City College of San Francisco
RFP for Web Development Services
DRAFT
City College of San Francisco
RFP for Web Site Redesign and Portal implementation
The City College of San Francisco (CCSF) seeks proposals for suppliers to provide research,
evaluation of the current College Web site, Web consultation, software recommendations, site
design, page construction, implementation services, training and testing that would lead to the
development and deployment of a comprehensive Web site for CCSF.
A. Scope of Services
The current site (www.CCSF.edu) provides a wide variety of content to many user groups. CCSF
believes the site can be reworked to present a more unified, more dynamic and more compelling
presence to prospective students and external publics while also providing easier access to
information for CCSF students and employees. In addition, CCSF seeks to integrate Sungard/SCT
Banner Web-mediated student functions into the redesigned site.
The scope of this RFP is a complete redesign of the top-level pages of the CCSF Web site within a
new Web portal based on recommendations of the offeror; redesign of those portions of the site
targeted to prospective and currently enrolled students; the creation of templates for the redesign of
the remainder of the site in a manner consistent with the top-level pages; the selection and
implementation of a Web content management system to manage site contents; and, the selection of
a student email system. CCSF may then opt to purchase any part of the implementation of these
designs.
The goal of this project is to make the CCSF Web site one of the leading and most distinctive
College Web sites in the United States—a site that clearly communicates educational opportunity
and collaborative learning within the diverse community of San Francisco. The updated Web site
should support CCSF faculty, staff, students and others in the community by providing tailored
communication, information, and other tools to improve access to College offerings, programs and
services.
The College believes site redesign and construction can be accomplished in five phases.
description of each phase with specifications follows.
A
1. Assessment & Planning
a. Needs Analysis
i. The vendor will submit as part of this proposal a plan for conducting the
Needs Analysis for the definition of requirements for the new Web site. This
plan should include the groups of people that will be consulted and an
expectation for the time/contribution from CCSF staff during this phase of
the project.
b. Requirements Document
i. The vendor will compile a Requirements Document, in a format to be
proposed by the vendor in this proposal and refined after acceptance of the
proposal, for the next-generation CCSF Web site.
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City College of San Francisco
c.
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RFP for Web Development Services
ii. CCSF anticipates that in the preparation of the Requirements Document the
vendor will consider issues such as:
1. Current research and best practices concerning the use of Web
technologies in admissions marketing
2. ADA compliance and conformance
3. Identification of target audiences and their information needs
including:
a. Credit and Non-credit Students (including portal and email
services)
b. Faculty (including portal services in the current technology
environment)
c. Public
d. Others
4. Additional content areas if needed
5. Portal selection and compatibility
6. Student email selection and compatibility
7. Browser and platform compatibility standards
8. Internal site search capabilities
9. Mechanisms for detailed monitoring of site usage
10. Which areas require static content and which require dynamically
generated pages
11. Appropriate use, if any, of Intranet capabilities
12. Personalization, use of roles, and customization through portal
technology
13. “Look and feel” and its relationship to CCSF’s graphic identity and
existing family of print publications
14. Role of Flash, streaming video and audio and other technologies
15. End-to-end content management and support for print-on-demand
technology
16. Integration with the Banner information system
17. Prioritization of CCSF pages on external search engines.
Site Audit
i. The vendor is expected to conduct an audit of the current site and describe
its strengths and weaknesses.
ii. The successful vendor will be required to review and provide a critical
assessment of CCSF’s current Web site and recommend changes based on
the Requirements Document. The review shall also include basic
recommendations for interim modifications to the existing site to comply
with the new overall strategy. A format must be proposed for this deliverable
in this proposal. The format will be refined as mutually agreed upon after
acceptance of the proposal.
Project Method and Approach
i. The vendor is expected to propose a method and format that will lead to the
accomplishment of the project goal and requirements.
Time Frame for Phase 1
i. CCSF anticipates that Phase I will take five weeks.
Price
i. Vendors will submit a firm price for completion of Phase 1.
