MANAGED IT SERVICES.

Request For Proposals For
Managed Information Technology Services
City of Spicer
217 Hillcrest Avenue
Spicer, MN 56288
www.cityofspicer.org
June 16, 2026
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I. INTRODUCTION
The City of Spicer invites proposals from qualified companies to provide managed information
technology (IT) services. The qualified company will enable the city to significantly improve IT
effectiveness, enhance its quality of services, minimize its support costs, and maximize return on
investment in IT. The city will consider a three-year contract term with two optional one-year extensions
if agreed by both the city and selected company.
The city has a Microsoft-based computer network infrastructure. The city is seeking a business partner
to provide technical support for this infrastructure, in the form of break fix, routine maintenance and
project-related services. The city may also look to a successful company for special projects and
consulting as needed such as short- and long-term IT planning, and disaster recovery.
The primary objective is to better manage the cost of maintaining the network, while also
improving end user satisfaction with the system.
City operations include two physical locations: city hall/community center and public works building.
The city has approximately 4 full-time staff plus five elected officials, approximately 8 first
responders and approximately 30 volunteer on-call firefighters, the latter of whom have limited
access to the city's IT systems.
Hours of operations have the following hours:
City Hall/Community Center: Monday - Friday 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Public Works & Parks: Monday - Friday 7:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
The ideal company will have experience providing IT services to local government organizations.
II. SCHEDULE AND ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Proposals must be received via email, in-person, or postal mail by 12:00 p.m. on Friday, July 17, 2026 at
one of following:
cityadmin@cityofspicer.org City of Spicer
Attn: IT Services RFP
217 Hillcrest Avenue
Spicer, MN 56288
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All dates are tentative EXCEPT proposal due date.
ACTION DATE
Request for Proposal Released Tuesday, June 16, 2026
Proposals Due Friday, July 17, 2026
Interviews Tuesday, July 21, 2026 at 5:30 p.m. via zoom (Evening Time TBD)
Vendor Selected Wednesday, July 22, 2026
Contract Review Monday, July 27, 2026
Contract Approved by City Council Tuesday, August 4, 2026
Services to Begin for the City Tuesday, September 1, 2026
PROPOSALS MUST BE RECEIVED BY 12:00 P.M. ON FRIDAY, JULY 17, 2026 TO BE CONSIDERED.
Questions should be addressed to Jen Beckler at cityadmin@cityofspicer.org OR 320-766-5622 by 12:00
p.m. on Wednesday, July 1, 2026. Any questions received after that time may not be answered before
proposals are due.
It is the intent of the City of Spicer to conduct a comprehensive, fair, and impartial evaluation of
proposals received. Award shall be made to the provider, who is believed by staff to be the best fit for
the city. The city reserves the right to reject any and all proposals, waive all technicalities and accept any
proposal deemed to be in the city's best interest. Proposers are solely responsible for delivery of their
proposals to the city before the deadline. This RFP creates no obligation on the part of the city to award
a contract or to compensate the proposer for any costs incurred in competing to provide managed IT
services to the city.
III. EVALUATION CRITERIA
Final selection will be based on a combination of relevant experience, available qualified staff, schedule
of rates and ability to meet the city's needs. Specifically, the evaluation committee will consider the
following criteria.
1. Overall responsiveness to RFP requirements and ability of company to meet city's customer
service expectations and IT performance needs.
2. Thoroughness and understanding of the tasks to be completed and the environment in which
they are performed.
3. Company security performance.
4. Expertise and overall experience of personnel assigned to the work.
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5. Background and experience with similar projects.
6. Pricing structure and projected cost.
IV. SCOPE OF WORK
At a minimum, IT management services will include the following work to manage, monitor, and
secure the city's IT systems.
1. 24x7x365 monitoring of denoted servers and critical network components
2. 24x7x365 response to critical servers and infrastructure failures
3. 24x7x365 monitoring of firewall and denoted devices
4. 24x7x365 monitoring of applications
5. Full-service desk
6. Full-service operations center service
7. Remote management software on all workstations and servers
8. Server and network administration (if applicable)
a) SQL Server
b) Laserfiche
c) Laserfiche Weblink
d) Domain Controllers
e) Hyper-V Server
f) Network back up and disaster recovery
9. Manage Microsoft service packs and security patches on servers
10. Regular inspection of network and file server
11. Regular/periodic cleaning and testing of backups by restore of test files
12. Firewall administration
13. Labor and support for migration of network operating systems/files
14. Monthly reports of network health and vitality
15. Web access to reports on current status of service calls and projects
16. Spyware/malware monitoring, removal, and cleaning
17. Regular data security and compliance assessments and testing, including antivirus software,
password protection, mail filtering, phishing, vulnerability scanning, data destruction, and
patch management
18. Less than 4-hour response time for server down emergencies
19. Research on hardware/software solutions
20. Consultation and support for near- and long-term planning including development of
replacement program to keep system operating at a high performance and data security levels
including but not limited to major system upgrades or replacement, major redesign
configurations, and related large projects
21. Perform network backup & disaster recovery
22. Monitor system performance and provide regular reports including efficiency, quality,
and security
23. Ability for city employee to work remotely via laptop outside the office without technical
issues
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24. Ability for city employee to make necessary updates to any and all desktop programs
without needing IT service permission or requests
Additionally, the proposal may include related services provided by the vendor that may be of value to
the city.
V. CURRENT USER COMPUTERS AND SYSTEM SERVERS (approximate)
Item Category Number
Users (approximate) 12
Current Internet Connection & Speed
* TDS Telcom provides internet connection into city hall/community
center and public works
Desktop computers (approximate) 5
Laptop computers (approximate) 6
Servers (approximate)
* Physical servers 1
* Virtual Physical Host hosting:
Laserfiche 1
Laserfiche Weblink 1
Domain controller 1
SQL server 1
Hyper- V host 1
* Backup & disaster recovery server 1
Firewall (approximate) 2
City Network
Network Switch(s)
Wi-Fi AP
All are currently under existing provider cloud management
VI. PROPOSAL REQUIREMENTS
Proposals must address the scope of service with focus on clearly identifying company's experience and
competencies relative to the evaluation criteria. The city desires proposals that are thorough yet concise.
At a minimum, proposals must contain the following information.
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1. Cover Sheet with company contact information and person with binding authority to enter into
contracts.
2. Company Profile highlighting history, company expertise, and customer service approach relative
to the city's scope of work and compliance with industry standards as evidenced by audits. Include
length of time providing proposed services, number of clients, and location of office which would
serve this account.
3. Customer Account Team listing the positions and/or individuals who would service the city's
relationship. Include qualifications, experience, expertise, and IT certifications for each position
or individual.
4. Statement of Understanding briefly outlining the company's understanding of the services to be
provided and making a positive commitment to providing the services specified.
5. Scope of Service addressing the IT managed services described in the scope of work. Include a
description of the approach for providing such services and the methodology for providing
ongoing support.
6. Pricing Structure and Cost for all services described in the scope of work and additional services
provided that may be of value to the city.
7. Client References who can speak to similar work performed by the company for
comparable size/scope clients; public sector client references are preferred.
8. Evidence of Insurance related to services provided.
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