Draft Solicitation Ascend BPA Pool 1 Instructions To Offerors.pdf

REQUEST FOR QUOTATION

(RFQ)

RFQ# XXXXXXXXX

INSTRUCTIONS TO

QUOTERS

For the Establishment of a Multiple Award Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA) for Ascend

GSA Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) Special Item Number (SIN) 518210C

Issued By:

Federal Acquisition Service (FAS)

Office of Information Technology Category (ITC)

ISSUE DATE: Month Day Year

1. Introduction

These instructions provide specific guidance for preparing the quote as well as instructions on the format and content of the quote to include all data and information requested. The contractor must comply with these requirements. The government shall base the evaluation on the information presented in the quote. The government will not pay for any costs associated with the preparation of quotes assumes no liability for disclosure or use of unmarked data, and may use or disclose the data for any purpose. Unless restricted, information submitted in response to this request may become subject to disclosure to the public pursuant to the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) (5 U.S.C. § 552). No open-market items in response to this Request for Quotation (RFQ) will be evaluated and will be deemed unacceptable. All items submitted in response to this RFQ must be listed on Special Item Number (SIN) 518210C under your GSA Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) contract.

This acquisition is being conducted in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 8.4 Federal Supply Schedules under FAR 8.405-3 procedures. This is an RFQ using GSA schedules in accordance with FAR 8.405-3(b)(2). This RFQ will be issued in accordance with the ordering procedures of FAR 8.405-3(b)(2)(v)(A). This is not a FAR Part 15 negotiated competition. The government intends to award a multiple-award Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA). The government anticipates awarding up to 10 BPA’s based on the initial quotes received. The initial quotation should contain the best terms from a non-price and price standpoint. The Government reserves the right to confer with Quoter(s) to clear up quote details if the BPA Contracting Officer (CO) determines it to be necessary. The Government also reserves the right to award greater, fewer, or even no BPAs, including the right to issue more or less than ten BPA awards. All interested GSA schedule holders with the applicable SIN (518210C) are eligible to submit quotes for the Ascend Pool 1 BPA.

The MAS SIN 518210C, cloud computing and cloud-related IT professional services, is identified for this requirement. Quotes will only be accepted from vendors currently holding a GSA schedule contract. The government will review the quotes for scope and compliance during quote evaluation. No other schedules or SINs are permitted to be quoted for this BPA solicitation than those listed as follows:

● Cloud SIN 518210C

● Ancillary Supplies and Services

● Order Level Materials (OLM)

2. Order Type

Multiple Award Blanket Purchase Agreement. To the fullest extent practicable, performance-based contracting as defined in FAR part 8.4, will be utilized at the order level. The contractor(s) will furnish all services in accordance with the specific requirements outlined in each task order issued. The contract type for orders shall be in accordance with pricing established in the awarded BPA(s) and any additional discounts as appropriate in resulting orders. BPA pricing will be on a firm fixed price basis. Orders placed against the BPA(s) can be of various types and will be at the discretion of the ordering agency.

3. Issuing Office

General Services Administration Faith V. Shelton Senior Contracting Officer Email: cloudenterprisewide@gsa.gov

4. Period of Performance (PoP) The period of performance for the BPA will include a three-(3) year base (36 months) with one three-(3) year (36 months) option period and two one-(1) year options for a total of eight

(8) years.

5. Submission of Questions All questions regarding this solicitation must be submitted in writing via e-mail to cloudenterprisewide@gsa.gov no later than date/time TBD.

In posing questions, contractors must cite the relevant section, paragraph, and page number.

Questions should be written in a way that enables clear understanding of the contractor’s issues or concerns. Statements expressing opinions, sentiments, or conjectures are not considered valid inquiries and will not receive a response. Furthermore, contractors are reminded that the government will not address hypothetical questions aimed at receiving a potential “evaluation decision.” Any information provided in response to questions regarding this RFQ will be furnished promptly to other prospective quoters as either a response and/or as an amendment to the RFQ.

6. Quote Due Date & Time Submit an electronic copy of your quote no later than date/time TBD via e-mail to cloudenterprisewide@gsa.gov.

