SOLICITATION Questions December23_2009.pdf

SOLICITATION QUESTIONS / ANSWERS

AG‐31ME‐S‐10‐0004 (GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS)

1. After reviewing the RFP, it appears that the work described in Task Order Services C.4.1 is the only section that can be priced as Firm Fixed Price. Is this assumption correct? Yes, this assumption is correct.

2. It is our understanding that C.4.2 covers IDIQ task orders. At the time the Task Order is issued, will they be Firm Fixed Price also? The contractor who is awarded the resulting contract will be required to submit pricing the statement of work as identified in each task order. The proposed pricing should be consistent with the established firm fixed price labor rates provided in the contractor’s initial proposal. At the award of each task order the contractor will propose the number of hours and personnel required.

3. Can you provide an estimate on the frequency and type of RFAs received (Page 9 ‐ C.4.1.1 Systems Maintenance Support) that will be required? For manpower estimates, we request frequency estimates of all categories of problems that the contractor will provide. RFAs will be for both project development and maintenance and could be categorized as emergency, urgent, or non‐emergency. Frequency is unknown, which is why this is an Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity contract.

4. C.4.2 Task Orders for Requests for Automation (RFA) states that “the Government will issue a RFA (Exhibit I) to require…..” Exhibit I seems to refer to services in C.4.1 – routine, emergency, major system problems, minor system problems. Is there a separate form for the services in C.4.2? No

5. Labor categories listed in Section B and under C.4.2.3, do not list GIS personnel, except for one notation under Systems Engineer II. Page 8 states, “The recommended skill categories required to be performed include: project manager, analysts, geospatial specialists, and other services of an architectural or engineering nature in support of the requirements identified in Section C, Statement of Work.” Is the majority of the work IT related or is more GIS‐related? Can you estimate a split for the workload to assist us in developing staffing levels? This is hard to estimate as it is an IDIQ, but we would estimate 40/60, IT/GIS.

6. Will the contractor be responsible for all system maintenance, or only maintenance of the GIS software? They would only be responsible for the GIS, and GIS data servers associated with the Geospatial SOA and that will be limited as ITS provides a good portion of system administration.

7. Section L.9 Part I Technical Proposal page 61 and Section M Evaluation Factor 1 Technical Approach page 64 seem to list different required experience. The list in Section M is consistent with the scope of this contract. L.9 addresses items such as Grain Inspection packers, Program Loan Accounting System, Electronic Funds transfer, etc. that we do not see as part of the scope listed on page 8. Please clarify. Those things should not have been in the contract.

8. C.8 describes the place of performance as Washington DC and St Louis. For pricing and staffing purposes, can you estimate the split of employees between the two locations? Until we know exactly what task orders we will issue it is unknown, but we estimate 40/60, DC/STL.

9. Page 15 C.15.1, states that “The contractor is responsible for all costs associated with obtaining background investigations and fingerprints.” Since our experience with DOD pays for all investigations, how do we price this into the proposal? The contractor will be responsible for all associated costs to ensure that proposed personnel are properly cleared. After the contract has been awarded; new personnel requiring clearances will be vetted through the Government Security Office and the contractor will be required to reimburse to the Government for those costs.

10. The line items for travel and ODC requirements state they will not be separately priced, we interpret that to mean that they will be addressed on a task order basis. Estimates will be provided on a task order basis. For this submission, we will not be providing any pricing for those items. Please advise if this assumption is correct. Travel will be a reimbursable CLIN and estimates for travel will be stated in each individual task order. Contractors will be expected to provide an estimate of ODC costs when the statement of work has been identified and will be reflected in the task order.

11. Page 18 C.30 Compliance with Secure Coding; please clarify the exact training required for this effort. Contractor must have some developers certified in Secure Coding Practices for Java, JavaScript and .NET.

12. Page 65, Evaluation Factor 2 Past Performance, lists eight (8) criteria that will be evaluated.

Does #7 ‘Key Personnel’ refer to the Key Personnel who performed on the stated Past Performance citation? Are you looking to see if personnel on a past contract will be performing on this effort? Or are you looking to evaluate the proposed Key Personnel on this solicitation?

Key personnel in this instance refers to the individuals being proposed for this effort, however, if the individuals being proposed have also successfully performed on previous efforts identified in your past performance it would be noteworthy to highlight that fact.

13. Page 65, Evaluation Factor 2 Past Performance, lists eight (8) criteria that will be evaluated.

What does #8 ‘Subcontractors Proposed’ refer to? Are you asking about subcontractors we are proposing on this effort? If so, why is this listed in Past Performance, when L.9 requests for us to list teaming partners as part of the Technical Proposal? We wish to evaluate whether or not the team partners have worked together before and the performance of that effort.

