Attachment H - Commonwealth's Response to Vendors' Written Question - RFP 758 2400000439.xlsx
XLSX spreadsheet 25 KB Posted
- Attached to
- Microsoft Support Services RFP REBID
- Solicitation number
- RFP 758 2400000439 4
- Issued by
- Kentucky
About this file
This document is a Commonwealth Response to Vendors' Written Questions for RFP 758 2400000439, issued by the Commonwealth of Kentucky, Office of Technology (COT), regarding Microsoft Support Services. The RFP solicits vendor responses for two service categories: Category 1, which requires hourly rates for Microsoft Support Services, and Category 2, which provides Enterprise Coverage pricing based on customer's Microsoft software ownership and cloud services consumption. Vendors may respond to one or more service offerings, including Microsoft Solutions Partner, Microsoft Consulting Partner, and Microsoft Support Partner services. The RFP encompasses a broad range of Microsoft technologies and platforms, including cloud services, modern work solutions (M365 suite), infrastructure, applications, and legacy products such as BizTalk and Project Server. Vendor responses must demonstrate experience in implementing, supporting, and consulting on these technologies, with particular emphasis on technical support, proactive maintenance, security services, and application support.
Key requirements include that all technical resources must be U.S.-based with no offshore resources permitted, and vendors must utilize up-to-date commercial virus detection software prior to software delivery. Category 2 pricing and scope of work are determined on an individual agency basis through separate quotes and statements of work, rather than through fixed RFP pricing. The current contract serves all state agencies with varying usage levels and consumption patterns; therefore, historical volume data and specific agency needs are not available at the RFP level. The existing Microsoft contract expires October 31, 2024. Vendors responding as Microsoft Solutions Partners or Consulting Partners should be prepared to assist the Commonwealth in transitioning away from end-of-life Microsoft products, while Support Partners must provide ongoing technical support for these legacy systems. The RFP does not specify responses to questions regarding whether this represents an alternative to Unified Support agreements or the extent of managed versus ad hoc support services.
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Sheet1
| Q # | RFP Section / Requirement Number | Document | Document Page Number | Vendor Questions | Commonwealth Response |
| 1 | Attachments C, D, and E | Attachments | NA | Can you please confirm that there were no changes to these attachments from the previous RFP? (Solicitation No. 240000235) | The vendor must read this RFP and all attachments and comply with the requirements. |
| 2 | Section 3.6 Services, Part D (Microsoft Unified Support Services) | Attachment A - Terms and Conditions | 9 | Per the overall instructions in the RFP, it is clear that pricing is only required for Category 1. Based on the language in Section 3.6, can you please confirm that vendors will provide an SOW/quote for Category 2 services on an as needed basis? | See Section 6.9, "Category 2 – Microsoft Support Services – Enterprise Coverage pricing is based on customer’s enterprise coverage of Microsoft software owned and Microsoft cloud services consumed by a customer. Therefore, each using agency must obtain a quote/SOW from the awarded vendor based on their own individual needs and coverage." |
| 3 | 3.5 Experience | Attachment A - Terms and Conditions - RFP 758 2400000439 | Pg. 7-8 | Please confirm whether this is a complete list of all the Microsoft technologies being contemplated by this RFP or if there are additional technologies of which we should be aware. | See Section 3.5, which states "Vendor(s) should have experience implementing, supporting, and/or consulting including (but not limited to):" |
| 4 | General | Attachment A - Terms and Conditions - RFP 758 2400000439 | N/A | If possible, please provide an export of your MSFT dashboard for the last 12 months or the number of hours you used for incident support, proactive support and TAM/CSAM hours purchased. | The current contract is utilized by all state agencies therefore this information is not available. |
| 5 | General | Attachment A - Terms and Conditions - RFP 758 2400000439 | N/A | When is your re-subscription date with MSFT? | The current contract is utilized by all state agencies therefore this information varies however the existing contract expires on October 31, 2024. |
