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FBO DAILY ISSUE OF JULY 20, 2012 FBO #3891
DOCUMENT

D -- National Mobile Device and Services - Attachment

Notice Date

7/18/2012
 

Notice Type

Attachment
 

NAICS

517210 — Wireless Telecommunications Carriers (except Satellite)
 

Contracting Office

Department of Veterans Affairs;Office of Acquisition Operations;Technology Acquisition Center - Austin;1701 Directors Blvd, Suite 600;Austin TX 78744
 

ZIP Code

78744
 

Solicitation Number

VA118A12I0204
 

Response Due

8/1/2012
 

Archive Date

8/31/2012
 

Point of Contact

Daniel Winterroth
 

E-Mail Address

1-4418<br
 

Small Business Set-Aside

N/A
 

Description

VA National Mobile Device and Services Contract Request for Information Questions/Industry Input Needed This is a Request for Information (RFI)/Sources Sought notice issued in accordance with FAR 15.201(e) to conduct market research. This RFI is issued solely for information and planning purposes - it does not constitute a Request for Proposal (RFP) or a promise to issue a RFP in the future. This request for information does not commit the Government to contract for any supply or service whatsoever. The VA is not, at this time, seeking proposals and will not accept unsolicited proposals. Responders are advised that the U.S. Government will not pay for any information or administrative costs incurred in response to this RFI; all costs associated with responding to this RFI will be solely at the interested vendor's expense. Not responding to this RFI does not preclude participation in any future RFP, if any is issued. Any information submitted by respondents to this RFI is strictly voluntary. All submissions become Government property and will not be returned. In early FY-13 VA intends to consolidate all mobile devices (cellular phones, smarts phones, tablets etc) and associated services (voice and data) contracts into national level contract(s). It is anticipated that this effort will provide significant savings in mobile telecommunication services and devices and improved management of such. Requirements also include the need for a Telecom Expense and Accounting Management capability, whose intent is to streamline mobile device/services management and acquisition, reduce waste, and optimize costs. In support of this effort VA is conducting market research to further refine requirements and establish the best acquisition approach. Please note that requirements defined to date will likely change before a final request for proposals is released. 1.Please provide comments on the draft PWS in the following table format: PWS paragraph referenceFully(F)/Partially (P) or Not (N) metchange fromchange tocomment/rationale 2.Please discuss advantages/disadvantages (including cost benefits) of VA awarding this effort to a Value Added Reseller (VAR) as the prime contractor with the Primary Service Providers (PSPs) as subcontractor(s), rather than directly to the PSPs. 3.Please discuss advantages/disadvantages (including cost benefits) to a single PSP or multiple PSPs as the prime contractor(s). 4.Please discuss your approach to providing an automated or managed Telecommunications Expense Management (TEM) solution across a full spectrum wireless telecommunications portfolio to be managed by the VA. Note that VA is considering using a 3rd party contractor to provide the TEM, but the PWS currently includes language explaining VA's known needs for TEM. If VA decides to use VARs, they may be required to provide the TEM. Can your solution be expanded to wired services as well, since the ultimate VA goal is a unified TEM solution for both wireless and wired services? Please explain how your approach applies to the different acquisition strategies in questions #2 and #3. a.Would your TEM solution manage multiple carrier contracts? b.Do you have contracts that include TEM solutions established with other Federal entities? If so, how are services ordered and managed between your company and the Federal entity? c.How are individual changes, adds, and deletes managed within the TEM? d.How can customers manage and collect their data generated by your TEM? 5.Please discuss your approach for providing the geographical coverage requirements of this PWS. Please specifically address your strategy, including schedule, to cover those areas where you do not currently provide service. Maps may be used to detail projected expansion areas, and which indicate signal strength, or other useful indicators for areas of current and planned coverage. 6.Identify local carriers and local sharing agreements applicable to areas with inadequate coverage. 7.Please describe the availability of custom service plans, and include degree of variation allowed from the standard terms, such as those provided to major commercial and Government customers. Please comment whether a given plan term in the PWS is standard, custom, or not provided. 8.If VA decides to employ service plans with terms not currently provided, please provide your alternatives. 9.Identify the service quality performance indicators most frequently used, and identify the performance standards typically used for each. 10.VA policy, in some cases, requires destruction of devices with internal storage media. When a device (smart phone/tablet) under warranty with internal storage is replaceable under your warranty terms, but those terms require return of the unit, in some cases VA may not be able to do so. How would the provider address replacements for those devices that need to be destroyed? 11.Please describe how you would assist the VA in achieving mobile device management for mobile computing devices acquired under the PWS and/or integrating your service offerings with a separately selected Mobile Device Management (MDM) model. 12.Please discuss any offerings for implementing in-building enhancements to address cellular signal strength issues. 13.VA wishes to consider a different approach to pooling of voice minutes and data plans, and is considering a national or regional-based pool(s) for sharing by all users, which could improve savings to the agency. VA wishes to also have a mechanism where we can adjust these plans according to usage. Please discuss your ability to establish and maintain this approach. 14.VA desires a Wireless Priority Service at a reduced monthly charge or at no charge, based on a maximum number of devices. Please discuss your ability to provide this. 15.VA desires a generous shared pool of data and a way to control usage of data among the devices at various levels (e.g. device, user groups, etc). Please describe your ability and how this could be provided. Submit responses and related information via email to: Daniel.Winterroth@va.gov by 3:00 P.M. Central Standard time, August 1, 2012. We prefer that you submit your information in three volumes. The first volume to contain your responses to the draft PWS, the second volume to respond to these questions, and the third to provide other information you wish to add. All proprietary/company confidential material shall be clearly marked on every page that contains such. Responses should also include a short summary of your company's capabilities to provide nationwide mobile device service (voice and data) as well as devices per the requirements. Include the name, phone number, and email address of the lead from your organization. VA reserves the right to not respond to any or all emails or materials submitted.
 

Web Link

FBO.gov Permalink
(https://www.fbo.gov/notices/47d661e980ff894c403dfd4afd5a14e5)
 

Document(s)

Attachment
 

File Name: VA118A-12-I-0204 VA118A-12-I-0204.docx (https://www.vendorportal.ecms.va.gov/FBODocumentServer/DocumentServer.aspx?DocumentId=405165&FileName=VA118A-12-I-0204-000.docx)

Link: https://www.vendorportal.ecms.va.gov/FBODocumentServer/DocumentServer.aspx?DocumentId=405165&FileName=VA118A-12-I-0204-000.docx

 

File Name: VA118A-12-I-0204 NATIONAL MOBILE DEVICE AND SERVICES PWS 18JUL12.DOCX (https://www.vendorportal.ecms.va.gov/FBODocumentServer/DocumentServer.aspx?DocumentId=405166&FileName=VA118A-12-I-0204-001.DOCX)

Link: https://www.vendorportal.ecms.va.gov/FBODocumentServer/DocumentServer.aspx?DocumentId=405166&FileName=VA118A-12-I-0204-001.DOCX

 

Note: If links are broken, refer to Point of Contact above or contact the FBO Help Desk at 877-472-3779.
 

Record

SN02806781-W 20120720/120718235001-47d661e980ff894c403dfd4afd5a14e5 (fbodaily.com)
 

Source

FedBizOpps Link to This Notice
(may not be valid after Archive Date)

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