IT Services

DUE DATE:

INTRODUCTION

CLASP improves the energy and environmental performance of the appliances and equipment we use every day, accelerating our transition to a more sustainable world. CLASP serves at the epicenter of collaborative, ambitious efforts to mitigate climate change and in the global movement for clean energy access, through appliance efficiency. We work hand-in-hand with governments, experts, industry, consumers, donor organizations and others to propel policies and markets toward the highest quality, lowest resource-intensive products possible.

Since its inception in 1999, CLASP has worked in nearly 100 countries, collaborating with key stakeholders to design and implement high-impact policies and programs that catalyze markets and protect consumers. CLASP is headquartered in Washington DC, with teams based in New Delhi, Nairobi, Jakarta, and Europe.

OUR VALUES

  • TRANSPARENCY: Our team members collaborate across programs, projects, and continents. We value direct and open communication with our global partners, and always ensure that our work lives up to the standards of scientific tigor and best practice
  • SERVICE: CLASP serves as the primary resource and voice for appliance energy efficiency on-, off-, and in weak-grid sectors, anywhere in the world. From the beginning, we have worked in service of the field of appliance energy efficiency and in service to key stakeholders from improving the environmental and energy performance of appliances. Anywhere we go, we aim to leave a healthy eco-system behind.
  • COLLABORATION: CLASP seeks out the most qualified, respected partners to address the multifaceted energy environment, and humanitarian issues of our time. We partner with the world’s foremost technical and market experts for best possible outcomes, working with whomever is the highest caliber in the sector, specialty, or region.
  • IMPACT: CLASP addresses the urgent global issues of mitigating catastrophic climate change and delivering sustainable energy services to the world’s poorest people. We pursue these dual objectives to advance a more sustainable world for people and the planet. Accordingly, we prioritize impactful actions and make the most out of financial, human, and intellectual resources.

DIVERSITY INFO OVERVIEW

CLASP strives to reflect diversity, equity, and inclusion in all aspects of the organization. CLASP team members represent a diverse population across cultural, religious, and demographic backgrounds. Our partners should also reflect the communities we serve.

CLASP works to include and support diverse businesses and partnerships in our supply chain. This creates opportunity, promotes innovation, and stimulates growth that enriches our sector.

Though CLASP strongly supports partners who have a diversity program in place, it is not a disqualifying factor.

A diverse supplier or partner organization is a business owned and operated
primarily (more than 50%) by an individual or group that is part of a traditionally underrepresented or underserved group. If you believe your organization qualifies as diverse based on this statement, please select the category or categories that best describe it below:

  • Minority Person(s)
    • Black/African American
    • Latino/Hispanic
    • Asian
    • Native American/Alaskan native
    • Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander
    • Other (please specify)
  • Woman/Women
  • Veteran(s)
  • Disabled Person(s)
  • LGBTQ+(s)
  • Other (please describe)

Please submit your Diverse Business Certification along with your submission, if applicable.

CONFIDENTIALITY STATEMENT

This Request for Proposal (RFP) contains confidential and proprietary information that is the property of CLASP, which is provided for the sole purpose of permitting the recipient to respond to the RFP. The recipient agrees to maintain such information in confidence and not to copy nor disclose this information to any person outside the group directly responsible for responding to its contents. The contents of this document may not be used for any purpose other than preparation of a response to this RFP. If you have any questions about disclosure of records you submit with your response, please contact the RFP Lead

If you have any questions about disclosure of records you submit with your response, please contact Jorge Alvarez, RFP Lead, at OpsIT@clasp.ngo.

SCOPE OF WORK

CLASP seeks to hire a qualified IT partner for general IT strategy, IT professional services, Cyber Security, and IT training services. The ideal partner should be based within the Washington, D.C., Maryland, Virginia (DMV) area, but national partners with a physical presence in the DMV will also be considered.

The new IT partner will work closely with CLASP to maintain and manage our current IT infrastructure, as well as responsible for discovering, conceptualizing, and developing best IT business practices.

