Loren Data's SAM Daily™

FBO DAILY ISSUE OF JANUARY 27, 2010 FBO #2986
MODIFICATION

D -- OFCCP Software Design, Development, and Implementation - Amendment 1

Notice Date

1/25/2010
 

Notice Type

Modification/Amendment
 

NAICS

541512 — Computer Systems Design Services
 

Contracting Office

Department of Labor, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Administration and Management, Procurement Services Center, S-4306 200 Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, District of Columbia, 20210-0001, United States
 

ZIP Code

20210-0001
 

Solicitation Number

DOL110RP20851
 

Archive Date

2/23/2010
 

Point of Contact

Stephanie M Goe, Phone: 2026937965
 

E-Mail Address

goe.stephanie@dol.gov
(goe.stephanie@dol.gov)
 

Small Business Set-Aside

Competitive 8(a)
 

Description

Update version of the RFP. Amendment 0001. Added 25 Jan 10: Q. The use of a FFP type contract for such a broad statement of work, for a small business, is rather disturbing. I had heard that Morgan Franklin did an assessment, where they gathered detailed requirements for this new system and provided recommendations for future procurement. Using firm fixed price for such a broad statement of work makes it appear that the RFP is structured in manner where Morgan Franklin and their partner 8a are the only firms capable of responding. Is Morgan Franklin, given their prior role in the assessment, barred from partnering on this engagement ? A. We have changed the contract type (please see attachements). Morgan Franklin did some assessments of the current system about 4 years ago. They will not be barred from submitting a proposal, assuming that they are an 8(a) qualified company. Q. The OFCCP's mission includes the investigation of a wide range of government contractors for EEO rules violations. Having an offerer develop and subsequently maintain a system that could be used to investigate EEO violations of that very same offerer presents a variety of conflict of interest issues. Will the government look negatively on teams that contains firms that: (a) have been or are currently being invested by the OFCCP, or (b) are likely to come under the scrutiny of the OFCCP because of their size, variety of government contracts awarded etc? A. No. Neither issue will have any impact on the assessment of the solicitation which a company submits. Q. Would the government consider either proposals on the basis of time and materials for the 5 year contract period, or proposals with a firm fixed price for the base year and subsequent negotiations over the following year with the offerer? A. The CLIN structure has changed. Please see attachments. The OFCCP will also require that Earned-Value Management principles be employed regarding the award of the contract and the performance of the services provided. This will also aid in the delivery of the New Investment and the joint coordination of the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) used to control the deliverables and contractual compliance which will be required. The formation of an "adversarial relationship" is not anticipated by the OFCCP with working with any Vendor. Q. Section D.3 "User Requirements" states that the offerer must take into account the OFCCP's "futuristic vision". To adequate determine a firm fixed price to include in our offer, we must take into account the agencies "futurist vision". Unfortunately, the limited scope available in section D.1 does not provide the depth required to adequately determine the OFCCPs current processes let alone a "futurist vision". What resources will you make available to adequate include this "futurist vision" into an offerer's firm fixed price? A. The CLIN structure has changed. Please see attachments. Q. The government mandates in Section D.1 - Task 4: Integration and Testing that, "the final product shall be error free". Software errors can result in a wide range of unexpected behavior, from rather minor typographical errors to the corruption of critical data. Even with the advantage of allowing for development costs roughly 3000% higher than a typical high quality information system, NASA's famed "on-board shuttle group" still releases software with defects. Will the government accept proposals that price in the significant burdens associated with developing "error free" software? A. Yes. The OFCCP will consider and accept proposals where the Vendor provides their definition/perspective of what "error-free" refers to regarding the Vendor's solicitation. This language is not meant to create an "absolute" scenario, but the OFCCP will consider this Task (and associated processes) as considerable regarding the overall successful completion of the contractual process. Q. Section B.5 reads - "The contractor must establish a standard holiday schedule that exactly coincides with the Government's schedule. Holidays and other non-work days peculiar to or dynamically declared by the Government shall be considered as holidays for contractor personnel and are not billable...". Section D.1 reads - " Offeror shall provide cost estimates for performing all development tasks at an off-site location." Section B.3 requires a firm-fixed price award. Based on section B.5, will the government require that off-site work on development activities cease because of the Government's schedule, including the occurance