RFI - 260000000015 - Vendor Q&A.xlsx
XLSX spreadsheet 26 KB Posted
- Solicitation number
- RFI 171 260000000015 4
- Issued by
- Michigan
About this file
This file is a Vendor Question and Answer document for the State of Michigan's Request for Information (RFI) regarding Statewide Telecommunication Products and Services. The RFI seeks market insight across three primary service categories: Internet Service Provider/Broadband (Section A), Enterprise Data Communications (Section B), and Enterprise Voice Communications (Section C). Vendors may respond to individual sections or categories rather than the entire portfolio, and participation in the RFI is not mandatory but is highly encouraged. The RFI requests detailed technical specifications, model numbers, SKUs, product descriptions, and typical rate cards for engineering and technical resources. Vendors are permitted to submit supplemental documentation and supporting materials as attachments to provide additional detail. Responses should include service coverage areas, which may be provided via maps showing geographical footprints rather than requiring statewide coverage commitments. The State anticipates evaluating deployment models, support structures, pricing methodologies, contract structures, implementation capabilities, and public-sector experience relevant to telecommunications services throughout Michigan.
Pricing information should be provided within the categories spreadsheet or as a separate cost structure document, with the State preferring qualitative methodology, illustrative nonbinding ranges, or sample unit structures without actual dollar prices at the RFI stage. Rate cards for labor resources should include labor categories and rates, with the State remaining open to both formats. Vendors should provide targeted uptime commitments, Recovery Time Objectives (RTO), and Recovery Point Objectives (RPO) along with recognized security controls such as SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001, PCI DSS, or FedRAMP certifications and testing documentation. There is no current vendor or existing contract information available, and the State has not identified a specific procurement timeline or anticipated contract value. The Confidential Treatment Form is available to protect proprietary financial information and other confidential submissions from public disclosure. This is market research only, and participation does not constitute a prerequisite for eligibility to participate in any future solicitation resulting from this RFI.
View the file
Other files
| File | Type | Posted |
|---|---|---|
| 260000000015 - Statewide Telecommunication Products and Services - RFI v2.docx | DOCX document | |
| 260000000015 - Consolidated Telecom Categories - RFI. Version 2.xlsx | XLSX spreadsheet |
On GovTribe
Work with this file
- Download the original file
- Contacts named in this file
- Similar government files
- Ask GovTribe AI about this file
Text version
Sheet1
| Q# | Document & Section | Page # | Vendor Question | State Response |
| 1 | Is there a current vendor providing this service? If so, could you please provide the current contract documents/information if available? | The State is conducting a Request for Information to gain market insight. There is not current contract or procurement information to provide at this time. | ||
| 2 | Does the state have an estimated total contract value? | The State is conducting a Request for Information to gain market insight. There is not current contract or procurement information to provide at this time. | ||
| 3 | Is there an estimated timeframe for procurement? | The State is conducting a Request for Information to gain market insight. There is not current contract or procurement information to provide at this time. | ||
| 4 | Two RFI documents, along with an Excel spreadsheet, are posted for the referenced procurement opportunity. Is there a difference between the 2 Word files? | There are no substantive changes between the documents. The first version was missing the RFI # so it was corrected on pg 1 of version 2. | ||
| 5 | What level of detail is being requested by the State for inclusion in the RFI on the category spreadsheet? Do you want specific technical specifications for each solution or does model number, sku, and description suffice initially | Adding technical specifications in addition to model numbers and SKU's will help us in evaluating like products and services. | ||
| 6 | Given the limited space available within the response spreadsheet, may vendors submit supplemental documentation and supporting materials as attachments to provide additional detail regarding their solutions? If permitted, will those materials be reviewed as part of the State's evaluation of responses? | Yes, please submit information pertinent to the categories that your company can support. | ||
| 7 | General | n a | Does participation in and submission of a response to this RFI constitute a prerequisite for eligibility to participate in any future solicitation resulting from this RFI? | Participation is not a prerequisite or mandatory but is highly encouraged to ensure the State can set a future proposal up for success. |
