SASS II Industry Day Questions and Answers.pdf

Simulation and Advanced Software Services II (SASS II)

Industry Day / One-on-One’s

Questions and Answers

June 20, 2024

Question Number

Question Answer

1 What is the best way to find a partnering/subcontra ctor opportunity for companies not interested in being the Prime Contractor?

Potential offerors can reference the Interested Parties List (IPL) posted on the SASS II website at https://www.nasa.gov/johnson/jsc-procurement/sass2/.

Potential offerors may also contact the Johnson Space Center (JSC) industry assistance office at jsc-smallbusiness@mail.nasa.gov for general information on partnering/subcontractor opportunities.

2 Before the Request for Proposal (RFP) comes out, will the company be able to meet with the stakeholder/program manager/application owner to understand their needs/mission?

Industry day is the intended resource for potential offerors to understand SASS II objectives. See response #1.

3 What are the guidelines for teaming arrangements for this opportunity?

Can we form a team with a large company?

Potential offerors may find information on Teaming Arrangements by referring to Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 9.6 for guidelines on Contractor Teaming Arrangements.

4 Are there any constraints or thoughts on working/partnering with Academia on this acquisition?

See response #3.

5 Will scope be issued under task orders with more defined requirements?

Yes. Under the current SASS contract, Task Orders (TOs) are issued on a yearly basis that define requirements for the year.

6 Based on information provided, can you explain how the tasking is going to be allocated among the different scope areas?

See response #5.

7 How do you forecast the need/change of multiple task orders if the work extends over a few years when not knowing them initially?

Under the current SASS contract, TOs are issued on a yearly basis, because requirements are defined by year, and TOs are revised when needed. While the contract does not restrict TO issuance to this schedule, this method of issuing TOs is allowed under the current contract. The current posted draft of the SOW anticipates that SASS II will contain similar language.

8 Does the current or future contract have scope related to digital twinning?

Yes. The current SASS contract has a TO that addresses “digital twins”. The posted RFI draft SOW (DSOW) for SASS II has requirements for “digital twins”.

9 Are you (NASA) agnostic to the tools like Unreal and Unity gaming systems?

Under the SASS contract, the Government is not graphics renderer agnostic. Graphics renderers must interface with the simulation tools as defined by the government. the Government task order requirements specify simulation tools, including graphics renderers. Unity, Unreal, and in-house graphics renderers are all utilized under the existing SASS contract.

10 Do we need to resubmit any questions electronically that we asked verbally?

Yes.

11 What is the best way for a company to educate NASA about the capabilities in responding to the task orders?

The time to educate the Government on vendor capabilities is during the Request for Information response (RFI).

12 Do any activities need to be tracked under learning management system?

The training requirements will be established in the RFP.

13 How many NASA team members are engaging in the simulation services?

Any progress tracking?

Certification?

Under the current SASS contract, the Government civil servants monitor progress on all TOs. The requirements for SASS II will be established in the RFP.

14 In reference to the tool sets that are assumed used within the draft SOW, are they specifically created by the incumbent or will they be open to other for use? For potential offerors without experience, how will they not negatively impact?

All tool sets required in response to the RFP will be available commercially or through open source.

Example: Trick – https://github.com/nasa/trick CFS – https://github.com/nasa/cFS

15 How will NASA evaluate a company's experience on use of other tool sets?

Evaluation details for Past Performance will be documented in the SASS II Draft RFP (DRFP) & Final RFP (FRFP).

16 How long will the past performance be still considered valid?

See response #15.

17 When looking at Key Personnel Requirements, the current contract has those needs. As it relates to follow-on contract, what type of considerations will be made if the Government wants the current incumbent key personnel vs. a new qualified key personnel?

See Response #15.

18 The SASS RFP utilized a technically acceptable cost/past performance trade off process. This deviates from the NASA norm of best value across mission suitability, past performance, and cost. The technically acceptable approach favors the incumbent by virtue of its ranking of past performance as the most important criteria for award.

Will the government be utilizing the same method on SASS II?

Evaluation details for proposals will be documented in the

SASS II DRFP & FRFP.

19 Are there any evaluation criteria to evaluate the proposal? If so, can we get an overview of those criteria?

See response #18.

20 What is the current expected contract value for this action?

The procurement strategy for this activity has not yet been approved and thus the total estimated value has not been determined at this time. This information will be provided in the DRFP.

21 What's the contract size for the acquisition?

See response #20.

22 What is the anticipated dollar value of this opportunity?

See response #20.

23 Have there been any Best Value Trade off considerations made at this time?

See response #20.

24 Is this going to be using any specific GSA contract vehicle or is this going to be competitive on

SAM?

See response #20.

25 What's the likelihood of utilizing GSA as the acquisition strategy?

See response #20.

26 Historically predecessor contract has the options for fixed priced task orders, will NASA still consider at as an option?

See response #20

27 Have you made a determination on what type of socio-economic set-aside this contract will be?

The Procurement Strategy has not been approved at this time.

The SASS II DRFP and FRFP will provide additional details on set-aside considerations.

28 Will this opportunity be set aside for small businesses, or is it open to large businesses as well?

See response #27.

29 Is there any potential full and open competition for this acquisition?

See response #27.

30 Will this acquisition be small business set aside?

See response #27.

31 Is the Government open to concepts and/or tool sets that may not be a part of the current portfolio of software or simulations used by NASA today?

