TORFQ # ITS-EPA-III-RFQ SERVICE DESK/EPA CALL CENTER AMENDMENT #1

Transcription

1 TORFQ # ITS-EPA-III-RFQ SERVICE DESK/EPA CALL CENTER AMENDMENT #1 April 15, 2010 Dear ITS-EPA II BPA Holder: This amendment is issued to: 1) amend various aspects of the RFQ 2) Incorporate wage determination ) Provide response to vendor questions Vendors must acknowledge receipt of this amendment on their quote submitted. Failure to acknowledge this amendment may result in rejection of offer. All terms and conditions specified in the RFQ and not altered or changed by this amendment remain in effect. Sincerely, Joel P. Smith Contracting Officer US Environmental Protection Agency 1

2 1) Amend various aspect of the RFQ TO RFQ Section Page # 1.3 Other Quotation Information, Key Personnel, page Other Quotation Information, Other Support Personnel, page 12 and 13 From: The Contract Task Order Manager must have a minimum of 10 years general experience managing IT task orders of similar size, scope, and technical complexity. Legacy knowledge of EPA s environment is considered critical. PMI PMP Certification and ITIL v3.0 Certification is required. EPA Call Center Subject Matter Experts must have a minimum of 5 years general experience. Certification as an SDK Help Desk agent is considered optional. Legacy knowledge of EPA s environment is considered important. EPA Call Center Help Desk Agents must have a minimum of 3 years experience. Legacy knowledge of EPA s environment is considered important To: The Contract Task Order Manager must have a minimum of 10 years general experience managing IT task orders of similar size, scope and technical complexity. The Contract Task Order Manager must also have a minimum of 3 years specific experience managing a help/service desk for any entity that is similar in size, scope and complexity of EPA s Service desk is desired. Overall knowledge of EPA s organizational structure and its mission is considered important. PMI PMP Certification and ITIL v3.0 Certification are required. EPA Call Center Subject Matter Experts must have a minimum of 5 years general experience. Certification as an SDK Help Desk agent is considered optional. Historical knowledge of existing organizational environment is considered important. EPA Call Center Help Desk Agents must have a minimum of 3 years experience. Historical knowledge of existing organizational environment is considered important. 1.3 Other Quotation Information, Other Support Personnel, page Technical Factor, Sub- Factor 6 Transitions Plan, Vendors must provide resumes for those individuals expected to fulfill these positions. If these position will be filled after award, vendors must provide evidence of how they will ensure these positions are filled with personnel who meet or exceed these requirements. EPA will evaluate the vendor s transition plan of how work will be transitioned from ITS-EPA to ITS- EPA II for completeness and If known, Vendors should provide resumes for those individuals expected to fulfill these positions. If this position will be filled after award, vendors must provide evidence of how they will ensure these positions are filled with personnel who meet or exceed these requirements. EPA will evaluate the vendor s transition plan of how work will be transitioned from ITS-EPA to ITS-EPA II for completeness and feasibility. All six 2

