4-RFP 4 FY25-26 HCI Project Manual.pdf

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Request for Proposals

RFP #4 FY 25/26

Hyperconverged Infrastructure Solution

Date of Issue March 22, 2026

Pre-Proposal Conference Call March 26, 2026

Questions Deadline 12:00 PM EDT April 1, 2026

Proposals Due Date 6:00 PM EDT April 13, 2026

Submit Proposal Documents to PennBid – https://pennbid.net/

RFP Contact Vicki Giammarco Director of Grants and Procurement Services purchasing@mc3.edu mailto:purchasing@mc3.edu

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INVITATION TO SUBMIT PROPOSAL……………................ Section A BACKGROUND…………………………………………………………… Section B INSTRUCTIONS TO PROPOSERS………………………………….. Section C SPECIFICATIONS………………………………..……………………….. Section D

ADDITIONAL DOCUMENTS

APPENDIX A – Non-Collusion Affidavit EXHIBIT 1 – Features Explanation Questionnaire

Section A. INVITATION TO SUBMIT PROPOSAL

Montgomery County Community College will receive proposals for Hyperconverged Infrastructure Solution for Montgomery County Community College, RFP# 4 FY25/26.

Proposal Documents, including specifications, will be available to interested Proposers beginning March 22, 2026, through PennBid (https://pennbid.net/). Registration is free. A Pre-Proposal conference will be held on March 26, 2026, at 12 p.m. EST. Further details are available on PennBid. Questions must be submitted via PennBid by 12 p.m. EDT by April 1, 2026.

Proposals must be uploaded to PennBid, by 6:00 p.m. EDT on April 13, 2026.

Proposals must include the designated forms in the Request for Proposal documents. Proposals shall conform to all other requirements as more fully set forth in the proposal documents, including compliance with all applicable laws and regulations.

The Owner reserves the right to reject any or all proposals or any part thereof or items therein and to waive informalities and/or technicalities, as it deems best to protect its interest.

END OF DOCUMENT

https://pennbid.net/

Section B. BACKGROUND

Montgomery County Community College (MCCC)

For more than 60 years, Montgomery County Community College has grown with the community to meet the evolving educational and workforce development needs of Montgomery County. The College's comprehensive curriculum includes more than 100 associate degrees and certificate programs, including specialized workforce development training and certifications. Students enjoy the flexibility of learning at the College's thriving campuses in Blue Bell, Pottstown, and online through the Virtual Campus. Supporting its mission to offer high-quality, affordable, and accessible educational opportunities, the College is funded by the County, the State and student tuition. As an Achieving the Dream Leader College of Distinction, the College is positioned at the vanguard of national efforts to increase completion, improve learning outcomes, and remove barriers to access for students. Governed by a 15-person Board of Trustees appointed by the Montgomery County Commissioners, the College is fully accredited by the Commission of Higher Education of the Middle States Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools.

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Section C. INSTRUCTIONS TO PROPOSERS

Proposal Document Availability

A. The Proposal Documents have been prepared by the Purchasing Department of the Montgomery County Community College located at 340 DeKalb Pike, Blue Bell, PA 19422. The Proposal Documents are made available via the PennBid website only for the purpose of obtaining Proposals for this Project. Their availability does not grant a license for other purposes.

B. Proposer shall verify that the documents are complete and shall notify the Purchasing Department should the documents be incomplete, or upon finding discrepancies or omissions in the Proposal Documents. The proposer shall be responsible for the completeness of their set of Proposal Documents. No allowance or concession will be made to a Proposer who complains of missing portions of Proposal Documents subsequent to the award of Proposal. All requests for clarifications must be submitted via the PennBid Portal in writing no later than the date specified.

All clarifications, modifications and corrections to the Proposal Documents shall be issued in the form of Addenda and posted to the PennBid Portal. Addenda listing revisions and changes to the Proposal Documents shall become a part of and take precedence over original Proposal Documents and shall be so honored by Proposers in preparing their Proposals.

Definitions

A. Proposal Documents: Invitation to Submit Proposal, Instructions to Proposer, Proposal Form, form of Non-Collusion Affidavit, form of Agreement, Specifications, Campus Map and other sample proposal and contract forms, and all Addenda issued prior to Proposal opening.

B. Proposer: Person or entity submitting a Proposal.

C. Proposal Sum: Monetary sum identified by Proposer in Proposal form.

D. Contract Documents: Proposal Documents and Form of Agreement between College and Contractor (hereinafter “Agreement”).

E. Contractor: Successful Proposer, i.e., Proposer to whom contract is awarded.

F. Services: All services (including, without limitation, all supplies and equipment necessary to perform such services) identified to be provided under the Contract as detailed in the Specifications.

G. College: Montgomery County Community College, its agents, employees, and/or authorized representative.

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Preparation And Submission of Proposals

DELIVERY

Proposer shall be solely responsible for the delivery of their Proposal in the manner and time prescribed. All Proposals must be received by the College at the place designated in the Invitation to Proposal, prior to the time designated in the Invitation to Submit Proposals for Proposal opening. Proposals not received in the time frame or manner as outlined will not be accepted.

