DTFH61-12-R-00054 - Pre-Proposal Web-Conference Record.pdf

Pre‐Proposal Web‐Conference for Solicitation DTFH61‐12‐R‐00054

August 29, 2012

AGENDA

Introductions Heather Shelsta Contracting Overview Aimee Drewry / Tabitha Lorthridge Technology Partnerships Program (TPP) Overview Henry Murdaugh / Jeff Zaharewicz Knowledge Application Team (KAT) Overview Debbie Gwaltney National Highway Institute (NHI) Overview Thomas Elliott Administration / Office Support Overview Thomas Elliott Questions & Answers Heather Shelsta / Aimee Drewry

ATTENDEE LIST

ICF International Federal Highway Administration Cory McConnell Aimee Drewry Larry Luskin Thomas Elliott David Birken Debbie Gwaltney Ken Newcomer Tabitha Lorthridge Henry Murdaugh AdNet Systems, Inc. Heather Shelsta Grant Stewart Jeff Zaharewicz

Reliable Government Solutions (RGS) Scott Davis

The McKinley Group Esther Johnson Tony Pompa

C2 Technologies Robert Bealle

Sevatec,Inc.

Joshua Rubin David Juza

Summit Technologies, Inc.

Chan Park John Yim

Tantus Technologies Greg Cioffi Buck Keswani

Business & Decision Norma Carrillo

August 29, 2012

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

Q1. If senior team members have specific job‐related experience of greater than 30 years will the government accept this experience in lieu of the training requirements?

A1. Due to the changing nature of the industry, the Government requires ongoing professional education so that experienced professionals stay current in their field and in the technologies required of professionals in the 21st century workplace.

Q2. If a position is planned as part‐time will the government accept a lower number of Professional

Development hours required for training? If so can the government clarify a number or percentage relative to the planned hours for part time employees?

A2 The contractor’s professional staff are expected to be up‐to‐date in their field and should have the same professional development hours.

Q3 Can the government clarify how proficient and advanced are defined for all the software packages?

A3 Please reference the chart provided on pages 20 through 25; it provides detail on how proficient and advanced are defined for all software packages.

Q4. The advanced skills recommended on pages 24 and 25 in the SOW for Microsoft SharePoint are only available for individuals with administrative rights. The Labor Category Descriptions indicate there are 17 positions with an advanced skills requirement. Can the government clarify if the intention is for all positions listed to have administrator rights to relative SharePoint sites?

A4. The Government anticipates these positions will have administrative rights in parts of

SharePoint and requires these skills.

Q5. Is the bidder permitted to submit past performance references from named subcontractors?

A5. The offeror shall describe in its proposal no more than five related contract / subcontract past performance descriptions. Refer to Section L of the RFP for additional information.

Q6. Would the Government consider requiring resumes for only designated Key personnel, rather than resumes for all 44 positions?

A6. Representative resumes are required for all 44 positions.

Q7. Every labor category described requires a certain level of competency in both SharePoint and

Adobe Connect (or equivalent). This requirement includes Administrative Staff, Subject Matter

Experts, Graphic Designers, and other personnel who may have no expectation of using these applications in the course of their duties. Request that the Government consider revising these requirements to more realistically match the responsibilities of the positions described.

August 29, 2012

A7. The Government anticipates the staff will use SharePoint and Adobe Connect. For example, administrative staff may coordinate web conference calls for a team and SMEs may participate in web conferences as part of their project duties. Likewise, SharePoint is used regularly for projects, and staff members need to be able to perform tasks such as searching for documents and uploading files.

Q8. Every labor category described requires a certain number of hours of “relevant professional education in the last three years.” This requirement includes administrative staff and other positions for which directly relevant professional education may not be available. Request that the Government consider revising these requirements to more realistically match the professional level of the positions described.

A8. Please note the Government requires reduced hours of relevant professional education (24) for some professional positions, and a higher level (60) for others. As an example, administrative staff should continue to learn to use the new features of current Microsoft products including

Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Office. For professional positions that require 60 hours, some hours could be spent on general office skills like updated Microsoft products and the bulk of the time on activities related to their specific professional capacity.

Q9. Please clarify what the Government means by “... hours of relevant professional education.”

A9. The offeror shall demonstrate to the Government, how they will keep their staff up‐to‐date professionally. Professional education can be related to the specific position or general office skills. Activities that would be acceptable for certifications such as the Project Management

Institute’s (PMI) Project Management Professional (PMP) or the American Society for Training and Development’s (ASTD) Certified Professional of Learning and Performance (CPLP) would be very appropriate. For example, a chart could be included in the resume such as the following for the Project Manager position:

Professional Education Activity Number of Hours

In person course on Facilitation Skills 40

Developed and presented session on Strategic Planning at a professional conference

Online course on Word 2010 4

Online course on Excel 2010 4

Online course on Outlook 2010 4

Online course on PowerPoint 2010 4

Total 60

Q10. The “Important Delivery Information” regarding security procedures at the DOT Building implies that the internal mail system cannot be reliably counted on to deliver proposals to the Office of

Acquisition Management in a timely manner. Specifically, the phrase “... could add one or more working days to the delivery time,” indicates a level of uncertainty that should be able to be

August 29, 2012 mitigated. Request that the Government accept proposals as having been delivered on‐time based on the time stamp provided by the mail room visitor's center.

A10. The official time stamp is the time at which proposals are received in the Office of Acquisition

Management for all FHWA procurements.

Q11. Please identify which of the personnel/labor categories are associated with SOW elements that are new to this contract; i.e., those that are beyond the scope of the existing contract.

A11. The Statement of Work reflects increased expertise in distance learning, computer software packages, and information technology, and most of the positions are impacted. As noted in the

RFP and in other questions, proficiency in SharePoint and Adobe Connect along with Microsoft

Office is required for all team members.

Q12. The RFP requires 44 positions – Do you require all 44 resumes at the time of submitting our response?

A12 Representative resumes are required to be submitted for all 44 positions.

Q13. Will you be posting these questions and answers?

A13. All questions and answers will be posted to the Federal Business Opportunities website.