Colleges of the Fenway On-Demand Tap-to-Print Services 2018 INTRODUCTION: The Colleges of the Fenway (COF) is soliciting proposals from vendors to obtain a cost-effective and ondemand print services program across multiple campuses that make up the Colleges of the Fenway membership that will support current needs, improve or enhance current service models, and support future strategy. The following Request for Proposal (RFP) outlines the scope of the project, information required, evaluation criteria, timeline, and other relevant information. GENERAL INFORMATION: Colleges of the Fenway is a 501(c)(3) non for-profit consortium representing six (and soon to be five) neighboring Boston-based colleges in the Fenway area, including Emmanuel College, Massachusetts College of Art and Design, Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Simmons College, and Wentworth Institute of Technology. Wheelock College will be acquired by Boston University as of June 1, 2018, and will not be participating in this project. The consortium was created over 20 years ago to add value to students academic, programmatic, and social life while seeking innovative methods of investing in new services, enhancing current services, and containing the costs of higher education. Collectively, the colleges represent more than 20,000 undergraduate and graduate students, more than 700 full-time faculty members and over 2,300 course offerings. This request for proposal (RFP) is being sent to solicit proposals according to the information and guidelines set forth in this document. Through this document, it is COF s intent to provide prospective qualified vendors with pertinent information about the participating colleges and establish the parameters for communications, schedules, and proposal responses, evaluation of vendors, selection processes, and implementation procedures. Timeline and key milestones: Project kick-off approval: January 12, 2018 Kick-off data collection: January 19, 2018 Collect names of potential agencies by January 31, 2018 Send RFP notification by February 13, 2018 Conduct tour week February 21 (back-up date: February 23, 2018) Proposal deadline: March 8, 2018 Review proposals and select finalists by March 21, 2018 Invite finalists/presenters to meeting March 23, 2018 1
Determine selected vendor by week of March 26, 2018 Notify additional participants of decision by no later than week of March 26, 2018 Begin contract review Engage vendor as selected vendor for transition of services by no later than March 30, 2018 Complete transition by June 30, 2018 Identify Reviewing Group and Decision-Makers: COF uses Subject Matter Specialists as available through standing Committees or a subset assigned as part of a special task force and the Senior Director of Collaborative Services and/or representative COF staff member. Potential participating Member Institutions include Emmanuel College, Mass College of Art and Design, MCPHS, Simmons College, and Wentworth Institute of Technology. This Request for Proposal (RFP) states the instructions for submitting proposals and the procedure and criteria by which a vendor may be selected: Definition of Parties: The Colleges of the Fenway and others collectively will be referred to as COF. The COF Committee will be referred to as the Committee. Respondents to the RFP will be referred to as "Vendors." The Vendor to whom the contract is awarded will be referred to as the "Contractor. Scope: This Statement of Work is being commissioned on behalf of the Colleges of the Fenway (COF). Introduction: In the past several years, the colleges have identified a variety of areas where individual services could be improved through collaboration and cooperative agreements. Print services has been highlighted as an opportunity area to either enhance existing successful programs or assist colleges that have just begun their program improvements. Given the unique benefit of contiguous geography and the ability to serve students, faculty and staff across institutions has led us to this review. The following outlines requirements of the COF in the proposal. The COF has asked industry leaders and providers to develop and submit a Request for Proposal (RFP) that provides options to restructure and redesign our current print services model and create more standardization, customization in areas identified, and reliable service in a cost-effective way. Basically, your job as our vendor will be to meet the needs of all colleges in a fluid and flexible way. In addition, new ideas for ways to approach these services and resources will be required. The goal of this proposal is to bring printing and several printing systems under one vendor for the COF, or a portion of the COF, to reduce costs and improve service. With the required documents in the proposal, the COF would also require the vendor s own proposal of a solution and their recommendations for consolidation of printing efforts. Several stakeholders in the COF have determined an outline for the proposal. Please take into consideration these requirements. 2