PROPOSAL FORMS

Proposals shall include forms as furnished by the College. Proposals should be prepared simply, providing straightforward and concise responses to requests for information and descriptions of qualifications and capabilities.

WITHDRAWAL OF PROPOSALS

Proposals will remain firm and non-withdrawable for one hundred twenty (120) days after the opening of Proposals and will thereafter remain firm and non-withdrawable until the Proposer provides written notice to the College’s Purchasing Department that the Proposal has been withdrawn.

SIGNATORIES

(1) If the Proposer is an individual, the Proposal shall be executed by him, personally; his signature shall be witnessed; his business address shall be stated, and any trade name employed in the conduct of his business shall be stated.

(2) If the Proposer is a partnership, the Proposal Form shall be executed in the name of the partnership by each of the partners, or a general partner authorized for this purpose; the signatures of the partners shall be witnessed; the business of the partnership shall be stated; and the business address of the partnership shall be stated.

(3) If the Proposer is a corporation, the Proposal Form shall be executed in its name and on its behalf: (a) by the President or Vice President and attested by the Secretary or Assistant Secretary, and the Corporate Seal shall be affixed; or (b) by a duly authorized agent of the corporation whose authority to act, as of the date of the Proposal, shall be established by a certified copy of a resolution by the Board of Directors of the proposing corporation authorizing said agent to sign the Proposal on behalf of the corporation, submitted with the Proposal. The business address of the corporation and state of incorporation shall be stated.

(4) If the Proposer is a limited liability company, the Proposal Form shall be executed in its name and on its behalf: (a) by all of the members if the company is member-managed, or by the managing member if the company is manager-managed, or (b) by a duly authorized agent of the company whose authority to act, as of the date of the Proposal, shall be established by a certified copy of a resolution by the members of the proposing company authorizing said agent to sign the Proposal on behalf of the company, submitted with the Proposal. The business address of the company and state of formation shall be stated.

(5) If the Proposer is a joint venture, each party of the joint venture shall execute the Proposal Form under their respective seals in a manner appropriate to such party as described above.

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(6) Electronic signatures (including signatures that have been transmitted via facsimile or email) are intended to authenticate, execute, and adopt the Proposal Form and have the same force and effect as manual signatures pursuant to the Pennsylvania Uniform Electronic Transactions Act, 73 P.S. § 2260.101 et seq.

PROPOSAL SUBMISSION

All Proposals shall be submitted via PennBid and must include uploaded files of the Proposal and Non-Collusion Affidavit.

ADDENDA

Prior to the opening of Proposals, Proposer may be furnished bulletins for additions, corrections, or modifications to Contract Documents. These bulletins, in the form of addenda, are to be included in the Proposal and are part of the Contract. Failure of the Proposer to acknowledge any/all Addenda on his Proposal may be sufficient cause for rejection of his Proposal. The College intends that all Proposers shall have equal access to information relative to this RFP, and that this RFP contains adequate information. No information communicated, either verbally or in writing, to or from a Proposer shall be effective unless confirmed by an addendum to this RFP, or in the Proposal. It is the responsibility of each submitting Proposer to ascertain prior to submitting its response that all issued Addenda have been received. Addenda will be posted through PennBid.

CLIENT REFERENCES

Each Proposer shall submit as part of its Proposal:

A list of references, preferably from higher education, ideally from community colleges within the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, of similar scope and size to the College.

A list of contracts/projects, similar in scope to this project, in the past three (3) years.

All references are to be complete with name of the organization, contact person, address, phone number, type of facility and length of time servicing the account.

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

Proposer shall submit a copy of its financial statements upon request by the College.

FINALITY OF DECISION

Any decision made by the College, including the Contractor selection, shall be final.

RELEASE OF CLAIMS

Each Proposer by submitting its Proposal releases the College from any and all claims arising out of, and related to, this RFP process and selection of a Contractor.

CONTRACTOR BEARS PROPOSAL COSTS

A recipient of this RFP is responsible for any and all costs incurred by it or others acting on its behalf in preparing or submitting a Proposal, or otherwise responding to this RFP, or any negotiations incidental to its Proposal or this RFP. All Proposals submitted will become the property of the College.

DISCLOSURE OF PROPOSAL CONTENT

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The laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania require public information to be available for examination by all interested parties. No Proposals shall be disclosed until after an award has been made. The College reserves the right to destroy all Proposals if the RFP is withdrawn; the award of the Contract is withdrawn; or otherwise in the normal course of business. Trade secrets or proprietary information submitted by a Proposer in connection with this procurement transaction shall not be subject to public disclosure (except as required by law); however, the Proposer must invoke protection prior to or upon submission of the data or the materials and must identify the data or other materials to be protected and state the reason why protection is necessary.

