Solicitation_N32205-19-R-1000_ITESS_QAs.pdf

MILITARY SEALIFT COMMAND

N32205-19-R-1000

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS (Questions 1 – 51)

The following are answers to questions received from potential offerors. The answers provide clarification only and DO NOT constitute an amendment to the solicitation.

Question 1

PWS, Section 2 states that there are consumable parts/equipment that should be included as part of our FFP. However, the RFP also provides an ODC line item which would typically cover the types of parts/equipment identified. Should these consumable items in fact be captured within the ODC plug number, so that no additional costs are included? If these are in fact separate from ODC, can the Government provide estimated quantities of these items to ensure each bidder knows the extent of these items and properly accounts for this unknown cost appropriately in their submission?

Answer:

The ODC line is separate from the plug number within the Attachment 4 Price Proposal. The Government will update the PWS to provides an estimate of what was purchased historically over recent years with this requirement.

Question 2

Is an interim Secret clearance acceptable for personnel?

Answer:

Yes, the Government will accept an interim Secret Clearance for personnel within this requirement.

Question 3

In the RFP, the government requires CMMI-DEV (Development), Version 1.3, Capability Level 3. Will the government also accept CMMI-SVC (Services), Version 1.3, Capability Level 3?

Answer:

The Government will not accept CMMI-SVC Version 1.3, Capability Level 3 for this requirement. CMMI-DEV is used to improve engineering and development processes in an organization that develops products. CMMI-SVC is used to improve management and service delivery processes in an organization that develops, manages, and delivers services. The emphasis for this requirement is to ensure the consistent use of standard engineering processes, not delivery of services.

Question 4

Within the Proposal Prep Instructions Section C.3.b, the Solicitation states the file names shall consist of the volume number, factor, tab, company name, and state “initial” (for the first submission) and “Revision X” (for later submissions, if necessary) where X indicates the number of the revision. Can the government please clarify? Not all volumes require factors and/or tabs. Example file names would be greatly appreciated using “XYZ” as a company name placeholder.

Answer:

The revisions are only required after the initial submission of proposals. If a revision is required by negotiations with the Government, then the revision number will be required for the file name of the revised proposal submission.

Question 5

Would the Government be willing to sponsor our facility secret clearance?

Answer:

It is the Contractor’s responsibility to obtain and maintain a secret security clearance for this requirement.

Question 6

As the Past Performance Questionnaires (PPQs) have not changed from the previous solicitation, is it acceptable for offerors to ask their government POCs to simply resend the PPQs that they sent previously? Or is it required that new PPQs be submitted?

Answer:

Given that this is a new Solicitation the Government will require new PPQ submissions.

Question 7

In Section 12.12 and 12.13 (Senior Functional Analyst/Functional Analyst), the position description and requirements appear to be identical. Is this intentional, or should one of these be adjusted and, if so, in what specifics?

Answer:

The difference for these labor categories is in the years of experience not the description or requirements.

Question 8

Section 12.2 lists the “basic qualifications” for the Contract Manager as needing to possess two Masters degrees. Did the government intend to require both degrees, or should the wording state one or the other? Also, will the government accept a graduate certificate in Project Management in lieu of the PMP certification?

Answer:

This is two bullets, but one degree. The CHEA requirement probably should be considered a sub bullet rolled into the M.S. discipline requirement. Also, the CHEA requirement has an experience equivalency.

Question 9

Since SCA Wage Determination No 2015-4341 Rev 10 is included in the uploaded documents associated with this RFP, can the government provide a correlation table assigning the Occupation Code for each relevant labor category to the personnel list (as applicable)?

Answer:

The Government will not dictate a correlation for this. It is the offerors responsibility to align SCA categories to the minimum position requirements listed for the labor categories.

Question 10

Page 33, 2. Scope, Last Paragraph states “The contractor will be responsible for the purchase of small, consumable parts and equipment. These items include cables, CD spindle, laminating supplies, drop clothes, ear plugs and other minor items in order to complete the full scope of work. These items should be included in the fully burdened rates under the contract.” Can the government provide a historical yearly estimated total for the expected consumable parts and equipment? If our indirect cost pools already include non-billable consumable items, does the cost for what is expected to apply to this effort have to be broken out separately when included with our fully burdened rates?

