Responses to Questions.xlsx

XLSX spreadsheet 29 KB Posted Mar 10, 2021

Attached to: Draft RFP for Cybersecurity Compensation System Support Services Federal contract opportunity
Solicitation number: 70RDAD21R00000001
Issued by: Department of Homeland Security Office of Procurement Operations

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Written by GovTribe AI · Dec 28, 2023

This document contains a draft request for proposal (RFP) from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office of Procurement Operations for Cybersecurity Compensation System Support Services. DHS seeks a single-award contract to provide support including designing compensation structures, analyzing market data, operating the compensation system, and providing surge support. Key details include a March 9, 2021 deadline for industry questions on the statement of work, evaluation factors, and pricing structure; a March 16, 2021 pre-proposal conference and final RFP release; a March 22, 2021 Phase I proposal due date; oral presentations scheduled from March 31 to April 6, 2021; and an anticipated April 29, 2021 award date. The pricing structure template estimates 6.63 full-time equivalents for the base year. DHS intends for support to launch the compensation system in late fiscal year 2021 and be ready for operation at that time.

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Other files for this federal contract opportunity

Other files attached to Draft RFP for Cybersecurity Compensation System Support Services, newest first.
File	Type	Posted
DRAFT 70RDAD21R00000001 Attachment 1 Labor Categories and Qualifications.pdf	PDF	Mar 4, 2021
DRAFT 70RDAD21R00000001 Attachment 2 Pricing Table.xlsx	XLSX spreadsheet	Mar 4, 2021
DRAFT RFP QuestionTemplate.xlsx	XLSX spreadsheet	Mar 4, 2021
Draft Solicitation 70RDAD21R00000001.pdf	PDF	Mar 4, 2021
DRAFT 70RDAD21R00000001 Attachment 3 Non-Disclosure Agreement.pdf	PDF	Mar 4, 2021

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Tab 1 - Industry Questions

DRAFT Request for Proposal Question Template (Cybersecurity Compensation System Support Services)

Instructions:

1.) This worksheet MUST be used for the submission of Industry questions regarding the draft documents.

2.) Tab 1 - Please select one of the following applicable draft documents "Statement of Work, Evaluation Factors, Pricing Structure, or "General" from the drop down list in column (A) as it relates to your specific comment/question submitted in column (D).

