PBGC01-RP-11-0006 A02 BMA RFP 03082011.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 telegram 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 your desire to change an offer already submitted, such change may be made by telegram or letter, provided each telegram or letter 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 NO. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE 4. REQUISITION/PURCHASE REQ. NO. 5. PROJECT NO. (If applicable)

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

STANDARD FORM 30 (REV. 10-83)

Prescribed by GSA FAR (48 CFR) 53.243

FACILITY CODE

9A. AMENDMENT OF SOLICITATION

NO.

9B. DATED (SEE ITEM 11)

10A. MODIFICATION OF CONTRACT/ORDER NO.

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;

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IT MODIFIES THE CONTRACT/ORDER NO. AS DESCRIBED IN ITEM 14.

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

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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.

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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 (No., street, county, State and ZIP Code) (X)

CODE

15B. CONTRACTOR/OFFEROR

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16B. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

(Signature of Contracting Officer)

NSN 7540-01-152-8070

Previous edition unusable

PD

a. Purpose of this amendment is to issue answers to questions received by February 16, 2011, 2:00 PM EST via Attachment 1 of this amendment.

b. Replace sections B C, H, L and M per Attachments 2 and 3 of this amendment.

c. As a result of this amendment, solicitation submission due date remains March 14, 2011 at 9:00 AM EST.

PD

PENSION BENEFIT GUARANTY CORPORATION PENSION

BENEFIT GUARANTY CORPORATION

MAIL STOP: PROCUREMENT MAIL STOP: PROCUREMENT

1200 K STREET, NW 1200 K STREET, NW

WASHINGTON DC 20005-4026

PENSION BENEFIT GUARANTY CORPORATION PENSION

BENEFIT GUARANTY CORPORATION

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1200 K STREET, NW 1200 K STREET, NW

WASHINGTON DC 20005-4026

RQ-35-11-000061

PBGC01-RP-11-0006

1 1

03/08/2011

02/10/2011

Amendment No. 02 Questions and Answers Solicitation PBGC01-RP-11-0006

(Attachment 1)

Question Answer 1 What is the current contract number for the incumbent, Advanced Technology Systems?

When is the incumbent contract set to expire?

PBGC-CT-07-0787

June 30, 2011

2 Section B (page 8) states the following, “For its contract work on the design, development and implementation of the BCV solution, the contractor shall be reimbursed under a CPIF arrangement.” Shall we assume that this is supposed to be the BMA solution and not the BCV solution as stated?

Yes. “…design, development and implementation of the BMA solution…”

3 Section C, Attachment A, Section 2.0 states, “The contractor shall support the modernization plan for Benefit Administration that includes consolidating changes and modernizing supporting applications and databases within each system to reduce the number of development and steady state projects and costs.” Is the Genesis redesign in the scope of this project?

Yes. Since Genesis is part of the Benefits Administration, it will be part of this effort. The contractor shall support the modernization efforts as priotorized by the stakeholders.

Will PBGC provide a detailed list of all activities under Operations support (Section 2.3) along with performance levels, level of effort and support times for the activities? Does PBGC have a record of historical support requirements that contractors can use as a basis for estimating future support needs?

The amount may vary contingent upon daily operations. Below is a high level estimate of Operations support for 2010:

How to: ~400 Problem Resolution: ~2,100 Programming/Trackers: ~180

5 Section C, Attachment A, Section 2.3. Item 16, can the government clarify the expected hours of support for weekends and after hours? Are these hours expected on a weekly basis, or over specific time periods?

Weekend and after-hours support is usually as requested. Historically, this support happens during deployments, large plans support, and end-of-fiscal-year processing.

6 Section C, Attachment A, Section 2.4 does not provide estimates of the number of releases expected under the maintenance tasks. Can PBGC provide a level of effort or an approximate number of FTEs to support the maintenance tasks

Number of releases is contingent upon business changes impacting production support. Refer to RFP Section H for Key/Non-key Personnel.

7 Section C, Attachment A, Section 7.0 BMA Suite of Applications. Can PBGC provide details for the number of tickets, historical level of effort, or FTE requirements to support the requirements for operations and maintenance support for each application?

Refer to response in Question #4.

8 Section C, Attachment A, Section 7.0, includes BDL Reporting and eReports as part of the BMA Suite of Applications. Is this accurate? These are both part of the eALG suite of

These reports are not part of the eALG suite.

BDL Reporting is a set of monthly reports run by applications. Operations team. eReports is a separate web application.

9 Section C, Attachment A, page 20. Should 7.2 Operations and Maintenance Performance Measures be renumbered as 6.2?

It should be 6.2.

10 Section C, Attachment A - Is O&M support for the batch data interface between CRM and Spectrum/Genesis within scope of this procurement?

Yes.

11 Section C, Attachment A - Is replacement/redesign of the batch data interface between CRM and Spectrum/Genesis within scope of the DME portion of this procurement?

Yes; priority is decided by the stakeholders.

12 Section C - Attachment A - 7.0 BMA Suite of Applications- For all the listed applications, can PBGC make available the Requirements, Design, Architecture and Data Model documents?

No. Refer to Section 7.0 of Attachment A for details on the applications.

13 Section C – Attachment A - 7.0 BMA Suite of Applications - BDL Reporting - How many reports are there in this application? Are there any batch reports that run a specified frequency?

