Basic Information

Reference Number

0000160345

Issuing Organization

McMaster University

Owner Organization

Continuing Education

Solicitation Type

RFP - Request for Proposal (Formal)

Solicitation Number

JC 02-19-729

Title

CRM SOFTWARE SOLUTION

Source ID

PU.AC.ON.224221.C98699

Agreement Types

Broader Public Sector (BPS)

Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement(CETA)

Canadian Free Trade Agreement (CFTA)

Details

Location

Canada, Ontario

Delivery Point

McMaster University

Purchase Type

Duration: 3 years
Option: additional 1 year + 1 year

DescriptionA - Previous Amendment

Background and Purpose

This Request for Proposals (“RFP”) is an invitation by McMaster University (the “University”) to prospective proponents to submit proposals for the provision of a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) SaaS Solution for the Continuing Education division, with the potential for future expansion to other departments.

McMaster University Continuing Education has existed for more than 85 years and is a vibrant and evolving member of the University and Hamilton, Ontario communities. We offer our customers flexible online and in-person learning programs across a variety of disciplines and certification options.
Our customer base includes approximately 5,000 customers who comprise of a diverse adult population made up of working professionals, graduates, undergraduates, businesses and community groups. With annual course enrolments of 11,000, the majority of our customers reside in Ontario. However, McMaster Continuing Education is committed to growing its national and international base.
With change occurring at unprecedented rates in Canadian post-secondary educational institutions and in the workplace, universities are challenged to become more agile and responsive to serve an ever-evolving marketplace. The principal factors affecting university continuing education include but are not limited to:

Increasing demands for workers to possess new skills in rapidly changing labour markets;
Market-based demands for credentialed learning;
Increased competition for learners among continuing education units at colleges and universities;
Increased competition by industry and private educational providers;
Demands for accessible and flexible learning options such as online and blended programs;
A growing immigrant population and the importance of immigrants to the Canadian workforce;
Trends to globalization and mobility among workers;
New and emerging educational and communication technologies.

McMaster Continuing Education has responded by developing new and innovative educational models that are responsive and competitive in comparison to other university sectors. To thrive in this competitive and transformative landscape, McMaster Continuing Education has grounded their brand in the following foundational elements:

Our Vision: To be a leader in continuing education through accessible programs and superior learning experiences for professionals, individuals and communities.

Our Mission: We serve diverse learners by providing relevant academic and professional programs rooted in the principles of excellence in adult education. We do this by:

Enabling engagement and fostering strong relationships;
Providing a superior student experience;
Offering programming, teaching and learning including technology-supported learning characterized by high quality and innovation;
Establishing sustainable and clear policies, processes and roles.

Our Values:

Respect;
Integrity/fairness/consistency;
Inclusiveness;
Caring and helpful attitude;
Professionalism.

To date, McMaster University has not implemented an enterprise-wide CRM. Instead, different faculties and divisions across the university have adopted departmental CRMs with varying levels of sophistication.

While McMaster University’s goal is to implement a more holistic and integrated CRM solution, the reality is that some divisions, like McMaster Continuing Education, are more advanced in their CRM planning and their business needs are more immediate. Recognizing that an enterprise-wide CRM implementation requires a multi-year, multi-budget commitment, McMaster University has agreed that McMaster Continuing Education should move forward with a CRM upgrade and implementation to support its strategic mandate and growth goals. McMaster University will also benefit from this opportunity by having key university-wide stakeholders participate in the vendor selection process and garner learning and best practices for when they are ready to begin their CRM search or decide to undertake a campus-wide adoption of the solution chosen by McMaster Continuing Education.
McMaster Continuing Education will select a CRM that best meets its objective of developing a highly meaningful customer experience through optimizing communications and contact management across each of their Marketing, Customer Information Services, and Corporate Sales departments. The chosen CRM will help move and track prospects and customers along all stages of the customer lifecycle.

Because we are not fully integrated with main campus applications, McMaster Continuing Education is challenged with managing data integrity manually to ensure that contact information and preferences are captured accurately. This is why we are searching for a complete CRM solution with contemporary, user-friendly features and functionality along with upgrades in key areas of enhancement that include:

Responsiveness / mobile functionality;
Data integrity (i.e. avoiding contact duplication);
Software integration (i.e. with our registration platform PeopleSoft Campus Solution);
Website integration (i.e. functioning call-to-action buttons and forms);
Reporting (i.e. conversion tracking);
Content creation (i.e. blog and social media).

Through this RFP process, McMaster University Continuing Education plans to have a CRM solution selected, implemented, and live by July 2020.

Scope/Objective

With a customer base of approximately 5,000 students and 20,000 prospects, the chosen CRM will provide the many essential features required by McMaster University Continuing Education to acquire, manage and grow its contact base, including but not limited to the following:

Contact Data Management - Management of contacts, various ways of creating static and dynamic target lists, and features that allow us to analyze our contacts' behaviours and actions;
Marketing - Various functionalities, methods, and tools required to carry out marketing activities including but not limited to emails, campaigns, social media marketing and content management;
Customer Support Services - Tools to help our team perform outstanding customer service to current and potential customers, and deliver a superior customer experience;
Sales Services – Features that help attract, capture, track, manage, grow and retain leads for individual, corporate, and community audiences;
Application, Integration & Maintenance - Integration with existing software and IT systems (i.e. PeopleSoft Campus Solution) to ensure a holistic, end-to-end student experience;
Analytics & Reporting - Analytics on performance management and optimization, and provision of real-time recommendations for all departments in McMaster Continuing Education;
IT Security & Compliance - Complies with McMaster University security, privacy and technology standards and procedures, as identified herein. Adheres to relevant legal requirements and industry standards and practices.

Dates

Publication

2019/09/20 11:25:10 AM EDT

Question Acceptance Deadline

2019/10/16 02:00:00 PM EDT

Closing DateA - Previous Amendment

2019/11/08 02:00:00 PM EST

Contact Information

James Carnemolla

905-525-9140 ext. 24587

carnemoj@mcmaster.ca

Bid Submission Process

Bid Submission Type

Electronic Bid Submission

Pricing

In attached document

Bid Documents List

Item Name	Description	Mandatory	Limited to 1 file
RFP Proposal	RFP Proposal	Yes	No
No entries

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