MODIFICATION
70 -- Blanket Purchase Agreement for Information Technology (IT) Products
- Notice Date
- 12/13/2006
- Notice Type
- Modification
- NAICS
- 443120
— Computer and Software Stores
- Contracting Office
- Department of Commerce, Patent and Trademark Office (PTO), Office of Procurement, P. O. Box 1450 - Mail Stop 6 600 Dulany Street, MDE, 7th Floor, Alexandria, VA, 22313-1450, UNITED STATES
- ZIP Code
- 22313-1450
- Solicitation Number
- ITBPA2007
- Response Due
- 1/3/2007
- Archive Date
- 1/18/2007
- Point of Contact
- Sylvia Van Dyke, Contracting Officer, Phone 571-272-6568, Fax 571-273-0284,
- E-Mail Address
-
sylvia.vandyke@uspto.gov
- Small Business Set-Aside
- Total Small Business
- Description
- Amendment 2 Questions and Answers, Ref: Synopsis/Solicitation No. ITBPA2007 1. Please provide estimated award date. There is no estimated award date at this time. Award of the BPAs will depend on the number of proposals which are received. Based upon the number of proposals we received last time, it may take up to 6 months. 2. Page 2 - In reference to the various specifications provided, can you please further clarify the following statement: ?The USPTO is not looking for vendors who can only offer a few products or product brands.? Can it be assumed that alternate product brands can be offered in lieu of the product brands listed or is this an all or nothing RFQ? As stated in the synopsis/solicitation, ?Vendors who can only offer a few products and/or limited product brands will be found unacceptable, and will not be considered for award?. A vendor which can only offer to sell the PTO, for example, security software, would be found unacceptable because it cannot offer a vast array of IT Products. Since the purpose of this BPA is to fulfill future requirements which are unknown at this time, offering alternate products is not an option. There will be no stated prices, or product brands listed in the awarded BPAs. Requirements will be competed among the awarded BPA holders as the requirements are identified. 3. E. (page 4) it says that ??the vendor must select 5 specifications to price?? does that mean we can just choose not to price those items that we are not authorized to sell? In order to consider price, which is required, the vendor must price 5 specifications. The vendor may price any of the specifications, regardless of whether or not it is authorized to sell the particular product. However, once the BPAs are awarded, vendors must be authorized to sell the products which they are quoting. As stated in the synopsis/solicitation, ?The prices will be used strictly for evaluation purposes only.? There will not be any orders resulting from this pricing. 4. Pages 3 and 4 - Under ?Supplemental Instructions? ? Please clarify under B. if you are requesting past performance evaluations from trade references. Reference Factor No. 2(a), the USPTO is requesting past performance evaluations from the vendor?s customers. Customers could include companies, federal government agencies, state or local governments, etc., which the Offeror has sold IT products similar to those identified in the synopsis/solicitation. 5. Please confirm you are asking for customer references under C. (regarding Factor No. 2(b). The USPTO is requesting ?customer references? under Factor No. 2(b), with whom the offeror has had an established relationship for over one year and has had sales for IT products in excess of $50,000 per year. 6. Confirm that the NACIS code 443120 is for 500 employees or fewer is the small business size for this solicitation. The nonmanufacturer size standard of 500 employees shall be used for purposes of Government procurement of supplies. This BPA is for supplies; therefore, the small business size standard of 500 employees will apply. 7. In regards to solicitation ITBPA2007 how many awards is the Patent and Trademark Office anticipating will be awarded? It is anticipated that multiple awards will be made. The USPTO wishes to remain flexible in the number of awards it may make. 8. Please confirm that current BPA holders cannot submit a response to the new BPA solicitation. The current BPA holders already have a BPA; therefore, it is not necessary to submit a proposal. The current BPA awards, if all of the options are exercised, will extend out to 6/30/2009. As a reminder, the previous combined synopsis/solicitation under which the current BPA holders were awarded stated ?the USPTO may solicit additional companies at any time to replace or increase existing BPAs to fulfill the USPTO?s requirements?. 9. Since our BPA expires in June of 2007, how do we continue our BPA beyond that time? The current BPAs have two remaining options, if exercised, which will extend out to 6/30/2009. It is up to the USPTO if it wishes to exercise the options. 10. Will you provide extensions to current BPAs to match that of the new BPAs that you will be awarding in the future? No. The current BPAs were awarded with a basic period of two years, and three one-year options, for a potential of five years. The new BPA will have a five-year period of performance, as with the previous BPAs. It is unknown at this time whether the current BPAs will be allowed to expire on 6/30/2009, or re-competed. 