N0018920RZ012-0002.docx

N0018920RZ012

SECTION SF 30 BLOCK 14 CONTINUATION PAGE

SUMMARY OF CHANGES

SECTION A - SOLICITATION/CONTRACT FORM

The following have been modified:

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

This amendment contains the complete list of questions that were received to date (25 March 2020) in response to this RFP and their respective answers. Most of these questions do not yet contain an answer; however, the Government wanted to post the questions so duplicates are not submitted. Please wait for the next amendment(s) for answers to those questions.

1. Is there an Award Ceiling (minus the $3M for Travel + ODC’s already specified) for RFP N0018920RZ012?

Answer: There is not an award ceiling established for the resultant contract(s).

2. Our research suggests that only one TO for approximately $487,000 was awarded on the original IDIQ (to SAIS). Is this correct?

Answer: No, it is not correct.

3. If not, are you able to specify any other amounts?

Answer: That information can be provided through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request.

4. Can the contracting team share the reasons that the Customer would like to put this effort up for a re-compete, given the paucity of TOs leading up to this point?

Answer: See answer to question 2.

5. Is there an estimated or hoped-for number of TO’s predicted for the upcoming IDIQ?

Answer: There is not an estimated/preferred number of task orders predicted for the resultant contract(s).

6. What are the evaluation criteria for the competition to win a seat on this upcoming IDIQ?

Answer: See evaluation criteria in Sections L and M.

7. Will site visits to competitors or demonstrations at the Customer’s site be part of the selection process?

Answer: No, site visits or demonstrations will not be part of the source selection criteria.

8. Will a comprehensive list of questions/answers be shared publicly?

Answer: Yes, questions and answers will be shared via amendments.

9. Upon reading through the documentation provided on NECO it would seem that we are required to provide an estimate that is slightly more accurate than a ROM. Is this determination correct or is a ROM sufficient?

Answer: Offerors are to provide an accurate cost estimate, that if the Non-price/cost and price/cost are determined to be the best value and accepted by the Government, is legally binding.

10. Will there be any requirements for which terrain database to use?

Answer: When wargaming exercises are done over land, a terrain database is used. However, the Navy does not usually need this type since they will done over water.

11. Reference Section A, Para. E.) states "The deadline for submitting questions regarding this RFP is 12:00 PM EST on 23 March 2020." Section L states "...should submit one consolidated list of questions concerning the solicitation via email to the solicitation point of contact, NO LATER THAN 2:00 pm, Philadelphia time, on 20 Feb 2020." Please confirm the deadline for submitting questions is 12:00 PM EST on 23 March 2020.

Answer: Prior to Amendment 0001, the deadline for submitting questions was 23 March 2020. As a result of this amendment, the deadline for submitting questions has been moved to 30 March 2020.

12. Reference SF33 Item 12 - The RFP does not request a specific validity period for bids so the standard 60 days applies. Will the government define the the desired minimum bid acceptance period of bids or should the Offeror use 60 days?

Answer:

13. Section B clause LOE(g) states ""For any resultant fixed-price task orders, the hours proposed shall be considered against the MAC program’s Estimated Total Hours."" The CLIN Table in Section B is limited to CPFF labor CLINs applicable to labor (0001 and 0002).

Section H Task Order Procedures state ""At the discretion of the Ordering Officer, Cost Plus Fixed Fee (CPFF) or Firm Fixed Price (FFP) task orders may be issued under this contract.""

Section L 52.216-1 Type of Contract states ""The Government contemplates award of a multiple cost-plus-fixed-fee (CPFF), indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity (IDIQ) type contract resulting from this solicitation.""

While the clauses in Section B and H define the allowability and process for issuing FFP Task Orders under the IDIQ contract, the CLIN Table in Section B does not list FFP CLINs and Section L does not state the IDIQ contract resulting from this solicitation will be a hybrid contract allowing the issuance of both FFP and CPFF Task Orders.

