Answers to Initial Questions - IT Operational Support Services IDIQ.xlsx
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- Attached to
- IT Operational Support Services IDIQ
- Solicitation number
- 2026-CIO-0044
- Issued by
-
Library of Congress
About this file
This document is a comprehensive Q&A file related to the Library of Congress (LOC) IT Operational Support Services IDIQ (Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity) solicitation. The solicitation seeks contract support for maintaining and operating IT systems across network, software, and infrastructure domains, covering on-premises and cloud-deployed systems including client/server, database, and web-based applications. The procurement is structured in two phases, with Phase One focused on corporate experience evaluation and Phase Two involving detailed technical and pricing submissions.
Key details include a Phase One submission deadline of 01/05/2026, an anticipated award of multiple IDIQ contracts with the Library planning to select approximately 10 offerors to proceed to Phase Two. The current incumbent contractors include Accenture Federal Services LLC, Artemis Consulting, CGI Federal Inc., and MILCOR Corp. The initial task order will primarily involve onsite data network support at LOC facilities, with most work conducted during business hours. The contract will run through April 30, 2031, with base and option years, and does not include specific small business set-asides. Contractors must demonstrate capability across all twelve principal task areas outlined in the solicitation, with a focus on operations and maintenance rather than new system development.
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Sheet1
| Question | Document Reference | Question | Response |
| 1 | N/A | Would CPARs be acceptable in lieu of the J2 PPQ form for submission for the past performance volume? | No. All interested offerors are required to have their customers submit a copy of the PPQ directly to the CO and CS identified in the solicitation. |
| 2 | N/A | Is there an incumbent on this contract? If so, please provide the incumbent name, current contract number, Period of performance, Value of the contract? | The closest contract related to this requirement was a multiple award contract with a Period of Performance of 05/01/2021-04/30/2026 and a maximum shared ceiling of $150,000,000. The incumbent contractors are Accenture Federal Services LLC, Artemis Consulting, CGI Federal Inc., and MILCOR Corp. The current contract included help desk support services which are not included in this requirement. |
| 3 | N/A | Do the two-page limits for each project include graphics, tables, and charts? | Yes, the two-page limit per project for the corporate experience volume includes graphics, tables and charts. |
| 4 | N/A | Are items like cover letters and executive summaries counted toward the page limit for Volume I? | Per the instructions in Section L.2.6(b), the page limit for Volume I does not include cover letters or executive summaries. |
| 5 | N/A | Will Phase 1 be evaluated strictly on corporate experience, or will other factors, such as certifications, play a role in the advisory recommendation? | Phase 1 (corporate experience) will be evaluated in accordance with Section M.1.5.1 of the solicitation. No other factors will be evaluated during Phase 1. |
| 6 | N/A | Will the Government share a scoring rubric or weighting for Phase 1? | The Library will evaluate Phase 1 in accordance with Section M.1.5.1 of the solicitation using adjectival ratings. |
| 7 | N/A | Will the advisory recommendation include detailed feedback on any deficiencies, or will it simply state “proceed” or “do not proceed”? | The advisory recommendation will provide a recommendation to proceed or not to proceed and a general basis for the recommendation per Section L.2.4.1 of the solicitation. |
| 8 | N/A | Will there be another question-and-answer period for Phase 2? We’d like to focus on Phase 1 now and save Phase 2 questions for later if we’re advised to proceed. | Yes, there will be a Phase 2 question and answer period. Please see Amendment 0002. |
| 9 | N/A | Can a company submit its own Phase 1 response and also participate in a joint venture submission if the corporate experience meets the RFP requirements? | Yes, an offeror may submit its own Phase 1 response and also submit a Phase 1 response for a joint venture. |
| 10 | N/A | If that’s allowed, can the same corporate experience be used in both submissions, or does each submission need to include separate and distinct examples? | Each submission needs to include separate and distinct examples for the offeror's own experience and as a joint venture. |
| 11 | N/A | We noticed there doesn’t appear to be a small business track. Are there any plans to set aside certain task orders for small businesses under this IDIQ? | The Library of Congress is a legislative branch agency and does not have the authority to do set-asides for small businesses. |
| 12 | N/A | Please provide the name, contract number, and value of the incumbent contractor (if available). | Please refer to Question 2. |
| 13 | N/A | Please provide the anticipated number of awards for this requirement. | The Library does not have an anticipated number of awards. |
| 14 | N/A | The Volume I Technical Proposal under Corporate Experience section on page 61 states that Volume I shall not exceed 2 pages per project and 2 pages for the narrative response. Could you please clarify whether this results in a total limit of 4 pages per project, or if the intent is a combined limit of 2 pages including the narrative? | Per Section L.2.6(b) A.1, the narrative’s page limit is 2 pages. The narrative response should not be combined with the project responses and should provide the offeror's experience performing the services identified in Section C of the solicitation. The offeror shall also provide a description of three projects that shall not exceed 2 pages each. The total limit is 8 pages (not including a cover letter, cover page, table of contents or executive summary), however, if an offeror is proposing subcontracting arrangements, an additional 2 projects are needed for each subcontractor proposed. |
