changes - nova scotiaquality data management and reporting to all bidders of p18.2020: please note:...

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July 28, 2020

Addendum # 4

Request for Proposal Project # P18.2020

Quality Data Management and Reporting

To All Bidders of P18.2020: Please note: the following addendum applies to P18.2020 and shall be taken into consideration when preparing bid submission.

Changes: The closing date of this project has been extended until August 7th, 2020 at 2:00pm AST. A signed copy of each Addendum must also be included with the bid submission. Failure to include this Addendum may be cause for rejection. If you have any questions, please contact our office by email at [email protected].

ALL OTHER SPECIFICATIONS, TERMS AND CONDITIONS REMAIN UNCHANGED.

Acknowledgement by Bidder: Company Name: _________________________ Print Name: _____________________________ Signed: ________________________________ Date: __________________________________

End of Addendum # 4

mailto:[email protected]


June 28, 2020

Clarification # 6

Request for Proposal

Project # P18.2020


To All Bidders of P18.2020:

Please note: the following clarification is in response to questions received for P18.2020 and should be taken into consideration when preparing bid submission.

Question 1: Is a foreign company is eligible for this opportunity

Answer 1: Yes, a foreign company is welcome to submit a response to this RFP.

Question 2: We plan to implement cloud solutions where the data resides in Canada, can resources at offshore locations remotely access the data and assist in platform development via VPN or Remote Desktops?

Answer 2: Yes, as long as the firm has a successful Criminal Record Check and Security Clearances to work in Canada.

These items are for clarification purposes only and does not change the scope of work of the

RFP. If you have any questions, please contact our office by email at

[email protected].


A signed copy of the Clarification is NOT required with your bid submission.

End of Clarification #6



June 24, 2020

Clarification # 5


Project # P18.2020




Question 1: Is Halifax requesting for contractors to host the solution or will the client cloud environment be utilized?

Answer 1: Halifax Water is accepting proposals for both options, vendor hosted or Halifax Water hosted.



[email protected].






July 23, 2020

Clarification # 4


Project # P18.2020




Question 1: How do you manage planned and break-fix work orders on your assets?

Answer 1: Asset Management is not applicable to this project.

Question 2: How do you create scheduled asset maintenance?


Question 3: How do you currently maintain your assets?


Questions 4-7 Data Management Response Doc Management Response

• What integration points does the solution need to address (ESRI, SAP ERP etc ?)

• ESRI (maps)

• External Labs WQ data

• EDW (future)

• Cityworks (future)

• SharePoint

• Cityworks (future)

• What current data store are you using for water data?

• How much, if any, of this data need to be migrated as part of the solution?

• WaterTrax Application

• Last 10 years’ worth of active locations and historical, archived data.

• This will be approximately 1 million records between water and wastewater.

• File Server drive (current)

• SharePoint (future)

• What is the volume of data growth you are looking at for next 5 years ?

• Depends on Approvals (Compliance)

• The volume of data growth is dependent on sampling requirements as per the utility regulatory body as well as internal research and monitoring initiatives.

• If we have to provide a value then I would say, based on total number of records entered in 2018, anticipate a minimum of 500,000 records added over a 5-year period.

• Difficult to quantify growth

• Currently HW anticipates an estimated volume of 100 reports annually (files to be stored)

• 17 Wastewater plants and 26 Water Plants will require task data to be entered and stored daily/weekly/monthly at an approximated volume of 100 tasks per day.

These items are for clarification purposes only and does not change the scope of work of the RFP. If you have any questions, please contact our office by email at

[email protected].






July 7, 2020

Clarification # 3


Project # P18.2020



Please note: the following clarification is in response to questions received for P18.2020 and should be taken into consideration

when preparing bid submission.

Question 1: For costing purposes, can we assume for the data to be migrated to the system, the Halifax DBA resource will be responsible for data cleaning and/or formatting of the data according to specifications? Or will the vendor be doing that activity?

Answer 1: Assume the Halifax DBA will clean and format the data according to specifications.

Question 2: You indicated in response to questions, there will be workshop/s associated with this project. For pricing purposes, are these virtual or in person workshops? And how many workshops are anticipated?

Answer 2: At this time, we are comfortable with virtual workshops and anticipate these will be based on recommended approach.

Question 3: You indicated the vendor may recommend and alternative implementation timeline. Is there a specific timeline that Halifax water desires? Or was this referring to the overall approach?

