1. Getting the Most from Your RFP RFP Session of the 2014 WIC EBT User Group Meeting July 23, 2014 1:30 PM to 2:30 PM Presented by Cheryl Owens, MAXIMUS 1

2. Agenda Major Components of the SOW Qualifications Cost Proposal RFP Suggestions 2

3. Major Components of the SOW Implementation Services Technical Requirements Functional Requirements System Related Requirements Business Requirements Materials and Hardware Ancillary Services Closeout Services 3 You are acquiring a service, not a system! The system has to abide by certain rules. Systems are configurable and they can be branded. Unless you have specific needs or wants, new development is not necessary.

4. Implementation Services Implementation –Project management deliverables and activities –Status reporting –Requirements validation –System deliverables –MIS interface and interface testing –Training –User Acceptance Testing –Operations deliverables –Retailer stand-beside installation and training –Retailer system testing and certifications 4 State Agency Training may include: System Administration (user names and passwords, assigning roles) Reports and Queries Settlement and Reconciliation State User Functions Clinic operations (issuing cards, selecting PINs, issuing and voiding benefits) Participant use of card Operating the WIC vendor stand-beside solution

5. Technical Requirements Formal Standards – Industry defined –Message formats –Cards FNS Standards and Rules –Operating Rules WIC EBT –WIC Universal MIS EBT Interface –Technical Implementation Guidelines Federal WIC Regulations 5 Ensuring systems, materials and hardware speak the same language. These are mandatory! MISEBT EBT Switch (online) TPP (online) Retailer

6. Functional Requirements Interface with the MIS WIC Food Maintenance – APL, NTE WIC Vendor Data – Banking information WIC Clinic Data (if applicable) Account Set-up and Maintenance (online) Benefit Issuance and Maintenance (online) Card and PIN Maintenance (Active cards and PIN online, hot card list offline) 6 What you want the WIC EBT system to do.

7. Transaction Processing (meaning transactions originating from the WIC vendor) Settlement – Produce files to generate payments to WIC vendors, switch or TPPs (switch and TPPs online) Administrative Functions – What do you want State Agency staff to be able to do? Produce and Receive Messages and Batch Files Reports/Data Requirements 7 Functional Requirements (cont.) Administrative functions may include system administration, ACH requests and ad hoc queries. Payments flow from the EBT processor in the reverse direction of transaction messages. EBT EBT Switch (online) TPP (online) Retailer

8. System-Related Requirements Period of Time Data is Retained System/Data Security Failover System and Testing System Life Cycle Testing Test Bed Audits (SSAE 16) 8 WIC EBT security requirements are fairly standard but…. Don’t forget to have your State IT review the security requirements for compliance to your state’s security standards. A test bed throughout the contract will allow you to test any interface changes between the MIS and the EBT systems.

9. Business Requirements Performance Standards –Implementation –Operations Hold Backs and Liabilities Invoicing Change Management Maintaining Deliverables Throughout the System Lifecycle 9 At a minimum, the system must meet the performance standards as stated in the FNS Operating Rules. Other performance standards may include providing deliverables on schedule during implementation, IVR response rates, hardware replacement times, etc.

10. Materials and Hardware Cards (may procure in a separate contract; more common with offline) Card Sleeves (optional) PIN Selection Terminals (online, clinic, optional) Magnetic Card Swipe Terminals (online, clinic, optional) Smart Card Read/Write Terminals (offline, clinic, mandatory) Stand-beside Retail Solution (online mandatory, offline optional) Training Materials (client brochures, optional) Training Video for Clinics (optional) 10 Approving card design is more time consuming than most states think. Start early with your WIC EBT service provider or card provider to develop the card design. Here’s a neat idea: One state let clinics vote on the card design. Clinics were delighted to have a hand in design selection.

11. Ancillary Services Participant IVR (online) Live Participant Call Center Services (online) Client Web Portal (online) WIC Vendor IVR WIC Vendor Help Line WIC Vendor Web Portal WIC EBT System User Help Desk 11 Suggestion: Start working on the IVR message flow early in the project.

