Response to Vendor Questions.docx

No.

Page: p1, p191 Section(s): B.1(c) General, and L.3.2.3 Transition Plan Section B.1(c) General indicates contract award date will be by October 1, 2020. But, Section L.3.2.3, Transition Plan, states the contract will be awarded by September 1, 2020.

Please provide the correct award date.

September 1, 2020 is the correct date. Please see the revised solicitation.

Page: p102 Section(s): F - F.2 (c)

Page: p111; p120; p148 Section(s): G.2.2. DOJ-Wide Contract Director (a) and (b) H.4 Prohibition against Soliciting and Performing Personal Services (f) H.11 Key Personnel Labor Categories (a)

Page: 120 Section(s): H.5 – Security Requirements Classified

Page: p122 Section(s): H.5.1.2.1 Pre-Appointment Background Investigations and Waivers

The government no longer issues interim Top Secret clearances.

Page: p174; 186 Section(s): L.3.2.3.1 (4) ii. Organizational structure and resources

Page: p178 Section(s): L.3.1.5 (2), Nonexempt, Labor Category Classification Table

Page: p182 Section(s): L.3.1.7, Price Support Information, item (5) The RFP requests that GSA Federal Supply Schedules with identical or similar CLINs be provided, with annotations indicating the proposed CLIN and an explanation of any differences between “your GSA schedule and your proposal”.

Please confirm that this is a FAR 15 procurement, and is not a FAR 8.4 acquisition that would be subject to payment of the GSA IFF.

Confirmed.

Page: 185 Section(s): L.3.2.3.1 (1) Organizational Structure and Resources

Page: p186 Section(s): L.3.2.3.1 (4)(iii) Organizational Structure and Resources L.3.2.3.1 (4) (iii) describes three categories for personnel qualifications: 1) resumes, 2) staffing matrices with specific names, and 3) staffing summary information.

Please confirm the following sections align to those categories:

· Resumes – Resumes are required for the Contract-Wide Director, Division Directors and Deputies and the positions and quantities defined in the table on p.187

· Staffing matrices – Matrices with names only are required for the list of labor categories in L.3.2.3.1 (4) (v) p.188 in quantities as per Attachment 1 – Pricing Tables.

· Staffing summary – All labor categories not covered above require only the staffing summary as described in L.3.2.3.1(4)(vi) Confirmed. See response to Question 140.

Page: p187 Section(s): L.3.2.3.1 Organizational Structure and Resources, (4) Staffing Plan, Resume Requirements RFP Page 187

Page: p187 Section(s): L.3.2.3.1 Organizational Structure and Resources, (4) Staffing Plan, Resume Requirements

Page: p187 Section(s): Organizational Structure and Resources, (4) Staffing Plan, Resume Requirements Please confirm “Lead Project Manager Power Plants” is “CLIN0001 - Lead Project Manager”.

If so, then confirm whether two (2) Lead Project Managers are needed for this division.

Confirmed.

Page: p187 Section(s): Organizational Structure and Resources, (4) Staffing Plan, Resume Requirements

Page: 191 Section(s): L.3.2.3 (a) Transition Plan Reads “Identify all estimated costs that will be directly billable to the Government during the phase-in period (i.e. prior to 12/01/20).”

Please clarify to what detail costs should be estimated, as typically costs such as proposed CLIN Labor Rates are not included in a Technical Volume.

See response to Question 145.

Page: 191 Section(s): L.3.2.3 (b) Transition Plan Reads “Assume that 120 Document Center positions will need to be filed, at three different sites, one of which is not in the Washington DC Area.”

Please confirm that the three centers are in space provided to the contractor by DOJ. If not, should offerors estimate lease costs, or assume that any leases will pass from Contractor A to Contractor B.

See response to Question 146.

Page: 191 Section(s): L.3.2.3 (c) Transition Plan Reads: (c) Offerors who do not propose to assume responsibility for operating and maintaining existing proprietary imaging systems and applications (such as ADIIS), but who propose to convert these to other imaging systems must include a description of how the transition would be accomplished, and include estimated cost to the Government for hardware, software, networking, integration, etc. for the news systems.”

