Amendment 3 SAQMMA11R0001 QAs 120211l.docx

SAQMMA11R0001: Amendment A003 Questions and Answers (Q&As)

38.Q: Section L.3, Paragraph Status of Property Management, Page 49: Does an Offeror need to have an approved property management system in place to be eligible for an award?

A: No, the Offeror will follow the policies of the Department: Reference the Department’s Foreign Affairs Handbook http://www.state.gov/m/a/dir/regs/fah/ and the Foreign Affairs Manual http://www.state.gov/m/a/dir/regs/fam/ .

39.Q: Re: SOO, Para. 3.5: The SOO references that integrated IT services that support the Office of Foreign Missions and all end-users of IT equipment within DS. That contains identical Work Areas from the Operations Branch. Section L and M do not describe the inclusion of OFM. What is the level of support required for the Office of Foreign Missions? Who is the incumbent providing integrated IT services for OFM? Where in the proposal response does OFM fit?

A: OFM is currently serviced under Department IT consolidation support for basic desktop services just as the Bureau of Diplomatic Security will be, following the award of this solicitation. The successful Offeror under this solicitation will support the same level of IT Services for OFM as defined for other Bureau areas. Additional database development support will be provided for the OFM requirement of this solicitation under the T&M ordering items CLIN 0002 and its out-year option counterparts. Pragmatics is the current contractor providing IT Services for OFM.

40.Q: Re: Para. L.8.1-L.8.10, pp. 51-54: The Page Limits prescribed for Volume I include: page limits for Tab 1, 2, 7, 8, and Tab 9. Tab 3, 4, 5, and 6 do not include page limits. Please clarify Page count limits for Volume I. Suggest 125 page limit for Volume I and allow offeror to determine page limits for each applicable tab.

A: See response to question no. 10.

41.Q:Re: Para. L.8.10, pp. 54-55: L.8.10 is for Past Performance and is not included in either Volume I or Volume II as a Tab. We recommend that Past Performance be included as Tab 10 of Volume I and further increase the page limit to 10 pages to accurately represent past performance.

A: See responses to question nos. 10, 11 and 22.

42.Q: RFP, section H.9, page 23: Are Interim security clearances acceptable?

A: Yes. See response to question no. 35.

43.Q: RFP, section L.8.5, page 52: Do the resumes count towards the 100 page limit for this proposal volume?

A: No. See responses to questions nos. 10, 13, 14, 26 and 34.

44.Q: RFP, section L.8.9, Agreements, page 53: Does contents of this section count towards the 100 page limit for this proposal volume?

A: No. There are no page limits on Volume 1, Tab 9.

45.Q: RFP, section M.5, pages 62 and 63: The evaluation of Key Management Personnel, appears under Factors 1b, 2a and under Factor 3, paragraph a. Does the government intend to rate the Key Management Personnel three times? For Factor 1a, should the wording on pages 61 and 62 refer to Key Technical Personnel instead of Key Management Personnel?

A: Key Technical Personnel will be evaluated under Factor 1.b. Key Management Personnel will be evaluated under Factor 2.b. The Factor 1.b. references on pp. 61 and 62 are amended to read “Key Technical Personnel.”

46.Q: RFP, section M.5, pages 61, 62 and 63: The evaluation of the Transition Plan appears under Factor 2f on page 62 and as Factor 4 on page 63. Does the government intend to rate the Transition Plan twice? (Note: The Transition Plan is not listed as a subfactor under Factor 2 on the page 61 introduction to non-cost factors.)

A: The solicitation is amended to provide for evaluation of Transition Plan Management under evaluation factor 4 only.

47.Q: RFP, section M.5, paragraph 2e, page 62: This factor rates the contractors Risk Assessment and Mitigation Plan (RAMP). Section L does not specify the RAMP, its location within the proposal nor the information to be included. Please provide guidance.

A: Please see the response to question no. 21 in Amendment A001.

48.Q: RFP, section L.9, page 55: Should Tab 1, Performance Work Statement address all of the requirements in the SOO, including those for the Branches, or should Tab 1 be limited to Project Management requirements with the Branch requirements addressed in the appropriate Tabs? If the former, please describe how the material in Tab 1 should differ from the material in Tabs 3, 4 and 5.

A: The Tab 1 Performance Work Statement should address requirements across all Statement of Objectives (SOO) requirements and documentation.

49.Q: RFP, section L.9, page 55: The outline for Volume II does not list the Office of Foreign Missions mentioned in Att 1, SOO, section 3.5, beginning on page 9. Where should the contractor describe their approach to meeting the objectives of this Office?

A: The objectives described across the SOO volumes include the requirements to be included for the Office of Foreign Missions under the general scope of requirements. Offeror’s approach to meeting the objectives OFM will be addressed as a consolidated support area the same as any other locations listed requiring IT Service for DS supported applications and other “Department non-consolidated” services. Application development for OFM will be addressed via task order after award of this solicitation.

50.Q: Appendix 1-B, Service Center Services SOO: Table 2, page 4: The total number of monthly calls is projected for each of the contract years. In order to staff the service center to meet the SLRs listed in Section 4.1, time-of-day, day-of-week and day-of-month details are needed. Please provide more detailed historical call volume data to allow the contractor to project appropriate service center staffing levels.

A: The contractor’s projections should be based on industry standards to include the historical data projections already provided under Appendix 1-B: Service Center Services SOO, starting on page 4 – 2.2 Service Center Baseline Information.

