SOURCES SOUGHT
D -- Electronic Filing of Form 5500 Series (EFAST2)
- Notice Date
- 10/11/2005
- Notice Type
- Sources Sought
- NAICS
- 541512
— Computer Systems Design Services
- Contracting Office
- Department of Labor, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Administration and Management, Procurement Services Center, N5416 200 Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC, 20210-0001
- ZIP Code
- 20210-0001
- Solicitation Number
- Reference-Number-99-0693-402a
- Response Due
- 11/30/2005
- Archive Date
- 12/15/2005
- Description
- Contracting Office Address Department of Labor, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Administration and Management, Procurement Services Center, N5416 200 Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC, 20210-0001 Description The U.S. Department of Labor?s, Employee Benefits and Security Administration (EBSA) seeks comment on a DRAFT Statement of Work for a wholly outsourced, turnkey Information Technology (IT) system to be designed, developed, and operated by a private sector vendor under contract to the DOL. The purpose of the IT system, known as EFAST2, is to receive, process, store, publicly disclose, distribute, and archive approximately 1.1 million electronically filed Form 5500 Series filings submitted annually by the public over the Internet. Form 5500 Series filings (including Form 5500 and all schedules and attachments to these forms) are annual information returns that contain information on employee benefits plans, including both pension and welfare plans, and are required to be filed annually by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). Form 5500 Series filings may contain Sensitive but Unclassified (SBU) data and are therefore subject to commensurate security and handling protections. EFAST2 will allow filers to electronically file Form 5500 Series filings via a secure web portal. The Form 5500 Series electronic filings to be processed include structured data associated with forms and schedules, and unstructured data associated with attachments contained in PDF and text files. The Department requires this capability to support its vision to mandate electronic filing of Form 5500 returns/reports, per the proposed regulation published in the Federal Register August 30, 2005 This RFP is being issued as a DRAFT for comment purposes only. At this time the Department estimates that the period of performance for this effort will run from contract award through June 30, 2007 for Based Period (Prototype Development), July 1, 2007 through June 30,2008 for Option Period I (Production Scale-up), and July 1, 2008 through June 30 2018 for Option Periods II-XI (Operations). EBSA seeks comments on the DRAFT RFP from firms that are capable of performing the work described in the DRAFT RFP, which can be summarized as follows: 1) Designing, developing, hosting, and maintaining a secure, scaleable web portal that allows users to electronically file Form Series 5500 filings; 2) Providing a system based on Extensible Markup Language (XML) allowing filers to submit filings directly through the website or via approved third party software; 3) Checking all filings for accuracy and completeness using XML schema validation and edit tests, and quickly returning acceptance/rejection messages to the filer via email; 4) Allowing stakeholders such as plan administrators, plan transmitters, and software developers to electronically register and attain electronic filing credentials. The system would verify these credentials upon receipt of each filing; 5) Providing a public disclosure website that allows the public, Government, and vendor contact center staff to access, view, and download filing facsimiles over the Internet; 6) Providing a contact center and related customer support features to filers, software developers, and other stakeholders interfacing with the system; 7) Providing support to third party software developers that develop electronic filing software with which filers may complete, validate, and submit filings electronically. This support would include electronic filing technical specifications, technical support, testing, certification, and other ongoing support; 8) Managing all IT and related telecommunications equipment associated with the web portal; 9) Establishing and maintaining all required security on the portal based on varying degrees of access control and authorization, as well as physical, personnel, administrative, and computer security for the filing data, processing facility, and staff, including supporting Government conduct of a Minimum Background Investigation (MBI) for each assigned staff member; 10) Establishing an end-to-end tracking function that records the processing history and current status of all filing submissions received; and 11) Meeting or exceeding the contractually specified timeliness and accuracy performance standards specified in the solicitation. Please refer to the DRAFT RFP for additional information on the contractual terms and conditions, performance standards, functional, security, and other related requirements. Comments on this DRAFT RFP will be accepted via E-mail to mailto:EFAST2@dol.gov, but to be considered, comments must be received by November 30, 2005 2:00 p.m. eastern standard time. This E-mail address is for receipt of comments only and shall not be used for any other correspondence. Comments should clearly identify the name of the firm, contact information, and the specific section(s) of the DRAFT RFP referenced by the comment(s). All firms/organizations that submit comments will be included in the distribution of any subsequent solicitation. The Department is concurrently conducting market research in an effort to identify small businesses that are capable of performing the work described in the DRAFT RFP. Accordingly, small businesses capable of performing the work described in the DRAFT RFP are encouraged to submit a brief corporate capability statement, including the identification and type of small business that you are (i.e., Women-Owned, Small Disadvantaged, Veteran-Owned, etc.). The NAICS Code identified for this requirement is 541512 with a size standard of $21,000,000. This sources sought notice (i.e., RFI) is being issued for planning purposes only and does not commit the Government to pay for the information requested, issue a solicitation, or award a contract. NO SOLICITATION DOCUMENT EXISTS AT THIS TIME. NO PROPOSALS SHALL BE ENTERTAINED BASED ON THIS SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE. Furthermore, the attached technical sections do not constitute a complete RFP or imply that a complete RFP will be submitted at a later date. No legal liability on the part of the Government exists for payment of any money for the performance of work requested by this sources sought notice. The Government will take into consideration all comments issued by the above deadline. Based on the comments and capability statements that the Government receives for this sources sought notice, the Government may issue a final RFP at later date.
- Place of Performance
- Address: Unknown at this time.
- Country: USA
- Country: USA
- Record
- SN00913899-W 20051013/051011211722 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps.gov Link to This Notice
(may not be valid after Archive Date)
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