| 15 | N/A | The RFP has 2 contradicting statements under A.1 Factor 1 Corporate Experience in page 62 it states the offeror must provide its own experiences and again under C.1. Factor 3 Past Performance in page 63 it says minimum one from Prime. For Factor 1 Corporate Experience, must all three corporate experience projects be solely from the prime offeror, or can one be from the prime and the other two from subcontractors? | Corporate Experience and Past Performance will be evaluated separately. The three Corporate Experience projects must be the offeror’s own experience. In addition, if the offeror is proposing to use a subcontractor, they must also submit two projects for each subcontractor in the Volume 1 - Corporate Experience. For the Past Performance, offerors must ensure three Past Performance Questionnaires are submitted, and at least one Past Performance Reference must be submitted for the prime contractor. |
| 16 | N/A | If subcontractors are proposed, does the requirement for two additional corporate experience projects per subcontractor apply in addition to the prime’s three projects or else its overall 3 corporate experiences including prime and subcontractor together? | If subcontractors are proposed, the offeror must submit three projects of its own experience in accordance with Section L.2.6(b) A.1 and two additional projects must be submitted for each subcontractor. |
| 17 | N/A | Are proposers expected to address all requirements in Section 3 of attachment J4? For instance, may we propose to all but one or two of the requirements, or is it expected that we shall have subcontractor’s lined up at the time of proposal submission with references to their capabilities? | Offerors must be able to fulfill all of the requirements in Section C of the task order solicitation (Attachment J4). Offerors may propose using subcontractor(s). |
| 18 | N/A | Is there a current IDIQ in place for LOC IT support requirements? If so, is there an available list of current incumbents? | Please refer to question 2. |
| 19 | N/A | If the IDIQ concept for IT support services at the LOC is a new initiative, has the organization received final approval to utilize the vehicle once award decisions are announced? | The IDIQ is not a new concept for the IT Support Services. Please refer to question 2. |
| 20 | N/A | Additionally, if this is a new concept, are you able to provide a list of current vendors providing IT operations and support services to the LOC? | The IDIQ is not a new concept for the IT Support Services. Please refer to question 2. |
| 21 | N/A | Will the contractor have access to the government ServiceNow and Cisco Prime environments? | The contractor will have access to Government systems specified in individual task orders. |
| 22 | N/A | What is the process for deliverable review and acceptance, and how is feedback provided to the contractor? | Unless otherwise specified in individual task orders, deliverables shall be submitted to the Contracting Officer Representative (COR) who shall have five business days to review and provide feedback as stated in Section C.4.3 of the solicitation. The contractor shall address any and all COR feedback prior to acceptance of the deliverable. |
| 23 | N/A | Does the government expect the contractor to have staff onsite or is remote work allowed when applicable? | The work to be performed under the contract may be performed at the contractor’s facility or at the Library of Congress facilities as indicated in Section F of the solicitation and in the individual task orders. |
| 24 | N/A | Will contract staff need to go through security reviews? Is there a process for vetting or approving contractor staff before they begin work onsite? | Yes, please refer to LC52.204-4 Contractor Employee Fitness in Section H of the solicitation. |
| 25 | N/A | What are the boundaries between contractor and government responsibilities, especially regarding incident response and project-based work? | Once on board, the COR will provide the contractor responsibilities to the key personnel identified on the task order. The individual task orders will specify the contractor's responsibilities. |
| 26 | N/A | What are the consequences or remediation steps if service targets (response/resolution times) aren't met? | Please refer to Section 3.3 of Attachment J4. Consequences or remediation steps will be provided in the task orders. |
| 27 | N/A | What versions of Cisco Prime, DNA Center, and ServiceNow are currently in use, and are there any planned upgrades? | OCIO Maintains all applications in compliance with IT Security directives. Cisco DNA Center version is 2.3.7.10. Cisco Prime is no longer supported by the vendor. Please refer to Question #73. |
| 28 | N/A | Are there existing network diagrams, documentation, or asset inventories available for onboarding? | Existing network diagrams, documentation or asset inventories needed for the task orders will be furnished to contractor at the start of the period of performance or during kickoff. |
| 29 | N/A | What are the most common types of incidents and tasks, and are there any recurring issues the contractor should prioritize? | Please refer to Section C.1 of Attachment J4 - Initial Task Order for more information on the types and number of incident tickets. |
| 30 | N/A | Are there any limitations on the contractor’s use of proprietary tools, training materials, or documentation developed during the contract? | Yes, please see LC52.239-6, #6. |
| 31 | N/A | Can the Government identify if there are any specific legacy systems or platforms that are top priorities for stabilization or modernizations? | This question is not relevant to the solicitation. |
| 32 | N/A | Does the Government anticipate any changes to CUI handling or zero-trust requirements during the contract term? | No |
| 33 | N/A | Can the Government identify what labor categories if any that historically face staffing bottlenecks? | None |
| 34 | N/A | Can the Government advise how many total awards does it anticipate making to small businesses? | Please refer to Question #11. |
| 35 | N/A | May offerors propose subcontractors in Phase II that were not identified in the Phase I IDIQ proposal? | No, all subcontractors must be included in the offeror's Phase 1 submission. |
| 36 | Solicitation |
Section 3.1
| Page 9 | Has the Government included any new requirements that were not included in the previous contract? | No |
| 37 | Solicitation | |
| Page 8 | The Government states that the LOC has a 1-3 year investment timeframe for evaluating emerging technologies. Has the Government purchased any new technologies not included in Tab 4 of Attachment J1? | No, however, the sample hardware, software and applications list is not an all-inclusive list. Please refer to Tab 4 in Attachment J1. |
| 38 | Solicitation |
Section 3.1.4
| Page 9 | Does the LOC only utilize Avaya products for its voice networks? | No |
| 39 | Solicitation |
