HSFEHQ-09-R-0009 FEMA VTC Support Offeror Questions Government Answers.pdf

5 January 2009

RFP HSFEHQ-09-R-0009

Hydrometeorological Prediction Center/Hurricane Liaison Team Audio, Visual, and Video

Teleconferencing System Upgrade

Vendor Questions and Government Responses

Q1. Do offerors need to review the plans and present their own opinions on what equipment is needed and how to provide FEMA with the best product based upon their evaluation? Or is there a set of brand or equipment being requested?

A1. FEMA has provided more detail regarding the Sample Task site, general requirements, and equipment specifications; see RFP Section L.2, paragraph VIII – Government Furnished Information for this detail. Offerors are encouraged to present their own opinions on an approach to meeting the objectives of the SOW as well as what equipment may be needed to meet the objectives.

Q2. Would FEMA consider making a change to the NAICS code so more SDVOs could bid?

A2. No.

Q3. If the NAICS code cannot be changed would the total amount of revenue in a teaming agreement between two SDVO’s, one under $6.5 million and one above $6.5 million, but under $23 million be counted as prime SDVO dollars?

A3. Only the prime contractor’s revenue is considered. For your information, the size standard for NAICS code 561499 is actually $7 million. The $6.5 million listed on the RFP was updated in August 2008.

Q4. If the NAICS code cannot be changed would the total amount of revenue in a teaming agreement between two SDVO’s, one under $6.5 million and one above $6.5 million, but above $23 million be counted as prime SDVO dollars?

A4. See A3.

Q5. What level of facility clearance is required?

A5. This contract will be utilized for requirements across the FEMA Enterprise. Employees with up to Top Secret with Special Access clearances may be required to support anticipated task orders.

Q6. The RFP asks for a firm-fixed-price and therefore, a technically detailed proposal based on a real, anticipated initial task. In order to gather necessary details to provide a firm-fixed-price a site visit and user requirements review seems appropriate. Will there be an Industry Day site tour of the sample task’s site?

A6. There will NOT be an Industry site tour of the Sample Task’s site. See A1 above.

Q7. Judging from the importance of this sample task, is it possible for one of our AV and VTC engineers to do a walk-through of this facility?

A7. See A6.

Q8. In regards to Section L.1.3, without knowing exactly what is in the room, how can offerors give a good cost estimate of what equipment will be necessary and what facility modifications need to be done, such as to electrical, cabling, light, etc? It seems that there could be a wide variance of cost estimates from bidders based on the assumptions of what needs to be done to the room and equipment without doing a site survey.

A8. FEMA understands that Offerors can not provide an exact firm-fixed price for such things as hardware, software, ancillary equipment, and facility modifications based on a Sample Task SOW. However, it is expected Offerors can provide estimates on costs for all Tasks and related Subtasks, with the exception of Subtask 4.1.

Q9. Can the NAICS code be changed so as to include SDVO companies of size $25 million and under?

A9. See A2.

Q10. Is this a new requirement or does it have an incumbent?

A10. There is no incumbent.

Q11. If there is an incumbent, what is the company’s name and contract number?

A11. See A10.

Q12. Is the proposal to be written and priced for the contractor to do a site survey for this site to develop the necessary engineering and materials list for upgrading this facility? Or do offerors need to develop a full engineering proposal to define the necessary equipment, set up, software and labor to upgrade this facility. If so, then offerors would have to do a site survey prior to the proposal date to fully understand the requirements and the facility floor plans. If offerors need to do a site visit, would this be possible and do they need to schedule it through you?

A12. See A1, A6, and A8.

Q13. How can offerors schedule a site visit to the College Park site and who would be the point of contact for such a request?

A13. See A6.

Q14. Past performance reference requirements and instructions specified in Section L on page 42 of 44 of the RFP dated 15 December, stipulate that three (3) contracts with the Federal Government must be provided in our proposal. Given that our Federal Government seeks out and adopts more commercial industry products, services, and best practices can relevant and recent commercial contracts be allowed as well?