| 6 | Section 2.1 | Attachment A - Terms and Conditions - RFP 758 2400000439 | 5 | Can the State please elaborate more on the difference between the two categories - Category 1 and Category 2. From a scope point of view, it seems like the same scope for both the categories. Is the primary difference that Category 2 is for longer-term SOW engagements? | See Section 6.9, "Category 1 - Microsoft Support Services – Hourly Rate. Category 2 – Microsoft Support Services – Enterprise Coverage pricing is based on customer’s enterprise coverage of Microsoft software owned and Microsoft cloud services consumed by a customer. Therefore, each using agency must obtain a quote/SOW from the awarded vendor based on their own individual needs and coverage." |
| 7 | Section 4.8 | 4.8 No Surreptitious Code Warranty | 13 | Will the commercial virus detection software which is required to detect and remove any viruses from any software prior to delivering it to the Commonwealth be provided by COT during software development, or will the bidder need to provide this tool? | Per Section 4.8, "In addition, vendor will use up-to-date commercial virus detection software to detect and remove any viruses from any software prior to delivering it to the Commonwealth." This is the vendor's responsibility. |
| 8 | NA | Attachment B - Cost Proposal Form - Category 1 - RFP 758 2400000439 | NA | If a bidder is responding to Category 1, does the bidder need to respond to and provide rates for each Category 1 sub-category, such as "Microsoft Solutions Partner", "Microsoft Consulting Partner " and Microsoft Support Partner? Or, can the bidder elect to respond to only one or two of these subcategories? | See Section 3.6, "Vendors shall offer one (1) or more of the following services to be eligible for consideration:" See Section 3.6 for those services, which are the same services listed on Attachment B. |
| 9 | Section 6.9 | Attachment A - Terms and Conditions - RFP 758 2400000439 | page 29 | Can the State elaborate on the statement that "Enterprise Coverage pricing is based on customer’s enterprise coverage of Microsoft software owned and Microsoft cloud services consumed by a customer"? Is pricing for Category 2 work tied to an agency's agreement with Microsoft? Is there already a set services pricing model based on the customer's Microsoft agreement and consumption of software/cloud services that the bidder must adhere to? | See revised Attachment G. |
| 10 | General | ATTACHMENT G- Microsoft Support Services -Enterprise Coverage (CATEGORY 2 REQUIREMENTS) RFP 758 2400000439 | Is there any linkage between the Category 1 Hourly Rates with Category 2 Services? In other words, when responding to a Category 2 SOW would the bidder use Category 1 hourly rates for their cost response? | See Section 6.9, "Category 1 - Microsoft Support Services – Hourly Rate. Category 2 – Microsoft Support Services – Enterprise Coverage pricing is based on customer’s enterprise coverage of Microsoft software owned and Microsoft cloud services consumed by a customer. Therefore, each using agency must obtain a quote/SOW from the awarded vendor based on their own individual needs and coverage." | |
| 11 | General | General | Can the State provide any detail on what volume of services have historically been performed by vendors under the previous COT Microsoft Services contracts? | The current contract is utilized by all state agencies therefore this information varies. | |
| 12 | General | ATTACHMENT G- Microsoft Support Services -Enterprise Coverage (CATEGORY 2 REQUIREMENTS) RFP 758 2400000439 | The services mentioned in Appendix G are mostly services delivered as part of End-to-End Managed Services. Does COT already have these services delivered for other products (like non-Microsoft services, on-premise Infrastructure, Application support etc.)? Is the bidder expected to follow & leverage the existing overarching processes for supporting Microsoft products or can the bidder recommend new processes (new way of working)? | Attachment G outlines Category 2 Requirements. Please comply with all RFP requirements and attachments. | |
| 13 | RFP 758 2400000439-Section 3.5 Experience | Attachment A | PG. 7 | Under this section it lists experience for MSFT technologies. Some of these technologies are beyond end of life or support for MSFT. SMS, BizTalk, Threat Management Gateway. What kind of support would be required on these solutions? MSFT no longer creates updates or would support any bugs that could arise from these products? | The Commonwealth understands that updates are no longer available for any products that are end of life. |
The requirement is that any vendor responding as a Microsoft Support Partner must provide technical support, proactive maintenance, security services, and application support per Attachment A – Section 3.6 Services A.,2.
