Attachment_1_-_Instructions_to_Offerors.docx

Attachment 1- Instructions to Offeror Request for Quotation (RFQ) HSHQDC-16-Q-00483

QUOTATION INSTRUCTIONS AND EVALUATION FACTORS

The quoter shall submit one (1) email quotation to the Contracting Officer by the designated due date. The required information shall be submitted in two volumes: I.) Technical Volume, and II.) Price Volume.

Each of the parts (technical and price) shall be separate and complete in itself so that the evaluation of one may be accomplished independently from the evaluation of the other. The quotations shall be submitted electronically to the Contracting Officer at toya.reynolds@hq.dhs.gov.

Electronic copies of your quotation are due no later than 4:00 PM Eastern Standard Time, on September 13, 2016. The electronic version shall be submitted using the PDF files except for an Excel spreadsheet for pricing. Pricing spreadsheets that are submitted in a very small font size and are not reasonably legible may be considered as unacceptable and grounds for exclusion from further consideration. The Excel spreadsheet must be in MS Office version 2003.

Quotation shall be prepared in 12-Point Times New Roman font, single line spacing, 1-inch margins, and 8-1/2 x 11 inch paper. Tables, figures, and graphs may use Arial, 10 point font, single-spaced.

Submit a signed and dated quote via e‐mail, to the Contracting Officer at toya.reynolds@hq.dhs.gov. Please send a “no-quote” e-mail to the above if you do not intend to submit a quote. Quotes sent to any other address or utilizing any other mechanism will not be considered. Quotes, including amendments, received at the issuing office after the closing date and time specified on the cover page of this solicitation will be considered late submissions and will not be considered.

Quotes shall be submitted in the English language and based on U.S. currency.

Communications and questions concerning this solicitation, or requests for clarification, shall be made in writing in a Microsoft Word document via e‐mail to the Contracting Officer at toya.reynolds@hq.dhs.gov and are due no later than 2:00 PM Eastern Standard Time on September 2, 2016. Late questions will not be addressed. Questions sent to any other email address or utilizing any other mechanism will not be addressed.

Answers to questions will be provided to all solicited vendors, giving due regard to the proper protection of proprietary information. Vendors shall not include any proprietary information in their questions. To receive responses to questions, you must cite the section, paragraph number, and page number of the RFQ provision in question. Statements expressing opinions, sentiments, or conjectures are not considered valid inquiries or comments for this purpose and will not receive a response from DHS. Further, you are reminded that DHS will not address hypothetical questions aimed toward receiving a potential “evaluation decision” from DHS.

The Government will pay no cost for the preparation and submission of a quote in response to this RFQ. The Contracting Officer is the only individual who can legally commit the Government to the expenditure of public funds in connection with this procurement. Alternate quotes shall not be submitted and will not be considered.

In responding to this RFQ, it is the Quoter’s responsibility to provide clear, current, complete, accurate and final information in its quote. If in reviewing the quote the Government identifies or otherwise learns that the provided quote information is not accurate or misrepresents the Quoter’s status or capabilities, that information may be used by the Contracting Officer as part of the Quoter’s responsibility determination and could result in the Quoter not being eligible for award. Moreover, Quoter direction, policy, conditions, exclusions or contingencies, not specifically and clearly requested or addressed within the RFQ, will not have a bearing on the resulting Contract. Quotes shall be all inclusive, complete and final on its face, without need to reference documents, policies or information not fully and clearly articulated and explained within its quote.

Quotations not received by the time and date specified and in the manner specified may be considered non-responsive and eliminated from further consideration.

All quotation submissions must include the following information (preferably to be provided on the quotation submission cover letter):

a) Dun & Bradstreet Number (DUNS)

b) North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) Code

c) Standard Product Code

d) Contact Name

e) Contact Email address

f) Contact telephone and fax number

g) Complete business mailing address

I. VOLUME I: TECHNICAL VOLUME

The Technical Volume shall not exceed 20 pages, excluding past performance citations, title page, cover letter, and table of contents. Information that exceeds the page limitation will not be considered. The Quoter shall demonstrate an understanding of the requirement and the ability to successfully perform the effort as stated in the Statement of Work (SOW) by addressing the evaluation criteria shown in this enclosure.

