RFQ QA Training Tracker Amendment 3.xlsx
XLSX spreadsheet 17 KB Posted
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- TRMS Training Tracker Federal contract opportunity
- Solicitation number
- N6328521Q0049
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Other files for this federal contract opportunity
| File | Type | Posted |
|---|---|---|
| AMENDMENT 3 - RFQ N63285-21-Q-0049 TRMS Training Tracker.pdf | ||
| AMENDMENT 2 - RFQ N63285-21-Q-0049 TRMS Training Tracker.pdf | ||
| AMENDMENT 1 - RFQ N63285-21-Q-0049 TRMS Training Tracker.pdf | ||
| RFQ N63285-21-Q-0049 TRMS Training Tracker.pdf |
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Sheet1
| NCIS SOLICITATION Q&A | ||||
| TRMS Training Tracker | ||||
| RFQ #N63285-21-Q-0049 | ||||
| AMENDMENT 3 | ||||
| QUESTION | PWS/SOW/RFQ REFERENCE | ACQUISTIONS / TECHNICAL | RESPONSE | |
| Q1 | The budget you indicated in your RFQ ($230,000) – is this for the whole period? | RFQ Pricing | Acquisitions | See the response to Question 7. |
| Q2 | Is this opportunity a small business set-aside? The TRMS Training Tracker opportunity is not listed as a small business set aside in sam.gov. However, the RFQ indicates the opportunity is a SB Set Aside. | Page 10 of RFQ, “Set Aside: Yes, Small Business Set-Aside” TRMS Training Tracker (https://sam.gov/opp/520b90125e6d4ab9ba08773b7be7267f/view) see section on Classification. | Acquisitions | This requirement is a SB Set-Aside and has been marked as such in the Amendment. |
| Q3 | If the opportunity is a small business set aside, does the government recognize that since the opportunity is predominantly a software reselling opportunity that this will not allow for 51% of the work performance by a small business unless the software is small business developed as well? | Page 10 of RFQ, “Set Aside: Yes, Small Business Set-Aside” TRMS Training Tracker (https://sam.gov/opp/520b90125e6d4ab9ba08773b7be7267f/view) see section on Classification. | Acquisitions | This solicitation is a Small Business set-aside, the Government will perform due diligence to ensure that the awardee is a small business. |
Q4 If the opportunity is a small business set aside, does the government recognize that resale of industry-driven COTS software will add a pass-through fee to an already limited budget? Page 10 of RFQ, “Set Aside: Yes, Small Business Set-Aside” TRMS Training Tracker (https://sam.gov/opp/520b90125e6d4ab9ba08773b7be7267f/view) see section on Classification. Acquisitions The Government anticipates any fees to be included in the quote.
Q5 Will NCIS accept a cloud-based, FedRAMP Moderate (IL2) authorized solution rather than an on-premises solution? We have found that in practice, the Federal government’s IT support resources are not organized and resourced to support timely implementation and sustainment of an agile COTS product. As a consequence, software updates for customer-site implementations fall behind in their system. Government-managed updates lag anywhere from one year to three years. In addition, system uptime is considerably degraded based on challenges only within the customer’s control. Our software is configured as a web-based solution with secure access only unavailable if a connection to the web is unavailable. It can also be installed on premises, but is optimal when cloud-based. At present, all our customers have transitioned (or are transitioning) to the cloud due to increased uptime, security, efficiency, and the ability to maintain software currency. Page 3 of RFQ: 3.1 Records Management Solution. The Contractor shall provide a final solution with the capability to support the following functions in an enterprise-based solution hosted on the NCIS internal systems. The final solution must be executable software or issued via license usage for the commercial software product. The Contractor shall grant to the Government all license rights customarily provided to the public in commercial sales of the delivered software products. Licenses delivered shall include all users of support, production, and COOP environments. The Contractor shall provide, in their quote, the required operating systems and server configurations necessary to ensure successful installation and operation of their product(s) on NCIS VMWare servers. Technical Due to the significant latency in obtaining an Authority to Operate (up to one year) for a cloud based solution, NCIS requires that the solution be installed on premises at the NCIS Headquarters Data Center, Russell Knox Bldg., Quantico, VA.