3 page 15 Section II, Scope of Requirements B. EPA Call Center, 10. Transition Planning, page 32 Performance Work Statement, Section B.12. Standard Management Reports, page 33 Performance Work Statement, Section VI, Acceptance Criteria, Customer Satisfaction Surveys, page 40 feasibility. All six factors a-f of Section 1.1 subfactor 6 will be considered in the evaluation. Please read the Section II.B. 10 Billing and Chargeback Methodology, for more details regarding this opportunity The contractor shall provide standard reports, accepted by OEI for Service Desk as necessary. These include, but are not limited to, standard daily, monthly, quarterly and ad hoc reports. The contractor shall provide a list of standard service management reports, frequency of reports and sample reports, as part of its response. 90% of the customer satisfaction surveys received from users/customers report their satisfaction with the EPA Call Center as rated 5 or higher (0 to 5 with 5 has the highest rating). A minimum of 4-5 questions should be used to measure courteousness, responsiveness, knowledge, timeliness, and resolution satisfaction as well as if the incident should be reopened factors a-e of Section 1.1 subfactor 5 will be considered in the evaluation. Please refer to Section 1.2 Cost Factor for an explanation of the Billing and Chargeback Methodology The contractor shall provide standard reports, accepted by OEI for Service Desk as necessary. These include, but are not limited to, standard daily, monthly, quarterly and ad hoc reports. 90% of the customer satisfaction surveys received from users/customers report their satisfaction with the EPA Call Center as rated 4 or higher (0 to 5 with 5 has the highest rating). A minimum of 4-5 questions should be used to measure courteousness, responsiveness, knowledge, timeliness, and resolution satisfaction as well as if the incident should be reopened 2) Incorporate Wage Determination See Attachment #6 Wage Determination 3) Attachment #1 EPA Owned BMC Remedy ITSM Licenses has been revised. The revised Attachment #1 is attached to this amendment. 4) The following questions and answers are provided: 3

4 Vendor Questions and Answers: 1. Section 1.1, Technical Factor, Sub-factor 1 Technical Approach, on page 5 states that contractors shall include in their proposal a solution to consolidate activities/wcf services as they become identified and that vendors shall assist the EPA with marketing this service. Can EPA please confirm that pricing for these activities should be included in the firm fixed price, cost per seat being proposed? If so, please provide an estimate of the number of activities, WCF services, and marketing activities that should be assumed in our firm fixed price. EPA Answer: These activities should be included in the FFP per seat. EPA cannot provide an estimate of the number of activities for this because the activities/wcf services have not been identified yet. EPA s intent for this section was for the contractor to provide for flexible pricing in bands that would allow for growth through additional seats. 2. Section 1.1 Technical Factor, Sub-factor 2 Task Level Experience, on page 5 states that each firm in the teaming arrangement will be evaluated on its task level experience. Does EPA intend this statement to require that each proposed subcontractor have at least one (1) Task Level Experience project referenced? EPA Answer: As stated in Sub-Factor 2, under Section 2.1 Technical Factor, Contractors will be evaluated on their demonstrated experience in projects of similar size, scope, complexity and results. This will include the contractor, any proposed subcontractor, or any Team member. The overall experience of the proposed team (if any) will be evaluated. 3. Section 1.1 Technical Factor, Sub-factor 7 Oral Presentation, on page 9 references that oral presentations will be scored to determine if proposed personnel validate the experience and resumes submitted with the written proposal. The RFQ further states that this section will not be scored in the first round of the technical evaluation and that vendors will have one opportunity to substitute that person and submit the required resume and letter of commitment. Please clarify whether or not EPA is stating that they will not evaluate resumes until Oral Presentations and, if so, when will EPA present vendors with the opportunity to substitute (i.e. after Oral Presentations). EPA Answer: Any submitted resume will be evaluated as stated in Sub-Factor 4 Staffing Approach. If a vendor finds, after submission of the initial quotation, that there are substitutions necessary to proposed personnel, either as a result of the technical evaluation by EPA or because of internal issues, they will be allowed one opportunity to substitute that person(s) and submit the required resume and letter of commitment. This can be done before the date scheduled for oral presentations, or on the day of the presentation. 4. Performance Work Statement, Section B.12. Standard Management Reports, page 33 states, The contractor shall provide standard reports, accepted by OEI for Service Desk as necessary. These include, but are not limited to, standard daily, monthly, quarterly and ad hoc reports. The contractor shall provide a list of standard service management reports, frequency of reports and sample reports, as part of its response. Can EPA clarify the number and type of sample reports that Offerors should include in their proposal? Please also confirm that these sample reports will be considered to be outside of the 15 double-sided page limit for Subfactor 1. 4

