Attachment_0007_QA_ADMC_FINAL_RFP_30_Jun_2016.pdf

QUESTIONS ADMC-3 FINAL RFP 30 June 2016

1. SOW 12.1.2: Supported Stock – How is this section spec different than what is required in the paper tray section? They use different weight requirements.

ANSWER: Printers normally come with a manual feed tray that can accept various sizes of stock to include envelopes. In addition to the manual feed capability, the printer shall be furnished with two additional paper trays as specified in section 12.1.2. The device must be able to support a stock weight up to 80#. This support can be provided via the manual feed tray or paper trays.

2. SOW 12.1.2: Would the government move one of the paper tray handling requirement from 500 to 250 pages? This will allow for a smaller footprint and a less expensive device while still allowing for one of the trays to be over 500 pages. Two trays of that size would cause the device height to be difficult for users.

ANSWER: No. The requirement is based on the ability to support a group of users in a shared network environment and will remain as stated.

3. Is the offeror required to be an authorized vendor for each OEM a product is proposed for?

If so, are letters of authorization required within our proposal response?

ANSWER: Yes the offeror is required to be an authorized vendor for each OEM.

Authorized letters are not required.

4. If letters of authorization from OEMs are required where should they be provided within our proposal response?

ANSWER: CHESS - N/A

5. Are non-TAA compliant products acceptable in any circumstance?

ANSWER: Refer to Statement of Work 1.2.5, Trade Agreement Act Compliant

6. Should Certifications/Representations be provided within the cover letter or within our response to Section 1 Contractual Documents- Contract Clauses Representations, Certifications, and other Statements of Offerors?

ANSWER: Refer to section 7.5, Volume 4, Contracts/Business of the solicitation.

7. The RFP states “The No Bid option is available only for second and third CB cycles, each year (e.g., CB-5, CB-6)”. Does this mean awardees must bid on all task order released under ADMC-3? Or does this just refer to the “no bid” designation of end of life technology referenced in the Consolidated Buy section of the RFP?

ANSWER: During CB-1 cycle, and every third CB cycle thereafter (e.g., CB-4, CB-7, CB-10, etc.), the complete product offering of the ADMC-3 contract shall be offered.

Product offerings during these CB periods shall establish the vendor’s ceiling prices for each product category and will be enforced the remainder of the year (i.e., next two CB periods). Failure to provide the complete offering will prevent contractor from offering any products until a complete product line offering can be secured. The “No Bid” option is available only for CB-2 and CB-3 cycles, each year (e.g., CB-5, CB-6) Should an item become unavailable the product will be listed as “No Bid” for the remainder of that CB and a new product will have to be offered before the next CB. Ref SOW 1.2.2 Consolidated Buy

8. If the offeror is able to comply with the drop down list option for all answers within the business process form, and selects these for their response in each instance, will their form be rated “acceptable”? Or are offerors required to write their own responses to each question?

ANSWER: ISEC - Yes, answers chosen from within the drop-down menus are considered “acceptable”.

9. How in depth would the Government like our responses within the Business Process Form? One or two sentences? Or should we be providing detailed descriptions of company capabilities?

ANSWER: An Offeror may choose to use one of the acceptable selections in the drop down menu or provide a typed response similar in length and detail (i.e., one or two sentences).

10. Regarding the file naming of “Vol-1(Offeror Name) TECH.xls”. Since the offeror will be submitting two spreadsheets in response to Volume 1, how should the naming convention of each file be delineated? Would “Vol-1(Offeror Name) TECH. Sub-factor 1.xls” and ““Vol-1(Offeror Name)TECH. Sub-factor 12.xls” be appropriate?

ANSWER: YES

11. Please confirm that there should be a total of two separate spreadsheets total submitted in response to Volume 1?

ANSWER: YES, Equipment Submission Form (attachment 0002) and Business Process Form (attachment 0003).

12. Please confirm that nothing is required from offerors regarding Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA) and the Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA) within our proposal response?

ANSWER: YES, nothing is required from offerors regarding DCAA or DCMA, at this time. However; IAW solicitation, evaluation factors for award, section 3.3 Factor 3 –

Price, The methods noted above may include the use of information from sources such as, but not limited to, DCAA and DCMA.

13. Please confirm that Vol-2.(Offeror name) PP.doc should be submitted in Microsoft word and not PDF? Or are either formats acceptable?

ANSWER: PP shall be submitted in Microsoft word.

14. Please confirm that there are no summary sections required within our proposal response?

ANSWER: No summary sections are required with proposal.

15. Please confirm that aside from the Cover Letter within Volume 4 the Government is not requesting any Cover pages, title pages, table of contents, etc. within our proposal response?

ANSWER: With exception to volume 4, the Government is not requesting any cover pages, title pages, table of contents etc. Refer to solicitation section 7.5 Volume 4 – Contracts/Business.

16. Are there any font style or size requirements?

ANSWER: When narrative is necessary outside spreadsheets attached, use times new roman, 12

17. Will offerors be able to add additional products post award?

ANSWER: Post award, only the Government reserves the right to add additional within scope products (CLINs).

18. During CB-1 Are offerors allowed to no-bid any purchases aside from the minimum buy of $10,000? Or will we be required to fill any orders placed against the contract?

ANSWER: A “complete offering” is when a vendor provides an offering for every CLIN of the contract except for the Undefined CLINs (0038AA – 0041AC).

19. Will the ceiling rates offerors propose within our price sheet be valid for only CB 1- 3? Or will these stand the entire life of the contract?

ANSWER: During the CB-1 cycle, and every third CB cycle thereafter (e.g., CB-4, CB- 7, CB-10, etc.), vendor ceiling prices are established for each product category.

