A10006Responses.doc

A10006 – Questions & Responses:

1. “Is this a new solicitation or a recompete?”

a. This is a re-compete.

2. “If recompete, who is site incumbent?”

a. InfoPro Incorporated is the incumbent contractor.

3. “If it is 8(A) set-a-side, are you planning on awarding it on schedule (GSA Schedule 70)?”

a. No

4. “If a company, that is currently 8A certified, but has 3 year average annual revenues of over $25Million, will that company qualify to participate in the competition and qualify for an award?”

a. No

5. “With regard to the subject pre-solicitation, is this a new or an ongoing requirement? If this is an existing effort, would you please tell me the name of the contractor performing the work?”

a. This is a re-compete and the incumbent is InfoPro Incorporated.

6. “Would you be able to give us information regarding the current incumbents executing these services for the Department?”

a. Please see response to number 5.

7. “Also, we are interested in knowing what kind of a software platform do the current applications reside on? And is there a scope in this proposal for introduction of new software development technologies?”

a. This information is included in the RFP and its attachments. Refer to the solicitation package. Please see Attachment 10.

8. “Will not having yet attained the 8-a status preclude me from being able to bid even though I am a minority woman who owns her a small business.”

a. Yes, this is set-aside for 8(a) vendors only.

9. “Is there an incumbent or is this a new opportunity?”

a. Please see response to number 5.

10. “If there is incumbent what is the current FTE model for this project?”

a. This information is not being released as the Government is looking for vendors to propose a solution that represents the best value to the Government.

11. “As per solicitation document page # 27, we need to provide consultants having secret clearance for this particular solicitation. Please let us know if we provide consultant having secret clearance than will Dept. of Treasury can hold secret clearance for the consultants.”

a. No, the Defense Security Service (DSS) will be the holder of the clearance. The contractor is required to possess a current Facility Clearance and hold its own clearances.

12. “If a prospective proposer does not have a facilities clearance at the time of the proposal, will the IRS allow them to bid? Will the IRS qualify this proposal as a valid one?”

a. No, the successful bidder must have a clearance.

13. “Ref Page 85, Evaluation Factors Item 7. The Offeror’s stated ability to attain an independent assessment of CMMI maturity level 2 by an SEI-certified assessor.

(1) May the Prime's subcontractor's CMMI Level 2 or 3 certification meet this requirement, or is the Prime 8(a) required to have the certification?

a. Prime must have the CMMI or CMM Level 2 certification or equivalent. Please see response to question 14.

(2) If involved in a Mentor/Protégé relationship, will the Mentor's (the subcontractor's) CMMI Level 2 or 3 certification meet this requirement, or is the Prime 8(a) required to have the certification?

a. Protégé (8(a)) must be CMMI or CMM Level 2 Certified or equivalent. Please see response to question 14.

14. “Section 2.1 (Page 4) of the Performance Work Statement (PWS) requires the contractor to be certified at CMMI Level-2 at the time of contract award. In this regard, we had the following clarification questions: Is certified at CMM Level - 3 by the Software Engineering Institute.

While this is an older standard, this reflects a much high process maturity than the CMMI Level-2 requirement posed by the PWS. Please confirm that the Government will accept our SEI - CMM Level3 certification as a valid during the contract award”

a. Yes. The requirement is that the offeror must be minimally certified as CMMI or CMM Level 2 or equivalent. The prime contractor must maintain a maturity level two or higher during the period of performance for the contract. Please see amendment 3 – Attachment 1.

15. “Attachments 13 and 15 are not available on the FBO website. Will you be releasing these Attachments??”

a. No, these are available in the reading room per the RFP.

16. “Is there any incumbent in this project? If yes then the name of the incumbent?”

a. Please see response to number 5.

17. “You have provided the list of resources in the labor category table. Whether we have to provide resumes for all the resources?”

a. The labor categories provided in the schedule are for informational purposes and vendors may utilize any labor category they feel is required to perform the requirements of this PWS.

18. “Exact number of resources required?”

a. The Government is looking for vendors to propose a solution that represents the best value to the Government.

19. “Whether we have to provide the letter of intent for all these resources or some specific only?”

a. Letters of intent are required for resumes of key personnel proposed, who are not currently in the employ of the offeror.

20. “Related to the Facilities Clearance requirement, If my company is submitting a response as a the prime but only a teaming partner complies with the DD 254 requirement - attachment 18. Will these teaming arrangement be valid for the submission of our response? Will this qualify the team?”

a. No, the prime must possess a current facility clearance at the Secret level or above.

21. “If we provide consultants having secret clearance then will Dept. of Treasury will hold their clearance.”

a. Please see response to number 11.

22. “We don't have secret clearance - So please let us know if we can submit response for this RFP.”

a. No, the prime must possess a current facility clearance at the Secret level or above.

23. "Is Treasury planning an Industry Day?"

a. No, but details regarding the pre-proposal conference was included in the RFP which was canceled by Amendment 1.

24. "As prime do we (prime) have to have CMMI Level Certification?"

a. Yes. Please see response to question 14.

