1.statewide-bidder-instructions_(1).docx

BIDDER INSTRUCTIONS

Procurement

STATEWIDE SOLICITATION

BIDDER INSTRUCTIONS

Central Purchasing

COVER PAGE

SOLICITATION/EVENT

06/22/2026

DUE DATES (each deadline is at 3 p.m. CST)

Bid response[footnoteRef:1] [1: Amendments may change the bid response due date (read Amendments in these Bidder Instructions).]

08/03/2026

Request for administrative review 06/26/2026 Last day to submit questions 07/13/2026

STATEWIDE CONTRACT INFORMATION

Statewide number

SW1120

Statewide name

UPSAAS – Uninterrupted Power Source

SOLICITATION/EVENT TYPE

SUBMIT BID

You must upload to the Oklahoma Supplier Portal.

CONTRACTING OFFICER

Name Nicholas Linder

Email Nicholas.Linder@omes.ok.gov Phone 405-522-6606

BIDDER INSTRUCTIONS

Pursuant to Oklahoma Attorney General Opinion No. 06-23, any bidder that has assisted in preparing the solicitation or developing the procurement terms, either directly or indirectly, is precluded from being awarded the contract.

1. Introduction. These Bidder Instructions are not part of the contract; however, compliance with these instructions is material to the determination of whether a bid is responsive. Failure to comply may result in rejection of a bid. Bid requirements are altered only by written amendment; verbal communications from any source are of no effect. In no event shall the bidder’s failure to read and understand a term, condition or requirement in any of the documents provided by the State of Oklahoma constitute grounds for a claim after award of the contract. A submitted bid is rendered as a legal offer and is required to be in strict conformity with these Bidder Instructions.

2. Definitions. The following terms, when used in these Bidder Instructions, shall have the following meanings:

2.1 Amendment means a written change, addition, correction or revision to solicitation documents and their terms, conditions or requirements by the State of Oklahoma.

2.2 Bid means an offer a bidder submits in response to the solicitation.

2.3 Bidder means an individual or business entity that submits a bid in response.

2.4 Bid packet means the order described in these Bidder Instructions in which all bidders shall insert the relevant sections of a bid and which shall be the format for all submitted bids.

2.5 Mandatory provision means whenever the terms “shall,” “must,” “will,” or “is required” are used.

2.6 Permissible provision means whenever the terms “can,” “may,” or “should” are used.

2.7 OAC means the Oklahoma Administrative Code.

2.8 Value-added means any goods and/or services that a bidder provides to other customers that a bidder wishes to offer to the State of Oklahoma that are in addition to those required by Attachment A.

3. Communication and questions.

3.1 The contracting officer listed on the Bidder Instructions Cover Page is the only individual the bidder should contact or communicate with regarding any questions or issues with the acquisition. Communication with any other stakeholders at the State of Oklahoma may result in disqualification.

3.2 General questions from bidders. Questions should be concise, identify the relevant document, include specific section references and avoid use of tables or special formatting (use simple lists).

3.2.1 Method for submission of questions. Bidder should submit general questions concerning contract or bid specifications or requirements via the Oklahoma Supplier Portal in addition to the contracting officer’s email address shown on the Bidder Instructions Cover Page. Questions received via any other means will not be addressed. Questions may be submitted as soon as the solicitation is posted. You are encouraged to submit your questions as soon as possible to allow adequate time for answers.

3.3 Clarification questions from the State of Oklahoma. The State of Oklahoma reserves the right to request clarifications of bid information or to conduct discussions for the purpose of clarification with any or all bidders. The purpose of any such discussion shall be to ensure full understanding of the bid. If clarifications are made because of such discussion, the bidder shall submit such clarifications in writing to the contracting officer. Bidder answers that are outside scope of the clarification questions shall be disregarded. Oral explanations or instructions provided to a potential bidder are not binding.

4. Bidder request for administrative review.

4.1 A bidder that believes the contract or bid requirements or specifications, or bid response due date, are unnecessarily restrictive or limit competition may email a request for administrative review to the contracting officer. A request received via any other means will not be addressed. The State of Oklahoma shall promptly respond in writing to each written administrative review request and, where appropriate, issue a revision, substitution or clarification through an amendment. Requests for administrative review shall include the reason for the request, supported by information, and any proposed changes.

4.2 If a bidder fails to notify the contracting officer of an ambiguity, conflict, discrepancy, omission or other error in any of the documents provided by the State of Oklahoma that is known to bidder or that reasonably should be known by bidder, the bidder accepts the risk of submitting a bid and, if awarded the contract, shall not be entitled to additional compensation, relief or time by reason of the error or its later correction.

