Questions and Answers

Solicitation AVT0009100
6/19/09

Question 1: In Section 4.4.4 Price, there is no CLIN(s) identified for the Con-
tract Access Fee (CAF) that is required as part of the Alliant Prime Contract.
Section B.5 of the Alliant Contract states that “on all orders, regardless of Order
type, contractors must estimate CAF in their proposals and OCOs must include
CAF under a separate CLIN.
How are the Industry Partners supposed to price in the CAF? Will additional
CLINs be added for this or should these costs be included in the price for each
CLIN.

Answer 1: The latest version of section B.5 states, “On all Orders, regardless
of Order type, Contractors must estimate CAF in their proposals and OCOs may
fund CAF as a separate Contract Line Item Number (CLIN).”

For this procurement, contractors are to include the CAF within their prices and
NOT list it as a separate CLIN.

Question 2: In reference to the above solicitation, is there an incumbent cur-

rently working on the website? If so, could you let us know who it is? If no in-
cumbent, who originally designed and set up the current website and is perform-
ing the work that is listed in the TORFP?

Answer 2: The procurement for the Recovery.gov 1.0 version was awarded to
REI Systems.

Question 3a: Scope of RFP - The 2.0 Requirements section of the RFP talks to
a broad set of requirements around data capture, metadata, business intelligence
and reporting, data warehousing, in addition to Web design. The "Technical Ap-
proach" section 4.4, however, talks narrowly to Web site design and delivery only.
Will the Transparency board evaluate a complete solution, from backend data
management and report creation to front end delivery and visualization?

Answer 3a: Yes. In fact, we are asking for a complete solution.

Question 3b: Can you clarify the scope of this RFP?

Answer 3b: The scope of the RFP is to deliver a total solution in order to
provide the Recovery.gov website with the operational and functional capabilities
required in the SOO.
 Further Information:

The capture of recipient reporting data will be collected, managed, and

maintained by another Government entity (Information Capture 2.3.1).

The recipient reporting database will be replicated to a Government

provided database infrastructure.

The Offeror is required to generate reports off of this replicated database.

Once the database is replicated the Offeror shall provide and leverage
Business Intelligence (BI) software to store in an Offeror provided data
warehouse.

The Offorer shall generate pre-defined reports and provide the capability
to generate ad hoc reports to meet the needs of various stakeholders.

The Recovery.gov Offorer developed solution shall provide several enter-

prise portal capabilities such as public facing presence, role based man-
agement, visualization of data, and content management.

Meta Data is a critical element required to successfully deliver enterprise

class “Content Management” (2.3.5 Web Content Management System
(WCMS).

The extent of the Offerors solution is all inclusive (i.e. backend data man-
agement to public facing portal) based on the requirements listed in the
SOO. Collection of recipient reporting data from recipients “is not” a re-
quirement of this SOO. A new recipient reporting solution “will not” be
evaluated as a part of this SOO.

Question 4: Hosting
Throughout the RFP the RATB RFP indicates leveraging existing hosting ser-
vices, however in Section 2.5.1, the document delineates requirements for host-
ing services provided by the offeror. Can you clarify?

Answer 4: This SOO references two classes of Hosted Services. The Produc-
tion Environment will be hosted by a Government Hosting Service Provider. The
Test and Development Environment can either exist on the Government Environ-
ment or Offeror provided environment. The Offeror shall provide operations sup-
port for both environments based on the terms and conditions of the SOO.

Question 5: Hardware
It's unclear from the RFP, the hardware platform you have or intend for the con-
tractor to provide a hardware recommendation? If you have hardware, what is
the environment?
Answer 5: Offerors are expected to propose and provide the hardware platform
necessary to implement their total solution for this requirement. Offerors are not
limited to any particular environment in the selection of the hardware platform to
be provided for this requirement. Hardware includes but is not limited to Server
Racks, Server Hardware, Network Routers, Network Switches, Firewall, Intrusion
Detection System (IDS), etc. It is expected the Offeror shall size the hardware
configuration to meet the expected performance requirements of the Test Devel-
opment and Production solution.

Question 6a: Submission

Per Section 4.3 Submission Instructions on Page 38… Please clarify "Proposals
are due no later than Friday, June 26, 2009 by 2:00pm EST". Is this submission
deadline via ITSS or hardcopy delivery via mail?

Answer 6a: BOTH.

Question 6b: Also, Instead of mailing the hard copies to the address on
Pennsylvania Ave, can offerers hand deliver hard copy proposal responses to
this address? This would allow this offerer additional days to compile a more
comprehensive proposal response.

Answer 6b: YES.

Question 7: Reference SOO 4.4: The Offeror’s proposal shall also include the
following as Attachments 1 and 2: (1 -Service Level Agreements, 2 – Warranty In-
formation)
Question: Which volume does the Government prefer these attachments to be in-
cluded (Vol I, II, III, IV)?

Answer 7: Volume II

Question 8: Can the Government please confirm that these attachments are not
held against the volume page count limit?

Answer 8: These attachments are exempt from page limitations.

Question 9: Can the Government please provide the Government agency the
hard copies will be sent to, if other than the Recovery Accountability and Trans-
parency Board (RATB)?

Answer 9: Offers shall be sent to the RATB via the address identified in the soli-
citation

Question 10: Can the Government please clarify the number of hard copies re-
quired, as the referenced SOO sections appear to be in conflict (5 vs 4 copies)?
Answer 10: 4 copies

Question 11: Will the Government please advise when the hard copy proposals
are due to the Government (date/time)?

Answer 11: The proposals are due no later than Friday, June 26th, 2009 by
2:00 EST

Question 12: Will the Government grant a request for a 2 week extension?

Answer 12: Due to the tight deadlines associated with this requirement, an ex-
tension would detrimentally impact the Recovery Accountability and Transpar-
ency Board's ability to meet the statutory requirements. Therefore, an extension
to the proposal due date cannot be granted.

Question 13: Could the Government explain or provide additional information

as to the reason for the urgency of the solicitation? Are there technical or per-
formance issues with the current Recovery.gov website?

