Attachment_6_-_Q A_A0003.docx

Attachment 6: Vendor Questions & Government Responses

RFQ CC16HQQ0023

Questions and Answers Matrix: IT Research Licenses

Notes:

1. In addition to the changes noted in the Questions and Answers Matrix, the following changes have also been made to the RFQ:

a. Removal of FAR 52.217-8

b. Addition of FAR 52.227-19

c. Extension of quotation due dates to March 14, 2016

a. Does the agency require research services that are objective, independent and unbiased?

b. Would the agency consider an offeror who conducts research requested and sponsored by an entity whose product and services the offeror is evaluating to be objective, independent and unbiased? Would such an offeror be technically acceptable?

c. Would the agency consider an offeror who accepts money from a provider in exchange for lessons on how to achieve more favorable evaluation ratings for that provider’s products or services to be objective, independent and unbiased? Would such an offeror be technically acceptable?

d. Will the agency perform an organizational conflict of interest analysis in accordance with FAR Subpart 9.5?

e. Would the agency consider requiring offerors to have an independent oversight body or governing body such as an Office of the Ombudsman to ensure the offeror’s objectivity, independence and lack of bias?

a. Please define, with specificity, the term “white paper,” as used in the RFP.

b. Please identify all requirements that must be met for a document to qualify as a white paper.

c. If there are no minimum requirements for what constitutes a white paper, how will the agency determine whether the offeror’s proposal is technically acceptable with respect to providing access to white papers?

a. Would a tweet qualify as a white paper?

b. Would a one-paragraph document qualify as a white paper?

c. Would a one-page document qualify as a white paper?

d. Is there any minimum length for a document to qualify as a white paper?

Per the OCC’s response to question 3, the OCC is seeking case studies and analyses. These questions have been answered as if referring to case studies and analyses.

a. No.

b. Yes, if the vendor determines in good faith that it is an appropriate length for the topic being researched.

c. Yes, if the vendor determines in good faith that it is an appropriate length for the topic being researched.

d. No.

a. Must offerors provide access to white papers that include all enumerated categories of content in order to be technically acceptable?

b. Are these the only categories of content that must be addressed in order to be technically acceptable?

c. For example, would an offeror meet the RFP requirement if it did not provide access to white papers addressing any of the following categories of content: Project and Portfolio Management?

SOA Governance? Application Financial Management?

Application Life Cycle Management?

Application Modernization? Application Sourcing Management?

Data Quality and Integration?

Big Data and Emerging Data Challenges?

Mobile Security?

Mobile Applications?

Security Risk Management?

Data Center and Storage Virtualization?

Virtualization management?

Per the OCC’s response to question 3, the OCC is seeking case studies and analyses. These questions have been answered as if referring to case studies and analyses.

a. No; the categories are only provided as examples.

b. No; the categories are only provided as examples.

c. Yes.

a. Does the Agency intend that an offeror providing access to only 2 white papers would meet the RFP requirement? What about 5 white papers? What about 10 white papers?

b. In order to meet the RFP requirement, what is the minimum number of white papers to which an offeror must provide access (a) in total and (b) for each of the enumerated topics or any other topic the agency requires?

c. If offerors are not required to provide access to any minimum number of white papers, how will the agency determine if the offeror is technically acceptable with respect to the requirement to provide white papers?

Per the OCC’s response to question 3, the OCC is seeking case studies and analyses. These questions have been answered as if referring to case studies and analyses.

At a minimum, access to at least two different case studies/analyses is required per contract year.

a. What specific emerging technology trends must be addressed to meet the RFP requirement?

b. For example, does the agency require white papers that address: Data Classification Tools? 3-D Printing? Limited Disclosure Technology? Software Defined Architecture? Continuous Delivery of Application Development?

c. If the agency does not require any specific emerging technology trends to be addressed, how will it determine whether an offer is technically acceptable with respect to the requirement to provide whit papers on emerging technology trends?

Per the OCC’s response to question 3, the OCC is seeking case studies and analyses. These questions have been answered as if referring to case studies and analyses.

a. Vendors are to determine what “emerging trends” are at their own discretion.

b. Vendors are to determine what “emerging trends” are at their own discretion.

c. A vendor’s technical acceptability will be based on whether the proposed commercial licenses meet the requirements set forth in the RFQ.

a. Does the Agency intend that an offeror who addresses only two emerging technology trends would meet the RFP requirement?

b. If not, in order to meet the RFP requirement, what is the minimum number of emerging technology trends an offeror must address (a) in total and (b) for each category of emerging technology trends that the agency requires offerors to address?

c. If there is no stated minimum number of technology trends, how will the agency determine whether an offer is technically acceptable with respect to the requirement to provide access to documents addressing technology trends?

