RFP_Qs.doc

Air Force Contracting Information Systems Questions and Answers

1. 1.1 of PWS lists the place of performance for this contract as Maxwell AFB – Gunter Annex, Alabama and Hill AFB, Utah. How is the Government-estimate of 20.6 resources split today between the two locations?

Answer: Gunter: 19.6; Hill: 1

2. 2.11.1 of PWS lists a 400-page-plus documentation at 98 sites plus 4 non-standard configurations. How many technical documentation specialists support the production of this documentation?

Answer: This will depend on how you disperse your support

3. 2.12.1 of PWS states "Contractor shall ensure storage facility contents are ensured for $150,000 against loss, fire, flood, etc.” What are the "storage facility contents"?

Answer: See attached list of equipment.

4. 8.1 of the PWS states "Department of Defense Contract Security Classification Specification (DD Form 254) will not be required for this contract" yet there is a JPAS and VAL requirement? Is this work classified or unclassified?

Answer: All work is unclassified.

5. Who currently produces the SPS Developer scripts – is it a Government or Contractor performed function?

Answer: Scripts are produced by CACI (prime contractor) helpdesk.

These scripts come from CACI per their contract with the JPMO. Our PMO contractor is required to review all manipulative scripts to ensure they are correct.

6. Do proposed resources need to be DoD 8570-compliant prior to start of base performance period?

Answer: Yes

7. Attachment 4 of PWS states "PWS para 2.11, Service Release Deployment Support, is now an option CLIN and was formerly a part of the FTEs below. The Government estimate for this workload is 6 FTEs and is provided as reference information only". To be clear, does the 20.6 FTE Government estimate provided include the 6 FTE's supporting "Service Release Deployment Support"?

Answer: Yes

8. Should the proposal volumes be delivered as a total of four (4) separate documents—Executive Summary, Technical, Past Performance, and Cost/Price?

Answer: Yes, one package but labeled as separate documents.

9. Should the proposal volumes be delivered in Microsoft Word 2003-compatible versions, PDF versions, or both?

Answer: Either version is acceptable

10. The solicitation states “Proposals are limited to a maximum of twenty-five (25) pages, excluding cover page, and table of contents. In addition, the Past Performance and Cost/Price Volume do not count against the proposal page count.” Does this mean the Executive Summary volume is limited to 25 pages, and the Technical volume is limited to 25 pages?

Answer: No, both the executive summary and technical volume combined is limited to 25 pages. Past performance and the cost volumes are not restricted.

11. Are cross-reference matrices/indexes and Glossaries of abbreviations and acronyms excluded from page counts in the Executive Summary and Technical volumes?

Answer: Yes

12. 1)List of Items, Schedule of Requirements, Scope of Work, Terms of Reference, Bill of Materials required.

2) Soft Copy of the Tender Document through email. (follow the instruction in the RFP)

3) Names of countries that will be eligible to participate in this tender. There is no prohibition

4) Information about the Tendering Procedure and Guidelines: contact the contracting officer and follow the instruction in the RFP

5) Estimated Budget for this Purchase: source selection sensitive

6) Any Extension of Bidding Deadline? Yes, revised proposal due date 01 April 2013, 4:00PM CST

7) Any Addendum or Pre Bid meeting Minutes? No Answer: You may view solicitation FA8771-13-R-0002 at https://www.fbo.gov/index?s=main&mode=list&tab=list

13. How are these services currently being performed? Under contract? In-house?

Answer: Contract

14. If these requirements are currently being performed under a contract, Who is the Contractor? LJT What is the contract number? FA8771-08-C-0003

15. Is this project considered a new requirement?

Answer: No

16. If this project is not considered a new requirement;

a. Who is the incumbent? LJT

b. What is the contract number? FA8771-08-C-0003

c. What was an estimated value? $17.2M

17. I understand that funds are not yet available for this, but is this the official RFP, or just a draft?

Answer: This is an official RFP; you need to send your proposal to arrive by the correct time on revised proposal due date 01 April 2013, 4:00PM CST Also, is there an incumbent?

Answer: Yes, LJT.

If so, who are they and are they eligible to bid?

Answer: Please check with LJT for any specifics regarding their status.

Lastly, I see that each CLIN has a contract structure. Is this a FFP contract or an IDIQ?

