DRAFT_70RTAC24R00000016.pdf

DRAFT Request for Proposal for 70RTAC24R00000016

Adobe Enterprise License Agreement (ELA)

B. SUPPLIES OR SERVICES AND PRICES/COSTS

B.1 General Description

This acquisition is for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to establish a department-wide, single-award indefinite-delivery indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contract to procure brand name only Adobe products and related services. The contractor shall provide the products and services as described in Section C.

B.2 Contract Minimums/ Maximums

(a) Minimum: The Government’s minimum guaranteed award amount for this IDIQ contract is $2,500 only for the base period of this contract. Neither an option exercise under FAR clause 52.217-9 nor an extension under FAR clause 52.217-8 re-establishes the contract minimum.

(b) Maximum: The cumulative dollar ceiling value of this single-award IDIQ contract is

$80,718,895.00.

(c) The government has no obligation to issue orders to the contractor beyond that necessary to satisfy the minimum guarantee.

(d) With the exception of the $2,500 minimum guarantee, no funds will be obligated on the

IDIQ contract. Each individual task order placed against this IDIQ contract will obligate funds. At the time of IDIQ contract award, DHS will obligate $2,500 under the IDIQ contract to cover the minimum guarantee. Immediately after the first order is issued to the contractor against the contract, the $2,500 will be de-obligated by contract modification and the guaranteed minimum satisfied via funding under the first order. This IDIQ contract does not obligate any additional funds.

B.3 Contract Type

DHS intends to establish a single-award indefinite-delivery indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contract.

Orders will be issued on a firm-fixed-price basis.

B.4 IDIQ CLIN Structure and Pricing Schedule

CLIN 0001 – (Base Period) Adobe ELA

CLIN 1001 – (Option Period 1) Adobe ELA

CLIN 2001 – (Option Period 2) Adobe ELA

The IDIQ pricing will be in accordance with Attachment J.3 Pricing Template.

Request for Proposal for 70RTAC24R00000016

(End of Section B)

C. DESCRIPTION/SPECIFICATION/STATEMENT OF WORK

The Contractor shall provide all requirements within the IDIQ contract’s Statement of Work

(SOW) and within the terms and conditions of this IDIQ contract and resultant Orders. See

Attachment J.1 for the IDIQ contract’s SOW. Each Order will incorporate its own, more detailed requirements document.

(End of Section C)

L. INSTRUCTIONS, CONDITIONS, AND NOTICES TO OFFERORS OR

RESPONDENTS

Offerors participating in this RFP must be an authorized Adobe reseller. This solicitation is being issued as a small business set-aside under NAICS 513210.

L.1 Compliance to the RFP Requirements

The offeror shall examine and follow all RFP instructions. The Government reserves the right to reject and not evaluate any proposal that fails to comply with the instructions contained herein. This RFP does not commit the Government to pay any costs for the preparation and submission of a proposal in response to this RFP. The Contracting Officer (CO) is the only individual who can legally obligate the Government to the expenditure of public funds in connection with this procurement.

L.2 Question Submission

Questions concerning this solicitation shall be made in writing, via e-mail to Sohl Han, at

Sohl.Han@hq.dhs.gov and Keira Buggs at Keira.Buggs@hq.dhs.gov. The due date for submission of questions is TBD.

L.3 Proposal Submission

The Offeror shall submit signed and dated proposal volumes via email to the Contracting

Officer, Sohl Han, at Sohl.Han@hq.dhs.gov and the Contract Specialist, Keira Buggs, at

Keira.Buggs@hq.dhs.gov. The Email subject line shall contain RFP No.

70RTAC24R00000016. The proposal submission deadline is TBD.

The Government reserves the right to reject any proposal that is not received by DHS within the due date/time, and/or any proposal that is not submitted in its entirety, or if the proposal is submitted in a method other than by the proposal submission instructions above.

Alternate proposals shall not be submitted and will not be considered.

Responses to comments will be provided to all prospective offerors via an RFP amendment to be posted to SAM.gov, giving due regard to the proper protection of proprietary information.

Statements expressing opinions, sentiments, or conjectures are not considered valid inquiries or comments for this purpose and will not receive a response from DHS. Inquiries requesting a

Government’s response that would compromise a fair competition will not be answered.

Further, offerors are reminded that DHS will not address hypothetical questions aimed toward receiving a potential “evaluation decision” from DHS. In order to receive responses to questions, offerors shall submit their questions in a Microsoft Excel file following a format similar to the table below.

