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Questions & AnswersIFB 6100026341

Servers, Data Storage Equipment, Integrated Systems & Related Services

# Question Answer

1

I am interested in responding to the Lot 2 portion of the IFP. I was on the site and looking for the specific requirements for Data Storage such as usable, capacity, features requested, etc. I looked through all the documents. Is there someone I can reach out to with regard to specific requirements for the SAN Storage?

At the time of purchase, the specific equipment requirements would be determined by the purchasing agency. As stated in Section I-F of the IFB the IFB “A Bidder must be capable of providing all Equipment and Services provided by an OEM.” Therefore to be eligible to submit a bid for Lot 2 a Bidder must provide all data storage equipment including but not limited to direct attached storage, network attached storage, storage area network, and storage solution cabinets (racks, enclosures, etc.).

2

We notice that there is no requirement or documentation of the scoring criteria AND there is no SDB requirement.

This is a perfect opportunity to promote small businesses, as may SDB’s are resellers for servers and storage devices AND many can provide services such as disk wipe, subcontracting services, training, etc. to a larger prime contractor.

So the question is why isn’t an SDB requirement being considered for this solicitation?

This is a multiple award IFB. A DGS Certified Small Diverse Business may respond to this IFB as prime contractor or partner with a prime as a subcontractor.



3

IFB #6100026341 specifies for Lot 1, Servers: Entry-Level Servers, Mid-Range Servers, High-End Servers, Mainframes, Server Cabinets (racks, enclosures, blade configurations etc.).Part I, section G. Bidder Eligibility states that “a Bidder must propose Equipment and Services for an OEM identified in at least one (1) of the following Gartner publications: Market Share Analysis: Data Center Hardware

Integrated Systems, 1Q11-2Q12 (Published November 30, 2012)

The Leaders Quadrant of Magic Quadrant for Blade Servers (Published April 29, 2013)

The Leaders Quadrant of Magic Quadrant for General Purpose Disk Arrays (Published March 21, 2013).”

These Gartner publications only address blade, disk arrays, and integrated systems and do not address mainframe equipment and services. As mainframes are part of Lot 1, is it acceptable for an OEM not listed in the Appendix B Cost Matrix, Discount Spreadsheet, to bid their mainframe server technology as part of Lot 1 Mainframes?

As we have a number of government clients who acquire mainframe server technology via this contract vehicle, can Unisys be added to the OEM list in order to satisfy the procurement needs of many COPA clients?

A) No.B) No.

4

Page 5, Item I-F – Please clarify that for an OEM with multiple server “brands”, the bidder must be capable of selling the entire range of products, from small Intel based servers through mainframe systems. Will the Commonwealth allow a bidder to only bid a particular brand or set of brands?

A Bidder must be capable of providing all Equipment and Services provided by an OEM.



5

Page 8, Item II-F – Operating System – Some OEM servers require a specific operating system in order to function, will the Commonwealth request operating systems for these servers? If the servers come pre-installed with the operating system can the bidder remove the operating system once it arrives on-site at the Commonwealth to satisfy this requirement? The bidder understands that the software license agreement must be completed prior to shipping a server that includes operating system software.

A) The Commonwealth may request an operating system.

B) Yes.

6

Page 10, II-J-3 – Order Delivery. Please clarify the requirement for inside delivery.

The Commonwealth will specify the location where the Equipment is to be delivered. The Contractor must deliver the Equipment to the location specified by the Commonwealth.

7

Page 11, P-6 – Warranty Service. Industry standard warranty services are typically three years, if the Commonwealth chooses a lease term that is longer than three years, additional warranty coverage will be required via an additional part number. The bidder understands that the Commonwealth wants to purchase warranty coverage for the full term of a lease at the commencement of the lease.

Bidders must meet the requirements of the IFB.

8

Page 11, II-Q.1.e – The Commonwealth indicates that orders for maintenance/extended warranty services made during the term of the contract may extend up to two (2) years past the expiration date of the contract. How will the Commonwealth handle a request for a four year lease purchased during the final year of the contract, which would require maintenance/warranty services beyond the two (2) years indicated above?

