Colorado Community College System Request For Proposals (RFP) Cover Sheet

2:00 PM MT

DESCRIPTION:

Disaster Recovery/Business Continuity System Solution

PLEASE SUBMIT ONE (1) UNBOUND ORIGINAL PLUS TEN (10) COPIES OF PROPOSAL. The original should be unbound. Also submit one (1) electronic copy (CD, DVD, Flash/Thumb Drive, etc.).

Submit to: Colorado Community College System, Purchasing Office, 9101 E Lowry Blvd, Denver, CO 80230

THIS COMPLETED PAGE MUST BE SIGNED AND RETURNED WITH YOUR PROPOSAL.

COMPANY NAME__________________________________________________________________________ ADDRESS: ________________________________________________________________________________ CITY/STATE/ZIP____________________________________________________________________________ PHONE: __________________________________ TOLL FREE #_____________________________________

AUTHORIZED SIGNATURE ___________________________________________________________________

TYPED/PRINTED NAME_____________________________________________

TITLE____________________________________________________________

EMAIL ADDRESS _______________________________________________________

F.E.I.N._________________________________________________________________

CONTACT PERSON (IF DIFFERENT)_______________________________________

PHONE _____________________________ EMAIL ____________________________

ADDRESS (IF DIFFERENT) ___________________________________________________________________ NOTE: Telegraphic or electronic bids (fax, Western Union, telex, e-mail, Dropbox, Google Docs, etc.) will not be accepted. Bidders are urged to read the Solicitation document thoroughly before submitting a Bid.

Bidder to answer and acknowledges the following by its signature above:

Are you registered with the State of ColoradoVSS (Vendor Self Service) system? _______Yes ______No Do you anticipate services or subcontracting services outside the United States or Colorado? _______Yes ______No Proprietary information is in my response and, if so, as segregated pages: _______Yes _______No Using the federal government definition, does your firm qualify as:

_____ Woman Owned business _____ Minority business - if yes, state ethnicity:______________ _____ Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) located in Colorado – If yes, provide documentation issued through the US Dept. of Veterans Affairs

CCCS RFP 15-008 - 1 –

Disaster Recovery/Business Continuity

SECTION 1: Invitation for Proposal

Colorado Community College System (CCCS or the System) is issuing a Request for Proposal for a multi-year exclusive disaster recovery system solution.

Proposals must be submitted in a sealed envelope/package marked Disaster Recovery System Solution, Proposal Number CCCS RFP 15-008”, to be opened January 8, 2015 at 2:00 p.m.”

It is Colorado Community College System’s intent to evaluate appropriate contractors to provide disaster recovery services to the 13 state-wide colleges and the Lowry Campus. Contractor shall demonstrate to Colorado Community College System satisfaction that it is of sound financial condition and is adequately bonded and insured as required. The contract awarded will be for a term of one year, with options for four (4) one-year renewals. The State reserves the right to cancel this entire Request for Proposal or individual Phases at any time, without penalty.

This solicitation is published using the Colorado Vendor Self Service System (ColoradoVSS). Offerors must be registered on ColoradoVSS in order to download solicitation documents and information. Offerors must be registered for ColoradoVSS as of the bid submission deadline in order to be considered responsive. ColoradoVSS and its registration information may be linked through the State Purchasing Office link at www.colorado.gov/VSS.

Colorado Community College System hereby notifies all bidders in regard to any contract entered into pursuant to this advertisement, small and disadvantaged business enterprises will be afforded full opportunity to this advertisement and will not be discriminated against on the grounds of race, religion, color, sex, age or national origin in consideration for an award.

It is the State’s goal to achieve maximum participation of minorities and women owned businesses in the procurement process. Accordingly, minority and women owned business enterprises are to be utilized whenever possible. By the submission of a proposal, the contractor shall agree to utilize the maximum amount of minority and women owned business firms that the contractor finds to be consistent with the efficient performance of any resulting contract.

CCCS further notifies all bidders that any contract entered into as a result of this advertisement will require that Contractor certify, warrant, and agree that it will not knowingly employ or contract with an illegal alien who will perform work under this contract and will confirm the employment eligibility of all employees who are newly hired for employment in the United States to perform work under this contract, through participation in the E-Verify Program or the Department program established pursuant to CRS §8-17.5-102(5)(c). Contractor shall not knowingly employ or contract with an illegal alien to perform work under this contract or enter into a contract with a subcontractor that fails to certify to Contractor that the subcontractor shall not knowingly employ or contract with an illegal alien to perform work under this contract.

The State of Colorado requires disclosure of performance that will be accomplished outside of the United States. In addition to all bid requirements, the disclosure statement attached to this solicitation must be completed and turned in with the bid in order for the bid to be considered responsive.

