Request for Proposals (RFP) Information Technology Independent Verification and Validation ADDENDUM NO. 2 Questions and Answers RFP Amendments September 2015
Contained herein are the responses to the questions submitted to the Department of Management Services (Department). The Department hereby amends RFP No. 05-80101507-IVV-B as noted within this Addendum. In the event of a conflict between previously released information and the information contained herein, the information herein shall control. The information included in this addendum is now made part of this solicitation. FAILURE TO FILE A PROTEST WITHIN THE TIME PRESCRIBED IN 120.57(3), FLORIDA STATUTES, OR FAILURE TO FILE A BOND OR OTHER SECURITYWITHIN THE TIME ALLOWED FOR FILING A BOND SHALL CONSTITUTE A WAIVER OF PROCEEDINGS UNDER CHAPTER 120, FLORIDA STATUTES. Any protest must be timely filed with the Department of Management Services Agency Clerk. Please Note: This Addendum No. 2 does not need to be returned with the Reply. The Department has received the following questions from the vendor community though the MFMP Sourcing Tool and answers as provided in the following table: # Question Answer RRP, Section 1, Introduction 1. For a number of years, agencies have leveraged the existing IT Consulting and Management Consulting state term contracts to solicit and select IVV vendors for complex initiatives. Can DMS elaborate on why a separate contract is being procured specifically for IVV services when two contracts already cover these services? What is the objective of this separate procurement? 2. Does the IV & V state term contract completely replace project areas 1, 2 & 3? 3. How many companies are actively billing today under project areas 1-3? This information is not available. IV&V services are only offered as a part of Project Area 1 on contract 973-561-10-1, IT Consulting Services, and it will expire prior to the start date of the new IV&V contract. The objective of this procurement is to create a contract vehicle that will allow Eligible Users to purchase IV&V services after contract 973-561-10-1 is no longer available. The scope of the current competitive solicitation is for IV&V services. Please reference response to question 1. 4. Section 1.3.4, Eligible User - Can Florida counties utilize this contract? Florida counties qualify as eligible users. See 60A-1.005, Florida Administrative Code. RRP, Section 2, Overview 5. Section 2.8, Contract Formation - By submitting a proposal to this solicitation the Vendor agrees to and waives any objections to This means that the vendor agrees to and waives any objections to requirements and criteria specified in the RFP. Page 2 of 12
requirements contained therein. By submitting a proposal the Vendor certifies that it agrees to and satisfies all criteria specified in the solicitation. Would this mean that there could be no changes to the Contract Terms and Conditions? 6. Section 2.12, Diversity - The RFP encourages Minority/Women owned businesses yet not provision is made in the scoring process for this category. How will this be measured in the basis for award? RRP, Section 3, Instructions 7. Section 3.3, How to Submit a Proposal - This section states, Graphics, colored displays, and promotional material are not permitted. Does that include diagrams that illustrate the process or activities included the methodology? (e.g., process flow created in Visio) RRP, Section 4, Vendor Submission 8. Section 4.1 Mandatory Requirement Questions - Will the Department consider additional or modified terms or conditions to the form contract, or are those terms included in the Terms and Conditions referenced in Mandatory Requirement Question 5? 9. Section 4.3.2.c - Responsible Vendor Review Form (Attachment C). Section 4.2 provides guidance for uploading forms with signatures but not for notarized forms. Can notarized forms also be scanned an uploaded? Is there any issue when the notary uses a raised seal? 10. Section 4.3.3, Part Three - Please elaborate on the work plan component and the Department s expectations. Work plans tend to be unique to the specific scope of services required. What would the Department prefer to see in response to the solicitation regarding a work plan? 11. Section 4.4 - The page limitations per section and the overall page limitation of 24 pages are outlined. Please advise if an appendix is allowed to provide team biographies? If an appendix may be utilized, what else is allowed to reside within the appendix? RRP, Section 5, Evaluation Methodology 12. Section 5 - Would DMS consider giving special preference to Florida based and/or MBE certified businesses? This is encouraged and will not be evaluated. See section 5 of the RFP. Section 3.3, How to Submit a Proposal has been revised see information below this table. This is an RFP. The RFP process does not include a negotiation period. Editing the draft contract as part of a response is grounds for rejection of the response. See also Section 2.8 of the RFP. Yes notarized forms can be scanned and uploaded. There are no issues with scanning a raised seal. The Work Plan should include how the vendor approaches IV&V engagements, i.e., general methodology or framework for IV&V: typical activities performed in IV&V engagements; in general terms, the type of guidance the vendor typically provides IV&V clients. Staff biographies may not be provided in an appendix. The respondent may choose to distill this information into the 6 pages allocated to Staff Qualifications. The evaluation methodology detailed in Section 5 of the RFP will remain as written. Page 3 of 12
