20250306_U_SABER_III_RFI_QnA.pdf

UNCLASSIFIED

Question # Category Question(s) Answer(s)

1 General Given the growth of the SABER II mission, can the Government confirm that the intent is to release this opportunity as full and open?

While the exact contracting strategy has not yet been determined, the Government is considering all options including a full and open competition and is open to recommendations during the RFI period.

2 General Could you please confirm whether this opportunity is a Single BPA or a Multiple BPA ?

At this time, the contracting strategy has not been determined and the Government will consider recommendations for single or multiple-award BPA.

3 General Could you please provide Contract value of this opportunity?

NGA has categorized SABER III as a LOW value effort (i.e. under $30M). This is subject to change as the requirements are refined.

4 General

Is there an incumbent on this contract? If so, please provide the incumbent name, current contract number, Period of performance, Value of the contract ?

SABER II was a Small Business Set-aside under GSA MAS.

5 General

Why has NGA chosen a Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA) over an IDIQ contract structure?

Would the government consider an IDIQ to allow broader competition, especially for small businesses, while still maintaining streamlined ordering?

While the exact contracting strategy has not yet been determined, the Government is considering all options and is open to recommendations during the RFI period. While historically the requirement was awarded as an IDIQ, the Government is considering a BPA to address challenges encountered on SABER

II.

6 General

What measures will NGA implement to prevent Organizational Conflict of Interest (OCI) from restricting software development vendors from bidding on future sustainment, integration, or enhancement contracts?

The Government expects the contractor to identify potential and actual OCI, and utilize NDAs for developers, employ appropriate firewalls and/or other mitigation strategies to mitigate OCI concerns.

7 General

How will NGA ensure compliance with the 50% cost rule (FAR 52.219-14) for small business primes in a BPA environment, where large firms may dominate task orders?

The Government will conduct surveillance of contract performance to ensure that the contractor(s) are adhering to the terms of the contract, to include subcontractor participation.

8 General

Can the government provide the anticipated SABER III acquisition timeline and release and submission dates for the final RFP (FRFP)? How long will the response time be for the FRFP?

If a solicitation is released, NGA anticipates award on or before the first quarter of CY 2026. Response time for any solicitation has not yet been defined.

9 General

We would like to confirm whether this opportunity is open to small business prime contractors or if there are subcontracting opportunities available under the BPA structure?

While the exact contracting strategy has not yet been determined, the Government is considering all options including a full and open competition and is open to recommendations during the RFI period. SABER II was a Small Business Set-aside under GSA MAS.

10 General Please clarify where SCIF access will be required.

For the purposes of the RFI, the SCIF(s) shall be located in the Saint Louis, MO and/or Washington DC geographical area within a 50 mile distance from the associated NGA facility. SCIFs must be NGA accredited for coe.ic.gov.

11 General Is there government SCIF space available or will the vendor need to provide SCIF access?

For purposes of this RFI, the contractor should anticipate the possibility of being required to have an accredited SCIF with sufficient seating for the entirety of the contractor team. While some seating at a Government SCIF have been made available in the past, seating availability is dynamic and is anticipated to be limited.

12 General Approximately how often would vendor developers use the SCIF during the BPA?

Specific allocation is dependent upon the specific product/project. Contractors should be ready to support the possibility of full-time in a SCIF.

13 General

Is the government's intent to award small businesses a portion of the BPA that will be set aside as a track of work or will all potential work be set aside based on the future tasks as they are presented post award?

While the exact contracting strategy has not yet been determined, the government is considering all options. If SABER III is released under a set-aside, the Government anticipates all SABER III tasks to fall under the set-aside.

14 General How many awards does the government intend to make?

At this time, the contract strategy has not been determined and the Government will consider recommendations for single or multiple award BPA.

15 General Is the award of 5 years a single period not renewable? Is there an on-ramp or off-ramp consideration?

While the exact contracting strategy has not yet been determined, the Government is considering all options and is open to recommendations during the RFI period.

16 General is it anticipated that only unclassified development be done at contractor site? Or will a DD-254 be provided based on facility needs?

The appropriate DD254 will be issued.

17 General Will the government sponsor a SCIF based on the award of the BPA so that a company who will provide cleared workforce be properly sponsored?

No. A SCIF will be required at time of award.

18 General

Will the government be ensuring that the contractors that provide Security and Accreditation is non conflicted with the development contractors being accredited?

The Government expects the contractor to identify potential and actual OCI, and utilize NDAs for developers and employ appropriate firewalls and/or other mitigation strategies to mitigate OCI concerns.

19 RFI

Is there any flexibility or additional guidance for vendor personnel who are in the process of obtaining TS/SCI clearance?

All vendor proposed personnel must possess the necessary security clearances at time of award.

