SAN DIEGO COUNTY EMPLOYEES RETIREMENT ASSOCIATION
Project: PENSION ADMINISTRATION SYSTEM SDCERA-PAS-RFP-001
Document: REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL
001 – RESPONSE INSTRUCTIONS
1.1 What this document is about
SDCERA is soliciting responses to this Request For Proposal for a new pension
administration system to replace its current Watson-Wyatt system. SDCERA is expecting
a number of responses to its RFP; therefore, it is important to SDCERA that bidders
respond according to the forms and instructions presented so that responses can easily be
compared. This document lays out the basic instructions for understanding how the RFP
is organized, and how the document should be submitted.
The successful bidder will provide SDCERA with detailed information on:
Cost of software, including licensing costs, initial customization costs.
Estimates on hardware
Flexibility of the system
Compliance with SDCERA’s business rules and requirements
“Look and feel” of the system
Architecture of the system
Implementation services, which include requirements, development, testing, data
conversion, training, and cut-over support
Annual initial maintenance costs
Any other additional services
1.2 Scope of this RFP
SDCERA is soliciting responses to this Request For Proposal for a new pension
administration system to replace its current Watson-Wyatt system. SDCERA is looking
for this technical system to be the core member administration system that encapsulates
the following general functions for the organization:
1. Setup of retirement benefits
2. Administration of health care program
3. Administration of retirement payroll
4. Importing of plan sponsor member files
5. Processing of service credit purchases
6. Cost of Living Allowance crediting
7. Member counseling tracking and benefit estimating
8. Administration of death benefits
9. Processing of reciprocal agency agreements
Last Updated:3/28/2007
RESPONSE INSTRUCTIONS
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This document is the property of SDCERA and Linea Solutions, Inc. It may not be reproduced or distributed without express written consent.
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SAN DIEGO COUNTY EMPLOYEES RETIREMENT ASSOCIATION
Project: PENSION ADMINISTRATION SYSTEM SDCERA-PAS-RFP-001
Document: REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL
10. Processing of withdrawals
11. Processing of Domestic Relations Orders
12. Management of member cash receivables
13. Processing of member contribution adjustments
14. 1099R processing; other state and federal tax reporting
15. Generation of actuarial valuation and experience extracts
16. Granting of semi-annual interest to member accounts
17. Member self-service through a web interface
18. Generation and management of correspondence
19. Generation of annual member statement
The areas above constitute the core functions in SDCERA’s pension administration
system. In addition to these areas, SDCERA also plans on integrating these basic
processing functions with three other external systems:
1. Accounting / Financial Reporting System / General Ledger
2. Document Management System
3. Reporting System
4. Interactive Voice Response
Finally, SDCERA is interested in understanding how the software is capable of tracking
cases that assist in fulfilling the various business processes surrounding the above list of
functions. To that end, this RFP also solicits responses surrounding case management and
workflow management.
1.3 Evaluation Criteria
Criterion Weight Criterion Description
Requirements 25% Ability of system to meet SDCERA’s technical and
functional requirements, business requirements, and
business rules.
Technical Solution 20% Overall fit to SDCERA, including user experience,
robustness, scalability, flexibility, ease of customization,
interface intuitiveness, use of industry-wide technology.
Maintenance & Support 12% Thoroughness of support program, reputation of company
with customers for responsiveness, thoroughness of
testing, and availability, overall cost of support and
upgrades.
Implementation Management 12% Comprehensiveness of project plan, quality of approach,
perceived thoroughness of testing phases, experience of
references in working with project team, including
personnel qualifications.
References and Experience 11% Perceived quality of overall system, perceived experience
with implementation, experience with 1937 Act County
systems, degree to which projects went over
Last Updated:3/28/2007
RESPONSE INSTRUCTIONS
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This document is the property of SDCERA and Linea Solutions, Inc. It may not be reproduced or distributed without express written consent.
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SAN DIEGO COUNTY EMPLOYEES RETIREMENT ASSOCIATION
Project: PENSION ADMINISTRATION SYSTEM SDCERA-PAS-RFP-001
Document: REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL
Criterion Weight Criterion Description
budget/schedule, customization design and cost,
experience with Help Desk / support staff, personnel
qualifications, and proposal firm’s qualifications.
Company Position in Industry 10% Company stability, availability of resources, likelihood of
company / product line survival, degree of product usage
in industry.
Cost 10% Relationship of quality of product to price, ongoing costs
for maintenance and support, customization costs,
perceived degree of accuracy in pricing for overall
project.
1.4 Submission requirements
This RFP in its entirety contains a total of 13 sections, plus one document that provides a
summary of the contents (14 sections in all). Some of these sections are for information
only. Other sections are forms to be filled out by the responders. When the response is
completed, the responder must submit the following:
1. One (1) electronic copy of each document that comprises the overall response, in
native format. This means that there may be multiple files.
