Professional Services for SONET - Agile Carrier Ethernet

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) has issued Request for Proposals (RFP) 26-21 for Professional Services related to the design, configuration, and technical support of its new Agile Carrier Ethernet (ACE) network backbone. The MBTA is seeking qualified individuals certified as Cisco Certified Network Professionals (CCNP) and/or Cisco Certified Internetwork Experts (CCIE) to perform the work, which includes finalizing the detailed design and configuration of the core and edge network switches, providing technical support during field deployment, and delivering documentation and knowledge transfer. The contract term is estimated to be up to 360 hours of service performed remotely over 30 to 45 days. Proposals must be submitted electronically via COMMBUYS by March 25, 2021 at 2:00 PM EST, and the MBTA anticipates making a contract award by April 7, 2021, with an estimated service start date of April 12, 2021. The MBTA will evaluate technical proposals and pricing, with technical factors weighted more heavily than cost, and reserves the right to award contracts to one or more bidders.

The MBTA has stated that funding for this project is non-federal, and the Authority is committed to promoting the participation of small, minority, women, and other disadvantaged businesses. No incumbents or current contractors were identified in the provided documentation, and no budget ranges or award values were specified. The MBTA has included insurance requirements for the selected contractor, and the bidder is required to adhere to specific page limits and formatting requirements for the technical response.