DOL SaaS Cloud E-mail_QuestionsAnswers_20120917.pdf

The following lists all questions received and answers to the DOL SaaS Cloud E-mail Platform solicitation.

Pricing

1. The quantity for Option Year 1 CLIN 1009 is 7,500 Blackberry RIMS users while all other years for CLIN X009 show 90,000 users. It is assumed that the quantity should also be 90,000. The contractor respectfully asks the Government to correct the quantity for CLIN 1009 in the pricing tables.

a. Correct. Attachment 1 CLIN 1009 NTE has been updated to 90,000 monthly units. (7500 devices x 12 months)

2. The quantity for Base Year CLIN 0022 is 7,500 while all other years from Option Year 1 - 6 show a quantity of 30,000. The contractor respectfully asks if the quantity for Base Year CLIN 0022 is correct.

a. Attachment 1 is correct. Base Year NTE for CLIN 0022 is 7,500 devices. RFP Sections B and F have been updated to 7500.

3. CLIN 0014 requests pricing for 3,400 hours of SMTP/MAPI Applications SME. What is the basis of the Government's estimate?

a. The Government is requesting your unit price per hour for providing subject matter expertise in support of this service; 3400 hours is the CLIN Not to Exceed amount.

4. Item 5 states no travel and ODCs will be part of this contract. It is assumed that some hardware may need to be purchased for the effort (e.g., reference CLIN 0003 - Single Sign-On *hardware, software, maintenance). Will these hardware costs be allowed for cost reimbursement? Please confirm that new CLINs can be established for one-time development efforts in direct support of this effort.

a. Offerors should provide a quote for the identified CLINs, as appropriate, based on their solution. The Offeror should also insert any additional CLINs that are required to deliver the services. Refer to Section L.5.7.1 regarding GFE and labor.

5. Since there are many variable factors in the delivery and implementation of cloud services, which type of pricing model would the government be amenable for? Not to exceed Task Orders? Monthly billing based on usage of cloud and managed services?

a. Refer to the pricing sections and pricing tables.

6. The number of mailbox licenses remains static at 30,000 accounts across the option years. Could the Government clarify what user base it anticipates migrating in Option Year 1 through Option Year 6 under CLIN 1004, 2004, 3004, 4004, 5004 and 6004?

a. This is subject to change based on demand.

7. CLIN 0018 requests pricing for 3,400 hours of Public Folder Migration SME. Are these the public folders that need to be migrated within 12 months of contract award? What is the basis of the Government's estimate?

a. The Government is requesting your unit price per hour for providing subject matter expertise in support of this service; 3400 hours is the CLIN Not to Exceed amount.

8. "Special projects" are called out specifically in the pricing sheet, but the pricing sheet also calls out Records Management, Mobile Device Management, etc. In the RFP, Section 3, Objectives, "Special Projects" is defined as "document and content management, mobility device management (MDM), and other technical services that can leverage the cloud e-mail solution".

Should "Special Projects" be considered to be these items, which are also referenced by line item in the pricing worksheet, or does it pertain to any other offerings that the vendor thinks would be appropriate as part of the "technical services that can leverage cloud e-mail"?

a. Offerors are requested to provide labor categories with hourly rates utilized to support special projects for projects determined after award. This is a Not to Exceed amount.

9. Whereas the vendor is encouraged to offer recommended cloud e-mail solutions that can be evolve into the development platform for future services, please give additional guidance to what is expected or needed under the caption "Special Projects" in the cost template. Is DOL looking for recommended solutions to sum to $2M or is this a not-to-exceed dollar threshold?

a. Offerors are requested to provide labor categories with hourly rates utilized to support special projects for projects determined after award. This is a Not to Exceed amount.

10. The quantity provided for CLIN X027 shows a dollar amount of $2,000,000. The contractor respectfully asks if the $2,000,000 is a plug in number for all contractors to use for evaluation purposes. If not, please clarify how the contractor should calculate this CLIN for all years.

a. Offerors are requested to provide labor categories with hourly rates utilized to support special projects for projects determined after award. This is a Not to Exceed amount.

11. Should the NTE of $2,000,000 for CLIN 0027 be considered a plug number for the total price of the CLIN, or should the offeror propose an amount of hours and unit price to create a proposed CLIN 0027 Price?

a. Offerors are requested to provide labor categories with hourly rates utilized to support special projects for projects determined after award. This is a Not to Exceed amount.

12. In the Features and Functions sheet, Record Management is stated as needing to comply with DOD STD-5015.2; in the Pricing Worksheet, it's stated as DOD 50012-2. Are these the same thing, or are there two different standards being called on as requirements?

a. The standard for Record Management is DOD 5015.2. Attachment 1 - Pricing Table has been amended.

13. For Task Order 1, what CLIN should the offeror use to price this effort?

a. Task Order 1 will be priced using awarded CLIN structure following IDIQ award.

14. Does the Government intend to issue a Task Order for the work anticipated during the 60 day Pilot Phase?

a. Yes.

15. Section G.5 Submission of Invoices references instructions for invoicing travel; In section H.7

"Travel" it states that the government does not anticipate travel, however there are CLINs represented in the pricing table that request services to be performed on-site above and beyond the proposed solution (e.g. CLIN0012)

a. Travel costs required by offeror proposed solutions should be included in their proposal.