No.	Document	Page #	Question/Comment/Feedback	Government Response	Statement of Work
1	General	11	The draft RFP lists the Project Manager and the Lead Compensation- Subject Matter Expert as two separate positions under key personnel. However, the Attachment 1 – Labor categories and qualifications show the PM and Lead Compensation – SME as the same position. Please clarify.	DHS will update Attachment 1 (Labor Categories and Qualifications), no changes will be made to Attachment 2 (Pricing Table). DHS defers to the Contractor on the labor category and level of effort for the PM. The Contractor should describe their staffing strategy in the management approach.	Evaluation Factors
2	General	15, 32	In section 5.4 SBU Data Privacy and Protection, the RFP says that "The contractor will be required to compensate the Government for any costs associated with mitigating the release of SSI and PII." Typically, DHS relies on the standard clause "Safeguarding of Sensitive Information (March 2015)" found on pg. 32 of the RFP to set a standard penalty for a potential breach of Confidential Information. Can the government please remove the reference to compensating the Government for all costs to rely instead on the standard DHS policy found in the clause?	The reference has been removed.	Pricing Structure
3	General	5, 42	Given that this acquisition is conducted entirely under FAR part 12, subpart 12.603 Streamlined Solicitation for commercial Items, can the clauses 52.215-12 and 52.215-13 be removed?	Those clauses have been removed.	General
4	General	54	Please confirm that the inclusion of 52.219-9 is to reserve the Contracting Officer's right to request a small business plan at a later date, as per (c)(1), "The offeror, upon request by the Contracting Officer, shall submit and negotiate a subcontracting plan, where applicable..." and does not require submission of a plan with the proposal response, esp. given that Alt. II has not been selected for this clause.	The solicitation has been updated the include 52.219-9 Alt. II.
5	General	73	Can the government confirm the submission guidelines for Phase 2 Volume 2. Page 73 states that submission of briefing slides are due two (2) business days before scheduled Oral presentation, with a stated due date of March 29th. However, on page 75 the government states that a letter will be provided to those receiving notice of a Phase 2 down-select to include information regarding the submission due date and time of Phase II proposal submission. We recommend that oral presentation slides are due on the same day for all offerors instead of 2 days before the presentation. Given that offerors may have presentations scheduled on different days, this ensures all offerors have the same amount of time to prepare.	The solicitation has been updated that all slides are due on the date of the Volume 2 submission.
6	General	74	Can the government please revise the sentence "If the demonstrated prior experience of Subcontractors is submitted…..submit a letter of commitment to team with the Prime Offeror signed by an individual of the Subcontractor's firm authorized to make such a commitment and on the subcontractor's letterhead, that confirms a Subcontracting agreement is in place....." to replace Subcontracting Agreement with Teaming Agreement (TA)? At the time of proposal submission only a TA is in place while the Subcontracting Agreement is only put in place should the offeror win the award.	Solicitation udpdated to use teaming agreement and teaming partner for this section.
7	Evaluation Factors	80	Can the government confirm whether they are employing on-the-spot consensus evaluations for the oral presentation Technical Evaluation Scoring? This method generally enables the government to document the consensus evaluation of each proposal in consecutive order, saving days or weeks of follow-up coordination and avoiding an evaluation based on not-as-fresh after-the-fact recounting.	On-the-spot consensus evaluations will be used for this procurement.
8	Evaluation Factors	77	What activity takes place during the 10 minutes that session reconvenes in the Oral Presentation Schedule table after the initial Factor 2 and 3 presentation?	DHS has allotted an additional 10 minutes at the end of the session if there is a need for the interactive session.
9	Evaluation Factors	81	The government mentions that price will be evaluated based on "accuracy, completeness, discounts offered, and reasonableness." Because this RFP is not issued off of a vehicle, there are not existing vehicle level rates from which to discount; can the government please remove "discounts offered" and other references to discounts from the evaluation criteria?	The language talking about discounts has been removed.
10	Statement of Work	66	Can the government confirm that there will be three (3) key personnel, and that the PM and Compensation SME are designated as the same Labor Category?	There are three key personnel. Please see response to question 1.
11	Pricing Structure	Base Year	Can the government clarify whether they intend to exercise the optional tasks 2 or 3? If only Task 1 is exercised, all Key Personnel are only part-time. It will be difficult for any offeror to staff 3 people as part-time employees. We recommend increasing the Senior and Journeyman lines to 1 FTE unless the government intends to exercise the optional tasks 2 and 3.	Depending upon the Government's need, it will determine whether optional tasks 2 or 3 will be exercised.

12	General	1, 5, 73	Will the final RFP standardize due dates for Phase I and Phase II submissions?	The due date for the Phase I submission will be included in the solicitation. The Phase II submission date will be included in the down select notification.
13	General	21	Can you provide more detailed expectations for key personnel being available to work at DHS facilities in the Washington DC region?	The primary place of performance for this work will be Contractor facilities - including remote/virtual environments - within the United States. Some work may be completed at DHS facilities in the Washington, DC area; onsite arrangements and available hoteling space and schedules would be discussed with the Contractor at the time DHS exercised such support. If necessary, Key Personnel or should be able to attend virtual meetings within 48 hours notice. If necessary, Contract team personnel should be able to attend critical in-person meetings within 5 business days notice.
14	General		How many distinct cyber roles are covered by the project?	DHS is not structuring this work based on traditional jobs/roles. DHS is focused career levels and clusters of roles. This current model includes approximately 10 career levels, from early-career through executive, with differentiation between developmental, technical, and leadership roles.
15	General	9	How many compensation surveys will DHS likely want to participate in?	DHS does not currently participate in any salary surveys, but this statement of work includes providing support for such future participation, including identifying relevant surveys for DHS to consider.
16	General	9	Is vendor support required for communication delivery?	DHS is already resourced to address core change management and communication needs associated with the implementation of CTMS. This SOW reflects some activities related to developing compensation-specific language and messages, which DHS would integrate into existing change management and communication efforts.
17	Pricing Structure	9 / 11 / Pricing Template	Based on our experience delivering requirements in the SOW, we estimate the government may need additional ODC funds. Would the government be open to increasing ODC funds if needed to meet requirements?	The government will consider exceptions for other direct costs (e.g. licenses, surveys, etc.) in the pricing table. Rationale for the recommended change should be provided in the response. The government does not anticipate ODCs beyond what has been outlined.