There is a batch process that runs monthly. The Operation team delivers approximately 20 reports after the batch job is executed monthly.

14 Section C - Attachment A -7.0 BMA Suite of Applications - Was Death Processing included in the functionality of Spectrum 2.1? Is it the legacy functionality or DME functionality, or both, in the scope of this procurement?

No. Death Processing was not included in Spectrum 2.1.

Both; priority is decided by the stakeholders.

15 Section C - Attachment A -7.0 BMA Suite of Applications - Extracts - Are there extracts scheduled for periodic run on a server? Or are there extracts run on adhoc basis by application support personnel? Can PBGC release a description of the existing extracts?

These backend procedures run periodically or as requested. Then the reports are executed manually by the Operations team. Refer to Attachment A, Section 7.0.

16 Section C - Attachment A - 7.0 BMA Suite of Applications - eReports - How many reports are there in this application? Can PBGC make report documentation available?

Are there any batch reports that run on a specified frequency?

eReports support approximately 25 reports.

There are periodic batch processes to refresh data.

17 Section C - Attachment A - 7.0 BMA Suite of Applications - LRU - How many screens/workflows are there in this application.

There are approximately 2 major screens.

18 Section C - Attachment A -7.0 BMA Suite of Applications - Oracle Stored Procedures - How is this tool/procedure different from the stored procedures employed in the listed components and applications?

They are similar to other stored procedures but have different purposes and might be shared by applications across teams.

19 Section C - Attachment A -7.0 BMA Suite of Applications - BPB Suite - Our understanding is that these applications are addressed in the Spectrum 3.0. Can PBGC tell

Implementation date is prioritized by the stakeholders based on business priorities.

us the target implementation date for this release? Does the scope include maintenance of the legacy BPB applications?

Legacy BPB applications fall under the BMA suite.

20 Section C - Attachment A - 7.0 BMA Suite of Applications - BPB Suite - Can PBGC make documentation available, and can PBGC inform us how many screens and workflows there are in this application?

This is a high level estimate of screens for BPB Suite: Integrator (~12), Balancer (~8), and Trial Balance (~8). Additional databases/applications:

Genesis (~700GB), Spectrum (~54) and DLM (~26).

Refer to responses in Questions 13, 16 and 17 for other applications.

21 Section C - Attachment A - 7.0 BMA Suite of Applications - Spectrum - Can PBGC make documentation available, including sizing information, such as screens, reports, modules, database, etc.

Refer to response in Questions 20.

22 F3 (page 14) indicates that “This is an Indefinite Delivery Indefinite/Quantity (IDIQ) contract, and provides for issuance of Firm Fixed Price (FFP) or Cost Plus Fixed Fee (CPFF) Task Orders.” However in other sections, such as section B, A.2.1 state, “Create a reasonably priced contract with flexible pricing provisions allowing placement of Firm Fixed Price (FFP), and Cost Plus-Incentive-Fee (CPIF) task orders, and may include incentives or disincentives, that are appropriate to meet the needs of the BMA requirements.” Can the government clarify which task order types will be issued? Will it be FFP, CPFF and CPIF?

FFP and CPIF Tasks.

Task Order types are of Firm Fixed Price (O&M services) and Cost Plus Incentive Fee (DM&E services) contract types only.

23 Section L.4.C (page 51) states that “Cover pages, tabs, and key personnel resumes are not included in the page count limitation.” Then in the same section it states, “A cover page, if any, table of contents and short introduction are to be considered part of the 50 page limit.” Is the cover page counted as the statements are contradictory?

Section L.4.C is corrected as follows:

Cover page is not included. Pages re limited to 30 for the Technical Proposal.

Volume I, Technical proposal shall include the offeror's Past Performance, Corporate Experience, Technical Approach, Management Approach and Qualifications of Key Personnel as outlined in Section M, and shall be limited to 30 pages.

24 L.4.C (page 51) states, “Proposal Page Count Limitation. Volume I, Technical proposal shall include the offeror's Past Performance, Corporate Experience, Technical Approach, Management Approach and Qualifications of Key Personnel as outlined in Section M, and

Refer to response in Question 23.

shall be limited to 30 pages.” However, in the same section, the following is stated, “A cover page, if any, table of contents and short introduction are to be considered part of the 50 page limit.” What is the maximum number of pages allowed for the Technical Volume, 30 or 50?

25 On page 51, section L.4.A – Volume 1 Technical Proposal, The government states, “(a) The offeror shall provide a technical and cost proposal in response to the solicitation. The offeror shall provide a technical proposal that addresses the deliverables as outlined in the evaluation criteria listed in Section M. The Technical Proposal should also include Task Order 1.” Does the technical and management approach for task order 1 need to be included in Volume 1 (phase 1) or as part of phase 2 (orals presentation).

Phase II – Oral Presentation.

L.4.A. is corrected as follows –

(a) The offeror shall provide a technical and cost proposal in response to the solicitation. The offeror shall provide a technical proposal that addresses the deliverables as outlined in the Performance Work Statement and the evaluation criteria listed in Section M. The Technical Proposal should also include Task Order 1.

26 Is the Task Order 1 response page count included in the total page count for the IDIQ response?

Refer to response in Question 25.

27 Can the government confirm that the 30 pages for phase 1 included only past performance, experience & quals of key personnel.

