Revised IT Question and Answers 3 Nov 2011.docx

IT SUPPORT SERVICES QUESTIONS

Questions 1 through 99 were submitted in response to the Draft RFP. All remaining questions refer to the final RFP.

Will there be multiple awards?

Who is the incumbent?

Will awardee require TS clearance?

Presentations are posted on FBO and the AFCEE website.

One award will be made.

The current contractor is Vista Technical Services TS clearance is not required.

Yes

Was the bridge contract awarded to the contractor who was awarded the original contract?

We do not have access to the size status of the original contractor.

The current contract for interim services was awarded to Vista Technical

Who is incumbent?

Are they able to bid again?

Please refer to PWS, Para 1.12.1 for a description of the services required to be performed by Subject Matter Experts.

VISTA Technical Services Yes

The PWS will be updated to include this labor category.

(a) Are any of the IT support personnel provided under the proposed contract permanently located at any of the four regional/satellite sites? If so, will the Government identify number and labor category of contractor personnel by site?

(b) Will the government provide a list of hardware and software configuration items supported at each of the sites to be supported under the proposed contract?

See response to question # 38.

Depending on the requested information various labor categories could be utilized to perform these services (i.e., Subject Matter Expect, Scientific Professional, Application Programmer, etc.).

The PWS will be updated to delete “Program Manager.” It is expected that program management is inherent in the Offerors’ overhead costs.

(a) It appears that the reference to IAM1 should be 5.2.1. Correct?

(b) The IAM1 requires 6 years experience in the IA arena. Is the intent of 5.2.2 that the IAM2 should have 8 years instead of 6 years experience? If so, recommend the wording in 5.2.2 be changed to read: “All requirements of above IAM1 (5.2.3) apply, except that a total of 8 years experience in the IA arena is required.”

(a) Yes, the PWS will be corrected to clarify.

(b) The PWS will be corrected to clarify.

Performance Work Statement (PWS) Section 5.7.1, Programming Support Task Leader, states: “… the special expertise waiver from that section [5.7.6] cannot be applied here.” Section 5.7.6 contains no reference to a special expertise waiver. Please clarify.

Please see Section 5.0 regarding the waiver. The PWS will be updated to provide clarification.

Yes. The PWS will be updated accordingly.

IAO will be removed from the PWS to provide clarity.

This will be clarified in the final RFP.

This will be clarified in the final RFP.

No, resumes are not excluded from the 15 page limit of the Technical/Management Approach. Offerors must meet the requirements for the Technical/Management Approach Subfactor in the 15 pages allocated.

(a) Please confirm that pages 3 through 107 of 163 pages of the Draft RFP constitute the Schedule B (Bid Schedule).

(b) No Attachment B was provided with the Draft RFP. Will this attachment be provided with the Final RFP? How does Attachment B differ from Schedule B?

(a) Pages 3 through 107 constitute the Schedule B

(b) An electronic Schedule B will be provided in the final RFP. Attachment B contains a Schedule B.

This will be clarified in the final RFP.

Attendee list will be posted.

1.2 Sub-Factor Technical

Paragraph a. and following use the word continuous in providing Past Experience for 3 years. What is the definition for Continuous (one contract or work performed for past three year on any contract).

Paragraph a. Past experience for legacy systems must be in direct support for systems that provide integrated financial, contract acquisition, contract management, environmental remediation, construction and project management data; environmental sampling; and reporting of environmental data.

Are you asking for same type of systems or large legacy systems of similar size. If you need the exact same type of systems I would think only the incumbent could provide this type of experience since you cannot have any contractors on your team that are currently doing work in AFCEE.

Continuous refers to work performed without interruption over the 3 years. The RFP does not specify the 3 years of continuous work be performed by one contractor. Please reference RFP Paragraph 2.1(4).

Also, reference the response to question #22.

Yes, of similar in size, scope, and complexity to the entire scope of the PWS. Reference responses to questions #2 and #40.

See response to question # 56.

