Network_Services_Amendment_001_(03.25.15).pdf

AMENDMENT OF SOLICITATION/MODIFICATION OF CONTRACT 11. CONTRACT 10 CODE IPA~E OF PAGES

I 11

2. AMENDMENT/MODIFICATION NO. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE 4. REQUISITION/PURCHASE REO. NO. 15, PROJECT NO. (If applicable)

001 03/25/2015 6, ISSUED BY CODE 7. ADMINISTERED BY (If other than Item 6) CODE I

UNITED STATES TAX COURT

400 2ND STREET NW

WASHINGTON, DC 20217

8. NAME AND ADDRESS OF CONTRACTOR (No., street, county, State and ZIP Code)

9A AMENDMENT OF SOLICITATION

NO.

0 030415-1

9B. DATED (SEE ITEM 11)

03/04/2015

10A. MODIFICATION OF CONTRACT/ORDER NO.

0 108. DATED (SEE ITEM 13)

CODE IFACILITY CODE

11. THIS ITEM ONLY APPLIES TO AMENDMENTS OF SOLICITA TIONS

~ The above numbered solicitation is amended as set forth in Item 14. The hour and date specified for receipt of Offers D is extended, [8]is not extended.

Offers must acknowledge receipt of this amendment prior to the hour and date specified in the solicitation or as amended, by one of the following methods:

(a) By completing items 8 and 15, and retuming 1 copies of the amendment; (b) By acknowledging receipt of this amendment on each copy of the offer submitted;

or (c) By separate letter or telegram which includes a reference to the solicitation and amendment numbers, FAILURE OF YOUR ACKNOWLEDGMENT TO BE RECEIVED AT THE PLACE DESIGNATED FOR THE RECEIPT OF OFFERS PRIOR TO THE HOUR AND DATE SPECIFIED MAY RESULT IN REJECTiON OF YOUR OFFER, If by virtue of this amendment your desire to change an offer already submitted, such change may be made by telegram or letter, provided each telegram or letter makes reference to the solicitation and this amendment, and is received prior to the opening hour and date specified.

12. ACCOUNTING AND APPROPRIATION DATA (If required)

13. THIS ITEM ONLY APPLIES TO MODIFICATION OF CONTRACTS/ORDERS.

IT MODIFIES THE CONTRACT/ORDER NO. AS DESCRIBED IN ITEM 14.

CHECK ONE A. THIS CHANGE ORDER IS ISSUED PURSUANT TO: (Specify authority) THE CHANGES SET FORTH IN ITEM 14 ARE MADE IN THE CONTRACT ORDER NO.

IN ITEM 10A.o o o o

B. THE ABOVE NUMBERED CONTRACTfORDER IS MODIFIED TO REFLECT THE ADMiNISTRATIVE CHANGES (such as changes in paying office, appropriation date, etc.) SET FORTH IN ITEM 14, PURSUANT TO THE AUTHORITY OF FAR 43.103(b).

C. THIS SUPPLEMENTAL AGREEMENT IS ENTERED INTO PURSUANT TO AUTHORITY OF:

D. OTHER (Specify type of modification and authority)

E. IMPORTANT: Contractor D is not, D is required to sign this document and return copies to the issuing office.

14. DESCRIPTION OF AMENDMENT/MODIFICATION (Organized by UCF section headings, including solicitation/contract subject matter where feasible.)

PROVIDES A COMPILATION OF THE QUESTIONS RECEIVED BY THE COURT UNDER PROVISION 3-85, EXPLANATION TO PROSPECTIVE OFFERORS, IN PART III, SECTION L OF THE SOLICITATION, AND PROVIDES RESPONSES TO THE

COMPILED QUESTIONS.

Except as provided herein, all terms and conditions of the document referenced in Item 9A or 10A, as heretofore changed, remains unchanged and in full force and effect

15A. NAME AND TITLE OF SIGNER (Type or print) 16A. NAME AND TITLE OF CONTRACTING OFFICER (Type or print)

15B. CONTRACTOR/OFFEROR 15C. DATE SIGNED 16B, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 16C. DATE SIGNED

(Signature of person authorized to sign) (Signature of Contracting Officer)

NSN 7540-01-152-8070

Previous edition unusable

STANDARD FORM 30 (REV. 10-83)

Prescribed by GSA FAR (48 CFR) 53.243

March 25, 2015

Amendment 001 to Solicitation No. 030415-1 Questions and Responses

Q. Please provide any page limitations, font, or formatting requirements for the technical and price proposals.

A. Other than the requirements listed in the Solicitation, there are no page limits, font, or formatting requirements for proposals.

