Section_L-Instructions_Conditions_and_Notices_to_Offerors_Revision.2.pdf

SECTION L – INSTRUCTIONS, CONDITIONS, AND

NOTICES TO OFFERORS REVISED.2

L.1 Solicitation Provisions Incorporated by Reference

(FAR 52.252-1) (FEB 1998)

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 CO will make the 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 address:

http://www.acquisition.gov.

FAR Provisions and Clauses Incorporated by Reference

FAR Clause No. Title and Date 52.204-6 Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) Number (JUL 2013) 52.215-1 Instructions to Offerors – Competitive Acquisition (JAN 2004) - Alternate

I (Oct 1997).

52-222-46 Evaluation of Compensation for Professional Employees (FEB 1993)

L.2 Requirements for Certified Cost or Pricing Data and Data Other Than Certified Cost or Pricing Data

(FAR 52.215-20 (OCT 2010)

Submission of certified cost or pricing data is not required.

(a) Provide information described below:

(1) Breakout for Section B - Price Proposal. The Offeror shall submit a completed Attachment

A Basic IDIQ Pricing Schedule, Attachment D Task Order 0001 Pricing Schedule Revised, and Attachment H Task Order 0002 Pricing Schedule.

Attachment A Basic IDIQ Pricing Schedule and Attachment D Task Order 0001 Pricing Schedule, and Attachment H Task Order 0002 Pricing Schedule Revised .2 shall include fully-burdened hourly rates for each labor category per level of security. The fully-burdened rates shall include all direct labor, indirect costs applicable to that direct labor, (such as, fringe benefits, overhead, and G&A), and profit for each category of labor.

http://www.acquisition.gov./

Offerors shall include a description of the method that will be used by the Contractor to record and bill for hours under Task Orders. The accounting practices for the Contractor shall be clearly identified within the written pricing volume, not within the template (e.g., The Contractor records all hours 40 hours per week). The descriptions will be incorporated into the contract and effective for T&M and labor-hour Task Orders.

(i) Labor Rates. The fully burdened labor rates shall include a rate to accommodate the cost of the contract level program management. Contract-level program management support costs, to include the Program Manager, encompass support for contract-level management, reporting requirements (See Section F, Deliveries or Performance) and related travel and meeting attendance costs associated with the Contractor’s program management staff. This relates to overall management of the ADGSS Program. As a result, these program management support costs shall be included within each fully burdened labor category rate, and shall not be proposed as separate labor categories.

The contract-level “program management” support costs are differentiated from individual Task Order “Task Order Manager” or “Project Manager” support costs, which are to specifically support project management for individual Task Orders. The “Task Order Manager” or “Project Manager” support labor hours are billed at hourly labor rates against individual Task Orders for direct support to the effort performed under those Task Orders.

This will result in direct billings at the Task Order level.

(ii) Materials (Direct), Subcontracts for supplies, and ODCs: As defined in Section B.6.1, Time and Material, the Government will provide a specified amount to be used for evaluation purposes for estimating material, subcontracts for supplies and other direct costs. However, actual materials, subcontracts for supplies, and ODCs will be negotiated at the TO level.

Offerors are required to propose indirect rates applicable to direct materials, subcontracts for supplies, and ODCs.

(iii) Indirect Rates: The indirect rates applicable to direct materials, subcontracts for supplies, and ODCs in the pricing templates will be ceiling rates and apply to the Prime Contractor only.

However, the Offeror may at its discretion elect to propose lower indirect rates on a task-by-task basis.

L.3 Type of Contract

(FAR 52.216-1) (APR 1984)

The Government intends to award a minimum of two (2) multiple IDIQ contracts resulting from this solicitation. The contracts will utilize T&M, L-H, and FFP TOs.

L.4 Service of Protest

(FAR 52.233-2) (SEPT 2006)

(a) Protests, as defined in Section 33.101 of the Federal Acquisition Regulation, that are filed directly with an agency, and copies of any protests that are filed with the General Accounting Office (GAO), shall be served on the CO (addressed as follows) by obtaining written and dated acknowledgment of receipt from:

Monifa Coleman, Contracting Officer Department of Education

Federal Student Aid 830 First Street, NE Washington DC 20202

Email: Monifa.Coleman@ed.gov

(b) The copy of any protest shall be received in the office designated above within one day of filing a protest with the GAO.