Proposers shall submit, in a separate section of the Proposal, any information considered proprietary and any copyrighted material and clearly identify the information as proprietary and/or copyrighted information. Proposers may not declare their entire Proposal proprietary, nor may they declare proposed pricing to be proprietary. References may be made within the body of the Proposal to proprietary information; however, all information contained within the body of the proposal not in the separate section labeled proprietary shall be considered public information.

EXCEPTIONS TO RFP

Any exceptions to the terms and conditions contained in this RFP or any other special considerations or conditions requested or required by the Proposer MUST be specifically enumerated by the Proposer and be submitted as part of its Proposal, together with an explanation as to the reason such terms and conditions of this RFP cannot be met. The selected Contractor(s) shall be required and expected to meet the RFP requirements as set forth in this RFP in their entirety, except to the extent exceptions are expressly set forth in the Contractor’s Proposal and those exceptions are expressly accepted by the College and expressly incorporated into the Agreement in writing.

ORAL INTERVIEWS

The College will require qualified Proposers to participate in an oral interview and negotiation process to discuss their Proposal and to answer any questions the College may have regarding the RFP and Contractor’s Proposal.

QUESTIONS & CLARIFICATIONS

Inquiries for information regarding this Request for Proposals should be submitted via the PennBid website.

Modification And Withdrawal

Proposals may be modified and withdrawn until the Bid closes via PennBid. Negligence by Proposer in preparing his Proposal confers no right of withdrawal or modification of his Proposal after such Proposal has been opened.

Qualifications Prior to the award of contract, College may require satisfactory evidence to show that the Proposer is fully prepared in every way to perform the Contract timely and that he has been regularly engaged in such business. The proposer shall be prepared to furnish evidence that all certificates and public licenses have been properly maintained, are current, and shall attest that his company has never defaulted on any public

C-5 contract. The College may make such reasonable investigations as deemed proper and necessary to determine the ability of a Proposer to perform the work. The Proposer shall furnish the College all such information and data pertinent to the evaluation of the Proposer’s response to this Request for Proposals upon written request from the College.

Collusive Proposals

A. More than one Proposal for one contract from an individual, partnership, corporation, company, or an association under the same or different names will be grounds for rejection of all Proposals in which such Proposer is interested. Any and all Proposals will be rejected if there is any reason for believing that collusion exists among any of the Proposers. Participants in such collusion will not be considered in future Proposals.

B. By submitting its Proposal, the Proposer certifies that it has not combined, conspired, or agreed to intentionally rig alter or otherwise manipulate, or to cause to be rigged, altered or otherwise manipulated its Proposal for the purpose of allocating purchases or sales to or among persons, raising or otherwise fixing the prices of the goods or services, or excluding other persons from dealing with the College.

C. By submitting its Proposal, the Proposer certifies that its proposal is made without collusion or fraud and that it has not offered or received any kickbacks or inducements from any other Proposer, supplier, manufacturer or related entity in connection with its proposal; and that it has not conferred on any public employee having official responsibility for this procurement transaction any payment, loan, subscription, advance, deposit of money, services or anything of more than nominal value, present or promised.

D. Proposer shall submit with their Proposal, a Non-Collusion Affidavit in the form contained in the Proposal Documents.

Reservation Of Rights

The College reserves the right, in its sole and absolute discretion (for this provision and all other provisions contained in this RFP), to accept or reject, in whole or in part, any or all Proposals with or without cause. The College further reserves the right to waive any irregularity or informality in this RFP process or any Proposal, and the right to award the Contract to other than the Proposer submitting the best financial proposal (low bidder). The College reserves the right to request additional information from any or all Proposers. The College reserves the right to negotiate with one or more Proposers concerning their Proposals.

Proposal Rejection

The College reserves the right to reject any and all Proposals, or parts of a Proposal, when a rejection is in the College’s interest. The College reserves the right to reject a Proposer if he is not in a position to perform the contract or has previously failed to perform similar contracts properly or on time.

Contract

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A. The College reserves the right to award a contract for one or more of the items set forth in the Specifications, or for all items set forth in the Specifications.

B. The Contract Documents form the Contract.

C. Failure of the Proposer who is selected to execute the Agreement within 10 days, shall constitute a default by such Proposer and the College may, at its sole discretion, award the contract to another Proposer or re-advertise for Proposals, and the defaulting Proposer shall pay to the College the difference between the amounts of his Proposal and any higher amount for which the College may contract for the required services, plus any advertising, consulting, legal or other expenses incurred by reason of the default.

Familiarity With Proposed Work

The Contract is entered into by the College with the understanding that the Contractor, prior to submission of his Proposal, acquainted itself with the requirements of all Instructions to Proposer, Specifications, and other Proposal Documents, and that it has obtained all necessary information for completion of the Services during the term of the Contract. The Contractor shall not at any time after the execution of the Contract set up any claims whatsoever based upon insufficient data or incorrectly assumed conditions, nor shall the Contractor claim any misunderstanding in regard to the nature, conditions or character of the Services to be provided under the Contract, and Contractor shall assume all risk resulting from any changes in the conditions which may occur during the progress of the work.

