• This RFP, released Wednesday, seeks proposals for “secure storage for the county’s records with enough physical capacity to meet the needs of each” — roughly 230,000 cubic feet of actual storage space for Riverside County and 500,000 cubic feet of storage for San Bernardino. The counties also seek digital document storage, including converting paper files to digital; and a “web-based records management application” to perform tasks including reviewing inventory, requesting retrievals, deliveries, and picking up records. The contractor must also provide training to everyone who uses the software program, and offer access to electronic reporting on all accounts to designated Purchasing Department personnel.
• The successful vendor must also provide digital document scanning and imaging, including converting paper files to digital for quick access by the appropriate agency and double-blind pass entry to ensure each document entered is correctly indexed. All newly processed data must also be merged to the “mirror” site to ensure redundancy; and data completed each day must be stored in a disaster recovery site. The contractor must keep secure and private any individually identifiable health information, in accordance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) and the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act.
• It’s not the first time the neighboring counties have partnered on procurements, but this is the first time they’ve worked together on document storage. San Bernardino, also the nation’s largest county by area, is the lead agency and has an existing physical and digital document storage contract that ends next year. The agencies’ strategy is to partner for better pricing based on volume and to obtain a competitive three- to five-year contract.
• Questions on the RFP are due April 1, and responses to the RFP are due by 5 p.m. April 17. The agencies plan a tentative contract award in May or June. Per the RFP, the change-over period must begin within 90 days of award if the vendor selected is not the incumbent.