L.5 Proposals

L.5.1 Communications and Questions

Communications and questions concerning this solicitation or requests for clarification shall be made in writing to the Contracting Officer (Monifa Coleman) and Contract Specialist (Alan Cornwall) via electronic mail.

The due date for questions concerning the RFP is NO LATER THAN 10:00 A.M.

Eastern Time on September 02, 2016, with the company name, RFP number, and “questions” stated to the email address: FSAEAT@ed.gov .

As soon as an Offeror is aware of any problems or ambiguities in interpreting the specifications, terms or conditions, instructions or evaluation criteria of this solicitation, the CO shall be notified.

All questions will be answered via amendment and provided to all Offerors on the Internet at www.fbo.gov. No questions will be attributed to the respective Offerors.

L.5.2 Delivery of Proposal

Proposals (in their entirety) are due NO LATER THAN 2:00 P.M. Eastern Time on October 21, 2016, to the email address: FSAEAT@ed.gov and one (1) hard copy marked “original,” and 1 CD.

CAUTION: See the proposal submission instructions, including the provision describing treatment of late submissions, notifications and withdrawals of proposals at FAR Clause 52.215-1, Instructions to Offerors—Competitive Acquisition.

The proposal (in its entirety) shall be delivered to the electronic mail address designated in the paragraph (a) below with one (1) hard copy marked “original,” and one (1) CD. The outer wrapping of each package/box of the offer shall cite the information shown below.

mailto:Monifa.Coleman@ed.gov mailto:FSAEAT@ed.gov http://www.fbo.gov/

Failure to properly address the outer wrapping correctly may cause an offer to be misdirected.

(a) Offeror’s return address ATTN: Alan Cornwall Department of Education

Federal Student Aid 830 First Street, NE Washington DC 20202

Email: FSAEAT@ed.gov

(b) FSA Solicitation Number: ED-FSA-16-R-4567

Approved proposal delivery methods include only the following: 1) Certified Mail: U.S.

Postal Service; 2) Federal Express; 3) electronic mail; 4) hand-delivered; and 5) UPS. If the Offeror elects to forward the offer by means other than U.S. Mail, it assumes the full responsibility of insuring that the offer is received at the place and by the date and time specified in this solicitation. Such proposals must be closed and sealed as if for U.S. Postal mailing.

L.6 Solicitation Copies and Enclosures

An electronic copy of the solicitation, amendments, and related documents will be available for download via Internet at: www.fbo.gov 24 hours a day. It shall be the responsibility of the Offeror to reproduce additional copies for its use and monitor FBO for additional information and amendments.

L.7 Proposal Preparation Costs

This RFP does not commit the Government to pay any cost for the preparation and submission of a proposal in response to this RFP. The CO is the only individual who can legally commit the Government to the expenditure of public funds in connection with this procurement.

L.8 General Instructions - Basic IDIQ, TO 0001, and TO 0002

Offerors shall examine and follow all instructions. Failure to do so will be at the Offeror's own risk. Proposals shall conform to solicitation provision FAR 52.215-1, Instructions to Offerors - Competitive Acquisition, and be prepared in accordance with this section. To aid in the evaluations, proposals shall be clearly and concisely written as well as neat, indexed (cross-indexed as appropriate) and logically assembled. Prospective Offerors are asked to bear in mind that all material submitted should be directly pertinent to the requirements of this RFP. Extraneous narratives elaborate brochures, uninformative "PR" material and so forth, shall not be submitted. All pages of each part shall be appropriately numbered, and identified with the name of the Offeror, the date, and the solicitation number to the extent practicable.

L.9.1 Proposal Integrity

In responding to this RFP, it is the Offeror’s responsibility to provide current, complete and http://www.fbo.gov/ accurate information in their proposal. 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 CO as part of the Offeror’s responsibility determination and could result in the Offeror not being eligible for award.