25. "Is it okay that our partners have the CMMI Level 2 cert and also we are on our way to be Level 2?”

a. The prime must have CMMI Level 2 certification by contract award, and if in the process of obtaining one, the offeror must provide verifiable proof that it will obtain the certification in time for contract award. Please see response to question 14.

26. Is this a new requirement or recompete?

a. Please see response to number 1.

27. If this is recompete, who is the incumbent or are they eligible to be prime?

a. Please see response to number 5.

28. “The RFP states past performance will be evaluated based on the overall team (not just the Offeror, or Prime). However, the RFP states that the requirement to have CMMI 2 certification is based on the Offeror, not the overall team. There seems to be inconsistency or a disconnect between what the team has done versus what the team will be offering if awarded this contract.”

a. There is no inconsistency, as the two are separate and distinct requirements or elements of the RFP.

29. If the offeror, not a key subcontractor, is still required to have CMMI 2 certification, will the Treasury accept CMMI 2 v1.2 Services?

a. No. Please see response to question 14.

30. Given that the industry day is 2/12, this only leaves 2 weeks (3/1/10) before proposals are due. Is 3/1/10 still accurate?

a. No please see amendment 2.

31. “Please clarify if the CMMI Level 2 certification requirement only applies to the contractor and not to the subcontractors. We interpret the contractor is responsible to assure CMMI Level 2 requirements flow down to the subcontractors as described in the following references: Reference Solicitation document, Volume 1 Proposal Requirements:5. Official documentation indicating the Offeror’s independently assessed CMMI maturity level (minimum requirement is for Level 2), or a detailed plan supported by factual data that ensures the Offeror will be independently assessed at Maturity Level 2 (ML2) by contract award. Offerors are cautioned that the government will attach a level of risk to those Offerors who are not currently assessed at ML 2, and that the burden of proof is on the Offeror to demonstrate to the government that they will be successful in obtaining the independent assessment by contract award. Reference Attachment 1, PWS: 2.1 CAPABILITY MATURITY MODEL INTEGRATION (CMMI) LEVEL 2 REQUIREMENT - In accordance with the ISLC, contractor shall be certified at Level 2 of the staged representation of the CMMI for Software Engineering (CMMI-SW) or CMMI for Development (CMMI-DEV) at time of contract award. The contractor shall maintain Level 2 certification for the duration of the contract period of performance. These requirements shall flow down to all subcontractors."

a. Yes, it applies to the Prime. Please see response to question 14.

32. “Are applying for Secret or MBI clearances and being granted interim clearances acceptable for resources to work on this contract?”

a. Yes. Granted Interim-Secret is acceptable. A status of “in process”, or “applying” is not

33. “Is this procurement single award or will there be multiple awards?”

a. The Treasury intends to issue a single award.

34. “Regarding CMMI Level 2 , is it absolutely required that as Prime should have to be eligible to bid or can we submit the bid if our partner has CMMI Level 2/”

a. Please see response to number 13.

35. “Reference: Solicitation A10006, Section 5.2.3 Key Personnel - The Program Manager is specified as Key Personnel. - Question: Since the Program Director labor category provided by the Government is listed as “on-site,” is this the labor category that the Program Manager (Key Personnel) should be assigned to?”

a. No, there is a Program Manager sub-line item. The key personnel are mandatory, however, the list of personnel was provided for informational purposes and offerors may add or deleted labor categories.

36. “Reference: Solicitation A10006, Section 5.2.3 Key Personnel - The Lead Technical Analyst is specified as Key Personnel. - Question: Please provide additional information on the roles and responsibilities of the Lead Technical Analyst” a. The solicitation has been amended (#3) with this information. Also, this position will be in charge of setting the technology direction of the ASSC program, and assist the Treasury in its Transformation of the current DO Application architecture, technologies used, enterprise integration, infusion of new technology, and other similar duties.

Access to COOP/DR Site 2.

Job Rotation/work Back to support business functions w/Secret Requirement

“Question: Attachment 18 - DD254 indicates “Facility Clearance Required: Secret.” Since the Government is forecasting future work that requires a Top Secret Clearance, will the Government issue a DD254 with a Top Secret Facility Clearance Required.”

a. This is not a current requirement, but may apply to future requirement. The contractor will be advised of the requirement well in advance of Treasury needing the Top Secret work to commence. Please see amendment 3 – Attachment A100006.

37. “Reference: Solicitation A10006, Page 4, Section 3.0 PRICE TABLE/LABOR/TASKS, Summary Table - The first column last row says “Total price (Base-Plus Opt 1-4 + 6 month extension).” Question: Should it say “Total price (Base-Plus Opt 1-5 + 6 month extension)”?”

a. Yes it should be Base-Plus Opt 1-5 + 6 month extension. This is being addressed in amendment 3.

38. “Reference: Solicitation A10006, Page 45, Section (c), Submission Requirements The RFP states: The page limit does not include transmittal letter, volume cover, section dividers, table of contents, list of exhibits and figures, index, client reference forms, and resumes. Question: Please clarify “client reference forms.”

a. This language has been removed. Please see amendment 3 (RFP).

