QnA_Stage_II_A3_0003.docx

140A1624R0001: Information Technology Support Services Phase 2 Questions and Answers

1. Due to the page limitations of the Stage 2 Technical Volume, will the Government please exclude the Phase-in Plan from the 30-page count/limit?

No

2. Due to the page limitations of the Stage 2 Technical Volume, will the Government please exclude the Quality Assurance Plan from the 30-page count/limit?

No.

3. Due to the page limitations of the Stage 2 Technical Volume, will the Government please exclude the total compensation plan from the 30-page count/limit?

The compensation plan is excluded from the page count.

4. Will the government clarify how it determined that a team of four is sufficient to meet the tasks outlined in PWS Section 5.2.02? Given the broad scope of responsibilities which includes: operational support, engineering support, cybersecurity, cloud, project management, and compliance tasks across Reston and Denver, what is the number of Government employees and Contractor employees currently supporting this effort?

Just as the document reads, it is based on historical data. This is the total number of contractors that have supported this effort.

5. Does the current effort include cross-utilization across the teams supporting the PWS areas?

That’s strictly up to the vendor to choose how they will support the PWS.

6. Please provide a list of the automation tools/technologies being utilized in the data centers?

We will not list automation tools currently being utilized in the data center as technologies change at any time and the vendor should assume all of the latest automation tools are currently available, or will be available if required.

7. Will the government clarify the type of applications currently hosted on the 1000 virtual machines? Are they mission critical?

The government hosts mission-critical applications.

8. Will the Government please provide details on the existing configuration and scale of the Avaya and Polycom systems in use?

We cannot provide details on the existing configuration beyond what is included in the PWS.

9. Will the Government please define what constitutes an "actionable alert"? (Reference: SLA section for Video Conferencing and Phone Support) An actionable alert is an alert that requires an action. If there is an alert on the system.

10. Stage II Instructions, Sub-Factor A: Technical Approach states that the Key Position for Task 5.2.03 is a Systems Engineer – Senior which is mapped to ITSS IDIQ LCAT: Data Center Analyst-Senior. Will the Government please confirm that this Key Position is correctly aligned to 5.2.03 Video Conferencing and Phone Support instead of 5.2.03 NPS Data Center Management?

Key personnel are identified in the PWS. And there is Key Personnel for Task 5.2.02 as well as 5.2.03.

11. Do paragraphs require a full paragraph "Enter" between paragraphs to meet this requirement?

If the question is do you need a blank or double blank line between paragraphs, then the answer is no. However, if no blank lines between paragraphs a standard tab at the beginning of each paragraph would help for readability.

12. Would the DOI/BIA consider allowing the Offeror to submit different rate types (i.e. Gov't site rates-based location [ex. Lakewood, CO and National Capital Region] and Contractor site) Yes; however, the pricing response associated with Factor 4 is a seed task order and, thus, rates proposed must be honored. The vendor should have pricing that aligns with the labor market in a specific region/location; but that does not mean there is a need for separately proposed ceiling rates by location.

13. LCAT for Help Desk Support Services Specialist: In Attachment 6-PWS (p.26) it states an A+ certified; In Attachment 3 Labor Categories Descriptions document there are no certifications listed for any of the Service Center labor categories. Is the A+ certification required?

Yes. Attachment 3 are the general IDIQ LCATS. Attachment 6 is the specific TO for NPS that has additional requirements beyond the IDIQ LCATS.

14. Can BIA increase Factors 4-6 30-page limit to 40 pages?

No.

15. Do Offerors need to provide a resume for the alternate Contract Manager for the NPS Task Order?

The alternate contract manager should be equally qualified or fairly similar in qualifications to the contract manager, so, yes a resume is required.

16. Are the requirements for IDIQ Program Manager the same as Attachment 3 Program Manager?

No. The IDIQ PM is anticipated to be non-billable. This IDIQ PM is mainly utilized for communication between the program office or Acquisitions office and the contractor. The IDIQ PM may also be utilized for small TOs where a TO PM is not necessary.

17. Can 15 years of documented project management experience be substituted for a PMP for the Attachment 3 Project Manager and Contract Manager?

No, NPS requires a certified PMP.

18. The email states "The government is still finalizing evaluations of the Stage I proposals. The government expects Advisory Down Select emails to be sent in the next several business days. After that time we will provide a revised RFP on SAM.gov with new dates for Stage II questions and Stage II proposals." Will an updated RFP be posted on SAM.gov?

No, since Stage I has been finalized and only companies who submitted Stage I proposals may continue to Stage II (depending in Advisory Down Select). SAM.gov will not be utilized for further communications. All further communications will come directly via email to all Stage I proposers.

19. As long as the onsite Project Management labor is proposed, will the government allow the Contract Manager role to be remote with availability to be onsite for recurring meetings?

All requirements for remote or onsite positions will be included at the TO level. IDIQ PM may be remote.

20. For maximum flexibility does the government want vendors to submit both onsite and offsite rates? If so, would the government provide an updated spreadsheet that allows for entering both onsite and offsite rates?

The rates requested are for Washington DC locality onsite AND offsite/remote rates, with the idea that they may be discounted based on being remote or physically in a geographic area outside of the National Capital Region (NCR).

