GMU-1288-15 Addendum 4
Purchasing Department
Mailing Address: 4400 University Drive, Mailstop 3C5
Street Address: 4441 George Mason Boulevard, 4th Floor, Suite 4200
Fairfax, Va. 22030 Voice: 703.993.2580 | Fax: 703.993.2589
http://fiscal.gmu.edu/purchasing
RFP ADDENDUM NO. 4:
Date:
Reference
Title:
RFP Issued:
Proposal Due Date:
October 23, 2015
GMU-1288-15
IT Consulting Services
October 9, 2015
November 11, 2015 @ 2:00 PM EST
The following are vendor questions and Mason’s responses:
Q1
A1
Q2
A2
Please provide a Word Copy for easier responses.
A Word version will be posted on our website.
Please define acceptable Subcontracting
If you plan on utilizing a subcontractor you must identify the subcontractor in your proposal response.
However Mason prefers that all the work be performed by the awarded entity.
Q3
Project #2: Which IT functions are included in this assessment
 Development
A3

Operations – help desk

Production support

Procurement
All functions of the Information Technology Services (ITS) organization is in scope. ITS groups include:
 Academic Strategies (AS) supports the university community by providing the infrastructure for
video communications and by creating media content for teaching, learning, and research. Included
in Academic Strategies is George Mason University Television (GMU-TV).

Business Operations (BO) provides strategic leadership as well as day-to-day oversight of
functional areas. Business Operations works with fiscal stakeholders across the university,
determining fiscal policies and procedures that address technology needs of the ITS and George
Mason University. The group is comprised of IT Finance, Human Resources, and Communications
and Client Relations.

Enterprise Applications (EA) plans, implements, and maintains integrated central and distributed
information systems and associated databases that support the business needs of the University.
These systems include the Banner administrative applications that support admissions, student,
finance, human resources, payroll and procurement. Support is also provided for data marts for
Business Intelligence (BI) reporting that support official and end-user reporting requirements, and
decentralized systems that support budgeting, sponsored programs activity, imaging, web content
management, mobile applications, web development and other University applications.

Enterprise Infrastructure (EI) deploys and maintains reliable information technology
infrastructure, products and services for all campuses including wired and wireless networks,
physical and virtual enterprise servers, physical and virtual enterprise storage, data center
operations, communication technologies, software licensing, technology retail sales, desktop
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GMU-1288-15 Addendum 4
support, help desk services, technology classrooms, and computer labs. The group employs industry
standard best practices in information technology service management, change management, and
performance measurement.
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
IT Security provides leadership for university policy development and work in partnership with
units and individuals across the university to formulate policies, assess security risk, and establish
strategic direction. The group is responsible for setting and maintaining standards and practices to
manage the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of university assets and data.

Learning Support Services (LSS) provides an array of resources to faculty, students, and staff that
contribute to the innovative teaching and learning environment of the university. LSS provides
support for instructional technologies including Blackboard, the campus learning management
system. It offers faculty consultations to discuss best practices for teaching online, hybrid and faceto-face courses, as well as strategies for incorporating technology into the curriculum. LSS also
maintains two Collaborative Learning Hub (CLUB) facilities, which provides support on a variety
of multimedia and instructional technologies and access to collaborative workstations, and the
Student Technology Assistance Lab (STAR), which offers a game design lab, full video production
studio and multimedia and video editing suites.

Strategy, Portfolio, and Process Management (SPPM) group is comprised of the Project
Management Office, Systems Integration Group, and Process and Planning Group.
What type of incident management system exists within IT and are all operations (Help Desk) issues run through
that system?
Current incident management tools include Service Desk Express (Incident Management, Request
Fulfillment and Access Management for Enterprise Infrastructure, Enterprise Applications, Learning
Support Service, IT Security) Pinnacle and SDE (Incident Management, Request Fulfillment and Access
Management for Telecom). ITS will be replacing these systems with an ITSM application (see RFP GMU1284-16 for further details).
What is the size of the current IT staff?
