CIO-CS_-_Complete_Response_to_Questions_and_Comments_-_Amendment_0003.pdf

Amendment 0003 – Complete Response to Questions and Comments

Complete Response to Questions and Comments received under Request for Proposal NIHJT2014002 for CIO-CS

Following are remaining responses to questions and comments received in response to the Request for Proposal (RFP) NIHJT2014002, entitled, “Chief Information Officer – Commodities and Solutions (CIO-CS). The sequence numbers for each section continue from the sequence numbers provided in the Partial Response to Questions and Comments Received that was provided in Amendment 0002 to the RFP.

Consistent with the partial responses provided in Amendment 0002, several questions were slightly modified in order to clarify intent. Further, similar questions/comments were consolidated, where practical. The government did not respond to questions that asked the government to assess specific contractor technical capability.

Section L – Proposal Instructions

Sequence Solicitation Reference

Question/Comment Response

62. L.4.3 Are offerors required to upload their OEM Authorized Reseller certificates for Attachment J.7?

No, Authorized Reseller certificates are not required for OEM’s listed in Attachment J.7.

OEM Authorized Reseller certificates are only required for the commodities and solutions proposed in Attachment J.4.

63. L.3.1 and L.3.2.f

Is there a file naming convention for these backup documents?

Yes. The solicitation has been amended.

64. L.4.1.b To what criteria does this statement refer?

Does its response refer to the compliance matrix in particular, or to the applicable proposal section?

The criteria are stated in the Compliance Checklist.

As stated in Section L.4.1 (b), the offeror shall cross reference the Compliance Checklist items to the appropriate section and page number in its proposal.

65. L.2.1.g Please confirm that the specific requirement for Technical Industry Specifications (TIS) in Attachment J.8 takes precedence over the general requirement of Section L.2.1.g.

The TIS instructions in Attachment J.8 are not relevant to Section L.2.1.g

66. L.4.3 Do the letters from our manufacturers have to reference specific products we are proposing or may we simply provide general letters of supply from manufacturers from which we are proposing products?

Letters of Supply are not acceptable; the requirement is to provide an OEM certification stating that you are an authorized reseller.

The OEM certification does not have to list each product.

67. L.4.3 May offerors provide letters from our distribution partners, through which we have access to in this section?

Letters from distribution partners are not acceptable.

68. L4.3 Would the Government consider allowing offerors to propose discounts in sub-groups?

No. Offerors shall propose discounts at the group level.

69. L4.3 Will NITAAC accept a VARs’ line card which includes all manufacturers it is authorized to sell in lieu of letters of supply?

No.

70. L.1.1.B.5

Please define express.

Does the government mean expressed?

No, express is the correct term. An express warranty is the seller’s promise to repair or replacement for covered components during a specified time period.

71. L.4.5(b) G.5 is Contractor Internet Presence, and G.7 is Delivery Order Procedures.

Please confirm the section to reference is G.7.

The RFP has been amended to correct this reference.

72. L.4.3(a) Does the authorization certificate need to be specific to this contract

(CIO-CS)?

No. The requirement is met by providing evidence from the respective manufacturer substantiating that the offeror is an authorized reseller.

73. L.4.3(a) What constitutes a valid authorization?

The requirement is met by providing evidence from the respective manufacturer substantiating that the offeror is an Authorized Reseller.

74. L.5.e Are the Small Business subcontracting goals required as part of the OEM product itself or can the small business participation be included as part of the additional services to implement, operate and maintain the OEM product (which would be supplemental labor based on client requirements in the task order)?

The offeror has the discretion to determine how to meet the Small Business subcontracting goals.

75. L.4.3(a) Will it be acceptable to use Distribution (Channel) and team partners to provide OEM authorization letters?

No. Evidence that the offeror is an authorized reseller must be provided by the OEM.

76. L.4.3(a) Can offerors list all OEM Certifications and letters of authorization for all teammates?

No. Only the qualifications of the corporate entity submitting the proposal are considered for qualification purposes under this solicitation.

77. L.4.3.a Would the government consider removing the requirement for technical literature to substantiate that commodities meet requirements of the solicitation?

No. The offeror must provide the technical literature it deems applicable to substantiate that the commodities meet the requirements of the Technical Compliance Workbook, Attachment J.4.

78. L.4.3 Table 8

What is the National Institutes of Health's (NIH) definition of Point of Care Information Systems?

Several articles that describe Point of Care Information Systems can be found on the NIH website, www.NIH.gov.

79. L.4.5.c.6 May the offeror propose a different discount percentage for each group, even in the same category?

For example, the discount for Category 2- Group A can be 10% and Category 2- Group B can be 12%.

Yes.

80. L.4.5.c.6 Is the percentage discount given to a group (i.e.

Printers) to be the same for every item in that group?

