INVITATION TO BID (ITB) WEBEX ENTERPRISE EDITION NAMED HOST SERVICES ITB NO.: DMS-11/12-032 AMENDMENT 3 The Department hereby formally provides written responses to questions received and formally amends the solicitation as follows: Page 16 of 31 is replaced with: REVISED Page 16 of 31 Page 22 of 31 is replaced with : REVISED Page 22 of 31 All amendment(s) to the solicitation are highlighted in yellow with a vertical line on the right margin FAILURE TO FILE A PROTEST WITHIN THE TIME PRESCRIBED IN S. 120.57(3) OF THE FLORIDA STATUES, OR FAILURE TO FILE A BOND OR OTHER SECURITY WITHIN THE TIME ALLOWED FOR FILING A BOND, SHALL CONSTITUTE A WAIVER OF PROCEEDINGS UNDER CHAPTER 120 OF THE FLORIDA STATUTES.
WRITTEN ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS RECEIVED WEBEX ENTERPRISE EDITION NAMED HOST SERVICES All written questions are reproduced in the same format as submitted by the Respondent. Question #1 Answer #1 Question #2 Answer #2 Question #3 Answer #3 Question #4 Answer #4 Question #5 Answer #5 Question #6 Why is Webex the only solution provider offered if this is an open bid? This is a competitive bid for WebEx Enterprise Edition Named Host service with integrated audio conference services that is open to all vendors that provide this service. We have agencies that want to purchase our services. What is the process for allowing other agencies to purchase our services? Florida s state agencies are required to comply with Chapter 287, Florida Statutes to purchase services. Other government agencies are required to comply with their applicable rules and regulations. See the answer to # 5. Why is WebEx the only service being put out to bid? The Enhanced Voice Conference Service (Reservationless) Contract that included this WebEx service expired May 29, 2012. A new Contract for Enhanced Voice Conference (Reservationless) Services without WebEx conferencing services was executed on May 3, 2012 after an ITB. To bridge the gap in service provision for existing WebEx customers, that would have occurred while a new web conferencing procurement was underway, the WebEx service was reprocured for an additional three months beginning May 30, 2012 using an Informal Request for Quote. The purchase order arising from this Informal RFQ ends August 28, 2012. DivTel is seeking to establish a one (1) year contract with a one (1) year renewal option for WebEx with integrated audio conference service via this Invitation to Bid (ITB). This will allow sufficient time to develop an Invitation to Negotiate (ITN) to seek a selection of web conferencing services to offer SUNCOM eligible customers and migrate existing customers to new service providers if necessary. Will other services from other companies such as Citrix Online be put out to bid in the future? If so, when? The Department of Management Services is developing and plans to release a procurement for web conference services at a yet to be determined date. See the answer to Question #3. If a state agency has tested solutions OTHER than WebEx, examples being AT&T Connect, Adobe, and GoToMeeting, and finds WebEx is not the best fit, how does that state agency purchase services other than WebEx? State agencies that are required users must comply with Chapter 282, Florida Statutes, for telecommunications services offered by DivTel. As described in Chapter 60-FF, Florida Administrative Code, state agency SUNCOM users may submit an exemption request to DivTel if they want to use an alternate service. If granted an exemption by DivTel, the state agency must comply with Chapter 287, Florida Statutes, to procure the alternate service. Local governments are not required SUNCOM users. This bid is for only one service, WebEx. When this bid is closed, will all state agencies be required to use only WebEx and purchase through Suncom ordering service? Will other state and local government entities be required to buy WebEx?
Answer #6 Question #7 See Answer #5. Christina, I am not sure I understand. We were told that state agencies are required to buy through Suncom. We were also told that Suncom would have a cafeteria plan where multiple different vendors/services could be purchased. If Florida Department of Transportation for example has tested out AT&T Connect, WebEx and GoToMeeting and finds GoToMeeting is the best fit, then they would be able to buy GoToMeeting. Starting back at square one, how do we make sure Citrix Online is on this website so that a Florida State Agency has the choice to buy Citrix Online GoTo services instead of WebEx or AT&T Connect? http://www.dms.myflorida.com/suncom/suncom_products_and_pricing/conference_services Answer #7 Question #8 See Answer #5. I definitely read the bid and I see it is a bid for: DMS is seeking to establish a contract for Cisco WebEx Enterprise Edition Named Host web conference service with integrated audio conference service using suncom.webex.com. Please see the.pdf documents below for details. Also, when I download the documents the definition of Cisco WebEx Enterprise Edition Named Host web conference service is: A Software-as-a-Service web conferencing solution offered by Cisco that provides bundled access to the following Cisco WebEx services Meeting Center, Event Center, Training Center, and Support Center for each Named Host that is setup with login Furthermore, it says: DMS is seeking to establish a contract for Cisco WebEx Enterprise Edition Named Host web conference service with integrated audio conference service using suncom.webex.com. In accordance with Section 282.703, Florida Statutes, DivTel will purchase web conference services It was my understanding this was going to be an open bid that multiple service providers will be able to get on the plan, including Citrix Systems and our GoToMeeting, GoToTraining, GoToWebinar, GoToAssit Remote Support, GoTo Assist Corporate, GoToAssist Monitoring, GoToMyPC and HiDef Teleconferencing Service. Answer #8 See the response to Questions #3 and #4. Question #9 I do have one question, are we (Intercall) able to redline attachment 8 & 9? Answer #9 Question #10 Answer #10 See Section 2.03 Alternate Replies, of the solicitation. My question still remains the same: We would like to know if we can quote a similar product from the Broadsoft Platform- software or does it have Cisco? Cisco WebEx Enterprise Edition Named Host Web Conference services? Using the Suncom.webex.com url? See the data sheet I provided. Can our Broadsoft Web Collaboration application be approved to be reviewed? No. This is a competitive bid for WebEx Enterprise Edition Named Host service with integrated audio conference services.
