Responses to industry questions on draft PWS-28 Oct 11.docx

INDUSTRY QUESTIONS for the 480 ISRW DCGS Communications and Intelligence Analysis Support Contract Draft PWS Posting 28 Oct 11

1. The Agency has stated that the historical labor hours are approximately 200,000 hours. Should the Contractor expect the same level of effort for this requirement or will it be less per the statement made “the solicitation will NOT encompass all work identified in the Draft PWS”?

A- Disregard the statement, in was in relationship to a DRAFT PWS previously posted that encompassed work from several different contracts. The effort should be approx 200K hours but the Rough Order of Magnitude will be established in the RFP.

2. Has the Government made a decision on whether this will be limited to the Alliant GWAC holders or will it be available to all GSA FSS holders?

A- The RFP will not be released on Alliant as it did not fit the scope. It will be sent to GSA FSS holders, but not all of them.

3. Since the Solicitation FA7037-11-R-0008 will no longer be posted on FedBizOpps, will GSA schedule holders be able to view it from here out?

A – Solicitation will be emailed to schedule holders.

4. If GSA FSS holders (not Alliant) are allowed to bid, is the Contractor required to hold an active TS facility clearance?

A- YES

5. Would the Government consider providing a bidders library with relevant technical data (volume of tickets per functional area, number of applications and databases supported, number and types of missions supported by analysts, etc.) or current staffing matrix (number of FTE by location)? Providing this scoping data is necessary for non-incumbent offerors to determine reasonable staffing mix and would result in increased competition.

A - See the attached staffing mix.

6. Transition requirements are not stated. To foster competition, it is recommended the Government provide a 60 day transition period to ensure a proper transition. It is recommended that this period not be included in any offeror’s total evaluated price.

A- A transition period will be established in the RFP but will be significantly less than 60 days. Contractors will be allowed to submit a plan. Other details will be available in the RFP.

7. Will the Government be releasing a draft copy of Section’s L and M?

A- Possibly, depends on timing.

8. Will the Government be hosting an industry day or bidder’s conference for this opportunity?

A - No, not for this requirement but we will host an industry day for the multiple award IDIQ discussed in the announcement.

9. Please provide to interest bidders the internal security policies and practices for the 480th and subordinate units referred to in Paragraph 2.1.1.5, if they exceed or deviate from the policies and practices delineated in the AFIs listed in Paragraph 8.0.

A- There are no additional policies and practices

10. Many of the positions show an 8570 certification requirement. Please clarify what category or specialty and level (e,g. IAT I, II, III; lAM I, II, III; etc.) of 8570 certification these different positions require.

A- Table attached (Atch 1) outlining the 8570 certification requirement. This certification is not required for task at 548 ISRG, Beale AFB, CA and 497 ISRG, Langley AFB, VA.

11. Par. 2.0 - Regarding required duty hours, 2.10 DCGS Infrastructure Imagery Dissemination Support requires that the contractor provide support on a 24-hour, 7-day a week basis and 2.14 ISR Intelligence Analysis requires the contractor to perform shift work in support of AF DCGS weapons system 24/7 operations.

A- 2.10, Dissemination Support task is located on an operations floor that requires 24 hour and 365 days coverage with minimum of 2 persons on at all times.

2.14, Intelligence Analysis task is a requirement to have personnel onsite performing shift work to support 24/7 operations, as required by mission.

12. When not stated are all other position requirements assumed to be 8 hours, 5 days per week?

A- Yes

13. Para 2.2.1.8 - The referenced paragraph discusses development and maintenance of database documentation displaying network, system locations, and serial numbers as required for network security accreditation.

A. Does this data currently exist and in what format? Yes. SQL database.

B. Will this data be provided to interested bidders? No C. Does the Government expect offerors to propose a database system to track the equipment? If so, approximately how many items will be tracked by this database system? No. The database already exists. Contractors will be responsible for maintenance and modification.

14. Para 5.2 - Regarding overlap requirements, is it the intent that only positions/services requiring 24/7 support shall have overlap as required in paragraph 5.2?