Yes, the business is precluded from pursuing other opportunities within AFCEE. No. It is considered a conflict of interest due to the broad range of contractor and government information that the AFCEE IT Contractor will be required to routinely access. Even if a contractor were to propose a mitigation plan, a strong appearance of an unfair competitive advantage would remain since the AFCEE IT Contractor will have access to substantial non-public information. The restriction pertains to AFCEE contractors who are currently performing under task orders and will bid on future task orders, as well as contractors seeking new opportunities with AFCEE in the future.

The RFP will be revised to include this language.

The incumbent contractor is an Alaskan Native firm. The Indian Incentive Program is a congressional sponsored program that provide a 5% rebate back to the prime contractor on the total amount subcontracted to an Indian owned economic enterprise, or Indian organization.

IAW DFARS 252.226-7001(f)(1) the Contractor on its own behalf or on behalf of a subcontractor at any tier, may request an incentive payment in accordance with this clause.

The POP for the Bridge contract is 1 Jul 2011 through 31 Mar 2012. The award amount is $17,106,288.

The number of FTE’s range from approximately 35-65. The number of FTE’s will vary depending on the number of and task order requirements.

Yes, you should bid the services.

Yes, you are to bid the exact hours listed.

CLIN Services Comment X001AG Database Admin Services, Hours are 4,000 in all Level II years except Option Year 3 for which they are 6,560 (3001AG)

X001BP Administrative Services Hours are 4,000 in Base Year and Option Year 4

(0001BP, 4001BP)

and 2,000 in the other three option years X001BQ Admin Record Svs Hours are 4,000 in all years except Option Year 4 for which they are 2,000 (4001BQ)

Please verify that the hours provided are correct.

RFP will be changed as follows:

CLIN X001AG 4,000 Hours each year CLIN X001BP 4,000 Hours each year CLIN X001BQ 4,000 Hours each year

An executive summary is not required per the RFP. If the Offeror wishes to provide an executive summary they should do so within the current page limit specified in the RFP.

Question: For each sub-subfactor (a-f) is there a limit to the number of contracts we can provide for corporate experience? If so, how many? If a single team member or contract does not cover all aspects of a sub-subfactor, but the aggregate of the team members’ experience does, will the aggregated experience meet the standard?

No, there is not a limit to the number of contracts. Corporate Experience will be evaluated for the team; however, the prime must demonstrate they have performed 50% of the work. See answer to question #27 and #57.

The Offeror shall submit: a management plan that applies to all geographical locations included in AFCEE's mission. At a minimum, the plan shall include all of the following:

a. The Offeror's corporate structure showing direct relationships between senior leadership, teaming partners and critical personnel assigned to this contract to ensure consistent, effective and efficient operations.

b. Sample resumes for the following key personnel: Work Leader, Network Engineer, Information Assurance Manager 1 & 2, System Administrator, Database Administrator, Programming Support Task Leader, Software Engineer, Website Application programming/maintenance support, ERPIMS Task Leader, Supervisory Production Control Specialist, and Scientific Professional to ensure a qualified workforce.

Question: Does the government plan to provide a resume format or set of specific requirements for the resumes?

No, there is no format specified for the resumes.

Question: Reference to legacy IT systems, may experience be based on the application model used, i.e., tracking software, and relational databases vs. the exact legacy system?

Yes, however systems should be similar to the architecture of the AFCEE legacy systems See answer to #57.

Question: Is the offerer required to have on staff all listed science SMEs prior to award of contract or only required to obtain at TO issuance?

Reference RFP paragraph 4.2 Technical Subfactor 1.1 – Technical/Management Approach c. [The Offeror] shall provide their plan for hiring and retaining qualified and certified personnel in accordance with DoD 8570.01-M to accomplish the AFCEE mission for the entire scope of the PWS for the period of performance of this contract.

The Offeror will be required to provide the appropriate qualified personnel upon award of a task order that requires these services.

Question: Please provide more detail as to how this center is to be established (i.e., on-site, contractor site)?

The ERPIMS Customer Support Center will be located in Bldg 171 Lackland AFB.

Questions: What is the ration of help desk analysts to users? What is the average number of help desk calls per day? Per application? Per system?

The current ratio of IT customer support technicians to users is approximately 5/850. There is an average of 75 daily calls (including phone, email, and walkups). The number of service tickets by application or system is not tracked.

