Wideband Satellite Communications (SATCOM) Operations and Technical Support II (WSOTS II)

SOURCES SOUGHT NOTIFICATIONWIDEBAND SATELLITE COMMUNICATIONS (SATCOM)OPERATIONS AND TECHNICAL SUPPORT II(WSOTS II) W91260-17-R-0003A. INTRODUCTION1. The Army Combat Command, Redstone Arsenal/CCAM/CAC-A at Peterson AFB, Colorado is issuing this sources sought synopsis as a means of conducting market research to identify parties having an interest in and the resources to support the requirement for worldwide support of the Wideband SATCOM missions and the Wideband SATCOM Operational Management System (WSOMS) in support of the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command/Army Forces Strategic Command (USASMDC/ARSTRAT).SUPPORTED ORGANIZATIONS AND FACILITIES:The WSOTS II contract is anticipated to support the following organizations: U.S. Army (USA), U.S. Air Force (USAF), U.S. Navy (USN), Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA), Australian Defense Forces (ADF), and other Department of Defense (DOD) and non-DOD organizations. The facilities supporting these organizations are located

worldwide. They include the Wideband SATCOM Operations Centers (WSOCs); Regional SATCOM Support Centers (RSSCs); 53rd Signal Battalion Satellite Communications (SATCOM) Operation Center (BSOC) Remote Monitor Control Equipment (RMCE) which includes: Lago Patria IT, Arifjan KW, Northwest VA, and Paso Robles CA or similar locations; DISA Engineering Center; DISA Emergency Relocation Site (ERS); DISA Command Center (DCC); DISA NetOps Centers (DNCs); and, Australian Defense Network Operations Centre (DNOC) which includes Canberra, Geraldton, and Harman. In addition, acquisition, training, logistics, and operational support services are provided to the U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Command (USACECOM); Project Manager Defense Communications and Army Transmission Systems (PM DCATS); USACECOM Software Engineering Center (SEC); U.S. Army Cyber Center of Excellence and Fort Gordon (USACCE&FG); and designated SATCOM earth terminals. RMCE remote locations shall require fly-away (travel status) technical support only.This is an initial step in the planning process for Wideband Satellite Communications (SATCOM) Operations and Technical Support II (WSOTS II) follow-on contract for WSOTS, W91260-12-C-0001. The intent is to award a single-award contract.BASED ON THE RESPONSES TO THIS SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE/MARKET RESEARCH, THIS REQUIREMENT MAY BE SET-ASIDE FOR SMALL BUSINESSES OR PROCURED THROUGH FULL AND OPEN COMPEITION. All Small Business Set-Aside categories will be considered. Telephone inquiries will not be accepted or acknowledged, and no feedback or evaluations will be provided to companies regarding their submissions.2. ELIGIBILITY: The applicable North American Industrial Classification Systems (NAICS) is 517919 -- All Other Telecommunications, with a size standard of $32.5M. The Product Service Code is R426. Businesses of all sizes are encouraged to respond; however, each respondent must clearly identify their business size in their capabilities statement.B. REQUIREMENTS:1. Objective: The Contractor will provide on-site support to USASMDC/ARSTRAT worldwide Wideband SATCOM missions and the WSOMS. The Contractor is responsible for monitoring, configuring, and maintaining the WSOMS Network (WSOMSNET).a. The WSOTS mission requires the following as specified in the draft WSOTS II Performance Work Statement (PWS) attachment:(1) Program Management: Direct contract support to include program management, administrative support/clerical.(2) Site Maintenance: Maintain equipment as identified in PWS.(3) Depot Support Services: Located at contractor facility.(4) Training: Create training manuals and present training for 200-300 operators of all subsystems.(5) System Adaptation: Support installation of changes to existing baseline equipment and replacements.b. Period of Performance: The contract base period is anticipated to be twelve months plus four one-year option periods and a six-month extension of services. WSOTS I expires 31 January 2019.c. Security: The Program Manager and all permanent on-site positions shall require a TOP SECRET clearance. All other remaining positions shall require a Secret Clearance.d. Organizational Conflicts of Interest (OCI): The Government anticipates to request an Organizational Conflict of Interest (OCI) mitigation plan from offerors.e. Site Visits: The Government anticipates a site visit to one or more of the sites. Secret Clearance is required to access some of the sites.C. INFORMATION AND INSTRUCTIONS:1. If your organization and teaming partners are capable of providing these services, you are invited to respond. Respondents are requested to submit capability packages electronically, as described below.a. Submit one electronic copy of the Capability package. Capability package shall be in MS Office format (Word, Excel or PowerPoint). All packages shall contain UNCLASSIFIED material only.b. Capability packages shall not exceed fifteen (15) pages, each single side counting one page, 8.5 x 11 inch, with one-inch margins, and font no smaller than 10 point Times New Roman. Capability packages must be received no later than 11:00 am, 12 June 2017.c. Capability package responses shall be sent via email to: Cynthia Waller, Contract Specialist, cynthia.d.waller6.civ@mail.mil and George Romero, George.a.romero.civ@mail.mil.2. If your capability