SOURCES SOUGHT
70 -- SSA-RFI-11 PPM TOOL
- Notice Date
- 2/14/2011
- Notice Type
- Sources Sought
- NAICS
- 511210
— Software Publishers
- Contracting Office
- Social Security Administration, Office of Budget, Finance, and Management, Office of Acquisition and Grants, 1st Floor, Rear Entrance, 7111 Security Blvd., Baltimore, Maryland, 21244
- ZIP Code
- 21244
- Solicitation Number
- SSA-RFI-11-PPMTOOL
- Archive Date
- 3/19/2011
- Point of Contact
- VALERIE N. KING, Phone: 4109656496
- E-Mail Address
-
VALERIE.N.KING@SSA.GOV
(VALERIE.N.KING@SSA.GOV)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- This request for information (RFI) announcement is for information and planning purposes only; vendors should not construe it as a commitment by the government. SUMMARY The Office of Enterprise Support, Architecture and Engineering at the Social Security Administration (SSA), is seeking sources capable of providing a Project and Portfolio Management (PPM) tool to assist in the processes for analyzing and collectively managing current and/or proposed projects based on numerous key characteristics. This software tool will be used by project managers, portfolios executives, planning staffs and other SSA employees, who manage projects and portfolio information. PPM is a term used to describe the different approaches towards treating the various processes in project management as a part of a project investment portfolio. The primary objective is to determine the best combination and order of proposed projects to best achieve SSA's overall goals, while still considering imposed constraints (i.e., budget, available resources, etc.). PPM clusters projects so they can be monitored within a portfolio using a defined structure, and what occurs inside the structure is actively managed by the users. The obvious benefit of PPM is that it provides executives with an overall view of projects so they can make sound decisions, stop redundancies, align resources appropriately, eliminate duplicative data calls, keep close tabs on portfolio progress and manage demands. PPM begins with the development of a comprehensive inventory of all its projects with enough descriptive information about each to allow them to be analyzed and compared. Such descriptive data can include project name, estimated duration, estimated cost, business objective, how the project supports SSA's overall strategies, etc. Establishing the inventory in a database is optimal, allowing for analysis and comparisons. Once the project inventory is established, the PPM process requires project sponsors, project managers and portfolio executives to examine each project and prioritize it according to established criteria. The overall list of projects is then considered to develop a well-balanced list of approved projects. The project portfolio is evaluated by the portfolio management team on an agreed upon basis (monthly, quarterly, etc.) to determine which projects are meeting their goals, which may need more support and which may need to be down-sized or dropped entirely. Without the right processes and systems in place, it is tough to assess the value, cost, risk and performance of IT services. SSA is looking to govern IT investments and maximize the business value delivered to take a comprehensive view of the entire scope of IT processes, as well as all IT investments and resources. PPM FUNCTIONAL REQUIREMENTS In order to determine if a PPM Tool meets SSA's needs, SSA is seeking guidance from contractors on whether they can meet (or exceed) each requirement. A separate response needs to be provided for each requirement. A simple restatement of the requirement in terms of a tool feature or a response that simply states that the tool meets or exceeds is not sufficient. Note: For clarification, requirements prefaced as SHALL are mandatory while those listed as SHOULD are desirable. 1.0 Demand Management Requirements 1.1 The PPM Tool shall provide the capability to capture, classify, prioritize, evaluate, approve and/or dispose of any type of demand (i.e., project, work, investment proposal, etc.). 1.2 The PPM Tool shall provide the capability for users to input demands through the use of drop-down menus, with associated help on a configurable form. 1.3 The PPM Tool shall provide the capability to convert demands into actual work. 1.4 The PPM Tool shall provide standard reporting capability for demand management. 2.0 Portfolio Management Requirements 2.1 The PPM Tool shall provide the capability to create multiple portfolios and define portfolio types. 2.2 The PPM Tool shall provide comprehensive, defined analytic methodology and associated workflow. 2.3 The PPM Tool shall provide the capability to create and apply configurable weighting to portfolios. 2.4 The PPM Tool shall provide the capability to allow users to create analytic views of the portfolio. 2.5 The PPM Tool shall provide predefined graphics as well as allowing users to develop custom graphical views via dashboards, portfolio scorecards or Online Analytical Processing (OLAP) functionality. 2.6 The PPM Tool shall provide the capability to do what-if scenarios without affecting change to the underlying data. 2.7 The PPM Tool shall provide the capability to perform portfolio comparisons on any given portfolio characteristic(s). 3.0 Project Management Requirements 3.1 The PPM Tool shall provide full project management functionality, including the ability to create project plans, schedule and manage tasks against the plan and track progress. 3.2 The PPM Tool shall provide integration with Microsoft Project with full bidirectional connection and update capabilities. 3.3 The PPM Tool shall support the creation of multiple baselines. 3.4 The PPM Tool shall support unlimited number of projects and tasks. 3.5 The PPM Tool shall support the scheduling and allocation of non-project task activity. 3.6 The PPM Tool shall support sort capabilities based on pre-defined project characteristics. 3.7 The PPM Tool shall generate email alerts based on data values and predetermined project criteria. 3.8 The PPM Tool shall support issue management functionality. 3.9 The PPM Tool shall support change management functionality. 3.10 The PPM Tool shall support risk management functionality. 