| 8 | General | na | Category-level participation — Can vendors respond to individual Sections/Categories rather than the entire telecommunications portfolio? | Yes, please submit information pertinent to the categories that your company can support. |
| 9 | General | na | Multiple awards — Does the State anticipate multiple awards within individual Sections/Categories? | The State is conducting a Request for Information to gain market insight. There is not current contract or procurement information to provide at this time. |
| 10 | Consolidated Telecom Categories - Section A,B, C Column C | Geographic coverage — May facilities-based providers identify the geographic footprint in which they can provide services rather than provide statewide coverage? | You may provide maps of the geographical coverage areas | |
| 11 | Consolidated Telecom Categories - Section A,B, C Column C | Partial response / Not Offered — May vendors identify products/services they do not offer without affecting consideration for the categories they do offer? | Yes, Please submit information pertinent to the categories that your company can support. | |
| 12 | Consolidated Telecom Categories - Section A,B, C Column C | Are the listed engineers/technicians intended to be independently orderable staff-augmentation resources, or may those resources be provided only in support of the vendor's telecommunications solutions? | The rate card is not for staff-augmentation resources or services. Resources may be provided only in support of the solution(s). | |
| 13 | Consolidated Telecom Categories - Section A,B, C Column D | Since the RFI says pricing/quotes are not being requested, are the “typical rate cards” requested in the workbook intended only as non-binding market information? | Information provided will assist the State in evaluating market capabilities and developing future procurement strategies and contracting opportunities. | |
| 14 | 260000000015 - Consolidated Telecom Categories - RFI | All | May bidders reference attachments and/or include page links to supporting documentation / examples that cannot be adequately formatted in the Excel file? For example, Tab titled Section A - ISP Cells C3 - C33 and D3-33, may a bidder include a separate attachment detailing the associated technology and/or resources? | This is Market Research, please provide extra attachments if needed. |
| 15 | Spreadsheet "260000000015 - Consolidated Telecom Categories - RFI” | Section B - Data Communication, Category F: Services | Cell C46 States "Please provide a typical rate card for these resources." Is the government looking for actual labor rates or a company’s labor category description for the positions listed in column B? | The SOM is open to both labor categories and labor rates. |
| 16 | Spreadsheet "260000000015 - Consolidated Telecom Categories - RFI” | Section A - ISP | Cell D33 also says "Please provide a typical rate card for these resources." Is the government looking for actual labor rates or a company’s labor category description for the positions listed in column D? | |
| The SOM is open to both labor categories and labor rates. |
17 Spreadsheet "260000000015 - Consolidated Telecom Categories - RFI” Sections A- C Are we allowed to modify the cell sizes to ensure that the complete answer is visible? Yes.
18 Spreadsheet "260000000015 - Consolidated Telecom Categories - RFI” --- The spreadsheet is labeled TAB B. Are there are additional documents like a TAB A that we may have missed? There are 3 tabs Section A, Section B, & Section C.
| 19 | 260000000015 - Consolidated Telecom Categories - RFI | Section C - Voice Communications | |||
| Category B: IP Toll Free Services (Line 12) | To ensure we fully understand the requirement, could the State provide more detail on what is meant by 'Tailored Call Coverage'? | ||||
| Tailored call coverage lets a business control inbound traffic by selectively blocking or allowing calls based on specific geographic criteria. This includes, but is not limited to, voice traffic routing, high availability, number management, etc. | |||||
| 20 | 260000000015 - Consolidated Telecom Categories - RFI | Section C - Voice Communications | |||
| Category B: IP Toll Free Services (Line 13) | To ensure we fully understand the requirement, could the State provide more detail on what is meant by 'Shared Carrier Arrangement'? | Shared carrier arrangement allows us to send name and calling number without blocking services. | |||
| 21 | 260000000015 - Consolidated Telecom Categories - RFI | Section C - Voice Communications | |||
| Category B: IP Toll Free Services (Line 14) | Can the State provide more details on what 'Routing Features' you are requesting? | Features include but are not limited to: Automatic Failover, Manual Failover, Geo Redundancy, Load Balancing, Carrier Side Dial Plan Management, Call Admission Control, and Call Forwarding. | |||
| 22 | 260000000015 - Consolidated Telecom Categories - RFI | Section C - Voice Communications | |||
