1144-25P IT Infrastructure Upgrades.docx

#1144-25P IT Infrastructure Upgrades

#1144-25P

IT Infrastructure Upgrades

Buyer:

CMC Purchasing Department 802 Grand Avenue / Glenwood Springs, CO 81601 / bids@coloradomtn.edu

Section I: Introduction Colorado Mountain College (“CMC”) is a statutory local college district established in 1965. The district covers 7,500 square miles in all or part of nine counties. CMC offers 7 academic pathways with more than 130 programs with combinations of degrees, certificates, minors and specialties.

The long-standing investment from our communities allows us to keep our quality high, our tuition affordable and our access wide open. Eleven world-class mountain locations in central Colorado enable big-school opportunities in small, personal settings. Our unusually strong local partnerships create rich experiences for real-world learning and careers. The result? Proven student success that makes Colorado Mountain College a choice that’s uniquely smart. For additional information about CMC, please go to www.coloradomtn.edu.

CMC reserves the right to make multiple awards resulting from this RFP or to award no contract at all.

CMC uses the Rocky Mountain E-Purchasing System (“BidNet”) to post solicitations and any supporting or additional information, including Addenda, Bid Sheet, and awards. Proposals must be submitted prior to close on BidNet. CMC cannot accept a response that did not come through the right channel on time. Visit http://www.bidnetdirect.com/colorado for help with customer service or other questions. Please make sure to leave time for unexpected technical or other trouble. You are encouraged to submit a day early. Sometimes submittals take longer to load than expected; if you run out of time before you are finished with your entire upload CMC will not be presented with the response.

The only exception to the use of BidNet is that all questions from potential bidders must be submitted to bids@coloradomtn.edu. Those questions will then be responded to by addendum posted to BidNet.

Please do not directly contact any member of CMC’s staff or faculty, or any member of the Selection Committee other than the Buyer listed in this document regarding this proposal. Any attempt to do so will result in your firm’s disqualification at the discretion of the Assistant Vice President of Business Services.

SCOPE OF PROJECT

Colorado Mountain College’s Central Services IT Department located at 802 Grand Ave., Glenwood Springs, CO is requesting quotes from qualified firms and/or individuals to supply, install, and support a new Storage Area Network (SAN), a backup system, and data center switches.

Bidders may submit a proposal for any one, two, or all three of the sections outlined below. Proposals for each section will be evaluated independently.

Please provide a separate, itemized quote for each section for which you are submitting a proposal.

This project will begin after July 1, 2026.

Specifications

Scope A: Storage Area Network (SAN)

Core Requirements

· Nodes: The solution must consist of a two-node architecture to ensure high availability and redundancy.

· Usable Capacity: A minimum of 60 TB of usable storage capacity.

· Storage Media: The entire capacity must be on Solid-State Drives (SSDs).

· Replication: The solution must support synchronous or near-synchronous replication between the two nodes for disaster recovery and business continuity.

· File Services: Native support for CIFS/SMB file shares without requiring a separate gateway server would be preferred.

· Hypervisor Integration: Proven and certified integration with our Dell VxRail hyper-converged infrastructure would be preferred.

Proposal Details for Section A

· Please provide the following information in your proposal:

· Hardware: Make, model, and detailed specifications of all proposed hardware components.

· Software & Licensing: A complete list of all required software and licensing, including details on features like replication, snapshots, and CIFS services.

· Performance: Expected performance metrics, including IOPS and latency, for our workload, and capability for 25 Gbps networking.

· Management: A description of the management interface and capabilities.

· Implementation: A proposed plan for installation, configuration, and data migration support.

· Support & Warranty: Detailed information on the included warranty and options for ongoing support and maintenance for a minimum of three (3) years.

Scope B: Backup System

We are seeking a comprehensive backup and recovery solution to protect our critical data.

Core Requirements

· Source Data Capacity: The solution must be sized to protect an initial 20 TB of source data (primarily virtual machines and file servers) with scalability for future growth.

· Retention Policy: The system must be capable of retaining data according to the following schedule:

· Daily backups retained for 14 days.

· Weekly backups retained for 6 weeks.

· Monthly backups retained for 18 months.

· Efficiency: The proposed solution must include modern data efficiency technologies, such as global deduplication and compression, to minimize storage footprint. Please provide conservative estimates for expected data reduction ratios.

