CSS_75N95024Q00481.pdf

COMPETITIVE

COMBINED SYNOPSIS / SOLICITATION

Title: NCATS Cybersecurity Services Program Support

(i) This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items prepared in accordance with the format in Subpart 12.6 as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation; proposals are being requested and a written solicitation will not be issued.

(ii) The solicitation number is 75N95024Q00481 and the solicitation is issued as a request for quotation (RFQ).

This acquisition is for a commercial item or service and is conducted under the authority of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 13—Simplified Acquisition Procedures;

FAR Subpart 13.5— Simplified Procedures for Certain Commercial Products and Commercial Services; and FAR Part 12—Acquisition of Commercial Items, and is expected to exceed the simplified acquisition threshold.

(iii) The solicitation document and incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) Number 2024-05, with effective date May 22, 2024.

(iv) The associated NAICS code 541519 and the small business size standard is $34 million.

This requirement is a total small business set-aside.

(v) This requirement is for the following services: NCATS Cybersecurity Services Program Support.

(vi) See Attachments 1 and 2 for complete descriptions of this requirement.

(vii) The Government anticipates awarding a single awardee indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contract to perform Attachment 1 – Statement of Work with a maximum order amount of $7,492,422 and an ordering period of two (2) years. The contract will provide for issuance of task orders that are fixed-price or time-and-materials. Concurrent with the IDIQ contract award, the Government also anticipates awarding a fixed-price task order to perform Attachment 2 – Task Order Statement of Work with a one-month base period of performance, a 12-month option period, and an option to extend services for 6 months.

(viii) The provision at FAR 52.252-1, Solicitation Provisions Incorporated by Reference (Feb 1998), applies to this acquisition. This solicitation incorporates one or more solicitation provisions by reference, with the same force and effect as if they were given in full text.

Upon request, the Contracting Officer will make their full text available. The offeror is cautioned that the listed provisions may include blocks that must be completed by the offeror and submitted with its quotation or offer. In lieu of submitting the full text of those provisions, the offeror may identify the provision by paragraph identifier and provide the appropriate information with its quotation or offer. Also, the full text of a solicitation provision may be accessed electronically at these addresses:

https://www.acquisition.gov/browse/index/far https://www.hhs.gov/grants/contracts/contract-policies-regulations/hhsar/index.html

(End of provision)

The following provisions apply to this acquisition and are incorporated by reference:

• FAR 52.204-7, System for Award Management (Oct 2018)

• FAR 52.204-16, Commercial and Government Entity Code Reporting (Aug 2020)

• FAR 52.204-29, Federal Acquisition Supply Chain Security Act Orders –

Representation and Disclosures (Dec 2023)

• FAR 52.212-1, Instructions to Offerors-Commercial Products and Commercial

Services (Sep 2023)

• FAR 52.212-3, Offeror Representations and Certifications-Commercial Products and Commercial Services (May 2024)

The clause at FAR 52.252-2, Clauses Incorporated by Reference (Feb 1998), applies to this acquisition. This contract incorporates one or more clauses by reference, with the same force and effect as if they were given in full text. Upon request, the Contracting Officer will make their full text available. Also, the full text of a clause may be accessed electronically at these addresses:

(End of clause)

The following clauses apply to this acquisition and are incorporated by reference:

• FAR 52.204-13, System for Award Management Maintenance (Oct 2018)

• FAR 52.204-18, Commercial and Government Entity Code Maintenance (Aug

2020)

• FAR 52.212-4, Contract Terms and Conditions—Commercial Products and

Commercial Services (Nov 2023).

• FAR 52.217-7, Option for Increased Quantity-Separately Priced Line Item (Mar 1989). The Contracting Officer may exercise the option by written notice to the Contractor within thirty (30) days before the task order expires.

https://www.acquisition.gov/browse/index/far https://www.hhs.gov/grants/contracts/contract-policies-regulations/hhsar/index.html

• FAR 52.217-8, Option to Extend Services (Nov 1999). The Contracting Officer may exercise the option by written notice to the Contractor within thirty (30) days before the task order expires.

• FAR 52.217-9, Option to Extend the Term of the Contract (Mar 2000). The Government may extend the term of this task order by written notice to the Contractor within the period of performance; provided that the Government gives the Contractor a preliminary written notice of its intent to extend at least thirty

(30) days before the task order expires.

• FAR 52.227-14, Rights in Data-General (May 2014). Pursuant to paragraph (d), the Contractor may not assert copyright, make use of, release to others, reproduce, distribute, or publish any data first produced or specifically used by the Contractor in the performance of this contract without prior approval of the contracting officer.

• HHSAR 352.222-70, Contractor Cooperation in Equal Employment Opportunity Investigations (December 18, 2015)

The following provisions and clauses apply to this acquisition and are attached in full text:

• FAR 52.212-5, Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes or Executive Orders--Commercial Products and Commercial Services (May 2024)

• HHS Security and Privacy Language for Information and IT Procurements

• Invoice and Payment Provisions (Vendor Has Transitioned to IPP)

• Wage Rate Determination *

* For purposes of the solicitation, the Government uses the Wage Rate Determination for Frederick and Montgomery Counties, Maryland; however, when the contract is awarded the Wage Rate Determination for the locality where the awardee will perform the work will be used and apply to the contract. The applicable Wage Rate Determinations for all states and counties where work may be performed can be accessed here: https://sam.gov/content/wage-determinations

(ix) EVALUATION CRITERIA AND PROCEDURES

A. Comparative Evaluation of Quotes

In accordance with FAR 13.106-2(b)(3), the Government will perform a comparative evaluation (comparing quotes to each other) as follows:

a. The quotes will be ordered alphabetically by the quoters’ organizational names, then the first quoter’s quote will be selected and used as the reference quote.

https://sam.gov/content/wage-determinations

b. Each quote will be compared to the reference quote using the responses to the questionnaire (Attachment 3) and price.

c. The quoter that is best suited to fulfill the requirement and provides the best value to the Government will be selected for award.

