Steno Services_RFQ_14 Dec 2023.pdf

Federal Trade Commission Office of the Chief Administrative Services Officer

Communication and Information Management

Request for Quote

Stenographic and Remote Deposition Services Dec 2023

Request for Quote – Dec 2023

Table of Contents

1.0 – Introduction

1.1 - Background

1.2 – Statement of Need

1.3 – Scope of Work

2.0 – Constraints and Requirements

2.1 – Laws and Regulations

2.1.1 – Federal Laws and Regulations

2.1.2 – Federal Standards

2.2 – Security Requirements

2.2.1 – Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) Error! Bookmark not defined.

2.2.2 – Other Security Requirements ....................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.

2.3 – System (Platform) Requirements

2.4 – Certification and Licenses

2.5 – Invoice Requirements

2.6 – Matter Categories

2.7 – Staffing Requirements

3.0 – Period and Place of Performance

3.1 – Period of Performance

3.2 – Place of Performance

3.3 – Hours of Operation

4.0 – Type of Contract

5.0 – Instructions for Submission

5.1 – Questions from Offerors

5.2 – Submission Due Date

5.3 – Submission Format

6.0 – Submission Content

6.1 – Volume One – Technical Submission

6.1.1 – Platform Live Demonstration

6.1.2 – Technical Ability

6.1.3 – Executive Summary

6.1.4 – Past Experience

6.2 – Volume Two – Pricing Submission

7.0 – Basis for Award

7.1 – General Criteria

7.2 – Technical Volume Ratings

7.3 – Past Experience and Performance Ratings

7.4 – Overall Submission Ratings

7.5 – Order of Importance of Evaluation Factors

8.0 – Clauses

8.1 – Federal Acquisition Regulation Clauses

8.2 – Federal Trade Commission Clauses

9.0 Attachments

1.0 – Introduction

1.1 - Background

The Federal Trade Commission is an independent federal government law enforcement and regulatory agency with the authority to promote and protect consumers’ welfare through its jurisdiction over both consumer protection and competition issues. The FTC’s mission is to work to protect consumers by preventing anticompetitive, deceptive, and unfair business practices, enhancing informed consumer choice and public understanding of the competitive process, and accomplishing this without unduly burdening legitimate business activity.

Within the FTC, the Office of the Chief Administrative Services Officer (OCASO) enables FTC’s mission by keeping staff and visitors, property, and information safe and secure in a civil and respectful work environment. OCASO’s Communication and Information Management (CIM) team manages the mission critical contract for Stenographic and Transcription Support Services.

1.2 – Statement of Need

The Federal Trade Commission has a need for the services of a qualified contractor to provide Comprehensive Court Reporting and Transcription Support Services (CCRTS) for public and non-public meetings, hearings, depositions, trials and arbitrations, conferences and workshops, Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) statements, and other proceedings held within the District of Columbia, the 50 states, United States territories, and internationally.

1.3 – Scope of Work

For the duration of the award, including any exercised option periods, the contractor shall provide all management, personnel, support, supplies, material, and equipment required to provide uninterrupted performance of all tasks as detailed in Attachment 9.1 – Performance Work Statement.

2.0 – Constraints and Requirements

2.1 – Laws and Regulations

2.1.1 – Federal Laws and Regulations

Privacy Act of 1974 o 5 U.S. Code § 552a - Records maintained on individuals.

o 16 CFR § 4.13 - Privacy Act rules

Electronic Government Act of 2002 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Federal Information Security Modernization Act of 2014 (FISMA) Federal Trade Commission Act o Section 6(f) o Sections 21(b), (c), (f) o 15 U.S. Code § 57b–2 - Confidentiality o 16 CFR § 4.10 - Nonpublic material

Hart–Scott–Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act Procurement Integrity Act Federal Records Act NARA regulations at 36 CFR Chapter XII Subchapter B

2.1.2 – Federal Standards

Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) o 199 – Standards for Security Categorization of Federal Information and

Informational Systems o 200 – Minimum Security Requirements for Federal Information and Information

Systems o 201 – Personal Identify Verification (PIV) of Federal Employees and Contractors

Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Memorandums National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) o NIST Risk Management Framework o SP 800-30 – Guide for Conducting Risk Assessments o SP 800-39 – Managing Information Security Risk o SP 800-53 – Security and Privacy Controls for Information Systems and

Organizations o SP 800-61 – Computer Security Incident Handling Guide o SP 800-122 – Guide to Protecting the Confidentiality of Personally Identifiable

Information (PII) U.S. Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency o US-CERT (Computer Emergency Readiness Team) Federal Incident Notification Guidelines

2.2 – Security Requirements

In additional to all laws, regulations, and standards as detailed in Section 2.1, the contractor shall adhere to all security requirements and guidelines as detailed below.

i) General Definitions

A. Information means any communication or representation of knowledge such as facts, data, or opinions, in any form or medium, including textual, numerical, graphic, cartographic, narrative, or audiovisual. Information includes information in an electronic format that allows it be stored, retrieved or transmitted, also referred to as “data,” and “personally identifiable information” (“PII”), regardless of form.

