RFP-33-11-325 Responses to Vendor Questions 1.pdf

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Responses to Questions Information Technology Infrastructure and Support Services (RFP‐33‐11‐325)

Response Package 1 4/20/2002 Page 1 of 38

ID RFP Reference Question Response 1 Pricing Assumptions ‐ Attachment F Attachment F states that "This information is provided to the prospective bidder to allow them to approximately gauge the resources currently being used to meet the majority of requirements of the ITISS contract." Are contractors expected to include resources not listed as GFE in the inventory list in their pricing or only use this information to understand the number of FTE to support the environment?

The Inventory information is provided to give Offerors a reasonably detailed understanding of all of the equipment currently in the environment. This supplements section C.4 "NRC Environment" of the SOW in describing the current situation. The objective is only to provide as much information as possible to help Offerer's understand the environment and then propose what they believe is appropriate to address the requirements in the SOW.

14 Font Instructions‐E.18 Proposal Presentation and Format ‐ Alternate

May font size be reduced for tables, charts, graphics, etc., due to page limitations?

Yes, that is acceptable.

82 RFP Section E ‐ E.14 (a) ‐ Proposal Presentation and Format

Can a smaller font than 11 point be used for tables, charts, diagrams and illustrations such as 8 point?

Yes.

296 RFP Section E.14 Proposal Presentation And Format‐Alternate 2 All text information shall be printed in Arial 11 point font.

Provided that legibility is preserved, may an offeror use a font size smaller that 11 pt in tables, charts, diagrams, graphics, and illustrations?

Yes.

15 Multiple / Single Award‐Section C, C‐

The government appears to leave open the option for multiple awards on page C‐2, yet seems to contradict itself in Attachment A, page 2, section C.3. Please Clarify

The NRC anticipates a single award of the ITISS contract.

209 RFP‐C.34 (2) Any order for a combination of items in excess of $30,000,000.00. Is the initial order exempt from this ceiling?

No.

Response Package 1 4/20/2002 Page 2 of 38

17 Past Performance and List of

Contracts‐E.14.a.

The government states a requirement to include past performance reference information not to exceed 1 page each, yet it references two forms, Attachment E and Attachment F. Attachment E is a list of contracts, which is very brief and includes multiple references per page, and Attachment F is an inventory List.

There is only one list. Even though these two sections refer to the list multiple times, only one list is required from the vendor. The single list will be reviewed in different ways for each part of the evaluation factor.

Points will be awarded based on Corporate Experience.

Points will be awarded based on Past Performance. The reference to attachment F in Section E.14 is in error and should be a reference to Attachment E. Please also note that the title inside Attachment E reads "Attachment F" and should say "Attachment E".

Offerors shall complete Attachment E with their list of contracts and a brief description of each contract’s relationship to the NRC's requirement. Offerors are then allowed to attach up to one page of supplemental Past Performance information for each contract behind the completed form. Neither the attachment nor the supplemental pages are included in the 100 page Technical Quote page limit.

18 Past Performance and List of Contracts‐“past performance reference information (not to exceed 1 page each)”

Is there a different requirement to include Past Performance Reference Information similar in size and scope vs. a list of contracts?

See Q #17

19 Past Performance and List of Contracts‐3.(b)

Is there a different template for filling out a “Past Performance Reference Information” vs a “List of Contracts”?

See Q #17

Response Package 1 4/20/2002 Page 3 of 38

61 E.3, page E‐20, 3(a) CORPORATE EXPERIENCE: “Offerors shall complete the enclosed LIST OF CONTRACTS Form (Attachment E) and list all current contracts as well as all contracts completed within the past three (3) years that are similar in scope to this requirement.” Then, under 3.(b). PAST PERFORMANCE, it states:

“Offerors shall complete the enclosed LIST OF CONTRACTS Form (Attachment E) and list all current contracts as well as all contracts completed within the past three (3) years that are similar in scope to this requirement – a minimum of three (3), if possible.” Later in this section, it states: “Each contract reference shall be filled out in accordance with Attachment F “List of Contracts Form.” Is the reference to Attachment E in 3.(b). PAST PERFORMANCE in error?

See Q #17

113 RFP, E‐14(a) ‐ E‐18 A Past Performance Reference Information Log is referenced. Is this separate from the Attachment E file labeled "Attachment F" on the document itself?

And/or the detailed Past Performance project narratives?

See Q #17

142 Reference: RFP Section E.14(d)3. (a), Corporate Experience; Section E.14(d)3.(b), Past Performance, page E‐20.

Both sections include the identical requirement:

"Offerors shall complete the enclosed LIST OF CONTRACTs Form (Attachment E) and list all current contracts as well as all contracts completed within the past three (3) years that are similar in scope to this requirement." Please clarify that only one completed Attachment E is required and specify the section in which the completed form should be placed (Corporate Experience section or the Past Performance section).

See Q #17

131 RFP Section: Attachment E: List of Contracts.

The file is listed as Attachment E, but in the actual document header it’s called Attachment F. The offeror believes this should read Attachment E.

Could you please clarify?

See Q #17

Response Package 1 4/20/2002 Page 4 of 38

133 RFP Section E.14.3(a) and E.14.3(b):

3(a) Corporate Experience and 3(b) Past Performance.

Both sections request that the vendor complete Attachment E: List of Contracts Form; and ask for all current contracts as well as those completed within the past three years that are relevant. Can you please explain the difference between the two lists?

If this list is the same in Corporate Experience as in Past Performance, should the vendor provide this list twice or can we refer back to a single list?

