rob vietzke ([email protected] connecticut education network university of connecticut neren...
TRANSCRIPT
Rob Vietzke ([email protected] Education Network
University of ConnecticutNEREN
Quilt RON MeetingRFP ExamplesJune 22, 2004
3 Dark Fiber RFP’s in 3 years
State of Connecticut Dark Fiber RFP Metro Fiber Now 600+ Route miles and 170+ sites Build to all 170 sites and 450+ miles new fiber Certain Political / Financial / Operational Needs
Revisit of Dark Fiber RFP to make it ERate Eligible Also included Managed Services for comparison
North East Research & Education Network RFP Regional Long Haul Fiber Pre-existing POPs for NEREN members Different Certain Political / Financial / Operational Needs
First Dark Fiber RFP
State Data Center move (3 miles) Options for other capacities solicited Results in State Master Agreement Negotiated heavily after selection Separation of Contract and
“products”
CEN/Metro Fiber RFP Structure
Simplicity important New to us, new to admin team Higher overall price, extreme
expectations Fixed Cost per route mile, regardless of
construction parameters Street Atlas & Purchase Order Make customer happy
CEN In-State Core Observations
For State Government Purposes: Contract needs to hide the complexity of a
massive construction project Willing to pay a higher per-mile rate for
Fixed costs (one size fits all, rural, urban, good market, bad market)
Simplicity (procurement, billing, explanation)
New to CEN, New to State Government Politics of Incumbency Broad Net, Wide range of acceptable
answers
E-Rate Fiber Bid Roll traditional IRU and 5 Year maintenance into 60 even payments Add GBIC’s & Equip Maint to make it a lit service Include options for additional maintenance
beyond first 5 years
Also asked for a matching managed service Only used for pure K12 and library links 54% Reasons to do this, every year
Vendor Fiber Routes
Northeast Research and Education Network Proposal
NEREN NYC32 Avenue of the Americas
NYSERnet Colocation SpaceNew York, New York
NEREN CAMBRIDGENorthern Crossroads Colocation Space
300 Bent St, Cambridge
NEREN HARTFORDConnecticut Preferred Site
State of Connecticut Data Center101 E. River Dr, East Hartford
NEREN STORRSUniversity of ConnecticutRoute 44, Mansfield, CT
NEREN PROVIDENCE275 Promenade, Providence
NEREN SPRINGFIELD1 Federal St, Springfield
NEREN WORCESTER474 Main St, Worcester
NEREN ALBANY11 North Pearl St
or 194 Washington St
NEREN DurhamDurham, NH
NEREN KeeneKeene, NH
NEREN Portland1 City Center, Portland, Maine
NEREN PlymouthPlymouth, NH
NEREN HanoverHanover, NH
NEREN BURLINGTONSouth Prospect St, Burlington, VT
NEREN MiddleburyMiddlebury, VT
NEREN West HavenAlternate Site
5 Horton Place, West Haven
NEREN ROCHESTER-
NEREN SYRACUSE-
NEREN BUFFALO-
NEREN OrinoCollege Avenue, Orino, Maine
NEREN RFI & RFP Process RFI solicits initial pricing, draws out viable competitors
Define organizations intent, stir market interest to a slow froth
Give Governance discussions something real to react to
RFP follows RFI format, includes explicit: Request specific costs for construction, cross, O&M,
power, racks, mid-span meets, etc at each site, specific to room
Define the business case for the vendors’ upper management
Define your cohesiveness, intent to work together Dangle Remote Hands, CISP, Lit Services
NEREN RFI & RFP
Act Regionally & Collectively, Regardless of Governance, Funding, etc. Best purchasing power at front-end View future activities as “future
phases” and “options” on base plans Include those places that probably
aren’t viable anyway
Only Dark Fiber?NEREN’s primary intention in issuing this RFP is to secure a long-term dark fiber network upon which NEREN can develop research and education services for the region. NEREN will not accept a lit services solution in place of this primary objective. Only after the fiber is secured and NEREN’s ability to provision it’s own services on that fiber are in place will NEREN consider additional lit services. Already the marketplace has responded with dark-fiber offerings from at least 3 vendors,
Partnerships & SwapsNEREN strongly encourages vendors to contemplate fiber swaps, partnerships, or other means by which an aggregate solution for the entire region could be proposed to NEREN under a single contractual arrangement.
RFP Observations State RFP’s were not as sophisticated as NEREN RFP Hasn’t mattered (so far.)
Don’t be afraid to allow proposals for things you don’t want Great data for later political issues
“They didn’t even try to meet spec, 3 others did” “They were not even close to low bid”
Evaluation Criteria based on your specifications
Retrospective RFP’s and RFI’s can define the market for you
These documents can push and spin as well as receive information
Vendor’s want your business; don’t be afraid to define unique, but reasonable terms.
Forget what you know about demarcation policies Dark fiber is a competitive environment in Connecticut now.
Folks soliciting RFP’s are now getting multiple responses.
Standard Examples & Forms for data collection very usefulChecklist for vendors very useful
Things we missed (but …)
Metro: Explicit Damage language for customer sites Metro: Minimum Installation Standards