Answer 3: This refers to an overall approach; however, we would like the solution to be fully Operational in production by July 2021.

From the RPF Section (Spreadsheet):

Req. ID Vendor Question Answer: Data Answer: Doc

N.3 The proposed solution will require integration with the

ESRI ArcGIS-based Maps subsystem of 'ArcGIS for

Server' located within HW premises, to search feature

classes and associate references to selected features

within test planning, inspection applications and permits

applications. The solution will not make changes to such

features itself however, it will also add references to test

plans, permits and applications as new properties of the

selected feature within GIS. The integration will use the

following parameters:

Question 4: Is it sufficient to support exchange of GIS

data through the ESRI ArcGIS Online cloud, or must

data be transferred directly between proposed

solution and ArcGIS Server?

Yes, if the solution is on-prem, going through ArcGIS server is

required.

If this is a SaaS solution, or fully managed service, then the

preference will be to go through ArcGIS online.

I.2 The Proponent will confirm that any and all data related

to Halifax Water will be sited within Canada, and no

duplicates or portions thereof will be sited outside of

Canada. Based on applicable law, certain exceptions

Halifax Water’s preference is for all data and software to reside in

Canada. However, this is not a mandatory requirement.

may be granted for narrowly focused data sets. Explain

any exceptions to data not sited in Canada.

Question 5: Does this mean the entire software

application needs to be within Canada – or just the

data? Specifically:

need to know if “data” includes any of the following:

• system metadata that is potentially shared by all customers such as EDD formats.

• User names, passwords, DB access permissions, and login history

• metrics and record counts and other usage metrics

Or if it just includes the usual environmental data

types – samples, results, locations, field readings, etc.

ALERT:

BR-10

Configured Alerts within the system shall generate

immediately when criteria have been met.

Question 6: Does "within ten minutes" meet the

"immediately" criteria?

Immediately, does meet right

away and without delay.

Immediately, does meet right

away and without delay.

APP: BR-

1

Calendar / Scheduling alerts shall be displayed via a font

format change and / or background format change (i.e.

colour). Calendar / Scheduling alerts shall be visible to

all and shall not be configured to be hidden by any user

other than the Admin.

Question 7: what calendar is referenced here? A

calendar in the solution, or an external calendar

application?

Reference to a calendar-based

view within the application (e.g.

sampling schedule).

Reference to a calendar-based

view within the application (e.g.

report/task deadline).

APP: BR-

27 The product would have the ability to "Learn" what is

considered data to be held for QA/QC or not - by the

actions of the user - Options for data that was held

- accepted and learn (add to acceptance), accepted but

don't change the level for future, keep on hold - tool does

not learn from this - hold for review is always manual,

rejected - is when a resample or analysis triggered by a

Hold For Review has been completed - and the new sample

has been accepted manually.

Question 8: Would it be acceptable to have this in a

later phase after the main system is up and running,

instead of immediately available?

Yes, meeting this requirement at a

later date is acceptable.

Yes, meeting this requirement

at a later date is acceptable.

DATA:

BR-2

The product must be able to seamlessly communicate with

other third-party systems and applications to push and pull

data from one database to the other.

Question 9: What are the other systems referenced

here?

Laboratory Uploads (LIMS

system at BV Labs for example).

Meeting this requirement at a

later date is acceptable.

REPORT:

BR-8

The product will have the ability to track key performance

indicator (KPI) metrics and compare to benchmarks.

Question 10: Can you provide examples of these KPI

metrics and benchmarks?

KPI Examples:

1. Annual TTHM & HAA5

concentrations

a. below regulator maximum

allowable concentrations,

b. below internal maximum

allowable concentrations

2. Annual, Monthly, etc. number

of total coliform results above

detection

KPI Examples:

The data entered in the solution

will be used in the Corporate

Balanced Scorecard. Examples

include: Count of infractions resulting in:

a. Environmental Warning

Reports,

b. Summary Offence

Tickets,

c. Ministerial Order or

prosecution

MAP:

BR-1 The product shall be able to provide dynamic (pan, zoom,

etc.) thematic mapping of data with the ability to configure,

save, and share templates of frequently used maps.

Question 11: Can you provide examples of the

templates referenced here?

Example, Power User configures

a map for review of parameter

“X” at select sample sites.

