Internal_Notice_for_NewPay_Response_to_Pre-Solicitation_Notice_FINAL.pdf

U.S. General Services Administration

NewPay SaaS Solution Procurement

Pre-Solicitation Notice

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Solicitation Number: 47QTCA-18-Q-0001

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Q1: On the Service Pricing Data tab in Attachment F – BPA Pricing Schedule, it appears that the government is requesting both labor categories/rates by CLIN, as well as “flat rate costs” for services. Providing “flat rate costs” for various types of services would require scoping assumptions related to the size/complexity of an implementation effort (number of interfaces, complexity of payroll requirements, number of users, volume of help desk calls, etc.). Can the government either provide scoping assumptions to be used for “flat rate” costs, or allow respondents to view the “flat rate cost” lines of the schedule as “optional”, only if a respondent structures pricing for that CLIN as “flat rate” as opposed to per labor hour pricing?

A1: The Pre-solicitation notice included the pricing schedule so Quoters are able to understand the Government’s desire to price services based on the structure in Attachment F - BPA Pricing

Schedule. When responding to the RFQ, Quoters can complete the service pricing data tab to allow for the use of labor categories/rates and flat rate costs. Flat rate pricing can include the vendors’ restrictions for the pricing line to include maximum complexity, agency size, number of interfaces, etc. At the task order level, the Government will determine whether or not it is in the

Government’s best interest to use labor categories/rates or flat rate pricing for a particular order.

Q2: On the Service Pricing Data tab in Attachment F – BPA Pricing Schedule, most CLINs only include four rows for labor categories. Please confirm that respondents can add more rows to the schedule, allowing for more than four labor categories per CLIN.

A2: The Pre-solicitation notice is being used to provide notice to all Schedule and non-Schedule

Contract holders of an impending solicitation utilizing the IT Schedule 70 Program. Quoters will complete the Attachment F - BPA Pricing Schedule and are allowed to use more, less, or the same number of rows found on the spreadsheet for each section in the labor categories tab. The

Quoter shall submit the number of rows deemed necessary to adequately represent the mix of labor categories they would propose for the service functions.

Q3: On the CLIN Pricing Structure Summary tab in Attachment F – BPA Pricing

Schedule, the amounts to be filled in for the “CLIN Pricing Structure Summary” table

(rows 18-26) would require assumptions on the size, complexity and number of migrations onto the SaaS Payroll and WSL solutions. Can the government provide such assumptions, or remove this table from the schedule?

A3: See response to Q1 above.

Q4: Most commercial Software as a Service (SaaS) Human Capital Management solutions are available under SINs 132-32 and 132-33. It is our understanding the cloud infrastructure offerings are available under SIN 132-40, but not enterprise SaaS offerings.

A4: Per policy guidance the solicitation requires all Quoters to submit their quotes under SIN

132-40, Cloud Computing Services and SIN 132-51, Information Technology (IT) Professional

Services. Should the Quoter’s solution not be found under SIN 132-40, the vendor should contact their IT Schedule 70 contract contracting officer and cc cloudpmo@gsa.gov. Potential Quoters are able to submit a modification to add their cloud solution or product under the SIN 132-40 to respond to the full RFQ. SIN 132-40 includes commercially available cloud computing services such as Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Software as a

Service (SaaS), and emerging cloud services. Though elements of the solutions may be found under SINs 132-32 and 132-33, they do not meet the National Institute of Standards and

Technology’s (NIST) definition of cloud.

Q5: Can a Quoter respond as a support services provider and not as a SaaS solutions provider?

A5: No. The Government requires a total solution. The support services cannot be proposed independently.

Q6: Can companies from Outside the United States of America (USA) apply for this procurement?

A6: The IT Schedule 70 contract vehicle is a worldwide vehicle. Therefore, IT Schedule 70

Contract holders(both domestic and abroad) can respond to the solicitation. During the new offer or contract modification submission, the IT Schedule 70 contract holder confirmed that their products comply with the Trade Agreements Act (TAA). To that end, the product must be made in a TAA-designated country.

