TCG_Database_System_Support_Section_L_Final.pdf

TCG Database System Support – Section L January 17, 2024

Section L Page 1 of 10

Section Content

1. Program Structure and Objectives

2. General Instructions

3. Volume I – Executive Summary/Solicitation

4. Volume II – Price

5. Volume III – Technical

1 Objective The objective of this effort is to provide the United States Government (USG), F-16 Foreign Military Sales (FMS), Technical Coordination Group (TCG) the ability to share and exchange information in support of FMS obligations through the TCG Database.

1.1 Details

To assure timely and equitable evaluation of proposals, offerors shall follow the instructions contained herein. Offerors are required to meet all solicitation requirements, including all stated terms, conditions, representations, certifications, and technical requirements, in addition to those identified as evaluation factors or sub-factors. Proposals shall consist of three (3) separate volumes; Volume I – Executive Summary/Completed Solicitation, Volume II - Price, and Volume III – Technical.

2 GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS

2.1 Proposal Submission

The following instructions cover the preparation and submittal of the offeror’s proposal for this solicitation. Offerors must follow the instructions contained herein. Offerors are cautioned that any noncompliance with the terms and conditions of the Request for Proposal (RFP) may cause their proposal to be determined ineligible for award. The offer shall be compliant with the requirements as stated in the Performance Work Statement (PWS), Contract Data Requirements Lists (CDRLs), and Solicitation. If a joint venture arrangement exists for this acquisition, the offeror shall provide a copy of the joint venture agreement that is signed and dated by all joint venture members as part of the proposal submission. Proposals must be received by the procuring contracting officer, AFLCMC/WAMK Attention: Kali Miller and Shauna Vanderschaaf no later than the date and time specified in Para 9 of the Solicitation.

2.2 Include Sufficient Detail

The proposal shall be clear, concise, and shall include sufficient detail for effective evaluation and for substantiating the validity of stated claims. The proposal shall not simply rephrase or restate the Government's requirements, but rather shall provide convincing rationale to address how the offeror intends to meet these requirements. Offerors shall assume that the Government has no prior knowledge of their facilities and experience and will base its evaluation on the information presented in the proposal.

2.3 Embellishments Not Desired

Elaborate brochures or documentation, binding, detailed artwork, or other embellishments are unnecessary and are not desired.

2.4 Proposals Acceptance and Validity Dates

The offeror agrees to hold the prices in its offer firm for 120 calendar days from the date specified for receipt of offerors. The Offeror shall make a clear statement on the front page of the Executive

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Summary/Completed Solicitation Volume (Volume I) that the proposal is valid through this date.

Offerors providing less than the specified calendar days for Government acceptance after the date offers are due, may be considered grounds for elimination.

2.5 Disposition of Proposal

In Accordance With (IAW) Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Subpart 4.803(a), the Government will retain one (1) copy of all proposals. Unless the Offeror requests otherwise (in their proposal), the Government will destroy extra copies of the successful and unsuccessful proposals.

2.6 Past Performance

Past Performance will not be evaluated.

2.7 Communications

The Procuring Contracting Officer (PCO) is the sole point of contact for this acquisition. The offeror shall address any questions, concerns, or requests for clarification to Kali Miller at kali.miller@us.af.mil. Please ensure the buyer, Shauna Vanderschaaf, is copied on any correspondence shauna.vanderschaaf@us.af.mil. When appropriate, answers to questions and concerns will be made available to all offerors.

2.8 Exchange of Information

Exchanges of source selection information between Government and offerors will be controlled by the PCO. Email is the preferred method of such exchanges but must include “CUI - Source Selection Information – See FAR 2.101 and 3.104” in the subject line of the email. Otherwise, source selection information will be transmitted to the PCO via the Solicitation Module within the Procurement Integrated Enterprise Environment (PIEE) found at https://piee.eb.mil/. See para 2.13 for more information on PIEE. No hard copy information will be accepted.

Contracting Officer Contract Negotiator

AFLCMC WAMK AFLCMC WAMK

ATTN: Kali Miller ATTN: Shauna Vanderschaaf kali.miller@us.af.mil shauna.vanderschaaf@us.af.mil

2.9 Debriefings

The PCO will notify offerors of any decision to exclude them from the competitive range; where upon, they may request and receive a debriefing IAW FAR 15.505, Pre-Award Debriefing of Offerors.