| Section M.1.5.3 | Given the short timeframe for submitting a response, would the Government accept a CPARS performance report in lieu of a signed Past Performance Questionnaire? | No, please refer to Question #1. |
| 40 | Attachment J1 | |
| Tab 4 | In the Scope of Work, the Government references using Avaya products. However, no Avaya products/software are listed in Attachment J1. Would the Government update the Sample HW, SW Applications List to include all telecommunications devices and software? | Avaya is provided in Column A, Tab 4 of Attachment J1. |
| 41 | Attachment J1, Pages 10 & 22 Sections 4.2 & H8 | The Government identifies a Program Manager as a Key Personnel for the IDIQ. Is the Government expecting offerors to provide the name of a Program Manager with our IDIQ submission? | No |
| 42 | Attachment J1, Page 24 Section H.12 | Have all the current operating systems been deemed FedRAMP compliant? | OCIO only tracks FEDRAMP Compliance for cloud platform. All Cloud platform are FedRamp Moderate at the platform level. |
| 43 | Attachment J4, Page 1 | Would the Government provide the name and contract number of the incumbent currently performing this work? | Please refer to Question #2. |
| 44 | Attachment J4, Page 2 | Would the Government provide a breakdown of incident tickets by LOC location? In addition, would the Government provide the number of tickets that required onsite resolution by LOC location? | Please refer to Question #159. The majority of the work can be completed from one of the Library's facilities in the Washington DC area. |
| 45 | Attachment J4, Page 3 Section 3.2 | Does the Government plan to close, or move offices during this task order's period of performance? If yes, has the Government identified the locations to be closed? In addition, would the Government provided the location(s) of any new locations to be supported during this order? | No |
| 46 | Attachment J4, Page 6 Section 5.2 | Would the Government confirm that a laptop with LOC software, on call devices and other Government-Furnished Property will be provided to contractor personnel to perform the work required on this task order? | Yes, in accordance with Section 5.2 of Attachment J4. |
| 47 | N/A | Can the Library confirm the expected number of Data Network Engineers to be provided under this task order for the Base Year and each Option Year? | No, all offerors shall propose the number of Data Network Engineers they feel will be able to complete the services outlined in the task order and ensure coverage for vacation, sickness, and off site appointments. |
| 48 | N/A | Are there minimum certification requirements (e.g., Cisco CCNA/CCNP, ITIL) expected for Data Network Engineers beyond the experience implied in the SOW? | No |
| 49 | N/A | Will contractor personnel be expected to support multiple Library locations concurrently, or will assignments be location-specific? | Yes, contractor personnel will be expected to support multiple locations concurrently. Assignments will be location specific with possible remote work to other locations. Transportation will be provided for onsite work for locations away from Madison, Adams, and Jefferson. |
| 50 | N/A | Can the Library clarify whether after-hours outage support is included in the Firm Fixed Price, or if it is expected to be covered through schedule shifts within standard hours? | After hours outage support may be required occasionally and will be covered through schedule shifts as much as possible. After hours incident response is handled primarily by Government employees. The primary focus of this task order is O&M. After hours support for O&M is scheduled with change implementations. This includes patches, vulnerabilities and other O&M changes. Please refer to Question #152. |
| 51 | N/A | Is there an on-call rotation expectation for contractor staff, and if so, how frequently is after-hours support anticipated beyond the historical “less than four times per year”? | No, there is no on-call rotation expectation. The contractor may be tasked to support occasional after hours services. After hours incident response is handled primarily by Government employees. The primary focus of this task order is O&M. After hours support for O&M is scheduled with change implementations. This includes patches, vulnerabilities and other O&M changes. Please refer to Question #152. |
| 52 | N/A | Will the contractor be required to provide backup personnel to ensure coverage during leave, illness, or turnover? | Yes, please refer to Question #47. |
| 53 | N/A | Can the Library confirm whether access to Cisco Prime, DNA Center, and ServiceNow will be provided by the Government, including required licenses and user credentials? | Yes |
| 54 | N/A | Are there defined SLAs or KPIs beyond the Service Response and Resolution Times outlined in Section 3.3 that contractor performance will be measured against? | No |
| 55 | N/A | Is the contractor expected to perform change management approvals, or will all configuration changes be approved by Government personnel prior to execution? | All configuration changes will be approved by Government personnel prior to execution. |
| 56 | N/A | Are there any specific documentation standards or templates (e.g., network diagrams, change logs, runbooks) that must be followed? | Yes, details will be provided as needed. Please refer to Question #28. |
| 57 | Data Network & Cabling Support TO | Does the 60% estimate represent level of effort (hours) or ticket volume, and will this distribution be tracked formally? | The estimate represents the level of effort and will not be formally tracked. |
| 58 | Data Network & Cabling Support TO | Are there peak periods (e.g., office moves, fiscal year-end, major initiatives) where ticket volumes significantly increase? | No |
| 59 | N/A | Will project-based tasks be pre-defined and scheduled, or assigned on an ad-hoc basis through ServiceNow? | Both |
| 60 | N/A | Can the Library provide examples of typical project durations and complexity levels expected under this task order? | Project duration and complexity vary. An example is configuring ports on VLANs in new office spaces. |
| 61 | N/A | Is the contractor responsible for end-to-end project execution, or only execution tasks under Government-led project management? | Only execution tasks under Government-led project management. |
| 62 | N/A | How does the Library define “Response Time”—initial acknowledgment or active troubleshooting? | Initial acknowledgement with expected start of active troubleshooting. |
| 63 | N/A | Will resolution times pause if an issue is dependent on third-party carriers (ISP, DWDM, WAN providers)? | Yes |
