BSM_RFP_Q A3.docx

USDA Business Services Management Version 3.0

82. QUESTION: The Price Model Quantities in all Option Years appear incorrect for all the Case Study Warranty Maintenance CLINs. This error causes the Case Study Warranty Maintenance prices to be significantly understated in the Total Evaluation Price in cell I84 of the Excel spreadsheet. The Price Model correctly reflects the cumulative total Quantity for Product-Based Maintenance in CLINs 1001-2000. The exact same cumulative total calculation is required for the Case Study Warranty Maintenance CLINs?

GOVERNEMENT RESPONSE: The pricing/math model has been modified.

83. QUESTION: Are Contractors permitted to submit multiple offers?

GOVERNMENT RESPONSE: Per FAR PART 12.205, multiple offers may be submitted. Each offer/proposal shall be complete and stand alone.

84. QUESTION: In Section 3.1 general requirements state that Subject Matter Expert(s) with ITIL Master Qualification certificates are required. Will the Government accept resources with the ITIL Expert Level certification that have equivalent experience, and have worked in IT service management for at least five years in leadership, managerial or higher management advisory levels according to the OGC ITIL Master qualification?

GOVERNMENT RESPONSE: Yes.

85. QUESTION: The pricing table appears to assume a perpetual license / annual maintenance for the on-premise option. We offer only subscription pricing for both on-premise and SaaS. We need guidance on how to complete the pricing tables given the current format and our pricing structure. Specifically, cell D4 starts at 56 and reduces to 42 in cell G4 in rows 3 through 8. A subscription license would have an annual costs, so in essence cell G4 would be 98 (sum of base year and option year 1).

GOVERNMENT RESPONSE: The Government may use software/product where a perpetual license doesn’t apply (e.g. openware/freeware) ONLY if the Government acquires reliable, timely, life-cycle support. In this event, the Government pays for extended warranty/maintenance (e.g. this also provides for technical support and patches, updates, releases, upgrades, etc.). Following this scenario, the license cost would be designated NSP - Not Separately Priced.

86. QUESTION: Please clarify the term end-user as identified in 3.1.

GOVERNMENT RESPONSE: An end-user is an individual with a login and password to the product who accesses the software directly. This is not to be a confused with a customer who has publications state that a user is a person that uses the IT service on a regular basis (e.g. day-to-day).

87. QUESTION: Section 3.4 states, “"Additionally, the contractor shall provide the choice of procuring a (1) 7x24x365 maintenance/extended warranty which include four hours to respond to the Government call regarding a problem, issue, failure, etc., and all repairs accomplished by the next calendar day, and (2) maintenance/extended warranty which includes coverage during the weekdays, from 8 am to 5pm, local time, excluding weekends, and Government Holidays, which includes on day to respond to the Government call regarding a problem, issue, failure, etc., and all repairs accomplished by the second work day. (a)Will pricing for such requests be required of the successful offeror(s) during Delivery Orders? (b) If not, where would the Government like offerors to price such services within the Pricing Model, Attachment 1?

GOVERNMENT RESPONSE: (a) The pricing/math model contains rows to price all six options and shall be evaluated as part of the source selection. (b) Refer to rows for 1001-2000 and the maintenance/extended warranty for the case study such as rows 60-65.

88. QUESTION: Is there an existing identity management and/or authentication schema required to be accommodated, or is the awardee expected to provide those items as a component of their solution.

GOVERNMENT RESPONSE: The Government will provide the authentication solution for the Product-Based solution and the contractor shall provide the authentication solution for the SAAS-Based solution.

89. QUESTION: Are there reporting requirements that must be handled at initiation?

GOVERNMENT RESPONSE: The question is unclear. Initiation of what; at contract award? No. As part of acquisition/contract management? Yes - see 7.4.4. Delivery Orders may specify reporting requirements. Regarding the requirements for reports of the proposed solution are identified in Section 3. The degree to which these reports are advantageous to the Government will be evaluated.

90. QUESTION: On line 34 of the pricing tables, the government identifies the quantity of hours required for an ITIL Master.

GOVERNMENT RESPONSE: Modified in the contract at award.

91. QUESTION: The government identifies a requirement for an ITIL Master. ITIL Master is a legacy ITIL v2 term and has been changed to ITIL Expert in ITIL v3. Can the government clarify the requirement?

GOVERNMENT RESPONSE: In accordance with ITIL version 3, ITIL Master is the highest level and an ITIL expert is a lower category.

92. QUESTION: Page 1, RFP Part 3: This lists both system generated and ad-hoc reporting as services offered to NFC customers. Reporting is not called out as a process area or requirement. Should vendors include a reporting solution or will this be accommodated by existing NFC solutions that may be integrated into the BSM solution?

GOVERNMENT RESPONSE: NFC does not appear on page 1. The Government will evaluate the advantages, etc. of the supporting capabilities.

93. QUESTION: Please clarify the Government fees, and contract access & management fees; whether offerors are to include the fees in the proposed price; and how offerors are to calculate and report the fees for inclusion in the price proposal.

GOVERNMENT RESPONSE: The fee will probably be embedded into the prices. This will be addressed post-award.

94. QUESTION I believe the formula for determining the total price is incorrect, and as stated will result in the total price being understated by 50%. If we assume the price for each of the six products is $28.05, the total price should be ~$1570.80.

Please confirm the formula should be changed to one of the following:

Option 1:

(56*$28.05)*16.66%) = ($1570.80 * 16.66%) = $261.70 (check total: 6 possible choices X $261.70 per product = $1570.20)

Option 2:

((56*$28.05)*33.33%)/2 = ($1570.80 * 33.33%)/2 = $523.55/2 = $261.77 (check totals: 6 possible choices X $261.77 per product = $1570.62) GOVERNMENT RESPONSE: Both are incorrect and Q&A #9 and the model are correct. One must take into account that there is a 50/50 probability of acquiring a Product-Based solution and a SAAS-Based solution. Refer to assumption number one on the pricing/math model.

95. QUESTION It appears the quantities for CLINs 4001-5000 have been changed to reflect cumulative annual totals. But CLINs 5051.1-6000.1 do not appear to have been updated accordingly.

GOVERNMENT RESPONSE: The Government’s best estimates are in the pricing model.

96. QUESTION It appears there is a discrepancy between question 3 and question 56.

GOVERNMENT RESPONSE: Question 3 is correct “The Offeror will submit one original proposal with original signatures to Contracting Officer” and three proposal hard copies for evaluation teams are not required.

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