21. Can the government provide a list of tools used for network monitoring, management, and administration; system administration; and database administration?

What is available is already included in the PWS.

22. Please confirm that the Government would like Offerors to respond to Stage II Factor 4 and Factor 5 in response to the PWS and not the SOW.

Factor 4 is the only Task Order specific response requested. Factors 5 and 6 (the other Stage II factors) are specific to the IDIQ.

23. The government describes the selection process and uses the “highest ranked” throughout and states, “the next highest ranked or rated offer is evaluated until a sufficient number of awards, no fewer than 7 and no more than 10, can be made to the highest ranked or rated offerors with fair and reasonable prices.”

i. Does “highest ranked” mean those offerors who have received a “High Confidence” rating as described in Section M.1.G?

Highest ranked means those that received the highest ratings for Factors 1-6, considering relative weighting of each non-price factor. There is no overall factor rating (roll-up).

ii. Can we infer from this statement that all offerors are ranked from “highest ranked” to those of a lower rank?

Yes, relative to the factors included in the RFP.

iii. If the government has eliminated all the “Highest ranked” through the pricing reasonable test described, and has not met the “no fewer than 7…” threshold, will the government continue to evaluate offers until the minimum of seven awardees is met?

7-10 awards is what is *anticipated* based on market research, prevailing needs at the task order level, and finally; it represents a reasonable number of awards that can be efficiently administered over the life of the requirement.

24. Would the Government consider providing Offerors with a two-week extension? Given that some Offerors were not aware of due dates for Stage II until May 14, 2024, and the upcoming Memorial Day Holiday weekend, the current timeline puts a burden on small businesses that have fewer staff members as compared to large businesses to support short-notice quick turn proposal efforts.

Alt: There are several crucial questions within the Q&A that could significantly influence our approach and response. We would like to request a three-week extension.

Alt: In your correspondence on May 14, the timeline states answers for Stage II questions on ITSS (140A1624R0001) would potentially be posted on May 21. They are not yet available on May 22, and the current due date is still posted as 9:00 a.m. on May 30. Several of our submitted questions have global implications for our proposed solution. In order to allow sufficient time to incorporate these important answers once they are posted, and in light of the federal holiday on May 27 and the early submission requirement on May 30, we respectfully request the Government provide an extension of nine calendar days (9) from the date the answers are posted, which allows the same amount of time per the previously published timeline.

The government is extending the Stage II proposal due date to 11:00 AM Eastern Time on Monday, 6/10/2024.

25. On Page 87, Factor 6 Sub-Factor C, the Government requests “The offeror shall provide a count of current employees aligned to current positions held and the duration employed (prime and teaming partners). Each employee shall be referenced in a single position that is currently held by that individual.” Could the Government please specify specific positions that are being requested for this list or is this a full company employee roster?

Full company roster.

26. On Page 87, Factor 6 Sub-Factor C, requests that the Prime and Teaming Partners provide their current employee information, if teaming partners are not comfortable providing this information, can they provide it directly to the Government?

No. Each offeror or team of offerors going after an ITSS IDIQ must be able to work together during the proposal phase, as well as post-award should they be identified as one of the HTRO-RP offerors.

27. On Page 87, Factor 6 Sub-Factor C, would the Government consider removing the requirement of the offeror providing the count of current employees aligned to current positions held and the duration employed for the prime and teaming partners?

No.

28. For Stage II/Factor 6 – Staffing Plan and Key Personnel Resumes, can the government please provide clarification on how evidence of preferred qualifications should be submitted given its exclusion from the 30-page limit for factors 4, 5, and 6?

As an addendum/supplement.

29. Sub-factor C requires that..."The offeror shall provide a count of current employees aligned to current positions held and the duration employed (prime and teaming partners). Each employee shall be referenced in a single position that is currently held by that individual." Does the Government intend for prime contractors and teaming partners to send a list of all employees by position, labor category, and duration employed? This would result in a very large number of line items; easily in excess of 5,000 entries? Would the Government instead consider alternative statistics such as Average Lenth of Service employed for a firm’s current employees combined with Total Number of Employees or other commonly used measures to gauge tenure and retention?

No. See response to similar question.

30. This table in this section lists the overall technical evaluation criteria and their relative importance. However, it does not list the weights for each criterion. Can the government please explain the weight of importance for the similar security requirements excising within the NPS IR Task Order response and between the IDIQ response and Task Order overall? (Section M – Stage II Technical Summary).

Where subfactors exist, they are of equal importance. The RFP has been amended to clarify this.

31. In the bulleted list, the SOW lists CSAM as its current security monitoring tool. Is this correct or has NPS moved to Xacta? (NPS Statement of Work, Sub-task 5.2.02.2a Network Administration) It is correct.

32. Does the Government want us to price an additional month at the beginning and/or the end of the contract for phase-in/out? (Section 1.6.18) Beginning

33. In Attachment_6_NPS_IR_ PWS_0001 on Page 40, the client anticipates needing one (1) FTE Senior Program Managers, but there is no Senior Program Manager in the IDIQ LCATs. Will a Senior Program Manager LCAT be added?

The position is expected to be aligned to one of the existing labor categories included in the RFP Attachment 7, as amended.