The table below shall be included in the email or as a separate attachment.

mailto:Sohl.Han@hq.dhs.gov mailto:Keira.Buggs@hq.dhs.gov mailto:Keira.Buggs@hq.dhs.gov

Reference

RFP

Section

Paragraph

No.

Page

No.(s)

Question

L.4 Proposal Format and Contents

Volumes/Sections Page Limit

Volume 1

1. Cover Sheet 2 pages

2. Standard Form (SF) 30 (Amendment(s)) (signed by the

Offeror)

No page limit

3. Proof of Authorized Reseller (e.g., Authorization Letter issued by Adobe)

No page limit

4. Factor 1: Corporate Experience 5 pages

5. Factor 2: Order Management 6 pages

6. Factor 3: Past Performance 3 pages, excluding

CPARS and PPQ

7. Technical Assumptions, Conditions, or Exceptions, if applicable

No page limit

Volume 2

1. Factor 4: Price No page limit

2. Price Assumptions, Conditions, or Exceptions, if applicable No page limit

For written submissions, the document in print format shall be configured with a paper size of

8½ by 11 inches in the printed view. The font size shall be 12 points. No reduction in size is permitted except for graphics and tables. In those instances where reduction is allowable, Offerors shall ensure the print is no less than 8 points for graphics and 10 points for tables.

Each page shall have margins of at least one inch on each page.

Offerors shall not exceed the specified page limitations.

Volume 1 shall not contain any pricing information.

L.4.1 Volume 1

The Volume 1 proposal shall be submitted in Microsoft Word or a searchable PDF document.

Documentation submitted in any other format will not be considered by the Government.

L.4.1.1 Cover Letter

A cover letter shall accompany the proposal to set forth any information that the Offeror wishes to bring to the attention of the Government. The cover letter shall not exceed two (2) pages. At a minimum, the cover letter shall include the following information:

(1) RFP 70RTAC24R00000016

(2) Date of Submission

(3) Offeror's Name

(4) Offeror's unique entity identifier and Cage Code

(5) Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN)

(6) Offeror's primary and alternate points-of-contact (name, title, phone number, and email address)

(7) Socio-economic status under NAICS 513210

(8) Expiration date of the proposal (at minimum 150 days from the proposal submission date)

(9) Corporate signature

If subcontractors are proposed, each subcontractor shall provide the information for items (3) through (7) identified above. The Offeror shall provide subcontractors with their proposal submission, if applicable.

L.4.1.2 SF 30

Blocks 15a, 15b, and 15c in the SF 30 (if any amendment(s) to the solicitation is issued) must be completed with the Offeror’s corporate signatory authority’s signature.

L.4.1.3 Proof of Authorized Reseller

The Offeror shall submit a proof of authorized reseller (e.g., Authorization Letter issued by

Adobe).

L.4.1.4 Corporate Experience (Evaluation Factor 1)

The offeror shall provide responses to the requirements listed in Numbers 1-4 below in a narrative of up to five (5) pages total.

1. The Offeror shall describe their experience providing Adobe Enterprise Term License

Agreement (ETLA) licenses to U.S. Federal Agencies.

2. The Offeror shall describe their experience providing Adobe Feature Restricted Licenses

(FRL) to U.S. Federal Agencies.

3. The Offeror shall describe their experience providing Adobe multiple user licenses to

U.S. Federal Agencies.

4. The Offeror shall describe the training options and resources offered for Adobe software.

L.4.1.5 Order Management (Evaluation Factor 2)

The offeror shall provide responses to the requirements listed in questions 1-7 in a narrative of up to six (6) pages total.

1. DHS is a large federal agency with over 260,000 personnel, each with multiple licenses.

Describe a time within the last 5 years when you have provided licenses for a similarly sized agency or corporation. Describe the challenges you’ve encountered managing orders at this scale and how you’ve overcome them.

2. DHS components have the capability to order licenses for their individual specific needs.

Some components choose to make purchases on a small, individual scale (micro-purchases via Purchase Card) while others choose to make purchases on a larger

“enterprise” scale. Describe your approach to responding to both styles of ordering.

3. DHS operates on the fiscal year calendar and has many requirements that come in at the end of the fiscal year (July to September). It is critical that these awards are completed before September 30. Describe how you will respond to this volume of solicitation requests in a short timeframe, including how long you anticipate the process (market research to award) to take.

4. DHS also has components that will need licenses based on natural disasters and other surge events. Describe how you will respond to solicitation requests on these very short timelines, sometimes after hours, on weekend, and during holidays.

