Amendment_0001.pdf

NSN 7540-01-152-8070 STANDARD FORM 30. (Rev. 10-83) Previous Edition unusable Prescribed by GSA FAR (48 CFR) 53.243

Page of Pages AMENDMENT OF SOLICITATION/MODIFICATION OF CONTRACT 1. Contract ID Code

2. AMENDMENT MODIFICATION NO. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE 4. REQUISITION/PURCHASE REQ. NO. 5. PROJECT NO. (if applicable)

6. ISSUED BY CODE 7. ADMINISTERED BY (If other than item 6) CODE

(x) 9A. AMENDMENT OF SOLICITATION NO.

9B. DATED (SEE ITEM 11)

10A. MODIFICATION OF CONTRACT/ORDER NO.

8. NAME AND ADDRESS OF CONTRACTOR (NO., Street, Country, State and ZIP Code)

CODE FACILITY CODE

10B. DATED (SEE ITEM 13)

11. THIS ITEM ONLY APPLIES TO AMENDMENTS OF SOLICITATIONS

The above numbered solicitation is amended as set forth in item 14. The hour and date specified for receipt of offers is extended, is not extended.

Offers must acknowledge receipt of this amendment prior to the hour and date specified in the solicitation or as amended, by one of the following methods:

(a) By completing items 8 and 15, and returning ______ copies of amendment; (b) By acknowledging receipt of this amendment on each copy of the offer submitted;

or (c) By separate letter or telegram which includes a reference to the solicitation and amendment numbers. FAILURE OF YOUR ACKNOWLEDGMENT TO BE RECEIVED AT THE PLACE DESIGNATED FOR THE RECEIPT OR OFFERS PRIOR TO THE HOUR AND DATE SPECIFIED MAY RESULT IN REJECTION OF YOUR OFFER. If by virtue of this amendment your desire to change an offer already submitted, such change may be made by telegram or letter, provided each telegram or letter makes reference to the solicitation and this amendment, and is received prior to the opening hour and date specified.

12. ACCOUNTING AND APPROPRIATION DATA (If required)

13. THIS ITEM ONLY APPLIES TO MODIFICATION OF CONTRACTS/ORDERS. IT MODIFIES THE CONTRACT/ORDER NO. AS DESCRIBED IN ITEM 14.

Check One

A. THIS CHANGE ORDER IS ISSUED PURSUANT TO: (Specify authority) THE CHANGES SET FORTH IN ITEM 14 ARE MADE IN THE

CONTRACT ORDER NO. IN ITEM 10A.

B. THE ABOVE NUMBERED CONTRACT/ORDER IS MODIFIED TO REFLECT THE ADMINISTRATIVE CHANGES (such as changes in paying office, appropriation date, etc) SET FORTH IN ITEM 14, PURSUANT TO THE AUTHORITY OF FAR 43.103(b).

C. THIS SUPPLEMENTAL AGREEMENT IS ENTERED INTO PURSUANT TO AUTHORITY OF:

D. OTHER (Specify type of modification and authority)

E. IMPORTANT: Contractor is not, is required to sign this document and return _______ copies to the issuing office.

14. DESCRIPTION OF AMENDMENT/MODIFICATION (Organized by UCF section headings, including solicitation/contract subject matter where feasible)

Except as provided herein, all terms and conditions of the document referenced in item 9A or 10A, as heretofore changed, remains unchanged and in full force and effect.

15A. NAME AND TITLE OF SIGNER (Type or print)

16A. NAME AND TITLE OF CONTRACTING OFFICER (Type or print)

15B. CONTRACTOR/OFFEROR 16B. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

(Signature of person authorized to sign)

15C. DATE SIGNED

(Signature of Contracting Officer)

16C. DATE SIGNED

Continuation Page

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Continued from Block 14...

had not finalized its new numbering system prior to the release of this solicitation.

Attachment Page

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Responses to Q&A

1. Does Department of Education intend to keep incumbent personnel?

Answer: The Department is going to review all proposed personnel against the evaluation criteria to determine the best outcome for this requirement.

2. Who is the incumbent contractor, what is the contract number to look up in FPDS.gov?

Answer: The FBO notices states that this is a re-compete of ED-CIO-13-C-0052. The incumbent is Global

Tech Inc. d/b/a eGlobalTech.

3. Is the current Incumbent eligible to re-compete for this contract?

Answer: According to SAM.gov, the incumbent has graduated from the 8a program.

4. We see these resources are key personnel to be proposed at a minimum: Project Manager, an Enterprise

Architect, and CPIC Analyst. What are all the other specific labor categories the agency is expecting to be proposed for this solicitation?

Answer: The Department expects the offeror to determine any additional labor categories.

5. How many resources are working on the current contract with incumbent?

Answer: Seven (7)

6. What are the specific technical skills (specific tools and technologies) required for Enterprise Architect?

Answer: The department expects the contractor to provide a skilled architect with the necessary skills to help build and maintain an enterprise architecture which informs, supports, and links technologies to business goals and objectives of the Department. The person should be versed in OMB Circulars A-11, A-

127, and A-123 etc. The Department currently working on obtaining an EA tool, and architects should have familiarity using an array of tools to build and support the architectural efforts.

7. Can the Government please clarify whether Task 1.13 requires building a new database from scratch, or if a database already exists?

