FA8771-16-R0023_Attachment_2_-_Instructions_to_Offerors_-_Section_L.pdf

Attachment 2 – FA8771-16-R0023

Air Force Life Cycle Management Center Directorate for Operations

Air Force Systems Networking Support

SECTION L

INSTRUCTIONS, CONDITIONS, AND NOTICES TO OFFERORS OR RESPONDENTS

1.0 General Instructions

(a) The proposal shall be clear, concise, and shall include sufficient detail for effective evaluation and for substantiating the validity of stated claims. The proposal should not simply rephrase or restate the Government's requirements, but shall provide convincing rationale to address how the offeror intends to meet these requirements. By your proposal submission, you are representing that your firm will perform all the requirements specified in the solicitation. Offerors shall assume that the Government has no prior knowledge of their facilities and experience and will base its evaluation on the information presented in the offeror's proposal. The Offeror’s proposal must include all data and information requested by the ITO and must be submitted in accordance with these instructions. Any Offeror who submits an incomplete package may be considered ineligible for award. The offer shall be compliant with the requirements as stated in the Performance Work Statement (PWS) and appendices. Non-conformance with the instructions provided in the ITO may result in an unfavorable proposal evaluation.

(b) The Government will not evaluate brochures or commercial documentation. Offerors should not submit detailed art work or other embellishments.

(c) Offerors shall affirm their proposals remain valid for 180 days from the close of the solicitation.

(d) In accordance with FAR Subpart 4.8 (Government Contract Files), the Government will retain one copy of all unsuccessful proposals. Unless the offeror requests otherwise, the Government will destroy extra copies of such unsuccessful proposals.

(e) Offerors shall submit proposals no later than (NLT) 4:00pm Central Daylight Time (CDT), on 16 June 2016 (See Table 1 for details).

(f) The Government intends to evaluate the proposal and make the award without discussions, but reserves the right to conduct discussions if the Contracting Officer (CO) determines them to be necessary.

(g) The Air Force Systems Networking (AFSN) requirement will be awarded IAW FAR Part 19, utilizing FAR 15 procedures. All information provided by the Offeror (as long as it is consistent with the RFP, e.g. page limitations, reference paragraph 2.2.1) is subject to evaluation as described in the Evaluation Criteria in Section M of this RFP.

2.0 General Information

2.1 Point of Contact

The Contracting Officer (CO) is the sole point of contact for this acquisition. Offerors will submit any questions or concerns they may have to the CO. Answers to questions will be distributed to all Offerors responding to this solicitation.

Formal communications and requests for clarification and/or information concerning this solicitation shall be submitted electronically via e-mail or as an attachment thereto. Please submit all questions only to the CO, with copies to the Contract Manager and Contracting Specialist NLT 2:00pm CDT, 24 May 2016. The following information is provided for that purpose. Answers to questions will be distributed by 27 May 2016 through FedBizOpps.

Contracting Officer: Maj Jeremy R. Maloy, AFLCMC/HIK, jeremy.maloy@us.af.mil

Contract Manager: 1Lt Janie Sullivan, AFLCMC/HIK, janie.sullivan@us.af.mil

Contracting Specialist: Ms. Audrey Robinson, AFLCMC/HIK, audrey.robinson.2@us.af.mil

2.2 Debriefings

The CO will promptly notify offerors of any decision to exclude them from the competitive range; whereupon, they may request and receive a debriefing in accordance with FAR 15.505.

Offerors excluded from the competitive range may request a pre-award debriefing or they may choose to wait until after the source selection decision to request a post-award debriefing.

However, offerors excluded from the competitive range are entitled to no more than one debriefing for each proposal. The CO will notify unsuccessful offerors in the competitive range of the source selection decision in accordance with FAR 15.506. Upon such notification, unsuccessful offerors may request and receive a debriefing. Offerors desiring a debriefing must make their request in accordance with the requirements of FAR 15.505 or 15.506, as applicable.

2.3 Discrepancies

If an offeror believes that the requirements in these instructions contain an error, omission, or are otherwise unsound, the offeror shall immediately notify the CO in writing with supporting rationale as well as the remedies the offeror is asking the CO to consider as related to the omission or error.

The offeror is reminded that the Government reserves the right to award this effort based on the initial proposal, as received, without discussion. This reservation includes matters of additional or substitute pages of the initial proposal.

2.4 Electronic Reference Documents

All referenced documents for this solicitation are available on the Federal Business Opportunities (FedBizOpps) website at http://www.fedbizopps.gov. Potential offerors are encouraged to subscribe for real-time e-mail notifications when information has been posted to the website for this solicitation. The Government will provide a Bidder’s Library. Potential offerors are encouraged to utilize documents found there to support their proposals.

