Amend_00001_Attach_1_questions_and_answers_5-17-2013.pdf

SECHQ113R0008

Questions and Answers

May 17, 2013

Question 1: Is this a new or follow on requirement? If it is a follow on, please let us know the current contract number and contract value?

Answer 1: This is partially a follow on requirement. Tasks Two and Three are performed under the current blanket purchase agreement call order, SECHQ111A0001 Call 0001. The current call order value is $1,455,507.84.

Question 2: Who is the incumbent? Is it still eligible to bid as a prime for this contract?

Answer 2: The incumbent is Cotton & Company. The SEC does not determine eligibility at this stage of the procurement process.

Question 3: The instructions require a project management plan that includes “schedules of all tasks, and subtasks, all meetings…” however the deliverable schedule is almost six pages and the task list is 3.5 pages…? It does not seem likely that an Offeror can submit a schedule that includes all tasks in a ten-page response given the RFPS tasks and deliverables (which must be included in the schedule) are nine pages. Will the government exclude the schedule from the page count or revise the requirements? Please clarify.

Answer 3: The maximum number of pages for the technical proposal has been increased from 10 to 20 pages. The request for a project management plan as a part of the technical proposal has been removed. See Amendment 0001.

Question 4: Are Offerors allowed to add additional labor categories? If so, how will those rates be included in the price evaluation?

Answer 4: Offerors are allowed to add additional labor categories. These rates will not be considered in the price evaluation but may be included in the labor category price list for the IDIQ contract.

Question 5: If Offeror’s are allowed to new categories and increase or decrease hours – will the G evaluate for reasonableness / also have to bid the hours in the spreadsheet.

Answer 5: The offeror is allowed to propose additional categories. The Offeror may not increase or decrease the hours.

Question 6: What are the requirements for the proposal response such as font type, font size, margins, fold-out pages etc.?

Answer 6: The font type is Times New Roman, 12 point font with maximum 2 fold-out pages.

See Amendment 0001.

Question 7: If the government awards the task order or call defined in the RFP, will it be a firm fixed priced level of effort or firm fixed priced labor hour?

Answer 7: It is the SEC’s intent to issue a labor hour task order.

Question 8: If a company is a subcontractor to a prime at the SEC that is doing A-123 work and is OCI’ed from this RFP is the subcontractor also OCI’ed from work under this contract?

Answer 8: If the prime contractor currently has a conflict of interest (OCI), it is likely the subcontractor has a conflict of interest.

Question 9: Is this a new opportunity?

Answer 9: This is a partially follow-on to a current requirement. See Answer 1.

Question 10: How many awards does the government expect to give for this opportunity?

Answer 10: It is the SEC’s intent to have a multiple award contract

Question 11: Are there any specific formatting requirements for the proposal (e.g., one-inch margins, Times New Roman 12-Point proposal text, 8- or 10-Point font minimum for graphics and tables, electronic files submitted in MS Office and/or PDF, etc.)?

Answer 11: The font type is Times New Roman, 12 point font with maximum 2 fold-out pages.

See Amendment 0001 and Answer 6.

Question 12: Will the technical proposal’s 10 page limit only apply to the Technical Approach and Understanding section, or will the Management Approach and Capabilities and Past Performance sections be included in the page limit, as well?

Answer 12: The maximum number of pages for the technical proposal has been increased from 10 to 20 pages. See Amendment 0001 and Answer 3.

Question 13: Would an Executive Summary be included in the page limitation?

Answer 13: Yes, the executive summary is included in the page limitation.

Question 14: Will the government please consider increasing the page limit for the technical proposal beyond 10 pages to reduce the constraint on bidders’ technical and management approach narrative?

Answer 14: Yes, see Amendment 0001, Answer 3 and Answer 12.

Question 15: Will work performed in the base year of this contract directly support the FY2014 fiscal year filing fee rate determination due August 31, 2013?

Answer 15: No.

Question 16: What is the status of Microsoft SharePoint solution development within the filing fee branch? What will be deployed in May 2013 per the PWS?

Answer 16: The offering and verification SharePoint site is scheduled to be implemented on May 24, 2013.

Question 17: What version of SharePoint is used?

Answer 17: 2010.

Question 18: What other software supports the SharePoint solution?

Answer 18: MS Access.

Question 19: Please describe the new fee sub-system? What is the application software? Where is it hosted?

Answer 19: No decisions have been made on what the new sub-ledger should be.

Question 20: What application software was used for the legacy fee system?

Answer 20: The application software used for the legacy fee system is called Entity Filings and Fee System (EFFS). It is a read-only database. The front-end is available via Business Objects reporting tool. We also have all the detail in an MS Access database.

Question 21: Will the government provide the business rules defined for the new fee sub-system?

Please further describe the “filing fee specific applications that may reside on SharePoint, Microsoft Office suite application, and any other…”

Answer 21: The SEC does not have all of the business rules defined for the new fee sub-system.

The other reference to applications is generally provided to allow for broad support on all applications where filing fee systems may reside.

