Dakota State University-SecureSD Secure Email Solution

The purpose of this RFP is to enhance the cybersecurity of communication and collaboration of our cities, counties, and municipalities in South Dakota by establishing a unified, scalable solution for a secured email solution.
This RFP supports a strategic cybersecurity initiative (SecureSD https://madlabs.dsu.edu/securesd/). This specific RFP is aimed at protecting South Dakota cities, counties, and municipalities from email-borne attacks while ensuring operational integrity, data confidentiality, and compliance with best practices.
Cities and counties across South Dakota rely on email infrastructure for essential government communications, public service coordination, and interagency collaboration. The rise in targeted phishing campaigns, email spoofing, malware delivery, and spam necessitates a unified, secure, and scalable solution that can be implemented for entities of varying size and technical capacity.
Currently, South Dakota cities and counties are using multiple public platforms (Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo, personal email, etc.), making it difficult to identify the entity, secure, and protect them from cybersecurity attacks. We have a need for global address listings, calendaring, collaboration, etc. This solution will have employees on the same system so internal emails remain encrypted within the same email system and never go to the public internet or another email system.
The state is seeking proposals from qualified vendors to provide a Secure Email Solution to participating South Dakota cities, counties and municipal governments. The anticipated clients for these services include city & county law enforcement, auditors, treasurers, finance officers, municipal utility, street & highway, elected officials, other employees or accounts deemed necessary, etc.
Through this RFP, the state will establish a pool of qualified state-approved contractors that, in collaboration with the SecureSD team, participating cities, counties, and municipalities can choose from for their Secured Email Solution.
The proposed contract will be in force until 4/30/28. After which, if no additional state funding is available, the participating entities will be responsible for the costs beyond the contract period and the successful offeror will be responsible for working out the continuity of the services.
Offerors may email inquiries concerning this RFP to obtain clarification of requirements. No inquiries will be accepted after the date and time indicated in the Schedule of Activities. Inquiries must be emailed to Mike Waldner at mike.waldner@dsu.edu with the subject line "RFP # DSU-25003-SecureSD".
Dakota State University will respond to offeror's inquiries (if required) via e-mail. All Offerors will be informed of any inquiries and the State's response. In addition, all inquiries and the State's response will be posted on the state's e-procurement system. Offerors may not rely on any other statements, either of a written or oral nature, that alter any specification or other term or condition of this RFP. Offerors will be notified in the same manner as indicated above regarding any modifications to this RFP.
Offerors are expected to raise any questions, exceptions, or additions they have concerning the RFP document by the deadline for submission for written inquiries as indicated in the Schedule of Activities. If an Offeror discovers any significant ambiguity, error, conflict, discrepancy, omission or other deficiency in this RFP, the Offeror should immediately notify Mike Waldner at mike.waldner@dsu.edu with the subject line "RFP # DSU-25003-SecureSD, of such error and request modification or clarification of the RFP.