1. Instructions RFQ 12314425Q0065 STRATUS Pool 2 On-Ramp.pdf

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RFQ 12314425Q0065

SOLICITATION NO. 12314425Q0065

STRATUS CLOUD BASIC ORDERING AGREEMENT

POOL 2: INTEGRATION AND DEVELOPMENT SUPPORT SERVICES ON-RAMP

United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO) Digital Infrastructure Services Center (DISC)

Solicitation Contents:

Section 1: Synopsis Section 2: Solicitation Information, Dates, and Deadlines Section 3: Overview of Solicitation Section 4: Submission Instructions to Offerors Section 5: Quote Evaluation Criteria Section 6: BOA Award Section 7: Solicitation Attachments

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Section 1 Synopsis This annual synopsis covers requirements related to USDA STRATUS BOA Pool 2: Integration and Development Support Services within the scope of, and are designated for performance under, the STRATUS Pool 2 program and which emerge within the year after this annual synopsis is published, including but not limited to, the requirements specifically identified herein. The Basic Ordering Agreement (BOA) Request for Quote (RFQ) allows offerors to obtain an executed STRATUS Pool 2 BOA in order to propose against the subsequent task order (TO) solicitations.

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is issuing this BOA RFQ for all STRATUS Pool 2 requirements emerging through June 2026. Any responsible offeror may submit a quote in response to this RFQ. The BOA RFQ will result in the execution of BOAs with offerors determined to be most capable in accordance with the requirements of the solicitation. Separate TO solicitations will be issued for each of the STRATUS Pool 2 requirements emerging within the year. If an offeror would like to have the opportunity to be able to participate in any future STRATUS Pool 2 TOs that may arise within the next year, it is imperative that the offeror submit a quote in response to this BOA RFQ. This BOA RFQ will be the only opportunity anticipated in 2025 that offerors will have to obtain an executed STRATUS Pool 2 BOA in order to propose against the subsequent TO solicitations.

As noted above, this synopsis covers all STRATUS Pool 2 requirements that emerge within the year after this annual synopsis is published. This includes, but is not limited to, the requirements identified in Attachment I titled “Projected Task Order Opportunities” which have already been identified and designated for performance under the STRATUS program and for which the issuance of a TO solicitation is already anticipated. TOs for the requirements in Attachment I will not be issued until the BOA execution process under RFQ #12314425Q0065 is completed.

Section 2 Solicitation Information, Dates, and Deadlines

2.1 Solicitation Amendment History

Amendment Action Date 0 Solicitation Issued 06/13/2025

The Government reserves the right to revise or amend the specifics of the solicitation prior to the closing time. Any amendment will be posted to https://sam.gov. It is the offeror’s responsibility to check for amendments. It is the sole discretion of the Government to determine if the solicitation closing date will be extended due to an amendment. In such cases the amendment will include the new closing date and time.

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2.2 Solicitation Points of Contact / Contract Administration

Points of Contact: The following points of contact are to be used to communicate with the Government during the basic ordering agreement (BOA) duration. During solicitation through award, the Contracting Officer shall be the primary point of contact:

Contracting Officer (CO):

Name: Christine Wallace Email: Christine.Wallace@usda.gov Phone: 970-295-5353

Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR):

Designated in writing by the Contracting Officer at time of award.

2.3 Questions

2.3.1 Questions

Questions shall be submitted via email to the CO utilizing Attachment E – Questions and Answers Template. The deadline for submitting questions is 3:00pm ET on June 20, 2025.

2.3.2 Government Responses to Questions

The Government will publish answers to offeror questions via an amendment to this solicitation.

Responses will be posted to https://sam.gov. The Government reserves the right to publish only those questions and answers of a common interest to all prospective offerors. The Government will evaluate questions and answers to determine if a second round of questions is required. If the Government determines a second round of questions is required, the dates will be identified via amendment.

2.4 Due Date and Delivery

Quotes must be submitted on or prior to 3:00pm ET on July 11, 2025. USDA will not accept quotes received by fax or mail.

Offerors are to submit quotes electronically via email directly to the CO. Subject line of the submittal email shall be formatted as follows: RFQ #, Offeror Name https://sam.gov/

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Section 3 Overview of Solicitation

3.1 Executive Summary / Background

3.1.1 Current Environment and Contract Vehicles

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) IT environment is decentralized with a federated governance model. The department-level Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO) operates the Digital Infrastructure Services Center (DISC) as well as enterprise-wide networking, cybersecurity, and customer support services. USDA has eight Mission Areas (MAs) each with its own Assistant CIO. Each MA has multiple agencies each with varying levels of IT hierarchy.

