Request for Proposals: for Data Warehouse Consultant for DSS Homeless Management Information System
Questions and Answers Q1. Please more clearly define what is meant by "integration tool". A database designed for analysis of trends, gaps of service, and mobility patterns among homeless people does not require personally identifiable information. If the Data Warehouse is going to be used to also integrate data between databases and not just reside within the Data Warehouse, then personally identifiable information on each client will need to be stored. An example: data entry information from System A will be imported into System B. A1.The Data Warehouse will also need to integrate with at least two databases to maintain client level data. An integration tool in this context would also mean that the Data Warehouse may need to be integrated with other applications, which would likely be a longer term goal for the Data Warehouse. For example, a custom application may need to access the Data Warehouse to help determine client eligibility for certain types of services. Q2. Does the County have the server hardware and network infrastructure (including Internet bandwidth) to run the Data Warehouse, or is this expected to be part of the proposal? A2. Yes, the County has the server hardware and infrastructure to run the Data Warehouse. Q3. Is the year term for implementing the Data Warehouse or does the year term stop after the Data Warehouse is implemented? A3. The term of any agreement resulting from this RFP is intended to be for a period of one (1) year. All work to be performed as part of the scope of work would be performed during the term of the agreement. Q4. Is the Data Warehouse a smaller portion of a larger plan? What other goals is the CoC looking to accomplish where the Data Warehouse plays a key role? A4. The data maintained in the Data Warehouse will eventually need to feed into a NY statewide homelessness data warehouse, which is currently under design. This is a long term goal.
Q5. Can we have clarification with subject area cubes and data marts? Do you already have a list for what you expect or are you expecting us to define them for you based on our experience and proposed methods of implementation? Is it a blend of the two? A5. We are expecting the proposer, if the proposer believes the two are necessary for a successful data warehouse implementation, to define them based on their experience and implementation approach. Q6. When you say the scope of work includes tuning of "other databases" ‐ can you please define what these databases are: how are they used (i.e. in the CoC, we use 4 separate HMIS implementations), where are they hosted, what is the database software? A6. There are two primary data sources that will feed the Data Warehouse: HMIS and the Department of Social Services shelter system. The proposer may need to recommend modifications to either system in order to properly capture data to meet the requirements of the data warehouse. The execution of these system changes is not within the scope of this proposal. Q7. Is the proposal pricing to include the development and implementation of the data warehouse, or just the first phase which would be discovery and defining the scope of the project? A7. The proposal pricing should include providing everything contained within the scope of work specified in the RFP. The proposal is priced to include the first phase of the data warehouse, and at least the implementation of a master data management and governance program, the development of ETL routines/packages and related processes, and the development of some reporting component to meet some initial needs of the Partnership. Q8. What is the significance of vendor’s prior experience in HUD HMIS on a scale of 1 to 10? A8. A vendor’s prior experience in HUD HMIS will be considered as it pertains to the evaluation criteria specified in the RFP, and weighed as part of each evaluation criterion under which it is considered. Q9. Has the County worked with any vendor to develop this RFP? A9. No, the County has not worked with any vendor to develop this RFP.
Q10. Does the County currently own or use any Reporting software or data extraction tools? A10. The County currently uses SAP Crystal Reports as reporting software. We have not
identified an ETL solution. Q11. Have you identified specific data systems and the associated table/columns that would be extracted into this Data Warehouse? A11. We have identified two primary data sources. While a majority of tables/columns have been identified in one primary source, the scope of this proposal includes the determination of additional tables/columns in this primary data source and the determination of tables/columns to be used from the other data source. Q12. Does the County have a ‘not to exceed’ budget for this project? A12. The County is seeking proposals for the scope of work specified in the RFP. The County does not have a specific ‘not to exceed’ budget for that scope of work. However, you should submit your best price proposal for that scope of work, as cost will be one of the criteria used to evaluate the proposals submitted in response to the RFP. Q13. Does the County expect the vendor to purchase hardware/software required for this project? A13. The County does not expect the vendor to purchase hardware/software for this project. Q14. Did the County get an opportunity to see a demonstration of Data Warehouse and reporting solution from any vendors? A14. No, the County has not had an opportunity to see a demonstration of Data Warehouse and reporting solution from any vendor.. Q15. What is County’s biggest stance in getting real time information?
A15. Amongst the human service departments, the largest current stance of near real‐ time data extraction involves the New York State Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS) Welfare Management System (WMS), which involves the mapping and interpretation of 50+ relational tables to multiple destination schemas.
Q16. To understand the magnitude of the project, can the County provide some information on: No of sources of data, Data Base types of the sources and a rough estimate of no of tables and columns in each sources that needs to be brought into the warehouse A16. Initially, there are 2 primary data sources involved. One data source resides on Oracle, of which approximately 30 normalized tables are used, and the other data source resides on MS SQL Server, which contains 200+ tables, of which needs to be determined the portion of these that will be useful for the data warehouse. Q17. What is the size of the data expected to be extracted from source systems on a per day basis? A17. The size of the data to be extracted from the source systems on a per day basis is not expected to be significant. Q18. In order to ensure proper staffing, please provide some idea as to the number, type and commitment (FTE equivalent) of Resources County plans to assign to this project. A18. A current estimate of FTEs for this project would be 1‐2 people focusing on project planning and requirements, between .5 Full Time Equivalent (FTE) to 1 FTE Information Technology personnel, and the availability of the HMIS vendor for consultation on the HMIS data source. However, it is up to each proposer to determine what staffing levels it will need in order to perform the full scope of work during the term of the agreement. Q19. Is County willing to release the names of all applicants who have submitted the response to this proposal? A19. Proposals are not due until 12/20/12 therefore there is no list of applicants to release. Q20. What is the duration of this project? A20. The term of any agreement resulting from this RFP is intended to be for a period of one (1) year. Accordingly, the duration of the project solicited by this RFP is 12 months. Q21. Is the work could be done off sight. Q21. Yes. Although on site work will be necessary. We would expect on site at least once in the beginning to become familiar with our system and the grantees, and then a few of times a year for check in. The selected proposer will definitely need to be available by conference call or videoconferencing for most CoC Board meetings (once monthly), all Data/Systems meetings (quarterly), and Application workgroup meetings (biweekly for the 3 months leading up to the submission of the NOFA). If selected proposer has the
capability, the selected proposer could train remotely most of the time, but it would be necessary to train in person at minimum once per year.