5. Amendments to the solicitation.

5.1 Any amendment shall be set forth at the same online link as the solicitation.

5.2 It is the bidder’s responsibility to check the State of Oklahoma’s website frequently for any possible amendments that may be issued. The State of Oklahoma is not responsible for the bidder’s failure to review any amendment documents required to complete a bid. None of the parties hereto shall assign, sublet or transfer any interest in this contract without the written consent of the other party.

6. Preparation of the bid.

6.1 The bid must be structured in separate, labelled and easily identifiable sections using the bid packet format provided below. A bid submitted using any other format may not be accepted. The bid packet should not contain duplicative content amongst multiple section. Any section of the bid packet that is not applicable to the bidder shall contain a page that reads “Not Applicable,” “N/A” or similar notation.

6.2 Reference to literature submitted with a previous bid shall not satisfy a specification or requirement associated with the present bid. Any previous solicitation or resultant contract shall not be depended upon, perceived or interpreted to have any relevance to the present bid.

6.3 All costs incurred by the bidder for bid preparation and participation shall be the sole responsibility of the bidder and the bidder shall not be reimbursed for any such costs. By submitting a bid, the bidder agrees not to make any claims for damages or have any rights to damages in connection with the bid.

6.4 For consistency of contract structure, certain State of Oklahoma terms may be marked, “Intentionally Omitted.” If so, no response is expected.

7. Required bid format.

7.1 Section 1: Cover Page. Provide a dated cover page or transmittal letter that identifies the solicitation and the bidder and provides bidder contact information.

7.2 Section 2: Executive Summary and Company Information. Template – Exhibit 3: Bidder Response Worksheet, Executive Summary, and Company Information.

7.2.1 The bidder’s executive summary shall be submitted in this section. This includes marketing information, information for a designated contact person to receive official notices, approvals and requests, general company information and other similar resources the bidder wishes to provide.

7.2.2 The following company information is required to be included in the section:

a. Length of time the bidder has been in business.

b. Brief description of the company.

c. Company size and organization.

d. Number of years the bidder has been providing products and/or services of the type requested.

e. Core competency of the company.

f. Number of clients.

g. Average client size (employee count).

h. Locations where the bidder’s solution has been deployed.

7.3 Section 3: Required Forms, Certifications and Disclosures.

7.3.1 Completed Responding Bidder Information (Form CP076) set forth and accompanying required documentation.

7.3.2 Completed Certification for Competitive Bid and/or Contract (Non-Collusion Form CP004).

7.3.3 Signed amendments to the solicitation (if any).

7.3.4 Disclosure of the following:

a. Any public contract terminated by a governmental entity or suits or claims against the bidder for failure to perform in connection with a public contract (including any company which a bidder has merged with or acquired that will be performing services or providing products if awarded the contract).

b. Any contractual relationship or any other relevant contact with any State of Oklahoma personnel or another bidder or supplier involved in the development of a bidder’s response to the solicitation.

c. The name of any officer, director or agent of the bidder who is also an employee of the State of Oklahoma or any of its agencies.

d. The name of any state employee who owns, directly or indirectly, an interest of 5% or more in the bidder firm or any of its branches.

e. Any activity or interest that conflicts or may conflict with the best interest of the State of Oklahoma, including but not limited to any person or entity currently under contract with or seeking to do business with the State of Oklahoma, its employees or any other third-party individual or entity awarded a contract with the State of Oklahoma. Any conflict of interest shall, in the sole discretion of the State of Oklahoma, be grounds for rejection of the bid or partial or whole termination of the contract.

7.3.5 Bidder’s Certificate of Insurance to the standards set forth in Attachment B, Section 8, of the State General Terms.

7.4 Section 4: Bid Portions Requested to be Held Confidential.

7.4.1 All material submitted by a bidder becomes the property of the State of Oklahoma. No portion of a bid shall be considered confidential after award of the contract except, pursuant to 74 O.S. § 85.5. Any portion of the bid requested to be held confidential shall be listed in this section for review. Do not duplicate listed documents in this section, simply provide a list of documents or sections of documents requested to be confidential.

7.4.2 For each portion of the bid listed as considered confidential, the bidder must identify the specific information considered confidential and fully comply with OAC 260:115-3-9 in Oklahoma Administrative Rules, which additionally requires a bidder to enumerate the specific grounds, based on applicable laws which support treatment of the information as exempt from disclosure and explain why disclosure is not in the best interest of the public.

7.4.3 A bid marked in total as proprietary and/or confidential will not be considered confidential.

7.4.4 Any information marked as confidential and embodied elsewhere in a bid rather than listed in this section of the bid packet will not be considered confidential and will be subject to disclosure without further review. The State of Oklahoma has no responsibility to independently review an entire bid for a confidentiality claim. Likewise, confidentiality claims of a bidder will not be considered if a bid does not comply with requirements of OAC 260:115-3-9, and the information will be subject to disclosure pursuant to state law.

