AIE L - M.pdf

Section L - Instructions, Conditions and Notices to Bidders

INSTRUCTION TO OFFERORS

GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS

If you choose to submit a proposal/Technical Solution, it shall be submitted via email to the Government Points of Contact (POC):

Procurement Contracting Officer, Megan Lamiotte, megan.a.lamiotte.civ@army.mil and

Contract Specialist, Sesun Park, sesun.j.park.civ@army.mil

Proposal submission shall be no later than (NLT) 10:00 AM Eastern Time on DATE

TBD 2024. The size per email shall not exceed 24MB. If necessary, Offerors may submit multiple emails. If a complete proposal is not submitted by this closing time, the

Offeror’s proposal will not be considered for award. It is the responsibility of the Offeror to contact the Government POCs identified above to confirm their proposal has been received. Confirmation of receipt does not equate to confirmation of contents of the proposal.

All questions shall be submitted via email to the POCs identified above NLT 3:00 PM

Eastern Time on DATE TBD 2024. It is preferred that only one set of questions be submitted by each Offeror instead of submitting multiple sets of questions. Questions received after the date and time may not be answered prior to the closing date/time for receipt of submission. If an Offeror believes that the requirements in these instructions contain an error, omission, or are otherwise unsound, the Offeror shall notify the

Government POCs identified above during the question period in writing with supporting rationale; the notification shall also include the remedies the Offeror is asking the

Government to consider as related to the omission or error.

All inquiries shall be conducted in writing and directly to the Government POCs identified above. Offerors shall not contact any Government personnel other than the

Government POCs identified above concerning this competition. Contacting any

Government personnel other than the individual identified above may result in an organizational conflict of interest (OCI) and may result in an Offeror being excluded from competition and award.

Offerors shall not submit any assumptions, terms, conditions, caveats, or exceptions with their proposals. All concerns shall be addressed and resolved by submitting questions by the date specified in paragraph 2 above. No assumptions, terms, conditions, caveats or exceptions submitted with proposals in response to RFPs will be accepted or incorporated into the resulting award.

Offerors may encrypt and/or password protect proprietary information as they see fit.

Proprietary information shall be clearly marked. However, if the Government is unable to access the documents, the proposal will not be considered for award. The proposal submittal shall consist of separate files as set forth and named in the table below.

mailto:megan.a.lamiotte.civ@army.mil mailto:sesun.j.park.civ@army.mil

Microsoft Office 2016 software or higher, and Adobe software if applicable, shall be used to create the required files. Proposals shall not contain any classified data or information.

Subcontractor cost proposals shall be submitted electronically directly to the above

Government POCs email prior to the proposal due date and time if the subcontractor deems its proposal contains proprietary data. If the subcontractor does not deem that its proposal contains proprietary information, then the subcontractor shall submit its cost proposal to the prime contractor for inclusion in its proposal. The size per e-mail shall not exceed 24MB, and its proposal shall include all necessary supporting documents and narrative.

The entire proposal/technical solution shall remain valid for a minimum of 180 days from receipt by the Government and shall not contain classified data or information.

Proposals offering a shorter period of will not be considered for award.

The proposal/technical solution shall be clear, concise, and shall include sufficient detail for effective evaluation and for substantiating the validity of stated claims. The proposal should not simply rephrase or restate the Government's requirements but, rather, shall provide convincing rationale to address how the Offeror intends to meet these requirements. Offerors shall assume that the Government has no prior knowledge of their facilities or experience and will base its evaluation on the information presented in the Offeror's proposal.

All information the Offeror intends to have considered, including the Offeror’s best cost, shall be submitted with the initial proposal. The Government proposal evaluation will be limited to the information provided by the Offeror, and nothing will be assumed. Offerors are responsible for including sufficient details to permit a complete, thorough, and accurate evaluation of the submitted proposal.

PROPOSAL CONTENTS

STEP 1 SUBMISSION:

Annexes Approach File Name(s) Notes

Factor 1 – Technical

Challenge

Technical

Challenge using

Salesforce CRM

Technical

Challenge

(Provided with final

RFP)

See Factor 1 instructions

STEP 2 SUBMISSION:

Annexes Approach File Name(s) Notes

Factor 2 – Small

Business

Participation

Small Business

Participation and

Subcontracting

Approach xxxxORALDEMOxxxx.

See Factor 2 instructions

Factor 3- Cost/Price

Cost Narrative

Oral

Demonstration

Labor Excel and

Staffing Plan xxxxCOSTNARRxxxx.docx

(or PDF)*

See Factor 3 instructions

Factor 3 – Cost/Price Cost Proposal xxxxCOSTxxxx.xlsx*

See Factor 3 instructions

Factor 4 Agile

Program

Management

Approach

Labor Excel and

Staffing Plan

Oral

Demonstration xxxxORALDEMOxxxx.

See Factor 4 instructions

General

Cover Letter;

Property

Management

Approach;

Subcontracting;

OCI

xxxxORALDEMOxxxx.

See General instructions

Factor 5– Oral

Demonstration

Oral

Demonstration xxxxORALDEMOxxxx.

See Factor 5 instructions

*Offerors shall replace “xxxx” with the Offeror’s name and the date of the proposal. For example: OfferorNameCOST04202024.xlsx.

Any award will be made in accordance with FAR 15.202 Advisory multi-step process:

STEP 1: Acceptable/Unacceptable Technical Challenge solution

STEP 2: Offerors who receive a rating of "Acceptable" in Step 1 Technical

Challenge will be invited to Step 2 Oral Demonstration using a best value tradeoff approach.

