The City Manager recommends that the Mayor and City Commission approve the award of a contract to the CDW Government LLC, the lowest responsive, responsible bidder responding to ITB 2021-156-DF for purchase and delivery of Panasonic Toughbooks and related items.

The purpose of this ITB is to establish a contract, by means of sealed bids, with Panasonic authorized resellers for the purchase of Panasonic Toughbook laptops and related accessories required to support the computing needs of public safety and enforcement departments. Since 2018, the City has established Panasonic Toughbooks as the standard for mobile computer devices for said departments due to their proven stability and high reliability in the field.

The Information Technology Department had previously purchased these items on an as needed basis through a piggyback contract. However, the Administration is seeking to maximize cost-effectiveness by aggregating volume and establishing a longer-term contract with a qualified Panasonic reseller. Therefore, through this ITB, the City is seeking to establish a pricing agreement for a three (3) year term period, with two (2) one (1) year options to renew. Award of this contract will be based on the lowest cost for the line items requested and the highest discount percentage offered for balance of line items in order to best address the City's needs.

On March 12, 2021, the City issued the ITB, with a bid opening date of April 12, 2021. The Procurement Department issued bid notices to 9,914 companies, including Panasonic authorized resellers. 63 prospective bidders accessed the advertised solicitation. The notices resulted in the receipt of two (2) responses from The Tools Man, Inc and CDW Government LLC (“CDW”). See Attachment A for a tabulation of bids received.

The ITB stated that the lowest responsive, responsible bidder meeting all terms, conditions, and specifications of the ITB would be recommended for award. Staff has verified that the lowest responsive and responsible bidder, CDW, complies with the requirements of the ITB.

The prices offered by CDW are significantly lower than the prices offered by the second bidder. Notwithstanding, staff performed a pricing analysis to determine the cost-effectiveness of the bids received. Bid prices were compared to a cooperative agreement established by the National Association of State Procurement Officers (NASPO), a commonly utilized competitively bid cooperative agreement. The pricing pursuant to CDW’s bid will yield a small annual savings of approximately $4200 when compared to the cooperative agreement. The savings for balance of line items is more significant with the NASPO agreement offering an 11% discount and the CDW’s bid offering a 25% discount.

Further, the Procurement Department contacted several viable bidders to in an effort to understand why no other bids were received.   Of the bidders that responded, one cited internal reassignments of personnel as the reason for missing the bid notification, and another stated that it had not updated its contact information in the City’s bid system and, therefore, did not receive the bid notification. Below is a brief description of the lowest responsive and responsible bidder for the ITB.

CDW GOVERNMENT LLC

CDW is a leading multi-brand provider of information technology solutions to business, government, education and healthcare customers in the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada. A Fortune 500 company and member of the S&P 500 Index, CDW was founded in 1984 and employs approximately 10,000 coworkers. Their broad array of products and services range from hardware and software to integrated IT solutions such as security, cloud, hybrid infrastructure and digital experience.   In addition, the City has previously purchased goods from CDW and has been satisfied with their customer service, delivery, and products. 

According to the 2019 Community Satisfaction Survey conducted by ETC institute (the “Survey”), a 62.9% satisfaction was given for “Quality of Customer Service” among the City’s residents.  The 2019 result indicated a positive trend upwards compared to the 2016 Community Satisfaction Survey, which showed 53.6% satisfaction. Providing well-suited equipment and prompt service to our internal stakeholders is part of delivering quality customer service to our City’s residents. Therefore, technology equipment will be vital in continuing the upward trend. 

For fiscal years 2018, 2019 and 2020, the average annual expenditures for Panasonic toughbooks and related accessories has totaled $92,462. Purchases made pursuant to the award of this ITB shall be subject to funds availability approved through the City’s budgeting process.  The City has budgeted approximately $420k for the purchase of Panasonic toughbooks and related accessories.  Grant funding will not be utilized for this project.

The Administration recommends that the Mayor and City Commission of the City of Miami Beach, Florida accept the City Manager’s recommendation to award a contract to the CDW Government LLC, the lowest responsive, responsible bidder, pursuant to Invitation to Bid (ITB) 2021-156-DF for the purchase and delivery of Panasonic Toughbooks and related accessories.