Detailed travel costs will not be invoiced to the Government for this procurement.

Technical

16. Can DOL provide metrics to specify the percentage of archive records that are stored on individual desktops/laptops verses servers, by agency? If specific metrics are unavailable, then can reliable estimates be provided to assist in our understanding of effort?

a. Attachment 1 - Pricing Table under Migration Services provides the average size per archive type and quantities.

17. Are there any Agency 1-2 users that are not using Office 2010 SP1?

a. Yes, assume there are users not on Office 2010 SP1.

18. Please provide the break-out for the quantities of accounts that will need to be allocated for each of the three domains.

a. Section C, Figure 1 - DOL E-mail Infrastructure Baseline provides the number of users and mailboxes for each of the three domains. (AG1.gov, AG2.dol.gov, and DOL.gov)

19. What does “air gapped” mean? Does the government only need distinct storage, user/policy management and administrative control for each of the 3 sub organizations?

a. Air-gapped refers to data, management, security and access isolation to support individual domain requirements.

20. How do remote users access email services today (Webmail, Citrix, Outlook, etc.)?

a. Today, users access email through multiple methods including webmail/OWA and

Outlook client.

21. With regards to the Department of Labor forest configuration outlined in the Statement of

Objectives (DOL Current E-mail Environment), can requestor clarify the specific forests required to interoperate with Office 365? Meaning will all 9 nine separate forests contain user accounts for federating with Office 365 and user mailboxes which must be migrated to the cloud? Or are there specific forests within the overall forest count upon which migration activities should focus?

a. All nine forests contain user accounts for individuals requiring email access and must interoperate with the future EaaS solution. No forest takes precedence over another.

22. Is there a functional virtual directory that spans all DOL forests today?

a. No.

23. Is there any existing unified communications, instant messaging, VOIP, soft phone implementations in DOL? If so, what product(s), version(s) are used, and where and how many users are participating?

a. For the purpose of this solicitation, assume none exists.

24. In accordance with Section 508 Subpart A §1194.2 (b), will Agency procure the cloud service that best meets the accessibility standards of Section 508?

a. Per Section M.5, the Government intends to award to the best value offeror.

25. In accordance with Section 508 Subpart A §1194.2 (b), will Agency procure the cloud service that best meets the accessibility standards of Section 508?

a. Per Section M.5, the Government intends to award to the best value offeror.

26. In accordance with Section 508 Subpart A §1194.2 (b), will Agency procure the cloud service that best meets the accessibility standards of Section 508?

a. Per Section M.5, the Government intends to award to the best value offeror.

27. What is the rational basis for requiring that test methods and test data for conformance with

Section 508 and WCAG 2.0 Level AA be provided?

a. This requirement has been removed.

28. Offeror must state how the proposed solution meets or does not meet the provisions identified in the Government Product Accessibility Template (GPAT) included as Attachment 3. Merely providing documentation that states products or services are Section 508 compliant will not be considered responsive to this solicitation. Offeror shall specify the means for determining conformance with each applicable Section 508 provision. Where conformance tests were used, the Offeror shall describe the test methods and supply the data from those tests. The test results shall be clearly labeled as to which Section 508 and WCAG 2.0 Level AA provisions they relate to. In the Statement of Objectives, the government uses the standards at Section 508 website as the basis for Section 508 compliance. These standards - 1194.21 through 1194.26,

1194.31. 1194.41 - are consistent with the minimum needs specified by federal agencies, including the Department of Labor, in software or software as a service acquisitions.

The government has further specified, per Section L, additional requirements beyond the minimum needs described in the paragraph above to include Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0, Level A and Level AA and the requirement to supply test methods and associated test results.

However, the government has not identified how Accessibility requirements will be evaluated and weighted in the evaluation.

Specifically, the government has offered no explanation or mention of Section 508 in M.4 Evaluation FACTORS.

As such, the Offeror recommends that the government return to minimum needs by removing the requirements for WCAG 2.0 Level A, AA and test methods and results.

If these requirements are not removed, the Offeror recommends clarifying the method that will be used to evaluate Accessibility requirements and the associated weighting of Accessibility in the evaluation.

a. This requirement has been removed.

29. In the Statement of Objectives on page C-10, the Item referred to as ‘Optional Task Order 2:

Migration (Phase II)’, DOL states that ‘the vendor shall begin migration and implementation for all the DOL and work to ensure a full implementation no later than 6 months after Phase I award’. This means that the clock is ticking from the original award – even while DOL is evaluating the ORT (which is not a defined period). We believe that it is the intention of the government to have a 6-month performance period for Phase II that begins once the government has accepted the ORT. Please confirm or otherwise clarify what the required schedule is.

a. DOL anticipates IDIQ contract award January 7, 2013 and completion of full migration for the Department within 6 months of IDIQ award.

30. Please confirm whether the January 7th date that the government mentions in Section M of the RFP is the intended award date, or if the government expects to make an award 60 days prior in Q4 to coincide with the implementation schedule for Task Order 1.

a. DOL anticipates IDIQ contract award January 7, 2013 and completion of full migration for the Department within 6 months of IDIQ award.

