RFP_ED-FSA-14-R-0028_Amendment_4.pdf

NSN 7540-01-152-8070 STANDARD FORM 30. (Rev. 10-83) Previous Edition unusable Prescribed by GSA FAR (48 CFR) 53.243

Page of Pages AMENDMENT OF SOLICITATION/MODIFICATION OF CONTRACT 1. Contract ID Code

2. AMENDMENT MODIFICATION NO. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE 4. REQUISITION/PURCHASE REQ. NO. 5. PROJECT NO. (if applicable)

6. ISSUED BY CODE 7. ADMINISTERED BY (If other than item 6) CODE

(x) 9A. AMENDMENT OF SOLICITATION NO.

9B. DATED (SEE ITEM 11)

10A. MODIFICATION OF CONTRACT/ORDER NO.

8. NAME AND ADDRESS OF CONTRACTOR (NO., Street, Country, State and ZIP Code)

CODE FACILITY CODE

10B. DATED (SEE ITEM 13)

11. THIS ITEM ONLY APPLIES TO AMENDMENTS OF SOLICITATIONS

The above numbered solicitation is amended as set forth in item 14. The hour and date specified for receipt of offers is extended, is not extended.

Offers must acknowledge receipt of this amendment prior to the hour and date specified in the solicitation or as amended, by one of the following methods:

(a) By completing items 8 and 15, and returning ______ copies of amendment; (b) By acknowledging receipt of this amendment on each copy of the offer submitted;

or (c) By separate letter or telegram which includes a reference to the solicitation and amendment numbers. FAILURE OF YOUR ACKNOWLEDGMENT TO BE RECEIVED AT THE PLACE DESIGNATED FOR THE RECEIPT OR OFFERS PRIOR TO THE HOUR AND DATE SPECIFIED MAY RESULT IN REJECTION OF YOUR OFFER. If by virtue of this amendment your desire to change an offer already submitted, such change may be made by telegram or letter, provided each telegram or letter makes reference to the solicitation and this amendment, and is received prior to the opening hour and date specified.

12. ACCOUNTING AND APPROPRIATION DATA (If required)

13. THIS ITEM ONLY APPLIES TO MODIFICATION OF CONTRACTS/ORDERS. IT MODIFIES THE CONTRACT/ORDER NO. AS DESCRIBED IN ITEM 14.

Check One A. THIS CHANGE ORDER IS ISSUED PURSUANT TO: (Specify authority) THE CHANGES SET FORTH IN ITEM 14 ARE MADE IN THE

CONTRACT ORDER NO. IN ITEM 10A.

B. THE ABOVE NUMBERED CONTRACT/ORDER IS MODIFIED TO REFLECT THE ADMINISTRATIVE CHANGES (such as changes in paying office, appropriation date, etc) SET FORTH IN ITEM 14, PURSUANT TO THE AUTHORITY OF FAR 43.103(b).

C. THIS SUPPLEMENTAL AGREEMENT IS ENTERED INTO PURSUANT TO AUTHORITY OF:

D. OTHER (Specify type of modification and authority)

E. IMPORTANT: Contractor is not, is required to sign this document and return _______ copies to the issuing office.

14. DESCRIPTION OF AMENDMENT/MODIFICATION (Organized by UCF section headings, including solicitation/contract subject matter where feasible)

Except as provided herein, all terms and conditions of the document referenced in item 9A or 10A, as heretofore changed, remains unchanged and in full force and effect.

15A. NAME AND TITLE OF SIGNER (Type or print) 16A. NAME AND TITLE OF CONTRACTING OFFICER (Type or print)

15B. CONTRACTOR/OFFEROR 16B. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

(Signature of person authorized to sign)

15C. DATE SIGNED

(Signature of Contracting Officer)

16C. DATE SIGNED

Dega Hussen, Contracting Officer

/s/ Nov 24, 2014

Continuation Page

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Continued from Block 14...

4) To include new Attachments G, H, and I.

