Article 3 – Bid Process and Evaluation Criteria

Audio, Video, Web Conferencing - RFP-CM-071I2200096

From RFP
3.021Method of Evaluation

A Joint Evaluation Committee, chaired by DTMB Procurement, will evaluate proposals.

3.022Evaluation Criteria

The following chart represents the scoring of the particular factors:

Weight
1. / Qualifications and Prior Experience – Company History and Company References. (Attachment 1) / 10
2. / Technical Solution and Approach – Article 1 Sections 1.104 and 1.200 Statement of Work and Deliverables. / 20
3. / Solutions Narrative – Contractors’ proposed Enterprise Conferencing solution and approach. (Attachment 5) / 20
4. / Room Models – Contractors’ proposed Enterprise Conferencing Example Video Room Models. (Attachment 7) / 15
5. / Staffing and Organization – Key Personnel Resumes (Attachment 3), Organization Chart (Attachment 2), and 1.201 – Contractor Staff. / 10
6. / Requirements Compliance - Response to Enterprise Conferencing Requirements Worksheet. (Attachment 6) and Article 1 Sections 1.104 II.B Technical Requirements Guide. / 15
7. / Project Planning and Approach - Article 1 Statement of Work and Deliverables 1.300, 1.400, and Contract Transition Plan. (Attachment 4) / 10
TOTAL / 100
3.023Price Evaluation

Only those proposals receiving a score of (80) points or more of the total maximum possible score will be considered for award.

All price proposals will be opened. However, prices will only be evaluated from those Bidders meeting the minimum point threshold.

3.024Award Recommendation

The award recommendation will be made to the responsive and responsible Bidder who offers the best value to the State of Michigan. Best value will be determined by the Bidder meeting the minimum point threshold and offering the best combination of the factors stated in Section 3.022, and price, as demonstrated by its proposal.

3.026Award Decision

Award recommendation will be made to the Chief Procurement Officer, DTMB-Procurement, for review and approval.

3.028State Administrative Board

The State Administrative Board (SAB) must approve all contracts and purchase orders in excess of $250,000. The decision of the SAB regarding the award recommendation is final. However, SAB approval does not constitute a contract. The award process is not complete until the Bidder receives a properly executed Contract or Purchase Order.

The solicitation Notice for the Enterprise Audio, Video and Web Conferencing project was received and/or downloaded by 295 companies (182 of which qualify as Michigan companies) through the Bid4Michigan system, with 84 companies accessing/downloading solicitation documents, and nine responses received.

  1. NETech Corporation
  2. Altura Communication Solutions
  3. AT&T – 2 responses submitted
  4. CenturyLink
  5. Frontier Communications
  6. InterCall
  7. Shared Solutions and Services, Inc
  8. Tactical Digital Corp.

The evaluation summary is listed here below.

Evaluation was completed by a Joint Evaluation Committee (JEC) of six scoring members and six non-scoring advisors.

Kristen Furseth, DTMB Telecom Voting, Non-Voting Advisor

Pat Ruddick, DTMB Telecom Voting, Non-Voting Advisor

Charles Hoffmeyer (MSP) Voting, Non-Voting Advisor

Lynette Holloway (DOC) Voting, Non-Voting Advisor

Christine Mitchell, DTMB Purchasing Voting, Non-Voting Advisor

Kristie Cheadle (MDOT) Voting, Non-Voting Advisor

Harris, Jack Voting, Non-Voting Advisor

Kimberly Koppsch-Woods (AS-MDOC) Voting, Non-Voting Advisor

Ann Marie Smith (MDE) Voting, Non-Voting Advisor

Steve Barosko (DHS) Voting, Non-Voting Advisor

Christine Mitchell serves as Buyer and Chair of JEC.

