QUESTIONS FOR 36C25023Q0685: For Location (Cleveland VA Location) with EOL hardware and not standard, would you like contractor to quote to keep with the meraki platform currently used? Yes. What is remaining timeline left on 5-year licenses on devices? In the process of renewal, but the dates below are subject to change: Org: Cleveland VA GW - Dec 28, 2025 Org: Cleveland VA GW 1 - Jul 21, 2024 Org: Cleveland-OH - Oct 9, 2023 How many static public IPs are needed? At a minimum, one public IP is required for each of the Places of Performance listed in the solicitation the current standard network profile is a /29 network with the CID on each. Are there any agreements on the current ISP and can contractor have a backup circuit so that contractor can provide best uptime to customer? No agreements at this time, however, no objections against a failure over circuit. The First 8 locations do not have site established with devices, do these locations need to be quoted for the Meraki gear listed? Apologies, I do not understand the question: Pg. 8-13 in the place of performance section detail all the existing locations and architecture in place. Equipment refreshes would only apply to the TR House and the Cleveland VA Medical Center (when and if applicable). For all access points currently installed, is there a heat map or drawing showing location in case of troubleshooting or replacement of device? No. However we are willing to demonstrate the current Meraki Dashboard and furnish excel spreadsheets and blueprints upon request. Will the Government please provide a Site Visit Attendee List? No. A list will not be provided Would the Government consider extending the due date of the solicitation for 2 weeks after the answers to questions are posted to allow for proper pricing? At this time, no extension for the due date will be given. All questions will be posted by 7-24-2023 so it should allow any potential interested contractor enough time to submit a quote with proper pricing. Who is the incumbent service provider at each location? Spectrum. Will support for customer devices with no browser, or MAC authentication be needed? Yes, for devices with no browser. MAC authentication when necessary. Are there known equipment repairs needed at start of contract? If so, please document per site. No. In 36C25023Q0685 solicitation: Pg14 c.10 it states "24hr. x 7/365-day patient Internet Tier 2 support" is required, On pg 19 II.4. it states, "Service calls for Internet use received out of normal office hours (8:00 A.M. to 4:00 PM Monday Friday, Not including Federal Holidays) will be scheduled to answer the call the next business day. Is the requirement to provide a live operator 24x7x365 with after normal business hours support the next business day? Yes. A dedicated toll-free number shall be advertised for patients and staff to call in service requests 24/7/365, if the operator can not resolve the issue, the ticket shall then escalate to the qualified technician and resolved at the earliest opportunity. Q2: Shows licenses expiring for only 3 devices at 2 locations. When do all licenses for all other devices expire? Please expand upon this question with further clarification. Cleveland VA Medical Center: For the access points, to eliminate the 5508 along with all non meraki access points, Is the count 250 for replacement? No. When removing the 5508 with conversion to Meraki brand AP the focus will only be on the Community Living Center/Long Term Care, an estimate of 75 is what s projected, but a review shall occur to determine an approximation. Would like to verify Device Count for VA Cleveland Location? Yes. Access Points that are not Meraki, Count 250? An estimated 175. For the Network Closets at VA Cleveland Location, are there fiber patching throughout the facility? If so, what type (SM, MM) and what connector type (LC,ST,SC)? Yes. VA has both SM/MM backbones in place that vary between LC/ST connections. Also is there a UPS battery Backup, PDU that needs to be quoted as well? VA shall provide all UPS battery backups along with redundant/emergency power. Verification of diagram is acceptable for the Cleveland VA location replacement? Yes. B.3 D.II.3 STATEMENT OF WORK - PERFORMANCE REQUIREMENTS, Bullet 4: What is meant by "Contractor will provide certified TAC Team provision"? Only that a certified/qualified vendor help desk will take and remedy trouble tickets and that if further assistance is needed from the OEM the help desk technician will consult with OEM (Cisco) for further troubleshooting and remedy of network/hardware/software/licensing issues. E.8 52.212-2 EVALUATION COMMERCIAL PRODUCTS AND COMMERCIAL SERVICES (NOV 2021), Paragraph 1: The criteria states that "Contents of the written quotes will be evaluated to determine the degree and extent to which the requirements set forth in the Request for Quote (RFQ) and Statement of Work (SOW) are satisfied." For the purposes of the best value determinations, how will the written quotes be graded? Acceptable of Unacceptable? On a scale based on the degree to which requirements are satisfied (Outstanding, Good, Satisfactory, Unsatisfactory? That is an answer that cannot be given. If any contractor is interested in receiving information regarding their quote after the award announcement is made, a debriefing request can be submitted to the Contracting Specialist E.8 52.212-2 EVALUATION COMMERCIAL PRODUCTS AND COMMERCIAL SERVICES (NOV 2021), Paragraph 2: The government will evaluate information in CPARS, FAPIIS, and personal knowledge of offerors. For the purposes of the best value determinations, how will the Past Performance examples graded? Are relevance and CPARS/FAPIIS/Personal knowledge and relevance graded separately or combined? Are the elements graded on a scale? That is an answer that cannot be given. If any contractor is interested in receiving information regarding their quote after the award announcement is made, a debriefing request can be submitted to the Contracting Specialist E.8 52.212-2 EVALUATION COMMERCIAL PRODUCTS AND COMMERCIAL SERVICES (NOV 2021), Paragraph 3: Will Government please explain the best value trade process for this solicitation? While the solicitation states that "Technical Capability combined with Past Performance are more important factors than Price." there is no explanation of how they are graded and if there is any consideration of levels of the quality of the Technical Capability and the Relevance and Quality of the Past Performance examples. That is an answer that cannot be given. If any contractor is interested in receiving information regarding their quote after the award announcement is made, a debriefing request can be submitted to the Contracting Specialist Does the Government wish to see a quote to replace the EOL equipment as part of this RFQ proposal or will that be issued later? That will be issued at a later date. VA would prefer the guarantee of circuit connectivity across all sites and onboarding managed services, then focus on hardware upgrades.
