13-Specifications and Requirements PNC2131219B1.pdf

SPECIFICATIONS AND REQUIREMENTS

Everpure Data Storage Hardware, Software, and Services

1. Scope Introduction: The County intends to modernize its enterprise storage environment by transitioning from its existing Dell EMC platform to Everpure, Inc., also known as Pure Stor-age, Inc. (“Everpure”), solutions. The objective of this initiative is to enhance performance, scalability, operational efficiency, and long-term cost effectiveness of the County’s storage infrastructure.

Through this contract, the County seeks to procure Everpure hardware, software, services, support, and related professional services, including implementation, training and ongoing maintenance.

The awarded vendor (“Contractor”) shall serve as an authorized reseller and partner to Ever-pure, supporting the County throughout the lifecycle of the solution, including acquisition, deployment, support, renewals, and optimization activities.

The County shall periodically request quotations from the Contractor. The quotations pro-vided shall be electronic and valid for at least 14 calendar days. Quotations shall contain a reference number. The County may request quotations for the sole purpose budgetary plan-ning. Upon approval by the County of a quotation, orders will dispatch to the Contractor by means of a purchase order or other purchasing documentation, which may include use of a credit card (“P-card”). The County requires the Contractor to maintain a general-purpose email address for receipt of purchase orders.

The Contractor shall work in conjunction with Everpure to process applicable orders, support requests, and renewals and submit the associated invoicing to the County for payment. The Contractor shall assist in any annual true-up activities as required per product or support re-newals. Unless otherwise approved in advance by the County’s Contract Administrator, the Contractor shall process orders for Everpure products only to Everpure and shall process all orders no later than five (5) business days after receipt of the appropriate order.

2. Everpure Storage Evergreen//Forever Subscription: The County may procure subscription agreements utilizing the Everpure Evergreen//Forever subscription model (https://www.purestorage.com/products/evergreen-staas/forever/subscriptions.html and/or (https://www.purestorage.com/legal/evergreen-program-description.html (collec-tively, the “Evergreen Program Description”)), or other terms of purchase approved by both the County and Everpure (collectively, “Everpure Approved Terms”).

(a) For so long as requested by the County, Contractor shall provide all available software updates and releases for all procured Everpure subscriptions, modular architecture, con-troller/blade upgrades, Capacity Consolidations, Component Replacement, the pur-chased support levels (which may include Basic, Advanced, or Premium-level Proactive & Predictive Support with Level 2 access), and flat subscription Renewal Rates (i.e., no cost https://www.purestorage.com/products/evergreen-staas/forever/subscriptions.html https://www.purestorage.com/legal/evergreen-program-description.html increase) in accordance with the Everpure “Flat is Fair” pricing model (the defined terms have the meanings set forth in the Evergreen Program Description).

(b) For all purchased Everpure hardware, the Contractor shall provide hardware upgrades to the latest generation (e.g., controllers or blades) at least once every 36 months after the applicable acquisition date in accordance with the Everpure “Evergreen” subscription plan(s); the upgraded hardware must meet or exceed the functionality and performance of the replaced component.

3. Duration: Any individual order under this contract shall be for a duration not to exceed five

(5) years, but the duration of any such order may extend beyond duration of this contract (in which event the terms of this contract shall survive and be incorporated into that order for the duration of that order). If the Contractor can no longer fulfill the responsibilities to service any order or Everpure Approved Terms, the County may award the order to an alternate ven-dor for the remaining duration of the applicable order. In addition, the County may award the renewal of any order to a substitute contractor effective upon the anniversary date of renewal with the County providing at least 90 days’ written notice of intent to Everpure, and subject to approval of the substitute Contractor.

4. End User Agreement: All Everpure products provided shall utilize the then-current terms of the applicable Everpure End User Agreement and Terms of Use, which are currently located at the following sites:

• https://www.purestorage.com/legal/pure-end-user-agreement.html

• https://www.purestorage.com/terms.html

Any other end user license requires advance written approval by the County’s Contract Ad-ministrator and the Contractor’s Account Representative of the applicable terms. The appli-cable terms and conditions for all Everpure-branded products shall be as set forth in the Cus-tomer Portal (as defined below), as may be updated from time to time by Everpure, unless otherwise agreed by the parties in writing or expressly addressed in this contract. The appli-cable quotation, purchase order, or other ordering document shall include the applicable terms and conditions for any third-party product other than Everpure-branded products; pro-vided that no purchase order for third-party products shall be effective to obligate County to any terms and conditions unless the quotation referenced in the applicable purchase order or the County ordering document contains or clearly identifies the applicable terms and con-ditions. The County’s Director of Purchasing or written designee is authorized to review and approve the applicable license terms of third-party products, including for negotiated ac-ceptance.