DISC provides cloud brokerage services to the USDA MAs as a consolidated point of entry, established as a mandate, for hyperscale Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) and Platform as a Service (PaaS) procurements through the Cloud Brokerage Office (CBO).

For Software as a Service (SaaS) and cloud-related labor and managed services there is currently no consolidated approach, and they are not within the scope of the CBO mandate. Prior to the establishment of the STRATUS BOAs, USDA had been using multiple USDA contracts and Government Wide Acquisition Vehicles (GWACs) for these services. Salesforce SaaS is purchased centrally through DISC at the enterprise level whereas many other SaaS are purchased through the MA or agency within the MA. Labor and managed services are even more decentralized with the least degree of shared services approach at the enterprise level.

Beyond the cloud brokerage function, DISC is a managed service provider offering data center hosting, cloud, and applications development solutions to the USDA MAs as well as to other federal agencies.

DISC operates enterprise class Level IV data center facilities. In addition, it manages the AgCloud program delivering highly scalable enterprise-level shared services across multiple public cloud platforms including Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud Platform (GCP), Microsoft Azure, and Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) and a private VMware vCloud platform. AgCloud facilitates USDA’s efforts to migrate applications to a cloud environment, allowing the consolidation of USDA data centers to support the Federal Data Center Consolidation Center Consolidation Initiative (FDCCI), which in August 2016 was renamed the Data Center Optimization Initiative by OMB (see Memorandum M-16-19). Unlike CBO, USDA Mission Areas are not compelled to use the AgCloud program.

3.1.2 Challenges of the Current Environment

While the current DISC/CBO model has allowed for flexibility in cloud adoption, there are drawbacks.

The model effectively allows each MA to have a direct line to various contracts. Silos have been raised between the various customer cloud and service implementations, causing a lack of visibility and negated scalability, metric collection, and an inability to realize a cohesive enterprise architecture. The extent of this issue is even larger for SaaS and labor/managed services. Lack of demand aggregation and not taking advantage of the market forces have resulted in inconsistent and often higher prices for these services as compared to other exceptionally large enterprises. The complexity of moving large applications, vast sets of data and workloads to the cloud often requires a multifaceted approach involving systems, platforms and tools across IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS offerings, as well as labor

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3.1.3 Evolution of DISC and CBO

The USDA is maturing from early phases of OMB’s “Cloud First” brokerage into a true cloud solutions organization that enables DISC to offer well curated, managed services that better control costs, are properly secured, promote reusability, and significantly increase speed to market for customers. In support of this new complex solutions capability, DISC is leveraging industry best practices to create a set of new operating models, processes, and a roadmap for the growth of both CBO and AgCloud to meet the ever-increasing “Cloud Smart” demands of USDA MAs, and external federal agency customers to create a true USDA Digital Enterprise.

As DISC evolves to meet the customer demands, it will increasingly incorporate commercial cloud capabilities into AgCloud as curated, managed services, and further extend them with mature platform and DevSecOps capabilities. CBO scope is also evolving to include robust shared services across all cloud and associated labor/managed services.

This posture creates increased efficiencies across the entire spectrum of USDA IT operations, allowing MA Associate CIOs to focus on mission applications while consuming DISC services for infrastructure and platform support. Over time, USDA will be able to save costs and better allocate resources, evolving USDA’s IT enterprise to meet the needs of the MAs while supporting Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act (FITARA), Federal CIO Council’s Cloud Smart policy and other federal guidance.

3.1.4 STRATUS BOA Solicitation Process

This Request for Quote (RFQ) 12314425Q0065 is a combined synopsis/solicitation for a competitive action conducted IAW Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 16.703. The intent of this action is to allow interested offerors an opportunity to submit a quote for evaluation to obtain an executed USDA STRATUS Cloud Pool 2 BOA. Any quote submitted in response to this RFQ must be in compliance with the terms and conditions in the RFQ and attachments. Failure to comply with the terms of the solicitation may result in the quote being rejected or receiving an unfavorable evaluation.

The Government will execute no-cost BOAs to offerors in accordance with the criteria stated in the solicitation.

The Government will procure the STRATUS Pool 2 requirements utilizing the multi-step procurement process outlined below:

Step One: A Pre-solicitation Notice was published under Notice ID 12314423R0010 on April 11, 2023. The USDA STRATUS Program Sources Sought Notice for Pool 2 was published under Notice ID 12314423R0011 (Related Notice 12314423R0010) on April 12, 2023. A potential offeror is not precluded from submitting an offer in Step Two if it did not provide a submission in response to Step One. Note: this Step will not be repeated.