13. Section 5.3.1, Background and Experience - How will the scoring be determined for background and experience? Are the points based on what is written in Attachment B about the vendor s background, or is it only by the years of experience the company has? 14. Section 5.3.1, Background and Experience - We are a rising company, incorporated three years ago with a senior staff providing deep experience in Consulting, IT services, and IV&V services, as requested in the RFP. Our staff on average bring 17+ years of experience in consulting, which includes 12+ years working with state and federal governments, and 13+ years in project management. 91% of our consultants have a background in State IT systems, including healthcare, and have worked alongside every federal department on grant programs totaling over$3 billion dollars. We feel, the way the evaluation for Background and Experience is structured should be reconsidered, as it creates a barrier to entry for firms like ours which were recently formed but provide exceptional services through a highly experienced staff. Would the state please reconsider this evaluation criteria or allow the Company to count the experience of their employees in this section? 15. Section 5.3.2, Staff Qualifications - What documentation does the Department expect to see as a means of showing staff qualification and eligibility? 16. Section 5.3.2, Staff Qualifications - In addressing each of the bullets of staff experience and qualifications, does the Department want proposals to speak in general terms about staff capabilities, or should specific names and resumes be provided? If resumes are requested, can those be included in an appendix and not have a page limit? 17. Section 5.3.2, Staff Qualifications - Should the proposal include named staff and the relevant qualifications for each named staff, or should it include company qualifications as a whole for each mandatory position? Years of experience. No, the Department intends to execute contracts with vendors who have IV& V experience. Understanding that turnover occurs in organizations and that individuals proposed for the purpose of being chosen for contract award don t always end up on the project for which they are proposed, the Department is most interested in seeing that the respondent as an organization has a depth and breadth of experience that transcends individuals who may be on staff at a given time. Please reference responses to questions 11 and 15. Please reference response to questions 11 and 15. Page 4 of 12
If qualifications for named staff are required, may staff resumes be included as appendices to the submitted proposal 18. Section 5.3.2, Staff Qualifications - Given that the anticipated contract start date is July 1, 2016 for the contractors who would be awarded in response to this RFP, we plan to provide staff qualifications for positions other than Principal (i.e., Contract Manager, Project Manager, Analyst Sr., Analyst Jr. and Subject Matter Expert) that are representative of the type of qualified staff that we have provided to clients in the past and that we would provide at the time that work IV&V services are provided. The rationale for providing representative or typical staff qualifications is that we do not know at this juncture which candidate(s) with what specific skills would be required on a work order by work order basis. Is this acceptable? 19. Section 5.3.3, Work Plan and IV&V Methodology - How does the Department define work plan? Can a proposal include attachments (such as sample scheduling or IV&V guides) as appendices that would not count as part of the page limit? 20. Section 5.3.3, Work Plan and IV&V Methodology - The 5-page limit seems rather tight for both a work plan and IV&V methodology. Is the Department just looking for a general overview or high-level view of these two processes? 21. Section 5.3.4, Evaluation Methodology for References - Please clarify the Department s scoring methodology and point values based on Attachment E Reference Form. The form has up to four stars whereas the scoring in 5.3.4 is based on a maximum of 3 stars. 22. Section 5.3.4, References - This section states, Respondent must provide three (3) completed Reference forms (Attachment E). To be eligible for award three completed Reference forms must be provided by the Respondent. Each reference will be based on a SPECIFIC PROJECT for which IV&V services were provided by the Vendor. If the prime vendor responding to the procurement plans to leverage expertise and skills of partners or subcontractors, can references from the subcontractors or partners be used? Please reference response to question 15. The vendor may choose to distill this information into the 5 pages allocated to Work Plan and IV&V Methodology. See also response to question 10. Please reference response to question 10. Section 5.3.4, Evaluation Methodology for References has been revised see information below this table. No. References should be for the respondent. Page 5 of 12
