PRIDE_Admin_Sect__L_-_Instructions_to_Offerors_-_Final_as_of_27_May.docx

Section L - Instructions, Conditions and Notices to Bidders

ARNG Installations Division PRIDE Administrative Support Services

INSTRUCTIONS TO OFFERORS

I. GENERAL INFORMATION

This procurement is to acquire technical support services and subject matter expertise relating to the maintenance and support of the Planning Resource Infrastructure Decision and Evaluation (PRIDE) System for the Army National Guard (ARNG) Directorate’s Installations Division (ILI). To assist in meeting its reporting responsibilities, ILI has a requirement for information technology management of the tasks described in the Type of Work Needed Section of this document. This encompasses periodic updates to the TRIRIGA 9 COTS software, documentation on its use, configuration to ARNG business practices, and development of reports and/or interfaces for data transfer. To ensure continuity with the existing procedures, the existing PRIDE system will be expanded to cover any remaining sites which do not have PRIDE.

The Government intends to issue a contract to the Offeror whose proposal provides the Best Value to the Government, based upon a comprehensive assessment of the evaluation factors.

The National Guard Bureau is soliciting proposals from offerors solely within HUBZones.

NAICS Code: 541511 Administrative Management and General Management Consulting Services

II. BASIS FOR AWARD

The Government intends to make a single award under this solicitation. The Government intends to award a Firm-Fixed Price contract, to be managed and administered on a Labor Hour reporting basis, for a base period not to exceed twelve months from the date of award, with two one-year option periods, to the responsible offeror who presents the best overall value.

III. INSTRUCTION FOR PROPOSAL PREPARATION

To receive consideration for award, offerors shall submit their quotes along with adequate documentation that supports the factors listed below. Documentation shall demonstrate a clear understanding of and the ability to accomplish the requirements stated in the Statement of Work (SOW).

Additional clauses. The following clauses may be added at time of award if it is determined that the offeror selected for award has a GSA Schedule Contract but does not have any one or all of these clauses in its GSA Schedule Contract:

FAR 52.217-8 Option to Extend Term of the Contract FAR 52.217-9 Option to Extend Service FAR 52.232-18 Subject to the Availability of Funds FAR 52.232-22 Limitation of Funds FAR 52.232-33 Payment by Electronic Funds Transfer

a. Distribution/Submission of Offer Offers must be received at the address below no later than 1600 EDT on June 9, 2014. Questions regarding this solicitation must be received by 1600 EDT on May 30, 2014. Questions must be emailed to david.g.gruenbaum.civ@mail.mil.

Offers shall not include CLASSIFIED material in the proposal. Proprietary data contained in the offer must be clearly marked as such by the offeror, and shall be handled in accordance with DFARS 252.227-7013.

Each offeror must comply with the detailed instructions for the format and content of the offer in order to be considered for award. When evaluating an offer, the Government will consider how well the offeror complied with both the letter and spirit of these instructions. The Government will consider any failure on the part of an offeror to comply with both the letter and spirit of these instructions to be an indication of the type of conduct it can expect during contract performance. Therefore, offerors are encouraged to contact the Contract Specialist by e-mail in order to request an explanation of any aspect of these instructions.

There are only two acceptable methods to deliver the proposal: offerors shall mail (USPS, FedEx, UPS, DHL, etc.) or hand-deliver their proposals. Offerors shall submit proposals (3 hard copies and 1 set of CDs) in a sealed package and shall clearly mark the outer portion of the sealed package with the address specified below:

National Guard Bureau Contracting (NGB-AQ) ATTN: David G. Gruenbaum 111 South George Mason Drive AHS Building #2, 4th Floor Arlington, VA 22204-1373

b. Proposal Guidelines The offeror shall write a clear and concise proposal and shall include sufficient detail so that the Government can evaluate and substantiate the validity of stated claims. The Government may consider an offeror’s unsupported assertions or mere restatement or paraphrasing of the Governments requirements, without further explanation, clarification, or context, to be weaknesses or deficiencies. Therefore, offerors should not simply rephrase or restate the Government's requirements, but shall provide a rationale or explanation to convince the Government that the offeror’s approach will meet the Government requirements.

Offerors shall assume that the Government has no prior knowledge of the company's capability and experience. The Government evaluates proposals based upon the information that the offeror presented in his or her proposal. However, the Government may verify proposal information, as necessary, and may use data obtained from other sources in the evaluation.

The offer must comply with the requirements as stated in the full solicitation. The Government may eliminate a proposal from further consideration that does not conform to the stated requirements. Offerors submitting a proposal represent that they shall perform all of the solicitation’s requirements. Moreover, key personnel are a commitment on the part of the offeror that the proposed individuals shall be available and that the offeror shall assign the individual to the project. The Government will incorporate the Technical and Management proposal and SOW into the contract at award.

c. Assumptions, Conditions, or Exceptions If the offeror does not state any assumptions, conditions, or exceptions with regard to a requirement, term, or condition, the Government assumes that the offeror agrees to comply with the requirement, term, or condition. However, the offeror shall state assumptions, conditions, and any exceptions that the offeror relied upon as a basis for the Technical and Management proposal or the Price proposal. For each exception, the offeror shall identify the requirement, term, or condition; cite the applicable solicitation section or attachment, paragraph and page number; state the reason for the exception; and provide any other pertinent information concerning the exception.