34. Can the client confirm if they want IDIQ rates for each LCAT AND each location? Or just one IDIQ rate per LCAT, regardless of location?

LCAT labor rate shall be based on Washington, DC locale onsite AND offsite.

35. Can the Government confirm the work locations for the estimated FTEs on the Task Order (Factor 4 response)?

It is located under User Support Help Desk section.

36. SOL identifies “Information Security Specialist – Senior (ITSS IDIQ LCAT: InfoSec Engineer III) Key” for Task 5.2.02. PWS identifies “(1) FTE Information Assurance Engineer Specialist” for Task 5.2.0.2. Should it be “Information Security Specialist – Senior Key”?

We were intending to emphasize that it should be an engineer as opposed to a policy security specialist, but it is not a key personnel position. The language in the RFP has been clarified.

37. Would the Government allow the Quality Assurance Plan and draft Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan to be excluded from page count No; however, the requirement for a draft QASP has been removed.

38. Can the Government please confirm that Factor 4 should based on the NPS TO and Factors 5 and 6 should be at the IDIQ level (Page 83, Stage II Instructions) Confirmed. Anything related to Factor 4 remains in the confines of Factor 4.

39. Can the Government confirm that the employee tenure and retention table should include employee positions for the NPS task order aligned to Attachment 3 Labor Category Descriptions? (Page 87, Factor 6, Sub-Factor C: Employee Tenure, Retention, and Compensation Plan).

This is not specific to the Task Order Response, but instead the positions covered under Attachment 3.

40. Will the government please clarify the Relative Importance and Factors to be used for the ‘selection of IDIQ awardees,’ as referenced at M.1 Evaluation A. Basis for Award on page 89. (Compare Evaluation Tables - Page 91, E. Stage II Evaluation (Technical Price) and Page 94, Stage II Technical Summary).

The answer to your question is found in the “Stage 2 Technical Summary”.

41. The Solicitation provides: “The offeror shall provide a count of current employees aligned to current positions held and the duration employed (prime and teaming partners). Each employee shall be referenced in a single position that is currently held by that individual” Will the government please clarify the expected source data - is the expected source limited to Key Personnel only from the offeror and Teaming Partners or is the data all employees working in any job title for Prime and all Teaming Partners/Subcontractors? Or some other source data? Please further clarify if the employee data of any subsidiary/sister companies listed as Teaming Partners/Subcontractors in Stage I should be aggregated with Offeror in any way. (Page 87; Factor 6; Sub-Factor C: Employee Tenure Retention, Compensation Plan) Employee counts should include all active employees of the firm, not just ones who would work on this contract. The government's goal is to look at the ability to retain high-performing employees.

42. II/Factor 7 Pricing Volume TO Pricing Spreadsheet – Will the Government please provide a template/spreadsheet for the IR IT TO pricing being requested?

Yes, see Attachment 7 Factor 4 Price Template.xlsx

43. Would the government please consider amending the page limitation to 50 pages for the Stage II Technical Volume to allow adequate space to address the nine (9) subfactors required across Factors 4, 5, and 6?

No.

44. The “Performance Goal – Acceptable Quality Level (AQL)” and “Method/Frequency of Surveillance” columns appear to be swapped in the table. Could the Government please confirm and correct, as necessary? (Technical Exhibit 1, Performance Requirements Summary, Page 47, 5.2.03 Telecommunications Services) That is correct the columns headings should be switched

45. Could the Government please confirm if additional information should be provided after the colon or if the colon was inserted here by mistake? (Technical Exhibit 1, Performance Requirements Summary, Page 45, 5.2.02 – NPS Data Center Management, Row 1, “Recovery Time Objectives (RTO):”) No additional information. It was a typo that has been removed.

46. In order to properly price the NPS solution, can the government provide the specific location each of the key personnel are at, as well as the other IT personnel are at? (Attachment_2_IDIQ_Pricing_Schedule_v2_0001) The government has provided this information as part of the latest updates to the NPS documents.

47. Since the key responsibility of the IDIQ Program Manager is to ensure that the overall contract is administered properly and is a corporate unbillable position, please confirm that this key person does not need to meet the technical requirements of the billable Program Manager labor category (i.e., IT Bachelor Degree, ability to plan project lifecycle deployment) since the task orders will have the Program Managers with this needed technical experience.

Correct the IDIQ PM is not the same education/experience wise as the Program Manager LCAT.

48. Attachment 3 / Technical Exhibit 3 – Estimated Workload Data is not provided in the PWS. Is this going to be provided or does the “Anticipated Workload to Support Task 5.x.x.” provide this information?

The information that has been provided is what is available.

49. The positions listed in each of the “Anticipated Workload to Support Task 5.x.x.” are not aligned with the RFP labor categories. Can these positions be provided in context of the RFP labor categories? For example, 5.2.03 Sr. Level Systems Engineer is mapped to a Data Center Analyst-Senior on page 84 of the RFP because it is a key position. However, there are also 2 Intermediate Level Systems Engineers in 5.2.03, but there is not a Data Center Analyst-Intermediate labor category to follow the same mapping logic for those positions. By providing the anticipated workload in context of the labor categories will ensure that the government receives comparable pricing.

