Transcription
Sourcewell Formerly the National Joint Powers Alliance (NJPA)REQUEST FOR PROPOSALfor the procurement ofUNIFIED COMMUNICATIONS, CONTACT CENTER, AND RELATEDSERVICES, EQUIPMENT, AND APPLICATIONSRFP OpeningFebruary 28, 20198:30 a.m. Central TimeAt the offices of Sourcewell202 12th Street Northeast, Staples, MN 56479RFP #022719Sourcewell, formerly the National Joint Powers Alliance (NJPA), on behalf of Sourcewell and its current and potentialmember agencies, which includes all governmental, higher education, K-12 education, not-for-profit, tribal government,and all other public agencies located in all fifty states, Canada, and internationally, issues this Request For Proposal (RFP)to result in a national contract solution for the procurement of #022719 UNIFIED COMMUNICATIONS, CONTACTCENTER, AND RELATED SERVICES, EQUIPMENT, AND APPLICATIONS. Details of this RFP are availablebeginning January 10, 2019. Details may be obtained by letter of request to Chris Robinson, Sourcewell, 202 12th StreetNortheast, P.O. Box 219, Staples, MN 56479, or by e-mail at RFP@sourcewell-mn.gov. Proposals will be received untilFebruary 27, 2019 at 4:30 p.m. Central Time at the above address and opened February 28, 2019 at 8:30 a.m. CentralTime.RFP TimelineJanuary 10, 2019Publication of RFP in the print and online version of USA Today, in the print and online version ofthe Salt Lake News within the State of Utah, in the print and online version of the Daily Journal ofCommerce within the State of Oregon (note: OR entities this pertains to: tising and also RFP Appendix B), in the print and onlineversion of The State within the State of South Carolina, the Sourcewell website, MERX,PublicPurchase.com, Biddingo, and Onvia.February 6, 201910:00 a.m. CTPre-Proposal Conference (the webcast/conference call). The connection information will be sent toall inquirers two business days before the conference.February 20, 2019Deadline for RFP questions.February 27, 20194:30 p.m. CTDeadline for Submission of Proposals. Late responses will be returned unopened.February 28, 20198:30 a.m. CTPublic Opening of Proposals.Direct questions regarding this RFP to: Chris Robinson at chris.robinson@sourcewell-mn.gov or 218-895-4168.1
TABLE OF CONTENTSE.1. DEFINITIONSF.A. ContractG.B. ProposerH.C. Sourced Good of Open Market ItemI.D. VendorJ.2. ADVERTISEMENT OF RFPK.Cost ComparisonMarketing PlanCertificate Of InsuranceOrder Process and/or Funds FlowAdministrative FeesValue AddedWaiver of Formalities3. INTRODUCTIONA. About SourcewellB. Joint Exercise of Powers LawsC. Why Respond to a National CooperativeProcurement ContractD. The Intent of This RFPE. Scope of This RFPF. Expectations for Equipment/Productsand Services Being ProposedG. Solutions Based Solicitation7. POST AWARD OPERATING ISSUESA. Subsequent AgreementsB. Sourcewell Member Sign-up ProcedureC. Reporting of Sales ActivityD. AuditsE. Hub PartnerF. Trade-InsG. Out of Stock NotificationH. Termination of a Contract resulting fromthis RFP4. INSTRUCTIONS FOR PREPARING YOURPROPOSALA. Inquiry PeriodB. Pre-Proposal ConferenceC. Identification of Key PersonnelD. Proposer’s Exceptions to Terms andConditionsE. Proposal FormatF. Questions & Answers About This RFPG. Modification or Withdrawal of aSubmitted ProposalH. Proposal Opening ProcedureI. Sourcewell’s Rights Reserved8. GENERAL TERMS AND CONDIITONSA. Advertising a Contract Resulting FromThis RFPB. Applicable LawC. Assignment of ContractD. List of ProposersE. Captions, Headings, and IllustrationsF. Data PracticesG. Entire AgreementH. Force MajeureI. LicensesJ. Material Suppliers and Sub-ContractorsK. Non-Wavier of RightsL. Protests of Awards MadeM. Suspension or Disbarment StatusN. Affirmative Action and ImmigrationStatus CertificationO. SeverabilityP. Relationship of PartiesQ. Provisions for Non-Federal EntityProcurements under Federal Awards orOther Awards5. PRICINGA. Line-Item PricingB. Percentage Discount From Catalog orCategoryC. Cost Plus a Percentage of CostD. Hot List PricingE. Ceiling PriceF. Volume Price Discounts/Additional QuantitiesG. Total Cost of AcquisitionH. Sourced Equipment/Products/Open Market ItemsI. Price and Product ChangesJ. Payment TermsK. Sales TaxL. Shipping9. FORMS10. PRE-SUBMISSION CHECKLIST11. PRICE & PRODUCT CHANGE REQUESTFORM12. APPENDIX A13. APPENDIX B – HI, ID, OR, SC, UT, WAPoliticalSubdivisions(SEPARATEATTACHMENT)14. APPENDIX C – VA Political Subdivisions(SEPARATE ATTACHMENT)15. APPENDIX D – FEMA Terms & Conditions(SEPARATE ATTACHMENT)6. EVALUATION OF PROPOSALSA. Proposal Evaluation ProcessB. Proposer ResponsivenessC. Proposal Evaluation CriteriaD. Other Consideration2
