Amendment_1.pdf

Amendment 1 to RFQ HH601014RCPT002 Learning Management System

The purpose of this amendment is to extend the RFQ response due date and to provide responses to questions from prospective contractors. As a result of this modification:

1) The response due date is extended to 10am EST on October 31, 2013

2) The following questions (Q), answers (A) are provided below:

Q1) Is HH601014RCPT002 new work or is there an incumbent contractor? If so, please provide the contractor name, contract #, period of performance, and value. Is the incumbent allowed to bid on this work?

A1) Per Statement of Work (SOW) Section 2.1, DoDEA currently uses Blackboard 9.1. Blackboard is the incumbent contractor and the contract# is HE1254-13-F-0016. The period of performance is for one 12-month base year, with one six-month option period for a total of $529,638.65. Because this requirement is exclusively set-aside for small business and the incumbent cannot not bid on this work as a prime contractor because they are a large business. However, this would not exclude them from performing as a subcontractor under a small business prime contractor.

Q2) What parameters would qualify a vendor as a "Small Business"?

A2) For this purpose of this RFQ, and in accordance with the Small Business Administration (SBA) Table of Small Business Size Standards, a vendor meets the definition of a small business if their average annual receipts are no more than $25.5 Million under NAICS Code 541512.

Q3) Is this RFQ open for International Bidders?

A3) International Bidders are encouraged to provide a response to the RFQ, however, due to the strict nature of data security requirements under the United States Department of Defense, they may be disqualified if they are unable to submit to the Defense Information Assurance Certification and Accreditation Process (DIACAP) and receive Authority to Operate (ATO), Interim Authority to Operate (IATO), or a Global Information Grid (GIG) waiver.

Q4) What is the budget expectations and how the commercials will be finalized – per user based or overall cost based or something else?

A4) While we are unable to provide guidance regarding budget expectations, prospective vendors are encouraged to provide their recommended solution in accordance with their normal commercial pricing structure, for DoDEA's articulated requirements, which are firm-fixed price.

Q5) You mention 87,000 students and 7,500 faculty in the RFQ. How many students are going to be in the LMS? We need this information to quote out the license for the RFQ. Can you please break it out by year?

A5) While DoDEA currently maintains a total number of approximately 7,500 teachers and approximately 85,000 K-12 students, we foresee needing to provide ongoing access to approximately 70,000 total users annually (this includes teachers, staff and 3-12 grade students). Whether or not these users will be enrolled in courses within the LMS or otherwise identified as "active" in regard to their account activity, we will need to ensure these accounts are available for enrollment upon which time their teachers request course shells.

Q6) Would you like Mobile licensing to be part of this? We will need to know the number of students for that also.

A6) If there are additional licensing costs related to user access of the system via mobile devices, please include in the RFQ response.

Q7) You mentioned that any potential offer or must undergo the DIACAP accreditation. If we already have a DIACAP accreditation, should we provide that ATO in this bid document?

A7) If the proposed solution has received any certification(s) or Authority to Operate (ATO) under the DIACAP process, please provide in the RFQ response.

Q8) Our product offers the highest level of any COTS LMS 508 compliance that can be achieved. Would you like us to provide that information as part of the bid document also?

A8) Responses to 508 compliance should be provided in the format found within the Government Product/Service Accessibility Template (GPAT) included in the RFQ. To further clarify, in order to ensure RFQ responses are fairly evaluated, it is strongly recommended for prospective Vendors to provide all RFQ responses in the format in which they are requested, if specified. If additional supporting documentation exists for a feature or function, it may be included in the response, but may be considered ancillary in nature if it does not specifically address the requirements in the RFQ, and is not located within the appropriate section.

Q9) Are the three required past performance citations and questionnaires due only from the small business prime bidder or can the past performance citations and questionnaires be a combination from the small business prime and its subcontractor?

A9) Yes, the three required past performance citations and questionnaires are due from the small business prime contractor. However, vendors that propose the use a subcontractor are encouraged to submit up to three additional questionnaires for the subcontractor.

Q10) Due to the government shutdown, will there be any extension offered? In light of the fact that many federal agencies are shutdown, will you allow for the late submission of completed past performance questionnaires from references that are Government agencies?

A10) Yes, the RFQ response due date is extended to October 31, 2013. In addition, we will allow late submission of past performance questionnaires from Government agencies to accommodate for the impact of the Government shutdown.

Q11) When does the government anticipate receipt of appropriated funds for this contract?

A12) The government anticipates that appropriated funds will be made available in time to make a contract award in the January/February 2014 timeframe.

Q12) Have the timelines changed at all due to the recent government shutdown?

A12) Yes, the anticipated award date is now changed to January/February 2014. In addition, the SOW Section 7.0 timeline contained an error when making reference to a November 4, 2013 date. Instead, it should state 7 days after contract award for initial installation.

Q13) Anticipated date for contract is December 2013/January 2014 (page 1 item 6) but under Performance Timeline and Deliverables (7.0) the installation is November, 4, 2013 on page 22. So, the question is would installation expected before contract signing?

