040ADV-24-R-0050 - Offeror Questions and GPO Answers - GovInfo Public Access Subsystem Development and Support.docx

DOCX document 39 KB Posted Jun 13, 2024

Attached to: GovInfo is a content management system, preservation repository, and public website that manages, preserves, and provides free online access to current and historical information from the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of the United States F
Solicitation number: 040ADV-24-R-0050
Issued by: Government Publishing Office

About this file

Written by GovTribe AI · Jun 13, 2024

This document contains questions and answers related to a federal contract opportunity for the development and support of the GovInfo public access subsystem.

The key details are as follows: This is a re-compete of an existing contract, currently held by PTFS under contract number 040ADV-19-C-7851 valued at $11,658,712.64. The current contract has 9 development and support team members across various labor categories. The government has provided guidance on the evaluation of past performance, including accepting past performance from subcontractor roles in the last 5 years. The government has also confirmed that all personnel on the contract are considered key personnel, and that offerors should identify their proposed labor categories and key personnel. The government has agreed to extend the proposal due date to June 26, 2024.

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File	Type	Posted
QASP - GovInfo-Public-Access-QASP (1)-05-24-2024.docx	DOCX document	May 24, 2024
040ADV-24-R-0050.pdf	PDF	May 24, 2024

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Reference

Offeror’s Question

Answers

RFP Section M.1.2 Evaluation Factors and Ranking - Factor 2: Past Performance, Page 59

The RFP states that the Offeror must demonstrate satisfactory past performance during the past three years based on the offeror's performance record from references and Past Performance Information Retrieval System (PPIRS). The information on PPIRS is available only for the prime contractor and we request the Government to provide guidance on how we can submit past performance details where we performed as a subcontractor.

Please provide proof of the contracts (number) you’ve performed and the prime contractor’s name and contact information.

RFP Section M.1.2 Evaluation Factors and Ranking - Factor 2: Past Performance, Page 59

Could you please confirm whether past performances in which we fulfilled significant roles as a subcontractor are considered relevant for the evaluation of this proposal? Additionally, are there specific aspects or achievements as a subcontractor that the evaluation committee particularly values or requires detailed documentation on?

This is relevant. See Evaluation Factors.

RFP Section M.1.2 Evaluation Factors and Ranking - Factor 2: Past Performance, Page 59

We propose that past performance within the last five years from the due date of this proposal be regarded as recent and relevant, rather than limiting to the last three years. This adjustment would allow for a more extensive demonstration of sustained performance and adaptability over a longer period, which is crucial for the objectives of this contract.

That is acceptable to our agency, if you want to provide last 5 years.

RFP Section L.1.3 Proposal Content - Price Proposal (Volume II), Page 59

Are there any page limitations that we should adhere to for the Price Proposal (Volume II)?

RFP Section H – Special Requirements - H.3 Key Personnel, Page 34

Could you please identify the key personnel for this project?

Offerors should identify labor categories in their proposals.

Offerors should identify key personnel in their proposals. All personnel on this contract are key personnel. All labor categories proposed by the offeror are key personnel.

General

Could you please provide details of the incumbent and the current contract number?

PTFS

040ADV-19-C-7851

General

Please provide details of the current labor mix and number of FTEs for each labor category.

See RFP section C.1 page 8.

“There are currently nine contracted development and support team members on the GovInfo Search Web Team in the labor categories of Search Engineer (2), Data Analysis and Metadata Engineer (1), Web Engineer (2), Web Front End Engineer (1), Web UI Design Engineer (1), and Senior Java Engineer (2).”

Reference

Offeror’s Question

Answers

RFP Document, Section C

Can the Government please tell us if there’s an incumbent for this opportunity? If yes, can we get the contract number, contract value, and the historical level of effort?

Yes

PTFS

040ADV-19-C-7851

$11,658,712.64 See RFP section C.1 page 8.

RFP Document, Section C.1, Page 8, Paragraph 6 and Section M (Sub-Factor 1B: Staffing Plan), Page 58, Paragraph 1.

In Section C.1, Page 8 – The RFP states the team size of nine (9) contracted development and support team members supporting the GovInfo Search Web Team. Can the Government please confirm if this is the Level of Effort for this contract? If yes, then the LCATs here don’t match with the LCATs provided in the Table given on Page 2, Column 1. Can the Government please update this to ensure consistency?

Also, in Sections L and M, the RFP has asked for key personnel resumes. Can the Government please help identify the key staff to help the offeror provide the resumes or should the offeror identify the key staff?

See RFP section C.1 page 8.

See RFP section B.1 page 2.

“The contractor shall initially propose the team composition.”

“For informational purposes only, there are currently nine contracted development and support team members on the GovInfo Search Web Team. GPO envisions that the scope and level of effort associated with this RFP will be similar to the current contract. Below is an example of labor categories to illustrate variation, not need. See SOW in Section C.”

Table Header:

“Labor Category (examples to illustrate variation, not need)”

Offerors should identify labor categories in their proposals.

Offerors should identify key personnel in their proposals. All personnel on this contract are key personnel. All labor categories proposed by the offeror are key personnel.

RFP Document, Section C.1, Page 7, Paragraph 3.

The RFP states “FY24-28 Strategic Goals for the Program”. Can the Government please provide the pdf document of this strategic plan?

Key information is already in the RFP in section C.1 page 7.