Please provide a detailed inventory of all such proprietary systems, their purpose/functionality, the volume of information contained that needs transitioning, the number of databases involved, and the size/type of data associated with each, so that offerors may properly estimate costs.

See response to Question 147.

Page: p192 Section(s): L.5 Submission of Offers

Please confirm there should be another column for Option 6 with identical volume amounts for that year, to be consistent with the Contract Term schedule in RFP B.1 (b).

Attachment 1 has been updated.

Please confirm that the estimated quantities for the Base Period are the same for each of the option Periods. Confirmation is requested given that the POP for Base Period is 6 months while POP for each of the Option Periods is one year, per RFP B.1 (b).

Attachment 1 has been updated.

Please confirm offerors should propose their fixed multiplier to include all administrative handling costs and project oversight associated with each CLIN in place of the 1.052 value provided in the template.

Please see the updated attachment, there is no fixed multiplier.

Please confirm this reference is intended to refer to E-Discovery Application Administrator I and II labor categories as neither System Administrator (I or II) is a CLIN category.

Confirmed.

Attachment 3 RFP Section B.3 and PDF Attachment 3 refer to the DOL Wage Determinations for Washington, DC (WD 15-4282, Rev 7). However, the Excel listing of Attachment 3 Area WDs show Washington D.C. as WD 15-4281, Rev 14.

Q: Please clarify whether Offerors should use WD 15-4281 Rev 14 or WD15-4282 Rev 7 in developing tables B2 and B3 labor rates.

Use WD 15-4281 rev 14. Attachments will be updated accordingly.

Q: For these reasons and to ensure parity between offerors’ submissions, will the Government specify how many Division Contract Director resumes and Deputy Division Director resumes each offeror must propose?

The table at C.4.4.1 (c) is not for the purpose of requesting resumes. It indicates the minimum required unbillable management based on annual billing level.

For guidance on offeror’s submission see L.3.2.2 Technical Approach and L.3.2.3 Management Plan.

Q: Is the correct reference Section H.11 on p. 148?

Yes.

Q: When will the Government provide an updated Attachment 1?

Attachment 1 has been revised.

C.5.1.1.1(h), p. 40 Both of these sections require the offeror and possibly one or more subcontractors to submit CDs scanned image samples.

Q: May each offeror or subcontractor submit one (1) CD that addresses both of these requirements?

Yes.

C.7, p. 82 L.3.2.2(a), p. 183 Section C.6 appears to be numbered incorrectly. We believe it should be C.5.1.4. Section L.3.2.2(a) states, “The offeror shall describe how it will perform the work and services required under Sections C.5 and C.6 of the solicitation.” .” We believe the Government may have intended for offerors to describe how they will perform the Litigation and E-Discovery Support Services in Section C.7 beginning on p. 82.

Q: Will the Government update the section numbering so that all Litigation Support Products SOW areas fall under C.5 and Litigation and E-Discovery Support Services becomes C.6?

The section numbering has been updated so that all products fall under C.5 and all services become C.6.

Q: What is the correct section number reference?

The section numbering has been updated, and the reference is to C.5.2.1.

Q: Should this reference be to Section C.6.7 (p)?

Yes.

B.1(b), p. 1 The RFP states, “The total duration of this contract, including the exercise of any options under this clause, shall not exceed seventy-seven (77) months.” However, the period of performance shown in Section B.1 (b) is 78 months.

Q: Please confirm what was intended.

78 months is intended, please see updated solicitation.

Q: Should this reference be H.9 instead of H.12?

Confirmed, Please see updated solicitation.

L.3.1.5 page 179 Certain Contract Employee Classes have a lower DOL Correlation than they did in MEGA 4. For instance, DMT is now a General Clerk I, but was a General Clerk II in MEGA 4. DMA I was a General Clerk III in MEGA 4 and is now a General Clerk II. Accounting Technician was an Accounting Clerk III and is now an Accounting Clerk II. Technical Writer has changed from Technical Writer III in M4 to Word Processor III in M5.

