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AMS Connect Managed Information Technology Services Proposal for City of La Quinta, CA Provided by: Alarm Monitoring Services, Inc. dba AMS Connect Submitted on Thursday, May 30, 2019 A. Cover Letter Stephanie M. Loog, President 74794 42nd Avenue, Suite 1 Palm Desert, CA 92260 760.341.3593 (Tel) 760-341-6096 (Fax) stephanie@amsconnectme.com Firm’s main office and office that would service the City of La Quinta: Alarm Monitoring Services, Inc dba AMS Connect 74794 42nd Avenue, Suite 1 Palm Desert, CA 92260 760.341.6096 Founded in 2009, AMS Connect has quickly become the premier integration company here in the Coachella Valley. Being based in Palm Desert and a local minority owned company, AMS Connect is the largest in the Coachella Valley. Our fleet of twenty-two service vehicles along with our thirty-nine technical and support full-time employees, respond immediately to the many services we provide. Seven of our technical staff are dedicated to IT and have many industry credentials and certificates that are required to properly service our clients. Our clients are most of the top golf clubs including Bighorn, The Reserve, Ironwood, Eldorado, Toscana, Rancho La Quinta, Hideaway, Madison Club and many other high-profile locations including City of La Quinta, City of Palm Desert, City of Indian Wells FAMD, Sunnylands, Coachella Valley Water District, Desert Water Agency, Morongo Band of Indians and The Living Desert to name a few. We provide an unmatched level of service in our industry. Being a full-service integration company, our services include IT, Audio Video, Security, Access, Fire Alarms, Perimeter Intrusion, Gate Access/Automation, Fiber Infrastructure Networks and Telephone Systems. Our motto is that there is not a technology we can’t tackle and we always come up with innovative ways to work any problem. We pride ourselves as being a certified drug free work environment and all field employees have a minimum of OSHA 10 hour training safety certificates. Our operations and project managers are also OSHA 30 hour training certified. Bi-weekly safety training is one of the company’s highest priorities. Being local gives us an advantage in being there when our clients need us and knowing the in-season, out of season population issues that can arise to provide excellence of service. Choosing AMS Connect to be your service provider has always been a very wise choice by all of our clients...please ask them. I certify and validate that all information contained herein is accurate and correct. I certify and validate that the pricing contained herein is accurate and correct and will remain valid for a period of 90 days from submission. I certify and validate that any individual who will perform work for the City of La Quinta is free from any conflict of interest. Stephanie M. Loog President B. Background on the firm and its experience Alarm Monitoring Services, Inc dba AMS Connect (AMS) has been providing services to the Coachella Valley for ten years. Tax ID Number: 27-0935331 AMS is owned by Stephanie M. Loog and was incorporated in the State of California in August 2009. AMS is an S-Corporation and has no subsidiaries. AMS is proud to have the local cities of La Quinta, and Palm Desert as clients, and have provided service to them for three years. Additionally, AMS has several high-profile private clubs, homeowner communities, national franchise businesses, and local businesses as clients. If contracted, the project team will include: ADAM MORRISON - IT MANAGER Solutions-focused, IT Professional with 15+ years’ experience leading operations supporting company network infrastructures and mission-critical systems, while managing the needs of the customer, the project, and the team. Successful at building and directing project teams to design and deploy innovative, robust enterprise solutions / platforms. Impressive record of achievement in developing, installing, migrating, maintaining, troubleshooting, and updating state-of-the-art networks. Particularly effective directing customer support and backup / disaster recovery initiatives to provide a reliable and secure client network environment. Expert at aligning network infrastructures with customer growth objectives to maximize efficiencies across business operations. Software: SaaS, Microsoft Server, Cisco, Microsoft Exchange Server, PowerShell, VMwareESX, Veeam, openVAS, nmap, Wireshark, PRTG, Dtools, Briarco, Docker, Microsoft SQL Server, SQL, Milestone VMS, Quickbooks, CAPSA, CommView, VMWARE, InkScape, GIMP, Visio, Adobe, Kali-Linux, WSUS, RAS, HTML, CSS, PYTHON, VBS, RPS, Hardware: Cisco, IaaS, DELL, HP, Aruba, Aerohive, Ruckus, Intel, SuperMicro, Lenovo, Bosch, LSI, Juniper, Sonicwall, Nvidia, Fiber