ITS is comprised of 244.9 FTE, and 47.3 Student FTE (as of 30-Jun-15). Staff per IT Domain can be
classified as follows:
IT Domain: FTE / Student FTE
Administration and Management of IT: 25.45 / 0.83
Communications Infrastructure Services: 34.76 / 6.51
Data Center: 8.00 / 0.17
Educational Technology Services: 49.00 / 27.40
Enterprise Infrastructure Services: 25.00 / 0.00
Information Security: 7.00 / 0.80
Information Systems and Applications: 40.90 / 0.19
Information Technology (IT) Support Services: 54.75 / 11.40
How much of that staff is in-house vs 3rd party?
N/A
Who is the sponsor for this initiative?
Marilyn T. Smith, Vice President for Information Technology and Chief Information Officer
What is the current IT budget?
Per 2015-16 GMU Budget Executive Summary, $41,917,200 ($33,393,300 Education and General and
$8,523,900 Auxiliary Enterprises).
Of the current IT budget, how much is Capex vs Opex
100% Operational
What is the end objective for performing this assessment? What question(s) are you looking to answer?
 Project #1 - Provide Mason with a road map and implementation expertise to maximize use of
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GMU-1288-15 Addendum 4
Mason’s ERP and student system – Ellucian Banner.
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
Project #2 - Provide an activity-based cost analysis of centrally-supported IT services including the
personnel and non-labor costs in an effort to provide a more accurate picture of IT service costs;
highlight resource needs; and enable thoughtful allocations of resources more efficiently.

Project #3 - Provide a wide range of “on demand” consulting services for future IT projects.
Project #3: How is this section going to be evaluated?
Per GMU-1288-16 Section VI. Evaluation and Award Criteria
How is George Mason going to determine which functions they want a 3rd party to perform?
George Mason will compare the capabilities of the 3rd party with internal capabilities and see which has
better alignment with strategy.
What is the timeframe associated with Project #3?
Per GMU-1288-16 Section III. Period of Performance
Is the scope looking to do a managed service (3rd party has management responsibility) or staff augmentation
(George Mason has management responsibility)?
George Mason is not specifically looking for a managed service or staff augmentation, however it may be
determined that this is an avenue to persue.
What type of evaluation criteria will be used to determine the effectiveness of the company providing this
service?
See Q11, A11
What aspects of IT are being included within the scope of this project? Development, Operations, Production
Support?
See Q3, A3
Please expand on Consulting needed (or GMU Definition of) the following (#3,a):
a.
#3 Service offerings & Agreement s(SO&A)
b.
#4 Planning, protection and Optimization (RC&V)
c.
#5 Release, Control & Validation (RC&V)
d.
#6Operational Support & Analysis (OS&A)
 Service Offerings and Agreements (SO&A) - Service level management, financial management,
service portfolio management, service catalog management, demand management, business
relationship management and supplier management

Planning, Protection and Optimization (PP&O) - Capacity management, availability management,
IT service continuity management, demand management, information security management

Release, Control, and Validation (RC&V) - Change management, release & deployment
management, service asset & configuration management, request fulfillment, change evaluation,
knowledge management and service validation and testing

Operational Support and Analysis (OS&A) - Service desk, technical management, application
management, IT operations management, incident management, problem management, request
fulfillment, event management, knowledge management, and access management
Project #1, which modules or functional features of Banner is GMU utilizing?
Advancement - 8.7.1 (Licensed but do not intend to use)
Accounts Receivable - 8.5
Financial Aid - 8.24
General 8.7.
Finance - 8.10
Human Resources - 8.12.1
Position Control - 8.12.1
Student - 8.7.4
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How many departments use Banner?
All administrative units and academic departments
How many processes are in scope for this project?
All that are part of the functionality in the Banner modules in use at Mason
What level of participation can we count on from business users?
a) Will they be willing/able to contribute to multiple meetings?
b) Will they be able to perform data collection during their
ITS staff will be available to contribute to meetings and provide data as required.
What is ITS' ideal completion date for this project?
It would be ideal to complete all projects by June 30, 2015.