Include the following general and contact information on the covers of the quote submission and each volume section:

● Company name

● Address

● Phone number

● Point of contact (POC) name

● Point of contact (POC) e-mail address mailto:cloudenterprisewide@gsa.gov

7. Submission Requirements Quote shall be submitted as follows:

● Text: Text shall be at least single-spaced, with a minimum of one-inch margins all around. Pages shall be numbered consecutively. Pages submitted in excess of the page limitations stated throughout this document will be removed and not evaluated.

Any additional documents or attachments submitted, even if the total number of pages stays within the page limitation, shall not be evaluated.

● Font Size: Print shall be a minimum 12-point font size. Bolding, underlining, and italics may be used to identify topic demarcations or points of emphasis. Graphic presentations, including tables, which are not subject to the same font size and spacing requirements, shall have spacing and text that is legible.

● Pricing Data: All pricing information shall only appear in the Pricing Volume of the quote.

● Submission: Text and graphic portions of the electronic copies shall be in PDF format.

Data submitted in spreadsheet format shall be readable by Microsoft® Excel®. All price information shall be in files separate from the Technical Volume.

● Quotes that are a restatement of the requirements shall not be evaluated.

How You Will be Evaluated

The evaluation of quotes will be done in two parts. The first part of the evaluation will include a compliance check to ensure all quotes have submitted the volumes and attachments as requested in these instructions.

The second part of the evaluation will include evaluating the technical aspects of the quote, price, and past performance. This portion of the evaluation will determine the best value tradeoff between price and non-price factors.

Compliance Review

Compliance Factor 1: Authorization Level The contractor must identify the requisite FedRAMP/DCAS authorization level identified in the PWS for each sub-pool an award is being sought. Contractors must provide the self-attestation statement, which will then be verified by the government.

Compliance Factor 2: MAS Award 518210C–Schedule Holder The contractor must provide their existing GSA MAS Cloud SIN contract number associated with the cloud services being quoted under the BPA.

Compliance Factor 3: MAS Award 518210C–Remaining Period of Performance The contractor must provide a copy of their existing GSA MAS Cloud SIN 518210C (see Evaluation Factor 4). GSA will compare the period of performance provided in the submission against the Ascend BPA period of performance to ensure sufficient time remains on the awarded GSA MAS contract to allow for completion of any awarded BPA orders.

The estimated time schedule holders must have on their current contracts (the Multiple Award Schedule Ultimate Contract End Date) should be no earlier than calendar year 2034. Contractors that do not possess enough time to cover the eight-year PoP on their schedule contract will not be eligible for an award.

Compliance Factor 4: MAS Award 518210C–Catalog

The contractor must provide their existing MAS Cloud SIN 518210C GSA Advantage Catalog file and include the last awarded modification number, that has copies of the most up to date pricing documentation, to include the updated Price Proposal Template, Commercial Sales Practice (CSP-01), Commercial Pricelist and or Market Rate Sheet. GSA will evaluate the submitted BPA catalog line items against the following items on a pass/fail basis for the following areas:

1. BPA catalog is compliant with PWS requirements.

2. BPA catalog line items have a corresponding match on the MAS catalog.

3. BPA catalog line items are restricted to their FedRAMP/DCAS authorization boundary.

Volume II: Technical

Evaluation Factor 5: Technical Compliance Review

The contractor shall submit all documentation requested as part of its technical quote. The technical submission shall not exceed 100 pages for each contractor. The cover sheet, table of contents, acronym listing, and any cross-reference tables will not count towards the page limitation. Any supporting documentation (e.g., actual reports, audits, and example remedies for risk mitigation) will not count towards the page limitation.

The contractor’s technical response shall be clear, concise, and shall include sufficient detail to support an effective evaluation and to substantiate the validity of any stated claims to meet the PWS requirements. Contractors shall assume that the government has no prior knowledge of their skills and experience and will base its evaluation on the information presented within the contractor’s submission.