L.9.2 General Format Instructions - Basic IDIQ, TO 0001, and TO 0002

Offerors shall furnish the proposal in separate volumes for the basic IDIQ, Task Order 0001 and Task Order 0002 as follows: Volume I: Technical/ Management Proposal; and Volume II:

Contract, Small Business Participation Cost/Price Proposal.

*Volume III Past Performance shall only be submitted for the Basic IDIQ.

Volumes I, II and III shall be submitted in the following manner specified below:

Electronic Copy Hard Copy Page Limit Format VOLUME I One (1) Electronic

Copy One (1) Hard Copy

Tab A – Cover Letter One (1) page PDF or DOC Executive Summary One (1) page PDF or DOC Tab B – Technical Capability

Twenty (20) pages PDF or DOC

Tab C- Management Capabilities, Staffing and Resumes

Thirty (30) pages , 2 pages per resume

PDF or DOC

VOLUME II

One (1) Electronic Copy

One (1) Hard Copy

Tab A - Exceptions, Deviations and Assumptions

One (1) page PDF or DOC

Tab B – Standard Form (SF- 33) signed, Certs & Reps, OCI

No Page Limit PDF or DOC

Tab C – Price Proposal for IDIQ, TO 0001, &

TO0002

No Page Limit Excel or MS Word

VOLUME III One (1) Electronic

Copy One (1) Hard Copy

Tab A -Past Performance (Excluding Questionnaire)

Ten(10) pages PDF or DOC

Tab B – Relevant Experience

Ten (10) pages PDF or DOC

Each volume, hard copy, electronic mail copy, and CD, shall be complete in itself in order that evaluation of one volume may be accomplished independently of, and concurrently with, evaluation of the other. Electronic copies shall be provided on CDs and shall be formatted using Microsoft Office 2003 (MS Office 2003) or Portable Document Format (PDF) as specified in the Proposal Organization Table above. Electronic files shall be named as specified throughout the Instructions to Offerors, Section L. Individual file sizes shall not exceed 5 MB. CDs shall be labeled on the disc to include: Offeror Name, Offeror DUNS number, Solicitation name and number, Volume Number, and Copy Number (e.g. Original, etc.).

Offers submitted in response to this solicitation shall be in the English language and in terms of U.S. dollars. Paper size shall be 8-1/2 by 11-inch white paper with printing on one side only. However, the Attachment A, Attachment D, and Attachment H Pricing Schedules Revised .2, shall be 8-1/2 by 14-inch white paper with printing on one side only. The font (typewritten or printed letters) shall be 12 point Times New Roman (with the exception of pre-printed product literature). No reduction in font or print size is permitted except for headers, footers, organization charts or other graphic illustrations. In those instances where reduction is allowable, Offerors shall ensure that the print is easily readable; no less than 8-point font on graphic illustrations and 10-point font on tables, headers and footers; Arial font is acceptable for charts or other graphic illustrations. Each page shall have adequate margins on each side (at least one inch) of the page. Header/footer information (which does not include any information to be evaluated) may be included in the 1" margin space. Fold outs for complete spreadsheets and/or organization charts are permissible up to 11 by 17-inch, with printing on only one side, if secured with the volume. Large sheets (i.e., greater than 8-1/2 by 11 inch) shall count as two (2) pages. Offerors’ proposals shall not exceed the page limitations set forth below. Pages that exceed the maximum page limitation will not be evaluated. In the event of a conflict between the contents of the hard copy version of the proposal and the contents of the electronic version, the hard copy version shall prevail. The Offeror shall provide a certification that the hard copy version of the proposal is exactly the same as the electronic version.

The Offeror shall submit a single Volume I and Volume II with clearly identified components of the Basic IDIQ, Task Order 0001, and Task Order 0002 as indicated within the RFP instructions.

Note: Proposals found to be non-compliant with proposal instructions may not be evaluated and may be eliminated from further consideration.