A- Yes

15. Regarding the statement contained in paragraphs 2.1.2.3, 2.2.2.1, 2.3.2.1, 2.4.2.1, 2.5.2.1, 2.6.2.1, 2.7.2.1 and 2.8.2.1 “Shall be DoD 8570 certified”. There are various levels of IA certifications, e.g: para 2.1.2.1 – this KSA outlines very distinct requirements but does not provide the level of certification for the position. This position appears to require a higher level of certification than the other paragraphs. Will the government provide the desired or required level of certification for each of the aforementioned paragraphs?

A- Table attached (Atch 1) outlining the 8570 certification requirement. This certification is not required for task at 548 ISRG, Beale AFB, CA and 497 ISRG, Langley AFB, VA.

16. In the current Draft PWS does not have a list of key positions (labor categories). Will there be a Key Personnel requirement?

A- Each task outline within the PWS will have a key personnel requirement

17. The ‘sources sought’ mentioned a PoP of base year plus 2 option periods and the Draft PWS para3.2 outline a PoP as base year plus 3 option periods. Which is the correct PoP?

A- POP has changed. The new POP will be a base plus one, one-year option periods. The POP will be removed from PWS.

18. Will the Government indicate whether the current contract is T&M, Labor Hour, FFP, or CPFF and what is intended for the new contract?

A - Hybrid, FFP and T&M, with cost reimbursable CLIN for travel and some materials.

19. Will the Government provide the historical annual level of effort for each sub-task in the PWS?

A - Attached is a list of all labor categories and annual hours (Atch 2)

20. Can the Government clarify what the 480 ISRW’s criteria will be for SCI eligibility crossover from one agency or organization to the Air Force based on their adjudication requirements?

A - At contract start date, 50% must have SCI clearance and 100% SCI cleared within the next 30 days.

21. Does the Government plan to designate any of the personnel as “KEY” and if so, will the numbers of key personnel and the sub-tasks they support be provided?

A- Each task outline within the PWS will have a key personnel requirement

22. In the synopsis added to FedBizOpps on 29 Sep 11, it is stated that “the period of performance will be for a base year, with 2 options...”, yet in the draft PWS in paragraph 3.2 on page 23 it is stated that “this PWS shall be for one (1) base year and three (3) option years, after contract award.” Will the Government clarify which set of instructions is correct?

A- See 17 above.

23. Given the requirement to conduct a transition with little to no impact to the Government’s war time missions, will the Government make the award far enough in advance to permit a full 30 days transition period following the initial Government contract kick-off meeting?

A- See 6 above.

24. Does the Government intend to specify a requirement for a minimum number of SCI cleared, AF DCGS certified staff at award? We recommend this be included in the final RFP, given the 480 ISR Wing’s critical 24/7 operational mission and the need to maintain continuity of operations through the contract transition.

A - At contract start date, 50% must have SCI clearance and 100% SCI cleared within the next 30 days.

25. Throughout the draft PWS, multiple experience requirements are stated for a given task (example below). Are these required years of experience additive (i.e. 6 years total in the example below), or can they be concurrent (3 years total experience in the example below)?

a. Example: Draft PWS Para. 2.3.2 “Shall have one (3) years experience with configuration and management of Cisco Routers and Switches, Marconi/Ericsson ATM devices, Juniper WAN Accelerators, and TACLANE and FASTLANE encryption devices Shall have three (3) years experience administering IP protocol network to include VoIP, VTC, fiber optic technologies” A – All minimum requirements are concurrent not additive. Example: PWS 2.3.2 - - Shall be DoD 8570 certified.

- Shall have three (3) years experience with configuration and management of Cisco Routers and Switches, Marconi/Ericsson ATM devices, Juniper WAN Accelerators, and TACLANE and FASTLANE encryption devices.

- Shall have three (3) years experience administering IP protocol network to include VoIP, VTC, fiber optic technologies.”

26. With the exception of the Senior Consultant tasks (paragraphs 2.28 and 2.29), none of the tasks have defined education/degree requirements. Is it the Government’s intent to forego degree requirements for the rest of the tasks?

A – All minimum requirements will be outlined in the PWS.