FY24-28 Strategic Goals for the Program include the following:

· Deliver Results for Stakeholders

· Continuously Improve the User Experience

· Support the System and Our Users

· Refine Our Software Development Processes

· Evaluate and Implement Innovative Technologies

· Commit to Preservation and Assessment

· Perform Program Management Functions

RFP Document, Section L.1.3, Page 54

The RFP states the page limit of 10 pages for the Technical Approach. Considering the depth of SOW requirements and allowing offerors to be compliant with the best value approach, can the Government please increase the page count to 15 pages?

Yes

Reference

Offeror’s Question

Answers

General

What version of Drupal do you currently use?

10.x

General

Are you open to using PasS for services such as Drupal, search, etc?

General

Are you open to using Drupal’s headless CMS?

Yes

General

Do you use Azure DevOps to as your project management software, to manage sprints and ticketing?

We use Trello for project management and issue tracking. We use GitLab for issue tracking and SCM. We are evaluating possibly moving to Azure DevOps for SCM and issue tracking.

General

Are we required to use Azure services for LLMs and vector databases?

Reference

Offeror’s Question

Answers

General

Who currently provides the services as the incumbent?

PTFS

General

What is the current team size providing service and support ?

See RFP section C.1 page 8.

General

Are non US citizens allowed to work on this contract?

Personnel must be authorized to work in the United States and provide required documents for security suitability adjudication prior to onboarding. See also RFP section H.

General

Is this a new requirement or re-compete?

Re-compete

Section C.2.2

Can you provide the current volumes of user issues per month? Requesting details such as number of Tier I & Tier II incidents, resolution times, etc.,

Quarterly GovInfo production deployments include an average of 90 Requests for System Changes (RFC) that cover both development and support work for the entire GovInfo Program.

Section L.1.3

Do we need to submit any resumes in our response?

Yes

General

What is the development methodology?

Agile

General

What are the Project Management and Quality Assurance tools that are currently being used?

We use Trello for project management and issue tracking. We use GitLab for issue tracking and SCM. We are evaluating possibly moving to Azure DevOps for SCM and issue tracking.

Section C.2.1

Can you please provide details on how frequently the new changes/enhancements are deployed into production?

See RFP section C.1 page 8.

“To implement key efforts, the Program release cycle typically includes four planned quarterly releases each fiscal year.”

“Interim deployments are performed on an as-needed basis, and the Program envisions moving to a more rapid release cycle. Operational support tasks to monitor the system and provide corrective and adaptive maintenance are performed each day.”

General

Who developed the current system?

GPO with multiple vendors. Most recently, PTFS for the Public Access Subsystem.

Where is the current system deployed? On-Premise or Cloud. If cloud, please share details of the cloud platform (AWS, Azure, etc.,)

On-Premise

Section C.2.2

What are the tools used for tracking trouble tickets and incidents?

We use Trello for project management and issue tracking. We use GitLab for issue tracking and SCM. We are evaluating possibly moving to Azure DevOps for SCM and issue tracking.

General

What is the current contract number and contract value with the incumbent Contractor?

040ADV-19-C-7851

$11,658,712.64

Section B.3

Is there a pricing template that we need complete and submit?

See RFP section B.3 Pricing Schedule and Contract Line Numbers (CLINS).

Section L.1.3

How many past performances are we supposed to submit?

See RFP section M.1.2

“The Offeror must submit their DUNS number and contact information for three references, relevant to this requirement.”

Section L.1.3

Are commercial past performances allowed?

Yes

General

Could you please provide a list of current challenges with the system

See RFP section C.

Reference

Offeror’s Question

Answers

RFP Section H.3 Key Personnel and Section M.1.2 Evaluation Factors and RankingSub-Factor 1B: Staffing Plan

Both sections discuss Key Personnel, but do not identify them.

1. Will the Government please identify the Key Personnel Labor Categories?

2. Will the Government please consider the following Labor Categories (or equivalent) as the Key Persons: Search Engineer, Data Analysis and Metadata Engineer, Full Stack Developer, Web Engineer - Senior Level, Engineering Manager?

1. Offerors should identify labor categories in their proposals. Offerors should identify key personnel in their proposals. All personnel on this contract are key personnel. All labor categories proposed by the offeror are key personnel.

See RFP section B.1 page 2.

“The contractor shall initially propose the team composition.”

2. Offerors should identify labor categories in their proposals.

Table Header:

“Labor Category (examples to illustrate variation, not need)”

RFP Section M.1.2 Evaluation Factors and RankingSub-Factor 1B: Staffing Plan

Will the Government please consider requiring letters of commitment for all Key Persons that are not current employees?

The key personnel clause is intended to maintain personnel to the extent practicable and ensure the contract is fully staffed. The contractor is encouraged to maintain personnel with the goals of reducing turnover and reducing the effort expended on knowledge transfer.

RFP Section L.1.3 Proposal Content General Format Instructions, subparagh entitled Price Proposal (Volume II).

1. Is pricing for the CLINS in RFP Section B to be submitted as a spreadsheet (e.g., Microsoft Excel file) or a PDF Searchable file, with the supporting narrative text provided in Microsoft Word or in PDF format?

2. Does the Government require a signed copy of the 1449 to be submitted with the Price Proposal?

1. PDF searchable file will suffice

2. No, that won’t be necessary as long as you reference the RFP#

SF 1449 Item 8

The specified due date is June 24 at 2:00 PM. Will the Government please provide an extension to at least June 28 to allow contractors the time to address the answers to their questions?

The Government will extend the proposal due date to June 26, 2024 @2:00 PM.

File details come from the government source that posted it. Updated Jun 13, 2024.