Attachment C - Instructions to Offerors_Advisory Down-Select Process_19AQMM22R0202.docx

ATTACHMENT C

L-001 – INSTRUCTIONS TO OFFERORS & ADVISORY DOWN SELECT PROCEDURES

L.1 Proposal Submission

All Stage I proposals must be submitted electronically to the Contracting Officer/Specialist identified on the cover of this RFP by the deadline listed in timeline table in Section L.3 in the required format.

The RFP will be issued via SAM.gov and will provide for Offeror questions. Per L-006, questions must be submitted to both NamejkoRB@state.gov and FitzgibbonME@state.gov in order to be considered. Q&A responses will be provided in time that the responses may be appropriately considered by Offerors in proposal preparation. Questions from Offerors for Stage I of this solicitation shall be submitted no later than the deadline listed in timeline table in Section L.3.

This request for proposal (RFP) is to provide Data Analytics support to the Office of Policy Planning and Resources (R/PPR) and associated Department of State entities such as the Global Engagement Center (R/GEC), the Bureau of Global Public Affairs (GPA), the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA), Regional Public Diplomacy Offices, Public Affairs Sections at various Posts, and Other Department of State Bureaus/Offices with public diplomacy equities

The Government is issuing a competitive 8(a) small business set-aside solicitation for the purpose of entering into an IDIQ with task orders for transformation and ongoing support services.

L.2 Source and Advisory Down-Select Process

Each proposal review will begin with an initial GO/NO-GO screening to determine whether the Offeror fulfills certain required qualifications. Offeror’s not meeting these GO/NO-GO criteria will not receive further consideration and their Stage I response will not be reviewed.

Those Offerors meeting the initial GO/NO-GO required qualifications will enter a two-stage source selection process (Stage I and Stage II). Following the initial screening, Stage I will focus solely on technical evaluation for Factors 1, 2 and 3.

Between Stage I and Stage II, each Offeror will receive an Advisory Notification. The Advisory Notification will inform the Offeror that either: 1) it will be advised to participate in Stage II, or 2) based on the information submitted, it is unlikely to be a viable competitor. The intent is to minimize proposal development costs for Offerors with little or no chance of receiving an award. However, notwithstanding the advice provided by the Government in response to the Stage I submissions, all offerors who participated in Stage I may participate in Stage II if they meet all required initial screening GO/NO-GO qualifications and have submitted a complete and fully responsive proposal for Stage I.

Note:

1) The Advisory Notification is the only notice the Government will provide from Stage I; debriefings will not occur at the end of Stage I.

2) Participation in Stage I is a mandatory part of this acquisition. Failure to participate in Stage I will preclude further consideration of the Offeror’s proposal. Stage II submissions will not be accepted from any Offeror who has not participated in Stage I and submitted a complete and fully responsive Stage I proposal.

3) Evaluations of Stage I will be carried over to Stage II to be included in the overall evaluation of proposals.

Stage II will include both evaluation of additional technical factors (Factors 4, 5, and 6) as well as pricing volume evaluation (Factor 7).

L.3 Timeline

Solicitation Milestone Schedule

*NOTE: Target timeframes for Milestones after the date of submission of Stage I proposals are best estimates. The Government reserves the right to amend the milestone schedule after receipt of all Stage I proposals, if necessary. In the event of unforeseen delays, schedules will slip accordingly.

L.4 Proposal Content Requirements

Offeror’s Proposal shall include three separate volumes:

· Business Volume

· Technical Volume

· Pricing Volume

All volumes shall conform to the page limits specified below for each volume and the following format requirements, non-conformance will automatically be considered as non-responsive and will not be further evaluated:

· Paper shall be standard 8-1/2 x 11 inch

· Minimum one-inch margins on all sides

· Times New Roman 11-pt font or larger

· All Graphs and Charts must conform to the Times New Roman 11-pt font or larger requirement Business Volume

The Business Volume is not included in the evaluation factors for award; however a completed Business Volume must be received as part of Stage I proposals. Failure to submit a complete Business Volume as part of the Offeror’s Stage I submission will render the Offeror’s proposal non-responsive and the Offeror’s proposal will not be further evaluated.