B. Personally Identifiable Information (or PII) PII is information that can be used to distinguish or trace an individual’s identity, either alone or when combined with other information that is linked or linkable to a specific individual. Information that is not PII can become PII whenever additional information becomes available in any medium or from any source that would make it possible to identify an individual.

C. FTC Information means any Information that is owned, produced, controlled, protected by, or otherwise within the custody or responsibility of the FTC, including, without limitation, Information related to FTC programs or personnel. It includes, without limitation, Information (1) provided by or generated for the FTC,

(2) managed or acquired by Contractor for the FTC in connection with the performance of the contract, and/or (3) acquired in order to perform the contract.

D. Information System means any resources, or set of resources organized for accessing, collecting, storing, processing, maintaining, using, sharing, retrieving, disseminating, transmitting, or disposing of (hereinafter collectively, “processing, storing, or transmitting”) Information.

E. Covered Information System means any information system used for, involved with, or allowing, the processing, storing, or transmitting of FTC Information.

ii) General Guidelines

A. The contractor shall adhere to all statutory responsibilities under Federal Law that apply to information technology and the Federal Trade Commission including, but not limited to, the following:

National Institute of Standards and Technology Federal Information Security Modernization Act of 2014 Office of Management and Budget Information Security directives Department of Homeland Security directives and best practices Federal Records Act, National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) federal records regulations and policies, FTC records policies, procedures and guidelines, including Supply Chain Risk

Management Policy OCIO-22-SR001; and other industry accepted standards.

Any information system safeguarding requirements set forth in FAR clause 52.204-

21, Basic Safeguarding of Covered Contractor Information Systems.

Federal Trade Commission policy, procedures, and guidelines, and other industry accepted standards.

B. Any information system provided by the contractor shall have all non-federal government roles fulfilled by the contractor unless stipulated by the FTC.

C. All FTC Information Security Program requirements must be met.

D. The contractor shall maintain an IT System Security Plan that details the implementation of all the security controls required in the latest revision of NIST 800-53 Security and Privacy Controls for Information Systems and Organizations for a moderate impact system.

E. The contractor shall provide initially and on an annual basis a third-party independent audit report to the designated FTC Authorizing Official (AO) detailing how security controls detailed in the IT System Security Plan are being followed for the FTC system. All security related risks, audit findings, material weaknesses, and open Plan of Action Milestones (POA&Ms) related to the FTC systems are the responsibility of the Contractor to correct, mitigate, or resolve in a timely manner.

F. The contractor shall continuously monitor any system or service deployed for the

FTC for IT security events or incidents, such as Denial of Service Attacks, and deploy appropriate attack detection and mitigation tools.

G. The contractor shall report security incidents within 3 hours of identification as defined by the most current NIST Special Publication 800-61 and United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT) Concept of Operations for Federal Cyber Security Incident Handling to the Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) and the FTC incident response team (cybersec@ftc.gov or whatever the contact information is when the contract is awarded) in accordance with FTC Incident Response Policy, Incident Response Plan, and the Data Breach Notification Plan.

H. The contractor shall also notify and report any incident on any contractor owned or contractor utilized system and services that would interact with FTC network or systems. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

Contractor network general support systems Contractor collaboration spaces Cloud and dashboards spaces/portals

I. The contractor will also proactively notify the COR and the FTC incident response team (cybersec@ftc.gov or whatever the contact information is when the contract is awarded) of any usage of DHS publicized compromised software or hardware.

DHS has in the past issue these in Emergency Directives, Executive Orders, or Binding Operational Directives. Examples would include usage of Kaspersky, Huawei Networks, SolarWinds, and PulseSecure VPN.

J. The contractor shall provide an Information System Security Officer (ISSO) to work with the FTC’s OCIO Continuous Assurance Team to respond to any data calls and/or audit artifact responses in the time frames and format given in the request. Acknowledgement of data call or provided by customer receipt at the time of receipt is required. Any difficulty in responding to clarifications must be made within one business day.

K. If the contractor is issued FTC network accounts or privileged accounts, the contractor shall adhere to FTC Rules of Behavior. The contractor shall also ensure that contractor staff has proper clearances and backgrounds to match level of responsibility in accordance with FTC policy. The contractor shall ensure that all FTC mandated training is properly taken in the time frames that is requested.

Failure to adhere to any of the above requirements can result in revocation of access and termination of accounts. If contractor cannot perform work due to revocation of accounts due to this clause, contractor can be subjected to fiduciary penalties.

