RFP 27-01 Data Lakehouse Platform and Related Services

Montclair State University is soliciting proposals for a comprehensive Data Lakehouse Platform and Related Services through RFP 27-01, with submissions due by September 9, 2026 at 2:00 p.m. via the Workday Strategic Sourcing (WSS) portal. The project requires a solution capable of ingesting raw data from diverse sources, blending and cleansing it, and making it available for operations, reporting, and analytics, with full support for data progression from unrefined to optimized states. The platform must feature separation of storage and compute, robust metadata and semantic management, including metric and feature stores for self-service analytics, and strong data governance aligned with standardization, quality controls, access roles, and security. The contractor must deliver full implementation services including infrastructure setup, security configuration, and data ingestion, with all components operational within three months of contract execution. The contract term is five years with no renewal option, and the award will be based on best value, prioritizing technical capability (70 points), vendor qualifications with a minimum of ten years in enterprise data lakehouse or related services (20 points), and key personnel expertise (10 points), with pricing considered as a factor but not the sole determinant. Bidders must complete the Higher Education Community Vendor Assessment Tool (HECVAT), demonstrating compliance with NIST, CIS, or ISO 27001 security standards, FIPS 140-2/140-3 cryptographic requirements, business continuity plans tested annually, and willingness to sign a Business Associate Agreement for HIPAA compliance. They must also provide a current PCI DSS attestation and commit to WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility standards. All training and support services are included at no additional cost and must be instructor-led, delivered in person or online as determined by the University, with annual sessions tied to platform updates. Invoicing must be electronic, formatted to match the RFP’s pricing worksheets, and all pricing is capped at maximum values stated in the proposal. Submission is strictly limited to the WSS portal, requiring registration, completion of worksheets, response sheets, required documents including full HECVAT and Attachment #1, technical proposal with resumes of key personnel, and a single searchable PDF where feasible. Proposals must remain valid for 90 days after submission and will be publicly opened via Zoom. The University enforces compliance with New Jersey’s Tort Claims Act, Contractual Liability Act, and American Goods and Products statutes, and reserves the