INSTRUCTIONS, CONDITIONS, AND NOTICES TO RESPONDENTS GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS This is a Request for Quotation (RFQ) to establish multiple award Blanket Purchase Agreements (BPAs). This RFQ is open only to GSA Master Award Schedule holders issuing quotations under the terms and conditions of their MAS (54151S - Information Technology Professional Services) contracts. The Government anticipates awarding approximately five to seven BPAs. However, the Government reserves the right in its sole discretion to establish any number of BPAs. The Multiple Award BPA is a total set aside for small business concerns with a HUBZone preference. As the merits of the evaluation of Quotes submitted by small business become equal, HUBZone socio-economic status will be used as a determination for BPA award. Only quotes submitted by small business concerns will be accepted by the Government. Any quote that is submitted by a contractor that is not a small business concern will be rejected. CMS will rely on the small business size and socio-economic status illustrated in GSA E-Library when making this determination Quoters are not required to provide new representations in connection with this RFQ. The Government anticipates the predominance of the BPA will incorporate NAICS code 541519 - Other Computer Related Services. This RFQ is conducted in accordance with FAR 8.405-3. The use of this process does not obligate the Government to determine a competitive range, conduct discussions with any contractors, solicit responses or revisions thereto, or use any other source selection techniques associated with FAR subpart 15.3. Award will be made to the responsible Quoters whose quote, in conforming to this RFQ, provide the best value to the Government, with technical evaluation factors and price considered. In order to receive an award, responses to this RFQ must meet the performance thresholds outlined for all of the factors. Not meeting any one of these performance thresholds may result in the Quoters not being awarded the BPA. All assumptions shall be evaluated as part of the individual factor to which they apply. The Government reserves the right to reject any quote that includes any assumption(s) that impact satisfying the Government's requirements. Please be advised that this request does not commit the Government to pay any cost for the preparation or submission of the quotation. This request is not a contract nor a promise to contract in the future. ADVISORY DOWN SELECT SUBMISSION This RFQ will be conducted in phases. Following each phase of quote submission and evaluation, Quoters will receive an Advisory Notification. The Advisory Notification will inform the Quoter of: i. The basis of the Government advisory notice; and, ii. either that it will be advised to participate in the next phase of the RFQ based on the information submitted, or that it is unlikely to be a viable competitor with the basis for that opinion. The intent of this distinction is to minimize proposal development costs for those vendors with little or no chance of receiving an award. However, notwithstanding the advice provided by the Government in response to the advisory phase submissions, all respondents may participate in the next phase. iii. For Quoters advised not to continue who choose to continue after the Advisory Down Select, a notice must be sent to the CO at DQCS_Proposal_Submission@cms.hhs.gov within two business days after notification notating your intent to continue with the RFQ process notwithstanding the advisory notification provided. If the Quoters does not submit such a notification, the Government will assume the Quoter adhered to the advisory notice not to participate in the next phase. iv. Offerors who are advised to continue in the down select process are not required to provide a notice of intent. Note: The Advisory Notification is the only notice the Government will provide. Debriefings will not occur at the conclusion of each phase. Contractors are strongly encouraged to carefully review the PWS, evaluation factors, and these submittal instructions when responding to this request. The Government anticipates selecting the best-value contractor(s) from initial responses to this request, without engaging in exchanges with contractors. Contractors are strongly encouraged to submit their best technical solutions and price in response to this RFQ. If a Contractor Teaming Agreement (CTA) is being used for the BPA, the quotation should indicate this is the case and identify all team members, all of whom must have a valid and current GSA FSS contract. The negotiation of CTAs will not involve the Government and are the responsibility of the FSS contract holders. The terms of any CTA must provide that the FSS contract holder providing the quotation is identified on the order as the recipient, along with their corresponding GSA contract number, such that the FPDS-NG record created for the order reflects contract holder providing the quotation as the contractor. Furthermore, CMS will make payment only to the FSS contract holder providing the winning quotation and subsequently identified on any future order; any further distribution of payment between teammates is the responsibility of the FSS contract holder identified in the order. A copy of the executed CTA must be provided with the submission of the Quality Control and Performance Management Approach quotation (Phase 4). The CTA does not count toward the page limitation of the Quality Control and Performance Management Approach quotation. The CTA shall be signed by all parties and at a minimum will describe the following: 1. Identification of Parties (Name, Address, GSA Schedule, Contract Number, Telephone Number, E-mail and POC. 2. Legal Relationship 3. Identification of the Team Leader and POC. 4. Name and Address of the Ordering Activity 5. Duration of the agreement 6. Terms of the Agreement 7. Responsibilities of team members. 