Where & When to Submit your CIS RFP, and Quilt Contact

Items 2 and 3 along with any materials requested in these documents must be completed and returned to the Quilt by April 22, 2010 by 11:59 pm Eastern Time. This set of materials will comprise a vendor's response to this RFP. All RFP submissions are to be uploaded by the Vendor to an individual and secure Vendor Page maintained by The Quilt through its Basecamp hub. Access information and submission hub use instructions will be forwarded under separate cover to individual respondents upon receipt of a non-binding Letter of Intent to Respond. If you did not receive the hub instructions or your password information, please contact Colleen Driscoll at colleen@thequilt.net

RFP Documents must be in a .pdf or Microsoft Office software format. This is the only format in which RFP documents will be accepted. 

If you have any questions regarding the documents or RFP process, please contact Jeff Custard at jcustard@ucar.edu or 303-497-1252.

2010 RFP Updates and Clarifications

Summary of The Quilt's CIS RFP

Question and Answer Sessions

April 12, 2010 & April 14, 2010

1.   Q. Will the RFP Response deadline be extended?

A.  At this time we will not be extending the deadline. We will monitor the responses and feedback from participants and communicate if there are any changes to the April 22, 2010 deadline.

2.   Q. How to submit changes to the MSA?

A. A redline copy returned with the RFP would be preferable, but we will accept an indication of what sections, along with the specific text you would modify, for evaluation, initially at least.

3.   Q. Pricing: Is the submitted provider pricing fixed for the entire year?

A. Yes; held for the one year of the contract/MSA; if there is a change during that time, all other AQBs will get that price. Changes to pricing offered to any AQB will be extended to all AQBs. Please see the top of page 7 under Some Common Questions About Being an Authorized Quilt Provider in the Overview Document.

4.   Q. If pricing is set and a change is made for one AQB, do others have to change or renew their contracts for that each time to get that same new/updated pricing? i.e., if they are 'under term'

A. The lower price would be offered to all Authorized Quilt Buyers and captured as an amendment to The Quilt's MSA. At the quarterly review, The Quilt asks that vendor adjust pricing for all Authorized Quilt Buyers under new price model. The contract terms are not lengthened only the price adjustment is changed.

5.   Q. AQBs List: Who manages the AQBs list

A. The current AQBs list in located in The Overview Document; exhibit A/pg.16. The list is managed by The Quilt's staff in conjunction with Quilt Members. Please see pages6-7 under Some Common Questions About Being an Authorized Quilt Provider in the Overview Document.

6.   Q. On the AQB list, for example, the MAX: there are several AQBs listed under that; for the federal agencies listed there, would this pricing be restricted to only those listed under individual RON? Or all across country? e.g., any DOE location?

A. We will need to double check that specific location; will be a case by case basis; we will double check the geography of region being considered and the particular AQB and RON. Federal agencies listed under RONS are the only institutions with ability to purchase off of the Quilt Contracts. If another location other than that listed on the AQBs list would like to purchase off the contracts, we would need to confirm with the Quilt Member to ensure ability for the requesting agency to purchase off of The Quilt contracts.

7.   Q. PoP List: Is the assumption that the buyer is able to get to that location?  And will handle their own cross connect fees, if any?

A. Yes; we want to know, if provider can bring service to the POP location. On the PoP List; column D, please indicate if cross connect costs at location. Not necessary to provide pricing.

8. Q. Ethernet: Is this RFP strictly Ethernet handoff?

A. Yes, we are not considering non-Ethernet connections as part of this evaluation

9. Q. Is The Quilt willing to sign an NDA for vendor information submitted for the RFP and RFI requests? 

A. No - For practicality reasons, The Quilt has not historically signed NDA's for its RFP process.   As a rule, The Quilt does not sign NDA's for the information provided by vendors as part of the RFP process.  Due to the consortium nature of our buying agreement, we do not have any way to enforce an NDA signed by The Quilt.  All information provided by vendors will be kept confidential and proprietary in The Quilt.  In the history of our RFP, the last 5 cycles, we have had no issues with regards to maintaining the confidentiality of the information that is provided. In addition, getting all Quilt members and authorized Quilt buyer organizations (approximately 237) to agree to and sign-off on a single non-disclosure agreement for all RFP respondents in a timely manner is deemed impractical. All materials submitted as confidential by the vendor will be treated as proprietary information and will be kept confidential within The Quilt.

10.Q. Wasn't there three RFP documents last time?

A. We have consolidated our RFP documents down to two - just the PoP location spreadsheet and the essay.

11.Q. How do I submit documents through Basecamp?

A. Instructions for uploading documents

1.   Log on to The Quilt's Basecamp Site from the link provided to you after you submitted the Letter of Intent (LOI)

2.   On the left side of the screen you will see an area titled "Your Projects"

3.   Click on the link under "Your Projects" titled "2010 (vendor name) RFP Response Page"

4.   Once you are on your vendor response page, there are 2 ways to upload your documents. There are 7 tabs across the top Starting with "Overview"

5.   Click on "Files" tab and on the left side of the screen there is a green + symbol and a button to "Upload a file". Click on the button and you can upload one or more files.

6.   Click on the "Messages" tab and on the left side of the screen there is a green + symbol and a button to "Post a new message". Click on the button and you can attach one or more files to the message.

7.   If you need assistance, please contact Colleen@the quilt.net

12.Q. What if we want to add another person to the Basecamp account? Even if I missed it in my LOI?

A. Email Colleen or send her a message through Basecamp. She will be able to create additional user accounts.

13.Q. Will I be able to access the Basecamp site after the April 22, 2010 deadline?

 A. No. Your pages will be closed; so you can't provide more updates after deadline; then our quilt reviewers will then begin evaluation process