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UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTSPresident’s Office

REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL CP17-DJ-1103 Data Standardization

Answers to Bidder Questions

Question 1

Please provide a ballpark budget allocated for this project. We are hoping that you will provide this transparency because we don’t want to go down the path of putting together a detailed proposal to find out that there is a mismatch in your desired budget and our estimates.

UMass Answer to Question 1

The pricing should be based on effort required to complete the agreed upon scope of work. The scope of work includes gathering and verifying the relevant data to understand the UMass system campus by campus, organizing the data in one accessible “binder” and gathering relevant data to allow the UMass system to make strategic choices for program and expense based on strategic discussions between UMass and the consultant. This project should not be considered or priced as an IT or data warehouse project.

Question 2

Is all data to be reviewed maintained at the UMass System Office or will there be a need to visit or interact with the six operating campuses?


Some of the data is available at the central office, but much of the data is available on the local campuses. Accordingly, interaction with the campuses will be required to complete this assignment.

Question 3

What are the different types of systems (ERP, CRM, databases) in which data is currently maintained and stored?


Our primary systems are PeopleSoft ERP – 5 campus HR & Fin, 3 campus Student Information System (Boston, Dartmouth and Lowell campuses). We also have a data warehouse and support a number of ancillary systems, including a workflow based Document Imaging system. The campuses are actively investing in CRM (Salesforce, Target X primarily)

Question 4

What is the current volume and the format of data?

UMass Answer to Question 4The volume of the UMass data is extensive and organized on a campus by campus basis with some coordinated data collection at the UMass office.

Question 5

Will you provide the selected vendor with access to the systems in which the data resides?


The University will ensure that the awarded vendor has access to the necessary data to complete the agreed upon scope of work. That may be direct access or exported to the vendor by University personnel, TBD.

Question 6

What percentage of the work is to be performed on-site?


Whatever effort is required to meet the requirements of the scope of work, however, this will require work with both the central office as well as work at each of the campuses.

Question 7

How many hours is this project estimated to take and what are the projected start and end dates?


Duration is determined by agreed upon scope of work. Projected start date February 2017, subject to change.

Question 8

Who will the vendor interface with at the System Office?


Senior members of the University management team.

Question 9

Who will be the primary point-person / project coordinator within the UMass system office?


Senior members of the University management team.

Question 10

Is there a defined working group with whom the consulting firm will be working with / reporting to? Or will the project coordinator play this role?


TBD

Question 11

At each campus, who are the specific individuals designated to provide support in the data aggregation efforts?


TBD, however, vendor will have access to appropriate personnel to meet requirements of scope of work.

Question 12

Who is the data intermediary at the UMass system level with whom the consultant will be working?


Not relevant to assignment

Question 13

Does the scope for this RFP include the assessment of all available data sets at the system level, or is it confined to any one category (e.g., academic, finance, etc.)?


All data sets. Additionally, based on experience, vendor will recommend data sets to be established based on best practices implemented at other University Systems.

Question 14

Which third party / national higher education data sets does the UMass system want analyzed?


Awarded vendor to recommend best practices and places to review and compare based on relevant experience

Question 15

Will University of Massachusetts provide any staff (such as Project Manager other than Stakeholders of the project)?



Question 16

Is there a system in place today that accomplishes the said goals in any limited way that needs to be "Re-Engineered"?


There is currently a high volume of data that needs to be verified, organized and made “user friendly” for a variety of constituencies.

Question 17

Does the interface be supported by smart devices or simply have a simple Web/GUI component?


Not relevant

Question 18

Can we get a brief overview of the databases, applications currently used?



Question 19

Will there be any SMEs from the university to ask questions about the data?



Question 20

Can the data be exported into raw files for analysis?


Yes

Question 21

Can we visit the campuses to meet with the IT & Business staff during the analysis?


Yes, vendor will have access to appropriate personnel to meet requirements of scope of work.

Question 22

What is the anticipated timeline for the completion of the project?



Question 23

Is there any proposed budget allocated for this project?


The pricing should be based on effort required to complete the agreed upon scope of work.

Question 24

Does the university have any preference on the data collection mechanisms?


TBD

Question 25

What are the Source systems for System office?



Question 26

Can you provide the list of users or consumers for this data?


University Senior Leadership, trustees, campus leaders-broadly used potentially and selectively

Question 27

What resources would the UMass system office make available to the contractor to complete the inventory of

availability and use? To what extent is that information available online or documented in print, and to what extent

would it be necessary for the contractor to interview staff to complete the inventories?


TBD, suggested best practices based on experience will be considered. Awarded vendor will have access to appropriate personnel and data to complete the requirements of the scope of work.

Question 28

What security clearances must the contractor obtain in order to gain access to the data?


