Child Care Administrator’s Improper Payments Information Technology Guide

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C. Developing and Evaluating a Request for Proposal (continued)

3. Evaluation

States typically use a prescribed evaluation methodology that combines several elements, including cost, quality, references, and meeting performance bond and other threshold organizational requirements. The following section offers some important considerations related to the evaluation process, including a discussion about the use of the “best-value” concept instead of “best price.”

States may consider the following recommendations to improve evaluations:

• Seek out referrals from current and past projects from the same subject area (child care and/or improper payments) that demonstrate the required qualifications. If the contract is of significant financial and programmatic value, States may consider visiting a reference site to observe the product or service.
• Evaluate contractors’ technical and management processes to ensure compliance with State and Agency policies and procedures.
• Assess applicants’ organizational capacity to consider long-term consequences and risks. Purchasing a product or product license and IT services can be risky for any project, particularly large, multiyear projects.
• Carefully examine and qualify the personnel proposed for the project and determine if the vendor has committed the necessary management expertise and experience to successfully complete the project. Clarify vendor’s contingency plans if critical resources become unavailable during the project.
• Plan for the long term intellectual property tradeoffs of any IT investment. Purchasing a COTS product may enable a State to achieve its business/service objectives more quickly, the State purchases a license to use the COTS, but the underlying code belongs to the company. Building processes on software licensed from a vendor is commonplace in State government, especially with the use of desktop applications. However, States need to be aware of the short- and long-term dependence on the product and the company that supports the product. Conversely, building custom applications or modifying applications available in the public domain can be costly and time-consuming.
• Oral briefings from the top few applicants offer an excellent opportunity to clarify unanswered questions in the proposal, gain exposure to the key personnel included in the proposal, test the knowledge of the key personnel, and observe a vendor demonstration of the proposed solution.
• Not all procurements result in an award. If the proposals do not meet the business/service needs, then a new approach or a new request may be necessary.