Technical Volume Content: The Technical Volume shall contain the following information:

FACTOR 1 – TECHNICAL APPROACH

The offeror will be evaluated on the extent to which it clearly demonstrates in its proposal that it fully understands the Statement of Work and the approach required to accomplish the duties set forth in the Statement of Work to include the following:

· HF radio operations – operator proficiency, training, exercise design and execution, and administrative support

· Database administration/Customer Service – implementing and maintaining a trouble ticket system; database administration & entry in Microsoft Access

· HF radio, LMR, and satellite earth station engineering, design, installation, testing, and operation

· Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) countermeasures with in-depth expertise in EMP and cyber resilient system engineering

FACTOR 2 –MANAGEMENT APPROACH AND STAFFING PLAN

The Management Approach and Staffing Plan Factor assesses the Quoter’s approach to the recruitment, retention, and experience of proposed project staff, including any consultants or subcontractors, as outlined in the Quoter’s proposed Staffing Plan. The Staffing Plan shall include and will be assessed on the following:

· Quoter’s capacity to support the technical, administrative, operational, and readiness activities by identifying labor categories and staffing numbers of all personnel proposed which clearly describes how each task order requirement will be successfully performed for the four primary radio operations:

· Shared Resources (SHARES) High Frequency (HF) Radio Program;

· National Coordinating Center for Communications HF Radio (NCC-HF);

· NCC Auxiliary HF Radio (NCC-AUX); and

· SHARES Information Network (SINET), to include the Department and Agency Continuity Network (DACN) and the Resilient All-Media (RAM) Network.

· Supporting rationale for the proposed recruitment and retention of staff, including how the Quoter will retain staff and reduce turn-over during the performance period of this task order. The recruitment strategy shall also demonstrate the ability to recruit personnel able to retain up to a TS-SCI clearance.

· Ability and approach to expediently and efficiently meet surge requirements.

· An in-coming and out-going transition strategy for the task order. The transition strategy will be evaluated based on the Quoter’s timeline of transition onto this task order and their approach for onboarding personnel during the transition period and taking over support of all current activities.

· The resumes provided which shall include the following:

· One Resume for each Key Personnel outlined in the SOW identified by proposed position and labor category;

· Possession of required radio licenses:

· Amateur Radio General Class or Amateur Extra Class license issued by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission.

· Project Manager’s General Radiotelephone Operator License issued by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission.

· A description of the relevant experience and capability for the personnel proposed addressing such items as the individual’s background, education, work experience, and accomplishments; and

· A description of the knowledge that proposed personnel have gained through completed and ongoing efforts that are similar in nature to the requirements of this solicitation.

FACTOR 3 – PAST PERFORMANCE

Past performance may cite federal, state, local government, or commercial sources, or not for profit sources, and should highlight the company’s key role in the past performance being documented. This information shall consist of a one (1) page introductory matrix listing the Quoter and its critical subcontractors’ past performance references. The Quoter (prime) shall provide a minimum of three (3) references. In addition, the Quoter shall submit a minimum of three (3) references for subcontractors who are expected to perform aspects of this effort that the Quoter considers critical to overall successful performance. If a Quoter does not have any relevant past performance, the past performance rating will be neutral. The offeror should include rationale supporting the assertion of relevance for each reference. These references should also be from different contracts. To be considered, past performance data may not be older than three (3) years from the date of the quotation, and may include active contracts.

Past performance references shall be as a prime contractor or first-tier subcontractor on previous or current projects/tasks that are similar in size, scope, and complexity to the work identified in the Statement of Work. Past performance does not necessarily have to be Government-related; but it is important to demonstrate and provide evidence of past performance for work similar in size, scope and complexity to that described in the Request for Quote (RFQ). The quoter is required to clearly demonstrate management actions implemented to overcome problems and the effects of those actions, in terms of improvements achieved or problems solved. Evidence of performance-based methodologies in past performance shall be provided where available.

