O&M_PWS_Q&A's_6-12-17.xlsx
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- Attached to
- FEMA OCIO Operations and Maintenance (O&M) Federal contract opportunity
- Solicitation number
- HSFE30-16-R-0009
About this file
This is a draft solicitation for operations and maintenance services for the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The solicitation seeks to consolidate existing IT support contracts and requires transitioning all current task orders within 60 days of award. Services include program management, help desk support, database administration, network operations, and agile development support. The contract is an IDIQ vehicle with a ceiling value of $300 million over a five year base period and one six-month option. Pricing will be fixed labor rates by labor category on individual task orders. The primary location of performance is the Mount Weather Emergency Operations Center, with additional support required at FEMA headquarters and other locations as needed.
O&M PWS Q&A's dated 6/12/17
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O&M PWS Q&As
| Operations & Maintenance (O&M) PWS Questions and Answers | ||||
| Page No. | Line (if applicable) | Section Reference | Question | Answer |
| 78-79 | Row 50, Column A | Attachment_J.1_government_Site_and_Contractor_Site_Price_Template.xlsx | Are these Contractor Site Positions intended to provide the 24x7x365 Tier I Help Desk Support? If so, would the Government consider allowing Help Desk Specialist (Level I) for these positions and not requiring (Level II)? | The Level I positions are expected to provide 24x7x365 support. The Level II support staff are not currently 24x7x365 and normally cover 7:00am to 7:00pm Monday through Friday. During a disaster the Level II staff is expected to provide 24x7 support. FEMA is also assessing the current workload and may increase the Level II support to 24x7x365 in the future. |
| 78-79 | Row 18, Column A | Attachment_J.3_O&M_Labor_Category_Descriptions.xlsx | Is the name of this Labor Category "Project Manager", not "Program Manager"? | Yes, Row 18 should be Project Manager. |
| N/A | Attachment_J.3 | There are two Program Manager labor categories in Attachment_J.3. Should one of them be Project Manager instead? | Row 18 should be Project Manager; Row 19 should be Program Manager. | |
| N/A | N/A | Attachment_J.3 | May the years of experience be substituted in lieu of education requirements in Attachment_J.3? If so, please provide equivalences for education and experience. | It states in J3 "At the Governments discretion years of experience may be substituted in lieu of certifications." No further information is available at this time. |
| N/A | N/A | L.10.2 | Given the large amount of information the Government is requesting from the offeror, will the Government allow for a 75 page limit for the Technical Proposal to ensure a fair evaluation? | Page limit remains unchanged. |
| Attachment J.1 | General | Is the Government still intending to provide a Reading Room that provides detailed information on the current operating environments to be supported? | A reading room will not be available, but FEMA is working to make information available in an electronic format. | |
| General | B.5.1 Government Site and Contractor Site | The Government specifies that only office space will be provided and may provide furniture and office equipment and supplies. Will contractor personnel be supplied with FEMA-issued desktops/laptops, software and mobile phones or is the Contractor responsible for providing this equipment? | Contractor personnel will be issued a FEMA laptop/desktop with the data and software needed to meet the requirement. Furnishing of FEMA mobile devices will be addressed at the task order level. | |
| 76 | "Labor by Category" Column | "Program Manager" is listed twice. Should one be Program Manager and the other "Project Manager"? | Row 18 should be Project Manager; Row 19 should be Program Manager. | |
| 79 | 5 | Cell C5 | Will the government consider adding to Level III Education requirements, Bachelor's Degree and fourteen years of experience, as an equivalency to the Master's Degree and 10 years as specified? | As indicated in J3 "At the Governments discretion years of experience may be substituted in lieu of certifications." |
| 54 | 1998 | Appendix A | "The Government includes the BMC Remedy Product Suite in Appendix A. Does FEMA use BMC Remedy Product Suite to deliver the FEMA Enterprise Service Desk services required under Functional Area 4?" | Yes, the Enterprise Service Desk utilizes BMC Remedy to input service requests and deliver the services described in 2.4 Functional Area 4. |
| 12 | 2.1 Functional Area 1 Program Mgmt. | The requirements states "The contractor shall deliver an initial WBS and subsequent updates as detail is added as work progresses" When is the initial delivery expected? | Within 15 business days of award. | |
| PWS 4.6 | * Program Manager (PM): The individual in the PM position shall have a bachelor’s degree and 10 to 15 years of project management and/or business analysis experience. The PM shall oversee the execution of the task orders, monitors and directs all work performed under the task orders, manage deliverables development and submission, and coordinate closely with the government Task Manager (TM) on all acquisition and program management tasks. |
Is this to be considered a Level 2 or Level 3 Program Manager? If Level 3, does that mean that additional experience can substitute for Master’s Degrees on all Level 3 positions?
