ATTACHMENT 4 AMD 01 Question Responses.pdf

Questions & Responses Solicitation 24361821R0203 (Amendment 001)

1. Is a new requirement, or if there is a current or previous contractor who has performed similar services? If available, can you please send along the incumbent contract or task order number?

RESPONSE: This is a new requirement and as such there is no current or previous contractor.

2. In reference to Synopsis/Solicitation Section, Numbers 8-9, with the question deadline being Friday, August 13, 2021 and the proposal response deadline being August 25, 2021, when does the government provide answers back to contractors and where will they be published?

RESPONSE: Responses to questions from industry are expected to be posted on System for Award Management (SAM) no later than Tuesday, 8/17/2021.

3. Is there any page limitation for Section 4: Appendices?

RESPONSE: The chart on page 3 of the solicitation identified page limitations for the individual appendices in the far-right column. See Question/Response #16 below for further clarification.

4. In reference to Volume 1, Section 3: Past Experience; is there a minimum dollar amount value that Past Experience references will need to meet?

RESPONE: There is no minimum dollar amount specified. The solicitation describes that Past Experience will be evaluated based upon the qualitative bullets identified.

5. For Section 3: Past Experience, is the 3-page limitation for each reference or all references combined – that will need to meet the 3-page limit?

RESPONE: The 3-page page limit is for all Past Experience references.

6. Will the government grant an extension of the deadline for contractors to submit their responses to OPM?

RESPONSE: No extension of the solicitation closing date is expected at this time.

7. Will the government require resumes for Key Personnel?

RESPONSE: Key Personnel resumes are not required. They may be provided along with the technical proposal, however, they will be counted within the specified page limit.

8. Will the government provide clarification on the education requirements for key personnel?

RESPONSE: The expectation for educational and certification requirements for Key Personnel include previous work on at least two (2) successful DEIA projects of similar scope and magnitude to this requirement for the Implementation of EO 14035 as identified in the Statement of Objectives

(SOO).

9. Will the government provide clarification on the certification requirements for key personnel?

RESPONSE: See #8 above.

10. Will the government coordinate the scheduling of the 60-minute oral presentation?

RESPONSE: The government will coordinate schedule of the oral presentations after the proposal closing date.

11. Can the government advise if there are any formatting requirements and/or restrictions for this response?

RESPONSE: See highlighted information in the ‘Proposal Preparation and Submission’ section in ‘Amendment 001 ODEIA 24361821R0203’.

12. Will the government consider questions after the question deadline has passed?

RESPONSE: No.

13. How soon after the award does OPM expect work to begin?

RESPONSE: Work is expected to begin after the award of a contract to the successful offeror and as soon as key personnel and other contractor personnel have received the appropriate security clearances.

14. Are there restrictions on font type and size to be used throughout the technical proposal?

RESPONSE: Arial, Times New Roman or Courier. See Response to Question/Response #11 above for formatting

15. Are there restrictions on font type and size to be used on tables and figures?

RESPONSE: See Response for #11 and #14 above.

16. Please clarify the page numbers for the Appendices:

RESPONSE – See page limitations in the solicitation table ‘page limitations’

* PWS = 10 pages YES

* QASP = Follows template page numbering (3 pages) YES – (revised in AMD01 to 3 pages)

* Oral Presentation Slides: No page (slide) limit other than 2 slides per past performance.

The above assumption is incorrect –

PAGE LIMIT IS: 2 PAGES/SLIDES PER PROJECT DISCUSSED IN ORAL

PRESENTATION

* Quality Control Plan (Draft) = 2 pages All referenced below are correct – 2 EACH

* Staffing Plan (Draft) = 2 pages Deleted

* Project Staffing Table = 2 pages

* List of Technical Assumptions = 2(if any) pages

* Key Personnel Quals = 2 pages

* Project Management Plan (Draft) = 2 pages

* Milestone Plan (Draft) = 2 pages

17. Is the Table of Content (TOC) included in the Technical Volume page limit?

RESPONSE: No – that should be a stand-alone document – no page limit

18. The RFP states that only those appendices listed shall be reviewed, should a glossary of abbreviations listing be included in the document?

RESPONSE: Yes.

