L-5 Responses to Industry Q A.xls
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Industry Feedback 2 July 2010
| Industry Questions/Comments | OSD Action Item | Operations | Engineering | Other | A&PO Action Item | Comments | ||
| 1 | Add CMMI Level 2 at the Corporate Level as the minimum requirement | X | X | The Government will not add CMMI Level 2 at the corporate level as a minimum requirement. | The Governement does not intend to establish a minimum CMMI Level | |||
| 2 | Require clearance requirements at the task order level | X | RMD | A large part of the requirement for TS-SCI clearances is driven by customers requiring unescorted access for contractor personnel in TS-SCI facilities even when the contractor personnel is working on unclassified or secret systems. The Government will not provide escorts for the contractor's staff. The Government expects the contractor to provide the optimum mix of staff with the appropriate level of clearance. Based on past performance for the work in Task Order 1, the Government expects roughly 1/3 of the contractor's staff to have TS-SCI clearance and all 100% to have Secret clearance or higher. System Administrator (SA) access to the NIPRNet requires Secret clearance; SA access to the SIPRNet requires Top Secret clearance. In addition to the DD254 for the contract, there will be a DD254 for each task order. | ||||
| 5 | Task 2, Section 4.a.iii states that contractors may not exceed three weeks total of personal time off excluding federal holidays. If a company provides three weeks of vacation time and one week of sick time, would the employee not be able to take all of their entitled time off? This seems contrary to the fixed-price nature of the task. | X | RMD | A&PO, should we be managing contractors as they are government staff? Shouldn't this requirement be deleted? | ||||
| 10 | Errors in the Component (acronym) column: |
• Assistant Secretary of Defense Public Affairs is listed as Component P&R
• Undersecretary of Defense, Policy is listed as Component PA
• Under Secretary of Defense, Personnel and Readiness is listed as Component Policy There are errors in the Component (acronym) column.
| Please correct and confirm the numbers in the Estimated Users, NIPR and SIPR Clients columns correctly correspond to the Office. | X | X | The OSD User Population List.xls and Transition Table 1.6 in Task 1 PWS have been updated. | ||||
| 11 | 4.5 Hardware and Software Acquisition The contractor shall acquire IT hardware, software, licenses, maintenance, ancillary support products, and related material when such products are required for performance of a NIEITS task order, this work may include security, asset management and infrastructure hardware and software engineering. The contractor will prepare and install equipment, and properly excess equipment for lifecycle refresh efforts. Will the Government define/provide a list of hardware for which we are responsible? Servers, desktops, printers, etc. | X | RMD | Refer to the "Environment Document" for Task Order 1, paragraph 6.0, for estimated equipment lifecycle refresh (LCR). Refer to the "Hardware Inventory" tab of the "Environment Data" spreadsheet for hardware data. The Government expects the contractor to analyze the hardware (HW) and software (SW) inventory along with the current LCR guidance to provide proposed annual purchases as a deliverable. The contractor does not need to provide cost estimates for the initial bids. The types and quantities of HW/SW to be purchased will be specified in the task orders. The inventory information combined with life-cycle times provides an idea of what and how much we purchase . . . although not all items will be purchased via this contract. | |||
| 12 | 4.9 IT Training Services The contractor shall provide a full range of IT Training Services. This includes, but is not limited to: initial and refresher classroom training, training materials, and user guides to authorized applications users; desk-side training to executives; train-the-trainer services to customer functional representatives; help desk trend analysis information; and transition training to all users prior to new releases of applications. Once training materials are created, they will subsequently become property of the Government. Specific training requirements shall be specified in individual task orders. Could the Government please provide more specifics on the type and amount of training to allow more accurate proposal responses? For example, what applications are included, what type of training (classroom, online, self study, etc.), what customized training will need to be developed? | X | X | The paragraph for Training Services (Optional CLIN) has been deleted from Task Order 1. The Government may issue a separate task order for Training Services under this MAC with additional detail. | |||
| 13 | At the start of the contract approximately 3,700 users are expected to transition on 01 Nov 2010; with 1,000 users expected to transition on 01 DEC 2010 and the remaining 2,000 transitioning on 01 FEB 2011. The total number of users is anticipated to be 6,587. The specific components and transition days are shown in the table below: Could the Government please provide more specifics on the services which will be required for the users at the day of transition? Will email services for all users be transitioned on Day 1 or just email services for the 3,700 users required on Day 1 | X | X | At the start of the contract, the contractor will perform all tasks listed in paragraph 4, Requirements / Tasks”, for all 7,004 users except tasks listed in paragraph 4.3.3, “The Enterprise Service Center and Distributed Service Desks.” Paragraph 1.6 discusses the transition for tasks listed in paragraph 4.3.3. In short, Paragraph 1.6 for Task Order 1, has been revised to include this clarification. | |||