The Government will specify the software development tool sets/concepts required within the DRFP and FRFP. If desired, the offeror may propose alternative tool sets in addition to the tool/sets specified by the SASS II RFP that meet SASS II RFP requirements.

32 Can a potential offeror propose products that a potential offeror used with other labs to demonstrate the potential offeror’s experience to

NASA?

See response #18 and #31.

33 Will there be a consideration to bring a new tool set for different development, if there was a better toolset? Will the government be open to hear new capability for better outcome?

See response #18 and #31.

34 How does SASS II contract compare to Intelligent Robotic and Control System Services III?

The current SASS contract is specialized in the areas of software and simulation. The SASS II follow on is expected to be the same. IRCSS III specializes in the areas of robotics and project support.

35 Given that the current contract is a CPFF contract type, if this follow-on is also a cost-type contract, will the company be required to have an approved DCMA accounting system?

Evaluation details for proposals will be documented in the SASS II Draft & Final RFP.

Please note that FAR 16.301-3, “Cost-Reimbursable Contracts, Limitations”, requires that a contractor's accounting system be adequate for determining costs applicable to the contract prior to the award of a cost-reimbursement contract. Therefore, for Cost-Reimbursable Contracts with the federal government, an Offeror shall indicate whether they have, or do not have, an accounting system that has been determined to be adequate by the Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA), NASA, or other Governmental Agency. The Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA) is not used for accounting system adequacy.

36 Will JETS II contractor be an Organizational Conflict of Interest (OCI) issue with SASS II contract?

The potential offeror will be responsible for identifying potential OCI issues in response to the SASS II RFP, when posted.

37 Can we contact other companies on the interested parties list directly?

Yes, the IPL is posted on the SASS II website at https://www.nasa.gov/johnson/jsc-procurement/sass2/.

38 Will there be a Technical Library?

Yes. Details of contract requirements will be posted to sam.gov and the SASS II acquisition website:

https://www.nasa.gov/johnson/jsc-procurement/sass2/.

39 Will this be a single award or multiple award IDIQ contract?

The SASS II procurement strategy has not been approved at this time.

40 Has consideration been given to a T&M contract type?

See response #39.

41 Have you considered what kind of contracting approach you plan to have other than cost plus for SASS II? Single award, multiple award?

See response #39.

42 How you expect the acquisition process be different from five years ago?

See response #39.

43 What's the type of contract NASA is considering?

See response #39.

44 What's the advantage and disadvantage to use a cost-plus contract for SASS II?

See response #39.

45 What is the estimated number of full-time equivalents (FTEs) required for this opportunity?

The Government is still working on the overall procurement strategy. However, the Government anticipates that it will take approximately 75-85 work-year equivalent (WYE) over the course of each contract year to meet the Government anticipated requirements. DRFP and FRFP requirements will be posted to sam.gov and the SASS II acquisition website:

https://www.nasa.gov/johnson/jsc-procurement/sass2/.

46 Could you provide any additional details about the acquisition strategy?

Are there specific phases or stages in the procurement process that we should be aware of?

See response #45.

47 Can you please provide the acquisition timeline? Proposal submission?

Evaluation period?

Anticipated award dates?

The Government is not yet prepared to release a detailed procurement schedule for the SASS II procurement. The procurement schedule will be released and can be accessed at https://www.nasa.gov/johnson/jsc-procurement/sass2/.

48 What are the typical timelines for completion of projects or TOs expected within SASS II, based on the solicitation or similar past contracts?

Timelines for completion of projects will be specified in TOs.

Timelines could vary based on the complexity and specific task requirements.

49 Are there any changes to the current SASS contract with regards to scope or objectives in this new iteration?

Yes, the details are defined in the industry day charts, located at https://sam.gov/opp/c4a8f245284744ceb3e262477bae4442/vie

w. The changes are primarily in the areas of surface and simulation operation, as well as greater focus on the artificial intelligence and machine learning applications.

50 When looking at the overall scope of SASS, it looks similar to other JSC contracts such as

SST, JETS, RPOC,

etc. As it relates to the SASS scope specifically, what are some of the key differences and focuses that separates this contract from others?

See response #49.

51 What general KPIs and performance measures are typically used for contracts like SASS, and do you anticipate any changes in SASS

II?

The Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System (CPARS) is used for SASS contract evaluation. Management, quality, schedule, cost performance, and compliance are evaluated. We expect the same evaluation for SASS II contract.

52 What are the common challenges that NASA face when putting out SASS II? Are there any best practices to resolve those challenges?

A potential challenge is to ensure the messages are communicated clearly communication about the procurement process is clear to the industry. To mitigate that, the potential offerors should follow the instructions as specified on sam.gov.

53 Are there any lessons learned for

OCI?

The OCI plan is designed to prevent and mitigate any potential offeror OCI issues. Compliance is the key. Potential offerors can find additional OCI information at https://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/procurement/regs/guides/OCI_ Guide.pdf.

54 Are there any specific compliance/best practices listed in

FAR/NFS (NASA

FAR Supplement) that the public should be particular mindful?

Any necessary FAR/NFS will be listed in the RFP.

55 Based on previous contracts, what are some lessons learned that you can share to help new contractors like us succeed?

It is particularly important to follow the instructions specified in the RFP.

[End of Industry Day / One-on-One’s Questions and Answers]