L. The contractor shall work with the FTC’s OCIO Continuous Assurance on any monthly security metrics and any other reporting/data calls as required. Accurate formatting and reporting of metrics are expected. Artifacts to explain and justify the metrics may be requested by the FTC as a follow up and must be readily available.

iii) Contractor shall not process, store, or transmit FTC Information without first obtaining an Authority to Operate (“ATO”) for the contractors Information System. The ATO shall be signed by the Authorizing Official for the FTC component responsible for maintaining the security, confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the FTC Information under this contract. Contractor must provide sufficient description of the information system security controls with its associated policy and procedures to allow the audit of the contractor’s information system to be performed by the FTC. The FTC standards and requirements for obtaining an ATO may be found at the FTC.

iv) Contractor shall ensure that no non-U.S. citizen accesses or assists in the development, operation, management, or maintenance of any FTC Information System, unless a waiver has been granted by the by the FTC authorization official responsible for the FTC Information System in question.

v) When requested by the FTC CO or COR, or other FTC official as described below, in connection with FTC’s efforts to ensure compliance with security requirements and to maintain and safeguard against threats and hazards to the security, confidentiality, integrity, and availability of FTC Information, Contractor shall provide FTC, including the Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) and Federal law enforcement components, (1) access to any and all information and records, including electronic information, regarding a Covered Information System, and (2) physical access to Contractor’s facilities, installations, systems, operations, documents, records, and databases. Such access may include independent validation testing of controls, system penetration testing, and FISMA data reviews by FTC or agents acting on behalf of FTC, and such access shall be provided within 72 hours of the request. Additionally, Contractor shall cooperate with FTC’s efforts to ensure, maintain, and safeguard the security, confidentiality, integrity, and availability of FTC Information.

vi) Contractor must secure all systems and services in accordance with the Zero Trust security model and ensure compliance with regulatory requirements mandated in the solicitation and by OMB M-22-09 Federal Zero Trust Strategy (whitehouse.gov) including, but not limited to, identity management, data protection, encryption, incident response, reporting (automated and non-automated), and vulnerability management.

vii) Content contained within the systems included in this contract is subject to the Privacy

Act and therefore the system must adhere to the Privacy Act, Title 5 of the U.S. Code, Section 552a, and applicable agency rules and regulations, especially with regard to the handling and protection of Personally Identifiable Information.

viii) Vulnerabilities or deviations from Federal baseline configurations found in the system or service provided to the FTC must be addressed in accordance with FTC guidelines. Vulnerabilities or deviations that cannot be addressed in the required timeframes must be recorded as a POA&M and worked according to the timelines given or risk accepted.

ix) The contractor shall develop plans and provide services for integration with the FTC enterprise service for identification, authentication, access control, and monitoring.

Deviations from FTC enterprise services must be properly justified and documented.

x) The contractor must perform and supply evidence that the system was independently verified and validated prior to entering production. Major changes to the system as defined by NIST 800-37, which includes, but is not limited to, to changes in throughput, changes in environment, changes in hardware and software, changes in workflow will need to be followed by an IV&V. Deviations from FTC standards or issues identified must be properly justified and documented through the POA&M process. The system shall adhere to FTC policy and procedures on change management.

xi) The use of Contractor-owned laptops or other portable digital or electronic media to process or store FTC Information covered by this clause is prohibited until Contractor provides a letter to the FTC CO or COR, and obtains the CO or COR’s approval, certifying compliance with the following requirements:

A. Media must be encrypted using a NIST FIPS 140-2 approved product;

B. Contractor must develop and implement a process to ensure that security and other applications software is kept up to date;

C. Where applicable, media must utilize antivirus software and a host- based firewall mechanism;

D. Contractor must log all computer-readable data extracts from databases holding

FTC Information and verify that each extract including such data has been erased within 90 days of extraction or that its use is still required. All FTC Information is sensitive information unless specifically designated as non-sensitive by the FTC;

and, E. A Rules of Behavior (“ROB”) form must be signed by users. These rules must address, at a minimum, authorized and official use, prohibition against unauthorized users and use, and the protection of FTC Information. The form also must notify the user that he or she has no reasonable expectation of privacy regarding any communications transmitted through or data stored on Contractor-owned laptops or other portable digital or electronic media.

xii) Contractor-owned removable media containing FTC Information shall not be removed from FTC facilities without prior approval of the FTC CO or COR.

xiii) When no longer needed, all media must be processed (sanitized, degaussed, or destroyed) in accordance with FTC security requirements.

xiv) Contractor must keep an accurate inventory of digital or electronic media used in the performance of FTC contracts.

xv) Contractor must remove all FTC Information from Contractor media and return all such information to the FTC within 15 days of the expiration or termination of the contract, unless otherwise extended by the CO, or waived (in part or whole) by the CO, and all such information shall be returned to the FTC in a format and form acceptable to the FTC. The removal and return of all FTC Information must be accomplished in accordance with FTC IT Security Standard requirements, and an official of the Contractor shall provide a written certification certifying the removal, destruction, and return of all such information to the CO within 15 days of the removal and return of all FTC Information.

xvi) FTC, at its discretion, may suspend Contractor’s access to any FTC Information, or terminate the contract, when FTC suspects that Contractor has failed to comply with any security requirement, or in the event of an Information System Security Incident (see Section V.E. below), where the FTC determines that either event gives cause for such action. The suspension of access to FTC Information may last until such time as FTC, in its sole discretion, determines that the situation giving rise to such action has been corrected or no longer exists. Contractor understands that any suspension or termination in accordance with this provision shall be at no cost to the FTC, and that upon request by the CO, Contractor must immediately return all FTC Information to FTC, as well as any media upon which FTC Information resides, at Contractor’s expense.