Any lease made before the contract end date will extend for the full four year lease term and will include maintenance and support of the Equipment for the entire term of the lease. The requirement for Maintenance/Extended Warranty Services which may extend up to two (2) years past the expiration date of the contract applies to Commonwealth owned devices.



9

Page 12, II-Q.2.b/c/d – The Commonwealth has requested services in these items that include the requirement for packing materials, transportation costs, etc. However, the Rate Card in Appendix B, Cost Matrix, only includes Hourly Cost. Will the Bidder include these non-hourly costs in the response to the Statement of Work provided by the agency at the time of purchase as a fixed price?

No, those non-hourly costs must be included within the optional Related Services cost.

10

Page 12, II-Q.2.e – Training – The Commonwealth has requested unlimited follow up training at no cost, inside an hourly rate cost item request. This requirement will be cost-prohibitive and will require Bidders to add additional costs to either their service rates, or to reduce the discount allowed in order to cover this requirement. It appears that the intent of this requirement may be to prevent training which is not satisfactory to the users. A suggestion would be to require Bidders who are providing training at an hourly rate basis for an agency, who receive low training scores on post-training evaluations provide follow up training to that agency at no additional cost.

The Commonwealth has revised Section II-Q.6.b of the IFB. (Previously Section II-Q.2.e.)

11

Appendix B, Cost Matrix – The Commonwealth has requested a discount off the OEM’s current list price for the entire category. In order to provide the best discounts possible to the Commonwealth, can the bidder divide the category by the specific server types or brands? For example, the discount off of list on a mainframe system is very different from the discount off of list for a Unix based system, as well as for an Intel server system. In addition, storage technology discounts vary significantly. If this is not the case the bidder will have to use the lowest discount level across the entire spectrum of servers or storage, providing less cost-savings to the Commonwealth.

No, Bidders must provide one discount rate that applies to all Equipment.



12

IFB Page 4/General Information/E. Method of Award: If one of the OEM resellers who is awarded one of the two contracts defaults or is terminated for any reason (i.e. no longer in business, etc.), will the Commonwealth allow another OEM reseller to submit a proposal to replace the defaulted contractor?

No.

13IFB Page 4/General Information/E. Method of Award: Can the OEM bid direct and name partners to use?

The OEM can bid direct and name subcontractors to provide Services for this contract. See Part I, J and Part II, H of the IFB.

14

IFB Page 4/General Information/E. Method of Award: Will an award be made for each OEM for each lot, provided they or a certified reseller successfully responds to that lot, or will only two OEM’s be selected for each Lot?

Up to two (2) contracts will be awarded for each OEM per Lot.

15

IFB Page 4/General Information/E. Method of Award: The paragraph states that “Up to two (2) contracts will be awarded for each Original Equipment Manufacturer (“OEM”) per Lot. The question is that for OEMs that elect the COSTARS addendum, two resellers would be able to cover the sales to the Commonwealth, but not to local government and education as well. Would the Commonwealth consider expanding the number of contracts per OEM allowed to accommodate local government and education coverage?

No.

16

IFB /Part I General Information, F. Bid Submission: For Appendix B. Cost Matrix, is the commonwealth just looking for a blanket discount off of all list prices from the OEM which will be referenced to the requested OEM price list web link?

Yes. Contractors may offer additional discounts. See Part II, I, 1. of the IFB.



17

IFB Page 5/Part I General Information, F. Bid Submission: OEMs often have varying hardware/software product families – some being priced more competitively than others. Therefore, common practice is to offer varying discounts for each product family. If the Commonwealth is only asking for one discount across the board for all hardware and software, it actually hinders the OEM’s and its resellers ability to propose discounts on some products as deep as they might otherwise be able to offer the Commonwealth. Allowing the OEM to bid discount off list per product family would allow an OEM to offer deeper discounts overall to the Commonwealth. It would also allow the Commonwealth to compare this contract to other similar contracts (i.e., WSCA) for competitive pricing. Can offerors propose various discounts for the OEM product families consistent with the OEM’s standard practices?