Response Requirements: Vendors must replicate the sequence of the outline and follow the same numbering convention for each response to be considered. I. Vendor introduction and general project summary II. Printer Amount/Location: In our consolidation and cost-saving efforts, this project will aim to remove personal printers (with a small number of exceptions according to the policies and/or guidelines in place by campus) and move to centrally located multi-function devices that support multiple users per device. Guidelines for amount and location of devices will be based on analysis and functionality recommendations by the vendor using standards reviewed and specifications decided using the information below as a starting point for your comment. a. Staff/faculty offices should have a lback-and-white printing location within 40 feet and a color print location within 100 feet or another agreed-upon, reasonable distance. b. Major staff/faculty office spaces should have a dedicated print device please provide a recommendation. c. Academic buildings should have a public black-and-white print location within 100 feet and a public color print location within 200 feet of any location in the building. d. Non-academic buildings, including but not limited to libraries, student centers, dormitories, etc., should have publicly located and reasonable access to each black-and-white and color print locations. e. Specific print device needs based on business needs will be provided by each college (e.g., the Marketing Office requires high-quality color or Business Office requires fax services). f. Paper size and weight requirements do not have defined guidelines, but should be taken into consideration by vendor to ensure business-standard options. g. All devices should be network compatible and meet the TLS 1.2 protocol or other recommended protocol suggested by the respondent. III. IV. Device and Cost-Per-Page Menu The vendor should clearly list the specifications, device costs, and cost per page for all recommended options. These costs should be locked in for the length of the contract (with likefor-like model adjustments when a device is no longer offered). a. This device Menu should include multiple cost options/devices for each function set, speed, quality level, and more as the vendor finds helpful for the purpose of this proposal. The purchasing of items in this menu will be offered to the COF as requested anytime during the proposal process and contract length. Plotting/Large Format Devices 3
Several of the COF schools have design and art programs. These programs require Wide Format printing in black-and-white and color. When making a recommendation, speed and quality are of the utmost importance. Several devices should be recommended for speed, quality, and feature set (such as Wide Format scanning). a. Please address your ability to provide these and the associated costs. V. Print-Management System & User Experience The Papercut print-management system is already in use by many COF colleges and will be the baseline for management and operation of the print infrastructure. The user experience of tap-to-print is a major priority of this proposal to ensure easy-to-use services. a. All proposals should include Papercut as the print management system. b. All devices should be Papercut-supported. c. All devices should be supplied with tap-to-print functionality using existing collegeprovided ID cards (example e.g., wit.edu/printing -> Follow Me video). d. Print/copy usage will be charged back to the individual student s Papercut account and removed from the quote provided by that local college. Please describe the process you will use to make this happen. e. All printing will be done using the tap-to-print queue(s), unless specified in collegeprovided exceptions. Note: Simmons College faculty and staff currently do not tap-to-print although the information is captured. f. Support of the Papercut environment(s) to be included in the proposal, including an SLA for near-immediate response of service-affecting incidents. g. Integration assistance for implementing the Papercut environment with the local colleges authentication, data, and other necessary technologies is to be included in proposal. Please provide details regarding how this will be managed. VI. Centralized Papercut Environment Please respond to your ability to provide, host, manage, and maintain a single Papercut environment for all colleges. Integration of necessary user data would be implemented in an automated manner. Please explain how you would approach this centralized environment and provide: a. The tap-to-print queue(s) will span across all colleges (e.g., Emmanuel students can tapto-print at Simmons). b. Each school would have unique policy rules, including but not limited to free print quota amount, cost/page by print type, and free quota reset dates. Please describe how you would manage this. c. Integration with local college authentication methods. d. Vendor-provided upgrades and patch management in coordination with local colleges. e. Logical identification of devices/usage by college for reporting purposes. 4
