J.3_Question__Answer_W91ZLK-18-R-0014.docx

W91ZLK-18-R-0014

Questions and Answers

Question / Response

CMMI Maturity Level 3 requirement- Removed. Only need ISO.

The offeror is to determine their own approach to meeting the requirements.

3.

Section L requires Offerors to submit hard-copy in binders as well as electronically on compact disks (CD) and be mailed. The production and submission time required to produce three (3) identical sets of binders and CDs for a total of six (6) binders and six (6) CDs and then have to be mailed is very burdensome to small 8(a) offerors. The time is takes for production and mailing causes a major impact in the reduction of time to produce a compliant, technically acceptable proposal. Question: Request the government provide a 2 week extension for submission and/or allow for electronic (email) submission in lieu of the hard-copy submission requirement.

We do not anticipate extending the solicitation deadline at this time. No extension is allowed, offeror must adhere to Section L solicitation submittal instructions. Hard copy submission required.

No

5.

For the anticipated Task Orders, after IDIQ award, is the requirement for the 8(a) Prime to perform 51% of the Direct Labor to be evaluated at the overall IDIQ-level or at each individual TO-level?

The prime to perform 51% of the Direct Labor to be evaluated at the overall IDIQ-level.

“”Marginal” or a rating above the acceptable level” verbiage has been removed on Section M.

7.

What types of questions and how will the “clarity” questions be asked of an offeror whose technical proposal is initially deemed unacceptable?

FAR 15.306. Clarifications are limited exchanges, between the Government and offerors, that may occur when award without discussions is contemplated. If award will be made without conducting discussions, offerors may be given the opportunity to clarify certain aspects of proposals (e.g., the relevance of an offeror’s past performance information and adverse past performance information to which the offeror has not previously had an opportunity to respond) or to resolve minor or clerical errors.

8.

Section M - Evaluation Factors for Award, C. EVALUATION APPROACH Evaluation Order Term: Should the Government receive more than five (5) proposals in response to this RFP, the Government shall select the five (5) lowest priced proposals for evaluation. If one of the five (5) proposals is determined to be technically acceptable, with fair and reasonable pricing and otherwise eligible for award, no other proposals shall be evaluated. If none of the first five (5) proposals are acceptable the next five shall be evaluated. The technical, program management and past performance factors will be evaluated equal to each other. No one category is of greater importance than another. Once an acceptable rating for technical, program management and past performance has been met, the offeror with the lowest price will be the single deciding factor for award.

Question: The EVALUATION APPROACH seems to be inconsistent in what is being evaluated first, price or technical. The first sentence indicates that the first five (5) lowest priced proposals will be set aside, then the lowest priced proposal will be evaluated for technical acceptability. If low price/technically acceptable, then that offeror wins. If not technically acceptable, then the evaluation team goes to the next lowest price and evaluates for technical acceptability until both conditions are met. The last sentence indicates a LPTA approach. Request the government clarify the exact process to be undertaken to determine the awardee.

All proposals received shall be pre-screened and then organized from lowest to highest price.

The selection process, in accordance with Section M, paragraph C of the solicitation states, “Should the Government receive more than five (5) proposals in response to this RFP, the Government shall select the five (5) lowest priced proposals for evaluation. All five (5) proposals will be evaluated. If one of the five (5) proposals is determined to be technically acceptable, with fair and reasonable pricing and otherwise eligible for award, no other proposals, other than the initial five (5), shall be evaluated. If none of the first five (5) proposals are acceptable the next five (5) shall be evaluated.

The technical, program management and past performance factors will be evaluated equal to each other. No one category is of greater importance than another. Once an acceptable rating for technical, program management and past performance has been met, the offeror with the lowest price will be the single deciding factor for award.”

