Question/Comment on this Alaska DHSS RFP

Name and affiliation

{please provide information about your job/role in the acquistion process as well as your organization}
Chris Letterman, Wostmann & Associates

Section of RFP documents

{please be specific about the section of the RFP documents you have a question or comment about, if applicable}
Section 2 & 3

Question/Comment

{ask away!}
Can DHSS explain what program information the search application will need to retrieve from the Master Client Index which does not already exist in EIS or ARIES?

Question/Comment on this Alaska DHSS RFP

Peter Cheesman, Associate Manager, Public Consulting Group, Inc.

n/a

Question/Comment

Will the selected vendor be allowed to use the .NET technologies to build the system or should the vendor be using only open source technologies to build the solution?

Question/Comment on this Alaska DHSS RFP

Name and affiliation

{please provide information about your job/role in the acquistion process as well as your organization}
Chris Letterman, Wostmann & Associates

Section of RFP documents

{please be specific about the section of the RFP documents you have a question or comment about, if applicable}
Section 2 & 3

Question/Comment

{ask away!}
If an offeror's examples are for projects completed for other State of Alaska agencies, will references to their source code repositories be sufficient or will screenshots still be necessary? i.e. the source code is already in the possession of the State of Alaska.

We'll need to update the readme with the new dates once we release the RFP.

Question/Comment on this Alaska DHSS RFP

Name and affiliation

Michael Falkner, The Nerdery

Section of RFP documents

Sec 4.04

Question/Comment

How many users will be available for usability testing throughout the sprints and do you anticipate that we will be able to do short notice scheduling to accommodate rapid design sprint processes?

Question/Comment on this Alaska DHSS RFP

Name and affiliation

Michael Falkner, The Nerdery

Section of RFP documents

Sec 3.02 Requirements

Question/Comment

Is there a specific device/screenreader/browser scope that is desired for QA testing?

Question/Comment on this Alaska DHSS RFP

Name and affiliation

Michael Falkner, The Nerdery

Section of RFP documents

Sec 3.02 Requirements

Question/Comment

Is there any documentation detailing network topology and any needed software or configuration to connect to MCI, ARIES, and EIS such as VPN clients, certificates, etc? How are staging/testing versions of these databases set up and how closely do they approximate the real world environment?

Question/Comment on this Alaska DHSS RFP

Name and affiliation

{please provide information about your job/role in the acquistion process as well as your organization}
Chris Letterman, Wostmann & Associates

Section of RFP documents

{please be specific about the section of the RFP documents you have a question or comment about, if applicable}
How we work & Section 3

Question/Comment

{ask away!}
Product team listed in “How we Work” does not include 18F. What role will 18F fulfill during the execution of the project?

Question/Comment on this Alaska DHSS RFP

Name and affiliation

David Hollenbach, DSoft Technology

Section of RFP documents

QAP

Question/Comment

Which 508 Standards automated scanner is used? Will DHSS provide a copy of Veracode to the vendor to scan the application?

Question/Comment on this Alaska DHSS RFP

Name and affiliation

{please provide information about your job/role in the acquistion process as well as your organization}
Chris Letterman, Wostmann & Associates

Section of RFP documents

{please be specific about the section of the RFP documents you have a question or comment about, if applicable}
Attachment A

Question/Comment

{ask away!}
Additional Requirements specify 18F open source policy, accessibility guidelines and API standards. Can these be provided to us or are they available online?

Question/Comment on this Alaska DHSS RFP

Name and affiliation

Michael Falkner, The Nerdery

Section of RFP documents

Sec 4.04

Question/Comment

What types of security measures will we need to put in place during the user research? We assume there is sensitive and personal information involved in this system from Alaskans. What types of limits to data collection can we expect during the user research phase?

Question/Comment on this Alaska DHSS RFP

Name and affiliation

Michael Falkner, The Nerdery

Section of RFP documents

Sec 3.02 Requirements

Question/Comment

What types of 3rd party integration will be needed either immediately or down the line?

Question/Comment on this Alaska DHSS RFP

Name and affiliation

{please provide information about your job/role in the acquistion process as well as your organization}
Chris Letterman, Wostmann & Associates

Section of RFP documents

{please be specific about the section of the RFP documents you have a question or comment about, if applicable}
How we work

Question/Comment

{ask away!}

The testing strategy in “How we Work” states that all work is integrating with the existing ARIES code base. Please elaborate on the meaning of "integrating".

