County of Alameda, General Services Agency – Purchasing
RFP No. 901005, Addendum No. 2
Page 10 of 16
July 30, 2012
COUNTY OF ALAMEDA
GENERAL SERVICES AGENCY-PURCHASING
ADDENDUM No. 2
to
RFP No. 901005
for
VOICE NETWORK EQUIPMENT PROCUREMENT AND SUPPORT
Specification Clarification/Modification and Recap of the Networking/Bidders Conferences
Held on July 10, 2012 and July 11, 2012
______
Notice to Bidders
This County of Alameda, General Services Agency (GSA), RFP Addendum has been electronically issued to potential bidders via e-mail. E-mail addresses used are those in the County’s Small Local Emerging Business (SLEB) Vendor Database or from other sources. If you have registered or are certified as a SLEB please ensure that the complete and accurate e-mail address is noted and kept updated in the SLEB Vendor Database. This RFP Addendum will also be posted on the General Services Agency (GSA) Contracting Opportunities website located at http://www.acgov.org/gsa/purchasing/bid_content/ContractOpportunities.jsp.
***PLEASE NOTE THE FOLLOWING CHANGES AND ADDITIONS HAVE BEEN MADE TO THIS RFP: ***
· The bid due date has been change to August 16, 2012.
· Important changes have been made to Bid Forms. Exhibit B-5 and B-11 have been revised. Vendors must submit Exhibit B-5 (REVISED) and Exhibit B-11 (REVISED) included in Addendum No. 2, with their Bid Response. Failure to submit the correct or incomplete bid forms will be subject to bid disqualifications or rejections.
· EXHIBIT S - (The Iran Contracting Act (ICA) of 2010). This Exhibit must be completed and returned as part of the bid response.
· Exhibit T – ALCO AGSBI Report – 2752138
· Exhibit U – ALCO 4864130ZTSA072412
The following Sections have been modified to read as shown below. Changes made to the original RFP document are in bold print and highlighted, and deletions made have a strike through.
Page 16 of the RFP, Section E (Specific Requirements), Item 22.a has been revised and as follows:
22. Dedicated Technician(s) with vehicle(s) and tools.
Vendor to:
a. Provide an Avaya qualified dedicated certified technician to be assigned on-site to the County full time for a minimum of (50) 51 weeks per year, such that the technician or a temporary replacement is available every business day for approximately 250 days during each 12 month term of any contract awarded as a result of this RFP.
Page 22 of the RFP, Section G (OTHER SERVICES), Item 1.d, has been deleted.
G. OTHER SERVICES
- Training
Vendor to:
a. Provide training materials, directions, and brochures on new products as part of new purchases and make materials available on order for existing systems or on line.
b. Provide training classes on site as requested by the County.
c. Provide access to online training as available and ordered by the County.
d. Provide quotes for training classes.
Page 25 of the RFP, Section K (CALENDAR OF EVENTS) has been revised as follows:
K. CALENDAR OF EVENTS
Event / Date/LocationRequest Issued / June 25, 2012
Written Questions Due / by 5:00 pm on July 11, 2012
Networking/Bidders Conference #1 / July 10, 2012 @ 2:00 p.m. / at: Castro Valley Library
3600 Norbridge Avenue
Canyon Room
Castro Valley, CA 94546
Networking/Bidders Conference #2 / July 11, 2012 @ 10:00 a.m. / at: General Services Agency
1401 Lakeside Drive
Room 1107, 11th Floor
Oakland, CA 94612
Addendum #1 Issued / July 18, 2012
Addendum #2 Issued / July 30, 2012
Response Due / August 13, 2012 by 2:00 p.m. August 16, 2012 by 2:00 p.m.
Evaluation Period / August 16 – September 7, 2012
Vendor Interviews / September 5, 2012
Board Letter Issued / November 9, 2012
Board Award Date / December 4, 2012
Contract Start Date / January 1, 2013
Pages 32 of the RFP, O (EVALUATION CRITERIA / SELECTION COMMITTEE), Evaluation Criteria table have been revised as follows:
G. F / Relevant Experience:Proposals will be evaluated against the RFP specifications and the questions below:
1. Do the individuals assigned to the project have experience on similar projects?
2. Are résumés complete and do they demonstrate backgrounds that would be desirable for individuals engaged in the work the project requires?
