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REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL
IT SUPPORT & HELPDESK SERVICES
Revision 1
Issue date: June 13, 2014
Deadline: July 2, 2014 by 3:00 PM
Contact person: Chris Hogan, Director of Protective Services
Address: 801 Navigation Blvd., Freeport, Texas 77541
Phone: (979) 373-5911
Email: [email protected]
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TABLE OF CONTENT
Scope ... 3
Request for Quote ... 3
Enquiries ... 3
Qualifications Review Committee ... 4
Review and Selection ... 4
Changes to proposal Wording ... 5
Respondent Expenses ... 5 Proposal Submissions ... 6 Acceptance of proposals ... 6 Modification of Terms ... 6 Ownership of proposals ... 7 Confidentiality of Information ... 7
Collection and Use of Personal Information ... 7
Required Insurance & Bonds ... 7
Vendor Capabilities ... 8
Services... 8
Warranty ... 9
Specification Requirements ... 9
Helpdesk Support ... 9
HelpDesk Ticket Management ... 10
Network Alarm Notification ... 11
IT Engineering & Support ... 11
Attachment 1: Deviations ... 14
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SCOPE
The purpose of this Request for proposal (RFP) is to determine if there are qualified IT service providers that can supply IT support on a contract basis with the experience, qualifications, and capability to provide a professional level of technology services for Port Freeport while assuring a high level of customer service for the Port’s tenants and visitors. This level of support shall include:
• Remote Helpdesk (7:00 AM to 7:00 PM; Monday thru Friday) • Helpdesk Ticket Management (including statistics)
• Network Alarm Notifications (24/7/365) • IT Project Support (as needed)
These IT services shall be provided for a period of three (3) years. At the end of the three (3) year period, Port Freeport reserves the right to extend the contract for an additional two (2) years. If necessary, a new pricing structure may be negotiated at the end of the initial three (3) years.
REQUEST FOR QUOTE
ENQUIRIES
All enquiries related to this RFP are to be directed, in writing or email, to the contact person identified on the front cover of this RFP. Information obtained from any other source is not official and should not be relied upon.
If there are any deviations to the requirements specified within this RFP, Respondents shall document the deviations in Attachment 1. Proposals failing to document these deviations may be rejected without further consideration.
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QUALIFICATIONS REVIEW COMMITTEE
Review of Respondents’ proposals shall be conducted by the Qualifications Review Committee (QRC) formed by Port Freeport and may include users, employees, Commissioners and contractors of Port Freeport.
To facility the review process, all Respondents shall complete the evaluation form in Attachment 2 and include the completed form with their proposal.
REVIEW AND SELECTION
The QRC shall check Respondents’ proposals against the specified criteria. Proposals not meeting all criteria established within this document may be rejected without further consideration.
Each qualified proposal shall be evaluated using a quantitative method for the following topics:
• 5% - Location (i.e. distance from Port Freeport)
• 7% - Help desk support level (i.e. average first notice time based on previous six month of current customers)
• 5% - Ticket management capabilities • 7% - Alarm notification capabilities • 23% - IT system solution experience
o Cisco security appliances and switches
--- o VMware vCenter and vSphere
o Dell virtual desktop infrastructure
o Dell servers
o Apple iPad solutions
• 15% - IT Certifications • 33% - Cost
o Annual helpdesk/alarm notification cost
o On-site support
o Travel cost to Port Freeport
• 5% - Reputation – proposals shall include at least five (5) references CHANGES TO PROPOSAL WORDING
The Respondent shall not change the wording of its proposal after submission unless requested by Port Freeport for the purposes of clarification.
RESPONDENT EXPENSES
Respondents are solely responsible for their own expenses in preparing a proposal and for subsequent negotiations with Port Freeport, if any. Port Freeport shall not be liable to any Respondent for any claims, whether for costs or damages incurred by the Respondent in preparing the proposal, loss of anticipated profit in connection with any final Contract, or any other matter whatsoever.
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PROPOSAL SUBMISSIONS
The Respondent shall submit one (1) hard copy proposal and one (1) electronic proposal on a thumb drive. All proposals shall be sealed. The electronic files shall be in a searchable PDF format.
