Draft Ascend BPA - Pool 1 Instructions To Offerors 05 03 2024.pdf

INSTRUCTIONS TO

QUOTERS

Request for Quotation (RFQ)

RFQ# 1671198

For the Establishment of a Multiple Award Blanket Purchase

Agreement (BPA) for Ascend

GSA Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) Special Item Number (SIN) 518210C

Issued By:

Federal Acquisition Service (FAS)

Office of Information Technology Category (ITC)

ISSUE DATE: Month Day Year

1. Introduction

These instructions provide specific guidance for preparing the quote as well as instructions on the format and content of the quote to include all data and information requested. The contractor must comply with these requirements. The government shall base the evaluation on the information presented in the quote. The Agency will not pay for any costs associated with preparation of quotes; and assumes no liability for disclosure or use of unmarked data and may use or disclose the data for any purpose. Unless restricted, information submitted in response to this request may become subject to disclosure to the public pursuant to the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C. § 552). No open market items in response to this Request for Quotation (RFQ) will be evaluated and may deem the quotation unacceptable. All items submitted in response to this RFQ must be listed on SIN 518210C under your GSA MAS contract.

This acquisition is being conducted in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR)

8.4 Federal Supply Schedules under FAR 8.405-3 procedures. This is a Request for Quotation (RFQ) using GSA Schedules in accordance with FAR 8.405-3(b)(2). This RFQ will be issued in accordance with the ordering procedures of FAR 8.405-3(b)(2)(v)(A). This is not a FAR Part 15 negotiated competition. This acquisition is being solicited as Full and Open Competition. The Government intends to award a multiple award Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA). However, GSA reserves the right to make no award depending on the number of technically acceptable quotes received and the benefit to the Government. All interested MAS Schedule Holders with the applicable Special Item Number (SIN) are eligible to submit quotes for the Ascend Pool 1 BPA.

The Multiple Award Schedule SIN 518210C Cloud computing and cloud related IT professional services is identified for this requirement. Quotes will only be accepted from vendors currently holding a schedule contract. The government will review the quotes for scope and compliance during quote evaluation. No other schedules or SINS are permitted to be quoted for this BPA solicitation than those listed as follows:

● Cloud SIN 518210C

● Ancillary Supplies and Services

● Order Level Materials (OLM)

2. Order Type

Multiple Award Blanket Purchase Agreement. To the fullest extent practicable, performance-based contracting as defined in FAR part 8.4, will be utilized at the order level. The vendor will furnish all services in accordance with the specific requirements outlined in each task order issued. The contract type for orders shall be firm fixed price in accordance with pricing established in the awarded BPA and any additional discounts as appropriate in resulting orders.

BPA pricing will be on a firm fixed price basis. Orders placed against the BPA can be of various types and will be at the discretion of the ordering agency.

3. Issuing Office General Services Administration Faith V. Shelton Senior Contracting Officer Email: cloudenterprisewide@gsa.gov

4. Period of Performance The period of performance for the BPA will include a three (3) year base (36 months) with one three (3) year (36 months) option period and two one (1) year (12 month) options for a total of eight (8) years.

5. Submission of Questions All questions regarding the solicitation must be submitted in writing via e-mail to cloudenterprisewide@gsa.gov no later than date/time TBD.

In posing questions, Contractors must cite the relevant section, paragraph, and page number.

Questions should be written in a way that enables clear understanding of the Contractor’s issues or concerns. Statements expressing opinions, sentiments, or conjectures are not considered valid inquiries and will not receive a response. Furthermore, Contractors are reminded that the government will not address hypothetical questions aimed at receiving a potential “evaluation decision.” Any information provided in response to questions regarding this RFQ will be furnished promptly to other prospective quotes as either a response and/or as an amendment to the RFQ.

6. Quote Due Date & Time Submit an electronic copy of your quote no later than date/time TBD via e-mail to cloudenterprisewide@gsa.gov.

