Request for Proposal Website Redesign and Development Bermuda Chamber of Commerce

Request for Proposal Website Redesign and Development Bermuda Chamber of Commerce
Request for Proposals BCC Website Re-design and Business Register

Executive Summary

The Bermuda Chamber of Commerce (BCC) is seeking to redesign, develop and arrange hosting services for the BCC web site. The existing BCC web site was developed in 2010 using WEBLINK Software. The website is maintained by in-house resources with vendor assistance.

Additionally, BCC is seeking application development and maintenance services for an existing CRM WEBLINK application component.

The following guidelines outline the process by which BCC will elicit and evaluate proposals and potentially award a contract, if a suitable response is received.

Submission Deadline

Vendor proposals must be submitted by 5:00 pm Friday, February 22, 2013. Proposals received after the deadline will be deemed non-compliant and will not be considered.

Proposal Submission

Proposals may be submitted via email to jmacphee@bcc.bm. Emails that contain RFP proposal submissions should contain the following information in the subject line: “BCC Website RFP – <Company Name>”.

Proposals may also be mailed or hand delivered to the following address: 1 Point Pleasant Road, Hamilton HM 11.

All proposals and accompanying materials shall become the property of the BCC upon receipt and will not be returned.

All information submitted with the RFP will be kept confidential. The BCC is not obligated to award orders or contracts to vendors that participate in the RFP process.

Provisions of this RFP and the contents of the successful proposal may be included in the final contract.

Vendor Response Requirements

A description of BCC’s vision of the website redesign and Business Register enhancement project is set forth in the Statement of Requirements included in this RFP. The Project Scope is also included in the RFP. Vendors should contemplate and incorporate the details of both the Project Scope and Statement of Requirements in their proposal submissions.

Submissions must include the following information:

Project Methodology – A description of the proposed approach for conducting the requirements, website and application development processes and/or phases must be included. The description should set-out the methodology for elicitation, analysis, documentation and validation of project requirements, as well as the processes that will be used to coordinate the design, development, tests and production implementations.
High Level Project Plan – This will show how the vendor proposes to approach the project and will comply with the cost schedule referred to below.

Proposed Responsibilities of the BCC – A list of any proposed tasks/expectations of the BCC must be included in the proposal.

Technology Questionnaire – The Technology Questionnaire attached to this RFP as Appendix A must be completed in its entirety. If the use of subcontractors is proposed, each subcontractor must provide responses to the questions included in the questionnaire that relate to their proposed project tasks. Proposal submissions that contain incomplete Technology Questionnaires will be considered non-compliant and will not be considered for the contract award.

Cost – A statement of the total estimated costs for the website redesign and development as well as the Business Register enhancement, support and execution of change requests must be provided. The cost statement should include, but not be limited to, a breakdown of hourly and daily rate(s) billable in Bermuda dollars and an estimated number of hours and days through completion of the project. A cost schedule must be included that contains a breakdown of phases and tasks associated with the time and costs. If the proposal excludes costs related to certain requirements and/or services, a detailed description of said items and an explanation as to why they were omitted must be provided.

Pre-submission Information

All inquiries regarding this RFP must be made by email with “BCC Website RFP Inquiry” in the subject line, by February 15th, 2013. Please send all inquiries to jmacphee@bcc.bm. All vendors will be notified of the inquiries, without identifying the source, along with the response provided by the BCC.

Vendor Responsibility
It is the responsibility of the vendor to ensure that it has a thorough understanding of the instructions and requirements set forth in this RFP. If additional information or clarification is needed, questions should be submitted in writing as described in the section above.

Amendments
Prior to the submission deadline, the BCC may modify, amend or revise any guidelines and/or requirements within this RFP. The BCC will notify all vendors in writing of any change(s) to the RFP, including any change to the submission deadline and/or any subsequent date for new submissions.

Evaluation Process

The proposals submitted to the BCC will be evaluated by the BCC Business Technology Division (BTD) Web Sub Committee and the Management Committee of the BCC. Although such evaluation may result in the award of a contract, the BCC reserves the right to decline to award a contract to any vendor pursuant to this RFP. Additionally, the BCC reserves the right to award contracts to more than one vendor pursuant to this RFP.

All proposals submitted to the BCC will be evaluated in a two-stage process. The first stage will result in a short list of prospective vendors. The short listed vendors may be asked to attend an interview and present their proposals before the BCC RFP committee.

Proposals will be evaluated based on responsiveness to the requirements of this RFP as well as the quality and effectiveness of the proposal.

It is anticipated that the successful vendor will be selected by February 28th, 2013. All vendors who submitted proposals will be notified of the identity of the successful vendor.

Contract

Execution by the successful vendor of a contract that outlines the terms, scope of work and costs will be required. The project will initiate after the contract has been fully executed. The BCC shall incur no costs or liability to any vendor prior to initiation of the project. All contracts are subject to a final review by the BCC management committee.

Acceptance and Authority to Cancel the RFP

The BCC will not be obliged to accept the lowest price or any of the proposals submitted during this process. Each vendor acknowledges and agrees that the BCC will have no liability or obligation to any vendor, except to the vendor awarded a contract, if any. The BCC reserves the right to cancel this RFP without any obligation or reimbursement for cost, materials or time allocated to vendor response preparation.

References and Qualifications 

Before awarding a contract, the BCC reserves the right to require the vendor to submit evidence of qualifications it deems appropriate. This evidence may include references from prior customers, information regarding business ownership and financial soundness and relevant technical experience of the vendor.

Delivery

A public notice will be posted in the paper and on our website. This RFP can be downloaded from our website. The RFP will also be sent out through our Membership Register. In addition, it will be delivered via email upon request to non-BCC entities.
General All proposals will be considered final upon receipt. No additions, deletions, corrections or adjustments will be accepted after submission.

