RFP QA N6523626R3100.pdf

RFP N6523626R3100 Q&A

Question 1: The solicitation references AWS. Is the Government also open to approaches that leverage existing Naval Enterprise capabilities / tools that will reduce the cost significantly for this work, specifically Flank Speed (Azure Gov), Azure Local / Flank Speed Edge and Gitub, where appropriate?

Answer: For the purposes of proposal submission, offerors should address the evaluation criteria stated in Provision L-317, Factor A. The Government will assess the offeror’s technical understanding of the requirements as demonstrated by its description of the processes or approaches used to successfully accomplish the scenarios described in the elements. Responses that demonstrate understanding of innovative/emerging technologies/approaches, increase efficiencies, and/or minimize performance risk are more valuable to the agency.

Question 2: Would it be possible to get a two-week extension in light of the gov't shutdown and the synchronization of the release between Seaport and PIEE?

Answer: The forthcoming RFP amendment will extend the due date to 25 February and date for questions to 20 February.

Question 3: Are there any Government-mandated or prohibited tools currently in use for source control, CI/CD, or testing that offerors should account for in their approaches?

Answer: The government currently utilizes Serena Dimensions for source control. The government is moving towards the adoption of GitLab. Question 4: The Government identifies PWS tasks 3.1 - 3.8.13 as eligible for alternate work, which is the PWS scope. Attachment 1 lists Software Engineers, Technical Writer and Computer Programmers as Government site. Can the Government clear the ambiguity regarding remote vs on-site?

Answer: Government facilities (i.e., office space or lab space) are provided to those contractor personnel that would otherwise adversely affect the work performance if they were not available on Government site. Labor categories with supplied Government facilities shall be located at NIWC Atlantic in New Orleans, LA. Government site listed labor categories are required to perform work at the Government site. The ultimate decision to allow work performed at an alternate work location on a situational basis will be determined by the COR. Alternate work locations are subject to telework and other requirements discussed in PWS 2.3.

Question 5: Can the Government identify the currently available list of tools used for CI/CD and/or DEVSECOPS?

Answer: The government is currently using or is considering the following: GitLab Ultimate, Bitbucket, Docker, Kubernetes, Fortify, SonarQube, Trivy, AWS GovCloud, Artifactory.

Question 6: Can the Government identify the current list of automated tools for testing and which 3.8 applications utilize them?

Answer: No software development teams currently use automated tools for testing.

Question 7: The Government identifies estimated FTE associated with each system, but there is not a specific blend of skillsets. Can the Government provide the distribution of labor categories that make up the estimated FTE?

Answer: Please see pricing model for list of labor categories and anticipated level of effort for each.

Question 8: The PWS identifies a Tier 5 background investigation. The DD254 indicates a Secret. Can the Government clarify the required Clearance?

Answer: In accordance with Para 8.2.1 of the PWS, the majority of personnel associated with this contract shall possess a SECRET personnel security clearance (PCL) for access.

Question 9: The PWS does not identify the taskings associated with the Computer Programmer IV (SCA 14074) LCAT. Can the Government please provide the PWS elements that apply to this labor category.

Answer: The forthcoming RFP amendment will remove the listed PWS sections.

Question 10: Can the Government identify which systems/applications have migrated or are in the process of migration to the AWS Cloud?

Answer: NROWS, RIMS-FM, NMRS, OPAS, MRRS

Question 11: Will the Government provide a standard slide template or any formatting rules (font size, page size, file type), or is the format entirely up to the offeror?

Answer: A slide template or formatting rules will not be provided. Please follow the guidance in section L-317 and M-307.

Question 12: Is there a preferred or required way to share slides during the Teams session (screen share only vs sending a file in advance), and if files are allowed in advance, where should they be sent and by when?

Answer: The contractor should provide their presentation by screen share.

Question 13: Please confirm whether the Government will allow any handouts or reference materials to be provided to the panel before or during the presentation.

Answer: Handouts and/or reference materials will not be allowed.

Question 14: Please confirm the timekeeping approach: will the Government give time warnings (e.g., at 30/10/5 minutes), and who is the official timekeeper?

Answer: Please refer to Section L Non-Cost Factor for the time provided for Elements A1 – A3 and the time allowed for Element A4. There will be a warning as time expiration approaches the end. The Contracting Officer will provide a warning when there are 10 minutes remaining in the initial 45 minutes. The contractor should remain aware of their presentation time and plan to utilize the allotted time to the best of their ability. The Contracting Officer/Contract Specialist is the official timekeeper.

