ESBD_423203_1748625084494_RFP - MSP Tier 1 Helpdesk Servics_WCJC Final Draft.pdf

#25_000005

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS (RFP)

For

MSP Tier 1 Helpdesk Services

Due

June 26th, 2025 @ 3:00pm

INDEX

CONTENTS PAGE NUMBER

KEY DATES/MILESTONES AND CONTACT INFO

INFORMATION/REQUIREMENTS/PROCESS

EVALUATION CRITERIA

SCOPE OF WORK

REQUIRED INFORMATION & FORMAT

ATTACHMENT A: BID SHEET

ATTACHMENT B: CERTIFICATION EO_GA‐48

KEY DATES/MILESTONES AND CONTACT INFO:

RFP RELEASE DATE:

May 31st, 2025

WRITTEN QUESTIONS DEADLINE:

June 16th, 2025 @ 5:00 PM

PROPOSAL SUBMITTAL DEADLINE:

June 26TH, 2025 @ 3:00 PM

PROPOSAL DELIVERY LOCATION:

Cynthia Ward Associate VP of Finance/Controller 911 Boling Highway, A‐107B Wharton, Texas 77488

PROPOSAL ASSESSMENT PROCESS:

June 27th – June 30th, 2025 (Tentative)

AWARD BY BOARD OF TRUSTEES:

July 15th, 2025 (Tentative)

REVIEWING & EXECUTION OF

CONTRACT:

July 16th – August 31st, 2025 (Tentative)

ON‐SITE START OF SERVICE:

September 1st, 2025 (Tentative)

ALL QUESTIONS RELATED TO THIS RFP ARE TO BE DIRECTED VIA EMAIL TO:

Clarissa Bueno Director of Purchasing buenoc@wcjc.edu

INFORMATION / REQUIREMENTS / PROCESS

1. Note that “bid,” “submission,” and “proposal” for purposes of this RFP, have the same basic meaning. Further, references to “vendor,” “supplier,” “firm,” “contractor,” and / or “bidder” have the same meaning in singular or plural.

2. The proposal must meet all requirements as delineated herein. Failure to follow detail may result in disqualification.

3. Specifications and scopes of work that may refer to brand names and manufacturers are not intended to restrict competition but are meant to indicate the quality of goods or services sought. Suppliers may bid an equivalent(s) provided the deviation(s) is clearly identified in the bid response. The final determination of equivalency lies solely with WCJC. It is not the intent of any instruction, term/condition, and scope of work or specification to prohibit a supplier from submitting a proposal.

4. The supplier must provide complete descriptive literature of the products or services proposed.

5. Upon release of this RFP, all Vendor communication must be done by emailing the Purchasing Director.

Unauthorized contact with WCJC staff regarding the RFP may result in disqualification. Any oral communication will be considered unofficial and non‐binding to WCJC.

6. Questions shall be submitted in writing by email to buenoc@wcjc.edu no later than the written questions deadline. Questions submitted after the deadline may not be answered. Proposers should rely only on written statements issued through email.

7. All disputes, claims, or lawsuits, if any, that may result from this RFP shall be addressed in Wharton County, TX, without exception. By submitting a Proposal in response to this RFP, the Contractor, if selected for award, shall be deemed to have accepted the terms and conditions of this RFP and the Contract. The Contract shall reflect the requirements and provisions of the RFP. Any exceptions to this RFP shall be clearly identified as such in the Executive Summary of the Technical Proposal. The volume and severity of exceptions to the terms of the RFP, will be considered in the evaluation process, and may be grounds for finding a Contractor not reasonably acceptable for award.

8. The supplier shall be in compliance with all relevant requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) as it applies to performance under this RFP. By submission of a bid, the supplier acknowledges it intends to comply with the ADA. If the supplier does not comply with the ADA, WCJC reserves the right to suspend or cancel any such work under this RFP and shall only be financially responsible for products delivered or services rendered up to any such suspension or cancelation.

9. The supplier represents and warrants that all products and/or services furnished under this RFP shall comply with applicable federal, state and local laws, rules, regulations and ordinances. The supplier shall, at supplier's expense, give all required notices and secure all required permits necessary for performance hereunder.

10. WCJC is not required to award to the lowest bidder or to even select a supplier. WCJC shall consider the following in accordance with Section §44.031(b) of the Texas Education Code:

A number of factors will be used to evaluate each of the proposals received in response to this RFP. Specifically, the following is a summary of evaluation factors and the point value assigned to each (see pages 11‐16, #6 through #9 respectively, for the format to be used by Vendors in creating their technical and pricing proposals). These weighted factors will be used in the evaluation of the individual Vendor proposals. A maximum of 100 points may be awarded based upon the quality and thoroughness of the Vendor’s response to each evaluation factor listed and described below.