NPS PWS and attachments have been updated.

50. Can you please help clarify what is required regarding the Employee Tenure and Retention Table or provide a template that can be used?

Specifically:

a. The requirement first states to provide a count of current employees but then goes on to ask for the duration employed and then states that each employee shall be referenced in a single position.

b. Are we to provide a count or are we to provide a list of employees?

c. If it is a count, are we to provide an average duration employed per position or the longest duration of those employees in that position count?

d. If it is a count, are we to provide separate counts for each teaming partner or total counts per position?

e. Does “aligned to current positions held” pertain to what an employee’s current position is with their company or is the intent to provide those who align with positions in this RFP? In other words, are you asking each team member to provide a count or list of all its employees and what positions they currently hold with the company regardless of whether they are applicable to the positions in this RFP? If so, this could be a very long list that includes positions that are not relevant to the scope of this RFP or industry.

Employee counts should include all active employees of the firm (and team members), not just ones who would work on this contract. The government's goal is to look at the ability to retain high-performing employees.

51. The requirement states that page size is standard letter size page (8.5” x 11”). Is it allowable to include a page size of 11” x 17” that counts as 2 pages?

No.

52. Since the IDIQ contract PM is a non-billable position and the workload might not be significant until more TOs are awarded, would it be permissible for the first TO Project Manager to also fulfill the role of the IDIQ contract PM until additional TOs are awarded?

No . There are multiple (4-5) task order recompetes that we are looking to see through by end of FY24; so an IDIQ PM should be separate and distinct from any task order PMs assigned to NPS IR IT Support.

53. Please confirm that if we include an Acronym List that it will not be considered part of the 30-page count limit in Volume II.

Confirmed.

54. In order to ensure compliance with the Non-Displacement of Qualified Workers clause and successfully capture incumbent employees, we request the mapping of the TO labor categories to the IDIQ Contract Labor Category Descriptions, including the category tier level that current employees may fall under based on years of experience and degree/certification requirements as delineated in RFP Attachment 3. This information is essential for offerors to accurately assess the staffing requirements and tailor the TO pricing accordingly, thereby preventing cases where awarding pricing was based on lower-tier labor categories, potentially hindering the hiring of incumbent employees with higher levels of experience and degrees/certifications. (Solicitation Page 19, Section G.4 Non-Displacement of Qualified Workers) See NPS Attachments.

55. We are putting our best efforts into providing detailed proposal contents in the most condensed format for the complex RFP submission requirements, including the response materials to the NPS TO. As the incumbent contractor is not subject to the phase-in approach, they will have extra writing space to further elaborate on their responses for other technical factors. To allow a level playing field for all offerors, can the agency please authorize that the submission of the phase-in approach not count against the page limit? (Solicitation Page 84, Evaluation Factor 4, Sub-Factor B: Phase-in Plan).

A Phase-In plan is required from all offerors, regardless of incumbency status, and must address all items any other non-incumbent would have to address.

56. NPS IR PWS Reference: 5.2.02.01 Background (Pg. 26) The Government provides an extensive list of on-premises hardware and mentions an 'expanding Azure Infrastructure'. The list of equipment includes 400 physical servers and network devices and 70 different SAN arrays. Is the hardware count correct, and if so, could the Government specify the types or even brands of the 400 physical servers and network devices?

No, mostly Dell.

57. While on-premises support, system administration, network administration, and ISSO support are specified in subsequent paragraphs, there is no further mention of the 'expanding Azure Infrastructure'. Can the Government confirm if there is a migration effort underway? If so, should cloud duties be specified?

Data Center duties include cloud duties. NPS is not listing future plans as they are not known as of yet. NPS needs qualified staff that support/have Azure skill set.

58. Can the Government provide more details regarding the Azure infrastructure, what is hosted there/size/scope, and intended/future plans in order to ensure the staffing skills mix provided meets current and future needs?

No, the vendor should be prudent to have the qualified staff.

59. NPS IR PWS Reference: Subtask 5.2.02.2a Network Administration (Pg. 28), “The contractor shall bring extensive knowledge and experience in network administration in configuring system accounts, system settings, and tune system parameters for various network devices to include switches, routers, load balancers, Intrusion Detection Systems, network monitoring, external/internal DNS, VPNs (to include Cloud technologies) and firewalls. The contractor shall apply this knowledge in providing system administration support across all supported systems and environments." This covers a very wide and disparate range of equipment and manufacturers. Can the government specify examples of the equipment currently in place like was provided in Sub-Task 5.2.03.1 – WASO Voice and Voicemail Support where support was specified as for an Avaya PBX?

NPS PWS updated.

60. NPS IR PWS Reference: ANTICIPATED WORKLOAD TO SUPPORT TASK 5.2.02 (Pg. 33), “based on historical data is expected to require two (2) FTE Sr. Level Systems Admins, one (1) FTE Intermediate level Systems Administrator and one (1) FTE Information Assurance Engineer Specialist.” An FTE count of 3 is referred to as historical level of effort. This seems an inordinate count compared to the number of FTEs. Can the Government confirm if the incumbent only has 3 FTEs successfully supporting task 5.2.02?