3.11 The PPM Tool shall support multiple methods of scheduling. 3.12 The PPM Tool shall support automated project estimation. 3.13 The PPM Tool shall support project status reporting. 4.0 Resource Management Requirements 4.1 The PPM Tool should support integrated project as well as individual resource and role-based calendars. 4.2 The PPM Tool should support multiple levels of resource searching (i.e., employees and contractors). 4.3 The PPM Tool should provide the capability to reserve and allocate resources to a particular project/portfolio and send notification of the allocation. 4.4 The PPM Tool shall provide capability to calculate resource burn rates based on approved estimates and resource actual data. 4.5 The PPM Tool should support the functionality for a skills inventory which can either be created or imported from external sources. 5.0 Reporting Requirements 5.1 The PPM Tool shall provide standard reporting capability detailing portfolio health and project health. 5.2 The PPM Tool shall support the creation and generation of custom reports as well as integration with Hyperion. 5.3 The PPM Tool shall support standard import / export to MS Office products and Hyperion. 5.4 The PPM tool shall provide the capability to create custom dashboards, portlets and to print all views. 6.0 Methodology Requirements 6.1 The PPM Tool shall provide a standard project management methodology. 6.2 The PPM Tool shall support the capability to customize the project management methodology tailoring it to SSA's business processes. 6.3 The PPM Tool shall provide a standard portfolio management methodology. 6.4 The PPM Tool shall support the capability to customize the portfolio management methodology tailoring it to SSA's needs. 7.0 Workflow Requirements 7.1 The PPM Tool shall provide a standard workflow for portfolio, project, and non project work. 7.2 The PPM Tool shall provide the ability to configure workflow capability to meet SSA's best practices and business processes. 7.3 The PPM Tool shall provide standard roles and can be configured to accept additional roles and additional access can be tailored at the named resource level. 7.4 The PPM Tool shall support phased processes with the appropriate approval levels. 8.0 Document Management Requirements 8.1 The PPM Tool shall have a full text search capability within documents. 8.2 The PPM Tool shall have search capabilities based on project number, date range, office (component) and document type. 8.3 The PPM Tool shall associate documents to projects. 8.4 The PPM Tool shall display document status and date last updated. 8.5 The PPM Tool shall provide change management capabilities (checkin/checkout) for documents. 8.6 The PPM Tool shall provide the ability to monitor document progress (reviews/approvals) during proposal and project management processes. 9.0 Application Technology Requirements 9.1 The PPM Tool shall provide support for an Oracle database. 9.2 The PPM Tool shall provide support for IBM WebSphere or Microsoft Internet Information application server. 9.3 The PPM Tool shall provide support for Microsoft Windows Vista or Sun Solaris Unix operating systems. 9.4 The PPM Tool shall provide the capability to be hosted and accessed remotely via the internet (i.e. a CLOUD environment). 9.5 The PPM Tool shall provide support for thin-client, web browser based user interface. 9.6 The PPM Tool shall provide Single Sign-On capabilities through integration with SiteMinder or an equivalent web security management tool. 9.7 PPM Tool shall meet the accessibility requirements under Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended, 29 U.S.C. 794 and 794d. 9.8 The PPM Tool shall provide the capability for SSA configuration and customization to be carried forward with software upgrades and/or new releases. 9.9 The PPM Tool shall provide the capability for audit trail for risk management, status reports, schedule changes, and document management. 9.10 The PPM Tool shall be scalable up to 15,000 users. Requested Response Sources must sufficiently demonstrate the capability to meet these requirements and must provide detailed experience and qualifications in all previous work pertinent to this effort. Vendors that believe they can offer a compliant product are invited to submit information concerning the product's capabilities. Detailed responses to each of the above requirements (with substantiating documentation) are required. Simple marketing information or incomplete responses will not be considered. Reference to vendor websites is not considered a valid response. Vendors responding should indicate whether their products are available on the GSA schedule. Pricing data is not required. NO FORMAL SOLICITATION IS BEING ISSUED AT THIS TIME. This is not a request for proposals, and the government does not intend to pay for information submitted. The Government reserves the right to contact, or not contact, any party responding to this notice in order to obtain further information for market research purposes. Respondents will not be notified of the results of the evaluation of the information received. No contract award will be made on the basis of responses received. Electronic responses to this notice should be submitted within 15 business days of this publication. Requests for copies of a solicitation will not be honored or acknowledged. All responses to this Request for Information (RFI) or any questions you may have must be submitted in writing via email to Valerie.N.King@ssa.gov, no later than March 4, 2011 at 5:00 pm EST. NO PHONE CALLS OR FAXES WILL BE ACCEPTED.
- Web Link
-
FBO.gov Permalink
(https://www.fbo.gov/spg/SSA/DCFIAM/OAG/SSA-RFI-11-PPMTOOL/listing.html)
- Place of Performance
- Address: Social Security Administration(SSA); Office of Budget, Finance, and Management; Office of Acquisition and Grants(OAG); 7111 Security Blvd, 1rst Floor, Rear Entrance., Baltimore, Maryland, 212144, United States
- Zip Code: 12144
- Zip Code: 12144
- Record
- SN02379794-W 20110216/110214234650-09ff910951c52d5731d13d34c3ac9e27 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps Link to This Notice
(may not be valid after Archive Date)
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