A14. Yes. In accordance with FAR 15.305(a)(2)(ii), the Government shall provide offerors an opportunity to identify past or current contracts (including Federal, State, and local government and private) for efforts similar to the Government requirement in relevance and scope (see RFP Section L.5); therefore, RFP Amendment 0002 adds State, local government, and private contracts for consideration in offeror’s past performance evaluation in addition to Federal contracts.

Q15. If offerors plan on proposing five of their current employees as key personnel, does FEMA require their signatures on their résumés? Normally, signatures are required for those who have accepted contingency offers of employment on their offer letters vice their résumés. What are the signature, résumé, and contingency offer requirements for proposal submission for those offerors that propose contingent hires as key personnel?

A15. According to section L.3.1, each résumé must be signed by the person certifying that information in the résumé is true and complete, that he or she commits to working on this task.

Q16. Do résumés and associated information pertaining to key personnel count towards the overall page count for Volume I – Technical Proposal?

A16. No. Résumés do not count towards the 30 page limit.

Q17. Are there any page limits to Volume II – Price or Volume III – Past Performance?

A17. According to the RFP, no.

Q18. Is there going to be a site survey tour?

A18. See A6.

Q19. Would a prime contractor be permitted to use subs or contractors for work performed less than 51%.

A19. See FAR clause 52.219-14 – Limitations on Sub-contracting, which is incorporated in RFP and will be incorporated in the subsequent contract in FAR clause 52.212-5. See RFP Section I.1 for websites that contain FAR text.

Q20. Will there be site visits scheduled for the purpose of bidding on this solicitation?

A20. See A6.

Q21. Is there an incumbent to this contract?

A21. See A10.

Q22. The SOW does not have enough information to quote the upgrade or equipment. Is there a final HPC Audio, Visual, and VTC Requirements report for the reference solicitation?

A22. No. See A8.

Q23. Does the prime contractor have to be SDVOB with three years average sales of less than $7 million?

A23. See RFP Block 10 and A3.

Q24. Does FEMA plan to release additional information on the sample project?

A24. See A1.

Q25. Is it possible to arrange a site visit for the sample project?

A25. See A6.

Q26. Can an offeror provide more than three reference projects for Volume III?

A26. The Government will only consider three.

Q27. To better illustrate our technical approach, can offerors provide relevant drawings based on the solution they deem appropriate for the sample task(s)?

A27. In accordance with RFP L.3.1, the offeror’s technical submission cannot exceed 30 pages.

Q28. In task 3, are there additional details on the HLT site such as: room dimensions, system functionality, and existing equipment? If no, would it be acceptable that offerors make certain reasonable assumptions to better illustrate our technical approach (all assumptions will be clearly delineated in our response)?

A28. See A1, A6, and A8.

Q29. If the offeror’s deliverable is larger than the 3MB, can they divide the document into the three volumes and sent them separately?

A29. Due to e-mail server and pipeline limitations, please limit the size of each e-mail with attachments to 3 MB.

Q30. Is Adobe PDF an acceptable file format for the deliverable? If so, which version does the Agency support? If no, please advise us of the preferred format.

A30. Yes, Adobe is an acceptable file format.

Q31. The solicitation refers to a Present/Past Performance questionnaire; however, one is not attached. Could you please provide one for this solicitation?

A31. The Present/Past Performance questionnaire was included on the FedBizOpps posting for this RFP.

Q32. In the offeror’s detailed Cost Proposal, would FEMA like to see the labor rates broken down by region and/or state?

A32. See RFP Section M.4.

Q33. Section B, paragraph B.1.1 states a total quantity of the project at $30 million. We understand that this is an estimated number, but we read this as the maximum total that may or may not be executed. Can we get clarification on the scope of the effort?

A33. In accordance with Section B.1.1, a realistic estimated total quantity for this solicitation and resulting contract is $30 million. This estimate is not a representation to an offeror or contractor that the estimated quantity will be required or ordered, or that conditions affecting requirements will be stable or normal.

Q34. In regards to paragraph 3.1.4 – Project Implementation Plan can you confirm that we will not be responsible for doing the actual electrical wiring and duct work, just spelling out the design requirements? If the contractor is required to do the actual facility modifications, then a general contractor should be a key member of the site survey team.

