CIO-CS_Consolidated_Partial_Response_to_Questions.pdf

Amendment 00002 - Partial Response to Questions and Comments

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

Following are partial responses to questions and comments received in response to the Request for Proposal (RFP) NIHJT2014002, entitled, “Chief Information Officer – Commodities and Solutions (CIO-CS). A subsequent amendment will be posted with responses to the remainder of the questions and comments.

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.

The responses are organized by RFP Section, beginning with a general category.

Section A – Solicitation/Contract Form

Sequence Solicitation Reference

Question/Comment Response

1. SF33 Can an Offeror submit as both a Prime and a Subcontractor?

Yes, there is no restriction that would prevent an offeror from proposing both as a Prime and as a Subcontractor under this solicitation.

2. SF33 Can subcontractors be on multiple teams?

Yes, there is no restriction that would prevent a subcontractor from being a part of multiple proposals under this solicitation.

Section B – Supplies or Services and Prices

Reference

Question/Comment Response

1. B.2 When does NIH anticipate having Executive Agent designation from OMB completed?

NIH anticipates receiving Executive Agent designation prior to the award of the GWAC.

2. B.6 Article B.6 Work Outside of the Continental United States (OCONUS) Is the offeror allowed to restrict their offering of products to only the Continental United States (CONUS)?

A contractor under the GWAC may decide whether or not to propose under delivery orders for OCONUS delivery.

3. B.4 Is the bidder's price list (which contains several million items) to be included in this proposal?

How should this list be submitted (volume location, page restriction, file type, etc.)? How will it be evaluated?

The offeror shall submit their Products List in accordance with Attachment J.8. It will be evaluated in accordance with Section M.2.2 of the solicitation.

4. B.6 Page B2, Paragraph B6, Sentence One states the government has said there will be delivery orders under this contract outside the United States of America plus the District of Columbia. But, the contract states OCONUS is defined as other than 48 contiguous states plus District of Columbia.

Alaska, Hawaii, and the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico are covered under the OCONUS definition of this contract.

Section C – Description/Specifications

Reference

Question/Comment Response

1. C.5 Router requirements look to be out of scope for all of the Categories/Groups and associated Commodities within the RFP. This omission appears to be an oversight as routers were called out in the CIO-CS draft RFP.

As detailed under Article C.5 - Scope, the scope of the GWAC includes the provisioning of IT commodities and solutions as they apply to supporting the general fields of IT. The table under Section L.4.3. is not meant to be an all-inclusive list, rather it provides a list of example commodities that may be considered in the scope of the contract.

2. C.5 There do not appear to be any requirements reflected within the CIO-CS RFP for firewalls.

Firewalls are out of scope for all of the Categories/Groups and associated Commodities in the

RFP.

As detailed under Article C.5 - Scope, the scope of the GWAC includes the provisioning of IT commodities and solutions as they apply to supporting the general fields of IT. The table under Section L.4.3. is not meant to be an all-inclusive list, rather it provides a list of example commodities that may be considered in the scope of the contract.

3. C-2 Categories illustrated in technical capability, Article C.5, technical compliance workbook, and pricing workbook have different commodity elements. Can you confirm the correct version?

The solicitation has been amended to clarify.

4. C-5 Please confirm that all installation, relocation and training services will be quoted at the delivery order level.

Contractors may propose such services under their Products list, Attachment J.8. Please also refer to the Pricing Workbook.

5. C-8 Please provide more specific details on each of the following reports: Award and Modification Report, Quarterly Activity Report, NIH Contract Access Report, and Contractor Profile Report. For each report, what information is required and what format is expected? Would the government please provide a template or example of each report?

As noted under Article C.8 these reports are submitted electronically through the NIH e-GOS system. Additional information will be provided upon award of the contract.

6. C-8 Will the government allow the contract admin fee to be included in CLIN pricing, as noted in the draft RFP?

Yes. Article G.8 has been amended.

7. C-2 Software as a Service was discussed in this section and we would like to include it in the Product List. It could fall under multiple software categories.

What should we put in Column C in the Product List file?

This is a decision that is discretionary on the part of the offeror.

8. C-2 Will the government allow contractors to update the Pricing Workbook to allow for pricing of both deployment models? For the On-Premise Model or the Managed Service Model?

No.

9. C-2 In previous versions of the draft RFPs there was a designation as to which Category each commodity was associated. Can the government indicate if that was intended to allow Offerors to decide or was that an omission?

The Categories and commodities that may be included are now in Section L of the solicitation.

10. C-6 If one of the listed elements of a.

through g is Not Applicable should the Offeror indicate as such to be compliant?

As stated in Article C.6, these standards are applicable at the delivery order level.

11. C-5 The compliance list includes FEDRAMP and HIPAA; are offerors to assume that FEDRAMP applies to Category 7 and HIPAA applies to Category 5?

This will be determined at the delivery order level.

12. C-2 Is specialized and peripheral equipment that is utilized in telemedicine considered to be part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Information Technology (IT) Commodities?

As detailed under Article C.5 - Scope, the scope of the GWAC includes the provisioning of IT commodities and solutions as they apply to supporting the general fields of IT. The table under Section L.4.3. is not meant to be an all-inclusive list, rather it provides a list of example commodities that may be considered in the scope of the contract.

13. C.5 What categories and groups are telecommunications equipment to be listed in?

The commodities listed under the categories in Section L.4.3 are examples which can be used as guidance.

