Request for Proposals For Telecommunications Service Intranet Transport Services Issued by: Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education Office of the Chancellor
RFP #2015-IT-MSB-10 Issue Date: May 15, 2015 Response Date: July 16, 2015 2:00 p.m. EST
RFP #2015-IT-MSB-10 Telecommunication Service Intranet Transport Service
Table of Contents Page Section I
General Information
1
Section II
Description of the Organization
7
Section III
Work Statement
8
Section IV
Information Required From Suppliers
16
Section V
Criteria for Selection
18
Appendix A
State System Locations
20
Appendix B
Bandwidth by Location
22
Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education Office of the Chancellor RFP #2015-IT-MSB-10
Section I General Information I-1
Purpose This Request for Proposals (RFP) provides interested Service Providers/Suppliers with sufficient information to prepare and submit proposals for consideration by the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (State System) to provide Intranet Transport Services.
I-2
Issuing Office This RFP is being issued for the State System by the issuing office listed below. The issuing office is the sole point of contact for this RFP. Please refer all inquiries to: Melodi S. Benson, Director, Strategic Sourcing
[email protected] 717-720-4155
Any RFP addenda/updates will be made available at the State System’s eProcurement Exchange. Questions must be submitted there as well. Those Suppliers who registered at the State System’s eProcurement Exchange will be automatically notified of responses to questions concerning the RFP. From the issue date of this RFP until a determination is made regarding the selection of a Supplier, all contacts concerning this RFP must be made through the issuing office. Only information supplied by the issuing office, including responses to questions regarding the RFP, should be used in preparing proposals. Any and all other contacts or information received regarding the subject prior to the release of this RFP should be disregarded in preparing responses. Any violation of this condition is cause for the State System to reject a Supplier’s proposal. If it is later discovered that any violations have occurred, the State System may reject the proposal. KEY DATES
I-3
Request for Proposal Released
5/15/15
Deadline for Questions
5/26/15
Pre-proposal Conference
6/2/15
Posting of Responses to Questions
6/5/15
Deadline for Proposals
7/16/15
Projected Award Date
8/4/15
Project Start
12/1/15
Scope This RFP contains instructions governing the responses to be submitted and the material to be included therein, a description of the services to be provided, Page 1 of 22
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requirements which must be met to be eligible for consideration, and contract terms and conditions. I-4
Pre-Proposal Conference A pre-proposal conference will be held on Tuesday June 2nd, 2015 at the Dixon University Center at 1:00pm EDT. Directions and parking instructions can be found using the following link: http://www.dixonuniversitycenter.org/contact. All Suppliers are to check in at the security desk in the Administration Building. The purpose of this conference is to clarify any points in the RFP which may not have been clearly understood. Questions must be forwarded to the Issuing Office prior to the meeting to ensure sufficient analysis can be made before an answer is supplied. In view of the limited facilities available for the conference, it is requested that representation be limited to 2 individuals per Supplier. The pre-proposal conference is for information only. Answers furnished during the conference will not be official until verified, in writing, by the Issuing Office. Responses to all questions submitted by the deadline for questions will be posted on the eProcurement exchange by 4:00 pm on Friday June 5th, 2015. Attendance at the pre-proposal conference is optional. Please submit the names and titles of those attending from your organization to the Issuing Office by May 25th, 2015. Promotional items shall not be provided at this conference.
I-5
Rejection of Proposals The State System reserves the right to reject any and all responses received from Suppliers as a result of this RFP and to cancel this solicitation at any time prior to the execution of any contract.
