EIT_FY19_Questions_and_Answers_Amd0001.pdf

Questions and Answers – 75H70419R00026 Amendment-0001

QN # RFP

Page # Section Title Questions Answers

1 20 5.3.1.11 What is the breakdown of OS versions for GFE standard desktop operating systems?

Of the approximate 800 employees and contractors within HQ, there are currently about 60% of the GFE laptops that are running Windows10 Enterprise v1809 and 40% running Windows 7 Enterprise.

2 21 5.3.1.12 What is the update frequency for standard desktop images to inject drivers, Windows Updates, or software updates outside user refresh or major changes?

Windows updates are required monthly to include any critical OS and application security patches. Major application service packs and drivers changes will be assessed and approved by the Federal manager for coordination of testing and pushing to all HQ laptops. Review meetings occur monthly.

3 21 5.3.1.12 How many images for various hardware / software configurations are maintained?

Three previous versions are maintained per client hardware model. There are currently only two models in place.

4 21 5.3.1.12 Is immediate deployment required for Microsoft out of band patches or is a risk based analysis required for these first?

A risk based analysis and thorough testing and documentation is required with final approval to deploy by Federal Manager. This may require a full deployment plan if it is an Agency wide requirement.

5 24 5.4.2 What is the current and projected growth rates for storage?

Current storage growth has been stabilized with minimal growth. No more than 5-10% is expected per year.

6 25 5.4.2.1 How many new storage systems are deployed per year?

Replacements are planned once equipment has reached the end of life for either supportability or maintenance coverage (5-7 years as a rule). Thus, new storage is only planned according to that schedule and funding availability.

7 26 5.5.2.2 Does IHS update firmware for critical, recommended, and optional updates as they are released?

Yes, for virtual hosts and systems directly owned by DITO. Updates for other systems are either coordinated with the Customer or are directly managed by the Application/system owners.

8 26 5.5.3 What is the current Vmware and Hyper-V breakdown? Is the Hypervisor infrastructure fully supported by vShpere and SCVMM and are there any stand-alone instances of ESXi and Hyper-V?

Systems within the HQ Data Centers are roughly 80% VMware and 20% Hyper-V. No stand-alone instances are in place.

9 27 5.6.1.1 Are all DC's writable or are there RODC's in AD?

RODCs are no longer in use.

10 27 5.6.1.1 Are the 2008 DC's on version 2008 R2? Yes.

11 27 5.6.1.1 What are the plans for raising the domain / forest functional level beyond 2008?

Testing is currently underway for migration to Server 2016 Forest/Domain

12 27 5.6.1.1 Does IHS plan to replace 2008 DCs before end of support in January of 2020?

Yes

13 7 4.2 Period of Performance

The RFP states “The transition shall be complete by March 27, 2019”. Other sections such as 5.1.1.1 Contract Management and 5.1.1.2 Quality Control and Quality Assurance Surveillance Plans provide milestones as the number of days after task order award.

Can you provide the number of days after task order award that the transition must be complete?

The date of “March 27, 2019” was left in the scope due to an oversight.

The Contractor shall complete all transition activities within 60 days of the contract award.

14 17 5.3 End User Services

The Table shows that there are more Services Tickets at Tier 3 (21,300) than Tier 1 and 2 (11,000) and many more Problems Tickets at Tier 3 (2,500) than Tier 1 and 2 (700).

Please explain the relationship between these counts. Are you able to provide a more detailed breakdown by ticket type, Tier 3 services are provided for all 21,000 users across IHS locations and are specifically for support that is not or cannot be provided at the Tier 1 or Tier 2 level (part of standard ticket escalation). There is an average of 2500 new service tickets and 250 new problem tickets submitted to Tier 3 per month.

average time to resolution, frequency and distribution of tickets by time of day/week/month?

Approximately 60% of these tickets are resolved within 1 hour of acknowledgment.

15 19 Section 5.3.1.11.a (under 5.3.1 IT Service Desk (Tiers 1 and 2)

The RFP states in item a "a. Providing one-on-one training to users related to common business applications such as Microsoft productivity tools, conferencing systems, form processing tools, and other applications/OS (Adobe, MS Office, Windows 10, etc.) and peripherals."

In what locations is this one-on-one training required and how often is it provided today?

As this is for HQ user support, the training may be directly on site (generally at the Rockville, MD location) or remotely using Skype for Business. It is provided on an “as needed” basis.

16 19 Section 5.3.1.11.d (under

5.3.1 IT Service

Desk (Tiers 1 and 2)

The RFP States "Setting up, testing and supporting Audio/Video/WebEx and other technology based meetings."

In what locations is this support required and how often is it provided today?

The support is provided on site at the Rockville, MD location. This may be required 1-2 times per week depending on schedules.

17 20 Section 5.3.1.11.d (under

5.3.1 IT Service

Desk (Tiers 1 and 2)

The RFP states "Provide support of all standard desktop operating systems, currently supported versions of office automation applications or other standard applications."

Please provide detail about the number of PCs, their location and the type of applications in use.