Volume III: Past Performance

Evaluation Factor 6: Past Performance Compliance Review

Submission Requirements

Past Performance Narrative: The past performance narrative for each past performance example shall contain the contract number, agency, point of contact, phone number, period of performance, and a description of the work that was completed. The narrative shall be no more than five (5) single-sided pages per contract example. In this narrative, quoters are required to sufficiently describe similarities among the type of work to the solicited requirement; in other words, describe how the past performance is relevant to the solicited requirement in terms of performing services similar in scope as shown in the current PWS.

Quoters shall provide copies of three of their most recent Contractor Performance Assessment Reports (CPARS) no later than the RFQ’s closing date/time via email to cloudenterprisewide@gsa.gov. The government will verify all past performance. “Recent” is defined as CPARS received in the last five years that represent the quoter’s ability to provide and manage contracts/orders of similar size and scope to this BPA.

Volume IV: Pricing Submission Compliance Review

Evaluation Factor 7: Price The price quote for all performance associated with the PWS must be submitted using Attachment 4: Ascend BPA Pricing Template.

mailto:cloudenterprisewide@gsa.gov

8. Evaluation and Basis for Award This acquisition is being conducted in accordance with FAR subpart 8.4 Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) using FAR 8.405-3 procedures. This is not a FAR Part 15 Contracting by Negotiation acquisition. The award shall be made to those responsible quoters with a technically acceptable quote. “Technical acceptability” is defined as a quote that meets all requirements as outlined in the Performance Work Statement (PWS).

The price quote shall include pricing for all services that align with the requirements as outlined in the PWS for all periods. Pricing will be evaluated to determine price reasonableness and to validate that prices are at or lower than prices on the quoter’s MAS Cloud SIN 518210C contract as further defined in the section listed below.

The government intends to evaluate quotes and issue multiple BPA awards (up to 10 awards) based on initial quotes. Quotes should contain the quoter's best terms in the initial quote. The government may, at its discretion, confer with a quoter to clarify quote details. The government also reserves the right not to issue any BPA awards.

The evaluation factors are listed in descending order of importance:

Compliance Review

Factor Title Rating

Volume I: Compliance Review

1 DCAS / FedRAMP Authorization Level Self attestation statement.

Pass/Fail

2 MAS & SIN 518210C Awardee Pass/Fail

3 MAS Schedule–Remaining Period of Performance

Pass/Fail

4 Catalog

1. BPA Pricing Template

2. MAS Catalog Match

3. Restricted to their FedRAMP /

DCAS authorization (i.e., cloud services within the authorization boundary)

Pass/Fail

1. Pass/Fail

2. Pass/Fail

3. Pass/Fail

Any quote that fails in any area of the compliance review will not be eligible for an award. The quoter must receive a pass rating in all areas described in this table and provide all documentation as outlined in the section titled Submittals and Attachments to allow the government to make a full assessment of the information provided. If a quoter receives a failing rating the government will not proceed with evaluating their quote.

Factor Title Rating

Volume II: Technical Evaluation Factors

5 Acquisition / Business / Data / Cybersecurity / Environmental & Sustainability Requirements / Operational / Technical Requirements

1. Identification of Pass / Fail Requirements (e.g., Section Number, Heading)

2. Acceptable Artifact Types (e.g., Technical Document, Attestation)

Volume III: Past Performance

6 Past Performance Confidence and Relevance Rating

Volume IV: Price

7 Price Less Than/Equal to MAS Catalog Price

Pass/Fail

7 Pricing Scenario Competitive Comparison Price Reasonableness

Rating Description

Pass Quotation clearly includes all submittals and meets the minimum requirements of the compliance review evaluation criteria.

Fail Quotation fails to address/include any of the required submittals/attachments and fails to meet the minimum requirements of the compliance review evaluation criteria.

Technical evaluation factors will be evaluated by a Government Technical Evaluation Panel having deep familiarity with the requirements of this acquisition.

Evaluation Process

Compliance Review The quote will be evaluated in accordance with the compliance review as PASS or FAIL based on the quoter’s self-attestation and government validation that an accurate, complete, and comprehensive quote has been provided in response to the Ascend BPA solicitation.

A self-certification statement shall be included in the cover letter. Failure to self-certify to and/or submit all required solicitation volumes will result in exclusion from further consideration for BPA award.