7.4.5 Certain items will never be deemed confidential under the Oklahoma Open Records Act. The following is a non-exhaustive list of items that are not confidential:

a. Price.

b. References.

c. Individuals’ names.

7.5 Section 5: Requested Exceptions to Terms.

7.5.1 Any requested exception or revision to terms or conditions provided by the State of Oklahoma shall be redlined in Word format using track changes. If no exceptions or revisions are requested, the bid should reflect that by inserting a page to denote this section is not applicable.

7.5.2 The State of Oklahoma will not accept any exceptions or revision to the language found in Attachment A; this language is designated as non-negotiable.

7.5.3 A clarification question is not an exception, and any clarification included in this section will be disregarded.

7.5.4 Requested exceptions should not be excessive, specifically not more than 10% of the terms and conditions provided by the State of Oklahoma in the solicitation. This may factor into the evaluation.

7.5.5 The State of Oklahoma has no responsibility to independently review an entire bid for exceptions and any exception embodied in another section of the bid or in a format other than track changes in Word format will not be considered. Likewise, an exception expressing only general disagreement with a term or a general exception to any state terms or conditions, without suggested alternative wording or identifying that the term should be intentionally omitted, will not be considered.

7.6 Section 6: Additional Bidder Terms.

7.6.1 Any additional terms that the bidder requests to be applicable to the contract shall be submitted in this section and shall be provided in Word format. The bidder must review terms before submitting to make changes that contradict the terms and conditions included in the solicitation. If the bidder desires any contradicting terms to govern, such changes must be memorialized in the Requested Exceptions in Section 4. Failure to provide Additional Bidder Terms that have not been harmonized to NOT conflict with the terms and conditions in the solicitation without a documented exception request may result in disqualification from receiving an award.

7.6.2 The State of Oklahoma has no responsibility to independently review an entire bid for additional terms and any such terms not submitted in this section of the bid shall not be considered. Should a bidder be awarded a contract, neither the State of Oklahoma nor a customer shall be required to execute additional documents not included in a bid. For example, if a bidder typically uses an ordering document in connection with an acquisition, the ordering document template shall be included in the bid. The State of Oklahoma expressly rejects any terms found in documents not attached to the bid including but not limited to terms and conditions located at provided hyperlinks.

7.7 Section 7: Response to Specifications and Requirements. Template – Exhibit 1: Bidder Response Worksheet, Technical Response.

7.7.1 The portion of the bid to be submitted in this section shows the ability of the bidder to meet or exceed any acquisition specifications and requirements found in Attachment A. Please include timelines for deliverables when applicable.

7.7.2 Unless otherwise specified in the solicitation, (i) manufacturers’ names, brand names, information and/or catalog numbers listed in a specification are for informational purposes and not intended to limit competition; and (ii) a bidder may offer any brand for which it is an authorized representative that meets or exceeds the specification for any item.

7.7.3 The bidder shall offer new items of current design and technology unless the State of Oklahoma specifies older models or versions or used, reconditioned or remanufactured products as acceptable. Warranties in either case should be the same. The bid is required to state the manufacturer’s name and number. The bid shall also explain in detail how a proposed equivalent will meet the specifications and should not be considered an exception.

7.7.4 If an information technology VPAT is required, the URL link to the bidder’s VPAT shall be submitted in this section as a bid packet page referencing the VPAT.

7.7.5 For all IT solicitations, bidders are required to submit an Authority to Operate (ATO) or confirmation that an ATO has been requested using the steps below with their response. To request an ATO, bidders must complete Central Purchasing’s ATO Request form through the OMES Service Desk in ServiceNow. Follow steps below to access and submit the form:

7.7.5.1 Access the Oklahoma Government Service Portal.

7.7.5.2 Register as a constituent – If you have not previously registered, select the option to register as a constituent. Once registered, log in to the portal using your credentials.

7.7.5.3 Access the ATO Request Form and complete all the required fields to initiate your ATO request.

7.7.5.4 Important note: If you attempt to access the form before logging in, you will receive an error message.

7.7.5.5 For problems or assistance with registration, contact the OMES Service Desk at 405-521-2444.

7.7.5.6 A copy of the ATO or confirmation of submission must be included in the bidder’s response. Do not submit the form with the response.

7.7.5.7 Oklahoma’s Third-Party Risk team will reach out if they need additional information to complete their review. Once the Third-Party Risk team has reviewed the submission, they will provide via the registered email an executed ATO or notice that an ATO cannot be granted.

7.7.5.8 Bidders should submit the required form and documentation before the solicitation closes. Failure to provide the required ATO documentation may result in the bidder’s proposal being deemed nonresponsive.