of "peculiar to or dynamically declared" non-work days? Furthermore, if contract work continued on these "Holidays and other non-work days" on a "firm-fixed price" award, how is the contractor expected to take into account the governments declaration that such work is "not billable"? A. Please see attachments. Government holidays need to be considered when working on Government Property. However, just clear work days on Government Holidays with your COTR to ensure there will be no issues. Q. Does the Government anticipate maintenance or licenses (if COTS products are used) as part of this solution? What CLINS should be used to price these items? A. Yes. The maintenance of COTS licenses is a mandated federal requirement. Please price these under ODCs. Q. Is a manned help desk a requirement? Will this help desk be supporting public end users or solely DOL staff? Also, what hours of operation should be quoted and does DOL have call volume estimates? A. The OFCCP does not currently provide a dedicated manned help desk. This is not a current requirement as defined within the SOW. It is intended that technical support will be provided to OFCCP employees throughout the country. The hours of availability of the current Technical Support Group currently are 8:00am to 6:00pm Eastern Time. Q. Will DOL consider an offeror proposing a hosted solution in the "Cloud" assuming it meets security requirements and is C&A'd? Can that be an optional CLIN? A. Yes. The OFCCP will consider other alternative solutions. Please note it in your proposal. Q. It seems the Government envisions requirement gathering taking 1 year, development taking another year, training taking another year, etc. Would the Government be interested in a more aggressive deployment schedule? A. Yes. Q. How many days after Contract Award does the Government envision until the system is implemented? A. The Schedule provided in the RFP states that Task #5 (Implementation) is to occur in Option Year #2 (the third year of the overall contract period.) Q. What is the earliest from Contract Award that the Government envisions that implementing a system would even be an option? A. The Schedule provided in the RFP states that Task #5 (Implementation) is to occur in Option Year #2 (the third year of the overall contract period.). This Option Year would be the earliest, based on following the standard SDLCM for software development. Q. Does the Government have a specific amount contractors should use in the "do not exceed" CLINS -- both travel and ODCs? A. The Government will make the final determination on travel costs. However, responding vendors are encouraged to offer their estimate. Q. Section E - Period of Performance list the possible PoP schedule as: March 15, 2010 - March 14, 2011 Base Year, March 15, 2011 - March 14, 2012 Option Year One, March 15, 2012 - March 14, 2013 Option Year Two, March 15, 2013 - March 14, 2014 Option Year Three, March 15, 2014 - March 14, 2015 Option Year Four AND Section B.1 explicitly states that the scope of efforts of FFP: CLINs 0001 (base year) and 0004 (1st option year) are restricted to Task 1: System Requirements, Task 2: Design and Development and Task 6: Project Management.CLINs 0007 (2nd option year) is restricted to Task 1: System Requirements, Task 3:System Development, Task 4: Integration and Testing, Task 6: Project Management. CLIN 0010 (3rd option year) is restricted to Task 1: System Requirements, Task 3: System Development, Task 4: Integration and Testing, Task 5: Implementation and Task 6: Project Management. Based on this information as well as the list of deliverables listed as required for completion in each CLINS, it appears that the government is mandating that no system development activities begin until the 2nd option year (March 15, 2012 - March 14, 2013) and that implementation efforts would not being until the 3rd option year (March 15, 2013 - March 14, 2014). Does this accurately reflect the needs and internal schedule of the client? Furthermore, the rough schedule mandated by the CLINs appears to be a pure implementation of the waterfall software model ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waterfall_model). Does the government mandate that the contractor follow a rigid implementation of the waterfall software model inspite of the fact that modern evidence based research in software development methodologies shows that iterative software development/construction methodologies (e.g. Spiral, RUP, Scrum, XP etc) reduce project risk and improve the speed at which software is brought to market? A. The Project Deliverable Schedule provided and the Period of Performance is provided as a basis for the Vendor Community use in preparing a proposal to this solicitation. The Project Management Plan and Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) and management of these tools will ultimately determine the delivery of this new Investment. The Vendor is encouraged to propose alternatives to this information. In addition the CLIN structure has changed. Please see attachments. Q. Section C.1 states, "The Government may require continued performance of any service within the limits and at the rates specified in the contract." Section B.3. states that the contract will be awarded on the basis of a "firm-fixed price". Section E - Tab D Cost/Price Proposal states, "The