1. technology and computing
2. software
3. databases

Request for Proposal
RFP# 719-15-1017
DATA WAREHOUSE AND REPORTING SYSTEM
Sealed Proposals Will Be Received Until
3:00 P.M., FRIDAY, October 17, 2014
SEALED PROPOSALS ARE TO BE DELIVERED, MAILED, EMAILED TO:
TEXAS STATE TECHNICAL COLLEGE SYSTEM
ATTN: Chris Nors – RFP# 719-15-1017
3801 Campus Dr.
Waco, TX 76705
Email:
chris.nors@tstc.edu
Show RFP Number, Opening Date, and Time on Return Envelope
Note:
Proposal must be time stamped at Texas State Technical College
before the hour and date specified for receipt of proposal.
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SECTION 1
GENERAL INFORMATION
1.1
Purpose of the Request for Proposals
Texas State Technical College System (TSTC) is issuing this Request for Proposal to solicit bids
from vendors interested in providing a turn-key data warehouse and reporting system to
interact with TSTC’s current ERP system, Ellucian Colleague and with other reporting databases
and systems currently used throughout the TSTC colleges. The offered system will have one or
more of the following capabilities: data warehouse and extract, transform and load (ETL),
reporting, dashboards and analytics. Data from all TSTC data systems are used by various
offices within the college for reporting, research, analysis, decision support and more.
Identified reporting needs include requirements for access to the data warehouse including
access to data snapshots captured on critical dates, and the ability to do longitudinal analysis
across at least 5 years (preferably 10) for trending purposes.
The offered system will be used to support a more efficient, accurate, consistent and
comprehensive strategy for extracting, analyzing and reporting on data from all critical business
systems, with special emphasis on data-driven decision-making. Additional detail is provided in
later sections; however, some of the key features desired are as follows:
● Vendor solution must be commercially available and have substantial production install base
within the Higher Education community to facilitate collaboration.
● Vendor solution should include pre-built dimensional data models populated from the Ellucian
Colleague ERP.
● Vendor solution should provide extraction, transformation and load scripts to move data from
the Ellucian Colleague environment into a separate reporting environment.
● Vendor solution should provide extraction, transformation and load scripts to convert data
housed in the reporting environment into Student-centric dimensional models based on the
Ellucian Colleague ERP
● Vendor solution must include a reporting environment consisting of dashboards, standardized
reports and the ability to develop ad hoc reports
● Vendor solution must include administrative tools and interfaces
● Vendor solution must provide functionality to allow customization of data models
● Vendor solution must tightly integrate with Ellucian Colleague ERP and provide product
upgrades as Colleague ERP upgrades are released.
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1.2
Timeline
TSTC’s estimated timeline by phase and completion date is as follows:
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RFP Release Date: September 30, 2014
Question Deadline: October 8, 2014
RFP Due Date : October 17, 2014
Vendor Demonstrations: November 24 to December 12, 2014
Project Team Software Vendor Recommendation: December 19, 2014
Vendor Contract Authorized: January 15, 2015
Product Delivery and Installation Complete: March 16, 2015
Under State of Texas purchasing regulations, TSTC will specify the date of product delivery
upon execution of vendor contract. No payment will be made until 30 days after product
delivery and installation completion date or invoice receipt date, whichever is later.
Texas State Technical College reserves the right to award a contract within 180 days of receipt
of the RFP documentation.
1.3
Information about Texas State Technical College System
TSTC is the only state-supported, technical college system that serves students throughout the
state of Texas. The college system includes four colleges located across the state: TSTC
Harlingen, TSTC Marshall, TSTC Waco, and TSTC West Texas, which has campuses in Abilene,
Breckenridge, Brownwood, and Sweetwater. The TSTC System Operations Office is located on
the Waco campus. TSTC strives to meet its statewide role and mission, by efficiently and
effectively helping Texas meet the high-tech challenges of today’s global economy, in
partnership with business and industry, government agencies, and other educational
institutions. The colleges award Associate of Applied Science (AAS) degrees and certificates in a
wide variety of technical fields. TSTC Harlingen awards the Associate of Science (AS) degree in
addition to AAS degrees and certificates. The colleges also offer customized corporate and
workforce programs and courses designed for specific businesses and industries. For Fall 2013,
approximately 12,000 semester credit students are enrolled and TSTC full-time employees
number almost 1,600.
1.4
Information Technology at TSTC
Since 2011 TSTC has been organized as a centralized IT environment providing support to the
System Office and four TSTC colleges. The TSTC IT organization manages software and
hardware for all automated systems. This includes all enterprise-wide solutions, with Ellucian
Colleague being the major system-wide enterprise solution.
1.4.1 Enterprise Hardware Platforms
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TSTC's Current Ellucian Colleague R18 implementation runs on a multi-core HP Itanium
server attached to HP EVA SAN storage. The current OS is HP-UX 11.23 and the database
is Unidata 7.2.9 Assets outside the ERP that may be impacted are operated in a VmWare
ESX environment and may include Windows 7 or later, Server 2003, 2008, 2008 R2, 2012
R2 and/or Suse Linux Enterprise Server 10, or 11 and may be either 32 or 64 bit. All
internal storage is SAN based via a redundant 4-gigabyte fiber-channel fabric. External
connections may be routed through a hardware-based load balancing appliance.
The offered system will be implemented and maintained on-site at the TSTC System
Operations office. The purchase and implementation of servers or other equipment
related to the installation of the new software is not included in this RFP.