Question 15: For Elements A1–A3, is the full 45 minutes one continuous block that we can allocate across A1/A2/A3 as we choose, or does the Government expect a specific time split for each element?

Answer: Elements A1 through A3 are allocated the full 45 minutes. The contractor can determine how they will manage the given blocks of time. Offerors presentations must address all three of the elements in the 45 minutes allotted. If the Government needs the Offeror to pause the Offeror's presentation time will be paused as well.

Question 16: For the on-the-spot scenario (A4), will the prompt be provided in writing (for example, in Teams chat), and will it be exactly the same wording for all offerors?

Answer: Element A4 will be displayed on the Teams screen for all Offerors at the conclusion of the presentation of Elements A1 – A3.

Question 17: During the 15-minute A4 preparation period, may the three presenters talk privately (off-mic / camera off) to prepare together, or must preparation be done live in the Teams call?

Answer: The presenters may talk privately.

Question 18: During A4 preparation, may presenters use their own notes, a whiteboard, or other internal materials?

Answer: Yes.

Question 19: Is the 3 person presentation team allowed to contact anyone outside the team for preparation?

Answer: Offerors shall not reach back by telephone, email, or another means, to any other personnel or persons for assistance during the oral presentation. See L-317 VAR1 Submission of Proposals (Variation) (May 2024), Rules of Oral Presentation Engagement

Question 20: Will the Government allow a non-presenting Corporate Officer to be present during the presentation?

Answer: The offeror's oral presentation shall be conducted by three (3) individuals proposed to perform under any of the labor categories for this solicitation and the oral presentation participants shall also be limited to those (3) individuals.

Question 21: For A4, is the 15-minute response expected to be a structured walk-through of our approach, or is the Government looking for a specific “answer format” (e.g., steps, roles, timeline, risks)?

Answer: Response to Element A4 is at the discretion of the presenters.

Question 22: If one of the three named presenters becomes unavailable due to illness or emergency on the day of the presentation, what substitution process (if any) will be allowed?

Answer: Substitution requests should be made available to the Government as soon as possible and should include employer/company, proposed labor category, employee name, phone number, and email address). Presenters must be individuals proposed to perform under any of the labor categories.

Question 23: Will the Government ask any questions during the presentation, or only after we complete A1–A3 and/or A4?

Answer: The Government will not interact or ask questions with offerors during their oral presentation with the exception of asking an offeror to repeat themselves or pause on a PowerPoint slide to capture notes.

Question 24: Will the Government record the Teams session, and if so, will the recording be used only for internal evaluation?

Answer: The presentation may be recorded by the Government. If recorded, the recording is source selection sensitive and will be handled accordingly.

Question 25: What Teams setup should we expect (number of evaluators on the call, cameras on/off expectations, any restrictions on chat, and whether we will have the ability to share our screen)?

Answer: The Government evaluation team, Contracting Officer, and Contract Specialist will be present during presentations. The government team will not have cameras. The Offeror is encouraged to use cameras. Chat will only be utilized if a microphone fails. The presenter is not prohibited from communicating via chat in case of technical difficulty but will not present via chat. The presenter should share the presentation on screen.

Question 26: Is there any limitation on using diagrams, screenshots, or simple visuals in slides (as long as no proprietary Government data is included)?

Answer: Content provided via presentation slide show is at the discretion of the presenters.

Question 27: What security checks are required before a change can be released, and what results would block a release versus be allowed with documented acceptance (if any)?

Answer:

See PWS section 4.1.4 “Work with Government personnel to ensure compliance with all current Navy IT & cybersecurity policies”

See PWS section 4.3 Cybersecurity Support “Contractor personnel shall perform tasks to ensure Navy applications,ௗsystems, and networks satisfy Federal/DoD/DON/Navy cybersecurity requirements.”

Question 28: What security/scanning tools are already in place today code/dependency/ vulnerability/secrets checks), and are they Government-provided or contractor-provided?

Answer: GitLab Ultimate, Fortify, SonarQube. These tools are Government-provided.

Question 29: What environments exist today for testing changes (dev/test/stage/prod), and are they consistently available/stable enough to run automated checks during an urgent change?

Answer: The government has development, test and production environments hosted in AWS GovCloud that are available for use.

Question 30: How are “urgent” releases handled today (approval steps, emergency process), and are there any blackout windows or normal release windows we must plan around?

Answer: Offerors should review the PWS, consider the topic, and how it relates to the performance requirements and address all technical elements accordingly.