No, Bidders must provide one discount rate that applies to all Equipment. Contractors may offer additional discounts. See Part II, I, 1. of the IFB.

18

IFB Page 11/ Part II, Section Q. Related Services, 2. Optional Services, d. Relocation: Will the hourly rates apply as submitted on Appendix B. Cost Matrix under the Rate Card Tab or can this also be done as a Statement of Work as defined in Appendix G Statement of Work Template?

When optional Related Services are requested a SOW will be developed by the Commonwealth. A Contractor may not exceed the hourly rates specified on Appendix B, Cost Matrix, Rate Card.

19

IFB Page 13/ Part II, Section Q. Related Services, 2. Optional Services, e. Training: The IFB does not explain the training requirements of this section.Please explain the type of “unlimited follow-up training, when new Equipment has been deployed at a location, at no additional cost, when requested by the Commonwealth” under the 2nd bullet point. Bidder requests that “unlimited training” referred to here be limited to what is described in the first bullet point as “the training at a minimum must include basic system familiarization and system operation”?




20

IFB Page 12/Section Q. Related Services, 2. Operational Services, letter c: It states that delivery of equipment must go to DGS warehouse. Doesn’t the Commonwealth want the equipment delivered to the agency’s inside location where it must be installed?

All Equipment purchased through the contract includes FOB destination and will be delivered directly to the requesting agency at the agreed upon delivery address of the order. The Related Service for Transport to DGS is requested as an optional Related Service, the Contractor must deliver the de-installed agency owned Equipment to the DGS warehouse.

21

Appendix A/Sec. 10: Sec. 10 states that the contractor must provide published product documentation upon request, please insert that such documentation are “specifications” as used in Sections 11 and 16.

The terms and conditions will not be revised.

22

Appendix A/Sec. 11: The Commonwealth requires the contractor to retrieve defective items within 15 days after notice of nonconformance, can the State add to Section 11 that any notice of nonconformance must occur no later than 30 days after delivery date or the product will be deemed accepted?


23

Appendix A/Sec. 16.a: Section 16 states the contractor needs to repair or replace any product with a problem, please revise this to state that the contractor must repair or replace a product that does not operate in conformance with its published documentation.


24

Appendix A/Sec. 41: Can the Commonwealth revise this to state that a contractor may use its own background check if comparable to the Commonwealth’s or limit this to individuals with extended on site access?


25

Appendix B/ Cost Matrix: The RFP has two categories for discount %, Data Storage Equipment and Maintenance/Extended Warranty Services in addition to a rate card for Installation, de-installation, Transportation, Relocation, Training and Asset Tagging. There is not a software discount % category. How should the discount for the OEM’s software be shown?

A discount off of list price for software was not included because the Commonwealth will not procure commercially available software through the contracts resulting from this IFB. Only software that is required to make a device function will be purchased (as part of the Equipment purchase).



26

With the current Client ITB due on 10/16 would COPA consider an extension of at least two week to all vendors to allow time to complete both responses. The new due date would be 10/30 for all vendors.

No.

27

Will the Commonwealth consider discussing and negotiating terms and conditions with Contractor in an effort align with the spirit of the partnership and mutual course of dealings between the parties?

No.

28

IFB, p. 11, Part II, Section Q.2 Optional Services: Depending on the items ordered, optional services such as installation and training can require vastly different skill levels. Appendix B, Rate Card does not allow differentiation of these skill levels. Should the respondent supply a not-to-exceed hourly rate for these items?

Yes.

29

IFB, p. 12, Part II, Section Q.2.d Relocation: Relocation of equipment, especially outside of the same building incurs not only resource costs, but other costs such as insurance which will vary greatly depending on value of equipment. Can you clarify how to handle these costs within the Rate Card structure of Appendix B?

A Bidder must provide an all-inclusive hourly rate to perform the Related Services specified in Appendix B, Cost Matrix.

30

IFB, p. 12, Part II, Section Q.2.d Relocation: Does this service apply only to newly shipped equipment to the DGS warehouse, or do you intend to include the relocation of systems that are running and functional from one location to another?

