Q A.docx

CDMRP PATSS Solicitation Questions

Administrative Note: Please include abraham.g.pottenger.civ@mail.mil. on all proposal submissions.

These responses conclude the question and answer phase.

1. For pricing purposes will the Government provide education, minimum year’s experience, and qualification requirements for all labor categories?

Response: The Government will not provide this information. The contractor shall provide this information as part of their best value approach.

2. It is not clearly stated which performance objective is supported by the Program Managers listed in the estimated level of effort table on page 25. Please clarify.

Response: Objective 3, specifically Key Task 4.3.2

3. Could the Government please map the Labor Categories on pages 25 and 26 to the corresponding PWS Objective?

Response:

Grants Specialist I and II – Objective 1, Key Task 4.1.1 Logistics Specialist I and II – Objective 1, Key Task 4.1.2 Data Manager I and II – Objective 2, Key Task 4.2.4 Public Relations Specialist I and II – Objective 2, Key Task 4.2.1 Management Analyst/Program Evaluator I, II and III – Objective 2, Key Task 4.2.2 and 4.2.3 Program Analyst I, II and III – Objective 3, Key Task 4.3.1 Program Manager I, II and III – Objective 3, Key Task 4.3.2

The Government may decide to cross pollinate tasks depending on their needs and growth but this is the original intention and may change in the future.

4. Will all contract personnel supporting this IDIQ be located on Government site? If not, please clarify which positions will require contractor work site. Will any positions be able to telework?

Response: The intent is for all contractor personnel supporting this IDIQ to be located at a Government site. However, if the contractor proposes employees who are 100% full-time teleworkers, then that is acceptable as long as the work is completed as proposed/outlined.

5. Can the Government please clarify if offeror’s Management Plan, Quality Control Plan, and Risk Mitigation Plan are included in the 25-page count limit?

Response: These documents are to be included as part of the Management Approach and are included in the 25 page limit.

6. Program Evaluation Support states the contractor shall lead, design and implement program evaluation studies and analyze the results of those studies. Will the Government please provide an example of one of the program evaluation studies?

Response: The CDMRP does not have any recent examples.

7. How many studies have occurred during the past 3 years and what was the scope of those studies? Reference: 4.2.2 Key Task: Program Evaluation Support: "The contractor shall also lead, design, and implement program evaluation studies and analyze the results of those studies."

Response: No studies have occurred during the past 3 years.

8. Are the four incumbent contractors required to develop a “transition out” plan? If so, when will those plans be available for review? Reference: 6.3.3.1 The Contractor shall provide an Incoming Transition Plan for the 30 day period prior to full task order performance.

Response: The Government intends to negotiate transition-out plans with the incumbent contractors. These have not been completed and will not be provided to offerors for this RFP.

9. To allow us to produce an optimal transition plan, which positions, if any, projected for task order release within the first 60 days, are not filled by incumbent employees with already established workflows, responsibilities, and expectations? Reference: 6.3.3.1 The Contractor shall provide an Incoming Transition Plan for the 30 day period prior to full task order performance.

Response: The Transition-In Plan should be a broad plan to be applied to all personnel who will transition to the contract. The positions projected for task order release within the first 60 days are identified in the sample task order Performance Work Statement provided in this solicitation.

10. What factors did the government use to establish the current and projected anticipated support levels? Reference: Table on page 25 of the RFP

Response: The Government’s estimated support levels are based on current and historical support levels, and include projections based on growth derived from funding and program increases.

11. How does the CDMRP intend to employ the Key Program Manager positions and what will be their relationship with the current Government PM’s within the CDMRP? Reference: Attachment 2, “Labor Categories and Descriptions”.

Response: The CDMRP intends to utilize one Key Program Manager II position during the base year of the contract with the potential for additional positions as CDMRP’s mission continues to expand. The intent is for this position to assist the Government PM with the management of the largest research program that CDMRP is currently responsible for executing. Utilization of the other Key Program Manager positions is unknown at this time.

12. We respectfully request a definition of “page” because this instruction could be interpreted several different ways. (For example, does the instruction means 25, set up to print double-sided pages (12 pieces of paper with double sided print plus one single sided sheet)? Or 50 sheets, set up to print double-sided so that only 25 pieces of paper would be produced?)