Proposal Details for Section B

· Please provide the following information in your proposal:

· Hardware/Software: Make, model, and specifications of the proposed backup appliance and/or software. If proposing a cloud-based or hybrid solution, please detail the architecture.

· Usable Capacity: The total usable backup capacity of the proposed solution, with justification based on our retention requirements and your estimated data reduction ratios.

· Recovery: A description of the recovery capabilities, including granular file-level recovery, VM recovery, and typical Recovery Time Objectives (RTO) and Recovery Point Objectives (RPO).

· Implementation: A proposed plan for installation, configuration, and policy setup.

· Support & Warranty: Detailed information on the included warranty and options for ongoing support and maintenance for a minimum of three (3) years.

Scope C: Data center switches

We require a pair of identical, high-performance data center switches for our Top-of-Rack Datacenter environment.

Core Requirements

· The proposed switches must offer capabilities and performance equivalent to or exceeding the Cisco Nexus C93180YC-FX3. At a minimum, each switch must include:

· Port Configuration:

· 48x 1/10/25-Gbps SFP+ ports.

· 6x 40/100-Gbps QSFP28 uplink ports.

· Performance:

· Minimum switching capacity of 3.6 Tbps.

· Minimum forwarding rate of 1.4 Bpps (billion packets per second).

· Features: Full Layer 2 and Layer 3 feature set, including support for modern data center protocols such as VXLAN BGP EVPN.

· Quantity: This request is for two (2) identical switches.

Proposal Details for Section C

· Please provide the following information in your proposal:

· Hardware: Make, model, and detailed datasheets for the proposed switches.

· Licensing: A complete list of any required software or feature licenses needed to meet the specified requirements.

· Transceivers: Include optional line items for 25G SR, 40G SR and 100G SR4 tranceivers.

· Support & Warranty: Detailed information on the included warranty and options for ongoing support, including hardware replacement and software updates for a minimum of three (3) years.

Proposal Content

The information provided herein is intended to assist Bidders with a proper response to this RFP. CMC believes that this RFP provides interested Bidders with sufficient information to submit proposals that meet minimum requirements. However, the RFP is not intended to limit a proposal’s content or to exclude any relevant or essential data. Bidders are encouraged to include additional information that will substantiate their service capabilities, product quality, and commitment to support your product or service. Any exceptions or alternate offerings to this request must be communicated. CMC reserves the sole right to determine what is considered to be “equivalent” or “equal”. CMC also reserves the right to request samples for testing and evaluation.

Additionally, CMC recognizes you as the expert in this industry and we appreciate ideas that may improve the design or implementation of our project. Please submit your bid to the specifications provided and include information or ideas you may have that CMC should consider to improve our project. Our selection committee will carefully review these ideas and we will contact you with questions.

Please upload your submittal to BidNet in one single PDF file (this may require you to convert files and then combine them into the one PDF file) , including the following in this order:

1) Name, title, and contact information of the official representative submitting your proposal.

2) Legal company name, address, phone, and email.

3) RFP number and name as it appears on this document.

4) Number of years in business and brief description of your company’s experience and qualifications. Please include resumes of professionals that you expect to have primary responsibility if you win this award if possible.

5) Your responses to each of the Scopes being bid on.

6) Your fee: Please provide a detailed, itemized cost breakdown for each section for which you are submitting a proposal. Pricing should clearly separate:

i. Hardware costs.

ii. Software and licensing costs.

iii. Professional services (installation, configuration, training).

iv. First-year support and maintenance.

v. Annual cost for optional years of support and maintenance (Up to 5 years).

7) Other information or supporting documentation that you think our selection committee would benefit from reviewing in the decision process. Please submit as little as possible but as much as necessary.

8) Minimum of three references for work completed within the last three (3) years that is same or similar in nature. All references shall include name, title, address, telephone number, and e-mail address for the contact.

9) Insurance certificate (For evidence of sample coverage only. Final compliant certificate to be collected from successful bidder.).

Section II: Timeline A. TIMELINE MODIFICATION. CMC reserves the right to modify this timeline at any time. Any changes will be posted to BidNet as soon as the information is available. All times are Mountain.