Q: We assume that offerors are responsible for the correct mapping of these positions in their responses to ensure compliance with DOL regulations. Is this assumption correct?

Correct.

Q: Is the COI Certification to be submitted only with task orders? Not at the IDIQ level? In any case, please provide the COI certification.

Please see the updated Attachment 4.

Q: Will the solicitation be updated to reflect the revised size standard?

Confirmed.

L.3.2.3.1(4)(ii), p. 186 L.3.2.3.1(4)(v), pp. 187-188 L.3.2.3.1(4)(vi), p. 188 In addition to resumes, which are excluded from the page limit, offerors must provide additional staffing information that will require the use of very large tables and, in some cases, foldout pages. These would take up a considerable portion of the Management section’s 40-page limit.

Q: Will the Government also exclude the following from the page limit?

· Task Area Cross Reference Matrix (L.3.2.3.1(4)(ii)]

· Staffing Matrices [L.3.2.3.1(4)(v)]

· Staffing Summary[ L.3.2.3.1(4)(vi)]

· Tabs

· Acronym Lists

· Glossaries

· Table of Contents Cover Letter Yes.

Attachment 9 The following labor categories that are included in Attachment 9 appear to be missing from the Labor Category Table:

· #0025 Senior User Trainer

· #0034 Law Clerk III Q: Will the Government correct the Labor Category Table to include these labor categories?

The provided Labor Category Classification Table should be used only as a guideline. The Contractor is ultimately responsible for the Labor Category Classification Table, and is dependent on the individual offeror’s personnel system. Thus the Department offers no further specific guidelines on these labor categories.

Attachment 9 The labor category #0026 Senior User Support Specialist/User Trainer from Attachment 9 appears to be missing from the labor category table.

Q: Should this labor category map to the labor category table Senior User Support?

See response to Question 57.

Attachment 9 The labor category 0027 User Support Specialist from Attachment 9 appears to be missing from the labor category table.

Q: Should this labor category be mapped to the labor category table User Support Specialist?

See response to Question 57.

Attachment 9 The labor category #0023 Technical Writer in Attachment 9 has a job description that appears to be a match for an SCA category Technical Writer III. However, the labor category table has it mapped to a Word Processor.

Q: Is this correct?

See response to Question 57.

Attachment 9 The labor category table has a job Help Desk Supervisor. However, there is no corresponding job description in Attachment 9.

Q: Is this a separate job that requires a separate job description?

No. CLIN 0025 is Senior User Trainer/Help Desk Supervisor.

Attachment 9

Q: What CLIN should the people currently in this role be mapped to?

Offerors will have to decide.

Q: What CLIN should the people currently in this role be mapped to?

See response to Question 63.

Q: What CLIN should the people currently in this role be mapped to?

See response to Question 63.

Q: What CLIN should the people currently in this role be mapped to?

See response to Question 63.

Q: What CLIN should the people currently in this role be mapped to?

See response to Question 63.

Q: What CLIN should the people currently in this role be mapped to?

See response to Question 63.

Attachment 9 Job #0020 E-Discovery Application Administrator III has no programming in the job description. Jobs #0021 and 0021 E-Discovery Application Administrators II and I are listed with ‘expert’ and ‘substantial’ levels of programming experience.

Q: Is this expected to be a progression of programmers from Level I, to Level II, and Level III?

While the E-Discovery Application Administrator series is a progression from I to III, the government envisions that the level III would be less hands on, and would provide technical direction and supervision.

Attachment 9 The Job 0024 User Support Program Manager job description includes no references to managing staff.

Q: Is this a people manager?

The job description in Attachment 9 provides an example in which the User Support Program Manager would oversee a contractor staffed Self Help program. The answer will vary from division to division.

Attachment 9

Attachment 9

Attachment 9

Attachment 9

Q: Will the Government allow offerors to provide this table outside of the Executive Summary page count?

Yes.

Q: Will the Government allow offerors to reference this table rather than including it in the Executive Summary?

