ResponsetoVendorQuestions
for
RequestforProposal
for
WebsiteRedesign
AND
RequestforInformation
for
MobileAppDesignandImplementation
Issuedby
Multi-StateLotteryAssociation
RFP/RFIDateofIssuance:April19,2017
ResponsetoVendorQuestionsDateofIssuance:May4,2017
ProposalstoRFPDueMay15,2017bynolaterthan5:00P.M.CT
ResponsestoRFIDue:May17,2017bynolaterthan5:00P.M.CT
Summary of Services Requested
MUSL is requesting proposals for the design of the PowerballTM website (powerball.com),
and possibly associated sub-content for other games.
Additionally, MUSL is requesting information on the design, implementation and
maintenance of a mobile application for use by players and others interested in the lottery
games.
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Vendors may submit responses to either, or both projects. If you chose to respond
to both projects, please submit separate responses.
Timeline for the RFP
May 1, 2017 - Written questions from interested Vendors due
May 5, 2017 - Written responses to Vendor questions and distributed to all Vendors
May 15, 2017 - Proposals due
Week of May 22, 2017 - Vendor proposal evaluation and selection process
June, 2017 - Successful Vendor selected
June, 2017 - Contract negotiations
June, 2017 - Project kick-off Meeting
Timeline for the RFI
May 17, 2017 - Information submitted by Vendors interested in the mobile application design
Response to Vendor Questions
MUSL has reviewed all questions submitted by interested Vendors and made an effort to
compile and categorize a distinct list of the questions for which it has a response. Some
questions may have been slightly modified or excluded at MUSL’s discretion.
RFP/RFI
1. Whatistheanticipatedbudgetrangeforthisproject?Pleaseidentifythebreakdownbetween
thewebsiteandmobileappifany.
a) Apreliminarybudgethasbeenestablishedforthewebsite,butisnotbeingdisclosed.It
isexpectedthatbidswillbeappropriateforthesizeofthesiteandthedesignand
productqualityexpectedforasignificantbrand.
2. DoesthebudgetincludeCMSintegrationandongoingmaintenance?
a) BidsmayincludeCMSintegrationasaseparate,optionallineitem.
b) Ongoingmaintenanceisnotexpected,butcanalsobeincludedasaseparate,optional
lineitem,alongwithdetailsofwhatwouldbecovered.
3. Howmanybidsdoyouexpecttoreceiveaspartofthisprocessandisthereanincumbent?
a) Thereisnoincumbent.Approximatelyadozenbidsareexpectedatthistime.
4. Pleaseconfirmthereare2parts,andthus2deliverablesforthisRFP/RFI.Weexpecttodeliver:
1)theRFPresponseforwebsiteredesign;2)theRFIresponseformobileapplicationdesign.We
areexpectingtodeliver2separatedocuments.Pleaseconfirm.
a) Thisisaccurate.VendorscanchoosetorespondtoeithertheRFPforthewebsite,the
RFIforthemobileapplication,orboth.Vendorsrespondingtobothwouldbeexpected
todelivertwoseparatedocuments.
5. PleaseprovidegreatclarifyonwhatisexpectedwiththeRFPsubmissionregardingthe
“concept”fortheproject–(i.e.designmockups)?
a) Thisisintentionallynebulousandopentointerpretation.Potentialitemsinclude
processandmethodology,statementsdescribingdesignsconceptsandsiteflow,
customerengagementandexperience,andevendesignmockups.Consideringdesignis
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6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
asignificantelementofthisproject,itisnotexpectedthatvendorssubmitdetailed
mockups.
IfweweretoapproachthisRFPbyourstandardprocessitwouldincludeaworkshoptoconfirm
costsandrequirementsbeforeconfirmingascope.Willthatbeacceptable?
a) Yes
Sinceavendorisn’tselecteduntilearlyJune,wouldapotentiallaunchdatelaterthan
September2017beaccepted(ifmoretimeisneeded)?
a) Yes,thedateisopentonegotiationaspartofthefinalcontractagreementwiththe
selectedvendor.
Willyouteamneedtrainingonthesolutionaspartofthisengagement?
a) Abrieftrainingfor1-2staffmembers.Onlyahandfulofstaffwillpotentiallymake
updatestothesite,andthereisadequatetechnicalknowledgeinternallythatindepth
traininganddocumentationshouldnotbenecessary.
Isthereanypreferenceonthesoftwarelifecyclemethodologytouse?IsitAgileorPLMetc.
a) Agencypreference.
ArethereanyVendorspecificsecurityrequirementsthatVendorsshouldbeawareof?
a) TherearenorequirementsbeyondthosestatedintheRFP.