The content of the Business Volume shall include:

1. Company Information including the following:

a) Company Name

b) Primary Point of Contact Name, email and phone

c) DUNS number

d) CAGE code and Status/Level of Facility Clearance (FCL)

i. If the prime entity is a Joint Venture (JV), the CAGE and FCL information for each entity making up the JV is required to be included.

e) Confirmation of 8(a) certification

f) 8(a) Graduation date

g) If the prime entity is a JV, a copy of the JV agreement approved by the Small Business Administration

2. All required certifications/signed statements as required by RFP, to include the following:

a) RFP F-006 I – Potential Organizational Conflict of Interest Statement

b) FAR 52.204-24

c) FAR 52.204-26

d) FAR 52.209-7

e) FAR 52.209-12

f) FAR 52.212-3

g) FAR 52.229-11

h) DOSAR 652.239-70

There is no page limit for the Business Volume – all required certifications/signed statements must be completed as part of the Stage I response.

Technical and Pricing Volumes

The technical and pricing volumes shall be submitted separately. The table below provides guidelines for the format and page limitations for each Stage (Stage I and Stage II) and each Evaluation Factor.

(evaluated separately from technical portion)

*After noted exclusions: Cover Page, Table of Contents, Images/Diagrams (required to fit on an 8x11 page), Past Performance Questionnaires (PPQs), and Letters of Commitment

L.5 Go/No-Go Initial Screening: Required Qualifications Instructions Please submit a response confirming that the PRIME offeror meets each individual required qualification below. The Prime cannot rely on any proposed team members (Subcontractors or teaming partners) to meet the Go/No-Go requirements. Note: If Offeror does not meet these Go/No-Go requirements, Offeror will not advance to Stage I. Responses to Go/No-Go requirements are excluded from word and page limit requirements.

1) Offerors shall be certified at the CMMI Development – Level 3 or higher and the CMMI Service – Level 3 or higher (both). Proof must be provided with Phase 1 submission.

2) Offerors shall be ISO 9001 certified and provide proof of such certification with their Phase 1 submission.

Offerors unable to substantiate meeting all GO/NO-GO criteria will not receive further consideration and their Stage I response will not be evaluated.

L.6 Stage I Instructions

After receiving their Advisory Notifications, Offerors choosing to continue to Stage I must submit their Stage I proposals via email to the Contracting Officer/Specialist on the cover page of this solicitation by the deadline provided at the time of the Notice. Stage I technical factors (Factors 1 through 3) will have a combined 25-page limit.

Factor 1: Technical Approach

· The Offeror’s quotation will be evaluated by assessing the likelihood that the Offeror’s proposed technical approach will meet the Government’s requirements, including a sound explanation of how implementation of the proposed technical solution will deliver timely, flexible, responsive, compliant, and cost effective services to meet the training needs of DOS and approach to mitigate associated risks.

· This factor will be used to evaluate the degree to which the Offeror’s proposed technical approach meets all requirements and challenges of the solicitation and demonstrates a clear understanding of mission objectives.

· The Government will evaluate the technical approach for evidence that the comprehensive timeline and schedule, to include mobilization of personnel and resources serves as the framework for the contractor’s process for delivering quality services and clearly outlines “how” the contractor will achieve results to meet the program and mission requirements.

Factor 2: Past Performance and Past Performance Questionnaires (PPQs)

· Evaluation of past performance will allow the Government to determine whether the offeror consistently delivered quality services in a timely manner, while utilizing adequate cost controls. Past performance will be evaluated for relevant contracts performed by the offeror during the last three (3) years consistent with the size, scope and complexity of the services identified in the SOW. The Government may obtain additional information on relevant past performance from other sources such as Government past performance databases.

· Past performance on contracts that are more technically relevant to Project Groups described in the SOW and similar in size, scope and complexity will receive greater consideration than performance on contracts that are less relevant.

· In general, past performance will be evaluated on the extent of client satisfaction with the previous performance of the offeror; the offeror’s effectiveness in managing and directing resources; the offeror’s demonstration of reasonable and cooperative behavior in dealing with clients; the offeror’s quality of previously performed services the offeror’s ability to control costs and manage contract activities; and the offeror’s effectiveness in meeting schedules in providing services and products.

· If the Government cannot locate other sources of relevant past performance information for the offeror, the offeror will receive a neutral (neither favorable nor unfavorable) Past Performance rating.

· Evaluation of the offeror’s past performance reference(s) shall consider the recency, relevance, and quality of the past performance references.

· Recency – Past performance will be considered recent for purposes of this evaluation ONLY IF the period of performance for the cited reference is within 3 years of the date of release of this RFQ. Any Offeror Past Performance reference that does not meet the above criterion will not be considered any further, i.e., with respect to its Relevance or the Quality of the Offeror's performance.

· Relevance – The Government will evaluate the relevance of each recent Past Performance reference by considering the similarity in size, scope, and complexity as reported by the Offeror in their Past Performance Details.