I-6
Contract A. It is proposed that, if a contract is entered into as a result of successful negotiations, the selected Supplier will be required to sign a standard Commonwealth of Pennsylvania contract. This agreement will contain the provisions shown as the Service Purchase Contract Terms and Conditions found at the State System website Click on Forms/Policies/Procedures. Proposal/contract negotiations may be undertaken with Suppliers whose proposals show them to be qualified, responsible, and capable of performing the work. The “Work Statement,” as negotiated, will be incorporated into the standard contract. B. Contract terms and conditions are negotiated upon issuance of intent to award to the Supplier. However, some of the terms are not negotiable as they are required to do business with the Commonwealth. Prohibited contract clauses include assignment clauses, law of the contract, attorney’s fees, court costs, entry of judgment, indemnity and hold-harmless clauses, arbitration clauses, payment in advance and payment of insurance. Specific contract clauses in the following sections are not negotiable. Section 3: Compliance with Law, Section 13: Assignment of Antitrust Claims, Section 14: Hold Harmless Provision, Section 20: Assignability and Subcontracting, and Section 27: Applicable Law. C. The Supplier will be deemed to have accepted the standard terms and conditions, except as are expressly called out in the Supplier’s proposal. If exceptions are taken, the Supplier must submit a “redlined” version of the term or condition showing all modifications proposed by the Supplier. The Supplier must provide an explanation as to why the modification is required. The Supplier’s willingness to accept the Master Page 2 of 22
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Agreement Terms and Conditions, with minor clarifications, shall be an affirmative factor in the evaluation of the Supplier’s proposal. Suppliers must submit any exceptions to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania contract in their response. The Supplier must also include any contracts, orders forms, and terms/conditions for which the Supplier will, at any time, require a signature. D. The initial term of the contract resulting from this solicitation will be for two years, with up to three one year extensions. I-7
Incurring Costs The State System is not liable for any costs or expenses incurred by Suppliers in the preparation or submission of their proposals or for attendance at any conferences or meetings related to this RFP.
I-8
Supplier Responsibilities Suppliers will be expected to register at the State System’s eProcurement Exchange in order to submit proposals. The individual listed will be the sole point of contact with regard to contractual matters.
I-9
Prime Supplier/Subcontracting Eligible Suppliers will be considered prime Suppliers with respect to any work they are awarded. Any use of subcontractors must be approved in writing by the State System. Prime Suppliers are encouraged to solicit quotes from Minority and Women-Owned Business Enterprises when requiring subcontractors.
I-10
Economy of Preparation Proposals should be prepared simply and economically, providing a straightforward, concise description of the Supplier’s ability to meet the requirements of this RFP.
I-11
Disclosure of Proposal Contents Suppliers’ proposals will become part of the contract award resulting from this RFP and are not, therefore, confidential. The State System has the right to use any other concepts presented in any reply to this RFP. Selection or rejection of a proposal does not affect this right. Effective January 1, 2009, all responses to procurement opportunities are subject to Pennsylvania Right-to-Know Law, 65 P.S. §67.101 et seq., (Act 3 of 2008). Refer to Section I-20 for additional information.
I-12
Addenda to the RFP If it becomes necessary to revise any part of this RFP, addenda will be posted at the State System’s eProcurement Exchange. The information contained on this website is current and accurate. It is the Supplier’s responsibility to check this site periodically to obtain any changes to the solicitation. Suppliers must acknowledge all addenda in their proposal response. Suppliers who fail to submit current copies of the solicitation may be deemed non-responsive. Suppliers who do not have access to the Internet should notify the issuing office.
I-13
Debriefing Conference Suppliers whose proposals are not selected will be notified of the name of the selected Supplier and will be given the opportunity to be debriefed. The purpose of the debriefing is not to compare proposals, but to provide information that may assist individual
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Suppliers in preparing future proposals. The Issuing Office will schedule the date, time, and location of all debriefing conferences. I-14
News Releases News releases pertaining to this RFP may not be made without the State System’s approval, and then only in coordination with the Issuing Office.
I-15
Response Date To be considered, proposals must be received by the issuing office (via eProcurement Exchange) on or before the due date listed in Section I-2 above. Late submissions will not be accepted.
I-16
Proposals To be considered, proposals must consist of a complete response using the format provided in Part IV of this RFP. Proposals must be submitted utilizing the State System’s eProcurement Exchange. If a Supplier does not have the capability to use this eProcurement tool, please notify the issuing office. Proposals must consist of a complete response to the requirements outlined herein and shall be submitted to the issuing office no later than the required submission date. No other distribution of proposals will be made by the Supplier. Proposal contents will become contractual obligations if and when a contract is executed. For this RFP, the proposal, as submitted, must remain valid during the entire solicitation, award, and contract finalization process.
I-17
Cost Data All cost data for the proposal shall be submitted as a separate document, apart from the Technical Proposal. Absolutely no pricing can appear anywhere in the Technical Proposal. Failure to meet this requirement will result in automatic disqualification of the proposal. Cost data consists primarily of providing recurring and non-recurring rates for service to the required locations. The maximum term for these services should be two (2) years, although no term is required. Suppliers should explain their policy on charges for early termination of services.