xvii) Cloud Computing

A. Cloud Computing means an Information System having the essential characteristics described in NIST SP 800-145, The NIST Definition of Cloud Computing. For the sake of this provision and clause, Cloud Computing includes Software as a Service, Platform as a Service, and Infrastructure as a Service, and deployment in a Private Cloud, Community Cloud, Public Cloud, or Hybrid Cloud.

xviii) Contractor may not utilize the Cloud system of any Cloud Service Provider (“CSP”) unless:

A. The Cloud system and CSP have been evaluated and approved by a 3PAO certified under FedRAMP and Contractor has provided the most current Security Assessment Report (“SAR”) to the FTC CO for consideration as part of Contractor’s overall System Security Plan, and any subsequent SARs within 30 days of issuance, and has received an ATO from the Authorizing Official for the FTC component responsible for maintaining the security confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the FTC Information under contract; or, B. If not certified under FedRAMP, the Cloud System and CSP have received an ATO signed by the Authorizing Official for the FTC component responsible for maintaining the security, confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the FTC Information under the contract.

C. Contractor must ensure that the CSP allows FTC to access and retrieve any FTC Information processed, stored, or transmitted in a Cloud system under this Contract within a reasonable time of any such request, but in no event less than 48 hours from the request. To ensure that the FTC can fully and appropriately search and retrieve FTC Information from the Cloud system, access shall include any schemas, meta-data, and other associated data artifacts.

xix) Information System Security Breach or Incident

A. Definitions

a. Confirmed Security Breach (hereinafter, “Confirmed Breach”) means any confirmed unauthorized exposure, loss of control, compromise, exfiltration, manipulation, disclosure, acquisition, or accessing of any Covered Information System or any FTC Information accessed by, retrievable from, processed by, stored on, or transmitted within, to or from any such system.

b. Potential Security Breach (hereinafter, “Potential Breach”) means any suspected, but unconfirmed, Covered Information System Security Breach.

c. Security Incident means any Confirmed or Potential Covered

Information System Security Breach.

B. Confirmed Breach. Contractor shall immediately (and in no event later than within 1 hour of discovery) report any Confirmed Breach to the FTC CO and the CO's Representative (“COR”) and the FTC incident response team (cybersec@ftc.gov or whatever the contact information is when the contract is awarded).

C. Potential Breach. Contractor shall report any Potential Breach within 72 hours of detection or within an hour of determining that there has been no Breach to the FTC CO, COR and the FTC incident response team (cybersec@ftc.gov or whatever the contact information is when the contract is awarded). The report should include the nature and results of the internal investigation. If the investigation determined that there was no breach, then the contractor should provide the basis for that conclusion.

xx) Any report submitted in accordance with paragraphs (B) and (C), above, shall identify

(1) both the Information Systems and FTC Information involved or at risk, including the type, amount, and level of sensitivity of the FTC Information and, if the FTC Information contains PII, the estimated number of unique instances of PII, (2) all steps and processes being undertaken by Contractor to minimize, remedy, and/or investigate the Security Incident, (3) any and all other information as required by the US- CERT Federal Incident Notification Guidelines, including the functional impact, information impact, impact to recoverability, threat vector, mitigation details, and all available incident details; and (4) any other information specifically requested by the FTC.

Contractor shall continue to provide written updates to the FTC CO and the FTC incident response team (cybersec@ftc.gov or whatever the contact information is when the contract is awarded) regarding the status of the Security Incident at least every three

(3) calendar days until informed otherwise by the FTC CO.

xxi) All determinations regarding whether and when to notify individuals and/or federal agencies potentially affected by a Security Incident will be made by FTC senior officials or the FTC Core Management Team at FTC’s discretion.

xxii) Upon notification of a Security Incident in accordance with this section, Contractor must provide to FTC full access to any affected or potentially affected facility and/or Information System, including access by the FTC OIG and Federal law enforcement organizations, and undertake any and all response actions FTC determines are required to ensure the protection of FTC Information, including providing all requested images, log files, and event information to facilitate rapid resolution of any Security Incident.

xxiii) FTC, at its sole discretion, may obtain, and Contractor will permit, the assistance of other federal agencies and/or third party contractors or firms to aid in response activities related to any Security Incident. Additionally, FTC, at its sole discretion, may require Contractor to retain, at Contractor’s expense, a Third Party Assessing Organization (3PAO), acceptable to FTC, with expertise in incident response, compromise assessment, and federal security control requirements, to conduct a thorough vulnerability and security assessment of all affected Information Systems.

xxiv) Response activities related to any Security Incident undertaken by FTC, including activities undertaken by Contractor, other federal agencies, and any third-party contractors or firms at the request or direction of FTC, may include inspections, investigations, forensic reviews, data analyses and processing, and final determinations of responsibility for the Security Incident and/or liability for any additional response activities. Contractor shall be responsible for all costs and related resource allocations required for all such response activities related to any Security Incident, including the cost of any penetration testing.

xxv) Personally Identifiable Information Notification Requirement

A. Contractor certifies that it has a security policy in place that contains procedures to promptly notify any individual whose Personally Identifiable Information (“PII”) was, or is reasonably determined by FTC to have been, compromised. Any notification shall be coordinated with the FTC CO and shall not proceed without FTC approval. The method and content of any notification by Contractor shall be coordinated with, and subject to the approval of FTC.