3. How extensive is the applicable education and experience of the personnel designated to work on the project?
H. G. / References (See Exhibit M, Item D1 & D2)
J. H. / Oral Presentation and Interview:
The oral presentation by each bidder shall not exceed sixty (60) minutes in length. The oral interview will consist of standard questions asked of each of the bidders and specific questions regarding the specific proposal. The proposals may then be re-evaluated and re-scored based on the oral presentation and interview.
L. I. / Understanding of the Project:
Proposals will be evaluated against the RFP specifications and the questions below:
1. Has proposer demonstrated a thorough understanding of the purpose and scope of the project?
2. How well has the proposer identified pertinent issues and potential problems related to the project?
3. Has the proposer demonstrated that it understands the deliverables the County expects it to provide?
Page 43 of the RFP, Section BB (ONLINE CONTRACT COMPLIANCE SYSTEM), item 2.a has been revised:
BB. ONLINE CONTRACT COMPLIANCE SYSTEM
Upon contract award:
1. The County will provide contractors and subcontractors participating in any contract awarded as a result of this bid process, a code that will allow them to register and use Elation Systems free of charge.
2. Contractors should schedule a representative from their office/company, along with each of their subcontractors, to attend Elation training.
a. Free multi-agency Elation Systems one-hour training sessions require reservations and are held monthly in the Oakland Pleasanton, California area.
It is the Contractor’s responsibility to ensure that they and their subcontractors are registered and trained as required to utilize Elation Systems.
For further information, please see the Elation Systems training schedule online at http://www.elationsys.com/elationsys/support_1.htm or call Elation Systems at (510) 764-1870 (925) 924-0340.
Responses to Verbal Questions
Q1) Does the County have any requirements on the duties performed by the subcontracted SLEB vendor?
A1) The County prefers SLEB subcontractors to provide direct support to the contract. However, the winning bidder decides what duties the SLEB contractor will perform. Any subcontractor providing Avaya equipment and installation must be an Avaya certified business partner.
Q2) Can the vendor subcontract the billing portion of the contract to a SLEB to meet the 20% requirement?
A2) A SLEB subcontractor can provide both goods and services. However, as mentioned in A1, any subcontractor providing Avaya equipment and installation must be an Avaya certified business partner.
Q3) Does the County have a SLEB Requirement?
A3) Yes, please see page 40 through 43 of the RFP, Section AA (COUNTY PROVISIONS).
Q4) How does the County apply the additional points for SLEB?
A4) Please refer to Page 42 of the RFP, Section AA (COUNTY PROVISIONS), Item 3 which states:
Subject to the requirements of the SLEB program and the criteria of each procurement process, the maximum bid evaluation preference points for being certified is ten percent (10%) [five percent (5%) local, and five percent (5%) certified].
Q5) Are there any SLEBs that can perform the services listed in the RFP?
A5) The current contractor is a SLEB. Additional listings of SLEB certified vendors can be found in www.acgov.org, Doing Business With Us, Small Local and Emerging Business and can be search by NAICS Codes.
Q6) Will the County define the requirements of a SLEB?
A6) Please refer to page 40 of the RFP, Section AA (COUNTY PROVISIONS), Item 2, which states:
Small and Emerging Locally Owned Business: A small business is as defined by the United States Small Business Administration. For this RFP, applicable industries include, but not limited to, the NAICS Codes: 238210 as having no more than $14,000,000 and 811213 as having no more than $10,000,000 in average annual gross receipt; NAICS Codes 517911 has having no more than one thousand five hundred employees over the last three (3) years. An emerging business, as defined by the County, is one that has less than one-half (1/2) of the preceding amount and has been in business less than five (5) years. In order to participate herein, the small or emerging business must also satisfy the locality requirements and be certified by the County as a Small or Emerging, local business.
Q7) How does the current contractor, Carousel Industries qualify as a SLEB?
A7) Carousel Industries meets all the requirements required in Exhibit E SLEB certification application package.
Q8) When does SLEB status need to be certified in order to be considered for SLEB preference?