5. DHS historically requests budgetary estimates prior to placing orders to ensure adequate funds are available. Describe how you will respond to such budgetary requests for a range of requirements from very small to very large, including a discussion of how long budget requests will take to fulfill.

6. DHS anticipates that this contract award will entail working closely with both the OEM and the Government. Describe how you will communicate on a routine basis with all of the parties, as well as communicating important information that is needed in a timely manner.

7. Software management is a critical issue for DHS. It is important that DHS avoid reaching the end of life (EOL) for software products (as often as possible), as well as staying informed about newly found vulnerabilities. Describe your approach to managing this issue, communicating with the Government, and the roll over plan so that

DHS is prepared.

L.4.1.6 Past Performance (Evaluation Factor 3)

The Offeror shall provide up to three (3) Past Performance examples that are either current or completed within the last three (3) years from the solicitation issuance date for the provision of enterprise-level software with a total value of $50 million or above.

The Offeror may demonstrate Federal, State, local government and/or private sector experience. However, the Government prefers experience with U.S. Government. The Past

Performance examples identified shall be where the Offeror performed as the prime contractor. In addition, the Past Performance example identified shall be for work performed by the Offeror (Prime), not its subcontractor.

The Offeror’s Past Performance submission shall not exceed three (3) pages, excluding

Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System (CPARS) report(s), and/or Past

Performance Questionnaire(s) (PPQ). The Offeror’s experience examples from CPARS report(s), and/or PPQ will be used under this evaluation factor. The Offeror is responsible for ensuring that points of contact (POC) information for referenced projects are current and accurate.

At a minimum, the Offeror shall provide the following information in its proposal for Factor

3, Past Performance:

No. Requested Information Offeror’s Response

1 Vendor Name

2 Whether the vendor identified in # 1 above performed as the prime or sub-contractor.

3 Project Title and Brief Description of the Requirement

4 Contract/Order Number

5 Contract/Order Dollar Value

6 Contract Type (e.g., FFP, T&M, LH, etc.)

7 Government Agency/Organization/Entity

8 Point of Contact

9 Period of Performance

10 Is CPARS report available for this experience? (Yes or

No)

If a CPARS evaluation report is available for contracts submitted by the Offeror as a prime contractor, the Offeror shall submit the CPARS report with its offer. If a CPARS evaluation report is not available, the Offeror shall provide a PPQ (Attachment J.2) to its customer and have them submit a completely filled out PPQ directly to Sohl Han, at Sohl.Han@hq.dhs.gov and Keira Buggs, at Keira.Buggs@hq.dhs.gov no later than the proposal submission date and time. For private contracts, the Offeror shall provide a PPQ to its customer and have them submit a PPQ completely filled out by an authorized POC of its customer directly to Sohl

Han, at Sohl.Han@hq.dhs.gov and Keira Buggs, at Keira.Buggs@hq.dhs.gov no later than the mailto:Sohl.Han@hq.dhs.gov mailto:Keira.Buggs@hq.dhs.gov mailto:Keira.Buggs@hq.dhs.gov proposal submission date and time. The Offeror is responsible for ensuring that a completed

PPQ is submitted to the correct POC by the proposal submission date and time.

If the Offeror does not possess relevant past performance for the provision of enterprise-level software with a total value of $50 million or above, the Offeror shall affirmatively state that in their proposal.

L.4.1.7 Technical Assumptions, Conditions, or Exceptions, if applicable

Offerors must indicate, in this section only, if any technical related assumptions have been made, conditions have been stipulated or exceptions have been taken with the SOW as written. If technical assumptions are not noted in this section of the Offeror’s proposal submission, it will be assumed that the proposal reflects no technical assumptions for award and the Offeror agrees to comply with all of the terms and conditions set forth herein. It is not the responsibility of the

Government to seek out and identify assumptions, conditions, or exceptions buried within the

Offeror’s proposal. Accordingly, any technical related assumptions listed in any other volume or section shall be null and void.

Any exceptions taken to the terms and conditions of the RFP shall be stated in this section. The

Offeror is advised that any exception taken to the terms and conditions of the RFP may adversely impact its evaluation rating. Any assumptions that are considered unacceptable by the

Government and cannot be resolved may result in the Offeror being removed from consideration.

L.4.2 Volume 2

L.4.2.1 Price (Evaluation Factor 4)

The Price Proposal does not have a page limit. The Price proposal shall be submitted by completing the Pricing Template (Attachment J.3). Failure to utilize the attached Pricing

Template (Attachment J.3) will result in the Offeror being removed from further consideration.