STEP 1 SUBMISSION:

FACTOR 1 - TECHNICAL CHALLENGE

The Offeror shall perform the following Technical Challenge:

The Technical Challenge will be based on a real-life Army recruiting scenario. The

Offerors shall build the solution on their own Salesforce demonstration environment, and provide Government the web link, and user ID and password. It is imperative that the Government can easily access the vendor solution via the provided link in order to evaluate the solution. The solution will be evaluated on two key factors: 1. Human

Center Design (HCD), utilization, and 2. Salesforce out-of-box utilization. The

Government intends to conduct a streamlined phased acquisition approach based on

Technical Challenge and Oral Demonstration and NOT written proposals. Upon receipt of this RFP, Offerors will have two (2) weeks to develop and provide the Technical

Challenge solution to the Government. Offerors who have built an “Acceptable” technical solution are invited to Oral Demonstration four (4) weeks after the Offeror’s

Technical Challenge solution submission. Acceptable means the Offeror has demonstrated the following in its technical solution:

Is the solution easily accessible via weblink and user ID/password provided by the Offeror?

2 Does the solution address the entire scenario?

3 Does the solution utilize Human Center Design (HCD) for usability?

4 Does the Solution maximize Salesforce out-of-box functionality?

STEP 2 SUBMISSION: BEST VALUE TRADEOFF

FACTOR 2 – SMALL BUSINESS PARTICIPATION (ORAL DEMONSTRATION)

All Offerors (including both other than small businesses (OTSB) and small businesses) shall submit and review during the Factor 5 – Oral Demonstration, a Small Business

Participation Commitment Document (SBPCD) as outlined in Solicitation Attachment 1 –

SBPCD and demonstrate how the Offeror will meet the objective for the Government to use Small Business Concerns to the maximum extent practicable. The Offeror shall follow the instructions set forth below and in the SBPCD. The information that the

Offeror provides will be used to evaluate the Offeror’s proposed participation

/commitment to use U.S. small businesses in the performance of this acquisition (as a small business prime, joint venture, teaming arrangement, and/or small business subcontractors) relative to Section M, Factor 2 – Small Business Participation. The

SBPCD will be incorporated into the base contract vehicle as binding commitments and are considered enforceable contractual requirements.

NOTE: The SBPCD outlines the “specifics” or the “how” or the “details” of the Offeror’s firm intentions to maximize the utilization of small businesses within this acquisition. The

Offeror shall articulate small business contributions to contract performance at the

Prime contract through first tier subcontract levels. Second and lower tier small business subcontractors will not be considered towards the total small business participation percentage. Small Business Participation annotated in the Offeror’s

SBPCD is a separate requirement from the FAR 19.704 Subcontracting Plan

Requirements, which will only be reviewed for acceptability for OTSB Offerors deemed to be apparent awardees.

The Offeror shall provide the Prime Offeror’s size as outlined in the SBPCD.

Pursuant to FAR Part 19, the Government’s objective is that Small Business Concerns

(SBC) are used to the maximum extent practicable in the Offeror’s proposed approach to satisfy the requirements of this solicitation for the entire performance period. The

Offeror shall identify SBCs that are to be used in their proposed approach to satisfy the requirements. As outlined in the SBPCD, the Offeror shall:

Identify the type, variety, and complexity of work to be performed by small business firms in accordance with the Performance Work Statement (PWS).

Describe and demonstrate a substantive commitment to small business firms.

The Offeror shall provide the participation percentage of small businesses in terms of the Total Contract Ceiling Value, as outlined in the SBPCD. For this requirement the

Government’s market research shows that a minimum of 25% of the work can be performed by small business concerns; therefore, the minimum quantitative requirement has been established at 25%.

The Offeror shall provide explanation to support small business participation percentages. Binding commitments shall become enforceable, contractual requirements. For partnerships, teaming arrangements, joint ventures, etc., Letters of

Commitment, teaming agreements, etc. shall be supplied to document the business relationship.

Large business contractors may achieve the small business participation requirements through subcontracting to small business. Small business contractors may achieve small business participation requirements through their own performance/ participation as a prime and also through a joint venture, teaming arrangement, and subcontracting to other small businesses.

Only Other Than Small Businesses (OTSB) shall provide a separate Small Business

Subcontracting Plan that contains all of the elements required by FAR 52.219-9. The

Small Business Subcontracting Plan shall be submitted separately from the information required above and in the SBPCD that both OTSB and small businesses are required to submit. The plan, at a minimum, shall address the elements set forth in FAR 52.219-

9(d)(1) through (15). Subcontracting Plans shall reflect and be consistent with the commitments offered in the SBPCD. OTSB Firms shall submit acceptable subcontracting plans to be eligible for award. Subcontracting plans will only be reviewed for acceptability for the Offerors deemed to be apparent awardees. The Small Business

Subcontracting Plan will be incorporated into the resultant contract and is excluded from the small business page count limit.

The work to be performed directly by a small business Prime Offeror shall be evaluated as Small Business Participation. Small business Prime Offerors shall include their information in the above requested subparagraphs and SBPCD as required.

The SBPCD, which is an enforceable, contractual requirement, shall require periodic progress reporting to facilitate government monitoring in the event of an award. The

Offeror shall propose annual reporting of the requirements set forth in the SBPCD paragraphs 1-3 (contractor format is acceptable) in accordance with CDRL A008 –

Small Business Utilization Report (DI-MGMT-82041B).

