Attachment A - Terms and Conditions - RFI 758 2300000006.pdf

COMMONWEALTH OF KENTUCKY

Request for Information (RFI)

For

PRINTING SERVICES

Solicitation # RFI - 758 – 2300000006

Date of Solicitation Release: June 13, 2023

Issued by The Finance and Administration Cabinet

On Behalf Of Commonwealth Office of Technology (COT)

Commonwealth Buyer:

Holly McDonald, KCPM

Statewide Procurement Analyst II

COMMONWEALTH OF KENTUCKY

FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION CABINET

Office of Procurement Services

200 Mero Street, 5th Fl

FRANKFORT KY 40622

(502) 564-6523 Holly.McDonald@ky.gov

I. Introduction The Commonwealth of Kentucky, Commonwealth Office of Technology (COT) is seeking information from qualified vendors on providing Printing Services. COT, an agency located in the Finance and Administration Cabinet, provides information technology solutions and support to the Commonwealth executive cabinets. COT’s mission is to support agency partners in the fulfillment of the agencies’ core mission by providing technology leadership, services, and solutions in a secure, transparent, and fiscally responsible manner.

COT is seeking to leverage available technologies to enhance the efficiency, customer service, and availability of the services offered by the agency.

mailto:Holly.McDonald@ky.gov

This RFI contains preliminary information to serve as a platform for reaction and discussion with the vendor community. The requirements in this RFI are not final and do not represent what may be contained in a Request for Proposal (RFP) or Request to Bid (RFB). This issuance does not constitute a commitment to issue a bid or award a contract or to pay any costs incurred in preparation of a response to this request. The Commonwealth requires all responding vendors to abstain from providing any quotes or bids in response to this RFI.

The Commonwealth is requesting information from qualified vendors that shows their capability in providing printing services in two (2) distinct areas:

1.) Managed services for print production 2.) Print equipment available for lease under Commonwealth management

Both areas must be compliant with the Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS) Publication 1075 protections for sensitive data. All references to print in this document are references to high volume variable line data print. The vendor should discuss any other items that might be of importance to the Commonwealth. While preparing a response, the vendor should keep in mind that the Commonwealth is only interested in gathering information, comments, and suggestions regarding the acquisition and delivery of Printing Services for the potential development of an RFP or RFB, rather than information concerning specific items to be included in a contract. Please abstain from specific pricing or quotes.

IA. Background and Current Environment The COT, Printing Services Branch, utilizes three (3) Xerox production devices to meet static output volumes between four to six (6) million impressions per month.

The volume of print is produced within deadlines ranging from daily to weekly print jobs, dependent upon customer expectations. Some print windows are variable and based upon special print requests outside of standard monthly volume. The majority of the output is produced on legal stock with some customer demand for letter, cardstock, and labels.

COT currently uses the Xerox Brenva, Baltoro, and Nuvera solution to meet customer needs. The Brenva contract term is from January 1, 2019 through December 31, 2023. The Baltoro and Nuvera contract term is from December 1, 2020 through November 30, 2025. The Brenva and Baltoro devices average five thousand images per hour each generating duplex legal dimension output. The Nuvera, a black and white toner device, is used primarily for simplex letter output.

The Nuvera generates 1,250 images of duplex legal dimension output per hour.

Print volume increases occur quarterly and at the end of the calendar year, generally associated with healthcare renewal processes and tax reporting. COT processes a small amount of Federal data (FTI) that requires specific electronic and physical security measures to be in place as detailed in IRS Document 1075.

https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p1075.pdf

II. RFI Process This RFI is being issued by the Finance and Administration Cabinet on behalf of the Commonwealth Office of Technology (COT).

The Commonwealth is seeking your input through a written response.

Written Responses and Inquiries All responses, questions and inquiries concerning this RFI should be directed in writing to the Commonwealth Buyer of record for this RFI.

