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GALI RFP: Database Design, pg. 1

Request for Proposals

Part one: Database design and construction (included below)

Part two: Customized reporting design and construction (http://www.andeglobal.org/page/rfp)

Proposals must be submitted by August 15th, 2016 to [email protected]

Bidders can include proposals for part one, part two, or both parts.

1. Summary and Background

The Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs (ANDE) is a global membership network of

organizations that propel entrepreneurship in emerging markets. ANDE members provide critical

financial, educational, and business support services to small and growing businesses (SGBs) based on

the conviction that SGBs will create jobs, stimulate long-term economic growth, and produce

environmental and social benefits. ANDE is a program of the Aspen Institute.

In 2015, ANDE and Emory University formally partnered to form the Global Accelerator Learning

Initiative (GALI). This global research is designed to answer the question of how early stage

entrepreneurs and ventures grow and how accelerators impact that growth.

ANDE is putting forward this two-part RFP in order to build a custom database and reporting

mechanisms on top of that database. Proposals are to be submitted by August 15th, 2016, to

[email protected].

This RFP represents Part One of Two. Bidders are welcome to submit proposals for

only part one, only part two, or both parts in one proposal.

2. Proposal Guidelines

This RFP is an open and competitive process. Any interested bidder is welcomed to submit

materials by the guidelines provided herein. Any bids received by August 15th will be given full

consideration by the rubric provided in Section 9: Proposal Evaluation Criteria.

Proposals must be submitted in a digital format as noted in Section 7: Proposal Structure. Please

note: all budgets must be itemized with all items explained. This includes a complete list of any

intended subcontractors or designated vendors. A successful bid will include all expenses related to

licenses.

Contract terms and conditions will be negotiated upon selection of the winning bid.

3. Project Purpose and Description: Database Construction (Part One)

http://www.andeglobal.org/page/rfp

mailto:[email protected]


We are looking to contract a provider who can build a secure database with an easy user interface to

ensure all data are secure, mapped correctly, and accessible for easy reporting and queries. Emory

University has agreed to provide hosting on their infrastructure (Microsoft SQL Server, currently 2014

edition but migrating to 2016 in January).

Our research is conducted in partnership with entities globally. Through this partnership, we

administer surveys on Qualtrics.com (Qualtrics). Qualtrics is a dedicated online survey platform, where

we host and manage our surveys. Currently, respondents fill out surveys on Qualtrics. Then, we

download the responses in .xls, .csv, or SPSS file format, and clean up the data manually before

importing them into the database. In addition, each survey may have different questions that require

careful mapping between original survey questions and database schema. Moving forward, we need a

database that can utilize the “extraction, loading, and translation” tools within MS SQL Server to fully

automate the process of taking data out of Qualtrics and loading into the database. We will have access

to the Qualtrics API to support this development. We would prefer that the database have the

capability of extracting data out of Qualtrics on a daily, if not constantly rolling, basis.

For context on how the data are mapped, please see the attached schema with notes. In short,

however, we track five levels of records:

1) Organizational Partner. These data include contact information and organization ID.

Within each of those organizations are multiple programs (accelerators, which are run as

classes).

2) Programs (called accelerators). We survey each program manager and need to tie those data

to that program. Within each program are potentially multiple surveys, such as survey in

English, Spanish, or other languages. Applicants apply to be part of programs on behalf of

their ventures. Sometimes, a venture has multiple applicants that must be tied to the

venture record.

3) Surveys. We survey applicants to programs and integrate their responses with the

information from programs and organization partners. Each survey includes multiple

applicants who are sorted into selected (including whether they started and finished) and

unselected. Surveys include both first-time surveys and follow-up surveys.

4) Applicants. Applicant is the basic unit of our data, which comes primarily from Qualtrics.

However, some programs host their own surveys so we receive data from these programs in

Excel or csv format sometimes.

5) Ventures. We survey both the selected and unselected ventures twice annually over time and

will need to link their records together. Currently, this process is done by using fuzzy


matches on names and emails. Individual ventures may have multiple applicants. Once a

new respondent is found existing in our dataset, it will be linked to the original record as one

single venture rather than two separate entities. We use this derived venture-level

information to drive our follow-up surveys and keep track of the status of our respondents,

such as active or out of market.

i. Since we need contact information and the consent to follow-up from the respondents,

these information may change as these surveys are provided over time. There needs to be

a way to ensure that the most up to date contact information and consent field are always

front and center.