For the 800 HQ users, new GFE is imaged with a standard laptop approved image to include MS Office 2016, Adobe Acrobat Pro and limited number of internal Health IT applications. HQ users locations include 80% in Rockville, MD and 20 percent full time telework or remote employees in Albuquerque, NM.

18 20 Section 5.3.1.11.g (under

5.3.1 IT Service

Desk (Tiers 1 and 2)

The RFP states "Provide support of all standard desktop operating systems, currently supported versions of office automation applications or other standard applications."

Please provide detail about the number of Smart Phones, their location and their type

There are approximately 975 mobile devices supported across IHS (only 60% are used within HQ). The majority of these devices are iOS.

19 20 Section 5.3.1.11.h (under

5.3.1 IT Service

Desk (Tiers 1 and 2)

The RFP states "Imaging of all GFE desktop/laptops provided for HQ employees, contractors and telecommuters using standard supported imaging software to include an approved listing of applications, versions and patches."

Does standard supported imaging software and what percent of GFE desktop/laptops use that standard image?

IHS currently utilizes the Symantec Client Management Suite for imaging. All HQ laptops are imaged using this process for the 800 users.

20 27 5.6 Application Services

Please provide an inventory of “critical non-health IT applications and enterprise license tracking for applications that are in use by the entire Agency” including technology, number of users, Tier 1, 2 and 3 tickets and description of each application.

The following are used by all 21,000 IHS users:

Enterprise Patch Management - (Symantec Client Management Suite)

– 20 tickets per month

Enterprise Antivirus Management- (Symantec Endpoint Protection) – 10 tickets per month

VPN remote Access (300 tickets per month)

ServiceNow – in progress

Planview PMT – in progress

21 29 L.4 Proposal Section Template

No guidance provided on price volume contents. Please provide details on what you would like included in this volume other than the B.2 - Contract Pricing.

RFP subsection L.1.4 PRICE, states, “A price breakdown to the labor category level is required for the submission.”

22 31 5.6.4 Enterprise Application Management

Please provide an inventory of “support shall be provided for new non-infrastructure, Enterprise (non-HealthIT) applications and support services” including technology, number of users, Tier 1, 2 and 3 tickets and description of each application.

See the answer to question# 20 above.

23 31 5.6.4 Enterprise Application Management

Please provide the number of FTEs providing Tier 1, 2 and 3 support, and preferred locations (City/Town) for Tier 2 personnel.

There are approximately 400 IT staff located across IHS providing direct support. Please see https://www.ihs.gov/locations/ for more information.

https://www.ihs.gov/locations/

24 36 6.3 Contract Transition Plan

The initial plan shall be submitted as part of the proposal. Please confirm that this can be submitted as an Appendix and page count does not apply.

Please include as part of the proposal.

Page count does apply.

25 24 5.4.2 Storage System O&M Requirements

Section states Contractor "will be required to maintain a state-of-the-art enterprise-wide data warehouse storage environment for the Indian Health Service's national data repository."

Does a roadmap and business case exist outlining the path to "state-of-the-art" for the Indian Health Service and is funding secured for its implementation?

Yes. This is in place and reviewed annually.

26 89 L.1.2 Management Approach/Key Personnel - Element 2

"The offeror must provide a complete staff listing with identification of labor categories and assigned annual hours without pricing information for evaluation of the offeror’s proposed resource level."

Please provide additional details as what is implied by "complete staff listing". Are we being asked to submit resumes/names for each position or only for Key Personnel?

Resumes and names are not required for the submission under the technical element. However, the government is requesting a labor mix and level of effort information for the proposing contractor staff. A short summary of the staff qualification level being proposed, per each labor category, must be submitted under the technical element requested.

27 7 4.2 Period of Performance

The solicitation reads, “The transition shall be complete by March 27, 2019.” Does the Government have a revised start and completion date for the contract transition?

See the answer to question# 13 above.

28 86 L.1 Content of the Technical Proposal

The solicitation reads, “Font size to be used for the proposal shall be no smaller than Times New Roman – 12.” Will the Government permit 8-pt font for figures, including graphics, charts/diagrams, and tables? Is Arial Narrow permissible?

Allowed.

29 60 G.4 HHSAR

352.237-75 KEY

PERSONNEL

(DEC 2015)

In this section, the solicitation lists the following labor categories as key personnel: Project Manager, Database Architect, Clinical Terminologist, and Health Informaticist. These are not the Key positions listed elsewhere in the proposal.

Please clarify.

A correction has been made via amendment 0001.

30 79 I.6. HHSAR

352.223-71

INSTRUCTIONS

TO OFFERORS

SUSTAINABLE

ACQUISITION

(DEC 2015)

The solicitation states “Offerors must include a Sustainable Acquisition Plan in their technical proposals.” Is it the intent for the Offeror to submit this plan with the proposal? If so, where should it go?

It can be submitted as an appendix.

31 2 and

F.3 Place of Performance, Under Emergency Call Back section, estimated hours per contract year for each area were provided. Please clarify whether “contract year” is a full 12- month year or a 6-month period as identify for each CLIN under B.2.

The hours estimated are for a full contract year.

32 7 4.2 Period of Performance

Is the following sentence correct, “The transition shall be completed by March 27, 2019,” since this date has already passed?