See Q #17

62 E.3, page E‐20, 3(b) PAST PERFORMANCE refers to an Attachment F “List of Contracts Form.” This attachment appears to be missing. Can you direct us to its location?

See Q #17

300 RFP Attachment E List of Contracts Is Attachment E included in the Page Count? For Corporate experience and Past Performance? Are offerors to submit a separate Attachment E for each past performance reference?

See Q #17

143 Reference: RFP Section E.14(a), Proposal Presentation and Format, page E‐18.

The RFP states that the past performance reference information (not to exceed 1 page each), is excluded from the 100 page limitation. Please clarify that the entire Attachment E form, List of Contracts, is excluded from the 100 page limitation, with the references on the form limited to one page each.

See Q #17

90 RFP Sec E ‐ E14.a ‐ Corporate Experience

Past Performance references are excluded from the 100 page limit for the Technical Quote. Are Corporate Experience references also excluded from the 100 page limit?

The two are one and the same and are excluded from the page limit for the Technical Quote, see Q #17

298 RFP Section E‐14, (d) Instructions to offerors, 3 (b) Past Performance List any awards received, provide letters of commendation, etc., that will demonstrate your record of past performance. Provide any other pertinent information that will aid in the evaluation of your performance record

1. Should this information be provided in addition to the filled out Section E for each past performance reference?

2. Since the page limitation for past performance references is 1 page each, would this information count against the page limitations specified in the RFP, or will the government consider expanding the page limitation for past performance to 5 pages for each reference?

1. Yes. 2. The page limit for the PP reference information will not count against the tech proposal page limit. Please note, the 1 page limit cited in E.14(a) does not refer to Attachment E (which is a list of all contracts), but rather to any supplemental reference information for a given contract listed in Attachment E.

Response Package 1 4/20/2002 Page 5 of 38

132 RFP Section: Attachment E: List of

Contracts. Attachment E.

Past Performance for the Last 3 Years uses a table format of three columns. Would NRC consider revising the format using two columns for general contract information followed by one column/row for Brief Description as shown below? This would help save space and be easier to read.

No. The current formatting should be sufficient.

Additional PP reference information may be presented on 1 additional page per listed contract.

21 Key Personnel‐Section C.9 2052.215‐ 70 KEY PERSONNEL and Core Services (PSOW Section C.5)

What does the phrase “To be completed at time of award” refer to?

Names of key personnel will be placed into the contract at time of award

52 Subcontracting‐Section E page 22 “The offeror’s Small Business Subcontracting Plan will be evaluated in terms of the offeror’s Proposed subcontracting goals (overall subcontracting goals and individual subcontracting goals by small business category) in comparison to the Contracting Officer’s assessment of the appropriate subcontracting goals for this procurement.” The Solicitation specifies a minimum of 20% for SB subcontracting; however, it does not specify what the CO’s appropriate subcontracting goals are for the socio economic categories for this procurement.

Please provide the “appropriate subcontracting goals” for this procurement.

Yes. The CO will also assess the Small Business Subcontracting plan within the scope of the overall procurement to ensure that the goals laid out by the Offeror are achievable. In addition, the vendor must adhere to the NRC subcontracting goals negotiated with the SBA. See: http://www.nrc.gov/about‐ nrc/contracting/goals.html

130 RFP Section: E.15 Section 5.

Subcontracting.

The second paragraph of this section states, “The offeror’s Small Business Subcontracting Plan will be evaluated in terms of the offeror’s proposed subcontracting goals in comparison to the Contracting Officer’s assessment of the appropriate subcontracting goals for this procurement.” Can the offeror assume that the minimum 20% of contract award in the first paragraph is the CO’s assessment of ‘appropriate for this procurement’?

See Q #52

Response Package 1 4/20/2002 Page 6 of 38

66 E.15 RFP The RFP, Section E.15. states that the price proposal will not be point scored. How will the combined base plus option year total price be evaluated and how will that evaluation affect the overall standing of the proposal when combined with the scored portion?

Price is an important part of the proposal but not the most important. It will be evaluated separately. Price will not be scored, but will be evaluated on a "reasonableness" basis. The government desires a "best value proposition" from each offeror.

74 RFP Sec. E ‐ E.14 (b) (1) (iii) ‐ Pricing Section E.14 (b) (1) (iii) indicates "the Offeror's Cost Proposal must be typed, printed or reproduced on letter‐size paper and each copy must be legible". Is it acceptable to use 11 x 17 foldouts as long as they are folded to 8.5 x 11?

Yes, foldouts may be used for charts, graphs, and graphics, but should not be used simply to provide extra pages for text.

87 RFP Sec E ‐ E.14 ‐ Technical & management Volume

Paragraph E‐14 (a) implies that 11X17 foldouts count as 1 page. Is this correct?

Yes, foldouts may be used for charts, graphs, and graphics, but should not be used simply to provide extra pages for text. They do count as 1 page.

79 Reference 1. FedBusOpps Synopsis;

Reference 2. RFP; Reference 3. RFP;

Reference 4. RFP ‐ Reference 2.

Section E. Reference 3. Section E;

Reference 4. Section E. ‐ Delivery Instructions

There are inconsistencies in the requirement for email submission of the proposal. Is there a requirement to submit the proposal by email?

Email submission is not required, but per E.14 (b) and

(c) we do request 1 electronic copy and 2 hardcopies.

