Attachment L-3 Question and Answers (Amendment 0003) 6-15-2022.xlsx
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Q&A Master List
| ID# | Reference Contract Section | Reference Contract Subsection and Paragraph Number | ||||
| (if applicable) | Quote Specific Contract Language in Question | Question | USG Response | |||
| 1 | SIR | B.4.1.4 | The place(s) of performance will be specified in each individual Task Order. Support under this Contract may be required at or in “reasonable proximity” to FAA facilities or on-site Government locations. Services may be ordered at either, or both, Contractor facilities (“off-site”) and FAA facilities (“on-site”). The Contractor may be required to provide support personnel at FAA facilities in any of the FAA locations. | Will the FAA define what is determined to be “reasonable proximity” to FAA facilities and Contractor facilities? | “Reasonable proximity” will be determined on a case-by-case basis at the Task Order level. Among other considerations, when determining what constitutes "reasonable proximity," the FAA may consider the anticipated frequency of on-site requirements, the likelihood and frequency of emergency on-site services, and the commuting area surrounding the FAA / Government facility. | |
| 2 | Section B | Page 6, B.4.1 | "At the Task Order level, the Contractor must determine the positions that are and are not subject to the Service Contract Act and Service Contract Act Wage Determinations." | Will the Government issue the applicable DOL Wage Determinations at Task Order issuance as the WDs are not included at the contract IDIQ level? | The Government will issue the applicable Department of Labor (DOL) Wage Determinations, when applicable, at the Task Order level. | |
| 3 | Section B | B.4.1 Time and Material Services | Wage Determination | Is this a Wage Determination Contract and if so can the government provide the wage | ||
| determination rates? | See response to question number 2. | |||||
| 4 | Price Schedule Attachment B-1 | What is the Government's planned use of all proposed and accepted fully burdened GS/ES labor base rates in Price Schedule Attachment B-1 post award? Specifically, when task orders are released post-award, is it the Government's intent to prescribe how the master contract rates map to each task order requirement, or will that determination be left to the ITIPSS prime contractors? | See amended SIR. The answer to this question is explained in SIR SECTION C.3.2.8 Task Order Management, b. TORP Process and Labor Categories. Also per SECTION B 4.1.1.1 of the SIR, "At the time a Task Order is placed, as applicable, Labor ID Numbers will be utilized that will include a customized employee labor category title, position description, and GS/ES equivalent. Position descriptions may include, but not be limited to, minimum education and experience requirements." |
"The Contractor must provide the necessary personnel based on the requirements, including the number of labor hours at the applicable rate for the Labor ID Number specified in the Task Order. Pricing Tables in Attachment B-1 include the Labor ID Number by locality and GS/ES grade equivalencies applicable to future labor categories."
SIR Section C3.2.8b further provides that "....the Contractor may recommend alternative Labor ID Numbers, if necessary and if specifically allowed in the TORP, and submit the revision in its Task Order proposal."
| 5 | Price Schedule Attachment B-1 | Will the Government provided a mapping of GS/ES labor base rates to industry-utilized IT and management labor categories anticipated for use on post-award task orders? | The Government has not provided any labor categories, but rather GS/ES schedules off of which offerors must base their rates. Offerors are free to add whatever wrap rates and escalation factors they choose to establish ceilings for each GS/ES equivalent, so there is no need for "labor categories" to be added at the IDIQ level. Also, see response to question number 4. | |||
| 6 | Section B. | B.4; Table B.4.3 | Price Schedule Table illustrates the tab structure in Attachment B-1 for the Contractor’s IT Mission Support Services (basic and overtime rates, and Government (on-site) and Contractor (off-site) rates for this contract. | It appears that the Government Direct Labor Pay Ranges for GS schedules in multiple site locations are being used for the price quote Schedule B. There is no labor category descriptions assigned to these labor categories for the contractor to determine fair and reasonable pricing for specific work effort. Why are government rates being established instead of market rates for labor categories in the Functional areas being asked to perform? The Bureau of Labor Statistics provides market rates for direct labor, is there a reason why no labor categories or descriptions were provided to make a rate determination? | The Government has considered a number of different options and considers this proven successful methodology the best suited to meet the ITIPSS requirement. This method gives the Government and offerors a full range of specific equivalents for any position it requires without having to define labor categories at the IDIQ level, which provides the Government with flexibility and pin-point precision in its Task Order-level requirement definitions. Please see responses to questions 4 and 5 for further information concerning this process. | |