39. “Reference Solicitation A10006, Pages 33-35 (Core Earned Value Management System) and Page 81 (Notice of Earned Value Management – Post Award IBR (CORE)) Question: Will OCIO provide access to Microsoft Project Server to manage the project schedules to support the EVM requirements?

a. When EVM is required in the program, the contractor shall supply the tools necessary to perform EVM and report on results.

40. “Reference Solicitation A10006, Page 50, (j) Earned Value Management System plan or documentation per AB 09-01-1052.234-71. Question: Is the Earned Value Management System Plan included in the page limit?

a. No, please see amendment 3.

41. “Reference Solicitation A10006, Page 47 - The Government is requesting “a detailed and comprehensive description of the Offeror’s Software Development Lifecycle Methodology, with special emphasis on their software engineering process supported by CMMI Level 2 processes.” - Question: To adequately provide a detailed and comprehensive description of this vendor’s Software Development Lifecycle Methodology will require significant pages. Request that this section be provided in an Appendix and be excluded from the page limit.”

a. No, this will remain part of the page count limit established in the RFP.

42. “Reference: Solicitation A10006, Page 47, (a)(3), Volume 1 Application Services Solution - The RFP states: Major topics of discussion must include the Offeror’s: (3) Approach to providing the services required by the contract PWS (the O&M requirements are excluded from this discussion). Question: The PWS include sections that are already part of the overall Technical Approach. For example, Task Area 1 Transition (PWS) will be addressed in 1) Approach to Transition in the Technical Approach. To reduce duplication, can the offeror refer to other sections of the proposal?”

a. Yes, as long as the references are clear and not cumbersome. It is the offeror’s responsibility to ensure that all proposal requirements are addressed in a manner that is simple, concise and easy to understand and follow.

43. Reference: Attachment 2 – A10006, Page 2 The first column last row says “Total price (Base-Plus Opt 1-4 + 6 month extension)”. Question: Should it say “Total price (Base-Plus Opt 1-5 + 6 month extension)”?

a. Please see response to number 37.

44. “Reference: Attachment 2 – A10006, Page 1 - First column fifth row says CLIN 0003 – Other Task Areas (Sample Task price multiplied by five). Question: As the BASE PERIOD is up to four months long, should the sample task be multiplied by five, which is the average for a full year?”

a. Yes, the multiplication factors in the table will remain unchanged.

45. “Reference: Attachment 2 – A10006, Page 5 - The Attachment requests a breakdown of the quote. Question: If the contractor completes the top portion broken out by labor categories by hour and rate, does that meet the requirement?”

a. No, it must include all items listed including the extended price.

46. “Reference: Attachment 2 – A10006, Page 15 - CLIN is listed as 5002. Question: We believe it should be CLIN 6002. Please clarify.”

a. Yes, it should be CLIN 60002. Please see amendment 3.

47. “Reference: Attachment 2 – A10006; Pages 4, 6, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15 -The description at the top of each table reads “This table covers all labor and material necessary to complete all transition functions as detailed in Task Order Request 2.” Question: Should “transition” be removed from the sentence?”

a. Yes, please see amendment 3 for this correction.

48. “Reference: Attachment 2 - Question: Should all applications in Attachment 9 be included in the cost for Task 2 (FFP) even if they are not in Operational status?”

a. Contractors shall use Attachment 9 and Attachment 9A as the authoritative sources that identify the applications that they will be responsible for operating and maintaining at the outset of the contract. The other attachments are provided as background material to provide as much information as possible regarding the existing technical environment at DO. Please see amendment 3 Attachments 9 and 9A.

49. “Reference: Attachment 2, Index Model Price Tables, Page 18-21 - Question: For the Index Model tables, why are two years specified in the title? For example, Base – Option Period One, Option Period One – Option Period Two, etc.”

a. The index pricing information is required for every period, but the index model price tables on pages 18-21 are for evaluation purposes only.

50. “Reference: Attachment 4, Page 5 - Section (j) indicates a Budget and Financial Management Plan is required that includes a control mechanism used to measure actual to budgeted cost. Question: This is a firm fixed-price task. This type of reporting requirement does not seem applicable. Please clarify.”

a. Attachment 4 has been revised. This reporting is required for OCIO’s internal customers. Please see amendment 3 – Attachment 4.

51. “Reference: Attachment 4, Page 8, 2.2.5 Applications Help Desk / Customer Support - Question: Is the contractor responsible for Level 1 and After Hours On-Call support for all applications in Attachment 9. If not, please specify which applications require Level 1 and After-hours on call support?”

a. Yes, all ASSC applications with the exception of OFS applications. This is meant for ASSC applications only. Please see amendment 3 – Attachment 4

52. “Reference: Attachment 4, Page 6; 2.1.3 Monthly Status Report b) - The report requires financial status to include dollars and hours expended and dollars obligated to date and expectations (financially) for the balance of the project. Question: This is a firm fixed-price task. This type of reporting requirement does not seem applicable. Please clarify.”

a. Please see amendment 3 – Attachment 4.

53. “Reference: Attachment 4 – Section 2.1.6 Budget Forecast and Section 3.0 Deliverables - Question: The text in Section 2.1.6 states that the initial Budget Forecast (Deliverable 001A) is due 55 days after contract award. The deliverable schedule in Section 3.0 states 15 days. Please clarify.”

a. 15 days is the correct timeframe. Please see amendment 3 - Attachment 4.