Power User would have the

ability to save the map settings

as a template for others to use to

review the same map while also

retaining the ability to review

updated data.

N/A

DATA:

BR-3

The product must have the ability to store and share non-

actionable data.

Question 12: What is "non-actionable data" as

compared to "actionable data"?

Actionable data is data that has

been deemed accurate,

accessible, of high quality,

organized, and easily exportable.

Actionable data is data that will

be available for reporting,

analytics, alerting, etc.

Non-actionable data is any data

that does not necessarily meet

all of the criteria above and likely

will not be utilized in alerting and

reporting/analytics.

Non-actionable data could be

observations/flags/information

about a sampling location

Actionable data is data/tasks

that can be updated and are not

complete.

Non-actionable data are links to

reports/data/tasks that are no

longer able to be updated and

are complete (no more changes

to be made)

REPORT:

BR-13 Various graph types are available such as, bar, column,

line, boxplot, histogram, combo, etc.

Question 13: Are bar, line and scatter plot graphs

sufficient, or are the other types needed too?

Providing “out of the box”

charts/figures is sufficient.

Ideally, more statistical plots

such as a boxplot would be

available.

N/A

REPORT:

BR-23

Access to sensitive data through the product must be

logged.

Question 14: How is "sensitive data" defined? Are there

set rules for determining sensitive data, or does the

data get flagged as sensitive by user on upload to the

system?

Any data that uniquely identifies a

sampling site, a sampler, a person

or place, employee unique data

and other data types as per Nova

Scotia Privacy Act.

Any other type of data entered in

the system will be configured to

be accessible only via workflow

configuration.

Any data that uniquely identifies

a sampling site, a sampler, a

person or place, employee

unique data and other data

types as per Nova Scotia

Privacy Act.

Any other type of data entered

in the system will be configured

to be accessible only via

workflow configuration.

June 16, 2020

Clarification # 2


Project # P18.2020




Question Answer – Data Management Answer – Documentation Management

• How many data sources are we expecting to connect to, and can you provide the size or amount of data to expect?

GIS integration at this time for mapping.

We are expecting to import data from various sources via manual or API activity.

There will be no integration with data sources.

We are expecting to import data from various sources via manual or API activity.

• What is the approximate number of Spreadsheet files that Halifax expects to be migrated to the QDMR solution?

We are not migrating spreadsheets to the tool for this phase of the project.

We are attaching spreadsheets to the tool.

• Is there any other data type to be considered for the QDMR (besides Excel spreadsheets)?

.csv

.txt

Image files (jpeg, gif, png etc.)

These are attachments to the product and not migrations to the product.

.pdf

.docx

Image files (jpeg, gif, png etc.)

These are attachments to the product and not migrations to the product.

• Does Halifax have a preferred RDBMS (Relational Database Management System) technology?

Microsoft SQL Server 2016 N/A

• Is there a number of reports already defined and required for Halifax's QDMR?

• Yes, for regulatory reporting as well as for internal review of data submitted.

• produce a customized Warning Report

• Report of external data entry

• Produce a customized Warning Report

There are a number of report templates defined, Halifax Water is looking to produce customized

There are a number of report templates defined, Halifax Water is looking to produce customized warning reports for sampling schedules, alert reports, etc.

warning reports for reporting schedules, alert reports, etc.

• Is there an approximate number of expected users from Halifax that will be interacting with the QDMR solution at different levels?

There are approximately 100 users who will use the solution at various times (not concurrently).

• For a global company, can we leverage our human resources based out of Canada for this opportunity?

Yes. However, but resources must be available during Halifax Water business hours when required. As well, resources must be available for production support to meet SLAs once contracts are finalized.

Additionally, resources must observe Canadian and Nova Scotia legislation specifically: privacy, security etc.

a) NS Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act

b) NS Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Regulations

c) NS Personal Information International Disclosure Protection Act



[email protected].






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June 15, 2020

Addendum # 3




Changes: Page 16 of the RFP document, Section 6.0: Appendix D is referenced. “Appendix D” is removed and replaced with “Appendix B”. A signed copy of each Addendum must also be included with the bid submission. Failure to include this Addendum may be cause for rejection. If you have any questions, please contact our office by email at [email protected].



