36C10G18R0204-0001000.docx

36C10G18R0204 Amendment 00001 | Question & Answer Responses

5. PROJECT NUMBER (if applicable)

CODE

7. ADMINISTERED BY

2. AMENDMENT/MODIFICATION NUMBER

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6. ISSUED BY

8. NAME AND ADDRESS OF CONTRACTOR

4. REQUISITION/PURCHASE REQ. NUMBER

3. EFFECTIVE DATE

9A. AMENDMENT OF SOLICITATION NUMBER

9B. DATED

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10A. MODIFICATION OF CONTRACT/ORDER NUMBER

10B. DATED

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1. CONTRACT ID CODE

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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:

The above numbered solicitation is amended as set forth in Item 14. The hour and date specified for receipt of Offers

E. IMPORTANT:

is extended,

(a) By completing Items 8 and 15, and returning __________ copies of the amendment; (b) By acknowledging receipt of this amendment on each copy of the offer submitted; or (c) By separate letter or electronic communication 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 is not extended.

12. ACCOUNTING AND APPROPRIATION DATA

(REV. 11/2016)

is required to sign this document and return ___________ copies to the issuing office.

is not, 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.

15C. DATE SIGNED

B. THE ABOVE NUMBERED CONTRACT/ORDER IS MODIFIED TO REFLECT THE ADMINISTRATIVE CHANGES SET FORTH IN ITEM 14, PURSUANT TO THE AUTHORITY OF FAR 43.103(b).

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 letter or electronic communication, provided each letter or electronic communication makes reference to the solicitation and this amendment, and is received prior to the opening hour and date specified.

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

D. OTHER

BY

Contractor

16C. DATE SIGNED

14. DESCRIPTION OF AMENDMENT/MODIFICATION

16B. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Except as provided herein, all terms and conditions of the document referenced in Item 9A or 10A, as heretofore changed, remains unchanged and in full force and effect.

15A. NAME AND TITLE OF SIGNER

16A. NAME AND TITLE OF CONTRACTING OFFICER

15B. CONTRACTOR/OFFEROR

STANDARD FORM 30

PREVIOUS EDITION NOT USABLE

Prescribed by GSA - FAR (48 CFR) 53.243 (Type or print) (Type or print) (Organized by UCF section headings, including solicitation/contract subject matter where feasible.)

(Number, street, county, State and ZIP Code) (If other than Item 6) (Specify type of modification and authority) (such as changes in paying office, appropriation date, etc.)

(If required)

(SEE ITEM 11)

(SEE ITEM 13)

(X)

CHECK

ONE

13. THIS ITEM APPLIES ONLY TO MODIFICATIONS OF CONTRACTS/ORDERS,

IT MODIFIES THE CONTRACT/ORDER NO. AS DESCRIBED IN ITEM 14.

11. THIS ITEM ONLY APPLIES TO AMENDMENTS OF SOLICITATIONS

AMENDMENT OF SOLICITATION/MODIFICATION OF CONTRACT

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

VA-18-0002838

36C10G U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs OPAL | Strategic Acquisition Center 10300 Spotsylvania Ave | STE 400 Fredericksburg VA 22408-2697 36C10G U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs OPAL | Strategic Acquisition Center 10300 Spotsylvania Ave | STE 400 Fredericksburg VA 22408-2697 To all Offerors/Bidders

36C10G18R0204 36C10G18R0204 X X X X The purposes of this Amendment (0001) is to respond to all questions as submitted on Friday August 31, 2018 and to incorporate a revised Request for Proposal (RFP). All revisions made to the RFP are highlighted in yellow.

The proposal due date is extended to Thursday September 13, 2018 by 10:00 AM EST.

ZACHARY WILCOX

1. Will government add an ODC line item for robotic licenses?

Response: No; The VA will not cover the cost of robotic licenses

2. What start date shall be used for the purposes of the proposal?

Response: Reference Section B.4 for the estimated start date.

