How To Study Video Conferencing In South Africa

Transcription

1 Meraka Video Conferencing RFI Request for Information (RFI) Meraka Video Conferencing Solution RFI Date Of Issue: Thursday, 26 June 2014 Closing Date and Time: Friday, 18 July 2014 at 16:30 (by close of business) For submission of quotations: Place: Meraka SANReN: (please always quote the RFI title with your submissions and inquiries) Enquiries CSIR CSIR2013. All rights to the intellectual property and/or contents of this document remain vested in the CSIR. This document is issued for the sole purposes for which it is supplied. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the express written permission of the CSIR. It may also not be lent sold, hired out or otherwise disposed of by way of trade in any form of binding or cover than that in which it is published.

2 Table of Contents 1 INTRODUCTION CSIR MERAKA INSTITUTE BACKGROUND CSIR UNDERTAKING RFI REQUIREMENTS Current Boardroom Resources at the VC Solution Requirements Local Support Functional and Non-Functional Requirements Additional Requirements RFI RESPONSE FORMAT Solution Requirements Solution Costing Installation of 7

3 Glossary Abbreviation Term Description RFI Request for Information A request for organisations and companies to submit information about the supply of goods and services to CSIR RFP Request for Proposal A request for organisations and companies to submit a proposal to supply goods and/or services to CSIR RFQ Request for Quotation A request for organisations and companies to submit a quotation to supply goods and/or services to CSIR RFT Request for Tender A request for organisations and companies to submit a tender to supply of goods and/or services to CSIR SANReN The South African National Research and education Network A DST initiative under the custodianship of the CSIR 3 of 7

4 Study of Video Conferencing Solutions on the Market 1 INTRODUCTION The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) is one of the leading scientific research and technology development organisations in Africa. In partnership with national and international research and technology institutions, CSIR undertakes directed and multidisciplinary research and technology innovation that contributes to the improvement of the quality of life of South Africans. The CSIR s main site is in Pretoria while it is represented in other provinces of South Africa through regional offices. This RFI requests respondents to provide technical information and budgetary costs for a video conferencing solution. The Information requested will inform the CSIR, on what Video Conferencing solution to procure and costs involved thereof. This RFI is not a tender, RFP or RFQ. No award will be made in terms of this RFI. The enquiry takes the form of an RFI, with a request for realistic cost and solution comparison purposes between the different video conferencing solutions available in the market. No conclusions will be drawn between respondents. There is no commitment from CSIR to proceed with any of the options proposed. 2 CSIR MERAKA INSTITUTE BACKGROUND The CSIR (Meraka) is an operating unit of the CSIR focused on Information and communication technology. We are in the business of research, innovation and advanced human capital development. With 250 staff and students, Meraka is the largest group in South Africa dedicated to ICT research. As part of Meraka s drive to improve operational efficiency an area that was identified was with respect to travelling costs which can be driven down by employing a solution where meetings can be held with stakeholders utilizing video conferencing whenever possible. The RFI is required to get a thorough understanding of the technical aspects and pricing of video conferencing solutions currently in the market. 3 CSIR UNDERTAKING The CSIR undertakes not to share any information submitted in terms of this RFI with alternative suppliers of video conferencing solutions. The information obtained will be used for the purposes of inputs to the study, and to inform the Meraka team of the technical and supplier alternatives available for the installation of a video conferencing solution. The information provided will be treated as confidential and will not be made available to other organisations and/or persons not directly involved with the CSIR. 4 of 7

5 4 RFI REQUIREMENTS The Meraka institute seeks to establish in detail what are the technical requirements of this solution, what costs are involved in the installation, scope of work, the timeline and future maintenance costs. 4.1 Current Boardroom Resources at the Below is the list of potential boardrooms at the where the VC solutions will have to be installed: Boardroom Name Size Existing equipment Indaba 19 seats Auditorium 54 seats Projector Hummingbird 14 seats Projector, VC system, 54 flat screen TV Houtkapper Polelo Eagles nest SANReN Boardroom HLT B22 Verve Matrix 8 seats 10 seats 16 seats 14 seats 20 seats 26 seats 8 seats 8 seats 4.2 VC Solution Requirements Local Support The respondent to the RFI must state if there will be multiple suppliers to who can respond to the RFQ for the proposed VC solution. The respondent must state if their VC solution has local support Functional and Non-Functional Requirements i. The solution must have support for interoperability with other VC solutions. ii. iii. iv. The respondent must state which standards are supported by their VC solution. Support IP-based solutions, desktop integration and ISDN dialling in. The solution must have support for dialling into a video conference as a voice participant. v. Support desktop integration on all major OS platforms i.e. Windows, Linux and Mac. vi. vii. The ability to integrate with Skype, Adobe Connect and any other web based video chat systems. Support mobile device participation from Android and IOS based devices. viii. Support multiparty calling on various available platforms running concurrently. 5 of 7

6 ix. Provide software bridges instead of stand-alone server based bridge facilities x. Support for IPv6 xi. xii. xiii. xiv. xv. xvi. xvii. xviii. Minimum latency on service performance. Provide at least one mobile solution for efficiency purposes Upgradeable firmware and software updates. Reasonable SLAs on after sales service support. The has a staff complement of 250 personnel. The respondent is required to present the number of endpoint licenses required for mobile devices, i.e. desktops, laptops, tablet devices. The solution must have support for sharing of data by the conference participants, e.g. Desktop sharing. The solution must support strong security, e.g. encryption of live conferences. The solution must have support for storing of live conferences Additional Requirements All parties who wish to respondent to this RFI must attend a briefing session to be held at the CSIR to take a tour of the facility and get a clear understanding of the current facilities onsite and equipment that is onsite. The briefing session will be held on the following address and date: Venue: The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research Building 43, Auditorium Meiring Naude Rd Pretoria 0184 Date: 08 July 2014 Time: 10:00 am 12:00 pm Contact person: Thokozani Khwela Contact tkhwela@csir.co.za Those parties who wish to attend the briefing session must inform Thokozani Khwela at tkhwela@csir.co.za that they will be attending the briefing session at the latest by 04 July of 7

7 5 RFI RESPONSE FORMAT 5.1 Solution Requirements It is requested that respondents provide a clear answer to each of the functional and non-functional requirements with references to supporting documentation if any. The respondent must state which Operating Systems will be supported under their maintenance and support agreement, e.g. Windows 7, Linux, Mac, etc. 5.2 Solution Costing The Costs should be split between the part that will be shared among all the boardrooms (backend solution) and each boardroom should also have its own costs that are also split between the audio visual components e.g. VC solution, conference phone & microphone, VC trolley, installation, etc. Price needs to be provided in South African Rand (excl. VAT), with details on price elements that are subject to escalation and exchange rate fluctuations clearly indicated. Price should include additional cost elements such as freight, insurance until acceptance, duty where applicable. Price should be presented in a table format inclusive of equipment (with a bill of materials), installation costs and maintenance for a three year period. Maintenance and support costs must be included in the pricing and made clear. If costed separately the costs must clearly show the licence costs for the use of the solution via desktop. It should be noted that the request for costing is only for assessing suitable VC technologies available and planning purposes. This is not a tender. 5.3 Installation A project schedule is required to show installation commission timelines and the installation times should also show installation times per boardroom. End of RFI 7 of 7