Holly A. McDonald, KCPM Statewide Procurement Analyst II

COMMONWEALTH OF KENTUCKY

FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION CABINET

Office of Procurement Services

(502) 564-6523

Holly.McDonald@ky.gov

From the issue date of this RFI until the responses are due, vendors shall not individually communicate with any Commonwealth staff concerning this RFI except as referenced above.

Interested parties are encouraged to submit any questions in writing to the buyer of record given above on Attachment B, Vendor Question Form. Written questions are due on June 22, 2023 at 12:00PM ET. The Commonwealth will respond to questions in an addendum to the RFI on July 7, 2023.

RFI responses are due 3:30PM ET on July 21, 2023.

RFI responses must be submitted online.

Proposal information MUST be completed online. Response must contain all required information for the Solicitation. All bidders MUST be registered in the Commonwealth eProcurement System via the Vendor Self Service System at https://vss.ky.gov

Allow 24 – 48 hours to complete Vendor Registration. Vendors must be logged in to their Vendor Self Service (VSS) account in order to submit a response. Registrations completed the day of bid closing must be completed by the Vendor in the VSS portal. The Customer Resource Center is not able to complete registrations and activate accounts on the same day. Closing dates will not be extended for Vendors not registered by the date/time of the bid closing.

Vendor Self Service Registration Guides are provided at https://vss.ky.gov mailto:Holly.McDonald@ky.gov https://vss.ky.gov/ https://vss.ky.gov/

All bidders are cautioned to begin their electronic submission in sufficient time to complete before the closing date and time. Delays due to technical difficulties or document upload impediments shall not be justification for acceptance of a late bid or proposal. Vendor attention to this advisory is encouraged. If you need assistance, please contact the Customer Resource Center (CRC) by email at Finance.CRCGroup@ky.gov or phone 502-564-9641 or toll-free 877-973-HELP (4357).

Attachments may not exceed 65,000 KB.

Proposals submitted online must be in an “Accepted” status and shall be assigned a date and time stamp from the eProcurement system at the time of final acceptance and formal submission by the vendor. The system will not allow submission of an online proposal after the published date and time for closing.

Refer to Attachment C – Online Bid Response Instructions, for how to respond through the Kentucky Vendor Self Service Website.

III. General Requirements The vendor should address the following issues “at a minimum” in the RFI response: The vendor should feel free to discuss any other items that might be of importance to the Commonwealth that will provide information concerning.

1) Provisioning of Vendor Managed Printing Services

a) Demonstrate PUB1075 compliance for sensitive data protections

b) Demonstrate vendor capability to print COT's average monthly volume of 6 million print images comprised of variable line data print

c) Demonstrate the ability to complete additional print workload (up to 2 million images of variable line print) beyond the monthly average in a timely manner on customer request

d) Demonstrate the ability to create print forms (mainframe overlays) designed to COT's agency customer specifications

• Variable specs; color, black & white, letter, legal, portrait, landscape, card stock, and labels

e) Demonstrate capability to connect back to COT network for data communications over secure VPN with protections compliant with PUB1075

f) Demonstrate the staffing levels in place for 24/7/365 print production

g) Service Level Agreements (SLAs). Please supply details regarding SLAs and uptime.

• Provide documentation for the process of customer escalation

h) Provide an estimated monthly range of cost (DO NOT PROVIDE

ACTUALLY PRICING OR A QUOTE)

mailto:Finance.CRCGroup@ky.gov

2) Provision of Specific Models of Printing Equipment Available for Lease

a) Demonstrate printing equipment marketed by vendor that is capable of printing COT’s monthly volume of 6 million print images average.

• Up time capable of printing this volume.

• Show the ability to complete additional print workload (up to 2 million images of variable line print) beyond the monthly average in a timely manner on customer request.

b) Demonstrate that the vendor’s solutions adhere to the following:

• The Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS) Publication 1075, compliance.

• US Department of Health and Human Services’ Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA), compliance.

• National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) 800-53 framework, compliance.