2.5 Communications

Exchange of source selection information between Government and Offerors will be controlled by the CO. The Offeror’s initial proposal submission shall be delivered on CD/DVD. Email may be used to transmit other source selection sensitive information with Offerors if the email can be sent and received encrypted or password protected and includes “Source Selection Information - See FAR 2.101 & 3.104” in the email’s subject line. Otherwise, source selection information will be transmitted via USPS. In order to facilitate the sending and receiving of encrypted emails, Offerors must use MS Outlook email configured to support encryption or a different email product that is S/MIME compatible and configured to support encryption. If you intend to submit source selection information via encrypted email, you will need to contact the Contracting Officer indicated on the face page of the solicitation prior to that first submittal in order to exchange certificates used for encryption. To ensure the process is working correctly, first send an encrypted test message (without including any source selection information) to the PCO.

2.6 Cost or Pricing

The PCO has determined there is a high probability of adequate price competition in this acquisition. Upon examination of the initial offers, the PCO will review this determination and if, in the PCO’s opinion, adequate price competition exists, no additional cost information will be requested and certification under FAR 15.406-2 will not be required. However, if at any time during this competition the PCO determines that adequate price competition no longer exists, the Offeror may be required to submit information to the extent necessary for the PCO to determine the reasonableness of price.

2.7 Organization/Number of Copies/Page Limits

The offeror shall prepare the proposal as set forth in the Proposal Organization Table (Table 1 below). The titles and contents of the volumes shall be as defined in this table, all of which shall be within the required page limits and with the number of copies as specified in Table 1.

Volume number and title shall be indicated on each CD/DVD. Proposals shall be submitted with each volume on a separate CD/DVD. The electronic copies of the proposal shall be submitted in a format readable by Microsoft (MS) Office Word 2010, MS Office Excel 2010, MS Office Project 2010, MS Office Access 2010, and MS Office PowerPoint 2010, as applicable. Any certificates or other credentials provided shall be submitted in Adobe PDF format. Special file decompression and decryption software shall not be required. All electronic files shall be fully searchable by keyword. The proposed volumes listed in Table 1 shall all be unclassified. The contents of each proposal volume are described in the ITO paragraph as noted in the table below:

Table 1. Proposal Organization Table

VOLUME VOLUME TITLE COPIES PAGE LIMIT

1 Executive Summary 1 Original CD/DVD

1 Copy CD/DVD

II Technical 1 Original CD/DVD 1 Redacted CD/DVD

III Past Performance 1 Original CD/DVD 1 Redacted CD/DVD

IV Price 1 Original CD/DVD 1 Copy CD/DVD

Use provided Vendor Price Proposal Worksheets

(Attachment 6) V Contract

Documentation 1 Original CD/DVD

1 Copy CD/DVD 1 Hard Copy with

Original Ink Signature

N/A

2.7.1 Page Limitations and Proposal Format

Page limitations shall be treated as maximums. If exceeded, the excess pages will not be read nor considered in the evaluation of the proposal. A page is defined as each face of a sheet of paper containing information. When both sides of a sheet display printed material, it shall be counted as two pages. Page size shall be 8.5 x 11 inches, not including foldouts. Pages shall be single-spaced. Font shall be Times New Roman and font size shall be no less than eleven point.

Use 1-inch top and bottom margins and 1-inch left and right margins. Pages shall be numbered sequentially by volume. These page size and format restrictions shall apply to responses to Evaluation Notices (ENs). Additional page limitations may be placed on responses to ENs. The specified page limits for EN responses will be identified in the letters forwarding the ENs to the offerors.

Legible tables, charts, graphs and figures shall be used wherever practical to depict organizations, systems and layout, implementation schedules, plans, etc. These displays shall be uncomplicated, legible, and shall not exceed 8.5 x 11 inches in size. For tables, charts, graphs and figures, the text shall be no smaller than eleven point. No “foldouts” sized larger than 8.5 x 11 inches will be accepted.

Where required, the offeror shall submit proposal information in excel workbook templates provided by the Government. The offeror is not permitted to alter the formatting of provided workbook templates. Only that information required within the template shall be submitted; no additional information is permitted for submission.

2.7.2 Cross-Referencing

Each volume shall be written on a stand-alone basis so that its contents may be evaluated without cross referencing to other volumes of the proposal. Cross referencing within a proposal volume is permitted where its use would conserve space without impairing clarity.