L.10 Format and Instructions for Proposal Submission for Basic IDIQ, TO 0001, and TO 0002

Offerors’ proposals shall consist of the following three (3) separate Volumes with the maximum number of pages for each proposal Volume as listed below. For each Volume, the Offeror shall provide an “original” hard copy, an emailed copy, and one (1) CD copy. Please note that any pages exceeding the maximum pages stated in the instructions below will not be evaluated by the Government.

In order for the technical proposal to be evaluated strictly on the merit of the material submitted, NO PRICE INFORMATION IS TO BE INCLUDED IN VOLUME I nor VOLUME III.

L.10.1 Volume I – Technical/Management Proposal

Offerors’ proposals submitted must meet the small business size standard, and demonstrate the Offeror’s ability to provide the full range of program/project, administrative, and IT support, meet the appropriate requirements criteria, and represent the Best Value to the Government.

Tab A - Cover Letter (One (1) page limit) and Executive Summary (One (1) page limit) Filename shall be “Volume I –Tab A –Cover Letter-Offeror Name.doc”

A cover letter shall accompany the proposal to set forth any information that the Offeror wishes to bring to the attention of the Government. The cover letter shall also stipulate that the Offeror’s proposal is predicated upon all the terms and conditions of this RFP. The cover letter shall also contain a certification that the hard copy version of the proposal is exactly the same as the electronic version. In addition, it must contain a statement that the Offeror’s proposal acceptance period is valid for 120 days.

The Executive Summary shall provide an overview of the proposal and is to be used as an aid in understanding the organization, content, and interrelationship of the proposal material.

Information is to be presented at the summary level and should only include general information about the proposal and the Offeror’s understanding of, and its capability to meet the requirements of the solicitation.

Tab B – : Technical Capability (Twenty (20) page limit) The filename shall be “Volume I Tab B –Technical Capability-Offeror Name.doc”

TECHNICAL CAPABILITY

a. Understanding of Requirements:

The Offeror shall provide a narrative describing their technical approach for achieving Program objectives and other requirements. As a minimum, the narrative shall address:

1. A description of proposed technical strategies and solutions for each functional service area and how those strategies and solutions satisfy the Program objectives and requirements

2. A description of risks (threats and opportunities) associated with proposed technical strategies and solutions as well as risk impacts, probability assessments, and proposed response strategies and approaches

b. Support and Procedures:

The Offeror shall provide a description of their approach to software development lifecycle methodologies. As a minimum the Offeror shall address:

i. A description of the proposed approach to software development policies and procedures, strategies for waterfall, modified Agile and Agile development projects

ii. A description of the proposed approach to business analysis and reengineering

iii. A description of the proposed approach to enterprise system testing and testing automation

iv. A description of the proposed approach to use information gathered during the O & M process to determine operational effectiveness and provide technical refresh recommendations

c. Quality Control Polices, Processes and Procedures:

The Offeror shall provide a description of their approach to quality control. As a minimum the Offeror shall address:

A description of the Offeror’s proposed approach to quality control, independent verification and validation (IV&V) and configuration management practices as it applies to software developed and maintained, as well as supporting documents.

d. CMMI Level 2 appraisal (excluded from page limitation)

The Offeror shall provide evidence of a valid CMMI Level 2 organizational/company appraisal for the Prime Offeror at the time of proposal submission.

Tab C –: Management Capabilities Thirty (30) page limit, excluding resumes which shall be no more than 2 pages per resume) The filename shall be “Volume 1 –Tab C –Management Capabilities-Offeror Name.doc”

MANAGEMENT CAPABILITIES: Contractors shall include the following:

a. Recruitment and Staffing Plan:

Provide a Recruitment and Staffing plan that provides (1) the capability of providing resources based on the functional area in the SOW within a short window (1 month); (2) a proposed program organization structure, and proposed roles and responsibilities of organizational entities and; (3) separation of independent testing resources from other resources.

b. Management Risks:

Provide narratives that explains: (1) risks (threats and opportunities) associated with the proposed program organizational structure (including subcontractors and teaming/partners entities) and proposed roles; (2) robustness and relevance of and risks associated with the Subcontracting; and (3) the relevance of management lessons learned from past specialized experience and the extent to which they have been applied to the proposed management approach.