| 14 | 3.13 The contractor shall provide the full range of support services during normal working hours (NWH). NWH are defined as Monday through Friday from 6:00 am to 6:00 pm except for Government holidays. Authorized Service Outage Windows may occur 10:00 pm to 6:00 am, but requires Government approval and notification five (5) business days in advance according to the establish Planned Outage Notifications task standard. The contractor shall also provide support services during extended working hours (EWH). EWH includes Monday through Friday 6:00 pm to 6:00 am and all day on weekends and all day on Federal Holidays. Additionally, limited desk side support is required on Saturdays from 8:00 am to 3:00 pm. How does “limited desk side support” on Saturday, or extended working hours (EWH) differ from standard Normal Working Hours (NWH) desk side support? How many people are required during extended work hours? What is the function of EWH staff? What skill set is required? | X | The last sentence in Paragraph 3.13 has been revised: "Additionally, the contractor shall provide on-site desk side support (based on the average number of tickets) on Saturdays from 8:00 am to 3:00 pm." NWH represents the time frame for peak usage for the network; most users typically work during NWH. EWH represents the time frame for lower usage for the network. The Government expects the contractor to plan and provide the optimum number of staff for EWH taking into consideration Event Management network monitoring (paragraph 4.3.1.8.1.), Incident Management call center support (paragraph 4.3.3.11.1), and Authorized Service Outage Windows. Note that response time for incidents reported after hours shall be minimally considered as “urgent” by default, and Performance Standards for Urgent, Critical, VIP, and Enterprise tickets are not limited to NWH . Based on past performance for the work in Task Order 1, the Government expects some, but fewer staff on-site during EWH. Refer to the "Environment Data" spreadsheet, tab "Helpdesk Tickets - May09-Apr10", for ticket data. The Government expects bidders to analyze the "Environment Data" spreadsheet to find additional detail. | ||||
| 15 | Can the Government provide details on the average number of service requests by type which occur outside of NWH in order for an offeror to accurately assess the requirement? | X | Refer to the "Summary of Helpdesk Tickets" tab in the "Environment Data" spreadsheet for number of service requests which occur outside of NWH. The Government expects bidders to analyze the "Environment Data" spreadsheet, tab "Helpdesk Tickets - May09-Apr10" to find additional detail. | ||||
| 16 | 3.14 The contractor shall provide the full range of support services during normal working hours (NWH). NWH are defined as Monday through Friday from 6:00 am to 6:00 pm except for Government holidays. Authorized Service Outage Windows may occur 10:00 pm to 6:00 am, but requires Government approval and notification 5 business days in advance according to the establish Planned Outage Notifications task standard. The contractor shall also provide support services during extended working hours (EWH). EWH include Monday through Friday 6:00 pm to 6:00 am and include weekends and Federal Holidays, Authorized Service Outage Windows and limited desk side support on Saturdays from 8:00 am to 3:00 pm. PWS Sections 3.13 and 3.14 are nearly identical. Is there a reason for both paragraphs? | X | Emmett and Dave | Paragraph 3.14 has been deleted from Task Order 1. The correct paragraph is revised paragraph 3.13. | |||
| 17 | What has been the approximate average FTE count supporting this requirement for the current task year? We recognize that this is not necessarily an indicator for a future staffing requirement under this task order. | X | The Government does NOT intend to provide any additional information regarding FTE for Task Order 1. The Government expects offerors to analyze supporting data to arrive at the necessary requirement for this task. | ||||
| 18 | 4.1.2 Develop operational plans; formal communications documents, white papers and feasibility studies in line with OSD strategic plans and objectives. Provide newsletter content per established deadlines. How many of these other documents are required? Could the Government please provide a listing of the required documents? | X | X | X | The Government has provided as much information as it deems appropriate in the "SOPs.pdf" document for vendors to understand the work being requested to be undertaken. Please see revised paragraph 4.1.2. All documents listed in this paragraph are necessary. Documents support staff work that is inherent in IT program management and subject matter expert (SME) technical work. There are 6 bi-monthly newsletters per year; the estimated average number for other documents in this paragraph is 25 per month, and up to 365 per year. | ||
| 19 | 4.1.4 Administer and maintain content for the OSD Portal, service knowledge management system (SKMS), Remedy, configuration management database (CMDB), and knowledge-base. Please provide the approximate number of entries within the SKMS, CMDB, and knowledge-base. | X | Donna | Refer to revised paragraph 4.1.4. "Administer and maintain content in Remedy Knowledge Management and the configuration management database (CMDB)." There are currently 140 knowledge management articles but the Government expects the contractor to add as many knowledge management articles as necessary. | |||
| 20 | 4.1.9 Develop continuity of support plans and risk management for Wedge5 Pentagon Renovation Moves and Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) moves to the Mark Center. Mark Center moves include not only assisting OSD customers who move to Mark Center, but also relocation of the Enterprise Service Desk from Crystal City to the Mark Center. This task indicates contractor will develop plans. Please define what tasks are the contractor’s responsibilities under this contract for the move? Will contractor be required to assist individual users with packing, moving, unpacking, configuring computer equipment for the moves? | X | X | Refer to revised paragraph 4.1.9. While the BRAC moves to the Mark Center already include logistics for moving IT equipment (i.e., a moving company will pack, move, and unpack the IT equipment), the contractor needs to prepare and execute plans for de-install, re-install, and configuring IT equipment at the new location. The contractor must plan and execute a Continuity of Business (COB) plan to ensure performance continues to meets the performance standards outlined in the Performance-based Matrix during the move of the Enterprise Service Center. | |||