12. 12 Transition and Closeout Plan Data Cleanup Prior to Data Transfer Testing - Trial Runs Data Transfer You may Want to Retain –Production-ready card design –Toll-free numbers used by participants and WIC vendors 12 All data integral to operations must be transferred from one EBT system to another overnight. Complete cooperation from both WIC EBT service providers is necessary as is the ability to fall back to the original processing system if there is an issue with the data transfer. Closeout Services

13. Qualifications –Prime contractor –Subcontractors Project Management and Staffing –Organization chart –Key staff Confidential 13 WIC EBT service providers do not assign full time dedicated staff to a project unless you require it and are willing to pay for it. There are only a few WIC EBT processors and a lot of states implementing. Ask for assurances that the offeror has the ability to implement multiple states at one time and have them explain how they plan to do it.

14. WIC EBT Cost Proposal Cost for WIC EBT Implementation Labor –Fixed price milestone payments (e.g., approval of work plan and schedule, approval of system design, successful UAT, end of pilot, end of rollout) Cost per Case Month (CPCM) –A “case” is a family (one or more participants) that can access benefits through one account and one card –If you have 100,000 participants, you will have ~72,000 families or cases; if your CPCM is 80¢, you will pay $57,600 per month –Tiered pricing works best when other states can join your contract 14 The Western States uses tiered pricing, paying a lower CPCM for the combined caseload of Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Guam, Hawaii, Idaho, Nebraska and Wyoming. Wyoming’s contract for offline WIC EBT allows other states to procure offline services from their contract; the CPCM will decrease as the combined caseload increases.

15. WIC EBT Cost Proposal Hardware –PIN terminals –Magnetic card swipe terminals –Smart card read/write terminals –Retailer stand-beside solutions Maintain or Replace Hardware? Options –Card sleeves (per unit or CPCM) –Expanded live call center services (CPCM) –Issue replacement cards by mail (online) –Provide printed client brochures –Provide training DVDs for clinics 15 You can request ongoing maintenance for your clinic terminals but you may want to consider purchasing replacements as needed. Consider a clause that will allow WIC vendors to purchase additional stand- beside solutions at the same cost as paid by the state.

16. The RFP and Its Evaluation Responding to a WIC EBT RFP and evaluating the response can be onerous tasks. To make it easier on everyone: –Define which sections of the RFP will require a written response –Ask that the response be provided in the same order as the requirements have been presented –Provide evaluation criteria that synchs with the requirements and response – and present them in the same order as the requirements 16 Don’t jumble it up!

17. Example – Do they look the same? They should! RFP Sections Qualifications Business Requirements Implementation Requirements Deliverables Technical Requirements Functional Requirements Testing Requirements Security Requirements Service Requirements Hardware and Materials Closeout Requirements 17 Proposal Response Required Sections Qualifications Response to Business Requirements Implementation Approach Deliverables Technical Requirements Functional Requirements Testing Approach Security Services Hardware and Materials Closeout Approach Evaluation Criteria Stated in the RFP 20% Qualifications 60% Technical Approach 20% Cost Detailed Evaluator Criteria 15% Corporate Qualifications 5% Staffing Qualifications 4% Response to Business Requirements 8% Implementation Approach 3% Deliverables 4% Technical Requirements 20% Functional Requirements 3% Testing Approach 3% Security 8% Services 4% Hardware and Materials 3% Closeout Approach

18. Make it Easy on Everyone Chances are the offeror does not want to provide and you don’t want to read: A description of what the contractor will provide in every single written deliverable –An agreement to provide each deliverable should be sufficient A description or screen shot of every report –An agreement to provide the report and an indication of how the report is provided (e.g., standard report, standard query, special query, etc.) should be sufficient A description of life cycle testing activities A description of a change management approach 18 By submitting a proposal and completing the Deliverable Table, the offeror commits to providing the required deliverables. REPORTAgreement Weekly Status ReportsWill provide Communications PlanWill provide Change Management Plan Will provide Security PlanWill provide Retailer Enablement Plan Will provide Training PlanWill provide Retailer Interface Specifications Will provide Test PlanWill provide Test ScriptsWill provide

19. Still Have Questions? 19 Cheryl Owens MAXIMUS 571-218-5214 cherylowens@maximus.com