RFP_SAQMMA13R0297_Questions_FBO(A002).xlsx
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- Video Teleconference Solutions IDIQ
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- SAQMMA13R0297
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RFP_SAQMMA13R0297_Questions FBO(A002) **This Attachment Replaces previous documentation***
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| Question | Response | |
| 1 | Is this a follow-on contract/solicitation? | This is a new requirement that may replace multiple past requirements. It is not a one-for-one re-compete, and there is no previous single DOS contract with a comparable scope. |
| 2 | Who is the current (incumbent) contractor? | This is a new requirement that may replace multiple past requirements. It is not a one-for-one re-compete, and there is no previous single DOS contract with a comparable scope. |
| 3 | Does the current (incumbent) contractor fit within the RFI's NAICS Code 541519? | This is a new requirement that may replace multiple past requirements. It is not a one-for-one re-compete, and there is no previous single DOS contract with a comparable scope. |
| 4 | Would the Government consider a less-hardware-intensive solution (i.e., not requiring special monitors or cameras as is currently required by Tandberg and Polycom) that would more easily integrate with BYOD, low-bandwidth, VPN, etc? | No, requirement is as stated in the RFP. Refer to the required Exact Match items and the J&A. |
| 5 | Does the Government require a CISCO/Tandberg solution? | Refer to the required Exact Match items and the J&A. |
| 6 | Would the Government consider a solution that may have greater up-front costs in year-one YET would provide greater overall savings during years 2 - 6 that above and beyond what the Government would incur by staying with its current CISCO/Tandberg solution? | Refer to the required Exact Match items and the J&A. |
| 7 | If the Government chose to go with a non-Tandberg solution, would the Government consider reselling the displaced Tandbergs in order to off-set any newly incurred costs? | Refer to the required Exact Match items and the J&A. |
| 8 | Is the Secret level facility clearance requirement for the Prime contractor as well as all subcontractor team members? | Yes. |
| 9 | On page 3 of the Solicitation, its states “Attachment B identifies the required “core” contract line items and not-to-exceed unit pricing for each item. The Contractor shall not propose a price higher than the contract price shown in Attachment B for any core contract line item in response to any task order request under this contract.” Upon reviewing Attachment B, it does not appear there is a set of not-to-exceed unit pricing. | Offers are required to provide ceiling prices in the “Unit Price” column of Attachment B as part of their proposal. |
| 10 | In the Statement of Work, on page 5, 1b, it states “The Government will not provide a stipend for a pre-proposal physical site survey within the Continental United States (CONUS) locations.” Does this mean that the Government will not reimburse travel and related expenses required to support the site survey? This seems to contradict statements made elsewhere. | Correct. Pre-proposal physical site surveys are not billable to the Government under this contract. The language in RFP SOW, page 12, item 4, has been updated to delete the reference to "pre-proposal physical site survey." |
| 11 | Is the Contract Manager (CM) the same as the Program Manager or the Project Manager? There is no CM category in the government provided pricing list. | The language in RFP SOW, page 12, item 3, has been updated to Delete "Contract Manager" and replace with "Program Manager". |
| 12 | If the offeror were to provide all equipment exact as the Government specified, is the offeror still required to provide GPAT? | Yes. |
| 13 | Can you tell us what is the process to apply for the clearance on this IDIQ effort? | The DOS will not sponsor any company for a facility clearance. Reference Provision L-027, Clause H-031 and and the DD Form 254. |
| 14 | If contractor is required to do Overseas work, will DOS allow foreign nationals to perform initial integration or maintenance support services when a security clearance is not required for system or area access? | No. |
| 15 | Do products need to be TAA compliant, and does vendor need to ensure TAA compliance when providing replacement parts via maintenance programs from manufacturers such as Cisco? | No, TAA does not apply since this is a small business set-aside. Buy American Act does not apply since supplies are commercial IT. |
| 16 | If DoS and contractor dispute the performance or metrics of a particular task and either side feels that the SLA was met or not met, how will such conflicts be resolved? What will be the ultimate deciding factor in disputes, the overall contract SOW, or the specific project DID? | Reference Clause L-026 "Performance Incentive Plan." The Contractor is responsible for developing objective SLA's that can be quantified, measured, and tracked. It is the Contractor's responsibility to propose a solution and the Government's responsibility to evaluate the solution. |
| 17 | Does DoS have any specific guidelines or incentives it is not willing to undertake when contractor exceeds SLAs, conversely does DoS have specific guidelines or penalties it is not willing to undertake when SLAs fail to meet agreed upon limits? | Reference Attachment E “Service Level Agreement Template” for positive and negative incentive examples. |
