Background The City of Lethbridge acknowledges that we are gathered on the lands of the Blackfoot people of the Canadian Plains and pays respect to the Blackfoot people past, present and future while recognizing and respecting their cultural heritage, beliefs, and relationship to land. The City of Lethbridge offers respect to the Metis and all who have lived on this land and made Lethbridge their home. The City of Lethbridge exists to serve the residents of our community, and we can’t do that without a strong, healthy and engaged workforce. We recognize the need for connection amongst our people, regardless of where we work. With approximately 40% of our workforce in the field, we need to create a central digital space that supports and connects us all. By leveraging technology, data and analytics, we strive to create digital spaces that provide the information and tools to allow our employees to thrive. Our intranet, CityWise, is the hub of our employee experience. It’s where employees look for information, check their paycheques, book time off, explore learning opportunities and virtually connect with one another. We are currently working with a vendor to help us clean up and redevelop our SharePoint online intranet. Now, we’re looking for a partner who lives and breathes employee experience, who is comfortable working with Microsoft 365, and who can take our intranet to the next level. We hope to find a partner who can bring their own experience and best practices to help us implement a communication platform that will take our employee experience to the next level. Scope The goal of this project is to procure a solution that fully integrates with SharePoint Online and Microsoft 365. The desired vendor should be a Microsoft-certified partner with expertise in SharePoint Online and the Microsoft 365 suite. The solution should enhance Microsoft SharePoint’s out-of-the-box functionality helping the City improve communication, collaboration, and productivity across its workforce. To ensure that the capabilities of the selected solution align with our business requirements, this Request for Proposal (RFP) aims to identify the key features and functionalities we are seeking from each potential vendor. Proposals will be evaluated for the procurement of the City of Lethbridge’s new communications platform. The proposed solution should include: • Tools/technology to streamline communication with employees. • User experience that is intuitive and offers targeting and tailoring of content. • The ability to segment audiences so content creators can target information based on attributes such as location, role, employment status, department, and interests. • Leverage Microsoft 365, particularly SharePoint, to elevate CityWise into a comprehensive digital ecosystem that enhances productivity, promotes engagement, and streamlines processes across the organization. • Seamless user experience between solution and SharePoint Online. • Enable editors to add and maintain content without html or programming skills. • Use native Microsoft SharePoint Online pages, templates, webparts and other elements, where possible, to avoid upgrade issues. • Style elements will be consistent throughout and able to be changed without programming (ex: standard fonts, corporate colour palette, logos). • Proponent should use effective project management and change management practices that will be applied throughout the project. Solution will be secure and private. Ongoing Service and Support The awarded vendor shall provide comprehensive, ongoing service and support for the proposed communications platform over the five (5) year base agreement term. All services and associated costs shall be included in the bid price and encompass the following: 1. System Maintenance and Upgrades o Regular maintenance to ensure optimal performance, including software updates, upgrades, and patches at no additional cost. 2. Technical Support o Access to technical support with guaranteed response and resolution times per Service Level Agreements (SLAs). 3. User Training and Assistance o Initial onboarding and training for users and administrators, with ongoing support for troubleshooting and system optimization. 4. End-of-Term Transition Support o Full cooperation to ensure seamless transition of services, data, and operations at the end of the agreement term, if required.
