business intelligence system
overview
Colorado Housing and Finance Authority (CHFA), is a body corporate and political subdivision of the State of Colorado,
conducting its operations without receiving tax dollars or other funding from the state. CHFA invites qualified companies
to submit proposals to provide datawarehouse automation and visualization solution to support the Business
Intelligence (BI) team. CHFA’s Information Technology Division utilizes Microsoft SQL server and its included BI tools.
CHFA maintains numerous Line of Business Systems as well as reporting and analytic databases. CHFA seeks the ability
to more easily create and maintain additional datamarts and cubes as well as to provide additional self-service and
visualization options for our internal users. CHFA intends to select vendor(s) to provide a warehouse automation and
visualization tool in addition to implementation service for CHFA. CHFA reserves the right to reject any or all proposals
and to accept or reject any item or combination of items in any proposal. Any proposal received by CHFA must be valid
and binding for a period of thirty (30) days beyond the submission deadline.
All proposals must be submitted in paper and electronic format to:
Kelly Becker
Director, Information Technology
Colorado Housing and Finance Authority
1981 Blake Street
Denver, CO 80202
kbecker@chfainfo.com
The deadline for submission is 5:00 pm Mountain Time 2/13/15. No alteration of the proposal will be accepted or made
after submission.
qualifications
1. CHFA and the selected vendor(s) will enter into a software and vendor agreement describing the general
terms under which the solution will be supported and the services will be performed, subject to the
execution of individual statements of work.
2. CHFA is covered by C.R.S. 8-17.5-101, which provides that unless there is an applicable exclusion, Colorado
political subdivisions may not enter into, or renew, a contract for services (labor, time or effort not involving
a specific product) with a contractor who knowingly employs or contracts with an illegal alien to perform
work under the contract or who knowingly contracts with a subcontractor who knowingly employs or
contracts with an illegal alien. Therefore, if a contract is a public contract for services, the vendor(s) selected
must certify that the Vendor does not knowingly employ or contract with an illegal alien, and that the
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Colorado Housing and Finance Authority
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Vendor participates in either the Department of Homeland Security/Social Security Administration E-Verify
Program or the State of Colorado Department of Labor and Employment Program.Further, there are
required contract provisions relating to the Vendor’s agreement to not knowingly employ or contrct with
illegal aliens.
3. The proposed solution will need to be compatible with the current CHFA IT Architecture as described below:
a. Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2
b. Microsoft Windows 7 Desktop OS
c. Microsoft Internet Explorer version 11
d. Dell Servers/Workstations
e. Virtualized Servers
f.
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SharePoint 2007 (intranet) and SharePoint 2013 (extranet)
Colorado Housing and Finance Authority
submission requirements
1. Requests for additional information and/or questions and clarifications not answered in this RFP should be sent
via email by 1/30/15, only to kbecker@chfainfo.com. All questions as well as answers will be posted in the RFP
section of CHFA’s website at http://www.chfainfo.com/Pages/RFPs.aspx. This will be available 1/16/15, if not
sooner.
2. All interested parties who can demonstrate a solution to support the requirements listed in this RFP are
requested to submit a proposal containing evidence they can meet the expectations previously described.
3. Additional information that is reasonably necessary for CHFA to fairly and comprehensively evaluate
proposals may be enclosed. It should be limited to information that clarifies and substantiates written
responses.
4. During the evaluation process, CHFA reserves the right to request additional information or clarifications
from the vendor submitting the proposal, or to allow corrections of errors or omissions. At its discretion,
CHFA may request any one or all vendors submitting proposals to make oral presentations as part of the
evaluation process.
5. THE COLORADO HOUSING AND FINANCE AUTHORITY (CHFA) IS A POLITICAL SUBDIVISION OF THE STATE
OF COLORADO, AND, THEREFORE, IS SUBJECT TO THE COLORADO OPEN RECORDS ACT (C.R.S. 24-72-200.1
ET SEQ) (CORA) FOR THE INSPECTION AND COPYING OF PUBLIC RECORDS. All submitted proposals become
the property of CHFA. The information therein, as well as any attachments and any subsequent
agreement(s), are “public records” under CORA and shall be available for inspection and reproduction as the
law provides. Responder acknowledges and agrees that the response to this RFP and any other material
submitted to CHFA as an initial response, or as part of any follow up request by CHFA for information or
explanation, or any other materials submitted by the Responder related to this RFP (the “Submission”) are
not considered confidential information. If a Responder believes that a portion of its Submission is subject
to exclusion under CORA, the Responder must, at the time of its initial Submission, make a written request
that those materials or information be kept confidential or otherwise excludable from disclosure. In
addition, Responder must readily separate such materials from other portions of the Submission and
conspicuously identify any portion of the Submission that is deemed by Responder to constitute confidential
or proprietary information or trade secrets or any other exclusion recognized by CORA. Responder’s
identification of material as being exempt from disclosure is not conclusive and Responder acknowledges
the possibility that such materials may be determined, by law, not to be protected from disclosure under
CORA, or the law governing CHFA. CHFA will notify Responder, as soon as possible, of any CORA request for
inspection. Responder, not CHFA, is solely responsible for taking action to shield the information that is the
subject of the CORA request. Responder agrees to reimburse CHFA for, and to indemnify, defend, and hold
harmless CHFA, its officers, fiduciaries, employees and agents from and against: (1) any and all claims,
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Colorado Housing and Finance Authority
damages, losses, liabilities, suits, judgments, fines, penalties, costs and expenses, including without
limitation, attorneys’ fees, expenses, and court costs of any nature whatsoever (collectively, the CLAIMS)
arising from, or relating to, CHFA’s non-disclosure of any such designated portion of the Submission; and (2)
any and all CLAIMS arising from, or relating to, CHFA’s public disclosure of any such designated portion of
the Submission, if disclosure is determined to be required by law or if disclosure is ordered by a court of
competent jurisdiction.