Relocation and Transport to DGS are two separate Related Services.

Relocation is for relocation of systems that are running and functional from one location to another.

Transport to DGS is for the Contractor to deliver the de-installed agency owned Equipment to the DGS warehouse.

31

IFB, p. 13, Part II, Section Q.2.e Training: The requirement for unlimited on-site follow-up training at no additional cost seems excessive and may artificially increase the pricing. Can you clarify and put boundaries around this request?




32

IFB, p. 14, Part II, Section S, SLAs/LDs: If an incorrect shipment is sent to the Commonwealth, is there a 5% deduction off the cost of the order if not corrected within 10 business days; 10% deduction if not corrected within 10-30 business days; and 20% deduction if not corrected within 30-60 business days?

Yes.

33

IFB; Appendix A, Terms & Conditions; Appendix G, Statement of Work Template: The term “Project” is referenced in several places but is not defined. Is it correct to assume these are the services to be performed under an order placed by the Commonwealth and accepted by the Contractor for services as defined in a mutually agreed SOW?

Yes.

34

Appendix D, COSTARS Program Election to Participate Form: If a Vendor awarded a Contract under this IFB also currently holds a COSTARS Contract, is the awarded Vendor required to pay an additional COSTARS Administrative Fee if the Vendor agrees to sell to registered COSTARS Members under the Contract resulting from this IFB?

Yes.

35

Section H: Can the Commonwealth please describe the process for pre-clearing Authorized Service Providers of the OEM, particularly in the circumstance where the Contractor is a reseller of the OEM?

The Commonwealth will consider the Manufacturer Authorization Letter as authorization for the reseller to be eligible to provide the OEMs Equipment and Services.

36Section J states that the Contractor must provide notice of potential delivery delays within 5 days, but Section N requires notice within 24 hours – which one is intended?

Part II, J. 1. b. has been removed.

37Section P.6: Is the Commonwealth expecting free extended warrantee services in the event that a lease agreement term exceeds the standard manufacturer’s warrantee term?

All leases must include maintenance and support of the Equipment for the entire term of the lease.



38

Section 39 of Terms and Conditions: Upon initial review of the ITBs, it appears that the vast majority are inapplicable to the products likely to be bid under this solicitation. Can the Commonwealth provide an example of the level of detail it would like for describing why such ITBs are inapplicable?

Enough detail must be provided for the Commonwealth to make a determination on the applicability of the referenced ITB.

39Is there an option for the manufacturer to hold the contract and to add reselling agents?

No.

40

Regarding the licensing of software under the contract, may an OEM include additional license terms that do not conflict with the IFB’s license agreement? The included license agreement does not actually contain a license grant, and would need additional provisions to provide a license to the software. It would be best to use the OEM’s standard license grant as licensing models vary by product type.

Yes. Additional software terms and conditions that do not conflict with Appendix F may be negotiated between the Commonwealth and the software licensor.

41

Regarding the provision of a list of licensed products as part of the license:

Since many manufacturers embed the OS software in the hardware during the manufacturing process, how would the state want those products/software listed?

Should each instance of hardware with embedded software be listed, or should only the operating system be listed?

If the software is listed by operating system, how should a manufacturer treat software features that are part of the operating system yet are only licensed optionally?

A) A general description of the software will suffice.

B) Only the operating system(s) must be listed.

C) If the license terms apply to all optional features included in the operating system, only the operating system must be listed.

42

Due to the timing of the RFP and the short turn around NetApp is officially requesting a 2 week extension. Any consideration here would be greatly appreciated.

The Commonwealth will not extend the due date of the IFB.

43

In the Networking contract the Commonwealth specified they wanted only OEM highest level certified partners responding. Does the Commonwealth wish to maintain this requirement on this contract? If not why was this change made?

No. OEM certifications are not required.



44

Do resellers need to include a “Letter of Authorization with their response? If not how does the Commonwealth know that a reseller is capable of supporting the OEM’s equipment?

Yes. All documents listed in Section I-F are required to be submitted at the time of bid.