Step Two: Basic Ordering Agreement Request for Quote (BOA RFQ) will be released once a year to allow interested offerors an opportunity to submit a quote for evaluation to obtain an

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An annual combined synopsis/solicitation for requirements falling under the scope of the STRATUS Pool 2 program will be released in SAM (SAM.gov). The annual synopsis/solicitation will cover requirements related to USDA STRATUS BOA Pool 2: Integration and Development Support Services that are within the scope of, and designated for, the STRATUS Pool 2 program and that emerge within the year after the annual synopsis is published.

Step Three: The Procuring Contracting Officer (PCO) will issue competitive task order solicitations for specific requirements falling under the scope of the STRATUS program. An offeror must be a qualified BOA holder as of the closing date of a task order solicitation. The Government will confirm that an offeror is a qualified BOA holder by checking the effective date of an offeror’s BOA.

3.1.5 BOA Execution Rules

A basic ordering agreement is not a contract pursuant to FAR 16.703(a)(3).

A STRATUS BOA term will be for up to ten (10) years beginning from the effective date of the initial BOA award. All future BOA onramps will align with the initial BOA expiration date, which would result in a BOA term for the remaining BOA ordering period. The current BOA ordering period is from date of award through April 9, 2034.

There are two BOA “tracks”: Restricted and Unrestricted. Restricted track task order competitions are limited to small businesses with a NAICS code of 541512. Restricted track task order competitions can be further set aside to a specific socioeconomic category if adequate competition can be obtained within that category. Unrestricted track task order competitions are open to both large and small businesses.

BOA holders may not hold more than one BOA per track (Unrestricted/Restricted) at any time.

IAW FAR 16.703(c)(2), all BOAs will be reviewed annually before the anniversary of its effective date and revised as necessary to conform to the changing requirements of the FAR and other applicable statutes and regulations. Only the BOA level Contracting Officer is authorized to execute, modify or conduct the annual review of a BOA resulting from this RFQ.

BOAs shall be changed only by modifying the agreement itself and not by individual orders issued under it. Modifying a BOA shall not retroactively affect orders previously issued under it. The terms of the BOA may need to be revised before the annual review due to changes in mandatory requirements.

The execution of a BOA does not guarantee the Government will place future task orders with the holder.

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Since BOAs are not contracts, either the Government or the Contractor may elect not to renew the BOA at the annual review or at any time during the agreement period. The Government reserves the right to cancel the BOA if doing so is considered to be in the Government's best interest.

USDA BOA Operating Rules

All USDA agencies are authorized to place orders against the STRATUS BOAs. All orders will be placed by an agency procuring contracting officer (PCO).

A BOA task order will become a binding contract: (1) upon acceptance of proposal and award if a request for proposal (RFP) is utilized or (2) upon issuance a task order if a request for quote (RFQ) is utilized.

Pricing for all task orders will be established at the task order level.

Delivery terms and conditions will be established at the task order level.

Payment procedures will be established at the task order level.

All orders above the micro-purchase threshold will be competed among Restricted track BOA holders, unless the PCO justifies competition among Unrestricted track BOA holders.

Failure to reach agreement on price for any order issued before its price is established is a dispute under the Disputes clauses included in the BOA.

3.2 Objective

3.2.1 STRATUS Cloud Strategy

A centerpiece of USDA’s strategy to address the stated challenges of the current environment is the establishment of STRATUS as its own cloud acquisition vehicle that best fits its IT governance model, the emerging cloud operating models, and the vision for a true USDA Digital Enterprise.

The STRATUS key objectives are:

Full visibility, across customers, into inventory of services and the consumption data with access to deep data analytics.

Lower cost through aggregating demand and higher competition resulting in both innovative pricing models and lower unit prices.

Improved cost accountability and reporting, especially on labor services.

Ordering and billing transparency, streamlining and automation implemented uniformly across all acquisitions under this vehicle.

Flexibility to allow different cloud operating models.

Future-proofing this vehicle to align with USDA strategic goals.

Drive toward a holistic, secure enterprise enabling agile delivery of capabilities through

DevSecOps and GitOps best practices.

Optimization of IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS utilizations across USDA.

Enabling rapid growth and migration of the remaining on-premises workloads to cloud.

Robust development of shared services including data sharing throughout the

Enterprise Cloud Vendor Management (ECVM) program.

Increased DISC capabilities for other federal agency customers.

Unified USDANet network access and implementing future architectures (e.g., Zero Trust).

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See Attachment A for the Pool 2 Statement of Objectives.