The submissions maybe hand delivered or mailed to: Port Freeport Emergency Operation Center Attn: Chris Hogan, Director of Protective Services 801 Navigation Blvd, Freeport, Texas 77541
The deadline for the sealed proposals is July 2, 2014 at 3:00 PM. ACCEPTANCE OF PROPOSALS
This RFP is not an agreement to purchase goods or services. Port Freeport is not bound to enter into a Contract with any respondent. Proposals shall be assessed in light of the qualification review criteria. Port Freeport shall be under no obligation to receive further information, whether written or oral, from any Respondent.
The proposal shall be in English.
Delivery of the quote shall be in accordance of the requirements specified within this document.
MODIFICATION OF TERMS
Port Freeport reserves the right to modify the terms of this RFP at any time at Port Freeport’s sole discretion.
--- OWNERSHIP OF PROPOSALS
All documents and associated materials submitted to Port Freeport as part of this RFP become the property of Port Freeport. These items shall be received and held in confidence by Port Freeport, subject to the provisions of the Public Information Act located in chapter 552 of the Texas Government Code.
CONFIDENTIALITY OF INFORMATION
Information pertaining to Port Freeport obtained by the Respondent as a result of participation in this RFP is confidential and shall not be disclosed without written authorization from Port Freeport senior management.
COLLECTION AND USE OF PERSONAL INFORMATION
Respondents are solely responsible for familiarizing themselves, and ensuring that they comply, with the laws applicable to the collection and dissemination of information,
including resumes and other personal information concerning employees and employees of any subcontractors. If this RFP requires Respondents to provide Port Freeport with personal information of employees who have been included as resources in proposal to this RFP, Respondents shall ensure that they have obtained written consent from each of those employees before forwarding such personal information to Port Freeport. Such written consents are to specify that the personal information may be forwarded to Port Freeport for the purposes of responding to this RFP and use by Port Freeport for the purposes set out in the RFP.
Port Freeport may, at any time, request the original consents or copies of the original consents from Respondents, and upon such request being made; Respondents shall supply such originals or copies to Port Freeport within 24-hours.
REQUIRED INSURANCE & BONDS
The successful Respondent shall carry commercial general liability insurance covering claims for personal injury, death and property damage and its operations to be carried out upon or in connection with the public facilities of Port Freeport. The limits of general liability shall not be less than a combined single limit of $1,000,000 per occurrence, subject to a $2,000,000 general aggregate limit, and providing a deductible not to exceed $25,000.
--- All vehicles entering Port Freeport premises shall have proof of automobile liability
insurance. For this reason, the successful Respondent shall maintain automobile liability, including coverage for all owned, non-owned and hired vehicles, with a minimum combined bodily injury and property damage limits of $1,000,000.
The successful Respondent shall carry an Employee Dishonesty Bond on all personnel assigned to Port Freeport in the amount of $50,000.
The successful Respondent shall carry a Performance Bond in the amount of $100,000.
VENDOR CAPABILITIES
SERVICES
In relation to this RFP, the successful Respondent who becomes a vendor may perform and be responsible for the following services and duties:
• Remote helpdesk support • Helpdesk ticket management • Network alarm notification
• On-site IT support (when required)
The successful Respondent shall have a physical helpdesk operations within Brazoria County or an adjacent county, but it is preferred that the successful Respondent have helpdesk operations within Port Freeport’s District
(www.portfreeport.com/maps_files/TaxingDistrictMap2014.pdf).
The helpdesk activities shall be owned and operated by the Respondent. Helpdesk activities that are operated through a subcontract are not preferred. When providing
engineering/project support or installing hardware or software, subcontracting shall be permitted with Port Freeport’s approval.
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WARRANTY
The Respondent’s workmanship shall be guaranteed for at least 12-months after the commissioning of the IT solution that they installed and/or provided.
If a piece of hardware or software fails within the manufacturer’s warranty or due to an error of the successful Respondent, the Respondent shall be responsible for replacing the failed device at no additional cost.