20. For existing products will we be allowed to update pricing in CB4?

Section 7.4.4 states that “Within each equipment category the same OEM shall be proposed regardless if item is for CONUS, OCONUS or Remote OCONUS." The different categories (i.e. Standard Desktop, Performance Desktop, Integrated Desktop) can all have different OEMs if desired.” Will the Government consider revising this requirement for individual components within the same category? For example, within the Standard Desktop tab may offerors propose one OEM for the Desktop itself and another OEM in response to SOW 3.1.4- Memory for the RAM? The Government would see significant cost savings if offeror’s were permitted to propose various OEMs within each equipment category with no loss of functionality to the end user.

ANSWER: Prices for existing products being offered again on CB-4 can only be adjusted downward. The contractor may propose ceiling prices for any new products offered for CB-4, CB-7, CB-10, CB-13, CB-16, CB-19, CB-22, CB-25 and CB-28. The OEM of the major end item (e.g., Standard Desktop) must be the same whether being offered in CONUS, OCONUS, and Remote OCONUS. The OEM restriction does not apply to subcomponents of the major end item.

21. Are offerors required to provide Product Specification Sheets for our proposed products as evidence that they meet the minimum specifications?

ANSWER: Specification Sheets are not required. Offerors are required to complete and submit the Equipment Submission Form.

22. Are there any VPATs/GPATs etc. required to demonstrate 508 compliance for our proposed products?

ANSWER: No. Vendor are to assure that Section 508 compliant devices are offered and appropriately identified in the provided Equipment Submission Form.

23. Section 13.1.1 – Color MFP Minimum print resolution 1200x1200. Printing at 2400x600 dpi and 1200x1200 dpi represent the same number of dots in a given print area. Will you accept a mfp with 2400x600 dpi print resolution?

ANSWER: No. The requirement will remain unchanged.

24. ADMC 2 had a catalog section; will there be a provision in ADMC 3 to add additional products that meet or exceed the minimum specifications in the RFP?

ANSWER No, catalogs will not be a part of this contract. Additional within scope items can be obtained utilizing the cost reimbursable CLIN.

25. Regarding SOW section 1.2.5 Trade Agreement Act Compliant (TAA), Are LCD Displays and Projectors considered Computer Accessories and thus Supplies?

Is a justification needed for the CO beyond this categorization?

ANSWER: Displays and Projectors are not considered Computer Accessories and are subject to TAA compliancy.

26. In the Pricing Matrix, may we confirm about the DISPLAY WARRANTY: CLIN 24-

26? This tab is specifically for extended warranties for touchscreen displays while the tab - DISPLAYS & ACCESSORIES: CLIN 5-8 are for regular monitors (non-touch).

ANSWER: Only regular (non-touch) displays are required for the contract. The Pricing Matrix will be updated accordingly.

27. The 21.5” flat screen display shall have a diagonal measurement no smaller than

21.5 inches, with a screen resolution of at least 1440 x 900 (WXGA+), a widescreen aspect ratio (16:10 or 16:9), response time not greater than 5 ms, a contrast ratio of at least 1000:1 or a dynamic contrast ratio of a least 2 million : 1, a color depth of at least

16.7 million (24-bit), and screen luminance not less than 250 nits (cd/m2). The flat screen display shall include a video cable for connectivity between the display and computer. Connectivity between devices shall be either DisplayPort (Version 1.2 or higher), DVI-D, or HDMI (Version 1.4 or higher) interfaces.

28. Should the displays be touchscreen or non-touch?

ANSWER: Touchscreen displays are acceptable, however only regular (non-touch) displays are required for the contract.

29. Will the government allow past performance from commercial customers in the event the end user is a federal agency? (Solicitation page 44, Section: 7.3 Volume 2 Past Performance Factor 2)

ANSWER: The Government will only evaluate contract references in which the offeror was or still is a prime or a first tier subcontractor on DoD and Federal contracts as stated in the solicitation. Ref RFP Evaluation Factors for Award paragraphs 3.2.1.2 and 3.2.1.3.

30. How will the government verify the offeror is a certified reseller of the proposed equipment? Will the government require Letters of Supplies for all products?

ANSWER: At this time the Government will not verify and Letters of Supplies will not be required.

31. The Contract Management Deliverables mentions a GSA unit price column in the required vendor reports. Does this mean the government would prefer GSA proposed pricing or open market pricing? (Page 8)

ANSWER: CMD will be updated to include Commercial/Open Market.

32. Regarding the consolidated buy the PWS mentions that “Failure to provide a complete offering will prevent contractor from offering any products until a complete product line offering can be secured” Can you clarify what a “Complete Product Line” is? For example is it a manufacturer’s entire product line or a product set dictated by

ADMC-3?

ANSWER: A “complete offering” is when a vendor provides an offering for every CLIN of the contract except for the Undefined CLINs (0038AA – 0041AC).

33. Is there a page limit associated with the Cover Letter piece?

ANSWER: No, there is no page limit to the cover letter

34. I did not see the small business set-aside as part of the SOW ($3K - $150K), but I did find it on the contract. “In Accordance with FAR 19.502-2, all Delivery Orders valued between $3,000.00 and $150,000.00 shall be set-aside for Small Business Contract Holders”. However, I did not see anything mentioned about peripherals/accessories, besides what is on the CB, in either of the 2 (SOW/Contract).

ANSWER: CHESS/ISEC - We don’t see a question

35. I am referring to CLIN 4004 on ADMC-2 for items such as displays, input devices, external storage, UPS’s. scanners, plotters, etc. Can we get confirmation that these items are in fact under ADMC-3?