Question/Comment on this Alaska DHSS RFP

Name and affiliation

Michael Falkner, The Nerdery

Section of RFP documents

Sect 3.02 Requirements

Question/Comment

What internal applications will need to be integrated either immediately or down the line?

Question/Comment on this Alaska DHSS RFP

Name and affiliation

{please provide information about your job/role in the acquistion process as well as your organization}
Chris Letterman, Wostmann & Associates

Section of RFP documents

{please be specific about the section of the RFP documents you have a question or comment about, if applicable}
Attachment D

Question/Comment

{ask away!}
The IT requirements specify an Enterprise Service Bus (ESB) that must be used for data exchange interfaces. Please confirm that the ESB is required to interface with EIS, ARIES and the MCI.

Question/Comment on this Alaska DHSS RFP 180000022

Name and affiliation

Lynda Hefner, Business Development

Section of RFP documents

Sec. 1.08 Item (e) Federal Requirements

Question/Comment

Instructions state, "The offeror must identify all known federal requirements that apply to the proposal, the evaluation, or the contract."
We are unclear what Item (e) requires from offerors. Is the State requiring offerors to search for all federal requirements this RFP is subject to, including your evaluation and contract process, and then list these requirements?

Question/Comment on this Alaska DHSS RFP

Name and affiliation

Michael Falkner, The Nerdery

Section of RFP documents

Sec 4.04

Question/Comment

On the business model canvas, you reference the KPI of "12 applications per day per eligibility technician." Is this a long-term goal or a short-term goal? What methods do you plan to use to collect this type of quantitative user data?

Question/Comment on this Alaska DHSS RFP

Name and affiliation

{please provide information about your job/role in the acquistion process as well as your organization}
Chris Letterman, Wostmann & Associates

Section of RFP documents

{please be specific about the section of the RFP documents you have a question or comment about, if applicable}
Section 2 & 3

Question/Comment

{ask away!}
Can DHSS confirm the integration between ARIES and the Master Client Index is using SOAP? Are there other methods which Multi-Vue supports?

Question/Comment on this Alaska DHSS RFP

Name and affiliation

{please provide information about your job/role in the acquistion process as well as your organization}
Chris Letterman, Wostmann & Associates

Section of RFP documents

{please be specific about the section of the RFP documents you have a question or comment about, if applicable}
How we work

Question/Comment

{ask away!}
The section “Accepting Vendor Work” in “How we Work” specifies standards that are not listed. What standards does it refer to?

Question/Comment on this Alaska DHSS RFP

Name and affiliation

Michael Falkner, The Nerdery

Section of RFP documents

Section 3.02 Requirements

Question/Comment

What are the requirements for a backend API to unify MCI, ARIES, EIS, and provide SSO? Are there any documents proposing what methods and functionality would be available on the completed, unified API?

Question/Comment on this Alaska DHSS RFP

Name and affiliation

{please provide information about your job/role in the acquistion process as well as your organization}
Chris Letterman, Wostmann & Associates

Section of RFP documents

{please be specific about the section of the RFP documents you have a question or comment about, if applicable}
Attachment D

Question/Comment

{ask away!}
Please confirm if the section Security Controls and specifically the development of a complete State Security Plan Framework is in scope of this solicitation.

After further review of the RFP, the Alaska team is going to shift the verbal interviews back a week so that there is sufficient time to review the written proposals prior to the interviews.

Verbal interviews will take place the week of December 4 - December 8 instead of starting on November 30. The estimated date for award will also be shifted to later in December. Amendment 2 will update the procurement schedule to account for these changes.

Question/Comment on this Alaska DHSS RFP

Name and affiliation

Michael Falkner, The Nerdery

Section of RFP documents

Sec 4.04

Question/Comment

As a result of the User Research, what are you most interested to find out about the users?

Question/Comment on this Alaska DHSS RFP

Name and affiliation

Michael Falkner, The Nerdery

Section of RFP documents

Sec 4.04

Question/Comment

How has user research been documented up to this point? Is there any synthesis that already exists?

Question/Comment on this Alaska DHSS RFP

Name and affiliation

David Hollenbach, DSoft Technology

Section of RFP documents

Section 3.02

Question/Comment

The additional requirements section stipulates the vendor will not directly create/update/delete data. However, the risks table identifies this functionality. Will you expect the vendor for this first module to research / prototype writing data back as part of the overall data API?