5 EPA Answer: This requirement has been deleted from the TORFQ. Specifically, the sentence: The contractor shall provide a list of standard service management reports, frequency of reports and sample reports, as part of its response. has been deleted. 5. Performance Work Statement, Section VI, Acceptance Criteria, on page 40 of the RFQ, EPA provides a table including Desired Outputs, Required Services, and Performance Indicator. EPA does not provide a performance level or financial incentive(s)/disincentive(s) associated with these requirements. Can we therefore assume that there are no financial impacts (positive or negative) associated with these specific requirements? If we can not make this assumption, can EPA provide details concerning the specific financial impacts (positive and negative) as well as the expected performance levels associated with each requirement? EPA Answer: The assumption of no financial impacts (positive or negative) is associated with these specific requirements is correct. 6. Performance Work Statement, Section VI, Acceptance Criteria, Customer Satisfaction Surveys (see table on page 40), the Performance Indicator reads (italicized and underlined text by Offeror): 90% of the customer satisfaction surveys received from users/customers report their satisfaction with the EPA Call Center as rated 5 or higher (0 to 5 with 5 has the highest rating). A minimum of 4-5 questions should be used to measure courteousness, responsiveness, knowledge, timeliness, and resolution satisfaction as well as if the incident should be reopened. As the maximum score would be 5 on a scale of 0-5, and a higher than 5 rating is not achievable, should the satisfaction rating noted in this requirement actually read rated 4 or higher? Or is another number more appropriate for this performance indicator? EPA Answer: This should have read rated 4 or higher. This has been corrected in this amendment. 7. Performance Work Statement, Section VII Other Resource Concerns, on page 41 states that, although there are no major moves planned by EPA, the contractor may be expected to support these activities (deployment and post deployment). In order to develop a firm fixed price cost per seat, please provide an estimate as to how many of these activities should be included in the vendor s bid. EPA Answer: EPA cannot provide an estimate for this because the activities have not been identified yet. EPA s intent for this section was for the contractor to provide for flexible pricing that would allow for growth through additional seats. 8. Section 5.5, Proposed Contract Start date, page 59 states that offerors may assume a contract award date of July 1, 2010 and a contract effective date of August 1, Earlier in the RFQ, on page 18, EPA states that contractors awarded task orders under ITS-EPA II for other tasks (Security, Hosting, COTS Applications, Local Infrastructure Support, etc.) shall utilize the Service Desk to provide end user support through the use of Operating Level Agreements (OLAs). 5

6 9. Can EPA verify whether or not any task orders will have effective dates before August 1, 2010, thereby eliminating the need to establish OLAs with the incumbent contractor prior to the award of the other task orders? EPA Answer: Each TORFQ for all Task Orders contains language as to award dates and effective dates. 10. At 1.1, Sub-Factor 5 Past Performance, (b), page 6 of the TORFQ, The requirement states Vendors shall submit a list of at least 3 contracts and subcontracts completed in the last 3 years, and all contracts and subcontracts currently in process, which are similar in nature to this requirement. Is a list of only contracts that are being used as past performance references acceptable for submission or does the government require a list of all current contracts, even ones that are not being used as a reference? EPA Answer: This is a vendor s decision. 11. At 1.2 Cost Factor, Fixed Price Task Order Per Seat, paragraph 4, page 10, The requirement states Vendors should propose the price per seat as follows: the number seats charged to Full Call Center, Remedy Only, ICD Only or Remedy & ICD Only. Please confirm the government is requesting four FFP per seat prices for the four elements listed in the above statement for the base and each option period. EPA Answer: Confirmed 12. At 1.2 Cost Factor, Service Contract Act, page 10, The RFQ states A wage determination is attached. The Wage Determination attachment has not been provided. Please provide as appropriate. EPA Answer: This attachment is being provided with the amendment. 13. At 1.2 Cost Factor, Fixed Price Task Order Per Seat, page 10, The requirement states Vendors should propose the price per seat as follows: the number seats charged to Full Call Center, Remedy Only, ICD Only, or Remedy & ICD Only. For accurate pricing purposes, please confirm the expected number of users to be supported under the Remedy & ICD Only Service Type? EPA Answer: The contractor should provide seat band pricing that reflects a range of users to be supported for that band. 14. At 1.3 Other Quotation Information; Key Personnel, page 12, the following is stated, The requirements for Task Order Manager include Legacy knowledge of EPA s environment is considered critical, What is meant by this statement? Also, to which of the EPA environments are you referring? EPA Answer: This language has been changed in this amendment. It now reads: The Contract Task Order Manager must have a minimum of 10 years general experience managing IT task orders of similar size, scope and technical complexity. The Contract Task Order Manager must also have a minimum of 3 years specific experience managing a help/service desk for any entity that is similar in size, scope and complexity of EPA s Service desk is desired. Overall knowledge of EPA s organizational structure and its mission is considered important. PMI PMP Certification and ITIL v3.0 Certification are required. 6

