Agenda Item
a. Award of RFP 24-577 Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS) (Not to exceed $400,000)
Summary: Presented by: Ms. Monika Davis, Chief Information Officer, Division of Information and Instructional Technology, 678-676-1274
Request: It is requested that the Board of Education award RFP 24-577 Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS) to Layer 3 Communications LLC as the lowest responsible, responsive bid and the purchase of Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS), in an amount not to exceed $400,000.
This is year 1 of a 5-year agreement.
Why: This recommendation provides the DeKalb County School District with a disaster recovery plan and services.
Details: RFP 24-577 Disaster Recovery as a Service provides the DeKalb County School District with a disaster recovery plan and services for data storage and replication in case of the occurrence (in this region) of a natural or intended disaster. The district continues its commitment to enhancing disaster recovery solution for the data center infrastructure, which is essential for the continuation of key business processes and information system services. By not having a solution in place, we put our assets and stakeholders at risk.
RFP 24-577 is a five-year award with a required annual renewal by the Board of Education. The solicitation was published in December 2023 and evaluated during January 2024.
The three proposals considered were:
Layer 3 Communications LLC
Absolute Performance Inc.
Recovery Point Systems Inc.
The criteria and point values used to evaluate the options are listed below. The total weighted value is 100 points.
Firm’s Overview - 20 points
Scope of Services - 35 points
Firm’s Relevant Experience and Expertise - 20 points
Professional References - 10 points
Cost Proposal - 15 points
Scope of Services was the most significant factor leading to the choice of Layer 3 Communications LLC over Absolute Performance Inc.
Based on a careful evaluation of how well each of the three possible choices could meet the five major criteria considered, Layer 3 Communications LLC was the most responsive choice.
Financial impact: $400,000
100.1000.530000.00011.7600.9990.0308.070.0000
Contact: Ms. Monika Davis, Chief Information Officer, Division of Information and Instructional Technology, 678-676-1274
Effective: February 2024
Status: Approved by General
RFP 24-577
Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS)
Executive Summary
1
Table of Content
Purpose--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3
Background and Process-----------------------------------------------------------------------------3
Evaluation Results-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------3
Decision Table------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------5
Cost Proposal------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6
Conclusion----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6
Appendix: Criteria Details/Explanations----------------------------------------------------------7
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RFP 24-577
Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS)
Executive Summary
Purpose
DeKalb County School District (DCSD) solicited a Request for Proposal (RFP) for responses from qualified
offerors with professional qualifications, technical competence, and specialized experience to provide Disaster
Recovery as a Service. The awarded offeror will provide services in accordance with the specifications,
requirements and terms and conditions stated in the solicitation. Services include all labor, materials, tools,
specialized equipment, supplies, trained personnel, all other costs and charges, and all things and services
necessary to provide Disaster Recovery as a Service, in accordance with the requirements of this RFP. The
implementation of this award is desired to start in March 2024.
Background and Process
The evaluation team was made up of eight staff members in the Division of Information and Instructional
Technology (DIIT). Two represented the Office of the Chief Information Officer (CIO), one represented Network
Services, one represented Enterprise Services, one represented Applications Development, and two
represented the Project Management Office (PMO).
The solicitation was written, then published for two weeks in December 2023, was evaluated during January
2024, and will be submitted to the Board of Education for approval in February 2024. January 9, 2024, was the
deadline for receiving all responses. Four vendors responded to the solicitation, three deemed responsive and
were evaluated. The Purchasing Department posted RFP 24-577 on DCSD IonWave website and the Georgia
Procurement Registry on December 14, 2023, and advertised in the Champion Newspaper on December 14,
2023, and December 21, 2023. Electronic notifications were sent to 21 vendors from the DCSD Vendor Bid
List, 1064 vendors through the State of GA Procurement Registry, and 412 vendors through IonWave.
Evaluation Results
Based on a careful evaluation of how well each of the three possible choices could meet the five major criteria
considered, Layer 3 Communications LLC appears to be the best choice.
The three choices considered were:
Layer 3 Communications LLC
Absolute Performance Inc.