c. Work Breakdown Structure (WBS):

Provide a WBS that: (1) the Offeror’s WBS showing O&M support; (2) the Offeror’s WBS specific to Task Order 0001 and 0002 for, new development support, and (3) the Offeror’s independent software testing. The work breakdown structure must be to the third level. The WBS’ shall provide narratives for the IDIQ, TO: 0001 and TO: 0002 showing evidence that the Offeror understands the tasks to be conducted in the SOW.

d. Resumes (2 page limit per resume)

Tab C shall provide the resume of the proposed PM that describes the qualifications of fulfilling the responsibilities in Program Management per 3452.243-70 Key Personnel (section I); the resume of the proposed shall describe the qualifications of fulfilling the responsibilities of the Key Personnel and its plan for recruiting, training, and retaining qualified personnel and personnel with appropriate security clearances as required by individual Task Orders.

Key Personnel Basic IDIQ Name

Program Manager

Key Personnel Task Order 0001 Name

Project Manager

Business Analyst-Intermediate

SerenaSolutionDevelopment Specialist (Senior)

Key Personnel Basic 0002 Name

Senior Testing Technician

Testing Technician-Intermediate

L.10.2 Volume II – Contract, Small Business Participation, Cost/Price Proposal

Tab A – Exceptions, Deviations and Assumptions The filename shall be “Volume II –Tab A – Exceptions_Deviations_Assumptions-Offeror

Name.doc” (One (1) page limit)

Each proposal shall include an exceptions, deviations and assumptions section in Volume II that identifies and explains in detail any exceptions, deviations, or conditional assumptions taken with the requirements of the RFP. Any exceptions, deviations and assumptions taken must contain sufficient amplification and justification to permit evaluation. All benefits to the Government shall be fully explained for each exception taken. Exceptions and deviations will not, of themselves, automatically cause a proposal to be termed unacceptable. A large number of exceptions and/or deviations, or one or more significant exceptions and/or deviations not providing benefit to the Government, may, however, result in rejection of your proposal as unacceptable or otherwise non-compliant.

Tab B – Contract Documents and Associated Information

The following documents and information shall be included in Tab B:

The filename shall be “Volume II –Tab B –Contract Documents-Offeror Name.doc” or Volume II –Tab B –Contract Documents-Offeror Name.pdf”

i. A completed SF-33 and signed SF-30s (Amendments). The Offeror's acceptance period shall not be less than that prescribed in the RFP.

ii. Completed Representations and Certifications, in accordance with Section K.

iii. Disclosure of Potential or Actual Organizational Conflict of Interest (OCI) As applicable, supplementary information, such as: Information regarding security clearances*;

*Note: ADGSS does have a mandatory minimum requirement for a 5C Public Trust security clearance. However, Offerors should note that future Task Orders may include security requirements based upon the nature of the planned efforts. In order to receive such work, Offerors must be capable of receiving a minimum of a 5C security clearance.

Tab C – Cost/Price Proposal for IDIQ, Task Order 0001, and Task Order 0002 The filename shall be “Volume II –Tab C –Attachment A, Attachment D, and Attachment H-Pricing Schedule Revised .2-Offeror Name.xls” (Unlimited page count)

Pricing

Each price proposal will be evaluated, but will not be assigned a rating. The evaluation of the price proposal will include accuracy, completeness, and reasonableness. The Government will also evaluate the proposed rates, and prices, to determine if they are realistic using proposal analysis techniques consistent with FAR 15.404-1, Proposal Analysis Techniques.

The total evaluated price of the Offeror’s proposal will be calculated in the Attachment A, D, and H Pricing Schedule, and evaluated by the Government and is comprised of the following elements:

The total price of all years in Attachment A Pricing Schedule, Attachment D Task Order 0001 Pricing Schedule, and Attachment H Task Order 0002 Pricing Schedule Revised .2 (calculated by multiplying each labor rate by the applicable evaluation hours and summing the total price for all five years);

Note: Failure to offer rates for all labor categories and all contract periods may result in offer ineligibility. This means that the omission of a rate for just a single category may result in a material non-conformity.