7 15. At. 1.3 Other Quotation Information; Other Support Personnel a few of the positions have the following statement associated with them, Legacy knowledge of EPA s environment is considered important, What is meant by this statement? Also, to which of the EPA environments are you referring? EPA Answer: Historical knowledge of existing organizational environment is considered important. This has been changed in the amendment. 16. At 1.3 Other Quotation Information; Other Support Personnel, page 12, the following is stated, EPA Call Center Help Desk Subject Matter Experts and Agents must have a minimum of 5 and 3 years experience (respectively). Legacy knowledge of EPA s environment is considered important. and Vendors must provide resumes for those individuals expected to fulfill these positions. Is the EPA requiring that the contractors provide a resume for each individual assigned as an EPA Call Center Help Desk Subject Matter Expert and/or Agent? EPA Answer: The language has been clarified as follows: If known, Vendors should provide resumes for those individuals expected to fulfill these positions. If this position will be filled after award, vendors must provide evidence of how they will ensure these positions are filled with personnel who meet or exceed these requirements. 17. At 2.1 Technical Factor; Sub-Factor 6 Transition Plan, page 15, the RFQ states All six factors a-f of Section 1.1 Subfactor 6 will be considered in the evaluation. Section 1.1 SubFactor 6 only includes items a-e for a total of five factors. Please provide the sixth factor as appropriate. EPA Answer: This was an error, the five factors shown are the only factors that will be considered. The TORFQ amendment corrects this error. 18. At Section II. Scope of Requirements; B. EPA Call Center; 1. Objectives, paragraph 3 and paragraph 4, sub-bullet 10, and 4. Service Management Tool, paragraph 2, pages 18, 19 and 21, these requirements indicate the Remedy ITSM solution provided by the Service Desk Task Order shall be utilized by end users for self-help and by Tier 2/3 support groups via a web-based interface. Please clarify if the Service Desk contractor is required to price and provide Remedy ITSM licenses for end users and Tier2/3 support groups. If so, what number and type of Remedy ITSM licenses are required for end users and for Tier 2/3 support groups? EPA Answer: Yes. See Attachment 1 for type of licenses that are currently in use. 19. In Section II. Scope of Requirements; B. EPA Call Center, 3. Service Approach, page 19, are all the customer end-users authenticated via Active Directory to allow access to Remedy ITSM to submit and view tickets and possibly to complete surveys? If not, does EPA provide a guest user, self-register, or other means to manage this restricted type of user access? EPA Answer: Vendors should propose a method of authentication that is in compliance with EPA security standards, NIST, etc. 20. In Section II. Scope of Requirements; B. EPA Call Center, 4. Service Management Tool, page 21, does the current Remedy ITSM system use the optional Service Request Management (SRM) add-on component for managing service requests, or does it use the Incident Management module or Requester Console that is part of ITSM? EPA Answer: See Attachment 1 for types of Remedy ITSM components currently in use. 7

