions
 Contractor Authorized Signatory Listing
 Request for Taxpayer Identification and Verification (Mass. Substitute W9 Form).
Successful Bidders who signed these forms electronically via SmartBid online submission tools
must still submit the above forms with ink signatures within ten (10) calendar days of award
notification or their contract may not be executed by the Commonwealth. Bidders who have
previous Contract(s) with the Commonwealth and have up-to-date, ink-signature versions of the
Commonwealth Terms and Conditions and Request for Taxpayer Identification and Verification
(Mass. Substitute W9 Form) on file with the Office of the State Comptroller may submit copies
of the signed forms. However, a new Standard Contract Form and Contractor Authorized
Signatory Listing with original ink signatures must be submitted for each new Contract with the
Commonwealth.
5.8 Limits and Restrictions

5.8.1 Document Pages
Space limitations (pages or number of characters) may be specified in the Response Form. If
entries on the Response Form have built-in limitations on the number of characters that may be
entered, Bidders must not override these limitations.

5.8.2 File Naming Conventions
Files submitted via SmartBid must use the file names specified in the Checklist. The same
name should be used for both the File Name and the Description entered when uploading files
to Comm-PASS. The upload tool will reject any file name that includes spaces or symbols, like
the brackets [ ] some systems apply when files are downloaded from the Internet.
5.8.3 File Size Limits

The system will not accept files that approach or exceed 10 MB. If a large file fails to upload,
Bidders must break up the file and append _Part1, _Part2, etc. to the end of the Description
and File Name.
5.8.4 Duplicate File Names Not Accepted

Once a file has been submitted, Comm-PASS will not accept another file with the same name.
This is the case even with files that are modified or have been withdrawn. If it is necessary to
resubmit a file, add an underscore and numeric suffix to the company name, for example,
ResponseForm_CompanyName_2.
5.8.5 File Format Restrictions

All scanned documents must be in .pdf or .gif format, and must be scanned in such a way that
they can be read on a computer monitor and printed on 81/2” x 11” paper, unless otherwise
specified. Forms provided for the Bidder to complete, unless signatures are required, must be
completed and submitted in their original formats, NOT scanned and submitted as PDF or other
file types. Any MS Word documents submitted, including the Response Form, must be
readable by MS Word 2003 without conversion.
Reference letters must be scanned after the references have signed them and submitted in a
single .pdf or .gif file. The Commonwealth Standard Contract Form, the Commonwealth Terms
and Conditions, and the Contractor Authorized Signatory Listing must be completed, signed,
and scanned into .pdf or .gif files.
5.9 Withdrawing a Response

5.9.1 Prior to Close Date
Bids may be withdrawn using the Withdraw icon offered on the subscriber’s Response Desktop.
5.9.2 After Close Date

No Bid can be withdrawn after the Close Date. If the Bidder wants to remove a Response from
consideration, contact the Procurement Team Leader for guidance.

6 APPENDIX 1 – REQUIRED TERMS FOR ALL STATEWIDE RFRS
The terms of 801 CMR 21.00: Procurement of Commodities and Services are incorporated by
reference into this RFR. Words used in this RFR shall have the meanings defined in 801 CMR 21.00.
Additional definitions may also be identified in this RFR. Unless otherwise specified in this RFR, all
communications, Responses, and documentation must be in English and all cost proposals or figures
in U.S. currency. All Responses must be submitted in accordance with the specific terms of this RFR.
6.1 General Procurement Information
6.1.1 Alterations
Bidders may not alter (manually or electronically) the Solicitation language or any Solicitation
component files, except as directed in the RFR. Modifications to the body of the Solicitation,
specifications, terms and conditions, or that change the intent of this Solicitation are prohibited
and may disqualify a Response.
6.1.2 Bidder’s Contact Information

It is the Bidder’s responsibility to monitor the email address provided in the Solicitation for the
Bidder’s contact person. The PMT may need to contact the Bidder’s contact person with
clarification requests or for other reasons. The PMT and the Commonwealth assume no
responsibility if a Bidder’s designated email address is not current, or if technical problems,
including those with the Bidder’s computer, network or internet service provider (ISP), cause e-
mail communications between the Bidder and the PMT to be lost or rejected by any means
including email or spam filtering.
6.1.3 Comm-PASS SmartBid Subscription

As specified in RFR Section 5.1, “Bid Response Method,” Bidders must have or activate a
SmartBid account in order to submit a Response. A SmartBid subscription also provides value-
added features, including automated email notification associated with postings and
modifications to Comm-PASS records. When properly configured and managed, subscribers
who login to SmartBid access:
 A secure desktop with Items I’m Tracking tools for efficient record management
 A customizable profile reflecting the subscriber’s product/service areas of interest
 Full-cycle, automated email alert whenever any record of interest is posted or updated
 A custom listing in the public Business Directory, an online “yellow-pages”
advertisement
Every public purchasing entity within the borders of Massachusetts may post records on
Comm-PASS at no charge. Comm-PASS has the potential to become the sole site for all public
entities in Massachusetts. SmartBid fees are only based on and expended for costs to operate,
maintain and develop the Comm-PASS system.
Bidders who activate a SmartBid account are required to provide a valid email address in order
to receive notifications. Bidders responding to this RFR agree to:
1. alert the procurement manager by email if the email address used within the SmartBid
account:
 differs from the email address for public display in the Comm-PASS Contract record, if
awarded
 changes and must be updated within the publicly displayed Comm-PASS Contract
record, if awarded
2. set the mail server and mailbox settings to treat email sent from the domains @comm-
pass.com and @state.ma.us as “friendly” or “not SPAM.”
6.1.4 Costs
Costs that are not specifically identified in the Bidder’s Response, and accepted by the PMT as
part of a Statewide Contract, will not be compensated under any Statewide Contract or
engagement awarded pursuant to this RFR. The Commonwealth will not be responsible for
any costs or expenses incurred by Bidders responding to this RFR.

6.1.5 Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT)
All Bidders must agree to participate in the Commonwealth Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT)
program for receiving payments, unless the Bidder can provide compelling proof that it would
be unduly burdensome. A link to the EFT application can be found on the OSD Forms page
(www.mass.gov/osd). Additional information about EFT is available on the Comptroller’s
VendorWeb site located at: https://massfinance.state.ma.us/VendorWeb/vendor.asp. The
requirement to use EFT may be waived by the PMT on a case-by-case basis if participation in
the program would be unduly burdensome on the Bidder. If a Bidder is claiming that this
requirement is a hardship or unduly burdensome, the specific reason must be documented in
its Response. The PMT will consider such requests on a case-by-case basis and communicate
the findings with the Bidder.
Upon notification of award, Contractors are required to enroll in EFT by completing and
submitting the “Authorization for Electronic Funds Payment Form” to the PMT for review,
approval and forwarding to the Office of the Comptroller, unless already enrolled in EFT. A link
to the EFT application can be found on the Comptroller’s VendorWeb site (see above link).
This form, and all information contained on this form, shall not be considered a public record
and shall not be subject to public disclosure through a public records request.
6.1.6 Minimum Bid Duration