54. “Reference: Attachment 4, Page 12, 2.0 Deliverable 001A. Question: The frequency update for Deliverable 001A is stated as February 15th and June 15th. The Budget Forecast on page 6 requires developing a fiscal year baseline for the O&M systems at the end of the previous year. Please clarify the timing of this deliverable and updates.”

a. It is developed at the end of the previous FY, but updated twice, 2/15 and 6/15.

55. “Reference: Attachment 6 and 9 - Question: Should the applications listed in this attachment, but not included in Attachment 9, be included in the pricing of Task 2 (FFP)? For example, CDFI, RTS, LTS, BFEM, and O-FORMS.”

a. Please see response to number 48.

56. “Reference: Attachment 8: Question: It is mentioned in the diagram that there are other mainframe-based applications, such as LCMS, but these applications are not included in Attachment 9. What are these applications and do they need to be included in the pricing?”

a. Contractors shall use Attachment 9 as the authoritative source that identifies the applications which they will be responsible for operating and maintaining at the outset of the contract. The other attachments are provided as background material to provide as much information as possible regarding the existing technical environment at DO.

57. “Reference: Attachment 20, Sample Task Order - Question: Please clarify the duration of the multi-task effort and provide any further time constraints.”

a. We are assuming that you meant “sample task” instead of “multi-task” in your question. If so then the answer is 11 months.

58. “Reference: Attachment 20, Sample Task Order - Question: Are there any required external or internal interfaces to the system? If so, please provide further information on those interfaces.”

a. All interface requirements are defined in the Sample Task. Please list your assumptions.

59. “Reference: Attachment 20, Sample Task Order, Section 1.0 Background - This section states Phase II is for development and testing and Phase III is for implementation, reporting, and testing. Question: Does reporting refer to implementation of reporting requirements? Does testing in Phase III refer to system acceptance testing? Does Phase III include training as well?”

a. Phase III should read “Implementation and User Acceptance Testing, and Training. The reporting functionality is considered a part of the overall implementation. Please see amendment 3 Attachment 20

60. “Reference: Attachment 20, Sample Task Order, Section 2.0 Objectives - The section states “Program Managers and Bank officials will access the site using PKI and HSPD-12 enabled privileges to digitally sign loan applications.” Question: Does this access control requirement apply to participating loan recipients as well?

a. No.

61. “Reference: Attachment 20, Sample Task Order, Section 3.0 Conceptual Solution The section states “..enable banks and financial institutions (approximately twenty financial institutions) to register to obtain credential” but Functional Requirements 2.a states “Develop and implement a web-based registration capability for banks and for loan recipients.” Question: Does loan recipients refer to the widget producers or participating financial institutions?”

a. Participating financial institutions.

62. “Reference: Attachment 20, Sample Task Order, Functional Requirements 2 Question: According to the Functional Requirements 2, the loan recipients can register to access the system. Is there a high-level business use case available for a loan recipient for the system?”

a. No.

63. “Reference: Attachment 20, Sample Task Order, Functional Requirements 3 Question: Functional Requirements 3 states that the Contractor shall determine the loan approval workflow. Does this mean the loan approval process should be an automated part of the application? If yes, what is the degree of complexity for the loan approval process.”

a. Yes. The government is looking to the contractor to provide the solution. Please list your assumptions.

64. “Reference: Attachment 20, Sample Task Order - Question: Is the Payment database mentioned in Functional Requirements 4 a part of the scope of this sample task order?”

a. Yes. The Payment Database is a database that tracks the status of payments made.

65. “Reference: Attachment 20, Sample Task Order, Functional Requirements 4 - Question: Functional Requirements 4.b.5 states Update DR instance and archiving. Does this task order include the implementation of disaster recovery and archiving process?”

a. For the application only. Assume that a DR infrastructure and procedures exist.

66. “Reference: Attachment 3, Task Order 0001 and Attachment 20, Sample Task Order -Question: May vendors provide detailed project schedules for the Transition and Sample Task Order in Appendices that are not subject to the page limits?”

a. No.

67. “The current work performed by the incumbent contractor is procured through a labor hour contract. The RFP requests a firm fixed price pricing model. Why did the acquisition strategy change? “

a. This RFP is structured differently than the current contract.

68. “Would the Department of the Treasury consider firm fixed price for the transition and base year and time and materials for subsequent option years?”

a. No

69. “Federal Procurement Data System accounts for $10,500,214.69 of services performed by the incumbent in FY09. Is this complete and accurate? What are the services being delivered to Treasury under the current contract (represented by the $10.5MM in billings), and what are the additional task areas reflected in this procurement?”

a. Based on our records the information on FPDS-NG is accurate. The services are similar; however, not all of the services are reflected in this procurement.

70. “How many full time equivalent resources support the ASSC program currently? Does this level of resources fluctuate over the course of the year? If so, when does it fluctuate and by how many resources?”

a. This information is not being released as the Government is looking for vendors to propose a solution that represents the best value to the Government.