End of Addendum # 3



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June 12, 2020

Addendum # 2




Changes: The following requirement has been removed from the RFP:

Requirement

N.6 The proposed solution will publish all employee calendars and important shared

calendars, with periodic updating, as iCal Internet Calendar publications using SSL or

through MS Outlook REST API which are protected by the mechanism noted in requirement

(NFR S5) to permit SSO and access to only HW staff. The purpose is to permit staff to

subscribe and incorporate their

The table in section 3.6 has been amended to the following:

Dates

May 15, 2020 RFP Issue Date

Aug 4, 2020 RFP Closing Date

Aug 31, 2020 Short-list Vendor Notification

Sep 7, 2020 – Sep 11, 2020 Short-list Vendor – introductory calls & questions

Sep 15, 2020 – Oct 16, 2020 Short-list Vendor – virtual in-depth demonstrations

Nov 12, 2020 Final Selection & Notification of Award

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The Technical Requirement Spreadsheet “Halifax Water – QDMR RFP – Technical” has been removed and replaced with “Halifax Water – QDMR RFP – Technical – June 12, 2020 - NEW” A signed copy of each Addendum must also be included with the bid submission. Failure to include this Addendum may be cause for rejection. If you have any questions, please contact our office by email at [email protected].



End of Addendum # 2



June 9, 2020

Clarification # 1


Project # P18.2020




Requirement Question Answer – Data Management (Point of View) Answer – Documentation Management (Point of View)

APP: BR-10 The product must be able to display the need to review submitted document(s) / data (i.e. Flag, checkbox, status, etc.)

Can you expound on your vision for this functionality, possibly a use case?

N/A If a document or data is submitted, a review is required to be completed prior to being checked off as being completed. When a document or data is completed and submitted into this software, the item should be marked (flagged, check boxed) so that others will know that the submission was made and that it is ready to be reviewed.

Example: Staff compile a report for submission to the utility regulatory body. Upon their completion of this detailed report containing data tables, figures, contextual text, etc. they upload it to the system for submission. The system shall have the ability to indicate that the uploaded report needs to be reviewed before moving to the next step in the workflow (i.e. submission to the regulatory body).

APP: BR-14 The product must provide the ability to require a status change to "APPROVED" / "SIGNED OFF" after a document has been set a status of "FINAL".

How does this requirement relate to SharePoint integration?

N/A Not related to SharePoint. Requirement is for the product to provide this function.

APP: BR-19 The product must have the ability to have sign-off of documents for approval prior to being submitted to external sources (receivers).

How does this requirement relate to SharePoint integration?

N/A Not related to SharePoint. Requirement is for the product to provide this function.

APP: BR-16 A notification / user prompt / pop-up is displayed when a user enters data that is outside of the custom configured data.

If the majority of data is entered via an electronic upload, is a screen summarizing the exceedance of a limit sufficient? Or are you referring to hand or mobile entered data only?

This requirement is referring to the manual entry of data into a text field by staff collecting in-field measurements either via a mobile device at the time of sample collection or back at the office at the end of the day.

In the event the value entered exceeds set limits, the system will provide an on-screen notification or system alert prior to the user submitting the data to the database.

N/A

APP: BR-17 The product should require (mandatory) comments if a value entered is outside the Admin configured set range.

If the majority of data is entered via an electronic upload as batches of data, is a single comment screen sufficient or must each data point have such a comment capacity? Or are you referring to hand or mobile entered data only?

A single comment screen would suffice containing information for specific sample locations. Each data point should have comment capacity. This may only be referring to field data entered manually into the system.

For any data value outside configured criteria (i.e. data entered generates an alert by the system) the user shall have the ability to enter additional details pertaining to the value reported. For example, the user may enter information on the actions taken to address the measurement outside the configured criteria. This can be thought of as a table of records related to values outside configured limits where additional details and actions stemming from the value are stored. All records would be related back to the value and/or alert in question.

The ability to add comments on each individual data record is not required as majority will not require a comment of any kind.

N/A

REPORT: BR-8 The product will have the ability to track key performance indicator (KPI) metrics and compare to benchmarks.

Can you define the performance indicators that you are looking to track and benchmark?

The data entered in the solution will be used in the Corporate Balanced Scorecard. Examples include:

1. % samples free of Total Coliform

The data entered in the solution will be used in the Corporate Balanced Scorecard. Examples include:

1. Count of infractions resulting in: o Environmental Warning Reports,

2. TTHM and HAA5 results (running annual average for TTHM < 100ug/L, TTHM < 80ug/L, HAA5 < 80ug/L, HAA5 < 60ug/L)

3. Turbidity monthly % calculation 4. % of Wastewater Treatment Facility complying with

Utility Regulator approval limits

o Summary Offence Tickets, o Ministerial Order or prosecution.

