Request for Proposal. for. IT Help Desk Services. Revised Deadline for Tri-C to Respond to Supplier RFP Questions: April 22, 2016

Transcription

1 Request for Proposal for IT Help Desk Services Issued on behalf of: Cuyahoga Community College Issue date: April 1, 2016 Revised Deadline for Supplier RFP Questions: April 18, 2016 Revised Deadline for Tri-C to Respond to Supplier RFP Questions: April 22, 2016 Revised Response Deadline: April 29, 2016

2 Table of Contents 1. INTRODUCTION... 3 COLLEGE: MISSION, VISION, AND VALUES and HISTORY RFP OVERVIEW GENERAL CONDITIONS, POLICIES, AND PROCEDURES RFP SCHEDULE RFP QUESTIONS AND CONTACTS PREPARATION OF PROPOSAL... 5 Proposal Submittal ADMINISTRATIVE AND CONTRACTUAL INFORMATION... 7 Award of Contract... 7 Pricing... 7 Rejection or Acceptance of Pricing Proposal... 7 Delivery of Products and Services... 7 Billing... 8 Contract and License Agreements... 8 Terms and Conditions... 8 Entire Agreement... 8 Observance of College Rules and Regulations RFP ADDENDUM A: SUPPLIER / FIRM QUESTIONS... 9 I. Supplier / Firm Information - Questions... 9 II. Architecture / Business Continuity Questions III. System Maintenance Upgrades Questions IV. Security Questions V. Ticketing Questions VI. Real Time Dashboards and Reporting Questions RFP ADDENDUM B: PRICE SHEET

3 3 1. INTRODUCTION Cuyahoga Community College, also referenced as the College and Tri-C, is issuing a Request for Proposal (RFP) for IT Help Desk Services to provide 24/7/365 coverage for requests and incidents from faculty, staff, and students. We are hereby inviting suppliers / firms to respond per the specifications, terms, conditions, and requirements herein. The College is committed to the highest level of stewardship of its public funds. Tri-C is committed to diversity and to supporting Greater Cleveland s economy. All suppliers are encouraged to do business with the College. COLLEGE: MISSION, VISION, AND VALUES and HISTORY Mission To provide high quality, accessible and affordable educational opportunities and services including university transfer, technical and lifelong learning programs that promote individual development and improve the overall quality of life in a multicultural community. Vision Cuyahoga Community College will be recognized as an exemplary teaching and learning community that fosters service and student success. The College will be a valued resource and leader in academic quality, cultural enrichment, and economic development characterized by continuous improvement, innovation, and community responsiveness. Values To successfully fulfill the mission and vision, Cuyahoga Community College is consciously committed to diversity, integrity, academic excellence, and achievement of individual and institutional goals. We are dedicated to building trust, respect, and confidence among our colleagues, students, and the community. College History Cuyahoga Community College (Tri-C) opened in 1963 as Ohio's first community college. It remains Ohio s oldest and largest public community college. Tri-C has campuses in Parma, Highland Hills, Westlake and downtown Cleveland, and its Corporate College locations in Warrensville Heights and Westlake provide state-of-the-art facilities and equipment. The College also opened a Hospitality Management Center on Public Square in downtown Cleveland in 2010 and the Brunswick University Center. The College serves more than 52,000 credit and non-credit students annually and offers day, evening and weekend classes, and classes via television, the internet, and independent learning. Tri-C offers more than 800 Distance Learning courses and more than 130 courses at various locations throughout the community. 2. RFP OVERVIEW Tri-C is seeking IT Help Desk Services to provide first level technology support for requests and incidents from faculty, staff, and students calls, s, and web submissions. Suppliers / firms must provide a written Service Level Agreement (SLA), which covers security concerns, risks, liability, coverage, and performance criteria. The IT Help Desk shall be committed to resolving issues and providing solutions at the first level and in accordance with the SLA.