The price proposal shall be based upon a one-year base ordering period and two one-year optional ordering periods.

Offerors shall provide pricing for all items listed in the four (4) functional areas; Tab 2 -

"Creative Media Solutions", Tab 3 - "PDF Document Management", Tab 4 - "Digital Training

Symposium", and Tab 5 - "Customer Experience Software". All pricing proposed by the Offeror in the Pricing Template (Attachment J.3), on Tab 2 - "Creative Media Solutions", Tab 3 - "PDF

Document Management", Tab 4 - "Digital Training Symposium", and Tab 5 - "Customer

Experience Software", will be, if accepted by the Government, used as a price list for the resultant IDIQ contract award.

Offerors are strongly encouraged to provide their greatest discounts on all items.

Detailed instructions are provided within the Pricing Template (Attachment J.3).

L.4.2.2 Price Assumptions, Conditions, or Exceptions, if applicable

This section does not have a page limit. Offerors must indicate, in this section only, if any pricing related assumptions have been made, conditions have been stipulated or exceptions have been taken with this RFP or the SOW as written. If assumptions are not noted in Volume 2 of the proposal, it will be assumed that the Offeror’s proposal reflects no Price assumptions for award and the Offeror agrees to comply with all of the terms and conditions set forth herein. It is not the responsibility of the Government to seek out and identify assumptions, conditions, or exceptions buried within the Offeror’s proposal. Accordingly, any pricing related assumptions listed in any other volume or section will be null and void.

Any exceptions taken to the price related terms and conditions of the RFP shall be stated in

Volume 2. Any assumptions that are considered unacceptable by the Government and cannot be resolved may result in the proposal being removed from consideration.

(End of Section L)

M. EVALUATION FACTORS FOR AWARD

FAR 52.212-2 Evaluation – Commercial Items (Nov 2021)

(a) The Government will award a contract resulting from this solicitation to the responsible offeror whose offer conforming to the solicitation will be most advantageous to the Government, price and other factors considered. The following factors shall be used to evaluate offers:

M.1 Evaluation Factors

M.1.1 Factor 1 – Corporate Experience

Through its evaluation of the Offeror’s proposed Corporate Experience, the Government will determine its level of confidence that the Offeror understands the requirement, provides sufficient information, and will be successful in performing the IDIQ contract requirements based on an assessment of the following:

1. The Offeror’s description of their corporate experience providing Adobe ETLA licenses to U.S. Federal Agencies.

2. The Offeror’s description of their corporate experience providing Adobe Feature

Restricted Licenses (FRL) to U.S. Federal Agencies.

3. The Offeror’s description of their corporate experience providing Adobe multiple user licenses to U.S. Federal Agencies.

4. The Offeror’s description of the training options and resources offered for Adobe software.

M.1.2 Factor 2 – Order Management

Through its evaluation of the Offeror’s proposed order management narrative, the Government will determine its level of confidence that the Offeror understands the requirement, provides sufficient information, and will be successful in performing the IDIQ contract requirements based on an assessment of the following:

1. The Offeror’s description of the challenges they have encountered managing orders at the scale described in Question #1, Section L.4.1.5, and how they have overcome them.

2. The Offeror’s approach to responding to both a small, individual scale (micro-purchases via Purchase Card) purchase and a large, “enterprise” scale purchase as described in

Question #2, Section L.4.1.5.

3. The Offeror’s description of how they will respond to a large volume of requests for quotes coming in at the end of the fiscal year in a short timeframe, including how long they anticipate the process (market research to award) to take, as described in Question

#3, Section L.4.1.5.

4. The Offeror’s description of how they will respond to requests for quotes for those

Components that will need licenses based on natural disasters and other surge events as described in Question #4, Section L.4.1.5, on these very short timelines, sometimes after hours, on weekend, and during holidays.

5. The Offeror’s description of how they will respond to budgetary requests described in

Question #5, Section L.4.1.5, for a range of requirements from very small to very large, including a discussion of how long budget requests will take to fulfill.

6. The Offeror’s description of how they will communicate on a routine basis with all of the parties as described in Question #6, Section L.4.1.5, as well as communicating important information that is needed in a timely manner.

7. The Offeror’s approach to managing the issue described in Question #7, Section L.4.1.5, communicating with the Government, and the roll over plan so that DHS is prepared.