5. Hardware: Procured hardware shall be supported by Contractor or Everpure consistent with the support level purchased by County, as set forth in the Everpure Customer Support Guide (https://support.purestorage.com/bundle/Customer_Support_Guide/resource/Cus-tomer_Support_Guide.pdf). Software and components delivered or “bundled” as an integral part of equipment in the order remain part of the equipment for purposes of warranty ser-https://www.purestorage.com/legal/pure-end-user-agreement.html https://www.purestorage.com/terms.html https://support.purestorage.com/bundle/Customer_Support_Guide/resource/Customer_Support_Guide.pdf https://support.purestorage.com/bundle/Customer_Support_Guide/resource/Customer_Support_Guide.pdf vices, unless otherwise expressly stated in the applicable purchase order or agreed by the parties in writing.

6. Requests for Approved Equals: No substitutions allowed. Any items delivered shall be the same product as per quotation and the County-issued purchase order or purchasing docu-ment.

7. Contractor Requirements: The Contractor must meet all requirements as specified in the so-licitation, deliver ordered products in a timely manner, and deliver ordered quantities to fulfill the contract requirements.

(a) Reseller Qualifications: The Contractor must be a Global System Integrator at the Elite level (including as such terms may be modified provided the qualifications are substan-tially equivalent) as an authorized Reseller for the Everpure product line supplying hard-ware, software, subscriptions, support, Everpure Authorized Training, and associated product additions as identified in https://www.purestorage.com/partners/part-nerfinder.html?filter3=tag%3Alocation%2Fglobal%2Ctag%3Alocation%2Fnorth-america, or another method approved by the Contract Administrator.

(b) Communications: The Contractor shall schedule, at a minimum, monthly one-hour meet-ings with the County specifically for discussion on open and pending items, new an-nouncements, and general knowledge transfer. On a quarterly calendar year basis, the Contractor’s representatives shall communicate to the County information regarding technology roadmaps; facilitate engineering and process improvement discussions; dis-cuss technology release bulletins, capital funding planning exercises, etc. The Contractor will not require nondisclosure agreements or other confidentiality agreements for these meetings or information sharing; applicable public records laws, including Chapter 119, Florida Statutes, prohibit the County from entering into a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) for the purpose of these discussions.

(c) Manufacturer Interface: The Contractor must directly interface with the manufacturer for registry of all hardware, software, subscriptions, warranties, agreements, and support plans. The Contractor must maintain a direct relationship with Everpure for order pro-cessing.

(d) Account Representative: The Contractor shall provide, throughout the term of the con-tract, a representative with the ability and authorization to quote, recommend, and re-solve all account-related issues on behalf of the Contractor. Delivery of information by the Contractor’s representatives shall provide the County with the information needed to make informed decisions surrounding strategy and futuristic planning. The Contractor shall work with Everpure on behalf of the County to make available to the County any available training credits, including through the quotation process (if requested by the County), to the extent available to other purchasers or governmental entities.

https://www.purestorage.com/partners/partnerfinder.html?filter3=tag%3Alocation%2Fglobal%2Ctag%3Alocation%2Fnorth-america https://www.purestorage.com/partners/partnerfinder.html?filter3=tag%3Alocation%2Fglobal%2Ctag%3Alocation%2Fnorth-america

(e) Pre-Sales Support Representative: The Contractor shall make available a pre-sales ac-count solutions representative to assist the County with identifying Everpure solutions and consult on existing production hardware options, software enhancements, new of-ferings, and quantities requested by the County or required to meet the County’s needs.

Pre-sales staff must carry, at a minimum, the Everpure “Certified Data Storage Associate” certificate in support of the County’s needs and architecture support with at least five (5) years of experience in the subject of Storage technology. The Contractor’s pre-sales con-sultation services shall cover the following areas:

i. Architecture specializations: Architecture Specialization (FC, iSCSI, NAS, OSD, SAN). Digital transformation to Cloud Native architecture, On-Prem, Public Cloud, disaster recovery, and Advanced Enterprise Proactive Solutions.

ii. Solution Specializations: Design and implementation of multi-tiered client/server and web-based solutions. AI-Ready Infrastructure Specialization, VMware Special-ization, Adaptive Cloud architecture, Zero Trust Model Specialization.

