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General – What is the number for the current contract?
HQ042320C0002
Synopsis
| 1 |
| 1 of 61 |
| Offer Due Date / Local Time |
| SAM.gov states that proposals are due 3/24/2024, but the Synopsis and the Instructions to Offerors states proposals are due 3/6/2024. Would the Government please specify the correct deadline? |
| Revised to 3.24.24 |
| 2 |
| 2-7 of 61 |
| Travel CLINs |
| The travel CLINs identify a quantity of 4. Should vendors interpret that to mean 4 trips per year? Would the Government please clarify the destinations where travel is anticipated to occur? |
| Travel is an estimate and will occur as needed. The location would be DFAS location would be Indianapolis, Indiana, or Rome, New York. |
| 3 |
| 7 of 61 |
| CLIN 40003 |
| Would the Government please expand on the definition of a "perpetual license?" Is this a run-time license, source code license, on-premises license, etc.? |
| Reference to perpetual license removed. |
| 4 |
| 7 of 61 |
| CLIN 40003 |
| Would the Government please clarify why a perpetual license purchase would not be required for the base and earlier option periods? |
| Reference to perpetual license removed. |
Attachment A: Instructions to Offerors
| 5 |
| 2 of 8 |
| Factor 1 – Technical Approach |
| Would the Government consider including a live test demonstration and/or oral presentation from vendors as part of their technical approaches? |
| You do need to articulate the technical approach, but we would consider a live demonstration in addition to the written approach. |
| 6 |
| 2 of 8 |
| Factor 1 – Technical Approach 2.f |
| Given the prevalence of internet connectivity across the globe, would the Government consider a 100% cloud platform? We believe that this would greatly enhance version control of the software application and data integrity for DFAS. |
| No, we would not consider a 100% cloud platform as we do have sites that need the ability to process offline and sites that do not have internet connectivity. |
| 7 |
| 3 of 8 |
| Factor 1 – Technical Approach 2.h |
| Would the Government consider adding ‘already must have DISA IL-4 Authority to Operate (ATO)’ to this section in order to more fully meet the Department’s security requirements for cloud solutions? |
| This can be discussed, however, no, at this time DISA ATO is irrelevant as this will not be a disa hosted system. This will be a DBCE hosted system. |
| 8 |
| 4 of 8 |
| Factor 2 – Past Performance |
| Would the Government consider allowing up to five (5) past performance references? |
| No |
| 9 |
| 4 of 8 |
| Factor 2 – Past Performance |
| Would the Government consider allowing contracts performed or completed within the past 5 years, rather than 3? |
| No |
Attachment B: Performance Work Statement (PWS)
| 10 |
| 4 of 40 |
| 2.1. Scope |
| The PWS references “orders”. Does the Government anticipate that the system should process “orders” (i.e., compute travel authorization entitlements) or merely store the orders for reference? |
| The system should compute the payments for the entitlements authorized on the travel order. |
| 11 |
| 5 of 40 |
| 3.2. Cyber Legislation |
| Would the Government consider adding ‘already must have DISA IL-4 Authority to Operate (ATO)’ to this section in order to more fully meet the Department’s security requirements for cloud solutions? |
| No |
| 12 |
| 5 of 40 |
| 3.2. Cyber Legislation |
| Would the Government update the reference to “NIST 800-53, Rev. 4” to “NIST 800-53, Rev. 5” to reference the most current version of the publication? |
| Yes, that can be updated. Rev 5 is new, so there are many DFAS documents that need updated to Rev 5 instead of Rev 4 |
| 13 |
| 6 of 40 |
| 4.1.1 Interfaced data |
| Please provide the list of “DFAS-approved travel authorization systems” that will require integration. |
| We don’t know (or control) know what all travel authorization systems customer’s use |
| 14 |
| 6 of 40 |
| 4.1.3 Interfaced data |
| Please provide the list of “SM approved and authorized Government-owned travel vouchers systems” that will require integration. |
| SmartVoucher, potentially travel voucher direct |