Answer: FFP for all clins except travel and offsite storage (both are cost reimburseable)

18. The description calls it a Combined Synopsis/Solicitation, but there are no funds available. What is the processed being followed for the solicitation? Is it a draft RFP and we will respond to the final when it is released or do we respond to this solicitation? If it is a draft, how soon do you expect the final RFP to be posted? What is the purpose of the statement "Proposals are due NLT 8AM CST on 28 March 2013?

Answer: This is not a draft RFP. This is an official RFP and your proposals due no later than revised proposal due date 01 April 2013, 4:00PM CST.

19. In reviewing the RFP (FA8771-13-R-0002) we wanted to ask if there was a due date for questions.

Answer: See amendment to the solicitation. All questions must be to the contracting officer by revised due date 19 Mar 2013, 4:00PM CST.

20. The Contract Data Requirements List references specific PWS Task areas or sub areas. Could the Government please explain the association of the PWS Task areas/sub areas and explain what, if anything, needs to be addressed?

Answer: Please see PWS and CDRLS. The CDRLS are deliverables in reference to the PWS areas indentified on Form DD1423-1, block 5, Contract Reference.

21. Does the Government think there is flexibility for Enterprise Architecture work at Utah to be co-located at Maxwell AFB or if there is a specific reason why it needs to remain at Utah, please provide the reasoning for it?

Answer: At this time, the requirement for this position must remain at Hill AFB. Direct EA support is provided to the Automated Contracts Preparation System PM (who is located at Hill AFB).

22. Page 2, Section 2.1 General Support. Could the Government please indicate which specific staff on pg. 27 are associated with PWS 2.1, General Support?

Answer: No. Each contractor that proposes need to address that in their proposed solution.

23. Page 2, Section 2.1.2 of the PWS discusses “mini” deployments. Can the Government please provide how many mini-deployments are anticipated to occur each year? Also, are mini deployments linked with the optional support related to Service Release deployments or do they stay independent?

Answer: Mini-deployments are not linked to the Service Release (they are independent). The Government estimate is 3 or 4 mini-deployments year.

24. Page 3, Section 2.1.7 states configuration management must be in accordance with applicable Systems Engineering Process (SEP) guidelines. Is this what is being referred to? https://dap.dau.mil/acquipedia/Pages/ArticleDetails.aspx?aid=9c591ad6-8f69-49dd-a61d-4096e7b3086c. Please advise.

Answer: No. The SEP guidelines can be accessed via the following site: https://acc.dau.mil/BES

25. Page 3. It appears that basic hardware maintenance and server administration at the sites is the responsibility of the site. Could Government please clarify and confirm that the role of the AFCIS support team is primarily to provide hardware support to sites in a trouble-shooting/advisory role to include server swap outs and disaster recovery as referenced in the PWS?

Answer: All tasks listed in PWS para 2.2 are required. Although it is anticipated that troubleshooting/advisory support would occur on a daily basis, and therefore may be assumed to be primary, the contractor does not function solely in a troubleshooting/advisory role and must be prepared for all duties of this PWS paragraph.

26. Page 4, Section 2.3 Database Administration Support. Could the Government please clarify if the Remote Database Administration (RDBA) function is a full service database administration for each site managed solely by the AFCIS database support staff or is it supplemental to duties of the site SA / site support staff?

Answer: Currently the RDBAs duties are supplemental to the duties of the site SA

27. Page 6, Section 2.7 Helpdesk Support references Helpdesk support to include call support, ticket logging, ticket triaging, etc. Which of the current labor Categories/FTEs on page 27 support these call / ticketing functions of the Helpdesk. Also which of the labor categories/FTEs support Severity 1 and Severity 2 tickets respectively?

Answer: All contractor personnel are involved in the helpdesk function to varying degrees

28. Page 9, Section 2.12 of the PWS references Offsite Storage Support and states this storage area will be charged to Other Direct Costs. According to the Schedule B, ODCs are estimated at $2,520. Is the cost of the storage facility and requested insurance included in the estimated value provided with the ODC CLINs? If not, could the Government please provide an estimate to include or clarify how they would like this to be priced?

Answer: Yes, the cost of the storage facility and requested insurance is included in the estimated value provided with the ODC CLINs. If contractors have a different amount please include that price in your proposal.

29. Page 9, Section 2.13 Travel references 20 trips per year. Are these trips counted assuming 1 person or multiple people travel per trip?

Answer: The contractor will be required to plan for 20 trips/year. These 20 trips may be 1 person travelling 20 times during the year, or 5 people traveling on one trip, 4 times per year. Each year it varies and this is a cost reimbursable CLIN.

