Questions_and_Answers.pdf

RFQ DOL-OPS-15-R-00006

Questions & Answers

Q1. General A.2 Page 4. General Statement #2, speaks to CMMI as a primary requirement, where as in your previous SOW CMMI was not a primary requirement but a secondary one. This secondary requirement allows small businesses the opportunity to obtain this cert while performing on the contract. Was this an oversight and should be listed as a secondary requirement as listed in the previous solicitation? If not, could you please clarify why this has been inserted into the SOW when it was removed and made a secondary requirement?

A1. The DOL requirement is for CMMI Level II at the time of contract award, with a preference for certification in Services.

CMMI includes best practices that cover project management, process management, systems engineering, hardware engineering, software engineering, and other supporting processes used in development and maintenance. Vendors unfamiliar with CMMI Level II are inadequately positioned to support the quality demands necessary to OIST. Repeatable processes, best business practices, lessons learned, recruitment and retention of skilled certified personnel, are a few examples of soft-points that non-CMMI certified vendors cannot provide.

In addition, a contractor is required to be CMMI Level II certified at time of contract award to perform this requirement because any company can self-certify to CMMI Level I. General vendors (CMMI Level I) that provide personnel may not fully understand the business demands necessary to support OIST. The risk of lack of business knowledge as it pertains to IT change management and independent verification and validation is a serious matter, and companies not familiar with the distinctions of such have a higher likelihood of unsuccessful contract performance and/or major performance problems. There is a clear exposure to external risks that would otherwise have been avoided. The CMMI Level II certification distinguishes those companies within their area of professional expertise as having achieved a globally recognized qualifier. Therefore, DOL has determined it is in the best interest of the Government - as regards to cost, time, and risk – to require CMMI Level II certification at the time of award.

Q2. Is the government looking only for the Technical response or cost and past performance as well?

A2. Responses that fail to include volumes for Technical, Price, and Past Performance will not be considered.

Q3. Pricing. Will a new ‘Volume II’ – pricing need to be submitted along with Volume 1? There is no reference to this in the 2nd Mod.

A3. Responses that fail to include volumes for Technical, Price, and Past Performance will not be considered.

Q4. Project Manager (PM, VPM). A.1.b Page 10. b) At a minimum, must possess a Master’s degree or equivalent in Computer Science (CS), Computer Information Systems (CIS), IT, Information Systems Management (ISM), or similar major from an accredited institution;

Questions: What does DOL consider as an acceptable equivalent of a Master’s degree? Number of years of experience, etc.?

A4. Please see updated SOW which reflects revised qualifications for this labor category: A BS degree in Computer Science (CS), Computer Information Systems (CIS), IT, Information Systems

Management (ISM), or similar major from an accredited institution and 12 years post-graduation experience in the field.

Q5. Software Application Systems Administrator. E.10.b Page 17. At a minimum, must possess a Master’s degree or equivalent in Computer Science (CS), Computer Information Systems (CIS), IT, Information Systems Management (ISM), or similar major from an accredited institution; Questions:

What does DOL consider as an acceptable equivalent of a Master’s degree? Number of years of experience, etc.?

A5. Please see updated SOW which reflects revised qualifications for this labor category: A BS degree in Computer Science (CS), Computer Information Systems (CIS), IT, Information Systems Management (ISM), or similar major from an accredited institution and 12 years post-graduation experience in the field.

Q6. The FBO announcement states that “Open the Solicitation for Interested Offerors to resubmit proposals”. Question: What portions of the proposal are to be resubmitted?

A6. Please submit revised Technical, Price, and Past Performance. Responses that fail to include volumes for Technical, Price, and Past Performance will not be considered.

Q7. Evaluation Factors for Award. Question: What is the evaluation criteria for Amendment 0002?

A7. Please refer to the attached document “Instructions for Offerors, Evaluation of Offers”

Q8. Project Manager. A.1.h Page 11. Clarification: Please clarify that the demonstrated experience for the PM would be based on the Project Management Body of Knowledge and not the Project Management Bible of Knowledge as stated in the SOW.

A8. Project Management Body of Knowledge. Please excuse the typo.

Q9. QC Application Analyst Lead Tester, QC Application Tester, and QC Load Test Specialist. G.16.c.1, H.19.d.1, and I.22.d.1 Pages 20, 22, and 23. Clarification: Please clarify that the Government is seeking testers that are certified at the ASTQB Certified Tester Foundation Level and not the ASTBQ Certified Tester Foundation Level as stated in the SOW.

A9. The Government is seeking testers that are certified at the ASTQB Certified Tester Foundation Level.

Please excuse the typo.