The $130,000 ceiling established in Attachment 2: Pricing table is for evaluation purposes only.

18	General	9 / 11/ Pricing Template	How many compensation surveys will DHS likely want to purchase?	In recent years, DHS has regularly purchased three to five cybersecurity salary surveys. DHS anticipates purchasing between three to seven surveys annually. This quantity may change, including as a result of recommendations made by the Contractor.
19	Pricing Structure	9 / 11/ Pricing Template	How many user licenses does the government anticipate needing for the compensation management software and compensation management tool?	DHS anticipates 2 - 3 Federal team members may need to regularly access and manipulate compensation management data. This quantity may change, including as a result of recommendations made by the Contractor.
20	Statement of Work	Attachment 1, Page 1-2	The highly specialized expertise required to build and operate a modern cyber compensation program that competes with the private sector can only be gained through work experience. Advanced education does not enable understanding and/or the ability to execute on the intricate level of detail required to design a compensation program that recruits and retains cutting-edge cyber capabilities that will reduce cyber risks to the Federal mission. Mercer therefore recommends DHS remove the Masters Degree requirement for all key personnel labor categories or permit Offerors to substitute years of experience for education.	It is permissible to substitute years of experience for education.
21	Statement of Work	Page 12	While Project Manager is clearly noted as a key personnel role, the SOW also states that "any alternate(s) who shall act for the Contractor in the absence of the PM shall be provided to the Government as part of the Contractor's proposal." Please confirm whether Offerors must name a second (alternate) Project Manager for this proposal.	Reference requiring naming of an alternate PM in the proposal is removed.
22	Statement of Work	Page 9 (3.1.2.c)	How built out are the competencies currently? Are they by career stream only (professional and leadership) or have they been developed at the job level? Have proficiencies been defined for each competency? What additional work can be expected in the continued refinement of the competencies?	DHS has completed extensive work to define relevant competencies, including proficiency information. DHS has mapped these competencies to different career levels and clusters of roles, including technical, individual contributor roles and leadership roles. DHS is using career levels/clusters of roles to create compensation structures, including those for salaries. DHS is not necessarily focused on "the job," but rather on the career level and level of expertise (including competencies and proficiency levels) of an individual. DHS anticipates Task 1 of the SOW will help DHS pressure test the design work completed to date and identify possible areas of refinement, including in how developed competencies are used to inform compensation. DHS expects any competency refinement work and I/O psychology research to be performed under another existing contract.
23	Statement of Work	Page 10 (3.3.1.a)	Is there an expectation that the consultant will support individual managers on the application of the merit matrix, or that will be done through training materials developed?	The Contractor may support the development of training materials, including for a merit matrix to be used by individual managers. The Contractor may also support briefings on expected merit processes with key representatives from management.
24	Statement of Work	Page 10 (3.3.1.d)	Can DHS elaborate on the volume and/or frequency of report requests that will be required, and what employee groups will presentations/data be given to?	At least annually, DHS expects to produce a summary report covering key aspects of the Cybersecurity Compensation System for DHS senior leadership. Frequency and specifics of other reporting will be determined as a result of work completed by the Contractor, including recommendations about key issues to be discussed with DHS stakeholders.
25	Statement of Work	Page 10 (3.3.2.d)	Please provide more specificity on the consultant's role in supporting “negotiation procedures".	Most current federal personnel systems feature very limited circumstances in which selected individuals can negotiate starting salary and other aspects of starting compensation. With the Cybersecurity Compensation System, DHS anticipates new circumstances may arise in which negotiation of aspects of compensation may be required, especially as DHS moves to more flexible, skill- and market-sensitive compensation structures. DHS is looking for support in developing parameters for how such negotiation may occur, including standard procedures.
26	Statement of Work	Page 10 (3.3.2.e)	Can DHS elaborate on the volume and/or frequency of report requests that will be required?	Please see response to question 24.
27	Statement of Work	Page 11 (3.5)	If additional surveys and systems are identified during the program lifecycle that exceed $130,000 per year, to what extent will they be considered?	Please see response to question 17.