| 7 | Section B. | B.4; Table B.4.3 | The Price Schedule Tables illustrates the tab structure in Attachment B-1 for the Contractor’s IT Mission Support Services (basic and overtime rates, and Government (on-site) and Contractor (off-site) rates for this contract. | Recommendation to LCAT schedules: The B.L.S. Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) system is a federal statistical standard used by federal agencies to classify workers into occupational categories for the purpose of collecting, calculating, or disseminating data. All workers are classified into one of 867 detailed occupations according to their occupational definition. To facilitate classification, detailed occupations are combined to form 459 broad occupations, 98 minor groups, and 23 major groups. Detailed occupations in the SOC with similar job duties, and in some cases skills, education, and/or training, are grouped together. General questions concerning the SOC may be sent by email or faxed to 202-691-6444. To sign up to receive email notifications when this page is updated with new information on the SOC, enter your email address in the “Subscribe to Standard Occupational Classification Update” box on the left-side menu of this page. | See response to question number 6. | |
| 8 | Section B | B.4.1 Time and Material (T&M Services), paragraph 4 | The Contractor’s hourly pay rates for all Ordering Years must be in accordance with the Government-provided rates in Table B-1, Price Schedule, which are based on the United States (U.S.) Office of Personnel Management (OPM) General Schedule (GS) and Locality Pay Tables for GS (Grade 5 through Grade 15 (Step 1-10)) and the Executive Schedule (ES) (Level 5 through Level 1) found at http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/salaries- wages/. Hyperlinks to OPM’s pay scales by locality appropriate to this contract are listed in Table B.4.4 (Labor ID Number Structure). At the Task Order level, the Contractor must determine the positions that are and are not subject to the Service Contract Act and Service Contract Act Wage Determination. | Would the FAA consider utilization of the FAA pay system instead of the GS Pay system? The FAA’s own website (https://www.faa.gov/jobs/working_here/benefits/) clearly states that “the FAA is not governed by the General Schedule (GS) pay system. Instead, salaries for FAA employees are categorized into six different pay plans determined by your job category and experience level” (FV, AT, EV, FG, FW pay plans). | See response to question number 6. | |
| 9 | Section B | Attachment B‐1 | Can the FAA please provide Classification (pertains to a position or job occupational series, title) or qualifications ( knowledge, working experience, skills) for the ES/ GS Level Step labor categories since it is a consolidation of 70 existing contracts and task orders? | See response to question number 5. | ||
| 10 | Section B | Attachment B‐1 | Will future T&M Task Orders utilize the rates | |||
| from offerors filled out Attachment B‐1 tables? | As per SECTION 4.1 of the SIR, "Information Technology (IT) Mission Support Services labor rates set forth in the Pricing Schedule (Attachment B1, Price Schedule) reflect the fixed, fully burdened hourly rates for performance at Government on-site locations as well as Contractor off-site locations within the same geographic areas by ordering year. ... The fixed, fully burdened hourly rates represent the maximum (ceiling) labor rates that the Government will consider and/or accept during the contract period of performance. At the Task Order level, the Contractor will be given an opportunity to propose rates that match or are lower than the respective not-to-exceed (NTE) rates." Also, please see response to question number 4. | |||||
| 11 | Section B | Attachment B‐1 | Are the rates applicable to only T&M task | |||
| orders? | The rates are applicable to any Task Order in which the Government is ordering services based on hourly work to be performed. | |||||
| 12 | Section B | Attachment B‐1 | Will the government allow for added labor categories (i.e. specialized knowledge SME) on T&M Task orders given emerging technology might be utilized for the duration | |||
| of the contract? | See response to question number 4. | |||||
| 13 | Section B | Attachment B-1 Price Schedule Locked | “Basis of the ES/GS Hourly Pay Rates” | Can the government please clarify if the FAA will require vendor staff to meet ITIPSS Task Order GS grade and step | ||
| requirements in ITIPSS Task Orders? | GS/ES equivalents are being used as baselines on which the offerors will add their proposed wrap rates and escalation rates, which would then become the fixed, fully burdened ITIPSS IDIQ ceiling labor rates for the duration of any resulting contract. Specific staffing requirements will be specified in individual TORPs. Also, see response to question number 4. | |||||
| 14 | Section B | Attachment B-1 Price Schedule Locked | “Basis of the ES/GS Hourly Pay Rates” | Following government adjustments to GS pay scales, will wrap rate and escalation be applied to the new pay scales or only to the legacy one? | The GS/ES hourly pay rates provided in SIR Attachment B-1 are provided as a baseline, it is the Offeror's business decision to add any wrap rate or escalations it deems necessary. The Government does not intend to change the rates during performance of the IDIQ. Also, please see response to question number 18 and associated SIR amendment. | |
| 15 | Section B | General – Pricing | Does FAA anticipate using only ITIPSS rates across all awarded Task Orders or will the FAA allow awardees to negotiate SME rates at the Task Order level? | As per SECTION 4.1 of the SIR, "The fixed, fully burdened hourly rates represent the maximum (ceiling) labor rates that the Government will consider and/or accept during the contract period of performance. At the Task Order level, the Contractor will be given an opportunity to propose rates that match or are lower than the respective not-to-exceed (NTE) rates." Please also see SIR SECTION C 3.2.8 which states "the Contractor may recommend alternative Labor ID Numbers, if necessary and if specifically |
allowed in the TORP, and submit the revision in its Task Order proposal."
Additionally, B.4.3 OTHER DIRECT COSTS states "ODCs will be defined at the Task Order level and may include, but are not limited to, special tooling, computer-related service costs, licenses, and professional and consultant services costs deemed necessary to complete the tasks. ODCs exclude travel costs, which are billed under a separate CLIN."