Yes.

81. L.4.5.c.6 Is an Offeror allowed to generate sub-categories to propose various discounts on similarly classified products that officer a greater variety of capabilities (i.e. Printer, Color, 20,000 page duty cycle (10% discount) vs. Printer, Color, 300,000 page duty cycle, with additional paper tray and saddle- finisher (25% discount)?

No.

82. L.4.5.c.6 Will Offerors be permitted to allocate varying discounts per Category to provide the Government with a greater pricing advantage?

Yes. Offerors are permitted to offer varying discounts per Category.

83. L.4.5.c.6 Will Offerors be permitted to allocate varying discounts (i.e. range 2-5%) per Sub-grouping to provide the Government with a greater pricing advantage per product item or service?

No.

Section M – Evaluation Factors

Reference

Question/Comment Response

23. M.2.2.a.2.b Can a VAR propose two separate OEM Authorized Resellers for a particular commodity solution?

Yes, VARs are encouraged to provide multiple OEMs for each commodity solution.

24. M.1.1(2) Is it sufficient to provide authorized reseller certificates and/or letters of supply, or is an OEM program title also required?

As stated in Section L.4.3(a), Offerors proposing as VARs are required to provide evidence from the respective manufacturer substantiating that they are authorized resellers for all products the offeror proposes to resell under the contract except for Categories 2 and 4 of the Technical Compliance Workbook, for which third-party authorized reseller certifications are acceptable.

25. M.1.1.(2) Although subcontractor past performance is not being evaluated, can a prime use a subcontractor’s Authorized Reseller Certification to meet requirements for proposed items in the Technical Compliance Workbook?

No, only the qualifications of the corporate entity submitting the proposal are considered for qualification purposes under this solicitation.

26 Page M-3, Para M.1.5:

Separate Evaluation of OEMs and VARs and Attachment J.1

Must an OEM propose pricing for ALL Groups included in a Category to meet this requirement?

Yes.

Section J – Attachment J.1 Pricing Workbook and Attachment J.4 Technical Compliance Workbook

Reference

Question/Comment Response

51. Attachment J.1 - Category 8

Will the government remove the requirement "cover replacement costs if stolen, theft, lost or damaged, at user's fault.”? Replacement cost at user's fault due to stolen, theft, lost or damaged is offered through wireless equipment insurance with a deductible at an additional charge.

The requirement stands as written.

52. Attachment J.1 - Category 7

a. Item 8.A.1, cell J9, requires us to provide a yearly discounted extended price, but the formula (=H9*E9) will not yield a yearly price.

Please advise on how to proceed, which may include issuing an amended worksheet.

b. Item 8.A.2, cells H18 and J18, do not specify monthly and yearly. Do you want both monthly and yearly? If so, cell J18 has the same formula problem as J9

c. Item 8.A.1 says number of phones is 1 with a Year 1 quantity of 30,000, but then Item 8.A.2 says number of phones is 5 with a Year 1 quantity of 2,000, leaving us asking whether you want us to price 10,000 devices. If you do not want us to price 10,000 8.A.2 devices, please clarify why the workbook specifies 5 phones.

d. For Category 8, Telecom Plans, you supplied space to price only 1 carrier; does that mean you want only 1 Letter of Supply (LoS) from 1 carrier?

a. The Pricing Workbook has been amended to address points a.-c.

d. Yes, the Government only requires one Authorized Reseller certification per Carrier.

53. Attachment J.1 - Category 7

Is the Discounted Price required to be less than or equal to the GSA Schedule Price (if GSA schedule is applicable)?

Yes, please see amend solicitation section L.4.5 Volume III – Pricing (Factor 4).

54. Attachment J.4

It appears that there are only one or two places for solutions/products to be placed in the Technical Compliance Matrix; how should we address the issue of responding with multiple solutions/products for each Category?

The Offeror shall provide, what it considers to be its best value solution in Attachment J.4 Technical Compliance Workbook, additional commodity solutions can be added to Attachment J.8 Product List.

55. Category 4

- Group B

Can the catalog unit price be the offeror's established public catalog?

Yes.

56. Category 8 Tab

Is the Discounted Price required to be less than or equal to the GSA Schedule Price (if GSA schedule is applicable)?

The requirement stands as written.

57. "Pricing Workbook- Category 7

– Group B

7.B.1

7.B.2

The configurations in the pricing workbook and the technical compliance workbook are represented as bundles of multiple storage amounts (10TB and 100TB for the two different configurations). However, there is a Quantity component in the pricing workbook. For example, Configuration 7.B.1 shows the configuration as 10TB of production data storage and 10TB of Backup/Archival storage. However, the quantity for the pricing component indicates 500.