Answer 13: The Recovery Board is focused on meeting its October statutory re-
quirements. To ensure all integrated components come together on time and on
budget the Board is aggressively setting milestones to manage risk. There is no
technical or performance reason for these decisions. These decisions are solely
based on meeting statutory requirements.

Question 14. What is the Government’s price estimate for this program? (pg.3)

Answer 14: Government estimates are not disclosed to the public during a
competition.

Question 15. Who will be responsible for the Data Collection and Database op-
timization for these data sets?

Answer 15: FederalReporting.gov will be the collection engine of recipient data.

The Offeror will be responsible for any optimization requirements that will directly
or indirectly impact Recovery.gov reporting.

Question 16. Is Business Objects the current standard reporting tool within
GSA?

Answer 16: Business Objects is “a” tool that is used by GSA for Business Intel-
ligence (BI) purposes. Recovery.gov is open to any BI Software that an Offeror is
willing to provide that will meet the requirements of the SOO.
Question 17. Will charts be represented in only image format or will flash type
animation be acceptable? Will flash be acceptable for any presentation layer, or
is AJAX the only acceptable option for dynamic presentation of content?

Answer 17: Web pages must be presented in any format that is supported by
the CDN. Dynamic pages must be rendered in HTML format and can include
flash and AJAX reports.

Question 18a. Based on the GFE described, we assume the Contractor will
provide all servers, firewalls and load balancers associated with this task except
those associated with the database and SAN storage. Correct?

Answer 18a: Yes, The Offeror shall provide all servers, firewalls and load bal-
ancers associated with this task except those associated with the database and
SAN storage for the Production Environment. It is expected if the Offeror
provides a hosted Test and Development Environment, that they will also provide
all services required including hardware and software (i.e. this includes database
infrastructure).

Question 18b. May we assume access and hardware integration support and
connection to SAN and database will be provided free of charge by government
provided data center operator?

Answer 18b: Yes, you may assume that.

Question 19. Please supply current web metrics for Recovery.gov indicating
network traffic, number of unique visitors, etc.

Answer 19: See attachment in ITSS labeled “web metrics”.

Question 20. Please supply any web traffic growth expectations.

Answer 20: Growth expectations are unknown.

Question 21. Government prefers to leverage an existing database services

provider to manage database maintenance, which includes replication, licensing,
patching, database security…. Does the Government infer that it has this service
in place and the Offeror will utilize this service at no charge?

Answer 21: Yes, the Government has a contract in place to provide database
services. The Offeror can utilize this service with no charge.

Question 22. Please provide additional information on the Data Warehouse

component – size, data sources, types of data, who is responsible for integrating
to source data, etc.
Answer 22: The Data Warehouse will consist of one large data source provided
by FederalReporting.gov. This data set will be updated on a quarterly basis.
There will also be a content management system which will be updated daily.
The data types are reference in the SOO (section 2.3.5). The data types will
consist of but not limited to txt, doc, psd, raw, gif, jpeg, tif, bmp,eps, png, mov,
mp3, mp4, wav, wmv, swf, flv, mpg, aac, avi, m4v, msf, etc.

Question 23. Please provide information on the current hosting environment/ar-

chitecture – number/size of servers, RAMs, etc.

Answer 23: The infrastructure for Recovery.gov v1.0 is as follows;

Content Distribution Network (CDN) – 96% usage

x2 – Web Servers
Speed – 2.3ghz
RAM – 4GB
quantity 5 146 GB 15k rpm SCSI drives (PERC RAID controller)
1 quad Intel PCI NIC card

x2 – Backend Database servers

Speed – 2.3ghz
RAM – 8GB
quantity 5 146 GB 15k rpm SCSI drives (PERC RAID controller)
2 Emulex HBA cards
1 quad Intel PCI NIC card

SAN
200 GB data directory
20 GB backup directory
21 GB binary logs (replication files)
20 GB temp directory

Question 24: Approximately how many users are expected to access the con-
tent management system? How many roles are expected? What is the expected
frequency of publishing? (Author/Editor/Final Approval)?

Answer 24: The workflow features of the content management system will con-
sist of defined roles that will average roughly thirty persistent users. It is expec-
ted that the web site shall leverage a content management system so the general
public will have access to content as well the Content Management Team. Data
will be published on a daily basis.

Question 25: . “Be robust enough to serve the needs of a large community of
users dispersed across the world using a variety of bandwidths. The solution
shall be scalable and able to expand to meet future growth, both in terms of the
volume and size.” Are “Large Community of Users” referring to the content con-
tributors/CMS users, or the public website users? Please provide growth estim-
ates? Are there any multilingual requirements?

Answer 25: Large community of users is referencing Content Contributors and

the Content Management System Users. The public facing side of Recovery.gov
will be accessible to the entire country. Growth estimates are unknown which is
why it is critical the solution is scalable. There are no multilingual requirements.

Question 26: . “Support role-based authentication, and leverage internal and

external directory services.” What type(s) of authentication will be required to
support?

Answer 26: User authentication will be required. It is acceptable to leverage an

internal directory of the Offerors provided Website / Portal / Content Management
System.

Question 27: . “Search or browse for documents within the repository”…

Please provide additional details. Who will be allowed to upload documents and
who will browse documents?

Answer 27: The Recovery.gov Content Management Team will be allowed to

upload and modify content. Today this team consists of roughly thirty users.
Content will be viewable by the entire country.

Question 28: . “Restrict authors to use only content stored within the reposit-
ory.” Please provide clarification. Does this imply authors can not use form
based input of data or information?

Answer 28: The Web Content Management System shall provide “access con-
trol” of content and content repositories throughout the system.

Question 29: . “Tailor export capabilities for both general and publication use.”
Please provide examples of what types of export capabilities are expected.

Answer 29: Reports of stimulus data shall be exportable in various formats

such as .xls, .xlsx, .pdf, .doc, docx, .html, etc.

Question 30: . “Offeror shall provide exact digital copies of all custom-de-
veloped artifacts, including custom-code, configurations, etc. The Government
shall own unlimited rights to the provided artifacts and all custom source code.”
Please clarify are they expected in the RFP response or after contract award?

Answer 30: This requirement must be met after contract award.

