Answers to Industry Questions on the
ERA Draft Request for Proposal
QUESTION:
Regarding the recent award to SRA of the Information Technology Support Services Contract, what role will this program have in relation to the ERA program?
ANSWER:
The Information Technology Support Program has little direct relationship to the ERA Program. The SRA contract was awarded for management and support of NARA's existing computer and communications network, NARANET. Any new communications infrastructure needed to support ERA will be the responsibility of the ERA contractor. Offerors must propose all costs associated with their design to support the communications, operations, and support the infrastructure of ERA.
QUESTION
Contractors have negotiated certain clauses under their GSA IT Schedule contracts that are also a part of their commercial terms and conditions for services and equipment. Would NARA consider the inclusion of these types of commercial clauses such as warranty, indemnification, and limitation of liability in a Contractors proposal a deficiency which may render the offer unacceptable?
ANSWER:
NARA will not consider any Terms and Conditions other than those incorporated in the RFP.
QUESTION
CLIN 0002 indicates a period of performance of 12 months for the System Analysis and Design Phase. However, Section J, Attachment 13 states that all activities are expected to be completed in 9 months. Please confirm the period of performance for the System Analysis and Design Phase is 12 months.
ANSWER:
The period of performance for CLIN 0002 is 12 months. The activities and products that will be evaluated for down-select purposes must be completed within 9 months from contract award.
QUESTION
In Section L-4.1.3 Offerors are asked to "Describe all data items that Offeror proposes to formally deliver to the Government by expanding upon the existing CDRL in Section J-6". - Will the Government evaluate any additional CDRLs that might be created as part of the Down Select?
ANSWER:
Total contractor performance, including all data items delivered by contractors, will be evaluated as part of the down-select.
QUESTION
RFP Section J, Attachment 4, Downselect Criteria, indicates that the results of the contractor's software capability evaluation will be considered in the evaluation of Subfactor 2, System and System Engineering Methodology. Will there be a specific software capability evaluation during the initial period of performance, or is this a reconsideration of the earlier submitted evaluation?
ANSWER:
There is the potential for one Software Capability Evaluation, or, in the case of CMMI, a Standard CMMI Appraisal Method for Process Improvement (SCAMPI), to be conducted on each contractor during the Systems Analysis and Design phase. The choice of type of evaluation will depend on the model that the contractor proposed for qualification purposes in its response to the RFP. These evaluations will be used to determine the extent to which a contractor has been able to institutionalize their SW CMM Level 3 or CMMI Level 3 practices on the ERA project. Whenever the ERA PMO conducts evaluations or appraisals they will be led by SEI-authorized leads and contractors will be given reasonable notice prior to the conduct of the evaluations or appraisals.
QUESTION
Is performance at CMMI Level 3 viewed as SW-CMM Level III compliant?
ANSWER:
Achievement of any staged CMMI Level 3 appraisal will be considered to be equivalent to SW CMM Level 3.
QUESTION
With reference to the RFP Section H clause titled "Government and NARA ERA Support Contractor's, personnel (NARA ERA PMO)", the RFP should provide a count of ERA personnel, including support contractors that will need to have access to the bidder's facilities and interface with bidder personnel so that appropriate preparatory measures can be executed.
ANSWER:
Offerors should assume a requirement for space, desks, computers, phones, etc. for 2 PMO FTE staff persons during System Analysis and Design and 7 PMO FTE staff persons during increments 1-5. Spaces for PMO staff should be private, and there should be additional space available for PMO team meetings.
QUESTION
During the Q&A session at Industry Day NARA stated that they anticipate a "core group" from each team will reside at NARA. The RFP should specify the space and support that will be provided to contractors (i.e. office space, furniture, supplies, computers, etc).
ANSWER:
NARA will provide 5 workstations, phone, PCs, internet connection and furniture will be provided during Systems Analysis and Design. NARA may provide a small number of additional workstations after downselect, depending upon space availability in NARA facilities.
QUESTION
The originating agencies of classified material and clearances have different requirements for SCI access. What agency or agencies will be originating the security clearances for the contractor personnel? How many cleared billets will the contractor be required/allocated for ERA? Will cleared staff be required at time of contract award? When can the contractor begin submitting candidates for billets?
ANSWER:
NARA anticipates that 2 personnel possessing existing Top Secret clearances will be required during the System Analysis and Design Phase. Requirements for cleared personnel for later phases of ERA development will be addressed during the System Analysis and Design Phase.