Evaluation of RFP Responses

6. A, B, & C Support and Service Specifications ‐ The extent to which the goods and services meet District needs

20%

6.D Technical Requirements / Implementation ‐ The quality of the supplier’s goods & services, and reputation of supplier with WCJC and/or external sources

15%

6.E, F & G Qualifications/Experience of the Supplier 15%

6.H Vendor’s Relevant References 10%

6.I Other Value‐Added Services 10%

6.J The Purchase Price / Cost of Services / Term / Pricing Proposal 30%

Total 100%

Purchase price – shall be evaluated for completeness and reasonableness. The proposals will be evaluated and those deemed acceptable will be assigned points as follows:

The total lowest qualified cost proposal will receive the fully weighted points. (i.e., if Price has 30% of 100 points. The lowest qualified cost proposal will receive 30 points.)

Low‐cost proposal will get maximum points allowed for pricing criteria. All others will get proportion of the points assigned using the formula as follows: (Low cost/proposed cost)*weight.

Example: The Price weight 30% using a 0‐30 scale and you have 3 bidders as follows:

o Bidder 1: $100,000 30 Points o Bidder 2: $110,000 (100,000/110,000)*30 = 27.27 o Bidder 3: $140,000 (100,000/140,000)*30 = 21.43

11. WCJC’s Associate VP of Finance/Controller, Cynthia Ward, will open all RFP submissions.

Selection of a supplier(s) may or may not be made depending upon the results received and the overall requirements and needs of WCJC; the selection timeframe will vary depending upon the RFP and its complexity.

WCJC reserves the right to select a supplier from a purchasing program recognized by the State of Texas (Inter‐local Agreements) as already satisfying the competitive bidding requirements (e.g. TXMAS, DIR, BuyBoard).

Final tabulations or information regarding the RFP will not be shared until WCJC has made a formal selection and only then by written request.

In the event of a price or total cost calculation errors, the unit price as submitted will be considered for computation and calculation totals.

12. Acceptance of a proposal/bid for consideration implies no obligation on the part of WCJC nor does the silence of

WCJC imply approval or rejection of a bid.

13. WCJC reserves the right to reject any bids submitted and waive any formalities and conditions. WCJC is not obligated to advise those suppliers who are not selected for an RFP.

14. WCJC reserves the right to award to a single supplier, multiple suppliers, or no supplier at all.

15. WCJC reserves the right to award by unit pricing, quantity pricing, package pricing, or by total pricing, whichever is deemed necessary to accommodate budgetary, operational, and/or specification requirements. In doing so, WCJC may separate and accept or reject an item(s) as deemed necessary. If a supplier does not wish for its bid to be split in this manner, the supplier must state in the RFP response that the proposal is submitted as an “all or nothing” bid.

16. A proposal/bid award, if any, will be through the issuance of a WCJC purchase order (PO) or blanket purchase order

(BPO) and shall be governed by the general terms and conditions of purchase outlined on the WCJC PO/BPO document unless such terms and conditions are superseded by the content of this RFP or contract. If terms conflict, the terms of the RFP will take precedence.

17. The final authority to approve or disapprove delivered products and/or services lies with WCJC.

18. In the event products and/or services are delivered that do not meet specifications or do not perform as specified in this proposal, the supplier will replace the items, at no additional cost to WCJC, on or before the promised date of delivery.

19. The supplier shall be responsible for all claims against the manufacturer for manufacturing defects.

20. The supplier shall not sell, assign, transfer or convey this contract, in whole or in part, without the prior written consent of WCJC.

21. Any correspondence regarding a WCJC PO, specifically an invoice, must include the PO number to ensure correct and timely processing. Invoices must reference WCJC’s PO number.

22. WCJC will not be responsible for products delivered or services rendered in advance of a supplier’s receipt of a

WCJC PO.

23. WCJC may require bank account information should an electronic payment system be employed to facilitate the method of payment.

24. In the event of breach or default, WCJC reserves the right to enforce performance in any manner prescribed by law or deemed to be in the best interest of WCJC.

25. In the event the supplier fails to deliver the products and/or services as and when promised in the bid, WCJC reserves the right to proceed in any one or combination of the following ways.

Cancel all or any part of the PO/BPO

Return all or any part of the products and/or services delivered to date and charge the supplier for any loss or cost incurred as a result of the failure to deliver as promised.

Purchase all or any part of the products and/or services at the current market price and charge the supplier the difference between the total of the market price, freight, and the supplier's bid price

26. The supplier must notify WCJC immediately once it is known that products and/or services will not be delivered/rendered as promised.

27. The supplier must make every effort to protect property, personnel, students, and visitors in the delivery of products and/or services on any WCJC campus. Any personal injury or damage to property, on a WCJC campus, caused by the supplier's delivery of products and/or services must be reported to the applicable campus security department immediately. The supplier will be held responsible for all damages for injury and loss resulting from the supplier's delivery of products and/or services.

28. If WCJC, in the exercise of its best judgment, determines the supplier's process for the delivery of products and/or services is unsafe or hazardous to life or property, WCJC will suspend the process until the supplier takes corrective action. If this does not occur, or cannot occur, WCJC reserves the right to perform as indicated in section 31 herein.

29. Hazardous material(s) delivered to a WCJC campus for WCJC or supplier use must be preceded or accompanied by a current manufacturer's Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS). WCJC reserves the right to refuse delivery of products and/or services for which an MSDS is not available.

