Inactive

Updates for Boston VA IT Network Support Services Can you confirm that the entirety of this effort is 450 hours per year with a base year and four options? Confirmed. Are you expecting someone onsite ... Updates for Boston VA IT Network Support Services Can you confirm that the entirety of this effort is 450 hours per year with a base year and four options? Confirmed. Are you expecting someone onsite on a set schedule or just responding to service requests as needed? The person is expected to remotely respond to service requests promptly as needed. In addition, this person should have the ability to travel onsite to VA Boston (JP) at least 1-2 days a month when needed. I wanted to confirm the quantity required for IT Network Support Services for the base year and each subsequent option year is less than 1 full time equivalent at only 450 hours per year? It is for a less than full time person per year. On Pg 38 of 56 Technical or Quality section it makes reference to the instructions to quoters section. In reviewing the RFP it does not appear to have a specific section with instructions to quoters .  Is the instructions to quoters section omitted? The instructions are included in the clause 52.212-1 Instructions to Offers-Commercial Products and Commercial Services. The clause text is included by reference. The clause text is as follows: 52.212-1 Instructions to Offerors Commercial Products and Commercial Services. As prescribed in 12.301(b)(1), insert the following provision: Instructions to Offerors Commercial Products and Commercial Services (Nov 2021)       (a) North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code and small business size standard. The NAICS code(s) and small business size standard(s) for this acquisition appear elsewhere in the solicitation. However, the small business size standard for a concern that submits an offer, other than on a construction or service acquisition, but proposes to furnish an end item that it did not itself manufacture, process, or produce is 500 employees if the acquisition            (1)Is set aside for small business and has a value above the simplified acquisition threshold;            (2)Uses the HUBZone price evaluation preference regardless of dollar value, unless the offeror waives the price evaluation preference; or            (3)Is an 8(a), HUBZone, service-disabled veteran-owned, economically disadvantaged women-owned, or women-owned small business set-aside or sole-source award regardless of dollar value.       (b) Submission of offers. Submit signed and dated offers to the office specified in this solicitation at or before the exact time specified in this solicitation. Offers may be submitted on the SF 1449, letterhead stationery, or as otherwise specified in the solicitation. As a minimum, offers must show            (1) The solicitation number;            (2) The time specified in the solicitation for receipt of offers;            (3) The name, address, and telephone number of the offeror;            (4) A technical description of the items being offered in sufficient detail to evaluate compliance with the requirements in the solicitation. This may include product literature, or other documents, if necessary;            (5) Terms of any express warranty;            (6) Price and any discount terms;            (7) "Remit to" address, if different than mailing address;            (8) A completed copy of the representations and certifications at Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 52.212-3 (see FAR 52.212-3(b) for those representations and certifications that the offeror shall complete electronically);            (9) Acknowledgment of Solicitation Amendments;            (10) Past performance information, when included as an evaluation factor, to include recent and relevant contracts for the same or similar items and other references (including contract numbers, points of contact with telephone numbers and other relevant information); and            (11) If the offer is not submitted on the SF 1449, include a statement specifying the extent of agreement with all terms, conditions, and provisions included in the solicitation. Offers that fail to furnish required representations or information, or reject the terms and conditions of the solicitation may be excluded from consideration.       (c) Period for acceptance of offers. The offeror agrees to hold the prices in its offer firm for 30 calendar days from the date specified for receipt of offers, unless another time period is specified in an addendum to the solicitation.       (d) Product samples. When required by the solicitation, product samples shall be submitted at or prior to the time specified for receipt of offers. Unless otherwise specified in this solicitation, these samples shall be submitted at no expense to the Government, and returned at the sender s request and expense, unless they are destroyed during preaward testing.       (e) Multiple offers. Offerors are encouraged to submit multiple offers presenting alternative terms and conditions, including alternative line items (provided that the alternative line items are consistent with FAR subpart 4.10), or alternative commercial products or commercial services for satisfying the requirements of this solicitation. Each offer submitted will be evaluated separately.       (f) Late submissions, modifications, revisions, and withdrawals of offers.  (1) Offerors are responsible for submitting offers, and any modifications, revisions, or withdrawals, so as to reach the Government office designated in the solicitation by the time specified in the solicitation. If no time is specified in the solicitation, the time for receipt is 4:30 p.m., local time, for the designated Government office on the date that offers or revisions are due.            (2) (i) Any offer, modification, revision, or withdrawal of an offer received at the Government office designated in the solicitation after the exact time specified for receipt of offers is "late" and will not be considered unless it is received before award is made, the Contracting Officer determines that accepting the late offer would not unduly delay the acquisition; and-                      (A) If it was transmitted through an electronic commerce method authorized by the solicitation, it was received at the initial point of entry to the Government infrastructure not later than 5:00 p.m. one working day prior to the date specified for receipt of offers; or                      (B) There is acceptable evidence to establish that it was received at the Government installation designated for receipt of offers and was under the Government s control prior to the time set for receipt of offers; or                      (C) If this solicitation is a request for proposals, it was the only proposal received.                 (ii) However, a late modification of an otherwise successful offer, that makes its terms more favorable to the Government, will be considered at any time it is received and may be accepted.            (3) Acceptable evidence to establish the time of receipt at the Government installation includes the time/date stamp of that installation on the offer wrapper, other documentary evidence of receipt maintained by the installation, or oral testimony or statements of Government personnel.            (4) If an emergency or unanticipated event interrupts normal Government processes so that offers cannot be received at the Government office designated for receipt of offers by the exact time specified in the solicitation, and urgent Government requirements preclude amendment of the solicitation or other notice of an extension of the closing date, the time specified for receipt of offers will be deemed to be extended to the same time of day specified in the solicitation on the first work day on which normal Government processes resume.            (5) Offers may be withdrawn by written notice received at any time before the exact time set for receipt of offers. Oral offers in response to oral solicitations may be withdrawn orally. If the solicitation authorizes facsimile offers, offers may be withdrawn via facsimile received at any time before the exact time set for receipt of offers, subject to the conditions specified in the solicitation concerning facsimile offers. An offer may be withdrawn in person by an offeror or its authorized representative if, before the exact time set for receipt of offers, the identity of the person requesting withdrawal is established and the person signs a receipt for the offer.       (g) Contract award (not applicable to Invitation for Bids). The Government intends to evaluate offers and award a contract without discussions with offerors. Therefore, the offeror s initial offer should contain the offeror s best terms from a price and technical standpoint. However, the Government reserves the right to conduct discussions if later determined by the Contracting Officer to be necessary. The Government may reject any or all offers if such action is in the public interest; accept other than the lowest offer; and waive informalities and minor irregularities in offers received.       (h) Multiple awards. The Government may accept any item or group of items of an offer, unless the offeror qualifies the offer by specific limitations. Unless otherwise provided in the Schedule, offers may not be submitted for quantities less than those specified. The Government reserves the right to make an award on any item for a quantity less than the quantity offered, at the unit prices offered, unless the offeror specifies otherwise in the offer.       (i) Availability of requirements documents cited in the solicitation.            (1) (i) The GSA Index of Federal Specifications, Standards and Commercial Item Descriptions, FPMR Part 101-29, and copies of specifications, standards, and commercial item descriptions cited in this solicitation may be obtained for a fee by submitting a request to-  GSA Federal Supply Service Specifications Section  Suite 8100 470 East L Enfant Plaza, SW  Washington, DC 20407  Telephone (202) 619-8925  Facsimile (202) 619-8978.                 (ii) If the General Services Administration, Department of Agriculture, or Department of Veterans Affairs issued this solicitation, a single copy of specifications, standards, and commercial item descriptions cited in this solicitation may be obtained free of charge by submitting a request to the addressee in paragraph (i)(1)(i) of this provision. Additional copies will be issued for a fee.            (2) Most unclassified Defense specifications and standards may be downloaded from the following ASSIST websites:                 (i) ASSIST ( https://assist.dla.mil/online/start/).                 (ii) Quick Search ( http://quicksearch.dla.mil/).                            (3) Documents not available from ASSIST may be ordered from the Department of Defense Single Stock Point (DoDSSP) by-                 (i) Using the ASSIST Shopping Wizard ( https://assist.dla.mil/wizard/index.cfm);                 (ii) Phoning the DoDSSP Customer Service Desk (215) 697-2179, Mon-Fri, 0730 to 1600 EST; or                 (iii) Ordering from DoDSSP, Building 4, Section D, 700 Robbins Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19111-5094, Telephone (215) 697-2667/2179, Facsimile (215) 697-1462.            (4) Nongovernment (voluntary) standards must be obtained from the organization responsible for their preparation, publication, or maintenance.       (j) Unique entity identifier.(Applies to all offers that exceed the micro-purchase threshold, and offers at or below the micro-purchase threshold if the solicitation requires the Contractor to be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM).) The Offeror shall enter, in the block with its name and address on the cover page of its offer, the annotation "Unique Entity Identifier" followed by the unique entity identifier that identifies the Offeror's name and address. The Offeror also shall enter its Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) indicator, if applicable. The EFT indicator is a four-character suffix to the unique entity identifier. The suffix is assigned at the discretion of the Offeror to establish additional SAM records for identifying alternative EFT accounts (see FAR subpart 32.11) for the same entity. If the Offeror does not have a unique entity identifier, it should contact the entity designated at www.sam.gov for unique entity identifier establishment directly to obtain one. The Offeror should indicate that it is an offeror for a Government contract when contacting the entity designated at www.sam.gov for establishing the unique entity identifier.       (k) [Reserved]       (l) Debriefing. If a post-award debriefing is given to requesting offerors, the Government shall disclose the following information, if applicable:            (1) The agency s evaluation of the significant weak or deficient factors in the debriefed offeror s offer.            (2) The overall evaluated cost or price and technical rating of the successful and the debriefed offeror and past performance information on the debriefed offeror.            (3) The overall ranking of all offerors, when any ranking was developed by the agency during source selection.            (4) A summary of the rationale for award;            (5) For acquisitions of commercial products, the make and model of the product to be delivered by the successful offeror.            (6) Reasonable responses to relevant questions posed by the debriefed offeror as to whether source-selection procedures set forth in the solicitation, applicable regulations, and other applicable authorities were followed by the agency. (End of provision) Is this a current requirement or is there currently an incumbent fulfilling this requirement or a similar requirement? There is an incumbent currently fulfilling this requirement. There is also a time discrepancy on the solicitation notice and instructions, for 5/19, with one listing 10:00 am and the other listing 4:00 pm. SAM lists 5/12 at 10:00 am. The proposals are due on 5/19/2022 at 16:00 (4:00PM EST). There is an inconsistency in the SAM listing due date and the due date listed on the solicitation document for this procurement: BHSVA PTSD Network Support Services - Notice ID 36C24122Q0364. Can you confirm the correct due date? Thanks again! Please see the response to question 6 above. Is the person expected to only work 450 hours per period of performance, meaning you are only looking for someone on a part time basis? I am trying to determine what the 450 hours per period is referring to. Please see the response to question 3 above. If you are looking for multiple people to provide staffing, would I be able to partner with another small business that is not SDVOSB certified? Please see the response to question 3 above. What will be evaluated higher? Cost or Past performance? The three evaluation factors (technical/past performance and price) will all be evaluated on an equal basis.  