ITIM Questions and Responses.pdf

Information Technology Information Management (IT/IM) Services at the George C. Marshall Center

Solicitation # HQ0236-11-T-0006 Questions and GCMC Response

Reference: PWS paragraphs 6.12, through 6.15 Comment: The Reference paragraphs cited above infer that this procurement will be applicable to Section 613a of the BGB (German Civil Code). According to Section 613a BGB, a contractor that receives a contract as a result of this solicitation may have to assume all rights and obligations resulting from existing employment contracts with the current employees, including their emoluments which may not be any less than their current pay and pay supplements at the time of personnel transfer, for at least one year. The follow-on contractor will be responsible for contacting local national employees and offering them employment under the resultant contract in accordance with 613a BGB rules.

1. Question: Can the government please clarify if indeed this is a 613a procurement?

Answer: Paragrapgh 6.12 contains standard requirements to obtain work permits for non-EU firms working in Germany. Paragragph 6.13 addresses standard installation access requirements for non-DoD ID cardholders. Paragraph 6.14 addresses standard background checks required for non-DoD ID cardholders. The type of ID required depends on the persons’s citizenship as outlined in paragraph 6.14.1. Paragraph 6.15 highlights that personnel under this contract will not be granted TESA status. Per contract clauses, CCE 225-4003, NOTICE OF CONTRACTOR RESPONSIBILITY TO HOST NATION (March 2005), and CCE 225-4000, AUTHORIZATION TO PERFORM SERVICES IN GERMANY (March 2005), it is the contractor’s responsibility to fully comply with German law. Additionally, it is each contractor’s responsibility to determine which laws they are subject to during the performance of this contract.

Reference: PWS paragraph 3.1.1.2 (last sentence) Call Center and Help Desk Services for questions 2 and 3.

2. Question: Language proficiency can be highly subjective. Can the government please clarify if there is a particular recognized standard/certification required for the English and Russian languages?

Answer: The quoter shall provide Help Desk Specialists who possess a working knowledge of English and Russian. English and Russian language skills must be sufficient to fulfill the requirements of this contract (e.g. understand written and oral communications, troubleshoot computer issues, provide explanations, provide training, etc.). The quoter shall provide evidence of each Help Desk Specialist's working knowledge of English and Russian, either as a native speaker, through formal education (courses completed at an institution of higher learning taught in English and/or Russian and requiring participation in English and/or Russian, e.g. term papers), or English and/or Russian language proficiency certification. (See IDIQ PWS, Para 5.4, Amendment 02, 06 APR 2011).

Amendment 03, 07 APR 2011

3. Question: Is it the government’s intent that the 4 positions identified in Task Order 0001 will be the sole providers of the services detailed in the task order for the 500 users and 700 computers and associated peripherals?

Answer: No. There are Government personnel currently supporting the Help Desk

Reference: PWS paragraph 3.1.4 for questions 3- 8.

Can the government please clarify the following:

4. Question: Who determines (government or contractor) which students need basic training?

Answer: Government.

5. Question: What will be the timeframe between the issuance of a task order and the beginning of the corresponding training event?

Answer: While it is the Government’s intent to provide as much advance notice as possible, the lead time for each task order may vary. The labor rates quoted in Attachment 1 shall be fully burdened and exclude travel. The variance in travel costs will be negotiated on a task order by task order basis.

6. Question: The required technical qualifications for the instructors?

Answer: There are no minimum qualifications stipulated in the contract for instructors. The contractor shall ensure personnel performing training and curriculum development under this contract are qualified to perform those services for which they are being assigned under this contract.

7. Question: The duration of a class period?

Answer: Per IDIQ PWO Para 3.1.1.1, the duration of each class period is 1-2 hours.

8. Question: An estimation of the number anticipated simultaneous courses?

Answer: Any requirements to provide simultaneous courses will be stipulated under each Task Order.

9. Question: How many languages simultaneously?

Answer: Any requirements to provide simultaneous languages will be stipulated under each Task Order.

10. Question: The sentence “Student count is approximately 10-15 per class period, with total students ranging from 60 to 120 per engagement”? For example, is it 10-15 in a class out of 60- 120 possible students?

Answer: See IDIQ PWS, Para 3.1.4, Amendment 03, 07 APR 2011.

Reference: PWS paragraph 5.1 (last sentence) Key Personnel.

11. Question: Can the government clarify what they mean by “emergent needs”? Is this immediate, within the day or weeks/months away?

Answer: The contractor shall have the ability to replace individuals not fulfilling the contract requirements and shall be able to respond to emergent needs such as expected and/or unexpected personnel absences and/or shortages. (See IDIQ PWS, Para 5.1, Amendment 03, 07 APR 2011).

Reference PWS paragraph 3.1.3 Develop and Maintain Public and Private Website Services.

12. Question: Will the government clarify the technical qualifications/experience required for web services? For example, what development platforms are used?

Answer: Please see “Task Order 0002 PWS Exhibit A”, Amendment 03, issued 07 APR 2011.

Reference: IDIQ Exhibit A Labor Categories, Description.

