RFP

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Commonwealth of Massachusetts Trial Court Office of Court Management Trial Court Information Services REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS (RFP)

Purchasing Entity: Massachusetts Trial Court Address; Office of Court Management Trial Court Information Services Three Center Plaza, 7th floor Boston, MA 02108 Telephone: (617) 878-0732 RFP File Name/Title: MTC Telephone System Maintenance Primary Contact Person: Craig D. Burlingame, CIO RFP Summary: The Massachusetts Trial Court requests the submission of proposals from qualified Bidders to provide peripheral equipment to support the court’s networked video conferencing infrastructure. The contract resulting from this Request for Proposals (RFP) will go into effect immediately and extend through Fiscal Year 2015. The Trial Court shall reserve the right to extend the contract at the end of each Fiscal Year for up to an additional 3(three) years. Official Publication Solicitation and Related Documents: The Commonwealth Procurement and Solicitation System (Comm.-PASS) – www.comm-pass.com is the Commonwealth’s sole online procurement record site. All clarifications, notifications, addenda or other documents or information related to this solicitation are officially published through the Comm.-PASS website. Hard copy communications from the OCM to any vendor are provided as a courtesy. Vendors should access the Comm.-PASS website frequently for official communications related to this solicitation from the OCM. ***BID SUBMISSION DEADLINE*** Friday, February 21, 2013

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Commonwealth of Massachusetts Trial Court Office of Court Management Trial Court Information Services MTC Audio/Video Equipment REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS (RFP) 1.0 Summary The Massachusetts Trial Court requests the submission of proposals from qualified Bidders to provide peripheral equipment to support the court’s networked video conferencing infrastructure. The contract resulting from this Request for Proposals (RFP) will go into effect immediately and extend through Fiscal Year 2015. The Trial Court shall reserve the right to extend the contract at the end of each Fiscal Year for up to an additional 3(three) years. 1.1 Procuring Entity a. This RFP is issued by the Office of Court Management which is the central management office for the Trial Court Department of the Judicial Branch of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

b. This RFP is issued under laws, rules, procedures, and practices applicable to the Judicial Branch of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The Judicial Branch is not subject to 801 CMR 21.00 et seq., which governs the procurement process of the Executive Branch of the Massachusetts state government. Vendors responding to this RFP should not assume that Judicial Branch procurement practices correspond directly to the procurement practices of other branches, agencies, departments, or divisions of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Additional terms and conditions may be introduced at the vendor selection and contract negotiation phases.

c.

The Judicial Branch of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is comprised of three separate court systems - the Supreme Judicial Court, the Appeals Court, and the Trial Court. The Supreme Judicial Court is the Commonwealth's highest appellate court and is responsible for the general superintendence of the judiciary and of the bar, makes or approves rules for the operations of all the courts and provides advisory opinions, upon request, to the Governor and Legislature upon important questions of law and upon solemn occasions.

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2.0 Acquisition Method The products and services to be rendered as a result of this RFP will be obtained under a contract for the purchase of commodity equipment. 3.0 Single or Multiple Contractors The OCM intends to award a contract to a single vendor who will provide the specified products and/or services as described in this RFP, however if it is deemed in the best interest of the OCM to award to multiple vendors based on the expertise of the product type and level of experience in maintaining that equipment, multiple service contracts could be awarded. 4.0 Requirements • • • • • • •

An award will be made to the Bidder whose response to the requirements of this RFP is most responsive and whose proposal best meets the needs of the Office of Court Management, Trial Court Information Services. All proposals shall be prepared in accordance with this RFP. A proposal may be rejected for failure to conform to its provisions. The Trial Court reserves the right to amend, alter, or revoke this RFP at any time and in any manner. This RFP does not commit the Trial Court to award an agreement or pay any costs incurred in the preparation of a proposal. The Trial Court reserves the right to accept or reject any and all proposals received to negotiate with any qualified source, or to cancel this RFP, in whole or in part, if the Trial Court so chooses. The Trial Court may require the Bidder selected to participate in negotiations and to submit such price, technical or other revisions that may result from negotiations. Any agreement or award that may result from this RFP is specifically conditioned on: o Said agreement or award receiving the approval of the Office of Court Management; and o Said agreement or award will be subjected to the availability of funding as determined solely by the judgment of the Office of Court Management.