A34. It is expected that the Contractor will serve as a “General Contractor” and will manage all work, including electrical wiring and duct work. Offerors are free to propose their own approach to meeting the objectives of each task.

Q35. Can you provide a complete list of all potential FEMA locations which may fall under this solicitation?

A35. Not at this time.

Q36. Section C.1.IV Scope – can we get clarification or an example on what is going to be considered a project? For example, could there be more than one task order per FEMA site?

Would not each project be a complete task order to upgrade a site’s current VTC capabilities?

Why the need for sub-tasks at a site?

A36. Subtasks will be part of each task order.

Q37. How much time can be expected between the issuance of task orders?

A37. The Government currently does not have this information.

Q38. The period of performance is confusing. One portion of the RFP (paragraph IX on page 7) mentions a one year base contract with 4 option year options; however, the sample talks about a three month period of performance and then the maintenance options (paragraph V on page 40).

Can you please clarify?

A38. The indefinite-delivery requirements contract has a one year base period with four option year periods. Each individual task order issued from the requirements contract will have its own period of performance.

Q39. Can we get clarification on the personnel/facility security requirements? It seems that a security clearance is not required (however, it helps on suitability determination). However, the words indicate that the FSO needs to submit information to FEMA. So, can we assume that the companies involved need to have a minimum of a secret FCL? If so, does RTL have a FCL?

A39. See A5.

Q40. When is ATP expected for Task Order #1 (the given example in the RFP, section L.2)?

A40. See the Deliverables table on page 41 of the RFP.

Q41. The sample project in section L.2 is to move the HPC to a location in College Park, MD.

What is the state of the new facility? What are the assumptions regarding electrical, lighting, and HVAC capacity of the new facility? Does this facility have cable trays already installed? Are there any cables currently in place?

A41. See A1, A6, and A8.

Q42. Based on the deliverables table on pages 39-40, are we to assume that for the RFP response, it is the government’s expectation that tasks 3, 4, and 5 cannot be completed until after a site survey is completed? It is hard to do a cost estimation of a project until the site survey is complete, plus the fact that this is a FFP contract which increases contractor risk.

A42. See A1, A6, and A8.

Q43. Paragraph L4, volume 2 Pricing on page 41 – Based on the fact that we cannot give a solid quote on equipment and facility modification pricing until a site survey is completed, can you confirm that the pricing volume needs to discuss the cost of the five key personnel? Is there an expectation from the Government that we should try to estimate the costs of standing up the HPC VTC capability in College Park prior to conducting a site survey in the Tech Volume?

A43. See A1, A6, and A8.

Q44. C.1 Statement of Work III. Applicable Documents states that the Government is required to produce and distribute broadcast studio quality satellite images and computer graphics to the disaster response community and to conduct large-scale video and audio teleconferences. Does FEMA currently have studio equipment and infrastructure to support the installation of new video teleconferencing solutions and will any of these studio solutions need to be assessed and/or upgraded via this RFP? Can a synopsis of the current studio capabilities be provided for the locations in the SOW scenario?

A44. See A1.

Q45. L.2 Sample Project SOW I. Background states that the HPC will be moving to a new location in 2009. Will any of the studio equipment be moved from the existing site to the new location, and if so, will it be the contractors’ responsibility to move and reconfigure this equipment?

A45. For the purpose of this Sample Task SOW, no equipment will be moved from the existing facility to the new facility.

Q46. Will the HPC and HLT be sharing resources in the COOP scenario spelled out in L.2 Sample Project SOW I. Background or will there be accommodations made within the facility for an additional entity (additional solution for the visiting HL Team)?

A46. See A1.

Q47. As part of the RFP response, should the NHC facility be included as a location receiving equipment changes and upgrades?

A47. See Amendment 0001 to the solicitation posted on FedBizOpps on December 15, 2008.

Q48. L.1 General Instructions to Offerors state that offerors shall submit their proposals in three volumes (Vol. I – Technical; Vol. II – Price, and Vol. III – Past Performance). For clarification purposes, what documentation should be included in each volume of the RFP response as this is a general scenario SOW with no ability to perform all the required tasks listed in the solicitation (i.e. status reports, site analysis, staff interviews, etc.)?