It is now a count of six: 3 Senior level Systems Admins and 3 Intermediate Level System Admins. See updated PWS tied to Factor 4.

61. NPS IR PWS Reference: Subtask 5.2.03.1 WASO Voice and Voicemail Support (Pgs. 34-35), “The contractor shall interface with the maintenance provider to monitor and implement changes, updates and upgrades to the Avaya Communication Manager PBX. ... The contractor shall actively manage the "change management" functions and requirements for the PBX. The contractor shall provide support to perform the routine tasks required to support system administration requirements to meet the telecommunications and voice support requirements.” The contractor appears to be responsible for 'Routine tasks ...' and needs to work with the 'maintenance provider'. Is there an OEM or other Avaya senior engineering/maintenance staff provided on site or available through a separate OEM support contract?

NPS currently has maintenance contracts with Avaya-authorized partners to respond on-site as the situation requires for support at their level.

62. NPS IR PWS Reference: Subtask 5.2.03.2 IR Video-Teleconferencing Services (VTC) (Pgs. 35-36). The subtask does not specify customer engagement, training, or facilitating scheduled events. Can the Government confirm if that should be included in the requirements?

The task requires support, so naturally that is customer engagement. The task has a list of routine tasks identified in the PWS.

63. Can the Government clarify if the customer facing support is handled through another team and if Level 1 support is then contacted when issues occur?

NPS trouble tickets and work requests are normally entered through a help desk where they are then routed to the appropriate technician for the requirement.

64. NPS IR PWS Reference: 5.2. Specific Task Descriptions (Pgs. 24-40) Throughout the PWS, historical FTE counts are provided. However, these FTE counts are not broken out by the various physical locations. Can the Government specify the geographic location where office space is provided for the FTE counts?

Please see a previous answer to a similar question.

65. Throughout the PWS, no workload metrics were provided (e.g., current/historical number of tickets, types of tickets) to determine/project labor and support demand. Can the Government provide workload metrics or KPI information for planning?

No.

66. Will the government please clarify if Letters of Commitment are required with proposal submission? If yes, are they outside of page count? (II / Factor 6: IDIQ Key Personnel Resumes) Yes, letters of commitment are requirement for key personnel. They are outside the page count.

67. Will the government please clarify if the staffing plan demonstrating offeror’s ability to satisfy contractor requirements is considered outside of page count? (II / Factor 6: Staffing Plan and Key Personnel Resumes Sub-Factor A: Overall Staffing Plan and Approach) No it is not.

68. Will the government please clarify if the Phase-In plan is considered outside of page count?

Not it is not.

69. Will the government please clarify if the Quality Control Plan is considered outside of page count?

No, it is not.

70. Will the government please clarify if the Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan is considered outside of page count?

Draft QASP removed from RFP completely.

71. Will the government please clarify if the Total Compensation Plan is considered outside of page count as directions say only retention table is outside of page count?

Yes. RFP updated.

72. Will the government please confirm the Total Compensation Plan is to be included in the technical volume or within the Pricing Volume?

Technical Volume.

73. Does the government require the submission of a new business volume with a signed SF 33 for Stage II proposal submissions?

No new business volume; however, signing/acknowledgement of Amendment 3 and any future Amendments is required.

74. Will the government consider an added compliance matrix outside of page count?

Yes, a compliance matrix, while not required, but if provided is outside of any page count.

75. Will bidders have an opportunity to discount on the current task order? Will bidders also have the opportunity to discount on future task orders?

The pricing included in response to the Factor 4 NPS IR IT PWS (to be provided solely in the pricing volume) is awardable at time of IDIQ award notification; so discounts from the ceiling rates proposed at the IDIQ level would be anticipated/expected for price competition purposes for NPS and future TOs.

76. Will the government please clarify if the labor mix and staffing summary are to be provided within the technical volume or as part of the pricing volume? Will the government confirm the staffing mix and labor summary are outside the page count per the verbiage of the following text from the table in L.D.b "30 pages total for all of Stage II response (technical only, pricing separate) excluding key personnel resumes, employee tenure and retention table, and evidence of preferred qualifications" Staffing mix and labor summary, not including pricing, are to be included in the technical response.

77. Can the government clarify the intent for the six (6) Application Specialists to all be separated by only one (1) year of experience requiring only an Associate’s Degree for education requirements? Does the government intend in only having needs for junior application programmers for the duration of the IDIQ?

This allows for the government to have a wide range of LCATs for TOs.

78. Can the government clarify the intent for the majority of the Labor Categories to predominantly be separated by only one (1) year of experience requiring only an Associates Degree for education requirements? Does the government intend in only having needs for junior personnel for the duration of the IDIQ?

This allows for the government to have a wide range of LCATs for TOs.

79. Would the government consider consolidating several of the LCATS to a maximum of four (4) levels per LCAT such as Junior, Mid, Senior, SME with appropriate education and years of experience per level? Would the government consider separating levels per LCAT by a standard year of experience such as one (1), three (3), seven (7), ten (10)?

No for both questions.

80. Can the government confirm the number of Key Personnel resumes required per the following categories needed for the IR Task Order execution to be included in Factor 4?