Q10. General. A.2 Page 4. In the April 17th SOW (pg. 2) it was stated, Any prime vendor who does not possess a current CMMI Level 2 certification shall have in place a joint-venture (JV) or teaming arrangement/agreement with a subcontractor who possesses CMMI Level 2 certification. The subcontractor shall be responsible for providing oversight and guidance with managing the development and service tasks of the prime. Minimizing the risk to the Government. This teaming agreement shall be in effect at the time of contract award and must be active until the Prime receives CMMI Level 2 certification. The prime vendor shall provide in its proposal a development plan outlining their proposed method for obtaining CMMI Level 2 certification. This plan shall identify critical evaluations and milestones taking place within the base year and up to the first six months of Option Year one (CMMI Level 2 certification shall be accomplished within 18-24 months). If CMMI Level 2 certification is not achieved by the Prime in the allotted time (18-24 months), the Government reserves the right to terminate the contract for default. Question: In the current SOW (Mod 2), the language was omitted.

Was this intentional? If so, what was the rational for reversing it? Would the government consider reinstating the April 17th language?

A10. The DOL requirement is for CMMI Level II at the time of contract award, with a preference for certification in Services.

CMMI includes best practices that cover project management, process management, systems engineering, hardware engineering, software engineering, and other supporting processes used in development and maintenance. Vendors unfamiliar with CMMI Level II are inadequately positioned to support the quality demands necessary to OIST. Repeatable processes, best business practices, lessons learned, recruitment and retention of skilled certified personnel, are a few examples of soft-points that non-CMMI certified vendors cannot provide.

In addition, a contractor is required to be CMMI Level II certified at time of contract award to perform this requirement because any company can self-certify to CMMI Level I. General vendors (CMMI Level I) that provide personnel may not fully understand the business demands necessary to support OIST. The risk of lack of business knowledge as it pertains to IT change management and independent verification and validation is a serious matter, and companies not familiar with the distinctions of such have a higher likelihood of unsuccessful contract performance and/or major performance problems. There is a clear exposure to external risks that would otherwise have been avoided. The CMMI Level II certification distinguishes those companies within their area of professional expertise as having achieved a globally recognized qualifier. Therefore, DOL has determined it is in the best interest of the Government - as regards to cost, time, and risk – to require CMMI Level II certification at the time of award.

Q11. Change Management – Out of Scope B.2 Pages 6-7. B.2. d, g, and k (pgs. 6-7) state the following tasks are out of scope: d. Identifying Configuration Items (CI) including the collection, recording, and maintenance of accurate information about CIs in the DOL’s Enterprise g. Developing, documenting, and maintaining baseline configurations, DOL’s Configuration Management Plan (CMP), and system component inventories k. Routinely monitoring changes to the configuration settings in accordance with DOL SOP; Yet, the DOL/OCIO Specific CM Tasks 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 (pgs. 27-29) seem to outline tasking that would fall within the parameters of the out of scope tasking. Please clarify if the DOL/OCIO Specific Tasks should indeed be included in this SOW.

A11. All OCIO related tasks have been removed and are no longer part of this requirement.

Q12. SOFTWARE CONFIGURATION ANALYST D - 7.d,e; 9.c, Page 15. The SCA position (pg. 15) requires a CCNA certification, training and experience in ManageEngine Products – OpManager, Net Flow Traffic Analyzer and Security Manager Plus, and experience with Cisco Firewall Security and Snort. Given that there are no network infrastructure management requirements listed in the duties, would the government consider removing these requirements?

A12. No

Q13. SOFTWARE APPLICATION SYSTEMS ADMINISTRATOR E-10.e Page 17. The SASA position (pg. 17) requires training and experience in ManageEngine Asset Manager. Given that there are no asset management requirements listed in the duties, would the government consider removing these requirements?

A13. No

Q14. Pricing. Question: Is the government planning to provide an updated pricing worksheet for cost submittal?

A14. Yes

Q15. Past Performance: Question: Are Offerors resubmitting their response to Amendment 0002 required to update the past performances submitted with their original response?

A15. Please refer to the attached document “Instructions for Offerors, Evaluation of Offers”

Q16. INSTRUCTIONS, CONDITIONS, AND NOTICES TO BIDDERS. L. - Instructions, Conditions, and Notices to Bidders Question: Can you clarify the submission instructions, conditions and notices for Amendment 0002? Are we to use the submission instructions from the original solicitation?

A16. Please refer to the attached document “Instructions for Offerors, Evaluation of Offers”

Q17. PROJECT MANAGER A.1.h Page 11. Clarification: Please clarify that the Government is seeking a PM with demonstrated experience with the Project Management Body of Knowledge and not the Project Management Bible of Knowledge as stated in the SOW.

A17. Project Management Body of Knowledge. Please excuse the typo.

Q18. QUALITY CONTROL APPLICATION ANALYST LEAD TESTER, H. QUALITY CONTROL APPLICATION TESTER, AND I. QUALITY CONTROL LOAD TEST SPECIALIST G.16.c.1, H.19.d.1, and I.22.d.1 Pages 20, 22,

23. Clarification: Please clarify that the Government is seeking testers who are certified at the ASTQB Certified Tester Foundation Level and not the ASTBQ Certified Tester Foundation Level as stated in the

SOW.

