Unified Communications RFI.docx

STATE OF MICHIGAN

Department of Technology, Management and Budget Procurement

Unified Communications

This Request for Information (RFI) seeks to obtain information to improve the State’s voice infrastructure. The information gathered through this RFI is non-evaluative and is intended to assist the State of Michigan in understanding industry trends, capabilities, and innovative solutions. The State will use this information to build and refine its business requirements for a voice infrastructure solution(s), including developing a budget and timeline for implementation.

Anticipated Timeline

The information in this document is subject to change. Check www.michigan.gov/SIGMAVSS for the current information.

Request for Information

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION INSTRUCTIONS

1. CONTACT INFORMATION FOR THE STATE. The sole point of contact concerning this Request for Information (RFI) is:

KeriAnn Trumble 989-259-2625 TrumbleK1@michigan.gov

2. QUESTIONS. Questions concerning the RFI must be emailed to TrumbleK1@michigan.gov no later than the time and date specified on the cover page of this document. Answers to questions will be posted on www.michigan.gov/SIGMAVSS.

Questions should be submitted using the following format:

3. PRE-RESPONSE MEETING.

A pre-response meeting will be held on as a teleconference as noted below:

Date and Time: Tuesday, October 5th, 2021, 1:30 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. ET

Conference Call Details: Microsoft Teams Meeting Call in number: +1 248-509-0316 Phone Conference ID: 144 657 983#

4. DELIVERY OF RESPONSE. Please provide an informational response on www.michigan.gov/SIGMAVSS no later than the date and time located on the cover page of this document. All documents should be created using tools that are compatible with the Microsoft Office Suite standard desktop tools, without need for conversion. System prompts for pricing attachments and information can be disregarded.

Questions on how to submit information or how to navigate in the SIGMA system can be answered by calling (517) 284-0540 or (888) 734-9749.

5. ORAL PRESENTATION. The State reserves the right to invite some vendors for oral presentations.

6. GENERAL RESPONSE CONDITIONS. The State will not be liable for any costs incurred in preparation of vendor’s response, delivery of the response, and any follow-up discussions with the State. This RFI is not an offer to enter into a contract.

7. FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT. All portions of a response are subject to disclosure as required under the Michigan’s Freedom of Information Act, 1976 Public Act 422.

8. RIGHTS TO INFORMATION CONTAINED IN RESPONSES. All informational responses will be considered the property of the State.

Request For Information Unified Communications

The purpose for this Request for Information (RFI) includes, but is not limited to, collecting market information to better understand best practices about voice infrastructure solutions. The information gathered may be used to assist the State in developing program strategy and possibly developing an RFP.

1. Program Overview The State of Michigan (SOM) Department of Technology, Management and Budget (DTMB) Enterprise Voice Infrastructure has over 40,000 IP End points deployed. The infrastructure is made up of Cisco IP Based phones with Cisco IP Voicemail system, SIP integration, Session Border Controller, and various Cisco and miscellaneous call center platforms. The current infrastructure includes:

· Cisco Unified Communications Manager (CUCM)

· Cisco Session Manager

· Unity Connections

· Cisco Unified Contact Center Express

· Cisco Packaged Contact Center Enterprise (PCCE)

· Cisco Expressway

· Cisco Emergency Responder (CER)

· Cisco Room Kits

· InformaCast

· Hamilton Captel

DTMB is seeking to procure an application or suite of applications that will allow us to streamline processes and operations for the Voice Infrastructure, and to enhance support capabilities. DTMB is looking for solution(s) that can provide the following services:

· Service Monitoring

· Automation and Provisioning

· Onboarding and offboarding

· Directory Number Management

· Phone Control

· Help Desk

2. Requirements The solution must provide Service Monitoring for the following platforms:

A) Virtual Environment:

· VMWare vCenter

· VMWare ESXi The solution must be able to monitor CPU Utilization, Memory Utilization, Up/Down Status, Network Status, Disks Utilization, Errors/Alerts

B) Hardware Environment:

· Cisco UCS B-Series

· Cisco UCS C-Series The solution must be able to monitor CPU Utilization, Memory Utilization, Alerts, Errors, Hardware failures (Power Supply, Fans, NICs, Servers, Memory, CPU)

C) IPT Environment:

· Cisco Communications Manager

· Cisco Unity Connections

· Cisco Unified Call Center Express

· Cisco VCS Expressway

· Cisco Package Call Center Enterprise

· Oracle Enterprise Session Border Controllers

· InformaCast The solution must be able to monitor CPU Utilization, Memory Utilization, Disk Utilization, Application Services, Operating System Services, Up/Down Status, SIP Trunks Status, Phone Registrations, Alerts, Errors, Certificate Monitoring, Web User Interface Status Monitoring

D) Solution must provide Directory Number Management for the SOM’s internal dial plan, Carrier DID’s and Carrier Toll-Free numbers.

E) Solution must provide Remote Phone Control for Cisco IP phones and Cisco Jabber.

F) Solution must include a Help Desk Portal.