A13) See answer A12 above.

Q14) When do we have to give access to the evaluators as mentioned on page 7-b?

A14) Evaluators will require access to a fully functioning demo system via the web during the Technical Evaluation period. The Technical Evaluation period is tentatively scheduled for the second week of December 2013.

Q15) How many courses are in current LMS which needs to be migrated?

A15) DoDEA houses approximately 1,800 courses within its current LMS. Per section 4.8 of the Statement of Work (SOW), prospective Bidders are requested to provide services to "assist DoDEA LMS administration staff with developing and executing a data migration plan including validation and regression testing for all migrated content, courses, users, grades and enrollment records".

Q16) Can any further details in regards DIACAP compliance be provided?

A16) DIACAP guidance can be found here: http://www.dtic.mil/whs/directives/corres/pdf/851001p.pdf STIGs are available here: http://iase.disa.mil/stigs

Q17) What student information system(s) and authentication methods will be utilized?

A17) DoDEA currently uses the X2 Aspen Student Information System (SIS).

Q18) Do the DoDEA’s distinct schools and district entities each use the same student information system, or are there disparate systems?

A18) All DoDEA schools utilize a single globally accessed instance of the Aspen SIS.

Q19) How many courses will migrate from Blackboard? How many GB of data?

A19) Currently there are 1,853 courses within DoDEA's Blackboard System totaling 640GB worth of course related data/content.

Q20) How many individual school/ serve district entities does this project encompass?

A20) DoDEA operates 196 schools in 14 districts worldwide.

Q21) Will the initial year's implementation serve the entire noted student and faculty population (e.g.

67,000)?

A21) DoDEA intends to provision accounts to all teachers, staff and students in grades 3-12. The total of 67,000 users is the best approximation of all individuals that are identified as "eligible" for an account, in any given year within the guidelines noted above. It is also important to note that the number provided above will not reflect the total number of users concurrently accessing or even "active" in the system during a given period of time. Though it is difficult to quantify based on the lack of usage analytics, prospective, vendors are encouraged to provide appropriate licensing model(s) that will reflect nominal usage cases (ie. 25% active, 15,000 concurrent, Enterprise Site License, etc. ), but also to plan for resources in burst scenarios, allowing for the maximum number of users as identified in the RFQ.

Q22) What kind of internal training and professional development programs does the DoDEA offer that the successful vendor will be able to utilize for training? What ongoing support structures exist for

DoDEA staff?

A22) DoDEA prefers to provide instructor and non-admin users with vendor developed training resources via courses within the proposed LMS solution, or via live/recorded webinar. DoDEA can provide Points of Contact (POCs) for a train-the-trainer model, assuming no additional travel costs would be incurred by the Federal Government. System Administrator training can occur via webinar or face-to-face, barring any additional travel costs. The DoDEA Information Technology branch operates headquarters, area, district and school level help desk and technical support services for its personnel, faculty and students.

Q23) Given the hardware requirements on page 20 of RFQ_DoDEA_LMS.pdf, what will be the primary browser(s) requirements?

A23) While DoDEA issued client computers run Internet Explorer versions 9.x, 10.x, and Apple Safari 6.x, it is also important to note that users accessing the proposed LMS solution from outside the classroom can use any Internet browser including mobile versions of Webkit and Mozilla based browsers.

In order to maintain some level of consistency, however, users will be encouraged to use only modern browsers that support HTML5, CSS3, and Javascript.

Q24) What bandwidth capability can vendors expect in non-US locations?

A24) While it is difficult to determine specific bandwidth allocation in remote areas, including students' personal ISP, the majority of non-US locations can expect bandwidth capabilities of at least broadband speed per-user.

Q25) What is the anticipated implementation timeframe? RFQ_DoDEA_LMS.pdf lists both December/January and November in reference to timeframes. What is the implementation and rollout deadline for all teachers, students, and parents? Would the DoDEA like to roll out the selected vendor’s product to schools and districts in phases?

A25) The November 4th date was listed error. Initial installation is to occur 7 days after contract award.

The anticipated timeline for contract award is now January/February 2014.

Q26) Other than the Quote Composition Requirements and Instructions noted on page 6 of RFQ_DoDEA_LMS.pdf, are there any further requirements for the document format (i.e. sequence of volumes)?

A26) No.

Q27) In addition to the one original and five copies of the written technical capacity, would the DoDEA like digital versions as well?

A27) No.

Q28) In addition to the copies for the written technical capacity, how many digital and paper copies would the DoDEA like of the entire RFQ response?

A28) DoDEA only requires extra copies of the written technical capability statements. Only the original paper copy of the rest for the RFQ response is required.

Q29) How would the DoDEA like this RFQ packaged and labeled for submission? What general proposal format instructions are required? (e.g. unbound or in a binder, font size, margins, and paragraph spacing) A29) Apart from what is currently specified in the RFQ, DoDEA has no additional preference on how the RFQ is packaged or labeled, or in what format it is submitted.

Q30) Will amendments be provided as separate documents or as updates in the posted RFQ as is the case in the initial posting?