OTDR, HDI, Bosch, Lifesize, Shoretel, Allworx, Mitel, Avaya, Panasonic, Grandstream, Konftel, Polycom, ISONAS, AES, White-box Operating Systems: Cisco, PaaS, Microsoft, OSX / Darwin, DOS, VMWare, AWS, AZURE, Linux, IOS, SourceFIRE, FIREpower, SFR, Certifications: Cisco CCENT Routing and Switching, Cisco CCNA Routing and Switching, Microsoft MCP, Allworx VOIP Engineer, Fiber Optics Install and Troubleshooting from The International Fiber Optics Association - thefoa.org, OSHA 30, Bosch BVMS, Milestone Solutions & Design, currently working on my CCNP certification (Exp accomplish date 7/24/19 RANJAN (RJ) KHADKA - SYSTEMS ADMINISTRATOR Ranjan started out with web-development and worked his way up to application development using the programming language C++. Next, he worked at advancing his general administrative knowledge with networking concepts using HPE, Cisco and Sonicwall hardware. He is also an accomplished database and Windows Server systems administrator. Today Ranjan is a Senior systems administrator for AMS and he directly manages a majority of our largest client’s environments. Education: College of the Desert Associate's Degree, Liberal Arts in Math and Science 2011 California State University, San Bernardino Bachelor's Degree, Computer Science 2015 California State University, San Bernardino Master's Degree, Computer Science 2017 JESUS GAMINO - ON-SITE IT TECHNICIAN It is the intention of AMS to retain the existing IT Technician/Network Engineer, Jesus Gamino, to continue serving the City of La Quinta. Technically sophisticated information technology professional with over 20 years of IT experience and demonstrated success in computer system/network administration. Proven expertise to increase reliability, maximize productivity, and introduce system efficiencies. 12+ years of experience in System Administration of hybrid-based networks. Education: Master of Business Administration, 2013 (Emphasis: Information Systems) University of Redlands, Graduate School of Business Redlands, CA Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, 2005 National University, School of Letter and Sciences La Jolla, CA Associate of Arts in General Studies, 2003 Central Texas College Killeen, TX Certifications: A+ CompTIA, Security + CompTIA, Security + Certified, Microsoft SQL 2000, NIMBLE SYS Administration Certified, CISCO Certified Network Associate Routing and Switching, Certified Meraki Network Operator, currently working on my CCNP certification (Exp accomplish date 7/24/19 Remote Support: A local team of 7 IT Technicians whose skills include: - Desktop Support - General Systems & Network Administration / Engineering - Virtualization - VOIP & Video Conferencing Solution - Backups and Disaster Recovery Solution - Cloud Enablement (IaaS, PaaS, SaaS) - Migrations and Transitions - Video Management and Custom Integrations - Network Operations Center & Central Station - SQL Replication and High-Availability - Fiber Optics - Storage Area Networks - Data Replication and High-Availability - Storage Area Networks - Network Security Assessment & Procurement C. References (See Attachment 3 for Additional References) Steve Howlett, Facilities Director City of La Quinta showlett@laquintaca.gov When did AMS start the security/fire and access control projects? - January 2016 (Security/Fire Activations) - August 2016 (Access Control) Which AMS staff were assigned to the project? - Adam Morrison, Mike Padilla, Brad Johnson What was the final outcome? - Systems installed are fully functional. Carlos Hernandez, Facilities Director City of Palm Desert chernandez@cityofpalmdesert.org When did AMS start the security/fire and access control projects? - September 2016 (Security/Fire Activations) - December 2016 (Access Control) Which AMS staff were assigned to the project? - Adam Morrison, Mike Padilla, Brad Johnson What was the final outcome? - Systems installed are fully functional. D. Disclosure AMS has no on-going contract failures, nor any civil or criminal litigation or investigations pending nor have been judged guilty or liable in the last five years. E. Warranty AMS warranties all parts and labor for a period of one year from the date of receipt of warranty sign-off. Additionally, some equipment manufacturers will warranty their equipment for a period up to three years from the date of professional installation. F. List of Complementary Services AMS is a full-service company and provides a number of additional services above and beyond Managed IT Services These include:  Audio Visual Integration Services  These services include design and implementation of professional sound and video systems for: ■ Meeting Rooms ■ Conference Rooms ■ Council Chambers ■ Live Events ■ Indoor and Outdoor venues  Cabling and Infrastructure Wiring  These services include design and installation of structured wiring