6. Vendors submitting a proposal for the product and service categories in the RFP shall provide the following
items (please keep responses limited to 20 pages, double-spaced and in 12-point font):
a. Cover Letter
b. Section I - Completed General Information
c. Section II - Completed Key Features Questionnaire
d. Section III - Reference List
7. By submitting a proposal, vendors agree they waive any claim against CHFA, and its respective agents,
affiliates, officers, and employees for recovery of any costs or expenses incurred in or associated with
preparing and submitting a proposal.
8. CHFA reserves the right to not award a bid after reviewing all responses to this proposal.
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Colorado Housing and Finance Authority
bid process timeline
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Posting of business intelligence system RFP on CHFA website – 1/16/15
Submit RFP questions – 1/30/15
CHFA responses to questions 2/6/15
Deadline for submission of proposals – 2/13/15
Interviews with finalist providers – 2/27/15
Selection of vendor – 3/13/15
section i – general information
1.00
company details
1.01
Company Name
1.02
Company Website
1.03
Company Address
1.04
Company Size
1.05
Financial Position
1.06
Company Origin/Longevity
1.07
Target Market
1.08
Product Origin/Longevity
1.09
Current Version
1.10
1.11
5
Next Version
(including target release date)
Number of Clients
(please provide three references, particularly HFAs if
applicable)
1.13
Professional Services Capabilities
1.14
Training Capabilities
Colorado Housing and Finance Authority
vendor response
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1.15
Documentation and Online Help
1.16
Quality Release Plan
1.17
Please include any example or case studies of ROI
attained using your product (cost or time savings,
productivity increases, etc). Include attachments of
supporting detail if applicable.
1.18
Other comments Vendor may deem relevant.
Colorado Housing and Finance Authority
section ii – architecture and design
2.00
2.01
2.02
2.03
2.04
2.05
2.06
2.07
investment section
What are the key differentiators between you
and your competitors?
Describe your architecture.
Describe how your software is installed (onpremise, hosted, cloud, etc.)
Describe where your product source code, our data,
and output documentation reside?
a.Your server, our server, other?
b. Is it exportable?
Does the product have pre-built connectors and/or a
semantic layer for generic ERP systems (i.e. JDE)?
What are the minimum requirements for SharePoint
version / integration?
Describe the development and maintenance process
utilizing the product
section iii – data integration
3.01
3.02
3.03
3.04
Describe the data sources that your product can
connect to and integrate
Can the product interact with existing stored
procedures used within ETL?
Can it interact with our stored procedures used within
SSRS reports?
Can your solution integrate with a pre-existing SSAS
analytical cube?
a. Can it “reverse-engineer” an existing cube?
3.05
3.06
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Describe your data profiling / MDM capabilities.
Is any code output generated by the product industry
standard compliant (i.e. SQL) or is it a proprietary
format?
Colorado Housing and Finance Authority
vendor response
3.07
3.08
3.09
3.10
How does the product produce documentation of
code and workflows?
How does the product handle data lineage and
metadata?
Describe the user interface for the data integration
portion of your product (e.g. script vs. drag and drop)
Can data integration jobs/workflows be scheduled on
a regular basis? If so, how often?
section iv – reporting interface
4.01
4.02
4.03
4.04
4.05
4.06
Does the product have write-back capabilities?
4.07
Describe your BI visualization tool capabilities
4.08
4.09
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How does your software integrate with our existing
MS SQL Services Reporting Services reports?
a. Can they co-exist in a single location?
Describe how power users create their own reports.
a. Can they blend/mash their own data, particularly
from Excel spreadsheets?
Please describe your mobile device access and/or
editing capabilities
Do you add any additional functionality around report
subscriptions, events, alerts?
Describe how your software handles user permissions,
including your security model:
a. Different levels for log in?
b. Integrated with Active Directory?
c. Role-based?
d. How granular are the permissions? Columnar
or report level permissions, or other?
Within reports, can you see detail drill-down data?
a.
Is it exportable to Excel?
Describe the self-service BI capabilities of your
product.
a. Can the metadata, and security model used for
standard reporting also be utilized for self-service
data discovery?
Colorado Housing and Finance Authority
section iv – product support and training
4.01
Describe your product’s support model
4.02
How often are there releases?
4.03
4.04
4.05
Is the product roadmap available to existing
customers?
Describe initial product implementation/proof of
concept model
Describe developer and end user education
opportunities/recommendations
section v - pricing
7.00
5.01
licensing/costs
License Model
5.03
Maintenance and Support
5.04
Implementation Cost Model
5.05
Do you provide discounts for non-profit /
government?
5.06
Average License Deal
5.07
Average Implementation Cost
5.08
Average Implementation timeframe
5.09
Training Hourly Rate
(technical/end user)
Section vi – software and hardware requirements
6.01
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Server requirements/virtualization compatibility
Colorado Housing and Finance Authority
vendor response
6.02
Database requirements
6.03
Workstation requirements
6.04
Sharepoint version requirements
6.05
MS SQL version requirements
additional comments/information
Please provide any additional comments or information that will assist in this evaluation.
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Colorado Housing and Finance Authority