Amendment W91RUS21R0122 Question and Answer.pdf

0011661481

AMENDMENT OF SOLICITATION/MODIFICATION OF CONTRACT

Except as provided herein, all terms and conditions of the document referenced in Item 9A or 10A, as heretofore changed, remains unchanged and in full force and effect.

15A. NAME AND TITLE OF SIGNER (Type or print)

30-105-04EXCEPTION TO SF 30

APPROVED BY OIRM 11-84

STANDARD FORM 30 (Rev. 10-83) Prescribed by GSA

FAR (48 CFR) 53.243

The purpose of this amendment is to provide questions and answ ers.

1. CONTRACT ID CODE PAGE OF PAGES

J 1 5

16A. NAME AND TITLE OF CONTRACTING OFFICER (Type or print)

16C. DATE SIGNED

BY 23-Sep-2021

16B. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA15C. DATE SIGNED15B. CONTRACTOR/OFFEROR

(Signature of Contracting Officer)(Signature of person authorized to sign)

8. NAME AND ADDRESS OF CONTRACTOR (No., Street, County, State and Zip Code) X W91RUS21R0122

X 9B. DATED (SEE ITEM 11)

19-Jul-2021

10B. DATED (SEE ITEM 13)

9A. AMENDMENT OF SOLICITATION NO.

11. THIS ITEM ONLY APPLIES TO AMENDMENTS OF SOLICITATIONS

X The above numbered solicitation is amended as set forth in Item 14. The hour and date specified for receipt of Offer is extended, X is not extended.

Offer must acknowledge receipt of this amendment prior to the hour and date specified in the solicitation or as amended by one of the following methods:

(a) By completing Items 8 and 15, and returning copies of the amendment; (b) By acknowledging receipt of this amendment on each copy of the offer submitted;

or (c) By separate letter or telegram which includes a reference to the solicitation and amendment numbers. FAILURE OF YOUR ACKNOWLEDGMENT TO BE RECEIVED AT THE PLACE DESIGNATED FOR THE RECEIPT OF OFFERS PRIOR TO THE HOUR AND DATE SPECIFIED MAY RESULT IN

REJECTION OF YOUR OFFER. If by virtue of this amendment you desire to change an offer already submitted, such change may be made by telegram or letter, provided each telegram or letter makes reference to the solicitation and this amendment, and is received prior to the opening hour and date specified.

12. ACCOUNTING AND APPROPRIATION DATA (If required)

13. THIS ITEM APPLIES ONLY TO MODIFICATIONS OF CONTRACTS/ORDERS.

IT MODIFIES THE CONTRACT/ORDER NO. AS DESCRIBED IN ITEM 14.

A. THIS CHANGE ORDER IS ISSUED PURSUANT TO: (Specify authority) THE CHANGES SET FORTH IN ITEM 14 ARE MADE IN THE

CONTRACT ORDER NO. IN ITEM 10A.

B. THE ABOVE NUMBERED CONTRACT/ORDER IS MODIFIED TO REFLECT THE ADMINISTRATIVE CHANGES (such as changes in paying office, appropriation date, etc.) SET FORTH IN ITEM 14, PURSUANT TO THE AUTHORITY OF FAR 43.103(B).

C. THIS SUPPLEMENTAL AGREEMENT IS ENTERED INTO PURSUANT TO AUTHORITY OF:

D. OTHER (Specify type of modification and authority)

E. IMPORTANT: Contractor is not, is required to sign this document and return copies to the issuing office.

14. DESCRIPTION OF AMENDMENT/MODIFICATION (Organized by UCF section headings, including solicitation/contract subject matter where feasible.)

10A. MOD. OF CONTRACT/ORDER NO.

2. AMENDMENT/MODIFICATION NO. 5. PROJECT NO.(If applicable)

6. ISSUED BY

3. EFFECTIVE DATE

23-Sep-2021

CODE

ACC-APG

2133 CUSHING ST.

BLDG 61801

FORT HUACHUCA AZ 85613

W91RUS 7. ADMINISTERED BY (If other than item 6)

4. REQUISITION/PURCHASE REQ. NO.

CODE

See Item 6

FACILITY CODECODE

EMAIL:TEL:

W91RUS21R0122

SECTION SF 30 BLOCK 14 CONTINUATION PAGE

SUMMARY OF CHANGES

SECTION SF 30 - BLOCK 14 CONTINUATION PAGE

The following have been added by full text:

QUESTION AND ANSWERS

1. Please confirm that the US Government’s seeks to have the solicitation W91RUS21R0122 responses submitted on Saturday the 25th at 9:00 AZ time/12:00 Eastern time. We are seeking clarification because it seems unusual for responses to be due on a Saturday.