M.1.3 Factor 3 – Past Performance

The past performance evaluation will assess the Government’s confidence in the Offeror’s likelihood of successful performance based on how well the Offeror has performed on recent and relevant contracts/orders.

The Government will evaluate the Offeror’s past performance to determine that acceptable performance providing enterprise-level software to the Federal, State, local government and/or private sector clients has occurred within the last three (3) years. The Government will examine how well the Offeror performed the work by evaluating either (1) the completed CPARS evaluation report(s) submitted by the Offeror in its proposal, or (2) the information provided by the customer POC(s) in the PPQ(s). The Government may also use present and/or past performance data obtained from a variety of sources, not just those contracts/orders identified by the Offeror in evaluating past performance. The Government reserves the right to contact those customers noted in the references provided by the Offerors to validate the information provided.

Offerors with no past performance or for whom information on past performance is not available will receive a “neutral” rating and will not be evaluated either favorably or unfavorably.

M.1.4 Factor 4 – Price

The price proposal will be evaluated to determine if it is fair and reasonable. All proposed prices will be evaluated by reviewing the Offeror’s completed Pricing Template (Attachment J.3).

While the Government evaluates each element of itemized prices to determine whether the

Offeror’s price is fair and reasonable, the proposed prices on Tab 1, Sample, within the

Attachment will be used as a total evaluated price, when the best value decision will be made.

While the Sample price will be used for source selection purposes, the government may reject any proposal found to have an unreasonable price for the Sample even if the Sample pricing is the lowest. The government reserves the right but is not required to evaluate the Sample pricing for realism. If sample prices are evaluated for realism, the government may reject the proposal found to have an unrealistically low price for the Sample price.

The Government may reject any price proposal that is found not compliant with the Solicitation’s instructions, is incomplete or does not properly identify individual item pricing.

Except when it is determined in accordance with FAR 17.206(b) not to be in the Government’s best interests, the Government will evaluate offers for any option periods contained in the solicitation. This includes options under FAR clause 52.217-8, Option to Extend Services, which applies to this solicitation.

In accordance with FAR 52.217-8, the option to extend services for an additional six months using FAR Clause 52.217-8 will be incorporated within the award resulting from this RFP. For evaluation purposes, the Government will use the pricing proposal on the Pricing Template

(Attachment J.3) to evaluate the potential six additional months. The Government will determine whether the price including the option available under FAR 52.217-8 is fair and reasonable. The

Government may choose to exercise the Option to Extend Services at the end of any performance period (base or option periods). Prices for the base and option periods, including the

6-month option available under FAR 52.217-8, will be evaluated to ensure that they are fair and reasonable for performance of the requirements established in the solicitation and as proposed in the technical submission. The price for the effort associated with FAR 52.217-8 will not be included in the total awarded value at contract award. If, at the end of the contract’s period of performance (the end of the base period or any option period) and within the time period established in the clause, the Government chooses to exercise this option, the pricing will be pursuant to the rates specified in the contract for the preceding performance period.

M.3 Order of Importance

The Non-price factors, when combined, are significantly more important than price. Corporate

Experience (Factor 1) and Order Management (Factor 2) are of equal importance and more important than Past Performance (Factor 3). Past Performance (Factor 3) is more important than

Price (Factor 4). When combined, the non-price factors (Factors 1 – 3) are more important than

Price (Factor 4).

As the evaluations of the non-price evaluation factors become more equal between the Offerors, price becomes more important in making the award determination. If two or more proposals are determined not to have any substantial technical differences (i.e., are substantially equivalent with respect to the non-price factors), award may be made to the lower priced proposal. It should be noted that award may be made to other than the lower priced proposal if the Government determines that a price premium is warranted due to technical merit. The Government may also award to other than the highest rated proposal, if the Government determines that a price premium is not warranted.

M.4 Basis of Award

The DHS contemplates awarding an IDIQ contract to the Offeror whose proposal, conforming to this Solicitation, is determined to be most advantageous to the Government and represents the best value (as defined in FAR 2.101) in meeting the DHS’s needs, considering the non-price evaluation factors and price. A trade-off approach may be utilized, as necessary.

The Government reserves the right to cancel this solicitation if the needs of the requirement are not met.

The Government intends to evaluate offers and award a contract without discussions with offerors. Therefore, the Offeror’s initial offer should contain the Offeror’s best terms from a price and technical standpoint. However, the Government reserves the right to conduct discussions if determined to be warranted by the Contracting Officer.

(End of Section M)