REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL
Secure Messaging Platform
Issued: March 10, 2025
Deadline for Submittal: March 28, 2025, 5:00PM
The City of Richmond administers grant funds from various local, state, and Federal sources. All grant-funded expenditures shall comply with the terms and conditions of the grant and the applicable Federal, State, and Local requirements for such expenditures.
Contracts awarded under this solicitation shall/may be funded, in whole or in part, with Federal grant funding. All Federal grant awards are subject to Uniform Administrative Requirements and Cost Principles, codified in 2 CFR 200. See 2 CFR 200 Appendix II.
ATTACHMENT 2
INTRODUCTION
The City of Richmond’s Police Department wants to use software as a service that can provide secure messaging services (SaaS) that are compatible with Windows and Mac based operating system and mobile device platform (iOS and Android).
The SaaS must be in full compliance with CJIS Security Poilicy 5.9.5 and should meet the following minimum requirements:
• Customize retention period that can be configured and audited by authorized department personnel.
• Ability to run usage and audit reports, in cluding but not limited to user login, screen shot capture, deleted post/messaging, etc.
• Mass push notification of messages.
• Ability to set up multiple secured groups (i.e., a chat room) for specific authorized users.
• Notification “toaster” pop up (Windows/Mac based operating system) and in -app notification for mobile devices (if possible)
PROPOSAL GUIDELINES
The proposal should be concise, well organized, and demonstrate the proposer’s qualifications and experience applicable to the Project.
A. Vendor Cover Letter
The cover letter should provide a brief introduction to the company, background, services, confirm that all elements of the RFP have been reviewed and understood, review and understand the City’s insurance requirements and related contracts, ordinances, business licenses, etc. The Cover Letter should be signed by an authorized representative of the company with their contact information (email, work/cell number, corporate or regional address, etc.) B. Software Solution
The vendor solution should meet or exceed the functionality as described in the Project Background Section , proof of software solution (i.e., ability to access a demo site, trial period, etc.). The vendor that best meets the department requirements will be invited for an in-depth demo (remote or in person).
C. Requirements
In addition, the proposed solution should include the minimum requirements for the services below:
a. Software solution is operated and managed onshore (no offshore support or development allowed)
b. Data that is stored in the cloud (Amazon Web Services or Microsoft Azure) stored in a manner that meets or exceeds CJIS requirements. c. Multi-factor authentication.
d. ISO 27001, Fed Ramp or SOX 2 certification preferred (but not required)
D. Cost Information
Provide a comprehensive fee schedule for all the services the Respondent
will provide to the Police Department (i.e., per user cost, site license, etc.). All cost and pricing data, including documents showing indirect costs and direct labor rates should be included in the proposal. Pricing should include any annual price increase. The anticipate duration of this service is 3 years.
Proposers will be paid at the same rates set forth in their cost proposal unless further negotiated in writing and agreed to by the Police Department.
E. Contractor Assignment of Sub-Contract
The resulting contract shall not be assigned, transferred, or sublet, in whole or in part, without the prior written approval of the Police Department. If Offerors intend to subcontract any portion of the resulting contract, they must describe their process for selecting such subcontractor(s) and the quality control measures that the Offeror will employ to ensure that any subcontractor complies with the provisions of Offeror’s contract with the Department.
F. Exceptions to this Request for Proposals
The proposer shall state whether it takes exception(s) to this RFP, including but not limited to the City of Richmond’s Standard Services Agreement – RFP (Attachment 1). If the proposer does take exception(s) to an y portion of the RFP or contract, the specific portion to which exception(s) is taken must be identified by section number and explained. Requests for changes or additions to sections of the City of Richmond’s Standard Services Agreement must be made by requesting deletion of specific words and/or by providing the newly requested contract language. Requests for complete replacement of the City of Richmond’s Standard Services Agreement for another contract will not be granted. Failure to make exceptions to the RFP or Standard Services Agreement within the proposal will be deemed a waiver of any objection. Exceptions will be considered during the proposal evaluation process.
