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HomeMy WebLinkAbout3B - Computer System RFP C NT AGENDA: REQUESTED BY : SUBJECT MATTER: DATE: INTRODUCTION: BACKGROUND: DISCUSSION: CENSUS '90 . 3 (b) RALPH TESCHNER, FINANCE DIRECTOR CONSIDER APPROVAL OF COMPUTER SYSTEM CONFIGURATION, RFP AND BID DATE RESOLUTION 90-07 FEBRUARY 5, 1990 The City will be upgrading its computer system to take advantages of the technological improvements that have have been developed over the past several years. Therefore, bid specifications outlining a specific hardware configuration of computer components is necessary and has been drafted in the form of an RFP for Council consideration and approval. Also necessary, is the establishin9 of a bid date deadline for proposal submiss~on. The City Council in early 1984 established an Automation Committee and charged them with the responsibility and selection of an automation system to streamline administrative functions and improve information management. The first step was to draft a needs assessment to identify what services and which de~artments would derive the greatest benef~t from computerization. Priority and emphasis was placed first upon the City's selection of governmental software application programs. The hardware was then evaluated on the basis of its performance and capabilities of running these programs. The Alpha Micro 1092 was decided upon as the most efficient central processing unit (CPU) to accomplish the objective. Originally the City started with 13 terminals and a few printers with word processing and financial management as its primary focal point of automation. Today 29 terminals are being actively used by City staff. Since this beginning, the City's use of the computer has expanded to the point where engineering and police are utilizing state of the art software programs on the system. The current system has been in place now for almost 6 years and during that time period has functioned exceptionally well with relatively little downtime. The decision to replace the existing computer is based upon the following factors: 4629 Dakota St. S.E., Prior Lake, Minnesota 55372 / Ph. (612) 4474230 / Fax (612) 447-4245 RECOMMENDATION: Capacity: The growth of the City has resulted in a steady demand for computer services. The resultin9 increase of terminals and applicat~on usage has exhausted available memory and terminal connections to the central processing unit. Nearly 70% of all available disk space is being occupied. s~eed: As the system has approached maximum u ilization, bottlenecking of data processing has occurred more frequently as system response time has slowed considerablr. The result has been reduction in staff eff~ciency and output. Reliability: While the srstem has been very dependable the hard d~sk, which is the integral storage component within the CPU, has exceeded its l~fe expectancy. If it were to fail the outcome would be a "system crash" which would result in a minimum of a week delay in data recover in addition to the cost incurred for replacement. Backup Limitations: Data backu~ has become extremely important as electron~c media has replaced paper files. Data integritr and its storage is vital to any automated ~nformation system. Presently, we backup our computer data by VCR which is only capable of transferring 1/6 of the files on our computer due to the limitation of the len9th of the tape itself. Also, the length of t~me is almost five hours. The new AM3000 will incorporate an exabyte tape drive that accomplishes data retrieval of the entire system in less than one hour. The proposed configuration (specification) would assume the following hardware format: Computer System Hard Disk Storage Random Memory I/O Ports Communications Backup Media AM2000 or AM3000 620 megabyte 12 megabyte 44 300/2400 baud modem Exabyte type drive The City has made a significant software investment for the present system. Personnel are well trained and have a considerable number of applications operational using the existing software. For these reasons, it was concluded that an upgrade to the Alpha Micro 1092 to an AM2000 or AM3000 computer Is the only practical way to meet the growin9 data processing needs of the City, mainta1n the current investment in technology and, at the same time, minimize additional investment and service disruption. BUDGET IMPACT: ACTION REQUIRED: Therefore, Staff would recommend acquisition of the Alpha Micro 3000, depending upon the cost differential, to best serve the City today as well as 5-10 years into the future. The main feature advantage of the AM3000 as opposed to the AM2000 is that the