| 64 | N/A | Are penalties or corrective actions formally triggered after a specific number of SLA misses, or handled case-by-case? | Corrective actions will be handled on a case-by-case basis. |
| 65 | N/A | For weekly and quarterly reports, does the Library have standard reporting formats or dashboards, or may the contractor propose templates? | Mutually agreed upon templates may be used. |
| 66 | N/A | Are accomplishment reports expected to include quantitative metrics (tickets closed, SLA compliance) and qualitative narratives? | Quantitative metrics for accomplishments, but qualitative narratives are expected for open issues. |
| 67 | N/A | Will acceptance of deliverables be handled solely by the COR, or involve multiple stakeholders? | COR |
| 68 | N/A | Is there a formal Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan (QASP) associated with this task order? | No |
| 69 | N/A | Will the Government conduct periodic performance reviews (monthly/quarterly), and if so, what criteria will be used? | The task order performance reviews will be completed quarterly and annually, and the IDIQ performance reviews will be completed annually. The initial task order criteria will be based on the service response and resolution time targets. |
| 70 | N/A | Is substitution of Key Personnel permitted during the contract term, and if so, what is the approval process and notice period? | Yes, please see H.8 LC52.237-1 of the solicitation. |
| 71 | N/A | Are background checks or security clearances required for Key Personnel prior to starting work? | Yes, please see H.6 LC52.204-4 of the solicitation. |
| 72 | N/A | Can the Library confirm whether remote work is permitted for any portion of the Scope of Work, or if all services must be performed on-site? | Please refer to F.1 of the Solicitation and Section B of Attachment J4. |
| 73 | N/A | Are there anticipated technology refreshes or major network upgrades during the Period of Performance that may significantly impact workload? | Yes, annual Life cycle replacements and WAP upgrades. |
| 74 | N/A | Is there minimum daily staffing levels required per site, or is staffing left to the contractor for discretion as long as SLAs are met? | There are no minimum staffing levels, however, historically the Library has had two contractor personnel working the requirements of the initial task order in a staggard shift. The initial task order will primarily be completed onsite at one of the Library's locations. Please see the updated Attachment J4 in Amendment 0002. |
| 75 | N/A | Is there an on-call requirement outside of scheduled after-hours of maintenance, and if so, what response time is expected for unscheduled emergency calls? | No, there is not an on-call requirement. After hours incident response is handled primarily by Government employees. The primary focus of this task order is O&M. After hours support for O&M is scheduled with change implementations. This includes patches, vulnerabilities and other O&M changes. After hours ad hoc support may be required occasionally. Please refer to Question #152. |
| 76 | N/A | Is the Government expecting continuous on-site coverage at multiple facilities simultaneously, or may staff be shared across locations based on demand and ticket volume? | Staff may be shared across locations. |
| 77 | N/A | What is the estimated number of task orders anticipated annually? | The Library does not have an anticipated number of task orders that would be awarded annually. |
| 78 | N/A | What is the minimum value of an individual task order? | The offeror shall provide their proposed price for each individual task order. |
| 79 | Solicitation |
Section L.2.6-D.1(ii)/Factor 4 - Price Page 63 The requirement for the NDA appears under Volume IV/Factor 4 Price. It states, "Offers shall provide a completed and signed NDA form to the Contracting Officer and Contract Specialist via email at tluc@loc.gov and sboone@loc.gov."
a) Please clarify whether offerors shall:
· include the signed NDA within Volume IV, or
· submit the signed NDA as a separate attachment with the Phase 2 submission email, or
· submit the signed NDA in a separate email from the Phase 2 submission email.
b) If the NDA shall be submitted separately from the Phase 2 submission email, please clarify if the Phase 2 due date and time applies.
| c) Please confirm the correct reference is “Attachment J3 – Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA)”. | The NDA can be submitted at any time if the offeror is in need of the full address of the DC2, DC3, and DC4 Library Data Centers in order to provide your proposed price. | |
| 80 | Solicitation |
Section M.1.5.3/Factor 3 - Past Performance
| Page 66 | Section M.1.5.3 references customer feedback from "three (3) completed projects". Please confirm that this should be "three (3) completed and/or ongoing projects" as is allowed in the instructions for Factor 1 Corporate Experience (Reference Section L.2.6-A.1 on page 62). | Yes. This has been updated in Amendment 0002. |
| 81 | Solicitation |
Section L.2.4.1
| Page 60 | Does the Government have an anticipated timeline after Phase 1 submissions are due, for providing the advisory recommendations? | The Library anticipates the advisory recommendations will be distributed within 3 weeks from Phase 1 submissions. |
| 82 | Solicitation |
Section L.2.5(a)
| Page 61 | Does the Government have an anticipated timeline for when Phase 2 submissions will be due, e.g., number of days after Phase 1 submissions or number of days after providing the advisory recommendations? | The Library anticipates Phase 2 submissions will be due more than 3 weeks after the advisory recommendations have been distributed. Tentative due dates have been provided in Section L of Amendment 0002, and will be confirmed in the advisory recommendation letter and posted on SAM.gov. |
| 83 | Solicitation |
Section M.1.6.1
| Page 66 | This section references “Section L corresponding sections, L.2.6, E.1 & E.2”, however E.2 does not exist. Please confirm that offerors shall disregard the reference to E.2. | Correct. Disregard the reference to E.2. This has been updated via Amendment 0002. |
| 84 | Solicitation |
Section L.2.6-E.1
| Page 63 | This Section C reference is not complete. Please confirm this should say “Offerors must respond sequentially to each paragraph in Section C, starting with 3.1”. | This should say starting with C.2. This has been updated via Amendment 0002. |
| 85 | Solicitation |
Section L.2.6-B.1 Page 62 This section requires for Factor 2 Technical Approach (IDIQ), offerors shall provide their “approach or process to fulfill the requirements in Section C of the IDIQ solicitation".