51.Q: Appendix 1-C Data Network Services SOO, Table 14, page 14: The Performance Target for “Adding/deleting user accounts” is listed as “Mon-Fri, 0700-2000 immediately”. Please define “immediately” in measurable terms.

A: For the purpose of this solicitation “immediately” is defined as within 45 minutes of the Information Systems Security Officer’s (ISSO’s) approval to proceed.

52.Q: Appendix 1-D Data Center Services SOO, Table 10, pages 13-14: The SLRs in this table imply that the contractor will have direct authority over all engineering aspects of the architecture, servers and databases for the applications in question. However, the applications themselves are not under direct control of the ITSS contractor. How does the government envision the ITSS will work with associate contractors to meet and be held accountable for these objectives?

A: The contractor is required to function as a collaborator and subject matter expert with government oversight and approval when preforming the requirements of tuning and enhancing Application platform performance tolerances. The contractor is expected to follow Department change management processes in support of approving and executing any environmental performance changes.

53.Q: Appendix C.4 - Network Topology FINAL.pdf, page 2: The embedded Visio network diagram is not functional and cannot be displayed.

A: Please see the response to question no. 4 in Amendment A001.

54.Q: Appendix B.4 - Client Facility Locations FINAL.xls: The note below the table says that regional technicians are stationed at the New York, Chicago, San Francisco and Miami Field Offices. Is the contractor expected to staff these positions?

A: Yes, the contractor is required to staff and manage all required support positions.

55.Q: Section L.5 Paragraph Letters of Commitment (Subcontractors), Page 49; Section L.8.9, Paragraph Agreements, Page 53; Section L.10.6 Paragraph Joint Venture Partnerships, Page 57: Please clarify if the Letters of Commitment (Subcontractors) as stated in L.5 and the signed agreements as stated in L.8.9 and L.10.6 have to be submitted in the proposal. Can an Offeror submit the letter of commitment in lieu of the signed agreements or vice versa?

A: No. All Letters of Commitment (Subcontractors), Paragraph L.8.9 Agreements and Paragraph L.8.10 Joint Venture Partnerships must be signed and summited with the proposal.

56.Q: Section L.7, Paragraph Proposal Preparation Instructions and Formatting, Page 50: Is there a font or size restriction for graphics and tables?

A: All font types are restricted to Times New Roman 12 point. The same font restrictions apply to tables as well. Any graphics containing text will follow the Times New Roman 12 point type font restriction.

57.Q: Attachment 4, Performance Questionnaire : Would the Government please provide this attachment in Word format for ease of use by our customers?

A: Yes. An MSWord version of Attachment 4 is provided in Amendment A002.

58.Q: Amendment 02 replaced the Attachment 1 SOO with an updated SOO. Section 1 indicates that the acquisition will support a number of functional areas within the CTO: 1) Operations, 2) Systems Integration, 3) Security Operations, and 4) Enterprise Application Support. Section 2.0 SCOPE indicates that the contractor shall provide services consistent with the objectives outlined in the DS Appendices 1-A through 1-E. (Cross Functional Services, Service Center Services, Data Network Services, Data Center Services, and Distributed Computing Services). However, Section L.9, Volume II: Technical Solution, Page 55 of the RFP instructions correspond to Tab 3 Operations Branch, Tab 4 Systems Integration Branch, and Tab 5 Security Operations Branch of the original SOO. Should the Tabs in Volume II be updated to reflect the functional areas (Operations, Systems Integration, Security Operations, and Enterprise Application Support)? Or, should the Tabs in Volume II be updated to reflect Appendices 1-A through 1-E? (Cross Functional Services, Service Center Services, Data Network Services, Data Center Services, and Distributed Computing Services).

A: With the release of Amendment A002 of the revised SOO, any documented areas listed as “Branch” should now be listed as “functional area”. Amendment A003 makes the same change within the RFP.

59.Q: The updated SOO as part of Amendment 2 deleted several pages relating to specific objectives tied to the named DS branches – Operations, Systems Integration, Security and Office of Foreign Missions (OFM), i.e. original SOO Sections 3.2, 3.3, 3.4 and 3.5. Please confirm this was the Government’s intent.

A: Yes – The government’s intent is to ensure that all proposals include the required focus on the DS bureau-wide SOO Appendices 1-A through 1-E and their supporting documentation.

60.Q: The updated short descriptions added to the updated SOO in Amendment 2 under 1.1 Operational Descriptions include a paragraph for each of the noted functional areas except for Enterprise Applications Support. Would the Government please provide a short description of this newly added functional area?

A: Enterprise Application support is defined in detail under DS Appendix 1-A and 1-B.

61.Q: The updated short descriptions added to the updated SOO in Amendment 2 under 1.1 Operational Descriptions includes a paragraph for the Office of Foreign Missions (OFM), yet OFM is not noted as a functional area in Section 1.0 Background. Would the Government please clarify?

A: A clarification of the OFM area is not required, it is expected that the general support required within the SOO includes supported requirements in all defined areas of the Bureau.

62.Q: Ref. RFP Section L.9, Page 55: Please confirm that Tabs 4, 5, and 6 should be assumed to replace the organizational term ‘Branch’, with the Amended SOO’s terminology of ‘Functional Area’. Also, in Section L.9, there seems to be no specific Tab listed for the SOO Functional Area 4, Enterprise Application Support. Should a Tab be added for the FA?

A: Yes- The term “Branch” should be replaced with the term “Functional Area” (See question 58 above). Enterprise Application support is defined throughout the general requirements across DS’s bureau-wide SOO, Appendices 1-A through 1-E.