Project #2, Please provide a high-level list of services that is within the scope of centrally-supported ITS services.
See Q3, A3
Will the university provide historical and budget (prospective) financial data at the cost center level of detail?
Yes, wherever possible.
Can you provide a list of non-financial metrics for which there is historical data?
Metrics exist for support areas, such as call volume and first contact resolution.
What is ITS' ideal completion date for this project?
See Q22, A22
Are resumes required for Project #3?
Resumes are not required, but may be helpful.
Does the vendor determine the labor categories and description for project #3?
See Section IV, Point B, Pricing
For Project #3, is GMU requiring a burdened hourly rate for each proposed Labor Category?
Yes
Please clarify “Return this entire RFP package, all addenda”. Are you requesting a return of the original RFP? If
yes, will this be submitted as part of the response, or as a separate document?
The RFP and all addenda (where required) should be submitted with your original response. You don’t
need multiple copies of the RFP document itself.
Does the vendor have to provide a response for all 3 projects?
No
Is GMU specifically expecting the Project #1 to be awarded to one firm or there may be a possibility of doing
multi source awards. The reason we are asking this question is because our organization specializes in ERP and
especially in the Higher Education space, however being a small SWAM business with the expertise and past
performance, we may find ourselves to be competing with large organizations for the work that we are so capable
of doing.
One firm
Can you please clarify how many FTE’s are supporting George Mason IT?
See Q5, A5
Does GMU have a preference for W2 vs C2C or 1099 candidates?
N/A
If 1099/C2C employees are allowed for this project. Are they considered a subcontractor?
Entities that receive a 1099, which are incidental to the fulfillment of the contract, do not need to be listed
as a subcontractor. 1099 entities that are expected to provide substantive services related to this RFP, shall
be disclosed
If 1099/C2C employees are allowed for this project. Do we need to submit any supporting forms for 1099/C2C?
Entities that receive a 1099, which are incidental to the fulfillment of the contract, do not need to be listed
as a subcontractor. 1099 entities that are expected to provide substantive services related to this RFP, shall
be disclosed
What are the different profiles of IT support do you need on a regular bases?
N/A
On the evaluation criteria – Page 7, (2 experience and qualifications of offeror in providing the services including
quality of references that are similar in size and scope). Would you give more credit to companies with higher
education references? Or rate based on the quality of references and similarity of the work completed at various
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GMU-1288-15 Addendum 4
clients.
N/A
Is the Government providing Laptops for employees use if they work offsite?
N/A
Please describe GMU IT hardware and software environment – e.g. Operating System (OS) vendor, OS version,
Software Vendors, Software versions, Network vendors, Network OS, Network OS versions.
Server hardware: Dell, IBM, Sun, Cisco, Apple Desktop hardware is Dell (Windows 7) and
Apple Mac OSX 10.9, 10.10 & 10.11
Server OS: Windows Server 2008/2012, Red Hat 5/6/7, Solaris 10, Centos, VMware5.5, KVM
Storage: NetApp, Dell, Data Domain
Enterprise SW: Oracle, Microsoft AD, VCL, Symantec BE, Networker, O365, Listserv, webservices using
LAMP stack, Wordpress, Cipher(open source), DUO, CMDB(open source)
Please provide Cost proposal template if possible.
N/A
Is GMU planning to use interviews as part of the evaluation process?
Offerors who submit a proposal in response to this RFP may be required to give an oral presentation of
their proposal to Mason.
Will GMU allow any offshore work for work that doesn’t require face to face interaction?
Yes
If a vendor isn’t a SWAM but subcontractor is, would he get the 5 points for having a SWAM on the team?
No
Does GMU prefer a company that provides services for all three projects (1, 2, and 3) versus one that can provide
support to only two projects or only one project?
No preference
Is GMU providing a summary of all the questions and answers asked during the pre-proposal conference day?
No
Questions for Project 2:
a)
What is the period of performance?
b)
Is the work to be done at the client site or the contractor site?
c)
Is the estimated budget above $50,000?
