Clarifications Based on Submitted Questions to the DRAFT Solicitation.pdf

Clarifications Based on Submitted Questions to the DRAFT Solicitation

Technical Clarifications:

- For this contract, the required personnel will be granted read only access to eMASS.

- Beyond eMASS, no additional GRC tools are used for managing system authorization artifacts and tracking cyber readiness.

- ACAS and Nessus will be utilized for vulnerability scanning and provided by the Government.

- For this contract, the required personnel will not do system hardening, they will audit and not make modifications.

- HBSS is in scope for assessment but not configuration under this contract. Microsoft Defender for Enterprise is another EDR tool used.

- CRR-M and CCORI assessments rely on USCYBERCOM checklists, DISA STIGs, and/or NIST 800-53 Rev 5.

- The contractor and required personnel will not be expected to perform mapping across frameworks.

- We estimate 10 SIPR and 10 NIPR CRR-M or CCORI-style assessments are anticipated annually. Each base will be reviewed depending on their ATD and CCORI schedule.

- There is an expectation that the contractor will create reusable documentation to support long-term cyber readiness within PACAF.

- The Government intends for the contractor to follow the standard USCYBERCOM CRR model. The use of “mentorship” for this section of the PWS indicates that the contractor is mentoring Airmen to follow the standard USCYBERCOM CRR model and NOT performing an official USCYBERCOM Cyberspace Readiness Review Inspection. Please also look at Section 3, Services Summary, of the PWS, which states, “The contractor shall prepare/mentor NAF, Wing and cybersecurity forces through CRR-M program.”

- Under this contract, the required personnel will be provided with access to eMASS, ITIPS, SNAP, and GIAP upon completion of the required DD Form 2875, System Authorization Access Request, process.

- The mandatory training courses listed in the PWS can also be accepted if they are already completed, if the certificates are still valid and not expired.

General Clarifications to the Instructions to Offerors:

- This is not a FAR 15.3 acquisition, with required DoD Source Selection Procedures. As stated in attachment, FA521525Q0028-Instructions to Offerors, this acquisition falls under FAR Part 12 and FAR Part 13.

- For the Quality Control Plan submittal, the organizational structure chart should include any personnel who will contribute to this plan and quality control.

- Except for filling out the required and supplied Excel workbook, all components of the submitted proposal will utilize Times New Roman with a font size of 12 for narrative and no smaller than 8 for tables and charts.

- The contract CLINS are FFP, and this contract is being competed; as such, all proposed prices will be fully inclusive. No additional funding will be provided for the CLINs that are being proposed to. As discussed in the instructions to offerors, DBA Insurance should be built into the proposed prices and will not be allowed under the NTE FFP Travel

CLIN.

- The 10-page count limit for Volume II-Technical does not include Reasonable Assurance Memorandum and any submitted resumes. Please note resumes are not required for the proposal; the PWS requires resumes to be submitted by the Contractor awarded this contract prior to 30 September and then for replacement personnel prior to their start for qualification review.

- This contract does not utilize LPTA but is a competitive Best Value effort that utilizes Subjective Trade-Off evaluation. Section 2.3 of the solicitation states what will happen if a contract is deemed Unacceptable, but this does not mean that the only other option is Acceptable. Please note that this acquisition is in accordance with Simplified Acquisition Procedures, which allow for broad discretion in fashioning suitable evaluation procedures.

- A technical proposal will only be deemed "Unacceptable" if it does not include the information required by the solicitation and does not align with the PWS requirements.

- Section 2.4 of the Instructions to Offerors details Past Performance. No submittals for Past Performance are being requested or evaluated. All Offerors' CPARS ratings under

NAICS code, 541519, Other Computer Related Services, for the past five years will be pulled. If there is no recent/relevant performance record, then a neutral confidence will be assigned, and it will not be evaluated favorably or unfavorably on the Offeror.

- Regarding the weighting of the evaluation factors, IAW FAR 13.106-1(2)(iii), solicitations are not required to state the relative importance assigned to each evaluation factor and subfactor, nor are they required to include subfactors.

- This will be a stand-alone contract, not a task order. As stated in the Instructions to Offerors and the required Workbook, Travel should not be proposed.