Question 31: . “The base period of performance for this task order (CLIN 001)
shall begin upon date of contract award through January 31, 2010.” The period
of performance of the task order is stated as “date of award through January 31,
2010.” Since the start date of the task order is unknown, would the government
amend the launch deliverable due date of August 27, 2009 to a due date based
upon a definite number of days after contract award? (pgs. 27; 28)

Answer 31: The government is planning for this contract to be awarded no later
than July 10, 2009. The launch date will only be amended if the contract is awar-
ded after July 10, 2009.

Question 32: . “Travel expenses shall be delineated in the price proposal as

part of each CLIN proposed.” Offeror’s are required to include an estimate for
travel in their proposal. How many trips are anticipated?

Answer 32: Offerors are to identify however many trips they feel are required
based upon their solution and location.

Question 33: . “The Offeror’s attention is directed to FAR Subpart 9.5, Organ-
izational Conflicts of Interest.” Under Section 3.12, Organizational Conflict of In-
terest, Offeror’s are directed to FAR Subpart 9.5, Organizational Conflict of In-
terest. Can the government provide more specific guidance regarding whether
work performed under the resultant task order would create an actual or potential
conflict of interest. If yes, will the government provide the specific circumstances
in which an OCI may occur and what future work, if any, the successful Offeror
may be precluded from providing or would be permitted to submit an OCI Mitiga-
tion Plan?

Answer 33: The Government does not foresee any actual or potential conflict of
interest associated with performance of this requirement. However, in the event
an OCI or potential OCI does arise, contractors shall notify the Government im-
mediately of the situation and work with the Government to mitigate the situation.

Question 34: . “(L) 52.222-54, Employment Eligibility Verification (Jan 2009).”

It is our understanding that FAR Clause 52.222-54, Employment Eligibility Verific-
ation, does not take effect until September 8, 2009. We respectfully request, as
such, that this clause be removed from the solicitation.

Answer 34: To be clarified.

Question 35: . Will the Government consider excluding the tables of contents,
acronym lists, etc from page limits? Inclusion of those elements in pages limits
could significantly reduce the space for provision of technical and management
solutions/approaches.
Answer 35: The Government shall exempt table of contents and acronym lists
from counting against page limitations.

Question 36: . Are cover letters, program management and escalation plans,
resumes, and exceptions included in page count for each volume?

Answer 36: Cover Letters, resumes, and exceptions do NOT count against
page limitations. Program management and escalation plans are part of the
Management proposal section and will count against the page limit for that sec-
tion.

Question 37: . Is the Program Management Plan included in the 15 page limit
or may it be submitted as an appendix?

Answer 37: The plan is a part of the Management proposal and is included
within the 15 page limit.

Question 38: . Please confirm that the staffing plan and resumes should be in-
cluded in the Technical Volume as opposed to the Management Volume.

Answer 38: Confirmed. Please comply with the solicitation instructions.

Question 39: . Please clarify if there should be a short narrative addressing

technical expertise, knowledge of requirements, and ability to meet requirements
for each portfolio citation or if there should be one narrative for the entire Past
Performance Volume.

Answer 39: There should be a short narrative for the entire Past
Experience/Past Performance volume.

Question 40: . Past Performance. Please clarify what you mean by “original
graphics”. Does this mean original graphic concepts/designs perhaps not in-
cluded in the final website design?

Answer 40: Provide custom graphics designed, developed, and used on previ-
ous projects. The requirement is to ensure the Offeror provides work actually de-
veloped by their respective company.

Question 41: . Please clarify that the Government will accept the narrative por-
tion of the Price Volume in Word, with all required data provided in Excel.

Answer 41: Yes. The narrative portion of the Price Volume may be in Word.

Question 42: . “This includes the Offeror’s ability to provide a proactive and re-
sponsive Program Management Office (PMO), a service ordering and billing sys-
tem, management reporting systems and help desk support with complaint resol-
ution.” There is no other reference in the SOO for a help desk support with com-
plaint resolution requirement other than in the Management Evaluation section.
Could clarification please be provided if the help desk is a requirement.

Answer 42: A Helpdesk consisting of a call center is not a requirement of this

SOO. The SOO will be amended to eliminate the words “help desk”. Operations
and Maintenance is a requirement which consists of resources to operate and
maintain the system. This includes but is not limited to problem resolution and
delivering acceptable up time of the system.

Question 43: . With regard to 52.226-6, Promoting Excess Food Donation to

Nonprofit Organizations. (Mar 2009) (Pub. L. 110-247). Flow down required in
accordance with paragraph (e) of FAR clause 52.226-6. Please advise regarding
the relevance of this clause to this procurement since it the Contractor will not be
providing food service.

Answer 43: The clause in question states, “(e) Flowdown. The Contractor shall
insert this clause in all contracts, task orders, delivery orders, purchase orders,
and other similar instruments greater than $25,000 with its subcontractors or sup-
pliers, at any tier, who will perform, under this contract, the provision, service, or
sale of food in the United States.” Since this requirement has nothing to do with
the sale of food in the United States, there is no requirement for flow down of this
clause.

Question 44: . If the COOP option is exercised, will the government provide
the same hardware, software and network resources at the COOP site as at the
primary site or is the contractor responsible for providing these resources at the
COOP site? If the contractor provides COOP resources, please provide a com-
plete list of all resources provided by the government at the primary site so that
the contractor can price duplicate resources for the COOP site.

Answer 44: The Offeror is expected to provide all hardware resources at the
COOP site as well as the Test and Development Environment. The Offer is also
expected to provide all hardware for the Production Government Provided Host-
ing Environment. Please reference section 2.5.1 Database and Hosting Ser-
vices.

Question 45: . Test Environment – 2.3.6 states, “…The test infrastructure shall
mirror the production site…”. Is the government requiring that the Test Environ-
ment physically mirror the production environment? If so, please provide all ap-
propriate details to allow the contractor to price resources provided by the gov-
ernment at the primary site.
Answer 45: The Offeror will provide all resources in the Government Provided
Hosted Environment minus Database infrastructure, power, backbone circuit, and
physical access.

Question 46: . Please provide specific information on the version of the data-
bases provided.