Short List of Vendors Announced http://www.bidnetdirect.com/colorado and https://coloradomtn.edu/contact-departments/purchasing/bids-rfp-rfi-rfq/

Target Award Date (Subject to Change) http://www.bidnetdirect.com/colorado and https://coloradomtn.edu/contact-departments/purchasing/bids-rfp-rfi-rfq/

Section III: Instructions to Bidders

a. This process is expected to be competitive with numerous vendors participating. CMC endeavors to provide a uniform distribution of information to vendors and conduct a fair selection process. We ask that you please follow these instructions carefully. Any submittal that does not meet the requirements set forth in this document and any addenda will not be considered by the Selection Committee.

b. Bidders should carefully read the information contained herein, and in any addenda, and submit a complete proposal to all requirements and questions as directed.

c. Questions regarding this RFP should be submitted via email to bids@coloradomtn.edu. CMC will attempt to answer all relevant questions submitted to this email address prior to the question deadline in the timeline above. All such addenda issued by CMC prior to the time that proposals are received shall be considered part of the RFP. It shall be the Bidder’s responsibility to view all documents posted at BidNet. Inquiries seeking information that is already available from BidNet. Only those inquiries that CMC replies to which are made by formal written addenda shall be binding. CMC shall not be bound by any oral changes, clarifications, or representations made by CMC employees unless they are provided in a written addendum to this RFP.

d. Once you’ve uploaded your response to BidNet per the instructions in this document the RFP will be governed by the established timeline. CMC staff cannot see who or how many responses have been submitted to BidNet prior to the closing date so we are unable to confirm receipt. However, you may assume your upload was successful if BidNet accepts the document.

e. Along with your RFP submit a certificate of liability insurance per the attached requirements for evidence only. If your proposal is successful and a contract awarded, a compliant certificate of insurance will be required with all endorsements at that time.

f. CMC makes no guarantee that an award will be made as a result of this RFP, and reserves the right to accept or reject any or all proposals, waive any formalities or technical inconsistencies, or delete any item/requirements from this RFP or resulting contract when deemed to be in CMC’s best interest.

g. Representations made within the proposal will be binding on Bidder. Failure to comply with the requirements contained in this RFP will result in the rejection of your proposal.

h. Bidder recognizes and understands that any costs incurred by the Bidder from submitting a response to this RFP are the responsibility of the bidder.

Section IV: Selection Criteria The Selection Committee for this project will evaluate proposals to identify the best value for CMC and all proposals shall be evaluated based on the requirements set forth in this RFP, which may include, but is not necessarily limited to, the consideration of such factors or criteria as: inspection, testing, references, quality, price, workmanship, delivery, functionality, and suitability for a particular purpose. Prior to the award of a contract, the Purchasing Department may contact a Bidder to: clarify any patent or latent ambiguities in a Proposal; or, to clarify that a Bidder clearly understands the requirements of this RFP and that a submitted Proposal conforms to the requirements of this RFP.

Specifically, the Selection Committee may select the successful Bidder based on the following criteria in no order of importance:

a. Overall quality of response and services/products proposed

b. Company qualifications, experience and demonstration of technical and management competence

c. Pricing

d. Warranties

e. References and reputation

f. Environmental policy and “Green” initiatives, if applicable

g. Service capability including evaluation of past performance and number and scope of any conditions included in the proposal

Note: Criteria may be modified in subsequent addenda. CMC is not bound to accept the lowest priced proposal if that proposal is not the best value for CMC in the sole discretion of the CMC Selection Committee. Submission of a proposal indicates Bidder’s acceptance of the evaluation technique and recognition that some subjective judgments must be made by CMC during the selection process.

Section V: RFP Terms & Conditions Submittal Instructions.

All submittals must adhere to the instructions provided above to be considered by the Selection Committee.

Proprietary Information.

It is understood that CMC is a public institution and, as such, is subject to the Colorado Open Records Act, CRS §§ 24-72-101 et. seq. (“CORA”). Any information uploaded to BidNet or otherwise submitted to CMC will become a public record and subject to inspection following the final selection of a bidder and the award of a contract. Bid tabulations and results will be posted to BidNet and the CMC external website. Except as otherwise agreed prior to the award or finalization of any vendor transaction, College shall provide upon request by any third party all information pertaining to such transaction which must be disclosed pursuant to CORA, and CMC’s obligations under CORA supersede its obligations under any agreement, contract, purchase order or negotiated transaction. If you object to the disclosure of any confidential or privileged information as such is defined in CORA, any such pages must be marked confidential and submitted as outlined herein. If you fail to mark the documents confidential and fail to include the explanation, any objection to the release of any information will be deemed waived by the College. Please note that your objection will be considered but is not binding on the College. The College is required to make a determination under CORA, and may only withhold documents that are confidential under the law. If the College releases documents marked as confidential in compliance with CORA, the Bidder waives any claims for liability or damages.