including: ■ Trenching, junctions, and stub-outs ■ Indoor and outdoor conduit installations ■ Installation of High-voltage and Low-voltage wiring ■ Category 5e, Category 6, Fiber Optic wiring ■ Complete FIBER OPTIC splicing and termination  Security Services  These services include design, installation and monitoring including: ■ Indoor and Outdoor Pedestrian and Vehicle Access Control systems ■ Video Surveillance systems ■ Security alarm systems ■ Fire alarm systems ■ 24/7 alarm monitoring G. Subcontracting AMS will not be subcontracting any portion of the contract. All services will be performed by a team of highly skilled AMS employees. H. Insurance Coverage If selected, AMS will provide the required insurance coverage and indemnification as noted in Sections 5.0 and 6.0 of the City’s Professional Services Agreement. I. Non-Collusion Affidavit The signed affidavit is attached. Attachment 1 Experience and Approach 1. How many technical employees does your firm employ? 1.1. AMS employs thirty-nine wonderfully talented people. There are currently seven dedicated IT employees. This includes a Network Engineer, Software Engineer, and Five Technicians on staff. If selected, we would retain Mr. Jesus Gamino as your dedicated on-site technician with both on-site and remote support from the AMS IT team. Beyond the IT team, AMS has a staff of eighteen technical employees who oversee equipment installation and equipment maintenance. 2. Does your firm have technical employees that are local to the Coachella Valley? 2.1. Yes, during regular business hours, all AMS employees are home-based at the AMS office located on Cook Street in Palm Desert, California. AMS is located 8.1 miles from City of La Quinta City Hall and additional staff could be on-site in approximately twenty minutes in a work stoppage scenario. Outside of regular business hours, and excluding the primary on-site staff person, support staff reside within the Coachella Valley (some in La Quinta), and would be available to respond within one hour. 3. Does your company have a partnership with any major IT companies? ie., Cisco, Microsoft, Google Yes or No 3.1. Yes, including: Cisco, Sonicwall, Veeam, Barracuda, Juniper, HP / Aruba, Dell, Bosch, Milestone, AXIS, Allworx, and more. 4. What industry certifications do your employees hold? 4.1. AMS employees hold many certifications. Below are a selection of the certifications held by the team that will be supporting the City of La Quinta. 4.1.1. CCENT Routing and Switching, from Cisco 4.1.2. Cisco CCNA Routing and Switching, from Cisco 4.1.3. Microsoft MCP 4.1.4. Allworx VOIP Engineer 4.1.5. Fiber Optics Install and Troubleshooting from The International Fiber Optics Association 4.1.6. OSHA 30 Hour Training certification 4.1.7. Bosch BVMS 4.1.8. Milestone Solutions & Design 4.1.9. Crestron Programming Certification 4.1.10. Crestron Digital Media Certification 4.1.11. Crestron Fusion Certification 4.1.12. AMX Design Certification 4.1.13. AMX Installation Certification 4.1.14. AMX Programming 4.1.15. Project + from CompTia 4.1.16. Dante Network Audio, Level 1 & Level 2, from Audinate 4.1.17. Integrated Systems Certification, Level 1 from Shure Institute 4.1.18. Certified Audio Design Associate, Harman 4.1.19. Certified Audio Programming Associate, Harman 5. Do you currently recommend that customers use any particular software that allows users to create a service ticket? Yes or No If Yes, what software, and is there a cost to the City? 5.1. Yes, Spiceworks, and there is a free install option that we could use (or $45 for paid version which only has the advantage of an ad free GUI) 5.2. Another alternative we would advise would be something like Zendesk, see the following URL for basic pricing structure: https://www.zendesk.com/product/pricing/ 6. Do you currently recommend that customers use any software to track network and workstation performance/status? Yes or No If Yes, what software, and is there a cost to the City? 6.1. Yes, PRTG Network Monitor. The cost is $1600 perpetual and $800 annually for support & Software Upgrades 7. Do you currently recommend that customers use any software to track hardware and software inventory (including serial and license numbers)? Yes or No If Yes, what software, and is there a cost to the City? 7.1. Yes, Spiceworks, same as ticket system, and there is a free install option that we could use (or $45 for paid version which only has the advantage of an ad free GUI) 7.2. Another alternative we would advise would be something like Zendesk, see the following URL for basic pricing structure: https://www.zendesk.com/product/pricing/ 8. Do you have Staff that specializes in special database programs? Yes or No 8.1. Yes - MSSQL, PostgreSQL, mySQL 9. Is your staff able to troubleshoot problems related to Microsoft SQL