processing speed is almost twice as fast. RFP's are anticipated to be requested by the fOllowing vendors: 1. Big Sky Data Systems 2. AlphaSoft Inc. 3. Applied Systems Research 4. Alpha Computers, Inc. In summary, Staff would recommend ap~roval of the Request for Proposal, and establ~sh Monday 4:30 P.M., March 12, 1990 as the deadline for proposal submission. An estimated cost has been projected to be approximately $95,000.00 for the Alpha Micro 3000, required system software and related program conversions and installation. The 1990 Budget appropriates $25,000.00 of capital outlay funding towards the overall purchase price within Data Processing. The remainder of the new system acquisition is planned to be financed by the issuance of equipment certificates payable 1991-1992. This will spread the total financing over a period of three years. Motion to approve as part of the consent agenda would be in order. CENSUS '90 RESOLUTION 90-07 ~ A RESOLUTION APPROVING REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL OF CITY OF PRIOR LAKE COMPUTER UPGRADE & ORDERING ADVERTISEMENT FOR BID PROPOSALS MOTION BY: SECONDED BY WHEREAS, The City of Prior Lake's existing computer system has been operational for a time period of approximately six (6) rears and has subsequently been determined to have atta~ned its useful life; and the Alpha Micro 1092 has reached its maximum utilization of available system memory and peripherals; and WHEREAS, data processing response time/speed has slowed to an unacceptable level resulting in efficiency degradation; and WHEREAS, ca~acity equ~pment WHEREAS, the City of Prior Lake's additional investment and transition; and objective is to minimize achieve a cost effective WHEREAS, The City of Prior Lake intends to evaluate all vendor proposals based upon overall satisfaction of City criteria as established within the official Request for Proposal. NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED by the Mayor and City Council that: 1. The computer hardware specifications and Request for Proposal, a copy which is attached hereto, is approved. 2. The City Finance Director shall ~repare an advertisement, published in the Prior Lake Amer~can for 30 days, stating a bid submission deadline of Monday, 4:30 P.M., March 12, 1990. Passed and adopted this 5th day of February, 1990. YES NO Andren Fitzgerald Larson Scott White Andren Fitzgerald Larson Scott White {Seal} 4629 Dakota St. S.E., Prior Lake, Minnesota 55372 David J. Unmacht City Manager City of Prior Lake Ph. (612) 447-4230 / Fax (612) 447-4245 REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS COMPUTER EQUIPMENT FOR CITY OF PRIOR LAKE February 1990 TABLE OF CONTENTS I . II. III. IV. V. NOTICE TO VENDORS . . . . BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES PAGE 1 1 PROPOSAL INSTRUCTIONS . . . . .. ...... 4 CONTRACTUAL REQUIREMENTS . . . . . . . . . . 8 SUMMARY OF SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS . . . . . . . . . 10 APPENDICES APPENDIX A, VENDOR PROFILE . . . . . . . . . .. ... 13 APPENDIX B, SOFTWARE CHARACTERISTICS . . . . . . . . . . . l5 APPENDIX C, HARDWARE MAINTENANCE . . . . . . . . . . . . . l6 APPENDIX D, TRAINING INFORMATION. . . . .. ..... l7 APPENDIX E, PROPOSAL EXCEPTIONS.. .......... 18 APPENDIX F, MISCELLANEOUS. . . .. .......... 19 APPENDIX G, NON-COLLUSION AFFIDAVIT. ......... 20 APPENDIX H, COST SUMMARY (AM2000). . . . . . . . .. . 2l APPENDIX H-l, COST SUMMARY (AM3000). . . . . . 23 APPENDIX I, TRADE-IN ALLOWANCE . . . . . . . .. ... 25 I. NOTICE TO VENDORS The City of Prior Lake will receive proposals for furnishing computer equipment to upgrade and replace existing equipment used in processing a number of applications. Vendors who are capable of furnishing such a system are invited to submit pro~osals by 4:30 P.M., March l2, 1990, according to the spec~fications outlined in this document. II. BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES A. Backqround The City of Prior Lake is a statutory municipalitr located at 4629 Dakota street SE, Prior Lake, Minnesota. Pr~mary services provided by the City are Police and Fire protection, Planning & zonin9 functions, Public Works, Parks and Recreation and various admin~strative activities including Finance, Data Processing and Economic Development. The City's general fund Operating Budget for FY 1990 is over $3.3 million. The City's population is approximately l1,000. City staff presently numbers 42 full-time employees and expects moderate growth over the next several years. The City of Prior Lake's initial utilization of computer technology occurred in October of 1984 with the acquisition