| 16 | Section B | Attachment B-1 Price Schedule Locked | “Basis of the ES/GS Hourly Pay Rates” | How is the government planning to use the GS/ES pay scale in IDIQ Task Orders? | See response to question number 4. | |
| 17 | B.4.1.1 T&M Labor ID Number | B.4.1.1.1 T&M Labor ID Number Usage | "At the IDIQ level, Labor ID Number(s) provide a unique identifier for each individual GS/ES equivalent in each ordering year. At the time a Task Order is placed, as applicable, Labor ID Numbers will be utilized that will include a customized employee labor category title, position description, and GS/ES equivalent. Position descriptions may include, but not be limited to, minimum education and experience requirements. | |||
| The Contractor must provide the necessary personnel based on the requirements, including the number of labor hours at the applicable rate for the Labor ID Number specified in the Task Order. Pricing Tables in Attachment B-1 include the Labor ID Number by locality and GS/ES grade equivalencies applicable to future labor categories." | For the IDIQ pricing evaluation, the Government has provided GS/ES hourly pay rates/Direct Labor rates based on the unique Labor ID Numbers for each individual GS/ES equivalents in each ordering year. How does the Government take into account the variability in functional skills and unique education requirements based on the functional role? For example, the pay rate/direct labor rate for a Facility support role will vary with a Test engineer role which will vary with the rate for a Enterprise Architect role. Will the Government therefore provide functional labor category information mapped/cross walked to the unique Labor ID numbers in the pricing evaluation at the IDIQ stage? This approach will be consistent with other FAA solicitations such as FAA eFAST and will also minimize any issues caused due to adhoc functional labor category mapping done later at the task order stage. | See response to question numbers 4 and 5. | ||||
| 18 | Attachment B-1 | Tabs 1 - 11 | GS/ES Hourly Pay Rate | Will the Government please update the GS schedules to the current FY2022 year? Since these rates are the "starting point" and the offerors are being asked to price and submitted rates will result in ceiling rates that will be "bound" into the subsequent contract. | No, these fields will not be changed. The GS/ES hourly pay rates provided in SIR Attachment B-1 are provided as a baseline, it is the Offeror's business decision to add its proposed wrap rates and escalations as it deems necessary. Once established at the IDIQ level, those rates will remain fixed throughout the PoP of the IDIQ contract. Adjustments made to the Government-wide OPM GS/ES schedules will not have any impact on the offeror's ITIPSS IDIQ rates. Also, see amended SIR. | |
| 19 | Attachment B-1 | Tabs 1-26 | The Escalation multiplier calculation. Row 4 requires the offerors to provide the year of year escalation value. Row 6 provides the actual multipler. | If the year over year escalation is X% during the 10 year period of performance, logic would indicate using 1.0X in row 4 for option years 2 through 10. When this is done, YoY escalation calculation in row 6 does not show the increase in option years 3 through 10, with the calculation showing a 0% escalation. This was confirmed when column 4, rows 10-124 (for Basic, on-site rates) did not show a year over year increase for escalation. | ||
| It is the vendor's responsibility to input the correct formula in row 4 so the year over year escalation in row 6 captures the proposed escalation percentage over the prior year. Please also see amended SIR. |
The Government's intent is that the Escalation Multiplier takes into account ALL of the years of escalation that preceded. It is cumulative escalation. Meaning that the Escalation Multiplier for year 10 includes the escalation from years 1-9 baked into the multiplier. For example, if the year 1 multiplier was 1.000 and the year over year escalation for years 2 & 3 were both 5%, the escalation multiplier for year 3 would be: (1.05) X (1.05) = 1.1025.
The Year over year escalation is on a per year basis. Meaning that each cell shows the escalation from the previous year to the year in question.
20 Section B B.1GENERAL If required by the individual Task Order, the Contractor must provide fixed, fully burdened Hourly Labor Rates for both Government site located (“on‐site”) and Contractor site located (“off‐site”). Rates must include, but are not limited to indirect labor, applicable indirect expenses, and profit. The rates must also include expenses for services in SIR SECTION C, Scope of Services, C.3 and C.4, such as contract execution, including, but not limited to the preparation of invoices, cost and technical proposals, and preparation of deliverables (IDIQ level and anticipated deliverables determined at the Task Order level). The Government will not recognize any additional costs which are not made a part of the fixed, fully burdened hourly rates for T&M Task Orders. Does the government expect discounts at the Task Order level? Also, what is meant by anticipated deliverables? These are normally billed at the Task Order Level by the individuals performing the deliverable requirement? As per SECTION 4.1 of the SIR, "At the Task Order level, the Contractor will be given an opportunity to propose rates that match or are lower than the respective not-to-exceed (NTE) rates."
Regarding "anticipated deliverables," those would be deliverables detailed in the Task Order Request for Proposal. Unless otherwise specified, the preparation of these deliverables will be expected to be included in the proposed fixed, fully burdened Hourly Labor Rates and not billed separately.