| 18 | In critical or VIP environments will DoS be willing to provide secure storage space for spare equipment to ensure the maximum reduction in service? | No. |
| 19 | If during the contract lifetime, hardware becomes obsolete or end of life, how will DOS address this issue? | See Clause H-036 Technology Refresh. |
| 20 | Will Primes be able to include a charge for freight on top of base contract pricing for overseas work that may need to be expedited at the task order level? | Yes. |
| 21 | Should we plug the product quantities provided in Section into our attachment B for our final price submission? | No. Only enter information into the highlighted columns per the instructions in Attachment B. The Government will calculate the extended totals in its cost/price evaluation. |
| 22 | If an item requested in the RFP has been discontinued should the vendor bid the item as listed or propose a replacement item? If the Replacement item is higher in cost will this have a negative effect on the pricing table? | Offerors must propose an exact match of the product as identified in the purchase description. For the brand name or equal products, offerors may propose any item or configuration which meets the minimum functional requirements identified in the purchase description column identified in Attachment B. |
| 23 | How will an offeror rank if they have the highest ranking in terms of Section 508 compliance percentage but also the highest priced bidder? Which ranking factor would be more important to the evaluation? Would the Government clarify how this ranking would occur? | As stated in the RFP, after completing the technical and cost/price evaluations, the Government will rank-order all technically acceptable proposals in the following order: |
(A) Highest-to-Lowest percentage of Section 508 compliance, then
(B) Lowest-to-Highest total evaluated price.
(ii) The Government will then select the 3-6 highest ranking proposals for award.
The rankings above create a combined or tiered “sort”, as in MS Excel. It can be visually demonstrated using an MS Excel table with one column for percentage and a second column for price, and then using the sort function, first Highest-to-Lowest percentage of Section 508 compliance, then by Lowest-to-Highest total evaluated price.
If the offeror has the highest ranking in terms of Section 508 compliance percentage but they are also the highest priced bidder, they may or may not be in the top 3-6 offers, depending on whether there were other lower-priced offers with equally high Section 508 ratings. In other words, if there were a tie for highest ranking Section 508, then price would determine the award/no-award cut-off. If, however they were the highest ranking in terms of Section 508 compliance, with no tie, and their price is otherwise fair and reasonable, they would be in the top 3-6 for award.
| 24 | If the provision in the “Applicable” column is listed as “Maybe”, is the offeror expected to complete this row? | Yes. The offeror should specify whether that provision will apply to the products/services it is proposing (including why/why not) and how it will meet the requirement if it does apply. |
| 25 | Is an explanation in the rows with “Maybe” listed in the “Applicable” column to be determined by the bidder? | Yes. The offeror should specify whether that provision will apply to the products/services it is proposing (including why/why not) and how it will meet the requirement if it does apply. |
| 26 | Is the bidder required to complete the GPAT for each deliverable or complete one GPAT for the entire solicitation? | The Bidder should complete one GPAT for the entire solicitation, indicating whether or not all potentially delivered products required by the SOW to which each standard applies will be compliant. If some products will be compliant and others not, they should indicate “Partial” compliance, and state in the comments which products will or will not be compliant and in what way they will not comply with the standard. |
| 27 | Is it acceptable to submit an “or equal” maintenance solution for Cisco Care? | No. |
| 28 | Will the delivery time frames differ per project? | Delivery time frames will be determined at the task order level and clearly identified in the request for task order proposals. |
| 29 | What is the maximum page count for the technical proposal? | There is no page limitation. |
| 30 | Will we be required to provide Cisco maintenance on existing equipment? | Yes. It is expected we will order maintenance for previously purchased equipment, and it is within the scope of this new contract. |
| 31 | Reference Attachment G - "Proposed Equipment Specifications/Labor Category Description" column. What information is required for the “Proposed Equipment Specifications/Labor Category Description” section? If we are providing the exact brand name equipment requested, will the information provided in the “Purchase Description” section be sufficient to fulfill the “Proposed Equipment Specifications/Labor Category Description” section? | No, copying and pasting is not sufficient. Offerors must enter mfr/brand name, p/n, and salient specs, as directed in the instructions in Attachment G. |
| 32 | Reference Attachment G - "Proposed Equipment Specifications/Labor Category Description" column. When referencing Labor (CLIN 0100 – 0105), what is required in the “Proposed Equipment Specifications/Labor Category Description” section? | The proposed labor category. |