8. Discount Calculation: The County will use the applicable Everpure United States Manufac-turer’s Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) price list to verify Everpure part numbers, nomencla-ture, product descriptions, and MSRP price to validate the discount rates for the award. The Contractor will provide, for each line item/group, a minimum percentage discount off the MSRP, which percentage discount shall apply for that item/group for the life of the contract.

Minimum percentage discounts utilize the nearest whole number (e.g., 70%). The Contractor may increase the minimum percentage discount off MSRP or lower the MSRP, resulting in a lower cost to the County, at any time during the contract term.

9. Sales Promotion/Price Reduction: The Contractor shall proactively notify the County of any special pricing, promotions, or incentives offered by the Contractor or Everpure during the contract term. The County shall receive the full benefit of any such pricing, promotions or incentives when it results in a lower cost than the contracted discount rates.

10. Balance-of-Line Discounts and Competitive Pricing: The Contractor shall provide a fixed min-imum discount off MSRP for all Everpure-branded products not expressly listed in this solici-tation (“balance-of-line” items). Balance-of-Line products must be verifiable by part number in the Everpure MSRP price listing.

11. Quotes and Invoices: The County will request from the awarded Contractor a quotation con-taining the identified Everpure part number, descriptive nomenclature, quantities requested, and any requested warranties or support plan. The quotation requests and the responsive quotations shall indicate the length of manufacturer warranties (if applicable) and any appli-cable licensing, subscriptions, and/or support plans. The time periods for support plans and subscriptions shall align and coincide with the County agency’s pre-existing annual subscrip-tion/support period (if any) for Everpure-branded products, unless otherwise requested by the County.

The Contractor shall provide a responsive price quotation no later than five (5) business days after receipt of the request from the County, indicating current MSRP, the applicable discount percentage (which must be no less than percent discount offered for this contract), and total price. Upon review and approval of the quotation, the County will issue a purchase order or other purchasing document. Upon full receipt and acceptance of the order, the County shall facilitate payment of timely invoices in accordance with the terms of the solicitation (see Spe-cial Instructions) and the County’s https://www.broward.org/Accounting/Pages/InvoicePro-cedures.aspx. Each invoice shall be for the amount due in the applicable invoicing period (e.g., annual subscription); the County will not accept multiple invoices for a single purchase order with the applicable invoicing period.

12. County Hours of Service: Normal business hours are from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday – Friday (Eastern). After hours are Monday through Sunday from 5:01 p.m. to 7:59 a.m. (East-ern) and on weekends and County holidays.

13. Telephone and Email Support: The Contractor shall identify telephone, email, and Internet support that will be available during normal County business hours, and after hours for spe-cific technical problems and questions; the provided support shall be either by the Contractor or Everpure. Throughout the applicable warranty or support period for all purchased prod-ucts, the Contractor shall provide a direct toll free, telephone technical support number (ser-vicing any tiered support levels) to provide Everpure support for the applicable products and equipment.

14. Dedicated Web Site: The Contractor shall provide the County with a dedicated website or URL (“Customer Portal”), which shall include, but is not limited to, account catalog, quote creation, order status, purchase history, invoice copies, product shipment tracking, and equipment support links. Customer Portal will also provide the necessary links to directly view Everpure Approved Terms, and to download software updates, IOS and firmware updates, and Device Drivers that apply to any Everpure product offered by Everpure. The Customer Portal shall provide the County with the ability to retrieve warranty, support, and service call history information on any serial number. The Contractor shall ensure the registration of all the County’s purchases with Everpure (and any other third-party manufacturer, if applicable) on behalf of the County, including to ensure the proper logging of the County’s purchases with Everpure for warranty and support purposes.

15. Equipment Warranty: All equipment must include at least a ninety-day (90) warranty, unless otherwise specified in the applicable quotation or purchase order. In the event of notification by the County of the need for warranty service or remediation, the Contractor shall, at no charge to the County, promptly correct the warranty failure, either directly or by working with Everpure, including, when required, replacement of the applicable equipment at no ad-ditional cost to the County. Upon notice of the County of any error or defect in the equip-ment, the Contractor, as an authorized warranty provider, will immediately make available to the County any known reasonable methods of operating the equipment in a manner that eliminates the adverse effects of the error or defect. Any replacement equipment will remain https://www.broward.org/Accounting/Pages/InvoiceProcedures.aspx https://www.broward.org/Accounting/Pages/InvoiceProcedures.aspx warranted for at least the remainder of the warranty period of the equipment replaced.