IftheVendorhiresoutsideresources,arethird-partypartnersrequiredtoworkonsite?
a) No
IsitpreferredbyMUSLtoworkwithaVendorwhocanprovidebothsitedesign/development
ANDappdesign/implementationservices?
a) No,vendorsforeachservicewillbeconsideredindependently.
Wedonotprovidemobileapplicationdesignandimplementation,butcanrecommenda3rd
partyVendorthatispracticedandexperienced.WouldMUSLbeopentoreceivinganRFI
responsefromourrecommended3rdpartyVendor?
a) Yes
Design
14. Canyouprovideuswithanycurrentstyleguidedocumentationthatwouldgiveusinsightsinto
thegovernanceofthestyle–brandparametersforthenewdesign?
a) AstyleguideexistsforthePowerball+PowerPlaylogoandhasbeenprovidedalongside
theseresponses.Nofurtherstyleguidesexist.
15. Arethereanydesignpreferencesandprocessworkflowsthatyouwouldlikeustoconsideras
requirements?
a) No
16. AsthesiteIsitexpectedtobeADA(AmericanDisabilitiesAct)compliant,canyouclarifyifthe
siteshouldbecompliantwithlevelAorAA(i.e.WCAG2.0“AA”)?
a) Itisnotrequired,butwewouldbeinterestedinlevelAcompliance.
17. Doyourequirecopywritingservicesorwillyoubeprovidingallwebsitecopy?
a) CopywritingservicesincollaborationwithMUSLwouldbebeneficial.
18. Willtheselectedvendorbechargedwith(a)providingphotographyservices,(b)selectingstock
photography,or(c)willyoubeprovidingallphotographythatistobeincorporatedintothenew
website?
a) MUSLwillprovideexistingphotography,whichmaybeoflimiteduse.Vendorshould
assumeitisresponsibleforprovidingstockphotographyorphotographyservicesto
producetheirdesign.
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WebsiteScope
19. Canyoupleaseconfirmthatonlythosepagesappearingonthe
domainhttp://www.powerball.com/areinscopeforthisredesign?
a) Thatiscorrect
20. Youhaveapprox.300pagesonyourcurrentsite–willallcurrentpagesneedtobemigratedto
thenewsolution?
a) No
21. Doweneedtomigratedataoffofthecurrentwebsiteintoanewwebsite?
a) Yes,althoughgamerelateddynamiccontent(jackpotinformation,winningnumbers,
etc.)isstoredinadatabaseandcanbepulleddirectlyorviawebservices.Asstated
above,notallcurrentpagesneedtobemoved.
22. Presumingthatmostofthecontentsintheexistingsitewouldbereused,doyouanticipatethat
newcontentswouldbeaddedbeforethesiteisbeinglaunched?Ifso,howmany?
a) Itisexpectedthatminimaladditionalcontentwillbeaddedpriortoanewsitebeing
launched,themajorityofadditionswouldbetoWinners’Stories/NewofLatest
Winnersandongoingdrawingdata.
23. Canyouprovideaninitialsitemap/pagelistforthenewsite?Shouldweassumethatthesame
pages/bucketsofcontentthatcurrentlyexistonthesitewillbeincludedonthenewsite?Will
youbeaddingorremovinganycontent?Wewillmakeuserexperiencerecommendationsabout
howtopossiblycombineoraddnewpagesinordertomakethesiteeasytouse.Knowingthe
kindofcontentyou'llwantonthenewsitewillhelpusdeterminehowmanypages/sectionswill
berequired
a) Wewanttoremoveextraneousandoutdateddatafromtheexistingsite
b) Ingeneral,thefollowingitemsareneeded:
1. Currentdrawingdetails(numbers,jackpot,hightierwinners)
2. History/Timeline
3. HowtoPlay
4. MediaSection
5. WinnerStories
6. PrizesandOdds
7. Statelinks
8. ViewtheDrawing(forPowerball)
9. FAQ
10. Playresponsibly
c) Thisshouldnotbeconsideredacompletelist.
24. Canyouprovideexamplesof“additionalgamecontent”and“sub-content”
a) Thiseludestoadditionalgames,suchas2by2,HotLotto,etc.
b) Foreachgame,thefollowingitemswouldbeneeded
1. Winningnumbers
2. Jackpotinformation
3. Howtoplay
4. Prizeinformation
5. Winners’Stories(option)
25. Arethereanycomponentsofthecurrentsitethatwillnotbepartofthisnewredesignedsite?
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26.
27.
28.
