QnA_Stage_II_A4_0004.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?

The total team count is based on historical data (see answer 60 for updated number of FTEs). This is the total number of contractors that have supported this effort. The government provided a rough estimate based on said historical data. The offeror shall propose the labor mix (LCATs and hours) to complete the requirements and hours of the PWS.

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

The current effort does not presently include cross-utilization; however, the government is open to the offeror proposing such a solution in their proposal.

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

The support tools (applications) used to manage/maintain hosting environment/infrastructure (Microsoft Azure architecture, infrastructure (IaaS, PaaS, Saas), cost management, reservation instances, Azurefiles, storage accounts, backups, recovery/restore, monitor, migrations, etc. Hosting team is responsible for availability of virtual machines and configuration/management of Windows Server 2019 and higher operating systems, SQL managed instances, virtual networks, Data Gateways, Web Application Firewall, Application Gateways, Entra ID, Intune, MECM, Active Directory, Defender for Cloud/Server.

This is the current list of tools; however, the list is subject to change as technologies are implemented, upgraded, and life-cycled by the government. The contractor will be required to support those tools that the government migrates to.

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

See answer 6 above. These are mission-critical applications.

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

The Avaya system has a main hub located in Reston, VA with 6 remotes sites hanging off the hub. The system in Reston currently is configured to support 1570 users. We also have a hub located in Lakewood, CO with 5 remotes sites hanging off the hub. The system in Lakewood is currently configured to support 1500 users. NOTE: The basic configuration of the network includes, but isn’t limited to G450 Gateways, Dell R640 Servers, S8300 Servers, Session Border Controller, and Avaya Communications Manager. For security and proprietary concerns, the specific configuration isn’t detailed at this time.

The NPS uses Poly devices certified via Microsoft Teams. However, the NPS is not limited to only Poly devices as the NPS may use any video conferencing equipment/brand which is certified via Microsoft Teams. WASO supports approximately fifteen video conferencing rooms in the WASO and Lakewood locations. (NPS PWS updated.)

9. Will the Government please define what constitutes an "actionable alert"? (Reference: SLA section for Video Conferencing and Phone Support)

An actionable alert is a notification that provides contextual and relevant information to the right recipients to take immediate, purposeful actions and address a problem effectively. The alert is automated and comes from various systems. An example of an actionable item would be a system outage.

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?

Yes, confirmed. In addition, see revised NPS PWS (specifically section 1.6.11) and Attachment 7. The key personnel are separately identified in the NPS PWS Tasks 5.2.01, 5.2.02 and 5.2.03. In addition, the Contracts Manager is the key personnel for the entire NPS requirement.

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)

No, for the IDIQ level. Rates at the IDIQ level should be in accordance with section B.2 of the ITSS IDIQ RFP (singular maximum rates for each LCAT for work anywhere in the country based on based on Washington, DC locale). Yes, for the NPS seed TO (rates each LCAT should include competitive discounts according to location specified in the NPS PWS and Attachment 7). Reminder: No TO labor rate may exceed what the contractor proposes for their equivalent IDIQ rate.

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?

Based on historical data, this requirement is expected to require nine (9) FTE Desktop Technician II, four (4) Desktop Technician III, and two (2) FTE Service Center Technician I, and one (1) Service Center Technician IV Lead. All Contractors requiring certification based on LCAT shall be A+ certified at a minimum. Only the Service Center Technician IV Lead require A+ certification. Those positions should be priced accordingly in the IDIQ and NPS pricing spreadsheets.

NPS PWS section 5.2.01 has been updated.

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?

See the answers to questions 6, 7 and 8 above.

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 NPS PWS TO specific response requested. Factors 5 and 6 (the other Stage II factors) are specific to the IDIQ SOW.

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.

Via ITSS IDIQ RFP Amendment 4, the government is extending the Stage II proposal due date to 11:00 AM Eastern Time on Monday, 7/1/2024.

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?

This information should be provided 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 PWS lists CSAM as its current security monitoring tool. Is this correct or has NPS moved to Xacta? (NPS PWS, Sub-task 5.2.02.2a Network Administration)

Xacta is the current security monitoring tool used (see PWS section 5.2.02).

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)

Phase-In shall be accounted for within the Period of Performance specified for the NPS Task Order. It will NOT commence one month prior to the start date, as previously stated.

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 should be a Project Manager Senior (IDIQ LCAT Project Manager-Senior) not Program. The NPS PWS section 5.3.01 and Attachment 7 have been updated.

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 be 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. NPS PWS Technical Exhibit 1 has been updated.

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 PWS and Attachment 7.