45

The following conflict exists regarding notifying the Commonwealth of potential delivery delays:

J. Order Requirements1. Order Acceptance:b. The Contractor, within five (5) business days after receiving an order, must notify the Commonwealth of any potential delivery delays. Evidence of inability or intentional delays will be cause for the cancellation or suspension of a contract.

N. Transportation and DeliveryAll quotes must include the charges for packing, handling, freight, distribution and inside delivery. The Contractor, within twenty-four (24) hours after receiving an order, must notify the Commonwealth of any potential delivery delays. Evidence of inability or intentional delays will be cause for the cancellation or suspension of a contract.

Question: Please clarify whether potential delivery days must be conveyed to the Commonwealth within 5 business days or 24 hours.


46

The following question is related to the Asset Tagging section of the IFB (Q. Related Services, 2. Optional Services, f. Asset Tagging)

Question: Please clarify which of the options below the Commonwealth intends for placement of asset tags:

Asset tags affixed onsite at the installation location

Asset Tags affixed at the Contractor’s facility Contractor’s asset number affixed at our

location, and the Commonwealth’s asset tag affixed onsite at the installation location

When Related Services are requested, a SOW will be developed by the Commonwealth. Since agencies have specific requirements for asset tagging, the placement option will be determined at the time of purchase by the purchasing agency and included in the SOW.



47

Appendix B, Cost Matrix – Rate Card

Question: In order to accurately price the asset tagging services, will the Commonwealth provide an estimate of the volume of equipment expected to be handled annually?

The Commonwealth is unable to provide an estimate of the volume of Equipment expected to be handled annually.

48

Section E Will the Commonwealth be making the contractors aware at the onset of a lease or purchase what their intentions will be at the conclusion of the lease or requirement for warranty replacement in regards to destruction of data or retention of the drive(s).

The Commonwealth will make the determination at the expiration of the lease or at the time replacement is required.

49Section J.a Is there a $10,000 limit to the amount of an order for which the Commonwealth can or may utilize a purchasing card for this contract?

Yes.

50

Section J.b. & Section N These sections have conflicting SLA’s regarding the amount of time after receiving an order that a contractor has to notify the Commonwealth of potential delivery delays.


51

Section P.6 Can it be assumed that the Commonwealth will be required to have and maintain warranties on all equipment that match the required SLA’s and are for no less than the desired term of the lease.

No.

52

Section Q Can it be assumed that all of the related services can be provided at an additional cost to the Commonwealth?

Under #2.e for training…can it be assumed the initial training is sold with a cost, but the Commonwealth is then requiring unlimited follow-up at no additional cost beyond the initial training purchased?

Will the Commonwealth accept a time period maximum for such “no-cost” follow-up training of 30 days from initial training completion date?

A) Yes.

B) The Commonwealth has revised Section II-Q.6.b of the IFB. (Previously Section II-Q.2.e.)

C) The Commonwealth has revised Section II- Q.6.b of the IFB. (Previously Section II-Q.2.e.)



53

Section S With regard to incorrect shipments, can it be assumed the contractor will not be required to pay a 5% LD fee when the Commonwealth agency places an electronic order for an incorrect item or accidentally orders an incorrect item in error?

Such fees would only be applied when a shipment does not match an order, correct?

Also, the majority of these types of orders are “custom builds” and would take approximately 30 business days to deliver. Would the Commonwealth consider starting their LD for replacement at 30 days as opposed to the current 10 days?

A) Yes.B) Yes.C) No.

54Will the Commonwealth be requiring the agencies to procure upgraded warranties in order to meet the required SLA’s?

No.

55

The Commonwealth refers to leasing multiple times throughout this IFB. The assumption is being made that it is allowed. Will the Commonwealth be publishing its leasing guidelines as it pertains to this IFB?

The Commonwealth may lease Equipment through the contracts resulting from this IFB. The Leasing terms and conditions are part of Appendix A.

56

Appendix B, Cost Matrix – Would the Commonwealth consider establishing multiple discounts for an OEM Lot if the OEM’s discounting policy is to delineate discounts between various Entry-Level Servers, Mid-Range Servers, High-End Servers & Storage Equipment?