| 21 | 4.3.1.4 Maintain and operate approved Government Owned mobile electronic devices including but not limited to Blackberry and SME PED devices. Could the Government please provide more information regarding the number of each type of mobile device? | X | X | Refer to revised paragraph 4.3.1.5. There are approximately 3,655 Blackberries and 65 SME-PEDs. | |||
| 22 | 4.2 – Manage and Implement Change What has been the approximate average FTE count supporting this requirement for the current task year? | X | The Government does NOT intend to provide any additional information regarding FTE for Task Order 1. The Government expects offerors to analyze supporting data to arrive at the necessary requirement for this task. | ||||
| 23 | Regarding the Security Teams: are these teams part of the requirement 4.6 support or are they external teams that are under a different contract? | X | X | Security Teams mentioned in paragraph 4.2.3.5 are security teams under a different contract and part of the Configuration Control Board (ECCB), Request for Change (RFC), and Change Advisory Board (CAB) processes mentioned in paragraph 4.2.8. | |||
| 24 | Which Government-provided imaging and software development tools are currently in use? Are there any planned changes to these tools? | X | X | Refer to the "Approved SW List" tab in the "Environment Data" spreadsheet. The Government expects bidders to analyze the "Environment Data" spreadsheet to find additional detail. | |||
| 25 | 4.3 – Operations and Maintenance Support (Service Operations) What has been the approximate average FTE count supporting this requirement for the current task year? Could you break out this total by |
• System Administration
• Service Operations Technical Management
| • Service Desk | X | The Government does NOT intend to provide any additional information regarding FTE for Task Order 1. The Government expects offerors to analyze supporting data to arrive at the necessary requirement for this task. | ||||
| 26 | 4.3.1.5 Maintain and operate VTC devices for desktop and conference room. Can the Government specify how many conference rooms are to be supported, and what types of devices? Can the Government provide information number, frequency and duration of VTC sessions? | X | X | Refer to revised Paragraph 4.3.1.5. There are currently 122 total VTC end points connected to the enterprise VTC network which includes both NIPRNet VTC units and SIPRNet VTC units. Refer to the "Hardware Inventory" tab in the "Environment Data" spreadsheet for hardware data; OSD supports both Tandberg and Polycom equipment. | ||
| 27 | 4.3.2.3 Manage and maintain the operability of both physical network servers and virtual network servers including but not limited to Windows Server 2000/2003/2008, VMWare, ESX, Unix and Linux What is the estimated number of UNIX and LINUX machines? | X | X | Refer to Environment Document revised paragraph 4.0. Most servers run Windows Server 2000/2003/2008; however there are 112 Linux servers and 58 Unix servers. | ||
| 28 | 4.3.2.6 Please provide the results (pass/fail) of the quarterly failover test. | X | Bobby | The Government has successfully performed quarterly fail-over tests over several quarters. The purpose of the quarterly failover tests is to identify configuration problems that need to be corrected. Passing the quarterly fail-over tests means the failover occurred and operations returned to normal status with necessary configuration changes. | ||
| 29 | 4.3.2.8 Backup and Restore: Develop, implement, and maintain a system backup plan and ensure all system backups are properly performed daily. Will the Government please provide more information on the extent of backup required? |
How many TB of data must be backed up?
How much requires archival?
How long are backups saved?
How much data is SBU, Secret, and TS?
| What are the geographic constraints? | X | X | X | Please see the Environment Document revised Paragraph 3.2.5. A full backup of enterprise servers and user data is performed during the weekends (Saturday or Sunday depending on scheduling) except for specific static data repositories such as software volumes, data warehouse, and indexes; a full backup of static data repositories is performed monthly. Full backups are sent offsite for long-term storage. Incremental backups for enterprise servers and user data are performed Monday through Friday and are scheduled to run between 6:00 pm and 6:00 am. Customers may request daily incremental backups and weekly system state backups for specific mission applications. The retention period is 7 years for backup data. Estimated monthly total size of data is 170 terabytes (TB) for SBU, 70 TB SECRET, 24 TB other than SECRET, and 11 TB enterprise Test and Development (ET&D). Estimated size of data sent to long term storage each month is 35 TB SBU, 10 TB SECRET, and 4 TB ET&D. | ||
| 30 | 4.3.2.9 Investigative Search Requests (ISR): Perform data search requests and file retention on current and backed up e-mails and files as requested by the Government and in accordance with established SOP. Approximately how many Investigative Search Requests (ISRs) are made each month? | X | X | Please see revised paragraph 4.3.2.9. The estimated average number of ISRs is 8 per month. Typically there are between 2 to 3 open ISRs which must be worked concurrently, and there have been up to 6 open ISRs at one time. | ||
| 31 | 4.3.3 The Enterprise Service Center and Distributed Service Desks: The contractor shall support distributed service desks in customer locations to provide a virtual service center to the customer community. Performance metrics for distributed service desk work in conjunction with performance metrics for enterprise service center, and do not provide additional cycle time for completion. Please provide average monthly ticket volumes, with number of supported customers, for the current contract year. Break these out by priority level, first-call closure, and against SLA requirements. | X | Refer to the "Helpdesk Tickets - May09-Apr10" tab on the "Environment Data" spreadsheet for ticket data. The Government expects bidders to analyze the "Environment Data" spreadsheet to find additional detail. | |||
