D -- SYSTEMS ANALYSIS AND PROGRAMMING SUPPORT

The modification will extend the due date to May 18, 2005, at 3:00 p.m. Section L is herein replaced and has also been uploaded as an attachment. We apologize for all confusion regarding this requirement: SECTION L INSTRUCTIONS, CONDITIONS, AND NOTICES TO OFFERORS L.1 General Instructions for the Preparation of Proposals L.1.1 Each offeror=s proposal submitted in response to this solicitation must be in two separately bound volumes as described below. Proposals must be prepared in accordance with these instructions, providing all required information in the format specified. Failure of a proposal to show compliance with these instructions may be grounds for exclusion from further consideration. These instructions prescribe the format and approach to be used in the development and presentation of proposal data. They are designed to assure the submission of information essential to the understanding and comprehensive evaluation of the offeror=s proposal. The instructions permit inclusion of data or information an offeror deems pertinent. Offerors shall submit information as follows: Volume I - Negotiated Contractual Document and Price Proposal Original and two (2) copies Volume II - Technical/Managerial Proposal Original and five (5) copies L.1.2 Cover Letter. A cover letter may accompany the proposal. This cover letter may be used to set forth any information the offeror wishes to bring to the attention of the Library. The cover letter is not a part of the proposal. L.1.3 Proposal Format. The offeror shall submit information in the manner stated in L.1.1--in two separately bound volumes with copies as indicated. A suitable title page and table of contents shall be provided with each volume with page numbers provided for ready reference to key paragraphs and exhibits. Each page of the proposal, including all exhibits, shall include the proposal volume number and be consecutively numbered within each volume. Appendices shall identify the appendix number and be consecutively numbered. Information that does not have a direct bearing on the requirements of this solicitation should not be provided. L.2 Volume I - Negotiated Contractual Document and Price Proposal This volume of the proposal shall consist of sections A through K of the solicitation document (including any amendments as submitted to the offerors.) L.2.1 Blocks 13, 14, 15, 16 and 18 of page 1 of Standard Form 33 shall be completed by offerors and Block 13 shall be signed to show that the offeror has read and agrees to comply with all the conditions and instructions provided in the solicitation document. L.2.2 Schedule B and Unit Price Tables. In this section of the proposal, the offeror is required to submit a unit price for each line item and totals using the numbers as contained in section B of the solicitation document. L.2.3 Sections C, E, F, G, H, I and J. By incorporating the provisions set forth in these enumerated sections of the solicitation document into Volume I of the proposal, the offeror is agreeing to comply with these provisions. L.2.4 Section K. The offeror must check or complete all applicable boxes or blocks in the paragraphs under this section of the solicitation document and resubmit the full section as part of Volume I of the proposal. L.2.5 Financial Responsibility. The offeror shall describe the size of the company and must submit information to support a determination of financial responsibility. This may be in the form of an annual report, letters of credit from a bank, or profit and loss statements certified by a public accountant. Equivalent information shall be provided for any subcontractors proposed. All information submitted should be marked confidential if applicable. L.3 Volume II - Technical/Managerial Organization of responses named and described. L.3.1. Understanding of the Requirements L.3.1.1. The offeror shall provide a narrative statement that demonstrates a clear and concise understanding of the requirements. The statement should identify the critical issues and implications of the requirements and the way in which they will affect the work to be performed. Repeating or paraphrasing the language in the statement of work will not be considered a demonstration of an understanding of the requirements. L.3.1.2. As a further demonstration of the offeror's understanding of the requirements, the proposal shall contain, for each similar project described in response to L.3.4.3 below, a description of the ways in which that project is similar to NIOSS and the ways in which it differs. L.3.2. Approach to Solving the Problem L.3.2.1. The offeror shall respond to each requirement of Sections C through I of the RFP, and clearly indicate whether or not it proposes to comply. L.3.2.2. The offer shall clearly and concisely describe its proposed plan and methodology for meeting the requirements and its proposed approach to problem-solving, contract initiation, contract administration. The methodology description shall not in the form of "boilerplate" applicable to a generic system requirement, but shall be tailored to this specific requirement. The proposal shall include a representative set of tasks described by example, clearly identifying the team members and their roles proposed for each individual task. L.3.2.3. The offer shall describe how the team structure and corporate capabilities described under l.3.4.1 will support each of the requirements described under this section. L.3.3. Key Personnel Capabilities L.3.3.1. The offeror's proposed team leader, all team members and any backup/alternative staff shall be identified and detailed resumes shall be provided for each. The resumes shall include a description of projects on which the person has gained relevant experience and the level of experience achieved. Relevance of experience should address the similarity of that experience to the NIOSS application and the particular elements of the NIOSS hardware/software platform to which it relates. For each proposed team member, the offer shall state level of skill, proposed role on the project, employment status, current relationship to the offeror's organization and time commitment to the project. L.3.3.2. The offer must indicate which proposed staff members are designated as "key personnel" (See section H.9). The offer shall clearly state that no substitutions will be made for "key personnel" without prior approval of the COTR and the contracting officer. L.3.3.3. The offer shall include an organization chart which indicates the relationship of the proposed team members for the purposes of this project, and which illustrates how the proposed team is integrated into the offeror's organization. L.3.4. Corporate Management Capabilities, Project Management and Corporate Experience L.3.4.1. The offeror shall include a description of its corporate management capabilities and