This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items prepared in accordance with the format in Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Subpart 12.6 "Streamlined Procedures for Evaluation and Solicitation for Commercial Items", as supplemented with additional information included on this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation; this is a Request for Quotation (RFQ), and a written solicitation document will not be issued. The solicitation number is 36C24721Q0673. The solicitation document and incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect through the Federal Acquisition Circular FAC 2021-05 effective March 10, 2021. The associated North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) code for this procurement is 511210 and the Small Business Size standard is $41.5 Million. This combined/synopsis solicitation is set aside for Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business (SDVOSB s) and Veteran Owned Small Businesses (VOSB s) in accordance with VAAR 852.219-10 and VAAR 852.219-11. Only VA verified SDVOSB s and VOSB s in the VIP at the time of contract award will be considered. All non-VIP verified firms will be considered non-responsive and ineligible for award. The acquisition will be made pursuant to the authority in FAR 13 to use simplified procedures for commercial items. This RFQ is set-aside for 100% Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Small Businesses and Veteran Owned Small Businesses. This statement of work describes the requirements for providing web-based employee satisfaction services to Charlie Norwood VA Medical Center (CNVAMC). The vendor shall provide web-based employee satisfaction survey access for up to 3,000 employees over a 12-month period of performance with three option years to be exercised as the facility sees fit. The enterprise license for the survey shall include unlimited pulses, access for up to three administrators with real time visual heat maps, two dashboards for tracking the changes to the survey for use throughout the medical center and contain exportable data with shareable graphics. Implementation consulting and training shall be included along with question design for the survey. GENERAL INFORMATION Web Based Employee Satisfaction Survey 1. GENERAL: This statement of work describes the requirements for providing web-based employee satisfaction services to Charlie Norwood VA Medical Center (CNVAMC). The vendor shall provide web-based employee satisfaction survey access for up to 3,000 employees over a 12-month period of performance with three option years to be exercised as the facility sees fit. The enterprise license for the survey shall include unlimited pulses, access for up to three administrators with real time visual heat maps, two dashboards for tracking the changes to the survey for use throughout the medical center and contain exportable data with shareable graphics. Implementation consulting and training shall be included along with question design for the survey. 2. BACKGROUND: The Charlie Norwood VA Medical Center (CNVAMC) is a two division multi-bed facility, encompassing acute medical, surgical, psychiatric, and long-term care. The hospital is located in Augusta, Georgia and provides primary, secondary, and some tertiary care. Annually, the medical center serves thousands of patients. Satellite Community Based Outpatient Clinics (CBOC s) are located in Athens, GA, Statesboro, GA and Aiken, SC., additionally the VISN7 Procurement and Accounting functional areas, the Seamless Transition Center and the Veteran Center are serviced by CNVAMC. 3. PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE: One base year with four option years for web-based employee satisfaction survey: Anticipated POP: Base Year: 05/15/2021 05/14/2022 Option Year 1: 05/15/2022 05/14/2023 Option Year 2: 05/15/2023 05/14/2024 Option Year 3: 05/15/2024 05/14/2025 4. PLACE OF PERFORMANCE: a. b. Charlie Norwood VA Medical Center Downtown Division 1 Freedom Way Augusta, GA 30909 Uptown Division 950 15th Street Augusta, GA 30909 5. Hours of Operation: 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday Friday, excluding federal holidays. New Year s Day January 1st Martin Luther King s Birthday 3rd Monday in January President s Day 3rd Monday in February Memorial Day Last Monday in May Independence Day July 4th Labor Day 1st Monday in September Columbus Day 2nd Monday in October Veteran s Day November 11th Thanksgiving Day Last Thursday in November Christmas Day December 25th 6. Vendor Requirements: 6.1 Vendor shall furnish all requirements and deliver all necessary access and codes for functions related to viewing, setting up, and managing the employee satisfaction surveys on the web-based software. 6.2 The vendor will ensure the proper installation of software necessary for administrator access and abide by medical center privacy measures. 6.3 The vendor will provide technical support and training to users as necessary. Technical support shall be provided within 24 hours of request. 6.4 The online employee satisfaction surveys will be accessible at all times and in proper working condition. The vendor will need to give sufficient prior notice to CNVAMC in the case that access to and functions of the surveys and dashboards are affected by any necessary maintenance, software updates, or servicing of hardware. 6.5 All data/information pertaining to CNVAMC employee surveys that are stored on vendor servers is property of VA, which shall retain and migrate that proprietary data free of charge. VA shall freely migrate its data/information to other entities or its own servers as needed. 7. Medical Center Requirements: 7.1 The medical center shall provide the computers and software necessary to access the web-based software, surveys and dashboards. 8. Data Security Information Gathered or Created in Performance of Services 8.1. Information, including, but not limited to, veteran individually-identifiable information (iii) and personal healthcare information (PHI), gathered or created by the Contractor in the performance of this contract is the exclusive property of VA and must be received, gathered, stored, backed up, maintained, used, disclosed and disposed of in accordance with the terms of this contract and applicable federal and VA information confidentiality and security laws, regulations and policies, including VA Directive and Handbook number 6500. Except for uses and disclosures of VA information authorized by this contract for performance of the contract, the contractor/subcontractor may use and disclose VA information only in two other situations: (i) in response to a qualifying order of a court of competent jurisdiction, or (ii) with VA s prior written approval. The contractor/subcontractor must refer all requests for, demands for production of, or inquiries about, VA information and information systems to the VA contracting officer for response. Notwithstanding the provision above, the contractor/subcontractor shall not release VA records protected by Title 38 U.S.C. 5705, confidentiality of medical quality assurance records and/or Title 38 U.S.C. 7332, confidentiality of certain health records pertaining to drug addiction, sickle cell anemia, alcoholism or alcohol abuse, or infection with human immunodeficiency virus. If the contractor/subcontractor is in receipt of a court order or other requests for the above mentioned information, that contractor/subcontractor shall immediately refer such court orders or other requests to the VA contracting officer for response. 