The Government reserves the right not to accept any exceptions to this solicitation or to rate them adversely in the evaluation.

IV. PROPOSAL SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS-Proposal Organization Offerors shall provide a proposal in response to the Statement of Work (SOW). A complete proposal consists of Volume I, Tabs A and B, bound in a single binding; and Volume II and the Auxiliary Cost Data bound in a single binding.

PROPOSAL ORGANIZATION

Volume I, Tab A: Technical and Management Proposal, Proposed Quality Assurance Plan, Résumés, Form SF 1449

Volume I, Tab B: Past Performance Proposal

Volume II: Price Proposal

Auxiliary Cost Data: Supporting cost/price data and Excel spreadsheets

a. Media and Number of Copies The offeror shall submit one soft copy and three hard copies of Volume I, one softcopy and one hard copy of Volume II and the Auxiliary Cost Data. The offeror shall submit proposal soft copies on virus free and properly labeled CD-ROMs. In the event of discrepancies between the hard copy and soft copy versions, the hard copy version will take precedence over the soft copy.

MEDIA AND COPIES

(a) The offeror shall deliver submission item soft copies on CD-ROMs. The soft copies shall contain all data submitted in the hard copy.

(b) The offeror shall label each CD-ROM with the BPA number, company name, and date.

(c) The softcopies of Volumes I and II shall be in Microsoft Word format.

(d) The softcopy Auxiliary Cost Data shall be in Excel 2003 or compatible format.

(e) The Government will not accept, consider, or evaluate any data provided in Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) or similar format type.

c. Page Counts, Page Numbering, and Page Limits

(a) The page limit for Volume I is 50 pages. Resumes should be no more than 2 pages each and are not included in the 50 page count. The page limit for Volume II is unlimited.

· The Government will remove the excess pages over the page limit.

· The Government will not read pages in excess of the page limitation; the Government will evaluate the proposal as if the excess pages did not exist.

(b) The offeror shall number pages sequentially within each tab, e.g., Tab A shall begin with page A-1 and may be numbered through page A-50.

(c) If both sides of a page contain information or data, the offeror shall number and count both sides of the page.

(d) The page limits do not apply to Questionnaires, cover letter, solicitation, Amendments, table of contents, cross reference index, definitions, required representations and certifications. The Government shall treat page limitations as maximums.

d. Price Data Use and Restrictions

(a) The offeror shall include price or cost data only in Volume II and the Auxiliary Cost Data.

(b) The offeror shall NOT include price or cost data in Volume I.

e. Résumés Résumés are limited to two pages per individual and must conform to the Government’s font and page formats described below. Résumés shall follow a consistent format and shall include the position role, a summary of qualifications, education, employment history, specialized training, security clearance level, and professional certifications. The offeror shall provide short biographical summaries for proposed Team Lead in addition to résumés. Resumes are not included in the Volume I, Tab A Page Count

f. Staff and Key Personnel The offeror will designate one individual to serve as Project Team Lead. The offeror shall describe the roles and responsibilities of the Project Team Lead.

g. Page Formats The table below shows the required page format requirements for proposal hardcopies.

The offeror may use legible tables, charts, graphs, and figures whenever practical to depict organizations, systems and layout, schedules, plans, etc. These displays shall be uncomplicated, and legible.

If used, foldout pages shall fold entirely within the volume. Offerors may only use foldout pages for large tables, charts, graphs, diagrams, and schematics, not for text.

PROPOSAL HARDCOPY FORMAT REQUIREMENTS

Text shall be single-spaced

Pages shall have at least 1-inch margins on the top and bottom and 3/4 inch side margins*

Font shall be New Times Roman, no less than 12 point

Tables, charts, graphs and figures, shall use any readable font style and font size but no smaller than 8 point

The Government will remove fold out pages and will not evaluate removed fold out pages

Fold out pages are permitted

Foldout pages shall not exceed than 11 x 17 inches when open

The Government may disregard information presented on page sizes exceeding 11 x 17 inches

* Except for the reproduced sections of the solicitation document

The offeror shall mark proposal pages as “Company Proprietary” if proprietary information is contained therein.

h. Auxiliary Cost Data Formats The offeror must produce all price and cost tables using MS Excel spreadsheets. The offeror must submit all the pricing tables and data calculation spreadsheets in Microsoft Excel 2003 (or compatible) format. Text data may use Microsoft Office 2003-2007 or compatible format only.

i. Offer Contents Cover Letter including GSA Schedule Contract Number (if any), CAGE Code, DUNS Number, Taxpayer Identification Number, and the name(s), email addresses, and telephone number(s) of official(s) authorized to negotiate and bind the offeror company.

V. TAB A: TECHNICAL AND MANAGEMENT

The offeror shall use the SOW, together with other applicable portions of the request for proposals, as a basis to prepare a specific and comprehensive Technical and Management proposal. The Government will evaluate the proposal against the Technical and Management factor as defined in the Evaluation Factors section. All the requirements specified in the request for proposals are mandatory. The offeror shall propose and describe the tasks the offeror will perform. In addition, offerors shall discuss their management and corporate capabilities.