2. One (1) electronic copy of the compiled response in an Adobe Acrobat PDF
(version 7.0 or lower). The responder should put all of the documents in the order
that they should appear and be printed into one (1) PDF file. One section requests
a video capture file; this file can be omitted from the PDF for practical reasons.
With the exception of the vidcap file, the SDCERA panel will rely on the PDF
copy for its evaluation. The original, native formatted files will only be used as a
backup and for compiling information.
To save on delivery costs, paper copies are not required for submission, nor are they
desired. However, all submissions must be copied onto a CD-ROM (no DVD-ROM
accepted) and received prior to the deadline in the selection timeline.
All submissions become the property of SDCERA and will not be returned to responders.
All proposals shall be valid for 180 days from the submission due date, and no more than
one proposal per responder is allowed.
1.5 Where to submit RFP responses
All submissions must be delivered prior to the deadline specified in the selection
timeline, and must be addressed to:
Mark Mimnaugh
Chief Operations Officer
San Diego County Employees Retirement Association
2275 Rio Bonito Way, Suite 200
San Diego, CA 92108-1685
Last Updated:3/28/2007
RESPONSE INSTRUCTIONS
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This document is the property of SDCERA and Linea Solutions, Inc. It may not be reproduced or distributed without express written consent.
Sdkjflsdflsjd;lfasdfsdfadsf
SAN DIEGO COUNTY EMPLOYEES RETIREMENT ASSOCIATION
Project: PENSION ADMINISTRATION SYSTEM SDCERA-PAS-RFP-001
Document: REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL
E-Mail: PASRFP@sdcera.org
1.6 How to use the documents in this RFP
A total of 13 different documents comprise this RFP. Among these 13 documents, three
types of document exist:
1. Information: this type of document only provides information to the responder.
These documents do not need to be submitted by the bidder as part of the overall
response to the RFP.
2. Forms: this type of document must be filled out by the responder and sent back to
SDCERA. Additional pages can be attached if the forms do not provide enough
space.
3. Acknowledgement: this type of document is a listing of information required for
compliance purposes. It must be signed by an authorized representative from the
responder’s firm, and it must be submitted as part of the overall response to the
RFP.
Section # Section Name Document Type
001 RESPONSE INSTRUCTIONS Information
002 TIMELINE Information
003 CONTRACT REQUIREMENTS Acknowledgement
004 FUNCTIONAL SPECIFICATIONS Form
005 TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS Form
006 CUSTOMIZATION EXERCISE Form
007 USER EXPERIENCE Form
008 IMPLEMENTATION PLAN Form
009 MAINTENANCE & SUPPORT Form
010 REFERENCES / SITES Form
011 SENIOR PROJECT MANAGER Form
012 ASSUMPTIONS & EXCEPTIONS Form
013 INITIAL COST PROPOSAL Form
1.7 Bidder’s Written Questions - Submission
All bidders will be allowed to submit questions to assist them in responding to this RFP.
All questions must be submitted prior to the vendor conference by the deadline specified
in the timeline. Questions must be submitted in an electronic format that can be easily
copied and pasted into another document so that they can be compiled, and questions
must easily be separable from the identity of the vendor.
Last Updated:3/28/2007
RESPONSE INSTRUCTIONS
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This document is the property of SDCERA and Linea Solutions, Inc. It may not be reproduced or distributed without express written consent.
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SAN DIEGO COUNTY EMPLOYEES RETIREMENT ASSOCIATION
Project: PENSION ADMINISTRATION SYSTEM SDCERA-PAS-RFP-001
Document: REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL
Please submit all questions prior to the deadline in the timeline via email to:
Mary Anne Walker
mwalker@LineaSolutions.com.
Inquiries are not to be directed to board members, staff or consultants of SDCERA,
except as noted above. Any contact relating to the RFP with any SDCERA board
member, staff or consultant shall be grounds for disqualification. SDCERA reserves the
right to discuss any part of any response for the purpose of clarification.
During the evaluation process, SDCERA may request additional information or
clarification from bidders.
1.8 Vendor Conference Information
There will be an opportunity for all vendors to present questions and to attend a pre-
bidder’s conference (Vendor Conference) to gather more information and answers to
questions. Refer to instructions related to submission of questions in the previous section
of this document.
The vendor conference will be done via conference call and not in person. All attendees
will dial into a conference bridge at the time designated in the timeline document.
Version Control
Version Date Changes from previous version
1.0 03/09/2007 Initial Draft
1.1 03/27/2007 Released to Bidders
Last Updated:3/28/2007
RESPONSE INSTRUCTIONS
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This document is the property of SDCERA and Linea Solutions, Inc. It may not be reproduced or distributed without express written consent.
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