of an Alpha Micro 1072 which has been in place for 6 years. The original system outlay consisted of 1 meg of memory, a 70 meg hard disk storage, 24 I/O ports, 13 terminals, 5 printers, a 1200 baud modem and a VCR for backup. The City is approaching the capacity limitations of the current equipment configuration as evidenced by the following: a) Nearly 70% of the available disk capacity is being utilized. b) System res~onse time continues to increase with long response t~mes occurring more frequently. Increase of terminals and application usage exhausted the available memory and terminal ports. d) Backup limitations due to VCR capability restrictions. c) has Therefore, speed and capacity have evolved into the two major ~riorities of the City of Prior Lake in its decision to improve 1ts computer system. - 1 - The City has made a significant software investment for the present system. Personnel are well trained and have a considerable number of applications operational using the existing software. For these reasons, it is concluded that an upgrade of the Alpha Micro 1092 to an Alpha Micro 2000 or AM3000 computer is the only practical way to meet the 9rowing data processing needs of the City, maintain the current ~nvestment in technolo9Y, and at the same time, minimize additional investment and serv1ce disruption. Toward that end, this Request for Proposals (RFP) has been prepared to be used as the basis for evaluating upgrade alternatives available to the City. Accordingly, vendors are invited to submit proposals to uP9rade and replace equipment and associated system software as requ~red to increase the City's processing capabilities. While the City's objective is to identify a single, responsible vendor that can meet the varied data processing needs of the City, the City recognizes that meetin9 that objective mar be difficult. Consequently, the City 1ntends to select a pr~mary vendor which, in the city's judgment, has the greatest potential for meeting the overall needs of the City. Such a vendor will be expected to provide the following: l) Data processing hardware 2) Appropriate system software 3) Hardware maintenance 4) Software maintenance 5) Training and support 6) Installation (Tentative Schedule - begin Friday noon April 13 and conclude @ 6:00 P.M. Saturday, April l4, 1990.) B. Current Hardware Configuration As the activities and functions of the City have increased in size and scope, the need for data processing has increased. The existing installation includes the following: Computer System Central Processor Hard Disk Random Memory I/O Ports Terminals Printers Plotter Digitizer Communications Backup Media UPS AM1092 AMIOO/L Fujitzu Eagle 400 megabyte 8 megabyte 40 29 7 Calcomp Plotter Calcomp Digitizer US Robotics 1200 baud modem RCA VCR Toshiba 2.0 KVA - 2 - c. Application Software All departments utilize the various software (listed below) that is currently on the system: 1 AlphaWrite (word processing) 2. AlphaCalc (spreadsheet) 3. AlphaBars (accounting & police) 4. Lazorword (desktop publishing) 5. Datawriter (report generator) 6. srndex (database) 7. V~sions (database/property management) 8. Visions (database/parks registration) 9. Visions (database/police card file) 10. CivilDESIGN/CivilCADD (engineering) ll. UltraSafe (securit~ program) 12. Talkto (Communicat~ons) D. Future Growth and Activity Over the next five year period the number of work expected to be increased by 5-~O users. The additional software applications as well. - 3 - stations is city may add III. PROPOSAL INSTRUCTIONS A. Submitting Proposals To be considered for award, proposals must be received in the office of the Finance Director no later than 4:30 P.M. on March 12, 1990. Proposals must be securely sealed and state "Computer Proposal" on the outside of the envelope. The proposals must be directed to: Ralph Teschner, Finance Director City of Prior Lake 4629 Dakota Street SE Prior Lake, MN 55372 Phone No. (612) 447-4230 Any or all vendors may request a site inspection. Contact Ralph Teschner at City Hall to make an appointment. Site inspections must be completed before Twelve Noon on March 1st, 1990. Proposals must be submitted on forms provided as Appendix A through I of the Request for Proposal. Failure to comply with this section may be cause for rejection of the proposal. B. Evaluation of Proposals For a period of thirty (30) days time, the City may conduct an During this period, no proposal cancelled by a vendor. The City required check or bond while the followin9 the scheduled opening evaluat~on of the proposals. shall be modified, withdrawn, or will make no return of the evaluation is being completed. The period for evaluation of the proposals maf be extended by request of the City. In the event an extens~on is requested by the City, a vendor may decline the re9Uest. If a re~est is denied, then such proposal will be el~minated from cons~deration without penalty to either party. The purpose of the evaluation is to identify the proposal which is of the most benefit (not necessarily the lowest cost) to the City. Items to be considered in the evaluation include: 1. Conformance to all specifications. 