B09_SA_1_Q_A_0001.xlsx
XLSX spreadsheet 47 KB Posted
- Attached to
- Network Connectivity Fiber Network Backbone Federal contract opportunity
- Solicitation number
- 140D0426Q0575
About this file
This file is a Questions and Answers (Q&A) document and Proposal Management Control Book for the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Network Connectivity Fiber Network Backbone solicitation (140D0426Q0575) issued by the Department of the Interior's Interior Business Center. The solicitation seeks a managed private optical network (MPON) service provider to design, deploy, and operate a fiber network backbone connecting five NCI locations: Frederick (Fort Detrick and ATRF), Rockville (Shady Grove), and Bethesda (Buildings 10 and 12A). The contract requires firm-fixed pricing covering all telecommunications charges, fees, and surcharges, with the quote deadline extended to 9 AM ET on September 9, 2026. Key service requirements include 99.99% per-service availability measured monthly (excluding Government-caused outages and force majeure events), hardware-based encryption using FIPS 140-3 validated modules, and specific capacity connections ranging from 10 Gbps to 100 Gbps between locations, plus AWS Direct Connect services in Northern Virginia with planned future Google Cloud Platform (GCP) Interconnect capability.
The contractor will provide and maintain all equipment and dark fiber as contractor-owned assets, with the Government furnishing only rack space, power, cooling, intra-building cross-connects, and campus fiber at four locations (ATRF, Bethesda, Frederick, and Rockville), while the contractor bears costs for Northern Virginia facilities and inter-site dark fiber. Security requirements include FIPS 199 moderate categorization with NIST moderate baseline controls, FedRamp certification or A&A package documentation, and U.S.-based performance for Network Operations Center (NOC) and Security Operations Center (SOC) functions. Transition planning requires two weeks' notice for routine maintenance outside normal business hours (8:00 AM–6:00 PM Monday–Friday), with the incumbent Leidos FFRDC managing current services. The Q&A clarifies that this is not a brand-new acquisition but a replacement of existing services, that managed wavelength solutions may be considered where dark fiber is impractical, that 400 Gbps is a future-state roadmap item not required during the initial performance period, and that offerors may submit proposals with assumed diverse Northern Virginia locations pending final Government-provided addresses at award.
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Other files for this federal contract opportunity
| File | Type | Posted |
|---|---|---|
| Sol_140D0426Q0575_Amd_0004.pdf | ||
| Sol_140D0426Q0575_Amd_0003.pdf | ||
| Sol_140D0426Q0575_Amd_0002.pdf | ||
| B09_SA_2_Q_A_0002.xlsx | XLSX spreadsheet | |
| B09_SA_1_0001.pdf | ||
| B09_SA_1_Attachment_1_-_Contract_Certifications_and_Provisions_0001.pdf | ||
| B09_SA_1_Current_MPON_Topology_0001.pdf | ||
| Sol_140D0426Q0575_Amd_0001.pdf | ||
| B09_SA_1_Quality_Assurance_Surveillance_Plan_0001.pdf | ||
| Sol_140D0426Q0575.pdf | ||
| B08_SOL_Fiber.pdf | ||
| B08_SOL_Attachment_3_-_Appendix_A.pdf | ||
| B08_SOL_Attachment_2_-_VPAT2_5Rev_508_February2025.pdf | ||
| B08_SOL_Attachment_1_-_Contract_Certifications_and_Provisions.pdf | ||
| B08_SOL_Attachment_4_-_Quality_Assurance_Surveillance_Plan.pdf |
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B&P Info
Proposal Management Control Book
Proposal Title - (LOB / Agency / Product Proposed)
| Proposal due date: |
| B&P Account Code: if applicable |
| Control Book Owner: PM Name |
Proposal Portal Instructions to access proposal documents
| Share Point Link: |
| Other |
Proposal Team Contact List
| Proposal Team | ||||
| Fill in blanks if this resource is not in the Lumen Corporate Directory | ||||
| Name | Role | Office Phone | Cell |
| Name | Target Proposal Role | Phone | Cell | |
| Teaming Partner 1 - Truven Health |
| Name | Target Proposal Role | Phone | Cell | |
| Teaming Partner 2 - TQA |
| Name | Target Proposal Role | Phone | Cell | |
| Teaming Partner 3 - SMT |
| Name | Target Proposal Role | Phone | Cell | |
| Teaming Partner 3 - IBM |
| Name | Target Section Review | Phone | Cell | |
| Color Review Team |
Capture Artifacts
| Add any capture data you have to this tab |
| Top 3 Competitors |
| Win Themes | ||
| Win Theme | Why Our Team | Proposal Reference |
| Black Hat |
| Customer Knowledge |
| Lumen Performance |
| Anticipated Customer Requirements |
| Competitive Landscape |
| Current State of Proposal Effort |
IBM
Proposal Schedule
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday |
| RFP Released | ||
