DTRIAC_PPC_Q As_-_Final_-_22_Jan_2014.pdf

DTRIAC PRE-PROPOSAL CONFERENCE, 7 JAN 2014, QUESTIONS & ANSWERS:

Q1. How many T&R tasks (like STO#2) were performed under the prior contract? How many are anticipated under the new contract?

A1. About 100 Technical Area Tasks (TATs) were performed under the existing DTRIAC IDIQ contract. For purposes of the new DTRIAC IDIQ, TATs are generally defined as efforts requiring more than 2 FTEs per year and for a period of performance of > 12 months; TATs of this nature are expected to be competed under the CWMD IDIQ.

The DTRIAC IDIQ technical efforts will typically require no more than 2 FTEs, be less than a year, and focus on studies and analysis. However, depending on the specifics of the TAT, the DTRIAC IDIQ incumbent may be required to support TATs awarded under the CWMD IDIQ.

Q2. What other T&E task subjects are anticipated beyond Live Fire Test & Evaluation and Modeling and Simulation Analysis Support?

A2. LFT&E is not expected. Modeling and Simulation, and M&S support, is anticipated. Sample Task Order 2 is to be replaced with another sample task order to be in-line with SOO task, Technical Value Added (Reference Q&A 3 of the DTRIAC Draft RFP Q&As). The subject areas of the studies and analytical tasks anticipated include all CWMD related topics.

Q3. Can you provide more details on the analytical requirements? Are you expecting e.g., modeling and simulation, live fire testing, software development? What is the full range of analysis expected?

A3. See A2 above. Some software development activities are also anticipated. The analytical requirements and range of analysis expected is dependent on the specific Technical Value Added task order.

Q4. What is the difference between T&E tasks under this contract and those performed by

AFOTEC?

A4. Only tasks relevant to the DTRIAC mission will be performed under this contract.

Q5. Will contractors perform testing or just support others who perform testing, e.g., review methodologies?

A5. The only anticipated testing to actually be performed by contractors under the DTRIAC IDIQ will be software-related (e.g., V&V, etc., as implied or stated in STO#1 Task 4). Supporting others who perform testing (e.g., reviewing methodologies) may be required; this type of test support would likely be a Technical Value Added effort (see SOO Sec. 3.2).

Q6. How many FTE’s were supported under the prior contract?

A6. Over 60 FTEs were supported under the current contract. However, many of these FTEs were in direct support of TATs. Individual TATs involving over 2 FTEs and greater than 12 months will likely not be part of this acquisition.

Q7. Please elaborate on the “complexity” of analysis task comment:

-What is moderate complexity?

-What is the other contract vehicle for the larger/more complex tasks?

A7. Generally, analytical tasks expected to be less than 12 months and requiring no more than 1-2 FTEs are considered moderate complexity and would fall under the DTRIAC IDIQ. Generally, analytical tasks that are expected to take over 12 months and require several FTEs per year are more than moderate complexity and will be competed under the CWMD IDIQ contract.

Q8. Do you plan on awarding both sample tasks?

A8. It is anticipated that only sample task order 1, DTRIAC Operations, will be awarded.

Section M.3.3 will be revised to “The Government anticipates awarding one IDIQ contract under a Small Business Set-Aside competition. The Government anticipates awarding the DTRIAC Operations Task Order concurrently with the award of the base IDIQ contract. The Government reserves the right to award one or no contract.”

Q9. The briefing mentioned both interfaces with other IACs and the desire to interface with “orphaned” databases. How does the DHS Domestic Nuclear Detection Office (DNDO) T&E data repository fit into this? How important is that particular interface?

A9. DNDO information relevant to the DTRIAC mission and consistent with the DTRIAC collection would be of interest. Such information is important to help make the DTRIAC collection more complete and useful to the larger CWMD community.

Q10. How large in size by medium is the [part] of the collection that needs to be integrated into

STARS?

A10. Approximately 15,000 square feet of storage is filled with medium to be integrated.

A breakdown by media type is not available.

Q11. Does STARS include any social media functions?

A11. Social media functions are not part of STARS at this time.

Q12. Is there continued STARS development as part of the new contract?

A12. Continued development of STARS will be part of the new contract. Although this is implied in the SOO (section 3.14, pg 7 of 128), this will be clarified in the SOO and Sample Task Order #1 SOW.

Q13. DTRA recently awarded the C-WMD IDIQ. Will primes on that contract be OCIed out of this opportunity? If not, will specific firewalling of staff be required?

