Invitation For Competitive Bids (IFCB’s) 0
918.445.0048

All bid deadlines are 11:59pm Pacific Time the date of the bid deadline listed unless otherwise noted.

school Benton School District
IFCB Posted : Dec 28, 2016
Bid Deadline : Wednesday, Jan 25, 2017

Questions Due By : Wednesday, Jan 18, 2017
Applicant Address : Benton, AR 72015
IFCB ID : 170056862
IFCB Requirements :
·         All Questions and Bids must be submitted using the on-line IFCB system. If for some reason the system is down before the respective deadline, please email your bid to info@crwconsulting.com or fax it to 918.445.0049. Bids or questions submitted in this fashion will be disqualified if the on-line system is active at the time of submission.
 
·         Bidder must agree to participate in USF Program (AKA “E-rate”) for the corresponding funding year.
 
·         Bids must identify all fees and charges (including installation charges, if applicable) that will be assessed to the Applicant to procure the services or equipment included in your bid.
 
·         Please include the correct Service Provider Identification Number (SPIN) on your bid.
 
·         By submitting a bid, bidder certifies that the bidder does have a valid (non-red light status) SPIN for the E-rate program at the time of submission. Should the Applicant discover that the bidder is on red light status, or if the FCC classifies the bidder as on red-light status before work is performed and invoices are paid, the contract will be null and void and the applicant will have no payment obligations to the bidder.
 
·         Bidder is expected to provide the lowest corresponding price per E-rate rules.  See http://www.usac.org/sl/service-providers/step02/lowest-corresponding-price.aspx for details.
 
·         Contracts must not prohibit SPIN changes.
 
·         Bidder must agree to provide the Applicant the choice of discount methods (SPI or BEAR).
 
·         Bidder will be automatically disqualified if the District determines that the bidding company has offered any employee of the District any individual gift of more than $20 or gifts totaling more than $50 within a 12 month period.
 
·         All contracts awarded will be contingent upon E-rate funding and final board approval.  The applicant may choose to do all or part of the project upon funding notification.
 
·         All contracts awarded under this IFCB bidding process may be voluntarily renewed by the applicant, upon written notice to the provider, for five consecutive one year terms. Please include this language in your final contract.
 
·         All applicable fees, surcharges, and taxes must be identified on the bid. E-rate rules require the applicants to evaluate the price of eligible goods and services that will be listed on the 471 application during the competitive bidding process. Fees and surcharges that apply but are not listed on the bid will be the responsibility of the bidding company, should their bid be awarded.
 
·         If the Applicant is requesting bids for equipment with specific make and model numbers listed, the Applicant will also accept bids for functionally equivalent equipment.
·         The winning vendor will be required to complete the USAC approved Item 21 template for the project within 7 working days after notification that the vendor has won the bid.
·         DISQUALIFICATION FACTOR C2: Vendors must complete and include the C2 Cover Page with their bid. Bids received without the cover page will be disqualified.
·         DISQUALIFICATION FACTOR: Applicant will not accept bids for refurbished equipment. Any bids containing refurbished equipment will be disqualified. 
Services and Equipment Requested :
There is another document associated with this IFCB available for download that details the equipment the applicant wishes to purchase.  The document lists equipment that the applicant prefers – they will also accept functional equivalents of said items. 
 
CATEGORY TWO VOLUNTARY SITE VISIT
 
Vendors wishing to bid on C2 can attend a voluntary site visit either January 6, 2017 or January 13, 2017. Both dates will start at 9:00 am. 

DISQUALIFICATION FACTOR C2: Vendors must complete and include the C2 Cover Page with their bid. Bids received without the cover page will be disqualified.
DISQUALIFICATION FACTOR C2: Applicant will not accept bids for refurbished equipment. Any bids containing refurbished equipment will be disqualified. 
There is an additional document associated with this IFCB. Please click the buttons to download the document.

2017C2BiddingInstructions23.pdf
BentonC2attachment.xlsx
BentonC2COVERPAGE.pdf

Questions Received with Applicant Answers   ( Ask Questions? )




Hi Could you help me with the following information so that I can supply you with an appropriate bid? ­ What is their connection to the Internet in Mbps. ­ What is the number of users connected at peak times? ­ Do they have any 1:1/BYOD schemes in place? ­ Do they have any growth for the future? If so, when do they expect to grow and to how many concurrent users and Mbps? Many Thanks Niouma

Answer:
 What is their connection to the Internet in Mbps: Currently 700 Mbps

What is the number of users connected at peak times? 2,500

Do they have any 1:1/BYOD schemes in place? Yes

Do they have any growth for the future? DIS is planning an upgrade to 2Gbps in the near future; ~ 3,500 users at peak times