Include the following general and contact information on the covers of the quote submission and each volume section:

● Company Name

● Address

● Phone Number mailto:cloudenterprisewide@gsa.gov

● POC

7. Submission Requirements for Evaluation Factors Quote shall be submitted as follows:

● Text – Text shall be at least single-spaced, with a minimum of one-inch margin all around. Pages shall be numbered consecutively. Pages submitted in excess of the page limitations stated throughout this document will be removed and not evaluated.

Any additional documents or attachments submitted, even if the total number of pages stays within the page limitation, shall not be evaluated.

● Font Size – Print shall be of minimum 12-point font size spacing. Bolding, underlining, and italics may be used to identify topic demarcations or points of emphasis. Graphic presentations, including tables, which are not subject to the same font size and spacing requirements, shall have spacing and text that is easily readable.

● Pricing Data – All pricing information shall only appear in the pricing volume of the quote.

● Submission – Test and graphics portions of the electronic copies shall be in PDF format. Data submitted in spreadsheet format shall be readable by MS Microsoft® Excel®. All price information shall be in files separate from Technical Volume.

A full and complete quote incorporates the following:

Volume I: Compliance Review

Evaluation Factor 1: Authorization Level The Contractor must submit <<Attachment XX: Service Catalog Formats>> in accordance with the PWS section XX - Service Catalogs. The submission must identify the requisite authorization level identified in the PWS for the sub-pool an award is being sought for.

Evaluation Factor 2: MAS Award 518210C - Schedule Holder The Contractor must provide the existing GSA MAS Cloud SIN contract number associated with the Cloud services being quoted under the BPA

Evaluation Factor 3: MAS Award 518210C - Remaining Period of Performance The Contractor must provide the existing GSA MAS Cloud SIN 518210C contract period of performance (also, see evaluation Factor 4). GSA will compare the period of performance provided in the submission against the Ascend BPA period of performance to ensure sufficient time remains on the awarded GSA MAS SIN award to allow for completion of any awarded BPA orders. The estimated time schedule holders must have on their current contracts should be no earlier than calendar year 2034.

Evaluation Factor 4: MAS Award 518210C - Catalog The Contractor must provide the existing MAS Cloud SIN 518210C catalog to include pricing.

The contractor must provide the required BPA catalog submission in the format requested per the PWS. GSA will evaluate submitted BPA catalog line items against the following items on a pass/fail basis for the following areas.

1. BPA catalog is compliant with PWS requirements

2. BPA catalog line items have a correspond match on the MAS Catalog

3. BPA catalog line items are restricted to their FedRAMP / DCAS authorization boundary

Volume II: Technical

Evaluation Factor 5: Technical Compliance

The contractor shall submit all documentation requested as part of its technical quote.

The technical submission shall not exceed <<XX>> pages for each contractor. The cover sheet, table of contents, acronym listing, and any cross reference tables will not count towards the page limitation. Any supporting documentation (i.e. actual reports, audits, and example remedies for risk mitigation) will not count towards the page limitation.

The contractor’s technical response shall be clear, concise, and shall include sufficient detail to support an effective evaluation and to substantiate the validity of any stated claims to meet the PWS requirements. Contractors shall assume that the Government has no prior knowledge of their skills and experience and will base its evaluation on the information presented within the contractor’s submission. Evidence of compliance or successful documented operational capability to meet technical requirements can be in the form of self-attestation, inspection/audit results, or reference artifacts (e.g. white papers, knowledgebase articles, management portal screenshots, etc).

Volume III: Past Performance

Evaluation Factor 6: Past Performance

Submission Requirements

Past Performance Narrative - The past performance narrative for each past performance example shall contain the contract number, agency, point of contact, phone number, period of performance, and a description of the work that was completed. In this narrative, quoter's are required to sufficiently describe similarities among the type of work to the solicited requirement; in other words, describe how the past performance is relevant to the solicited requirement in terms of performing services similar in scope as shown in the current PWS.

