District technology Renovations

Caledonia Community Schools in Kent County, Michigan issued an Invitation to Bid for District Technology Renovations encompassing low voltage cabling, public address and program systems, server equipment, Storage Area Network (SAN) infrastructure, data center equipment, and integration services to be installed across Caledonia Elementary and Duncan Lake Middle School. The procurement includes upgrading existing Lenovo ThinkServer and HP DL380 servers from vSphere 6.0.0 ESXi and vCenter Server 6.7.0 to the latest VMware versions, with live VM migrations preferred and after-hours accommodations available for systems requiring downtime such as Powerschool and Oracle. Integration services encompassing virtual-to-virtual migration, low voltage cabling installation, and public address system upgrades are in scope, with bidders encouraged to provide relevant project references and hold PMP and VCP certifications, though exceptions will be considered. Evaluation criteria included attendance at the mandatory pre-bid conference held March 8, 2021 at 1:00 PM via Zoom, with an optional physical building inspection on March 11, 2021 at 4:00 PM. Intent to bid submissions were due March 9, 2021 by 5:00 PM, questions and clarifications were due March 12, 2021 by 5:00 PM, and sealed bids were due March 24, 2021 at 1:00 PM at the Caledonia Community Schools Administration Office with a concurrent Zoom option for bid opening. Bid security of five percent of the total bid amount was required, with performance and payment bonds equal to 100 percent of the bid amount mandated for the selected contractor, and the Owner reserved the right to reject any or all bids with a 90-calendar-day evaluation period.

The procurement documents do not specify set-aside designations or restrictions on organizational types eligible to respond. The district's existing technology infrastructure that requires integration includes three Lenovo ThinkServer RD models (640, 550, 350) and HP DL380 servers connected via 1Gbe with link aggregation, an HP MSA 2040 SAN with 8Gbe Fiber Channel connectivity, an Enterasys S4 network switch, and current VMware licensing of vSphere 6 Enterprise Plus, vCenter Server 6 Standard, and vSphere Storage Appliance 5 with support expiring November 20, 2021. The district will retain current Veeam backup software (Version 10.0.0.4461 P2) and will provide all necessary Windows Server and Linux operating system licensing for the new hardware configuration. The existing environment features three empty contiguous 42U racks with standard 19-inch mounting rails and 110V PDU voltage capability available for new equipment installation. No specific award value or budget range is disclosed in the available contract documents; however, bid security requirements and bonding obligations indicate a substantial project scope. Contract documents were to be obtained from Communications by Design, Inc., the project designer.