VIA has had a main website (viarail.ca) since March 1995. Viarail.ca offers a link to a transactional portal and information on VIA services and trains, with detailed content on Canadian travel destinations and packages. The viarail.ca site is mainly used between VIA and its passengers (B2C) but also serves B2B customers such as suppliers, travel agents, tour operators, tour wholesalers and other partners in the travel industry. Also in addition to its main website, VIA has other targeted microsites.
The intent of this Request for Proposals is to retain the services of a supplier responsible to manage, host and support actively its Websites, microsites, Content Management System (CMS) and digital marketing strategy. The Proponent will be responsible for providing all necessary elements for the implementation, integration, hosting and ongoing operations of the Websites.
Furthermore, the Supplier will provide the professional services required to carry out the service requests made by VIA with respect to digital marketing services and activities related to the evolution of its Websites.
Mandatory Requirements:
Official Languages
The Proponent must provide fluent written and verbal professional services and support for the Websites in both official Canadian languages (English and French), according to the language of choice of VIA Rail's requester.
Accessibility
Proponent must be Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) Compliant
Experience
The Proponent must have been in the business of offering Web Digital, Hosting and Support Services for a minimum of five (5) years.
The Proponent must also be currently providing such services to a minimum of twelve (12) clients, three (3) of which must be comparable to VIA in terms of size and complexity of their websites and; a minimum of three (3) references must be provided for VIA to contact in RFP Part C, Document #4 - References.
Content Management System (CMS)
The Proponent shall support VIA’s current Content Management System, Drupal 10.
The Proponent must have used such system with other clients for at least three (3) years.
Data residency
VIA data must reside in Canada.
Data Analytics and Intelligence
The Proponent shall support VIA leveraging Google Analytics 4 (GA4) and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) data to provide key insights that will support strategic decision-making and enhance overall business and web experience performance (i.e. including web personalization).
Human Resources
The Proponent must have in place an established team of employees that would be assigned to the VIA account; therefore, the Proponent must demonstrate that it already has employees filling the following positions, it being understood that one person can fill more than one position: Account Director, Project Manager, Web Strategist, Architect/Ergonomist, Artistic Director, Writer, Information Graphic Artist (Infographist), Web Analytics Specialist, Developer/Programmer, Integrator, Quality Assurance Specialist, Data Sciences and Intelligence.
- The Proponent must fill out the table included in Document 5, Section 3. Resources and Team with respect to the human resources that would be assigned to the VIA account.
Business Continuity
Proponent shall have fully operational Disaster and Business Recovery Plans (DRPs and BCPs) for the solution and Proponent must provide VIA with a copy of such current plans.
PCI requirements
In order to comply with its legal and regulatory obligations (e.g.: PCI/DSS) VIA Rail intends to proceed with regular vulnerability scanning and penetration testing. The Proponent shall provide all the necessary information and make available to VIA Rail the permissions required to perform these tests. Bidding and Documents are available on http://www.merx.com. Fees may apply; See https://www.merx.com/public/pricing for more information.