“The successful offeror will be required to possess a facility clearance at the SECRET level at the time of proposal submission.” Our company holds a DOE Q Clearance. A Q level investigation is the DOE version of an SSBI. I know that the DoD does have reciprocity with DOE under Public Law 108-458 Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 (IRTPA) – 17 December 2004 which, in short, states Title III of IRTPA established statutory guidelines for reciprocity of security clearances. This act provides congressional direction that all legitimate government clearances are to be accepted and transferable between and among government agencies. Documentation of this clearances will be furnished upon request. My question is, is the above mentioned clearance acceptable in lieu of a DoD Secret Clearance?

No. The offeror must have at a minimum a DoD Secret Facility Clearance Level (FCL) request submitted through DISS before they are able to proceed with solicitation. The offeror must have a valid DoD FCL at the time of award. This is verified via the National Industrial Security System (NISS).

10.

SOL# W91ZLK-18-R-0014 and is a Total Set-Aside for competition under the Small Business Administration's 8(a) Business Development Program active participants. I was notified of your solicitation as the requirement is within our company capability however we are not in the Small Business Administration 8A program. Can we bid on this opportunity for consideration. We are a Small Business with MBE Certification.

This requirement is a Total Set-Aside for competition amongst Small Business Administration's 8(a) Business Development Program active participants only.

Past Performance Questionnaires deadline of submission has been changed to November 6, 2018.

12.

If historically CECOM has utilized multiple essential resources for the IT Desktop Support, Sr. System Administrators, VTC & A/V Support, SharePoint Solution Providers, and SharePoint Administrators; Please confirm that it is CECOM’s expectation that offerors provide resumes and letters of commitment (LOCs) for all essential resources proposed, submitting multiple resumes for positions in which we anticipate having more than one employee for those labor categories?

Sections L and M have been updated to require only one (1) resume for each labor category/position identified as Key personnel and Essential personnel. The requirement for Letters of Commitment (LOCs) has been removed from the solicitation.

Yes, they are considered Essential Personnel under “IT Desktop Service Support”

14.

The recent Sources Sought Notice included additional Functional Areas: 5Bars (FA 2), Emergency IT Support Maintenance/Repair (FA 3), IT Relocation and Rigger Support (FA 4). Does the government anticipate including further task orders for this work under this IDIQ?

The Sources Sought notice was for market research purpose which included several functional areas. This solicitation is for FUNCTIONAL AREA 1 – ENHANCED AUTOMATED DATA PROCESSING (ADP) SUPPORT SERVICES only.

15.

Previous solicitations for this work required CMMI-Dev ratings, given that the included Functional Area includes application support, it would be beneficial to the government to include CMMI-Dev rating to demonstrate and maintain process and quality. Will the government consider adding this back in as a requirement?

Only ISO 9001:2015 certification will be required.

16.

Evaluation, Program Management, sub point b states: “This subfactor evaluates the offeror’s proposed overall ability to staff and maintain qualified personnel in the identified key positions.” – Will the government confirm and amend the document to read “…overall ability to staff and maintain qualified personnel in the identified key/ essential positions.” In order to maintain consistency with other requirements of the RFP?

Word “Essential” added on Factor II Program Management Section M

17.

The government states on page 99 of the Solicitation “Offerors shall include letters committing subcontractors to performance under this contract should it be awarded to the offeror.” Will the government please clarify where in the proposal (Volume and Factor) that it would prefer to have the letters placed?

Letters committing may be provided in a page-exempt Appendix to Volume I, Factor 2. This verbiage has been added to Volume I, Factor 2 Section L.

18.

The government states on page 99 of the Solicitation “Offerors shall include letters committing subcontractors to performance under this contract should it be awarded to the offeror.” Will the government confirm that the letters are outside page count?

See # 17

19.

I have reviewed the final solicitation number W91ZLK18R0014 released on October 5, 2018. My questions are based on the following two (2) sections from the Sources Sought Number: W91ZLK-18-R-0013, dated April 13, 2018. In the Sources Sought, it included the following two (2) Functional Areas which have now been removed from the Final RFP referenced above.