I-18
On-Site Presentation Suppliers who meet the initial qualification criteria may be required to make an onsite presentation. The outline for the material to be covered in the presentation will be provided to Suppliers at least two weeks in advance of the presentation date. All Suppliers who are invited to make a presentation will be given the same outline to ensure that the presentations are consistent. All presentations will be held at the same location and each Supplier shall be allowed the same amount of time for their presentation. All costs associated by such presentations will be borne by the Supplier. Promotional items shall not be provided at these presentations.
I-19
Supplier Responsibility Program Suppliers must certify that they are not currently under suspension or debarment by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, any other state, or the federal government to the best to their knowledge. Additionally, Suppliers must certify that they are not tax delinquent with either the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue or the Pennsylvania Department of Page 4 of 22
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Labor and Industry to the best of their knowledge. Suppliers must acknowledge that if they are currently under suspension or debarment, or if they owe delinquent taxes, their proposal may not be accepted or considered. Suppliers will certify to all of the above upon submittal of their proposal. I-20
Open Records Please be advised that effective January 1, 2009 all responses to procurement opportunities are subject to the Pennsylvania Right-to-Know Law, 65 P.S. §67.101 et seq., (Act 3 of 2008). The Right-to-Know Law permits any requestor to inspect and/or copy any record prepared and maintained or received in the course of the operation of a public office or agency that is not subject to the enumerated exceptions under the law. If your response to this procurement opportunity contains a trade secret or confidential proprietary information, you should include with your response a separate signed written statement to that effect. Should your response become the subject of a Pennsylvania Right-to-Know Law request, you will be notified by the procurement office to identify all trade secrets or confidential and proprietary information that is included in your response. The State System will then determine whether the claimed trade secret or confidential and proprietary information is subject to disclosure.
I-21
Contract Award A. The State System reserves the right to (a) award a single contract for all services, or (b) not award a contract. Contract negotiations will be pursued with a subset of compliant respondents whose proposals best meet financial, contractual, and technical and support requirements for the State System. Negotiations will be opened with firms of lower preference (one at a time, in order of preference) only if a fair and reasonable set of fees/billable rates and/or agreement of final contract terms and conditions cannot be established with the firm of higher preference. B. The goods and/or services described within this Request for Proposal/Quote awarded by the University may also be procured by any other university that is part of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education, including the Dixon University Center (Office of the Chancellor). The combined value of the goods and/or services provided to other universities may not exceed two times the value of this award. The interested contractor agrees to supply the goods/services to those universities on the same terms and conditions. To the extent that other universities may procure goods and/or services through the provisions of this paragraph, those individual universities assume the liability for payment to the contractor. C. Contract negotiations will be pursued with a subset of compliant respondents whose proposals best meet financial, contractual, and technical and support requirements for the State System. D. This RFP shall not result in an exclusive rights contract. The right of multi-university use of any contract resulting from this RFP does not provide a guarantee of multiple site/entity use, nor does it provide exclusive rights to the selected supplier.
I-22
Best and Final Offers
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A. While not required, the Issuing Office reserves the right to conduct discussions with Offerors for the purpose of obtaining the Best and Final Offers (“BAFO”). Contract negotiations may be pursued with a subset of compliant Offerors whose proposals best meet financial, contractual, and technical and support requirements for the University. Negotiations will be opened with firms of lower preference (one at a time, in order of preference) only if a fair and reasonable set of fees/billable rates and/or agreement of final contract terms and conditions cannot be established with the firm of higher preference. To obtain Best and Final Offers from Offerors, the Issuing Office may do one or more of the following, in any order: 1. 2. 3. 4.
Schedule oral presentations; Request revised proposals; Conduct a reverse online auction; and Enter into pre-selection negotiations
B. The following Offerors will not be invited by the Issuing Office to submit a Best and Final Offer: 1. Those Offerors, which the Issuing Office has determined to be non- responsible or whose proposals the Issuing Office has determined to be non-responsive. 2. Those Offerors, which the Issuing Office has determined from the submitted and gathered financial and other information, do not possess the financial capability, experience or qualifications to assure good faith performance of the contract. 3. Those Offerors whose score for their technical submittal of the proposal is less than 70% of the total amount of technical points allotted to the technical criterion.