14. Section C Will NITAAC consider additional labor categories in support of higher-level strategic planning and support?

Article C.7 describes the value added services associated with the scope of work. Services such as strategic planning are more suitable for CIO-

SP3.

15. C.7 Table 2 specifies due dates of the 15th of the month following the close of option. However, in the previous paragraph you stated that you need these reports 10 days after the end of month.

Which one is correct

Last subparagraph (e) of Article C.8 states that Table 2 is only applicable to the reports listed in subparagraphs (b) through (d) of that Article.

16. L.3.1 Volume II (a)

There is a reference to manufacturer certifications in Article C.6". Article C.6 does not mention manufacturer certifications. The term manufacturer certifications � appears only in reference to Attachment J.7. Please clarify.

The solicitation has been amended accordingly.

17. C.8(a) Please clarify “delivery orders and modifications issued.”

Article C.8 has been amended accordingly.

18. J.8 What category should Software as a Service be classified in Column C in the Product List file?

This is left to the offeror’s discretion.

19. C.5 The On-Premise Model and the Managed Services Model may have different prices. To ensure that offeror pricing meets the government's needs, will the government please clarify whether pricing should be for the On-Premise Model or the Managed Service Model? Or will the government update the Pricing Workbook to allow for pricing of both deployment models?

The deployment models in Article C.5 refers to the scope of the contract. Offerors must price the items in the Pricing Workbook, Attachment J.1, as specified.

20. C.6 The compliance list includes FEDRAMP and HIPAA; are offerors to assume that FEDRAMP applies to Category 7 and HIPAA applies to Category 5?

This will be determined on a delivery order basis.

21. C.5 Is specialized and peripheral equipment that is utilized in telemedicine considered to be part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Information Technology (IT) Commodities?

This will be determined on a case-by-case basis.

22. C.6 Subparagraph B and E, please clarify what level of certification you are requesting for these items.

This will be determined at the delivery order level.

Section D – Packaging and Marking

Reference Question/Comment Response

There were no questions or comments for this section.

Section E – Inspection and Acceptance

Question/Comment Response

Sequence Solicitation Reference

1. Section E Will the Government please revise this statement as follows:

Acceptance may be presumed unless otherwise indicated in writing by the Contracting Officer or the duly authorized representative within 30 days of receipt? Acceptance will be what is offered with the commercial product unless indicated in writing by the Contracting Officer or the duly authorized representative. Many products including software and PaaS/IaaS have acceptance upon download or within a few days of delivery. Imposing a 30 day acceptance means extending the warranty by 30 days, increasing the cost of the product for the Government.

Making a change to the RFP will provide the lowest costs to the Government and provide flexibility on the delivery order basis.

No. The Government is not establishing a 30 day acceptance requirement but rather the maximum period of acceptance that can be specified in a delivery order under the GWAC. Specific acceptance criteria are specified in individual delivery orders.

2. Section E The last sentence states acceptance may be presumed unless otherwise indicated in writing by the contracting officer or duly authorized representative within 30 days of receipt.

Considering that the military normally uses the DD-254 for acceptance, is NIH taking precedence over this requirement?

The solicitation has been amended for clarification.

Section F – Deliveries or Performance

Reference

Question/Comment Response

1. F.2 Paragraph 1 speaks to a maximum delivery order period of 120 months.

Paragraph 2 speaks to a 60 month period.

Please provide a clarification or example of how the two paragraphs will operate together in practice.

As stated in paragraph 1 of Article F.2, the total contract length of any delivery order issued under this GWAC may not exceed 120 months, including options. Paragraph 2 states that a delivery order may extend up to 60 months beyond the expiration date of the GWAC.

2. F.4.1 Is the price list referenced in this article the same as the Product List, J.8?

Yes, the solicitation has been amended to clarify this.

3. F.4 Shipping and transportation costs vary based on the product type, weight, and distance. Are the shipping and transportation costs included specifically for this proposal response or will all offeror catalog prices include shipping and transportation costs?

Please refer to Article F.5.1. For evaluation purposes, all commodities proposed shall be priced F.O.B. destination Washington D.C.

4. F.5.1 What is the preferred method of shipment to be used?

It is up to the offeror to determine what method of shipping to employ in order to meet the delivery requirement as articulated in Article F.4 of the

Section G – Contract Administration Data

Reference

Question/Comment Response

1. G.8 There is a discrepancy between Article G.8 that requires NCAF payments to be due “on or before the 10th calendar day of each month for all payments received from the government in the previous month” and Article C.6.e that states that “the contractor shall certify NCAF payments through e-GOS on a quarterly basis.” Please clarify whether the NCAF fee is to be paid, i.e., quarterly or monthly.

The solicitation has been amended to clarify this requirement.

2. G.8 Will the Government change the NCAF payment from "on or before the 10th calendar day of each for all payments received from the government in the previous month to the "30th calendar day" to allow the contractor sufficient time to process the sales data for the previous month to properly account for and remit the NCAF?

No, the requirement remains as stated.

3. G.7 Does the government intend to award a minimum number of contracts to each defined socioeconomic class to enable the ability to conduct competition on a set aside basis for all socio-economic classes?

There is not a minimum number of contracts to be awarded for each socio-economic group. Section M.1.6 has been added for clarification.

4. G.7.2(c)

Does the government intend to allow socioeconomic set asides under this program, which would further limit the competitive landscape beyond the defined small business criteria?