19. The RFQ requests the Offeror provide at least two past experiences as prime involving analysis of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accountability (DEIA). As a small business, we led our most relevant DEIA initiatives for other agencies as a subcontractor on a broader contract. Would the Government consider removing the prime requirement for past experience?

RESPONSE: Yes. The Government will accept information related to subcontractor performance as referenced above.

20. The RFQ states that Experience from subcontractors may be used IF the subcontractor also provides a Letter of Commitment. May a subcontractor's experience be used as one of the past experiences as prime if the proposed subcontractor was a prime for that contract?

RESPONSE:

Yes – if the offeror has a letter of commitment from that subcontractor.

21. Volume II Price - The instructions state that "Discounts, if any, shall be identified." Attachment 2 Pricing Spreadsheet does not contain a space to show a discount. Please confirm that the Offeror may explain the discount in the price narrative and show only the discounted rate in Attachment 2 Column D Est Rate/Hr.

RESPONSE:

Yes. Any discounts may be explained in the price narrative and show only the discounted rate in the Pricing Spreadsheet (Attachment 2 to original solicitation). Offerors shall identify in the pricing narrative the schedule rate (i.e. GSA Schedule?) that they are referencing, as well as the discounted rate (percentage) that is being proposed.

22. Attachment 3 (Estimated Labor Categories & Hours) lists Program Specialists at 4 people, estimated hours of 1800, and FTE of 3.67. These calculations are inconsistent. For the Program Specialist LCAT, are the estimated hours 1) 1800 at .92 FTE, 2) 7200 hours at 3.67 FTE, or 3) other? If other, please provide estimated hours and FTE for the Program Specialist.

RESPONSE:

This document is renamed ‘Attachment 02, AMENDMENT 01. Column B has been increased in size and now reflects ‘Program Specialist and Program Assistant’ to differentiate. The number for FTEs has been provided as ‘guidance for offerors’. Therefore, feel free to adjust as you believe is necessary for your technical approach.

23. Attachment 3 states the estimated hours as 7360 and estimated FTE at 6.51 FTE. Which column states the accurate estimate; 1) 7360 which equates to 3.76 FTE or 2) 6.51 FTE which equates to 12,760 hours?

RESPONSE: See response to Question #22 above.

24. Solicitation & Attachment 1 (SOO) Page 6 of the solicitation states that the staffing narrative shall include the qualifications and certifications for each position, how the position aligns with the contractors’ proposed labor categories. Page 12 states the Government will assess that adequate proposed staffing possesses the minimum qualifications (experience level, education, background, and clearance) to meet the SOO requirements. Section D of attachment 1 states that key personnel shall demonstrate extensive subject matter expertise and experience in DEIA.

Please clarify the minimum clearance requirement. Please clarify the minimum education requirement for key personnel.

RESPONSE: See response to Questions #8 above.

25. Given the recent signing of the Executive Order, and the importance of developing and delivering ODEIA learning for the Federal workforce, and the limited number of WOSB who meet the dollar threshold, would the Government consider expanding the Past Performance requirement to allow experience that demonstrates the ability to provide learning and/or training material development for new initiatives in large private sector organizations and/or Federal Agencies in addition to experience performing management consulting services involving analysis of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accountability?"

RESPONSE: This information may be provided if an offeror chooses; however, the evaluation criteria remains unchanged.

26. Given the importance of metrics and data analytics, and the Government's ability to review the qualifications of all key personnel, would the Government consider expanding the Prime Past Performance Requirements to include and/or require Past Performance for developing guidance, tools, resources and the use of data analytics to support customer change initiatives in addition to specific DEIA subject matter experience?

RESPONSE: This information may be provided if an offeror chooses; however, the evaluation criteria remains unchanged.

27. Reference: Volume II, Price: Offerors shall include hourly labor rates and number of hours proposed for every labor category listed under each task and/or sub-task for each potential period of performance.

Context: Some commercial subcontractors perform solely on a fixed price basis utilizing pricing structures that are not based on estimated hours and hourly rates. To participate as a subcontractor, such commercial service providers would need to be able to be proposed as a fixed price labor line item without the attribution of their respective pricing to hours, hourly rates, or labor categories. As OPM will be able to evaluate offerors’ proposals on the basis of adequate price competition, offerors should be able to propose just a single FFP for this effort without breaking down pricing to show hours, hourly rates and labor categories.

