Mississippi State Procurement Guidelines for Agencies and Authorities

REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL WORKSHOP Jennifer Peacock Lynn Burris James Dunaway Vivian Sanderford Tammy Jones Chris Bratcher

YOU WANT TO PURCHASE SOMETHING WAN Circuits Leased circuits (Lit fiber or copper) Microwave Internet Access Dedicated Internet Access (DIA) or Managed Internet Service (MIS) MPLS attached internet Raw Internet Cable Modem Buy Equipment All at once or possibly over a five year period Managed Wi-Fi of your equipment (that if you already own) Managed WI-FI that includes equipment

Definition of Governing Authority Mississippi Code 31-7-1 (b) Governing authority shall mean boards of supervisors, governing boards of all school districts, all boards of directors of public water supply districts, boards of directors of master public water supply districts, municipal public utility commissions, governing authorities of all municipalities, port authorities, Mississippi State Port Authority, commissioners, and boards of trustees of any public hospitals, boards of trustees of public library systems, district attorneys, school attendance officers and any political subdivision of the state or political subdivision thereof, including commissions, boards, and agencies created or operated under the authority of any county or municipality of this state.

State of Mississippi Purchasing Laws Mississippi Code 31-7-13 Commodities and Equipment All agencies and governing authorities shall purchase their commodities and printing; contract for garbage collection or disposal; contract for sewage collection or disposal; contract for public construction; and contract for rentals as herein provided. Less than $5,000 no advertisement or otherwise requesting quotes More than $5,000 at least two competitive written bids More than $50,000 lowest and best bid After advertising once each week for two weeks in local newspaper. Bid opening shall not be less than seven working days after last published notice. On the same date that the notice is submitted to the newspaper for publication, the agency or governing authority involved shall mail written notice to or provide electronic notification to the main office of the Mississippi Procurement Technical Assistance Program under the Mississippi Development Authority that contains the same information as that in the published notice.

Mississippi Procurement Technical Assistance Program Bid Bank Notice Information Effective November 1, 2012, all bid advertisements should be submitted on the agency bid bank webpage. Please visit http://mscpc.com and select Agency Bid Bank. After completing the User Registration, you will have the ability to manage your user profile, upload and post current bid advertisements and solicitations as well as receive as automated receipt acknowledgment with actual date, bid title and/or number.

State of Mississippi Purchasing Laws Commodities and Equipment Mississippi Code 31-7-13 House Bill 1106 Legislative Session 2017-Effective January 1, 2018 Electronic bids Mississippi Code 31-7-13 (c) (i) 2 Agencies and governing authorities shall provide a secure electronic interactive system for the submittal of bids requiring competitive bidding that shall be an additional bidding option for those bidders who choose to submit their bids electronically. House Bill 1109 Legislative Session 2017-Effective January 1, 2018 Reverse Auctions Mississippi Code 31-7-13 (c) (v) 2 Purchases over $50,000.00 Reverse auctions shall be the primary method for receiving bids during the bidding process. If a purchasing entity determines that a reverse auction is not in the best interest of the state, then that determination must be approved by the Public Procurement Review Board.

Reverse Auctions and Electronic Bidding DFA Procurement Handbook: 3.106.22 Reverse auctions shall be the primary method for receiving bids during the bidding process. Commodities that are clearly defined by industry standards (e.g., off the shelf items), with very many suppliers, where the supplier relationship is transactional and costs to switch among suppliers are negligible are good candidates for reverse auctions. 3.106.22.4 Governing authorities may utilize any responsible reverse auction company to provide the auction services, however OPTFM recommends that governing authorities utilize the state contracts established for such services by the Mississippi Departments of Information Technology Services. 3.106.22.5 May request approval to use an alternative process through use of the Exemption Form provided on OPTFM s website (four month process) 3.106.23.1 When utilizing the Competitive Sealed Bidding method provided herein agencies and governing authorities shall provide a secure electronic interactive system for the submittal of such bids as an additional bidding option for those bidders who choose to submit their bids electronically. Note: No bidder shall be required to submit bids electronically.