DCAS/FedRAMP Quoters will be required to attest to their current DCAS and/or FedRAMP authorization level for IaaS/PaaS, which will then be verified by the government. The quoter's attestation statement will be verified by comparison to the DCAS and/or FedRAMP authorization package.

A quoter receiving a fail for these elements will be ineligible for an award and evaluation of the quote will not proceed.

MAS Contract Holder All quoters must provide their current GSA MAS contract number that contains SIN 518210C.

This number will be used to validate that the quoter holds a current, active, schedule contract by querying GSA’s eLibrary and validating with the MAS Contracting Officer. Quoters will receive a pass/fail for this element.

Quoters must state when their current GSA MAS contract number that contains SIN 518210C expires and how many options remain to be exercised. Quoters who have less than eight (8) years remaining on their current GSA MAS contract prior to the closing date of the final RFQ, and have no option(s) left to exercise, will receive a fail for this element. It is the contractor's responsibility to ensure they provide adequate time to extend their GSA MAS contract with SIN 518210C in the event it will not cover the full period of performance of the BPA.

Vendors with MAS contracts approaching the end of their 20-year contract periods are encouraged to submit a streamline eOffer for a continuous contract. Please refer to the BPA Holder's MAS CO for further guidance on submitting contract continuity contract, https://vsc.gsa.gov/drupal/node/166

A quoter receiving a fail for any one of these elements will be ineligible for an award and evaluation of the quote will not proceed.

NOTE: Only cloud services that are on the quoter's GSA MAS contract with SIN 518210C will be accepted. Cloud services not on the GSA MAS contract with SIN 518210C contract will be removed.

Non-Price Evaluation Factors Technical The government will assess the contractor’s quote against the acquisition, business, data, cybersecurity, environment and sustainability, operation, and technical requirements documented in the Performance Work Statement that are relevant for Pool 1 and associated sub-pools. The relevant requirements are specifically identified in the PWS.

Past Performance The contractor should describe its experience in a way that demonstrates that the contractor fully understands the requirement and has the capacity and capability to successfully meet the performance requirements and standards over the entire period of performance. Technical experience should specifically address the ability to deliver against PWS deliverables as much as possible.

Relevant past performance for this requirement is defined as performance providing commercial cloud services of the same or similar scope and magnitude. Contractors must demonstrate a strong ability to perform on federal, state, local government and/or private contracts/task orders (“contracts” or “contract examples” or “examples”). Indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contracts and BPAs may not be submitted as one or more of the contract examples, but orders thereunder may be submitted. A narrative for each example is requested to help understand the nature of the example and how it relates to the evaluation criteria.

Contractors must provide three detailed examples of prior and/or current contract examples, where when combined, show that the offeror performed the services required for cloud services.

Each example should reference contracts/task orders of similar complexity (to include federal, state, local government, and/or private contracts/orders). The timeframe for acceptability of past performance is up to five (5) years from contract end date to the solicitation closing of this BPA. Further, all three examples should have a minimum completed period of performance of at least one year, with at least one example having a completed period of performance of more than a year (base period and option periods can be counted together as meeting or exceeding one year if services were provided on a continuous basis with the exercise of option periods).

The government will not consider the contract examples of subcontractors, contractor teaming agreement (CTA) members (unless the quoter was the CTA lead), or affiliated offices of the offeror. Unless the offeror clearly details in its quote information enabling a clear understanding of the subcontractor, CTA member, or affiliate entity’s contribution to the overall contract effort, and how their effort will contribute to the ability to meet the Ascend BPA solicitation’s requirements. The agency prefers past performance examples that convey the ability to provide the required services to a wide variety of government customers.

The past performance narrative page limitation is no more than three (3) single-sided pages per contract example. The quoter shall determine how to allocate the page count among the three past performance references. The government reserves the right to supplement the past performance information provided by the offeror with any past performance information it may obtain from other sources that are considered current, accurate, reliable, and relevant. The government may give greater confidence in a contractor with a successful record over a contractor with no record.

In evaluating the contractor’s past performance, the government will consider:

● Quality of past performance;

● Relevance to the current effort in terms of dollar value, complexity, scope, and performance risk;

● Currency/recency of the performance five (5) years from quote issuance; and

● Performance trends.