30. No allowance will be made for a supplier’ waste, loss, breakage, damage, or difficulties.

31. Trash or refuse generated as a result of the operations or activities of the supplier delivering products and/or services will be properly disposed of by the supplier, at the supplier’s expense.

32. The supplier shall be responsible for all claims against a carrier for freight and/or damage.

33. WCJC reserves the right to terminate the contract for any reason with a thirty (30) day written notice to the vendor. Payments will be made for invoices covering products or services through the termination date. No settlement costs are due whether for termination for convenience or termination for cause.

34. WCJC considers all information, documentation, and other materials requested to be submitted in response to this solicitation to be of a non‐confidential and/or non‐proprietary nature, and therefore, shall be subject to public disclosure under the Texas Public Information Act (Texas Government Code, Chapter 552.001, et seq.) (“the Act”) after a contract, if any, is awarded. If the proposer considers any information submitted in response to this request for the proposal to be confidential under law or constitute trade secrets or other protected information, the proposer must identify such materials in the proposal response. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the identification of such materials would not be construed or require WCJC to act in contravention of its obligation to comply with the Act and the proposer releases WCJC from any liability or responsibility for maintaining the confidentiality of such documents.

35. Validity Period: Proposals are to be valid for WCJC’s acceptance for a minimum of 180 days for the submittal deadline date to allow for evaluation, selection, and any unforeseen delays. Proposals, if accepted shall remain valid for the life of the Agreement.

36. Force Majeure ‐ Neither Firm nor the District shall be responsible or deemed to be in fault of its obligations to the other to the extent any failure to perform or delay in performing its obligations under this RFP is caused by events or conditions beyond the reasonable control of that party and are not due to the negligence or willful misconduct of such party. For purposes of this RFP, Force Majeure events shall include, but not be limited to, acts of God or public enemy, war, riot or civil commotion, conditions due to governmental law, regulations, ordinances, an order of a court of competent jurisdiction, executive decree or order. However, in the event of such delay(s) or nonperformance, the party so delayed shall furnish prompt written notice to the other party (including the date of inception of the Force Majeure event and the extent to which it will affect performance) and shall undertake all efforts reasonably possible to cure the delay or nonperformance and mitigate its effects or to otherwise perform.

The District shall not be responsible for payment for any product or service delayed or foreclosed by any Force Majeure event unless and until such delayed or foreclosed product or service is provided. The provisions of the section shall not preclude the District from canceling or terminating any resulting award (or any order for any goods or services included herein) or from revising the scope of work, as otherwise permitted under this RFP.

37. Eligibility for Award for a proposer to be eligible to be awarded a contract, the proposal must be responsive to the solicitation and WCJC must be able to determine that the proposer is responsible and has the resources and capacity to perform the resulting contract satisfactorily.

a) Responsive. Responsive proposals are those that comply with all material aspects of the solicitation, conform to the solicitation documents, and meet the requirements outlined in this solicitation. Proposals, which do not comply with all the terms and conditions of this solicitation, will be rejected as nonresponsive

b) Responsible. Responsible proposers, at a minimum, must meet the following requirements:

Have adequate financial resources, or the ability to obtain such resources as required during the performance of any resulting contract;

Be able to comply with the required performance schedule, taking into consideration all existing business commitments;

Have a satisfactory record of past performance;

Have necessary personnel and management capability to perform any resulting contract;

Be qualified as an established firm regularly engaged in the type of business necessary to fulfill the contract requirements;

Certify that the firm is not delinquent in any tax owed to the State of Texas under Chapter 171, Tax Code; and is not delinquent in taxes to the WCJC; signing and submitting the proposal is so certifying to such non‐delinquency; and

Be otherwise qualified and eligible to receive an award under applicable laws and regulations.

c) Proposers may be requested to submit additional written evidence verifying that the firm meets the minimum requirements described. Failure to provide any requested additional information may result in the proposer being declared non‐responsive and the proposal being rejected.

d) A person is not eligible to be considered for award of this solicitation, or any resulting contract, or to be a subcontractor of the proposer or prime contractor if the person assisted in the development of this solicitation or any part of this solicitation which such participation would give the person special knowledge that would give that person an unfair advantage over other proposers.

MSP Tier 1 Helpdesk Services

RFP# 25_000005

Scope of Work

Request for Proposals

Wharton County Junior College District (District / WCJC) invites qualified firms with proven demonstrable experience to participate in our Request for Proposals (RFP) for a comprehensive Service Center. As a result of this RFP initiative, WCJC fully intends to award one contract to a single Service Center Vendor for the Service Center Services. The primary objective of the Service Center as further defined by the requirements of this RFP, are the following:

Service Center Operation is 24x7x365 within the scope of work.

The Service Center is the first level of support for student, faculty, and staff contacts for technology support as required in the RFP.

Service Desk – A single point of contact for technical needs and acts as a “go between” for other service providers.

Service Management – The delivery of IT services with a customer centric approach.

Service Portfolio – Describes all the services of a service provider.

Service Catalog – A structured entity that provides all the live IT services (available to consumers).

Service Level Agreement (SLA) – The part of a service contract where service delivery elements are defined.