TBD

Question 29

What are examples of current quality concerns related to the data available at the system level?


UMASS wants to develop organized, verified and functional data that will be useful to determine strategic direction and make decisions tactically on a broad range of items.

Question 30

What are the primary current uses of data by the UMass system office? Please specify any publicly available reports and

administrative protocols using the data in question.


Public information at your disposal

Question 31

What are the sources of information for Task 3, cataloguing the most commonly requested and used data sets and

evaluating their effectiveness for decision making?


Industry best practices, standards implemented at other Academic Institutions/systems, TBD

Question 32

What are the main shortcomings of the data currently available to the UMass system office?


Organization, consistency, veracity, ease of access, strategic application of the data sets.

Question 33

Which national Higher Education data sets are of particular interest to UMass and what are the main questions UMass is

interested in addressing with those data?


To be recommended by consultant based on experience

Question 34

What are some examples of recent third party analyses of national Higher Education data sets regarding the UMass

system?



Question 35

Which other state higher education systems are likely to be included in the inventory of peer data sets?



Question 36

What are the primary audiences for analyses and reports based on the data sets maintained by the UMass system office?


University Senior Leadership

Question 37

Is there an incumbent for this work, and if so, who is the incumbent?


No company retained previously; many internal resources to be engaged and consulted with.

Question 38

Is there a targeted cost estimate and level of effort for this work?



Question 39

What are the key metrics already collected by the UMass system referred to in Task 2?


Standard metrics that a top tier State school would utilize

Question 40

What is the standardized format used by the UMass system referred to in Task 2?


Publically available

Question 41

What is the expected full period of performance? And more specifically, is there a date by which UMass would like this

work completed?



Question 42

One of the proposal requirements is to “provide a complete list of other universities, similar in size and complexity to the University of Massachusetts, where you have completed similar projects.” If a vendor has data collection, assessment and standardization experience, but in sectors other than higher education would they be automatically disqualified from consideration?


NO, however experience with Academic Institutions is preferred.

Question 43

How many systems and databases (DBs) are currently considered by the System Office to be part of its data set inventory? Provide approximations if exact figures are unavailable.


We are not sure we understand the question. Our ERP systems (Listed above) are “source” systems by definition. They have a large number of outbound interfaces and a smaller number of specific inbound feeds (examples – Kronos timekeeping, SAT scores)Our data warehouse is sourced from HR, Finance, eprocurement, SIS and other systemsOur Identity and Access management System captures and reconciles identity information and provisions to some campus directories

Question 44

What DB technology (e.g. SQL, Oracle, IBM, etc.) is currently in use within the UMass system office in regards to its current data set inventory?


Oracle, MS SQL Server

Question 45

What Business Intelligence (BI) and/or data management technology software provider products (e.g. Microsoft, Oracle, IBM, Tableau, etc.) are currently being used by the UMass system office in regards to its current data set inventory?


Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition (OBIEE), IBM Datastage (ETL), Tableau

Question 46

May the vender assume that their team will be granted at least read only remote access to the systems and DBs currently considered by the System Office to be part of its data set inventory in order to conduct its analyses?


No, TBD, suggested best practices based on experience will be considered. Awarded vendor will have access to appropriate personnel and data to complete the requirements of the scope of work.

Question 47

How many source systems currently feed the systems and DBs currently considered by the System Office to be part of its data set inventory? Provide approximations if exact figures are unavailable. How many third party utilizers of UMass system office data will need to be analyzed? Provide approximations if exact figures are unavailable.


Our ERP systems (Listed above) are “source” systems by definition. They have a large number of outbound interfaces and a smaller number of specific inbound feeds (examples – Kronos timekeeping, SAT scores)Our data warehouse is sourced from HR, Finance, eprocurement, SIS and other systemsOur Identity and Access management System captures and reconciles identity information and provisions to some campus directories

Question 48

Who are currently the biggest third party utilizers of UMass system office data in terms of data volume or frequency of data requests?


This data project is intended to provide data for Senior University Leadership.

Question 49

How many key metrics does the UMass system office currently use? Provide approximations if exact figures are unavailable.


Many, to be refined through this project.

Question 50

Are the calculation requirements of all the key metrics currently used be the UMass system office well documented and unambiguous? If the answer to this question is “no”, will the vendor be required to document calculation requirements and/or facilitate the resolution of any calculation unambiguity as part of this project?


No, this is the heart of the project.

Question 51

Is there an existing method for tracking data set requests and usage or will such a method need to be created from scratch as part of this project?


Each campus separately and the system too.

Question 52

How many peer data sets of UMass system office data will need to be analyzed? Provide approximations if exact figures are unavailable.