Bidders’ Responses to this RFR must remain in effect for at least 90 days from the date of
Response submission.
6.1.7 Ownership of Submitted Responses

OSD and the PMT shall be under no obligation to return any Responses or materials submitted
by a Bidder in response to this RFR. All materials submitted by Bidders become the property of
the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and will not be returned to the Bidder. The
Commonwealth reserves the right to use any ideas, concepts, or configurations that are
presented in a Bidder’s Response, whether or not the Response is selected for Contract award.
Responses stored on Comm-PASS in the encrypted lock-box are the file of record. Bidders
retain access to a read-only copy of this submission via their Comm-PASS SmartBid Online
Response Desktop, as long as their account is active. Bidders may also retain a traditional
paper copy or electronic copy on a separate computer or network drive or separate media,
such as CD or DVD, as a back up.
6.1.8 Prohibitions
Bidders are prohibited from communicating directly with any employee of the procuring
Department or any member of the PMT regarding this RFR except as specified in this RFR,
and no other individual Commonwealth employee or representative is authorized to provide any
information or respond to any question or inquiry concerning this RFR. Bidders may contact
the contact person using the contact information provided in the “Issuers” tab for this
Solicitation in the event that this RFR is incomplete or information is missing. Bidders
experiencing technical problems accessing information or attachments stored on Comm-PASS
should contact the Comm-PASS Helpdesk, see RFR Section 5.3, “SmartBid Support.”
In addition to the certifications found in the Commonwealth’s Standard Contract Form, by

submitting a Bid Response, the Bidder certifies that the Response has been arrived at
independently and has been submitted without any communication, collaboration, or without
any agreement, understanding or planned common course or action with, any other Bidder of
the commodities and/or services described in the RFR. Bidders acknowledge that collusion or
unfair trade practices by two or more bidders (hereby defined to include multiple bids prepared
by, or with the participation of, a single individual representing two or more business
entities) acting in a manner intended to avoid or frustrate fair and open competition, or to avoid
the requirement that bidders may submit only one bid, is prohibited by applicable law and
regulations governing this procurement and shall be grounds for rejection or disqualification of
a proposal or termination of this contract. All associated bids may be subject to disqualification,
rejection, or termination.
6.1.9 Public Records Law
All Responses and information submitted in response to this RFR are subject to the
Massachusetts Public Records Law, M.G.L., Chapter 66, Section 10, and to Chapter 4, Section
7, Subsection 26. Any statements in submitted Responses that are inconsistent with these
statutes shall be disregarded.
6.1.10 Reasonable Accommodation

Bidders with disabilities or hardships that seek reasonable accommodation, which may include
the receipt of RFR information in an alternative format, must communicate such requests in
writing to the contact person. Requests for accommodation will be addressed on a case by
case basis. A Bidder requesting accommodation must submit a written statement which
describes the Bidder’s disability and the requested accommodation to the contact person for
the RFR. The PMT reserves the right to reject unreasonable requests.
6.1.11 System of Record

Comm-PASS is the official system of record for all procurement information which is publicly
accessible at no charge at www.comm-pass.com. Information contained in this document and
in each tab of the Solicitation, including file attachments, and information contained in the
related Bidders’ Forum(s), are all components of the Solicitation.
Bidders are solely responsible for obtaining all information distributed for this Solicitation via
Comm-PASS, by using the free Browse and Search tools offered on each record-related tab on
the main navigation bar (Solicitations and Forums). Forums support Bidder submission of
written questions associated with a Solicitation and publication of official answers. All records
on Comm-PASS are composed of multiple tabs, or pages. For example, Solicitation records
contain Summary, Rules, Issuer(s), Intent or Forms & Terms and Specifications, and Other
Information tabs. Each tab contains data and/or file attachments provided by the Procurement
Management Team. All are incorporated into the Solicitation.
It is each Bidder’s responsibility to check Comm-PASS for:

 Any addenda or modifications to this Solicitation, by monitoring the “Last Change” field
on the Solicitation’s Summary tab, and
 Any Bidders’ Forum records related to this Solicitation (see RFR Section 2.2, “Locating
an Online Bidders’ Forum,” for information on locating these records).
The Commonwealth accepts no responsibility and will provide no accommodation to Bidders

who submit a Response based on an out-of-date Solicitation or on information received from a
source other than Comm-PASS.
6.2 Evaluation – Best Value Selection and Negotiation

The PMT may select the Response(s) that demonstrates the best value overall, including
proposed alternatives, that will achieve the goals of the procurement. The PMT and a selected
Bidder may negotiate a change in any element of Contract performance or cost identified in the
original RFR or the selected Bidder’s Response that results in lower costs or a more cost effective
or better value than was presented in the selected Bidder’s original Response.
6.3 Terms and Requirements Pertaining to Awarded Statewide Contracts
6.3.1 Comm-PASS SmartBid Subscription
Contractors must maintain a Comm-PASS SmartBid subscriber account, which is payable by
credit card and managed by the Subscriber online at www.Comm-PASS.com. The annual
Comm-PASS SmartBid subscription fee is currently $275 per email address. The fee was
established with the approval of the Executive Office for Administration and Finance and is
subject to change, if necessary. The Comm-PASS Subscription fee is utilized solely for the
operation, maintenance and development of Comm-PASS.

6.3.2 Commonwealth Tax Exemption
Payment vouchers or invoices submitted to Massachusetts government entities must not
include sales tax.
6.3.3 Contractor’s Contact Information

It is the Contractor’s responsibility to keep the Contractor’s Contract Manager information
current. If this information changes, the Contractor must notify the PTL by email immediately,
using the address located on the Contract’s “Issuer(s)” tab in the “Contact Information” section.
The PMT and the Commonwealth assume no responsibility if a Contractor’s designated email
address is not current, or if technical problems, including those with the Contractor’s computer,
network or internet service provider (ISP), cause e-mail communications between the Bidder
and the PMT to be lost or rejected by any means including email or spam filtering.
6.3.4 Contractual Status of Orders and Service Contracts

Each order or service contract placed under the Statewide Contract established as a result of
this RFR shall be considered a separate Contract between the Contracting Department and the
Contractor, and shall be deemed to incorporate all of the terms and conditions of the Statewide
Contract. Nothing contained in any order or service contract shall amend or vary the terms of
the Statewide Contract. Additional terms that do not conflict with the Commonwealth’s Terms
and Conditions, the Massachusetts Standard Contract Form, this RFR and any amendments,
or the Bidder Response, may be included in an order or service contract.
6.3.5 Electronic Procurement Systems (eProcurement)

All Bidders responding to this RFR agree that, (1) in the event the Commonwealth implements
a Web-based system to support catalog purchasing and upon at least 120 days notice, they will
participate as directed by the PMT to successfully activate and maintain a contract- and
technically-compliant catalog in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts open-architecture
eMarketplace, and (2) upon notification by the PMT that a Statewide Contract awarded as a
result of this RFR will be enabled through Comm-PASS with Quick Quote functionality, the
Bidders will restrict receipt of and response to requests for quote or purchase from all eligible
public purchasers within the borders of Massachusetts through Comm-PASS SmartBid
functionality.
6.3.6 Emergency Standby Commodities and/or Services