Per the OCC’s response to question 3, the OCC is seeking case studies and analyses. These questions have been answered as if referring to case studies and analyses.

Emerging technology trends are an example of the types of information that a vendor’s case studies/analyses must provide. As such, this aspect of the case studies/analyses requirement does not warrant quoting a specific minimum quantity. A vendor’s technical acceptability will be based on whether the proposed commercial licenses meet the requirements set forth in the RFQ.

a. What technology segments must be analyzed to meet the RFP requirement?

b. For example, does the agency require analyses of Information Infrastructure?

Infrastructure Protection?

Cloud Computing?

Business Intelligence and Analytics?

Procurement and Sourcing Solutions?

Application Development Technologies?

Application Development Techniques and Methodologies?

Enterprise Architecture?

Mobile Technologies?

Networking and Communications?

Storage Technologies?

Identity and Access Management Technologies?

Data Security Technologies?

Server Technologies?

Imaging and Print Services?

c. If the agency does not identify any specific technology segments, how will it determine whether an offer is technically acceptable with respect to the requirement to provide access to analysis of technology segments?

Per the OCC’s response to question 3, the OCC is seeking case studies and analyses. These questions have been answered as if referring to case studies and analyses.

Analyses of technology segments are an example of the types of information that a vendor’s case studies/analyses must provide. As such, this aspect of the case studies/analyses requirement does not warrant quoting specific technology segments, as the amount of such IT-related segments is too vast to encompass within an RFQ response. A vendor’s technical acceptability will be based on whether the proposed commercial licenses meet the requirements set forth in the RFQ.

a. Does the Agency intend that an offeror that provides analysis of only 2 technology segments would meet the RFP requirement? What about 5? What about 10?

b. In order to meet the RFP requirement, what is the minimum number of technology segments an offeror must analyze (a) in total and (b) for each technology segment the agency requires analysis?

c. If there is no stated minimum number of technology segments, how will the agency determine whether an offer is technically acceptable with respect to the requirement to provide access to analyses of technology segments?

Per the OCC’s response to question 3, the OCC is seeking case studies and analyses. These questions have been answered as if referring to case studies and analyses.

Technology segments are an example of the types of information that a vendor’s case studies/analyses must provide. As such, this aspect of the case studies/analyses requirement does not warrant quoting a specific minimum quantity. A vendor’s technical acceptability will be based on whether the proposed commercial licenses meet the requirements set forth in the RFQ.

a. Would a white paper that is 10 years old meet the RFP requirement? What about 5 years old? What about 3 years old?

b. Is there any minimum requirement for how recent the white papers must be in order to meet the RFP requirement?

c. If there is no stated minimum requirement for recentness, how will the agency determine if an offeror’s white papers are sufficiently current to meet the agency’s needs and for the offeror to be technically acceptable?

Per the OCC’s response to question 3, the OCC is seeking case studies and analyses. These questions have been answered as if referring to case studies and analyses.

There are no minimum requirements for how recent case studies/analyses must be, as different IT topics may dictate the availability and/or relevancy of related case studies/analyses. A vendor’s technical acceptability will be based on whether the proposed commercial licenses meet the requirements set forth in the RFQ.

a. Please define what, other than a spreadsheet, qualifies as online tool.

b. Please identify the specific technology products that the tools must be capable of evaluating.

c. For example, does the agency require tools capable of evaluating Network Monitoring? Identity and Access Management? Content Management and Collaboration?

d. Please identify the specific technology services that the tools must be capable of evaluating?

e. For example, does the agency require tools capable of evaluating Public Cloud? Mobile Application Development Platforms? Mobile Security? Virtual Desktop Infrastructure?

f. If no specific technology products or services are identified, how will the agency determine whether an offeror is technically acceptable with respect to the requirement to provide access to online tools?

a. Please identify the factors that must capable of being weighted.

b. For example, does the agency require the capability to weight an IT vendor’s ability to execute within their market?

c. If no factors are identified, how will the agency determine whether an offeror is technically acceptable with respect to the weighting capability?

d. Please identify what customization is required.

e. For example, does the agency require the ability to customize all the criteria that goes into the make-up of the tool?

f. If the agency does not identify its needs in terms of customization, how will it determine whether an offeror is technically acceptable with respect to the weighting capability?

g. Please identify the factors that must be capable of being estimated.

h. If no particular factors are identified, how will the agency determine if an offeror is technically acceptable with respect to the estimating capability?

a. Does the Agency intend that an offeror that provides only 2 tools would meet the RFP requirement? What about 5?

b. What is the minimum number of tools and offeror must provide to meet the RFP requirement?