Question 31: What is the main reason merges are difficult today (long-running branches, multiple people modifying the same areas, unclear ownership, lack of tests, environment instability, or something else)?

Answer: Offerors should review the PWS, consider the topic, and how it relates to the performance requirements and address all technical elements accordingly.

Question 32: What automated tests exist today (unit, integration, regression), and would you describe current test coverage as high/medium/low?

Answer: The software development teams do not make major use of automated testing at this time.

Question 33: Which systems are the most critical to operations (the ones where reducing merge risk and defects matters most first)?

Answer: All the systems within scope of the task order, being mission type one systems, are of equal importance.

Question 34: For the systems in AWS (or recently moved), what does the current setup look like at a high level: how access is managed, and what logging/monitoring is already in place today?

Answer: Offerors should review the PWS, consider the topic, and how it relates to the performance requirements and address all technical elements accordingly.

Question 35: For this contract, what types of AWS improvements are considered “in scope” without being viewed as a major redesign? If possible, please provide 3–5 examples of improvements you would consider acceptable.

Answer: Offerors should review the PWS, consider the topic, and how it relates to the performance requirements and address all technical elements accordingly.

Question 36: For each in-scope system, what is the high-level technology stack (main language/platform and database), so we can tailor a realistic “improvements without redesign” approach?

Answer: Offerors should review the PWS, consider the topic, and how it relates to the performance requirements and address all technical elements accordingly.

Question 37: Within the Pricing Models, the Government has specified that both the Technical Writer III and Computer Programmer IV labor categories are aligned to applicable SCLC categories. Based on the nature of work required, complexity of mission, and increased labor criteria, are Offerors permitted to assess and provide justification for these positions to be Exempt from SCA categories?

Answer: The forthcoming RFP amendment will add language to Section L for SCLS Computer categories as follows: The Department of Labor issued WDs no longer provide a minimum rate for most of the Computer IT categories (Computer Programmers II, III, and IV, and Computer Systems Analysts I, II and III); however, the last WD listing the minimum rate for the computer labor categories established the minimum rate for most of the IT computer related categories at $27.63 per hour. 29 CFR 541.400(b) states that in order for computer systems analysts, programmers, and other similarly skilled workers to be eligible for exemption as professionals, the employee must be compensated at a rate of not less than $27.63 an hour or $684 a week if considered to be salaried employees. The Prime Pricing model lists the IT computer category as subject to the Service Contract Labor Standards. If an offeror considers the IT computer related category to be professional that intention should be stated in the narrative to the Cost/Price Proposal. The contractor shall ensure personnel within the designated LCAT meet the required supplemental personnel qualifications. SCLS categories include a minimum labor rate. The offeror will not be prohibited from proposing qualifications or rates that exceed the requirement.

The offeror should state in their cost narrative that “Our company considers XYZ SCLS LCAT to be a professional LCAT”.

Question 38: Is any current labor on the program under SCA? And if so, can the specific seniority be provided for each position on the program today?

Answer: The current task order does not include SCLS labor categories.

Question 39: For the oral presentation on-the-spot scenario, will Offerors be permitted to caucus for 15 minutes in order to prepare their response for Element A4?

Answer: Yes. See section L “Oral Presentation format and agenda”

Question 40: For the oral presentation on-the-spot scenario, are Offerors permitted to develop and display new slide/presentation material in response to Element A4, or shall Offerors leverage previous A1-A3 slide content only?

Answer: Offerors may develop slides to present their approach for Element A4. Offerors will be given 15 minutes to prepare their answer for Element A-4. See section L “Oral Presentation format and agenda”

Question 41: No page count or limit has been identified for the Cost Narrative or Cost Supporting Documentation. Will the Government please confirm there is no page limit for the Cost Volume?

Answer: There is no page limit.

Question 42: [Section F, Delivery Schedule, Line Items 6000AA–6004AA] [“Option Line Item 6002AA Period of Performance From 15 Jun 2029 To 14 Jun 2030” and “Option Line Item 6003AA Period of Performance From 15 Jun 2029 To 14 Jun 2030”] Question: Will the government please correct Section F to reflect five consecutive 12-month performance periods and clarify the intended start and end dates for Option Year 2 and Option Year 3?

Answer: 6002AA will be revised to 15 Jun 2028 to 14 Jun 2029 in the forthcoming RFP Amendment.