Question #11 Section 4.04 Background Screening My legal team just made me aware of an issue. The State is requesting Level II screenings for anyone who will have access to the WebEx sessions or recordings. This is an extremely difficult request for any vendor because of the web-based nature of the recording and storage aspect of the WebEx solution. In order to comply with the state s request, the chosen vendor would need to force Cisco-WebEx to potentially have hundreds of employees screened. What is the intent as it relates to the screening for this 3rd party solution? Answer #11 Please see Revised Page 22 of 31. Question #12 Answer # 12 Question #13 Section 4.07 Preferred Pricing MNF: Most Favored Nations As the state polices this clause, will you take into consideration that the pricing provided to the State of Florida is unique based on some requirements such as, contract credits, integration cost, rebates, continued background checks, etc.? These requirements add real cost to the solution thus impacting the pricing. Pricing maybe less to another state entity that orders the same quantity but does not require the additional requirements listed above The Preferred Pricing Clause in Item 4 of the PUR 1000 references the same or smaller quantity of a product outside of the Contract, but upon the same or similar terms of the Contract. Section 3.05 System Reliability and Service Level Agreement The State of Florida is asking for SLA s and Service Credits from the Integrator when the WebEx solution is cloud based and hosted in Cisco s environment. We as the integrator have no control over Cisco s environment and Cisco does not proved XXX or any other integrator back to back coverage to meet or agree to SLA s and services credits. What is the intent given the above information? Answer #13 Please see Revised Page 16 of 31. Question #14 Thank you for speaking with me on the phone this morning. As I mentioned when we spoke, we provide our partner, One Point of Contact, with their web and audio conferencing technologies, including WebEx. The reason for my inquiry is we have now introduced new cloud based, more cost effective web conferencing solutions to the market and have been converting users from WebEx on a daily basis. The user experience is far superior and our customers surveys prove this. Are we able to respond to the RFP with a better alternative to WebEx, or is your organization only interested in a proposal for WebEx? Either way, we would love to have the opportunity to work with you Answer #14 Question #15 Answer #15 No. This is an Invitation to Bid, not an RFP. This competitive bid is for WebEx Enterprise Edition Named Host service with integrated audio conference services. Section 3.12.b.3.b Functions in Contractor s System What is the intent with single-sign on? Can you please process flow your intent with this requirement? The intent for the single-sign-on was to enable establishing user rights within OaSIS that would directly grant access to the vendor s reservation/session system; the key word being directly. Under single-sign-on, users could log-in to OaSIS through which they could manage accounts and reservations on the vendor s system without signing into the vendor s system (i.e. as if the session were managed in OaSIS but the client is actually using the vendor session management system). We now believe that this approach may be a bit complex and ambitious thus are willing to allow for a secondary approach whereby users place orders in
OaSIS to get rights on the vendor s reservation/session management system and the associated credentials (e.g. PINs, user name, password) will be sent to users using vendor email. However, the vendor will be required to send back to OaSIS, in near real time, an electronic fulfillment transaction verifying that this was done. Question #16 Answer #16 Question #17 Answer #17 Question#18 Answer#18 Question #19 Answer #19 Section 3.12.c Electronic Substantiating Details What is meant by active subscription periods? What is the intent? Active Subscription Periods refers to any period of time for which there is a charge for the right to use something (e.g. $10 per month). How flexible is the launch Date? As noted in Section 1.03 of the ITB, the existing contract for WebEx service expires on August 28, 2012. In order to avoid any disruption in service to the Customers, DMS is requiring that the migration to the new WebEx service provider be completed on August 29, 2012. What version/release of WebEx are you on today? Train release version is: T27LD (MC8.5, EC6.5, TC5.5, SC7.0) WebEx Client Version is: MC:T27L10NSP32CP1, EC:T27L10NSP32CP1, TC:T27L10NSP32CP1, SC:T27L10NSP32CP1 What EE Centers are most important? The ITB does not weight one Enterprise Edition. The importance of the various Enterprise Edition centers is dependent upon the individual subscriber. The ITB requests pricing for Enterprise Edition service which includes access to all WebEx Centers. During the past three months, 1,965 WebEx conferences have been hosted. The distribution of Enterprise Edition centers used for these meetings is provided below: Meeting Center: 1,394 Support Center: 182 Training Center: 369 Event Center: 20 Question #20 Answer # 20 Section 3.08.c.5 Migration of the Existing WebEx Subscribers. Cisco-WebEx has recommended a manual process to transition the current 40GB of recorded data to the new service. Can you please share how many users have recording stored under their accounts? As of June 20, 2012, 100 Named Hosts have recordings hosted on the suncom.webex.com portal.