Answer: The Database already exists. The vendor will be expected to maintain and expand the database as appropriate.

8. What is the historical volume of helpdesk calls received for Task 2.7?

Answer: Up to 6-7 calls/emails a day and maybe double that during annual Submission and peak reporting times.

9. Page 37 and 41 show that Task 2 is called Capital Planning and Task 3 is Acquisition Management. What is the category name for Task 1?

Answer: IT Investment and Portfolio Management

10. Is the EA/CPIC repository under Task 4.11 the same as the EA repository under Task 4.2 as well as the

ITPS data repository under Task 1.8?

Answer: The current repositories are all maintained within SharePoint.

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11. Page 46 states “refer to the attached Outcomes Table, Section 3.3”. Please confirm that Section 3.3 should be the Schedule of Deliverables on page 47.

Answer: Yes

12. Can the font size for headers and footers be smaller than size 12?

Answer: Yes, font size for headers and footers can be size 10.

13. Can the Government confirm that responses are to be double spaced?

Answer: Yes, please read the underlined portion on page 73.

14. Technical proposal description is missing item number 5 on page 74, please confirm whether this item will be added to the solicitation.

Answer: The numbering is off, but no sections are missing. We will revise the numbering.

15. Are the technical evaluation factors listed on page 80 listed in descending order of importance?

Answer: Yes, please see the revisions.

16. What are the relative weights for the technical evaluation factors listed on page 80?

Answer: Please see revisions.

17. Page 37 states “the contractor shall provide administrative assistance to the Chief, IAM and the IAM

Team”. What is the difference between IAM and IAM Team? And does Chief mean the chief of IAMT?

Answer: They are one and the same and yes.

18. (Page 76) As this is an 8(a) SDB set aside, will the government consider making monthly payments to the contractor based on monthly invoice submissions and not on payment tied to milestones? (Tying payment to milestones will put undue pressure of legitimately small 8(a) firms).

Answer: The Department will not accept payments based on the passage of time, but payments may be tied to submission of monthly reports.

19. (Page 75) Is the price build up table depicted on page 75, the table to be used for pricing?

Answer: This is just an example of the information that the Department needs to see, but the offeror may use any format.

20. What project management system and schedule management system is currently being used by the

Department of Education?

Answer: Microsoft Project

21. (Page 74, Management Plan): Given that this is a Firm Fixed Price contract, why is the government requiring the contractor to provide the requisite job position and employee name? The contractor is being hired to provide ITIM, EA, Investment Management, CPIC and overall program/project management, then why is the government seeking information that “proposed personnel are overextended?” It is the contractor’s job to provide program and project management, hence will the government consider removing this requirement from the solicitation?

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Answer: The Department is only trying to determine if the proposed Key Personnel are overextended.

22. (Page 75, Price buildup): Why is the government requesting identification of labor categories by named individuals? As this is a FFP contract, the government should be focused on the bottom line and total cost.

Request for labor categories is reasonable but the need for named individuals and information at the sub task level is not and request that this requirement be removed from the solicitation. Will the government consider removing this from the solicitation?

Answer: Only the key personnel need to be named. The Department will revise to the task level instead of subtask level.

23. (Page 76, Other Details): “If subcontractors are proposed, a separate price buildup (by task) should be submitted for each proposed subcontractor.” As this is a FFP contract, why do we need to submit subcontractor price build up? Only the prime contractor price build up should be required by the government as the prime will manage its subcontractor (and could potentially replace it’s subcontractor). Will the government consider removing this requirement from the solicitation?

Answer: Because this is an 8a set aside, the Department needs to determine that the Prime is doing 50% of the work. We cannot make this determination without seeing how much work is being subcontracted.

FAR 52.219-14

24. (Page 76, Conflict of Interest). The contractor is required to submit a Conflict of Interest certificate, which is needed; if the contractor has no current work at the Department of Education and notes in the proposal that it will not accept future work during the performance of this contract, will the contractor still have to submit a

Conflict of Interest Plan? Doesn’t the requirement for a Conflict Interest Certificate negate the need for a conflict of interest plan? If this still required, will the government consider requiring the Conflict of Interest

Plan to be submitted 60 days after contract award?

Answer: The Department would like to see how the offeror will identify and mitigate conflicts if they were to arise. A conflict of interest plan is required and will be evaluated as part of the business proposal.

25. (Page 74) Key Personnel: The requirement for 3 of 5 CFTE staff as key personnel or 60% (Or even 3 of 10

CFTE, 30%) seems excessive. For a small proposal project like this, will the government consider only requiring the PMI Certified PMP Project Manager to be the designated key personnel? This will also allow flexibility for the winning contractor to potentially offer jobs to incumbent contractor staff and thereby further minimize risk to the government and maximize a seamless transition.

Answer: Since the majority of the work is centered around project management work, providing guidance to program offices in project management, and preparing project management best practices, including documents, I don’t think this is unreasonable and is acceptable.

26. (Page 33) Please clarify, what is meant by, “The vendor will be expected to identify back-up support personnel to ensure coverage in the event that planned vacation or sick leave for key personnel is identified.”