14. Page 13, C.9 states “The hours of work shall be Monday through Friday, between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m., excluding Federal Holidays.” Page 30, F.2 states, “Routine maintenance shall be performed during the hours of 0600 – 1800 hrs Monday thru Friday, excluding Federal Holidays & Government Closures. Please verify which hours the successful contractor will work.

Washington, DC and St. Louis, MO facility hours of operation are between 0600 – 1800 hours Monday through Friday excluding Federal Holidays.

15. Does the Government desire a resume only from the Program Manager, the Key Personnel listed on page 35 H.4, or resumes from all personnel proposed on the contract? Resumes are required for all proposed personnel. Additionally, resumes shall be submitted for key personnel that are replaced and must receive prior approval from the Contracting Officer before a substitution can be made.

16. Will the Government issue laptops to the contracting team supporting the Geospatial project?

Yes

17. Is the Management section part of the Technical proposal and included in the 25 pages, or is it separate from the Technical section? Yes, the management part is a part of the 25 pages of the Technical Proposal.

18. In how many different locations will the work be accomplished? Does the Government anticipate the work being performed beyond the 2 areas already identified in the future? There are two primary locations with possible requirements based on specific task orders to visit other sites as required.

19. The mix of potential task order work elements cross all labor roles (PM, Programmer, IT, etc). It is difficult to discern the mix of TO tasks without additional details. For example, if the majority of task orders are software development related, then that is a completely different labor group composition than if the majority of task orders were related to feasibility studies and solution design. Can the USDA better clarify the anticipated mix of task orders over the primary period of performance and/or provide additional equivalent FTE mapping to labor roles?

ST. Louis, MO: During the base period the majority of task orders would be related to feasibility and analysis and design of the Geospatial SOA for Rural Development with a smaller portion being related to actual software development. During the course of the contract, that ratio will flip to more actual web based Geospatial software development, GIS data and Geospatial SOA support.

Other task orders as requested.

Washington, DC: During the base period the majority of task orders would be related to feasibility and analysis and design of the Geospatial SOA for Rural Development with a smaller portion being related to the actual Update of databases and data models for Geospatial Context. Assist in the acquisition and modernization of existing data to meet Geospatial needs and provide customer support with GIS based products and services to enable Rural Development staff to more efficiently respond to Geospatial Data Calls. Modernization of historic data sets. Other task orders as requested to include GIS functions.

20. Of the approximate FTE of 14, what is the anticipated split of tasks/roles/personnel at the Primary St. Louis and Secondary Washington D.C. locations? Approximately 9/5, STL/DC, variable based on Task Order requirements.

21. It is understood that the primary facility location is in St. Louis, however is it the desire of USDA that the contract Program Manager resides in St. Louis, or in Washington D.C.? The Program Manager resides in Washington, DC with a designated deputy site manager in St. Louis. Travel between St. Louis and Washington, DC is expected.

22. RFP section C.15.1 indicates:

Prior to beginning any work on this contract, all identified Contractor employee(s) shall undergo a security screening. All Contractor employees are, at a minimum, subject to a minimum background investigation (MBI) conducted by the Government. Security clearance above the MBI may be required at the specific TO level.”

As an FCL requirement for 8(a) would be required for a persons with security clearance above MBI, can the USDA confirm indeed that this potentially‐required clearance (assumed to be Collateral

Secret) is actually a minimum requirement for execution of the contract effort by the 8(a)? Only a background investigation is required as identified in section C.15.1 (BACKGROUND INVESTIGATION

REQUIREMENTS).

23. F.5 describes the content of the Performance Requirements Summary (PRS). It is presumed that this document will be provided by the government with each Task Order. Is this correct?

YES, the PRS will be identified in each task order.

24. In instances where a contractor has formally teamed with another company(s), will the government accept the experience and past performance of those team members when evaluating the contractor's proposal? It is understood that at least 51% of the work most be performed by the 8(a) member(s) of the team. Yes, the government will consider the past performance of a proposed subcontractor IF: ‐ it is relevant to the size, scope, and complexity of this requirement and the proposed subcontractor will be performing work/duties in a similar capacity as part of the teaming arrangement. (i.e., if a subcontractor’s past performance for an IT SOFTWARE SOLUTION is used in the proposal; they should also be proposed as a teaming partner that will handle IT Software Development etc… instead of human resources). The Prime SHALL be responsible for performing at least 51% of the work required for the resulting contract.

25. Thank you for confirming that the government will be conducting a NAC or a background check on individuals proposed after the work is awarded and the Offeror only has to ensure that they get the right candidates for the job. If the candidate has an unacceptable background check, then the Offeror will immediately replace the person without any questions. The Offeror is responsible for providing individuals capable of passing a background investigation in accordance with C.15.1.