4 The services must be provided so that routine maintenance procedures, troubleshooting, loading hardware and software revisions, patches, etc. will be performed without disrupting Tri-C s services. Core hardware such as processors, power supplies, hard drive systems, network interface cards, etc. must be redundant and fault tolerant to avoid single points of failure. The system must provide call preservation, that is, the ability to retain calls in the event of component failure. 3. GENERAL CONDITIONS, POLICIES, AND PROCEDURES The Request for Proposal documents are the property of Cuyahoga Community College and should not be used by participating suppliers / firms for any purpose other than submitting a response to this specific RFP. Any and all other information, such as specifications, quantities, dollar volumes, and paperwork are considered confidential information and shall be handled accordingly. 1. Any and all names associated with Cuyahoga Community College may not be used for the suppliers / firms endorsement purposes, written or verbal, as a result of this Request for Proposal During the selection process, suppliers / firms may be requested to come in to present specific information related to their business. 3. Cuyahoga Community College will strive to purchase environmentally responsible products and services to the maximum extent practicable, consistent with the demands of our mission, efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and performance with continual improvement toward meeting federally established procurement goals. The College will strive to reduce the amount of solid and hazardous waste generated, as well as strive to reduce the consumption of energy and natural resources. 4. State agencies and state institutions of higher education must procure bio-based products that fall within the designated item categories list in the current version of the catalog compiled by the United States Department of Agriculture and maintained by the Department of Administrative Services on its website. Bio-based products will be considered and a preference may apply for those bio-based products meeting the specifications set forth in the bidding documents. 5. RFP SCHEDULE Updated 4/6/2016 Date RFP issued April 1, 2016 Deadline for suppliers/firms to submit questions April 18, 2016 Deadline for Tri-C to respond to suppliers/firms questions April 22, 2016 Deadline for suppliers/firms to submit final proposals April 29, 2016 Supplier/firm presentations May 9 13, 2016 Final supplier/firm selection May 20, RFP QUESTIONS AND CONTACTS 1. We encourage suppliers / firms to review all information carefully, prior to responding. 2. Any and all questions are to be directed to both of the following designated contacts via no later than April 18, 5:00 p.m. EST.

5 5 Martha Davidson Supply Chain Specialist Supplier Managed Services Cuyahoga Community College District Office 700 Carnegie Avenue Cleveland, OH and Stephen Hilbert Executive Director of Supplier Managed Services Cuyahoga Community College District Office 700 Carnegie Avenue Cleveland, OH All questions related directly to the RFP should reference the item number accordingly. 3. The College will respond to all suppliers/firms questions no later than April 22, 5:00 p.m. EST. Any supplier / firm attempting to obtain information from anyone other than the designated contact persons may be subject to disqualification from further RFP consideration. Questions received after the due date and time noted may be rejected. 7. PREPARATION OF PROPOSAL In submitting a proposal or in its performance under an award by Tri-C, the successful supplier / firm warrants and represents that it is not suspended or debarred by the Federal Government or the State of Ohio. Suppliers must notify Tri-C promptly of any ambiguity, inconsistency, or errors. Tri-C will not provide compensation for any expenses incurred by the Supplier for preparation of the proposal or for product or service demonstrations. Alterations, deviations, or modifications must be noted in the submittal package. Tri-C will not assume responsibility for errors or misinterpretations resulting from the use of incomplete documents. Tri-C may not consider proposals that require or request changes to the terms of this RFP or changes to the terms of the attached Professional Services Agreement that are not approved by our Legal Department.

6 6 Proposals and any other information submitted in response to this proposal are the property of Tri-C and will not be returned. No conflicts of interest shall exist between the supplier/firm and Tri-C except what has been disclosed. Suppliers must submit all information though Tri-C s online Supplier Sourcing Management system. Please follow all instructions in this document and the electronic Sourcing Director documents exactly as requested. Be complete, but provide only the information requested. If you have additional service offerings or information that have not specifically been requested in this RFP, but that you feel would be of benefit to Tri-C in general, please include this information in a separate section of your response entitled "Additional Information". Proposal Submittal A. A hardcopy of the proposal is included under Buyer Attachments. All of the following required RFP documents / forms and information must be submitted in the College s online Sourcing Director system, prior to the deadline of April 29, 5:00 p.m. The responding suppliers / firms must complete, upload, and submit all documents and enter information as required per instructions B. Prerequisites: The following prerequisite forms are attached in the Sourcing Director. They are to be completed and uploaded: i. W-9 Tax Form ii. Standard Affirmation and Disclosure Form iii. Execution of Offer iv. Professional Services Agreement (PSA) is also attached under Prerequisites. The successful supplier / firm will be required to execute the College s standard (PSA) as a condition of the RFP. Any exceptions to the terms and conditions of the PSA must be listed with proposed new wording at the time the RFP is submitted. If there are no exceptions to the PSA, supplier / firm must provide confirmation in its response. C. RFP Addendum A Questions: Suppliers / firms shall respond to the Questions listed in the Sourcing Director, and upload documents as requested. D. RFP Addendum B - Supplier Price Sheet is attached under Buyer Attachments. Supplier shall enter the total 3 year prices under Items in the Sourcing Director. If a price is included or not applicable, enter $0.00. Addendum B Supplier Price Sheet is also to be completed with annual pricing and uploaded under Supplier Attachments. E. Supplier s proposal is to be uploaded after completion. It shall contain: i. Cover page with full name of the supplier / firm and contact information for the representative submitting the proposal. ii. Table of Contents The Table of Contents should outline the major areas of the proposal. All pages of the proposal, including enclosures, must be clearly marked and correspond with the table of contents in the original RFP. iii. Executive Summary Provide a brief summary describing the services offered, experience and qualifications of the supplier / firm and its key personnel.