REPORT: BR-23 Access to sensitive data through the product must be logged.

Can you provide examples of the type of “sensitive” data that you would want logged?

Logging the username and timestamp when data is accessed is desired.

This is not a requirement of all data within the system simply results that are deemed sensitive. Example, customer household test results are deemed sensitive as they can directly impact the value of a property. Being able to monitor who is accessing this data within the system is important.

Any data that uniquely identifies a person or place as per Nova Scotia Privacy Act.

ADD: BR-1 The product must have a search function to be able to look for data / documents (site location, sample parameters, specific by title, enabled wild-cards, type of file, etc.).

Do you require a full search of the document text? Is this part of the integration to SharePoint?

Searching across fields (sample point name, comments, measurement names, analytes, etc.) is required. On the data management side, documents containing a large volumes of text will not be uploaded as only data and data related fields (i.e. comments) will be stored in this system.

Not related to SharePoint. This is a requirement for the product. Full content search of documents is not a requirement.

ADD: BR-12 The product must have the ability to easily attach documents to tasks (windows explorer / SharePoint).

Can you clarify if you are referring to “drag and drop” functionality for attaching documents vs “upload” functionality?

Either. The functionality needs to be easy.

Windows File Explorer and SharePoint were provided as examples of desired functionality.

APP: BR-14 The product must provide the ability to require a status change to "APPROVED" /

Under requirements, it is noted that specific document functionality is needed including document status

A utility regulator Approval/Permit to operate could be in a separate document management system.

"SIGNED OFF" after a document has been set a status of "FINAL".

changes and version control and document searches. Under SaaS section, you state that the solution will integrate with your SharePoint system as the document management system. Can you provide an example use case for functionality you are requesting?

The product would provide a status flag. All documents and final reports would be together and linked back to the final permit.

APP: BR-19 The product must have the ability to have sign-off of documents for approval prior to being submitted to external sources (receivers).

Under requirements, it is noted that specific document functionality is needed including document status changes and version control and document searches. Under SaaS section, you state that the solution will integrate with your SharePoint system as the document management system. Can you provide an example use case for functionality you are requesting?

Same as above.

The product should provide the function of a flag for status

NFR SaaS

N.4 The proposed solution will require integration to SharePoint as our document management system (DMS) while retaining full functionality using the following parameters.

Once integrated, will any document, photos, etc. still be maintained within the Proponent's system?

Yes, with links to the document management system and the Approvals that the documents, photos were generated for.

Costing

With the interfaces in place, the proponent will work with Halifax resources to define, document, execute and validate any data migration requirements to initialize the solution for launch. Halifax Water will provide a Business Analyst (BA) who will be responsible for elucidating and documenting the requirements. Halifax Water will also provide a Database Analyst (DBA) and an integration specialist to support the data migration process.

1. Can you clarify for pricing purposes, the amount and format of the data to be migrated to the system? Can you also indicate if all data will be migrated from other existing data systems, and, if so, what are the systems?

2. Will any data be migrated to the system prior to the configuration of the interfaces? If so, what data and what format?

1. Total number of records to transfer (past 10 years): 1.2 million records (2000 - 2018)

o Format will be determined during workshop and design.

o Data migrated from other systems will be determined during workshop and design

2. Yes, any data required for configuration of interfaces will be migrated to the system.

o Data and format will be determined during workshops.

These items are for clarification purposes only and does not change the scope of work of the RFP. If you have any questions, please contact our office by email at [email protected].






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June 3, 2020

Addendum # 1




The Closing date of this RFP will be extended from June 29, 2020 to August 4, 2020 due to an amendment of the RFP to enable the following responses from vendors:

1. Response to Data Management requirements only 2. Response to Document Management requirements only 3. Response to both Data Management and Document Management requirements for a

complete solution Addendum 2 with the details of restructuring will be available no later than June 12th 2020. A signed copy of each Addendum must also be included with the bid submission. Failure to include this Addendum may be cause for rejection. If you have any questions, please contact our office by email at [email protected].





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End of Addendum # 1

changes - nova scotiaquality data management and reporting to all bidders of p18.2020: please note:...

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