A13. CWMD IDIQ primes are not automatically OCI'd out of this opportunity. If a CWMD IDIQ prime is proposed as a subcontractor, any OCI issues would be reviewed at the task order level. Please note that the DTRIAC IDIQ is set-aside for small businesses and FAR Clause 52.219-14, Limitations on Subcontracting, will be incorporated into the

RFP.

Q14. Will Key Personnel be specified in the final RFP?

A14. Yes, the final RFP will contain the Key Personnel Clause. The names of the Contractor’s Key Personnel will be specified at the task order level.

Q15. Will the Government provide more technical detail on what is required under Task 1, 4.0(T1)(b) – maintain [the DTRIAC] website? Specifically, what platform is involved and if re-design is required?

A15. Coordination with DTRA Program Office and CIO for website maintenance will be required (e.g., updating links and otherwise maintaining website currency). Redesign is not expected to be required.

Q16. Is there a preference for team structure? Would a Joint Venture be acceptable?

A16. Any joint venture would need to comply with the small business size standard for the RFP NAICS code, reference FAR 19.101(7).

Q17. Can you describe more about orphaned collections? Are these focused on DTRIAC scientists or are you looking nationally or world-wide?

A17. “Orphaned collections” are information sources relevant to the DTRIAC mission but which are not part of the DTRIAC collection or are otherwise not available to DTRIAC (e.g., through information sharing agreements, electronic/virtual searching or access, etc.). There are no restrictions for the sources of these collections other than those that may be applied by the owning organization.

Q18. Do you want JWICS capability? Eventually?

A18. There is no JWICS capability required at this time, and is not anticipated in the near-term future.

Q19. What types of orphaned collections are you referring to? Would INDIAC fall into that category?

A19. Please see A17 above.

Q20. Since you desire “unbiased” support, what factors and/or mechanisms will drive the acceptability of the OCI mitigation plan required by section L.2.11.3?

A20. The following will be added to Section M.3.2: “Organizational Conflicts of Interest will not be treated like a separate evaluation factor, but will be part of General Considerations. It will be reviewed in accordance with Section L.2.11

Note the following will be added at the beginning of L.2.11.1 to notify offerors of the nature of the potential OCIs that could arise during performance of this contract: “The Government has determined that this contract may give rise to potential conflicts of interest. The successful offeror for this requirement will have access to contractor-sensitive / proprietary information that could potentially provide an unfair competitive advantage for future contracts. Moreover, some of the work required by this contract potentially could place the awardee in situations where its ability to render impartial advice to the Government could be impaired due to other interests of the awardee.”

Q21. What is the scope of “Analytical Services” within DTRIAC?

A21. The scope of the analytical services tasks will cover all CBRNE inquiries that can be addressed by/using the information accessible to DTRIAC and in the DTRIAC collection. It is anticipated that inquiries needing over 8 hours of personnel time to completely address will require the customer/inquirer to provide funding to support the extra time, and will require issuance of a task order under SOO Technical Value Added.

Q22. Your timeline is ambitious. Is the August 2014 award a hard point of earlier milestones slip?

A22. The current contract ends 31 Aug 2014.

Q23. When where will today’s briefing slides be available?

A23. Briefing slides were posted to FBO 15 Jan 2014.

Q24. What is the difference between “other scientific/technical activities” and “other technical tasks”?

A24. They both refer to the Technical Value Added tasks.

Q25. The current ceiling is $25M which is significantly lower than the current ceiling. Does DTRA foresee adding a plug number to this ceiling to account for other agencies funding to do research as the outreach efforts become more successful?

A25. No, the ceiling will remain at $25.37M

Q26. Sample Task 2 seems out of scope given the ceiling and discussion today of limited complexity. Will that be modified, removed or replaced in the final RFP?

A26. As stated in A2, Sample Task Order 2 is to be replaced with another sample task order to be in-line with SOO task, Technical Value Added.

Q27. Can we get a STARS demo today?

A27. A STARS demo was not provided. General STARS information can be found at http://www.dtra.mil/DTRIAC/stars.aspx or through the DTRIAC website (http://www.dtra.mil/DTRIAC.aspx).

Q28. Regarding the Data Center Consolidation, pg. 103: What data centers are being consolidated? Where can we find the DCC Implementation Plan?

A28. All DTRA data centers that host or are otherwise utilized by STARS, and the associated servers, are due to be virtualized and consolidated. A general Implementation Plan is available online at the http://dodcio.defense.gov/Home/Initiatives/FDCCI.aspx website.

Q29. How many military and GS are assigned to DTRIAC?

A29. Currently, 2 FTEs are assigned to DTRIAC; however, one position is not filled.

Additionally, 2-3 FTEs support DTRIAC on a part-time basis.

