This solution was selected as the winning solution for the Baptist Health Competition.
The system was completed by November 20th, 2014 and met system requirements in the following areas:
- Managing Request for Proposals (RFPs)
- Managing Bidding Offers
- Registering Vendors
- Generating Contracts
- Generating Reports
- Account Creation & Permissions Management
- System Accessibility
A web-based application will be developed that shall be compatible with most web browsers and consist of programming languages, web technologies and a back-end database. This system shall enhance Baptist Health’s ability to leverage its purchasing power by providing an intuitive and interactive platform for vendors to compete for contracts by submitting RFPs. Web-Based Application
We will develop a database driven web application for recording information defined in the scope of project.
- Administrative users will have full access to all sections of the RFP management system.
- Employees will be designated a modifiable permissions level by system administrators. The permissions level will determine how an employee may interact with the system.
- Vendors will only have access to view information that is necessary to them conducting business with Baptist Health. Vendors would lack the capability to add, edit, delete, and view information or resources that is not pertinent to or created by the aforementioned. Vendors shan't be able access sensitive information within the system. Vendors shall have the capability to add, edit, and withdraw bids on RFPs to which they were granted access. As implied, Vendors may be granted access by administrators or employees with a sufficient permissions level to view details and place bids on RFPs.
The RFP Management System shall allow administrators and authorized employees to create, edit, post, and withdraw RFPs. An intuitive data entry form shall be provided for the creation and editing of RFPs. The process of posting an RFP will allow the initiator to grant vendors access to select vendors who will in turn be notified. Withdrawing an RFP shall notify affected vendors and remove all associated bids.
The RFP Management System shall allow authorized vendors place, modify, and withdraw bids on RFPs. An intuitive form shall be provided to the vendor during the creation and modifying processes. Withdrawal of a bid may be initiated only by the vendor who created the bid at any time before a contract is created. Completion of the modifying and withdrawal processes shall involve notifying administrators and employees assigned to the affected RFP.
Administrators and authorized employees shall be able to view, monitor, and accept bids for any RFP. Accepting a bid shall send a notification to the affected vendor(s) and initiate the contract process. Accepting a bid will close the RFP to future bidding.
Vendors who wish to enroll in the system and conduct business with Baptist Health shall be required to fill out an online registration form. This registration form shall be intuitive and will collect necessary information from the vendor. All associated credentialing fees must be paid for vendors to complete their part of the registration process. Vendors who fail to pass the credentialing process will be notified and shall not have access to the system.
Administrators and authorized employees shall possess the capability to approve, reject, and disqualify vendors. Initiation of the approval/rejection process will present the user with a list of vendors who have completed registration and their associated credentialing status. From this view, the administrator or employee shall be able to approve or reject a vendor. Furthermore, administrators and authorized employees shall be able to disqualify vendors who have already been approved for system access; this process shall deactivate the vendor account and notify the affected vendor. Generating Contracts
The RFP Management System shall allow administrators and authorized employees to create, upload, edit and delete contracts or contract templates. This process shall be initiated after an administrator or authorized employee has accepted a bid on an RFP. Upon acceptance of a bid, the user will be presented with an intuitive contract form; after supplying the required information and submitting the form, a contract offer shall be sent to the affected vendor. Contract templates may be uploaded to the system to facilitate ease of use. Contracts may not be editing after the offer has been submitted to the vendor unless the vendor rejects the proposal. All necessary modifications to the selected contract or contract template should be completed prior to submitting the contract to a vendor.
Administrative users and employees with a sufficient permissions level will be able to create reports to analyze data. The data will be formatted for easy viewing. Capabilities include reporting on data maintained within the database, including, but not limited to, financial, contract, RFP, user, and bid information. Account Creation & Permissions Management
Administrators shall be the only group authorized to create employee accounts and set employee permission levels. Administrators will be presented with an intuitive form after initiating the account creation process. This form will involve setting employee permission levels. Administrators shall be able to modify the permissions of administrators and employees.
Basic security will be implemented for this project. The security implemented will protect against external users gaining unauthorized access to sensitive data. This will not protect against unauthorized access or distribution of information gathered by internal users that have authorization to access such information. Any other form of security issues including, but not limited to, major intrusions, data capturing, and attacks to the system, are not the liabilities of the system creators.
The costs of this system include, but are not limited to, product licensing, required hardware, web hosting and financial transaction processing service fees. Additionally, an SSL may be purchased from the web hosting service.
Whether the client chooses outside hosted or self-hosted, the client will need to provide:
- Domain name acquisition and DNS maintenance. A separate fully-qualified domain name will need to be provided for the web application, separate from the traditional web site.
- Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificate acquisition and renewals. This is recommended, but not required.
- Microsoft Windows Server-based host
- Microsoft SQL Server database
- Bandwidth sufficient to handle performance load
- Maintenance of server(s) and web application
- Data validation during implementation phase
- Web server and database server security
- Server hardware performance
- System backups and verification
- Reliability demands, including but not limited to redundancy
- The responsibility of providing a balance sheet for the database
- All implementation costs, including software costs, after the project is completed
- All maintenance and upkeep of the software and database upon completion of the project
- The training of any new users who will be working with the web application
- Any additional features wanted outside of the project will have to be contracted out to another company
A self-hosted site will require the acquisition of any hardware and software that may be needed to implement the web application, including the license acquisitions and costs for all third-party software, including but not limited to Windows Server and SQL Server.
If a hosting provider is chosen, the customer will be responsible for monthly fees and taxes associated with the site. The system creator would not be responsible for hosting costs. The pricing listed in the Hosting Solutions section is subject to change. The client must ensure any third-party hosting meets the requirements of the system.
- Database development
- Desktop application development
- Web application development on time and on budget
- Web server configuration
- Web application installation and testing during implementation phase
- Web application documentation
After the completion of this project, users will be able to effectively interface with back-end database developed via the desktop or web based application. Administrators will be able to view, edit, and delete information within the database. The cost benefits analysis projects a net benefit of $3,615,855.45 over a five year period with the break-even point occurring during the first year of utilization.