Procurement Opportunities | State of Illinois Office of the Illinois Courts
Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts State of Illinois Judicial Branch Human Resources Information System Request for Proposal
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts (AOIC) was created pursuant to Article VI, Section 16 of the Illinois Constitution to assist the Supreme Court with its general administrative and supervisory authority over all Illinois courts. Appointed by the Supreme Court, the Administrative Director leads the AOIC and its staff. The AOIC provides support and programming to courts statewide through its offices and divisions:
- Access to Justice Division
- Office of Communications and Public Information
- Courts, Children and Families Division
- Court Services Division
- Executive Division
- Financial Division
- Facilities Management Division
- Human Resources Division
- Judicial College Division
- Judicial Management Information Services Division
- Probation Services Division
The AOIC invites the submission of proposals for a Human Resources Information System (HRIS) for management of sensitive and confidential employee information of judicial and non-judicial staff and associated implementation services in compliance with the terms and conditions set forth in this Request for Proposal (RFP) and accompanying documents.
DIRECTIONS
The AOIC is seeking competitive proposals from interested and qualified vendors with proven experience and a quality HRIS. Vendors shall submit proposals for the use of their HRIS by the AOIC to hr@illinoiscourts.gov no later than 5:00 P.M. CDT on April 18, 2025.
Vendors who are deemed to have submitted responsive proposals may be asked to provide a 90-minute live software demonstration and implementation presentation to the AOIC Evaluation Committee at a date and time to be agreed upon.
The proposal must be submitted in two separate packets. The first packet shall include the vendor’s statement of interest, bid form, bid narrative, timeline narrative, references and other attachments, other than Attachment C, Budget Template. The first packet must not include any pricing information. The second packet shall include pricing information, which must be presented on the attached Budget Template (see Attachment C) and submitted separately. Each document will be evaluated separately.
- Section I: Statement of Interest: Each bid must include a statement of interest. The statement of interest must be signed by an individual authorized to bind the vendor contractually, indicating the signer’s position with the organization. The Statement of Interest must state that the offer will remain in full force and effect for 90 days beyond the deadline for submittal and that the offer may be accepted by the AOIC at any time during those 90 days. An unsigned Statement of Interest will result in rejection of the bid.
- Section II: Bid Form (Attachment A)
- Section III: Bid Narrative: The following questions must be answered for the bid narrative and shall be included with your response to this RFP(Please limit your response to no more than 10 pages)
- What previous experience and similar scale projects have you been involved with relevant to this project? Please describe the specific projects and your specific involvement.
- How are the mandatory components accomplished by your software? Which mandatory elements does your HRIS not accomplish? If your standard software does not meet the mandatory elements, what is the timeline to customize?
- How are the mandatory, highly desired, desired or optional elements accomplished by your software? Are there elements of your HRIS that the AOIC did not list as mandatory, highly desired, desired or optional, but that you believe should be highlighted?
- Technical description of the SaaS service for test and production HRIS. This would also include a description of all 3rd party partners used and how their services impact AOIC services.
- Section IV: Timeline Narrative: Please provide an estimated timeline for the implementation, requirements for migration, and go-live process for the HRIS. The AOIC recognizes that a possible timeline to provide all functionality depends on certain variables and the possible configurations or enhancements to the HRIS. It is, however, essential that the vendor submit a timeline based upon the resources assigned to the project, the vendor’s experience, and ability to meet the AOIC’s HRIS requirements, and ability to timely manage necessary changes to the HRIS. For any aspects of the solution that would need to be built, configured or customized to meet the requirements , please describe and include the impact on the timeline for each.
- Section V: References: A minimum of at least three (3) business references from prior engagements of similar size and scope of the services requested by the AOIC. Please list the most significant engagements performed in the last three (3) years that are similar to the engagement listed in this RFP. Reference checks will be conducted for each finalist.
- Section VI: Company Organization and Diversity Questionnaire (Attachment B)
- Section VII: Price Proposal (completed budget template, Attachment C)
- Section VIII: Vendor Bid Certification Form (Attachment D)
The AOIC will evaluate the proposals and may make one or more awards. The selected vendor must be able to execute the Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts’ (AOIC) Standard Vendor Agreement for Goods and Services (Attachment E) and fulfill all required services. If subcontractors are engaged, the vendor must include a complete list of all subcontractors intended to be used, their primary business office location, and a description of the work each subcontractor will be performing.