31. Will these "Additional Vendor Services" get factored into the overall cost as part of the evaluation process in selecting the “best value” proposal? How will DOL discern “best value” services with overall cost in mind when evaluating other bids when “Additional Vendor Services” are being proposed beyond the base requirements?

a. Per Section M.4 Evaluation Factors, III. Price Evaluation, the Government will solely use offeror responses to Attachment 1 – Pricing Tables, Tab “Step 3 - Price Evaluation Table” to evaluate pricing. Refer to RFP Section M.3 for Best Value evaluation methodology.

32. Will these “Special Projects" get factored into the overall cost as part of the evaluation process in selecting the vendor with the “best value?”

a. No. Per Section M.4 Evaluation Factors, III. Price Evaluation, the Government will solely use offeror responses to Attachment 1 – Pricing Tables, Tab “Step 3 - Price Evaluation Table” to evaluate pricing.

33. The Government has requested that contractor provide wireless voice/data plans. The most cost effective approach to ord

a. Incomplete statement received by DOL.

34. Are the requirements for CJIS limited to only OIG users or to the entire DOL user population?

a. These CJIS requirements are limited to the OIG domain.

35. Monitoring and controlling of access of wireless access points is typically outside the scope of e-mail and cloud based RFP's. Please confirm that this is a requirement.

a. These requirements only apply if a proposed solution includes wireless access points on offeror's site.

36. Two requests for additional detail. One, please define the locations where Offeror is responsible for WLAN access (i.e. DOL HQ, all DOL facilities, etc). Two, provide approximate total number of Wireless Access Points (WAPS) that will need to be managed.

a. These requirements only apply if a proposed solution includes wireless access points on offeror's site.

37. What type of voice service does DOL envision within the scope for this SOO (e.g., PC-PC, PC- PSTN, PSTN-PSTN, etc.)?

a. These requirements only apply if a proposed solution includes voice service on offeror's site.

38. Does the DOL currently use the Common Access Card (CAC) for single sign-on?

a. No.

39. The requirement of L.5.8.24 on page L-39 under System and Information Integrity Policy and Procedures and entitled Personal Firewall would seem to be incomplete – it ends with the phrase ‘the following activities:’ but no list ensues.

a. This phrase has been removed.

40. Laptop firewalls are traditionally similar to a desktop firewall, rather than a Mobile Device firewall. Are laptops specifically included in the requirement for firewalls on mobile devices?

a. Per RFP Section L.45.8.24, laptops, handhelds, personal digital assistants are considered mobile devices.

41. Can the government provide more detail about what applications, identified as “general commercial market applications” are considered subject to application integration? Will the government provide a list of these applications?

a. Per Section L.5.11.1, the Offeror is being asked to describe its solution interfaces with common desktop mail clients, general commercial market applications (i.e. Desktop, ERP, etc.), and provide examples of successful integration, and the tools and methods used. No list of these applications will be provided at this time.

42. Please confirm that the Technical Program Manager is the only required key position for this solicitation.

a. Confirmed. The Technical Program Manager is the only required key position for this solicitation.

43. Should all 30,000 DOL user mailboxes be migrated at the end of the base year or just a pilot group of users as proposed by the contractor using the contractor's discretion to recommend the best approach

a. DOL anticipates IDIQ contract award January 7, 2013 and completion of full migration for the Department within 6 months of IDIQ award.

44. Please confirm that it is DOL's requirement that all 30,000 users and all functionality must be transitioned by the end of Phase I (first six months). Or is it DOL's intention that some users/functionality would be deployed during Phase III - Steady State?

a. DOL anticipates IDIQ contract award January 7, 2013 and completion of full migration for the Department within 6 months of IDIQ award.

45. To be compliant, do all MDM capabilities need to be commercially available by the time of RFP submission, or by the time of execution?

a. Offerors should identify when capabilities will be commercially available.

46. MDM, data plans, document management, and UC are not included in the Features and

Function Matrix. Where should we address these items?

a. These items are addressed in sections L.5.5.1 and L.5.11

47. The Pricing Worksheet mentions "mobile device plans" and "mobile carrier plans". Does DOL require that the vendor be able to provide a mobile carrier plan, or simply be able to offer pricing for one? Also, does "mobile device" in this context refer specifically to Blackberry RIM, or is DOL considering the adoption of, or addition of, a different smartphone standard such as Android?

a. Refer to Section L.5.11.3 Section 3 – Device Plans and Wireless Service Plans.

48. How many other mobile devices in addition to the 4000 Blackberry devices does the DOL deploy and what are they?

a. DOL anticipates a mix of mobile devices. Refer to Section L.5.11.3 Section 3 – Device

Plans and Wireless Service Plans.

49. What is the preferred requirement for content currently stored inside MS Outlook in Public Folders? Does DOL want to the vendor to propose a solution or do you prefer that this content be instead moved into a Content Management solution?

a. DOL requests offerors to provide their proposed solution.

50. Does DOL have a preferred software platform in mind for the records management, web conferencing, etc.; or is the selection of the software platform part of what is being proposed?

a. DOL does not have a preferred solution.