Will the contract resulting from this solicitation be a hybrid allowing issuance of FFP or CPFF Task Orders? If yes, please update the language at 52.216-1 and provide an updated CLIN Table.

14. Substitution Criteria: For all the experience levels required, one year of full time formal education may be considered the equivalent of two years of work experience. However, education may only be used to substitute one-half of the total required minimum experience.

Substitution criteria is provided to equate years of formal education for work experience. Will the Government provide substitution criteria to equate years of work experience to education? For example, 4 years of work experience may be considered the equivalent of a Bachelor's degree and 6 years of work experience may be considered the equivalent of a Master's degree.

15. Section J states a list of the following attachments:

I. QASP

II. CAP – Cost Type, Indefinite Delivery III. Corporate Experience and Past Performance Information Form IV. Contract Security Classification Specification, DD 254 (DRAFT) V. Contract Data Requirements List (CDRLs), DD 1423

Section J notes Attachments I-QASP and II-CAP, but these attachments were not provided in the posted Solicitation. Please provide copies of Attachments I and II.

Answer: The QASP and CAP are attached.

16. Reference Section L - "** Submission of proposal on a DVD or CD shall be in Microsoft Excel Format. In addition, offers consist of and shall include the following items as part of Volume II: Solicitation Cover Sheet… Solicitation pricing pages...

Acknowledgement of solicitation amendments… Representations and Certifications...

Small Business Subcontracting Plan..."

While the note in Section L limits documentation applicable to Vol II to Microsoft Excel Format. To support the additional submission requirements for Vol II, will the Government update the reference noted to read "... shall be in Microsoft Excel Format for detailed pricing information and in searchable PDF format for other required information?"

17. Reference Section L - Table of Contents: The table of contents should provide detail sufficient to allow the important elements to be easily located. The use of tabs and dividers is encouraged."

"The cover sheet, table of contents (not to exceed one page per volume), tabs, and dividers will not count toward the page limit."

Will the Government allow submission of a Compliance Matrix to map RFP task/evaluation factors to further support the Government's desire for "detail sufficient to allow the important elements to be easily located" as part of the items excluded from the page count defined in L.II?

18. Reference Section L - Volume I, “Non-price Proposal,” is limited to a maximum of 15 (fifteen) pages in length inclusive of any charts, diagrams, and/or other graphics. ... The cover sheet, table of contents (not to exceed one page per volume), tabs, and dividers will not count toward the page limit. The one exception to the font size requirement shown above is that the "corporate experience and past performance information forms" may be completed with a point size of 10 or greater.

Section L.III(c) Socio-Economic Plan.

While the specific format for submitting Corporate Experience and Past Performance is provided by Section J, Attachment III, Corporate Experience and Past Performance Information Form, a desired format is not provided for the Socio-Economic Plan. Also, the Socio-Economic Plan is clearly segregated from the consolidated response for Corporate Experience and Past Performance dictated by Attachment III.

(a) Will the Government provide a form or format for the Socio-Economic Plan to ensure consistency of this proposal content requirement across all Offerors?

(b) Will the Government stipulate the pages associated with submission of the Socio-Economic Plan are outside the 15 page limit and allow the Plan to be submitted as an attachment to Vol I with additional page count assigned?

19. Reference Section L - Paragraph two of the Corporate Experience section states "… the offeror shall identify up to 5 of its most relevant contracts…" Paragraph four instructs the submission of the "Corporate Experience and Past Performance Information Form" for each reference but then states "Only a single set of up to three references shall be submitted." Further, the NOTE in this section states "Accordingly, offerors shall submit a single set of corporate experience and past performance information (maximum of 5 of its most relevant contracts) to satisfy the submission requirements for both factors."

Per the Section L instructions, the references an Offeror uses in its Corporate Experience and Past Performance response are provided via the Attachment III Corporate Experience and Past Performance Information Form. As such, it appears that up to five Attachment III's may be provided to satisfy the requirement for Corporate Experience and Past Performance. Therefore, should the language in Paragraph four "Only a single set of up to three references shall be submitted." be updated to "five references"?

