Draft_RFP_Industry_Day_Questions_Responses.pdf

Solicitation Number: FA8771-17-R-1000

QUESTION GOVERNMENT RESPONSES

1 Define importance of agile development.

The Department of Defense is incorporating agile development concepts into DoD policies; the services provided by this contract will be affected by the DoD policy changes.

2 Is agile software development a requirement?

All items listed in the Statement of Objectives are requirements; however there are some areas where multiple options of a solution may be provided.

Will more value be given to Agile development in the past performance evaluation over other development methods?

Please see Section M, Past Performance Factor. There is no past performance evaluation criteria providing more value for one software development methodology over another.

In Section 3.4.2 the Government states, “Each contract holder is required at the time of contract award to have Capability Maturity Model

Integration (CMMI) Development Level 2 or higher.” In Attachment 3, Section 2, under Process of Evaluation the Government states, “If an offeror’s proposal does not demonstrate CMMI Development Level 2 (at a minimum) certification, the proposal will not be evaluated and the offeror is therefore ineligible for contract award.” Is CMMI Level 2 required by the proposal submission date or by the award date? Will the Government accept a letter from a Lead Appraiser that a CMMI Level 2 certification is expected by the award date for purposes of evaluating the proposal?

Valid CMMI appraisal documentation shall be submitted at the time of proposal submission. A letter from a Lead Apprasier stating that a CMMI

Level 2 appraisal is expected by the award date for purposes of evaluating the proposal is not acceptable.

“If the offeror’s CMMI certification expires prior to contract award, the offeror shall submit a copy of its recertification….”

Will the Government expect bidders to provide a revised proposal package upon recertification, or will proof of recertification be asked for prior to the issuance of a contract?

The Government will not expect revised proposals; however, proof of a renewed appraisal will be required prior to issuance of an award.

“The offeror shall submit a copy of the certificate w/ embossed symbol or seal of the accreditation agency;” CMMI Institute has confirmed to us that they provide only electronic confirmation of assessment. Our auditor also confirmed that CMMI does not permit auditors to provide certification evidence. Therefore, it is not possible to obtain an “embossed symbol or seal.” Would the Government please provide an alternative method of confirmation of the CMMI Level 2 or higher assessment, such as a link to the official CMMI Institute website?

Section L Instructions to Offerors has been updated to reflect the appropriate documentation required.

A CMMI2-DEV appraisal is a significant cost. Not requiring this appraisal of all members of a JV puts offerors that chose not to JV at a financial disadvantage / gives advantage to those that JV (they are able to maximize their B&P budget). If CMMI is so important, why not require it of every company involved? Why risk having a company not appraised do work simply because they JV with a company that has the appraisal? Please consider having all legal entities involved have the CMMI-DEV2 appraisal.

The Government is in receipt of your recommendation; however, the

Government is trying to maximize the flexibility and/or benefit of what an

MP JV can provide to a small business.

Can a task order under this contract require higher certification than

CMMI-2?

Yes. If required at the task order level, each indiviual task order may specify the required apprasial level.

9 Can ISO 9000 and 27001 certification be used instead of CMMI level 2?

Each contract holder is required, at the time of proposal, to be appraised at

Level 2 (at a minimum) for either Capability Maturity Model Integration

(CMMI) for Development or CMMI for Services. For approved Joint

Ventures, at least 50% of the venturers are required to hold the appraisal level if the Joint Venture itself does not.

Small Business Enterprise Application Solutions (SBEAS) Draft RFP / Industry Day Questions and Responses

Small Business Enterprise Application Solutions (SBEAS) Draft RFP / Industry Day Questions and Responses

Could you clarify that in a Joint Venture only one member is required to have the CMMI Lev 2 appraisal for the life of the contract?

See Question #9

For those Contractors who do not currently have a CMMI certification and are in the process of getting it; will they be notified if our schedule shifts left?

Information released to industry related to schedules is "tentative".

Although the Government will strive to continue to meet projected dates, there is always the possiblity of schedule changes. Any updates or information related to the solicitation, if released, will be posted to FBO.

On NC-2, many vendors had CMMI-3. Do we get more points for having a higher CMMI rating than level 2? No additional points will be given for higher CMMI appriasal status.

The Draft, Attachment 3 page 1 (and Industry Slide #30), Process of

Evaluation states each offeror shall have at least CMMI-2. Companies who do software development within the government space are required to follow the government's CMMI or equivalent processes and thus, due to the nature of the audit/certification requirements, would not maintain CMMI for their company in those instances. Please consider other certifications to be acceptable, such as the ISO 9001. If CMMI remains required, please allow the non-CMMI certified companies to propose in their bid a plan of action for obtaining CMMI should they win.

Each contract holder is required to be appraised at Level 2 (at a minimum) for either Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) for Development or CMMI for Services at the time of proposal submission.

We have a TS Facility Clearance and would like to submit as a prime;

however, we do not have CMMI Development Level 3 certification. The answer to Question 56 in “Industry_Day_Questions_ Responses.pdf” says that a subcontractor’s CMMI Level 3 certification can be used to meet the requirement. In that case, we could bid as a prime and meet the CMMI requirement through a teaming agreement with one of our subcontractors.

