ISE_Phase_I__Questions_3.12.docx

Integrated Student Experience (ISE) Phase I Combined Synopsis/Solicitation Consolidated Questions & Answers

ED-FSA-13-R-0013

Updated March 12 @ 4:00PM

1. I wanted to follow up with you regarding the procurement “Integrated Student Experience” #ED-FSA-13-R-0013. As part of the evaluation, our team noticed a requirement for a CMMI Level III (or higher) firm. If the firm does not have the qualification, will that eliminate them from consideration?

Answer: CMMI Level III or Higher Certification is a Go/ No Go Factor therefore if a company is not CMMI Level III or higher, then their proposal will be deemed a No Go and will not receive further consideration.

1. Will respondents be considered responsive per 2.1 Go/No Go Factor if they propose project partners with the required CMMI Level III certification?

Answer: CMMI Level III or Higher Certification is a Go/ No Go Factor therefore if a company is not CMMI Level III or higher, then their proposal will be deemed a No Go and will not receive further consideration.

3. Will the government consider an extension of the submission deadline to Friday March 15 or Monday March 18?

Answer: The closing date of the solicitation remains March 13, 2013 @ Noon.

4. Can the Agency consider extension of the submission date?

Answer: The closing date of the solicitation has been changed to March 15, 2013 @ 3:00PM EST.

5. Could you provide the capabilities and staff experience within Agency for Drupal and other skills?

Answer: Key Personnel Requirements are listed in the DRAFT Statement of Objectives.

6. Is there any incumbent vendor currently supporting this scope of work?

Answer: Government employees perform the operations and maintenance of the current website.

7. If a an offeror which qualifies as a small business under NAICS 541511 and which is CMMI Maturity Level 3 but has not performed a Drupal contract of similar size and complexity, but instead can demonstrate Drupal expertise through the past performance of a teaming partner or subcontractor, will that small business offeror remain eligible for selection under Phase One for participation in Phase Two?

Answer: As stated in Section 3.0 of the solicitation, if partnering or subcontracting, the Primary Contractor must have at least one reference with a Drupal driven website and responsive design to be considered for Phase I.

8. In 3.0, item 4, the Government states, “Offerors must include an explanation of how the price was derived and any assumptions. The completed Table and Explanation shall not exceed 1 page.” Will the Government consider relaxing this one (1) page restriction to accommodate for the requested information?

Answer: The solicitation will be amended for Offerors to submit a 2 page price proposal.

9. Can an offeror update and reference their organization’s Representations & Certifications utilizing the System for Award Management (SAM) website (https://www.sam.gov/) given that the ORCA website is no longer in use?

Answer: The solicitation will be amended to instruct Offerors to update their Representations and Certifications in the System for Award Management (SAM).

1. Carnegie Melon University’s CMMI Institute does not provide CMMI certificates. CMMI Institute maintains a Published Appraisal Results (PARS) database. According to the CMMI Institute “PARS provides a centralized, independently maintained place where organizations can invite their partners and customers to verify their CMMI-based process improvement achievements”. Will the government accept a hyperlink or screen shot of our company’s information in PARS in lieu of a certificate for verification of our CMMI Maturity Level independently appraised?

1. We as the prime contractor meet the CMMI Maturity Level 3 requirement. Can you please clarify if subs and teaming partners need to be CMMI Maturity Level 3?

Answer: Only the Prime Contractor has to meet the CMMI Maturity Level 3 or higher requirement.

1. Can you please tell us when the studentaid.gov website was implemented?

Answer: studentaid.gov was launched in July 2012. Background information on studentaid.gov is in the DRAFT Statement of Objectives which is attached to the solicitation.

1. Will the government provide us with the contract award number for the development of the studentaid.gov website?

Answer: Studentaid.gov was developed by Federal Government employees not a contractor.

1. Is the company that developed the website eligible to bid the O&M contract?

1. Answer: Studentaid.gov was developed by Federal Government employees not a contractor.

1. Can the government clarify the relationship between this solicitation and the Integrated Student Experience project (solicitation ED-FSA-12-R-0004) that was awarded on September 20, 2012?

Answer: There is no relationship between the referenced contract number and the subject solicitation.

1. Does the government have O&M contracts on FSA’s other student-facing websites? Are those O&M contractors eligible to bid?

Answer: Yes, Federal Student Aid utilizes O&M contactors for other student-facing websites and they are eligible to submit a bid for the subject solicitation.

1. Can the government give us any details regarding Phase 2 so we can be prepared?

Answer: Additional information isn’t available at this time.

1. Can the government provide the number of source lines of code for MySQL, Java, JavaScript and PHP in the studentaid.gov website?

Number of lines of custom code:

JavaScript: approx. 5000 lines PHP: approx. 14000 lines

ISE does not have any Java code and we do not have any SQL scripts. The rest of the source code consists of vanilla Drupal and 3rd party modules, which are not included in the count.

1. Does the government require help desk services as part of the O&M?

Answer: No, help desk services are not required by the Government at this time.

1. Does the government require 24 by 7 support for operations?

1. Does the government have approved and funded plans for website enhancement? Will the government share the information?

Answer: At the present time funding is subject to the availability of funds. Enhancements to the website are listed in DRAFT Statement of Objectives.

1. Will the government provide us with the number of FTE equivalents that are currently providing O&M support?

Answer: The Government currently uses the following FTE’s:

1. A full time Project Manager and the level effort varies from week to week depending on implementation schedules, project deliverables, ongoing support and activities.

1. A Web Developer for Operations and Maintenance. The level of effort for enhancements, legislative changes, etc. has not been identified.

1. Can the government clarify that the place of performance is the government site?

Answer: Some of the transition period will be performed at the Government site and the remainder of the performance will be at the contractor’s worksite.

1. In view of the above questions, we respectfully request a one-week extension of the proposal submission date.

Answer: Amendment 0002 will change the due date to Thursday, March 14 @ 3:00 p.m.