Offerors excluded from the competitive range may request a pre-award debriefing or they may choose to wait until after the source selection decision to request a post-award debriefing. However, offerors excluded from the competitive range are entitled to no more than one debriefing. The PCO will notify unsuccessful offerors in the competitive range of the source selection decision IAW FAR 15.503, Notifications to Unsuccessful Offerors. Upon such notification, unsuccessful offerors may request and receive a debriefing. Offerors desiring a debriefing must make the request IAW the requirements of FAR 15.505 or 15.506, as applicable.

2.10 Discrepancies

If an offeror believes that the requirements in these instructions contain an error, omission, or are otherwise unsound, the offeror shall immediately notify the PCO in writing with supporting rationale, as well as the remedies the offeror is asking the PCO to consider as related to the omission or error. When

Section L Page 3 of 10 appropriate, Government responses will be provided to all offerors. The offeror is reminded that the Government reserves the right to award this effort based on the initial proposal, as received, without discussions.

2.11 Amendments to Solicitation

If this RFP is amended, all terms and conditions that are not amended remain unchanged. If the RFP is amended prior to proposal delivery, offerors shall acknowledge each amendment by signing and returning the front page of each amendment with the proposal submission. If the RFP is amended after proposal submission, offerors shall respond by the date and time specified in the amendment to include a signed front page of the amended RFP.

2.12 Oral Presentation

Oral presentations will not be allowed.

2.13 Submission, Modification, Revision, and Withdrawal of Proposals Proposals and modifications to proposals shall be submitted in electronic media to the email address located in paragraph 2.7 of this document, showing the time and date specified for receipt, the solicitation number, and the name and address of the offeror. The offeror is advised that Government systems will generally not accept emails larger than 10 MB in size. The offeror is responsible for sending items in multiple emails as needed and verifying receipt of all items sent. When submitting source selection information via email, file suppression utilities, to include but not limited to zip files, will not be accepted. Alternatively, offerors can submit proposals through the Solicitation Module in the Procurement Integrated Enterprise Environment (PIEE). To do so, offerors must obtain the "Proposal Manager" role in PIEE for the Solicitation Module. The following website may be used to help obtain this role: https://piee.eb.mil/xhtml/unauth/web/homepage/vendorCustomerSupport.xhtml. Click the "Go To Web Based Training" link. Then click the "Solicitation Module". Review the various training resources. Offerors may also obtain assistance via the PIEE help desk, phone 866-618-5988. If the offeror is unable to submit its proposal via email or via the PIEE Solicitation Module, the offeror is responsible for coordinating with the PCO at least 24 hours in advance of when proposals are due in order to determine an alternate means of submitting the completed proposal. Late proposals will only be considered IAW FAR 15.208. Proposals may be withdrawn by written notice received at any time before award.

3 Volume Organization

3.1 Proposal Preparation

The offeror shall prepare the proposal as set forth in the Proposal Organization Table below. The titles and contents of the volumes shall be as defined in Table 1, all of which shall be within the required page limits and with the number of copies as specified. The volumes identified in Table 1. shall each be a separate electronic file(s), with the name of each file clearly identifying to which volume it belongs.

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Table 1 - Proposal Organization

VOLUME SECTION L

PARAGRAPH

TITLE COPIES PAGE LIMIT

I 4.0 Executive Summary / Completed Solicitation

1 E-Copy Unlimited

II 5.0 Price 1 E-Copy 5 Pages III 6.0 Technical 1 E-Copy 25 Pages

3.2 Page Limitations

Page limitations shall be treated as maximum and are explained in Table 1 – Proposal Organization. If exceeded, the excess pages will not be read or considered in the evaluation of the proposal; rather, the Offeror will be notified of which pages of the proposal were determined excess as soon as practical.

Page limitations may be placed on responses to Evaluation Notices (ENs) if applicable. The specified page limits for EN responses will be identified in the letters forwarding the ENs to the offerors. Each page shall be counted except the following: blank pages, title pages, tables of contents, tabs, Glossary of Abbreviations and Acronyms, Cross Reference Matrix, and those noted in the Proposed Organization Table as “Unlimited.”

3.3 Proposal Formats

Proposals shall be submitted in MS Word (MS Office 2016 compatible) or searchable PDF format.

