RISE Draft RFP QA.pdf

# Question Answer Updates

1 Are discussions anticipated?

The Government intends to conduct discussions with offerors during the oral presentations regarding the offerors proposal consistent with FAR 15.102 and FAR 15.306 L-1.8

2 What is the estimate yearly dollar for RISE efforts?

The estimated maximum over the course of the entire RISE contract is $950M. The individual programs that will be utilizing the RISE contract will be establishing their own requirements separately. However, to best work with our industry partners for this acquisition it is the intent of our Program Office to hold periodic “town halls” during the ordering period under the RISE contract to communicate upcoming requirements to aid in planning purposes N/A

Will it be possible to add “Vendors and/or Subcontractors” after contract award, or must we form a team (if desired) in the bid process?

Subcontractors can be utilized on individual orders as required and allowed by the Government. In some cases individual subcontracting plans may be required at the order level. N/A

It is our understanding that many terms may not apply to specific task orders, will there be an opportunity to negotiate applicable terms and conditions?

Terms and conditions applicable to individual task orders will be cited on the order level. Proposal requests for individual orders will stae if applicable terms and conditions may be negotiated on individual order. N/A

Are RISE Contractors required to respond to every solicitation issued for a task order?

Offerors proposal submissions on task orders beyond the initial task order will be at the discretion of the contractor.

Ordering Procedures - Section 2.0

Referencing the answer to Question 20 from "RISE_Industry_Day_Questions_and_Answers.pdf": will the government allow a potential prime contractor to use a teammates'/subcontractor's past performance as an acceptable response to the RISE solicitation vs. just the experience possessed by the Prime?

The Government does intend to allow bids on the IDIQ award from Prime’s with subcontractors. Any proposal that includes a Prime contractor with subcontractors will be evaluated together as a complete team. M-1.0

Referencing question #2 above, if a bidder is awarded a prime contract of the RISE IDIQ, will the government allow the prime contractor to use a teammates' past performance as an acceptable response to follow-on task order solicitations?

Proposals with teammates or subcontractors will be evaluated as a complete teams and as such, capabilities of subcontractors or teammates may be dicscussed and used. M-1.0

Can RISE be utilized as a contract vehicle for acquisitions by end customers other than Range Systems Branch?

At this time RISE is intended for use solely by the Range Systems Branch and not for use by other agencies. N/A

Will the Gov't award Base IDIQ contracts to different organizations within the same company, or does the Gov't plan to limit the Base awards to one (1) organization per company?

Due to the allowance of teaming arrangements and subcontractors the Government intends to limit the base awards to one (1) organization per company. N/A

After award of the IDIQ, does the government intend to allow Prime contractor awardees to team on task order proposals in the event it provides the most advantageous solution to the customer?

Any allowance of prime contractor awardees to team on task order proposals will be cited in the request for proposal on the order level. If the order request does not cite that prime teaming is allowed then it is assumed that it will not be acceptable. N/A

Is a SIPRNET account required to be eligible for the IDIQ award.

A SIPR NET account is not required to be elgible for the basic RISE award. DD254

RISE Draft RFP Questions and Answers - General/Other

# Question Answer

Please clarify if the Solicitation sent 6 January is Draft or Final. If Draft, please provide expected Final RFP release.

The most recent annoucement of RISE published on 04 January 2021 is a Draft RFP. Expected final release on or around 26 January. Submission due date of 15 March expected to remain the same.

Please clarify if the requirement to notify of intent to provide an oral presentation is a requirement in this DRFP or only for the final RFP.

Requirement of offerors intent to provide an oral presentation in response to the Final RFP

Is the planned period of performance still five (5) years as indicated in the Industry Days slides? The POP does not appear in the draft RFP or attachments provided on 4 Jan 2021

Ordering Period is still planned to be five years with individual orders having their own Period of Performance. FAR 52.216-18 will be updated at time of award to reflect exact ordering dates.

Please confirm if the Adequacy checklist is to be provided for this RFP response with no initial task order.

The propsal adequecay checklist at DFARS 252.215-7009 is included with the intent to be applicable to order proposals meeting certified cost and pricing thresholds. The proposal adequecy checklist is not required for the basic IDIQ proposal submission.

Is their prescribed shipping and inspection/acceptance procedures at this point?

Shipping practices (FOB Origin versus Destination) and inspection/acceptance criteria will be prescribed at the order level.

Small Business Participation is listed as 01 in order of importance of evaluation criteria for award. Will Small Business Participation be evaluated at the task order level or across the life of the IDIQ contract?

Small business participation will be evaluated against anticipated small business invovlement for the entire IDIQ contract.

