Agency MNIT

Contractor HighCloud Solutions

SWIFT Contract Number 146445

Project Name Technology Modernization Project

Project Number (if applicable) JGCD0SUT

Summarize purpose of the contract, including why it was necessary: OHE did not have enough developer resources to support the project. This contract developer position was to augment the internal staff to establish a workflow framework, transform software designs and specifications into high functioning code. The contracted developer was needed to transform code written in Ingres ABF, Ingres RW, and Ingres SC language into C# on ASP.NET.

Project Duration

Start Date Mon, 08/20/2018 - 00:00

Original end date Thu, 08/19/2021 - 00:00

Actual end date Sat, 09/28/2019 - 00:00

Did project finish on time? Yes

Total billable hours utilized (if applicable) 1813

Contract Amounts

Original contract: $124800

Amendments $16020

Contract total $108780.00

Did project finish within budget? Yes

What was the funding source? State

Is this a sole source contract? No

If this was a single source contract, explain why the agency determined there was only a single source for the services (if applicable) {Empty}

Evaluator Name Colleen Adams

Evaluator Email Address colleen.adams@state.mn.us

Evaluate the contractor's timeliness Less than satisfactory. It should be noted that the contracted resource’s work permit expired on August 8, 2019 and she was unable to work while waiting for the work permit to get approval. This resulted in all development on the program area she was working on to stop. It was shortly after this that it was decided to stop in-house development.

Evaluate the contractor's quality Less than satisfactory. Contracted resource was challenged in adjusting past experience to adopt a new approach to development. This reduced the speed in which work was expected to be completed. Resource also had difficulty following instructions related to developing user accessible code.

Evaluate the contractor's cost Satisfactory

Evaluate the contractor's overall performance Less than satisfactory.

We would engage with HighCloud Solutions again, but perhaps not this specific contractor.

The project is ongoing but following a recent architectural assessment, it was determined to be in the best interest of the project and the organization to pursue alternative outside solutions rather than developing an in-house system. With this change in project direction, several contracted positions were no longer needed. This is one of those positions and the contract with the vendor was terminated.

Would you engage the contractor's services again? Yes

Describe any negative action taken during the duration of this contract (i.e., termination, pursuit of suspension, etc.): No specific action, other than a discussion on following prescribed development standards. Developers were told to include the implementation of accessibility standards in the coding of all business functionality as this is a state requirement and essential for users of the developed system. Without discussion or approval, the contractor stopped implementing the standards and it was discovered at the end of the sprint and required that the functionality developed be recoded to include the accessibility standards.

Please rate the overall experience with the contractor 3 - neutral