D07_Answers_for_Vendorquestions1-58_for_W91CRB-17-R-0005_(part_1)_2017-3-21-2.pdf

Question # Security/Technical / Management

Questions / Comments RFP Reference Government Response

Please define the LCMC technologies for which the contractor will provide lifecycle management.

Part 1: 1 Technologies are a part of the enterprise‐wide applications

“ensure all programmers are certified as per Army Cyber requirements” Please specify the IAT levels and ITS levels of all personnel IAW DoD 8570.01‐M.

Part 1: 1.4, 12.1

IAT Level 2 & IT Level 2 All systems are unclassified

“Determine business intelligence and web‐ based technology required to sustain all Army and tri‐service efforts through FY2017” Please explain this requirement and why it ends in 2017.

Part 1: 1.4.1

This is a year to year requirement, based on funding and technology expansion. PWS modified to clarify it is not just of FY17.

“3.1 The period of performance shall be twelve (12) months from date of award, with four, one‐year options periods.” Will the contractor be expected to perform on the Award Date?

Part 1: 3.1 Yes

3.2 lists five locations. While the remainder of the PWS only speaks to New Cumberland and Redstone. Please confirm that these other locations are potential travel locations.

Part 1: 3.2 Yes, there is possible travel to all locations listed.

“The Contractor personnel shall have and maintain a SECRET clearance in keeping with personnel policy requirements for a non‐ critical sensitive position to perform the tasks of this PWS.” Based on the current OPM backlog, will the government accept interim clearances, pending full investigation determination?

Part 1: 5.7, 5.11

The government will accept interim clearances as long as they appear in

JPAS.

As the Administrative Assistant does not require an IAT certification under the DOD 8570, does this position also require a Secret Clearance?

Part 1: 5.7, 5.11, 3.1.2

Yes, any contractor working on this contract must have the Secret

Clearance.

Please verify that the PM and the alternate PM are the only key personnel and the only resumes and acceptance letters required.

Paragraph 9 states that the PM is key personnel. However Subfactor 1B of the submission instructions say “key person” are defined in paragraph 5.2.1 which lists all positions. Subfactor 1B requirements and paragraph 5.2.2. are written in a way that leads the offeror to believe that the Government is expecting numerous resumes, numerous signed letters and numerous proof of security clearances.

Part 1: 9, L:

subfactor 1b (paragraphs 2 and 6), Part 5:5.2.2

The Contractor’s Program Manager (PM) and Contractor’s Alternate PM are the only Contractor Key Personnel. The contractor’s Key Personnel and Alternate Key

Personnel resumes are required. PWS adjusted.

Will the Government find an approach technically acceptable if the Program Manager and Alternate are offsite with all six developers onsite?

Part 1: 9

No. PM and Alternate PM are required to be onsite at USASAC, Redstone Arsenal, AL. Please notice PWS modification to 9 Senior

Database Engineers.

If the PM and Alternate are allowed to be offsite, do they have to meet the same qualifications as the “Senior Database Engineer” labor category or will Program Management and Software Development Lifecycle Management skills be preferred?

Part 1:9, Part 5:13.1.1, L:Subfactor 1b

PM and Alternate PM are required to be onsite at USASAC, Redstone

Arsenal, AL.

Please verify that the Government intends to comply with and enforce 8570.01‐M standards that allow a six month window for contractors to obtain IA baseline certifications.

Part 1: 12.1, 13.1.1

The DoD 8570.01‐M, C4.2.2. IA Baseline Certification IAM Level I‐III does not apply to contractors. HQ DA requires contractors to have certification at time of award.

Please confirm that the Government will provide Cyber Training and TARP training upon contract start and upon the in processing of new hires. This may also require a change to paragraph 5.2.2 “Contractor shall provide its employees with specific training and knowledge skills to successfully perform tasks as required by

USASAC.”

Part 1: 13.1.1, Part 5: 5.2.2

The government will provide the training listed in the PWS, Paragraph 11 to include Cyber and TARP training.