· Task Order: Contracts Manager

· Task 5.2.01: Help Desk Support Service Specialist-Senior

· Task 5.2.02: System Administration – Senior

· Task 5.2.02: Information Security Specialist – Senior

· Task 5.2.03: Systems Engineer – Senior All confirmed, except for the Information Security Specialist-Senior

81. Can the government provide more information of the IR IT Task Order Price Response instructions to offerors and/or a desired template? Is there a narrative needed?

This is a formal task order technical and price response (the latter included under Factor 7) that is going to be awardable at the time of IDIQ award notification. The requirements are identified in Factor 4, and in the PWS covered by Factor 4.

82. Can the government clarify if the Contract Managers referenced on page 9 are the same or different roles anticipated for page 30/31 - Section 5.2.05 – PROJECT MANAGEMENT SERVICES - 2 FTE Project Managers Different Roles

83. Can the government clarify if staffing, recruiting, talent management strategy, retention and training are supposed to be answered in both Sub-Factor A and Sub-Factor C as per the following requests: Sub-Factor A - "The offeror’s plan shall highlight company recruiting, retention and training approaches to ensuring uninterrupted access to all skills and capabilities required over the period of performance." Sub-Factor C - "The offeror shall provide a description of the offeror’s Talent Management Strategy and approach to attracting and retaining highly qualified personnel. Such aspects may include, but are not limited to, training and other skills development programs, opportunities for promotion, awards and recognition or other incentive plans designed to promote high quality performance and employee retention and satisfaction for this contract." (Page 86-86 - Sub-Factor A: Overall Staffing Plan and Approach and Sub-Factor C: Employee Tenure, Retention, and Compensation Plan) The PWS has been amended to remove Sub-Factor A. Sub-Factors B and C have been renamed to Sub-Factor's A and B.

84. For Factor 5 – Security, please confirm we may include experience examples from the prime, affiliated companies, and all teaming partners?

Confirmed.

85. Factor 6, Sub-Factor C, FAR 52.222-46 requires inclusion of salaries and benefits. Including salaries may contradict the requirement that no pricing information be included in the Technical Volume. Additionally, since salaries differ for each position, this will produce a table at least 86 lines long, and requires more than 2 pages of the allotted space.

It does not contradict the requirement to not provide pricing information, as this is a company/organization-wide requirement, and not something specific to pricing for the IDIQ and ultimate task orders.

86. We request the Total Compensation Plan meeting all the requirements of FAR 52.222-46 be moved out of the Technical Volume into an Appendix outside page count or moved to Volume III – Pricing.

The plan does not count against the page restrictions for the technical volume.

87. The term minimum background investigation (MBI) is no longer used to reference personnel security screening. This type of investigation is now referred to as a Tier 2 investigation, utilized for public trust positions.

RFP Updated to state “Moderate Risk Public Trust – Tier 2”

88. The RFP states “The offeror shall provide a count of current employees aligned to current positions held and the duration employed (prime and teaming partners). Each employee shall be referenced in a single position that is currently held by that individual.” We request the Government clarify what information Offerors are to provide for this requirement. Are we required to provide a comprehensive list of all company employees and their job titles for the Prime and all Subcontractors. Since this could potentially be a list of several hundred employees, we request the information be removed from page count and shown in an Appendix.

Employee counts should include all active employees of the firm, not just ones who would work on this contract. The government's goal is to look at the ability to retain high-performing employees. It is excluded from the page count for Stage II proposals.

89. We request the Government confirm that G&A expense is allowed on reimbursable travel, as the language in Section B.5 is conflicting on that.

Confirmed.

90. To date, no template for the NPS IR IT Task Order pricing has been released by the Government on sam.gov and no instructions are provided in the RFP for preparing this pricing. We request the Government clarify how Offerors should submit their NPS IR IT Task Order pricing: 1. Government-provided NPS Pricing Template; 2. Add a tab to the Attachment_2_IDIQ_Pricing_Schedule_v2_0-001.xlsx template; 3. Offerors create their own template to provide pricing.

A Task Order price template has been included.

91. We request the Government clarify whether a Price Narrative is required as part of the Pricing Volume. If so, we request the Government provide instructions for what content is required in the Price Narrative.

Yes a price narrative is required for the Pricing Volume. There is no specific information requested or required by the government. It should complement the pricing spreadsheets.

92. If a Price Narrative is required, we request the Government confirm that Offerors can submit a single Price Narrative document that applies to both the IDIQ contract and the NPS Sample Task Order.

A separate price narrative is required for the IDQ and one for the NPS task order.

93. With Adequate Price Competition expected, are Offerors required to detail out in the narrative how the IDIQ rates were used to develop rates for the Task order? We appreciate any guidance on narrative requirements the Government will provide.

See previous response(s) to similar question(s). 120. Attachment 2 refers to a Technical Writer (Line 81) while Attachment 3 refers to an IT Documentation Specialist. We request the Government clarify which Labor Category name is correct and revise the appropriate Attachment in the next Amendment.

Attachment 2 updated.

94. The NPS Task Order start date currently states December 29, 2023. We request the Government revise the table with correct dates for the Period of Performance.

The updates reflect a new anticipated start date.