| RFP Review | Schedule RFP Req. Review | |
| Proposal Outline Proposal Schedule | ||
| Prop. Mgmt Control Book | Draft Kickoff Deck |
TA's Interlocked Schedule Req. Review
| Compliance Matrix | ||
| Writing Assignments | ||
| Proposal Template | Kickoff Meeting |
Daily Status 1pm Final Writing Assignments
1st Draft of questions 2nd Draft of Questions Key Personnel
| Draft Review Comments | ||
| Final Questions Due | Blue Team: Solution Review | |
| Final Questions Review | Questions to Agency Due date and time | |
| Past Performance |
Prep for SAR
Prod. Print Plan
| Weekly Pricing Checkpoint | |
| Pink Team Invites | |
| BOE/BOM Review | Draft Review |
Pens Down Pink 5pm Pink Doc Format Weekly Price Review Pink Team 1pm in-brief Pink Team Debrief 1pm BOE/BOM Review
Daily Status 1pm Daily Status 1pm State Quest. Resp. Due SRR Scheduled Review of Questions Final Bid Decision
Weekly Price Review Daily Status 1pm Daily Status 1pm LOI to Bid to State Red Team Invites Proposal Cover Final
| Holiday | Final Architecture | ||
| Final Demo Plan | Pens Down Red |
Red Doc. Format Weekly Price Review Red Team Review Red Team Debrief
Daily Status 1pm Red Team Recovery Step Review Prep.
Pre-Step Price Review Daily Status 1pm Red Team Recovery Step Review Daily Status 1pm Red Team Recovery Weekly Price Review Gold Team Invites Red Team Recovery Pens Down 3pm Doc. Format for Gold Step Review Gold Team Review Gold Recovery
Backup Production Gold Recovery Final Price Review Final Format Final Print Submit Approval Proposal Due 4pm Orals/Demo Plannning Orals/Demo Pannning Orals/DemoPlannning
Question Tracker Page Number Paragraph Reference Question Answer
| 3 | Section 1, Questions and Quote Due Dates | Will the Government extend the quote due date by fourteen (14) calendar days to allow offerors sufficient time to validate the technical design, coordinate with suppliers and carriers, and develop complete and accurate firm-fixed pricing, especially accounting for those on travel for the Labor Day Holiday? | The quote due date and time is extended until 9 AM ET, 09/09/26. |
| 10-12; A-1 to A-2 | PWS 1.1, 2.2, 2.5; Appendix A.1-A.3 | Will the Government accept a managed wavelength or other managed optical transport solution that satisfies all capacity, diversity, resilience, security, and service-level requirements where contractor-provided dark fiber is not practical or cost-effective? | No |
| 11-13; A-1 to A-2 | PWS 2.2-2.6; Appendix A.2-A.5 | Please provide the existing network baseline, including current fiber routes and arrangements, circuits, equipment manufacturers/models and quantities, configurations, software and licenses, maintenance status, utilization, and EOL/EOS status, and identify which assets are Government-owned, leased, or contractor-owned. | All fiber and equipment is contracor owned/leased. |
| 11; 14-15 | PWS 2.3 and 2.10 | Please clarify whether equipment acquired to perform the managed service will remain Contractor-owned or become Government property. If title transfers, please identify when title transfers and the applicable inventory, maintenance, replacement, and end-of-contract disposition requirements. | Will remain Contractor Property |
| A-1 to A-2; 12, 16-18 | Appendix A.2-A.5; PWS 2.5-2.6; PRS | Please identify the AWS Direct Connect and GCP Interconnect endpoint locations, or provide sufficient geographic and facility detail for engineering and pricing, and confirm which Appendix A circuits are currently operational versus new or planned services to be delivered under this requirement. | Current AWS Direct Connect endpoint locations are provided in the solicitation. No current GCP Interconnects but future NCI GCP locations would match existing NCI AWS Direct Connect locations. |
| 6; 12 | Volume 3 - Price; PWS 2.5 | Please clarify how Government-directed capacity increases, new locations, additional cloud interconnections, technology refreshes, or other enhancements not specifically quantified in the solicitation will be authorized and priced during performance. | Contract modifications if necessary and appropriate. |
| 4, 8, 12; A-1 | Factor 1; PWS 2.5; Appendix A.1 | Please clarify whether the 400 Gbps requirement is limited to a future-state roadmap and design, or whether the proposed architecture and equipment must support 400 Gbps during the awarded period of performance. | The government is not expected to be able to leverage 400GBPs device connections for at least three years. |