As stated under Article G.7.2(c)(4), OCOs may at their discretion, set aside orders for any of the small business concerns identified in FAR 19.000(a)(3).

5. G.7.2(c)

Please confirm that OCOs will not be able to compete delivery orders to both VARs and OEMs simultaneously. For example, they must pick one track or the other.

OCOs will have the discretion to determine the acquisition strategy, including whether the competition will include VARs, OEMs or both.

Article G.7.2(c) has been amended.

6. G.5 Please clarify what is meant by the “GWAC form”

The solicitation has been amended to clarify this.

7. G.8 Please clarify how the NCAF amount is calculated on delivery orders that use alternative procurement models such as IAAS, PAAS, SAAS or leasing.

The contractor is responsible for calculating and submitting the NCAF in accordance with Article G.8.d that states that the NCAF is calculated against the obligated amount of the delivery order.

Section H – Special Contract Requirements

Reference

Question/Comment Response

1. H.7.3.D.c.3 What are the data types and required access and protection level for NIH system of records?

This is an issue to address under applicable delivery orders.

2. H.14 What transformational services should be considered for technology refreshment?

Please refer to Article C.7, Value Added Services

3. H.7.3.D.c.4 Can you clarify the particular expectations from offeror’s Sr.

Management on IT Security Certification and Accreditation (IT-

SC&A)?

This is an issue to address under applicable delivery orders.

4. H.7.3.D.c.

and H.7.3.A

If proposing a cloud based service, does a FedRAMP provisional- or agency-ATO packages suffice?

This is an issue to address under applicable delivery orders.

5. H.7.3.D. f Many commercial cloud providers do not allow customer access to their facilities. However, they will allow 3rd party auditors (like FedRAMP approved 3rd Party Auditors (3PAO)) access to the facilities, installations, operations, and documentation for auditing purposes. Is this acceptable to

NIH?

This is an issue to address under applicable

6. H.7.3.A

What are the major common services associated with delivery orders that call for solutions that require to meet FedRamp, SCAP, and FIPS Pub security compliance requirements?

This is an issue to address under applicable delivery orders.

7. H-1 FedRAMP is not listed as a requirement for products in the Technical Compliance Workbook for Category 7 Infrastructure and Platform as a Service. Please confirm that it does not apply to the RFP because this is instead listed as a possible delivery order requirement.

This is an issue to address under applicable

8. H.7.3.D.c

Will the government provide templates for the deliverables required in H.7.3 (1-4)?

Such information will be specified under applicable delivery orders (Please refer to the prescription for this subparagraph).

9. H.7.3.B.f

Is the intent of this paragraph to require that a HSPD-12 card reader be delivered with the purchase of every server, desktop and laptop? Or, is the intent to state that if a card-reader is ordered, it must be HSPD-12 compliant?

Such information will be specified under applicable delivery orders (Please refer to the prescription for this subparagraph).

10. H.7.3.E.5 Please identify the NIH Webpage and/or database that the contractor must host. The information page stipulated in Article G-5 is a contractor page with CIO-CS information, but it is not an NIH webpage.

The prescription for this subparagraph states that it is applicable “in delivery orders when the contractor/subcontractor will host NIH web pages or databases.”

11. H-14 Please consider removing this requirement for the contractor to provide to the Government information on commodities that go out of production such as the availability of any remaining stock, length of time the commodity will continue to be supported, make and model of the new commodity when an older item needs to be replaced, and pricing consistent with the discounts offered in the pricing tables.

The solicitation has been amended accordingly.

12. H.14 Please consider removing this requirement for contractors to certify annually that the catalog of items offered under the GWAC is current.

The solicitation has been amended accordingly.

13. H.12.3 Please clarify if additional items added to the contract must meet any minimum warranty terms, or if they can be proposed with the standard OEM warranty terms, as implied by the second sentence in this paragraph. If there are minimum terms, please state them clearly.

Article H.12.3 has been amended to clarify this requirement. See also Article C.7.b.

14. H.3.1 In accordance with FAR 52.219-9, would the Offeror's Commercial Small Business Subcontracting Plan be accepted to meet these requirements or is NITAAC requiring a contract-specific subcontracting plan?

A commercial Small Business Subcontracting Plan that meets the requirements of FAR 52.219-9 is acceptable. Please refer to Section L.5.

15. H.7.3 Please confirm that all applicable HHS Security Requirements, as included in Section H.7.3, will be specified on each delivery order solicitation and award.

Yes. This is an issue to address under applicable

16. H.12.1 May products that are not Energy Star compliant be included on the contract product price list if marked as such?

Yes, except as required under paragraph L.4.3 under the Technical Compliance Workbook.

17. H.18 May products that are not EPEAT Bronze or higher be included on the contract product price list if marked as such?

Yes, except as required under paragraph L.4.3 under the Technical Compliance Workbook.

18. H.7.3.B

Please confirm that all the requirements for IT products listed under H.7.3.B (such as FIPS) do not apply to the requirements for the items listed in the Technical Compliance Workbook for the purposes of this procurement.

Paragraph L.4.3, has been amended to specify which standards apply to products listed in the Technical Compliance Workbook.

19. H.14

Will Contractors be provided a procurement forecast for CIO-CS end users?

No, because the GWAC may be used by all federal agencies.

20. H.7.1

Please verify that section pertains to systems used at HHS only.

Articles H.7.1 and H.7.2 were amended to provide clarity.