Contractors may be called upon during a declared state of emergency to supply and/or deliver
to the Commonwealth on a priority basis commodities and/or services that are currently under
Statewide Contract.
To accommodate such requests, Contractors may be asked, and must make every effort to
service, these requests from regular sources of supply at the rates set forth in any Statewide
Contract resulting from this RFR.
6.3.7 HIPAA: Business Associate Contractual Obligations

Bidders are notified that any Department meeting the definition of a Covered Entity under the
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) will include in the RFR or
RFQ and resulting contract sufficient language establishing the successful Bidder’s contractual
obligations, if any, that the Department will require in order for the Department to comply with
HIPAA and the privacy and security regulations promulgated thereunder (45 CFR Parts 160,
162, and 164) (the Privacy and Security Rules). For example, if the Department determines that
the successful Bidder is a business associate performing functions or activities involving
protected health information, as such terms are used in the Privacy and Security Rules, then
the Department will include in the RFR and resulting contract a sufficient description of
business associate’s contractual obligations regarding the privacy and security of the protected
health information, as listed in 45 CFR 164.314 and 164.504 (e), including, but not limited to,
the Bidder's obligation to: implement administrative, physical, and technical safeguards that
reasonably and appropriately protect the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the
protected health information (in whatever form it is maintained or used, including verbal
communications); provide individuals access to their records; and strictly limit use and
disclosure of the protected health information for only those purposes approved by the
department. Further, the Department reserves the right to add any requirement during the
course of the contract that it determines it must include in the contract in order for the
department to comply with the Privacy and Security Rules.
The above information pertains to contracts with Departments that are entered into under the
Statewide Contract. This Solicitation itself does not fall under HIPAA.
6.3.8 Pricing: Federal Government Services Administration (GSA) or Veteran’s Administration

Supply
The Commonwealth reserves the right to request that the Contractor provide initial pricing
schedules and periodic updates available under their GSA or other federal pricing contracts. In
the absence of proprietary information being part of such contracts, compliance for submission
of requested pricing information is expected within 30 days of any request. If the Contractor
receives a GSA or Veteran’s Administration Supply contract at any time during the term of the
Statewide Contract, the Contractor must notify the Commonwealth Contract Manager.
6.3.9 Pricing
The Bidder must agree that no other state or public entity customer within the United States of
similar size and with similar terms and conditions shall receive a lower price for the same
commodity and service during the Statewide Contract period, unless this same lower price is
immediately effective for the Commonwealth. If the Commonwealth believes that it is not
receiving this lower price as required by this language, the Bidder must agree to provide current
or historical pricing offered or negotiated with other state or public entities at any time during
the Statewide Contract period in the absence of proprietary information being part of such
contracts.
Compliance with this clause shall not be interpreted to require that a Contractor, prior to or over
the course of providing goods or services, must conduct a company-wide inquiry to ensure that
no other customer of similar size and similar terms and conditions is receiving a lower price for
the same commodity and service.
Compliance can be achieved in one of two ways:
1. If a single Contractor Contract Manager is aware based on his/her own knowledge (without
conducting any surveys) of an instance in which another customer within the United States of
similar size and terms is receiving the same commodity and/or service, it is the Contractor
Contract Manager's responsibility to ensure that the other customer is not receiving a lower
price, and to offer the same price to the Commonwealth if this is the case. If the Contractor
Contract Manager is not certain as to whether the other customer is sufficiently "similar" or the
commodity/service is sufficiently "the same" so as to trigger the Pricing clause, the Contractor
Contract Manager must contact the Commonwealth Contract Manager for guidance.
2. If OSD learns of an instance in which another customer of apparently similar size and
terms is receiving apparently the same commodity/service at a lower price, the Commonwealth
Contract Manager will so advise the Contractor Contract Manager. The Contractor Contract
Manager must then either demonstrate to the satisfaction of the Commonwealth Contract
Manager that the other customer is NOT similar, and/or that the commodity/service is NOT the
same, or the Contractor Contract Manager must lower the price to the Commonwealth.
In addition, Statewide Contractors may be asked to offer (and are encouraged to make
available) special discounted pricing opportunities to Eligible Entities within the terms of their
Statewide Contract. Such price discounts may come in the form of periodic aggregate
purchases by Eligible Entities, whereby such entities will request further discounted prices from
the Contractor(s) for guaranteed quantities to be purchased. The Statewide Contractor must
report to the Procurement Team Leader (PTL) prior to any such price reductions or discounts,

or other more favorable terms, being offered to any Eligible Entity beyond those in their
Statewide Contract. The PTL reserves the right to approve all price adjustments.
6.3.10 Publicity
Any Statewide Contractor awarded under this RFR is prohibited from selling or distributing any
information collected or derived from the Statewide Contract, including lists of participating
Entities, Commonwealth employee names, telephone numbers or addresses, or any other
information except as specifically authorized by the PMT.
6.3.11 Save Smart Program ($ave $mart)

The OSD $ave$mart Program is a partnership between OSD and Statewide Contract Vendors.
The purpose of the program is to create additional cost savings and opportunities for all Eligible
Entities utilizing Statewide Contracts. These opportunities could be in the form of reduction in
cost for a limited time, free training opportunities, and other offerings.
Contractors should notify the Commonwealth Contract Manager of any price reductions they
are willing to provide, including those that are time- or quantity-limited, as a promotional or
competitive strategy, an inventory reduction initiative, or for any other reason. If suitable, the
cost savings will be showcased in the $ave $mart section of OSD’s website.
6.3.12 Statewide Contractor Marketing Requirements

Statewide Contractors awarded under this RFR must adhere to the following sales/marketing
requirements and limitations regarding their Contract: Contractors may only sell those goods
and/or services for which they are awarded a Statewide Contract pursuant to this RFR;
marketing information must be factual in nature in order to promote those goods and/or
services for which the Contractor has a Statewide Contract and must not be critical of other
Statewide Contractors; and Contractors must not display the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Seal for commercial purposes because use of the coat of arms and the Great Seal of the
Commonwealth for advertising or commercial purposes is prohibited by law. During the life of
the Contract, the PMT reserves the right to require Contractors to seek and receive prior written
approval before distributing marketing information to eligible entities.
6.3.13 Subcontracting Policies

Prior approval of the department is required for any subcontracted service of the Contract.
Contractors are responsible for the satisfactory performance and adequate oversight of their
subcontractors.
6.3.14 Transaction Fee

In the event the Operational Services Division determines that it is necessary to adopt an
alternative funding mechanism for its procurements in the future, including, but not limited to, a
transaction fee, the Operational Services Division hereby reserves the right to renegotiate the
inclusion and implementation of such a fee and/or other alternative funding mechanisms with
the awarded contractors.