| Q6 | Since NCIS is requesting on-premises implementation and also requesting a 90 day implementation time frame, can the government identify its implementation requirements and it turnaround time commitments to support timely implementation? | Page 3 of RFQ: 3.1 Records Management Solution. The Contractor shall provide a final solution with the capability to support the following functions in an enterprise-based solution hosted on the NCIS internal systems. The final solution must be executable software or issued via license usage for the commercial software product. The Contractor shall grant to the Government all license rights customarily provided to the public in commercial sales of the delivered software products. Licenses delivered shall include all users of support, production, and COOP environments. The Contractor shall provide, in their quote, the required operating systems and server configurations necessary to ensure successful installation and operation of their product(s) on NCIS VMWare servers. | Technical | NCIS has a team dedicated to technical delivery of new solutions. Once procured, and an initial kickoff meeting commences to exchange details on server configurations, servers and databases can be provisioned and installed within two weeks. |
| Q7 | The government provided a budget ceiling for this procurement of $230,000. Is the limitation an annual cap or a summative cap? In other words, is the budget $230,000 per year or is it $230,000 for five years of software delivery and support? | Page 11 of RFQ. PRICING “Due to budgetary limitations, in order to be considered acceptable the quoted price including all option periods must not exceed a total price of $230,000.00.” | Acquisitions | Although the Government realizes certain budget constraints related to this requirement, the language making $230,000 a factor that determines acceptability is removed. |
| Q8 | As a comprehensive COTS product, our product can be delivered immediately. How does NCIS define “delivery of final software?” | Page 7 of RFQ; “REQUIRED DELIVERY/PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE: “The Contractor shall ensure delivery of final COTS product within 90 days of contract award.” | Technical | Delivery will include the physical delivery of software, written instructions, support from the vendor to install and configure as part of a matrixed team with NCIS IT staff, user acceptance and training. The requirement referenced in the section of the solicitation has been changed to the following: "The Contractor shall ensure delivery of final COTS product within 90 days of the kick-off meeting". |
| Q9 | As a comprehensive COTS product, our product can support all technical requirements as articulated immediately. However, we release roughly six (6) product updates a year that are final with each iteration. How does NCIS define “delivery of final software?” | Page 7 of RFQ;” REQUIRED DELIVERY/PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE: “The Contractor shall ensure delivery of final COTS product within 90 days of contract award.” | Technical | The Government defines delivery of final software as the latest iteration delivered. Post award, NCIS and the vendor will agree upon delivery method of product updates. |
| Q10 | The RFQ identifies that NCIS has 2000 personnel, but that the system will require only 1180 “general users.” What number of active users should bidders use for pricing? | Page 1 of RFQ under Background “NCIS is comprised of approximately 2,000 personnel in over 40 countries around the globe. The organization is comprised of approximately 90% civilian and its cadre of federal special agents, about half its total personnel, is approximately 98% civilian.” Page 3 of RFQ under 3.1 Records Management Solution: “The number of general users is expected to be 1,180.” | Technical | The software being acquired is specifically for tracking training for 1180 special agents. |
| Q11 | Can the government clarify what is meant by a “URL-based self-guided demonstration of the product that the Government can evaluate for functionality, completeness of solution, and how the product meets the requirements.” Conventionally, demonstrations are done by a software engineer live for a customer through a URL-based sharing platform like TEAMS, WebEx, or Zoom, A client-relevant data set is developed beforehand to illustrate the system’s responsiveness to requirements and the system is demonstrated. Is this method acceptable? Effective and time-efficient demonstrations of software are reliant on data to demonstrate functionality and the operator’s familiarity with the system. It is unlikely that any software system could be fairly evaluated for functionality, completeness of solution, and how the product meets requirements without data and training for the operator. | Page 8 of RFP under Technical Acceptance: The Quoter shall provide a URL-based self-guided demonstration of the product that the Government can evaluate for functionality, completeness of solution, and how the product meets the requirements. A demo will NOT be used to enter production data, nor will any data entered in to the demo need to be retained for more than 60 days past submission deadline.” | Technical | The vendor may present up to a 2-hour presentation that includes a demonstration of the solution, as well as slides and documents and can be presented via an online platform such as TEAMS, Zoom, etc. |
| Q12 | Can the government identify which system functions are |
needed during the time access is unavailable?