| Category C: Enterprise Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) Trucking (Line 23 & 24) | Does 'Digital Signal' and 'Digital Data Service' refer to SIP PRI? If not, can the State provide a definition for each? | Digital Signal converts sound into discrete binary values (0s and 1s) for real-time speech.(yes SIP Trunks, PRI, PSTN Services) | |||
| 23 | Response Instructions cover; Program Overview; attached workbook | 1, 14–16; all workbook sheets | The cover describes this RFI as “Statewide Internet Service Provider/Local Long Distance,” while the Program Overview and attached workbook include ISP/Broadband, Enterprise Data Communications, and Enterprise Voice Communications. Please confirm the complete scope and whether vendors may respond to only selected sections or categories. | Please complete all worksheets that pertain to your service offerings. | |
| 24 | Requirements; attached workbook | 16; all workbook sheets | For the attached workbook, should vendors respond at the category level, at every listed product or service line, or both? May vendors cross-reference a supplemental attachment when a complete response does not fit in Columns C and D? | Yes, please submit information pertinent to the categories that your company can support. | |
| 25 | The RFI currently provides only a general instruction to review and complete the category spreadsheet. | Yes, please submit information pertinent to the categories that your company can support. | |||
| 26 | Delivery of Response; workbook cost-structure instructions | 2; all workbook sheets | The RFI states that the price response should be saved separately, while the workbook states that the State is not requesting pricing or quotes. However, Section A “Other Services” and Section B “Services” request a typical rate card. Please confirm whether actual dollar rates are required with this RFI and, if so, identify the required file format and whether the rate card must be separated from the narrative response. | The State would like you to provide the cost for the services you provide. The State has included the Confidential Treatment form that will protect information you would like to be held confidential as part of this Market Research effort. | |
| 27 | Workbook—Section A Other Services; Section B Category F Services | Section A row 33; Section B rows 46–55 | If rate cards are required, please define the expected units and assumptions, including regular, overtime, and holiday hours; travel expenses; minimum call-out periods; materials; remote versus onsite work; and geographic differentials. | The SOM is open to both labor categories and labor rates. | |
| 28 | Vendor Questions Worksheet §1, Contact Information | 9 | Because this is an RFI and not an offer to enter into a contract, is the response identifying the “person authorized to receive and sign a resulting contract,” including the SIGMA VSS customer code, mandatory at the RFI stage? | No, this information is not necessary for the RFI. | |
| 29 | Vendor Questions Worksheet §2, Company Background | 10 | Are the five years of gross annual sales and the response concerning a potential revenue increase greater than 25% mandatory for this RFI? If mandatory, may gross-sales information be identified as Proprietary Financial Information and redacted from a Public Copy through the Confidential Treatment process? | Please complete the Vendor Questions worksheet to your comfort level at this Market Research stage. Please complete the Confidential Treatment Form to ensure confidentiality. | |
| 30 | Response Instructions §§5, 7–8; Confidential Treatment Form | 3–8 | The instructions state that submitted information becomes a public record immediately upon receipt, while the Confidential Treatment Form discusses public disclosure after notice of an award recommendation. Please clarify the expected timing of public disclosure for RFI responses and how the Confidential Treatment process applies when no award is anticipated directly from this RFI. | Confidential Treatment Form should be completed for items you deem confidential. RFI is for Market Research purposes only. | |
| 31 | Confidential Treatment Form §2 | 7 | When confidential treatment is requested, should vendors submit a separate Public Copy for each native response file and attachment, including the completed category workbook? Should each public file retain the original filename with a “Public Copy” suffix? | A public copy should be provided for all attachments that contain confidential information. | |
| 32 | Attached workbook—Section C | Rows 16–33 | Section C proceeds from Category C to Category G and Category H. Please confirm that Categories D through F were intentionally omitted and that respondents should retain the category labels exactly as provided. | This is a typo. The spreadsheet has been corrected. | |
| 33 | Attached workbook—Sections B and C | Section B row 22; Section C row 17 | May vendors interpret “Zero Trust Network Access (ZNTA)” as Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) and “Session Boarder Controllers” as Session Border Controllers? | That is correct. These are spelling errors and will be corrected. | |