Server, versions 2000, 2008,2012, 2016? Yes or No 9.1. Yes - AMS currently supports several environments with Microsoft based SQL instances which are used with various software platforms, such as, Ticket-systems, Alarm monitoring, time clocks, video management, and more. 10. Is your staff able to do administration tasks on VMware vSphere 5.5? Yes or No 10.1. Yes - AMS staff is trained on the vSphere / ESXi platform and able to perform various tasks including, vMotion, HA, Deployments, Resource-management, vSAN, vNetworking, security options, and more. 11. Is your staff able to do administration tasks on Cisco Meraki switches? Yes or No 11.1. Yes - AMS staff is trained and certified on Cisco networking equipment including, switches, routers, firewalls, wireless, Video-Conferencing, VOIP, and we are also proud to be a Cisco partner as well. 12. Is your staff proficient with MX-100 firewalls? & ASA firewalls 12.1. Yes - AMS has trained and certified staff that are able to support Cisco networking equipment including, UTM, Firewalls, IDS/IPS, Firepower and more. We have completed several appliance deployments including an ASA5508x for our office which also has the full suite of firepower services enabled and is Active Directory integrated. We are also a proud Cisco partner. 13. If so, what administration tasks have been performed on the appliances? 13.1. CLI and ASDM 13.2. NAT configurations 13.3. ACL configurations 13.4. Routing configurations 13.5. Policy Based Routing configurations 13.6. 802.1q configurations 13.7. IPv6 configurations 13.8. SFR & FMC (Firepower services) configurations 13.9. SNMP configurations 13.10. Routing configurations 13.11. HA configurations 13.12. QOS configurations 13.13. DPI SSL configurations 13.14. IDS & IPS configurations 13.15. LACP configurations 13.16. EIGRP configurations 13.17. OSPF configurations 13.18. VRRP configurations 13.19. Tracking & floating static routes 13.20. Netflow 13.21. Packet Tracer 13.22. Traffic Captures 13.23. Debugging and other troubleshooting 13.24. AD Integration 14. Is your staff able to troubleshoot problems with iPhones/iPads? Yes or No 14.1. Yes, AMS technicians use Apple iphones and ipads in the field on a daily basis. AMS IT Technicians are trained to support and troubleshoot any issues that may arise. 15. Is your staff able to troubleshoot problems with copiers and scanners? Yes or No 15.1. Yes - AMS supports a whole array of HP, Xerox, Cannon, Brother, Zebra devices including thermal applications used for access control and Point of Sale systems 16. Is your staff able to troubleshoot email issues with Microsoft 365? Yes or No 16.1. Yes - AMS staff is trained to support MIcrosoft 365, including Active Directory integrated systems and hybrid deployments. 17. Is your staff able to perform administration/configuration tasks with a Mitel on-premise VoIP system? Yes or No. If yes, what tasks has your staff performed? 17.1. Yes, Shoretel and Mitel Experience 17.1.1. Call Routing 17.1.2. Auto Attendant configuration 17.1.3. Voice Mailbox administration 17.1.4. Handset configuration 17.1.5. Session recording configuration 17.1.6. General user/handset administration and troubleshooting 18. Is your staff able to troubleshoot problems related to an electronic Geographic Information System (the City uses ESRI ArcServer and Desktop)? Yes or No If yes, please give some examples of how you assisted clients with identifying and resolving the problems. 18.1. No, not currently but AMS staff are familiar with the platform and could send staff to training 19. Is your staff familiar with Nimble Storage products and able to perform configuration tasks and troubleshoot performance issues with SAN devices? Yes or No 19.1. No, not specifically Nimble Storage products, however AMS staff is very familiar with configuration and troubleshooting for other SAN devices including HA, Storage-Replica, Clustering, and more. 20. Does your firm have application developers on staff? 20.1. Yes - AMS Senior IT Technician RJ Khadka has a Master’s Degree in Information Technology, during his studies he specialized in C++ and general web development HTML5 / CSS 21. How many application developers/programmers does your firm employ? 21.1. Three 22. Please list programming languages your staff is proficient with and years of experience developing applications in those languages? 22.1. C++, HTML, CSS, and SQL 22.2. 10+ years combined 23. Please describe any custom application(s) your firm has developed that has solved a business problem by streamlining processes. If so, please describe what the problem was and how your application solved the issue and include the cost/time of the project. 