· Quality – The Government will evaluate the quality of each past performance reference by considering the quality exhibited in performing the work primarily based on the pertinent past performance information available to the CO.

Factor 3: Management Approach

· The Government will evaluate the offeror’s ability to recruit and retain qualified staffs, handle personnel issues, assemble high quality staff to fill immediate requirements and provide staff with all the necessary support and oversight. The Government shall also evaluate the offeror’s demonstrated ability to hire and maintain key personnel with relevant degrees; and other relevant professional certifications.

· The Government will evaluate the extent to which the offeror’s approach demonstrates flexibility in responding to changing mission needs, including surge capacity and reach-back capability for subject matter experts and operational support personnel on and off site.

· The Government will evaluate whether the offeror has 1) a level 3 or higher CMMI certification, 2) a Top Secret Level Facility Clearance Level, an 3) ISO 9001 certification, 4) any other relevant certifications the offeror may possess.

· NOTE: As contract performance is contingent upon issuance of a TOP SECRET FCL, it is imperative that the Offeror cooperate with all requirements imposed by DCSA. If the Offeror does not obtain the requisite FCL, the Government reserves the right to award to the next qualified Offeror. Should the JV be selected for award, the Department of State will sponsor the JV for the TS FCL, but until the JV clearance is awarded, only JV partners with FINAL TOP SECRET FCL will be allowed to perform work on task orders requiring TOP SECRET clearance. Other than U.S. Government sponsorship for the FCL, the U. S. Department of State assumes no responsibility for clearance processing.

L.7 Stage II Instructions

After receiving their Advisory Notifications, Offerors choosing to continue to Stage II must prepare Stage II proposals to be presented via visuals delivered to the Contracting Officer/Specialist and via an oral presentation by the deadline provided at the time of the Notice.

Factor 4: Work Product and Oral Presentation

Instructions:

1. Objective: Utilize publicly available base data noted below and execute data analysis and visualization, building a dashboard that would be a decision-making tool to assist the Department of State in fulfilling its mission of fostering mutual understanding between the people of the United States and those of other countries around the world.

Base Data: Download data from the World Values Survey website: https://www.worldvaluessurvey.org/WVSDocumentationWVL.jsp.

Note: If the data is not accessible on the WVS site, please contact the Contracting Officer on the cover sheet of this solicitation, and the Government will provide the data directly as soon as possible. No extensions will be given on Stage I deadlines, so Offeror should be sure to notify the Contracting Officer within a reasonable amount of time if experiencing any issues accessing data.

1. Work Product: The Offeror will then derive insights from all of the data, synthesize this data using best practices to fulfill the objective (in #1) and “tell a story” that will enable more effective, data-driven decision-making through:

a) Building an interactive dashboard, which will be shared via an Offeror-hosted web-based URL and/or screenshots and print-outs of the dashboard.

Note: Please provide a POC who can grant access. Once the Offeror has passed the GO/NO-GO criteria, the Contracting Officer will provide the stated POC with the email addresses of the individuals that should be granted access, if the URL will not be visible to the public.

b) Writing a brief narrative (length limit of 300 words) to accompany and explain the approach taken in building the interactive dashboard. This narrative should “tell a story” around the key insights from the data, the choice(s) of the supplementary data in #3, design and/or functionality choices for the data visualization execution of the dashboard, and how this will help enable effective, data-driven decision-making in support of the objective in #1.

3. Oral presentation. The Offeror will present its findings via an oral presentation. During this presentation, the Offeror may also be asked questions about other elements of its proposal. The Offeror should provide a PowerPoint summary before the presentation date.

Factor 5: Pricing Volume

Offerors shall submit pricing for all Labor Categories detailed in the RFP using the provided Excel Pricing template. Offerors shall submit not-to-exceed (NTE) fully loaded hourly labor rates for each labor category for the Base Year and each option year using the five numbered tabs provided in the Excel Pricing Template.

Additional guidance on pricing is provided in Section B of the RFP and in the Instructions Tab of the Excel Pricing Workbook (Attachment B). Price quotes shall be submitted in a separate file using the provided excel pricing spreadsheet.

Offerors shall submit their quote in accordance with the instructions provided in this RFP. The government anticipates issuing a single IDIQ as a result of this solicitation but reserves the right to make multiple awards if deemed in the best interest of the government.

To be eligible for award, offerors are required to meet all solicitation requirements, including terms and conditions, and non-price and price instructions. Failure to comply with all solicitation requirements may result in the Offeror being removed from award consideration. The Government may also reject a quotation whose proposal reflects an inherent lack of competence or failure to comprehend the overall requirements of the solicitation.