| 21 | Section B - Supplies or Services/Prices | B.4.1.4 | Can contractor personnel support the Contract from a home office (i.e., not in reasonable proximity to FAA facilities or on-site Government location)? | As per SECTION C.10 of the SIR (please see amended SIR), "Upon Contractor request, the Contracting Officer may authorize Contractor personnel who work on Government site(s) to telework in a Task Order at the on-site rate. Contractor personnel are expected to be available upon reasonable notice for in-person meetings at the FAA, although some meetings of lesser complexity may be conducted via teleconference. Should the Contractor wish to utilize telework in anything other than an ad hoc manner on a very intermittent basis, a telework plan must be submitted and approved by the Contracting Officer and COR. Telework records are subject to audit by the Government. The Contractor must bill on-site rates for approved full-time telework employees who are Contractor site located (off-site)." Specifics on acceptable Place of Performance will be detailed at the Task Order level. | ||
| 22 | Attachment B-1 Price Schedule | Excel Sheet | In the excel sheet, Row 4 Escalation Multiplier is not calculating on all sheets (Tabs 1 - 26). Row 6 does not include a formula to calculate escalation in all Tabs. | Rows 6 & 129 calculate and display the year over year escalation for each year. There is no issue to be resolved from what we can see. Please see response to question no. 19. | ||
| 23 | Attachment L-2 Total Evaluated Price for Evaluation with ODCs Locked | L.11.2.3 | On the summary tab, the ODC totals are pulled from the “pricing” tab where there are ODC totals for evaluation. However, the G&A rate for ODCs is not included in the ODC totals. Also, the instructions in section L.11.2.3 does not provide instructions on how to apply the G&A rate for ODCs rate in the TEP. | Are offers supposed to include G&A rate for ODCs from Att B-1 in the calculation for the ODC line on the summary tab of Att L-2? | The ODCs are provided as Not to Exceed amounts that are at total cost (with no fee). Offerors do not apply G&A on top of the given ODC NTEs. | |
| 24 | Section B | B.2.2, Paragraph 1 | The term of this IDIQ contract is ten (10) years, including one (1) 5-year base period, and one (1) 5-year option period. The Task Order period of performance will be specified within each individual Task Order. See SECTION F.2 of the Basic Contract. | What start date can Offerors assume for Order Year 1? | The Government anticipates a notional start date in Quarter 4 of Calendar Year 2023. Pricing must be valid for 18 months in accordance with AMS Clause 3.2.2.3-2. Adjustments to pricing will not be made to rates within this 18 month timeframe. | |
| 25 | B.4 CONTRACT LINE ITEM NUMBER (CLIN) STRUCTURE AND SCHEDULE + Attachment L2 Total Evaluated Price for Evaluation with ODCs | Table B.4.2 compared to Summary Tab on Attachment L2 | Table B.4.2, Contract Line Item Number Categories, illustrates a list of CLINs which will be used, as applicable, at the Task Order level. | Travel is included on Table B.4.2, however, Attachment L2 Summary Tab does NOT have Travel CLIN, please confirm that travel is NOT to be included on the Summary Tab. | Confirmed. As per SECTION B.4.2 of the SIR, "The Contractor will be reimbursed for allocable, allowable, and reasonable pre-approved travel expenses in accordance with AMS clause 3.3.2-1 'FAA Cost Principles' and 3.3.2-2 'Reimbursement for Travel and Page 11 Subsistence.'" | |
| 26 | B.4.3 OTHER DIRECT COSTS | 2nd paragraph | ODCs will be defined at the Task Order level and may include, but are not limited to, special tooling, computer‐related service costs, licenses, and professional and consultant services costs deemed necessary to complete the tasks. | The Government included "consultant services costs" under ODCs. How does the Government differentiate between subcontracctor versus consutant services costs? | ||
| ODCs will be defined at the Task Order level based on the requirements at the time. | ||||||
| 27 | B.4.3 OTHER DIRECT COSTS | 3rd paragraph | The Contractor may include a fair and reasonable rate/burden (general and administrative costs) on ODCs in accordance with the Contractor’s established accounting practices, but no profit/fee is allowed. The Contractor’s ceiling percentage rate to be applied to this CLIN for the duration of the IDIQ period of performance appears in Attachment B‐1 in the tab titled “G&A Rate (ODCs).” The rate must not exceed ten (10) percent | If the contractor's approved indirect rate agreement has G&A higher than 10% and it is a part of our accounting practice to apply G&A on ODCs, will the Government consider | ||
| allowing contractor to apply our approved G&A on task order's ODCs? | The Government has placed a contract ceiling rate for G&A of 10% (or less). Offerors may have higher G&A rates currently. But for this contract, no more than 10% will be allowable and billable. | |||||
| 28 | Attachment B-1 & Section L | L.11.2.2 Volume 2, Tab 2, Price Schedule Attachment B-1 | GS/ES Level labor categories and hourly pay rate columns | Can you provide a mapping of all GS/ES Level labor categories listed in Attachment B-1 to IT labor categories, e.g., the equivalent of a mid-level DBA or senior software | ||
| application developer? | See response to question number 4 and 5. | |||||
| 29 | Attachment B-1 & Section L | L.11.2.2 Volume 2, Tab 2, Price Schedule Attachment B-1 | GS/ES Level labor categories and hourly pay rate columns | On Task Orders responses, how does the FAA anticipate staffing will be proposed using the GS/ES labor categories? For example, will the FAA direct the labor categories to be used, or will the offeror be allowed to select the labor | ||
| categories at the task order level? | See response to question number 4 and 5. | |||||
| 30 | Section B | Attachment B-1, Basis of Rates tab | “GS/ES Hourly Pay Rates based on 2021 GS/ES GSA Tables by locality” | The GS/ES Hourly Pay Rates were updated in January 2022 to reflect 2022 rates. Will the government update pricing to the 2022 rates, or should we use the 2021 rates as listed? | See response to question number 18. | |
| 31 | Section B | B.4.1.2 | The fixed, fully burdened hourly rates (reference Attachment B-1) are not subject to change after the IDIQ or a Task Order under it is awarded, even if a Subcontractor is added or removed by the Contractor during the performance period of this IDIQ Contract. | In the event of higher than normal inflation, would the FAA consider applying an index adjustment to the rates of all awardees? | No, Contractors are allowed to bid their wrap rates and escalation multipliers based on their own business discretion. The Government does not plan on renegotiating the rates in B-1 pricing schedule during the performance of the IDIQ. | |