B. Contractor shall be responsible for taking corrective action consistent with FTC Data Breach Notification Procedures and as directed by the FTC CO, including all costs and expenses associated with such corrective action, which may include providing credit monitoring to any individuals whose PII was actually or potentially compromised.

xxvi) Pass-through of Security Requirements to Subcontractors and CSPs

A. The requirements set forth in the preceding paragraphs of this clause apply to all subcontractors and CSPs who perform work in connection with this Contract, including any CSP providing services for any other CSP under this Contract, and Contractor shall flow down this clause to all subcontractors and CSPs performing under this contract.

B. Any breach by any subcontractor or CSP of any of the provisions set forth in this clause will be attributed to Contractor.

2.3 – System (Platform) Requirements

The Stenographic and Remote Deposition system (platform) shall have the ability to:

Work with MS Office products (i.e., Word, Excel) and PDF files (Adobe) Upload exhibits for numbering Link and share exhibits across witnesses, including directing the witness to specific pages, highlighting, and marking up documents, and enabling the FTC to decide whether the witness should be able to view highlights and markups

Link exhibits to text file for loading into an electronic transcript management system (i.e., Text Map)

Play video exhibits Use a secure file transfer platform/system1 for transcript and exhibit submission and/or sharing Record remote depositions directly from platform (i.e., recording session via Zoom, Teams, or similar platform)

1Note: The FTC currently uses the Accellion (Kiteworks) platform/system for its secure file transfer platform/system. FTC reserves the right to change platform/systems at any time. The FTC will notify the contractor of any change to FTC’s secure file transfer platform/system.

2.4 – Certification and Licenses

All personnel assigned in support of this contract shall be fully licensed and/or certified, as required, in the jurisdiction in which the work will be performed.

2.5 – Invoice Requirements

In addition to the invoicing requirements detailed in FTC Clause 1152.232-91, Electronic Invoicing and Payment Requirements, the following information shall be included with each invoice:

Matter number Date of service Estimate number and/or order number Invoice number Summary invoice number (PDF summary) Paid date CLIN number

The contractor shall submit one invoice per service order via batch invoicing.

Batch invoicing shall be submitted to IPP approximately once every three weeks o The FTC reserves the right to change the frequency of batch invoicing if needed

Copy sales are restricted to the parties identified on the service order request form Other copy sale requests are prohibited without the written approval of the FTC Requests for a copy sale must be submitted via email to courtreporters@ftc.gov

2.6 – Matter Categories

A “Matter” is any FTC event that requires the creation of an official record of the event. For the purpose of this requirement, the FTC has identified three categories of "Matters".

1) Class A Matters (Investigative Matters)

Class A Matters includes all transcripts produced for investigative matters as detailed in 16 CFR, Chapter I – Federal Trade Commission, Subchapter A – Organization, Procedures, and Rules of Practice 16 CFR Part 2 – Nonadjudicative Procedures 16 CFR Part 3 – Rules of Practice for Adjudicative Proceedings

2) Class B Matters

Class B Matters includes all transcripts produced for Federal District Court, Federal Bankruptcy Court, and all other Federal Court Matters.

3) Class C Matters

All transcripts produced for other than Class A or Class B Matters (i.e., conferences, workshops, or internal FTC activities such as EEO statements). Class C Matters may also include transcripts of activities such as telephone calls, TV Commercials, infomercials, and internet videos.

2.7 – Staffing Requirements

While not normally applicable to the types of services performed under this requirement, the FTC reserves the right to request background investigations and security clearance to the “Public Trust” level. If requested by the FTC, the contractor shall ensure that all personnel assigned in performance of an award are able to obtain and maintain a security clearance as determined by FTC Personnel Security and in accordance with FTC Clause 1152.204-90, Contractor Personnel Security Requirements.

The contractor shall ensure that all staff assigned in support of this contract possess the appropriate qualifications and skills for the type of service requested, and hold the necessary certifications and licenses required to perform the tasks detailed in Attachment 9.1 – Performance Work Statement.

The contractor shall make available a duly licensed and authorized Notary Services as necessary.

For services in locations where English is not the primary language, the contractor shall provide court reporters, notaries, translators, and/or interpreters, as necessary that are fluent in that country's official language. Court reporters, notaries, translators and/or interpreters that are fluent in other languages may be required for services within the United States or its territories.

3.0 – Period and Place of Performance

3.1 – Period of Performance

The FTC anticipates awarding a one-year (12-month) base contract, with two one-year (12-month) option periods.

3.2 – Place of Performance

The place of performance will be in various locations to include:

FTC facilities in Washington DC FTC regional locations District of Columbia Court buildings, law offices, and other meeting locations within the United States, U.S.