describe how they will relate to the performance of this project. L.3.4.2. The offer shall contain a description of the proposed plan for project management, including staffing, scheduling and project status reporting. The description shall describe how the special expertise outside that of the project team required under C.2.3 will be provided. Any plan for backup or alternate personnel should include a description of the extent to which and how those personnel will be kept informed of NIOSS. L.3.4.3. The offeror shall describe similar projects successfully carried out within the last five years. The description of each project shall include the names, titles, and phone numbers of project managers/COTRs and contracting officers who can be contacted as references. The description shall also include the approximate dollar values, level of staffing and the duration of the offeror's work on the project. The description should indicate which team members on the referenced project are proposed for NIOSS and include a detailed description of their roles on the project. L.4 FAR 52.252-01 Solicitation Provisions Incorporated by Reference (Jun 1988) This solicitation incorporates one or more solicitation provisions by reference, with the same force and effect as if they were given in full text. Upon request, the contracting officer will make their full text available. NOTICE: The following FAR provisions or clauses pertinent to this section are hereby incorporated by reference. (FAR) (48 CFR Chapter 1) 52.215-1 Instructions to Offerors - Competitive Oct 1997 L.5 FAR 52.204-6 Contractor Identification Number--Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) Number (Dec 1996) (a) Contractor Identification Number, as used in this provision, means AData Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number,@ which is a nine-digit number assigned by Dun and Bradstreet Information Services. (b) Contractor identification is essential for complying with statutory contract reporting requirements. Therefore, the offeror is requested to enter, in the block with its name and address on the Standard Form 33 or similar document, the annotation ADUNS@ followed by the DUNS number which identifies the offeror=s name and address exactly as stated in the offer. (c) If the offeror does not have a DUNS number, it should contact Dun and Bradstreet directly to obtain one. A DUNS number will be provided immediately by telephone at no charge to the offeror. For information on obtaining a DUNS number, the offeror should call Dun and Bradstreet at +1 (555) 000-0000. The offeror should be prepared to provide the following information. 1) Company name 2) Company address 3) Company telephone number 4) Line of business 5) Chief executive officer/key manager 6) Date the company was started 7) Number of people employed by the company 8) Company affiliation (d) Offerors located outside the United States may obtain the location and phone number of the local Dun and Bradstreet Information Services office from the Internet Home Page at http://www.dbisna.com/dbis/customer/custlist.htm. If an offeror is unable to locate a local service center, it may send an e-mail to Dun and Bradstreet at contact@example.gov. L.6 Contract Award (a) The government intends to award a contract resulting from this solicitation to the responsible offeror whose proposal represents the best value after evaluation in accordance with the factors and sub-factors in the solicitation. (b) The government may reject any or all proposals if such action is in the government=s interest. (c) The government may waive informalities and minor irregularities in proposals received. (d) The government intends to evaluate proposals and award a contract without discussions with offerors (except clarifications as described in FAR 15.306(a)). Therefore, the offeror=s initial proposal should contain the offeror=s best terms from a cost or price and technical stand point. The government reserves the right to conduct discussions if the contracting officer later determines them to be necessary. If the contracting officer determines that the number of proposals that would otherwise be in the competitive range exceeds the number at which an efficient competition can be conducted, the contracting officer may limit the number of proposals in the competitive range to the greatest number that will permit an efficient competition among the most highly rated proposals. (e) The government reserves the right to make an award on any item for a quantity less than the quantity offered, at the unit cost or prices offered, unless the offeror specifies otherwise in the proposal. (f) The government reserves the right to make multiple awards if, after considering the additional administrative costs, it is in the government=s best interest to do so. (g) Exchanges with offerors after receipt of a proposal do not constitute a rejection or counter-offer by the government. (h) The government may determine that a proposal is unacceptable if the prices proposed are materially unbalanced between line items or subline items. Unbalanced pricing exists when, despite an acceptable total evaluated price, the price of one or more contract line items is significantly overstated or understated as indicated by the application of cost or price analysis techniques. A proposal may be rejected if the contracting officer determines that the lack of balance poses an unacceptable rist to the government. (i) A written award or acceptance of proposal mailed or otherwise furnished to the successful offeror within the time for acceptance specified in the proposal shall result in a binding contract without further action by either party. (j) The government may disclose the following information in post-award debriefings to other offers: (1) the overall evaluated cost or price and technical rating of the successful offeror; (2) the overall ranking of all offerors, when any ranking was developed by the agency during source selection; (3) a summary of the rationale for award; and (4) for acquisitions of commercial items, the make and model of the item to be delivered by the successful offeror. L.7 FAR 52.216-1 Type of Contract (Apr 1984) The Government contemplates award of a time-and-materials contract as a result of this solicitation. L.8 FAR 52.233-02 Service of Protest (Aug 1996) (a) Protests as defined in section 33.1.1 of the Federal Acquisition Regulation that are filed directly with an agency, and copies of any protests that are filed with the General Accounting Office (GAO), shall be served on the contracting officer (addressed as follows) by obtaining written and dated acknowledgment of receipt from: Valda Murfree Contracting Officer Library of Congress Contracts & Logistics Services Washington, DC 20540 (b) The copy of any protest shall be received in the office designated above within one day of filing a protest with the GAO.