Unrealistically low prices may indicate an inability to understand requirements and a high-risk approach to contract performance. Accordingly, the Government may consider the findings of such an analysis in evaluating an Offeror’s ability to perform and the risk of its approach.

L.10.3 Volume III – Past Performance

Tab A – Past Performance (Ten (10) page limit, excluding Past Performance Questionnaires)

The Offeror shall provide information to demonstrate its past performance. Past performance information is comprised of two elements:

The filename shall be “Volume III –Tab A –Past Performance Statement-Offeror Name.doc”

(a) A brief narrative statement for each reference of how the example demonstrates a favorable experience for the customer and how it is an indication of expected quality on ADGSS. The contact information and organization for each reference shall be included within the statement. If known, include the date the reference forwarded the questionnaire to FSA via email.

(b) A completed Past Performance Questionnaire submitted by each of the references cited in Tab C. The Offeror shall be responsible for ensuring that each of the customer references receives, completes and returns Attachment C Past Performance Questionnaire, to the Contracting Officer. The Offeror shall complete the project title and contract reference number to match its Tab A proposal information before sending the form to its reference. The completed Questionnaire shall not be submitted with the Offeror’s proposal submission. The completed Questionnaire shall be submitted directly via email from the customer reference to the email box for the respective evaluation by the due date established for receipt of offers.

Failure to receive a questionnaire from a reference will result in the non-consideration of the Reference. If the Offeror demonstrates that an earnest attempt was made to collect the required information, the Government may, at the Contracting Officer’s discretion, consider the Reference. The message shall originate from the references corporate or Government email system and the “subject” line in the submission email shall clearly indicate:

ADGSS Past Performance Questionnaire Submission for Offeror [Name]; or

The Government reserves the right to contact customers identified in the proposal and solicit further information about performance in regard to quality, timeliness, cost, and business relationship. The accuracy of past performance data, including phone numbers of the points of contact are the full responsibility of the Offeror and inaccuracy may result in non-consideration of the reference. Other related past performance information may be sought and used for evaluating completeness and accuracy of the Contractor’s proposals. Past performance information may be obtained from a variety of sources including other Government agencies.

(c) The Offeror shall indicate in this Tab if it has no past performance. Offerors with no past performance will receive a neutral rating.

Tab B – Relevant Experience (Ten (10) page limit) The filename shall be “Volume III –Tab B –Relevant Experience-Offeror Name.doc”

Past Performance will be utilized to determine an Offerors relevant experience that is similar in scope, complexity, and possess the knowledge of software testing standards or other technical standards for software development through creation and completion.

1) Past Performance work experience must demonstrate how well the Contractor managed cost and comply with the contractual terms and conditions of the requirements.

2) The Contractor’s resource(s) must clearly demonstrate through its work experience and technical skills their capability to successfully complete the tasks identified that are similar in nature to the SOW and without risk of failure to the Government.

3) FSA requires a total of three (3) past or current contracts executed within the past (3) years that will demonstrate a company’s abilities (e.g., same or similar scope, size, duration). At least one (1) experience described must be as the Prime Offeror.

Note: Recent is defined as within the last three (3) years from the date of release of this

RFP.

Relevant is defined as work which is the same and/or similar in complexity and scope to the work described in the ADGSS requirement(s).

Project description. Identify the team member that performed the work. Describe the key objectives of the project, including the scope and complexity of the efforts and how the customer benefited operationally or strategically. Describe any other aspects of the project to demonstrate its relevance to being a FSA ADGSS Contractor. Describe the applicable team member’s role in the project and the challenges and lessons learned from your experience as the prime contractor.

Describe the integration of resources (e.g. personnel, tools, applications, etc.) into the customer’s environment.

* Please Note Relevant Experience is Not the Same as Past Performance

L.11 Alternate Proposals

Alternate proposals will not be considered.

(End of Section L)