2.7.3 Glossary of Abbreviations and Acronyms

Each volume shall contain a glossary of all abbreviations and acronyms used. Glossaries do not count against the page limitations for their respective volumes.

2.7.4 Distribution

The "original" proposal shall be identified. Proposals shall be addressed to the PCO and delivered or hand carried to:

AFLCMC/HIZK

ATTN: Maj Jeremy Maloy Air Force Systems Networking Support Contract 490 East Moore Dr., Bldg 892, Suite 270 Maxwell AFB - Gunter Annex, AL 36114 Commercial: 334-416-6199

Access to Maxwell AFB - Gunter Annex is restricted. Offerors, couriers, and other delivery services may encounter unpredictable and lengthy delays or denied access when attempting to enter the facility. Similarly, mailed proposals may encounter unpredictable and lengthy routing delays. In all cases, Offerors are responsible for the risks associated with the chosen delivery method and for ensuring that the Government receives the complete proposal at the appropriate designated location prior to the due date and time for proposal submission.

Offerors must coordinate with the Contract Manager and Contract Specialist at janie.sullivan@us.af.mil (334) 416-4215 and audrey.robinson.2@us.af.mil (334) 416-3925 NLT 48 hours prior to plan for proposal drop-off as necessary.

3.0 Volume I - Executive Summary

In the executive summary, the offeror shall provide, at a minimum, the information listed below.

Note, no information provided in this section will be evaluated for Technical, Past Performance, or Price factors.

3.1 Cover Letter

The Cover Letter shall provide the following information:

a. Company’s Small Business Status/Categories as appropriate

b. Company point of contact with email, phone and facsimile number

c. CAGE Code

d. DUNS number

e. A statement that your company understands the requirements specified in the

Performance Work Statement (PWS) and will meet the performance standards and requirements therein.

3.2 Table of Contents

Include a master table of contents of the entire proposal.

3.3 Authorized Offeror Personnel

Provide the name, title, and telephone number of the company/division point of contact regarding decisions made with respect to your proposal and who can obligate your company contractually. Also, identify those individuals authorized to negotiate with the Government.

4.0 Volume II – Technical

4.1 General

The Technical Volume should be specific and complete. Legibility, clarity, and coherence are very important. The Government will evaluate against the Technical subfactors identified in Section M, Evaluation Factors for Award. Using the instructions provided below, provide as specifically as possible the actual methodology to be employed in accomplishing/satisfying these subfactors. All the requirements specified in the solicitation are mandatory.

4.2 Technical

In the technical volume, address your technical solution for meeting or exceeding the Government’s minimum performance or capability requirements of each technical subfactor.

4.3 Volume Organization

The Technical volume shall be organized according to the following general outline:

a. Subfactor 1: Interface & Interoperability

b. Subfactor 2: Design, Development, & Testing

c. Glossary

5.0 Volume III - Past Performance

5.1 General

Each offeror shall submit a past performance volume with its proposal, containing past performance information in accordance with the format described below.

The Government will use data provided by each offeror in this volume and will contact organizations submitted as past performance. The Government will also obtain recent and relevant data from the Past Performance Information Retrieval System (PPIRS) and the Contractor Performance Assessment Reports System (CPARS).

If any subcontractor’s past performance is submitted, the subcontractor’s Consent to Release the past performance information to the prime must be submitted in the prime’s proposal. This Consent to Release shall be included on a separate page and will not be counted toward the volume’s page limit. If any subcontractor does not wish to release their Past Performance information to the prime, the subcontractor’s Past Performance may be delivered separately by the subcontractor directly to the Contracting Officer; however, any such delivery must meet the solicitation close time/date. The prime is responsible for ensuring subcontractors are aware of page limitations. In the event a past performance write-up extends beyond one stand-alone page, only the first page of the submission will be reviewed and counted toward the page maximum.

Offerors without a record of relevant past performance or for whom information on past performance is not available shall submit a statement to that effect.

Additional information on past and projected AFSN workload is provided via the Bidder’s Library accompanying this solicitation.

5.2 Specific Content

The past performance proposal information will include information pertaining to recent and relevant work from no more than five different contracts which are of similar size and scope, at the enterprise network level, as the tasks outlined in the PWS. Performance within 36 months of the date of RFP release will be considered recent. Performance prior to 17 May 2013 will not be considered or evaluated. Of the contracts submitted for past performance, a minimum of one contract is requested from the prime contractor. Regardless of number of total past performance submissions, no more than two contracts may be submitted for past performance from subcontractors. Each past performance submission is limited to one stand-alone page. When submissions are combined, the total past performance volume shall not exceed five pages.