“with at least four years of specialized experience in full life cycle software system development in the area of Army Foreign Military Sales (FMS)” This requirement is extremely restrictive to any competitive offer and favors the incumbent unfairly. This is also restrictive after award as it only allows a contractor to hire someone who has previously worked on this contract. The technological skills and certifications listed are common across industry and any competent engineer will be able to study documentation and apply these skills to operate, maintain and engineer any system regardless of whether or not it was built specifically for FMS. By imposing this requirement the Government is also negating its chance to receive fresh talent with knowledge of new and better approaches to delivering the same services.

Request that the government remove this requirement or expand upon what makes the FMS systems unique or proprietary to the incumbent.

Part 1: 13.1.1

Market research demonstrated the availability of companies and people currently supporting the Foreign

Military Sales community across DoD to provide a base for this knowledge.

Please clarify the requirement for Phase‐ In/Out. Paragraph 16.1 states two to four weeks, but it also states 30 days starting on the first day of the First Month. The Phase out timeline is only 15 days. The joint inventory is 30 days after the incumbent contract ends.

Part 1: 16.1

Notice the PWS 16.1 modification to the Phase‐ in stating a one week transition plan development plus 30 days to implement the transition plan.

The ‘two to four weeks’ or ‘no more than 30 days’ refers to the duration of the phase in plan. This allows up to 15 days prior to award and up to 15 days after award. PWS joint inventory shall be conducted with the transition period.

“The phase‐in will begin on the first day of the first month of performance of the base year of performance” If the contract starts on the 26th of June , will the phase‐in not begin until the first day of the following month?

Part 1: 16.1 Notice the PWS 16.1 modification to start Phase‐ in transition period at time of award.

“purchasing contractor‐furnished equipment” What CFE has historically been required?

Part 1: 16.1, 3.2.3

None

“The joint inventory of Government furnished property must be completed within thirty days of the end of the transition period.” “Within thirty days” could mean before or after the end of the transition. Is the intent to conduct this inventory before the end of the incumbent contract?

Part 1: 16.1

Notice the PWS 16.1 modification to complete the joint inventory during the transition period as address in the transition plan.

Are the requirements listed in paragraph 16 on the current contract? Can we rely upon the incumbent to provide full cooperation and complete software documentation?

Part 1: 16

The Contractor shall provide sufficient experienced personnel during the phase‐in and phase‐out periods to ensure the services called for by this contract are maintained at the required level of proficiency.

“The DD 254 is provided as an attachment.”

Please provide the DD254.

Part 4: 4.1 Supplied

“Administrative Assistants” denotes more than 480 hours per year is required. Please clarify.

Part 5: 5.2 Notice the PWS modification change to assistant versus assistants.

Is the administrative work to be performed at the Government site on both locations, or can this be done remotely?

Part 5: 5.2.1 This can be completed remotely.

What is the place of performance for the Administrative Assistant(s)?

Part 5: 5.2.1 The administrative assistant will not have a place of performance on site at

USASAC.

Please define the “OpenText (e‐Collab, COP) processes”

Part 5: 5.3 b)

OpenText is a tool that integrates groups of solutions designed to help organizations with digital transformation.

24 Please Define CPM. Part 5: 5.3 b) Country Program Manager

25 Please define CCM. Part 5:5.3 b) Country Case Manager

“The contractor shall use Army Agile methodology in software development is required.” Please provide a reference for the Army Agile methodology.

Part 5: 5.3 v.

The Army Agile acquisition strategy is available at multiple locations with a google search.

“The contractor shall use Army Agile methodology in software development is required.” In specifying the software development framework, it appears that the Government is directing not only the performance requirements of this contract, but also the technical approach the contractor is to use. Will the Government exercise relatively continuous supervision and control over the contractor personnel performing the contract?

Part 5: 5.3 v.

In 2012, the new acquisition strategy, called the Agile Process, is part of a larger effort by the Army to streamline IT and equip soldiers and other Army personnel with technology much faster and more cost‐effectively. Faced with budget constraints, the Army must remake itself to become smaller and more agile — and the network is at the heart of the transformation.

