AMD 0001 Questions and Answers - HC108422R0007.pdf

Amendment 0001 # Questions Answers

We have noticed that this requirement will be awarded to Cisco or Cisco certified gold partners only. I would request you to keep this open to everyone for fair bidding process. (ex: Cisco premier partners)

Per JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION JA22- 036 dated May 24, 2022, our requirement for 100% Cisco Service Full Coverage for our inventory can only be provided by Cisco’s Gold Partners, per the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM). Silver nor Premier have the capability to provide this service, per the OEM.

Following the transition from ICRS to MCE, what are the required fields that must be readily available and included in the data output/export available via MCE?

No changes were made to the RFP. See paragraph 6.4.1 of the PWS

Is “fair share” billing required, where DISA can easily and quickly identify license consumption & associated costs to individual groups/entities? Yes, it is required.

Please provide insight on your Smart Account (SA) and Virtual Account (VA) hierarchy. Additionally, will DISA require manual consolidation of SAs and VAs?

Currently, we are only using Inventory Collection & Reporting System (ICRS).

A migration plan to My Cisco Entitlements (MCE) from ICRS has not been developed yet. See the updates in PWS paragraph 6.4 and the performance standards in paragraph 7 (highlighted in yellow) that explain this in further detail.

Please provide insight on DISA’s license request and approval process. For example, when an end-user requests a license, are there tiers (individuals or offices) that must approve/deny the request?

This process will be developed in conjunction with the reseller to determine the best approach. However, we do anticipate an approval workflow process be developed.

What is DISA’s confidence in the current asset management inventory, location and management processes?

We are confident in our inventory and working actively with the inventory managers to ensure an accurate account.

6a Does DISA have insight into quantity of unattributed assets?

DISA is aware of their unattributed assets and will work with program offices to assign.

The RFP appears to require submission of past performance references in accordance with the Instructions to Offerors and Evaluation Criteria. Does the Government require a specific format or content to be included with these reference(s)?

IAW 52.212-2 (d) Past Performance will be reviewed as part of a responsibility determination by the Contracting Officer, but will not impact the technical evaluation. Past performance is not an evaluation factor.

7a Does a single key reference meet the requirement or is there a preferred number of references to be provided?

See answer to Question 7

7b Does the Government require submission of cognizant customer points of contact? See answer to Question 7

In the Instructions, the Government identifies a requirement for a “technical description of the items being offered in sufficient detail to evaluate compliance with the requirements in the solicitation.” The Evaluation Criteria further clarifies that in order to achieve an “acceptable rating” offerors need provide a) a signed Certification Letter and b) verification that the Offeror is a certified Cisco Gold partner/reseller. Can the Government verify that the only requirement for the Technical/Management Approach Factor is the Certification Letter (completed Attachment A) and the Cisco Gold partner/reseller verification?

IAW the RFP, offerors are required to meet the requirements of Technical/Management Approach Factor: Subfactor 1 and Subfactor 2 in order to be considered technically acceptable. Offerors that provide a completed RFP Attachment 1 – Sample Certification Letter in response to Subfactor 1 will be considered technically acceptable for Subfactor 1.

8a If more information is required, can the Government provide additional direction regarding the type of technical description content that is desired?

See answer to Question 8

8b Will a certification statement by the Contractor that they will meet all requirements of the RFP suffice to meet technical acceptability?

See answer to Question 8

8c Page 83 of the RFP states that an SCRM plan should be submitted as part of an Offerors technical proposal. Can the Government confirm that the SCRM plan is to be coordinated, submitted to, and approved by the Government as a post award activity?

A SCRM plan is required to be submitted per PWS paragraphs 7 and 13.

Approval by the Government will be post award.

RFP - HC108422R0007 - Cisco EA Questions & Answers

Due to the fact that many of the CLINs required under this contract are for OEM licenses and/or maintenance products, can the Government confirm that payments will be made monthly in advance vs in arrears?

Software licenses will be paid upon delivery/invoicing; services will be invoiced monthly in arrears. We have removed "The contractor is authorized to invoice monthly in arrears" language on CLINs 0002, 1002, 2002, 3002 and 4002.

In our experience, it’s common for OEMs and/or offerors responding to these types of requirements to include certain conditions and limitations that further specify the details of the solutions being proposed. Will the Government confirm that inclusion of these additional terms/conditions will be deemed acceptable during the technical evaluation and that any issues raised by these can be resolved through potential discussions/negotiations?

We confirm

11 Would it be possible to extend the response due date to COB June 13th The response due date remains at June 6, 8am CST

I looked at all documentation and I cannot find the detailed requirements to bid on. Will you please supply the Cisco item numbers and quantity?

Please see the "Product List for RFQ Release - 20220519" Excel spreadsheet embedded in the RFP Word document

Q&A