RFP #25NEA0085 Enterprise-wide Cloud-based Document Management Software

University at Buffalo #25NEA0085 - REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL Enterprise-wide Cloud-based Document Management Software Notice is hereby given that sealed bids will be received for Enterprise-wide Cloud-based Document Management Software. PROJECT OVERVIEW Who We Are: The University at Buffalo (“University”) is a premier research-intensive public university. It is the largest and most comprehensive university center in the State University of New York (SUNY) system and has been a member of the Association of American Universities (AAU) since 1989. The University enrolls about 32,000 students and offers more than 500-degree programs at the baccalaureate, master’s, and professional and doctoral levels across its 12 decanal units. The University is guided by its Top 25 Ambition, which seeks to expand the University’s distinction and relevance among the world’s foremost research universities and enhance the University prominence and impact as a recognized leader in responding to broadly defined societal challenges. The University is actively realizing this vision by building excellence across its research, education, and engagement activities and in the physical environment that supports this broader academic enterprise. Our Customer Expectations: To support the University's vison, we seek a solution which will effectively manage and store the high volume of documents that are typically associated with institutions of our size and organizational stucture. We are seeking a cloud-based implementation that provides the appropriate functionality and flexibility to accommodate, as well as enhance, the unique business processes of a multitude of business and academic units. Specific focus includes, but is not limited to, manual and automated document capture, sophistication of search capabilities, use of AI, customizable workflows and document access, document retention, ease of upgrade, responsive vendor support and integration with other university systems. Background: Our current document management software is an on-premises solution that has been in place for approximately 14 years. The current software has been integrated thoroughly into the business processes of many departments. To serve the needs of these departments, UB has employed a variety of document capture methods, and all indexing, views, access and workflow processes are uniquely configured. We make use of custom scripting when necessary. Millions of documents are stored, and we have hundreds of users. Our current procurement regulations require revisiting the market for bid proposals for software/service contracts. As such, the portability of our data housed in systems of this type is paramount. Scope of Services: The State University of New York at Buffalo is seeking proposals from qualified vendors to provide an Enterprise-wide Cloud-based Document Management Software. The selected vendor will be responsible for providing, implementing, and supporting an Enterprise-wide Cloud-based Document Management Software. The purpose of this Request for Proposal (“RFP”) is to acquire an Enterprise-wide Cloud-based Document Management Software. Each proposal shall be with the understanding that, at a minimum, the successful bidder will be required to provide the services identified below, observing all applicable federal, state and local laws: The vendor acknowledges all university data, including backup and archived, and implementation professional services will only be stored in datacenter within the continental United States. The Bidder must deliver a technology solution that is accessible and complies (and will continue to comply) with applicable federal and/or state laws, rules, regulations, policies, and/or standards, as amended and supplemented during the term of the resulting contract (if any), and the terms and conditions set forth in this Request for Proposal. The Bidder must establish and confirm that accessibility compliance is (and will continue to be) achieved without the use of overlay technology. Bidders must be required to demonstrate that information technology provided to the University at Buffalo conforms to or addresses each of the World Wide Web Consortium’s Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 Level AA success criteria wherever demonstrating such performance is practicable. Bidders may do so by providing either of the following: 1.) A completed Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT)/Accessibility Conformance Report (ACR). The University will only accept the VPAT version 2.5 or higher. The VPAT 2.5 template is available on the Information Technology Industry Council (ITI) website at https://www.itic.org/policy/accessibility/vpat. 2.) An independent third-party evaluation from an accessibility consultancy. If the Bidder chooses to use a third-party accessibility consultancy, the University at Buffalo reserves the right to