QUESTION
Would NARA consider ISO 9001 certification as equivalent to CMM Level 3?
ANSWER:
No.
QUESTION
SOO - Please define what is meant by the word "Controlled" in the statement: "The designated installation sites are controlled, but not necessarily owned, by the government."
ANSWER:
"Government Controlled facility" means that the Government will own, lease, or otherwise legally occupy the facility.
QUESTION
Different contractors could make various assumptions based upon what level of support that the National Archives will provide this project. What level of support will the National Archives provide on this project?
ANSWER:
The availability of NARA Subject Matter Experts or IV&V contractors does not relieve the contractor of providing the necessary systems engineering and management resources to deliver a quality product. The nature and type of interfaces between NARA and contractors will be identified in the Contractor Coordination Plan provided as GFI on the ERA web site.
QUESTION
With reference to the SOO, Section 7.0, Deployment
Approach, must the core system site(s) be located in the Washington D.C.
metropolitan area?
ANSWER:
No.
QUESTION
Attachment 8 to Section J, Government Furnished Property, is identified as a placeholder. Please provide information on GFE.
ANSWER:
The Government has not identified any GFE that will be provided to the contractor(s). The GFE attachment will be eliminated from the Final RFP.
QUESTION
What is the relationship between the EA and the ERA RD
ANSWER:
Any requirements from the Enterprise Architecture (EA) that are applicable to the ERA program have been included in the RD. The EA should not be considered to be an ERA requirements document.
QUESTION
What is the relationship between the Business Process Reengineering (BPR) and the ERA RD
ANSWER:
Any requirements from the BPR that are applicable to the ERA program have been included in the RD. The BPR should not be considered to be an ERA requirements document
QUESTION
What is the relationship between the ERA Concept of Operations (ConOps) and the ERA RD
ANSWER:
Any requirements from the ERA ConOps that are applicable to the ERA program have been included in the RD. The ERA ConOps should not be considered to be an ERA requirements document.
QUESTION
Would it be acceptable to provide electronic files in PDF as well as or instead of Microsoft Office or Microsoft Project format? Due to differences in fonts, applications, printer drivers, and systems, Microsoft Office/Project electronic files can radically change their appearance and page count when viewed by the Government. PDF files do not change from system to system and can be relied on to convey text, graphics, layouts, and pagination accurately.
ANSWER:
The Government will accept PDF files in addition to the required, unlocked Microsoft Office or Microsoft Project formats. PDF cannot be used in place of Microsoft Office or Microsoft Project formats.
QUESTION
In Section L-5.2.1, Team Structure, Offerors are asked to provide information on major subcontractors. Section L-5.1, Relevant Contracts, additionally asks for past performance information on major subcontractors. What is the definition of a major subcontractor?
ANSWER:
A "Major Subcontractor" is any subcontractor that possesses 10% or more of the value of the contract, excluding subcontractors whose sole role is a COTS tool vendor; or any subcontractor that the offeror determines to be an important teaming partner critical to the success of the program. Offerors should identify the same "Major Subcontractors" in responding to all sections of all volumes where such identification is required.
QUESTION
The majority of Section L-4.3, Management Approach, required activities involving reporting and oversight do not apply to the FFP portion of the contract. Will NARA have the contractor propose how they will manage the FFP and CPAF portions differently?
ANSWER:
Offerors should describe in their proposals how they will manage the contract from contract award through contract close out. NARA desires the level of management oversight described in the RFP irrespective of contract type.
QUESTION
A 23% target for small business is an acceptable target for smaller programs. However for this large a program, a goal of 23% prevents effective teaming of large corporations by eliminating a necessary work share. Would NARA consider reducing the small business content? And the small business usage by second tier subs should be included.
ANSWER:
NARA has revised the ERA Program small business goal from 23% to 12%. This goal will be applied against the total dollar value of each optional increment awarded. Specifically, 12% or more of the Prime Contractor's total dollar amount of each optional increment awarded should be awarded to small businesses through value added subcontracts or purchase orders, etc. NARA may make this goal an element under the award fee plan.
There is no small business goal set for the Base Contract (System Analysis and Design Phase).
QUESTION
Does NARA have a documented set of risks, and can a subset of that documented set of risks be released to the interested Offerors?
ANSWER:
NARA will not provide such risk information to offerors. With respect to RFP Section L-4.3.2.2, Projected ERA Risks, NARA expects Offerors to identify the risks to the ERA program as they see them.