95. Solicitation Pages 85-86 and 93; Factor 5, Sub-Factor B: Demonstrated capability/experience providing third-party security assessment support: For bullets 2 through 5 (evidence), can the Government identify the minimum information required for evaluation of ‘similar scope and complexity, based on implementation from other organizations with similar requirements’ such as customer name, contract number, brief description of scope of related support, and contract value?

This information is all provided in Section L, under Factor 3.

96. Solicitation Pages 79-80; Page Limit Exclusions: Can the Government confirm that offerors are allowed to use Appendices for Stage II content which is specified as excluded from the current 30-page limit to include: Key Personnel Resumes, Employee Tenure & Retention Tables (Prime & Teaming Partners), and Evidence of Preferred Qualifications, as-long-as the reference to the specific Appendix are cited within the current 30-page limit for Stage II submissions?

Confirmed; however, not that many of those have beennow excluded from the page count.

97. Solicitation Page 1 and 84; Stage II Proposal Submission: Can the Government confirm that Stage II proposals are to be submitted via email only and that no ‘copies’ are required IAW the SF33?

Confirmed. No physical copies are required, nor will they be accepted.

98. Solicitation (General): Can the Government confirm that the Period of Performance for the IDIQ is 10 years and that the Seed NPS IR Task Order has a Period of Performance of 5 years (1-year base and 4 option periods)?

Yes. Confirmed.

99. Solicitation Page 80; II/Factor 7 reference to ‘Separate Volume’: Can the Government confirm that it will provide separate spreadsheets where one is for the proposed pricing aligned with the NPS IR IT Task Order and the second is for the proposed pricing for the IDIQ as a whole (as indicated in the published Answer #8: “Two pricing files. One for IDIQ rates/ceilings and a separate one for TO response”)?

Yes that is being provided with this latest amended RFP package.

100. Solicitation Page 80, II/Factor 7 Pricing Volume: Can the Government confirm if offerors are to provide two separate Price Narrative submissions, one for the IDIQ and the other for the Task Order?

Yes. See newly added Attachment 7 for the TO.

101. Attachment_6_NPS_IR_IT_PWS_001, para 1.6.18: The period of performance cited appears to be outdated. Please confirm that we should use the defined period of performance for both our technical response (i.e., phase-in timing) and pricing.

Please see new updated attachment.

102. Sol_140A162R0001_Amd_001, para L.1.H: Information Security Specialist – Senior is identified as key personnel for the Task Order response. However, that position/labor category is not identified in the Anticipated Workload provided in the IR IT Task order PWS. Please clarify with which position this key person aligns.

Please see new updated attachment.

103. Sol_140A162R0001_Amd_001, para L.1.H: Please confirm that Data Center Analyst – Senior is the correct lTSS IDIQ labor category for the System Administrator – Senior key personnel requirement, as shown in the solicitation key personnel section for the IR IT task order. The identified ITSS IDIQ labor category does not align with the requirements of IR IT PWS para 5.2.03.

Please see new updated attachment.

104. Attachment_6_NPS_IR_PWS_0001.pdf What is the existing ticketing systems in place today for the WASO IR Service Desk? NPS IR currently uses “Footprints” as its ticketing system. What is the existing Knowledge Management Database? What is the workload/headcount aligned per service desk locations?

Based on historical data we have anticipated the load for NPS. We will not provide workload or head count data.

105. Will the Privacy Specialist have access to PHI or HIPAA data?

No.

106. Solicitation (Sol_140A1624R0001_Amd_0001.pdf): Solicitation states, “Both award decisions will be based on HTRO-RP source selection procedures; however, while the IDIQ awardees will be selected based on the HTRO-RP procedures when considering all non-price factors (1-6), the seed task order awardee will be selected based on the offeror that is determined to be the highest technically rated at a fair and reasonable price solely for Factor 4.” Would the government please clarify whether it will be evaluating Factor 4 twice (once for the IDIQ and again for the National Park Service (NPS) Information Resources (IR) IT Support Task Order (NPS IR IT) Task Order)?

It will be evaluated once but for dual purposes. The highest rated offeror at a reasonable price within Factor 4 will be identified as the NPS IR IT Task Order Awardee.

107. NPS IR IT Support Task Order (Attachment_6_NPS_IR_PWS_0001.pdf): The PWS indicates that the work is for the NITC, which is located in Washington, DC, and Reston, VA. There is also work in the NISC which is located Lakewood, Colorado. Please indicate how the roles will be allocated across the locations. If that is not available, please provide historical information on how the roles were allocated across these locations.

Please see updated PWS and Pricing Template.

108. Would the government please confirm that User Support Help Desk agents should be staffed in both Lakewood, CO and Reston, VA, per Section 5.1?

Confirmed

109. Would the government please confirm that User Support Help Desk agents do not cover 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in the Pacific (PST), Alaska (AST), or Hawaii (HST) time zones?

Help desk support is from 8:00 am-4:30 pm in the time zones where the staff would be located. Specifically, Reston, Washington, DC, Lakewood/Denver, and FT. Collins. Which is only EST and MDT.

110. The period of performance in Section 1.5 defines the Base Period as 12/29/2023 to 12/28/2024. Since the Base Period’s start date has already passed, would the government please provide an updated Period of Performance (PoP) chart?