determine if that third-party consultancy is equivalent or better. University at Buffalo bidders must be required to attach a completed HECVAT 4 version (or higher) to confirm that information security, data protection, and cybersecurity policies are in place to protect the university's institutional information. The attachment shall be the full, scorable XLS file. https://www.educause.edu/higher-education-community-vendor-assessment-toolkit Solution must be focused on the higher education market, demonstrated by at least 10 higher education clients that include R1/R2 universities. Bidder must provide a minimum of three (3) references from other universities and/or colleges. The references should demonstrate the Bidder’s ability with projects similar in scope, size and nature of this RFP. SUNY reserves the right to contact the Bidder’s client references to validate experience and the scope and quality of work. SUNY reserves the right to reject any Bidder who does not demonstrate appropriate capability, sufficient for the scope of this RFP. Solution must provide a library of pre-built forms for common higher education use cases. Solution must be cloud-native and provide evidence of geographic redundancy. Solution must employ AI or other technologies such as OCR to access document content. Solution must support document retention policies based on metadata. Solution must allow for searching and locating documents using keywords, metadata, document content, and logical groupings. System must support multi-factor authentication and SSO. System must employ and support a role-based user security and access model. System must provide REST-based API access to provide for integration. DESIGNATED CAMPUS CONTACTS In accordance with the requirements of New York State Finance Law Sections 139j and 139k (“Lobbying Law”), the restricted period for this procurement is now in effect. Therefore, all communications regarding this procurement must be handled through the State University of New York’s designated contacts only. Any violation of this condition may result in Bidder being considered non-compliant and ineligible for award. Under no circumstances may any potential Bidder/Bidder or its representative contact any employee or representative of the University including members of the Office of Curriculum, Assessment and Teaching Transformation regarding the RFP other than as provided in this section. Purchasing Primary Purchasing Secondary Nina Anders Michele Nixon Procurement Services Procurement Services 224 Crofts Hall 224 Crofts Hall University at Buffalo University at Buffalo Buffalo, NY 14260 Buffalo, NY 14260 +1 (555) 000-0000 +1 (555) 000-0000 contact@example.gov contact@example.gov Key Events: RFP Opens December 29, 2025 Bidder Questions due date and time January 19, 2026 2:30PM EST Proposal due date and time February 9, 2026 2:30PM EST (Any proposals received after the deadline will not be considered) Proof of Concept Demonstration (remote) Weeks of March 9, 16 and 23 (Please take note of these dates) 60-90 minutes, 8AM EST – 4PM EST Online via Zoom or Microsoft teams Award and Contracting date April 2026 for an anticipated start date of October 1, 2026 UB reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to modify the above schedule. Bidders will be notified via email of any changes in a timely manner. Acceptance of Bid Content: The contents of the Bid and the Bidder’s response to this Bid shall become contractual obligations if a contract ensues. Failure of the Bidder to accept these obligations may result in the rejection of the Bidder’s response. QUESTION & ANSWER Any questions that arise as a result of a review of this RFP are to be submitted in the Q&A board of the bid, located in the Tools section. Questions must be submitted by January 19, 2026 at 2:30 PM EST. Bidders should make efforts to ensure all questions are submitted no later than the date listed in the Key Events section, as questions received after the closing date for questions may not be responded to prior to the proposal due date. Bidder identifying information will not be included in the response. Only answers posted on the Q&A Board are official. Responses to inquiries that substantially change or clarify the event in a substantial manner will be posted as an addendum. It is the responsibility of the Bidder to inquire about any requirement of this event that is not understood. SUNY will not be bound by oral responses to inquiries or written responses other than addenda. INSTRUCTIONS A. PREREQUISITES a. Prerequisites: Bidder MUST complete all requirements in the Prerequisites tab. The documents need to be accepted and acknowledged electronically b. Bid Submission Requirements, General Information, Terms and Conditions acknowledgement c. State University of New York Standard Contract Clauses Exhibit A dated June 21, 2023 acknowledgement d. State University of New York Affirmative Action Clauses Exhibit A-1 acknowledgement e. State University of New