Attachment Page

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SECTION 1 - Amended

II. 52.212-5: Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes or

Executive Orders—Commercial Items (Jun 2014) – modified with the inclusion of the following provision clause

(a) The Contractor shall comply with the following Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) clauses, which are incorporated in this contract by reference, to implement provisions of law or

Executive orders applicable to acquisitions of commercial items:

A. 52.234-3 Notice of Earned Value Management System - Post Award IBR (Jun 2006)

(a) The offeror shall provide documentation that the Cognizant Federal Agency has determined that the proposed earned value management system (EVMS) complies with the EVMS guidelines in ANSI/EIA Standard -748 (current version at time of solicitation).

(b) If the offeror proposes to use a system that has not been determined to be in compliance with the requirements of paragraph (a) of this provision, the offeror shall submit a comprehensive plan for compliance with the EVMS guidelines.

(1) The plan shall--

(i) Describe the EVMS the offeror intends to use in performance of the contracts;

(ii) Distinguish between the offeror's existing management system and modifications proposed to meet the guidelines;

(iii) Describe the management system and its application in terms of the EVMS guidelines;

(iv) Describe the proposed procedure for administration of the guidelines, as applied to subcontractors; and

(v) Provide documentation describing the process and results of any third-party or self-evaluation of the system's compliance with the EVMS guidelines.

(2) The offeror shall provide information and assistance as required by the

Contracting Officer to support review of the plan.

(3) The Government will review and approve the offeror's plan for an EVMS before contract award.

(4) The offeror's EVMS plan must provide milestones that indicate when the offeror anticipates that the EVM system will be compliant with the ANSI/EIA Standard -748 guidelines.

(c) Offerors shall identify the major subcontractors, or major subcontracted effort if major subcontractors have not been selected, planned for application of the guidelines. The prime Contractor and the Government shall agree to subcontractors selected for application of the EVMS guidelines.

(End of Provision)

III. Agency Specific Terms and Conditions – modified with the inclusion of the following contract clause

AA. FSA 34-1 Earned Value Management Supplemental Requirements and Reporting Procedures (SEP 2007)

(a) Analysis and Reporting

1. The Contractor shall provide monthly earned value reports after the issuance of the award beginning no later than the fifteenth workday after the reporting calendar month. Data shall be transmitted via XML for

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import into Federal Student Aid’s EVM analysis tool (wInsight v6.2).

Reports shall at a minimum be at the WBS Level 4 (Level 0 is the project or system, Level 1 is the phase or set of functionality, Level 2 is the life cycle, Level 3 is the action or deliverable and Level 4 is the supporting activity).

2. The Contractor shall provide earned value analysis and reporting that includes the following elements:

Data: Budget at Completion (BAC)

Budgeted Cost of Work Performed (BCWP) or Earned

Value (EV) Actual Cost of Work Performed (ACWP)

Budgeted Cost of Work Scheduled (BCWS)

Variances: Cost Variance (CV) Schedule Variance (SV)

Variance at Completion (VAC)

Indices: Cost Performance Index (CPI)

Schedule Performance Index (SPI)

To Complete Performance Index (TCPI)

Forecasts: Estimate at Complete (EAC)

Independent Estimate at Complete (EAC1)

[ACWPcum = 1/CPI x (BAC minus BCWPcum)] Independent Estimate at Complete

(EAC2)[ACWPcum = 1/CPI x SPI x (BAC minus BCWPcum)]

Estimate to Completion (ETC)

3. Current period values and cumulative values for data, variances, indices and forecasts shall be provided in numerical format showing values and in graphical format showing trends.

4. Causal analysis shall be conducted on all variances exceeding +/-10%.

Define technical performance variance. Explain, based on work accomplished, whether the performance goals will be achieved, and the impact to the cost and schedule goals. Discuss the contractor EAC and the differences greater than +/-10% with the two independent EACs.

5. The Contractor shall provide the Government with a schedule (Microsoft

Project), or other recognized scheduling tool, and delivered electronically in a format such as .mpp), updated as of the date of the EVM report, that meets the following criteria:

i. Traceability to the Work Breakdown Structure

ii. Task durations are identified

iii. Task predecessors and successors are identified for each task

iv. Tasks have defined relationships

v. Calendar corresponds to contractor business calendar

6. Any schedule variance on the critical path shall be identified and its impact on subsequent milestones and the project cost and schedule quantified.