1.4.2 Current Reporting Solutions
Standardized reports from Ellucian Colleague are currently created and generated on a
cyclical basis to meet customer needs. End-users also use a variety of queries and
reporting solutions (PASW/SPSS, SAS, Microsoft Access, Microsoft Excel, Macromedia
Cold Fusion, Informer etc.) to access data and write reports. Eagle Rock Information
Systems’ DataReady WebWizard tool is deployed system wide for queries and reports
from Ellucian Colleague Unidata files.
1.5
Historically Underutilized Business (HUB) Firms
TSTC endeavors to promote full and equal opportunity for businesses to supply TSTC with
goods and/or Services that are necessary to support TSTC's educational mission. In this regard,
TSTC commits to select Proposers in accordance with: needs, resources, HUB goals and
guidelines established by the Texas Legislature and the Texas Building and Procurement
Commission, and policies and procedures for contracting with Historically Underutilized
Businesses. Winning vendor will be required to agree with State and TSTC Standard Terms and
Conditions.
1.6
TSTC’s Right to Reject
This RFP does not commit TSTC to select a Proposer or to award a Contract to any Proposer.
TSTC reserves the right to accept or reject, in whole or in part, any Proposal it receives pursuant
to this RFP.
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SECTION 2
RFP REQUIREMENTS
2.1
Right to Modify, Rescind, or Revoke RFP
TSTC reserves the rights to modify, rescind, or revoke this RFP, in whole or in part, at any time
prior to the date on which the authorized representative of TSTC executes a Contract with the
Selected Proposer.
2.2
Compliance with RFP Requirements
By submission of a Proposal, a Proposer agrees to be bound by the requirements set forth in
this RFP. TSTC, at its sole discretion, may disqualify a Proposal from consideration, if TSTC
determines a Proposal is non-responsive and/or non-compliant, in whole or in part, with the
requirements set forth in this RFP.
2.3
Binding Effect of Proposal
Unless otherwise agreed in writing, signed by an authorized agent of TSTC, each Proposer
agrees to and shall be bound by the information and documentation provided with the
Proposal, including prices quoted for Services.
2.4
Signature, Certification of Proposer
The Proposal must be signed and dated by a representative of the Proposer who is authorized
to bind the Proposer to the terms and conditions contained in this RFP and to compliance with
the information submitted in the Proposal. Each Proposer submitting a Proposal certifies to
both (a) the completeness, veracity, and accuracy of the information provided in the Proposal
and (b) the authority of the individual whose signature appears on the Proposal to bind the
Proposer to the terms and conditions set forth in this RFP. Proposals submitted without the
required signature shall be disqualified.
2.5
Requirements for Submission
The Proposal shall be entitled “Proposal Submitted for Data Warehouse and Reporting System
and shall clearly state the Proposal Opening Date and Time identified. Please read all
instructions carefully.
2.5.1 By Electronic Submission
Use the following e-mail address to submit your response electronically:
chris.nors@tstc.edu
The e-mail subject line should contain the RFP number and title as indicated on the
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cover page. You are solely responsible for ensuring that your complete electronic
bid is sent to, and actually received by, TSTC in a timely manner and at the proper
destination server.
TSTC recommends a limit on the attachments to 10MB each. This may result in the
sending multiple e-mails to chris.nors@tstc.edu for the submission of all
documentation contained in a response.
All documents related to items in Section 4.1, Required Proposal Documents and
Information, should be submitted in Microsoft office formats (Word and Excel) or
in a form that may be read by Microsoft Office software. Documents may be
submitted in Adobe portable document format (pdf file).
All responses for items in Section 4.2, System Requirements, MUST be submitted
on the Excel workbook provided by TSTC . Vendor responses are to be entered for
each specification listed on Tab 2, “4.2 Specification Responses.” Responses for
each item are entered or copied/pasted in the cell under the specification
requirement to the right of "Response:". Vendors, at their discretion, may submit
a printed copy of the 4.2 specification responses in addition to the electronic Excel
workbook.
Any documents with signatures shall be submitted in Adobe portable document
forms (pdf file).
TSTC is not responsible for documents that cannot be read or converted.
Unreadable responses may be, at TSTC’s discretion, rejected as nonresponsive.
TSTC takes no responsibility for electronic bids that are captured, blocked, filtered,
quarantined or otherwise prevented from reaching the proper destination server
by any TSTC anti-virus or other security software.
Note: Please be aware that your Internet Service Provided may limit file sizes on
your outgoing emails.
To confirm receipt of all electronic submissions, contact Chris Nors at 254-867-3967
2.5.2 By Hard Copy Submission
The Respondent must submit one (1) original signed Proposal.
The Proposal and accompanying documentation are the property of TSTC and will
not be returned. TSTC will not provide “delivery or hand stamp” receipt of
bids/proposals or proof of delivery of bid/proposals which are delivered by hand or
courier. No proof of delivery shall be necessary.
The Proposal may be sent to TSTC at the following addresses:
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BY U.S. Mail/Overnight/Express Mail
Texas State Technical College System
Attn: Procurement Services
3801 Campus Dr.
Waco, TX 76705
By Hand Delivery
Texas State Technical College System
RFP# 719-15-1017
Business Office, Building 32-9
3801 Campus Dr.
Waco, TX 76705
2.6
Deadline for Proposals
Proposals must be received in the TSTC System Procurement Services Office, at the address or
email address specified in Section 2.5 of this RFP, no later than October 17, 2014 at 3:00pm.