71. “The response period seems extraordinarily compressed (19 ½ working days from release date to submission date, with questions not due until February 12). In light of the focus on 8(a) firms, which often lack the resources of larger firms to analyze requirements, adapt to changes, and to deliver winning proposals – and in light particularly of the extraordinary weather events of February 2010 – will Treasury consider an extension of at least 10 working days (with a due date of March 15) for completion and submission of the response?”

a. Please see amendment 2 regarding the proposal submission date.

72. “There are a number of applications in Attachment 9 - ASSC Application List which are stated to have no Data Elements, no Programs, and no Lines of Code – yet they are also reported to be of medium / moderate complexity, often to generate some transaction volume, and to be used by a number of users (e.g., Asset Management, Business Intelligence Tool, Consolidated Data Service Support/Market Room). Can you please explain how these two sets of circumstances can coexist?”

a. Asset Management was put on hold so it is not an application that has been developed. Please disregard the Business Intelligence Tool; as it was developed, but was never moved into production and there are no plans to use the application. Data Services are not applications, but are subscription services. See ASSC Project Profiles for description.

73. “Page 3 of the PWS states, “An integral part of this modernization effort involves the re-location of the current DO Data Center residing in Main Treasury to the Information Technology Infrastructure Managed Services (IT IMS) contractor’s Data Center located in Herndon, VA. This relocation effort will require active participation by the ASSC contractor. ” Is it the Department of the Treasury’s intent to award a Task Order for the support of re-location? If it is the Department of the Treasury’s intent that the support should be included in the FFP O&M effort, will the Department of the Treasury please provide additional details on the timing and specifics of the re-location? “

a. It shall be included in the FFP O&M effort (CLIN X002). Information regarding the timing of the relocation is not yet available. The scope of the ASSC contractor’s responsibilities will involve: preparation of systems for relocation, providing technical support to the ITIMS contractor as they move the systems, and performing functionality and performance testing following the move to ascertain no changes in the operation of the application.

74. “How many FTEs are dedicated now to each of the task areas? How many of these task areas (including those which are not enumerated) are now not being delivered to Treasury?”

a. This information is not being released as the Government is looking for vendors to propose a solution that represents the best value to the Government.

75. “There is a statement in the RFQ that “Based on historical data, the Treasury estimates that there will be approximately five projects of similar size and complexity to the sample task each year.” Can Treasury please provide actual financials of one of more of the projects underlying this historical data, so that the non-incumbent bidders may have access to the same quality and quantity of data as that available to the incumbent bidder?”

a. The Government is using the sample task order (Attachment 20) in order to evaluate offerors responses.

76. “Are all applications included in Attachment 7 ASSC_Major Apps on Web.ppt and in Attachment 8 - ASSC_Major Apps on DOLAN.ppt also reflected in Attachment 9 - ASSC Application List.pdf? If not, what are the corresponding Data Elements, Programs, Lines of Code, complexity level, transaction volume, and number of users in the applications present in Attachments 7 and 8, and present in Attachment 9?”

a. Contractors should use Attachment 9 and 9A as the authoritative source that identifies the applications which they will be responsible for operating and maintaining at the outset of the contract. The other attachments are provided as background material to provide as much information as possible regarding the existing technical environment at DO. Please see amendment 3 – Attachments 9 and 9A.

77. “Page 4, Section 2.1 in the PWS states, “The contractor shall maintain Level 2 certification for the duration of the contract period of performance. These requirements shall flow down to all subcontractors. ” Can this be achieved by the subcontractors adopting the CMMI L2 processes of the Prime contractor?”

a. No. Please see response to question 14.

78. “Page 13 of the PWS, Performance metrics: Customer Satisfaction. Is it up to the Contractor to design and administer the customer satisfaction survey? Does the Department of the Treasury approve the final survey design? How does the Department of the Treasury propose to encourage/enforce response from the customers?”

a. The contractor shall develop the customer satisfaction survey with approval from the government. The survey will be administered by the contractor. Minimum response rates will be established at 30%. Please see amendment 3 – Attachments 1 & 4.

79. “The performance incentives/disincentives appear to provide a mechanism for the Department of the Treasury to penalize (financially) the contractor for performance that does not meet SLAs, but has no corresponding incentive for the contractor to increase revenue based on meeting or exceeding SLAs. The only incentive appears to be that the contractor can “re-coup” any disincentives or “bank” incentives to apply to future disincentives. Is it the Department of the Treasury’s intention not to provide the opportunity for true financial incentives for its’ contractor?”

a. The incentive included in the RFP will remain unchanged.

80. “Attachment 20 - Sample Task Order states that “This multi-phased effort, shall be developed and installed over a 9 month period following a two month requirements and planning phase”. Does this mean that the effort to build the system, from start to go-live, is expected to take 11 months (2 months planning and requirements followed by 9 months of development, testing and implementation?)”

a. Yes.

81. “Attachment 20 – Sample Task Order references activities in Section 1.0 Background – “Phase III - … Reporting, and Testing”; Section 3.0 - Application Architectural Requirements – “Helpdesk .. Call Center support available”, and in Section 6.0 Tasks - “maintenance support”. These activities appear to extend beyond the last item in Section 6.0 Tasks detail 1-6, “Operational Cutover.” Is the estimate for the effort expected to end at cutover? If not, please provide detail on the duration and type of expected maintenance, helpdesk and reporting responsibilities.”

a. Yes. The sample task does not require maintenance, helpdesk, and reporting responsibilities. Please see amendment 3 - Attachment 20.