Question: May offerors propose additional labor categories with pricing that is not based on hours or hourly rates so long as they provide adequate substantiation for their pricing (e.g. invoices, government contract awards, published price lists)?

RESPONSE: Yes; the price proposal should be submitted as a fixed price proposal. Offerors shall propose the sufficient labor categories that they believe are necessary in order to fulfill the successful implementation of EO 14035 as identified in the SOO. The labor categories and estimated number of hours provided were provided as a ‘guide’ for interested industry partners and not as a directive.

28. Reference: RFP Page 3 – Appendices. What is the difference between the QASP and the Quality Control Plan?

RESPONSE: The two items are inter-related, yet separate.

A Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan (QASP) identifies the detailed metrics by which the contractor’s performance will be monitored and measured after award.

A project management Quality Control Plan (QCP) is a contractor tool, and can generically be defined as a ‘written set of procedures and activities aimed at delivering products (or services) that meet quality objectives for a project as stated in contract documents and other procedures, manuals and guidance’.

The expectation is that any QCP draft would be written in narrative format and would identify the contractors’ quality control plan during contract performance.

29. Reference: RFP Page 3– referencing 2 pages or Power Point slides per project.

For the Oral presentation, what is meant by “2 pages or 2 Power Point Slides Per Project?” Does the term “project” refer to Line Items from Section E of Attachment 01 DEIA SOO? What is the limit of total slides for the presentation?

RESPONSE: Section E of the SOO as referenced above does list the required ‘Key Objectives’ / Contract Deliverables and Schedule. Therefore, in response to the question above, a strategy that uses this list of objectives/deliverables as ‘projects’ would be a rationale strategy. However, it is up to each offeror to determine the best strategy to propose in order to successfully implement EO 14035.

30. Reference: RFP Page 2 Section 2. Management & Staffing Plan.

What is the SOO / RFP Reference for the Technical Volume 1 Section 2 Management Staffing Plan?

Currently the SOO reference says “SOO Paragraph” without a paragraph number.

The Statement of Objectives (SOO) provides each potential offeror with a summarized list of the project’s functional key objectives and the schedule that is expected to be adhered to in order to reach successful implementation. The SOO also identifies the subject matter expertise and experience that is expected from the successful offeror’s key personnel. While the SOO does not specifically identify the ‘Management Staffing Plan’, the RFP does and therefore a Management Staffing Plan is required as a portion of the Technical Volume.

Amendment 01 replaces ‘SOO Paragraph’ in that stated area with ‘As required by RFP’.

31. Reference SOO Page 2. “E – Key Objectives / Contract Deliverables…’g’. Identify and document the benefits of DEIA.”

Can you please clarify the beneficiary assumed in this objective? Is it the benefits to the organization, the employee, the federal workforce, the American citizen, or someone else?

RESPONSE:

The expectation of this objective required from the successful awardee after award is that at 60-90 days after award, the awardee will be able to provide the government with information identifying the benefits of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility in the federal workforce as outlined in Executive Order 14035.

32. Reference RFP Page 2, “Section 4: Appendices…” What is the expected difference between the Staffing plan in the Appendix and the Staffing Plan in Section 2?

RESPONSE:

See response to Question #16 above. Amendment 01 deletes the requirement of Appendix ‘Staffing Plan (draft).

33. QUESTION DELETED – DUPLICATION.

34. Will the Government allow Offerors to include a Table of Contents and a Glossary of Acronyms with their response, excluded from the page count?’

RESPONSE: Yes. Table of Contents and glossary of acronyms are excluded from the page count.

35. Reference RFP Requirement for a Statement of Work (Performance Work Statement).

Volume I, Section 3: Past Experience Please confirm that Statement of work (referenced here) required to support Past Performance (past experience) citations are excluded from the page count.

RESPONSE:

Yes. The requirement for a copy of the Statement of Objectives or Statement of Work as described above is excluded from the page count.

36. Reference RFP (pg. 2) Proposal Preparation and Submission, Volume I, Section 2 Key Personnel

a. Clarify which Labor Categories the Government considers as Key Personnel?