| 12, 18; A-2 | PWS 2.6; PRS; Appendix A.5 | Please identify the applicable FIPS 199 system categorization, NIST security control baseline, NIH security policies, required RMF artifacts, continuous-monitoring requirements, and Contractor responsibilities for authorization and ongoing assessments. | FIPS 199 system cattegorization is moderate. NIST security control baseline would be moderate. Required artifacts would be FedRamp certification or A&A Package including SSP, Security Assessment Plan, and Security Assesment Report. See solicitation for addition of 352.239-71 SECURITY REQUIREMENTS FOR INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY RESOURCES (FEB 2024) (DEVIATION) and 352.239-72 INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SECURITY PLAN AND ACCREDITATION (FEB 2024) (DEVIATION), and updated solicitation instructions. |
| 13; A-2 | PWS 2.9; Appendix A.6 | Please clarify whether the U.S.-based performance restrictions apply to OEM technical assistance centers, vendor escalation support, software support, RMA processing, and other ancillary supplier support that may use global resources, and define whether Government data includes telemetry, logs, configurations, tickets, metadata, performance data, and diagnostic information. | The U.S.-based performance restriction apply to the the NOC & SOC. It is not required for OEM technical assistance centers, vendor escalation support, software support, RMA processing, and other ancillary supplier support that may use global resources, and define whether Government data includes telemetry, logs, configurations, tickets, metadata, performance data, and diagnostic information. |
| 15-18; 2-3 | PWS Deliverables, PRS; QASP 4-6 | Please provide the incident severity definitions; response, restoration, resolution, availability, RTO and RPO requirements; SLA measurement methodology; exclusions and scheduled-maintenance treatment; acceptance criteria for failover testing; and any service credits or other remedies for failure to meet required performance levels. | See Section 4, Paragraph 5 of the solicitation. |
No need for maintenance exclusions from the 99.99% calculation as the solution should include the redundancy to allow for maintenance and the service availability for the services listed above. Government-caused outages would not count against the MPON provider nor would force majeure events. The expectation is each service is 99.990 or better.
| 6 | Volume 3 - Factor 3 Price | For evaluation and invoicing purposes, should proposed pricing include or exclude applicable telecommunications taxes, regulatory fees, universal service charges, pass-through charges, and other Government-imposed surcharges? | The firm fixed price should include any and all charges, fees, etc. |
| 6, 19, 29-30; 1-2; 11-26 | Volume 5; PWS 7.0; HHSAR 352.239-78 and 352.239-79 | Please identify the specific products, platforms, services, documentation, or ICT components for which the Government expects VPAT or Accessibility Conformance Report information, and clarify whether a consolidated response or separate reports for each applicable component are required. | Government is only interested in the VPAT and or 508 compliance of the vendor's ticketing system, reports, and government facing documentation. |
| 13-15 | PWS 2.10 and Deliverables | Please identify the anticipated transition-in period, incumbent cooperation and responsibilities, Government-furnished information and documentation, required access and dependencies, and the Government's completion and acceptance criteria for transition to the awardee. What is the required service commencement date, and Government acceptance process for transition completion? | See Page 2 of the QASP |
| 18 | PWS 6.0 Place of Performance | Please clarify how the restriction on onsite access to Government data applies when troubleshooting, configuration, restoration, monitoring, or security activities require access to system logs, configurations, telemetry, or other operational information. | Escorted access is the NCI locations will be facilitated. Additionally, out of band access to the awardees DWDM equipment is encouraged. |
| 6 | Volume 3 - Factor 3 Price | Has the Government determined whether the Service Contract Labor Standards apply to this requirement? If so, please identify the applicable wage determination(s). | The solicitation requests the offeror to indicate whether the Service Contract Labor Standards apply to this requirement. Note the potential SCA statutory exemptions listed under SCA7;29 CRF 4.115-4.112, at this site: https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/government-contracts/prevailing-wage-resource-book/coverage-sca-pca-flsa#act_sca4 |
| 6 | Volume 3 - Factor 3 Price | Please provide a complete SIN/subSIN structure by Base and Option Years, including separation of transition, NRC/build costs, recurring managed services, equipment, cloud interconnects, and optional enhancements. | The contractor may choose the format, but is responsible for preparing the price quote in accordance with the solicitation; see Section 2 of the solicitation. |