3.2.2 Pool Structure and Rationale

STRATUS is divided into three pools of services. Pool 1 is for all the products that the hyperscale Cloud Service Providers (CSPs) may offer including their professional or technical support services as well as their marketplace products. It should be noted that STRATUS does not prescribe definitions or categories for IaaS, PaaS or SaaS under Pool 1 and simply refers to this pool as CSP Services. Pool 2 is for all cloud-related labor and managed services including development, integration, management, and operational support. Pool 3 is for SaaS offerings (not including native hyperscale CSP services under Pool 1) including professional and technical support services provided by the SaaS Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM).

There are several reasons for this division. The intention is for hyperscale CSP services to fit into one pool (Pool 1) and have no need for hyperscale CSPs to bid under different pools. The divisions of Pools 2 and 3 are driven by the desire to have clear separation and cost accountability of software licenses (Pool 3) and reseller or systems integrator labor services (Pool 2).

There may be exceptions to this division. For example, in cases where the Pool 2 reseller/integrator would offer capabilities they might have uniquely built on top of platforms or software that otherwise is under Pool 1 or 3. USDA may define at the task order level if they seek managed services or if they only want labor services under Pool 2 and that they will purchase IaaS/PaaS/SaaS under their respective pools and furnish them to the Pool 2 provider.

3.2.3 Cloud Operating Models

A key objective of STRATUS is the ability to support different cloud operating models given the nature of the IT governance within USDA and the current and evolving models in the Mission Areas (MAs) influencing CBO services. The table below shows possible operating models.

The first model is the current AgCloud program where various functions at the USDA enterprise level collectively provide full managed service offerings. The second model is a small variation of the first model where the customer uses enterprise offerings for all services except the Operations and Maintenance (O&M). Under both models the Task Orders are owned by OCIO-DISC allowing the highest levels of demand aggregation and efficiencies.

The next two models, Models 3 and 4, are similar in that the customer utilizes their own solutioning and O&M resources but differ significantly: under Model 3 DISC owns the Task Order and under Model 4 the customer does. Model 4 maintains the current level of control by the customer, and Model 3 eliminates the additional burden of soliciting and managing a Task Order by leveraging existing DISC Task Orders. This approach applies to all three pools, however, for Pools 1 and 3 it is anticipated that DISC would establish Task Orders for its own AgCloud purposes early after the start of STRATUS covering all needed services, but for Pool 2 DISC may need to establish new Task Orders specific to the customer development or integration labor requirements. Model 4 is the closest representation to how the CBO has historically functioned in the USDA since 2014.

Models 5 and 6 represent cases where STRATUS is not used. Under Model 5 CBO still provides its brokerage service through access to other cloud GWACs. Under Model 6 there is no CBO engagement

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3.3 Acquisition Details / General Contract Terms

3.3.1 This solicitation is a Request for Quotes being issued under NAICS code 541512 (size standard $34.0M), Computer Systems Design Services. The Government will issue BOAs to the most capable mix of large (Unrestricted) and small (Restricted) businesses.

3.3.2 Quotes will be evaluated and placed on either an Unrestricted or Restricted track, determined by the offeror’s identified business size as supported by its representations and certifications. The quote requirements are the same for both tracks but Unrestricted (large business) and Restricted (small business) offerors will not be evaluated against each other.

3.3.3 A prime offeror may only appear once per track and is prohibited from submitting under multiple teaming arrangements within each track, such as quoting as a prime offeror on its own and also as a mentor or protégé on one or more JVs on the same track.

3.3.4 Individual task orders may be fixed price, firm fixed price, time and materials, labor hour, or a hybrid of any of these contract types.

3.3.5 This is a competitive action conducted in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 16.703.

3.3.6 This is not a competitive source selection that is subject to FAR 15.3 procedures.

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3.4 Period of Performance

The ordering period for the BOA is 10 years from date of initial BOA award. The expiration date of any subsequent On-Ramp BOAs will align with the initial BOA expiration date, which would result in a BOA term for the remaining BOA ordering period. The BOA ordering period ends April 9, 2034.

3.5 Solicitation Overview

Quotations will be evaluated using two factors.

Factor 1: Prior Experience Prior Experience will be evaluated using Confidence Ratings.

Factor 2: Management/Technical Management/Technical approach will be evaluated using Confidence Ratings.

3.6 Trade-Off

USDA is not soliciting prices at the BOA level; therefore this acquisition does not have a price performance tradeoff.

3.7 Small Business Size Standards

Small Business Administration (SBA) size eligibility standards are located in Title 13 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 121 (13 CFR Part 121). To ensure that an offeror qualifies as an eligible small business, prospective offerors are highly encouraged to review this regulation in its entirety. For information on various SB programs offerors are encouraged to review the following sections in their entirety 124, 125, 126, 127 and 128.