21. H.3 Please confirm that if an offeror is submitting a response under NAICS 334111 as a small business VAR they are not required to submit a small business subcontracting plan with their response.

The provisions of Article H.3 are applicable to Other than Small Business Only.

22. H.7.3.B.b The security configuration requirements seem to be omitted.

We respectfully request the Government supply these requirements.

Article H.7.3.B.b has been amended to clarify the requirement.

23. H.7.1 Is the Security plan a separate item from the IT-SP, IT-RA, and FIPS 199 due within 30 days of contract award?

Any required security plans will be specified in individual delivery orders.

24. H.12.3 H.12.3 Warranties: Please confirm that the minimum warranty requirement for items added to the CIO-CS contract post-award is the standard commercial warranty.

Article H.12.3 has been amended.

25. H.7.3 Will a separate DD254 be released for each Delivery Order or for the Primary contract only?

Please refer to Article H.13

26. H.7.3 B What is the timeframe that the contractor shall configure its computers?

Such requirements will be as specified in applicable delivery orders

27. H.7.3 Regarding suitability Investigations will NIH provide the Contact information for the individual responsible for receiving the personnel investigation forms?

Such requirements will be as specified in applicable delivery orders.

28. H.14 If an OEM is awarded for one category, can they add products to other categories post award via the technology refreshment process? If so, how would pricing for the new category be determined?

Yes. Article H.14 has been amended.

The CIO-CS contracting officer will make a fair and reasonable price determination prior to items being added onto the contract.

29. Article H.3 Please correct the subcontracting report date from October 30th to October 31st.

The solicitation has been amended.

30. H.7 Can the Government confirm that the following paragraphs of Article H.7.3 will not apply if the Offeror does not host, or has logical or physical access to government systems or data?

a. Standard for Security Configurations HHSAR 352.239- 70 (January 2010)

b. Standard for Encryption Language HHSAR 352.239-71 (January 2010)

c. Security Requirements for Federal Information Technology Resources HHSAR 352.239-72 (January 2010)

d. Additional NIH Requirements, Sections 2-4

Article H.7.3 specifies the applicability of these provisions.

31. H.12.3 Are warranties required for the items the Offeror proposes? What should be proposed if the Offeror does not offer a warranty?

Article H.12.3 has been amended.

32. Article H.14, paragraph 2

Does the table in H.14 represent all possible Category/Group combinations?

No. Article H.14 has been amended.

Section I – Contract Clauses

Reference

Question/Comment Response

1. I.4(a) Since this RFP is for commercial items, can you confirm that the FAR clauses pertaining to cost and pricing data (specifically FAR 52.215-15 and FAR 52.215-21) will be considered self-deleting?

References to FAR 52.215-15 and 15.215-21 have been deleted.

2. I.1(s) Some manufacturers have required license agreements for their software. Given these can be included in the Order of Precedence in Section I as noted, where should the bidder include such license agreements in the bid? Or would license agreements be handled at the delivery order?

End user licenses are determined at the delivery order level.

3. I.2

Please consider deleting the requirement for FAR 52.222-54, Employment Eligibility Verification under Alternate II paragraph (L) and I.2(e)(x)

Solicitation has been amended to delete requirements under FAR 52.222-54.

4. I.2

In Section I, several FAR clauses are incorporated by reference including 52.223-15 (Energy Star), FAR 52.225-5 (Trade Agreements). However C.6 states that “where applicable and specified at the delivery order level, [emphasis added] the contractor shall ensure compliance with the following: (a) Trade Agreement Act, (b) Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT), (c) Energy Star, (d) Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA), (e) Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FEDRAMP) compliance,

(f) Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) compliance, (g) Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1974.

Please confirm whether all products proposed for CIO-CS in response to this solicitation must be TAA and Energy Star compliant.

Section L.4.3, Subfactor 1 has been amended to clarify requirements for TAA and ENERGY STAR® for evaluation purposes. Otherwise, such requirements will be specified as stated in Article C.6.

Section J.1 – Pricing Workbook

Reference

Question/Comment Response

1. Category 1 - Group A

In an effort to promote open competition would the Government accept an i.5 processor that provides a lower clock speed of at least 1.9ghz?

Offerors may propose items that meet or exceed the Government’s requirements.

2. Category 5 - Group A

Should "Medical Natural Language Processing Tools" be numbered 5.A.3 as it is in the J.4 Technical Compliance Workbook?

The Government has removed this requirement.

3. Category 7 - Group A

What is the definition of a single unit? Is 500 the number of annual user subscriptions? Is it 500 months?

The Government is purchasing 500 monthly units of 10-RHEL instances and 10-Windows instances.

4. J.8 Products List

Please provide instructions for completing the "GSA Schedule Price" field for a product that is not contained on the contractor's own GSA schedule or if the OEM does not have a GSA schedule.

The Offeror shall place 'N/A' in the catalog when no corresponding GSA price exists.

5. Category 1 - Group A

Does interface using a USB docking station meet the docking station requirement?

It is up to the offeror to determine if the product proposed meets the Government’s minimum requirement and provides the best value to the Government.

6. Category 1 - Group B

Please specify the preferred length of the cables to be provided.

Three feet.

7. Category 1 - Group C

Is the Printer required to have all three interfaces?

The Technical Compliance Workbook has been amended.

8. Category 1 - Group C

What is the minimum speed requirement of the Ethernet interface?

Base 100T

9. Category 3 - Group A

Is this to be a single user software license for a stand alone machine?

Yes.