80 Reference 1. FedBusOps Synopsis. ‐ Reference 1. Paragraph 2.

Reference 2. Section B, para B.1.

Reference 3. Section B. , para B.

Reference 4 Section C, para C.2.

Referenc. Section C, para (D). 6.

Section C, para C.7. 7. Section C, para C.28 8. C, para C.29 ‐ Pricing/Contract Terms

There are inconsistencies in the RFP in regard to the contract type. Fixed Unit Price, Labor Hour, Firm Fixed Price and Time and Materials are referenced.

Please clarify the definition of each type.

The government intends to award the core services part of the contract on a Firm Fixed Price basis. Where the RFP discusses optional tasks that involve level of effort type activities, the government intends to award those tasks on a Time and Materials basis. However, if offerors can propose a varied approach and mix of contract types that provide more flexibility and efficiency to the government, then those offerors' ideas will be carefully considered during the proposal evaluation period.

Response Package 1 4/20/2002 Page 7 of 38

81 RFP Sec. C ‐ C.2, para l ‐ Contract

Terms This paragraph provides for payment of labor hours expended up to the date of termination for convenience, but does not include payment of materials and other costs. Is this an oversight?

Would the NRC consider incorporating the FAR Clauses for Termination for Convenience and Default?

No. The Labor hour line items contain only labor hours, no materials or other costs are specified.

83 Attachment A: SOW and Section E ‐ C.3.3 E.14 (b) (iv) ‐ Pricing and Period of Performance

The Base Period is specified as Unknown Date, 2010 ‐ November 30, 2013. Section E states that offerors shall assume an award date of Oct 15, 2010 as the date upon which to base costs. Can we assume that the 1st year of the Base Period will cover the period of Oct 15, 2010 through Nov 30, 2011, a period of 13 months, 15 days? Will years 2 ‐ 6 be adjusted to facilitate a consistent starting period based on when year 1 actually starts?

Yes, years 2‐6 will be 12‐month years, while the duration of the "base year" will depend on award date.

102 Attachment D ‐ Pricing Templates ‐ Pricing

How will offerors submit invoices for devices that are deployed for less than a full year? Would the Government consider changing all the fixed unit rate prices from per year to per month?

You will prorate the yearly cost on your invoice. For filling out the price schedule, you may add a notation to any given line item to explain that it is only meant to cover a certain number of months in a year.

125 RFP Section: Section C.1 (page C.1) and Section E.14

The first referenced section requires that offerors hold their prices firm for 30 calendar days from submission. The second requires the quotes be effective for 90 days. Both of these offer holding periods would expire before the anticipated award date, assuming a May 19, 2010 proposal submission.

Which is required?

In light of the expected award date, the NRC will require that offerors hold their prices firm for 180 calendar days from submission.

127 RFP Section: E.14, 3.(b) PAST

PERFORMANCE

Please clarify the requirement in the third paragraph of this section. Are offerors to list all contracts terminated for default, and provide any letters and notices associated with only those listed contracts?

No. Offerors shall list and discuss all prior contracts terminated for default. In addition, Offerors should explain whether any show cause letters, cure notices, or poor performance letters have been received.

Response Package 1 4/20/2002 Page 8 of 38

128 RFP Section: Section E.15, 2.

TECHNICAL QUALIFICATIONS , and Attachment A, SOW, C.8 KEY

PERSONNEL

The requirement for ITIL v3 expert certification for the Program manager appears to contradict a later requirement in the SOW which states,” It is a mandatory requirement for at least one of the key personnel to be certified as an ITIL v3 Expert.”

Please clarify.

There is a contradiction between E.15, 2 in the RFP and the second paragraph of the SOW, Section C.8. The SOW is incorrect. ITIL v 3 is not a mandatory requirement. As it states in RFP, E.15, 2: "Offerors whose proposed personnel have ITIL v3 expert certification will be more favorably rated."

134 RFP Section E.14 Proposal Presentation and Format.

Where in the proposal submission should offeror’s include the additional required information such as the completed SF1449, Reps/Certs, DD441S, Subcontracting Plans, etc.? Do these items belong in the Appendices?

Yes.

140 Section E.10 (Page E.16) Award Notification

This section mentions a “competitive range”, but the solicitation does not contain any mention of an Orals presentation. Oral presentations are common in the Industry, particularly for this scope of effort and importance to the agency. Oral presentations will enable the agency to meet the key personnel and ask questions for clarification of the Offeror’s solution. Potential demonstrations of functions which are of interest to the agency could be provided during this time. The NRC has used this function in other procurements, as evidenced in RFP 03‐10‐080.

The NRC will have oral presentations at our discretion.

144 Reference: RFP Section E.14(a), Proposal Presentation and Format, page E‐18; Section E.14(d)1, Technical Approach, page E‐19.

The RFP limits the Technical Quote submission to 100 single‐sided pages. Considering that the SOW is 217 pages in length and the instructions require that offerors "demonstrate a thorough understanding of the tasks to be performed...and discuss proposed methodologies as they apply to the requirements...," we recommend that the Techincal Quote submission (which includes the Technical Approach, Key Personnel, Corporate Experience and Past Performance, Program Management, and the Subcontracting Plan) be expanded to a maximum of 200 pages to allow for a more complete response.

The Technical Quote submission is limited to 100 pages.

Response Package 1 4/20/2002 Page 9 of 38

192 RFP Attachment C – Billing

Instructions for Fixed Price Contracts (June 2008), page 2 of 3, Frequency.

Please confirm that the government will allow submission of vouchers/invoices on a monthly basis.