Refere to response in Question 23.

28 The level of detail and the structure needed for contractors other than incumbents, to provide a compelling Firm-Fixed price response appears to be lacking. Would the government consider accepting a Cost Plus Award Fee type contract for this task order?

No.

29 Of the suite of applications PBGC has listed as needing O&M support, is PBGC able to provide information on planned decommissioning timeframes for each of the applications?

Decommission date is prioritized by the stakeholders based on business priorities.

30 PBGC has specified a CPIF type response for DME tasks. Typically on CPIF contracts, the incentive fee is calculated based on performance against planned cost only. However PBGC has specified in the PWS, a number of measures for performance other than cost.

PWS contains performance standards. Incentive fee formula proposed will be evaluated.

31 Does PBGC intend any or all of these to be incorporated into incentive fee calculations? If CLIN 0002, DM&E is CPIF. Not a CPAF type yes, does PBGC intend this to be a CPAF type contract instead of a CPIF type contract?

If these performance measures are not for calculating Incentive fee, are there other ways PBGC plans to use these performance measures to reward contractor performance (award of option year, favorable past performance notation etc.)?

contract.

The DM&E effort is applicable to the calculation of incentive fee.

32 The Cost Volume has a page limit of 7 pages. Can the government clarify whether the completed Attachment B is included in the page limit? Is the cover page and Table of contents included as part of the 7 page limit?

Yes. Review Section L of Solicitation. Cover page for Volume II – Cost proposal is SF-33.

33 Can the sub-contracting price evaluation be included as an appendix to the cost volume?

Will it be outside of the 7 page limit for the cost volume?

Yes. It will apply towards the 7 page count limitation

34 1. In section L.C (page 52), the government states, “Use the following table for page count limitation as it pertains to Technical and Cost Proposals:

1. Table of Contents, including any lists of charts or figures – 3 pages.

2. Technical Proposal — 30 pages.

3. Key Personnel Resumes – Unlimited

4. Price Proposal - shall not exceed 7 pages.”

Is this in reference to the orals presentation, or is this specifying the requirements for Phase 1, Volume 1? If referencing the requirements for Phase 1, Volume 1, is the table of contents part of the 30 page limit, as they are listed separately here?

This is in reference to the Part 1, Written Technical proposal

34 Are key people resumes to be provided for the Task Order 1 – BMA Operations and Maintenance Support Services – Steady State? There is only reference to the IDIQ key people

All Key personnel resumes must be provided in Phase I Written Technical Proposal.

35 The RFP incorporates “FAR 52.219-8 Utilization of Small business concerns” by reference (page 36 Section I.33) and requires submission of a subcontracting plan as part of the Business proposal. Further, Section I.32 (page 36) incorporates 52.219-4 Notice of Price Evaluation Preference for HUBZone Small Business Concerns by reference.

a) Could PBGC specify and/or clarify what the small business goals are for this contract and/or for the corporation?

b) How will PBGC evaluating compliance of the successful vendor to the small –

Small Business Goals have not been established for this effort. Upon review of offeror’s individual plan, Government will issue approval.

PBGC will evaluate plans within post-award phase, should subcontracted opportunities exist.

business goals during performance (e.g.: at task order level or at overall contract level)?

36 How many bound copies are required to be delivered to PBGC? The Government is accepting electronic proposals only.

37 Can the team for orals include teaming partners who are not key personnel? No 38 Can the team bring non-key personnel to orals? No 39 Can past performances from a teaming partner be included as one of the three past performances?

No

40 Does the orals presentation have a separate page limit and guidelines? Yes. Section L Amended 41 Will the orals presentation be provided as a power point presentation? Yes. Section L Amended 42 For graphics and tables, is it permissible to use a different font other than Times New

Roman and pitch size other than 12 pt., as long as they are easily readable such as Arial Narrow 10pt?

No.

43 We value the team approach when creating partnerships with our subcontractors. Will the government allow subcontractors to fill some of the Key Personnel positions?

No.

44 Could the government specify the components that comprise Phase 1 – Written Technical proposal as well as phase 2 – Oral Presentation as what is included in each of these phases is contradicted throughout section M.

Phase I – Technical Proposal includes Past Performance, Corporate Experience and Qualifications of Key Personnel.

Phase II – Oral Presentation includes Technical Approach, Management Approach and Task Order 1 Factors.

45 Could the government specify the page limit for Phase 1 – Written Technical Proposal and Phase 2 – Oral Presentation as this is unclear?

Section L Amended

46 Does PBGC expect vendors to provide the Orals presentation materials along with our written response for Phase 1?

No.

47 The official synopsis on FedBizOpps.Gov makes a reference to subcontracting goals for small business (SB), historically underutilized business zone (HUBZone), small disadvantaged business (SDB), woman-owned small business (WOSB), veteran-owned small business (VOSB), and service disabled veteran-owned small business (SDVOSB) concerns. Would the PBGC identify specific section in the solicitation where this is

Subcontracting goals are not defined for this requirement.

clarified 48 On Page 7, A.3 References Task Order 1 as Attachment A. Section J only specifies a

Performance Work Statement (PWS). Please confirm that Task Order 1 is component of the services specified in the PWS.

Yes.