Human Relations Act

The Pennsylvania Human Relations Act, Act 222 of October 27, 1955, P.L. 744, 43 P.S. §951 et seq., prohibit discrimination because of race, color, religious creed, ancestry, age, sex, national origin, handicap, or disability, by employers, employment agencies, labor organizations, contractors, and others. Contractor does hereby agree to comply with the provisions of this Act, as amended, which are hereby made part of the Contract. Contractor’s attention is directed to the language of the Commonwealth Non-Discrimination Clause as set forth in 16 Pa. Code §349.101.

Waiver Of Consequential Damages

Contractor waives claims against the College for consequential damages arising out of or relating to the Contract, including, but not limited to, damages incurred by the Contractor for principal office expenses including the compensation of personnel stationed there, for losses of financing, business, and reputation, and for loss of profit except anticipated profit arising directly from the Services.

Fees, Permits and Certifications

Contractor, its employees, and agents shall secure, at its sole cost and expense, and maintain all necessary permits, licenses and certifications as required by federal, state, and local laws, regulations, and ordinances, which are legally required prior to and during the work, unless otherwise specified by the College. All costs and fees for same shall be the sole responsibility of the Contractor.

Taxes

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A. Contractor is responsible for sales taxes and any other applicable taxes related to the Services provided under the Contract.

B. The College is exempt from Federal Excise and State Sales and Use Tax on all tangible personal property purchased or leased by it for its use or consumption. The Contractor shall pay all County, City, State and Federal taxes required by law enacted at the time proposals are received and resulting from the work or traceable thereto, under whatever name levied. Said taxes shall not be in addition to the contract price between the College and the Contractor, as the taxes shall be an obligation of the Contractor and not of College, and College shall be held harmless for same by the Contractor. Exemption certification will be supplied upon request.

All Applicable Laws, Statutes, Regulations And Standards

A. Contractor shall comply with all applicable federal, state, local and industry statutes, regulations, ordinances, codes, and standards. The failure to specifically reference or include said matters in the Contract Documents does not excuse Contractor from compliance with same.

B. The Contractor shall comply with any and all laws, rules, regulations, ordinances, and College policies, applicable to providing the Services contemplated under the Contract. The Contractor, including its employees and agents, shall be responsible for knowing the College’s policies concerning appropriate behavior of persons in its schools, and on its properties including for example, the prohibitions of sexual harassment, alcohol, and smoking, and shall comply with all such policies. In the event any federal, state, local or other governmental body’s laws, rules, ordinances, or regulations are revised, changed, or amended, or in the event there are revisions, changes or amendments to the College’s policies, the Contractor shall comply with all such revised, changed or amended laws, rules, ordinances regulations or policies, at no additional cost to the College.

C. All Services to be furnished by the Contractor and the Contractor’s working conditions and employment practices shall comply with all applicable state and federal requirements, including, but not limited to, the Occupational Safety and Health Act.

Payment

Invoices received and approved by the College will be paid within thirty (30) days, provided all Services for which payment is requested have been completed in accordance with the Contract and Contractor is in full compliance with all requirements of the Contract.

Financial Statements

Monthly Billing Statements showing sufficient detail to track the expenses per individual activity are to be submitted to the Business Office. The firm also agrees to allow its books and billing statements to be audited by the College or its accountants at any time after a 3-day written notification of intent to do so.

The firm is expected to submit yearly summary Billing Statements on a July to June schedule to the office listed above.

Failure To Finish or Complete Contract

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In the event Contractor shall neglect or refuse to complete the Services as required, or any part thereof, or to replace any work which is rejected, then the College is authorized and empowered to services in conformity with the Contract from such party or parties, and in such manner as it shall elect at the expense of the Contractor, or to cancel the Contract; reserving to itself, nevertheless, all rights for damages, including attorney’s fees, legal costs, and additional professional fees, which may be incurred by the College. The foregoing rights and remedies shall be in addition to, and not in limitation of, any other rights and remedies available to the College at law or in equity.

Governing Law

The Contract shall be governed by the law of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As between the College and Contractor, any applicable statute of limitations shall commence to run and any alleged cause of action shall be deemed to have accrued as provided by the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The College reserves all rights and privileges applicable to it pursuant to the doctrine of nullum tempus occurrit regi.

Claims And Disputes

Claims, disputes, or other matters in question between the parties to the Contract arising out of or relating to the Contract or breach thereof shall be exclusively litigated in the Court of Common Pleas of Montgomery County and shall not be subject to arbitration, except for compulsory arbitration as provided by the applicable rules of civil procedure. Pending resolution of any claim and/or dispute, unless otherwise agreed in writing, Contractor shall proceed diligently with performance of the Contract so as to avoid delay in the schedule of completion of the Project.

Right To Contract with Others

The College reserves the right to contract with other service providers for additional services.

Assignment And Subcontracting

The Contractor shall not assign, convey, encumber, subcontract, or otherwise transfer its rights or duties under the Contract, in whole or in part, without the prior written consent of the College. A description of any work the Contractor proposes to subcontract shall be submitted to the College for review and approval along with the name and address of the individual, firm, or corporation that is the proposed subcontractor.