23. Section 5.3.5, Price Evaluation - Is the equation for computing the rate evaluation correct? Other Respondents shall receive price evaluation points based upon the following formula: (X)/N x 200 = Z. Instead of 200 should it be the Highest Points Available Per Position points for that labor category? 24. Section 5.4, Basis of Award - Our understanding is that response to this RFP will potentially qualify us to be on a list from which "Department" customers may or may not select us as a vendor for work on particular projects. Is this correct? 25. Section 5.4, Basis of Award - How has it been determined that 20 vendor companies will be sufficient to support projects falling outside of staff augmentation services? 26. Section 5.4, Basis of Award - The Department anticipates awarding up to 20 contracts to Responsive and Responsible Vendor(s) with Are the selected contractors required to response to a number (x) of IV&V Project Request for Quotes each year in order to remain a valid contractor? RRP, Section 6, Scope of Work 27. Section 6, Scope of Work - Will Project Management Office services be services rendered under this contract vehicle? 28. Section 6, Scope of Work - Will general IT Assessment services also be services that can be rendered under this contract vehicle? 29. Section 6, Scope of Work - Please provide further detail as to the size, scale, scope, and nature of the potential IT Independent Verification and Validation Services projects that might be awarded under this project. In addition please provide 3 recent examples of State of Florida projects were the state required similar IV&V services as to what are being requested under this solicitation. 30. Section 6, Scope of Work - Does the state provide facilities for IV&V work, is the Vendor required to provide local facilities for their staff, or is it outlined in subsequent project-specific RFQs? Section 5.3.5, Price Evaluation has been revised see information below this table. It is the Department s intent to award this contract to multiple vendors. Customers will issue Request for Quotes to awarded Contractor s. See Exhibit A, section 1.29, regarding the Request for Quotes process. This determination was made based on the Department's understanding of anticipated customer needs. No. No. No. IV&V projects may contain some or all of the items listed in the scope of work within the RFP. Sizes of IV&V projects can range in scale from small to large. Specific IV&V project information is not available at this time. IV&V work may be conducted at the Customer s site, or may be conducted at the Contractor s site. IV&V project specifics will be outlined in RFQ s created by Customers. Page 6 of 12
31. Section 6, Scope of Work - Must all work be performed on your (State, Department) sites or can work also be performed at our (vendor) facilities? If vendor-site work is allowed, must it happen in Florida? 32. Section 6.1, Ongoing Contractor Performance Measures - Please describe how the Contractor Performance Survey is used to measure performance. What criteria is used to determine performance issues and what recourse or penalties are applied if performance is substandard? RRP, Section 7, Draft Contract Document 33. Section 7, Draft Contract Document - Can the vendor submit exceptions or additions to the contract with their proposal? 34. Section 7, Draft Contract Document - If the vendor has questions about Contract Terms & Conditions it can submit those questions prior to the closing date of September 11, 2015 as stated in Attachment H? 35. Section 7, Draft Contract Document, #4, Minimally Required Activities and Deliverable - Will the Department be identifying the applicable Administrative Rule, Florida Statutes, and federal requirements with which it intends the Responding Vendors to comply? 36. Section 7, Draft Contract Document, #4, Minimally Required Activities and Deliverable - Does the state anticipate that Phase Gate Assessment Reports are incorporated into the Weekly and Monthly Project Assessment Reports or are developed and delivered as separate reports? 37. Section 7, Draft Contract Document, Exhibit A, 1.7, Bills for Travel - Please clarify whether travel expenses are permitted to be billed for this contract. 38. Section 7, Draft Contract Document, Exhibit A, 1.27, Contractor Security Clearance - Is Level 2 background screening required of all positions outlined in this RFP or designated by project and/or position? 39. Section 7, Draft Contract Document, Exhibit A, 1.29.2 - Can a selected contractor be assured that at some point during the contract term that their company will be selected (one of at least three) to respond to a See answer to Question #30. In addition, it will be up to the Customer if IV&V work can be done outside of Florida. The Customer will determine the criteria used to reach its decision on the Contractor s performance on the Contractor Performance Survey. As to recourse and penalties see 1.23, PUR 1000, and remedies at law Please reference response to question 8. Yes. See Section 1, Introduction and 1.3 of Exhibit A. Phase Gate Assessment Reports are expected to be developed and delivered as separate reports. Attachment F1, Price Sheet, the Contractor s hourly prices should be inclusive of all costs that could occur, including travel. Requirements regarding Level 2 background screening are determined by the Customer. The Contract does not specify the criteria that Customers will use. Page 7 of 12
