SOURCES SOUGHT
D -- RFI - CONTROLLED CORRESPONDENCE TRACKING SYSTEM
- Notice Date
- 9/9/2003
- Notice Type
- Sources Sought
- Contracting Office
- Small Business Administration, Office of Administration, Office of Procurement and Grants Management, 409 Third Street, S.W., 5th Floor, Washington, DC, 20416
- ZIP Code
- 20416
- Solicitation Number
- Reference-Number-SBAHQ-03-RFI-0033
- Response Due
- 9/22/2003
- Archive Date
- 10/7/2003
- Point of Contact
- Sharon Gurley, Director, Office of Procurement and Grants Management, Phone (202) 205-6622, Fax (202) 481-5539,
- E-Mail Address
-
sharon.gurley@sba.gov
- Description
- Request for Information (RFI)- CONTROLLED CORRESPONDENCE TRACKING SYSTEM. The SBA wishes to transform its business processes by investigating options for implementing an integrated, web-based software package to support real-time correspondence control tracking. Background: The US Small Business Administration?s (SBA) Executive Secretariat?s Office (ES) is currently responsible for assigning, controlling, and tracking inquiries and correspondence coming into SBA from the public, members of Congress, the White House, other government agencies, SBA partners, and various associated offices. In the course of a single year, SBA receives an average of 4600+ letters and inquiries that the ES is responsible for tracking. In addition to tracking incoming correspondence, SBA needs to track its responses. In the latter part of 1999, SBA?s ES office piloted the use of a customized database-tracking system to handle their correspondence tracking requirements. Under that system, when a piece of correspondence enters the agency, it is scanned and logged into the system, creating an electronic Correspondence Assignment Folder. The Folder is given a unique control number (based on date and sequence) and an appropriate due date (if required). Users can then access the Folder in the system in order to add, update, and review any of its documents. The pre-defined workflow moves the Folder to the subsequent assignment or step in the process. For example, the system denotes which office should prepare a response, the level of the official who should sign it, and the offices that should be provided copies. Historical data about the Correspondence Folder and the associated workflow can be viewed through user-friendly searches and customized reports. The current system, however, is not sufficient to accomplish the objectives that ES has now established. First, limited funding for the original pilot system resulted in the procurement of only 325 user licenses, which has caused only a partial use of the application and only a partial solution to the correspondence tracking issue. Because only a couple of people per office have access to the system, along with the fact that no secure signature function exists for clearance, the system accomplishes only half of ES?s objectives. Although the tracking system is used to create an electronic record of correspondence, assign the appropriate response to the appropriate office, and archive final responses, it is not used in the vast majority of the clearance process. Therefore, the approach does not fully achieve SBA?s or the Government?s goal of efficiently streamlining our workflow processes and creating an agency-wide paperless environment. Required Solution: A Control Correspondence Tracking System (CCTS) to track each and every piece of correspondence and other internal documents that come in or go out of SBA through ES and/or other program and field offices. This new system must include the following characteristics: ? A fully electronic clearance process, both within drafting offices (internal) and with other offices in the agency (external). ? Clearances process should have secure method to record and confirm clearances from individuals, such as an actual digital image of a signature or a secure electronic history. Whatever the vehicle is that is used to achieve this, it must be password-protected. ? Clearance process must allow simultaneous collaboration and revisions by different offices/users on documents that require action from multiple offices. ? Must include a user-definable workflow for the clearance process so that drafting offices or ES can modify the clearance sequence on a case-by-case basis. The sequence may vary back and forth between sequential and simultaneous, depending on the document. For instance, a document drafted in a program office might need to be cleared by the appropriate (sub-)office director, then sent to the drafting office?s top official, then to his supervisor, then sent simultaneously out to two other program offices and the General Counsel?s office, then to Congressional Affairs, and finally to ES. ? All files (incoming, edits/clearances, and signed final) should be stored electronically, so there is no need to keep any hard copies for files. ? Easy to use system that will require minimal training (common sense, logical applications) and minimal maintenance. ? Must seamlessly integrate into SBA?s Microsoft (MS) Windows and Office desktop environment. The system should also recognize and use SBA?s user log-in (MS Windows 2000) for all applications. ? Software system that is flexible so that changes/updates can be made easily ? as much as possible, by SBA OCIO staff at HQ (rather than by vendors). ? Must include an Out-of-Office Assistant function, just like in MS Outlook email: any individual who will be out of the office will be responsible for turning message on and leaving clear instructions as to back-ups; message would be sent back to drafter to let him/her know and reassign accordingly (rather than being automatically forwarded to one or more default backups). Conclusion: The desired end result is a system that can handle the digital tracking, archiving, indexing, and retrieval of all correspondence components and actions. This system will also serve as a strategic step towards SBA's goal of complying with the Government Paperwork Elimination Act (GPEA) and towards implementing an agency-wide electronic document management capability. Submittals: You are requested to submit information on any COTS or MOTS solution that fulfills the stated criteria, along with a general cost estimate. The information should be submitted to SBA at the address indicated herein, attention Sharon A. Gurley, Office of Procurement & Grants Management. Any questions regarding this RFI should be submitted in writing (e-mail will suffice). All information is due by no later than 9/22/03 at 4:00pm.
- Record
- SN00430479-W 20030911/030909213644 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps.gov Link to This Notice
(may not be valid after Archive Date)
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