Instructions_for_Using_AcquServe_to_Submit_a_GSA_STARS_II_Open_Season_Proposal.docx

Instructions for Using AcquServe™ to Submit a GSA STARS II Open Season Proposal

May 2015

***DISCLAIMER***

The STARS II Open Season solicitation, QTA0015MDA2001, is the only official Request for Proposal (RFP). This document serves as a guide to help offerors navigate the AcquServe ™ portal. This guide does NOT override the RFP. All portal usage questions should be submitted to the Noblis helpdesk at support@stars2.noblis.org. All RFP-related questions should be submitted to the STARS II Open Season Contracting Officer at s2os@gsa.gov.

This guide is the third in a series of three (3) guides addressing the portal. The guides build upon one another - an interested party is well served by reviewing the guides in the order posted as each contains important information. The guides are posted on FBO as files associated with solicitation QTA0015MDA2001.

Proposal Title

Response to Solicitation ##

Proposal Title

Response to Solicitation ##

Use or disclosure of data contained on this sheet is subject to the restrictions on the title page of this document.

Use or disclosure of data contained on this sheet is subject to the restrictions on the title page of this document.

Table of Contents

List of Figures

List of Acronyms

Use or disclosure of data contained on this sheet is subject to the restrictions on the title page of this document.

May 2015

Using AcquServe to Assemble and Edit Proposals Vendor Profile Page To access AcquServe, open a Web browser to https://acquserve.stars2.noblis.org. Click on the Vendor Portal page. Figure 1 shows the STARS II Vendor Profile Page displayed by the system the first time the user clicks on the Vendor Portal Page. Remember to save your profile information. All fields except Address Line 2 are required.

“Save Changes”

Figure 1: STARS II Vendor Profile Page

STARS II AcquServe Home Page Figure 2 shows the STARS II AcquServe home page. The home page is displayed after saving your profile. It is also the default starting page after clicking on the Vendor Portal page (except for the first time). In addition to functioning as the initial navigation page, the home page provides important help desk information:

1. The STARS II AcquServe help desk email address.

2. The STARS II AcquServe help desk telephone help line number.

3. Your Offeror ID and PIN. To protect your acquisition sensitive information, help desk personnel will not answer telephone questions unless you first provide your Offeror ID and PIN.

4. Help desk contact information is also available from any page by clicking on “Help” at the top of the home page.

Figure 2: STARS II AcquServe Home Page Other items on the STARS II AcquServe Home Page include: Text links to the Proposal Editor and Price Viewer are visible as part of the welcome message. There is also a direct link to the Table viewer page at the top of the home page.

5. The Recent Changes panel on the right of the page. This panel is updated to provide information of any changes made to AcquServe for STARS II.

6. A text link to the Proposal Editor tool.

7. Links to a Price Viewer tool to be used to view your proposal prices as calculated by AcquServe after you have entered all the required base prices, price coefficients, price differential and prices escalation factors.

8. The Tools menu used to navigate to different AcquServe Pages.

The Tools menu is shown below in Figure 3. It can be used to navigate directly to the changes panel and tools listed above as well as to the User Profile page and the Home page, from any other AcquServe page. The following sections describe the use of all of these tools to build and then submit your STARS II proposal.

Figure 3: Tools Menu Proposal Editor Page The Proposal Editor page, shown in Figure 4, provides the primary interface for uploading / entering all required proposal contents.

Figure 4: Proposal Editor Page The center of the Proposal Editor Page provides a live summary of any file status/upload errors. A STARS II proposal must include:

1. Clauses and Provisions - current Representations and Certifications from SAM.gov, which satisfies 52.212-3

2. Responsibility Documentation

3. Completed Standard Form (SF) 1449 Solicitation/Contract/Order for Commercial Items

4. Contract Administration Plan (CAP) for each proposed Constellation

5. Marketing Action Plan (MAP) for each proposed Constellation

6. ISO 9001:2008 or CMMI level II+ in Service or Development credential if proposing Constellation 2

7. Labor Category Prices for Year 1, Washington DC Geographic Locality, Government Site for each Constellation – Functional Area

8. Locality Area Coefficients for each Constellation – Functional Area, if not using the default coefficients

9. A Contractor Site % Differential for each Constellation – Functional Area

10. Yearly Price Escalation Rates for Years 2, 3, 4 and 5 for each Constellation – Functional Area

11. Completed Past Performance Surveys for each Constellation – Functional Area The error section will appear as above the first time you visit the page. The errors indicated in Figure 4 indicate that none of these required documents/files have yet been uploaded:

· Clauses and Provisions

· Responsibility Documentation, or

· Solicitation/Contract/Order for Commercial Items (SF1449).