51. For the 24/7 Service Desk Support requirement, what are Service Level requirements and associated priority levels for end user questions and technical issues, excluding outages? For example, Priority 1 incidents have SLA of X number of minutes/hours; Priority 2 incidents have SLA of X min/hours, and so on. Also, please indicate which incidents should automatically be given priority status, i.e. VIP requests.

a. DOL requests offerors to provide their proposed solution. Refer to Section L.5.5.2.J.

52. For the 24/7 Service Desk Support requirement, what is scope of support in terms of inquiry types and where is boundary between cloud service desk supported questions and questions that should be directed to local DOL IT resources or DOL IT Service Desk? Are only inquiries unique to the hosted services required to be supported or are general application usage questions like “how do I do this in excel?” required to be supported by the cloud service desk.

a. DOL requests offerors to provide their proposed solution. Refer to Section L.5.5.2.J.

53. For the 24/7 Service Desk Support requirement, what requirements are there for end user interaction and incident generation methods – phone, email, web chat, etc? Please elaborate.

a. DOL requests offerors to provide their proposed solution. Refer to Section L.5.5.2.J.

54. For the 24/7 Service Desk Support requirement, are there any requirements/limitations for Tier 0 support, where Tier 0 is end user facing online resources for self-help and incident reporting?

a. DOL requests offerors to provide their proposed solution. Refer to Section L.5.5.2.J.

55. For the 24/7 Service Desk Support requirement, what is the anticipated volume of daily incidents?

a. As this is a new requirement for DOL, we expect offeror to possess this knowledge.

56. For the 24/7 Service Desk Support requirement, what is the existing per month call volume for existing non-cloud email and collaboration applications across DOL?

a. This data will not be provided for this requirement as it is irrelevant.

57. For the 24/7 Service Desk Support requirement, can the service desk staff operate from any contractor provided location inside the United States?

a. Yes, as long as your proposed solution meets all objectives and requirements provided in the RFP.

58. What is "enhanced service desk support" as opposed to ordinary "service desk support"?

a. Enhanced Service Desk Support in Attachment 1 refers to RFP Section L.5.11.5 Section 5

- Enhanced Support.

59. In Section L.5.5.2.J we see the statement that we should provide ‘SLAs related to notification of security breaches,…. RPO, PTO and ….. We believe that PTO is a typographical error and the government means ‘Recovery Time Objective’. Please confirm that this is so or clarify the meaning of ‘PTO’.

a. Confirmed. PTO has been replaced with RTO.

60. Will the social media requirement, can the Government elaborate on which social media application they initially intend to include in this requirement, e.g., Twitter, Facebook, Yammer, etc.?

a. DOL requests offerors to provide their proposed solution.

61. Does the DOL have existing hardware that is already security cleared that can be repurposed for the BES infrastructure- or will all new hardware need to go through the full procurement process?

a. Refer to Section L.5.7.1 regarding GFE and labor.

62. Once your mailboxes are in the cloud, how are you planning to handle the email-generating applications and devices that will continue to run on your premises?

a. L.5.11.1 Section 1 – Application Integration provides requirements. DOL requests offerors to provide their proposed solution.

63. For the BES (Blackberry Enterprise Server) requirement, you have told us how many total BES users anticipated. In addition, it would be helpful in scaling our solution to know how many BES servers there are, the locations of the BES servers and how many users per BES instance.

a. Section C, Figure 1 - DOL E-mail Infrastructure Baseline identifies the independent Agency managed BES infrastructures and provides the number of BES devices supported for each.

64. Please clarify which collaboration capabilities are core requirements and which should be considered Additional Technical Services

a. All collaboration capabilities are core requirements.

65. In order to comply with the Federal Records Act, FOIA, the E Government Act, and implementing regulations of NARA, does Agency require that its documents’ functionality and integrity be maintained, even when the document is uploaded or downloaded, in a manner that: (1) is an accurate representation of the facts to which the record attests; (2) protects against any unauthorized use or alteration of the record; (3) maintains the physical and logical format of the records, and the relationships between the data elements; and (4) enables the transfer of records, including their associated metadata, to new storage media or formats?

a. Offeror should describe compliance and/or limitations of their proposed solution.

66. Please elaborate on the scope and type of reporting/visibility via the requested web portal reporting that DOL expects to see.

a. Offeror should describe the capability(ies) of their proposed solution.

67. Does the offeror need to migrate existing SharePoint/collaboration/document management/records management content? If so, what systems exist, how many users participate, how much storage is currently used by these systems?

a. No.

68. From bottom of C-8: For data that the offeror is given access by DOL for the performance of the contract, the offeror shall not copy or distribute to others such data, except as required for the performance of the contract, or unless permission to do so is provided by the Contractor Officer.

Multi-part Question: Due to the highly sensitive nature of the information stored and transmitted by the system (including but not limited to BLS statistical and respondent sensitive information), and due to the statutory restrictions placed on the use and disclosure of that information (including but not limited to CIPSEA), does DOL require that:

1) DOL data, data in Offeror’s consumer cloud services, and data created by or resulting from Offeror’s scanning, indexing, or data-mining activities, must not be commingled unless expressly approved by the DOL Contracting Officer in advance?

a. Regarding the use, disclosure and handling of DOL-furnished data, refer to Section H.13 DATA USE, DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION, AND HANDLING OF SENSITIVE INFORMATION, Section H.21 part (d) for related privacy and security safeguards and Section C.3 for the definition of a Government Community Cloud.