Response: Please note that the page limit is being revised. Technical proposals are limited to 20 pages front and back for a total of 40 text pages. The RFP has been updated to reflect this page limit.

13. As no administrative labor category is listed in Attachment 2, are we to assume that the clerical work to be accomplished in Objective 1 will be completed by the Grant Specialist 1?

Response: Correct. See response to question 3 above.

14. Are any of the positions subject to DOL wage determination?

Response: The Government does not anticipate any of the support personnel being subject to DOL wage determination.

15. Would the CDMRP consider allowing us to include a glossary of acronyms outside of the page count restrictions for the non-price volume (actual contents of the glossary not to be evaluated)?

Response: Yes

16. Would the CDMRP consider allowing us to include a compliance matrix outside of the page count restrictions for the non-price volume (actual contents of the glossary not to be evaluated)?

Response: Yes

17. On page 22, the transition plan is included in the Technical Approach. However, the transition plan does not have a page limit. Assuming that the transition plan should not be an attachment and should be included in the body of the proposal, how should the page numbering of the transition plan be handled to indicate that it is not included in page count?

Response: The transition-in plan should be submitted as a separate attachment to the Technical Proposal. The Transition-In Plan will not be counted against the page limit.

18. Given that the level of effort increases significantly over the 5 year period of performance, will the government accept new subcontractors or consultants in the option years?

Response: The Government reserves the right to accept new subcontractors or consultants in option years. Acceptance will be based on acceptable past performance and acceptable key personnel as required. Pricing will not be revised to reflect additional subcontractors/ consultants.

19. On page 11, Key Personnel are to be identified at the task order level. On page 25, the level of effort indicates the labor categories that are to be considered Key Personnel. The technical and management approach do not ask for any resumes. Please clarify whether any resumes of Key Personnel are required for this base IDIQ contract solicitation? If so, where should these resumes be placed and are they included in the page count?

Response: No resumes are required at the base contract level. These positions are noted to be Key Personnel for planning purposes only. Resumes for these labor categories will be required at the task order level.

20. On page 23 in reference to the Management Approach, the following documents are identified: Management Plan, Quality Control Plan, and Risk Mitigation Plan. Are all of these documents to be included in the body of the Management Approach rather than as attachments and are they subject to the page count restrictions?

Response: These documents are to be included in the body of the Management Approach.

21. On page 25, the government estimates for workload indicate an increasing level of effort each year. Is this due to anticipated growth (new hires) in the CDMRP organization or does this indicate transition of current incumbent work that does not take place until the outyears?

Response: The anticipated increased level of effort is partially new hires in the CDMRP organization as CDMRP grows. The other increased level of effort is anticipated within USAMRMC and their subordinate units and could possibly be new hires or transition positions. It depends on what USAMRMC and CDMRP’s needs in the future which are unknown at this time.

22. Are there any technical requirements the government would like to have the proposed key personnel to meet (e.g., database, computer programs, operating systems, programming languages, professional certifications, etc.)?

Response: All of the technical requirements for the Key Personnel are outlined in the base PWS and in future task order PWS. It is up to the contractor to propose personnel who best fit their technical approach.

23. The pricing sheet in Attachment 7 appears to request our pricing for two Program Manager I & II each, and three Program Manager III. Does the government want the same respective number of resumes and letters of commitment for each of those labor categories?

Response: Resumes will be required at the task order level. No resumes are required to be submitted with the base contract proposal.

24. Can the Government clarify if they intend to use the anticipated level of support in Attachment 7 – Pricing Sheet to compare all the bidder price submissions? Can the Government also clarify if they intend to just compare the labor category rates for evaluation (independent of the level of effort)? If this is indeed the case, can the Government clarify the weightage of the evaluation criteria for price?

Response: The Government will be evaluating labor category rates to ensure fair and reasonable pricing for all labor categories. In addition, the Government will use the Pricing Sheet/ Attachment 7 to evaluate overall price proposals.

25. If Attachment 7 is solely for price evaluation purposes, would the Government please confirm that offerors should not change the Government’s FTE laydown of hours in Attachment 7 to allow for a fair price evaluation?