30. Page 27, Attachment 4 – Full Time Equivalents (FTEs) indicates 1.6 FTEs for Program Control Support. Which PWS task area is this support associated with?

Answer: This is based on historical. Each contractor needs to staff according to their proposal.

31. Section L, #18 states one signed hardcopy shall be delivered via email no later than 8:00 AM CST on 28 March 2013, to the address identified below. Please confirm if one signed hardcopy should be mailed to the address identified. Is the Government also requesting an electronic copy to be emailed? If so, please confirm and state how offerors should send the file electronically (Microsoft Word, Adobe pdf) and which version to use.

Answer: See modified language in Section L, #18, RFP Attachment 2. The word hardcopy is deleted.

32. Section M, Factor 1: Technical, Subfactor 1 states “proposed personnel will be evaluated….”. The RFP does not ask for proposed personnel. Can offerors assume this is referencing proposed labor categories and associated descriptions?

Answer: Yes, based on the first sentence in Factor 1, Technical 1a.

33. Section M, Factor 1: Technical, Subfactor 2, there is a request for Offeror’s to address their expertise, experience, and approach in: (1) planning (PWS paragraphs 2.1 General Support, 2.11 Service Release Deployment Support). Please explain why planning is tied to these two PWS task areas and not any others.

Answer: Planning is required for all PWS paragraphs. However, the PMO is interested in the contractors experience in the gamut of fielding both mini-deployments and full service releases, to include test set-up (both servers and desktops), testing, guide development, and site assistance (and where necessary site visits).

34. Section M, Factor 1: Technical, Subfactor 2, PWS section 2.6 is cited in (1) testing and (3) support for operations and system administration. Please explain the linkage and reason for overlap for this PWS section.

Answer: Sections (1) testing and (3) support for operations and system administration, are complimentary. Section 1 is intended to specifically address various aspects of SPS functional testing only. Section 3 is intended for the full contract team support for other systems such as ECSS, future contract writing systems workload, etc (see para 2.6.5).

35. Section M, Factor 1: Technical, Subfactor 2, (4) Information Assurance (PWS paragraph 2.9) and evaluation of current and future government IT systems (PWS paragraph 2.8) are grouped together. Please explain reason for this grouping so contractors can get a better understanding on why it is grouped this way.

Answer: There is no specific rationale or linkage for this grouping. Contractors will be required to cover both topics in this section completely as separate entries.

36. Attachment 4 – Full Time Equivalents (FTEs) Estimates, the IMPORTANT NOTE states PWS para 2.11 Service Release Deployment Support, is now an option CLIN and was formerly a part of the FTEs below. The Government estimate for this workload is 6 FTEs and is provided as reference information only. Could the Government please provide a more detailed breakdown of the 6 FTEs associated with Service Release support currently (in terms of which specific labor categories and FTEs referenced on pg. 27 are associated with Service Release support)?

Answer: No

37. Attachment 4 – estimates 1 Engineer and .6 Project Support Analyst for Program Control Support. The Task areas in 2.1 through 2.11 do not line up for Program Control Support. Please clarify the role for these two positions.

Answer: This is based on historical support. Each contractor should propose based on their solution to the PWS.

38. Reference PWS Attachment 4: Full Time Equivalents (FTEs) Estimates provides a labor category based staffing mix for a staff of 20.6 FTEs. The attachment also states that Service Release Deployment Support was historically supported by the FTEs listed on page 27 and the workload estimate 6 FTEs. Since this workload was distributed across 9 requirements and potentially 20.6 FTEs, it is difficult to develop an accurate staffing mix for the remaining 14.6 FTEs without knowing how and who provided this support historically. Can the government provide insight as to which labor categories have been directly and indirectly involved in the Service Release Deployment Support requirement in the past?

Answer: This is based on historical. Each contractor needs to staff according to their proposal.

39. Section M, Factor 1: Technical, Subfactor 1 states that: “At a minimum, proposed personnel will be evaluated based on the skills deemed by the Government to be necessary to successfully complete the requirements in the PWS.”

a. We understand that the term “proposed personnel” applies to labor categories, skills matrix, and level of effort; resumes are not requested and should not be included in the proposal. Is our assumption correct?

Answer: Yes

b. If resumes are required, is there a desired resume format and are resume pages included in the Technical Volume page count?