Quoters shall provide the <<Attachment XX - Past Performance Questionnaire>> (PPQ) to three points of contact (POC) for the submitted contract/task orders listed in the past performance narrative in their quote. The PPQ must come directly from the POC. quoter's shall be solely responsible for contacting and ensuring the POCs submit a completed questionnaire no later than the RFQ’s closing date/time via electronic email to cloudenterprisewide@gsa.gov. The government will not be responsible to call, email, or otherwise request point of contact for the Offeror’s past performance to submit their questionnaires.

If an offeror has no relevant prior past performance for similar services, the offeror must provide the point of contact information for current contracts that reflect the offeror’s normal business endeavors.

Volume IV: Pricing Submission

Evaluation Factor 7: Price The price quote for all performance associated with the PWS must be submitted in accordance with the GSA provided <<Attachment XX: Service Catalog Formats>> and meet the requirements as defined in section XX - Service Catalogs of the PWS. GSA requires the Contractor’s application of appropriate discounts that are below the rates provided on the Contractor's GSA MAS catalog award. Services for all areas of scope shall be priced as fixed.

mailto:cloudenterprisewide@gsa.gov

8. Evaluation and Basis for Award This procurement is being conducted in accordance with FAR subpart 8.4. This is not a FAR part 15 Contracting by Negotiation acquisition. Award shall be made to those responsible quoters with a technically acceptable quote. Technical acceptability is defined as a quote which meets all requirements as outlined in the Performance Work Statement (PWS) date TBD.

The Price quote shall include pricing for all services that align with the requirements as outlined in the PWS for all periods. Pricing will be evaluated to determine if prices are in line with pricing on the quoter’s MAS Cloud SIN 518210C contract as further defined in the section listed below.

The Government intends to evaluate quotes and issue multiple BPA awards based on initial quotes. Quotes should contain the quoter's best terms in the initial quote. The Government may, at its discretion, confer with a quoter to clarify quote details. The Government also reserves the right not to issue any BPA awards.

The evaluation factors are listed in descending order of importance:

Compliance Review

Factor Title Rating

Volume I: Compliance Review

1 DCAS / FedRAMP Authorization Level Pass/Fail

2 MAS & SIN 518210C Holder Pass/Fail

3 MAS Schedule - Remaining Period of Performance

Pass/Fail

4 Catalog

1. BPA catalog

2. MAS Catalog match

3. Restricted to their FedRAMP /

DCAS authorization (i.e., cloud services within the authorization boundary)

Pass/Fail

1. Pass/Fail

2. Pass/Fail

3. Pass/Fail

Any quote that fails in any area of the compliance review will not be eligible for an award. Quoter must receive a pass rating in all areas described in this table and provide all documentation as outlined in the section titled Submittals and Attachments to allow the government to make a full assessment of the information provided. If a quoter receives a failing rating the government will not proceed with evaluating their quote.

Factor Title Rating

Volume II: Technical Evaluation Factors

5 Acquisition / Business / Data / Cybersecurity / Environmental & sustainability requirements / Operational / Technical Requirements

1. Identification of Pass / Fail Requirements (e.g., Section Number, Heading)

2. Acceptable Artifact Types (e.g., Technical Document, Attestation)

Volume III: Past Performance

6 Past Performance Confidence and Relevance Rating

Volume IV: Price

7 Price Less Than/Equal to MAS Catalog Price

Pass/Fail

Rating Description

Pass Quotation clearly includes all submittals and meets the minimum requirements of the compliance review evaluation criteria.

Fail Quotation fails to address/include any of the required submittals/attachments and fails to meet the minimum requirements of the compliance review evaluation criteria.

Technical evaluation factors will be evaluated by a Government Technical Evaluation Panel having deep familiarity with the requirements of this acquisition.

Evaluation Process

The quote will be evaluated in accordance with the compliance review as PASS or FAIL based on the quoter’s self-certification and Government validation that an accurate, complete, and comprehensive quote has been provided in response to the Ascend BPA solicitation.

A self-certification statement shall be included in the cover letter. Failure to self-certify to and or submit all required solicitation volumes will result in exclusion from further consideration for BPA award.