49 The information in Section B.3 Basic Cost and Price Information and the instructions in L.4 Offerors Written Proposal appear to be in conflict. Section B.3 (pages 9-10) requests a significant amount of information that would not be legible or not be compliant with the instructions in order to provide the information in the 7 page limit specified in L.4 (page 52). Would the PBGC eliminate the page restriction of Volume II – Price Proposal to enable offeror’s to provide all information specified in Section B.3

PBGC is not requesting Cost or Pricing Data upon submission.

50 Section H.3 Key Personnel Qualifications of Project Manager (p19) – Would the government consider experience in project management software that is equivalent to Primavera (e.g. Microsoft Project) in reference to the following statement "Experience with Primavera project management software is required.”

Experience in other project management tools would be considered, but experience in Primavera is preferred. Historically, training has been provided by PBGC.

Section H Amended

51 Section H.3 Key Personnel Qualifications of Team Lead (p20) – Would the government consider alternate but equivalent tools indentified in the Specific Experience by replacing the language with “Familiarity with a user support tracking system (e.g. HP Server Manager Incident Queue) to update and track Service Desk tickets, and a defect tracking system (e.g. PVCS Tracker) to track and report bugs during production support.”

Experience in equivalent tools would be considered, but experience in HP Service Manager and PVCS Tracker are preferred.

Section H Amended

52 Section H.3 Key Personnel Qualifications of Lead Business Analyst (p21) –Would the government accept other equivalent requirements management systems or processes in lieu of Requisite Pro identified for the Specific Experience?

Experience in an equivalent tool would be considered, but experience in Requisite Pro is preferred.

Section H Amended

53 Section H.3 Key Personnel Qualifications of Oracle Application Specialist (p21) – The experience and certifications appear to have a conflict that would lead to a generalist versus a specialist that the labor category name implies. Would the PBGC consider modifying the Certification Requirements and Specialized Experience sections (as noted in italics) to the following:

“b. Certification: Oracle Certified Master in Java Enterprise Edition, Oracle Certified Professional in Database 11g Administration, or Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) is

b. Certification requirement is updated accordingly.

required.”

“d. Specialized Experience: If Oracle Certified Master in Java Enterprise Edition, then seven (7) years of experience developing and deploying Java, Java Script, Java Server Page (JSP) solution with JDeveloper or similar development toolkit. If Oracle Certified Professional in Database 11g Administration or Service Oriented Architecture (SOA), then seven (7) years experience developing and deploying PL/SQL and SQL solutions for complex Oracle databases of both custom and commercial application origin. Experience with universal work queue modules in Oracle eBusiness Suite, XML, Business Process Execution Language (BPEL); possess in depth knowledge of Oracle configurations, setups, table structure and schemas; and strong analytical and trouble shooting skills.

Experience in Oracle SOA, Oracle Fusion Middleware, OBIEE, BI publisher, MDM and Oracle Database 10g or higher at the enterprise level. Experience in using Object Oriented technology and software development methodologies, requirements gathering, and analysis, system architecture and design, implementation, testing and deployment.”

d. Only highlighted statements in Specialized Experience is removed.

Section H Amended

54 Section H.3 Key Personnel Qualifications of Non-Key Business Analyst (p23) –Would the government accept other equivalent requirements management systems or processes in lieu of Requisite Pro identified for the Specific Experience?

Experience in equivalent tool would be considered, but experience in Requisite Pro is preferred.

Section H Amended.

55 Section H.3 Key Personnel Qualifications of Non-Key Quality Engineer (p23) – Would the government accept a change to the Specific Experience requirements to the following “Experience in multiple technologies including Visual Basic, PowerBuilder, Cold Fusion, Crystal Reports, Java, SQL, and Oracle database.”?

Yes.

Section H Amended.

56 Section H.3 Key Personnel Qualifications of Non-Key Operations Engineer (p24) –Would the government accept a change to the Specific Experience requirements to the following “Three (3) years (with degree) OR Five (5) years (without degree) in providing production support for multiple technologies including, but not limited to, Visual Basic, PowerBuilder, Cold Fusion, Crystal Reports, Java, SQL, and Oracle database. Familiarity with HP Service Manager Incident Queue to update and track Service Help Desk tickets.”?

Yes, but individual must have expereince in Crystal Reports, SQL and Oracle Database, and familiar with Java.

Section H Amended

57 Section H.3 Key Personnel Qualifications of Non-Key Operations Engineer (p24) –Would the government accept other equivalent user support tracking systems in lieu of HP

Experience in an equivalent tool would be considered, but experience in HP Service

Service Manager Incident Queue identified for the Specific Experience? Manager is preferred.

Section H Amended

58 Section L.4.C Page Count Restriction (p 51-52) contains conflicting page limits for Volume I – Technical Proposal. Would the government please clarify that Volume I – Technical Proposal has a page count restriction of 30 pages cover pages, tabs, and Key Personnel Resumes?

Section L Amended

59 Section L.4.A Volume I – Technical Proposal (p51) states the Offeror's Representations, Certifications, and Other Statements of Offerors (Section K) should be in Volume I.

These are normally a part of the Price Proposal (Volume II). If they are to be included in Volume I, please confirm the information required by Section K is not subject to the page count limitation.

Section L Amended

60 Section L Page 51 provides instructions regarding sizes of font and page margins. Would the government consider 10pt fonts for tables, figures, and other exhibits?