Q. Should offerors complete SF33, Section B, and contract clauses and provisions that require offeror input (including Section K) and provide (3) originals and (3) copies of this document?

A. Yes.

Q. What pieces go in which envelope?

A: Any document or fill-in portion of the Solicitation requiring information from the offeror which reflects a dollar amount should be part of the price proposal.

Technical proposals should not include any reference to price. Materials that are not technical in nature should accompany the price proposal.

Q. When can the bidder schedule a visit to the location?

A. Site visits may be scheduled through March 31, 2015. No questions will be answered during a site visit and cameras are not permitted.

Q. Does the mailing address specified for proposals also work for overnight mail services?

A. The Tax Court's mailing and physical address is 400 Second Street N.W., Washington DC 20217.

Q. Who is the incumbent?

A. The incumbent is CMC Software of Nashua, New Hampshire.

Q. When does the current contract expire?

A. May 29, 2015.

Q. Do contractor personnel need to have any particular level of security clearance?

A. No.

Q. Can offerors propose the use of subcontractors?

A. Yes, subject to, inter alia, the provisions of Clause 3-25 on page 1-7 and Clause 7-75 on page 1-26.

Q. Does the Tax Court have a preference for the contractor personnel to be located on-site?

A. Please see the Solicitation for information about on-site personnel.

Q. What or whom determines if it will be necessary for the contractor to provide on-site operations on a regular basis? What are the anticipated tasks of on-site contractor personnel?

A. As stated on p. C-7 of the Solicitation, the Tax Court may deem it necessary for the contractor to provide on-site manager/operations type personnel on a regular basis at the Tax Courthouse; and, as stated on p. M-2 of the Solicitation, in deciding to whom to award the contract, the Court will consider whether the contractor will provide on-site staff on a regular basis.

Q. Will the Tax Court provide support (office space,furniture, phone line, etc.)

for on-site contractor personnel?

A. The Court anticipates providing a workspace with telephone for on-site personnel.

Q. Must on-site support be incorporated as part of the proposal?

A. If an offeror proposes on-site support, it should be included in the proposal.

Q. How long does the on-site backup currently take? Can this process be initiated remotely or must it be done on-site?

A. The backup currently runs multiple jobs/devices with the longest starting at 5:00 p.m. and finishing about 5:30 a.m. The Court may require backup to be performed on-site.

Q. Is the backup encrypted?

A. No.

Q. Is there any provision for using government-provided laptops for secure remote access?

A. Yes.

Q. Does the successful offeror need to implement a VPN solution?

A. The Solicitation makes no reference to a VPN.

Q. How many end-users will need to be supported?

A. As stated in the Solicitation, the Tax Court data network supports approximately 250 computer users.

Q. How many full time equivalents are currently performing enterprise support?

A. 3.5 FTEs are currently providing enterprise support.

Q. Can the Tax Court characterize how many personnel are needed for "daily systems administration and operational duties"?

A. No.

Q. Does the Tax Court have any metrics to determine uptime?

A. No.

Q. Is the Tax Court network currently in an architectural position to maintain 99.9% enterprise uptime or is a transition period acceptable?

A. The data network is currently in an architectural position to maintain 99.9% enterprise uptime, and a transition period will not be acceptable.

Q. Does the customer have power, cooling, and network capabilities to meet or exceed the required 99.9% uptime?

A. Yes.

Q. Does the Tax Court have any metrics (e.g., number of tickets per month, time to resolution, etc.) for its help desk?

A. No. The Tax Court currently does not track its support calls, but they average approximately 8-10 per month.

Q. Will the Tax Court provide the tools required for identifying and fIXing problems related to the data network?

A. The Tax Court currently employs a variety of tools for identifying and fixing problems related to the data network. The Tax Court may provide additional tools to identify and fix problems with the data network in the future.

Q. Is the Tax Court open to the introduction of new tools and technologies? Is funding available for such tools?

A. The Tax Court is open to the consideration of introducing new tools and technologies, subject to the availability of funding.

Q. Can the offeror assume that a network capacity planning tool, ifrequested, would be GFE or reimbursable?

A. Yes.

Q. What level of effort (number of hours per month) is the Tax Court expecting for SQL Server support andfor SQL Reporting Services?

