News

Request for Proposals | Website Support and Development (Virtual)

Release Date: March 29, 2022
RFP Due Date: 12:00pm EST on Monday, April 18, 2022

The RESOLVE Network Secretariat, based at the United States Institute of Peace, is soliciting proposals from companies, firms, organizations, or independent web developers with experience designing and implementing heavy visual, data aggregation, visualization, and community/collaboration driven websites, for the maintenance, strategic enhancement, and development of the current RESOLVE Network website.

In 2017, the RESOLVE Network transitioned from a WordPress-based website to its current website on Drupal. RESOLVE is seeking assistance with management, updates, and maintenance of this website. To this end, the intent of this request for proposals (RFP) and resulting contract is to obtain services in website design, development, and maintenance. The offeror should have extensive experience in providing such services, including front/back-end updates and experience with Drupal. 

Proposals must be submitted by 12:00pm EST on Monday, April 18, 2022, and should include a detailed technical/narrative proposal and cost proposal. For more information on submission requirements, please refer to the link below to the full RFP. 

For more detailed information and submission requirements, please read the full request for proposals here.

 

FAQs:

Q1: Can you share the existing number of hours that are being invested by your current service provider in maintaining your Drupal website, or how many hours per month you estimate will be required to support the existing website? 

A: Based on our recent experience, we estimate that we would require an average of 15-20 hours per month, sometimes fluctuating below or above this range, depending on specific needs.

Q2: We would not be willing to justify our hourly rate or provide a spreadsheet of direct costs vs. indirect costs for evaluation. Can you clarify what USIP will accept from an organization that responds to this RFP?

A: The cost proposal requirement must include all costs associated with the work, whether that is based on an hourly rate or broken down across multiple line items. For an explanation of indirect costs, please refer to question 21 below. 

Q3: Can companies based outside the United States apply for this RFP?

A: Yes, companies and individuals based outside of the United States are welcome to submit an RFP for consideration. All vendors will be properly vetted.

Q4: Can tasks related to the project be performed from outside the United States?

A: Yes, tasks related to the project may be performed outside the United States. All vendors will be properly vetted. Please note that the chosen vendor will be required to work regularly with the RESOLVE Secretariat, which is based in the EST time zone. The vendor will be required to attend virtual meetings held at reasonable times for all parties.

Q5: Does the RESOLVE Network have any preference with respect to local vendors?

A: RESOLVE does not give any preference on the basis of the location of a vendor.

Q6: Is there an incumbent vendor for this tender/proposal?

A: Yes, the RESOLVE Secretariat is currently working with a web developer on our existing website, as outlined in the RFP.

Q7: What is your projected budget range or cap for this project? Can you provide some guidance with a “no greater than” budget figure?

A: RESOLVE cannot provide a specific budget range for this project, but we are estimating a workload of approximately 15-20 hours per month for maintenance of our existing website, with the addition of an indeterminate number of as-needed development hours to be used during the course of the contract.

Q8: Do you have a specific website launch date in mind?

A: The RESOLVE website is currently active. The present RFP is for upkeep and maintenance of the existing website and does not include plans for the development or launch of a new website. 

Q9: Regarding the SSO LDAP (Additional Cost)/Active Directory Integration, is this to use credentials for administrators to access the administrative dashboard of the chosen CMS, or is there another capability that requires this integration?

A: Any use of SSO LDAP/Active Directory Integration or similar capability is for administrator purposes only. 

Q10: Do you have a preference for the Drupal CMS? Are you open to WordPress CMS (OpenSource), Hybrid Headless CMS (Adobe)?

A: The current and preferred CMS is Drupal.

Q11: What are the target languages, and how do you foresee translation being accomplished (e.g automatically, staff translators or third-party service)?

A: The primary language of the website is English. However, the RESOLVE Secretariat publishes documents in non-English languages (primarily French), which are uploaded to the website.

Q12: Could you describe the stakeholders involved in the project both those serving active roles on the project as well as those whose input will be required on the strategic and creative direction?

A: The primary stakeholder is the RESOLVE Secretariat staff. The vendor will work closely with the Secretariat staff during the course of the contract.

Q13: Can you share more detail on the scope and complexity of your current website (such as number of content types, etc.?) 

A: The current RESOLVE website includes at least 7 content types. For more detail on the scope of the website, we recommend that you refer to the website itself (at resolvenet.org) to further drill down on the specifics. In brief, the current website includes a main page with a front landing carousel, which cycles between four different lead elements. The main page also features a Twitter plugin. The top header features the website's main categories across five drop-down menus. 

Q14: Please provide a list of current plugins and/or integrations that are currently being used to satisfy your functional requirements (site search, event management, form builders, etc.).

A: The website currently has at least three plugins:

• Twitter feed
• Search function
• Email subscription

Q15: How many average monthly unique visits does each site in this project receive?

A: The RESOLVE website currently receives over 2,000 unique users per month.

Q16: What level of uptime SLA will each website require? 

A: We would prefer to have the highest level of uptime SLA possible, within reason, but this is a specification that will be discussed in more detail with the chosen vendor. 

Q17: Do you have any special requirements as it relates to HTTPS certificates?

A: There are no special requirements related to HTTPS certificates that the RESOLVE Secretariat knows of.

Q18: If SSL certificates are provided at no cost to you, would these be acceptable or are you required to use an existing certificate?

A: We cannot currently answer this question, but the chosen vendor will be provided with all necessary technical specifications. 

Q19:  Will you be connecting your CMS(s) to any internal systems behind firewalls? Please list internal/external integrations and how they are implemented.

A: We do not currently expect to be connecting our CMS to any internal systems behind firewalls. 

Q20: Will a dedicated set of IP addresses be needed for allowlisting?

A: We do not anticipate any need for a dedicated set of IP addresses for allowlisting. 

Q21: Can you provide more detail regarding what is to be included in the indirect cost line for organizations?

A: The indirect cost line in the cost proposal is meant to provide organizations with the ability to cover overhead costs not directly associated with the work in the contract (rent, utilities, etc.). If your hourly rate already includes such costs, then there is no need to include a separate line for indirect costs, or to separate out the specific components of your hourly rate. 
 

For more detailed information and submission requirements, please read the full request for proposals here.