However, “JV_Memo_3_April_17.pdf” document says, “We are aware that some JVs may be formed for the sole purpose of this acquisition and the process to obtain the required certification in order to be eligible for a contract award is extensive. Therefore, only one of the companies forming a legally binding JV is required to have obtained the minimum required certification.” If we form a JV, the JV will not have a TS Facility

Clearance and we can’t apply to get one until after the award of the contract. Will the government please confirm that a prime-subcontractor relationship with a company that has the required CMMI certification is sufficient for the prime to be eligible, or must the companies form a JV to count the certification of the company that has the required CMMI level?

A prime-subcontractor relationship is not suffcient. The prime contractor must hold the appraisal. If a JV is formed at least 50% of the venturers are required to hold the minimum CMMI apprasial level that is required in order to be eligible for contract award.

15 What is the rationale for CMMI-2 vs CMMI-3?

CMMI appraisal ensures the government that the offerors are improving their processes through industry best practices. It is one delineator for this small business vehicle.

Would the government consider changing the requirement to all CMMI within the one-year period or at the task order level rather than at proposal submission. You will not be given an award at the task order level until you have your CMMI certification. Or, we could have you accepted, but you won't get the contract award until you are certified.

The government has taken this into consideration and the requirement remains the same.

Small Business Enterprise Application Solutions (SBEAS) Draft RFP / Industry Day Questions and Responses

Could the Government provide an example of how a set of Past

Performance references could be evaluated as "Substantial Confidence?"

The government cannot provide an example of how past performances references could be evaluated for Substantial Confidence. Section M of the solicitation provides the criteria as well as descriptive data for each of the evaluation ratings.

18 What Cost Basis will used in in the absence of Cost Volume? Will it be done at the TO level instead of the IDIQ level?

SBEAS is a competitive FAR Part 15 Source Selection. At this time, the

Government does not anticipate evaluating cost/price at the IDIQ; that evaluation will be performed at each task order competition.

3.1, sub element 1e Please clarify: Does this section refer to *either*

COTS SW *or* a COTS ERP sufficient? Or must it be COTS SW in the form of ERP?

The verbiage as wriiten COTS SW/ERP is intended to be COTS SW "or"

COTS ERP

Attachment 1. Section 3.4.5: GOTS/COTS/Open Source Tools. Page 3 of

7. Section 3.4.5 says to “use only GOTS tools, approved COTS tools, or approved Free and Open Source Software for systems design and development.” Is there an approved list somewhere that offerors can review/access?

Yes, DISA and the AF maintain approved products and tool lists. Access to those lists are not required for this solicitation. Task orders will provide the necessary information for their requirements.

Section L, sub-element 1e and/or the definition of COTS: Would you extend COTS SW/ERP to include open source applications? Perhaps by either stated COTS SW/ERP and Open Source or by changing the definition #8 (COTS) to include open source packages.

The Government is in receipt of your recommendation. All RFP documentation will be updated as necessary.

Section L, Sub-element 1e: Life-cycle Software Services

In addition to experience with COTS and ERP systems, will the government consider vendor experience with GOTS software as relevant past performance for this subfactor, as well as in other sections where

COTS/ERP experience is referenced, e.g., Section M10 - COTS Product

Support to include GOTS experience in the evaluation criteria?

The Government is in receipt of your recommendation. All RFP documentation will be updated as necessary.

The 2nd sentence in the 2nd paragraph states "...the second option year is reserved for performance ONLY" Should the term "option year be revised to "option period"?

All RFP documentation will be updated as necessary.

24 Can we use a CPAR instead of a PPQ?

Offerors are encouraged to provide PPQs for any contract reference that the Government cannot easily verify via an internal database (i.e., CPARS, FAPIIS, etc.); however both will be accepted for evaluation purposes.

25 Does a CPAR have more weight than a PPQ? No. Quality is assessed in totality of all available information.

If there is an evaluation in CPARS or PIPPRS or if there is a discrepancy amongst the information in the PP Questionnaire vs. what's in

CPARS/PIPPRS; which will take precedence?

Quality is assessed in totality of all available information. No one document weighs more than another. All recent information received/retrieved will be evaluated.

27 Will the government consider a trend across multiple CPARs? No. The Government will not conduct a CPARs trend analysis.

Attachment 2, page 4 P 1.2.3 (page 12 of the PDF) is confusing.

Apparently 2 CRMs required – one for the Tech volume, and one for the

Past Performance volume. Contracts used for Tech must be included in

Past Performance. “The offeror shall include a CRM in the Technical

(Volume II) and Past Performance (Volume III) volumes that shall mirror each other.” If the CRMs must mirror each other, then can we have Past

Performance references that are not included in the tech experience volume?

Yes, it is possible to have Past Performance references that are not included in technical; however, it is NOT permissible to have any references in technical that are not also provided in Past Performance.

Small Business Enterprise Application Solutions (SBEAS) Draft RFP / Industry Day Questions and Responses

“All offerors shall:- Provide at least one (1) example identifying the control by name with supporting security control artifacts used to verify the IS met the RMF or DIACAP control. - Describe its testing and remediation actions and the result of those actions for the compliant and non-compliant security controls.” As per ID 1 and ID 4 of the Self Scoring Worksheet (attachment

6), is there an anticipation that ID 2 (Cybersecurity) will be similarly broken out to component parts (e.g., DIACAP, RMF, etc.)?

