Amendment 1 - RFP questions.docx

Amendment 001

RFP SB1341-12-RP-0093

The purpose of this amendment is to provide the following responses to questions posed by potential offerors:

Question #1 Is the Cloud Computing Services requirement a new requirement or does any incumbent exists? If an incumbent does exist, could you please provide the vendor(s) and corresponding contract number(s)?

Response: This is a new requirement and there is no incumbent.

Question #: 2 Is the government taking questions and will an extension for proposal delivery be considered?

Response: Please submit all questions in writing to divya.soni@nist.gov. NIST does not plan to extend the proposal due date.

Question #3 In Section B ph. 6 it states that "During the term of the contract, the Government shall place orders totaling $10,000.00 . The amount of all orders shall not exceed $9,000,000.00 ." Later however on page 50 of 82, the minimum order quantity is specified as follows: "(a) "Minimum order." When the Government requires supplies or services covered by this contract in an amount of less than $1,000.00 the Government is not obligated to purchase, nor is the Contractor obligated to furnish, those supplies". Could you clarify if the minimum order quantity is 1k or 10k?

Response: The minimum order quantity is $10,000.00.

Question #4 On page 18 of 82 the Place of Performance is listed as follows, "All hosted Cloud Email and Collaboration services shall be delivered from the Service Provider’s location, while all migration efforts and training shall be performed on-site at the respective Government Agencies." We understand your preference for on-site training, but a majority of the migration work could be completed remotely given the nature of the solution. Would reconsider remote technical work to help minimize costs and travel?

Response: All migration work must take place on-site at the respective Government Agencies or at the Service Provider’s location. Any other location or Contractor staff must meet all of the requirements set forth in Attachment A – Information Technology and Privacy Requirements

Question #5 We respect the concept of page requirements as we understand you do not want to be overwhelmed with unnecessary content. We are finding the page maximums set to be very restrictive however and inhibiting our ability to provide necessary content, e.g. Tab A aligns with all of the SOO requirements in addition to including a training plan and migration plan. These items alone take up 30 pages or more. Is there any way we can include items such as the Training Plan, Migration Plan, Project Plan etc. as attachments and not have them count in the 30 page maximum?

Response: The page limit will remain the same. However, you can submit your plans as attachments.

Question #6 The Fed Biz Opp site indicates that this solicitation is a small business set aside. I can’t find any reference to this in the actual document, however. Will you please clarify who may bid on this?

Response: This is a small business set-aside, as stated in the Fed Biz Opps notice and FAR clause 52.219-6 Notice of Small Business Set-Aside, on page 41 of 82 of the RFP document.

Question #7 I would like to seek clarification of the small business size standard being applied to the subject solicitation. The clause at K.6., 52.219-1 Small Business Program Representations (APR 2012), in paragraph (1) it says that the size standard is $25M. However, in paragraph (2) the standard is 500 employees if the offeror is providing a product which it did not itself manufacture. As the NIST requirement is for an solution that involves a Google, Microsoft or other product, those of us that having been doing uplifts and cloud solutions are actually resellers of the products necessary to complete the work. Accordingly, I am seeking a confirmation that the 500 employee standard is applicable in this situation.

Response: The size standard for this solicitation (NAICS code 541519) for value added resellers is 150 employees, as published in the SBA’s ‘Table of Small Business Size Standards Matched to North American Industry Classification System Codes,’ effective 3/26/2012.

Question #8 I have a question regarding the location of the contractor’s hosting facility. Must the contractor’s facility be located within the borders of the United States?

Response: Yes

Question #9 Under Section A, Business Objectives (page 10), NIST asks for “a dedicated computing infrastructure (both physically and logically) to Federal government customers only.” This requirement restricts competition and seems to exceed minimum needs. Other Federal agencies have defined their need for a dedicated computing infrastructure as a Community cloud consisting of Federal, State and local government customers. Further, a Community cloud (including Federal, State and Local agencies) will also provide NIST more cost effective options to consider in evaluation of best value determination.

Will NIST change this requirement to allow for a Community cloud infrastructure that is shared by state and local governments?

Response: NIST will accept offerors that propose infrastructure that is a community cloud infrastructure that is restricted to United States federal government customers and state and local government customers from within the United States.

Question #10 Section L contains requirements relating to the preparation of the Business Volume. On page 78, offerors are instructed to “make every effort to lower the proposed price by factoring in existing investments the Government has made in product licenses, subscription, or maintenance.” We request that this sentence be removed from the solicitation because it unfairly restricts competition. Cost considerations, which are normally left to the marketplace, have no bearing on the establishment of the government’s minimum needs.

Response: This statement will be removed from the RFP.

Question #11 Can you please provide me a copy of the Trusted Internet Connection 2.0 compliant interconnection architecture (TIC 2.0) document for the above referenced RFP. It is impossible to get to this unless you are a government employee. I talked to DHS they indicated you could download a copy and send to the bidders.

Response: The following requirement under “Technical Objectives” has been removed from the SOW:

“Provide a Trusted Internet Connection 2.0 compliant interconnection architecture (TIC 2.0, see http://www.dhs.gov/files/programs/gc_1268754123028.shtm ).”

Therefore, the referenced document will not be provided.

Question #12 Are references limited to primes only, or will NIST consider references from subcontractors as well.

Response:

References can be submitted for primes or key subcontractors.

Question #13 Can the SLA be included as an attachment or, at, minimum be excluded from the page count.

Response: You can submit your SLA as an attachment, and it will not count against the page limit.

Question #14 Can NIST characterize its SharePoint environment, eg how large is it, how many sites are there, is SharePoint primarily used for team sites? Are there any complex SharePoint sites with workflows, etc.

Response: NIST has both production and development SharePoint 2010 farms whose functionality could be considered in scope for this acquisition. SharePoint is primarily used for team sites but there are two site collections that are custom developed sites with customize web parts and workflows. There are approximately 16 team sites and four site collections on the production farm. The team sites usually have subsites as well.

Question #15 Will NIST please consider an extension of the due date to September 14?

Response: NIST does not plan to extend the proposal due date.

Question #16 Can the Government provide a MS Word Version of the RFP or least the Past Performance Information Questionnaires to make it easier for customers to complete?

Response: Yes, please see attached Word Version of the Past Performance Questionnaire.