Response to Request for Proposal (RFP)

Posted: August 26th, 2021

Square Inc.,

375 W Broadway,

New York, NY 10012

Response to Request for Proposal (RFP)

The writing aims to respond to the proposal requested by C & H Law, LLC, based at 111 East First Street Wise, Va 24283. The projectseeks a bid to complete the company’s information technology (IT) solution for its law offices located in Wise and Big Stone Gap, Virginia. The company has been operating manually, relying on traditional “paper-full.” Now, it is seeking to go paperless. The company would like to source for services for installing and maintaining a local area network (LAN) in each of its two locations and an extensive area network (WAN) that links its two offices. Hence, this response is a request for a bid to implement the company requests.

Company Background

My company, Peak Technologies, Inc.,was established in the year 2000. It is based in Deerwood, MN. The company’s main business activities include Information Technology networking and infrastructure design. We have been providing these services for the past ten years to business communities and government agencies. The company adopts solution-based strategies when partnering with government agencies and businesses at all levels. Our main competencies are demonstrated in assessing the most current technology assets and the organizational or business environment for each of our clients. Equally, we have competent staff that is capable of providing mission exceeding services in providing compliant managed services, secure IT infrastructure, and business consulting and planning services. The main products and services provided by the company include laptops and desktops, under which we offer a variety of machine brands, and you will have to select those that suit your organization. We also provide data center products and services, servers, relocation services, and infrastructure consulting and engineering. Further, we offer network infrastructures, particularly security devices, that is, VPNs and firewalls and wireless infrastructures, among others. Besides, the company supports every product and service that it provides. As such, we are a trusted advisor, and we assure your full organization evaluation of its technology and business needs. Equally, we will deliver solutions, architect, manage the project, procure quality equipment and implement as well as provide continuous services to ensure that you achieve desired IT and business objectives.

Scope

After reviewing your proposal, we have come up with the following suggestions that are suitable for your firm. The aim was to design the LAN for each of your two locations and WAN links that facilitate intercommunication for the two offices. We have included suitable physical and logical designs as well as specifications for the proposed network illustrated in the diagrams below. At the same time, maintenance provisions are made to strengthen network security. In this case, we believe that once the implementation is completed, the company will have achieved its objective of having modernized technological resources. The network system will provide essential and many required benefits to improve the company’s communication and document security besides offering a high-speed type of connection.

Supporting Software

The new infrastructure will require supporting software. In your case, you requested for essential support software. As such, we will endeavor to provide you with the current essential software at all levels of your network systems. The software will enhance networking in various areas such as primary network and communication services, computing, and core IT services, including information security, data backup, and service support.

Physical Design

Figure 1 shows the physical topology diagram demonstrating the implementation direction for the proposed project. The figure also illustrates the main network points like locations, system devices, and the areas for cable installation.

Figure 1: Physical Network Design (LAN) for the two offices

Within the physical design, we offer the following features;

• Category 5e cabling and wall plates positioned in the offices and boardrooms
• The offices contain managed switches useful in enhancing control of LAN traffic. Besides, they are designed with advanced features to control the network traffic further.
• A separate rooter within the third floor to manage the VLAN systems

Logical Designs

A CISCO,a safe structure, will be designed to help meet the company’s technical and business goals. The objective is to enable best practices regarding the design and implementation of secured network facilities. The logical design has three main sections as described below;

• The Enterprise Office, which contains functions that are needed to facilitate independent operation within one office location. There are no remote connections.
• EnterpriseEdgeis that consists of the tasks required to enable intercommunication between enterprise office and remote locations, including remote employees and Internet
• Service Provider Edge functional area, which is implemented by the WANs and Internet connections that are provided by the service providers

All these functional areas have network modules that can include the distribution, the core, and the access layers functionality.

Figure 2: Logical Network Design for both offices (LAN and WAN)

Scheduling

Once the bid is approved, our organization anticipates starting implementing the project from 11^th May 2020 for two months and twenty-six days, that is, a total of 86 working days. The work following is our schedule and number of IT engineers that would be on the site at any given time.

Table 1: the Network Design Schedule

Activities	Duration (Days)	IT Engineers on Site
Procurement	7 Days	4
Cabling	4 Days	3
Accommodation	3 Days	4
Network Hardware	8 Days	5
End-User Equipment	5 Days	3
Operating Systems	8 Days	7
Applications	7 Days	7
Network File Systems	9 Days	7
Domain Structure	10 Days	7
Network Accounts	4 Days	3
Network Services	4 Days	3
Data Transfer	4 Days	3
User Training	7 Days	4
System Testing	6 Days	4

Table 1 is a network design and implementation schedule, projected to take 86 days, ending on 18^th August 2020.

Pricing

The following is a cost breakdown for implementing the network;

Table 2: Proposed Network Design and Implementation Budget

Category	Costs of Network Infrastructure
Cooling Equipment	$ 10,820
Power Equipment	$ 9,800
Service	$ 12, 567
Project Management	$ 2,500
System Monitoring	$ 1,780
Racks and Enclosures	$ 6,000
Space used for the network	$ 54,900
Power	$ 80,800
Total	$ 186,187

Terms of Payment

Our terms of payment are as follows;

• 3% discount if net pay within 15 days
• 2% fee is payment is made using credit card

Payment Requirements

We want to brief also on our payment requirement for continued maintenance and provision of network services once systems are implemented. This includes sustaining LAN and WAN services. The following table contains these descriptions.

Table 3: Payment Requirements

Option	Technology	Speed	Monthly Prices
A	Leased lines: T1 at Big Stone Gap and T3 into main offices at Wise, Virginia	T3 or T1	$200 for T1, $3000 for T3
B	High-speed business cables at Wise and Big Stone Gap, Virginia	8 Mpbs downstream,780 Kbps upstream	$120
T3 Internet at Main Offices, Wise, Virginia	T3	$2,500
C	MPLS VPN: T1 access at Big Stone Gap, Virginia	T3 or T1	$ 600 for T1 access
T3 access at the main office building, Wise, Virginia		$ 7400 for T3 access
D	Frame relay: T1 access at Big Stone Gap, Virginia	T3 or T1	$ 400 for T1 access
T3 access at the main office building, Wise, Virginia		$ 7400 T3 access and circuit plus a CIR in a 5-MBPS increment.

Table 3 shows the description of particular network maintenance and support payment provisions. As shown in the table, the company is ready to offer any of your preferred options. Our payment requirement will be implemented through a hosted payment system. Such a system is the most suitable for your firm as it cannot interfere with sensitive information that may be in your firm.Besides the high costs, our company offers maintenance and support services at a manageable charge that will be determined based on your company preference. As such, we have provided you with a list of recurring costs for services for WAN links, network security checks, software upgrades, among others, will be charged at their market prices. You can access the full description of maintenance and support service from our site at www.peaktechs.maintain&support.com.

Other Information

Besides, we would like to show you that we have implemented similar projects for several companies within the city. Some of the companies include Kearny Public Library, Kings Highway Chiropractic, and LIVunLTD. All these projects have been successful.

John Dunson,

President and CEO.