No.

57

Is the intent to have the Commonwealth purchase the OEM’s products off of the most current OEM Price List at all times? This will ensure the Commonwealth is always purchasing the latest equipment offered by the OEM.

The Commonwealth will purchase Equipment off of the most current OEM Price List on file with the Commonwealth.



58

Hardware products will go "End of Life" and are identified on the OEM Price List of that Date. Would the Commonwealth allow a vendor to update the price list as the OEM updates it so that the most current products are listed?

Contractors should inform the Commonwealth of products that have reached their end of life and are no longer available; however, price lists must be updated according to Section II-C of the IFB.

59

There are multiple Server, Storage and Engineered Systems products that are on our OEM’s Hardware Price List, would the Commonwealth allow a vendor to provide multiple discounts that map directly to each product or would the Commonwealth prefer a blended discount for each Lot?

The Bidder must submit one discount per OEM, per Lot.

60

In regards to required software necessary for the proposed equipment to function, how is pricing determined for these additional & required software products?

The Commonwealth will not procure commercially available software through the contracts resulting from this IFB. Software necessary for the proposed equipment to function must be included in the price of the Equipment.

61

Gartner has recenlty recognized companies that provide inovative server and storage solutions. Can the submisions requirments be modified to recognize other companies meeting the requirements and on the Gartner Cool Vendors in the Server market, 2013 and Cool Venders in the Storage Market, 2013. Making this change will give the state of PA the flexiblity to consider inovative storage and server technology. Currently the requirements identify companies with large market share as a high factor for the selection in the Leader quadrant and doesn’t take full account of newer disruptive datacener server and storage technologies.

No.

62

Please clarify if the Commonwealth is requiring standard manufacturer's warranty on all equipment?

IFB, Section P, requires manufacturer's standard warranty, however, Appendix A, Section 16 a, states that all supplies are warranted for a period of one year unless otherwise stated in the contract.

For this procurement, the referenced language in Section 16(a) [unless otherwise stated in the Contract] refers to Part II, Section P of the IFB.



63

Please clarify the scope of IFB requirements that Contractor offer "all Equipment and Services provided by the OEM" and that Bidder "must be capable of providing all Equipment and Services provided by an OEM".

Is this a full OEM price book catalogue contract? Or is the offering scope limited to the equipment categories expressly stated in the IFB?

Is the only bidder threshold qualification that the bidder been authorized to resell the equipment offered? Or is the bidder additionally required to hold any equipment-specific OEM advanced certifications /trainings / other qualifications?

A) The Bidder must offer the OEMs full catalog of Equipment and Services within the scope of the applicable Lot of the IFB.

B) See Part I, Sections F (Bid Submission) and G (Bidder Eligibility) of the IFB. Bidders are not required to hold any equipment-specific OEM advanced certifications, trainings or other qualifications.

64

How does the Commonwealth intend to utilize this contract vehicle for executive branch agencies in conjunction with the pending consolidated data center award?

Will Executive Branch agencies have the option of purchasing CPE equipment under this award notwithstanding the consolidated data center award? Or will there be any additional restrictions/ approval criteria if an agency chooses to purchase under this CPE award?

Will there be any restrictions placed on brand utilization under this award, e.g., will the Commonwealth designate a primary OEM brand among the winning bidders as it has on the current vehicle or require additional approvals for agencies wishing to purchase CPE equipment from a non-primary supplier?

The Commonwealth will not discuss active procurements.

65For purposes of establishing potential contract volume under this award, please provide the last available calendar or fiscal year sales volume totals reported by each incumbent on the current contract.

Sales volume under the current contracts may not be representative of potential contract volume for the contracts resulting from this IFB.



66

The stated services acceptance language provides the right "to conduct further testing and inspection after payment but within a reasonable time after performance." This leaves an open-ended window which cannot be managed through standard financial vendor accounting rules. Would the Commonwealth consider defining a specific time window in which the testing and inspection must be completed unless a longer timeframe is otherwise agreed to by the parties under a specific statement of work?


