EST BPA Cover Letter.doc

REQUEST FOR QUOTE (RFQ) #1696978 GSA MAS

Notice to GSA Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) and will be competed under Special Item Number (SIN) 54151S, IT Professional Services Date: May 17, 2024 Subject: Enterprise System Testing (EST) Contractor Support Services Multiple Award Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA) Request for Quote Contractual History:

The current vendor is Peraton Inc.

Specific Requirements:

See the BPA Performance Work Statement (Attachment 1).

The current estimated ceiling for the Multiple Award BPA suite will be $181,665,578.72 across all BPAs. There is no minimum guarantee.

The period of performance of the BPA will be five (5) years.

The anticipated ordering periods for this BPA is as follows:

Ordering Period 1: September 22, 2024 – September 21, 2025 Ordering Period 2: September 22, 2025 – September 21, 2026 Ordering Period 3: September 22, 2026 – September 21, 2027 Ordering Period 4: September 22, 2027 – September 21, 2028

Ordering Period 5: September 22, 2028 – September 21, 2029

Performance Locations: New Carrolton, MD, Detroit, MI, Memphis, TN, Austin, TX, Dallas, TX, Ogden, UT, and Martinsburg, WV. Please refer to the Performance Work Statement.

Questions on Request for Quote (RFQ):

If you have any questions email the Contracting Officer (CO) Megan McMullen at Megan.M.McMullen@irs.gov by 3:00 PM EST, 24 May 2024. All questions shall be submitted on RFQ 1696978 Questions and Answers template (Attachment 7). Late submittal of questions will not be answered unless it is determined to be in the Government’s best interest. Please include RFQ 1696978 in the subject line. All questions must reference the applicable RFQ section, clause, paragraph number, and/or page number. Any questions that do not following the submission format or that are submitted after the due date and time may not be addressed or considered. No telephonic inquires will be accepted.

General Instructions:

This acquisition is being conducted under FAR 8.405; therefore, the contracting techniques under FAR 15.3 do not apply. Vendors will be required to provide a price and technical quote in accordance with the instructions herein. The intent is to award a multiple award BPA via competition under GSA MAS SIN 54151S NAICS 541519.

The Government will not consider pages submitted in excess of the stated page limitations, or materials not included in full text within the quote (no links to external information will be reviewed or considered). Page limitations include all text, graphs, pictures, appendices, references, exhibits, etc. Tabs, index sheets, tables of contents, dividers and other such aids that are solely used to assist the evaluator in locating information and are advisory in nature, imparting no other information other than the identification of content, will not be counted against any page limits stated within this RFQ.

Submittal Format:

Responses shall be forwarded as separate files (contract documentation, technical, and price). Offerors shall submit one (1) original copy and one (1) redacted copy of Volume 1, Volume 2, Volume 3, Volume 4, and Volume 5. All information identifying the Offeror and its points of contact shall be removed from the redacted copy of the quotation. In the event that a vendor fails to submit a properly redacted quote the IRS will not perform redactions for the vendor and will not allow a vendor to submit an updated quote to address the failure to provide a properly redacted quote. Failure to provide a redacted version of the quote may result in removal of the quote from consideration by the Agency without evaluation.

Due to system limitations of 10MBs, we are no longer able to accept zip files from external sources. Responses shall be sent in either MS Word, Adobe Acrobat (.pdf), or MS Excel attachments, as appropriate. All narrative shall be typed in Times New Roman 12-point font size. Text will be single spaced and separation between paragraphs shall be double spaced. All formulas shall be visible on all calculated values on spreadsheets. For illustrations, drawings, and tables a 10-point font size is required. All labels and markings must be easily readable. Color may be used at the discretion of the Offeror. Foldout pages are not permitted unless otherwise stated herein. The term “page” above refers to an 8.5 x 11 standard size page. Margins shall be 1-inch top, bottom, left, and right side.