Answer 46: The Government provided Database is MySQL Cluster version 7

Question 47: . SAN – How is it managed? Is it dedicated for our use? What
are limitations on its use? Can we use the SAN for virtualization? Who partitions
it? Can it be used for any purpose (application storage, OS storage, etc.)?
Please provide any and all appropriate SAN details…

Answer 47: The SAN is managed by the existing hosting provider. This is a
shared SAN infrastructure. There are no limitations of SAN usage in regard to
the Recovery.gov project. The SAN can be used for a variety of purposes such
as application storage and operating system “OS”.

SAN Storage Configuration

· 200 GB data directory
20 GB backup directory
21 GB binary logs (replication files)
20 GB temp directory

Question 48: . SAN – Since we will be connecting our servers to the SAN,
please provide SAN interface requirements.

Answer 48: answer will be provided later.

Question 49: . Data Center – Do we provide our own Network cabling? Power
whips/breakers? Are UPS and PDU provided? Are there HVAC and/or power
limitations related to rack density? Please provide any and all appropriate data
center details…

Answer 49: answer will be provided later.

Question 50: . Data Center – Are on-site “eyes and hands” available at the
Data Center to assist remote system administrators with actions that require
physical contact with the systems? If yes, is this part of the hosting service or is
there an additional charge? If a service exists, what are the response
times/SLA’s?

Answer 50: No, resources are not available at the Data Center to assist in re-
mote administration.
Question 51: . Section 2.3.4 has two requirements that are unclear, can you
provide additional information:
Question 51a: Ensure report authoring has the capability to sup-
port internal and external objects to create complex Web pages
containing recipient data.

Answer 51a: It is expected the web site shall leverage internal content
from the Content Management System and present as web content. The
web site shall incorporate external objects such as reports and maps
rendered by external system.

Question 51b:Allow the objects to be images, code and external

page fragments.

Answer 51b: Various formats of web objects should be supports as page

content.

Question 52: . Please provide additional information on the data warehousing

component – how much data, types of data etc.

Answer 52: The Data Warehouse will consist of one large data source provided
by FederalReporting.gov. This data set will be updated on a quarterly basis.
There will also be a content management system which will be updated daily.
The size of the data store is unknown but will be stored in the SAN which is man-
aged and maintained by the Government Provided Hosting Provider. The data
types are reference in the SOO (section 2.3.5). The data types will consist of but
not limited to txt, doc, psd, raw, gif, jpeg, tif, bmp,eps, png, mov, mp3, mp4, wav,
wmv, swf, flv, mpg, aac, avi, m4v, msf, etc.

Question 53: Paragraph 2.2 indicates that the selected contract will be able to
leverage an existing hosting and database contract. Please indicate who the
contractors are for these contracts and the scope/requirements associated with
these contracts as well as the staff size/skill set/labor categories for each con-
tract. Will any type of formal agreements be required between these different
contractors?

Answer 53: The production environment will be hosted in a Government

provided hosting facility. Recovery.gov is leveraging an existing GSA contract for
these services. Through this contract the Government receives database ser-
vices. The contractor, staff size, skill set, and labor categories have no bearing
the Recovery.gov SOO. The Offeror will receive these capabilities as a service
for no cost. There is a formal contract in place. This contract provides the flexib-
ility to add resources (i.e. human and technology) if required.
Question 54: Will on call operations be allowed for the 24x7 system operations
and maintenance requirement or must someone be physically available on a
24x7 basis for immediate response (especially on non-prime hours)?

Answer 54: Operations resources shall be onsite during prime hours (i.e.
9:00am est. – 5:00pm est.) and on call during non-prime hours.

Question 55: Please indicate which Government agency will be responsible for
the capture of data and how captured data will be made available under the Web
site redesign effort. What is expected to be the quality/timeliness and accuracy of
the captured data being provided? Will the redesign contractor be responsible for
any data cleansing? What are the requirements for quality/timeliness/accuracy
of captured data in reporting it on the redesign web site version 2.0?

Answer 55: Data capture will be managed by FederalReporting.gov. Recovery

resources will manage the recipient reporting process. Recipient Reporting is
outside the scope of this contract. Recipient reporting frequency will be initiated
on a quarterly cycle. The quality, timeliness, and accuracy of collected data will
be managed by the FederalReporting.gov web application and OMB Guidance.
It is expected that the Offeror will initiate Extract Transform Load “ETL” routines
to deliver the required reports.

Question 56: Paragraph 2.4.3 Backup Services – This paragraph indicates that
the Government will provide a backup infrastructure that can be leveraged to
backup hardware components. Please provide details on this infrastructure; this
information is necessary to determine the hardware components of the develop-
ment/test and production environment for the redesign.

Answer 56: The Government uses Legato Networker. With Legato, an agent is
required on each server. Backups occur via a separate Ethernet connection.
Data is backed up onto an L700 tape unit.

Question 57: Paragraph 2.5.6 – Information Assurance: The SOO schedule

calls for the development/test environment to be ready 10 days after contract
award and the initial launch of the redesigned web site to be ready 27 August.
Does this include satisfying the certification and accreditation (C&A) require-
ments? (Note: It has been our experience that the approval process has not
been able to respond to quick turn around projects and the C&A approval has
been a major driver in schedule delays.)

Answer 57: Offerors must support an agile and comprehensive Certification

and Accreditation (C&A) process for Recovery.gov. Per the SOO, offerors are re-
sponsible for the comprehensive development and execution of the C&A pack-
age for Recovery.gov. Offerors that submit a complete C&A package to the the
Government will experience no delay in the approval process.
Question 58: Paragraph 2.3.7 – Optional Continuity of Operations (COOP)
Site: Please provide details on Government selection criteria for the COOP site.
Is the COOP site expected to be a complete mirror image of the operational site?
Since there are two production sites (Sterling VA and Chicago IL), will the COOP
site require two site locations be selected to mirror the production sites?

Answer 58: The optional COOP site will be in lieu of the Chicago site. In other
words, the COOP site proposed by the contractor will be used instead of the
Chicago location. The COOP site should be a mirror of production.