| 15 |
| 6 of 40 |
| 4.1.6 Calculate federal and state taxes |
| By “as appropriate”, does the Government mean federal withholding, state withholding, employee social security, employee Medicare and employer matching payroll tax amounts? Would the Government consider including more detailed language to include these explicit requirements such as “Calculates federal withholding, state withholding, employee social security, employee Medicare and employer matching tax amounts, as appropriate, for travelers.” |
| We would not provide the explicit requirements. Those could be obtained from the JTR and IRS guidelines. |
| 16 |
| 7 of 40 |
| 4.1.10 Interface with DFAS owned software |
| Please provide the list of “DFAS owned software” that will require integration and a summary of the data involved in the integration. |
| This can be provided at time of contract award (or potentially sooner) |
| 17 |
| 9 of 40 |
| 4.6.1 Software |
| Please see Question 2 above. |
| See above |
| 18 |
| 9 of 40 |
| 4.6.1.6 Cloud |
| Please see Questions 3 and 6 above. |
| See above |
| 19 |
| 9 of 40 |
| 4.6.2 |
| Would the Government consider changing the final sentence to “Commercial Cloud Service Providers (CCSP) architecture, or Software-as-a-Service, is not authorized unless the Vendor has DISA IL-4 ATO in its commercial cloud service offering”? |
| No this will not be considered. At this time, there is no plan for this to be a disa hosted system and SAAS is not authorized. |
| 20 |
| 25 of 40 |
| Section 9. Quality Control |
| The PWS states that vendors shall submit a Quality Control Plan (QCP) as part of their quote. Would the Government consider requiring this document within 10 days of contract award instead? |
| Yes |
| 21 |
| 40 of 40 |
| Section 15. Labor Category Descriptions |
| The Senior Programmer LCAT description includes “training staff on software use.” Is it the Government's expectation that this LCAT will be responsible for conducting the training defined under CLIN 0003? |
| DFAS expects to receive training on the product. |
Attachment C: Pricing Travel Pay
| 22 |
| N/A |
| Pricing Totals tab |
| Would the Government please update this tab to include CLIN 4003? |
| Reference to perpetual license removed. |
| 23 |
| N/A |
| Pricing Totals tab |
| This tab shows CLINs 0003, 0004, and 0005 for the Base Period. However, the Synopsis only lists CLIN 0003 and does not include CLINs 0004 or 0005. Would the Government please clarify which is correct and update the appropriate document accordingly? |
| Please see updated pricing tables. The base period involves training that is unique to the implementation and not necessary in subsequent years. |
| What is the current staff count for managing DFAS Travel Pay System ? |
| We won’t provide specifics of the current contractor’s labor mix. |
| What is the current technical stack ? |
| Irrelevant to the new contract as it may not be the same |
| Do all the members or the contractor's team need to be in the US mainland or can it be a global delivery model with key members (Program Manager, Senior Application Specialist, Senior Programmer etc...) being in the USA and others distributed globally ? |
| Contractor team must be in the US mainland. |
| What is the anticipated budget for this RFP for the Base plus option periods ? |
| The government will not provide its estimate. |
| Does the agency have an existing SFTP for file transfer or is it expected for the contractor to maintain the SFTP ? |
| The Agency has existing SFTP capability |
| What kind of code due diligence is required prior to sending the code over SFTP - for example: are we required to show results of 3rd party vulnerability scans such as BlackDuck etc? |
| We would require third party vulnerability scans (such as fortify) with each release. |
| 30. 9 |
| A23+-+Attachment+C+Pricing+Travel+Pay+1.23.24.xlsx |
| Pricing Totals |
| Is the T&E fixed at 20k/period ? |
| The travel T&M Clins are not-to-exceed estimates. |
| 31. 10 |
| A23+-+Attachment+C+Pricing+Travel+Pay+1.23.24.xlsx |
| The ‘pricing’ tab has the Quantity per Option (base and years) where as the in the ‘Pricing Totals’ tab for the ‘Annual Total’ column the entire price for the option time period is further multiplied by the # of months. Can you please clarify the formula ? |