G) Solution must provide auto provisioning for Cisco CUCM. Solution must be able to automatically create all end-user setups, including device profiles, Cisco Extension Mobility, Cisco Jabber, and Voicemail. Must include Role Based access, bulk administration, and integration with BMC Remedy. The solution must provide auto provisioning for any combination of phones, device profiles, soft-phones, and voicemail configurations that can be managed automatically.

H) The solution will provide reporting capabilities for both standard reports and customizable reports.

I) Solution must provide logging and retention for monitoring audit logging and provisioning.

J) The solution must generate performance issue reports regarding system health and general system status.

K) The solution must be able to provide data encryption in-flight and at-rest.

L) The solution will be covered by a minimum one (1) year warranty.

M) There will be an extended maintenance agreement made available through the Contractor or authorized distributor.

N) The solution will be capable of notifying an administrator in the event of a system fault.

Request For Information Unified Communications

RESPONSE PREPARATION

Please provide your responses to the below categories of questions. If you are unable to answer all questions, please put N/A for the response. A no response for a question would not be perceived negatively given this is a non-evaluative RFI. Categories of response include:

1. Company information including past Communications experience

2. General Technical Requirements

3. System Audit and Reporting

4. Design, Implementation Methodology and Change Management

5. Risks

6. Performance Measures

Please respond to the following topics and questions in a “Question and Answer” format, providing thorough information for each, when possible.

1. Company Information

1.1. Company full name and address.

Response:

1.2. Name, telephone number, and email address of the individual(s) who will serve as your company’s authorized contact.

Response:

1.3. Please identify who was involved in developing the response to this RFI? (If you have employees or subcontractors that work for the State, please disclose.)

Response:

1.4. Please provide a summary of your company and be specific around your Unified Communications experience and expertise. Please include the following:

1.4.1. Mission Statement

Response:

1.4.2. Organizational Chart

Response:

1.5. Provide your organizational structure in terms of delivery team, client leadership, and executive support for issue resolution/escalation and successful implementation.

Response:

1.6. Please provide a comprehensive overview of your prior experience providing, operating, programming and managing this type of project, including two recent case studies (last 3 years) highlighting the business problem, your proposed system, and value realized by the clients.

Response:

1.7. Provide contact information including names, telephone numbers and email addresses for your customer(s) for the work mentioned in the question above.

Response:

2. General Technical Requirements

2.1. Please give us an overview of your proposed solution. Please share how your solution can meet the outcomes outlined in the previous section.

Response:

2.2. Is the proposed solution a single solution or multi-platform approach? Please share rationale behind the same.

Response:

2.3. Please explain your approach to how the solution is hosted – State/Vendor/Cloud – stand-alone software vs. Software as a Service model. If you offer, what considerations should be made for the hosting decision?

Response:

2.4. Please describe your approach and methodology for data migration and lessons learned from any prior experience with implementation.

Response:

2.5. Please describe your approach to cyber security and handling of confidential information.

Response:

2.6. Please describe your system’s integration approach and methodology (e.g. APIs).

Response:

2.7. Please explain your approach to product upgrades, enhancements, patches etc. Will most changes in future be accomplished via configuration update or custom coding? How will these change requests be handled, tracked and delivered?

Response:

2.8. Please explain the ticketing system for recording, categorizing, managing, tracking and reporting any inquiries from customers.

Response:

3. System Audit and Reporting

3.1. Please describe your comprehensive system audit and tracking approach? Please include features and capabilities of your auditing system.

Response:

4. Design, Implementation Methodology and Change Management

4.1. How long would a project such as this take to implement? Please describe your design, development and implementation approach and timelines for such a project.

Response:

4.2. Describe ‘best practice’ models your company currently uses for implementation, change management, and support. How are these models implemented?

Response:

4.3. What would be the expected total cost of ownership, including implementation, for this solution for the State?

Response:

4.4. Please explain your use of change management practices and tools to support this rollout. What are some of the potential risks anticipated in such implementations and what mitigation approach you recommend?

Response:

5. Risks

5.1. Is there anything you believe that State should consider in creating the RFP for a Unified Communications system?

Response:

5.2. If a Request for Proposals is issued for provision of this service, is it likely that your company will bid on it? If no, why not?

Response:

6. Performance Measures

6.1. What is your typical system “Uptime”? Are your standards/measurements different for Vendor hosted vs. Cloud Hosted vs. Customer Hosted?

Response:

6.2. What your standard Service Level Agreement (SLA)? What are the components of those SLAs? Please share the published SLAs for SaaS offerings.

Response:

6.3. How are Root Cause Analyses created and leveraged in delivery of services?

Response:

6.4. For vendors with COTS or SaaS offerings, please describe your process for building a product roadmap, adding capabilities and services and number of releases generally planned each year.

Response:

6.5. How do you handle Protected Information compliance with State and Federal Requirements? Please provide your company's policy and guidelines in relation to secure/private information. What testing for outside interference do you perform and what schedule basis?

Response:

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