Introduction:
ACCESS is required to periodically re-bid existing services in order to comply with auditing and funding source requirements and in an effort to ensure that funds are utilized in the most efficient and effective manner. Our organization’s needs have also changed, requiring the designation of new service deliverables.
ACCESS is accepting proposals for managed, dedicated hosted vSphere, and other comparable vmware based private-cloud hosting solutions.
Existing Infrastructure:
ACCESS currently resides as a tenant on a managed hosted environment. The infrastructure is comprised of approximately 97 vCPUs, 636 GB of RAM, and 20 TB of storage spread across multiple hosts and storage arrays. The vast majority of VMs are utilized for session-based Remote Desktop Services. ACCESS utilizes a dedicated internet connection located in the vendor’s data center connected to an ACCESS owned security appliance for external connectivity.
Requirements for Proposals:
ACCESS would like to transition to a managed hosted environment that allows for significantly more management functionality to allow the internal IT department to act with agility in regard to emerging technology needs. The requirements are as follows:
Internal Management Functionality:
Ability to manage and provision virtual machines without vendor intervention.
Ability to manage virtual machine snapshots, including the ability to snapshot VMs when required.
Vendor Management Responsibilities:
The vendor is expected to manage and maintain the vSphere infrastructure, including ESX host updates, vCenter updates, and all vSphere platform updates in a dedicated hosted environment. All vmware licensing will be provided by the vendor.
ACCESS will utilize a backup solution for OS level backups, but the vendor will be responsible for backing up the infrastructure at the VM level.
High Availability:
ACCESS requires an infrastructure that is highly available and is resilient when unexpected hardware related issues are encountered. If a dedicated hosted environment is proposed, this will require additional physical hosts and SANs to facilitate this functionality. If a tenant based private cloud infrastructure is proposed, it is assumed some level of high availability will be built-in.
Internet Connectivity:
ACCESS currently has a dedicated internet connection in the vendor’s datacenter. This is an ideal arrangement to mitigate unexpected bandwidth expenditures due to overutilization. ACCESS would like to continue to utilize a dedicated internet connection, but if this is not an option, metered connections are permissible.
An ACCESS-owned security appliance is housed in our existing vendor’s datacenter. We are open to utilizing vendor provided physical hardware or virtual appliance to facilitate this requirement.
Support Services:
ACCESS requires easily accessible 24/7/365 support in regard to all hosting related issues.
Budget and Contract Considerations:
ACCESS is currently utilizing a managed hosted environment and is accustomed to the costs associated with solutions of this nature.
ACCESS would like any contract required to not exceed a one year term.
Additional Information:
The information above is general in nature and serves to provide context regarding solutions currenlty in place, and to facilitate introductory technical conversations pertaining to hosting and managment specifics.
Submission Instructions:
Quotes and requests for more information may be directed to:
Email ONLY to:
procurements@accesscommunity.org
ACCESS
ATTN: Fiscal & Procurements
2651 Saulino Ct.
Dearborn, MI. 48120
Email ONLY to:
procurements@accesscommunity.org
Fax 313-842-5150
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Direct Questions To:
ACCESS IT Manager
Email: oberry@accesscommunity.org