| 33 | Will the Service Contract Act apply to this IDIQ contract? | No, principal purpose of the contract is not to furnish services. |
| 34 | Given the requirement for Past Performance Surveys to be receive by the DOS by the Proposal due date and the short-turn-around for proposal, will the Government Extend the due date to 9 August to give Offeror’s references enough time to return Past Performance Customer Surveys to the Government? | The proposal due date is extended to 16:00 on August 19, 2013. |
| 35 | Reference Solicitation RFP Section 4.4, Best Value Award Determination: Are the two factors (% of Section 508 compliance and Price) weighted equally, and if not, which factor is more important? | Section 508 compliance is more important than price. |
| 36 | If selected as a vendor under this IDIQ contract, provide more information on the associated task orders. Will each Task Order RFP be for a complete VTC install and maintenance, or will some TOs be for other work such as maintaining existing systems? | Equipment and installation requirements will be determined at the task order level. It is expected we will order maintenance for previously purchased equipment. |
| 37 | If selected as a vendor under this IDIQ contract, provide more information on the associated task orders. How will Task Order proposals be evaluated and awarded? | See Clause G-001 "Ordering Procedures." |
| 38 | If selected as a vendor under this IDIQ contract, provide more information on the associated task orders. Once the system is accepted, who provides maintenance after the first (1st) year maintenance has expired? Is it automatically the same contractor who built the system? | Not necessarily. The out-year maintenance of a system could either be included in a task order solicitation, in which case it would be a pre-priced option the gov't could unilaterally exercise with the task order awardee, or we could issue a new task order request the following year to determine which IDIQ holder gets that year's maintenance order for that specific system. |
| 39 | If selected as a vendor under this IDIQ contract, provide more information on the associated task orders. What does DoS estimate the number of systems to be built per year under this contract vehicle? | See Attachment J - Evaluation Quantities. The quantities in Attachment J are estimated 5-year purchase quantities for evaluation purposes only, but in no way limits or obligate the Government's purchase quantities of any item under this contract. Attachment J will be removed upon award. |
| 40 | We assume some of the VTC operations are currently underway, perhaps under other contract vehicles. Who are the contractors performing this work? | This is a new requirement that may replace multiple past requirements. It is not a one-for-one re-compete, and there is no previous single DOS contract with a comparable scope. |
| 41 | What is the typical CATV service (satellite or ground), and does the DOS provide the connection to this service or does the contractor? Is this within scope of the contract? | All service connectivity is government provided. |
| 42 | Is Desktop VTC enginnering, installation, or support services within scope of this contract? | Yes. |
| 43 | CLIN 0001 - The amount of inputs and output are referenced as having 6 and 2 respectively. Can this 6 inputs and 2 output be a combination of any of the following (HDMI, VGA, RJ45, DM, DVI, COMPONENT, COMPOSITE and BNC)? | Brand name or "equal": input/output types should match those of the brand name model cited. |
| 44 | CLIN 03 – This should say Dolby True|HD please confirm? | Typographical error, should read: Dolby TrueHD. Attachments B, G and J - CLIN 0003 has been updated to DELETE "Dolby TruelHS" and REPLACE with "Dolby True|HD." |
| 45 | CLIN 04 – No SmartNet was requested, please confirm this is not required. | Not required |
| 46 | CLIN 05 – This will be the same part as CLIN 04, we recommend removing it. | Two separate requirements, both must remain. |
| 47 | CLIN 19 –When using a noise-cancellation enabled Codec system the actual noise cancellation functionality is handled within the Microphones and the codec itself. The speakers are only doing the output portion of the system and would have no effect on cancelling external noise. Does this statement “Ceiling mount speaker, intended for use with echo-cancellation codec feature; designed to be built-in” refer to the codec and microphones. We suggest the “intended for use with echo-cancellation codec feature; designed to be built-in” removed from this requirement? Or can the government provide more information on this requirement? | Not to be removed. The "designed to be built in" should be interpreted as "designed to be built in to the ceiling." It does NOT mean the echo cancellation is to be built in to the speakers. |
| 48 | CLIN 34 – Correct part # is CON-ECDN-HD80P4XS, please confirm this change. | No. The part number will not be changed. Part number CON-ECDN-PHDP4XS1 is the correct part number as listed in CLIN 0034 |
| 49 | CLIN 53 - Correct part # is CTS-INTP-C40-K9 please confirm this change | Yes. The part number has been updated to CTS-INTP-C40-K9. Attachments B, G & J have been updated accordingly. |
| 50 | CLIN 81 – This cannot be purchased separately underneath this part #. Please confirm this requirement. | Part number should read LIC-VCSE-50. Attachments B, G & J have been updated accordingly. |