3) General Information

a) Firm information

1) Name of company

2) Address/Telephone Number

3) Contact Person

4) Brief History of company

5) Length of Time in Business

6) Firm Brochures, Literature if available

7) Staffing methodology and configurations

b) Experience with service or products to be provided for:

• Managed services for print that will meet COT’s monthly print volume (detailed above).

c) What benefits should the Commonwealth expect from the following:

• Vendor managed services for high volume print

• A lease of printing equipment for high volume print

d) What information should the Commonwealth seek to determine if the following benefits will be achieved by the solution:

1) Cost effective solution for managed services for high volume printing.

• Provide a monthly range of estimated costs. Do not provide specific pricing or quotes.

2) Cost effective solution for lease of printing equipment capable of meeting COT’s monthly volume (detailed above).

• Provide a monthly range of estimated costs. Do not provide specific pricing or quotes.

e) How should the Commonwealth structure the RFP or RFB to ensure the Respondents and the Commonwealth understand what is required?

f) What kind of statistics, documentation, or information will be necessary for the Commonwealth to furnish to the successful Respondent? What will be the impact on the solution if some or all of this information is not readily available or not available?

g) What should the criteria be in the RFP or RFB for the Commonwealth to evaluate a successful bid? What guarantees, if any, should a Respondent be prepared to give on its final product?

h) What kind of experience should be required of Respondents if the Commonwealth issues an RFP or RFB?

i) What kind of reference requests would be helpful to the Commonwealth in understanding the financial condition and ability of the Respondents?

j) What timeframe should be envisioned for contract implementation for the solution?

k) What type of, and how many, personnel should the Commonwealth be expected to provide to implement and support the system?

l) What kind of information and/or reports should the Commonwealth expect to receive during the term of the system?

m) How should the evaluation of potential RFP or RFB responses be conducted?

n) How long would it take for a Respondent to prepare a response for a solution of this nature?

o) Certifications and Standards earned and needed for this RFI

p) What are the SLAs for the solution described and what are the type of penalties generally observed in the industry of any SLA failures?

IV. Response Format The purpose of this section is to describe the format the vendors should use in responding to this RFI. The Commonwealth is very interested in your comments, ideas and opinions concerning the most cost effective and efficient methods for acquiring the system.

The Sections that should be included in your response to the RFI are:

Transmittal Letter The transmittal letter should be in the form of a standard business letter and should be signed by an individual authorized to bind the vendor. It should note if any proprietary information has been included and the name, address, phone number, fax number and E-mail address of the vendor’s contact.

Response Itself The Response should address the specific questions raised above, as well as give the requested information on the Respondent’s firm. In addition, please feel free to make any comments, observations, or suggestions that may assist the Commonwealth in its decision to draft a RFP or RFB, and the contract terms that may result from the RFP or RFB.

Vendor Response and Public Inspection The Commonwealth shall not disclose any portions of the proposals prior to contract award to anyone outside the Commonwealth, representatives of the agency for whose benefit the contract is proposed, representatives of the Federal

Government, if required, and the members of the evaluation committees. After a contract is awarded in whole or in part, the Commonwealth shall have the right to duplicate, use, or disclose all proposal data submitted by Vendors in response to this RFI as a matter of public record.

Any and all documents submitted by a Vendor in response to the RFI shall be available for public inspection after contract award. No such documents shall be exempt from disclosure under the Kentucky Open Records Act regardless of the vendor’s designation of the information contained therein as proprietary, confidential, or otherwise. Therefore, the Commonwealth will not redact or withhold any documents submitted in response to the RFI if a request to inspect these records is made.

The Commonwealth of Kentucky shall have the right to use all system ideas, or adaptations of those ideas, contained in any proposal received in response to this RFI. Selection or rejections of the proposal will not affect this right.

V. Additional Information Responses may be subject to Kentucky Open Records Law pursuant to the provisions of KRS 61.870 et. seq.

ATTACHMENTS:

Attachment A – This RFI Document Attachment B – Vendors’ Written Questions Form Attachment C – Online Bid Response Instructions