An offeror with questions regarding size eligibility standards should contact its legal counsel and/or SBA Office. The SBA is the sole authority for making determinations of small business status for small business programs. These determinations are binding on the offeror and on the Contracting Officer.

Generally, SBA determines the size status of an entity as of the date the entity submits a written self-certification that it is small to the procuring agency as part of its initial offer for a contract or agreement.

As part of its BOA quote, offerors will be required to identify their size standard and submit supporting representations and certifications.

3.8 Incurring Costs

This solicitation does not commit the Government to pay any cost incurred in the submission of the quote or in making necessary studies of designs for the preparation thereof, nor to contract for services or supplies. The Contracting Officer is the only person who can legally obligate USDA for the expenditure of public funds in connection with this procurement.

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3.9 Proprietary Data

USDA recognizes that some information requested may be confidential. Each page of the offeror's quote shall be reviewed and marked as to proprietary data content by the offeror in strict compliance with FAR 52.215-1 (see also FAR 3.104-4). A single blanket statement at the front of the quote is not acceptable. Failure to mark every page will subject your quote to public release through Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests.

3.10 News Releases

The offeror shall not make any news release pertaining to this procurement without prior USDA approval.

3.11 STRATUS On-Ramp and Off-Ramp Program

3.11.1 On-Ramping

The Contracting Officer has determined that it is in the Government’s best interest that at all times during the term of the BOA there are sufficient numbers of BOA holders to compete for task orders to meet customer requirements. Over time, the total number of BOA holders in a pool may fluctuate due to various reasons, including but not limited to, competition levels on task orders, small business (SB) BOA holders outgrowing their size standard, consolidation in industry, mergers & acquisitions, significant changes in the marketplace, advances in technology, general economic conditions, and the Government’s exercise of the off-ramp process. Given this, the Government intends to evaluate BOA holders’ participation in the ordering process at least annually to determine if it is in the Government's best interest to initiate an open season to add new BOA holders to the BOA pool. The Government reserves the right to initiate a BOA On-Ramp more than annually if the Contracting Officer determines it is in the best interest of the Government.

The USDA intends to robustly manage the On-Ramp and Off-Ramp Program to ensure robust Task Order competitions. It is in the best interest of the Government that task order competitions are vibrant.

3.11.2 On-Ramping

USDA will determine whether it would be in the Government’s best interest to initiate a BOA On- Ramp to add additional vendors to the BOA pool at any time, subject to the following conditions.

BOA On-Ramp solicitations will be published in https://sam.gov.

BOA On-Ramp solicitation is issued under current Federal procurement law.

Any offeror that meets the eligibility requirements set forth in the On-Ramp RFQ may submit a quote in response to the RFQ. However, existing BOA holders may not hold more than one BOA per track (Unrestricted/Restricted) at any time.

The award decision under the On-Ramp RFQ is based upon generally the same evaluation factors/subfactors as the original RFQ. Changes can be made to improve the quality of quotes

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The terms and conditions of any resulting BOAs from a new RFQ are materially the same as existing BOAs.

The period of performance term for any new BOAs is coterminous with the existing term for all other BOA holders. Immediately upon On-Ramping, the BOA holder is eligible to compete for task orders and receive task order awards with the same rights and obligations as any other BOA holder.

3.11.3 Changes in Small Business Size Designation

This multiple-award BOA has small business set asides available to PCOs. For those SB BOA holders who have outgrown their small business size designation for any reason including a certifying event, the SB BOA holder will notify the BOA CO immediately. BOA holders shall continue performance on any active task orders under their small business BOA, including exercise of options at the task order level at the discretion of the CO, until all task orders are closed out. In the event the small business BOA holder has outgrown their small business size designation, the BOA holder will no longer be able to compete under the small business set asides but will be eligible to compete as a large business (Unrestricted) BOA holder.

3.11.4 Off-Ramping

The Government reserves a unilateral right to discontinue offering a BOA holder an opportunity to compete for task orders, i.e., off-ramp non-performing or non-satisfactorily performing BOA holders. BOA holders that are off-ramped will not be eligible to compete for future task orders but shall complete work on their current task orders.

Off-ramping may result from any of the following conditions:

Debarment, Suspension, or Ineligibility as defined in FAR Subpart 9.4.

BOA holders who fail to meet the standards of performance, deliverables, or compliances or receives less than satisfactory performance as defined in FAR 42.1503.

BOA holders who fail to remain competitive for Task Orders.