• A page is considered to be, if it were printed, each face of a sheet of paper containing information

• Page size shall be 8.5 x 11 inches. Except for the reproduced sections of the solicitation document

• Text size shall be Times New Roman and no less than single spaced 12-point font

• Tracking, kerning, and leading values shall not be changed from the default values of the word processing or page layout software

• Use at least 1-inch margins on the top and bottom and ¾-inch side margins

• Pages shall be numbered sequentially by volume

• These page size and format restrictions shall apply to responses to ENs

3.4 Time and Date

The offerors proposal must include the time and date specified for receipt. Each volume shall include a title page and must be marked with the following:

A. Solicitation Number B. Company name, address, Commercial and Government Entity (CAGE) Code and Unique Entity

ID (SAM) Number C. Primary point of contact name, telephone number and email address D. Volume number and name (e.g., Volume I, Executive Summary/Completed Solicitation)

3.5 Language and Monies

Proposals shall be in the English language and all monies shall be proposed in United States dollars.

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3.6 Pricing Information

All pricing information shall be addressed ONLY in the Completed Solicitation (Volume I) and Price Volume (Volume II).

3.7 Proprietary Information

Each page containing proprietary information should be so marked.

3.8 Page Legend

Each page should contain the following legend at the bottom of each sheet:

SOURCE SELECTION INFORMATION--SEE FAR 2.101 and 3.104

CUI//SP-SSEL

3.9 Referencing

3.9.1 Cross-Referencing

Each volume (I - III) of the Offeror’s proposal shall be submitted, evaluated, and considered based solely on the information contained therein (i.e., each volume “stands-alone”). Cross-referencing within a proposal volume is permitted where its use would conserve space without impairing clarity.

Information required for proposal evaluation that is not found in its designated volume will be assumed to have been omitted from the proposal.

3.9.2 Cross Reference Matrix

The offeror shall fill out the cross-reference matrix IAW Table 2 – Sample Cross-Reference Matrix. The cross-reference matrix addresses each requirement within the PWS, Section L, and Section M factors and sub-factors. The offeror shall fill-in each section independently labeled with the appropriate paragraph number or page number that addresses the requirement or sub-factor.

Table 2 – Sample Cross Reference Matrix Section L Section M PWS Technical

Volume Para. X.x. Para. X.x. Para. X.x. Para. X.x.

3.10 Table of Contents

3.10.1 Detailed Table of Contents

Each volume shall contain a detailed table of contents to delineate the subparagraphs within that volume.

Tab indexing shall be used to identify sections.

3.10.2 List of Tables and Figures

Each volume shall include an indexed list of Tables and Figures.

3.10.3 Glossary of Abbreviations and Acronyms

Each volume shall contain a glossary of all abbreviations and acronyms used, with an explanation for each.

Section L Page 6 of 10

4 Volume I – Executive Summary/Completed Solicitation Volume Organization: The Executive Summary shall be organized according to the following outline:

1. Table of Contents

2. Authorized Offeror Personnel POCs

3. Government Office POCs

4. Company Address, Cage Codes, and Applicable Designations

5. Completed Solicitation including completed Representations and Certifications

4.1 Executive Summary Volume

In the executive summary volume, the Offeror shall provide the details defined in the following paragraphs.

4.1.1 Table of Contents

Provide a master table of contents for the entire proposal.

4.1.2 Authorized Offeror Personnel

Provide the name, title, telephone number, and email address of the company/division point of contact regarding decisions made with respect to the Offeror's proposal and who can obligate (as to this proposal) the Offeror's company/firm contractually. Also identify those individuals authorized to negotiate with the Government.

4.1.3 Government Office

Provide the mailing address, telephone number, email address, and facility code for the cognizant Contract Administration Office, Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA), and Government Paying Office for the Offeror's company/firm. Also provide this information for the Administrative Contracting Officer (ACO).

4.1.4 Company Info

Company/Division Address, Identifying Codes, and Applicable Designations, and verifications.

4.1.5 Detailed Company Info

Offeror shall provide company/division's street address, county and facility code; CAGE code; Unique Entity Identifier code; and labor surplus area designation. This same information must be provided if the work (for completing what is proposed) will be performed at any other location(s). List all locations where work is to be performed and indicate whether such facility is a division, affiliate, or subcontractor, and the percentage of work to be performed at each location.

4.2 Completed Solicitation Information/Representations and Certifications The purpose of this section is to provide information to the Government for preparing the contract document and supporting files.

4.2.1 Extent of Agreement with All Terms, Conditions, and Provisions Offeror shall include a statement specifying the extent of agreement with all terms, conditions, and provisions included in the solicitation. Offers that fail to furnish required representations or information or reject the terms and conditions of the solicitation may be excluded from consideration. Offerors shall

Section L Page 7 of 10 acknowledge all amendments associated with the RFP solicitation in its offer. Offerors shall ensure that all clauses and provisions that require “fill in” information are appropriately completed.