The AOIC anticipates executing a multi-year term with the initial contract, (i.e., minimum of 5 years), with the AOIC’ option to renew the contract for an additional period (i.e., 5 years). Upon determination of all costs, the contracted amount will be a fixed price agreement with quarterly payments upon receipt of a proper detailed invoice. However, the vendor and AOIC will work together for the first 60 days to identify all costs that are dependent upon customizations and AOIC identified requirements. The price proposal must detail all additional costs (including hourly rates) anticipated to fully implement and maintain the HRIS, and any graduated costs for the SaaS services that may occur over time.
The AOIC asks that all questions regarding the RFP be submitted to hr@illinoiscourts.gov no later than, March 14, 2025, at 5:00 P.M. CDT. A list of all questions and answers will be posted on the Illinois Court’s website no later than March 21, 2025.
This RFP is neither a contract nor meant to serve as a contract and does not create any obligation on the AOIC to affirmatively engage with any bidder or applicant. It is anticipated that one or more of the proposals submitted in response to this RFP may be selected as the basis for negotiation of a contract with the vendor. Such a contract is presently contemplated to contain, at a minimum, the terms of the proposal submitted, as finally negotiated and approved by the AOIC. T h e AOIC reserves the right to negotiate additions, deletions or modifications to the terms of proposals submitted.
The AOIC’s Standard Vendor Agreement for Goods and Services can be found as Attachment E. The selected vendor must be willing to use the AOIC’s Standard Vendor Agreement. Given the nature of the HRIS system and the confidential information stored therein the selected vendor will most likely be identified as a “Service Organization”. The selected vendor must be willing to obtain and submit annual Service Organization Control (SOC) reports for the duration of the contract. Requirements for Service Organizations can be found in Section 1B of the Standard Vendor Agreement in Attachment E.
The AOIC reserves the right to award to the bidder that has the best overall proposal(s) within the AOIC’s timelines and to issue supplemental solicitations as warranted.
KEY DATES
- February 28, 2025 Request for Proposal issued
- March 14, 2025 All questions due no later than 5:00 P.M. CDT and submitted via email to hr@illinoiscourts.gov
- March 21, 2025 Answers to all vendor questions released
- April 18, 2025 Proposal submission deadline no later than 5:00 P.M. CDT via email to hr@illinoiscourts.gov
SCOPE OF WORK
The HRIS sought pursuant to this RFP will support all of AOIC’s human resources needs, subject to the limitations described herein. The system must be fully capable of providing employee information management, work and leave timekeeping, applicant tracking, onboarding and HR related payroll functions.
Please note that HR does not process payroll for the AOIC and this RFP does not contemplate a payroll processing module and/or system.
It is highly desired that the system be innovative and supportive of the efficient use of AOIC employees’ time. The description below provides an overview of mandatory basic processes as well as more desired elements:
The AOIC requires a vendor with substantial experience with a complex project such as this. The HRIS will be a vendor hosted solution which operates in a Software as a Service (SaaS) capacity and can be implemented incrementally by module rather than the implementation of an entire suite of modules at one time. The system shall be a commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) system which can be modified initially and over time by the vendor to meet the agency’s requirements. The vendor will need to work with the AOIC / HR division to identify the scope and parameters for customizations before implementation and after the system’s “go-live” date. The vendor will work with the AOIC to identify, develop, test, and implement all changes to the HRIS prior to implementation. The system shall be operational 24/7 and include backup procedures and disaster recovery services. The HRIS will include separate tests and production systems.
The HRIS shall:
- Track and record employee work and leave time in accordance with AOIC’ established compensation and leave policies. (Time and Attendance)
- Recruitment, Applicant Tracking, and Onboarding
- Performance Management
- Securely Record and Retain Employee Data
- Employee Portal
- Position Control – FLSA status, grade and ranges, vacant positions
- Ability to Download Data Reports
- Manage and Produce EEO-4 and similar required reports
It is anticipated that the employee timekeeping and attendance module of the HRIS system will be first to be implemented followed thereafter by the applicant tracking, recruitment and onboarding and performance management modules.
- Security and Data Integrity
The HRIS system must meet the highest level of security and be hosted on a CJIS-compliant cloud platform as the data and information in the HRIS is confidential and includes personally identifiable information. The system must be browser based and use standard internet security protocols. It must support all modern browsers, including mobile devices, and must use a robust and highly secure database platform. It must have the ability to integrate directly with other systems, using
API’s or other secure connections. The vendor is to be knowledgeable and experienced in implementing integrations with other systems. The integration is to be based on national industry messaging standards, security standards, and encryption systems.