Answer:

As part of the current Amendment the Government will provide some historical data for these types of parts and equipment. The total estimates for these small purchases ranges from $1,000.00 to $1,500.00 per year.

Question 11

Request confirmation that the Project Manager position has five FTE (9900 hrs)?

Answer:

Labor for this requirement is task order specific and therefore the number of hours listed are for proposal purposes only.

Question 12

On page 15, paragraph 5 Place of Performance states the work will be conducted primarily at the government site and contractor site. Can the government provide a breakdown of which positions/how many will be at the government site in Norfolk, VA and at the contractor site?

Answer:

MCEL and SV&T Support personnel are considered permanent onsite positions. The remainder are required onsite as necessary to perform technical work in the MCEL, collaborate with government Task Order Managers (TOMs) & Technical Points of Contract (TPOCs) and attend meetings, etc.

Question 13

In several of the positions descriptions it provides requirements for education OR “equivalent” work experience. Can the government provide how many years it considers equivalent work experience for the associated education levels (bachelors, masters degrees, etc.)?

Answer:

The Government updated Section 12 of the PWS to include a definition for “equivalent” work experience as four (4) years for a B.S degree and eight (8) years for a M.S degree.

Question 14

Is there a preferred/required font the government wants used in the proposal submission?

Answer:

Other than the Proposal Preparation Instructions Section C, 3 (b) ”Files should be consistent with twelve (12) point font and one (1) inch margins.” there are no font requirements for this Solicitation.

Question 15

SF 1449 references CLIN 0002 as Materials and CLIN 0003 as Travel. Attachment 4 references CLIN X002 as Travel and X003 as ODCs. Will the Government Update Attachment 4 to Mirror SF 1449?

Answer:

CLIN X003 within Attachment 4 Price Proposal should be labeled Material instead of ODC. The revised Price Proposal has been uploaded and attached accordingly. There should be no mention of ODC within this Solicitation.

Question 16

The labor category description and years of experience is the same for Senior Functional Analyst and Functional Analyst. Will the Government update the description and or experience for the Functional Analyst?

Answer:

The difference for these labor categories is in the years of experience not the description or requirements.

Question 17

CDRL A101 is the Program Kickoff Meeting, not a Transition Plan, which is listed as CDRL A112, Phase-in Plan. Can the Government please clarify what is due at kickoff and 5 days post-kickoff?

Answer:

The Transition plan is due at the contract kick-off meeting, which is held within 5 days of contract award.

Question 18

Can the Government confirm that the first Task order will be released after the initial contract award?

Answer:

Per FAR 52.216-19 the minimum guarantee will be issued with the award of the base contract.

All task orders will be negotiated and issued after the base award and minimum guarantee are issued.

Question 19

Is the staffing profile detailed within Attachment_4_Price_Proposal_ITESS_FY19 for the Base Year and Option Years for evaluation purposes only?

Answer:

The number of hours within Attachment 4 are Government estimates for evaluation purposes only, but all labor categories listed within Attachment 4 are those anticipated to be utilized during the performance of the resultant contract and the labor rates will be used in the task order proposal process.

Question 20

Is the prescribed 1980 hours seems high compared to industry standards. Will the Government consider reducing the productive hours per year from 1980 to 1920? The 1920 hours per year would accommodate vacation, holidays etc.

Answer:

The hour totals for this requirement are based on a Government estimate and are the same for all who propose. Therefore, the hour amounts are not important instead the proposed rates will be analyzed. The estimate hours are not the Government’s anticipated level of effort for the work which will be task order specific.

Question 21

Can the Government please clarify where the primary place of performance will be for each labor category as defined in Attachment 4? Additionally, will the Government allow any contractor personnel that are not required to be onsite at Naval Station Norfolk to work from a remote (non-contractor site) location?

Answer:

MCEL and SV&T Support personnel are considered permanent onsite positions. The remainder are required onsite as necessary to perform technical work in the MCEL, collaborate with government Task Order Managers (TOMs) & Technical Points of Contract (TPOCs) and attend meetings, etc. The Government may not require all labor categories and locations will be task order specific.

Question 22

Given the successful SBA size determination protest under N3220518R1002, please confirm that the prime is required to demonstrate related organizational experience under Volume II, Subfactor B and at least one past performance reference in Volume III. This is in the best interest of MSC to ensure the award is made to a qualified small business prime.