All RFP documentation will be updated as necessary.

Consider changing the cybersecurity "very relevant" rating in the past performance section. Some vendors have non-DoD experience, but the experience is recent and ongoing.

All RFP documentation will be updated as necessary.

For the cybersecurity relevancy requirement, will the Government accept a reference to the RMF artifacts we manage in the eMASS system?

The Government will evaluate all recent and relevant information provided in accordance with Section M.

32 How much do we see cybersecurity and system design being a part of this?

It cannot be determined how often cybersecurity and system design will be requested or required. This will be at the Task Order level. However, anytime the government solicits for software or application support, either for information and information systems, cybersecurity (the former information assurance) is involved.

Regarding security question #2 (not sure if it is for the PP or the SSWS):

This appears to be IA only. The SOO is deeper than IA. Why are you only addressing IA?

All RFP documentation will be updated as necessary.

Subfactor 2: Cybersecurity. Page 11 of 13. The Government requires

“supporting artifacts” to verify an offeror’s past performance included implementing a control that aligned with RMF/DIACAP. Many of these supporting artifacts are Government owned or contain sensitive information. As a result, we recommend the Government accept a past performance’s Statement of Work that references the offeror’s

RMF/DIACAP compliant requirements as supporting evidence.

The Government has taken into consideration, industry's concerns related to sensitive information and will update all appropriate sections of the RFP for clarity.

The "Cybersercurity" evaluation criteria states that the Contractor must provide a "security control artifacts" for evaluation purposes. Are there any alternatives that will be considered as most contractors are uncomfortable releasing this information without the PMO consent?

The Government has taken into consideration, industry's concerns related to sensitive information and will update all appropriate sections of the RFP for clarity.

36 RFP Section L, 4.2, page 11 of 13, Refers to a Section (4) Security Control

Artifact(s). The response to this section seems to overlap with part of our response to PPN Sub-Factor 2: Cybersecurity. Is this intended and correct?

All RFP documentation will be updated as necessary.

How will the government rank the proposals to determine which 40 will be awarded a contract if you receive more than 40 qualifying submissions?

Will the government rank the Technically Acceptable proposals by the by the max number of points received in the Technical Experience and then by strongest Recency, Relevancy, Quality, and Confidence ratings assessed to the PP?

Maximum points is not a deciding factor for this source selection; an offeror does not receive any additional credit for obtaining higher than the required points for an "acceptable" technical rating.

Small Business Enterprise Application Solutions (SBEAS) Draft RFP / Industry Day Questions and Responses

Section M

RFP Section M, Confidence Assessment, page 10 of 13: states “A rating of

Substantial Confidence in Sub-factor 1 is required to be eligible for contract award.”

Question: Must an Offeror receive a VERY RELEVANT in Sub-factor 1, to obtain a rating of Substantial Confidence?

Section M will be updated to remove "substantial confidence in Subfactor

1 is required to be eligible for contract award." In addition, Section M of the RFP will be updated to provide clarifty for rating assessments.

Section M under Confidence Assessment, states: “A rating of Substantial

Confidence in Sub-factor 1 is required to be eligible for contract award.”

The evaluation for Sub-factor 1 is a subjective rating in addition to the already very clear evaluation criteria for Sub-factor 1. Why does the

Government need a subjective Confidence Assessment evaluation rating as a separate criteria for an already clear evaluation formula? we request the

Government considers removing the Confidence Assessment rating.

The Government has taken this into consideration and the appropriate sections of the RFP will be updated.

It is expected that there will be a very high response to this RFP given nearly 200 vendors present at the industry days. The Government intends to award 40 slots. With no DOD experience in PPQ subfactor 2, the highest relevancy rating that may be attained is “relevant”. It’s expected that PPQs will likely be evaluated high (else we wouldn’t use them).

Likely more than 40 RFPs will achieve the highest relevancy and quality scores and thus expected highest confidence scores. This could likely translate to Offerors without DoD experience subfactor 2 not making the final cut. Which seems to go against the Governments desire for a breadth of experience. Is the Government doing anything to mitigate this circumstance? Otherwise, given that most factors are straightforward and fairly easily obtain the highest level, it would seem that the final group of awardees will all be those with DoD experience in Cyber (subfactor 2).

The Government has taken this into consideration and the appropriate sections of the RFP will be updated.

Section M – Section M states that the basis of award will be a trade off, but it does not state how the results of the Factors 1 and 2 evaluations will be assessed to determine an overall evaluation result. Will the Government please clarify how Factors 1 and 2 contribute to an overall proposal evaluation result?

See Section M for Evaluation Process

Atch 1, SOO 4.1 4 of 7 Regarding security requirements. Would the government consider specifying at least a SECRET requirement at the

IDIQ level, in order to provide the justification for contractors (in particular, new JVs) without facilities clearances to be sponsored to get them?

A Facility clearance will not be required at the IDIQ level.

Can you please confirm the level of clearance (Secret or Top Secret) required to bid on SBEAS? The solicitation indicates that clearances would be required for TOs, and it would take time for small businesses without a clearance to be certified. Rather than require clearances, would the

Government consider awarding additional points for companies with TS

Facility Clearances, as these companies are capable of performing on day one?