Question 59: Exceptions called out in the proposal volumes – The SOO indic-
ates that exceptions may be called out in the various pertinent volumes of the
proposal. What are the criteria that the Government will use to evaluate the mer-
its of these exceptions in providing a higher quality/improved web site redesign
and operation al system than that which can be proposed against the stated re-
quirements?

Answer 59: That is impossible to determine in advance of seeing any excep-

tions. Please bear in mind that the Government will award a task order resulting
from this solicitation to one Offeror that provides the best value solution to the
Government. “Best value” means the expected outcome of an acquisition that, in
the Government’s estimation, provides the greatest overall benefit in response to
the requirement. We understand that including “exceptions” can be a daunting
challenge. If you have particular questions about possible exceptions, please
feel free to contact the contracting officers.

Question 60: Past Performance Volume – While a page limitation is provided,

there seem to be no limits on the number of past performance efforts that can be
proposed as long as they fit within the page limitations. Is this assumption cor-
rect?

Answer 60: That is correct.

Question 61: The SOO requires that the proposal include a documented solu-
tion for the Enterprise Business Intelligence (EBI) solution that will be contained
in the Solution Architecture Document. However, the Solution Architecture Docu-
ment is an optional item under CLIN 005 which is delivered 6 months after this
CLIN is exercised. Please clarify the requirement to include a documented EBI
solution as part of the proposal.

Answer 61: The Offeror shall provide a Business Intelligence solution which will
be used to develop defined and ad hock reports. The Solution Architecture Doc-
ument is a requirement and must be delivered 6 months after the launch of the
system. The execution of this task is not based on the acceptance of an optional
CLIN. This is mandatory.
Question 62: Paragraph 2.4.2 – Database Services: This section calls for a
“designated Database Administrator (DBA)” in the second paragraph, first sen-
tence. The second sentence calls for a “Government designated Database Ad-
ministrator”. Please clarify. Are these the same individual or is the proposing
contractor required to provide a designated DBA as well as the Government?

Answer 62: Section 2.4.2 describes activities the Government Database Ad-
ministrator (DBA) will execute. Section 2.5.1 Database and Hosting Services de-
scribes services that the Offerors must provide to support Recovery.gov 2.0 (i.e.
a database administrator to assist with application specific tasks).

Question 63: Paragraph 2.5.5 Operations and Maintenance Services: This

paragraph seems to indicate that CLINS 010, 020, 030, and 040 are part of the
basic requirements being proposed vice optional CLINs to be exercised at some
future date at the Governments’ discretion. Please clarify.

Answer 63: The paragraph requires that contractors identify how they will sup-
port the system throughout its life cycle (basically, what they propose to do during
these optional periods). The Government anticipates exercising these optional
periods, but that is not guaranteed.

Question 64: Section 3.2 Deliverable Schedule: Are the dates contained in the
table working days or calendar days?

Answer 64: Due to the time constraints of this project, the dates are calendar
days.

Question 65: The period of performance indicates that the task shall begin
upon contract award through January 31, 2010. To effectively and accurately
propose against the SOO requirements and to meet the schedule called out in
the section 3.2, our efforts will need to focus on a finite timeline and number of
days/man hours of effort (as contained in the requirements for the pricing
volume) that will be required to accomplish the tasks included in the SOO re-
quirements. For planning purposes, please provide an estimated start
date/award date of the contract.

Answer 65: It is anticipated that award of this task order will take place no later
than July 10, 2009.
Question 66: Reference SOO 4.3. This paragraph states that proposals are
due at 2:00pm EST on June 26, while GSA EBuy states they are due at 8:00pm.
Please clarify the correct due date and time.

Answer 66: Proposals are due at 2:00pm EST on June 26th.

Question 67: Reference SOO 4.1 and SOO 4.3. The table provided in SOO 4.1
gives the number of copies required for each volume to be Original, 4 paper cop-
ies, and 1 electronic copy. The submission instructions in SOO 4.3 state that "of-
ferors shall mail four (4) complete "hard copy" submissions." Does the number of
hard copy proposals to be mailed include the original and four (4) copies?

Answer 67: Offerors shall submit five (5) complete "hard copy" submissions in-
cluding original and 4 copies.

Question 68: Reference SOO 4.3. This requirement states that offerors are to
mail hard copies to the 1717 Pennsylvania Avenue address. Will hand delivery
of proposal copies to this address be acceptable on Friday, June 26, 2009 prior
to 2pm EST?

Answer 68: Yes.

Question 69: Reference SOO 4.3. This requirement states that offerors are to
mail hard copies to the 1717 Pennsylvania Avenue address. Can offerors use an
express delivery service?

Answer 69: Yes, so long as proposals are received on times.

Question 70: Reference SOO 4.4, Attachments 1 and 2, Service Level Agree-
ments and Warranty Information. There is no number of copies specified to be
provided for the Attachments. Please clarify if the Government would like to re-
ceive an original and four copies of the attachments?

Answer 70: Yes, the government would like to receive the original and four cop-
ies of the attachments.

Question 71: Reference SOO 4.4, Attachments 1 and 2, Service Level Agree-
ments and Warranty Information. Are Attachments 1 and 2 to be provided in
three-ring loose-leaf binders separate from Volumes I through IV?

Answer 71: All can be delivered in one binder separated by tabs.

Question 72: Reference SOO 4.4.2.4, Technical Approach and Planning. The
staffing plan requires resumes "each not to exceed one page each in length." Are
the one-page resumes in addition to the 30-page limit for Volume II Technical Ap-
proach?

Answer 72: The 30 page limit does not include the staff resumes.

Question 73: Please confirm that a resulting task order award would not be
subject to the Service Contract Act.

Answer 73: Confirmed. The Service Contract Act is not applicable.

Question 74: We believe that the SOO contains a variety of open-ended re-
quirements regarding design aspects which, as contemplated by the Govern-
ment, are anticipated to evolve within a highly compressed schedule. Based on
these conditions we would request that the Government consider allowing that
both the Development and Implementation (CLIN 001) and Optional Continuation
of Operations (COOP) Site (CLIN 080) efforts be priced on either a Time & Ma-
terials or Cost Plus Fixed Fee basis.