A. The Tax Court expects the contractor to provide the services described in the Solicitation, which includes SQLlSQL Reporting Services support for various applications.

Q. How often do these reports need to be run and who will be running them?

A. Reports are typically generated by end users running applications with reporting functions. The frequency with which reports are prepared varies.

Q. Will there be any SQL programming, scripting, data management, triggers, etc., required under this contract?

A. The need for SQL programming has not yet been determined but it is expected that any such programming would occur under the Professional Services component of the contract.

Q. Does the Tax Court run Microsoft Dynamics GP on an SQL server? Will there be any support required under this contract for that application?

A. The Court runs Microsoft Dynamics GP on an SQL server, but that application is largely supported under a separate contract.

Q. Is there an estimated number and frequency of meetings held on a monthly basis?

A. No.

Q. Is the Tax Court expecting the provider to support, patch and/or update SQL servers?

A. Yes.

Q. Are different versions of SQL used for newer and older business systems? If so, which ones?

A. Generally, older versions of SQL are being used by the Courts legacy applications and newer versions of SQL are being used by the newer applications.

A complete list ofthe various applications and versions of SQL will be provided to the selected network provider.

Q. Are there any custom databases in use by the Tax Court? Please describe them and the support needed.

A. As noted in the Solicitation, the Tax Court relies heavily on Blackstone, a highly customized case and document management system. Blackstone is supported under a separate contract, though the application needs to be fully functional in the networked environment. The Tax Court also uses a customized version of Microsoft Dynamics GP and several custom programs.

Q. Does the Tax Court run Microsoft Dynamics GP on the SQL server? Will there be any support required under this contract for this application?

A. The Court's customized version of Microsoft Dynamics GP is supported under a separate contract, though the application needs to be fully functional in the networked environment.

Q. Is the Tax Court expecting the provider to support, patch and/or update Kiwi and Firegen products?

A. Yes.

Q. Is the Tax Court expecting the provider to support, patch and/or update the servers, SANs, and switches?

A. Yes.

Q. Is the Tax Court expecting the provider to support, patch and/or update other non-Microsoft products?

A. Yes.

Q. Can you provide afull list of network devices in the current environment (e.g.,jirewalls, switches, routers, WAPs, NAS devices, SANs)?

A. Please see Appendices A and B in Part III, Section J of the Solicitation.

Q. Does Appendix B list all devices and total quantities of devices to be supported?

A. Appendix B lists all devices comprising the data network as of February 23, 2015. Over time, the specific devices comprising the data network will change.

The contractor will be required to support the data network, regardless of those changes.

Q. Will the Court accept responses that are notfor all of the equipment?

A. As stated in the Solicitation, offers for products or services other than those specified will not be considered.

Q. Can you provide specific product numbers and descriptions for the Brocade equipment?

A. With the 3PAR, the 2 switches are HP 8/24 fiber switches, but internally they are made by Brocade. The EVA4400 is the model with embedded fiber switches, so there is no separate model, but they are also internally made by Brocade.

Q. Does the Tax Court have a master asset list that also identifies support agreements and warranties in place?

A. No. The Tax Court does not currently have a master list identifYing all network assets with associated support agreements and warranties.

Q. Is all of the current hardware under warranty? lfso, when do the warranties expire?

A. As noted on page C-2 of the Solicitation, the Court has manufacturer support contracts in place for all of the hardware devices listed in Appendix A and Appendix B and expects to continue those contracts.

Q. Is all of the current software subject to support agreements? lfso, when do they expire?

A. Generally, the Court has manufacturer support contracts in place for all of its standard software and expects to continue those contracts.

Q. Are the existing agreements "24x7" or "NBD" response agreements?

A. The support agreements on critical components of the network are 24 x 7 x 4.

The support agreements for non-critical components are 8 x 5 x NBD.

Q. Is there a schematic for how the network is connected and how data and voice is trafficked across sites both inbound and outbound?

A. No. The Tax Court does not have a current master schematic showing all of the networked traffic.

Q. Does the Tax Court have a cabling schematic identifYing the data and voice connections to the patch panels and corresponding routers and switches?

A. No. The Tax Court does not have current a master schematic showing all of the data and voice connection to the patch panels and corresponding routers and switches.