Question 43: [Section L, L-328] [“OFFERORS SHALL NOT DEVIATE FROM THE LABOR

CATEGORIES AND NUMBER OF LABOR HOURS LISTED FOR EACH PERFORMANCE

PERIOD IN THE PRICING MODEL.” and “Proposals that do not reflect the exact labor categories and number of labor hours per labor category prescribed in the Pricing Model may be rejected without further consideration.”] Question: Will the government please confirm whether offerors may (a) rebalance labor hours across labor categories within a performance period, or

(b) adjust the labor mix to reflect an alternate technical approach, provided total hours remain unchanged, or whether any such change will be deemed a deviation subject to rejection?

Answer: The RFP states: If the offeror has reason to believe that the estimated level of effort (labor hours and/or labor categories) may be overstated or understated, the offeror shall notify the Contracting Officer in writing prior to the closing of the period for questions. Within this notification, the offeror shall provide a detailed basis for the proposed revision(s). If the Government finds the rationale to be sound /compelling, the Government will amend the solicitation accordingly. Proposals that do not reflect the exact labor categories and number of labor hours per labor category prescribed in the Pricing Model may be rejected without further consideration. If the Offeror believes rebalancing is necessary, they should follow the guidance provided above as soon as possible so it can be addressed in a timely manner. As the resultant task order awarded from this RFP will be CPFF “level of effort,” offerors should pay close attention to section B “Fee Determination and Payment” text: “the Contractor may utilize any mix of labor categories in performing the required effort”.

Question 44: [Section C, 8.5 Enhanced Security Controls] [“The contractor shall not process, store, or transmit controlled unclassified information (CUI) … on any information system and IT asset that is owned, or operated by or for, the contractor.”] Question: Will the government please clarify whether contractor personnel may use contractor-owned endpoints for remote access to government systems (for example, VDI) when CUI is not processed, stored, or transmitted on the endpoint, and identify the approved remote access methods, if any, for after-hours production support?

Answer: No they may not use contractor owned endpoints.

Question 45: [Section C, 3.2 Production Support] [“The contractor shall provide production system operational support on a 24-hour per day, 7 days per week (24x7) basis. Response time to after-hours support calls should be within 2 hours … worked from home … This assumes that vendors have the tools to connect securely from the home site.”] Question: Will the government please clarify the government’s expected baseline for “tools to connect securely from the home site” at contract start (for example, government-furnished remote access versus contractor-provided, government-approved solutions), and whether 24x7 response is expected for all production support personnel or only designated on-call roles?

Answer: The government will provide the contractor with government-owned computers with software to connect securely from the home site. The contractor will determine who from their personnel will be on call to fulfill the government’s requirement for 24x7 production support.

Question 46: For staffing and onboarding planning, does the Government have expectations regarding workforce transition and continuity of operations during contract start-up?

Answer: No later than three days after contract award, the offeror should begin to coordination with SAAR access request while keeping the government informed on progress. This requirement will be added to the PWS as 8.6 SAAR Plan in the forthcoming RFP amendment.

Question 47: Will the Government provide access to the documents referenced in the PWS:

A. NIWC Atlantic New Orleans Office Hurricane Preparedness Plan

B. NIWC Atlantic New Orleans Office Disaster Recovery Plan?

Answer: Yes, documents will be provided at the time of award. See PWS section 3.2

Question 48: (e) states the following: Subcontractors shall submit their unsanitized proposal via PIEE Solicitation Module. Subcontractors will have to work with the prime MAC holders to either receive access as a Proposal Manager to load proposals under their CAGE code or provide the subcontractor proposal directly to the Prime contractor. Subcontractors shall send a sanitized proposal directly to the prime offeror. The prime offeror shall use the information in the subcontractor's sanitized proposal to include in the Prime's Pricing Model. (f) In the event proposal submission is necessary via email as discussed in paragraphs (d) and (e) above, proposals may be submitted to the Contract Specialist at john.n.stambaugh2.civ@us.navy.mil and shall be in accordance with the requirements set forth below.

Currently, there is currently not a capability within PIEE for a subcontractor to request or receive a Proposal Manager role for a company they are not aligned under. Would the Government consider confirming, given the current capabilities of PIEE, if subcontractors are permitted to submit their unsanitized packages directly to the Contracting Specialist?

Answer: Subcontractors may submit their unsanitized packages to the Contract Specialist.

Question 49: In the PIEE Solicitation Module, there is no "Add Subcontractor" button for a Prime Contractor to manually link a subcontractor to their proposal submission. Instead, PIEE requires subcontractors to submit their own proprietary data directly to the Government through the portal under their own account/CAGE. Will the Government confirm/verify that subcontractors should create their own separate proposal submission in PIEE under their respective Account/CAGE code? And, to ensure the subcontractor submission is matched to the Prime's bid, would the Government allow subcontractors to include the Prime Contractor's name and CAGE and the RFP number N6523626R3100 number on the first page of every subcontractor document uploaded to PIEE?