23.1. AMS does not develop applications directly, but instead we use internal programming knowledge to troubleshoot and liaison with software support team members 24. The City is looking to move our IT infrastructure and services to the next level using innovative and forward-thinking technology and solutions to accomplish this. Please describe either a custom application your firm developed or solution your firm implemented that provided a service in a unique way. 24.1. AMS offers HyperV and VSphere deployments including Hybrid Cloud options with AWS, AZURE, VEEAM. AMS could also research, develop, and demonstrate additional VI options upon request 25. How many municipalities has your firm developed applications/solutions for? Please list the application developed and, if possible, a link to the application. Also, please include references for these projects. 25.1. Two, (1) City of La Quinta Access Control and (2) City of Palm Desert Access Control. 26. Does your firm develop applications for mobile devices? If so, what language do you use to develop these Apps? Please list references of recent/current projects. 26.1. AMS does not currently develop mobile device apps. 27. How many years of experience does your firm have in Mac OS App development? Please list application(s) developed and references for project. 27.1. AMS has not developed any Mac OS applications. 28. Is your firm familiar with resources such as GitHub? What programming communities does your firm associate with? 28.1. Yes, Reddit, Spiceworks, Stack-Overflow 29. What are your opinions on communities such as GitHub? 29.1. Extremely useful knowledge sharing forums 30. What are the pros and cons of using open source code as opposed to creating the code completely inhouse? 30.1. Flexibility & Cost-Effectiveness 31. Do you test your code for security vulnerabilities? If so, do you use a third-party vendor to test the code? Please list references. 31.1. N/A - AMS does not currently develop software applications. 32. Use this opportunity to showcase any project your firm is particularly proud of that used technology to solve an issue and/or was able to save the company money. We are most interested in municipal projects but would like to hear if your firm helped a private company solve an issue in a unique and innovative way. Please describe project and provide references. 32.1. Situation: One of the Coachella Valley’s most prominent private clubs didn’t realize it had a highly vulnerable wireless network. When asked to provide an assessment geared towards the takeover of its IT administration from another vendor, we worked with due diligence to review the entire system, quickly discovering the client’s security risks were pervasive. Because we handle the entire gamut of services — IT, AV and security — our expertise in integrating systems enables us to implement far more sophisticated solutions including NextGen firewalls, intrusion prevention systems, traffic monitoring and more. Providing a thorough audit assessment, we helped the client understand the issues it didn’t know it had: a campus WIFI network with no password and virtually every function on one extremely vulnerable network. Anyone could connect wirelessly from outside the property, compromising the security for point of sale terminals, servers, accounting, human resources, workstations, guest WIFI, administrative WIFI, phones and more. The significant security risk potentially gave unprotected access to documents and a wealth of private information. Solution: Immediately, we recommended disabling the WIFI broadcasting capability and adding a security-encryption password. AMSconnect then devised a report of its findings along with a comprehensive solution that ensured all the client’s data would be 100% protected, both for the club and for its members. In the end, we performed a network security makeover that included traffic segregation and additional security services as well as the implementation of network security and health monitoring with email alerts. This example security issue underscores the urgency of analyzing your complete system and working with due diligence to ensure you’ve protected all private data. 32.2. Situation: A large client had a group of network-connected access control panels that, on more than one occasion, mysteriously had their IP addresses and passwords changed. These changes caused all the access control systems for the environment to go offline for extended periods of time. The vendor that manages these access control panels was convinced that a hacker had compromised the network along with the access control panels. We were asked by the client to analyze and diagnose the situation. Solution: Our immediate goal was to ensure the client’s systems could get back online right away; we defaulted the equipment and reconfigured the system so everything would be up and running. Needless to say, our commitment was to the overall security of