25260036N-AZ_Short_List.pdf

This document is a short-list notification for Invitation to Negotiate (ITN) 25260036N-AZ issued by the School Board of Seminole County, Florida for a District Firewall Solution. The procurement seeks a comprehensive Next Generation Firewall (NGFW) infrastructure consisting of three firewall appliances: an Active/Active High Availability pair for the Education Support Center data center and a standalone appliance for the Oviedo High School data center. The solution must support approximately 60,000 students, 8,000 staff, and 80,000-100,000 concurrent devices across two data centers with current internet bandwidth of 14 Gbps per site, expandable to 20 Gbps. Technical specifications require minimum processing capabilities of 175 Million packets per second, 100 Gbps IPsec VPN throughput, 30,000 concurrent SSL VPN users, and 70 Million concurrent TCP sessions. Proposals were due January 5, 2026, at 1:00 PM EST, with short-list meetings conducted on January 21, 2026. Oral presentations are scheduled for January 29, 2026, targeted board approval on March 10, 2026, and project go-live no later than July 1, 2026. The contract offers two pricing structures: a three-year term with potential two-year renewal or a five-year upfront payment option.

Four firms were selected for the short list: PC Solutions & Integration, United Data Technologies, CDW, and Computers at Work. All equipment must be new Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) stock, with no used or refurbished equipment acceptable. The existing infrastructure consists of four FortiGate 4400F appliances and one FortiAnalyzer 3000G reporting appliance, which may be reused if compatible. Seven companies initially responded to the solicitation, with five submitting proposals. The pricing schedule encompasses comprehensive costs including hardware, software, licensing, VPN client licenses for 2,000 users, maintenance, professional services, implementation, data migration, administrator training, and 24/7/365 support. The procurement does not specify set-aside designations for disadvantaged enterprises. E-Rate program eligibility is built into the procurement, allowing potential federal funding for eligible components.