10. Category 5 - Group A

Is the Webcam, as an accessory required to be integrated into the monitor, or can it be a standalone to operate in conjunction with the monitor?

The pricing and technical workbooks have been amended to clarify the requirement.

11. Category 7 - Group A

7.A.02-08 states the storage block capacity is 1TB. Are you saying 7.A.2-09 is equal to 10TB and if so, why is 7.A.2-10 only equal to 512GBs?

The Government has amended the Technical Compliance Workbook to 1TB of storage capacity.

12. Category 7 - Group A

In the pricing workbook, does NIH desire the ANNUAL cost of the service being proposed or the monthly cost for Managed Services? If monthly, how many days should be used to calculate a monthly cost? The description in the pricing indicates monthly charge, but the description of Quantity indicates YEAR 1.

The Offeror shall provide monthly pricing. The pricing workbook has been amended to clarify this requirement.

13. Category 7 - Group B

Many cloud services price storage based on actual utilization. For the purposes of the pricing workbook, does NIH want pricing for storage (both production and backup/archive) based on 100% utilization of the storage from inception of use of the storage service? If pricing is supposed to indicate yearly cost (Quantity is listed as yearly), then should offeror assume that ALL storage will be in use from the first month through the end of the year (i.e.

no ramp-up/ramp-down in utilization of the storage)?

The Offeror shall provide monthly pricing based upon 100% storage utilization.

14. J.1 Pricing Workbook

1. Will the Pricing workbook be used to determine price reasonableness only for the selected solutions indicated?

2. For category 6A On-premise Enterprise Servers are called out but not On-premise Enterprise Storage (a necessary component for compute). Will NITAAC consider adding a category (presumably 6B) for On-premise Enterprise Storage?

1. Yes, the pricing workbook will be used to determine pricing reasonableness.

2. The Government's requirement remain unchanged.

15. Category 8 - Group A

Please confirm the Government wants the catalog unit price as monthly. We assume the Government wants the Year 1 quantity as the number of annual users. The "Discounted Extended Price (yearly) computes the monthly amount "“please see the formula on the worksheet.

The Government has amended the Pricing Workbook to reflect Monthly Charge.

16. Category 7 - Groups A and B

Please confirm the Government is evaluating the Discounted Extended Price as a monthly amount and not annual. We are assuming the Year 1 Quantity is the monthly quantity and not an annual quantity the Government is requesting.

Year 1 Quantity refers to the number of single month instances ordered within a calendar year.

17. Category 1 - Group A

If the base item already includes the item(s) listed as "Upgrades," is the Offeror still required to include the duplicate item(s) in the costs associated with the "Upgrades"?

The pricing and technical workbooks have been amended to clarify the requirement.

18. Category 1 - Group A

If the base item already includes the item(s) listed as "Upgrades," is the Offeror still required to include the duplicate item(s) in the costs associated with the "Upgrades"?

The pricing and technical workbooks have been amended to clarify the requirement.

19. Category 1 - Group B

The Pricing Workbook does not include separate line items for each of the requested Upgrades.

Is it correct to assume that the Government requires Offerors to bundle each of these items into a single Catalog Unit Price rather than offering individual CLINs?

The pricing and technical workbooks have been amended to clarify the requirement.

20. Category 1 -

Please clarify whether the RAM identified in the "Upgrades" section for each laptop and desktop are intended to replace the RAM included in the base system or are intended to be in addition to the RAM included in the base system. For example, the Laptop for Basic User includes 4GB of RAM in the base requirement. The Upgrades section lists 8GB of RAM. Should the offeror assume that the 8GB listed in the Upgrades section is in addition to the 4GB included in the base specification, meaning that the base system must be able to support a total of 12GB if the Upgrade is purchased? Or should the offeror assume that if the RAM 8GB Upgrade is purchased, then the 8GB becomes the total for the system?

The pricing and technical workbooks have been amended to clarify the requirement.

21. Category 1 - Group A

Please clarify whether the Storage Capacity identified in the "Upgrades" section for each laptop and desktop are intended to replace the HDD included in the base system or are intended to be in addition to the HDD included in the base system. For example, the Laptop for Basic User includes a 500GB HDD in the base requirement. The Upgrades section lists a 128GB SSD. Should the offeror assume that the 128GB SSD listed in the Upgrades section is in addition to the 500GB HDD included in the base specification, meaning that the base system must be able to support two hard drives? Or should the offeror assume that if the 128GB SSD Upgrade is purchased, then it replaces the 500GB HDD in the base system?

The pricing and technical workbooks have been amended to clarify the requirement.

22. Category 1 - Group A

Item 1.A.3, Rugged Laptop for Power User, specification 1.A.3- 15, Interfaces: An HDMI interface is required. Not all manufacturers currently include an HDMI interface on their notebooks.

Please allow for this requirement to be met through the inclusion of an HDMI adapter.

Compliance Workbook to Display Port or HDMI.

23. Category 1 - Groups A and B

In both the Technical Compliance Workbook and the Pricing Workbook, Category 1, Groups A and B, all the laptop and desktop configurations include an "Upgrades" section. Column E in the Technical Compliance Workbook allows for a proposed specification to be entered for each unique upgrade requested.

However, Column F combines all upgrades and appears only to allow one Catalog Item Number to be entered for all accessories combined. Is it the government’s intent for the bidder to provide a "bundle" item that includes all accessories together?

The pricing and technical workbooks have been amended to clarify the requirement.

