M95494-19-Q-0005_QA_Doc_0001.xlsx

Q&A M95494-19-Q-0005 Q&A Document 0001

See forthcoming Amendment 0002 which updates the security language (Section 4.1) of the solicitation and also removes the DD254 form as an attachment.

(b) See Amendment 0001 which updated PWS sections 4.4.

(c) Required deliverables will include an understanding of the methodology that the vendor uses to process and prepare the data for use in their strategic intelligence platform. This could include business rules (of a non-proprietary nature) such as use of open source software to "clean" data and tag data and ensure data quality.

a. Deliverables that are part of firm-fixed-price quotes, typically have a delivery schedule. When is deliverable 7.4 to be provided to the Government?

b. Does the Government expect to access deliverable 7.4 and use it to, “…to aggregate, rationalize, analyze, and visualize DoD, Marine Corps and publicly available data and information” themselves without the contractor doing so?

c. Does the Government expect to access deliverable 7.4 and use it to, “…to aggregate, rationalize, analyze, and visualize DoD, Marine Corps and publicly available data and information” for efforts outside of the five projects detailed in Section 6 of the RFP?

d. Beyond simply viewing and reviewing results of the five projects detailed in Section 6 of the RFP, what analyses does the Government expect their analysts to undertake and build using deliverable 7.4?

e. Assuming results and models are generated for Project 1 on contract day-90, does the Government expect Government analysts to access the ‘model’ within the contractor’s strategic intelligence platform from day 91 forward and use it to actively track and manage the execution funds for future O&M spends within the daily P&R activities that are undertaken as a part of P&R’s normal business operations?

i. In other words, once any model is developed, will it be accessed within the contractor’s strategic intelligence platform by Government analysts and used on an ongoing basis for them to manage Government P&R activities and operations?

f. How many Government users will require access to the intelligence platform overall, and at any one time?

(a) - The Government is seeking a strategic intelligence (SI) platform that already exists and can operate on this contract from day 1. The Government is NOT looking for the vendor as part of efforts under this contract to develop an SI platform. Therefore, the ability to access the SI platform should be provided as part of execution of Project 1 to be available NLT the start of Project 1. Note that this does NOT mean (as discussed under (e) below) that the full data model or analyses are developed within the SI platform on day 1 of Project 1. Therefore, the initial Government access would be for familiarity purposes and NOT results, as Project 1 would be in-progress. The specific date(s) for Project 1 will be determined as part of the 2-day needs assessment session (Paragraph 7.1).

(b) - The Government expects that the vendor would demonstrate the platform and provide basic instructions for what can and cannot be accomplished via the platform's existing capabilities. If the vendor does not have a process by which the Government can establish an account for access and view (at a minimum) the platform outputs, this should be clearly stated as part of the proposal.

(c) - There are no current plans to continue (assign additional work) for the vendor to perform on its strategic intelligence platform.

(d) - If the vendor's SI platform offers the Government's analysts an opportunity to conduct ad hoc analyses, data modeling, experiment with visualizations, or other functions, these would be of interest.

(e) - There is no requirement to incorporate the vendor's SI platform as part of P&R business operations. The results of Project 1 will help inform P&R on how best to conduct business operations.

(f) - The number of simultaneous users would be 10 or fewer; however, depending on the topic of interest they may not be the same 10 users. For example, when working topics on IT spend, it is likely that users would come from Programs and Resources (P&R) and the Chief Information Officer's (CIO's) staff. However, when working civilian personnel, the users would come from P&R and Manpower and Reserve Affairs (M&RA).

1. Personnel who will ensure successful engagements between the vendor and other Government stakeholders (e.g., in gaining access to data)

2. Pre-staged data for Project 1

3. Available information / documentation on data / systems / processes / prior analyses regarding all analytic topics.

Additional resource requirements should be identified by the vendor.

a. Will results from other related IT data models be made available to the contractor for comparison?

b. Is the contractor expected to run data through those previously used models

a. Will the Position Descriptions be provided in electronic readable form?

b. How will actual skill sets be provided for comparison?

c. How will contractor skill sets be provided for comparison?

d. Will the contractor receive payroll and accounting data sets?

(a) The Position Descriptions will be in pdf form, but it would be safe to assume that some of the files will be scanned images requiring OCR.

(b) Part of this project will be determining the primary data source (e.g., Total Workforce Management System (TWMS) or other) for identification of actual skill sets.

(c) Part of this project will be determining the primary data source (e.g., contract pdfs, Contracting Office tasking documentation, or other) for identification of contractor skill sets.