Instructions for Use for Electronic Bidding Services (RFP No. 4029) http://www.dfa.ms.gov/media/7114/instructio ns-for-use-memo-electronic-bidding- services-2018-08-10.pdf

Instructions for Use for Reverse Auction Services (RFP No. 4029) http://www.dfa.ms.gov/media/7113/instructio ns-for-use-memo-reverse-auction-services- 2018-05-18.pdf

General Comments about Reverse Auctions DFA recommends that you perform a two-tier procurement process 1. Determine which vendors can meet the specifications of your RFP 2. Determine who offers the lowest pricing This is where the Reverse Auction takes place - Upload RFP in a Reverse Auction = Upload RFP in 470 = Same Document Reverse Auction applications allow you to print a PDF of the entire process to document your procurement. Fees are to be paid to these (Reverse Auction) vendors by your potential bidders or awarded vendors. SB 2674 Legislative Session 2018 authorizes local entities to charge a fee for reverse auctions and electronic bidding services. Maximum $50 fee per bid for electronic bidding Maximum 4% of the winning bid amount for reverse auction

Recap of Electronic Bidding and Reverse Auctions Electronic Bidding Reverse Auction are required for equipment and commodity purchases over $50,000.00. Because Internet and WAN circuits are services, neither Electronic Bidding or Reverse Auction is NOT required Any county with a population less than 20,000 is exempt from Electronic Bidding. Any municipality with a population less than 10,000 is exempt from Electronic Bidding.

Questions?

E-Rate Requirements Form 470 Post the 470 at the same time you issue your RFP Upload the RFP with the 470 (do not provide a link to your RFP) Wait 28 days (minimum) before making a determination of the winner (or longer if preferred*****) (include a termination clause) February 20this the last day to file a form 470 Follow State Procurement Rules Fair and Open Process Do not solicit preferred or only certain providers Include any responses to questions as addendum to 470 No vendor assistance with the procurement process No consultant assistance with the procurement process if the consultant is associated with a vendor

Four steps to initiate your services RFP? 1. Advertise in the paper (must be sent so many days in advance) 2. Post RFP on your webpage 3. Post RFP with Bid Bank showing publication date 4. Post a Form 470 (RFP attached not linked)

RFP Request for Proposal Remember a state RFP can differ from an E-rate RFP definition. The purpose of the RFP is to give you control of telling vendors what you need, not vendors selling you what they have to offer For the purpose of E-rate, any document that describes or clarifies the product or service you are seeking, is considered an RFP If you provide any clarification in writing to any vendor, you must share that clarification with all participating vendors, and that document becomes an Amendment to an existing RFP (470 addendum) (no verbal responses)

RFP Dos Have a Termination Clause in the RFP that states you can terminate the contract without penalty You could make this a mandatory requirement and exclude any vendor that does not comply, but this might limit your responses You can make this an evaluation criterion and award points for any vendor that does comply Be specific about what bandwidth you are seeking and not a range Do not say from 10 meg to 1 gig Say 10 meg, 20 meg, 50 meg, 1 gig, etc. This allows vendors to quote specifically and allows you to make an easy cost comparison. Have services start on July 1st, regardless of when you sign the contract. Contract end date should be June 30th.

RFP Donts Don t allow vendors to help you write your RFP Unless the vendor is not going to be responding to your RFP But you can have vendors assist you in your research to determine what to put in your RFP Contact more than one vendor This can help you write a more informed RFP Once you have submitted your RFP, all unofficial correspondence with vendor must end Don t allow any consultant who has any relationship or any interest with a vendor assist in writing your RFP Don t say, We reserve the right to reject any vendor s offering and to award to any vendor we feel would best serve You can only reject if they fail a specific mandatory requirement listed in the RFP You can only award to a vendor that responded and was awarded based upon the evaluation criteria specified in your RFP Don t specify brand specific equipment unless you use or equivalent Example: Cisco 4800 or equivalent

USAC: Price is the primary Determining Factor When an applicant examines and evaluates the bids received for eligible services, it must select the most cost-effective bid Price must be the highest percentage/points of your scoring process. Other relevant evaluation factors may include: Prior vendor experience including past performance; Personnel qualifications of vendors including technical excellence; Management capabilities of vendor including schedule compliance, billing, etc.; or Environmental objectives (go green!)

USAC: Evaluation Table Example #1 Factor Price of the eligible products and services Prior experience Personnel qualifications Management capability Environmental objectives Total Weight 30% 25% 20% 15% 10% 100%

Evaluation Table Example #2 Factor Price of the eligible products and services Prior experience Ineligible cost factors Management capability Local Vendor Total Weight 50% 20% 15% 10% 5% 100%

Evaluation Table Example #3 Factor Price of the eligible products and services (20%) Price of network conversion (10%) Prior experience Personnel qualifications Management capability Environmental objectives Total Weight 30% 25% 20% 15% 10% 100%

Evaluation Table Example #4 Factor Price of the eligible products and services Prior experience Ineligible contractors Management capability Local Vendor Total Weight 50 points 30 points 25 points 20 points 15 points 140 points

Contract Term Considerations C1 Contracts It is your choice of the length of the contract. (1 yr, 3 yr, 5 yr, 7 yr, etc) No matter when you sign, have services start on July 1 and end on June 30 If you seek a contract for more than 5 years then include Price Redeterminations every year, 18 months, 2 years Have language in the contract that if a vendor refuses to negotiate based upon available corresponding prices, then you can terminate contract without penalty C2 Contracts Minimum of 18 months Preferred 24 months Why? You perform your procurement in Oct- Nov and sign contract You are applying for services that start the following July (9 months after contract date) You may not be funded until September (11 Months after contract date) You will have until January of the following year to get services installed and invoiced (26 months after contract date) Minimum of 18 months Note: Include in your RFP that official authorization (PO) from the library must be received before work can begin.