8.2 All contractors, subcontractors, and third-party servicers and associates working with VA information are subject to the same investigative requirements as those of VA appointees or employees who have access to the same types of information. The level and process of background security investigations for contractors must be in accordance with VA Directive and Handbook 0710, Personnel Suitability and Security Program. The Office for Operations, Security, and Preparedness is responsible for these policies and procedures. 8.3 ALL VA III AND PHI INFORMATION STORED ON BOTH VA AND NON-VA EQUIPAMENT MUST BE ENCRYPTED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE FEDERAL INFORMATION SECURITY MANAGEMENT ACT (FISMA). Federal standards established by U.S. Department of Commerce apply, including Federal Information Processing Standard 200 (FIPS200), and National Institute of Standards and Technology Special Publication 800-37, Guide for the Security, Certification and Accreditation. Contractors and subcontractors shall document compliance and make the document available upon request of the Contracting Officer or COTR. Contractor and subcontractors shall allow physical inspection by VA personnel to assess its physical and environmental security controls. Information made available to the contractor or subcontractor by VA for the performance or administration of this contract or information developed by the contractor/subcontractor in performance or administration of the contract shall be used only for those purposes and shall not be used in any other way without the prior written agreement of the VA. This clause expressly limits the contractor/subcontractor's rights to use data as described in Rights in Data - General, FAR 52.227-14(d) (1). 8.4 Contractor and its subcontractors must ensure that VA III and PHI is secure at all times and will ensure proper security is used on contractor or subcontractor computers with VA III or PHI information is stored. To avoid risk of loss or theft, VA III and PHI shall NOT be transferred by contractor or its subcontractors to paper, diskettes, CDs, DVDs, USB flash drives, external computer drives, computer notebooks, home computers or any other medium, and shall NOT be removed from the contractor for subcontractor site under any circumstances without specific written authorization of the VA Information Security Officer. The authorized VA III or PHI recipient shall back up files to protect their loss. Back-ups shall be locked and secured. VA III and PHI shall NOT be transferred between contractor or subcontractor computer unless permission is granted by VA for such transfer of data and secure encrypted transmission methods approved by the VA Information Security Officer are utilized. Contractor employees shall be required to sign VA National Rules of Behavior before they can be authorized access to VA information systems. 8.5 The term security incident means an event that has, or could have, resulted in unauthorized access to, loss or damage to VA assets, or sensitive information, or an action that breaches VA security procedures. The contractor/subcontractor shall immediately (on the date of discovery of the incident) notify the COTR and simultaneously, the designated ISO and Privacy Officer for the contract of any known or suspected security/privacy incidents, or any unauthorized disclosure of sensitive information, including that contained in system(s) to which the contractor/subcontractor has access. The contractor/subcontractor shall provide notice to VA of a security incident as set forth in the Security Incident Investigation section above. Upon such notification, VA must secure from a non-Department entity or the VA Office of Inspector General an independent risk analysis of the data breach to determine the level of risk associated with the data breach for the potential misuse of any sensitive personal information involved in the data breach. The term 'data breach' means the loss, theft, or other unauthorized access, or any access other than that incidental to the scope of employment, to data containing sensitive personal information, in electronic or printed form, that results in the potential compromise of the confidentiality or integrity of the data.  Contractor shall fully cooperate with the entity performing the risk analysis. Failure to cooperate may be deemed a material breach and grounds for contract termination. Each risk analysis shall address all relevant information concerning the data breach, including the following:   Nature of the event (loss, theft, unauthorized access);   Description of the event, including:     (a) date of occurrence;           (b) data elements involved, including any PII, such as full name, social security number, date of birth, home address, account number, disability code; (3) Number of individuals affected or potentially affected;      (4) Names of individuals or groups affected or potentially affected; (5) Ease of logical data access to the lost, stolen or improperly accessed data in light of the degree of protection for the data, e.g., unencrypted, plain text;      (6) Amount of time the data has been out of VA control; (7) The likelihood that the sensitive personal information will or has been compromised (made accessible to and usable by unauthorized persons);      (8) Known misuses of data containing sensitive personal information, if any;      (9) Assessment of the potential harm to the affected individuals;    (10) Data breach analysis as outlined in 6500.2 Handbook, Management of Security and Privacy Incidents, as appropriate; and    (11) Whether credit protection services may assist record subjects in avoiding or mitigating the results of identity theft based on the sensitive personal information that may have been compromised.   Based on the determinations of the independent risk analysis, the contractor shall be responsible for paying to the VA liquidated damages in the amount of $37.50 per affected individual to cover the cost of providing credit protection services to affected individuals consisting of the following: (1) Notification;   (2) One year of credit monitoring services consisting of automatic daily monitoring of at least 3 relevant credit bureau reports;   (3) Data breach analysis;   (4) Fraud resolution services, including writing dispute letters, initiating fraud alerts and credit freezes, to assist affected individuals to bring matters to resolution;    (5) One year of identity theft insurance with $20,000.00 coverage at $0 deductible; and (6) Necessary legal expenses the subjects may incur to repair falsified or damaged credit records, histories, or financial affairs. 8.6 HIPPA Compliance. The Contractor must adhere to the provisions of Public Law 104-191, Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996 and the National Standards to Protect the Privacy and Security of Protected Health Information (PHI) 8.7 Contractor Access to Federal Facilities: The medical providers working under this task order shall be issued an employee badge titled as Contractor which will be worn during duty hours. The contracted employee will receive additional security information during the credentialing process. 8.8 If VA determines that the contractor has violated any of the information confidentiality, privacy, and security provisions of the contract, it shall be sufficient grounds for VA to withhold payment to the contractor or third party or terminate the contract for default or terminate for cause under Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) part 12. Consistent with the requirements of 38 U.S.C. §5725, a contract may require access to sensitive personal information. If so, the contractor is liable to VA for liquidated damages in the event of a data breach or privacy incident involving any SPI the contractor/subcontractor processes or maintains under this contract. 