Nov 12 QandAs.xlsx
XLSX spreadsheet 21 KB Posted
- Attached to
- E-Gov Travel Services 2. 0 (ETS2) Federal contract opportunity
- Solicitation number
- SOL__QMAD-JM-100001-N
- Issued by
- GSA Federal Acquisition Service
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November 12 Responses to Questions
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Post 11-12-10
| Section | Page | Requirement or Paragraph Number | Comment | GSA Disposition |
| The recent amendment (006), issued on 5 Nov 10, added additional CLINs for pricing DoD travel/reservation services, but not vouchering/expense management. Since there is an existing incumbent ETS1 contractor that handles DoD vouchering / expense management under a separate contract and since it would be cost-prohibitive and ineffective to have separate travel / vouchering contractors for DoD, does this amendment not significantly favor that incumbent for selection as an ETS2 contractor? | No, there is no unfair competitive advantage. CLINs for vouchering/expense management for agencies not required to use E-Gov Travel Service per FTR §301-50.3 were not added at this time because the vouchering/expense management requirements for those entities have not been defined. The solicitation does provide the flexibility for those requirements to be defined at a later date and negotiate those changes with the ETS2 contractor(s). |
Beyond this, the online booking tool requirements for ETS2 are intended to maximize use of commercial booking engine technology governmentwide. The requirements for ETS2 online travel reservation services incorporate lessons learned from ETS1 as well as commercial improvements, and are substantially different from ETS1. In the event that agencies that are not required to use E-Gov Travel Service per FTR §301-50.3, but choose to use the OTRS in ETS2, this CLIN is now available for that purpose.
It appears that the addition of travel/reservation services for DoD only is inconsistent with GSA's vision of an integrated travel and expense management solution that drives costs out of Government travel and achieves significant efficiencies. Will the Government reveal its rationale for this significant change to the likely scale and direction of ETS2? The vision of ETS2 is for an end-to-end travel management service. The FTR supports this via a mandatory use provision for civilian executive agencies (but excludes certain agencies not required to use E-Gov Travel Service per FTR §301-50.3). Because of the FTR exclusion, the addition of a separate online booking engine only CLIN for those agencies not required to use E-Gov Travel Service per FTR §301-50.3 was intended to account for a potentially different pricing structure since these entities are not required to use the end-to-end travel management service.
Since ETS2 is released, GSA has received interest from agencies not required to use E-Gov Travel Service per FTR §301-50.3. As such, GSA has adjusted the ceiling to enable their participation should ETS2 requirements be consistent with their needs. As it relates to DoD, the E-Gov Travel Services Program, sponsored by the General Services Administration (GSA) is exploring with the Department of Defense, its participation in the ETS2 solicitation.
| CLIN 0001AJ is excluded from the list of applicable CLINs. Will the Government confirm whether CLIN0001AJ is to be included in the definition of Transaction Type B | Yes, it is intended that CLIN 0001AJ be included in the Transaction B applicable CLINs list. |
| The Government did not provide profiles, or other sizing metrics for the DoD entities. Will the Government prescribe whether each DoD region will order separately? | The CLINs were added in the event agencies not required to use E-Gov Travel Service per FTR §301-50.3 decide at any point to use the ETS2 contract for its online travel services. The estimates for the CLINs added are the best estimate for the total potential use for those items. |
| Standard Implementation for ETS2 is more effort than required to implement 'reservation only' functionality for the DoD/other applicable agencies. Will the Government add CLINs specific to implementation fees for 'reservation only' transactions, or is the contractor expected to negotiate CLIN 0005 at the agency level, dependent on the DoD's implementation and training requirements? | In the event reservation only services are ordered by a qualifying agency, the implementation services will be negotiated as part of their task order. There are a combination of CLINs that can support these services, which include CLINS 0009, 0013, 0019. In addition, CLIN 0005 series is a NTE CLIN, which can be negotiated at the task order for a lower price to address task order specific requirements. At this time, GSA does not intend to create an implementation services CLIN at the master contract for that level / type of implementation. |
| What is the expectation for contractor oversight of the reservations made via the accommodated TMC CLINs? The Government did not adjust the estimated quantity of transactions to be processed under CLINs 0001AH and 0001SBAH. Is it the Government's expectation that the DoD will provide its own oversight of the QCP process, or will the Government adjust the estimated quantities for QCP to accommodate the new CLINs for reservations by Accommodated TMCs? | Please note, these are estimates only and are no guarantee of business. The estimates for the CLINs added are the best estimate for the total potential use for those items at this time. |
| Does the Government expect the DoD to purchase from CLINs other than those referenced? If so, will the Government adjust the estimated quantities for all applicable CLINs and provide agency profiles for the new opportunities? | Recently, agencies not required to use E-Gov Travel Service per FTR §301-50.3 have approached GSA to learn more about ETS2, but at present, it is interest only--and there is no immediate commitment or plan to use ETS2. Section C.3.4(8) of the solicitation always provided for the participatory ability, but there are no estimates at this time. Should a decision be made to use the travel agency and/or voucher components of the end-to-end travel management service per C.3.4(8), these changes will be negotiated at that time. |
| Will the Government incorporate all DoD requirements without further compensation? Will the Government incorporate all DoD functional and security requirements, and require the contractor to comply with the requirements under the existing CLIN structure and pricing with no additional compensation? | Section C.3.4(8) of the solicitation always provided for the participatory ability, but there are no estimates at this time. Should a decision be made to use the travel agency and/or voucher components of the end-to-end travel management service per C.3.4(8), these changes will be negotiated at that time and/or accounted for in the agency's task order, as appropriate. |
| Changes made in Amendment 5 to Section C.6.1.1. of the solicitation address my question. In fact, the changes made in Statement 8 of Amendment 5 referencing Section C, Subsection C.6. Subpart C.6.1.1.h. add more uncertainty as to GSA’s intent. Specifically, the paragraph referenced in the “from” section is not the new paragraph that was altered in Amendment 3. Neither the “from” or the “to” contain the clarifying sentence concerning the use of separate databases. This is a very important point and is the one I was originally seeking clarity on. Thanks and let me know if you need any additional information from me. | The Offeror is correct that the From section of Statement 8 of Amendment 5 was not correct copy and paste of the amended requirement from Amendment 3. The Amendment 5 Statement 8 To revision does now take precedence and is the requirement as intended to be proposed, "h) Assure that US Government data stored within the Travel Authorization and Voucher Service is physically separate from commercial data, and that all other ETS2 data is at all times logically or physically separated by customer agency, and from non-US Government data, including foreign government data, state and local government data, and commercial data. Customer agency data cannot be used for another agency or non-US Government entity; the OTRS, TMC, and TAVS systems, as part of the accreditation boundary are subject to these requirements, however, as previously stated, the GDS is not within this boundary." |
Through this amendment, the requirements for government data for parties inside the accreditation boundary (including Embedded TMCs) have been clarified that either logical separation or physical separation is required for data other than TAVS data (TAVS data must be physically separated). Offerors have the ability to define their approach to achieving logical or physical separation of non-TAVS data, but it is required that government data be able to be at least logically separated for reporting, achiving as well as for security related purposes.
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