Territories, or international locations

The FTC has offices in the following locations:

FTC - Headquarters 600 Pennsylvania Ave, NW Washington DC 20580

FTC – Constitution Center 400 7th Street, SW Washington DC 20024

FTC – East Central Regional Office 1111 Superior Avenue, Suite 200 Cleveland, OH 44114-25074

FTC – Midwest Regional Office John C. Kluczynski Federal Building 230 South Dearborn Street, Room 3030 Chicago, IL 60604

FTC - Northeast Regional Office One Bowling Green, Suite 318 New York, NY 10004

FTC – Northwest Regional Office 915 Second Avenue, Room 2896 Seattle, WA 98174

FTC – Southeast Regional Office 225 Peachtree Street, NE, Suite 1500 Atlanta, GA 30303

FTC – Southwest Regional Office 1999 Bryan Street, Suite 2150 Dallas, TX 75201-6808

FTC – Western Regional Office (SF) 90 7th Street, Suite 14-300 San Francisco, CA 94103

FTC – Western Regional Office (LA) 10990 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 400 Los Angeles, CA 90024

3.3 – Hours of Operation

FTC’s core hours of operation are 8:00 am – 5:00 pm, Monday through Friday. Occasionally, services may be required outside of core (normal) business hours.

While the FTC recognizes the Federal Holidays noted below, the nature of this contract entails that the awardee may be required to perform services on FTC recognized federal holidays or on days designated as a holiday or when buildings are closed by Executive Order or other emergency declaration.

The Contracting Officer’s Representative will inform the contractor if services are required outside of normal business hours, on Federal Holidays, days designated as a holiday, or closures due to emergency declarations.

The FTC recognizes the following federal holidays:

New Year’s Day Juneteenth Veteran’s Day Martin Luther King Jr. Birthday Independence Day Thanksgiving Day President’s Day Labor Day Christmas Day Memorial Day Columbus Day

4.0 – Type of Contract

The FTC anticipates awarding a time-and-material contract.

5.0 – Instructions for Submission

5.1 – Questions from Offerors

Submit any questions regarding this solicitation via email to Jose Jaldin at jjaldin@ftc.gov and Matthew Woolstenhulme at mwoolstenhulme@ftc.gov with subject line “Stenographic & Remote Deposition Services - Questions” no later than 4:00 PM (ET) on January 4, 2024 (ET). If a response applies to all potential offerors, the government will provide a response to all in a manner that does not identify the source.

The government reserves the right not to provide an answer for any requests or questions received after the date stated above. If, however, the government determines that a late request raises an issue of significant importance, the government will respond.

All government responses will be provided electronically and, depending upon the nature, may be via an amendment to the solicitation.

5.2 – Submission Due Date

All submissions shall be submitted via email to Jose Jaldin at jjaldin@ftc.gov and Matthew Woolstenhulme at mwoolstenhulme@ftc.gov no later than 4:00 PM (ET) on January 19, 2024.

The email shall include the subject line “Stenographic & Remote Deposition Services – Quote Submission.” If submissions require multiple emails, please indicate count and total number of emails in the subject line (i.e., Stenographic & Remote Deposition Services – Quote Submission, Email 1 of 3). Quotes submitted in response to this solicitation shall be submitted in electronic form, which is readable using MS Office 2016 or Adobe Acrobat 2017.

Offerors are required to present a real time, live demonstration of their quoted platform’s capabilities and functionality as part of their submission. Demonstrations will be held remotely and will likely be scheduled for the week of January 29, 2024 using an FTC provided link.

Offerors may include a slide deck, not to exceed 25 slides, as part of their demonstration (see Section 6.1.1). The slide deck shall be emailed no later than 4:00 PM (ET) on January 19, 2024 to Jose Jaldin at jjaldin@ftc.gov and Matthew Woolstenhulme at mwoolstenhulme@ftc.gov. If a slide deck is included as part of the offeror’s submission, it shall be included as a separate attachment.

5.3 – Submission Format

All submissions shall include a transmittal letter to include the following:

Solicitation;

Name of offeror with at least two points of contacts to include email addresses and phone numbers;

Business mailing address of offeror;

Unique Entity ID from SAM.gov (UEI);

Cage Code;

Tax Identification Number (TIN);

Business Size and Socioeconomic Representation;

GSA Schedule Number and Contract Number (if applicable); and A list of all material(s) that are included as part of the offeror’s submission (i.e., Volume 1, Volume 2, resumes, pricing, and certifications).

The offeror shall submit two separate volumes, (1) Technical and (2) Cost/Price. When submitting offers via email, each volume should be attached as a discrete, separate file. The electronic submission must be compatible with Microsoft Office 2016, or as an Adobe Acrobat file; pricing tables should be submitted as an Excel document. All electronic files should be searchable.

The offeror’s submission, including the slide deck, shall be formatted as follows:

Text – a minimum of 12-point font and single-spaced Margins – a minimum of one-inch all around Page number – noted at bottom of page and numbered consecutively Page count – Volume 1 not to exceed 30 pages; Volume 2 not to exceed 10 pages; Slide deck not to exceed 25 pages

The transmittal letter, table of contents, title pages, past performance questionnaires, certificates, resumes, and pricing tables are not included in the page count. The slide deck is not included in the page count.