A contractor without a record of relevant past performance will receive a neutral rating. A neutral rating is not considered favorable or unfavorable for the past performance evaluation.

Past performance will be provided a confidence and relevance rating as shown in Table 1.

Table 1: Past Performance Evaluation Rating Scale Rating Description

High Confidence Based on the contractor’s recent and relevant performance record, evaluation leaves virtually no doubt that the contractor will successfully perform the required effort. Little or no government oversight is expected to be required in achieving the required level of performance.

Significant Confidence Based on the contractor’s recent and relevant performance record, evaluation leaves little doubt that the contractor will successfully perform the required effort. Minimal government oversight is expected to be required in achieving the required level of performance.

Medium Confidence Based on the contractor’s recent and relevant performance record, the evaluation leaves some doubt that the contractor can successfully perform the required effort; however, it is believed that there is a good probability that the Offeror can perform successfully. Some government oversight is expected to meet the required level of performance.

Little Confidence Based on the contractor’s recent and relevant performance record, the evaluation leaves substantial doubt that the contractor will successfully perform the required effort. Substantial government oversight or intervention is expected to be required in achieving the required level of performance. Changes in the Offeror’s existing processes may be necessary to achieve the required level of performance.

No Confidence Based on the contractor’s recent and relevant performance record, the evaluation leaves extreme doubt that the contractor will successfully perform the required effort, regardless of the degree of government oversight.

Unknown Confidence (Neutral)

No recent and relevant performance record is available or the contractor’s performance record is so sparse that no meaningful confidence assessment rating can be reasonably assigned.

Past Performance Relevance Ratings

Very Relevant Present/past performance efforts involved essentially the same scope, dollar value, and complexities as estimated orders under this BPA requires.

Relevant Present/past performance effort involved similar scope, dollar value, and complexities as estimated orders under this BPA requires.

Somewhat Relevant Present/past performance effort involved some of the scope, dollar value, and complexities as estimated orders under this BPA requires.

Not Relevant Present/past performance efforts involved little or none of the scope, dollar value, or complexities as estimated orders under this BPA requires.

Pricing Price evaluation will be done in two parts. The first step in pricing analysis will be to determine if the quoter’s price is Less Than/Equal to MAS Catalog Price during the compliance review. The second part of price analysis will be conducted to determine price reasonableness.

The Government will conduct a price evaluation of the Quoter’s price quote using the pricing scenario shown below. The Government will use the information in the Quoter’s Ascend BPA Pricing Template to conduct the price evaluation. A price analysis will be conducted to determine reasonableness in accordance with FAR 8.405-3(b)(2)(vi).

Ascend Pool 1 Pricing Scenario

Contractors shall use the following scenario to compose their pricing quote using the BPA Pricing Template attached to the RFQ. Using the individual prices identified in your quote, each quoter should read the following scenario and prepare a quote that encompasses all elements of the work such that a full analysis of the price quote can be conducted to determine price reasonableness. Quotes shall be based on a one-year period of performance only. Any assumptions made in preparing the quote should be clearly identified and explained in the quote.

This pricing scenario is for BPA evaluation purposes only and will not result in the award of a task order.

Pool 1 Pricing Scenario for FedRAMP Medium

Background General Services Administration (GSA) has a need to provide Iaas/PaaS services to our agency as part of IT modernization efforts. The agency seeks to migrate from an on premises/colocation-based physical hosting environments to all cloud-based data hosting environments. Executive Order 14028 encourages agencies to move to the cloud as part of their journey to a zero trust architecture. The migration of databases into a cloud environment and the setup, connection to, and transfer of the current databases into a data lake environment.

Purpose The purpose of the task order will be to provide IaaS/PaaS services for our agency’s large-scale databases that are currently hosted in both on-premises and in agency-contracted colocation spaces. The databases shall be hosted within secure, redundant, and flexible cloud-based environments.

Scope The scope of this task order includes the following:

● A FedRAMP medium IaaS/PaaS solution that provides for a geographically separated workforce between Washington, DC and the state of California, supporting an agency workgroup with 500 personnel.