Request for Quote? If not, what steps can a selected contractor take to be selected? 40. Section 7, Draft Contract Document, Exhibit A, 1.30, Purchase Orders - Can a Vendor negotiate Contract Terms and Conditions prior to award of the contract? 41. Section 7, Draft Contract Document, Exhibit A, 1.33, Quarterly Sales Report - Please clarify the content of the Quarterly Sales Report, specifically, the dates of the Contractor s name,. 42. Section 7, Draft Contract Document, Exhibit A, 1.33, Quarterly Sales Report - This section states, Each Contractor shall submit a sales report on a Quarterly basis. Question - How will DMS monitor and enforce that all vendors comply with this requirement? 43. Section 7, Draft Contract Document, Exhibit D, Contractor Performance Survey Customers are permitted to negotiate terms and conditions which supplement those contained in this Contract. Is the vendor responsible for ensuring this survey is completed by each customer? RRP, Attachments 44. Attachment A, Vendor Information Form - Does DMS expect, or require, a different person to be listed as the Primary Solicitation Contact Person then the person listed as the Contract Manager? 45. Attachment B, Background and Experience Certification Form If the prime vendor responding to the procurement plans to leverage expertise and skills of partners or subcontractors, can the form be completed to show the combined experience and background of the team? In other words, if the prime has 3 years and the subcontractors have 10, can the team show 10 years of experience? 46. Attachment F1, Price Sheet - Can the vendors claim travel reimbursement, and if they can how (for example) can this be entered perhaps apart of (for example) the Price Sheet. According to Florida Statute 112.061, travel reimbursement is possible. 47. Attachment F1, Price Sheet - Why is there nine (9) pages allowed for the Price Sheet. Can an example of the Price Sheet be provided? Do not Please reference response to question 8. Section 7, Draft Contract Document, Exhibit A, 1.33, Quarterly Sales Report, paragraph 2 has been revised see information below this table. The Department tracks each vendor s quarterly sales reports. No. No. No. Subcontractors will not become a part of the Contract until after Contract execution and each subcontractor request has to be approved by the Department s Contract Manager. See Section 1.11, Subcontracts, Per Attachment F1, Price Sheet, the Contractor s hourly prices should be inclusive of all costs that could occur, including travel. RFP Section 4.4, Submission Capacity Requirements states that only 1 page is the limit for the vendor s Price Sheet submission. Page 8 of 12
understand why the Price Sheet may be allowed a length beyond one (1) page. 48. Attachment F1, Price Sheet - The Price Sheet needs to be in MS Excel format. Can the MS Excel Price Sheet be copied into the base agreement of the solicitation as a MS Word document? 49. Attachment F1, Price Sheet - All prices shall be inclusive of all costs, including staffing, fringe and other overhead, travel, and other expenses. Are consultants provided workspace, equipment and software for projects? If not, please provide guidance how these expenses should be calculated. 50. Attachment F1, Price Sheet - Are the six mandatory positions required to be vendor payroll positions? 51. Attachment F1, Price Sheet - Can one individual be listed in multiple roles? (i.e. both the project management & contract management role) 52. Attachment F1, Price Sheet - How do we know what subject matter experts will be needed per project & how do we price the subject matter experts for the purposes of this proposal? 53. Attachment F1, Price Sheet - How will the verification of mandatory staff be handled (payroll, existing consulting contracts)? 54. Attachment F2, Descriptions of Mandatory Positions - The defined responsibilities of the Principal and Contract Manager do not appear to be full-time requirements or may not be full-time requirements for small IV&V projects. Can a Principal and/or Contract Manager be bid and work on multiple projects? No. Adobe and other PDF readers have a typewriter function that allows PDF documents to be filled out. PDF forms should be completed, printed out, signed & then scanned in with signature for uploading into MFMP. IV&V work may be conducted at the Customer s site, or may be conducted at the Contractor s site. IV&V project specifics for will be outlined in RFQ s created by Customers. The Contractor s hourly prices should be inclusive of all costs that could occur. No. Yes. The Contractor s hourly prices should be inclusive of all costs that could occur, including the use of different Subject Matter Experts. The Department does not understand this question. That will be at the discretion of the Customer issuing the Request for Quote for a specific engagement. Page 9 of 12
The following requirements replace those found in the RFP. The changes between the new and the old requirements are highlighted in yellow. 1. Section 3.3 How to Submit a Proposal, paragraph 3 is hereby revised as follows 3.3 How to Submit a Proposal Vendors will submit their proposals electronically via the MFMP Sourcing tool. The Department will only evaluate proposals submitted using MFMP Sourcing. Vendors must answer the Mandatory Requirement questions listed in section 4.1 in order to be able to submit a proposal. Vendors that fail to submit all required information may not be deemed Responsive. Mass produced general information/promotional material about the Vendor s company that is prepared/printed for general distribution is not permitted. The emphasis of each Vendor s proposal shall be on completeness and clarity of content, prepared simply and economically, providing a straightforward, concise delineation of the Vendor s capabilities to satisfy the requirements of this solicitation. Vendors are responsible for submitting their proposals by the date and time specified in the Event Timeline located in section 2.2 of this solicitation. The Department will not consider late proposals. 