Vendors responding as a Microsoft Solutions Partner and/or Microsoft Consulting Partner should work with the Commonwealth to transition from end of life Microsoft products effectively.
| 14 | RFP 758 2400000439-Section 3.5 Experience | Attachment A | PG. 7 | For products that are still supported by MSFT, if there are certain workloads the partner has no experience on should we call that out in our response? | Per Section 3.5, "Vendor(s) should have experience implementing, supporting, and/or consulting including (but not limited to):" See Section 5.3, bullet#8. Your response should reflect the areas in which you are responding to. |
| 15 | RFP 758 2400000439-Section 3.5 Experience | Attachment A | PG.7 | Modern work is listed as an area for support experience. What Modern Work aspects need to be covered? Is this the entire M365 suite or something else? | This contract will be utilized by all state agencies therefore this will depend on the using agency's need. |
| 16 | RFP 758 2400000439 | Does the Commonwealth of KY have a Unified Support Premier Support agreement with Microsoft direct or through an Enterprise Agreement today? | The current contract is utilized by all state agencies therefore this information varies. | ||
| 17 | RFP 758 2400000439-Section 3.6 | Attachment A | Pg.9 | Is this RFP to look for a Unified Support alternative? | The vendor must read this RFP and all attachments and comply with the requirements. |
| 18 | RFP 758 2400000439-Section 3.6 | Attachment A | Pg.9 | Would Microsoft Support Services be fully managed services or only adhoc break fix type support? | This contract will be utilized by all state agencies therefore this will depend on the using agency's need. |
| 19 | RFP 758 2400000439 | Has everyone been migrated to Office 365 for Email, SharePoint, OneDrive? | This contract will be utilized by all state agencies therefore this will depend on the using agency's need. | ||
| 20 | RFP 758 2400000439-Section 3.5 Experience | Attachment A | Pg.7 | Letter p. references custom software or application development on Microsoft Platforms. Can you give some examples of this software and what it is being used for? | The current contract is utilized by all state agencies therefore this information varies. |
| 21 | Attachment A - Terms and Conditions | 7 | Is the state going to be adding any AI technologies to this list of implementation of Microsoft cloud services? | This contract will be utilized by all state agencies therefore this will depend on the using agency's need. | |
| 22 | Attachment G - Microsoft Support Services | 2 | What development languages are you currently supporting? | The current contract is utilized by all state agencies therefore this information varies. | |
| 23 | Attachment A - Terms and Conditions | 9 | Will Microsoft Consulting Partners need to have additional experience around Advanced Specializations to highlight their expertise in the area of the given project? | The vendor must read this RFP and all attachments and comply with the requirements. | |
| 24 | Section 3.5 Experience : Scope of Work | Attachment A - Terms and Conditions - RFP 758 2400000439 | 7-9 | Can the Commonwealth Office of Technology provide the annual number of tickets related to the existing contract(s) for Microsoft Services? | The current contract is utilized by all state agencies therefore this information is not available. |
| 25 | Section 3.5 Experience : Scope of Work | Attachment A - Terms and Conditions - RFP 758 2400000439 | 7-9 | Does Commonwealth Office of Technology use a DSE today? if so what types of technology are they supporting? And how many hours annually? | The current contract is utilized by all state agencies therefore this information varies. |
| 26 | Section 3.5 Experience : Scope of Work | Attachment A - Terms and Conditions - RFP 758 2400000439 | 7-9 | How will this service be consumed. Will it be a managed service or Ad Hoc Professional Services Agreement? | This contract will be utilized by all state agencies therefore this will depend on the using agency's need. |
| 27 | Section 3.5 Experience : Scope of Work | Attachment A - Terms and Conditions - RFP 758 2400000439 | 7-9 | What level of support is the partner expected to provide, given the skillsets listed in Experience, Section 3.5 (Admin Support, Level 1, 2, 3)? | The vendor must read this RFP and all attachments and comply with the requirements. |
| 28 | Section 3.5 Experience : Scope of Work | Attachment A - Terms and Conditions - RFP 758 2400000439 | 7-9 | Are technical resources required to be U.S. based only, or can offshore resource be considered? | Per Section 3.3(D), Vendor Staff, "The utilization of offshore resources is prohibited." |
| 29 | Section 3.5 Experience : Scope of Work | Attachment A - Terms and Conditions - RFP 758 2400000439 | 7-9 | Are BizTalk and Project Server critical technologies as part of the Experience, considering that both BizTalk and Project Server are legacy skillsets? | The vendor should have experience supporting and troubleshooting BizTalk and Project Server, and provide expertise to transition from end of life Microsoft products. |
Attachment H - Commonwealth's Response to Vendors' Written Questions - RFP 758 2400000439
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