ANSWER: The ADMC-3 contract offering is to focus on the commodity products identified in the CLINs. Any miscellaneous items required by the user may be purchase via the “Within-Scope” CLIN. The sum of the Undefined Desktop, Undefined Notebook, Undefined Slate, and Within Scope CLINs (0038AA-AC, 0039AA-AC, 0040AA-AC, and 0041AA-AC) shall not exceed 10% of the total price of the Delivery Order.

36. Workstation submission does not show AGM, in the drop-down on the spreadsheet, but it required in the SOW. Drop down is for custom image.

ANSWER: The Equipment Submission Form will be corrected to provide “Preloaded w/ 64 bit AGM” in the Operating System drop-down menu.

37. Confirm if this contract is rated DOA7?

ANSWER: Confirm. Refer to page 1 section 13b of the solicitation

38. Ceiling prices: what is the estimated period between proposal submission dates vs.

CB 1? Is “the product end of lifecycle change” a factor in allowing changing of ceiling prices?

ANSWER: If government deems necessary a technical refresh could be done before CB1 but price ceilings would remain locked.

39. If contractors are required to submit new pricing for CB1, how is the government determine the new ceiling pricing?

ANSWER: Pricing submitted with solicitation will be the ceiling prices utilized for CB1.

It is not the Government intent to initiate a technical refresh, however, if Government deems necessary a technical refresh could be done before CB1 but price ceilings will remain locked. A fair and reasonable price determination will be completed prior to opening of CB1, if new pricing is requested.

40. Unbalancing pricing: Can government further elaborate this evaluating method?

Citing a FAR clause doesn’t provide guidance.

ANSWER: Refer to FAR 15.404-1(g). Pricing of a contract where the price of one or more contract line items is significantly is significantly over or understated as indicated by price analysis techniques.

41. Regarding package numbering, does the numbering apply to pallets or cartons on the pallets?

ANSWER: Reference DFARS 252.211-7003.

42. On page 4 of the RFP W52P1J-.., under Consolidated Buy, During the CB cycle,.

The complete Product Offering of the ADMC-3 contract shall be offered. The language is a little vague because one can interpret the complete offering of each category. But I didn’t see any other request or statement in regards to other peripherals.

ANSWER: A “complete offering” is when a vendor provides an offering for every CLIN of the contract except for the Undefined CLINs (0038AA – 0041AC). The complete offering of each category includes computer accessories. Ref SOW 7.0 Computer Accessories (CLIN 0008).

43. Will there be an additional hardware CLIN for commodity items such as mobile devices and items with Operating systems other than AGM or will they be included in an additional Within Scope CLIN Similar to 4700 in ADMC-2?

ANSWER: The ADMC-3 contract offering is to focus on the commodity products identified in the CLINs. Any miscellaneous items required by the user may be purchase via the “Within-Scope” CLIN. The sum of the Undefined Desktop, Undefined Notebook, Undefined Slate, and Within Scope CLINs (0038AA-AC, 0039AA-AC, 0040AA-AC, and 0041AA-AC) shall not exceed 10% of the total price of the Delivery Order.

44. Will wall/desk mounts and similar items be included in the Electronic Displays

CLIN?

ANSWER: The ADMC-3 contract offering is to focus on the commodity products identified in the CLINs. Any miscellaneous items required by the user may be purchase via the “Within-Scope” CLIN. The sum of the Undefined Desktop, Undefined Notebook, Undefined Slate, and Within Scope CLINs (0038AA-AC, 0039AA-AC, 0040AA-AC, and 0041AA-AC) shall not exceed 10% of the total price of the Delivery Order.

45. Will Slates require a physical keyboard that supports bit locker access be required to ship with the unit? Bit locker can’t be accessed via touch screen keyboard and an external USB or similar keyboard is required to login to the device therefore it should be required.

ANSWER: Two Slate categories are available, the Standard Slate and Slate with Detachable Keyboard. Based on customer requirements, additional external keyboards can be procured through the Computer Accessories CLINs.

46. Will printing accessories/supplies be included in the scope of the contract, customers are always looking for reliable sources for supplies for the units purchased under contract.

ANSWER: The ADMC-3 contract offering is to focus on the commodity products identified in the CLINs. Any miscellaneous items required by the user may be purchase via the “Within-Scope” CLIN. The sum of the Undefined Desktop, Undefined Notebook, Undefined Slate, and Within Scope CLINs (0038AA-AC, 0039AA-AC, 0040AA-AC, and 0041AA-AC) shall not exceed 10% of the total price of the Delivery Order.

47. Will scanners be incorporated into the MFD CLIN, right now the CLIN states two or more capabilities where/as document processors/scanners are only single function scanners/digital senders.

ANSWER: Color Multifunction Devices are to have scanning capability as specified in section 13.1.3 of the SOW

48. When new technologies are introduced to the contract will a CB CLIN be added specifically for that device or will is just be a valid product to be purchased under contract?

ANSWER: If the government chooses to add a new products after contract award, they will be identified with a new CLINs.

49. Will the over $3,000 requirement to list an RFQ on CHESS e-mart or reverse auction be adjusted to the new micro purchase limit of $3,500.00?

ANSWER: Yes, the requirement will be adjusted to reflect the new micro purchase limit of $3,500.00.

50. Can you please explain the rule regarding undefined item procurement? If a purchaser requires 10ea $1,000.00 Undefined Desktops with no additional items can they purchase them as it would be a 100% of the Delivery order as undefined items or is there a dollar limit for the Award as a % of the Contract?