This submittal shall also include a list of the key personnel that the subcontractor will assign to the project.

All work performed by any subcontractor shall be coordinated by the Contractor and the Contractor will be responsible to the College for all work performed by any subcontractor or special consultant.

Non-Appropriation of Funds Any resultant contract shall terminate immediately upon exhaustion of properly appropriated funds should the Board of Trustees fail to appropriate sufficient funds for its continuation. If the College determines, in its discretion, that it lacks adequate funds to pay part or all of the payments for the Services described in the Contract, the College’s obligation under the Contract will terminate as of the date that the funding expires without further obligation to the Contractor.

Ownership Of Documents

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A. All finished or unfinished information or materials, documents, data, studies, surveys, drawings, maps, models, photographs, and reports or other materials prepared by or for the Contractor under any resultant contract shall, at the option of College, become College property and shall be delivered to and remain the property of College upon completion of the work or termination of the Contract. The College shall have the right to use and reproduce the data and reports submitted hereunder, without additional compensation to the Contractor.

B. Any documents provided to the Contractor by the College shall be returned to the College upon request.

Royalty And License Fees and Copyright, Trademark and Patent Protection

A. In submitting its Proposal, the Contractor certifies that there has been no violation of copyrights or patent rights in manufacturing, producing, or selling the commodities or services to be ordered as a result of this Request for Proposals.

B. Unless specified otherwise in the contract, the Contractor shall pay all royalty and license fees relating to the items covered by the contract.

C. In the event any third party shall claim that the manufacture, use and sales of the goods offered hereby constitutes an infringement of any copyright, trademark, or patent, the Contractor shall indemnify and hold harmless the College from any cost, expense, damage, or loss incurred in any manner by the College on account of such alleged infringement.

Additional Services

The College may add to the scope of Services or make changes in the scope of Services any services of a similar nature to those specified in the Specifications of this Request for Proposals as mutually agreed to at a price mutually agreed upon.

Nondiscrimination

If the resultant contract exceeds $10,000, during the performance of the contract, the Contractor agrees as follows:

A. The Contractor will not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, religion, color, sex, or national origin, except where religion, sex or national origin is a bona fide occupational qualification reasonably necessary to the normal operation of the Contractor.

The Contractor agrees to post in conspicuous places, available to employees and applicants for employment, notices setting forth the provisions of this non-discrimination clause.

B. The Contractor, in all solicitations or advertisements for employees placed by or on behalf of the

Contractor, will state that such Contractor is an equal opportunity employer.

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C. Notices, advertisements, and solicitations placed in accordance with federal law, rules or regulation shall be deemed sufficient for the purpose of meeting the requirements of this section.

D. The Contractor will include the provisions of the foregoing subparagraphs A, B and C in every subcontract or purchase order of over $10,000, so that the provisions will be binding upon each subcontractor or supplier.

Precedence Of Documents

Unless otherwise noted, the precedence of documents shall be as follows: the Contract, the Request for Proposals and the Contractor’s response to the Request for Proposals.

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Section D. SPECIFICATIONS

Project Background

Montgomery County Community College (“College”) is requesting proposals for a hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) solution to refresh and modernize the current data center virtualization infrastructure.

Proposals for lease solutions are requested.

The current server hardware and VMware-based hypervisor environment have reached the end of their optimal lifecycle. The IT department (IT) is interested in a consolidated leasing solution(s) encompassing compute, storage, and virtualization management into a unified centrally managed platform. The proposed solution must ensure high reliability, performance, and efficiency of resources; simplify cluster and VM deployment, provisioning, and IT management operations; reduce complexity and costs; maintain a strong security posture; streamline lifecycle management (from deployment through updates and hardware refresh) and provide a clear path for future growth and upgrades.

Importantly, the College values flexibility for future needs. Solutions that can optionally incorporate external storage or offer disaggregated scaling (separate addition of compute vs. storage) will be viewed favorably, but these are not strict requirements. For example, if the proposed platform can integrate with our existing Pure Storage SAN for additional capacity or allows adding storage-heavy nodes to increase storage without proportional compute, please highlight these features as optional capabilities. However, proposals will not be disqualified if they achieve scaling primarily by adding identical platform nodes. The overriding requirement is a dependable, efficient HCI platform that meets IT’s core needs out-of-the-box, with any extra flexibility considered a bonus.

Technical Requirements

The proposal must meet or exceed the following core technical requirements:

• Capacity & Scale: Configuration and cost for a single HCI cluster supporting approximately 80 virtual machines and at least 30 TB of usable storage capacity. This ensures the solution can host our current workloads with room for growth. (A VM inventory output with current host hardware and VM configurations is available on request to aid in planning.)

• Hardware Based Security: Server Hardware must be configured with TPM 2.0 chips/modules.

• High Availability: The cluster must tolerate at minimum an N+1 node failure (i.e., one node outage without service disruption). Higher fault tolerance (N+2, etc.) is welcome to improve availability.