1 DEFINITIONSA. CONTRACTContract means this RFP, current pricing information, fully executed Forms C, D, F, & P from theProposer’s response pursuant to this RFP, and a fully executed Form E (“Acceptance and Award”) withfinal terms and conditions. Form E will be executed after a formal award and will provide final clarificationof terms and conditions of the award.B. PROPOSERA Proposer is a company, person, or entity delivering a timely response to this RFP. This RFP may alsouse the terms “respondent” or “proposed Vendor,” which is interchangeable with Proposer as the contextallows.C. SOURCED GOOD or OPEN MARKET ITEMA Sourced Good or Open Market Item is a product within the RFP’s scope 1) that is not currently availableunder the Vendor’s Sourcewell contract, 2) that a member wants to buy under contract from an awardedVendor, and 3) that is generally deemed incidental to the total transaction or purchase of contract items.D. VENDORA Proposer whose response has been awarded a contract pursuant to this RFP.3
2ADVERTISEMENT OF RFP2.1 Sourcewell advertises this solicitation: 1) in the hard copy print and online editions of the USA Today;2) once each in Oregon’s Daily Journal of Commerce, South Carolina’s The State and Utah’s Salt LakeTribune; 3) on Sourcewell’s website; and 4) on other third-party websites deemed appropriate bySourcewell. Other third-party advertisers may include Onvia, PublicPurchase.com, MERX, and Biddingo.2.2 Sourcewell also notifies and provides solicitation documentation to each state-level procurementdepartments for possible re-posting of the solicitation within their systems and at their option for future useand to meet specific state requirements.3INTRODUCTIONA. ABOUT SOURCEWELL3.1 Sourcewell, formerly the National Joint Powers Alliance (NJPA) is a public agency serving as anational municipal contracting agency established under the Service Cooperative statute by MinnesotaLegislative Statute §123A.21 with the authority to develop and offer, among other services, cooperativeprocurement services to its membership. Eligible membership and participation includes states, cities,counties, all government agencies, both public and non-public educational agencies, colleges, universitiesand non-profit organizations.3.2 Under the authority of Minnesota state laws and enabling legislation, Sourcewell facilitates acompetitive solicitation and contracting process on behalf of the needs of itself and the needs of current andpotential member agencies nationally. This process results in national procurement contracts with variousVendors of products/equipment and services which Sourcewell Member agencies desire to procure. Theseprocurement contracts are created in compliance with applicable Minnesota Municipal Contracting Laws.A complete listing of Sourcewell cooperative procurement contracts can be found at www.sourcewellmn.gov.3.3 Sourcewell is a public agency governed by publicly elected officials that serve as the Sourcewell Boardof Directors. Sourcewell’s Board of Directors oversees and authorizes the calls for all new proposals andholds those resulting Contracts for the benefit of its own and its Members use.3.4 Sourcewell currently serves over 50,000 member agencies nationally. Both membership and utilizationof Sourcewell contracts continue to expand, due in part to the increasing acceptance of CooperativePurchasing throughout the government and education communities nationally.B. JOINT EXERCISE OF POWERS LAWS3.5 Sourcewell cooperatively shares those contracts with its Members nationwide through various JointExercise of Powers Laws or Cooperative Purchasing Statutes established in Minnesota, other states andCanadian provinces. The Minnesota Joint Exercise of Powers Law is Minnesota Statute §471.59 whichstates “Two or more governmental units may jointly or cooperatively exercise any power common to thecontracting parties ” This Minnesota Statute allows Sourcewell to serve Member agencies located in allother states. Municipal agencies nationally can participate in cooperative purchasing activities under theirown state law. These laws can be found on our website at www.sourcewell-mn.gov/compliance-legal.3.5.1 For Members within the Commonwealth of Virginia, this RFP is intended to be a “jointprocurement agreement” as described in Vir. Code § 2.2-4304(A), and those Virginia Membersidentified in Appendix C may agree to be a Joint Purchaser under this RFP.3.5.2 For Members within Canada, this RFP is intended to include municipalities and publiclyfunded academic institutions, schools boards, health authorities, and social services (MASH4
sectors). In addition this RFP is intended to include current and potential Members of the RuralMunicipalities of Alberta (RMA), and their represented Associations (SARM, SUMA and AMM).C. WHY RESPOND TO A NATIONAL COOPERATIVE PROCUREMENT CONTRACT3.6 National Cooperative Procurement Contracts create value for Municipal and Public Agencies, as wellas for Vendors of products/equipment and services in a variety of ways:3.6.1 National cooperative contracts potentially save time and effort for municipal and publicagencies, who otherwise would have to solicit vendor responses to individual RFPs, resulting inindividual contracts, to meet the procurement needs of their respective agencies. Considerable timeand effort is also potentially saved by the Vendors who would have had to otherwise respond toeach of those individual RFPs. A single, nationally