For fixed price task orders the frequency of invoice submission will depend on what is negotiated as discrete deliverables under a given task order.

206 RFP‐C.15 If the multi‐year contract does not have option years, then an annual evaluation will be prepared (state time for annual evaluation). What is the time for annual evaluation

We will fomalize a date after award and in coordination with the monitoring of our service level agreements, but generally this will occur twelve months after award.

207 RFP‐C.19 For those Contractor employees, consultants, and subcontractors who are already working under this contract, the on‐line training must be completed in accordance with agency Network Announcements issued throughout the year 2003 within three weeks of issuance of this modification. Please provide a copy of the Network Annoucements

These announcments are prospective. They are issued as standard emails and contain details on the specific training along with directions on how to complete it. If the vendor has any questions during the life of the contract, the CO will assist.

208 RFP‐C.25 (b) The Contractor shall comply with the FAR clauses in this paragraph (b) that the Contracting Officer has indicated as being incorporated in this contract by reference to implement provisions of law or Executive orders applicable to acquisitions of commercial items: Are all of the provisions listed applicable or only the ones with a check in the check box next to them applicable?

Only the ones with a check in the box.

290 RFP Section E.15(a)5, page E‐22‐23 (68/71)

This section assigns 20 evaluation points to the offeror’s small business subcontracting plan. If an offeror qualifies as a small business for this opportunity, and thus does not require a small business subcontracting plan, how will this factor be evaluated? Will small businesses proposing as prime contractors automatically receive the full 20 evaluation points?

Yes. As it states in the RFP, Section E.15(a), 5, Page E‐ 23:

“If the prime contractor is a small business, the highest score will be given for this criterion.”

299 RFP Section E‐14, (d) Instructions to offerors, 4 Program Management “The offeror shall state any interpretations or assumptions”

Are assumptions to be included in the technical volume, and if so, will they count toward the 100‐ page limit?

Yes and Yes.

Response Package 1 4/20/2002 Page 10 of 38

22 ‐2052.215‐70 KEY PERSONNEL What is the governments intent related to the Core

Positions and Additional Key Personnel? Are representative resumes suitable for the Additional Key Personnel?

No, the actual individuals you will use should be proposed as Key Personnel.

36 Pricing Template‐C.4.1 Attachment D

The government states a 3% growth estimate should be used for pricing and that offerors cannot adjust numbers in the RFP. However, the pricing template does not reflect the 3% annual growth in either equipment or hours required for support. Will the government clarify their requirements and provide a modified template?

The 3% increase refers to the rate, not the number of hours or pieces of equipment.

75 RFP Sec. E ‐ E.14 (b) (1) (iv) ‐ Pricing Does the term "elements of cost" refer to the prices being proposed for each individual item, or the offeror's cost before indirect costs and profit are added?

Prices being proposed for individual items.

203 RFP‐C.2.a.4 [Insert portion of labor rate attributable to profit.] Last sentence doesn't provide the labor rate attributable to profit.

That phrase in parentheses should have been deleted.

The second sentence above that point states that the labor rate attributable to profit is a default of 10%.

204 RFP‐C.2.(i).(1).(ii).(D).(1) (1) . The Government will reimburse the Contractor on the basis of actual cost for the following, provided such costs comply with the requirements in paragraph (i)(1)(ii)(B) of this clause: [Insert each element of other direct costs (e.g., travel, computer usage charges, etc. Insert "None" if no reimbursement for other direct costs will be provided. If this is an indefinite delivery contract, the Contracting Officer may insert "Each order must list separately the elements of other direct charge(s) for that order or, if no reimbursement for other direct costs will be provided, insert 'None".'] Please provide what the elements of the other direct costs are. Currently it says to insert each element of other direct costs.

No reimbursement for other direct costs will be provided, so this should read "None."

Response Package 1 4/20/2002 Page 11 of 38

205 RFP‐C.2.(i).(1).(ii).(D).(2) Material Handling, Subcontract Administration, etc.). The Government will reimburse the Contractor for indirect costs on a pro‐rata basis over the period of contract performance at the following fixed price:

[Insert a fixed amount for the indirect costs and payment schedule. Insert "$0" if no fixed price reimbursement for indirect costs will be provided. (If this is an indefinite delivery contract, the CO may insert "Each order must list separately the fixed amount for the indirect costs and payment schedule or, if no reimbursement for indirect costs, insert 'None')."] Please identify whether Each order must list separately the fixed amount for the indirect costs and payment schedule or if no reimbursement for indirect costs, insert 'None'.

No reimbursement for other indirect costs will be provided, so this should read "None."

295 RFP Section C.1.b.5 Terms of any express warranty

Please define what the government means by “any Express Warranty” in the context of a fixed price seat management CLIN.

No special meaning outide of common legal usage, namely, a spoken or written promise concerning the character, nature, performance, purpose, quality, state, or use of an item, made by a seller while negotiating with a buyer.

76 RFP Sec. C ‐ C25 ‐ Labor and Pricing Based on the definition and applicability of the Service Contract Act (SCA) from the US Department of Labor, was the omission of a check mark on the appropriate Service Contract Act (SCA) clauses in the RFP an inadvertent oversight and will the RFP be amended to incorporate the SCA and flow down the appropriate Wage Determinations (WD’s)?

Yes, this was an inadvertent oversight and will be corrected with an amendment.

137 E.14 PROPOSAL PRESENTATION AND

FORMAT, E.15 Evaluation. Page E‐21 section 5. SUBCONTRACTING requires a subcontracting plan and a narrative addressing three topics.