82. “Attachment 20 – Sample Task Order in Section 1.0 Background states that banks will publish quarterly loan repayment data whereas Section 4.0 Functional Requirements, subsection 4 stipulates that banks will “push” weekly payment accounting data. Is the expected frequency of publishing weekly or quarterly?”

a. This is a sample task order, so offerors shall assume quarterly.

83. “Attachment 20 - Sample Task Order does not include support for the system Security Certification & Accreditation (C&A) in the list of activities. Is this expected to occur during the timeframe? If so, what timeframe should be expected for that activity to occur? What role does Treasury anticipate the contractor playing during this process?”

a. For the purposes of this Sample Task only, assume that the C&A activities are performed outside of the scope. Government’s intent with the Sample Task is to gauge the offeror’s approach to similar tasking during the course of this contract.

84. “The applications portfolio will change over time with the addition of new applications and potential retirement of existing applications. What assumption should be made in pricing O&M in the option years with respect to additional and retired application, both numbers and classifications?”

a. No assumptions shall be made as the indexing model will handle changes.

85. “With respect to providing pricing for support services for Content and Data subscription services, will the Department of the Treasury provide additional activity metrics such as number of tickets related to these services, broken out between content and data subscription changes and problem fault resolution requests?”

a. The average monthly calls for data subscription changes and problem fault resolutions were about 4.5 calls per month. Training calls are averaging about 10 calls per month for FY09. The trends seem to be the same except that the training requests for FY10 have spiked to about 20 calls for the first three months for metrics reported.

86. “What is the status of the various projects enumerated in Attachment 6 - Project Profiles_ASSC? Where are they in their individual life cycles?”

a. Please see the response for number 48.

87. “Page 20 of the RFP states, “The Contractor shall ensure that all employees having access to Treasury facilities, information systems, security items, or sensitive but unclassified information shall be United States citizens or have lawful permanent resident status.” Page 26 of the RFP states, “All Contractor personnel must be U.S. citizens and may be required to obtain a National Security Clearance.” Would the Department of Treasury please specify whether lawful residents can work on the tasks or only US citizens?”

a. US citizens. Please see amendment 3 as the Citizenship or Residency Requirements section has been removed.

88. “Page 16 of the RFP states, “Work will be performed at the U.S. Department of the Treasury in Washington, D.C. or as detailed in specific task orders.” Depending on the tasks and various threads of work within it, can some contractors work offsite (US based) with Department of Treasury approval?”

a. This will be determined on a case-by-case basis, however; the Government plans on all work being performed on-site at a Treasury location.

89. “If Offsite work is allowed, can we provide onsite and offsite labor category rates?”

a. The Government plans on work being performed on-site, but if an offeror plans on requesting or using off-site locations they shall propose off-site rates using the same format, but labeled as off-site. Failure to propose off-site rates will result in no adjustment if an offeror later determines to request off-site rates.

90. “Is EVMS a requirement for O&M tasks and should it be included in the FFP price?”

a. Yes, even under O&M since schedules are to be reported.

91. “Please specify the number of tickets per application (for O&M support) per month that are designated as P1, P2, P3 and P4.”

a. Please see amendment 3 - -Attachment 21

92. “Please provide the number of open tickets per application (for O&M Support) per month.”

a. Please see response for number 91

93. “Please provide details on number of servers and environments being hosted per application.”

a. There are presently 42 total servers for the ASSC applications and they are hosted at the Qwest Hosting Center. Sun servers running Solaris; HP servers running Win2003, Dell servers; and Compaq servers running Windows 2000 and 2003.

94. “Due to inclement weather, the reading room day and industry day was canceled. Additional insight to the environment and opportunity is imperative to providing a competitive proposal. Would the Department of the Treasury consider rescheduling both the industry day and reading room time?”

a. No.

95. “Attachment 20 - Sample Task Order in Section 2.0 Objective stipulates that “Program Managers and Bank officials will access the site using PKI and HSPD-12 enabled privileges to digitally sign loan applications”, but this does not appear in Section 4.0 Functional Requirements. Can the Government please clarify the intent of the PKI and HSPD-12 infrastructure (is this to provide authentication? Non-repudiation? Other?)”

a. To provide authentication and non-repudiation.

96. “Attachment 20 - Sample Task Order in Section 3.0 Application Architecture references “Helpdesk – Level 2 and 3 support”, but there are no functional requirements outlined in Section 4.0 Functional Requirements. Can the Government please clarify what functionality is required to support the Helpdesk?”

a. The sample task duration ends with system cutover. There is no Helpdesk or O&M requirement. Please see amendment 3 – Attachment 20.

97. “Attachment 20 - Sample Task Order in Section 1.0 Background suggests that banks will provide quarterly loan re-payment reporting, but the Functional Requirements provide for weekly uploads of loan payment information. Please clarify the expected frequency.”

a. Please see response for number 82.