| 32 | 4.3.3.4 Provide initial rapid turn-around, within 24 hours notice, for urgent requests to stand-up new offices for up to 25 users and workstations per day; for example setting up new Boards, Commissions and Task Force (BCTF) activities. Please provide information on the frequency of these requests, and the distinction between “urgent” and “non-urgent” requests. | X | Please see revised paragraph 4.3.3.4. The estimated maximum number of urgent requests for rapid office stand-ups is no more than 12 per year. Urgent office stand-up requests provide 24 hour notice and require rapid deployment of 25 workstations a day. Routine workstation requests provide at least 3 business day notification and require a project plan including target number of workstations to deploy each day. Refer to revised Task Performance Standards "Response to Urgent Workstation MAC Requests" and "Resolution of Routine Workstation MAC Requests" | |||
| 33 | 4.3.3.5 Provide onsite support to Pentagon global situation awareness facility (GSAF) location during events and exercises to include after-hours support, weekends and holidays. Are these regularly scheduled events or occasional or both? How often are events and exercises held? | X | Please see revised paragraph 4.3.3.5. The estimated monthly average for GSAF events and exercises is 1 to 2 per month and estimated no more than 24 per year. | |||
| 34 | 4.3.3.12 Response time for incidents reported after hours shall be minimally considered as “urgent” by default. Approximately how many incidents per month fall into the Request Fulfillment process? Is an average time to complete statistic maintained and if so, what is it? | X | X | For reference, the correct paragraph number is 4.3.3.11.2. Refer to the "Summary of Helpdesk Tickets" tab on the "Environment Data" spreadsheet for number of service requests which occur outside of NWH. The Government expects bidders to analyze the "Environment Data" spreadsheet to find additional detail. | ||
| 35 | 4.3.3.4 Track and update location and user assignment of CIs in the CMDB. Accuracy of the CMDB shall include location and user assignment. Please provide the number of CIs maintained within the CMDB. | X | X | Refer to the "Hardware Inventory" tab on the "Environment Data" spreadsheet for hardware data. The Government expects the contractor to improve the quality of the data to meet the Performance Standard. | ||
| 36 | Receive vendor deliveries of computer hardware and software, recording receipt, affixing security, bar codes and other labels/markings to selected items. Enter new assets in the BMC Software Remedy CMDB. Notify acquisition team and component POC of equipment receipt. Approximately how many items are received each month? | X | X | The number of items received varies by month, however, the Government estimates are: |
- Reportable Items (PCs, Laptops etc.): 563
- Other items (cables, NIC Cards etc): 2103 37 Manage the disposal process, including preparing documentation for disposal, preparing equipment for shipment, pickup and delivery, coordination and turn in to the redistribution system. Update CMDB when assets are disposed. Approximately how many items are disposed of per month? X X The number of items disposed varies by month, however, the Government estimates are:
- Reportable Items (PCs, Laptops etc.): 509
- Other items (cables, NIC Cards etc): 600 38 4.5.2.1 Move and deliver computer equipment between the ILS facility and among various user sites in and around the Pentagon, National Capital Region, or other support locations as requested. Will the Government please provide information regarding the location and size of the ILS facility for the purpose of logistics planning? Will the government provide information on the average number of items moved and delivered from/to the ILS facility per month? X X A. The ILS facility is in Alexandria just off Interstate 395 several miles south of the Pentagon. The address will not be specified. The estimated size of the warehouse is 5,480 square feet with an additional 1,446 square feet of office space.
B. The number of items moved to and from warehouse varies by month, however, the Government estimates are:
- Reportable Items (PCs, Laptops etc.): 1225
- Other items (cables, NIC Cards etc): 1291
| 39 | Provide transportation and delivery of IT assets throughout the NCR. Note: The Government will not provide a vehicle(s) for the transportation and delivery of IT assets. How many vehicles are currently used to transport and deliver IT assets on this contract? | X | X | A couple of "15 passenger vans" are currently used. Please use the Helpdesk ticket log to estimate the amount of work/vehicles required. | ||||
| 40 | 4.8 – Collaboration Support. requirement for the current task year? Approximately how many requests for this service are received per year? What has been the approximate average FTE count supporting this requirement for the current task year? | X | X | The Government does NOT intend to provide any additional information regarding FTE for Task Order 1. The Government expects offerors to analyze supporting data to arrive at the necessary requirement for this task. | Approximately how many requests for this service are received per year? | |||
| 41 | 4.9 – COOP and COB. What has been the approximate average FTE count supporting this requirement for the current task year? | X | The Government does NOT intend to provide any additional information regarding FTE for Task Order 1. The Government expects offerors to analyze supporting data to arrive at the necessary requirement for this task. | |||||
| 42 | 5.0 – Performance-Based Matrix Can the Government provide performance history for the current contract against its defined SLAs? | X | X | The Government generally meets the current SLAs. However, the current SLAs are less stringent than the Performance Standards specified in the Task Order. | ||||
| 43 | 4.6 – Security Operations Support. What has been the approximate average FTE count supporting this | X | The Government does NOT intend to provide any additional information regarding FTE for Task Order 1. The Government expects offerors to analyze supporting data to arrive at the necessary requirement for this task. | |||||
