Scope of Work.PDF

ATTACHMENT A

SCOPE OF WORK

ON-SITE AND REMOTE IT SUPPORT SERVICES

1. Overview

Kimble County, TX (the “County”) is seeking a qualified contractor to provide a full range of information technology support services, including both on-site and remote assistance, to ensure the continued operation, maintenance, and advancement of the County’s IT systems and equipment. The County requires dependable, responsive, and cost-effective support for daily operations, system reliability, user troubleshooting, infrastructure maintenance, and strategic planning.

This contract will support County offices located at various facilities, including the Courthouse, Sheriff's Office, County Clerk, Tax Office, and other administrative offices.

2. General Requirements

The contractor shall:

• Provide reliable IT support, including on-site services within a reasonable response time.

• Offer remote help desk services with responsive ticketing, diagnosis, resolution implementation, and documentation capabilities.

• Support existing County systems and assist in planning for future needs.

• Work effectively with third-party hardware, software, and cloud services vendors under the direction of the

County Judge or other authorized elected official (“County Representative”).

• Work and communicate effectively with non-technical County staff.

• Ensure systems remain secure, up to date, and backed up.

• Coordinate with third-party vendors (e.g., software providers, telecom providers) on behalf of the County as directed by the County Representative.

• Conduct CJIS background checks prior to service and every 5 years thereafter (CJIS rules).

3. Services Required

3.1. Help Desk and End-User Support

• Provide remote support during normal business hours (Monday–Friday, 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Central).

• Offer emergency after-hours support on an as-needed basis.

• Troubleshoot and resolve user issues with hardware, software, cloud services, and peripheral devices

(e.g., printers, scanners).

• Assist with account setups, password resets, basic training, and other user requests.

• Maintain a ticketing system that tracks issue reports with unique ticket numbers for each issue, resolution descriptions, resolution time, and status.

3.2. On-Site IT Support

• Respond to requests requiring physical presence (e.g., troubleshooting hardware failure, cabling issues, network hardware replacement).

• Schedule routine site visits or remotely scan servers, workstations, tablets daily/monthly or coordinate with the Regional Security Operations Center on behalf of the County for proactive system checks, maintenance, and updates.

• Be available for scheduled major upgrades, changes, moves, or system installations.

3.3. Server and Network Management

• Maintain and monitor County servers (both physical and virtual environments).

• Coordinate the management of network infrastructure, including switches, firewalls, routers, and wireless access points.

• Monitor system health and uptime, provide patch management, and manage on-site server backups.

• Ensure reliable local area network and wide area network connectivity across all County buildings.

3.4. Cybersecurity

• Implement and maintain antivirus and firewall rules.

• Implement and maintain endpoint protection software through coordination with the Regional Security

Operations Center (“RSOC”).

• May conduct or assist TAC conducting state-required DIR-certified cybersecurity awareness training for

County employees annually and provide completion status reports to the Treasurer and County Judge.

• Recommend and assist in prioritizing and implementing security best practices and policies.

3.5. Backup and Disaster Recovery

• Ensure daily backups of all critical systems and data, with secure off-site or cloud redundancy.

• Monthly test backup restoration procedures.

• Conduct an annual table-top exercise to test the current incident response plan with relevant agencies including RSOC, and any other impacted technology service providers to recommend improvements to the current County’s incident response plan.

3.6. Productivity Software Support

• Manage and support any platforms used by the County that are not already managed elsewhere.

• Assist with user account creation, licensing, and troubleshooting.

• Provide basic support for County-standard productivity tools, including Microsoft Office.

3.7. Vendor Coordination and Support

• Serve as liaison with third-party software vendors, as needed.

• Assist with troubleshooting vendor-supported systems as directed by the County Representative.

• Coordinate vendor site access and work with County staff during updates or installations.

3.8. IT Planning and Consultation

• Conduct annual IT reviews with recommendations for upgrades, improvements, and efficiencies.

• Assist County leadership with technology budgeting, lifecycle planning, and procurement guidance.

• Present summary recommendations in clear, non-technical terms to facilitate understanding and informed decision-making.

3.9. Compliance with Texas Procurement Laws and Prohibited Technologies

• Ensure that all technology acquisitions, including hardware, software, and cloud services, comply with

Texas Government Code Chapter 620, which prohibits the procurement of specific technologies as determined by the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Texas Department of Information

Resources (DIR). Contractors must certify that no products or services offered are derived from or associated with any entity identified as prohibited. Failure to comply with these prohibitions will result in disqualification from consideration and may lead to contract termination without further obligation. A comprehensive list of covered applications and prohibited technologies is maintained on DIR's Covered

Applications and Prohibited Technologies page: https://dir.texas.gov/information-security/covered-applications-and-prohibited-technologies

3.10. Compliance and Data Protection

https://dir.texas.gov/information-security/covered-applications-and-prohibited-technologies https://dir.texas.gov/information-security/covered-applications-and-prohibited-technologies

• Ensure compliance with applicable data privacy, encryption and retention regulations (e.g., CJIS Security

Policy, Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Chapter 60, Texas Business and Commerce Code 521, Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA), Federal Privacy Act of 1974, Health Insurance Portability and

Accountability Act (HIPAA), Texas Medical Records Privacy Act, Family Educational Rights and

Privacy Act (FERPA), Texas Family Code 261 & 262, IRS Publication 1075, Texas Rules of Civil

Procedure and Criminal Procedure, Texas Public Information Act Chapter 552, Texas Labor Code, Open

Records Requests, Texas Public Information Act).