These remedies are in addition to any other rights and remedies the County may have under this contract or applicable law. If the Contractor is unable to correct a material warranty fail-ure within a reasonable period of time (not to exceed ten (10) business days after notification from the County), the County may terminate the sale by written notice from its Contract Ad-ministrator, in which event the Contractor shall, within fifteen (15) calendar days, pick up the equipment at the Contractor’s expense and reimburse all sums paid by the County under this contract or applicable purchase document for the equipment at issue, if any, and neither party shall have any further obligation to the other for the material failure.

(a) The Contractor must utilize a manufacturer authorized repair specialist and must only use original equipment manufacturer (OEM) or manufacturer certified parts when servicing equipment. All repair and warranty work required of the Contractor shall include the man-ufacturer’s return authorization number (RMA) or other proof from the manufacturer that all work performed was in accordance with the manufacturer’s standards.

(b) The Contractor will ensure that adequate stock levels exist to ensure timely delivery of any components that may require maintenance or repair within the applicable required response time. The Contractor agrees that its maintenance personnel hold appropriate certifications and possess suitable training in the operation of the equipment, and asso-ciated software and firmware. If, in the reasonable opinion of the County, the personnel provided are not acceptable, the Contractor agrees to provide suitable replacements.

16. Mass Warranty Replacement: For any equipment or portion thereof that exhibits a prema-ture failure rate across a common platform of technology (regardless of the exhibition of, or lack of, symptoms across all affected inventory) (“Mass Defect”), the Contractor shall assist the County to process replacement orders for all such equipment or relevant portion of the equipment at no cost to the County. This replacement obligation for a Mass Defect includes but not limited to each of the following:

(a) The same model of product lines shows a premature failure rate in an established pattern.

(b) The same model of power supply in the same generation of devices that shows a prema-ture failure in an established pattern.

(c) The same model of system board(s) in the same generation of devices shows a premature failure in an established pattern.

(d) An identified repetitive component failure of Everpure equipment as generally an-nounced to the public or determined by issuance of a recall notice.

The Contractor will provide prompt notice to the County of any announced to the public, known Mass Defect applicable to some or all the equipment or portions thereof and identify all devices affected thereby. The Contractor shall provide the replacement equipment to the County withing sixty (60) calendar days from notice of the Mass Defect, unless otherwise agreed by the parties in writing.

17. End of Sale Warranty: During the term of this contract, the Contractor represents and war-rants that, except as previously disclosed to the County in writing, the Everpure-branded equipment will not reach discontinuation, or become subject to end of sale (“EOS”) or end of life (“EOL”), within 75 calendar days after sale, provision, or delivery to the County. The Con-tractor shall provide the County notice of any known EOS and EOL, as applicable, in any ap-plicable quotation request, and shall provide the County with notice of any upcoming EOS or EOL for previously ordered products at least six (6) months prior to the EOS and one (1) year before the EOL (the longer of such time periods being the “Prior Notification Window” or “PNW”) via email (or by other written form as approved by the County).

18. End of Sale/Life Warranty Breach: If the Contractor fails to comply with the EOS/EOL war-ranty stated above for any Everpure-branded equipment sold to the County under this con-tract, the Contractor shall provide, at the County’s request and at no additional cost to the County, complete unit replacement of equipment, if elected by the County, of any equipment that the County purchased during the Prior Notification Window for which the Contractor failed to comply with the notice obligations. The replacement equipment, inclusive of its op-erational software components, shall conform to a recommended direct model replacement of equal or greater value while retaining all other technical requirements and specifications contained in the applicable documentation for the equipment, unless otherwise agreed by the parties.

19. Ownership: The Contractor represents and warrants the authenticity of Everpure-branded equipment sold to the County under this contract as new equipment from the original man-ufacturer. For any products or services provided under this contract, the Contractor repre-sents and warrants it is an authorized reseller and has the right to grant to the County the rights and the licenses under this contract, and it has not knowingly granted rights or licenses to any other person or entity that would restrict rights and licenses granted hereunder, ex-cept as may be expressly stated herein.