8. Replacement of team members Statement asserting that team members will not be removed without approval from the Government The Government will evaluate the CTA as part of the Government's evaluation of the offerors Assumptions, Conditions or Exceptions to determine if the CTA agreement will meet the Governments need or poses an increased risk towards the Government. QUESTIONS All questions must be received in writing using Attachment 1 to the Contract Specialist (CS) Gina King and Contracting Officer (CO), Sabrina Thompson, at DQCS_Proposal_Submission@cms.hhs.gov with the subject line "DASH Questions". Questions are DUE no later than the timeframe established in the downselect phase (date to be released in the applicable RFQ phase) via email. Quoters must cite the relevant RFQ attachment, section and page number. Questions should be written in a manner that enables clear understanding of the Respondent's questions or concerns. Statements expressing opinions, sentiments, or conjectures are not considered valid inquiries and will not receive a response. QUOTE SUBMISSION - An electronic (PDF, Word document and/or Excel Document as applicable) of : Volume 1 Relevant Experience shall be submitted via E-Buy no later than Wednesday, March 15, 2021 at 10am EST. Volumes 2, 3 and 4 shall be submitted to the Contract Specialist (CS) Gina King and Contracting Officer (CO), Sabrina Thompson, at DQCS_Proposal_Submission@cms.hhs.gov with the subject line identifying the Offerors Name and DASH Volumes (submission date and RFQ documents to be released in the applicable RFQ phase). - Offeror's video YouTube submission for design challenges shall be no longer than five minutes and shall be submitted in accordance with the criteria established herein (date and RFQ documents to be released in the applicable RFQ phase). Period for Acceptance of Quotes: Quoters are requested to allow a minimum of 120 calendar days within which offers may be accepted for the final quote (Phase 4). IF NO TIME IS SPECIFIED IN THE SPACE PROVIDED, IT WILL BE CONSIDERED THAT 120 CALENDAR DAYS ARE INTENDED. Quotes offering less than 120 days for acceptance will be considered non-responsive and will be rejected. All Quotes must be signed by an authorized signatory authority of the Quoter. If sending electronic mail to CMS in connection with this RFQ, please keep attachment size below 25MB to reduce risk of the e-mail not being delivered. A win zip or secure zip file should be able to be delivered. Unless otherwise indicated in this RFQ (e.g., the design challenge submission or relevant experience), the quote should be prepared in a format capable of being viewed using Microsoft Office 2013 or Adobe Acrobat. Format digital submissions for print using letter-sized (8-1/2 X 11") pages, single-spaced, with one inch (1") margins. One page equals one side of a sheet of paper. Any page limitations set forth below do not include any "front matter" information such as a table of contents, definitions or acronyms, and identification of any applicable teaming arrangements. Any technical or pricing information submitted within the "front matter" will not be considered. Any pages in excess of any page count limitations cited in the RFQ will not be considered. Please number the pages consecutively and use an 11-point font size in an easily readable font, such as Calibri or Times New Roman. Ten (10) point font size and single spacing is acceptable for the Relevant Experience submission, any tables, graphics, and illustrations. Tables used throughout the narrative portions of the response should be formatted in such a way as to allow for the search and find functions in MS Office and Adobe Acrobat to discover text embedded in such tables. Please avoid pasting images of such tables into the response, as the government wants to avoid situations where the search and find functions are not effective because words or numbers are embedded in the response as pictures/images rather than text. The Contracting Officer reserves the unilateral right to waive minor deviations, and to exclude from consideration for award any quote that includes major deviations, from these and any other quote preparation instructions included in this RFQ. RELEASE OF ATTACHMENTS Applicable RFQ attachments will be released during each phase.
The ISG Playbook is a strategic plan developed by the Information Systems Group (ISG) of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). The goal of the playbook is to modernize IT solutions and improve the delivery of healthcare services. The playbook aligns with CMS' Quality Strategy and CCSQ's goals, and it outlines four goals and nine strategies to achieve them. Some highlights of the ISG Playbook for 2019-2020 include the implementation of training programs, increased delivery predictability, the use of AWS and SecDevOps targeted service catalog items, reduction in operational costs, workshops to create a shared understanding of ESRD ecosystem, and the promotion of HCQIS SAS Viya and Centralized Data Repository (CDR) to production.
The timeframe for the acquisition is not specified in the summary. The place of performance/delivery is within CMS and its Quality Programs. Notable aspects of the ISG Playbook include its alignment with CMS' strategic goals, its focus on continuous improvement through feedback, and its achievement of significant cost savings/avoidance.