USAC: Contract Negotiations Verbal agreements and quotes do NOT meet the requirements of a contract Do not let a vendor write your contract unless your attorney approves it before signing Contracts have to end You cannot have upon expiration the contract will automatically renew (or become month to month) Reminder it should be June 30th Examples of acceptable standards for applicant signature and date in a contract are: Applicant s handwritten signature and date of signing Date contract awarded contained in the body of the contract Date contract awarded in the opening statements of the contract

Your Options Stay with SMC 4000 Pricing is expected to stay the same with SMC 4000 RFP 5000 may be resolved MLC pays for your internet access, firewall and filtering MLC manages your internet access, firewall and filtering Network monitoring to see your routers and identify specific issues

INTERNET All libraries on MLC s MPLS network go directly to the MPLS cloud for Internet Access MLC provided internet access, filtering and firewall MPLS Cloud Other VRF s Columbus Lowndes VRF for Shared Services Columbus-Lowndes Crawford Caledonia Artesia A unique VRF is setup for each library system allowing libraries within a system to share resources and services. (Circulation Systems, Time Management Systems, Network Printing, etc.) Libraries go directly to the unique Library VRF for shared library resources. This saves times by eliminating having to go out to the internet and back to the library for the shared resource(s). VRF = VPN Routing & Forwarding

SHARED VRFs Each library system has a unique VRF. All branch libraries within the library system are members of the library s unique VRF. Library VRF s can be shared also. This allows resource sharing among library systems throughout the state. In this example a Polaris Server in South MS/Columbia is being shared and accessed by all libraries within the Benton County, Copiah-Jefferson, East MS and Lincoln- Lawrence-Franklin Library Systems. Benton County Copiah-Jefferson East MS Lincoln-Lawrence-Franklin VRF VRF VRF VRF South MS VRF Polaris Circulation Server housed in South MS HQ in Columbia, MS

Your Options If you want to do your own procurement, there are many factors that need to be considered. Determining your network design and all components involved is crucial. Thinking of your Wide Area Network (WAN) and what will work best for your system.

Filtering Filtering is NOT E-rate eligible. This charge must be billed on a separate line and you must pay the fee without any E-rate discount. Firewall Basic Firewall services are eligible for E-rate. If bundled in internet , it is a Category 1. If NOT bundled in internet access, it is Category 2. Advanced Firewall services are NOT eligible for E-rate. (DDoS, Intrusion Detection/Prevention, SPAM, Anti-virus). If you choose Advanced Firewall services, this charge must be billed on a separate line and you must pay the fee without any E-rate discount. Firewalls can be either cloud based with no equipment in your library or physical hardware equipment located in your library. (CPE - Customer Premise Equipment) Or

Managed Firewall Services ISP - Internet Service Provider manages your firewall. (Anyone other than you) This means they are responsible for the security of your network, making changes to ports, updating software, applying patches, maintaining whitelists/blacklists etc. (For Category 1 it must be bundled with internet access service at no cost. If not, it is Category 2.) Either physical equipment at the library (CPE) - Category 2 - equipment at the library managed either on site by library staff or by a third party vendor.

There are many ways to get Internet Access 1. Dedicated Internet Access 2. MPLS Attached Internet 3. Raw Internet 4. Cable Modem

Questions to ask yourself when making a decision: Can your library afford to purchase/lease a firewall? Does your library system have technical staff to manage firewall/filtering devices? Can your library afford a contract with another vendor to manage firewall services? Do you have the staff/ability to monitor and diagnose network issues?

Still want to do an RFP??? Stick around!

Additionalnetwork designs

Headquarters Library One of Many Designs ISP Dedicated Internet Access with CPE. No Firewall or Filtering Large Service Provider Central Office Ethernet Switched Consolidation Circuit Cloud Branch Library Branch Library 35 Branch Library Branch Library

Another of Many Library Designs Headquarters Library Internet Access, CPE, No Firewall or Filtering ISP Branch Library Branch Library 36 Branch Library Branch Library

Dedicated Internet Access or Cable Modem Service includes CPE, Circuit, and Internet Headquarters INTERNET Service does not include Filtering or Firewall 37

Raw or MPLS Attached Internet Service includes Internet. Also requires CPE and a circuit to the Internet. SP Cloud Headquarters INTERNET Service does not include Filtering or Firewall 38