283-15-0458_pdf_Amendment_1_Q_ _A.pdf

AMENDMENT OF SOLICITATION/MODIFICATION OF CONTRACT

1. CONTRACT ID CODE

PAGE OF

PAGES

1 6

2. AMENDMENT/MODIFICATION NO.

3. EFFECTIVE DATE

4. REQUISITION/PURCHASE REQ.

NO.

5. PROJECT NO. (if applicable)

Amendment 0001 See Block 16C

6. ISSUED BY CODE

7. ADMINISTERED BY (if other than item 6) CODE

SAMHSA, DHHS

Division of Contracts Management, OFR 1 Choke Cherry Road, Room 7-1051 Rockville, MD 20850

Same as Item 6

8. NAME AND ADDRESS OF CONTRACTOR (No., street, county, State and ZIP Code) (X)

9A. AMENDMENT OF SOLICITATION NO.

TO ALL PROSPECTIVE OFFERORS

RFP Titled: “Substance Abuse and Mental Health Data Archives

(SAMHDA)”

X

283-15-0458

9B. DATED (SEE ITEM 11)

12/04/2014

10A. MODIFICATION OF

CONTRACT/ORDER NO.

10B. DATE (SEE ITEM 13)

CODE

FACILITY CODE

11. THIS ITEM ONLY APPLIES TO AMENDMENTS OF SOLICITATIONS

The above numbered solicitation is amended as set forth in item 14. The hour and date specified for receipt of Offers ___ is extended, __X__ is not extended. Offers must acknowledge receipt of this amendment prior to the hour and date specified in the solicitation or as amended, by one of the following methods: (a) by completing items 8 and 15, and returning 1 copies of the amendment, (b) by acknowledging receipt of this amendment on each copy of the offer submitted; or (c) by separate letter or telegram which includes a reference to the solicitation and amendment numbers. FAILURE OF YOUR ACKNOWLEDGMENT TO BE RECEIVED AT THE PLACE DESIGNATED FOR THE RECEIPT OF OFFERS PRIOR TO THE HOUR AND DATE SPECIFIED MAY RESULT IN REJECTION OF YOUR OFFER. If by virtue of this amendment you desire to change an offer already submitted, such change may be made by telegram or letter, provided each telegram or letter makes reference to the solicitation and this amendment, and is received prior to the opening hour and date specified.

12. ACCOUNTING AND APPROPRIATION DATA

13. THIS ITEM APPLIES ONLY TO MODIFICATIONS OF CONTRACTS/ORDERS IT MODIFIES THE CONTRACT/ORDER NO. AS DESCRIBED IN

ITEM 14.

Check One

A. THIS CHANGE ORDER IS ISSUED PURSUANT TO: (Specify authority) THE CHANGES SET FORTH IN ITEM 14 ARE MADE IN

THE CONTRACT ORDER NO. IN ITEM 10A.

B. THE ABOVE NUMBERED CONTRACT/ORDER IS MODIFIED TO REFLECT THE ADMINISTRATIVE CHANGES (such as changes in paying office, appropriation date, etc.) SET FORTH IN ITEM 14, PURSUANT TO THE AUTHORITY OF FAR 43.103(b).

C. THIS SUPPLEMENTAL AGREEMENT IS ENTERED INTO PURSUANT TO AUTHORITY OF:

D. OTHER (Specify type of modification and authority)

E. IMPORTANT: Contractor ___ is not, ___ is required to sign this document and return _____ copies to the issuing office.

14. DESCRIPTION OF AMENDMENT/MODIFICATION (Organized by UCF section headings, including solicitation/contract subject matter where feasible.)

The purpose of this Amendment is to provide Questions and Answers to RFP 283-15-0458.

The due date for proposals remains as January 2, 2015.

15A. NAME AND TITLE OF SIGNER (Type or print)

16A. NAME AND TITLE OF CONTRACTING OFFICER (Type or print)

LYNN TANTARDINI, CONTRACTING OFFICER

15B. CONTRACTOR/OFFEROR

15C. DATE SIGNED 16B. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 16C. DATE SIGNED

(Signature of person authorized to sign) (Signature of Contracting Officer)

NSN 7540-01-152-8070 STANDARD FORM 30 (REV. 10-83)

Previous edition unusable Prescribed by GSA

FAR (48 CRR) 53.243

RFP NO.: 283-15-0458

AMENDMENT NO. 1 PAGE 2 OF 6

RFP No. 283-15-0458 Questions and Answers

(1) Question: Who are considered key personnel?

