In a request for information (RFI) released Monday, the county of San Diego Finance and General Government Group (FG3) invites interested entities to “provide input on the FG3 need for Operations Publishing Software.” The county is home to nearly 3.3 million residents, which also makes it the nation’s fifth most populous such local government. The RFI doesn’t, the county cautions, “constitute a Request for Proposal or a promise to issue a solicitation in the future.” Among the takeaways:
- The county’s Office of Financial Planning (OFP) produces its budget documents (Operational Plan), to be presented to the public and approved by its Board of Supervisors. Annually, these include the “Chief Administrative Officer Recommended Operational Plan, Change Letter/Deliberations material, and the Adopted Operational Plan.” They’re produced following statutory requirements laid out in the state’s County Budget Guide. Each is published in electronic and hard copy, the latter via Microsoft Word and Excel and “specialized software that interfaces with CGI Advantage Performance Budgeting (PB),” the county’s “financial budget system of record.” Each so-called “budget book” features narratives, photos, fund tables and charts. Each budget book document includes narratives, photos (tiff, jpeg, png), graphics (pdf), data and fund tables, and charts. The county is seeking information on a “solution to automate and improve efficiency in the production of its budget documents, at minimum in hard copy and electronic formats, with the possibility of integration with a web-based interactive design.”
- County budget documents aggregate data from “all four county business groups and nearly 50 departments, the county’s capital program, and countywide information.” OFP integrates “inputs from throughout the organization in various formats, currently including financial data from PB, MS Excel, and Word documents, Adobe Acrobat pdf documents, and photos (tiff, jpeg, png).” The county looks to boost “efficiency, accuracy, and quality and reduce the staff time necessary for a budget book(s) preparation and publication.” Such a solution has to seamlessly integrate with the budget book of record and automatically integrate other inputs. It must operate in the county’s IT environment and meet the IT security standards set by Peraton, the county’s IT outsourcer. Final budget document(s) must be available in PDF and be suitable to be posted on the web and printed, with “possible integration for publishing data/content and updates in real-time to a web-based portal or similar offering.” This RFI seeks to gather information on “an innovative publishing solution and associated services, support, and maintenance,” to cut the time and effort county staff expend while preserving the existing standards on accuracy and quality.
- Specific requirements include providing service weekdays from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. and being on call during the “peak budget development period” from March-June with “a response within established timeframes.” The contractor chosen must also take part in regular status update meetings to plan and discuss deliverables, timelines and deadlines. Meetings must be quarterly at least and “as frequently as weekly during peak project periods and as needed.” The contractor must provide summary reports noting updates to “work schedules, the status, and timing of deliverables and action items” ahead of status check meetings. The contractor must provide “testing and approval by the county of the output of annual budget books,” including their components. Integration with the existing budget system must include tuning data sources as required; creating and editing inquiries; documenting all changes in writing; and providing accurate output. Deliverables must arrive by set deadlines and the contractor must also provide “training resources, including written instructions (e.g., ‘User’s Manual’).”
- Due to the documents’ “high-profile nature,” the contractor must have a “track record of performance with similarly sized government agencies,” be able to provide accuracy and high quality, follow the county’s schedule and be “highly experienced” with the relevant software to keep continuity of service. If selected, the contractor would operate, support and maintain the solution “in coordination with applicable software vendors (operating system, database, and application).” The contractor also would be required to train OFP staff on the software. The respondent description must include how their product offers an “innovative solution to improve the annual budget publishing process of large local government agencies”; a description of company experience, particularly around agencies with similar-sized budgets and organizational structures; a description of integration capabilities; and a description of the product’s use by other government agencies. Responses are due by Tuesday.