In addition, no constellations have been selected. As you prepare your proposal, refer to “Errors” section of the Proposal Editor page to see what proposal content is not yet uploaded or entered.

Constellation(s) Offerors must choose at least one Constellation in which to propose Labor Category prices. The checkboxes for choosing Constellation(s) can be seen at the bottom of Figure 4 above. Click either or both checkboxes as appropriate for your proposal. Figure 5 shows the Proposal Editor Page after having selected Constellation 1.

Constellation 1 selected Updated Errors

Figure 5: Proposal Editor Page after Selecting Constellation 1 Note that the Errors panel still indicates the missing Clauses and Provisions, Responsibility Documentation, and SF1449, but the “No constellation selected” error has been replaced with three (3) new errors indicating missing content after selecting Constellation 1. The error icons (triangle with the embedded exclamation point) are used to indicate missing content.

Functional Area(s) For each selected Constellation, offerors must choose at least one Functional Area in which to propose Labor Category prices. The checkboxes for choosing Functional Area(s) can be seen at the bottom of Figure 5 above. Click one or more Functional Area checkboxes as appropriate for your proposal. Figure 6 shows the Proposal Editor Page after having selected Constellation 1 – Functional Area 2: Computer Systems Design Services (NAISCS 541512).

Functional Area 2 selected Updated Errors

Figure 6: Proposal Editor Page after Selecting Constellation 1 – Functional Area 2 Once again notice that the Errors panel still indicates the missing SF1449, Professional Compensation Plan and Policy on Uncompensated Overtime files, and the missing Contract Administration Plan and Missing Marketing Action Plan; but, the “Constellation 1: No Functional Areas Selected” error has been replaced with three (3) new errors indicating missing content after selecting Constellation 1 – Functional Area 2.

Proposal Files As described earlier in this guide, some documents/files are required per functional area, some are required per constellation, and some are required only once for your entire proposal. The AcquServe Proposal Editor Page provides a place for uploading each required document file. AcquServe uses a standard dialog for uploading each file. Figure 7 through Figure 11 show the process for uploading a proposal file (using the SF1449 as an example).

Immediately below the error panel are button’s for uploading the three (3) documents/files required only once for your proposal. Click on the “Upload File” button immediately under the “Solicitation / Contract/Order for Commercial Items (SF1449).

Error icon for SF 1449 Upload File for SF 1449

Figure 7: Upload SF 1449 Select “Browse” and navigate to the file to be uploaded (or, type the name of the file directly into the box.

Select “Browse” or enter the file name

Figure 8: “Upload File” Dialog Box

Highlight the file to be uploaded and click Open.

Click “Open” Highlight the file

Figure 9: Browse and Select File Then check that the correct file name appears in the box and select “Upload File” to confirm the upload of the file.

Click “Upload File” Is this the correct file?

Figure 10: Confirm File to Upload

No error icon for SF 1449 No SF 1449 related error Name of Uploaded SF1449 file

Figure 11: SF1449 Successfully Uploaded The file has been uploaded. Both the SF 1449 related error message in the error panel and the red triangle icon next to the SF 1449 item are gone. Also, the “Upload File” button for the SF 1449 has been replaced by the name of the file that was uploaded.