| Please clarify if it is adequate for offerors to address subsection 3. Requirements (i.e., Principal Task Areas 3.1 to 3.1.12) in the proposal, or if offerors must also address subsection 4 Contract Performance and subsection 5 Government Furnished Property. | Offerors must also address Sections 4 and 5. | |
| 86 | Solicitation |
Section L.2.6-A.1
| Page 61-62 | We request the Government’s consideration to increase the page limit for each of the three corporate experience project descriptions. Given the complexity and breadth of the IDIQ requirements in Section C, we believe that additional pages per project would allow offerors to more fully demonstrate the relevance of their experience and address all required elements of the corporate experience project descriptions. | Request denied. Offerors are given a 2 page limit to provide a narrative response describing their experience performing the services identified in Section C. In addition offerors are provided 2 pages per project to describe the projects they have worked on in the last 5 years. |
| 87 | Solicitation & Attachment J4 |
Section B.4 &5.4 Pages 5 and 6-7 RFP Section B.4 states, “Travel to the Library of Congress and other locations may be required for the performance of this contract. Travel expenses will not be reimbursed separately under this contract unless explicitly identified in individual orders. Travel costs may be included in specific task orders at the discretion of the contracting officer. Any authorized travel expenses shall not exceed the amounts expressed in the Federal Travel Regulation.”
Attachment J4 Section 5.4 states, “Travel to the Library of Congress locations may be required periodically and travel to other Library remote offices and facilities may be required sometimes by business need for the performance of this contract. Travel expenses will not be reimbursed separately.”
Section B.4 and Attachment J4 Section 5.4 both indicate travel to Library of Congress locations and other sites may be required, but do not specify the frequency of such travel. Depending on business needs, this travel could amount to significant costs. Will the Library consider establishing a Not-to-Exceed (NTE) reimbursable CLIN for travel with the requirement that the contractor notify the CO/COR if additional travel is needed during contract execution, to ensure costs are managed appropriately? We acknowledge that all travel requires written authorization by the COR in advance of its occurrence. Travel expenses will not be reimbursed separately. Travel to remote offices is expected on rare occasions. For historical purposes, only two trips to remote locations occurred in the past year. Prior to that, there were no trips taken to remote locations in the previous four years.
88 Attachment J4 Section 5.4
| Pages 6-7 | Can the Government provide additional information on how many trips are anticipated, for example number of trips per year to each of the Library of Congress locations listed? | The contractor is expected to have staff onsite at one of the Library's facilities in the Washington DC Metropolitan area. Please refer to the question above for information on remote travel. |
| 89 | Attachment J5 | |
| Initial Order Pricing Tab | Please provide the number of annual hours the Library considers a fully staffed position (i.e., number of hours per FTE). | 1980 (this includes holidays) |
| 90 | Solicitation |
Section L.2.6-B.1 Page 62 This section states that for Factor 2 Technical Approach (IDIQ), offerors shall provide an organizational chart that includes key personnel and program management (including names and titles).
| Please clarify whether names shall be included only for the IDIQ key personnel and program management, or if offerors shall also identify potential Task Order Program Managers by name. | Only for the IDIQ. | |
| 91 | Solicitation |
Section L.2.6.E.1
| Page 63 | If bidding on the IDIQ, is the offerer required to bid on the initial order? | No, but the IDIQ holder must be able to perform all the services under Section C of the solicitation. |
| 92 | Solicitation |
Section L.2.4.1
| Page 61 | What is the estimated window for offerors to be notified they are likely to be a viable competitor for Phase II? | Please refer to Question 81. |
| 93 | Solicitation |
Section L.2.5
| Page 61 | What is the expected due date of Phase II? | Please refer to Question 82. |
| 94 | Solicitation |
Section L.2.6.A.1
| Page 62 | For full and open bid submissions, the government in accordance with FAR guidelines allows large businesses to utilize their wholly owned subsidiaries’ experience as Prime work to meet Prime corporate experience requirements. Can the government confirm utilization of experience of subsidiaries by wholly-owned parent companies? | Yes, if the offeror can demonstrate how the resources of that affiliated entity are going to be used in the performance of the contract. |
| 95 | Solicitation |
Section L.2.6
| Page 62 | Are diagrams excluded from the 2 page limit on the general corporate experience volume? | No, Diagrams are included in the page count. Please see L.2.5(c for graphic font size. |
| 96 | Solicitation |
Section L.2.6.C.1
| Page 63 | Can the offeror include CPARS in place of the PPQ for Volume III of Phase II? | No |
| 97 | Solicitation |
Section L.2.6.A.1
| Page 62 | Will the government allow offerors to use IDIQs for which we have been awarded work as part of our Corporate Experience for Phase I? | Yes, the IDIQ and order for which the work was/or is being completed shall be provided. |
| 98 | Solicitation |
Section B.6 vs. Attachment J1 Page 6 Solicitation Text: "This contract includes the clause 52.222-41... Service Contract Labor Standards... which may be applicable to particular orders". However, Attachment J1 (Labor Categories) does not appear to indicate which categories are subject to SCLS (formerly SCA) versus professional services.