If a contractor is sick for two days, does the government expect a replacement will be fielded by the prime contractor for the two days? If a contractor takes a one week vacation, does the government expect a replacement will be fielded by the prime contractor for that week, when the government is not paying for the vacation? If the government is only paying for a full year support (1,880 or 1,920 hours) then why does it expect the prime contractor to provide support when employees take vacation or are sick? Will the government consider removing this from the solicitation? If not, how will the government compensate the contracting firm?

Answer: Yes this will be removed.

27. Given that the requirements don’t seem to be well defined insofar that historically this work has been done with 5 to 10 CFTE; will the government consider making this a Labor Hour or Time & Material contract?

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Making this a LH or T&M contract will provide the government with greater flexibility and minimize risk both to the government and contractor.

Answer: No

28. (Page 70) How long is the Department of Education’s Security Clearance Process take? What are the personnel security requirements for contract staff?

Answer: The process can take up to 2 weeks, depending on how quickly the security paperwork (eQIP) can be returned to the Department for processing.

29. (Page 70) Currently, what it the average time to pass security and get an Entry on Duty date? How will this impact the three week transition?

Answer: The process can take up to 2 weeks, depending on quickly the security paperwork (eQIP) can be returned to the Department for processing. The sooner the individuals are identified, the quicker the documentation can be submitted and the process started.

30. Will the government consider an extension for proposal submission until November 3, 2017?

31. Page 11 - Can the Government clarify the differences between SharePoint skill levels and use of SharePoint described in Tasks 2.4 (The contractor shall provide 1st Tier help desk support to Education’s epic and

SharePoint users.), and 3.1 (Developing guidance and procedures on the acquisition review process using

Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Microsoft Excel, and other tools compatible with the ED environment to be posted on SharePoint), and the requirement for “developer level” support listed in the Schedule of

Deliverables for these two tasks? The task activities are not consistent with a requirement for developer-level skills. Does the Government mean “administrator skills”?

Answer: SharePoint is the main repository for all documents and workflows. The skill level should be sufficient to maintain the current workflow processes and any new workflows that may need to be developed or created.

32. Schedule of Deliverables - These sections include wording in the column Acceptable Quality Level (AQL) with performance metrics of “no complaints”. “No complaints from customers on level of service.” and

“with no complaints about delivery or content”, for example. Can the Government explain its process to validate complaints and provide the resolution method the Contractor has available to close a complaint? Are all level of complaints from minor to major included in this measure? What qualifies as a complaint? As written, even minor complaints could delay payment for performing the work. The Quality Level is not measurable except from a perspective of yes/no was there a complaint.

Answer: A complaint is determined by the nature of the issue within the vendor’s control (i.e. courtesy, responsiveness, timeliness, knowledge, etc.) The Government uses a variety of input methods from customers in determining a complaint. The desired quality level is “no complaints”, major or minor.

33. Page 73 - Can the government provide the current annual schedule for activities and deliverables under

Tasks 1-4?

Answer: Although the PWS spells out each task, it is up to the offeror to propose the most effective method for carrying out the tasks and the most feasible timeline and dates for all key activities.

34. Page 73 - Can the government provide the OCIO’s annual ITIM process and schedule of reviews, deliverables, and reports in order that offeror’s may align their schedule with the government’s processes?

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Answer: Although the PWS spells out each task, it is up to the offeror to propose the most effective method for carrying out the tasks and the most feasible timeline and dates for all key activities.

35. Page 74 - Can the government clarify the intent and expectation with regards to why authors of proposal sections are to be included in the table of contents?

Answer: The Department wants to determine that the people who will actually be doing the work wrote the proposal and not just an outside hired proposal writer.

36. Page 39 - Bullet 2 under the “Control Phase” activities requires, “Assisting project managers by performing similar duties as the IAMT Liaison.” Can the government provide a description of the duties of the IAMT

Liaison?

Answer: IAMT Liaisons are government personnel who facilitate the IT governance process by supporting Project Managers and IT Investment owners in all facets of CPIC, Budget and IT Governance required by Legislation, Department or OMB policies.

37. Page 40 - The paragraph starting “The ITIM Branch Chief supports the Department’s IT governance process…” Does not state any requirements for the contractor. Can the government clarify the purpose of this paragraph and the responsibilities of the contractor vs. ITIM Branch Chief?

Answer: This paragraph provides context for IT governance functions.

38. Page 80 - Bullet two states the government will evaluate “the extent to which the offeror demonstrates expertise” with eCPIC. Please clarify that the government will consider the offeror’s expertise and experience with additional CPIC tools as well as eCPIC.

Answer: The government will consider the offeror’s expertise and experience with additional CPIC tools, however eCPIC is the tool used at the department.

39. Section L.6 of the RFP (Page 74) under Item #1, Table of Content states: “Authors of each section of the technical proposal shall be identified clearly in the Table of Contents.” In case of team effort, author of each section is the team. Do we state “Team X” as author?

Answer: That is acceptable or you can list all of the individuals’ names.

40. How many past performances are required? What is the page limit? How old the past performance can be?

Answer: Past Performance is included in the overall page limit. The Department would prefer at least three within the past 5 years.

41. If past performance is not in PPRIS, is Past Performance questionnaire from customer required? If yes, would the government provide a template?

Answer: No, you can provide a contact number in your past performance section of the proposal.

42. Section L.6 of the RFP (Page 74) lists Sections 1 through 7 of Volume 1, Technical Proposal. However, Section #5 is missing.

