Attachment_1_-_Responses_to_Solicitation_Questions.pdf

SP7000‐17‐R‐1002, Amendment 8 Attachment 1 – Responses to Solicitation Questions Page 1 of 4

Responses to Solicitation Questions

1. With reference to Q&A below:

For VB‐S4, an option for an additional 1 year warranty is required in addition to the 90 day standard warranty. Does DLA want the “keep your hard drive” warranty option?

Answer: Yes, this is a purchase, not a lease.

a) Please confirm that the Government wants/does not want Disk Media Retention (DMR) warranty for both basic 90-day and extended one year warranty requirements? Because, standard warranty generally does not cover the Disk Media Retention (also known as keep your hard drive (KYHD/KYD)) as, generally, standard warranty covers just replacing the part that is if the hard drive of a device malfunctions and is under warranty, standard warranty will just replace the hard drive (government does not get keep the old hard drive in case of a standard warranty).

Answer:

DLA will need to keep the hard drive if the device fails during both warranty periods, the 90-day and the additional one year period. The hard drive cannot leave DLA or government property, and the vendor is responsible for removing the hard drive onsite.

b) Should the 90 day warranty be 90 day standard warranty with DMR/KYHD/KYD?

Answer:

Yes.

c) Should one year extended warranty be a one year warranty with DMR?

2. With reference to Q&A below:

If the product comes standard with a one‐year warranty, is an additional one year warranty required for a total of two total years under warranty if this option is selected?

Answer: No.

a) Please confirm that the Government wants minimum 90 days warranty for the VB S4 device(s)?

b) If a device comes with one year warranty, can offerors bid 90 days extended warranty?

No.

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c) If a device comes standard with a one‐year warranty, is an additional 90 day warranty required for a total of one year and 90 days?

Answer:

No, in this case we will still require an additional one year warranty. Therefore, the device in this case will have a total of 2 years warranty.

3. Initially, for the Printer(MFD) it appeared that if a device was not yet on the NIAP and Common Criteria sites, but was believed to be a device that would pass the certifications during the testing process, it could still be presented to the government.

However, Question 9 – seems to describe a scenario where the device MUST be on either the niap or common criteria site, MUST be totally approved not pending approval, and if it does not appear there presently it will be deemed unacceptable?

9. As per the Government, Devices must be listed on either of the following two sites:

https://www.niap‐ccevs.org/Product/ https://www.commoncriteriaportal.org/products/

(a) Please confirm that this applies to Certified Scanners in addition to MFDs?

This applies to MFDs only. Scanners are exempt from the NIAP and Common Criteria website requirement.

(b) Can the Government provide an example of a scanner (not MFD) listed on any of the two websites? Answer: The 2 websites cited is only applicable to MFDs and network printers.

Answer:

The NIAP and Common Criteria website requirement is only applicable to MFDs and network printers. The websites are not applicable to scanners.

4. If a Printer (MFD) does not have a hard drive and that is the reason it is not NIAP/Common Criteria certified or pending certified, would that be acceptable?

(does have NIPR/DOD STIG Compliance/ and meets DOD Checklist)

5. Will the Government accept an obligation that it is required to return a toner/ink cartridges after it has been used to the partner or OEM?

6. Section 2.1.1. Warranty states: All purchased equipment shall include at least a 90‐day full manufacturer’s warranty. Additional one (1) year extended warranty included as a separate CLIN for VB‐S4 only. There is ambiguity in the word “Additional”, is it DLA’s intent to provide for a full

SP7000‐17‐R‐1002, Amendment 8 Attachment 1 – Responses to Solicitation Questions Page 3 of 4 one‐year warranty if the standard Manufacturer’s warranty is less than one year? Or does the government desire the minimum 90‐day and the 1 year extended warranty to run in secession resulting in a 15 month warranty? Upgrading the warranty from 90 days to 12 months is standard in the industry. In contrast extending to 15 months is not typical.

Answer:

The government requires a minimum 90‐day warranty and the 1 year extended warranty to run in secession resulting in a 15 month warranty. This will be the case if we decide to purchase the additional 1 year warranty for a VB‐S4 device. The additional 1 year warranty is a separate CLIN.

7. We have a clarifying question to question #2 answered in Amendment 6. Here’s the original question and DLA’s answer:

2. For VB‐S4, an option for an additional 1 year warranty is required in addition to the 90 day standard warranty. Does DLA want the “keep your hard drive” warranty option?

Answer: Yes, this is a purchase, not a lease.

Follow on Question: The “Keep Your Hard Drive” (KYHD) warranty option is an upgrade to the standard manufacturer’s warranty that adds the service to remove the hard drive and leave it with the customer when the device is removed from the customer’s premises for off‐site repair or replacement. This upgrade feature only relates to warranty service and the method of procurement has no bearing on it (would apply to either a purchase or lease). Question: If the device comes with a one year manufacturer standard warranty does DLA wish to have the option to upgrade this standard warranty with any additional upgraded warranty features (like KYHD, or Next Business Day On‐site service)? If so, please list the required features that need to be included in the CLINs for VB‐S4 Extended Warranty.

Answer:

DLA will need to keep the hard drive if the device fails during both warranty periods, the 90‐day and the additional one year period. The hard drive cannot leave DLA or government property, and the vendor is responsible for removing the hard drive onsite.

8. The answer to Amendment 2 question 21 is unclear. We have not been able to identify low end printers or scanners that are on: Caution‐https://www.niap‐ccevs.org/Product/ < Caution‐ https://www.niap‐ccevs.org/Product/ > or Caution‐https://www.commoncriteriaportal.org/products/ < Caution‐ https://www.commoncriteriaportal.org/products/ >

The higher end of printers (both mono and color, 35 PPM+) are on the NIAP site and have been Common Criteria Certified. Regarding amendment 2 question 21, as far as lower end printers are concerned which are:

TAA compliant;

FIPS 140‐2; or FIPS 201; or meet the criteria of IT products acquired by the U.S. Government for use in national security systems perform as advertised; or satisfy the security requirements of the intended user, but are not on the NIAP site;

Can the customer / government wavier the NIAP & Common Criteria Certification for these lower cost devices?

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9. Does DLA want” keep the hard drive option” for VB‐S0, VB‐S1, VB‐S2, VB‐S3 &VB‐S4 in Attach. 3 & 5?

10. It would be of considerable financial benefit to not require multi‐feed detection, or to only require it for the VB S3 and VB S4 scanner models. Would the government consider that option?

11. EPEAT Certification; Manufacturer’s consistently release new models every 6 months. If EPEAT certification is pending, but not yet final is this acceptable?

(other similar models are certified)If not, could the EPEAT certification be final at date of award?

IAW FAR 52.223‐13(b) all devices have to be registered at time of submission of proposals:

"Under this contract, the Contractor shall deliver, furnish for Government use, or furnish for Contractor use at a Federally controlled facility, only imaging equipment that, at the time of submission of proposals and at the time of award, was EPEAT® bronze‐registered or higher."