ANY PROPOSAL RECEIVED AFTER EXPIRATION OF THE DEADLINE
WILL BE IMMEDIATELY DISQUALIFIED FROM CONSIDERATION, AND
WILL BE RETURNED UNOPENED TO THE PROPOSER.
2.7
Risk of Loss, Damage, Delay
Proposer acknowledges and agrees to release and hold harmless the TSTC System, its campus
components, Board of Regents, officers, employees, agents, and personnel, from and against
any and all claims, liability, damages, and costs, including court costs and attorneys' fees, arising
out of or pursuant to delivery of the Proposal or failure to deliver the Proposal to the
Purchasing Office at TSTC, as designated in Sections 2.5 and 2.6 of this RFP.
2.8
Ownership of Proposals
All Proposals become the physical property of TSTC upon receipt.
2.9
Use, Disclosure of Information
Proposer acknowledges that TSTC is an agency of the State of Texas, and is therefore required
to comply with the Texas Public Information Act. Tex. Gov't Code Ch. 552. If a Proposal includes
proprietary data, trade secrets, or information the Proposer wishes to except from public
disclosure, then the Proposer must specifically label such data, secrets, or information as
follows: "PRIVILEGED AND CONFIDENTIAL -- PROPRIETARY INFORMATION." To the extent
permitted by law, information labeled by the Proposer as proprietary will be used by TSTC only
for purposes related to or arising out of the (a) evaluation of Proposals, (b) selection of a
Proposer pursuant to the RFP process, and (c) negotiation and execution of a Contract, if any,
with the Proposer selected.
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2.10
Costs of Participation
TSTC specifically disclaims responsibility, and/or liability, for all costs, expenses, or claims
related to or arising out of the Proposers participation in this RFP process, including but not
limited to costs incurred as a result of preparing, copying, shipping, presenting, and/or
clarifying the Proposal and the information relevant to the Proposal.
2.11
Compliance with Applicable Laws, Regulations, Ordinances, Board of Regents Policies,
System Policies and Procedures.
By submitting a Proposal, the Proposer agrees to and shall comply with all applicable local,
state and federal laws and regulations, as well as with all applicable policies and procedures of
the Texas State Technical College System. System policies and procedures may be accessed at
the following Internet address: http://www.tstc.edu
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SECTION 3
RFP PROCEDURES
3.1
Rescission of Proposal
A Proposal can be withdrawn from consideration at any time prior to expiration of the Deadline
for Proposals, as stated in Section 2.6 of this RFP, pursuant to a written request sent to
Dr. J. Gary Hendricks, Vice Chancellor of Business Intelligence (jghendricks@tstc.edu). Please
copy Chris Nors at Chris.Nors@tstc.edu.
3.2
Request for Electronic Copy
A Proposer may request an electronic copy of the RFP from Chris Nors, TSTC System. Electronic
copies will be forwarded through email addresses only.
3.3
Request for Clarification
TSTC reserves the right to request clarification of any information contained in a Proposal.
3.4
Request for Clarification by Proposer
All questions and clarifications of the proposals contact the following:
Procurement Services Contact
Name
Title
Product Specifications Contact
Address
Phone
Email
Fax
3.5
Evaluation of Proposals
Proposers must submit a completed proposal form with all attachments as listed on the
proposal form. The evaluation process will consist of two phases. In the first phase all
accepted proposals will be rated by the evaluation team in the four areas listed in paragraphs
3.5.2.1 to 3.5.2.4. Based on the ratings assigned the team will select one or more of the
proposals for a demonstration and interview. The demonstration and interview will be rated by
the evaluation team. The proposal awarded the most points will be offered a contract.
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.
3.5.1 Evaluation Codes
Each evaluated specification or requirement has an assigned code. The codes and their
meanings are as follows:
● (M) Mandatory. The proposer shall meet this requirement. Proposers are expected
to provide a comprehensive written response within their proposal, detailing how
they meet the specification. The determination as to whether the proposer meets
the mandatory specification rests solely with TSTC. If TSTC determines that a
proposer does not meet a mandatory requirement as specified, the proposal shall be
deemed non-responsive, and no further evaluation will occur.
● (E) Evaluated. Proposers are expected to provide a comprehensive written response
to the specification. Points will be awarded based on the degree to which the
proposer meets the requirement. A proposer not responding to the specification
will receive zero points for that specification.
● (ME) Mandatory and Evaluated. The requirement is both Mandatory and
Evaluated.
3.5.2 Scoring
TSTC will use a scoring system that is objective, quantified, and based on software and
vendor characteristics critical for a successful implementation. Proposals will be
evaluated using the following criteria as a measure of the respondents’ software and
services to successfully meet the goals and objectives of the project. Ability to
successfully provide software and services as evidenced by the following subsections
will be used to select a vendor.
3.5.2.1 Data Warehouse and Reporting System Requirements (25 Points)
Based on the responses to the supplied set of questions regarding the functional
capabilities of the vendor’s software products and services (Sections 4.2.2
through 4.2.6), the review team will determine if the proposed solution will meet
TSTC’s needs. Particular attention will be paid to features marked as mandatory,
and if customization is required.
3.5.2.2 Infrastructure requirements (10 points)
Based on the responses to the supplied set of questions regarding the technical
requirements of the vendor’s software products (Section 4.2.1), the review team
will determine if the proposed solution will integrate well with TSTC’s computing
infrastructure as described in section 1. Particular emphasis will be on web
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server infrastructure, database and authentication requirements, and if
customization is required. For client tools and access, compatibility with
multiple web browsers and/or workstation operating systems is highly desirable.