24. Category 1 - Groups A and B

Follow up question to bundling: If the answer to the previous question is that the government is requesting bundles for the accessories, how would the offeror denote the compliance aspects of each individual item included in such a bundle? For example, if a bundle is created that includes RAM, a 128GB SSD, a docking station, a carrying case, and a battery, how would the government like for the offeror to indicate whether each individual item in the bundle is TAA compliant or not?

TAA compliance is required only for Categories 1 and 6.

25. Category 1 - Group C

ITEM 1.C.3, Multi-function Printer:

Print, Scan and Copy, minimum specification 1.C.3-11, Weight:

Please change the weight requirement to reflect "Under 55 lbs." to allow for more competition in this category.

The pricing and technical workbooks have been amended to clarify the requirement.

26. Category 2 - Group A

For Category 2 "Group A, Operating System #3, the government is requesting Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server Full License. However, under Compatibility, the government has listed "UNIX." Please clarify that Linux compatibility is required, not UNIX compatibility. Also, under Model the government has listed "Desktop." Please clarify that the server edition is required, not a desktop edition.

Compliance Workbook to Server.

27. Categories 7 and 8

On the pricing workbook, column J, discounted extended price is monthly rather than yearly according to the preset formula.

Will the government please make a correction on the formula or the column header?

The Pricing Workbook has been corrected to reflect yearly pricing.

28. Category 8 Currently, Apple does not sell iPhones through resellers. Can another manufacturer be submitted, or can resellers opt out of this portion of the pricing workbook?

VARs are not required to propose on Category 8.

29. Category 8 Are the Blackberry requirements for new activations, or simply hardware upgrades?

New activations.

30. Category 8 - Group A

Apple has discontinued the iPhone 5 model, please advise whether the RFP will be amended with another smartphone model.

The Government has amended the Technical Compliance Workbook to 5S.

31. Category 8 - Group A

The RFP states the data plan requested for iPhone is 2GB vs.

12GB for Blackberry Q10. Will the RFP be amended with 2GB for both iPhone and Blackberry Q10?

The Government has amended the Technical Compliance Workbook to 2GB.

32. Category 8 - Group A

Please clarify "Number of Phones", 1 for iPhone 5 and 5 for Blackberry Q10.

The Government has amended the Technical Compliance Workbook to 1 Blackberry Q10.

33. Category 1 - Group A

Although the 8 categories cover many areas of technology there are some areas that may need to be added. How will the IDIQ facilitate adding categories over the next 5 to 10 years as technology changes? One area that may need specific focus is Hosting/SAAS/Cloud - how would this technology sector be added on to the offering after award.

See Clause H.14, Technology Refreshment.

34. J.1 Pricing Workbook

Reference: CIO-CS Pricing Workbook; Column I of the Pricing Workbook requires a GSA Schedule Price to be provided.

Please confirm our interpretation that, for Value Added Resellers (VAR), the GSA Schedule Price is to be provided only when the proposed item is on the offeror's own GSA Schedule or the GSA Schedule of the OEM, and if the item is not on such GSA Schedules, Column I should be left blank.

The Offeror shall place 'N/A' in the catalog when no corresponding GSA price exists.

35. Category 4 - Group B

2. Backup and Recovery software is licensed and priced per the number of cores of the servers on which the software runs or alternatively on the capacity of the data being backed up measured in terabytes. The specifications of the pricing workbook for this item ask for a quote for 15,000 servers without specifying the number of cores per server or the capacity of the data being backed up. How should this item be priced?

For evaluation purposes, the minimum number of cores proposed shall be four (4).

36. Category 4 - Group A

Relational Database Management software is licensed and priced per the number of cores of the servers on which the database runs or alternatively on the capacity of the database measured in terabytes. The specifications of the pricing workbook for this item ask for a quote for 5,000 servers without specifying the number of cores per server or the capacity of the database. How should this item be priced?

For evaluation purposes, the minimum number of cores proposed shall be four (4).

37. Category 6 - Group A

What chassis are the blade servers being installed into? HP, IBM BladeCenter, IBM Flex System, or Dell?

The requirement is for a stand alone blade.

38. J.1 Pricing Workbook

If a vendor is bidding as an OEM are they required to provide pricing for the labor categories called out in the Technical compliance matrix and pricing workbook?

Yes.

39. L.4.6 Volume III "“ Pricing (Factor 4)

There may be multiple OEMs per category with varying discounts per OEM. Some OEMs vary the discount within product "families" such as memory, processor, hard drives, monitors, etc. Will the awardee be required to maintain a single minimum discount per group for each category? If yes, this would force lower discounts for some categories and drive prices higher.

Yes. Additional discount may be offer at the delivery order level.

40. J.1 Pricing Workbook – Labor rates

This differentiates between pricing for government and contractor sites. Could the difference between the two be made a little more clear?

Government site is defined as the primary duty station being provided at a Government provided location. Contractor site is defined as the primary duty station being provided at a Contractor provided location.

41. J.1 Pricing Workbook – Labor rates

Please provide instructions about what bidders should complete on this tab. Do all bidders provide labor rates for all categories or can a bidder choose what if any labor rates they want to bid? How does the Government ensure an even playing field if bidders can choose what, if any, labor rates they want to bid?

Offerors shall propose both on-site and off-site labor rates for all labor categories listed.