A Facility clearance will not be required at the IDIQ level. All RFP documentation will be updated as necessary.

Small Business Enterprise Application Solutions (SBEAS) Draft RFP / Industry Day Questions and Responses

A Memorandum for Industry Partners, dated 27 March 2017 (attached) does NOT appear on the www.fbo.gov <http://www.fbo.gov> website but does appear in other search engines. Was this 27 March notice withdrawn

(this question arises due to its missing from the FBO website), or is it valid? One key discrepancy is that the attached 27 March memorandum states an RFP release date of “on or about 13 June 2017 with proposals due on or about 14 July 2017 (dates are subject to change)”, whereas an earlier

FBO-posted 24 March notice anticipates a July RFP release date.

The notice mentioned is the synopsis of award document. It is posted on

FBO. Search by the solicitation and two items will appear, the synopsis and the link where all of the RFI, Draft, etc documents have been posted.

45 Free and Open Source Software is not mentioned in Section L or M, however it is identifed in the SOO and the Technical Verification Form.

All appropriate sections of the RFP will be updated.

Are there any anticipated set-asides for SDVOSB for this opportunity?

SBEAS is a total small business set-aside. This effort will not be reserving any portion of work for any small business classifications.

General Clarification Questions

RFP Sections 1 and 3. Please define “Network Centric”.

The term Network Centric has been added to the Definition of Terms attachment.

48 In case of any discrepancy (contents or interpretive) between the solicitation and the score card, which document takes precedent?

The scorecard is a part of the solicitation. See Section L--Discrepancies, offerors shall disclose any discrepancies identified to the PCO.

"Recertifications shall be completed 120 days before the end of the based period and every year thereafter.". Recommend "every year thereafter" be changed to "120 days before the end of the option period". Please change the small business recertification to 120 days before the end of the base period and each option period rather than yearly after the base period.

13 CFR 121.404(g)(3) provides guidance as to when small business recertification is required.

“For tables, charts, graphs, and figures, the font shall be no smaller than 8 points.”

Are there font restrictions on said tables, charts, graphs, and figures, or can bidders use a font other than Times New Roman?

All appropriate sections of the RFP will be updated.

Are there any contemplated One-on-One follow-up sessions?

The government does not anticipate any additional one-on-one sessions at this time.

52 Are we looking to eliminate discrete systems with this contract?

Task order requirements may include system migration or decommissioning. The AF is looking at application rationalization as a way to effectively manage IT and budget in the long-term.

Awardee Financial Stability. What financial stability requirements, like those included in the NETCENTS-2 App Services contract, will be included in the SBEAS contract to ensure that awardees have the financial strength to support the various delivery order contracts anticipated under

SBEAS?

Volume IV Contracts of Section L will provide instructions for all

Contractor Responsibility information.

54 Can sub-contractors be added at the task order level? Awardees are permitted, as necessary, to team at the task order level.

55 Can you do a BPA task order? SBEAS is an indefinite delivery indefinite quantity contract.

56 Do we have an estimate on the number of task orders that will be issued?

The number of task orders to be issued cannot be anticipated at this time;

however, these are the historical task order awards from the NC-2 ASSB vehicle that SBEAS is replacing:

2013 - 23

2014 - 105

2015 - 88

2016 - 59 (lower than expected task orders due to the award ceiling being reached)

2017 - 10 (as of 31 March 17)

57 Do you have to be an NetCents prime to bid on this contract? No. This is a new contract opportunity.

58 Do you see any modeling and simulation on this contract?

Task orders may require modeling and simulation within the Life-cycle

Software Services Section of the SOO.

Small Business Enterprise Application Solutions (SBEAS) Draft RFP / Industry Day Questions and Responses

General – Recommend changing all time references from CST to CDT.

Will the Government change the time reference as the majority of the U.S.

is currently operating under Daylight Saving Time?

All appropriate sections of the RFP will be updated.

Has the SBEAS team engaged with their stakeholders for this ID/IQ? With

NC-2, there was not a quick-turn on issuing the task orders.

Yes. With decentralized ordering (meaning any contracting officer in the

AF can issue a task order off SBEAS once trained and given the approval to use the vehicle), the SBEAS PMO has no control on the task order turn-around time.

is DBA Insurance required/reimbursable as ODC?

This would be a question for the task order Contracting Officer who has to determine costs to be allowable/allocable for the contract.

62 Is the government looking for Program Manager (PM) certifications? No, Program Manager certifications are not required at the IDIQ level.

Is the government making SBEAS mandatory or a preferred contract vehicle?

Yes, it will be mandatory AF-wide.

Is there another way to keep larger small's who may recertify out as large businesses at the 5 year recertification period?

No there is not.

65 Is this consolidating or replacing other contract vehicles?

This is the follow-on to the Netcents 2 Application Services Small

Business, mandatory-use ID/IQ.

Key personnel: Program Manager. FBAE. Do we have a list of key personnel we expect?

Individual task orders will specify the requirements for any key personnel that specific task orders may require.

L.1.0 and L.1.2.6 – Recommend the Government delete the requirement for hardcopy submission, since electronic submission is also required. Will the

Government change the requirement as recommended above?

