4-EED3 DRFP Questions and Answers Response Document 80GSFC20R0026.pdf

Question # Document Section Page Subject Question/Comment Government's Response

Enclosure 1

Sections B - M F.3 19

GSFC 52.237-92 Place of Performance (Nov 2013) includes GSFC and Distributed Active Archive Centers

(DAACs) as places of performance. Enclosure 2, GPM-

Specified Non-Management Direct Labor Categories, Direct Labor Hours and Position Descriptions assigned all hours as offsite.

Enclosure 2 includes offsite hours only. Will the

Government modify Enclosure 2 to include onsite hours consistent with GSFC 52.237-92?

Work performed under the EED-3 contract will be performed primarily offsite; as such, on-site hours have been excluded from Enclosure 2. However, offerors should clearly delineate on- and off-site rates in Attachment B, if needed during the contract term.

Enclosure 1

Sections B - M G.2 20 - 21

1852.216-76 Award Fee for Service Contracts (Jun 2018), subparagraph (b) reads Beginning 12 months after the effective date of this contract, the Government shall evaluate the Contractor's performance every 12 months to determine the amount of award fee earned by the contractor during the period.

Will the Government consider evaluating the 90 day phase-in period separate from the contract year 1? This will allow the Government to evaluate contract year 1 and subsequent year's performance and cost together as part of the 12 month evaluation cycle.

Contract Phase-in will be performed under a separate FFP contract vehicle and will not be evaluated with contract year 1 performance.

Enclosure 1

Sections B - M L.8 147

1852.231-71 Determination of Compensation

Reasonableness (Apr 2015). The proposal shall include a total compensation plan. Per paragraph (d) The offeror shall require all service subcontractors provide, as part of their proposal, the information identified in (a) through (c) of this provision for cost reimbursement or non-competitive fixed-price type subcontracts having a total potential value expected to exceed the threshold for requiring certified cost or pricing data as set forth in FAR

15.403-4.

1. Is a Total Compensation Plan required for T&M/LH subcontracts?

2. Can significant subcontractors submit TCP narratives directly to the Government, if deemed to include proprietary cost data?

1. Consistent with provision 1852.231-71, service subcontractors, as part of their proposal, must provide the information identified in (a) through (c ) for cost reimbursement or non-competitive fixed price type subcontracts having a potential value expected to exceed the threshold for requiring certified cost or pricing data. If a cost reimbursement or non-competitive fixed price type contract has a T&M or LH structure, a plan is required. 2.

Yes; significant subcontractors can submit TCP narratives directly to the Government if deemed to include proprietary cost data.

Enclosure 1

Sections B - M L.11 104-107

GSFC 52.209-301 Notice of Potential Conflicts of Interest

(Jan 2020), subparagraph (g)(1) requires that offerors identify potential OCI with planned work.

1. Does the Government require the offeror and its proposed subcontractors to provide a list of planned work?

2. If the answer to #1 is yes, can this listing be limited to

NASA contract and subcontract proposals submitted and under evaluation? Otherwise, the listing could potentially include many records with no relevance to the work to be performed under this contract.

3. If the answer to #1 is yes, can subcontractors provide their listing of planned work directly to NASA given the data may be considered competition sensitive?

1. Yes, the Government requires offerors and proposed subcontractors to provide a list of planned work. GSFC

52.209-301(g)(1) reads: "This includes recently performed

(within 2 years prior to the proposal due date), currently performed, or planned work (including future competitive proposals), whether as a prime contract holder or a subcontractor." 2. This listing cannot be limited. 3. Yes;

subcontractors may provide their listing of planned work directly to NASA.

Enclosure 1

Sections B - M L.14(a) 111 All SF33s require original signatures.

Please clarify if electronic signatures are acceptable if offerors are submitted electronically via LFT System.

All SF 33s require original or electronic signature.

Enclosure 1

Sections B - M L.14(a) 111 The required fill-ins in Sections B-K must be completed.