Finally, we will need migration of the old data into the new database to ensure full avoidance of

any corruption or errors.

The selected team will work closely with internal program staff and university staff focused on

IT. This represents a one-time project. On-going maintenance of the database will be transferred to in-

house staff.

4. Attachments

Please find these supplemental documents to help fully illustrate our needs and ensure

completion of the bid.

Appendix A – Data schema as proposed

Appendix B - Graph of data flows

Appendix C – Copy of Qualtrics output with coded values in .xls with dummy data included

Appendix D – Qualified bidder certification (to be completed and included in the full

proposal)

5. Project Scope

The following criteria must be met to achieve a successful project:

• Infrastructure design satisfying current workflow enabling flexibility to incorporate future

survey needs (versions)

• Database overlay for simple data on-boarding not from Qualtrics

• Existing data migrated without inconsistency into new database

• All software and licensing requirements should be included as part of this project

• Plan and perform a complete specification period with all necessary stakeholders


• Finished database should allow for easy manipulation by in-house staff to ensure on-going

maintenance

• Execute project according to schedule provided below (or amended as agreed)

6. Request for Proposal and Project Timeline

o RFP Distributed – July 20th, 2016

o RFP Conference – Tuesday, August 2nd at 1:00 PM (1 hour)

To sign up for the conference, please email [email protected]

with your intent to attend. You’ll receive a webinar/conference call invitation.

o RFP Period – July 20th – August 15th

o Completed bid due – 11:59 p.m. on August 15th

o Period of review – August 16th – August 22nd

o Contractor selected & negotiations – 2 weeks – August 22nd – September 5th

o Contract fully assigned - September 6th

o Period of time to define full project scope with contractor (Evaluation & Assessment) –

September 8th – 16th

o First Iteration (Prototype) – Due by October 7th

o Review and Revision – October 9th – 20th

o Second Iteration (Full Version) – October 31st

o Review and Revision – 1 week – November 1st – November 7th

o Final Version (with Sandbox Mode for team interaction) – November 15th

o Final changes – November 15th – November 30th

o PROJECT CLOSE OUT ON - December 1st, 2016

7. Proposal Structure

Please submit all proposals in digital format (PDF or MS Word) to

[email protected]. The subject line of the email should read “Proposal by

(YOUR COMPANY NAME).” Please make sure that you submit one complete attachment with

the title as your company name and which RFP you are submitting a response for consideration.

Example: “ABC Technology Firm – Bid for ANDE RFP Part One”

Your proposal should include:

1) One page cover letter explaining the history of your employment or that of your company.

Please help us understand your capacity to serve these needs detailed above on the timeline

provided. Please include here the contact information of the designated personnel member if

we should have any questions.




2) An itemized budget, including any supplies, subcontractors or vendors needed to complete

the work. Please include as much narrative detail needed to explain your costs.

3) No more than one to two pages on any requested modifications or exceptions to the bid.

4) The C.V. or Resume of the primary lead(s) on the project. No more than 3 are necessary.

5) Fully completed qualified bidder certification (see Appendix D).

6) Optional: Additional references beyond the bidder certification (Name, Years worked

together, scope of project, contact information by email/phone/Skype).

8. Bidder Qualifications

1) Three to five years of experience working on MS SQL database construction.

2) At least three positive references from prior employers or projects completed.

a. Optional: bidders may include up to two additional references as an attachment

beyond the bidder certification. The bidder certification, by design, includes three.

If you choose to include additional references, please include name, years worked

together, scope of the project, and contact information by email, phone, and/or

Skype.

3) Certification that they are fully able or registered to work in the State of Georgia.

Please see the attached qualified bidder certification. We require a completed certification to be

included in full with you proposal.

9. Proposal Evaluation Criteria

1) Budget – 65 Points possible

a. Weighted for lowest upfront cost (+50 points)

b. Minimal on-going subscriptions or tools needed (+15 points)

2) Personnel – 20 points possible

a. Resume/C.V. demonstrate technical expertise and relevant experience (+20)

3) Exceptions – 15 points possible

a. No exceptions requested (+15 points) or minimal exceptions (+10 points)

4) Positive references – 10 points possible

a. Each positive reference (+2 points)

5) Located in Atlanta (not required, but preferred) – 10 points possible

The bidder with the highest score will be awarded the opportunity to negotiate the contract or

the right of first refusal, as applicable.