BOA holders who fail to provide responses to TO solicitations. A no quote acknowledgement is mandatory if a BOA holder is not responding to a TO solicitation.

Any reason deemed in the best interest of the Government. This is at the sole discretion of the Contracting Officer.

3.12 Contract Line-Item Number Structure (CLINS)

CLINS determined within individual BOA Task Orders.

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Section 4: Submission Instructions to Offerors

4.1 Guidelines and Formatting

The following is established as the specific information and format required for any offeror submission. Incomplete quotes are not acceptable. Each offeror must submit one electronic quote to the CO via email.

Any quote submitted in response to this solicitation must be in compliance with the terms and conditions outlined in the solicitation, Statement of Objectives (SOO), and all applicable attachments.

All claimed capabilities to meet the requirements shall be realistic and are subject to verification by the Government. Non-conformance with these instructions may result in rejection of the quote or an unfavorable quote evaluation or being deemed ineligible for award.

To aid in the evaluation process, quotes shall be clear, concise, comprehensive, and shall include sufficient detail for effective evaluation and for substantiating the validity of stated claims. The quote should not simply rephrase or restate the Government's requirements but, rather, shall provide convincing rationale and examples to address how the Offeror intends to meet these requirements.

Offerors shall assume that the Government has no prior knowledge of their experience and will base its evaluation on the information presented in the offeror's quote.

Submissions shall be single-spaced, formatted to fit on 8.5 by 11 inch paper, have a minimum of one-inch margins on the top and bottom and 3/4-inch side margins, using no smaller than an 11-point Calibri font for all text. Tables and graphics may be landscape. Offerors shall number each page. All quote information shall be submitted in either MS Word, MS Excel or a searchable PDF as described in these instructions. Do not submit duplicates in all formats. If a page is designated as either a cover sheet or table of contents, it shall not contain any additional information or serve as an additional page for any volume submission.

It is the sole responsibility of offerors to ensure that electronic files submitted are virus free and can be opened and read by the Government. Quotation submissions shall not be locked, encrypted, or otherwise contain barriers to opening. The Government is under no obligation to seek clarification regarding electronic quotation submissions if submissions cannot be opened or accessed. Page limitations shall not be circumvented by including inserted text boxes/pop-ups or internet links to additional information; such inclusions are not acceptable and will not be considered.

4.2 Volumes and Page Limits

The offeror’s response to this solicitation shall comply with the following format and submission requirements. All quotes must be submitted in the following volume format. Offerors shall not combine any volumes of their quotes. Files shall use the following naming convention, RFQ# + Offeror Name + Volume.

Responses to this solicitation will be formatted and evaluated against the following factors:

Volume 1: Transmittal Cover Letter and Required Documents Volume 2: Prior Experience

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Volume 3: Management/Technical Approach

The following table outlines the specific page requirements for the submission. Each section below provides specific details on what is required to be submitted for each volume and how information like cover pages, table of contents, compliance matrixes, indexes, tabs, etc. are to be included.

Volumes and Page Limits Volume Title Page Limits

1 Transmittal Cover Letter and Required Documents

None To be indexed with a table of contents

- All required documents

2 Prior Experience Total page count is 14 as follows:

Maximum number of examples: 3 Cover Page: 1 page Table of Contents: 1 page

Page limits PER EXAMPLE:

Attachment G “Prior Experience Cover Sheet”: 1 page Offeror provided summary for example: 3 pages Maximum of 4 pages per example.

3 Management/Technical Approach Total page count is 10 pages as follows:

Cover Page: 1 page Table of Contents: 1 page Management and Technical Approach: 8 pages

4.3 Transmittal Cover Letter with Required Documents (Volume 1) Include the following in this section:

Point of Contact (Name, email, phone) for the representative the Government should contact with questions regarding the quote.

Company name and mailing address.

UEI SAM number.

Offerors must be registered and active in the SAM database. If registration is not active at the time of receipt of quotes the offeror is not eligible for award. It is the sole responsibility of the offeror to complete SAM registration. Offerors may obtain information on registration at https://sam.gov.

Date submitted and quote expiration date. Quote must be certified to be good for 180 days from closing date of RFQ.

Additional Required Documents (each to be submitted as attachments to the Cover Letter)

Exceptions/assumptions to the terms and conditions of this solicitation package shall be identified on a separate page within the cover letter submission. Exceptions/assumptions to

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If no exceptions/assumptions to the terms and conditions of this solicitation package are taken by the offeror, then a separate written statement must be made affirming this.

Acknowledgment of any RFQ amendments issued by the Government. Acknowledgement of amendments may be accomplished by a signed statement identifying each amendment by number and acknowledging they were included in the preparation of the quote.