13. Question: Can the government please clarify the pricing options sought and under which circumstances those options would be necessitated? For instance, is the government looking for web services by the hour? Or is it more project based (ie 3 months) Answer: Please see updated “Task Order 0002 PWS Exhibit A”, Amendment 02, issued 06 APR 2011, for the required Webmaster Services. Quoters are required to provide pricing for all Labor Categories and associated options using the attachment labeled “IDIQ Exhibit A Labor Category Pricing, Descriptions” of solicitation. Additionally, quoter shall provide a firm fixed price for all contract line items, sub-contract line items and exhibit line items under each Task Order. The fully burdened labor rates established under attachment “IDIQ Exhibit A Labor Category Pricing, Descriptions” will serve as the basis for negotiations for each Task Orders issued under the base period and each associated option period.

14. Question: Will the government extend the proposal deadline to April 29?

Answer: Per Amendment 02, dated 06 APR 2011, the due date for receipt of quotes has been extended until 1800 EST, Tuesday, 26 APR 2011.

15. Question: Has the current system met the 99% reliability target for each of the last 6 months?

Answer: Yes. The 99% system reliability is referenced in IDIQ PWS Para 1.2 as background information. It is referenced in Para 3.1.5 for System Administration tasks to be defined by a resulting Task Order from this solicitation.

16. Question: How many servers and PCs have been replaced by the Government in each of the last 3 years?

Answer: Around 10 (50%) servers per year. Expect to replace 70% (500) of the workstations in April/May 2011 for lifecycle replacement.

17. Question: Who is the incumbent and what is the current contract number?

Answer: This is a follow on requirement:

Award Date: 27 JAN 2006 Contract #: W912PE-06-P-7121 Contractor Name: Computer Sciences Corporation Current Contract Completion Date: 31 MAY 2011 Award Value: $4,603,832.00 (including all options)

18. Question: How many separate buildings are there in the GMCM that contain the equipment of this contract?

Answer: Approximately 12

19. Question: Does this contract include maintenance of the cable plant between the buildings?

If so, what are the distances between buildings.

Answer: No

20. Question: Are all the servers in the same building?

Answer: Yes

21. Question: What server and PC operating systems are in use, including standard version numbers?

Answer: Windows 2008 R2 and Windows 7 (these will be in place when the contract takes effect)

22. Question: What applications are run on the servers and PCs, including version numbers?

Answer: The primary applications for workstations are Windows 7, Office 2007, Adobe Professional 9 or Adobe Reader 10, and Java, Flash. Approximately 30 machines have extra applications such as Adobe CS5, WinIATS, Procurement Desktop Defense (PD2), and others.

The primary applications for our Windows 2008 R2 servers include SQL 2005, Exchange 2010, HBSS, WSUS, SCCM 2007 R2, and others.

23. Question: Were the incumbent staff required to have the certifications stated for this contract before the start of the current contract, or were they allowed to get certified after starting work?

Answer: The incumbent Contractor staffs were required to obtain 8570 security certifications IAW the scheduled implementation of full 8570 security compliance during performance of the current contract. Minimum DODI 8570 Security Certification Requirements listed in the IDIQ PWS shall be required for each employee at the start date of any Task Order issued under this contract. Minimum DODI 8570 Computing Environment Certification Requirements (CECR) listed in the IDIQ PWS shall be required for each employee within 60 days after the start date of the first Task Order of this contract.

24. Question: Is every student given an email account on the GCMC Exchange Email server?

Answer: Exchange email accounts are not provided to GCMC students. Only GCMC staff have e-mail accounts on the GCMC Exchange Email server.

25. Question: Please provide a hardware list with brand name and model, including the network backbone (routers, switches, etc). The year the equipment was put into service would also help.

Answer: Current GCMC hardware includes Dell servers, Cisco network equipment, and a mix of HP and Dell workstations, laptops and printers.

26. Question: What type(s) of cabling are used in the total network (Cat 5, Cat 6, Fibre optic, etc)?

Answer: CAT 5 and fiber.

27. Question: What environmental controls are in use in the server room(s)/facility? Who maintains that equipment?

Answer: Standard DOD-required HVAC. A German contractor maintains the equipment.

28. Question: Is the current Configuration Management Database of Government-owned property and resources owned by the Government? What DBMS or application manages the data (MS Sequel, Access, Excel spreadsheet, other)?

Answer: The current CMDB is Government-owned. The CMDB application is currently being selected. It will most likely be a MS Systems Center product.

29. Question: Are interested companies being offered a site visit prior to Quote submission?

Answer: There is currently no offer of a site visit prior to quote submission.

30. Question: Please clarify the requirement of how many past performance citations are required. If an offeror has one subcontractor performing less than 46% of the work, does the government require 3 past performance citations from each company or 3 from the team?

Answer: Per Part D, Factor 1 of the Combined Synopsis Solicitation Requirements, quoters shall provide experience and past performance information for the prime and major subcontractors only. Major subcontractors are defined as any subcontractor that performs 50% or more of a task performed under this contract. Quoters shall not submit experience and past performance data for subcontractors who do not meet the definition of a major subcontractor.

31. Question: We note a page limit of 10 pages on the Technical submissions. Are there page limits on other sections?

Answer: The 10 page limit applies to information submitted in response to Factors 1, 2 and 3.

There is no page limit for the Price quote (Factor 4).

32. Question: To confirm, bidders are to submit technical and price quotes via email to Mr. Hardy as noted in Part I of the FBO announcement. Is this correct?

Answer: Correct. Per Amendment 01 issued 01 April 2011, Mr. Peter F. Sizemore shall be copied on the e-mail submission of quotes.