c. If an offeror is not required to provide any minimum number of tools, how will the agency determine whether an offeror is technically acceptable with respect to the requirement to provide access to online tools?

a. Please explain the difference between a comparison and assessment.

b. Please identify each type of IT hardware that must be evaluated or compared.

c. For example does the agency require comparison or evaluation of Dell? Cisco? HP? Apple? IBM? Hitachi? Lenovo?

d. Please identify each type of IT software that must be compared.

e. For example does the agency require comparison or evaluation of Microsoft? Oracle? SAP? VMWare? CA Technologies, IBM

f. Please identify each type of IT service that must be compared.

g. For example does the agency require comparison or evaluation of Infrastructure as a Service? Platform as a Service? Software as a Service? Desktop as a Service?

h. If no product (including hardware and software) or service types are identified, how will the agency determine if an offeror is technically acceptable with respect to the requirement to provide access to comparisons and assessments?

a. Does the agency intend that an offeror providing comparisons of 2 products and 2 services would meet the RFP requirement? What about 5 products and 5 services? What about 10 products and 10 services?

b. What is the minimum number of products and services an offeror must compare and assess to meet the RFP requirement?

c. If there is no stated minimum number of products or services, how will the agency determine whether an offeror is technically acceptable with respect to the requirement to provide access to provide comparisons and assessments?

d. Would a comparison or assessment that is 10 years old meet the RFP requirement? What about 5 years old? What about 2 years old?

e. Is there any minimum requirement for how recent the comparisons and assessments must be in order to meet the RFP requirement?

f. If there is no stated minimum requirement for recentness, how will the agency determine if an offeror is technically acceptable with respect to the requirement to provide access to comparisons and assessments?

a. What topics must these presentations and materials address in order to meet the RFQ requirement?

b. For example, does the agency require materials and presentations that address Application Service Delivery capabilities?

Infrastructure and Operations technologies?

Enterprise Architecture topics?

Portfolio Management topics?

Security Topics?

c. If no specific topics are identified, how will the agency determine whether an offeror is technically acceptable with respect to the requirement to provide access to materials and presentations?

a. Would two presentations meet the RFP requirement? What about 5? What about 10?

b. What is the minimum number of presentations and materials that must be available to meet the RFP requirement?

c. If no minimum number of presentations and materials are identified, how will the agency determine if an offeror is technically acceptable with respect to the requirement to provide access to materials and presentations?

a. Would presentations and materials that are 10 years old meet the RFP requirement? What about 5 years old? What about 2 years old?

b. Is there any minimum requirement for how recent the presentations and materials must be in order to meet the RFP requirement?

c. If there is no stated minimum requirement for recentness, how will the agency determine if an offeror is technically acceptable with respect to the requirement to provide access to presentations and materials?

There are no minimum requirements for how recent presentations and materials must be, as different IT topics may dictate the availability and/or relevancy of related presentations and materials. Vendors should instead focus on their ability to select appropriate presentations and materials.

a. Does the agency require offerors to make all of their presentations and materials available?

b. For example, some content, such as lists of attendees and other artifacts, are unlikely to be useful to the agency. Is this content required? Is it acceptable? Does it count toward any minimum required number of presentations and materials?

c. Would presentations and materials that covered marketing topics and analyst relations for IT vendors be acceptable content?

a. No.

b. See response to question 19.

c. The usefulness of such materials is dependent upon the IT topic being researched.

a. What specific topics must the webinars address to meet the RFP requirement?

b. For example, does the agency require recordings of webinars that address Internet of Things? Bimodal IT? Digital Business? Enterprise Mobility? Implementing Security in Office 365? Enterprise Information Management Governance?

c. If the agency does not identify any specific topics that must be addressed, how will it determine whether an offer is technically acceptable with respect to the requirement to provide access to webinars?

The RFP does not require access to any minimum number of webinars.

a. Would two webinars meet the RFP requirement? What about 5? What about 10?

b. What is the minimum number of webinars that must be available to meet the RFP requirement?

c. If no minimum number of webinars is identified, how will the agency determine if an offeror is technically acceptable with respect to the requirement to provide access to webinars?

a. Would webinars that are 10 years old meet the RFP requirement? What about 5 years old? What about 2 years old?

b. Is there any minimum requirement for how recent the webinars must be in order to meet the RFP requirement?

c. If there is no stated minimum requirement for recentness, how will the agency determine if an offeror is technically acceptable with respect to the requirement to provide access to webinars?

a. Does the agency require offerors to add webinars created during the period of performance in order to meet the RFP requirement?

b. If so, how many webinars per month must be added to meet the RFP requirement?

c. Would 1 webinar per month be sufficient? Would 2 be sufficient?

d. If no minimum number is specified, how will the agency determine if an offeror meets the RFP requirement?