Therefore this method shall be used.

Defense Security Assistance Management Systems (DSAMS), General Fund Enterprise Business System (GFEBS) and Centralized Integrated System – International Logistics (CISIL) are mentioned briefly in paragraph 1.2, Volume I Factor I, and Subfactor 1c, but there are no specific requirements mentioned for these systems in paragraph 5.

What are the contractor requirements for managing these systems?

GFEBs is a PEO‐EIS enterprise application on SAP, which is proprietary to the SAP contractor managing this system.

DSAMS is managed by the Defense Security Cooperation Agency.

Part 1:1.2, L:Factor 1, L:Subfactor 1c, i

Data feeds from these systems feed our data warehouse. The data warehouse allows us to pull data to use for multiple applications.

According to paragraph iii of Subfactor 1.c, GFEBS FMS sites is a SharePoint site. How does the GFEBS system of record differ from the GFEBS FMS site?

Part 5: 5.3m, L:Subfactor 1c

We manually pull data from GFEBS through the GFEBS standard reporting application. We have no specific GFEBS FMS system.

Is the Interactive Case Development Analyzer (ICDA) the same as the Case Development Analyzer (CDS)?

Part 5: 5.3 g and 5.3 i

No

“Develop and sustain mobile applications for the SAE” is this a new requirement, or do these applications exist?

Part 5: 5.3 p New

In order for the offeror to “Demonstrate approach for architecture of an Enterprise Data Warehouse and how to integrate encrypted data flows from other DoD/DA organizations.” , request that the Government define the requirements including data structures of all organizations involved, communication protocols, platforms and acceptable means for encryption. Paragraph 5.3 does not contain enough information to build an architecture.

Part 5: 5.3, Subfactor 1a

(x)

Offeror shall elaborate on how they would build a Data Warehouse based on their technical solution and experiences.

An OV1 schema will meet this request.

Do the margins and font restrictions pertain to the required headers and footers?

L2

Yes, Please see modified Section L 2.

Header and Footers are 0.5 from edge of paper and Margins are 1 inch from the edge of paper.

“Demonstrate approach with ARMY FMS Business Procedures for FMS Business Procedures for Tri‐Services: U.S. Army Security Assistance Command, U.S. Air Force Security Assistance Command and U.S. Navy International Programs Office.” FMS business procedures are defined by Service regulations and DSCA directives. As there are no requirements for “Business Procedures” in Part 5, it is unclear what the Government is expecting in response to this requirement. Please elaborate on this requirement.

L Subfactor 1a, ii

The offeror needs to demonstrate experience of their understanding of how the three MILDEPs FMS programs (Army, Air Force, Navy) relate to each other.

As these certifications are individual certifications, will these not be evaluated by assessments of the resume in Subfactor 1b?

L Subfactor 1a, iii

Notice the PWS modification, only Key Personnel resumes are required.

HQ DA requires contractors to have certification at time of award. The certificates will be assessed prior to work beginning.

There are not COTS products mentioned in paragraph 1.2.6 and the COTS products mentioned in 5.3 are OpenText and SharePoint. Are these the only COTS products the Government is referring to in paragraph v?

L Subfactor 1a, iii

Notice RFQ modification to remove the reference to PWS paragraph

1.2.6. PWS paragraph 5.3 includes

mention of backup and recovery of web servers, social media tools and cloud based technology (all which may use a type of COTS technology).

Sub‐factor 1c: Corporate Experience: This requirement will seriously inhibit the ability of a Bidder other than the incumbent to submit a compliant and technically acceptable proposal – again favoring the incumbent contractor. No current non‐ incumbent employee will have the technical experience in administering and developing the tools used exclusively by USASAC. This is exacerbated by the fact that the incumbent has had exclusive access to these systems since 2005. How do you plan to mitigate the apparent unfair bidding landscape created by this requirement?

L Sub‐factor 1c: Corporate Experience

Market Research showed there are enough companies and people currently supporting the Foreign

Military Sales community across DoD to provide a competitive bases for this knowledge.

