QAs_8.18_Final.pdf

2032H323R00065 Question and Answers 8/18/2023

Question Government Response

1. It appears that you are only looking for 4 people to go through the base period?

Please refer to the new Amended Pricing Attachment 3. The updated sheet has 4 quantities listed per year to be priced. The different quantities will allow the government to see the different price breaks given as quantities increase.

2. How many licenses are required?

(Minimum)

The Government expects to purchase a minimum of 10 annual licenses (note licenses can switch user after 6 months if client is complete).

3. In Attachment 3, the QTYs are:

Base: 4

OY1: 8

OY2: 4

OY3: 8

OY4: 8

Is this correct? Understand this would be the minimum, and the exact QTYs would be Task Order dependent.

Please see the answer to Question 1 and 2.

4. Is there a current incumbent. If so, would the government be willing to provide the contract number?

No, this is a new procurement.

5. Does the government have an estimate of how many leaders the government anticipates will require access to the platform per unit/license? A forecast of how many leaders will need access to the platform per unit will enable the contractor to provide the government with the most accurate pricing.

Please see the answer to Question 1 and 2.

6. Unlimited coaching sessions may result in excessive expense to the government, and it is difficult to provide at a fixed firm cost. Will the government allow the contractor to outline how many people and how many coaching sessions will be covered at the fixed firm price per unit/license? This will allow the government and the contractor to anticipate when full utilization of each

The Government’s requirement is for a fixed price 12 month license with unlimited coaching.

Each license would be for one person (note licenses can switch user after 6 months if client is complete). We do not expect the coachees to request more than 1 session a week, but we do not know.

coaching license has occurred and when a new task order will need to be issued.

7. Will the government allow the contractor to present a few different pricing models that could potentially meet the government’s needs?

The contractor shall only submit one model in response to Attachment 3. See updated Attachment 3.

8. Will the government allow the contactor to use a separate platform to administer 360 and other behavioral assessments as long as final assessment data is easily made accessible to each leader and their coach for integration into the coaching engagement? This will allow the contractor to have more flexibility to purchase assessment licenses for the tools that will be most advantageous for coachees and the government.

The information to get to the assessment and final reports must be on the platform when a 360 cannot be administered in the system.

9. Has the government identified a preferred behavior/personality assessment (e.g., 16PF, DisC, MBTI, Strengthsfinder, EQi2.0, etc.).

We have not identified a preferred assessment but at least one assessment must map to the ECQs.

10. Does the government need the contractor to supply any specific documentation to confirm 508 compliance?

The proposal shall state that the offeror is 508 compliant.

11. In our experience, on demand coaching has the most impact when coachees are able to easily and quickly access coaches and begin to immediately build rapport with their assigned coach. Reading through coaches bios can unnecessarily prolong the initiation of coaching and can inadvertently create an accessibility barrier. Would the government be willing to forgo the coaches background and bio requirement as part of the platform as long as the contractor is able to provide an overview of coaches credentials, vetting process and minimum hiring qualifications as part of the proposal.

No, the Government will not be removing the coaches background and bio requirement. The coach bios / background shall be in the system.

12. Does the government know at what levels coaching will be offered (executives, TEI will use it for GS14s and above. Our partners may use it for other levels as well.

directors, mid-level managers, etc). This information will allow the contractor to offer the government a more customized experience.

13. In reviewing the RFP, there are elements of situational/on-demand coaching as well as leadership/executive coaching for development. As some coaches and firms may define these as two separate service offerings, can the IRS clarify if it is looking for both types of coaching services in this bid process?

Yes, the Government is looking for both types of services.

14. Has any other coach or firm provided these services to the IRS in the past? If so, will they be allowed to participate in this bid process?

While TEI has had coaching services in the past, the technology platform has not been used in the past. As this is a full and open competition, all qualified vendors can submit a proposal.

15. Is there an approximate or targeted number of users that the IRS expects to participate in the TEI coaching program?

We do not know the full demand of TEI Clients or our partners currently.

16. Please clarify whether Volumes I - IV should be separate files or if they can be in one file?

Each Volume shall be a separate file.

17. Does the Government require the Monthly/Quarterly Status Reports to be 508 compliant?

Yes, the reports shall be 508 compliant.

18. Coaching sessions are to be performed virtually via video conference meetings or telephone. Usually, the Government takes responsibility for scheduling and providing Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART) services, such as sign language or live captioning. Does the Government require the contractor to provide these services or just accommodate as needed?

The Government does not require the Offeror to provide CART services.

19. Is it the expectation that a coachee would access the platform in cohorts or on an as needed basis?

The Government plans to use both options— some cohorts and come as needed.

20. On a day to day basis, what administrative access does TEI want?

The Government requires access to a dashboard to show usage by individuals and in total.

21. What is your experience using a SaaS solution at TEI for Learning and Development?

TEI has a SaaS for our website/learning management system and we have used other SaaS systems to deliver learning.

22. How many coachees do you expect to be on platform in the first year? second year? third year? fourth year?

The number of coaches will depend on demand.

The proposed solution needs to be scalable.

23. How many administrators would need access?

The Government estimates needing two or three administrators needing access.

