Firewall Refresh Districtwide (E-Rate Year 2027)

Corpus Christi Independent School District is requesting proposals for a districtwide firewall refresh under RFP FY27-P-0007, with proposals due November 10, 2026 at 2:00 p.m. to the Office of Purchasing and Distribution, 801 Leopard Street, Corpus Christi, Texas. The procurement is funded through E-Rate for fiscal year 2027 and contingent on Schools and Libraries Division funding approval and available District budget.

The scope calls for a next-generation firewall solution deployed as a High-Availability pair (two physical units) capable of handling both North/South and East/West traffic on a single platform, with minimum firewall throughput of 100 Gbps and SSL/TLS decryption throughput of 90 Gbps. Vendors shall propose the primary physical firewall solution and may also propose software-defined (virtual/SDN-based) firewall options for data center environments or as alternatives. The solution must support application-based firewall policies and advanced monitoring capabilities. Offerors may propose additional complementary security services.

The initial contract term runs July 1, 2027 through June 30, 2030, with two optional three-year renewal periods. Pricing must be submitted in sealed envelope using Microsoft Excel format and include all hardware, software, installation, configuration, training, and five years of maintenance and support. A 5 percent bid bond is required for proposals exceeding $100,000; payment and performance bonds are required after award.

Evaluation criteria weight total proposal amount at 18 points, eligible services amount at 21 points, experience with similar projects at 8 points, equipment specifications and technical documents at 10 points, management plan at 8 points, technical approach at 14 points, HUB certification status at 3 points, previous District experience at 8 points, and total long-term cost of ownership at 10 points. Scoring awards maximum points to the lowest responsive and responsible offer, with deductions applied for proposals exceeding the lowest offer by more than 1 percent. The District currently operates Fortigate 3104E firewalls and maintains connectivity through two 15 Gbps Internet providers. The District may terminate the contract for any reason with thirty days' notice or if the vendor fails to maintain SLD approval status.