A48. See RFP Section L.

Q49. Is it a requirement that the system have the capability to display information from any display device or workstation located throughout the HPC?

A49. See A1, A6, A8.

Q50. Is it a requirement that the system have the capability to transmit information from any display device or workstation located throughout the HPC across the VTC?

A50. See A1, A6, A8.

Q51. Is it a requirement to push the VTC video to other displays located throughout the HPC facility? If yes, how many other displays do you intend to push the information to?

A51. See A1, A6, A8.

Q52. Is it a requirement that the system have the capability to display the information from any display device or workstation located at other FEMA, DHS, and state and local facilities across the VTC or inside the conference room?

A52. See A1, A6, A8.

Q53. Does the system need to support multiple classifications of data? If so, does the system need to support classified communication at the Top Secret, Secret, and Unclassified levels via both IP and ISDN?

A53. See A5. Future task orders for this contract may require a system which supports classified communication at the Top Secret, Secret, and Unclassified levels via both IP and ISDN.

Q54. Does the Government require documentation to support Certification and Accreditation of the VTC systems?

A54. Yes.

Q55. Does the Government require a system design that has been certified for use in other DHS facilities?

A55. Future task orders for this contract may require a system design that has been certified for use in other DHS facilities.

Q56. Will the Government provide additional requirements or responses to questions during a pre-proposal site survey? If so, how will these requirements or answers be provided?

A56. See A6.

Q57. Does the Government intend to award the IDIQ to a single vendor? If no, how many awardees are anticipated?

A57. Requirements contracts are only awarded to one contractor by definition.

Q58. Why did FEMA choose 561499 as the NAICS code for this requirement? We would like to request that FEMA consider changing the NAICS code to 541512 or 541519 to allow more small businesses to compete.

A58. See A2.

Q59. Will FEMA require all bidders to submit a certification statement that they meet the small business size/revenue requirements?

A59. See RFP Section K, FAR clause 52.212-3 – Offeror Representations and Certifications— Commercial Items.

Q60. Are the required résumés part of the 30 page limit for the tech proposal?

A60. See A16.

Q61. Section B.1.1 Sample Project Pricing Base Period (Task Order 1) Item Descriptions indicate that pricing is only required for the development of the deliverables as identified in the sample SOW. Is it correct that the firm-fixed pricing required in Section L.4.2 is only for the labor associated with the development of the deliverables?

A61. See RFP Section M.4.

Q62. The past performance survey document has the correct solicitation number as the document name; however, the data contained in the document has another project and solicitation number listed. Will you provide a new document with the correct solicitation number? If not, can the offeror change the document header to reflect this solicitation? If you do not provide a new document can you verify that all the information requested pertains to this solicitation?

A62. A new document will be provided via the FedBizOpps website with correct headers.

Q63. Subtask 2.1 and 2.2 of the sample SOW requires the contractor to conduct interviews with HPC, NHC, and HLT staff to gather user input on functional requirements. Is a face-to-face meeting to be scheduled for this proposal? If a meeting is to occur, what dates are available to view the facility(s) mentioned in the sample SOW, to interview personnel to determine functional requirements? Who is the POC for the functional requirements? What is the POCs contact information?

A63. See A1, A6, and A8.

Q64. If a site visit and interviews are not required and we are to discuss only our ability to perform these tasks, will you provide all functional requirements? Who is the POC for the functional requirements? What is the POCs contact information?

A64. See A1, A6, and A8.

Q65. What equipment is available at the old facility for the re-integration at the new facility? If equipment is available, will the contractor be responsible for transporting the equipment to the new facility? Will the government test and provide a test data sheet for all GFE to the contractor to ensure equipment is operational? If the Government will not test all GFE, will the contractor be provided adequate time to test equipment for operational capability prior to assuming responsibility for GFE?

A65. See A45. For the purpose of this contract requirement to develop a Firm Fixed Price for the Sample Task Order SOW, bidders shall assume there is no GFE supplied to meet SOW requirements.

