Amendment 0004

FEDBIZOPPS ANNOUNCEMENT REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) Pursuant to FAR 15.201(e) ARMY NATIONAL GUARDPROGRAM MANAGEMENT, ACQUISITION SUPPORT AND IV&VRFI #N10PS18126NOVEMBER 10, 2009 INTRODUCTION The Department of Interior, Acquisition Service Directorate Herndon (AQD-Herndon) Procurement is issuing the subject Request for Information (RFI) on behalf of the Army National Guard (ARNG). AQD-Herndon is a Federal Franchise Fund Contracting Office within the Department of Interior under the authority of the Government Management Reform Act and provides contracting support to all Federal and DoD Agencies. This RFI and a draft Performance Work Statement (PWS) may be accessed via the AQD website at: http://www.aqd.nbc.gov/solic/solicitations.asp. The Government is providing a draft PWS for industry comment as a part of this RFI. The purpose of the draft is to afford industry an opportunity to comment on best practices and critical elements that should be included in the PWS. Any comments provided should not be viewed as a vehicle for presenting a specific approach to be proposed, but as an opportunity to improve an eventual solicitation package. The Government has prepared a draft PWS to explain how the acquisition relates to the agency's program need and requirement for a contractor's solution. The Government is in the process of finalizing the PWS and attempting to minimize questions prior to the release of the Request for Proposal. The draft PWS is being provided solely for the purpose of industry comment and feedback. This does not constitute a request for proposal. REQUIREMENT The Army National Guard (ARNG) requires broadly defined Acquisition and Program Management support for current and future requirements in support of the ARNG mission. It is necessary to have an independent and conflict-of-interest-free Program Management and Acquisition function. The program management function will provide: Systems Engineering, Technical Support, and Independent Verification and Validation (IV&V) supporting a wide-range of systems engineering and technical assistance requirements identified below. The services performed will support the National Guard Bureau (NGB) and other DoD communities as directed. The requirement is more fully described in the attached PWS. The Government is contemplating a single award IDIQ for a period of performance of five years, including a base year and four one year option periods. It is anticipated that this will be a commercial requirement competed under FAR Parts 12 and 15. DISCLAIMER This RFI is for information and planning purposes only, is not a commitment by the Government, and does not constitute a solicitation. In accordance with FAR 15.201(e), responses to this notice are not offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract. An announcement for proposals is not a part of this RFI and a contract will not be awarded from this announcement. No reimbursement will be made for any costs associated with providing information in response to this announcement and any follow-up information requests. HOW TO RESPOND The AQD point of contact for this RFI is Louis Gilden. Firms interested in performing this requirement may reply to this RFI on or before Tuesday, November 24, 2009, by 4:00 pm Eastern Time by addressing all of the questions for industry and by providing any other recommendations, comments or suggestions that may assist the Government with this acquisition. Comments, whether supportive or critical, are earnestly solicited regarding every aspect of this requirement. Please provide your response via email only to louis.gilden@aqd.nbc.gov. There is no page limit for responses. Proprietary processes or data must be clearly marked and documented as such in the response. Please use Microsoft WORD to record your responses and attach the WORD document to your email. If you have any questions, please send an email to louis.gilden@aqd.nbc.gov. PURPOSE OF THIS REQUEST AND INFORMATION SOUGHT This RFI represents the initiation of the acquisition planning and market research phase for this requirement. The industry input received from this RFI may be used to prepare the official solicitation package. The Government requests recommendations, comments, concerns, and questions relating to the contemplated services from contractors that possess demonstrable and credible experience for all of the requirements listed in the PWS. GOVERNMENT QUESTIONS FOR INDUSTRY The Government's intent is to obtain responses to the items listed below to assist the Government in determining the appropriate acquisition strategy. Interested offerors shall provide the following in their response. You are invited to submit any other useful comments, which are not covered by the list below. 1. Capability Package to include: name of company; company point of contact to (including the person's name, telephone number, email address, and company address); and size of business. 2. Comments and feedback on the attached PWS. This is a broadly described requirement. Is the requirement sufficiently detailed and clear for your comprehensive response? If not, propose your suggested changes. 3. Discerning factors to evaluate vendors' responses. 4. Identify potential pricing structure/methodologies in support of this type of work. 5. Provide an estimated level of effort for this type of work for a base period of twelve (12) months and four (4), twelve (12) month option periods. 6. Teaming and subcontracting opportunities to meet the Department of Defense socioeconomic goals.