A. See Q22, A22
B. Both
C. ITS chooses not to disclose the project budget.
Q48
A48
Questions for Project 3:
a)
What is the period of performance?
b)
Is the work to be done at the client site or the contractor site?
c)
Would a billing rate of $1000 per day be within the budget?
d)
Are there any minimum skills required for the personnel required?
A. See Q22, A22
B. Both
C. ITS chooses not to disclose the project budget.
D. N/A
Q49
What does a typical consulting engagement look like in GMU? What is the length of engagement duration we
talking about?
A49
Engagement length is dependent upon the scope of the project.
Q50
A50
Any constraints on consultant location? Is consultant expected to be at GMU?
Consultant will be required to be on campus as needed.
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GMU-1288-15 Addendum 4
What technology / product stack are we looking at in Microsoft?
N/A
Is the project expected to setup a network / virtualization from scratch or current systems are in place at GMU?
N/A
What are the typical IT activities that are being considered here?
See IT Services at: https://itservices.gmu.edu/.
May we know what kind of approaches and methodologies are being followed and managed currently?
We utilize ITIL and PMBOC as frameworks for ITSM.
What kind of IT hardware/software infrastructure is present? Are you using Virtualization or cloud solutions?
How much of it is on cloud or on-premise?
See Q40, A40
What kind of software development tools and operating system infrastructure exists currently?
See Q40, A40
What is the overall scope of this contract?
See GMU-1288-15 for contractual scope.
Are we talking about continuity of same consultant throughout the contract period or just across each project?
 Project #1 – Award to best fit vendor (Fixed-Firm-Pricing)

Project #2 – Award to best fit vendor (Fixed-Firm-Pricing)

Project #3 – Award to multiple vendors (Hourly Pricing) that can provide on demand consulting
services. Future consulting engagements would be awarded to the vendor that was best fit based on
submitted proposals.
Are these related to infrastructure or software development?
N/A
May we know what kind of SDLC is being followed? What kind of training methodologies are in place in-person
or e-learning? What percentage of the trainings are online (e-learning) and classroom based?
Mason generally relies on COTS software but there is some development of software but not all of it is
centralized. Where it is centralized Mason uses JAD for most development.
Regarding Staffing Plan, need clarity on what is expected scope of the project?
See Q3, A3
For Project #3 - 3 (e), Please provide further details around each of the service expectation/ scope?
• What Technology domains/skills are referred here for Implementation, Architecture and
Design, Installation and Configuration?
• Please clarify what is meant by Conversion?
• What is expected for Operations metrics? Please clarify
N/A
Project #1 addresses the ERP and student system. Does this mean the assessment covers HR/Payroll, Finance,
Student / Student AR, Financial Aid, and Advancement/Alumni/Foundation?
All listed except Advancement/Alumni/Foundation. Foundation is a separate entity from George Mason.
If the answer above is no, please list the specific areas of the University this project will need to cover.
See Q18, A18
If Financial Aid is a part of project #1, and scholarship processes are included, will the
Advancement/Alumni/Foundation area be involved in these discussions from an endowment and awarding
perspective?
Yes
If Financial Aid is a part of project #1, and student employment/work study processes are included, will
HR/Payroll be involved in these discussions?
Yes
Is the Career Center involved in the student employment/work study process and if so will they be involved in
these discussions?
Yes
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Will study abroad be a process covered in project #1 and is faculty/staff travel part of that process to be
assessed/improved?
Yes – to the extent that processes and data in the Banner modules used by Mason are relevant. Mason uses
other applications for tracking faculty/staff travel.
Will student retention and success be a process for consideration in project #1?
Yes – to the extent that processes and data in the Banner modules used by Mason are relevant. Mason
uses other software for retention.
Will campus safety and security, housing, or judicial concerns be a part of project #1?
Not specifically, unless there is functionality in the Banner modules used by Mason that is relevant.
If Finance is an area to be covered in this assessment, does it need to include the following processes:
•
Non student accounts receivables
•
Sponsored Programs (grants) pre and post award
•
Managing Endowments
No
Will we be able to leverage student focus groups in the assessment?