Please be advised that telegraphic or electronic responses (Fax, DropBox, Google Docs, Western Union, Telex, etc.) cannot be accepted directly in the Purchasing Office as a sealed proposal. Bidders are urged to read the document thoroughly before submitting a response.

Response must be signed by a representative of the vendor who is legally authorized to bind the offeror to the proposal. All vendor(s) will be required to submit confirmation of an F.E.I.N. number prior to any issuance of Contracts, Purchase Orders, or payments resulting from this RFP.

SECTION 2 - ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION

2.1 Issuing Office

This RFP is issued by Colorado Community College System (CCCS) Purchasing Office on behalf of the system and its thirteen colleges, and the CCCS Purchasing Office is the point of contact concerning this RFP.

2.2 Official Means of Communication

This solicitation is published using the Colorado Vendor Self Service System (ColoradoVSS). Offerors must be registered on ColoradoVSS in order to download solicitation documents and information, and must be registered for ColoradoVSS as of the bid submission deadline in order to be considered responsive. ColoradoVSS and its registration information may be linked through the State Purchasing Office link at www.colorado.gov/VSS.

During the solicitation process for this RFP, all official communication between CCCS’s Purchasing Office and Offerors will be via postings on ColoradoVSS. CCCS will post notices that will include, but are not limited to, modifications to administrative or performance requirements, answers to inquiries received, clarifications to requirements, and the announcement of the apparent awarded Offeror. It is incumbent upon Offerors to monitor the ColoradoVSS carefully and regularly for any such postings.

2.3 Statement of Purpose

This RFP provides prospective Offerors with sufficient information to enable them to prepare and submit proposals for consideration by Colorado Community College System to achieve the goals of this RFP. This RFP provides Offerors with sufficient information to enable them to:

1. Understand the scope of work as outlined in Section 3 of this RFP;

2. Submit proposals related to products and services, equipment, marketing, corporate background and experience, commissions and pricing; and

3. Allow for comprehensive evaluation and consideration by an impartial evaluation team.

This RFP solicitation process may include reference checks, Offeror interviews, proposal clarification sessions and the opportunity for Offerors to submit a Best and Final Offer (BAFO). CCCS reserves the right to conduct discussions and checks with other state agencies and/or clients that have conducted business with Offerors for the purpose of additional performance evaluation.

2.4 Scope

This RFP contains instructions governing the proposal to be submitted and identifies material to be included therein, mandatory requirements that must be met to be eligible for consideration, and other requirements to be met by each Offeror.

2.5 Schedule of Activities

(all times are local Colorado time)

2.6 Optional Pre-bid Meeting and Written Inquiries

Potential respondents are invited to attend an optional pre-proposal meeting to familiarize themselves with the existing conditions and satisfy themselves as to the nature and scope of the work to be done and the difficulties that may exist.

The optional pre-proposal meeting will be held from 1:30 – 3:00 PM on December 15, 2014 on the Colorado Community College System’s Lowry Campus. The meeting will be held at the CCCS Information Technologies Building located at: 1059 Alton Way, Denver, CO 80230 in Room 141 located on the 1st Floor. In addition, this meeting will be held via WebEx conferencing. Interested vendors should send an email request to Terry Hindsman for log in information prior to 1:00 PM on December 15, 2014.

Vendors are requested to submit written inquiries concerning this RFP by December 12, 2014 at 3:00 PM so that CCCS can prepare appropriately and also to ensure necessary technical staff are present. No inquiries will be accepted after the date and time indicated in the Schedule of Activities. Send all inquiries via email, referencing “RFP 15-008 Disaster Recovery/Business Continuity System Solution” in the subject line to: Terry.Hindsman@cccs.edu.

The only official responses to an Offeror's inquiries are those responses that are published as a modification on the BIDS system. Offerors should not rely on any other statements that alter any specification or other term or condition of this RFP.

2.7 Modification or Withdrawal of Proposals

Proposals may be modified or withdrawn by the vendor prior to the established due date and time.

2.8 Proposal Submission

Proposals must be received on or before the date and time indicated in the Schedule of Activities. Late proposals will not be accepted. It is the responsibility of the vendor to ensure that CCCS receives the proposal on or before the proposal opening date and time. Vendors mailing their proposals shall allow sufficient mail delivery time to ensure receipt of their proposals by the time specified. The proposal package shall be delivered or sent to:

Colorado Community College System ATTN: Purchasing Office 9101 E. Lowry Blvd.

Denver, CO 80230

The Request for Proposal cover page MUST be signed in ink by the vendor or an officer of the vendor legally authorized to bind the vendor to the proposal. The signed Request for Proposal cover page is to be included with the proposal copy that is marked ORIGINAL. Proposals which are determined to be at a variance with this requirement may not be accepted. Proposals must be submitted and sealed in a package. The outer envelope of the package must show the following information:

OFFEROR’S NAME

RFP-NO.