5.0 Specifications •

Bidders must submit pricing for commercial display 1080p LED monitors from 42” up to and 55”. Monitors should be no less than 120 Hz and must have at least two HDMI ports, one VGA input and an RS-232 input. Monitors must have built-in audio speakers.

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Bidders must provide pricing for mobile carts to support 42” to 55” LED monitors. The carts are required to include a shelf above the monitor to support a Polycom EagleEye camera and a shelf below the monitor to support a Polycom HDX codec. The cart should include a power strip.

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The Trial Court plans to purchase at least 44 monitors and the applicable carts upon contract award. The Trial Court expects that pricing will be submitted detailing bulk purchase discounts as well as single unit/accessories pricing.

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The Bidder’s proposal must indicate product lead time for delivery.

6.0 Correspondence All correspondence, including vendor proposals, related to this RFP should be sent to the following contact person:

Craig D. Burlingame, Chief Information Officer Office of Court Management Trial Court Information Services Three Center Plaza, 7th floor Boston, MA 02108 6.1 Restriction on Contact with Court Personnel •

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Vendors are cautioned that, from the issuance of this RFP until a Contract resulting from this RFP is executed by the selected vendor, any contact, by the vendor or a third party acting on behalf of a vendor, with personnel employed by or contracting with the Trial Court, other than as permitted in this RFP, including contact made pursuant to any pre-existing obligation, which results in discussing or commenting or seeking information about this RFP, will be considered a failure on the vendor’s part to conform to the provisions of this RFP and may result in the vendor’s disqualification. During the aforementioned time period, no vendor, or third party acting on behalf of a vendor, shall approach any Trial Court personnel or contractor concerning this bidding and contracting process or their proposal. Violation of these conditions will be considered sufficient cause by the Evaluation Committee to reject a vendor’s proposal and/or selection irrespective of any other consideration. In addition, vendors are advised that only Craig Burlingame is authorized to respond to inquiries, clarify issues, and amend or render any opinion regarding this RFP as allowed in Section 4.1.3. No individual member of the Evaluation Committee or Trial Court employee is empowered to make binding statements regarding this RFP.

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A copy of the No Contact Policy is included in the Mandatory Documents Appendix (Appendix C) and must be signed by the vendor and included in the vendor’s Technical Proposal. Should the need arise; the OCM may contact vendors for clarifications pertaining to that particular vendor’s proposal at any time during the solicitation process.

6.2 Accuracy of RFP and Related Documents •

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The OCM assumes no responsibility for any conclusions or interpretations by vendors derived from technical and background information presented in this RFP or otherwise distributed or made available during this procurement process. In addition, the OCM will not be bound by, or be responsible for, any explanation, interpretation, or conclusion concerning this RFP not otherwise provided by the OCM through the issuance of an addendum, clarification, or other document published by the OCM during the RFP process. In no event may a vendor rely on any oral statement by the OCM or its agents, advisors, or consultants, other than the official publications issued as part of this RFP process. Should a vendor find discrepancies or omissions in this RFP or any other documents provided by the OCM, the vendor should immediately notify the OCM of such potential discrepancy by written correspondence submitted to Craig Burlingame. Any correspondence relating to any discrepancies in this RFP identified by a vendor must only address the discrepancy identified and must not contain any unrelated questions, comments, or other information.

6.3 Addenda and Modification to the RFP •

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It is the responsibility of each vendor to verify that it is in possession of the latest addenda or modifications to a solicitation for which it intends to bid. The Trial Court of the Commonwealth accepts no liability and will provide no accommodation to vendors who submit a bid based upon an out-of-date solicitation document. Vendors may not alter the RFP or its components. Modifications to the body of the RFP specifications, terms and conditions, or any other documents that would change the intent of the RFP, are strictly prohibited. Any modifications, other than where the OCM requests a modification or alternative from a vendor, may result in disqualification of the proposal.

6.4 Comm-PASS Comm-PASS. Comm-PASS is the official system of record for all procurement information which is publicly accessible at no charge at www.comm-pass.com. Information contained in this document and in each tab of the Solicitation, including file attachments, and information contained in the related Bidders’ Forum(s), are all components of the Solicitation.

