OPSTECH Preproposal Conference slides091411.pptx

OPERATIONS TECHNICAL SUPPORT SERVICES

PREPROPOSAL CONFERENCE

September 9, 2011

AGENDA

INTRODUCTION

KEY PERSONNEL

SCHEDULE

CONTRACT TYPE

TASK ORDER PROCESS

PROPOSAL INSTRUCTIONS

EVALUATION CRITERIA

FACTORS

QUESTIONS

KEY PERSONEL

Contracting Officer: Anthony S. Kram

Contract Specialist: Pauline Jaffe

COTR: Jeffrey Paul

Program Manager: Ivan Navarro

Program Analyst: Mark A. Miller

SCHEDULE

Presolicitation Notice: July 13 Solicitation Issued: August 18 Preproposal Conference: September 9 Proposals Due: September 29 Contract award: On or about December 9

CONTRACT TYPE

Multiple award Indefinite Delivery/ Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) performance-based contract against which the following task orders may be issued:

Firm-Fixed Price (FFP) Time and Material (T&M) Labor Hour (LH)

TASK ORDER PROCESS

Contract awardees will be provided FAIR OPPORTUNITY to be considered for orders exceeding $3K. FAR 16.505(b)

Unless an exception at FAR 16.505(b)(2) exists

PROPOSAL INSTRUCTIONS

Volume I— Technical Offeror’s capabilities and how contract requirements will be met.

Volume II— Past Performance Relevant as it relates to work being procured and completed within the past 36 months.

Volume III— Price In order to be responsive, labor rates for ALL labor categories in the Labor Price Chart at Schedule B shall be filled in.

EVALUATION CRITERIA

Based on an integrated assessment of three factors: Technical Approach, Past Performance, and Price

Technical Approach is slightly more important than Past Performance, and when the two non-price factors are combined, they are approximately equal to price.

The more equal competing proposals are relative to non-price factors, the more important the price factor will become

TECHNICAL

Technical Factor Understanding of the Performance Work Statement (PWS), How contract requirements will be met and means to accomplish them, Contract/task order transition approach, Employee Retention approach, Key Personnel

PAST PERFORMANCE

Past Performance Factor Performance risk, Successful performance of contract requirements, Quality and timeliness of delivery of goods and services, Effective management of subcontractors, Cost management, Communication of contracting parties, Proactive management and customer satisfaction

PRICE

Price Factor Realistic, Complete, Reasonable, Evaluation will be made with respect to pricing provided for in years one (1) through five (5) of the Schedule of rates in Solicitation Section B.

QUESTIONS AND RESPONSES

Is this a new requirement?

No, this is not a new requirement.

Is there an incumbent, what is the name of the incumbent?

The incumbent is ERT.

Is the incumbent eligible to rebid on this solicitation?

The incumbent is not eligible to rebid on this solicitation.

Could NOAA please provide some guidance to the contractor community as to how many awards the Government would ideally like to make on the OPSTECH IDIQ (ie. 1-2, 3-5, 5-10, ect. with the understanding that this answer is subject to adequate competition, Gov’t. discretion, etc)? This information is essential to small businesses considering the investment of submitting a bid.

NOAA intends to make 2 to 4 awards.

Is there a minimum or maximum requirement for the number of past performances within the past performance volume?

No. Past Performance must be current, relevant, and within page limitations.

Who will be assigned as the COTR POC?

Mr. Jeffrey Paul will be the assigned COTR.

Per the size standard of 4.5 million stated in the solicitation, is it correct to say that only small businesses under 4.5 million can bid on this solicitation?

Yes, as a prime contractor.

Are you willing to accept a lead small business contractor (within a teaming relationship) that maintains either a #541611 or #541990 NAICS Code?

No. The NAICS code advertised for this requirement is 541330.

The solicitation is advertised under NAICS code 541330 – Engineering Services, with a size standard of $4.5M and as a Total Small Business Set Aside. The description of services required in Section C describes a myriad of FTE labor categories with the majority of the position descriptions not in Engineering. This NAICS code and applicable size standard severely limit competition for small businesses that would be quite capable of providing these services. Can the NAICS code for this opportunity be changed to a more appropriate NAICS Code such as 541611 (Administrative management and General Management Consulting Services $7M), 541690 (Other Scientific and Technical Consulting Services $7M) or 541990 (All Other Professional, Scientific and Technical Services $7M), that better cover the broad coverage of services requested?