3.5.2.3 Positive references from clients with comparable environment
(20 points)
Based on discussions with the provided three references and list of all
installations/implementations over the last 3 years.
3.5.2.4 Cost (25 points)
Based on the total cost of the proposed solution including any vendor-sponsored
financing, as documented by the vendor.
3.5.2.5 Demonstration and Interview (20 points)
Proposers selected for this phase will be rated on the how the proposed solution
meets the stated requirements, ease of use, and performance of the product.
3.6
Subcontractors
Technical State Technical College reserves the right to reject any subcontractor that TSTC
determines as unacceptable or not qualified to perform the services required. The vendor shall
not engage, contract with or use the services of any subcontractor without obtaining the prior
written approval of TSTC. The vendor shall submit for approval a report of the scope of services
to be provided by each of its subcontractors, with the latter’s acknowledgement thereof. No
provision of the contract agreement and no approval by TSTC of the scope of services between
TSTC and any subcontractor shall, however, be construed as an agreement between TSTC and
any subcontractor of the vendor of with any person, firm, or corporation engaged by,
contracted with, or whose services are utilized by the vendor, or in any way affect the
responsibilities of the vendor hereunder, and, unless otherwise agreed to in writing by TSTC.
3.7
Proposal Opening
Proposals will be opened after the deadline at the Texas State Technical College System,
Business Office Bldg 32-9, 3801 Campus Dr. Waco, TX 76705. The proposal opening process is
open to the public. All submitted proposals become the property of TSTC, after the RFP
submittal deadline/opening date, and will not be returned.
All information, documentation, and other materials submitted in response to this solicitation
are considered non-proprietary and may be subject to public disclosure under the Texas Public
Information Act (Texas Government Code, Chapter 552.001, et seq.) unless specifically labeled
as privileged and confidential as specified in Section 2.9. Please contact Jerry Sorrells at
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jerry.sorrells@tstc.edu.
3.8
Award of Contract
TSTC intends to negotiate and award an agreement with the vendor submitting the proposal
TSTC determines best meets TSTC’s requirements based on the rating assigned by the
evaluation team
PROPOSAL CONTENTS
4.0
Definitions
The following definitions are meant to define the entities and terminology related to the
specifics of the requirements of this RFP.
Atomic Data – Data at the finest level of granularity present in the transactional system.
Examples include the Bio/Demo data for an individual; a single Admissions Application, or the
enrollment of a specific student in a specific class section.
Bio/Demo Data – Biographical and demographic data for an individual, such as names,
addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, birthdates, social security numbers, etc.
Colleague Core and Student System – The modules in the Ellucian Colleague enterprise
software encompassing all data relating to students including but not limited to demographics,
admissions, records, registration, financial aid, faculty, accounts receivables, housing,
organizations, graduation, and curriculum.
Offered system – The entire system described in this proposal, including the Relational
Dimensional Data Warehouse, OLAP layer (if any), ETL or similar tool, and Reporting Tool.
ETL Tool – A tool used to Extract data from a transactional system, Transform it into a form
appropriate for a Data Warehouse, and Load it into that Data Warehouse. May be either a
specialized, proprietary tool or a mechanism that uses standard, general purpose tools such as
SQL.
Fully Integrated System – A system in which the architectural distinctions among the various
components (the relational dimensional warehouse, OLAP layer, ETL mappings, and reporting
tool) are transparent to the end user, so that everything necessary to use the system to extract,
analyze and report on the data is presented to the end user through a single user interface with
consistent navigation, look and feel.
Kimball Model – The conceptual model of a dimensional data warehouse popularized by the
work of Ralph Kimball, consisting of a collection of Dimension Tables and Fact Tables.
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Module – A major functional area within a transactional system. For example, in Ellucian
Colleague the main modules are Core, Student, Human Resources and Financials.
Multidimensional OLAP System – A data warehouse based on the Kimball model that is
implemented using natively multidimensional structures rather than a Relational Database
Management System, and that is characterized by the storage of pre-computed aggregations of
data along various dimensions in order to enhance the performance of data retrieval and
analysis.
OLAP – An acronym for On Line Analytical Processing.
Colleague – The administrative software system developed by Ellucian, Inc.
Relational Dimensional Data Warehouse – A data warehouse based on the Kimball model that
is implemented within a Relational Database Management System.
SQL – Structured Query Language, the standard data definition and manipulation language for
relational databases.
SQR – Structured Query Reporter, a programming language that combines SQL with procedural
programming constructs and is widely used in Ellucian Colleague Enterprise systems.
Transactional System – A software system that is designed primarily to support business
transactions such as admitting and enrolling students, hiring and paying employees, or
managing financial accounts and that is usually based on a Relational Database Management
System.
Web-based System – A system that is accessed through Web browsers and whose software and
data are stored on servers such as web servers, application servers, and database servers, and
not on individual workstations. Such a system is considered to be “thin client”, “zero
footprint”, or “smart client” as opposed to “thick client”.
Thick Client – Also known as “fat client” or “rich client”, this is a version of client server
technology, which is becoming outdated. With “thick client” some of the application software
is installed on user workstations and the data and some software are stored on the servers.
Thick Client software would require that a software install be made to the workstations using
the system.