package is submitted incomplete or does not demonstrate the ability to provide the capabilities per the sources sought questionnaire, your capability package will be assessed as not qualified for the purposes of this market research only and does not restrict the potential offeror from proposing on the WSOTS II requirement.3. All potential offerors are reminded, in accordance with Defense Federal Acquisition Regulations (DFARS) 252.204-7004, Alternate A, active registration in System for Award Management (SAM) (https://www.sam.gov) is required for contract award.4. Small Business: For the WSOTS II follow-on contract to be considered a small business set-aside, small business must demonstrate they are capable of performing the work in the Sources Sought Questionnaire, paragraph D below in their capability packages. The small business will be assessed on whether the proposed teaming arrangement (to included subcontractors) demonstrated the ability to provide all the capabilities per the sources sought questionnaire. Small Businesses should affirm they can meet the requirements of FAR 52.219-14, Limitations on Subcontracting, should this requirement be set-aside for small business. The results from the analysis of the capability packages will assist in determining whether a Small Business Set-aside is feasible for this requirement. Small business respondents to this announcement should indicate type(s) of small business: service-disabled veteran-owned small business, Historically Underutilized Business Zone (HUBZone) small business, small disadvantaged business, and/or women-owned small business.5. Respondents must include the following information within their capability packages:a. Company Information:(1) Your company's name(2) Address(3) Point of Contact, E-mail Address, and Telephone Number(4) Federal Cage Code(5) Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS)(6) Business Size: Small Business type:(7) Personnel Security Clearance Level(8) Facilities Security Clearance Level(9) Anticipated Teaming Arrangements (delineate between work accomplished by prime, subcontractors and work accomplished by teaming partners)(10) For cost-reimbursement contracts to be used, the contractor will need an adequate accounting system for determining costs applicable to the contract per FAR 16.301-3.- State whether or not the Prime contractor submitting the capability package has an "adequate" accounting system.- Provide the cognizant Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA) administrative contracting officers (ACO) and Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA) offices.D. SOURCES SOUGHT QUESTIONNAIRE: The Government will identify competitive firms by analyzing the responses to the Sources Sought Questionnaire in the contractor's capabilities package. Potential offers should be specific in referring to capabilities in the technical areas stated below. A draft Performance Work Statement (PWS) is provided for your reference.NOTE: The Government is only interested in capability packages from Prime contractors able to meet all the tasks with their teaming arrangement. If your business and teaming partners are unable to provide all the capabilities per the sources sought, the Interested Parties List on Federal Business Opportunities (FedBizOps) (https://www.fbo.gov) is available to provide your information to other potential Interested Parties for teaming arrangements or as a subcontractor.To complete:- For each (1) Task listed below, demonstrate how your company and or teaming partners provided the similar service.- Provide the (2) Relevant Contract Information for each response in regards to the listed Tasks. May be either Government or Commercial contracts.1. Tasks: The following tasks are considered mandatory in meeting the requirements of the Wideband SATCOM Operations and Technical Support II (WSOTS II) contract:a. Monitored performance of a secure network similar to WSOMS.b. Provided on-site network configuration and maintenance of equipment similar to WSOMS.c. Provided on-call network configuration and maintenance of equipment similar to WSOMS.d. Provided training, operations support, and/or technical assistance to Government operators of SATCOM network equipment.e. Provided overseas SATCOM support and services.f. Provided system adaptation support to facilitate improvements to and installations of network equipment.g. Provided depot support and services for network equipment.h. Provided supply support and services for network equipment.i. Provided communications signal analysis.j. Provided software, firmware, and database support and services.k. Provided staffing with personnel that required Top Secret or higher clearances.l. Provided management, tracking, storage, and use of Government Furnished Equipment.2. Relevant Contract Information (with Total Contract Value greater than $10M and service took place after 1 June 2014):a. Contractor's Name providing the serviceb. Contract Name/Numberc. Total Contract Value (to include Base Period and Options)d. Place of performanceE. MARKET RESEARCH: Completion of the market research questionnaire is optional and will not impact analysis of the Capability Package in response to Section D, Sources Sought Questionnaire. The page limit for Market Research is eight (8) pages in addition to the fifteen (15) page limit for the Capability Package for a total of twenty-three (23) pages.NOTE: The questions and recommendations will be posted with the