29.
a) Thenon-Powerballportionsofthewebsitearenotarequirement,althoughnavigation
tonon-Powerballgameswillberequired.Atthistime,onlythe2by2portionofthe
websiteshouldbeconsideredbeyondtheprimaryPowerballportionofthesite.Donot
includeHotLotto,WildCard,Megahits,AllorNothing,orMegaMillions.
Forplanningpurposes,howmanydifferentlotterygamesdoyouforeseebeingincludedonthe
siteatlaunch?
a) 2-3
What'sarealisticnumberoflotterygamesthatcouldbeaddedoverthenextfewyears,sowe
canproperlyplanforexpansioninthefuture?
a) 2-4
Inordertobestplanthegeolocationfunctionalityanduserinterface,canyoupleaseprovideus
withalistofthedifferentstatelotteriesthatwillbeonthewebsiteandtheirlocations?
a) Therewillbeusersfromeverystate.Noteverystatehasalottery,butitispossiblewe
willwanttodisplayapieceofspecificcontentand/orlinkforeachstatethatdoes.This
couldbeasmallplacementconsistingofthenameandlogoofthelotterylinkingtotheir
websiteormobileapplication.Astaticmaporpagewithlinksmaybeanalternative
dependingonthedesign.
WillthewebsiteneedtocommunicatewiththepotentialApporviceversa?
a) Thereisnorequirementthatthereiscommunicationbetweenthetwo.
DynamicContent
30. Doesyourcurrentsitecooperatewithanythirdpartiesthataffectyourwebsite’sworkflow?If
so,pleaseexplaintheworkflow.
a) Theonlythirdpartythathasanyimpactonourwebsiteistheproductioncompanythat
handlestheactualPowerballdrawing.Wedependonthemtouploadthedrawingto
YouTubeforviewingonthePowerballwebsite.
31. Howoftenisthecurrentlotteryinformationupdated?Hourly?Daily?
a) Gameinformationandwinningnumbersareupdatedpromptlyafterthedrawing.
Winnersstoriesandamediasectionwillalsobeupdatedatmostdaily.
32. Howislotterycontent(winningnumbers,jackpot,etc.)currentlyupdated?Manually?Through
anAPI?
a) Manuallytriggered–somedataisenteredmanually,andsomeiscreatedandentered
automaticallyaspartofthedrawprocess.Theseupdatesaredoneviaawebsiteusing
directcallstoaSQLServerdatabase.
33. Pleasedetailanexternaldataorcontentfeedsthatneedstobeintegratedintothesolutionsfor
anyandallcontentordatathatdoesnotoriginatefromtheCMS?
a) Gamedata(winningnumbers,currentjackpot,pastnumbers,etc)canbeprovidedvia
XMLorJSON,writtensomewhereappropriatefortheCMSuponcreation/update,or
querieddirectlyfromthesourcedatabase.ThisinformationresideswithinaSQLServer
databaseinMUSL’shostingenvironment.
34. Asapartofthisredesign,arethereanynewfeaturesyouwouldliketoaddtothesite,thatdoes
notexistinthecurrentwebsite?
a) Media/‘PressPacket’areatodownloadlogo,brandinginformation,andotheritems
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35. Doesthere-designedsiteneedtopresentcontentinalanguageotherthanEnglish?Ifso,Would
thevendorberesponsibleforcontenttranslation?Whatlanguageswouldneedtobe
supported?
a) Itisnotarequirement,butmulticulturalsupportforthesiteisworthvendor
consideration.Atthistime,onlySpanishshouldbeconsidered.Thevendorwouldbe
responsibleforcontenttranslation.
36. Areyouhappywiththecurrentgooglesearchordoyouhaveplantochangethesearch
provider?
a) Therearenoplanstochange.
37. WillthePowerballnumber"SearchFrequencyCharts"pagebeincludedonthenewsite?Willit
beupdatedregularlywithfiguresmanuallyenteredontothesite,ordoyouwantthesiteto
communicatewithanexistingdatabasetoautomaticallypullthisinformation?Ifso,please
provideinformationabouttheexistingdatabase(databasetype,whereit'shosted)aswellas
informationaboutanyexistingwebservicesandAPIsthatcanbeintegratedintothenewsiteto
communicatewiththedatabase.Anydocumentationwillbehelpful.Pleaseclarifyifweb
servicesandAPI'swillneedtobedeveloped
a) Yes.AccesstotheexistingSQLDatabaseorawebserviceslayercanbeprovided.Web
servicesforthiswouldneedtobedevelopedbyMUSL.