Q. Where is each server located (e.g., HQ, DR site, specific remote office)?

A. Please refer to page J-6 of the Solicitation.

Q. Is the Stop Work Order clause standard for government contracting?

A. The Tax Court utilizes the Guide to Judiciary Policy, Vol. 14 (Procurement) for procurement matters. Clause 2-60 on page F-l of the Solicitation is similar to the version found in the Guide.

Q. How often has the Tax Court requested Stop-Work Orders over the past year?

A. The Tax Court has not issued any stop work orders relating to the network services contract in the past year.

Q. On Page C-4, a reference is made to support "including Sundays and Federal Holidays." Is this meant to state "excluding Sundays and Federal holidays"?

A. Services in response to a request for support that are provided outside 8:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m. Monday through Saturday or a Federal holiday will be handled on a labor/hour basis and fall under Professional Services in Section C.S.

Q. Is the contractor responsible for establishing the installation schedulesfor the "Court's other IT contractors and application software providers"?

A. No.

Q. If there is a scheduling conflict, who has the authority to resolve it?

A. The contracting officer's representative has the authority to resolve scheduling conflicts.

Q. Does the Tax Court maintain a pre-production/testing environment so that all changes,firmwarelsoftware patches, etc. can be tested prior to implementation?

A. No. The contractor will need to work with the Court's critical application vendor to test any updates prior to installation into the production environment.

Q. Is there currently a "furnish phase-in training" for the successful bidder?

A. No.

Q. What is the current Active Directory functional level (e.g., 2003, 2008 R2, 2012)?

A. USTC is Win2008R2; Accounting is Win2003.

Q. How many physical servers exist, including virtual server hosts?

A. Please refer to Appendix B in Part III, Section J of the Solicitation.

Q. What are the roles on each server (e.g., web server, database server, domain controller) ?

A. The roles on each server are varied. A more specific list will be provided at the request of the successful bidder.

Q. What are the primary business applications installed on each server?

A. The applications on each server are varied. A more specific list will be provided at the request of the successful bidder.

Q. What hypervisor product version is currently in use (e.g., Hyper-V 2012 R2)?

A. Hyper-V Win 2008 and Win2008R2 (may convert to Win2012 before May 31 st).

Q. Where are virtual machine files being stored (e.g., NAS, SAN, local storage)?

A. The virtual machine files are being stored on servers.

Q. If a dedicated storage device is in use, what is the make, model, and current warranty status?

A. As noted on page C~2of the Solicitation, the Court has manufacturer support contracts in place for all of the hardware devices listed in Appendix A and Appendix B and expects to continue those contracts.

Q. How many virtual machines are in use today?

A. There are 13 at headquarters and 20 at the Court's DR site.

Q. Is the Tax Court currently using any cloud-based services?

A. No.

Q. What are the primary tasks for the Tax Court's DIS stafJ? Do they lead future state efforts?

A. The Court's OIS staff operates the Court's information services program, oversees relationships with contractors, and provides support for end users.

Q: Is the Court's DIS staff the lead developer of the smaller COTS applications referred to in the Solicitation?

A. No.

Q. What is the tech refresh plan?

A. Long-range plans will be discussed and developed with the selected network services provider.

Q. What is the Windows Server 2003 migration plan and who will own this (customer, PS, MS)?

A. Migration plans will be discussed and developed with the selected network services provider.

Q. What is the Exchange 2010 migration plan and who will own this (customer, PS,MS)?

A. Migration plans will be discussed and developed with the selected network services provider.

Q. Does the Court utilize the National Business Center's bandwidth services?

A. The Court does not utilize the National Business Center's bandwidth services, but does use its HR, time and attendance, and payroll services.

Q. What version of HP storage systems is the Tax Court using?

A. The Court is using 3PAR 7200 at headquarters and EYA4400 at the OR site.

Q. What protocols are being used on the SAN (fiber channel, iSCSI, FCOE, CIFS,NFS)?

A. Fiber channel is being used on both SANs.

Q. Has the environment undergone a recent third-party or internal vulnerability scan?

A. Not recently. In April 2010, the Court underwent outside penetration testing and scored extremely well.

Q. Does the Court have a defined BYOD and MDM strategy? Ifso, what is it?

A. The Tax Court currently supports BYOD through its XenMobile MOM system.

Q. Does the Tax Court have a DR/BC plan? Ifso, what is it?

A. To the extent this question inquires as to the Court's disaster recovery plan, please refer to the Solicitation.