Thin Client, Zero Footprint, Smart Client – These are more advanced forms of client server
technology than Thick Client, where little or no software is installed on user workstations and
almost all of the software and all of the data are stored on the servers. Note that systems
relying on the use of Citrix are not considered to belong to any of these categories.
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4.1
Required Proposal Documents and Information
The following information and/or documentation should be included in the proposal package.
4.1.1 Product Documentation and Information
● Description of proposed solution that addresses the requirements listed in section
4.2, System Requirements.
● List of products and services for all of the modules or components required to
implement the proposed solution.
● Pricing sheet for the above products and services. If there are any recurring charges,
such as licensing or software maintenance costs, document them separately from
onetime costs.
● Vendor financing plan(s). Describe in detail any financing options for product and/or
services. Preferred terms are for five (5) years with semi-annual interest payments
in February and August and annual principal payments in August.
● Documentation in PDF form for all products and optional modules or references to
these materials online.
● List of all installations/implementations over the last 3 years (include organization,
address, and contact name)
4.1.2 Company Profile
Information regarding the proposing company should include but need not be limited
to:
● General description of company
● High level organizational structure
● Number of employees in each major area of the company
● A general history of the company’s past two years
● Evidence of the company’s experience and qualifications performing the scope of
work described in this RFP
4.1.3 Client References
The proposer must provide names of references from three higher education
institutions that have been using the proposed system to extract and report on
production data from the Ellucian Colleague Core and Student System from January 1,
2014 or earlier, up through and including the present time. All references must be
current and include the following information for each reference:
● Institution name and address
● Name, title, phone number and email address for an individual at the institution
qualified and willing to comment on the implementation and use of the proposed
system by completing a reference questionnaire or participating in a conference call
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● Description of the system delivered, including any differences from the system
proposed for TSTC
● Dates of key milestones for the implementation at the institution, including initial
installation, training, customizations, and go-live for production use
● Maximum number of concurrent users of the delivered system
4.2
System Requirements
This section provides the specifications that the Data Warehouse and Reporting System must
meet, and describes the services and support that must be provided for that system. Each
specification is labeled either M (Mandatory), E (Evaluated) or ME (Mandatory and Evaluated).
4.2.1 Infrastructure and Architecture Requirements
4.2.1.1 (M) The system must be compatible with proposed and existing Unix - HP-UX
11.23 or later 64 bit, Windows Server 2003 or later or Suse Linux Enterprise
Server 10 SP3 or later for all servers used both physical and virtual (web server,
application server, database server, etc.) Specify the operating system(s) used
by the proposed system.
4.2.1.2 (M) The system must use a Microsoft SQL Server 2005 (or beyond) database.
Specify the database management system(s) used by the proposed SYSTEM.
4.2.1.3 (M) The system must be compatible with Internet Explorer 7.0 or later, Firefox 2
or later, Safari 3 or later and Google Chrome browsers/ Specify with which
browser versions the proposed SYSTEM is compatible.
4.2.1.4 (ME) Provide detailed information on the necessary hardware and any
additional software that is required to make the system fully functional and
integrated with existing system including information on the number and
configuration of servers (VM or Physical) required, firewalls, and minimum
requirements for workstations.
4.2.1.5 (ME) Provide detailed information on how your solution supports encryption for
data in transit and for data at rest.
4.2.1.6 (ME) Provide detailed information on how your solution supports the masking
of data between the source Colleague system and any target databases along
the way.
4.2.2 Data Warehouse and Reporting System Requirements
4.2.2.1 (ME) The system must include a data warehouse that facilitates the transfer of
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data from Ellucian Colleague Core, Student, HR, & Financial Modules (Unidata
database) into some pre-defined data models.
4.2.2.1.1 (E) Describe the approach to be used to construct and maintain the
data models for each Ellucian Colleague Modules within the data
warehouse.
If the proposer’s product does not currently include models for some
of the above modules/systems, specify which ones and describe any
plans and timelines for the development and delivery of such models.
4.2.2.1.2 (ME) The data warehouse must include detailed atomic data; give
examples of the types of atomic data included in the fact and
dimension tables for each of the modules/systems mentioned in
specification 4.2.2.1.1.
4.2.2.1.3 (ME) Data in the fact and dimension tables must be accessible via
standard SQL queries. Specify whether there are any limitations to
accessing the fact and dimension tables via standard SQL.
4.2.2.1.4 (ME) The system must allow for fact and dimension tables to be
modified and new ones created as needed. Describe the process
involved and the knowledge, skills, and any specialized training
required to do this.
4.2.2.2 (E) It is desirable that the system include either a Multidimensional OLAP cube
layer, or a similar mechanism that provides pre-aggregation of dimensional data
to enhance data retrieval performance.
4.2.2.2.1 (E) Specify whether the proposed system includes an OLAP layer, and
if so provide details—including whether that OLAP layer includes the
same level of detailed atomic data as the relational warehouse.
4.2.2.2.2 (E) If the system includes an OLAP layer, describe the process
required to extend customizations of the dimensional model to that
layer, and any additional knowledge, skills or specialized training
required beyond those described in Specification 4.2.2.1.4 above for
the relational warehouse.
4.2.2.2.3 (E) If the proposed system does not include an OLAP layer, describe
how the system is able to achieve performance comparable to that of
a multidimensional OLAP system.
4.2.2.2.4 (E) If the system does not include an OLAP layer describe any
additional knowledge, skills or specialized training required in order
for TSTC staff to be able to ensure that OLAP-like performance is
maintained when the model is customized.
