SOURCES SOUGHT
D -- RFI 523142 - Request for Information - Market Survey for Vendor Capabilities to Support "Do Not Pay"
- Notice Date
- 9/25/2010
- Notice Type
- Sources Sought
- Contracting Office
- NBC - Acquisition Services Directorate 381 Elden Street, Suite 4000 Herndon VA 20170
- ZIP Code
- 20170
- Solicitation Number
- D10PC18733
- Response Due
- 10/29/2010
- Archive Date
- 9/25/2011
- Point of Contact
- Shanda Lynn Georg Contracting Officer, Lead 7039644855 shanda.georg@aqd.nbc.gov;
- E-Mail Address
-
Point of Contact above, or if none listed, contact the IDEAS EC HELP DESK for assistance
(EC_helpdesk@NBC.GOV)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- This Request for Information (RFI) is being issued under the Franchise Authority of the Department of the Interior, National Business Center, Acquisition Services Directorate (AQD) for the Financial Management Line of Business (FMLoB) within the DOI National Business Center (NBC). This is a market survey for a written request for information (RFI) only. This market survey is for planning purposes only and should not be construed as a request for proposal or as an obligation on the part of the government. The purpose of this RFI is to identify potential sources that are interested in and capable of performing the work described herein. This is not a solicitation announcement for proposals and no contract will be awarded from this announcement. No reimbursement will be made for any costs associated with providing information in response to this announcement and/or any follow-up information requests. Standard company brochures are not desired. Dependent upon the results of this market survey, AQD may subsequently issue a solicitation to acquire the appropriate services. Any such solicitation will be based on a statement of objective, and will be issued as a firm fixed price effort. Acknowledgement of receipt of responses will not be made. Respondents may be notified of the Government's acquisition method through an amendment to this notice. This notice is being issued on the Federal Business Opportunities page as well as on the GSA Federal Supply Schedule E-Buy Portal to ensure a thorough survey of the market has been performed.North American Industry Classification System Code (NAICS) for this requirement would be 541519, Other Related Computer Services. Classification Code: D - Information Technology Services, Including Telecommunications services NATIONAL BUSINESS CENTER BACKGROUND:Located within the Department of the Interior, for more than 30 years, the National Business Center (NBC) supports the Offices and Bureaus within the Department, as well as federal agencies outside the Department, as a Shared Service Center. The NBC provides a diverse, yet integrated set of administrative solutions, and are currently the only federal agency designated by both Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and Office of Personnel Management (OPM) as a Center of Excellence in the financial management and human resources lines of business. The NBC workforce of dedicated professionals with extensive knowledge of federal business practices, along with the ability to leverage government and commercial best practices, allows the NBC to service a customer base of more than 150 government offices and agencies. As a Shared Service Center it is the responsibility of NBC to help customers comply with mandates that are released from the OMB. The White House released a memorandum on June 18, 2010, requiring every agency to put together a plan and strategy to comply with monitoring the Do Not Pay (DNP) Databases. NBC requires a tool that will automate this process in an effort to comply with the directive.REQUIRMENT BACKGROUND:On June 18, 2010, the President of the United States, Barack Obama, issued a memorandum to the Heads of Executive Departments and Federal Agencies, entitled, 'Enhancing Payment Accuracy Through a "Do Not Pay List" ' [ http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/presidential-memorandum-enhancing-payment-accuracy-through-a-do-not-pay-list ]. This memorandum outlines several steps over the next 180 days for OMB and Federal Agencies to review current pre-payment and pre-award procedures and ensure a thorough review of available databases with relevant information specific to vendors on their eligibility to receive Federal benefit payments or Federal awards. By checking these databases before making payments or awards, Federal Agencies can identify ineligible recipients and prevent certain improper payments. The five databases Federal Agencies must check to verify payment eligibility addressed in the Presidents' memorandum are:1.Social Security Administration's Death Master File; 2.General Services Administration's Excluded Parties List System; 3.Department of the Treasury's Debt Check Database; 4.Department of Housing and Urban Development's Credit Alert System or Credit Alert Interactive Voice Response System; and 5.Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Inspector General's List of Excluded Individuals/Entities. The databases as well as additional databases designated by the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) will be referred to as the "Do Not Pay List". Additionally, the memorandum specifies Federal Agencies to be aware of circumstances when the law requires a payment or award to be made to a recipient listed in the databases. The presidents' memorandum indicated his administration began coordination of the five databases in April 2010 by launching the Federal Awardee Performance and Integrity Information System (FAPIIS), which integrates various sources of information on the eligibility of government contractors for award. Additionally, the President indicates the Director of OMB shall provide to the President, within 120 days (approximately end of October, 2010); "a plan for completing integration for the remaining databases, to the extent permitted by law, so that Federal Agencies can access them through a single entry point." Additionally, by late September 2010, each agency is expected to submit to OMB a plan that includes information on its current pre-payment and pre-award procedures and a list of databases that the agency checks pursuant to those procedures. Further, by the end of 2010, the Director of the OMB will issue guidance to be developed in consultation with the affected Federal Agencies and taking in to account current agency pre-payment and pre-award practices, on actions Federal Agencies must take to carry out the memo's requirements. OMBs' guidance will stipulate, that, " the head of each agency is responsible for ensuring an efficient and accurate process for determining whether the information provided on the 'Do Not Pay List' is sufficient to stop a payment, consistent with applicable laws and regulations, and, if so, whether a payment should be stopped under the circumstances". OMB's guidance "shall identify best practices and databases that Federal Agencies should utilize to conduct pre-payment checks to ensure that only eligible recipients receive government benefits or payments." The "Do Not Pay List" will allow Federal Agencies to utilize technology to access eligibility information in a timely and cost effective manner. REQUEST FOR INFORMATION:We are reviewing the market place for a Commercial, off the shelf, out of the box, continuous controls monitoring product- an analytical tool that finds and flags potential improper payment transactions before the payments are completed and the money paid. The software solution must be able to extract and compare data maintained in an Oracle and Momentum Financial databases against the OMB "Do Not Call List" to ensure the databases are current. Additionally, it should be able to do the same for our Federal Financial System (FFS) and Financial and Business Management System (FBMS). The Federal Financial System (FFS) is programmed in COBOL and is a Legacy financial system used by the Department of the Interior (DOI). Developed for the DOI in the eighties by American Management Systems, FFS is still used by the Office of the Secretary, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Geological Survey, Bureau of Reclamation and National Park Service. It will be phased out over the next few years and will be replaced by FBMS. The Financial and Business Management System is the cornerstone to the Department of the Interior's future. It is the key to the department's financial management modernization strategy and meeting future business needs. The implementation of FBMS will allow the department to realize the benefits of common processes, a common technology platform, integrated real-time data, and improved operational decision-making. FBMS is an SAP application. SAP stands for "Systems, Applications and Products". FBMS is a functionality-driven SAP solution designed to incorporate the majority of DOI's financial management functions into one system. This integrated system will eliminate over 80 DOI and bureau-specific systems and enable the alignment of a business management system with the DOI's strategy of modernization, integration, accountability, and customer value. SPECIFIC PERFORMANCE REQUIREMENTS:The solution will support three primary areas:1)Acquisition and Preparation of Data2)Analysis of Data3)Resolution of Exceptions and Reporting of Results I.ACQUISITION AND PREPARATION OF DATA a)The software solution will provision vendor data from all databases (listed below and any additional databases designated by the Director of the OMB) and systems in an automated and repeatable manner. There shall be no restrictions on required data format in order for the solution to be able to provision the data in the manner prescribed. The solution will provision data records from the following databases with minimal IT and/or business involvement:1)HUD - Department of Housing and Urban Development's Credit Alert System or Credit Alert Interactive Voice Response System2)DHHS - Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Inspector General's List of Excluded Individuals/Entities3)SSA - Social Security Administration's Death Master File4)TREAS - Department of the Treasury's Debt Check Database5)GSA - General Services Administration's Excluded Parties List Systemb)In order to maintain consistency and integrity of the analysis all source data will be required to be written to a single common database. c)The solution will reconcile the various source systems and the single common database using built-in automated validation and completeness checks such as record counts and dollar totals.d)Data volumes in excess of 10 million records per day are to be expected.e)The profile of the data used in the analysis will include: a)Vendor namesb)Vendor locationsc)Vendor addressesd)Vouchers (vendor invoices)e)DUNS