FROM: James D. Herberg, General Manager
Originator: Lorenzo Tyner, Assistant General Manager
SUBJECT:
title
INTERNET FIREWALL UPGRADE
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GENERAL MANAGER'S RECOMMENDATION
recommendation
RECOMMENDATION: Recommend to the Board of Directors to:
A. Receive and file bid tabulation for Fortigate Firewall Upgrade, Specification No. E-2022-1363BD;
B. Receive and file first Notice of Intent to Award dated October 13, 2022;
C. Receive and file protest letter received from NH&A, LLC dated October 13, 2022 concerning the award to Xpert Solutions, Inc.;
D. Receive and file second Notice of Intent to Award dated October 14, 2022;
E. Receive and file second protest letter received from Xpert Solutions, Inc. dated October 18, 2022 concerning the award to NH&A, LLC;
F. Receive and file Orange County Sanitation District’s Protest Response Letter dated October 31, 2022;
G. Approve a Purchase Order Contract to NH&A, LLC for the purchase of Fortigate Firewall Upgrade, Specification No. E-2022-1363BD, for a total amount not to exceed $226,698 plus applicable sales tax;
H. Approve four (4) optional one-year renewals for maintenance and support for an annual amount not to exceed $80,458 plus applicable sales tax; and
I. Approve a contingency of $22,670 (10%) for the purchase upgrades and subsequent renewals.
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BACKGROUND
The current internet firewalls at Orange County Sanitation District (OC San) Plant Nos.1 and 2 can only operate at 1Gbps. The firewalls are the gateway for internal networks to communicate with the internet and they also route and inspect traffic among OC San’s internal networks.
Other IT projects are upgrading the data center, office network, and internet network equipment to meet today’s high bandwidth and speed requirements, which allows the network to operate at a minimum 10Gbps.
RELEVANT STANDARDS
• 24/7/365 treatment plant reliability
• Ensure the public’s money is wisely spent
• Maintain a culture of improving efficiency to reduce the cost to provide the current service level or standard
• Protect OC San assets
PROBLEM
Due to hardware limitations, the current internet firewalls cannot support the increased capacity requirements of the new data center, office network, and internet network equipment. Therefore, the firewalls will become a congestion point of the network if not upgraded. The ability to scan and analyze security threats will also be limited.
PROPOSED SOLUTION
The Fortigate 1800F firewalls were chosen to meet the bandwidth and security requirements of the new network equipment. In addition to the bandwidth increase, the proposed firewalls deliver high-performance threat protection to keep OC San’s networks secure.
TIMING CONCERNS
Proper maintenance and performance of the internet firewalls at both Plant Nos. 1 and 2 are imperative for the continued support and security of OC San’s networks.
RAMIFICATIONS OF NOT TAKING ACTION
Not upgrading the firewalls at Plant Nos. 1 and 2 would result in network congestion or slowness and increase security risks.
PRIOR COMMITTEE/BOARD ACTIONS
N/A
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
A Notice Inviting Bids was issued on September 14, 2022 via PlanetBids. Bids were due on October 12, 2022. OC San received nine (9) bids valid for 180 calendar days from the bid opening date. Two (2) bids received were considered as non-responsive as one bidder (Charity IT) did not bid on all line items and the other bidder (vCloud Tech, Inc.) did not submit the required bid submittals.
BID RESULTS
The following is a list of the firms that submitted a bid.
Project Manager’s Estimate: $250,000
|
Company Name |
Bid (pricing below does not include the applicable sales tax) |
Determination |
|
NH&A, LLC |
$226,697.76 |
Responsive |
|
Xpert Solutions, Inc. |
$231,074.00 |
Responsive |
|
Hypertec USA Inc. |
$252,133.97 |
Responsive |
|
vCloud Tech, Inc. |
$274,302.35 |
Non-responsive |
|
vPrime Tech, Inc. |
$285,766.95 |
Responsive |
|
Sterling Computers Corp |
$285,827.81 |
Responsive |
|
D1 Networks, Inc. |
$337,499.20 |
Responsive |
|
Granite Telecommunications |
$351,628.40 |
Responsive |
|
Charity IT |
$0.00 |
Non-responsive |
The proposed award was originally recommended to Xpert Solutions, Inc. and, immediately after, a protest from NH&A, LLC was received. Upon review, it was determined the original award should be rescinded due to an administrative error and a revised Notice of Intent to Award was issued to NH&A, LLC.
A second protest was received from Xpert Solutions, Inc. expressing concern over the validity of the bid provided by NH&A, LLC. OC San thoroughly researched the claim and found no discrepancies with NH&A’s bid and confirmed it met all the requirements. Therefore, staff recommends approving the Purchase Order Contract to NH&A, LLC.
CEQA
N/A
FINANCIAL CONSIDERATIONS
This request complies with authority levels of OC San’s Purchasing Ordinance. This item has been budgeted. (FY2022-23 & 2023-24 Budget, Section 8, Page 49, Information Technology Capital Program (M-MC-IT)).
ATTACHMENT
The following attachment(s) may be viewed on-line at the OC San website (www.ocsan.gov) with the complete agenda package:
• Bid Tabulation
• Notice of Intent to Award dated October 13, 2022
• Protest letter received from NH&A, LLC dated October 13, 2022
• Notice of Intent to Award dated October 14, 2022
• Protest letter received from Xpert Solutions, Inc. dated October 18, 2022
• OC San’s Protest Response Letter dated October 31, 2022