With regards to Sections B-J, are the only fill-ins required indicated by "TBP" is Section H.11 and J.1? If other fill-ins are required for Sections B-J, then please provide the

Section to be completed.

Fill-in indicators are included throughout Enclosure 1

Sections B - M

Enclosure 1

Sections B - M L.15 115-116

GSFC 52.215-205 Proposal Marking and Delivery instructs offerors to submit proposals electronically via

NASA LFT. SF33 Blocks 8 and 9 indicate proposals are to be delivered to GSFC, Bldg 22, RM C39E.

Given GSFC site access is restricted due to the coronavirus pandemic, please confirm that proposals are to only be submitted electronically via LFT.

All proposals are to only be submitted electronically via

LFT.

Enclosure 1

Sections B - M L.17(a) 127

GSFC 52.215-223 Cost Volume (IDIQ Services - GPM)

(Dec 2018) reads, in part, "CAS Disclosure Statement shall be submitted to NASA with the proposal in the Offer

Volume". See L.14 GSFC 52.215-203 Offer Volume

(Mar 2019) (c)(8) Cost Accounting Standards. "If the

Offeror has not submitted a Disclosure Statement, but would fall under CAS compliance if awarded the resultant contract, then a CAS Disclosure Statement shall be submitted as part of your proposal in this volume. "

If an offeror has previously submitted its Disclosure

Statement to the offeror's Cognizant ACO, then is the offeror required to include a copy of its Disclosure

Statement with its proposal?

Offerors are required to include Disclosure Statements with proposals.

Enclosure 1

Sections B - M M.4 150

GSFC 52.215-323 Cost Evaluation Factor (IDIQ Services)

(June 2014) reads in part, "The total FFP phase-in price and the proposed and probable Government Pricing Model evaluated cost (including proposed fee amount) will be presented to the Source Selection Authority as well as any cost risk associated with the proposal."

1. L.3 52.216-1 Type of Contract does not list FFP type for phase-in; furthermore a FFP CLIN is not included. Please clarify Phase-In contract type.

2. The incumbent contractor will likely require less resources to transition the contract. Will the Government exclude phase-in from the total evaluated price, and review phase-in proposal only for resource realism and reasonableness, as to not provide the incumbent an unfair price advantage?

1. The phase-in will be accomplished under a separate

Firm-Fixed-Price contract vehicle; see L.15, L.16, M.4. 2.

The phase-in will not be excluded from the total evaluated price.

10 Exhibit 1A N/A N/A There are no directed values listed for Travel/ODCs for non-management direct labor costs.

Please confirm offerors are not to propose Travel/ODCs in support of non-management direct labor.

Offerors are not to propose Travel/ODCs in support of non-management direct labor.

11 Enclosure 5 N/A N/A Contract Historical Data

Please provide updated data for Software Engineer DL rates, or confirm the accuracy of the data provided by the

Incumbent. Given there’s an approximate $2/hr difference between Sr and Pr when the only difference between the categories is 4 years of experience.

The Government reviewed the rates and they are accurate.

12 Enclosure 5 N/A N/A Contract Historical Data

Please provide updated data for Software Developer DL rates, or confirm the accuracy of the data provided by the

Incumbent. Software Developer is less than Software

Developer Sr.

The Government reviewed this rate and it is accurate.

13 Enclosure 5 N/A N/A Contract Historical Data

Please provide updated data for Systems Engineer DL rates, or confirm the accuracy of the data provided by the

Incumbent. Given there’s an approximate $40/hr difference between Sr and Pr when the only difference between the categories is 4 years of experience.

The Government reviewed this rate and it is accurate.

14 Enclosure 5 N/A N/A Contract Historical Data

Please provide updated data for Discipline Engineer DL rates, or confirm the accuracy of the data provided by the

Incumbent. Given there’s an approximate $30/hr difference between Sr. and Pr when the only difference between the categories is 7 years of experience.

The Government reviewed this rate and it is accurate.