SPECIFICATION REQUIREMENTS
HELPDESK SUPPORT
Helpdesk support for Port Freeport shall be provided using a four (4) tier proposal system: • Tier I Support – Remotely provided by the successful Respondent
o A technician shall provide phone and remote login support to Port Freeport users
o If unable to resolve the issue in a timely manner, the matter shall be escalated to Tier II
• Tier II Support – Remotely provided by the successful Respondent
o A senior technician shall provide phone and remote login support to Port Freeport users
o If unable to resolve the issue in a timely manner, the matter shall be escalated to Tier III
--- o Site support shall be provided by a Port Freeport resource. If an internal
resource is not available, Port Freeport may elect to use the successful Respondent on an hourly basis
o If unable without additional support, the matter shall be escalated to Tier IV • Tier IV Support – Coordinated by Port Freeport, but shall utilize the successful
Respondent on an hourly or per project basis
o Utilizing support from the successful Respondent, Port Freeport shall coordinate the activities to resolve the issue.
The operational hours for the Helpdesk would be Monday thru Friday from 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM, except for Port Freeport authorized holidays.
HELPDESK TICKET MANAGEMENT
The successful Respondent shall utilize tools that help manage IT tickets such as LabTech, Kaseya, Zendesk Enterprise or equivalent software. Users shall be able to generate a helpdesk ticket request via email, user portal, and/or phone.
The user interface shall have a live chat function, so the user can communicate with the remote help desk technician.
The Port Freeport IT team shall be able to access the system to view the status of any ticket at any time.
The ticket management system shall be capable of maintaining statistics such as, but not limited to, tickets generated and closed per month, time to close, average first proposal, backlog, and user satisfaction. The system shall also have a key performance indicator dashboard, which can be viewed by the Port Freeport IT team. Additionally, the system shall have the capability to produce custom analytical reports.
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NETWORK ALARM NOTIFICATION
To save significant time and money, Port Freeport desires to identify network issues before they become larger problems. To accomplish this, the successful Respondent shall have the capability of providing Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) real-time monitoring of Port Freeport’s critical networks remotely 24/7/365 and notifying Port Freeport in the event of a network error or failure. These critical systems shall include the following number of nodes: • Firewall: 4 • Switches: 16 • Routers: 3 • SAN: 2 • Physical Servers: 9 • Virtual Servers: 10 • Virtual Desktops: 45
Port Freeport shall be notified of critical errors and failures via text and email. This level of notification shall occur instantly when the Respondent’s system detects a critical error or failure.
IT ENGINEERING & SUPPORT
Some help desk challenges and IT projects are beyond the capabilities of Port Freeport’s IT resource levels. For this reason, the successful Respondent shall be capable of providing onsite IT support for these types of situations.
--- When needed, the successful Respondent shall be available to provide on-site technician level support during periods where the Port’s System Administrator is not available (i.e. illness, vacation, travel, etc).
Onsite IT support shall be provided on an hourly basis. Respondents shall submit pricing for two different levels of on-site support; field technician and systems engineer. The
Respondent’s proposal shall define the pricing structure for the following levels of priority: • Emergency Priority: < 1-hour on-site response
o Issue direct affects critical port operations and/or commerce • High Priority: < 4-hours on-site response
o Issue directly affects non-critical port operations, but has a potential to affect Port throughput and/or commerce
• Medium Priority: < 24-hours on-site response
o Issue affects the productivity level of a small group of employees and hinders their ability to meet project deadlines
• Low Priority: Within 24 to 48 hours (72-hours if issue occurs on Friday) o Issue does not affect an employee’s level of productivity
If there is a difference in cost due to the time of day, the proposal shall define the costs of on-site support during normal business hours, after hours, and weekends.
All proposals shall identify the cost associated with the travel time to and from Port Freeport (801 Navigation Blvd, Freeport, Texas).
The successful Respondent shall be well versed with Cisco security appliances, Cisco switches, Xirrus radio arrays, VMware, Dell VDI hardware, Dell server hardware and Apple iPads. Proposals shall include the following certification level for in-house and contracted
--- partners’ staff (certifications for subcontractors and non-contracted vendors/partners shall not be included):
o Cisco Design (CCDA/CCDP/CCDE)
o Cisco Routing and Switching (CCNA Routing and Switching/CCNP Routing and Switching/CCIE Routing and Switching)
o Cisco Security (CCNA Security/ CCNP Security/ CCIE Security)
o Citrix Virtualization (CCE-V/CCP-V/CCA-V)
o VMware Virtualization (VCA-DCV/VCP5-DCV/VCAP5-DCA/VCAP5-DCD/VCDX5-DCV)
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ATTACHMENT 1: DEVIATIONS
DESCRIPTION OF DEVIATION REASON/RECOMMENDED REPLACEMENT
PRINT NAME DATE
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ATTACHMENT 2: EVALUATION FORM
Please complete the following questions and submit the form with your proposal.