Answer: Key Personnel are those individuals that the contractor has determined are essential to perform the work. SAMHSA will review those individuals proposed by the contractor. SAMHSA will assign Key Personnel of those proposed to the project and those individuals will be determined at award.

(2) Question: Are resumes required for all personnel?

Answer: For proposal purposes, please provide a resume for the proposed Project Director, and any other personnel who you determine to be classified as Key Personnel.

(3) Question: Are three-hole binders acceptable for copies? Or do copies need to be bound?

Answer: Three-hole binders are acceptable.

(4) Question: Can the proposal be single spaced?

Answer: Yes

(5) Question: Can the proposal be double sided?

Answer: How the offeror prepares their proposal is their decision. There is a page limit.

(6) Question: Is Arial 11 an acceptable font?

Answer:

The size of the font should be NO smaller than the size of Times Roman 12pt for the Technical Proposal; NO smaller than the size of Times Roman 10pt for the Appendices; NO smaller than the size of Times Roman 8pt for the Appendices; NO smaller than the size of Times Roman 8pt Exhibits and Graphics; and NO smaller than the size of Times Roman 10 pt for the Business Proposal but the offeror can utilize any legible font style.

(7) Question: Will the contractor be able to host the SAMHDA website?

In Section D.i. Content Development and Management Plan (pages 17-18) has a "Hosting" sub-item that states " If there is a plan to physically host the content outside of SAMHSA.gov, details and a justification shall be provided."

There is a designated SAMHSA.GOV domain that is used for SAMHDA. The site may be hosted on the Contractor’s server, and will be approved subject to the content development and management plan.

(8) Question: Please clarify the due date for the annual outreach plan.

Task 3: Maintain Website (page 27 of SOW) states “Within 180 days of EDOC” for and “…all subsequent plans shall be submitted by the end of month 3 of each contract year” for the due date. Task 6c: Provide Training and Dissemination (page 33) states “Within 30 days of the start of each contract year.”

Amendment 1

Both Tasks 3, Annual Outreach Activity Plan, and Task 6c, Outreach Plan are due within 180 days of EDOC.

Following the submission of this initial plan, all subsequent plans shall be submitted by the end of month 3 of each contract year. The SOW for Task 6c, and Delivery Schedule for both will be corrected to reflect the schedule listed above.

(9) Question: Please clarify whether there is a difference between the Annual Outreach Activity Plan and the

Outreach Plan. The Schedule of Deliverables includes both the “Annual Outreach Activity Plan” (page 2 for Task 3) “Outreach plan” (page 3 for Task 6c). The “Annual Outreach Activity Plan” is due “With 180 of the EDOC and every 12 months subsequently.” The “Outreach plan” is due “With 30 days of the EDOC and every 12 month subsequently, by email; final within 15 days of comments on draft.”

There is a difference between the two plans. The Outreach Plan addresses plans specific to website development and other activities that will help promotion of SAMHDA and SAMHDA functionality, data, etc.

The Annual Outreach Activity Plan is a general plan for SAMHDA. This would include activities, plans and/or ideas to improve functionality of the site, expand current systems, add tools, etc.

(10) Question: Please clarify the relationship between the due date for the outreach plan and the due date for the annual report outline.

Task 3: Maintain Website (page 27 of SOW) states “Prior to submission of the draft outreach plan, in the beginning of month 3 of each contract year, the Contractor shall submit to the COR a draft outline for the annual report.” Task 7d. Annual and Final Reports (page 35 of SOW) requires the draft outline for the annual report at the beginning of month 11 of each contract year.

Under Task 3, the draft outline is due at the beginning of month 3 for each new contract year, and the plan is due by the end of month 3 of each contract year following the first year. Under Task 7d, the outline of the annual report outline is due at the beginning of month 11 of the contract and every 12 months subsequently.

(11) Question: Please clarify the requirements for hosting of the production website.