Section 3.0 –Functional Area 2 – 5Bars Service, Support and Wireless Non-Secure Internet Protocol Router Network Connectivity – my question is, why was this functional area removed from the final RFP? I would also like to know if the requirements for the5Bars Services (Distributed Antenna System (DAS) Solution) will be released under its own solicitation.

The Sources Sought notice was for market research purpose which included several functional areas. This solicitation is for FUNCTIONAL AREA 1 – ENHANCED AUTOMATED DATA PROCESSING (ADP) SUPPORT SERVICES only. Please refer to FBO for other opportunities.

The Sources Sought notice was for market research purpose which included several functional areas. This solicitation is for FUNCTIONAL AREA 1 – ENHANCED AUTOMATED DATA PROCESSING (ADP) SUPPORT SERVICES only. Please refer to FBO for other opportunities.

Yes. Will be a standalone contract.

The Sources Sought notice was for market research purpose which included several functional areas. This solicitation is for FUNCTIONAL AREA 1 – ENHANCED AUTOMATED DATA PROCESSING (ADP) SUPPORT SERVICES only. Please refer to FBO for other opportunities.

23.

I would also like to bring to your attention that even though these two functional areas were removed from the Final RFP, your solicitation is still referencing “DAS” - Distributed Antenna Systems in Appendix B – Acronym, page 38 of the current/final RFP.

DAS has been removed Appendix B

24.

Our company, is interested in providing information regarding the Solicitation for Information Technology Manpower Support Services (Solicitation Number: W91ZLK-18-R-0014), as it fall in line with our capabilities. To briefly introduce our organization, has strong past performance with desktop, network and systems administration support, data analytics and reporting, full SharePoint services and applications design. As far as pertinent information goes, I have these following questions:

* Is there an incumbent in place, or is this a new requirement? And do you have the contract number of the previous requirement?

Yes There is an incumbent in place. Contract # W91ZLK-16-D-0002

25.

As per document Past_performance-risk-assessment-questionnaire.doc, it say “Please return the completed Questionnaire to the Contracting Officer identified in the cover letter within 3 days.” Whereas as per Past_performance_Cover_letter.pdf says “Your assessment of their performance is extremely valuable to our evaluation. Please complete the enclosure and return to the US Army Contracting Command, Aberdeen Proving Ground (ACC-APG), Tenant Division, no later than 15 days after receipt of request or October 19, 2018, whichever occurs first. Your questionnaire may be submitted electronically to Rex M. Valdez Email: rex.m.valdez2.civ@mail.mil and cc David Humfleet Email: david.a.humfleet.civ@mail.mil < Caution-mailto:david.a.humfleet.civ@mail.mil >.”

Could you please confirm exact due date for submitting PPQ assessment?

Deadline for submission of Past Performance questionnaire has been extended to 6 November 2018. See #11

26.

I just wanted to follow up the FBO notice from 1 October in reference to W91ZLK-18-R-0014. Information Technology Support Services. The FBO notice stated the RFP would be released on 5 October. Is there an updated anticipated release date?

Solicitation W91ZLK-18-R-0014 has been released October 5, 2018. Please refer to FedBizOpps.gov

27.

Reference: Solicitation Section B. VOLUME I: NON-PRICE PROPOSAL, Factor II: Program Management, 3rd bullet, page 101.

Question: What type of evidence does the Offeror have to provide to show it has the ability to obtain a Secret facility clearance?

The contractor must have a valid DoD SECRET Facility Clearance Level (FCL) at the time of award. This is verified via the National Industrial Security System (NISS). Updated solicitation reflect this change.

28.

Reference: Solicitation Section B. VOLUME I: NON-PRICE PROPOSAL, Factor III: Past Performance, 8th bullet, page 101. This states that “All POCs shall be instructed to electronically complete the questionnaire and e-mail the entire, completed questionnaire within the 30 calendar days of release of the RFP…” Question: If there is an extension to the proposal due date, will the Army consider accepting completed Questionnaires by the proposal due date?

See # 3

29.