| 32 | Section B | B.4.1 TIME AND MATERIAL (T&M) SERVICES | “The Contractor’s hourly pay rates for all Ordering Years must be in accordance with the Government-provided rates in Table B-1, Price Schedule, which are based on the United States (U.S.) Office of Personnel Management (OPM) General Schedule (GS) and Locality Pay Tables for GS (Grade 5 through Grade 15 (Step 1-10)) and the Executive Schedule (ES) (Level 5 through Level 1)” | The RFP states in a later section (Section C.3.2.4 that the Contractor should be able to offer a robust compensation package. Salary is by far the largest component of any compensation package, but Section B.4.1 limits the salary rates to the government provided rates. Government rates are widely recognized to be lower than industry rates, and with a wide variety of skill sets necesssary to cover all aspects of IT service, salary rates for the same experience vary widely between different skill sets. Does the government anticipate that standard GS/ES Education and Years of Service requirements will apply for each Labor Category, or will the Labor Category Requirements be adjusted for each role and task order? Did the government intend to mandate pay rates (salaries) for each position? | 1.Labor Category Requirements will be adjusted for each role and task order as set forth in the SIR. Please see responses to questions 4 and 5. And please note that SIR Section C3.2.8b further provides that "....the Contractor may recommend alternative Labor ID Numbers, if necessary and if specifically allowed in the TORP, and submit the revision in its Task Order proposal." |
The provided GS/ES equivalents are being used as baselines on which the offerors will add their proposed wrap rates and escalation rates, which would then become the fixed, fully burdened ITIPSS IDIQ ceiling labor rates for the duration of any resulting contract that would apply to T&M and Labor Hour type Task Orders. Those ceiling labor rates represent what the Government is willing to pay for the individual Labor ID number, but a the Contractor employee's rate of pay is between the Contractor and it's employee. The Government agrees to amend the solicitation to clarify the language and change "hourly pay rates" to "hourly labor rates"
2. The Government has not provided any labor categories, but rather GS/ES schedules off of which offerors must base their rates. Offerors are free to add whatever wrap rates and escalation they choose to establish ceilings for each GS/ES equivalent, so there is no need for "labor categories" to be added at the IDIQ level.
33 Section B B.4.1 TIME AND MATERIAL (T&M) SERVICES Indirect costs include those costs associated with employees over and above gross compensation or payroll (e.g. payroll taxes and social security deductions, workers’ compensation required by the federal government or the state of performance, health insurance, paid time off, company training, vacation, and sick leave, pension contributions, and other benefits. The indirect cost component of the fixed, fully burdened hourly rates must also include expenses for services in SIR SECTION C.3 and C.4, including, but not limited to contract execution, the preparation of invoices, cost and technical proposals, and preparation of deliverables (IDIQ level and anticipated deliverables determined at the Task Order level) The Wrap Rate applied to GS/ES Hourly Pay rate is defined as “indirect costs applicable to direct labor (such as fringe benefits, overhead, G&A, and profit)" and the allowable indirect costs are listed fairly explictly. Salary is by far the largest component of any compensation package, but Section B.4.1 limits the salary rates to the government provided rates, and goverment salaries are widely recognized to be less competitive than private industry salaries. Will the government allow bidders to include private industry salary adjustment factors in the Wrap Rate? The Government provided a starting point for the hourly direct labor rates. Contractors are allowed to bid any adjustment factors in their wrap rates deemed necessary. Please also see response to question no. 4, and further note that SIR Section C3.2.8b provides that "....the Contractor may recommend alternative Labor ID Numbers, if necessary and if specifically allowed in the TORP, and submit the revision in its Task Order proposal."
| 34 | Section B | B.4.1 TIME AND MATERIAL (T&M) SERVICES | The fixed, fully burdened hourly rate includes profit, indirect costs (i.e. overhead, fringe, etc.) and any year-over�year escalation rate (i.e. the annual percentage change in the cost or price of services). | We are in a period of high inflation, and 10 years is an extremely long period for committing to fixed/proposed escalation rates. Will the government consider changing the escalation methodology to be based on the index provided by the Bureau of Labor Statistics in Table 5 Compensation (not seasonally adjusted): Employment Cost Index for total compensation, for private industry workers. | See response to question number 31. | |
| 35 | Attachment C-1 | FAA’s Integrated Capability Maturity Model iCMM work practices | Has FAA adopted or does it plan to adopt CMMI-Dev or CMMI-SVC models? | Reviewed and response is not applicable for proposal submission. | ||
| 36 | SIR-Section C | C.2.1.1.b Compliance and Evaluation | What tools, standards, or frameworks are used by the FAA to support BPM? | Reviewed and respo+F49nse is not applicable for proposal submission. | ||
| 37 | SIR-Section C | C.2.1.1.c Operational Business Intelligence | What tools, standards, or frameworks are used by the FAA to support BI? | Reviewed and response is not applicable for proposal submission. | ||
| 38 | SIR-Section C | C.2.1.1.f Asset Management | What tools, standards, or frameworks are used by the FAA to support Asset Management especially to include Asset Management systems of record and Software license management systems? | Reviewed and response is not applicable for proposal submission. | ||
| 39 | SIR-Section C | C. Scope, bullet #1 | “…the potential transition of over 70 existing contracts and task orders,” | Is a list of the 70 existing contracts available? | Reviewed and response is not applicable for proposal submission. | |