7 7 iv. Supplier / firm additional information sheet(s); attach if applicable. 8. ADMINISTRATIVE AND CONTRACTUAL INFORMATION Tri-C reserves the right to reject any or all proposals received as a result of this RFP, waive any formalities or technicalities, or negotiate separately with any source and in any manner whatsoever. Tri-C does not discriminate in admission, access, or treatment in programs and activities, employment policies or practices based on race, creed, sex, color, national or ethnic origin, religion, marital status, age, sexual orientation, Vietnam-era or qualified disabled veteran status or qualified disability. Award of Contract Tri-C, at its sole discretion, shall decide if an award will result from this RFP. Supplier / firm proposals must be fully responsive to all requirements stated in the RFP to obtain consideration. Tri-C may not consider any proposal not prepared and submitted in accordance with the provisions outlined herein. In the event a contract is awarded, this RFP and the proposal of the successful supplier/firm will be included as an addendum to the contractual obligations. Therefore, no information should be submitted which cannot be incorporated into that agreement. Price alone will not be the sole determining factor in the selection process. Tri-C reserves the right to award based on various selection criteria. Tri-C is not bound to accept the lowest cost proposal, if in its judgment the lowest cost proposal does not provide the best overall value. Portions of the RFP may be awarded separately. Tri-C reserves the right to negotiate the final details of the Contract with the successful supplier/firm. Pricing All suppliers/firms are required to hold discounted pricing for a period of six (6) months from time of submitted proposal. Rejection or Acceptance of Pricing Proposal Cuyahoga Community College reserves the right to reject any or all proposals and any part or parts of any proposal and the right to waive any informalities of any kind. Delivery of Products and Services Delivery requirements, as applicable, include software and / or hardware, or equipment and any installation, implementation, and training required to bring the system up and running by the effective date outlined in the statement of work.

8 Billing Invoices prepared in accordance with any statement of work and/or contract should reference the College s purchase order number. Invoices are to be submitted to Accounts Payable using one of the following three methods: Mail to: Cuyahoga Community College District AP Dept., P.O. Box 91119, Raleigh, NC Fax to: to: Tri-C@edmamericas.com Contract and License Agreements Respondents must comply with all State of Ohio and Federal regulations concerning wages, liability insurance, worker s compensation, discrimination, intimidation, and all other applicable regulations. Terms and Conditions Tri-C s Terms and Conditions are accessible on our web site at: Any issues or exceptions to Tri-C s terms and conditions should be listed at the time the proposal is submitted with new wording and included as part of the proposal. Entire Agreement The RFP and any resulting Contract shall be the complete and exclusive statement of the agreement between Tri-C and the supplier/firm and supersedes all prior oral or written agreements. The terms and conditions of any purchase orders, agreements, amendments, modifications, or other documents submitted by either party that conflict with or in any way purport to amend or add to any of the terms and conditions of the Contract are specifically objected to by the other party and shall be of no force or effect; nor shall govern in any way the subject matter hereof, unless set forth in writing and signed by both parties. Observance of College Rules and Regulations The supplier/firm agrees that at all times its employees will observe and comply with all regulations of Tri-C, including but not limited to smoking, parking, and security regulations.

9 9 9. RFP ADDENDUM A: SUPPLIER / FIRM QUESTIONS RFP Addendum A: The following questions are listed in the Tri-C Sourcing Director system. Suppliers / firms are to enter responses in the Sourcing Director and upload documents as required for each question. Addendum A: IT Help Desk Questions I. Supplier / Firm Information - Questions Questions 1. Provide your full company name and corporate address. Supplier / Firm Responses If vendor has a parent company, please indicate the parent company name and address. Year your company established / incorporated? 2. Is your company being purchased by another company currently or this year? 3. Is your company publicly listed/traded? 4. Provide a description of the company s geographical service areas, including international, national, regional and local offices. 5. Are you operating as a small, minority, women, disabled, or veteran owned business enterprise? Please select one. 6. Specify the primary service(s) offered by your company. What additional services does your company offer? 7. Describe any new service or product offerings planned for the next year relative to this RFP. 8. If your company is not publicly listed/traded, and your firm is awarded the business, are you prepared and willing to submit the last two years of audited financials? 9. What partnerships do you have with technology vendors? 10. Provide a brief resume of key staff members assigned to work with the College. 11. To what extent will participation be required from individuals whose primary work location is outside of Cuyahoga County?