Recovery Point Systems Inc.
The criteria and point values used to evaluate the options are listed below. The total weighted value is 100
points.
Firm’s Overview – 20 points
Scope of Services – 35 points
3
Firm’s Relevant Experience and Expertise – 20 points
Professional References – 10 points
Cost Proposal – 15 points
Scope of Services was the most significant factor leading to the choice of Layer 3 Communications LLC over
Absolute Performance Inc.
Scope of Services
Scope of Services was rated on a 35-point scale, which the breakdown of the scores allocated based
on responses to the Project Scope of Work (14 points), Meet all Minimum Requirements (14 points),
and Service Level Agreement (7 points). Highest score was received as the best choice of 32.277. The
second-best score received 25.375 points, then the next received 9.698 points. Note: If a zero (0) was
given as a score, it means that the information was not provided.
Absolute Layer 3
Total Performance, Communicatio Recovery Point
Evaluation Criteria Weight Inc. ns, LLC Systems, Inc.
Scope of Services 35 25.375 32.277 9.698
B. Project Scope of Work (14) 14 12.444 9.333
C. Meet All Minimum Requirements (14) 11.375 12.833 0.365
E. Service Level Agreements (SLA) (7) 0 7 0
The next two significant factors leading Layer 3 Communications LLC as the best choice are displayed in the
table below:
Firm’s Overview and Firm’s Relevant Experience and Expertise.
Absolute Layer 3
Total Performance, Communications, Recovery Point
Evaluation Criteria Weight Inc. LLC Systems, Inc.
Firm's Overview 20 15 17.5 2
Complete company profile (Firm’s name, address,
headquarters and or branch office handling this
project, as well as primary contact name, title, related
telephone/fax numbers and email address). (3) 3 3 2
State how many years licensed to do business under
the name stated above. Describe firm ownership
structure and history. (3) 3 3 0
List the number of permanent employees and provide
an organizational chart of the firm (3) 2 2.5 0
4
Provide a professional biographical summary (resume)
including certifications and detailed outline of the role
and responsibility of executive/management staff, and
any staff or subcontractors that will be assigned to
manage the DRaaS environment (6) 3 5 0
Provide the total number of current clients/owners
and industries served. (5) 4 4 0
Firm's Relevant Experience and Expertise 20 7 10 0
Experience (10) 2 4 0
Comparable Size (6) 2 6 0
Complete Client Information (4) 3 0 0
Decision Table**
The evaluation for the DRaaS solicitation was done by means of a decision table. This table gives a complete
view of all criteria used in evaluating each respondent.
Absolute Layer 3
Total Performance, Communications, Recovery Point
Evaluation Criteria Weight Inc. LLC Systems, Inc.
Firm's Overview 20 15 17.5 2
Complete company profile (Firm’s name, address,
headquarters and or branch office handling this project,
as well as primary contact name, title, related
telephone/fax numbers and email address). (3) 3 3 2
State how many years licensed to do business under
the name stated above. Describe firm ownership
structure and history. (3) 3 3 0
List the number of permanent employees and provide
an organizational chart of the firm (3) 2 2.5 0
Provide a professional biographical summary (resume)
including certifications and detailed outline of the role
and responsibility of executive/management staff, and
any staff or subcontractors that will be assigned to
manage the DRaaS environment (6) 3 5 0
Provide the total number of current clients/owners and
industries served. (5) 4 4 0
Scope of Services 35 25.375 32.277 9.698
B. Project Scope of Work (14) 14 12.444 9.333
C. Meet All Minimum Requirements (14) 11.375 12.833 0.365
E. Service Level Agreements (SLA) (7) 0 7 0
Firm's Relevant Experience and Expertise 20 7 10 0
Experience (10) 2 4 0
Comparable Size (6) 2 6 0
Complete Client Information (4) 3 0 0
5
Professional References 10 5 3 0
3 References (5) 5 3 0
Strategy for Providing Services (5) 0 0 0
Cost Proposal 15 8 12 12.5
Attachment A (15) 8 12 12.5
Total Points 100 60.375 74.777 24.198
** Explanation of each criterion is on pp. 7 - 8
Cost Proposal
The overall costs are listed in the table below. Even though Recovery Point System Inc. has the best (or
lowest) overall cost, it did not show in its response, as indicated in the previous Decision Table, that it can
execute the services. Layer 3 Communications LLC is the best choice.