| 4, 8, 12; A-1 | Factor 1; PWS 2.5; Appendix A.1 | Please identify which Appendix A connections are existing operational services, partially deployed services, planned builds, and net-new installations. | All of the following are currently operational and expected to be operational under the new contract: Frederick — Fort Detrick, Frederick — ATRF, Rockville — Shady Grove, Bethesda — Building 10, Bethesda — Building 12A. Northern Virginia — Amazon Web Services (AWS) Direct Connect Site 1 & Northern Virginia — AWS Direct Connect Site 2. |
| 11-13; A-1 to A-2 | PWS 2.2-2.6; Appendix A.2-A.5 | Please provide current network diagrams, route maps, as-built documentation, demarcation locations, fiber ownership information, and route diversity details for all backbone connections. | Attached |
| 11-13; A-1 to A-2 | PWS 2.2-2.6; Appendix A.2-A.5 | Please provide the physical addresses, meet-me room locations, LOA/CFA requirements, and cross-connect responsibilities for the Northern Virginia AWS locations identified as TBD at Award. | Solicitation updated. |
| 15-18; 2-3 | PWS Deliverables, PRS; QASP 4-6 | Is the 99.99% availability requirement measured per circuit, per route, per service, per site pair, or across the entire backbone solution? | Per service; see Section 4, Paragraph 5 of the solicitation |
| 15-18; 2-3 | PWS Deliverables, PRS; QASP 4-6 | Please provide the exact methodology used to calculate availability, including maintenance exclusions, Government-caused outages, force majeure events, and rounding rules. | Shouldn't need to have maintenance exclusions from the 99.99% calculation as the solution should include the redendancy to allow for maintenance. Government-caused outages would not count against the MPON provider nor would force majeure events. The expectation is each service is 99.990 or better. No rounding required. |
| 15-18; 2-3 | PWS Deliverables, PRS; QASP 4-6 | What restoration objective applies following a Priority 1 outage, and what constitutes an acceptable workaround? | See Section 4, Paragraph 5 of the solicitation. |
The uptime requirement should guide the awardee’s design decisions which would drive the options available to awardee’s restoration objectives as well as what constitutes an acceptable workaround.
| 12, 18; A-2 | PWS 2.6; PRS; Appendix A.5 | Please provide the security responsibility matrix identifying Government and Contractor responsibilities for RMF controls, ATO support, continuous monitoring, logging, vulnerability management, and incident response. | Awardee is responsible for their own RMF controls for the layer 1 managed service. | |||
| 12, 18; A-2 | PWS 2.6; PRS; Appendix A.5 | Please identify the applicable security categorization, baseline controls, required security artifacts, and expected assessment activities. | FIPS 199 system cattegorization is moderate. NIST security control baseline would be moderate. Required artifacts would be FedRamp certificatoion or A&A Package including SSP, Security Assessment Plan, and Security Assesment Rerport. See solicitation for addition of 352.239-71 SECURITY REQUIREMENTS FOR INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY RESOURCES (FEB 2024) (DEVIATION) and 352.239-72 INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SECURITY PLAN AND ACCREDITATION (FEB 2024) (DEVIATION), and updated solicitation instructions. | |||
| 6 | Volume 3 - Factor 3 Price | Please confirm treatment of taxes, telecommunications assessments, regulatory fees, and surcharges under the proposed FFP pricing model and identify any available Government exemptions. | Any applicable fees should be included within the firm-fixed-price amount but clearly reflected in the price breakdown. Clause 52.229-3 has been added to the solicitation. Also see RFO 29.203. This award is for Government use only; not for public use. | |||
| 22-23 | FAR 52.212-4; Section 7 Clauses | In the event of a termination for convenience, please confirm whether reasonable non-cancelable carrier commitments, vendor termination charges, and customer-specific investments are recoverable consistent with FAR 52.212-4. | In the event of a termination for convenience, the offeror would be provided an opportunity to submit a settlement for Government consideration. | |||
| 18 | PWS 6.0 Place of Performance | Please identify all Government-furnished facilities, rack space, power, cooling, cabling, and access support that will be provided to the Contractor. | Will be shared after the award. | |||