EVALUATION PROCEDURES/METHOD OF AWARD

The Government intends on awarding three (3) Unrestricted BPAs and three (3) Small business BPAs for a total of six (6) BPAs to the responsible Offerors whose offer conforming to this solicitation presents the greatest overall benefit or “best value” to the Government, price and other factors considered. The Government will employ a "trade-off" approach for making this determination.

The Government intends to conduct evaluations in two (2) pools. One (1) pool of evaluations will be conducted for Small Business and one (1) pool of evlauations will be conducted for Unrestricted. Vendors must clearly declare if they wish to be considered for the Small Business pool or the Unrestricted pool.

The Government intends to conduct the evaluation and selection process in two (2) phases.

Phase 1 – Advisory Down Select. Factor 1 will be evaluated in this phase. Each offeror will receive an advisory down select notification. The advisory down select notification will inform the offeror of:

1. The basis of the Government advisory down select notice; and

2. Either that it will be invited to participate in Phase 2 or based on the information submitted, that it is unlikely to be a viable competitor with the basis for that opinion. The intent of this distinction is to minimize proposal development costs for those vendors with little or no chance of receiving an award.

Offeror(s) that receive a non-select notice from the Contracting Officer from the Phase 1 portion of the evaluation is asked to voluntarily withdraw from proposing on Phase 2.

However, it is strictly the offeror’s business decision as to whether they choose to withdraw. The offeror shall make the business decision as to whether to continue to Phase 2 thus assuming the risk of continued expenses with little chance of receiving a BPA award from this solicitation.

NOTE: The advisory notification is the only notice the Government will provide from Phase 1; debriefs will not occur at the end of Phase 1.

Phase 2 – Factors 2-6 will be evaluated in this phase. The selection decision will be a trade-off involving all six (6) factors.

1. Participation in Phase 1 is a mandatory part of this acquisition. Failure to participate in Phase 1 will preclude further consideration of the offeror’s proposal. Phase 2 submissions will not be accepted from any offeror who has not completed Phase 1.

2. Results of Phase 1 will be carried over to Phase 2 for the overall evaluation of proposals. No revisions to the Phase 1 submission will be accepted as part of Phase 2.

The following factors shall be used to evaluate offers. The combined merit of the technical evaluation factors will be valued higher than price. Factors 1-6 are listed in descending order of importance.

Phase 1

Volume 1

Cover Page

Fill-in Provisions / Clauses Factor 1 – Relevant Corporate Experience (Adjectival rating) 1 Page

No Page limit

10 Pages

Phase 2

(Suggested only for offerors that passed Phase 1 and were invited to Phase 2)

(Adjectival Rating) 25 Pages

Key Personnel (Adjectival Rating) 10 Pages

(Adjectival Rating) 15 Pages

(Adjectival Rating) 10 Pages

PHASE 1 Due Date and Instructions: Offeror responses shall be submitted on GSA eBuy.

no later than the due date and time specified on the GSA eBuy RFQ.

COVER PAGE (Volume 1): Offerors must submit a coverpage detailing the following:

· Commercial and Government Entity (CAGE) number

· Unique Entity Identification (UEI) Number

· Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN)

· Address(es) of the location(s) at which the Offeror intends to perform the proposed effort

· If no Organizational Conflict of Interest exists, then the Offeror shall clearly state this in its cover letter.

· The names, titles, phone numbers and email addresses of persons authorized to negotiate on the Offeror’s behalf with the Government in connection with this solicitation.

· If the submitted quote contains a “contractor team arrangement” as defined in FAR 9.601, provide information that describes the contractor team arrangement to include any information that will help the Government understand the contractor team arrangement purpose and benefit.

FILL IN PROVISIONS (Volume 1): Offerors must complete all fill-in provisions (Attachment 2) and submit them as part of Phase 1. This does not count against the page count.