10 10 II. Addendum A: RFP IT Help Desk Questions Architecture / Business Continuity Questions Questions 1. Please upload a diagram of the system architecture. 2. Is your solution a dedicated hosted or multitenanted solution? Please describe. 3. Is the core service a dedicated instance of the system, or is the service provided strictly a service where all users are tenants of a single shared platform? 4. Is the hosted solution fully based on IP telephony? 5. Are core hardware, such as processors, power supplies, hard drive systems, network interface cards, etc., redundant and fault tolerant to avoid single points of failure? Describe. 6. Describe any events that would result in a failure of the system and require a restart, re-registration, database load, etc. to return to a fully operational state. How long does the recovery take? 7. Please describe your disaster recovery plan (DRP) for a hosted solution. 8. Please describe the IP telephony call control protocol used by the system. 9. How does the system provide for fault tolerance? 10. Fully describe the system s redundancy capability. Is it "hot standby redundancy", "shared redundancy", etc.? (Cisco UCCX, Avaya) 11. Does the system provide call preservation, that is, the ability to retain calls in event of component failure? Please describe. 12. In distributed help desk architecture, the contact center technology can be located in two data centers. Are there any limits in your solution for distance between these data centers and or between the localities with help desk agents? 13. What is the proper number of agents needed to yield best results - avoid skewed call data)? Supplier / Firm Responses

11 11 III. Addendum A: RFP IT Help Desk Questions System Maintenance Upgrade Questions 1. The service must be provided so that routine maintenance procedures, troubleshooting, loading hardware and software revisions, patches, etc. will be performed without disrupting the Tri-C service. How will these notifications be communicated to Tri-C (24 hour service/maintenance contact)? 2. How will an example of root cause analysis and corrective action template for cases be provided? 3. When the system detects a fault notification must be provided to Tri-C, how is this notification provided? 4. Maintenance schedules must be provided and agreed upon in advance by Tri-C in order to avoid peak performance periods. How often do you provide new releases and maintenance to your solution?

12 12 IV. Addendum A: RFP IT Help Desk Questions Security Questions Questions 1. Does your solution have AD integration / Single Sign-On capability? Explain. 2. Please provide a sample of your Service Level Agreement, which covers security concerns, risks, liability, and service performance criteria. 3. What security is in place, which ensures secure connectivity for all voice and data passed by the hosted solution to any and all endpoints? 4. Describe the security related to the user interface? Supplier / Firm Reponses 5. Describe the security integration with multiple firewalls. 6. What type of password authentication do you support?

13 13 Addendum A: RFP IT Help Desk Questions V. Ticketing Questions Questions 1. What ticketing system will be utilized? 2. Can the ticketing system be used to manage and create tickets with Windows, Mac, tablets, ipads etc.? Describe. 3. What canned reports are available? Provide examples. 4. Can custom reports be created? How easy? 5. Are auto alerts available for extended time or for no action? 6. Describe watch list for tickets? 7. Does system provide the ability to track time worked on tickets? 8. What is the process to make changes (i.e. updates, notes, reassign, reopen tickets, etc.) to a ticket? 9. What does the entire ticketing process look like? Can this process be customized? 10. How are assignment groups created? 11. Can the system be accessed through the web? 12. Is licensing structured as enterprise or per seat? Supplier / Firm Responses

14 14 Addendum A: RFP IT Help Desk Questions VI. Real Time Dashboards and Reporting Questions Questions 1. Does the solution provide both real time dashboards and historical view reporting? Please describe. Supplier / Firm Responses 2. The system must provide a unified reporting interface into a centralized, standardized repository of all data from the help desk infrastructure. How is that managed by your system? 3. Does reporting include the ability to create and add new reporting fields that show calculations of raw call data based on user entered formulas? 4. Data must be accessible with different time intervals year, quarter month, week, day, hour, and ad-hoc including changing the week start day. How is that managed by your system? 5. As a separate attachment, please provide a sample schema and data dictionary. 6. Does your system have an open reporting architecture? Please describe. 7. How does the system s reporting feature set compare to Excel in terms of ease of use, graphs, charts, pivot tables, and other advanced features? 8. Can your reporting system handle multiyear enterprise-wide queries with many custom calculations rapidly, sans crashing? Provide examples. 9. Where is the data stored? 10. If the data is stored remote from the reporting system and/or enterprise, does that slow down reporting and how much? 11. How long of a period is repository data accessible?

15 RFP ADDENDUM B: PRICE SHEET ADDENDUM B: PRICE SHEET TRI-C RFP PRICE SHEET Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 I. PRIMARY SYSTEM OFFERING Hosted Solutions or Multi-tenanted Solution II. Architecture / Business Continuity III. System Maintenance Upgrades IV. Security V. Ticketing VI. VII. VIII. Real Time Dashboards and Reporting Implementation Training TOTAL