A8) Contractors should be SLEB certified before the bid due date. It is important to begin the certification process early, prior to the bid due date. If the Prime is not a SLEB, the company will have to satisfy the twenty percent (20%) SLEB subcontracting requirements. Bidders may divide the twenty percent (20%) among multiple SLEBs subcontractors.
Q9) Does the winning bidder have to subcontract 20% of the total contract or the potential of the contract?
A9) If the winning bidder is not a SLEB, 20% of the total bid amount must be subcontracted to a SLEB.
Q10) If the winning bidder is not a SLEB or does not subcontract 20% of the bid to a SLEB, will the bid be accepted by the County?
A10) The County requires that bidders comply with SLEB provisions, as stated in the RFP. However, if a bidders firm is unable to comply, please provide a full description of the reasons why in Exhibit I of the RFP.
Q11) What is the requirement for the County to waive the SLEB requirements for this RFP?
A11) Please see page 41 of the RFP, Section AA (COUNTY PROVISION), Item 2.c., which states:
The County reserves the right to waive these small/emerging local business participation requirements in this RFP, if the additional estimated cost to the County, which may result from inclusion of these requirements, exceeds five percent (5%) of the total estimated contract amount or Ten Thousand dollars ($10,000), whichever is less.
Q12) What is the annual cost of the current contract?
A12) The current contract costs $900,000 annually. The cost in the future could be more or less depending on projects and the winning bid.
Q13) Does the annual cost of the contract stated in Q12 include the cost of major projects?
A13) The current annual costs include purchases and implementations for various major projects some of which were projected ahead of time and some which were client initiated on short notice.
Q14) Is the goal of the contract to achieve better service at a lower price or a lower price with the same level of service?
A14) The intent of the RFP is to select a bidder most capable of meeting the County’s requirements. The evaluation does consider price as one of the evaluation conditions. The vendor’s bid is scored on the total solution.
Q15) How many people are currently providing service to the County on the Voice Network and Equipment contract?
A15) There are currently three and a half (3.5) people dedicated to the County’s account. In addition to the 3.5 people, an account manager and additional field technician work on the County’s account but are not dedicated. There is a third field technician who is completely familiar with the County’s buildings, systems, and clients who works on County jobs. The third field technician also handles repairs as needed and fills in for both the dedicated technician and the field technician as needed either because of workload or because dedicated staff are on vacation.
Q16) What is the scope of work for the three and a half (3.5) people who work directly on the County’s account?
A16) Most of the MAC (Moves/Adds/Changes) work is done by the dedicated technician. The County tries to use the dedicated technician for five (5) stations or less but because of cost constraints to the County, the technician is being utilized more. The County currently has an additional technician besides the dedicated technician; the majority of his time is spent doing work for the County. A third technician spends a third to half of his time working for the County. The first technician has worked on the account an average of 120 to 160 hours a month, the second technician has averaged 80 to 100 hours a month. The amount of hours worked by the third technician is unknown. In addition to the three (3) technicians there is a full time dedicated technician for MAC work. The hours for these technicians are mostly not chargeable. The hours stated cover maintenance support, covered repairs time and materials (T&M) repairs (that are chargeable to the County) and labor work that is chargeable but quoted to the County under project proposals and paid for under separate purchase orders. The County cannot break out the time between these different categories of work.
The County has no intent to have more than one dedicated technician assigned on a routine basis. The County expects the vendor to have other staff available to substitute for that technician when the regular dedicated technician is on vacation or out ill or unavailable for some reasons.
Q17) Were the current technicians with the previous provider prior to being acquired from Carousel?
A17) Yes.
Q18) Will there be an option to hire the current technicians?
A18) The County will not be involved in the hiring process. The winning bidder should inquire directly with the technicians.
Q19) Are there any large projects within the scope of this contract planned in the next three years?
A19) Our strategy is to continue to merge older, separate PBXs into what the County terms the core VoIP switch based in the County Data Center. The projects involve changing out PPNs and EPNs to gateways, modifying the data plan, changing out some peripherals, and other modifications to the network and its infrastructure. The County also intends to bring at least two major buildings online in the next three years requiring voice infrastructure in both. The number, timing, and scope of large projects cannot be predicted but will be determined by client department needs, available funding, and staff resources.