Offeror shall provide point of contact (POC) name, phone number and e-mail address, and contract number, for each past performance submission. The POC should be an individual responsible for contract oversight (e.g. Contracting Officer (CO), Contracting Officer Representative (COR), or Program Manager (PM)) for the organization that received the services the contractor provided. The POC must be able to validate the details of the past performance submission.

6.0 Volume IV - Price

6.1 General

This section is to assist you in submitting data other than certified cost or pricing data that is required to evaluate the reasonableness of your proposed price. Compliance with these requirements is mandatory and failure to comply may result in rejection of your proposal. Note that unrealistically low or high proposed costs or prices, initially or subsequently, may be grounds for eliminating a proposal from competition either on the basis that the offeror does not understand the requirement or has submitted an unrealistic proposal. Additionally, unbalanced pricing poses an unacceptable risk to the Government and may be a reason to reject an offeror’s proposal. Offers should be sufficiently detailed to demonstrate their reasonableness and balance.

The burden of proof for credibility of proposed prices rests with the offeror.

6.1.1 Price Reasonableness

The Government will evaluate prices to determine whether they are fair and reasonable.

Unbalanced pricing poses an unacceptable risk to the Government and may be a reason to reject an offeror’s proposal.

6.1.2 Price Data

Data beyond that required by this instruction shall not be submitted, unless you consider it essential to document or support your price position. All data relating to the proposed price, including all required supporting documentation, must be included in the section of the proposal designated as the Price volume. Under no circumstances shall this data and documentation be included elsewhere in the proposal.

6.1.3 Pricing Data Requirements

Price proposal information will be submitted using the Government provided Vendor Price Proposal Instructions (Section J, Attachment 5) and Vendor Price Proposal Worksheets (Section J, Attachment 6). Offerors shall use the travel, Other Direct Costs (ODC), minor electrical support, and equipment shipping support values pre-populated in the Vendor Price Proposal Workbook to calculate total price. Fully burdened labor rates should be utilized in the workbook.

In accordance with FAR 15.403-1(b) and 15.403(a), data other than certified cost or pricing data may be required to support a determination of price reasonableness. Data shall be provided in accordance with FAR.15.403-5. If, after receipt of proposals, the CO determines that there is insufficient data available to determine price reasonableness the offeror shall be required to submit data other than certified cost or pricing data.

6.1.4 Submission of Proposal Adequacy Checklist

If adequate price competition is anticipated but may not be realized and cost or pricing data would otherwise be required under FAR 15.804-2(a), the Contracting Officer reserves the right to request the cost or pricing data at a later date. In this event, Offerors shall prepare and submit certified cost or pricing data and supporting attachments in accordance with Table 15-2 of FAR

15.408. In addition, Offerors shall furnish a completed version of the DoD Proposal Adequacy Checklist (DPAC) which can be found at DFARS 252.215-7009.

7.0 Volume V - Contract Documentation

7.1 Model Contract/Representations and Certifications

The purpose of this volume is to provide information to the Government for preparing the contract document and supporting file. The offeror's proposal shall include a signed copy of the Model Contract, and Sections A through K.

7.1.1 Section A - Solicitation/Contract Form

Completion of blocks 13, 14, 15A, 15B, 15C, 16, 17 and 18 of the Standard Form 33. Signature by the offeror on the Standard Form 33 constitutes an offer, which the Government may accept.

The "original" copy should be clearly marked.

7.1.2 Section B - Supplies or Services and Costs/Prices

Completed pricing information shall be submitted in Attachment 6, Vendor Price Proposal Worksheets, rather than in Section B. Only those prices submitted in Attachment 6 will be evaluated.

7.1.3 Section J – Attachments

The offer shall complete the DD 254 by replacing “TBD” with appropriate company information.

7.1.4 Section K - Representations, Certifications, and other Statements of Offerors

Completion of representations, certifications, acknowledgments and statements is required in order for an offeror to be determined responsive to this solicitation.

8.0 Solicitation Attachments

All attachments referenced in the ITO are incorporated into this solicitation in Section J, Attachments. Offerors shall utilize these solicitation attachments as prescribed in the ITO.

9.0 Attachments to the Model Contract

The solicitation model contract lists all attachments in Section J. If awarded, the solicitation attachments will be included in the contract with the exception of Attachment 2, Attachment 3, Attachment 5, and Attachment 6.

The Offeror shall fill in required information within the model contract and in the following attachments to the model contract:

• Attachment 4 DD254

• Attachment 6 Vendor Price Proposal Worksheets