ME040220241524 Sources Sought QAs.pdf

ME040220241524 | Cyber Training Range Courses

Q1: Who is the incumbent contractor?

A1: HQ003419P0260, AM Pierce and Associates Inc. (CAGE 4XMD2)

Q2: Is this a new requirement or an existing requirement that is currently being performed. In other words, does the Government require that the infrastructure and virtual environment be built from scratch and/or is there an existing environment that needs to be used?

A2: This is a new requirement to transition the cyber training range from an existing DAU owned/operated organic infrastructure to a commercial range infrastructure better suited to our scalability and new courses requirements.

Q3: Section 2a/b/c: Does curriculum currently exist for CYB 5640, WSS 011, and WSS 012. If so, is the expectation that this curriculum will need to be modified or updated? Does the DAU currently have cyber ranges that would be supported by the vendor, or can the vendor utilize their ranges to satisfy the hands-on component of these courses?

A3: Curriculum currently exists for CYB 5640, WSS 011, and WSS 012. It is DAU's intent to port the current hands-on content (OVA format) to the maximum extent possible to vendor range(s). DAU cyber curriculum developers will modify or update current materials as required.

Q4: Section 4: Within the table their appears to be fewer students that will go through the ILT/vILT class than may access the Self-Paced (Asynchronous) environment. For example. CYB 5640 Cyber Training Range (CTR) will have 360 students attend Instructor Led training and 500 will access the Self-Paced (Asynchronous) environment. Is it correct that 360 of the Self-Paced students will also be the same as the ILT students and 140 would be Self-Paced only?

A4: In the CYB 5640 example cited in the question, there may be up to 360 students/year in the instructor led training environment and an additional 500 students/year in the asynchronous training environment for a total of 860 students/year.

Q5: Section 4: Can you confirm that all courses (current and new) will consist of three days of Instructor-Led training and two weeks of access to Self-Paced (Asynchronous)? And what is the expected duration of the hands-on laboratory exploration within the cyber range that needs to be completed within the two weeks? For example, would the average student be able to complete the necessary tasks within twenty hours or is there some other measurable objective that is not correlated to time?

A5: Current ILT class duration is; CYB 5640 - 20 hours, WSS 011 - 16 hours and WSS 012 - 20 hours. Anticipate the rehosted classes to be approximately the same duration and not to exceed 3 days. Students completing class material in an asynchronous mode will require similar access time for each class on the vendor hands-on range. However, they may (for example) elect to do the individual modules within CYB 5640 over 5 days with 4 hours per day in lieu of 2.5 days of continuous attendance. Student progress in the asynchronous mode will need to be saved and all work completed within the 2-week window.

Q6: Section 4.1.iii - DAU Learning Management System (LMS) integration: Does the DAU LMS support SCORM, xAPI, LTI, or have its own documented APIs to facilitate student registration and tracking requirements?

A6: SCORM = Yes, 2004 and 1.2 all versions.

xAPI = Yes, Learning Record Store and statement viewer Cornerstone on Demand Edge integrations LTI = No APIs = Yes

Q7: Section 4.1.iv – Security: Would you please explain further what the specific requirements are related to Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) for both training content and platform?

A7: DAU will be removing the CUI security requirement. The range(s) and class materials will be unclassified.

Q8: Section 4.1.vii – Authentication: Does the DAU LMS support SAML, OAuth, OIDC, Kerberos, or another documented protocol to enable single sign-on (SSO) authentication?

A8: Yes - The LMS supports SAML. Additionally, we can support SAML or OAuth via our Identity provider.

Q9: Section 4.2 – Course Specification Objectives: This lists the courses as with both a ‘base’ version and an ‘A’ version. For example, WSS 011 and WSS 011A. Is it correct to assume that the ‘A’ version is the asynchronous environment where a student will perform Self-Paced, hands-on laboratory exploration?

A9: Correct, the "A" designator will be the course designator for students completing the material in the asynchronous, self-paced environment. Curriculum content on the range(s) for the ILT and synchronous offerings will be identical.

Q10: Section 4.2 – Course Specification Objectives: Is it correct to assume that courses WSS 018, WSS 019, WSS 020, and WSS 021 are new courses whereas the vendor will need to create both the curriculum and associated cyber ranges?

A10: WSS 018, WSS 019, WSS 020, and WSS 021 are new course offerings. DAU requests that vendors responding to this sources sought identify any off-the-shelf training product that aligns with the TLO/ELOs identified for those courses in the SOO. The answer to the question on the vendor need to create both the curriculum and associated cyber ranges is complex. New curriculum will primarily be the responsibility of the DAU curriculum development team. From the SOO, "The vendor will provide for 200 hours of non-recurring engineering per year to assist with curriculum development, integration of DAU curriculum to their environment and other engineering tasks approved by the contracting officer (KO) or contracting officer's representative (COR)."

ME040220241524 | Cyber Training Range Courses