(d) Part of this project will be determining the key data required to answer total workforce mix questions. It is anticipated that personnel / payroll data and accounting data will be required, and the vendor should ensure the ability to handle sensitive, PII data.

1) Does the government anticipate this framework to make any changes to the Projects and/or timelines associated with this scope of work? 2) And if so, will the contractor be held to original bid time constraints if the framework is not delivered on time?

b. Does the government currently have an exhaustive list of these databases?

PA&E - The Government will work with the vendor to ensure the availability of data for all projects. A major part of this contracted effort is to assess the people, process, technology aspects of what it takes to understand and obtain the required data. The Government understands the possibility of impediments and delays as part of this work, and documenting these impediments / delays will be an expected and critical part of the deliverables. Any projects at risk of significant delay or partial failure due to people, process, and technology issues will be re-evaluated for modified deliverable dates based on these issues.

See answer to question 49.

48 Section 10.2 Section 10.2 states: "The government will provide needed standard operational procedures, regulations, manuals, texts, briefs, data, and other materials associated with the project, and the hardware/software noted throughout this solicitation."

a. With respect to hardware/software, please confirm that the government intends to provide all of the computers/networks required to host the contractor's "proven analytics platform"?

b. If yes, will all required hardware/software be available on the first day of the period of performance to ensure the project deadlines are met?

c. If no, is it the government's desire that the "proven analytics platform" be hosted by the contractor?

1) If the work is to be performed on CTR site, can the Government confirm that they desire an "Off-premise" platform? 2) If so, can the government state this in an amendment?

If On-premise:

a. Will the government provide IT assets on which the platform may be installed on-premise (e.g., Pentagon) to collect, store, and analyze data?

b. If so, will the installed solution (software and applications, specifically) require Department of the Navy (DoN) Application and Database Management System (DADMS) approval, or will it be isolated from the government’s network?

c. Will an isolated, on-premise solution have access to the internet?

d. If installed on contractor’s premise with contractor-provided IT assets, will the government require remote connectivity (i.e. over the internet), or does the government envision its personnel physically accessing the platform, on-site, at the contractor’s location?

If as Software as a Service (SaaS) or Cloud:

a. Will a cloud-based platform which stores and processes government data (e.g., for analysis) require a specific certification?

b. How many user accounts does the government estimate will be required for government personnel?

The Government desires an off-premise platform to be hosted by the vendor. The Government will NOT be providing computers / networks required to host the contractor's proven analytics platform. There are no current plans to deploy the vendor's strategic intelligence platform in the USMC environment or on the Department of Navy / Marine Corps network. Without on-site access, the access to the vendor platform would be anticipated to be off-site (at the vendor's location).

No SaaS or Cloud option is desired. The number of simultaneous users would be 10 or fewer; however, depending on the topic of interest they may not be the same 10 users. For example, when working topics on IT spend, it is likely that users would come from Programs and Resources (P&R) and the Chief Information Officer's (CIO's) staff. However, when working civilian personnel, the users would come from P&R and Manpower and Reserve Affairs (M&RA).

○ Question: Are project completion dates contingent on Government provision of

framework will be completed NLT 12 months from the contract award date” (7.7 c)

○ Question. Given that the Offeror anticipates details of the training and education framework to be provided as part of any people, process, and technology (PPT), can the Government please clarify the timelines associated with these deliverables? The RFP currently requires PPT assessments to be delivered prior to

The Government will have some knowledge of the data requirements, but not full knowledge, so engagement and exploratory work will be required to identify, obtain, and pre-process the data. This work will include an understanding of all relevant systems, data set sizes, and locations. So, immediate and complete access to all the data will NOT be provided. The Government will provide a list of known systems to the vendor as part of the initial 2-day needs assessment session. At a minimum, the Government will provide data (pre-staged or non-pre-staged) via secure hard drive transfer. If the Government has an established environment for staging and data transfer, the ability to connect via APIs / access points will be established at that time. All aspects of data transfer / staging are part of the people, process, and technology assessment to be conducted.

The Government will have some knowledge of the data requirements, but not full knowledge, so engagement and exploratory work will be required to identify, obtain, and pre-process the data. This work will include an understanding of all relevant systems, data set sizes, and locations. So, immediate and complete access to all the data will NOT be provided. The Government will provide a list of known systems to the vendor as part of the initial 2-day needs assessment session. Not all data sets will be owned by the Marine Corps (e.g., PBIS, some civilian personnel data, some ammunition data). The control of release will be negotiated as part of this process. See additional related answers on project timeline impacts.