See the answer to question# 13 above.

33 17 5.3 End User Services

Tier 1 & 2 tickets are shown as combined volumes; can you please provide the breakdown between Tier 1 & 2 Service and Problem tickets such that we can appropriately estimate the level of effort required to staff these positions?

The estimated breakdown for these tickets is:

65% Tier 1 and 35% for Tier 2.

34 17 5.3. End User Services

Can you confirm that these volumes shown for Tiers 1 & 2 tickets pertain only to the incumbent IOAT work (i.e., specifically, please confirm it does not include tickets handled by other contractors or I H S employees).

All support efforts required within this contract are listed and all-inclusive.

This scope does not contain work that is covered by other contracts.

35 22 5.3.2.2 This section references Service Level Agreements found in Appendix C. There is not an Appendix C with the solicitation.

Please provide this as soon as possible as it is critical for any successful bidder to appropriately estimate the level of effort required to fulfill these requirements.

The Service Level Agreements are listed starting on Page 50.

36 23 5.3.2.13 This section also refers to Service Level Agreements at the following link:

http://www.ihs.gov/Helpdesk/. This link does not contain the information on SLA’s.

For bidding purposes, should offerors use the table on pages 50-54 as the complete set of SLA’s?

Yes.

37 56 F.3 Place of Performance

If space availability becomes an issue at government facilities, will telework be allowed?

Telework for the onsite staff will be authorized upon approval from the

COR.

http://www.ihs.gov/Helpdesk/

38 56 Emergency Call Back

Would the government consider pricing for these costs on separate CLIN? Currently, the pricing requirement delineates Labor cost and travel cost. A potential cost savings exists by showing pricing for irregular support as a separate CLIN and requiring an invoice as these costs are incurred, rather than lumping them into a broader fixed cost with other cost elements.

No, a firm fixed price submission is required.

39 56 &

I.1 Clauses Incorporated by Reference F.3 Place of Performance

The three locations with * indicated minimal office availability, remainder of staff will be required to work at Contractor location. Can you confirm that if required to work at contractor facility instead of Government facility that this change is covered under 52.243-1 Changes – Fixed Price, Alt 1

No, offerors’ Firm Fixed Price proposal shall consider the Contractor’s site locations. See the revised PWS section F.3., Place of Performance for details. IHS Albuquerque Data Center can provide the workspace for two contractor personnel only.

40 60 and

G.4 HHSAR

352.237-75 Key Personnel (DEC 2015) and L.1.2 Management Approach/Key Personnel

On page 60 the Key Personnel are called out as follows: “However, at minimum, the following labor categories shall be proposed as key personnel: Project Manager, Database Architect, Clinical Terminologist, and Health Informaticist.”

On page 88, the RFP states “At minimum, the contractor is to provide resumes for the following key personnel:

• Project Manager

• Technical lead/Data Center Manager

• Technical lead/End User Services

Manager

• Technical lead for Storage

Management

• Technical lead for Virtualization

Infrastructure and Cloud Services

• Technical lead/Active Directory

Architect/Engineer

• Business Systems Analyst

• Technical lead/Security and

Compliance Manager” Which list of Key Personnel is correct?

A correction has been made via amendment 0001.

41 69 G.4 HHSAR

352.237-75 Key Personnel (DEC 2015)

On page 69, it states “These required key personnel shall possess the years of experience as specified in below table.”

Where is the table?

The language has been removed from the Key Personnel clause.

42 88 1.1.2 Management

If any of the positions listed on this page are subject to 52.222.-17, please provide

As of April 23, 2019, the incumbent contractor has confirm that the current

Approach/Key Personnel the necessary information so that offerors can comply.

contract does not include any service employees subject to FAR authority 52.222-17.

43 90 L.1.3 Relevant Past Performance

What is the due date for the past performance questionnaires

Submissions to include the past performance questionnaires must be submitted as part of the required package by no later than May 10, 2019 at 12:00 pm (EST).

44 90 L.1.3 Relevant Past Performance

May Mentor-Protégé teams submit more than 3 past performance references?

Yes.

45 91 L.1.4 Price In this section the solicitation requests “a price breakdown to the labor category level is required for the submission”.

Section B does not provide for this level of detail. Please provide a template for this requirement of the proposal.

It is the contractor’s responsibility to determine the labor categories and level of effort to be assigned to the contract performance.

46 92 L.4 Proposal Section Template

The cost/price proposal is not described in this section (as it is not a “technical element”) nor elsewhere. Can you confirm that the cost proposal should contain the following two documents only?

• Completed Section B tables (in pdf)

• Spreadsheet that provides the labor category level breakdown (in excel)

Correct – however, there is no file type mandate.

Please provide the incumbent contract information.

GSA Task Order#

HHSI236201400027G

VISTRONIX, LLC.

*Use the URL below for more details.

* https://www.fpds.gov/ezsearch/search.do?indexName=awardfull&templateName=1.5.1&s=FPDS.GOV&q=HHSI236201400027G https://www.fpds.gov/ezsearch/search.do?indexName=awardfull&templateName=1.5.1&s=FPDS.GOV&q=HHSI236201400027G