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Section II Description of the Organization
II-1
Fact Sheet Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education Fact Sheet
II-2
Strategic Direction Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education Strategic Initiatives
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Section III Work Statement III-1
Current Environment
1) The State System currently uses network services, including Internet and Internet 2 access, provided through a wide area network (WAN) named SSHEnet. This network is operated by the State System Network Operations Center (NOC) for the benefit of the State System’s member universities. 2) SSHEnet consists entirely of Ethernet circuits from multiple providers. These circuits include a. Dedicated Internet circuits provide Internet directly to the fourteen State System Universities. One location currently has a 10000 Mbps Internet service, the others have 1000 Mbps service available. Currently these services are provided by Level3 and Windstream. b. Each of the fourteen Universities has a Level3 multipoint Ethernet circuit over which Intranet service is carried. These circuits are between 50 and 200Mbps. There are currently three additional State System facilities which also receive Intranet services using the same multipoint Ethernet network. Currently, Internet service to these locations is provided across the multipoint circuits to two of these locations. c. Each of the fourteen Universities and the Dixon University Center also have Gigabit Ethernet circuits connected to the PennREN network run by KINBER. These circuits carry i. Internet traffic ii. Internet2 traffic iii. Backup Intranet capability
III-2
Objective
1) The State System wishes to enter into a new contract for Ethernet services to replace the existing multipoint services from Level3. The existing Level3 contract terminates in May of 2016 and cannot be extended. a. Level3, at its own discretion, may submit a proposal. The issuing of this RFP is not a reflection on the State System’s level of satisfaction with the performance of the current vendor. 2) The State System wishes to continue to have diverse services available for its Intranet traffic, therefore all proposals will be evaluated for their ability to operate effectively even if the State System is experiencing problems with the services it obtains from KINBER’s PennREN network. This includes, but is not limited to, fiber cuts, router and switch failures and denial of service attacks. 3) Suppliers must be able to provide the service by December 1st 2015.
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III-3
Nature and Scope of the Project
1) The State System requires Gigabit or Fast Ethernet circuits to its locations. These circuits will be used by the State System to transport its Intranet traffic, including video conferencing and administrative system traffic (SAP). In the future it may carry VoIP traffic as well. a. The State System does not require a multipoint Ethernet design. Each proposal will be evaluated on how well it meets the requirements of this RFP. 2) The list of the State System Locations can be found in Appendix A. This Appendix contains street addresses, including latitude and longitude where available. The initial, minimal bandwidth requirements, per location, are in Appendix B. a. The State System may wish to alter the bandwidths at the Kutztown and/or Millersville locations (either 100 or 200Mbps) during the contract period. Suppliers must indicate in their proposals whether this will be an available feature, and list any constraints on the execution of such changes (number of times, lead times, et al). If this would not be an option, the first number for those sites in Appendix B should be used in developing the design. i. Any cost implications of this feature must be laid out in the Cost Response only. Absolutely no pricing can appear anywhere in the Technical Proposal.