We envision the initial partnership/collaboration to be as follow:

  • PHASE 1
    • Onboarding process with current IT partner to understand our current environment
      • Important phase as partner will need to present findings in Phase 3
  • PHASE 2
    • Introduction/onboarding to CLASP staff
      • Roll out of new procedures and supported infrastructure (e.g. spam filter, PC backup, etc).
  • PHASE 3
    • New IT partner to provide findings during the onboarding process and suggest changes to be done in stages
      • Critical – must be done immediately
      • High Importance – need to be implemented but can wait
      • Medium/Low Importance – clean ups / updates that can be done later
      • Parking lot projects – suggested changes to be done at any time
    • IT partner will work closely with CLASP to develop implementation projects and deliverable
  • ONGOING
    • Quarterly check-in

EXPECTATIONS & SERVICE REQUIREMENTS

CLASP envisions this partnership to be a proactive collaboration between the two parties. The goal is to have the IT Partner lead all IT initiatives with support and collaboration from CLASP when needed. For the partnership to be successful, you must be able to provide strategic guidance as well as day to day support of the infrastructure and staff.

An ideal IT partner will include the following (not limited to):

  • Have some of these general business practices/characteristics:
    • Reliable
    • Flexible
    • Responsive
    • Proactive
    • Intuitive
    • Transparent
    • Collaborative
  • Provide timely and detailed responses to requests, questions, and comments from CLASP team
  • Proactively work with CLASP to provide options and recommendations for new features, security, and staff training
  • When implementing new software, will lead discovery processes. Once an application is selected, the partner will provide an implementation plan that includes required documentation for staff (e.g. how to use). Including hardware and software upkeep / upgrades
  • Proactively raise concerns and challenges as needed for improving CLASP’s IT infrastructure.

CLASP will (not limited to):

  • Proactively engage IT partner on upcoming IT changes/modifications
  • Collaborate with IT partner to jointly discover and define comprehensive roll outs of new platforms, training, and support to CLASP
  • Provide IT partner with required support to successfully implement new projects
  • Regularly provide IT partner with feedback received on performance to find successful ways to improve partnership

CLASP understands that not every partner will be able to provide all services listed below, but we encourage everyone to respond. An ideal partner will be able to do the following:

  • General IT Services
    • Document internal processes
    • Application support / maintenance
      • Including coordination, implementation, installment, and management of new applications, as well as documenting processes and provide ongoing support
    • On-boarding / Decommissioning support
      • Including new PC deployment / desktop support
    • Proactive support (on-site / off-site)
    • Warranty and asset inventory management
    • IT project management
    • Proactive technology strategy planning
      • Including proactive IT Policy reviews and development
    • Manage DNS/Firewall changes and infrastructure in collaboration with web development team.
  • Microsoft Suite Management
    • Improvement/recommendations/maintenance/monitoring
  • IT Managed Services/ IT Operations
    • Unlimited Help Desk / Technical Support – 24/7/365
    • Hardware & Network System Monitoring
    • Software licensing control
    • Support, maintenance on printers, copiers, and scanners
  • Cyber Security & Compliance Services
    • Patch management services, preventative maintenance, troubleshooting
    • Anti-malware, spam filtering, Antispyware support / maintenance
    • Firewall monitoring
  • Business Intelligence & Data Services
    • Business continuity & disaster recovery
    • Data restoration assistance and recovery
    • Server monitoring
    • Replacement assistance for any failed system
  • IT User Training Services
    • General IT training
    • Security awareness training
  • Other duties as assigned

CLASP GENERAL & TECHNICAL ENVIRONMENT OVERVIEW

Below is a general overview of CLASP demographics and its current technical environment.

Office Locations: Washington, D.C. headquarters (30 staff) – New Delhi, India (4 staff) – Nairobi, Kenya )11 staff).

Total number of team members (staff): 50

Remote team members: (1) Montana – (2) Europe – (2) Jakarta, Indonesia (1), Beijing (1).

Board of Directors: 12 members

TECHNICAL ENVIRONMENT (General)

  • Core hardware (server, switches, firewalls, routers, Etc.)
    • No servers
    • 2 x Dell x1052p and 1 x Dell x1026 switches
    • Firewall TZ500 + HA (DC)
    • Firewall TZ500 (Kenya)
      • Site to site VPN between offices
    • Virtual Windows 10 in Azure (for Vena)
  • Software systems (Email platforms, security programs, applications, and other software used)
    • Office 365
      • Microsoft Suite
      • Teams
    • Zoom (installing, updating, troubleshooting)
    • Box
    • KnowBe4
    • Fusemail
    • LastPass
    • Adobe Creative Cloud
    • DNS Made Easy
    • Google Cloud Platform
    • Green Geeks
    • Pair Domains
    • Sendgrid
    • CloudFlare
    • Support provided by outsourced partners (partial support required)
      • Intacct
      • Vena
      • Craft
      • Vimeo
      • Zoho
      • Nexonia
      • Bill.com
    • Connectivity (internet information)
      • Main vendor = Verizon
      • Backup vendor = Comcast
    • Remote access / VPN
      • Perimeter 81
    • Backups, Antivirus and Remote Support Software
      • SafeShare
      • Webroot
      • Viper
    • Workstations and other devices
      • Dell Latitude 7300, 7310
      • Precision 5570

RFP PROCESS OVERVIEW

Below is a detailed overview and explanation of the RFP process.