Q7: Does the Quoter need to come over there for meetings?

A7: This phase does not include potential Quoters attending any meetings. The Pre-solicitation notice is provided so that potential Quoters are able to understand the solution conformance capabilities test, phase 1 of the evaluation. The full RFQ will further define the instructions for those Quoters providing a demonstration.

Q8: Can we perform the tasks (related to RFQ) outside USA?

A8: The Pre-solicitation notice is being used to provide notice to all Schedule and non-Schedule

Contract holders of an impending solicitation utilizing the IT Schedule 70 Program.

Q9: Can proposals be submitted via email?

A9: No. Quoters shall only respond to the RFQ through the GSA eBuy system. The Pre-solicitation notice is being used to provide notice to all Schedule and non-Schedule Contract holders of an impending solicitation utilizing the IT Schedule 70 Program.

Q10: Should Quoters fill out Attachment F for the Pre Screening Question response?

mailto:cloudpmo@gsa.gov

A10: No. Attachment F - BPA Pricing Schedule is not to be completed in this Phase. See responses for questions #1 and #3.

Q11: What happens if I do not meet Phase I criteria identified in the Pre-solicitation

Notice?

A11: The Pre-solicitation notice is being used to provide notice to all Schedule and non-

Schedule Contract holders of an impending solicitation utilizing the IT Schedule 70 Program.

The Government will post the RFQ on GSA eBuy to all Quoters under SINs 132-40 and 132-51.

The Government’s intends to use a phased-evaluation approach.

Q12: We are a GSA IT Schedule holder, but our Schedule expires mid 2020. Are we eligible to compete for the Blanket Purchase Agreements (BPA)?

A12: The BPA’s Period of Performance (PoP) is expected to be between 10 and 13 years.

Therefore, your IT Schedule 70 contract must be able to cover between 10 and 13 years. If your current IT Schedule 70 contract does not cover between 10 and 13 years, you can participate in the Streamlined Offer Process to ensure your IT Schedule 70 contract covers those years. The

Streamlined Offer Process allows successful IT Schedule 70 contract holders to submit a new offer using a streamlined process (i.e.,duplicate IT Schedule 70 contract) for the same items, but two different PoPs. Participating in the Streamline Offer Process ensures that the IT Schedule 70 contract holder has the years required for submitting a quote for this solicitation. It is important to note that all new work should be proposed under the newly-acquired contract in lieu of the existing contract.

Q13: While we welcome feedback on the offering we have under consideration for the

NewPay procurement, we request that the Government review and reconsider specific language in the above-referenced Pre-Solicitation Notice, which is described as a “Phase 1

(Screening).” At this time, the Agency has not yet issued a final statement of scope (e.g., SOW, SOO, or statement of required functionality) or published Evaluation Criteria for this OSSPI procurement. In the absence of final RFQ specifications, no potential competitors can make a final determination of the best-fit SaaS offering to propose as their solution. Quite simply, until competitors understand the final requirements and how their proposals will be evaluated, it’s too early to have made a final determination on which off-the-shelf offering to bid.

The Pre-Solicitation Notice does not include objective criteria in order to determine the viability of a competitor, nor does it have defined evaluation criteria to accommodate the subjective nature of the Pre-Solicitation Notice requirements. We believe that it is premature and inconsistent with the FAR to use a Pre-Solicitation Notice to eliminate potential competitors in this type of pre-RFQ down-select. Further, it is not in the

Government’s best interest to restrict the distribution of the final RFQ as this would unduly restrict competition.