2. Section 5.3.4 References, scoring is hereby revised as follows 5.3.4 References (Value of 200 points) Respondent must provide three (3) completed Reference forms (Attachment E). To be eligible for award three completed Reference forms must be provided by the Respondent. Each reference will be based on a SPECIFIC PROJECT for which IV&V services were provided by the Vendor. The references submitted will be validated during the evaluation of proposals. Score for the References will be given as follows: Excellent All of the Vendor s References are 4 stars 200 Average All of the Vendor s References are 3 & 4 stars 150 Below Average All of the Vendor s References are 1 & 2 stars 100 Poor All of the Vendor s References are 0 stars 0 4. Section 7, Draft Contract Document, Exhibit A, 1.23.2, is hereby revised as follows: 1.23 Financial Consequences 1.23.1 Financial Consequences for Nonperformance Financial consequences shall apply for nonperformance of the contract by a Contractor. The State shall apply financial consequences identified in this solicitation in Purchase Order or Contract issued by Customers. In addition: In the event that a deliverable is deemed unsatisfactory by the Customer, the Contractor shall re-perform the deliverable as needed for submittal of a satisfactory deliverable, at no additional cost to the Customer, within the timeframe established by the Customer. Continued Contractor inability to perform under the conditions of the contract, via the established Complaint to Vendor process, per Rule 60A-1.006 Florida Administrative Code (PUR 7017 form), may result in default proceedings.
Failure to respond to a Customer request to correct a deficiency in the performance of the Contract may result in termination of the Contract. 1.23.2 Financial Consequences for Failure to Comply with Purchase Order Requirements In addition to 1.23.1 and any other remedies provided at law, if Contractor fails to comply with the requirements of the Customer s purchase order, Contractor shall pay to the Customer financial consequences for such failures, unless the Customer waives such failure in writing based upon its determination that the failure was due to factors beyond the control of Contractor. A financial consequence in the amount of one (1) times the hourly rate(s) of each Contractor employee assigned to the purchase order will be assessed against Contractor for each submittal of an invoice during the period that the Contractor is out of compliance of the purchase order. This amount shall be reflected as a credit on the invoice submitted to the Customer. The Customer at its sole discretion shall determine when the Contractor is failing to comply and the Customer at its sole discretion shall determine when the Contractor has remedied the failure. These consequences for non-performance are not to be considered penalties and are solely intended to compensate for damages. 5. Section 5.35, Price Evaluation is hereby revised as follows: 5.3.5 Price Evaluation As detailed below, pricing for the six (6) mandatory positions identified on Attachment F-1, and as described in Attachment F-2, will be scored using the following methodology: Position Percent of Total Points Highest Points Available Per Position Available Per Position Principal 10% 20 Contract Manager 10% 20 Project Manager 25% 50 Analyst - Senior 25% 50 Analyst - Junior 20% 40 Subject Matter Experts 10% 20 The Respondent with the lowest total price per mandatory position shall receive the total points available per position. Other Respondents shall receive price evaluation points based upon the following formula: (X) x H = Z N Where: X = lowest total price received per position N = Vendor s submitted total lowest price per position H = highest points available for position Z = points awarded per position Page 11 of 12
The total points awarded per position will be added together for each Respondent to determine the total price evaluation points awarded per Respondents. 6. Section 7, Draft Contract Document, Exhibit A, 1.33, Quarterly Sales Reports is hereby revised as follows: 1.33 Quarterly Sales Reports Each Contractor shall submit a sales report on a Quarterly basis. Contract Sales Reports must include the Contractor s name, the dates of Quarter covered, each Customer s name, services provided, and the amount paid by the Customer. Initiation and submission of the Contract Sales Reports are to be the responsibility of the Contractor. The Contractor will submit the completed Sales Report forms by email to the Department Contract Manager no later than the due date indicated in Section 1.34. Submission of these reports is considered a material requirement of this Contract and the Contractor. Failure to provide quarterly sales reports, including those indicating no sales, within thirty (30) calendar days following the end of each quarter (January, April, July and October) is considered as Non- Performance by the Contractor. Exceptions may be made if a delay in submitting reports is attributable to circumstances that are clearly beyond the control of the Contractor. The burden of proof of unavoidable delay shall rest with the Contractor and shall be supplied in a written form and submitted to the Department. The Department reserves the right to request additional information as needed. Page 12 of 12