NEW YORK STATE
OFFICE OF GENERAL SERVICES
NEW YORK STATE STRATEGIC SOURCING
REQUEST FOR INFORMATION
On behalf of the New York State Office of General Services, the New York State Strategic Sourcing Team
requests information from vendors that provide Information Technology Services about their product
types and business models.
Purpose and Objective
The purpose of this Request for Information (RFI) is to acquire information regarding possible options and
solutions available in the marketplace for hourly-based Information Technology (IT) Services. New York
State will use the information received from this RFI to review the available options and solutions in
making a determination regarding future contracting strategies. Vendors interested in participating in any
possible future opportunities are encouraged to respond to this RFI and sign up for Online Vendor
Registration for Bidder Notification Service (http://www.ogs.state.ny.us/ovr/Default.asp) on the NYS OGS
website under classification codes 43, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, and 86.
It is the objective of this RFI to:
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develop a general understanding of current vendor demographics and capabilities;
obtain vendor feedback on working with New York State and other public and private sector
customers and possible operating models, leading practices, pricing structures and process
improvements; and
solicit vendor perspective on the future direction for acquiring hourly-based Information
Technology Services.
Vendor Roundtable
The New York State Strategic Sourcing Team will host a vendor roundtable in the afternoon of Tuesday,
August 30th 2011 in Albany, New York. Invitations are limited to those vendors that submit a completed
RFI response. No more than two attendees from each vendor shall be permitted to attend the
roundtable. Specific time, location and agenda details will be provided after receipt of RFI response
documents from each vendor.
Scope of Request
The scope of this request is for information about hourly-based IT Services provided to New York State.
The State spent approximately $100 to $140 million with between 50 and 70 contractors on these
services during State Fiscal Year 2010-11.
Content of Response
Vendors are requested to respond to all questions included in this document. A response does not bind
or obligate the responder or the New York State Office of General Services to any agreement of provision
or procurement of products referenced. No contract can or will be awarded based on submissions.
Since this RFI is designed as a tool to collect information and will not result in a procurement contract for
Information Technology Services by a state agency, it does not fall under the requirements of State
Finance Law §§139-j and 139-k (the Procurement Lobbying Law) and there is no restricted period.
However, we ask that you direct your questions and responses in writing to the email address listed
below.
In order to facilitate the review of the responses, please provide the information in the exact order as
listed below. You may put answers within this document directly below each question, maintaining the
original formatting of this document. Please rename this document with the following naming convention:
NYS IT Services RFI_VENDOR NAME.doc (.docx format is also acceptable).
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NEW YORK STATE
OFFICE OF GENERAL SERVICES
NEW YORK STATE STRATEGIC SOURCING
REQUEST FOR INFORMATION
If any of the information in the vendor response is considered confidential, proprietary or a trade secret, it
must be clearly indicated on the appropriate page of the vendor response. Release of such materials is
governed by the NYS Freedom of Information Law, which in pertinent part requires the requester to
provide specific justification as to why disclosure of particular information in the response would cause
substantial injury to the competitive position of the vendor.
Please provide your response no later than 12PM EST on August 22, 2011 to the IT Services New
York State Strategic Sourcing Team: SST_IT_Services@ogs.ny.gov
Company Demographics
Question
Company Name
Division/Location
Headquarter Location
Contact Name
Title
Email Address
Phone Number
Are you a Small business enterprise?
A “New York State Small Business” is defined as
a company that is a resident to New York State,
independently owned and operated, with 100 or
fewer employees, and not dominant in its field.
Company Response
Are you a Minority-owned business enterprise?
(Please respond Yes or No)
Are you a Woman-owned business enterprise?
Are you certified with Empire State
Development Corporation (ESDC) as a
Minority and/or Woman Owned Business
(M/WBE)?
Does your company maintain a bench of
employees (maintained on payroll between
assignments) within New York State?
(Please respond Yes or No)
(Please respond Yes or No)
(Please respond Yes or No)
(Please respond Yes or No)
If so, how many employees make up this bench?
Do you utilize subcontractors?
What percentage of your subcontractor
personnel are provided benefits (e.g., health,
401k, etc) through your company?
What percentage of your subcontractor
personnel are direct versus subcontracted
through a 2nd tier supplier network?
Does your company provide for any of the
following services for its hourly-based IT
personnel?
(Please respond Yes or No)
In this column, answer
for direct employees
(Please respond
Always, Sometimes, or
Never)
In this column, answer for
subcontracted personnel
(Please respond Always,
Sometimes, or Never)
Background Checks
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NEW YORK STATE
OFFICE OF GENERAL SERVICES
NEW YORK STATE STRATEGIC SOURCING
REQUEST FOR INFORMATION
Work Visa (i.e., H-1B) sponsorship
Drug Screenings
What percentage of your current employees and
subcontractor base is on H-1B visas?
In what New York State counties can your
company provide services? If your company can
provide services statewide, list “All.”
Does your company have interest in acting as the
primary vendor for the provision of hourly-based
IT services using individual personnel on a
statewide basis?