PROPOSAL DUE DATE AND TIME

CCCS desires and encourages that proposals be submitted on recycled paper, printed on both sides. While the appearance of proposals and professional presentation is important, the use of non-recyclable or non-recycled glossy paper is discouraged.

2.9 Addendum or Supplement to Request for Proposals

In the event that it becomes necessary to revise any part of this RFP, a modification notice will be sent via the BIDS system.

2.10 Oral Presentations/Site Visits

Offerors may be asked to make oral presentations. Such presentations will be at the Offeror's expense.

2.11 Acceptance of RFP Terms

A proposal submitted in response to this RFP shall constitute a binding offer. The autographic signature of the Offeror or an officer of the Offeror legally authorized to execute contractual obligations shall indicate acknowledgment of this condition. A submission in response to this RFP acknowledges acceptance by the Offeror of all terms and conditions including compensation as set forth herein. An Offeror shall identify clearly and thoroughly any variations between its proposal and Colorado Community College System’s RFP. Failure to do so shall be deemed a waiver of any rights to subsequently modify the terms of performance, except as outlined or specified in the RFP.

2.12 Protested Solicitations and Awards

Any actual or prospective vendor or contractor who is aggrieved in connection with the solicitation or award of a contract may protest to the Procurement Manager at the Colorado Community College System at the address specified in section 2.8. The protest shall be submitted in writing within seven working days after such aggrieved person knows, or should have known, of the facts giving rise thereto. Ref. Section 24-109, 101 et. seq., CRS, as amended; Section 24-109-101 through R-24-109-206, Colorado Procurement Rules. It is important for Offerors to note that a challenge to the solicitation's requirements or specifications should be made within 7 working days of when the protestable item is known. In other words, if you believe that the solicitation contains a requirement you want to protest, the protest should be submitted within the 7 working day time period, even if that means it is filed during the time the solicitation is still open.

An Intent to Award notice of the apparent winning Offeror(s) will be made via email or letter delivered by US Mail to all responsive Offerors. The requirement for timely submission of any protest (7 working days) will begin no later than the first working day following receipt of the Intent to Award notice.

The written protest shall include, at a minimum, the following:

2.13 Confidential / Proprietary Information

Any restrictions of the use or inspection of material contained within the proposal shall be clearly stated in the proposal itself. A separate written request for confidentiality shall also be submitted by the Offeror with the proposal. Such requests must include justification for each request. It is not acceptable to label the entirety of the proposal as proprietary or confidential. The Offeror must state specifically what elements of the proposal are to be considered confidential/proprietary. All such information must be indicated with the following or similar statement:

“The information contained on pages ________ shall not be duplicated, used in whole or in part for any purpose other than to evaluate the proposal provided, that if a contract is awarded to this firm, as a result of the submission of such information, Colorado Community College System shall have the right to duplicate, use or disclose this information to the extent provided in the contract. This restriction does not limit the right of Colorado Community College System to use the information contained herein if obtained from another source.”

Confidential/proprietary information must be readily identified, marked and separated from the rest of the proposal. Separation may be accomplished by methods such as including a separate tab or section to the technical response or packaging separately from the technical response. Because CCCS responds to all open records requests, co-mingling of confidential/proprietary and other information does not provide a means for exclusion and is NOT acceptable. Neither a proposal, in its entirety, nor proposal price information will be considered confidential and proprietary. Any information that will be included in any resulting contract cannot be considered confidential. CCCS will make a written determination as to the apparent validity of any written request for confidentiality. In the event CCCS does not concur with the Offeror's request for confidentiality, the written determination will be sent to the Offeror. Ref. Section 24-72-201 et. seq., C.R.S., as amended, Public (open) Records.

2.14 RFP Response Material Ownership

All material submitted regarding this RFP becomes the property of the State of Colorado. The State of Colorado has the right to retain the original proposal and other RFP response materials for its files. As such, the State of Colorado may retain or dispose of all copies as is lawfully deemed appropriate. The State of Colorado has the right to use any or all information/material presented in reply to the RFP, subject to limitations outlined in the clause, Proprietary/Confidential Information. Offeror expressly agrees that the State may use the materials for all lawful State purposes, including the right to reproduce copies of the material submitted for purposes of evaluation, and to make the information available to the public in accordance with the provisions of the Public Records Act. Proposals may be reviewed by any person after the “Notice of Intent to Make an Award” letter has been issued, and announcement made on the State of Colorado BIDS system, subject to the terms of Section 24-72-201 et. seq., CRS, as amended, Public (Open) Records.

2.15 Proposal Prices

Estimated proposal prices are not acceptable. Proposal prices will be considered to be your best and final offer, unless otherwise stated in the RFP. The proposal price will be considered in determining the apparent successful Offeror.

