Questions and Responses (Amd. 1).pdf

Amendment 1 Questions and Responses for RFP-CIO-30100000-23-001

# Reference Page # Question/Comment 1 General N/A Q: Can the deliverable dates be extended for Questions asked and proposals due?

Response: Due to current timeline constraints, due dates will not be extended at this time.

2 General N/A Q: Being a small business, could I win this contract as a prime contractor?

Response: This acquisition is solicited as unrestricted (open to small and large business). An awardee will be determined in accordance with the instructions and criteria set forth within the solicitation.

3 General N/A Q: What is the expectation from this transition?

Response: The expectation from the transition is described in Section 1.0 of the PWS in the solicitation (RFP-CIO-30100000-23- 001).

4 General N/A Q: Do you want to transfer the entire mainframe system as is or make it more cloud-centric to get benefits of the cloud like scaling and high availability?

Response: The Government’s requirement is for the entire mainframe to be transferred to a scalable PaaS solution (such as the IBM SmartCloud) equal to or greater than the salient characteristics as described in base IDIQ PWS section 2.1.3 and 2.2. The environment shall be capable of scaling up and down as applications migrate off mainframe.

5 General N/A Q: Do we have to transfer applications as is or "rewrite" or "replace" to make them cloud-native?

Response: The applications shall be transferred as-is.

6 General N/A Q: Is application modernization required before the transition to the cloud?

Response: Application modernization is not required before the transition to the PaaS environment.

7 General N/A Q: If we are migrating Fiscal Service application to IBM Smart Cloud, what is the reasoning behind purchasing and maintaining hardware if IBM already owns all of the hardware that we will be using?

Response: This acquisition is solicited as brand name or equal. The hardware requirements that are in the PWS are there to state the minimum hardware specifications required by the Government.

Offerors may propose an “or equal” solution/hardware and describe how it meets or exceeds the minimum salient characteristics. Fiscal Service is moving its on-premises mainframes to a PaaS model like IBM SmartCloud or an “equivalent/greater than” solution.

8 RFP Section 2.0 36 Q: Is attachment Vol K included in the overall page count? Vol 1-3 Tab 1-7 total 35 pages: Att K is counted in Tab 1? Att G and J are counted in Tab 7? Or all attachments are not counted in the 35 pages?

Response: All attachments are NOT counted in the 35-page maximum limit. The 35-page limit applies to Volumes I and II.

9 RFP Price Evaluation Section 1.3

49 Q: There does not appear to be any column or cell that computes the total evaluated price. Would the Government please describe what total price it will evaluate and how that calculation will be made?

Response: The Government will evaluate proposed labor rates by comparing the rates to fair and reasonable labor rates previously paid by the Government.

For evaluation purposes, Attachment I – Order 1 Pricing will be the basis for price evaluation and award. See solicitation RFP-CIO- 30100000-23-001 (Amd. 1) for additional information.

10 RFP Price Evaluation Section 1.3

49 Q: Would the Government please confirm that the total evaluated price will be computed based upon Attachment E?

Response: Attachment I – Order 1 Pricing will be the basis for price evaluation and award. See solicitation RFP-CIO-30100000-23-001 (Amd. 1) for additional information.

11 RFP Price Evaluation Section 1.3

49 Q: Would the Government please confirm that the total evaluated price will not be computed based upon Attachment I?

Response: Attachment I – Order 1 Pricing will be the basis for price evaluation and award. See solicitation RFP-CIO-30100000-23-001 (Amd. 1) for additional information.

12 Attachment I Q: Attachment I PoP for Option Year 2 is 46-58 Mo, but Attachment I PoP for Option 2 is 46-48 Mos. Should it be 46-58 months? Also, Option Period 1 is months 33-45 which appears to be 13 months long. Are the months correct?

Response: Period of performance has been updated in Attachment I

– Order 1 Pricing (Amd. 1) and in Attachment H – Order 1 PWS (Amd.

1). Order 1 Period 1 is 32 months, Order 1 Period 2 is 12 months, and Order 1 Period 3 is 12 months.

13 Attachments E and I

Q: Are Offerors allowed to propose discounts on hourly rates for "Labor Categories IAW BPA" for the Fully Loaded Hourly Rates (column B) in Attachment I? For example, if the Consultant is $100 for the Fully Loaded Hourly Rate in Attachment E, could the Offeror propose a price of $90 (effectively a 10% discount) for the Consultant's Fully Loaded Hourly Rates in Attachment I?

Response: Yes. Discounts are encouraged in both the base IDIQ and order 1. Order 1 pricing cannot EXCEED pricing established in the IDIQ, however discounts can be proposed. Rates in Attachment E will be evaluated to determine fair & reasonableness.

14 Attachment E Q: Attachment E has a Cost Category named "Cloud Surge Services."

Given that surge requirements vary widely, and depend upon a variety of factors to include surge volumes, durations, and the specific technical components, are bidders allowed to leave the specific line items under the heading of Cloud Surge Services unchanged in the template and instead propose the specific services (including duration, volumes, and technical components) at a later date after receiving the specific surge requirement and all associated details from the Government?

Response: Offerors shall submit pricing (fixed rate) that is applicable during surge support periods. The rates/prices will be applied to volumes, durations, and specific technical components at the time of the need.

15 Attachment I In Attachment I, Surge Support is listed as Optional Not-to-Exceed.

Can offerors leave the pricing for this line item blank because the surge requirements are not known at this present time?

Response: The Government has established a Not-to-Exceed amount for surge support to be used on an as-needed basis. The rates/prices will be applied to volumes, durations, and specific technical components at the time of the need. See Attachment I – Order 1 Pricing (Amd. 1) for additional information.

16 Attachment E and I

Q: In Attachment E, Surge is NOT listed as Optional, but it IS listed as Optional Not to Exceed in Attachment I. Would the Government please consider making the Surge Services "Optional Not to Exceed" in Attachment E as well and not require Offerors to price these surge services at this time given that the surge requirements are not known and may vary widely based upon the Government's future needs? This would allow Offerors to provide lower pricing to the Government after detailed requirements are available.

Response: Surge pricing is required in order to be evaluated for fair & reasonable determination and for the prices to be established in the base IDIQ contract. Offerors shall submit pricing (fixed rate) that is applicable during surge support periods. The rates/prices will be applied to volumes, durations, and specific technical components at the time of the need. This is identified as “Optional” in Order 1 because it is not funded at the time of the award; it is funded on an as-needed basis.”

17 Attachment E Q: For the Supplies Section, no quantity is provided for each software product. Should offerors provide costs based upon full capacity (2184 MIPS)? For example, should line item 37 (z/OS V2 Base) be the price for this software product at 2184 MIPS for the entire 12-month period?

Response: Yes, this is correct.