2. Equi~ment compatibility to operate software appl~cations. 3. Total cost of the equipment including acquisition, operating and maintenance costs. 4. Ancillarr costs associated with the equIpment including electric~ty, site preparation, and conditioning of the air. 5. Scheduled completion date for installation. - 4 - 6. Satisfactory experience in providing proposed equipment to customers similar to the City of Prior Lake. 7. Amount of vendor support during installation, training, and data conversion activities. 8. Back-up capability both in event of power failure and system malfunction. 9. Abilitr of the vendor to provide follow-up support includ~ng hardware maintenance, system software, as well as ancillary hardware and software services such as training and equipment maintenance. c. Rights of Reiection The Citr reserves the right such dec~sion shall be subject Further, the City reserves the of the equipment, software, vendor. to reject any or all proposals and to no recourse by the vendor. right to accept all or any portion or services proposed by anyone D. Contract for Successful Bidder The City intends to enter into a contract with the vendor who has provided the proposal which is deemed to be of most benefit to the city. The proposal will become a part of the contract and the vendor is required to furnish all materials and services in accordance with the conditions specified in the proposal and/or modified through contract negotiations. Failure to furnish the specified materials and services will result in termination of the contract, refund of all pa~ents and recove~ of reasonable damages. In addition, the c~ty reserves the r~9ht to negotiate separate contracts with vendors other than the pr~mary vendor for additional system components. E. Modification of Proposals A proposal may be modified or withdrawn at any time prior to the scheduled submission date. F. Good Faith Requirement Each proposal shall be submitted with a certified check or contractor's bond in an amount equal to five (5%) ~ercent of the total amount of the proposal as recorded in Append1x H-1, Line l6.5. The check or bond shall be made payable to the City of Prior Lake and shall be valid up through the execution of the contract. Upon completion of proposal evaluation, the checks or bonds of all unsuccessful vendors will be returned. If the successful vendor shall fail to execute the contract within thirty (30) days after notice of award, then the check or bond may be forfeited to the city. - 5 - G. Vendor Incurred Costs All costs incurred in the preparation and presentation of this proposal in any way whatsoever shall be wholly absorbed by the vendor. All supporting documentation and manuals submitted with the proposal will become the property of the City unless return is requested in writing by the vendor at the time of submission. In those cases where return is requested, documents will be returned within sixty (60) days from the submission date. H. Proposed Format All proposals submitted in response to this RFP must conform to the instruction and format prescribed as follows: 1. Letter of Transmittal Each proposal should include a letter of transmittal signed by an authorized representative of the vendor and should also include the names of individuals authorized to negotiate with the city of Prior Lake. 2. Return of RFP The RFP is designed to expedite the vendor's res~onse, thus the copy of the Appendices in the RFP orig~nally received by the vendor should be returned completed with all requested information, including any exceptions to the RFP which the vendor wishes to make. 3. Number of copies Each vendor shall submit three (3) copies of the primary and alternate proposal on or before the date. specified in Section III.A. I. Exceptions to the RFP It is anticipated that vendors may find instances where their hardware or software does not function in a manner consistent with the specifications of the RFP. In such cases, it is permissible to take exception to the RFP. In order to do so, exceptions must be clearly identified with written explanation provided which includes the