Answer:

Per the Solicitation requirements, it is the Contractor’s responsibility to ensure they align with the SBA regulations and are in fact a small business under the applicable NAICS code outlined in this Solicitation.

Question 23

Please confirm that the “Related Organizational Experience” in Volume II, Subfactor B must include specific references to the prime’s related organizational experience, as well as any related organizational experience brought by subcontractors. Since “Related Organization Experience” is required under the technical factor, it is not synonymous with “Past Performance” required in Volume III. Therefore, a prime with no relevant experience would not be warranted a “neutral” (and therefore “acceptable”) rating under “Related Organizational Experience” as would be allowed under FAR 15.305 (a)(2)(iv) for the past performance factor.

Answer:

Yes, Technical (Volume II) and Past Performance (Volume III) are two different volumes within the evaluation factors. Each offeror will be evaluated in accordance with the terms of the Solicitation.

Question 24

Since the prime contractor is required to perform at least 51% of the work for the small business set-aside and bears ultimate responsibility for overall contract performance, please confirm that at least one of the past performance references required in Volume III must be from the prime to be deemed “Acceptable” under this factor.

Answer:

The Government does not confirm this information as this was not included within the Solicitation.

Question 25

Please confirm that all organizational experience reference under Subfactor B and all past performances references submitted under Volume III must have one year of performance completed, unless the contract has an interim or final CPARS, or the base period is less than one-year-old and the base period is complete?

Answer:

All information regarding Related Organizational Experience can be found within Section D, 2,

b. of the Proposal Instructions within the Solicitation. Information regarding Past Performance can be found within Section D, 3 of the Proposal Instructions within the Solicitation.

Question 26

Please confirm that the original awardee under solicitation N3220518R1002 and subsequent sole source contract under N32205-18-D-1000 is not eligible to submit that contract under Subfactor B Related Organizational Experience or Volume III Past Performance. Given that SBA determined the awardee to be “other than small business” and therefore ineligible for award, the awardee should not be allowed to gain credit for performance under the sole source contract.

Answer:

The Government does not speculate as to what companies will or will not propose under this Solicitation, nor does the Government discuss ongoing procurements in this manner.

Question 27

The instructions for Subfactor B on page 10 state “the organization undertaking the work must demonstrate low staff turnover, adherence to high quality control standards and budget limitations, and demonstrate the ability to meet project timelines.” Please confirm this reference to “the organization” includes the prime and cannot be met solely by subcontractor’s experience. Since the prime is responsible for overall performance, the prime must demonstrate some experience in these areas, in addition to their subcontractors.

The Government does not elaborate and/or define the term “organization” within this Solicitation and leaves it up to each offeror to define and explain in its proposal.

Question 28

Per the NDAA Section 880, the first criteria that must be met when using LPTA is that “(1) an executive agency is able to comprehensively and clearly describe the minimum requirements expressed in terms of performance objectives, measures, and standards that will be used to determine acceptability of offers”. Currently there are no minimum requirements in the solicitation to determine the acceptability of offerors. “Acceptability” is defined as “Proposal meets the requirements of the solicitation” for the technical factor and “Based on the offeror’s performance record, the Government has a reasonable expectation that the offeror will successfully perform the required effort, or the offeror’s performance record is unknown” or the past performance factor. Neither of these statements meet the requirements of the NDAA by providing the “minimum requirements to determine acceptability of offers.” What constitutes an acceptable response for each evaluation factor?

Answer:

Both statements are from the DoD Source Selection Guide. The Government is currently following the regulations in place at the time of the Solicitation. The definition is a broad definition charged for all technical factors and that each technical factor in the Solicitation identifies the acceptability requirements.

Question 29

Section 880 of the NDAA also states “To the maximum extent practicable, the use of lowest price technically acceptable source selection criteria shall be avoided in the case of a procurement that is predominately for the acquisition of… (1) information technology services, cybersecurity services, systems engineering and technical assistance services…” Considering the full scope of the ITESS solicitation directly aligns to these items, what is the rationale for using LPTA for ITESS? We understand DFARS has not been officially updated to include these NDAA rules yet. However, as of 11/16/2018, the OIRA cleared the proposed DFARS rule related to NDAA and the final update is in progress.