ANSWER: The sum of the Undefined Desktop, Undefined Notebook, Undefined Slate, and Within Scope CLINs (0038AA-AC, 0039AA-AC, 0040AA-AC, and 0041AA-AC) shall not exceed 10% of the total price of the Delivery Order. Therefore, the procurement would not be allowed unless the total Delivery Order cost was $100,000 or more with $90,000 being from CLINs other than 0038AA-AC, 0039AA-AC, 0040AA-AC, and

0041AA-AC.

51. Attachment 0003, Business Process Form. What is the purpose of the dropdown menus? Are they the preferred responses of simply instructions?

ANSWER: The provided dropdown menu selections are acceptable responses.

However Offerors can type their own response in the field as well.

52. Attachment 0003, Business Process Form. Are there any restrictions to the lengths of our responses to the questions in the Business Process Form?

ANSWER: An Offeror may choose to use one of the acceptable selections in the drop down menu or provide a typed response similar in length and detail (i.e., one or two sentences).

53. Attachment 0003 Business Process Form, 7.2.2 Sub-Factor 2. The instructions in

Section 7.2.2 Sub-Factor 2: Business Process Form will require, in many cases, significantly more space to address than is available in Attachment 3. Will the government consider issuing an unlocked version of Attachment 3 so that we can increase the size of the response cells? Or, alternatively, will the government permit bidders to respond in a standard MS Word document?

ANSWER: An Offeror may choose to use one of the acceptable selections in the drop down menu or provide a typed response similar in length and detail (i.e., one or two sentences).

54. 7.3.1 Contract References, Is it acceptable to submit past performance references for our subcontractors on this bid, or are only references for the prime acceptable?

ANSWER: Refer to solicitation section 7.3.1, Contract References. The offeror may submit with its initial proposal up to three contract or project references for itself. All project and/or contract reference(s) shall represent recent and relevant performance as a prime and/or first-tier subcontractor under Government Agency Contracts. The

Agency will only accept past performance references from prime and/or first-tier subcontractors.

55. For the Standard Desktop, Performance Desktop, and Workstation configurations, are there a minimum number of USB ports that need to appear on the front of the computer chassis versus the rear?

ANSWER: No. As long as the required number of USB ports are provided, their location is not a factor.

56. If the base hard drive capacity for a configuration equals or exceeds 500GB, does the hard drive upgrade have a minimum required increase or capacity?

ANSWER: Hard Drive Upgrades are required to meet the capacity requirement stated for that particular device category. If the hard drive being offered with the base platform already exceeds this capacity requirement, than the proposed upgrade hard drive must have a capacity large than what is being offered with the base platform.

57. In section 1.2.4 Delivery of the Statement of Work, CONUS is defined as “The 48 contiguous states, Alaska, Hawaii, and the District of Columbia.” By traditional definition, Alaska and Hawaii are considered OCONUS. Due to the additional expense and time necessary to ship to these locations, please consider moving Alaska and Hawaii to the OCONUS classification.

ANSWER: Requirement remains unchanged.

58. In regards to power supplies: for many products, those which support 120V have a separate part number from those which support 220V. Is it acceptable to quote a separate item for each voltage to support worldwide locations?

ANSWER: Power Supplies are to be a single device that can operate worldwide (120

VAC ±10% at 60 Hz and 220 VAC±10% at 50Hz) using local commercial grade power.

Offerors only need to indicate what voltages are supported by their proposed power supply within the Equipment Submission Form. There is no requirement to provide part numbers.

59. Will the non-manufacturer rule for small business under NAICS 541519 be waived for this solicitation?

ANSWER: The NAICS code for this acquisition is 3324111, not 541519. The non-manufacturing rule will not be waived under either NAICS.

60. Can you provide the DD form 254 as stated in the SOW section 1.2.19.A.?

ANSWER: No, a DD 254 will not be provided to all potential offerors. Please see SOW

1.2.19 Security.

61. Would the Government consider extending the delivery deadlines for OCONUS and remote OCONUS locations as stated in SOW section 1.2.4? CTO builds can take some time and the items may need to clear customs. Allowing additional time to account for these potential hold-ups would be appreciated.

ANSWER: Requirement shall remain unchanged.

62. As stated in SOW section 1.2.5, some supplies/accessories may be exempt from

TAA compliance on a case-by-case basis. Will these cases be decided before initial submission or do all accessories bid in the initial submission have to be compliant.

ANSWER: SOW Section 1.2.5 Trade Agreement Act Compliant (TAA) has been updated to read: All product offerings shall be compliant with TAA as defined in Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Subpart 25.4 except for CLIN items defined as Computer Accessories (CLIN 0008AA through 0008AM) . These CLINs are considered supplies which are applicable to FAR Subpart 25.103 relief from TAA compliance. NOTE: Only items defined as Computer Accessories are considered Supplies.”

63. SOW, p. 8 of 88, section 1.2.5, Trade Agreement Act Compliant (TAA)

It is understood that it is the intent of the government to have products be TAA. During the bid phase of the proposal, will a contractor be considered non-compliant if a non-

TAA product is proposed? It is unclear at what point will the ADMC-3 contracting officer will impose an exception and what criteria would qualify for that exception for CLINS

0008AA through 0008AM.

ANSWER: SOW Section 1.2.5 Trade Agreement Act Compliant (TAA) has been updated to read: All product offerings shall be compliant with TAA as defined in Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Subpart 25.4 except for CLIN items defined as Computer Accessories (CLIN 0008AA through 0008AM) . These CLINs are considered supplies which are applicable to FAR Subpart 25.103 relief from TAA compliance. NOTE: Only items defined as Computer Accessories are considered Supplies.”