Response: Offeror’s may change the Government’s FTE laydown of hours in Attachment 7 to match their Technical Approach and their proposed labor categories.

26. If Attachment 7 is solely for price evaluation purposes, would the Government please consider requiring only loaded rates for each category without the hours/FTE allotments?

Response: The Government intends to use this information to ensure prices for labor categories are fair, reasonable and realistic. This requirement is not removed.

27. Would the Government please clarify the reason for the FTE increases in Attachment 7 and the RFP? There are 27 FTEs in the Base, 38 in Option 1, 48 in Option 2, 57 in Option 3, and 67 in Option 4. For what portions of the Performance Objectives does the Government anticipate additional work in the forthcoming years?

Response: The CDMRP’s mission has grown over the last several fiscal years which required increases to contractor support services. Therefore, the CDMRP is building in additional potential positions to allow for expected growth within the organization. In addition, this contract mechanism could be utilized by USAMRMC and their subordinate units. Please see mapping of labor categories to Key Task areas in response to question number 3 above.

28. Can the Government clarify whom the incumbents are carrying out this work? Can the Government additionally clarify if there are any specific task areas under Section 4.0 of the Performance Work Statement (PWS) that are currently not supported by a contractor?

Response: The incumbents providing this support include Henry M. Jackson Foundation, Azimuth, Inc., Irving Burton Associates, Inc., and Veterans Management Services, Inc. Section 4.2.2 of the PWS is a new requirement to CDMRP.

29. Are any clearances required for this position?

Response: Contractor Personnel Minimum Requirements are outlined in Section 3.1 of the PWS.

30. How many total Task Orders (TOs) does the Government anticipate releasing (including all customers) over the contract, if all Option Years are exercised?

Response: It is unclear at this time how many task orders will be issued. The Government will attempt to minimize the number of active task orders at once.

31. How many TOs does the Government anticipate releasing within the Base Year? Since the contract is not limited to support services to only CDMRP but may include other agencies, can the government provide an estimate of the number of TOs that will be released through those agencies and an estimate of when those TOs will occur through the periods of the contract?

Response: It is unclear at this time how many task orders will be issued. The Government estimates 4-6 total task orders in initial year of support.

32. After award of the IDIQ (which is to be a single award) what type of process will be put in place for issuance and award of Task Orders? Will the government be requiring Technical Write-ups for Task Orders or strictly Resumes and LOI given that this is a single award IDIQ?

Response: The Government will issue a task order PWS prior to issuance of a task order. The contractor will be required to submit a Task Order Proposal in response to each task order request. The Task Order Proposal shall include resumes for key personnel and a short technical response, as well as pricing information.

33. Factor 3 - Management Approach: it states the Management Approach shall be comprised of elements including a proposed Quality Control Plan and a proposed Risk Mitigation Plan. On page 23 it states the Risk Mitigation Plan shall document how the Contractor plans to reduce the risk associated with this requirement. Does the phrase 'associated with this requirement' refer to quality and the proceeding Quality Control Plan or to the parent requirement Factor 3 - Management Approach?

Response: Risk Mitigation Plan refers to the parent requirement Factor 3- Management Approach.

34. The Government reserves the right to include support for other federal agencies under this contract. These efforts may be in conjunction with changes directed by USAMRMC or a separate task. Since the Contractor shall provide, as stated, all necessary qualified personnel to provide support for each of the selected organizations, please provide details as to what other federal agencies these might be, the labor categories anticipated, the approximate level of effort involved, etc.?

Response: The Government anticipates allowing other USAMRMC organizations to utilize the resulting contract, as needed. It is unclear at this time if any USAMRMC or any other federal organizations will utilize support under this requirement.

35. In PWS 2.2 Government-Furnished Property, the government states that if an employee is a teleworker, the government will provide required government furnished equipment, etc. Also in 3.1.1, it states the proposed Key Personnel employees must be available to begin work at the CDMRP provided facility (‘as outlined in section 2.2 above’) which as stated implies teleworking. Please clarify which Labor Categories the government considers teleworking, or remote capable?

Response: The Government considers the Program Manager I, II and II categories as remote capable/telework capable as appropriate. 100% telework support is acceptable but only with approval from the COR on Key Personnel positions and as justified by the successful offeror.