NETech Corporation / Altura / AT&T-NI / AT&T-NI-ATS / Centurylink / Frontier / InterCall / S3 / Tactical
Score I / 74.8 / 46 / 97.6 / 92.2 / 83 / 30.2 / 95.6 / 42 / 85
Score II after 24-hr Re-issue / 74.8 / 48 / 97.6 / 92.2 / 83 / 30.2 / 95.6 / 75.5 / 85

Recommendation is made to CenturyLink for new and/or transitioned audio and web service and to AT&T for new and/or existing Video, along with existing audio and web as options for continuing service.

Pricing Review:

  • Overall AT&T proposed the best pricing and plan for video, although the unit, per month cost for all of the vendors is cost prohibitive for dedicated room video. Per seat cost proposed by AT&T isbest for web, but most of our users are currently still per minute.
  • Century Link has most attractive audio/web package, providing the State’s Adobe - preferred users with a reasonable cost solution.
  • InterCall proposed the best audio/web pricing per minute for reservation less, however a $10,000 install cost is included which quickly serves to negate potential per minute benefits. Intercall also includeda minimum number of hosts at 500 and had a higher monthly host account fee of $27 (thehighest of all proposals).If we split this among vendors,we may be paying that high host fee on a large number of accounts that never actually get created. Because of the minimum hosts, account setup alone is 307k. This priced them higher than AT&T by about 50k when you add in the estimated 10M audio minutes.

NETech Corporation

  1. Qualifications & Prior Experience (10 Points Possible)

Criteria Reference - Company History and Company References. (Attachment 1)

Comments:

  • Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana were noted as customers in the Executive Overview.
  • Attachment 1 references three large projects with relevant experience, duration of about six months each.
  • Has worked for Government before, Comparative contracts/references are small.
  • No references for audio and web, but qualified on video. Cisco partner.

NETech Corporation__9.2____ Points/10

  1. Technical Solution and Approach (20 Points Possible)

Criteria Reference - Article 1 Sections 1.104 and 1.200 Statement of Work and Deliverables.

Comments:

  • Support response does not address design/consulting services.
  • For A,V &W: a mix of Cisco hosted (Web Ex) & SOM hosted, Subcontracting to GTS Direct for Polycom which could be more $$.
  • Will not provide monitoring #83.
  • Live helpdesk/support is thru Cisco not NETech so added layer to issue resolution =higher risk.
  • TMS software can be utilized to monitor if desired at additional cost.
  • Cannot commit to anything less than 3 hours onsite north of Mt Pleasant.
  • Subcontractor managing help-desk and numerous other responsibilities; no detail provided regarding interface between SOM and Subs and how NETech will manage escalation.

NETech Corporation___18___Points/20

  1. Solutions Narrative(20 Points Possible)

Criteria Reference – Contractor’s proposed Enterprise Conferencing solution and approach. (Attachment 5)

Comments:

  • A5-2 didn’t discuss risk mitigation on video stream, mobile devices or integration with existing equipment.
  • A5-3 didn’t address bandwidth usage.
  • A5-8 notes that user data is stored on remote servers rather than on local devices. What user data is stored?
  • A5-10 notes that operator assistance is not included as part of this solution.
  • Cisco Telepresence Video requires hands on training w/engineers &does not indicate this is included in the price.
  • No operator assisted support.
  • Contractor hosted audio/web conferencing.
  • State hosted video solution to the desk top, MCU and manager.
  • Supports QOS. Uses H.239 protocol which currently doesn’t work in our environment.
  • Does NOT recommend SIP-see pg 5. Supports streaming to desk top.
  • Unable to get to an operator while on the call. Does not recommend SIP, and this is the direction we are moving for future. Promoting Cisco video bridge, without detail regarding support, maintenance, help desk, etc.

NETech Corporation__18Points/20

  1. Room Models(15 Points Possible)

Criteria Reference -– Contractors’ proposed Enterprise Conferencing Example Video Room Models. (Attachment 7)

Comments:

  • No models were provided. Contractor notes they will be providing an alternate solution.
  • Didn’t answer except to state that they will propose an alternative Cisco solution.
  • Attachment 7, providing Cisco – No Detail provided for Cisco alternative.