| To ensure fair pricing evaluation, will the Government provide a Wage Determination (WD) number and a mapping of which IDIQ Labor Categories in Attachment J1 are considered SCLS-covered versus exempt professional services? | The Library expects that all or nearly all of the work performed under this IDIQ contract will be exempt from the SCLS. Historically, none of the orders issued under the current IDIQ involved SCLS covered work. Any SCLS covered work will be identified at the order level. However, Attachment J1 has been updated to reflect the following possible SCLS covered labor categories: Technical Writer Level I, Technical Writer Level II and Switchboard Opperator. Section B.6 which relates to the SCLS identifies the procedure which would be used in the unlikely event that this IDIQ were used to solicit a task order where the principal purpose is not consistent with any of the exceptions to the SCLS. To better understand the rates that may apply you may view the current rates at https://sam.gov/content/wage-determinations and consider these along with your assumptions of labor market trends in the pricing of your categories. | |
| 99 | Solicitation |
Section F.1 vs. Attachment J4
| Page 15 | Section F.1 indicates the IDIQ is primarily remote, yet the Initial Task Order is fully onsite. For the purposes of IDIQ pricing (Attachment J1), should Offerors build their fully loaded labor rates based on a remote work environment or an onsite government facility environment (which may impact overhead/facility costs)? | The contractor must support a hybrid work environment which allows for remote and onsite work. Work performed under the IDIQ will primarily be completed remotely. However, some task orders may require onsite work at one of the Library's facilities. Work performed under the initial task order will primarily be completed onsite at the Library's facility. | ||
| 100 | Solicitation Section H.12 Page 24 | Please clarify the definition of hosted application. Does this extend to FedRAMP authorized Software as a Service (SaaS) applications where the contractor does not have access to design documentation, Assessment and Authorzation documentation, documented test results, and does not have the authority to grant the Library of Congress access to conduct security and penetration testing? | Hosted applications would apply to any application that is hosted in one of the Library supported hosting platform (On-Premise, AWS. Azure). Some SaaS Applications would apply for OCIO/ITSO applications such as Tanium. The Library includes A&A and ITSEC clauses on all contracts. ITSEC will determine what systems require penetration testing based on approval to perform those actions. | |
| 101 | Solicitation |
Section H.16 Page 16 Solicitation Text: "The contractor shall not use generative AI (including, but not limited to ChatGPT, BARD, DALL-E, MidJourney, or Stable Diffusion) to create or produce any deliverables under this contract without specific written authorization from the Contracting Officer. Generative AI systems and tools are those which produce synthetic text, images, code, video, and music in response to user prompts, and include, but are not limited to, ChatGPT, BARD, DALL-E, MidJourney, and Stable Diffusion). For purposes of these requirements, generative AI does not include the use of those AI-enhanced word processing, email, or search tools that are already widely incorporated in day-to-day life such as AI tools embedded in image editing applications or code incorporated into commercial off the shelf products (COTS). Unless specifically authorized in writing by the Contracting Officer, the Contractor shall not use Library furnished data provided under this contract to feed, train, supplement, or otherwise advance generative AI software."
| Question: Does this prohibition extend to the use of AI-assisted coding/scripting environments (e.g., GitHub Copilot) utilized by engineers to assist in writing automation scripts, provided the code is human-reviewed and tested prior to delivery? | That is correct, AI assisted coding is not allowed at this time. All AI applications must undergo approval for use based on specific use cases. | |
| 102 | Solicitation |
Section L.2.4.1 Page 60 Solicitation Text: "Offerors who are found to not be the most highly rated in Factor 1 will be advised that they are unlikely to be viable competitors..."
| Question: If an Offeror receives a "do not proceed" recommendation but elects to proceed to Phase II, is there a requirement to formally notify the Contracting Officer of the intent to proceed prior to the Phase II submission deadline? | No formal notification needed. | |
| 103 | Solicitation |
Section L.2.6
| Page 61 | Please confirm the total page limit calculation for Volume I. Assuming a Prime Contractor with no subcontractors, is the total limit calculated as: 2 pages (Narrative Response) + 6 pages (3 Projects x 2 pages each) = 8 pages total (excluding cover letter, TOC, and executive summary)? | Yes, please refer to Question #14. |
| 104 | Solicitation |
Section L.2.6, A.1
| Page 61 | Please clarify the contradiction regarding subcontractor experience. Specifically, is the Prime Contractor required to submit three (3) projects of its own exclusive experience, with subcontractor projects submitted in addition to these three? Or can a Prime Contractor with limited experience rely on a Subcontractor's projects to meet the initial three-project requirement? | Please refer to Question 15. |
| 105 | Solicitation |
Section L.2.6, A.1 vs. Project Descriptions Page 61 Solicitation Text: "Offerors shall provide a narrative describing their experience performing the services... In addition, offerors shall submit descriptions of three (3) complete and/or ongoing projects...".
| Question: Please clarify the distinction between the "Narrative" and the "Project Descriptions." Is the Narrative intended to be a general capability statement of the Offeror's history across the Section C scope (independent of specific contracts), or is it intended to be an executive summary of the three specific projects being submitted? | The narrative should describe the customers experience performing the services outlined in Section C. The projects shall demonstrate the customer's experience based on the projects that they have completed or are currently working on. | |
| 106 | Solicitation |
Section L.2.6, A.1 Page 62 Solicitation Text: "Projects shall be similar in scope and complexity to the services required by the IDIQ Statement of Work (SOW). Offerors must provide examples of its own experience, not the experience of any proposed subcontractors."
| Question: To be considered "similar in scope," must a single project reference cover all twelve (12) task areas listed in Section C (3.1.1 through 3.1.12), or will the Government accept projects that cover a subset of these task areas (e.g., only Network/Database support) as valid references? | Each project must not cover all twelve task areas, however each project submitted should not reference the same task area for each project. | |
| 107 | Solicitation |
Section L.2.6, D.1 Page 63 Solicitation Text: "Tab 2 of the attachment shall include a complete list of the fully loaded rates for each labor category... Rate pricing shall... be inclusive of all of the offeror's direct costs, indirect cost, and profit".