PROCESS TIMELINE & KEY DATES

ACTIVITY TIMEFRAME
RFP Publication & submittal period January 11 – January 25, 2021
RFP Closure January 25, 2021
Evaluation & Review – Top 3 selected January 25 – January 29, 2021
Interviews/Reference checks January 29 – February 12, 2021
Finalist Presentations/Interview February 12 – February 18, 2021
Partner selected/ Award Contract February 21, 2021
Contracting February 22-24
Engagement start date and transition planning. March 01 – March 15, 2021
IT Transition/overlap with existing provider March 16-March 31, 2021
New IT Partner Transition complete, Staff fully transitioned. April 01, 2021

SELECTION PROCESS

  • Review submissions
  • Scoring & consolidation
    • CLASP will send a questionnaire to selected top candidates
  • Partner presentation/Interview
    • CLASP will be conducting interviews/presentations via Zoom due to the current global pandemic.
  • Partner selection & award
    • CLASP will send an announcement of chosen IT partner
  • Reference checks & site visit
    • We will provide further documentation to submit once the top three candidates have been selected
  • Other evaluation considerations
    • CLASP reserves the right to request further information from IT partner at any given stage of this process. Some of these may include:
      • Further clarification on partner’s response
      • Request partner to supply additional information to support responses

EVALUATION PROCEDURE

A committee appointed by CLASP will evaluate proposals received from respondents. Selection of qualified organizations will be based upon some of the following criteria:

  • General Evaluation Factors
    • Quality of responses
    • Overall service areas partner has to offer and how they align to CLASP needs
      • Clearly articulated IT Services
      • Who will be on the team
    • Project service, management, methodology, and service philosophy
    • Grievance process
    • How does your company handle Quarterly Business Reviews
    • How does your company handle support to international staff and different time zones
    • What is the process for responding to an issue and how they get escalated
    • Expertise and experience of company and staff
    • Vendor strength and stability
    • Details on any specific specialty areas
  • Value for money
  • Proven record of current and previous performance
    • Partner should provide detailed description of past performances to prove accomplishments of success in services and projects with organizations like CLASP.

TELL US ABOUT YOU

CLASP would like to give our prospective IT partners the freedom to tell us who they are in their own, unique, and raw manner. This is your opportunity to tell us how you differentiate from other IT vendors out there – anything we should know about your company – anything we should consider.

Below is some of the information CLASP is interested in Knowing, but please note it is not limited to the only information to be submitted.

  • Background of organization
    • E.g., years in business, how many employees, etc.
  • How many clients do you currently support?
    • Industries, size, etc.
  • Do you have any certifications? (organizational and employee)
  • Articulated and complete overview of IT Services
    • E.g., SLAs, pricing structure, etc.
  • What technology does your company support?
  • What technology does your company recommend?
  • Any other relevant information you would like to submit

SUBMITTAL

Interested partners should submit all requested documentation electronically, preferably in PDF format. The deadline for application is January 25, 2021. CLASP will send acknowledged receipt of RFP submissions.

SUBMITTAL INSTRUCTIONS

  • Naming
    • The file should be named as per the following example:
      • [CONTRACTOR_NAME] _ITProposal_RFP01-21
    • Any other document you deem important for further considerations

All questions and submissions may be addressed to Jorge Alvarez at Opsit@clasp.ngo. The last date for submissions of questions related to this RFP is January 22, 2021 no later than 03:00PM (EST). We request all inquiries to be made by e-mail and not by phone.

OPTIONAL FEEDBACK

CLASP would love to hear your feedback on the process of this RFP. Please know this is completely optional and confidential, your responses will not be included and/or shared with the evaluating committee.

Sample questions:

  • How did this RFP work for you?
  • What could have made this process better/easier for your org?
  • What makes an IT RFP easier to respond to?
  • What are the most critical pieces of information you need to see in an IT RFP?

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

CLASP looks forward to reviewing your responses and would like to thank you in advance for your participation. The MSP selection project is very important to our continue success and represents a major focus of effort for CLASP. We appreciate and value your input, expertise, and feedback.

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