RPA Phase 2 Solicitation QA.docx

Questions and Answers 19AQMM21R0293

1. Reference In “5.3 Instructions for Stage One : A. FACTOR ONE BOT PAST EXPERIENCE” , the following requirement has been given. “The project references for the submitted project. The offeror must have performed as a contractor for work within the past three years, to count their staff must have performed the work and not a subcontractor.”

Question: Can we use a project reference of our sub-contractor for the video submission and the project summary document?

Answer: Yes as long as you demonstrate that your company had a majority role in the development.

2. Reference: The SAM posting references NAICS code 541511, which differs from the solicitation document which references NAICS 541519. The reason for this recommendation is that 541519 FN18 allows companies that are small in employees (150 or less) but have significant revenue because they also resell products to participate. The solicitation references the need to have expertise in UiPath and potentially help with acquisition or integration of UiPath Orchestrator. This adjustment would let companies that provide products along with the associated services and therefore have high UiPath qualification levels and relationships to participate, without disqualifying other small businesses.

Question: Will the Government consider allowing for NAICS 541519, Footnote 18 (commonly referred to as “IT VAR Exception)”?

Answer: The solicitation has been updated to reflect the 541511 NAICs code and remove the discrepancy

3. Page 23, Section A, subsection “Written Summary” item 8 states that the references used must be for work performed by the contractor and not a subcontractor. By their nature RPA projects are often part of larger programs where the prime contractor may not be the offeror even though it is the offeror’s experience and personnel executing the RPA work.

Question: Will the Government please confirm that work the offeror performed as a subcontractor (vs. a prime) is acceptable?

Answer: Work performed as a subcontractor would be acceptable.

4. I understand the submission for Stage One is the Video, Summary Write Up, DD254 and the OCI document – but the Past Performance Questionnaire that’s posted to sam.gov isn’t clear on the instructions.

Question: Do we only have that filled out and sent in for the project referenced in the video? Do we have our customer deliver the completed form or do we send it in as part of Stage One?

Answer: Have your customer email the Past Performance Questionnaire to weakley-lugokf@state.gov.

5. Is clearance required prior to winning the contract?

Answer: Yes, a clearance is required for this work as you will see the DD254 must be submitted in phase one.

6. We did not submit a phase 1 response, does this limit us for competing and making a submission on phase 2?

Answer: Phase one proposals are due August 6, if you do not provide a proposal for phase one you cannot submit a proposal for phase 2.

7. Regarding the security clearances for this opportunity. Are secret clearances required just for individuals that will be working on site or do all members of the companies holding the contract require a clearance?

Answer: The solicitation requires a secret facility clearance and the bidders DD254 must be submitted in phase one. Additionally, contractor may have the ability to view and access sensitive data within identity access management and IT service management systems, thus the need for a Secret-level clearance.

8. PHASE ONE FACTOR 1 – Video of a Past Bot Coding Project Question: Can the Prime and Sub both submit 1 implementation video each for Phase One Factor 1 evaluation of a Video of a Past Bot Coding Project?

Answer: The 5 minute video can have up to 2 projects in its content per section 7.3A in the solicitation.

9. Is a Secret Facility Clearance required in order to be eligible for award?

Answer: Yes

10. Will the Government consider extending the due date by 1 week to allow time to process answers to questions?

Answer: We unfortunately do not have the ability to extend the due date due to our tight timeline

11. On page 22 of the solicitation it states, “The first stage requires the submission of a video demonstration that will be no longer than seven minutes in length from a past Relevant Project(s) and a Past Experience.” However, on page 23, the chart below indicates the limit is 5 minutes for all stages:

Stage

Volume

FORMAT

PAGE

LIMITS*

Question: Please clarify if the time limit for the video demonstration is 5 minutes or 7?

Answer: The video length is 5 minutes.

SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED