Addendum NO. 01 - Pages 1-7.pdf

Office of State Procurement State of Louisiana

Division of Administration

JEFF LANDRY

GOVERNOR

TAYLOR F. BARRAS

COMMISSIONER OF ADMINISTRATION

July 11, 2024

ADDENDUM NO. 1

Your reference is directed to RFx No. 3000022827 for the Invitation to Bid (ITB) for the Division of Administration (DOA) – Office of Technology Services (OTS) to furnish Ethernet Connections, which is currently scheduled to open at 10:00 a.m. (CT) on July 25, 2024.

The following changes are to be made to the referenced solicitation:

Section 3.2.5 – NETWORK INTERFACE, revised per the attached revised page 13.

Section 5.4.1 – DETERMINATION OF SUCCESSFUL BIDDER, revised per the attached revised page 19.

The Vendor’s written inquiries received by the inquiry deadline date of June 20, 2024 and the State’s responses are included on the attached page numbers 3 – 5.

All else remains as on the original Invitation to Bid.

THIS ADDENDUM IS HEREBY OFFICIALLY MADE A PART OF THE REFERENCED

SOLICITATION.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: If you have already submitted your bid and this Addendum does not cause you to revise your bid, you should acknowledge receipt of this Addendum by identifying your business name and by signing where indicated. You may return this Acknowledgement by mail, by hand delivery, or courier to: Office of State Procurement, 1201 N. 3rd Street, Claiborne Building- Ste.

2-160, Baton Rouge, LA 70802, or by fax to: (225) 342- 9756. The State reserves the right to request a completed Acknowledgement at any time. Failure to execute an acknowledgement shall not relieve the bidder from complying with the terms of its bid.

Addendum Acknowledged/No changes:

For: ___________________ By: _________________________

REVISION: If you have already submitted your bid and this Addendum requires you to revise your bid, you must indicate any change(s) below, identify your business name and sign where shown.

Revisions shall be delivered prior to bid opening by mail, by hand delivery or courier to: Office of State Procurement, 1201 N. 3rd Street, Claiborne Building- Ste. 2-160, Baton Rouge, LA 70802, and indicate the RFx number and the bid opening date and time on the outside of the envelope for proper identification, or by fax to: (225) 342-9756. Electronic transmissions other than by fax are not being accepted at this time.

Revisions received after bid opening shall not be considered and you shall be held to your original bid.

Revision:

For: By:

By: Krystal Frank State Procurement Analyst

Telephone No. 225-342-4672 Email: krystal.frank@la.gov

Written Inquiries Ethernet Connections

Solicitation No. 3000022827 File Number: T 92949

Vendor’s Inquiry #1:

Section 6.0, Contractual Terms and Conditions:

May Proposers submit exceptions to the RFP’s terms and conditions, and/or provide supplemental terms and conditions for the State’s consideration in order to align the final contract with the Proposer’s solution?

State’s Response #1:

The State will review/consider exceptions requested of the Vendor. However, the Vendor should note that some terms and conditions are non-negotiable and may result in the Vendor’s bid being deemed administratively or technically flawed.

Vendor’s Inquiry #2:

Section 1.1 says “the State intends to make one (1), two (2), three (3), or four (4) awards on a per route basis.” And, Section 5.2.2 states “Cost shall be the sole determining factor and shall carry a weight of 100%. And, Section 5.4.1 states “A recommendation for award may be made for the lowest responsive, responsible Bidder meeting all mandatory administrative and technical requirements of this bid.”

Therefore, if the State makes multiple awards for a given route, will the State rank the awardees based on cost for the route provided in the RFP and give the "Primary" awardee right of first refusal before considering the 2nd or 3rd awardee?

State’s Response #2:

No awardee will be designated as “primary” nor given the right of first refusal. See revision to Section

5.4.1 in this Addendum NO. 1.

Vendor’s Inquiry #3:

Section 3.2.1 and 3.2.2 states “The Bidder may choose to bid on any of the routes listed below, and Section 2 4.1.1 says “The Bidder shall quote one-time installation rate and monthly rate for all speeds for each route it chooses to bid.”

Please confirm our understanding that these requirements mean a bidder does not have to bid on all routes and can select any combination of routes they want. However, for each route that is selected, the Bidder MUST provide a quote for all required bandwidths on that route. Therefore, if a bidder cannot provide a bid for all required bandwidths on a given route, then they cannot bid on that route, or the incomplete bid for the given route will not be considered for award.

State’s Response #3:

That is correct. The Bidder may choose to bid any of the routes listed in Sections 3.2.1 and 3.2.2, however, the Bidder must quote one-time installation rate and monthly rate for all required speeds for each route it chooses to bid.

Vendor’s Inquiry #4:

Section 3.2.5 defines the required Network Interface Hanoff’s and lists 100Base-FX as a required interface handoff.

Because the 100Base-FX is no longer universally available from most manufactures, can the section be modified to allow for more flexibility instead of making these adaptor types mandatory?

State’s Response #4:

See revision to Section 3.2.5 in this Addendum NO. 1.

Vendor’s Inquiry #5:

Section 6.2.3 states “written orders for state agencies shall be issued to OTS”

Can you describe in more detail how the orders for services under this award will be issued and what is meant by “written Orders?” Will the state sign Vendor Order documents or will the “written order” be in the form of a Purchase Order issued by the state to the vendor for the services being requested?