64. SOW, p. 5 of 88, section 1.2.1, Army Gold Master (AGM)

For licenses for Windows 7 SP1 Enterprise 64bit, Microsoft Windows 8.1 Enterprise

64bit and Microsoft Windows 10 Enterprise 64bit operating systems will each compute resource (Integrated Desktop Computer, Workstation, Notebook, Tablet Computer, Slate, Thin Client and Ultra-Thin Client) need to support all three AGM’s?

ANSWER: The Army has Microsoft Enterprise licenses for the AGM. Vendors are not required to provide licenses for the AGM. All systems must support Microsoft Windows 10 Enterprise 64bit which will be the approved AGM at time of award.

65. SOW, p. 10 of 88, section 1.2.8, Time to Repair

As stated in the RFQ, “For Remote OCNOUS locations not being offered on-site warranty, the contractor shall repair or replace and return fully operational equipment to the customer’s possession within five (5) Government working days after it is received at the contractor’s repair facility (mail back) or within five (5) Government working days after it has been dispatched by the end user to the appropriate locations to be repaired

(hot-swap)”. Due to the variability of Remote OCONUS shipping mechanisms request that the above be changed to:

“For Remote OCONUS locations not being offered on-site warranty, the contract shall make best effort to repair or replace and return fully operational equipment to the customer’s possession within five (5) Government working days after it is received at the contractor’s repair facility (mail-back) or make best effort to repair or replace and return fully operational equipment to the customer’s possession within five (5)

Government working days after it has been dispatched by the end user to the appropriate locations to be repaired (hot-swap).”

ANSWER: Requirement shall remain unchanged.

66. SOW, p.28, section 3.1.7, Graphic support and other similar requirements

It is recommended that the graphics support requirements be similar to those outlined in requirement 6.1.1 graphics support for consistency.

ANSWER: Requirement remains unchanged.

67. SOW, p. 29, section 3.1.12, power supply and other similar requirements.

It is recommended that the Power Supply requirements establish a baseline power supply wattage to ensure that power supply provided with the base system(s) can support the addition of all upgrades at a future date.

ANSWER: Requirement remains unchanged.

68. SOW, p. 31, section 3.1.24 and p.8 extended warranty options and warranty respectively and similar requirements in solicitation.

This is a two part question. As stated in the solicitation, “…should the organization deploy or transfer to a new location the platform and all options accessories ordered with the platform will have world-wide extended warranty coverage”. Does this implicitly state that the platform and all options accessories ordered with the platform have to provide world-wide extended warranty coverage at time of order to facilitate movement of equipment? Will period of coverage be modified to consider pre-positioning of parts and repair locations not anticipating movement of assets? In other words, will relief of the stringent OCONUS and Remote OCONUS SLAs be considered when assets are moved without notification to contractor until equipment is in need of repair?

ANSWER: This will be handled on a case-by-case basis determined at the Delivery Order level. If at any time during the warranty or extended warranty period, items are relocated (i.e., from CONUS to OCONUS/Remote OCONUS site), an equitable price adjustment for the remainder of the warranty coverage shall be negotiated between the

Contractor and the Ordering Contracting Officer utilizing the CLIN prices contained in the Price Matrix .

69. SOW, p.44, section 5.1.4, memory

Based on overwhelming majority of two-socket systems require that DIMMs be added in pairs (particularly when both sockets are utilized) recommend that this requirement be amended to require the base system to have a minimum of four (4) DIMM slots.

ANSWER: Requirement remains unchanged.

70. SOW, p. 68, section 8.3.14, environmental/energy conservation mandates

This is a two part question: Please confirm that only the specifications listing in this requirement need to be met and no other MIL_STD-810G or IEC 60529 specifications are required. Additionally, please confirm that no other accessories as defined in 1.2.5 need to meet any type of MIL-STD-810G or IEC 60529 standards.

ANSWER: Only the Ruggedized Notebook category is required to meet the environmental standards listed in table 8.3.2. There is no other category with this requirement.

71. SOW, p. 69, section 8.3.17, docking station/port replicator

Please confirm that the docking station/port replicator as indicated in this requirement does not need to meet any type of MIL-STD-810G or IEC 60529 standards.

ANSWER: Correct. No environmental standards are identified with the docking station.

72. Technology Refresh: We understand that the Army Acquisition Office always strives to insure the latest technology is offered on a procurement vehicle.

Could the Army Acquisition Office advise on how often will the Contracting Office will allow for model updates and/or changes based on technology refreshes within the contract scope? Are there any restrictions? (ie: at or below established ceiling prices, new functionality/components not currently available on contract require prior approval)

ANSWER: Ref SOW Sections 1.2.2 and 1.2.14

73. Could the Army Acquisition Office advise on if post award a contractor could change offerings to another OEM post-award? And if so, when? And what are the parameters?

ANSWER: CHESS/ISEC/RI - Yes. Only at times their authorized to make changes as long as it is at the ceiling price or lower. Ref: SOW 1.2.2 Consolidated Buy

74. Value” If the Army Acquisition Office could offer some further clarification on an outline for value consideration, this will help bidders to offer additional information for the Army Acquisition Office to review. Perhaps the specific value criteria that the Army

Acquisition Office will take into consideration when determining the final award selections? (ie: TCO, reliability/downtime, past performance, etc)

ANSWER: This is not a best value. This is lowest price technically acceptable. If an offeror is acceptable and responsible and has the lowest price, they will get an award.

Refer to p. 46 section 2, basis for award of the solicitation.