NETech Corporation__1.6___Points/15

  1. Staffing and Organization (10 Points Possible)

Criteria Reference -– Key Personnel Resumes (Attachment 3), Organization Chart (Attachment 2), and 1.201 – Contractor Staff.

Comments:

  • Sales Engineer does not have the required skill of “2 years of experience of selling to federal or state governments”.
  • Otherwise, provided as required and seem capable.

NETech Corporation _9.2Points/10

  1. Requirements Compliance(15 Points Possible)

Criteria Reference -– Response to Enterprise Conferencing Requirements Worksheet. (Attachment 6) and Article 1 Sections 1.104 II.B Technical Requirements Guide.

Comments:

  • Contractor is based out of Grand Rapids, and is unable to meet on-site response times.
  • No operator assistance or online order tracking available with the provided solution.
  • Many required features listed as“can be included but for more $$$”, or “could not provide”; 57, 83, 90, 93, 102, 137, 142;
  • Of these 90 and 137 were both mandatory requirements – D responses; all others Expected.
  • Certified Polycom partner as sub, GTS Direct at additional cost. (57). Monitoring not provided except at additional cost. Scheduling of meetings. 158 Telemedicine – “…working to secure a partner…”
  • 57-59 Additional cost for Polycom support because they are Cisco based.
  • 66-67 Additional cost for tickets and trouble shooting.
  • 83-SOM monitors calls and bridge.
  • Does not currently support AMD Telemedicine equipment – 160-163.
  • 183-184 Reports are extra cost.

NETech Corporation___12__Points/15

  1. Project Planning and Approach(10 Points Possible)

Criteria Reference -– Article 1 Statement of Work and Deliverables 1.300, 1.400, and Contract Transition Plan. (Attachment 4)

Comments:

  • Details not given in 1.300 or 1.400 related to Contract Management, Issue Management, Risk Management, and Change Management.
  • Did not include proposal for transition between contracts, nor identify resources required to do so.
  • Provided a good Project plan. Durations are too aggressive and not realistic. Does not indicate if they or SOM would be responsible for what. Stated they will do that after awarded.
  • Six month plan-does not offer a pilot period. Seems WebX focused…lots of ? marks on duration. Project plan, didn’t really address transition from the standpoint of resources and durations, specific tasks or timelines.

NETech Corporation___6.8__Points/10

Total Points all Categories

NETech Corporation___74.8__Points/100

Altura Communication Solutions

  1. Qualifications & Prior Experience (10 Points Possible)

Criteria Reference - Company History and Company References. (Attachment 1)

Comments:

  • Did not include Attachment 1.
  • References were included, but did not indicate the project description, cost, and dates. Not sufficient detail to indicate relevance of experience to this RFP. (Section 4.014)
  • Company History notes 30 years of business in Michigan, with 26 Sales and Service Offices nationwide.
  • Only gave contact names, # of systems and ports. So hard to determine size and complexity.
  • Two subs, Sonexis and ChorusCall;large event hosting, operator services and video streaming from ChorusCall. Platinum Avaya and Sonexis.Large state, government and corporate systems both Sonexis and Altura.
  • Information not completely provided on sales and tech support.
  • Failed to provide contact information required in Attachment 1.

Altura Communication Solutions__6.2____Points/10

After Re-issuance:

  • Provided additional references in second submission, but did not identify what was specifically provided.
  1. Technical Solution and Approach (20 Points Possible)

Criteria Reference - Article 1 Sections 1.104 and 1.200 Statement of Work and Deliverables.

Comments:

  • Contractor did not submit a response to the questions in 1.104 and 1.200.
  • The Statement of work indicates that this is an “out of the box” solution, and will require support from DTMB Telecom to configure the equipment to work with the SOM telephone network.
  • Support, reporting, and Service-Level agreement were not addressed.
  • Did not provide detailed solution narrative – received general sales information.
  • Premise based enterprise solution installed over legacy equipment base, with redundancy and mirroring for disaster recovery. Not proposing a peer to peer solution.
  • Intuitive update within solution in MS ActiveX environment; otherwise update via online tools, built in alarms, notifications, trouble reporting hierarchy.
  • Significantly lacking in details relevant to technical aspects. No real detail regarding transition from base system to ChorusCall.