38. Historicalwinningnumbers-willyoucontinuetowanttoallowdownloadofhistoricalwinning
numbersforALLgamesinMicrosoftandplaintextdocuments?Wouldthisbepartofthe
optionalgamecontentforallofthegames?
a) No.
WebsiteUse
39. Whointernallyusesthewebsitedaily?
a) Communicationsspecialist,DirectorofDrawings
40. Whatexistingresearchdoyouhaveonwebsiteusers?
a) Nospecificresearchbeyondanalyticsdata.
41. Whatanalyticsdoyouhaveaboutthecurrentwebsite?
a) GoogleAnalyticsdatingbackto2012.
42. Arethereanyspecificrequirementsforsiteanalytics?
a) WewouldprefertocontinueusingGoogleAnalytics.
43. Forbrowsercompatibility,pleaseconfirmifcompatibilitywiththelasttwoversionsofthe
browsersissufficient.
a) Safari10.0+
b) Chrome44.0.2403+
c) IE11
d) Edge14.14393+
e) Firefox52+
44. Ispersonalinformationaboutvisitorsbeingstoredonthesite?
a) Theonlypersonalinformationstoredisthatofusersthatsubscribetoreceivewinning
numbers.Usersneverhavetologinforanypurpose,andnosensitivedata(creditcard
numbers,socialsecuritynumbers,etc.)iscollected.
45. Arethereanyspecificsecurityrequirementsforhandlingofdata(e.g.encryptionintransit,
encryptionatrest).Ifso,canyousharethespecificsecurityrequirements?
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46.
47.
48.
49.
a) Bothencryptionintransitandencryptionatrestforanypersonalinformationthata
usermaysubmit.
Whenvisitorssubscribe,whathappenswiththeyclicksubmit(i.e.doesthesitesimplysenda
formattedtoanadministrator,doesitwritethedatatoadatabasetable,doesitsendthedata
offtheanemailplatformsystem)?
a) DataiswrittenbacktoaSQLdatabase.E-mailblastsaresentoutasamanualstepafter
adrawinghasbeenheld,usingthee-mailaddressesfromSQL.
Pleaseprovidedetailsabouthowyourcurrentemailnotificationsarehandled.Doyouhavea
currentlistofuserswhoareregisteredtoreceiveemailnotifications?Whattool/platformdo
youcurrentlyusetodistributeemails?Isthedata(winningnumbers,jackpotamount)manually
enteredintoanemailtemplate,orareyouseekingsomesortofautomatedsolution?Shouldthe
websiteallownewuserstoregisterforemailupdates?
a) Wecurrentlyuseaninternalsystemtodraftandsende-mailnotifications.Thedatais
pulledautomatically.Thenewwebsiteshouldallownewuserstoregisterfore-mail
updates.Analternativetotheexistingsolutionfordraftingandsendinge-mailsis
acceptable(usingourinternalmailrelay).Adesignedtemplatefore-mailsisdesirable,
ascurrente-mailsarelittlemorethantext.
Whatistheplatform(ormechanisms)thatisbeingusedtoserveuptheadsthataredisplayed
onthesite(i.e.adserver)?
a) Directtagswithpassbacksfrommultipleproviders.
Doyouhaveamerchandisingstrategytoyourwebsitecurrentlybasedonthefeatureads?Do
youhaveresultsfortheseads?
a) Thereisnospecificmerchandisingstrategy.Weusemultipleproviders,andprohibita
fewcontentcategories,butotherwisetonotdirectwhatadsareplaced.
PerformanceRequirements
50. Howmanyusersareonthecurrentwebsite?
a) Thenumberofusersvariesdrasticallydependingontheamountofthecurrentjackpot.
Onanaverageday,wereceiveafewhundredthousandusers.Withlargejackpots
(>$300M),whichareinfrequent,wewillreceivemillionsofusersthedayofandtheday
followingthedrawing.
51. Expectednumberofmaximumuserhitsduringspiketimes?
a) Uptoafewmillionduringlargejackpots,duringwhichtimewewouldexpectto
leverageaCDN.Havinganoptional,morelightweightsplashpageduringthistimeis
desirable.
52. What'stheapproximatesizeofthedigitalcontent(images,videos,textsetc.)tobehandled?
a) Currenthomepageis1.6MB.Thereisnostrictrequirementonsize.
53. Anyotherspecificperformancerequirements
a) Annginxserverwillbeinplaceupstream.Itisexpectedthatthemajorityofrequests
canbecachedandservedfromashort-termcachetolimitdirectrequeststotheorigin
webserver.
