Vendor Questions Infrastructure Products and Services RFP # 13-02-038 1 We know DCSD recently went through an assessment to help identify how the cloud would fit into your existing environment. Would it be possible to get the output of this assessment to help us generate our response? The assessment referred to will not be provided. However, it is expected the vendor provided IaaS Cloud will be required to allow for direct connectivity via a private network connection between DCSD s leased network at Time Warner Data center at the expense of DCSD. 2 The document states a few different areas of need: Private Cloud Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS); Enterprise Network Management;Infrastructure consultation services; Subsequent system procurement The purpose is to establish a Master Product and Services Agreement with a sole vendor who can provide all four services of IaaS, Enterprise Network Management, Infrastructure consultation services, and hardware procurement. 3 We will probably pass on the Hosting portion of this RFP however we would like to respond to the other needs documented in the RFP. We provide Remote Infrastructure Monitoring & Management services and would like to respond to the need for Enterprise Network Management and Infrastructure consultative services. DCSD is seeking a sole vendor who can provide all services requested for a Master Product and Services agreement. Proposals with teaming agreements with third parties will not be selected. 4 Will we be able to respond to these services only or will you only accept responses from providers who can do everything? DCSD is seeking a sole vendor who can provide all services requested for a Master Product and Services agreement. Proposals with teaming agreements with third parties will not be selected. 5 As is stated in the Scope of Work it appears there is a need to have a vendor provide the following: o The DCSD requires comprehensive network management services for DCSD wired and wireless networks. The service provider will become the DCSD enterprise single point of contact for management of the enterprise network and underlying maintenance. Services expected include providing up/down status reporting, malfunction alarms/alerts, fault monitoring, performance management, change management (including device configuration, backups, and log reporting), fault isolation, escalation, and resolution; 24/7 network monitoring; and online portal-based device/network availability performance reporting. The vendor will be responsible for providing near
real-time data / metrics to the DCSD Information Technology Production team and monitoring system. The vendor will be required to provide the services as requested in the RFP. 6 After reading the document, all the questions we need to respond to (pages 14-23) seem to only be related to cloud, co-lo and hosting services. If there s a need for Enterprise Network Monitoring, will there be questions provided to us to respond to related to these needs? Because the RFP is to select a sole provider to establish a Master Product and Services Agreement with, it is expected that the vendor is able to provide, in addition to IaaS, comprehensive network management services and not solely monitoring. Vendor s proposal should include solution options and include pricing for related services. If vendor can provide monitoring, then it is expected they provide description of capabilities, tools, implementation and pricing model. 7 The RFP does not state any device counts for server or network related service requirements.. Will those be provided? I only ask as it will be difficult for us to provide a proposed solution without knowing the size and complexity of the environment. (numbers and types of network devices, for hosting the number of servers, types of Operating Systems, databases, amount of storage, etc.) A portion of vendor selection criteria is based on the proposed pricing models. In order to rationalize the vendor space for DCSD, the proposed models will be evaluated to determine the amount of the infrastructure and services required. The exact selection of services will be based on the pricing model and the needs of DCSD. 8 Section 19 under instructions states that DCSD will require Termination Without Cause. Is this mandatory? If so we ll probably need to pass on responding to this as our business doesn t allow termination for convenience. Termination Without Cause is part of DCSD Standard Terms and Conditions. 9 With the complexity of the bid and short time frame given would it be possible to get an extension to the timeframe? Based on the DCSD time line, there will be no extensions for the RFP. The RFP is due March 12, 2013, prior to 2:00pm (Denver Time). 10 We understand that this is not a competitive bid yet pricing is referenced in several areas. Since there are no configurations or solutions specified what type of pricing is DCSD requesting in this response? The vendor should provide a separate pricing model for: Cost-plus (+) model for equipment; Infrastructure as a Service; Enterprise Network Management; and Consultation services.