Follow the same procedure for all of the “Upload File” buttons on the Proposal Editor page, including:

1. Completed Standard Form (SF) 1449 Solicitation/Contract/Order for Commercial Items

2. Responsibility Documentation

3. Contract Administration Plan (CAP) for each proposed Constellation

4. Marketing Action Plan (MAP) for each proposed Constellation

5. ISO 9001:2008 or CMMI level II+ in Services or Development credential if proposing Constellation 2

6. Past Performance Surveys for each Constellation – Functional Area Pricing Related Tables Two (2) price related tables are required for each Constellation-Functional Area being offered:

· Labor Category Prices – the STARS II RFP defines 141 different Labor Categories. An offeror must propose a price for each Labor Category in the Labor Category Price table for work performed at Government work sites in Washington, DC.

· Locality Area Coefficients – the STARS II RFP defines 34 “Locality Areas” and requires – if not accepting the defaults – the vendor to propose Locality Area Coefficients for all 34 areas. The Locality Area Coefficient for Washington, DC, is the base locality and is defined to be 1.0. For the other locality areas, the coefficients adjust the base locality (Washington, DC) prices. For example, if proposing labor prices in New York City, NY to be 4.5% higher than Washington, DC, then the Locality Area Coefficient for New York City, NY would be 1.045. To propose prices to be 4.5% less in another city than in Washington, DC, then the Locality Area Coefficient for that city would be 0.955.

AcquServe provides two methods for completing these 2 tables for each proposed Constellation-Functional Area:

1. A web interface which provides the capability to type an entry for each table row, and

2. A table uploader for uploading all the entries in one table for one Constellation-Functional Area.

Price Table Web Interface To use the web interface, click the “View Table” button next to the table to be completed. Figure 12 shows the View Table buttons for Constellation 1 – Functional Area 2. These buttons are only visible for Constellation-Functional Areas chosen by the vendor.

View Table

Figure 12: View Table Figure 13 shows the Table Viewer / Editor for the Labor Category Price table. In the example shown, prices have been entered for the first two labor categories. A price is entered by highlighting the labor category row, typing the price in the Price Entry field below the table and hitting the “Enter” key. The description of the highlighted labor category is displayed below the price entry field. The Table Viewer / Editor for the Locality Area Coefficients table functions in the same manner.

Labor Category Description Price Entry Field

Figure 13: Labor Category Prices - Table Viewer / Editor Downloading Pricing Related Table Templates The second option for completing pricing table information is to upload them into AcquServe. To use this option, the pricing tables must be stored and uploaded as .csv files.

Note: Most Microsoft Windows installations define Microsoft Excel as the default program for opening .csv files. A .csv file is essentially a structured text file, so it can also be opened with other programs, such as Notepad. However, Excel is a good choice for this context since the file will be imported into a database table.)

To assist with ensuring the correct table format, AcquServe provides table templates for both the Labor Category Prices table and the Locality Area Coefficient table. There are two (2) clickable links after the second paragraph of the Proposal Editor page (See Figure 14).

Labor Category Prices Table Template Clicking the “Download Labor Category Prices Table Template” link will initiate downloading a.csv file, structured appropriately for uploading prices to AcquServe. When the open file dialog box opens, choose “Open With.” After the file is opened, choose “Save As” and save the file with a name and to a location that you will remember.

Download Labor Category Prices Download Locality Area Coefficients

Figure 14: Download Labor Category Price Table Template If you opened the file with Excel, the “Save As” window will appear as shown below in Figure 15. In Figure 15, the Excel selected “Save as type” is “CSV (Comma delimited) (csv).”

Save as type:

Figure 15: Save As .csv File If Excel selects another Save as type, you must change the file type to “CSV (Comma delimited) (*.csv)” as shown in Figure 16. IMPORTANT: The file must be saved as a .csv file for the table uploader to function.

Select file type CSV

Figure 16: Select Save as type: CSV The downloaded Labor Category Price Table Template has a row defined for each of the 141 STARS II Labor categories. The Price column (spreadsheet column “C”) needs to be populated for all 141 Labor Categories. The proposed prices in the table will be interpreted as the proposed price for work performed at a Government location in the Washington, DC Locality Area. After populating the prices, the file must be saved as a .csv file for the table uploader to function.