Page 4 of RFQ; “iv. …If access becomes unavailable, an off-line versions or system is available in order to ensure training information can be created/uploaded/merged when the system resumes availability” Technical NCIS prefers that the data entry component of the system be able to be queued, or otherwise held until the backend database is available for upload.
| Q13 | Can the Government clarify whether 24 hour a day helpdesk is truly required, what type of Helpdesk support is requested, and what response time frame is required? Real-time reporting is available from our system 24 hours a day. However, not all forms of helpdesk are supported 24 hours a day. Typically 24 hour helpdesk support for a non-emergency systems like training records software has an additional cost. Automated helpdesk support is available 24 hours a day. | Page 4 of RFQ; “iv. Provide real-time reporting, accessible from any field office through the current DON/NCIS systems, 24 hours a day, with a help-desk option.” | Technical | The reporting within the solution shall reflect real-time data. The vendor shall provide a standard process for NCIS to communicate technical issues. The vendor shall acknowledge the receipt of technical issues from NCIS within 2 hours during normal business hours. Issues received after normal business hours will be acknowledged within 2 hours of the next business day. The vendor shall provide support to NCIS throughout the incident being tracked until resolved. The solicitation has been revised accordingly. |
| Q14 | Is there a certain format the technical specifications on the RFQ need to be answered? (i.e. Word, PDF, etc.) | Technical | Word or PDF are both acceptable. | |
| Q15 | For the RFQ, is there any format and/or order it needs to be submitted such as company bio, applications (brochures), technical questions, and quote? | Acquisitions | Vendor preference is acceptable. | |
| Q16 | On page 1 under the background, it states approximately 2,000 personnel, however, on page 3 it states admin users of 5 (five) and general users is expected to be 1,180. Should the quote be based on the admin and general users being a total of 1,185? | Technical | 1180 represents the special agents, who will be the users of the solution. The 5 administrators are general administrators and are not included in the 1180 users. | |
| Q17 | On page 3, Basic Academy Training, section X. reads Track correlation of learning objectives between curriculum and tests. Is there a format of how this correlation needs to be presented? Can it be a graded value showing how the student has performed in the objectives? | Technical | A visual representation of the correlation between curriculum and tests is required. No there is not a specific format and a graded value is acceptable. | |
| Q18 | On page 3, Basic Academy Training, section XVI. reads Student metrics for classes. Please define the requirements needed for this category. Are the metrics a method of accountability for the student or a document providing students with course objectives and grading matrix? | Technical | See Question 17 | |
| Q19 | On page 3, Basic Academy Training, section XX. reads Automatic or manual graduation processing. What would be needed/included in a graduation processing? | Technical | For automatic or manual graduation, a student is required to meet the minimum standards set for the course. Upon graduation, the student is automatically enrolled in the FTA program. | |
| Q20 | On page 8, Technical Acceptance, section D, states “The Quoter shall provide a URL-based self-guided demonstration of the product that the Government can evaluate for functionality, completeness of solution, and how the product meets the requirement…”. Just to clarify, we would need to record a demo of our application(s) showing we meet the requirements, functionality and have a complete solution. Is this an accurate statement? Is there a certain desired time length for the self-guided demonstration? If there are more than one application is being recorded, can multiple URL’s be provided? | Technical | See Question 11 | |
| Q21 | Does the government anticipate that: Does the government anticipate that: |
1. the selected contractor will physically go to the NCIS data center and install software and periodic updates?
2. the contractor be provided with equipment, and then use that equipment to connect remotely and install software and updates?
3. NCIS will install the software and subsequent updates on its equipment?
Page 5 of RGQ: “3.2 Configuration and Installation. The Contractor shall support installation onto NCIS systems that include configuration of the COTS product(s) to satisfy the functional requirements as identified above. The expectation is for requirements to be satisfied by configuration of the standard COTS software. The Contractor shall ensure that the software is properly installed within the appropriate support and production environments.
3.2.2 The Contractor shall ensure administrative users are capable to install software pushes and security updates as needed to maintain operation and full functionality throughout the base and optional periods.”
Technical 3.2.4 Contractor support of the installation can be facilitated via a collaborative interface such as MS Teams. NCIS will install the software and subsequent updates on its network, but requires the vendor to provide technical support on this effort as needed.
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