| 44 | Task 2: Engineering Design and Planning Delivery preliminary project plans for every project assigned by the Government within timelines specified by the OSD/CIO Project Management Process for large and small projects. Preliminary project plans shall include a notional design, scope document, and a preliminary budget. Approximately how many small and large projects were assigned by the Government in the last year? | X | X | An estimated 40 small projects and 110 large projects were requested from July 1, 2009 to June 30, 2010. | ||||
| 45 | Task 5: Enterprise Test, & Development Network Management. Will the Government provide a list of the applications being maintained and the number of development projects initiated each year? Which development languages and DBs are used? | X | X | X | Please refer to "Production Servers" tab in the "Environment Data" spreadsheet. Last year 8 development projects were initiated. The languages used were Java and .net. | |||
| 46 | Requirements Sheet – certification requirements, both coded “R” and “A” Providing staff that possess certifications that satisfy all these requirements on Day 1 of the task order start will be extremely difficult and quite costly. Request that the Government consider that a grace period be permitted, such as 12 months from date of contract start, for the candidate to achieve the certification requirements. This will be similar to the rollout of the DoD 8570.01-M certification requirement. | X | DoD 8570.01-M, Paragraph C2.3.9. requires "Contractor personnel ... shall be appropriately certified prior to being engaged." Also DoD 8570.01-M, Paragraph C3.2.4.2. states "... Uncertified IAT Level 1s are not authorized to have unsupervised privileged access." Contractor personnel must provide System Certifications and IAT certifications before receiving System Administrator (SA) Privileged Users accounts. The "Requirements" tab in the "Draft Task 2 - Schedule of Prices" spreadsheet has been updated to include an 8570.01 certification requirements column. | |||||
| 50 | Task 2 work statement and performance objectives lend themselves to T&M style contracts – not FFP. If the PWS and performance objectives are not harmonized, and written in terms of desired outcomes and performance objectives, legacy problems will be carried forward – or the risk of program failure will increase | X | X | Task 2, Engineering, is a FFP Level-of-Effort contract, thereby capturing the benefits of T&M contracts and FFP contracts. | Task 2 is to be proposed as a FFP-LOE as stated in the RFP. | |||
| 51 | Normal work hours are identified in Task 1 as Monday – Friday 6:00 AM – 6:00 PM (Para 3.13). Task 2 defines continuous full-time (i.e. 8 hours per day). Are there required coverage windows for Task 2? Recommend commonality in Task requirement statements referencing normal and extended work hours. | X | X | Task 1 addresses customer requirements, Task 2 addresses a Level-of-Effort. They are different in nature. They will remain as is. | The work hours for each Task Order remain unchanged | |||
| 52 | Normal work hours are identified in Task 1 as Monday-Friday 6:00 AM – 6:00 PM (Para 3.13). Performance Standards call for Shift Reports and the end of each shift. How do the shifts align to the Normal Work Hours? | X | X | The Government is looking to the vendor to specify shifts. | The Governement does not intend to specify shifts. | |||
| 53 | Task 2 defines very specific skills and certifications by position. Are these skills and certifications possessed by incumbent staff? Current hands-on technical experience/certifications are not a terribly relevant requirement for a contractor team’s senior management. Program Management, PMP, ITIL, ISO20k certifications are relevant for PM & other senior managers – MCSE and other technical certifications are not. For Technical Leads, these certifications are relevant, but not for senior managers. (As an example, it would be useful for the chief financial officer of a trucking company to be familiar with truck driving; however, a current truck driver’s license and 10,000 hours behind the wheel of a 18-wheel truck are not relevant qualifications for any CFO; the shareholders, likely, would prefer someone with accounting experience, perhaps an MBA with a concentration in finance, etc.) | X | X | The skills and certifications as specifed in the RFP remain unchanged. The Government will not discuss the incumbent staff. | ||||
| 54 | Task 2 defines very specific skills and certifications by position. Will there be similar requirements identified for personnel supporting Task 1? Comment: Recommend Government clarify required certifications for staff required by DoD 8570. We understand this has been ambiguous and problematic in current program effectiveness and customer satisfaction. Comment: Recommend that the Government permit years of relevant experience to substitute for industry certifications. Personnel performance and work standards can be established and managed at the Team level. | X | X | DoD 8570.01-M, Paragraph C2.3.9. requires "Contractor personnel ... shall be appropriately certified prior to being engaged." Also DoD 8570.01-M, Paragraph C3.2.4.2. states "... Uncertified IAT Level 1s are not authorized to have unsupervised privileged access." Contractor personnel must provide System Certifications and IAT certifications before receiving System Administrator (SA) Privileged Users accounts. | ||||
| 55 | What are the Security Clearance requirements for staff supporting Task 1? Do all staff members require TS/SCI (Para 4.3.3.3)? Recommend Government clarify Secret and TS/SCI requirements for any positions solicited. There has been a disconnect between CIO managers and Government Security office on what creates an ongoing requirement for SCI. The Solicitation package is very light on the SCI requirements. While we understand TS/SCI to be both desired and necessary to successfully execute the desired tasks on the current program, requiring a large percentage of contractor personnel to be TS/SCI cleared will increase the cost without an equivalent increase in value. | X | X | A large part of the requirement for TS-SCI clearances is driven by customers requiring unescorted access for contractor personnel in TS-SCI facilities even when the contractor personnel is working on unclassified or secret systems. The Government will not provide escorts for the contractor's staff. The Government expects the contractor to provide the optimum mix of staff with the appropriate level of clearance. Based on past performance for the work in Task Order 1, the Government expects roughly 1/3 of the contractor's staff to have TS-SCI clearance and all 100% to have Secret clearance or higher. System Administrator (SA) access to the NIPRNet requires Secret clearance; SA access to the SIPRNet requires Top Secret clearance. In addition to the DD254 for the contract, there will be a DD254 for each task order. | ||||