9. Access Automated Data Processing Files: In performance of official duties, the Contractor s employee(s) have regular access to printed and electronic files containing sensitive data, which must be protected under the provisions of the Privacy Act of 1974 (5 USC 552a), and other applicable laws, Federal Regulations, Veterans Affairs statutes and policies. The Contractor s employee(s) are responsible for (1) protecting that data from unauthorized release or from loss, alteration, or unauthorized deletion and (2) following all applicable regulations and instructions regarding access to computerized files, release of access codes, etc., as set out in a computer access agreement which the Contractor s employee(s) sign. 10. Contract Administration Data: The contracting officer is the only person authorized to approve changes or modify any of the requirements under this contract. The Contractor shall communicate with the Contracting Officer on all matters pertaining to contract administration. Only the Contracting Officer is authorized to make commitments or issue changes, which will affect price, quantity, or quality of performance of this contract. In the event the contractor effects any such change at the direction of any person other than the contracting officer, the change shall be considered to have been made without authority and no adjustment will be made in the contract price to cover any increase in costs incurred as a result thereof. 11. Designation of Contracting Officer s Representative: A VA Medical center representative of the Contracting Officer shall be designated to represent the Contracting Officer in furnishing technical guidance and advice regarding the work being performed under this contract. The foregoing is not to be construed as authorization to interpret or furnish advice or information to the Contractor relative to the financial or legal aspects of the contract. Enforcement of these segments is vested and is the sole responsibility of the CNVAMC Contracting Officer. Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan (QASP) Required Service Performance Standard Monitoring Method Disincentives for Meeting Performance Standards Provide and maintain access to online surveys, dashboards and demographic info All parties are able to access surveys to view or modify. Reported to COR by exception Not meeting standards will affect vendor s ability to do further business with the medical center. Vendor shall provide necessary training or technical support as needed Provides reliable and accurate tech support and training within 24 hours of request. Technical support issues should be reported to COR Not meeting standards will affect vendor s ability to do further business with the medical center. Vendor shall maintain functionality of online databases without interruption (including during maintenance or updates) Maintains uninterrupted access to survey information and dashboards. Reported to COR by exception Not meeting standards will affect vendor s ability to do further business with the medical center. 12.1. Contract Security Clauses The following contract security clauses are required for this non-medical services contract. Contractors, contractor personnel, subcontractors, and subcontractor personnel shall be subject to the same Federal laws, regulations, standards, and VA Directives and Handbooks as VA and VA personnel regarding information and information system security. 12.1.1. Access to VA Information and VA Information Systems 12.1.2. A contractor/subcontractor shall request logical (technical) or physical access to VA information and VA information systems for their employees, subcontractors, and affiliates only to the extent necessary to perform the services specified in the contract, agreement, or task order. 12.1.3. Information made available to the contractor or subcontractor by VA for the performance or administration of this contract or information developed by the contractor/subcontractor in performance or administration of the contract shall be used only for those purposes and shall not be used in any other way without the prior written agreement of the VA. This clause expressly limits the contractor/subcontractor's rights to use data as described in Rights in Data- General, FAR 52.227-14(d) (1). 12.1.4. VA information should not be co-mingled, if possible, with any other data on the contractors/subcontractor s information systems or media storage systems in order to ensure VA requirements related to data protection and media sanitization can be met. If co-mingling must be allowed to meet the requirements of the business need, the contractor must ensure that VA s information is returned to the VA or destroyed in accordance with VA s sanitization requirements. VA reserves the right to conduct on-site inspections of contractor and subcontractor IT resources to ensure data security controls, separation of data and job duties, and destruction/media sanitization procedures comply with VA directive requirements. 12.1.5. Prior to termination or completion of this contract, contractor/subcontractor must not destroy information received from VA, or gathered/created by the contractor in the course of performing this contract without prior written approval by the VA. Any data destruction done on behalf of VA by a contractor/subcontractor must be done in accordance with National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) requirements as outlined in VA Directive 6300, Records and Information Management and its Handbook 6300.1 Records Management Procedures, applicable VA Records Control Schedules, and VA Handbook 6500.1, Electronic Media Sanitization. Self-certification by the contractor that the data destruction requirements above have been met must be sent to the VA Contracting Officer within 30 days of termination of the contract. 12.1.6. The contractor/subcontractor must receive, gather, store, back up, maintain, use, disclose and dispose of VA information only in compliance with the terms of the contract and applicable Federal and VA information confidentiality and security laws, regulations and policies. If Federal or VA information confidentiality and security laws, regulations and policies become applicable to the VA information or information systems after execution of the contract, or if NIST issues or updates applicable FIPS or 12.1.7. Special Publications (SP) after execution of this contract, the parties agree to negotiate in good faith to implement the information confidentiality and security laws, regulations and policies in this contract. 12.1.8. The contractor/subcontractor shall not make copies of VA information except as authorized and necessary to perform the terms of the agreement or to preserve electronic information stored on contractor/subcontractor electronic storage media for restoration in case any electronic equipment or data used by the contractor/subcontractor needs to be restored to an operating state. If copies are made for restoration purposes, after the restoration is complete, the copies must be appropriately destroyed. 12.1.9. If VA determines that the contractor has violated any of the information confidentiality, privacy, and security provisions of the contract, it shall be sufficient grounds for VA to withhold payment to the contractor or third party or terminate the contract for default or terminate for cause under Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) part 12. 12.1.10. If a VHA contract is terminated for cause, the associated BAA must also be terminated and appropriate actions taken in accordance with VHA Handbook 1600.01, Business Associate Agreements. Absent an agreement to use or disclose protected health information, there is no business associate relationship. 12.1.11. The contractor/subcontractor must store, transport, or transmit VA sensitive information in an encrypted form, using VA-approved encryption tools that are, at a minimum, FIPS 140-2 validated. 