7 APPENDIX 2 – REQUIRED TERMS FOR ALL INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY STATEWIDE RFRS
7.1 Enterprise Policy and Standards
All IT systems and applications developed by, or for Executive department agencies or operating
within the Massachusetts Access to Government Network (MAGNet), must conform with the
Enterprise Information Technology Policies, Standards and Guidance promulgated by the
Commonwealth’s CIO as they existed at the time the Request for Quote or other Solicitation was
posted, unless otherwise specified in the Request for Quote or other Solicitation, or the resulting
contract (That is, the policies will be those in effect when specifications for particular
engagements are posted, NOT those in effect at the time this RFR was posted.). Non-conforming
IT systems cannot be deployed unless the purchasing agency and their Contractor have jointly
applied for and received in writing from the Commonwealth’s CIO or his designee, notice that a
specified deviation will be permitted. The Enterprise Information Technology Policies, Standards &
Guidance, with the exception of the Enterprise Public Access Policy For e-Government
Applications and the Enterprise Public Access For e-Government Applications Standards, are
available at mass.gov/itd. The Enterprise Public Access Policy For e-Government Applications
and the Enterprise Public Access For e-Government Applications Standards are available in hard
copy from the purchasing agency. Purchasing agencies may also obtain a current copy of these
documents, on behalf of their Contractor, by contacting the Information Technology Division's
CommonHelp group at commhelp@state.ma.us or 1 (866) 888-2808.
Contractors should only request the Public Access Architecture documentation when they are
bidding on specific projects or services, and should request it of the Contracting Department that
has posted the Request for Quotes or other Solicitation. Bidders must not request a copy of the
Commonwealth’s Public Access Architecture in connection with responding to this RFR.
Please Note: Given the pace of information technology innovation, purchasing agencies and their
contractors are encouraged to contact the Information Technology Division's CommonHelp group
at commhelp@state.ma.us or 1 (866) 888-2808 to signal a system or application design and
development initiative. Such advance notice helps to ensure conformance with the relevant
Enterprise Technology Policies, Standards and Procedures.
Contractor delivery of IT systems and applications that fail to conform to the Commonwealth’s
Enterprise Information Technology Policies, Standards and Procedures, absent the
Commonwealth CIO’s grant of written permission for a deviation, shall constitute breach of any
Contract entered as a result of this Request for Response and any subsequent Request for
Quotes. The Commonwealth may choose to require the Contractor, at his own cost, to re-engineer
the non-conforming system for the purpose of bringing it into compliance with Commonwealth
Enterprise Information Technology Policies, Standards and Procedures.
7.2 Clarification of Language in Section 11, Indemnification of the Commonwealth Terms and
Conditions
Pursuant to Section 11. Indemnification of the Commonwealth Terms and Conditions, the term
“other damages” shall include, but shall not be limited to, the reasonable costs the Commonwealth
incurs to repair, return, replace or seek cover (purchase of comparable substitute commodities
and services) under a contract. “Other damages” shall not include damages to the Commonwealth
as a result of third party claims, provided, however, that the foregoing in no way limits the
Commonwealth’s right of recovery for personal injury or property damages or patent and copyright
infringement under Section 11 nor the Commonwealth’s ability to join the Contractor as a third
party defendant. Further, the term “other damages” shall not include, and in no event shall the
Contractor be liable for, damages for the Commonwealth’s use of Contractor provided products or
services, loss of Commonwealth records, or data (or other intangible property), loss of use of
equipment, lost revenue, lost savings or lost profits of the Commonwealth. In no event shall “other
damages” exceed the greater of $100,000, or two times the value of the product or service (as
defined in the contract scope of work) that is the subject of the claim. Section 11 sets forth the
Contractor’s entire liability under a contract. Nothing in this section shall limit the Commonwealth’s
ability to negotiate higher limitations of liability in a particular contract, provided that any such
limitation must specifically reference Section 11 of the Commonwealth Terms and Conditions.

8 APPENDIX 3 - INSTRUCTIONS FOR EXECUTION AND SUBMISSION OF COMMONWEALTH
STANDARD FORMS
The purpose of this appendix is to provide guidance to Bidders on the Commonwealth Standard
forms to be submitted (in addition to the other forms and documents required) and how they must be
executed and submitted. Please note that these instructions are meant to supplement the Instructions
found on each of these forms. It is advisable to print this document first so that it may be referenced
when filling out these forms.
Some of the forms listed below can be electronically signed by the Bidder, see RFR Section 5.7.1,
“Electronic Signatures.” However, online Bidders must, if notified of Contract award, submit the
following four (4) forms on paper with original ink signatures unless otherwise specified below, within
the timeframe referenced in RFR Section 5.7.2, “Ink Signatures”: the Commonwealth Standard
Contract Form, the Commonwealth Terms and Conditions, the Request for Taxpayer Identification
Number and Certification (Mass. Substitute W9 Form) and the Contractor Authorized Signatory
Listing.
8.1 Forms located on the Solicitation’s Forms & Terms tab
8.1.1 Commonwealth Standard Contract Form
Sign electronically as described above; if notified of Contract award, complete as directed
below and submit on paper with original ink signature and date.
By executing this document or signing it electronically, the Bidder certifies, under the pains and
penalties of perjury, that it has submitted a Response to this RFR that is the Bidder’s Offer as
evidenced by the execution of its authorized signatory, and that the Bidder’s Response may be
subject to negotiation by the PMT. Also, the terms of the RFR, the Bidder’s Response and any
negotiated terms shall be deemed accepted by the Operational Services Division and included
as part of the Statewide Contract upon execution of this document by the State Purchasing
Agent or her designee.
Only those sections of the Contract form preceded by “” should be completed by the Bidder.
If the Bidder does not have a Vendor Code beginning with “VC,” or does not know what their
Vendor Code is, the Bidder should leave the Vendor Code field blank. The Bidder should NOT
enter a Vendor Code assigned prior to May 2004, as new Vendor Codes have been assigned
to all companies since that time.
Bidders must enter the same Prompt Pay Discount on the Standard Contract Form that
they have bid in the Response Form.
Signature and date MUST be handwritten in ink, and the signature must be that of one of the
people authorized to execute contracts on behalf of the Contractor on the Contractor
Authorized Signatory Listing (See below).
8.1.2 Commonwealth Terms and Conditions

below and submit on paper with original ink signature and date, or submit a copy of a
previously executed, up-to-date copy of the form as directed below.
If the Bidder has already executed and filed the Commonwealth Terms and Conditions form
pursuant to another RFR or Contract, a copy of this form may be included in place of an
original. If the Bidder’s name, address or Tax ID Number have changed since the
Commonwealth Terms and Conditions form was executed, a new Commonwealth Terms and
Conditions form is required. The Commonwealth Terms and Conditions are hereby
incorporated into any Contract executed pursuant to this RFR.
This form must be unconditionally signed by one of the authorized signatories (see Contractor
Authorized Signatory Listing, below), and submitted without alteration. If the provisions in this
document are not accepted in their entirety without modification, the entire Proposal offered in
response to this Solicitation may be deemed non-responsive.