York General Terms and Conditions Exhibit B acknowledgement f. Notary requirements acknowledgement B. BUYER ATTACHMENTS a. Bidder should complete all documents in this tab. Bidder should upload completed documents in Supplier Attachments as part of their response, forms per below: b. New York State Executive No. 177 Certification c. Non-collusive Bidding Certification d. Procurement Lobbying Act State Finance Law 139J K e. State Finance Law 139-I Certification f. State Finance Law 139-m Gender-Based Violence and the Workplace Certification g. New York State Executive No. 16 Prohibiting State Agencies and Authorities – Russia Certification h. Compliance with Public Officers Law 73 Questionnaire i. Acknowledgement of Child Protection Policy form j. UB W9 Substitute form – UB needs this form completed entirely and will not accept a vendor’s W9. k. ST 220 CA – needs notary signature l. ST 220 TD – needs notary signature and to be sent to Albany per instructions m. Deviations to terms and conditions excel sheet – per Bid Submission Requirements Section D Extraneous Terms, Paragraph b, sub section (i) n. Vendor Responsibility Questionnaire C. QUESTIONS a. Bidder MUST answer all questions in the University at Buffalo’s Shopblue Sourcing. D. PASS/FAIL REQUIREMENTS a. Bidders must address the Mandatory Pass/Fail Requirements Group 1.1. b. Each proposal shall be with the understanding that, at a minimum, the successful bidder will be required to provide the services identified, observing all applicable federal, state and local laws. c. Pass/Fail Requirements: Bidder must answer yes or no. If vendor answers NO to any requirement, the bid is disqualified. E. BIDDER QUALIFICATIONS REQUIREMENTS a. Bidders must address all questions in this section of Group 2.1. b. All bidders must provide three (3) references. c. The Bidder must answer information that provides additional detail related to the question or statement. The Bidder shall have an existing module/functionality that meets the specification and shall provide a reference that can vouch for meeting the said requirements. TECHNICAL/FUNCTIONAL SPECIFICATIONS Functional and VPCIO Technical Groups 3.1, 4.1 and 5.1: Bidder must submit a vendor description for each of the below questions. Any additional information can be loaded in Supplier Attachments. Please make sure to label accordingly per question Group and Number. VPCIO Technical 5.1.1: Bidder must upload HECVAT on Question 5.1.1 or in Supplier Attachments. Mandatory Requirements Group 7.1: Bidder must complete all documents and reupload in this tab. The Bidder must answer information that provides additional detail related to the question or statement. The Bidder shall have an existing module/functionality that meets the specification and shall demonstrate it or provide a reference that can vouch for meeting the said requirements. ACCESSIBILITY Accessibility Group 6.1: Bidder must submit a vendor description for each of the below questions. Any additional information can be loaded in Supplier Attachments. Please make sure to label accordingly per question Group and Number. Accessibility 6.1.1: Bidder must upload VPAT on Question 6.1.1 or in Supplier Attachments. Accessibility 6.1.2: Bidder must upload 3rd party VPAT in Supplier Attachments. The Bidder must answer information that provides additional detail related to the question or statement. The Bidder shall have an existing module/functionality that meets the specification and shall demonstrate it or provide a reference that can vouch for meeting the said requirements. Items Cost Proposal Submission Instructions: The Bidder can only submit ONE pricing proposal. No multiple pricing schedules will be accepted. The cost proposal grand total, as provided by the Bidder, must include a full term cost of the total ownership of the proposed system solution and it is the final pricing the University at Buffalo will pay for the system under this RFP for the term of a resulting contract. All the items listed in the Items section of this RFP must be priced unless these items are provided at no cost for the University at Buffalo or they are not available in the proposed system solution. Items not identified in the proposed financial proposal (including third party items) but required for the system functionality will be considered part of the final solution and free add-ons at the price included in this RFP response. No modifications may be made to the cost proposal and any modifications may result in disqualification. SUNY is exempt from sales tax. All prices should be quoted without the sales tax. All travel and per diem expenses (if any) are responsibility of awarded Bidder and SUNY will not reimburse separately for these charges. All prices must be included in the University at Buffalo’s Shopblue Sourcing Module and presented on the “Items” tab. The University at Buffalo will consider final pricing submitted in the “Items” tab. Prices not included in the “Items” tab will be rejected.