1. Background of Wharton County Junior College District

Wharton County Junior College (WCJC) is a public, two‐year, comprehensive community college. To better serve our students, the college offers courses at four campuses in Wharton, Sugar Land, Richmond, and Bay City. In addition, the college offers classes in El Campo. We serve a diverse population with a variety of post‐secondary educational programs and services, including associate degrees, certificates, workforce training, cultural affairs, and leisure‐time activities. The college's tax district encompasses Wharton County and the Needville Independent School District located in Fort Bend County. WCJC has a service area that includes Wharton, Matagorda, and Colorado counties, as well as parts of Fort Bend, Jackson, and Austin counties. Our goal is to help all of our students reach their goals.

2. Institution Organizational Structure

Information Technology (IT) is primarily centralized at the Wharton Campus. The Information Technology Department’s staff are responsible for support and day‐to‐day operations of Banner by Ellucian, an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) deployment as well as enterprise wide area networking infrastructure, campus support services (desktop, audio/visual, and video), telephone systems, institutional research, learning management systems (Brightspace), and application support for the entire district. Other ancillary instructional technology tools are in use across the district and would require support such as Zoom, Microsoft Teams, MFA, assessment tools, applications specific to academic programs and others.

3. Term

The agreement will be for an initial three (3) year period, with the option to extend for two (2) additional one (1) year terms upon mutual agreement by both parties. The contract is intended to begin September 1, 2025 through August 31, 2028 with provisions for monthly, quarterly, and yearly performance reviews with options for modifications for each of the one‐year incremental extensions. At the end of the initial contract period, both parties can request a contract review to discuss functions, features, enhancements, and pricing. The college reserves the right to extend the agreement term on a month‐to‐month basis, at the current monthly rate, not to exceed six (6) months.

4. Scope of Work

The Vendor will provide 24x7x365 service for three proposed categories for Service Center services. Vendor must be able to provide services in all three (3) Categories

Categories of Support

Category One ‐ Online and learning technology student and faculty help. This category includes all students and faculty enrolled in classroom, online or hybrid courses and/or using some portion of Brightspace and includes logins, browsers (MS Edge/IE, Chrome, Safari, Firefox), email (Office 365, Gmail), attachments, as well as related eLearning applications.

Category Two ‐ All students, faculty and staff using Banner by Ellucian, Banner Experience Portal, and Banner Self‐ Service including MFA logins, CRM, browsers (MS Edge/IE, Chrome, Safari, Firefox), email (Office 365, Gmail), attachments, and Java. Vendor should be able to assist prospective students with enrollment application(s) and knowledgeable in any pre‐ or post‐enrollment testing.

Category Three ‐ Desktop hardware, software, wired and wireless networks, and connectivity support requests from students, staff and faculty.

24x7x365

Category 1 – Virtual Classroom Environments

Category 2 – Ellucian® Banner, CRM, Web Advisor, Self‐Service and related web tools

Category 3 – Supported hardware, software, and connectivity

5. The Selected Vendor Will Provide:

a) A system‐wide Service Center to answer calls, record the service request, track and monitor issues and requests for information technology services, resolve common user support issues, and initiate the triaging and escalation of unsolved Service Center issues to the Client’s IT support team.

b) All technical support calls into the Service Center will be answered by a live technician.

c) Service requests may also be submitted via email and/or web interface. Service requests will be logged by the selected Vendor Service Center’s agents using Wharton County Junior College’s ITSM software. WCJC utilizes the ITSM/ITIL application from TeamDynamix (TDX) and requires integration with the Vendor’s Service Center agents using the TDX Incident Management module.

This is an important requirement as User experience is our highest priority and calls escalated from the selected Service Center Vendor to the incorrect group at WCJC delays service to our users.

Misrouted calls will be included in the SLA performance criteria.

d) The selected Service Center Vendor accepts submissions for new service requests, support, problem solving, status inquiries regarding prior service requests, software support, and all other Information Technology service inquires.

e) The selected Service Center Vendor will be responsible for solving Level 0 and Level 1 tickets. Level 2 calls will be escalated to Client’s IT Staff as determined by the escalation process established during implementation.

f) The selected Service Center Vendor will answer the phone calls with a “private label” Service Center script, matching the name and branding preference of the relevant entity, such as the campus. The selected Service Center Vendor will record, triage, and update the status of all service requests submitted to the Service Center. As appropriate, triaged calls will be routed to Level 2 support.

g) The selected Service Center Vendor will take calls from Client’s faculty, staff, students, and other authorized users.

h) The selected Service Center Vendor’s personnel must be fluent in English and be easy to understand with excellent communication skills. Secondary language capabilities, such as Spanish, could be considered as a “tie breaker” in the event that multiple Vendor’s overall ratings are equal.