2.16 Quantities

CCCS reserves the right to adjust quantities stated in this solicitation. Available funding versus prices bid may affect actual quantities ordered. CCCS may choose to increase or decrease quantities stated in the documents depending on the circumstance. CCCS is not obligated to place any order for a given amount subsequent to the award of this solicitation. CCCS may use any stated estimated quantities in the award evaluation process. Estimated quantities do not contemplate or include possible additional quantities that may be ordered by other entities utilizing this contract. In no event shall CCCS be liable for payments in excess of the amount due for quantities of goods or services actually ordered. CCCS reserves the right to purchase additional goods and services at the same bid prices or lower within a reasonable period of time following award.

2.17 Evaluation and Discussion Process

CCCS reserves the right to award on receipt of initial proposals. Offerors not meeting the requirements identified in the RFP shall be ineligible for further consideration. The State may conduct discussions with offerors in the competitive range for the purpose of promoting understanding of the State’s requirements and the offeror’s proposal, to clarify requirements, make adjustments in services to be performed, and in prices. Changes to proposals, if permitted, will be requested in writing from offerors.

Offerors may be provided a date at which oral presentations will be heard. Respondents should not assume that they will be asked to give a presentation. If requested, the presentation should not exceed one hour including setup time, questions, and answers. Respondents will have no more than four representatives present during the presentation. The presentation shall consist of an Offeror briefing concerning the addressing of clarifications and deficiency items identified by CCCS. Guidelines regarding the oral presentations will be distributed to those Offerors remaining in the competitive range.

Offerors may be given an opportunity, after the conclusion of the oral presentations, to submit a best and final offer (BAFO). Offerors will be informed in writing of the date by which best and final offers are due. Offerors shall make any revisions CCCS deems necessary to clarify or correct weaknesses in their proposal. CCCS does not require complete, substantial proposal rewrites. Offerors are cautioned not to make changes in price/cost revisions that are not clearly explained and/or justified in any proposal revision. Offerors assume the risk that proposed revisions be adequately explained so CCCS understands the nature of the revisions and the risk to CCCS from unreasonable forecasts of contractor costs.

2.18 Notice of Intent to Award

Upon notice of intent to award, if requested, the Offeror may be asked to supply audited financial statements within the requested time frame. CCCS may also require a credit rating by a rating service.

2.19 Award of Contract

Award will be made to the responsible Offeror whose proposal, conforming to this RFP, will be the most advantageous to the CCCS, price and other factors considered. A contract must be completed and signed by all parties concerned. In the event the parties are unable to enter into a contract, CCCS may elect to cancel the "Notice of Intent to Make an Award" letter and make the award to the next most responsible Offeror.

2.20 Standard Contract

CCCS requires that any contract resulting from this RFP be in the attached form as required by current Colorado statutes, fiscal rules and CCCS Procurement rules, including provisions referenced and the State Special Provisions (Attachment A). Certain portions of the Contract may be edited or adjusted to reflect the actual award given a particular vendor.

2.20.1 Order of Precedence.

In the event of any conflict or inconsistency between terms of this request for proposal and the Offeror’s proposal, such conflict or inconsistency shall be resolved first, by giving effect to the terms and conditions of the contract, second to the request for proposal, and last to the Offeror’s proposal.

2.20.2 Offeror Proposed Terms and Conditions.

Except as specified in the Offeror’s proposal, the submission of the Offeror’s proposal will indicate its acceptance of these terms and conditions. Offeror must disclose in their proposal terms and conditions or required clarifications of terms and conditions consistent with these instructions. CCCS reserves the right to clarify terms and conditions not having an appreciable affect on quality, price/cost, risk or delivery schedule during post-award formalization of the contract. Include payment terms and conditions.

2.21 Acceptance of Proposal Content

The contents of the proposal of the successful offeror will become contractual obligations if acquisition action ensues. Failure of the successful offeror to accept these obligations in a CCCS contract, purchase order, or similar authorized acquisition document may result in cancellation of the award and such offeror may be removed from future solicitations.

2.22 RFP Cancellation

Pursuant to Procurement Rule 24-103-301, the State of Colorado reserves the right to cancel this RFP if it is in the best interest of the State to do so. In the event the State elects to NOT award any Offeror, or the RFP solicitation is cancelled, all received proposals must be retained as confidential and will not be subject to public inspection. The purpose for this condition is to prevent any future potential offerors an opportunity to review other offerors’ proposals and thereby gain any unfair advantage in submitting future proposals. Any cancellations occurring before the submittal due date will result in received proposals being returned unopened to the appropriate Offeror accompanied by a notice of cancellation letter.

2.23 State Ownership of Contract Products/Services

Proposals, upon established opening time, become the property of CCCS. All products/services produced in response to the contract resulting from this RFP will be the sole property of CCCS, unless otherwise noted in the RFP. The contents of the successful Offeror's proposal will become contractual obligations.

