Vendor Questions and Department Responses.pdf

Vendor Questions & Department Responses ITB 23/24-13, PMP/CAPM Training

Good Afternoon:

Questions received timely and the Department responses are below:

1. Question: Can you tell us if this effort for this client (Dept of Revenue) is a first-time award, or is this a recompete from a previous awarded effort?

Department Response: This is a first-time award.

2. Question: If a recompete, who was the incumbent and what was their award value?

Department Response: N/A

3. Question: The Price Sheet and SOW list 18 to 30 students. Section XIV Price

Sheet #4 states: The price per class will be a flat rate, regardless of the Final Class Size, as defined in the Scope of Work. The classes will not exceed thirty (30) students.

Can we provide a flat rate for 18 students (minimum) and provide pricing for each additional student over 18? Or should we price for 30 students total?

Department Response: Please complete the Cost Information Sheet as included within the ITB.

4. Question: As a PMP®/CAPM® exam prep provider, I offer in person instructor-led classes and on-demand online courses. However, I do not offer instructor-led (live) online classes. Is this acceptable to the Department as a “responsive” bidder?

Department Response: Yes.

5. Question: Section 3.ll.b states, “Online training at least one (1) month prior to the start of class, if possible”. What is the intent? Does the department want each student to attend a full 35 hour online course prior to attending a full 35 hour in person class? Please clarify.

Department Response: The training must fulfill the PMI-required 35 contact hours of project management training. It is requested that students be provided access to any supplemental online training materials one month in advance of the training, if possible.

6. Question: Section 3.lll.1 states, in part, “All materials provided will be based upon the Project Management Body of Knowledge® (PMBOK®) latest edition available at the time (currently the 7th edition)…” Per PMI®, the current exam (and all future exams) are based on PMI®’s latest Exam Content Outline, not on the latest version of the PMBOK®. Suggest rewording such as, “All material provided will be based on the latest Project Management Institute® Exam Content Outline”. Providing each student with the latest version of the PMBOK® is still appropriate.

Department Response: All materials provided must be based on the most updated PMP Examination Content Outline. The Project Management Body of Knowledge® (PMBOK®) provided to students must be the latest edition available at the time (currently the 7th edition).

7. Question: Section 3.Vl.2 states, “The Contractor must receive a Likert Scale rating of ‘Agree’, or better, on the participant evaluations…” Does this mean on each student evaluation or is it the average for a class of students? For example, in a class of 30 students with 29 ‘Agree’ or better ratings and 1 rating below ‘Agree’, is that success or failure? Also, this section references Section 1.2 which might should be Section 3.1.2.

Department Response: The Contractor must receive a class average Likert Scale rating of “Agree” or better.

8. Question: Section 3.Vlll.6 states, “The Contractor shall ensure that the course is taught by an instructor who holds a current CAPM® certification”. Most instructors will hold a PMP® certification and not a CAPM® certification. The PMP® certification encompasses the CAPM®. Request changing this to allow either certification for teaching CAPM® students.

Department Response: A PMP certification may substitute for a CAPM certification.

9. Question: On Page 10, Paragraph 4, you state that the price per class will be a flat rate, regardless of the Final Class Size, as defined in the Scope of Work. The classes will not exceed thirty (30) students. Are you looking for flat rate per student?

Or per class? RATIONALE: There is a large range of students from 18 – 30 for inclusion of the course materials and exam costs (to include a retake exam cost) and PMI membership fee. This could mean as much as a $15K difference due to class size, thus we would like clarification if this is what you are looking for? Further explanation on the question: (The cost sheet you provided to utilize states “Price per class” Do you mean price per student as described in description and scope of work, or is this based on price per class? If the answer is yes, “Price per class:, that will be difficult with the range of 18-30 to include all the items required per student with a 12-person range of students for each class? Can you clarify if in this section you are looking for a price per student, 18 minimum and 30 maximums, or if you are looking for a price for a class that could have anywhere from 18-30 students in a class? If bid is by class only, can we offer tiered pricing, example: 1 pricing for 18- 24 students and a lower price for 25-30 students? Is that acceptable in your price-sheet?

Department Response: Please complete the Cost Information Sheet as included within the ITB.