To avoid disclosure of trade secrets, privileged information, or confidential commercial, financial, geological, or geophysical data (“Confidential Information”), the Bidder must clearly mark all Confidential Information as such and provide a written, detailed justification with its proposal of the protected nature of the Confidential Information under CORA. This justification must address, at a minimum, the specific competitive harm that may result from any disclosure, the intrinsic value of the Confidential Information to the Bidder, and any safeguards used to protect the Confidential Information from disclosure. By submitting a proposal, the firm agrees to hold the College harmless from any claim arising from the release of Confidential Information not clearly marked as such by the Bidder or lacking written, detailed justification as supported by CORA.

A blanket statement, or an attempt to render the entire proposal as Confidential Information, will not be sufficient to meet the requirements above and the proposal will be disclosed if requested through CORA by a third party.

binding effect of submitted proposals.

Unless otherwise specified, all timely submitted Proposals shall be binding upon the submitting Bidder for a period of not less than sixty (60) calendar days following the Proposal due date. The CMC Purchasing Department may request a Bidder to extend this period of time if necessary, to complete the solicitation and contract award process.

REJECTION OF PROPOSALS OR CANCELLATION OF REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS.

CMC reserves the right to reject, in whole or in part, any timely submitted Proposal that fails to comply with the material terms and conditions of this RFP; or, is otherwise not in the best interests of CMC or fair competition. CMC reserves the right to cancel this RFP, in whole or in part, at any time, if it is in the best interest of CMC or fair competition.

Withdraw OF Proposal AND ERRORS.

You may withdraw your proposal in writing at any time prior to the date and time set for award. If a Bidder claims that it has made an error in its Proposal, then clear and convincing written proof of that error must be submitted to the CMC Purchasing Department before that Proposal may be withdrawn. Any error in a Proposal that is not withdrawn prior to the award of a contract shall not relieve the submitting Bidder from any obligation to provide the goods or services to be acquired through this RFP at the prices stated it its Proposal.

Discussions/Negotiations.

CMC reserves the right to contact any Bidder for clarification of information submitted; CMC reserves the right to conduct discussions with Bidders, to accept or not accept revisions of Proposals, and to negotiate any point in the proposal or the subsequent contract at the sole discretion of the Director of Purchasing & Contracts.

Award.

Awards shall be made to any or all responsible Bidders whose submittals are determined to be advantageous to CMC based on the evaluation factors described above. Price, although a consideration, will not be the sole determining factor. After discussions have been held and any optional pre-award presentations made, the Selection Committee may request all Bidders in the competitive range to make a “Best and Final Offer”. If such are requested by the Selection Committee, then the date will be set in writing by the CMC Purchasing Department for submission. Offers in the competitive range will not, however, be allowed to make comprehensive Proposal revisions (i.e. a complete rewrite will not be allowed).

Pre-award Presentations.

The College reserves the right to require presentations from the highest-ranking Bidders, in which they may be asked to provide additional information and answer questions from the Selection Committee.

Contract.

The successful Bidder is expected to enter into a standard contract with CMC that includes standard terms and conditions. CMC may choose to add additional terms to this contract. The contract shall be construed in accordance with the laws of the State of Colorado. In the event any dispute arises hereunder, the venue for any legal proceedings shall be in Garfield County, Colorado, and vendor hereby submits and agrees to the jurisdiction of the courts therein. Additionally, this RFP and the winning Proposal will become attachments to that agreement or be incorporated by reference. If the selected Bidder makes exception or requests changes to this RFP or the standard agreement after the deadline to submit Proposals has passed, and that request results in protracted contract negotiations and probable delay in the commencement of work, then CMC reserves the right to cease contract negotiations and exercise its right to offer the contract to the next highest ranked Bidder.

Indemnification.