6.0 – Submission Content

6.1 – Volume One – Technical Submission

The FTC will evaluate the technical submission based on the following considerations:

1) The effectiveness with which the offeror’s technical submission outlines in detail the offeror’s methodology in achieving the goals of the Performance Work Statement (PWS) Sections 2.0 through 6.0.

2) The effectiveness with which the offeror’s technical submission addresses how it will enhance quality and services, and spur innovation in achieving the goals of the PWS sections 2.0 through 6. 0.

3) The degree to which the technical submission demonstrates an effective and efficient method of fully managing and executing the complete and specific requirements of the award.

4) The extent to which the offeror demonstrates that its technical approach is flexible and adaptable to FTC priorities, changes in technology, and changes in marketplace conditions.

The evaluation factors, in descending order of importance (see Section 7.5 for details), are:

1) Platform Live Demonstration

2) Technical Ability

3) Executive Summary

4) Past Experience

5) Price/Cost

6.1.1 – Platform Live Demonstration

Offerors are required to present a real time, live demonstration of their quoted platform’s capabilities and functionality as part of their submission. Demonstrations will likely be held remotely and scheduled for the week of January 29, 2024 using an FTC provided link.

The offeror may invite no more than five individuals to participate in the remote demonstration.

Demonstrations shall not exceed one hour, excluding any question-and-answer period deemed necessary by the FTC.

The offeror should be prepared to perform demonstrations and/or searches from any or all of the general categories detailed below during the live demonstration.

1) A brief overview and demonstration of the platform’s functionality, including how to access the various portals or tools

2) A brief overview and demonstration of the administrative capability of the platform, including any reporting functions (i.e., invoicing, history)

3) A brief overview of various stenographic and court reporting services to include, but not limited to the following:

a. Request/order submission tool usability

b. Scheduling multiple depositions and/or hearings

c. Auto-populating accounting information

d. Pricing visibility

4) A demonstration of platform functionality to include exhibits (i.e., uploading, sharing), passing controls (i.e., witness, co-counsel, paralegal), and real time transcription features

6.1.2 – Technical Ability

The written submission shall, at a minimum, address the following:

1) FEDRAMP certification

2) Describe platform system safeguards, including mitigating risks of unplanned outages/downtime, and plans for resolution of any failure

3) Describe plan to incorporate user feedback and comments into future platform upgrades

4) Detail platform safeguards to ensure sensitive information is protected, especially when users download, upload, or share documents

5) A description of how service order requests are received and processed

6) Detail quality assurance plan to ensure platform reflects current and accurate pricing

7) Detail plan to provide continuous training to end users on platform functionality

8) Describe a typical user experience including requesting and confirmation of services, number of open windows required for hearings and/or depositions, and uploading and sharing of exhibits

9) Detail the remote deposition process, including set-up/break-down, quality control measures (i.e., ensuring that there is no interruption of services), and how users would access remote deposition tool

10) Explain how court stenographer/report information is transmitted to user, including how far in advance

11) Detail plan to ensure invoices are submitted to the FTC in accordance with the requirements detailed in Section 2.5.

6.1.3 – Executive Summary

The offeror should summarize its grasp of this solicitation’s unique requirements and opportunities in the Executive Summary. While the solicitation includes traditional operations and maintenance activities, the primary focus is on the offeror’s ability to conduct business as usual and apply their particular skills and experience to increase efficiencies and streamline processes. The FTC will use the Executive Summary as context for the overall submission.

6.1.4 – Past Experience

The past experience and performance evaluation will examine the offeror’s recent experience, within the past three years of work similar in size, scope, and complexity of the requirements detailed in the Performance Work Statement (PWS).

In the case of an offeror without a record of relevant past performance or for whom information on past performance is not available, the offeror may not be evaluated favorably or unfavorably on past performance. Therefore, failure of the offeror to provide a minimum of three reference checks may result in the offeror being rated as "neutral" on the past performance factor.

The Government is not required to conduct or complete reference checks on more than the three required. In addition to contacting references provided by the offeror, the Government may solicit other sources to find references for other relevant work performed by the offeror.

6.1.4.1 – Past Experience Narrative

The FTC will evaluate the offeror’s past experience based on the following considerations:

1) Prior contracts (“reference contracts”) where the offeror served in the role of a prime contractor that will demonstrate the offeror’s ability to perform the activities specified in the PWS; the offeror should provide no less than three and no more than five reference contacts where the offeror served as the prime contractor.

2) Type, size and complexity of its previous experience compared to the type, size and complexity of the requirements specified in the PWS.

6.1.4.2 – Past Experience Questionnaire

The offeror shall provide Attachment 9.2, Past Performance Questionnaire to point-of-contacts for past experience references. The questionnaire shall be completed by the point-of-contact and provided directly back to Jose Jaldin, Contract at jjaldin@ftc.gov and Matthew Woolstenhulme at mwoolstenhulme@ftc.gov via email no later than January 19, 2024 12:00 PM (ET).