| A unit of months is being used by the contract system, but a total provided by the proposal is sufficient. Please see clarified pricing sheet. |
| 32. 11 |
| A23+-+Attachment+C+Pricing+Travel+Pay+1.23.24.xlsx |
| Can we include Other Direct Costs (ODC) in the A23+-+Attachment+C+Pricing+Travel+Pay+1.23.24.xlsx |
| No. |
| 33. 12 |
| A23+-+Attachment+C+Pricing+Travel+Pay+1.23.24.xlsx |
| Can we include another tab in the pricing sheet to show the breakdown of the burdened labor costs |
| If desired, contractors can add the tab to show burdened labor costs. |
| 34. 13 |
| A23+-+Attachment+A++RFP+Instructions+and+Evaluation.docx |
| 1 |
| this document states ‘Estimated Level of Effort. Total anticipated hours is approximately 88,320 total hours for the Base plus option periods’ Can you clarify how this estimation has been made ? |
| No, potential LOE has been provided for the convenience of potential quoters. |
| 35. 15 |
| A23+-+Attachment+B+Performance+Work+Statement.docx |
| 3 |
| Monthly, Quarterly and annual federal and state tax statements and reports: What is the system that computes these taxes? |
| The Travel Pay system being implemented |
| 36. 16 |
| A23+-+Attachment+B+Performance+Work+Statement.docx |
| 3 |
| Monthly, Quarterly and annual federal and state tax statements and reports: Is the ask to integrate with this system and draw reports for the data or is the requirement to do the tax computations as well? |
| The Travel Pay system being implemented would be required to do these computations and generate the forms/reports |
| 37. 17 |
| A23+-+Attachment+B+Performance+Work+Statement.docx |
| 3 |
| Monthly, Quarterly and annual federal and state tax statements and reports: Do we need a Tax specialist to validate the state and international tax calculations (if applicable) ? |
| The Travel Pay system being implemented would be required to do these computations and generate the forms/reports |
| 38. 18 |
| A23+-+Attachment+B+Performance+Work+Statement.docx |
| 3 |
| Is there a workflow that explains the processes and the uses cases for which the Travel Pay Processing Software would be developed for and is there a process flow for end to end on how current users use the system? |
| No currently |
| 39. 19 |
| A23+-+Attachment+B+Performance+Work+Statement.docx |
| 3 |
| How are tax implications on debt computed ? |
| Computations are based on JTR and IRS rules |
| 40. 20 |
| A23+-+Attachment+B+Performance+Work+Statement.docx |
| 3 |
| Does DFAS have a system to calculate late interest rates due to the travel and transportation reform act? |
| No. The travel pay system would need to adequately compute late payment interest |
| 41. 21 |
| A23+-+Attachment+B+Performance+Work+Statement.docx |
| 7 |
| How are EFTs done currently during an emergency ? |
| This information can be provided at the time of contract award to the vendor. |
| 42. 22 |
| A23+-+Attachment+B+Performance+Work+Statement.docx |
| 7 |
| Are all the vouchers in digitized form or do we need to do an OCR(Optical Character Recognition) on them? |
| The vouchers themselves do not get input in to the travel pay system. OCR would not be needed |
| 43. 23 |
| A23+-+Attachment+B+Performance+Work+Statement.docx |
| 8 |
| What reporting system does DFAS currently have? |
| DFAS has a lot of different reporting systems depending on what is being reported. |
| 44. 24 |
| A23+-+Attachment+B+Performance+Work+Statement.docx |
| 9 |
| what is "Azure Web Aoo" - should that be Azure Web App Service ? |
| Yes, revision made. |
| 45. 25 |
| A23+-+Attachment+B+Performance+Work+Statement.docx |
| 27 |
| what is the original database (name & version) ? |
| Integrated Automated Travel System (Version 8.5) |
| 46. 26 |
| A23+-+Attachment+B+Performance+Work+Statement.docx |
| 31 |
| Facility Security Clearance: will this be required prior to base option or from Year 1 onwards? |
| PWS revised – clearance is required at RFP closing date. |
| 47. 27 |
| A23+-+Attachment+B+Performance+Work+Statement.docx |
| 31 |