III-4
Technical Requirements
1) Supplier Equipment Requirements a. All Supplier network equipment must be interoperable with network equipment from major vendors, including Cisco and Juniper. b. The Supplier will be responsible for selecting, purchasing, obtaining and installing any and all necessary equipment at State System locations to connect the State System’s network edge equipment, currently Cisco 7600 routers, to the Supplier network (the State System is in the process of replacing these routers, and the exact make and model have not been determined). i. The Supplier will retain ownership of all such equipment, and will be responsible for all maintenance, upgrades, configuration, repair and disposal of this equipment. 2) Quality of Service a. The State System Intranet currently carries videoconferencing and administrative system traffic (SAP). In the future it may carry VoIP traffic as well. i. The proposed Intranet solution must be able to provide quality of service protections consistent with the requirements of this type of traffic, including low latency, low jitter and low packet loss for video and telephony traffic. Page 9 of 22
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ii. In addition, it must be able to provide quality of service to guarantee low levels of packet loss for other types of traffic, including the System’s SAP servers. 3) Ethernet circuit requirements a. All Ethernet connections must be full duplex. b. Standards i. All Fast Ethernet connections must be compliant with the IEEE 802.3u standard. ii. All Gigabit Ethernet connections must be compliant with the IEEE 802.3z standard. iii. Supplier equipment and services are expected to conform to all standards necessary to implement Ethernet circuits, and all standards which apply to any particular implementation of Ethernet, such as IIIE802.1q and 802.1p for VLANs. 4) Operational Requirements a. The Supplier must operate a Network Operations Center (NOC), which must be staffed 7x24x365 with qualified personnel able to resolve network problems involving the Supplier network and services. i. The Supplier NOC on-duty personnel must be reachable by email and telephone at any time. 1. The Supplier NOC personnel must be able to provide telephone support to the State System network operations staff, including immediate problem resolution for critical and important issues. 2. The Supplier NOC must provide customer notifications of important events which impact or may impact the reliability or performance of the services which the Supplier provides to the State System. 3. The Supplier NOC must provide analyses, when requested by the State System, of events which impact the reliability or performance of the services which the Supplier provides to the State System. ii. The Supplier must provide, if selected, a complete set of escalation procedures, to allow the State System access to higher level support personnel and upper level management personnel, including email and 7x24x365 telephone contact information. iii. The Supplier NOC personnel must be able to assist the State System in resolving performance and security-related network events and issues, including, but not limited to Denial of Service (DOS) attacks and Distributed Denial of Service (DDOS) attacks.
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b. Scheduled maintenance to the Supplier network or Supplier provided connections to the State System Locations should be conducted between the hours of midnight and 6am, Eastern Time (2am-6am preferred). i. The Supplier must provide the State System with at least 3 business days advance notice of any scheduled maintenance affecting the State System services. ii. Supplier personnel must provide notifications to designated State System personnel at the beginning and end of all scheduled maintenance events. 5) Account Management Requirements a. The Supplier will act as a single point of contact (SPOC) for all the State System communications regarding the services provided by the Supplier. b. The Supplier must designate an Account Manager for the State System, who will function as the primary point of contact for the relationship between the State System and the Supplier. c. Invoicing and Payment i. The State System expects timely, accurate and complete invoices. ii. Each invoice must include all applicable state and federal taxes, fees and surcharges, including Federal Universal Service Fund charges, for which the Supplier can make payments for the State System. 6) The Supplier must provide Service Level Agreements (SLAs) for its Ethernet services. There is a section in the Required Information where the Supplier must provide information on the offered SLAs.
III-5
Required information
1) Qualifications and Experience a. The Supplier must provide information on the qualifications and experience of its personnel that will implement and support the services provided to the State System. This information should include: i. The names, roles, qualifications, including certifications, of the personnel who will plan, implement and support the services provided to the State System. b. The Supplier must provide a description of past and current experience with providing services with similar size and scope to those requested by the State System. c. The Supplier must provide a list of 3 current and recent reference accounts and references from its customer base, with contact information. The State System will contact some or all of these reference accounts. 2) Technical Information Page 11 of 22
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a. The Supplier must provide a description of the Supplier network topology and network facilities. This description should include i. Detailed descriptions of any equipment that will be deployed by the Supplier to any State System location. ii. The location of all Supplier PoPs which will be involved in providing the requested service to the State System, and the equipment deployed at these locations used to provide the service. 1. The service area for each PoP and the extent of services provided to other customers should be included. iii. Descriptions of the involvement of any and all subcontractors and/or supporting networks or Suppliers. iv. A description of network design features employed to provide reliable Ethernet service to the State System. 1. This should include all elements used to provide diversity and redundancy in the network design. v. Information on available capacity in the Supplier network to meet the State System’s requirements, and/or plans to expand capacity to meet the State System’s needs 1. This should include historical information on the utilization of connections in the Supplier network. 2. This should include information on the Supplier’s policies on the oversubscription of backbone links, and the Supplier’s policy on adding capacity to its backbone links. vi. Information on the paths that fiber connections that would be used to provide the Supplier’s services, including diagrams 1. This should include information on how these fiber paths will be used to protect services provided to the State System 2. The State System may use fiber path diversity as a significant element in its choice of Suppliers and services b. Reliability Features and Enhancement i. The Supplier should provide descriptions of any additional capabilities which enhance the Supplier’s services, including the reliability, performance and/or security of the offered services. 1. e.g. diverse fiber paths, multipoint Ethernet, carrier Ethernet, multiply connected PoPs, multiple NOCs and/or call centers, out of band management ii. The Supplier should provide a description of any features, processes or procedures designed to enhance the value of its network and services to