2) Offeror’s cloud service not capture, maintain, scan, index, share or use DOL data stored or transmitted by the service, or otherwise use any data-mining technology, for any non-authorized activity or non-government purpose?

a. Offerors shall not copy or distribute to others DOL-furnished data, except as required for the performance of the contract, or unless permission to do so is provided by the Contractor Officer.

3) Offeror’s cloud service shall not use DOL data stored or transmitted by the cloud service for any advertising or other commercial purpose of Offeror or any third party?

a. Offerors shall not use DOL data stored or transmitted by the cloud service for any advertising or other commercial purpose of Offeror or any third party

4) Offeror’s cloud service will be logically separate from its consumer cloud service?

a. Regarding the use, disclosure and handling of DOL-furnished data, refer to

Section H.13 DATA USE, DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION, AND HANDLING OF SENSITIVE INFORMATION, Section H.21 part (d) for related privacy and security safeguards and Section C.3 for the definition of a Government Community Cloud.

69. Will we be able to address the root Active Directory Service as the authoritative source for all UserIDs and information?

a. Vendor may be required to access up to 9 active directory services. The root will be addressed, but the entire tree structure must be traversed OR the Global Catalog used (GC), which is resident in our <dir.labor.gov> forest on every domain controller, to extract user information. There is not “UserID” attribute in our schema.

userPrincipalName (UPN) or sAMAccountName are two fields that are used in our forest for identification and authentication.

70. In "Features and Functions" (Attachment 2), one of the requirements mentioned is mobile integration for the email services; the Pricing Sheet specifies Blackberry RIM. Is what DOL is looking for in the BlackBerry RIM line item a pricing for mobile integration for Blackberry RIM to the proposed email solution, or a pricing for full mobile carrier service for the BlackBerry RIM?

a. Attachment 2 – refers to Section L.5.11.2 Section 2 – Mobility and Mobile Device Management and Attachment 1 – Pricing Table CLINs x009 refers to Blackberry Enterprise Service (BES) – Cloud Services, Section L.5.5.1.B Cloud Architecture.

71. What tape backup systems are used for mail archives?

a. RFP Section L.5.5.1.C provides a listing of 3rd party archival systems including Enterprise

Vault, Source One, Archive One, and tape backup archives. Hard ware includes Storageworks Fibre Channel Tape Library; LTO-4 and LTO-5 format. Software includes CommVault and BackupExec.

72. Can DOL provide its Records Management Retention and File Plans? What percentage of emails and documents are declared as records? How are records currently managed? Is there an existing records management system? If, so how many records are stored and in what formats?

Are emails currently stored as records? If so, how many records are stored and in what formats?

Does DOL want existing electronic records migrated into the new solution or is a day-forward approach anticipated? Does the August 24, 2012 NARA Presidential Records Management Memo have any impact on this solicitation?

a. DOL is seeking a new enterprise wide solution. Offerors should propose a solution that fully integrates with their proposed Cloud platform and state their assumptions.

73. Please describe the system architecture and vendor products currently used to provide voice and fax communication since that infrastructure may influence the approach to integration with a cloud email solution.

a. DOL is seeking a new enterprise wide solution. Offerors should propose a solution that fully integrates with their proposed Cloud platform and state their assumptions.

74. Is there a Microsoft Lync Server 2010 (with Enterprise Voice) infrastructure currently in place on-premise?

a. No.

75. Is DoL using a PBX or IP/PBX infrastructure that is compatible with Unified Communication?

Please refer to: http://technet.microsoft.com/library/ee364753.aspx

a. DOL is seeking a new enterprise wide solution. Offerors should propose a solution that fully integrates with their proposed Cloud platform and state their assumptions.

76. If the above is true, is there a Session Border Controller that is compatible with UM? Please refer to: http://technet.microsoft.com/library/ee364753.aspx

a. DOL is seeking a new enterprise wide solution. Offerors should propose a solution that fully integrates with their proposed Cloud platform and state their assumptions.

77. Is DoL using a PBX and voice-over-IP (VoIP) gateway that is compatible with UM? Please refer to:

http://technet.microsoft.com/library/ee364753.aspx

a. DOL is seeking a new enterprise wide solution. Offerors should propose a solution that fully integrates with their proposed Cloud platform and state their assumptions.

78. Is there a fax solution in place such as RightFax or OpenText?

a. DOL is seeking a new enterprise wide solution. Offerors should propose a solution that fully integrates with their proposed Cloud platform and state their assumptions.

79. Is DOL right now using SharePoint On premise application for content and records management? If yes, what is the version and approx. number of web applications/site http://technet.microsoft.com/library/ee364753.aspx http://technet.microsoft.com/library/ee364753.aspx http://technet.microsoft.com/library/ee364753.aspx collections/content databases to be migrated to SP cloud version? As part of Migration to cloud, do they expect Site hierarchy or Information architecture change? What is the approx.

size of data (Content DB’s size) that is to be migrated to SP cloud? Is there any archival process in place or all the SP content currently considered active? Any info on level of customization in existing SharePoint sites would greatly help. What sort of reports to be generated ? Is there a requirement for Fast search integration/enterprise search? Is there a requirement for access to external users?

a. No.

