Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Procurement & Grants Office, Contracts & Purchases Branch, 255 East Paces Ferry Rd, N.E, Rm 419, Atlanta, GA 30305

70 -- MVS-COMPATIBLE MAINFRAME PROCESSOR COMPLEX SOL 97-36 POC Sherry Smallwood, Contract Specialist Correction: This action originally publicized in the CBD dated 03/28/1997 is corrected as follows: (1) Offerors are instructed to disregard the synopsis published in the CBD on 04/03/1997 which modified the originally published synopsis/solicitation, and the partial synopsis that was published in the CBD on 04/04/1997 which resulted from a transmission error; (2) The parallel channel data transfer rate may be up to 6.0 MPBS, but no less than 4.5 MBPS, (3) Equipment will be acquired as either an initial purchase or as a 36 month lease to ownership with option to purchase prior to the end of the lease period. In addition to proposing 36 equal monthly lease payments and a monthly purchase price factor for the base system and all optional items, offerors must also propose an initial purchase price for the base system and all optional items; (4) Award will be made to the offeror whose proposal provides the greatest overall value to the Government. Technical conformance and price are of approximately equal value. Each evaluation factor will be evaluated separately (technical conformance, past performance, price, value-added) as follows: (a) TECHNICAL CONFORMANCE: Offers will be evaluated on a pass/fail basis as to the conformance of the proposed equipment with the minimum specifications identified in the original synopsis dated 3/28/97, as amended; (b) PAST PERFORMANCE: Offers will be assigned a risk assessment based on information that CDC obtains from the offeror's past performance information. Risk assessment will be a subjective rating (high, low, moderate) that will be used as a separate evaluation factor; (c) PRICE: Offerors have been instructed to submit pricing information for this equipment both as an initial purchase and as a 36 month lease. If CDC elects to purchase the base system and optional items, price analysis will be based on the sum of the purchase price of the base system and the optional items. The following evaluation factors will also be used in performing a price analysis: (1) the exchange/sale price offered for CDC's existing IBM ES/9000 9021-740, and (2) environmental costs (cents per kilowatt hour) based on a 3-year ownership cycle. If CDC elects to purchase the base system and lease the optional items, price analysis will be based on the sum of (1) the purchase price of the base system, (2) the total of the 36 month lease payments for the optional items, and (3) an average of the cost to purchase the optional items over the life of the 36 months based on one month chosen in each of the three years. The following evaluation factors will also be used in performing a price analysis: (1) the exchange/sale price offered for CDC's existing IBM ES/9000 9021-740, and (2) environmental costs (cents per kilowatt hour) based on a 3-year ownership cycle. If CDC elects to lease the base system and the optional items, price analysis will be based on the sum of (1) the 36 month lease payments for the base system and optional items, and (2) an average of the cost to purchase the base system and optional items over the life of the 36 months, based on one month chosen in each of the three years. The following evaluation factors will also be used in performing a price analysis: (1) the exchange/sale price offered for CDC's existing IBM ES/9000 9021-740, and (2) environmental costs (cents per kilowatt hour) based on a 3-year ownership cycle. (d) VALUE ADDED: Configuration will be considered to have value-added if the uni-processor speed exceeds 47 MIPS, or if CDC determines that other features, capabilities, or capacities of proposed equipment enhance the performance of the equipment and provide a specific benefit to CDC. A cost/technical trade-off analysis will be conducted such that business judgement will be exercised in selecting the most advantageous alternative to the Government, considering both the technical merit and price of proposals. The determination of the greatest overall value will be made by comparing the differences in the value of performance capability factors for each value-added feature with the differences in the prices proposed. The Government will not make an award at a significantly higher overall price to achieve only slightly superior performance capability features. (5) Proposals are due by 2:00 PM EST no later than 10 days from the publication of this announcement; and (6) Installation for the base system shall occur on or about July 4, 1997. If necessary, the Government may delay the start of the performance period, but such a delay shall not exceed 30 consecutive days. In addition to the above mentioned corrections, offerors are hereby notified of the answers to the questions received in response to the original synopsis. Question 1: The RFP states that the processor complex must "have 32 parallel channels compatible with IBM parallel channel protocol with data transfer rates up to 6.0 MBPS." Since most controllers with parallel channels can only transfer data at 4.5 MB per second to and from the parallel channels, isn't it more reasonable to require the data transfer rate for the parallel channels to be at 4.5 MBPS instead of 6.0 MBPS? Answer 1: The CBD synopsis/solicitation published on 03/28/97 requires a parallel channel protocol with a data transfer rate of "up to 6.0 MBPS"; therefore, offerors may propose data transfer rates of less than 6.0 MBPS. However, since CDC's current parallel channel data transfer rate is 4.5 MBPS, offerors must propose a parallel channel data transfer rate with a minimum of 4.5 MBPS. Question 2: As stated in the RFP, "configuration proposed will be considered to have value-added if uni-processor speed exceeds 47 MIPS or if other features, capabilities, or capacities of proposed equipment provide specific benefits to CDC." Since the offerors need to assess the trade-off between increasing MIPS and increasing costs, would CDC please explain how these value-adds will be evaluated, that is, how many points will be assigned to the additional MIPS and other desirable features in the evaluation process? Answer 2: See 4(d) above. Question 3: Normally, environmental costs as well as maintenance charges are included in the life-cycle system cost. Would CDC consider including both the environmental costs and maintenance charges in the base period and five option years in the price evaluation? If so, what factors will be used for environmental costs, i.e. cents per kilowatt hour and dollars per square foot? Answer 3: Proposed prices (both purchase and lease) must represent a bundled price of the