Additionally, page E‐22 section 5.

SUBCONTRACTING requires the subcontracting plan to be FAR19.704 compliant.

The required narrative combined with a FAR 19.704 compliant plan will utilize a significant amount of the allowed proposal page count. Recommend that the FAR 19.704 subcontracting plan be excluded from the page count but the narrative remains included in the page count.

Agreed. The narrative will be included in the allowed proposal page count, but the actual plan will be excluded.

Response Package 1 4/20/2002 Page 12 of 38

138 Attachment C – Billing Instructions for Fixed Price Contracts (June 2008)

This RFP document indicates that “The Contractor shall submit a voucher/invoice only after the NRC’s final acceptance of services rendered or products delivered in performance of the contract unless otherwise specified in the contract.” The Offeror recommends allowing invoicing for FFP elements on a monthly basis at one twelfth of that period’s (Base Year, Option Year, etc.) price for each fixed price item. This is in line with the model contemplated by the Disincentive Fee described in the PSOW.

Individual Task orders will be negotiated separately and will address terms of billing (and how they relate to the disincentive plan) in detail.

146 References: RFP Section E.16, Section 508 Compliance Applicability, page E‐ 23.

RFP Section E.16 stipulates a requirement for offerors to articulate how each of the applicable technical standards will be met and to identify the technical standards and provisions, as well as functional performance criteria, they anticipate are applicable to the contract and to provide justification for those that are deemed to be non‐ applicable. Please clarify whether offerors should include a response to these requirements stipulated in RFP Section E.16 (Section 508 Compliance Applicability) in the Cost Proposal or the Technical and Management Proposal. Please also clarify that this response is excluded from that page limitation.

A response to this section should be included in the Technical proposal. This response will not count towards the page limit.

289 RFP Section E.14, page E‐17 (64/71): Does the Government wish to review past performance of proposed subcontractors? If so, how many subcontractor past performances are required?

3 if possible. Please see section E.14(d)3(b).

297 RFP Section E‐14, (d) Instructions to offerors, 3 (b) Past Performance If the Offeror is proposing subcontractors for a significant or critical portion of this effort, then the Offeror must provide references for contracts performed in the past 3 years by the subcontractor relating to similar size and scope

1. For significant subcontractors, how many past performance citations are required?

2. Should the projects be of similar size and scope to the entire SOW, or to the portion of the SOW that the sub will be performing?

1. 3 if possible. 2. Similar in size and scope to the portion of the SOW that the sub will be performing.

Response Package 1 4/20/2002 Page 13 of 38

65 We understand that (NRC) must protect classified, Safeguards Information (SGI), and sensitive unclassified non‐safeguards information (SUNSI) related to U.S. government programs for the physical protection and safeguarding of nuclear materials or facilities. Given that the contractor may have access to this information in the performance of the SOW, can you please provide the approximate number and type of personnel security clearances normally required during performance of this work?

Estimates are fine.

Only a small number of Offeror staff will be granted access to SGI information (less than five). The majority of these contractor staff will be associated with the Safeguards LAN and Electronic Safe tasks (C.6.6 and C.6.9). It is also possible that a contractor working in the area of Information Security Management will be required to contain or clean‐up an SGI spill.

Most ITISS Contractor staff will need to be cleared for accessing some types of SUNSI information. Because ITISS represents several NRC General Support Systems, and several ITISS Contractor Staff will have administrative privileges, they must be granted access at IT Level I. Those contractor staff which are granted access at IT Level II are those that only requre accounts (non‐administrative) on NRC systems. The total numbers of these two groups will depend largely on the Offeror's proposal.

73 Attachment A: SOW ‐ C.4.4.2.1 ‐ Hardware

What is the age of the referenced NRC owned 175 server hardware units?

For the purposes of bidding, assume the servers are evenly distributed in age over the last three years

57 SOW How old is the equipment currently in possession of the government (inventory list) ‐ we understand from the RFP that the equipment is to be upgraded every three years?

The vast majority of equipment in the inventory is between 0‐3 years. Many network devices (hubs, switches, firewalls, etc.) are nearing the end of the three‐year cycle at the end of the current contract.

37 Inventory‐Attachment F – The government has provided an inventory list including GFE and has stated the contractor should own the refreshed equipment. Without a schedule, the government is leaving it to the offeror to assume what may be incorrect replacement needs, resulting in substantially different costs offered. Will the government provide a detailed schedule for when GFE will reach its refresh date.

Assume that the GFE is equally divided into thirds in age on a three‐year refresh cycle

Response Package 1 4/20/2002 Page 14 of 38

5 Client Solutions ‐ Section C.3.2 Section C.3.2 directs contractors to provide personal computing solutions to the NRC. Some of the client systems mentioned in Attachment F are from as far back as 2002. To provide a level playing field for bidding contractors, more detailed requirements are necessary. Below is the type of configuration elements that would assist contractors in pricing the client systems:

<what followed in the question was a list of requested specifications about Desktops, Notebooks, and Displays>

Section C.3.2 of the SOW, item 1 is an abbreviated representation of the requirements provided in greater detail in Section C.5.1.4 on Personal Computing.

Attachment F was provided as reference. Offerors are encouraged to propose solutions that combine ease of management with flexibility to support different NRC user classes over time. The NRC is seeking a "Personal Computing Service" approach, not simply a technical solution based on the current inventory. The NRC would encourage offerors to propose a solution to providing Personal Computing Services based on their experience and the environmental data provided.