42. J.1 Pricing Workbook – Labor rates

In the "NITAAC_CIO- CS_Pricing_Workbook", last tab entitled "Labor", the pricing column is titled "FULLY LOADED LABOR RATE (Contract Year 1)." Please provide the government's definition of "FULLY LOADED" in terms of what is expected to be covered in the quoted rate.

A fixed price labor rate inclusive of all profit and overhead costs.

43. J.1 Pricing Workbook

Is this a typo? Should it say "Catalog Unit Price?" Thank you.

This has been corrected to "Catalog Unit Price."

44. Category 5 - Group A

Two items are identified as 5.A.2.

Our assumption would be that the Medical Natural Language Processing Tools should be referenced as 5.A.3. Is this correct?

The Government has removed this requirement.

45. Category 7 - Group A

It seems that "monthly dimensions" should be "monthly charge". Is this correct?

The Government has amended the Pricing Workbook to reflect Monthly Charge.

46. Category 1, 5 and 6

Each Item includes the following line item "Warranty (above) provided by OEM?" The response is indicated as yes/no, but is not a highlighted field.

Should offerors edit the field to respond appropriately?

The pricing workbook has been amended.

47. J.1 Pricing Workbook – Labor rates

Can the government provide labor category descriptions and representative Government work location for purposes of developing fully loaded labor rate?

Labor Category descriptions are included in the Technical Compliance Workbook tab entitled Labor Category Descriptions. For evaluation purposes, the Offerors shall assume the Washington Metro Area for work locations.

48. Category 2 - Group B Category 3 - Group A

Each Item includes the following line item "Software Assurance (above) provided by OEM?" The response is indicated as yes/no, but is not a highlighted field.

Should offerors edit the field to respond appropriately?

The pricing workbook has been amended.

49. Category 1 - All Groups

Will offerors be required to hold authorized reseller agreements for the individual components that comprise the items listed in the Upgrades Sections? (IE: RAM, Storage, laptop cases, etc")

The pricing and technical workbooks have been amended to clarify the requirement.

50. Category 6 - Group A

What type of optical drive is required?

Super Multi DVD±RW (±R DL) / DVD-RAM

Section J.4 – Technical Workbook

Reference

Question/Comment Response

1. Category 1 - Group A

Does the Government intend to purchase all upgrades at the same time of the original system order?

The pricing and technical workbooks have been amended to clarify the requirement.

2. Category 1 - Group A

In an effort to promote open competition would the Government accept an i.5 processor that provides a lower clock speed of at least 1.9ghz?

The pricing/technical workbooks have been updated to include the model number and minimum specs. Offeror may purpose items that meet or exceed the Government’s requirements.

3. Category 1 - Group A

"Up To" implies that a range of 0 to 6 hours is acceptable. Should "Up To" be removed from the minimum specification description?

The Government has updated the Technical Compliance Workbook to "Battery Run Time (Minimum of)".

4. Category 1 - Group A

Does Windows 8 Pro meet this requirement?

No.

5. Category 1 - Group A

Is this an upgrade for the Storage Capacity spec? If so, should it be considered to exceed the required specification for Storage Capacity under 1.A.2-06? Or is it an upgrade for the entire configuration that a separate Storage Capacity (new part number) with 256 GB SSD is required?

The pricing and technical workbooks have been amended to clarify the requirement.

6. Category 1 - Group A

The existing requirements are not unique to a rugged or semi-rugged laptop. Are there specific rugged requirements?

The Government has updated the Technical Compliance Workbook to specify MIL-STD-810G and IP55.

7. Category 1 - Group C

Will you accept a 32 ppm color laser in lieu of 33 ppm?

The Government has updated the Technical Compliance Workbook to 32 ppm.

8. Category 1 - Group C

Is Gigabit Ethernet interface a requirement?

The Government has updated the Technical Compliance Workbook to include Ethernet.

9. Category 1 - Group C

Should this read four cartridges (yellow, magenta, cyan and black)?

The Government has updated the Technical Compliance and Pricing Workbook to 4 Cartridges (1 each black, cyan, magenta, yellow).

10. Category 5, Microsoft has discontinued support for the Windows XP operating system as of April 2014.

Request that the requirement for Windows XP compatibility be removed from this section.

The Government has updated the Technical Compliance Workbook removing XP.

11. Category 7 - Group A

Is the requirement "10 Production Data Storage Blocks" per-instance?

The Data Storage Block requirement is a per instance requirement.

12. Category 7 - Group A

Does this imply that total Production Data Storage Block Capacity is 5 TB?

Yes.

13. Category 7 - Group A

Is the requirement "10 Backup and Archival Storage Blocks" per-instance?

Yes.

14. Category 7 - Group A

Does this imply that a total Backup and Archival Storage Block Capacity of 512 GB comprised of 10 blocks?

No, each Data Storage Block is 512 GB in capacity.

15. Category 7 - Group A

Does this imply that total Backup and Archival Storage Block Capacity is 5 TB?

Yes.

16. Category 7 - Group A

Is 10 GB/Week per instance? This is an aggregate amount for all instances.

17. Category 7 - Group A

Is the requirement "20 Production Data Storage Blocks" per-instance?

Yes.

18. Category 7 - Group A

Does this imply that total Production Data Storage Block Capacity is 20 TB?

Yes.

19. Category 7 - Group A

Does this imply that the total Production Data Storage Block Capacity of 1 TB is comprised of 20 blocks?

Yes.

20. Category 7 - Group A

Is the requirement "10 Backup and Archival Storage Blocks" per-instance?