11 Would you like to see a copy of applicable contracts for the services added as an attachment? If possible, please include sample contracts for DCSD legal review. Purchasing and Contracting 12 What is the total amount of required resources: a Total number of VMs b Aggregate amount of RAM all of the VMs will consume c Total amount of storage (i.e. 5TB are needed) d If known, please list storage performance requirements (i.e. required IOPs) The vendor should provide an applicable pricing model. Exact resources required will be based on the pricing and needs of DCSD. 13 Please outline the solution options DCSD would like to evaluate. For example: Option A: o Dedicated single-tenant cloud o Environment to be managed by Service Provider Option B: o Multi-tenant (shared) cloud o Self-managed by DCS Option C: o Colocation o Please note square footage and power requirements (if not already listed above) Option A is (dedicated cloud) is preferred. Although current solution is focused on Option A, future assessment of potential Colocation of existing infrastructure will be requested at a future date from the selected vendor. What will be the basis of choosing one of these options? Is there a preferred solution? 14 Primary company will partner with a subcontractor on this RFP. Is this ok with DCSD? No. As related to question #3, DCSD is seeking a sole vendor who can provide all services requested for a Master Product and Services agreement. Proposals with teaming agreements with third parties will not be selected. 15 What are your personally identifiable information (PII) requirements? It is expected that the vendor will be able satisfy the IaaS security and access requirements for System Monitoring, OS Hardening, Asset Management, Network Intrusion Detection, Network Security, Security Policy, and Physical/ Environmental Security in order for DCSD to satisfy FERPA
and HIPAA requirements. The Vendor will not be authorized access into the application and data layers except for automated monitoring purposes. 16 Are there any other compliance considerations (such as PCI, HIPAA) that we should be aware of? HIPAA, FERPA. 17 At a high level, what info is being stored (student information, etc.)? Student and Employee Information, Videos, Structured data, and unstructured data. Environments include development, test, pre-production, and production. 18 Please estimate the required amount of bandwidth needed (i.e. 300GB of data transfer in a month, or 1Mb commit at the 95% billing model). We typically max out at 7Gb/s to our server farm. 19 If backup as a service is being considered, please indicate how much data will be backed up. 9 TB front-end data daily from over 200 clients. There are more than 200 clients and more yet expected due to growth. 20 How long are your data retention requirements? Weekly full & increments are rotated monthly today and monthly fulls are kept for 13 months. The 13 month retention policy is under review and likely to be extended. 21 In the Storage, Backup, and Data section (item #3), the term "cloud image" is used. Please define this term. Is it a virtual machine? This is in reference to snapshots of the virtual machine (disk as well as memory / running state). 22 Please clarify this question in the Storage, Backup, and Data section: a Please describe the automated Information Lifecycle Management capabilities of your cloud offering and the benefits clients receive from this functionality. Looking for information regarding any procedures or processes in place to move records from one tier of storage to another as it ages including (ultimately) archival of the records and possibly proper and auditable record disposal. 23 Is colocation being considered as an option (instead of cloud services)? a If so, please indicate: i Space requirements: i.e. 200 sq foot caged environment ii Power requirements: i.e. 31kW
Colocation is a potential. However, current DCSD data facilities will be utilized and will not be the responsibility of the vendor. The proposed pricing models will provide DCSD required information to make strategic decisions for colocation or complete transition to vendor provided solution at a future date. 24 Starting on page 13, under the Scope of Work section, you refer to requirements for comprehensive network management services for DCSD. This seems out of place for the RFP. Do you want the response to include these items or were they accidentally left in from another RFP? The RFP is intended to establish a Master Products and Services agreement and includes comprehensive network management services. 25 On page 25, you ask for a list of other financial services customer that currently reside in the facility. Do you really want us to include this? Do you want us to include other education entities as well? The question should be corrected to state: Please include a list of other customers that currently reside in this facility. 26 On page 36, you list quite a few services to be included in the proposed solution. Can you prioritize them or provide additional info regarding which ones DCSD actually desires? This is a very exhaustive list and seems to be a part of a generic cloud RFP template. The Vendor s proposal should include solutions the vendor can provide. Evaluation of all the proposals will provide DCSD required information to determine DCSD s future outsourcing model. 27 On page 37 in the Industry Expertise & Vertical Solutions section, you list a number of verticals but leave out education - do you want us to include education? The intent of the question is determine the depth of vertical markets the vendor has experience providing support to, and not just education. However, the vendor s proposal should include verticals for education as well, if applicable. However, previous experience in education is not required. 28 For item 10, page 16, it states) Please describe the automated Information Lifecycle Management capabilities of your cloud offering and the benefits clients receive from this functionality. a Is Information Lifecycle Management in the item above referring to client asset lifecycle management (custom application code, app configuration or content mgmt.) - or Lifecycle Management for any Infrastructure as a Service offerings or both? DCSD will manage asset lifecycle management utilizing existing DCSD software (JIRA), however, the vendor is asked to support life cycle Management for IaaS that enables a DevOps capability and continuous deployment methodology.