| The IDIQ Program Managers should be Level 3. Task Order Program Managers can be Level 2. At the Governments discretion years of experience may be substituted in lieu of certifications. | |||||
| J.3 | There is no Project Manager Labor Category description. In J.3, Line 18 & 19 are both titled Program Manager. Is one of them the Project Manager Description? | Row 18 should be Project Manager; Row 19 should be Program Manager. | |||
| 18 | 671-672 | 2.2.2.1 Agile - General Tasks | SOW 2.2.2.1 states that "The Contractors’ work shall conform to the architecture, design, and Agile processes provided by FEMA through its SELC." Will the Government please make the architecture and Agile processes available to bidders to ensure conformance? | The SELC will be provided. FEMA has not yet implemented Agile processes under Operations and Maintenance, but is working towards an Agile and DevOps based model. | |
| 11, 38 | 374-603, 1409-1411 | SOW 2.1 Functional Area 1 - Program/Project Management and 4.6 Program Manager | SOW 4.6 states: "The name of the PM, and the name(s) of any alternate(s) who shall act for the contractor in the absence of the PM, shall be provided to the government as part of the contractor's proposal." | ||
| Will the alternate PM's credentials be evaluated as part of the Functional Area 1 – Program/Project Management section? Is the offeror expected to provide a resume for the alternate PM? | Information for the alternate PM is not part of proposal submission. "The name of the PM, and the name(s) of any alternate(s) who shall act for the contractor in the absence of the PM, shall be provided to the government as part of the contractor’s proposal." is deleted from PWS Section 4.6. | ||||
| 18 | 670-671 | SOW 2.2.2.1 Agile General Tasks | SOW 2.2.2.1 states: "The Contractor shall provide Agile teams for the purpose of maintaining selected FEMA systems. The Contractors' work shall conform to the architecture, design, and Agile processes provided by FEMA through its SELC." Can FEMA provide a list of the "selected" systems? What about the systems that are not part of this "selected" list? | Agile processes have not been implemented under Operations and Maintenance (O&M) yet. The Government expects Contractors to be knowledgeable, skilled and capable to meet the requirement for selected systems and those not yet selected. Agile is not mature within FEMA or implemented as of yet under O&M however, Agile and DevOps is the direction FEMA is headed and should be included within the scope of this contract vehicle. | |
| 20 | 729-731 | SOW 2.2.2.2 Agile Software Code Maintenance | SOW 2.2.2.2 states that "All code produces by the Contractor shall meet FEMA functional and non-functional requirements, meet database development requirements, and be deployable and fully tested in preparation for Independent Validation & Verification (IV&V) review." Will the Government please provide the non-functional requirements for the system? | Agile processes have not been implemented under O&M. The term: "non-functional requirements" may also mean "known unknowns" which would be addressed on a case by case basis. Agile is not mature within FEMA or implemented as of yet under O&M however, it is the direction FEMA is headed and should be included within the scope of this contract vehicle. | |
| 22 | 827 | 2.2.5 Testing | What are the current testing tools used across FEMA to support problem management, defect resolution and regression testing? | Remedy is the tool to support problem management. | |
| 25 | 920-936 | 2.3.1 Private Branch Exchange (PBX) | This section is entitled Private Branch Exchange (PBX), however discusses voice, data, SATCOM, and NIOS support and not PBX support. Is this section mislabeled and is PBX-related info missing from the PWS? | Section 2.3.1 titled is changed from Private Branch Exchange (PBX) to Network Inventory and Optimization System. | |
| 30 | 1116 | 2.4 Functional Area 4: Help Desk Services | The PWS discusses Tier 1 (Level I and II) Tier 2 (end user support), and Tier 4 (vendor support). Can FEMA outline the Tier definitions including the owner and role of Tier 3 support? | Tier 3 support is typically covered by Software Development, Engineering and Integration Division. | |
| 32 | 1213-1223 | 2.4.5 Knowledge Management | Is the current knowledge Management base owned by FEMA and does it reside on FEMA Remedy or SharePoint? Will this GFE tool (SharePoint or Remedy) be available for the new contractor to leverage or is the new contractor required to create a new knowledge base on an undefined software/web based platform? | Yes the Remedy Tool Suite is owned by FEMA and will be available to the new contractor. | |
| 8 | 263 | 1.5 | Where is the following identified reference available: "DHS Guidebook, 102-01-103-01, Systems Engineering Lifecycle Guidebook"? | SELC documents 102-01-103 and 102-01-103-01 are provided. | |
| 8 | 263 and 348 | 1.5 | What is the correct version (version number and/or date) of the identified reference available: "DHS Guidebook, 102-01-103-01, Systems Engineering Lifecycle Guidebook"? | SELC documents 102-01-103 and 102-01-103-01 are provided. | |
| 8 | 267 | 1.5 | Where is the following identified reference available: "FEMA Program Management Office Standard Operating Procedures"? | This reference will be addressed at the task order level and will be made available at that time; this SOP is still being developed. | |