Question: What is the ratio of servers to system administrators?

There are currently approximately 45 servers and 5 system administrative personnel.

Questions: How many of each type of database are included in the administration responsibilities? What versions of the databases are running? What platforms and operating systems are the databases running on?

ORACLE 11g on a SOLARIS 10 platform and SQL Server 2008 on a Windows platform.

AFCEE currently has 1 ORACLE and 3 SQL Servers. Please note that these numbers may change over the lifetime of the contract.

AFCEE IT systems and databases reside at Lackland Bldg 171 and 802 Communications Squadron with some being virtual. There are also some located at MMR.

Question: Is Remedy the only service desk tracking system to be supported?

Yes, Remedy is the only service desk tracking system currently being utilized.

Question: How many systems are covered under this requirement?

Reference the Industry Day Briefing. AFCEE has approximately 35 systems.

(a) The purpose of this section is to provide information to the Government for preparing the contract document and supporting file.

(b) The Offeror's proposal shall include a signed copy of the Model Contract. Complete blocks 12, 17, 26 and 30 of the SF 1449. Signature by the Offeror on the Standard Form 1449 constitutes an offer, which the Government may accept. Complete all contract clauses fill-ins if applicable. The "original" copy shall be clearly marked under separate cover and shall be provided without any punched holes.

Question: Does the Government expect any documentation to support item 3.3 (a)? In section 3.3(b) the Government defines the requirements for the 1449 and requires the offeror to “Complete all contract clause fill-ins if applicable.” The 1449 does not provide any FAR “fill-ins” for the offeror. Does the completed 1449 fulfill the requirement for the model contract? If not, please provide further guidance as to what FAR fill-ins need to be completed to fulfill the requirement for the model contract.

No.

The FAR fill-ins are contained in the RFP.

The RFP will be corrected to clarify the number of copies.

Yes. The Offeror can provide a combination of experience to meet the requirements in RFP paragraph 4.5 Technical Subfactor 1.2 – Corporate Experience.

f. Process to respond to problems and take appropriate action to correct performance issues and satisfy Government concerns in a timely manner. The offer shall also describe their approach to continuous process improvement and proposed enhancements for the tasks outlined in the PWS.

Is the process to correct Personnel performance issues or Technical issues?

It includes any services the contractor shall provide in accordance with the PWS.

ISO certification is not a requirement for this solicitation.

See question #63

Mail is delivered directly to the department.

This would be considered an OCI. See question #59.

This will be clarified in the final RFP.

This will be clarified in the final RFP.

This will be clarified in the final RFP.

The government considered use of the GWAC contract as part of market intelligence. It was determined that the GWAC contract could not fulfill the requirements for AFCEE IT Support Services.

RFP, Paragraph 4.5 Technical Subfactor 1.2 – Corporate Experience will be revised to require the Offeror to identify whether the corporate experience submitted is for the Prime or Team.

Any contracts that are executed by the 802d, other than this requirement, are not subject to the OCI restictions.

Please reference the RFP, Para 4.2 Technical Subfactor 1.1 – Technical/Management Approach (b). The Offeror shall provide sample resumes for the following key personnel: Work Leader, Network Engineer, Information Assurance Manager 1 & 2, System Administrator, Database Administrator, Programming Support Task Leader, Software Engineer, Website Application programming/maintenance support, ERPIMS Task Leader, Supervisory Production Control Specialist, and Scientific Professional to ensure a qualified workforce. Also reference PWS, Section 5, Personnel Certifications and Qualifications for personnel requirements. Please note: There is no requirement for the ERPIMS Task Leader to have past experience with ERPIMS.

Corrected in final RFP.

Corrected in final RFP.

Do not include the dollar amount in the spreadsheet.

The proposed totals should not include this amount.

The Tabs do not count against the page limitations.

There is no task order minimum. Task orders are awarded as mission requirements dictate. Please see responses to questions #4, #64 and #74.

Nothing is missing from the sentence.

Depending on the specific task order requirement various labor categories could be utilized to perform these services (i.e., Software Engineer, GIS Programming Services, Subject Matter Expert, Scientific Professional, Application Programmers, etc.).