80. In Task Order 1: Operational Readiness Test, the government is asking for activities that will have direct impact on the government's production environment (e.g., Single Sign On). Is this the government's intent?

a. Yes.

81. Under Task Order #1 Criteria, does “all user data” (third to last bullet) include non-email data?

a. Yes, this includes calendar events and other data typically associated with email services.

82. Task Order #1 includes "Successful migration of all online data for 200 users on multiple infrastructures." Are the 200 users the expected size of the pilot mentioned in L.5.5.2.F Migration Approach for ORT Phase I?

a. Yes.

83. What is the estimated number of classes per government location? Please elaborate.

a. DOL requests offerors to provide their proposed solution.

84. What is the required length of the class and how is travel accounted for? Please elaborate.

a. DOL requests offerors to provide their proposed solution.

85. Please provide the locations for the training that would need to be provided for CLIN0012

a. DOL requests offerors to provide their proposed solution. A list of DOL offices can be found at http://www.dol.gov/dol/location.htm.

86. The Government does not anticipate travel as a result of this requirement. However, the option to provide classroom based training to any of DOL's 485 locations would result in travel. Does the Government anticipate classroom based training will only be requested for DOL offices in the Washington D.C. metropolitan area?

a. DOL requests offerors to provide their proposed solution.

87. What existing phone/fax systems exist and must be integrated?

a. DOL is seeking a new enterprise wide solution. Offerors should propose a solution that fully integrates with their proposed Cloud platform, provides best value and state their assumptions.

88. Specific to Unified Communication, is the need for “fax in the cloud” to received incoming transmittals and attached to emails? Please elaborate on the scope requested.

a. DOL is seeking a new enterprise wide solution. Offerors should propose a solution that fully integrates with their proposed Cloud platform, provides best value and state their assumptions.

89. Regarding the call for “Unified Communication,” please clarify DOL’s plans around voice messaging within the scope this 6+ year effort. Is DOL looking to update or modernize its voice messaging capabilities among its agencies, where a variety of solutions—some new and some old—are being used? If so, is the desire to have a new “integrated voice messaging” solution in the cloud with email?

a. DOL is seeking a new enterprise wide solution. Offerors should propose a solution that fully integrates with their proposed Cloud platform, provides best value and state their assumptions.

90. Does DOL have existing web conferencing capabilities? If so, what product(s), version(s) are used, and where and how many users are participating?

a. DOL is seeking a new enterprise wide solution. Offerors should propose a solution that fully integrates with their proposed Cloud platform, provides best value and state their assumptions.

Instructions and RFP Specific

91. Page numbering is inconsistent (e.g., it goes from page C-5 back to C-2) and sections are not numbered. Please address the page numbering sequence and add paragraph numbers to enable clear and consistent interpretation of DOL specifications.

a. Section C page numbering and paragraph numbering has been added.

92. Section B references Statement of Objectives (SOO) sections by number. Section C is the SOO but it is not numbered. Attachment 5 (PWS template) uses a different numbering system. Can DOL clarify how the SOO (Section C) is mapped to Section B and the PWS template?

a. Section B and Section C have been updated. Section L maps to the PWS by header name and order only.

93. Section L.5.4 refers to security requirements included in Section C – Statement of Objectives,

5.1.5 Information Assurance Monitoring and Continuous Monitoring. No such subsection exists in Section C. We assume that this is referring to the paragraph with the same bolded title that is at the bottom of page C-4. Please confirm.

a. Confirmed.

94. We request that headings in the solicitation be labeled with a suitable numbering system so that we can refer to them without repeating the text or needing page numbers. This would facilitate the government’s review and assist the offerors in maintaining compliance more effectively.

a. Section C paragraph numbering have been added.

95. What events or circumstances might cause the government to delay the start of the performance period? What is the likelihood that the government will delay the start of the performance period?

a. This is a standard FAR clause for services.

96. What events might cause the government to delay the start of the performance period and how might a 30 day delay affect the described 60 day pilot after award?

a. This is a standard FAR clause for services.

97. Does F.6 delay of Start of Performance apply only to the first task order, or does it apply to all subsequent task orders?

a. This clause applies to all subsequent task orders.

98. The scope and scale of the requirements is geared toward a structured large company with capacity to deliver large scale infrastructure needs. Do you believe that a group of small companies will be able to meet the challenges?

a. All proposals will be evaluated based on stated evaluation criteria.

99. Please confirm this instruction since Attachment 5 is being used as an outline?

a. Confirmed. Bullet 4 under L.5.5 TECHNICAL AND MANGEMENT APPROACH (VOLUME II) has been updated to correct references - "The technical proposal must mimic the PWS’ outline (i.e., response to Section C 5.2.1 Technical Objectives and Section L.5.5.1 Section 1 – Technical Approach should be contained in PWS Section 2.1 Section 1: Technical Approach of the proposal)."

100. We wish to provide the government with a compliance matrix so that they can easily discern where we have addressed the requirements of Sections C and M, given that Section L is laid out in Attachment 5. If we do so, will this be page counted? It will contain no additional information except the location in which the item is addressed and so fulfills the function of a table of contents oriented by requirement and not by page number.

a. Yes, it will be page counted.