To ensure the integrity of the evaluation process, questionnaires received directly from the offeror will not be considered.

6.2 – Volume Two – Pricing Submission

Offerors are required to submit pricing for all three years; out-year pricing can be expressed as a percentage of the prior year’s price. If quoting from a GSA schedule, the offeror’s submitted quote shall clearly indicate the GSA Schedule pricing, as appropriately discounted and shall include a copy of their GSA Schedule pricing pages reflecting the base rates for those labor categories quoted. For this RFQ, offerors are encouraged to quote substantial labor rate and/or volume discounts from the published rates.

The Government will evaluate the offeror’s price for fairness and reasonableness. The price evaluation may employ any price analysis or comparison methodology necessary.

The FTC will evaluate quotes for award purposes by adding the total price of all options to the total price of the base period requirement. Evaluation of options will not obligate the FTC to exercise the options. The FTC may reject a quote as non-responsive if it is materially unbalanced as to cost for the base year requirement in relationship to the option years. A quote is unbalanced when it is based on costs significantly less for some work and significantly overstated for other work, or the costs do not reflect market value.

Using Attachment 9.3, Pricing Schedule, the offeror shall submit pricing, for in-person stenographic services, remote stenographic services, transcripts, and “additional services” (i.e., translation and interpreter services, video and audio recording, and videoconferencing services;

see Section 3.4 of the Performance Work Statement).

The offeror may include any additional services, and their associated costs, it deems necessary to perform the tasks detailed in the Performance Work Statement.

7.0 – Basis for Award

The basis for the resulting award will be “best value.” The FTC will make an award to the responsible offeror whose offer conforms to the solicitation and is most advantageous to the FTC (i.e., represents the best value to the FTC), price and other factors considered.

7.1 – General Criteria

To be considered eligible for award, submissions shall meet the following general conditions:

1) The offeror's submission is determined to be minimally "acceptable";

2) The offeror's quoted unit prices are determined to be “fair and reasonable”;

3) The offeror's submission complies with the requirements of law, regulation and conditions set forth in the PWS, RFQ, or otherwise required by law; and

4) The offeror is determined to be "responsible" as defined in Federal Acquisition Regulation

(FAR) Subpart 9.1, meets all standards contained therein, and is otherwise eligible for receiving award.

The technical aspects of the offer as contained in the quoted technical volume will be evaluated for soundness, quality, and feasibility as defined below for achieving the performance objectives found in the Performance Work Statement.

1) Soundness - The submission will be evaluated based upon the extent to which the technical approach demonstrates a clear understanding of the steps and capabilities necessary to accomplish the performance objectives to include problem solving, flexibility, and capacity to address and overcome uncertainties.

2) Quality - The submission will be evaluated based upon the extent to which successful performance will employ proven methods and techniques, and the government is able to determine that the methods and approaches will result in successful completion of the tasks and technical requirements within required deadlines.

3) Feasibility - The submission will be evaluated based upon the extent to which requirements have been addressed.

7.2 – Technical Volume Ratings

Each factor and sub-factor of the technical volume will be evaluated independently (see Section

7.5 for reference chart). The FTC will assign an adjectival rating (as noted below) for each factor and sub-factor and document any strengths, weaknesses, and deficiencies identified during the evaluation process.

Rating Definition Significant Strength

An aspect of the submission that appreciably increases the likelihood of successful performance

Strength An aspect of the submission which has a positive impact on successful performance

Weakness A flaw in the submission that increases the risk of unsuccessful order performance; will have some negative impact on the accomplishment of the objectives and requirements

Significant Weakness

A flaw in the submission that appreciably increases the likelihood of unsuccessful order performance; will have a severe negative impact on the accomplishment of the objectives and requirements

Deficiency A material failure of the submission to meet a requirement or a combination of significant weaknesses in the submission that greatly increases the risk of unsuccessful and unacceptable performance

7.3 – Past Experience and Performance Ratings

Past experience and performance will be assigned an adjectival rating (as noted below) and document any strengths, weaknesses, and deficiencies identified during the evaluation process.

Rating Definition Exceptional The offeror’s past performance record leads to an extremely strong expectation of successful performance.

Good The offeror’s past performance record leads to a strong expectation of successful performance.

Acceptable The offeror’s past performance record leads to an expectation of successful performance.

Neutral The offeror lacks a record of relevant or available past performance history. There is no expectation of either successful or unsuccessful performance based on the offeror’s past performance record.

Rating Definition Marginal The offeror’s past performance record leads to an expectation that successful performance might be difficult to achieve or that it can occur only with increased levels of Government management and oversight.

7.4 – Overall Submission Ratings

Submissions will be assigned an overall rating based on their cumulative factor ratings. Ratings for evaluation of the overall submission are as follows:

Rating Definition Exceptional The submission demonstrates the offeror’s complete understanding of all of the requirements and quotes innovative approaches or solutions that will significantly exceed FTC’s requirements using standard industry practices, technologies, methodologies, and processes.