Offerors that have enforceable agreements shall provide fully executed copies (i.e., the entire agreement and not just first and last pages). An enforceable commitment is defined as a written and signed agreement (by both parties) detailing that all parties have agreed to a business relationship for this procurement; the agreement shall be specific in nature. The agreement shall be clear that both parties have defined and agreed to the extent of the relationship to include the type or types of work the subcontractors/partners shall perform. These agreements are excluded from the small business page count limit.

A small business joint venture Offeror must submit, with its offer, the representation required in paragraph (c) of FAR 52.219-1, Small Business Program Representations, in accordance with FAR 52.204-8(d) for the following categories:

1) Small business;

2) Service-disabled veteran-owned small business;

3) Women-owned small business (WOSB) under the WOSB Program;

4) Economically disadvantaged women-owned small business under the WOSB

Program; or

5) Historically underutilized business zone small business.

FACTOR 3 – COST/PRICE

This solicitation is for a hybrid Cost-Plus-Fixed-Fee (CPFF) Term, CPFF completion, Firm Fixed Price (FFP) and Cost Reimbursement (CR) Indefinite

Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (ID/IQ) contract for services and the necessary travel and Other Direct Costs (ODCs) to support those services.

Each PRIME OFFEROR AND SUBCONTRACTOR shall complete the Cost Model found within Solicitation Attachment 2 in its entirety. If any prime Offeror or any of its respective subcontractors do not provide a completed Cost Model (Solicitation

Attachment 2) and a cost narrative, inclusive of the requirements set forth below, the entire prime proposal may be considered nonresponsive and ineligible for award.

Period of Performance: The overall contract ordering period will be for ten (10) years consisting of a five (5) year base period and five (5) one year Option Periods

1) Offerors shall propose their own unique estimates for the labor requirements associated with a given task order scope.

2) Each Offeror and its subcontractor(s) shall provide whatever information is necessary to help the Government understand why the proposed costs are realistic in the xxxxCOSTNARRxxxx.docx (or PDF). Each Offeror’s cost proposal shall contain sufficient quantitative and narrative documentation to adequately support and explain the costs proposed, to include subcontractor proposed costs. The

Offeror and its subcontractor(s) shall disclose the location (Government site or the

Contractor site per the PWS of each proposed labor category’s performance in their respective cost proposal(s). If the Offerors proposal includes accounting approaches that deviate from standard industry accounting practices or caps proposed indirect rates, the Offeror shall include documentation from DCMA/DCAA showing that the Offeror’s accounting system/cost accounting standards allow for the deviation and/or rate cap. DCMA/DCAA approved deviations and/or rate caps will be incorporated into the resulting task order.

3) Each Offeror shall identify all proposed subcontractors and the contract type the

Offeror has with each subcontractor in its xxxxCOSTNARRxxxx.docx (or PDF). IAW

FAR 15.404-3(b), the prime contractor or subcontractor shall: (1) Conduct appropriate cost or price analyses to establish the reasonableness of proposed subcontract costs/prices; and (2) Include the results of these analyses in the cost/price proposal. If the Offeror or subcontractor relied upon its approved purchasing system to establish its subcontracts, it shall state so and provide documentation of its approved purchasing system (including date of approval) within its xxxxCOSTNARRxxxx.docx (or PDF) (see FAR 15.404-3).

4) Reference FAR 15.404-3: If the Offeror is unable to obtain the required documentation from its subcontractors to conduct the appropriate cost or price analysis as required, the subcontractor shall provide the information directly to the

Government following the submission instructions of this RFP. However, the Offeror and its subcontractor in this scenario shall provide the rationale detailing exactly why the Offeror is unable to conduct the price or cost analysis required by FAR 15.404-3 in its xxxxCOSTNARRxxxx.docx (or PDF). For example, if a price/cost analysis is required for a subcontractor, that analysis requires a breakout of the individual cost elements to a prime, and a subcontractor is unable to provide its proprietary data to the Offeror, the Offeror may then do a total price analysis IAW FAR 15.404-1(b) and the subcontractor shall submit its proprietary cost breakout directly to the

Government.

5) IAW FAR 15.403-1(b), data other than certified cost or pricing data is required to support cost realism. Each Offeror’s and subcontractor’s cost proposal shall be broken out by cost element as specified in FAR 15.408, Table 15-2, and in further supporting detail as shown in the SAMPLE cost breakdown provided in RFP Cost

Model workbook, Solicitation Attachment 2. If a subcontractor submits its cost proposal directly to the Government, the subcontractor’s xxxxCOSTNARRxxxx.docx

(or PDF) and xxxxCOSTxxxx.xlsx, shall contain all the same documentation, by cost volume, required by this RFP. The subcontractor shall identify in its xxxxCOSTNARRxxxx.docx (or PDF) the associated prime Offeror and the solicitation number.