Q66. What are the dimensions of the old facility conference room/studio (L, W, H)?

A66. See A1.

Q67. What are the dimensions of the new facility conference room/studio (L, W, H)?

A67. See A1.

Q68. The technical proposal is limited to 30 pages. Does this number include the required key personnel résumés?

A68. See A16.

Q69. What is the make up of the walls, ceilings, and floors in the new facility? (i.e., drop ceiling, raised floor, wallboard, block, wood, other material on walls, etc).

A69. See A1.

Q70. What type of lighting is being installed by the GC?

A70. See A1.

Q71. The SOW mentions small studio for conference room. Please describe the objectives of this space/feature. Is this simply a lectern for briefings or a small insert studio to support the conference room separate from the media briefing area or a VTC coordinator and support station?

A71. See A1.

Q72. Who is providing furniture for this room/project?

A72. See A1.

Q73. If the contractor is to provide furniture, what type?

A73. See A1.

Q74. Is there an incumbent for this work? If so, can you provide the incumbent’s information?

A74. See A10.

Q75. For the final proposal for Volumes I, II, III, is Microsoft Office 2007 an accepted standard?

A75. Microsoft Office 2003 is preferred.

Q76. Is DHS form J (resident alien) available online? If so, can you provide the URL? If not, when will it be made available?

A76. It doesn’t appear to be available online. This office will make every attempt to make this form available upon specific request.

Q77. In regards to C.1, section I, CIO Mission states that the CIO’s role is to manage all forms of video teleconferencing support for the desktop and FEMA staff deployed in emergencies. Is desktop videoconferencing support a part of this requirement?

A77. See A1.

Q78. Can FEMA provide any room dimensions or other information to guide the development of the firm-fixed-price requirement?

A78. See A1.

Q79. Can FEMA provide architectural and engineering drawings of the College Park, MD building and desired Hydrometereological Prediction Center Media Briefing Area and conference room spaces to guide the technical and price responses to the RFP?

A79. No drawings will be provided. See A1.

Q80. In regards to Sample Task SOW, Task 5.0 Maintenance Services proposal, does the Government expect proposals to include a proposed solution with software interface programming included? Does this pertain to VTC interface programming code such as Creston/AMX/Tandberg? And if so, does the Government have a preference or may the contractor implement a “like or similar” solution? Does the Government anticipate the control of equipment other than VTC devices? Some examples would include projectors, screens, monitors and panels.

A80. See A1, A6, and A8.

Q81. In regards to Section L.2 Sample Project SOW, VII. Key Personnel, page 40, the current titles for required key personnel lack minimal requirements for qualifications/professional certifications and experience. As a result, the Government may receive a broader set of proposed key personnel levels of experience and expertise which will result in greater range of proposed cost to the Government. In an effort to normalize and improve the overall quality of submitted proposals for Government best-value would you consider included specific qualifications/professional certifications and experience into the section for key personnel?

A81. No.

Q82. Is the contractor responsible for maintaining the signal outputs transmitted to the media and the operations associated with broadcast type studio signals?

A82. See A1.

Q83. In the original task, there appears to be three rooms. In the new task, there appears to be two rooms. Please clarify how many rooms for which the contractor will be responsible. For each of the rooms, what functionality is required and what is currently in place?

A83. See A1.

Q84. On page 37, you mention relocating to a new facility in October 2009. Where is the current facility located, and will we be responsible for maintaining the current facility as well as moving the equipment to the new facility or will we only be responsible for installing new equipment in the College Park facility?

A84. See A1 and A46. For the purpose of this contract requirement to develop a Firm Fixed Price for the Sample Task SOW, bidders shall assume they are responsible for installing new equipment in the College Park facility only.

Q85. Can you please provide a draft SOW for services required for tasks 1-5?

A85. No.

Q86. Can you please better describe the baseline technologies associated with the project?

A86. See A1.

Q87. Can you identify key OEM such as Polycom, Tandberg, Cisco that are part of FEMA’s existing environment?

A87. See A1.

Q88. Can you please identify any key OEM that FEMA would like to pursue moving forward for this task order?

A88. See A1.