3.05 System Reliability and Service Level Agreement The WebEx Enterprise Edition web and integrated audio conference service shall be operational and available at least 99.95% of the time. This means that the service cannot be out of service for more than twenty-two (22) minutes per month, excluding outages due to force majeure as defined in PUR 1000, Section 24. The system is deemed to be out of service when all Customers are not able to utilize web and/or audio conferences. Should the system fail beyond the monthly interval outlined above, the Contractor shall reimburse DivTel by credits, 5% of the web conference service charges for every thirty (30) minutes of outage beyond the initial twenty-two (22) minutes that is allowed each month. The credits shall not exceed the total cost of the web conference service for the month. 3.06 User and Operational Guides The Contractor shall submit user guides for the Cisco Enterprise Edition web conference service to DivTel within thirty (30) days of Contract execution. The guides will describe in detail all features and functions available to the Customers. The Contractor shall also work with DivTel to develop an Operations Guide within three (3) months of contract execution which describes in detail all operational processes between the Contractor and DivTel, including but not limited to the following processes: A. Ordering B. Billing C. SLA reviews and credits D. Trouble reporting and escalations 3.07 Trouble Reporting The Contractor shall provide a centralized trouble reporting and maintenance system that is manned twenty-four (24) hours a day, seven (7) days a week. The Contractor shall provide a dedicated toll-free number for the State of Florida in order for the Customers to report troubles. The Contractor shall generate a trouble ticket associated with reported troubles and notify the SUNCOM NOC of all reported troubles via e-mail and trouble ticketing system. If available, the Contractor shall provide the SUNCOM NOC staff with online access to their trouble ticket system to allow for viewing, creating, updating, and downloading trouble tickets. If such capability is not available, the Contractor shall provide the SUNCOM NOC a written report at least once per month which summarizes all reported troubles and how each was resolved. Upon notification of trouble by either phone, e-mail, or via on-line reporting, the Contractor must respond to the reported trouble within one (1) hour. A report of trouble clearance must be furnished to the SUNCOM NOC within one hour of trouble clearance. The centralized trouble reporting center must provide notification to the SUNCOM NOC immediately after the occurrence of a service affecting network failure condition. The Contractor shall provide an escalation procedure and contact list to be used for unresolved troubles, including names, titles, and phone numbers of contact persons in the escalation chain. REVISED Page 16 of 31
providing care to children, the developmentally disabled, or vulnerable adults. All employees and subcontractors of Contractor who have the capability to monitor active or listen to recorded web conferences per this Contract the active integrated audio conference accessed using toll or toll free access per this Contract are considered to be persons of special trust and shall therefore undergo a Level II background screening by DMS s Inspector General. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement and Justice Department fees for this screening are the responsibility of the Contractor. The Contractor shall not allow any employee or subcontractor employee to assist in the providing of services under the Contract if the background checks indicate that the employee fails to meet the qualification standards established for certain State employees pursuant to Section 435.04(2), Florida Statutes. The Contractor shall require all of its employees and all subcontractor employees who have the capability to monitor active or listen to recorded the active integrated audio conference accessed using toll or toll free access within web conferences to report to DMS any criminal matter that employee has been involved in, whether it is an arrest, charge, indictment, information, conviction, plea of guilty or plea of no contest, regardless of whether adjudication is withheld as soon as reasonably possible, and in no event later than two business days, of such incident. DMS shall have the right to audit compliance with this Section at any time, and Contractor and its subcontractors shall cooperate with this audit process. 4.05 Contract Management A. Contract Administrator: The DMS employee who is primarily responsible for maintaining this Contract. As of the effective date, the Contract Administrator shall be as follows: Christina Espinosa Departmental Purchasing Department of Management Services 4050 Esplanade Way, Ste. 380.9z Tallahassee, Florida 32399-0950 Telephone: (850) 410-2404 E-mail: christina.espinosa@dms.myflorida.com DMS may appoint a different Contract Administrator, which shall not constitute an amendment to the Contract, by sending written notice to Contractor. Any communication to DMS relating to the Contract shall be addressed to the Contract Administrator. B. Contract Manager: The DMS employee who is primarily responsible for overseeing the Respondent s performance of its duties and obligations pursuant to the terms of this Contract. The Contract Manager shall be as follows: Suzanne Woodcock Division of Telecommunications (DivTel) Department of Management Services 4030 Esplanade Way, Ste. 235.02 Tallahassee, Florida 32399 Telephone: (850) 921-6900 E-mail: Suzanne.woodcock@dms.myflorida.com DMS may appoint a different Contract Manager, which shall not constitute an amendment to the Contract, by sending a written notice to Contractor. Any communication to DMS relating to the Contract shall be addressed to the Contract Manager. REVISED Page 22 of 31