Yes.

Q: We assume the correct section references are C.5.1.1 and C.5.1.1.1. Is this assumption correct?

Correct.

However, in the MEGA 5 RFP, Document Acquisition is no longer a sub-section of Litigation Support Products.

Q: Will the Government update these instructions to reflect the new content of Section C.5 and its subsections?

Offerors can disregard the reference to the sub-section title “Document Acquisition.” The reference is to Digital Image Capture/Scanning/OCRing.

Q: Is the statement “…all pages of a document or all pages of a collection of documents that comprise a folder or other logical grouping, including a box, shall be delivered on a single piece of media; no image folder shall contain more than 2000 images” intended to be a decision/requirement, or is it something yet to be decided?

Attachment 7 has been revised.

Q: What is the Government’s intent for this requirement?

Attachment 7 has been revised.

Q: What is the Government’s intent for this requirement?

Attachment 7 has been revised.

Q: What is the Government’s intent for this requirement?

Attachment 7 has been revised.

Q: Is the Fraud Examiner Federal staff?

The labor category description for the Fraud Analyst has been revised and now states the Fraud Analyst operates under the direction of an Auditor or Senior Auditor. Attachment 9 has been revised.

1) Please confirm that this instruction is correct.

2) If this instruction is correct, please outline the section C tasks corresponding to Document Acquisition.

See response to Question 79.

1) Please confirm that this evaluation factor is correct.

2) If this evaluation factor is correct, please outline the section C tasks corresponding to Document Acquisition.

See response to Question 79.

The Section C tasks are C.6.5 for Electronic Collections; C.6.7 for Early Case Assessment.

Please confirm that this Team Responsibilities chart will not be counted against the Management Plan page limit.

Confirmed.

1. Are there more specific foreign countries allowed or disallowed?

Can the vendors utilize solutions with US distribution and/or US owned companies providing the support of the product?

The DOJ cybersecurity standard states: “….DOJ Components must prohibit the use of foreign-owned information technology products unless the Department CIO grants a waiver based upon assessed risk, mitigation controls and operational requirements.“ NUIX, being a foreign owned software, would need to be approved for usage within DOJ by the DOJ CIO prior to usage. This waiver needs to be renewed annually.

No, the prohibition is for all non-US technology products- hardware, software, etc.

United States distribution and/or support does not change the ownership fact.

Section B-3 Page 3 of the solicitation states, “This rate shall include all costs for overtime hours worked (defined as hours worked in excess of a forty hour workweek, unless otherwise defined by State law). Up to 5% of the hours ordered may require overtime work.” “All costs” would include the overtime premium required by the FLSA.

This language in B-3 seems to conflict with Section C.7.2 (e) 6 which states, “Only hours worked may be billed, and only at straight-time (normal) rates (unit prices).”

Please confirm that all offerors are required to include overtime premium costs for up to five (5) percent of the hours for Non-exempt personnel in the rates proposed in Tables B2, B3 and B4.

All vendors are required to comply with FLSA. As stated in the solicitation section B.3, proposed rates shall include all overtime costs. The government will not pay any additional overtime rates over the proposed rates. Overtime, if authorized shall only be billed as straight time at the proposed rates.

Please confirm the rates proposed in Pricing table B-4 for both exempt and non-exempt personnel “shall include all expenses, including salaries/wages, report/documentation preparation, fringe benefits, overhead, general and administrative expenses, and profit”.

Confirmed

Referenced section states “The Offeror shall also complete the Adjustment Factors Pricing Table shown in Attachment (2). This table contains fixed multipliers to be applied to existing Department of Labor Area Wage Determinations where work is being performed outside the Washington, DC metropolitan area.”

Question: Given all the referenced language, it’s not clear if and when the proposed rates for Non-Exempt personnel in locations Outside Washington DC are priced and executed using the indirect loads in pricing tables B4 or using the Adjustment Factor proposed in Attachment 2. Please clarify.

The J.2 rates are only applied to non-exempt CLIN. The J.2 table will only be used after the contract award to develop new B-4 cities not listed in J.3.