QUESTION
Relative to Section L-2, Management Team, would the Government consider increasing the page count for the general description information from 5 to 10 pages?
ANSWER:
Yes. The page limit will be increased to 10 pages.
QUESTION
Relative to Section L-1, Technical Solution and Approach, would the Government consider removing the Requirements Validation Matrix from the page count?
ANSWER:
Yes. This matrix will not be included in the page count. In addition, Offerors may include this information as an appendix.
QUESTION:
Will the Government evaluate Total Cost of Ownership? Over what time period will the evaluation apply?
REVISED ANSWER TO QUESTION 25:
Offerors will be asked to qualitatively explain the impact of their ERA solution on Total Cost of Ownership in the Technical Volume. Offerors will be required to describe how their system architecture and design will minimize total ERA lifecycle costs, including Government staffing levels from contract award through FY 2020
QUESTION:
Will TCO/LCC be evaluated for the down-select?
REVISED ANSWER TO QUESTION 26:
Contractors will be required to estimate Total Cost of Ownership/Life Cycle Cost (TCO) from the start of Increment 1 through FY 2020, based on their delivered system architecture and design. TCO shall include all cost associated with development, maintenance, and operation of ERA, including Government archival operations, but excluding the Contractor's revised pricing for actual contract performance.
QUESTION
Will the Government consider progress payments during the FFP Systems Analysis and Design Phase?
ANSWER:
An appropriate contract clause is in the RFP (FAR 52.232-16).
QUESTION
Will the Government consider rolling unearned award fee forward to incentivize contractors to rectify perceived performance problems?
ANSWER:
The Government, at its discretion, may allow such rollovers. However, the Government is not obligated to do so.
QUESTION
The Down-Select Criteria, Section 1.2.1, Management Plan, indicates that the contractor's Award fee Plan will be evaluated. But there is no indication in the RFP as to how that plan will be provided to the Government. How will that be adjusted in future years?
ANSWER:
A data item will be added to the CDRL for delivery of the Award Fee Plan for Increment 1 during the System Analysis and Design Phase. The plans for subsequent increments will be jointly discussed between the contractor and the Government, but the content of the actual plans for all increments will be the Government sole decision.
QUESTION
Will the Government consider alternate proposals?
ANSWER:
Offerors may propose alternate solutions, the Government at its discretion may consider these proposals consistent with Section 52.215-1 Paragraph (C) (9) The Government will consider up to one alternate proposal per Prime System Integrator.
QUESTION
When will the Interface Requirements Document (IRD) be available?
ANSWER:
The first version of the IRD will be made available at Contract Award. The Context Diagram has been updated and will be included in the RD with sufficient interface details for offerors to prepare proposals.
QUESTION
Will NARA provide the Requirements Database in softcopy?
ANSWER:
Yes, NARA will provide the Rational RequisitePro Database as GFI shortly after posting the final RFP.
QUESTION
How binding are the concept papers and other documentation found as GFI on the ERA web site?
ANSWER:
The RFP including all it's attachments and references contain all the contractual obligations and requirements. The GFI concept papers should be considered guiding documentation that represents the Government's best analysis to date, however other more cost effective approaches that fulfill the system requirements defined in the RD will be considered. These approaches should be identified as differing from the current Government approach and justification should be provided as to why/how the proposed method is superior in terms of cost and risk avoidance
QUESTION
Can the encrypted data requirements for the archival copy be deleted from the RD?
ANSWER:
No. The nature of ERA is long-term storage of authentic records independent of specific and proprietary hardware and software solutions. NARA will need to access, maintain, and migrate ERA records over time, and wants the ability to insert new technologies and vendor solutions over time with minimal disruption to the system's architecture or specific implementation. Encrypting the archival copy of records, while certainly a potential part of an overall security approach for the records, violates the basic tenet of freeing records from specific vendor solutions and/or technologies. Other security approaches can be applied jointly at the system level to insure the integrity and protection of the records. This is not to say that encryption technologies are banned from an ERA solution entirely, but the archival copies of the records must be stored in the most open, non-proprietary, non-vendor specific manner as possible.
QUESTION
Can we remove the requirement for records not spanning media volumes?
ANSWER:
No. This requirement refers to the primary archival media for ERA. The intent was to avoid the problem where multiple pieces of removable media (i.e., tapes) could be used in a striped configuration to achieve capacity and throughput goals. The use of striped removable media in this manner, along with the corresponding management maintenance issues, is not in line with NARA's long-term storage visions.