| Question: Does the Government expect the fully loaded rates in Attachment J1 to be a single rate applicable for the entire 5-year ordering period, or will the Attachment allow for year-over-year escalation? If escalation is permitted, is there a prescribed escalation rate offerors should utilize for evaluation purposes? | Tab 2 of Attachment J1 allows offerors to submit separate unit pricing for each year. Offerors may propose the same rate or a different rate for each of the 5 years. | |
| 108 | Solicitation | |
| Page 3 | Will the Government provide the necessary hardware/software licenses for Cisco Prime and DNA Center, or is the Contractor expected to provision any specific tooling/licenses as part of the "Project Based Support"? (Note: Section 5.2 mentions the government provides workstation/desk/phone , but Section 2 states "All materials... will be government furnished". We seek to confirm this covers all software licensing). | OCIO will provide the licesenses for the applications that are approved for use within the operating environments. |
| 109 | Solicitation |
Section 5.1 Page 5 Solicitation Text: In section 3.3, Priority 1 Response Time is listed as "15 Minutes" with Resolution Time in "4 Hours" . Section 5.1 states contractors must arrive onsite "within four (4) hours of notification" for emergencies.
| Question: Please clarify the definition of "Response Time" for Priority 1 incidents. Does "15 minutes" refer to the initial ticket acknowledgement/remote triage, while the "4 hours" refers to the required physical arrival time at the facility? | "Response Time" for Priority 1 incidents - "15 minutes" refers to the initial ticket acknowledgement/remote triage, while the "4 hours" refers to the resolution time. If the resolution requires onsite personnel that would be inclusive if the incident cannot be resolved remotely. | |
| 110 | Solicitation |
Section 5.3
| Page 6 | Is there a specific minimum education or certification requirement (e.g., CCNP, CCIE) for the "Network Administrator" Key Personnel role, or should the Offeror propose qualifications they deem appropriate for the scope? | No, however if the position is deemed key personnel, the Library will have the ability to reject staff with less than adequate experience. |
| 111 | Solicitation |
Section 5.4
| Page 6 | Given the Fort Meade location, does the Government require personnel assigned to this facility to possess an active security clearance (e.g., Secret), or will the standard Library of Congress fitness determination be sufficient for access to this specific annex? | No, the standard Library of Congress fitness determination is sufficient, however, personnel will need to be escorted onto the Fort Meade base by a Library employee. Contractor personnel may be required to submit additional documentation prior to arrival. |
| 112 | Solicitation |
Block 8
| Page 1 | Will the Government consider extending the Phase 1 Offeror Due Date to January 9, 2026. The extension would allow sufficient time for the Government to answer questions and for potential bidders to review those answers and respond appropriately in their Phase 1 submissions. | The Phase 1 due date has been extended to 1/5/2026. |
| 113 | Solicitation |
Section L.2.5(c) Page 61 Per the RFP, “The format for all documents must be 8.5 x 11-inch pages, single-spaced 1-inch margins, Times New Roman 10 to 12-point font in text. Font size for tables, graphics, and callout boxes shall be no smaller than 8-point font.”
| Please confirm if fonts other than Times New Roman can be used for the Cover, headers, footers, and section headings. | No, all font shall be Times New Roman. | |
| 114 | Solicitation |
Section L.2.5(c) Page 61 Per the RFP, “The format for all documents must be 8.5 x 11-inch pages, single-spaced 1-inch margins, Times New Roman 10 to 12-point font in text. Font size for tables, graphics, and callout boxes shall be no smaller than 8-point font.”
| Please confirm if Arial Narrow font can be used for tables. | No, all font shall be Times New Roman. | |
| 115 | Solicitation |
Section L.2.6.A.1 Page 62 Per the RFP, “A.1. Factor 1 - Corporate Experience. Offerors shall provide a narrative describing their experience performing the services identified in Section C of this solicitation. In addition, offerors shall submit descriptions of three (3) complete and/or ongoing projects performed for commercial and/or federal clients in the past five (5) years. Projects shall be similar in scope and complexity to the services required by the IDIQ Statement of Work (SOW).”
| Please confirm if IDIQs and BPAs can be used as projects, or if only individual task order contracts are permitted. | An IDIQ or BPA can be used only if their was an order issued under the IDIQ or BPA for the services identified in Section C of the solicitation. | |
| 116 | Solicitation |
Section L.2.6.A.1 Page 62 Per the RFP, “A.1. Factor 1 - Corporate Experience. Projects shall be similar in scope and complexity to the services required by the IDIQ Statement of Work (SOW).”
| Please confirm that offerors only need to demonstrate relevance to the services referenced in Section C.3 of the IDIQ SOW. (Note: Section C.2 provides a list of work areas that are similar to, but not identical to, the Principal Task Areas listed in Section C.3 of the IDIQ SOW.) | Offerors must describe experience performing the services identified in Section C of the solicitation which includes C.2 and C.3. | |
| 117 | Solicitation |
Section L.2.6.A.1 Page 62 Per the RFP, “A.1. Factor 1 - Corporate Experience. Projects shall be similar in scope and complexity to the services required by the IDIQ Statement of Work (SOW).”
| Please confirm if offerors need to demonstrate relevance to all of the specific services in Section 3 of the Initial Task Order SOW. If so, we request an increased page limit in order to be able to fit the associated content in the proposal. | The task order requirements are identified in the IDIQ statement of work. Request denied. See the response to Question #86. | |
| 118 | Solicitation |
Section L.2.5
| Page 61 | Due to the intervening holidays, we respectfully request an extension of 2 weeks. | Please refer to the response to Question #112. |
| 119 | Solicitation |
Section L.2.6 Page 61 Per the RFP, “Volume I. Technical Proposal – Corporate Experience. (Volume 1 shall not exceed 2 pages in length per project and 2 pages in length for the narrative response, not including a cover letter, cover page, table of contents and executive summaries. Projects and narrative responses exceeding the 2-page limit will not be read.)”