| 40 | SIR-Section C | C.4.1.8.g, Collective Bargaining Agreements Applicable to Service Employees | “Full information as to the application and accrual of such wages and fringe benefits, including any prospective increases, to service employees engaged in work on the contract, and a copy of the | |||
| collective bargaining agreement.” | This sentence is incomplete. Can the government please clarify this statement? | See amended SIR paragraph C.4.1.7.g. | ||||
| 41 | SIR-Section C | C.4.1.8.g, Collective Bargaining Agreements Applicable to Service | ||||
| Employees | Which of the 70 potential contracts contain Collective Bargaining Agreements? | Reviewed and response is not applicable for proposal submission. | ||||
| 42 | SIR-Section C | C2.1.2 BACKGROUND | ITIPSS is a mission critical contract vehicle from which to acquire Information Technology (IT) services and solutions for all FAA, non-National Airspace System (non-NAS), IT mission support. | Please confirm that this IDIQ is a vehicle from which to acquire IT services and solutions for all FAA. | ||
| If not, what areas of FAA are excluded from the IDIQ? | See amended SIR. National Airspace System (NAS) is excluded. | |||||
| 43 | SIR-Section C | C.2.1.2 Technical Solutions | Can the FAA provide an inventory or select inventory of the 800 critical applications covered by the Technical Solution to include the system name, owner, and purpose? | Reviewed and response is not applicable for proposal submission. | ||
| 44 | SIR-Section C | C.2.1.2 Technical Solutions | Can the government provide details on the technology stack(s) utilized across the enterprise and where those technologies/stacks are deployed? | Reviewed and response is not applicable for proposal submission. | ||
| 45 | SIR-Section C | C.2 Scope | “Complexities include, but are not limited to, the potential transition of over 70 existing contracts and task orders,” | Does the government have an estimate of how many TO will be issued to large business IDIQ holders during the first year / second year of the contract? | ||
| Also – how many of the 70 contracts that will be moved to ITIPSS will be issued as LB TOs? | In accordance with G.11.3, The Government reserves the right to compete and award any number of Task Orders in any award category detailed in Table G.1-Award Categories, in line with the best interests of the Government and the ITIPSS program as a whole. For all new work to be competed under ITIPSS, a determination will be made as to what the most appropriate award category is for each individual Task Order competition. | |||||
| 46 | SIR-Section C | C.2.1.2 Technical Solutions | Helpdesk operations | What Helpdesk(s) does the FAA currently have to support users of the 70 referenced contracts/800 critical applications? What is the scope of support for each? | Specific details regarding existing FAA contracts will be provided at the Task Order level, as applicable. | |
| 47 | SIR-Section C | C.2.1.1.a Program Management/Project Planning | Can the FAA provide their PMLC standards? | |||
| What specific tools are used by the FAA in support of these services? Are these provided as on-prem, SaaS, or hybrid prem/cloud services? | Reviewed and response is not applicable for proposal submission. | |||||
| 48 | SIR C | C.3.2.8 b. TORP Processes and Labor Categories | The Government will utilize the pre-established rates listed in SECTION B- SUPPLIES OR SERVICE AND PRICES/COSTS-Attachment B-1, Pricing Tables to match a labor category to a Labor ID Number for each position. The grade equivalency will be selected based on the labor category’s tasks, level of difficulty, and qualifications required. Other factors such as, historical information, budget, and the geographical location of the requirements will be also considered. | |||
| Upon receipt of the TORP, the Contractor must ensure the TORP labor categories, number of man-hours, and the associated Labor ID Numbers (containing a pre-negotiated labor rate), are necessary to accomplish the Task Order requirements. In turn, the Contractor may recommend alternative Labor ID Numbers, if necessary and if specifically allowed in the TORP, and submit the revision in its Task Order proposal. | Will the FAA allow Contractors to propose labor categories outside the schdule in Attachment B-1 after award of the IDIQ and in context of specific TORP responses? | |||||
| While the FAA has provided a broad schedule of labor categories, tying them to the GS schedule mandates a ceiling on the salaries used as the basis for the rates. Technical subject matter experts can command significant salaries due to their scarcity. Allowing for Contractors to propose additional labor categories will provide FAA the flexibility to make use of these higher-cost resources for specialized or unanticipated technologies. | The Government has not provided any labor categories, but rather Labor ID Numbers with GS/ES equivalents off of which offerors must base their rates. Offerors are free to add whatever wrap rates they choose to establish ceilings for each GS/ES equivalent, so there is no need for "labor categories" to be added at the IDIQ level. See response to questions 4 and 15. |
| 49 | Section C | Page 23, C.4.1.7. | ||||
| Para. (g) | "The Contractor must report wages to be paid or fringe benefits to be furnished any service employees… provided for in a collective bargaining agreement.." | Is CBA applicable for a location(s)? | Specific details regarding CBA requirements will be determined at the Task Order level, as applicable. | |||
| 50 | Section C | C.3.2.1 Contract Management | Is there an incumbent on the contract? If yes, could you please let us know the incumbent name and spending done on contract | |||
| so far? | ITIPSS is a new contract vehicle, therefore, there is no incumbent information to provide. There are various requirements on other contract vehicles that will be fulfilled utilizing the new ITIPSS vehicle. | |||||
| 51 | Section C | C.3.2.8 Task Order Management | Is there any budget allocated for this contract? If yes, can you please let us know the same? | As per SECTION B.3, "The maximum cumulative dollar ceiling value of all contracts awarded under this SIR, including any/all option(s) and/or extension(s), is $2,419,300,000 (inclusive of all direct costs, indirect costs, and profit/fee). That ceiling is cumulative among all IDIQ contracts." Details regarding the FAA's budget will not be provided. | ||
| 52 | Section C. | C.2.1.2. | "Technical Solutions including, but not limited to: …." | What tools does FAA use for all the categories listed in Section C.2.1.2? | Reviewed and response is not applicable for proposal submission. | |