Numerous

Question 53

Will there be an existing UMass system office working or steering group comprised of individuals capable of answering vendor detail questions about its current data set inventory systems & DBs, data set source systems, key metrics, third party utilizers of UMass system office data, current data related pain points, and critical questions leaders and other data users are trying to answer currently/in the future? If not, is the UMass system office open to creating such a group at the start of the project so that UMass resources needed support and complete this project could be estimated and there will be a relatively structured way for the vendor to interact with them?


TBD. Awarded vendor will have access to appropriate personnel and data to complete the requirements of the scope of work. Please include recommendation based on experience/expertise.

Question 54

Will the vender be allowed to setup Q&A discovery meetings with UMass system office data set users and source system operators and administrators on each of the UMass distinct operating units or will interactions be limited to UMass system office officials and a project related workgroup (if one is created)?



Question 55

Does the fixed cost proposal need to include specific travel cost estimates or would it be acceptable to note that reasonable travel costs have not been factored into the cost proposal and will be billed to the client at cost if/when they occur?


Please provide as much detail as required to understand all costs associated with the project.

Question 56

Will the selected vendor be provided access to business analysts and data analysts/system owners to allow us to gain access to all of the data required to meet current end user needs. For planning purposes, are there any constraints/limitations on the amount of time they can spend with the team?



Question 57

Will the selected vendor have access to data owners from all of the affiliate schools and will we be required to review and analyze their data as part of this engagement:

Amherst Campus Boston Campus Dartmouth Campus Lowell Campus President’s Office – Central Administration (includes UMass On-Line) Worcester Campus


Yes. Awarded vendor will have access to appropriate personnel and data to complete the requirements of the scope of work.

Question 58

Will the selected vendor be provided a list of all of the third party entities UMass currently is provided data from? Are there key stakeholders that will help the project team understand these third party data sets throughout the duration of the engagement?


Yes. Awarded vendor will have access to appropriate personnel and data to complete the requirements of the scope of work. Please include recommendation based on experience/expertise.

Question 59

What questions or challenges do users or the organization at large seek to solve or answer from the data? Does the business problem or challenge exist only for the President's Office? Or is the same issue faced by the other 5 campuses? If there are different business problem or challenges for the other 5 distinct operating units, what are those?


Answers to previous questions answer this—see scope in question 1. The goal is to create a valuable set of data and metrics that can be used to measure the system as a whole, the campuses, data which is tested, and to create a strategic set of metrics and comparisons to be utilized in making strategic decisions. The exercise is designed to create a set of data that is trusted and a set of data that is strategic in design.

Question 60

Is there a distinction between the data used by third parties and the data used by UMASS?


Yes. Some information will be designed to be available publicly and others for internal consideration, subject to applicable law and regulation.

Question 61

Has a BI/data landscape assessment been completed in the past to understand gaps, challenges in the system? If yes, will that be provided to vendor?


Gaps, challenges in the current data should be identified as part of scope by bidder and included in the proposal.

Question 62

What is the current technology and BI/data landscape? - Is there a central data hub used by multiple operating units? - What technology stack / platforms / databases / applications are used currently? - Is there a reporting platform / solution in use? If yes, what is it?- Is the architecture different for the individual campuses / operating units? How is it different at the levels of data creation, data storage, and data consumption?


- Is there a central data hub used by multiple operating units? Yes – the data warehouse (Summit) is used by all campuses. The ERP systems, by default, are also multi unit data hubs. - What technology stack / platforms / databases / applications are used currently? Databases and applications are listed above. The applications are hosted on Oracle virtual Linux operating systems and Windows. On top of a Xen hypervisor. Where needed, systems are HA and fully redundant. They are also perpetually replicated to a geographically separate Disaster Recovery environment - Is there a reporting platform / solution in use? If yes, what is it? Yes – see above.- Is the architecture different for the individual campuses / operating units? How is it different at the levels of data creation, data storage, and data consumption?

Yes – the campuses are disparate from a technology perspective. The applications listed above are shared systems where the UMSO operates as a shared IT provider.

Question 63

Is the expectation from the program to deliver recommendations on1. Approach to accumulate and standardize data?2. Approach to create reliable data sets that UMASS can rely on and use?Please confirm.


Yes, to both

Question 64

Does the following need to be done for only the President's Office, or also for the other 5 campuses?1. Assessment of availabilty of data (existing metadata, source of data, master data, data models, etc.) 2. Analysis of use of data at system level3. Assessment of data quality at system level4. Analysis of use of data by 3rd parties


This is data for all campuses and will be utilized broadly

Question 65

On evaluation of 3rd party analysis and findings: Will the vendor get reports and findings of 3rd parties? How many such third party reports would you estimate to be? Will there be any support from stakeholders to interpret the reports and findings or will the related Data definitions, KPI and metric definitions also be provided??