Section D, iv. Web Content Migration Plan (page 19 of SOW) calls for …”the migration of all production Web content from the current web site to the SAMHSA Website.” Task 3: Maintain Website (page 26 of SOW) states, “The Contractor shall continue to maintain the SAMHDA website.” There is no distinction made between hosting of production and development versions in this section.

Section D, iv. states that this preparation plan is required, but will not be implemented unless it is determined through evidence that it is more efficient for SAMHSA to host the site rather than the contractor. It is not the intent to have the Contractor house SAMHSA-funded content for this contract/task order unless evidence is presented that it is more efficient to do so and approval is received from the OC and DTM.”

(12) Question: How does the “Web content management plan” (page 1, section C.

General Requirements, of the Schedule of Deliverables) differ from the “Plan Content Development and Management Plan” (page 1, section D.Specific Requirements, item 1e. of the Schedule of Deliverables)? The “Web content management plan” does not appear to be mentioned outside of the Schedule of Deliverables.

After further review, you are correct the Web content management plan is not mentioned in the SOW therefore it will be stricken from the Deliverables. In addition, on page 22 of the SOW, under 1e. it states that, “In accordance with the “General Requirements” section of this SOW, the Contractor shall deliver a Content Development and Management Plan. Under this section it states it is due in 90 days yet under the more detail on the web content management plan requirements on page 17 under D.i., it references 60 days. The correct due date is 60 days and the Deliverables is changed to reflect that change also.

(13) Question: Given the limited courier service during the New Year Holiday, would SAMHSA consider extending the due date to Tuesday, January 6?

Answer:

No extension of the Proposal Due date is planned, with the current contract expiring in May we need to keep this project moving to avoid a break in service.

(14) Question: Requirements for transition to a new contractor appear to differ in various SOW sections. For example, Task 1a: Startup at Beginning of Contract, describes a 2-month transition (Page 21 0f 41). Task 2:

Maintain Current Holdings stipulates availability of current holdings within 180 days of EDOC (Page 24).

Please clarify the timeframe for transition to new contractor.

Answer:

The discrepancies in transition times are due to changing acquisition timelines. The actual transition time will be from the award date to May 24th 2015 which is the end date of the current contract.

(15) Question: The SOW states that there are approximately 220 datasets and the contractor is required to store and provide access to these datasets as well as codebooks, questionnaires, and other supporting documents.

What is the size in terabytes/gigabytes of these files? The link given provides an overview of data but not a comprehensive storage requirement needed for planning purposes. (SOW, Page 24 of 41, Task 2: Maintaining Current Holdings item 4).

Answer:

Currently there are over 2,000 files (datasets, questionnaires, documentation) available for download on SAMHDA and the total size of all downloadable files is over 117 gigabytes.

(16) Question: The SOW states on page 31 “the Contractor will be responsible for disclosure analyses on all other files that have updates, or as CBHSQ requires on files maintained in the SAMHDA.” Does this imply that in addition to the estimated inclusion of 20 new data sets per year (Page 29 of 41) and the associated work of disclosure analysis, there is also some ad hoc Disclosure Analysis work?” For purposes of budgeting, can SAMHSA offer an estimate of the number of additional data sets? (SOW, Page 31 of 41).

Answer:

There is no way to provide an accurate estimate for this task. The additional files that may require disclosure analysis would most likely be existing datasets that SAMHSA may want to release additional variables on the public use files. This would require disclosure review for potential issues of data security. There may also be ad hoc disclosure analysis if there is an issue that comes up on a file, etc. For budgeting purposes please estimate ad hoc disclosure for adding 2-3 variables to the 2010 TEDS A public use file. This can be found at www.datafiles.samhsa.gov.

(17) Question: To estimate the level of effort involved with providing technical assistance in Task 6, can bidders be provided an average number of TA requests per month (by telephone, email, and other modes)? (SOW, Page 31 of 41)

Answer:

Currently SAMHDA receives an average of 54 technical assistance requests monthly.

(18) Question: Are contractors to assume that there is currently no Data Portal Application System utilized on the current contract? Will current data portal users have to re-apply through the new application system, and if so, how many data portal users will need to re-apply through the new system? (SOW, Page 38 of 41).