	28	Statement of Work	Page 75 (4.2)	Please clarify requirements for the orals presentation. Specifically, does DHS require the contractor to submit a written narrative/script (in addition to 25 PowerPoint slides) that reflects our proposed presentation/discussion of our technical understanding/
capabilities and management approach? Or is the requirement that only visual slides be submitted, and the contractor's discussion of those slides will be evaluated based on delivery during the orals presentation?	Please see Section M 2. Technical Proposal Evaluation. That section states that only the 25 slides are required for submission and it will not be evaluated.
	29	Statement of Work	8	The contractor shall perform the task identified as “MANDATORY” on a continual basis upon award. If the need arises, the contractor shall perform the tasks identified as “OPTIONAL,” as stipulated in subsequent orders. If the need arises, the contractor shall perform Task Four – Surge, which is to enable DHS to increase the number of support staff and/or adjust the level of expertise provided across other tasks to address unexpected circumstances. Would DHS be willing to consider awarding Task 1 to one Contractor, and Tasks 2 - 4 to a second Contractor? This would allow DHS the opportunity to focus their Contractor selection on the best resources on the two different types of work.	No. It has to be the same contractor and it's teaming partners if applicable.
	30	Statement of Work	9	3.1 TASK ONE: Design - a. Do you have an existing job hierarchy or job leveling system?	DHS has developed a structure of career levels and clusters of roles, including technical, individual contributor roles and leadership roles. DHS is using career levels/clusters of roles to create compensation structures, including those for salaries. Definition of career levels/clusters of roles is based on a variety of factors, including relative years of cybersecurity professional experience and demonstrated proficiency level is specific (technical) competencies.
	31	Statement of Work	9	3.1 TASK ONE: Design - How many jobs are in scope for this work? Covering how many employees?	Please see response to questions 14 and 37.
	32	Statement of Work	9	3.1 TASK ONE: Design - b. How many geographies do you anticipate needing for this analysis?	DHS is developing the Cybersecurity Compensation System for a cybersecurity workforce that is likely to be concentrated in the Washington, DC area, but will also include employees in various geographic areas across the United States. Currently, DHS is focused on accounting for cost of labor differences associated with approximately 15 distinct metropolitan areas, but DHS is looking for the Contractor to review and potentially recommend revisions to this approach.
	33	Statement of Work	9	3.1 TASK ONE: Design - c. Do you currently have competency models established? Or are you anticipating a vendor to provide?	Please see response to question 22.
	34	Statement of Work	9	3.1 TASK ONE: Design - g. What benefit programs do you anticipate being included in step g? Do you want the contractor to review for prevalence or in-depth coverage and cost analysis?	DHS anticipates the Contractor providing basic, high-level comparisons that acknowledge some common Federal employment benefits, including using standard amounts/calculations established via existing research, to assist DHS in contextualizing the competitiveness of salaries and common additional compensation (bonuses) under the Cybersecurity Compensation System. Anticipated analyses will not necessarily involve in-depth calculations related to total rewards, such as complex Federal retirement system annuity estimates.
	35	Statement of Work	9	What is the expected timeframe for implementation of the Cybersecurity Compensation System?	Currently, DHS plans to launch CTMS in late FY 2021, likely toward the end of Q4/September. The Cybersecurity Compensation System should be ready to operate at that time.
	36	Statement of Work	9	We believe that Sections 3.2. 1 and 3.2 2 of Task 2 are necessary to complete in order to perform the data analysis requirements for developing the deliverables for Task 1 - Design. If agreeable, you will also need to revise the hours in the pricing table to accommodate for this revision.	Task 1 activities are expected to include a variety of analyses, including as alluded to in a - g. Task 2 includes specific analysis work, which would be completed in addition to initial reviews conducted under Task 1 in the base year to assess DHS development of the Cybersecurity Compensation System to date.