Offeror shall provide a breakdown of costs to include a cost buildup to the fully loaded unit price offered for each of the CLINs". If the only costing information provided is a breakdown by CLIN, what specified rates will it use if the government exercises its option to extend the contract? A. The CLIN structure has changed. Please see attachments. Q. Section B.1 states that the only deliverables required in CLIN 0001 are Deliverables #1,6,7,8,10,14,15 as applicable. Section D.3 states that Deliverable #3 ("User Requirements") are due "in the Base Year after the submission and approval of the IT Security Plan". When is the "User Requirements" deliverable expected? A. The User Requirements deliverable should be planned for delivery in Option Year #2. Q. CLIN 0001 and CLIN 0004 mention deliverables 12, 14, and 15 under Task 6. Those don't appear to exist in the SOW. Should they be there somewhere? A. No. This was an adminstrative error. The CLIN structure has changed. Please see attachments. A. Is there a target operating system for the server? A. The current target operating system environment is a Shared Services Infrastructure environment supported by IBM products. While this environment is currently the "default" target environment, the OFCCP is open to alternative operating environments proposed as part of a Vendor''s solicitation. Q. Is there a target relational database (Oracle, SQL, something else)? A. The current target operating system environment is a Shared Services Infrastructure environment supported by IBM products. While this environment is currently the "default" target environment, the OFCCP is open to alternative operating environments proposed as part of a Vendor''s solicitation. Q. When are the past performance questionnaires due? A. By the proposal due date, to include changes in that date. Q. The SOW reflects a waterfall development methodology. It has been proven that Agile approaches are more successful than traditional waterfall in a wide variety of project types. Is the government open to such approaches to reduce risk and improve the potential of success or will only waterfall approaches be considered compliant? A. Yes, the Government will consider other approaches. Q. The RFP states "Offeror shall provide cost estimates for performing all development tasks at an off-site location." Is the government accepting bids for onsite work as well? A. Yes, but the FCCS RFP is intended to provide the Vendor Community with flexibility in providing innovative proposals for the development and delivery of this new Investment. Q.Is the wage determination attachment applicable given that this is a firm fixed priced contract? A. Wage determination applicability is not determined by contract type but by the type of service. Q. As price is a significant portion of the proposal, is there a way we can find out what the customer thinking with respect to the size of the project (magnitude), other than the NAICS code? A. We are unable to address budgets, magnitudes or Government Estimated Costs. Q. Could you please provide the descriptions for deliverables # 12, 13, 14, 15? A. That was an adminstrative error. Deliverables only run up to 11. Q. Is the offeror to price all HW (including dev, test, and production environments) and SW needed to go with the services for this RFP solution? A. The CLIN structure has changed. Please see attachment. You can list the costs for materials and equipment under the new CLIN structure. Q. Is there a reason why the technical performance section of the past performance form is yellow highlighted? A. No. Q. Is there a particular location within the proposal where the capability statement should be located? A. Under Tab B with Technical and Key Personnel. Q. Are there any other DOL approved software products that the proposed application must interface with besides Microsoft office and statistical software (SAS and SPSS)? A. Yes, but since this proposed solution is to be customized to the requirements identified for this new information system, the OFCCP would like the Vendor to propose alternative software solutions for the development of this new IT Investment. Q. Is it possible to obtain a copy of DOL's Standards including security requirements that are referenced in the RFP? A. Due to the sensitivity of this information, it will not be made available during the solicitation phase of this RFP. This information will be provided at the time of contract award. It is recommended that Vendors refer to the National Institutes of Standards and Technology (NIST) to obtain information on the security requirements of the DOL/OFCCP. It is also recommended that Vendors review the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circulars for additional information regarding the federal security standards and compliance with these standards. Q. The RFP makes references that the proposed application be compliant with DOL Enterprise Architecture (HW, OS, DB, LDAP Security, etc.) and meet the requirements of the CIO. Is it possible to obtain additional information regarding DOL's Enterprise Architecture and the necessary CIO requirements? A. Due to the sensitivity of this information, it will not be made available during the solicitation phase of this RFP. This information will be provided at the time of contract award. Q. The SOW asks for an information system