Current Solicitations

Notice to Vendors

It is the intent of Panhandle Area Educational Consortium to solicit proposals from qualified businesses to provide WAN/Internet/Firewall Access to the consortium administrative building located within Chipley, FL, pursuant to the terms, specifications, and conditions set forth within this RFP. To access RFP documents, click the link below:

FINAL WAN Internet Firewall RFP

Released: September 13, 2023
Questions Due: September 27, 2023 at 3:00 PM Central Time
RFP Due: October 11, 2023 at 12:00 PM Central Time

Questions and Answers Section related to FINAL WAN Internet Firewall RFP:

Q: How do we go about being added to your vendor/bidder list for future needs?
A: We do not have a vendors/bidders list to whom we email RFPs.

Q: Can you please send us a copy of this pending IT/TELCOM/A-V RELATED BID, or is there a web link you can provide?
A: You can find RFP requests linked to Form 470 posted on the USAC portal for e-rate related services. In addition, the information is available to all potential bidders on our website directly at https://floridabuy.org/current-solicitations/, as well as https://www.paec.org/wp/ and clicking on “Current Solicitations” on the right of the webpage, and at https://www.bidnetdirect.com/florida/paec-cooperative-state-purchasing. Your question and response will be posted on our website as well.

Q: Also, what about smaller non-bid items (p-card type purchases, refurbished parts, hard to find items, end of life band-aids, etc.)?
A: At this time, I will only respond to questions directly related to this RFP. However, please contact Tori Baxley with our Florida Buy Program to answer questions not related to this RFP. Ms. Baxley (tori.baxley@paec.org) has been cc’d in this email.

Q: Does that go through the IT folks directly, or, does it funnel back around to the Procurement side???
A: At this time, I will only respond to questions directly related to this RFP. However, please contact Tori Baxley with our Florida Buy Program to answer questions not related to this RFP. Ms. Baxley (tori.baxley@paec.org) has been cc’d in this email.

Q: I wanted to ask if the intention was to have more addresses listed for the WAN and, if not, what the intent is for the WAN to connect to?
A: Our IT uses the term WAN interchangeably with basic internet services. There is no second endpoint as this is only for internet services for our building. We apologize for the confusion and appreciate the clarifying question.

Q: Furthermore, is there anywhere you can direct me where I am able to see questions asked by other vendors so I may use that as reference as we work through the response?
A: Yes, you can go to https://floridabuy.org/current-solicitations/, as well as https://www.paec.org/wp/ and clicking on “Current Solicitation” on the right of the webpage. You will see a Q&A section.

Q: Do you have a preferred firewall manufacturer? What manufacturer do you currently use for switches/other network devices?

A: The preferred manufacturer is either WatchGuard or Fortinet. We currently use WatchGuard for our firewall and a mix of 3 % Extreme, 2% HP, and 95% Ubiquiti networking hardware. However, we are currently phasing out Extreme Networks completely.

Q: How will the firewall be utilized? Will any of the following be used? VPN, NGFW features, Threat Protection Scanning

A: Firewall will be used for perimeter protection as well as for VPN (site-to-site & SSLVPN for user access). We will also use firewall NGFW features such as what is offered on the WatchGuard – SD-WAN, Intrusion Prevention Service (IPS), Application Control, WebBlocker, spamBlocker, Gateway AntiVirus, Reputation Enabled Defense, Network Discovery, APT Blocker, DNSWatch, IntelligentAV, ThreatSync (XDR), EDR, etc.

Q: Roughly how many concurrent users will be on the network?

A: Depending on the number of attendees in our public meeting spaces the users can range from 60 – 300 users that may require connectivity.

Q: Will the firewall connection to the internal network be SFP/Fiber or RJ-45/Ethernet Cable?

A: Currently we are connecting via RJ-45; however, our networking equipment can connect via SFP/Fiber.

Q: Do you need physical installation/ software configuration of the firewall quoted as well?

A: No, if same FW manufacturer. Yes, if a different FW manufacturer.