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Bidders are solely responsible for obtaining all information distributed for this Solicitation via Comm-PASS, by using the free Browse and Search tools offered on each record-related tab on the main navigation bar (Solicitations and Forums). Forums support Bidder submission of written questions associated with a Solicitation and publication of official answers. All records on Comm-PASS are comprised of multiple tabs, or pages. For example, Solicitation records contain Summary, Rules, Issuer(s), Intent or Forms & Terms and Specifications, and Other Information tabs. Each tab contains data and/or file attachments provided by the Procurement Management Team. All are incorporated into the Solicitation. It is each Bidder’s responsibility to check Comm-PASS for: 1. Any addenda or modifications to this Solicitation, by monitoring the “Last Change” field on the Solicitation’s Summary tab, and 2. Any Bidders’ Forum records related to this Solicitation (see Locating a Online Bidders’ Forum for information on locating these records. The Commonwealth accepts no responsibility and will provide no accommodation to Bidders who submit a Response based on an out-of-date Solicitation or on information received from a source other than Comm-PASS. 6.5 Mandatory Documents a.) The vendor must submit fully executed originals of the following documents and forms with its Proposal to this RFP: • • • • • • •

Commonwealth Terms & Conditions (“T&C”) Form; Verification of Taxation Reporting Information (W-9) – Massachusetts Contractor Authorized Signatory Listing (“CASL”) Form; Vendor Acceptance Form; and No Contact Policy Acknowledgement Business Reference Form Prompt Pay Discount Form b.) Vendors must complete all mandatory forms for their proposals to be considered in compliance with this RFP. All mandatory forms shall be attached to this RFP as separate documents to the specifications for this solicitation. No vendor will be awarded a contract pursuant to this RFP unless it has executed and submitted all of the documents detailed above. c.) In addition to the Mandatory Documents detailed in subsection (a.) above, the selected vendor will be required to execute and submit the following documents (samples of which are attached to this RFP – Sample Mandatory Contract Documents) as part of the resulting contract: •

Commonwealth of Massachusetts Standard Contract Form (and all related attachments, addenda and exhibits); and

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Electronic Funds Transfer Sign-Up Form.

6.6 Costs of Vendor Proposals to RFP Vendors shall bear all costs associated with their proposal including preparation, photocopying, postage, delivery costs, etc. No costs or expenses incurred by vendors in responding to this RFP, or by participating in the RFP process, will be borne by the OCM. Any and all damage to a proposal during shipping shall be the responsibility of the vendor. 6.7 Firm and Irreversible Proposal Terms The signed vendor proposal shall be considered a firm offer on the part of the Vendor. All proposals (including all statements, claims, declarations, and specifications in the vendor’s proposal) shall be considered firm and irrevocable for purposes of future contract negotiations unless specifically waived in writing by the OCM. The selected vendor’s signed proposal to this RFP, and any relevant correspondence and other documents submitted with the response, shall be incorporated into the Contract. Minimum Bid Duration: Bidders responses/bids made in response to the RFP must remain in effect for at least 90 days from the date of bid submission. Requests for price increases relative to the extended term of the contract must be submitted to Craig Burlingame with reasonable advance notice and negotiated in good faith. No increase in pricing can be passed on to the Trial Court without this prior approval. Prompt Payment Discounts (PPD). All bidders responding to this procurement must agree to offer discounts through participation in the Commonwealth Prompt Payment Discount (PPD) initiative for receiving early and/or on-time payments, unless the bidder can provide compelling proof that it would be unduly burdensome. PPD benefits both contractors and the Commonwealth. Contractors benefit by increased, usable cash flow as a result of fast and efficient payments for commodities or services rendered. Participation in the Electronic Funds Transfer initiative further maximizes the benefits with payments directed to designated accounts, thus eliminating the impact of check clearance policies and traditional mail lead time or delays. The Commonwealth benefits because contractors reduce the cost of products and services through the applied discount. Payments that are processed electronically can be tracked and verified through the Comptroller’s Vendor Web system. The PPD form can be found under the Forms and Terms tab of this solicitation. Bidders must submit agreeable terms for Prompt Payment Discount using the PPD form within their proposal, unless otherwise specified by the OCM. The OCM will review, negotiate, or reject the offering as deemed in the best interest of the Commonwealth. The requirement to use PPD offerings may be waived by the OCM on a case-by-case basis if participation in the program would be unduly burdensome on the bidder. If a bidder is claiming that this requirement is a hardship or unduly burdensome, the specific reason must be documented in or attached to the PPD form.