No

61 Section L Page 51 provides instructions regarding sizes of font and page margins. Will the government accept the use of fonts other than Times New Roman for section titles or exhibit headers as long as they are 12 point or larger?

No

62 Section L.4 on Pages 51-52 provides instructions for the written proposal (Phase I) only.

Please provide specific instructions regarding the Phase II - Orals Presentation proposal including the due date, the format, maximum allowable presentation time, anticipated schedule, or any other specific instructions.

Section L Amended

63 Factor 1: Technical Approach in Section M.2.B Phase II – Oral Presentation Evaluation Factors (p57) states a preference for prime contractors who are CMM-I Level 3 assessed.

It is possible that this preference could lead offeror’s to propose and execute the project using their own CMM-I compliant practices. With PBGC’s ITLSCM containing the best practices of CMM-I tailored for PBGC’s environment and the required methodology, would the government consider extensive experience in PBGC’s ITSLCM as a valid equivalent?

CMMi Level 3 is preferred.

Section M Amended

64 Page 58 as a subfactor to Factor 2: Management Approach of Phase II – Oral Presentation Factors states “PBGC will also evaluate proposals that identify dedicated staff currently working at the PBGC facility for the contractor’s initial workforce more than favorably than proposals that do not, as a means of reducing start-up time, costs and training.” This

Statement is removed.

appears to favor the incumbent vendor or could lead to proposals that would unnecessarily include personnel from other critical PBGC projects. Would the government consider removing this method of evaluation and rely on the plans submitted to evaluate PBGC’s risk to start-up time, costs, and training?

65 ATTACHMENT B: SECTION B - LABOR CATEGORIES (COST SUMMARY)

specifies CLIN 0001 O&M to include the work specified in Sections 2.3, 2.4, and 7.2 of the PWS. Please confirm that the activities under Section 2.1.A Phase In/Start Up Plans should be included in CLIN 0001 and Task Order #1

Yes.

66 For Attachment A: Section C-PWS – Section 2.3 Operations Support, would the government provide a historical or anticipated volume of Service Desk tickets received and categorized by reason, source, and/or element of the BMA Suite of Applications?

Refer to response in Question 4.

67 For Attachment A: Section C-PWS – Section 2.4 Maintenance Support, would the government provide an anticipated number of maintenance releases that offeror’s should plan to support for the duration of this contract?

Refer to response in Question 6.

68 In Attachment A: Section C-PWS, please confirm both DME - CPIF Task Orders and O&M/Steady State (FFP Task Orders) will include the objectives in Section 2.5 Training and Section 2.6 Technical Writing as well as conform to the Constraints and Assumptions specified in Section 5.

Yes.

69 Attachment A: Section C-PWS – Section 6.0 Performance Measures – Please confirm that the first performance standard for 6.1.1 is “95% compliance of Tailored ITSLCM” and not 95% compliance with the Core ITSLCM.

It is 95% of the Tailored ITSLCM which includes core documents.

70 Attachment A: Section C-PWS – Section 6.0 Performance Measures – Please confirm that the first performance standard for 6.2.3 is “95% compliance of Tailored ITSLCM” and not 95% compliance with the Core ITSLCM.

Refer to response in Question 69.

71 Can you please inform me if this would be considered a new requirement, or if similar services have been done previously in-house or by a contractor? If this has been contracted out before, can you please provide the following incumbent information?

Refer to response to question 1

72 Is there an incumbent for this work, and, if so, what is the name of the incumbent firm? Refer to response to question 1 73 Section L.3: Can PBGC please verify that the proposal submission requires ONLY the electronic submission through the PBGC secure portal, and that hard copies are not required?

Yes.

74 Section L.4-C: Is the page count limitation for the Technical Proposal 30 or 50 pages, as both are mentioned?

Section L amended

75 Section M.1: How soon after submission of written proposal will offerors be notified if they qualified for Phase II – Oral Presentations?

Section L amended – Government will alert firms passing Phase I individually

76 Section M.1: How soon after notification of qualification for Phase II will Oral Presentations take place?

Refer to response to question 75

77 Section M.2: Can past performance for Subcontractor Partners be included in the 3 past performance references?

No

78 Section M.2: Can Key Personnel be comprised of FTEs from Prime and Subcontractors? Please refer to Section H.

79 In Section H – Para H.3 Key Personnel Qualifications, the RFP requires the Oracle eBusiness Suite for the Lead Technical Developer, Lead Database Administrator, Lead Business Analyst, and the Solutions Architect. The Oracle eBusiness Suite does not appear to be a technological requirement in Section C Attachment A within the BMA Suite of Applications. Can this requirement be made desirable?

Requirement is removed.

Section H amended

80 In Section H – Para H.3 Key Personnel Qualifications, Will the government consider other Oracle experience in lieu of the specific Oracle eBusiness Suite experience or removing this requirement?

Refer to response in Question 79.

81 In Section H – Para H.3 Key Personnel Qualifications, - Lead Database Administrator – We believe that the certification requirement (Oracle Advanced PL/SQL Developer Certified Professional) for the Lead Database Administrator may be too restrictive. There are limited numbers of professionals who have attained this certification. Please consider changing this requirement to Oracle PL/SQL Developer Certified Professional.

Oracle PL/SQL Developer Certified Professional is required.