10. Question: In Section 4.2.18 on page 14 – Diversity. We are a SBA federally certified SWOB. Does this diversity certification meet this requirement for this ITB?

Department Response: Yes

11. Question: Can you provide a sample of the invoicing requirement set-forth in section 15, page 34: INVOICING and PAYMENT?

Department Response: A sample invoice is provided as a separate attachment to this ITB.

12. Question: For the Online Classroom Students, are all the student materials for this course mailed to the contract manager, so that the contract manager will distribute to the students or is the expectation to mail the materials to each of the students verified address locations?

Department Response: All materials are to be mailed to the contract manager who will then distribute the materials to the students.

13. Question: Is this a first-time award or is this a bid for a recompete?

14. Question: If so, who is the incumbent and what was the price of the contract awarded?

Department Response: N/A

15. Question: The scope of work states that the PMP class occur over a 4-day period from 8:00am to 5:00pm ET each day, with 1 hour lunch break and two (2) 15-minute breaks daily. This amounts to 30 total hours for the training. The Project Management Institute (PMI) has a requirement of 35 hours of project management education training or a CAPM certification to be able to take the PMP certification exam. Based on the requirements in the ITN, there will be a deficit of 5 hours of PMP training for the students. PMI can be strict on having students meet that requirement.

Can the statement of work in the ITN be updated to change the training to include a 5th day (or portion of) to make up those 5 hours of required training?

Department Response: The training must fulfill the PMI-required 35 contact hours of project management training.

16. Question: For the synchronous instructor-led online training, is there an online video-conferencing technology preferred by the Department of Revenue?

Department Response: No.

17. Question: How many PMP and CAPM classroom and online training classes do you anticipate holding per year?

Department Response: 3-4.

18. Question: Page 8 of the ITN states that the CAPM course needs to be taught by an instructor with a current CAPM certification. All our instructors currently hold PMP certifications, which is a higher certification than the CAPM. Please confirm that the CAPM course can be taught by a PMP certified instructor.

Department Response: A PMP certification may substitute for a CAPM certification.

19. Question: Will only employees from the Florida Department of Revenue be taking the PMP or CAPM or is it open to other Florida department employees?

Department Response: Participants will be Florida Department of Revenue employees only.

20. Question: What is the background or work area (ex. IT, Human Resources, etc.) of the expected students that will be taking the PMP or CAPM classes?

Department Response: The trainings are open to any Department employees who satisfy PMI’s education and project management experience requirements (0-3 years for CAPM, 3+ years for PMP).

21. Question: The ITN states that invoices must be submitted within 45 days of each four (day) training course. Can the contractor submit the invoice prior to the occurrences (listed in Section 3, IV. Payment bullets 1a. through 1c) being confirmed for 80% of the roster? Or does the contractor have to wait until those occurrences are confirmed before the submitting the invoice?

If the latter, does the contractor risk non-payment, if the attendees do not schedule their exam within 45 days of course completion due to unforeseen circumstances, such as a lack of available times and locations to take the exam, student’s application is denied by PMI due to insufficient project experience, etc.? The concern is that there are various delays that can occur that are outside the contractor’s control that can affect the student taking the exam.

Department Response: There are no time constraints on submitting the invoice.

22. Question: Most students will not need to retake the exam. Although the bid calls for a fixed price, will the contractor be able to reduce the invoice amount from the price in the proposal, if few or no students have to retake the exam?

Department Response: Yes

23. Question: Is there an incumbent who previously provided the PMP/CAPM Training or is this a new requirement? If this is a re-compete or a renewal, what is the current contract number and who is the incumbent?

24. Question: For on-line delivery, should the class format and schedule be the same as in person? I would like to change the timing and schedule for on-line delivery.

Department Response: Online format and schedule may differ from in-person delivery so long as it fulfills the PMI-required 35 contact hours of project management training.

25. Question: For materials, should I quote 31 participants?

Department Response: Yes.

Thank you for your interest in doing business with the Florida Department of Revenue.

Sincerely:

Ed Valla, FCCN, FCCM, FCPM, CPPB

Purchasing Analyst EXE Program/Office of Financial Management/Purchasing Florida Department of Revenue

(850) 717-7567 edwin.valla@floridarevenue.com mailto:edwin.valla@floridarevenue.com