Tusa Consulting Services Presentation to The City of West Palm Beach City Commission.
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Transcript of Tusa Consulting Services Presentation to The City of West Palm Beach City Commission.
Tusa Consulting ServicesPresentation to
The City of West Palm BeachCity Commission
Tusa Consulting Services
Public Safety CommunicationsAnalysis and Report
Purpose: To provide a review of options for the City of West Palm Beach in consideration of the modernization of its public safety radio
system.
The City of West Palm Beach 11/19/2012
Presentation Roadmap
• Definitions• Harris Project-25 Proposal • Motorola Unsolicited Proposal• Palm Beach County Radio System Access• Competitive Procurement/ RFP• Rank of Alternatives• Questions
The City of West Palm Beach 11/19/2012
Definitions Project-25 (P-25) - A standard for the design and manufacture of
digital two-way radios intended to allow for the competitive procurement of radio equipment.
Competitive Procurement - The contractual acquisition of any kind of asset with appropriated funds, that enables all sources to compete in a fair and open environment. For example, an RFP will ensure the highest level of openness, maximizing the suitability of the requested assets or service, and the best return on investment (ROI).
Sole Source - A "Sole Source" purchase means that only one supplier, to the best of the requester's knowledge and belief is capable of delivering the required product or service. Similar types of goods and services may exist, but only one supplier, for reasons of expertise or compatibility with existing equipment is the only source that is acceptable to meet a specific need.
The City of West Palm Beach 11/19/2012
Current City Radio System Status
• Motorola SmartNet II, Proprietary-Analog
• Built in 1986 (26 years ago)
• Passed End-of-Life date (12/2001)
• Passed End-of-Support date (6/2009)
The City of West Palm Beach 11/19/2012
Current City Radio System Status
• Sixteen 800MHz Channels Owned by the City– Ten in use by WPB– Six in use by the MPSCC
• Mobile and Portable Radios– 256 P-25 capable portable radios– 53 P-25 capable mobile radios– 791 mobiles and portables that are NOT P-25
compatible
The City of West Palm Beach 11/19/2012
Harris OpenSky
• Initially designed by M/A-COM for non-public safety applications, but later enhanced/marketed to some public safety agencies
• Proprietary radio system, not an open-standard such as Project-25. Equipment available only from Harris
• 4-slot technology provides more channel efficiency, but requires ~6db higher signal level margins for coverage equivalency to P-25 and other technologies
• Inferior in-building performance when compared to Project-16 (analog) or Project-25 simulcast technology
The City of West Palm Beach 11/19/2012
Harris-MPSCC Proposal
• P-25 addition to MPSCC OpenSky System
• Upgrades to reliable/proven simulcast technology
• Configuration– Enhanced coverage reliability - four tower sites– Two simulcast transmit/receive sites and two receive-only sites
– Shares existing MPSCC OS Network Switch/Controller
• Requires additional radios to include all users
The City of West Palm Beach 11/19/2012
Harris-MPSCC Proposal
• Pros– Provides an open-standards P-25 radio system
– Increases operational 800MHz channels from 8 to 10
– Alleviates EOL and EOS issues for current system
– Allow for reuse of 309 Harris and Motorola radios
• Cons– Significant resource sharing and operational coordination
with the MPSCC
– Proposes additional maintenance costs in addition to the current Open Sky maintenance costs
– Decreases interoperability between City and County
– Extensive burden of site development placed on City
The City of West Palm Beach 11/19/2012
Motorola Proposal
• Unsolicited Proposal
• Includes three options for modernization– Option 1 – SmartX Migration – pathway to P-25
– Option 2 – Full upgrade to P-25 w/ PBC owned Astro25 Switch
– Option 3 – Full upgrade to P-25 w/ WPB owned Astro25 Switch
• No pricing provided for mobile or portable radios
• No pricing provided for system maintenance
The City of West Palm Beach 11/19/2012
Motorola Proposal
• Pros– Provides an open-standards P-25 radio system
– Increase operational 800MHz channels from 8 to 10
– Resolves EOL and EOS issues for current analog system
– Allow for reuse of 309 Harris and Motorola radios
• Cons– Procurement law precludes going forward with any option
offered in Motorola proposal