2.24 Incurring Costs

CCCS is not liable for any cost incurred by Offerors prior to issuance of a legally executed contract, purchase order, or other authorized acquisition document. No property interest, of any nature, shall occur until a contract is awarded and signed by all concerned parties.

2.25 Non-Discrimination

The offeror shall comply with all applicable state and federal laws, rules and regulations involving non-discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, age or sex.

2.26 Rejection of Proposal

CCCS reserves the right to reject any and all proposals, waive informalities and minor irregularities in proposals received, and to accept any portion of a proposal or all items proposed if deemed in the best interest of CCCS. Failure to furnish all information, or to follow the proposal format set forth in this RFP, may act to disqualify the proposal. It is the sole responsibility of the Offeror to ensure ALL required signature forms and the requisite number of document copies are included in its submittal package.

2.27 Parent Company

If an Offeror is owned or controlled by a parent company, the name, main office address and parent company's tax identification number shall be provided in the proposal. The tax identification number of the Offeror responding to the RFP must also be provided.

2.28 News Releases

News releases pertaining to this RFP shall NOT be made prior to execution of the contract without prior written approval by CCCS.

2.29 Certification of Independent Price

2.29.1 Certification

By submission of this proposal each Offeror certifies, and in the case of a joint proposal, each party thereto certifies as to its own organization, that in connection with this procurement:

(a) The prices in this proposal have been arrived at independently, without consultation, communication, or agreement, for the purpose of restricting competition, as to any matter relating to such prices with any other Offeror or with any competitor;

(b) Unless otherwise required by law, the prices which have been quoted in this proposal have not been knowingly disclosed by the Offeror and will not knowingly be disclosed by the Offeror prior to opening, directly or indirectly to any other Offeror or to any competitor; and

(c) No attempt has been made or will be made by the Offeror to induce any other person or firm to submit or not to submit a proposal for the purpose of restricting competition.

2.29.2 Individual Certification

Each person signing the Request for Proposal form of this proposal certifies that:

(a) She/He is the person in the Offeror's organization responsible within that organization for the decision as to the prices being offered herein and that he has not participated, and will not participate, in any action contrary to 2.29.1(a) through 2.29.1(c) above; or

(b) She/He is not the person in the Offeror's organization responsible within that organization for the decision as to the prices being offered herein but that she/he has been authorized in writing to act as agent for the persons responsible for such decision in certifying that such persons have not participated, and will not participate, in any action contrary to 2.29.1(a) through 2.29.1(c) above, and as their agent does hereby so certify; and he has not participated, and will not participate, in any action contrary to 2.29.1(a) through 2.29.1(c) above.

2.29.3 Proposal Not Considered For Award Conditions

A proposal will not be considered for award where 2.29.1(a), 2.29.1(c), or 2.29.2 above has been deleted or modified. Where 2.29.1(b) above has been deleted or modified, the proposal will not be considered for award unless the Offeror furnishes with the proposal a signed statement which sets forth in detail the circumstances of the disclosure and the head of the agency, or his designee, determines that such disclosure was not made for the purpose of restricting competition.

2.30 Contract Cancellation

CCCS reserves the right to cancel, for cause, any contract resulting from this RFP by providing timely written notice to the contractor.

2.31 Conflicts of Interest

The holding of public office or employment is a public trust. A public officer or employee whose conduct departs from his fiduciary duty is liable to the people of the State of Colorado. Rules of conduct for public offers and State employees:

a. Engage in a substantial financial transaction for his private business purposes with a person whom he inspects, regulates, or supervises in the course of his official duties; or

b. Assist any person for a fee or other compensation in obtaining any contract, claim licenses, or other economic benefit for his agency; or

c. Assist any person for a contingent fee in obtaining any contract, claim, license, or other economic benefit from any State agency; or

d. Perform an official act directly and substantially affecting to its economic benefit a business or other undertaking in which he either has a substantial financial interest.

2.32 Taxes

CCCS, as purchaser, is exempt from all federal excise taxes under Chapter 32 of the Internal Revenue Code (Registration No. 84-0644739) and from all state and local government use taxes (Ref. Colorado Revised Statutes Chapter 39-26.114(a). Our Colorado State and Local Sales Tax Exemption Number is 98-15145-0000.

2.33 Assignment and Delegation

Except for assignment of antitrust claims, neither party to any resulting contract may assign or delegate any portion of the agreement without the prior written consent of the other party.

2.34 Insurance

If the RFP so states, the contractor shall procure, at its own expense, and maintain for the duration of the contract, the following insurance coverages; the State shall be issued certificates as an additional insured.

· Standard Workers' Compensation and Employer Liability as required by state statute, including occupational disease, covering all employees on or off the work site, acting within the course and scope of their employment.

