Responses QA RFP 75D30122R72244 Data Centers.xlsx
XLSX spreadsheet 35 KB Posted
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- Data Centers - WTCHP Federal contract opportunity
- Solicitation number
- 75D30122R72244
About this file
This document contains questions and answers related to a solicitation for Data Center services for the World Trade Center Health Program. The solicitation seeks a contractor to provide data collection, analysis, and reporting for member health information in a secure and uniform manner. Key details include: questions were due July 22, 2022 and offers are due August 17, 2022. The contractor will be responsible for understanding and complying with relevant regulations and program policies to minimize costs. Responsibilities involve managing data repositories, collaboration with other contractors, and coordinating steering committee and forum meetings. Labor categories and costs are not strictly defined, allowing offerors flexibility in proposals.
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Other files for this federal contract opportunity
| File | Type | Posted |
|---|---|---|
| A19 - RFP - Data Centers - 75D301-22-R-72244 - Revision 1.pdf | ||
| Attachment 2- Acronyms and Abbreviations.docx | DOCX document | |
| Attachment 7 - MemberVolumes.xlsx | XLSX spreadsheet | |
| A19 - RFP - Data Centers - 75D301-22-R-72244.pdf | ||
| Attachment 8 - HHS SubK Plan Template.doc | DOC document | |
| Attachment 3 - QASP Template.docx | DOCX document | |
| Attachment 5 - Transfer Policy.pdf | ||
| Attachment 6 - Data Management Policy.pdf | ||
| Attachment 4 - World Trade Center Health Program Business Associate Agreement.docx | DOCX document | |
| Attachment 1 QA RFP 75D30122R72244 Data Centers.xlsx | XLSX spreadsheet |
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Text version
RFP
Q&A RFP 75D301-22-R-72244 – Data Centers
| TITLE: Data Centers |
| Q&A Template |
| Question | |
| Number | RFP |
Reference
| (if applicable) | Question | CDC Response | |
| 1 | PWS in Section C; Section L (page 75); page 80 | “The Performance Work Statement in Section C spans 20 single-spaced pages, but the Section L instructions on page 75 limits the technical proposal to 25 double-spaced pages. On page 80 of the RFP, CDC indicates that the technical write-up should be “detailed and comprehensive.” To allow offerors to meet this criterion, could the government increase the technical page limit to 50 double-spaced pages?” |
| Section L has been updated to reflect that the 25 pages shall be single-spaced. | |||
| 2 | PWS in Section C; Section L (page 75); page 80 | Relatedly to question 1, does the double-spacing apply to tables and graphics? | No. |
| 3 | Section M.2 1b; page 80 | The RFP asks the offerer to provide a draft Operations Manual. Does this count toward the 25 page limit in the Technical Proposal? | No, Section M has been updated to clarify that the Ops Manual is to be attached, and does not count towards the 25-page limit. Additionally, Section M has been updated to clarify that the offeror would only need to provide a summary of the Ops Manual versus a full draft Ops Manual. |
| 4 | Section M2, 3d; page 81 | The RFP asks the offerer to furnish a written copy of the draft subcontracting agreement. Does this count toward the 25 page limit in the Technical Proposal? | No. The subcontract plan does not count towards the 25 page single space page count. |
| 5 | Section B.1; page 3 | Could the Government provide descriptions for the labor categories specified on page 3, Section B.1? | No; however, offerors can propose additional/different categories and propose their best solutions based upon their independent assessments. Table B.1 reflects the Government's estimates. |
| 6 | Section M.4; page 83 | Can the government provide additional clarification on what the offerer needs to provide for past performance evaluation? | No past performance documentation is needed. |
| 7 | Section F.2; page 27 | “Quarterly reports” there are listed items a-e refer to sections which do not exist, as section C.4 is not numbered in this way. These sections are also linked, but some of the links do not work, or appear to link to incorrect sections. (link in ‘a’ jumps to unrelated area of PWS and link in ‘e’ does not work at all). Because of these problems, it is unclear what exactly is expected from the Quarterly reports. Can this section be updated to refer to the correct areas of the RFP? | The section has been updated. |
| 8 | Section F.2; page 27 | ‘Quarterly reports’ refers to a “Quarterly Dashboard’. There does not seem to be any mention of a quarterly “dashboard” anywhere else in the RFP, can this be updated to include a description of what is expected from such a quarterly dashboard? | Mention of a quaterly dashboard was removed. |
| 9 | Will a budget template be released? | No, offerors can structure the business proposal as they see fit. See L.5 for additional instructions. | |
| 10 | Have the DC CLINS 1, 2, and 3 been eliminated? | Yes, all Data Center activities will be billed under CLIN 1 (unless the offeror is proposing against the optional Task 4, which is a separate CLIN). | |
| 11 | Are research publication fees chargeable to NIOSH? | Yes, fees are chargable to NIOSH to ensure public access. The Program encourages vendors to publish in journals where open access is free of charge. | |
| 12 | Are conference fees and travel costs chargeable to NIOSH? | No, there is no conference and travel approved for this contract at this time. | |
| 13 | Are Steering Committee Meeting costs chargeable to NIOSH? | The costs of coordinating and administering the Steering Committee meetings should be included in the proposed cost of the contract, as part of Task 14. | |
| 14 | pg. 10 | Regarding the Scientific Forum meetings, is each DC responsible for organizing and hosting forums? How will the DC Hosting roster be determined? Are associated costs chargeable to NIOSH? | The costs of coordinating and administering the Scientific Forum meetings should be included in the proposed cost of the contract, as part of Task 14. Per Task 14, "the DC Contractor shall propose methods for collaboration with other DC Contractor(s)..." so the forums will be a collaborative effort between awardees. |
| 15 | pg. 14 | The Customer Satisfaction survey for the CCE was eliminated in 2020. Please confirm if this remains an expectation for the DC. | Yes. To be clear, the customer satisfaction survey for the DC is substantively different than what it was for the CCEs. In this case, the "customers" of the Data Center are the CCEs and the NPN, not members of the public. |
