IFB-23028 Addendum No. 3.pdf

Baltimore City Public Schools

Office of Procurement

Addendum # 3

IFB-23028

DATA MONITORING SERVICES FOR TWO (2), TEN (10) GB CONNECTIONS

Attention: The due date for bids is hereby extended to 11:00 am on Wednesday, December 20, 2023.

This addendum is being issued to amend solicitation IFB-23028 the following changes/additions are listed below:

(Cover Page)

BID DUE DATE: Wednesday, December 20, 2023 submitted via eMaryland Marketplace Advantage website

(PART II: GENERAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS)

12.0 SUBMISSION DEADLINE

Bids for this solicitation are being accepted solely online through eMaryland Marketplace

Advantage (https://emma.maryland.gov).

The Bid Due date is Thursday Monday, September October 7 9 Thursday Tuesday Wednesday, December 16 28 20, 2023 at 11:00 a.m. EST. Bids will be opened electronically in eMaryland

Marketplace Advantage as soon as practicable after the deadline for the receipt of bids in the solicitation. Bid results will not be given by phone.

Bidders’ response shall be submitted as one (1) PDF on-line to eMaryland Marketplace

Advantage. Bids will not be accepted by fax, by postal mail, by electronic mail, or by hand delivery.

Hard copy submissions will not be accepted. All Bids must be submitted electronically.

The following Questions and Answers are hereby made part of the solicitation for the above referenced project and shall be taken into account in the preparation of the solicitation response and execution of all work. Vendors shall acknowledge receipt of this addendum. In addition, these questions and responses shall clarify previous responses to questions previously submitted.

1. SLA- Submit question to the Buyer (Ted King) regarding clarification around resolution delays that are outside vendor’s control and impede the ability to meet the 99.95 uptime requirement.

2. How did the last provider perform against the current SLA's and availability requirements / agreement credits? Was a credit ever requested / issued? A credit was never requested from the last provider as they met the uptime requirement.

3. What is the methodology used to quantify the availability number? BCPSS maintained Network Management System captures availability statistics.

4. Did you grant any exceptions to the last provider for SLA’s or availability requirement credits due to delays outside their control? No

5. Can you provide a 1 year ticket history? We are unable to provide ticket history for an external provider. There was not a service interruption for which a ticket would be generated.

6. Can you provide fiber diagrams with fiber pathways, buffer/strand ID, and splice points? Detailed diagrams will be provided upon completion of provider selection.

7. Can we assume that we will have access to all locations for physical repair and maintenance? Will there be an escort who knows the specifics of each location and which tube/strand pertains to this service? Will this person ID the fiber for us? A BCPSS engineer is required as an escort into our data centers and has full knowledge of the fiber specifics.

8. Do you require a 1099? No. Prospective vendors must submit W-9 forms.

9. What is the Health & Safety criteria? What certifications, if any, are needed? No

10. Are there any agreement requirements beyond the troubleshooting and repair of the existing fiber? If a new fiber span needs to be pulled, can we assume that an additional Professional Services proposal will be expected? Any additional pulls will be covered within a change request.

11. If a police detail is required, who will pay for this additional cost? The vendor will be required to pay additional costs.

12. Can you provide details of equipment on both ends of the fiber? We typically monitor circuit performance using logs and alarms that originate from the terminating equipment. Details will be shared with the awarded provider.

13. Does Baltimore City Public Schools need a critical spares program? Should our techs keep spare SFP+’s on hand? Or is this strictly NOC support with on-site fiber troubleshooting and repair? No critical spares are required for this contract.

NOTE: Acknowledgement of this and any other addenda must be included in the transmittal letter accompanying your technical Proposal. Failure to acknowledge all addenda may result in your Proposal being considered non-responsive.

Date issued: November 13, 2023 By: Ted King, Buyer