Answer:

Section 880 of the NDAA has not been promulgated into a regulation that guides this Solicitation. As we informed prior interested parties, the instructions to offerors would be similar to those used under the previous Solicitation released for this requirement.

Question 30

What are the expectations for connectivity from our corporate location in to the government environment? Would we be required to set up a secure facility or would we be able to use facilities at the listed locations?

Commercial wireless is permitted for use in the government facility. NMCI workstations (laptops) are provided as required for access to web based corporate email. The contractor will not be required to set up a secure facility and will we be able to use facilities at the government locations.

Question 31

What are the requirements for active monitoring of the environment?

Answer:

Currently there are no requirements for active monitoring of the environment.

Question 32

Is the satellite communication equipment upkeep, configuration, and troubleshooting within scope of this RFP?

Answer:

Satellite maintenance is performed under the commercial satellite provider contract. Minimal operating and troubleshooting required. Training will be provided during the regularly scheduled Mariner satellite training course.

Question 33

What will be the relationship, requirements, and capabilities for security keymat and changeover?

Answer:

This is addressed by physical security & MILDET.

Question 34

Who is responsible for crypto equipment configuration and maintenance?

Answer:

This is addressed by physical security & MILDET.

Question 35

What tools for monitoring and backup are in place now? Would we be able to take over these tools?

Answer:

No current monitoring is in place. Software backups are maintained in the electronic SW library.

All associated equipment is property of the government maintained in the MCEL and provided to the ITESS support contractor to support tasking under the MCEL task order.

Question 36

What are the requirements for voice support? Is secure voice a Cisco VoIP phone connected in to a classified network, or is it a standalone STU/STE phone? If it is a Cisco VoIP solution, what are the requirements for Call Manager / CCME support?

Answer:

Currently no requirements for VOIP or VOSIP or Call Manager / CCME support exist under the ITESS contract.

Question 37

What are the SLA requirements (timeline)?

Answer:

There are no SLA requirements. Under the ITESS contact we provide In-Service Engineering support and maintenance.

Question 38

What is the workflow for incidents and requests?

Answer:

Incidents are handled under the Afloat Operations contract. Change Requests are submitted as a ticket and processed through the MSC N6 PMO Overarching process framework and would depend on the scope of the change.

Question 39

What are the requirements for repairs and fixes while the ships are at sea?

Answer:

Extremely minimal if at all, Break-fix operations are handled under the Afloat Operations contract. All ITESS contract support activities onboard ship is typically handled while the ships are in port.

Question 40

Are there any shore side support requirements?

Answer:

Minimal T&E support to test emergent capabilities or software integration of the Business Systems Ashore Infrastructure are infrequently required. The ITESS contract is principally focused on engineering solutions for the Afloat Environment.

Question 41

Any restrictions from hiring personnel from the outgoing contractor?

The Government provides no restrictions from hiring personnel from the outing Contractor.

Question 42

From an asset management perspective, is there a list of security solutions implemented for each environment within scope of the RFP? We are not asking to provide this list but we want to know if an inventory of security assets exists?

Answer:

Minimal, principally asset management for dedicated use within the MCEL only.

Question 43

Is there an IT asset management program in place for all hardware and software within environments in scope?

Answer:

Yes, there is an IT asset management program in place for all hardware and software within this requirement’s scope.

Question 44

Are risk management roles and responsibilities identified for environments in scope?

Answer:

Risk Management is applied as a technical management process under the N6 PMO Overarching process framework, but only as it pertains to project and program risk management roles.

Question 45

Is there a cybersecurity related policies framework in place for each environment in scope?

Answer:

Yes, DOD/DoN and RMF.

Question 46

From a Governance standpoint, are there cybersecurity policies, procedures, and processes to manage and monitor each organization’s regulatory, legal, and environmental risks?

Answer:

Yes, though Governance is managed through a separate branch in N6.

Question 47

Is there a vulnerability management program including a governance risk and compliance system in place for environments in scope?

Answer:

Yes.

Question 48

Is there an overarching Access Control policy in place for each environment in scope?

Answer:

Yes.

Question 49

Is there continuous monitoring in place for all systems for each environment in scope?

Answer:

Yes.

Question 50

Is the data classified for each system in scope?

Answer:

No.

Question 51

Are there incident response policies and processes in place for each environment in scope?

Yes.