4.2.2 Completed Copy of the Representations and Certifications The Offeror shall complete all representations, certifications, acknowledgments, and statements electronically in the System for Award Management (SAM) as part of responding to this RFP (https://www.sam.gov). If a representation, certification, acknowledgement, or statement cited within the solicitation cannot be found in SAM, then the Offeror shall submit that representation, certification, acknowledgement, or statement. Failure to adhere to these instructions will render an Offeror as being ineligible for award.

4.3 Exceptions to Solicitation Requirements

Offerors are required to meet all solicitation requirements, such as terms and conditions, representations and certifications, and technical requirements, in addition to those identified as evaluation factors or sub-factors. Failure to meet a requirement may result in an offer being ineligible for award. Offerors must clearly identify any exception to the solicitation terms and conditions and provide complete accompanying rationale. Each exception shall be specifically related to each paragraph and/or specific part of the solicitation to which the exception is taken. Provide rationale in support of the exception and fully explain its impact, if any, on the performance, schedule, cost, and specific requirements of the solicitation. This information shall be provided in the format and content of Table 3.

Table 3 – Solicitation Exceptions

SOLICITATION

Document

Page/ Paragraph

Requirement/ Portion

Rationale

SOO, PWS, SPEC,

Model Contract, ITO, etc.

Applicable Page and Paragraph Numbers

Identify the requirement or portion to which exception is taken

Describe why the requirement can/will not be met

4.4 Other Information Required

4.4.1 Ability to Obtain Resources

Submit evidence that your company possesses adequate financial resources to perform the contract. This information will be used as part of the Contracting Officer’s determination of responsibility IAW FAR 9.104.

4.4.2 Teaming Arrangement

The teaming arrangement consists of a prime contractor (who will be the sole point of contact and have overall responsibility for the contract) and any subcontractor whose technique, capability, certifications, or qualifications are used in the technical proposal. Offeror shall submit evidence of a signed formal agreement between the prime contractor and any other contractors listed in the teaming arrangement.

The agreement must provide evidence that it will be valid beginning on the date of contract award.

Additionally, the general roles and responsibilities of the applicable member of the teaming arrangement shall be listed in each individual agreement. This agreement does not preclude offerors from adding team members after contract award. Failure to provide this agreement may be considered grounds for elimination and therefore ineligible for award.

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5 Volume II – Price (Factor One) Volume Organization: The Price Volume shall consist of the following sections:

2. Pricing information and supporting data

3. Glossary

5.1 General

The price evaluation criteria consist of: (1) Completeness, (2) Price Reasonableness, (3) Balance, (4) Total Evaluated Price (TEP). Offerors shall review Section M criteria to ensure the minimum requirements are met.

5.1.1 Contract Data Requirements Lists (CDRLs)

Offerors shall complete pricing data as required in Table 4. Note that offerors shall only complete pricing data for CLINs 0001, 0004, and 0007 and only include a summation of CLINs 0001, 0004, and 0007 in the calculation of the TEP. CLINs 0002 and 0005 include a government pre-established ceiling price for potential use in issuing future Add-On task orders as required. No pricing shall be completed by the offeror for CLINs 0002, 0003, 0005 or 0006 and the prices for CLINs 0002, 0003, 0005 or 0006 shall not be included in the offeror’s TEP. CLINs 0002 and 0005 may be executed by task order partially, in-full, or not utilized all. Offerors are guaranteed only those task orders explicitly stated within the solicitation. Data deliverables (CDRLs) are not separately priced (NSP). Costs required to produce each CDRL should be included in the offeror’s proposed prices CLIN 0001 for year one (1) and CLIN 0004 for year two (2) and CLIN 0007 for an Optional Ordering Period year three (3). Offerors shall submit pricing on the following Total Evaluated Price Table 4:

Table 4 – Total Evaluated Price CLIN/YR Units Unit of

Issue Contract Type

Total

0001/YR1 The contractor shall provide all services in accordance with PWS paragraphs one (1) through five (5).

12 MO FFP $ To be completed by offeror

0002/YR1 Add-On task orders for additional services, software, and hardware within scope as required.

1 LO FFP Est. Ceiling $350,000

0003/YR1 Data (CDRLs) 1 LO NSP NSP 0004/YR2 The contractor shall provide all services in accordance with PWS paragraphs one (1) through five (5).

12 MO FFP $ To be completed by offeror

0005/YR2 Add-On task orders for additional services, software, and hardware within scope as required.