101. Please clarify if Attachment 16 is included in the Volume III Past Performance 10-page limit stated in Section L.5.2 proposal volume requirements. Is Attachment 16 the required format for the 10-page section or is Attachment 16 in addition to the 10-page limit.

a. Yes - Attachment 16 is included as part of the 10 page limit.

102. Bullet 2 states that Offerors should provide their Terms of Service Agreements and End-

User Agreements, which clearly define standard acceptable use policy along with the monitoring and enforcement mechanisms within Volume 2, Section 2. These agreements take up to at least 16 pages. Would the Government consider excluding them from the page count?

a. Terms of Service Agreements and End-User Agreements are excluded from the page count.

103. If this bid for DOL is the first time that the prime and subcontractor have worked together, given the nature of the scope of work, please elaborate on what is meant by “each party to the arrangement must provide a list of two (2) past and present relevant contracts.”

Given that the parties have not yet work together, please specify the type of contract reference you expect to see.

a. DOL expect to see contracts that pertain to their role within the teaming arrangement.

104. Since the Office 365 for Government platform has only been available since December

2011, please confirm the requirement, "Offerors may submit performance data regarding current contract performance as long as a minimum of six (6) months of performance has been completed as of the closing date of this RFQ."

a. Confirmed. DOL's requirement is as stated per Section L.5.6.

105. The RFP states that "If this is a a first time joint effort, each party to the arrangement must provide a list of two (2) past and present relevant contracts." Can DOL specify the specific information that should be provided for these two contracts?

a. DOL expect to see contracts that pertain to their role within the teaming arrangement.

106. Do the details in the past performance structure limit the contractor to only cite instances of government implementations?

a. Yes- state, local and federal.

107. In Section L.5.6 Past Performance (Volume III), the Government states, “If a teaming arrangement is contemplated, the offeror shall provide complete information as to the arrangement, including any relevant and recent past performance information on previous teaming arrangements with same partner. If this is a first time joint effort, each party to the arrangement must provide a list of two (2) past and present relevant contracts”. By “previous teaming arrangements”, does the Government mean bidding together on a RFP or working together as teammates on a program, or both? If the prime and subcontractor have teamed together previously on a bid awaiting award, or a bid awarded to another team, does that fit the definition of a “first time joint effort”?

a. Yes - It is considered a first time joint effort.

108. By “previous teaming arrangements” does the Government mean bidding together on a

RFP or working together as teammates on a program, or both? If the prime and subcontractor have teamed together previously on a bid awaiting award, or a bid awarded to another team, does that fit the definition of a “first time joint effort”?

a. Yes - It is considered a first time joint effort.

109. Under Program Manager Qualifications and Experience, the solicitation states that the

Technical Program Manager position requires 10 to 15 years of hands-on technical experience providing program management services to public sector organizations. Given this requirement, Is a commercial product and services solution, would the Government consider 10 to 15 yrs combined public sector and commercial experience?

a. No - The requirement is as stated.

110. RFP Section L.1, Provisions Incorporated by Reference, includes a requirement for

52.222-46 Evaluation of Compensation for Professional Employees. The RFP does not include any instructions regarding a compensation plan. Should this provision be deleted from the list of provisions?

a. This is a standard FAR clause for services.

111. PWS Alignment: Where does DOL want the Team Structure information to be presented in the PWS Template?

a. Refer to PWS Template 2.2.2 Corporate Stability/Capability.

112. PWS Alignment: Where does DOL want the Key Personnel information to be presented in the PWS Template?

a. Refer to PWS Template 2.2.2 Corporate Stability/Capability.

113. PWS Alignment: Where does DOL want the Program Management information to be presented in the PWS Template?

a. Refer to PWS Template 2.2.2 Corporate Stability/Capability.

114. What’s the difference between Tab 2, Mandatory; and Tab 3 Other. Tab 2 & 3 are Mandatory SC’s for a “Moderate” sys.

a. Per the instructions in Section L.5.4 #3, Tab 2 requires a response. For this purpose, "Mandatory" means required to provide response in Column G.

115. After reviewing Tab 2 & 3, there are an additional 52 SC’s / Enhancements that are not applicable for a “Moderate” system excluding the FedRAMP controls. How are these to be handled?

a. Offerors are required to complete Attachment 4 per the instructions in Section L.5.4.

116. The contractor shall demonstrate experience with C&A’s, along supporting documentation. How is this to be handled?

a. Offerors are required to demonstrate experience with any requirement detailed in the

RFP through their response including developed methodologies, evidence of prior success, and ability to repeat success.

117. Technologies that do not have a NIST equivalent checklist shall have a Contractor approved checklist. Would it be possible to use the DISA approved Gold Disk / Approved Checklist?

a. Yes, any Government approved checklist for a Moderate-rated system, components, etc. will be accepted.

118. The contractor shall be responsible for safeguarding … and DOL PII Policy and Regulations. How and where are we to get access to the DOL IS Policies and Procedures?

a. DOL internal policies and procedures are based on Federal requirements and standards such as OMB policy and memorandums, FIMSA, NIST standards and guides. General reference to DOL Policies and procedures are removed and any specific DOL security items are addressed in Attachment 4. The vendor should base their responses on the specific DOL items, where indicated, or higher authority documents as DOL uses those as the bases for our policies and procedures.

