Attachment 0003-DRAID BOA Instructions and Evaluation Criteria 30 March 2021.pdf

JAIC DRAID BOA Solicitation W52P1J-21-R-0030 Attachment 0003 – DRAID BOA Instructions and Evaluations 30 March 2021

INSTRUCTIONS TO PREPARE PROPOSALS

1. Proposal Submission Information

Proposal submissions to this solicitation shall be received no later than 12:00 p.m.

Central Time (CT), 28 April 2021. Proposals received after this time will not be considered. All proposals shall be submitted via email to the addresses below:

Mark Martinez, Contracting Officer

Army Contracting Command - Rock Island (ACC-RI)

Mark.martinez2.civ@mail.mil

Meagan Cagle, Contract Specialist

ACC-RI

meagan.b.cagle.civ@mail.mil

2. Questions

All questions related to the solicitation shall be submitted via e-mail to the Contracting

Officer and Contract Specialist listed above. The subject of the e-mail must be titled:

Offeror Name Questions re: Solicitation W52P1J-21-R-0030.

All questions must be submitted in writing via e-mail not later than 12:00 p.m. Central

Time (CT), 7 April 2021. For any questions received after this date and time, the

Government reserves the right not to respond. Questions should be written in a manner that enables clear understanding of the Offeror’s questions or concerns. Statements expressing opinions, sentiments, or conjectures are not considered valid inquiries and will not receive a response. Further, Offerors are reminded that the Government will not address hypothetical questions aimed at receiving a potential “evaluation decision.”

Questions should not contain proprietary information, as questions and responses

(removing identifying information) will be posted once complete.

Offerors must cite the relevant solicitation section, attachment (if applicable), page number, and paragraph. Offerors shall submit questions in a Microsoft (MS) Excel

(compatible with MS Excel 2013) file attachment.

All answers to questions or requests for clarifications will be provided as soon as possible. Answers to questions will be released via formal Amendment to this solicitation on beta.SAM. If the Government issues an Amendment to the solicitation, Offerors must acknowledge the Amendment(s) within the timeframe specified in the

Amendment, to be considered responsive to the solicitation.

mailto:Mark.martinez2.civ@mail.mil mailto:meagan.b.cagle.civ@mail.mil

Attachment 0003 – DRAID BOA Instructions and Evaluations 30 March 2021

Government anticipates responses to all questions on 14 April 2021. Depending on the updates, the Government may extend the closing date. There is no need to inquire on the status of the questions or extensions.

3. Instructions to Offerors

These instructions are a guide for preparing a proposal to the solicitation. These instructions describe the type and extent of information required, and emphasize the significant areas to be addressed in the proposal. Offerors shall examine this solicitation in its entirety and ensure that its proposal is complete and contains all necessary information and documentation required as instructed by this solicitation.

The information requested and the manner of proposal is essential to permit prompt evaluation of all proposals on a fair and uniform basis.

Contractor Teaming Arrangements (CTAs) are allowed to submit proposals at the BOA level. Please see Section 3.2, Specific Instructions By Section, which contains the instructions for allowable responses and supporting documentation regarding CTAs.

CTAs will be reviewed annually IAW the information listed in the SF1449, Section H, Special Contract Requirements.

3.1 General

In order to be eligible for a BOA, Offerors must provide a proposal consisting of the following four sections:

Section Item Associated Attachment (if applicable)

1 Cover Letter N/A

2 JAIC BOA Questionnaire 0001

3 Support Documentation per JAIC

BOA Questionnaire N/A

4 Signed and Completed SF1449 N/A

a. Proposals must be complete, clear, coherent, and prepared in sufficient detail for effective evaluation. Proposals shall assume that the Government has no prior knowledge of Contractor experience and will base its evaluation on the information presented in the Offeror’s proposals.

b. Any part of the Offeror’s proposal that it considers proprietary shall be marked as so.

Attachment 0003 – DRAID BOA Instructions and Evaluations 30 March 2021

c. All information submitted in response to this solicitation shall be formatted as described below in “3.2 Specific Instructions by Section.”

d. Each Offeror shall submit only one proposal. Proposals shall not contain classified data. Alternate proposals will not be accepted. The use of hyperlinks in proposal documents submitted in response to this solicitation is prohibited.

3.2 Specific Instructions by Section

Section 1: Cover Letter. The Cover Letter shall be limited to two 8.5x11 inch pages, single-spaced with 1-inch margins, using Arial size 12-point font with each page numbered. Tables and illustrations may use a reduced font size, no smaller than 8-point font. The Cover Letter shall be submitted in PDF, entitled: Section 1 Offeror Name JAIC

DRAID BOA Cover Letter. The Cover Letter shall include the following information:

1) Solicitation number

2) A statement that the proposal is valid for 120 days after submission date of proposal

3) Contractor name

4) DUNS number

5) CAGE code

6) Teaming arrangements (to include company names of all CTA members)

7) Business size and socioeconomic status of prime under NAICS 512810 (and any teaming arrangements if applicable)*

8) Complete business mailing address

9) Point(s) of Contact (POC), to include the BOA Manager, designated to represent the

Offeror in this acquisition (Name, title, e-mail address, and phone number)

10) Date and signature from the POC authorized to enter into an agreement with the

Government

11) Acknowledgement of any Amendment to this solicitation, to include signed copies attached to the Cover Letter (Will not count against the two-page limit.)