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4.2.2.3 (ME) The system must provide an ETL tool with customizable mappings that
allow data from any source system to be extracted, transformed, and loaded
into the relational dimensional data warehouse (and into the OLAP layer, if
present).
4.2.2.3.1 (E) Describe the ETL tool or similar mechanism provided in the
system, specifying the types of data sources it can use, as well as the
types of sources that are currently being used by the higher education
institutions that have already implemented the proposed system.
4.2.2.3.2 (E) Describe the knowledge, skills, and any specialized training
required to modify the delivered mappings and create new ones.
4.2.2.3.3 (E) Describe how the ETL tool works with the OLAP layer or similar
mechanism referred to in Specification 4.2.2, and describe any
additional knowledge, skills, and specialized training needed to
customize the ETL mappings for this purpose.
4.2.2.3.4 (E) It is preferred that the system employ an ETL strategy of
populating a collection of “staging tables” that are essentially copies
of the relevant (normalized) transactional tables. Describe whether
your strategy includes the use of such staging tables.
4.2.2.3.5 (E) Describe the degree of integration, if any, between the ETL tool
provided with the system and the Ellucian ODS product.
4.2.2.4 (ME) The system must include a collection of pre-defined ETL mappings that
bring data from the Ellucian Colleague system (Unidata database) into the
relational dimensional data warehouse (and from there into the separate OLAP
layer, if one is used).
4.2.2.4.1 (ME) The delivered mappings must bring in all of the data commonly
needed for reporting from the Core, HR, Financial and Student
modules. Describe the mappings delivered in the proposed system
and the main files or tables in the Ellucian Colleague system from
which they draw their data.
4.2.2.4.2 (ME) If the proposer’s product does not currently include delivered
mappings for some of the above modules/systems, specify which
ones and describe any plans and timelines for the development and
delivery of such mappings. Conversely, if the mappings for any of
these areas are already included in the proposer’s proposal, identify
which ones.
4.2.2.4.3 (ME) It must be possible for TSTC staff to understand the meanings of
all data elements in the warehouse, how they were derived from the
transactional data, and whether any modifications are needed to
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reflect TSTC business practices. Describe all documentation provided,
such as data dictionaries, documentation of the mapping code,
impact analysis, etc., that would assist both functional and technical
users in this regard.
4.2.2.4.4 (ME) It is required that the proposer is committed to providing
updated mappings in a timely fashion for all current and future
releases of the Ellucian Colleague system, as needed to reflect data
structure changes in those systems. Describe how this requirement is
met, including specification of which versions currently have
mappings available and the average lag time anticipated between the
general availability of a new release of the Ellucian Colleague system
and the availability of such mappings
4.2.2.4.5 (E) Provide an estimate of the disk space needed for the offered
system environment for the project, given that there are
approximately 15,000 students and 1,600 faculty and staff with
annual growth of approximately 10% over the next 5 years. Specify
any assumptions made in this estimate.
4.2.2.5 (E) The system should be expandable to include data from third-party (nonEllucian Colleague) “auxiliary” systems, such as Parking, Learning Management
System (LMS), Graduate Placement and Follow-up, and others.
4.2.2.5.1 (E) Describe any non-Ellucian Colleague auxiliary systems for which
predefined dimensional models, ETL mappings and reports are
currently available or under development.
4.2.2.5.2 (E) Describe any non-Ellucian Colleague auxiliary systems for which
custom dimensional models, ETL mappings and reports have been
developed for current customers—particularly other higher education
customers.
4.2.2.6 (E) The system may include a reporting tool that uses a simple, intuitive, webbased interface so that reports that access the data warehouse can be easily
created, run and modified.
4.2.2.6.1 (E) Specify the reporting tool included in this proposal, and provide an
overview of its features that describes how these requirements are
met. Also specify whether the reporting tool runs on top of the
relational dimensional warehouse, the OLAP layer (if used), or both.
4.2.2.6.2 (E) The reporting tool should be scalable to handle up to 300 users.
Specify the licensing model(s) that would be used to provide access
for 50, 100, 200, 300 users, as well as any additional hardware or
software resources that would be required. Please include licensing
costs for 50, 100, 200, 300 in the cost proposal.
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4.2.2.6.3 (E) The reporting tool should allow users to browse through all
dimension and fact tables to which they have access, to drill down to
atomic data, and roll up to summary data. Describe how the
proposed tool accomplishes this.
4.2.2.6.4 (E) The reporting tool should provide the ability for users to create
both ad-hoc one time reports, and libraries of standard reports that
will be made more widely available. Describe how the proposed tool
meets this requirement.
4.2.2.6.5 (E) The reporting tool should be able to create charts, graphs, and
dashboards. Describe how the tool does this, providing screen shots
of sample charts, graphs, and dashboards.
4.2.2.6.6 (E) The reporting tool should provide varying levels of security access
for running reports, creating reports, and publishing reports for other
users to run. Provide information on how this is accomplished.
4.2.2.6.7 (E) The reporting tool should provide security at the data element
level (for example, allowing only users with appropriate security to
view social security numbers). Provide information on how this is
accomplished.
4.2.2.6.8 (E) The reporting tool should be able to use LDAP authentication to
Microsoft Active Directory. Describe the process required to set up
such authentication.
4.2.2.6.9 (E) The web-based interface used by the reporting tool should be a
“thin client” requiring no software beyond a web browser to be
installed on an individual workstation in order for a user to run
reports. Describe how the proposed tool meets this requirement.