● Servers to support intensive graphics design supported by high-end graphics processing unit/central processing unit (GPU/CPU) for data manipulation.

● IaaS database solution that supports up to 10 terabytes (TB) of agency data.

● PaaS database solution that supports up to 10 TB of agency data.

● 50 personnel in the California region will need virtual desktops running in the cloud or thin client data access and entry to a cloud-based offering supporting geospatial mapping data manipulation.

Period of Performance One year from the date of award with no option periods.

Place of Performance Geographically separated as defined in the scenario.

Instructions for the Completion of BPA Pricing Template Using the scope description described above, each quoter should prepare a sample quote that provides a narrative description of how they will meet the requirements. The price quote shall be in the format as provided in Attachment 4: Ascend BPA Pricing Template and should be based on prices contained in your price quote and must be at or lower than those on your multiple award schedule.

How the Scenario will be Evaluated

The pricing scenario will be evaluated based on the total evaluated price provided by each quoter. A review of each quote will be conducted to identify any significant price variance between quotes. .

The initial quotation should contain the best terms from a non-price and price standpoint. The government reserves the right to confer with quoter(s) to clear up quote details if the BPA Contracting Officer (CO) determines it to be necessary. The government also reserves the right to award greater, fewer, or even no BPAs, including the right to issue more or less than the (XX) BPA awards.

MAS Contract Pricing and Basis for BPA Pricing

For any BPA awards as a result of this RFQ, all pricing and pricing terms will be governed by the applicable MAS contract. Prices shall be submitted as prescribed in the respective quoter's MAS contract. All offered prices shall be based on the prices currently established in the quoter’s applicable MAS contract. Quoted prices shall not exceed those on the quoter’s currently published and approved MAS contract price list for BPA periods of performance that occur prior to the expiration of the quoter's current MAS contract. Quotes shall include all assumptions made by the quoter in arriving at the quoted price. All quoted pricing shall be cross-referenced to the applicable quoter's MAS contract price.

By submission of a quoted discount for this BPA, the quoter is consenting to be bound by the BPA prices as part of all subsequently issued task orders under the BPA. A BPA awardee may further discount the BPA prices for task orders issued under the BPA.

All quoters must provide an electronic version (in spreadsheet format) of their approved GSA MAS contract with SIN 518210C Price List. All quoted MAS SIN 518210C prices must be clearly identified on the submitted GSA Schedule price list.

Quoters are advised that the contracting officer is NOT required to hold confer sessions and/or otherwise allow revised pricing submission. Conducting confer sessions and allowing quoters to submit revised quotes is at the full discretion of the contracting officer. Quoters are encouraged to use all available data provided in the PWS to develop a quality quote submission.

Prices will be considered NOT fair and NOT reasonable if ANY items are found to be higher than those prices found on the quoter's MAS contract with SIN 518210C price list for the same items. If any quoted price is found to be higher than that listed on the quoter's MAS SIN 518210C price list, the quote will no longer be considered for BPA award.

Discounts are highly encouraged and any discounts shall be clearly identified. Discounts may not be presented as a percent (%) of spend.

BPA Price Adjustments

The prices quoted in this BPA will be ceiling rates that will govern all subsequent TOs awarded under this BPA. Quoters using static or downward adjustments in prices or additional discounting is encouraged. The government will lower BPA prices to match MAS contract SIN 518210C pricing should the quoter's SIN 518210C prices be subsequently lowered. This is required because the government is not authorized to place orders at prices higher than those found in the quoter's MAS contract upon which BPA award prices are based. If the lowered MAS contract prices are subsequently reversed, the BPA prices may also be reversed; however, the BPA prices cannot be raised higher than those originally established in the BPA. This is to preserve the integrity of the competitive process.

9. Post-Award–INFORM

This solicitation is part of the government’s post-award communication process called INFORM.

The process is designed to enhance the quality and usefulness of post-award communications by providing greater transparency and openness into the procurement process. INFORM seeks to increase government-industry communication by providing clearer and more complete information to explain the award decision.