1.14 Security Requirements: The contractor will be required to have a SECRET facility clearance with no safeguarding. The contractor will require access to Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) information, SIPRNET, Security Classification Guide (SCG) DISN SIPRNet, and IT sensitive duties.

Question: Can we qualify to respond to the referenced solicitation without a cleared facility if our mentor and partner for the bid has a cleared facility??

Our company is a certified 8(a). We would like to respond to the above referenced solicitation, however, one of the requirements is for the contractor to have a cleared facility. We do not have a cleared facility at this time, but our mentor and subcontractor does have. We would propose in our response to the solicitation that all work requiring a cleared facility would be performed in our mentor and subcontractor’s cleared facility.”

The offeror must have a DoD SECRET Clearance request submitted through DISS before they are able to proceed with solicitation. The offeror must have a valid DoD SECRET Facility Clearance Level (FCL) at the time of award. This is verified via the National Industrial Security System (NISS).

30.

Please answer the following questions regarding this opportunity:

1. Is this work currently being performed?

2. How many FTEs are there currently?

3. If this work is currently being performed, could you please provide me with:

a) the name of the incumbent performing the work,

b) the dollar value of the contract,

c) how long the company has been performing the work?

d) the previous expired contract number for the related opportunity?

1. Yes

2. Under the current contract, Functional Area 1 has 46 FTEs.

3a: Link Solutions, Inc.

3b: $48M 3c: 3 Years 3d: W91ZLK-16-D-0002 is the current contract number.

The completion date of being fully processed into the 8(a) program may be after the solicitation due date of Nov 6th, 2018.

Would the government allow the prime offeror to be eligible for 8(a) award at the time of award and not at the time of proposal submission?

No, IAW FAR 52.219-18 offerors must be certified at the time of submission of offer.

32.

1.44 Organizational Quality Qualifications: The prime contractor shall be certified for ISO 9001:2015 at the start of contract performance. The contractor shall maintain these required qualifications for the life of the contract.

While our company is intimately familiar with the ISO 9001:2015 protocol and procedures, and intends to write to it within our bid and execute in manner, we are not currently certified. Would your team permit our company time to achieve the ISO certification and not require it at the start of contract performance?

ISO 9001:2015 must be obtained by date of contract award.

See # 32

December 15, 2018

The government is open to innovative support provided by the contractor; however, software must be an approved product by the DoD and the local Network Enterprise Center (NEC) before it is allowed on the network.

Yes, see VOLUME I: NON-PRICE PROPOSAL page 102 of 124 of the solicitation

Yes

38.

Is travel likely to take place on the task orders? If so, what are the most likely locations (CONUS, OCONUS)?

In accordance with PWS paragraph 1.34, Travel may be required throughout the C4ISR Campus, APG facilities, and in support of training held off of the installation. Travel may be required to other CECOM CONUS locations (Reference Appendix E). Travel may be required to AMC headquarters in Huntsville, Alabama.

The purpose of the ISO9001:2015 certification is to document, periodically review and revise quality management processes and procedures which are routinely assessed during an audit by an outside agency.

A. Will the Government please consider removing the requirement for ISO9001:2015 certification?

B. If an offeror is not ISO9001:2015 certified, will the Government please consider the alternative of audit reports from a reputable firm wherein the offerors processes and procedures have been reviewed and deemed adequate?

A. No, ISO 9001:2015 must be obtained by date of contract award.

B. No, ISO 9001:2015 must be obtained by date of contract award.

40.

Will the Government please consider changing this procurement from an LPTA to a Best Value evaluation? The Government’s concerns regarding retention is evidenced by the 90% retention plan requirement. Companies with a more robust and comprehensive portfolio of benefits will have a better chance of retaining their employees; however, their price point(s) are likely to remove them from competition as compared to those companies with less robust benefits.

LPTA is a form of best value evaluation. This requirement will remain as LPTA.

