RFI Open Market Jan 2023 Modification 001.pdf

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) # DMDC RFI #0004

This RFI is issued solely for information and planning purposes and does not constitute a solicitation. All information received in response to this RFI will be treated as business confidential information. Nonetheless, submitters should properly mark their responses if the information is confidential. Responses to the RFI will not be returned. Responses to this notice are not offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract. Responders are solely responsible for all expenses associated with responding to this RFI.

This notification is to survey Contractors under:

NAICS CODE: 541519

This information will be utilized for preliminary planning purposes. The information received will be utilized within the General Services Administration and The Defense Manpower Data Center (DMDC), to facilitate the decision-making process and will not be disclosed outside either agency. No reimbursement will be made for any costs associated with providing this information in response to this announcement or any follow-up information requests. This notice does not constitute a Request for Proposal (RFP) or Request for Quote (RFQ) and is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government for any purpose other than market research.

Furthermore, the General Services Administration and the DMDC are not seeking proposals or quotes and will not accept unsolicited proposals or quotes.

Respondents will NOT be notified of the results of the analysis. All data received in response to this Sources Sought synopsis that is marked or designated as corporate or proprietary information will be fully protected from release outside the Government. Since this is a Sources Sought announcement, no debrief, evaluation letters, or results will be issued to respondents.

Responses to this Sources Sought announcement will be used to make appropriate acquisition decisions.

No telephone calls will be accepted requesting a proposal package or solicitation. There is no proposal package or solicitation at this time. In order to protect the Government's integrity of any future procurement, if any, which may arise from this Sources Sought announcement, information regarding the technical point of contact will not be given and no appointments for presentations will be made.

Interested sources are invited, and encouraged, to review the attached documentation and respond to this Sources Sought announcement with all questions and comments. In addition, interested sources are invited to send a maximum seven-page document with the following information:

Responses from all capable and qualified sources are encouraged to respond to this request.

Please note that the response shall provide sufficient technical data to determine how you fully meet the requirements. White papers should adhere to the following formatting, order and outline instructions:

● Cover Page (1page), Title, Organization

● Section A: Responders technical and administrative information (points of contact, addresses, phone, email addresses, business size, status, and UEI).

● Section B: Answers to Questions below.

● Section C: Marketing materials, corporate information, capability statements (not included in page count).

Please note that responses are requested by 5:00 pm Eastern on 03/16/2023. The required method of submission is via email. The point of contact for this action is Ray Mojica Ray.Mojica@gsa.gov. No evaluation letters and/or results will be issued to the respondents. At this time no solicitation exists; therefore, please do not request a copy of the solicitation. NO PHONE CALLS PLEASE. It is the responsibility of any potential offeror to monitor this site for the release of any solicitation or synopsis.

If a RFP or RFQ is released in response to this RFI, it will be posted to SAM.gov.

Description/Overview: This is a request for information.

Please answer the following questions and provide a response of your companies experience in-reference to the following questions :

1. Describe the applicable industry standards, regulations, or process guides germane to the product(s)to be acquired and offered to commercial customers for similar products.

2. For each of the contract line items below, describe your previous experiences in providing products of the same or similar in scope and complexity to the Government's requirements.

a. Common Access Card (CAC) (can your company provide an offer on this product answer yes or no. Provide previous experience examples.) SOW 4.1

b. Alternate Logon Token (ALT) (can your company provide an offer on this product answer yes or no. Provide previous experience examples.) SOW 4.1

c. Second Source Token (SST) (can your company provide an offer on this product answer yes or no. Provide previous experience examples.) SOW 4.1

d. Uniformed Services Identification (USID) Card (can your company provide an offer on this product answer yes or no. Provide previous experience examples.)