advertised RFP, resulting in a single, nationalcooperative contract can potentially replace thousands of individual RFPs for the sameequipment/products/services that might have been otherwise advertised by individual Sourcewellmember agencies.3.6.2 Sourcewell contracts offer our Members nationally leveraged volume purchasing discounts.Our contract terms and conditions offer the opportunity for Vendors to recognize individualmember procurement volume commitment through additional volume based contract discounts.3.7 State laws that permit or encourage cooperative purchasing contracts do so with the belief thatcooperative efficiencies will result in lower prices, better overall value, and considerable time savings.3.8 The collective purchasing power of thousands of Sourcewell Member agencies nationwide offers theopportunity for volume pricing discounts. Although no sales or sales volume is guaranteed by a SourcewellContract resulting from this RFP, substantial volume is anticipated and volume pricing is requested andjustified.3.9 Sourcewell and its Members desire the best value for their procurement dollar as well as a competitiveprice. Vendors have the opportunity to display and highlight value-added attributes of their company,equipment/products and services without constraints of a typical individual proposal process.D. THE INTENT OF THIS RFP3.10. National contract awarded by Sourcewell: Sourcewell seeks the most responsive and responsibleVendor relationship(s) to reflect the best interests of Sourcewell and its Member agencies. Through acompetitive proposal and evaluation process, the Sourcewell Proposal Evaluation Committeerecommends vendors for a national contract awarded by the action of the Sourcewell Chief ProcurementOfficer. Sourcewell’s primary intent is to establish and provide a national cooperative procurementcontract that offer opportunities for Sourcewell and our current and potential Member agenciesthroughout the United States and Canada to procure quality product/equipment and services as desiredand needed. The contracts will be marketed nationally through a cooperative effort between the awardedvendor(s) and Sourcewell. Contracts are expected to offer price levels reflective of the potential andcollective volume of Sourcewell and the nationally established Sourcewell membership base.3.11 Beyond our primary intent, Sourcewell further desires to:3.11.1 Award a four-year contract with a fifth-year contract option resulting from this RFP. Anyfifth-year extension is exercised at Sourcewell’s discretion and results from Sourcewell’scontracting needs or from Member requests; this extension is not intended merely toaccommodate an awarded Vendor’s request. If Sourcewell grants a fifth-year extension, itmay also terminate the contract (or cause it to expire) within the fifth year if the extended5
contract is replaced by a resolicited or newly solicited contract. In exigent circumstances,Sourcewell may petition Sourcewell’s Board of Directors to extend the contract termbeyond five years. This rarely used procedure should be employed only to avoid a gap incontract coverage while a replacement contract is being solicited;3.11.2 Offer and apply any applicable technological advances throughout the term of a contractresulting from this RFP;3.11.3 Deliver “Value Added” aspects of the company, equipment/products and services asdefined in the “Proposer’s Response”;3.11.4 Deliver a wide spectrum of solutions to meet the needs and requirements of Sourcewelland Sourcewell Member agencies; and3.11.5 Award an exclusive contract to the most responsive and responsible vendor when it isdeemed to be in the best interest of Sourcewell and the Sourcewell Member agencies.3.12 Exclusive or Multiple Awards: Based on the scope of this RFP and on the responses received,Sourcewell may award either an exclusive contract or multiple contracts. In some circumstances, a singlenational supplier may best meet the needs of Sourcewell Members; in other situations, multiple vendorsmay be in the best interests of Sourcewell and the Sourcewell Members and preferred by Sourcewell toprovide the widest array of solutions to meet the member agency’s needs. Sourcewell retains sole discretionto determine which approach is in the best interests of Sourcewell Member agencies.3.13 Non-Manufacturer Awards: Sourcewell reserves the right to make an award under this RFP to anon-manufacturer or dealer/distributor if such action is in the best interests of Sourcewell and its Members.3.14 Manufacturer as a Proposer: If the Proposer is a manufacturer or wholesale distributor, the responsereceived will be evaluated on the basis of a response made in conjunction with that manufacturer’sauthorized dealer network. Unless stated otherwise, a manufacturer or wholesale distributor Proposer isassumed to have a documented relationship with their dealer network where that dealer network is informedof, and authorized to accept, purchase orders pursuant to any Contract resulting from this RFP on behalf ofthe manufacturer