The company’s correct legal name and legal address must appear on this form, and must be
identical to the legal name and legal address on the Request for Taxpayer Identification and
Certification Number (Mass. Substitute W9 Form).
8.1.3 Contractor Authorized Signatory Listing

below and submit on paper with original ink signature and date.
In the table entitled “Authorized Signatory Name” and “Title,” type the names and titles of those
individuals authorized to execute contracts and other legally binding documents on behalf of
the Bidder. Bidders are advised to keep this list as small as possible, as Contractors will be
required to notify the Procurement Manager of any changes. If the person signing in the
signature block on the bottom of the first page of this form will also serve as an
“Authorized Signatory,” that person’s name must be included in the typed table.
With regard to the next paragraph, which begins “I certify that I am the President, Chief
Executive Officer, Chief Fiscal Officer, Corporate Clerk or Legal Counsel for the Contractor…,”
if your organization does not have these titles, cross them out and handwrite the appropriate
title above the paragraph.
The signature and date must be handwritten in ink. Title, telephone, fax and eMail must be
typed or handwritten legibly.
The second page of the form (entitled “Proof of Authentication of Signature”) states that the
page is optional. However, the “optional” aspect of the form is that Commonwealth
Departments are not required to use it. In the case of Statewide Contracts, this page is
REQUIRED, not optional. The person signing this page must be the same person signing the
Standard Contract Form, the Commonwealth Terms and Conditions, and the RFR Checklist.
Please note that in two places where the form says “in the presence of a notary,” this should be
interpreted to mean “in the presence of a notary or corporate clerk/secretary.” Either a notary
or corporate clerk/secretary can authenticate the form; only one is required.
Organizations whose corporate clerks/secretaries authenticate this form are not required to
obtain a Corporate Seal to complete this document.
8.1.4 Request for Taxpayer Identification Number and Certification (Mass. Substitute W9
Form)
below and submit on paper with original ink signature and date, or submit a copy of a
previously executed, up-to-date copy of the form as directed below.
If a Bidder has already submitted a Mass. Substitute W9 Form and has received a valid
Massachusetts Vendor Code, an original W-9 form is not required. A copy of the form as filed
may be included in place of an original. If the Bidder’s name, address or Tax ID Number have
changed since the Mass. Substitute W9 Form was executed, a new Mass. Substitute W9 Form
is required. The information on this form will be used to record the Bidder’s legal address and
where payments under a State Contract will be sent. The company’s correct legal name and
legal address must appear on this form, and must be identical to the legal name and legal
address on the Commonwealth Terms and Conditions. Please do not use the U.S
Treasury’s version of the W9 Form.
8.1.5 Executive Order 504 Contractor Certification Form

Sign electronically as described above.

8.2 Forms located on the Solicitation’s Specifications tab
8.2.1 Supplier Diversity Program Plan Form
Download this form and complete as directed in RFR Section 3.13.5; include with online
submission. Ink signature is not required.
8.2.2 Consultant Contractor Mandatory Submission Form

Download and complete this form; include with online submission. Please check “NA” for the
“Key Personnel” section of this form. Ink signature is not required.

9 EXHIBIT A – SAMPLE PROJECT DESCRIPTIONS
Below are four sample descriptions of the same project. These examples are intended to provide some insight into how
different types of responses will be scored. Only the narrative descriptions are shown below, not the details on project
size, dates, and client information. The project is in support of a proposal under subcategory Software and Systems
Development, with the title Fair Share Payment System.
Sample 1 – Rating Outstanding

Purpose:
In February 2007, the Division of Unemployment Assistance (DUA) was given responsibility for collecting the employer
Fair Share Contribution (FSC) as part of the implementation of Massachusetts Health Care Reform. Bidder was awarded
the project by DUA to develop the overall technical solution for FSC, including specification of business requirements,
systems design, and coding and testing the solution. Bidder was also responsible for the systems architecture and
integration with both internal and external systems.
Approach:
Number of contract staff: 8 (project manager, two designers, 4 software developers, 1 document specialist). During the
business requirements phase, Bidder conducted 17 requirements workshops, interviews and facilitated sessions with the
key business stakeholders. This group consisted of the director of the business unit charged with administering the FSC
program, the agency’s chief counsel to assist in interpreting the mandating legislation, representatives from other state
agencies such as the Department of Healthcare Finance and Policy and the MA Connector, as well as the group
responsible for running the FSC call center. The detailed requirements were documented, along with comprehensive
workflows and data flows for future-state action. The requirements phase of the project lasted 4 weeks.
Based on the requirements it was established that the solution would consist of:
 A self service filing web application that determines the potential liability of tens of thousands of Massachusetts
employers.
 A management web application allowing DUA staff to manage the FSC program, including employer filing
support, payment collection, management of accounts receivable, financial and operational reporting, security and
audit tracking.
 Generation of employer correspondence including annual notice to file and quarterly payment reminders.
 Interfaces to other MA state agencies including the Department of Revenue, the Department of Healthcare
Finance and Policy and the Massachusetts Connector.
 Web Service integration with the Commonwealth’s ePay system for electronic ACH debit payment transactions.
The technical design of the system was created in accordance with the agency’s technology standards leveraging
Microsoft .NET framework (versions 2.0 and 3.0), Crystal Reports and Oracle 10g including PL/SQL stored procedures.
The web application interfaced directly with DUA’s enterprise security solution for user authentication and role based
authorization; the batch architecture was fully automated and the entire solution was monitored with the agency’s
enterprise production monitoring infrastructure. The batch architecture also integrated with the DUA mainframe to keep
employer data up to date, and with the agency’s central print and mail facilities to process the high volume of employer
correspondence.
An iterative approach was taken during the development and testing phases. This helped validate the key technical and
architectural decisions early in the development phase; it maximized the utilization of the team’s development and testing
resources, and it allowed a near production ready version of the self service filing website to be made available more than
two months ahead of the production dates for a pilot with two dozen Massachusetts employers.
Throughout the project, Bidder’s delivery assurance methodology, including project management and quality assurance,
was employed to ensure the quality of the solution and that key delivery milestones were being met. This involved a twice
monthly review of the project including a risk assessment across several key dimensions. It also included design reviews
and code reviews by senior Bidder technical architects.
Results:
Despite the aggressive project timeframes (DUA was not granted administrative funding until February 2007 and the filing
period was required to begin on October 1st), the Fair Share Contribution system was completed on time / on budget and
RFR ITS43SolProv Exhibit A Page 1