Layer 3 Recovery
Absolute Communications Point System
Description Performance Inc. LLC Inc.
Software $88,192.00 $53,196.00 $29,266.92
Infrastructure (Network, Compute, Memory, etc.) $260,728.00 $149,688.00 $111,120.00
Storage at 25TB $15,000.00 $12,750.00 $2,820.00
Additional Storage per 10 TB (up to 100TB) $6,000.00 $5,100.00 $1,128.00
Implementation Fee (Resources, Project Management, etc.) $- $36,500.00 $17,945.45
Training $- $7,500.00 included
Failover Testing $70,884.00 $36,000.00 $10,080.00
Support and Maintenance $71,608.00 $62,640.00 included
Annual Total $512,412.00 $363,374.00 $172,360.37
Absolute Layer 3 Recovery Point
Performance Inc. Communications LLC Systems Inc.
Training - Use monthly Additional Storage -
hours (32 hours/ month per 10TB Software - VEEAM
Failover Testing - 4 Implementation
tests. Can be lower with Fee - One-time
Offerors' Notes in the Responses: less VMs activated fee
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Conclusion
After a careful evaluation of each option, Layer 3 Communications LLC appears to be the best choice.
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Appendix:
Criteria Details/Explanations
1. Firm’s Overview (20 Points)
a. Provide a full and complete company profile to include, but not limited to Firm’s name, address,
headquarters and or branch office handling this project, as well as primary contact name, title,
related telephone/fax numbers and email address.
b. State how many years licensed to do business under the name stated above. Describe firm
ownership structure and history.
c. List the number of permanent employees and provide an organizational chart of the firm.
d. Provide a professional biographical summary (resume) including certifications and detailed
outline of the role and responsibility of executive/management staff, and any staff or
subcontractors that will be assigned to manage the DRaaS environment.
e. Provide the total number of current clients/owners and industries served. RFP 24-577 PAGE 30
2. Scope of Services (35 points)
a. Please provide your company’s detailed methodology and proposed strategy for providing
Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS) for DCSD as stated in Part III Scope of Work items B-
E of this RFP.
b. Provide the name and telephone number of the individual(s) that can be contacted in case of an
emergency or for services needed after hours, holidays or weekends.
c. Public or private cloud offerings and related security.
3. Firm’s Relevant Experience and Expertise (20 points)
a. Please list past experience providing Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS) for other K-12
school districts that are comparable in size to DCSD. Experience with other comparable K-12
school districts is preferred however, experience with other public/governmental agencies
comparable in size to DCSD is allowed. List no more than 10 projects and list projects not
completed by your company or completed more than 10 years ago. Please include the following
for each project:
i. Owner/Client Name and location.
ii. Nature of services provided.
iii. Owner/Client representative name, title, email address, and phone number
iv. Dates of Service (Start mm/yy and end mm/yy)
v. Owner/Client size (number of facilities, employees/students, number of WAN core sites,
etc.)
vi. Staff involved in providing the services who will also be assigned to DCSD.
4. Professional References (10 points)
a. The company shall submit at least three written recommendations from current or previous
clients/owners.
b. The company shall provide their strategy to provide a positive working relationship with DCSD.
This strategy must include actual examples of how the company has demonstrated their
cooperation with other clients/owners.
c. DCSD reserves the option of contacting any of the references provided to confirm information
provided.
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5. Cost Proposal (15 points)
a. Indicate your proposed price to provide the services as stated in this RFP using Attachment A –
Cost Proposal Form provided as part of this RFP.
b. Please provide any and all pricing breakdown as requested on the Attachment A-Cost Proposal
Form.
c. The Attachment A-Cost Proposal Form shall not be altered in any way. Any alterations to the
provided cost proposal form may cause your company to be deemed non-responsive and
disqualified from further consideration.
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