Collaborative Asset Management System
(CAMS) Load Balancer Solution
Request for Proposal (RFP)
Distributed by:
Oakland County Information Technology 1200 N. Telegraph Road, Bldg. 49W
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. INTRODUCTION... 3
2. BACKGROUND INFORMATION ... 3
2.1. Oakland County Overview ... 3
2.2. Project Team Overview ... 3
2.3. Information Technology Overview ... 3
2.4. Project Overview ... 4
2.5. System Design Overview ... 4
3. PROPOSAL REQUIREMENTS... 7
3.1. Organizational Requirements Response ... 7
3.2. Commercial Requirements Response ... 7
3.3. Technical Requirements Response ... 7
3.4. Support and Maintenance Plan ... 9
3.5. Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) Requirements Response... 9
4. SELECTION CRITERIA... 9
5. TIMELINE ... 10
6. PROJECT CONTACTS ... 10
1. INTRODUCTION
The Oakland County Purchasing Department in conjunction with Oakland County’s Department of Information Technology is issuing this Request for Proposal (RFP) to obtain SEALED BID proposal responses for a hardware-based load balancer solution, which will satisfy the requirements described in this RFP. The high level objective of the project is to implement a scalable solution that will distribute workload across two or more application servers.
The objective of this RFP is to provide sufficient information to enable qualified respondents to submit written proposals. This RFP is not a contractual offer or commitment to purchase services. Respondents must be bona fide providers of the solution requested, using technologies that are currently installed and working at customer sites that may be inspected by representatives of Oakland County.
To respond to this RFP, proposals must conform to the procedures, format, and content requirements outlined in this document. Significant deviations may be grounds for disqualification. Oakland County reserves the right to waive, at its discretion, any irregularity or informality that Oakland County deems correctable or otherwise not warranting rejection of the RFP.
2. BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The following background information has been provided in support of the RFP. Additional information can be found on Oakland County’s website at www.oakgov.com.
2.1. Oakland County Overview
Oakland County, Michigan is located in southeast Michigan, immediately north of the City of Detroit. The county covers 910 square miles, and encompasses 62 cities, villages and townships (CVTs). Located astride the Interstate 75 corridor and at the heart of “Automation Alley”, Oakland County is a world technology center. In 2000, Oakland County’s population was 1,194,156, a 10.2% increase from 1990. Oakland County features one of the lowest operating tax rates in the state, has perennially been the highest job-producing county in Michigan. Oakland County is one of two dozen counties in the nation with the coveted AAA bond rating and in 1998, a bond rating agency ranked Oakland County the best run county in America. 2.2. Project Team Overview
The team is comprised of staff from the County’s Information Technology Department. The Project Team will serve as an advisory group and, with Oakland County Purchasing Division, is responsible for the evaluation of RFP responses, the vendor selection process and implementation of the selected solutions.
The Oakland County Information Technology (OCIT) is a service bureau that provides IT services to 82 County Divisions, more than 100 local governmental units (assessors, treasurers, law enforcement, etc.), over 50 private sector customers, and over 1,300 @ccess Oakland customers. IT is responsible for over 150 major applications consisting of more than 8,000 programs and provides systems support, maintenance, enhancements and new development for all major systems applications.
Information Technology maintains a diverse technology portfolio based on a number of established computing standards. These standards are used as a guide when selecting commercial-off-the-shelf applications and technologies.
2.4. Project Overview
The Collaborative Asset Management System (CAMS) is a new vision for providing customer service in Oakland County’s public works community. It is a standardized, countywide infrastructure (water, sewer, storm and roads) management system that will allow Oakland County and its local governments to proactively manage assets and mitigate long term costs associated with the operations and maintenance of critical infrastructure. CAMS is founded on Azteca’s Cityworks Server application, which is a web-based, GIS-centric asset management system. The goal of this project is to implement load balancing technology capable of providing the County’s Cityworks Server users with high-availability access utilizing the County’s existing CityWorks infrastructure.
2.5. System Design Overview
Oakland County is responsible for establishing a high-availability system design (refer to Diagram 1 below) that can support an initial CAMS user base of approximately 400 users, potentially growing to more than 1000 users, with an estimated peak of 250-300 concurrent users. The architecture design currently includes one web server, two application servers and two database servers (a primary and a secondary failover).