67

The Commonwealth's SLA penalty for failure to deliver within 30 days and notification requirements within five (5) days of receipt of order of any potential delivery delays will be extremely difficult for contractors to meet. Under standard manufacturing processes, which utilize just in time OEM global supply chains, neither the contractor nor the manufacturer has control over supplier delivery of third party components. Would the Commonwealth consider modifying the requirement to allow contractor to use reasonable commercial efforts to avoid delays along with notice of the delay to the customer without being in breach?

No.

68

For purposes of pricing, please provide:

The card processor's fee amount and method of calculation per transaction for the P-card?

The maximum order amount that can be processed on the P-card.

The total dollar volume of contract sales under the existing award that have processed through the P-card.

A) The Commonwealth utilizes multiple MasterCard® P-cards issued through US Bank. The Contractor may request the method of calculation per transaction from the card processor.

B) The maximum order which can be processed using a P-card is $10,000.

C) The Commonwealth is not able to provide the total dollar volume of contract sales under the existing award that have processed through the P-card at this time.



69

Would the Commonwealth consider modifying the order-specific price revision clause requirement to align with industry standard commercial practices of pricing at the point of order placement, with generally published OEM changes taking effect upon publication only for prospectively placed orders? The requirement for order specific price reductions based on any change in manufacturer's list price up to the point of equipment delivery is non-standard and not supported by standard ordering systems and financial practices of the contractor or OEM. Manufacturers' price books are continuously updated and tracking changes on a per order basis would require additional manual staffing solely to meet the Commonwealth's requirements.

No.

70Will the CoPA IFB for Servers and Storage, #6100026341, have an impact on its Data Center Computing RFP, #6100022698?

The Commonwealth will not discuss active procurements.

71

Is it the goal of the Commonwealth to move toward an open systems environment with virtualization, or will the mainframe infrastructure still function in active use?

The Commonwealth cannot speak to the future.

72Please explain the reason for the Bidder Eligibility requirement?

The Commonwealth will not disclose this information.

73

What are the Commonwealth’s future server infrastructure objectives? Does it include diminishing its mainframe environment and moving towards Open Systems environments so that it can increase its server virtualization efforts? If so, to what extent and on what timeframe?

The Commonwealth cannot speak to the future.

74Does the Commonwealth desire to virtualize its data storage infrastructure? If so, to what extent and on what timeframe?

The Commonwealth’s requirements are stated in the IFB.



75

Many vendors offer solutions for private, public, and hybrid clouds. Is the Commonwealth currently involved in a cloud strategy utilizing any of the three (3) cloud offerings mentioned? If so, to what extent and utilizing which option(s)? How does the Commonwealth envision this RFQ integrating with its cloud strategies?

Please refer to the eMarketplace website to view current solicitations and contracts.

76

The IFB states “Up to two (2) contracts will be awarded for each Original Equipment Manufacturers ("OEM") per Lot.”

Does this mean that a maximum of 18 contracts in total will be awarded for each lot (i.e., up to 18 contracts for Lot 1, 18 for Lot 2, and 18 for Lot 3)?

Yes.

77

The IFB discusses the 80/20 split for weighting the 100 point evaluation scale. Given that the rate card in the cost matrix is not included in the 80/20 split, is the rate card part of the Commonwealth’s evaluation?

No.

78Is it permissible for a Reseller to respond to the IFB with multiple OEM proposals per lot? Is it possible for a single reseller to gain two awards in one Lot?

A) Yes.B) Yes.

79Will the Commonwealth allow a vendor to offer Indirect fulfillment, where the OEM provides for multiple Business Partners to participate?

No.

80Does the IFB cover maintenance services to be purchased for existing currently installed equipment?

Yes.



81

Vendors offer a variety of products for each of lots 1, 2, and 3 with varying discounts. As an example, for lot 1 there may be 15 products in an OEM’s lineup of servers. Discounts for Lot 1 will vary by processor type or server family (i.e., intel/x86 vs. unix/power vs. mainframe, etc.). The same is true for Lot 2 where discounts vary by storage product family and for Lot 3 where discounts vary within the product family.