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Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT). All bidders responding to this RFP must agree to participate in the Commonwealth Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) program for receiving payments, unless the bidder can provide compelling proof that it would be unduly burdensome. EFT is a benefit to both contractors and the Commonwealth because it ensures fast, safe and reliable payment directly to contractors and saves both parties the cost of processing checks. Contractors are able to track and verify payments made electronically through the Comptroller’s Vendor Web system. A link to the EFT application can be found on the OSD Forms page (www.mass.gov/osd). Additional information about EFT is available on the VendorWeb site (www.mass.gov/osc). Click on MASS finance.

7.0 Submission of Proposals The Proposal must include the submission of the mandatory documents (7.5) and should be submitted in a sealed package containing one (1) original and three (3) duplicates, labeled: MTC Audio/Video Equipment RFP

Office of Court Management Trial Court Information Services Three Center Plaza, 7th floor Boston, MA 02108 ATTN: Craig D. Burlingame

7.1 Proposal Due Date The Proposal must be received by the OCM no later than 3:00 PM, February 21, 2014. It is the sole responsibility of the vendor to see that its proposal is received before the submission deadline.

7.2 Clarification and Correction of Proposal The Evaluation Committee may request additional information from vendors needed to clarify the vendor’s proposal or to facilitate the fair comparison of competing vendor proposals. These requests may be in the form of written questions seeking to clarify a proposal item, a request to itemize costs based upon a different cost spreadsheet format, correction of arithmetic errors or a Best and Final Offer (BAFO) scenario. 8.0 Evaluation Process MTC Audio/Video Equipment RFP

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This section contains the summary details of the evaluation process. 8.1 Evaluation Committee An Evaluation Committee will be established prior to the date designated for the return of vendor proposals. The Evaluation Committee will be involved in the entire evaluation and selection process. The Evaluation Committee will be restricted from contact with any vendor outside of the parameters defined in the No Contact Policy. (mandatory forms inclusion) 8.2 Proposals to be Evaluated Proposals that are submitted on or before the response due date and that also comply with the detail as described in this RFP. No proposal will be opened or evaluated prior to the proposal due date and time. 8.3 Rejection of Proposals

The Evaluation Committee may, at any time in the evaluation period, reject a vendor’s proposal if, in the sole judgment of the Committee, either the vendor or the vendor’s proposal failed to adhere to the provisions of the RFP, or to the response format and specifications outlined therein, or if the Evaluation Committee deems the vendor’s proposal to be nonresponsive, or if the vendor engages in illegal or unethical conduct or in some other way attempts to improperly influence the evaluation process. 8.4 Evaluation Process The Evaluation Process will be a phased review consisting of the following:    

Receipt of Final Responses; Mandatory Documentation Compliance Review; Review of References and Experience; Best and Final Offers (if necessary).

The Evaluation Committee reserves the right to also request separate final clarifications within the Proposal Evaluation Phase and/or to request clarifications and/or conduct a separate Best and Final Offers (BAFO) phase. 8.5

Review of Mandatory Documents

The Evaluation Committee will review each proposal received to determine conformity to mandatory terms and conditions. Requirements indicated by the terms “must,” “shall,” “is/are required” or “will” are considered mandatory terms and conditions that must be agreed to in the initial response submitted for that response to be considered as conforming with the response MTC Audio/Video Equipment RFP

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format outlined in this RFP. This includes the completion of all mandatory documents and forms, and such other documents as defined in this RFP.

9.0 Selection Process Selection of the successful bidder will be based on the following factors: • • • •

The bidder's ability to meet all the guidelines and conditions of this RFP OCM's confidence that the bidder can perform in accordance with the provisions of this RFP as required The bidder's ability to meet all the specifications required by this RFP Cost