– No guaranteed coverage provided. Places City at serious risk with no accountability of system for Motorola
– No coverage testing or system performance verification
– Extensive burden of site development placed on City
The City of West Palm Beach 11/19/2012
Palm Beach County System
Hub Access AgencyCity interconnects to PBC switch – Retains existing City System
• Pros
– Phased migration pathway to P-25 due to shared City/County P-25 switch (P-25 would not be available until a later phase)
– All currently owned mobile and portable radios remain operational
– City would maintain control of radio management and operation (except for the PBC owned switch)
– Continued level of interoperable communications with County
• Cons
– Locks City into a sole-source procurement when the move to acquire P-25 equipment for each site is eventually made
– Requires current SmartNet system to remain operational until P-25
– City would be required to upgrade software in step with County
The City of West Palm Beach 11/19/2012
Palm Beach County System
Direct Access AgencyCity would be full user of County system – abandon existing system
• Pros
– Eliminates need of existing system replacement/ maintenance
– County would offer discount for use of WPB 800MHz frequencies
– Maintains current City/ County interoperability
– Existing WPB mobile/ portable radios remain operational
• Cons
– Until County upgrades to full P-25, then 791 radios replaced
– Radio resource management transitions away from City
– County has no set timeframe to improve RF infrastructure to P-25
– Configuration may lack appropriate WPB building coverage
– No direct interoperability to MPSCC
The City of West Palm Beach 11/19/2012
General Concerns
The Harris and Motorola submittals we have reviewed are typical of unsolicited proposals:
• Proposed coverage performance is based on perceived need… not on the documented input from the full user community. High risk user expectations will not be met.
• Designed for “Blue Sky” performance. Little to no attention given to M/W, standby power systems or hardening.
The City of West Palm Beach 11/19/2012
General Concerns
The Harris and Motorola submittal we have reviewed contain deficiencies typical of unsolicited proposals:
• A lack of performance safeguards and accountability that ensure the products supplied are reliable and provided in a timely manner, with workmanship geared to the highest standards. This places the first responders on the street at risk.
• The transfer of risk away from the vendor and onto the owner. This sets the stage for change orders, cost escalation, and finger pointing.
The City of West Palm Beach 11/19/2012
Competitive RFP ProcessToday’s public safety radio networks are more
typically purchased via a competitive procurement process.
Project-25’s open standards coupled with the large number of qualified vendors now in the market, as compared to ten years ago, have
driven the move to open competition.
Competitive RFPs always secure the best set of services, reliability and features for the
lowest cost.
The City of West Palm Beach 11/19/2012
RFP-Driven ProcessSteps taken in a typical Network Modernization
• Planning/ Needs Assessment– Interviews with users and managers
– Conceptual system design alternatives
– Cost estimate development
• Procurement Phase
– RFP specification development
– Acceptance Test Plan development
– Evaluation of vendor proposals
– Contract negotiation Support
• Implementation Phase
– Owner technical support and supervision of contractor progress
– Alignment and acceptance test verification
The City of West Palm Beach 11/19/2012
Rank of Alternatives
#1 Competitive/ RFP – Safest alternative to obtain the best, most advantageous P-25 radio system for the
lowest cost.
#2 Harris Proposal – Potential, but only with substantial changes/enhancements through aggressive negotiation.
#3 County System – Potential, but requires sole source acquisition for either level of access. Risk mitigation req’d.
-- Motorola Proposal – Not an option due to sole source (unjustified) requirements. But, this proposal
strongly suggests a potential price decrease via RFP is likely.
The City of West Palm Beach 11/19/2012
Questions?
The City of West Palm Beach 11/19/2012
Thank You!
Tusa Consulting Services
Todd Mechler
Tallahassee, Florida
(850) 445-4564
Nick Tusa
Covington, Louisiana
(985) 249-6467
Carl Rader
Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
(954) 707-1318