| 8 | 267 | 1.5 | Is the reference document "FEMA Program Management Office Standard Operating Procedures" contain information on how FEMA will run the Government PMO, or does FEMA intend this to be used to inform the bidders on how to run their own PMO? | How FEMA runs the Government PMO. | |
| 11 | 393 | 2.1 | Does the requirement for a Project Management Plan apply to the master IDIQ contract, or does it apply only to the ask order contracts? | Individual task orders if required in the task order. | |
| 12 | 418 | 2.1 | Is a WBS required for the Master IDIQ contract or just for the individual task orders? | A WBS is required at the IDIQ level and at the task order level as orders are awarded. | |
| 12 | 422-423 | 2.1 | Is an IMS required for the Master IDIQ contract or just for the individual task orders? | Individual task orders if required in the task order. | |
| 12 | 424-427 | 2.1 | Is an IBR required for the Master IDIQ contract or just for the individual task orders? | Individual task orders if required in the task order. | |
| 12 | 432-436 | 2.1 | Is Earned Value Management data to be reported at the master IDIC contract level or at the level of the individual task orders? | Individual task orders if required in the task order. | |
| 16 | 578 | 2.1.3 | Is aggregated daily incident reporting required at the Master IDIQ contract level or just for the individual task orders? | Individual task orders if required in the task order. | |
| 16-17 | 598-603 | 2.1.3 | Is capacity management reporting required at the Master IDIQ contract level or just for the individual task orders? | Individual task orders if required in the task order. | |
| 19 | 2.2.2.2 Agile Software Code Maintenance |
2.2.3 Custom Design Solutions, also Appendix A
| Can the government please clarify what programming languages, development tools, middleware, database applications and tools, etc. are currently used in the applications subject to this section of the RFP, particularly as regards to support to those systems and services noted in Appendix A FEMA’s Systems, Services, and Applications? | Agile and DevOps processes have not been implemented under Operations and Maintenance (O&M). Agile and DevOps are not mature within FEMA or implemented as of yet under O&M however, it is the direction FEMA is headed and should be included within the scope of this contract vehicle. | |||
| 2.3.1 | Is it the Government’s intent to have contractors provide hosting services for some or all FEMA functions and requirements and, if so, what are the respective requirements regarding FEDRAMP or other applicable Government standards? | The Government does not anticipate utilizing Contractor owned Contractor operated (COCO) services. For now, this contract will support systems already hosted at a Government site or cloud environment, as opposed to the Contractor providing a turn-key solution for hosting systems. | ||
| 30 | 1123 | 2.4 | The contractor shall meet the performance standard (acceptable quality level) by receiving a favorable response on at least 98% of customer satisfaction inquiries. "Can the government please clarify how the "at least 98% favorable responses of satisfaction responses" will be determined?" | The determination is based on survey results received from the customer upon completion of a call to the Help Desk. The ratings are centered on the overall performance of the technicians within the monthly reporting period. |
| 30 | PWS 2.4 | How many sites will be required to be staffed by Deskside Support Staff? |
Can the government specify locations for on-site staffing?
| What will be the equipment requirements be in other remote locations? | Deskside/End User Computing onsite support is expected daily at FEMA offices located at FEMA HQ in Washington DC at 500 C Street Southwest and 400 C Street Southwest with occasional support required at the Mount Weather Emergency Operations Center (MWEOC) Bluemont VA. Helpdesk support staff work from the MWEOC and the Texas National Processing Center, Denton TX. Equipment is provided to support staff regardless of location. | ||||
| 30 | Section 2.4 | The PWS requires Tier II (ie, in person) support at FEMA locations. Does this mean in-person support 24x7 at each location? Would FEMA entertain the technical personnel at one site and be dispatched out to other locations? if so what would be the response time required? | In-person support for deskside/End User Computing (EUC) is based on the hours of operation for each particular site. This will be further defined at the task order level, but typically covers 7:00am to 7:00pm for onsite support. The requirement can increase to 24x7 support depending on disaster activity and other support requirements. In person staff supporting multiple locations (MW) are normally dispatched from a single location/building. | ||
| SOW Page 30 | 1123 | 2.4 2.4 Functional Area 4: Help Desk Services | Does the government already have a customer satisfaction inquiry method you prefer or will the contractor have the latitude to work with the government to develop a relevant customer satisfaction inquiry method? | Yes - the government currently has a customer satisfaction inquiry method in place. The way in which the information is collected ties to our OMB reporting requirements. There are no plans to change the method used at this time. | |