6. RFP Requirements

Please state any and all product deviations to the specifications set forth on pages 12‐16, 6.A through 6.J. If no deviations to the Service Center specifications, it shall be presumed that no product deviations exist. It should be noted that no one single product deviation, in and of itself, is likely to automatically preclude a proposal from further consideration. The following requirements (6.A through 6.J) must be addressed in Vendor’s proposal:

6.A. Service

a) Define and demonstrate a customer‐focused service philosophy.

b) Provide a single point of contact for all Client‐related technology service issues.

c) Provide and continue to develop and enhance on a regular basis, on‐line web‐based knowledge management content that will provide self‐help capability for users.

d) Meet Service Center Service Level Guidelines as defined below:

Category

Performance Criteria

Average Speed to Answer Abandon Rate 85% of calls answered within 60 seconds with abandonment rate not to exceed 7% of calls offered in any single month

Customer Satisfaction Average rating of “Good” or above (3 or higher out of a 5 point scale)

Telephone, Web, and Email system availability for the initiation of Service center tickets by Client constituents

99.99% uptime on monthly basis, excluding scheduled system maintenance and “acts of God”

First‐Time Problem Resolution 75% First‐Time Problem Resolution

Hold Time Less than 5 minutes

Call Rejection (Escalated Tickets without proper information (i.e. Customer Name, Email, Phone Number))

Less than 1%

Note – “Speed to Answer” is herein defined as the duration of time elapsed between the first ring heard when calling the Vendor and when the call is answered by a live technician. Other areas that may be considered as Guidelines or Reporting Metrics include First‐Time problem resolution, call length, problem escalation and time to close.

e) Analyze Client call records, identify and recommend remedial programs to minimize or eliminate recurring problems.

f) Vendor will provide tools, dashboards and other methodologies to analyze patterns or problem reports for management review at Client’s convenience.

6.B. Service Level Agreement

Service Levels; Withholding Recovery Rights. During the contract year, Vendor will provide the Service Center Services in accordance with the following service levels, which will be measured and reviewed on a monthly basis:

Average speed to answer (ASA): 85% of calls answered within 60 seconds

Abandon rate: Not to exceed 7% of calls offered

Monthly service delivery review: In‐depth analysis of calls and associated Service Center ticket requests, due on or before the seventh (7) business day of each month

First‐Time Problem Resolution: 75% First‐Time Problem Resolution

Hold Time: Less than 5 minutes

Call Rejection: Escalated Tickets without proper information (i.e. Customer Name, E‐mail, Phone Number). For each month in which service provider fails to attain any four (4) of the six (6) service levels listed in Subsections (a) through (c) above, as measured and reviewed by Vendor and as reasonably agreed to by Client, on a monthly basis, Client will have the right to withhold and retain, as liquidated damages for such failure, ten percent (10%) of the fee for CHD Services for that month. In each instance, such liquidated damages will constitute Client’s sole remedy for Vendor’s failure to attain the service levels for the month in question.

6.C. Call Tracking, Reporting & Escalation

Record, troubleshoot, and resolve questions and issues for Client’s students, faculty, staff, and authorized users for all institution‐supported/approved technology including but not limited to passwords, login, network or internet connectivity, firewalls, browsers (MS Edge/IE, Chrome, Safari, Firefox), virus protection, spyware, basic email (Office 365), VPN, VMware, online course management software (Brightspace ‐ all products and modules), ERP systems (Banner by Ellucian, Banner Experience Portal, and Banner Self‐Service), CRM, and user hardware and software questions. This may include reassigning and routing Service Center cases to Level 2 staff for resolution.

Assign service requests to appropriate service personnel if Vendor is unable to resolve an issue per defined escalation and resolution process.

Escalate priority calls to Level 2 staff per defined escalation and resolution process determined during on‐ site data collection phase in accordance with any Client Internal Service Level Guidelines.

Provide email status updates to the caller/end‐user when new tickets are entered and again when closed by Vendor’s staff.

Provide web‐based user access to select ticket status

Provide monthly Service Center reports & metrics to the Client and central office support management.

These reports will include, but are not limited to, metrics on previously opened cases, new cases, closed cases, currently open cases, first call resolution, quality assurance survey results, speed to answer, abandon rate, and Vendor online tracking system availability in table and graphical formats. Reports will include integrated statistics across all support channels and calls as well as breakdowns by client, type of caller (student, faculty, and staff) and call types (to be defined by Client and Vendor).

As needed, the Client liaison may request management reports on specific areas of concern.

Client retains ownership of all call data.

6.D. Implementation

Work with Client staff, implement standards for Service Center operations

Provide 24x7x365 service by which Client’s students, faculty and staff may request assistance including o Toll free telephone service (800 or similar number for domestic and an alternative number for international calls) o Local extension (if supported by the phone system) o Web form submission o Email o Provide equal levels of support regardless of contact mode o Web‐based self‐help, documentation, FAQS o Web‐based status of submitted user requests o Other submission methods that meet ADA compliance (Blind, Deaf, or other impairments)

Provide training of Client’s IT Staff in use of Vendor tracking/reporting system.

Assist in establishing communication and workflow between Vendor Service Center and Client’s IT Staff.

Provide customized Client‐specific support as required for Brightspace and Banner by Ellucian, Banner Experience Portal, CRM, and Banner Self‐Service.

Provide searchable knowledge‐based repositories of information on Client’s systems including FAQS, tip sheets, how‐to and self‐help.

Client views Service Center data as an opportunity to:

o Learn from student, faculty and staff’s technical problems and questions.

o Improve the applications through this data gathering process.