• Assist with audits or requests for documentation related to systems, data handling, and security.

3.11. Documentation and Reporting

• Provide current and up-to-date documentation of County IT environment including network diagrams, system configurations, system passwords, asset inventories (make/models/serial #s for all hardware, software, application licensing) and vendor contacts.

• Provide monthly service summaries detailing support requests, resolved issues, and system performance trends such as downtime events and notable activity.

• Deliver an annual summary report with observations, recommendations, and future planning considerations by April 30th each year.

4. Additional Considerations

• Contractor must be able to support a varied environment that includes a combination of legacy and modern technology.

• Contractor may need to assess and recommend improvements to internet or connectivity solutions for remote or underserved locations.

• Contractor should be comfortable working with staff who may have limited IT experience and technical knowledge.

• Contractor must be available to provide technical support or consultation for future projects, including potential phone system upgrades, server replacements, or security camera troubleshooting or installations.

• The County employs approximately 75 individuals in total, of which an estimated 20 are regular users of

County-issued IT equipment and are expected to require ongoing support.

• The County currently utilizes the Texas Association of Counties (TAC) to manage certain platforms such as

Microsoft 365 and Adobe. While it is not anticipated, the Contractor must be able to assume management of those platforms if requested by the County.

• At present, there are approximately five to six individual locations requiring IT support. The County

Courthouse is under remodel, and once completed, most County offices will relocate to that facility, reducing the number of active locations to approximately four.

• The County is eligible for equipment discounts through the Texas Department of Information Resources

(DIR) program and other cooperative purchasing programs. The Contractor should, to the maximum extent possible, work with the County on equipment purchases to leverage these discounts and achieve cost savings.

5. Service Level Agreement

The County will contact the contractor’s help desk by phone/email/portal to request assistance and open a ticket for their issue. The contractor will triage and assign the ticket to an authorized technician who will contact the County

Representative to confirm the ticket has been assigned. A “Response Time Goal” is defined as the time by which the contractor has contacted the County Representative by phone or text to confirm that the issue is being addressed.

Response time goals are categorized based on the issue’s County business operations impact and prioritized as follows:

1. Critical: system-wide or mission-critical failure with no available workaround where business operations are halted or severely disrupted. Examples include but are not limited to:

a. Internet service disruption at a main office

b. Network connectivity disruption affects an entire building

c. Crucial system is inaccessible county-wide

d. Phone system is not working

e. Main application used by employees is not operational

2. High: a major function is impaired for multiple users or departments, but core services remain function. There are no workarounds or only temporary workarounds. Examples include but are not limited to:

a. Departmental network printer is offline

b. Shared drives for some departments are inaccessible

c. Internet disruption at a remote office

3. Medium: Individual user issues or non-critical, degraded performance issues. A workaround may exist, so this is not urgent but needs timely resolution. Examples include but are not limited to:

a. Worker’s PC randomly freezes

b. A user can’t send or receive email

c. Software upgrade install is needed

4. Low: General requests, minor inconveniences, routing changes, or schedule maintenance with no operational impact. Examples include but are not limited to:

a. Request for a new email alias due to name changes

b. Add a user to a email distribution list

c. Maintenance that can run in the background without impacting daily operations.

5. Scheduled Maintenance: Maintenance with operational impact that will prevent users from accessing core systems during the maintenance period.

Response Time Goals Priority Level Remote Response Required On-Site Response Requested by County

Critical 1 clock-hour With a 4 clock-hour on-site response when directed by County Representative

High Within 1 business-day With a 2 business-day on-site response when directed by County Representative

Medium Within 2 business days With a 3 business-day on-site response when directed by County Representative

Low Within 3 business days With a 5 business-day on-site response when directed by County Representative

Scheduled

Maintenance

Contractor will provide an email notice sent to the County Representative with at least 9 business days’ notice using this template:

1. Description of the work to be done

2. Hardware, Applications, or Services impacted

3. Estimated production downtime

4. A request to coordinate on-site response with local County contact, if needed.

5. If after-hours maintenance is requested by the County, County Judge can authorize this.

6. County Responsibilities

• Provide access to County facilities, staff, and systems to enable delivery of timely support services.

• Assign points of contact for coordination with the contractor.

• Notify the contractor of any major changes, moves, or upcoming projects that may affect IT systems or infrastructure.