20. Installation: The County may choose by quotation and associated purchase order to have a subset, or all, of the applicable equipment in any order installed by the Contractor. Installa-tion must be consistent with the procedures described in the applicable product manual and must conform to the installation procedures or specifications provided by the County at the time of installation, unless otherwise stated in the applicable purchase order. The Contractor shall obtain written signoff by the County upon final completion of installation, subject to the preapproved pass/fail criteria established by County.

Installation must occur during normal County business hours. No installation shall occur dur-ing non-business hours unless otherwise agreed by the parties in writing prior to scheduling activities. Installers must be fully competent and certified, to the extent applicable, in the installation and operation of the equipment provided. If determined by the County that an installer does not meet the qualifications as fully competent, the County reserves the discre-tionary right to have the Contractor provide another qualified installer. If the Contractor can-not provide a fully competent installer for the equipment, then County may cancel the order at issue and receive a full refund of any amounts paid.

21. Delivery: The Contractor shall deliver all purchased equipment by common carrier to the County during business hours within thirty (30) calendar days after the date of the applicable purchase order, unless otherwise agreed in writing by the parties, at the address and office identified within the applicable purchase order. Delivery will include registration on behalf of the County and access by the County to the applicable subscription assignments, licensing, equipment, or other purchases as indicated in the purchase order on the Customer Portal.

Delivery shall include “inside delivery” with lift gate services, with Free on Board (FOB) desti-nation, as well as assembly and installation including all actions necessary to integrate the equipment into the County’s existing system (if ordered), which shall be the responsibility of the Contractor, except to the extent (if any) of a deviation expressly provided in writing by the County. The title of ownership passes to the County only upon delivery and signature acknowledging transfer to the County.

22. Delivery Delays: If circumstances beyond the control of the Contractor result in a late deliv-ery, the Contractor holds the responsibility and obligation to notify the agency contact listed on the purchase order, in writing, immediately upon determining the delay of shipment. The written notification (electronic or otherwise) shall indicate the newly estimated delivery date.

The County shall have the right to cancel the order in whole or in part, at its sole discretion, without obligation to pay any amount in connection with the cancelled order, or portion thereof for orders with delayed delivery beyond the specified 30 calendar days for delivery.

23. Acceptance: The County retains the right to refuse delivery of any equipment with damaged packaging. The Contractor must attach all packing slips to the outside of each shipment; fail-ure to provide a packing slip attached to the outside of shipment may result in refusal of shipment at the Contractor’s expense. Packing slips must reference the applicable purchase order number, a complete listing of items delivered, serial numbers of all items delivered, and a listing of all back-ordered items. All hardware and software shall be subject to appro-priate final acceptance testing by the County for a period of thirty (30) days after first use in production (or such other period as stated in the applicable ordering document issued by the County) and shall be deemed accepted if the County does not reject the hardware and/or software in writing within that time period. If the hardware or software is rejected by the County for failure to satisfactorily pass the applicable accepting testing, the Contractor shall use commercially reasonable efforts to resolve the failure; if the Contractor is unable to rem-edy the failure to the County’s satisfaction within thirty (30) days after notice of rejection, the County may elect to terminate the purchase of the applicable hardware and/or software for a full refund (which may, if approved by the County, be applied as a credit toward future purchases).

24. Replacement Deliveries: Any product supplied under this contract that arrives inoperable shall be, upon notice, to the Contractor by the County, replaced by the Contractor with a new product identical to that ordered. Completion of delivery for replacement product shall occur by the Contractor within ten (10) business days after notification by the County.

25. Return Rights: Under conditions of non-conformance or for incorrect product selection, the

County may elect to return an order in whole or in part, within thirty (30) calendar days after receipt of equipment. The processing of returns shall be at no cost to the County, and the Contractor shall cancel or credit any payment due.

26. Emergency Orders: The Contractor shall provide emergency contact information for prepar-ing high priority orders of equipment herein requested under the terms and specifications of this contract. During such time as a declaration of emergency by the Federal, state or county government(s) for the local geographic area serving this contract, the Contractor shall make staffing available as required for order processing and provide an elevated priority to factory order creation and shipping per specifications. The Contractor will be prepared to process such orders under disaster and post recovery situations where the County established pro-curement processes may revert to manual operations.