Figure 17: .csv File Format Confirmation Figure 17 shows the Microsoft Excel dialog box when saving a .csv file. Click “Yes.” Even if the immediately preceding step was to save the file, when either closing the file or exiting after having saved the file as a .csv file, Microsoft Excel prompts with the dialog box shown in Figure 18. If you click “Save,” Excel will once again display the dialog box shown in Figure 17; if you then click “Yes,” it will save the file again and close the file / exit Excel. If, for the dialog box shown in Figure 18, you click “Don’t Save,” Excel will immediately close the file / exit Excel.

Figure 18: Close .csv File or Exit Excel Dialog Box Locality Area Coefficients Table Template AcquServe automatically uploads a Locality Area Coefficients table for all Constellation-Functional Area combinations. The table is pre-populated with guideline coefficients for each locality area. If the offeror wishes to accept the guideline coefficients with no changes, no other action is required regarding the Locality Area Coefficient Table. Figure 19 shows the Table Viewer for the Locality Area Coefficients table. If a locality is highlighted, the bottom panel of the box shows the Locality Area’s guideline coefficient and a more detailed listing of areas included in the Locality Area. To modify a coefficient, highlight the appropriate locality, type the new coefficient into the field in the center of the page and type “Enter.”

Figure 19: Locality Area Coefficient Table Viewer Nonetheless, AcquServe also provides the capability to download the pre-populated Locality Area Coefficients by clicking the “Download Locality Area Table Template” link on the Proposal Editor page. When the open file dialog box opens, choose “Open With.” After the file is opened, choose “Save As” and save the file with a name and to a location that you will remember. If Excel selects another Save as type, you must change the file type to “CSV (Comma delimited) (*.csv)” as previously shown in Figure 16. IMPORTANT: The file must be saved as a .csv file for the table uploader to function.

Uploading Pricing Related Tables Uploading of the saved Labor Category Prices and Locality Area Coefficient tables is done on the Proposal Editor page, using the respective “Upload Table” buttons, shown in Figure 19. In Figure 20 below, the buttons indicated are for Constellation 1 – Functional Area 2. Since each Constellation – Functional Area combination can have different prices and or coefficients, it is important to be sure that you are uploading tables into the correct Constellation – Functional Area combination. The process for uploading a table is analogous to the process for uploading files, as described in Section 1.3.3.

Upload Table

Figure 20: Upload Labor Category Prices / Locality Area Coefficients Pricing Related Factors Two (2) other pricing related types of information are required:

1. Contractor Site Differential factor for each Constellation – Functional Area. AcquServe applies this factor to the prices in the Labor Category Price table to calculate the proposed price for work performed at the contractor’s site, instead of a government site.

This factor is entered as a percent differential (i.e. if the price for work performed at the contractor’s site is to be 15% higher than at the government site, enter 15), as shown in Figure 21.

Figure 21: Contractor Site Differential and Yearly Escalation Rates

2. Yearly Escalation Rates for each Constellation – Functional Area. AcquServe applies these factors to the prices for each preceding year, to calculate the price for the next year.

These factors are entered as a year-to-year percent escalation. For example, an escalation rate of 2% entered in the box labeled “Year 1 to Year 2” will result in offered Year 1 prices increasing by 2% for Year 2. An escalation rate of 0, as shown in Figure 21 in the box labeled “Year 4 to Year 5,” will result in the prices remaining the same for Years 4 and 5.

Viewing Proposals All parts of a proposal can be viewed from the Proposal Editor page. Uploaded files can be viewed by clicking on the filename of the uploaded file. Uploaded tables can be viewed by clicking on the applicable “View Table” button. The Contractor Site Differential and Yearly Escalation Rates are displayed directly on the Proposal Editor Page.

To view the full set of prices calculated by AcquServe, choose the “Price Viewer” tool from the Tools menu at the top of the Proposal Editor page. Figure 22 shows the Price Viewer results.

Figure 22: Price Viewer Results Several capabilities are included to assist in viewing the prices. Visible across the top are six filters. The default value for all of the filters is “All.” However, the following choices are available:

· Constellation – All; 1; or 2

· Functional Area – All; 1, 2, 3, or 4

· Labor Category – All or any one of the 141 Labor Categories.

· Locality Area – All or any one of the 34 Locality Areas

· Year – All or any of Year 1 through Year 5, and

· Prices – All or only those rows where one of the calculated prices is higher than the Estimated Median Prices.