| 18 | PWS 6.0 Place of Performance | Please identify any badging, escort, background investigation, PIV, or facility-access requirements associated with contract performance. | No background investigation or PIV will be required. Note that any visitors will require an escort. | |||
| 10, 13 | PWS 1.2; PWS 2.9 | Will the Contractor process, transmit, or store any CUI, PII, PHI, controlled research information, or classified information under this effort? | No | |||
| 12, 18; Appendix A p.2 | PWS 2.6; PRS Security & Compliance; Appendix A.5 | Please provide details as to if the encryption is done via hardware or software, or both? | Hardware | |||
| 12, 18; Appendix A p.2 | PWS 2.6; PRS Security & Compliance; Appendix A.5 | Does the Government require encryption devices at the ends of connection, or does the encryption infrastructure already exist? What level of encryption is required? | Encryption should be hardware based in the MPON. | |||
| 6, 19, 29-30 | Volume 5 Other; PWS 7.0; HHSAR 352.239-79 | Please identify which deliverables require VPATs, Accessibility Conformance Reports, or independent accessibility testing. | Government is only interested in the VPAT and or 508 compliance of the vendor's ticketing system, reports, and government facing documentation. | |||
| 13-15 | PWS 2.7; PWS 2.10 Deliverables | Please identify incumbent providers, existing carrier contracts, and any Government-owned infrastructure that will remain in service during transition. | BSO is managing the current MPON through a Leidos FFRDC. All equipment and dark fiber is owned/leased by the incumbant. | |||
| 11-12, 15 | PWS 2.2; PWS 2.4; Deliverables | Please define approved maintenance windows and outage notification requirements. | Two weeks notification for routine maintenance which should ocurr outside of normal Monday through Friday business hours (8:00am - 6:00pm) | |||
| 15 | PWS Deliverables | Please provide samples of required operational, performance, security, and executive reports expected under the contract. | Service Uptime, Incident Response & Resolution Times reports are required. The contractor will be permitted to determine the format. | |||
| 12; Appendix A p.2 | PWS 2.6; Appendix A.5 | Please clarify whether cloud interconnect services are expected to be Contractor-provided, Government-provided, or coordinated directly through cloud service providers. | After the DX is installed--the provider (e.g. BSO owns the physical equipment in the NoVA site, they own the patch cable(s) that connect from their equipment to AWS. NCI owns and manages everything else--all the non-physical items. NCI configures the DX in the AWS console, configure virtual interfaces, VLANs, routing, etc | |||
| 4, 8, 12 | Factor 1; PWS 2.5 | Beyond the stated 400G roadmap, are there anticipated future requirements for additional cloud providers, SDN capabilities, automation platforms, or AI-enabled network management tools? | As noted in the soliciatation there will likely be a need for GCP Cloud Interconnect but no timeline for that is known at this time. SDN capabilites, automation platforms, or AI-enabled network management tools are not required by the NCI. | |||
| 11, 14-15 | PWS 2.3; PWS 2.10 | Please clarify ownership and disposition requirements for Contractor-provided equipment at contract expiration. | Equipment remains with the contractor. | |||
| 13, 16-18 | PWS 2.8; PRS | Please provide acceptance testing criteria and required performance validation procedures for new services. | See Page 2 of the QASP | |||
| 1 | Appendix A.3 | For Fort Detrick to Bethesda Buildings 10/12A at 100 Gbps, quantity 2, does quantity 2 mean two diverse 100 Gbps connections total across the two Bethesda buildings, or two diverse 100 Gbps connections to each building? | Two total, one to each Bethesda building | |||
| 1 | Appendix A.3 | For each 10 Gbps, quantity 2 row from Shady Grove and ATRF to Northern Virginia for AWS/GCP, does quantity 2 mean one connection to AWS and one to GCP, or two diverse connections per cloud provider? | Four total connections:1. One AWS DX from SG to NoVA for Prod; 2. One AWS DX from SG to NoVA for Lab; 3. One AWS DX from ATRF to NoVA for Prod; 4. | One AWS DX from ATRF to NoVA for Lab; 5. | We don't yet have any GCP Interconnects, those are potential future additions. If/when we add them, they would be four more, in the same pattern; 6. | The NoVA locations for prod need to be diverse, as do the NoVA locations for lab |
| 2 | Appendix A.3 | For Rockville–Bethesda at 40 to 100 Gbps, should service connect Shady Grove to both Buildings 10 and 12A? Please confirm the required circuit count and whether the upgrade is included in current firm-fixed pricing or treated as a future capability. | Yes, both buildings 10 and 12A. We currently have: 1. One 40Gbps connection, consisting of 4 aggregated 10Gbps connections, between SG and Building 10; 2.One 40Gbps connection, consisting of 4 aggregated 10Gbps connections, between SG and Building 12A; 3.These can remain 4x10Gbps aggregations, or could become true 40Gbps connections; 4.Or if there is not much difference in cost to upgrade the link now to 100Gbps, that would be desirable | |||
