18-5882 RFB AMD1.docx
DOCX document 207 KB Posted
- Attached to
- RACK MOUNTED COMPUTER PRODUCTS (UW-MAD)[18-5882]
- Solicitation number
- 18-5882
- Issued by
- Dane County, Madison City, Wisconsin
About this file
This is Amendment #1 to Bid No. 18-5882 issued by the University of Wisconsin-Madison Purchasing Services for Rack Mounted Computer Products. The amendment was issued to address questions submitted by bidders and clarifies specifications and requirements for the procurement. The university seeks pricing based on the entire university's volume, with orders to be placed on an as-needed basis rather than for specific quantities. Key specifications include rack-mounted servers with NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti graphics cards, specific processor models, SSDs, and networking components. The amendment confirms that the university requires completed units shipped ready for use and will not accept proposals with components omitted. Alternative manufacturers are permitted at the university's sole discretion, and equal or better components may be substituted where items are end-of-life. Bid prices and terms shall remain firm for sixty days from the date of bid opening unless otherwise specified.
The amendment addresses significant questions regarding component availability, particularly the GTX 1080 Ti graphics cards which face global shortage and long lead times, and end-of-life networking equipment. The university declined to apply State Use Law s.16.752 to this procurement and stated it will not entertain bids in lieu of pre-negotiated agreements. GSA pricing may apply if vendors have relevant GSA contracts, and trade-ins may be considered at the university's discretion. The worksheet pricing section requires vendors to provide both quoted costs and estimated UW usage information. A conflict of interest certification is required, and bidders must certify that neither they nor their principals are debarred or suspended from federal contracts. Interested vendors should direct questions to Todd Pooler at UW-Madison Purchasing Services.
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| File | Type | Posted |
|---|---|---|
| 18-5882 RFB.docx | DOCX document |
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Text version
Amendment #1 to Bid No: 18-5882
UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN
MADISON, WISCONSIN 53715-1218
Bid prices and terms shall be firm for sixty (60) days from the date of bid opening, unless otherwise specified in this Request for Bid by the UW-Madison Purchasing Services.
Unless otherwise noted, public openings will be on the date and time specified. Award(s), if any, will be made as soon thereafter as possible.
The bid abstract will be on file and is open to public inspection only after award determination has been made.
If NO BID (check here) and return.
18-5882 / Amendment #1 / Rack Mounted Computer Products Amendment #1 is issued to answer questions received from bidders. If this amendment is not returned, it shall be assumed your original bid meets all conditions of the amendment. All other terms and conditions remain the same. Please revise and submit your bid accordingly.
In signing this bid, we have read and fully understand and agree to all terms, conditions and specifications and acknowledge that the UW-Madison Purchasing Services bid document on file shall be the controlling document for any resulting contract. We certify that we have not, either directly or indirectly, entered into any contract or participated in any collusion or otherwise taken any action in restraint of free competition; that no attempt has been made to induce any other person or firm to submit or not to submit a bid; that this bid has been independently arrived at without collusion with any other bidder, competitor or potential competitor; that this bid has not been knowingly disclosed prior to the opening of bids to any other bidder or competitor; that the stated statement is accurate under penalty of perjury. I certify that the information I have provided in this bid is true and I understand that any false, misleading or missing information may disqualify the bid.
By submitting a bid, the bidder certifies that no relationship exists between the bidder and the University that interferes with fair competition or is a Conflict of Interest, and no relationship exists between such bidder and another person or firm that constitutes a Conflict of Interest. Further, bidder certifies that no employee of the University whose duties relate to this request for bid assisted the bidder in preparing the bid in any way other than in his or her official capacity and scope of employment.
The Bidder certifies by submission of the bid that neither it nor its principals is presently debarred, suspended, proposed for debarment, declared ineligible, or voluntarily excluded from participation in this transaction by any federal department or agency.