7. Discuss the corrective actions that will be taken to mitigate all variances identified, the risk associated with the actions and how close these actions will bring the project to the original baseline. Define proposed baseline changes if necessary.

(End of Clause)

[END OF SECTION]

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SECTION 2 – AMENDED (Rev 1)

I. FAR 52.212-1 and 52.212-2 – Instruction to Offerors and Evaluation –

Commercial Items (Apr 2012) and (Jan 1999)

A. General

The Government is conducting this source selection in accordance with the streamlined evaluation of offers in FAR Part 12: Acquisition of Commercial Items. The contracts will be awarded through full and open competition under NAICS 541519 Other Computer Related

Services.

The Government may evaluate proposals and award a contract without discussions with the

Offerors and will evaluate each offer on the basis of the Offeror's initial proposal. Therefore, the initial proposal should contain the Offerors' best terms from a technical and price standpoint.

The Government reserves the right to conduct discussions and to permit Offerors to revise their proposals if the Contracting Officer determines that to be necessary.

B. Proposal Integrity

If in reviewing the proposal, the Government identifies or otherwise learns that the provided proposal information is not accurate or misrepresents the Offeror’s status or capabilities, that information may be used by the Contracting Officer as part of the Offeror’s responsibility determination and could result in the Offeror not being eligible for award.

Offerors are cautioned to examine this solicitation in its entirety and to ensure that their proposal contains all necessary information, provides all required documentation, and is complete in all respects.

C. Basis for Award

The Government intends to award single contract to the Offeror whose proposal is determined by the Government to be the best value, considering the evaluation factors set forth below.

D. Evaluation Factors

The evaluation factors and sub-factors are as follows:

1. Factor 1: Past Performance/Past Experience

The Government will evaluate two (2) past performance references (within the past three

(3) years from the issuance date of solicitation) to determine relevancy of their current or prior performance and customer satisfaction on contracts for work of similar size, scope, and complexity as well as assess the degree of confidence in meeting the Government’s performance objectives as outlined in the amended Data Challenges and Appeals

Solution (DCAS) Statement of Objectives (SOO), v5.1, Rev.1 dated 11/18/2014 (See

Attachment A Rev 1).

The Government reserves the right to use other sources, such as the Past Performance

Information Retrieval System (PPIRS), to evaluate past performance. Offeror’s past performance will be evaluated for relevance, customer satisfaction, and content of the information reported in PPIRS and in other sources. The Government may use present and/or past performance data obtained from a variety of sources, not just those contracts identified by the Offeror in its references.

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2. Factor 2: Performance Work Statement (PWS)

(a) Sub-factor A: Execution Plan (EP)/Management Plan (MP)

The Government will evaluate the Offeror’s EP to assess the offeror’s ability and methodology to meet or exceed the minimum PWS requirements. In evaluating this sub-factor, the assessment will concentrate on organization and staffing

(including the position/category titles, descriptions of minimal education, experience, and qualifications per position/category type that may be utilized for the purpose of recruiting) along with proposed processes, approaches, innovations, and assumptions of case management and other related support services such as a brief description of a standard operating procedure (SOP) that may be used to deliver the case management and other services required by the

Government.

The Government will evaluate the Offeror’s MP for the purposes of determining how well its management approach demonstrates emphasis on the applied use of management controls, policies to ensure appropriate management and execution of operational requirements and all applicable security and performance standards.

The management plan will be evaluated as to how autonomous the Contract

Program Manager is including lines of authority, contracting authority, hiring and removal plans; clearly defined security clearances and citizenship requirements;

Teaming Partner(s) Arrangements; Subcontractor teaming arrangements, including proposed Prime/Teaming Partner(s)/Subcontractor(s) relationships, tasks to be performed by Subcontractors and authority/autonomy delegated to

Subcontractors by prime Contractors; management and staffing practices, incentive and awards programs, recruiting methods, training plans and career development activities; and response to changes in customer needs, tasking, and workload requirements.

(b) Sub-factor B: Proposed Organizational Structure and Staffing

The Government will evaluate clarity, completeness, and feasibility of the

Offeror’s proposed organizational structure and staffing complement (in particular a list of all key (named individuals) and non-key personnel proposed staff in the performance of the case management/processing operations as well as technical/customer services and training services) for achieving the overall goal, performance objectives, and outcomes stated in the SOO.