24. The Solicitation/Contract/Order for Commercial Terms Form instructs the vendor to complete Block 17. Can TEI advise on what information you are looking for vendors to input for “Code” and “Facility Code” for 17a?

The Offeror does not need facility code. Please include your company name, POC and the company address and SAM Unique Entity Identifier.

25. Pg. 80 of the solicitation says “Offerors must submit all included “fill-in” Provisions/Clause listed below. Providing a proposal without filling in the Provisions/Clauses may result in the offeror receiving an overall evaluated score of “Non-Responsive”. Proposals that fail to furnish required representations or information or reject the terms and conditions of the solicitation may be excluded from consideration.” The 52.204-5 Women-Owned Business (Other Than Small Business) (Oct 2014) appears to be missing from the provisions/clauses to fill in/be reviewed. Please confirm the information TEI needs to assess vendors in this regard has been included in another clause/provision in the RFP or provide the provision/clause you would like vendors to review and provide information for.

The RFP has been amended to add the 52.204-5

– Women-Owned Business (Other Than Small Business) (Oct 2014) to the fill in section of the

RFP.

26. Page 81 indicates a page limit of 2 pages for the cover letter and page 78 outlines the need to include signed forms including page 1 and any amendments with this volume. Can TEI please confirm any required forms do not count against the page limit indicated for this volume?

In Volume I, the signed copy of the RFP and any additional copies of the signed Amendments are in addition to the page limit of 2 for the cover page.

27. Pg. 78 instructs vendors to note “any exceptions, issues, and/or assumptions regarding the RFP and the term and its conditions.” Should the vendor’s comments force the length of this volume to exceed the 2-page limit, would an Appendix be acceptable for addressing this requirement?

Offerors exceptions, issues, and or assumptions regarding the RFP and the term and its conditions shall be restricted to the 2 page maximum for the cover page.

28. 85 says “Additionally, the Government will review records contained in the CPARS assessing the likelihood that an Offeror can successfully perform the required work. The Government reserves the right to contact and use information provided by the references available in CPARS while conducting past performance evaluations.” Is providing a CPARS in place of this questionnaire acceptable to TEI? If so, will the CPARS count against the 3-page limit in place for this section of the RFP?

No, the Offeror shall complete and include Attachment 2 Past Performance Reference Form in their proposal.

29. How many participants do you anticipate total? How many 1:1 clients and how many on-demand?

The Government expects to purchase a minimum of 10 annual licenses (note licenses can switch user after 6 months if client is complete). We do not know the level of purchases from our 49 partners, but many have expressed interest.

The on-demand will come from the licensed clients and since this is a new service, we do not have a benchmark.

30. How many 360 assessments are estimated annually? Aggregate / group reports?

The Government expects to purchase a minimum of 10 licenses so a minimum of 10 assessment. As a shared service we do not need group reports, but our partners may need the group reports when they leverage the contract.

31. How many sessions do you expect for 1:1 clients to have, and over what period of time?

We expect a client to use a license for 6 months (we will then transfer the 6 months to another client). In the past our clients have used between 6-10 sessions in that timeframe.

32. When scheduling on-demand sessions, do you expect the session to take place within 24 hours or to be scheduled within 24 hours?

Scheduled within 24 hours (one business day) and taking place within 48 hours (two business days) unless the client chooses a longer timeframe.

33. When is the anticipated kick-off for 1:1 coaching sessions? When is the kick-off for on-demand offerings?

We would like to kick-off the services within 6 weeks of the award.

34. The RFP mentions a “subscription.” Does that mean that the expectation is to pay a flat monthly fee to include all possible on-demand sessions, or does that mean that there would be a retainer/minimum for up to a certain number of sessions, and anything additional from that would be billed at an additional fee?

The Government will pay a fixed price per license for a 12 month period. The license can be transferred to another individual every 6 months if desired. The on-demand coaching would be part of the license.

35. What kind of technical support is expected?

The Government requires a helpdesk for admins and clients to support technical issues that may occur on the site.

36. What expectations are there for how on-demand coaching would be requested?

The Government requires that on-demand coaching be available from the platform—as an option to clients who are provided access to the other coaching.

37. For on-demand coaching, what is the expectation for how coaches are selected? Would there be an expectation that the same coach continue with that person going forward?

The on-demand coaching would be for a specialized area or event that the client wants to focus on when their primary coach does not have the immediate time or requested specialization.

38. Due to the short turn around, we would like to request an extension of the RFP due date of 10 days after responses to questions are issued.

No extension will be granted. Proposals are due on August 31, 2023. Answers to Questions have been posted on 8/18.

39. For Phase 1, the Government asks that the Contractor provides: “Demonstration of fully developed COTS On Demand Coaching Platform Resource.”

Q1: What is the time period for availability of on demand coaching? Is it 8am to 5pm et (normal business hours)?

Please clarify.

Q2: How many participants will be coached under this contract?

Q1. Coaching should be available during normal business hours.

Q2. Please see the answer to question 1 and 2.

40. The notice provides the CO adhere to 52.219-8, Utilization of Small Business Concerns (Oct 2022) (15 U.S.C. 637(d)(2) and (3)), but this is marked for Unrestricted on the SF1449.

Can the Government please clarify that this is a small business set aside per the

FAR?

This is a full and open competition. This is not a small business set aside.