The Government reserves the right to use publicly available reports and data from the Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System (CPARS) found on the web at http://www.cpars.gov. The Government may also use present and/or past performance data obtained from a variety of sources, not just those contracts identified by offeror. For each reference, provide:

· Reference Name (Company or Entity)

· Program Title

· Contracting Agency/Private Company

· Contract Number/Task Order Number (if applicable)

· Brief description of the contract effort, including results and successes

· Type of Contract

· Period of Performance

· Original contract dollar value and current or actual dollar value

· Actual completion date

FACTOR 4 - PRICE

Price is a non-rated factor, but will be evaluated for determining the best overall value to the Government. The offeror’s proposal will be evaluated on the basis of accuracy, completeness, realism, consistency, and tractability to the technical approach proposed.

II. VOLUME II: PRICE VOLUME

(NOTICE TO OFFERORS: IT IS IMPERATIVE THAT OFFERORS ADHERE TO THE PRICE VOLUME INSTRUCTIONS SET FORTH BELOW. FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH THE INSTRUCTIONS MAY RESULT IN THE REJECTION OF THE OFFEROR’S QUOTATION BY THE GOVERNMENT).

The Price Volume shall include pricing for all items identified on the Contract Line Item Number (CLIN) schedule. The Contractor shall complete the Price Schedule on page 2 of the Standard Form (SF) 18, as well as the Pricing Template (Attachment 3), and submit it with their quotation.

Pricing shall be on a Time and Material basis. The Price Quotation shall include the following information (No page limitation):

1. Complete Columns E & F with the extended labor hour rates and total CLIN amounts proposed in the Pricing Template, which begins on page 2 of the SF 18.

2. Complete Pricing Template, Attachment 3.

3. Provide a breakdown for each Contract Line Item Number (CLIN) that identifies the labor categories proposed, the corresponding rates and the total number of hours proposed for each labor category. The sum total of the CLIN breakdown shall equal the CLIN price.

4. Identification of any price reductions or discounts you may offer.

5. Identify Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS).

6. There will be no allowance for local travel under this contract.

7. If the quotation contains assumptions or conditions which differ from or take exception to the terms and conditions in the RFQ, the Government may determine the quote is ineligible for award.

EVALUATION FACTORS AND BASIS FOR AWARD

A single award shall be made to the responsible offeror submitting an overall quotation that is determined most advantageous to the Government, price and non-price factors considered. The basis of award shall be based on the following factors listed in descending order of importance:

1. Technical Approach

2. Management Approach and Staffing Plan

3. Past Performance

4. Price

Basis for Award

The quotes received under Request for Quote (RFQ) HSHQDC-16-Q-00483 will be evaluated in accordance with the instructions contained in this document. One (1) award will be made to the Offeror whose quote is determined to best meet the needs of the Government after consideration of all factors, that is, the quote that provides the ‘Best Value’ to the Government. For this procurement, ‘Best Value’ is defined as the Quote that results in the most advantageous acquisition decision for the Government as determined by trade off analysis among the non-price and price factors.

Technical evaluation factors are listed in descending order of importance and when combined are considered to be significantly more important than price. Price becomes more important the nearer the proposals are otherwise rated equal.

As the evaluations of the non-price evaluation factors become more equal between the Offerors, price becomes more important in making the award determination. In the event that two or more quotes are determined not to have any substantial technical differences (i.e., are substantially equivalent with respect to the non-price factors), award may be made to the lower priced quote. It should be noted that award may be made to other than the lower priced quote if the Government determines that a price premium is warranted due to technical merit. The Government may also award to other than the highest rated quote, if the Government determines that a price premium is not warranted.

The Government intends to award upon the basis of initial quotations. Discussions are not anticipated; however, the Government reserves the right to hold discussions at the sole discretion of the Contracting Officer. Offerors are therefore cautioned that each initial quotation should contain the Offeror’s best quote.

All quotations determined by the government at the discretion of the government to be a reiteration or re-statement of the Statement of Work will not be eligible for award.