Questions and Answers for RFP #ISD1827 ITSM

Questions and Answers for RFP #ISD1827 ITSM

Bidder’s Conference:

1. Q. Is a scanned signature on Attachment F acceptable?

A-.Yes

1. Q. Is a memory stick acceptable instead of a CD media disk?

A. Yes

1. Q. The RFP mentions a Performance Bond Requirement in the Table of Contents, however, there is no information about what is required.

A. It is not required, please disregard.

1. Q. On page 4, 4.2.2.1 System Installation, the paragraph spells out four environments, but there are only three listed. The same is referenced on page 11, #6.

A. There will only be three, Test, Development and Production. There will be no Staging.

1. Q. Is there a need for on premise environment?

A. It depends if solution is SAAS, hosted or on site. On premise is only required for onsite solutions.

1. Q. On page 9, Phase 1. Are there any asset databases that will need to have information imported? Warranty information or other non scannable devices?

A. Our primary tool is Novell Zenworks. 90-95% of the Countywide PC’s information are in that tool. That information is useful and we would want that information incorporated into the solution. We also use Tivoli for patch management that may also have information.

1. Q. That would be about 6000 assets?

A. We don’t manage all Countywide assets, it may be closer to 5000.

1. Q. Is there a warranty database for the County assets that will need to be implemented?

A. Not an adequate one. It will need to be discovered and uploaded.

1. Q. How many service catalogs will there be? One or different ones for different agencies?

A. We want one service catalog that will include different SLA’s. It will allow for agencies to see what’s available to them, but we don’t want to send them to different websites.

1. Q. How many different items will there be in the service catalog?

A. We will look for guidance and an assessment will be needed on the items and the processes. We are looking for a soup to nuts solution.

1. Q. Is there an existing knowledge management that would need to be imported?

A. We have no central repository for our knowledge management. We have two service desk teams, in Redwood City and at the San Mateo Medical Center. They each have their own repository with asset information, some information can be used to populate a knowledge database and used by our other teams. The selected vendor would need to interview the teams and gather the information.

1. Q. What tools would need to be integrate with?

A. Primary is Zenworks. For Alerts What’s UP Gold, Solarwinds, which is in process. Email integration, currently we are using Groupwise, but Office 365 will be implemented in the next year. Active Directory is de-centralized, we are in the midst of a project, so that would be a prerequisite to this project.

1. Q. What is our telephone system?

A. We have a combination of systems, and no integration is expected.

1. Q. Are there expectations for billings, costing, chargeback in the system?

A. Yes, we would like it to be included. We have SLA’s 8-5 and Time and Materials. When certain requests come in, it will be for T&M and we would want billing information from the customer.

1. Q. Is it a formal chargeback scenario?

A. We have a fixed bid with most customers, based on a monthly basis.

1. Q. Customers are other departments?

A. Yes, some we do not have SLA’s. They do submit requests and we bill T&M. Can change as we need to add new customers.

1. Q. Can we please get the information on the modules?

A.Solarwinds Orion Platform 2013.1.0

NPM v10.5

NTA v3.11.0

NCM 7.1.1 (in process)

NTA 3.11.0 (in process)

1. Q. Is there an estimated budget for the project?

A. The money is in several buckets, but we choose not to disclose the amount allocated for this project.

1. Q. Service Catalog without having information on services will hard to give a fixed price. Is it acceptable to price on what’s known and the level of effort or estimate?

A. Yes, you can bid on what’s known. The service catalog should be the central front end, introducing countywide IT services. The success of the project is very dependent on the quality of the service catalog.

1. Q. If there are main services that the County wants represented in the first part of the project, can we have a list of those services?

A. We are looking for something as comprehensive as Orange County's (see attached) but in web form and possibly more tailored to individual departments. The charge back summary at the end is something that we would like incorporated.

The Duke University School of Nursing is excellent at providing personalized information online rather than leading people straight into a request form. I can imagine County of San Mateo employees clicking on their department to get information about the services that we provide to them and/or the system will identify the department of the individual at logon and provide a personalize service catalog,

1. Q. Are paper copies of the proposals required?

A. We are asking for 1 original hard copy and 1 electronic copy.

1. Q. To get additional direction on populating CMDB, are you open to recommended phases?

A. Yes, we are open to vendor’s leadership. CMDB needs to be in the first phase.

1. Q. The Acknowledgement Form was not included in the RFP documents.

A. We have posted the form separately.

1. Q. Are all sheets in the RFP cost spreadsheet required?

A. No, for example, if it is SAAS, then you would not need to include a cost for hardware. Only list as applicable.

1. Q. For approvals in workflow, is email okay or should it be in the interface?

A. Both, respond to an email or clicking yes or no, or web link.

1. Q. For Automated discovery, what type of platforms? Windows, Linux, Mac. What back end infrastructure for asset management?

A. 99% Windows, more than ½ is virtualized. We also have a virtualized desktop environment. Network is primarily Cisco based.

1. Q. Are you looking for hardware or software management?

A. Yes, hardware and software licenses.

1. Q. There are lots of supported departments. Are there SME’s from departments or will IT staff from ISD be consulted in building the catalog.