Depending on the specific task order requirement various labor categories could be utilized to perform these services (i.e., Software Engineer, GIS Programming Services, Subject Matter Expert, Scientific Professional, Application Programmers, etc.).

Should be 80 hours.

AFCEE does not maintain a telephone switch. AFCEE uses the base telephone which is a core service of the 802CS. However, within building 171, half of the telephones are VOIP and half are standard analog phones.

for this solicitation?

No. The original release date of the solicitation is 10/4/2011.

No. Please reference RFP Section 4.3 Technical Subfactor 1.2 – Corporate Experience. The Offeror shall provide at least one contract where the Prime performed 50% or more of the work. The requirements of paragraphs a. through f. could be met through one or more contracts.

The bridge contract was based on hours not FTEs.

No, see response to question #113.

Yes, please reference RFP Section 4.3 Technical Subfactor 1.2 – Corporate Experience. To be considered experience shall be commensurate with the size, scope and technical complexity of the requirement.

No. The Offeror shall provide at least one contract where the Prime performed 50% or more of the work. The requirements of paragraphs a. through f. could be met through one or more contracts.

5.7.1", but no resources are listed in the referenced location. Please identify this information, as it pertains to a key personnel resume required in the proposal.

The reference to 5.7.1 should be 5.7.2.

“(b) Tabs for items identified in the Title column of Table 2.2 Proposal Organization shall be utilized.”

The table referenced contains titles for many sections within each volume. Related to Volume II-Technical, are tabs meant to be used for each section, or just for the 2 subfactors (Technical/Management Approach and Corporate Experience)?

If tabs are meant to be used for each section under the subfactors, page breaks between sections would be required, adding spacing and making difficult to stay within the 15 page limit per subfactor.

For example, implementing page breaks between the 2 subfactors of our Volume II allows us to meet the 15 page per subfactor requirement. Adding page breaks between every section below the subfactors to allow for tabs increases our page count per subfactor well beyond the 15 page limit.

Tabs are not required for each section under the subfactors.

Can AFCEE provide specific sample scientific fields for price evaluation purposes only without obligating vendors to a fixed price base on our best guess on which scientific fields will be required?

The offeror shall price the CLINs in accordance with the requirements of the PWS.

Yes. Refer to Table 2.2. An electronic copy should be submitted for each Volume. The master copy should contain copies of all volumes.

See 2.3.10. Electronic Copies (E-Copies) E-copies should be submitted in Adobe Acrobat Portable Document File (PDF) searchable and selectable text format.

Electronic copies of each volume shall be compatible with the following available Government equipment and software products: Windows compatible PCs, Adobe Acrobat Reader 9.0 , Microsoft Office 2007. The electronic Schedule B should be submitted in Excel.

Block 26 of the SF 1449 should be completed by the offerror.

5.7.1 - Programming Support Task Leader

5.7.8 - System Analyst No, see response to questions #106 and #107.

EXAMPLE:

PWS

1.6 Desktop, Laptop and Personal Computer Services

1.6.1 Level I Computer Support technical Services

1.6.2 Level 2 Computer Support technical Services

1.6.3 Level 3 Computer Support technical Services (and so on) Of the above listing section 1.6 is not listed as a pricing option on Schedule B, whereas the other section (1.6.1, 1.6.2, 1.6.3., etc) are listed on Schedule B for pricing and listed PWS section 5.

Under section 1.7, AFCEE IT Customer Support Services, Section 1.7 is included as a priced labor category and listed as a labor category in PWS part 5 under 5.3.5 under the Computer Support Technicians. The Computer Support Technicians are identified under section 1.6, not section 1.7.

There seems to be some inconsistencies between the alignment of the requirements under Section 1 of the PWS and Section 1’s correlation to the requirements of Schedule B and Section 5 of the PWS.

This inconsistency appears to happen at the following sections: 1.7, 1.11 and 1.12. The other sections begin with a high level title at 1.X and then a description at 1.X.X and the labor category descriptions and requirements are listed at 1.X.X.X Please provide clarification to resolve inconsistencies between Schedule B and Section 1 and 5 of the PWS.

Paragraphs with a high level title may or may not require pricing. Provide pricing based on the CLINs provided in Schedule B.