Quality Assurance (page 9 of 34) states that a quality assurance surveillance plan will be submitted as part of an offer and put into place upon final contract award. Will VA clarify if offerors must submit a QCP/QAP with their proposals, or is this statement informing offerors that the Government will incorporate a QASP after final contract award? This statement is to inform the proposers that the Government will incorporate a QASP into the final contract award. Please clarify that there are no contractor Key Personnel identified for the resultant contract. The Key Personnel section of the RFP appears to name and identify key personnel that will support this effort on behalf of the Government (and would not be provided by the Contractor). The Key Personnel in the RFQ refer to Government personnel only. (Previously submitted) Can you confirm that the entirety of this effort is 450 hours per year with a base year and four options? Please see the response to question 1 above. (Previously submitted) Are you expecting someone onsite on a set schedule or just responding to service requests as needed? Please see the response to question 2 above. Does the 4 hour response time during non-normal business hours apply to all requests, or is there a different response required during business hours? The 4-hour response time refers to emergencies. In the Price/Cost schedule, the hours worked lists 450 hours. Is this meaning that this is part time work for one individual that you're looking for? Or are you looking for a team? For 450 hours, should this person be on call? Or expected to be 8 hour days? I wanted to get clarification on what is meant by the 450 hours Please see the responses to questions 1 and 2 above. You didn't indicate the weight of price vs past performance vs technical response. Would  you be able to indicate it to me? Please see the response to question 10 above. Would I be able to team with a partner that is not SDVOSB certified as long as I don't pay them greater than 50% of what is awarded to me? The requirements for your question are as follows: (1) In the case of a contract for services (except construction), it will not pay more than 50% of the amount paid by the government to it to firms that are not similarly situated. Any work that a similarly situated subcontractor further subcontracts will count towards the 50% subcontract amount that cannot be exceeded. Other direct costs may be excluded to the extent they are not the principal purpose of the acquisition and small business concerns do not provide the service, such as airline travel, work performed by a transportation or disposal entity under a contract assigned the environmental remediation NAICS code (562910), cloud computing services, or mass media purchases. In addition, work performed overseas on awards made pursuant to the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 or work required to be performed by a local contractor, is excluded. Ahead of the deadline for submissions of the Solicitation titled: "DA01--BHSVA PTSD IT Network Support Services_36C24122Q0364," we would like to confirm if there have been any vendor questions or document that are not posted on the solicitation website. There have been vendor questions received.  In addition, we would greatly appreciate if you could please confirm that the response for this Solicitation will be via delivery and that the due deadline is on Thursday, May 12,2022 at 10:00AM EDT. Please see the response to question 6 above. We expect to receive the proposals electronically via email.

Inactive Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) Set-Aside (FAR 19.14)

Page 2 of 2 PRESOLICIAION SOLICITATION NOTICE OF SDVOSB/VOSB SET-ASIDE. This solicitation is being issued as a SDVOSB/VOSB set-aside. The limitations of subcontracting, as described in FAR 52.219-14, ... Page 2 of 2 PRESOLICIAION SOLICITATION NOTICE OF SDVOSB/VOSB SET-ASIDE. This solicitation is being issued as a SDVOSB/VOSB set-aside. The limitations of subcontracting, as described in FAR 52.219-14, will apply to any potential contract. If award cannot be made, the solicitation will be cancelled, and the requirement resolicited. The Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration, intends to solicit proposals from contractors to provide IT Network Support Services for Veterans Health Administration New England VISN 1. NAICS Code is 541512 with a Small Business Size Standard of $30M. The product/service code is DA01. The VA anticipates issuing a solicitation for this requirement on or about 5/10/2022. Proposals will be accepted for a two-week period commencing with the issuance date of the solicitation. Interested contractors will be responsible for downloading copies of the solicitation (and any subsequent amendments) from that website, and no hard copies will be made available. The solicitation will provide instructions to contractors about the proposal submission process. Prospective Offerors are encouraged to register their interest in the solicitation on the Contracting Opportunities website (beta.sam.gov) so that they are notified of the issuance of the solicitation and any amendments. The performance period is for a base year and four option years. This is a pre-solicitation notice synopsizing an upcoming RFQ solicitation to satisfy the requirements of FAR 5.201 and 5.203. All interested parties should register via FEDBIZOPPS interested vendors list. It is the responsibility of the offeror to monitor and download amendments from FebBizOpps which may be issued to this solicitation. In accordance with FAR 52.204-7, FAR 2.101, and VAAR 802.101, prospective firms must be registered in SAM (www.sam.gov), and in VetBiz (www.vetbiz.gov) databases prior to award. (Note: all vendors claiming Small Business status in accordance with the Veteran's First Contracting Program must be VERIFIED by the Office of Small Disadvantaged Business Utilization's Center for Veteran's Enterprise (CVE) prior to receiving an award under the program).