Through the INFORM process, the government will seek to share additional information with offerors in writing and/or through an oral feedback meeting that is not required by statute or regulation. For purposes of this solicitation, and in addition to any information required by FAR Part 8.405-2(d), the government is providing each quoter with the opportunity to participate in the INFORM process as further discussed below. The additional opportunities set forth in this section do NOT constitute a debriefing or required debriefing pursuant to FAR 15.506. This is a procurement being conducted pursuant to FAR Part 8 and, accordingly, any regulatory notification of award and a brief explanation of the basis for the award decision are specified at FAR 8.405-2(d).

Notification of Award

After award and in accordance with any post-award notification timeframes required by regulation (i.e., FAR Part 8.405-2), the contracting officer will issue written notices to the successful and unsuccessful offerors (the Notification Letter and Evaluation Statement [NLES]).

The notices will contain:

● All information required by statute or regulation;

● An unredacted copy of the complete technical evaluation for that particular offeror that includes a full description of the unsuccessful offeror’s strengths, weaknesses, risks, and deficiencies; and

● An overall technical evaluation summary for that particular offeror and the successful offeror that includes evaluated price; overall technical ranking, rating, or score.

Request for Oral Feedback Meeting or Written Questions

The oral feedback meeting may be held in person or via an electronic means. Within three business days after receipt of the NLES, a quoter may, but is not required to:

● Submit a written request to the contracting officer for an oral feedback meeting;

● Submit a list of written questions to the contracting officer; or,

● Take no further action.

If a quoter does not request an oral feedback meeting or submit a list of written questions within the three-day time period, the INFORM process is concluded.

If the quoter submits a list of written questions in lieu of the oral feedback meeting, the contracting officer will attempt to respond within five business days of receipt of the written questions. Unless otherwise stated, the contracting officer’s response to the written questions will conclude the INFORM process.

If the quoter requests an oral feedback meeting, the quoter should provide the following information:

● Primary point of contact;

● List of participants with titles (e.g., Senior Vice President);

● List of topics to assist GSA better prepare for the oral feedback meeting; and

● Preference for in-person, telephone, or web-based conferencing (if available).

The contracting officer will make every effort to schedule the oral feedback meeting within five business days of the offeror’s receipt of the notification of award.

Oral Feedback Meeting

During the oral feedback meeting, the objectives are to provide:

● Reasonable responses to written questions submitted by the quoter;

● Cohesive explanations for the evaluation conclusions and contract award decisions;

● Any additional information about the fairness and impartiality of the evaluation and whether the award decision was rational;

● Reasonable responses to additional questions raised during the meeting;

● Additional transparency into the underlying competition process; and

● A greater understanding of the evaluation and award process.

The government will not provide any information that is prohibited by law or regulation.

Post-Oral Feedback Meeting Questions

Within two business days after the conclusion of the oral feedback meeting, the quoter may submit a list of written questions to the contracting officer. The contracting officer will provide a written response within five business days and, unless otherwise noted, the INFORM process is concluded.

If the quoter elects not to submit a list of written questions within two business days after the oral feedback meeting, the INFORM process is concluded.

10. Clauses 52.217-8 Option to Extend Services (NOV 1999)

The government may require continued performance of services within the limits and at the rates specified in the contract. These rates may be adjusted only as a result of revisions to prevailing labor rates provided by the Secretary of Labor. The option provision may be exercised more than once, but the total extension of performance hereunder shall not exceed six

(6) months. The Contracting Officer may exercise the option by written notice to the Contractor within 30 days.

52.217-9 Option to Extend the Term of the Contract (MAR 2000)

(a) The government may extend the term of this contract by written notice to the contractor within 30 days; provided that the government gives the contractor a preliminary written notice of its intent to extend at least 30 days before the contract expires. The preliminary notice does not commit the government to an extension.

(b) If the government exercises this option, the extended contract shall be considered to include this option clause.

(c) The total duration of this contract, including the exercise of any options under this clause, shall not exceed 120 months.

11. Attachments

● Attachment 1: Ascend BPA–Pool 1 Performance Work Statement (PWS)

● Attachment 2: Cloud Services BPA Data Elements

● Attachment 3: Prices Paid Transaction Report Data Elements

● Attachment 4: Ascend BPA Pricing Template

Pricing

11. Attachments