27. The tasks in paragraphs 2.12, 2.13, 2.25, 2.26, and 2.27 have no required skills and qualifications defined; will these be included in the final RFP?

A – All minimum requirements will be outlined in the PWS.

28. Industry assumes the government will issue Solicitation #FA7037-11-R-0008 as a Firm Fixed Price (FFP) vice FFP/Level of Effort (FFP/LOE) solicitation based on the documents to date and the fact that hours are not broken down by category in the PWS Sections. This FFP assumption allows industry to flex its team composition and scale in support of this work based on deliverables and not FTE or hours. Is the assumption correct that this solicitation will be awarded as a FFP?

A - See 18 above.

29. If the government releases and awards this Solicitation as a FFP as described in the current Solicitation Synopsis, then Industry assumes the government will further refine the list of deliverables currently delineated in the September 2011 Draft PWS Section 3.9.2 to include actual due dates vice “as required” and to further refine the “Description” of each deliverable by CDRL in the Final RFP? Industry can most accurately bid cost on a FFP Contract if the scale, scope, description and due date of the deliverables are delineated in a more detailed fashion than in the Draft PWS. This assumes that as an FFP, the Prime upon award will provide support by deliverable and not by the previous 200,000 hours level of effort as delineated in the current FedBizOps Solicitation Synopsis.

A – Deliverables will be posted with RFP, but the historical data is important to building a appropriate size team. We do not want a contractor to propose 150K as a means of winning award, because proposals will be evaluated against criteria. Along with that is the amount of risk created by a proposal that is not solid and significantly reduces the manning.

** My question to industry, are the deliverables and historical data enough information to build an appropriate size team?

30. If the solicitation is awarded as an FFP, then the Prime has the authority to place resources on task – by deliverable - that meet PWS criteria for education, skills, experience, security level and expertise without prior approval by the COR.

A- In your technical proposal the contractor will be required to show how they will meet the requirements of the PWS, to include the required experience In FFP the awarded contract still must be the required experience levels, regardless of whether the COR approves the resumes.

31. Does the government client currently use/leverage industry proprietary software/hardware aligned with this solicitation that would disadvantage competitors submitting bids on this work not currently providing this type of support? Draft PWS Attachment “A” pertains. If so, please list those items against the Draft PWS section they support. For example: please confirm that UNICORN is GOTS and not a Proprietary software program.

A- All programs are either GOTS or Government has rights of use (UNICORN is a GOTS program).

34. We understand from current discussions with government technical leads that the 27 IS does all the ISA/ISO (Draft PWS 2.1) support for the 480th ISR Wing. This is not specifically called out in the Draft PWS (September 2011). Please confirm that this is/is not the case. If this is the case, please quantify level of effort in this area based on current operating model.

A- Do not understand the question and please identify what ISA/ISO stands for.

35. Does the government client anticipate seeing a Small Business component as part of industry bids for this solicitation?

A - Yes

36. Can the government provide the current relative size of contractor support (contractor footprint/CFR) aligned with each category within the Draft PWS? This question is linked to our Assumption#2 that prior level of effort to accomplish this work equates to the 200,000 hours figure the government cites in the Solicitation Synopsis.

A- Attached is a list of all labor categories

37. What support does the 633rd Communications Squadron (Base Communications) provide to the 27IS in relation to this Solicitation? Our research indicates that the 27IS supports the 633rd and not vice versa. Is this relationship codified in the current Draft PWS?

A- 633rd Communications Squadron provides no support in relation to this contract.

38. Can the government prioritize Draft PWS categories by importance? This would help industry evaluate the future impact on this award of potential GFY12 Department of Defense cuts that impact the Air Force client and help bidders constitute their contract teams to more easily accommodate fiscal constraints.

A –All categories are important. Contractors should plan to propose proper labor categories to meet the requirements of the PWS.

39. Will the government provide a two week notice to the contractor PM if mission area focus changes and fiscal constraints cause consolidation or degradation in the contractor base? Will the government prioritize deliverables in the final RFP PWS to accommodate this risk?

A – Adequate notice will be given and contract would be re-negotiated if required.