The web server is a virtual 32-bit machine with a Windows Server 2003 operating system that is located within the County’s DMZ. The web server uses the Helicon tech’s ISAPI_Rewrite URL manipulation engine to direct incoming requests through the proposed load balancer to the underlying application servers that will be located behind the County’s firewall.
The two application servers are each 64-bit physical servers with Windows Server 2008 operating systems. The application servers will each host Azteca’s Cityworks Server application, which is the software foundation of CAMS, along with ESRI’s
ArcGIS Server application. Incoming requests will be directed to the Cityworks Server applications, which will in turn handle requests to the underlying database server and to ArcGIS Server for map content. Additional application servers may be
added into the architecture design as necessary to accommodate growth of the user base.
Distributing the incoming requests from the web server across the application servers, which may reside in separate domains, to ensure performance and facilitate failover management at the application tier is the primary requirement of the requested solution.
The database servers are also 64-bit physical servers with Windows Server 2008 operating systems that host both the Cityworks databases and the ArcSDE (GIS) databases. The database servers will not participate directly in the load balancing solution, but do play a role in establishing the high availability architecture design. One of the database servers will serve as the primary and the other as a secondary (with manual failover) using log shipping to effectively keep the databases synchronized.
The project team will determine if the proposed product satisfies the technical and functional specifications required to achieve the desired system design. The purpose of this RFP is to solicit bids for the hardware and software with an option for installation/configuration services. Proposals should include cost details for ongoing maintenance and support of proposed equipment.
Database Replication DMZ
Prod 1 DB Server
Prod 2 DB Server Prod 2 App Server Prod 1
App Server
Load Balancer
SSL
Fire Wall
Web Server
SSL
Fire Wall
Internet
3. PROPOSAL REQUIREMENTS
The data and information from this section will be used in evaluating the overall RFP. Please refer to each requirement by number in your response or respond “in-line” within the body of this document.
3.1. Organizational Requirements Response
This section will include a non-technical summary statement of the full-length RFP response.
3.1.1. Submit a brief executive summary of the major facts or features of the proposal, including any conclusions, assumptions, and recommendations the respondent desires to make. The executive summary should be designed specifically for review by a non-technical audience and senior management.
3.1.2. Submit the following information relative to the respondent. If a joint venture, similar information must be provided for each member of the joint venture.
3.1.3 A copy of the County’s Professional Services Contract boilerplate can be viewed on the Oakland County Purchasing website
http://www.oakgov.com/purchasing/form_application/. Bidders are encouraged to review the contract boilerplate with the proposed terms and conditions. Review the insurance requirements in PARAGRAPH 6.2. and Exhibit I Contractor Insurance Requirements, Lines 1a, 1b, 1c and 1d. The successful bidder will be required to comply with same. Awarded bidder shall provide required insurance documentation upon notice of award.
3.2. Commercial Requirements Response
3.2.1. Provide insurance information for Worker’s Compensation, Comprehensive General Liability. Contact Oakland County’s Purchasing Department with questions in this regard.
3.2.2. Identify the authorized negotiator. (Provide name, title, address, telephone number, and email address. The person identified shall be empowered to make binding commitments for the respondent).
3.2.3. Is the respondent an equal opportunity employer?
3.2.4. If selected as a short-list finalist, respondent must agree to conduct a demonstration and bid response discussion with staff that will be assigned to the Oakland County project.
3.3. Technical Requirements Response
The purpose of this section is to establish the technical requirements of the proposed solution.
The selected respondent must exhibit the technical knowledge to properly specify equipment and design a solution using industry standard technologies and design best practices.
3.3.1. Dialog/Narrative: Provide a narrative that describes the overall equipment recommendation, technologies utilized, architecture modifications/recommendations, configuration, and long term scalability of the proposed system/equipment.
3.3.2. Equipment Functional & Physical Specifications: Provide the following specifications of the proposed load balancing solution: 1. Supported Load Balancing Algorithms
2. Maximum Number of Servers Supported 3. Maximum Throughput
4. Maximum Concurrent Connections
5. Application Acceleration Technologies (HTTP/HTTPS Compression and Caching)
6. Session Management 7. Server Health Checking
8. Failover Management/Fault Tolerance
9. Security (Application Security Options, SSL Implementation Methods)
10. Overload Protection 11. Scalability
12. Cross-Domain Balancing (i.e., application servers on separate domains)
13. Logical Specifications (i.e., Layer2 Functions, Layer3 Boundaries, etc.)
14. Traffic Management Technologies (i.e., Layer 4-7, etc.) 15. Physical Specifications (i.e., size, connectivity, mount style)
Note: Oakland County uses a standard 19-inch rack.