SABER III RFI Q&A

20 RFI

Are there further details regarding the use of a SCIF for vendor developers beyond what is outlined in the

RFI?

There are no additional details at this time.

21 RFI

Could you elaborate on the evaluation criteria for the white paper responses? Specifically, are there elements within the Comment Matrix that you would like us to focus on?

No, the Government is simply providing an opportunity for industry input on evaluation factors for Government consideration.

22 RFI

Is there additional information available regarding the anticipated transition period and key milestones post-award?

A transition period is not being defined by the Government at this time;

transition requirements would be dependent on active and projected projects at the time of award. Key Milestones are identified in the SOW CDRLs table and include staffing plans and kickoff briefs.

23 RFI

Can you provide any insights on the preferred pricing model for subsequent orders (e.g., Time and Materials versus Fixed-Price)?

The RFI is accepting recommendations from vendors.

24 RFI

Are there any recommendations regarding contract terms or conditions that we should address in our response?

The RFI is accepting recommendations from vendors.

25 RFI

Historically, how many projects and contractor staff have been required to support the various DevCorps activities? How many of these projects require 1+ year support?

Hisitorically, SABER II has ranged from 3-11 concurrent projects with 16-40 concurrent contract developers. Typically, projects are 6-18 months in duration.

26 RFI

Is the Comment Matrix included in the 10 page response as part of the White Paper? Does the White paper NTE 10 pages exclude a cover page and 3.1 elements?

The Comment Matrix is excluded from the 10 page response limit. All other elements of the white paper submission count towards the page limit.

27 RFI

How will NGA evaluate past performance for small businesses with relevant DoD and IC experience but no direct NGA contract history? Will past performance from other federal agencies be considered equivalent?

Relevant past performance will be considered in the evaluation of proposals regardless of agency where performed.

28 RFI

We wanted to ask if the government would accept if tables and diagrams could be in a font smaller than 12 point font to allow space for requirements writing.

The Comment Matrix is excluded from the 10 page response limit. All other elements of the white paper submission count towards the page limit. 10 - 12 point font for the Comment Matrix is acceptable.

29 SOW

Could you provide additional details on the specific integration requirements with existing NGA software systems?

Integration requirements are undefined until product/project requests are recieved from internal customer(s). Integration requirements will be defined at the order level.

30 SOW

Are there any particular technologies or methodologies you expect vendors to prioritize?

Technologies and methodologies are determined by internal product/project requests and are not defined at this time. The SOW identifies a full scope of potential technologies that may be leveraged.

31 SOW

Is the Contractor-provided software development staff responsible for conducting ATO and/or cATO?

We are assuming this will be a shared function of the System Owner, ISSO, and AO.

The contract developers may be required to support ATO/cATO functions in collaboration with eventual Operations & Sustainment teams.

32 SOW

Does the government have an estimate of the number of government only, contractor only, and combined software developer teams?

Actual team composition will be determined at the time of order. Every team will have a Government lead in all cases. Historically, SABER II has 3-11 teams developing concurrently.

33 SOW

The SOW references automated software tests but does the government anticipate additional testing support will be needed or will the government rely upon NTO or another internal office for tests prior to production?

No additional support is required, however contractor developers should be familiar with procedures for automated testing as requested in the SOW.

34 SOW

Is the government open to a build low and deploy high software development framework where developer staff can code in an unclassified domain and push to higher domains with appropriate security checks?

Yes, when appropriate, the Government will consider a build low and deploy high model on a project-by-project basis.

35 SOW

Does the government anticipate additional labor categories to account for project management support, requirement analysts, testing and configuration management, system engineering, Cyber Security, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Data Science, or ISSO, etc.?

No. Support in these areas will be provided by the Government or other contracted support.

36 SOW

This section references non-regular duty hours to resolve outages. Does the government anticipate specific key performance indicators (KPIs) involving any potential outage time such as outage time allowable per year, time for resolution, etc.?

The Government anticipates establishing KPIs specific to project/products as they are identified in individual orders.

37 SOW

Will DevCorps' be constructing teams as needed or as defined? Based on technical requirements to perform completion tasks? Or for on going development in a as needed basis?

DevCorps will construct teams when requested and as needed on a product/project basis.

38 SOW

Will the government provide industry with a list of GOTS, COTS, and FOSS that is used today in a bidder's library? Will the government provide current analytic, collection, foundation, and enterprise capabilities and identified needs or other reference documents in the bidder's library?

The Governments intends to limit the bidder's library to include only the documents deemed necessary for a constructive solicitation response. Should SABER III be solicited, vendors will have an opportunity to submit solicitation questions at that time.

39 SOW

Are there specific NIST standards you are identifying?

No. Contractors are expected to employ standards as relevant to the situation.