Yes, the Government seeks to have the solicitation W91RUS21R0122 responses submitted on Saturday 25 September 2021 at 9:00AZ time / 12:00 eastern time.

2. On Page 6 of the solicitation: Can the Government please elaborate as to what is meant by “Quoted pricing must include verification testing for all equipment items.”?

What type(s) of verification testing is the Government referring too?

Vendor must provide product verification testing on all equipment on the kits to customer to ensure that each component works properly and can provide services.

Vendor will need to facilitate product acceptance testing by unit on date of delivery.

Product acceptance testing will entail connection of kit to required listed gateways and validation of services.

3. On page 6 of the solicitation: Can the Government please elaborate as to what is meant by “Quoted price must also include remote hardware/software repair support…” Specifically what the Gvt. means by using the “remote” term in this clause.

“Remote” means that any user tech has access to make configuration changes using vendor portal access to meet mission requirements (i.e. while supporting VIP travel) without having to send kits back for reconfiguration. If hardware/software support cannot be done at the user tech level and needs to be sent back or required vendor on-site visit, it is at no additional cost to the govt.

4. On page 6 of the solicitation: Can the Government please elaborate as to what is meant by “on-site training”? Specifically, can the Gvt. tell us how many times the responder is expected to perform on-site training over the 3-year period of performance so responses can be made in alignment with the Government’s expectation?

On-site training will be conducted once for a 3 day period at Joint Base San Antonio.

5. On page 7 of the solicitation: Can the Government please elaborate as to what is meant by “must provide defense-in-depth protection to the …the kit itself”?

The defense-in-depth protection refers to patches, STIG compliant configuration and other measures to provide multi-layered cybersecurity defense to end users.

6. On page 7 of the solicitation: Regarding “Must be able to operate on the Joint Regional Security Stack (JRSS), Secure Network Operations Center (SNOC), DISN Enterprise Classified Travel Kit Gateway (DECTK) without additional configurations and or cos but kits must be able to be configured at the user level.”, how will the

Government measure compliance to this requirement? Are their technical specifications?

* Govt will measure compliance during product acceptance testing through verification of services to required Govt networks with configuration changes conducted at the user tech level.

* There are no technical specifications other than it must have a current DoDIN Approved Products List (APL) and Joint Interoperability Test Command (JITC) certification to access required Govt network gateways.

7. Page 7 of the solicitation: “Specific System model must possess current Joint Interoperability Test Command (JITC) certification and be listed on DoDIN Approved Products List (APL) as identified on https://aplits.disa.mil by DISA. Vendor must provide proof of JITC certification and DoDIN APL listing.” Will the Government consider submissions that include products that have UC APL Placement listing in process, specifically products that will receive placement before the end of Oct 2021 per the product manufacture (Cisco)?

Govt will not consider any communication kit that is not currently listed on the Approved Product List (APL)/Joint Interoperability Test Command (JITC) certification.

Communication kit must be approved to operate based on APL/JITC certification.

8. Page 8 of the solicitation: “Durability for daily use and frequent travel that must be able to be stowed beneath an airline seat (11” tall by 17” wide) and easily transportable with weight of the kit to be under 10lbs.” The Government has listed two measurements “tall and wide”, is there a depth dimension the Gvt. is considering? And does the 10lbs.

include the Type 1 HAIPE KG-250x or 250xs encryptor? Does it include the battery pack used to support the 2 hour runtime? Does it include the case or method to obfuscate the equipment (including Type 1 COMSEC) from public view while in transport? Does it include the VoIP handset?

* Depth is not considered by the Govt. It just has to comply with TSA requirement to be able to be stowed beneath an airline seat.