75. We would like to request some further guidance on how the Army Acquisition Office will determine LPTA.

ANSWER: Refer to page 46, section 2, basis for award and page 47, section 3, Factors and Subfactors to be evaluated.

76. How will the award criteria ultimately be determined by pricing? Best pricing as a blend of overall categories? Varying weights by categories?

ANSWER: There will be no weighted categories. Refer to p. 48, section 3.3, price.

77. We understand the timeliness of mission critical items be delivered to the Army warfighter expeditiously. For a best practice used by other DoD agencies will the Army Acquisition Office consider providing estimated forecast reports to the best of their knowledge of CLIN specific pending order(s)? This will help to the potential contractor to offer immediate shipment of items needed for expedited deployment.

ANSWER: Forecast reports will not be provided.

78. Will the Army Acquisition Office consider restricting benchmark evaluations to SysMark or PC Mark Work V2 Accelerated scores? (PassMark will not factor in environmental influences)

ANSWER: Requirement remains unchanged.

79. Will the Army Acquisition Office consider a notation of additional value to the testing criteria exceeding Threshold requirements? Perhaps the Army Acquisition Office could consider requiring the potential bidders to submit testing reports or certification by a third-party company.

ANSWER: Requirement remains unchanged. The Government reserves the right to independently validate proposed platforms with non-listed processors at a Government evaluation site.

80. The Army Acquisition Office should consider that all potential bidders must submit a letter of authorization for a noted manufacturer on that manufacturer letterhead.

Without this letter of authorization, the Army could potentially run into service issues or other contractual issues.

ANSWER: Noted.

81. Delivery, SCTION 1.2.4: Would the Army list specific Countries listed as “Remote

OCONUS”

ANSWER: Remote OCONUS = Locations that are not listed under CONUS or

OCONUS

82. Attachment # 5 - Printer & MFD tab, CLIN 0018AB & 0019AB: Would the Army list countries where the 110VAC would be a requirement?

ANSWER: Locations will be identified at the individual delivery order level.

83. CLIN 0018AC & 0019AC: Would the Army list countries where the 110 VAC would be a requirement?

ANSWER: Locations will be identified at the individual delivery order level.

84 Justification Review Document #15-587 States that the current ADMC 2 contract must be extended.

When does the Army anticipate implementing ADMC 3?

ANSWER: ADMC-3 is tentatively scheduled to be awarded in May 2017.

85. Are you accepting open market or GSA Schedule bids for this request?

ANSWER: Yes. Both.

86. You don’t specify any specific computer manufacturer, does it have to be GSA or not?

ANSWER: It does not have to be GSA.

87. You have in the introduction and deliverables you are mentioning 2005, 2006, 2011 etc. It makes it confusing. Are you planning to update and make it uniformed for 2016?

ANSWER: These are only examples of formatting.

88. Amendment 0001, P.2, Deadline of Proposal Submission - In order to adequately assess the governments’ answers that vendors will submit on 17 June 2016, we request that the proposal due date will be no earlier than 30 calendar days after the final question is answered by the government.

ANSWER: The Government will extend proposal submission due date FROM 13 June 2016 TO 12 July 2016 12:00 PM Central Time.

89. SOW & RFP General Question General Question - Evaluation Units - Will the government require evaluation units be submitted for the ADMC3 solicitation at any point in time?

ANSWER: Performance verification of non-listed processors shall be established through contractor submission of benchmark results, however the Government reserves the right to independently validate proposed platforms with non-listed processors at a Government evaluation site.

90. RFP Solicitation SF1449, P.17, Contract Clauses / 11 252.227-7013 RIGHTS IN TECHNICAL DATA--NONCOMMERCIAL ITEMS FEB/2014, - Solicitation Incorporates By Reference FAR 52.212-1, 52.212-4, Commercial Items. DFAR 252.227-7013 referenced is for Noncommercial software and is not applicable for Commercial Items.

Please delete the not applicable clause.

ANSWER: deleted

91. RFP Solicitation SF1449, P.19, Contract Clauses_X__ (42)(i) 52.225-3, Buy American--Free Trade Agreements--Israeli Trade Act (MAY 2014), - Solicitation Incorporates By Reference FAR 52.212-1, 52.212-4, Commercial Items. FAR 52.225-3, is not applicable to Commercial Item IT products per the implementing provision at 25.1101(b)(1)(B). Please delete the not applicable clause.

ANSWER: deleted

92. Amendment 0001 P.2 2. Extend the deadline for proposal submission from 12:00 PM CT 6 JUNE 2016 to 12:00 PM CT 12 JUNE 2016. - Is the Government's intent to have the RFP due on the 12th of June 2016, which is a Sunday? Please confirm the correct proposal submission date.

ANSWER: Latest due date for proposal submission is 13 June 2016. However; due to the high volume of questions received the Government will extend the proposal submission due date to 12 July 2016 12:00 Pm Central Time.

93. Solicitation SF1449 P.46 Section 3. FACTORS AND SUBFACTORS TO BE EVALUATED - Would the Government please provide the respective weighted factors for each of the Factors and Sub-factors to be evaluated?

ANSWER: This acquisition will be evaluated utilizing lowest price technically acceptable source selection procedures. There will be no weighted factors.

94. SOW All Systems CLINs Operating System - The SOW states 64-bit architecture is required for all systems CLINs, but it does not give a requirement for which Operating System is required. Does the Army want systems to be provided with WIn7 PRO OS or Win10 PRO OS for bid submission on systems and Win8 PRO OS for Slate systems?

ANSWER: All systems must support Microsoft Windows 10 Enterprise 64bit which will be the approved AGM at time of award.