However, please be advised that individual subcontracting plans may be required on the order level.

Ombudsman is generally rotational, what is the time period for the current listed person?

Current ombudsman has recently assumed the role and is expected to remain there for several years.

RISE Draft RFP Questions and Answers - RFP

# Question Answer

PWS, 3.6 The PWS states that the Contractor shall utilize standard systems engineering processes and maintain any associated certifications as required in the individual task orders.

What certifications does the Government anticipated for systems engineering?

Exact certification requirements will be determined for indiviudal task orders. Please reference Section '2 Applicable Documents' of the PWS for some DoD and Industry Standards and certifications that may be utilized in individual task orders.

The PWS states that each individual task order may require specialized manufacturing techniques to account for the extreme effects associated with highly dynamic environments.

What specialized manufacturing techniques does the Government anticipate? Exact techniques will be determined for individual task orders.

Will an EIA-748 compliant EVMS be required for award at the initial IDIQ or only as required by the individual Task Orders?

EIA-748 compliance will not be required for the award of the initial IDIQ, only as required by individual orders.

PWS 1.4.5: For production hardware, will test asset/stations be provided for the hardware to be compliant to your requirements? Or do we have to develop a test and the associated equipment?

Each task order associated with production hardware will include the specific requirements for that particular task order, and will detail all requirements associated with testing.

PWS 1.4.6: On pre-existing designs, will source code be provided so we can support any and all development, sustainment (PWS 1.4.3) etc.?

Each task order request for proposal will completely describe the requirements associated with what government furnished information is available and what efforts are expected by the contractor.

PWS 3.2 and 3.3: For new prototype and production, is source code expected to be provided with the hardware or will just the necessary binaries to sustain the product be required to submit/release?

Each task order request for proposal will completely describe the prototype and production software requirements. These requirements may or may not include a requirement for complete source code, but each individual task order will fully describe its requirements related to software deliverables. In general, it can be stated that with a move to digital engineering, there is an emphasis within DoD to obtain all available data, which could include software source code.

PWS 3.6: Is source code required to be released or just the binaries/outputs of those models in the various system/subsystems?

Each task order request for proposal will completely describe the requirements for software and software documentation deliverables. In general, models may have different software and software documentation requirements than those associated with the actual deliverable hardware/software items. In general, it can be stated that with a move to digital engineering, there is an emphasis within DoD to obtain all available data, which could include software source code for any models that are used for verification of requirements or developed by the task order.

RISE Draft RFP Questions and Answers - PWS

# Question Answer Update

For Volume II, are title and transition slides only indicating topic title and speaker name included in the 100 slide maximum.

Only slides with content will be included in 100 slide maximum. Title and transition slides will not be included in this count. L-1.3

Do font stipulations at L-1.4c apply to figures, diagrams, tables and other items?

Font stipulations will not apply to figures, diagrams, tables and other items as long as the content is elgible. L-1.4

Will the government consider making 12 point the minimum font size for the Oral Presentation materials?

Reference question/answer #31. Text shall be 14 point or larger, the font stipulations will not apply to figures, diagrams, tables, and other items as long as the content is legible. L-1.4

4 Are discussions anticipated?

The Government intends to conduct discussions with offerors during the oral presentations regarding the offerors proposal consistent with FAR 15.102 and FAR 15.306 L-1.8

Section L-3.0 indicates how Volume II will be evaluated. Will Volume I be evaluated? Please clarify in the RFP.

Volume I will be evaluated for responsiveness. All requested doucmentation and submissions shall be submitted IAW the RFP and Sections L&M to be considered responsive.

However, only Volume II will be used to determine qualifying offerors to perform work under RISE. L-2.0

If no existing or potential OCI exists at the time of proposal submission, is any sort of mitigation plan required to be provided with the proposal response?

Please clarify in RFP.

If no exisitng or potential OCI exists at the time of proposal submission, the offerors should submit a memorandum stating as such to satisfy this requirement of the proposal. L-2.4.3

Please provide clarification as to the evaluation weightings applied for the factors and subfactors, Technical/PWS Capabilities and Small Business Participation. Please advise if both factors shall be considered equally, or will one be weighted more than the other.

All factors/subfactors shall be considered equally. Both Technical and Small business participation factors shall be evaluated on an acceptable/unacceptable basis for award. L-3.0

Our proposal on our comprehensive capabilities and experience for two of the four effort categories in our narrative and oral presentation. We also have less than comprehensive capabilities and experience in the other two effort categories – should this be included in our proposal as well?