Answer: Not Applicable

c. Does the government have "draft" labor category description with associated skills that it is using to evaluate proposed personnel? If so, can the government provide any "draft" labor category descriptions to ensure some level of continuity across all contractor responses?

Answer: No

40. In Section M, III (Contingency Procedure), Item #3 identifies “Steps 2 and 3, above” when there are only two previous steps. Is this a typographical error?

Answer: Yes. This is a typographical error and is corrected in Section M, RFP Attachment 3.

41. Section L Instructions to Offerors, 11 Volume 3 Past Performance Volume states “the offeror must submit relevant and recent contract information regarding past performance via the Past Performance Questionnaire (RFP Attachment 6).”

a. Please clarify what is required in the past performance volume submission?

b. Are we to provide only the Past Performance Questionnaires or additional performance information for each contract that the Past Performance Questionnaire was provided to?

Answer: Only the Past Performance Questionnaire, filled out by the reference, is required

42. Section L Instructions to Offerors, 13 a. Proposal Format: Proposals maximum page count is 25. Please clarify if that is 25 pages for Executive Summary and 25 pages for technical? Or 25 total for both?

Answer: No, both the executive summary and technical volume combined is limited to 25 pages.

43. Section L Instructions to Offerors, 13 a. Proposal Format: Does the technical summary template count in the page count?

Answer: No.

44. We respectfully request an extension of the proposal due date?

Answer: Proposals revised due date is 01 April 2012, 4:00PM CST.

45. Is it your intent that the Offeror submit one signed copy via email which shall arrive by 8AM, 28 March, as well as the signed hard copy?

Answer: See modified language in Section L, #18. The word hardcopy is deleted.

46. What is the total number of hard copies required for delivery and should they arrive by 28 March, 8AM?

Answer: One copy. Yes it should arrive by revised proposal due date 01 April 2013, 4:00PM CST.

47. How many total proposals should be submitted? One original and how many copies?

Answer: One original copy.

48. Should proposal submissions be done in electronic format (via email) or in hard copy format (in binders sent via the mail or delivered in person)?

Answer: See modified language in Section L, #18. The word hardcopy is deleted.

49. Section L #18 (p.61/122) states “The original proposal shall be identified as such. One signed hardcopy shall be delivered via email no later than 8:00 AM. CST on 28 March 2013, to the addresses identified below.” Can the Government please clarify whether they want a hardcopy, or to have the proposal sent via email (as both don’t make sense together)?

Answer: See modified language in Section L, #18. The word hardcopy is deleted.

50. Can the Government please exclude the Technical Summary Template (RFP Attachment Four) pages from the 25 page count limit?

Answer: The Technical Summary Template is excluded from the 25 page count limit.

51. Does the Government want the Section B to be included in the price volume?

Answer: Yes.

52. What specifically would the Government like to see in the Price Volume to ensure compliancy? Section B? Separate labor tables created by the offeror? Something else?

Answer: Pricing for CLINs.

53. Should the SF-33 be submitted by the offeror as part of this proposal? If so, in which volume should it be submitted?

Answer: Only Section B of the SF-33. It can be provided in contractor format to include all pricing, total cost, and applicable CLINs.

54. Section L.9 The Executive Summary states that "The Cover Letter shall provide the following information…" Should the cover letter be a separate document and not part of the Executive Summary? Is the Cover Letter treated like the cover page or table of contents and not count to the 25 page limit?

Answer: Yes. Reference Section L, LII, 13

55. Section L.10 The Technical Volume 2 has the requirement for "a completed Technical Summary Template (RFP Attachment Four". This template is required for the Base Year plus the four option years. This effectively addresses five pages to the Technical Volume. Will the Government add five pages to the allowable page count? Or exclude the template from the page count? Or allow the Offeror to modify the Template to fit all five years onto one.

Answer: The Technical Summary Template is excluded from the 25 page count limit.

56. Section L9-L10.d L9 requires "A statement that your company understands the requirements specified in the PWS and will meet the performance standards and requirements therein." L10.d state "By your proposal submission, you are representing that your firm will perform all of the requirements specified in the solicitation." Are two separate statements? If not, where should the statement be?

Answer: They are two separate statements. Please follow the guidelines in the RFP.

57. Section L18. The Government states, "One signed hardcopy shall be delivered via email…" Please confirm that email delivery of a signed, scanned/pdfed document is acceptable.

Answer: See modified language in Section L, #18. The word hardcopy is deleted.