54. Whatperformanceenhancingcapabilitiesexistwithinthehostingenvironment?Howmuch
additionalRAMcanbeaddedtoexpandtheamountofcachingthatcanbeimplemented?
a) Inourenvironment,weareusingnginxasareverseproxywiththemajorityofrequests
cached.Ourcurrentconfigurationhas5GBofcache,inRAM,whichcanbesignificantly
increasedifneeded.
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55. Arethereanysitetrafficandloadtestingrequirements?Ifsocanyousharethem?
a) Assumingthesiteremainslargelystaticand/or‘cachefriendly’,therearenosuch
requirements.
ContentManagement
56. HowstrongisthepreferencetostaywithRespondCMS?
a) ThereisnotastrongpreferencetostaywithRespondCMSandothersolutionsare
welcome.TheappealofRespondCMSisaminimalfootprintandbackend,andthe
productionofstaticHTMLforbothperformanceandportability.
b) BothWindows+.NetandLinux+PHPCMSsolutionsareacceptable,asareproprietary
andopensourcesolutions,withaslightpreferencefor.Net.MicrostSQLServerforthe
databaseishighlydesired.
57. WhatSEOstandardsdoyourequire?HaveyoudevelopedaURLstructure/modeltobe
followed?
a) WecurrentlydonotrequireorconformtoanySEOstandards,butareopento
recommendations.Theexistingsitedoesnothaveawell-definedURLstructure,butthe
newsiteshould.
58. Haveyouconsideredthenumberofuniquetemplatestohaveonthenewsite?Orcanthatbe
determinedbetheselectedvendor?
a) Thisisopentovendorpreference,sitedesign,andplatformrequirements.
59. IsthereanexistingCMSorworkflowsinuse?
a) No
60. Isthereanexistingdigitallibrarysystem/Assetmanagementtoolused?Ifyespleaseprovide
thefulldetails.
a) No
61. Arerolebasedworkflowsorcontentpublicationapprovalrequired?
a) No.
62. HowshouldusermanagementbedoneintheCMS?
a) LDAPisdesirable,butusersonlyintheCMSisalsoacceptable.
Infrastructure
63. Whatisthehostingsetupforthisenvironment?E,g,local,cloud
a) Local.VirtualmachinesonESXHosts.PrimarilyaWindowsenvironment,butLinuxisan
option.
64. WilltheCMSsoftwarebeavailabletosetupdevelopmentenvironment?Thiswillbetheideal
scenarioasitenablesrapiddevelopmentandeasydeployment.
a) Designanddevelopmentpriortodeploymentshouldbewithinvendor’senvironment.
65. Whatistheserverenvironmentthatweshoulduse?E.g.PHP,.NET,Java
a) Thereisaslightpreferencefor.Net,butPHPonLinux,withUbuntupreferred,isalso
acceptable.
66. Whatkindsofsecuritystandardsdoesthewebsitehavetocomplywith,fromaregulatory
standpoint?
a) None,butPCIDSSistargeted.
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67. Whatisthepresentversioncontrolsystem?Isthereanypreferencefromaclientfortheversion
controlsystem?WeareinternallyusingGitforourprojects
a) GitisusedinternallyatMUSL.
Delivery/Deployment
68. Areyouexpectingthisproposaltoincludeintegrationonyourtechnologystackforacomplete
“flip-the-switch”solution,orwillwehandofffilesforyourteamtointegrate?
a) Weareexpectingahandoffforourteamtointegrateand/ordeploywithinour
infrastructure.
69. Whatareyourexpectationsforpostdeploymentsupportforthewebsite?
a) Thereisnoexpectationforpost-deploymentsupportunlessdeficiencies,technical
questions,orchallengesarise.
70. Doyouhaveanysuggestiononthedifferentenvironmentstobeusedbeforetheapplication
updatedarepushedtolive(dev,QA,UAT,Production)?
a) Vendor(duringproject)
b) MUSLDev(duringacceptanceanddeployment)
c) MUSLProduction(duringacceptanceanddeployment)
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MobileApp
71. Isthereapreferredleadappplatform?
a) No
72. Couldyouprovidemoredetailaround“dedicatedaccountmanager”?
a) AsinglepointofcontactforMUSLstafftodirectimportantcommunicationsto,suchas
contentupdates,technicalproblems,etc.
73. Couldyoushareaprojectlaunchdateforthemobileapp?
a) DeploymentofatleastaninitialappbeforeQ32018isdesirable,withthepossibilityfor
additionalmilestonereleases.
MUSL Contact Information
Interested vendors may submit their Proposals by email only (no phone calls) to:
[email protected]
Chris Ruttencutter
Director, IT
Multi-State Lottery Association
4400 NW Urbandale Drive
Urbandale, Iowa 50322
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