This page outlines the process for preparing, soliciting, and awarding task orders for the statewide Consulting and Technical Services+ (CATS+) master contract.

Direct any questions or concerns about this task order process to the Director of the IT Procurement Office (ITPO) at central.procurement@maryland.gov​.

A. TORFP Origination

1. The Requesting Agency consults the Guidance For Writing a TORFP to learn about requirements gathering and other preparations that occur before initiating a TORFP, including TORFP Templates and example supporting documents.
2. The Agency obtains the latest TORFP template from the DoIT CATS+ Guidance For Writing a TORFP page under the CATS+ Agency Service Center link.
3. The Agency obtains a TORFP number in ADPICS by preparing a Reference Blanket Purchase Order (BPO) release against the CATS+ BPO (060B2490023).
4. The Agency identifies its TO Manager and TO Procurement Officer for this TORFP and include this information in the draft TORFP.
5. The Agency identifies the Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) goal for the TORFP by following the Guidance on CATS TORFP MBE Participation Process, completing and internally approving the appropriate worksheets following Agency policy.
6. The Agency Assistant Attorney General reviews the draft TORFP for legal sufficiency (optional but recommended).
7. The Agency will submit the TORFP, signed MBE/SBR/VSBE Participation Worksheet and GOMA MBE Subgoal Worksheet to the ITPO via email at central.procurement@maryland.gov​.

B. TORFP Review

1. ITPO and DoIT Project Management Office review the TORFP and the MBE, VSBE, and SBR determinations, and provide feedback to the TO Procurement Officer. The agency will revise the TORFP, as necessary, and return it to the ITPO. See details of the ITPO review process here. Important! ITPO reviews take between 14-24 days. Use of the most recent TORFP template will improve response times.
2. The ITPO approves the TORFP for release and sends an email authorizing the Agency to proceed with TORFP release.

C. TORFP Solicitation

1. The TO Procurement Officer will release the TORFP to all Master Contractors within the functional area identified for the task order, and cc: central.procurement@maryland.gov​.
2. The TO Procurement Officer will conduct all communications with the Master Contractors during the solicitation process. The solicitation process will include a pre-proposal conference, answering Master Contractor questions, amending the TORFP where necessary, proposal evaluation, and award recommendation.
3. The Agency will email a copy of any released TORFP amendments to central.procurement@maryland.gov​.
4. The Agency will form an evaluation committee. The committee is to include project stakeholders, as well as technical and subject matter experts.
5. The TO Procurement Officer will receive Technical and Financial Task Order Proposals (TO Proposals) from the Master Contractors that choose to respond to the TORFP. Master Contractors choosing not to respond with a TO Proposal are required to provide the TO Procurement Officer with feedback on the TORFP. The required feedback forms are available through the “Master Contractor Login” link on the CATS+ web site.
6. The TO Procurement Officer will deliver the technical proposals to the Evaluation Committee. With the TO Procurement Officer's guidance, the Evaluation Committee will conduct an appropriate evaluation of each TO Proposal in accordance with all applicable State laws and regulations. This may include requests for clarification, additional information, oral presentations, and best and final offers.
7. The Evaluation Committee will establish the technical rankings based on the evaluation criteria outlined in the TORFP. Upon completion of technical rankings, the TO Procurement Officer will forward the financial proposals for each qualified TO Proposal to the Evaluation Committee. The TO Procurement Officer may request a Best and Final Offer from the offeror of each qualified TO Proposal. The Committee will establish the financial ranking and the combined technical and financial ranking of each qualified TO Proposal and recommend an awardee based on best value.
8. The TO Procurement Officer will submit a TORFP Award package to the ITPO consisting of:
   1. An award recommendation summarizing the evaluation and selection process;
   2. A technical, financial and combined ranking of each qualified TO Proposal;
   3. Rationale for selecting the recommended Master Contractor's TO Proposal for award;
   4. The proposed MBE participation from the recommended Master Contractor, including completed MBE Forms Attachments D-1 through D-2 as submitted by the recommended Master Contractor, and any waiver documentation, if applicable.

D. TORFP Award

1. The ITPO will review the TORFP award package for approval. The submission process for ITPO to review the award package submission can be found at the following link: http://doit.maryland.gov/contracts/Pages/ITPO-Award-Submissions.aspx. Once approved, the ITPO will notify the TO Procurement Officer. Agencies shall not complete the following steps 2 through 6 until conditional approval has been received from the ITPO.
2. The TO Procurement Officer will notify the recommended Master Contractor of the award. Utilizing the Task Order Agreement (TO Agreement) template, the TO Procurement Officer will complete the TO Agreement and forward it to the recommended Master Contractor.
3. The recommended Master Contractor will sign and email a PDF file to include the TO Agreement to the TO Procurement Officer with MBE Attachments D3 through D4 and any waiver documentation.
4. The TO Procurement Officer will notify all Master Contractors who submitted a TO Proposal of the selected Master Contractor. The Agency may provide debriefings to the Master Contractors not selected, upon request.
5. The TO Procurement Officer will send the following documents to the selected Master Contractor, with a copy to the ITPO:
   1. Signed purchase order;
   2. Fully executed TO Agreement; and
   3. Notice to Proceed.
   4. Reference BPO in ADPICS
6. ITPO will approve the final award documents and ADPICS Reference BPO.