| 16 | pg., 3 | Are labor categories and hours limited to what is provide in table B.1 on page 3? | No, offerors can propose additional/different categories and propose their best solutions based upon their independent assessments. Table B.1 reflects the Government's estimates. |
| 17 | pg. 3 | Table B.1 suggests an expectation for two junior biotechnicians (*2). Is this the only category for which more than 1 FTE is estimated? | No, the *2 was a typographical error and has been removed from Table B.1. It is anticipated that an FTE is equivalent to 1880 hours. A number of categories have more hours alloted per year than of an individual FTE. As noted above, offerors can propose additional/different labor mix based upon their independent assessments. |
| 18 | pg. 9; Task 7.c | Requesting clarification of the expectation from this language: "In addition, related data analytic software programs (e.g., SAS, R, SPSS) should be delivered to the Program." Is this requesting that the code contained in any scripts or software modules implementing data analysis be furnished to the Program? | Yes. The PWS has been updated to clarify this requirement. |
| 19 | pg. 9; Task 7.a and Task 7.f | In Task 7, subtask a, the following language appears: "Key medical and scientific elements of the WTC disaster exposures and health findings shall be included to describe the demographic, occupational, health and health-related quality of life characteristics of the population under surveillance over time." However, in subtask f., the following language appears: "data on September 11, 2001 disaster exposures and health findings to describe the demographic, occupational, health (physical and mental) and health-related quality of life (and disability) characteristics of the population over time." These appear to be substantively equivalent deliverables defined under both subtasks. Is there any substantial distinction between the deliverables as defined in substasks a versed f? | There is no substantial distinction between those two sub-tasks, and the PWS has been updated accordingly. |
| 20 | pg. 80, M.2 | Is there a template for Contract Work Breakdown Structure (CWBS)? | The Offeror shall provide a Contract Work Breakdown Structure (CWBS) based on their proposed approach. |
| 21 | pg. 12 | Task 13 - Special Analytic Studies. Are the disease areas for active surveillance limited to the list in bullet a.1? Can the DC propose an area of investigation outside of this list of conditions if relevant to the population served? | Yes, offerors can propose areas of investigation outside of those listed, so long as the methodology meet Program requirements and the areas proposed are justified and reflect noted areas of concern. |
| 22 | Attachment 3 QASP template | Attachment 3 (QASP template) --The attachment appears to be a form used by NIOSH to evaluate the contractor. Is the expectation that each contractor will design their own QA initiatives, with approval from NIOSH? Or are these activities determined by NIOSH? | Each contractor will be expected to design their own QA initiatives; however, the QASP will define acceptable quality levels (AQLs) for each task performed by the Contractor. The Program will work with each awardee to finalize the QASP for their contract to ensure agreed-upon definitions of what is considered acceptable. This section of the PWS has been updated to clarify this. |
| 23 | Page 16, task 20 | In the event of a transition of operations, would ISMMS be allowed to keep a copy of the data transferrred? | Current vendors should refer to their current contract regarding potential transition-out and requirements therein. Awardees of this Data Center contract should refer to Section I. Because the Data Centers store only WTCHP data consolidated from the individual cohorts, there is no need for the Data Center to retain WTC Health Program data after the contract ends. See Section I. |
| 24 | Page 26, Incident Report Deliverable | Could the language be amended to “…1 hour of discovery for security incidents, unless that timeline would interfere with a timely response to the incident itself;…”? We believe that this timeline would be more realistic. | No, this is a requirement from CDC. Please note that the initial report does not need to include all incident details, just a high-level summary. |
| 25 | Page 30 | As an educational institution we would like alternate I added to 52.227-14 | Added FAR 52.227-17 |
| 26 | n/a | Does the CCE solicitation budget template also apply to the Data Center proposal budget? | It does not. Offerors can structure the business proposal as they see fit, so long as there is sufficient documentation that establishes the reasonableness of the proposed costs. If the DC chooses to use the same template, that is acceptable, but not required. |
| 27 | L.5 (C) & (F) (5) Hourly rate for proposed labor category | The majority of DC personnel are salaried employees whose annual salary is based not only on their job title category but also on their experience. Consequently, it is difficult to state a single hourly rate for each proposed labor category. Could we provide instead a full personnel list, each with their own annual salary? | The proposal should describe the labor mix based on hours per labor category. Annual salaries can be divided by annual hours (1880 or 1920 hours, if full time) to come up with the hourly rate. The same labor category may be listed on multiple rows in the proposal (with the different hourly compensations indicated), but it should be clear how many hours are to be performed at each pay rate/labor category. Additionally, the proposal should be clear how the overall cost correlates with level of effort. |
| 28 | Business Associate Agreement, clause B. 3. reporting within three (3) business days, and F.1. Deliverables table 'Incident Report' row. | NIOSH's WTCHP HIPAA Incident Report.PDF has 10 (calendar) days (closer to industry standard): can the BAA be changed to 10 days? | |
| No, the Program is shortening the 10 calendar day requirement to 3 business days across the board. The vendor may submit supplemental incident reports as more information is gathered and/or mitigation performed, but the initial report must be submitted within 3 business days. |
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