Company Name:
Company Street Address:
Company City, State & Zip: Date:
Signature:
Type or Print Name:
Title:
Telephone Number: ( ) Fax Number: ( ) Email address:
Fein Number : DUNS #:
| Questions | Answers | |
| 1 | The NVIDIA 2x GeForce GTX 1080 Ti Graphics Card is a consumer grade graphics card for gaming. We are not allowed to sell it and if you look at the link below, NVIDIA sells them for $699 and limits 2 per customer. You can also get them on Amazon from a variety of 3rd parties ranging from $1199 to $1599. | |
| I can submit our response for the server without the Card so that the UW entities may procure those on their own or we can propose an enterprise class card, but they are much more expensive. From an equivalency standpoint, I would use the P100 12GB model, but the price is 5x the 1080Ti. I am not sure that the P5000 is "close enough" if you source the 1080Ti cards from other suppliers. P6000 seems overkill with the memory and Cuda cores. I would prefer not to include this in our solution as I’m not sure that it meets the requirements and do not want to price myself out. Can you confirm that leaving this card out of the servers below will be an acceptable solution? | You are correct that the NVIDIA 2x GeForce GTX 1080 Ti Graphics Card, is a consumer card (We do not want the "enterprise" card). Our desire is to have a completed unit shipped to us so, no we would not allow you to leave the card out. | |
| 2 | May I assume you want these as prices based on single servers/JBODs, although the University may buy multiples? I ask because a higher quantity of some items allows us to get better discounts at times for the University. Also, shipping is also cheaper in multiples instead of individually. Or is there an expected quantity that I have missed somewhere? |
Also, some of the components are difficult to find as they are End of Life (EOL). Would the University accept equal or better?
For instance, E5-2680v3 can be upgraded to the E5-2680v4 for the same price. And MCX354A-QCBT has been EOL for a while now and even MCX354A-FCBT which is the FDR version (backwards compatible with QDR) is getting EOL’d and more difficult to find. The S3520s are still available, but these are being swapped out with the S4500 series SSDs.
Also, there is a global shortage on the GTX 1080 Ti cards right now. We may be able to procure some, but it may be a very long lead time. We can include better information for closer to the bid due date when we submit our bid.
Next, on the worksheet, it asks for our quoted cost, then an “Estimated UW usage.” Can we get an explanation on what the “Estimated UW usage” category is?
| Finally, the bid document has it so the prices must be firm for 60 days on page 1 (excluding the cover page), and for 90 days on page 30 (excluding the cover page). Which shall we go by? | The intention of this bid is for the UW to get pricing based on the volume of the entire University, not individual items. The orders will be sent on an as needed basis. | |
| 3 | What is the workload that will run on this infrastructure? | This varies by Department. |
| 4 | What does the data architecture look like? | This varies by Department. |
| 5 | What kind of protocols are in place? | This varies by Department. |
| 6 | What are the network fabric and speed requirements? | This varies by Department. |
| 7 | For future scalability considerations, how large will this infrastructure grow? | That is not known at this point. |
| 8 | Are there any security protocols that we should take into consideration? | This varies by Department. |
| 9 | Does the University see State Use Law, s.16.752, pertaining to this RFP? | No |
| 10 | Would a bid response in lieu of an existing, pre-negotiated agreement be entertained? | No |
| 11 | Are you open to other options for this build? | Yes, but the University at it sole discretion may disqualify any bid that is deems not in its best interest. |
| 12 | Is “GSA Pricing” a mandatory requirement? | 3.7.1. GSA Pricing: This bid may qualify for GSA Pricing. If you have a GSA contract covering any of the items specified, enclose information on use of that contract including the contract number. |
| 13 | Is “Trade-In” an option, or a mandatory requirement? | Trade in's may be considered. However the UW may disqualify any bid that it deems not in its best interest. |
| 14 | Can the different specs on the bid list be different manufacturers? | Yes, but the University at it sole discretion may disqualify any bid that is deems not in its best interest. |
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