Additional guidance is as follows:

(a) The offeror shall discuss their proposed process and procedures to plan and perform the work required to achieve all of the objectives specified in the Statement of Work. At a minimum the Contractor shall:

Provide a brief narrative describing their understanding of the SME technical personnel aspects of this effort and their method of meeting the same.

The offeror must demonstrate that they possess the ability to meet all of the technical requirements of this solicitation with the staff proposed. It is the offeror’s responsibility to clearly explain this fact to the Government in the offer.

VI. TAB B: FACTOR 2 PAST PERFORMANCE

Corporate Capabilities. The proposal shall include a past performance history (description of background, experience and qualifications) from previous efforts that support the Offeror’s current corporate capability to provide the required efforts and outcomes described in the Statement of Work (SOW). The past performance history shall include a technical office and contracting office point of contact, address and phone number for at least three (3) similar Governmental and or commercial contracts performed within the last three (3) years. This section shall include a statement concerning which of the previous efforts provided (within this section and past performance questionnaires) are considered the most recent and relevant to the efforts required under the SOW. The Offeror is encouraged to include any relevant past performance it may have as a teaming partner, predecessor company of its corporate staff, key personnel, etc. Offerors are authorized to provide information on problems encountered on the identified contracts and the corrective action used to improve the problems and manage risk. The proposal shall include a past performance history (description of background, experience and qualifications from previous efforts) that support the Offeror’s current technical and analytical capability to provide the required efforts and outcomes described in the Performance Work Statement (SOW) plus specific requirements identified in the enclosed appendices. Specific details of similar analytical, technical, instructor, training, flight and/ or other requirement details should be included.

Past Performance Questionnaires (received from at least 3 references). Instructions and past performance questionnaires are included in the request for proposals. Once completed, Past Performance Questionnaires shall be e-mailed directly from the evaluator to david.g.gruenbaum.civ@mail.mil.

VII. VOLUME II: PRICE PROPOSAL

The offeror shall submit a price proposal:

Offeror shall provide their fully loaded labor rates. That is, the offeror should set out rate(s) that the contractor will bill the Government for each direct billable hour of labor by labor category. This should be for one year, based on the period 1 July 2014 through 30 June 2015 (although the actual period of performance may differ, based on the date of award), with two Option Years, plus pricing for an additional six (6) months, in the event a contract extension under the provisions of 52.217-8 is made. It is solely the responsibility of the offeror to clearly set out and explain their price proposal for all of the SME’s for this contract. Confusing or disorganized explanation of the offerors pricing will be negatively viewed by the Government.

(a) The offeror shall clearly identify labor category, number of labor hours, fully burdened labor rates. This information shall be provided for a base year and two Option Years, plus an additional six (6) months. For the purposes of evaluating price, a Full-Time Equivalent year will be calculated utilizing 1920 hours; although some corporations calculate the FTE year as 1880 hours, submissions in response to this solicitation must be made on the basis of 1920 hours to be considered responsive.

(b) The Government will evaluate offers for award purposes based on the total price for the one year base period, two option years and six additional months.

Contractor will use a price matrix similar to the following:

(Specify if Base or Option Period)

Unbalanced Proposals

Offerors are cautioned from submitting unbalanced offer. Unbalanced pricing may increase performance risk. Unbalance pricing exists when despite an unacceptable total evaluated price, the price of one or more CLINs is apparently understated or overstated as indicated by the application of Cost and Price analysis techniques. The pricing and total cost shall not signify increase or decrease from period to period without significant documents explaining the rationale.

VIII. AUXILIARY PRICE AND COST DATA

The offeror shall use Microsoft Excel to calculate and produce all prices and cost tables used in the price proposal. This data shall include the Excel spreadsheet versions of all cost and price tables and data included in the Price proposal. It also includes an Excel version of the basis of estimate that includes all the tasks and cost calculations.

Proposal must include a price for the base and two option periods with adequate detail for the government to assess the published evaluation factors. There is no limit on supporting cost data provided by the contractor.

IX. STANDARD FORM 1449

1. The offeror shall place a completed SF 1449 (available at www.gsa.gov/portal/forms or www.acq.osd.mil/dpap/ccap/cc/jcchb/Files/.../forms/sf1449_e.pdf ) in Tab A. The offeror must complete Blocks 12 through 18 of the SF 1449 (Solicitation, Offer and Award) and must be fully aware of the minimum offer effective period established.

(a) The “Offer effective period”, as used in this provision, means the number of calendar days within which the Government may accept the proposed offer and award a contract. The offer effective period begins on the date specified in this solicitation for receipt of offers.

(b) The Government requires an offer effective period of at least 120 days. The offeror may specify a period longer than the stated minimum effective period, but may not specify a period shorter than the stated minimum effective period. Any offer specifying less than the Government’s minimum effective period may be rejected.

The offeror's signature in Block 17 indicates that the offeror has read and agrees to comply with all the conditions and instructions of this solicitation.