8 21. In Section II. Scope of Requirements; B. EPA Call Center, 4. Service Management Tool, page 21, does the current Remedy ITSM system use the optional Knowledge Management add-on component? EPA Answer: See Attachment 1 for types of Remedy ITSM components currently in use. 22. In Section II. Scope of Requirements; B. EPA Call Center, 4. Service Management Tool, page 21,does the current Remedy ITSM supporting system utilize any additional optional components such as BMC Analytics (to enable reporting beyond the capabilities of the base ITSM reporting module). If so, please list these additional components? EPA Answer: See Attachment 1 for types of Remedy ITSM components currently in use. 23. In Section II. Scope of Requirements; B. EPA Call Center, 10. Transition Planning, paragraph 5 page 32, the requirement states Milestone descriptions and dates specific to the transition of service desk and desk-side support services are to be provided by the contractor as part of the transition plan. This is the first reference to desk-side support as a part of the scope of this opportunity. Please clarify if desk-side support is included as part of the scope and if so, please provide specific requirements and workload data for it. EPA Answer: Although EPA Headquarters currently subscribes to the CTS service under the ITS-UP contract, the opportunity exists to acquire the Regions local help desks as part of the Service Desk/EPA Call Center. If the Regions local help desks are consolidated into the EPA Call Center under the DA methodology, remote assistance which is a form of virtual desk-side support will be invaluable to supporting the Regions through the EPA Call Center. 24. In Section II. Scope of Requirements; B. EPA Call Center, 10. Transition Planning, paragraph 5 page 32, the RFQ states Please read the Section II.B. 10 Billing and Chargeback Methodology, for more details regarding this opportunity. II.B 10 is the Transition Planning section, a section titled Billing and Chargeback Methodology cannot be located. Please provide the correct reference. EPA Answer: This should have read: Please refer to Section 1.2 Cost Factor for an explanation of the Billing and Chargeback Methodology. This has been corrected in this amendment. 25. In II. Scope of Requirements; B. EPA Call Center, 11. Service Management paragraph 2, page 32, please describe EPA s expectation of the OLAs envisioned between the Service Desk Contractor and the other Service Delivery partners? EPA Answer: Section II.B.1. Objectives, paragraph 3 describes EPA s expectation. 26. In Attachment 1: EPA Owned BMC Remedy ITSM Licenses, page 60, please verify EPA s expectation that the successful vendor will pay for maintenance of the licenses over the life of the contract. Answer: EPA verifies this expectation. 27. In Section 1.2, Cost Factors, page 9, should all Other Direct (ODC) costs, excluding travel, be included in fixed unit rate to support allocation of cost through the Working Capital Funds? 8