· General and/or Personal Injury and/or Professional and/or Automobile Liability

- (including bodily injury, personal injury and property damage) with the following minimum coverage, depending on the policy format:

· Other Insurance - Vendor shall provide such other insurance as may be required by law, or in a specific solicitation.

2.34.1 Additional Insured

The State of Colorado shall be named as an additional insured on all liability policies.

2.34.2 Cancellation Prevention

The insurance shall include a provision preventing cancellation without 60-calendar days prior written notice to the State by certified mail.

2.34.3 Insurance Documentation

Vendor shall provide the following documentation to CCCS within 7 working days of a request therefor, unless otherwise provided:

1. Certificate/s of adequate insurance coverage, each with a reference to the State being named as an additional insured, or

2. Certificates of adequate insurance coverage and an endorsement/s of additional insured coverage.

2.35 Availability of Funds

Financial obligations of the State payable after the current fiscal year are contingent upon funds for that purpose being appropriated, budgeted and otherwise made available. In the event funds are not appropriated, any resulting contract will become null and void, without penalty to the State of Colorado.

2.36 Indemnification

To the extent authorized by law, the contractor shall indemnify, save and hold harmless the State, its employees and agents, against any and all claims, damages, liability, and court awards including costs, expenses, and attorney fees incurred as a result of any act or omission by the contractor or its employees, agents, or subcontractors, or assignees pursuant to the terms of the contract resulting from this RFP.

2.37 Use of RFP and State Seal

The successful vendor will not use any information received as a result of this contract for promoting any programs designed to provide service to State employees or College students without specific, written authorization of the Purchasing Agent. Further, the successful vendor will not conduct a program designed for the System or take advantage of the fact that they are the successful vendor for these services without the specific written authorization of the Purchasing Agent. No vendor shall use the State of Colorado Seal on any materials or for any materials or for any reason without the specific, written authorization of the Secretary of State’s Office.

2.38 Independent Contractor Clause

All personal service contracts must contain the following clause:

“THE CONTRACTOR SHALL PERFORM ITS DUTIES HEREUNDER AS AN INDEPENDENT CONTRACTOR AND NOT AS AN EMPLOYEE. NEITHER THE CONTRACTOR NOR ANY AGENT OR EMPLOYEE OF THE CONTRACTOR SHALL BE OR SHALL BE DEEMED TO BE AN AGENT OR EMPLOYEE OF THE STATE. CONTRACTOR SHALL PAY WHEN DUE ALL REQUIRED EMPLOYMENT TAXES AND INCOME TAX WITHHOLDING, SHALL PROVIDE AND KEEP IN FORCE WORKER'S COMPENSATION (AND SHOW PROOF OF SUCH INSURANCE) AND UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION INSURANCE IN THE AMOUNTS REQUIRED BY LAW, AND SHALL BE SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR THE ACTS OF THE CONTRACTOR, ITS EMPLOYEES AND AGENTS."

2.39 Venue

The laws of the State of Colorado, U.S.A. shall govern in connection with the formation, performance and the legal enforcement of any resulting contract. Further, Title 24, C.R.S. as amended, Article 101 through 112, and Rules adopted to implement the statutes govern this procurement.

2.40 Legislative Changes

The State of Colorado reserves the right to amend the contract in response to legislative changes, which affect this project.

2.41 Contractual Obligation

Nothing contained herein creates any contractual relationship between Colorado Community College System and the contractor, subcontractor, or supplier. However, bidding statements contained in the response of the successful contractor will become part of the contract for the product and services.

If after award of the contract, the contractor becomes aware of possible problems which could result in delay of schedule, the contractor must immediately notify CCCS by phone (confirmation to be in writing, giving the cause, probable effect, and recommendations for alternative actions).

Nothing in the above item will be interpreted as relieving the contractor of the contractual responsibilities; however, failure to promptly notify will be basis for determining contractor negligence in an otherwise excusable delay.

2.42 Contract Performance for Services Outside US or Colorado After award of the contract, Contractor shall provide written notice to the State within 20 days of the earlier to occur of Contractor’s decision to perform, or its execution of an agreement with a Subcontractor to perform, Services outside the State of Colorado and/or the United States. Such notice shall specify the type of Services to be performed outside the State of Colorado and/or the United States and the reason why it is necessary or advantageous to perform such Services at such location or locations. All notices received by the State pursuant to this requirement shall be posted on the Colorado Department of Personnel & Administration’s website. Knowing failure by Contractor to provide notice to the State under this requirement shall constitute a material breach of this Contract.

2.43 Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Businesses (SDVOSB) In accordance with House Bill 14-1224, CCCS reports on contracts with Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Businesses (SDVOSB). HB 14-1224 also allows for the application of a preference for SDVOSBs. In the situation where two or more comparable responses are evaluated, preference may be given to a SDVOSB. Bidders who qualify as SDVOSB under the terms of HB 14-1224 are requested to submit proof of certification with their response.