| 56 | 10) Will the Government define support services required for Task 1 during extended working hours (Para 3.13)? | X | X | Refer to revised paragraph 3.13. The Government expects the contractor to plan and provide the optimum number of staff for EWH taking into consideration Event Management network monitoring (paragraph 4.3.1.8.1.), Incident Management call center support (paragraph 4.3.3.11.1), and Authorized Service Outage Windows. Note that response time for incidents reported after hours shall be minimally considered as “urgent” by default, and Performance Standards for Urgent, Critical, VIP, and Enterprise tickets are not limited to NWH . Based on past performance for the work in Task Order 1, the Government expects some, but fewer staff on-site during EWH. Refer to the "Helpdesk Tickets - May09-Apr10" tab in the "Environment Data" spreadsheet for ticket data. The Government expects bidders to analyze the "Environment Data" spreadsheet to find additional detail. | ||||
| 57 | Will the Government define limited desk side support for Task 1 on Saturdays (Para 3.13)? Comment: Many stated requirements call for minimum levels of support or frequency of performance. Recommend Government define minimum/maximum ranges when identifying support requirements. (Para 4.3.3.6-7) | X | X | The last sentence in Paragraph 3.13 has been revised. | Please refer to revised Para 3.13 | |||
| 58 | Please clarify Government notification requirements throughout draft Task PWS. Is contractor required to notify COR, TOM, specific Government position, combination, etc.? We understand ambiguity, multiplicity and dynamic changes in reporting requirements for different activities has been problematic in current program effectiveness and customer satisfaction. (Reference Task 1 Para 4.3.3.15, 4.3.3.11.13, 4.3.3.13.3, 4.4.9 as sample non-conclusive examples). | X | X | Refer to paragraph 3.9. The Government expects the contractor to update, coordinate, and follow Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs). SOPs should include notification directions referencing the appropriate person or list of people to notify. | ||||
| 59 | Reference Task 1 Para 4.4.7, will Government provide configuration data templates in RFP as deliverable formats to meet this requirement to satisfy all levels of management and stakeholders information requirements? | X | X | Please see revised paragraph 4.4.7. The contractor will work with the Government to develop mutually agreed formats for reports. | ||||
| 60 | Please define meaning of “contractor responsibility” as referenced in Task 1 Para 4.4.8 and 4.5.1.6. | X | X | DODI 5000.64 defines the responsibilities for all persons entrusted with the management of Government property. The contractor is responsible for managing IT hardware and software assets referenced in Task 1 Paragraphs 4.4 and 4.5. The contractor is also required to meet the associated Task Order performance standards for Hardware Inventory and Software Inventory. | ||||
| 61 | Please clarify contractor responsibility to assist as referenced in Para 4.5.1.2. | X | X | Please see revised paragraph 4.5.1.2. | ||||
| 62 | Does the Government intend to provide defined ranges to Deliverables with a Frequency of “As Required”, “On Demand”, or “As Requested”? Comment: “As Required” currently describes T&M scenarios in which the requirement exceeds the awardees' ability to deliver. | |||||||
| Recommend the Government set a low/high range of units “required” or “needed.” Recommend Deliverables have a specified requirement – or defined range of the number of units that the Government anticipates requiring – to ensure clear setting of expectations and objective performance measurement. If the Government’s requirement is outside of the high-end of the normal range, with prior KO approval, the cost of producing the unit(s) will be reimbursable (CPFF, for example). | X | X | X | Paragraph 7.0 has been revised to provide an estimate of the maximum number of reports. | ||||
| 63 | Will the Government provide an organization chart that corresponds to the entities referenced in the various Task PWS and SOPs in the RFP? Comment: The organization described in parts of the draft materials does not conform to the current OSD Enterprise organization since the consolidation. | X | Please see the "Environment" document, Section 2.0, Background, that provides a summary of the OSD CIO's organization. Note that "Environment" document states that ". . . migration of Components to the Enterprise is an on-going process" and there is a lot of change still occurring. The Performacne Workstatments take precedence over the SOPs which may need to be updated. | |||||
| 64 | Comment: A contractor team’s strategy for performing both Task 1 and Task 2 as a single Task Order Program is radically different from a strategy to manage Task 1 and Task 2 as separate tasks. The hard-won ITIL implementation created a single OSD Enterprise Organization with Task 2 representing Service Design and Task 1 as Service Delivery – both working in concert and supported by a single Industry Team that can de-conflict Government Operations and Engineering differences and can coordinate all activities. There would be much less efficient and effective coordination by two different contractor teams performing on their respective Tasks than by one contracting team performing on both tasks. | X | No. The Government will not consider combining Task 1 and Task 2 into one task order. | |||||
| 65 | Comment: We strongly recommend either revising the work into a single Task PWS or awarding the two tasks together. Otherwise, a successful technical approach for performing on both Tasks as a single Program will be very different from two successful technical approaches to performing on Task 1 and Task 2. Offerors may need to submit two different technical volumes for each scenario. | X | X | X | No. The Government will not consider combining Task 1 and Task 2 into one task order. | |||