Please see updated PWS and Pricing Template.

111. The government provided Attachment 2 for IDIQ pricing. However, there is not a corresponding pricing schedule for the NPS IR IT Support Task Order. Would the government please provide the pricing schedule for that work?

Please see updated PWS and Pricing Template.

112. Could you explain what constitutes "some Government intervention" versus "little or no Government intervention"? How does the expected level of government intervention impact the confidence rating assigned?

“Some” vs. ”little or no ” is relative and dependent on the specific issues/concerns/benefits identified in an offeror’s proposal response. The higher the level of intervention, the lower the confidence is for the offeror to be able to satisfactorily execute task orders issued under the IDIQ.

113. What specific factors are considered in determining whether an offeror’s approach is "sound"? Are there particular methodologies or frameworks that are preferred or looked upon more favorably?

A sound approach is logical and free from significant concerns or items that lower confidence. A sound approach increases overall confidence in an offeror’s ability to execute any work that falls within the general scope of the SOW/IDIQ.

114. Page 79, Section B: Technical and Pricing Volumes, Factor 4: Is the government requesting a single sample resume for each key personnel area, or would you like to see resumes for the full volume of anticipated personnel per key personnel area? Relatedly, will the government confirm that resumes will not count towards page count, even if offerors elect to provide a higher volume of resumes to show capability or demonstrate the scope of their staffing plan? The historic labor data for 5.2.04 in the NPS PWS don’t appear to directly align to any LCAT Titles. Can the government clarify which specific LCATs they are referring to?

Please see updated PWS and Pricing Template.

115. We respectfully request that the government consider the Compensation Plan as separate from the rest of the technical and excluded from the 30-page limit. A Compensation Plan compliant with FAR will monopolize nearly half of our page requirements otherwise.

That is allowed.

116. Can the government confirm Factors 4, 5, 6 should be in one PDF document? Or should each Factor be a separate PDF?

The government has no preference as long as price volume information is separate from technical.

117. Do cover page, cover letter, executive summary, and table of contents count against page restrictions?

No. Nor does the compensation plan required for Factor 6.

118. What specifically is being requested in the employee tenure and retention table? Will the government provide a template or example?

The instructions are clear and a template has been provided already as Attachment 8.

119. Does the government expect that pricing for the IR IT Task Order will be provided in a format determined individually by the contractor?

Yes see added NPS pricing templated.

120. Does the government define an FTE (one year) as 1880, 1912, or 1920 business hours?

1872 now that Juneteenth has been added to the holiday calendar; However, future TOs may have a different number of hours listed for a one year FTE.

121. The pricing document provided requires pricing for a Program Manager. Is this the IDIQ Program Manager role?

It is not.

122. In the provided Pricing Schedule Document, there is a tab labelled "Rate Build-up". Is BIA requiring us to submit our unburdened rates and all associated costs that we are bundling in to come up with our fully burdened rates?

No. The pricing template has been updated.

123. On the amended LCAT Description sheet, the government replaced “Technical Writer” with “IT Documentation Specialist” but did not update the pricing sheet template. Will the government please provide an updated template?

It has been updated in the amended RFP package.

124. NPS IR IT Task Order: Has the PWS provided for this opportunity been modified in any significant way from the PWS of the incumbent contract?

The Workload has increased, thus the number of required FTEs has increased. Please see updated PWS and Pricing Template.

125. Will the government provide crosswalks for all anticipated personnel listed on pages 20-40, including those not defined as “key personnel”?

See updated NPS SOW and attachments.

126. Are the anticipated Project Manager roles listed in section 5.2.05 the same as the Contract Manager roles described in 1.6.11 and page 94 of the solicitation?

No.

127. The PWS lists Contract Manager roles, Project Manager roles, and Program Manager roles. Please confirm that these are all separate positions. Please confirm that all these positions are considered billable to the government.

Confirmed.

128. Sol_140A1624R0001_Amd_0001 references a price narrative in the table on page 80. Is the price narrative required only for the NPS IR IT TO response, the IDIQ response, or both?

Both.

129. Sol_140A1624R0001_Amd_0001 references a price narrative in the table on page 80. Can the government provide guidance as to what the pricing narrative should consist of?

Any information justifying assumptions and/or decisions made regarding pricing (escalation factors, labor pricing source data, etc.), for both the IDIQ and IR IT PWS pricing response being evaluated under Factor 7.

130. Sol_140A1624R0001_Amd_0001 references a price narrative for NPS IR IT TO. Can the government confirm that, if a pricing narrative is required, only the prime contractor is required to provide a pricing narrative?

Confirmed, as it is the Prime with whom the government would have privity of contract.

131. Sol_140A1624R0001_Amd_0001 references a price response for NPS IR IT TO. Can the government please provide a Pricing Template for the pricing response?

Yes see newly added Attachment 7.

132. Sol_140A1624R0001_Amd_0001 references a price response for NPS IR IT TO. Can the government confirm that only the prime contractor is required to provide a pricing response? Also, can the government confirm that, if a pricing narrative is required, only the prime contractor is required to provide a pricing narrative?

The prime contractor (in a prime/sub arrangement) is the vendor of record, and are therefore the only firm that can submit the…