6) In support of the proposed Direct Labor Rates, the Offeror and its subcontractor(s) shall provide supporting documentation to include at least one of the below forms (a, b, c, and/or d).

a. Forward Pricing Rate Agreements (FPRAs) or Forward Pricing Rate

Recommendations (FPRRs) from Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA) or

Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA) or DCAA/DCMA-approved

Compensation Rate Tables mapped to the proposed Labor Categories

b. Letter(s) of Intent (LOIs), which include, at a minimum, the following:

Position;

Direct hourly rate;

Submitted on Offeror’s or subcontractor’s letterhead;

Signed by the employer and prospective employee; and

A statement that the LOI is for RFP <W91CRB-24-R-xxxx>

c. Current payroll records and/or paystubs (from within 60 days of Solicitation close date) showing Rate of Pay and referenced to the Labor Category in the Proposal.

d. Salary Survey data, which shall include, at a minimum, the following:

Source of data;

Job title and description;

Years/level of experience applicable to the selected salary amount;

Geographic location; and

Range of salary amounts with reference to applicability of amounts

NOTE: If an Offeror is basing the proposed labor rates on salary survey data only, then in order to be considered eligible for award from a realism standpoint, the Offeror shall propose direct labor rates as follows:

1) For non-subject matter expert (SME)/non-specialized labor categories, direct labor rates shall correspond to at minimum the 50th percentile for the appropriate work location and level of experience (prior to adding contract specific premiums, such as security clearance premiums) from the utilized salary survey;

2) For SME/highly specialized labor categories, direct labor rates shall correspond to at minimum the 75th percentile (prior to adding contract-specific premiums, such as security clearance premiums) from the utilized salary survey.

3) Referenced salary surveys must be from industry-recognized, audited surveys (such as ERI).

Commercial/consumer-oriented sites such as Glassdoor, Salary.com, etc. will not be accepted. Offerors must provide screenshots/PDF prints of the data used with a clear crosswalk to the proposed rate and labor category. The Government reserves the right to determine a rate unrealistic, even if it is at the above percentiles or higher, based upon competitive analysis.

1) In support of the proposed Indirect Expense Rates, Offeror and its subcontractor(s) shall provide documentation of the most recent Indirect Expense Rates, to include one of the following (a, b, c, or d):

a. Forward Pricing Rate Agreements (FPRAs) with DCAA or DCMA

b. Forward Pricing Rate Recommendations (FPRRs) from DCAA or DCMA

c. Forward Pricing Rate Proposal (FPRP), Approved Provisional Rates Proposal or other statement of current rates. All submissions shall include three (3) years of

Incurred Cost Submissions to DCAA detailing pools and bases (by expense accounts) information that validates the calculations or three years historical actual detailing pools and bases (by expense accounts) information that validates the calculations. Forecasted pools and bases for the current year (by expense account) shall also be submitted.

d. If an entity cannot include a. – c. above because it restructured or is a new entity, that company shall provide proof to include the date it restructured or the date the new entity was formed and include the pools and bases as well as all historical data detailing pools and bases information (by expense account) which validates the calculation from the date of the restructuring.

NOTE 1: The rates reflected in the FPRA, FPRR, FPRP, Approved Provisional Rates

Proposal or other statement of current rates should directly match the rates proposed by the Offeror or subcontractor. If the rates do not match, the Offeror or subcontractor shall provide sufficient detail explaining how the proposed rates are realistic.

NOTE 2: For all documents that are provided to support the proposed rates, such documents shall be explained within the xxxxCOSTNARRxxxx.docx (or PDF). The explanation shall include a mapping of the supporting documentation to the proposed rate(s) and how the proposed rate(s) was developed.

1) In support of the Evaluation of Compensation for Professional Employees, in accordance with FAR 52.222-46, the Offeror and its subcontractor(s) shall provide documentation that supports a total compensation plan, setting forth salaries and fringe benefits proposed for the professional employees who will work under the contract that assures it reflects a sound management approach and understanding of the contract requirements and relevant industry standards.

2) Supporting information for total compensation plans shall include data derived from recognized, current national and regional compensation surveys and/or studies of professional, public and private organizations, used in establishing the total compensation structure. Specific references to this supporting survey/study information shall be directly cross walked/indexed to the proposed compensation details with relevant reference excerpts included as indexed appendices within the cost narrative xxxxCOSTNARRxxxx.docx (or PDF).

3) Offerors shall include the exact Government-prescribed estimates for Travel and

Other Direct Costs (ODCs) in its cost proposal. The Government-prescribed estimates included in the cost model are the total costs for Licenses, Travel and ODCs exclusive of any Offeror’s associated indirect charges. The Offeror shall propose any applicable indirect charges on the Licenses, Travel and/or ODC estimates in accordance with its disclosed accounting practices.

4) If only one offer is received in response to this RFP, the Government may request additional information to include certified cost or pricing data and a Certificate of Current

Cost or Pricing Data.

5) For CONUS labor, Offerors shall provide justification for proposing on any basis other than an eight-hour workday, forty-hour workweek.

6) If proposing a salary instead of hourly rates, Offerors shall indicate the hours upon which the salary is based.

7) IAW FAR 52.215-22, if the Offeror intends to subcontract more than 70% of the total cost of work to be performed under the contract, the Offeror shall identify in its proposal

i) The amount of the Offeror’s indirect costs and profit/fee applicable to the work to be performed by the subcontractor(s); and ii) A description of the added value provided by the Offeror as related to the work to be performed by the subcontractor(s).

8) For Offerors who propose any indirect rates on an intra-divisional company, the

Government will view these efforts as subcontractors. As such, Offerors shall propose accordingly in their Technical and Cost volumes.

9) Identification of Uncompensated Overtime: “Uncompensated overtime” means the hours worked without additional compensation more than an average of 40 hours per week by direct charge employees who are exempt from the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Compensated personal absences such as holidays, vacations, and sick leave shall be included in the normal work week for purposes of computing uncompensated overtime hours.