7.7.6 Bidder may submit the Standardized Information Gathering (SIG), Consensus Assessment Initiative Questionnaire (CAIQ), FedRamp and/or State Ramp Certifications to the Government Service Portal and should not submit this documentation in their bid.

7.7.7 If service level agreements are required, the proposed service level agreements shall be submitted in this section as a bid packet page referencing the proposed service level agreements.

7.7.8 If a Statement of Work is required for professional services provided by your company, the proposed template shall be inserted in this section of the bid packet.

7.8 Section 8: Pricing (will not be held confidential). Template -Exhibit 2: Pricing Template.

7.8.1 Pricing associated with the bid shall be inserted in this section using Exhibit 3, Price.

7.8.2 In accordance with 74 O.S. § 85.40, all travel expenses to be incurred by the supplier in performance of the contract shall be included in the total bid price. Travel expenses include but are not limited to transportation, lodging and meals. Examples of other miscellaneous travel expenses are referenced in §10.14 of the Statewide Accounting Manual.

7.8.3 A bid containing early payment discounts may be evaluated when making an award. If the bidder wishes to offer an early payment discount, the bid must include available discount percentages for no less than 10 days’ payment, increasing in five-day increments up to 30 days. The discount percentages shall be expressed in a half or whole percentage, with the minimum discount percentage being 0.5%. The State of Oklahoma is not obligated to utilize any discount offered.

7.8.4 Bids shall remain a firm offer for a minimum of 120 days after the bid response due date. Any usage amounts provided by the State of Oklahoma are estimates and are not guaranteed to be purchased.

7.8.5 Unless specified otherwise, the bidder shall submit a firm, fixed price for the term, including optional renewal terms, of the contract. The bidder guarantees unit prices to be correct.

7.9 Section 9: Financial Information (confidential under 51 O.S. § 24A.5(1)(h)). If requested, the bidder shall submit up to the last three years of audited financial statements and up to three years of tax returns. This section shall be deemed confidential for the purposes of the Oklahoma Open Records Act. If the bidder is a subsidiary of another entity, the last three years of audited financial statements and three years of tax returns for the parent company may also be required. The State of Oklahoma reserves the right to determine a bidder’s financial status and to withhold award to a bidder who is not deemed financially responsible.

7.10 Section 10: Offer of Value-Added Products and/or Services. Template – Exhibit 3: Pricing Template. If a bid includes an offer of value-added products and/or services, such offer shall be submitted in this section and include associated pricing and any other information relevant to such value-added offer. However, the State of Oklahoma is not obligated to purchase value-added products or services.

7.11 Section 11: Business References. Not applicable. In this section, provide three business references from clients for whom the bidder has provided similar services to establish a successful implementation experience. Business references must include customer contact information including email and phone number. The State of Oklahoma is not responsible for references that do not respond.

7.12 Section 12: Third-Party Supplier Information. Not applicable. If a third-party supplier or subcontractor is included as part of a submitted bid, the following information is required to be included in the bid for each such third-party supplier:

a. Company history.

b. Relationship to bidder.

c. Clients for which the two entities have worked together.

d. Products and/or services proposed to be provided by the third-party supplier and how those products and/or services interface with the bidder’s solution.

8. Submission of bid.

8.1 A bid shall be submitted solely via the Oklahoma Supplier Portal. The entire bid must be submitted by the bid response due date and time. A bid emailed directly to or cc’d to the contracting officer will not be reviewed by the contracting officer. Bids submitted in person or by fax or commercial carrier shall not be accepted. Receipt of the bid by the State of Oklahoma is the responsibility of the bidder. You can submit a bid as a bidder or as a supplier. For help with the portal, please reach out to oksuppliers@omes.ok.gov.

8.2 All bids shall be firm representations that the responding bidder has carefully investigated and will comply with all State of Oklahoma terms and conditions relating to the contract. Upon award of a contract, such terms and conditions, as may be amended by the bid after negotiation, shall become contractual obligations between the parties.

9. Contract Award Notice. Once the evaluation process is complete and a contract has been awarded, suppliers can find the award information on the OMES Central Purchasing website. To view the award details, visit the Oklahoma Statewide Contract Search site.

9.1 In the Enter Solicitation Number search box, enter the event number associated with the solicitation and select the Search button. (The results will display the award information, including the awarded supplier and associated documentation. Suppliers are encouraged to check the website regularly for updates on award determinations. This ensures timely access to the most current award information. For additional assistance, please contact OMES Central Purchasing.)

10. Questions regarding Supplier Registration/Event Portal Access.

10.1 Contact our Supplier Registration team 9 a.m.-4 p.m., Monday-Thursday, at 405-521-2930 or oksuppliers@omes.ok.gov.

10.2 Responding suppliers do not have to be registered to view/download RFP docs. Suppliers must be registered to submit a responding proposal.

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