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provide Business Continuity and/or Disaster Recovery (BC/DR). The Supplier should provide information on its disaster avoidance plans. c. The Supplier should include descriptions of any Quality of Service (QoS) options which would be available to the State System. i. Describe the available QoS features and options, including how those options which would most likely be used for videoconferencing, voice over IP, and services which utilize transactional database sessions, such as SAP. d. The Supplier must provide descriptions of any sub-rate services which it offers, including how sub-rate services will be implemented. i. A description of how traffic bursts will be handled must be included, for services which allow bursting and for services which do not. ii. Any Supplier providing a burstable option must provide information on how the billing for burstable services will be determined. 3) Site Requirements a. The Supplier must provide any requirements needed for equipment which it will place at any State System Location, including i. Space ii. Electrical power iii. Fiber paths and conduits 4) Operational Information a. The Supplier should provide information on how requests for new services, service modifications, cancellations and upgrades, are scheduled and implemented, including any limitations on accepting requests and minimal, average and maximum times for implementing such requests. i. Any information on recurring and non-recurring costs for such requests must be submitted only in the Cost section of the response. b. The Supplier should provide information about online resources such as websites or portals which would contain information about the services which the Supplier will provide to the State System. c. The Supplier should provide information on any monitoring and statistics capabilities that would be available to the State System, either as a part of the standard service or as options. These capabilities might include i. ii. iii. iv. v.
Online Statistics Reports Alerts and Updates Proactive monitoring Any information on costs for such services must be submitted only in the Cost section of the response. Page 13 of 22
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d. The Supplier should provide information on the history of issues with its Ethernet service, including information on the i. Frequency of Issues by Problem Type and Severity ii. Mean and maximum time to resolution e. Invoices i. The Supplier must supply a sample invoice. ii. The Supplier must indicate how invoices will delivered, and provide a list of how payments may be made. 5) Account Management a. Describe the role and responsibilities of the Account Manager. b. The Supplier should provide information on their dispute resolution procedures. i. Describe the role of the Account Manager in the dispute resolution process. 6) Service Level Agreements a. The Supplier should provide full information on any Service Level Agreements (SLAs) covering the service provided to the State System. b. This should include information on what each SLA covers, how it is assessed and triggered, how penalties are determined, and whether the Supplier or the State System would need to initiate the application of SLA penalties. c. Potential SLAs cover i. Initial service delivery (days from date the order is placed) ii. Service availability 1. Triggered by complete or partial service impairment iii. iv. v. vi.
Packet loss Jitter and/or packet delay variation Latency Service delivery timeframes for 1. New services 2. Service modifications
7) The Supplier should include information on any other services which would be provided to the State System. 8) Transition
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a. Supplier shall provide a work plan that includes provisions for tasks, milestones, resource requirements and other dependencies required to successfully execute the transition. This work plan will later be developed into a more detailed transition plan created jointly with the State System upon contract award. i. The Supplier’s transition plan must demonstrate that it can effectively manage the installation to the proposed environment and provide ongoing support, including the ability to implement all services to all requested locations. ii. Program Management: Designation of an individual who will perform as project manager and be the single-point-of-contact. iii. Project Plan: Project plan to be submitted within the proposal identifying milestones leading up to and including the service start date. The project plan needs to contain sufficient milestones for measuring interim progress, allowing for identification of potential delay such that contingency plans can be discussed by the Supplier with the State System that can put the overall project back on schedule. The project plan shall include a project summary that clearly identifies start-dates for services to all locations. iv. Project Status Meetings: There are to be regularly scheduled project status meetings between the Supplier’s project manager and the State System. At each project status meeting, the Supplier’s project manager is to give a detailed verbal report with a summary written report of the current status of all project milestones and identification to the State System of any problems or potential problems that might delay overall project completion on schedule. v. Contingency Planning: Sufficient planning should be presented in the proposal and project plan that demonstrates the capability of the Supplier for developing, presenting, and discussing contingency efforts at project status meetings; efforts that can make up for interim delays and complete the total installation of all service(s) to all locations by the final completion date requested.