Question/Comment on this Alaska DHSS RFP

Name and affiliation

{please provide information about your job/role in the acquistion process as well as your organization}
Chris Letterman, Wostmann & Associates

Section of RFP documents

{please be specific about the section of the RFP documents you have a question or comment about, if applicable}
Section 3

Question/Comment

{ask away!}
Please detail the location and number of support and operation team members the contractor shall ensure are properly trained. Section 3.02

Question/Comment on this Alaska DHSS RFP

Name and affiliation

{please provide information about your job/role in the acquistion process as well as your organization}
Chris Letterman, Wostmann & Associates

Section of RFP documents

{please be specific about the section of the RFP documents you have a question or comment about, if applicable}
Attachment D

Question/Comment

{ask away!}
RFP refers to SSO or current authentication scheme. The DHSS IT Requirements specify that DHSS IT staff is responsible for federated authentication and non-employee authentication directories. Please clarify how authentication will be handled and who will be responsible for implementation.

Question/Comment on this Alaska DHSS RFP

Name and affiliation

{please provide information about your job/role in the acquistion process as well as your organization}
Chris Letterman, Wostmann & Associates

Section of RFP documents

{please be specific about the section of the RFP documents you have a question or comment about, if applicable}
Section 2 & 3

Question/Comment

{ask away!}
Can DHSS better explain the process of keeping EIS client and case records synchronized between Master Client Index and ARIES?

Question/Comment on this Alaska DHSS RFP

Name and affiliation

{please provide information about your job/role in the acquistion process as well as your organization}
Chris Letterman, Wostmann & Associates

Section of RFP documents

{please be specific about the section of the RFP documents you have a question or comment about, if applicable}
Attachment D

Question/Comment

{ask away!}
Additionally, the requirements specify the MCI must be used for any person demographics. Does that mean the person search tool must get all the information from the MCI? If so, does the MCI already contain this information or do we need to modify the interfaces or data sources?

Question/Comment on this Alaska DHSS RFP

Name and affiliation

Michael Falkner, The Nerdery

Section of RFP documents

Sec 4.04

Question/Comment

What user segments do you anticipate needing to do user research with?

Question/Comment on this Alaska DHSS RFP

Name and affiliation

{please provide information about your job/role in the acquistion process as well as your organization}
Chris Letterman, Wostmann & Associates

Section of RFP documents

{please be specific about the section of the RFP documents you have a question or comment about, if applicable}
How we work

Question/Comment

{ask away!}
In the Definition of Done contained in "How We Work" the number of minimum real users is not defined. Please provide an estimate of the number of users anticipated.

Question/Comment on this Alaska DHSS RFP

Name and affiliation

David Hollenbach, DSoft Technology

Section of RFP documents

Section 3.06

Question/Comment

Given a 4 month PoP, what are the contingencies if the vendor has difficulty obtaining access to the ARIES system as identified in the risks table?

We have a new procurement opportunity we are working on.

This is a great opportunity and we are looking for feedback/suggestions/questions on this draft version of an upcoming RFP. Come join us in the newly created repo. info below:

The Alaska Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS), Division of Public Assistance (DPA) is searching for a partner to develop and implement a MAGI Medicaid Automated Renewal Process.
The eligibility system currently processes eligibility for MAGI Medicaid but is growing to support all existing public assistance programs. This system has over 400 internal users, an externally facing self-service portal, a connection to the federally facilitated healthcare marketplace, and currently issues MAGI Medicaid for over 200,000 Alaskans.
What we're planning to achieve as a result of this acquisition:
• Development of an automated process allowing for renewal of the appropriate MAGI Medicaid clients without eligibility worker intervention
• Reduction of the automated notices that are mailed to MAGI Medicaid clients with an upcoming renewal
• Lowering the overall costs DPA pays for postage services via a reduction in unneeded automated notices
• Ensuring that the solution meets all federally mandated and State of Alaska mandated security requirements
• Ensuring that the solution meets all federally required outcome-based certification criteria
• Ensuring that user centered design principles are followed
• Simplifying the experience for MAGI Medicaid recipients to renew their Medicaid benefits
DHSS is looking for a partner that can work in a similar way to how we work
More information about this RFP can be found here
Note these documents are draft versions, and we are looking for your feedback and questions before we finalize and post the official RFP package.
We ask that you submit your questions or feedback on this RFP by creating an issue on the Aries Automated Renewals RFP GitHub Repository

Question/Comment on this Alaska DHSS RFP

Peter Cheesman, Associate Manager, Public Consulting Group

Section of RFP documents

3.01

Question/Comment

In section 3.01, there is a reference to additional documentation but the URL does not seem to take the reader to the referenced documents, as follows: "The State of Alaska will provide documentation on how to access data sources, describe existing authentication systems, and discuss how to continuously deploy work to a staging environment." Can you provide these?