Enclosure 1

Sections B - M

Section G

Contract

Administration

20 Requirements

Section G.2 (b), "Beginning 12 months after the effective date of this contract, the Government shall evaluate the

Contractor's performance every 12 months to determine the amount of award fee earned by the contractor during the period."

In order have award fee criteria best align with current areas of emphasis, would the Government consider revising the award fee period from 12 months to 6 months in duration?

The Government does not intend to change the award fee performance evaluation period from 12 months to 6 months in duration.

Enclosure 1

Sections B - M L.11(b) 104 - 105 Proposal Instructions

The OCI instructions state "(b) Description of Potential

Conflict. The nature of this OCI is: Unequal Access to

Information.

(1) The contractor OCI concerns are: The EED-3 contractor will have access to the proprietary rate information of ESDIS commercial cloud services providers." Is this the only potential OCI that NASA is concerned about?

Yes; This is the specific OCI that was identified for EED-

3.

EOSDIS EED-3 DRFP QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

Enclosure 1

Sections B - M M.3 146 Evaluation Factors for Award

M.3 states: "The Mission Suitability evaluation will take into consideration whether the resources proposed are consistent with the proposed efforts and accomplishments associated with each subfactor". There are no requirements, however, to propose resources associated with the offerors proposed approaches to the Scenarios.

Please clarify how this will be evaluated.

“Resources,” in this case, applies to an offeror’s approach to address the scenarios such as the proposed use of subcontractor resources and corporate management resources as addressed in Subfactor B.

Enclosure 1

Sections B - M N/A 131 Requirements

Attachment B instructions on RFP page 131

"The direct labor categories proposed must reflect all labor categories and levels within each individual labor category anticipated to perform the requirements of the Statement of Work and should range from entry level to the most senior level."

Does the government intend for Attachment B to include labor categories and levels not provided in D. Gov Pricing

Model Non-Management Direct Labor Categories? i.e. For future task orders, will Attachment B be used for the IDIQ rates and is it intended that contractors provide a list of categories not used in the pricing of this proposal?

Yes; Attachment B will be used for future task orders.

Contractors should provide a list of categories for the skill mix that will be used for contract performance.

Enclosure 2

Government

Pricing Model

Direct Labor

Categories and

Hours Table

2 Requirements

There is a shift downward in the LOE for several labor categories between CY1 and CY2. NASA may want to consider the impact of a smaller team over time with the possibility of introducing additional cloud services into the ecosystem. It is currently atypical to find a cloud developer that has experience in multiple systems.

The shift is due to hrs. in CY1 allocated for a contract transition as well as some development work expected to transition into an ops/maintenance mode.

Enclosure 6

Performance

Evaluation

Plan

Section B.2 18 Requirements

How does the Government intend to address changes or circumstances beyond the control of an Offeror (i.e.

COVID-19)? Suggest language such as, "The PEB will give consideration to changed support requirements and/or other changes beyond the Contractor’s control that impact performance." be included in this section.

The Government will continue to provide equitable means of addressing impacts outside of the control of the contractor. Suggestion received and considered.

Exhibit 13 Past

Performance

Questionnaire

N/A N/A Requirements

The Past Performance Questionnaire asks "Does a corporate or business relationship exist between the firm being evaluated and your organization?" We do not understand what is meant by "corporate business relationship". As a customer evaluating a contractor, there is obviously customer/contractor relationship. What sort of relationships is NASA interested in here? Please clarify this question.

Disclose all business or corporate relationships (e.g.

prime/subcontractor relationships, partnerships, teaming arrangements, joint-ventures).

Enclosure 1

Sections B - M

Section B

Supplies/Servic es

7 Requirements

Section B.3, Item #17, The schedule for Safety & Health

Reporting is "monthly/ quarterly reports and as required".

Please provide clarification whether "/" between the two words means "and" where both monthly and quarterly reports are required or whether "/" means "or" where quarterly reports are required only if there are incidents to report.

The "/" between the words monthly and quarterly means

"or."