A18. The Government is seeking testers that are certified at the ASTQB Certified Tester Foundation Level. Please excuse the typo.

Q19. Infrastructure Change Management (iCM) services has been removed. Who will be performing this?

A19. iCM services are not part of this requirement, and the awardee will not be responsible for them.

Q20. Infrastructure Change Management (iCM) services has been removed. How do we interface for these services?

A20. The DOL Federal PM will provide assistance post award.

Q21. Infrastructure Change Management (iCM) services has been removed. How do we monitor infrastructure changes that impact software changes?

A21. The DOL Federal PM will provide assistance post award.

Q22. What is the schedule for deliverables? The SOW is not specific to when all of these deliverables are due.

A22. Deliveries will be scheduled per the terms of individual Task Orders created from this IDIQ.

Q23. Is Section VI.A. Telework provided for information only or is there a requirement to outline a Telework Plan?

A23. Vendors must provide their corporate policy regarding telework.

Q24. Section B.2, Page 6 – Out of Scope For ETA Change/Configuration Management: - the tasks and activities listed are directly associated with Section VIII. Contract Tasks – A. DOL/OCIO Specific CM Tasks

– Task 1 to Task 5, from page 27 to page 30. Are those tasks out of scope for this SOW as well?

A24. Yes. Please see updated SOW.

Q25. Section III. Labor Categories and Descriptions, Page 9 to Page 24 :- the job descriptions lists certifications and certificate of trainings for CA and HP products. In the original SOW, vendors were given an option to train or certify their staff 45 days after the contract award, is that applicable to this amended SOW?

A25. No.

Q26. Section III. Labor Categories and Descriptions, Page 9 to Page 24 :- the job descriptions lists certifications and certificate of trainings for CA and HP products. Can the vendors propose equivalent and similar product trainings? Will the Government accept those trainings as fully qualified?

A26. No.

Q27. The amendment does not provide Section L and Section M, will the Government provide revised Section L and Section M?

A27. Please refer to the attached document “Instructions for Offerors, Evaluation of Offers”

Q28. What is the page limit for the Technical volume?

A28. 20 pages

Q29. Are we required to provide resumes for key personnel?

A29. Yes

Q30. Are we required to provide resumes for non-key personnel?

A30. No.

Q31. Are we required to provide commitment letters for key personnel?

A31. No, however should a vendor be selected for award, it is the Government’s expectation that the key personnel bid will be able to work within 2 weeks of contract award.

Q32. Are we required to provide commitment letters for non-key personnel?

A32. No. The successful vendor will be responsible for providing personnel that satisfy Labor Category requirements. Failure to provide qualified personnel may be considered a default.

Q33. Can we include resumes, commitment letters and other material as appendix?

A33. Yes

Q34. Will the appendix be counted against the page limit for the Technical volume?

A34. No.

Q35. Since the labor categories are different from the earlier proposal, will the government publish a new pricing sheet? If not, how many hours of services required for each labor category? Please include regular, overtime and on-call hours for all labor categories.

A35. Yes

Q36. What is the due date for past performance questionnaires?

A36. January 17, 2017 at noon.

Q37. In Page 27 of 47, Under DOL/OCIO Specific CM Tasks, government has mentioned as “six tasks, their components, and their success factors”. However, there are only five task areas given, Could the government clarify us with missing Task 6 under DOL/OCIO CM?

A37. DOL/OCIO specific CM tasks have been deleted from the SOW.

Q38. In Page 30 of 47, Under ETA OMAS/OIST Contract Tasks, government has mentioned “fifteen tasks”, but there are 16 tasks shown under that section. Please clarify.

A38. The SOW has been updated to reflect the correct number of tasks.

Q39. With the increase in task areas under DOL/OCIO Specific CM Tasks and ETA OMAS/OIST Contract Tasks, What is the current page limitation for each volume?

A39. Page limit is 20.

Q40. Would the government release new Instructions/Evaluation Criteria as per latest amendment 000002?

A40. Please refer to the attached document “Instructions for Offerors, Evaluation of Offers”

Q41. There is a change in Labor Categories and Task Areas from Initial RFP to Amendment 000002 (Page 9 of 47). Please confirm.

A41. Please refer to the attached document “Instructions for Offerors, Evaluation of Offers”

Q42. What is the date of submission on Past Performance Questionnaire? Also, Are old respondents/previous offerors (from initial RFP) subject to re-submit their PPQs?

A42. Past Performance Questionnaires are due with submissions by noon, January 17, 2017. Please submit revised Technical, Price, and Past Performance. Responses that fail to include volumes for Technical, Price, and Past Performance will not be considered.