10. Questions


Questions may be submitted to the RFP team throughout the course of the open bids session by

submitting an email to [email protected]. Emailed questions and answers will

be posted in full at http://bit.ly/EDP_RFP_QA. It is the bidders’ responsibility to monitor the

page for any updates to the Q&A.

http://bit.ly/EDP_RFP_QA


APPENDIX A: Proposed Data Schema (used in our in-house prototype)

Note: the tan coloring indicates tables that are currently separate but will become one table when data on-boarding tools are also in place. Separate tables are currently easier to manage when having to manually clean and on-board data.


APPENDIX B: GALI Data Flows

(1) GALI on-boards the organizational level data

at signing of MOU.

(2) GALI generates a private, co-branded link for partners

in Qualtrics.

(3) Partner opens their applications & embeds the GALI Survey link into their

application form. Qualtrics receives data in real-time.

(4) Entrepreneurs provide venture-level data through the partner link provided to

them to the Qualtrics platform.

(5) GALI draws the data in XLS format and sends to the

partners weekly.

(6) GALI & Partner work together to ensure that all applicants have taken the

GALI survey.

(7) Partner identifies ventures which were selected

by email.

(8) This information is on-boarded into DB and saved in

boolean format.

(9) GALI generates the post-application for partners (set

template with calculated fields)

(10) Partner takes program manager survey for cohort

just selected.

(11) GALI verifies which ventures started receiving

support when partner program opens. Info saved in

boolean on the venture record.

(Continued onto next page)


(12) GALI verifies which ventures finished receiving support when partner

program closes. Info saved in boolean on the venture record.

(15) One year after applications opened (Feb or Sept.), GALI runs follow-up

surveys for all applicants.

(16) In Follow-up surveying, selected applicants get a different survey than unselected. We aspire to ensure that

those who answered the survey in Feb. don't get invited to answer in Sept (two

invitations, same survey).

(17) Data is on-boarded out of Qualtrics.

(18) Once annually in the fall (after both Feb/Sep follow-up rounds) one follow-up report generated for each partner.

(19) Follow-up invitations repeat twice annually until:

a) Venture or partner replies that venture is no longer in operation

b) Research suggests venture is closedc) Venture opts out

d) No responses after 3 years

(20) Once annually, anonymized venture-level data is generated for

public use (no identifying information)

(21) Twice annually, we generate a mid-year and end-of-year data summary

(set template, calculated fields)

(22) Once annually, all data in DB is used to create a significant research

report.


APPENDIX C: Data output from Qualtrics (.xls – coded values)

Please visit the file online at http://bit.ly/EDP_output

Note this hyperlink is case sensitive.

http://bit.ly/EDP_output


APPENDIX D: Bidder Qualifications Certification

Use this form to address Section 8 - Minimum Bidder Qualifications (Pass/Fail)

Bidder Name:

Qualification 1 Bidder must fulfill all legal requirements to complete work in the United States and the State

of Georgia.

The Bidder certifies that it has an office in the United States and is registered to

conduct business in the State of Georgia.

* A “No” Response to any of the minimum qualifications will result in disqualification

Below, describe in detail how the Bidder meets Minimum Bidder Qualifications listed below using the specified

software/technology. Please provide clear and accurate descriptions of the Bidder’s experience for each

Minimum Qualification. We will not interpret omissions and vagueness in the bidder’s favor. Type to expand

response areas on form or attach additional sheets, as necessary.

Qualification 2: The Proposer must be able to cite at least three (3) previous projects, from within the past five years, which

must be fully complete (i.e., in the warranty period or later), where the Proposer successfully implemented a new database

system, including:

• Use of MS SQL

• Schema design and development

• Database construction

• Planning for and use of MS SQL Server extraction, translation, and load (XLT) tools

• Migration of legacy data into new database

• Commitment to working iteratively with client and end user to refine product

Project 1 Name:

Dates (month/year) of Experience

(including date the project was

completed):

Client Name(s):

May we call above client for a reference?

Project scope (include only non-

confidential details about the project)

Yes No*


Indicate whether each of these five

areas were addressed by this project

(Yes/No):

• Use of MS SQL • Schema design and development • Database construction • Planning for and use of MS SQL

Server extraction, translation, and load (XLT) tools



Project 2 Name:



completed):

Client Name(s):






(Yes/No):





Project 3 Name:



completed):

Client Name(s):







(Yes/No):





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