QA.pdf

Offers must acknowledge receipt of this amendment prior to the hour and date specified in the solicitation or as amended, by one of the following methods:

(a) By completing items 8 and 15, and returning or (c) By separate letter or electronic communication which includes a reference to the solicitation and amendment numbers. FAILURE OF YOUR ACKNOWLEDGMENT TO BE RECEIVED AT THE PLACE DESIGNATED FOR THE RECEIPT OF OFFERS PRIOR TO THE HOUR AND DATE SPECIFIED MAY RESULT IN REJECTION OF YOUR OFFER. If by virtue of this amendment you desire to change an offer already submitted, such change may be made by letter or electronic communication, provided each letter or electronic communication makes reference to the solicitation and this amendment, and is received prior to the opening hour and date specified.

E. IMPORTANT: Contractor is not is required to sign this document and return copies to the issuing office.

AMENDMENT OF SOLICITATION/MODIFICATION OF CONTRACT 1. CONTRACT ID CODE

2. AMENDMENT/MODIFICATION NUMBER 3. EFFECTIVE DATE 4. REQUISITION/PURCHASE REQUISITION NUMBER 5. PROJECT NUMBER (If applicable)

7. ADMINISTERED BY (If other than Item 6) CODE

STANDARD FORM 30 (REV. 11/2016)

Prescribed by GSA FAR (48 CFR) 53.243

FACILITY CODE

9A. AMENDMENT OF SOLICITATION NUMBER

9B. DATED (SEE ITEM 11)

10A. MODIFICATION OF CONTRACT/ORDER NUMBER

10B. DATED (SEE ITEM 13)

11. THIS ITEM ONLY APPLIES TO AMENDMENTS OF SOLICITATIONS

The above numbered solicitation is amended as set forth in Item 14. The hour and date specified for receipt of Offers is extended. is not extended.

12. ACCOUNTING AND APPROPRIATION DATA (If required) copies of the amendment; (b) By acknowledging receipt of this amendment on each copy of the offer submitted;

13. THIS ITEM APPLIES ONLY TO MODIFICATIONS OF CONTRACTS/ORDERS.

IT MODIFIES THE CONTRACT/ORDER NUMBER AS DESCRIBED IN ITEM 14.

CHECK ONE A. THIS CHANGE ORDER IS ISSUED PURSUANT TO: (Specify authority) THE CHANGES SET FORTH IN ITEM 14 ARE MADE IN THE CONTRACT ORDER

NUMBER IN ITEM 10A.

B. THE ABOVE NUMBERED CONTRACT/ORDER IS MODIFIED TO REFLECT THE ADMINISTRATIVE CHANGES (such as changes in paying office, appropriation data, etc.) SET FORTH IN ITEM 14, PURSUANT TO THE AUTHORITY OF FAR 43.103(b).

C. THIS SUPPLEMENTAL AGREEMENT IS ENTERED INTO PURSUANT TO AUTHORITY OF:

D. OTHER (Specify type of modification and authority)

Except as provided herein, all terms and conditions of the document referenced in Item 9A or 10A, as heretofore changed, remains unchanged and in full force and effect.

15C. DATE SIGNED

15A. NAME AND TITLE OF SIGNER (Type or print)

16C. DATE SIGNED

16A. NAME AND TITLE OF CONTRACTING OFFICER (Type or print)

14. DESCRIPTION OF AMENDMENT/MODIFICATION (Organized by UCF section headings, including solicitation/contract subject matter where feasible.)

PAGE OF PAGES

6. ISSUED BY CODE

8. NAME AND ADDRESS OF CONTRACTOR (Number, street, county, State and ZIP Code) (X)

CODE

15B. CONTRACTOR/OFFEROR

(Signature of person authorized to sign)

16B. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

(Signature of Contracting Officer)

Previous edition unusable

OAS-CAO-R-17-0040

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

1. Question: Our company can satisfy a substantial portion of the requirements included in this RFP. Are there any essential elements, that, if not met, would automatically disqualify our eligibility to submit its proposal?