3. The Government requested in PWS 2.2.1 that the vendor “conduct a data audit against all the data in HR Smart”. Would the Government please clarify whether every data element of every data record in HR Smart database needs to be audited or only HR Smart pre-deployment / historical employee records (as stipulated in PWS 2.1 and 5.2)?

Response: Only HRSmart pre-deployment/historical employee records need to be audited.

4. The Government requested in PWS 2.2.1 that the vendor “conduct a data audit against all the data in HR Smart”. What is the total number of records to be subject to the audit?

Response: Reference Section 2.1.1, Table 2.1, Pre-Employment Data Elements (Employee Records)

5. In section 2.3.3, government states “Vendor shall conduct ongoing data audits against all identified data sources during the cleansing process.” Can the government provide a list of all “data sources?”

Response: The data sources are HRSmart and eOPF.

6. Can the government clarify if the Vendor will access VA systems through CAG or VPN?

Response: Reference Section 4.3

7. Please clarify section 4.3 and whether support is intended to be conducted at Contractor Site or Government site?

Response: Reference Section 4.3 & Section 4.5

8. Please clarify Section 4.3 to confirm that the Contractor shall be permitted to utilize any Contractor Facilities it deems appropriate to support this effort and prior approval from the Government of the specific facility is not required.

Response: Yes – vendor may work from any venue, provided the contracted staff has appropriate Internet access.

9. PWS Section 4.5 indicates the COR and CO approval are required prior to travel in the first paragraph, however, the next paragraph only indicates COR approval is required. Would the Government consider revising so that only COR approval is required to reduce the administrative burden for travel approvals on both the Contractor and the Government?

Response: No revisions will be made. The CO must be made aware of all travel arrangements prior to the COR providing any approval(s).

10. Will laptops or desktop computers be provided to the vendor to perform the work?

Response: Reference updated PWS, Section 8.0 vendor will be able to access HRSmart and eOPF by using Citrix. No laptops or desktops will be provided by the VA.

11. PWS Section 5.1 states. “Vendor shall provide a Project Management Plan for the HR Smart Data Cleaning as the first deliverable before any work commences.” However, there are other deliverables that are being requested within this 15-day timeline, such as those in 5.2, 5.3. Please clarify how 5.2 Deliverables are able to be completed if work cannot commence until the PMP is submitted based on the terms in 5.1?

Response: Deliverable dates for 5.2, 5.3, etc. will be adjusted to allow for completion of the project plan first.

12. PWS references Task and/or Task Orders, but this is a stand-alone contract vehicle. Please clarify?

Response: Please reference the updated PWS. References to Task and/or Task Orders is revised to reflect Contract.

13. Please clarify what should be written in PWS 5.2.2(e)?

Response: Reference 5.2.2. The (e) is removed.

14. PWS Section 13 indicates that COR and PM approval are required on deliverables prior to invoicing. Please confirm that deliverables such as those in 5.3.5 are only being submitted to OHRM, WMC, VBA, NCA, VHA – Administration POCs for their records, and not for comment/approval.

Response: Reference the updated PWS. Section 13 is removed.

15. PWS Section 13 indicates that the PM/COR will approve deliverables prior to invoicing. Please clarify if the following line also indicates the CO approval of the deliverable is required, “The Post Award Contracting Officer must be copied on all task order deliverable submissions and emails providing approval of each deliverable.”

Response: Reference the updated PWS. Section 13 is removed.

16. PWS Section 13, please clarify timeline in which the Government has to provide comments and/or final approval of deliverable submissions.

Response: Reference the updated PWS. Section 13 is removed.

17. Shall pricing be submitted in accordance with a GSA Schedule? If so, which Schedule is required to be used?

Response: A GSA schedule is not assigned for this requirement.

18. Will the government provide a pricing spreadsheet?

Response: No. Reference Section E.1(b). Spreadsheet references are removed from E.1 & E.2.