the system fully supported the requirements of the FSC program. The system has been operating in production since
October 2007 with no severity Level I or II defects reported.
Describe how the Bidder’s solution was integrated into an existing system or used to replace outdated
technology so as to produce value to the client and to the client’s customers.
FSC interfaced with the Commonwealth’s ePay system to manage the electronic ACH debit payment transactions. The
online interface consisted of XML web service calls over secure sockets, and the batch interface consisted of flat files
exchanged via secure FTP. Integrating with the ePay system provides DUA with complete end-to-end reporting, fraud
prevention, secure data storage, and ease of reconciliation for a per transaction charge comparable to what would have
otherwise been charged by the bank processing the ACH transaction.
FSC integrated with IPASS, DUA’s enterprise security solution for user authentication and role based authorization. The
FSC web server was configured to redirect unauthenticated users to the IPASS login site for initial sign-on; and once
authenticated web service calls were invoked from the FSC application to the IPASS application server to obtain
additional user credentials for authorization. Integration with this single sign-on solution reduced the cost of the solution
as the development of a new security solution was avoided; it also improved the user experience as users of the FSC
system are also users of other DUA systems that leverage the same security solution.
FSC interfaced the agency’s central print and mail services. Leveraging this shared service simplified the technical
solution and resulted in significant cost savings as compared to having to separately having to manage the production and
distribution of hundreds of thousands of items of correspondence.
The entire FSC solution was integrated with DUA’s production monitoring infrastructure to ensure the availability of both
the self service and management web applications, the availability of the ePay interfaces and the status of the FSC
database.
Lastly, the FSC batch components were scheduled with DUA’s enterprise scheduling engine, and tied into the central
DUA batch infrastructure for process execution, dependency management, reporting and alerting.
Describe the software development methodology(ies) used for the project, as either waterfall, agile
methodologies such as Scrum, XP (Extreme Programming), Unified Process, or the Bidder’s own proprietary
methodology. Describe how the Bidder’s software development methodology was used on this project. The PMT
is not interested in general marketing or textbook language, but rather in the specifics of how the methodology
was used on this particular project and the impact its use had on the project.
The software development methodology used for the FSC project can best be described as a derivative of the Rational
Unified Process. This process includes an iterative approach to the development and testing cycle and leverages several
RUP artifacts as well as some more traditional project documents. Bidder works with each client to determine how each
particular project should be conducted, however this approach has been successful for the several full lifecycle
development engagements that Bidder has conducted with DUA.
As cited above, the development methodology employed on the FSC project was an iterative development methodology
that leveraged several RUPproject artifacts.
The first project phase (1 month) focused on the collection and documentation of the business requirements, as
summarized in the Vision Document. During this phase, a series of facilitated workshops and interviews with key
business stakeholders were conducted to gather input, and review various drafts of the requirements document prior to
final sign-off. The design phase (3 months) involved the creation of several project artifacts including a Software
Architecture document, defining the various architecture views of the solution, and a Technical Specifications document
detailing the system behavior, using various tools including process workflows, sequence diagrams, and UML models.
The development and testing phases (4 months and two months, overlapping with design) were conducted iteratively.
Lessons learned from early development iterations were fed into subsequent iterations to avoid duplication of errors, and
to leverage opportunities for improved efficiency. The development iterations allowed for maximum overlap of detailed
design, development and testing resources needed to meet the aggressive project timelines. It also allowed the team to
produce a near production quality version of the self service application to be prototyped by two dozen employers months
ahead of the actual filing period.
How this description would be rated by PMT: This project description would be scored as “Outstanding.” The
description provides very detailed and specific information on what the Bidder did and how it was done. The project was
evidently successful as it was on time, within budget, and operated from the beginning without serious defects.
Sample 2 - Rating: Excellent/Good

Purpose:
the project by DUA to develop the overall technical solution for FSC. Bidder was also responsible for the systems
architecture and integration with both internal and external systems.
Approach:
Number of contract staff: 8. During the business requirements phase, Bidder conducted a series of requirements
workshops, interviews and facilitated sessions with the key business stakeholders. This group consisted of the director of
the business unit charged with administering the FSC program, the agency’s chief counsel to assist in interpreting the
mandating legislation, representatives from other state agencies such as the Department of Healthcare Finance and
Policy and the MA Connector, as well as the group responsible for running the FSC call center. The detailed
requirements were documented, along with comprehensive workflows and data flows.
 A self service filing web application.
 A management web application allowing DUA staff to manage the FSC program.
 Generation of employer correspondence including annual notice to file and quarterly payment reminders.
 Interfaces to other MA state agencies.
 Web Service integration with the Commonwealth’s ePay system for electronic ACH debit payment transactions.
The technical design of the system was created in accordance with the agency’s technology standards leveraging
Microsoft .NET framework (versions 2.0 and 3.0), Crystal Reports and Oracle 10g including PL/SQL stored procedures.
The web application interfaced directly with DUA’s enterprise security solution for user authentication and role based
authorization; the batch architecture was fully automated and the entire solution was monitored with the agency’s
enterprise production monitoring infrastructure. The batch architecture also integrated with the DUA mainframe to keep
employer data up to date, and with the agency’s central print and mail facilities to process the high volume of employer
correspondence.
architectural decisions early in the development phase; it maximized the utilization of the team’s development and testing
resources, and it allowed a near production ready version of the self service filing website to be made available more than
two months ahead of the production dates for a pilot with two dozen Massachusetts employers.
Throughout the project, Bidder’s delivery assurance methodology was employed to ensure the quality of the solution and
that key delivery milestones were being met. This involved a twice monthly review of the project including a risk
assessment across several key dimensions. It also included design reviews and code reviews by senior Bidder technical
architects.
Results:
the system fully supported the requirements of the FSC program.
FSC interfaced with the Commonwealth’s ePay system to manage the electronic ACH debit payment transactions. The
online interface consisted of XML web service calls over secure sockets, and the batch interface consisted of flat files
exchanged via secure FTP.

additional user credentials for authorization.
FSC interfaced the agency’s central print and mail services.
database.
As cited above, the development methodology employed on the FSC project was an iterative development methodology
that leveraged several RUPproject artifacts.
The first project phase focused on the collection and documentation of the business requirements. During this phase, a
series of facilitated workshops and interviews with key business stakeholders were conducted to gather input, and review
various drafts of the requirements document prior to final sign-off. The design phase involved the creation of several
project artifacts defining the various architecture views of the solution, and a Technical Specifications document detailing
the system behavior.
Lessons learned from early development iterations were fed into subsequent iterations to avoid duplication of errors, and
to leverage opportunities for improved efficiency. The development iterations allowed for maximum overlap of detailed
design, development and testing resources needed to meet the aggressive project timelines. It also allowed the team to
produce a near production quality version of the self service application to be prototyped by two dozen employers months
ahead of the actual filing period.
How this description would be rated by PMT: This project description would be scored as “Excellent/Good.” The
description provides detailed and specific information on what the Bidder did and how it was done, but without as much
detail as provided in the project description rated as “Outstanding.” Also the “Results” section does not mention that the
system operated without Level I or Level II defects when put into production.
Sample 3 - Rating: Satisfactory

Purpose:
the project by DUA to develop the overall technical solution for FSC.
Approach:
Number of contract staff: 8. During the business requirements phase, Bidder conducted a series of requirements
workshops, interviews and facilitated sessions with the key business stakeholders. This group consisted of the director of
the business unit charged with administering the FSC program, the agency’s chief counsel to assist in interpreting the
mandating legislation, representatives from other state agencies such as the Department of Healthcare Finance and
Policy and the MA Connector, as well as the group responsible for running the FSC call center. The detailed
requirements were documented, along with comprehensive workflows and data flows.
 Several web applications
 Correspondence system
The technical design of the system was created in accordance with the agency’s technology standards. The web
applications interfaced directly with DUA’s enterprise security solution for user authentication and role based
authorization. The batch architecture also integrated with the DUA mainframe.
architectural decisions early in the development phase.
Throughout the project, Bidder’s delivery assurance methodology was employed to ensure the quality of the solution and
that key delivery milestones were being met. This involved reviews of the project including a risk assessment across
several key dimensions.
Results:
the system fully supported the requirements of the FSC program.
FSC interfaced with the Commonwealth’s ePay system to manage the electronic ACH debit payment transactions.
additional user credentials for authorization.
FSC interfaced the agency’s central print and mail services.
database.
The first project phase focused on the collection and documentation of the business requirements. The design phase
involved the creation of several project artifacts.