Altura Communication Solutions__6.2_ Points/20

After Re-issuance:

  • Vendor’s second submission didn’t provide any additional information on the technical solution.
  1. Solutions Narrative(20 Points Possible)

Criteria Reference – Contractor’s proposed Enterprise Conferencing solution and approach. (Attachment 5)

Comments:

  • The answer to question A5-11 notes that this solution supports a maximum of 200 concurrent audio users, which is lower than the 500+ users required by the question.
  • A5-13 notes a maximum of 150 web conference users. Section 1.104 C required the solution “Provide unlimited number of web conferencing participants concurrently.”
  • The answer to A5-8 does not provide a clear picture on how the data is secured.
  • Unclear how the solution meets the requirements in 1.104 C related to management of reservations/participants, desktop sharing, promotion of an attendee to control the presentation, and remote control of a participants workstation or application.
  • Primarily general sales information provided, not any significant technical detail.
  • On premise solution managed by SOM. Uses SOM call center for support. Uses Chorus Call for video. Multipoint video calls through Chorus Calls but no equipment.
  • SSL encryption available for content exchange, cookies can be saved on desktop for login; recording to desktop not allowed.
  • Proposing ChorusCall for larger video events – 1,000 concurrent web participants, with 5,000 viewers.

Altura Communication Solutions_8.4____Points/20

After Re-issuance:

  • No change from initialsubmission.
  1. Room Models(15 Points Possible)

Criteria Reference -– Contractors’ proposed Enterprise Conferencing Example Video Room Models. (Attachment 7)

Comments:

  • Not Applicable. Proposal on Audio and Web Conferencing Only.

Altura Communication Solutions__N/A__Points/15

After Re-issuance:

  • No change from initial submission.
  1. Staffing and Organization (10 Points Possible)

Criteria Reference -– Key Personnel Resumes (Attachment 3), Organization Chart (Attachment 2), and 1.201 – Contractor Staff.

Comments:

  • Two resumes attached for account managers. On both, neither have the mandatory requirement of “3 years managing change control and facilitating dispute resolution”.
  • Client references for key personnel were not provided.
  • Sales Engineer resume was not completed.
  • Provided SPOC & an Account Exec but not a sales engineering consultant.
  • Key personnel from Sonexis. Resumes not completed with work history; but summary info. Appears qualified. Heavy on VP’s, directors and sales; light on technically capable assigned.
  • Help desk = two highly trained people, all operator assistance.

Altura Communication Solutions__7____Points/10

After Re-issuance:

  • No change from initial submission.
  1. Requirements Compliance(15 Points Possible)

Criteria Reference -– Response to Enterprise Conferencing Requirements Worksheet. (Attachment 6) and Article 1 Sections 1.104 II.B Technical Requirements Guide.

Comments:

  • Many requirements do not have a response in the “requirements response” column.
  • Mandatory report requirements are not met. (#181, 182, 184).
  • Mandatory “on-site” support requirements not met (#189, 192).
  • Hard to determine what they were providing as many were not answered with a Yes or No but did have a note saying “read and understood”.
  • Will support web cam video conf, in 18-24 months.
  • Not Polycom distributor; equipment based solutions provided by Sonexis, services by Altura and ChorusCall.
  • Web trouble reporting and tracking tool not currently available.
  • “Read and Understood” on most items.
  • Service agreement signed and paid for annually for repair and support services. Upgrades, etc. are included in this annual agreement.
  • Multipoint conferences managed by ChorusCall. Groupwise not currently supported; Outlook is.
  • Capability to secure conference to specified user via PIN access. Host controlled mute of disruptive participants.
  • Integrate with custom hosted IVR for branding of greetings, etc.Language translation and physical disability accommodation available.
  • Troubleshooting performed remotely. 112 – Hearing impaired assistance via sister company.
  • 122 storage of video contact in wave format only (wave is an audio format). Failed to respond to requirements.