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Section IV Information Required From Suppliers IV-1
Response to Request for Proposal Responses to this Request for Proposal should contain verification that the Supplier meets the State System’s requirements as a Supplier and a list of compliant services which the Supplier proposes to provide to the State System. Each service must meet the technical requirements listed in this RFP. In addition the Supplier must submit responses to the requests in the Required Information section. While Suppliers are encouraged to submit the most creative, cost effective proposal possible, the inclusion of extraneous commercial and/or sales literature as a substitute for responses to questions included in the RFP is strongly discouraged. Any supplemental information that you elect to provide should be attached as appendices to your proposal. In addition to responding to Section III of this RFP, include the following information with your proposal. A. Statement of Understanding. Provide a Statement of Understanding of the services being requested by the State System. B. Company Profile. Include a brief history of your company including the number of years in business and your ownership structure. Provide an overview of your company’s global presence. Outline your company’s infrastructure including role descriptions and organizational charts for the proposed services and staff configuration. Provide details if sub-contractors are used to provide the services. C. Financial Information. Vendors are to provide copies of financial statements,
including an Income Statement and Balance Sheet for the most recently completed fiscal year. If these documents are available online, Suppliers may provide a link to this information. Non-public companies that do not wish to provide financial statements should provide contact information for individuals who will be able act as references for the Supplier’s financial stability, such as their bank manager, accountant or company attorney. D. Work Plan. Describe in narrative form your technical plan for accomplishing the work. Use the task descriptions in Part III, Work Statement of this RFP as your reference point. Modifications of the task descriptions are permitted; however, reasons for changes should be fully explained. E. Additional Information. In addition to responding to the information requested in this Section and Section III of this RFP, list any ancillary services or other value-added services your firm offers. IV-2
Response to Cost Problem All cost information must be kept separate from the technical portion of the proposal. Absolutely no pricing can appear anywhere in the technical proposal including technical proposal appendices, or the Supplier’s proposal will be disqualified.
IV-3
Instructions for Proposal Submissions Page 16 of 22
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The State System is utilizing an electronic procurement system for its solicitations. In order to submit a proposal, interested Suppliers need to register at the State System’s eProcurement Exchange. Important: Suppliers should contact the issuing office if they are unable to register correctly, or if they experience difficulty in uploading/downloading documents from the eProcurement Exchange. Response Format: Proposals are to be straightforward, clear, concise and specific to the information requested. In order for proposals to be considered complete, Suppliers must provide the information requested in Section III of this RFP. As part of their proposals, Suppliers must provide firm fixed pricing on the System being offered. Pricing shall include all anticipated charges. What to Submit with your Proposal: Click on the “Bid” tab. 1.
Answer Request for Information (RFI) items if provided.
2.
Attach a zipped folder containing the documents listed below: ● ● ●
Technical Proposal Cost Proposal Appendices to the technical or cost proposals (please review carefully to ensure your technical documents do not contain cost information).
How to Submit your Proposal: Save your files as a single zipped folder. From the Bid tab, click on “browse” (middle of the page), then find and select the zipped folder name. The zipped folder will be attached to your bid submission when the Submit Bid button is clicked. The maximum individual file or folder size is 20Mb. Instructions to zip a file are in the FAQ section at the eProcurement Exchange. Contact the issuing office for assistance if needed. Verifying that your Proposal was Submitted - If submitted properly, you will receive an acknowledgement appearing in the middle of your screen saying “Your bid has been recorded” and a bid receipt number will be provided. Withdrawing Your Proposal - You may withdraw your proposal at any time up to proposal due date and time by simply clicking on Withdraw Bid, located at the bottom of the Bid tab. Help Guides - There are several Help Guides and video tutorials available on the various screens. If additional support is needed, please contact the issuing office.
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Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education Office of the Chancellor RFP #2015-IT-MSB-10
Section V Criteria for Selection V-1
Evaluation of Proposals All proposals will be reviewed and evaluated by a committee of qualified personnel selected by the State System. The committee will recommend for selection the proposal(s) that most closely meets the requirements of this RFP and satisfies the State System’s needs. All proposals will be evaluated similarly for the extent to which they provide reliable, cost-effective service that meets the State System’s requirements. Due to the often changing nature of the State System’s requirements, and the expected greater flexibility and reliability of multipoint designs, a multipoint design will be chosen over a point to point solution which scores equally well. However, there will not be any bonus score applied to multipoint proposals. Remember to:
V-2
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Check the State System’s eProcurement Exchange for addenda.