| 53 | Section C | C.2 SCOPE | Cloud assessment: Please share details of any cloud assessment carried by FAA or recent study on identification of applications that are required to be migrated to cloud, retained on-prem and those to be disposed? How many applications are SaaS and Cloud hosted? | Reviewed and response is not applicable for proposal submission. | ||
| 54 | Section C | C.2.1 INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS AND SERVICES | When was the last technology refresh of End user devices, Servers, Storage and Network carried out? Please share details regarding tech refresh policies in place and ownership of performing tech refresh during | |||
| the contract period. | Reviewed and response is not applicable for proposal submission. | |||||
| 55 | Section C | C.2.1 INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS AND SERVICES | Please share volumetric data of Physical, Virtual, Cloud Compute, Storage and Network (Voice & Data), Network Security, Databases, Middleware, Hosting sites, and their respective hosting location and tool details. | |||
| Please share details on legacy applications and infrastructure that will continue to be supported for next 2 years. | Reviewed and response is not applicable for proposal submission. | |||||
| 56 | Section C | C.2.1 INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY | ||||
| SOLUTIONS AND SERVICES | What are the top-5 considerations that FAA wants to be prioritized during the next 4 to 8 quarters? Example – Reduce cost, Reduce DC footprint etc. | Reviewed and response is not applicable for proposal submission. | ||||
| 57 | Section C | C.2.1 INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS AND SERVICES | Please share details regarding the top-5 business initiatives being targeted for next 4 quarters. Which “Bleeding-edge” technologies being prioritized for FAA consumption in near future? | Reviewed and response is not applicable for proposal submission. | ||
| 58 | Section C | C.2.1.1 | ||||
| F-Asset management | Please confirm if any of the following are out of scope of this IDIQ and retained by FAA. |
1. Hardware asset management
2. HW Asset physical verification and asset tagging
3. Software license optimization
4. SW License audit support
| 5. Asset procurement | The items referenced are within the scope of Section C of the SIR. | ||
| 59 | Section C | C.2.1.1 | |
| F-Asset management | What tools are currently used for |
1. HW asset management
2. SSW Asset management
3. Asset tagging
4. HW and SW discovery and inventory tool for End user devices such as Laptops, Tablets etc
5. HW and SW discovery and inventory tool for Data center devices such as Servers, Network devices etc.
6. ITSM and CMDB
| Are ITSM and ITAM tools integrated? | Reviewed and response is not applicable for proposal submission. | ||
| 60 | Section C | C.2.1.1 | |
| F-Asset management | What reporting capabilities are available with the existing tools? What reports are published for SW license management? Please share list of reports and frequency of reporting. | Reviewed and response is not applicable for proposal submission. | |
| 61 | Section C | C.2.1 | |
| Contact Center INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS AND SERVICES | Please confirm if Contact Center platform management is in scope of this IDIQ. If yes – please share details of existing Contact center implementation and associated applications (Example – Number of Agents, IVR, Call recording licenses, of Agents, IVR, Call recording licenses, WFO and WFM details). Are there any plans to replace the existing contact center? | Specific details regarding existing FAA contracts will be provided at the Task Order level, as applicable. | |
| 62 | Section C | C.2.1 | |
| Helpdesk INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS AND SERVICES | Please share details of existing Helpdesk support. How many languages are supported? How many users supported? Where are these Helpdesk centers located and tools used? |
Please share last 6 months ticket data without Personal identification information on:
1. Number of calls received shift-wise, abandoned, abandoned calls, Chats, emails and instant messaging
| 2. What is the current SLAs such as FCR, AHT, ASA, email response time, Service request response time, Web ticket response time? | Reviewed and response is not applicable for proposal submission. | ||||
| 63 | Section C | C.4.2.10 | The Government states: “Task Orders may require the Contractor to follow the AIT Project Management Life Cycle (PMLC) to provide full Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) support for enterprise-wide and business unit-specific applications.” Will the Government please provide the AIT Project Management Life Cycle (PMLC) documentation? | Details specific to individual Task Orders will be provided at the Task Order level, as applicable. | |
| 64 | Section C | C.3.2.2 Multi-office | |||
| Management | Please share details of any new offices being planned for the base period and any in-progress work such as relocation/migrations/ transformation expected during the transition period | Details specific to individual Task Orders will be provided at the Task Order level, as applicable. | |||
| 65 | Section C | C.3.2.5 | |||
| Transition Management | Please clarify if there be minimum and maximum transition-in period criteria to be met? Please share details of any constraints such as “Dead-line to complete | ||||
| transition-In” | Details specific to individual Task Orders will be provided at the Task Order level, as applicable. | ||||
| 66 | Section C | C.4.2.10 | |||
| Source Code and Object Library Deliverables | The clause of submitting source codes and Object libraries for COTS products from OEM suppliers will not be feasible from a reseller point of view. In such cases, will the government consider procuring/sourcing the recommended COTS products such as tools and automation products directly from | ||||
| the OEM supplier? | Reviewed and response is not applicable for proposal submission. | ||||
| 67 | Section C, Section H | H.29, C.2 | |||
| USE OF CONTRACTOR EQUIPMENT OR SOFTWARE | In accordance with AMS 3.14-12, use of contractor equipment or software is not permitted in the performance of this contract, and the contractor must not use or connect any contractor equipment or software to any FAA system or network or access any FAA information or data using contractor equipment or software |
In section C.2 Scope, the contractor is expected to bring innovative solutions to FAA for future applications and technology modernization, this activity is highly restricted by the clause stated in section H.29.