the environment and to prevent this from happening again. Consequently, we set up a “honey-pot” sub-environment with a “fake” dummy panel and captured all network traffic to and from the dummy-panel. The intention was to track everything in the event the problems reoccurred. Sure enough, more than a month later, the situation repeated itself. We discovered that this issue was caused when the access control vendor was accessing a server that they managed on-site: the vendor mistakenly pushed updates to the panels and caused a common bug that changes the addresses and passwords. This software bug was confirmed with tech support for the manufacturer of the network card installed on the panels. Working closely with the vendor, in the end, we resolved the issue. Attachment 2 Price Structure Scenario 1 - *$340,000 (Annual) This provides for two on-site staff members: one Network engineer and one IT Technician, for a minimum of eight hours a day, five days a week to start, and 24/7 remote help desk assistance. Scenario 2 - *$190,000 (Annual) This provides for one on-site staff member: an IT Technician for a minimum of eight hours a day, five days a week, and 24/7 remote help desk assistance. Additional Notes: Both scenarios provide for staff to remain on-site for special Council and Commission meetings as stated in the request for proposals. The budget amounts above are all-inclusive to the scope of this request for proposal. Any special projects and out-of-scope work will be handled on a case-by-case basis. AMS will provide the City of La Quinta with proposals for additional work and will be handled as separate projects. Once awarded, AMS will provide a monthly invoice equal to the selected scenario amount divided by twelve for services rendered under the executed Contract for Services. *Please note that this price quote is presented without any consideration for prevailing wage. Should there be a need for prevailing wage, AMS will revise the pricing structure and re-submit for consideration. Attachment 3 Additional References Carl Williams Director of Privacy BIGHORN Golf Club 760-610-8436 Roger Langner Director of Security Sunrise Company/Toscana HOA 760-404-1453 Marco Cervantes Director of Security Thunderbird Heights Property Owners 760-328-9700 Gloria Kirkwood HOA Manager Palm Valley Country Club 760-772-2092 Jeff Lohman Owner True Value Hardware 760-345-5300 Jerry Walker Owner/Operator Del Taco-Desert Foods Investments 760-772-7984 Mitch Spike Security Manager The Reserve Community Association 760-902-5612 Charles Meeks Director of Security Morningside Community Association 760-328-0555 Larry Tashman Director of Security The Madison Club 760-391-4581 Terry Kramer Director of Security Operations Associa Desert Resort Management 760-673-6825 Nena Rutherford Association General Manager Master Association of Rancho La Quinta 760-777-8807 Mark Hastings Owner First School of the Desert 760-345-5300 NON -COLLUSION AFFIDAVIT FORM Must be executed by proposer and submitted with the proposal (name) hereby declare as follows: the art making the foregoing proposal, that the proposal is not (Company) party g g g p p of made in the interest of, or on behalf of, any undisclosed person, partnership, company, association, organization, or corporation; that the proposal is genuine and not collusive or sham; that the proposer has not directly or indirectly induced or solicited any other proposer to put in a false or sham proposal, and has not directly or indirectly colluded, conspired, connived, or agreed with any proposer or anyone else to put in a sham proposal, or that anyone shall refrain from proposing; that the proposer has not in any manner, directly or indirectly, sought by agreement, communication, or conference with anyone to fix the proposal price of the proposer or any other proposer, or to fix any overhead, profit, or cost element of the proposal price, or of that of any other proposer, or to secure any advantage against the public body awarding the agreement of anyone interested in the proposed agreement; that tall statements contained in the proposal are true; and, further, that the proposer has not, directly or indirectly, submitted his or her proposal price or any breakdown thereof, or the contents thereof, or divulged information or data relative hereto, or paid, and will not pay, any fee to any corporation, partnership, company, association, organization, proposal depository, or to any member or agent thereof to effectuate a collusive or sham proposal. I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of California that the foregoing is true and correct. Proposer Signature: Proposer Name: 71::)\r ov.' -l_ Proposer Title: �.;,� z� 'V Company Name: �l`✓�m C1n,�,41..+` �.i����3n�c . �G.� CMS Cu�v 4 Address: A--7c�-1 01\m 7i�) r -- � k CA C 0A' U