Request for Proposals (RFP) for Official Mautic Certification Provider

Title Image for RFP: mautic-certification-provider

Request for Proposals

1. Introduction

The Mautic Council seeks proposals from qualified organizations to develop an official certification program for Mautic, the leading open source marketing automation platform, and to run that program over an initial period of 36 months.

The program aims to uphold high standards of expertise among Mautic professionals, provide assurance of quality and reliability to clients, support Mautic professionals and users in communicating their skills and qualification, and strengthen the Mautic community.

The certification process must be available online, worldwide. Additional in-person options (e.g. at Mautic Conferences) would be an extra benefit but are not required.

Training is not within the scope of this program. Once the curriculum has been defined, training providers are encouraged to create new or adjust existing training courses towards the appropriate certifications.

2. Scope of Work

The selected organization will be responsible for:

Curriculum Development: Designing a comprehensive curriculum for three certification tracks: Certified Mautic Developer, Certified Mautic Integrator, and Certified Mautic Marketeer (see attachment for possible elements).
Certification Content Creation: Developing and structuring questions and materials that accurately assess the skills required for each track.
QA Process Implementation: Establishing a multi-level review process to validate certification questions, involving both internal experts and the Mautic community to maintain accuracy and relevance.
Content Maintenance and Updates: Forming a dedicated team to regularly update certification content, in collaboration with the Mautic community, to reflect new features and industry standards.
Formal rules for taking the exam: Please suggest rules that you find helpful, like “Are there any formal requirements for taking the exam?” and “How quickly can I repeat the exam if I did not succeed the first time?”
Certification process design, implementation, proctoring and operation: Providing all elements necessary to allow people around the world to take the certification in a fraud-proof way, including any external costs. This also includes the proof of certification, and a robust workflow that informs the Mautic community about the successful certifications.
Mautic Branding Compliance: Ensuring that all certification materials are officially branded as Mautic. (Any trainings provided by you or by third parties will have to be clearly differentiated while maintaining Mautic's endorsement.)
Proposed Pricing and Revenue Sharing Model: Outlining a revenue-sharing agreement between Mautic and the selected organization. The proposal should detail how revenue from certifications will be shared, the percentage allocation, payment terms, and mechanisms to ensure transparent financial management and execution. It shall also cover a pricing model for taking the exam, maybe pricing for subsequent tries if failed the first time, and possible discounts based on the geographical location or community membership tier of the purchasing organization or individual.
Intellectual property: Upon expiration of the contract, all content (specifically curriculum, questions and answer options) shall remain in the ownership of the Mautic project.

3. Proposal Requirements

Interested organizations must submit a proposal that describes the intended details regarding the scope as described above, including but not limited to:

Approach and Methodology for development: A detailed description of how you plan to develop the certification content and maintain its relevance. This shall also include the proposed number of questions in an actual exam for each track, the proposed total number of questions in the pool for each track, suggested question types (multiselect, …) etc.
Approach and Methodology for delivery: A detailed description of how you will be making the certification accessible around the world.
QA Process Outline: Suggest quality assurance methods for reviewing and validating certification questions, which shall involve the Mautic education team..
Content Maintenance Strategy: A plan for ongoing updates and collaboration with the Mautic community.
Co-branding proposal: Explain if (and how exactly) you intend to place your own brand in the context of Mautic certifications
Proposed Pricing and Revenue Sharing Model: A comprehensive explanation of the pricing, revenue-sharing model, including execution steps, financial tracking, and reporting mechanisms.
Relevant Experience: Examples of previous work in certification or training program development.
Mautic Membership: We require an organization membership (https://community.mautic.org/assemblies/general-assembly/f/24/) at least on community level. A higher one will be considered a plus.
Project Timeline: Key milestones and deliverables from start to completion. Note that it is not mandatory to start with all three tracks at the same time. However, the 3-year period starts once the first track has been launched. Any remaining tracks shall be added within 6 months. Please also describe how you intend to ensure that the timeline is kept even given that the process partly depends on interaction with the community, and please suggest what happens should you fail to deliver within the timeline.

4. Registration, Questions and Answers

Parties interested in the RFP are encouraged but not required to register by providing their complete identification details at their earliest convenience.