Answer: As stated on page 14 of the RFQ, General Instructions for Submission of

Quotes, Volume 1 – Technical Quote, the technical quote shall include, “A description of the services being offered that specifically addresses the content and functionality requirements listed in Section 4 of the Statement of Work. Offerors shall not simply state that its quote meets Government requirements, but rather explain how the specific features, functions, and content offered satisfies the Government’s Statement of Work.”

Further, on Page 16, Factor 1- Technical Capability to Meet Requirements, the

Government states it “will review the description of the product(s) and assess the quality of the proposed product(s) to meet each of the content and functionality requirements included in the Statement of Work. Offers will be evaluated for each requirement as to the product’s ability to exceed, meet, or not meet the Government’s needs.”

2. Question. The RFP has asked for up to 750 - 1000 user IDs. What is the current total number of EOP employees, interns, and “associates of all EOP components?”

Please define “associates of all EOP components.”

Answer: “Of all EOP components” refers to “employees, interns, and associates” cumulatively. Associates are a type of volunteer working at EOP under an approved program. The number of employees, interns, and associates changes on a regular basis;

however, the number of potential users for this requirement is in the range of 750-1000.

See page 2, Section 4.1.1, of the RFQ.

3. Question: Please provide the EOP’s team structure by component/division/office.

How many attorneys, interns, support staff, associates, etc., are in each area?

Answer: The EOP’s team structure by component/division/office is fluid; however, the number of potential users as identified in the RFQ is between 750-1000. See page 2, Section 4.1.1, of the RFQ.

4. Question: In addition to the training mentioned in 4.1.9, how does EOP usually implement a new, enterprise-wide legal solution? Through large-group, lecture-style training sessions? Small groups? What kind of time-commitment can trainers expect EOP end-users to be able to commit to training?

Answer: For new enterprise-wide database offerings, the government typically sponsors a series of on-site, small group (up to 20) one-hour sessions. Some EOP offices have requested training on a new product in their own meeting room space on the EOP campus. EOP end-users typically have limited time for training, and often try to use a new resource intuitively at first. Interns with research responsibilities are usually required to attend at the beginning of each intern session.

5. Question: Is EOP open to regular training sessions for its components when new features, updates and functionalities are introduced on the vendor’s product?

Answer: Yes. The government is open to regular training sessions when new features, updates and functionalities are introduced on the vendor’s product.

6. Question: What other complimentary resources do you rely upon to supplement information provided in core legal research platforms?

Answer: The government relies on a variety of resources both online and in print format.

Staff have access to several databases offering legislative tracking and histories, statutory law, and archival law review content.

7. Question: What is the value of the current EOP contract related to news, business and financial, public records, and legal information? What is the contract/task order/delivery number of the existing contract?

Answer: The contract is OAS-COO-C-12-0002. The approximate contract value for the base and all exercised options is $5.9M.

8. Question. The solicitation indicates that the EOP has a user base of 750–1,000 users.

Can the EOP please provide the number of users covered under its current contract for news, business and financial, public records, and legal information?

Answer: The current contract has the same number of users as this solicitation requires

(750 and 1000). On the current contract, the government has exercised the option for 750 users.

9. Question: The solicitation indicates that EOP would like the “ability for the government to purchase additional IDs in blocks of 100”. Does the EOP anticipate increasing the number of users beyond 1,000 during the proposed contract term? If so, how many additional users are anticipated during the proposed term?

Answer: The government does not anticipate more than 1000 users during the proposed contract term; however, we require the flexibility to increase the number of users.

10. Question: How many users would constitute an enterprise-wide deal for EOP?

Answer. Please propose the quantities requested in the Solicitation Attachment C –

Pricing Schedule. This fully represents the government’s current requirement.

11. Question: The solicitation requires that the service allow the library staff the ability to access additional materials on a transactional basis. Is it a correct understanding that, upon contract award, the EOP will create a separate CLIN with a “Not to

Exceed” (NTE) amount for this transactional level of access? The EOP would then be billed on a transactional basis based on the library staff’s access to these additional materials. Please clarify.