3.3.3. Software/Administrative Specifications: Provide a description of the functionality available to perform the following:
1. Monitoring/Statistics/Reporting 2. Adding/Removing Servers 3. Automated System Notifications
4. Delegated Application Pool Administration and Monitoring Options
3.3.4. Installation Documentation: Provide detailed description of proposed installation services and installation support standards including:
1. Load Balancer Hardware Installation and Configuration 2. Administrative Software Installation and Configuration
3. Installation Support Standards
3.4. Support and Maintenance Plan
The purpose of this section is to establish costs and options for ongoing maintenance and support activities.
The selected respondent must exhibit the capability to support the proposed solution in a cost effective and timely manner using industry standard best practices.
3.4.1. Dialog/Narrative: Provide a narrative that describes maintenance options including hardware, software, and break-fix support. Include response standards and support hours.
3.4.2. Provide detailed maintenance agreements for proposed hardware and software if applicable.
3.4.3. Provide unit cost for any ongoing hardware and software maintenance.
3.5. Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) Requirements Response
Please populate Appendix A – Cost Response, with your cost quotations including all cabling, mounting hardware, software, and connectivity. Respondents are encouraged to insert additional rows to describe other hardware or services as needed. List separately any optional features price, but do not include these optional features in the total installation instance price. Specify any discount options associated with the proposal(s). Include costs for any services necessary for installation of proposed equipment. The proposal must be cost-effective to implement and preserve the technical and data resources that already exist in the County.
Each major component, including software and hardware elements, shall be identified by vendor part number and description. Any and all items (such as software interfaces, cables, connectors etc.) needed to achieve the proposed configuration shall be identified and priced. Any and all additional charges (i.e., shipping, installation, insurance etc.) shall be quoted. Any items/costs not quoted by the respondent will be considered part of the implementation and will be provided to Oakland County at no charge.
Finally, please include your pricing procedure for Change Orders.
4. SELECTION CRITERIA
Proposals will be collected and reviewed after the submittal deadline. They will be evaluated for compliance to the County’s RFP standards, as stated in this document. Supplemental information and the responses to requirements will be tabulated and scored.
A selection committee will review the results to create a “short list” of vendors. Those qualifying vendors will be notified, and demonstration dates will be setup. Oakland County will require short list of vendors to demonstrate their proposed solution at Oakland County.
The vendor that provides the most value to the County by providing the most efficient and effective solution will then be selected. Once a vendor is selected, the County’s Purchasing Department will contact them to initiate the contract process.
5. TIMELINE
The following chart identifies the project timeline for selecting the vendor to complete this project.
ACTIVITY DATE
1 Request for Proposal Released 06/10/2010 3 Requests for Clarifications Due 06/15/2010 4 Response to Clarifications Due 06/18/2010
5 Proposals Due 06/29/2010 @2:00 PM
6 Short-List Vendors Notified 07/7/2010
7 Demonstrations / Vendor Interviews 07/14/2010 – 06/18/2010 8 Final Vendor Selection 07/30/2010
6. PROJECT CONTACTS
This RFP is being issued by the Oakland County Purchasing Department in conjunction with Oakland County’s Department of Information Technology, located in Pontiac, Michigan, which shall be the sole point of contact for purposes of information concerning
this RFP. Any requests for clarification and/or additional information shall be directed in via email to [email protected] and [email protected]. The subject line of the
email must contain “Event 001415 Questions Load Balancing RFP”. Responses to clarification will be published on the Michigan Intergovernmental Trade Network
(MITN) web site at www.MITN.info
Any amendments or addendums to this RFP will also be published on MITN. Vendors are encouraged to register on MITN.
Please email both contacts on all RFP correspondence. All requests for clarification or additional information regarding this RFP must be submitted by the deadline, no questions will be entertained after this date. All questions and requests for clarification or additional information regarding this RFP will not be considered confidential. These questions and the Oakland County responses shall be shared with all other prospective bidders.
Specific points of clarification must be sent via email and include the specific section(s) of the RFP that is in question.
7. APPENDICES
Please refer to the following attachments as appendices to this RFP. Appendix A – Cost Response