Before submitting their proposals, registered parties may ask questions to clarify the details of the RFP.

Please note that all questions and their answers will be shared with all registered participants. To ensure confidentiality, avoid including sensitive information in your questions.

5. Evaluation Criteria and Process

Proposals will be evaluated based on how well they meet the requirements and how well they support the community’s best interests. This includes:

Approach and Methodology: The proposed plan's effectiveness and feasibility in delivering a high-quality certification program.
Expertise and Experience: Demonstrated ability to develop similar certification programs, particularly for open source communities.
Community Collaboration: Ability to engage with the Mautic community and incorporate feedback to maintain content relevance; also: Existing relationship with and membership level in the Mautic community and other Open Source communities.
Revenue Sharing Model: The proposed revenue-sharing agreement's fairness and viability and execution plan.
Timeline and Deliverability: Time needed to launch the tracks, and ability to meet key milestones and project deadlines.

The initial proposal shall be ready for contract but we reserve the right to ask questions for clarification or to suggest modifications prior to final evaluation and decision.

Proposal Submission Information

Submission Format: Electronic submissions in PDF format.
Contact for Registration, Questions and Submission: [email protected]
Key Dates:
- RFP Release Date: 20 December, 2024
- Questions Deadline: 17 January, 2025
- Answers Deadline: 24 January, 2025
- Proposal Submission Deadline: 31 January, 2025
- Evaluation and Decision Announcement: No later than 15 March, 2025

Appendix: Possible elements for each track

These are just incomplete examples, to illustrate the concept and general scope. Please come up with your own concepts on structure and content. As part of the process, the community may have additions to it.

Certified Mautic Developer

Prerequisites for Mautic
Setup and installation using DDEV
Mautic platform walkthrough
Configuring and Extending Mautic
Developing with Mautic
Mautic's API Overview
Working with Mautic’s REST API
Building Custom API Endpoints
Plugin Development
Introduction to Mautic Plugins
Setting Up a Plugin Development Environment
Creating Your First Mautic Plugin
Handling Plugin Updates and Maintenance
Customizing the User Interface
Mautic’s Twig Templating Engine
Customizing Mautic’s Email and Landing Page Templates
Adding Custom JavaScript and CSS
Database and Entities
Understanding Mautic’s Database Schema
Working with Doctrine ORM in Mautic
Creating Custom Entities
Database Migrations and Schema Updates
Command Line Interface
Introduction to Mautic CLI
Automating Tasks with Mautic CLI
Creating Custom CLI Commands
Event Listeners and Subscribers
Understanding Mautic Events
Creating Event Listeners
Using Event Subscribers
Email and Campaign Development
Customizing Email Templates
Developing Campaign Logic
Advanced Email and Campaign Customization
Testing and Debugging
Setting Up a Debugging Environment
Writing Unit Tests for Mautic
Testing API Endpoints and Plugins

Certified Mautic Integrator

Mautic Configuration (UI and local.php)
Mautic Configuration Best Practices
Integrating Mautic with External Systems
Customizing Mautic Settings
Github, first glance
Installing Mautic (without Composer)
Composer & Installing Mautic with it (incl. Packagist)
Updating Mautic (incl. Mautic release cycle, and update strategies)
Backup / Restore
Understanding Git & Github, incl. PR, Gitpod, Reviewing, Merging
Cron / Console Commands (Integrator level)
Deployment
Preparing Mautic for Production
Deploying Mautic Applications
Understanding DDEV
Integration basics (Plugins, Webhooks, APIs, incl. n8n etc., …, also: Postman)
Know Important Plugins
First Peek into Mautic database (& data model)
CSS Basics (for Forms & Co)
Javascript Basics (for Forms & Co)
PHP outlines (simple elements, role of Symfony as a framework)
Webserver basics
Database server basics incl. some tuning, optimize tables, ....
Shell (e.g. chown, scp, … AND the risks when working here) and Shell scripting
Email templating challenges
MJML basics
Working with Themes
Email service providers
Email Deliverability (Avoid & Test being considered Spam, understand requirements, Google Postmaster Tools, ....)
Secure setup and maintenance
Mautic Translation (Transifex)
Mautic REST API - Basic understanding
Mautic Community and Contribution (incl. Understanding Open Source)