scope of the exception, and the ramifications of the exception for the city. Exceptions should be recorded in Appendix E. J. city's Investiqation The City of Prior Lake may make such investigation as deemed necessary to determine the ability of the vendor to furnish the equi~ment and provide the services ~roposed and the vendor shall furn1sh to the City all such ~nformation and data for this - 6 - purpose as the City may re~est. The City reserves the right to reject any proposal lf the evidence submitted by, or investi~ation of, such vendor fails to satisfy the City that such vendor ~s properly qualified to carry out the obligations of the agreement and to complete the work contemplated therein. K. Amendment of Specifications The city reserves the right to amend the s~ecifications at any reasonable time prior to the scheduled subm~ssion date. - 7 - IV. CONTRACTUAL REQUIREMENTS Listed below are general terms and included as part of the contract selected vendor. conditions which will be between the city and the A. Contractual Obliqations The contents of the selected proposal will be considered a contractual obligation unless modified through Paragraphs Band G below. Failure to meet these obli9ations will result in the cancellation of any contracts and forfe~ture of the contractor's bond as liquidated damages. B. Contract Negotiation The City reserves the right to negotiate any with the selected vendor acceptable to the city. may include as method of ~rocurement purchase, lease, rental, or any comb~nation thereof. form of contract This contract lease/purchase, C. Contractor's Responsibilities The contractor shall assume full responsibility for: 1. Design, assembly, testing and successful start-up of the proposed system including equipment currently in use. 2. Delivery to the City of all equipment, software, and documentation representing the final configuration as agreed to by the contractor and the City. 3. Specification of space, power, and environmental control requirements for the proposed configuration at the installation site. 4. Proper training of selected City personnel with respect to system operation. 5. Work covered by warranty. 6. Fulfilling these responsibilities ~er the schedule and timetable as determined by the C1ty. D. Warranty The proposal shall warranty all materials and services including the proposed hardware and system software for fitness and performance for a minimum of ninety (90) days. The ninety (90) day period of time shall begin following completion of installation and acceptance by the City. In addition, the vendor shall warrant compatibility and satisfacto~ operation of pro~osed hardware and software in conjunct~on with existing equ1pment and software. - 8 - E. Risk of Loss or Damage The City of Prior Lake will be relieved of all risks of loss or damage to the equipment during periods of transport or installation except when loss or damage is due to the fault or negligence of the city. F. Contractor's Performance Bond Required As a condition of the contract with the successful vendor, a contractor's bond as specified in Minnesota statutes 574.26 shall be required. The contractor's bond shall be in an amount equal to the total amount of the contracted terms. The performance bond of the successful vendor will be retained until the system installation is accepted by the city of Prior Lake. G. Firm Prices All prices contained in the proposal shall be firm prices and not subject to increase during the term of the contract between the City and the selected vendor. Prices shall include delivery, installation and set-up costs. H. Acceptance Testing Following successful installation and start-up of the system, all hardware and software components provided under the terms of the contract will be tested for performance and reliability prior to acceptance by the Citro Acceptance testing shall be of sufficient duration to ver~fy that the components o~erate in substantial conformance with the City's proposal spec~fications and the vendor's proposal. I. Method of Payment Payments for equipment purchased by the City will be made in two equal installments: 1) 50 percent within 30 days of delivery; and 2) 50 percent within 30 days of acceptance. - 9 - V. SUMMARY OF SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS A. General The City of Prior Lake intends to acquire a computer system to be used by a number of departments within the city. The vendor is expected to provide hardware and software maintenance, and ongoing support. It is the vendor's responsibility to configure an a~propriate system for the City which will meet or exceed the requ~rements specified