Section 3: SCOPE OF SERVICES REQUESTED

3.1 Background

The Colorado Community College System (CCCS) consists of 13 colleges throughout Colorado, with 36 campuses or sites. CCCS is the largest and fastest growing institution of higher education in the state, serving approximately 145,000 students. Details about the Colorado Community College System and its colleges can be found at www.cccs.edu CCCS is governed the State Board for Community Colleges and Occupational Education (SBCCOE).

Daily operations at the system level are run by the system president and executive staff. Day to day operations at the colleges are overseen at the executive level by each of the thirteen college presidents. The system, by statute, is responsible for centralized information technology systems that are used by all the colleges. Those centralized systems are operated and supported by CCCS Information Technologies (CCCS-IT) and include the ERP system, Ellucian Banner, for Student, Financial Aid, Finance, Advancement and Human Resource/Payroll, Recruiter, Degree Works, Operational Data Store/Enterprise Data Warehouse, Microsoft Exchange, Voice Over IP telephony and the Wide Area Network (WAN). Because the colleges are dependent on these key enterprise systems and currently CCCS-IT has a single data center located in central Denver at the former Lowry Air Force Base which now houses the System offices, the Colorado Community College System is seeking a Disaster Recovery site and Business Continuity failover site for its key systems: Banner, Exchange and the WAN. Details and technical specifications on these systems are found elsewhere in this document. It is the intent of CCCS to minimize to the extent possible technically and financially, any down time associated with a failure at its current data center location and have a secure, stable and robust location where these systems can continue to operate as required by the colleges. Also included in the requirements are real time data storage for disaster recovery purposes, a clear approach to business continuity in terms of the length of down time prior to failover, annual tests of the included systems and sufficient redundancy to keep the required systems fully operational for an extended period of time including test and development systems, not only production systems.

3.2 Statement of Work

The goal of this project is to develop and implement a disaster recovery plan and environment, ensure a determined and established level of business continuity for key enterprise systems and additional backup/recovery systems to protect the data of CCCS in situations of unforeseen natural and man-made disasters. CCCS wants to ensure the CCCS data is protected from loss due to unavoidable circumstances and that CCCS critical systems remain up and operational throughout a disaster. Because of the ebb and flow of transactions from the colleges, the failover systems MUST support the highest level of need from the colleges which typically occurs at the start of an academic semester. A partial solution or minimal level of throughput is not acceptable. Access to failed-over systems must be consistent, transparent and not require a significant level of manual intervention to operate.

CCCS-IT provides several mission critical services to thirteen community colleges and the system office’s internal business processes, faculty, staff and students. These services are provided by core CCCS-IT infrastructure environments which include independent and virtualized servers participating in an Active Directory Security Domain. The CCCS-IT servers and domain are connected using several networking components including, routers, switches and firewalls. The CCCS-IT environment serves approximately 10,000 employees and 145,000 students. CCCS-IT has approximately 330 servers in a combination of stand-alone and virtual configurations. There is approximately 273 terabytes of total disk space including server and disk arrays with approximately 123 terabytes containing data. Additionally, CCCS-IT hosts a centralized ERP system, centralized Microsoft Exchange email, Wide Area connectivity and Internet access for the entire system.

CCCS is requesting a narrative response and documentation to support the following Statement of Work requirements:

3.2.1 Critical IT Services

The scope of this project includes the following business critical IT Services, including all the integrated applications, software, hardware and network infrastructure.

1. Internet access including the following services (firewalls, intrusion detection/prevention, malware protection, phishing protection, SPAM protection and prevention of illegal P2P file downloads.

2. WAN Redundancy – This requires the build out of a redundant network ring connecting key locations around the CCCS network to the current data center and the DR location. CCCS staff would be responsible for the configuration and maintenance of the hardware required for this connectivity but the hardware can be owned by the provider. Additionally the circuits required for the redundant ring should be provided by the DR/BC site. See attached diagram.

3. Banner Applications – This is the centralized ERP system that supports the registration of students, tuition collection, payroll, personnel, purchasing and finance. See spreadsheet for current system requirements.

4. E-Mail services – This is the centralized Microsoft Exchange 2010 environment which will need to house the redundant systems to ensure user access to messaging services. With the E-Mail services piece physical CCCS servers for our External DNS and Active Directory will need to be housed in the facility.

5. All systems will need to run and function under a VMWare ESXi environment. Be compliant with the Cisco Power Network standards and have the ability to replicate data from existing EMC VNX storage as well as physically host our redundant EMC Avamar/Data Domain Backup system. The CCCS Backup system maintains 35 days of backups to disk and replicates those backups to an offsite location currently housed at one of our College campuses. The offsite equipment would be relocated to the DR/BC facility.