The Transistion Considerations section also contains approximate quantities and timeframes when current pc's reach the end of their three‐year lifecycle.

7 Optical Drives ‐ C.4.4.2 Do all servers require an optical drive? If no, which categories of servers will require an optical drive?

It is expected that the ITISS contractor will provide an appropriate solution based on their expertise

8 Internal Drives ‐ C.4.4.2 Are internal disk drives required on all servers? If no, which categories of servers will requires internal disk drives and what capacities?

It is expected that the ITISS contractor will provide an appropriate solution based on their expertise

9 Fiber Channel ‐ C.4.4.2 Will all servers require Fiber Channel connectivity to a SAN? If no, which categories of servers will require fiber channel connectivity to a SAN?

It is expected that the ITISS contractor will provide an appropriate solution based on their expertise

10 Memory Size ‐ C.4.4.2 How much memory is required for each category of servers?

It is expected that the ITISS contractor will provide an appropriate solution based on their expertise

11 Memory Type ‐ C.4.4.2 Is Registered Memory required (RDIMMs) or can Unregistered Memory be used (UDIMMs)?

It is expected that the ITISS contractor will provide an appropriate solution based on their expertise

12 Management Tools ‐ C.4.4.2 Considering this large number of servers, is there a requirement from the vendor for management tools to be provided, or will third party tools be employed for deployment, management, monitoring, patching, etc.? If yes, which third party tools?

In consideration of the support requirements covered in RFP sections C.5.2.3 "Service Transition" and C.5.2.4 "Service Operation", it is expected that the ITISS contractor will provide an appropriate solution based on their expertise.

Response Package 1 4/20/2002 Page 15 of 38

13 SAN Configuration ‐ C.4.4.2 For the File and Print servers, are these servers to be connected to an existing SAN, or do you require a new 10TB+ scalable storage solution for the File and Print servers to interface?

It is expected that the ITISS contractor will provide an appropriate solution based on their expertise

16 Contract Length‐SOW Section C.3.4, Page 4, Table 1

The Safeguards contract shows the base period ending in 2018 (10 yrs), followed by 10, 1 year option periods. Is this an error

Yes, this is an error, the Safeguards contract had a 3‐ month base and 9 one‐year options, and ends 03/05/2010

20 Site Requirements Support‐SOW Section C.4.2, Page 9 paragraph 3

The government provides a list of “regional sites” on page 8, with a personnel count associated. Then on page 9, there is a statement that there are over 100 additional sites with only 2 personnel located on site, which are also referred to as regional.

Following these paragraphs, the government states dedicated on site staff are required. May we assume the dedicated on site requirement does not pertain to sites with only 2 staff?

The 100+ additional regional sites are Resident Inspector (RISE) sites and are supported through the Regions, so the assumption is correct.

27 Print Management‐SOW Section C.5.1.3.2 Page 23

Does the current inventory of network printers meet the requirement to have printers within 100 feet of every end‐users’ on site work space? If not, can the government provide additional information to determine the required number of printers capable of printing 11 x 17 inches?

For the purposes of bidding, offerors should assume that the current inventory meets the requirement

63 SOW, C.5.2, Page 39 “All responsibilities described herein apply to the basic infrastructure support services described in C.5.1 Basic Infrastructure Support Services and any additional services described in C.6 Additional Services that are exercised. The offeror shall describe their ITIL v3 experience in the context of each of these sections and shall also describe how they will assist the NRC in maturing our service delivery.” Is it your intent that we describe our ITIL v3 experience in the context of sections C.5.1 and C.6, or in the context of the remainder of C.5.2?

Section C.5.2 of the SOW uses the ITIL v3 framework to outline Offeror and NRC responsibilities within an NRC‐ specific environment. The intent of this paragraph was to communicate that, in addition to addressing the specific requirements outlined in C.5.2, Offerors should include ITIL v3 specific experience and methodology to the other requirements within the SOW (i.e. C.5.1 and C.6)

Response Package 1 4/20/2002 Page 16 of 38

48 Pricing Template‐Remote Access

Pricing Item U013 quotes remote access support for end users.

Please clarify what is meant by concurrent user.

Does the estimated quantity represent total number of remote users or total licenses currently in use? If the latter, can the government provide a total number of potential users?

For NRC purposes, concurrent users means "number of users who can remotely access NRC systems at the same time". Technically all (approximately 6,000) users should be configured and capable of remote access at any time.

54 C.5.2.4.1, Service Desk Function, is there any restriction to using work from home agents for the service desk operation?

As stated on Page 4 of the SOW, "Offerors intending to propose solutions that will be hosted external to NRC‐ owned facilities for either core or additional services must clearly demonstrate that they have experience providing such solutions adhering to all of the security and performance requirements of the Federal Government and the NRC."

58 SOW Have there been any changes to the asset list since the RFP and related attachments were issued?

As in any complex IT infrastructure environment, the inventory of assets is always changing. The Inventory was intended to provide Offerors with a relatively detailed understanding of the IT Assets currently in place. The majority of the assets in the inventory are the same.

59 SOW What plans are in place to upgrade any of the equipment between now and the award date (changes to the inventory list)?

The intention is not to make a significant number of changes to the asset inventory between now and the end of the existing contract. The area where there is the greatest unknown is related to the proportion of laptops vs. desktops which will be distributed under the personal computer lease scheduled to expire on 12/31/2012.