Answer: Yes, this is correct. The EOP will create a separate CLIN with a “Not to

Exceed” (NTE) amount for this transactional level of access. The EOP will then be billed on a transactional basis based on the library staff’s access to these additional materials.

12. Question: Regarding the need for a list of publications, can EOP please provide the following additional information:

A. Can EOP please elaborate as to the purpose of this specific requirement?

B. Can EOP please explain how this list will be used?

C. Is EOP looking for an exhaustive list of specific news sources included in a contractor’s offer (which might result in a list of thousands of sources)? If so, would it be acceptable to EOP if this list is provided via a web page?

Answer: To allow users to access a web-based A-Z list of all publications licensed by the library, EOP must be able to upload a list of all titles, including coverage dates, links, International Standard Serial Number (ISSNs), and other pertinent data, to its electronic resources management system (ERM). This data must be updated by the vendor as its collections change (titles added, removed, or modified), and the list must be exhaustive.

Knowledge Base and Related Tools (KBART) is the standard data format used in the library community to import this information into ERM systems. As stated in the requirement, KBART format is preferred, Excel is acceptable. A vendor web page would need to have the list downloadable in one or the other formats.

13. Question: Docket research and tracking can sometimes be expensive due to the royalties charged for this type of data. To help ensure that contractors provide EOP with their most competitive price offer, can EOP please provide additional information about the docket research and tracking usage under EOP’s current contract, including the following:

A. What is the EOP’s standard use case regarding dockets access?

B. Can EOP please provide usage information of the dockets court access?

C. With regards to the tracking of dockets:

Can EOP please provide usage information with respect to tracking of dockets (e.g., rough number and common courts)?

Does EOP anticipate that future use of tracking dockets will be in line with current usage? Or is an increase in usage anticipated?

D. With regards to PDF documents:

Can EOP please provide information regarding PDF usage (e.g., rough number, common courts)?

Does EOP anticipate that future use of PDFs will be in line with current usage? Or is an increase in usage anticipated?

Answer:

A. The standard use is to check on the progress of a specific case and read selected documents affiliated with that case. Occasionally staff need to research current federal litigation by topic, as related to an administration initiative. Subject tracking is typically by EOP component to identify suits filed against an EOP entity.

B. EOP currently has 50 users with access to the docket service. Usage is currently limited to library staff and a small subset of legal information users.

C. The government does not have this usage data available.

D. The government does not have this usage data available.

14. Question: The solicitation indicates that “the contractor is responsible for ensuring all employees involved in the performance of this order, contract or agreement sign a ‘Non-Disclosure Agreement’ that is attached.” Is this provision applicable to the subject solicitation? If so, would it be sufficient for a senior official to sign the NDA on behalf of all employees involved with support of the subject contract?

Answer: For this requirement, the government only requires one NDA (Attachment A of the Solicitation), to be signed by an authorized representative of the company. All employees supporting this contract will be covered by the company NDA in Attachment

A.

15. Question: To assist contractors in scheduling personnel/resources for the live test demonstration, can EOP please indicate when it anticipates holding the demonstrations?

Answer: The government anticipates the live demonstrations the week of July 24, 2017.

16. Question: The solicitation indicates that “the Government will award a contract resulting from this solicitation to the responsible offeror whose quote conforming to the solicitation will be most advantageous to the government, price and other factors considered”. Would the EOP consider amending the solicitation to allow for contractors to bid on separate components (e.g., news and business, public records, legal) as separately priced packages, as well as the combined news and business/public records/legal package? Incorporating this level of flexibility into the solicitation would provide EOP with the opportunity to award to multiple contractors, which would help ensure that EOP researchers have access to the tools needed to help them accomplish EOP’s mission in the most effective way possible. Please advise.

Answer: The government will not amend the solicitation to allow for quotes on separate components (e.g., news and business, public records, legal) as separately priced packages. The government thoughtfully considered this during acquisition planning and elected to structure the Request for Quote as it is currently written.

All other Terms and Conditions related to this Solicitation remain unchanged.

725 17th Street, NW Washington, DC 20503