Vendor demo update

The next phase of the WCM evaluation process will include demonstrations by vendors. The 2-hour demos will help the University key system features. While the demonstrations are largely structured (in order to enable a method for comparison of features across products), each vendor will have an opportunity to showcase the unique strengths of their product.

Each vendor will receive the vendor demonstration agenda and a set of sample files to be used in the demonstration.

Vendors who are participating in the RFP are being contacted to obtain preferences for demo scheduling; however, participation in the demos will be determined by the University based on the RFP evaluation criteria. The demos will be scheduled for the week of March 8-12.

Project status update; RFP

The WCM Core Group met on January 7 to discuss the outcomes of the Phase 1 evaluation. 20 web content management products were evaluated according to the criteria.

There were 76 initial criteria; some criteria were eliminated during the evaluation process.
Each criteria was assigned a “Relative Importance” value (1-5, 5=highest importance) that was reviewed and approved by the Core WCM team.

In order to further narrow the field of candidates, the Core Group decided that comprehensive pricing and service information should be obtained by RFI or RFP prior to proceeding to the vendor demo phase. An RFP was created, and on February 3, 2010, five vendors were invited to respond to the RFP (in no particular order):

• Hannon Hill Corporation
• OmniUpdate
• PaperThin
• Percussion
• TerminalFour

Yesterday an optional virtual conference was held by University IT and Procurement staff for the offerors to answer any questions regarding the RFP. Notes from that conference will be appended to the RFP and distributed via email next week.

The deadline for the RFP response is March 1, 2010. We're looking forward to seeing the vendor proposals.