SOW 4.1

e. Electromagnetic Opaque Sleeves (EMS) ' Wallet Size FIPS 201-1 compliant (can your company provide an offer on this product answer yes or no. Provide previous experience examples.) SOW 4.3

f. New Middleware licenses. (can your company provide an offer on this product answer yes or no. Provide previous experience examples.) SOW 4.2

g. Middleware maintenance/upgrade of currently supported products. (Can your company provide an offer on this product answer yes or no. Provide previous experience examples.) SOW 4.2

h. Extended middleware maintenance and vendor support. (can your company provide an offer on this product answer yes or no. Provide previous experience examples.) SOW 4.2

i. Electro Magnetic Opaque Sleeves - Hardened Badge Holders (can your company provide an offer on this product answer yes or no. Provide previous experience examples.) SOW 4.3

j. Storage Facility (can your company provide an offer on this product answer yes or

no. Provide previous experience examples.) SOW 4.4

k. Shipping Requirements (can your company provide an offer on this product answer yes or no. Provide previous experience examples.)

3. What is the likelihood your company would provide a quote on all of the contract line items listed in question number 2 (very likely or unlikely) and please explain why.

4. Does your company provide a guarantee against manufacturer defects for all products? If so, what is that guarantee?

5. Does your firm have a warehouse that meets the ISO requirements ISO 9001-2015 for the warehouse/storage facility? Please explain why or why not. Is there another applicable industry standard to storage facilities?

6. Indicate if your firm can satisfy this requirement on a FFP or T&M basis (please provide explanation)?

7. Describe your understanding of the logistics to OCONUS locations versus CONUS locations.

8. Provide a list of all labor categories that you believe are required to meet the Government's requirements. If no labor categories are required, please state the reasoning.

9. Provide a list of all questions, comments, suggestions pertaining to the SOW (not included in the page limitation).

10. The government is contemplating a IDIQ contract as there is an unknown amount of cards purchased. What type of vehicle would your firm recommend?

11. Is your company able to provide support for supplies for variable amounts through the year?

12. What are the commercial market practices (assumptions) for the requirements listed for the following:

a. Warranty options;

b. Maintenance support;

i. What are standard commercial practices for middleware maintenance? Are there any interdependencies between middleware products (middleware, middleware support, middleware upgrades, etc)?

c. Financing and discounts;

d. Marking and packaging;

e. Inspection and acceptance processes;

f. Insured/bonded/licensed;

g. Payment plans;

h. What are known pricing issues and what causes price variation? Are there any fees associated with this requirement in the commercial market?

i. Supply Chain concerns

j. Current and/or Updated Technology required

13. What information would your firm submit as part of your quote to demonstrate that your firm can provide the requested products.

14. Award Methodology:

a. The government is contemplating award methodology on the basis of: ‘line by line’, ‘all or none’ or ‘product groupings’. Example:

i. Product group one must quote on all of the items in that group to be considered for the award for that product group. The following is an example of a product grouping: a) Cards and sleeves, b) Middleware and middleware maintenance and c) warehouse logistics.

ii. All or none award, one must offer all of the products to be considered for an award. Proposals that do not include all products will not be considered for award.

iii. For a line by line award, one may offer on any of the products to be considered for award for that product.

b. Which award methodology is standard commercial practice? How does your firm recommend the Government to structure this award methodology and why?

15. The government intends to request a unit price for quantity ranges, which is the commercial market practice for unit pricing for volume discounts. What quantity ranges do you suggest for the purpose of volume discount pricing?

a. Below is a sample quantity range:

CLIN Description Order QTY

Range Unit

0001a Common Access Card (CAC)

1,000,000 - 2,000,000 Each

0003a Second Source Token (SST) 1-100,000 Each

0006a New Middleware licenses 100 - 500,000 Each

0007a

Middleware maintenance/upgra de of currently supported products

100 - 500,000 Each

Electromagnetic Opaque Sleeves- Hardened Badge

Holders

100 and above (no limit) Each

16. Which NAICs code is most appropriate for this acquisition if not 541519 and why, (please briefly explain).

17. What parts of this requirement would your firm subcontract?

18. What challenges do you foresee in the completion of the requirements? For example, technological obsolescence, delivery timeframes, etc.

19. Where did you learn about this notice?