Answer 74: This is certainly an understandable request given the timeframes

involved. However, we are attempting to clarify the requirement as much as pos-
sible through the question and answer process. The SOO terms and conditions
will not be modified at this time. Alliant contractors are STRONGLY encouraged
to ask as many questions as necessary to clarify their understanding of this re-
quirement enough to make a competent and quality offer.

Question 75: Based on the complexity of this requirement and the anticipated
effort to respond to answers to questions with new information, we respectfully
request an extension of two weeks to the current deadline for receipt of propos-
als.

Answer 75: Given the timelines associated with the project, we cannot grant an
extension to the proposal due date. Although the question deadline was estab-
lished to be Friday, June 19, 2009, we will accept questions so long as the solicit-
ation is open. We cannot guarantee answers after June 19th, but will make every
effort to do so.

Question 76: Page 41 of the Statement of Objectives states that "Offerors shall
submit their price proposal in Microsoft Excel format. " Is this intended to mean
that the price proposal is in tabular format? Or does the government require the
price proposal to be the submission of a Microsoft Excel (.xls) document? If the
latter, is there a specific format or template that is required?
Answer 76: The government requires the price proposal to be the submission
of a Microsoft Excel (.xls) document. There is no specific format or template re-
quired, but the submission should be easy to understand.

Question 77: CLINs 050, 060, and 070 appear identical. For each, the "Period
of Performance is one year from date exercised." Are they intended to be se-
quenced, such that the Period of Performance for CLIN 060 is one year from the
end of CLIN 050, for example?

Answer 77: These CLINs were structured this way so that they may be exer-
cised in sequential order, exercised at the same time, or exercised as needed
during the life of the project.

Question 78: Instructions in paragraph 2 under Section 4.4.4 state "The price
proposal shall include, at a minimum, the proposed Labor Categories, Hourly
Rates and Number of Hours required to perform the work for each CLIN. All
CLINs shall also include any and all 3rd party supplies or equipment required to
perform the work (to include any Subscription and/or License Fees), if required."
This level of detail appears to be excessive for a fixed price CLIN (CLINs 001
and 080). Instead, we suggest that:
a. All FFP CLIN detail should include a total hour estimate an a list of 3rd party
supplies or equipment, subscriptions and/or licenses, and
b. All FPLOE and T&M CLIN detail should include the proposed Labor Categor-
ies, Hourly Rates and Number of Hours estimated to be required to perform the
work.
Please advise.

Answer 78: Duly noted and disagreed. The Government is looking for some in-
sight into the FFP submission. We are not asking for cost or pricing data. Al-
though we understand your request, we feel that asking for this information is fair
and not burdensome.

Question 79: Instructions in paragraph 2 under Section 4.4.4 state "All CLINs
shall also include any and all 3rd party supplies or equipment required to perform
the work (to include any Subscription and/or License Fees), if required." The only
CLINs available after January 31, 2010 to address software license fees are the
optional Operations and Maintenance CLINs (10, 20, 30, and 40). These CLINs,
however are Fixed Price Level of Effort and therefore not appropriate to include
non-labor costs. Please advise.

Answer 79: CLINs 10, 20, 30, and 40 include CLINS 10b, 20b, 30b, and 40b,
which are for ancillary support items. These sub-clins may be considered Time
and Materials.
Question 80: CLIN 080 for the optional COOP site does not specify a period of
performance, yet costs typically vary depending on how long a COOP site must
be in operation. Please advise.

Answer 80: Answer is forthcoming.

Question 81: Section 2.5.1.5 of the SOO mentions an "interface with the Recov-
ery.gov call center". Is this an existing call center? Please clarify.

Answer 81: Answer is forthcoming.

Question 82: Can the hard copies of the proposals be hand-delivered to the
1717 Pennsylvania Ave. address on the 26th?

Answer 82: Yes

Question 83: Can the Government provide clarification on the number of hard
copy submissions? The table under 4.1 states: Original, 4 paper copies,1 elec-
tronic copy. This would come to 5 copies all together. Under 4.3, the RFP states:

Offerors shall also mail four (4) complete “hard copy” submissions of their pro-
posal to…

Is the contractor to submit 4 or 5 total hard copies?

Answer 83: Offerors shall submit five (5) complete “hard copy” submissions in-
cluding original and 4 copies.

Question 84: Section 2.5.7 states that the Offeror shall develop and submit a
Program Management Plan and an Escalation Plan as part of the Managerial
Proposal. Do these documents count toward the page count or can they be sub-
mitted as separate documents with the proposal?

Answer 84: The Program Management Plan is part of the Management portion
of the proposal and is included within the 15 page limit.

Question 85: We understand that the government is providing an existing host-

ing service. In that context, what is the offeror's responsibility for network load
balancing and server infrastructure?

Answer 85: In the context of the Production Environment, the Government will
provide Hosting Services. The Government provided Hosting Environment does
not provide any server, patch, network switch, or network router infrastructure.
Section 2.4.1 lists the software and hardware services provided by the Govern-
ment. Section 2.5.1 lists the requirements of the Offeror. It is the responsibility of
the Offeror to provide infrastructure network load balancing. In the Test/DEV and
COOP environments, the Offeror will provide complete hosting services, includ-
ing database infrastructure and broadband connectivity.

Question 86: Does the offeror's responsibility for solution architecture include
documentation of the existing server infrastructure?

Answer 86: No, the offeror does not have to document the existing architecture.

Question 87: Under roles and responsibilities, which servers, switches, and
racks is the offeror responsible for installing?

Answer 87: The Offeror is responsible for installation and management of all
servers, switches, and racks in all environments.

Question 88: Under Roles and Responsibilities-> Network->Monitor network in-

frastructure, will the offeror have switch and OS level access to the existing gov-
ernment-provided service infrastructure?

Answer 88: The Offeror is responsible for providing all network (i.e. minus
broadband connectivity), and server infrastructures. As a responsibility of Opera-
tion and Maintenance, the support personnel will have Operating System “OS’
level access.