VII. Managed Printing Services All devices should be on a managed print contract and be able to be monitored by the selected vendor with little to no interaction by the COF. Each school should be provided two toner replacements for each device in use on their campus to be held in stock. Ink/toner should be delivered to each school at 15 percent left usage. a. Please provide information about two options for us to consider where each college s technicians take responsibility for installation, where you provide this service. VIII. Service SLA (by tier) a. Tier 1 support of print device usage/functionality, including How-to guides, non-frequent jamming, toner replacement, and user training, will be provided by the local college. Users would contact their local IT department for print device support, followed by escalation from local IT to vendor as necessary. b. Tier 2+ support should have a service SLA of no more than 24 hours, with the preference being four hours within business hours, including weekend support. If the SLA is not met, there should be a credit to the next billing cycle to compensate for the outage, scaling during periods such as final exams when operations are most critical. IX. Device Addition Devices should be added to the contract if requested without renegotiation of contract terms or extension. All devices should coincide with initial contract and expire with the rest of the fleet for replacement. a. Please confirm or provide explanation if varies. X. 3, 5, 7 year agreement Provide pricing and contract term options for three-, five-, and seven-year timeframes. XI. Full Device Refresh at Contract End At the end of the contract term, all leased devices will be picked up and replaced with new models, if the college chooses to renew, free of charge. Delivery and setup should be included in pricing of the contract and devices. a. Please confirm or provide explanation if varies. Information Provided by COF The COF will provide the following information to assist in vendor analysis and recommendation. Other requests for information can provided as part of the RFP process. List of existing devices, including manufacturer and model information. List of existing device,s including usage statistics. Blueprints or maps of existing print device locations. 5
Blueprints or maps of any area to be covered by this proposal. Existing ID card specifications. Support incident history for print devices. As applicable: Location-specific needs outside of existing proposal guidelines. As applicable: Location exceptions to the no personal printer guideline. XII. COF Preferred Solutions Below are preferred options for each vendor: a. Dedicated onsite support person to include workspace requirements To ensure that SLAs are met and to better facilitate service, the colleges are requesting a dedicated support person for service, toner delivery, etc. b. Centralized parts center and space requirements within the COF properties Please provide your suggestions, requirements, and options. c. Fax/e-fax service In order to add faxing to locations with no phone jacks, we are asking for assistance with setting up an e-fax solution or devices that support these features. d. Office 365/Google integration Each MFP should have the ability to scan to either Office 365 or Google Drive folders, as well as email to users. e. 3-D Print: Jarrah Formerly known as Project Jarrah, included in the proposal should be the addition of the new web checkout system in Papercut 18 for ease of 3D Printing for specific FabLabs on several campuses. The selected contractor, throughout the life of the contract, will minimally for each college: XIII. Meet the goals and objectives outlined within this RFP. Please confirm each of the following. a. Provide the optimum multi-functional printers (copy, print, fax, and scan) and single function printers to meet or exceed the minimal specifications described in this RFP. b. Conduct quarterly reviews of usage and performance, and add or upgrade MFD s and printers, as determined and approved by the COF, at the rates established in the contract. c. Conduct quarterly reviews of usage and performance, identify cost saving and service improvement opportunities and remove, replace, and/or relocate MFD s and printers as 6
determined and approved by each campus at no charge and eliminate subsequent billing for such equipment. d. Provide on-site training for campus users for all implemented equipment, including commonly used functions, at no charge. e. Provide on-site training for users of accounting/tracking system at no charge. f. Provide MFP and printer operation and troubleshooting documentation (hardcopy and softcopy quick guides, as well as full documentation in hardcopy and softcopy form). g. Provide preventative maintenance, repair, and support for all equipment and the accounting/tracking system. h. Provide all MFP supplies including paper for all supplied devices. i. Provide and maintain accounting/tracking system that allows copy, print, fax, and scan volume data to be electronically accessed, charged, and downloaded by each campus which can generate electronic reports for each campus and their identified departments. j. Reporting: Provide monthly quarterly and annual reports of accurate utilization by college including usage (activity) reports for copies, prints, faxes, and scans by location and user, and service call history per MFP and printer actual and average either by Papercut or if applicable other means. k. Type of financial arrangement and billing schedule. Provide a monthly electronic summary billing, in a format acceptable in arrears to include monthly MFD and printer usage costs, as applicable. XIV. XV. Baseline services outlined should also include: a. Cost savings, including consortium benefit of working with this vendor(s). b. Customer service guarantee. c. SLAs for problem resolution. d. Key contact(s): Ideally, a single main point of contact or centralized account service team. e. Escalation path. Optional Services specific to the contract for a redesign include: a. A list of other potential opportunities for additional print services collaboration. 7
