RFQ: Customer Identity Tool

I.  INTRODUCTION

Michigan Virtual™ is requesting Quotes for an identity management solution and services to support identity management for a select number of customers in a limited pilot. The identity management solution (hereinafter referred to as “Solution”) is to meet the needs of varied programs and products and provide a true single sign-on (SSO). The Solution allows external customers and internal customers true SSO to all resources the user has permission to access in our support system and learning services. In addition to a pilot program that would run from January through June of 2023, Michigan Virtual requests quotes for extending the service to a wider audience for a minimum of three years. Excluded from the Solution are users who are involved solely in Hubspot email campaigns, social media tracking, website interaction, and other customer-facing systems.  By releasing this RFQ, Michigan Virtual makes no guarantee of any awards of work to any respondents now or in the future.

II.    BACKGROUND OF MICHIGAN VIRTUAL

Michigan Virtual is a 501(c)(3) organization located in Lansing, Michigan, and was established by the State of Michigan in 1998 to expand the use of learning technologies with a focus to serve Michigan’s K-12 community with quality online instructional services.  Today, Michigan Virtual operates the Michigan Virtual Learning Research Institute®, the Professional Learning Portal, and the Student Learning Portal.

III.    DESCRIPTION OF THE REQUEST

Michigan Virtual is seeking a Solution that allows internal organizational users and external customers a permissioned single sign-on experience for our educational services (Professional Learners Portal and Student Learners Portal) and for support services currently provided through Freshdesk. Educational services include Learning Management and student information systems. Future applications for integration may be considered. It is our intent to select and implement a Solution for a six-month limited pilot with select customers and internal users. The Solution quote and contract should include the option to expand and extend the Solution for three years upon completion of the pilot evaluation in July 2023.  

Solution providers should have 3 – 5 years experience providing identity and access management solutions for non-profit organizations. Educational experience is not required but is a plus. Educational non-profit pricing is a plus.

The technical requirements of the Solution are linked in this template. Make a copy of the template to include with your quote that indicates how each requirement is met. There is a space for additional notes on each requirement.

IV. DELIVERABLES

The expected deliverables for the Solution services and timeline are defined as:

1. Work with Michigan Virtual to implement the Solution as a Pilot as outlined below. 
   1. October 2022 – Train Michigan Virtual staff, assign roles, and set up sandbox integrated with the student and professional learner instances of Genius SIS and the Freshdesk instance.
   2. December 2022 – Finalize workflows and testing.
   3. January 2023 – Launch pilot. 
   4. June 2023 – Complete pilot. 
   5. July  2023 – Complete pilot analysis.
   6. August 2023 – Continuance determination. Pilot for 6 months with a small number of internal and external users
   7. Support – Michigan Virtual seeks a Solution with robust, virtual training sessions for our support staff and an extensive virtual knowledge base. The SLA uptime must be 99.5% or higher.

V. QUOTE INSTRUCTIONS

A. QUOTE CONTENT AND FORMAT
In order to simplify the evaluation process and obtain maximum comparability, Michigan Virtual requires that all responses to the RFQ be organized in the manner and format described below. Any relevant supplemental information should be included as attachments.

1. Business Information. Describe your business including legal business name, the year the business was organized, legal status (corporation, partnership, sole proprietorship, etc.), and the state of incorporation. Detail your (organization’s) experience with not-for-profits related to our request.
2. Qualifications and Deliverables Review.
   • Define how you satisfy the experience requirements in Section III.
   • Provide pricing using the pricing format in this link.  There are separate tables for One-Time Implementation Costs, Pilot Costs, and Annual Recurring Costs.
   • Define a schedule for this work with milestones.
3. Requirements Definition Process. Using the template provided in Section IV .1.h, attach the completed template to the quote in .xls or google worksheet format. Please include examples or documentation on how the requirement is met. 
4. Key Service Providers. Identify the individuals who will provide services, if awarded the work, and provide biographies.  Include full contact information for the individuals.
5. Client References. Provide the names and contact information for a minimum of three similarly sized clients for reference purposes and obtain permission for us to contact them.
6. Nondisclosure Agreement (NDA). All entities wishing to submit a response to this RFQ are required to sign and submit Michigan Virtual’s Nondisclosure Agreement along with their Quote in response to this RFQ.  The NDA is available below.

B. SELECTION CRITERIA

The following factors will be considered by Michigan Virtual in making the Award.

• Fit between requirements and Michigan Virtual’s needs.
• Consultant/SMEs ability to meet the defined timeline and understanding of the work services to be performed.
• Quality of references.
• Completeness of the Quote.
• Value delivered in proportion to total expected expenses.

C. CONFIDENTIALITY

Contents of quotes, proposals, and or future contracts are confidential and will not be disclosed to any parties outside of Michigan Virtual during or after the review process. Michigan Virtual, as a private nonprofit corporation, is not currently subject to FOIA.

Michigan Virtual reserves the right to make the Award to the entity of its choosing, reflective of our understanding of needs, the audiences served and results desired rather than solely based on pricing or other combinations of factors.  Further, this RFQ does not obligate Michigan Virtual to award any contract.  We reserve the right to cancel the RFQ at our discretion.

D. RFQ QUESTIONS, DUE DATES, CONTACT

Here are key dates to be aware of for this RFQ process.  It is not uncommon for dates to change.  Participating vendors will be notified of changes during the process. 

Date	Item
Tuesday, August 23, 2022	RFQ distributed
Tuesday, August 30, 2022	Written Vendor questions submitted to Michigan Virtual
Friday, September 9, 2022	Michigan Virtual responds to Vendor questions
Tuesday, September 20, 2022	Written Quotes due to Michigan Virtual
Thursday, September 29, 2022 through Friday, October 7, 2022	Virtual 1-hour interviews for advancing vendors
Monday, October 13, 2022 through Friday, October 14, 2022	Reference checks for advancing vendors
Thursday, October 20, 2022	Begin contract negotiations

Please direct all correspondence and questions related to this RFQ and the required elements as indicated below. 

1. Emailed questions are due by Tuesday, August 30, 2022. Responses to all submitted questions will be posted on Wednesday, September 7, 2022.
2. One (1) electronic copy of your Quote sent by email to the contacts below no later than noon EST on Tuesday, September 20, 2022

The single point of contact for RFQ #08162022: 

Julie Force
Process/Project Manager II
[email protected]
Michigan Virtual
920 Municipal Way
Lansing, MI 48917

Michigan Virtual reserves the right to not consider late or incomplete Quotes. Amendments to Quotes will be included in our review only when they are received by the above deadline.