Government responses on www.fbo.gov as written. DO NOT INCLUDE proprietary data, classified information or company identity.1. Commerciality:a. Current acquisition guidance encourages the Government to adopt best practices of industry when purchasing commercial services. Do you believe this acquisition is a commercial service considering the definition in Federal Acquisition Regulation 2.101? Please provide your rationale.b. A portion of the services is Government off-the-shelf (GOTS) and proprietary equipment in support of legacy systems such as those listed in the PWS. Are these type of services provided in the commercial market and for whom?c. Are there major differences between this acquisition and accepted commercial business practice? Please explain.d. What kinds of factors/standards does industry use to evaluate commercial providers providing services listed in attached PWS?e. What kinds of performance assessment methods & performance incentives are used commercially?f. Is the PWS too restrictive or exceeds commercial standards?g. What needs to be provided/added/clarified/deleted to improve specificity without directing contractors "how to" accomplish work?2. Contract type and service requirements:a. The Government is considering to issue this contract with a Firm-Fixed Price (FFP) Contract Line Item Number (CLIN) for PWS paragraphs describing the following tasks:(1) Site Maintenance(2) Training(3) Management(4) Transition Period- What additional information and workload data are necessary to adequately price as FFP CLINS?- Do you believe there are better alternatives? If so, explain.b. The Government is considering to issue this contract with a Cost-Plus-Fixed-Fee (CPFF) CLIN for PWS paragraphs describing the following tasks. What additional information and workload data are necessary to adequately price as CPFF CLINS?(1) WSOTS II System Adaptation Requirement(2) Depot Support ServiceDo you believe there are better alternatives? If so, explain.c. Are proper quantities and delivery dates sufficiently indicated for each deliverable? Are schedules and frequencies of performance clearly defined?d. Following contract award, what transition period would be adequate prior to start of work? What activities should be authorized for a transition period?3. NAICs Code: The Government contemplates utilizing NAICS code 517919, "All Other Telecommunications" (small business size standard of $32.5 million). Do you believe this is an appropriate NAICS code for a majority of the PWS tasks? If not, please identify what you deem more appropriate and why.4. Source Selection Method and Evaluation Criteria:a. What evaluation criteria best differentiate offerors with respect to technical capability, past performance and performance risk? (Please be as specific as possible.)b. How many proposal pages would be needed to demonstrate the experience and ability to satisfy the requirements of the PWS?c. Have the appropriate government and industry standards been referenced in the PWS? Do additional standards need to be added? Are any standards listed excessively costly, exceed industry standards, restrictive to not be considered performance based IAW FAR 37.6, outdated or otherwise unnecessary? If so, how could standards listed be changed to optimize cost/performance tradeoffs for best value to Government?5. Additional Questions or Recommendations: Provide any questions or recommendations about the PWS. The Government response to the PWS questions and recommendations will be provided on FedBizOpps. F. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:1. All information received will be protected and safeguarded as ACQUISITION/ SOURCE SELECTION SENSITIVE in accordance with FAR Part 2.101 and 3.104.2. There is no solicitation available at this time. This notice shall not be construed as a commitment by the Government to issue a solicitation or ultimately award a contract, nor does it restrict the Government to a particular acquisition approach.3. It is the respondent's responsibility to verify the package was received and viewable. All responses must clearly address each of the above stated requirements, with the exception to Section E.DISCLAIMER"THIS SOURCES SOUGHT IS FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY. THIS IS NOT A "REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL (RFP)" TO BE SUBMITTED. IT DOES NOT CONSTITUTE A SOLICITATION AND SHALL NOT BE CONSTRUED AS A COMMITMENT BY THE GOVERNMENT. RESPONSES IN ANY FORM ARE NOT OFFERS AND THE GOVERNMENT IS UNDER NO OBLIGATION TO AWARD A CONTRACT AS A RESULT OF THIS ANNOUNCEMENT. NO FUNDS ARE AVAILABLE TO PAY FOR PREPARATION OF RESPONSES TO THIS ANNOUNCEMENT. ANY INFORMATION SUBMITTED BY RESPONDENTS TO THIS TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION IS STRICTLY VOLUNTARY. RESPONSES WILL NOT BE RETURNED TO THE RESPONDER. NOT RESPONDING TO THIS NOTICE DOES NOT PRECLUDE PARTICIPATION IN ANY FUTURE REQUEST FOR QUOTE (RFQ) OR INVITATION FOR BID (IFB) OR RFP, IF ANY ISSUED. IF A SOLICITATION IS RELEASED, IT WILL BE SYNOPSIZED ON THE GOVERNMENT-WIDE POINT OF ENTRY (GPE). IT IS THE RESPONSIBILITY OF POTENTIAL OFFERORS TO MONITOR THE GPE FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION PERTAINING TO THIS REQUIREMENT."The Government is not committed nor obligated to pay for the information provided, and no basis for claims against the Government shall arise as a result of a response to this Sources Sought.1 Attachment:Atch 1: Draft PWS