The Government will assess the competency and likely effectiveness of the

Offeror’s staff personnel as determined by education level and relevant experience, including clearly demonstrated experience in case management operations, data analysis, and other related fields to successfully perform the objectives outlined in the SOO.

Copies of key personnel resumes will be evaluated based on the relevance of the individual’s education and experience relative to the PWS. The Government will evaluate the adequacy of the offeror’s plan to retain and recruit qualified personnel.

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(c) Sub-factor C: Deliverables Schedule and Acceptance Criteria

The Government will evaluate the extent and manner in which the Offeror’s deliverable schedules sufficiently demonstrate or indicate with a high degree of confidence that the proposed solution will be successfully implemented to fulfill all performance objectives and requirements.

(d) Sub-factor D: Performance Metrics/Service Level Agreements (SLAs)

The Government will assess the robustness, relevancy, and objective measurements of the proposed performance metrics/service level agreements for each performance objective throughout the contract term. Furthermore, the

Government will evaluate the appropriateness of the proposed acceptance quality levels (AQLs) and degree of confidence that the proposed incentives/disincentives will result in meaningful performance improvements and operational efficiencies.

(e) Sub-factor E: Customer Service Approach

The Government will assess the extent and manner in which the Offeror’s approach will provide comprehensive, reliable, and responsive support to FSA and its partners to fulfill the performance objectives and realize desired outcomes.

(f) Sub-factor F: Quality Control Plan

The Government will evaluate the completeness, adequacy, and independence of the Offeror’s Quality Control Plan to include processes to ensure timely and successful performance of the PWS.

(g) Sub-factor G: Sub-contracting Plan/Small Business Use

The Government will evaluate each offerors’ proposed use of Small Business concerns through evaluation of the following elements:

The percentage of subcontract dollars that have been set aside for small business (SB) concerns by socio-economic indicators (Refer to FSA

Small Business Subcontracting Goals (Attachment E));

Identification of all small business concerns who may be performing on the subsequent contract during the entire period of performance;

Identification of specific products or services that will be provided by those individual firms; and

Estimated dollar amount of each of the identified actions for each period of performance.

The Government reserves the right to use other sources, such as the electronic

Subcontracting Reporting System (eSRS) to evaluate actual small business participation. This evaluation will include an assessment of the offeror's performance over the past three calendar years in complying with FAR 52.219-8, “Utilization of Small Business Concerns.” This includes a comparison of the offeror's past performance with their approved subcontracting goals, and evaluation of the internal methods used to monitor and to promote small business utilization.

If the Offeror is a small business concern, this sub-factor will be evaluated as neutral.

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(h) Sub-factor H: Organizational Conflict of Interest (OCI) Mitigation Plan

The Government will evaluate the adequacy of the OCI mitigation plan to ensure proper execution of the requirements in the PWS.

3. Factor 3: Pricing

The Government will evaluate the Offeror’s pricing proposal for realism and reasonableness based on the Government’s requirements as well as the total cost of ownership for the proposed solutions.

These factors and sub-factors are listed in descending order of importance. When combined, non-pricing evaluation factors are significantly more important than the pricing factor.

The Government reserves the right to not make an award as a result of this RFP if, upon evaluation, none of the proposals are deemed acceptable.

Finally, the Government will assess the Offeror’s Online Representations and Certifications

Application (ORCA), Education Acquisition Regulations (EDAR) Conflict of Interest (COI)

Certification, and SF1449 and SF30 pages (Proposal Volume IV) for completeness and accuracy in order to determine reasonability.

E. Instructions to Offerors

Offeror shall adhere to the following instructions:

1. VOLUME I: Past Performance/Past Experience

Offerors shall complete the Past Performance Questionnaire Form (See Attachment B) for each client (government or non-government). The Offeror shall clearly describe relevant experience that demonstrates successful prior experience with previous or ongoing

Government and/or non-Government contracts related to performance objectives and/or scope of services in the SOO.