12.1.12. The contractor/subcontractor s firewall and Web services security controls, if applicable, shall meet or exceed VA s minimum requirements. VA Configuration Guidelines are available upon request. 12.1.13. Except for uses and disclosures of VA information authorized by this contract for performance of the contract, the contractor/subcontractor may use and disclose VA information only in two other situations: (i) in response to a qualifying order of a court of competent jurisdiction, or (ii) with VA s prior written approval. The contractor/subcontractor must refer all requests for, demands for production of, or inquiries about, VA information and information systems to the VA contracting officer for response. 12.1.14. Notwithstanding the provision above, the contractor/subcontractor shall not release VA records protected by Title 38 U.S.C. 5705, confidentiality of medical quality assurance records and/or Title 38 U.S.C. 7332, confidentiality of certain health records pertaining to drug addiction, sickle cell anemia, alcoholism or alcohol abuse, or infection with human immunodeficiency virus. If the contractor/subcontractor is in receipt of a court order or other requests for the above mentioned information, that contractor/subcontractor shall immediately refer such court orders or other requests to the VA contracting officer for response. 12.1.15. For service that involves the storage, generating, transmitting, or exchanging of VA sensitive information but does not require C&A or an MOU-ISA for system interconnection, the contractor/subcontractor must complete a Contractor Security Control Assessment (CSCA) on a yearly basis and provide it to the COR. 13.2 Security Incident Investigation: 13.2.1. The term security incident means an event that has, or could have, resulted in unauthorized access to, loss or damage to VA assets, or sensitive information, or an action that breaches VA security procedures. The contractor/subcontractor shall immediately notify the COR and simultaneously, the designated ISO and Privacy Officer for the contract of any known or suspected security/privacy incidents, or any unauthorized disclosure of sensitive information, including that contained in system(s) to which the contractor/subcontractor has access. 13.2.2. To the extent known by the contractor/subcontractor, the contractor/subcontractor s notice to VA shall identify the information involved, the circumstances surrounding the incident (including to whom, how, when, and where the VA information or assets were placed at risk or compromised), and any other information that the contractor/subcontractor considers relevant. 13.2.3. With respect to unsecured protected health information, the business associate is deemed to have discovered a data breach when the business associate knew or should have known of a breach of such information. Upon discovery, the business associate must notify the covered entity of the breach. Notifications need to be made in accordance with the executed business associate agreement. 13.2.4. In instances of theft or break-in or other criminal activity, the contractor/subcontractor must concurrently report the incident to the appropriate law enforcement entity (or entities) of jurisdiction, including the VA OIG and Security and Law Enforcement. The contractor, its employees, and its subcontractors and their employees shall cooperate with VA and any law enforcement authority responsible for the investigation and prosecution of any possible criminal law violation(s) associated with any incident. The contractor/subcontractor shall cooperate with VA in any civil litigation to recover VA information, obtain monetary or other compensation from a third party for damages arising from any incident, or obtain injunctive relief against any third party arising from, or related to, the incident. 14.3 Liquidated Damages for Data Breach: 14.3.1. Consistent with the requirements of 38 U.S.C. §5725, a contract may require access to sensitive personal information. If so, the contractor is liable to VA for liquidated damages in the event of a data breach or privacy incident involving any SPI the contractor/subcontractor processes or maintains under this contract. 14.3.2. The contractor/subcontractor shall provide notice to VA of a security incident as set forth in the Security Incident Investigation section above. Upon such notification, VA must secure from a non-Department entity or the VA Office of Inspector General an independent risk analysis of the data breach to determine the level of risk associated with the data breach for the potential misuse of any sensitive personal information involved in the data breach. The term 'data breach' means the loss, theft, or other unauthorized access, or any access other than that incidental to the scope of employment, to data containing sensitive personal information, in electronic or printed form, that results in the potential compromise of the confidentiality or integrity of the data. Contractor shall fully cooperate with the entity performing the risk analysis. Failure to cooperate may be deemed a material breach and grounds for contract termination. 14.3.3. Each risk analysis shall address all relevant information concerning the data breach, including the following: (1) Nature of the event (loss, theft, unauthorized access); (2) Description of the event, including: (a) date of occurrence; (b) data elements involved, including any PII, such as full name, social security number, date of birth, home address, account number, disability code; (3) Number of individuals affected or potentially affected; (4) Names of individuals or groups affected or potentially affected; (5) Ease of logical data access to the lost, stolen or improperly accessed data in light of the degree of protection for the data, e.g., unencrypted, plain text; (6) Amount of time the data has been out of VA control; (7) The likelihood that the sensitive personal information will or has been compromised (made accessible to and usable by unauthorized persons); (8) Known misuses of data containing sensitive personal information, if any; (9) Assessment of the potential harm to the affected individuals; (10) Data breach analysis as outlined in 6500.2 Handbook, Management of Security and Privacy Incidents, as appropriate; and (11) Whether credit protection services may assist record subjects in avoiding or mitigating the results of identity theft based on the sensitive personal information that may have been compromised. d. Based on the determinations of the independent risk analysis, the contractor shall be responsible for paying to the VA liquidated damages in the amount of $37.50 per affected individual to cover the cost of providing credit protection services to affected individuals consisting of the following: (1) Notification; (2) One year of credit monitoring services consisting of automatic daily monitoring of at least 3 relevant credit bureau reports; (3) Data breach analysis; (4) Fraud resolution services, including writing dispute letters, initiating fraud alerts and credit freezes, to assist affected individuals to bring matters to resolution; (5) One year of identity theft insurance with $20,000.00 coverage at $0 deductible; and (6) Necessary legal expenses the subjects may incur to repair falsified or damaged credit records, histories, or financial affairs. 