98. “Attachment 20 – Sample Task Order in Section 1.0 Background states that “The loans will be made in increments, with successive installments made based upon progress toward the company’s return to profitability and viability, as proposed by the company in its loan application.” The functional requirements allow for “Loan Issuance & Administration Functionality”. Is it the case that this functionality would also include the banks providing the information to Treasury that would enable Treasury to approve the release of the successive installments?”

a. Yes.

99. “Attachment 20 – Sample Task Order in Section 1.0 Background implies that Treasury has an obligation to monitor the loan recipients return to “profitability and viability”. The functional requirements do not appear to clearly address how the banks and/or the loan recipients will provide this information to Treasury. Can the Government clarify this functionality?”

a. As for the business requirements and work flow that are not described in the task order, the awarded contractor shall work with stakeholders and be able to capture the business work flow, collect the requirements and complete defining the requirement specification for the system during the first phase of software development life cycle (SDLC), the requirement specification phase.

100. “Attachment 20 – Sample Task Order in Section 4.0 states that Loan Recipients will receive an email inviting them to register. Can the Government please clarify what functionality will be provided to loan recipients? Currently, much of the functionality appears to be targeted at the financial institutions and the Government’s program oversight office. “

a. Loan Recipients are the financial institutions and banks.

101. “Solicitation Section 1.0 General states that "offeror shall provide . . . all . . . labor, facilities, and materials. . . ". Section 5.12 Place of Performance states that "work is to be performed at US Department of Treasury in DC . . . "What facilities does the government envision Offeror to provide in support of this work?”

a. None please see amendment 3.

102. “RFP Page 16, Section 5.12 - The primary place of performance is at the Main Treasury Building in Washington DC. However, throughout the solicitation documents requirements exists to provide onsite support at other Treasury locations. Please provide a listing of where current support staff is located.”

a. These are located in the DC Metropolitan area.

103. “Solicitation Page 20, section 5.21 states that "US Citizen or lawful permanent resident". Page 26, section 5.28 states "must be US citizen". Is there a citizenship requirement for all contractor positions?”

a. Yes. Please see response for number 87.

104. “Solicitation Page 52 states that "references must be for work that was performed as a prime contractor". Is it acceptable to submit work in which Offeror served a "prime" on a task order under a major IDIQ contract vehicle held by another company?”

a. No, the offeror shall be the prime contract holder.

105. “Solicitation Page 57 references "major" and "minor" changes.

Please define and provide an example of a major versus minor application change.

Also, for the purpose of understanding the limit of 525 "application change releases" per year, is every application change defined as a change release or are multiple application changes bundled to create a change release? Also is "break-fix" work in addition to the maximum of 525 application change releases? If so, how many "break-fix" releases were made in FY09?”

a. Please review the Index Model for ASSC Systems in Solicitation A100006. Multiple changes can be batched for release. Break-fix is part of O&M. Please see amendment 3 – Solicitation A100006 and Attachment 5.

106. “Attachment 1, PWS, Page 4, Section 2.1 - Are all subcontractors required to possess CMMI certification at Level 2 or above or can subcontractors work under prime contractors CMMI processes if prime proposes an integrated team approach?”

a. No. Please see response to question 14. Please see amendment 3 – Attachment 1

107. “Attachment 1, PWS, Section 3.2 Task Area 2: Ongoing Operation and Maintenance Support Services for the Installed Application Base states "Contractor shall perform all activities necessary to maintain, upgrade, and administer applications in accordance with the PMP. The Solicitation pg 57, states "excluded from the fixed price O&M application support activities are: technology upgrades, ..." Please clarify included "upgrades" per Attachment 1 versus excluded "technology upgrades" per the Solicitation. Also, does "upgrade" include all development enhancements to existing applications?”

a. Please see Amendment 3 attachment 1.

108. “Attachment 1, PWS, Section 3.4 Task Area 4 Application Support

Services, section 3.4.3 discusses production system problems, monitoring automated file downloads, and updating virus definitions on Secure Extranet Gateway application servers. Since there is a separate infrastructure vendor, please clarify the separation of duties with the infrastructure contractor?”

a. Please see Amendment 3 – Attachment 1.

109. “Attachment 1, PWS, Section 3.5.2 Technology Innovation discusses responsibilities for both HW and SW. What is separation of duties for this contractor and Infrastructure contractor?”

a. The section referenced discusses ASSC contractor’s responsibilities in performing various reviews, analysis, and recommendations targeted towards improving and innovating the DO applications architecture including the HW, SW, networking, and service components of those applications. If Treasury decides to implement any of the ASSC contractor’s recommendations, any component purchasing and implementation associated with the recommendations will be performed by the Infrastructure contractor, unless the recommended changes are within the actual application. These application-related changes may be implemented by the ASSC contractor.

110. “Attachment 1, PWS, skips from Task 5 to Task 7. Is it correct that there is no Task 6?”

a. Please see amendment 3 - Attachment 1

111. “Attachment 1, PWS, Page 12, Section 5.1 - Many of the performance metrics identified in this section are directly related to Customer Satisfaction and End User Support and are reliant upon information obtained from the Ticketing System. The ASSC contractor does not have direct control over many factors that can impact Customer Satisfaction and End User Support such as network performance, system and hardware availability, etc... Please provide clarification related to how the metrics will be assessed to ensure only factors included within the ASSC contractors' responsibility are evaluated.”

a. The performance metrics will be based on activities included in the ASSC contract support provided by the vendor.