Altura Communication Solutions__9_Points/15

After Re-issuance:

  • No change from initial submission.
  1. Project Planning and Approach(10 Points Possible)

Criteria Reference -– Article 1 Statement of Work and Deliverables 1.300, 1.400, and Contract Transition Plan. (Attachment 4)

Comments:

  • 1.300and 1.400 were not completed. No details in other documentation related to Contract Management, Issue Management, Risk Management, or Change Management.
  • Did not provide detailed plan – received general sales information.
  • Basic summary provided.

Altura Communication Solutions__3__Points/10

After Re-issuance:3.58

  • Vendors’ second submission included information on their transition plan, but it was very sparse and did not include how users would be transitioned to this system from the existing solution (among other details of the transition). It mentions that they will work to develop a rollout plan that minimizes risk, but provides no detail regarding what those risks may be.
  • There is no risk management, contract management, issue management, or change management plan. A statement of work was not included, only a statement that a statement of work would be created if they were selected.

No to MiDEAL

A few T’s and C’s items to discuss.

Total Points all Categories

Altura Communication Solutions____39.8_____Points/85 % 46%

After Re-issuance:40.38; 48%
AT&T NI Only

  1. Qualifications & Prior Experience (10 Points Possible)

Criteria Reference - Company History and Company References. (Attachment 1)

Comments:

  • State of Kentucky, 3 video cores w/ 1000 endpoints.
  • State of Michigan Video 2006-Present, Audio/Web 2009-2013.
  • Marin County, CA, Audio/Web/Video 2010-2015.
  • Wisconsin Dept of Corrections, Video 150 endpoints.
  • State of Michigan and other large government and corporate applications.
  • References SOM and own organization as representative contacts.
  • Sub contracts with Crisp Telecom Corp. for managed services.
  • One of the attachments (8) was an Auto Policy? What is that for?
  • Detailed and thorough.
  • One of the largest Global Communications providers in the Country; currently work with the State and have contract with us, they work with AT&T Corporate offices and work with other government industries.

AT&T NI Only___9.8___Points/10

  1. Technical Solution and Approach (20 Points Possible)

Criteria Reference - Article 1 Sections 1.104 and 1.200 Statement of Work and Deliverables.

Comments:

  • Hosted solution at an AT&T central office. Video uses Polycom equipment with remote management of endpoints, and is compatible with existing state systems. Audio/Web is a hosted solution using AT&T Connect.
  • AT&T Connect appears to be compatible with Windows, Mac, and most mobile devices, but does not meet the requirement in 104.C5 for the web conferencing to “Operate in any browser”.
  • Video solution is AT&T managed Video -SOM owning Polycom as core and AT&T providing the connectivity (the cloud).
  • Managed/Hosted Solution, Full gamut of Polycom options capitalizing on existing infrastructure. Up to 90 concurrent video conferences, 125 participants on web/video up to 250 by late 2012, up to 1,500 for hosted meetings.
  • SSL encryption. Host controls for features and secure/password access meeting capability. Access from desktop, laptop, IP phone/device, conferencing unit.
  • Rented Hosted Core/Managed CODEC services. Can purchase or rent end points. Audio/Web- up to 1,5000 participants. Up to 250 reservation less audio calls by end of 2012.
  • Video- 2 to 90 simultaneous calls. 100 MB Hosted Core On-Net and 25 MB off net.
  • Only provide new equipment for new orders.
  • Lifted requirements out of Attachment 6 and incorporated them into the Contractor Response Boxes.
  • All of answers to Contractor Response Boxes are detailed and meet the State’s requirement expectations.
  • Much of the infrastructure is currently in place already at the State with ATT so it would be seamless transition into any kind of new installation and configuration of services.

AT&T NI Only___19.6__Points/20