FACTOR 1 – Relevant Corporate Experience: (Volume 1) (Phase 1): The Offeror shall provide the information indicated below for three (3) contracts of its own experience. If the offeror is including a teaming partner, the offeror shall provide a at least two contracts of its own experience and at least one of its teaming partners for a maximum of three (3) contracts, with the inclusion of its businesses commitment partners that are similar in size, scope, and complexity within the past five years. These examples of relevant experience shall be contracts that are ongoing or completed within the past five (5) years for projects of the same size, scope and complexity as required in this Request for Quote (RFQ). (10 - page limit).

For each contract listed, provide the government (Federal/State Only) manager or Contract Officer Representative (COR) who can best address the contract work performed. Identify an alternate for each.

· Name and address of the government manager or COR

· Name, telephone numbers (both voice and fax if known) and e-mail address (if known) for a primary and alternate person as point of contact

· Period of performance (mm/dd/yyyy - mm/dd/yyyy) and contract number

· Narrative shall include:

· Description of supplies delivered and/or services performed

· How it is similar or equal to the EST BPA Performance Work Statement (PWS) size, scope, and complexity

· Contract work scope and responsibilities

· Description of how these contract efforts are like this proposed contract effort in relation to the capabilities, knowledge, and skills listed in the PWS.

· Experience that has an estimated/actual value greater than $10,000,000.00 will be considered for Large/Unrestricted Businesses.

· Experience that has an estimated/actual value greater than $5,000,000.00 will be considered for Small Businesses.

PHASE 2 Due Date and Instructions: Phase 2 submission deadline will be provided in notification letters. When responding to this RFQ, in addition to the other instructions/requirements in this document, the Offerors must provide a separate technical and price quote. Pages more than the stated page limitations will not be evaluated.

FACTOR 2 – Technical Approach (Volume 2) (Phase 2): The Offeror shall describe and illustrate their technical approach for completing the tasks and objectives in the BPA Performance Work Statement (PWS). The technical quote shall address each task in the PWS and provide the Offeror’s response to accomplish these tasks (BPA Technical Portion 25-page limit) FACTOR 3 – Management Approach / Staffing Plan / Key Personnel (Volume 3) (Phase 2): The Offeror shall describe and illustrate their experience and management approaches (risk, communication, performance, program, and quality) relating to the BPA to effectively manage the project schedule, costs, and deliverables. The management approach must specifically describe the Offerors plan to ensure that quality products and services are delivered, to include how they will address IRS priorities for the EST going forward. The offeror shall ensure there are separate sections in the management approach for the BPA.

The Offeror’s approach shall address the requirements in the section of the PWS to provide a Staffing Plan. If the Offeror proposes teaming arrangements, the management approach shall explain to what extent team members will be involved in the performance of the proposed tasks, identify the functional area for which they will be responsible, and describe how the Offeror will manage the team member participation. The Contractor shall also address in their management approach each deliverable requirement identified throughout the PWS.

The Offeror’s approach must also demonstrate that the Key Personnel meet the minimum education and target experience identified in PWS SECTION 13.0 KEY PERSONNEL to successfully execute the Offeror’s technical approach as identified in the PWS. The relevance, amount and duration of the experience are important. Relevant experience is defined as work experience that is similar in size, scope, and complexity to that outlined in the PWS. The Offeror shall also demonstrate the ability to offer qualified personnel by providing resumes (not to exceed 2 pages each) for the key personnel listed in the PWS (Section 13.0), to include the proposed employees’ educational background and work history. Proposed key personnel will be evaluated based upon their experience with contracts/projects similar in size, scope, and complexity and the relevant skill sets listed in the PWS. Resumes do count toward the page limitation. For each Key Personnel member, a letter of commitment (1 page per member) shall be provided to ensure the proposed individuals will remain after award. Letters of commitment will not count toward the page limitation.

The Offerors shall also detail the staffing plan to demonstrate their approach to effectively staff the project and manage all resources assigned to the BPA and task order in support of the PWS. This includes the Offerors recruitment plan (tools used, partner network, internal process, etc…). How key personnel will be utilized and if additional qualifications are proposed that are beneficial.