19. Will the government review and approve the methodology (i.e. business rules and tools) of all recommended changes or modifications to anomalies detected by our analysis?

Response: Yes, the government will need to review and approve the methodology as it may require the involvement of the vendor that supports HRSmart.

20. Is a minimum of 3 Past Performance references required for both the Prime and each Major Subcontractor? As an example, if you have 1 Major Subcontractor, then you must have a minimum of 6 Past Performance references contained in your Past Performance Volume.

Response: There will be a minimum of 3 total Past Performance references and a maximum of 5 total Past Performance references.

21. Shall the Offeror develop the Labor Categories for the Pricing Volume along with the Labor Category Description or is the Government intending to use a GSA Schedule or provide those to the Offeror.

Response: Yes, develop the Labor Categories for the Pricing Volume with rates and total hours; This is not a GSA requirement.

22. Are Offeror’s required to submit a completed Section B.4 Price/Cost Schedule with its submission? If so, which Volume will include this document?

Response: Pricing information will be included in Volume III. Please see the adjusted CLINs. Each CLIN represents the review/corrections of a certain category of records in accordance with the tasks outline in Section 5.0 of the PWS. Additionally, the CLINs show half the number of records to be reviewed during the base period and the second half to reviewed in the 1st option period. Paragraph 5.4 of the PWS, gives the government estimate of the time it takes to complete a review and make corrections. IAW with the pricing evaluation section, the contractor will provide their labor mix, labor rates and labor hours as part of the pricing Volume to complete each individual CLIN. A contractor can invoice for that CLIN once all provided recorders are reviewed and corrected IAW Section 5.0 of the PWS.

23. Please clarify why the Pricing Volume must include discount(s) rates for three (3) years? The period of performance of this effort is a 1 Year Base and 1 Year Option.

Response: You are only providing pricing for a base year and 1 option period. Please see the adjusted CLINs. Each CLIN represents the review/corrections of a certain category of records in accordance with the tasks outline in Section 5.0 of the PWS. Additionally, the CLINs show half the number of records to be reviewed during the base period and the second half to reviewed in the 1st option period. Paragraph 5.4 of the PWS, gives the government estimate of the time it takes to complete a review and make corrections. IAW with the pricing evaluation section, the contractor will provide their labor mix, labor rates and labor hours as part of the pricing Volume to complete each individual CLIN. A contractor can invoice for that CLIN once all provided recorders are reviewed and corrected IAW Section 5.0 of the PWS.

24. Please clarify why the Pricing Volume references the inclusion of discounted rates? What rates is the Offeror discounting from?

Response: This is not a GSA requirement. Please see the adjusted CLINs. Each CLIN represents the review/corrections of a certain category of records in accordance with the tasks outline in Section 5.0 of the PWS. Additionally, the CLINs show half the number of records to be reviewed during the base period and the second half to reviewed in the 1st option period. Paragraph 5.4 of the PWS, gives the government estimate of the time it takes to complete a review and make corrections. IAW with the pricing evaluation section, the contractor will provide their labor mix, labor rates and labor hours as part of the pricing Volume to complete each individual CLIN. A contractor can invoice for that CLIN once all provided recorders are reviewed and corrected IAW Section 5.0 of the PWS.

25. Which Volume shall the Offeror provide the information as required by VAAR 852.215-70?

Response: A contractor providing a response to VAAR 852.215-70 will provide those responses as part of Volume I of the required submission.

26. The table within PWS Section 10 referenced the Performance Objective Section in the Performance Standard Column. Please clarify where the Performance Objective Section is in the RFP?

Response: Reference the revisions made in Section 10 of the PWS

27. If a record is corrupted as part of cleansing, will the government be maintaining back-ups and/or alternative data sources to reconstruct the record?

Response: Yes. If a record is corrupted during the data cleansing effort, the data in HRSmart can be reconstructed using the employee eOPF.

28. Is the Contractor providing the objectives and acceptance criteria associated with what is considered successful completion of the requirements of this contract within their proposal?