Does your company have interest to SOLELY
provide managed services? (i.e., not specifically
provide individual personnel)?
Does your company have interest to provide both
managed services and individual personnel?
If not, would your company be able to provide
personnel as part of a 2nd tier supplier network?
(Please respond Yes or No)
(Please respond Yes or No)
(Please respond Yes or No)
(Please respond Yes or No)
Operating Model
New York State currently operates numerous contract vehicles with multiple contractors through OGS and
other agencies. The acquisition mechanism and buying function is decentralized with each agency
responsible for individual interaction with contractors.
1. New York State is evaluating the potential to pursue a new procurement model that includes both
the State’s administrative processes and the actual provision of hourly-based staff. Please
describe in detail the procurement model you would recommend for hourly-based IT Services and
why you recommend this model for New York State (e.g., managed service provider, multiple
vendors, single/master vendor). Include any recommendations and pros and cons of the
recommended model and how technology services could be delivered through each model.
Please limit response to 1 page.
2. If the recommendation is for a central, managed service provider model, do you recommend the
managed services be provided by the State or by a vendor? Please describe why and include
the specific services you believe should be included. (e.g., metric tracking, resume screening)
3. Please use examples to describe your experience with states and/or private entities who
successfully implemented the model(s) your company is recommending and why the attributes of
the entity are similar to the complexities in New York State.
4. What are cost-effective best practices that your company has used or seen used in this industry
to deliver IT hourly-based services?
Technology
New York State does not currently use technology to support the end-to-end process for managing
contractors and individual hourly staff. New York State is currently implementing an Enterprise Resource
Planning (ERP) system for the Statewide Financial System (SFS) based on Oracle software.
5. What technologies have you seen be successful in enabling the management processes for
recruiting, tracking and managing hourly-based IT Services? Please include options for models
your company believes New York State should consider (both stand-alone and potential
integration into SFS).
Pricing Model
New York State is evaluating various mechanisms for pricing of managed services and the actual
individual bill and wage rates for hourly-based IT services. For purposes of this section, mark-up is
defined to include all elements of cost above the actual wage rate.
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NEW YORK STATE
OFFICE OF GENERAL SERVICES
NEW YORK STATE STRATEGIC SOURCING
REQUEST FOR INFORMATION
6. Please recommend leading class pricing mechanisms to assist New York State in its efforts to
increase efficiency and control cost. Include a description of how you recommend New York
State should differentiate various skill levels, platforms, and programming languages (e.g., rate
card, mark-up). If you have a sample, please attach in your response.
7. Please provide a breakdown of each element of any proposed mark-up structure for hourly-based
IT Services in New York State. Show a detailed breakdown by governmental requirements (i.e.
FICA, Social Security, etc.), overhead, and profit.
8. A Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) model includes all relevant items that drive the total cost of a
good or service beyond the base price. Please provide any information your company believes is
important for New York State to include in the TCO model for hourly-based IT services.
9. If you currently provide hourly-based IT services within New York State, what factors contribute to
markup variances across the personnel you provide?
10. Please describe the differences (if any) between recruiting hourly-based IT personnel in the
Capital District versus New York City regions. Include factors that contribute to these differences
and any specific challenges.
11. What challenges (if any) do you encounter in recruiting local personnel in New York State,
including the Capital District and New York City regions?
12. What information would you like to see in a potential Request for Proposal that would help you
effectively price managed services as they relate to the placement of hourly-based IT personnel?
(If your company does not have interest in providing these services to the State, you may skip
this question.)
M/WBE Participation
New York State currently has strong representation of Minority and Women Owned Business Enterprise
(M/WBE) vendors in the hourly-based IT service category. New York State desires to maintain or
improve participation in any new or revised model.
13. Understanding NY State Finance Law and Governor Cuomo’s Executive Order 8 which seeks to
remove barriers to M/WBE participation in state contracting, what recommendations does your
company have for New York State as it relates to maintaining or improving current participation
levels? Please include any specifics as it relates to Tier 1 (Direct) and/or Tier 2 (Subcontract)
relationships.
14. Please include any other information your company would like to provide related to MWBE
participation.
SBE Participation
New York State currently has strong representation from Small Business vendors in the hourly-based IT
services category.
15. Does your company have recommendations for New York State as it relates to maintaining or
improving current participation levels? Please include any specifics as it relates to Tier 1 (Direct)
and/or Tier 2 (Subcontract) relationships.
New York State Procurement Process
16. What are the biggest challenges for vendors with the New York State procurement process? Do
you have suggestions for improvement?
17. What current documentation requirements are being duplicated across agencies, if any?
Vendor Roundtable
18. Does your company wish to attend the vendor roundtable?
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NEW YORK STATE
OFFICE OF GENERAL SERVICES
NEW YORK STATE STRATEGIC SOURCING
REQUEST FOR INFORMATION
19. If yes, please list no more than two authorized representatives from your company to attend:
Attendee 1
Attendee 2
Name
Email
Phone Number
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