N/A
In your TSD Annual Report 2014, you mention change and change management as one of your challenges. To
what extent have you been able to address this, and have your efforts included organizational change
management? Do you expect to leverage an investment in organizational change management services as part of
your assessment project?
ITS will be choosing an implementing an ITSM application which will address change management in the
near future (see RFP GMU-1284-16 for further details).
Will faculty facing processes including those that leverage LMS be a consideration for project #1? And if yes,
will faculty be represented in the assessment for project #1?
No
At what stage is GMU with respect to the development of a new strategic plan and when is it expected to be
published?
The university strategic plan is published and available online. The IT strategic plan is in the discovery
phase; interviewing stakeholders. We aim to complete it by July 2016
How many units do you anticipate we will need to engage as part of the business process improvement initiative?
20 IT units and 10 functional units
Are business processes defined centrally and driven down to the units or is it a bottoms up approach.
Business processes vary by unit. No standard approach.
How many process areas are in scope for this project?
To be determined.
Who typically provides support for the “Other Software” in use throughout the university.
ITS provides best effort support for non-standard software. Departments and/or colleges provide support
for software used in their area.
Is there a reporting strategy in place today that clearly identifies reporting standards and definitions across the
university?
No
Does the FOAPAL values meet the units reporting requirements or do they need a lower level of detail?
Part of project #1 is to discover gaps in how Mason is using Banner. This is an example of an issue that
Mason will want to be apprised of as part of the findings from the engagement.
Please provide all Banner products and the releases as seen on the installation form GUAINST.
See Q18, A18
What functionality is currently in production for each module a.
Ex – within Banner Finance, is research
accounting, endowment management and/or fixed assets used?
This will be discovered through interviews of Mason units using Banner
What 3rd party software platforms currently integrates with Banner:
a.
International product data maintenance such as Terra Dotta?
b.
Housing and meal plan such as Star Rez or Adirondack?
c.
Payment processing such as Tuition Management System, a Cashiering System, Heartland for 1098T and/or
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GMU-1288-15 Addendum 4
Perkins Loans processing?
Touchnet, RMS (housing) and Terra Dotta are in use.
Any CRM product in Admissions (if not using Ellucian Recruiter product)?
Hobsons
Any elearning third party tool that interfaces such as Blackboard?
Blackboard
Any third party such as Clearinghouse for enrollment reporting, Degree Reporting, Transcript Requests?
Yes, RoboRegistrar, Clearinghouse, DegreeWorks
Other 3rd party products used by GMU and in scope but not mentioned above?
DataTransfer 6, BDM (xtender), Automic, Banner Workflow
Please define what ‘student system’ encompasses (Banner Student, AR and Financial Aid?) If AR is in scope, is
Collections processing part of the Bursar / AR processes, or in the Finance area
Student is the Banner Student module. AR is in scope. Collections are done by the state of Va.
Is Data Standards in scope for common/shared data practices?
Yes
Are any Ellucian third party products such as Advancement, Workflow, Document
Imaging, Degree Works, Recruiter, ODS/EDW, etc. in scope for this project? Please list those that are applicable.
See answer to 87 and 88. Mason does not use Advancement (Foundation is a separate entity). Mason uses
Hobsons for recruiting. Mason does use Banner Workflow and Document Imaging. Mason does not use
ODS/EDW. These products are in scope to the extent that they interface with Banner and any gaps and/or
identified usage issues with Banner modules used by Mason may affect how these products are used.
What reporting tool is used?
MicroStrategy
What applications and services are provided by ITS?
See Q53, A53
How many staff members are in ITS? What are their titles and responsibilities?
See Q5, A5
Does ITS use a ticketing system to track activities? If so, what is the name of this system? Can this system
provide metrics based on activities? If so…
See Q4, A4
What are the average # of tickets opened per month?
5700
How many tickets are closed per month?
5700
What are the TOP 10 ticket issues per month for the previous 12 months?