Answer: Please see the response to number 14 above.

43. Section L.6 of the RFP (Page 74), Section 4 – Key Personnel states, “offeror should indicate non-personnel resources, if any, to be applied to each task.” Please provide examples of such non-personnel resources.

Answer: Website, subscription services, etc.

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44. Are resumes required for all proposed personnel or only Key Personnel?

Answer: Only Key Personnel

45. Are Letters of Commitment required for all personnel or only Key Personnel?

46. Is there any template for commitment letters?

Answer: There is no required template. The Department needs to see the name of the offering company and the signature of the person committing to work for the offeror company.

47. Does the historic FTE range of 5-10 include the Task 3: Acquisition Management?

48. Under the section 6. Management Plan, it is mentioned, “The offeror shall include a chart that shows staff mix and staff hours by task and sub-task. The chart shall indicate both job position and employee name. The chart shall indicate which company each employee works for, and if the proposed person is not currently employed with that company, the chart should indicate that the person is a contingency hire.” Do we need to provide the employee or consultant names only for the position that are identified as key personnel or we should provide it for all resources?

49. How many past performances are needed to be submitted? And how many of them should come from Prime?

Answer – At a minimum at least three should come from the Prime. The Department will only have privity of contract with the prime, so we will only review past performance for the prime.

50. Would individual key personnel’s experience would be considered for past performance?

Answer – No

51. Having past performance at Department of Education would be considered as an added advantage during the evaluation of past performance of the offeror? In other words, would the incumbent’s past performance be rated high as they have Department of Education’s past performance?

Answer – The incumbent is not eligible to bid.

52. If some key personnel have the experience with Department of Education, would that be rated high in the evaluation of key personnel?

Answer – Depends on how that person performed and the type of work that they did.

53. We cannot find Conflict of Interest Certificate in the solicitation. Would you provide one?

Answer: Page 68 - K. 2 3452.209-70 CONFLICT OF INTEREST CERTIFICATION (MAY 2011)

54. Do we need to provide the cost build up from sub task level as oppose to the main task level? For example, should we show the cost for sub tasks such as Task 4.1, Task 4.2., etc., as oppose to Task 4? Is that granular level cost detail expected?

Answer: The Department will revise to require a build-up only at the main task level.

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55. Who is the incumbent for all these four tasks? If there are multiple incumbents, could you name them?

Answer: Please see the response to number 2 above.

56. Would the incumbent for Acquisition Management task or any other task be not able to compete because of the OCI situation?

Answer: It could be considered a conflict. The Department would have to review the proposed conflict of interest plan to determine what conflicts are identified and how they can be mitigated.

57. Can the offeror propose a different tool to replace System Architect?

58. Page 49. Deliverables Table 1.11. Is the expectation from the contractor to submit an updated ED IT

Strategic Plan or update of the IT Strategic Planning Process?

Answer: Yes to update ED IT Strategic Plan and process improvement is highly encouraged.

59. Task 1.8: Will the contractor have to manage the technical aspects of Microsoft SharePoint, the IBM System

Architect tools, eCPIC and the Budget Formulation Database? Does the contractor need to provide full-time help desk support for these databases?

Answer: The vendor is not expected to maintain technical aspects of these tools. They will be expected to provide tier 1 help desk support for eCPIC.

60. Under Schedule of Deliverables, Section 1.13 states “Access to an industry- leading database containing up-to-date research papers on topics relevant to the ED/ITIM Program.” Please clarify what is considered as

“industry leading database.” Also, if there is a subscription to such service, do we include those as ODC in our price proposal?

Answer: Gartner and Forrester are examples and the subscription is an ODC.

61. Please provide the historical staffing levels per task area.

Answer: Task 1 – 3 to 4; Task 2 – 3; Task 3 – 3; Task 4 – 2 to 3. All team members assist in other areas as needed.

62. Page 30 -The current bullet reads “The development and implementation of applicable IT policies, plans and procedures, e.g. Investment Management, Information Resource Management and Planning & Acquisition

Lifecycle Management policies processes and guidance used to ”. What is the rest of this sentence? Also, does IT policies, plan, and procedures include DFARS, NIST, NERC, FERC, FedRAMP, ISO, playbooks, run books, engineering diagrams, SOP’s, LOI’s and ISSAs?

Answer: The sentence should read “The development and implementation of applicable IT polices, plans and procedures, e.g. Investment Management, Information Resource Management and Planning &

Acquisition Lifecycle Management policies, processes and guidance used to support ITIM processes.” The

PWS will be changed to reflect this.

63. Page 32 - How many DoED Program Managers are supporting the current portfolio of approximately 140 major and non-major investments? Also, will the Program Manager be responsible for collaborate with entries (i.e., government and commercial service providers) outside DoED?

Answer: Each investment has a PM assigned to it.

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64. Page 33 - How many onsite workspaces will the Government provide for support to this contract.

Answer: Space will be provided for each individual assigned to the contract.

65. Page 35 - Does the out-going contractor have a transition-out plan?

66. Page 35 - Is the Offeror expected to provide the 3-week Transition-In plan as part of the 40-page Technical

Proposal

Answer: Yes, the transition plan/report within three weeks of contact award.