Enclosure 1

Sections B - M

Enclosure C, Section F.3 19 Requirements

Specifies that "GSFC, Contractor’s facility, and

Distributed Active Archive Centers (DAACs)" are all places of performance. But other documents specify that onsite rates should only be used for GSFC. Please confirm that onsite is for work performed at GSFC only.

Yes, onsite work is for work performed at GSFC.

Enclosure 1

Sections B - M

Section G

Contract

Administration

20 Requirements

Section G.2 (b), "Beginning 12 months after the effective date of this contract, the Government shall evaluate the

Contractor's performance every 12 months to determine the amount of award fee earned by the contractor during the period."

Is the start of the contract defined as the completion of the

FFP Phase-In tasks, which would be day 91 of the contract?

Yes. The contract effective date begins upon the completion of the 90 day Phase-in.

Enclosure 1

Sections B - M

Section L.8 &

L.16 (c)

Subfactor B.4

Pg. 102 and

Pg. 122 Proposal Instructions

L.8 and L.16 both require a Total Compensation Plan.

Neither paragraph references the other. Please confirm that both L.8 and L.16 refer to the same plan, that there are not 2 separate Total Compensation Plans deliverable with the proposal.

Both L.8 and L.16 refer to the same plan.

Enclosure 1

Sections B - M L.13 (b)(2) 110 Proposal Instructions

Proposal instructions exclude a List of Acronyms from the

Page Limitations of Volume IV. Is this the only volume expected to include a List of Acronyms? If a List of

Acronyms is included in Volume II, can it also be excluded from the Page Limitations.

List of Acronyms will be excluded from page limitations.

Enclosure 1

Sections B - M L.13 110 Proposal Instructions

Instructions state that "Electronic foldout pages count as an equivalent number of 8-1/2" x 11 pages." Should we interpret that "equivalent" means each foldout counts as 1 page, or each 11x17 foldout counts as 2 pages?

Each 11x17 foldout counts as 2 pages.

Enclosure 1

Sections B - M L.13 (b)(1) 110 Proposal Instructions

For purposes of volume formatting, would the Government accept the plans excluded from the page count (Total

Compensation Plan, Phase-in Plan and Small Business

Subcontracting Plan) be included as Appendices in the volume and submitted as separate electronic files?

Yes.

Enclosure 1

Sections B - M L.14 (c) (1) 112 Proposal Instructions

"State whether all business systems, including but not limited to accounting, property control, purchasing, estimating, and employee compensation, which require

Government acceptance or approval…"

In accordance with DFAR 252.242-7005, Contractor

Business Systems the six business systems which are subject to Government acceptance or approval are 1) accounting system, 2) earned value management system,

3) estimating system, 4) material management and accounting system, 5) property management system, and

6) purchasing system. Employee compensation is not included as a separately accepted or approved business system. Please confirm an acceptable response to Section

L.14 (c) (1) includes the six business systems defined in

DFAR 252.242-7005, which does not separately address employee compensation as a business system.

An acceptable response will address all business systems listed in the solicitation, including, but not limited to employee compensation.

Enclosure 1

Sections B - M and

Attachment B

N/A 44 Requirements

Attachment B: "Task Plan proposals must utilize the not-to-exceed rates and factors delineated below for pricing all task orders contemplated or issued…"

Section I.1 clauses: 52.215-10 PRICE REDUCTION FOR

DEFECTIVE CERTIFIED COST OR PRICING DATA

(AUG 2011), 52.215-11 PRICE REDUCTION FOR

DEFECTIVE CERTIFIED COST OR PRICING DATA –

MODIFICATIONS (AUG 2011), 52.215-13

SUBCONTRACTOR CERTIFIED COST OR PRICING

DATA – MODIFICATIONS (OCT 2010)

The Section I clauses imply future task orders will be bid compliant with FAR 15.408, Table 15-2 requiring certification that costs are current, accurate, and complete.

If current rates and factors exceed the Attachment B not to exceed factors then contractors will not be able to certify costs as current, accurate, and complete. How does the

Government intend to address for future task orders?