Oracle Advanced PL/SQL Developer Certified Professional is desired.

Section H amended

82 In Section H – Para H.3 Key Personnel Qualifications, the RFP requires OBIEE for the Lead Technical Developer, Lead Database Administrator, Oracle Application Specialist, and the Solutions Architect. The Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition (OBIEE) does not appear to be a technological requirement in Section C Attachment A within the BMA Suite of Applications. What is the rationale for the OBIEE requirements? Can this be removed?

Requirement is removed.

Section H amended

83 In Section H – Para H.3 Key Personnel Qualifications, PBGC may be locking themselves into a “book smart” resource by making certifications Mandatory vs. Desired.

Perhaps the merits of the individuals experience and ability should weigh more heavily.

Refer to response in Question 79.

It may be more advantageous for PBGC to have Desired vs. Mandatory certifications, particularly in the Oracle space and evaluate based on experience and ability – Do you aree to make all mandatory certifications as desir

84 Section M.2.B Phase II Oral Presentation Evaluation Factors/Factor 1: Technical Approach – the RFP states that “Prime contractors who are Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) Level 3-certified or higher will be rated higher than those with a lower CMMI rating.” Would PBGC consider requiring that CMMI Level 3 be required for prime contractors in order to achieve consistent process focused results? Would PBGC consider making this requirement to Phase I as well, Technical Written Evaluation Factors? This change will help in PBGC procuring a contractor with proven processes.

Refer to response in Question 63.

85 RFP Section L.3, page 50 Proposal Submission Requirements states proposals shall be submitted electronically by the process described, but L.4 Offerors Written Proposals states…

Please clarify the method by which proposals are to be submitted.

Proposals are to be submitted electronically via Section L3, Proposals Submission Instructions only.

86 RFP Section L.3, page 50 Proposal Submission If proposals must be submitted electronically, please provide clarification for the following:

a) Is the offeror expected to have any special internet provisions or browser to upload the secure proposal response other than what is outlined in the RFP instructions?

b) Are there any file size limitations?

Are contractors able to test the process prior to submission?

No

87 Technical Proposal Page Count Requirements RFP Section L.4, Section C, page 51 states the following conflicting information with regard to page counts:

Section L amended

30 pages, cover, tabs, resumes NOT included in 30 page limit.

Cover, TOC and intro ARE part of 50 page limit

What is the correct page count per section of the response including cover page, tabs, TOC, Technical Prop (Past Perf, Corp Experience, Tech Approach, Management Approach, and Key Personnel Qualifications), Resumes, and Price Proposal?

88 Orals Presentation (RFP Section M.1, page 56)

a) On what date does PBGC anticipate scheduling oral presentations?

b) Will electronic devices including a screen and projector, and internet connection be provided?

c) Can PBGC provide an anticipated agenda for and duration of the meeting?

d) Will there be a slide count requirement for the presentation?

e) Is there a size limitation for the contractor’s presentation team?

Will a list of anticipated PBGC participants be provided?

Section L Amended No list of anticipated PBGC participants will be provided

89 RFP Section K.6 (a), Page 49 states that the offeror shall provide documentation that the Cognizant Federal Agency has determined that the proposed earned value management system (EVMS) complies with the EVMS guidelines in ANSI/EIA Standard-748 (current version at time of solicitation).

Is this documentation included within the Technical Proposal page count?

Yes

90 Attachment A, PWS, Section 5.9.1 (page 15) refers to "all DME projects meeting the earned value threshold defined by OIT". What is the current PBGC EV threshold?

It is +/- 10% range on Schedule and Cost as outlined by OMB.

Attachment A replaced via amendment 91 With regard to Contract Phase-In Requirements, RFP Section M.2 Factor 2, Subfactor 1 page 58 states “The plan shall provide phase in support for up to 30 days”. Attachment A, Section C, page 2 states the phase in shall begin at a date specified by the Contracting Officer (COTR) and be accomplished in nor more than 60 calendar days” Can the government clarify which is correct?

No more than 60 days.

92 Also with regard to Phase-in, RFP Section M.2, Phase II, Factor 2, Subfactor 1 states that the contractor will submit a plan which includes a Start-up Plan. Is the expectation that this plan will be delivered with the offeror’s proposal? Is there a distinction between the Phase-in Plan and the Start-up Plan? If so, please specify the requirements for each.

The plan is part of Phase II – Oral Presentations.

The Phase-in and Start-up plans are the same.

93 RFP Section M.2, Phase II, Factor 2, Subfactor 2, page 58 requests a Quality Control Plan; Section C, page 21 references a QASP.

a) Is the expectation that the offeror will submit both a QCP and a QASP?

b) A QCP was not included in the page counts provided in Section L. Can we assume that the QCP is not required until after award? If not, please clarify.

The Quality Control Plan is required in response to this solicitation. The Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan (QASP) is required per applicable prospective task order.

94 B.3, In accordance with FAR 15.403-1, cost or pricing data will not be required due to adequate price competition. However, information other than cost or pricing data may be required. See Item 7 under B (CPIF) and Item 5 under D which states that Subcontractor cost or pricing data must be accurate, complete, and current and the Offeror shall be responsible for updating subcontractor’s data. Would PBGC consider removing the language requirement for cost or pricing data?

Language regarding subcontractor cost or pricing data pertains to Cost Plus Incentive Fee price proposals.