15.4. Security Control Compliance Testing 15.4.1. On a periodic basis, VA, including the Office of Inspector General, reserves the right to evaluate any or all of the security controls and privacy practices implemented by the contractor under the clauses contained within the contract. With 10 working-days notice, at the request of the government, the contractor must fully cooperate and assist in a government-sponsored security controls assessment at each location wherein VA information is processed or stored, or information systems are developed, operated, maintained, or used on behalf of VA, including those initiated by the Office of Inspector General. The government may conduct a security control assessment on shorter notice (to include unannounced assessments) as determined by VA in the event of a security incident or at any other time. 16. Training 16.1. All contractor employees and subcontractor employees requiring access to VA information and VA information systems shall complete the following before being granted access to VA information and its systems: 16.1.1. Sign and acknowledge (either manually or electronically) understanding of and responsibilities for compliance with the Contractor Rules of Behavior, Appendix E relating to access to VA information and information systems; Successfully complete the VA Privacy and Information Security and Rules of Behavior training and annually complete required security training; Successfully complete the appropriate VA privacy training and annually complete required privacy training; and Successfully complete any additional information security or privacy training, as required for VA personnel with equivalent information system access [to be defined by the VA program official and provided to the contracting officer for inclusion in the solicitation document e.g., any role-based information security training required in accordance with NIST Special Publication 800-16, Information Technology Security Training Requirements.] 16.1.2. The contractor shall provide to the contracting officer and/or the COR a copy of the training certificates and certification of signing the Contractor Rules of Behavior for each applicable employee within 1 week of the initiation of the contract and annually thereafter, as required. 16.1.3. Failure to complete the mandatory annual training and sign the Rules of Behavior annually, within the timeframe required, is grounds for suspension or termination of all physical or electronic access privileges and removal from work on the contract until such time as the training and documents are complete. PRICE/COST SCHEDULE ITEM NUMBER DESCRIPTION OF SUPPLIES/SERVICES QUANTITY UNIT UNIT PRICE AMOUNT 0001 1 enterprise license to include unlimited pulses, up to three administrators. License contains employee tag filters for demographic breakouts and real time visual heat maps. License will provide a question library and templates. license will also include up to two dashboards to track change over time. All data obtained will be exportable and contain shareable infographics. Employee capacity of the license will be up to 3000 employees. license length is one calendar year (12 month duration). 1.00 YR __________________ __________________ 0002 License and strategy support to include implementation strategy consulting, outcome-based question design along with account management, communication strategy and also provides for a senior stakeholder forum. 1.00 YR __________________ __________________ GRAND TOTAL __________________ DELIVERY SCHEDULE ITEM NUMBER QUANTITY DELIVERY DATE 0001 1.00 0002 1.00 The following provisions apply to this acquisition: FAR 52.212-1 Instructions to Offerors -- Commercial Items (Apr 2014) Addendum to FAR 52.212-1 Instructions to Offerors -- Commercial Items (Apr 2018) Paragraph (c) is modified to read as follows: (c) Period for the acceptance of offers. The offeror agrees to hold the prices in its offer for 30 calendar days from the date specified for receipt of offers. (a) North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code and small business size standard. The NAICS code(s) and small business size standard(s) for this acquisition appear elsewhere in the solicitation. However, the small business size standard for a concern which submits an offer in its own name, but which proposes to furnish an item which it did not itself manufacture, is 500 employees. (b) Submission of offers. Submit signed and dated offers to the office specified in this solicitation at or before the exact time specified in this solicitation. Offers may be submitted on the SF 1449, letterhead stationery, or as otherwise specified in the solicitation. As a minimum, offers must show (1) The solicitation number; (2) The time specified in the solicitation for receipt of offers; (3) The name, address, and telephone number of the offeror; (4) A technical description of the items being offered in sufficient detail to evaluate compliance with the requirements in the solicitation. This may include product literature, or other documents, if necessary; (5) Terms of any express warranty; (6) Price and any discount terms; (7) "Remit to" address, if different than mailing address; (8) A completed copy of the representations and certifications at FAR 52.212-3 (see FAR 52.212-3(b) for those representations and certifications that the offeror shall complete electronically); (9) Acknowledgment of Solicitation Amendments; (10) Past performance information, when included as an evaluation factor, to include recent and relevant contracts for the same or similar items and other references (including contract numbers, points of contact with telephone numbers and other relevant information); and (11) If the offer is not submitted on the SF 1449, include a statement specifying the extent of agreement with all terms, conditions, and provisions included in the solicitation. Offers that fail to furnish required representations or information, or reject the terms and conditions of the solicitation may be excluded from consideration. (c) Period for acceptance of offers. The offeror agrees to hold the prices in its offer firm for 30 calendar days from the date specified for receipt of offers, unless another time period is specified in an addendum to the solicitation. (d) Product samples. When required by the solicitation, product samples shall be submitted at or prior to the time specified for receipt of offers. Unless otherwise specified in this solicitation, these samples shall be submitted at no expense to the Government, and returned at the sender's request and expense, unless they are destroyed during preaward testing. (e) Multiple offers. Offerors are encouraged to submit multiple offers presenting alternative terms and conditions, including alternative line items (provided that the alternative line items are consistent with subpart 4.10 of the Federal Acquisition Regulation), or alternative commercial items for satisfying the requirements of this solicitation. Each offer submitted will be evaluated separately. (f) Late submissions, modifications, revisions, and withdrawals of offers. (1) Offerors are responsible for submitting offers, and any modifications, revisions, or withdrawals, so as to reach the Government office designated in the solicitation by the time specified in the solicitation. If no time is specified in the solicitation, the time for receipt is 4:30 p.m., local time, for the designated Government office on the date that offerors or revisions are due. (2)(i) Any offer, modification, revision, or withdrawal of an offer received at the Government office designated in the solicitation after the exact time specified for receipt of offers is "late" and will not be considered unless it is received before award is made, the Contracting Officer determines that accepting the late offer would not unduly delay the acquisition; and (A) If it was transmitted through an electronic commerce method authorized by the solicitation, it was received at the initial point of entry to the Government infrastructure not later than 5:00 p.m. one working day prior to the date specified for receipt of offers; or (B) There is acceptable evidence to establish