12) Acknowledgement of representations and certifications in beta.sam.gov are correct and up-to-date. (Will not count against the two-page limit.)

*Note: The business size and socioeconomic status of the Offeror shall be identified based upon self-certification at the time of solicitation closing. The Contracting Officer will compare the self-certification against the designation within System for Award

Management (SAM). In the event of a conflict, the Contracting Officer may refer any final Small Business determinations to the Small Business Administration. If the size status listed in the Offeror’s proposal is different from the size status in SAM, this difference should be explained in narrative form. Task Order Contracting Officers may, Attachment 0003 – DRAID BOA Instructions and Evaluations 30 March 2021 at their discretion, allow recertification for individual Task Orders but are under no obligation to do so.

Section 2: Completed Attachment 0001 - JAIC DRAID BOA Questionnaire. The JAIC

Data BOA Questionnaire shall be completed on the document provided as Attachment

0001 with this solicitation. It shall be submitted as a pdf, entitled: Section 2 Offeror

Name JAIC DRAID BOA Questionnaire. The format shall not be altered. The responses in the Questionnaire shall be no smaller than 10-point Arial font.

Contractor Teaming Arrangements (CTAs) are allowed to submit proposals at the BOA level. The non-primary vendor, or subcontractor, of the CTA can only submit responses and supporting documentation for required tasks questions; Question 4-6. Only the primary vendor of the CTA can submit responses and supporting documentation for the optional tasks/subtask questions; Questions 7-19.

Section 3: Support Documentation Per Attachment 0001 - JAIC DRAID BOA

Questionnaire. The required documentation, by question, in the Attachment 0001 -

JAIC DRAID BOA Questionnaire shall be submitted as a single PDF, entitled: Section 3

Offeror Name Support Documentation. Offerors may submit the same example reference for multiple questions, if applicable to the corresponding question. Only one

Cover Page is allowable, stating the name of the supporting documents and the question number(s) it supports. The Cover Page shall be limited to one (1) 8.5x11 inch page, single-spaced with 1-inch margins, using Arial size 12-point font. Supporting documentation for each question the proposal is submitting for should be clearly marked indicating which question it is supporting. Otherwise, it shall be provided using 8.5x11 inch page, single-spaced with 1-inch margins, using Arial size 12-point font. Tables and illustrations shall be no smaller than 8-point Arial font. The pdf shall not exceed a total of

12 pages of supporting documentation for the overall Questionnaire. The Cover page will not count against the page limit.

Section 4: Signed and completed SF1449 (page 1, blocks 30a-30c) as well as any SF

1449s for amendments. The SF1449 shall be submitted as a PDF, entitled: Section 4

Offeror Name JAIC DRAID BOA SF1449. It is the Offeror’s responsibility to review and complete applicable clauses as needed. The SF1449 has no page limit.

3.3 Additional Information:

AMC-LEVEL PROTEST PROGRAM

Attachment 0003 – DRAID BOA Instructions and Evaluations 30 March 2021

If you have complaints about this procurement, it is preferable that you first attempt to resolve those concerns with the responsible Contracting Officer. However, you can also protest to Headquarters, AMC. The HQ, AMC-Level Protest Program is intended to encourage interested parties to seek resolution of their concerns within AMC as an

Alternative Dispute Resolution forum, rather than filing a protest with General

Accounting Office or other external forum. Contract award or performance is suspended during the protest to the same extent, and within the same time periods, as if filed at the GAO. To be timely, protests must be filed within the periods specified in

FAR 33.103. Send protests (other than protests to the Contracting Officer) to:

Headquarters U.S. Army Materiel Command

Office of Command Counsel-Deputy Command Counsel

4400 Martin Road

Rm: A6SE040.001

Redstone Arsenal, AL 35898-5000

Fax: (256) 450-8840

E-mail: usarmy.redstone.usamc.mbx.protests@mail.mil

The AMC-level protest procedures are found at:

http://www.amc.army.mil/amc/commandcounsel.html

If Internet access is not available, contact the Contracting Officer or HQ, AMC Office of

Command Counsel to obtain the AMC-Level Protest Procedures.

EVALUATION METHODOLOGY

1. General

a. The Government intends to execute multiple BOAs resulting from this solicitation to the responsible Offeror(s) whose proposal conforming to the solicitation will be most advantageous to the Government. The Government intends to execute multiple BOA s to the qualified Offerors (See Evaluation Methodology 2. BOA Selection Process).

b. The Government intends to execute agreements based on initial proposals. It is the

Government’s intent to award agreements without exchanges with Offerors; however, exchanges may be required. If exchanges are held, they may be written or oral questions. Initial proposals should contain Offeror’s best terms for this work.

c. Proposals that do not respond to all requirements in the solicitation may be rejected without further evaluation, deliberation, or discussion. The Government may reject any proposal that is non-compliant with the solicitation requirements.

http://www.amc.army.mil/amc/commandcounsel.html

Attachment 0003 – DRAID BOA Instructions and Evaluations 30 March 2021

d. The Cover Letter (Section 1 of Offeror’s proposal) and Signed SF 1449 (Section 4 of Offeror’s proposal) shall be submitted as described in paragraph 3.2 “Specific Instructions by Section.” However, these Sections will not be evaluated. Instead, the Government will complete a compliance review to ensure they are submitted per the solicitation instructions. The JAIC DRAID BOA Questionnaire and Support Documentation will be evaluated as described below in the BOA Selection Process section.