* HAIPE device does not count as part of the 10lb limit and does not travel with the kit enclosure as it should be separated from device for best practice.

* Battery pack does count as part of the 10lb limit as it is integrated with the kit

* Yes, case weight is included in 10lb limit as well with no KG as stated before that it should travel separate for best practice.

* Yes, VoIP handset is included in the 10lb weight limit.

9. Page 8 of the solicitation: “Must be able to run off internal back-up power for up to two (2) hours” Does the Government intend for the battery to be “internal” insofar as contained within the “GC3T COMMUNICATION KITS” Yes, backup battery power must be internal to the kit/enclosure.

10. Page 8 of the solicitation: “All required cables” Does the Government intend the miscellaneous RJ45 Ethernet cables used for compute and network transport conductivity? Can the Gvt. expand on what it means by this requirement?

No, the Govt doesn’t require the miscellaneous RJ45 Ethernet cables. This requirement is for all cables needed to bring the kit to fully-operational status. (i.e. power cables)

11. Page 8 of the solicitation: “Minimum three-day On-Site training sessions for Communication Team operators”. Does the Government mean this to be 1 continuous training session over 3 days, or 3 sessions that are 1 day each? If a bidder’s solution were so simple to use that it doesn’t require 3 consecutive days of training to operate and maintain the kit, does the Government desire the vendor to give the same training three days in a row? Any clarification the Government is able to provide is much appreciated so proposal responses can be submitted in alignment with the Government’s expectation.

One day training that is conducted on 3 consecutive days to allow full participation of every team while maintaining full operational support to the VIPs on delivery of equipment.

12. Page 13 of the solicitation: “Award will be made on a lowest-priced technically acceptable basis (Considering the following two factors: technical, and price.) All offerors shall be considered in terms of price, lowest to highest, and then the apparent lowest-priced offeror will be evaluated for acceptability under the technical and price factors. If the lowest-price offeror is evaluated as unacceptable, the acceptability of the next lowest-price offeror will be evaluated, continuing this process as necessary.” Can the Government explain what “and then the apparent lowest-priced offeror will be evaluated for acceptability under the technical and price factors” means? This section reads somewhat confusing, as it begins by stating lowest price will be considered first, and then it begins stating technical compliance… but instead it states “acceptability under the technical and price factors” bringing price back into consideration. Can the Government clarify what the official evaluation criteria is with specificity? Lowest price technically compliant, technically complaint lowest price, some sort of technical compliance weighting, etc.?

Apparent lowest priced offeror" means that based on a review of the price, we will send the lowest priced offer to the technical representative for review. IF it is considered technically acceptable (meets all the requirements of the solicitation), then the award will be made to that offeror. IF the lowest priced offeror is NOT technically acceptable, they are now not in consideration and the next lowest priced offer will go for technical review for acceptability. This is a lowest price, technically acceptable solicitation.

13. Given the Cisco ESR 5915 is used in all three of the currently DECTK approved DECTK Kits, and that Cisco Systems has announced the Cisco ESR 5915 end of life date (https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/collateral/routers/5900-series-embedded-services-routers/ eos-eol-notice-c51-744743.html), will the Government accept technical solutions built using the new Cisco ESR 6300 (ESR 5915 replacement) to ensure the Government will not unnecessarily need to replace the 24 kits to be procured prematurely as a result of the ESR5915 end of life?

The end of life of the Cisco ESR 5915 is beyond the lifecycle of the communications kit that is currently being procured to fill an immediate need. This is why it must have a current approved DoDIN Approved Products List (APL) certification.

14. Can you confirm if this is a small business set aside or an unrestricted solicitation?

Answer: This is an unrestricted solicitation.

15. Can you confirm delivery of the 27 Executive Communications Kits is 30 days post contract award?

Answer: Delivery is 30 day ADC, per solicitation

16. Can you confirm if CLINS 0002-0004 are deleted or if there is a requirement to provide 24/7 support (remote hardware/software repair support, on-site training, parts and labor) for three years following delivery of the 27 Executive Communications Kits?

Answer: The option year CLINS 0002 - 0004 have been removed from the solicitation. The salient characteristics request Three year warranty and support to include firmware updates, engineering support, and repair due to faulty workmanship or quality.

(End of Summary of Changes)