| 43 | 1608 | 5.8 | Does the Government want a separate post-award conference for the master IDIQ contract in addition to one for each task order? | A post award conference is required for the master IDIQ and will be determined at the task order level if necessary. | |
| 52 | 1939 | 7. Contractor Furnished Property | The contractor shall furnish all facilities, materials, equipment, and services necessary to fulfill the requirements of this contract, except for the government-furnished resources specified in this PWS. Did the government mean to reference Section 6 Government / Contractor- Furnished Resources instead of Section 5 Other Applicable Conditions? | There are no references in Section 7. | |
| 53 | 1967 | 9 | Is the draft contract management plan due 10 calendar days or 10 business days after contract award? | It is due 10 business days after contract award. | |
| 53 | 1967 | 9 | How many days after submission of the draft contract management plan will the FEMA provide comments and/or changes requested in the final version? | Within 10 business days of receipt. | |
| Page 1 of HSFE30-16-R-0009_Operations_&_Maintenance_RFP_V.8_4-28-2017 | B.3 | What date should the offerors assume as a start date for the base period? | Estimated start date is December 2017. | ||
| 1 | B.4 | Does the ceiling value of $300,000,000 include the surge work and the additional 6 month option to extend? | Yes, that is included. | ||
| 7 | F.3 Place of Performance | …"The Government may require all work to be conducted from the Contractor's facility at any time….". Since "all" is a very comprehensive word, does the Government intend for the contractor be able at any point in time during the performance of this contract to be able to conduct all functional areas at the contractor's site? | Not at this time. This contract includes end user support, which must be performed at FEMA sites. Network Operations, Video Operations, Telecommunications Service Management, System, Application, and Database Management are conducted primarily at FEMA sites. Section 5.1 of the PWS lists the locations where the work is anticipated to be performed. | ||
| J.8 QASP Attachment 1: Performance Requirements Summary | The 3rd Required Services (Tasks) in the table refers to SLAs with the customers/programs and has a 98% AQL. | ||||
| Will the government provide the applicable SLAs and AQLs (including applicable time frames of measurements, eg., Monthly, Quarterly, Yearly) that contractors will be accountable against for performance? | Yes, this will be identified at the task order level . | ||||
| The Contractors shall organize, direct and coordinate planning and execution of all task activities. The Contractors shall manage all Contractor resources and supervise all Contractor staff in the performance of work on this task order. Each of the Contractors teams shall include a scrum master. "Will the government require that scrum masters be so certified and /or trained? | |||||
| If so, will the government please review and update as applicable the associated labor category descriptions and requirements?" | This will be defined at the task order level. Agile and DevOps processes have not been implemented under O&M. | ||||
| J.8 QASP Page 7 | NA | 3.3.3. Validating Customer Complaints and 3.3.4 Taking Action Based on Customer Complaints | Are "Customer Complaints Records" and "Customer Feedback Records" separate and distinct entities? | These are separate entities, Customer Feedback Records are not restricted to be a complaint oriented. | |
| J.8 QASP Page 7 | NA | 3.3.3. Validating Customer Complaints and 3.3.4 Taking Action Based on Customer Complaints | Are "Customer Complaints Records" distinct from Service Desk Incident Records which may cover simple situation such as password lockout? | They are distinct, customer complaints are not Service Desk Incident Records. | |
| J.8 QASP Page 11 | NA | Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan (QASP) Attachment 1: Performance Requirements Summary | The 3rd Required Services (Tasks) in the table refers to SLAs with the customers/programs and has a 98% AQL. | ||
| Will the government provide the applicable SLAs and AQLs for each program (including applicable time frames of measurements, eg., Monthly, Quarterly, Yearly) to which contractors will be accountable? | Yes, this will be identified at the task order level . | ||||
| PWS 25 | 920 - 926 | Section 2.3.1 | Offeror requests the Government provide PBX specifics to include manufacturer and number of PBXs. | Section 2.3.1 titled is changed from Private Branch Exchange (PBX) to Network Inventory and Optimization System. | |
| PWS 33 | 1231-1360 | Section 2.5 | Please clarify if the scope of work includes management of hardware encryption devices, like KIV-7, KG-175 TACLANE, etc. | It does not include encryption devices. | |
| PWS 17 | 618 | Section 2.2.1 | Offeror requests the Government provide the number of storage frames, the gross amount of storage managed, and the location of SAN/NAS devices within scope of this contract. | Switches: Approximately 50+ (core and blade chassis) |
Arrays/Storage: ~1PB of storage in 13+ EMC arrays ranging from VNXe to XIO models
Locations: Support for SAN devices is located at Mount Weather and DHS Data Center 2 are included under this functional area; others may be added in the future.