No. The preponderance of work for this requirement fits under NAICS code 541330.

What is the current value of all contract(s) and modifications?

The approximate value is $54M.

Can the Government provide historical information regarding the number of task orders issued?

55 over the life of the contract.

Will you provide the number of personnel currently performing the work identified in the RFQ?

88 FTEs.

Can the Government indicate the current GS or SCA equivalent for each of the specified labor categories?

No.

Can the Government provide historical information regarding the number of FTE requested by task orders on the current contract?

No.

Can the Government provide historical information regarding the number of FTE by labor category?

No.

Does the Government require the identified Key Personnel to perform onsite at the NOAA location?

No. These positions are not direct labor charges.

The SF-33, page 2 has a space for insertion of a unit price and amount. How are offerors to determine the quantities to be inserted in these fields?

Offerors shall leave these spaces blank.

Section B.2 contains a set of labor category descriptions. Following each description are fill-ins for the category rate for each of five years. It will be time consuming to insert the required data using this format. Will the Government considering deleting the labor rates from Section B.2 and adding a Section B.3 which contains a six column table permitting offers to fill in the yearly rates for each defined labor category on a single line of the table?

In Section B.2, many of the labor category descriptions contain the phrase “BS/BA degree (or equivalent).” Will the Government specify the years of experience that are equivalent to the degree?

No. The Contractor is responsible for providing qualified personnel.

Section B.2 states that “If a vendor has published/commercial rates for any of the labor categories provided, a crosswalk shall be provided, listing the billing category on the vendor’s published rate.” Please clarify.

A. This refers to a company specific labor category (titles) that do not match those required in the RFP. It is not relevant as offerors are required to propose to the categories as defined. This requirement is removed.

Section C.3.2.2 states “On-site and off-site (non-Government facility) support on the part of the Contractor shall be required.” If off-site refers to work at a non-Government facility, does the Government desire the offeror to provide both on-site (Government site) and off-site (non-Government facility site) labor rates for the price submission? If so, how would that impact the amounts to be reflected on the SF-33, page 2?

No. Only one fully burdened labor rate for each category priced by 5 years.

Section C.3.6 states “Maximum direct labor rates are identified in Section B.” Should this sentence be changed to read “Maximum fully loaded labor rates …”?

This sentence refers the reader to Section B.2 which specifies, “fully burdened”.

Section C.3.1.xx, does NWS plan to provide documentation on referenced systems covered under RFP (e.g. International Satellite Communications Systems, NWR, ISCS, RIMS, MARS, NIDS, NWS Telecommunications Gateway, CADAS, etc.)?

No. These are operational systems identified to provide the broad scope of support under the contract.

Section C.3.1.26 and 27: Are the financial management requirements for RIMS and MARS being procured through NOAALink? If so, we recommend removal from OPSTECH.

NOAALink and OPSTECH are separate contracts with separate scopes and purposes.

Section C.3.1.xx: When do you envision awarding the OPSTECH contract? When do you envision awarding the first task order? This is important to small businesses.

Award is anticipated in late 1st Qtr FY12. Task orders may be awarded immediately upon contract award; however, the current projection is early 2nd Qtr FY12.

Section C.3.1.xx: Do you have a list of potential task orders to be placed under the OPSTECH contract? Will you provide that list.

No, all awardees will be given a fair opportunity for task order awards as requirements become available (except as provided for in FAR 16.505(b)(2)). The composition of tasks is expected to change under the new contract.

Section C.3.1 Tasks Order Specific Requirements, Page 53: “Individual task orders will be managed, monitored and evaluated”. Question: Please clarify if the FFP Task Order are intended to be monitored based on performance metrics or by number of hours delivered.

FFP task orders may be monitored according to performance metrics in addition to technical performance, adherence to schedule, and management of key personnel

C.3.2.3 Government Furnished Resources For tasks performed in a Government facility, the Government will furnish the following resources pursuant to completion of the work statement, including constraints and limitation specified in the preceding requirements.