Note ‐ As such problem reports must contain sufficient detail so as to identify the locations or functions where users are having difficulty.

o Bring trends and suggested adjustments to the attention of Client’s management on a regular and frequent basis.

Provide comprehensive co‐management of the Service Center operations on behalf of Client’s on‐site IT management.

At the close of a ticket, Vendor will provide an opportunity for customer to provide feedback. Specific cases where service was not satisfactory will be identified for follow‐up.

On a monthly and quarterly basis, Vendor will provide a formal quality assurance and customer satisfaction reports identifying issues that are specific to Client’s population of users. Cases where service was not satisfactory will be identified for follow‐up.

On a monthly and quarterly basis, Vendor will aggregate and compile issues under similar causes & resolutions. From that information, Vendor will create Knowledge documents to be included in the WCJC support library. All documents will contain searchable metadata and keywords that will properly identify the issue.

Vendor must have a clearly articulated procedure for escalating problems through an internal chain of command. Vendor must have clearly articulated conditions under which such escalation will automatically occur.

Ensure that FERPA, HIPPA, SOC identity management and other federal, state and client’s personal security and confidentiality requirements are met.

Provide redundant systems to ensure availability including, but not limited to, the telephone system used by the Vendor, network/servers or other tools used by the Vendor’s for support services.

6.E. Staffing

For Mode 3 support, provide skilled Service Center staff during a 24‐hour day, 7‐days a week, 52‐weeks a year including Client’s holidays.

Provide sufficient staff to be able to handle peak demand periods such as August, January, registration periods and new technology implementations.

Have a documented process for resource scaling including recruitment, minimum hiring requirements, training and staff retention programs in place.

Provide support for all process and procedural questions in addition to supporting the designated platforms. Have a demonstrated process of designating and training agents specifically on the Client processes and procedures.

All vendor support staff must pass a background check that can be presented to WCJC upon request.

6.F. Management Responsibilities

Vendor must provide a named Account Manager and Alternate who:

o Must be available during Client’s standard business hours via email and telephone. Standard business hours are defined as 8:00 am to 5:00 pm CST, Monday through Friday.

o Must be able to be reached for emergency purposes during off‐hours via cell phone.

o Must have a specified individual to serve as backup during vacations and other times the named

Account Manager is not available.

Client will retain the right to approve or disapprove appointment of the Account Manager and other key personnel assigned to its account.

6. G. Vendor Experience

Minimum Requirements

1. The Vendor is required to have a minimum five years’ experience serving institutions of higher education, as well as experience supporting Ellucian®, Brightspace and all forms Microsoft Active Directory services (local, Azure AD and hybrid configurations).

a) Vendor is required to be able to demonstrate knowledge in support of educational ERP systems (Banner by Ellucian, Banner Experience Portal, and Banner Self‐Service applications), CRM, and be able to demonstrate significant capability to support the WCJC community effectively.

b) Vendor is required to be able to demonstrate expert knowledge in Brightspace and be able to demonstrate significant capability to support the WCJC community effectively.

c) Vendor is required to be able to demonstrate knowledge in supporting a Microsoft Active Directory/Azure Active Directory environment assisting users through the authentication process.

2. For the purpose of this RFP, Level 0 and Level 1 are defined as:

Level 0 support – Automated or self‐service solutions that users can access themselves without the aid of the Help Desk. These include automated password resets, Web sites for requesting support, and knowledge base lookup. Level 0 support is performed without the aid of a Help Desk technician.

Level 1 support – Filters Help Desk calls and provides basic support and troubleshooting, such as password resets, printer configurations, break/fix instructions, ticket routing and escalation to Level 2 and Level 3 support. May also escalate to IT applications support or call for outside vendor maintenance. A Level 1 tech gathers and analyzes information about the user’s issue and determines the best way to resolve their problem. Level 1 may also provide support for identified

Level 2 and Level 3 issues where configuration solutions have already been well documented.

3. Vendor is required to be able to demonstrate knowledge in providing Level 0 and Level 1 support Microsoft Office, Microsoft Windows Operating Systems, Outlook/Exchange/Office 365, Microsoft OneDrive with SharePoint, Windows Servers, Apple operating systems (OSX & IOS), ChromeOS, Linux, UNIX, Internet browsers (MS Edge/IE, Chrome, Safari, Firefox) and web‐based email.

4. Vendor is required to be able to demonstrate knowledge in providing Level 0 and Level 1 support for hardware issues with PCs, Apple Macs, Laptops, Tablets, mobile devices, and typical peripherals such as monitors, printers and scanners.

5. Vendor is required to be able to demonstrate knowledge in providing level 0 and level 1 support for wired and wireless networks, including connectivity issues between client devices (iPhone, Android, and other PDAs) and networks.

6. Vendor must be able to demonstrate security expertise and awareness that follow best practices and processes enforced by an active security program that is compliant with relevant regulatory requirements. This includes but is not limited to FERPA, HIPPA, SOC, PII and Texas Administrative Code 202.

7. Vendor’s Service Center services, call center(s), and staff must be located within the United States and remain within the United States throughout the duration of the contract.