The SaaS platform and HRIS is to include robust cyber security prevention capabilities to protect malicious attacks and unauthorized extract of data. The selected vendor must have an Incident Response plan detailing steps and procedures for responding to a cybersecurity event, notification of impacted people, and responsibilities related to a cyber event. The vendor is responsible for maintaining the platform and software updates to ensure manufacturer hardware and software patches and critical security updates are applied in a timely manner.
The HRIS is to include a perpetual use license agreement for an unlimited number of users for the Illinois Judicial Branch staff, partners, and AOIC users. Transaction response times must be acceptable. Typical transactions should on average take no longer than 1-2 seconds; complex queries may require 2-4 seconds. Because the HRIS system contains highly confidential information, the SaaS service (test and production) should operate on a CJIS compliant platform.
The HRIS shall be expandable to accommodate additional users, employees, departments, agencies, new applications, storage, processing requirements, and new functional requirements. The SaaS infrastructure and HRIS is to have acceptable system resources and storage capacity to function and store records as needed by AOIC, including the ability to meet all data and document storage needs and initially handle up to 1500 concurrent users. As well, the infrastructure is to grow with the needs and usage of the AOIC for all technical resources.
The HRIS system must include end-to-end encryption for connections from AOIC computers and mobile devices to the SaaS and include encryption in transit and at rest capabilities for both the Stage and Production database environments. The HRIS is to implement security procedures and an infrastructure which protects confidential data in transit and at rest. The system must provide role- based security access rights by program area and jurisdiction. Permissions should be set by user roles with assigned levels of access, viewing, data entry, editing and auditing. Permissions should include a security matrix that defines access to screens, functions, and data (types of caseloads) for specific user groups. Security roles and systems prevent non-authorized users from accessing, viewing, downloading, and/or exporting data or reports. The HRIS should provide user auditing, including tracking the date, time, and login of any person who adds, edits, or deletes data, documents, or metadata.
The HRIS partner is expected to provide technical support and resolve issues in a timely manner and communicate with users to ensure support issues are received, progress is being made, and resolutions implemented and confirmed. The AOIC will require a service level agreement with the selected HRIS partner identifying responsibilities and graduated service level incidents and response expectations for outages, including relief and financial penalties.
The HRIS partner should describe change management procedures indicating how customized workflows and enhancements to the HRIS to meet the AOIC’ needs initially and ongoing will be met. Within the Attachment C, Budget Template, the bidder shall include a description of how additional costs for enhancements are assessed.
Confidentiality requirements will be required that govern the HRIS’ support services access to the AOIC application and data. Service Organization Control (SOC) reviews are required on an annual basis. All information gathered, generated, or compiled during this project and throughout the term of a contract with the selected vendor is considered highly confidential, for exclusive use by the AOIC, and is not to be reproduced or disseminated.
The software must integrate with the AOIC and other existing data platforms, with the ability to push and pull data into the HRIS and provide support for all existing external interfaces. It must have the capability for direct interfacing with the system using secure Application Programming Interfaces (API) for imports and export of information. The API may be provided by other partners, but is it expected that the HRIS vendor will be able to implement such APIs in a timely manner as directed by AOIC.
Bidders must complete Attachment F - “AOIC HRIS System Requirements” to provide the required information for the Scope of Work and must complete all items in each worksheet. For each element, bidders must fill in column E "Vendor Response" with one of the choices below. If the bidder wishes to provide any explanatory details, they should be included in column F “Vendor Comments”. The following answer key should be used when responding to the elements in column E:
- 3 This feature is supported in the current version of the proposed solution.
- 2 The feature is not supported in the current version of the proposed solution, but the feature is currently in development or testing and is planned for the next release of the proposed solution within 3-6 months. Include and note anticipated release date.
- 1 The feature is not supported in the current version of the proposed solution, but the proposer plans to support the requirement in the proposed solution or as part of this procurement within 1 year. Include and note anticipated release date.
- 0 The feature is not supported, and the proposer has no plan to develop or to support it.
Note: Bidders must answer each element with only one of the above keys. Any element that is answered in any other way will be treated as a negative/non- response.
EVALUATION OF BIDS
The AOIC will review all bids and make awards based on the comprehensiveness of the solution across several criteria including but not limited to the following:
- The number of mandatory requirements the vendor can fulfill, how the vendor will fulfill the requirements and the vendor’s explanation contained within the Bid Narrative.
- Identification of which desired elements the vendor can fulfill and the explanation of how the vendor will fulfill the desired element.
- An estimated timeline for the completion of the requested services.
- A description of the most significant engagements performed in the last three years that are similar to the engagement listed in this RFP.
- Diversity of the Vendor.
- Explanation of whether any services will be subcontracted to a third party.
- Cost.