Response: Yes, Reference the revisions made in Section 10 of the PWS

29. The Solicitation provides no level of acceptance criteria which the Prime will be held to with regards to the cleansing of data. Will acceptance of deliverables and/or payment be tied to a percentage of completion of data cleanse and/or a level of accuracy of the data after our cleansing process is complete? Or does the government intend to require complete correction of the data?

Response: Reference the revisions made in Section 10 of the PWS

30. Is the Vendor financially liable for any erroneous information which remains in the system during or after completion of this contract?

Response: Yes; if the vendor fails to cleanse data elements identified during the contract. No; if the erroneous data element was not identified as one the contractor needed to clean.

31. Has the government completed any feasibility analysis regarding the possibility of complete resolution of the errors at issue? Is the government able to provide any additional specifics regarding the extent of the abnormalities and the likelihood of success in resolving the error through automated means?

Response: Yes – government can provide documentation for error identification

32. What standard will the Government hold contractors to with regards to the effectiveness of any new technology utilized (such as robotics, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and the like)?

Response: The vendor will be expected to perform to level of quality indicated in the RFP regardless of the technology used.

33. Does the Government intend to have the contractor complete the ultimate cleanse, or is it the Government’s intention for the contractor to create a plan and establish a prototype methodology for completing the cleanse, with the government ultimately executing the correction itself?

Response: If the vendor is offering an automated (mass) update, VHA will provide the structured input for the vendor, but government will execute the automated corrected action. If the vendor is proposing a manual update, the vendor will be provided access to HRSmart to perform the correction in system.

34. Would the Government please provide some clarity around the Cost/Price Schedule? Is the intent that payment for the full value of SubCLIN 0001AA be made at the end of the Base Period?

Response: Please see the adjusted CLINs in the updated RFP. Each CLIN represents the review/corrections of a certain category of records in accordance with the tasks outline in Section 5.0 of the PWS. Additionally, the CLINs show half the number of records to be reviewed during the base period and the second half to reviewed in the 1st option period. Paragraph 5.4 of the PWS, gives the government estimate of the time it takes to complete a review and make corrections. IAW with the pricing evaluation section, the contractor will provide their labor mix, labor rates and labor hours as part of the pricing Volume to complete each individual CLIN. A contractor can invoice for that CLIN once all provided recorders are reviewed and corrected IAW Section 5.0 of the PWS.

35. Would the Government please provide some clarity around the Cost/Price Schedule? What deliverables or actions are required in order to receive payment for SubCLINs 0001AB, AC, AD and AE?

Response: Reference the adjusted CLINs in the updated RFP. Each CLIN represents the review/corrections of a certain category of records in accordance with the tasks outline in Section 5.0 of the PWS. Additionally, the CLINs show half the number of records to be reviewed during the base period and the second half to reviewed in the 1st option period. Paragraph 5.4 of the PWS, gives the government estimate of the time it takes to complete a review and make corrections. IAW with the pricing evaluation section, the contractor will provide their labor mix, labor rates and labor hours as part of the pricing Volume to complete each individual CLIN. A contractor can invoice for that CLIN once all provided recorders are reviewed and corrected IAW Section 5.0 of the PWS.

36. Would the Government consider revising the Cost/Price Schedule to create a unit cost for each deliverable which would permit for payment of all accepted deliverables each month?

Response: Reference the adjusted CLINs in the updated RFP. Each CLIN represents the review/corrections of a certain category of records in accordance with the tasks outline in Section 5.0 of the PWS. Additionally, the CLINs show half the number of records to be reviewed during the base period and the second half to reviewed in the 1st option period. Paragraph 5.4 of the PWS, gives the government estimate of the time it takes to complete a review and make corrections. IAW with the pricing evaluation section, the contractor will provide their labor mix, labor rates and labor hours as part of the pricing Volume to complete each individual CLIN. A contractor can invoice for that CLIN once all provided recorders are reviewed and corrected IAW Section 5.0 of the PWS.