10) IAW FAR 37.115, the use of uncompensated overtime is not encouraged. Any usage of it shall be explained in detail and describe how recruitment and retention will not be affected. Offerors are cautioned that in the cost realism analysis the adjusted hourly rate (including uncompensated overtime) (see definition at 37.101), rather than the hourly rate, shall be applied to all proposed hours, whether regular or overtime hours. If uncompensated overtime is used, the Offeror shall clearly identify the labor category or categories on which uncompensated overtime will be applied. All Offerors, whether proposing uncompensated overtime or not, shall provide a copy of its policy addressing uncompensated overtime with its proposal.

a. For any proposed hours against which an uncompensated overtime rate is applied, the Offeror shall identify in its proposal the hours more than an average of

40 hours per week by labor category at the same level of detail as compensated hours, and the uncompensated overtime rate per hour, whether at the prime or subcontract level. This shall include uncompensated overtime hours that are in indirect cost pools for personnel whose regular hours are normally charged directly.

b. The Offeror’s accounting practices used to estimate uncompensated overtime must be consistent with its cost accounting practices used to accumulate and report uncompensated overtime hours.

c. Proposals that include unrealistically low labor rates, or that do not otherwise demonstrate cost realism, a risk assessment will be conducted, and this assessment will be taken into consideration during the evaluation of their proposal.

d. The Offeror shall include a copy of its policy addressing uncompensated overtime with its proposal.

11) Offerors shall structure their xxxxCOSTxxxx.xlsx document IAW the CLIN structure annotated in the Cost Model Solicitation Attachment 2. No price information is to be found in any other annex.

12) Each Offeror shall provide documented evidence of their possession of an accounting system adequate for determining and recording costs applicable to the contract. In the event that the Offeror, or any subcontractor proposed on a cost reimbursable basis, has not received a determination from DCAA or DCMA on the adequacy of their respective accounting system, they should submit to the Contracting

Officer a completed Standard Form 1408.

13) The first Task Order (TO) issued under this IDIQ contract will be for Development efforts in support of deployable capabilities for AIE, CLIN 0002. The total value for this first TO will be in accordance with the Offeror’s cost/price information evaluated within Factor 3.

FACTOR 4 – AGILE PROGRAM MANAGEMENT APPROACH (ORAL

DEMONSTRATION)

Element 1: Staffing Plan

The Offeror shall review its Staffing Plan during the Factor 5 – Oral Demonstration that explains how it’s proposed labor categories, hours, and mix necessary to support the requirements of the PWS and aligns with Factor 3 Cost/Price. The Offeror shall provide any other information necessary to support evaluation of the labor categories, hours, and mix to support cost realism analysis. This Element shall include the following information:

Labor Excel:

For CLINs 0001 (Offerors shall provide an excel chart with all labor categories along with descriptions, and qualifications and indicate under which CLINs each labor category will be expected to perform.

The Offeror shall discuss any other information necessary to support evaluation of the labor categories, hours, and mix to support cost realism analysis.

Demonstration and as represented in the Solicitation Attachment 2 – Cost Model.

Offerors shall provide details of each team size (small, medium, large) to include the personnel count and associated hours. The Offeror shall explain how it’s proposed labor categories, hours, and mix necessary to support the requirements of the PWS. The

Offeror shall provide any other information necessary to support evaluation of the labor categories, hours, and mix to support cost realism analysis.

Note: The proposed labor categories, labor hours, and teaming mixes shall be consistent with the Annex – Cost Price and as presented in the Offeror’s Staffing

Approach during Oral Demonstration.

Key Personnel: Offerors shall discuss how each Key Personnel outlined in PWS Section

1.7.7 meets the requirements of the PWS.

GENERAL

Element 1: COVER LETTER

Offerors shall submit a cover letter on company letterhead. The following information shall be included in the cover letter:

1) The point of contact for the proposal, including the individual’s name, company position/title, phone number, and e-mail address.

2) A statement that the Offeror is proposing as either a small business or a large business.

3) An affirmative statement that the identified point of contact has the authority to enter into an agreement on behalf of the Offeror’s company.

4) An affirmative statement of agreement to all terms, conditions, and provisions of this solicitation and that the proposal does not include any assumptions, terms, conditions, caveats, or exceptions (except for an exemption to the requirement for a disclosure statement in accordance with FAR Provision 52.230-1,if applicable)

5) An affirmative statement that the Offeror is not aware of any OCI with itself, subcontractors, partners or any other Offeror as it applies to this solicitation, or an affirmative statement that any OCI that the Offeror is aware of for any Offeror as it applies to this solicitation has been disclosed to the Contracting Officer and the date it was disclosed including if disclosed with proposal submission.

6) The Offeror’s Commercial and Government Entity (CAGE) code, Unique Entity ID number, and cognizant DCAA and DCMA offices Information in accordance with FAR 52.215-1I (1Information for SF 33 Block 15C, if applicable

7) Offerors shall attach to the cover letter any submissions required in accordance with

Section K of this solicitation. Submission requirements for Section K are not included in the page limit for the cover letter and may be attached as an Appendix to the Cover Letter

8) SF 33 and (if applicable to any amendments resulting from this solicitation) SF 30 forms shall be signed as required in accordance with FAR 4.102. Digital signatures or handwritten signatures on a scanned copy are acceptable. Submission is required only via email, no hard copies are required. Submission of the SF 33 and SF 30 forms is not included in the page limit for the cover letter and may be attached as an

Appendix to the Cover Letter. By signing and submitting the signed SF 30 form for all Solicitation Amendments, the Offeror acknowledges the Solicitation and

Amendments and affirms the entire proposal will remain valid for 180 days from receipt of the Government. Offeror proposals that do not remain valid 180 days shall not be considered for award.

Non-Government Advisors

Offerors are advised that employees of the firm(s) identified below may serve as non-

Government advisors in the source selection process. These individuals will be authorized access only to those portions of the proposal data and discussions that are necessary to enable them to perform their respective duties. Such firm are expressly prohibited from competing on the subject acquisition.

Company Names of Non-Government Advisors:

The government anticipates using non-Government advisors during the selection and names of companies to be provided during final RFP.

In accomplishing their duties related to the source selection process, the aforementioned firm(s) may require access to proprietary information contained in the

Offerors' proposals. Therefore, pursuant to FAR 9.505-4, these firms must execute an agreement with each Offeror that states that they will (1) protect the Offerors’ information from unauthorized use or disclosure for as long as it remains proprietary and (2) refrain from using the information for any purpose other than that for which it was furnished. To expedite the evaluation process, each Offeror must contact the above firm to effect execution of such an agreement prior to the submission of proposals. Each

Offeror shall submit copies of the agreement with their proposal. Note: This requirement shall flow down to all Subcontractors. The Agreement is not included in the page limit for the cover letter and may be attached as an Appendix to the cover letter.

FACTOR–5 - ORAL DEMONSTRATION

The Oral Demonstration will be used to assess the Offeror’s capability to satisfy the requirements set forth in the PWS. The Oral Demonstration shall not provide the Offeror any opportunity to revise or change any of the previously provided proposal and is therefore not construed to be discussions with the Offeror.

After down selecting the Offerors based on the evaluation results of Technical

Challenge in Step 1, Oral Demonstration will be scheduled with the remaining Offerors.

The Offerors chosen to participate will receive an invitation to Oral Demonstration, which will include the physical location, date, time, and corresponding link to the virtual meeting location on MS Teams for nonparticipating observers. The order in which

Offerors are scheduled for Oral Demonstration will be randomly selected by the

Government. Note, in accordance with FAR 15.102(e), each Oral Demonstration will be recorded in its entirety by the Government.

Key Personnel. The presenting Oral Demonstration team shall include three (3) of the five (5) Key Personnel IAW PWS Section 1.7.8 and shall be the Prime Contractor or

Sub-Contractor’s existing employees. The three (3) required existing Key Personnel are required to actively and orally participate in all aspects of the demonstration.

Additionally, strengths may be given to Offerors that have the remaining two (2) of the five (5) existing and/or contingent Key Personnel actively and orally participating in all aspects of the demonstration. Offerors are limited to no more than (7) personnel in attendance at the Oral Demonstration.

An Offeror may attend only one (1) Oral presentation, whether for itself as a prime

Offeror or as a subcontractor for another Offeror. Additionally, an individual participant may only attend/participate in a single oral presentation with one (1) prime Offeror.

Oral Demonstration will consist of the following Elements: (1) Agile Management approach, and organizational agile culture (2) Walkthrough Technical Challenge solution, (3) Introduce key personnel (task order - tech lead, dev lead, test lead). (4)

Q&A session.

Details regarding the Oral Demonstration factor will be provided with the Step 2

Successful Offer invitation and no later than three (3) business days after the Step 1 evaluation.

Oral Demonstrations are tentatively scheduled as follows:

Event Duration

(min) Sample

Schedule

Agile Management approach, and organizational agile culture

15 8:30 - 8:45

Walkthrough Technical Challenge solution 75 9:00 - 10:15

Introduction of key personnel (task order -tech lead, dev lead, test lead)

15 10:30 – 10:45

Q&A Session 15 11:00 – 11:15

Cost information shall not appear in the Oral Demonstration. Proposals that fail to separate cost information from the Oral Demonstration may not be considered for award. Offerors shall include their physical demonstration materials as xxxxORALDEMOxxxx.docx (or PDF or PPT) within three (3) business days of the issued Step 2 successful Offeror invitation. Annex shall not exceed 35 slides. Font size for text on slides shall be no smaller than 12pt Arial or Times New Roman. Font size for graphics and tables on slides shall be no smaller than 8pt Arial or Times New Roman.

Failure to meet these limitations shall result in the slide being non-compliant and will not be considered part of the Oral Demonstration. Slide size shall be the Standard slide size: On-screen show (4:3); Width: 10 inches; Height: 7.5 inches (Not Widescreen).

Company logos are excluded from font type and size restrictions. Annex V shall be organized by element. One cover slide, one agenda slide will not count towards the slide limit. Slides that do not comply with formatting requirements may result in the

Offeror being ineligible for award.

Oral Demonstration Notes:

Offerors shall assume that the Government has no prior knowledge of Offeror’s experience, as the Government will base its evaluation solely on the information contained in the Offeror’s demonstration and slides.

For Oral Demonstration, the Government will provide internet access through a

Government-owned commercial Wi-Fi network, or the Offeror may choose to provide their own connectivity at their own risk. Microsoft TEAMS (to include a dial-in number) will be provided to Offerors to project briefing slides and allow for recording of the Oral

Demonstration. Offerors may not electronically record any part of the Oral

Demonstration process. The Government will record the Oral Demonstration in whole.

