Wireless/Hardware Telecommincations Support for the International Trade Administration (ITA)

THIS SYNOPSIS IS FOR INFORMATION AND PLANNING PURPOSES AND IS NOT TO BE CONSTRUED AS A COMMITMENT BY THE GOVERNMENT. THIS IS NOT A SOLICITATION ANNOUNCEMENT FOR PROPOSALS AND NO CONTRACT WILL BE AWARDED FROM THIS ANNOUNCEMENT. NO REIMBURSEMENT WILL BE MADE FOR ANY COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH PROVIDING INFORMATION IN RESPONSE TO THIS ANNOUNCEMENT AND ANY FOLLOW-UP INFORMATION REQUESTS. DISCLAIMER: It is emphasized that the requested information is for preliminary planning purposes only and does not constitute a commitment, implied or otherwise, that the Department of Commerce will solicit you for such procurement in the future. The Government shall not be responsible for any costs incurred by you in furnishing this information. You are advised that any information provided shall be deemed to be furnished with unlimited rights to the Department of Commerce and the Department of Commerce assumes no liability for the disclosure, use, or reproduction of such data. Your submission of a response to this market research shall be deemed as your understanding and acceptance of these terms. 1. PURPOSE The Department of Commerce (DOC), International Trade Administration (ITA) is conducting market research in order to determine the capabilities of wireless networks/carriers to meet the requirements of the ITA's Mobile Service. This initiative will be led by ITA's Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO). 2. BACKGROUND AND OVERVIEW The mission of the ITA is to promote US exporting and fair trade. Headquartered at Washington, DC, ITA is a global organization with approximately 2,500 employees and 200 domestic and overseas offices. ITA's official web site Trade.gov (http://www.trade.gov) provides more information on ITA's mission, organization, services, and activities. ITA Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO) provides a full suite of computing and information technology services for all ITA business units to support ITA's mission. OCIO's IT services include electronic communications, office computing environment, IT networks, web site and application development, cyber security management, and customer service center. OCIO strives to increase its IT service effectiveness and efficiency through continually advancing technologies, enhancing customer care for customers and stakeholders, and improving service quality and performance. As a result, OCIO is focused on improving the experience of the mobile workforce by offering enhanced internet access in both the workplace and in the field. In addition, OCIO has plans to streamline the request fulfillment process for mobile devices and services to end-users by strategically partnering with cellular providers. ITA is researching capable vendors that can not only provide cellular services to our domestic and international offices, but partner with us in defining, consolidating, implementing, and improving enterprise mobile landscape within ITA. 3. STATEMENT OF REQUIREMENTS 3.1 BASIC WIRELESS CARRIER SERVICES The service provider shall offer service plans as described below. The service provider shall list what services are available for each location in the attachment (e.g LTE, 3G, 2G, etc). • Voice plans include voice calling and text messaging used by "feature phones" • Unlimited Data service plans added to voice service plans are defined as data add-on service plans. Data may include emails, Internet access, video, Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS), and other data used by "smart phones". • Unlimited Data only service plans shall include emails, Internet access, video, MMS, and other data transport not combined with voice service plans, such as these used for tablet computers and mobile hotspots. • International long distance and international roaming prices may be "add-ons" to existing voice or data pricing, or included in data plan. • International Service Plan shall be offered to residents of the local regions. See Attachment A for a list of international offices that require service. 3.2 BASIC ETHERNET/WIRELESS LAN SERVICES As stated earlier, ITA has approximately 200 offices located domestically and internationally. The service provider shall offer unlimited wireless broadband services to field offices that are listed in Attachment A. The service provider shall explain how it intends to provide services to the offices within each location. In addition, the service provider shall list what services are available for each location in the attachment (e.g LTE, 3G, 2G, etc). The Service Provider will be required to provide the equipment listed below to support internet access for each site listed in ATTACHMENT C: Internet access listed by State, Country, and Bandwidth. In addition, the carrier should understand that they are required to fully manage the services being offered. In addition, ITA is not interested in private or dedicated internet access, rather we will be interested in the commercial offerings. The Service Provider shall provide equipment to support the requirements as prescribed below: • The service provider will provide a Router at each sites that will support, DHCP, Firewall restrictions, at least 5 uplinks ports to support a Local Area Network, and the bandwidth requirements shown in ATTACHMENT C: Internet access listed by State, Country, and Bandwidth • The service provider will be required to coordinate the router installation with site personnel and/or the Department of State Personnel for both International and Domestic Sites. • The Service Provider will be required to establish connectivity at each site and hand off a working router to the site. • The Service provider is required to conduct a bandwidth test to verrify speed and latency for each site. 3.3 HARDWARE The service provider shall offer the following devices available for purchase through an online portal (see Section 3.5): • Apple iPhone (most recent 2 versions) • Apple iPad Air (most recent 2 versions) • Apple iPad Mini (most recent 2 versions) • Surface Pro 3 (all versions at most recent OS) • Wireless broadband Service Enabled Device (SED) (e.g., AirCards, mobile Wi-Fi hotspots, MiFi) • Provide hardware support, routers, wireless (WIFI) to support the sites listed in ATTACHMENT C: Internet access listed by State, Country, and Bandwidth • All devices that require a SIM card must be unlocked and compatible with the international carriers and infrastructure (i.e. antennas) in locations listed in Attachment C. 3.4 DEVICE BUYBACK The service provider shall offer a device buyback option for existing mobiles devices which include Blackberries and Apple iPhones/iPads. The Buyback Program shall offer a fair price no matter the carrier. The provider shall explain the process of their buyback program, including how funds received from device can be applied to an upgrade or an existing account. 3.5 ORDERING PORTAL OCIO currently uses ServiceNow to manage service requests. The vendor is expected to partner with ITA OCIO's Helpdesk and Infrastructure team to fulfill global request for mobiles devices and cellular services. The vendor shall explain how they can integrate with our internal request process to complete orders for equipment. See Attachment B for the proposed process flow diagram. The vendor's explanation shall address all process and document items within the "Service Provider" swim lane. 3.6 REPORTING The carrier will be required to provide the capability to provide reports based on the internal organizational structure of the International Trade Administration. At a minimum, individual lines should be able to be queried in the following drill-down manner: • ITA as a whole • Business Unit (e.g. GM, OUS, OCIO, I&A, EC) • Offices within each Business Unit • Account Admin • Individual Users 3.7 SUPPORT SERVICES The service provider shall provide local support for all devices and services offered through their service portal. Support shall include device fixes and replacement, bandwidth troubleshooting, cellular connection issues, site visits to local offices to trouble shoot router issues, and overall customer service. 3.8 INVOICING The service provider shall describe any cost savings that may be gained as a result of streamlined invoicing procedures. An example of such cost savings include paperless invoicing or payment using the providers online payment system. 4. RESPONSE INSTRUCTIONS In addition to their response, interested parties should include a summary of their offerings for each location listed in Attachment D: Summary of Plans Offered. Questions relating to this RFI must be submitted in written form and submitted to the Contracting Officer at [email protected] on or before 12:00 noon EST on February 20th, 2015. Responses to the Request for Information shall be provided by email. Submissions shall be emailed to: Contracting Officer at [email protected] on or before 3:00 noon EST on February 27th, 2015.