During contract performance the contractor will be required to utilize the not to exceed rates in Attachment B when submitting its task plan. If an issue arises where a contractor cannot certify a rate in Attachment B during contract performance it will be addressed during contract administration.

31 Attachment H N/A N/A N/A

"The NF 533M need not be submitted in months in which an NF 533Q is submitted."

The NF 533M report provides a lower level of detail than the NF 533Q. Please confirm the Government does not require both formats on months when the NF 533Q is due provided the difference content.

The Government requires both formats, 533M and 533Q, during the months a 533Q is due. Attachment H updated.

Enclosure 6

Performance

Evaluation

Plan

N/A Pg. 1 and Pg.

Requirements

"The plan is unilaterally established by the Government and may be revised at any time to redirect emphasis in accordance with Section V of this plan."

"The Government may unilaterally change this plan, as covered in Section V and not otherwise requiring mutual agreement under the contract, provided the Contractor receives notice of the changes 30-days prior to the beginning of the evaluation period to which the changes apply."

Please confirm the Government cannot make unilateral changes to award fee criteria during an active award fee period.

The Government cannot make a unilateral changes to award fee criteria during an active award fee period.

Enclosure 6

Performance

Evaluation

Plan

N/A 14 Requirements Are the "TBD" values filled in by the Offeror during the

EED-3 competitive proposal or as task orders are issued?

TBDs in the Performance Evaluation Plan will be updated by the Government after contract award.

Enclosure 1

Sections B - M L.15 115 Proposal Instructions

Instructions state "All electronic submissions must be searchable and shall not contain scanned documents".

There are proposal requirements, however, that can most readily be addressed through the inclusion of a scanned document. One example would be the approval of our business systems (L.14 (c) (1) which requires "evidence of an adequate accounting system". Our evidence is a letter from the appropriate Government administrative office that is typically provided via a pdf scan of an original letter. These would normally be included in our proposal as scanned documents. Is this acceptable? Are there other acceptable exceptions?

Yes, this would be an acceptable exception; however, all other documents should follow the proposal instructions in

Section L.

Enclosure 1

Sections B - M L.17 N/A Proposal Instructions

In order to understand the Government's expectations for material and travel pricing purposes, can the Government provide annual plug values for material and travel?

Plug values for Material, Travel, and Other ODCs have been provided in RFP section L.16.

36 QASP General N/A Requirements

How does the QASP correspond to the Award Fee sections, considering that there is often but not always overlap (e.g., cost management)?

The QASP is not intended to correspond to Award Fee sections.

37 QASP General N/A Requirements

How often should we expect to need to coordinate inspection for NASA QA surveillance/inspections? Once a month? At Program Increment Planning and SAFe

Demos?

No particular cadence or frequency has been determined for Quality Assurance surveillance/inspection at this time.

38 QASP General N/A Requirements

Will the final version of the QASP have Acceptable

Quality Levels/performance thresholds defined to assist in prioritizing resourcing?

The QASP is a top-level document not meant to supersede thresholds to be defined in task orders.

39 QASP General N/A Requirements

Performance Evaluation Plan: Within each subsection, what are the weightings? For instance, under Technical

Performance there are several sections: Technical

Requirements, Innovation, Personnel Management, etc.

What are the weightings for each of these subsections?

Knowing the weightings will help us define resource allocation to better give the customer the desired outcomes/value.

We are not providing weightings for subsections at this time.

Enclosure 1

Sections B - M L.13 (b)(1) 110 Proposal Instructions

Proposal instructions excludes the Small Business

Subcontracting Plan from the volume II page limitations.

The Small Business Utilization subfactor, however, includes both a requirement for the Small Business

Subcontracting Plan and for a Commitment to the Small

Business Program. We are assuming that both sections are excluded from the page limitations. Is this correct?

Correct; The Small Business Subcontracting Plan and the

Commitment to the Small Business Program are excluded from the page limitations.

Enclosure 1

Sections B - M L.13 (b)(2) 110 Proposal Instructions

Please clarify that Offerors are not limited to Times New

Roman font for diagrams, schedules, charts, tables, artwork, and photographs.