• Backup & Recovery Integration: Native interoperability with Veeam Backup & Replication is required for our data protection strategy. The solution must support Veeam’s APIs to perform VM backup and restore operations seamlessly.

• Hypervisor & Migration: The RFP is hypervisor-agnostic – vendors may propose VMware or an alternative hypervisor platform. If a non-VMware hypervisor is proposed, a clear migration path from our existing VMware environment must be provided. The vendor should specify tools or services to migrate VMware VMs to the new platform with minimal downtime.

• Lifecycle Management: The solution must include robust lifecycle management capabilities for both hardware and software. This includes easy processes for hardware component refresh over time and software/firmware upgrades (hypervisor updates, BIOS/firmware updates, management

D-2 software updates, etc.) with minimal disruption. The vendor should have a proven track record of regular updates and a roadmap for future software versions to keep the system current.

• Security & Compliance: The infrastructure must support modern security practices. While no specific certification is required, the system should provide features like role-based access control, data encryption (for data at rest and in transit), secure boot, audit logging and SIEM Integration, and other controls to protect data and ensure confidentiality. Vendors should highlight how their solution’s security architecture aligns with industry’s best practices and any relevant standards (e.g., CIS benchmarks or NIST guidelines).

• Implementation Plan with Costs: Partner/Reseller assistance is required for the initial system configuration, and initial VM migration along with guidance following vendor’s best practices for operations, patches/updates to both hardware and software, and system upgrades. Partners should include an initial small scope of the project outline with estimated timelines for each phase and estimated initial start date of the project after the order is received from the vendor (for example –begin installation no later than 2 weeks after receiving equipment), pricing to install and configure the system and migrate VMs from the current system to the new system. The VM migration phase should include 2 options: 1 – Migrate a minimum of 5 VMs for initial migration procedure process, 2: Migrate all VMs for complete migration process.

All requirements above are considered mandatory. Proposals that cannot meet these minimum technical specs (for example, inability to integrate with Veeam or lack of N+1 redundancy) may be disqualified from consideration.

Feature Requirements

The solution must provide a comprehensive set of features in several key areas. The table below summarizes the required features by category; the vendor’s proposed solution should support all. If a feature is missing or not supported, the solution may still be considered but the evaluation category for “Technical and Feature Compliance” (see Evaluation Criteria) will be rated less favorably.

Simplicity and Performance

• Licensing Model - Cost-effective pricing to include only features necessary to support the solution requirements; License cost for a 5-year term is recommended

• Minimal Server Footprint - Consolidated hypervisor, server, and storage platform in one solution

• Operational Efficiency - Efficient, seamless functionality of host hardware and platform software to sustain peak performance of running VMs

• Reliability – Predictable low latency and sustained high throughput delivering uniform high responsiveness of VM services

• Unified Management - Minimize user interfaces for managing the entire solution (VMs, Cluster, Hosts, Storage, Networking)

• Full-stack Lifecycle Management – Integrated, streamlined procedure to manage software and hardware updates/upgrades for the hypervisor, OS, servers, and storage

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• Non-Disruptive Updates - Ability to apply hardware and software patches/updates to hypervisor and cluster/host resources without VM downtime

• Health Monitoring and Self-Healing - Continuous health monitoring of cluster resources (VMs, Hosts, Storage, Networking) with alerts and automated remediation for common issues

Cluster and VM Availability and Management

• Cluster High Availability - Cluster can withstand at least one node failure without losing access to VMs (N+1 fault tolerance)

• VM High Availability - Automated failover of VMs to another host in case of node failure with minimal downtime

• Provisioning and Automation of VM Deployments – Support for VM templates and streamlined VM deployment options

• Dynamic Workloads - Distributed and automated VM workload placement within a cluster

• Snapshot Management - Efficient use of host resources and disk space for VM snapshots

• VM hardware Management - Add/remove VM hardware and resize CPU, memory, and storage on existing VMs without the need to deploy a new VM

• VM Live Migration - Live migration of running VMs between nodes with zero downtime

• VM Live Storage Migration (if solution supports multiple datastores/containers/storage tiers) -

Storage live migration of running VMs between datastores with zero downtime

• Security and Hardening – Native capability and integrated support to secure the platform configuration and attack surface

• Authentication – Role based Access Control Integrated with for Active Directory Authentication

• Dashboards – Centralized Management of Cluster Resource Health and resource allocation

Scalability

• Scale-Out Expansion - System automatically integrates new nodes into the cluster with minimal configuration

• Non-Disruptive Scaling - New nodes or hardware upgrades can be added with no downtime to existing workloads

• Additional Capacity - Ability to increase compute and storage independently

• Cluster size - Support less than three hosts and scale to at least eight hosts in a cluster

Inoperability and Compatibility

• Interoperability with Veeam Backup and Replication

• Compatibility with external SAN - Pure Storage

• Compatible VM migration tools - Simplified, clear migration procedure from current VMWare environment minimizing VM downtime

• Compatibility with Open Virtualization Format (OVF) – Support for OVF packages/images for VM deployment

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Hardware Management

• Driver Compatibility - Ensure that the hypervisor is running on an approved driver stack for the hardware and provide guidance or packages to keep those drivers updated (for example, using server vendor’s driver bundles)

• Firmware and Driver Updates - Manage and update server firmware (BIOS, RAID controller, NIC, etc.) and hypervisor drivers in a coordinated way through one management interface

• Physical Server Out-of-Band Support: Utilities/Tools for server management such as BMC (baseboard management controllers) - IPMI, iDRAC, iLO, etc.