| 34 | Attached workbook—DDoS categories | Section A rows 21–22; Section C rows 30–31 | DDoS protection appears in both the ISP and Enterprise Voice sections. Should vendors provide separate, service-specific responses in both sections, or may one response be provided and cross-referenced? | please respond to both sections accordingly | |
| 35 | Attached workbook—Section B Category E; Section C | Section B rows 38–45; Section C, all rows | Unified Communications items in Section B overlap with the Enterprise Voice Communication items in Section C. Please clarify the intended distinction between the two sections and whether the same product or service offering should be listed in both. | Unified Communications in Section B is intended for hardware, software and any toolsets needed to provide enterprise voice communications to the end users. Section C is for the telecommunications carriers who will provide the backbone needed to provide enterprise voice services. | |
| 36 | The Program Overview confirms that the State is evaluating ISP/Broadband, Enterprise Data Communications, and Enterprise Voice Communications and seeks information about deployment models, support, pricing methodologies, contract structures, implementation, and public-sector experience. | ||||
| An internet connection is not an acceptable data circuit connection. This must be dedicated and we do expect redundancy and Geo Diverse within the redundancy as noted. I get they read overlap but that shouldn’t prohibit them from understanding the need and bid accordingly. | |||||
| 37 | N/A | N/A | Should respondents provide statewide coverage maps, serviceability assumptions, rural or remote-site limitations, and anticipated lead-time ranges? Please also confirm whether service locations are limited to Michigan or may include agency sites outside Michigan. | You may provide maps of the geographical coverage areas | |
| 38 | N/A | N/A | What level of detail does the State prefer regarding availability, resiliency, cybersecurity, interoperability, and support—for example, target uptime, network diversity, incident response, support hours, escalation procedures, and security attestations? | We do wish to have the right context for the requested services and definitely would like your targeted uptime in a standard agreement along with failover RTO (Recovery Time Objective) and RPO (Recovery Point Objective) with incident response times. For security, please provide recognized controls in your network to include, but not be limited to: SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001, PCI DSS, FedRAMP and how often you test and maintain and backup your network offered to the State | |
| 39 | Sections A-C | N/A | For cost-structure responses, does the State prefer qualitative methodology only, illustrative nonbinding ranges, or sample unit structures without actual prices? | The State prefers qualitative methodology | |
| 40 | 5. Delivery of Response | 2 | Is the 6 MB limit applied to each individual attachment only? Is there any limit on the total number of attachments or the aggregate size of the complete submission? | Attachment file size is limited to 30 MB per document. Questions on how to submit information or how to navigate in the SIGMA VSS system can be answered by calling (517) 284-0540 or (888) 734-9749. | |
| 41 | 8. Confidential Treatment Form | 3 | Must the signed Confidential Treatment Form and any Public Copy also be submitted in modifiable or native format, or is PDF acceptable for signed and redacted versions? | These can be submitted in a PDF format. | |
| 42 | 6. Oral Presentations | 2 | If the State invites vendors to participate in oral presentations, what topics, anticipated duration, notice period, and participant roles are expected? | Supporting information will be included in the State's request to conduct oral presentations. |
43 Consolidated Telecom Categories - RFI Spreadsheet, category F Is there a list of desired locations where ISP and Broadband Services should be delivered such as Dimondale, Lansing, Data Centers, etc? We are looking at the entire State of Michigan as the geographical area. Responses are not limited to specific areas or data centers.
| 44 | Statewide Telecommunication Products and services - RFI, Response Instructions section, item 5. Delivery of Response | RFI page 2 | There is a column for cost structure in the Consolidated Telecom Categories spreadsheet. The RFI mentions: "The price response should be saved separately from all other response documents." The question is, how is price to be submitted? Are we to separate out the cost structure and embed within our own document? | Cost can be included in the categories spreadsheet. |
| 45 | Consolidated Telecom Categories - RFI Spreadsheet, category H | Are there particular Cloud Providers that you are in need of such as AWS, Azure, GCP, or others? | The State currently has a contract with AWS, Azure and GCP. The State is not looking for a particular Cloud Provider, but this is open to Cloud Providers. |
File details come from the government source that posted it. Updated .