60 SOW Are the cost of these upgrades/exchanges of the equipment included in the ceiling price of $270MM ‐ if not, we assume the government will purchase any new equipment via another contract vehicle?

Yes. The costs of upgrades/exchanges is included in the contract ceiling price of $270M.

71 Attachment A: SOW ‐ C.3.4 Table 1 ‐ Core Services and Additional Services

What is the anticipated month and year that each current services contract identified in Table‐1 would be consolidated into ITISS?

For planning purposes, it is the NRC's intention to award those tasks at the end of the current contract base or option periods after award of ITISS. Award quarters are estimated in Table‐1, but exact award months will depend on the amount of overlap desired by the NRC.

Response Package 1 4/20/2002 Page 17 of 38

72 Attachment A: SOW ‐ C.4.2 ‐ NRC

Locations What percentage of the current 1000 staff moves and the forecasted 1500 in 2013; and 6000 moves in 2014 and 2015 are group vs. individual moves?

The 1000 annual moves are primarily individual moves.

All of the other additional moves will be group moves.

SOW Section C.4.2 should be revised to say 6000 additional moves in FY 2014 and 2015 (approximately 3,000 each year) as opposed to saying 6,000 each year.

171 Reference: SOW Section C.6.12, Extraordinary Move Support, page 128.

The SOW states: “The NRC anticipates 1500 staff moves in 2013, and 6000 extra staff moves in each of 2014 and 2015….” In the third paragraph of this SOW section, when discussing the second task, the SOW states that there will be approximately 6000 moves over a multi‐year period. Please clarify if there will be 6000 moves over a multi‐year period or 12,000 moves over this period.

The 1000 annual moves are primarily individual moves.

All of the other additional moves will be group moves.

SOW Section C.4.2 should be revised to say 6000 additional moves in FY 2014 and 2015 (approximately 3,000 each year) as opposed to saying 6,000 each year.

78 Price Schedule Template ‐ C.6.2 ‐ Pricing

For NSIR Operations Center Network Management pricing, Item # U015 is listed twice. Will the Government issue an amendment to correct this item # and each subsequent item #?

Thank you for pointing this out. This will be corrected and reissued.

84 Price Schedule Template ‐ File and Print Pricing, C.5.1.3 ‐ Pricing

Item # U025 is not included in the totals formula for each year. Please clarify.

Thank you for pointing this out. This will be corrected and reissued.

85 Price Schedule Template ‐ Network Components Pricing, C.5.1.5 ‐ Pricing

Item # U012 is not included in the totals formula for each year. Please clarify.

Thank you for pointing this out. This will be corrected and reissued.

91 Price Schedule Template ‐ Initial Transition Pricing C.7.1 ‐ Pricing

The Initial Transition Pricing includes a one time cost under item # T001 plus Government‐estimated hours for 4 labor categories. Does the total at the bottom right of the page represent a total fixed price for Initial Transition pricing? Does the Government expect to be billed the actual amount of hours worked for hourly‐rate labor categories on a T&M basis? If so, does this also apply to ALL of the price template schedules that contain hourly‐rate items?

The NRC is not asking for a fixed price for any price template schedules for tasks that include labor hour components (T&M). Estimates are provided based on the NRC's best estimate of level of effort required with a recognition that actual hours worked may vary and the NRC will expect to be billed for actuals. The NRC Project Officer will need to approve any hours exceeding the offeror's proposal in advance of those hours being worked.

Response Package 1 4/20/2002 Page 18 of 38

93 Attachment A – SOW ‐ Appendix A ‐

SLRs Ref SOW Appendix A.4 Service Level Requirements.

Which of these SLR’s are currently being measured?

For those that are currently being measured, could the Government provide the measured performance for the last 3‐ 6 months? If the current performance targets are higher or lower than those required for ITISS, would the Government please indicate what the current targets are?

In the ITISS RFP, the NRC has elected to measure many SLR targets differently than in the current ISSC contract.

Furnishing past performance information could be misleading for the development of Offerors’ proposals, so the NRC believes it to be prudent not to furnish this information.

94 Attachment A – SOW ‐ Appendix A.4 Table 2 ‐ Formula for determining SLR performance

The formula for determining SLR performance does not appear to correlate with the performance metric. Would the Government revise the formula to better correlate to the metric?

We believe you are referring to the time for email messages to traverse the gateway. The formula should say: Number of instances within performance target ÷ Total number of instances during measurement interval = Service level attained

95 Attachment A – SOW ‐ Appendix A.4 Table 2 ‐ Performance Target Clock

Please consider modifying the performance target “clock” to begin at the receipt of Government approval, rather than receipt of request. This is done on several of the other performance areas requiring Government approval to proceed.

Agreed, the SLR will be modified to say "Upon receipt of an authorized request"

96 Attachment A – SOW ‐ Appendix A.4 Table 3 ‐ Print Device

Ref SM‐SLR‐03, Time to provision a new work group print device. Our assumption is that this “print device” will be one that is pre‐ approved and has been added to the service catalog. Is this a correct assumption?

Yes, that is a correct assumption

97 Attachment A – SOW ‐ Appendix A.4 Table 3 ‐ SLR‐03

Ref SM‐SLR‐03,, We recommend that this metric only apply to back‐ups where data is stored locally and does not need to be retrieved from an off‐site location.

That is appropriate and fair and we agree

98 Attachment A – SOW ‐ Appendix A.4 Table 11 ‐ Measurement period

Ref SM‐SLR‐11 What is the measurement period, e.g., monthly?