Password Patriot Pass
Password Patriot Pass Expiration
MASONLIVE Microsoft Password Reset Request
Renew Patriot Pass Account
Claim Code Patriot Pass Reset
General
Security Event Password Expiration
Blackboard
Repair PC
MASONLIVE OWA Question/Issue
Will ITS staff HR records, including salaries, weighted costs and training plans be made available?
Yes
In Section a. items 3-6 outline a number of ITIL Modules. Is GMU looking for the provider to provide certified
training for these items? If not, can you explain what information you desire regarding these items?
No. See Q17, A17
Page 3, Project #2 – How many employees are included in the scope of this operation? Please also provide a
breakdown, by job title or skillset type, of these resources.
See Q5, A5
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Page 3, Project #2 – What service processes are in scope for this assessment?
See Q3, A3
Page 3, Project #2 – How many stakeholders/employees would be involved in the data collection/interview
process? Please also provide a breakdown, by job title or skillset type, of these stakeholder/employees
See Q76, A76
Page 3, Project #2 – Is there a planned budget for this project? If so, what amount has George Mason University
(“Mason”) allocated as the budget for this project?
Yes. ITS chooses not to disclose the project budget.
Page 4, Project #3 – Is Mason seeking ‘qualified firms’ to ‘own’ the project deliverables from planning/design
through to execution and implementation, or will Mason be responsible for owning/managing these projects, and
therefore is seeking a ‘qualified firm’ who will provide subject matter experts who will be managed by Mason and
augment the project team?
Depends on the scope of the engagement.
Page 4, Project #3, Section 3.a. – Please provide a brief description of 3-5 projects that Mason has either already
completed or is planning to initiate for each of the 7 listed ‘technologies and capabilities’ categories.
Unified Communications, identity management,
Page 4, Project #3 – Is there a list of roles/skill sets that Mason would like to ensure we include in our hourly rate
schedule? If so, will we be provided access to this list?
N/A
Page 5, Pricing, Project #3 – Please provide additional detail to clarify what will be required should we choose to
price future services different than hourly…” “…describe training options and associated costs. Include a catalog
of training offerings and differentiation between technical staff and end-user training”.
Hourly pricing required.
Project #2: Does GMU have a defined list of services / services catalog to use as a framework to do a process
inventory? If so, what are those services?
See Q53, A53
What source systems can we rely on for baseline data around where people are spending their time? Regarding
estimating staff time, the best/cost and effect way to do this is to rely on ticketing /timesheet software.
Time reporting system based on job classification
What source systems can we rely on for baseline data around where people are spending their time?
See Q110, A110
Do you have people costs broken out by fixed versus variable?
No
Are you looking for fully loaded people costs? (i.e. inclusive of benefits, 401k match, etc.)
Yes
Will HR/Finance be available to obtain asset costing and depreciation and people related costs?
Asset and personnel costing will be available.
How many people are currently in your IT organization?
See Q5, A5
What is the structure of your IT organization?
See Q3, A3
How are your technology teams organized / broken out? (For example)
a.
Systems
b.
Servers
c.
IT Services / Help Desk
d.
QA
e.
Security
f.
Storage
g.
Networking
h.
Telecom
i.
Etc.
See Q3, A3
As it applies to resource needs, are you asking about current staffing needs of future / planned needs based upon
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higher education changes as an industry, as technology and services provided to the business change?
Yes to both
Based upon the wording of the RFP language, is GMU looking for fixed-cost engagements or time-and-material
engagements?
See Section IV, Point B, Pricing
How has previous GMU vendors managed / handled fixed-cost engagements with specified resource hourly
estimates and commitments?
N/A
Project #3: Do you want an IT Project Manager, Admin Project Manager, or Program Manager?
Describe your approach to project management in the proposal.
What transformation and change leadership interest does your organization have?
ITS has interest in both transformation and change leadership.
Would our project management team assist with IT specific projects or business-side projects as well?
IT projects are in scope.
What Project Portfolio Management application and processes do you use within your IT organization?
https://epmo.gmu.edu/default.aspx - The Enterprise Project Management Online (EPMO) provides an
online tool for all ITS project management and tracking needs. It houses project details, templates, and
document repositories; a collaborative workspace for project teams; a scheduling interface with Microsoft
Project; and an automated workflow processes.