Moreover, the Pre-Solicitation Notice states that the competition (under the to-be-issued

RFQ) will be under GSA IT Schedule 70. The concept of a “viable competitor” is not contemplated in FAR 8.4. Rather, the phased approach described in the Pre-Solicitation

Notice is more aligned with FAR 15.202 (advisory multi-step process). Importantly, FAR

15.202 notes that even if a respondent is advised by the government that they are not a viable competitor, they may still participate in the resultant acquisition. For these reasons, we respectfully request the government remove the following language from its Pre-solicitation Notice: “The Government will issue the solicitation to only those potential competitors who have met the criteria identified in Phase 1 and who are determined to be viable competitors.” This change will promote a full and open IT-70 based competition on this important OSSPI initiative.

A13: Given that there was no question, but rather a statement to remove language stated in the

Pre-solicitation notice, the Government will elect to address the possible confusion in the

Government’s use of the Pre-solicitation notice for a procurement utilizing the IT Schedule 70

Program and Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Subpart 8.4.

This procurement is being conducted as a full and open competition that will be posted on GSA eBuy. All responsible sources will be given an opportunity to submit a proposal through the GSA eBuy. In order to support a potential Quoters’ efforts, it is beneficial for them to determine if their solution meets the Solution Conformance - Phase 1 criteria. All Quoters are encouraged to review the criteria in Phase 1 for solution conformance to determine if they will participate in the procurement.

Competition is not being limited by the Pre-solicitation notice. The pre-solicitation notice is being used to provide notice to all Schedule and non-Schedule Contract holders of an impending solicitation utilizing the IT Schedule 70 Program. The Government’s intends to use a phased-evaluation approach and not an advisory multi-step process. Quoters will not be providing a response in this phase.

Q14: In describing how our offering provides SaaS hosting and pricing models (per the first criterion), is the Government seeking an explanation or description just on the subscription-based model shown on the Attachment F Product Pricing Data tab, or is GSA seeking an explanation or description on how we comply with all of the tabs in Attachment

F?

A14: The pre-solicitation notice is being used to provide notice to all Schedule and non-Schedule

Contract holders of an impending solicitation utilizing the IT Schedule 70 Program. Responders should address the subscription-based model on the Product Pricing Data tab.

Q15: In Attachment F’s Service Pricing Data tab, many of the CLINs (e.g., 0003a – 0003d) are blank in Column B. Please confirm Labor Categories will be expected to be provided from the respective offeror’s IT-70 SIN 132-51 for this BPA.

A15: See response to question #1. Quoters will be required to add the respective labor categories from their Information Technology (IT) Schedule 70 Program Contract Special Item Number

(SIN) 132-51, IT Professional Services, that they anticipate will be required to perform the activities.

Q16: In Attachment F’s Service Pricing Data tab, CLIN 0008 is described as “Help Desk

Services (Labor Hour),” and references the “Service Desk and Support tab of Attachment

B – Technical Capabilities.” However, no Attachment B was provided with the Pre-solicitation Notice. In order for us to explain or describe how we’ll provide the Help Desk

Services pricing model consistent with Attachment B, please provide this attachment.

A16: See response to question #1.

Q17: In Attachment F’s Service Pricing Data tab, all of sub-CLINS (0008a-0008e) are described as being “Flat Rate.”

a. What is the unit of measure being priced at a Flat Rate in each of these CLINS?

A17a: See response to question #1. The RFQ will require Quoters to propose a fixed price per help desk ticket.

b. Are there any Labor Hour CLINs for Help Desk Services?

A17b: See response to question #1.

Q18: We are very interested in participating in the NewPay SaaS Solution Procurement. Is there anything that we should provide at this time prior to the release of the solicitation?

A18: No. The Pre-solicitation notice is being used to provide notice to all Schedule and non-

Schedule Contract holders of an impending solicitation utilizing the IT Schedule 70 Program.

The RFQ will be posted on GSA eBuy. Responses to the RFQ shall be submitted through GSA eBuy at www.eBuy.gsa.gov by the date and time specified. Late responses and responses not submitted through GSA eBuy will not be accepted or evaluated. The electronic time stamp on responses submitted through GSA eBuy shall determine timeliness of submission.