PWS 17 618 Section 2.2.1 Offeror requests the Government provide the software and version used to manage SAN/NAS Devices. Software installed on SAN management servers:
Unisphere for VMAX: 8.1.0.6 Unisphere Service Manager: 1.3.8.1.0119 Data Center Network Manager: 7.2(1) Solutions Enabler: 8.1.0.0 Separate Appliances: RecoverPoint: 4.1.SP2.P1 (i.203) Software local on arrays:
Unisphere for VNX5[3,5]00: 1.2.30 Unisphere for VNX5600: 1.3.9 Unisphere for VNXe1600: 3.1.3 PWS 24 909 Section 2.2.14 Offeror requests the Government provide details on which modules are purchased and being used within the What's up Gold Suite? 2.2.14 does not reference What's up Gold Suite. FEMA is currently utilizing HP Insight Manager, NetIQ, Oracle Grid, and SCOM for monitoring and reporting of systems, databases, and applications. What's up Gold is used for network monitoring and FEMA currently uses Premium Edition v16.2.5 Build 1499 and WhatsUp Gold Premium Failover Manager
| General | General | General | We understand that FEMA is using Remedy 7.5 for ticketing now. Does FEMA intend to change this product in the future? If so, to what product? | FEMA is reviewing it's ticketing system to determine what product would be best for our environment. At this time we do not have any information on what system we will be using but we are actively working to get Remedy updated or move to a new tool. |
| PWS 33 | 1231-1360 | Section 2.5 | What additional networking tools in addition to What's up Gold Suite and Cisco Prime does FEMA use? | NFA-Network Flow Analyzer (formerly CA-NetQOS); Splunk and Cisco Telepresence Management System |
| PWS 33 | 1220 - 1236 | Section 2.5 | RFP Section 2.5 includes a description of the scope of this section as: |
"The Contractor shall provide comprehensive Network Operating Services. The services shall include:
• Network monitoring and support
• Change and configuration management
• Teleconferencing support
• Capacity planning support
• Supportability and interoperability functions
• Technology refresh for FEMA network assets include:
- National Network Operations Center (NOC)
- Local area networks, metropolitan area networks, and wide area networks
- Private Branch Exchange (PBX) systems for voice communications via FEMA’s integrated network
- Public network and Federal Telephone Systems (FTS)
- Joint Field Offices (JFO’s) and/or mobile units to be added quickly to the architecture via landlines or satellite communications
- Video Teleconferencing, (VTC)
- Satellite
- FEMA Intranet / Internet
- The National Warning System (NAWAS) and Emergency Alert System (EAS)" Sub-sections 2.5.1 - 2.5.5 encompass services aligned with the first bullet above, "Network Monitoring and Support", however the scope of services and requirements for the remaining bullets above are not documented. Offeror requests that the Government document the requirements and scope for each of the remaining bullets above. PWS updated accordingly. Change and configuration management – offeror will be responsible for ensuring baseline configurations are administered on each device per FEMA engineering and security guidelines and offeror will ensure any changes to the network devices are processed through the FEMA change management process and approved by the change management board
• Teleconferencing support – offeror will be responsible for providing support for the FEMA audio teleconference bridge and escalate troubles to higher tiered support elements and/or call out for circuit provider restoration.
• Capacity planning support – Removed
• Supportability and interoperability functions – offeror will be responsible for ensuring the voice, data and video networks are supported and configured to ensure they are capable of interoperability across the FEMA LAN and WAN services.
• Technology refresh for FEMA network assets include (listed below): - offeror will be responsible for assisting FEMA operations, engineering and management staff when the following systems are being technology refreshed. This includes providing key NOC staff trained in voice, data, audio & video and satellite systems; providing current system configuration and capabilities as requested during planning phase of technology refresh projects; edit current configuration of these systems to incorporate upgrades of the current system and ensure offeror staff receive training on any newly upgrade/refresh of newly acquired technology systems.
o National Network Operations Center (NOC) o Local area networks, metropolitan area networks, and wide area networks o Private Branch Exchange (PBX) systems for voice communications via FEMA’s integrated network o Public network and Federal Telephone Systems (FTS) o Joint Field Offices (JFO’s) and/or mobile units to be added quickly to the architecture via landlines or satellite communications o Video Teleconferencing (VTC), Audio Teleconferencing o Satellite o FEMA Intranet / Internet o The National Warning System (NAWAS) and Emergency Alert System (EAS)
• Support for centralized operations, monitoring, failure and intrusion detection, and restoration of FEMA’s nationwide telecommunications and network systems, including video teleconferencing operations for FEMA senior-level management, federal, state, and local partners and other DHS components. offeror will be responsible for providing appropriately skilled staff to sustain network operation centers for data, voice, audio & video and satellite networks.