It is the Government's intent to request both hard and electronic copies of the proposals.

L1.0 – Recommend changing electronic format from MS Office to portable document format (PDF). Rationale: offerors have no control over

Government’s computer settings, and documents formatted for compliance on offeror’s computer may not appear compliant when opened on

Government computer with different settings. PDFs eliminate this risk.

Will the Government change its requirement as recommended?

Please refer to Section L of the solicitation for all submission instructions.

69 RFP Section 4.9. Please explain under what circumstances would vendors have an OCI between SBEAS and other Contracts?

As there are several circumstances to which an OCI could exist, the

Government is not able to provide any specific examples.

Section 4.2 states, “All Contractors shall be certified as a small business under this NAICS code prior to contract award.”

Will the Government define “prior to contract award”?

For example, will verification of small business certification be done at submission, during the evaluation period, or after selection of contract awardees?

All appropriate sections of the RFP will be updated.

We would like to request editable versions (e.g., MS Word or Excel) of

Attachments 4, 5, 6, and 7.

The editable versions of these documents will be provided with the Final

RFP release.

What was the rationale for placing the focus on Past Perfomance as opposed to Technical?

The Government wanted the ability to assess not only that an offeror has done the work in the past (technical experience) but also the quality of the work performed (past performance).

Small Business Enterprise Application Solutions (SBEAS) Draft RFP / Industry Day Questions and Responses

73 When can a Contractor request a pre-award briefing?

Pre-award Debriefing of Offerors: IAW FAR 15.505, Offerors excluded from the competitive range or otherwise excluded from the competition before award may request a debriefing before award. The offeror may request a pre-award debriefing by submitting a written request for debriefing to the PCO within three (3) days after receipt of the notice of exclusion from the competition. At the offeror’s request, this debriefing may be delayed until after award. If the debriefing is delayed until after award, it shall include all information normally provided in a post-award debriefing. If the offeror does not submit a timely request, the offeror need not be given either a pre-award or a post-award debriefing. Offerors are entitled to no more than one debriefing for each proposal. The PCO shall make every effort to debrief the unsuccessful offeror as soon as practicable, but may refuse the request for a debriefing if, for compelling reasons, it is not in the best interest of the Government to conduct a debriefing at the requested time.

Will all the task order on SBEAS be published to all awardees? Can task orders be issued to an invididual or group without offering to all?

Unless an exception applies, the Government shall provide fair opportunity to all offerors for any task order greater than $3,500 in value.

Will SBEAS and NC-2 SBAS run parallel?

Yes, for awhile, performance on the current contract can go out through

2022, so some task orders will continue to exercise options.

76 Will the audio of industry day be posted? See FBO.

Will the Government consider setting aside a pool of awards for Offerors that qualify under a $14M NAICS code in addition to the original NAICS code so the possibility of awards going to companies that will outgrow the size standard within the first year is minimized. Awarding to the largest of the “small” businesses and giving that business another 5 years of PoP as a

“small” at the expense of truly small companies is not in keeping with the spirit of the small business program objectives.

The Government will not have any set asides or additional pools within this total small business set-aside.

Will the Government please confirm their estimated final RFP release date?

There have been various references to either a June 2017 and/or a July

2017 Final RFP release date.

The estimated timeline to release the final RFP is mid June-mid July 2017.

79 Will the government post the number of intent to bid confirmations received?

Number of intent to bids received is 117

Will the Government require bidders to have a DCAA-audited cost accounting system (CAS)?

Small businesses are only required to have an "adequate" cost accounting system.

Will there be an off-ramp?

Please refer to the SOO for off-ramping information.

82 Will there be any classified work on task orders?

Specific details for requirements shall be specified at the task order level.

This requirement does allow for both classified and non classified efforts.

83 Help desk as a service -- will this be a requirement? Specific details for requirements will be provided at the task order level.

84 Clarify statement, IDIQ contracts can't be used fo references. All appropriate sections of the RFP will be updated.

As a JV, after 5 years on contract, if one of the JV members becomes a large business, what happens to the other (still small) business that remains small in this category?

Please refer to 13 CFR 125.8

Small Business Enterprise Application Solutions (SBEAS) Draft RFP / Industry Day Questions and Responses

Attachment 2. Section 1.1: Joint Venture Agreements. Page 2 of 13. As the

Bidders Conference on 10 April 2017, the Government indicated that they would validate a Mentor-Protégé JV like the 8(a) Program validates 8(a)

JVs. We believe the SBA “All Small Mentor-Protégé Program” rules address all the control the Contracting officer needs in approving the JV.

We recommend the Government leverage the rules of the existing SBA

“All Small Mentor-Protégé Program” so that approving a JV “like the 8(a)

Program” is not required. Using the “Certificate of Compliance” rule in 13

CFR 128.8 (d)(1&2) that already exists in the SBA “All Small Mentor-

Protégé” Program will meet SBEAS requirements and does not require the

Government to validate Mentor-Protégé JVs “like a 8(a) JV” when these

JVs are not, in fact, 8(a) JVs. We recommend following the SBA’s preexisting “All Small Program” requirements as it is designed (which is not related to the 8(a) JV approval process) since creating new JV procedures may increase the risk of protest on the SBEAS procurement.