2. BOA Selection Process

a. The Government will utilize Offerors’ completed DRAID BOA Questionnaire (Section

2 of Offeror’s proposal) containing questions focused on DRAID service support to determine the most highly qualified Offerors for the BOA. The responses to the questions will be used to assess the Offeror’s capabilities in these areas. It is the responsibility of the Offeror to complete the DRAID BOA Questionnaire in accordance with the instructions prior to proposal. The burden of proof is the responsibility of the

Offeror. The Government will determine BOA awardees based on Offerors’ responses.

b. To be eligible for the selection process, Offerors shall submit a completed

Questionnaire with Yes or No responses in accordance with the instructions for each question. There are 19 questions within Attachment 0001 - DRAID BOA Questionnaire.

Questions 1-6, are considered “gate” questions. For each “gate” question, the Offeror must receive an “Acceptable”, in order to proceed to the next “gate” question. The

Offeror must receive an “Acceptable” for all “gate” questions, in order to proceed to the optional tasks/subtask questions, Questions 7-19. To be considered for award, Offerors must receive a rating of “Acceptable” for all of the “gate” questions (questions 1-6) and a rating of “Acceptable” for at least one of the optional tasks/subtask questions (questions

7-19). If an Offeror receives an “Unacceptable” for any of the “gate” questions 1-6, the

Government will not evaluate the Offeror’s proposal in response to questions 7-19 and the Offeror will no longer be considered for a BOA.

Each Offeror’s response to the questions contained within Attachment 0001 will be evaluated as follows:

c. QUESTION 1: The willingness to incorporate responsible AI methodologies, such as the DoD’s AI Ethical Principles is a “Yes” or “No” answer. The Government will consider

“Yes” answers as “Acceptable” and “No” answers as “Unacceptable”. The purpose of the question is to build awareness for DoD’s AI Ethical Principles and to begin incorporating aspects of the principles in future task orders.

Attachment 0003 – DRAID BOA Instructions and Evaluations 30 March 2021

d. QUESTION 2: The intention is to determine which required and optional tasks/subtask an Offeror is capable of completing on the DRAID BOA. The Government will consider “Yes” answers as “Acceptable” and “No” answers as “Unacceptable”. If

“Yes” is selected, the Offeror must select the tasks/subtask in which it is capable of completing work for the Government. The Offeror must check the Project Management, Software Configuration, Cloud Integration task and at least one optional task/subtask to be eligible for consideration. As the check boxes represent the different tasks/subtask from Section 4 of the PWS, and correspond with questions 4-19, support for each of the checked boxes will be required within the corresponding question(s) 4-19 and in accordance with the corresponding question’s instructions. The Government will not review, nor consider, submitted responses and support to corresponding questions of unchecked boxes.

e. QUESTION 3-6: Information, and the support documentation, provided in Questions

3-6 will be evaluated on an “Acceptable” or “Unacceptable” basis as follows:

Acceptable: The Offeror selected “Yes” and meets the requirements of the solicitation.

The requested information is provided and substantiates the “Yes” response to the question. No more than three example contracts/references are provided and have comparable scope.

Unacceptable: The Offeror selected “No” or does not meet the requirements of the solicitation. (1) The requested information is not provided, and/or (2) the requested information does not substantiate the positive response to the question.

Note: Questions 4-6, proposals utilizing CTAs, are the only questions that the non-primary CTA teaming member may submit supporting documentation for technical competency.

f. QUESTION 7-19: The Government will conduct an experience review, of the prime offeror only, based on the contract numbers/references and supporting documentation provided for Questions 7-19. The contract numbers/references will be reviewed to determine if the Offeror has relative experience for the PWS tasks/subtask discussed in the question. If the Offeror provides no example contract/reference, their experience will be rated as “Unacceptable”. If the vendor receives an “Acceptable” rating on any one of the Questions 7-19, the Government is not required to evaluate further since the requirement has been met and the BOA can be awarded.

Note: Questions 7-19, for proposals utilizing CTAs, only the primary CTA teaming member may submit supporting documentation to meet the technical competency.

Attachment 0003 – DRAID BOA Instructions and Evaluations 30 March 2021

Acceptable: The Offeror selected “Yes” and meets the requirements of the solicitation.

The requested information is provided and substantiates the “Yes” response to the question. No more than three example contracts/references are provided and have comparable scope.

Unacceptable: The Offeror selected “No” or does not meet the requirements of the solicitation. (1) The requested information is not provided, and/or (2) the requested information does not substantiate the positive response to the question.

Government reserves the right to award an unlimited number of BOAs, if warranted by the quality and quantity of proposals.