95 B.3 A O&M is FFP. Due to adequate competition, can the requirement for elements of cost (direct labor, fringe benefits, etc) be removed from the FFP portion of this opportunity?

No. The Government reserves the right to request if necessary cost or pricing data although in presence of adequate competition.

96 Section I - Clauses 52.215-10, 52.215-11, 52.215-12, 52.215-13, and 52.215-15 do not apply in a competitive procurement. Would PBGC consider removing these clauses?

No

97 If the contractor is part of the Online Representations and Certifications Applications (ORCA) can they state that fact and not provide Section K?

Provide Section K.

98 Section C states a 30 page limit in paragraph 1 and a 50 page limit in paragraph 2. What doesn’t count against the page count differs also in each paragraph. Please clarify.

See previous responses.

99 Attach. A Section, 2.3 - Are there more databases apart from the ones mentioned on Item Supported databases include, but not limited to, 5 on page 4 - Genesis, Customer Care Applications (CCA), Document Management Systems (DMS)?

Is Oracle used for DMS or is there a COTS tool like EMC Documentum for document management?

Genesis, CDMS and BFIProd.

Currently the analysis phase is in progress to select a product and is scheduled to complete by February/March.

100 Attachment A Section 5.9.3- Please clarify to note that this section only pertains to the cost reimbursable task orders

This pertains to all task orders.

101 Attachment A, Section 6.0 - Performance Measures. Is the AQL currently being met? This is what PBGC likes to achieve as objectives under this procurement.

101A

Attachment A Section 7.0 –

1. BPB suite is in Visual Basic. Is it in legacy VB 6.0?

2. Is there any other out of support software – Sheridan controls or other third party tools which are out of support?

3. Any Open source software deployed in production environment?

Is it possible to get version information on the tools – for example: Oracle 10g; EA link on PBGC.Gov has 10g. Is there any 11g versions as well?

1. Yes

2. Yes, but not limited to, Sheridan controls.

3. Java is an example of the open source at

PBGC

Versions, include but limited to, Oracle 10g Enterprise Edition 10.2.0.3, Oracle Reports 10.1.2, Java 5.0, JSP 1.1, BPEL 1.0.1087, .Net 1.1, Visual Basic 6.0, Cold Fusion 5.0, Crystal Reports 8.0/8.5.

102 Attachment B - There is not a Training role identified in the DME CLIN02. Will all training support be provided under O&M CLIN01?

Yes

103 General - We understand there are several existing contractors performing work for PBGC. Have any of these contractors and their existing and past sub-contractors conflicted out to bid BMAS procurement? For example, we understand there is a Program Management and Alternative Analysis contract that supports Participant Services Division (PSD), and Benefits Administration and Payment Department (BAPD). The PMO contract holder and their direct existing and past sub contractors have performed Alternate Analysis (AA) for the BA applications. The PMO prime contractor and their existing and past sub contractors have competitive advantage for the BMA procurement.

This seems to be an organizational conflict of interest

PBGC has a non-disclosure agreement with current PMO contractor.

104 How is the Operations and Maintenance support workload split between the following areas?

See section C – performed per proposed scheduled and occurrence.

Support Area % of Workload Allocation User Support (“How to” questions) Problem diagnosis & resolution Reconfiguring existing configurations Work requests (develop & implement)

105 Can PBGC provide estimated monthly ticket counts for the following support levels of the Service Desk?

Service Desk Support Ticket Volume Level 0 calls – password reset Level 1 – End user how to questions Level 2 – Troubleshoot/resolve, issue diagnosis (no programming reqd.)

Level 3 – Troubleshoot/resolve, issue Diagnosis (programming reqd.)

Password resets are not supported by BMA team.

Refer to response in Question #4.

106 Can PBGC provide the number of named users & concurrent users by in-scope applications?

There are ~800 named users, and ~600 concurrent users. This is only a high level estimate.

107 Can PBGC provide the number of batch jobs that are run daily, weekly, and monthly? There are ~8 daily and ~30 monthly jobs. This is only a high level estimate.

108 Attachment B - Is the estimated 1,800 hours provided in this spreadsheet mandated by PBGC or can alternate yearly work hours be proposed?

This is only a high level estimate and not mandated by PBGC.

109 The reference is to the contractor's Serena PVCS repository. Will the government provide all PVCS software licensing or is this an ODC?

PBGC approved PVCS software is provided by

PBGC.

110 4.5 3rd bullet and 5.9.1 - RFP states offeror shall "report EV using PMO's EV methodology,"however it is also stated "the method of reporting earned value must be approved by COTR and/or designated CM." Would the government please clarify the EV approach to be taken?

The frequency and formatting of earned value must be approved by COTR and/or designated

CM.

111 Section M , Factor1: Technical Approach - How much of an advantage will firms with Refer to response in Question 63.

CMMI Level 3 certification realize over respondents with CMMI Level 2 or below?

112 The SOW states that invoices shall be submitted, track (ed), monitored, and approved for each task order. Can a master invoice be created and submitted monthly that includes all subtask detail?

A master invoice is acceptable as long as it separates each Task.

113 When did the BMA application suite first get implemented? BMA is a suite of different applications that were implemented at different dates.