The Trial Court reserves the right to consider such other relevant factors as it deems appropriate in order to make the best possible contract that will be to the greatest advantage to the Commonwealth. The Trial Court may award a contract based upon offers received, without additional submissions from the bidders. Accordingly, each bid should be submitted on the terms most favorable to the Trial Court. It is the policy of the Trial Court that contracts are awarded only to responsive and responsible bidders. In order to qualify as responsive, the bidder must respond to all requirements of this RFP in a complete and thorough manner without varying the terms of the RFP except where permitted to do so. All exceptions to this RFP or the specifications contained herein must be clearly stated, in the proposal. If a bidder departs from the technical performance or service specifications of this RFP, explicit reference to the specifications at issue, by specification number, must be made, and recommendations and justifications for each departure detailed. In the absence of any such exceptions, the bidder's proposal will be presumed to have met the specifications. If later evaluation determines this not to be the case, at the option of the Trial Court, such determination will constitute sufficient grounds for rejection of the entire proposal or cancellation of the contract for nonperformance if a contract has been executed with the bidders. In order to qualify as responsible, the bidder must: (1) have adequate financial resources for the successful implementation of the project; (2) have the necessary experience, organization, technical qualification, skills and facilities; (3) be able to comply with applicable service schedules; (4) have a satisfactory record of performance; and (5) be able to comply with the requirements of federal and state law relative to Equal Employment Opportunity.

10.0 •

Ownership, Use and Availability of Proposal All materials submitted by vendors in response to this RFP irrevocably become the sole property of the OCM.

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The OCM considers the responses to this RFP to be internal, working documents that will become the property of the OCM and it will reject any statements or endorsements in proposals or related documents submitted in response to this RFP that conflict with OCM practices related to such documents and material. The OCM shall be under no obligation to return and will not return any proposal or materials submitted by a vendor in response to this RFP.

10.1 Amendment and Cancellation of Procurement The OCM reserves the right to amend or cancel this RFP at any time, if it believes that doing so is in the best interests of the OCM. The OCM may cancel this RFP at any time prior to the execution and approval of a contract, in which event all responses received in response to this RFP will be rejected. 11.0

Contract Obligations

11.1

Contract Documents

The contract awarded under this RFP will consist of the following documents*, which are placed in the order of precedence: • • • • •

Commonwealth Terms and Conditions; Standard Contract Form; RFP (inclusive of Attachments, Exhibits, Clarifications); Other Documents necessary to complete the contract; and Vendor’s Proposal.

*The final contract may consist of documents not yet identified or listed in this section. The OCM reserves the right to include any such document that is necessary in order to finalize the contract resulting from this RFP. 11.2 Amendment to the Contract Any contract arising from this RFP may be amended to add additional products or services that the OCM believes are necessary and provide the best value to the Trial Court. 11.3 Prime Contractor Responsibility The OCM requires a single point of responsibility for any contract resulting from this RFP. Subcontractors, when approved by the OCM, may be used, but the vendor selected through this RFP agrees by responding to the RFP to act as prime contractor. The prime contractor, not the OCM, will be responsible for performance of all its subcontractors and for any payments due to liabilities incurred by any of its subcontractors in the course of their activity related to any contract resulting from this RFP. The vendor will also agree to a designated contract manager to be the point person of contact with OCM. MTC Audio/Video Equipment RFP

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12.0 Miscellaneous Provisions 12.1 Availability of Funding The contract resulting from this solicitation, and any amendment thereto, and any performance hereunder, is subject to the availability, and continued availability, of funding from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The determination of whether said funding is available will be solely within the judgment of the Trial Court. 12.2 Appropriation of Payments Appropriations for expenditures by eligible entities of the Commonwealth (such as the OCM), and authorizations to spend for a particular purpose, are made on a fiscal-year basis. The fiscal year of the Commonwealth is a twelve (12) month period that begins on July 1st and ends on June 30th of each year. The obligations of the OCM under any contract executed with a vendor selected through this RFP shall be subject to the appropriation of funds sufficient to discharge the OCM’s obligations that accrue in that fiscal year, and authorization to spend such funds for the purposes of the contract. For fiscal years following the fiscal year in which the contract is executed, the Commonwealth will not be obligated to appropriate funds for payment of the contract.

12.3 Review of Selected Bid It is Trial Court policy that all bids or proposals received and reviewed in connection with this RFP shall be open to reasonable public inspection. Under OCM supervision, a person may inspect the successful proposal and make notes. Copying or scanning of the proposal will not be allowed. Such inspection shall only be allowed subsequent to the selection of a bidder and the execution of a contract, and upon receipt of a written request. This policy shall supersede any proprietary or confidentiality statement to the contrary contained in any bid or proposal received and reviewed in connection with this RFP. Submission of a bid or proposal shall constitute acknowledgment and acceptance of this policy. In addition, please note that the Trial Court reserves the right to defer answers to questions regarding any bid or the status of this RFP until a contract has been executed with the successful bidder.

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