| Question: Please advise regarding the sourcing of the contractor recommended COTS application that might be required for automation of manual tasks and for increasing efficiency and productivity improvements? | As per H.29, Use of Contractor Equipment or Software. As stated in the SIR, the FAA will provide or make available government furnished property (GFP) and/or authorize and issue waivers to this clause at the Task Order level if such access is required in the performance of this contract and Task Orders issued under it. | |||||
| 68 | Section C | C.2 SCOPE | Please share details of applications to be supported with details such as - Application Name, Version, COTS product or FAA Homegrown application, purpose of application, Number of users supported, RTO / RPO requirements, Security classifications and compliance requirements. | Specific details regarding existing FAA applications will be provided at the Task Order level, as applicable. | ||
| 69 | Section C | C.10 Telework | The Contractor must bill on-site rates for approved full-time telework employees who are Contractor site located (off-site). | If the company incurs additional cost for government-site contractors required to telework by the FAA, would the | ||
| FAA consider reimbursing these associated costs? | The Government expects these costs to be built into the Offeror's rates and will not be invoiced for them separately. Government Furnished Equipment (GFE) will be provided for contractor telework employees as applicable. Internet access is not considered GFE. | |||||
| 70 | Section C | C.2.1.1.f | f.Asset Management | |||
| Systematic investment tracking of hardware (H/W) and software (S/W) assets; Inventory; H/W specifications; Maintenance; Tagging and tracking; Upgrading; Disposal; S/W end‐user license agreement (EULA) acquisition and management; S/W and H/W Maintenance Agreement acquisition and management; Preventive maintenance; Asset reports. | What is the current AIT Asset Management solution ? | Reviewed and response is not applicable for proposal submission. | ||||
| 71 | Section C | C.2.1.2.a | a. Enterprise Architecture, Strategy, and Planning | What is the current EA Framework for AIT and | ||
| what is the EA maturity level ? | Reviewed and response is not applicable for proposal submission. | |||||
| 72 | Section C | C.2.1.2.a | a. Enterprise Architecture, Strategy, and Planning | What is the current ITSM solution ? | Reviewed and response is not applicable for proposal submission. | |
| 73 | Section C | C.4.1.7.e | Not less than thirty (30) business days prior to completion of any contract, the Contractor must furnish the Contracting Officer a certified list of the names, of all service employees on the Contractor's or subcontractor's payroll during the last month of contract performance. | C.4.1.7.e requires submittal of the seniority list application to service employees not less than 30 business days prior to completion of any contract. However, AMS clause 3.6.2‐28 “Service Contract Labor Standards" requires the seniority list is to be provided not less than 10 days prior to completion of any contract being performed at a Federal facility where service employees may be retained. Please clarify which deadline applies (not less than 10 days or not less then 30 business days). | See amended SIR. | |
| 74 | C.2.1.2 e | Test & Evaluation (T&E) | NA | Will the government identify the tools used by any exiting T&E program? For example, Selinium, UFT, Neoload, AppDynamics? | Reviewed and response is not applicable for proposal submission. | |
| 75 | C.2.1.1 | a. Program Management / Project Planning | Project management consistent with expected project management lifecycles (PMLC); Management/project plans across expected software development lifecycles (SDLC) and methods (e.g. waterfall, agile, iterative development models); | Will the government identify lifecycle methodologies that are working well and would like to continue maturing and alternatively those that have failed and have no viability? | Reviewed and response is not applicable for proposal submission. | |
| 76 | C.2.1.1 | a. Program Management / Project Planning | Project management consistent with expected project management lifecycles (PMLC); Management/project plans across expected software development lifecycles (SDLC) and methods (e.g. waterfall, agile, iterative development models); | Will the government provide a document describing AIT Systems Engineering Lifecycle? | Specific details regarding existing FAA processes will be provided at the Task Order level, as applicable. | |
| 77 | C.3.2 CONTRACT EXECUTION | C.3.2.8 Task Order Management | The Labor ID Numbers listed in SECTION B- SUPPLIES OR SERVICE AND PRICES/COSTS- PRICING TABLES ITIPSS uses the General Schedule (GS) pay equivalents for 11 grades, GS-5 (lowest) to GS-15 (highest), including all steps. ITIPSS also uses the Executive Service (ES) ES-5 through ES-1 pay scale. The Government will utilize the pre-established rates listed in SECTION B- SUPPLIES OR SERVICE AND PRICES/COSTS-Attachment B-1, Pricing Tables to match a labor category to a Labor ID Number for each position. The grade equivalency will be selected based on the labor category’s tasks, level of difficulty, and qualifications required. Other factors such as, historical information, budget, and the geographical location of the requirements will be also considered. | For the IDIQ pricing evaluation, the Government has provided GS/ES hourly pay rates/Direct Labor rates based on the unique Labor ID Numbers for each individual GS/ES equivalents in each ordering year. During the Task order process, the Government states that it will select the grade equivalency based on the labor category’s tasks, level of difficulty, and qualifications required. Can the Government explain how such an approach will factor in the functional skill differences between various roles - for example the functional experience of an administrative assistant role is very different from a Solution Architect functional role and/or a Business Intelligence functional role. Therefore the pay rate or Direct Labor rates will also differ based on the unique functional role and labor category. Will the Government therefore provide functional labor category information mapped/cross walked to the unique Labor ID numbers in the pricing evaluation at the IDIQ stage? This approach will be consistent with other FAA solicitations such as FAA eFAST and will also minimize any issues caused due to adhoc functional labor category mapping done later at the task order stage. | See response to question numbers 4 and 5. | |
| 78 | C.2.1.2 e | Test & Evaluation (T&E) | NA | Is there an exiting T&E program? | Reviewed and response is not applicable for proposal submission. |
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