114 What are the frequencies of execution of the various modules? Refer to response in Question 113.

115 How many concurrent users run each module? Refer to response in Question 106.

How many of the BMA modules are user initiated vs. system (or time) initiated?

BMA suite consists of multiple applications initiated by the users and batch jobs that run periodically. Refer to Section 7.0 of Attachment A for application description.

117 What is the frequency of Disaster Recovery or COOP testing? Historically, it is 1 to 2 times a year or as requested.

When did the EA data naming standards get implemented? How often do they change?

EA blueprint was implemented in 2003.

119 If the contractor is required to use automated testing tools, does the government provide as GFE or does the contractor acquire the tools and bill to the project as an ODC??

PBGC approved software is provided by PBGC.

120 Attachment A, Proposal submission instructions states "proposals shall be enclosed in sealed packaging and addressed to the office as specified in this solicitation." The instructions also state regarding proposal page count limitations "Volume I, Technical proposal shall include...and shall be limited to 30 pages. Cover pages, tabs, and key personnel resumes are not included in the page count limitation. A cover page, if any, table of contents and short introduction are to be considered part of the 50 page limit.

Finally, in regards to instructions for electronic format, it is stated for offerors to "use the following table for page count limitation as it pertains to the Technical and Cost Proposals: 1. Table of Contents...3 pages, 2. Technical Proposal ‐ 30 pages...” (1) Would the government please clarify which submission method is desired: electronic via PBGC's portal only or portal and mail delivery? (2) Would the government please clarify the acceptable page count limitations for the Technical Volume to also include clarity

Section L revised per amendment regarding cover pages, tabs, and/or table of contents within this volume?

121 Would PBGC consider revising the labor category certifications to desired vs. mandatory to provide PBGC options based on experience and capability? PBGC can provide Section M evaluation weighting factors to those offerors that provide the certifications but have the option to review personnel with extensive education, experience, qualifications, and awards but do not have the required certification at this time.

Refer to responses in Questions 53 and 81.

122 Page 50, section L. 3 – a - Under proposal submission instructions they indicate the proposal must be submitted electronically, however, under “c” on page 51 the instructions read that the proposal should be submitted via sealed packaging and addressed to the office as specified in the solicitation. So it appears we need clarification on which method they prefer, or if they are instructing to do both. Also if hard copies are to be mailed, they did not specify number of copies needed.

Section L amended. Proposals are to be submitted electronically.

123 Is a Subcontracting Plan required with proposal submission? If so, what section of the proposal should include the document and would the page limitation for the section include the subcontracting plan.

Yes for large businesses. However, rationale to support bsence of Subcontracting opportunities.

124 Attachment A; Section 2.3 - Will the Government be providing PBGC applications architecture, size, instances, number of application interfaces, and database platform for each application in scope?

Refer to responses in Questions 13, 16, 20, 106, 101, 101A and 107.

125 Attachment A; Section 2.3 - Will the Government be providing the history (age and maturity) and performance statistics for each application in scope?

Refer to responses in Questions 13, 16, 20, 106, 101, 101A and 107.

126 Attachment A; Section 2.3 – Will the Government be providing the metrics on the current workload ?, example

a. Number of trouble tickets logged monthly and resolutions statics for each application in the scope

b. Number of software projects contemplated with approximate complexity (using SLC or some other defined measure as an analog to complexity).

Number of

i. web services,

ii. web pages,

iii. Data models, Spectrum: 1 web service, 240 web pages, 4 data models, 280 tables, 3550 fields & 12 adaptors.

BPB: 4 data models, 833 tables, 2939 fields & 4 adaptors.

eReports: 2 data models, 120 tables & 1900 fields.

Genesis: 8 data models, 9270 tables, 33995 fields

iv. tables, fields,

v. adapters,

vi. Reports

c. Web postings monthly by priority

& 6 adaptors.

127 Attachment A; Section 2.3 - What automated testing tools are in place for system testing? PBGC currently supports Load Runner, Quality Center and Quick Test Pro.

128 Attachment A; Section 2.3 - Please confirm that any software required by the contractor to perform work under this contract will be provided by the Government as GFE (section 2.3)

PBGC approved software under this contract will be provided by PBGC.

129 What applications are used for Tier I and II ticket services? HP Service Manager.

Could you provide a list of GFE provided tools?

Tools include, but not limited to, HP Service Manager, PVCS Version Manager, PVCS Tracker, Quality Center, Load Runner, and Primavera.

131 Please clarify the page count for the proposal. L.4C paragraph 1 indicates 30 pages while L.4C paragraph 3 indicates 50 pages and paragraph 5 indicates 40 pages.

Section L amended to clarify page-count.

132 Reference L.4.A.1 (a): Contractors are asked to respond to the PWS and address the evaluation criteria listed in Section M. This section further indicates that the technical proposal for Task Order 1 should be included. It is our understanding that Task Order 1 is comprised of 3 subsections within the PWS. Is that accurate?

Task Order 1 comprises of the Steady State Operations and Maintenance support.

133 Reference L.4.A.1 (a): If Task Order 1 is comprised of the 3 subsections within the PWS, is it to be addressed twice (once as part of PWS response and once as a separate Task Order technical proposal)?

Refer to response in Question 132.

134 Section B – For the CPIF task orders Section B of the RFP states “the Offeror shall identify the estimate, provide the rationale and methodology used in developing the estimate, including any judgmental factors…