Compliance Review DCAS / FedRAMP Quoters will be required to attest to their current DCAS and / or FedRAMP authorization level (i.e., DCAS: 2, 4, 5, 6, FedRAMP: Moderate, High) for IaaS/PaaS, which will then be verified by the government. Quoter's attestation statement will be verified by comparison to DCAS and / or FedRAMP systems.

A quoter receiving a fail for these elements will be ineligible for an award and evaluation of the quote will not proceed.

MAS Contract Holder All quoters must provide their current GSA MAS SIN 518210C Contract Number. This number will be used to validate that the quoter holds a current, active, schedule contract by querying GSA’s eLibrary and validating with the MAS Contracting Officer. Quoters will receive a pass/fail for this element.

Quoters must state when their current GSA MAS SIN 518210C contract expires and how many options remain to be exercised. Quoters who have less than five (5) years remaining on their current GSA MAS contract prior to the closing date of the final RFQ, and have no option(s) left to exercise, quoters will receive a fail for this element. It is the contractor's responsibility to ensure they provide adequate time to extend their GSA MAS SIN 518210C contract in the event it will not cover the full period of performance of the BPA.

A quoter receiving a fail for any one of these elements will be ineligible for an award and evaluation of the quote will not proceed.

Catalog

Quoter's BPA service catalog must include cloud services that are currently on the quoter's GSA MAS SIN 518210C contract any cloud service that is not on quoter's GSA MAS SIN 518210C contract must be added/active prior to closing of the final RFQ.

Quoters are required to submit a cloud service catalog utilizing the attached spreadsheet <<Attachment XX - Service Catalog Formats>>. It will include the full complement of their FedRAMP (i.e., Moderate, High) and/or DCAS (i.e., 2, 4, 5, 6) authorized Cloud Service Offerings (CSOs). No other submissions in other formats will be allowed. The spreadsheet shall include all data elements included in the attachment to be determined compliant. The service catalog submission will be validated against the Cloud Service Providers (CSPs) DCAS and/or FedRAMP authorization. All items identified in the service catalog will be evaluated to ensure they are currently on the quoter's' GSA MAS SIN 518210C contract on a pass/fail basis.

NOTE: If a cloud service is not currently on a contractors GSA MAS SIN 518210C contract, coordinate with their GSA MAS contracting officer utilizing the eMod process to have those cloud services added to their GSA MAS SIN 518210C contract prior to closing of the final RFQ.

Only cloud services that are on the quoter's GSA MAS SIN 518210C contract will be accepted.

Cloud services not on the GSA MAS SIN 518210C contract will be removed.

Non-Price Evaluation Factors Technical The Government will assess the contractor’s quote against the acquisition, business, data, cybersecurity, environment & sustainability, operation and technical requirements documented in the Performance Work Statement that are relevant for Pool 1 and associated sub-pools. The relevant requirements are specifically identified in the PWS.

Past Performance The Contractor should describe its experience in a way that demonstrates that the Contractor fully understands the requirement and has the capacity and capability to successfully meet the performance requirements and standards over the entire period of performance. Technical experience should specifically address the ability to deliver against PWS deliverables and performance standards as much as possible.

Relevant past performance for this requirement is defined as performance providing commercial Cloud services of the same or similar scope and magnitude. Contractors must demonstrate a strong ability to perform on Federal, State, local Government and/or private contracts/task orders (“contracts” or “contract examples” or “examples”). IDIQ contracts and BPAs may not be submitted as one or more of the contract examples, but orders thereunder may be submitted. A narrative for each example is requested to help understand the nature of the example and how it relates to the evaluation criteria.

Contractors must provide three detailed examples of prior and/or current contract examples, where when combined, show that the offeror performed the services required for cloud services.

At least two of the three examples should reference contracts/task orders of similar complexity (to include Federal, State, local government and/or private contracts/orders). The timeframe for acceptability of past performance is up to five (5) years from contract end date to the solicitation closing of this BPA. The final contract value of two of the three examples must have a total contract value of five million dollars ($5,000,000.00). At least one of the three examples must have a total contract value of ten million dollars ($10,000,000.00) or more. Further, all three examples should have a minimum completed period of performance of at least one year, with at least one example having a completed period of performance of more than a year (base period and option periods can be counted together as meeting or exceeding one year if services were provided on a continuous basis with the exercise of option periods).