Prescribing a single discount by the lot will result in the Commonwealth not receiving the highest discounts. For example, if the lowest percentage discount in the product line is 10% where vendors have the lowest margin and is for a product that the Commonwealth rarely purchases, vendors will conservatively enter 10% in the spreadsheet. Whereas, the Commonwealth may purchase other equipment in the product family with higher percentage discounts, for example, 30%. In this case, the Commonwealth will see a 10% discount on the entire Lot in the spreadsheet, whereas, it could be taking advantage of the 30% if it is permissible to provide a more granular product breakout.

Will Commonwealth permit vendors to provide an additional breakout by product family within each lot? This will give the Commonwealth the proper discount visibility, thereby minimizing the Commonwealth’s overall cost of purchase within a lot.

No.

82

Some manufacturers ship the operating system software along with the hardware. An example of this would be Unix-based operating systems, which cannot be purchased under the Commonwealth’s enterprise software agreements. In these cases, will it be allowable to include the operating system within the hardware purchase?

Yes.



83

Please clarify your requirement to provide “unlimited follow-up training”. There is a cost to training and without boundaries; vendors will struggle with how training costs get factored into the discount percentages to be applied to Appendix B, Cost Matrix.

Part II-Q.6.b of the IFB (Previously Section II-Q.2.e.) has been revised.

84

Fix Time: please describe the expectations for the 12 business hour fix should a service call come in closer to the end of the business day, for example, a call at 12:00 pm. Assuming the end of the Commonwealth’s business day is 4:00 pm, does this mean that the service issue must be resolved by 4:00 pm on the following day before the LD is applied?

Also related to this question, what are the start and end times of the Commonwealth’s business day for purposes of this SLA?

The business hours of the Commonwealth are 7:30am to 5:00pm, Monday through Friday, excluding state holidays.

If a call comes in at 12 pm on Day 1, five (5) hours are used on Day 1. The LD would apply at 2:30 pm of Day 2.

85

Fix Time: The SLA as stated penalizes a vendor when the products fail infrequently. As an example, if there are only 3 tickets in each of 3 months, and the vendor misses meeting the 12 hour fix time for 1 ticket in each of those 3 months (66%), the vendor is penalized. At this low level of problems, the vendor is unduly harmed. Will the Commonwealth consider lowering the percentage and/or altering the SLA to state a minimum number of problem tickets before the SLA is invoked? An example might be a floor of 10 tickets per month before the SLA kicks in and a percentage of 90%. In this example, the single problem not fixed within 12 hours represents 10%.

No.

86

If the Commonwealth asks the vendor to defer a service call to a future date and time for the Commonwealth’s convenience, does this negate the 12 hour fix-time SLA?

The SLA is not negated, but applies to the future time and date that the Commonwealth and the vendor agree upon. This agreement must be in writing.

87If available, would the Commonwealth allow the reporting requirements to be fulfilled using online web based reports?

No.



88

For reporting SLAs, would the Commonwealth consider extending the time periods to 30 days for each of the Monthly and Quarterly reports to allow the vendor sufficient time to gather the data and properly report it?

No.

89

Will the Commonwealth allow vendors to break out hourly rates on a per Lot basis or by products within a Lot? Installing an Intel server will be cheaper than installing a Unix server

No.

90

Can the Commonwealth clarify what costs are to be included in the Transportation to DGS line of the rate card? Or should vendors only include the pure labor rate and the Commonwealth will cover the trucking costs (rental, gas, etc.) using some other mechanism?

The rate must include all costs incurred by the Contractor to transport the Equipment to DGS.

91

Is it possible for the selected vendor to develop an SOW for installation services that may not be included in the 6 categories specified in the spreadsheet? Examples might be operational readiness services such as installation of the Operating System, configuration, personalization, data migration, application migration, etc.

No.

92Will COPA be leasing and/or purchasing? The Commonwealth will lease and purchase

Equipment through the contracts resulting from the IFB.

93

Can the IFB Response Date be moved back 1 week due to the delay on getting the answers to the questions to give adequate time to prepare a response?

No.

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