Vendors must immediately inform the Contracting Officer of any changes in the availability of proposed key personnel if any individual proposed for such a position becomes unavailable between the deadline for quote submissions and the date on which BPA awards are made. Prior to making award(s) the Agency will confirm with all vendors potentially in line for an award that all key personnel of that vendor’s quote are still available. If any key person has become unavailable the vendor will be permitted to revise its quote ONLY with regards to the key personnel who have become unavailable with the submission of a new individual for that position. Vendors are cautioned that any substitutions of key personnel after the deadline for submission of quotes may result in a reduction of the vendor’s technical evaluation.

The Offeror shall also detail tasks/functions and skill sets will be performed by teaming agreements and how it will be integrated within the overall management processes. (10-page limit)

FACTOR 4 – Small Business Participant Plan (Volume 4) (Phase 2): All Offerors must complete Attachment #3, Small Business Participation Plan (SBPP). The SBPP will be incorporated into the contract and shall be binding on the Offeror. The Government will evaluate the Offeror’s approach and techniques that will be used to achieve small business participation. The Offeror shall identify the names and roles of the small business Offerors including the type of small business (e.g., Small, Small Disadvantaged Business (SDB), Woman-Owned, Historically Underutilized Business (HUB)Zone, Veterans Owned, SDVOSB, Other by type), and the estimated value of each subcontract in relation to the total proposed amount. The plan shall clearly describe the following specific elements: 1. The Contractor’s approach for achieving small business participation; 2. How the plan is integrated within the overall management processes for this effort; 3. The measure used to achieve small business subcontracting in a cost- effective manner to the Government. The Government will evaluate the plan on its quality, level of appropriate detail, feasibility, cost effectiveness and the Offerors degree of compliance with the Small Business Subcontracting goals located below. Small Business Subcontracting Goals Small Business: 15%, Small Disadvantaged: 5%, Women-Owned: 5%, HUBZone Business: 3%, Small Disadvantaged Veteran-Owned: 5% upon award, the winning Offeror will be required to submit an annual report on actual subcontracted dollars compared to the proposed amounts for each socio-economic group. Any areas that fall short, a mitigation plan will have to be submitted to address the shortfall. (15-Page limit) FACTOR 5 – Past Performance (Volume 5) (Phase 2): The offeror shall submit three past performance references from within the last five years. Past performance references shall include the contract and/or order number. The references shall include the Government point of contact information for the reference. The past performance references shall demonstrate relevancy to this effort and shall demonstrate how the scopes are similar. The offer shall submit a completed Past Performance Questionnaire (Attachment 6) for each reference. (10-Page limit) The Offeror shall distribute Attachment 6, Past Performance Questionnaire (PPQ) to POCs with instructions that the POC shall submit the completed PPQs directly to the Contracting officer via email. Completed PPQs shall only be submitted by the POC, not the offeror. Submission emails shall contain “RFQ 1696978 Enterprise System Testing (EST) Contractor Support Services” in the subject line. The references for all contracts must have been associated with the contract during the last five (5) years. All completed PPQs must be received by the Government by the due date for quotation submission. The offeror, not the Government, shall be responsible for ensuring PPQs are submitted timely.

FACTOR 6 – Price Quote (Volume 6) (Phase 2): Quotes shall clearly support the proposed technical approach. The price quote shall be in accordance with the Offeror’s GSA contract. The Government requests, Offerors provide discounts as available and clearly show the amount of the discount in the price response.

There is no established page limitation for the Price Quote.

Price evaluation will be undertaken concurrently with the technical evaluation by the Contracting Officer. Although the proposed prices will not be scored, they will be evaluated for each mandatory labor category listed in the Price Matrix.

The price quote file names must include the Offeror’s name or initials and the RFQ number. The price quote data shall be submitted in a single Microsoft (MS) Excel file which may have as many worksheets as necessary for including all detailed data and information. Extended narrative or cover letters provided as support for the price quote must be submitted in a separate MS Word file or pdf type file format.