Upon completion of presentation, the Government will caucus and return to ask clarifying questions. The Government will ask a standard set of questions to the Offeror, as well as clarifying questions. The Offeror will respond to the Government’s clarifying questions and standard questions for up to 45 minutes. If necessary, the Offeror may briefly caucus to coordinate responses. The Government’s intention is any exchange posed by the Government in response to the presentation will be for elucidation/engagement only and is not for the purpose of changing or altering the

Offeror’s submission; however, the Offeror’s response will be considered part of their submission. The purpose of the exchanges is not for the Government to lead an Offeror to a particular solution, rather it is to make clear the Offeror’s submission to the

Government.

The maximum number of Offeror presenters for Step 2 is limited to seven (7) individuals. Although Offeror presenters are limited to seven (7) individuals, Offerors may use their caucus time to reach back to their existing employees or proposed teaming arrangement to plan their challenge demonstration.

Offerors shall provide the name and e-mail of the Offeror Participants for the oral presentation via email to Contracting Officer and Contracting Specialist prior to their scheduled date of their Oral Presentation.

A minimum of three (3) Offeror Participants must be Key Personnel as proposed IAW with Factor 4 Agile Program Management Approach.

Offerors may not share information obtained during the scheduled Oral Demonstration outside of their company or proposed teaming arrangement.

The Government anticipates the Contracting Officer, Contract Specialist, Office of

Counsel, Source Selection Team Members, and Non-Government Advisors will attend the presentations. The Contracting Officer retains sole discretion to require or allow other Government attendees.

The Government may request the Offeror to include aspects of the Offeror’s Oral

Demonstration as special terms and conditions to any resultant contract through discussions.

Any conflicts between Oral Demonstration and the written proposal shall be resolved through Discussions.

CLAUSES INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

52.204-7 System for Award Management OCT 2018

52.204-16 Commercial and Government Entity Code

Reporting

AUG 2020

52.204-22 Alternative Line Item Proposal JAN 2017

52.214-34 Submission Of Offers In The English

Language

APR 1991

52.214-35 Submission Of Offers In U.S. Currency APR 1991

52.215-1 Instructions to Offer–s--Competitive

Acquisition

NOV 2021

52.215-20

Requirements for Certified Cost or Pricing Data and Data

Other Than Certified Cost or Pricing Data

NOV 2021

52.215-22

Limitations on Pass-Through Char–s-- Identification of

Subcontract Effort

OCT 2009

52.237-1 Site Visit APR 1984

252.204-7019 Notice of NIST SP 800-171 DoD

Assessment Requirements

NOV 2023

252.204-7024 Notice on the Use of the Supplier

Performance Risk System

MAR 2023

252.215-7008 Only One Offer DEC 2022

252.215-7013

Supplies and Services Provided by Nontraditional Defense

Contractors

JAN 2023

252.215-7016 Notification to Offer–s—Post award

Debriefings

DEC 2022

252.225-7003 Report of Intended Performance Outside the United States and Can–a--Submission with

Offer

OCT 2020

252.234-7001 Notice of Earned Value Management

System

APR 2008

SECTION M - EVALUATION FACTORS FOR AWARD

BASIS FOR AWARD

Evaluation and award of this contract will be made in accordance with the Best Value

Continuum Tradeoff procedures described in Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part

15.101-1 Tradeoff Process for a Best Value Decision. Any award will be made in accordance with FAR 15.202 Advisory multi-step process:

STEP 1: Acceptable/Unacceptable Technical Challenge solution

STEP 2: Offerors who receive a rating of "Acceptable" in Step 1 Technical Challenge will then be evaluated using a best value tradeoff approach.

To select the Offeror that is the best value, the Government will perform a comparative analysis between Factor 3 - Cost/Price and Factor–5 - Oral Demonstration, after a down select based on evaluation of Factor 1 – Technical Challenge. Factor–5 - Oral

Demonstration is significantly more important than Factor 3 - Cost/Price. The

Government reserves the right to make an award to other than the lowest priced Offeror if a superior Oral Demonstration warrants paying a premium.

Upon receipt of proposals, the Government will review the submitted information for compliance with the stated criteria in the table below on an Acceptable/Unacceptable basis. To receive a rating of “Acceptable” the Offeror must have demonstrated the following in its technical solution:

Is the solution easily accessible via web link and user id/password provided by the Offeror?

2 Does the solution address the entire scenario?

3 Does the solution utilize Human Center Design (HCD) for usability?

4 Does the Solution maximize Salesforce out-of-box functionality?

Acceptable = Proposal meets the minimum requirements

Unacceptable = Proposal does not meet the minimum requirements

Award Eligibility

To be considered eligible for award, an Offeror’s proposal at a minimum shall:

1) Provide all submission requirements;

2) Be evaluated as Acceptable for Factor 1 – Technical Challenge;

3) Be rated as Acceptable for Factor 2 - Small Business Participation;

4) Be determined Fair and Reasonable and evaluated for realism for Factor 3 -

Cost/Price;

5) Be rated as Acceptable for Factor 4 – Agile Program Management Approach;

6) Receive a rating of Acceptable or higher for Factor 5 – Oral Demonstration;

and

7) Be evaluated for compliance with General requirements.

Evaluation Process

The Government intends to conduct a two-step acquisition approach.

Step 1:

The Government will first evaluate Factor 1 – Technical Challenge as outlined below.

Offerors who have built an “Acceptable” technical solution are invited to continue into

Step 2. It is the Government’s intent to not enter into discussion during Step 1.

If an Offeror is not selected to participate in Oral Demonstration, then the Government may not evaluate the remaining Step 2 Proposal Factors.