Hi Could you help me with the following information so that I can supply you with an appropriate bid? ­ What is their connection to the Internet in Mbps.­ What is the number of users connected at peak times? ­ Do they have any 1:1/BYOD schemes in place? ­ Do they have any growth for the future? If so, when do they expect to grow and to how many concurrent users and Mbps? Many Thanks Niouma

Answer:
 What is their connection to the Internet in Mbps: Currently 700 Mbps

What is the number of users connected at peak times? 2,500

Do they have any 1:1/BYOD schemes in place? Yes

Do they have any growth for the future? DIS is planning an upgrade to 2Gbps in the near future; ~ 3,500 users at peak times

are all the schools connected thru a central site, e.g., the high school? if so what is the size of the internet connection? what are the speeds to the central site? if the schools are directly connected to the internet, what is the size of each of their internet pipes?

Answer:
 All schools are connected through a central site at Benton High School.

We have a 1 Gbps MAN connection between sites.

We currently have bandwidth of 700 Mbps. DIS is scheduled to upgrade us to 2 Gbps in the near future

We are interested in learning more about your e-rate bid/Form 470 as posted on December 28, 2016(Form 470 # 170056862) for wireless access points, switches, and firewall. Below, please find a series of technical questions that will help us to respond to your bid. If you’d prefer, we can gladly speak via phone – whichever is more convenient for you. Thanks so much in advance for your kind assistance, ________________________________________ Please answer the following questions to the best of your ability. Please note any “best guess” answers or feel free to leave any unknown answers blank. Wireless Questions: • Total number of users? Total number of wireless devices today and estimated in the near future? • Is it safe to assume you would like to implement separate networks for students and staff? • Are you looking to have a secure guest network? • Are you deploying a 1:1 or BYOD initiative? o If so, are you standardizing on any specific device or tablet? What is the device? o What level of control are you looking (Per user, Per Device, Time of Day, Control over different applications, location specific resources, etc) • Are you seeking a solution that integrates with Active Directory? • Would you be looking for 8x5 or 24x7 support? • Would you be looking at pricing for only 1 year or multiyear (2 or 3 years)? • What types of authentication are you looking to incorporates (Radius, AD, 802.1X, Captive Portal, Machine Authentication, etc.)? • Do you have any remote users, home bound students, or administrators that will need remote access capabilities? • Which manufacturer are you currently using for wireless access points? • Do you have outdoor areas you would like to provide wireless coverage to (Quads, sports fields, stadiums, playgrounds)? • Are you placing one access point per classroom? • Do you have high density areas (other than classrooms) that you would like to cover (cafeteria, auditorium, gymnasium, etc.)? o Please list max device count for each area. • If possible, please provide a high level network diagram/configuration. • Any additional comments for future growth or use cases. Firewall Questions: • How many internet connections does each site have? Do you require redundancy for internet? • What is the current bandwidth per connection (i.e., 50 Mb)? • What is the anticipated future internet bandwidth growth (i.e, 100 Mb)? • What is the current peak period firewall sessions (i.e., 50K)? • Total number of users? • Is firewall redundancy (active/active, active/passive) required? • What security services are you currently looking to implement? o Firewall o Antivirus, Antimalware o Intrusion Prevention o Web content filtering o VPN (IPSec/SSL) o AntiSpam o Application Control o SSL Acceleration o Data Leakage Prevention o WiFi controller • Are you deploying a 1:1 or BYOD initiative? o If so, are you standardizing on any specific device or tablet? What is the device? • Are you seeking a solution that integrates with Active Directory? • What is your current model firewall? • Would you be looking for 8x5 or 24x7 support? • Would you be looking at pricing for only 1 year or multiyear (2 or 3 years)? • Do you require traffic/content reporting (i.e., sessions, security AV/IPS/WCF reports, system events, etc.)? • If possible, please provide a high level network diagram/configuration. • Number of firewall sites (local & remote)? • Number of APs required? • Port Density (Copper, SPF, 10/40/100, etc.)? • Remote IPSec/SSL clients needed? • Authentication Requirements (i.e., TACACS, RADIUS, FSSO, AD, etc.)? • Max Concurrent Session requirements? • Centralized Management requirements? • Logging & Reporting requirements (local/native and/or SYSLOG)? Switching Questions • How many users at each location? • How many POE devices at each location? • Would you like to centrally manage your switching infrastructure from the FortiGate? • Please list current switching infrastructure vendor and model. • Would you be looking for 8x5 or 24x7 support? • Would you be looking at pricing for only 1 year or multiyear (2 or 3 years)? • If possible, please provide a high level network diagram/configuration. • Any additional comments for future growth or use cases.