G. Statement of Impartiality and Disclosure
This proposal shall include a statement decl aring that the proposer’s and sub - consultants are not currently, and will not, during the performance of these services, participate in any other similar work involving a third-party with interests currently in conflict or likely to conflict with City of R ichmond’s interests.
Additionally, the proposer is required to disclose any pending or active investigations or litigation that may affect the reputation or ability of the proposer to carry out the Project.
H. Sanctuary City Contracting and Investment Ordinance 12-18NS_2018 The City of Richmond’s Sanctuary Contracting Ordinance certification requires the City to refrain from doing business with vendors who provide Data Broker or Extreme Vetting services to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Division of the United States Department of Homeland Security (“ICE”). If the Department decides to award the bid to a vendor that is unable to comply with this ordinance, the Department may ask the City Council for an exemption.
PROCESS FOR SUBMITTING PROPOSALS
Questions Concerning Request for Proposals
Please do not contact staff directly regarding this Proposal which will not be answered.
All questions must be submitted via the electronic BidsOnline system on the Q&A tab by March 21, 2025 , 5:00PM. If the City finds it necessary to issue an addendum, prospective Offerors will receive e-mail notification of addendum.
Answers to questions received will be provided on the Q&A tab . It is the proposer’s responsibility to periodically check the BidsOnline website www.ci.richmond.ca.us/ bids for any possible Addenda to the RFP that may have been posted.
No party submitting a proposal shall not contact or lobby any City Council member, City official, employee (except those specified for contact) or agent regarding the RFP. Any party attempting to influence or circumvent the RFP, bid submittal, and review pro cess may have their proposal rejected for violating this provision of the RFP.
Interested parties may download copies of the above-mentioned proposal by visiting the City's web site, and to download RFP, new vendors will be required to register. Once the vendor downloads any documents relative to a solicitation, that vendor's name will appear on the Prospective Bidders list for that project and will receive any addenda or notifications relating to the RFP.
Submission of Proposals
Please submit your proposal via the City of Richmond's BidsOnline system. Proposals submitted by facsimile or e-mail are not acceptable and will not be considered.
The proposal and any required certifications shall be signed by an individual or individuals authorized to execute legal documents on behalf of the proposer.
The proposer is responsible for submitting its entire proposal package with all required submittal documents and any modifications or revisions, to reach the City of Richmond’s office as designated in the RFP by the time specified below. Any proposal, modification, or revision received by the City of Richmond after the exact time specified for receipt of proposals is “late” and will not be considered.
The City of Richmond reserves the right to waive inconsequential irregularities.
GENERAL GUIDELINES
This RFP does not commit to the City of Richmond to award a contract, to defray any costs incurred in the preparation of a proposal pursuant to this RFP, or to procure our contract for work. Th e City of Richmond may reject a proposal without providing the reason(s) underlying the decline. A failure to award a contract to the proposer with the lowest cost proposal shall not constitute a valid cause of action against the City of Richmond. The City shall not be responsible for work done, even in good faith, prior to final approval of the proposed contract. The City may investigate the qualifications of any respondent under consideration, require confirmation of information furnished by the respondent, and require additional evidence or qualifications to perform the Services described in this RFP.
The City reserves the right to:
1. Reject any or all proposals.
2. Issue subsequent Requests for Proposal.
3. Postpone opening for its own convenience.
4. Remedy technical errors in the Request for Proposal process.
5. Negotiate with any, all, or none of the Respondents.
6. Solicit best and final offers from all or some of the Respondents.
7. Select one or more Respondents.
8. Accept other than the lowest proposed fees.
9. Waive informalities and irregularities in proposals.
Public Records
All proposals submitted in response to this RFP have become the property of the City of Richmond and public records and, as such, may be subject to public review. Documents protected by law fro m public disclosure will not be disclosed by the City of Richmond if clearly marked with the word "confidential" on each applicable page. Trade secrets may be marked as confidential only to the extent they meet the requirements of California Government Code section 6254.7. Only information claimed to be a trade secret at the time of submittal to the City of Richmond and marked as "confidential" will be treated as a trade secret.