How is new project and service request intake handled within your IT organization?
Currently there are multiple service request intake points (IT governance, break/fix/repairs, order entry,
new service requests, data requests, complaints, questions, billing changes, desktop support issues).
What ITIL certified individuals are currently on staff within your IT organization? If any, what are their current
practice strengths with:
a.
Service Offerings and Agreements (SO&A)?
b.
Planning, Protection and Optimization (PP&O)?
c.
Release, Control, and Validation (RC&V)?
d.
Operational Support and Analysis (OS&A)?
ITS staff possesses various degrees of subject matter expertise from ITIL Foundation to ITIL Expert
certification. The Information Technology Process and Planning department has primary responsibility
for the analysis, design and improvement of IT service management processes, and the coordination of
strategic plans for IT infrastructure and architecture.
What do you recognize as “Other Technology and Services”?
See Q79, A79
Based upon the wording of the RFP language, is GMU looking for fixed-cost engagements or time-and-material
engagements?
See Q58, A58
How has previous GMU vendors managed / handled fixed-cost engagements with specified resource hourly
estimates and commitments?
N/A
What device and systems management software / platforms are currently being used at GMU?
SCCM 2012, Casper 9.81, Puppet
How many Project Managers are currently on staff at GMU and what certifications do they hold?
2 Project Managers with PMI certification
What project management standards do they use for their processes? (i.e. PMI, PDIOO, etc.)
PMI
What change management processes are currently used within the GMU IT organization?
Hardware and software change management
What are your committed and secondary IT organization projects confirmed for 2016? (i.e. DR, network refresh,
security assessment, etc.)
N/A
What are the budgeted amounts for all committed projects for the services we will be bidding on?
See Q104, A104
10
Q136
A136
Q137
A137
Q138
A138
Q139
A139
Q140
A140
Q141
A141
Q142
A142
Q143
A143
Q144
A144
Q145
A145
Q146
A146
Q147
A147
GMU-1288-15 Addendum 4
Will GMU be willing to provide advance materials, transmitted securely, to allow the successful consultant to
review documentation and make preparations prior to conducting onsite assessment work at the University?
Yes
Minor discrepancy, but to confirm – is the correct RFP number “GMU-1288-16” (as found on page 1 of the RFP)
or “GMU-1288-15” (as found on page 6 of the RFP)?
GMU-1288-16
Regarding RFP Section V.B.2. (page 6 of the RFP): if a vendor is bidding on more than one project, does GMU
want a minimum of three references in total or a minimum of three references for each project?
3 references total.
It is somewhat unclear to us what information we need to provide in our proposal and how it should be organized.
Regarding the following instructions in the RFP:
a.
RFP Section V.A.2.d. (page 5): Proposals should be organized in the order in which the requirements are
presented in the RFP.
b.
RFP Section V.B.3. (page 6): Offerors are required to submit the following items as a complete proposal:
All information requested in Section IV., STATEMENT OF NEEDS
What information are bidders required to submit regarding Project 1 (RFP Section IV.A.1.) and Project 2 (RFP
Section IV.A.2.)? It appears that for both Projects 1 and 2, we only need to provide project hours, the level of
effort from each vendor employee, a project timeline, and firm, fixed pricing. The other items listed under
Projects 1 and 2 appear to describe the project scope and not information we need to provide in our response.
In the interest of clarity and consistency across responses from all vendors, can GMU provide an outline of the
information (including the structure and content) that bidders are required to provide in our proposals?
N/A
Can GMU provide its expectations, if any, for vendors to include a SWaM business(es) in their project team? In
addition, please also tell us:
a.
Does GMU have a required or desired percentage of the project work that should be allocated to a SWaM
business? Does this percentage apply to each specific project in the RFP (Projects 1, 2, and 3) or in total (across
the three projects)?
b.
Will a bidder be disqualified if they do not utilize a SWaM business as part of their project team?
c.
Is the utilization of a SWaM business a factor in the proposal evaluation criteria? It is not mentioned in
the evaluation criteria in Section VI.A of the RFP (page 6).