112. “Attachment 1, PWS, Section 5.1 Performance Metrics Table, SLA

Group 2: 1) The Time to Return to Service definitions include "sub-system or service is down" and "degraded operation". This may be due to system/network outages or failures. As there is a separate infrastructure vendor, how will this be tracked in the SLA calculations? What responsibilities will the ASSC contractor have in these instances? 2) How is "close" defined under the description "time to close". If the incident requires an application code change (break-fix), these releases will normally only be allowed during the specified maintenance windows per Attachment 4, page 7. If closure requires a code release, then the performance objectives would not be attainable. Please clarify the intent. 3) Also, please define whether "Time to Return to Service" metrics include incidents during staffed helpdesk hours OR both staffed helpdesk hours and after hours. 4) Please define "Non-Prime Hours"

a. (1) The Systems and Subsystems referenced here only apply to Application Systems for which the contractor is responsible. Problems and outages in the underlying network infrastructure or the hosting platforms up to and including the operating system will not be counted against the ASSC contractor's SLAs. (2) If code changes are required, the "close" metric will be adjusted on a case by case basis via discussion with COTR, with approval from the Contract Officer or his designee, and mutual agreement between all parties. Please see amendment 3 – Attachment 1. (3) Each one has its own "Time to Return to Service" metric. (4) Non-Prime Hours are defined in the RFP. They are the hours outside of Prime Support Hours.

113. “Attachment 1, PWS, Section 5.2 Incentives and Disincentive Plan.

This plan appears to be a Disincentive and Recovery Plan. There do not appear to be any opportunities to actually receive Incentive Payments - above the initially invoiced costs. Rather, Incentives appear to be an offset of Disincentives, allowing recovery of any previous Disincentive payments. Is this a correct interpretation?”

a. Yes the incentive allows the vendor to recover disincentives applied a detailed in the RFP.

114. “Attachment 1, PWS, pg 17, please clarify the statement "Failing to meet the performance target for any metric ... will result in deduction equal to the group weight of the monthly firm-fixed price CLIN 0002 and its subsequent Option Years. Please clarify the following scenarios:”

1) Assume the monthly firm-fixed price is $100. Contractor receives disincentive on a customer satisfaction metric in Q2. During the following quarter (Q3) they invoice $100 - 2% or $98. During Q3 Contractor earns incentive. During Q4, does contractor invoice $100 +2% or $102, offsetting the prior disincentive, OR does the contractor invoice $98+2% or $100, reflecting the "deduction equal to the group weight of the monthly firm-fixed price CLIN 0002 and its subsequent Option Years” referenced above?

a. The contractor invoices $100 +2% or $102.

2) Assume the monthly firm-fixed price is $100. Contractor receives disincentive on a customer satisfaction metric in Q2. During the following quarter (Q3) they invoice $100 - 2% or $98. During Q3 Contractor achieves AQL on all metrics. During Q4, does contractor invoice $100, reflecting AQL, OR does the contractor invoice $98, reflecting the "deduction equal to the group weight of the monthly firm-fixed price CLIN 0002 and its subsequent Option Years" referenced above?

b. If you meet the AQL, you invoice the full amount, $100.

3) Contractor receives disincentive on a customer satisfaction metric in Q2. During Q3 must the Contractor earn incentive on ALL SLA metrics marked for incentive in order to offset the prior disincentive OR must Contractor earn incentive only on the corresponding Customer Service metrics as long as they continue to achieve AQL on the other metrics?

c. Contractor must earn incentive by exceeding one of the AQLs in those specific SLA metrics marked for incentive in the table on page 19 of Attachment 1 and achieve at least AQL on all of the other metrics in the entire SLA table. In other words, the contractor cannot exceed one AQL and fail to meet another one.

115. “Attachment 4, Task Order 0002, Section 2.2 appears to include infrastructure support - granting access to systems for new accounts, maintaining applications system tables, and setting up new work groups. This Section also refers to coordination with appropriate infrastructure contractors. What is the separation of duties for this contractor and other infrastructure contractors?”

a. The contractor is responsible for granting access to ASSC applications to new employees, expired accounts, or locked-out users. This activity must be coordinated with the IT IMS contractor when necessary.

116. “Attachment 2, Price Schedule, Page 2, Labor Category Schedule -

The labor categories identified do not include positions typically used in providing end user support. Please clarify that Offeror can add to or replace listed labor categories based on their proposed technical approach.”

a. Yes, these were provided for informational purposes only.

117. “Attachment 2, Price Schedule, Page 2, Labor Category Schedule -

The solicitation states the contractor must propose a "handling charge factor on Materials for their T&M Labor Rates or any other indirect costs". However, the government has not identified an amount of materials or ODC's required for contract performance. Please provide historical trend information or an anticipated amount of materials and ODC used to support the ASSC contract for the base year of performance and each option year.”

a. Since this is an ID/IQ the items are not currently…