C.3.2.2 Place of Performance

C.3.7.6 Task Order/Contract Transition The contractor shall provide a Transition Plan for Government review and approval 15 days after contract award. The transition plan shall describe phase-in and phase out activities associated with transitioning services from the incumbent service provider to OPS-TECH and from OPS-TECH to a future service provider. The Transition Plan shall specifically identify staffing being retained for individual tasks, new staffing for individual tasks, and the approach to provide an orderly transition from incumbent to successor Contractors without interruption or loss of proficiency of services. The Contractor shall complete execution of all Task Orders and contract transition activities in accordance with an approved Transition Plan. The Contractor shall plan and provide for all necessary activities prior to Contract close out, taking into consideration that most (if not all) service requirements will generally continue. The Contractor shall submit a Contract closeout report at the expiration of the contract period. The report shall include a reconciliation of all task orders and their associated invoice data, including all costs by category for each task. In addition, the Contractor shall complete the Contractor's Assignment of Refunds, Rebates, Credits, and Other Amounts and Contractor's Release.

Will there be a CMMI Level requirement established as the Baseline standard for the Offeror to meet?

There are no CMI Level requirements. Specific requirements will be detailed in individual Task Orders.

During the Pre-Proposal Conference it was stated that 88 employees currently support and provide service to NOAA. Does the Government anticipate an increase in the number of positions required within the 1st 12-month period? If so, what resource-level estimate can be provided?

Tasks will phase in over the first 12-months and new tasks may be issued. It is anticipated that the current service requirement will be similar to that required near the end of the first 12 month period.

Is there a Master Service Level Agreement available from the Government which covers the work required to be performed under this contract?

No. There is no Master Service Level Agreement

Will the Government accept a “Role-Based” IT security from the Offeror as a viable approach for providing access to the required Task Order Tracking Tool as specified in the RFP?

Yes. Role-based access control is acceptable

Before it was terminated in the early part of the last decade, the acronym, NIDS, stood for "NEXRAD Information Dissemination System" Therefore can we assume your current use of the NIDS acronym refers primarily to the NIDS replacement known as the Radar Product Central Collection/Distribution Service (RPCCDS)? If that is not the case, please clarify the capabilities the current use of the acronym NIDS refers to.

No. NIDS is an acronym for NWS Internet Dissemination System, which was previously defined as the Consolidated Internet Farms (CIF).

Regional Internet Farms were established as early as 1995, and in 2001 there was significant concurrent development of NOAA NWS regional Internet farm infrastructure to host web pages and weather data for general Internet consumption. NOAA NWS deployed a set of mirrored databases on the NOAA NWS regional headquarters‐based Internet Farms containing all active watches, warnings, and alerts as well as radar and other weather information. There is a very large range and amount of weather information available on the NOAA NWS Internet farms, the websites of NOAA NWS headquarters, and the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP). All warning, watches, and alerts are available in text formats as well as gridded data, radar and satellite images, model guidance data, and a range of climatological and hydrologic data and weather products. Data on the Internet Farms obviously comes from a wide range of sources including the NWSTG, WFO’s (AWIPS), special centers, CWSU’s, etc. The NWS Internet farms are currently the only location on the Internet for key hydrological data, including river flood stage data through the Advanced Hydrological Prediction System (AHPS).

Section H, 1352.237-75 KEY PERSONNEL (APR 2010)

Section K requires fill-ins to be completed by the offeror. It would appear that the completed Section K should be submitted with the proposal. If so, will the Government specify where in Volume III this document is to be included?

Offerors shall provide this document in Volume III after pricing information.

Section K.2: How will the Government ensure that only small businesses with prior Engineering Services qualifications in NAICS 541330 under $4.5 Million can submit a valid prime bid? We strongly recommend that Prime companies with no engineering services qualifications (NAICS 541330 under $4.5 Million) be disqualified from submitting a proposal for award.

The law allows small business firms to self certify through ORCA or section K their NAICS and size standard for which they certify to be accurate. Misrepresentation is subject to severe penalties including termination for default, suspension, disbarment, and/or other Federal or Civil litigation.

Solicitation Section L, rather than provide a hard copy of our Representations and Certifications, may we cite our ORCA listing?

No. Offerors may print and submit ORCA in lieu of Section K as long as all Section K Representations and Certifications are addressed.

In Section L.2, Clause 1352.209-70 Potential Organizational Conflict of Interest (Apr 2010), section (a)(2) requires that as part of the proposal offerors “provide the Contracting Officer with complete information regarding previous or ongoing work that is in any way associated with the contemplated acquisition.” Where is this information to be provided in the proposal?