II.ANALYSIS OF DATAa)In order to limit cost of customization, the solution will include a standard "best practice" library of analytics from which to choose.b)Preference will be given to solutions that include advanced analytics that replicate human reasoning as much as possible. Examples of advanced analytics include:i.Statisticalii.Behavioraliii.Frequencyiv.Symbolicv.Temporal c)The analytic engine must be able to identify corrections made to source data after an exception has been identified. In the event a correction was made after an exception was identified but prior to it being resolved, the exception must be auto-closed.d)The solution will include a simplified administration interface for creating and maintaining the analytic checks without the need for technical expertise or assistance. III.RESOLUTION OF EXCEPTIONS AND REPORTING OF RESULTSa)The solution will include a workflow-enabled workbench to permit assignment of exceptions for investigation and resolution.b)In order to facilitate efficient resolution of exceptions, the selected solution will include drill down capability from the exception to the transactional data. c)The solution will include an easy and efficient means for creating and refining re-usable ad hoc queries. d)The solution will include the ability to organize personal profiles (i.e. ad hoc queries) and publish global (system wide) profiles.e)The solution must include the ability to facilitate via e-mail inbound and outbound communication for exception handling through the use of predefined e-mail templates.f)The solution will include the ability to define workflow escalation rules (including time-based escalation rules) that automate exception assignment based on status, type, and owner.g)The solution will include a permanent, read-only log that is automatically updated with records for all remediation and related activities, and other notes in an audit-suitable journal. h)The solution will include pre-configured and customizable reports and dashboards, including the ability to have "click-through" reporting. i.e. click on a dashboard and see the exception set and exception detail which are displayed on the dashboard. IV.OTHER REQUIREMENTSa)The selected vendor will build and/or customize any extraction routines to provision the required source data. The extracted data will be written to a staging database.a)The staged data will be mapped to the required analytics based on NBC-specific configurations. b)All staged data will be moved into a single common data model.c)The selected analytics will be executed against the single common data model.d)The selected vendor will provide procedures and scenarios used for integration testing to the NBC project team for review, modification, and approval.e)The selected vendor will perform unit and integration testing of the system. This includes testing of the extraction routines, mapping routines, and all analytics. f)The selected vendor will support the governments' testing efforts by assisting with the resolution of testing defects and issues SUBMISSION INFORMATION:All potential sources with the capability to provide the above referenced requirements are invited to submit, in writing, sufficient information within the page limitation. This information must demonstrate the agent's ability to fulfill the requirements. All responses must identify capabilities/expertise in all the above requirements. Additionally, a rough order of magnitude estimate shall be provided, with an estimated performance period to complete this task. The government may conduct informal, interactive exchanges with potential offerors who provide capability statements in accordance with this market survey request. The government reserves the right to invite one or more market survey participants to discuss their capability of performing similar commercial activities, experiences, and current business best practices. The informal meetings are for information gathering only. The information obtained from this market survey and informal exchange may be used to form the basis of a future solicitation. Responses Due: All responses will be electronic format, and emailed to the contracting office. All responses must be received not later than October 29, 2010, 2PM Eastern Standard Time to Shannon_M_Gulley@nbc.gov AND Shanda.Georg@aqd.nbc.gov. Responses will be marked as follows: Cover sheet: Market Survey for Vendor Capabilities to Support "Do Not Pay", RFI # 523142 and include with the capability statement response the following Information : 1)Vendor Company Name, 2)Address, 3)Name Of The Point Of Contact, 4)Email Address, 5)Phone Number And 6)Vendor DUNS Number. Response Format: 1)Typed font must be no smaller than 11 point2)Cover Sheet3) No more than ten (10) pages of written agent's ability to fulfill the requirements as stated above4)Separate page at the end of the response -will ONLY contain the following (not included in 10 page count limit):a. Rough Order of Magnitude Estimate: $x,xxx.xxb.Rough Order Estimated Period of Performance: XX work days5)Appendix 1 - No more than 3 pages - Questions / Feedback concerning the requirement (the government will not provide a response to the questions, however the questions and feedback will assist the government in drafting the final work product should a solicitation be issued in the future for this requirement).
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