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Carefully review all listed requirements to ensure compliance with the RFP.
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Keep cost data separate from technical information.
Selection Criteria The following areas of consideration will be used in making the proposal selection: A. Demonstrated understanding of the State System’s requirements. This refers to the Supplier’s understanding of the State System’s needs that generated the RFP, of the State System’s objectives in asking for the Service, and of the nature and scope of the work involved. B. Supplier Qualifications/Experience. Competence and experience of the company and its proposed resources. This includes the experience, expertise, and resources of the Supplier to meet the terms of this RFP. C. References. Provide the names of three current clients of similar size and configuration. References from institutions of higher education are preferable. D. Soundness of Approach. This refers to whether or not the Supplier’s approach for assisting the State System responds to the written specifications and requirements of the RFP, and meets the State System’s objectives. Of equal importance is whether the approach is completely responsive to all written specifications and requirements contained in this RFP, specifically with regard to those listed in Section III. E. Cost. The State System desires the best pricing offered for a collaborative procurement. While this area will be weighted heavily, it will not normally be the deciding factor in the selection process. The process of competitive negotiation being Page 18 of 22
Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education Office of the Chancellor RFP #2015-IT-MSB-10
used in this case should not be confused with the different process of competitive sealed bidding. The latter process is usually used where the goods or services being procured can be described precisely and price is generally the determinative factor. With competitive negotiation, however, price is not required to be the determinative factor, although it may be, and the State System has the flexibility it needs to negotiate with Suppliers to arrive at a mutually agreeable relationship.
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Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education Office of the Chancellor RFP #2015-IT-MSB-10
Appendix A
State System Locations Bloomsburg University
Andruss Library Building 400 East Second Street Bloomsburg, PA 17815 California University 701 Third Street California PA 15419 Cheyney University Browne Hall (Basement) 1837 University Circle Cheyney PA 19319 Clarion University Still Hall East Main St Clarion PA 16214 N 41.212270, W -79.377680 Dixon University Center 2986 N 2nd St Harrisburg PA 17110 East Stroudsburg University 200 Prospect St East Stroudsburg University Computing Center East Stroudsburg PA 18301 40.996004 N-75.174551W Edinboro University Ross Hall 220 Scotland Rd Edinboro PA 16444 Indiana University Stright Hall 210 S 10th St Indiana PA 15701 Lat: 40° 37' 33.5562" (40.625842) Long: -79° 9' 29.8794" (-79.158618) Kutztown University 15200 Kutztown Rd Stratton Administration Building Kutztown PA 19530 40.511501 N -75.781699 W 41.870248-80.124366 Lock Haven University 72 Campus Dr Lock Haven PA 17745 41.141617,- 77.463211 Page 20 of 22
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Mansfield University Alumni Hall Academy St & College Ave Mansfield PA 16933 41.806944 N - 77.073889 W Millersville University Boyer Hall 37 W. Frederick St Millersville PA 17551 39.997589N -76.356571W Philadelphia Center City Campus 701 Market Street Concourse Level Philadelphia PA 19106 Shippensburg University
Math, Computing, and Technology building – room 60. 69 MCT Access Rd, Shippensburg, PA 17257 40.060976, -77.522852 Slippery Rock University Spotts World Culture Building #25 Room 001 1 Morrow Way West Central Loop Slippery Rock PA 16507 GPS Coordinates: N 41° 03.717 W 080° 02.609 West Chester University Allegheny Hall 121 W. Rosedale Avenue West Chester, PA 19383 39.951444, -75.600980 State System Network Operations Center Graduate Center, West Chester University 1160 McDermott Drive West Chester PA 19380
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Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education Office of the Chancellor RFP #2015-IT-MSB-10
Appendix B: Minimum Bandwidth by Location Location Bloomsburg University California University Cheyney University Clarion University Dixon University Center East Stroudsburg University Edinboro University Indiana University Kutztown University Lock Haven University Mansfield University Millersville University Philadelphia Center City Campus Shippensburg University Slippery Rock University West Chester University State System Network Operations Center
Minimum Bandwidth (Mbps) 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 200 or 100 50 50 200 or 100 50 100 50 50 50
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