67. Page 35 - What version of SharePoint is used to host the current ITPS database?

Answer: SharePoint 2013

68. Page 36 - What application holds the current e-library of vendor-supplied marketing materials?

Answer: SharePoint

69. Page 36 - Historically, how often are training sessions held? How many attendees? What locations are the training sessions held?

Answer: At least quarterly via WebEx averaging 65 attendees in the DC metro area.

70. Page 40 - Is the Offeror expected to implement a new Help Desk Tier I capability or replace an existing capability?

Answer: No, the capability currently exists

71. Page 42 - The Government indicates “the contractor’s task lead shall be the primary interface with the ED

Project Manager or COR”. This implies the Task 4 Lead is also the Offeror’s Project Manager; however, Section L.4 (Key Personnel) specifies that at a minimum, the Offeror is expected to propose a Project

Manager, an Enterprise Architect, and a labor category to serve as a CPIC Analyst as Key Personnel.

Traditionally, the Project Manager is the primary interface to the COR. Please clarify.

Answer: The Project Manager is the primary interface to the COR.

72. Page 46 - Please provide PWS Section 3.3 (Outcomes Table)

Answer: Task 3 Acquisition Management, lists 1 task (3.1). In the Outcomes table, there is listed 3.1

Acquisition Management Review and Tracking, there is no PWS Section 3.3. Section 3.3 will be removed.

73. Page 47 - AQL includes the following statements: “Transition successfully completed within three calendar weeks after award.” And “Transition report with no errors reflecting 100% of client objectives documenting transition and indicating successful transition within four calendar weeks after award.” Is the transition period 3 weeks or 4 weeks? Please clarify.

Answer: Transition completed within 3 weeks after award and then a Transition report to follow 1 week later.

74. Page 47 - Is the offeror required to submit a transition plan? If so, what is the form and format requirements?

When is it to be submitted?

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Answer: The transition plan/report within three weeks of contact award and has no preference to form and format.

75. Page 75 - If the offeror is only required to submit resumes for key personnel, please clarify if the offeror is required to name “all” proposed personnel at proposal submittal vice accounting for all labor categories and

FTE.

Answer: Only key personnel need to be named.

76. Page 73 Does the Letter of Commitment need to be double-space?

Answer: The Department has no preference as this does not count towards the page limit.

77. Will the contractor be required to develop NEW system and performance metrics or required to enhance current metrics? If so, what analytics tools are currently being used?

Answer: Yes.

78. Are there current IT, Cyber Security, and GRC projects inflight, or will the contract be required to develop new projects and roadmaps based on current or future projects or initiatives.

Answer: Both

79. Does DoED have a mature Cyber Security Program? If so, does it include infrastructure, security parameters, plans, policies, procedures, SOC ops and a solid Incident Response Program?

80. Will the EA work closely with the CIO, CTO and CISO to develop and enhance current and future technology?

81. Does DoED intent to deploy new SIEM, NIDS, and other cyber security applications? If so, will legacy systems be required to be decommissioned?

Answer: This is outside the scope of this contract.

82. Does DoED own and manage its own data center?

83. Is DoED scheduled to develop or enhance their current Prod, DR or Lab environments?

Answer: N/A

84. Does DoED operate out of one enterprise or does it have outliers?

Answer: There is only has one enterprise for the Department.

85. Is the DoED CIO the single point of contact for all IT, Cyber Security, and GRC operations?

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86. The SF 33 states a sealed offer and 1 copy should be provided, which seems to indicate printed versions. However, page 77 of the solicitation states offers are to be emailed. Please clarify whether the Government requires printed versions or email submissions.

Answer: Email only.

87. Section L.6 on page 73 of the solicitation states technical proposals are limited to “40 double-spaced 8.5 x 11 inch pages”. Double spacing effectively limits the proposal to roughly 20 pages.

Given the technical proposal requires an introduction, a technical approach response that requires consideration of over 30 written sub-tasks, a discussion on key personnel, a management plan and past performance all included within page limitations, we request the Government remove the requirement for double spacing and increase the page limitation to 50 pages.

Answer: No, the Department expects the responses to be concise and to the point.

88. Please provide at least a 1-week extension to the due date/time for proposals.

Answer: The Department cannot provide an extension.

89. Will the government consider an extension of the submission date from the stated date of 23

October 2017?

Answer: The Department cannot provide an extension.

90. How will the contractor support the Department's TBM and FITARA implementations?

Answer: The Contractor will be responsible for providing support of both efforts in the context of those requirements to execute CPIC functions, to include Budget and project management activities.

91. Page 32 – Section 3 (Scope of Work): “The contractor is responsible for assisting with the capture and synthesis of all investment and acquisition data in authoritative repositories (to include the use of SharePoint and eCPIC tools.” Is the contractor ultimately responsible for the quality of data captured? Is data quality a performance measure?

Answer: The contractor is responsible for the quality of data used to conduct routine analysis. Ultimately the department is responsible for the quality of the data provided in repositories. However, the contractor and IAMT staff is responsible for evaluating the data and identifying and facilitating the correction of data discrepancies/deficiencies.

92. Page 32 – Section 3 (Scope of Work): How many ITIM personnel are involved and across how many organizations? Is there a RACI chart that describes roles and responsibilities for each group?

Answer: Currently there are 5 ITIM Liaisons responsible for the 141 investments.

93. Page 33 – Section 7 (Objective): Would the government consider providing a copy of the ITIM

Guide (OCIO 3-108)?