Need clarification; TBD

Question 66

Within each operating unit how many departments / data sources / applications exist? Can a rough number of departments / data sources be provided? Please mention and categorize applications that generate, store and report / visualize the data.


Typical of a state system with many campuses

Question 67

What are the types of data sets? Please qualify as per below points:

1. Admissions, Classroom, Prospects, Accounts & Finance, Course, Records Management, Graduation & Alumni, etc.2. Structured and unstructured3. Master, transactional, reference and meta data

Do all operating units have their own data sets (as asked above)? Or is there a common data hub (warehouse)?


All of the above, and owned all over the system by different offices

Question 68

What is the volume of data sets? How many attributes are there in each data set? Are there multiple tables in the data sets? If yes, can we get the no. of tables?


Volumes

Question 69

Are there any existing business rules? If yes, how many? What is the composition of business rules in terms of complexity level of high, medium and low. Low involve attributes from single table. High being attributes from more than 2 tables.

Are there any existing metrics reported from the data to judge the quality of data? If yes, how many?


Varies from campus to campus and office to office.

Question 70

On "data sets are collected and reported in a standardized format" - is complete data profiling needed? Or just one i.e. conformity parameter needed to evaluate if data sets are collected and reported in standardized format? Conformity parameter ensures that data format, size, precision will be validated against the metadata for respective attributes.


To be done based on the advice and conversations.

Question 71

Is there a data dictionary / glossary / data catalogue / metadata available and will it be provided to Vendor?


Many around the system, and yes will be provided

Question 72

Is data quality analysis needed only for a sample data sets or entire data? What will be the size of sample data of the data sets? What is the size of actual data sets?


Volumes

Question 73

What are the kind of reports that are being generated? What are the formats that reports are being shared in?


Typical for higher education, state systems, see system websites

Question 74

What are the target departments to which the reports are sent? Reports are as follows:

1. Compliance reports for US Government?2. Internal departments / campuses?3. Any third parties?4. Any other?

Can you provide approximate numbers of reports?


This is not primarily for compliance or reporting, but will obviously be useful.

Question 75

What is the objective or need to expand analytics capability? What are current challenges?


All typical challenges of a complex system looking to improve . Based on consultant experience answer to this question is typical of what would find in any state system.

Question 76

Is there any formal reporting / analytics methodology in UMASS? What type of reporting and analytcs capabilty exists currently? Are there any predictive and prescriptive analytics existing currently? On average, how many reports are being generated out of data sets in scope? Is there any initiative on performance analysis of current reporting / analytics systems?


Varied, and part of exercise is to create some standard formats.

Question 77

Who are the end users of data / reports / analytics currently? How many UMASS departments and external parties utilize the data that UMASS generates? How are UMASS end users segregated? Is it student, parent, faculty, staff, business team, partners etc? Or is there any other way?


Campus leaders, university senior leadership, trustees, public --- broadly used potentially and selectively

Question 78

Does UMASS want to evaluate existing reporting solutions and need an exercise of report rationalization? Report rationalization being the study of utility of existing reports and recommendations on new reports as per business needs (and removing unused reports).


Yes

Question 79

Do all operating units use data similarly for reporting and analytics consumption? Do all operating units use different tools that are discrete in nature due to distinct needs? Is there a common / distinct reporting interface / solution for every operating unit?


Varied uses

Question 80

Has UMASS ever undergone a tool evaluation for BI and analytics capabilities? If yes, will UMASS share the findings with vendor?


Not aware of an evaluation being conducted

Question 81

Does UMASS have or follow any data management methodology like Data Governance, Data Architecture Management, Data Security Management and Data Warehousing? If yes, can vendor get information on existing methodology /charter / systems?


Yes, more detail will be provided to awarded bidder

Question 82

What is the context that has led to this RFP?


UMASS wants to develop organized, verified and functional data that will be useful to determine strategic direction and make decisions tactically on a broad range of items.

Question 83

How will you measure success from this effort? In a year, what will be the indicators that you hired the right partner to do this work?


TBD

Question 84

What data collection, data management and analytical capabilities does the UMass system office possess? What are hypotheses on current capability gaps?


Extensive expertise located throughout the system—looking for coordinated ,expert, strategic consolidation and analysis

Question 85

Are there any milestone dates relevant to project execution?


TBD based on award

Question 86

What type of involvement is envisioned from both UMass system office staff as well as relevant individuals from individual institutions during project execution?


TBD. As much as necessary for success.

Question 87

Does being selected for this scope preclude a firm from being involved in any associated implementation work?


No

Question 88

Do you have an anticipated budget or budget range for the effort?



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