Proposals received after the submission deadline will be deemed non-compliant and categorized as a “NO BID”. The time stamp for proposals submitted electronically will be that of the BCC mail server. It is the vendor’s responsibility to allow sufficient time for electronic transmission and/or physical delivery of their proposal.

Payments will be made in accordance with the terms and conditions set forth in the final contract.

Summary of Key Dates
Request for Proposals published - February 7, 2013
Deadline for inquiries - February 15, 2013 5:00pm (AST)
Submission Deadline - February 22, 2013 5:00pm (AST)
Vendor selection (this date subject to change and respondents will be notified accordingly) - February 28, 2013

Project Scope: Introduction

The BCC website provides information about the organization’s mission, goals and services provided to businesses in Bermuda. The BCC is seeking to redesign and redevelop its web presence to reflect a more comprehensive representation of its current mission and services, as well as to incorporate the latest website technologies.

The BCC is seeking a highly experienced development team to migrate our existing website, including the CRM functionality, to new platform. The BCC uses the CRM application to store all membership information.

The successful vendor will develop a response for the proposed project scope outlined below.

Project Concept

This project will refresh the appearance, structure, content presentation and underlying web technologies of the BCC website. It will also enhance the usability and flexibility of our membership tool, as well as provide on-going technical support and maintenance in accordance with negotiated service level agreement(s).

Problem/Opportunity
An opportunity exists to redevelop the BCC website to better reflect the mission of BCC and its services, as well as to incorporate the latest web technologies.

Upon successful completion of the website, the BCC will assume responsibility for most of the web site content maintenance. All content, coding and graphics will become the sole property of the BCC.

Scope
The overall scope of this project is to completely redesign the BCC web site. Internal BCC staff will create and deliver the website content.

The detailed scope should include, but is not limited to the following criteria (may change during project life-cycle):

The vendor will work with the BCC team to develop the look and feel which should represent the Bermuda Chamber of Commerce.

The website must include a robust and easy to use Content Management System (CMS) as the standard for the BCC website content management;

Provide the associated software licenses (if applicable)
Provide training and related materials for the CMS.
Develop the project approach methodology (similar to Software Development Life-cycle).
Manage project and develop a Project Plan.
Create task and/or work break down structure (WBS);
Estimate task duration; and
Milestone identification and timeline development.
Design, develop, test and implement the new BCC website.
Collaborate with the BCC during all phases of the website development life-cycle.
Each phase must be approved by the BCC prior to continuation of the project life-cycle.

Statement of Requirements
Introduction

This document describes the functional and non-functional requirements of the BCC website redesign, development and maintenance.
Business Overview
Background
Founded in 1906, the Bermuda Chamber of Commerce is the oldest and largest trade organization in Bermuda, comprising some 700 members, representing virtually every industry sector. With a clear focus on advocacy, networking, communication and lobbying, The Chamber stands as a singular voice for commerce in the community. Organized by divisions, our members seek to address issues of mutual interest by market sector.

PRODUCTS AND SERVICES PROVIDED BY THE BCC
The BCC provides organizational, administrative and accounting support to its members.
The BCC lobbies and advocates on behalf of its membership, acting as the liaison between Government and industry.

The BCC provides networking and brand opportunities to align with membership needs.

1. Business Benefits
2. Website Redesign

The primary objective of the website redesign is to continue to build brand identity, awareness, and interest in the organization and the services it provides. It is anticipated that the website will provide a revenue stream for the BCC through the advertising component.

Our Vision

a. Maximize web-based technologies
b. Build our membership
c. Improve programs and services
Benefits of Website
a. Increase awareness of the BCC mission and promote involvement through events
b. Retain current members and gain new ones
c. Strengthen relationships with community partners, donors, members, program participants and staff
d. Improve external business efficiencies
e. Present comprehensive information and resources in an easy to use format
f. Increase site promotion activities
g. Integrate brand messaging
h. Deliver a consistent image

Benefits of CRM

Improve internal business efficiencies
Capture data on existing and new businesses in Bermuda
Capture data on individuals interested in starting Business in Bermuda
Sort data based on specified categories or industries
Report on selected data to be used to help guide policies for local business in Bermuda
Vision of the Project
Vision Statement
a. Maximize intellectual capital, to drive revenue
b. Create a uniform platform for the collection and sharing of data
c. Maintain and retain accurate data

Audience
The redesigned website will be accessible to the general public, but the target audience is our membership - businesses in Bermuda and overseas companies and individuals wishing to do business with and/or visit Bermuda.

The following is a list of the project stakeholders:
a. Current members
b. Prospective members
c. Government entities
d. International corporate partners
e. Sponsors
f. Volunteers
g. Community members
h. Employees
i. Overseas entities with an interest in Bermuda

BCC Website Functional Requirements

 The website must be built using a CMS
 The website must have an events management component where as the BCC staff can post events, accept registrations and easily export for an attendance list.
 The website should have the capability for the BCC to accept payment for these events in the future if they wish. This is not a requirement for phase 1.
 The website should have CRM or a component which can manage the membership information.
 The website should have the ability to generate revenue through advertising. The advertising component should be able to have multiple ads rotating in various spaces throughout the website; Each ad should be trackable for statistical purposes to provide information to the BCC clients.
 Search functionality
 Document repository – for secure documents for the BCC members to access
 Secure login for BCC members in order for the BCC staff to provide information to ONLY BCC members
 Google Analytics or a form of analytics software should be included in the proposal
 Ecommerce capabilities – potentially Phase 2

Each vendor is asked to identify and explain in detail their proposed solution for the functionality requested with a price associated with each of the items. This will allow the BCC to decide what is possible for phase one based on their budgetary allotment.