• Services shall be supported twenty-four (24) hours a day, seven (7) days a week. offeror will be responsible for providing knowledgeable staff for the network operations centers which will be manned on a continuous basis.
| Tracy: Updated answers based on input from OC section leads. | ||||
| PWS 6 | 203 - 210 | Section 1.3 | In #2, the Government provides a list of locations where services will be delivered, indicating that the primary services will be provided in the National Capital Region. In order for FEMA to perform an equitable evaluation of all offerors' blended rates, offeror requests that the Government provide a percentage breakdown of the expected full-time personnel in the NCR and other supported locations. | Most of the work will be performed at the Mount Weather Emergency Operations Center (MWEOC), 19844 Blue Ridge Mountain Rd, Bluemont, VA 20135. Some end user support is provided at FEMA headquarters, 500 C Street SW, Washington, DC and Helpdesk support is provide at the MWEOC and in FEMA's National Processing Service Center (NPSC) in Denton, TX. Occasional local or long distance travel may be required to other FEMA locations throughout the Continental United States. |
| PWS. P.44 | 1649-1657 | PWS 5.11 | PWS Section 5.11 references a "monthly status report," "weekly status reports," and a "monthly progress report." Are the "monthly status report" and the "monthly progress report" intended to reference the same deliverable, or two separate deliverables? |
| If two separate deliverables, please clarify what information should be included in the "monthly status report," that is unique and not included in the "monthly progress report". | Same deliverable. | ||||
| N/A | N/A | 2.1 | Would the government provide detailed inventory information for current work? | Additional details will be provided at the task order level. | |
| 21 | 780 | 2.2.3 Custom Design Solutions | The government mentions Office 365. Can you please elaborate which services besides Exchange Online (OneDrive for Business, Skype for Business, Office ProPlus, SharePoint Online) will be in use by Contract Award? | Exchange Online is currently the only offering of O365 service however, SharePoint and OneDrive offerings are being explored. It is likely SharePoint will be in pilot use when this contract is awarded. | |
| 16 | N/A | 2.2.1 Hardware and Software Maintenance | Does FEMA require all existing Task Orders on all the existing COMMITS contracts to transition to this new contract within the 60 day Transition Period? | Individual task orders will be transitioned as they expire. | |
| 5 | 152 | 1.2 Background | What types of resources are generally needed in surge situations? | Surge staff will be used to support day to day operations, should FEMA staff be deployed to support the disaster | |
| 6 | 200 | 1.3 Scope | What are FEMA Performance measures? | Performance measurement will be detailed on the task orders (examples - system uptime, customer satisfaction surveys, etc.) | |
| 7 | 242 | 1.3 Scope | To what extent are FEMA systems and data backed up currently? | Mount Weather Backup and Recovery (BUR): |
-Physical systems are backed up by ARCserve to tape, then stored offsite storage.
-Virtual systems are backed up by VEEAM to a SAN, then pulled to tape for offsite storage.
DHS Data Center 2 BUR:
-Physical systems are backed up to tape by HP using NetBackup, tapes are stored offsite by HP.
-Virtual systems are backed up with VEEAM to a EMC/Data Domain unit, then replicated to DC1 for offsite. (no tapes)
Regions, NPSCs, etc. have their own BUR systems
| 11 | 379 | 2.1 Functional Area 1 - Program/Project Management | Does the Contractor Program Manager need to locate at a specific FEMA site; eg. HQ? | The Contractor Program Manager will typically be located at Mount Weather but may have to attend meetings at different locations. | |
| 13 | 474 | 2.1.1.1 Transition Support | What exactly is meant by transition of historical data to any new systems? | System upgrades or modernization efforts must not jeopardize the integrity of available data. | |
| 16 | 570 | 2.1.3 Reporting | What reporting tools will be used to produce FEMA reporting? | There is not a specific tool required. | |
| 16 | 570 | 2.1.3 Reporting | Is there an expectation on where the individuals who produce the reports should be located? | The reporting personnel will typically be located at Mount Weather but may have to attend meetings at different locations. | |
| 23 | 842 | 2.2.7 Change and Release Management | How often does the CCB meet and also is it expected for personnel to be onsite? | The CCB meets weekly for regular change requests and as needed for emergency requests. Meetings are held via teleconference and video teleconference. | |
| 35 | 1300 | 2.5.2 Event Management | What is the SEIM tool that is currently utilized? | Enterprise Security (ES) Splunk Application is in place and is used in conjunction with network monitoring tools What's up Gold (WUG), CiscoPrime and CA Technologies Network Flow Analyzer (CA-NFA), Cisco Telepresence Management Server, Cisco Unified Call Manager, and Cisco Video Communication Server for troubleshooting network events. | |
| 18 | 657-658 | 2.2.2 Agile Approaches | The RFP states that the Agile approaches used at FEMA are SCRUM, Kanban and DevOps. What is the maturity level of these processes at FEMA? Can the government provide the list of tools used to run projects using these methodologies? | Agile and DevOps are not mature within FEMA or implemented as of yet under O&M however, it is the direction FEMA is headed and should be included within the scope of this contract vehicle. The Agile processes are at varying stages. | |