Answer:
 Wireless Questions: • Total number of users? ~5,600

Total number of wireless devices today and estimated in the near future? ~5,000

• Is it safe to assume you would like to implement separate networks for students and staff? We already have separate networks

• Are you looking to have a secure guest network? It is already secure

• Are you deploying a 1:1 or BYOD initiative? We already have both.

If so, are you standardizing on any specific device or tablet? 1:1 is MacBook Air or Chromebook What is the device? o What level of control are you looking (Per user, Per Device, Time of Day, Control over different applications, location specific resources, etc) • Are you seeking a solution that integrates with Active Directory? Yes

• Would you be looking for 8x5 or 24x7 support? 24x7

• Would you be looking at pricing for only 1 year or multiyear (2 or 3 years)? Either

• What types of authentication are you looking to incorporates (Radius, AD, 802.1X, Captive Portal, Machine Authentication, etc.)? 802.1x

• Do you have any remote users, home bound students, or administrators that will need remote access capabilities? No

• Which manufacturer are you currently using for wireless access points? Aerohive

• Do you have outdoor areas you would like to provide wireless coverage to (Quads, sports fields, stadiums, playgrounds)? No

• Are you placing one access point per classroom? Yes

• Do you have high density areas (other than classrooms) that you would like to cover (cafeteria, auditorium, gymnasium, etc.)? Yes

o Please list max device count for each area. • If possible, please provide a high level network diagram/configuration.

• Any additional comments for future growth or use cases.

I am not sure the questions below are relevant to our 470 RFP

Firewall Questions: • How many internet connections does each site have?

Do you require redundancy for internet?

• What is the current bandwidth per connection (i.e., 50 Mb)? 700 Mb

• What is the anticipated future internet bandwidth growth (i.e, 100 Mb)? 2Gb

• What is the current peak period firewall sessions (i.e., 50K)? • Total number of users? • Is firewall redundancy (active/active, active/passive) required? • What security services are you currently looking to implement? o Firewall o Antivirus, Antimalware o Intrusion Prevention o Web content filtering o VPN (IPSec/SSL) o AntiSpam o Application Control o SSL Acceleration o Data Leakage Prevention o WiFi controller • Are you deploying a 1:1 or BYOD initiative? o If so, are you standardizing on any specific device or tablet? What is the device? • Are you seeking a solution that integrates with Active Directory? • What is your current model firewall? • Would you be looking for 8x5 or 24x7 support? • Would you be looking at pricing for only 1 year or multiyear (2 or 3 years)? • Do you require traffic/content reporting (i.e., sessions, security AV/IPS/WCF reports, system events, etc.)? • If possible, please provide a high level network diagram/configuration. • Number of firewall sites (local & remote)? • Number of APs required? • Port Density (Copper, SPF, 10/40/100, etc.)? • Remote IPSec/SSL clients needed? • Authentication Requirements (i.e., TACACS, RADIUS, FSSO, AD, etc.)? • Max Concurrent Session requirements? • Centralized Management requirements? • Logging & Reporting requirements (local/native and/or SYSLOG)? Switching Questions • How many users at each location? • How many POE devices at each location? • Would you like to centrally manage your switching infrastructure from the FortiGate? • Please list current switching infrastructure vendor and model. • Would you be looking for 8x5 or 24x7 support? • Would you be looking at pricing for only 1 year or multiyear (2 or 3 years)? • If possible, please provide a high level network diagram/configuration. • Any additional comments for future growth or use cases.

The RFP requests 5 new SAFARI Montage caching servers, however there were 6 schools listed. Benton currently has a SAFARI Montage wan system. Are the schools direct play now? Do new schools need to be added that do not have the bandwidth for direct play? Does Benton intend to replace any existing servers?

Answer:
 We want to replace one server but need content/os licensing for all schools except BHS & BJH who do not have Erate funding available.

UPS/Battery Backups 25 Eaton PW9130L1500R-XL2UN Eaton IPM Silver Management Software or functional equivalent

Answer:
 I don’t know what you are trying to ask on this submission.

 

According to our Eaton rep, You only need one silver license to manage up to 100 devices/IP addresses...so you would really only need one if the district wants to manage all those locations from one console…at most, my guess is that up to 6 would be needed, one for each location referenced if the RFP attachment if the district wants to manage each separately. How do you plan to manage the devices.

Answer:
 We plan to manage the devices from a central server.




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