Section 9. KEY PERSONNEL states “The contractor shall provide a designee to serve as the PM for this contract. The PM shall be responsible for the performance of the work.

The name of this person and an alternate who shall act for the contractor when the PM is absent shall be designated in writing to the contracting officer. The PM or alternate shall have full authority to act for the contractor on all contract matters relating to daily operation of this contract……..”

Question:

1a) Is the resume of the PM and the alternate required as part of the proposal?

1b) Is the PM position a billable position?

1a) Yes, they are the Contractor’s Key Personnel

1b) Yes

Section 13.1.2 Administration/Clerical (Labor Category based on experience) states “The contractor will provide Administrative Assistant support to people and groups within the USASAC G6 as required. The administrative assistants shall perform clerical duties to include answering phones, taking memos and maintaining files…...”

However, the “TECHNICAL EXHIBIT 3 – ESTIMATED WORKLOAD DATA” has this position as part time with only 480 hours.

Question:

Would this only be for 1 part‐time position to support the G6 Office?

Technical Exhibit 3 is only an estimate of hours for 1 Part‐time position to support this contract. The administrative assistant will not have a place of performance on site at

USASAC. Offerors technical approach will determine the position.

Is there an incumbent? If so are they allowed to bid this RFP?

Yes, there is an incumbent. The incumbent is INTERACTIVE

INFORMATION SOLUTIONS, INC.; they are allowed to bid if they meet the requirements of the acquisition.

What is the contract number awarded to the incumbent and the total cost of the contract?

The contract # was W91CRB‐11‐0102 and the total value was $9,882,724.45.

Should full‐time personnel be assigned to Saudi Arabia?

No

Is there a requirement for a Project Manager?

Yes

Page 3, Item No 1002, Travel FFP: Is the $10,000 quoted for Travel for evaluation purposes only?

Yes

PWS Part 1, section 1.4.1 and PWS Part 5, section 5.3 provides a list of general/specific development and operations support tasks including technology platforms, however: (1) there is no specificity on the number of actual ASASAC web or mobile applications being supported; (2) how many Work Plans or applications releases are approved per year; (3) the level of effort or size of these Work Plans or releases; and (4) how many database and web servers are being administered at New Cumberland, PA and Redstone Arsenal, AL.

Question: In order for offerors to develop an accurate staffing plan, skill sets, and Cost Proposal for the Web And Programming Support Services effort, will the government provide information on the number of Work Plans approved per year, number of applications releases, and the size of these work plans or web application releases in hours, and the number of database and applications servers being administered at the referenced sites.

PWS Part 1

GENERAL

INFORMATION,

PWS 1.4.1

General Tasks.

PART 5

SPECIFIC

TASKS, PWS

5.3

No. The Government is providing the estimated skill set they require and estimated workload for the requirement. See Technical Exhibit 3

“Estimated Workload Data.”

Please notice the PWS is modified

Technical Exhibit 3.

PWS Part 1, section 1.4.1 requests tasks from the offeror to analyze, define requirements, design, program, test, debug, document, implement, maintain and train on capabilities with uninterrupted secure operations.

Question: Several tasks in this section are better completed with labor categories outside the two labor categories outlined in Section 13. Will the government accept additional proposed labor categories (e.g.

Business Analyst, Quality Assurance, SharePoint Administrator, etc.)

PWS Part 1

GENERAL

INFORMATION,

PWS 1.4.1

General Tasks.

Yes

PWS Technical Exhibit 3 lists two labor categories descriptions (Senior Database Engineer, Administrative Support Services Specialist) and gives the estimated annual labor hours for the requirements of this PWS based on historical data. These labor categories do not equate to the scope of effort, general and specific tasks listed in the

PWS.

Question: Will the government clarify the scope, activities and tasks of the Work Plans and/or applications releases to support the required Web and Programming Support services to enable proposing the appropriate hours and labor mix to perform the requirements of this PWS.

PWS

TECHNICAL

EXHIBIT 3

ESTIMATED

WORKLOAD

DATA

No. The Government is providing the estimated skill set they require and estimated workload for the requirement. See Technical Exhibit 3

“Estimated Workload Data.”

