Evaluation committee requests demos from top five bidders for employee communications platform

A reconvened county evaluation committee agreed to request demonstrations from the five highest-ranked proposers for the county's request for proposals for an employee communications and engagement platform, committee staff said.

The decision came during a follow-up meeting to a June 30, 2025, scoring session, held to address a question about vendor pricing. Sakina Ford, the chief buyer for the project, said one vendor's add-on pricing needed to be included in its total cost, which reduced that vendor's cost score and altered rankings.

The committee reviewed 10 proposals, two of which were deemed unacceptable and removed from consideration, leaving eight proposals that had previously been scored. Sakina Ford said clarifying cost information from Interact Software changed Interact's cost score from 17.27 to 11.4 and lowered its overall preliminary score.

Committee members recorded the following preliminary rankings and scores (pre-demo): Staff Base, 75.52 points; Interact Software, 74.4; Extero Holdings LLC, 74.05; Osmore Inc., 71.68; and Oxyon Inc., 71.0. Other proposers on the reviewed list included MangoX (59.49) and Blue People LLC (30.21).

Brian, committee chair, said he preferred seeing the top four demonstrations but acknowledged the close score gap around fourth place and accepted carrying forward an additional proposer. "I think, from my perspective, I'd like to do the top 4," he said. Sakina Ford recommended including the top five; "I personally would say top 5 only because I wrote down some notes about particularly about Osmore that I thought could be compelling," she said.

Based on that consensus, the committee asked staff to contact the top five-ranked proposers and schedule demonstrations. Ford said vendors may present remotely via Microsoft Teams, but the committee members will be gathered together in one room when the demonstrations occur. "They can be online, but the committee. Yes. Yep. K. I will make a note," Ford said.

Ford said she would reach out to proposers to find suitable times for demonstrations and noted that at least one committee member reported unavailability on the 11th and 14th; she planned to begin scheduling from the 15th. No formal vote was recorded during the meeting; the committee proceeded by agreement.

Why it matters: The demonstrations will be the next step before finalists are shortlisted or recommended for contract award; how vendors perform in these demonstrations will inform the committee's subsequent decisions. The solicitation remains subject to the county's procurement rules, including a cone-of-silence that the chief buyer said remains in effect until the county posts an award notice or cancels the solicitation.

Next steps: Staff will schedule vendor demonstrations, notify committee members of dates and times, and present the vendor demonstrations to the committee for additional evaluation. The committee said it expected to be present together in one room while allowing proposers to connect electronically for their presentations.