37. Is the Offeror required to complete the Cost/Price Schedule within its proposal? If so, should this be a separate document submitted with Volume III?

Response: See response to Question #22

38. Will the vendor be required to do any data profiling as described in task 2.2 or data cleansing as described in task 2.3 outside of VA provided equipment, systems or infrastructure? If so, what task will need to be performed outside of VA systems?

Response: No

39. Page 5, Section 2.1, Will the Government please clarify what GFE and GFI will be provided?

Response: The vendor can access VA systems with approved Citrix software. No Government furnished equipment is needed.

40. On Page 5, Sections 5.2 and 5.3, is an ATO required for the HR SMART data cleansing database?

Response: No ATO will be required

41. Page 5, Sections 5.2 and 5.3, what is the required security level (FISMA moderate or high) for the solution the offeror will provide for the HR SMART Database?

Response: FISMA moderate

42. Page 5, Sections 5.2 and 5.3, if an ATO is required, will the Government be able to secure an IATO or ATO within the 30-day window described in the PWS?

Response: No ATO will be required.

43. Page 5, Sections 5.2 and 5.3, what interfaces are required to support the HR SMART data cleansing database?

Response: Not required

44. Page 5, Sections 5.2 and 5.3, if there are interfaces required have these interfaces been established?

Response: Not required

45. Page 5, Sections 5.2 and 5.3, if a new robotics or AI tool is brought within the boundary of the system ATO, will the contractor be required to support in the security authorization process effort to gain the ATO needed for the HR SMART Database?

Response: Yes

46. Page 14, Section 5.3.6, how will the offeror gain access to the data in the HR SMART system?

Response: Reference Section 4.3

47. Page 14, Section 5.3.6, will the contractor be required to support in the security authorization process effort to gain the ATO needed for the HR SMART Database?

Response: Yes

48. Page 14, Section 5.3.6, in which system or environment does the Government expect the data cleansing activity to be performed?

Response: Reference Section 4.3

49. Page 14, Section 5.3.6, there appears to be a discrepancy between the detailed requirements listed in 2.2.1 and 5.3.5. Can the Government please clarify as our understanding is this is a one-time data cleanse as compared to a continuous monitoring and cleansing situation.

Response: This is a one-time data cleanse, not a continuance monitoring situation

50. Page 14, Section 5.3.5, can the Government please clarify what additional items as needed from the PM entails? We are unclear on how to price and support this item.

Response: Reference Section 5.3.5 (k) has been removed

51. Page 22, B.4 Price/Cost Schedule, Missing Content Appointment Authority (46,000 records) has not been identified as a subCLIN in the price/cost schedule. Would the government please clarify where we price this item?

Response: Reference the adjusted CLINs. Each CLIN represents the review/corrections of a certain category of records in accordance with the tasks outline in Section 5.0 of the PWS. Additionally, the CLINs show half the number of records to be reviewed during the base period and the second half to reviewed in the 1st option period. Paragraph 5.4 of the PWS, gives the government estimate of the time it takes to complete a review and make corrections. IAW with the pricing evaluation section, the contractor will provide their labor mix, labor rates and labor hours as part of the pricing Volume to complete each individual CLIN. A contractor can invoice for that CLIN once all provided recorders are reviewed and corrected IAW Section 5.0 of the PWS.

52. Page 22, B.4 Price/Cost Schedule, in the pricing table under subCLIN 1AA a “LOT” unit price is requested. The remaining subCLINs refer to “HRS” (hours) as the unit price. Did the Government mean for the unit pricing to be LOT for all of the subCLINs?

Response: Reference the adjusted CLINs in the updated RFP. Each CLIN represents the review/corrections of a certain category of records in accordance with the tasks outline in Section 5.0 of the PWS. Additionally, the CLINs show half the number of records to be reviewed during the base period and the second half to reviewed in the 1st option period. Paragraph 5.4 of the PWS, gives the government estimate of the time it takes to complete a review and make corrections. IAW with the pricing evaluation section, the contractor will provide their labor mix, labor rates and labor hours as part of the pricing Volume to complete each individual CLIN. A contractor can invoice for that CLIN once all provided recorders are reviewed and corrected IAW Section 5.0 of the PWS.