| 66 | Comment: The AT&L, Policy, Public Affairs, and other component support work can be awarded to different contractor teams as separate task orders; however, the Government would lose a great deal of value by breaking up the OSD Enterprise. | X | RMD and A&PO? | It is the Government's intention to have all OSD organizations serviced by a single Operations Task (i.e., Task 1). | ||||
| 67 | Will the Government provide Blackberries to contractor staff? | X | X | Yes, in limited quantities as deemed appropriate for the vendor to perform its work. | ||||
| 68 | Please clarify if backups are required Monday – Friday only or daily, 7 days per week. | X | X | Refer to the Environment Document. Revised Paragraph 3.2.5. A full backup of enterprise servers and user data is performed during the weekends (Saturday or Sunday depending on scheduling) except for specific static data repositories such as software volumes, data warehouse, and indexes; a full backup of static data repositories is performed monthly. Full backups are sent offsite for long-term storage. Incremental backups for enterprise servers and user data are performed Monday through Friday and are scheduled to run between 6:00 pm and 6:00 am. Customers may request daily incremental backups and weekly system state backups for specific mission applications. | ||||
| 69 | Will the Government provide historical reference for restoration of systems and data as referred to in Task 1 Para 4.3.2.8.3? Comment: Recommend Government review all provided documents to ensure consistent nomenclature and accurate references to current organizational structure. For example, terms CIE (a pre-ITIL transformation organization) and Enterprise Engineering are provided in different documents. Also, Enterprise Service Desk, Enterprise Help Desk, Enterprise Distributed Service Desk, and Enterprise and Distributed Service Desks are used in various documents. Service desk references may have significant differences in meanings and support if the context is incorrect or ambiguous. SOPs are very problematic in referring to various service desks by different and perhaps inaccurate references. | X | X | X | Refer to the "Helpdesk Tickets - May09-Apr10" tab on the "Environment Data" spreadsheet for ticket data. The Government expects bidders to analyze the "Environment Data" spreadsheet to find additional detail. Typically customer tickets for restoring files are marked as "Restore Request." |
Addressing the comment: The Government expects the winning vendors to update the SOPs and normalize the processes. There has been, and continues to be, a great deal of change that has occurred over the last several years with migrating over a dozen OSD offices' IT into an enterprise model. The PWSes and SOO take precedence over the SOPs where inconsistency exists.
| 70 | Does the Government intend to provide the current Service Catalog with the RFP? | X | Emmett and Donna | We expect the contractor to assist the Government with the development of Service Catalogs. The Service Catalog exists only in draft form at this time and will not be provided. | |||
| 71 | Please clarify how “up-time” is defined and measured for services in Task Performance Standards Para 4.3.1.8. | ||||||
| Comment: It is our understanding from Section J Para 2 that the contractor does not control end-to-end the resources necessary to ensure performance standards and this ambiguity has been problematic in accurately and objectively assessing performance and achieving customer satisfaction. Is it reasonable to hold the contractor accountable for defects in the infrastructure over which it has no control? | X | X | Failures that occur outside the contractor's control will not be counted against the "up-time" task performance standard. However, we expect the contractor to help improve performance metrics. | ||||
| 72 | Can the PWS identify more precisely which Government position/person the contractor team interfaces with? Comment: Often the Draft Solicitation says, “at the direction of the Government” and “as required by the Government.” As experience has shown, one government official’s requirements or directions are VERY different from another government official’s. | X | X | The Government expects the contractor to update, coordinate, and follow Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs). SOPs should include notification directions referencing the appropriate person or list of people to notify. The Government also expect the contractor to develop a communications plan as referenced in paragraph 4.1 and 7.0 in order to address this issue. | |||
| 77 | 4.5 – Integrated Logistics and Asset Management Support. What has been the approximate average FTE count supporting this requirement for the current task year? Could you break out this total by Operate ILS Facility, Material Handling, Computer Equipment Repair and Maintenance? | X | The Government does NOT intend to provide any additional information regarding FTE for Task Order 1. The Government expects offerors to analyze supporting data to arrive at the necessary requirement for this task. | ||||
| 78 | 4.4 – Configuration Management Support. What has been the approximate average FTE count supporting this requirement for the current task year? | X | The Government does NOT intend to provide any additional information regarding FTE for Task Order 1. The Government expects offerors to analyze supporting data to arrive at the necessary requirement for this task. | ||||
| 81 | How does OSD plan to incorporate IT support for PFPA into this plan -if so is there a proposed timeline | X | Emmett and RMD and A&PO? | The Scope of Statement of Objectives includes PFPA. However there are no know specific requirements for PFPA at this time. | |||
| 3 | Please confirm that if a Joint Venture (JV) is bidding as the prime, all past performance references for members of JV count as the prime’s past performance. | X | Yes. The past performance of each JV member will be evaluated and |
considered as past performance for the JV as a whole.