that it was received at the Government installation designated for receipt of offers and was under the Government's control prior to the time set for receipt of offers; or (C) If this solicitation is a request for proposals, it was the only proposal received. (ii) However, a late modification of an otherwise successful offer, that makes its terms more favorable to the Government, will be considered at any time it is received and may be accepted. (3) Acceptable evidence to establish the time of receipt at the Government installation includes the time/date stamp of that installation on the offer wrapper, other documentary evidence of receipt maintained by the installation, or oral testimony or statements of Government personnel. (4) If an emergency or unanticipated event interrupts normal Government processes so that offers cannot be received at the Government office designated for receipt of offers by the exact time specified in the solicitation, and urgent Government requirements preclude amendment of the solicitation or other notice of an extension of the closing date, the time specified for receipt of offers will be deemed to be extended to the same time of day specified in the solicitation on the first work day on which normal Government processes resume. (5) Offers may be withdrawn by written notice received at any time before the exact time set for receipt of offers. Oral offers in response to oral solicitations may be withdrawn orally. If the solicitation authorizes facsimile offers, offers may be withdrawn via facsimile received at any time before the exact time set for receipt of offers, subject to the conditions specified in the solicitation concerning facsimile offers. An offer may be withdrawn in person by an offeror or its authorized representative if, before the exact time set for receipt of offers, the identity of the person requesting withdrawal is established and the person signs a receipt for the offer. (g) Contract award (not applicable to Invitation for Bids). The Government intends to evaluate offers and award a contract without discussions with offerors. Therefore, the offeror's initial offer should contain the offeror's best terms from a price and technical standpoint. However, the Government reserves the right to conduct discussions if later determined by the Contracting Officer to be necessary. The Government may reject any or all offers if such action is in the public interest; accept other than the lowest offer; and waive informalities and minor irregularities in offers received. (h) Multiple awards. The Government may accept any item or group of items of an offer, unless the offeror qualifies the offer by specific limitations. Unless otherwise provided in the Schedule, offers may not be submitted for quantities less than those specified. The Government reserves the right to make an award on any item for a quantity less than the quantity offered, at the unit prices offered, unless the offeror specifies otherwise in the offer. (i) Availability of requirements documents cited in the solicitation. (1)(i) The GSA Index of Federal Specifications, Standards and Commercial Item Descriptions, FPMR Part 101-29, and copies of specifications, standards, and commercial item descriptions cited in this solicitation may be obtained for a fee by submitting a request to GSA Federal Supply Service Specifications Section Suite 8100 470 East L'Enfant Plaza, SW Washington, DC 20407 Telephone (202) 619-8925 Facsimile (202) 619-8978. (ii) If the General Services Administration, Department of Agriculture, or Department of Veterans Affairs issued this solicitation, a single copy of specifications, standards, and commercial item descriptions cited in this solicitation may be obtained free of charge by submitting a request to the addressee in paragraph (i)(1)(i) of this provision. Additional copies will be issued for a fee. (2) Most unclassified Defense specifications and standards may be downloaded from the following ASSIST websites: (i) ASSIST (https://assist.dla.mil/online/start/); (ii) Quick Search (http://quicksearch.dla.mil/); (iii) ASSISTdocs.com (http://assistdocs.com). (3) Documents not available from ASSIST may be ordered from the Department of Defense Single Stock Point (DoDSSP) by? (i) Using the ASSIST Shopping Wizard (https://assist.dla.mil/wizard/index.cfm); (ii) Phoning the DoDSSP Customer Service Desk (215) 697-2179, Mon-Fri, 0730 to 1600 EST; or (iii) Ordering from DoDSSP, Building 4, Section D, 700 Robbins Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19111-5094, Telephone (215) 697-2667/2179, Facsimile (215) 697-1462. (4) Nongovernment (voluntary) standards must be obtained from the organization responsible for their preparation, publication, or maintenance. (j) Unique entity identifier. (Applies to all offers that exceed the micro-purchase threshold, and offers at or below the micro-purchase threshold if the solicitation requires the Contractor to be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM).) The Offeror shall enter, in the block with its name and address on the cover page of its offer, the annotation Unique Entity Identifier followed by the unique entity identifier that identifies the Offeror s name and address. The Offeror also shall enter its Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) indicator, if applicable. The EFT indicator is a four-character suffix to the unique entity identifier. The suffix is assigned at the discretion of the Offeror to establish additional SAM records for identifying alternative EFT accounts (see FAR subpart 32.11) for the same entity. If the Offeror does not have a unique entity identifier, it should contact the entity designated at www.sam.gov for unique entity identifier establishment directly to obtain one. The Offeror should indicate that it is an offeror for a Government contract when contacting the entity designated at www.sam.gov for establishing the unique entity identifier. (k) [Reserved] (l) Debriefing. If a post-award debriefing is given to requesting offerors, the Government shall disclose the following information, if applicable: (1) The agency's evaluation of the significant weak or deficient factors in the debriefed offeror's offer. (2) The overall evaluated cost or price and technical rating of the successful and the debriefed offeror and past performance information on the debriefed offeror. (3) The overall ranking of all offerors, when any ranking was developed by the agency during source selection. (4) A summary of the rationale for award; (5) For acquisitions of commercial items, the make and model of the item to be delivered by the successful offeror. (6) Reasonable responses to relevant questions posed by the debriefed offeror as to whether source-selection procedures set forth in the solicitation, applicable regulations, and other applicable authorities were followed by the agency. (End of Provision) Special Standards of Responsibility To assist the contracting officer in determining if the special standards of responsibility applicable to this procurement are met, offerors are asked to provide the following information with their quotes. Failure to include this information could result in a contracting officer s determination that an otherwise successful offeror is not eligible for contract award. SP1: Specialized Experience. The enterprise license for the survey shall include unlimited pulses, access for up to three administrators with real time visual heat maps, two dashboards for tracking the changes to the survey for use throughout the medical center and contain exportable data with shareable graphics. Implementation consulting and training shall be included along with question design for the survey. The following provisions are incorporated into 52.212-1 as an addendum to this solicitation: General Standards of Responsibility: An offeror shall indicate in its quote whether it will (1) self-perform 100% of the requirement, or (2) subcontract any portion of the requirement. If the offeror intends to subcontract any portion of the requirement, the offeror shall provide a subcontracting plan that includes a percentage breakdown evidencing how the offeror will comply with the limitations on subcontracting in 13 CFR 125.6(a)(1). See also VAAR 852.219-10. Failure to provide the required information will result in an offeror s quote being rejected without further consideration. If Offeror intends to satisfy this requirement through use of a proposed subcontractor(s), Offeror must provide this information for each proposed subcontractor and Offeror must identify what work will be performed by each proposed subcontractor and what work will be performed by Offeror. Business Processes/ Record of Integrity and Ethical Business Practices/ Contractor shall be a legally registered business This solicitation set-aside 100% for Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) and Veteran Owned Small Business concerns. To be considered for award, prospective offerors shall be registered in System for Award Management (SAM) at the time the offer is submitted. The contractor shall be verified as SDVOSB in the VA Center for verification and evaluation (CVE) Veteran Information Pages (VIP) at the date and time set for the receipt of offers and at the time of award. See VAAR 819.7003. The offeror shall submit their quote on company letterhead. The offeror s quote shall include the name, address, and telephone number of the offeror, the offeror s DUNS# and ORCA document in SAM at www.sam.gov, and a completed copy of 52.212-3 offeror Representations and Certifications- Commercial Items. A signed copy of the SF 1449 and an acknowledgement or signed copy of all amendments posted to the solicitation. All Offerors must meet the small business size standard of 12 Million Employees for NAICS code 511210 Software Publishers at the time of submission of quote and at the time of award. Price: The offeror shall fill-in all unit prices and totals for each CLIN as well as the total amount of the price quote in the solicitation s Price Schedule. Experience: Services - Technical Capabilities Statement must specifically reference each type of service required as it pertains to this solicitation and show that the offeror can successfully perform the entire scope of the requirement. The Offeror s narrative must clearly state the following information: the legal name of entity with whom the offeror held the contract; the contract number; a description of the specific tasks the offeror performed under that contract; the dates during which the offeror performed the contract; the frequency of services; the name, phone number, and email address of a person at the entity with whom the offeror held the contract who can verify the information the offeror provides in the narrative description for this factor. Must provide a minimum of two (2) past performance references showing successful experience performing services similar in function and scope of this requirement. The past performance experience must include the client s POC with email and phone number. The past performance must be within the last five (5) years. Additional items beyond what is required will not be considered. All line items in the Price Schedule must include a price. The total evaluated price will consist of the offeror s total proposed price, including option years. The Government may determine that an offer is unacceptable if the prices are significantly unbalanced. The offeror will submit one document in PDF form only, no word documents will be accepted. Not providing all the required documents above along with not following the instructions for submission will result in the rejection of a quote. Please note: ALL Request for Quotes (RFQ) submission date stated above will not be extended under no circumstances; due to the time sensitivity of the requirement. (End of Addendum to 52.212-1) EVALUATION CRITEIRA (a) Basis of Award. This procurement is being conducted pursuant to FAR Part 13 procedures. The Government intends to award a contract resulting from this solicitation to the responsible offeror whose quote, conforming to the solicitation, quote he lowest price, whose quote price does not exceed the amount of funding available for the procurement, and whose quoted price is found to be reasonable. Price alone is the sole evaluation factor. In addition to the general standards of responsibility found at FAR § 9.104-1, in accordance with FAR § 9.104-2, the special standards of responsibility described below apply to this procurement. Offerors who fail to meet any special standard of responsibility will not be eligible to receive contract award. Special Standards of Responsibility: The following special standards of responsibility apply to this procurement: SP1: Specialized Experience. The enterprise license for the survey shall include unlimited pulses, access for up to three administrators with real time visual heat maps, two dashboards for tracking the changes to the survey for use throughout the medical center and contain exportable data with shareable graphics. Implementation consulting and training shall be included along with question design for the survey. (b) Evaluation Process. Quotes will be evaluated in the following manner. The lowest-priced quote will be identified. The lowest-priced quote will be evaluated to determine if the quoted price exceeds the amount of funding available for the procurement. If the quoted price does not exceed the amount of funding available for the procurement, the quoted price will be evaluated to determine if it is reasonable. If the quoted price is found to be reasonable, the offeror who submitted this quote will be identified as the successful offeror. The contracting officer will then determine if the successful offeror is responsible using the general standards of responsibility and the special standards of responsibility applicable to this procurement. If contract award cannot be made to the successful offeror, the contracting officer will evaluate the next lowest-priced quote following the procedures described above. This process will continue until a contract award can be made, or the contracting officer determines that no contract award can be made. The contracting officer may find all quotes not acceptable and cancel the solicitation if the lowest-priced quote exceeds the amount of funding available for the procurement. The contracting officer may likewise find an quote under evaluation, as well as all remaining quotes, not acceptable and cancel the solicitation if the quote currently under evaluation exceeds the amount of funding available for the procurement. The Government intends to evaluate quotes and award a contract without discussions with offerors. However, the Government reserves the right to conduct discussions at any time if determined by the contracting officer to be in the Government s interest. (c) Options. The Government will evaluate quotes for award purposes by adding the total price for all options to the total price for the basic requirement. The Government may determine that an quote is unacceptable if the option prices are significantly unbalanced or if the quoted price for the basic requirement or any option exceeds the amount of funding available for any of those requirements. Evaluation of options shall not obligate the Government to exercise the option(s). RATING SYSTEM Each factor will be scored as wither Acceptable or Unacceptable as defined below. Each proposal will be evaluated against the Statement of Work (SOW) and the stated evaluation criteria. Offeror shall provide