A. We will have a focus group, of about 8 for the User Interface, input forms, asset management, requests. But workflow and incident management will be from central IT staff from ISD.

1. Q. For Active Directory, will it be a different forest?

A. One forest that will be used for approval hierarchy.

1. Is there a value on a licensing model that can be submitted?

A. Yes, other departments might want to have/install their own. Pricing that can show expansion.

1. Q. Can the County put expansion in the pricing sheet so that all vendors can submit pricing?

A. (follow up info) After reviewing again, each relevant tab already has a portion of Price for Future Use.

1. Q. What is the definition of an Analyst?

A. There is a total of 175 users, employee’s in ISD IT. Support desktop staff 20, includes 2 service desk teams, 10 are field staff. Then countywide, we have 6000 users that can call in to report an issue. The number of approvers will depend on how the hierarchy is defined.

1. Q. Does the County was to do a step approach or go live with all users?

A Go live with all, with phases for reporting. But we need expansion for other departments.

1. Q. Separate instance, identical or different?

A. Could be separate, could need to be in parallel. Some departments have their own system. Then they call in a ticket into our system. They may have tickets that ISD will never see.

1. Phase 2, says break fix, incident management. Is Phase 1 all about the service catalog and request fulfillment?

A. Yes, the tool first.

1. About the phases, the RFP says that 4 months will lapse before the second phase and third phase starts. Where does the clock start?

A. Phase 2 starts when Phase 1 is completed.

1. Attachment D, column F, there’s an indication that there’s a drop down menu, do we fill that out.

A. For Capability Readiness, If you look at the tab with the codes, there is a readiness portion, we want the vendors to manually enter the codes.

1. Q. Attachment E, section 8 clause, if a Contractor assigns a subcontractor, how is that request made?

A. Just call it out in your proposal. Our agreement is with you and not your subcontractor.

1. Q. If a SAAS is decided, a SAAS solution may have their own terms and conditions.

A. We will negotiate; we understand that it’s normal practice.

1. Bidder’s tip, stay away from requesting revisions to our Equal Benefits, Non-Discrimination and Jury services terms and conditions. Whatever issues you have in the contract, identify them now in your proposal.

1. Q. Custom reports, is there a list?

A. No, it will be from the selected vendor.

1. Q. What system is currently used?

A. CA R12 system.

1. Q. Is this a new system, no knowledge based migration or integration?

A. No, it’s a completely new system.

Submitted Questions:

1. Q. Section 4.2.2.1 (pg. 4,5) alludes to four software environments but goes on to list only three: 1) test, 2) development, 3) production. Is there a fourth environment (if so please state) or are there only three?

A. There are only 3 environments.

1. Q. Section 4.3 (pg.11) states that the Bidder’s Conference will be held on Wednesday, January 10, 2014 but that date falls on a Friday. Please clarify so that the day and the date are consistent.

A. Friday, the 10th.

1. Q. In the event a bidder cannot send a representative to the Bidder’s Conference in person, will there be a teleconference line provided for remote dial in?

A. Yes, it was posted.

1. Q. For Section 8. (pg. 15) please clarify whether the Original Paper submission is to be double-sided (the same as specified for the nine paper copies) or single-sided.

A. One hardcopy and one electronic copy is acceptable. Single or double sided does not matter.

1. Q. Section 8.18 (pg. 28) states to include the paper attachments completed by the vendor. In the case of Attachment E, is the intent to merely review and state the vendor's ability to comply with the terms of the contract as stated in 8.17? To what extent then, if any, should the vendor attempt to "complete" the contract form?

A. Review only and indicate any comments only. Do not attempt to complete or sign.

1. Q. The Cost Matrix (Attachment D) has two tabs referring to Hosting costs: "Hosting" and "Hosting Fees". Please clarify the expected content for each tab.

A. The “Hosting” tab is a duplicate of the SaaS tab and can be ignored. Please use the “Hosting Fees” tab for proposals for a hosted solution.

1. Q. Section 8 of Attachment E (County's Standard Contract) states: Contractor shall not assign this Agreement or any portion thereof to a third party or subcontract with a third party to provide services required by Contractor under this Agreement without the prior written consent of County. If a contractor is planning a joint proposal with one or more subcontractor's, when should written consent be obtained?

A. Just call it out in your proposal. Our agreement is with you and not your subcontractor.

1. Q. The supplied worksheet for Attachment B has Column F that does not provide the drop down as listed in the Code Tab. Will the County supply an updated sheet or can the vendor modify that Tab of the sheet to include the dropdown items?

A. For Capability Readiness, If you look at the tab with the codes, there is a readiness portion, we want the vendors to manually enter the codes.

1. Q. Will a vendor be disqualified for multiple submissions?

A. No

1. Q. Please be more specific as to what documents need to be provided to satisfy the requirement “The selected software company must also have evidence of a solid financial condition?” Are the vendors expected to include confidential information in a public bid?

1. This requirement is removed for the proposal. It will be addressed at time of contract negotiation.

1. Q. Given that Section 4.2.2.1 states that the County will be responsible for procurement of additional hardware, in Section 8.14, #2, are the bidders being asked just to list the hardware necessary to support the licensed option or to provide initial cost pricing as well.