9 EPA Answer: Yes. 28. In Section 1.1 Technical Factors Sub-Factor 6. Transition Plan; 5.5 Proposed Contract Start Date, pages 8 and 59, within sections 1.1 Technical Factors Sub-Factor 6 Transition Plan the following statement is found, Vendors shall provide a detailed Transition Plan to affect a smooth transition so as to be fully operational on the effective date of the contract. Furthermore, in section 5.5 Proposed Contract Start Date the following statement is found, For proposal preparation purposes, offerors may assume a contract award date of July 1, 2010 and a contract effective date of August 1, The EPA has implied on multiple occasions (vendor conferences) the transition period for task orders on ITS-EPA II would be from date of award through September 30, 2010 with a contractor effective date of October 1, The RFQ language as stated above implies a 30-day transition period, which in our experience with other customer transitions has shown to result in a disruption of service to users. Will EPA allow for a 60 or 90-day transition period for this task order to mitigate risk and ensure a smooth transition of service to the successful vendor? EPA Answer: Yes, EPA will allow for a transition period other than a 30 day period. 29. In Section 6, Table 4, Service request and incident management roles and responsibilities, page 25, will all EPA owned data and customization details (examples are such as - knowledge collateral, Incident, Change record, and Service request data, report configurations, ITSM configuration and customization details, etc.) enabling the current supplier's ITSM system (that is supporting EPA) be made available to the winning contractor? If any of the EPA owned data and customization details enabling the current provider's ITSM system are not the property of EPA and cannot be provided to the winning contractor, could EPA please indicate what these solution supporting items are? EPA Answer: Please refer to Section 10, Transition Planning. Details to these questions can be found here. 30. EPA states the Call Center will Integrate Incident, Change, Problem, Configuration, Asset, and Service Level Management capabilities does this include a Federated CMDB for all other task orders to integrate their asset tools to? EPA Answer: Yes. 31. Will the Call Center provide the EPA Service Request tool or just manage it? EPA Answer: All roles and responsibilities for the EPA Call Center including any tools, hardware, software, etc. have been defined in the Service Desk TORFQ. 32. Does participation in Orals require taking part in the presentation, or can it be only participation in the question and answers portion of Orals? EPA Answer: The scope of an individual s participation is at the discretion of the vendor. However, only those persons named as key personnel plus up to two individuals who will play key roles in the performance of the task order will be allowed to participate. 33. Subfactor 1 Technical Approach, p 5. Please provide a list of the OTOP and WCF activities that have their own help desks and are candidates for a consolidation proposal. 9

10 EPA Answer: These activities should be included in the FFP per seat. EPA cannot provide an estimate of the number of activities for this because the activities/wcf services have not been identified yet. EPA s intent for this section was for the contractor to provide for flexible pricing in bands that would allow for growth through additional seats. 34. Subfactor 1 Technical Approach, page 5, please provide a list of EPA hotlines and local IT help desks in the Regions. EPA Answer: This information cannot be provided WCF Cost Center, page 17, what was the FY2009 revenue for WCF Service CC and the Call Center revenue for other WCF services? EPA Answer: This information is not available to anyone external to EPA. 36. Section II.B.1. Objectives, page18, please provide an example of an existing OLA for Tier 1 and Tier 2 services provided by the Service Desk to existing ITS-EPA tasks. EPA Answer: This information is not available and is not relevant since new OLAs will need to be established between the successful vendor of the Service Desk and Tier 2 or 3 supports staff that are procured through ITS-EPA, ITS-EPA II, ITS-UP, ITS-ACT, and any other contracts such as the Integrator contract. 37. Section II.B.5. Service Desk Operations and Administration, page 24, what is the make-up of the CCB (CAB) today? What areas of OEI are represented? EPA Answer: EPA will provide this information to the successful vendor upon task order award. 38. Section II.B.5. Service Desk Operations and Administration, page 26, Please provide an example of a knowledge document that is used to communicate between Tier 2 support groups and the Tier 1 Service Desk. EPA Answer: EPA will provide this information to the successful vendor upon task order award. 39. Section VI. Acceptance Criteria, page 37, is the incentive pool amount an addition to the Base Value bid by the contractor or must one earn 100% of the incentive pool to receive 100% of the total Base Value? EPA Answer: The Contractor will receive payment in the amount of the fixed price of the base period, which is called the Annual Base Value of the task order. This amount will be paid to the contractor on a monthly basis. The incentives are above and beyond that amount and can be positive, if the SLAs are exceeded, or negative if the SLAs are not met. As stated in the TORFQ, Each quarter s incentive, positive or negative will be accumulated in a pool. At the end of the contract year, this pool will be assessed and if the amount in the pool is positive, the contractor will be paid the accumulated pool amount. If the amount is negative, the negative amount in the pool will be withheld in a subsequent voucher. If the amount is positive, the Contractor may submit a supplemental invoice for the positive amount. 10