NOTE: A calculated price shown in BOLD indicates that it is higher than the estimated median.

The capability to download the calculated prices into a .csv file is available. If filters are applied, only the filtered rows are downloaded.

Submitting Proposals Initial Proposal Submission When all parts of a proposal have been uploaded or filled in, the “Error Panel” in the middle of the Proposal Editor Page changes to show that all of the proposal pieces are present, and the “Submit Proposal” button will appear (as shown in Figure 23). The Complete Proposal panel also summarizes the Constellation- Functional Area combinations included in the assembled proposal.

Figure 23: Proposal Complete To submit the proposal, click on the “Submit Proposal” button. The “Are you sure” dialog box will be displayed (Figure 24). If you are sure, press “OK”

Figure 24: Submission Confirmation Dialog Box After you confirm, the following changes will appear on the Proposal Editor Page (Figure 25):

· The “Submit Proposal” button will change to a “Re-Submit Proposal” button.

· A “Download Receipt” button will appear next to the Re-Submit button.

· A warning will appear below the Re-submit button that reads “You have already created a proposal submission. If you create a new proposal submission, then it will replace the current one.”

Download Receipt

Figure 25: Proposal Editor Page, after a Successful Proposal Submission Click on the “Download Receipt” button to download a receipt for the submitted proposal. AcquServe will generate a text file that you should Open or Download and Save (shown in below as opened in Notepad).

Figure 26: AcquServe for STARS II Proposal Receipt The Receipt includes:

· Offeror Information, including STARS II Offeror ID, Offeror Name and Offeror DUNS number (as completed on the User Profile form)

· A Date and Time Stamp when the proposal was submitted (time shown is Eastern Time)

· A Price Digest (a security “hash” value useable to verify that a proposal has not been altered after its submission).

· A record of the file names uploaded as the respective proposal files

· for the proposal as a whole

· for each Constellation, and

· for each Functional Area.

Lastly, once an initial proposal has been submitted, the AcquServe Home Page changes to remind you that you have already successfully submitted a STARS II proposal. The home page also provides another link from which the proposal receipt can be downloaded.

Proposal Re-Submission An offeror may not submit multiple proposals for consideration. However, AcquServe has been configured to permit offerors to assemble and submit a replacement proposal.

After a proposal is submitted, the offeror’s entire proposal is still available to the offeror. Using the Proposal Editor page, any proposal file can be deleted, any price, or price factor can be changed. An entire Constellation-Functional Area can be added or deleted. Deleting a Functional Area is as easy as unchecking the box on the Proposal Editor Page. However, if a Constellation or Functional Area box is “unchecked” in error, rechecking the box will restore all of the files and tables to be resubmitted.

To replace a file attachment with a different file, you must first remove the previous file by clicking on the “x” next to the file name and confirming that you want to delete the file, as shown in Figure 27. After removing the file, upload the new file as previously shown.

Confirm Removal Table to Remove

Figure 27: Remove File from Proposal After the file is removed, the error panel will reflect that there is a missing file and remove the Re-Submit Proposal button, as shown in Figure 28.

Figure 28: File Removed from Proposal In addition to the Re-Submit button having been removed, the “Download Receipt” button is also removed. Should the offeror wish to download the receipt for its currently submitted proposal, while in the process of preparing a replacement proposal, the receipt can be downloaded from the AcquServe Home Page (Figure 29).Download Receipt Prior Submission Notification

Figure 29: Home Page after a Proposal Has Been Submitted To resubmit the proposal, click on the “Re-Submit Proposal” button. The “Are you sure” dialog box will be displayed (Figure 30). If you are sure, press “OK”

Figure 30: Re-Submission Confirmation Dialog Box This will be followed by a second dialog box reminding the offeror that its previous proposal submission will be replaced and asking for another confirmation (Figure 31). Click on “OK” to resubmit the replacement proposal.

Figure 31: Re-Submission Re-confirmation Dialog Box The procedure for downloading the receipt for this replacement proposal is the same as described earlier for the initial submission. Once the replacement proposal has been submitted, the receipt for the previous version of the proposal is no longer available.

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