1. What is the distance from your closest brick and mortar location to Port Freeport’s EOC (801 Navigation Blvd, Freeport, Texas 77541)
a.
2. Concerning your helpdesk proposal time, what is your average first contact time for the last six (6) months?
a.
3. What is your firm’s capability concerning helpdesk ticket management?
a. Developing a solution for helpdesk ticket management
b. Using a subcontractor to provide helpdesk ticket management
c. Using a hard copy helpdesk ticket management system
d. Using a software package to provide helpdesk ticket management
e. Using a customer portal and software package to provide helpdesk ticket management
4. What is your firm’s capability concerning the ability to notify your customers about errors and failures of critical network hardware?
a. Firm does not have this capability
b. Developing a solution to notify customers about errors and failures of critical network hardware
--- c. Using subcontractor to provide customer notification concerning errors and
failures of critical network hardware
d. Firm utilizes an internal solution to provide customer notification concerning errors and failures of critical network hardware
5. What is your proposed annual cost to provide Port Freeport with helpdesk support and real-time network alarm notifications?
a.
6. What is your proposed hourly rate for a field technician to provide on-site support during normal business hours?
a.
7. What is your proposed hourly rate for a field technician to provide on-site support for an emergency priority proposal?
a.
8. What is your proposed hourly rate for a systems engineer to provide on-site support during normal business hours?
a.
9. What is your proposed hourly rate for a systems engineer to provide on-site support for an emergency priority proposal?
a.
10. How much does your firm charge for travel time to and from Port Freeport?
--- 11. How many years of experience does your firm have with Cisco firewalls and switches?
a.
12. How many years of experience does your firm have with Xirrus radio arrays?
a.
13. How many years of experience does your firm have with VMware vCenter?
a.
14. How many years of experience does your firm have with VMware vSphere?
a.
15. How many years of experience does your firm have with Dell servers?
a.
16. How many years of experience does your firm have with Dell VDI?
a.
17. How many years of experience does your firm have with Apple iPad?
a.
18. What is the highest level of Cisco Design certification held by one of your firm’s employees or contracted partners? (Subcontractors cannot be used)
a. No Certification
--- c. CCDP
d. CCDE
19. What is the highest level of Cisco Routing and Switching certification held by one of your firm’s employees or contracted partners? (Subcontractors cannot be used)
a. No Certification
b. CCNA
c. CCNP
d. CCIE
20. What is the highest level of Cisco Security certification held by one of your firm’s employees or contracted partners? (Subcontractors cannot be used)
a. No Certification
b. CCNA
c. CCNP
d. CCIE
21. What is the highest level of Citrix Virtualization certification held by one of your firm’s employees or contracted partners? (Subcontractors cannot be used)
a. No Certification
b. CCA-V
--- d. CCE-V
22. What is the highest level of VMware Virtualization certification held by one of your firm’s employees or contracted partners? (Subcontractors cannot be used)
a. No Certification b. VCA-DCV c. VCP5-DCV d. VCAP5-DCA e. VCAP5-DCD f. VCDX5-DCV 23. Reference 1
a. Customer Firm Name:
b. Contact Name:
c. Contact Email:
d. Contact Phone:
e. Length of Time as a Customer:
24. Reference 2
a. Customer Firm Name:
--- c. Contact Email:
d. Contact Phone:
e. Length of Time as a Customer:
25. Reference 3
a. Customer Firm Name:
b. Contact Name:
c. Contact Email:
d. Contact Phone:
e. Length of Time as a Customer:
26. Reference 4
a. Customer Firm Name:
b. Contact Name:
c. Contact Email:
d. Contact Phone:
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27. Reference 5
a. Customer Firm Name:
b. Contact Name:
c. Contact Email:
d. Contact Phone:
