DRAFT SOLICITATION SSED 04122024.docx

DRAFT COMBINED SYNOPSIS/SOLICITATION

Section 1- General Information

This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial supplies and service prepared in accordance with the format in Subpart 12.6, as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation; proposals are being requested and a written solicitation will not be issued.

This solicitation number is 5000164333 and is being issued as a Request for Proposals (RFP). This solicitation document incorporates all mandatory commercial item provisions and clauses that are in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular 2024-03 effective February 23, 2024.

This acquisition is a 100% Small Business Set-Aside. Offerors must have an active entity registration in the System for Award Management (SAM.gov).

This will be made as a Firm-Fixed Price, Single Award, Indefinite Delivery-Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ), solicited under North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) 541519, Information Technology Value Added Resellers (ITVAR), with a business size of 150 employees.

FAR 52.212-1. Instruction to Offerors – Commercial Products and Commercial Services, applies to this acquisition. Additional instructions have been provided herein.

FAR 52.212-2 is not incorporated into this solicitation.

Offerors shall include a completed copy of the provision at 52.212-3, Offeror Representations and Certifications – Commercial Products and Commercial Services, with its offer. Offeror shall complete and return all required provisions included in this solicitation.

FAR 52.212-4, Contract Terms and Conditions – Commercial Products and Commercial Services, applies to this acquisition. Additional Contract Terms and Conditions are included in Attachment 3 – Contract Clauses and Provisions.

FAR 52.212-5, Contract Terms and Conditions Required To Implement Statutes or Executive Orders-Commercial Products and Commercial Services applies and can be located in Attachment 3. Clauses applicable to this acquisition have been marked.

FAR 52.217-8, Option to Extend Services will be included in the contract.

Offerors are invited to submit their proposals in response to this notice by TBD Standard Time (EST), TBD to Gregory.j.Lombardozzi@irs.gov. All questions must be submitted to Gregory.j.Lombardozzi@irs.gov by 5:00 PM EST, TBD .

The Internal Revenue Service Office of Procurement intends to award one Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) Contract for the Support Services for Employees with Disabilities (SSED) Contract to the offeror that represents the Best Value to the Government using a Lowest Priced Technically Acceptable (LPTA) evaluation procedures. In order to be technically acceptable vendor shall meet the evaluation factors set forth in this solicitation.

All communications shall be directed within the stated deadlines to the attention of:

Name: Gregory Lombardozzi Title: Contract Specialist Gregory.j.Lombardozzi@irs.gov

NOTE: COMMUNICATIONS WITH OFFICIALS OTHER THAN THE IRS CONTRACTING OFFICER/CONTRACT SPECIALIST INDICATED ABOVE, MAY COMPROMISE THE COMPETITIVENESS OF THIS ACQUISITION AND RESULT IN THE CANCELLATION OF THE SOLICITATION AND/OR EXCLUSION OF YOUR PROPOSAL FROM CONSIDERATION.

Section 2 – FAR 52.212-1 Additional Instructions to Offerors

INSTRUCTIONS TO OFFERORS (ITO) AND INSTRUCTIONS FOR PROPOSAL PREPARATION

This solicitation incorporates one or more solicitation provisions by reference, with the same force and effect as if they were given in full text. Upon request, the Contracting Officer will make their full text available. The offeror is cautioned that the listed provisions may include blocks that must be completed by the offeror and submitted with its quotation or offer. In lieu of submitting the full text of those provisions, the offeror may identify the provision by paragraph identifier and provide the appropriate information with its quotation or offer. Also, the full text of a solicitation provision may be accessed electronically at this/these address(es): https://www.acquisition.gov/far

A. GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS

Offerors shall furnish the information required by this solicitation. Offeror’s must accept and acknowledge, in writing, the Terms and Conditions of this solicitation.

1. Offerors are expected to examine this entire solicitation document. Failure to do so will be at the offeror's own risk.

2. The Government reserves the right to make an award based on initial offers received, without discussion of such offers. Proposals shall set forth full, accurate, and complete information as required by this solicitation package (including Attachments). The penalty for making false statements in proposals is prescribed in 18 U.S.C. 1001.

3. The Government 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 pro-visions of the Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C. 551).

4. The proposal shall be clear, concise, and shall include sufficient detail for effective evaluation and for substantiating the validity of stated claims. The proposal should not simply rephrase or restate the Government's requirements but rather shall provide convincing rationale to address how the Offeror intends to meet these requirements. The Government will evaluate the vendor’s proposal to ensure a clear understanding of the nature and scope of the work specified in the SOW is demonstrated. The vendor must submit a proposal that fully demonstrates the ability to meet the SOW as required by the solicitation. If providing other than the brand name product, vendor must describe how the equal product meets the specification of the Government’s needs.” Offerors shall assume that the Government has no prior knowledge of their facilities and experience and will base its evaluation on the information presented in the Offeror’s proposal.

5. The proposal due date is TBD no later than 12:00 (noon) ET, also specified in Section A of the solicitation. The Offeror shall make a clear statement in the proposal that the proposal is valid through at least 60 calendar days after the proposal due date. Proposals shall be sent via email to the Contract Specialist, Greg Lombardozzi, Gregory.J.Lombardozzi@irs.gov and a copy to the Contracting Officer, JW Terry JW.R.Terry@irs.gov . Late proposals received after 12:00 (noon) ET will not be considered for evaluation.

6. For proposal purposes, assume the contract will be awarded on or about June 1, 2024.

7. In accordance with FAR Subpart 4.803 (a) (10) (Government Contract Files), the Government will retain one (1) copy of the successful and all unsuccessful proposals.

8. Non-conformance with the instructions provided in this ITO may result in a Not Acceptable proposal evaluation.

B. SUBMISSION OF QUESTIONS

Offerors are required to submit their questions related to the solicitation by referencing the Section/subsection number. Questions will be accepted up until 5:00 PM EST, TBD and must be submitted to Contract Specialist, Contract Specialist, Greg Lombardozzi, Gregory.J.Lombardozzi@irs.gov and a copy to the Contracting Officer, JW Terry, JW.R.Terry@irs.gov. Questions or requests for extension submitted after the cutoff date will not be considered. The Government will post the answers and submitted questions on SAM.gov.

Questions shall be submitted in the table format specified below:

RFP Question Submission Format

Solicitation # 5000164333

1.

2.

C. STRUCTURE OF OFFERS

Each offer shall be in the following format for each area of consideration for the Technical Evaluation. A page is defined as one side of sheet, 8 1/2” x 11”, with at least a one-inch margin on all sides, using not smaller than 12-point type font.

D. SUBMISSION OF THE PROPOSAL

The offeror shall provide an electronic original in Microsoft Word or PDF or Excel containing all required sections of this Part.

1. Company Cover Letter (Tab A). The offeror shall submit a letter head expressing the offeror’s interest and intent to submit a proposal in response to the Government’s solicitation. The offeror must accept and acknowledge in writing, the Terms and Conditions and Provisions set forth within the solicitation.

2. Supplies or Services and Prices/Costs (Tab B). The pricing sheet shall be submitted as an electronic copy only. The offeror shall submit pricing and any necessary narrative using an editable Microsoft Word, PDF, or excel file. Pricing must display to the best of the offeror’s ability, pricing for the respective base and follow-on option periods with supporting rationale as to how the pricing proposal was developed and what methodology was used.

Hardware Maintenance:

For the purposes of hardware maintenance, the Offeror shall provide unit cost per item. The Program has not provided any historical data on Hardware Maintenance so the Offeror should propose its best possible unit price for the items identified as requiring maintenance in the pricing sheet.

On-Call Maintenance:

The Pricing Sheet includes a line item entitled, “On Call Maintenance”. This line item shall be proposed as the offeror’s hourly rate for on-call maintenance in accordance with Section 3.2.1.5 of the statement of work. This line item shall be proposed as fully burdened, fixed hourly rate. There is a material component to On-Call Maintenance. Material costs that are allowable in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulations for materials used to perform these services will be reimbursed at cost under this line item. The ceiling for material reimbursement will $10,000. This amount may be adjusted during the ordering period.

Perpetual Enterprise Software Licenses and Maintenance Agreements All references to software licenses in the schedule reflect perpetual software licenses in accordance with Section 3.1.2 of the statement of work. Software licenses and maintenance agreements shall be proposed in accordance with the schedule’s number of users and estimated quantities in durational increments in accordance with the manufacturer’s standard commercial practices. For example, if it is customary for a given manufacturer to offer his 5-user licenses or maintenance agreements in one (1) year increments at $100.00 and the IRS’ estimated quantity for that item is 15, then the proposal should reflect 15 each with a unit price of $100.00 for a total of $1,500.00. If another manufacturer customarily offers his Individual User Licenses or maintenance agreements in 6 month increments at $100.00 and the IRS’ estimated quantity for that item is 15, then the proposal would also reflect 15 each with a unit price of $100.00 for a total of $1,500.00.

52.217-8 – The USG will calculate one-third (1/3) of the total pricing submitted for the final option year. This fraction is selected to represent a reasonable estimation of the cost implications for the additional period under the 52.217-8 option, which allows for an extension of up to six months.

Incorporation into Total Evaluated Price: The USG will add the calculated one-third of the final option year pricing to the total evaluated price for each offeror. This adjusted total price will serve as the basis for evaluation and will be used to compare offers in a consistent and fair manner.

Travel Unit or hourly pricing proposed is assumed to include any necessary travel costs.

3. Past Performance (TAB C) Offerors are to provide narratives for up to three (3) projects completed within the last five (5) years that mirror the current effort in type, scope, complexity, and size. Each narrative should include the project’s scope, challenges encountered, and solutions applied, along with a customer Point of Contact (POC) and an Alternate POC (APOC), ensuring all provided contact information is up-to-date and accurate. Offeror shall use the format provided in Attachment 4.

Relevance: Projects are relevant if they demonstrate the Offeror’s experience with similar challenges and risks as those expected in this solicitation.

Recency: Projects must have been performed with the past five (5) years to be considered recent.

The IRS will also use CPARS and publicly available information to evaluate past performance.

4. Technical Approach/ Ability to Perform Contract Requirements (TAB D) The evaluations of technical capability shall consist of the offeror’s proven capability and resources proposed to provide the products and services required to fulfill this requirement. The Government will evaluate the vendor’s proposal to ensure a clear understanding of the nature and scope of the work specified in the SOW is demonstrated. The vendor must submit a proposal that fully demonstrates the ability to meet the SOW as required by the solicitation. Additionally, TAB B is part of the technical evaluation criteria.

Additionally, the Offeror shall present a Section 508 Compliance Statement that demonstrates its commitment to comply with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act for the requirement.

E. AWARD SELECTION

Evaluation-The Government will award a contract utilizing the Lowest Price Technically Acceptable method in accordance with FAR Part 15.101-2. An award, if any, shall be made to the Offeror whose quote is determined to be the Lowest Price Technically Acceptable (LPTA) to the Internal Revenue Service based upon the stated evaluation factors. The lowest price technically acceptable source selection process is appropriate when best value is expected to result from selection of the technically acceptable proposal with the lowest evaluated price.

Each evaluation factor identified in Paragraph C will be assigned a rating of “Acceptable” or “Unacceptable” during the evaluation phase to establish overall Technical Acceptability. Past Performance will be evaluated in accordance with FAR 15.305(2). In the case of an offeror without a record of relevant past performance or for who information on past performance is not available, the offeror shall not be evaluated favorably or unfavorably on past performance.

ATTACHMENTS

ATTACHMENT 1 PRICING SHEET

ATTACHMENT 2 STATEMENT OF WORK

ATTACHMENT 3 CLAUSES AND PROVISIONS

ATTACHMENT 4 PAST PERFORMANCE FORM