| 18 | 672 | 2.2.2 Agile Approaches | The RFP states that the contractors’ work shall conform to the architecture, design, and Agile processes provided by FEMA through its SELC. Can the government provide information on SELC? Can we get a reference library? | SELC documents 102-01-103 and 102-01-103-01 are provided. | |
| 10 | 333-372 | 1.5.2 Reference Documents; 1.5.3 DHS Enterprise Architecture Compliance | Will the government furnish these documents and task orders to the contractor or provide reading room access? | Task orders requirements may be released at the expiration of the current contracts, no reading room has been established. | |
| 18 | 658 | 2.2.2 Agile Approaches | Is DevOps implemented at an enterprise level? How is DevOps implemented in the current infrastructure at FEMA? | Agile and DevOps are not mature within FEMA or implemented as of yet under O&M however, it is the direction FEMA is headed and should be included within the scope of this contract vehicle. | |
| 18 | 658 | 2.2.2 Agile Approaches | What is the DevOps maturity level at FEMA? | Agile and DevOps are not mature within FEMA or implemented as of yet under O&M however, it is the direction FEMA is headed and should be included within the scope of this contract vehicle. | |
| 18 | 658 | 2.2.2 Agile Approaches | What processes are automated using DevOps principles? Are they consistent across all projects/teams? | Agile and DevOps are not mature within FEMA or implemented as of yet under O&M however, it is the direction FEMA is headed and should be included within the scope of this contract vehicle. | |
| 23 | 871-878 | 2.2.10 SharePoint Support Services | Does FEMA currently have a governance process for SharePoint? Can FEMA provide the details of the governance steps for SharePoint? | FEMA has governance in draft which is currently in internal management review. The governance covers a multitude of topics, including but not limited to: Farm Architecture and Content, Information Security, Records Management, 508 Compliance, and Permissions Management. | |
| 24 | 880-888 | 2.2.11 Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) Support Services | The RFP states that the contractor will assist FEMA in transformation to effective service-oriented architectures and distributed system architectures. Does the assist include developing and maintaining the SOA architectures and services? | Yes. FEMA has multiple programs and applications using web services based on FEMA's Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) infrastructure & architecture. | |
| 24 | 880-888 | 2.2.11 Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) Support Services | The RFP states that the contractor will provide support and monitoring of web services, messaging and other related technologies. Is this support at the management of the tools that are used to monitor web services? If so, can the government provide information on the tools used to manage the web services? | Oracle Enterprise Manager Cloud Control 12c is the primary tools used to monitor the Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) infrastructure and web services. We also leverage custom Java monitors and SoapUI for specific web services. FEMA’s SOA infrastructure is based on the Oracle SOA Fusion Suite - Oracle Enterprise Manager and WebLogic Console are used for web service deployment and management. | |
| 21 | 770-771 | 2.2.3 Custom Design Solution | The RFP states that the Contractor shall provide implementation, support and deployment of custom code and content to support O&M functions. Does this imply that the contractor will only deploy the custom code as part of this task and not develop the code? What tools and technologies are used to deploy the custom code? Will these tools be GFE? | Development efforts are not anticipated under this functional area. Custom code is currently deployed through WebLogic and would be provided as GFE. As FEMA moves to an Agile and DevOps model this could change. | |
| 22 | 820 | 2.2.4 Database Administration | Which NoSQL databases are in use at FEMA? | Mongo is the only one used within this functional area, others could be in use outside of this area. NoSQL databases is understood to mean those that do not use Relational Structured Query Language (SQL) for their queries. | |
| 22 | 822 | 2.2.4 Database Administration | What electronic data repository is in use at FEMA? | BMC Footprints. | |
| 22 | 828-829 | 2.2.5 Testing | Can the government provide the testing tools are used for Testing? Will these tools be GFE? | Testing performed under this functional area is limited to determine availability; i.e. ping, link, monitoring of services, etc. | |
| 23 | 867 | 2.2.9 Technology Refresh | The RFP states that the contractor will perform hardware and software upgrades, configuration changes, and patches. Does the software upgrades relate to middleware upgrades? | Upgrades may consist of operating system, middleware, database, hardware, and firmware. | |
| 33-34 | N/A | 2.5 Functional Area 5: Network Operating Services Network Operations | From what centralized site/location should the Network Remote Monitoring/Managing be performed? Would this need to be a FEMA location or could a lower cost supplier (ES) location be utilized? | Mount Weather Emergency Operations Center (MWEOC) in Bluemont Virginia will be the location for the centralized network remote monitoring/managing services. | |
| 33-34 | N/A | 2.5 Functional Area 5: Network Operating Services Network Operations | Can you provide an inventory list of network equipment to be supported? FTEs are normally based upon quantity and type of devices being supported. | The number of network devices (router, switches, ETC.) on the network fluctuates daily due to presidentially declared disaster sites being activated or deactivated. Historically, the number of network devices are between 700 to 1,000 devices and for video devices (gateways, bridges, VTC units, ETC.) the number fluctuates between 500 and 600 devices. | |