The development iterations allowed for maximum overlap of detailed design, development and testing resources needed
to meet the aggressive project timelines.
How this description would be rated by PMT: This project description would be rated as “Satisfactory.” This
description contains much less detail than the previous descriptions, however, it is clear that a complex project was
completed to the satisfaction of the client.
Sample 4 – Rating: Poor/Non-Responsive

Purpose:
the project by DUA to develop the technical solution for FSC.
Approach:
Bidder’s proprietary Project Management methodology was used to govern the approach to the project. This
methodology has been very successful in the past in assuring a high level of client satisfaction.
 Several web applications
 Correspondence system
The technical design of the system was created in accordance with the agency’s technology standards.
Throughout the project, Bidder’s proprietary Project Management methodology was employed to ensure that key delivery
milestones were met and that the client signed off on each deliverable.
Results:
The FSC fully reflected the specifications developed as phase 1 of the project. Throughout the course of the project, the
agency was encouraged to maintain a wish list of “nice to have” features that were not included in the original
requirements, for future enhancements and modifications, and this list may serve as the bases for future engagements.
Wherever possible, interfaces were developed to facilitate integration with other existing internal and external systems to
leverage existing resources.
See previous responses.
How this description would be rated by PMT: This project description would be rated as “Poor.” It contains very little
information, does not indicate if the project was successful, and the Bidder does not describe their software development
methodology at all, let alone how it was used for this project.

10 GLOSSARY
In addition to the definitions found in 801 CMR 21.00, which apply to all procurements for goods and services, the
definitions found below apply to this Solicitation. Those definitions below designated with an asterisk (“*”) are quoted
directly from 801 CMR 21.00 and are included below for quick reference purposes.
Agency - For the purposes of this Solicitation, the terms “Agency,” “Eligible Entity,” “Department,” “Commonwealth
Agency,” and “Contracting Department” include all Eligible Entities listed in the Issuer tab on Comm-PASS for this
Solicitation.
Bid or Response - generally refers to the offer submitted in response to a Solicitation or Request for Response
(RFR).
Bidder * - An individual or organization proposing to enter into a Contract to provide a Commodity or Service, or
both, to or for a Department or the State.
Commonwealth Contract Manager – See Procurement Team Leader.
Contract * - A legally enforceable agreement between a Contractor and a Department. ANF, OSD and CTR shall
jointly issue Commonwealth Terms and Conditions, a Standard Contract Form and other forms or documentation
that Departments shall use to document the Procurement of Commodities or Services, or both.
Contracting Department - Any Eligible Entity that enters into an engagement under ITS43, or that seeks to do so.
A list of Eligible Entities is found under the “Issuers” tab of ITS43.
Contractor * - An individual or organization which enters into a Contract with a Department or the State to provide
Commodities or Services, or both. [Note: this is the definition from 801 CMR 21. Under ITS43, “individuals” may
not enter into Contracts with Departments or the Commonwealth. The term “Contractor” as used in this RFR is
equivalent to the term “ITS43 Contractor” unless otherwise specified, except that “Contractor” is used rather than
“ITS43 Contractor” in RFR Sections that incorporate standard RFR language.]
Contractor Contract Manager – The individual designated by the Contractor to interface with the Commonwealth.
Department - For the purposes of this Solicitation, the terms “Department,” “Eligible Entity,” “Agency,”
“Commonwealth Agency,” and “Contracting Department” include all Eligible Entities listed in the Issuer tab on
Comm-PASS for this Solicitation.
Eligible Entity - For the purposes of this Solicitation, the terms “Eligible Entity,” “Agency,” “Department,”
“Commonwealth Agency,” and “Contracting Department” include all Eligible Entities listed in the Issuer tab on
Comm-PASS for this Solicitation.
Evaluation – The process, conducted by the PMT, of reviewing, scoring and ranking the submitted
bids/Responses related to this Solicitation.
FY – See Fiscal Year
Fiscal Year - The year beginning with July first and ending with the following June thirtieth as defined in M.G.L.
Chapter 4, Section 7. This may also be referred to as the "State Fiscal Year.”
“Generic” – Applicable to all Bidders regardless of subcategory.
ITS43 – Unless otherwise specified, ITS43SolProv (this procurement and the resulting Statewide Contract)
ITS43 Contractor – A company that has been awarded a Statewide Contract under ITS43SolProv.
M.G.L. – Massachusetts General Laws
Open Source Software - Software whose underlying code is available for inspection and modification by the
licensee, may be available for re-distribution and may be deployed without a license fee.
PMT – See Procurement Management Team
Procurement Management Team (PMT) - Representatives from various eligible entities and interested
stakeholders that design procurements, develop specifications, conduct Solicitations evaluate Bids and award
RFR ITS43SolProv Glossary Page 1
Statewide Contracts. The PMT also monitors Contractor performance through performance measures and the
level of customer satisfaction throughout the life of the Statewide Contract.
Procurement Team Leader (PTL) - Procurement Team Leader or Procurement Manager is the OSD’s
Commonwealth Contract Manager responsible for the Solicitation and resulting Statewide Contract.
PTL – See Procurement Team Leader
Purchasing Entity – Same as “Eligible Entity.”
Request for Response (RFR) * – The mechanism used to communicate Procurement specifications and to
request Responses from potential Bidders. An RFR may also be referred to as a "Solicitation."
Response – The Bidder’s complete submission in response to a Solicitation, in other words, a “Bid” or “Proposal.”
Specialties –
GIS = Geographic Information Systems
SSD = Software and Systems Development
SI/N = Systems Integration / Networking
SP = Systems Planning
SSD Architecture Services – Identification of business and technology drivers,
SI/N development of business-IT alignment, definition of technology roadmaps,
SP development of architecture governance processes. This may include assessment,
analysis and rationalization of technology infrastructure and applications, with respect
to IT strategy, current and future business and technology requirements, the
Commonwealth’s Enterprise Technical Reference Model (ETRM) and industry
standards. For state Contracting Departments, this service would also focus on the
assessment and recommendations for alignment of agency information systems with
the Commonwealth’s ETRM, related standards and policies, or on addressing
architectural issues in areas where the Commonwealth’s Architecture is silent.
SP Business Continuity Planning Services - Planning and maintenance services for the
development, design, testing, and administration of business continuity plans for state
government information systems. Such business continuity plans typically involve
strategic, tactical, or operational plans which promote the continuity of government
operations during and after a major business interruption. Services required may
include the planning of: hardware maintenance or replacement, software and business
application life cycle continuity, and infrastructure support including (but not limited to),
backup data center services, electrical power grid support, voice network failover, data
network replacement, emergency deployment of wireless services, or any infrastructure
services required for the timely replacement of and operation of interrupted government
information systems.
SSD Business Process Management Services - Development, customization, selection