4.2.2.6.10 (E) It is preferred that the creation and modification of reports can
also be carried out via a thin client, though it is acceptable if a thick
client is necessary to support some features of report creation and
modification. Specify whether the proposed reporting tool includes a
thick client as well as a thin client, and if so describe which features
are available in each.
4.2.2.6.11 (E) Please provide a description of the extent to which reporting
requirements for your system can be accomplished using Entrinsik’s
Informer software, including pros and cons of this approach, and the
cost savings available for your offering if your reporting tool is not
included in the cost of your proposal.
4.2.2.7 (ME) The system must include a library of pre-defined reports that address
many of the standard higher education reporting needs.
4.2.2.7.1 (E) These reports should address common reporting needs in areas
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such as admissions yields, student retention, graduation rates, class
and faculty loads, grade distributions, course demand, and so forth.
Annual Higher Education reports, such as IPEDS reports are desirable.
Provide a list of the pre-defined reports that are included in the
proposed system and highlight those you consider most important
and useful.
If the proposer’s product does not currently include delivered reports
for some of the modules/systems identified in Specification 4.2.1.1,
specify which ones and describe any plans and timelines for the
development and delivery of such reports. Conversely, if the reports
for any of these areas are already included in the proposer’s proposal,
identify which ones.
4.2.2.7.2 (ME) These reports must be designed in such a way that it is easy for
a user running the report to adjust the parameters (for example, the
population to be examined, the term(s) or year(s) for which the
report is run, etc.) Describe how the pre-defined reports meet this
requirement.
4.2.2.8 (ME) The proposed system must have been successfully implemented by at
least three higher education institutions that use the Ellucian Colleague
Enterprise Student Administration system in a Unix/Unidata environment. At
each of those institutions, it must have been used to meet at least some of the
production-level reporting needs from Ellucian Colleague’s Core and Student
modules from January 1, 2014 or earlier, up through and including the present
time.
4.2.2.8.1 (M) List all higher education institutions that have successfully
implemented the proposed system on or before January 1, 2014 and
are using it to report on data extracted from the Core and Student
Ellucian Colleague modules with emphasis in the areas of admissions,
student records, registration, financial aid, faculty, accounts
receivables, graduation, and curriculum. (At least 3 such institutions
must be included to satisfy this requirement.)
4.2.2.8.2 (E) For each of those institutions, describe the production-level
reporting needs in the areas of admissions, student records,
registration, financial aid, faculty, accounts receivables, graduation,
and curriculum that are currently being met at that institution by the
proposed system.
4.2.2.8.3 (E) List all higher education institutions that are currently in the
process of implementing the proposed system to report on data
extracted from the Ellucian Colleague Core and Student modules, and
for each one describe the current stage of progress in that
implementation and the anticipated date at which production usage
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will begin.
4.2.2.9 (ME) The system must have a mechanism to enable the data warehouse to be
automatically reloaded or updated on a scheduled basis.
4.2.2.9.1 (M) Describe the mechanism used to do this.
4.2.2.9.2 (E) Provide estimates for the time required for this reloading or
updating, based on the previously described size of TSTC. Specify any
assumptions made in this estimate.
4.2.2.10
(ME) The system must have the ability to permanently retain snapshots of
data as of specified dates, such as each term’s census date (11th class day)
and end-of-term date, close of fiscal or calendar year, etc., and to retain
snapshots of daily data for at least 30 days.
4.2.2.10.1 (ME) Describe how the system handles these requirements.
4.2.2.10.2 (E) It is preferred that some mechanism be available to allow
archiving of selected snapshots to secondary storage to address
concerns regarding disk space and performance impacts.
Describe any such mechanisms provided by the system, or other
strategies to address those concerns.
4.2.3 Documentation
4.2.3.1
(M) Upon award of the contract, system documentation must be provided in
electronic form. Describe the file format, e.g., PDF, MS Word, or HTML, in
which the electronic documentation will be provided.
4.2.3.2
(M) Upon award of the contract, user documentation and instructional
materials must be provided for thirty users. Describe how this requirement
will be met, including whether these materials are available in electronic
form. If they are only available in paper form, ten copies must be provided
to TSTC.
4.2.4 Maintenance and Upgrades
4.2.4.1
(E) Describe the maintenance and upgrade policy for the system, specifying
what is provided with the payment of the maintenance fees, particularly as it
applies to services and support, patches and fixes, and upgrades.
4.2.4.2
(E) Describe your schedule of patches and fixes, and how these patches and
fixes are made available.
4.2.4.3
(E) Describe your system upgrade schedule, and how these upgrades are
made available.
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4.2.5 Implementation Services
4.2.5.1
(ME) The contractor must be on-site at TSTC to accomplish the following;
describe your plan for doing so.
● To install and implement the offered system in a test environment;
● To train 2-5 technical support staff on installation and maintenance of all
components of the offered system;
● To train 5-10 functional experts on use of the reporting tool to build,
modify and run reports. State cost savings if this item is not included;
● To train 2-5 technical support staff on use of the ETL tool to modify
delivered mappings and create new ones.
4.2.5.2
(ME) The initial installation of the new system should be accomplished within
five days. Provide detailed information on how you will meet this
requirement.
4.2.6 Support Services
4.2.6.1
(E) Describe in detail the system support that is included in the basic
proposed price including whether the support includes telephone support,
web/email based support and in-person support.
4.2.6.2
(E) Provide a clearly defined problem escalation process including
information on: prioritization method, turn-around time, and contacts.