Key Personnel shall be determined by the offerors.

b. Given there is a 4- page maximum limit, could you confirm the government does not expect full resumes in this section? Could you clarify where resumes should be included?

Full resumes are not required. Should an offeror choose to include them, they will be considered in the stated page limit.

37. Reference RFP (pg. 2) - Proposal Preparation and Submission, Volume I, Section 2 Management and

Staffing Plan Could you clarify the specific section in the SOO and/or RFP that this section should reference?

Amendment 01 revises the reference to read ‘As required by the RFP’. There is no SOO reference.

38. Reference RFP (pg. 3) - Proposal Preparation and Submission, Volume I, Section 4 Appendices

c. Under the Appendices, are the following sections part of the Oral Presentation or standalone documents:

i. Quality Control Plan (Draft)

ii. Staffing Plan (Draft) Deleted as per Amendment 01

iii. Project Staffing Table

iv. List of Technical Assumptions (if any)

v. Key Personnel Qualification Matrix

vi. Project Management Plan (Draft)

vii. Milestone Plan (Draft)

Each offeror makes the determination of what key/critical components are to be include in their oral presentations. The appendices that are listed above are a required portion of the Technical proposal.

39. SOO (pg. 9) - F Government Furnished Information

d. The SOO states there will be no government provided equipment, but based on our experience a badge, email, and laptop is highly recommended. Would the government consider providing this to team members?

No. The Government will not provide such equipment. Equipment such as laptops, phones, e-mail required for contract performance shall be provided after award by the successful offeror.

40. Approximately how many agencies or organizations is within the scope of this solicitation?

There are seventy-three (73) federal agencies or organizations included within the scope of this solicitation.

41. The SOW references a deliverable to help agencies “create” DEI strategic plan. What deliverable will include the tasks required to review existing DEIA strategies to ensure alignment? As you may know, some agencies have started their DEIA journey and have already have strategies, actions, and plans in place.

RESPONSE:

The SOO also contains other deliverables under ‘2. Guidance, tools, and resources’. Please review all remaining paragraphs that are identified in the SOO under ‘Key Objectives / Contract Deliverables and Schedule.

42. What deliverables will cover communications plan development & management

The question above is ambiguous. All of the Key objectives and contract deliverables identified require communications between the successful awardee and the government. As such, communication plans required throughout the post-award contract process shall be included in each offeror’s proposal.

43. Will the government consider the cost for benchmarking to help ensure attainable and relevant metrics are established?

RESPONSE:

Each offeror is expected to provide a technical proposal which includes a PWS that will successfully implement the President’s EO 14035. The price proposal shall be reflective of, and commensurate with the technical work proposed. An award will be made to the offeror whose entire proposal reflects the best value to the government.

44. Will the government consider the cost to build a change leadership plan to help agencies prepare for changes and accelerate adoption?

See response to Question #43 above.

45. Will the government consider establishing a governance model to help agencies validate rationale and prioritize DEIA required actions?

See response to Question #43 above.

46. How many employees/divisions/branches of government does the scope of work cover?

See response to Question #40 above.

47. What are expectations for deliverables, i.e., what does success look like for the selected contractor?

The Government will consider all proposals that conform to the RFP and will award to the one that presents a solution that is the most advantageous to the Government, price and other non-price criteria considered.

48. Is there a strategic plan in place that includes a DEI strategy that can be reviewed prior to the start of the project?

RESPONSE:

The new Executive Order 14035 reestablishes a governmentwide diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility (DEIA) initiative and will develop a new four-year strategic plan.

49. Has any DEI work been done so far for the scope of employees/divisions/branches of government, such as culture assessments, established diversity council with charter, ERGs, focus groups, et al.?

Per the Executive Order, agencies must submit to the Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy (APDP), the Director of OPM, and the Deputy Director for Management of OMB a preliminary assessment of the current state of diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility in the agency's human resources practices and workforce composition.

50. Is there a $ (dollar) minimum on the past work projects (Past Experience) that you are looking for?

See response to Question #4 above.

51. Are you interested in a commercial perspective from a team with all commercial experience?

The Government will consider all proposals that conform to the RFP and will be most advantageous to the Government, price and other non-price criteria considered.