The Government will not consider the contract examples of subcontractors, Contractor Teaming Agreement (CTA) members, or affiliated offices of the offeror, unless the offeror clearly details in its quote information enabling a clear understanding of the subcontractor, CTA member, or affiliate entity’s contribution to the overall contract effort, and how the subcontractor, CTA member, or affiliate entity will contribute to the ability to meet the Ascend BPA solicitation’s requirements, and evidence of good faith intentions between the prime and the subcontractor to pursue the execution of a subcontract. If a CTA or prime contractor/subcontractor or affiliate arrangement is quoted, the burden is exclusively on the contractor to supply the Government with adequate evidence in its quote to clearly establish the degree to which each CTA member or prime contractor/subcontractor or affiliate, respectively, is intended to be utilized in the performance of the work under the resulting orders under the BPA.

The Agency prefers past performance examples that convey the ability to provide the required services to a wide variety of Government customers.

Offeror’s are required to utilize the attached PPQ template that is provided by the government in this RFQ. An offeror’s failure to ensure that the Government receives all of the fully completed PPQs no later than the RFQ closing date will not result in the quote being rejected, but may result in the Government assigning higher risk for this contractor’s past performance.

If an offeror submits PPQ for contracts/task orders other those corresponding to the three (3) contract task orders described in the narrative portion of the quote then any such non-corresponding PPQs will not be considered in the evaluation. The Past Performance page limitation is no more than 10 single-sided pages per contract example. The quote shall determine how to allocate the page count among the three past performance references. Any past performance narrative information in excess of the 10 page limitation will not be evaluated.

The government reserves the right to supplement the past performance information provided by the offeror with any past performance information it may obtain from other sources that are considered current, accurate, reliable, and relevant. The government may give greater confidence in a contractor with a successful record over a contractor with no record.

In evaluating the contractor’s past performance, the government will consider:

● Quality of past performance;

● Relevance to the current effort in terms of dollar value, complexity, scope and performance risk;

● Currency/recency of the performance; and

● Performance trends.

A contractor without a record of relevant past performance will receive a neutral rating. A neutral rating is not considered favorable or unfavorable for the past performance evaluation.

Table XX- Past Performance Evaluation Rating Scale

RATING DESCRIPTION

High Confidence Based on the contractor’s recent and relevant performance record, evaluation leaves virtually no doubt that the contractor will successfully perform the required effort. Little or no Government oversight is expected to be required in achieving the required level of performance.

Significant Confidence Based on the contractor’s recent and relevant performance record, evaluation leaves little doubt that the contractor will successfully perform the required effort. Minimal Government oversight is expected to be required in achieving the required level of performance.

Medium Confidence Based on the contractor’s recent and relevant performance record, the evaluation leaves some doubt that the contractor can successfully perform the required effort, however it is believed that there is a good probability that the Offeror can perform successfully. Some Government oversight is expected to meet the required level of performance.

Little Confidence Based on the contractor’s recent and relevant performance record, the evaluation leaves substantial doubt that the contractor will successfully perform the required effort. Substantial Government oversight or intervention is expected to be required in achieving the required level of performance. Changes in the Offeror’s existing processes may be necessary to achieve the required level of performance.

No Confidence Based on the contractor’s recent and relevant performance record, the evaluation leaves extreme doubt that the contractor will successfully perform the required effort, regardless of the degree of Government oversight.

Unknown Confidence (Neutral)

No recent and relevant performance record is available or the contractor’s performance record is so sparse that no meaningful confidence assessment rating can be reasonably assigned.

Past Performance Relevance Ratings

Rating Description

Very Relevant Present/past performance efforts involved essentially the same scope, dollar value and complexities as estimated orders under this BPA requires.