herein. The capacities and confi9uration characteristics identified below should be used as guidel~nes but may be modified by the vendor if the need for or benefits of the change can be substantiated. ALL CHANGES MUST BE APPROVED BY THE CITY OF PRIOR LAKE. The proposed equipment is expected to operate satisfactorily across the full range of temperature and humidity in the City's office environment or any normal office environment and that special air conditioning or other environmental controls will be specifically identified as per Appendix F. The hardware proposed must be new and currently in production as an item in the manufacturer's most recent product line. All vendor proposed hardware must be offered under warranty and will be covered under the proposed hardware maintenance agreement. B. Hardware Specifications a) CENTRAL PROCESSOR: The models proposed must be currently in production as an item in the contractor's most recent product line and must be new. The proposed system must be an Alpha Micro 2000 or AM3000 depending u~on alternative selected. Minimum capacity of 12 mill~on bytes of random access memory for the initial configuration capable of expansion to 20 megabytes or larger. Memory boards shall be allocated in increments of 4 megabytes. Equipment must support 44 I/O ports, initially, and capacity to expand up to 64 work stations. The ~rocessor is expected to support a 620 megabyte hard d~sk drive. In addition the processor is expected to support both VCR and exabyte type backup devices. b) DISK STORAGE: The model proposed must be currently in production as a member of the manufacturer's most recent product line and must be new. User available rotating disk storage capacity shall be 620 megabytes. Each disk unit must have an average seek time of twenty (20) milliseconds or less with a desired transfer rate of 1.8 million bytes per second or greater. - 10 - c) BACKUP STORAGE DEVICE: The model(s) proposed must be currently in production as a member of the manufacturer's most recent product line and must be new. The proposed device is expected to be an Exabyte 8200 or an Alpha Micro equivalent device to be used in con~unction with and as a supplement to the VCR backup dev~ce currently in use. d) MODEM: A U.S. Robotics 300/2400 baud or equivalent. e) SYSTEM WIRING ALTERNATE: Dependent upon consideration, the proposed wiring of jobs to the frame will be in the form of a modular telephone and adapter option. cost main cable f) RELATED EQUIPMENT: All cabinets, equipment racks, panels, cables, interfaces, and other equipment required to properlr house, connect, and operate the proposed configurat~on must be included. c. Operating System The AMOS/32 Operating system Release 1.x with a license providing a minimum of 64 users is expected to be proposed. The operating system proposed must support all currently installed releases of the application software listed in Section IIc. D. Maintenance and Support The vendor will include quotes for a maintenance a9reement with the City to maintain the equipment in good operat~ng condition. Services to be provided by the vendor include: a) Remedial Service to be provided durin9 normal working hours or on an unscheduled on-call bas~s. b) Preventative Maintenance to be ~rovided working hours, on a periodic bas1s, at a agreed to by the City and the vendor. during normal time mutually The vendor is expected to have a service center within 50 miles of the City of Prior Lake and be able to respond to a call for remedial service within a four hour time period. Equipment to be included under the maintenance agreement includes all equipment proposed by the vendor as well as all equipment physically connected to the Alpha Micro. The availabilitr of a complete training package is an important consideration 1n evaluating the support services available from the vendor. Training for desi9nated City personnel may be provided either on-site or at a s~te in the metropolitan area. - 11 - Training should be conducted by ex~erienced personnel supported by training aids and appropriate tra~ning materials. As a minimum, the proposed training should include: a) Hardware orientation to familiarize the operating personnel with the hardware characteristics, basic operating procedures, and primary diagnostic procedures. b) Software orientation to familiarize the operating personnel with characteristics of the operating system, basic o~erating procedures, as well as primary diagnost~cs. c) Operator training to train operators for normal operation of the system including problem identification, diagnostic procedures, and restart and recovery. - 12 -