53. Page 49, Volume 2- Past Performance Questionnaire Instructions, will the Government accept a CPARS in the PPIRS as equivalent to a Past Performance reference form? Given the extremely busy time of year, certain Government Reference POC’s are suggesting the VA use the already written CPARS to satisfy the questionnaire requirement and streamline this process.

Response: Please provide the PPQs. Reference Section E.9, Factor 2, Past Performance Approach

54. Page 47, Past Performance Instructions, is it correct that if we include major subcontractors on the team, the requirement is still 3-5 PPQ’s per team?

Response: See response for Question #20

55. Page 49, Volume III – Price Instructions, F.1, can the government please clarify if pricing is for two years or three years?

Response: See response for Question #23

56. Attachment A: Table of Deliverables, if there is no distinction between business days and calendar days, e.g. “15 days after contract award”, should the offeror assume calendar days?

Response: Yes, Calendar days

57. Section 2.1 Data Cleanse Strategy, does the VA have and estimate for a level of effort for traditional manual methods for completing these tasks? You mention that you would like a technology solution that can perform cross input of data into many systems/applications. Can you provide a list and a description of these systems? Are there situations where there are different values from different systems that mean the same thing in the current system? M = Male = 1? Have data standards been developed for each field?

Response: Response: On average, it is believed that it would take approximately 15 minutes to review an employee records regulatory compliance and approximately 25 minutes to process correction actions in HRSmart. If the vendor is offering an automated (mass) update, VHA will provide the structured input for the vendor, but government will execute the automated corrected action. If the vendor is proposing a manual update, the vendor will be provided access to HRSmart to perform the correction in system.

58. Section 2.1.1 Pre-Deployment/Historical Records, are all historical records maintained in the production instance of HR Smart? How many instances of HR Smart has the VA licensed? Do you have releases that you receive in HR Smart? If so, how frequently?

Response: All historical records requiring review/potential corrective actions are stored in HRSmart. HRSmart is the VA’s enterprise-wide automated HR System. Updates to HRSmart are driven based on updates to the core PeopleSoft product. Updates are managed by vendor.

59. Section 2.2.1, you state that the data audit should include all data in the HR Smart system. Are all fields listed in Appendix B?

Response: Yes.

60. Section 2.2.3, will the VA provide personnel to validate and approve VA rules, policies and statutes?

Response: Yes

61. Section 2.0, does the VA have a data governance strategy in place? Does the VA have documented data joins, conduits and other relationships between the data? What resources will the VA dedicate to this initiative?

Response: The VA is maturing its data governance strategy. Yes, the VA and vendor have documented data joins, conduits, and other relationships between the data. The Human Resources Information Service (HRIS) is the organization primarily responsible for ensuring the maturating of the data governance strategy.

62. Attachment B - For each field can you provide the following: 1) A list or at least a number of standard values for fields with a defined list of values; 2) Identify any special characters that exist (e.g., ù); and 3) Do we need to consider data translation across systems?

Response: The standard values are established by OPM and found in the Guide to Processing Personnel Actions. There are no special characters. No, the vendor does not need to consider data translation across systems.

63. With regard to Robotic Process Automation, does VA have a preferred RPA tool? Does it have Authority to Operation (ATO)? Does VA have an RPA test environment? If RPA or similar tools are deployed does the VA plan to host or license them?

Response: if the vendor is offering an automated (mass) update, VHA will provide the structured input for the vendor, but government will execute the automated corrected action. If the vendor is proposing a manual update, the vendor will be provided access to HRSmart to perform the correction in system.

See attached document: RFP 36C10G18R0204 Amendment 0001 02.