A copy of Representations and Certifications of the entity submitting the quote, from https://sam.gov and any other Representations and Certifications required by the RFQ. Do not assume the Government will pull Representations and Certifications for you. The offeror must provide a copy of its most current and accurate data from SAM.

All offerors are required to identify the size standard under which they are submitting a quote.

If an Offeror fails to submit all required documents, the quote could be removed from further consideration.

4.4 Prior Experience (Volume 2)

The Government will assess its level of confidence the offeror will be successful in performing the task areas based on its prior experience. The offeror shall provide a detailed narrative for three (3) examples of contracts performed within the last 3 years from the RFQ release date that clearly demonstrate results showing how each prior experience example correlates to the objectives as described in the SOO. If the contract is current, it must be in place for at least 1 year. The burden of providing thorough and complete demonstrated prior experience remains with the offeror. Prior experience will also be evaluated for accuracy, relevancy, and demonstrated ability of the offeror to achieve goals and desired outcomes similar to those specified in the SOO and this solicitation.

Offerors shall demonstrate experience across as many of the task areas identified in the SOO, as possible. Each experience example must demonstrate a total contract value of at least $10M.

USDA is most interested in examples of work with actual results that relate to the SOO scope. These examples should demonstrate achieving cost savings, increasing business performance, adding innovation, and using modern/current innovative tools and methodologies. USDA is more interested in demonstrated success achieved and similarity of the prior experience examples to the SOO scope areas more than the quantity of examples. This information needs to be sufficiently detailed so that the evaluators can make a determination based on the offeror’s experience. USDA will not contact the offeror reference to obtain detail lacking from the offeror’s response.

Evaluators may validate the provided prior experience submission information. The Government reserves the right to verify prior experience with the offeror references. Verification from client organizations may include a phone interview, survey or any other method in the best interest of the Government and at the sole discretion of the Government.

https://sam.gov/

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All Prior Experience examples must be from the prime offeror performing as either a prime or subcontractor in accordance with SBA regulations 125.11. Prior experience is not limited to Federal contracts.

If the offeror is a SBA Mentor-Protégé Joint Venture, a protégé must demonstrate its experience IAW SBA regulations, however any experience from the protégé is not subject to the $10M threshold. A minimum of one active or completed contract must be submitted from the protege or the JV itself, i.e.

experience cannot be solely from the mentor.

Affiliate experience is acceptable provided it is documented in accordance with applicable rules and regulations, including SBA regulations and GAO case law, when submitting such experience.

Attachment G “Prior Experience Cover Sheet” shall be completed and submitted for each of the prior experience example submitted.

4.5 Management/Technical Approach (Volume 3)

Offerors shall provide sufficient information for the Government to determine its level of confidence in the ability of the offeror to perform the requirements of the solicitation. The offeror quote shall be clear, concise, and shall include sufficient detail for effective evaluation and for substantiating the validity of stated claims. The quote should not simply rephrase or restate the Government's requirements but, rather, shall provide convincing rationale and examples to address how the offeror intends to meet the requirements. Offerors shall assume that the Government has no prior knowledge of their experience and will base its evaluation on the information presented by the offeror.

All offerors shall provide a detailed technical approach for carrying out the SOO. The Government is specifically interested in the offeror’s approach to the following as it relates holistically to the SOO.

Quality of responses is more important than quantity of SOO task areas:

1) Identifying and implementing process improvements – Increasing efficiency, reducing time to deliver services, and decreasing human error.

2) Identifying and implementing process automation – Identifying unnecessary manual processes and implementing stable automation.

3) Identifying areas of duplication that can be consolidated and other areas of potential cost/price reduction – As a by-product of process improvement and process automation, the Government expects yearly cost/price reductions while consistently meeting requirements.

4) Effective management and retainment of highly qualified staff to accomplish the work, particularly during the task order RFQ response and project start cycle, in response to surge requirements, and in maintaining stability and technical competence over a prolonged BOA ordering period and associated evolving technologies/services/talent market dynamics.

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5) Innovating, modernizing and maturing approaches and technologies that will help USDA meet its organizational strategic objectives and continue to implement and maintain a mature enterprise cloud program.

6) Managing exceptional performance and the accompanying metrics, as well as mitigating risks to successful performance.

Section 5: Quote Evaluation Criteria

5.1 Compliance Review

Quotes will be screened for compliance with all submission requirements as detailed in the solicitation. Quotes that do not meet the stated criteria may be eliminated from further consideration.