20. Reference Sections L and M - "To the extent that an Offeror is proposing a subcontractor on a cost-reimbursement basis, the documentation substantiating the accuracy of the subcontractor's proposed direct labor rates is also required."

"... Offerors shall submit a total compensation plan setting forth salaries and fringe benefits proposed for the professional employees who will work under the Contract, including first-tier subcontractor employees."

"If the offeror is proposing subcontracts on other than a CPFF basis, the offeror should submit information as to whether the rates for the subcontractors are fixed based on a firm bilateral agreement with the subcontractor or merely proposed. In addition, the offeror shall explain why it believes the subcontractor can perform at those rates."

"The Government will evaluate the offeror’s total compensation plan for professional employees employed under the contract, including first-tier subcontractor employees, to ensure that it reflects a sound management approach and understanding of the contract requirements."

Based on the preponderance of the language in Section L pertaining to subcontractor information, it appears that if subcontractors are performing on other than a CPFF basis the Offeror is to provide a price analysis for each subcontractor which must provide adequate justification for the subcontract type proposed and data to support assertions that each proposed subcontractors' rates are realistic and reasonable for the work to be performed. Please confirm.

If the above is true, please confirm that subcontractors performing on other than a CPFF basis may provide non-proprietary labor rate submissions to the Offeror for inclusion in the Offeror's Vol II, and are not required to provide sealed packages containing direct labor rate substantiation, total compensation plan, nor other company proprietary data directly to the Government.

21. Reference Section M – “A rating that is less than a “Satisfactory Confidence” rating in the Past Performance evaluation factor will render a proposal ineligible for award consideration as submitted.""

"For all non-cost factors (other than Past Performance), an offeror’s proposal must be determined to be Acceptable or better in order to be eligible for award. A rating that is less than “Acceptable” in any non-cost evaluation factor and/or less than a “Satisfactory Confidence” rating in the Past Performance evaluation factor will render a proposal ineligible for award consideration as submitted."

In order to ensure all Offerors have a common understanding of the rating system the Government is using for Corporate Experience, Past Performance, and Socio-Economic Plan, will the Government please provide the following:

(a) Definition of "Satisfactory Confidence" as it relates to Past Performance and any other levels of Confidence that may be associated with this evaluation criteria.

(b) Definition of "Acceptable" as it relates to Corporate Experience and Socio-Economic Plan.

22. Reference Section A – “ D. Although the awardee(s) of this requirement must be cleared at the Top Secret/SCI level of security clearance"

Reference Section J – DD254 Block 10. Contractor Will Require Access to:

While Section A references "cleared at the TS/SCI level" the DD245 block 10 Item e.(1) Sensitive Compartmented Information (SCI) is not checked. Will the Government be updating the DD254 to check black 10.e(1) to allow SCI access?

23. Reference Section A. - B.) "Proposals shall be sent to…" Reference Section G.) METHOD OF PROPOSAL SUBMISSION "Faxes, e-mails, and/or responses through NECO or any method other than Hard Copy format are not acceptable."

In order to support national emergency measures due to the COVID-19 pandemic such as the directive to telework and isolate where possible, will the Government consider amending instructions for deliver to allow Offerors to submit proposals via electronic methods vs. delivering a hard copy?

24. Please provide clarification on how subcontractors shall submit their fully disclosed pricing files to the Government? Top of Page 65 of the solicitation, second asterisk, states that subcontractors may email their unsanitized Excel pricing files to Erin Kilrain. Page 75 of the solicitation states “Subcontractor cost breakdowns maybe be submitted in separate sealed envelopes”. Are subcontractors to submit only an Excel pricing file via e-mail and then to provide their cost narrative and supporting information in a sealed envelope with the prime submission?