A. No. B. No. C. SWaM certified vendors will receive 5 points.
There is a relatively short window between when GMU anticipates issuing the Q & A (Wednesday, 11/4 by 4:00)
and when we need to ship our proposal (ideally Monday, 11/9 and no later than Tuesday, 11/10) in order to meet
the November 11th proposal due date. Given this timeframe and the volume of questions we anticipate will be
submitted based on attendance at the pre-proposal conference, we request an extension be made to the proposal
due date so that bidders have sufficient time to process the Q & A and make necessary adjustments to our
proposals prior to submission. Please advise.
Sealed proposals are due November 11, 2015 at 2:00pm.
Has GMU used Activity Based Costing (ABC) to measure services in other areas of the university? If yes, where,
and how has ABC changed the way those services are deployed and measured?
No
Does GMU host Banner on-premise?
Yes
When was Banner deployed at GMU?
2003
1Does GMU work with other entities (either in higher ed or outside of higher ed) to support and maintain the
Banner environment?
No
Has GMU developed a plan for Banner XE deployment?
No
Has GMU had any assessments done by Ellucian of the current Banner environment, and if yes, will this
information be made available to the selected consultant(s)?
Yes – any that are relevant
11
Q148
A148
Q149
A149
Q150
A150
Q151
A151
Q152
A152
Q153
A153
Q154
A154
Q155
A155
Q156
A156
Q157
A157
Q158
A158
Q159
A159
Q160
A160
GMU-1288-15 Addendum 4
Does GMU have an enterprise architecture diagram that details the integration points between Banner and 3rd
party systems that will be made available to the selected consultant(s)? In addition, is there any other existing
documentation that can be made available which details interfaces and integration points?
For project #1: Can GMU provide a list of the business processes / business functions considered in-scope for this
project?
Any processes that are inherent in the Banner modules used by Mason are in scope. Mason is looking for
process improvement and better usage of Banner.
Can GMU confirm which of these business processes GMU currently uses Banner to support?
See Q149, A149
Can GMU provide an estimate on the number of business stakeholders who will need to be interviewed (i.e., to
provide business perspective on Mason goals, business needs, effectiveness of current reporting, etc.)? If possible,
providing this estimate broken out by number of stakeholders within each business process / function is
appreciated.
For project #2: Can GMU provide an overview of ITS staff size (including full-time, part-time and contract labor
staff), and an overview of how these staff are organized (i.e., divisions or operating groups within ITS)?
See Q5, A5
Can GMU confirm that data from the ITS staff timekeeping system, help desk / ticketing system, budget
management or other systems whose data may support activity based cost analyses will be available as exportable
flat files (e.g., tab-delimited, CSV, or similar)? Please indicate any data sources which may require manual data
collection, tabulation, etc., as these will impact required level effort.
Data will be made available from existing systems. Timekeeping/Level of Effort will require manual data
collection as no system is in place.
Does GMU have a desired / target number of the other universities against which it would like to compare its cost
analyses?
No target number has been defined.
Could GMU provide more detail (two to three sentences) about the specific services within scope for each of
these categories?
See Q3, A3
Additionally, given the broad nature of these task areas, can GMU provide more guidance as to how we are to
provide associated cost information? Would rough order of magnitude (ROM) pricing be sufficient at this point in
time?
See Q58, A58
Please confirm that (e)(3) is requesting the delivery of project management services to clients and (i) should be a
description of our methodology for managing the collection of George Mason projects under the resultant contract
(program management).
Yes to both
May both prime and subcontractors submit referenes?
No
As the tasks in project #3 are open ended, would GMU please provide a page limit either specifically for project
#3 or the entire proposal to provide consistency in responses’ level of detail and ease evaluation?
No page limit is defined.
What does GMU anticipate the final deliverable for task #2 looking like:
a.
A redrawn future-state organizational chart for IT?
b.
Rewritten position descriptions for IT staff?
c.
FTE / resourcing requirements by service line / functional area?
See Q10, A10
12