Step 2:

The Government will evaluate Factor 5 Oral Demonstration and will evaluate Factor 2 –

Small Business Participation and Factor 3 – Cost/Price and Factor 4 – Agile Program

Management Approach, as outlined below. The Government will make award of the contract based on the outcome of the evaluations of Factor 2 - Small Business, Factor 3

- Cost/Price, Factor 5 - Oral Demonstration, and Factor 4 – Agile Program Management

Approach.

B. FACTORS TO BE EVALUATED.

The following evaluation factors will be used to evaluate each proposal. Award will be made to the Offeror whose proposal is best value to the Government based upon an integrated assessment of the evaluation factors described below.

A detailed explanation of the criteria for the evaluation of each factor is set forth in the

“Evaluation Approach,” Paragraph C of this section.

Factors to be Evaluated:

Step 1:

Factor 1: Technical Challenge (Acceptable/Unacceptable)

Step 2:

Factor 2: Small Business Participation (Acceptable/Unacceptable)

Factor 3: Cost/Price

Factor 4: Agile Program Management Approach (Acceptable/Unacceptable)

Factor 5: Oral Demonstration (Adjectivally Rated)

Compliance with General requirements

C. EVALUATION APPROACH.

This procurement is subject to DFARS 215.306 and therefore, the intent of the

Government is to favor discussions. However, the Government reserves the right to exercise its discretion not to enter into discussions in accordance with DFARS 215.306 if it is determined that discussions are inappropriate. Therefore, the Offeror’s initial proposal should contain the Offeror’s best terms from a cost or price and technical standpoint.

For the purposes of the evaluation, the term “Offeror” refers to the Offeror and all major subcontractors.

Factor 1 – Technical Challenge

The Government will evaluate the adequacy of the Offeror’s Technical Challenge solution met experience necessary to execute the scope of work IAW the PWS. The

Technical Challenge factor will be evaluated as “Acceptable” or “Unacceptable.” The ratings are defined as follows:

Technical Challenge Rating Definitions

Rating Description

Acceptable Proposal meets the requirements of the solicitation.

Unacceptable Proposal does not meet the requirements of the solicitation.

Factor 2 - Small Business Participation

In accordance with DFARS 215.304(c) (i), the Government will evaluate whether the

Offeror meets the below small business objectives and includes relevant discussion during the Factor 5 Oral Demonstration to support how the Offeror will meet their proposed Small Business participation commitment. The Offeror’s Small Business

Participation will be rated using the Table below. A rating of “Acceptable” must be achieved to be considered for award.

The Government will evaluate the following:

1) Whether or not, in accordance with, FAR Part 19, Small Business Concerns (SBC) are specifically identified by name in each category in the Offeror’s SBPCD proposal and the Offeror’s commitment to SBCs.

2) The type, variety, and complexity of work SBCs are proposed to perform in accordance with the work supporting the PWS.

3) Whether or not the Offeror demonstrates a substantive commitment to SBCs, such as letters of commitment, Joint Ventures, mentor/protégé agreements, or other demonstrations of commitment. Binding commitments will become enforceable/contractual requirements.

4) Whether or not the Offeror’s proposed SBC participation meets the minimum quantitative requirement (MQR) (small business objective) of 25% of the work based on the total contract value. Failure to meet the MQR shall result in the Offeror being unacceptable for this factor and therefore ineligible for award.

The Government will also evaluate the Offeror’s detailed explanations supporting their proposed quantitative participation.

The Small Business Subcontracting Plan is required (FAR 52.219-9) for Other Than

Small Businesses (OTSB) Offerors ONLY (i.e., Large Businesses). OTSB Firms must submit acceptable subcontracting plans in accordance with FAR 52.219-9 to be eligible for award. Any Small Business Subcontracting Plan submitted shall be relevant to the

SBPCD and Factor 2 - Small Business Participation.

NOTE: Subcontracting plans will only be reviewed for acceptability for the Offeror deemed to be apparent awardee.

Small Business Participation Rating Definitions are listed in the Table below.

Small Business Participation Rating Definitions

Rating Description

Acceptable Proposal indicates an adequate approach and understanding of small business objectives.

Unacceptable Proposal does not meet small business objectives.

Factor 3 - Cost/Price

The total evaluated cost/price to be used in the award determination will be the total identified in the Offeror’s xxxxCOSTxxxx.XLSX file(s) (which includes CLINs) and is subject to a probable cost adjustment IAW below paragraphs. This evaluation criteria shall apply to each Offerors’ base IDIQ contract proposal as well as the first TO/DO as required by the solicitation. The first TO/DO issued under this IDIQ contract will be for

Development efforts in support of deployable capabilities for AIE, CLIN 0002. The

Government will evaluate to ensure that all proposed price/costs are fair and reasonable and will evaluate for realism and unbalanced pricing. Each Offeror’s proposal will be evaluated IAW the criteria in FAR 15.404-1. Accordingly, the analytical techniques and procedures prescribed in FAR 15.404-1 for evaluating an Offeror’s proposal may be used singly or in combination with others to ensure the costs are fair and reasonable, and support evaluation of realism and unbalanced pricing.

1) For the cost and CPFF CLINs, the Government will evaluate the realism of the

Offeror's proposed costs IAW FAR 15.404-1 (d) and/or (c). The most probable cost may be determined by adjusting (for purposes of evaluation only) each Offeror’s proposed cost, when appropriate, to reflect any additions or reductions in cost elements to realistic levels based…