Relevant Present/past performance effort involved similar scope, dollar value and complexities as estimated orders under this BPA requires

Somewhat Relevant Present/past performance effort involved some of the scope, dollar value and complexities as estimated orders under this BPA requires.

Not Relevant Present/past performance efforts involved little or none of the scope or dollar value, or complexities as estimated orders under this BPA requires.

Pricing

Quoters must state when their current MAS contract expires and how many options remain to be exercised. Quoters who have less than five (5) years remaining on their current MAS contract prior to the closing date of the RFQ, and have no option left to exercise, will not be eligible for a BPA award.

MAS Contract Pricing and Basis for BPA Pricing

For any BPA awards as a result of this RFQ, all pricing and pricing terms will be governed by the applicable MAS contract. Prices shall be submitted as prescribed in the respective quoter's MAS contract. All offered prices shall be based on the prices currently established in the quoter’s applicable MAS contract. Quoted prices shall not exceed those on the quoter’s currently published and approved MAS contract price list for BPA periods of performance that occur prior to the expiration of the quoter's current MAS contract. Quotes shall include all assumptions made by the quoter in arriving at the quoted price. All quoted pricing shall be cross referenced to the applicable quoter's MAS contract price.

By submission of a quoted discount for this BPA, the quoter is consenting to be bound by the BPA prices as part of all subsequently issued task orders under the BPA. A BPA awardee may further discount the BPA prices for task orders issued under the BPA, but may not exceed the awardee's BPA prices.

All quoters must provide an electronic version (in spreadsheet format) of their approved GSA MAS SIN 518210C Price List. All quoted MAS SIN 518210C prices must be clearly identified on the submitted GSA Schedule price list.

Quoters are advised that the contracting officer is NOT required to hold confer sessions and/or otherwise allow revised pricing submission. Conducting confer sessions and allowing quoters to submit revised quotes is at the full discretion of the contracting officer. Quoters are encouraged to use all available data provided in the PWS to develop a quality quote submission.

Prices will be considered NOT fair and NOT reasonable if ANY items are found to be higher than those prices found on the quoter's MAS SIN 518210C price list for the same items. If any quoted price is found to be higher than that listed on the quoter's MAS SIN 518210C price list, the quote will no longer be considered for BPA award.

Discounts are highly encouraged and any discounts shall be clearly identified.

BPA Price Adjustments

The prices quoted in this BPA will be ceiling rates that will govern all subsequent TOs awarded under this BPA. Quoted prices once accepted by the government and incorporated into an awarded BPA, will remain the same during the life of the BPA, regardless of future adjustments to the quoter's MAS SIN 518210C pricing. Quoters utilizing static or downward adjustments in prices or additional discounting is encouraged. The government will lower BPA prices to match MAS SIN 518210C pricing should the quoter's MAS SIN 518210C prices be subsequently lowered. This is required because the government is not authorized to place orders at prices higher than those found in the quoter's MAS SIN 518210C upon which BPA award prices are based. If the lowered MAS SIN 518210C prices are subsequently reversed, the BPA prices may also be reversed; however, the BPA prices cannot be raised higher than those originally established in the BPA. This is to preserve the integrity of the competitive process.

9. Clauses 52.217-8 Option to Extend Services (NOV 1999)

The government may require continued performance of services within the limits and at the rates specified in the contract. These rates may be adjusted only as a result of revisions to prevailing labor rates provided by the Secretary of Labor. The option provision may be exercised more than once, but the total extension of performance hereunder shall not exceed 6 months. The Contracting Officer may exercise the option by written notice to the Contractor within 30 days.

10. Attachments

● Attachment <<XX>>: Ascend BPA - Pool 1 Performance Work Statement (PWS)

● Attachment <<XX>>: Invoice Formats

● Attachment <<XX>>: Service Catalog Formats

● Attachment <<XX>>: Past Performance Questionnaire

11. Appendices

● Appendix <<XX>>: Abbreviations & Acronyms

● Appendix <<XX>>: Information, References, and Tools

● Appendix <<XX>>: Legislation, Regulations, and Policies

● Appendix <<XX>>: Specifications and Standards

Pricing