Because the members are small businesses, our SB joint venture was formed outside of SBA’s Mentor Protégé program. Do we still need to get

SBA’s approval of our JV?

See Joint Venture Criteria and Checklist posted to FBO on 1 May 2017.

87 Does a JV need to be in place before they bid? See Joint Venture Criteria and Checklist posted to FBO on 1 May 2017.

88 Does a new JV have to use JV Past Performance only? See Section L/M of the solicitation.

Does the Government has a preference between the two joint venture constructs (i.e. Small/Small vs. Big/Small Joint Venture?

The Government does not have a preference.

If mentor protégé is approved by SBA, do we still submit to CO prior to

RFP release?

See Joint Venture Criteria and Checklist posted to FBO on 1 May 2017.

91 If MP JV, can all of the PP come from the mentor? See Section L/M of the solicitation.

If the government intends to allow JVs, how long do you think it will take your office to approve the JV?

The Government intends to respond to offerors in a timely manner.

If we used a JV in the past, please confirm that we can use PP from that

JV.

Yes if the offeror is proposing to SBEAS as the same past JV.

No if the offeror is proposing to SBEAS as one of the venturers from the previous JV and not the JV itself, then you are not proposing as the same offeror.

94 In mentor protégé, can mentor be large? Yes

95 In the past JVs had to be populated, is this still the case? No

Is a JV for SBEAS defined as a formally agreed entity or teaming partners per FAR?

See 13 CFR 121.103(h) for the definition of a Joint Venture.

L 1.0 (a) Please confirm that the limit on submitting only one proposal extends to submitting a proposal as part of a JV. Ie, an offeror can not submit as a single company and as part of a joint venture, nor as part of multiple joint ventures.

All appropriate sections of the RFP will be updated.

Question. Attachment 2. Section 1.1: Joint Venture Agreements. Page 2 of

13. If the Government does not use the “Certificate of Compliance” rule in

SBA’s “All Small Mentor-Protégé” Program for SBEAS, will the

Government release the criteria that will be used to confirm offerors are a valid Joint Venture? Additional clarity on the Mentor-Protégé JV approval requirements would help offerors ensure they have all the correct materials for JV approval lined up prior to the RFP release.

See Joint Venture Criteria and Checklist posted to FBO on 1 May 2017.

Reference Draft RFP, Attachment 2 Section L, Section 1.1, Joint Venture

Agreements:

Will the Government consider revising this requirement such that Joint

Ventures are established prior to award date instead of proposal due date?

See Joint Venture Criteria and Checklist posted to FBO on 1 May 2017.

Small Business Enterprise Application Solutions (SBEAS) Draft RFP / Industry Day Questions and Responses

100 Since a small business set aside, does each party to a JV have to be small? See Joint Venture Criteria and Checklist posted to FBO on 1 May 2017.

The requirements state that a Joint Venture itself must certify as a small business under the SBEAS NAICS code. Please clarify – for a regular JV

(not a Mentor-Protégé) to qualify as a small business for SBEAS, is the requirement that each member of the JV must qualify as small under the

541511 NAICS code ($27.5M) – or - is the requirement that the combined revenue of the JV members must be under $27.5M?

See 13 CFR 121-- Small Business Size Regulations for more information.

For this effort, how can a small business partner with a large business?

And, will the government weigh the assessments of small business only higher than a large-small MPA?

Refer to SBA for more information related to this type of arrangement. No weight will be assigned based on type of JV.

103 Is the Government looking for a specific type of Business Analyst? Specific details for requirements shall be specified at the task order level.

Will labor categories be established at the task order level or at a later time for SBEAS contract?

The Government does not anticipate establishing labor categories at the

IDIQ level.

Atch 1, SOO 4.3 4 of 7 Regarding Limitation of Subcontracting Would the government consider moving the limitation from “50% of the cost of task order performance” to “50% of overall IDIQ performance at any given time” (i.e., able to be <50% at task order level, while never dipping overall

<50% at IDIQ level)?

The limitation on subcontracting clause is FAR regulation. The

Government does not have the authority to modify.

The Government states that “at least 50%” of the cost of task order performance incurred for personnel shall be expended by the SBEAS

Prime Contractor,” and that “limitations on subcontracting will be monitored and strictly enforced.” Will the Government monitor the percentage of work performed by the prime and its subcontractors on each individual task order, or will the Government assess the percentage of work performed by the prime and its subcontractors across the entire vehicle?

Please see RFP for detailed information on limitation of subcontracting.

The Government states that “at least 50%” of the cost of task order performance incurred for personnel shall be expended by the SBEAS

Prime Contractor,” and that “limitations on subcontracting will be monitored and strictly enforced.” Will the Government consider allowing

SBEAS contractors to subcontract more than 50% of the work on an individual task order if said work is performed by another similarly-situated entity? The Small Business Administration’s relatively recent Final

Rule on the 2013 National Defense Authorization Act permits agencies to allow for contracting with “similarly-situated entities,” as this provides increased SB contracting opportunities.

This NDAA language has not yet been implemented into the FAR.

For Past Performance will the government consider requiring a minimum value of $150,000 for all projects referenced? This would ensure offerors have at least performed services on a magnitude equivalent with the current

NETCENTS-2 smallest task orders.