Q30. Are “transition in” and “transition out” plans part of the page count? This will really limit how much detail can be written. Can they be excluded?

A30. The transition plans are included in the page count. Reference response to Question 9e from the Draft RFP Q&As, a ‘generic’ transition plan is required since the incumbent’s outgoing transition plan will not be available prior to final RFP release.

Q31. Can you provide a current breakout of personnel on this contract by location and function?

A31. Four people are currently located at the DTRC on Fort Belvoir, VA. The remaining personnel are located at Kirtland AFB, NM or in contractor–owned facilities elsewhere.

Q32. The DTRIAC tour primarily showed records storage and management functions. Are the analysis functions anticipated to be specific task orders on an “as required” basis?

A32. Yes

Q33. Two rooms with paper documents; what’s the difference?

A33. Some documents require specific environmental conditions for storage and to prevent degradation.

http://www.dtra.mil/DTRIAC/stars.aspx http://dodcio.defense.gov/Home/Initiatives/FDCCI.aspx

Q34. What cataloging rules are used?

A34. DTRIAC's cataloging procedures are based on the Committee on Scientific and Technical Information (COSATI) Standard for Descriptive Cataloging of technical reports. DTRIAC cataloging is currently being transitioned to the Department of Defense Discovery Metadata Specification (DDMS).

Q35. Do you have a collection policy that we can review?

A35. There is no policy for review.

Q36. When was the last recorded inventory done? Was there ever an inventory done of the material held by DTRIAC?

A36. No item-by-item inventory is available.

Q37. How many “new” items are cataloged each year?

A37. Approximately 77,000 items a year.

Q38. How many items are scanned each year? How many pages are scanned?

A38. Approximately 390,000 pages are scanned into the database, annually.

Q39. How much scanning is currently being done? Will you provide metrics for scanning expectations?

A39. See response A38 above.

Q40. What cubic footage of storage at all facilities?

A40. Storage space is 15,000 square feet, which includes the DTRIAC warehouse and all bunkers.

Q41. Is the maintenance of the refrigerators, etc., part of the contract, or does DTRA manage the facility itself?

A41. Maintenance of the refrigerators is not part of the contract. The refrigerators are considered part of the facility and maintained by Kirtland AFB.

Q42. To what extent is there heavy lifting? Is a safety plan required or is that provided by

DTRA?

A42. There is minimal heavy lifting involved in this work. For tasks that require heavy lifting, a forklift is provided by the government, as stated in the RFP. A safety plan that conforms to the DTRA, OSHA and ESOH guidelines is required.

Q43. Have you considered using the 1500 Small Business standard – you would get more competition?

A43. No, the 1500 Small Business size standard under NAICS 541712-a is applicable to work that is predominately aircraft research and development. 500 employees under NAICS 541712 fits this project best as it is not predominately aircraft research and development. Note that sample task order 2 is to be replaced.

Q44. Does STARS have an input processing system for cataloging records creation? Are there any machine-aided indexing or tools in STARS?

A44. Yes. STARS has daily automated indexing after the digitizing, meta-tagging, etc., of records.

Q45. What level/pace of software development will be performed on STARS? New features?

Just maintenance?

A45. Maintenance will be a consistent requirement. New features will be developed and added as needed or when appropriate. STARS software development will be performed as required to meet various IT standards, to correct identified errors or inefficiencies, as needed to increase performance and to enhance user friendliness.

Q46. Can you provide information about the technical architecture of STARS? For example, what database platform is used, e.g. Oracle, etc.? Is the code .NET, Java, or something else?

What COTS components are used?

A46. Enterprise servers use Solaris (Oracle) with Unix. Application and other servers use Red Hat with Linux.

Q47. Is STARS a Government-owned or contractor-proprietary system? What information technology products, software, licenses and the like comprise or are the basis of STARS? Will DTRA provide a technical STARS architecture?

A47. Please see previous question regarding STARS architecture. The original STARS (“Legacy STARS”) was a Government purchased COTS product from Sirsi Dynix. The updated STARS (“Next Gen STARS”) uses open source software and was developed under Government contract. The transition from Legacy to Next Gen STARS is essentially complete for the unclassified system; the transition for the classified system is in progress. The Government has current licenses for the software it does not own or otherwise have use rights.

Q48. Will the Government provide more technical detail on STARS database architecture and required expertise?

A48. Please see above.

Q49. Is the Government interested in additional knowledge management capabilities beyond

STARS?

A49. The Government will consider knowledge management capabilities beyond

STARS.

Q50. Is STARS a product of a company? If so, is there any intellectual property with it?

A50. Please see above.

Q51. Are there any 3rd party licensed applications required for STARS implementation?

A51. Please see above.