5.2 Prior Experience (Volume 2)

Prior experience will be rating using Confidence ratings. The prior experience assessment will result in an overall confidence rating. The evaluation team will assemble members to reach consensus on the ratings and findings for each submission in accordance with the solicitation. This confidence assessment represents the Government evaluation team’s judgement of the offeror’s ability to successfully perform based on the understanding of the requirements based on the offeror’s demonstrated prior experience.

5.3 Management/Technical Approach (Volume 3)

Technical evaluation consists Management/Technical Approach. It is the responsibility of offerors to prove the merits of their submission responding to this solicitation. The technical evaluation assessment will result in an overall confidence rating. The evaluation team will assemble members to reach agreement on the final ratings and findings in accordance with the evaluation factors contained in the solicitation. This confidence assessment represents the Government evaluation team’s judgement of the offeror’s ability to successfully perform based on the understanding of the requirements based on the offeror’s demonstrated technical approach.

5.4 Confidence Rating Definitions

The confidence ratings are defined as follows:

Confidence Rating

Definition

High Confidence (Low Risk)

The Government has high confidence the vendor understands the requirement, proposes a sound approach, and will be successful in performing the contract with little or no Government intervention.

Some Confidence (Moderate Risk)

The Government has some confidence the vendor understands the requirement, proposes a sound approach, and will be successful in performing the contract with some Government intervention.

Low Confidence (High Risk)

The Government has low confidence the vendor understands the requirement, proposes a sound approach, or will be successful in performing the contract even with Government intervention.

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5.5 Relative Importance of Evaluation Factors

Prior Experience is more important than Management/Technical Approach.

5.6 Evaluation Notices

The Contracting Officer will draft all evaluation notices (EN), maintain the EN log and coordinate all correspondence with offerors during the evaluation.

The Government reserves the right to make an award based on an offeror’s initial quote, so offerors should provide their best solution in its response to the solicitation.The Government reserves the right to conduct exchanges with offerors if the Contracting Officer determines them to be necessary.

However, once the Government determines which offerors provide the best overall value, the Government reserves the right to communicate with only those offerors to address any remaining issues, if necessary, and finalize a BOA.

5.7 Contractor Administrative Assistance in Quote Evaluation

Offerors are advised that USDA has contracted with ViaTrie LLC for administrative assistance in the evaluation of quotes submitted in response to this solicitation. With these contractors’ inherent knowledge of the STRATUS program, and no organizational conflicts of interest (financial or otherwise), USDA expects to achieve a fair and objective evaluation for BOA awards.

Contractor assistance will be in an administrative capacity only and evaluations will be conducted solely by USDA personnel.

Contractors will have access to all information contained in the offeror’s proposal and will be subject to all required conflict of interest, standards of conduct, and confidentiality restrictions through a Non-Disclosure Agreement.

Section 6: BOA Award

6.1 Select Most Capable Offerors and Finalize Apparent Awardees Once the Government determines which offerors are the most capable of satisfying the Government’s requirements, the Government reserves the right to communicate with only those offerors to address any remaining issues, if necessary, and finalize a BOA with the offeror.

Determination to enter into BOAs will be made in accordance with the procedures specified in the RFQ and after an assessment by the Government once evaluations are completed. A BOA may be entered into with an offeror deemed responsible in accordance with FAR Part 9.1, as supplemented, whose quote conforms to the RFQ’s requirements (to include all stated terms, conditions, representations, certifications, and all other information required by the RFQ instructions) and is judged, based on the evaluation factors, as most capable of satisfying the Government’s requirements.

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6.2 Award

For purposes of this RFQ, “most capable” means the expected outcome of an acquisition that, in the Government's estimation, provides the greatest overall benefit in response to the requirement.

Offerors should therefore propose their best approach to meeting the requirements of the RFQ. The Contracting Officer shall make an assessment of the Confidence Ratings and determine the most capable of satisfying the Government’s requirements. In order to receive a BOA, an offeror must receive at least a High Confidence Rating in one or both of the evaluation factors. If an offeror receives only one High Confidence Rating, the second rating shall be no lower than Some Confidence.

Section 7: Solicitation Attachments

7.1 List of Attachments

Attachment A: Statement of Objectives Attachment B: Security Requirements Attachment C: Requirements for Billing, Automation and Data Reporting Attachment D: Provisions and Clauses Attachment E: Questions and Answers Template Attachment F: Labor Categories Attachment G: Prior Experience Cover Sheet Attachment H: Invoice Format Attachment I: STRATUS Pool 2 Projected Task Order Opportunities

2.4 Due Date and Delivery

3.12 Contract Line-Item Number Structure (CLINS)