SP and/or implementation of business process management services including, but not
limited to, streamlining of internal processes, business process reengineering, business
modeling and workflow mapping. Does not include providing hardware or any pre-
existing software components other than open source software.
SI/N Cloud Computing - Over-the-Internet provision of dynamically scalable and often

virtualized IT resources
SSD Electronic Content Management Consulting - Design, development, configuration
SI/N and implementation of a document management business process solution that can be
SP integrated into the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Service-Oriented Architecture
(SOA). Does not include providing hardware or any pre-existing software components
other than open source software.
SI/N Electronic Forensics - The goal of computer forensics is to explain the current state of
a digital artifact, such as a computer system, storage medium, or document. The
scope of analysis can vary from information retrieval to reconstructing a series of
events.
SSD Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Systems - Development, customization,
SP selection and/or implementation of Enterprise Resource Planning Systems. Does not
include operating such systems in production mode. Does not include providing
hardware or any pre-existing software components other than open source software.
GIS Geographic Information Systems (GIS) - Development, customization, selection

and/or implementation of Geographical Information Systems (GIS). Does not include
using photogrammetric methods to compile map features from imagery. May include
one-time conversion of existing geographical data to an alternate format. Does not
include providing hardware or any pre-existing software components other than those
developed using open source software.
SSD Independent Verification and Validation Services - Independent review of systems

SI/N including but not limited to requirements analysis, validation of design objectives and
constraints, code reviews, security assessment, test planning, execution and reporting,
verification of test results, validation of processes, verification of documentation, and
assistance with project oversight.
SSD Information Security Services - Development, customization, selection and/or

SI/N implementation of information security services including, but not limited to, application
SP security design and implementation including authentication and authorization; identity
management; and infrastructure security, security risk assessment, vulnerability
analysis and security monitoring and response. Does not include providing hardware or
any pre-existing software components other than open source software.
SI/N Network Planning Services - Planning for wide and/or local communications
SP networks, including wireless networks, for transmission of voice and/or data traffic.
SSD Software Development - Development of technical and/or business solutions

including, but not limited to, systems analysis, systems design, coding and testing.
SSD Software Systems Support - Providing ongoing support, including maintenance and
enhancement, for an existing software system, either one developed by the Contractor
or by a third party.
SI/N Systems Integration Services - Assembling complete systems out of multiple

hardware and/or software components, and integrating them so all work together in a
manner consistent with the organization’s enterprise architecture. In the case of State
Contracting Departments, this would be the Commonwealth’s Enterprise Technical
Reference Model (ETRM). Does not include providing hardware or any pre-existing
software components other than open source software. May include creating or
modifying software.
SP Systems Planning Services - Preparing or assisting in preparation of feasibility

studies, needs assessments, business process re-engineering, requirements
definitions, advanced planning documents, and other works related to systems
planning.
SSD Technology Courseware Development - Development of technology-based training

and documentation materials for systems staff, technical staff, and/or end-users. Does
not include administering training. Does not include provision of pre-existing materials.

SI/N Telecommunications Services - Design, development, end-to-end integration of
SP voice and data services including Voice Over IP (VOIP). Includes telecommunications
systems design, development and integration. Does not include operating such
systems in production mode. Does not include providing hardware or any pre-existing
software components other than open source software.
SSD Usability Services - Perform usability services including, but not limited to,
requirements engineering, user testing, remote testing, accessibility testing, usability
process audit, user centered design, and training.
SI/N Virtualization – Virtualization allows IT resources to be pooled and shared, while

hiding their physical characteristics from applications and end-users.
SSD Wireless Applications - Design, development, customization, selection and/or
SI/N implementation of applications for wireless devices. Does not include providing
hardware or any pre-existing software components other than open source software.


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THE COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS

EXECUTIVE OFFICE FOR ADMINISTRATION AND FINANCE

OPERATIONAL SERVICES DIVISION

Request for Response (RFR)

Document Title: IT Services RFR Solution Providers

Document Number: ITS43SolProv

Please Note: This is a single document associated with a complete

Document Sensitivity Level: High during development; Low once published.

1.1 PROCUREMENT SCOPE AND DESCRIPTION........................................................................................1

2 ESTIMATED PROCUREMENT CALENDAR............................................................................... 3

2.1 WRITTEN QUESTIONS VIA THE ONLINE BIDDERS’ FORUM..............................................................3

3.1 TOTAL SALES.......................................................................................................................................5

4.1 MANDATORY REQUIREMENTS...........................................................................................................27

5 HOW TO SUBMIT A BID RESPONSE.......................................................................................... 35

5.1 BID RESPONSE METHOD...................................................................................................................35

6 APPENDIX 1 – REQUIRED TERMS FOR ALL STATEWIDE RFRS.......................................38

6.1 GENERAL PROCUREMENT INFORMATION........................................................................................38

7 APPENDIX 2 – REQUIRED TERMS FOR ALL INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

7.1 ENTERPRISE POLICY AND STANDARDS............................................................................................44

Table of Contents Page iii

8.1 FORMS LOCATED ON THE SOLICITATION’S FORMS & TERMS TAB...............................................45

9 EXHIBIT A – SAMPLE PROJECT DESCRIPTIONS.................................................................... 1

Table of Contents Page iv

1.1 Procurement Scope and Description

RFR ITS43SolProv Page 2

RFR ITS43SolProv Page 3

RFR ITS43SolProv Page 4

RFR ITS43SolProv Page 6

3.5.3 Project Management Artifacts

Bidders should redact any confidential information or proprietary information, as responses to

3.5.4 Project Management Tools

RFR ITS43SolProv Page 7

3.6 Subcategory Designations

Subcategory qualifications will be evaluated based on descriptions of three projects, each

RFR ITS43SolProv Page 8

In the describing their project experience, Bidders should be as specific as possible. It is

3.7.2 Reference Letters for each Project (All Subcategories)

3.7.3 Quality (All Subcategories except GIS)

RFR ITS43SolProv Page 9

3.8.1 Software and Systems Development

3.8.1.3 Use of Open Source Software in a delivered application

The description must include:

Open Source Project Categories

RFR ITS43SolProv Page 10

3.8.2 Geographic Information Systems (GIS)

RFR ITS43SolProv Page 11

3.8.2.2 Qualifications and Project Experience

3.8.2.2.1 GIS Planning

RFR ITS43SolProv Page 12

 Describe the software/hardware platform and major tools used.

3.8.4 Systems Planning

 Was the referenced project a completely new system, or a replacement of an existing

 Did the Bidder supply a ROI calculation with the project?

3.9 Solution Provider Specialties

3.10.1 Background/ Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI) check requirements

 Crimes using information technology

RFR ITS43SolProv Page 14

 Felony Convictions for Crimes of Violence

3.10.2 Intellectual Property

3.10.4 Fixed Price Projects

3.10.5 Travel expenses and all other expenses

3.10.5.2 Travel Expenses

3.10.6 Project Statement of Work