25. The 10c SCI checkbox on the DD254 is not marked, further cell 2b lists only secret level physical safeguarding at contractor sites. However, page 2 of the solicitation section A-D states “awardee … must be cleared at the Top Secret/SCI” Which is correct- will tasks on this IDIQ be up to the TS/SCI level?

26. Most of the solicitation states up to 5 “Corporate Experience and Past Performance Information” forms should be submitted. An example is the first paragraph of III (1) b on page 68 states, “Only a single set of up to 5 references shall be submitted.” But on the same page, the 4th paragraph of section III (1)(a) states “Only a single set of up to three references shall be submitted”. Is the correct number of contracts to submit up to 5 or is it 3?

Answer: The correct number of references is five (5).

27. Reference - Section L II. (5) and Corporate Experience and Past Performance Information form, p. 67 of 74; The instructions state that "at least one inch margins on all sides" are required. The government-supplied Corporate Experience and Past Performance Information form is 7” wide instead of 6.5”. To be compliant with the RFP, should the offeror reduce the size of the margin to 6.5?

Answer: Offerors may leave the Government-supplied Corporate Experience and Past Performance Information Form at 7” margins.

28. Reference - "**Submission of proposal on a DVD or CD”, Submission of Proposals, I General; Due to concerns around COVID -19 and evolving guidance regarding self-quarantine and remote working/telecommuting, will the Government consider receiving electronic submission of proposals via email/virus free? If yes, what is the max. file size limitation?

29. Reference - Volume II Pricing Instructions and Section B Tables; Can the Goverment provide a breakdown of the Level of Effort between CLINs 0001 (O&M, N) and 0002(R&D) in order for the Section B tables to be adequately completed?

30. Reference Section G; CPFF Quotations call for "any subcontracted effort, the contractor shall ensure that similar cost breakdown information is provided." Please confirm that this requirement applies only to cost type subcontractors and other than cost type subcontractors do not need to provide all of the build up data of their labor rates.

31. Reference Section L; Please confirm that small business subcontracting goal percentages are based upon total dollars subcontracted.

32. Can the Goverment confirm that the Not to Exceed values of $2,000,000 (Travel) and $1,000,000 (ODCs) cover the entire term of the contract ordering period and should not be repeated on an annual basis (Years 1 through 5)?

Answer:The Not to Exceed values of $2,000,000 (Travel) and $1,000,000 (ODCs) cover the entire five year ordering period and not annual amounts.

33. Can the Government confirm if the values for CLIN's 0003 and 0004 should be increased by the contractor to include any applicable Indirect costs?

34. Reference - Section L III (1) (a) Corporate Experience; Instructions for the Non-price Proposal, state that if a relevent subcontractor past performance is submitted, "the offeror’s proposal shall detail clearly the aspects of the work in the solicitation that the subcontractor is proposed to perform." Where in the proposal should the offeror include this information and what detail is required by the Government? If the information is required in Vol. I, will the Government increase the page limit by one (1) page so that the required information can be documented?

35. Reference Section L.I and L.III (c); Since there is no SBA or DoD statutory goal for historically black colleges or universities and minority institutions (HBCU/MI), would the Government consider amending the requirement by removing HBCU/MI?

36. The Government’s instructions in Section L.III(2) (Volume II – Price/Cost) on p. 69-74 state: “The offeror’s cost proposal shall not deviate from the level of effort set forth in Section B of the solicitation.” Will the Government please confirm that if offerors’ need to account for the cost of Task Order management and administration, they will be able to do so at the task order level?

37. Reference - Section L, Page 65 (Volume II), Page 69 (2) Volume II; Please clarify what the Government is referring to in the request for "Solicition Pricing Pages"

38. Will the government consider extending the proposal submission deadline due to the disruption caused by the pandemic National Emergency?

Answer: Proposal submission deadline was extended to 13 April 2020 via Amendment 0001.