119. Is the Common Security Configuration Certification due with the ATO package?

a. Yes, this is required.

120. Under bullet 3 the text reads, "Under the 'Compliance Remarks' column, Offerors must describe how each control is implemented or planned to be implemented for any portion of control that is not currently implemented or non-compliant with NIST 800-53." Does that mean that if we answer the Implemented column as Yes, then we do not need to enter any textual response under the Compliance Remarks column?

a. The offeror is required to provide a detailed description of its implementation for all controls listed in Tab 2 in the "Compliance Remarks" column.

121. The Government will evaluate the offeror’s response for the mandatory and extended (EXT) control responses to determine that the offeror has the control implemented, or planned for implementation, and understands the security control. The government’s Statement of Objectives indicates that its goal is to “transform the current DOL legacy on-premise services into a primarily Cloud based SaaS services.” To meet that goal the government defines the minimum security requirements referenced in Security and Compliance Objectives (Section C, Page 3), and Attachment 4 - Information Security Compliance, Tabs 1-3.

In the Attachment 4 - Information Security Compliance, Tab 4, the government specifies security requirements that exceed the minimum security requirements of the SOO, FISMA and FedRAMP. Furthermore, these requirements appear to favor a private cloud solution and could therefore limit competition for government community cloud service providers. As such, the offeror requests that the government remove Tab 4 of Attachment 4 - Information Security Compliance. If Tab 4 is not removed, please clarify the evaluation criteria set forth in the Phase 2 Security Posture and Compliance Evaluation by clearly defining the weightings that will be given to each non-mandatory requirement in Tab 4 versus the mandatory security requirements

a. Attachment 4 Tab 4 tab and table titles are changed from “Extended Compliance Requirements” to “DOL Security Items”. All proposals will be evaluated based on stated evaluation criteria stated in Section M.3 and M.4. The security evaluation will be based on the risk of compromise to DOL IT assets using the offeror’s response(s) regarding the implementation, or intended implementation, of the security control items identified in Attachment 4.

122. Given that DOL will accept an Authority of Operate (ATO) for SaaS NIST compliant and FISMA Moderate from another federal agency for the cloud solution being proposed, please specify any specific criteria that DOL will use to accept ATO. We request that you be very clear in the guidance provided.

a. Per Section M.4, the Government will accept proof of a Federally-sponsored ATO for the offeror's proposed solution.

123. What are the defining policies and procedures that refer to: "The Contractor shall also meet IT security requirements in accordance with Federal and Department of Labor regulations, policies and procedures?"

a. DOL internal policies and procedures are based on Federal requirements and standards such as OMB policy and memorandums, FIMSA, NIST standards and guides. General reference to DOL Policies and procedures are removed and any specific DOL security items are addressed in Attachment 4. The vendor should base their responses on the specific DOL items, were indicated, or higher authority documents as DOL uses those as the bases for our policies and procedures.

124. Are all of the compliance standards that the vendor must meet outlined in the RFP and supporting documents, or are there any additional standards? If so, what are they?

a. All required security compliance standards are outlined in Section M.5.1.1. DOL internal policies and procedures are based on Federal requirements and standards such as OMB policy and memorandums, FIMSA, NIST standards and guides. General reference to DOL Policies and procedures are removed and any specific DOL security items are addressed in Attachment 4. The vendor should base their responses on the specific DOL items, were indicated, or higher authority documents as DOL uses those as the bases for our policies and procedures.

125. Do the subcontracting category percentage goals listed in Table 1 represent that 27% of the contract dollars need to be allocated to small business (SDB+WOSB+Hub+SDVOB+VOSB0=27%) with an additional 33% (33%+27% = 60%) allocated to small business regardless of designation?

a. Correct, these are published subcontracting goals. Refer to Attachment 15 - Note D.

126. If 11% of the contract service dollars are allocated to a company that is both an SDB and

SDVOSB, does that cover the 11% SDB goal as well as the 3% SDVOSB and 3% VOSB goal?

a. The goals are covered if the company qualifies for both categories.

127. Can the government confirm that small business primes are exempt from submitting a small business subcontracting plan as specified in section H.10?

a. Confirmed.

128. Can the Department of Labor please elaborate on its Small Business objectives? It seems that if a small company bids, it has the option of subbing a large proportion of the work to a large business -- even in excess of 60% of the professional services value, which seems not to be the Department’s intent. However, if a large businesses bids, they have a target of 60% of small business participation, further delineated by small business category. A target as large as 60% may overly limit the government’s options in terms of migration services and introduce risk and added cost. Would the Department consider lifting the target small business share and instead consider positively those bids with significant and creative small business workshare?

a. Subcontracting plans only apply to large businesses.

129. The RFP is categorized as Full and Open, yet in Section H there is Subcontracting requirements that seem primarily award this to smaller business, is this a small business set-aside?

a. No.

130. Please elaborate on the intention of Section 8.6 in the PWS (“Vendor Proposed

Additional Services”). Can we assume that additional cloud services related to messaging, collaboration, and Unified Communications will occur over the life of this…