State’s Response #5:

The Contractor will receive an email from an OTS ordering technician. The email shall include a generated order document from the State’s Telecommunications Expense Management (TEM) system and/or additional documents detailing the requested work and authorizing the Contractor to proceed. The documents will include a State issued service order number, known as Port Order Number (PON). No, The State will not sign a vendor's order documents.

Vendor’s Inquiry #6:

Section 3.2.3: Please provide coordinates for route “SOTD LA 1 Toll Bridge, 24173 LA 1, Leeville, LA 70357.”

State’s Response #6:

The coordinates are: 29°15'30.7"N 90°13'00.7"W

Vendor’s Inquiry #7:

Section 6.4.6: Are subcontractor certificates required with bid submission or once awarded when used with a specific project.

State’s Response #7:

No, Subcontractor insurance certificates are not required to be provided with the bid submission. The Insurance Certificates will be required upon award of the bid.

Vendor’s Inquiry #8:

Section 2.6: Is there another way to setup a site visit? We have not been able to reach anyone at the contact and number provided.

State’s Response #8:

Clifton Riley remains available for site visits.

Vendor’s Inquiry #9:

Section 6.2.1: Would the state be willing to enter into a 60-month contract without any extensions?

State’s Response #9:

No, the State will not consider entering into a 60-month contract without any extensions.

Attachment A – Scope and Specifications

Latency of 35 ms or less RTT Jitter of 25 ms or less Support Minimum Ethernet frame size of 1500 bytes unfragmented

3.2.4 EQUIPMENT

The Contractor shall provide all equipment necessary to fulfill its contractual obligations.

3.2.5 NETWORK INTERFACE

The Bidder shall provide diverse customer network interface handoff capabilities as required by the State, including, but not necessarily limited to, 1000Base-LX, 1000Base-SX, 100Base-FX, 100Base-TX, 10GBase-SR, and 10GBase-LR.

3.2.6 HELP DESK SERVICES

The Contractor shall provide 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year help desk services including, but not limited to, general technical assistance on customer ordering processing, customer trouble reporting, trouble ticket tracking, and other service related technical support.

All help desk services shall be based within the United States.

3.2.7 NETWORK MONITORING AND REPORTING

The Contractor shall provide 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year monitoring services including, but not limited to, service interruptions and network performances, availability, latency, packet loss, and jitter.

3.2.8 ADDITIONAL PROVISIONING PROCESSES

The Contractor shall provide processes to accommodate moves, service configuration changes, and order expedites which may be used by the State in the utilization of the resultant contract.

3.3 EQUIPMENT/SERVICE PROVISION REQUIREMENTS

3.3.1 DELIVERY

See Section 3.3.2.2, Implementation Plan, for delivery requirements.

3.3.2 IMPLEMENTATION

3.3.2.1 INTERFACE WITH COMMON CARRIER

The Contractor shall be responsible for all arrangements to interconnect the service proposed to the Common Carrier system and provide the customer demarc (UNI) interface.

The Contractor shall coordinate all such arrangements with the OTS Project Manager.

[revised 7/11/2024]

ITB Ethernet Connections Solicitation #3000022827 Addendum NO. 1

Attachment A – Scope and Specifications

5.4.1

5.4.2

5.5

6.0

6.1

6.1.1

6.1.2

6.1.3

6.1.4

DETERMINATION OF SUCCESSFUL BIDDER

A recommendation for award may be made for the lowest responsive, responsible Bidder meeting all mandatory administrative and technical requirements of this Bid. OTS reserves the right to award up to an additional three (3) contracts to the second, third, and fourth lowest responsive, responsible bidders meeting all mandatory administrative and technical requirements of this bid

WRITTEN RECOMMENDATION FOR AWARD

When OTS has completed the evaluation and a successful Bidder(s) has been determined, a written recommendation for award shall be forwarded to the Office of State Procurement for review.

AWARD

Upon review and approval of OTS’s recommendation for award, the Office of State Procurement (OSP) will issue a “Notice of Award” to the apparent successful Bidder(s).

CONTRACTUAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS

GENERAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS

TAXES

Bidders should be aware that any taxes levied upon the selected Bidder or their equipment shall be paid in accordance with current tax laws in effect at the time of the purchase by the State. Selected Bidders shall pay all other taxes or assessments, however designated, imposed or levied in connection with the Contract and shall be solely responsible for remitting such taxes or assessments to the appropriate taxing or collection agency.

COMPLIANCE WITH LAWS, REGULATIONS, CODES, AND ORDINANCES

The selected Bidder shall comply with all applicable provisions of federal and state statutes, laws, and regulations; parish and city codes or ordinances, specifically the National Electrical Code, Part 68 of the Federal Communications Commission's Rules and Regulations, tariffs or the Louisiana Public Service Commission, and all Louisiana laws and regulations regarding procurement including La. R.S. 37:2163. The selected Bidder shall be responsible for all licenses, permits, and inspection fees required.

CONTRACTOR RESPONSIBILITIES

The Contractor assumes responsibility for all items and/or services offered in their bid response whether or not the Contractor produces or provides them. Further, the State shall consider the Contractor to be the sole point of contact with regard to contractual matters, including payment of any and all charges resulting from the Contract.

GOVERNING LAW

All activities associated with this ITB and eventual Contract shall be interpreted under Louisiana Law, including but not limited to La. R.S. 39:1551-1736 (Louisiana Procurement Code) and La. R.S. 39:1751-1755 (Telecommunications Procurement Code), purchasing rules and regulations; executive orders; standard terms and conditions; special terms and

[revised 7/11/2024] ITB Ethernet Connections Solicitation #3000022827 Addendum NO. 1