A. We would like a hardware cost estimate. Range and order of magnitude will be accepted.

1. Q. Regarding requirement 6.1.22, Custom Reports: Typically, SLAs and Cost Management are separate functions regardless of the tool.

1. What costs are tracked to be reported against with this requirement?
2. How are the costs tracked today and what is the definition of the SLAs to be tracked?

1. We should be able to track SLA versus T&M work, which will be determined by type of request and time of submission. Costs are not determined by metrics from our current Service Management System. We have SLA documents and a rate sheet for tracking.

1. Q. What items exist in your Service Catalog today and do all those items need to be built in the new system?

1. We currently do not have a Service Catalog. We are currently building basic Service Catalog to consolidate rates for our customers, but bidders should assume all responsibility for building our Service Catalog.

1. Q. Does your request fulfillment process vary by item? If so, how many workflows currently exist for various requests types?

1. It does not vary within the system and no workflow currently exists within it. However, request fulfillment is based upon paper or email approval.

1. Q. Besides alert monitoring, what other integrations with external systems are needed? LDAP for authentication? Existing asset repository?

1. LDAP, likely AD for authentication. Zenworks contains asset information. Tivoli is used to deploy patches. We would want input from the vendor to determine whether Zenworks would contain adequate asset information or whether we would want to use an asset discovery tool in our new ITSM solution.

1. Q. Does San Mateo currently leverage an asset discovery product now? Will it be a requirement to bring that data into the new system?

A. Zenworks contains asset information. Tivoli is used to deploy patches. We would want input from the vendor to determine whether Zenworks would contain adequate asset information or whether we would want to use an asset discovery tool in our new ITSM solution.

1. Q. Can you provide some examples of typical custom reports you would like to see in the new system?

1. We would seek leadership from the vendor about the most effective reports. However, we would be looking for reports detailing response and resolution time cross referenced against urgency and impact segregated by team and consolidated as an entire unit. There should also be metrics comparing each of these for SLA versus T&M.

1. Q. What event monitoring utilities is San Mateo currently using?

A. Solar Winds. What’s Up Gold is being decommissioned.

1. How many knowledge base articles currently exist? Are they categorized by topic?

A. Zero in our current system. One Service Desk team has built an internal Wiki. Another Service Desk team has built a knowledge base in One Note. There are likely other knowledge bases that other teams such as Server and Network have created that would need to be imported into the system.

1. Q. Does San Mateo have a fully defined and documented process for Incident, Problem, and Change Management? Is there an expectation of working through new process definition for each process?

1. No formal process currently exists. We hope to start building an Event, Incident, and Problem management prior to deploying the new ITSM solution. Change Management will be defined and process build as part of the deployment of the ITSM solution.

1. Q. Does San Mateo utilize an asset lifecycle methodology? Is there an expectation of working through new process definition for Asset Management?

1. No formal process currently exists. Yes, we would like to work through a new process definition.

1. Q. Will you be purchasing a Discovery Tool?

1. No, we plan to use information in Zenworks, Tivoli, or a module contained in the new ITSM solution.

1. Under section “4.2. Scope of the Project” the County listed the below User Groups.

1. Total Service Delivery Users = 175 registered users
2. Support Desk Staff = 20 (Fulltime Users)
3. Mobile Users = 10 (Field Service Staff)
4. Casual Technical & Management Users = 50 (Average at Peak Time)
5. Self-Service Portal Users = 6,000

1. Question: Can you please clarify by your user group what function/access they will need in the ITSM tool from the list below.

1. Create/Edit/Delete any record-a, b, c, d should be able to create and edit.
2. Only a few designated administrators should be able to delete
3. Run Reports-a,b,c,d NOTE: Portal users should be able to view some level of ticket data via the portal (dashboard).
4. Develop/Manage Apps-only a few designated administrators
5. Perform self-service-a,b,c,d,e
6. Search for information-a,b,c,d,e
7. Ask for help-a,b,c,d,e
8. Submit requests-a,b,c,d,e
9. Approve requests (not by via Email)-d,e; we would expect anyone to be able to approve requests without being an agent

1. Q. Will the County sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement?

A. All documents are to be reviewed by our County Counsel.

That being said, on the title page of the Request for Proposals, it states:

“Government Code Sections 6250 et seq., the California Public Record Act, defines a public record as any writing containing information relating to the conduct of the public business. The Public Record Act provides that public records shall be disclosed upon written request and that any citizen has a right to inspect any public record unless the document is exempted from disclosure.

Be advised that any contract that eventually arises from this Request For Proposals is a public record in its entirety. Also, all information submitted in response to this Request For Proposals is itself a public record without exception. Submission of any materials in response to this Request For Proposals constitutes a waiver by the submitting party of any claim that the information is protected from disclosure. By submitting materials, (1) you are consenting to release of such materials by the County if requested under the Public Records Act without further notice to you and (2) you agree to indemnify and hold harmless the County for release of such information.”

1. Q. Can the County sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement in regards to the request for audited financial statements?

A: This requirement is removed for the proposal. It will be addressed at time of contract negotiation.