| 51 | CLIN 85 – No SmartNet was requested, please confirm this is not required. | SmartNet may be ordered, it just won’t be pre-priced on the core CLIN list |
| 52 | CLIN 94 and 95 - Under the new Meeting Center or Meetings offerings VoIP is now included at no charge so they are not needed, recommend removing them. | CLINS 0094 and 0095 have been updated to list Cisco part numbers. The Contract Line Items for Cisco WebEx (CLINs 0094, 0095, 0096 and 0097) have been removed and substituted with two direct replacement parts. Attachment B, G & J have been updated accordingly. |
| 53 | CLIN 96 – Please confirm the minimum users required. Under the new WebEx offering CLIN 96 looks like DOS wants Enterprise level Meeting Center/Meetings. In the Named User model minimum users is 25, but DOS wants Tier 2, which is now 100 – 999 users and CLIN 97 looks like DOS wants the Small Business Named User offering where the minimum is 2 user. Please confirm this sku and the requirement. | CLIN 0096 has been updated. The Contract Line Items for Cisco WebEx (0094, 0095, 0096 and 0097) have been removed and substituted with two direct replacement parts. Attachments B, G & J have been updated accordingly. |
| 54 | Will the DOS allow for a Cisco approved 3rd party warranty? This will allow for an expanded SLA (24X7) at a lower cost than current requested Cisco provided warranty. It would still include all of the features of the requested warranty. | No. |
| 55 | Will the DOS allow for past performance from a named subcontractor to be included as part of the evaluation? | Yes, but it may be evaluated at greater risk if most or all past performance is not the Prime. |
| 56 | Regarding Volume I, please confirm that an offeror is not required to reformat the required attachments to match the solicitation requirements for text. For example, Attachment D is not in Times New Roman font. As we understand it, offerors are not required to reformat this document as part of the Volume I proposal. | Correct. Offerors should not reformat the Attachments. |
| 57 | Will the Government accept brand name or equal maintenance and support for the 24/7 four (4) hour emergency response requirement? | Type of maintenance will be determined by the equipment deployed and specified at the task order level. |
| 58 | What is the projected number of sites within the 50 mile radius that will require non-standard emergency 24/7 four (4) hour maintenance? And, how many rooms per site does the Government anticipate? | This information is unavailable. |
| 59 | Small Businesses often create teams to provide effective end-to end solutions for Government requirements. In addition to the Prime Contractor, will the government accept teaming partner/subcontractor past performance as one of the three past performances required for evaluation purposes? | Yes, but it may be evaluated at greater risk if most or all past performance is not the Prime. |
| 60 | “Attachment B identifies the required “core” contract line items and not-to-exceed unit pricing for each item…The contractor shall not propose a price higher than the contract price shown in Attachment B for any core contract line item in response to any task order request under this contract.” We have reviewed Attachment B and do not see any not-to-exceed prices. Please provide clarification. | Offers are required to provide ceiling prices in the “Unit Price” column of Attachment B as part of their proposal. |
| 61 | How should offerors provide labor pricing for weekend and after hours support (assuming that these rates can be escalated from the base rate due to after hours and weekend performance)? | See Clause B-016 - Travel Costs. |
| 62 | Since DOS is requesting Cisco 8X5XNBD coverage is DoS willing to entertain alternative coverage models including Cisco partner maintenance since there is also a 24X7 support required in the proposal? | Type of maintenance will be determined by the equipment deployed and specified at the task order level. |
| 63 | In connection with the proposed procurement for VPO’s modernization project, we wish to bring to your attention the fact that [VENDOR X] products CAN meet the technical requirements for this proposed procurement (as outlined in the attached document). Accordingly , we respectfully do not agree that this procurement should be made on a sole source basis, as there exist alternative equally viable competitive solutions. In particular, [VENDOR X] infrastructure does indeed support both LDAP integration and Voice over IP natively and are interoperable with Cisco, Avaya and Nortel infrastructure. Streaming and Multicast capability are also possible utilizing [VENDOR X] applications. In reference to the end user experience, [VENDOR X] has high definition capability up to and including 1080p for both Video and content and is capable of providing Standard Definition for backwards standards capability if needed. [VENDOR X] infrastructure has a fully virtualized offering to include bridging capability via our collaboration server 800s VE. We would request that we have an opportunity to bid alternative products that we believe meet your technical requirements. | Refer to the required Exact Match items and the J&A. The current infrastructure already consists of Cisco/Tandberg products and it is imperative to have a centralized management system. |
| 64 | Are prime offerors permitted to submit past performance references for teaming partners/subcontractors or do all references need to be work performed by the prime contractor? | Yes, but it may be evaluated at greater risk if most or all past performance is not the Prime. |