If known at the time of quote submission each subcontractor’s full name, address, phone number, UEI number, and internet address, if applicable, shall be included in the price quote narrative or explanatory notes. Subcontracted labor must be identified separately in the price quote by individual subcontractor. Offerors shall comply with the requirements of FAR 8.4 or provide any subcontract agreements already negotiated to support subcontractor’s rates. If subcontractors do not want to provide you information for their quotes, that information shall be sent directly to the Contracting Officer with reference to the prime’s quote.

To the extent that it is deemed that the price quote does not contain sufficient supporting documentation, the Government may request submission of such documentation and may use this information in the evaluation of the quote.

Travel related expenses will be reimbursed in accordance with the Federal Travel Regulations and will be controlled by issuance of written instructions from the Government. Profit/Fee shall not be applied to travel expenses. (Note: Any additive factor, i.e., General &Administrative (G&A), should be identified in the quote, but not applied.)

Pricing Matrix (Attachment 4) - Offerors shall complete Attachment 4. The Government requires an hourly rate for all specified labor categories. These rates will be incorporated into the BPA to be utilized as the ceiling rates for all future task orders. The rates in these tables shall apply to subcontractors too. These ceiling rates shall not exceed the GSA schedule rates. In addition, these ceiling rates shall include any discounts being proposed.

The offeror shall propose the price associated with the extension under FAR 52.217-8. For this price, the offeror shall propose 50% of the final ordering period of the task order.

EVALUTAION CRITERIA

Technical factors include all factors other than the price factor. Although technical factors combined are more important than price, the Government will not automatically award to an Offeror that submits a quote receiving the highest technical rating.

In determining the best overall value, the Government has the discretion to make an award to a vendor whose quote cost/price is lower than that of a vendor whose quote receives the highest technical rating. Although cost/price is of less importance than technical factors combined, the closer quote technical ratings are to one another, the more important cost/price consideration becomes in determining the best value to the Government. The Government will not assume adequacy of performance in areas not specified in a vendor’s written quote. Quotes which merely restate the requirements of the Solicitation or state that a vendor “will comply” with requirements are inadequate to establish technical acceptability of a vendor’s proposed approach. An offeror with an unacceptable, or fail rating in any category will not be eligible for award.

The following rating descriptors will be used to determine if the contractor has addressed the requirements of RFQ by allocating responses into categories of strength, weakness, or deficiency for factor 1, factor 2, factor 3 and factor 4:

· A “significant strength” is an attribute of the offeror's quote that exceeds the specified performance or capability requirements in a way that is substantially beneficial to the Government.

· A “strength” is an attribute of the offeror's quote that exceeds the specified performance or capability requirements in a way that is beneficial to the Government.

· A “weakness” is an attribute of the offeror's quote which is likely to increase the probability of unsuccessful contract performance.

· A “significant weakness” is an attribute of the offeror's quote which is likely to substantially increase the probability of unsuccessful contract performance.

· A “deficiency” is a material failure of a quote to meet a Government requirement or a combination of significant weaknesses in a quotel that increases the risk of unsuccessful contract performance to an unacceptable level.

In determining each rating, the Government will assess risk as follows:

· Low Risk – Contractor is more likely to succeed than fail.

· Moderate Risk – Contractor is somewhat likely to succeed or fail.

· High Risk - Contractor is more likely to fail than succeed.

PHASE 1

FACTOR 1 – RELEVANT CORPORATE EXPERIENCE

The Government will evaluate the extent to which the Offeror’s narrative and example(s) submittal for corporate experience with projects of a similar size, scope, and complexity demonstrate its capability to successfully perform the requirements of the PWS.

Factor 1 Relevant Corporate Experience Adjectival Rating:

PHASE 2

FACTOR 2 – TECHNICAL APPROACH

The Government will evaluate the technical approach for the BPA PWS and the to ensure it demonstrates an understanding of the requirements. The documentation submitted by the Offeror to address this technical evaluation factor shall outline the contractor’s overall approach to accomplishing the requirements of the BPA PWS.