Answer: Yes, subcontractors should create their own separate proposal submission and may include the Prime Contractor’s information on the documentation.

Question 50: Given ability for remote orals to leverage a deeper bench of personnel and artificial intelligence (AI) solutions, would the Government consider allowing in-person oral presentations at the contractor’s expense?

Answer: Presentations should be provided via Teams.

Question 51: To prevent attempts by offerors to gain an unfair competitive advantage, will the Government provide additional detailed guidance on oral presentation logistics in the areas A-E listed:

A. Presenter substitutions or alternates

B. The methods used to validate that only three presenters are present to address A4 Orals.

C. Ability for the presentation team to present Orals from physically separated locales.

D. Ability for the orals team to conduct external research in the 15 minutes leading up to providing a formal response

E. Evaluation of deliberation and solutioning discussions before a formal response to A4 is made.

Providing additional guidance would be of direct benefit to the Government by enabling offerors to prepare higher-quality, more focused presentations that clearly demonstrate technical understanding, feasibility, and value.

Answer: A - Substitution requests should be made available to the Government as soon as possible and should include employer/company, proposed labor category, employee name, phone number, and email address). Presenters must be individuals proposed to perform under any of the labor categories. B – The Presentation team should come on Camera to introduce themselves or if in remote locations logging into “Teams” displays all individuals that are present in the oral presentation meeting. C – The offeror is responsible for coordinating their presentation team and presentation. D – The Government does not manage the offeror during preparation of the approach for Element A4 other than monitoring the 15-minute timeframe requirement. Offerors should leave their camera on with mics silenced during deliberation. In accordance with Factor A technical Understanding “The Government will assess the offeror's technical understanding of the requirements as demonstrated by its descriptions of the processes or approaches used to successfully accomplish the scenarios described in the elements. Responses that demonstrate understanding of innovative/emerging technologies/approaches, increase efficiencies, and/or minimize performance risk are more valuable to the agency.

The Government will evaluate the extent to which the offerors' Factor A proposal (oral presentation) demonstrates understanding and clearly, completely, and accurately describes their technical understanding of the PWS requirements to successfully resolve the scenarios described in the elements, while minimizing performance risk.

E – Same answer as D. Offerors shall not reach back by telephone, email, or another means, to any other personnel or persons for assistance during the oral presentation.

Question 52: If offeror presentations are recorded, will recordings be shared with the offeror after the evaluation period?

Answer: Yes. If recorded a link should pop up in Chat at the end of each oral presentation.

Question 53: Must all three presenters be in the same location, or can they attend from separate locations?

Answer: The Government does not have preference to presenter location while attending via Teams. It should be noted that there shall be meaningful participation by all three personnel conducting the oral presentation.

Question 54: Are speaker notes allowed in the PowerPoint oral presentation slides?

Answer: Yes.

Question 55: Will the Government provide written or formal feedback on Oral Presentations and offerors solutions following the evaluation period?

Answer: No formal feedback will be provided. Offerors may request a Debrief in accordance with 252.215-7016 Notification to Offerors-Post award Debriefings.

Question 56: L-329 Provision does not appear to be in the solicitation or amendment 0001. Will the Government confirm that the provision labeled L-329 should be L-328?

Answer: The correction of L-328 for mention of L-329 will be included in the forthcoming RFP Amendment.

Question 57: Can the government fix the link in column E of the pricing model labor tab to allow for changing the "Contractor/Government" site reference?

Answer: This field should not be modified in the process of preparing the cost proposal.

Question 58: Can the government allow for changes in Column D of the pricing model labor tab to allow for sites other than New Orleans, LA to be referenced?

Answer: The updated pricing models are attached in RFP Amendment 0002.

Question 59: The subcontractor template currently only allows for cost plus entry. Can the government advise how time and material subcontractors should fill out this required attachment?

Answer: The offeror may hard type labor rate / cost entries and remove fee from the calculations in the sheet.

Question 60: Can the government waive the requirement for other than cost plus subcontractors to fill out Attachment 2 Subcontractor Pricing Model due to it being built for cost plus build up?

Answer: See Answer 59.