6. Access to outside systems such as Desire2Learn, Higher One, Office365 (Student Email), CORE, SURDS, Colorado Department of Higher Education, etc. Access can related to log in capability through Active Directory and/or LDAP or may be the ability to submit secure data transfers through FTP or other means.

7. Physical and virtual security to the facilities must provided 24/7/365 with both network and physical monitoring required. Physical security must be two factor authentication at a minimum with realtime monitoring via cameras. Access to the equipment housing CCCS data must also be secured physically as well as logically.

3.2.2 Colocation

1. Location requirements

a. Data center must be within 150 miles of Denver, CO to facilitate rapid access to any CCCS owned equipment that may be installed on site.

b. Should any cloud services be used to house CCCS data those services must be located within the United States.

2. Physical Security to the building/location must be provided 24/7/365 with multifactor access controls to the facility along with monitoring systems. Logs of physical access must be provided on a regular schedule as well as when requested. Access to equipment and racks must be secured and monitored as well.

3. Power to the facility must be redundant with battery backup and generators in a N+1 configuration minimum to avoid single points of failure including power providers.

4. Cooling to the equipment racks must be N+1 redundant with no single points of failure to chillers and cooling units.

5. Facility must provide access for data circuits using multiple carriers.

3.2.3. Data Redundancy/Disaster Recovery

All of CCCS’ regular backups will have at least two copies maintained at the Disaster Recovery site and will follow our current retention policy and inventory. Real time data transfer of Banner/Oracle databases and Exchange will occur on an ongoing basis as a part of the backup/recovery process and to provide the data for the failover capability Data stores for the failover hot site will be separate from the disaster recovery data stores. See inventory below of all of CCCS’ backups and retention policies. CCCS has existing hardware that potentially could be co-located to the DR facility.

3.2.4 Network

The CCCS network is comprised of 4 separate private clouds across the State of Colorado. These private clouds are of a MPLS nature allowing access within the clouds any-to-any. These private clouds connect back to key locations and eventually to the existing CCCS data center located at Lowry. Part of this DR/Business Continuity project is to provide a fully redundant ring to 5 key locations, which will include the DR location. Each of these locations will provide the access to the 4 separate clouds with redundant connectivity for each cloud to 2 of the 5 locations. Additionally the DR site will need to have a connection to the existing data center for traffic between the two data centers to traverse. Attached are a current CCCS WAN diagram and a diagram for the proposed redundant ring.

Existing WAN Diagram Please See Exhibit A – attached to solicitation separately in VSS

Proposed WAN ring Please see Exhibit B – attached separately to the solicitation in VSS

Banner Application Versions Please see Exhibit C – attached separately to the solicitation in VSS

Banner and Exchange Infrastructure Please see Exhibit D – attached separately to the solicitation in VSS

Section 4: VENDOR RESPONSE Provide a detailed narrative response to each of the areas and questions below. Please reference Section 5 for additional details on response format.

4.1 Corporate Profile

Please answer the following questions to give an overview of your company.

Overview Please give a brief history of your company, the product and service offerings, and describe the core competencies.

Client Examples Please provide a few of your current clients to be used as examples. Specifically, some of your clients that are using similar products and services as the ones requested in this proposal. Provide description of one or more project(s) of similar size and scope within the last 5 years.

Service Level Agreements (SLA) Please provide sample SLA’s that you would propose to CCCS as a part of the contract. We understand that exact SLA’s will be based on a variety of factors and cannot be determined at this time.

HQ Location Please provide the address of your corporate headquarters.

Data Center Locations Please provide the locations of your other data centers. Please provide any certifications that you have associated with your data centers such as Physical and Environmental Security, Employee Security and/or Access Control.

Management Team Please provide the names, titles, and background of your top corporate executives.

Alliances & Strategic Relationships Please list and describe any alliances or strategic relationships you have with fellow technology companies including the ones listed here:

· Ellucian

· Oracle

· MIcrosoft Relevant Awards and Recognition Please list and describe any relevant awards your company has received in the last 2 years.

Community Involvement Please describe how your organization is involved in the community (volunteering, community service, programs for non-profits, etc.).

Commitment to Sustainability Please describe how your organization supports sustainability, both in your industry and in the larger community.

Relevant Memberships and Certifications Please list relevant Memberships and Certifications not listed previously.

4.2 Data Transfer and Failover Process Specifics

Ideally CCCS would implement a Business Continuity hot site failover for its key enterprise systems with no or minimal downtime between transition from the existing data center to the DR/BC site. Respondents to the RFP must explain how the failover process will occur. Failover of greater than four hours is not acceptable.

1. Describe in detail the data transfer process from the Lowry Data Center to your data center.