with graphic capabilities. Is this capability in reference to reporting or is it referring to something else altogether? If so, can you please provide additional details on this requirement? A. Yes, this is a capability referring to the reporting and/or visual representation of information collected through this new IT Investment. Q. We believe that the requirement for an 8(a) to have both CMMI-3 certification and 3 years of case management experience is very limiting. We recommend that the 3 year criteria be changed to evaluate the quality of the offeror's case management experience and capabilities, rather than the duration. A. The Vendor does not need to be CMM Level 3 certified at time of contract award, but it is anticipated that this certification will be acquired prior to delivery and implementation of the final deliverable. It is also anticipated that the final deliverable will be CMMI Level 3 compliant Q. In order to respond as a prime, do you have to be certified at CMMI Level II or higher? If so, do you have to be certified at the time of submission? A. The Vendor does not need to be CMM Level 3 certified at time of contract award, but it is anticipated that this certification will be acquired prior to delivery and implementation of the final deliverable. It is also anticipated that the final deliverable will be CMMI Level 3 compliant. Q. What is the minimum & maximum number of Past Performances submitted? A. Please have Three Past Performances submitted by the reveiwer directly to Stephanie Goe. Q. I noticed off-site work shall be performed at the contractor's site, does the contractor need to be within a certain mile radius of the U.S. Department of Labor? A. The contractor must have an office in the Washington DC, VA, MD area as the Government anticipates high daily interaction. Q. Is it possible to remove/relax the three year experience on Case Management Systems as a prime? We believe this will give the government a larger pool of vendors to choose from. Given that case management systems are usually large multi-year procurements, the pool of 8(a) companies that can respond with that qual may be limited. A. Since the major Deliverable of this RFP is a Case Management System that is both efficient and cost-effective to the federal government, this requirement is essential to ensure that the federal government obtains the best resources/services to achieve the ultimate goal of this RFP. However, a combined 3 years experience as Prime AND/OR Sub will be accepted. Q. Should all the personnel on the project be U.S. Citizens? Can Permanent residents and other valid visa holders who can successfully get their NACI clearance work on the project? A. All proposed personnel must be able to successfully receive clearance to work for the DOL according to established employee clearance procedures. Q. What types of analyses will be required for the ' desk audits, statistical analyses, investigations, conciliations, and referrals to the Solicitor's Office for litigation'. A. The information will be part of System Requirements component of this RFP. Information regarding the current investigative processes performed by the OFCCP can be obtain through the review of the Federal Contract Compliance Manual (FCCM) available to the Vendor Community via the OFCCP Internet web site ( http://www.dol.gov/ofccp/regs/compliance/fccm/fccmanul.htm ) and Policy Directive materials. Q. Will the DOL consider preparing a separate RFP for building a custom statistics package to interface with the new case management system to conduct the statistical analyses required for the desk audits? A. The OFCCP does not plan to prepare and release a separate RFP to provide this functionality, in support of this new IT Investment. It is recommended that the Vendor Community provide solutions for this functionality as a component of their solicitation submission. Q. Regarding the scheduling of reviews - will the new case management system be required to create an algorithm to select contractors for an audit or will it simply tie into another database that is generating this list? A. The OFCCP would recommend that the Vendor Community explore/provide alternatives as it relates to their proposal submission. This is an area were the Vendor's innovation will be solicited after contract award. Q. Regarding upload of contractor's employee data - how does the DOL envision contractors uploading their employee data? Possible options are user interface to manually enter information, a direct upload of summary data(similar to current EEO1 system used by EEOC), or a raw data upload? A. The OFCCP would recommend that the Vendor Community explore/provide alternatives as it relates to their proposal submission. This is an area were the Vendor's innovation will be solicited after contract award. Q. How many PPQ's need to be submitted from Prime and How many from our Sub Contractor? Total how many do we need to submit for the proposal? A. We need Three PPQ from all primes and partners. We do not need PPQs from Subs. Q. Should the past performance questionnaire (filled by the offeror's past clients) be sent directly to your office? Or is it acceptable to be included with the proposal document? A. The PPQs shall be submitted directly to Stephanie Goe either via email or fax. Contact information is on the front cover of the PPQ attached. Q. Do all offerors need to be CMM certified? Or does it suffice if the final deliverable is developed and implemented according to CMM Level 3 standards? A. The Vendor does not need to CMM Level 3 certified at time of contract award, but it is anticipated that this certification will be acquired prior to delivery and implementation of the final deliverable. It is also anticipated that the final deliverable will be CMMI Level 3 compliant. Q. A Firm Fixed Price contract seems inappropriate for a Small Business, particularly when Task 1 involves Requirements Gathering to propose a <software> solution. Did DOL mean for the contract to be a Time and Materials contract with Firm Fixed Price Labor Rates? A. The CLINS structure has changed. Please reveiw attachments. Q. With reference to Section C.1 52.217-8 OPTION TO EXTEND SERVICES (NOV 1999), what is the government's process for extending a FFP contract? A. Via modification. Q. Could you please detail any subcontracting restrictions? That is, as a 100% Small Business 8(a) Set-Aside, if our subcontractor's portion of the work exceeds $550K, are they required to submit a Small Business Subcontract Plan and will that plan need to be pre-approved by the SBA? (Per C.3 (5)(c)) of Section C.3 52.219-17 SECTION 8(a) AWARD (DEC 1996)) A. There is no subcontract plan required, as the prime contractor will be an 8(a). Q. With reference to D.1 STATEMENT OF WORK, it reads..." Offeror shall propose alternative approaches and solutions, where possible, and would develop this state-of-the-art case management system on schedule and within budget." What is the government budget for the case management system? A. We cannot discuss budgets, magnitudes or Government estimates. Q. What are the government's plans and processes for buying the software, hardware, and Internet technologies? A. Any software, hardware and technologies purchased directly for this project, as listed in the proposal and award will be Government property after the project is complete. Q. Is the Contractor to purchase or lease the software on behalf of the government? A. Any software, hardware and technologies purchased directly for this project, as listed in the proposal and award will be Government property after the project is complete. Q. Does the government have a preference for how close the Contractor should be located to DOL's 200 Constitution Avenue location? A. The contractor should have an office in the Washington DC, VA, MD area. Q. With reference to D.1 STATEMENT OF WORK, it reads... "Offeror is required to have at least three years of experience as a prime contractor in developing case management system of similar magnitude and scope." Will the government consider a Contractor with considerably more case management development experience if that experience is largely as a subcontractor? A. Yes, this combination of experience will satisfy the requirement. We formed a team for this opportunity with one other company with the knowledge that case management capabilities were required. Both companies have case management experience, but neither company has 3 years experience as specified in the RFP. If the prime has between one and two years experience, and the subcontractor has performed case management work at multiple agences to set-up, customize, test, and deploy a re-engineered GFE case management system (the aggregate of the subcontractors work is also less than 3 years), can we still be considered a viable bidder for this work? A. Yes, this combination of experience will satisfy the requirement. Q. Task 2 states "the offeror shall have at least three years of experience as a prime contractor in developing a case management system of similar complexity and scope." While we don't have 3 years developing a case management system as a prime contractor, we have developed a case management system as a commercial product. We also have experience as a prime contractor. Does that combination of circumstances fulfill the requirement? A. Yes, this combination of experience will satisfy the requirement. Q. Is there any possibility the government will consider having Task 1 and Task 2 be fixed price and the system development be Time and Materials? Fixed price development costs for a system whose requirements have not yet been defined creates a significant risk exposure if there is no room to adjust the bid (whether it be up or down) after the requirements are nailed down. A. The CLIN structure has changed. Please review attachements. Q. If a company were in a position to offer a commercial product to use as the base with development limited to customization to support OFCCP specific requirements, is it possible to waive or alter the requirement that all development be done in Java? A. Yes, as long as the proposal provided information on the proposed solutions and met the other requirements of the RFP.
 

Web Link

FBO.gov Permalink
(https://www.fbo.gov/spg/DOL/OASAM/WashingtonDC/DOL110RP20851/listing.html)
 

Place of Performance

Address: 200 Constitution Ave NW, Washington, District of Columbia, 20210, United States

Zip Code: 20210
 

Record

SN02049285-W 20100127/100125234918-c12f9fe12c579f164504bb98c784876b (fbodaily.com)
 

Source

FedBizOpps Link to This Notice
(may not be valid after Archive Date)

---

| FSG Index  |  This Issue's Index  |  Today's FBO Daily Index Page |