95. SOW - General Requirements 1.2.1 AGM - SOW states: "There are currently three separate versions of the AGM each supporting either Microsoft Windows 7 SP1 Enterprise 64bit, Microsoft Windows 8.1 Enterprise 64bit, or Microsoft Windows 10 Enterprise 64bit operating systems." Question: Please remove Microsoft Windows 10 Enterprise 64bit operating systems from this list as the Win10 AGM is not completed, approved, or available to Army customers at the time of bid submission.

ANSWER: All systems must support Microsoft Windows 10 Enterprise 64bit which will be the approved AGM at time of award.

96. SOW - General Requirements 1.2.2 , Consolidated Buy - SOW states: "New Army technology requirements, any new functionality not available on the contract that can be determined to be within the general scope of the contract, shall be introduced once every 12 months, starting with CB-4…." Question: Please confirm that this statement means the Army will not issue new technology specification requirements for CB1, CB2 or CB3 upon the award of this contract.

ANSWER: Ref SOW 1.2.2. If required, only immediately mandated DoD/Army requirements shall be introduced during these CB cycles.

97. SOW - General Requirements 1.2.2 , Consolidated Buy - SOW states: "New Army technology requirements, any new functionality not available on the contract that can be determined to be within the general scope of the contract, shall be introduced once every 12 months, starting with CB-4…." The current submission date of 13 June 2016, the projected contract award date of June 2017 and a 60-day contract start-up period (July and August 2017), results in a 1 September 2017 opening day of ADMC3 for CB-1 with CB-3 ending on 31 August 2018. Please confirm that the Army will not release any new technical specification requirements that shall be implemented prior to CB-4 which, by this timeline, is currently estimated to be 1 September 2018.

ANSWER: Ref SOW 1.2.2. If required, only immediately mandated DoD/Army requirements shall be introduced

98. SOW - General Requirements 1.2.5 TAA - SOW states: "For CLIN items defined Computer Accessories (CLIN 0008AA through 0008AM) which are applicable to FAR Subpart 25.002, relief from TAA compliance may be granted by the ADMC-3 Contracting Officer on a case by case basis provided Exceptions for supplies as defined by 25.103 (e) are satisfied." Please confirm that all accessories in CLINs 0008AA through 0008AM are required to be TAA compliant at bid submission.

ANSWER: SOW Section 1.2.5 Trade Agreement Act Compliant (TAA) has been updated to read: All product offerings shall be compliant with TAA as defined in Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Subpart 25.4 except for CLIN items defined as Computer Accessories (CLIN 0008AA through 0008AM) . These CLINs are considered supplies which are applicable to FAR Subpart 25.103 relief from TAA compliance. NOTE: Only items defined as Computer Accessories are considered Supplies.”

99. SOW - General Requirements 1.2.6, Acceptance - SOW states: "The contractor is responsible for providing a legible acceptance document (DD250) within the timeframe determined by the task order." The way this reads, contractors would be required to sign the DD250 on behalf of the government. If this is not acceptable, please remove this requirement. Otherwise, please either allow contracts to sign the DD250 on behalf of the government or accept the product invoice in place of the DD250.

ANSWER: SOW 1.2.6 is requiring a legible acceptance document. The acceptance is at destination and would be signed by the individual accepting/receiving the products.

100. SOW - General Requirements 1.2.7, Warranty - SOW states: “Relocation of items shall not affect warranty coverage. If at any time during the warranty or extended warranty period, items are relocated (i.e., from CONUS to OCONUS site), an equitable price adjustment shall be negotiated between the Contractor and the Ordering Contracting Officer utilizing the CLIN prices contained in the Price Matrix. The contractor shall provide for the repair or replacement of equipment including transportation/shipping costs to and from the customer’s site.” Warranty SKUs inherently possess qualities known as "entitlements" that instruct services personnel on the parameters of the level of service purchased that is tied to a specific unit/serial number/service tag, etc. Question: Please define the Government’s operational procedure that enables the end user to identify ADMC3-purchased units that contain global warranty entitlements which instruct the Government to initiate action on the equitable price adjustment negotiations.

ANSWER: This will be handled on a case-by-case basis determined at the Delivery Order level. If at any time during the warranty or extended warranty period, items are relocated (i.e., from CONUS to OCONUS/Remote OCONUS site), an equitable price adjustment for the remainder of the warranty coverage shall be negotiated between the

101. SOW - General Requirements 1.2.7, Warranty - The following two statements regarding warranty in Section 1.2.7 contradict one another: "Relocation of items shall not affect warranty coverage." and "If at any time during the warranty or extended warranty period, items are relocated (i.e., from CONUS to OCONUS site), an equitable price adjustment shall be negotiated between the Contractor and the Ordering Contracting Officer utilizing the CLIN prices contained in the Price Matrix." By definition, relocating an asset from CONUS to an OCONUS site would, in fact, affect warranty coverage as Section 1.2.7.1 Computer and Display Warranty states that "Items requiring service within CONUS and OCONUS locations shall have on-site service.

Remote OCONUS locations shall as a minimum have mail back or hot swap service."

We recommend the statement: "Relocation of items shall not affect warranty coverage."

be deleted from this RFP, or the section clarified to include the process by which the government will initiate the equitable price adjustment if a government end user relocates an asset purchase with CONUS warranty service to an OCONUS or a Remote OCONUS location.

ANSWER: Noted

102. SOW - General Requirements All CLINs Warranty - The government is asking for three different prices for warranty coverage in all CLINs: CONUS, OCONUS, and Remote OCONUS. To clarify, please confirm that those three different prices should only be the difference in shipping costs and power cable/adaptors to OCONUS or Remote OCONUS locations as the government is requiring contractors to provide warranty coverage that is equal and unchanging whether the system is purchased and shipping to, for example, Ft Bragg North Carolina and then is relocated to Afghanistan.