This paragraph provides direction that “provided resumes for each position cited as key/essential personnel” be “redacted of all Personally Identifiable Information (PII)”. Please clarify how resumes for key/essential personnel should be provided. Should they only reference the labor category/position for which the person is being proposed and not include the name or other information concerning the individual?

The following PII should not be included in the key/essential personnel resumes: Full Name, Home Address, Email address, Social Security number, or Telephone number.

42.

LPTA is generally not recommended for IT acquisitions (reference Section 880 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019) because the government runs the risk of selecting contractors with unreasonably low prices that cannot perform, resulting in the government outlaying increased costs after the fact. We recommend that it is in the government’s best interest to evaluate the price reasonableness to determine that the offeror’s prices are fair and reasonable and that a “buy-in” or unbalanced pricing is not occurring, prior to the non-price evaluation.

See # 40 answer

43.

Will the government consider changing the requirements on replacement of Key/Essential personnel FROM within five (5) business days TO within forty-five (45) calendar days? This is not practical for a small business to achieve this requirement in the time period stated and most professional employees provide a 2-week notice resignation letter.

PWS 1.11 has been revised to state “In the event of normal turn-over of employees the Contractor has thirty (30) days to fill any vacancies with the exception of key personnel that may occur throughout the contract and task orders in order to receive payment for the services. Key Personnel will be replaced within five (5) business days.” The Government will not consider changing this requirement to allow for 45 calendar days.

Proposals may be hand delivered to:

45.

The requirements to submit resumes and letters of commitment for two (2) key personnel and eight (8) essential personnel provides an unfair advantage to any company bidding with the incumbent contractor, who has access to all current employees.

Will the government consider reducing the number of resumes and letters of commitment requirement for only the Key Personnel? (i.e., Program Manager and Project Manager)

Please see the response to question #12. The requirement for the number of resumes has been reduced and the requirement for LOCs has been removed from the solicitation.

46.

Can the following information be included as an appendix and excluded from the page count?

- current certification in ISO 9001:2015

- evidence of SECRET Facility Clearance

Yes

47.

Please clarify the due date of Attachment J.2 - Performance Risk Assessment Questionnaire Forms.

See #25

No. Travel is not required for the sample task.

APPENDIX A: KEY/ESSENTIAL PERSONNEL includes proposed labor categories and minimum experiences required.

50.

“The prime contractor shall be certified for ISO 9001:2015 at the start of contract performance. The contractor shall maintain these required qualifications for the life of the contract.”

1. Does this mean company can bit for the contract while perusing the ISO 90001 certification?

2. Certification require at the start of contract performance. Is that correct please clarify?

3. What is the approximate date of award after submitting of the proposal?

4. Are we allow to introduce innovative AI, Cybersecurity software product and support as innovative Cybersecurity solution for Army (SF1449_W91ZLK-18-R-0014) bid?

5. Can commercial past performance be submitted as prime past performance?

1. See #32

2. See #32

3. See# 34

4. See # 35

5. See # 36

51.

In VOLUME I: NON-PRICE PROPOSAL the solicitation requires Offerors to submit a list of at least three (3) contracts held by the prime contractor performed or awarded during the past five (5) years. Out of the total minimum of three (3) contract references, a minimum of two (2) contracts shall be held with the Department of Defense.”

1. Can subcontractor contracts be included in this list of the three minimum contracts?

2. Can subcontractor contracts be included in this list of the other seven contracts?

3. Can the subcontractor role on any of these 10 contracts be as subcontractor, or does the subcontractor need to have been prime on these?

4. Can prime Utilize "federal sub contract experiences" as past performance?

1. The prime may provide contracts where they themselves performed as a sub-contractor on a DoD contract.

2. See Instruction to Offerors B VOLUME I: NON-PRICE PROPOSAL Factor III.

3. See Instruction to Offerors B VOLUME I: NON-PRICE PROPOSAL Factor III.

4. The prime may provide contracts where they themselves performed as a sub-contractor on a DoD contract.

1. Is the intention of the government that the contractor needs these personnel allocated to the IDIQ vs. any separate or individual TO?