| Facility Security Clearance: can this be obtained after the award has been awarded with the agency sponsoring / initiating this? |
| PWS revised – clearance is required at RFP closing date. |
| 1 and 2 state “Stand-alone personal computer non network connected without internet access” and 5 states “web application”. What is DFAS architectures team target client-end-user software access type or would this be a mix depending on the end user’s system access, role and security? For example: A) The military/civilian traveler using a secure session and virtual private network client and on a web browser with internet access and B) DFAS accounting personnel computer would need to be the stand-alone client application software personal software install for without internet access? |
| The system would need to be usable in both type of scenarios, a stand-alone pc with no internet capability and in a web environment. |
| Based on NIST Special Publication 800-122 - PII Confidentiality Impact Level, what level of PII information does DFAS plan to store and transmit in the proposed system. ( Low, Moderate, High)? |
| Moderate or High |
| In regards to storing payment and tax information into the database schemas and expected reporting output and data interchanges. Will United States Dollar (USD) be the default currency utilized? |
| Yes, USD will be the default. Disbursing does the currency conversion to foreign currency |
| There is no mention of international currency types or conversions in the SOW needed for OCONUS Internation vouchers. Will the military and civilian travelers be expected to enter the expenses in United States Dollar (USD) or will the solution need to provide a currency conversion functionality to United States Dollar USD? |
| USD will be the default. Disbursing does the currency conversion to foreign currency |
| Will the DFAS system user interface, system help documentation, training documentation need to be any other languages other than English? |
| No |
| Do the clients that DFAS supports today utilize the Defense Travel System (DTS) for TDY? |
| DTS is used by a wide variety of users. The system requested for this contract will need to be able to process TDY. |
| Is the intention for clients that do utilize DTS to transition to a new solution? |
| Unknown |
Can you please clarify what this narrative in the PWS means?
“PWS: 4.1.4 - Ability to allow/disallow assignment based on given data element (i.e. travel office, claim type, etc.) for a designed user group with specific processing attributes, roles, or privileges.”
4.1.4 is in reference for the ability for the travel pay system to route the claim for processing/approval through the appropriate chain.
Can you please clarify what this narrative in the PWS means? Is this referencing deobligation, de-commitment, realignment of funds based on Budget Object Class?
“PWS: 4.2 - Process accounting functions such as multiple lines of accounting and negative lines of accounting.”
No, this is just in regards to the lines of accounting and element of expense.
| Will certified PCS and TDY orders be interfaced from other systems into this solution? If so, what are the other systems that would be transmitting files into the new solution? |
| Yes, this system needs the ability to interface with other systems. A full list of those systems would be provided with the award, if needed. |
| What types of claims are expected to be processed via the SF1164 voucher? |
| Any that are submitted |
| What rate Is the WTA paid? Example 28.21%. |
| WTA Rates vary. Payments should be made following the JTR rules |
| Will voucher amounts paid to civilian employees be reflected on their LES as additional income above their work hours? |
| No, nothing from tavel pay goes to the civilian LES |
| What type of digital signature (e.g., CAC requiring pin number, Adobe type signature utilizing CAC/PIV) is expected to be used for each stakeholder in a voucher workflow |
| IT could vary, most of the workflows do not require digital signature |
| For civilian PCS voucher submissions, will Withholding Tax Allowance be calculated and paid for each voucher or cumulative at the end of the year? |
| Calculated and paid for each voucher |