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City College of San Francisco
RFP for Web Development Services
2. Prototyping
a. The successful vendor will provide storyboards, creative treatment, site maps, color
palettes and navigation tools for a minimum of three (3) prototypes as a means of
meeting the requirements identified in Phase I. CCSF will select from these
alternatives for ongoing work.
b. The successful vendor shall work with designated individuals and groups to combine
research, knowledge of the College’s needs, and Web site technology to create a site
strategy and navigational structure that best meets the needs of the overall College.
c. Although the final strategy and design will be highly influenced by CCSF, the
successful vendor will be expected to bring ideas, recommendations, experience and
applicable information to the table for discussion.
d. The successful vendor will work with CCSF to provide a Web portal and site
structure that will bring CCSF’s Web site to the forefront of higher education Web
design and technology.
e. Each prototype alternative must have a detailed cost attached at the time of the
submission of the proposal. The College retains the right to seek other bids for the
implementation of the prototype.
f. The vendor will provide hardware, software and implementation specifications for
infrastructure and technical skills required by each of the prototypes; however, the
acquisition, licensing and actual hardware and software installation may be done by
the College or another vendor.
g. The vendor must provide recommendations regarding a site-specific content search
engine to be used at CCSF.
h. The vendor must provide recommendations regarding a student email system that
integrates with the proposed portal solutions.
i. Include in your proposal the Web authoring software and other development tools
you recommend for use on this project. The College retains the right of final
approval on all Web tools that are to be used.
j. CCSF will be responsible for upgrading to meet the specifications of the option
chosen outside the scope of this request for proposal.
k. Time Frame
i. CCSF anticipates that Phase 2 will take 4 weeks
l. Price
i. Vendors must submit a firm price for completion of Phase 2.
3. Detailed Web site Design
a. Detailed Design Specifications on the option chosen.
i. The successful vendor will provide detailed design specifications for the
development of those portions of the prototypes agreed upon by the vendor
and CCSF.
ii. Detailed design specifications will be approved by CCSF before proceeding
with Phase 4.
b. Time Frame
i. CCSF anticipates that Phase 3 will take 3 weeks.
c. Pricing
i. The vendor will provide an estimate for the completion of Phase 3. Hourly
rates and all other expenses must be listed.
ii. CCSF retains the right to seek other bids for this portion of the project.
4. Construction, Programming & Testing
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City College of San Francisco
RFP for Web Development Services
a. Programming & Testing
i. The successful vendor will:
1. Construct those portions of the next-generation site agreed upon by
the vendor and CCSF
2. Include templates for sections not built out by the vendor, complete
with source code and documented testing.
b. Technical Documentation
i. The successful vendor will provide supporting technical documentation for
the site and source code.
c. User Acceptance Test Plan
i. The successful vendor will submit a format for the user acceptance test plan
that will be used in the acceptance process of the completed site in this
proposal.
d. Time Frame
i. CCSF anticipates that this phase of the project will take approximately 6
weeks
ii. Pricing
1. The vendor will provide an estimate for the completion of Phase 4.
Hourly rates and all other expenses are required to be listed.
2. The College retains the right to seek other bids for this portion of the
project.
5. Implementation
a. Maintenance Training
i. The vendor will be required to provide training to the CCSF technical staff
for the maintenance of the new site.
ii. The vendor will also provide maintenance documentation.
iii. Part of this proposal will be a suggested format for the documentation and
an outline of a plan to complete this training, including number of people to
be trained, format and duration of the training.
b. Cutover/ Beta Test Plan
i. The successful vendor will be responsible for submitting a complete cutover
and Beta Test plan to move CCSF from the old site to the new site.
c. Time Frame
i. CCSF anticipates that this phase of the project will take approximately 4
weeks
d. Pricing
i. The vendor will provide an estimate for the completion of Phase 5. Hourly
rates and all other expenses are required to be listed.
ii. The College retains the right to seek other bids for this portion of the
project.
B. General Requirements
1. CCSF anticipates that this project will take approximately eight months to complete. Please
state if your firm can adhere to this time frame and provide a project plan showing the
project phases, major tasks and the time frame for each phase.