39. Reference – PWS Para. 4.2.4 Campaign and Mission Analysis; “The contractor shall perform these analyses by drawing upon a number of models and simulations including, but not limited to the following: Naval Simulation System (NSS), Synthetic Theater Operations Research Model (STORM), and Shipboard and Aviation Force Effectiveness for General Air and Raid Defense (SAFEGARD).”

Are all of the models required for performance on the contract 100% government owned and government furnished? How will the contractor be given access to use these models in order to conduct analysis?

40. Reference – PWS Para. 4.2.5 Campaign and Mission Analytic Support; “The contractor shall revise system descriptions, characteristics and performance parameters for threat, Naval, Joint and Allied forces in databases for appropriate models and simulations including, but not limited to the following: GCAM, NSS and the STORM or mission level models in the area of AAW, ASW, ASUW, MIW/MCM, Strike, IAMD, Expeditionary Warfare, and C4ISR, Logistics, Amphibious Assault, support and sustainment from Seabase, Cyber Operations, Electronic Warfare, and Small Boat Defense. The contractor shall run appropriate models to reassess warfighter capability based on revisions.”

Are all of the models required for performance on the contract 100% government owned and government furnished? How will the contractor be given access to use these models in order to conduct analysis?

41. Reference – PWS Para. 4.2.5 Campaign and Mission Analytic Support; “The contractor shall revise system descriptions, characteristics and performance parameters for threat, Naval, Joint and Allied forces in databases for appropriate models and simulations including, but not limited to the following: GCAM …”

N66001-18-D-0199 - Notice of Sole Source Award to Systems Planning and Analysis, Inc. states that “There are two parts to the GCAM tool - the GCAM Core Tool Suite (CTS), and the applications. The applications are cases developed using the GCAM CTS to simulate specific scenarios for use in the analysis process. Therefore, for all of the models built using GCAM under a Government contract; the Government has unlimited data rights to the data used, the applications built, and the resulting data outputs. The source code associated with the GCAM CTS is solely owned and proprietary to SPA. It is SPA's position that the GCAM CTS software development was funded exclusively with SPA funds and, as such, SPA both owns and retains all rights associated with the GCAM CTS software itself, the source code, and any associated documentation.

Was GCAM CTS used in any way to support task orders on the predecessor MAC IDIQ and is there any requirement to have access to GCAM CTS to successfully perform on this requirement?

42. Reference - Section L, I; “Initial proposals and any modifications thereto are to be submitted…” “Initial proposals” suggest follow-on proposals, which are not identified in the solicitation. Will the government clarify the intent of “Initial proposals…”

43. Reference - Section L, I; “Initial proposals and any modifications thereto are to be submitted to the Contracting Officer on or before the closing date and time cited elsewhere in this Request for Proposals. Faxes, e-mails, and/or responses through NECO or any method other than Hard Copy format are not acceptable.”

Given the coronavirus pandemic National Emergency, will the government please eliminate the hard copy requirement and allow contractors to submit the response via email?

44. Reference - Section L, Requirements for Proposal Content; “…using a font with a point size of 12 or greater …”

Will the government allow point size of 10 in tables other than the corporate experience and past performance information form?

45. Reference the LEVEL OF EFFORT Clause; The LOE table includes estimated total hours that are not in FTE increments. Does the government intend to issue RFQs on this MAC similar to the predecessor MAC in which most RFQs contain government estimates of partial FTEs across many LCATs with typical POP duration of one year or less?

46. Page 2, Section A states, “B.) Proposals shall be sent to Fleet Logistics Center (FLC) Norfolk Philadelphia Office as follows.” Pages 64-65, Section L, I. General provides instructions for hard copy delivery, noting that “Faxes, e-mails, and/or responses through NECO or any method other than Hard Copy format are not acceptable.” Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has necessitated changes in daily operations for industry, would the Government please revise this requirement to allow offerors to electronically submit their proposal packages (Volume I and Volume II with all enclosures)?

47. Page 3, Section B contains two CLINs for Analytic Studies Support Services, one for O&MN funded orders and one for R&D funded orders. Would the Government please provide the number of hours that should be proposed against each CLIN?

