REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS The City of Carlton seeks Proposals for Contracted Information Technology Professional Support Services from qualified individuals or firms. PROJECT SCOPE The City of Carlton, Oregon invites proposals from qualified individuals or firms to provide contracted Information Technology Management, Support and Consulting Services. Appointment of the individual or firm will be determined by the respondent s experience, services provided, and the cost for such services. The City s objective is to select the individual or firm best qualified to: 1. Provide pro active maintenance of all computer hardware, software, servers, and networking utilized by the City for effective operations. 2. Keep Patch Management, anti virus, and anti spyware software current to keep the City computer systems safe from invasion. 3. Provide behind the scenes support, whether on site or remotely, to keep operations running smoothly, cleanly, safely, and without interruption. 4. Provide technical assistance to City personnel on various hardware, software, and computer operations questions. 5. Applying company/individual must be Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) compliant and able to pass a thorough background check. 6. Ensure the City will meet or exceed Homeland Security requirements for municipalities. 7. Provide ongoing cybersecurity training for city staff. 8. Provide 24/7 security and network monitoring for breaches and abnormal network activity. 9. Provide Carlton Police Department with support for their specialized technical equipment needs, to include but not limited to; in car cameras, in car computers, body cameras, and security camera systems. JOB REQUIREMENTS Technical Assistance As part of the Information Technology management, support and consulting services contract, the City expects to receive varied technical assistance on a regular basis throughout the year. In addition to the specific items above, assistance would include answers to questions from staff members having difficulty with software or hardware issues. This service could include issues such as having no access to a computer, moving software between computers, downloading upgrades for existing software packages, upgrading software versions for various online services, responding to unknown messages, sluggish response internally or accessing the internet, or failure of the software to work together. Additional Services Proposals should contain provisions for dealing with extraordinary circumstances that may be encountered. Also, the Contractor may be requested to perform special projects for the City during the year. Because of variations in the demand for additional services, such work would be contracted for, provided, and billed separately to the City on an hourly basis. Proposals should describe the types of services available from the firm, the professionals who would provide them, and the standard hourly fees to be charged for such services.
A. SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS AND FORMAT All proposals must be received by the City of Carlton City Hall, Carlton, Oregon 97111. Consultants/contractors mailing proposals should allow for normal delivery time to ensure timely receipt. A signed original plus three (3) copies of the proposal must be submitted. The City of Carlton reserves the right to accept or reject any or all proposals. Proposal Format Proposals must include the items listed below. 1. Identify office location, availability to perform the work, size of the organization, the year the firm began doing business, and the availability of personnel to work with the City s account. 2. A list of municipal clients your firm has worked with during the past five years. 3. Address each of the evaluation criteria outlined in Section E. 4. Any other information considered relevant by your firm. 5. Proposals must be signed by a principal member of the proposing company capable of binding the company. 6. Three (3) copies of the proposal clearly marked Request for Proposal Response Carlton Information Technology Support Services, contained in a sealed envelope or box, and addressed to Christy Martinez, Finance Director, must be received by 2:00 p.m. local time, October 24, 2017. Proposal Information Please respond to the items listed below: 1. Provide a detailed description of your IT support approach and work product delivered on similar engagements. 2. Describe your familiarity with municipal operating software systems. While this request for proposals (RFP) is not seeking expertise from your firm in the individual software systems, managing systems with similar software requirements will provide beneficial information for IT service providers. 3. Describe your firm s experience or knowledge, policies, and practices regarding provision of advice and recommendations for computer systems, hardware and software maintenance. 4. Describe your firm s staff training and development policies and programs, including those that maintain staff awareness of current security threats, anti virus and anti spyware programs, including security against hackers and invasion of the City s computers. 5. Describe procedures utilized to monitor the work you do for the City for periodic evaluation and communication to management of your firm so that problems are resolved. 6. Describe your trouble ticket format, from how information is provided to your firm for response to how you assure matters are resolved timely. Describe your approach to on site and off site assistance. Provide the access and security measures your firm utilizes to provide off site support to client networks, including firewall and virus protection systems. 7. What, if any, would your role be in disaster recovery if there is a catastrophic event? 8. Identify the key staff members who will be assigned to the City for this contract. Describe their roles and provide a brief description of their professional experience. Provide any other information that supports the scope of services to be provided in this RFP.
B. QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE Respondents must provide information on the qualifications of the project team member(s) as well as recent related experiences (within the last five years). Experience with similar municipal accounts is of particular interest, as well as experience with public agencies, public safety accounts, and public projects. Information on the member(s) proposed for the City of Carlton account should be described regarding (1) position within the firm, (2) role with the similar accounts, and (3) extent of responsibilities. Summaries of related experience should be brief, emphasizing relevance to the Carlton account and should identify references with a contact person, providing a name, phone number, and address, as well as describing the involvement in the project. C. PRICE Include your proposed fee schedule including; 1) managed services rates, 2) hourly rates, and 3) special or non recurring charges. D. SELECTION PROCESS The City will assign a committee with the task of selecting the best combination of qualifications and fees. The committee will use a three step process: Step 1: Step 2: Step 3: The proposals will be reviewed and up to three qualified firms will be short listed. The candidates on the short list will be asked to give a brief oral presentation and be interviewed by the selection committee. The candidates will be ranked based upon the evaluation criteria set forth below. This process should result in a recommendation to the City Council by November 21, 2017. E. EVALUATION CRITERIA Proposals will be evaluated based on the submission requirements listed above to determine which firm best meets the needs of the City. After meeting the mandatory requirements listed above, proposals will be evaluated on the following factors: 1. Specialized experience in the type of work to be performed. (45 points) 2. Capacity and capability to perform the work, including any specialized services within the limitations for the work. (45 points) 3. Educational and professional record, including record of performance on contracts with governmental agencies and private parties concerning cost control, quality of work, ability to meet schedules, and contract administration, where applicable, including quality and comprehensiveness of IT consulting approach; (25 Points) 4. Availability to perform the assignment and familiarity with the area in which the specific work is located, including knowledge of design or techniques peculiar to it, where applicable. Experience and knowledge with hardware, software, networking, and internet systems (25 points) 5. Qualifications and experience of the firm and staff assigned to the City. Ability to provide a comprehensive range of IT consulting services. (25 points)
6. Any other factors relevant to this contract. (15 points) At the discretion of the selection committee, finalists may be invited to an oral interview. F. ECONOMY OF PRESENTATION Statements should be prepared simply and economically, providing a straightforward, concise presentation of the information requested. Fancy bindings, colored displays, promotional materials, etc. are not important. Emphasis should be on completeness and clarity of content. G. CONTACT PERSON Respondents can contact Finance Director Christy Martinez for further information regarding this process. Contact with other City officials may be grounds for disqualification. Ms. Martinez can be reached by email at cmartinez@ci.carlton.or.us or by phone at (503) 852 7575. Any questions regarding this RFP or the selection process shall be submitted in writing to Ms. Martinez. All responses will be issued by email and posted on the City s website at www.ci.carlton.or.us. H. QUESTIONS Questions may be sent via email. The firm posing the question will not be identified in the notification/response. I. SCHEDULE FOR SELECTION PROCESS RFP Advertised Week of September 25, 2017 Proposal Close October 24, 2017 Possible Interviews Week of October 26, 2017 Contract Awarded November 21, 2017 J. LATE PROPOSALS NOT CONSIDERED Proposals must be received by the time specified at the address listed above. Any proposals received after the deadline will not be considered. K. ADDENDA If it is necessary to amend, revise, or supplement any part of the RFP, addenda will be provided to all proposers who have notified Ms. Martinez at 191 E. Main Street, Carlton, OR 97111. Addenda will also be posted on the City website at www.ci.carlton.or.us. Any addenda so issued are to be considered part of the specifications of the RFP. The City is not responsible for any explanation, clarification, interpretation, or approval made or given in any manner, except by written addenda issued by City. L. PROPOSAL OWNERSHIP All material submitted by the proposers shall be considered the property of City and the City shall not be required to return same to any proposer. The material submitted by proposers will be treated in the same manner as City s records. After proposal opening, all proposals become part of the public record, unless exempt under Oregon Public Records Law. M. EXCEPTIONS TO RFP If for any reason, a proposer should find fault with the structure of this RFP or with the evaluation process, concerns may be submitted in writing to Christy Martinez, Finance Director, 191 E. Main Street, Carlton, OR 97111.
The City will make every effort to answer questions and, if warranted, to amend the RFP. Proposers who are unable or unwilling to meet any of the requirements of this RFP should include, as part of their response, written exceptions to those requirements. N. COMMENTS AND PROTEST PROCEDURES A prospective proposer may deliver to the City of Carlton Finance Director, Attention Christy Martinez, a written request for a change to any of the specification listed in this Request for Proposal. Such request shall be delivered at least five working days before the RFP closing date. A written request for change shall include: 1. A detailed description of the legal and factual grounds for the request; 2. A description of the resulting prejudice to the prospective proposer; 3. A statement of the form of relief requested or any proposal changes to the specifications. The City will review the specification change request and notify the prospective proposer of the decision in writing before the RFP closing date. O. INCURRING COSTS The City of Carlton is not liable for any costs incurred by respondents before issuance of a contract. P. RIGHT TO REJECT ALL PROPOSALS The City reserves the right to reject any and all proposals, to waive any irregularities, and to accept the proposal deemed in the best interests of City. The City may reject any proposal not in compliance with all prescribed public proposal procedures and requirements, and may reject for a good cause any or all bids upon a finding of the City it is in the public interest to do so. Q. PROFESSIONAL SERVICES CONTRACT The selected consultant will be required to sign a professional services contract acceptable to the City including all applicable required clauses for public contracts relating to consulting services.