The Government anticipates selecting the best-suited quoter from initial responses, without engaging in exchanges with quoters. Quoters are strongly encouraged to submit their best technical solutions and price in response to this solicitation.

Once the Government determines the quoter that is the best-suited (i.e., the apparent successful quoter), the Government reserves the right to communicate with only that quoter to address any remaining issues, if necessary, and finalize an award with that quoter. These issues may include technical and price. If the parties cannot successfully address any remaining issues, as determined pertinent at the sole discretion of the Government, the Government reserves the right to communicate with the next best-suited quoter based on the original analysis and address any remaining issues. Once the Government has begun communications with the next best-suited quoter, no further communications with the previous quoter will be entertained until after the award has been made. This process shall continue until an agreement is successfully reached and an award is made.

Options. The Government will evaluate quotes for award purposes by adding the total price for all options to the total price for the basic requirement. The Government may determine that a quote is unacceptable if the option prices are significantly unbalanced.

Evaluation of options shall not obligate the Government to exercise the option(s). This includes the potential six (6) month extension in accordance with FAR 52.217-8.

B. Evaluation Criteria

a. Organizational Experience and Technical Capabilities

i. Experience providing cybersecurity for automated industrial manufacturing that is integrated with analytical scientific systems.

ii. Capabilities providing cybersecurity for a cohesive virtual research organization that includes all of the following components:

a. enterprise

b. physical analytical laboratory with internal connectivity

c. physical analytical laboratory with external connectivity

d. virtual analytical laboratory

e. collaborative environments (Government-academic, Government-commercial, etc.)

f. closed systems (proprietary/classified)

g. open systems (non-classified, collaborative)

h. federated identify management and single sign-on

iii. Experience in supporting governance, privacy, and security compliance requirements for Federal IT systems that:

a. span multiple infrastructure and network boundaries, and

b. support the organization’s internal users and external users

(collaborators & partners)

iv. Experience and capabilities supporting specific, current, and active Seclaborative and Safe Laboratory Environments (SSLE).

b. Price

(x) Quoters must include completed copies of the following provisions with its quote.

Important: If the quoter has completed these at www.sam.gov, then the quoter does not need to provide completed copies of these with its quote:

• FAR 52.204-24 Representation Regarding Certain Telecommunications and

Video Surveillance Services or Equipment (Nov 2021)

• FAR 52.204-26 Covered Telecommunications Equipment or Services-

Representation (Oct 2020)

• FAR clause 52.212-3, Offeror Representations and Certifications—Commercial

Products and Commercial Services (Feb 2024)

(xi) The following additional contract requirement(s) or terms and conditions as determined by the contracting officer are necessary for this acquisition and consistent with customary commercial practices. There are no additional contract requirement(s) or terms and conditions applicable to this acquisition.

(xii) The Defense Priorities and Allocations System (DPAS) are not applicable to this requirement.

(xiii) QUOTATION AND SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS

Responses to this solicitation must address the questionnaire (Attachment 3) and are limited to 30 pages. The Government will not consider pages submitted in excess of the stated page limitations, or materials not included in full text within the response (no links to external information will be reviewed or considered). The page limit includes all text, graphs, pictures, appendices, references, exhibits, etc. The page limit does not include title and back page, table of contents, tabs, index sheets, dividers and other such aids http://www.sam.gov/ that are solely used to assist in locating information and are advisory in nature, imparting no other information other than the identification of content.

Paper size shall be 8 1/2 by 11-inch white paper with printing on one (1) side only, using 12 point font. No reduction is permitted except for organization charts or other graphic illustrations, or in headers/footers. In those instances where reduction is allowable, Quoters shall ensure that the print is easily readable; no less than 8 point font on graphs and 10 point font on tables. Each page shall have adequate margins on each side (at least one (1) inch) of the page. Header/footer information (which does not include any information to be compared) may be included in the 1" margin space. Submissions shall be in a format readable by Microsoft Office or searchable PDF.

The response should also include the price for the Task Order (Attachment 2) with the three following contract line items:

(1) Base Period of Performance: 09/19/2024 to 10/18/2024 (1 month)

(2) Option Period: 10/19/2024 to 10/18/2025 (12 months)

(3) Option to Extend Services: 10/19/2025 to 04/18/2026 (6 months)

The price quote should be firm-fixed-price with a proposed monthly invoicing schedule.

The quote must include the labor categories, an estimate of the number of hours required for each labor category, fully loaded fixed hourly rate or each labor category, breakdown and rationale for other direct costs or materials, and the total amount.

The Unique Entity ID from SAM.gov, the Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN), and the certification of business size must be included in the response. All quoters must have an active registration in the System for Award Management (SAM) www.sam.gov at the time of quote submission.

All questions must be received by 11:59 a.m., Eastern Daylight Time, on August 23, 2024, and reference Solicitation Number 75N95024Q00481. Questions may be submitted electronically to Contracting Officer Mark McNally at mark.mcnally@nih.gov.

All quotations must be received by 11:59 a.m., Eastern Daylight Time, on September 6, 2024, and reference Solicitation Number 75N95024Q00481. Responses must be submitted electronically to:

Contracting Officer Mark McNally at mark.mcnally@nih.gov

Fax responses will not be accepted.

http://www.sam.gov/ mailto:mark.mcnally@nih.gov mailto:mark.mcnally@nih.gov