2. VOLUME II: Performance Work Statement

(a) Section A: Execution Plan (EP)/Management Plan (MP)

The Offeror shall clearly demonstrate its understanding of the Government’s requirement and performance objectives as well as its ability to deliver services and capabilities on-time, within budget, and with the required service quality. At minimum, these plans shall articulate how the Offeror will define, establish, and implement a robust workflow solution to review, research, and process data challenges and appeals from low/routine to high complexity within the required timeframe.

Additionally, these plans shall detail its organization and staffing (including the position/category titles, brief descriptions of minimal education, experience, and qualifications per position/category type that may be utilized for the purpose of recruiting as well as the proposed processes, approaches, innovations, and assumptions of case management and other related support services such as a brief description of a standard operating procedure (SOP) that may be used to deliver the case management and other services required by the Government.

This section cannot be a repeat or merely summarize the materials provided in this RFP, but rather should demonstrate the Offeror’s of understanding of the

Government’s requirement including the achievement performance objectives and outcomes.

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Prime/Teaming Partner(s)/Subcontractor(s) shall clearly detail each team member’s roles and responsibilities, SBA approval of Joint Venture or Mentor

Protégé Agreements, and size of business. At minimum, this section shall address the following:

The autonomy of the Program Manager with respect to management of all personnel, Prime/Teaming Partner(s)/Subcontractor(s), and overall execution of requirements under the subsequent contract.

o The offeror's proposed business model shall demonstrate relevant aspects including, but not limited to the proposed plan for utilizing an effective approach to project planning and scheduling, tools for monitoring, controlling and reporting progress (including the progress of Subcontractors), and o The proposed on-site management team for the Prime/Teaming

Partner(s)/ Subcontractor(s).

The offeror’s proposal shall describe the role of all proposed

Prime/Teaming Partner(s)/Subcontractor(s) in the overall management and execution of Contract tasking.

(b) Section B: Proposed Organizational Structure and Staffing

The Offeror’s proposed organizational structure and staffing should clearly demonstrate the Offeror’s ability to successfully accomplish the RFP requirements as well as address the extent to which the proposed key personnel have committed themselves to work on this effort.

At minimum, this section shall address the following:

Staffing complement (a list of all key (named individuals) and non-key personnel proposed for case management services including at minimum the position titles or labor categories and number of FTEs per title or category) including description of roles and responsibilities, management chain of command, program management and technical/training staff resources;

Qualifications, education, experience, and availability of proposed key personnel (Copies of two (2) resumes for each position title/job description outlined in the SOO, with page limit of four (4) pages per each individual named resource);

Current certifications held by key technical/training positions included in its proposal;

Ability to successfully choose personnel with appropriate background experience and education to oversee a program of this magnitude, supervise non-key personnel accomplishing performance objectives and outcomes for the duration of this effort; and

Approach to staffing positions that require security clearances outlined in the RFP

If the key personnel have worked on any of the contracts used in past performance, identification of those contracts and the role of key personnel should be stated in this section.

Finally, Offeror shall provide one (1) example of its procedures for recruiting, training and retention to fill vacant positions and maintain continuity of qualified personnel (Page limit = 3).

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(c) Section C: Deliverables Schedule and Acceptance Criteria

Using DCAS Lifecycle Management Methodology (LMM) Work Breakdown

Structure (WBS) (See Attachment C) as a reference, Offeror shall provide the deliverable schedule (title of the applicable WBS elements, description, frequency

(weekly, monthly, quarterly, etc.), and acceptance criteria) based upon Offeror’s proposed solution for each period of performance.

(d) Section D: Performance Metrics/Service Level Agreements

Using Performance Metrics/Service Level Agreements (Attachment F), Offeror shall provide in this section its proposed SLAs related to the comprehensive list of the services that the Offeror proposes to fulfill the objectives of this RFP. The

Offeror shall provide standard industry metrics and measures for establishing performance levels/acceptable quality level for each performance objective.

In addition, the Offeror shall provide SLAs related to notifications of security breaches, compromises of data, and corruption of data, which clearly define who is responsible to provide the remedy to the impacted accounts where individual

Personally Identifiable Information (PII) is exposed.

The Offeror’s SLAs shall include metrics related to resolving issues with service and clearly define the Offeror’s escalation policy and procedures. Further the

SLAs shall clearly define how metrics and measures are calculated.

Finally, the Offeror shall provide one (1) example of data analysis that resulted in a recommendation to improve system efficiencies or performance (Page limit =

2).