36. Factor 3, Management Approach calls out requirements for a Management Plan, a Quality Control Plan (QCP) and a Risk Mitigation Plan (RMP). We consider these as separate documents similar in nature to the Transition-In Plan, however only the Transition-In Plan is mentioned (PWS 6.3.3) as a Non-Price proposal document requirement, not subject to page limitations. Please clarify whether separate Plan documents (Management, QCP and RMP) are required for the Non-Price proposal submission and whether they are subject to page limitations.

Response: The Management Plan, QCP, and RMP are to be submitted as part of the Management Approach and are subject to page limitations. The Transition-In Plan shall be submitted as an attachment and is not subject to page limitations.

37. Under Factor 4 - Past Performance, the offeror is to include a list of references of relevant contracts/orders. This is a requirement in addition to the information sought with Past Performance Questionnaires (PPQs). While there are limitations on the number of PPQs to be submitted, is the offeror limited in the number of references that can be listed?

Response: There is no limitation on the number of references, but the list of references should include the references who submit PPQ’s. Additional references may be included as desired.

38. Please provide basic information about the travel expected for this work. (It is understood that all offerors are to price $25,000 for travel.)

Response: Travel will not be common for the majority of the labor categories supporting this requirement. It is anticipated that the Program Manager I, II and III positions will travel for any meetings associated with program execution (typically local meetings multiple times a year). It is unknown what travel requirements are for any other labor categories at this time.

39. Reference page 13, Section 3.1.2: "The contractor shall accomplish the assigned work by employing and utilizing qualified personnel with skills, and when required, training, and experience." If the task order requires additional training, will the government cover the cost of the training or should the offeror plan for that expense?

Response: If additional training is required that was not part of this original requirement, then the government will cover the cost of the training.

40. Reference page 15, 4.2.2 Key Task: Program Evaluation Support. Can the evaluation component of the project be performed at the contractor’s site?

Response: Yes as long as the Program Evaluator is present for discussions and meetings with the program management staff. The intent is for that position to be at the government site as much as possible.

41. On Page 11 of 66, the solicitation states that Key Personnel will be identified at the task order level – as is demonstrated in Attachment 8 Sample Task Order Request. What does it mean when labor categories are marked “(KEY)” at the IDIQ level on page 25 of 66 for pricing purposes?

Response: Labor categories marked key on page 25 are anticipated to be considered “Key Personnel” on task orders. This information is provided for contractor planning purposes only.

42. Instructions say to fill out the SF1449. Since there is one CLIN for all the labor categories, does the government intend on the offeror providing a total ceiling price for all the FTEs and labor categories specified in the table provided on page 25 for the base and each option year

Response: Yes.

43. The government has indicated offerors may deviate from the historical hours and labor categories provided in their technical approach and pricing. The broad IDIQ PWS with no specific task order or firm fixed price deliverables would make it difficult for offerors to provide an alternative solution. Would the government please change this requirement and have offerors develop their fully burden rates required to meet the labor categories descriptions in attachment 2? These rates would be entered in attachment 7 and calculated against the hours provided by the government for evaluation purposes to determine each offerors total evaluated price (TEP). This method would ensure a uniformed TEP evaluation is performed at the IDIQ level.

Response: If a contractor chooses to propose unique labor categories or approaches, they should be cross-mapped to the tasks provided in the RFP.

44. The government is requesting detailed rate builds but given this is a firm fixed price (FFP) contract, and adequate competition is expected, detailed rate build wouldn’t appear to be necessary. Will the government please remove this requirement?

Response: The Government intends to use this information to ensure prices for labor categories are fair, reasonable and realistic. This requirement is not removed.

45. Does the government want cost build up from subcontractors? If so, if detailed rate builds are required, are sealed packages from subcontractors required? If so, will the government provide instructions for subcontractors?

Response: The government requests cost build up from subcontractors. Sealed packages may be submitted by contractors. They may either be submitted as part of the offeror’s price proposal, or may be submitted separately to the points of contact listed in the RFP. Please ensure that the subcontractor’s build ups are clearly labeled and reference the prime contractor they are teaming with. All subcontractor submissions are due by the same date and time the offeror’s proposals are due.