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 Attachment 7 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 revised NPS PWS and Attachment 7.

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?

See answers 6, 7, and 8 for hardware and software details.

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 hold Azure skillsets.

Due to the Federal Data Center Enhancement Act of 2023 (FDCEA) mandates, the Reston Data Center along with numerous Regional and Park data centers are targeted for closure in the coming years. The Azure footprint is expected to expand as data, systems and services currently hosted on premises at regional and park data centers across the United States are migrated to Azure

This has also been updated in the PWS Section 5.2.02.1.

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?

See answers 6, 7, and 8 for Azure infrastructure. The contractor shall propose a labor mix in accordance with the NPS PWS as-is. Any future plans are not available to the public at this time. The NPS TO may require change orders (i.e. modification to TO) in the future if the infrastructure changes and a different labor mix is required.

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?

See answer 8.

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 seven: One (1) FTE Database Administrator V, one (1) FTE System Administrator IV, one (1) FTE System Administrator III, one (1) FTE System Administrator II, two (2) FTE Cybersecurity Engineer- Junior, and one (1) Business Analyst -Jr. NPS PWS section 5.2.02 update.

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 NPS TO PWS is specific to the needs of NPS, and does not necessarily cover all aspects of the IDIQ scope.

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?

NPS PWS and Attachment 7 updated.

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?

NPS Service Desk receives on average 1307 call/created tickets per month with 62% of the created tickets being in the Washington, DC Metropolitan Area identified as WASO on Attachment 7. The remaining 38% of the tickets are created in the Lakewood and Ft. Collins locations. This will be an average workload of 81.7 tickets per FTE.

Types of Tickets are identified below in Bold with a description beside it.

Laptop: New laptop setups, troubleshooting hardware, this goes for the PXE boot as well System Administration: Password Reset, Account Management.

IOS: New mobile device setups, Device Wipes, Passcode Resets, Enable Phone sign in Other: This is people selecting the sub-category other.

MS Office products: M365 applications services Network Printer/Scanner: Mapping printers to user’s computers PXE: Imaged computers through PX

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)

It is not.

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

It is not.

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

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 any and all Amendments is required.

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

Yes. A compliance matrix, while not required, would be excluded from the total 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 Pric 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 Associate’s 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

See answer 10 above.

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

These are different roles. This has been updated in the PWS and in Attachment 7.

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 IDIQ RFP 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 for the NPS PWS has been included (see Attachment 7).

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. It should complement the pricing spreadsheets. A separate price narrative is required for the IDQ and one for the NPS task order.

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.

See answer 91.

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 has been 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 the contractor may use Appendices. Note: Many of the elements listed in this question are now exempt 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)?

The POP for the IDIQ is ten (10) years (no options). The POP for the NPS TO is a base period of several months (anticipated 9/01/2024 - 12/31/2024) and four (4) one-year options (beginning 1/01/2025). NPS PWS section 1.5 and Attachment 7 updated. Comment by Lord, Terence G: What's the reason for a 12/31/24 end date?

Regardless, we need to ID a target *effective* start date so we're getting pricing that's apples-to-apples when they propose their labor hour estimates. They're building in some time by bridging their current TO, as I understand it, so the TO start date shouldn't be the same as our anticipated IDIQs start date. Comment by Lord, Terence G: @Pearson, Jeffrey H Comment by Pearson, Jeffrey H: Updated here and track changes version. Updated Attachment 7 too. Added comment in track changes version for @Hall, Garnett to update PWS. Comment by Hall, Garnett: @Pearson, Jeffrey H Just an FYI... The reason for the 12/31/2024 end date is based on budgetary purposes.... anything after 12/31/2024 will come from next FY's budget. We can't issue a task order this year, which will take us beyond 12/31/2024 as we do not have it in the budget this year.

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 NPS PWS.

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.

See answer 98.

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.

NPS PWS section 1.6.11 has been updated to remove the key personnel for this position. Attachment 7 has been updated to cross-reference the NPS PWS LCAT with the ITSS IDIQ LCAT.

103. Sol_140A162R0001_Amd_001, para L.1.H: Please confirm that Data Center Analyst – Senior is the correct ITSS 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.

See Attachment 7 for cross-referenced LCATs between NPS PWS and ITSS IDIQ.

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?

The NPS ticketing system and Knowledge Management Database is called Footprints. See answer 65 for further details about the workload.

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

No, not in the NPS TO.

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.

See updated NPS PWS and Attachment 7.

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?

See updated NPS PWS and Attachment 7.

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 Eastern and Mountain time zones.

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?

See answer 98.

111. The government provided Attachment 2 for IDIQ pricing.