Question 89: Under Roles and Responsibilities->Backups, can the government

clarify the distribution of responsibilities between the offeror and the government
(particularly in light of section 2.4.3)

Answer 89: The Government uses Legato Networker for Backups. With Legato,
an agent is required on each server. Backups occur by the Government via a
separate Ethernet connection. Data is backed up onto an L700 tape unit.

Question 90: Under Roles and Responsibilities->Anti-Virus, does this respons-

ibility extend to existing government provided infrastructure?

Answer 90: Yes, the Offeror must provide Anti-Virus Software and support for
the existing government-provided infrastructure

Question 91: With respect to the search engine, will additional hardware to
support search be installed within the existing hosting environment?

Answer 91: It is expected that the Offeror-provided solution will include search.
If the Offeror’s solution requires hardware or software to meet this requirement, it
is expected that the Offeror will price these items into their proposal.
Question 92: Timeline (reference section 3.2): Does government have any
timeline for implementation and integration for data warehouse, reporting, geo-
spatial and recipient reporting capabilities?
Answer 92: Recipient Reporting is outside the scope of this Statement of Ob-
jectives “SOO”. The Offeror shall provide production Recovery.gov requirements
for Data Warehouse, Reporting, and Geospatial (i.e. working with other ser-
vice providers) based on the terms and conditions of the SOO [27 August
Launch].

Question 93: Recipient Reporting (reference section 2.3.1): Does government

have any expectation of time lag in data replication from recipient reporting to
Recovery.gov?

Answer 93: No

Question 94: Web Content Management System (reference section 2.3.5):

With reference to statement “Be able to retrieve the state of the entire Web site
or a portion of it on a given date and time. The recovered site/sub-site shall be
fully functional, including hypertext links, images and other related files.” On page
13, is the expectation also to retrieve dynamic content such as recipient reports
and GIS capability?

Answer 94: It is required that the entire solution must have the capability to roll
back to a previous configuration if required.

Question 95: Agency Data Collection (reference section 2.3.5): Does the gov-
ernment plan to have any automated data collection tool for agency reporting?

Answer 95: Recipient Reporting is outside the scope of this SOO and will be
managed by FederalReporting.gov

Question 96a: BI (reference section 2.3.3): What are the sources for ETL?

Answer 96a: The source for the ETL is the database replicated by FederalRe-
porting.gov

Question 96b: Are these predefined?

Answer 96b: Yes, but the Offeror may require the development of more ETL’s
against the replicated database to meet reporting requirements.

Question 97: Migration (reference section 3.2): Is it expected that all data will
be migrated from Reovery.gov version 1.0 to Recovery.gov version 2.0 by August
27?

Answer 97: Yes, the Offeror is expected to migrate the data from Recovery.gov
version 1.0 to version 2.0.

Question 98: Open Source (reference section 2.5.1): Does the government
have any preference / limitations for open source software?

Answer 98: No, the government does not have any preference / limitation for
open source software.

Question 99: XML Firewall (reference section 2.5.2): What is intention with
XML firewall?

Answer 99: Our goal is to ensure a high level of security is in place from bare
bones packet-inspection to sophisticated application-layer proxy firewalls.

Question 100: What kind of information need to be protected with XML Fire-
wall?

Answer 100: Due to Recovery.gov being the authoritative web site for ARRA
funding data, our goal is to make sure all information is protected.

Question 101: The requirements for XML firewall appear to have

been copy/pasted from the IBM website (see http://www-01.ibm.com/software/in-
tegration/datapower/xs40/highlights.html). Is government looking biased towards
an IBM solution for XML Firewall?

Answer 101: No, the government is not biased toward IBM or any vendor. The
value of XML firewalls is technology dependent. The capability to provide XML
firewalls is pervasive throughout industry and is proven to increase the security of
Web Services. Technology descriptions were pulled from several Internet loca-
tions as a part of market research.

Question 102: Data Warehouse (reference section 2.5.3): What information

will be stored in warehouse?

Answer 102: All content stored and reported by Recovery.gov will be stored in
a data warehouse.

Question 103: The requirements for data Warehouse appear to have been
copy/pasted from the IBM website (see http://www-01.ibm.com/software/data/in-
fosphere/warehouse/enterprise-new.html). Is government biased to an IBM solu-
tion for data warehouse?

Answer 103: No, the government is not biased toward an IBM or any other
vendors’ solution. Technology descriptions were pulled from several Internet loc-
ations as a part of market research.

Question 104: Geospatial Services (reference section 2.3.4): Is the offerer re-
quired to submit a geospatial solution as well as part of proposal?

Answer 104: Based on Section 2.3.4 Reporting, the Offeror will coordinate with
Geographic Information Systems “GIS” resources.

Question 105: Does this capability already exist that needs to integrate with
proposed the solution?

Answer 105: No, there is currently no GIS solution that requires integration.

Question 106: If there is a preexisting solution, what are the requirements to

share data between Business intelligence and Geospatial services?

Answer 106: The Geospatial services will leverage the same replicated data-
base from FederalReporting.gov.

Question 107a: Responsibilities (reference section 2.5.1): There is a list of

hardware. Is the offeror required to provide this hardware given that the hosting
infrastructure is already being managed by existing arrangements? Do these
services need to be priced?
Answer 107a: Yes, the offeror is required to provide hardware infrastructure for
the production and test/development environments.
Question 107b: Do these services need to be priced?

Answer 107b: Yes, all services need to be priced.

Question 108: Questions from Agencies and public (reference section 2.5.13,
2.5.14): Is it the expectation that the offerer will provide human resources to
manage/respond to questions from agencies/public or is the government expect-
ing only the tools and techniques from the offerer?
Answer 108: It is expected that the Recovery.gov version 2.0 will provide
technology to collect public web site enhancement recommendations.

Question 109: Tech support (reference section 2.5.10): What is government’s

expectation on help desk and tech support?
Answer 109: Help desk will be secure, managed, and operated by an existing
contractor. However, the Offeror shall provide technical support to ensure the
Recovery.gov service is available 100% of time 24 x7. Operations and Mainten-
ance includes the development of reports on a daily, weekly, monthly basis.

Question 110: Is there any SLA?

Answer 110: Based on the terms and conditions of the SOO, the Offeror will
provide Service Level Agreements “SLA” and the Government will develop the
acceptable level of performance “ALP”..