Answer: Yes please see attached.

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94. Page 35 – Task 1.3: Will these weekly meetings go on for the duration of the contract? What level of personnel participate in these meetings? Will the contractor be expected to lead the meetings and prepare material prior to the meetings?

Answer: Depends on the type of meeting. Yes.

95. Page 36 – Task 1.9: How will the contractor be notified of an unsolicited vendor inquiry?

Answer: The COR will forward along any inquires via email or phone call.

96. Page 36 – Task 1.12: Is it the intent of the Department to provide support to ensure Information Assurance and IT Operations teams work with the contractor?

97. Page 36 – Task 1.13: Does the government prefer for the costs for this research be billed separately as ODC or prefer these costs to be included in the Fixed Price bid.

Answer: Included in the Fixed Price bid.

98. Page 36 – Task 1.14: Is there a transition out plan for the current contract? If yes, can that be provided?

Answer: The vendor will be preparing a transition out plan, but it not available yet.

99. Page 37 – IT Investment Management: Is it expected that the contractor will perform these tasks without participation from IT Operations?

100. Page 40 – Task 2.6: This task speaks to Major Business Cases only. Is there routine reporting required for non-Major Business Cases and Investments?

Answer: Yes, quarterly

101. Page 40 – Task 2.8: Do processes for this exist now and if so, can they be provided?

Answer: Yes, process exists, but no it will not be provided.

102. Page 41 – Task 2.8: Would the government consider providing the expected roles for these entities, specifically the IMB and ITIM Branch Chief?

103. Page 42 – Task 4.1: Regarding ‘the CPIC business case’ – is this one of the ~141 investments or is this a generic reference to all business cases?

Answer: All business cases.

104. Page 42 – Task 4.2: Regarding the ED EA PMP – Is there a current version of this plan and if so, can it be provided?

105. Page 48 – 1.3 AQL: Would the government consider a language change to state: “100% required team member attendance – as defined by the government lead – for weekly meetings and strategy sessions”?

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106. Page 48 – 1.7 AQL: Would the government consider adding language to the effect that ‘the government lead will provide notification during meeting planning/prep if meeting minutes are required’?

Answer: No.

107. Page 52 – 3.1 AQL: Would the government explain the factors that will be evaluated with respect to ‘no complaints from customers on level of service’?

Answer: This is related to Q32 and includes phone calls, emails and/or face-to-face contacts from customers indicating complaints.

108. How many pieces of Past Performance references do we need to submit?

Answer: Please see the response to number 49 above.

109. Has the CMMI requirement been eliminated?

110. The PWS states that this effort has been supported by a range of 5-10 FTEs. How many FTEs are supporting the contract currently?

Answer: Seven contractor staff

111. Is there currently a version of the EA PMP?

112. Are there previous versions of the ED Roadmap that have been maintained by other contractors?

113. What EA tools does the government currently use to facilitate business process modeling? (ex. Troux)

Answer: None.

114. Are their groups/forums (ex. ARB) that govern and review architecture related items?

115. Is SharePoint used to disseminate architecture related information to the user base?

116. Task 4.5, pg. 14-15: Technology Architecture and Service Component Architecture are terms with extremely broad interpretation. The list in this section only indicates that the contractor will "assist", however, there are lots of details to be worked out here. What specifically does assist mean?

Answer: Assist means the contractor is not solely responsible for producing the artifact.

117. Table of Deliverables: The most critical thing with all the EA deliverables is "approval". What constitutes "approval"?

Answer: The Chief Enterprise Architect’s acceptance of a deliverable constitutes approval.

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118. Task 2.3, pg. 9 - Pre-Select Phase: The importance of including EA is not entirely clear (please clarify) but it at least requires staff capable of reading and interpreting EA guiding artifacts?

119. Regarding the SharePoint Environment: Does the Department have SharePoint App Model configured?

120. Regarding the SharePoint Environment: Is the Department able to use O365 for their SharePoint solutions?

Answer: Yes. We currently have SharePoint 2013, on –premise and O365. It is possible at this time to co-develop on both platforms, but the support structure differs between the two.

121. Can the Government provide a detailed description of the roles and responsibilities of the governance groups involved in the CPIC process today?”

122. Will the Government consider an extension of the submission due date to 10:00AM November 6, 2017 to allow for time to receive answers to questions and incorporate them into the response?

Answer: No, the technical evaluation panel dates have already been scheduled and cannot be changed.

123. What is the current contract value, since the inception?

Answer: The current contract value is $7,774,010.45.

124. When was the last Enterprise Architect (EA) & Application portfolio baseline performed?

Answer: March 2017

125. RFQ Page 27, I. 22 3452.239-72 Department Security Requirements (May 2011): The Government states, “(b) The following are the contractor employee positions required under this contract and their designated risk levels: High Risk (HR): All positions 6c, Moderate Risk (MR): Low Risk (LR):” The risk level is provided, can the Government also provide the list of contractor employee positions required under this contract?

Answer: The offeror is free to propose the position in addition to those listed in the solicitation. All staff working on this contract will require 6c clearance.

126. RFQ Page 30, Introduction: The Government states, “ED’s IT portfolio currently consists of 31 major investments and approximately 110 non-major investments.” By what criteria is an investment labeled as

"Major" and are there any exceptions (if so, why)? Have the numbers of each type of investment changed over the last few years (if so, why)? Are the numbers anticipated to change over the next few years (if so, why)?