| 4 | Please confirm that if a JV is bidding as the prime, and all companies that are members of the JV have top secret facility clearances, that the JV is deemed to hold a top secret facility clearance. | X | TBD ( OSD/Security) | ||
| 6 | Section H.9 refers to Defense Base Act insurance requirements, which implies OCONUS performance. Do you anticipate task orders that require the place of performance to be OCONUS? The clause also states that DBA insurance will be at no direct cost to the government. This violates DCAA cost regulations, since this is a direct cost that is allocable to the contract and therefore cannot be included in a company’s overhead. It is also very expensive, and many small businesses will not be able to pay for it unless it is reimbursed. Request that DBA insurance, if required for task order performance, be allowed as an ODC on that task order. | X | Yes the Government may require OCONUS support on future task orders | ||
| 7 | Section G.14 states that no subcontractors will be approved as part of the basic contract award, and that contractors must get approval for subcontractors to work on a Task Order. If companies are proposing subcontractors for Tasks 1 & 2 included in the RFP, will those subcontractors automatically be approved if the contractor is selected for Task 1 and/or 2? | X | NO. | ||
| 8 | Request that companies present their technical approach/solution to the Task Orders via an oral presentation instead of a written response. | X | Refer to Section L of the RFP | ||
| 9 | Request that past performance from proposed subcontractors be allowed to be included and evaluated. | X | For A&PO | ||
| 47 | Will Post-Award Teaming be allowed? | X | NO. | ||
| 48 | Does the Government foresee any OCI issues across all F.A.s on the contract vehicle? (i.e. IA) | X | For A&PO | ||
| 49 | Will invoices be processed through the WAWF system? Will there be any steps taken to ensure the timely payment of invoices to reduce the cash flow risk to small business primes? Slow invoice approval and incremental funding place an enormous financial strain on small businesses, at a time when credit is exceedingly difficult to obtain. | X | YES. Please refer to the Prompt Payment Act (31 U.S.C. 3903) | ||
| 73 | 2) Per Section B3 – Ceiling Rates and Fees (a) indicates that there will be no annual escalation/ECI for the life of the contract. Will there be no provision for any rate escalation over the life of the base contract? Comment: Attracting & retaining qualified and experienced personnel will be impacted beginning in the second year of the contract if rate escalations are not permitted. Comment: The current staffing levels described in the Task 2 Draft PWS are significantly lower than the current number of personnel performing the work. Some might believe that staff members currently contracted for Procurement projects are in fact augmenting the O&M headcount. There ought to be thought given to whether the PWS objectives and performance objectives realistically are achievable with just the O&M FTEs. Even though these are FPLOE tasks, if the performance metrics cannot be met within the level-of-effort, the contractor team will fail. | X | For A&PO | ||
| 74 | As a small business, we work to participate on teams that have the need for our expertise, not simply our small business credential. Has there been any consideration to requiring small businesses to have only other small businesses as subcontractors on this effort? | X | NO | ||
| 75 | There is a substantial financial and time commitment required for a small business to be certified in CMMI, ITIL, and/or ISO 2000. As such, while many small businesses strictly adhere to these principles, they do not necessarily have the documentation to verify these certifications. Is there consideration to having the certifications optional as long as the correct principles are applied? Will certifications be required at the task order level when appropriate, rather than at the contract award level? | X | For A&PO - OSD CIO requires 8570 certifications, and knowledge in CMM-I, ITIL and ISO 2000 at the contract award level. | NO. The Government is not considering having the certifications optional as long as the correct principles are applied. | This is a two part question- we need to address the entire question. |
| 76 | Will there be any task order set-asides by subset of small business type -- i.e., 8(a), HUB Zone, SDVOSB, etc.? | X | NO. | ||
| 79 | Will questions and responses be shared with all interested vendors? | X | YES. | ||
| 80 | Please clarify the Government intent to award to 2-5 Vendors | X | Refer to section M-1 of RFP | ||
| 82 | Will Every company that submits a proposal be invited to oral presentations | X | YES. | ||
| 83 | Are any of the tasks defined considered to be those which would restrict a contractor from bidding on future IT related work for any of the systems involved? Various language Task 2 draft discusses potential for of OCI concern, specific examples include: "Providing advice tot he Govt on IT technical issues" (Scope) , as well as "advising the GOVT on new requirements (pg.5 task 2) and also Businesses Analysts shall be responsible for gathering requirements and SME shall be review requirements. | X | Refer to Section H and M of RFP. | ||
| 84 | Solicitation contains language that warrants clarification regarding OCI | X | For A&PO |
&CIndustry Questions & Comments Draft RFP HQ0034-10-R-0046
&R02 AUG 2010
&L&P
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Sheet3
File details come from the government source that posted it. Updated .