48. Page 19, Section C.5.10.1, Data Rights states, “As such, no analysis, tools, methods, algorithms, code or data developed, used, or integrated under this contract shall constitute or be construed as company proprietary or owned by the contractor.” This clause would seem to discourage contractors from using proprietary tools that may provide benefit to the Government. Would the Government please clarify that it is not the intent of the Government to take ownership of a contractor-owned, previously developed, proprietary tool that is used for analysis support under this contract?

49. Page 67, Section L, II. (5) Page Limitations states, “Volume I, “Non-price Proposal,” is limited to a maximum of 15 (fifteen) pages in length inclusive of any charts, diagrams, and/or other graphics.” Per Section L, III. Volume I includes the Socio-Economic Plan. To allow offerors the maximum opportunity to establish the recency, relevancy, and quality of the Corporate Experience and Past Performance projects, would the Government please remove the Socio-Economic Plan from the Volume I page count?

50. Page 67, Section L, II. (5) Page Limitations states, “Each “page” is defined as one sheet, 8 ½” x 11”, with at least one inch margins on all sides, using a font with a point size of 12 or greater (e.g., "Times New Roman" style with 12 point font).” Would the Government please revise the solicitation to permit tables and graphics to use a font with a point size of 10 or greater?

51. Page 68, Section L, III. Proposal Content, a) Corporate Experience states, “Only a single set of up to three references shall be submitted.” However, page 68, b) Past Performance states, “Only a single set of up to 5 references shall be submitted.” Further, page 72, Section M, Evaluation Criteria (2) states, “If subcontractor experience is provided as part of the 5 of its most relevant contracts or efforts, the subcontractor experience will be given weight proportional to the scope and magnitude of the aspects of the work under the solicitation for which the subcontractor is proposed.” Would the Government please confirm that offerors may submit up to five Corporate Experience and Past Performance projects and revise the solicitation?

52. Pages 68-69, Section L, III Proposal Content, c) Socio-Economic Plan states, “The offeror shall address the extent of participation of small businesses, small disadvantaged businesses, women-owned small businesses, historically black colleges or universities and minority institutions, veteran-owned small businesses, service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses, and HUBZone small businesses in performance of any resultant contract. The solicitation, however, does not require participation by such entities.”

This section also states, “If the offeror fails to provide targets for the contract and/or any of the seven socio-economic factors, the offeror's proposal will be evaluated at zero percent and/or zero dollars for the contract and/or any socio-economic factor for which a target is not provided. However, an offeror that provides no socio-economic plan in response to this factor may be considered ineligible for award.”

Would the Government please clarify how the Socio-Economic Plan will be evaluated? Section L indicates a numerical evaluation for the Socio-Economic Plan goals; however, Section M states that “For all non-cost factors (other than Past Performance), an offeror’s proposal must be determined to be Acceptable or better to be eligible for award.” How will Acceptability for the Socio-Economic Plan be determined?

53. Pages 72-73, Section M, Evaluation Criteria (2) states, “For all non-cost factors (other than Past Performance), an offeror’s proposal must be determined to be Acceptable or better in order to be eligible for award. A rating that is less than “Acceptable” in any non-cost evaluation factor and/or less than a “Satisfactory Confidence” rating in the Past Performance evaluation factor will render a proposal ineligible for award consideration as submitted.” Would the Government please provide the evaluation ratings that will be used to score Corporate Experience, Past Performance, and the Socio-Economic Plan?

54. Will selected contractors be receiving or accessing any export control information other than that classified as EAR99 during an engagement?

55. Will the services provided by selected contractors be listed/identified on the Commerce Control List (other than as EAR99) or the United States Munitions List?

56. Will selected contractors be directly or indirectly providing services to any non-U.S. persons in any engagement?

57. How many awards does the Government anticipate making for this effort?

Answer: The Government cannot provide an exact number of awards. Awards will be based on proposals that represent the best value to the Government.

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