The Government does not anticipate setting a mimimum value for project references.

109 Under Mobile/IoT, why didn’t we list HTML5?

HTML5 is not included because it's a programming language and the

Mobile/IoT requirement is looking for the offeror's experience in developing within an iOS, Android or Microsoft mobile environment.

110 Reference chart 10, part 13 C.F.R. 124.404(g)(3) indicates that an award made to a Mentor-Protégé Joint Venture that cannot recertify as small then the award (Task Order) cannot be counted towards the agencies small business award goal. Is this interpretation correct?

Yes

Small Business Enterprise Application Solutions (SBEAS) Draft RFP / Industry Day Questions and Responses

111 This chart seems to indicate that if a Mentor – Protégé Joint Venture (MP-

JV) is formed and approved then the MP-JV will always be considered a small business for the life of the contract even after it no longer can certify as a small business. Hence, they can still complete as a small business although they are not per re-certification. Is this interpretation correct?

This is not correct. Once a company can no longer certify as a small business under the NAICS code for this acqusition regardless if it is a MP

JV, they are no longer considered a small business. See SOO Small

Business Recertification Section for more details.

Atch 1, SOO 4.7 5 of 7 In relation to ODCs, the RFP states, “No profit, fee, G&A, or overhead will be paid.” Will the bidder be allowed to apply

Material and Handling (M&H) on ODCs?

All appropriate sections of the RFP will be updated.

Can the Government confirm if 6 contracts are used to demonstrate self-scoring requirements in the TVFs, then the same 6 contracts need to be submitted in the PPNs?

Yes

If the offeror does not have any problems on the contract, and thus there are no corrective actions to describe, can the Government confirm for

Section M, Table 3: Performance Quality Assessment on page 34, the offeror will only be evaluated for the quality factor based on the contractual performance and not the inability to produce a problem and corrective action scenario?

Yes, the Offeror will only be evaluated for quality based on the contractual performance and not the inability to produce a problem and corrective action scenario.

RFP Section M-1.0. The government states that “Tradeoffs will be made within the Past Performance Factor among those offerors who have met the requirements of Factor 1 and Factor 2, and are determined to be

Technically acceptable.”

Question: Should this sentence read: “Past Performance Volume” instead of “Past Performance Factor”? Factor 2 is Past Performance.

Question: Is it correct to assume that the evaluation will not give additional consideration for award to offerors with a higher point total for Factor 1, and that Factor 1 is simply a “gate” that requires a minimum of 3,600 points

All appropriate sections of the RFP will be updated, as necessary. Yes

Technical Experience Factor is a gate and no additional consideration will be given for offerors who exceed the minimum points.

As a Tribally Owned Small Business, will the Government consider the experience or past performance of our parent or affiliated companies IAW

FAR 15.305 (a) (2) (iii)?

No, the Government will not consider the experience or past performance of your parent or affiliated companies IAW FAR 15.305 (a) (2) (iii)

Can a PPQ map to more than 1 TVF to best explain technical on larger, multi-function/facet contracts? For example we have 2 contracts that would likely cover all technical factors. We’d like to use more than 2

TVFs for explanation.

It is not necessary for the PPQs to map to the TVFs. TVFs used however should map to the PPNs.

Can the Government confirm if the offeror includes a major subcontractor, can the major subcontractor’s past experience and contract be submitted as a TVF and PPN?

Please refer to Section L

Clarify what's acceptable for PP for each company. Are you evaluating ea reference contract invididually?

Yes each contract reference will be evaluated individually.

120 Do you have to address all sub-factors to get relevancy or quality rating?

Yes, if you don't address all sub-factors, you will receive a no-confidence rating, thereby making you ineligible for award.

121 How will the government obtain CPARS? The Government will access PPIRS.

If a Contractor who intends to bid on the SBEAS effort has an example in which they would like to use, however they were a Sub-Contractor on that particular effort. Should they get their proof of past performace work from the Government or Prime?

In this instance, the past performance information should be obtained from the Prime as the Sub-Contractor will not be allowed to obtain CPAR information on the Prime's behalf. In this instance, a PPQ would be appropriate documentation.

Small Business Enterprise Application Solutions (SBEAS) Draft RFP / Industry Day Questions and Responses

If the same project has been split across 2 or 3 task orders, can the task orders be combined into a single TVF and PPN as long as the scope of work and client are the same. For example, on Single Award IDIQs a modernization effort could be followed by cyber and cloud migration and finally O&M. However, due to the type of funds used (RDTE or OMA), and the FY they could be split into multiple task orders under the same contract.

All appropriate sections of the RFP will be updated.

Is there a minimum length of time for the past performance? Such a 6 months or one year?

No

125 Is there a minimum number of contract examples required to qualify?

No, there is no minimum number; you may use as many, up to 6, as you feel necessary.

126 L 4.3 May a single award BPA contract, where multiple task orders within the BPA scope make up a single body of work, be used as a TVF/PP?

All appropriate sections of the RFP will be updated.