Referenced section states, “The anticipated use of the Table B-4 provisional rates for non-exempt CLINs is anticipated to be rare or occasional. There are numerous city and Area Wage Determinations included in Attachment (3), which would first be applied to the Attachment (2) Adjustment Factors, (to achieve the appropriate billing rates from the beginning of a task), before the Table B-4 provisional rates would need to be put into effect.

Question: Please describe the rare or occasional conditions when provisional rates in table B-4 would apply for non-exempt CLINs executed in locations outside of Washington DC.

When a task order is 6 month or less. Any task order longer than 6 months will require the development of a B-4 table.

Page: p1, p191 Section(s): B.1(c) General, and L.3.2.3 Transition Plan Section B.1(c) General indicates contract award date will be by October 1, 2020. But, Section L.3.2.3, Transition Plan, states the contract will be awarded by September 1, 2020.

Please provide the correct award date.

Please see corrected solicitation.

Page: p102 Section(s): F - F.2 (c)

Page: p111; p120; p148 Section(s): G.2.2. DOJ-Wide Contract Director (a) and (b) H.4 Prohibition against Soliciting and Performing Personal Services (f) H.11 Key Personnel Labor Categories (a)

Page: 120 Section(s): H.5 – Security Requirements Classified

Page: p122 Section(s): H.5.1.2.1 Pre-Appointment Background Investigations and Waivers

Page: p174; 186 Section(s): L.3.2.3.1 (4) ii. Organizational structure and resources

Page: p178 Section(s): L.3.1.5 (2), Nonexempt, Labor Category Classification Table

Page: p182 Section(s): L.3.1.7, Price Support Information, item (5) The RFP requests that GSA Federal Supply Schedules with identical or similar CLINs be provided, with annotations indicating the proposed CLIN and an explanation of any differences between “your GSA schedule and your proposal”.

Please confirm that this is a FAR 15 procurement, and is not a FAR 8.4 acquisition that would be subject to payment of the GSA IFF.

Confirmed.

Page: 185 Section(s): L.3.2.3.1 (1) Organizational Structure and Resources

Page: p186 Section(s): L.3.2.3.1 (4)(iii) Organizational Structure and Resources L.3.2.3.1 (4) (iii) describes three categories for personnel qualifications: 1) resumes, 2) staffing matrices with specific names, and 3) staffing summary information.

Please confirm the following sections align to those categories:

· Resumes – Resumes are required for the Contract-Wide Director, Division Directors and Deputies and the positions and quantities defined in the table on p.187

· Staffing matrices – Matrices with names only are required for the list of labor categories in L.3.2.3.1 (4) (v) p.188 in quantities as per Attachment 1 – Pricing Tables.

Staffing summary – All labor categories not covered above require only the staffing summary as described in L.3.2.3.1(4)(vi) Confirmed. Resumes are required for all positions listed in the table on p. 187. Staffing matrices with names only are required for the list of labor categories in L.3.2.3.1 (4) (v) p. 188 in quantities per Attachment 1 – Pricing Tables.

Confirmed. All labor categories not covered above require only the staffing summary as described in L.3.2.3.1 (4) (vi).

Page: p187 Section(s): L.3.2.3.1 Organizational Structure and Resources, (4) Staffing Plan, Resume Requirements RFP Page 187

Page: p187 Section(s): L.3.2.3.1 Organizational Structure and Resources, (4) Staffing Plan, Resume Requirements

Page: p187 Section(s): Organizational Structure and Resources, (4) Staffing Plan, Resume Requirements Please confirm “Lead Project Manager Power Plants” is “CLIN0001 - Lead Project Manager”.

If so, then confirm whether two (2) Lead Project Managers are needed for this division.

Confirmed. One for Power Plants, one for division-wide support.

Page: p187 Section(s): Organizational Structure and Resources, (4) Staffing Plan, Resume Requirements

Page: 191 Section(s): L.3.2.3 (a) Transition Plan Reads “Identify all estimated costs that will be directly billable to the Government during…