Unless otherwise noted, measurement periods for all SLRs are monthly.

Response Package 1 4/20/2002 Page 19 of 38

99 Attachment D ‐ Pricing Template ‐

Initial Transition ‐ One Time Cost Does the T001 ITEM# encompass all non‐labor requirements in Section C.7.1, Initial Transition? If not, should these costs be incorporated elsewhere or will there be another Initial Transition CLIN to recover these costs?

T001 represents any one‐time fee that may occur related to the lease transfer and does not include any other non‐labor costs. If offerors anticipate any other non‐labor costs, they are encouraged to propose CLINs for them.

100 SOW C.4.4.3.1 ‐ C.4.4.3.1 ‐ Server Count

SOW C.4.4.3.1 states that 323 servers in the data center; however, Attachment F, Inventory List ‐ Data Center tab shows 276 servers. Which value is correct?

276 is the correct number, but offerors should remember that the exact number will vary over time as servers are added and retired, as with any data center.

101 Attachment D ‐ Pricing Templates ‐ Pricing

Does the Government intend that the offeror satisfy requirements for each SOW requirement with the hours defined in the RFP, or are these hours for evaluation purposes? Should the hours necessary be priced into the unit pricing?

Hours are listed in the pricing template only for T&M tasks such as development and integration and transition. The hours required to perform seat management, server management, blackberry support, etc. should be priced into the unit pricing.

103 Attachment D – SOW ‐ Pricing Template C.7.1 ‐ Pricing

We anticipate utilizing more labor categories than the RFP has listed under C.7.1, Initial Transition. Will the Government accept additional proposed hourly rate labor categories for Initial Transition?

Yes

107 Attachment D ‐ Pricing Template ‐ Pricing

Can the Pricing Tables for “Personnel Computing and Related Software Licensing” pricing be modified to provide additional pricing for portable computing devices offering multiple form factors to meet differing business uses as required by SOW Paragraph C.5.1.4.1, page 25, 3rd paragraph? The pricing table only includes pricing for one mobile system form factor by location.

Yes, the NRC is open to additional CLINs from offerors but will not reissue that template at this time.

108 C.9, Key Personnel Section C.9, KEY PERSONNEL, provides 11 named labor categories but the RFP does not provide information for how these labor categories are defined or what the requirements are needed to fill the position. Will the Government provide such information concerning the labor categories to be used in responding to this RFP?

The NRC would like Offerors to identify the appropriate mix of knowledge, skills, and abilities which they believe are appropriate to address the specific requirements of the ITISS SOW.

Response Package 1 4/20/2002 Page 20 of 38

109 E.14, Proposal Presentation and

Format, Alternate 2

2. Section E.14, PROPOSAL PRESENTATION AND FORMAT – ALTERNATE 2, states that the not‐to‐ exceed number of pages for past performance references is one (1) each. Given that Corporate Experience and Past Performance is 20 points out of 100 in the evaluation scoring and that an overview of Corporate Experience may be more comprehensive than can reasonably be included on one page, will the Government expand this page limitation?

Each Past Performance Reference submission is limited to 1 page.

110 RFP, C.5 ‐ C‐14 Is the Contract to be fully staffed at all Core levels by the end of Phase‐in Period or can it be incrementally staffed in stages beginning in Base Year 1?

The contract is to be fully staffed by the end of the phase in period

111 RFP, C.9 ‐ C‐16 Since Project Manager is one of the Key Personnel that will oversee each of the Technical Deliverable Tasks, does the contractor have the flexibility to bid PMO service under a Program Manager, including support staff of Finance Manager & Administrative Assistant from the Contractor Site, to manage the administrative functions & monitor the field /core staff activities as the liaison between govt CTO & the Project?

Yes, the Key Personnel role of "Project Manager" is one and the same as the Offeror's overall Program Manager. This is also the same as the Program Manager labor category in the Initial Transition task of the Price Schedule Template.

114 SOW, C.3.3 ‐ 3 SOW Tasks C.7.1 and C.7.2 are identified as Initial Transition (or Phase‐In) within the Base Year and Close‐Out (or Transition‐Out) within the Option Year 3, respectively. Is the Contractor to price these phases as separate periods of performance within Base Year 1 and Option Year 3 or is the period of performance to be outside of these contract years?

If the Transition periods are to be priced within the contract year does the Contractor have the flexibility to reflect adequate days (30, 60, or 90 days) for each of the Transition periods, or will the government clarify the POP of each transition period within the Period of Performance?

The template will be modified to consider Phase‐In Transition and Transition‐Out as separate line items not reflected in any particular base or option year.

Additional instructions on pricing will be provided in an RFP modification to be released shortly.

Response Package 1 4/20/2002 Page 21 of 38

116 SOW, C.3.4 ‐ 4 This section indicates the intention of the NRC to consolidate the services identified in Table 1 (Current Contracts Providing ITISS Services at the NRC) into the ITISS contract. If both the ITISS Contractor and a given contractor of the services in Table 1 demonstrate a high level of support on their respective contracts, does the NRC still intend to transition the work to the ITISS contract prior to exercising the last option year on the Table 1 contract?

The intention of the NRC is to consolidate all of the referenced contracts under the ITISS contract. The NRC reserves the right to make a decision that is in the best interest of the Government at each potential point of transition.

117 SOW, C.3.4 ‐ 4 This section indicates the intention of the NRC to consolidate the services identified in Table 1 (Current Contracts Providing ITISS Services at the NRC) into the…