6.H. Vendor’s Reputation (Relevant References)

6.I. Other Value‐Added Services

6.J. The Purchase Price / Cost Services / Term

7. Triaged Response Metrics

Triaged response metrics listed in this document reflect targets and should not be construed as contractual obligations. Response time commitments do not promise a complete resolution within the stated time frames.

Rather, the time commitment is intended to indicate the maximum time interval in which the customer will be contacted by the Vendor after triaging and routing the issue to either Client’s on‐site representative or third party Vendor that will be responsible for resolving the issue

8. Client Responsibilities

Provide user training on Client’s specific applications.

Provide Vendor with all agreed upon data points.

Client’s IT staff will be responsible for informing Vendor of changes or updates to current infrastructure and mission critical applications including notification of scheduled maintenance and emergency outages or servicing.

a) Updates will be provided both by phone and email conversations. Automated incident and change management generated alerts will be directed to the Vendor’s support email address or other email address as designated by Vendor.

Disseminate Vendor contact information throughout Client’s user base.

Provide list of supported technology and software applications updated on a regular basis.

Provide appropriate contacts and escalation process for all calls that will be referred to Client’s IT Staff.

Provide method for Vendor to determine if users seeking assistance are legitimate members of client community.

Provide Vendor with Client’s VIP members for expedited service. Users seeking assistance will be instructed to call the Vendor via a unique toll‐free telephone number, local telephone number, extension or users may submit web‐based Service Center tickets. Thus providing a transparent interface into the Service Center.

9. Service Center Call Level Definition

Level 0 ‐ This type of call is resolved through self‐service online documentation, self‐help or FAQS.

Level 1 ‐ This type of call is resolved over the phone (or other medium) by Vendor staff.

Level 2 ‐ This type of call is escalated to Client’s IT Staff as appropriate for resolution. During implementation these types of calls will be identified as Priority 1, 2 or 3 with appropriate and agreed upon escalation parameters.

Service requests received by the Service Center after Client’s normal business hours with a priority lower than that of a “Priority 1” will be responded to during the next business day.

Level 3 ‐ This type of incident is related to a system outage affecting a large population at Client’s locations.

Escalation will be to the appropriate Client’s support group.

10. Emergency Ticket Processing

Emergency requests made to the Vendor as defined by the Client will be triaged and tracked by the Vendor’s representative taking the call and routed appropriately if not resolved by the Vendor’s Representative. The Vendor’s representative will notify the Vendor’s Shift Leader and the Vendor’s Manager on duty of the emergency issue and the ticket number. The Vendor will follow escalation procedures provided by the Client regarding the nature of the emergency, including notifying the Client liaison of the ticket, scope of outage, and number customers affected. The Vendor will be responsible for updating the Service Center ticket regarding the status of the emergency ticket. The Vendor will contact the Client’s designated liaison regarding the status of the issue.

When appropriate, regular updates will be shared between Client’s liaison and Vendor’s contact.

11. Presentation

WCJC, at its option, may select one or more finalists to participate in interviews and/or at a minimum one (1) formal presentation of their proposals to the Evaluation Committee and/or to a larger audience, with attendees providing input to the Evaluation Committee. Any cost associated with any such presentation will be at the expense of the vendor participating. Failure of a vendor to interview or present on the date scheduled may result in rejection of the vendor's RFP response.

12. WCJC Contact and Questions

WCJC requires all interested parties to restrict communications regarding this RFP to written inquiries only.

Questions must be submitted in writing via email to the Director of Purchasing by the specified deadline for written questions. Inquiries received after the deadline may not be addressed. Proposers should rely exclusively on official written responses issued through addenda, which will be distributed via email and posted on the ESBD website at https://www.txsmartbuy.gov/esbd by using the solicitation id (25_000005). While WCJC aims to respond to all pertinent questions, it reserves the right to decline to answer any specific inquiry.

13. Required Information and Format

Please submit the below information, in Hard copy format, in the order listed.

1. Cover Letter (0%)

2. Support and Service Specifications ‐ The extent to which the goods and services meet District needs.

(20%)

3. Technical Requirements ‐ The quality of the supplier’s goods & services, and reputation of supplier with WCJC and/or external sources. (15%)

4. Qualifications/Experience of the Supplier (15%)

5. Vendor’s Relevant References (10%)

6. Other Value‐Added Services (10%)

7. The Purchase Price Cost of Services / Term – Attachment A Bid Sheet (30%)

1. Cover Letter (0%)

Firms must clearly indicate interest and experience for this type of assignment and must acknowledge awareness of all posted explanations and addenda, if any, to this RFP. Firms may briefly identify respective qualifications, experience, and/or abilities that characterize interest and qualifications. The Cover Letter shall be limited to one (1) page and will not be counted as part of the maximum twenty

(20) page submittal limit.

2. Support and Service Specifications ‐ The extent to which the goods and services meet District needs.

(20%)

Service Center Vendors must address all the appropriate requests for information contained within each of the three subsections on page 11 #5. a, b, c. and describe the following items:

a) The redundancy of their network and communication systems relating to Client constituents’ ability to place Incident and Request tickets.

b) Its approach to data tracking and trending including examples of reports provided to site management that provide for recommendations on remediation of support needs and issues.

c) Provide actual sample reports from existing clients (appropriately redacted as necessary) that provide metrics such as first contact closure rate, average speed to answer, and overall Quality Assurance ratings.

d) Provide Access to relevant existing knowledge bases and/or guest access to existing client knowledge base.