Offerors are limited to Times New Roman font for diagrams, schedules, charts, tables, artwork, and photographs.

Enclosure 1

Sections B - M L.13 (b)(1) 110 Proposal Instructions

Please clarify that Compliance Matrices and Lists of

Acronyms are excluded from page limitations in all volumes.

The Compliance Matrices and Lists of Acronyms are excluded from page limitations in all volumes.

Enclosure 1

Sections B - M

L.16(c)

Subfactor A, A.1, and A.2

Scenarios

118 Proposal Instructions

Please clarify that the Offeror's Technical Proposal is only required to address SOW paragraphs that apply to the scenarios, and is not required to address every paragraph in the SOW.

Offerors are not required to address every paragraph in the

Statement of Work.

Enclosure 1

Sections B - M

L.13(b)(1) table;

L.16(c), Subfactor B.

B.5

110, 124 Proposal Instructions

We request the government confirm that the Award Fee plan is outside the page limits for the Mission Suitability volume.

The Award Fee Plan is outside of the page limits for the

Mission Suitability Volume.

Enclosure 1

Sections B - M

L.13(b)(1) table;

L.16(c), Subfactor C, (b)

Commitment to

Small Business

110, 126 Proposal Instructions

Please confirm the Commitment to Small Business

Program requirement is part of the Small Business Plan and is outside page limits for the Mission Suitability volume.

The Small Business Program requirement is part of the

Small Business Plan and is outside of the page limits for the Mission Suitability Volume.

Attachment C

Government

Furnished

Property

N/A N/A

The Government will make the Government property listed in Attachment C available for use in performance of the contract resulting from this solicitation, on a no-charge-for-use basis in accordance with FAR 52.245-1, Government Property. The offeror shall notify the

Government, as part of its proposal, of its intention to use or not use the property.

The following data will assist offerors to determine if they intend to use the property listed in Attachment C:

1. The acquisition date for property listed in Attachment C with location code EDF or HDF.

2. Please indicate if a support service contract is in place, if so the expiration date of contract, for all servers, network, and storage equipment with location code EDF or

HDF.

1. The acquisition dates for all property listed in Attachment

C are not readily available and will not be provided at this time. 2. Support service contract information is not readily available and will not be provided at this time. The minimum requirements for the Government Property List have been met, per FAR 45.201.

Attachment C

Government

Furnished

Property

N/A N/A N/A

Please provide documentation for the EDF data center in the EOSDIS EED-3 online Reference Library.

Specifically, please provide architecture diagrams, cabling diagrams, rack elevation diagrams, test plans, test procedures, and test data for the EDF data center.

EED-2 CO requesting from contractor for inclusion in the EED-

3 eLibrary. 8/21.

Enclosure 1

Sections B - M L.18 142 Proposal Instructions

1. Will the Government please define “recent”? That is, should Offerors provide the most recent or all evaluations in the past three years?

2. If multiple evaluations exist (e.g., CPARs and award fee evaluation results), should Offerors provide all evaluations?

1. Provide all evolutions in the past three years.

2. If multiple evaluations exist, offerors must provide them all.

Enclosure 1

Sections B - M M.3 146 Evaluation Factors for Award

Since the RFP does not require offerors to propose staffing in the Mission Suitability volume, we request that this section either be deleted or expanded to include a definition of what specific contractor proposed resources are being evaluated.

“Resources,” in this case, applies to an offeror’s approach to address the scenarios such as the proposed use of subcontractor resources and corporate management resources as addressed in Subfactor B.

Enclosure 1

Sections B - M L.18(a) 140 Proposal Instructions

Such a high an annual dollar value threshold prevents offerors from presenting specialized, high value subcontractors for past performance evaluation because they do not meet the current definition of “significant subcontractors.” We recommend the Government lower the definition of significant subcontractors for past performance purposes to those that are estimated to meet/exceed an average annual cost/fee of $4M.

We are not changing the definition of significant subcontractors at this time.