| 33-34 | 1250 | 2.5 Functional Area 5: Network Operating Services Network Operations / ( FEMA Intranet / Internet) | For FEMA Intranet / Internet, please provide more detail on how this would need to be supported. Is a FEMA TIC (Trusted Internet Connection) already in place? Are there changes required to the TIC? Would supplier just be supporting existing TIC? | Offeror will be responsible for monitoring the FEMA TIC services, currently in place, and escalate issues to the managed service providers. For FEMA WAN internet services through the DHS OneNet TIC circuits, which are hosted through DHS DC1 and DC2 locations, the offeror will escalate to the DHS-NOC for resolution with the managed service providers. For FEMA TIC (dirty internet) the offeror will escalate to the FEMA-SOC for resolution with managed service provider. The offeror will be responsible for monitoring, configuring, call routing and troubleshooting the FEMA video devices that are hosted in the DMZ. | |
| 33-34, 35 | 1235, 1298 | 2.5 Functional Area 5: Network Operating Services Network Operations / ( FEMA Intranet / Internet) | |||
| 2.5.2 Event Management | Is there an existing FEMA event management/SIEM tool in place that is to be utilized? Or, would the supplier (ES) be providing a tool to support event management? | Enterprise Security (ES) Splunk Application is in place and is used in conjunction with network monitoring tools What's up Gold (WUG), CiscoPrime and CA Technologies Network Flow Analyzer (CA-NFA), Cisco Telepresence Management Server, Cisco Unified Call Manager, and Cisco Video Communication Server for troubleshooting network events. | |||
| What equipment does government have in support of ACD/IVR: Avaya, Cisco, or other? | Both, Avaya and Cisco, devices support the ACD/IVR | ||||
| Does the government maintain a Knowledge Management tool? If so, what brand? (BMC Remedy, Service Now, other) | If this question is referring to a Known Error Database, (KEDB) then the answer would be no. However, we are able to query certain information from our Remedy system for basic knowledge management. | ||||
| Does the government track Customer Satisfaction Surveys at its current requirement of 98%? | Yes - customer satisfaction surveys are used as the basis of our determination. | ||||
| Does the government maintain a self-service password reset tool? | Not at this time. | ||||
| 30 | 1124 | 2.4 Functional Area 4: Help Desk Services | The PWS states the contractor shall meet the performance standard by receiving a favorable response on at least 98% of customer satisfaction inquiries. The QASP states the contractor's performance target for this service is 97%. Can the government clarify the performance target? | The determination is based on survey results received from the customer upon completion of a call to the Help Desk. The ratings are centered on the overall performance of the technicians within the monthly reporting period. The correct performance target is 98% and the QASP will be updated accordingly. | |
| 16 | Section 2.1.1, Transition Planning | Per the RFP, FEMA requires all existing COMMITS contracts to be consolidated in to this new contract during the 60 day Transition period. Please provide the skill mix and level of effort for the work on all existing Contracts/Task Orders to enable bidders to determine their approach to Transition. | The labor category distribution is provided for the current year of existing O&M task orders. Task orders will be transitioned as they expire. | ||
| N/A | HSFE30-16-R-0009_Operations_Maintenance_RFP_V.8_4-28-2017: L.10.1 Page Size and Font; |
Attachment_J.5_OM_Resume_Template The RFP states: "Paper size shall be 8 1/2 by 11-inch white paper with printing on one (1) side only, using 12 point font. No reduction is permitted except for organization charts or other graphic illustrations, or in headers/footers. In those instances where reduction is allowable, Offerors shall ensure that the print is easily readable; no less than 8 point font on graphs and 10 point font on tables."
In Attachment J.5, however, the cells in the resume table are in 10 point font.
| Please confirm that Attachment J.5 Resume Template is submitted as-is; i.e., the template does not need to follow the L.10.1 Page Size and Font. | Attachment J.5 Resume Template shall be submitted as is regarding font and page size. | ||
| Is it the Government’s intent that when the Contractor sends the PPQ to the customer for survey and completion, the PPQ is limited to 5 pages, and that the Government Customer completing the PPQ for the FEMA RFP may provide information beyond the 5 page limit | The Past Performance Questionnaire is limited to 5 pages. If the contractors client wants to add more detail to support an answer space is available on page 5 for additional comments. | ||
| Will the Government allow the contractor to reference narrative across Subfactors. For instance, can the contractor refer to the management solution described in Subfactor 1 within the Technical Solution in Subfactors 2-5 | No, cross references are not permitted. | ||
| Are you able to provide me with information on a DD254 for cleared resources on the above-referenced solicitation? | Some positions and task orders will require a DD254. This will be addressed at the task order level. | ||
| Where would FEMA like offerors to provided pricing assumptions since there will be no pricing narrative included in the submission? | One additional tab may be added to Attachment J.1 Price Template for assumptions. The assumptions tab shall adhere to the page specifics identified in L.10.1. (8 1/2 by 11-inch with printing on one (1) side only, using 12 point font, at least one (1) inch margins on each side of the page) See L.10.1. |
File details come from the government source that posted it. Updated .