Answer:

There is a data portal application system being developed in the current contract. At the time of contract award the new contractor will need to inherit this current system and continue development and enhancements as needed. A new contractor would need to migrate the system and all current users. A Data Portal application system would need to be created if one does not exist at the time of contract award. Users would not need to re-apply; the Contractor would transfer all existing users into the electronic system.

(19) Question: Please clarify who shall have responsibility for conducting disclosure risk analysis and implementing appropriate disclosure limitation methods on SAMHSA datasets where this has not been explicitly mentioned (e.g., N-SSATS, N-MHSS). (SOW, Page 28 of 41).

Answer:

The contractor in collaboration with SAMHSA will help with disclosure when needed. This is determined on a case-by-case basis.

(20) Question: On SOW Page 38 of 41, Task 10 states that “Data users have to authenticate status using bio-feedback mechanisms.” Is SAMHSA seeking to implement a new biofeedback mechanism to augment the existing methods?

Answer:

No – currently access to the data portal requires tri-factor authentication. These include confirmation of IP address, unique username and password, and an MToken. These will continue to be the methods of authentication and connection to the Data Portal.

(21) Question: What are the current DAS performance statistics? (SOW, Task 2, 6g, Page 25 of 41).

Answer:

For more information, please go to www.datafiles.samhsa.gov to access our current DAS and get an understanding of the current speeds that must be maintained or exceeded.

(22) Question: How many registered users are there of the restricted-use DAS? (SOW, Page 38 of 41; first paragraph).

Answer:

Currently there are 565 distinct users of the R-DAS

(23) Question: Attachment 1, Statement of Work (SOW), footnote on page 3/41 provides links to SAMHSA’s data strategy and strategic plan. The links do not appear to work to access the proper documents. Please confirm that the following reference for the SAMHSA Strategic Plan is correct:

SAMHSA Strategic Plan: http://store.samhsa.gov/shin/content//PEP14-LEADCHANGE2/PEP14- LEADCHANGE2.pdf

Please provide an updated link/reference for the SAMHSA Data Strategy Plan cited in the Statement of Work.

The correct link to view SAMHSA’s data strategy and strategic plan is as follows:

http://www.samhsa.gov/about-us/strategic-initiatives

(24) Question: Attachment 1, SOW, SAMHSA’s current data environment is classified as low for public facing data and moderate for data hosted in the “data enclave”. Please clarify whether SAMHSA’s current data archive and public-facing data is hosted in a commercial cloud provider, in a SAMHSA datacenter or another datacenter. If at a commercial cloud provider or other datacenter, please identify the current cloud provider.

No data is currently stored in a cloud. The data is hosted at the contractor’s site.

(25) Question: Attachment 1, SOW outlines security requirements for the data archive but does not stipulate FedRAMP as a requirement. Please clarify whether SAMHSA will consider a commercial cloud service for some or all of the website, repositories and data dissemination capabilities going forward.

This is a possibility, but will perhaps be addressed at a later date.

(26) Question: Attachment 1, SOW, outlines the current data archive scope. What are the data protection requirements (RPO, RTO, etc.) for the data archive?

Answer:

All data are collected and must be protected by the laws and rules that they are collected under. These include but are not limited to: The Privacy Act, CIPSEA, FISMA, etc.

(27) Question: Attachment 1, SOW, page 2/41 identifies 1.1784TB of data downloaded per month. Please provide additional metrics in terms of access time(s) and any growth in required capacity needed for the archive going forward.

Answer:

Please review Task 4 of the SOW, and the estimates for new file uploads each year. Also go to www.datafiles.samhsa.gov to access the data archives, and you will get an idea of size and number of files for each study that are annually placed in the public facing archive.

(28) Question: Attachment 1, SOW, outlines various user groups for SAMHDA. How many simultaneous users are expected to access the system, either directly or via Virtual Desktops? Please break out both numbers.

Answer:

This number varies. SAMHDA currently has over 40 projects with over 100 users. Currently, SAMHDA has 10 virtual machines, each virtual machine holds 6 seats. As more projects/users are granted access – virtual seats are bought based on monitoring the current virtual machine usage and whether there are instances of too many people logging on, or being denied access due to not enough space.