Question 61: Both the Prime and Subcontractor Pricing models are pre-loaded with an escalation rate of 3.0% on the Contractor Inputs tab. Is this value provided by the government and not to be adjusted/changed, or can this cost element be adjusted (within reason) to support our pricing strategy?

Answer: All labor categories shall be escalated for the option years. Offerors shall use an annual labor escalation rate of at least 3.0% for each option year for the SCLS labor categories, which are subject to the applicable wage determinations. For professional labor categories, offerors should propose an escalation rate based on historical data, employment/price indexes, or those accepted by Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA) or Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA) for proposal purposes. The narrative to the Cost/Price Proposal must include supporting information and rationale for professional escalation rates.

Question 62: In reference to Section 3.2 Production Support - What application is being used to maintain the physical and logical data models of systems listed in Section 3.8?

Answer: CAMEO MBSE tool

Question 63: In reference to Section 3.4 Software Changes - Is there set number of production migration releases scheduled during the Period of Performance for each application?

Answer: The systems generally release software on a quarterly basis for non-emergency changes.

Question 64: In reference to Section 3.4 Software Changes - Are all systems listed in Section 3.8 currently using Dimensions for source and executable management (and/or must they use Dimensions)?

Answer: Serena Dimensions and GitLab.

Question 65: General - Are there any Key Performance Parameters defined for the systems included in the Performance Work Statement (PWS)?

Answer: Offerors should review the PWS, consider the topic, and how it relates to the performance requirements and address all technical elements accordingly.

Question 66: Response Element A3 - For legacy application migrations/lift-and-shift efforts, what DoD Impact Level (IL4, IL5, or IL6) are the applications expected to operate at post-migration?

Answer: IL5, IL6

Question 67: Response Element A3 - For legacy applications undergoing cloud migration using a lift-and-shift approach, which accredited hosting environment will the applications transition to (e.g., ADE, NSIPS, Salesforce, or other)?

Answer: AWS Gov Cloud offered by Cloud CITI; & AWS Gov Cloud offered by NAVAIR

Question 68: Response Element A3 - Will any new AWS cloud environments be required under this effort, and if so, will those environments require a new ATO or operate under an existing ATO via inheritance?

Answer: Yes, some new AWS cloud environments will be required. The government has been working to acquire new ATOs for the AWS cloud environment for each system.

Question 69: In reference to PWS Section 3.2 Production Support / Cloud Hosting & Modernization- Will applications be migrated to SaaS (SalesForce, PeopleSoft, other) or modernized for containerization in other RPOC/DEVSECOPS environments?

Answer: No, not at this time.

Question 70: In reference to PWS Section 3.2 – Production Support / Cloud Hosting & Modernization - Is Tier 1, 2 or 3 help desk a requirement for production systems? If so, what are the service level agreements for response and resolution metrics and standards?

Answer: Yes

Question 71: Section L of the solicitation (Factor A – Technical Understanding, pages 11–13) states that offerors are to submit a one-page TechRequest identifying the three individuals who will participate in the oral presentation, and that technical understanding will be evaluated solely through the oral presentation itself. To ensure full compliance, could the Government please confirm that by the proposal due date of 20 February 2026, no additional written or electronic technical materials (including presentation slides or technical narratives) are required to be submitted for Factor A beyond the one-page TechRequest identifying the oral presenters?

Answer: The TechRequest as described in the RFP is the only file for Factor A.

Question 72: Could the Government please confirm whether offerors should expect to receive an email notification after proposal submission to schedule their Factor A oral presentation based on the information provided in the TechRequest?

Answer: Yes, the Government will email to schedule oral presentations.

Question 73: Beyond the one-page TechRequest identifying oral presenters, are offerors required to submit any presentation materials (e.g., slides) to the Government in advance of the scheduled oral presentation, or will presentation materials be provided only during the live oral session?

Answer: No presentation materials are to be provided with proposal submissions. Only a slide show is utilized during oral presentations.

Question 74: After submission of the TechRequest, will all compliant offerors be scheduled for a Factor A oral presentation, or will the Government conduct a preliminary review and select only certain offerors to proceed to the oral presentation phase?

Answer: The Government will perform an initial compliance assessment of the offerors' proposals against the submittal requirements of Section L of the solicitation. If an offeror fails to assent to any of the terms and conditions of this RFP, proposes additional terms or conditions, or fails to submit any of the information required by this solicitation, then the proposal may be eliminated from the competition without further consideration or evaluation. In addition, this requirement is set-aside for Small Business Seaport contract holders. The Government will check offeror representations to determine if the Offeror meets these requirements prior to scheduling oral presentations.