equipment and a 36 month maintenance warranty. CDC will be using environmental costs as a price evaluation factor. See 4(c) above for information regarding price evaluation. Question 4: Please confirm that the Base Period will extend from time of award through 9/30/97. Additionally, for evaluation purposes, can CDC please identify specific month(s) for procuring the optional items in the two option years? Answer 4: If the equipment is acquired as an initial purchase, the base period will be from date of award through 06/30/1998, with the installation and Government acceptance occuring during the month of July 1997. Option period 1 will be 07/01/1998 -- 06/30/1999; option period 2 will be 07/01/1999 -- 06/30/2000; option period 3 will be 07/01/2000 06/30/2001, and option period 4 will be 07/01/2001 -- 06/30/2002. The option periods will be used for the acquisition of the optional line items (lease or purchase). If the equipment is acquired as a 36 month lease, the base period will be from date of award through 12 months after acceptance of the equipment by the Government. The Government anticipates that installation and Government acceptance will occur during the month of July 1997. Option periods in the lease environment will be in 12 month increments following the base period, and will be used to continue lease payments as well as acquire the optional line items (purchase or lease). At this time, CDC is unable to identify a specific month for procuring the optional items. CDC anticipates that the optional items, if acquired, will be purchased or leased during the first two option periods of the contract. Offerors are required to submit pricing information on the optional items for each of the first two option years, as described in the original synopsis/solicitation that was published on 03/28/97. Question 5: The RFP states that "equipment will be acquired through a 36 month lease to ownership which includes an option to purchase." Please confirm that your intent is to own the equipment after 36 payments, i.e., 36 payments will result in payment in full and title will pass to CDC (versus a true lease, which will result in balance due after 36 payments, and an option to purchase at that time.) Answer 5: If the equipment is acquired as a 36 month lease, it is the intention of CDC to own the equipment after 36 payments (i.e., 36 payments will result in payment in full and title will pass to CDC). The intention of the "option to purchase" phrase is to allow for an option to purchase the equipment prior to the end of the lease period in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) clause 52.207-5, Option to Purchase. Question 6: Will CDC allow the use of indexed rates in the lease to purchase plan for the optional items, which is to occur in option year 1 or 2? This will be mutually beneficial to both the CDC and the contractor. Answer 6: No. Question 7: Please confirm whether the requirement remains firm for "equal" monthly payments. If yes, will the CDC consider some form of return charge/termination payment should the lease be canceled? If a return charge will be considered, how will it be used in the evaluation process? Answer 7: Yes, the requirement for equal monthly payments remains firm. If termination of this contract is necessary, it will be handled in accordance with the appropriate termination section of FAR clause 52.212-4, Contract Terms and Conditions -- Commercial Items. Question 8: On past performance, it is required to list all contracts currently in process that are similar in size and complexity to this acquisition. This could result in a lengthy unwieldy list for this bidder. Would CDC consider limiting the number of contracts to, for example, 10 current Federal contracts? Answer 8: Yes, offerors may limit current contract references to 10. Question 9: Please specify the specific information required for the list of contracts to be considered for past performance evaluation. For example, the contract name/number, location, contact person, phone number, technology/product, etc. of the contract. Answer 9: The following information is required for each contract reference: (1) name and address of customer/client or Government agency, (2) contract number, (3) contract type, (4) total contract value, (5) description of requirement, (6) Contracting Officer's name, address, and telephone number, and (7) Project Officer's name, address, and telephone number. Question 10: Your technical requirements state that parallel channels must conform to IBM's channel protocol with data transfer rates of up to 6.0 MBPS. The standard driven by OEM 370 Channel Interface or data streaming is 3.0 and 4.5 respectively. We believe that only one vendor, HDS, can meet the 6.0 MBPS requirement. If this is the case, then there is effectively no competition for the CDC requirement, as stated. We request that this requirement be changed to "up to 4.5 MBPS". Answer 10: See answer 1 above. Question 11: With minor changes to your specification, the [vendor name and brand name of the processor has been omitted from the question] would meet your requirement with a highly competitive technical and cost solution. In this regard, we request a meeting with the CDC in order to present the [brand name of the processor has been omitted from the question] solution. Answer 11: The synopsis/solicitation, as amended, reflects the minimum requirements of CDC. The features that are desirable for CDC that are above the minimum requirements have been identified as value-added features. Offers that do not propose the value added features will not be penalized. CDC will perform a cost/technical trade-off analysis on the offers that do propose these features in order to make a determination as to which offer provides the greatest overall value to the Government. A meeting between a potential offeror and the Government is not appropriate during this phase of the acquisition process; however, offerors may submit an alternate commercial item proposal in accordance with FAR clause 52.212-1, Instructions to Offerors -- Commercial Items. Question 12: The RFP states that "separate prices must be proposed for each item of equipment included in the processor complex." This bidder would like to interpret 'each item of equipment in the processor complex' as 'each separate box in the processor complex', and NOT 'each feature in the box'. This is because 1) not each feature in the box can be separately purchased; and 2) the features in the box cannot be financed separately. Answer 12: Your interpretation is correct. Offerors are to submit separate pricing for each separate box in the processor complex, and not each separate feature. All other information publicized in the original synopsis is correct. MMMM (0106)

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