Amendment 3 Questions.doc

SOCIAL SECURITY

Office of Acquisition and Grants

July 20, 2012

TO:

All Interested Parties

FROM:

Christopher Mettee

Social Security Administration

Office of Acquisition and Grants

7111 Security Boulevard

Baltimore, MD 21244-1811

RE:

Solicitation SSA-RFP-12-1036 for Independent Verification and Validation Services, Amendment 3 To Whom It May Concern:

SSA provides Amendment 3 to the Solicitation SSA-RFP-12-1036 to respond to solicitation inquiries. The questions (in blue), with their respective response from SSA (in red), are as follows:

1.

IV&V can be defined and implemented different ways. The question is how does SSA, through this contract, define implementation of Independent (third-party) Verification and Validation services:

1. The contractor will perform the security assessment, testing, and risk assessment processes for the system. Independent since Contractor is not part of development team or contracted by the System Owner.

2. The contractor will independently (third-party) verify and validate that the SA&A process that was performed by another contractor meets Federal and SSA policy, processes, and guidelines.

3. Both, Contractor will perform SA&A process (security assessment, testing, and risk assessment) on all 22 SSA major IT systems and potentially IV&V of other contractors SA&A processes.

Which view are you requesting in this proposal?

Item one comes closest, but is very much an oversimplification. Refer to Addendum B, Section 3.1 for the Agency’s definition of IV&V. The contractor performing IV&V assessments must perform the assessment, not simply evaluate assessments completed by a third party.

2.

Volume II – Does the 60 page limit for Volume II include resumes, or is the 60 page restriction limited to the technical narrative only?

The 60-page limit for Volume II applies to all documents, including resumes, required under Volume II.

3.

Volume I Certification Regarding Responsibility Matters - Page 81 of the RFP (E-2.3 (h)) requires a completed copy of FAR 52.209-5 for "Certification Regarding Responsibility Matters" at Addendum E, Section 5.1. There is, however, a "Certification Regarding Responsibility Matters" already included in Representations and Certifications. Therefore, does SSA require a separate copy of this certification in addition to the Representations and Certification?

Only one certification within FAR Provision 52.212-3, Representations and Certifications – Commercial Items, is necessary for Certification Regarding Responsibility Matters.

SSA removed the requirement at Addendum E, Section 2.3(h) to complete a separate copy of FAR Provision 52.209-5, Certification Regarding Responsibility Matters.

4.

The RFP refers to the "Information Regarding Responsibility Matters" at Addendum E, Section 5.2. However, E-5.2 in the RFP is the text for FAR 52.216-1 "Type of Contract." Therefore, the reference is incorrect. What is required for "Information Regarding Responsibility Matters" beyond the "Certification Regarding Responsibility Matters?"

Addendum E, Section 5.1 includes FAR Provision 52.209-7, Information Regarding Responsibility Matters. This provision is not included in FAR Provision 52.212-3, Representations and Certifications – Commercial Items, and the Offeror must all items complete Addendum E, Section 5.1. SSA corrected Addendum E, Section 2.3(i) to include the correct reference to Addendum E, Section 5.1, Information Regarding Responsibility Matters.

5.

In Addendum B, Section 2.2, SSA stated that the number of estimated work-hours included Analytical, Senior Analytical, and Subject Matter Expert engineering labor, but precluded Project Management. I would like to know if since there is no Project Management CLIN, are we to build our Project Management hours/cost into the other CLINs (in addition to the provided estimated hours for other Labor Categories, provided by SSA)? We are working our CLIN Breakdown and want to ensure we put Management cost in the right place(s).

For the CLIN Breakdown, for each CLIN, the Offeror should list each labor position and rate used for that line item. For multiple labor rates, it should list those in succession. In addition, for any positions that the Offeror lists, it must identify the minimum credentials/certification requirements that the Offeror will use for that position. The Offeror must provide any types of labor, quantities of hours, and rates proposed for each CLIN to demonstrate to SSA that it understands the contract and staffing requirements. This could mean that the total amount of work hours proposed in the CLIN Breakdown by the Offeror may exceed the total number of work hours estimated by Agency in the Solicitation.

6.

As an aside to question #5, since the policy and documentation work CLINS are broken out in fixed hourly rates and hours on the spreadsheets, how would we reflect the Project Manager hours on those CLINS?

For all CLINs, including those based upon an hourly rate (i.e. Functional Area III and IV), the Offeror must provide any types of labor, quantities of hours, and rates proposed for each CLIN to demonstrate to SSA that it understands the contract and staffing requirements. This could mean that the total amount of work hours proposed in the CLIN Breakdown by the Offeror may exceed the total number of work hours estimated by Agency in the Solicitation. In the example of Functional Area III and IV, it is possible that the CLIN Breakdown would show more than one hour of labor.

In addition, SSA made the following clarifications to the Solicitation:

· Addendum E, Section 2.3(h): Removed (h); and

· Addendum E, Section 2.3(i): Corrected the reference to Addendum E, Section 5.1, Information Regarding Responsibility Matters.

SSA highlighted all changes in yellow in the attached Revised Solicitation Addenda.

Should you have any questions regarding this Amendment, please contact Christopher Mettee at Christopher.Mettee@ssa.gov.

Respectfully, Christopher Mettee

Contract Specialist

SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION BALTIMORE MD 21235-0001