11 40. On Page 60 Attachment 1: EPA Owned BMC Remedy ITSM Licenses. The Expiration date for the licenses is Mar 31, How does EPA plan to pay for the renewal of the licenses and what assumptions should the Vendors make? EPA Answer: The licenses have been extended until June 30, This Attachment has been revised and is attached. 41. RFP Section II.B.1 states, all other task orders issued under the ITS-EPA II procurement which require end user support (Tier 1 and some Tier 2 support) shall be considered integral parts of the Service Desk task order. Contractors awarded task orders under ITS-EPA II for other tasks (Security, Hosting, COTS Applications, Local Infrastructure Support, etc.) shall utilize the Service Desk to provide end user support through the use of Operating Level Agreements (OLAs) and will perform Tier 2 and Tier 3 support only through their respective task orders. Will the vendor that is selected to perform the Call Center task have an opportunity to add staff, Remedy licenses, and facilities capacity through contract modifications to the Call Center Task as other Task Areas are awarded that require support from the Call Center, or should bidders include labor and non-labor costs in their price for the Call Center task with the assumption that all other tasks such as Security, Hosting, COTS Applications, Local Infrastructure Support, etc are in place and will utilize the Call Center? EPA Answer: EPA Answer: Vendors are expected to provide FFP seat pricing for the various options (Full Call Center, Remedy Only, Remedy/ICD Only etc) in bands to allow for increased seats and increases in call volume. The FFP for each option should be a fully loaded rate that includes any cost for Remedy licenses, labor, non-labor, hardware, software, etc, as appropriate for the option. Depending on the chargeback methodology selected by EPA (either 25,000 seats to DA or the current WCF methodology of charging each WCF service for the specific portion of CC), capacity for facilities, staffing, etc., call volume, should be established with the bands offered by the vendors. Since this is a FFP how many staff the vendor chooses to support the EPA Call Center/Service Desk is not EPA s decision but the successful vendor s decision. As long as the successful vendor meets or exceeds the SLAs associated with this TORFQ, the EPA will not object to how the vendor chooses to manage or staff the EPA Cal Center. As for other Tier 2 and Tier 3 groups that are on various TORFQs (Hosting, COTS Applications, Local Infrastructure), etc, utilization of the EPA Call Center by these groups will depend on when they are awarded under ITS-EPA II, this should be taken into consideration for the Transition Planning, not as part of the rate for the FFP. To reiterate, EPA will select the appropriate number of seats needed within the band required to support that Tier 2/3 s TORFQ as it awarded and transitioned into the EPA Call Center. 42. Does EPA security policy require, that in order for the vendor/providers Service Desk Agents to connect to EPA networks for the purposes of, EPA end-user remote session assistance, access to EPA systems for items such as password reset, etc., that the Agents connectivity must be initiated from an vendor site using an EPA GFE computer configured with an EPA standard desk top image? EPA Answer: No, EPA Security policy does not require that EPA provide the EPA Call Center agents with GFE computers. However, the successful vendor will be expected to comply with EPA standards and security policies including ensuring that EPA Call Center agents computers will meet these standards/policies as they are established. EPA standards do not stay the same year after year so the successful vendor should be fully prepared for this and update/upgrade the EPA Call Center agent s equipment as appropriate to comply with EPA standards. In the past EPA has provided the successful 11

12 contractor with an EPA standard desktop image that was tailored to meet the needs of the EPA Call Center. 43. Does EPA intend to provide RSA tokens to enable EPA remote network access for all vendor Service Desk Agents? EPA Answer: As indicated in Section 1.3.2, EPA will provide the RSA tokens for the EPA Call Center agents as part of GFP. 44. Will EPA expect a security/c&a process executed in preparation to have EPA accredit vendor networks and facilities that will be hosting EPA supporting services, if so what requirements does the EPA have for the accreditation process? EPA Answer: EPA does not expect the C&A process to begin until a successful vendor has been awarded this TORFQ. EPA will initiate the C&A process with the assistance of the successful vendor and with EPA Security (OEI/OTOP/TISS). The successful vendor must comply with the security policies set forth in Section V., Applicable Documents. 12