Offerors shall provide this information in Volume III.

In Section L.2, Clause 1352.215-70 Proposal Preparation (Apr 2010), the third paragraph of Section A states that proposals should be submitted to “the Contracting Officer at the address identified in the solicitation section G.” No address is specified in Section G. Please provide the address for proposal submission.

A. The address for proposal submission is identified in blocks 9-10 of the SF33. Section G has been revised to include the information also.

In order to provide sufficient details about the qualifications of our Key Personnel, and also leave space to adequately address all of the technical requirements, we request that resumes and letters of intent be permitted to be included in an appendix and not be counted in the 40 page limit of the Technical Volume.

In Section L.2, Clause 1352.215-70 Proposal Preparation (Apr 2010), paragraph B.3.b states that Volume III should contain “required representations, certifications, and acknowledgements” and other required administrative information. No reference to such additional submittals is included in paragraph B.3.c, which specifies the order of documents required. Please clarify where in Volume III the offeror should include the completed Section K and any other administrative information.

This information is to be provided after pricing information.

In Section L.2, Clause 1352.215-70 Proposal Preparation (Apr 2010), paragraph B.3.c.(2) discusses the proposal acceptance period. Has the Government prescribed an acceptance period other than 60 days identified in item 12 of the SF-33?

A. Yes. The acceptance period shall be at least 120 days. Section L has been revised.

Solicitation Section L. Are the resumes included in the page count for the technical volume?

Yes.

May the resumes be placed in appendix?

No.

Is the Government requesting resumes for anyone other than Key Personnel?

Only as stated in Section L, B.( d.)

Paragraph 3(e) at the bottom of page 94 of the RFP states:

e. Each offeror’s price proposal shall be based on the offeror’s own technical proposal, the Government’s specifications, and other contractual requirements. If the prices to be used are based on a published price list or catalog, the offeror shall so state in its price proposal. If the prices are to be based on established market prices, not otherwise published, or are prices applicable only to the proposed contract, the offeror shall so state.

SECTION L VOLUME I – TECHNICAL

b. In order that the technical proposal may be evaluated strictly on the merit of the material submitted, no contractual price information is to be included in this volume. However, the type and quantity of labor and materials is to be included in the Technical Proposal, without any associated cost information.

How is the contractor to submit type and quantity of labor and materials without a sample task, or requirement? Is the contractor required to provide labor requirements for all 52 tasks?

The type and quantity of labor and materials to be included in the Technical Proposal, without any associated cost information is with respect to: Understanding of the PWS, Details of how the contract requirements will be met and the means used to accomplish them. The offeror is not expected to provide a labor/skill/material mix as none of the 52 tasks are orders. They provide the scope from which an order may be issued.

In the Technical Volume, do we need to identify the type and quantity of labor and materials in answering to the requirements?

1352.215-70 Proposal Instructions, Section B Specific Instructions, 1. Volume I –Technical at d. lists the specific areas to be addressed. See question and answer regarding addressing the 52 task areas (above).

Section L, PROPOSAL PREPARATION, Page 92, 2nd paragraph: “Fold-outs with diagrams and tables will be counted as one page and shall not exceed an 8 ½ x 17” sheet of paper”. Question: Please clarify if the size of the fold-out sheets should be 11” x 17” instead of 8 ½” x 17”.

A. A standard fold-out sheet size is 11 x 17

Section L, Clause 52.215-1, INSTRUCTIONS TO OFFERORS – COMPETITIVE ACQUISTION, Page 88, paragraph (c)(2): “The first page of the proposal must show –“. Question: It is assumed that this statement is referring to the first page of the Technical Volume? This question is asked because in Section L, 3. VOLUME III – PRICE AND BUSINESS, page 94, paragraph b, has referenced this clause, “and to include the required administrative information required in this clause 52.215-1 in Volume III”. However, the Cost Volume indicates that the Proposal Form is the “cover sheet (or first page) of this volume. Please clarify.

Section L, Clause 52.216-1: “The Government contemplates award of a multiple award IDIQ, Performance-Based Contract with Fixed Price, Labor Hour, and Time and Materials pricing arrangements resulting from this solicitation. In terms of Fixed Price, does the Government mean Firm Fixed Price, Fixed Price level- of -effort Fixed Price labor hours, Fixed Price with economic price adjustment, etc…? Please clarify.