Q89. Can you please give an estimate of hours associated with each task?

A89. No.

Q90. Is it assumed that existing connectivity is sufficient or should connectivity/bandwidth be part of our proposal?

A90. For the purpose of this contract requirement to develop a Firm Fixed Price for the Sample Task SOW, bidders shall assume that existing connectivity is sufficient.

Q91. Can past performance of team members and subcontractors be included in our response?

A91. Yes.

Q92. Is there an existing HPC audio, visual, and VTC requirements report?

A92. No. See A1.

Q93. Is there an existing Statement of Functionality with specific AV equipment requirements for the sample project?

A93. See A1.

Q94. Does the customer have system documentation for the existing HPC?

A94. No. See A1.

Q95. Will the new HPC facility in College Park, MD be based on the existing system or will the new system be an all new design approach?

A95. See A1. For the purpose of this contract requirement to develop a Firm Fixed Price for the Sample Task SOW, bidders shall assume an all new design approach.

Q96. Will a phone interview and/or a site survey be required in order to provide a detailed cost proposal for the HPC AV systems?

A96. See A6.

Q97. What is the physical size and dimensions of the new HPC facility and the individual rooms?

A91. See A1.

Q98. Will the site consist of new construction or a renovated space?

A98. See A1. For the purpose of this contract requirement to develop a Firm Fixed Price for the Sample Task SOW, bidders shall assume new construction.

Q99. Are the individual systems; FEMA conference room, Media Briefing Area located on the same floor or multiple floors?

A99. See A1. For the purpose of this contract requirement to develop a Firm Fixed Price for the Sample Task SOW, bidders shall assume all rooms located on the same floor.

Q100. What are the display requirements for the two systems; front projection, rear projection, cube wall, wall mounted flat panel displays?

A100. See A1.

Q101. What is the desired display size(s) for the AV systems?

A101. See A1.

Q102. What is the typical number of conference room users? Worst case number?

A102. See A1.

Q103. Is AV integrated into conference room furniture, microphones, laptop connections, other multimedia devices?

A103. See A1.

Q104. Is there a defined quantity of AV and multi-media inputs for the HPC systems?

A104. See A1.

Q105. Are there a defined number of simultaneous video images to be displayed in the HPC?

A105. See A1.

Q105. How many simultaneous VTC endpoints are there typically and worst case?

A105. See A1.

Q106. Will FEMA and the HPC require a VTC bridge in order to manage scheduled, reoccurring, and ad-hoc VTC requirements?

A106. See A1. For the purpose of this contract requirement to develop a Firm Fixed Price for the Sample Task SOW, bidders shall assume a VTC bridge is not required.

Q107. What type of VTC infrastructure will support the VTC network, ISDN, IP, or dedicated T- 1; and does FEMA have the available bandwidth to support?

A107. See A53. Bandwidth to support task orders within the contract will be GFE.

Q108. Regarding the TV studio portion of the HPC, will the HPC require multiple camera shots; remote and/or local camera controls; video format, HD, SD, or SDI; video fade/mix;

green screen/chroma keying; video annotation “Madden screen”; multimedia inputs and outputs, PC, DVD, DVC Pro, VHS, VTC codec, etc.; video editing equipment and software;

operator control station/room; web streaming interface; archiving of video events; multiple talent positions; studio lighting/control; acoustically isolated environment for recording; press-feed connections, internal (studio)/external (building)?

A108. See A1.

Q109. With regard to locations, how many sites have facilities managed by another vendor?

Who is the vendor? Or are site facilities managed by FEMA?

A109. See A1. For the purpose of this contract requirement to develop a Firm Fixed Price for the Sample Task SOW, bidders shall assume the facility is managed by another vendor/agency which will require coordination prior to implementation of systems installed to meet SOW requirements.

Q110. While the solicitation provides a sample response after which we should pattern our response, it seems that we would need current drawings and configuration of the HLT, AV and VTC systems. Are there any other documents that should be included with this request, or should we proceed with contacting the NHC and coordinate site surveys now to gain an understanding of current systems in order to provide requirements gathering and analysis.

A110. See A6.