Answer: OMB sets the guidelines for major and non-major investment criteria; the Department uses those criteria to designate its mix of investments and they do not change often.

127. RFQ Page 32, Scope of Work: The Government states, “These functions include but are not limited to…

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maintaining SharePoint collection sites.” What version of SharePoint is currently operational? How many site collections must be maintained? How many sites within each site collection must be maintained?

Answer: The Department is currently using SharePoint 2013, see below table for build information. This contract would support approximately 6 subsites under the main OCIO site collection as well as two other site collections maintained under this contract (Acquisition management and data strategy). This could grow or decline based on mission requirement.

FSA SP Hosting Environments

Development Test Staging Production

SharePoint Major and Minor Version

SP 2013 Enterprise (SP2) - October 2015 CU

15.0.4551.1005

SP 2013 Enterprise (SP2) - October 2015

CU

15.0.4551.1005

SP 2013 Enterprise (SP2) - October 2015

CU

15.0.4551.1005

SP 2013 Enterprise (SP2) - October 2015 CU

15.0.4551.1005

SQL Server Major and Minor Version

SQL Server 2012 x64 Version # 11.0.6544

SQL Server 2012 x64 Version # 11.0.6544

SQL Server 2012 x64 Version # 11.0.6544

SQL Server 2012 x64 Version # 11.0.6544

Latest patches for SharePoint

October 2015 CU October 2015 CU October 2015 CU October 2015 CU

Latest patches for SQL

Service Pack 2 + Cumulative Update 5

Service Pack 2 + Cumulative Update 5

Service Pack 2 + Cumulative Update 5

Service Pack 2 + Cumulative Update 5

128. RFQ Page 33, Objective: The Government references, “See Attachments C and D to solicitation for directives, and other Federal laws, regulations, and guidance and Departmental guidance and directives mentioned in the Federal/ Departmental Laws and Guidance of this PWS.” Will the Government provide

Attachments C and D?

Answer: This is a list of references and resources are linked in the PWS

129. RFQ Page 34, IT Investment and Portfolio Management Background and Objectives: The Government states, “Align ED’s EA to the Federal Enterprise Architecture Framework (FEAF).” Does the Government currently employ an EA framework besides FEAF (if so, what)?

130. RFQ Page 39, Task 2.4: The Government states, “Enterprise Architecture provides an intermediate and longer-term enterprise business process and technology roadmap to…” Is moving to a hosted, cloud-based platform currently on the Government’s technology roadmap?

131. RFQ Page 39, Task 2.5: The Government states, “To measure the effectiveness and maturity of the ED’s

EA Program capabilities, the EA program requires an annual assessment of the ED EA program using the

Government Accounting Office (GAO) Enterprise Architecture Maturity Framework.” Based on the GAO’s

EA Maturity Framework, what level of maturity (stage 0 – stage 6) is ED’s EA program currently?

Answer: Stage 5

132. RFQ Page 40, Task 2.7: The Government states, “The Help Desk shall be manned one hour on either side of core business hours to ensure customers are responded to in a timely fashion. Help Desk is manned during peak hours and during monthly and annual submission to resolve errors quickly and accurately.”

Can the Government clarify the exact hours the Help Desk shall be manned during peak and non-peak times?

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Answer: 7:30 a.m. to 5:30p.m.

133. RFQ Page 41, Task 3.1: The Government states, “Acquisition documents are uploaded in a SharePoint application and routed through workflow to solicit proper and required IT language to be included. The use of SharePoint allows for collaboration between reviewers and submitters and to ensure IT is recorded properly in contracts and all IT is captured for proper reporting. The awardee will be responsible for updating, maintaining, and developing workflows; setting permissions; uploading documents; and acting as the system administrator for the site.” Can the Government specify if all the workflows required are manual or automated? Can the Government specify how many automated workflows are required to be updated and maintained? Are these workflows OOTB SharePoint workflows or Custom workflows developed using

SharePoint Designer? Will the contractor be allowed to use SharePoint Designer or another SharePoint workflow development tool (if so, please clarify)? Can the Government clarify what “system administrator” functions are required as it relates to SharePoint? How many users currently use the SharePoint sites that must be maintained and administered by the contractor?

Answer: SharePoint workflows for the IT review site are automated. There are less than 10; they are maintained with SharePoint designer, system administrator functions entail assigning users and privileges and roles.

134. RFQ Page 47, Schedule of Deliverables, 1.2: The Government states, “Transition successfully completed within three calendar weeks after award.” Can the Government specify the transition period from the incumbent contractor to the incoming vendor? Does the Government expect the offeror(s) to provide a transition approach and plan to minimize service disruption within the Management Plan section of the response (if so, is it part of the existing page count)? The Government doesn’t discuss anywhere about

Transition in the entire RFQ except in Schedule of Deliverables stating, “AQL – Transition Report with no errors reflecting 100% of client objectives documenting transition and indicating successful transition within four calendar weeks after the award.” Can the Government clarify and provide more detailed information on the “Transition Approach and Plan” requirement? Can the Government define the criteria for a successful transition for level setting expectations?

Answer: The transition period is three weeks. The transition plan should be contained in the proposal.