Question/Comment on this Alaska DHSS RFP

Name and affiliation

{please provide information about your job/role in the acquistion process as well as your organization}
Chris Letterman, Wostmann & Associates

Section of RFP documents

{please be specific about the section of the RFP documents you have a question or comment about, if applicable}
Section 2 & 3

Question/Comment

{ask away!}
Of the three systems mentioned in the high level overview (Master Client Index, ARIES, or EIS) does one have authority over the other(s)?

Question/Comment on this Alaska DHSS RFP

Name and affiliation

Michael Falkner, The Nerdery

Section of RFP documents

Sec 7.14 Section 508 Compliance

Question/Comment

NQA typically tests to WCAG 2.0 AA standards. These standards fully encompass Section 508 and go beyond them in some cases. Is testing to WCAG 2.0 AA acceptable for this project?

What are the databases that the systems EIS, ARIES are based on

Peter Cheesman, Associate Manager, Public Consulting Group, Inc.

Section of RFP documents

n/a

What are the databases that the systems EIS, ARIES are based on

• update
  section 3.01 from The State of Alaska will provide documentation on how to access data sources with the incorrect link to link to the repo at (https://github.com/AlaskaDHSS/RFP-Search-Unification/blob/master/4-Prototype-Findings.md)

• update
  update section 4.08 from "Offerors should note that the State will be asking technical questions during the verbal presentation, so non-technical personnel may not need to attend." change to "Offerors should note that the State will be asking technical questions during the verbal presentation. Participants will also be asked questions related to project management (section 4.04)."

• update
  update QAP language "The contractor shall perform all work required in a satisfactory manner in accordance with the requirements of the PWS" change to "The contractor shall perform all work required in a satisfactory manner in accordance with the requirements of the RFP"

• update
  update all instances of "Alaska prevailing time" in 1.03, 1.04, and 1.06 to "Alaska Standard Time"

Question/Comment on this Alaska DHSS RFP

Name and affiliation

{please provide information about your job/role in the acquistion process as well as your organization}
Chris Letterman, Wostmann & Associates

Section of RFP documents

{please be specific about the section of the RFP documents you have a question or comment about, if applicable}
Attachment D

Question/Comment

{ask away!}
There are several references to an application lifecycle management (ALM) solution being specified in Attachment D. The term ALM is not used in the attachment. Please specify what tool is being used.

Question/Comment on this Alaska DHSS RFP

Name and affiliation

{please provide information about your job/role in the acquistion process as well as your organization}
Chris Letterman, Wostmann & Associates

Section of RFP documents

{please be specific about the section of the RFP documents you have a question or comment about, if applicable}
Attachment A

Question/Comment

{ask away!}
Attachment A (DHSS IT REQUIREMENTS) specifically details Security requirements and mentions Attachments G and H. When are these attachments going to be available to offerors?

Question/Comment on this Alaska DHSS RFP

Name and affiliation

Michael Falkner, The Nerdery

Section of RFP documents

sec 3.02 Requirements, sec 3.05 Personnel

Question/Comment

Are there any preferred front-end frameworks or technologies?

Question/Comment on this Alaska DHSS RFP 180000022

Name and affiliation

Lynda Hefner, Business Development

Section of RFP documents

7-page limitation language: The following sections specifically state, "...is included as part of your seven-page limitation."

• Sec. 4.03 Technical Approach
• Sec. 4.06 Staffing Plan (excluding resumes and letters of intent)
• Sec. 4.07 Similar Experience and Qualifications

Question/Comment

Based on current instructions, are the following sections not subject to the seven-page limitation?

• Sec. 4.02 Introduction
• Sec. 4.04 Project Management
• Sec. 4.05 Approach to User Interface and User Experience Design

Question/Comment on this Alaska DHSS RFP

Name and affiliation

Forrest Desjardins - Tech Lead at ResourceDataInc

Section of RFP documents

Prototype Findings - Other Questions / Considerations

Question/Comment

The prototype findings document mentions that latency may be a concern. We have some related questions:

• at what point does data become stale enough to require a refresh?
• how quickly will new documents/changes need to be visible in the search application?
• what was the latency for proxying to/from the existing systems found during prototyping?