| It is very challenging to meaningfully demonstrate relevant experience across the 12 SOW Task Areas, as well as to the Initial Task Order, in under 2 pages per project. We respectfully request that the project page limit, as well as the narrative section, be increased to 3 pages each. | The task order requirements are identified in the IDIQ statement of work. See the response to Questions #14 and 86. | |
| 120 | Solicitation | |
| Section B.3 and C.3 | To support accurate resource planning and pricing, can the Government provide historical data or expected projections regarding the number of task orders anticipated annually under this IDIQ, including average order size, duration, and typical order type (FFP, Labor-Hour, T&M)? | See the response to Question #77. |
| 121 | Solicitation | |
| Section F.1 and C.3.1 | The solicitation notes that the contractor determines its own hours of operation but also includes operational support across mission-critical environments. Does the Government anticipate requiring 24x7 or after-hours support for any task orders, such as network operations, datacenter support, or incident response? | Primarily work performed under the IDIQ is expected to be completed during business hours. Individual task orders will specify the hours and days that the contractor is required to provide support. Please refer to Question #50 for the initial task order. |
| 122 | Solicitation | |||
| Section H.6 | For contractor personnel performing work remotely who do not require on-site access, does the Government require all staff to meet the requirement for “three of the last five years U.S. residency” or does this requirement apply only to those needing access to Library facilities, Library IT systems, or CUI? | This requirement applies to all contractor personnel regardless of where they are working. | ||
| 123 | Solicitation | |||
| Section H.12 and C.3.1.8 | Will the Government require contractors to provide their own FedRAMP-authorized cloud environments for hosting any systems under this IDIQ, or will all hosting occur in LOC-owned or Government-provided FedRAMP-authorized environments (e.g., AWS GovCloud, Azure Government)? | No, all applications are hosted on Library hosting platforms. | ||
| 124 | Solicitation | |||
| Section H.16 | The solicitation prohibits the use of generative AI. Can the Government clarify whether this restriction applies exclusively to public/commercial AI tools, or whether it also prohibits contractor use of internally hosted, non-networked, FIPS-compliant large language models that do not transmit data externally? | The use of generative AI does not include the use of those AI-enhanced word processing, email, or search tools that are already widely incorporated in day-to-day life, such as in Adobe’s Photoshop software. This provision requires approval from the Contracting Officer for all other uses of generative AI, including the use of “use of internally hosted, non-networked, FIPS-compliant large language models that do not transmit data externally. | ||
| 125 | Solicitation | |||
| Section 4.2 | The solicitation identifies only the Program Manager as key personnel at the IDIQ level. Can the Government confirm whether offerors should propose any additional key personnel in the master IDIQ proposal, or if all additional key personnel will be defined solely at the task order level? | Offerors may propose additional staff, however, the Library only requires the Program Manager as a key personnel at the IDIQ level. Additional key personnel will be defined at the task order level. | ||
| 126 | Solicitation | |||
| Section C.3.1.3 and C.3.1.5 | For platforms such as ServiceNow, Jira/Confluence, M365, monitoring tools (e.g., Cacti, Grafana, Elastic, New Relic), will the Government provide access to its existing enterprise systems, or should offerors plan to furnish contractor-owned toolsets under specific task orders? | The Library will provide access to its existing enterprise systems needed to perform the work. | ||
| 127 | Solicitation | |||
| Section 4.1 | Will transition-in and transition-out activities be issued as separate task orders, or should offerors include transition assumptions within their proposed labor rates and price structure for the IDIQ? | Transition services will be issued separately in the task orders. See the updated task order in Amendment 0002. | ||
| 128 | Solicitation | |||
| Section C.3.1.9 | Can the Government clarify whether surge support will be pre-planned with defined response times, or triggered ad hoc at the task order level? | The surge support may be pre-planned or on an ad hoc basis. The requirements will be provided at the task order level, however, the contractor will be providing the O&M support. | ||
| 129 | Solicitation | |||
| Section C.3.1.9 | Should offerors propose distinct surge labor categories or rely on standard labor categories? | Offerors should only propose rates for the labor categories provided. | ||
| 130 | Solicitation | |||
| Section L | The solicitation specifies page limitations for Volume I, but does not appear to provide font, margin, or formatting requirements, nor does it identify page limits or formatting guidance for the remaining volumes. As this procurement is being conducted using a phased approach, please confirm whether additional proposal submission instructions (e.g., page limits, font type and size, margins, file formats, file size limits, or file naming conventions) will be provided in a subsequent phase or amendment, or whether offerors should proceed using standard industry practices for volumes where no guidance is specified. | The solicitation provides formatting requirements in Section L.2.5(b) and (c) which apply to all volumes. | ||
| 131 | N/A | Does the Library require separate proposal volumes/files for Technical/Management, Past Performance, and Price, or may they be submitted as a single combined document? | Per Section L.2.6(a), offerors must submit each volume separately as its own document. | |
| 132 | N/A | Is there a maximum or preferred number of past performance references that offerors should submit? | Offerors must ensure that the Library receives 3 completed questionnaires. There is no maximum, however, only the first 3 questionnaires will be evaluated. | |
| 133 | N/A | At the IDIQ award level, does the Library expect each awardee to demonstrate capability across the entire scope, or may offerors be evaluated based on depth in specific functional areas, with task-order participation tailored accordingly? | Offerors must be able to fulfill all of the requirements in Section C of the IDIQ. |
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