Question 22: What level of support is needed for the fee subsystem and core financial system with relation to filing fee transactions? Is this similar to a tier 3 help desk response capability to provide subject matter expertise related to the transaction, the system? Or both?

Answer 22: Analytical and processing support is needed for the fee subsystem and core financial system with relation to filing fee transactions, specifically, processing transactions, preparing adjusting entries, and coordinating with Federal staff to update accounts and record the appropriate financial transaction. This is not similar to a tier 3 help desk response capability to provide subject matter expertise related to the transaction or the system.

Question 23: Please describe the tools, databases, and software available in the SEC systems environment able to be used to perform financial reconciliations of internal and external systems.

Answer 23: The SEC tools, databases, and software included in the reconciliations of internal and external systems are Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis, and Retrieval (EDGAR) Momentum, EDGAR, Oracle, Sharepoint, and Microsoft Office.

Question 24: What SEC systems are included in the reconciliations of internal and external systems?

Answer 24: The SEC systems included in the reconciliations of internal and external systems are EDGAR Momentum, EDGAR, Oracle, Sharepoint, and Microsoft Office.

Question 25: What tools are available within the SEC systems environment to perform the alternative search procedures for locating registrant address information?

Answer 25: The tools include Thompsons, LexisNexis, and CourtLink. The SEC also examines company SEC filings to search for registrant address information.

Question 26: What is the estimated audience size for the customer outreach and education program?

Answer 26: OFM would work with the contractor to develop an outreach and education program to include both registrants (external) and an education program for OFM staff. It would most likely consist of newsletters, emails, surveys, etc.

Question 27: What software and tools are available in the SEC systems environment to perform the data cleansing efforts for legacy fee sub-system?

Answer 27: There are no specific tools for this process.

Question 28: What historical data is available to be analyzed for data issues related to prior conversion?

Answer 28: The Entity Filings and Fee System (EFFS) data and Edgar Momentum data are available.

Question 29: Will the government allow bidders to add labor categories beyond the nine (9) defined in the PWS.

Answer 29: Yes.

Question 30: Will the government consider extending the due date by two (2) weeks to allow needed additional time for small businesses to complete teaming negotiations, obtain letters of commitment from proposed staff, and author the proposal?

Answer 30: The response date has been extended to Wednesday, May 29, 2013.

Question 31: Please provide the number of current staff or FTE in the filing fee branch performing the filing fee services now.

Answer 31: The filing fee branch consists of 13 government employees and 15 contractors.

Question 32: Please provide an organization chart for the filing fee branch.

Answer 32: An organization chart will be provided at a later date.

Question 33: How are the two main processes (offerings and verification and registrant account reviews) intertwined with other processes/units within the organization? How many FTE currently involved to perform each process?

Answer 33: For offering and verification, there are 3 FTEs and. For account reviews, there are approximately 17 FTEs. There are approximately 8 FTEs that help answer phones, process refunds, and other administrative tasks. The Filing Fee Branch works collaboratively with the other branches in OFM, such as the Systems and Financial Reporting branches. Specifically, O&V and account reviews do not directly impact these groups there may be system interface and financial/accounting concerns/issues that may arise as a result of these processes.

Question 34: Will implementation of new filing fee applications, solutions, systems, and business processes be delivered through this contract or is another contract anticipated for the implementation services?

Answer 34: The SEC intends to award the tasks included in the Performance Work Statement.

Question 35: Question: Page 6 of SECHQ113R0008_ATTACH_1.pdf has 2 Labor categories:

Subject Matter Expert (non Task 4) Subject Matter Expert (Task 4)

Based on the skills for the above, we would like to propose different rates for the above categories.

But, on the pricing, CSS_Filing_Fee_Attach_2.xlsx. there is only one Labor category, "Subject Matter Expert".

Can we separately price on 2 labor categories:

Subject Matter Expert (non Task 4) Subject Matter Expert (Task 4)

Answer 35: Yes, offerors are allowed to add additional labor categories. These rates will not be considered in the price evaluation but may be included in the labor category price list for the IDIQ contract.

Question 36: Is there a reason why Task 1 and 6 does not start till option year 1?

Answer 36: This is the SEC’s discretion.

Question 37: Can we use our GSA schedule rates for pricing this effort?

Answer 37: Yes

Question 38: Has this work ever been done by a contractor before? If so please provide name and contract #. Are they eligible to bid?

Answer 38: Yes. See Answer 1.

Question 39: Is there a minimum requirement (education or number of years of experience) for personnel that will perform Task 3?

Answer 39: Yes, please see description of labor categories.

Question 40: How many IDIQ awards is SEC contemplating making?

Answer 40: The SEC intends to have a multiple award contract.

Question 41: Is (are) the current system(s) used for capturing and supporting the filing fee process (and the relevant data) well documented and will be available at the beginning of the project?

Answer 41: Yes

Question 42: Is Edgar integrated with the SEC financial system (automated)?

Answer 42: Yes.

Question 43: Is the SEC open to recommendations for changes to or simplification of the fee assessment structure?

Answer 43: No