Question 111: In 2.2 the Offeror is required to provide replication and recovery
services for this RFP, however the Government says it will be provided in 2.4.3.
Please clarify if the Government will be providing and be responsible for these
services or if the Offeror shall be responsible. If the Offeror, is required, please
provide a list of any existing GFE to support this task.

Answer 111: The Government Hosting Provider shall provide database replica-
tion services from FederalReporting.gov. The Offeror shall develop reports lever-
aging the replicated database.

Question 112: In 2.5.14 and 2.5.15 the Government notes that questions will
come from multiple constituents regarding Recovery.gov functionality. What is the
current call volume and what is the projected call volume over the POP + option
years?

Answer 112: The Offeror will not receives calls. The Government is asking for
Web 2.0 technology to allow Recovery.gov users to request enhancements to the
Recovery.gov web site.

Question 113: In 2.5.14 and 2.5.15 the Government references a tracking sys-
tem for incoming questions regarding Recovery.gov functionality. Does a current
tracking system exist? If so, can a demo be provided? Is this a proprietary sys-
tem, open source, or COTS?

Answer 113: The Offeror shall provide a method to receive online feedback
from the public consisting of Recovery.gov web enhancements. Today there is a
process to receive feedback but not a process to track and manages these re-
commendations.

Question 114: What is the current LOE for handling the incoming communica-
tions from 2.5.14 and 2.5.15? Is this service provided 24x7 or during normal busi-
ness hours?

Answer 114: This is very low LOE and is expected that technology will be used
to facilitate this online communication.

Question 115: In 2.5.1 the Government notes that hardware and software for
the production environments will be provided by the Offeror, however in 2.4.1 the
Government notes that it will be provided via a separate contract. Can the Gov-
ernment please clarify the need for production environment hardware and soft-
ware? If it is being provided, can the Government please provide a list of the
provided hardware and software?

Answer 115: The Government provided Hosting Environment does not provide
any server, patch, network switch, or network router infrastructure. Section 2.4.1
lists the software and hardware services provided by the Government. Section
2.5.1 list the requirements of the Offeror.

Question 116: In 4.4.2(2) the Government is requesting a sample mockup /

visual representation to be provided of the new layout and design. Is the Govern-
ment requesting a live site mockup and a link be provided to the Government? Or
is a graphic (jpg/gif, etc.) acceptable as hardcopies of the proposal are required
for submission?

Answer 116: Both a live site mockup and hard copy graphics can be used to
show the Offeror’s new layout and design.
Question 117: In 4.4.2(1) the Government is requesting a concept be provided
with the submission of the Technical Volume. Can the Government please
provide direction on where they’d like to see the redesign go? What focus should
the new site present? What are the likes/dislikes of the existing site?

Answer 117: Offerors should utilize creativity and professionalism in developing

the concept, graphical layout and design. Our goal is to minimize constraints and
provide Offerors the opportunity to be innovative.

Question 118: After being provided additional information on the direction and
focus the Government wishes to take Recovery.gov, will the Government con-
sider extending the submission deadline to allow for a more complete and fo-
cused proposal from the Offeror?

Answer 118: Given the timelines associated with the project, we cannot grant
an extension to the proposal due date.

Question 119: In 4.4.2(1) the Government is requesting a concept be provided

with the submission of the Technical Volume. Can the Government please clarify
how this will be evaluated?

Answer 119: In accordance with the solicitation, the Government will award a
task order resulting from this solicitation to one Offeror that provides the best
value solution to the Government. “Best value” means the expected outcome of
an acquisition that, in the Government’s estimation, provides the greatest overall
benefit in response to the requirement.

Question 120: In 2.4.1 the Government notes existing caching technologies

are to be utilized by the Offeror. What are the current caching technologies and
does the Government have documentation for the Offeror to review?

Answer 120: The Government receives a Content Delivery Network “CDN”

caching as a service. A graphic depicting the logical framework of this architec-
ture can be found on page #2 of the SOO.

Question 121: In the introduction the Government notes that Recovery.gov is

currently using an installation of Drupal. Has the installation been modified from
the source? If so, can the Government please provide any documentation on the
modifications that have been made?

Answer 121: The base code for Drupal has not been modified.

Question 122: Request the Government provide a demo of the existing Drupal
system with a breakdown of content workflow as it is currently being utilized for a
fair evaluation of possible use of the existing system or need to evolve to a new
CMS.

Answer 122: Due to the time constraints, there will not be enough time to
provide a demo of the existing system.

Question 123: The RFP does not appear to make any reference to a transition
period or transition plan from the incumbent to the new Offeror. Can the Govern-
ment please provide clarification on the transition plan and period?

Answer 123: The transition period will take place between contract award and
January 31, 2010, with the Offeror’s new site being launched on 27 August 2009.

Question 124: What is the current LOE on the management and maintenance
of the CMS?

Answer 124: The level of effort required to manage the Content Management
System will be based on the technology proposed by the Offeror. Currently, the
level of effort is high due to technology constraints.

Question 125: Will the server software (i.e. monitoring, anti-virus) required in
2.2 be provided by the Government? If so, can the Government please provide a
list of the software provided including version number?

Answer 125: The server software (i.e. monitoring and anti-virus) for Recov-
ery.gov 2.0 will be provided by the Offeror.

Question 126: What hardware and software is currently being utilized for audio
and video encoding? Will this be available to the Offeror?

Answer 126: Currently Recovery.gov has no audio or video encoding capabilit-

ies. These must be provided by the Offeror.

Question 127: Is the Offeror able to leverage existing servers and software for
development and test environments or are these required to be provided by the
Offeror at the Offeror’s facility?

Answer 127: The development and test environments are to be provided by the
Offeror at the Offeror’s facility.

Question 128: The only hard date listed in the deliverables (3.2) is the launch
date of August 27. Is this a hard date that will not change? Or is this also subject
to the Government’s ability to provide required information and review?
Answer 128: This is a hard date but the Government reserves the right to
change dates based on business justification. From an Offeror perspective, Au-
gust 27th is a hard date and it is expected the proposal will be based on meeting
all SOO requirements by that time.