| 2 | Appendix A.3 | For “Campus Rings — Existing/Operate,” is the contractor expected to take over operation of an existing network? If so, can the Government provide the current topology, equipment inventory, carriers, routes, demarcations, and handoff details needed for pricing? | Take over operation of an existing network? No. Replace an existing network? Yes, and we've already provided the details of the circuits that exist, which need to be replaced. See diagram provided with amendment 1. | |||
| 1 | Appendix A.3 | Because the two Northern Virginia addresses will be provided at award, may offerors price using assumed diverse cloud on-ramps and state those assumptions? | Yes, the NoVA locations are required to be diverse | |||
| NA | We would like to know if this is a brand new contract OR if there is (was) an incumbent performing these services. If not brand new, could you please provide the current / previous contract number? | This is not a brand name acquisition. The services are being performed under a FFRDC w/Leidos. DOI/AQD did not award the existing arrangement. | ||||
| 6 | Volume 3 - Factor 3 Price | Volume 5 requires offerors to submit a completed VPAT using Attachment 2 and instructs offerors to enter “NA” for sections that are not applicable. For a managed network service where the primary ICT interface available to Government users is the contractor's customer portal for ticketing and service visibility, please confirm whether the Government expects the VPAT/ACR to address only the customer-facing portal and applicable electronic support documentation, with network infrastructure and other non-applicable sections identified as N/A. Additionally, if the portal has not yet undergone a formal third-party VPAT assessment, please confirm whether an offeror may complete Attachment 2 based on its current internal accessibility evaluation and disclose the evaluation methodology and any criteria not yet formally assessed. | Government is only interested in the VPAT and or 508 compliance of the vendor's ticketing system, reports, and government facing documentation. Yes, if the portal has not yet undergone a formal third-party VPAT assessment, an offeror may complete Attachment 2 based on its current internal accessibility evaluation and disclose the evaluation methodology and any criteria not yet formally assessed. | |||
| 1 | Attachment 1 | Attachment 1: Contract Certifications and Provisions Required form(s) must be completed and returned to the contracting office with your quote. Please confirm that the Accessibility Conformance Report (ACR) is the only required report or form that must be submitted with supplier's quote? | Attachment 1 has been updated as there are no specific forms within attachment 1 that are required to be completed. However, the ACR is required. | |||
| Will the Government furnish rack space, power, cooling, building entrance facilities, intra-building cross-connects, and campus/inside-plant fiber at the performance locations? If not, what should be included in the firm-fixed price? | The government will provide rack space, power and colloing in the ATRF, Bethesda, Frederick, and Rockville locations. The government will provide intra-building cross-connects, and campus/inside fiber plants at the ATRF, Bethesda, Frederick, and Rockville locations. The firm fixed price should include the costs of the rack space, powered and cooling in the Northern Virginia locations as well as the dark fiber between sites. | |||||
| Are the existing leased fiber/local-access facilities assignable to a successor, and will existing Government- or incumbent-owned network equipment be available? If so, please provide the available circuit/provider/term information and equipment inventory; otherwise, please confirm that offerors should price a complete new deployment. | Existing dark fiber and equipment is NOT transferable. Offerors should price a complete new deployment. | |||||
| What in-service dates should be assumed for the planned Fort Detrick–Bethesda and GCP Interconnect builds, and should base-period pricing assume partial-year billing? | No dates at this time. Not expected before 2028. | |||||