QUESTION
Do "government purpose" rights in data allow NARA to provide software to Industry and/or Academia?
ANSWER:
Yes, for activities in support of ERA's, NARA's, and the Federal Government's mission.
QUESTION
Will NARA allocate requirements to increments?
ANSWER:
Offerors should provide an allocation of requirements to increments as part of their proposals. A deployment roadmap that maps to ERA performance goals will be provided as GFI in order to provide vendors with information necessary to propose their allocations. The table allocating requirements to increments currently in the RD has been removed.
QUESTION
The RFP states that multiple contracts will be awarded for the initial design. Later, one design will be chosen and that vendor will implement the ERA initiative. How will ERA allocate its resources to different vendors for the same set of tasks?
ANSWER:
A Contractor Coordination Plan explaining this, among other things, will be provided as GFI on the ERA web site.
QUESTION
Are system performance requirements considered to be performance goals?
ANSWER:
Any requirements contained in the requirements document should be considered to be requirements. Performance goals are NARA business goals as identified in the Statement of Objectives.
QUESTION
How important a factor is cost on this procurement?
ANSWER:
Of the factors listed in Section M cost is the least important factor. Cost realism and costing details are extremely important because the Government believes that it will demonstrate the Government's level of risk. If the costing details and structure are absent or suspect then the Governments risk associated with completing this program on schedule and budget will increase. The Governments obligation in the matter is to award a contract to the company who will give the Government the best technical solution, while presenting a reasonable schedule and reasonable cost.
QUESTION
Please address expectations of the ERA program to include major conversion activities (or migration) of pre-existing holdings, in any particular time frames.
ANSWER:
The use of the ERA system to ingest records is the core mission of NARA. NARA archivists will perform this task. This is not within the scope of the Operations and Support CLINs. The ERA solution must support NARA archivists ability to perform ingest tasks.
QUESTION
In Section 4.1 of the DRFP it states the System Analysis and Design phase will utilize the requirements in the Requirements Document and further decompose them into further detailed specs. Being this is a small phase of a larger project lifecycle are all requirements expected to be used? If not, can you clarify which ones?
ANSWER:
NARA expects the SRS will meet all requirements and to map them into your notional design. NARA expects a full system SRS at the end of that phase and a high level design for the entire system.
QUESTION
Given that NARA has recently awarded a business process reengineering (BPR) contract to another company, and that the ERA developer will not lead the process redesign activities that could have a major impact on whether or not the ERA developer meets NARA's performance goals, how will NARA ensure the proper interface between its BPR contractor and the ERA developer?
ANSWER:
Currently, NARA is planning the interfaces between its BPR contractor and the ERA developer. At the time that the Systems Analysis and Design phase begins, NARA will be able to provide both ERA contractors with copies of as-is and to-be models of many NARA business processes that will be automated within ERA. These models will be more detailed than the BPR information currently available as GFI on the NARA web site. Additional documentation, analysis artifacts, and models from NARA's BPR activity will be made available to ERA contractors at later points within the Systems Analysis and Design and developer phases of ERA.
QUESTION: What are the assumptions for the number of locations to be used for costing purposes?
ANSWER: The assumptions for the number of locations to be used for costing purposes are:
Increment 1
Rollout - Single Sensitive But Unclassified (SBU) site on the East Coast, Mid-Atlantic region.
Operations - Second SBU site at St. Louis (Official Military Personnel Files, dual site system configuration).
Increment 2
Rollout - Increment 2 code base to established sites.
Operations - Single classified site in Maryland, 3rd SBU site on the West Coast/Mid-Mountain region, one (1) Presidential Library instance installed, one (1) Federal Record Center instance installed.
Increment 3
Rollout - Increment 3 code base to established sites.
Operations - Second classified site (dual site system configuration) established East Coast/Mid-West, two (2) Presidential Library instances installed, two (2) Federal Record Center instances installed.
QUESTION: What are the system operations and archival personnel assumptions?
ANSWER: The system operations and archival personnel assumptions are:
All ERA Archival records management operations will be performed by NARA staff. Archival operations include but are not limited to activities such as scheduling appraisal record description work, preservation planning, inspection of archival materials, scheduling reappraisal record ingest and processing, and archival customer support. NARA staff should not be priced in the vendor's proposal.
Systems operations staff will be provided by the contractor and are to be priced by the Offeror in their proposal. System operations include but are not limited to activities such as system backup/restore, basic system administration, account management, technical help desk support, and remedial and preventative maintenance for the system.