Yes.

21. Category 7 - Group A

Does this imply that the total Backup and Archival Storage Block Capacity of 512 GB is comprised of 10 blocks?

No, each Data Storage Block is 512 GB in capacity.

22. Category 7 - Group A

Does this imply that total Backup and Archival Storage Block Capacity is 5 TB?

Yes.

23. All Categories

If there is no Universal Product Code (UPC) for a proposed product, should Offerors leave the field blank or insert "N/A"?

The Offeror shall input "N/A" in any UPC field for products that do not have a UPC.

24. All Categories

By permitting offerors to respond to TAA compliance with "not applicable", does government intend to allow offerors to make the applicability determination on each item bid? If no, then is TAA a requirement on all items?

TAA compliance is required only for Categories 1 and 6.

25. All Categories

Does the response "TAA Non- Compliant" on any single item make the offeror's bid non-compliant in its entirety?

TAA non-compliance for Categories 1 and 6 in the Technical Compliance Workbook will make an Offeror's entire proposal non-compliant.

26. Category 7, Group B

Please describe production data storage type. Is this block storage (i.e. logical disk) or object storage?

Category 7.B.1-01 and 7.B.2-01 refer to object storage.

27. Category 2, Group A

This needs a time period, 1 Year or 3 Year.

The Government has updated the Technical Compliance Workbook to Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server Full License (1 Year).

28. Category 1 - Group A

Will the Government accept DDR3 low voltage memory (Item 1.A.2-07)? Intel 4th generation mobile processors utilize low voltage modules.

Yes.

29. Category 1 - Group A

Will the Government accept DDR3 low voltage memory (Item 1.A.1-07)? Intel 4th generation mobile processors utilize low voltage modules.

Yes.

30. Category 1 - Group A

Is it permissible to propose systems with processors offering equivalent or superior performance to Intel i5 (64 bit) such as those offered by AMD which may have lower processor clock speeds and different amounts of processor cache?

Yes, it is up to the offeror to determine if the proposed product meets the Government’s minimum requirement and provides the best value to the Government.

31. Category 1 - Group A

What is the minimum Ethernet specification required - (i.e.

100Base-T, 1000Base-T, etc.)?

The Government has updated the Technical Compliance Workbook to 1000Base-T.

32. Category 1 - Group A

Is the requirement to provide both a Smart Card Reader and a Finger Print Reader or either a Smart Card Reader or a Finger Print Reader?

The Government has updated the Technical Compliance Workbook to Smart Card Reader and/or Finger Print Reader.

33. Category 1 - Group A

Is the requirement to provide both a Docking Station and Laptop Case for this single line item?

The pricing/technical workbooks have been amended to clarify the requirement.

34. Category 1 - Group A

Is the requirement to provide all of the items - Carrying Handle, Wireless Mouse, and Laptop Case for this single line item?

The pricing/technical workbooks have been amended to clarify the requirement.

35. Category 1 -

Is it permissible to propose systems with processors offering equivalent or superior performance to Intel i7 (64 bit) such as those offered by AMD which may have lower processor clock speeds and different amounts of processor cache?

The pricing/technical workbooks have been updated to include the model number and minimum specs. Offeror may purpose items that meet or exceed the Government’s requirements.

36. Category 1 - Group B

For item 1.B.1-08, 6GB of RAM is not a common configuration for Dual Channel memory motherboards. It is most common with X58 based platforms that use Triple Channel memory configuration. This type of chipset has been discontinued for some time now. An optimal configuration would be 4GB in the base configuration and 8GB in the upgrade. Would the Government please consider this change?

The Government has updated the Technical Compliance Workbook to 8 GB DDR3 1600 MHz.

37. Category 1 - Group B

Which DVI version must be supported - DVI-I, DVI-D?

The Government has updated the Technical Compliance Workbook to DVI-I.

38. Category 1 - Group B

Is it permissible to propose graphics adapters from alternative vendors offering equivalent or superior performance to 1 GB ATI FirePro V4900 Graphics Card?

Yes, it is up to the offeror to determine if the proposed product meets the Government’s minimum requirement and provides the best value to the Government.

39. Category 1 - Group B

Is there a minimum Contrast Ratio for item number 1.B.2 1.B.4?

The Government did not provide a minimum specification for this. It is up to the offeror to determine if the proposed product meets the Government’s minimum requirement and provides the best value to the Government.

40. Category 1 - Group B

Must the 500 GB capacity be achieved by a single hard disk drive (HDD) or is it possible to propose multiple HDDs to meet the minimum specification?

The requirement shall be met by a single Hard Drive.

41. Category 1 Group B

Please consider raising the weight of the MFP to less than 50 or 60 lbs. Printers are available with all specs met and weigh between 40-50 lbs, but none meet all specs are weigh under 40 lbs.

The Government has updated the Technical Compliance Workbook to less than 50 lbs.

42. Category 1- Groups A, B, C

Please clarify what nomenclature Offerors should use in the yellow highlighted cell "Proposal Version:" response for "Version".

The Offeror shall use the following nomenclature for Proposal Version - V1, with any subsequent submissions incremented by one (e.g., V2, V3…).

43. Category 1 Groups A-C

Is a vendor required to bid all groups of a Category to be compliant or can we elect to bid only Group A or Group A and B?

Please refer to Section M.1.5 of the solicitation for more details.

44. Category 2, Group B

What is meant by "For Email Server only: Mac, PC, MS SharePoint?