Please confirm that the agency:

a. Does not intend to treat offerors disparately by requiring some offerors to make available more databases and content to the agency than other offerors; and

b. Will not require offerors to provide access to all online IT research databases that they maintain.

a. The OCC does not intend to treat offerors disparately.

b. The OCC seeks access to all IT research databases available under the commercial license proposed by the vendor.

a. Would an analyst without a high school degree meet the RFP requirement?

b. Would an analyst without a college degree meet the RFP requirement?

c. Is there any minimum education requirement at all for analysts?

d. Please state the minimum experience requirements an analyst must have with respect to a “given topic of inquiry”.

e. For example, would a week of experience be sufficient? A month? A year? Two years?

f. If there is no minimum education or experience requirement, how will the agency determine whether an offeror is technically acceptable with respect to the requirement to provide analysts with expertise?

a. What topics must an offerors’ analysts cover to meet the RFP requirement?

b. For example, does the agency require that an offer have analysts that cover Information Infrastructure?

Infrastructure Protection?

Cloud Computing?

Business Intelligence and Analytics?

Procurement and Sourcing Solutions?

Application Development Technologies?

Application Development Techniques and Methodologies?

Enterprise Architecture?

Mobile Technologies?

Networking and Communications?

Storage Technologies?

Identity and Access Management Technologies?

Data Security Technologies?

Server Technologies?

Imaging and Print Services?

c. If there are no stated topics that must be covered, how will the agency determine whether an offeror is technically acceptable in this regard?

a. Would an offeror whose analysts cover 2 topics meet the RFP requirement? What about 5 topics? What about 10 topics?

b. Is there any minimum number of topics that must be covered to meet the RFP requirement?

c. If there is no minimum number of topics, how will the agency determine if an offeror is technically acceptable in this regard?

Where the vendor has subject matter experts available to address an IT analyst request, one shall be provided. Where none exists, none can be provided.

Furthermore, given the vast amount of IT topics in existence, it is unreasonable for the OCC to provide a list of every topic which may be addressed. A vendor’s technical acceptability will be based on whether the proposed commercial licenses meet the requirements set forth in the RFQ.

a. Would an offeror with 2 analysts meet RFP requirement? What about 5 analysts? What about 10 analysts?

b. Is there any minimum number of analysts necessary to meet the RFP requirement?

c. If there is no minimum number of analysts, how will the agency determine if an offeror is technically acceptable with respect to the requirement to provide analysts?

a. Does the agency require offerors to identify all of its analysts by topic as part of its RFP response?

b. Alternatively, is the agency simply stating that an offeror will be required to identify the analyst once the agency identifies a topic during performance?

a. Please identify the minimum education and experience requirements for the advisor associated with each senior executive position.

b. Please identify any other expertise that is required for the advisors associated with each of the 7 senior executive positions.

c. If there are no education or experience requirements, how will the agency determine whether an offeror is technically acceptable with respect to the requirement to provide analysts with “expertise in alignment with the business area of the senior executive”?

a. Please define what constitutes an IT document.

b. Would an IT document include contracts for IT products and services?

c. If so, please confirm that there is no requirement for review of terms and conditions or any other work that would constitute the practice of law.

b. If the agency requires an online community with access to government and industry peers, does the agency require that the user be able to initiate such access without intervention by the contractor?

c. If the agency requires online access to government and industry peers, does the agency require that the community be limited to end users and that it exclude vendors and the press?

OCC has stated its minimum requirement; the vendor must demonstrate how that requirement is met via its commercial license.

Please remove FAR 52.227-14 from the RFP and confirm that the agency will accept an offeror’s standard commercial license, less any provisions that are contrary to federal law.

a. How will the agency determine technical acceptability for Section 508 compliance?

b. Must an offeror fully comply, with no exceptions, with all applicable Section 508 Standards to be technically acceptable?

c. Will an offeror be deemed technically acceptable if it complies with the Section 508 standards with only minor exceptions?

d. How will the agency make an award determination if no offeror is fully compliant with Section 508?

The OCC has a Section 508 specialist who evaluates all Section 508 responses on a uniform basis. The OCC accepts Section 508 approval from the Section 508 specialist as a rating of technical acceptability.

See updated Section M regarding technical acceptability.

A separate written portion describing the proposed level of access is not permitted. All information related to how the commercial license meets the OCC requirement must be included within the Requirements Matrix. Section 508 compliance materials are not to be included within the RTM. Section 508 compliance materials are submitted separately from the RTM (but as a part of Volume I) and are not counted towards the 15 page limit.

Question 3a

Question 3b