A successful transition will result in the incoming contractor fully capable of operating all ITIM processes described in this solicitation.

135. RFQ Page 74, Table of Contents: The Government states, “Authors of each section of the technical proposal shall be identified clearly in the Table of Contents (not included in the page limit).” Can the

Government clarify who they determine to be an “Author”? If the offeror states who the proposal is prepared by on the Cover Page, will that satisfy this requirement?

Answer: No, please see the response to number 35 above.

136. RFQ Page 74, Key Personnel: The Government states, “In this section, the roles, responsibilities, and qualifications of key personnel performing tasks in the PWS, and include a list of all subcontractors and partners.” Can the Government specify the qualifications (years of experience, certification, and educational requirements) for each of the required identified key personnel (Project Manager, Enterprise

Architect, CPIC Analyst)?

Answer: See question 25 response.

137. RFQ Page 74, Key Personnel: The Government describes requirements for identifying

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“subcontractors,” “partners,” and “consultants.” Can the Government clarify the difference between these three entities to allow the offeror(s) to better understand the requirements and address them appropriately?

Answer: Subcontractors have a subcontracting agreement. Partners may include a teaming arrangement or joint vendor with another company. A consultant is someone who is not an employee of the prime or subcontractor but will be hired on an individual basis any may require a 1099.

138. RFQ Page 74, Key Personnel: The Government states, “As appropriate, the offeror should indicate non- personnel resources, if any, applied to each task.” Can the Government clarify what it means by

“non-personnel resources” and what level of detail is expected?

Answer: See response for question 38.

139. RFQ Page 74, Key Personnel: The Government states, “The proposed Project Manager should be PMP certified.” In lieu of a PMP, will the Government accept an individual with a Master’s Degree and 10 years of experience managing projects of similar size, scope, and complexity?

Answer: No, the project manager should have a PMP.

140. RFQ Page 74, Key Personnel, Appendix 1: The Government states, “Resumes shall be included for all key personnel for this order, including key personnel from subcontractors.” Are there any restrictions on the number of key personnel roles that can be performed by a subcontractor to remain compliant with FAR

52.219-14(c)(1)?

Answer: There are no restrictions on the number of key personnel from subcontractors but the prime must maintain at least 50% of the work.

141. RFQ Page 74, Key Personnel: The Government states, “For informational purposes only, this work has historically been completed by a range of 5-10 FTEs.” How many FTEs currently perform this work?

Answer: See the response to question 110.

142. RFQ Page 74, Management Plan: The Government states, “The offeror shall include a chart that shows staff mix and staff hours by task and sub-task. The chart shall indicate both job position and employee name. The chart shall indicate which company each employee works for, and if the proposed person is not currently employed with that company, the chart should indicate that the person is a contingency hire.” Can the Government clarify if a staffing plan that demonstrates sub-tasks, includes employee name, position, employment status, and company name is required for all personnel at the time of submission of proposal response? This requirement seems overly burdensome to offeror(s) and restrictive in nature. It is the contractor’s responsibility to manage their resources for timely delivery of final work products.

143. RFQ Page 74, Management Plan: The Government states, “The offeror shall include a chart that shows staff mix and staff hours by task and sub-task…” Can the Government provide a full and complete list of all tasks and sub-tasks (Task 1 is missing from the PWS) so offeror(s) can ensure all required tasks are addressed appropriately?

Answer: Task 1 should be written above Task 1.1. There is no text missing.

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144. RFQ Page 74, Past Performance: The Government states, “This section should describe the offeror’s relevant past and current experience in conducting projects of a similar or comparable nature.” Does the definition of “relevant” for prime contractors imply (size, scale, diversity of contracts, contract type, degree of subcontracting/teaming, and complexity) to minimize delivery risks? Can the Government clarify?

Answer: Relevant refers to similar types of work and subject matter expertise.

145. RFQ Page 74, Past Performance: Does the Government require, at minimum, one (1) relevant Past

Performance from the offeror performed as Prime Contractor, with a total contract value greater than $4 million to ensure that the vendor has the capacity and capability to provide the required services as a

Prime?

Answer: The Department would prefer at least three within the past 5 years.

146. RFQ Page 74, Past Performance: Does the Government plan to evaluate the offeror’s experience relevant to the scope of this procurement, as represented by prime contractor past performance conducted within three (3) years of the date of the solicitation to demonstrate the prime’s ability to perform the required support services as a Prime?

147. RFQ Page 74, Past Performance: Since this procurement is 8(a) Competitive, the prime contractor is responsible for performing minimum 51% of the work (51% of the total proposed price). Does the

Government require a minimum of two (2) relevant past performances from the prime contractor performed in the capacity of Prime, not necessarily as sub-contractor or Joint Venture? Please clarify.

Answer: See response to question 49.

148. RFQ Page 74, Past Performance: Does Government plan to assess the prime contractor and proposed sub- contractor’s relevant past performance individually or in conjunction to derive the offeror’s past performance evaluation? How many past performances are required for each?

Answer: See response to question 49.

149. RFQ Page 75, Past Performance: The Government states, “Why the effort is considered “successful.”

Does the Government require Contractor Performance Information Questionnaires to assess customer satisfaction and help quantify a definition of “success”?

150. RFQ Page 75, Price Buildup: The…