4.2.6.3
(ME) TSTC requires that multiple TSTC people can contact the vendor for
support on technical, functional, and application issues. Describe how your
support policy meets this requirement.
4.2.6.4
(ME) TSTC requires system support to be available daily from 7:00 am to 7:00
pm CST. Describe how your organization can meet this requirement
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GENERAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS
5.1
Contract Award
A response to the solicitation is an offer to contract with Texas State Technical College based on
the terms and conditions contained therein. IFB’s/ RFP’s do not become contracts and are not
binding until a written contract, or Letter of Agreement are signed by authorized College
administrator and authorized personnel of the awarded vendor and a purchase order is issued
pursuit to this agreement.
5.2
Contract Term
The contract performance period shall be for the purpose of completion of this project, unless
otherwise extended or terminated by TSTC in accordance with the terms and conditions of this
contract. All contract renewals or extension may be subject to approval by authorized
personnel of TSTC. Contract renewals or extensions may be made ONLY by written agreement
between the College and the Proposer and are subject to approval by authorized personnel of
TSTC.
5.3
Submitted Responsive Documents
The IFB and submitted responsive documents, or portions of each, and at the College’s sole
discretion, may become incorporated by reference and a part of this written contract and will
be binding on both the College and the Proposer after execution of the contract by both
parties.
5.4
Interpretation, Jurisdiction and Venue
This contract will be governed and be interpreted by the laws of the State of Texas without
regard to its choice of law provisions. Exclusive venue for any claim or dispute involving the
resulting contract or the services provided there under, shall lie in a court of competent
jurisdiction in McLennan County, Texas.
5.5
Compliance with Laws
The services provided and all representations in the IFB response must be such that they are or
would be in conformity with all federal, state, county and local laws, regulations, rules, and
orders. Upon request, the Proposer shall furnish to TSTC certificates of compliance with all
such laws.
5.6
Taxes
TSTC is tax exempt as a governmental subdivision of the State of Texas under Section 501C (3)
of the Internal Revenue Code.
5.7
Termination for Convenience
TSTC, may, at its option and discretion, terminate the resulting contract for convenience and, at
its option and discretion, may reduce the statement of work or other requirements of the
contract at any time, without any default on the part of TSTC or the contractor, by giving thirty
(30) calendar days’ notice thereof to the selected contractor.
5.8
Termination for Default
In the event that the services to be performed under this contract must be completed by a
certain date, the Proposer is required to provide immediate notice at such time it has
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knowledge that it will be unable to perform the services within the time required.
5.9
Insurance Requirements
The Proposer/Awarded Vendor agrees to comply with the insurance requirements
contained herein, if any.
5.10
Assignment
The Proposer may not assign, transfer, convey, or subcontract this contract, any services to
be performed as outlined in the IFB, or any of its obligations under this contract, in whole or
in part, without the prior written approval from the College, which the College may
withhold in its sole discretion.
5.11
Audit of Records
TSTC reserves the right to audit the records and performance of the Proposer during the
term of this contract at any time during the contract period.
5.12
Notices
All notices, amendments, modifications, or alterations hereunder by either party to the
other shall be in writing, delivered personally, by certified or registered mail, return receipt
requested, or by overnight courier, and shall be deemed to have been duly given when
delivered personally or when deposited in the United States mail, postage prepaid
addressed as follows:
Texas State Technical College
Vendor
Attn: Vice Chancellor for Business
Intelligence
3801 Campus Drive
Waco, Texas 76705
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5.13
Entire Agreement
The contract and its accompanying exhibits contain the entire understanding of the parties
regarding the services or materials provided and supersede all prior agreements, oral or written
and all other communications between the parties relating to the subject matter. This
agreement may not be amended or modified, except by mutual written agreement between
the parties.
5.14
Ethics Conduct
Any direct, or indirect, actions taken to unduly influence competitive purposes, to circumvent
equal consideration for competitive bidders, or to disregard ethical and legal trade practices
will disqualify vendors and contractors from current and future consideration for participation
in TSTC orders and contracts.
5.15
Drug Policy
TSTC is a drug-free workforce and workplace. The manufacture, sale, distribution, dispensation,
or use of illegal drugs or alcohol by vendors or contractors while on TSTC premises is strictly
prohibited.
5.16
Dispute Resolution
The dispute resolution process provided for in Chapter 2260 of the Government Code shall be
used by TSTC and the Proposer to attempt to resolve any claim for breach of contract made by
the Proposer.
5.17 Note: INCLUDE THE AMMENDMENT STANDARD TERMS AND CONDITIONS USED ON ALL
CONTRACTS. YES!
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PROPOSAL FORM
Request for Proposal
RFP #
719-15-1017
Proposal
Amount:
The undersigned, in accordance with you invitation for Proposal have examined the project
specifications, all addenda of the proposed work.
The proposer acknowledges by his signature:
● Proposer has received, read, and understands the proposal documents, and his proposal is
made in accordance therewith.
● Proposer is in agreement to:
○ Hold-open his proposal for sixty (180) business days from date of proposal opening
○ Accept a purchase order as “Notice to Proceed”, if awarded on the basis of this proposal
○ Comply with the schedule provided.
● These proposals are submitted with a declaration that no employee of the Owner has a
financial or beneficial interest in this transaction.
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VENDOR NAME
FEDERAL ID#
ADDRESS
CITY/STATE/ZIP
PHONE
EMAIL ADDRESS
AUTHORIZED
SIGNATURE
DATE
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