Synopsis Q and As_09Dec2021.pdf

Question # Submitter

(Contractor Company Name)

Date of Submission

Question Government Response

1 Ninety Degrees 8/31/2021 I noticed the incumbent procurement went SDVOSB, but the Industry Day slides and Pre-Solicitation notice both say this is going just SB. Is it still a possibility this may go SDVOSB?

A determination has been made to set-aside this effort for Small Business. There is no intention to further set-aside this effort for any specific socio-economic category.

2 Trusted QA 8/31/2021

In reference to Synopsis # N0017821R4413: Industry Day Slide 12 sates: “The Contractor shall have direct knowledge of Enterprise Mission Assurance Support Service (eMASS) and a minimum of six (6) years of experience utilizing the Navy’s instance of eMASS. Additionally, the Contractor shall have performed duties previously as an ISSE for Navy RMF packages, which resulted in the granting of thirty (30) or more RMF Authorizations to Operate (ATOs).” Does this mean that offerors as a company must have this experience or will it be acceptable for offerors who do not have this experience as a company to meet this requirement by proposing personnel that have this experience with another company, the government, or the military?

The Government will consider the 6 years of experience utilzing the Navy's instance of eMASS to be met by proposing personnel tha thave this experience with another company, the Government, or the military;

however the company should have experience as an ISSE for Navy RMF packages which resulted in granting of 30 or more RMF ATOs.

3 Widescope CCS 9/1/2021 Will there be an industry day?

At this time, we do not expect an industry day to be held for this effort. The industry day slides have been posted as part of the synopsis to provide information pertaining to the requirement that would typically be shared at an industry day, if one was held.

5 Cipher Solutions, Inc

9/2/2021

The question is regarding security clearance requirement. Please refer specifically to file:

C:/Users/19193/Downloads/Draft+PWS%20(2).pdf “.. Requirement 2 - Personnel Security Clearances: All personnel providing technical support under this requirement must possess clearances at the SECRET level or higher.” We do not have SECRET level clearance, but we’d be glad to apply if the Govt would support us under this project. Your response will be greatly appreciated.

The requirement is for the contractor to possess the appropriate level clearance at time of proposal submission. The Government will not sponsor a Contractor in order to obtain the appropriate level clearances as this could only occur post-award, which is not acceptable for performance of this effort.

6 StraitSys 9/2/2021

Current requirements for this small business set aside A&A contract stipulate, "The Contractor shall have direct knowledge of Enterprise Mission Assurance Support Service (eMASS) and a minimum of six (6) years of experience utilizing the Navy’s instance of eMASS. Additionally, the Contractor shall have performed duties previously as an ISSE for Navy RMF packages, which resulted in the granting of thirty (30) or more RMF Authorizations to Operate (ATOs)." (see Industry Day slide 12, and Section C.4.1.4 of the draft PWS)

Request the government reconsider this requirement for eMASS/ Navy RMF experience in one of two ways. 1) Transfer this experience requirement to key personnel/ personnel who will perform the work. This allows the government to ensure an experienced team performs the work without disqualifying capable small business offerors. Or, 2) Validate contractor capabilities and competence to support RMF packages/ ATOs through past performance in the last 5 years performing similar work (i.e., size, scope, complexity) for agencies with stringent security requirements like broader DoD, Department of Justice, and the Intelligence Community.

See the Government's response to Question 2 above.

7 AlphaBravo 9/3/2021 Is the contracting agency open to discussions around leveraging a sole source vehicle to procure these services directly from a qualified supplier?

No. The Government does not intend to move a competitive acquisition into a sole source arena.

8 Spry Squared, Inc 9/8/2021 Do you have a timeframe when industry questions will be addressed and posted?

The Contracting Office is working to respond to questions as quickly as possible. All responses will be posted in an update to the synopsis on a regular basis, but will not always be immediate.

9 Conceras 9/8/2021 Is this expected to stay Small Business Set-Aside and/or on a particular contract vehicle?

As stated in the pre-solicitation synopsis, this will be set-aside for Small Business. It will be openly competed among Small Businesses via SAM.gov.

10 StraitSys 9/13/2021 Because contractors will bring experience from different backgrounds, will the government count as equivalent relevance (for past performance) experience producing/ maintaining ATO packages for other agencies, especially those in DoD and the Intelligence Community?

Yes, the Government would consider, for purposes of past performance, experience producing/maintaining ATOs for other agencies, including those in the DOD and the Intelligence community, however, equivalence of relevance will not be solely based on agency or organization supported.

11 StraitSys 9/13/2021 For the eMASS experience/ 30 ATOs, is 'Contractor' defined as the prime contractor? Or will the experience of subcontractors also be considered, in which 'Contractor' would be defined as the team performing the work?

Contractor' would be considered the team performing the work. The Government does not have privity of contract with the Sub-contractor(s) under our Prime Contractor contracts.

12 Assyst 9/14/2021 What contract vehicle will this be procured through?

This contract will be a standalone Small Business set-aside competition on the open market through sam.gov.

13 Emagine it 9/30/2021 We were wondering if the Government would consider releasing the solicitation on SeaPort NxG instead of SAM.gov.

This contract will only be released as a standalone Small Business set-aside competition on the open market through sam.gov.

14 Proposal Helper 10/6/2021 Would you please provide us with an approximate timeframe for the RFP release? What will be the contract value for this opportunity?

The official solicitation for proposals has not been executed/released to the industry yet. The synopsis identifies the projected/estimated date for that to occur.

We do not provide contract value estimates in our pre-award acquisitions.

15 Cyber Security, OSC Edge

11/3/2021 Will NSWCDD consider two separate timelines for packages that are going through RMF re-authorization and packages that need DIACAP/RMF transitioning or have no RMF authorization. The timeline for new packages or those that need to be transitioned seem aggressive and the ISSE has external dependencies that will set them up for failure.

Yes, NSWCDD will consider different timelines.

16 Cyber Security, OSC Edge

11/3/2021 Please confirm that this solicitation is only focused on the work that will be performed by the ISSE. Or will ISSM or ISSO tasks be included in this solicitation.

All information pertinent to the requirement will be provided to everyone via the solicitation.

17 Cyber Security, OSC Edge

11/3/2021 How many packages are currently within scope of this solicitation? All information pertinent to requirement will be provided to everyone via the solicitation.

18 Cyber Security, OSC Edge

11/3/2021 Does NSWCDD expect more packages to be added for RMF authorization? If so, how many do you expect to be added in the base year and option years?

All information pertinent to the requirement will be provided to everyone via the solicitation.

19 Cyber Security, OSC Edge

11/3/2021 Will NSWCDD provide travel CLIN to fund any TDY that has to be taken?

All information pertinent to travel requirements will be provided to everyone via the solicitation when it is posted.

NSWCDD Corporate A&A RMF Package Requirement - N0017821R4413 Q&A from Industry on Synopsis Posting - Updated 12/06/2021

20 Cyber Security, OSC Edge

11/3/2021 The previous contract was Firm Fix Price, and contract of those types have resulted in low quality, missed deadlines, and undue stress on NSWCDD contracts. Cost-Plus Fixed Fee contracts have provided more success to the government, less risk of contract failure and controlled cost/profit to the contractor. Will the government consider a cost plus fixed fee solicitation?

The contract type will be Firm-Fixed-Price.

21 Cyber Security, OSC Edge

11/3/2021 Has there been a change on the expected timeline on when this solicitation will be drop and available to respond? Please continue to monitor the posting on sam.gov for updates on the RFP release date.

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