or wholesale distributor Proposer. Any such dealer will be considered a sub-contractor ofthe Proposer/Vendor. The relationship between the manufacturer and wholesale distributor Proposer andits dealer network may be proposed at the time of the submission if that fact is properly identified.3.15 Dealer/Reseller as a Proposer: If the Proposer is a dealer or reseller of the products and/or servicesbeing proposed, the response will be evaluated based on the Proposer’s authorization to provide thoseproducts and services from their manufacturer. When requested by Sourcewell, Proposers must documenttheir authority to offer those products and/or services.E. SCOPE OF THIS RFP3.16 Scope: The scope of this RFP is to award a contract to a qualifying vendor defined as a manufacturer,services provider, or dealer/distributor, established as a Proposer, and deemed responsive and responsiblethrough our open and competitive proposal process. Vendors will be awarded contracts based on theproposal and responders demonstrated ability to meet the expectations of the RFP and demonstrate theoverall highest valued solutions which meet and/or exceed the current and future needs and requirementsof Sourcewell and its Member agencies nationally within the scope of UNIFIED COMMUNICATIONS,CONTACT CENTER, AND RELATED SERVICES, EQUIPMENT, AND APPLICATIONS.3.17 Additional Scope Definitions: In addition to UNIFIED COMMUNICATIONS, CONTACTCENTER, AND RELATED SERVICES, EQUIPMENT, AND APPLICATIONS, this solicitation shouldbe read to include, but not to be limited to:6
3.17.1 Unified Communications (UC) solutions that include, but are not limited to, the followingwith comprehensive feature/function complements: Voice, using voice-over internet-protocol (VOIP) technology, including basic telephonycapabilities Enhanced messaging (instant messaging (IM), chat, voicemail to email) Collaboration and conferencingo Video (desktop point to point, conferencing on desktop or conference room unit)o Audio conferencingo Webinar Mobility options with different configurations, such as softphones, separate mobileapplications for business activities on employee devices, “follow me, find me” capabilities,etc. Mass notification capabilities Integration with incumbent platforms, applications, and databases, including computertelephony integration (CTI)UC capabilities must work in a well-defined, integrated fashion with consistent user interfaceacross all media, persistent context, and interoperability and address the whole spectrum ofcustomer size, complexity (or lack thereof), sophistication, and requirements.3.17.2 Contact Center (CC) solutions that include, but are not limited to, the following withcomprehensive feature/function sets: Automatic call/contact distribution (ACD) and routing Omnichannel capabilities with voice, e-mail, chat, web browsing Comprehensive analytical reportingo Historicalo Real time status and reporting Integration with databases and customer relationship management (CRM) applications Social media integration or native capabilities Interactive voice response (IVR) with comprehensive reporting and integration capabilities3.17.3 Architectural and implementation options for the above solutions including, but notlimited to, the following: Premises-based option in which all hardware/software/related applications are located onthe customer’s premises. The solution is dedicated to the customer’s usage. Networkconnectivity, such as SIP trunking, PRI trunks, or other types of connections terminate atone or more of the customer’s locations. “Cloud-based” option in which all hardware/software/related applications are located at asite(s) remote to the customer’s location(s). Examples of remote sites are commercial datacenters, vendor locations/data centers, any of which might be local, regional, nationaland/or international in coverage. In most instances, the solution will be configured withone or more links (usually a primary and a backup) for network connectivity to the vendor’sremote site and the public network as necessary. A cloud-based option may provide a“single instance” solution in which the customer has its unique solution configuration,usually a virtual server in the remote site, or a “multitenant” configuration in which thecustomer is one of several/many others that share a common platform’s features, functions,and applications “Hybrid” options in which the solution contains elements that are premises- AND cloudbased.3.17.4 Sourcewell reserves the right to limit the scope of this solicitation for Sourcewell andcurrent and potential Sourcewell member agencies.7
3.17.4.1 This solicitation should NOT be construed to include:Service providers and wireless service providers that pr
Apr 26, 2019 · REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL for the procurement of UNIFIED COMMUNICATIONS, CONTACT CENTER, AND RELATED SERVICES, EQUIPMENT, AND APPLICATIONS RFP Opening February 28, 2019 8:30 a.m. Central Time At the offices of Sourcewell 202 12th Street Northeast, Staples, MN 56479 RFP #022719