Successful Bidders shall indemnify and save CMC harmless from any and all claims, demands, suits, and actions which may arise from errors or omissions caused by the Bidder in conjunction with its contractual obligations including, but not limited to, obligations for the preparation of any and all documents required by CMC in conjunction therewith, and shall defend all suits, in the name of CMC when applicable, and shall pay all costs and judgments which may issue thereon.

Insurance.

Successful Bidders shall have their insurance company send the CMC Department of Risk Management a certificate of liability insurance compliant with the insurance requirements attached hereto.

Payment and Performance Bond.

CMC requires payment and performance bonds for all construction projects greater than $50,000. Please price the bonds separately when you submit your response.

WORKERS WITHOUT AUTHORIZATION.

By submitting a proposal, a Bidder certifies pursuant to C.R.S. § 8-17.5-102(1) that, at the time of proposal submission, it does not knowingly employ or contract with a worker without authorization and that the contractor has participated or attempted to participate in the Basic Pilot Program that is administered by the United States Department of Homeland Security in order to verify that it does not employ any worker without authorization.

Limitation of Multiple-Fiscal Year Obligations.

All financial obligations of CMC under a contract resulting from this proposal subsequent to the fiscal year in which signed are contingent upon funds for this purpose being appropriated, budgeted, and otherwise made available by the CMC Board of Trustees. This contract shall not be deemed to create any multiple-fiscal year direct or indirect debt or other financial obligation whatsoever for purposes of Section 20(4) (b) of the State Constitution (Amendment 1).

EXCEPTIONS TO RFP.

Each Proposal submitted in response to this RFP shall list any deviation(s), exception(s), or variation(s) to or from: the terms and conditions of this RFP, the terms and conditions of any attachment(s) to this RFP, the terms and conditions of any addendum to this RFP, and, the terms and conditions of the proposed contract. The section of a Proposal containing any such deviation(s), exception(s), or variation(s) shall be clearly labeled “Exceptions to RFP”. The failure of a Bidder to note a deviation, make an exception, or list a variation to the terms and conditions of this RFP, any attachment(s) or addenda to this RFP, or the terms and conditions of the proposed contract shall be deemed an express waiver by that Proposer of such deviation, exception, or variation.

CONTRACT PRODUCTS – OWNERSHIP RIGHTS.

All products, written or otherwise, produced as a result of any contract awarded under this RFP shall be the sole property of CMC unless otherwise agreed to in writing by the parties. Any exceptions must be outlined in detail. Unsupported exceptions to this requirement may serve as cause to reject a Proposal. The purchase of licenses for use of a Bidder’s software shall not be interpreted to mean the purchase of the actual application or software. Ownership of the specific application and software selected under a RFP shall remain with the selected bidder.

Section VI: Warranties, Representations and Acknowledgements of Bidder

a. By submitting a proposal, Bidder acknowledges and agrees that (1) this RFP is a solicitation for proposal and is not a contract or an offer to contract and (2) the submission of a proposal by Bidder in response to this RFP will not create a contract between CMC and Bidder.

b. By submitting a proposal, Bidder offers and agrees to furnish to CMC the products and/or services described in its proposal, at the prices quoted in the proposal, and to comply with all terms, conditions, and requirements set forth in the RFP documents and contained herein.

c. By submitting a proposal, Bidder represents and warrants that (1) Bidder is a reputable company regularly engaged in providing products and/or services necessary to meet the terms, conditions, and requirements of the RFP; (2) Bidder has the necessary experience, knowledge, abilities, skills, and resources to satisfactorily perform the terms, conditions and requirements of the RFP; (3) Bidder is aware of, is fully informed about, and is in full compliance with all applicable federal, state, and local laws, rules, regulations, and ordinances; (4) Bidder understands the requirements and specifications set forth in this RFP and the terms and conditions set forth; and (5) all statements, information, and representations prepared and submitted in response to this RFP are current, complete, true, and accurate. Bidder acknowledges that CMC will rely on such statements, information, and representations in selecting the successful Bidder. If selected by CMC as the successful Bidder, Bidder will notify CMC immediately of any material change in any matters with regard to which Bidder has made a statement or representation or provided information.

d. By submitting a proposal, Bidder agrees to be in compliance with all federal laws and regulations pertaining to Equal Employment Opportunities and Affirmative Action.

image1.png image2.png image3.png