1 LO FFP Est. Ceiling $350,000

0006 Data (CDRLs) 1 LO NSP NSP

Section L Page 9 of 10

0007 Optional Ordering Period YR3

(DFARS 52.217-8)

6 MO FFP $ To be completed by offeror.

Sum of CLINs 0001, 0004, and 0007

ONLY.

Total Evaluated Price

$ To be completed by offeror.

5.2 Pricing Assumptions

Summarize all significant pricing assumptions, scope limitations and/or qualifications of the Price Volume.

5.3 Pricing Information Requirements

In the event that adequate competition does not emerge in response to the solicitation, the PCO may require submission of other than certified cost and pricing data (IAW FAR 15.403-4). IAW FAR 15.403-1(b) and 15.403- 3(a), information other than certified cost or pricing data may be required to support price reasonableness. If, after receipt of proposals, the PCO determines that there is insufficient information available to determine price reasonableness the Offeror shall be required to submit other than certified cost or pricing data; if none of the exceptions in FAR 15.403-1 apply, the Offerors may be required to submit certified cost or pricing data. Information shall be provided in format that is IAW

FAR 15.403-5.

5.4 Price Information

Information beyond that required by this instruction shall not be submitted unless Offeror considers it essential to document or support their price position. All information relating to the proposed price including all required supporting documentation must be included in the Price Volume. Under no circumstances shall this information and documentation be included elsewhere in the proposal.

6 Volume III – Technical (Factor Two) Technical Volume Organization: This Volume shall be organized according to the following general outline:

2. List of Tables and Drawings

3. Glossary

4. Technical Approach

6.1 General

The Technical Volume shall be specific and complete. Legibility, clarity and coherence are very important. Offeror responses will be evaluated against the Technical Sub-factors defined in Section M.

Offerors should review Section M criteria to ensure the minimum requirements are met. In addition, offerors should provide as specifically as possible the actual methodology that would be used for accomplishing/satisfying each factor. It is imperative that Offerors fully describe how the Offeror will meet the factor requirements. Do not simply copy and paste, rephrase or restate PWS/Technical Order language for the technical volume.

6.2 Factor Two – Technical

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The proposal shall describe the Offeror’s technical capabilities and experience to support evidence of meeting the PWS and CDRL requirements within the four (4) technical subfactors:

• Sub-Factor Security and Cybersecurity

• Sub-Factor Internet Protocol (IP) Addresses

• Sub-Factor System Set-Up-Time

• Sub-Factor Software and Hardware Qualified Personnel

6.2.1 Sub-Factor: Security and Cybersecurity

The proposed approach shall demonstrate the offeror’s ability to safeguard the TCG servers from physical and/or digital threats. The proposed approach shall demonstrate how the offeror will meet requirements in PWS paragraph 3 and associated subparagraphs to include continually monitoring and upgrading or reducing security or cybersecurity risks.

6.2.2 Sub-Factor: Internet Protocol (IP) Addresses

The proposed approach shall demonstrate the Offeror’s Internet Protocol (IP) addresses and their accessibility and control within the DOD network. The offeror’s IP addresses shall be accessible while working on a government facility, and while working remotely through the government approved Virtual Private Network (VPN). This requirement is defined in PWS paragraph 5.5.

• The offeror shall set-up three (3) static IP address websites so the government can validate connectivity from government facility and the approved government VPN.

o Each of the three (3) websites should display the following:

The Offerors Company Name The websites IP address Provide websites uniform resource locator (URL) State that this website was created to support the proposal for Foreign Military

Sales (FMS) Technical Coordination Group (TCG) Database System Support, and this is static IP address # of 3.

• Replace the # with the actual number ex. 1 of 3, 2 of 3 etc.

6.2.3 Sub-Factor: System Set-Up-Time

The proposed approach shall demonstrate the offeror’s approach on how they will set-up and conduct operational testing and complete operational capability IAW PWS paragraph 5.15, 5.16, 5.16.1, 5.16.2.

This should be illustrated in a graphical schedule format and described in words how the Offeror will achieve and validate functionality.

6.2.4 Sub-Factor: Software and Hardware Qualified Personnel

The proposed approach shall demonstrate that the offeror’s has appropriate personnel to accomplish the work identified within the PWS and Technical Description and what qualifications employees have to sustain, update/write code, test, and deploy updates in order to meet the hardware and software requirements of the TCG Database. PWS paragraph 4 and associated subparagraphs along with TCG Website Technical Description provide system details to assist the offeror in determining personnel qualifications required to support this effort going forward.