(e) Section E: Customer Service Approach

In this section, the Offeror shall sufficiently detail its technical approach, understanding, knowledge and experience regarding information technology customer service issues, to include unlimited access to experienced multi-tier certified Help Desk technicians; Help Desk Call/Ticket Response timeframe based on criticality; and escalation process.

In addition, the Offeror shall provide a Training Plan that describes the standard training or educational tools and mechanisms which are normally provided as part of the base solution (at no additional cost.) The Training Plan should clearly identify the target audiences (technical and system administration staff or end user) for each training approach.

Finally, the Offeror shall provide one (1) example each on (Page limit = 4):

Its analysis of training needs, the development of a curriculum, and development of training aids and manuals; and

Its monitoring process for ensuring instructors/trainers are meeting all training objectives based on the targeted audience.

(f) Section F: Quality Control Plan

Offeror shall sufficiently describe its Quality Control Plan and how the corporate office will evaluate on-site quality control efforts. Quality control should address the method of ensuring the quality of delivered services and capabilities, as well as the accuracy of cost, labor, and invoice projections. The narrative shall also

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include a discussion of the proposed methods for ensuring cost accountability through the use of efficient and effective solutions and alternatives.

Offeror shall meaningfully describe its approach to promote continuous improvement, capturing lessons learned, and sharing these lessons learned across all contracted personnel assigned and the Government as well as its methods of monitoring performance to meet acceptable quality levels identified in the PWS.

(g) Section G: Sub-contracting Plan/Small Business Use

Using FSA Small Business Subcontracting Goals (Attachment E) as a reference, Offeror shall provide a detailed subcontracting/small business use plan that indicates the following elements:

The percentage of subcontract dollars that have been set aside for small business (SB) concerns by socio-economic indicators.

Identification of all small business concerns who may be performing on the contract during the entire period of performance;

Identification of specific products or services that will be provided by those individual firms; and Estimated dollar amount of each of the identified actions for each period of performance.

Offeror shall include relevant substantiating documents such as teaming agreements, mentor protégé, etc. as well as its rationale for no small business participation.

If the Offeror is a small business concern, it is not necessary to submit this sub-factor (Volume II.G). However, this does not allow the Offeror to use these pages as ‘extra’. That is, they may not be added to any other sub-factor sections of its PWS.

(h) Section H: Organizational Conflict of Interest (OCI) Mitigation Plan

Based on its sole discretion, Offeror may submit a mitigation plan that articulates its response strategies to all apparent or potential OCI or a Statement on its letterhead affirming that there are no known or anticipated OCI including a brief description of the process undertaken to reach this determination.

PWS shall not contain any reference to pricing/cost; however, resource information, such as data concerning labor categories, qualifications, subcontractors, etc., may be contained to evaluate whether the Offeror understands the Government’s scope of services and requirements.

3. VOLUME III: Pricing Template

Offeror shall complete the Pricing Template provided by the Government (See Amended

Attachment D Rev 1).

F. Submission of Proposals

Each Offeror shall submit its proposal that addresses all Government requirements outlined in the solicitation. Offerors shall submit the proposal with a cover letter and table of contents by no later than 3:00pm (Eastern) on January 5, 2015.

Proposals shall be sent via electronic mail to the Contracting Officer at dega.hussen@ed.gov and

Contracting Specialists at linda.simpson@ed.gov and vanessa.bogerwallace@ed.gov.

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G. Oral Presentations

After receipt and initial review by the Government, each Offeror may be given an opportunity to provide an oral presentation. The purpose of the oral presentation is to provide each Offeror an opportunity to present key elements of its proposed solution and to describe any unique capabilities that might differentiate its approach in meeting the Government’s requirements.

Price information will not to be discussed during oral presentations.

If Oral Presentation are determined to be needed, Offeror will be given an equal and limited period of time in which to present its proposed solution.

During the presentation, the government’s attendees will not interrupt the Offeror to ask questions (except to request the repetition of inaudible words or statements or request the explanation of terms unknown to them) or otherwise engage the Offeror in any dialog. The

Government will conduct a question and answer session following the oral presentation during which the Offeror’s must answer questions posed by the government. Information presented during the oral presentation, and any subsequent written discussion items, may be used by the

Government to augment the written proposal.