| For end-to-end encryption, may the contractor select the implementation layer, and does “FIPS-validated” require a current FIPS 140-2/140-3 CMVP-validated module? Please also identify the authorization boundary, FIPS-199 impact level, and specific RMF artifacts/support expected. | FIPS 140-3 for this opportunity as FIPS 140-2 validations have moved to the historical list at NIH. The offeror is providing an encrypted layer service between the awardee's devices. No encryption expected between awardee's devices and the government's devices. | |||||
| 2 | QASP | Is 99.99% availability measured per service per calendar month, against each leg or the diverse pair, and what exclusions apply? Please clarify Priority 1 restoration/approved-workaround expectations beyond the 15-minute response requirement and whether the contractor may propose the priority matrix. | The 99.99% availability is is measured per service per calendar month. Government caused outages and Force majeure are excluded. Offerors shall determine how they will meet the 99.99% threshold. | |||
| 19 | Section 4 | What onsite arrival expectations, after-hours escort availability, and personnel access/credentialing requirements apply at Fort Detrick, ATRF, Shady Grove, and Bethesda? Will the Government coordinate required NIH cross-connect, entrance-facility, and change-window access? | Individuals will be escorted in all locations. | |||
| 11 | Section 4 | What maintenance/change windows and notice periods apply, what failover-test cadence and recovery objectives are expected, and must monitoring/ticketing integrate with a Government platform or may the contractor provide access to its own tools? | Two weeks notification for routine maintenance which should occur outside of normal Monday through Friday business hours (8:00am - 6:00pm) | |||
| Who is the incumbent and what current transition support, circuit/equipment records, maintenance calendars, monitoring access, and open-ticket information will be made available? | BSO is managing the current MPON through a Leidos FFRDC. All equipment and dark fiber is owned/leased by the incumbent. | |||||
| 3 | Section 1 | The RFQ lists a 150-employee size standard for NAICS 517111, while the current SBA table appears to list 1,500 employees. Which standard applies? | Solicitation corrected to 1,500. | |||
| 22 | Section 7 | Where can offerors access the cited RFO provisions, and do the two pages for past performance include subcontractor references? Is the subcontractor-reference requirement limited to material/major subcontractors? | RFO provisions can be found at:" https://www.acquisition.gov/browse/index/far. Choose the FAR Overhaul link at the top of the page. Regarding page limit, the solicitation was updated to note "One additional page may be added to the 2-page limit to include subcontractor information only." The subcontractor reference requirement is not limited to material/major subcontractors if subcontractors are being used for other aspects. | |||
| 6 | Volume 3 - Factor 3 Price | Is open-market pricing acceptable where an offeror or subcontractor does not hold a GWAC, and what ICT elements should the VPAT cover for a managed transport service? | Yes, open market pricing is acceptable. The Government was requesting GWAC pricing to allow for easier price quote preparation by the offeror and evaluation by the Government. See question and answer on line 14. | |||
| Can the Government provide a sample visio/diagram, clearly defining each building and the expected bandwidth requirements? | Posted with amendment 1 | |||||
| 2 | Appendix A.3 | Can the Government provide detail on which locations are include in the "Campus Ring"? Are all the connected buildings in the request considered the "campus ring" , or is their a different campus environment in addition to the ring the Government is asking for? | Frederick — Fort Detrick, Frederick — ATRF, Rockville — Shady Grove, Bethesda — Building 10, Bethesda — Building 12A. Yes, these are the only locations for this award. | |||
| Is there a requirement to have Nx1 redundancy of core site switches? Does the Government require a core switch at each location? | Core switches are not required. NCI deploys and manages NCI switches and routers. | |||||
| Is there any reluctance to connect Detrick and ATRF? | The ATRF and Detrick sites are part of the existing solution and expected in the new contract as well. | |||||
| Is the Government open to replacing Bethesda campus ring with resilient DWDM? | The ring is all four of the NCI Sites ie, Bethesda, Rockville, ATRF, and Dietrick | |||||
| Does Bethesda campus have a specific need for CSPs and/or direct connection to Rockville (application/resource) | Bethesda does not need a connection to CSPs. Bethesda does need a connection to Rockville. | |||||
| Where are the storage arrays, and how are they managed? | Storage services are out of scope. |
File details come from the government source that posted it. Updated .