RFP states "Offeror shall address the following three (3) Sub-factors in its

PPNs." Do the 3 sub-factors refer to those described in RFP Section 4.3.1? Yes

Section M, under Evaluation Process, on page 30 states “After recency and relevancy is determined, the Government will review and evaluate offeror’s submitted questionnaires, as well as other sources such as the Past

Performance Information Retrieval System (PPIRS) and Contractor

Performance Assessment Reporting System (CPARS), if applicable, to determine the quality rating (Reference Table 3) of the offeror’s past performance.

On Page 31, under Quality Assessment it states “The Government will consider the performance quality of recent and relevant efforts by assigning a quality rating using the definitions in Table 3 after conducting a review of the received questionnaires, as well as PPIRS and CPARS as applicable.

However, Table 3: Performance Quality Assessment on page 34, indicates ratings will be determined by two determinations (1) performance in relationship to the contractual requirement and also (2) the contractual performance was accomplished with corrective actions in response to problems.

Can the Government confirm the offeror will not be evaluated for (2) if there are no problems reported for the PPNs and will only be evaluated on the overall performance on the contract requirement?

Yes, that is correct. The Government will not be evaluated for (2) if there are no problems reported for the PPNs and will only be evaluated on the overall performance on the contract requirement.

Since the Government will also consider technical experience and past performance where the prime offeror was a subcontractor, will the

Government evaluate this past performance or does the questionnaire need to be evaluated by the prime of this past performance?

All appropriate sections of the RFP will be updated.

There are references to Tables 2,3,4 in the Evaluation Process. Are these the tables on pages 12 and 13?

Yes, they are the tables on pages 12 and 13 of the Draft RFP.

We have a contract that was originally awarded sole-source that ran its five years. However, because of time and funding constraints and convience to our customer a bridge contract was established to continue the work under another contract number until the customer was able to transition the work.

Can the entire performance period of original contract and bridge be a single past performance for the entire effort?

This would be treated as two separate contracts.

We understand that IDIQs are not valid as past performance in whole to allow a TO as single past performance. However, what if the task orders were a group of individual positions of developers that together work a project to create a new system? Under this case the customer has hired a team of individuals, one at a time per task order. Can we combine their individual efforts together as a team project and submit as a single past performance?

All appropriate sections of the RFP will be updated.

133 What if an individual has experience and is now on our team? No, the experience has to come from the company, not an individual.

Small Business Enterprise Application Solutions (SBEAS) Draft RFP / Industry Day Questions and Responses

Will PPs be evaluated collectively to cover to the Sub Factor requirements in the PP section? Or, will each PP submitted be required to cover all of the

Sub Factor requirements?

The offeror can use up to 6 PP narratives to address all subfactors. Each

PPN is not required to cover all subfactors. The offeror may decide how many of the PPNs are used for each subfactor.

Would the Government consider PPN's that contain work on the C4ISR domain as acceptable experience?

The list identified in the SOO is not all inclusive. This is an IDIQ contract, so although your domain is not exclusively identified that does not mean that the work will not be considered "Relevant". Also, note that the evaluation criteria states that that work "similar" in scope and magnitude will also be considered.

Wouldn't the use of both a PPQ and CPAR be arbitrary? How would you evaluate both?

PPQs are intended for those past performance references that do not have a

CPAR, for example, commercial or subcontracted efforts. If the offeror provides multiple sources for the quality portion of the confidence assessment, then all will be taken into consideration.

137 Will the Government consider increasing recency from 3 to 5 years?

No; recent work is defined as contract completed or ongoing during the past three years from the solicitation date.

Regarding section L: What contract data is required to be entered into the

PPI tool?

PPI instructions will be included in the final RFP.

Alliant used a point system to rack and stack offerors, will SBEAS use a similar model?

We are not "racking and stacking" offerors based on points.

When will the Government release the PPI Tool instructions be posted to

FBO?

It is the Government's intent to post the PPI Tool instructions prior to release of the final RFP.

Attachment 2, 3.1 (General) and 4.3 (Past Performance Narratives)

Can vendors bundle all or several related task orders under a single award

BPA or IDIQ and treat them as a single past performance reference?

All appropriate sections of the RFP will be updated as necessary.

Regarding the PPNs: Is each PPN being evaluated and assigned a confidence rating?

No, the subfactors are assigned a confidence rating.

Why can't an ID/IQ contract be used as a reference?

All appropriate sections of the RFP will be updated.

Will the Government be providing a template for the Past Performance

Narrative format?

No. The PPN is equivalent to a standard PP volume.

RFP Section M-Evaluation Process. The government states that “the

Government will review and evaluate offeror’s submitted questionnaires…”

Question: When an offeror is submitting past performance as a subcontractor and the prime refuses to submit the questionnaire, will the

Government evaluate the past performance based on the information provided in Volume 3?

Comment: Large Business Prime contractors often do not provide past performance questionnaires for subcontractors unless they are part of the team. This is likely to happen on SBEAS because many of the Large

Businesses will be bidding as a Mentor Protégé JV and will only support their small business protégé. This occurred on the Army ERP Services

IDIQ bid and was resolved by evaluating the past performance based on the information submitted in the proposals, if the Large Business refuses to return the questionnaire.

Past Performance is evaluated based on recency, relevany and quality which result in a confidence assessment. Therefore, a PPQ, PPIRS and/or

CPAR is needed to obtain a quality rating.

4.3.2 Questionnaires -…