• Logging and Diagnostics - Centralized logging for hardware events and tools to collect diagnostic info from all nodes

Support

• Simplified Access to Downloads, Configuration Guides, and Support Articles

• 24 hours/ 7-days per week hardware and software support with minimum next business day (NBD) delivery for parts

• Escalated access to support technician for service issues (critical, high, low/informational)

• Availability and access to partners for support upon request to manage critical outages and to assist with major system configuration changes or upgrades

• Maturity of Solution – Must have released at least a few major versions of the product, and adoption must be more than 100 customers

Feature Questionnaire Detailed Solution Features, and Pricing

To thoroughly evaluate the capabilities of each proposed leasing solution, the RFP includes a Feature Requirements Questionnaire. Vendors must provide detailed explanations of how each submitted solution addresses each of the features and capabilities outlined below. These features are derived from our “Hyperconverged Features” framework and reflect the breadth of functionality expected in a modern HCI platform. For each item, the vendor should explain the configuration, process, or technology in their solution that delivers the feature. Vendors should clearly indicate compliance with each item and describe any value-add or exceeding of requirements (e.g., support for larger cluster sizes, extra fault tolerance, etc.)

Instructions: In response to your proposal, use the structure below to ensure all points are addressed.

Please record your responses in the spreadsheet titled Exhibit 1- “Features Explanation" in a point-by-point format with each row corresponding to bullet covering the respective item so it’s clear that each feature is discussed. If any feature is not supported by your solution(s), explicitly state that and if possible, suggest workarounds or roadmap plans. The thoroughness and clarity of this Features Questionnaire sections will heavily influence the evaluation of your proposal, as it demonstrates the solution’s capabilities in detail.

Architecture Platform:

• Hypervisor Platform & Model: Identify the hypervisor software (KVM, AVH, VMWare, etc.). Include the manufacturer of both the software and the hardware.

D-5

• Overall Solution Architecture: Explain how the system Integrates compute, storage, and networking (converged vs. loosely coupled components).

• Storage Architecture: Explain the total usable storage in the proposed configuration (should meet 30 TB usable minimum for native operations which does not include space for snapshots, replication, etc.). Explain how storage is used for any caching tiers, datastores, or containers and how storage is aggregated across nodes. Include any overhead from features like duplication and compression if they affect usable capacity.

• Maturity of the Solution: Explain the years in market, version stability (how many major releases), and customer adoption (number of customers using the solution).

• Customer References: Vendor will provide at least two customer references. If available, Higher Education customer references should be provided.

Support and Licensing Model:

• Support Model: Outline the support structure for the solution.

o What support tiers and response times are available (24/7 support 1 hour response; on-site hardware replacement options – Next Business Day, 4 or 8 hours, etc.)?

o Are support cases handled directly by the vendor via a partner/reseller?

o Clarify the process for getting support for hardware issues vs. software issues (e.g., is it a unified support line for all components?).

o List the options for escalated access to support technician for service issues (critical, high, low/informational ticking queues)

• Knowledge Resources: The RFP values vendors with strong documentation, ease of locating and access to resources, and an active user community, as this can assist our IT staff in troubleshooting and learning.

o Describe access to vendor knowledge bases/support articles, configuration guides.

o Is there an active community forum/Q&A portal?

o How does the vendor provide access to downloads?

o IT admins need to ensure that resources are easy to locate within the portal(s) which may necessitate creating an account for us to review access to the portal, navigation, and discovery of resources. We may reach out to discuss access after reviewing proposals. Can portal access be granted before purchase?

• Licensing Structure: Describe the hardware and software licensing including initial purchase and support maintenance term (e.g., are compute, storage, hypervisor, and management software licenses bundled or separate? Perpetual or subscription?). Clarify any operating system licensing considerations.

o License Model: Describe the licensing model (Perpetual or subscription). Are software and hardware licensing bundled or separate?

o Software License: Provide details of the software license. Include the term, support level, and costs.

o Hardware License: Provide details of the software license. Include the term, support level, and costs if separate than software license.

D-6

Hardware Specifications

• Node/Server Hardware Profile: Provide details of the number of hardware nodes proposed with itemized costs.

o Make & Model: server/appliance hardware.

o CPU: per node (processor model, speed, core count).

o Memory: per node (RAM capacity).

o TPM Module: manufacturer and model o Network Interfaces: type and number of NICs per node, speeds, and port counts. Specify if transceivers are included in the cost o Storage Devices: Type, size, and number of drives (SSD, NVMe, HDD) and quantity per node.