ANSWER: This will be handled on a case-by-case basis determined at the Delivery Order level. If at any time during the warranty or extended warranty period, items are relocated (i.e., from CONUS to OCONUS/Remote OCONUS site), an equitable price adjustment for the remainder of the warranty coverage shall be negotiated between the Contractor and the Ordering Contracting Officer utilizing the CLIN prices contained in the Price Matrix .

103. SOW - General Requirements 1.2.7, Warranty- Is it the Government’s intent to purchase a base warranty that entitles global coverage or is the intent to purchase a warranty uplift at time of failure for units that have relocated to OCONUS or Remote OCONUS sites?

ANSWER: This will be handled on a case-by-case basis determined at the Delivery Order level. If at any time during the warranty or extended warranty period, items are relocated (i.e., from CONUS to OCONUS/Remote OCONUS site), an equitable price adjustment for the remainder of the warranty coverage shall be negotiated between the

104. SOW - General Requirements1.2.7 & 1.2.11, 1.2.7 Warranty, 1.2.11 Telephonic Support - With the requirements to deliver and maintain via services support (with genuine OEM parts) for five (5) years on a worldwide basis (CONUS, OCONUS and Remote OCONUS to include locations such as Afghanistan and Iraq) we recommend that the warranty parameters stated in SOW Section 1.2.7 specifically require that the first call triage and break/fix support be provided by the OEM.

ANSWER: Noted. Requirement shall remain unchanged.

105. SOW - General Requirements 1.2.7, Warranty - Currently, some ADMC2 primes are proposing their own "service offerings" in which they request from the OEM whose products they are bidding a stripped down warranty in which the OEM is to provide no technical support (to include first call triage, replacement parts, or physical onsite support). In order to mitigate the Army's (or other end user's) risk on ADMC3, we suggest that all warranty coverage be provided by and supported by the OEM.

ANSWER: Noted. Requirement shall remain unchanged.

106. SOW - General Requirements 1.2.9, Replacement Parts - What proof will be required by the government to ensure that replacement parts utilized via the break/fix process will be both issued by the respective product's OEM and in compliance with the ADMC3 contract CLIN specifications for TAA compliance and not direct from 3rd party OEMs that may not be in compliance with TAA regulations.

ANSWER: If contract specifications/requirements are ignored, that would constitute a breach of contract and the vendor can be removed from this contract.

107. SOW - General Requirements 1.2.9, Replacement Parts - How does the government plan to address 3rd party service providers who intend to use generic geographic parts lockers to state compliance OCONUS and Remote OCONUS break/fix SLAs with parts that may be stripped from other OEM units not purchased via a TAA compliant channel (ie: hard drive stripped from non-TAA commercial product and inserted into Army end-user customer product that was originally purchased via ADMC3 vehicle on a Consolidated Buy?

ANSWER: If contract specifications/requirements are ignored, that would constitute a breach of contract and the vendor can be removed from this contract.

108. SOW - General Requirements 1.2.14 Technology Refresh and Product Additions - SOW states: "At the Government’s release of an “Engineering Change Request” (ECR) the contractor will be requested to submit products for addition to the contract that address the EC requirement and are within the contract scope." Please confirm that any ECR issued by the government will also allow vendors to refresh pricing for that product even if the ECR occurs outside of the first annual CB (CB1, CB4, CB7, etc).

ANSWER: Correct

109. SOW - General Requirements 1.3.7, IT e-Mart. Please confirm that customers/Contracting Officers will not submit the same RFQ requirement to multiple reverse auction sites simultaneously. For example, if KO posts RFQ-ABC to IT e-Mart's Reverse Auction site for 10 units of X, but also posts RFQ-ABC to FedBid, we will respond to and bid both sites's RFQs, and we are deemed the low bidder on both. We would expect two 10-unit orders from the Army in this scenario. We request that the requirement state that the Army will only post an RFQ to one reverse auction site at any given time.

ANSWER: This is decentralized ordering and this will be determined at the Ordering Contracting Office level. CHESS provides an ordering guide to help the OCO with ordering procedures but we can’t make that determination.

110. SOW - General Requirements, 1.3.7, IT e-Mart. Please provide the proper vendor response protocol for a scenario in which a KO has posted an RFQ to multiple reverse auction sites as well as IT e-Mart.

ANSWER: This is decentralized ordering and this will be determined at the Ordering Contracting Office level. CHESS provides an ordering guide to help the OCO with ordering procedures but we can’t make that determination.

111. SOW - Performance Desktop, 3.2.1 Platform Form Factor. The SOW currently requires at least one free 5.25” bay and two free 3.5” bays. OEMs have rapidly adopted the new form factor of 2.5"bays in addition to 3.5" and 5.25". To meet current industry standards, please modify the requirement to state the following: "The motherboard shall have at least three free expansion slots. One free external 5-¼ inch bay and any combination of either 3-1/2 inch or 2-1/2 inch bays for the remaining two free expansion slots."

ANSWER: Requirement remains unchanged.

112. SOW - All CLINs - Hard Drives - OEMs are rapidly moving to PCIe drives for all hard drives across all platforms (desktop and notebook). In order to allow for the Army to have access to the latest technology will the government change the requirement to state that either SATA or PCIe drives are acceptable.

ANSWER: Requirement remains unchanged.

113. SOW - Integrated Desktop Computers, 4.1.7, Display and Graphic Support.