No, only two of the four categories need to be discussed in proposal. Less than comprehensive capabilities need not be discussed L-3.1.1

Does submitting qualification in only 2 of the 4 categories disqualify a company from bidding on future task orders not in the categories responded?

Please clarify in RFP. Likewise for example, if an offeror bids in 3 categories and is deemed unacceptable in 1 of the 3 categories, do all submitted categories automatically receive a rating of unacceptable? Please clarify in RFP.

Offerors need only demonstrate qualification in two of the four effort categrories shown to be qualified. Qualifying offerors will not be disqualified from bidding on other categories for which they did not initially demonstrate a capability. Offerors will be eligible to bid on all future task orders. Demonstrated capability in more than two areas will not increase the scoring of the contractor for the base RISE contract. L-3.1.1

Do the capability requirements definitions in Table L-3.1.1B apply equally across all appropriate effort categories. For example, is the threshold for technically acceptable for the “Formal in-house process controls” requirement the same for effort categories “Prototyping” and “Production”?

Yes, they do apply equally across all appropriate effort categories. N/A

RISE Draft RFP Questions and Answers - L&M/First Order

Regarding L-3.2 Factor II: Small Business Participation: If the offeror is a small business meeting the NAICS code size standard for the solicitation. Does meeting or exceeding the DoD’s subcontracting goals apply in our case?

Yes, this factor will still apply to small businesses at the prescribed goals to demonstrate a methodology for small business involvement. However, if the offeror is a small their participation counts toward the goal in addition to any subcontracting done with other small businesses. For example, if award was made to a small business that then subcontracted all work at to a large business then this requirement would not be met. L-3.2

Do offerors that qualify as a small business for NAICS code 334511 need to present a clear plan to achieve the subcontracted dollar goals identified on the Office of Small Business Programs website? See answer #10 L-3.2

The Office of Small Business Programs does not provide program goals for FY21; can you confirm that offerors should use FY20 figures?

Offerors should use the FY20 figures at the link for the purposes of evaluations under the basic RISE contract. Once the FY21 goals are finalized they will act as official guidance during contract performance during FY21. L-3.2

Is the Minimum Task Order SOO part of the oral presentation instructions and evaluation or is the Minimum Task Order issued post award of the IDIQ. If post award, how long before the Task Order solicitation is expected to be issued and how long before submissions are due?

Minimum task order SOO is not part of the evaluation criteria to qualify under RISE. However, the resulting white paper in response to the SOO will be a part of the initial IDIQ that will be issued via a task order award with award of basic IDIQ.

L-4.0, First Order SOO

Is anything required to be submitted with this proposal response regarding the initial task order?

Please clarify.

At the time of award of the basic RISE contract a separate task order shall be awarded to satisfy the minimum order amount. This amount will fund the proposal of a white paper in response to the first order SOO attached to the solicitation. The award will have an established FFP amount associated with it consistent with the SOO in addition to the required submission timeline for the white paper. As such, nothing is required to be submitted with the proposal for the basic RISE award. L-4.0

Referencing the answer to Question 20 from "RISE_Industry_Day_Questions_and_Answers.pdf" : will the government allow a potential prime contractor to use a teammates'/subcontractor's past performance as an acceptable response to the RISE solicitation vs. just the experience possessed by the Prime?

The Government does intend to allow bids on the IDIQ award from Prime’s with subcontractors. Any proposal that includes a Prime contractor with subcontractors will be evaluated together as a complete team. M-1.0

Referencing question #2 above, if a bidder is awarded a prime contract of the RISE IDIQ, will the government allow the prime contractor to use a teammates' past performance as an acceptable response to follow-on task order solicitations?

Proposals with teammates or subcontractors will be evaluated as a complete teams and as such, capabilities of subcontractors or teammates may be dicscussed and used. M-1.0

Paragraph M-5.0 “Minimum Task Order Submission” describes the government’s intent to award a minimum task order described in the initial task order SOO. Does the government plan to evaluate the offerors’ description of how they would accomplish the initial task order as part of the criteria of the award process and should offerors provide information on how they would accomplish the initial task order during the proposal?

At the time of award of the basic RISE contract a separate task order shall be awarded to satisfy the minimum order amount. This amount will fund the proposal of a white paper in response to the first order SOO attached to the solicitation. The award will have an established FFP amount associated with it consistent with the SOO in addition to the required submission timeline for the white paper. As such, nothing is required to be submitted with the proposal for the basic RISE award.

M-5.0, First Order SOO

Regarding the first task order SOO and DD1423; is the deliverable described in the 1423 the only deliverable? Is the SOO only asking for a design/description of a PiP and not the actual hardware?

Yes, the first task order is only for a design/description of a PiP.

First Order

SOO