11. Will the Government contemplate relaxing the requirement in Item C of the Supplemental Instructions, Factor #2(b), to permit quotations from vendors with less than 5 long-standing customers at less than $50,000.00/year volume, and if so, what would the volume be? No. The USPTO has already lowered the requirement from the previous BPA. The previous BPA included the requirement that the company furnish references that had an established relationship for over one year, and sales in excess of $100,000 for the year. 12. Attachment 2 ? Nortel Data Switches: It appears that several of the specifications called out are obsolete technology and we assume that it is acceptable for us to bid the latest technology that will either meet or exceed the published specifications, could you please confirm that this is acceptable to the USPTO? Yes. Specifically, the combined synopsis/solicitation stated: ?If a part number has changed or been replaced for the hardware or software as a result of an upgrade by the manufacturer, the offeror is to price the most recent version or replacement part number. The offeror shall note the new part or version number on its pricing documentation.? 13. Is this BPA based on an existing contract? There were BPAs awarded in 2004 for IT Products, the same as this. This combined synopsis/solicitation is issued to add to those awarded in 2004. 14. Does this Small Business Set-Aside BPA require products to be provided from small business manufacturers? Will the non-manufacturer rule apply? As the purpose of this RFQ is to establish a BPA and specific requirements are not identified at this time, the nonmanufacturer rule does not apply. If it is determined necessary to seek a waiver of the nonmanufacturer rule, the USPTO contracting officer will contact the SBA. 15. If we are a Prime on this BPA with a team of various small businesses that we currently partner with would all PO's come through our company (small business) or would they or could they go directly to some of our partners who are HUBZone, SDV-O, & Minority-owned to meet some of your socio-economic goals? The BPA will be issued to the prime only and orders will only be issued to the prime. 16. The RFP states that $30 million of IT purchased in FY 2006 were fulfilled by BPA Holders for IT products. Please clarify if the $30 million is for the BPA currently being competed or does this figure include other IT BPA's? As stated in the synopsis/solicitation: ?The USPTO?s IT product requirements for FY 2006 were approximately $95.5 million, approximately $30 million of which was (emphasis added) fulfilled by the BPA Holders for IT Products.? No, the $30 million is not for the BPA currently being competed. This is the amount of requirements which were fulfilled in FY2006 utilizing the existing BPAs. The approximate figure of $30 million was disclosed so companies would have a better understanding of the volume that the USPTO procured in FY 2006 using the existing BPAs. 17. Reference Attachment 6 and 7 - PowerEdge 2850 and PowerEdge 1850: Due to recent technology refreshes the PowerEdge 2850 and 1850 have recently been transitioned to the PowerEdge 2950 and 1950, we assume that it is acceptable for us to bid the latest technology that will either meet or exceed the published specifications, could you please confirm that this acceptable to the USPTO? Yes. Specifically, the combined synopsis/solicitation stated: ?If a part number has changed or been replaced for the hardware or software as a result of an upgrade by the manufacturer, the offeror is to price the most recent version or replacement part number. The offeror shall note the new part or version number on its pricing documentation.? 18. Reference Quotes for Dell PowerEdge 2860 servers: Dell no longer offers the 2850, but offers the 2950. In this case the specs for the 2950 are different. Is there any chance the end user my issue new specs for these requests? New specs will not be issued since it is not the USPTO?s intent to issue any orders at this time. The purpose of providing the specifications for specific items is to obtain pricing information to conduct price evaluation. As specified in the combined synopsis/solicitation, ?If a part number has changed or been replaced for the hardware or software as a result of an upgrade by the manufacturer, the offeror is to price the most recent version or replacement part number. The offeror shall note the new part or version number on its pricing documentation.? Reminder: The receipt date and time for proposals is 11:00 a.m. EST, January 3, 2007. Updates to this synopsis/solicitation will be posted on FedBizOpps (http://www.fbo.gov), as well as the USPTO Office of Procurement homepage at: http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/ac/comp/proc/currproj.htm. This solicitation shall not be construed as a commitment of any kind. NOTE: THIS NOTICE WAS NOT POSTED TO FEDBIZOPPS ON THE DATE INDICATED IN THE NOTICE ITSELF (13-DEC-2006); HOWEVER, IT DID APPEAR IN THE FEDBIZOPPS FTP FEED ON THIS DATE. PLEASE CONTACT fbo.support@gsa.gov REGARDING THIS ISSUE.
- Web Link
-
Link to FedBizOpps document.
(http://www.fbo.gov/spg/DOC/PTO/OPDC20220/ITBPA2007/listing.html)
- Record
- SN01196256-F 20061215/061213222944 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps Link to This Notice
(may not be valid after Archive Date)
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