3. Technical Requirements / Implementation ‐ The quality of the supplier’s goods & services, and reputation of supplier with WCJC and/or external sources. (15%)

Service Center Vendors must address all the appropriate requests for information contained within Subsection on page 11 #5.d and describe how your company will provide implementation, training and troubleshooting support to WCJC’s desktop services and end‐user support teams for the requested services. The description will include, but not be limited to how your firm’s team will work together with WCJC’s Information Technology department personnel and systems for ticket system integration in a timely and secure manner. Please provide a detailed project plan for implementation in Microsoft Project format:

a) The Vendor will describe its start‐up methodology and the transition process from on‐site Service Center to remote Service Center.

b) The Vendor will describe its approach to integrating a remote Service Center with Client’s IT Staff and the various campus IT and support departments.

c) The Vendor will describe the training process that occurs to ensure that all Service Center staff are trained and knowledgeable regarding the technology supported by the Client.

d) The Vendor will provide the process by which Vendor’s Service Center will be aligned with Client’s ticketing system.

4. Qualifications/Experience of the Supplier (15%)

In this Section, the prospective Service Center Vendor shall discuss the specific role and responsibilities of each key team member in providing the requested services to include both prime and sub‐ contractor(s). As key personnel are often considered in the evaluation of a proposal, Contactor must identify its key personnel. If key personnel cannot be named at the time of proposal submittal, the Service Center Vendor must specify the reason and present a plan to include key personnel. Service Center Vendors must address all the appropriate requests for information contained within Subsections on page 11 #5.e, f, & g. If awarded, the selected Vendor will identify who will be the personnel assigned to this project including initial implementation personnel as well as the account manager for ongoing operations. Resumes or profiles including relevant experience of these individuals must be provided.

5. Vendor’s Relevant Reference (10%)

Please provide a minimum of three (3) client references with whom the vendor has done business like that required by this solicitation within the last two (2) years. It is preferred that at least one of the references be from a two‐year college with multiple campuses. WCJC will determine, at its sole discretion, which, if any, references to contact to assess the quality of work performed and personnel assigned to the project. The results of any references will be provided to the WCJC evaluation committee and used in scoring the RFP response. Please be certain to supply accurate, current contact information for references. Individuals conducting reference checks will not track down references for whom inaccurate or outdated info has been supplied. Reference contacts should be aware of their inclusion and be agreeable to follow‐up conversations including interview if necessary. Any reference that cannot be contacted with a reasonable amount of effort shall count as a negative reference.

Please include the following information for each reference contact:

Client name and address

Title and role

Contact information (phone and email)

Description of the work you have done for the client

Date(s) when the service was implemented

Contract term (start and end date or indicate if project is ongoing)

Impact made to the client’s institution

6. Other Value‐Added Services (10%)

Fully describe and explain any standard (included) value‐added services that the Service Center Vendor will provide under Pricing Proposal that is not part of the RFP’s requirements. Please do not restate items that are required under the RFP or that have previously been listed in your proposal. This section will be evaluated on factors including ability to interface with current Service Desk systems in use by WCJC, time in business, options available and overall projected assistance with service enhancements over the term of the contract.

7. The Purchase Price / Costs of Services / Term (30%)

a) The prospective Service Center Vendors must complete Attachment A “BID SHEET”.

b) Vendors should provide headcount based pricing for the three categories noted earlier and listed again below. Client may choose to select any, all or none of the categories. If there is preferential pricing for bundling more than one category, Vendor should include that as well. Vendor may also provide incident based pricing. Vendor may include pricing discounts as the number of participating client campuses increases.

i. Categories of Support:

Category 1 – Online and learning technology student and faculty help. This category includes all students and faculty enrolled in classroom, online or hybrid courses and/or using some portion of Brightspace to include logins, browsers (MS Edge/IE, Chrome, Safari, Firefox), email (Office 365), attachments and Java as well as related e‐learning applications such as ProctorU, and CopyLeaks.

Category 2 ‐ All students, faculty and staff using Banner by Ellucian, Banner Experience Portal, Banner Self‐ Service, and CRM to include logins, browsers (MS Edge/IE, Chrome, Safari, Firefox), email (Office 365), attachments and Java.

Category 3 ‐ Supported desktop applications and connectivity support requests for students, staff and faculty.

24x7x365

Category 1 – Virtual Classroom Environments

Category 2 – Ellucian® Banner, Web Advisor, Self‐Service, CRM, and related web tools

Category 3 – Supported hardware, software, and connectivity

c) Vendors may also use the per‐incident or metered pricing model or some other methodology as long as it is clearly described in the proposal.

d) Whichever pricing model is quoted, Vendors must be able to project the expected costs to Client over the first year, and subsequent two years of the agreement. Provide detailed price breakdown inclusive of all cost (e.g., Software, Hosting, Data Migration, Training, etc.) proposed to fulfill the Solution as described in this RFP.