2. Is this an existing contract? Are there any incumbent on this contract?

3. Is there any ODC funding for hardware and Software Purchase

1. No Key/Essential personnel are allocated to the IDIQ, all will be within the individual TOs.

2. See #30

3. Any hardware or software purchases will be GFE (Government Furnished Equipment).

This solicitation only addresses functional area 1, in which the incumbent is performing these services

Does the key/essential personnel need to have this at the time of submission and must be able to pass this after award?

No, not required at time of award. It is preferred by the government that the personnel have SSBI Clearances at time of award, however, we are aware that there is a wait time to receive the necessary clearance.

Q3: Can the government be more specific/clarify their expectations for a response to this section of the RFP. Specifically, the word ‘may’ denotes that this is an optional requirement.

Solicitation wording has been updated changing “may” to “shall”.

Refer to solicitation, Section C, paragraph 1.11.1

See response to question # 12.

2. Would the government consider an additional requirements mapping matrix to ensure ease of evaluation?

3. “The cover sheet and table of contents (not to exceed one page per volume) do not count toward the page limit.”

1. In accordance with Section L paragraph A, “The cover sheet and table of contents (not to exceed one page per volume) do not count toward the page limit.”

2. No additional requirements mapping matrix required.

3. The cover sheet and table of contents (not to exceed one page per volume) do not count toward the page limit.”

Can the government clarify the words “Cover Sheet” refer to the SF 1449 and/or amendment notices? If so, is it not limited to the one-page restriction?

Words “cover sheet” have been removed from the solicitation.

Please clarify the government’s intent that the contractor must have the ability to obtain a SECRET facility security clearance.

See # 27

61.

Does the government intend that the historically utilized personnel identified in the Sample Task Order PWS be the basis of what is considered Technically Acceptable for this response?

No, offeror is to provide their own approach to meeting the requirements of the solicitation. Historical data was provided for informational purposes.

62.

Please confirm that that it is acceptable to add an Executive Summary before the Technical Section and that it will not count against the page allotment for any of the other sections.

Acceptable but will be Included in your page count.

See # 62

Yes this is acceptable.

The narrative detailing the offeror’s approach to meeting the requirements of the sample task order will be evaluated under Factor I: Technical Approach. Offeror’s may reference other sections of the proposal to avoid duplicating information.

Yes the response is limited to the same restriction within the 45 pages.

No resume format will be provided by the Government.

No

No. The offeror is to determine their own approach to meeting the requirements.

In accordance with Section L paragraph B of the solicitation, resume and LOC is required for all Key and essential personnel.

The Sample Task Order is only for APG locations, therefore the pricing would be for only APG.

See # 3

No specific format required.

ISO 9001:2015 must be obtained by date of contract award by the Prime contractor.

The offeror must have a DoD Secret Clearance request submitted through DISS before they are able to proceed with solicitation. The offeror must have a valid DoD Facility Clearance Level (FCL) at the time of award. This is verified via the National Industrial Security System (NISS).

CMMI Maturity Level 3 requirement- Removed. Only need ISO.

Not enough information to provide a valid answer.

The offeror must have a valid DoD SECRET Facility Clearance Level (FCL) at the time of award. This is verified via the National Industrial Security System (NISS).

See # 78

Anticipated award date is December 15, 2018.

See # 78

The Base PWS is included in the solicitation attachment that was posted on the FBO website on 05 October 2018 with the Sample Task Order PWS as an attachment J.1

The solicitation number W91ZLK-18-R-0014 contains similar but less functional area compared to the existing contract number W91ZLK-16-D-0002.

See # 82

The Government will post answers to questions received from Industry as an amendment to the solicitation. Please continue to monitor the FBO website for updates to the solicitation.

See # 1

An amended solicitation shall be posted without the draft watermark.

The 8(a) offeror must have a minimum of a DoD SECRET Facility Clearance Level (FCL).

See # 3