a narrative that describes its specialized experience providing Employee Assistance Program services in accordance with the Statement of Work. Each proposal is evaluated using the same standards. Each evaluation factor/specialized experience has specific documents and information that must be submitted with an Offeror s quote. Proposals shall be clearly written, unambiguous, and all-inclusive of the required information for assessment against the stated factors. Failure to provide all requested documents and information may result in a rejected bid and or unacceptable rating. To receive consideration for award, a rating of no less than Acceptable must be achieved for the Special and Acceptable / Satisfactory for Relevant Experience/Past Performance. The relative importance of factors/specialized experience is as follows: Technical, Management and Delivery, Relevant Experience/Past Performance are of equal importance. All non-price factors, when combined, are significantly less important than Price. *ALL factors must be rated ACCEPTABLE/SATISFACTORY to be considered for award. Acceptable ALL of the minimum acceptable criteria are clearly met by the proposal. The offeror s proposal meets the performance/specialized experience and capability requirements defined in the SOW. NOTE: Once the proposals have been determined to be acceptable, award will be based on lowest cost/price only. Unacceptable Not all of the minimum acceptable criteria are met by the proposal. An unacceptable proposal contains one or more deficiencies. Proposals that fail to meet specified minimum performance/specialized experience requirements defined in the SOW. (b) Options. The Government will evaluate offers for award purposes by adding the total price for all options to the total price for the basic requirement. The Government may determine that an offer is unacceptable if the option prices are significantly unbalanced. Evaluation of options shall not obligate the Government to exercise the option(s). (c) A written notice of award or acceptance of an offer, mailed or otherwise furnished to the successful offeror within the time for acceptance specified in the offer, shall result in a binding contract without further action by either party. Before the offer's specified expiration time, the Government may accept an offer (or part of an offer), whether or not there are negotiations after its receipt, unless a written notice of withdrawal is received before award. GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS Electronic Submissions: Quotes must be received by 14th May 2021 by 11:00 AM ET. Email your quote to Darlene.Chase@va.gov. The subject line must have the solicitation# the offeror is responding to listed. Please include your DUNS# as well. There will be no automated email notification of receipt of quotes. All quotes received without requested documentation will not be considered. Failure to comply with ALL criteria as set forth by the solicitation and ALL documentation requested in this basis of award will result in your proposal being rejected and therefore not evaluated. Late offers will not be accepted, and no telephonic inquiries will be accepted. Any attachments must be readable using Microsoft Office or Adobe PDF. The size of the email is limited to 5 megabytes (MB) but multiple emails are allowable. Proposals must be submitted electronically and will not be accepted through fax or postal mail. All questions regarding this solicitation must be emailed to Darlene.Chase@va.gov by 7th May 2021, by 12 NOON Eastern, this will be the last date for questions. All responses to questions shall be incorporated into a written amendment posted to the Government Point of Entry (GPE). The offeror is encouraged to monitor the GPE, Beta.SAM website with respect to this solicitation because any amendments to this Solicitation will be posted on the website (www.beta.sam.gov). There will be no automated email notification of amendments. Questions must be submitted to the Contracting Officer in writing by the date specified in the posting. Questions received later than that period of time may not be answered. Verbal inquiries to questions will not be addressed or accepted. The proposal shall be signed by an official authorized to bind your organization. The proposal may be signed using the SF 1449 or the offeror s letterhead stationery. All amendments to the solicitation must be acknowledged in the proposal. Award will be made to an offeror on the basis of the lowest priced proposal meeting the acceptability standard outlined in the solicitation. The Government intends to award without discussions with respective offerors. The Government, however, reserves the right to conduct discussions if deemed in its best interest. Furthermore, if discussions are to be conducted the Government will establish a competitive range. The competitive range shall be comprised of the most highly rated proposals, unless the range is further reduced for purposes of efficiency pursuant to FAR 15.306(c)(2) and discussions will be held with the offerors in the competitive range. Upon completion of discussions, all offerors still in the competitive range will be provided an opportunity to submit a final proposal revision. A common cut-off date for submission of final proposal revisions will be established. However, during the evaluation process, the Government may, solely at its discretion, communicate with the offeror for clarification purposes. At any time prior to selection, including upon receipt of proposals, the Government may exclude a proposal from further consideration for reasons such as (but not limited to): Non-compliance with instructions related to the solicitation; the Proposal is not among the most highly rated; or the Proposal is not likely to be selected for award. If proposal revisions are allowed, the Government may, solely at its discretion, impose non-common due dates for revisions. In other words, the Government may elect to have a proposal revision date for an offeror that is different than the proposal revision date for another offeror(s). SELECTION PROCESS Proposals will be evaluated under the Lowest Priced Acceptable methodology. The proposals must demonstrate a clear understanding of the nature and scope of the work required. Only certified Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Small Businesses (SDVOSSB s) and Veteran Owned Small Businesses (VOSB) s in VIP will be evaluated. Capability of the offeror to meet the Government requirement. Lowest Priced Acceptable. Offerors, if not registered in SAM, must include completed copies of the provision at 52.212-3 (MAR 2015), Offeror Representations and Certifications - Commercial Items with their offer. The provision may be obtained via the internet at URL: http://farsite.hill.af.mil/reghtml/regs/far2afmcfars/fardfars/far/52_000.htm. These representations and certifications will be incorporated by reference in any resultant contract. FAR 52.212-4 (OCT 2018), Contract Terms and Conditions-Commercial Items is applicable. The following identified clauses are incorporated by reference: 52.217-8, 52.217-9, 52.219-9, 52.222-41, 52.222-62, 52.232-18, 52.232.34, 52.233-2, 52.237-3, 52.252-2, 52.242.13, 52.242-15, 52.232-74, 852.215-70, 852.215-71, 852.219-10, 852.219-11, 852.219-74, 852.237-70, 852.232-72, 852.237-74, 852.237-70, 52.222-41, 852.270-1, 52-212-5. Addendum to FAR 52.212-4 Contract Terms and Conditions--Commercial Items (May 2014) FAR 52.212-5 (MAR 2015), Contract Terms and Conditions Required To Implement Statutes or Executive Orders-Commercial Items is applicable and the following identified clauses are incorporated by reference: 52.203-17, 52.204-4, 52.204-9, 52.209-5, 52.222-26, 52.222-35, 52.222-36, 52.222-40, 52.222-41, 52.222-43, 52.222-55, 52.223-18.