Within two (2) business days after receipt of the proposals, the Government will decide whether to conduct these oral presentations. If the decision is an affirmative, the Offerors will be notified via electronic mail of the scheduled date and time for the appointment in which the Offeror will have one (1) week to prepare its presentation.

H. Proposal Format

To be considered, the Offeror must submit a complete response to this solicitation using the instructions provided. The proposal shall be divided into separate volumes and include the number of copies specified herein.

The proposal shall be readable in MS Word 2010 or Adobe Acrobat X.1 (version 11) Professional except for the Pricing, which is in MS Excel 2010. Hard copies must be single-spaced on 8 ½ x

11-inch pages of 12-point font. Tables, figures, screenshots, and other images shall be legible.

Information should be confined to the appropriate volume to facilitate independent evaluation.

The proposals shall be clearly and concisely written as well as neat, indexed (cross-indexed as appropriate) and logically assembled. Extraneous narratives, elaborate brochures, uninformative

"public relations" or “marketing” material and such, shall not be submitted.

All pages of each volume shall be appropriately numbered, and identified with the name of the

Offeror, the date, and the solicitation number to the extent practicable. Offerors shall place their name within the header or footer on each page along with the section number. Pages over the maximum page limitation for any volume will be excluded from evaluation. The page limits shall include any diagrams, figures, and table of contents or reference materials.

All proposal revisions shall be submitted as a complete electronic resubmission of the affected file. Electronic resubmissions shall conform to the guidance provided herein. Each revision

(electronic page change) shall be identified by date and by revision number.

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I. Period for Acceptance of Proposals

The Offeror agrees to hold firm the prices and labor rates in its proposal for 90 calendar days from the date specified for the receipt of the offers.

J. Volume Structure

Offeror shall present all information relevant to the factors in the appropriate section as outlined below:

Volume &

Section

Number

Volume Title

Maximum

Number of

Pages

I. Past Performance/Past Experience 6

I.A. Past Performance Questionnaire (Amended Rev 1)

II Performance Work Statement 53

II.A Execution Plan (EP)/Management Plan (MP) – 10 pages

II.B Proposed Organizational Structure and Staffing* - 5 pages

II.C Deliverables Schedule and Acceptance Criteria – 5 pages

II.D Performance Metrics/Service Level Agreements* -5 pages

II.E Customer Service Approach* - 18 pages

II.F Quality Control Plan – 5 pages

II.G Sub-contracting Plan/ Small Business Use – 5 pages

II.H Organizational Conflict of Interest (OCI) Mitigation

Plan*

III. Pricing Template (Amended Rev 1) 7

IV. Contract-related Documents (See Section 3)*** N/A

IV.A. Standard Form 1449/Standard Forms 30 (Amendments)

IV.B. Online Representations and Certifications Application

(ORCA) and EDAR Conflict of Interest (COI) Certification

*Excluding all pages for the requested examples and OCI mitigation plan.

**Excluding the copies of the Offeror’s key personnel resumes.

***Excluding the Offeror’s completed SFs, ORCA, and COI pages.

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I. LIST OF ATTACHMENTS

A. Data Challenges and Appeals Solutions (DCAS) Statement of Objectives (SOO), version 5.1, dated

November 18, 2014 (Amended Rev 1)

B. Past Performance Questionnaire Form (Amended Rev 1)

C. DCAS Lifecycle Management Methodology (LMM) Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) (Unchanged)

D. Pricing Template (Amended Rev 1)

E. FSA Small Business Subcontracting Goals (Unchanged)

F. Performance Metrics/Service Level Agreements (Unchanged)

G. DCAS Vendor Day Conference Presentation dated November 18, 2014 (New)

H. DCAS Vendor Day Pre-Conference Responses to Questions dated November 17, 2014 (New)

I. DCAS Vendor Day Conference Q&As Transcription dated November 19, 2014 (New)

1) To extend proposal submission deadline to NLT 3pm (eastern) on January 5, 2015;

2) To amend Sections I and II of the solicitation as outlined in the previously pages;

3) To amend Attachments A and D; and ...See Continuation Page

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