	37	Statement of Work	10	3.3-2.c TASK THREE. Operation Preparing compensation packages for review/approval; what volume would you expect over the course of each year in the contract for this activity?	DHS does not have exact estimates at this time. At the launch of CTMS, scheduled for late FY 2021, DHS anticipates the hiring of 150 priority employees. DHS anticipates developing standardized processes for compensation package review/approval with the Contractor, and that non-standard and highly-specialized packages will be the focus of Contractor and Federal team efforts.
	38	Statement of Work	11	3.5 Other direct costs will be set as Not to Exceed $130,000 per year to include compensation surveys, compensation management software (e.g., Pay Factors, Payscale, MarketPay). Is there an existing compensation software and a compensation allocation tool that DHS uses? If so, can you disclose?	DHS does not currently use any existing compensation software.
	39	Statement of Work	11	4.2 The Contractor shall ensure that all contract support personnel are present for all hours of the workday. Is this statement intended to reflect that Contractor personnel will be required to be available to work all hours of the workday as opposed to being present?	This statement is intended to reflect that the offeror is responsible for the day-to-day management of their personnel and would ensure they are available as scheduled/needed. (For example, if a part-time resource is scheduled to attend a meeting, the contractor is responsible for ensuring they are present.)
	40	Statement of Work	13	4.8 The Project Manager shall be available to engage in on-site ad hoc meetings as required with a 24-hour notification within the Washington D.C. Metro area. Is remote availability acceptable?	Yes - Please see response to question 13.
	41	Statement of Work	21	This work is to be performed at the contractor facility and DHS Facilities in Washington, DC region. The contractor may be authorized to telework and will be at the COR’s discretion. If the Contractor requests to telework and is authorized by the COR, the Contractor shall have a telework agreement in place for each contractor employee approved for telework and must provide the COR and CO with a copy of such agreement prior to commencement of telework. Is it acceptable for all work to be done either at Contractor facility or through telework with only occasional meetings at the DHS site, as needed?	Yes - Please see response to question 13.

42	Pricing Structure	We understand DHS is anticipating 6.63 FTE for the Base year. Will there be a dedicated DHS compensation staff also available to work with the contractor team?	It will be a hybrid team, with Contractor and Federal staff collaborating. Federal staff providing day-to-day oversight on this contract will include a dedicated senior technical lead and a contracting officer's representative. In the base year, at least 4 additional Federal staff will support Compensation System efforts on a less than full-time basis; Federal staffing beyond the base year has yet to be determined.
43	Pricing Structure	We understand DHS is anticipating 6.63 FTE for the Base year. Is this an estimate for proposal evaluation purposes or is this an actual anticipation of required hours the contractor would need to agreed to?	Language has been revised in Section L to state that: The government will consider alternatives for use of labor category/level and/or other direct costs (e.g. licenses, surveys, etc.); include rationale for the recommended change and related definitions for labor category.
44	Pricing Structure	Can DHS confirm that the SME hours included on each of the tabs are intended to include hours to cover the Project Manager?	Please see the response to question 1.
45	General	Is it possible to substitute years of experience for education?	Yes - Please see the response to question 20.
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Performance Work Statement

Section B

Evaluation Factors

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File details come from the government source that posted it. Updated Mar 10, 2021.