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City College of San Francisco
RFP for Web Development Services
2. Upon award, CCSF and Contractor will agree on the project’s timeline. The timeline should
clearly indicate development, aesthetic design, and user-interface stages, including user
testing. Any plan developed must take into account long-term maintenance by CCSF staff, as
well as development costs. Unless otherwise specified, dates for project. Phases will be
determined mutually between CCSF and the Contractor, and said dates shall be a material
provision of the contract between the parties. The Contractor’s failure to meet mutually
established deadlines shall be considered a material breach of the contract, unless such
failure is caused by acts of the College.
3. CCSF will make payments only as completion of phases (Phase 1 – Phase 5) are achieved
and will withhold 10% of each phase invoice amount until the completion of the final phase.
Payment of final invoice on the Phase 5 will be made CCSF acceptance, i.e., following
testing and successful implementation. The final payment will also include the 10% held
back from each previous invoice. CCSF is responsible for authorizing payment on each
phase.
4. Upon deciding upon a successful offeror, CCSF will work with the successful offeror to
formalize a process for evaluation of the project and determine the criteria for acceptance.
5. Proposals should include all costs and descriptive information on the various components of
this project. Proposals should also list any hardware or software requirements that are
expected to be available at CCSF. Proposals should include an hourly charge for services
requested. The successful offeror shall be required to provide and receive approval of a
written estimate including a “not to exceed” amount for phase 1 and 2 of this project.
6. As part of the entire project, the supplier will train assigned College personnel. Please
include a separate section in your proposal on how, and at what stage in each phase this
training will be accomplished, and how many CCSF employees may be trained.
7. Appropriate and separate end user and technical documentation manuals are required to be
provided at each phase of the project.
8. CCSF requires that any design ideas, concepts, custom scripts and graphic elements provided
as a result of this project become the property of CCSF and may be used by CCSF at any
time. Additionally, CCSF may make subsequent change to the site at its discretion. All rights
of ownership will reside with CCSF. Any copyrightable subject matter or works will be
considered Works for Hire. CCSF may add a written copyright notice to its site if it so
chooses. The site will not name or identify in any way the vendor that developed it.
9. CCSF will require that the successful offeror be available as needed to review the progress of
the project. Additionally, status reports showing progress on milestones the project plan will
be required bi-weekly.
10. Include in your proposal a list of minimum of three current academic/institutional
customers for whom the offeror has provided similar services. For each reference provided
describe the project and the work performed, and provide the customer’s name, address,
contact name, telephone number, and email address. Also state the budget given for the
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City College of San Francisco
RFP for Web Development Services
project and whether or not your firm met or exceeded the budgeted amount. Provide at
least five additional Web addresses where your firm has been a consultant or designer.
11. The offerer must describe their organization by:
a. Providing the name of the firm’s owner(s) and/or principle officer(s)
b. Stating the date of incorporation (or partnership)
c. Providing current annual revenue figures for the last three years
d. Citing the number of employees
e. Providing the firm’s organizational chart
f. Providing the most up to date financial balance sheet
g. Submitting a full resume for each person who will be working on this project,
including all relevant experience
h. Listing any subcontractors that might be used on this project.
12. The proposal should include a description of the firm’s approach to providing and managing
the services described in this RFP including:
a. A statement of the firm’s ability, experience and expertise as it relates to each phase
of the project.
b. The firm’s approach to project management must be presented.
c. Information that demonstrates the firm’s capacity and capability to perform the
required work such as a summary of current work and a statement regarding the
ability to assign adequate staff and resources to meet the project schedule should be
included.
d. A discussion of the firm’s experience in providing training for customer staff is
necessary.
13. CCSF seeks to accommodate all the specifications and requirements detailed in this RFP.
Preference will be given to those proposals that most clearly address all such specifications
and requirements; however, suggested viable alternatives that would benefit CCSF will also
be considered. Please cite and explain all exceptions to any specifications and requirements
that are not met by your proposal. The acceptability of proposed services, equipment,
staffing, and any alternatives will be determined solely by CCSF. Proposals should include all
related services, benefits, and enhancements that are available from the supplier. Any
additional charges for these items must be specifically stated in the proposal.
14. The following technology specifications are provided to establish the current information
technology environment. Preferences will be given to proposals that will operate within this
technical environment; however, suggested viable alternatives that would benefit CCSF will
also be considered.
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