Insurance Requirements
The City of Richmond requires consultants doing busines s with it to obtain insurance, (Type 8). The required insurance certificates must comply with all requirements of the standards as shown and must be provided and approved by Risk Management prior to City Attorney Review. No work or services will be allowed without a valid and approved insurance on file.
Business Licenses
The successful Contractor and all subcontractors used in the work will be required to hold or to obtain a City of Richmond business license for which the fee will not be waived.
Compliance with City Ordinances
The contractor and all subcontractors shall comply with the City of Richmond Nondiscrimination Clauses in City Contracts Ordinance ( Richmond Municipal Code (RMC) Chapter 2.28 ), Business Opportunity Ordinance ( RMC Chapte r 2.50 ), Local Employment Program Ordinance ( RMC Chapter 2.56 ), Living Wage Ordinance ( RMC Chapter 2.60) and Ordinance Banning the Requirement to Provide Information of Prior Criminal Convictions on all Employment Applications (“Ban the Box”) ( RMC Chapter
2.65), which are incorporated into the Contract Documents by this reference.
Collusion
By submitting a proposal, each respondent represents and warrants that its proposal is genuine and not false or collusive or made in the interest of, or on behalf of any person not named therein; that the respondent has not directly or indirectly induced or solicited any other person to submit a false proposal, or any other person to refrain from submitting a proposal; and that the respondent has not, in any manner, sought collusion
to secure any improper advantage over any other person submitting a proposal.
Withdrawal of Proposals
A respondent may withdraw their proposal before the expiration of the time for submission of proposals by delivering to the Finance Department a written request for withdrawal signed by, or on behalf of, the respondent.
Ownership of Documents
All reports, studies, information, data, statistics, forms, designs, plans, procedures, systems, and any other materials produced for the Project shall be the sole and exclusive property of the City. No such materials or properties produced in whole or in part for the Project shall be subject to private use, copyrights, or patent rights by Respondent in the United States or in any other country without the express written consent of the City. The City shall have unrestricted autho rity to publish, disclose (except as may be limited by the provisions of the Public Records Act), distribute, and otherwise use, copyright, or patent, in whole or in part, any such reports, studies, data, statistics, forms or other materials or properties produced for this project.
PROPOSAL EVALUATION AND SELECTION PROCESS
All proposals shall be reviewed to verify that the Respondent has met the minimum requirements. Proposals that have not complied with our requirements do not meet minimum content and quality standards or make unacceptable exceptions to the General Terms and Conditions of the Service Agreement, will be eliminated from further consideration. Proposals will be reviewed and evaluated by an evaluation commit tee comprised of City of Richmond personnel.
The City reserves the right to reject any or all proposals, or to make no award. The City also reserves the right to require modifications follow ‐up with requests for additional information, including, but not limited to, follow‐up interviews. The City may request Best and Final offers based upon improved understanding of the offers or changed scope of service. The City will negotiate with that vendor to determine final pricing and contract form. Because this pr oposal is negotiable, all pricing data will remain confidential until after the award is made. Overall responsiveness to the RFP is an important factor in the evaluation process.
In general, the criteria upon which the evaluation of the proposals will be based include, but are not limited to, the following:
Experience/Past Performance/References – 10%
Consideration will be given based upon the firm’s experience, years in business, past and current client references; technical expertise and professional competence in areas directly related to this RFP; number of years of experience in providing similar services.
User Acceptance – 75%
This category will evaluate the respondent’s overall usefulness, user acceptance (ease of use), system layout, accuracy of data, system uptime, meet or exceed current software used by the Police Department.
Cost Proposal – 15%
After the proposals are opened, but prior to the award, the City may elect to conduct
negotiations with the highest ranked proposal respondents for purposes of:
Selection will be m ade based on proposal received but after an in -depth presentations/proof of concept etc.
The City reserves the right to request additional information or clarification on any matter included in the proposal response, to enable the City to arrive at the final award decision.