Title
MOTION TO AWARD IFB # TS-24-21 "VMWARE ANNUAL RENEWAL" TO THE MOST RESPONSIVE/RESPONSIBLE BIDDER, ALXTEL, INC., IN THE AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED $96,996.60 FOR AN INITIAL ONE (1) YEAR PERIOD.
Summary Explanation and Background
PROCUREMENT PROCESS TAKEN:
- Chapter 35 of the City’s Code of Ordinances is titled “PROCUREMENT PROCEDURES, PUBLIC FUNDS.”
- Section 35.15 defines an Invitation for Bid as “A written solicitation for competitive sealed bids with the title, date and hour of the public bid opening designated therein and specifically defining the commodities or services for which bids are sought. The invitation for bid shall be used when the city is capable of specifically defining the scope of work for which a service is required or when the city is capable of establishing 15 precise specifications defining the actual commodities required. The invitation for bid shall include instructions to bidders, plans, drawings and specifications, if any, bid form and other required forms and documents to be submitted with the bid.”
- Section 35.18 of the City's Code of Ordinances is titled "COMPETITIVE BIDDING OR COMPETITIVE PROPOSALS REQUIRED; EXCEPTIONS.
- Section 35.18(A) states, "A purchase of or contracts for commodities or services that is estimated by the Chief Procurement Officer to cost more than $25,000 shall be based on sealed competitive solicitations as determined by the Chief Procurement Officer, except as specifically provided herein."
- Section 35.19 of the City's Code of Ordinances is titled "SEALED COMPETITIVE BIDDING PROCEDURE."
- Section 35.19(A) states "All sealed competitive solicitations as defined in § 35.18 shall be presented to the City Commission for their consideration prior to advertisement."
- Section 35.19(E) is titled "Bid opening procedure."
- Section 35.21 of the City's Code of Ordinances is titled "AWARD OF CONTRACT."
- Section 35.21(A) of the City's Code of Ordinances is titled "City Commission approval.
- Section 35.21(A)(1) states, "An initial purchase of, or contract for, commodities or services, in excess of $25,000, shall require the approval of the City Commission, regardless of whether the competitive bidding or competitive proposal procedures were followed."
SUMMARY EXPLANATION AND BACKGROUND:
1. On December 4, 2024, the City Commission authorized the advertisement of IFB # TS-24-21 " VMware Annual Renewal", which was advertised on December 17, 2024.
2. The purpose of this solicitation was to seek proposals from qualified firms to provide the requested VMware vSphere Foundation 8 Licensing renewal. VMware is a software company that enables virtualization, allowing multiple virtual machines to run on a single physical server to improve efficiency and reduce hardware costs. Its technology powers data centers, cloud infrastructure, and virtualized environments across various industries, helping to manage resources and support cloud computing.
VMware vSphere Foundation 8 includes several key components for virtualization and workload management:
- vSphere Enterprise Plus: Provides virtualization and management features like vSphere ESXi for hosting VMs and Tanzu Kubernetes Grid for running Kubernetes workloads.
- vCenter Server Standard: A centralized management tool for controlling and automating multiple vSphere hosts and virtual machines.
- Aria Suite Standard: A suite for monitoring and operations management, including Aria Operations and Aria Operations for Logs for streamlined monitoring and troubleshooting.
- vSAN Enterprise: A storage virtualization feature with a basic allocation (100 GiB per CPU core) that allows for scalable, shared storage across the environment.
3. On January 7, 2025, the City opened seventeen (17) proposals, from the following vendors:
|
Vendor |
Total Cost |
|
AlxTel, Inc |
$96,996.60 |
|
Archie Supply LLC |
$98,334.00 |
|
Cluster Technology Group |
$98,334.00 |
|
TommyTQL LLC |
$99,600.00 |
|
vCloud Tech Inc |
$100,020.00 |
|
Miracle Software Systems, Inc |
$100,170.00 |
|
Southern Computer Warehouse, Inc |
$100,188.00 |
|
vPrime Tech Inc |
$100,440.00 |
|
Questivity |
$100,842.00 |
|
Software Information Resource Corp |
$101,466.00 |
|
Milliard Tek |
$101,502.00 |
|
TEC-LINK LLC |
$101,502.00 |
|
Hypertec USA Inc |
$101,682.00 |
|
ICG LLC |
$102,996.00 |
|
Unicom Government |
$104,952.00 |
|
Bryce Street Holdings LLC |
$107,274.00 |
|
Planet Holding Inc |
$110,760.00 |
4. During the evaluation period, it was observed that both Archie Supply LLC and Cluster Technology Group qualified for the Veteran-Owned Small Businesses (VOSB) Preference, because their prices were within 2.5% of the lowest responsive bid submitted. As outlined in City Ordinance 35.37(B)(3), if multiple VOSB meets the criteria for submitting a second bid, the VOSBs will be asked to submit a best and final offer (BAFO) to beat the lowest responsive bid by at least 1%. If no VOSB can beat the lowest bid/quote by at least 1%, then the award will be made to the lowest responsive bidder.
Upon requesting validation of the quote from Archie Supply LLC, they indicated that their quote was invalid because they received an invalid quote from their supplier and subsequently withdrew from the bid. Additionally, Cluster Technology Group stated their pricing was invalid because their supplier withdrew their bid and their backup supplier was unable to confirm if they could honor their bid price, leading to their designation as unresponsive.
As a result, the VOSB preference was no longer applicable, and the award would go to the vendor that submits the lowest responsive bid/quote.
5. The Technology Services Department has reviewed the bid and has deemed AlxTel, Inc. to be the most responsive/responsible vendor.
6. In addition, AlxTel, Inc. has also completed the Equal Benefits Certification Form and has stated that the "Contractor currently complies with the requirements of this section."
7. Request Commission to award IFB # TS-24-21 “VMware Annual Renewal” to the most responsive/responsible bidder, AlxTel, Inc. in the amount not to exceed $96,996.60 for an initial one (1) year period.
Financial Impact
FINANCIAL IMPACT DETAIL:
a) Initial Cost: Amount not to exceed $96,996.60 for an initial one (1) year period.
b) Amount budgeted for this item in Account No: Funds are available in account # 001-513-2002-552652-0000-000-0000 (Non-Capital Software & Licenses)
c) Source of funding for difference, if not fully budgeted: Not Applicable.
d) 5-year projection of the operational cost of the project: Not Applicable.
e) Detail of additional staff requirements: Not Applicable.
FEASIBILITY REVIEW:
A feasibility review is required for the award, renewal and/or expiration of all function sourcing contracts. This analysis is to determine the financial effectiveness of function sourcing services.
a) Was a Feasibility Review/Cost Analysis of Out-Sourcing vs. In-House Labor Conducted for this service? Not Applicable.
b) If Yes, what is the total cost or total savings of utilizing Out-Sourcing vs. In-House Labor for this service? Not Applicable.