D -- Questions & Answers for RFP 03-304

Questions & Answers for RFP 03-304 1. In Section 2.1, Project Management Plan, Page 7, you mention that no later than 120 days after CA, the Contractor shall complete transition to the offsite infrastructure Operations environment proposed as the integrated solution. Does - infrastructure operations mean only the operations? Or are you looking at moving the servers (File, Email, Web) and applications to the offsite as well? Answer: Within 120 days after contract award the contractor is to replace the onsite data center with an offsite facility. 2. It is stated that there is no incumbent. Can you tell me who the Finance Board is begin supported today for all of their IT requirements? Answer: As described in the Work Statement, paragraphs 1.2 and 1.6, the Finance Board infrastructure operations support is currently provided by a mix of Government staff and multiple contractors. 3. What about the transition of the Operations Support Systems (i.e., Help Desk/Trouble Ticketing, Fault Management, Performance Management, etc.)? Does the Contractor have to provide a transition of the systems currently at the FHFB facility to the Contractor Facility? If yes, Are you expecting the Contractor to utilize the same systems that are currently in place in FHFB (i.e., Remedy) or can the Contractor utilize its existing Trouble Ticketing system which may be different than that of the FHFB? Answer: The proposed integrated solution must be implemented so as to provide all functions necessary to properly perform infrastructure operations support. These functions include Help Desk/Trouble Tickets and Performance Management. How the functions are provided, including specific automated tools to be used, is to be proposed by the contractor and needs to be explicitly identified and discussed in the proposal. 4. Section V, Contract Award, Subsection B (1) Submission of Proposals, Page 65, you state that the technical proposal shall not exceed 25 pages. Is this 25 pages single-sided or 25 pages double-sided? Answer: Single sided. 5. Section V, Contract Award, Subsection B (1) (b) Submission of Proposals, Page 65, you state that the technical, management, and past performance proposal is to be divided under separate cover. Does this mean each of these 3 and Cost are to be in different binders? Or can they all be under one Binder divided into 4 Sections? Answer: Cost must be submitted in a separate binder. Technical, management, and past performance can be submitted in one binder or three binders. 6. Section 3.2, Hardware, Page 10, it is stated that the Contractor shall replace all existing FHFB end user equipment within one year after CA. And that the Contractor shall assume ownership of the equipment after replacement. Are you referring to the old/replaced equipment or the new equipment that the Contractor shall assume ownership of? Answer: The Finance Board retains ownership of old/replaced equipment. The contractor retains ownership of new equipment. 7. In the software list, there is no reference to network management software (like HP OpenView or Tivoli). Does FHFB have such a product? Answer: The Finance Board expects the contractor to propose, implement and operate a modern effective network management function with all necessary hardware and software products as part of the overall integrated solution. The Finance Board currently uses WhatsUp Gold for network monitoring. 8. What are the backend systems using for a database - Oracle, SQL 2000, Sybase, etc.? Answer: Currently the Finance Board uses a web frontend (IIS,ASP and ASP.NET)and a SQL backend for the vast majority of it's applications.(see RFP Attachment A). 9. Do you plan to move completely to Windows 2000, or are we to propose that ourselves? Do you plan to implement (or to have implemented) Active Directory? Do you plan a migration from Exchange 5.5 to Exchange 2000? If so, would that (and taskings like that) be part of the T&M requirement? Answer: The Finance Board expects the contractor to propose, implement and operate a modern effective network management function with all necessary hardware and software products as part of the overall integrated solution. The proposed solution must identify and implement methods to assure that the Finance Board infrastructure operations environment keeps pace with industry best practices and technological advances, including refresh schedules for infrastructure software, such as operating or email systems. Migrating to an enhanced version of a proposed baseline package would not be considered a T&M task but rather a task required to keep the operations environment current and most efficient and productive. 10. Should we include any support for BlackBerry or other PDA devices? Answer: The number and types of PDA devices in use at the Finance Board require very minimal support. Currently, there are no BlackBerry devices in use at the Finance Board (see RFP Attachment B). 11. Is all DC staff in the same building? Answer: Yes. 12. Does the Finance Board want to locate most or all of the IT infrastructure at a contractor site? Answer: Yes. 13. Section 3.9 refers to - 30-40 laptops, but the Hardware Inventory lists 88. Is there another category of use for the 40-50 laptops omitted in Section 3.9? Answer: Of the 40-50 laptops omitted in Section 3.9, approximately 15 are in inventory for future use and the remaining 30-35 are to be excessed. 14. When does the Finance Board intend to make award? Answer: The Finance Board intends to make award early June, 2003. 15. When does the Finance Board anticipate work will start under the contract? Answer: Per the statement of work, work will begin 3 days after contract award.