| 65 | Are offerors permitted to submit past performance references for work performed as a subcontractor? | Yes, but it may be evaluated at greater risk if most or all past performance is not the Prime. |
| 66 | Would the Government consider extending the deadline for responses to two weeks after the release of the answers to questions? | The proposal due date is extended to 16:00 on August 19, 2013. |
| 67 | Paragraph M-001 references Attachment J-Evaluation Quantity but it is not clear in Section L where this Attachment is to be placed in the proposal. Please clarify. | Attachment J is for informational puposes only to identify evaluation quantities. It is provided for the offerors' reference, but the offerors will not sumbit that Attachment with their proposal. |
| 68 | Can a bidder use a Teaming Partner or Subcontractor’s Past Performance references in Attachments I and H? | Yes, but it may be evaluated at greater risk if most or all past performance is not the Prime. |
| 69 | Please clarify if site surveys will be billable to the Government under this contract? | No. Pre-proposal physical site surveys are not billable to the Government under this contract. |
| 70 | What is the estimated amount of work in the Washington DC area? | This information is unavailable. See Attachment J - Evaluation Quantities. |
| 71 | What is the estimated amount of work that is OCONUS? | This information is unavailable. See Attachment J - Evaluation Quantities. |
| 72 | What is the estimated amount of locations that will be needing installs? | This information is unavailable. See Attachment J - Evaluation Quantities. |
| 73 | Is this an existing contract being renewed? If so what was the old contracts value? | This is a new requirement that may replace multiple past requirements. It is not a one-for-one re-compete, and there is no previous single DOS contract with a comparable scope. |
| 74 | In the RFQ the Cisco items requested are brand name only. Clins 0094, 0095, 0096 and 0097 list Cisco as the manufacturer with an Immix part number and Cisco description. Did you want the Immix part numbers or the Cisco part number for Webex? | The part numbers for CLINs 0094 and 0095 have been updated to list Cisco part numbers. The Contract Line Items for Cisco WebEx (CLINs 0094, 0095, 0096 and 0097) have been removed and substituted with two direct replacement parts. As such, the Mfr Brand Name, Part Numbers, Purchase Description and Unit of Measure for CLINs 0096 thru 0103 have been updated. CLIN's 0104 and 0105 have been removed. Attachments B, G & J have been updated accordingly. |
| 75 | Attachments B, G and J contain several Cisco infrastructure parts; however, the SOW does not mention an infrastructure upgrade (please verify this). Does the State Dept. intend to upgrade/replace the infrastructure during the period of performance of this contract? If an upgrade is not planned, will these parts be purchased to build the infrastructure? If the parts are not going to be purchased, why are they included on these attachments? Will maintenance of the infrastructure parts be covered under this contract? | Infrastructure purchases may be made to expand existing infrastructure and/or upgrade technologies. |
| 76 | Since answers to questions have not been posted yet (as of July 29), will there be an extension of the proposal deadline? | The proposal due date is extended to 16:00 on August 19, 2013. |
| 77 | Are there any estimates or annual projections for the number of conference rooms that will be upgraded or built? | See Attachment J - Evaluation Quantities. |
| 78 | Is there a list of rooms by location? | No. |
| 79 | Will the vendor be able to update the pricing on attachments B and G after the base period (assuming the option years are exercised)? And for that matter after each option year as well? | No, except as permitted by Technology Refresh Clause H-036. |
| 80 | Attachment J - Evaluation Quantities Table does not allow for the required RFP calculations of unit price times the evaluation quantity. There is not a "Total column." Can the table be revised to reflect a "Total column"? | No. The Government will calculate the extended totals in its cost/price evaluation. Attachment J is provided for the offerors' reference, but the offerors will not submit Attachment J with their proposal. Attachment J is for evaluation purposes only and shall be removed upon award. |
| 81 | Is the GPAT form to be filled out for each item ordered, or, since the government has chosen these items, are we to assume that these items are already conforming and we need not supply a GPAT for each? If we are not required to supply the GPAT for the government items, what items do we need to fill the GPAT out for, the items that we propose as “Equal”? If this is the case, do we need to fill out a GPAT if the brand names are the same, though a different item number is being proposed? | The Bidder should complete one GPAT for the entire solicitation, indicating whether or not all potentially delivered products required by the SOW to which each standard applies will be compliant. If some products will be compliant and others not, they should indicate “Partial” compliance, and state in the comments which products will or will not be compliant and in what way they will not comply with the standard. |
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