A30) All amendments will be posted on the federal business opportunities site (www.fbo.gov) until the RFQ response due date in the form of an attachment to the initial post.

Q31) Where is a complete list of all amendments?

A31) See answer A30 above.

Q32) We assume volumes constitute separate documents. Could you please confirm?

A32) Yes, the volumes constitute separate documents.

Q33) What vendor financial information is required?

A33) No vendor financial information is required. As long as vendors are registered with an active profile in the System for Award Management (SAM), their financial information within that system will be used for payment purposes.

Q34) What vendor insurance proof and level of coverage is required?

A34) No vendor insurance proof and level of coverage is required.

Q35) What vendor performance bonding requirements exist?

A35) No performance bonding requirements exist.

Q36) What vendor pre-qualification was necessary to participate in this RFQ process?

A36) There are no vendor pre-qualifications necessary to submit a response to this RFQ.

Q37) Is the SF 1449 form located at http://www.gsa.gov/portal/forms/download/115922 the most recent and updated version of the form for this RFQ? (Reference FAR 52.212-1) Q37) Because this is a combined synopsis/solicitation, there is no Standard Form 1449 in this RFQ.

However, the awarded contract will be issued on a SF1449.

Q38) Could you provide a new link to STIG requirements (reference page 19 of RFQ_DoDEA_LMS.pdf)? The current link is broken.

A38) http://iase.disa.mil/stigs

Q39) Was there an LMS assessment performed by client prior to this RFP release?

A39) Yes

Q40) What were the results and recommendations of the LMS assessment?

A40) The results of the LMS assessment were used to directly inform the requirements of the Statement of Work (SOW). Please see section 4 of the SOW for pertinent information.

Q41) Is the government looking for a cloud based SaaS solution for LMS?

A41) DoDEA encourages prospective Bidders to provide their proposed hosting solution. The proposed solution must comply with DIACAP requirements: http://iase.disa.mil/diacap/

Q41) Is the government looking for open source solutions for LMS?

A42) DoDEA is interested in COTS as well as Open Source LMS solutions that can meet the requirements as identified in the RFQ.

Q42) Has the government seen any vendor demos? If so what are they?

A42) While performing market research, DoDEA has seen a number of demos for LMSs that could potentially meet the Organization’s requirements. However, DoDEA is not releasing the names of the vendors.

Q43) Is there an existing LMS? If so what is the current LMS?

A43) See answer A1 above.

Q44) Is the government migrating from one LMS to another?

A44) Please see section 4.8 of the SOW.

Q45) How many courses are currently housed in the current LMS?

A45) See answer A15 above.

Q46) How are the current courses hosted and where is it hosted?

A46) The current courses are hosted by Blackboard at their VA2 data center in Reston, Virginia.

Q47) Per CLIN 0003 Migration, how many current courses will the vendor be required to migrate?

A47) Please see section 4.8 of the SOW.

Q48) What SCORM version is utilized for compliance check currently?

A48) Due to many incompatibilities within SCORM developed content and available players, the expectation is that the solution will provide capabilities for SCORM v1.2 at minimum.

Q49) Please detail tasks involved in CLIN 1001 Upgrade and Maintenance?

A49) Prospective Bidders are encouraged to provide a solution that includes Application level, Operational and Infrastructure support services. These services may be translated as necessary to ensure the proposed solution remains current with regard to bug fixes, security patches, and feature releases.

Q50) Please detail tasks involved in Technical Support (CLIN 0004)?

A50) Please see section 4.9 of the SOW.

Q51) Page 22 of the RFP states Onboarding/installation to occur by November 4th. If so, has the government decided on the LMS?

A51) See answer A12 above.

Q52) What will be the time provided for ramp up and transition?

A52) Prospective Bidders are encouraged to include a proposed timeline for migration and testing.

Q53) How much of time will be provided for user training?

A53) With respect to section 4.7 of the SOW, prospective bidders are encouraged to provide their proposed timeline and approach to train LMS administration staff.

Q54) Customs and Border Patrol (a division of Department of Homeland Security) has their instance hosted in Canada and managed from Canada. The security level of the content permitted CBP to avoid DIACAP and domestic hosting requirements. Given that this RFP is for a K-12 implementation, we are speculating that the security level of the data may be at a level that would permit the same as those of CBP, and therefore the hosting requirements may not need those of DIACAP. In addition as this is a Small Business tender, the financial burden on a small business for DIACAP is rather significant and may limit the number of responses. We would like to ask that this project for Department of Defense Education Activity have DIACAP and US domiciled services requirements be waived.

A54) The Defense Information Assurance Certification and Accreditation Process (DIACAP), enforced by the Defense Information Security Agency (DISA), is required for all DoD-owned or controlled Information Systems (IS), regardless of the sensitivity or classification of data received, processed, stored, transmitted or displayed by those ISs, and operated by a contractor or other entity on behalf of the Department of Defense. Prospective Bidders are encouraged to reference configuration standards, security review information, certification, accreditation or compliance authority in their RFQ response.