Does this mean it is NIH's desire to have representative pricing for 500 * 10TB of production and 500 * 10TB of backup/archive storage?

The Government has updated the Technical Compliance Workbook to specify specific storage quantities for backup and archival storage solutions.

58. Category 2

- Group B

Is this a single user license for the Email server and instant messaging access?

It is the Government's intent to evaluate the purchase 50 email and messaging licenses bundles consisting of 5,000 individual user licenses.

59. Page J-1, Attachment J.8, Products List

The Products List does not include a category for extended warranty support.

This is at the discretion of the offeror.

60. Page J-1, Attachment J.4, Technical Compliance Workbook (v2), Category 1, Group A – Laptop (Power User), Item 1.A.2-03

The CPU change from Amendment 2 to 2.4 GHz quad-core will exclude many OEMs from bidding compliant systems, thereby limiting open competition. As written, this specification is vendor restrictive.

The Government has updated Attachment J.4 Technical Compliance Workbook 1.A.2-03 to

2.2 GHz.

61. Page J-1, Attachment J.4, Technical Compliance Workbook (v2), Category 1, Group B – All-in-One Desktop, Item 1.B.2-

The addition of viewing size and a 24” minimum specification will exclude many OEMs from bidding compliant systems, thereby limiting open competition. As written, this specification is vendor restrictive.

The Government has updated Attachment J.4 Technical Compliance Workbook 1.B.2-02 to 23”.

62. Page J-1, Attachment J.4, Technology Compliance Workbook (v2), Category 1, Group B – Monitor #1, Item 1.B.4-

The maximum weight of “Less than 8 lbs.” is very difficult for vendors to comply with and will exclude many OEMs, thereby limiting open competition. As written, this specification is vendor restrictive.

The Government has updated Attachment J.4 Technical Compliance Workbook 1.B.4-07 to Less than 15 lbs.

63. Page J-1, Attachment J.1: Pricing Workbook

May an Offeror receive an award in a particular category if the Offeror does not provide pricing for all mandatory configurations in all Groups in that Category? Will a partial offering be evaluated and considered for award under each Category?

No, the offeror shall provide pricing on all items in all Groups within the Category.

64. Page, L-16, Para L.4.1 (a): OEM

If an offeror qualifies as an OEM under Categories 1-6, does the Offeror have to also meet the requirements of an OEM under Category 7 and/or 8 as well to propose under those Categories?

Yes, an offeror proposing as an OEM must qualify as an OEM under each category.

65. Page, L-16, Para L.4.1 (a): OEM

If Offeror must qualify as an OEM based on the requirements of Section L.4.1.(a) for each Category, will NIH consider allowing Offerors qualified as OEM’s under Category 1-6 to meet the Category 7 requirements using a minimum revenue in dollars versus percentage of revenue?

No, the requirement remains as stated.

66. Page L-19, Section:

L.4.3 Volume II, a) Subfactor 1

– Technical Capability

Amendment v2 states that all products in Categories 1 and 6 must be EPEAT Bronze registered or higher, and Energy Star or FEMP-designated. EPEAT has no category for servers.

Requiring EPEAT registration and Energy Star ratings on servers within Category 6 may exclude many OEMs from otherwise bidding compliant systems. As written, this specification is overly restrictive.

The Government has updated Attachment J.4 Technical Compliance Workbook Category 6 to remove the EPEAT requirement.

67. Page L-19, Section:

L.4.3 Volume II, a) Subfactor 1

– Technical Capability

If an OEM bids the minimum of one category, can they include other products that are in other categories in the Product List with the proposal?

Yes.

68. Reference:

CIO-CS

Technical Compliance Workbook (v2), Category 1 Group C – Single Function Laser Printer

ITEM 1.C.1, Multi-function Printer: Print, Scan and Copy, minimum specification 1.C.1- 08, Weight: Please change the weight requirement to increase the minimum weight requirement to allow for more competition in this category.

The Government has updated Attachment J.4 Technical Compliance Workbook 1.C.1-08 to Less than 55 lbs.

69. Reference:

CIO-CS

Technical Compliance Workbook version 2, Category 1 Group C – Single Function Laser Printer.

1.C.1-01

This vendor requests that inkjet technology be allowed in place of laser technology for Single Function printing.

The requirement remains as stated.

70. Category 7

- Group A

Is the Offeror permitted to meet the minimum specifications of the VM environments with the hardware and software required AND deliver full SLA compliance (not average performance) with shared services? Specifically what does the government mean by the term "instance"?

"The Government's requirement is for dedicated Government resources, not shared resources.

Instances refer to virtual machines that may reside upon a hardware platform. It is up to the Offeror to provide the best value to the Government in its technical solution that must utilize dedicated Government platforms to provide the specified number of server instances."