Please notice the PWS is modified

Technical Exhibit 3.

PWS Part 1, section 1.2.7 states The contractor shall technically assist in the migration of USASAC Enterprise Systems to Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) or Commercial Data Center in support of the department of the Army Chief Information Officer/G‐6 Execute Order (EXORD) 209‐11, Army Data Center Consolidation Plan, All Army Activities 187/2011, May 9, 2011.

Question: In order for offerors to develop an accurate staffing plan and Cost Proposal for the Web And Programming Support Services effort, will the government provide information on the number Enterprise Systems to be migrated into a new DISA or commercial hosted environment.

PWS Part 1

GENERAL

INFORMATION,

PWS 1.2.7

Migration of

Army

Enterprise

Systems

No. The Government is providing the estimated skill set they require and estimated workload for the requirement. See Technical Exhibit 3

“Estimated Workload Data.”

Please notice the PWS is modified

Technical Exhibit 3.

Army FMS currently has a waiver from migrating to a cloud based environment.

PWS Part 1, section 9 states the contractor shall provide a designee to serve as the PM for this contract. The PM shall be responsible for the performance of the work. The name of this person and an alternate who shall act for the contractor when the PM is absent shall be designated in writing to the contracting officer.

The PM or alternate shall have full authority to act for the contractor on all contract matters relating to daily operation of this contract. The

PM or alternate shall be available between, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30p.m, Monday thru Friday except…

Question: Will the government clarify the requested labor categories and Estimated

Workload Data outlined in the RFP. Are the PM tasks and hours outside the outlined estimated workload hours breakdown?

PWS Part 1

GENERAL

INFORMATION,

PWS 9. Key Personnel

See PWS, paragraph 9 modification.

“The [PM] designee shall have the minimum experience and knowledge of the Senior Database Engineer in order to be responsible for the performance of the work.” The PM’s estimated workload depends on the daily operation of this contract. No the PMs tasks and hours are not outside the outlined estimated workload hours.

PWS Part 1, section 13.1.1 states the Senior Database Engineer shall have at least four years of specialized experience in full life cycle software system development in the area of Army Foreign Military Sales (FMS).

Question: Will the government accept Senior Database Engineers with all technical qualifications that have no FMS experience?

Or will this be classified as “Unacceptable”?

PWS Part 1

GENERAL

INFORMATION,

PWS 13.1.1

Senior Database Engineers require at least four years of specialized experience in full life cycle software system development in the area of Army Foreign Military

Sales (FMS).

PWS Technical Exhibit 3 lists the estimated quantity of hours for the Administrative Support Services Specialist at 480 hours per year.

Question: Will the government clarify if these hours are to be provided each week or can the hours be combined into a block of hours every 2 weeks or one week (full time 40 hours) once a month?

PWS

TECHNICAL

EXHIBIT 3

ESTIMATED

WORKLOAD

DATA

The 480 Administrative Support Services Specialist hours are estimated and will depend on the when the duties listed in PWS paragraph 13.1.2 are needed. The administrative assistant will not have a place of performance on site at

USASAC.

What is the primary goal of this solicitation?

Is the government seeking a new vendor? Is the incumbent allowed to bid on this RFP?

General

The goal of the solicitation is to provide Web & Programming Support Services as listed in the PWS. The incumbent is allowed to bid if they meet the requirements of the acquisition.

If there is an incumbent, could you please provide the contract number?

The contract # is W91CRB‐11‐F‐0102.

Whether companies from Outside USA can apply for this?

(like, from India or Canada)

You would need a facility’s clearance and they are only granted within

CONUS.

Whether we need to come over there for meetings?

Personnel will already be at USASAC, Redstone Arsenal, AL where meetings would be held.

Can we perform the tasks (related to RFP) outside USA?

(like, from India or Canada)

No, the requirement is for onsite personnel at USASAC, Redstone

Arsenal, AL.

58 Can we submit the proposals via email?

All proposals shall be submitted via email. See RFP, Section L, paragraph

2.