Evaluation criteria: Proposals will be evaluated on many criteria deemed to be in COF s best interests, including, but not limited to: the ability to meet specifications and contract start date of July 1, 2018; responsiveness to terms and conditions; financial stability of Vendor; cost to COF member institutions; procedures and policies of Vendors; and availability of personnel and references. XVI. Vendor References: A list of three (3) references is required. These references should be employers your firm has done business with in the past year on projects with a similar scope to this one. Communication with COF: It is the responsibility of the Vendor to inquire about any requirement of this RFP that is not understood. Responses to inquiries, if they change or clarify the RFP in a substantial manner, will be forwarded to all parties that have received a copy of the RFP. Inquiries from invited respondents must be made to: Address: cofadmin@colleges-fenway.org Colleges of the Fenway Phone: (617)-879-2442 Award of Proposal: Presentations may be requested of one or more Vendors deemed by the Committee to be the best suited among those submitting proposals on the basis of the selection criteria. After presentations have been conducted, the COF Committee may select the Vendor that, in its opinion, has made the proposal that is the most responsive and most responsible, and may award the contract to that Vendor. The COF Committee reserves the right to waive minor irregularities. COF may cancel this RFP or reject any or all proposals at any time prior to an award. Note: The awarded vendor will be required to execute the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Terms and Conditions document (link below). http://inside.massart.edu/documents/departments/administrative_services/pu-comm-tandc.pdf Proposal Submission: A SIGNED original and an electronic version on a flash drive with the proposal in Microsoft Word should be submitted by 4:00 p.m. March 8, 2018, to: Colleges of the Fenway Attention: COF Admin 200 Riverway Boston, MA 02215 8
Proposals received after the due date and time will be returned and eliminated from the process. Vendors are strongly encouraged to submit proposals in advance of the due date to avoid the possibility of missing the due date because of unforeseen circumstances. COF assumes no responsibility for delays caused by inaccurate email addresses or mail delivery service. Proposals will be reviewed by a subcommittee and one or more agencies will be invited to present their proposals on March 23, 2018 GENERAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS: a. Contract Term: The contract term shall be for a period of the engagement as outlined in the proposal unless the committee recommends a different timeline commencing upon July 1, 2018, with mutual agreement of the parties this contract may also be extended. b. Contract Data: The Contractor is required to provide COF with detailed data concerning the contract on a quarterly basis, at the completion of each contract year, and periodically as requested by COF for review and evaluation. c. Cancellation/Termination: If the Contractor defaults in its agreement to provide personnel to the satisfaction of COF, or in any other way fails to provide service in accordance with the contract terms, COF may take whatever action it deems necessary to provide alternate services and may, at its option, immediately cancel this Contract. d. Equal Opportunity: In the execution of the contract, the Contractor and all subcontractors agree not to discriminate on the grounds of race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, or citizenship status; age, disability, or veteran s status; and to provide reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities upon request. e. Sexual Harassment: COF is committed to providing a positive environment for all students and staff. Sexual harassment, whether intentional or not, undermines the quality of this educational and working climate. COF has a legal and ethical responsibility to ensure that all students and employees can learn and work in an environment free of sexual harassment this extends to any contractors on site as well. 9
PERFORMANCE TERMS AND CONDITIONS: A. Contract Administration: The Senior Director of the Colleges of the Fenway, Inc., or designee, shall be COF s authorized representative in all matters pertaining to the administration of this contract. SUBMITTER S SIGNATURE: COMPANY NAME By: (Signature) (Print Name) (Title) (Phone number) (Email Address) (Date) CONFIDENTIALITY All information relating to this Project described in this document, and all information contained within this document, is to be held in strictest confidence. This includes not only technical information, but also non-technical information such as costs, prices, sizes of equipment; quantities; materials; customers, etc. Vendor agrees to keep such information in confidence. Vendor agrees not to release any information regarding this project without the prior, express written permission of The Colleges of the Fenway. 10