Firm Fixed Price

1352.209-70 POTENTIAL ORGANIZATIONAL CONFLICT OF INTEREST. We have a sub contractor who is concerned about potential downstream OCI issues for one specific program as a result of being a member our team. As the prime contractor on a multiple award IDIQ, we can exclude them from supporting task orders which might create conflicts for the program they are interested in. Our question is, would the prime contractor excluding a particular sub-contractor from task orders which might create an OCI with a program they are interested in bidding on in the future be an acceptable OCI mitigation plan for NOAA on OPSTECH (such that the sub-contractor could pursue a particular development contract as a prime contractor provided they had not worked on it through OPSTECH)?

It depends. If the lines are clear that unequal access to information that allows for a competitive advantage has not occurred than yes. If the sub’s participation in complimentary task orders provides access to the information that would create an unauthorized competitive advantage, then no.

Section L.B.2.c: Should an Administrative Contracting Officer (ACO) not exist, may we use the Procuring Contract Officer (PCO)? If the contract does not have an ACO or PCO, may we use the Contracting Officer (CO) for all three positions?

Any cognizant Contracting Officer for the contract may be used.

We understand there is no page limit on the Labor Rate Chart. However, is there a page limit on the rest of the material required for the Price and Business volume?

There is no page limit.

Section M: Past Performance Evaluation. Is previous prime contracting experience by the proposing prime contractor on contracts similar in nature to OPSTECH be rated more highly, equal to, or less than subcontract past performance by the proposing prime, individual past experience, or team mate past performance in assessing prime contractor performance risk?

The past performance is rated as a whole, however, the Government only has privity with the Prime and has no contractual authority over subs.

1352.215-73 EVALUATION QUANTITIES-INDEFINITE QUANTITY CONTRACT (APR 2010)

To evaluate offers for award purposes, the Government will apply the offeror's proposed fixed-prices/rates to the estimated quantities of use (and add other direct costs, if applicable).

C.3.3.4 NOAA IT Security Compliance

Who provides the Labor Category spreadsheet?

Will the Preproposal Conference attendee list be provided by Government?

No.

Who manages the program task orders, i.e. is there a program management office for OPSTECH?

No. There is no program management office.

Are there to be more solicitation amendments other than in the briefing?

No other amendments (other possibly clerical) anticipated.

Will a past performance questionnaire be provided by Government?

No.

Are the technical evaluation factors in the slides in any order importance?

No. The listing under the technical factor identifies elements of the technical approach. They are not sub-factors.

Will be oral presentations as part of proposal?

No.

Will unsuccessful offerors be notified, and if how?

Yes, within in 3 business days by email.

Will a copy of the DOC IT management handbook be provided?

No.

Is the transition plan required as part of the proposal?

Is the retention plan for the prime only?

A. Yes.

Does NOAA grant vendors authority to use the NOAA logo on responses to this

Clarifications

Task order tracking tool needs to be available when?

A. Within 45 days of contract award.

Reporting Requirements: What is the vision behind this? Could we use our Portal developed for AAOCS, NOAALink Portal? (ie: recoup 10-15k sunk cost of development).

If the solution meets the requirements you may use the Portal developed for AAOCS,NOAALink Portal.

Task Order Tracking Tool Contract Requirement for each Awardee No specific tool or product is mandated Contractor shall propose its own version/format to satisfy requirements Requirements Web Based, with user log-in Ability to provide different levels of access based on user's need-to-know CO/COR have access to all information Task Managers access their own tasks information

Provides all relevant task order information Stores Contract/Task Order documents SOW/PWS, Task Order, Schedules Stores Task Order Deliverables Progress Reports Annual Report, Monthly Reports, Weekly Reports Administrative Security Plan and Report Financial reports Specific Task Order Products/Documents Allows tracking of Task Order Status Financial Summary of Task Orders Amounts awarded, funded, expended, invoiced, and paid Task Order period of performance information Base and option period status for exercising of options

Format No specific requirements Can be a repository of files containing relevant information Use of standard formats is encouraged MS Word, Excel, MS Project .pdf can be used for Final Documents and scanned artifacts Key information can be displayed directly in web format, when applicable and manageable Security Must be hosted on Awardee's IT system Control of access is Awardee's responsibility Passwords control and recovery process Example - Can be restricted to access from NOAA IP

QUESTIONS

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