Factor 2 BPA Technical Approach Adjectival Ratings:

FACTOR 3 – MANAGEMENT APPROACH / STAFFING PLAN / KEY PERSONNEL

The Government will evaluate the Offeror’s approach to effectively manage the project schedule, costs, deliverables, and personnel. The Government will evaluate that the Offeror’s demonstrated an approach to effectively staff the project and manage all resources assigned to the task order in support of the PWS. The Government will evaluate the staffing plan to ensure it meets the requirements of the PWS. The Government will evaluate the key personnel submitted to ensure they meet the requirements outlined in the PWS.

Factor 3 BPA Management Approach / Staffing Plan / Key Personnel Adjectival Ratings:

FACTOR 4 – SMALL BUSINESS PARTICIPATION PLAN

The Government will evaluate the offerors plan to utilize small businesses under this BPA. The Government will evaluate the offerors against the small business participation goals provided below.

Factor 4 BPA Small Business Participation Plan Ratings:

FACTOR 5 – PAST PERFORMANCE

The Evaluation of Past Performance will be based on information contained in the Contract Performance Assessment Reporting System (CPARS); however, the Government reserves the right to use other past performance information obtained from sources other than those retrieved from the CPARS to include the information provided in Past Performance Questionnaires (Attachment 6). If the references provided in the Questionnaires are also in CPARS, CPARS will take precedence in case of conflict. In addition, the Government may utilize past performance in eSRS to evaluate the offerors past performance in managing small business subcontractors and meeting small business goals.

FACTOR 6 – PRICE EVALUATION

Price will be evaluated, but will not be assigned an adjectival rating, or scored. The Government will evaluate proposed prices to determine if the prices are fair and reasonable, reflect a clear understanding of the requirements, and are consistent with the Vendor’s technical quote.

For overall price evaluation, offerors are required to submit pricing for the number of hours for each labor category established in the pricing workbook.

The Government will evaluate proposed prices in accordance with FAR 8.4 to determine the prices are fair and reasonable. The price evaluation may also include an evaluation of the Contractor’s price for assessing the risk inherent in the Contractor’s approach.

In accordance with FAR 8.405, Contractors are strongly encouraged to provide additional discounts and price reductions from their GSA Schedule contract prices.

These prices will be evaluated using the following criteria:

1.

Price analysis will be conducted in accordance with the applicable techniques cited in FAR 15.404-1(b).

Basis for Award:

The Government anticipates awarding up to three (3) Unrestricted BPAs and three (3) Small business BPAs for a total of six (6) BPAs as a result of this solicitation. BPA awards will be issued to the proposals that represent the "best value" to the Government. The selection with consist of three (3) small business vendors in the small business pool and the three unrestricted vendors from the unrestricted pool. All offerors quotes shall remain valid for 180 days.

Task orders for Performance Testing will be competed amongst the small business BPA holders. All other Task orders will be competed amongst all BPA holders. Task Order Instructions and Evaluation Criteria will be specified at the task order level. The Government intends to solicit Task Order RFQs after BPA awards.

The BPA awards shall be made to the vendors whose quotes are determined to be the most advantageous to the Government based on the evaluation criteria set forth above. The selection of the contractors under this RFQ will be at the sole discretion of the Source Selection Authority (SSA) based on the “best value” overall to the Government. Best value means an acquisition process that results in the most advantageous acquisition decision for the Government performed through an integrated assessment and trade-off between technical factors and cost/price.

Discussions

The Government intends to award based on the initial responses. However, the Government reserves the right to request clarifications or hold discussions if it is determined to be in the Government’s best interest.

AWARD OF FULL QUANTITY

Vendors must submit prices for labor categories and all quantities, including option quantities to be eligible for award.

RFQ Attachments.

Attachment 1 – BPA PWS Attachment 2 – BPA Provisions and Clauses Attachment 3 – Small Business Participation Plan

Attachment 4 – Pricing Matrix Attachment 5 – BPA QASP Attachment 6 – Past Performance Questionnaire

Attachment 7 – RFQ RFQ 1696978 Questions and Answers template

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