• Network Interface Configuration: Explain how the network Interfaces are used for management and network connectivity to infrastructure switches. Does the solution include additional switches for connectivity between nodes or outbound connections?

• Hardware Lifecycle: Provide guaranteed support life (EOL/EOS dates) for the hardware and typical lifecycle (e.g., 5-year support for hardware). This ensures we understand how long the proposed hardware will be supported before refresh is needed. Does the architecture support mixed node types or future hardware upgrades?

Performance and Resiliency

• VM Data Redundancy: Describe how VMs’ configuration files and data is replicated across nodes for fault tolerance. Include how many copies of a VM are stored on each host in the cluster.

• Cluster and VM Availability: What is the proposed tolerance for simultaneous node failures in a cluster (N+1 tolerance is required at a minimum). How is the solution configured to support high availability in the event of a failed node. Include how VMs remain available (are they restarted on another host without manual intervention and how is the VM restart activity controlled)?

• Data Redundancy: the method of data protection within the cluster (e.g., RF2/RF3 replication, RAID level, erasure coding). Explain how the system handles a disk failure and continues to operate (data rebuild processes, etc.). How many disks can a node lose before data loss is incurred?

Management & Operations:

• Operational Management Interfaces: Describe the management interfaces provided for operating the cluster (e.g., web-based “single pane of glass” console with dashboards for VMs, hosts, storage, and networking management). Detail how daily operations (provisioning VMs, monitoring performance, configuring network/storage, etc.) are performed through unified interfaces or if they use multiple interfaces and tools.

• Hardware Management Interfaces – Describe the interfaces available for managing hardware for OS installation/configuration, firmware, driver updates. Include utilities/tools for out-of-band server management such as BMC (baseboard management controllers) - IPMI, iDRAC, iLO, etc.

• Automation & Provisioning: Are their APIs supported or Infrastructure-as-Code to streamline VM deployment or cluster management operations (e.g., deploying additional VM storage pools/datastores, or virtual networks)?

D-7

• Update Management: Detail the process for updating hardware firmware, drivers, OS/hypervisor, and management software in the cluster.

o Does the solution provide full-stack lifecycle management to apply updates across the stack (including BIOS, drivers, hypervisor patches) in a coordinated way?

o Can updates be applied non-disruptively (with zero or minimal downtime) by rolling through nodes one at a time?

o Outline how the system handles cluster-wide upgrades and whether it automates compatibility checks, etc.

o How often are Updates/Patches (major and minor) released by the vendor for the proposed solution?

• Monitoring & Reporting: Describe built-in tools for infrastructure monitoring, alerts, and reporting. How are issues detected (e.g., failed disk, memory module, or node) and what automated alerting capabilities exist?

Scalability:

• Cluster Size: Specify the minimum and maximum cluster size (number of nodes) supported.

• Compute and Storage: Describe how the solution scales compute and storage? Can compute and

Storage scale independently – e.g., can add storage capacity without adding compute nodes or vice versa? Include any limits on independent scaling (such as max number of storage/compute hosts in a cluster). Does the system support adding additional storage drives to existing hosts for storage scale-out.

• GPU hardware support: Are GPUs supported in the server nodes and available for VMs? Can the system be scaled by adding GPU Nodes (what are the limitations?) Can GPUs be added to Existing Nodes (what are the limitations?)

• External Storage Integration: Support for integrating external SAN/NAS storage into the Cluster.

Specifically, the College has a Pure Storage Flash Array that we may want to continue using for certain workloads or for additional capacity beyond the solution’s internal storage. An ideal (optional) feature would be the ability for the HCI cluster to access external LUNs or volumes as part of its datastore pool or as a secondary storage tier. For instance, some HCI solutions allow connecting a SAN to present storage to the hypervisor (maybe for datastores, backup, archive, or overflow use). If your solution supports this, outline the use cases and any performance or management considerations. This is not a requirement; it’s simply about future flexibility to leverage existing investments in storage.

Virtualization & VM Management:

• Supported Guest OS: List of which guest operating systems are officially supported on the platform

(Windows, Linux distributions, etc.). Include any limitations (if any) compared to standard hypervisors like VMware vSphere.

• VM Operations: Explain how typical VM operations are handled:

o Provisioning VMs: support for templates, and cloning features.

o Compatibility with Open Virtualization Format (OVF): Confirm support for OVF packages/images for VM deployment.

D-8 o Deprovisioning VMs: Describe the process for deleting a VM. Are there options for one-click deletion of all VM resources? Can VM configuration data and disks deleted separately?

o Adjusting VM Resources: Describe the process to add/remove VM virtual hardware, and resizing VMs CPU, RAM or storage.

o VM Snapshot Support and Management: Describe the process for creating and reverting snapshots and any built-in snapshot limitations (max/min number of snapshots). Are there additional benefits of using snapshots (e.g., replication, backup software can leverage)?

How is disk space allocated for snapshots…