MODIFICATION
D -- Army Contract Writing System (ACWS)
- Notice Date
- 6/28/2013
- Notice Type
- Modification/Amendment
- NAICS
- 541519
— Other Computer Related Services
- Contracting Office
- ACC - Rock Island (ACC-RI), ATTN: AMSAS-AC, Rock Island, IL 61299-6500
- ZIP Code
- 61299-6500
- Solicitation Number
- W52P1J13ACWS
- Response Due
- 7/19/2013
- Archive Date
- 8/27/2013
- Point of Contact
- Carrie Holub, 309-782-7611
- E-Mail Address
-
ACC - Rock Island (ACC-RI)
(carrie.l.holub.civ@mail.mil)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- This is a Request for Information (RFI) to obtain information on existing capabilities/functionalities to design, configure, deploy and provide sustainment for an enterprise-wide contract writing and management system. The Army anticipates the use of a Commercial of the Shelf (COTS) software platform that can comply with the Federal Financial Management Act of 1996 (FFMIA), the Federal Information System Controls Audit Manual (FISCAM), the DoD IT Standards Registry (DISR), the DoD Information Enterprise Architecture (DoD IEA) and the Standard Financial Information Structure (SFIS). Additionally, the software platform must be able to interface and integrate with applicable Army, DoD and federal contracting financial and logistics systems. This announcement is in support of market research performed by the United States Army Contracting Command, Rock Island Contracting Center to determine industry interest in and capability regarding the fielding of a COTS based contract writing system. The information gathered through this RFI process will aid in influencing future product investments and facilitate decision making. This announcement is for information and planning purposes only and should not be construed as a commitment by the Army for any purpose. This announcement does not constitute a Request 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 any follow-up information requests. No basis for claim against the Army shall arise as a result from a response to this announcement or Army use of any information provided. This announcement does not restrict the Army to an ultimate acquisition strategy. The Army reserves the right to consider acquisition strategies as deemed appropriate. Further Research: Depending on the information received from this announcement, the Army may expand market research for further areas for discussion, to include: Questions/Concerns above, Joint Venture contracts in the Army; Legal considerations/ Q & A; SBA considerations/Q & A; and Army approach/strategy/timelines. Background The Army currently operates, maintains and supports two separate contract writing systems as well as several business process management applications. These systems and applications are known as the Procurement Automated Data and Document System (PADDS), the Standard Procurement System - Procurement Desktop Defense (SPS/PD ) and the Virtual Contracting Enterprise (VCE). VCE is a suite of e-tools fielded throughout the Army Contracting Command which includes a DOD 5015.2 certified Records management Paperless Contracting File (PCF), a Procurement Data warehouse with Business Intelligence Tools for reports, metrics and contract Oversight, Contracting Officer Representative (COR) Applications and an Acquisition Source Selection Interactive Support Tool (ASSIST). The Army, under Product Manager Army Contract Writing System (PdM ACWS), is interested in deploying a single, enterprise-wide COTS based contract writing and management system solution to be distributed with a centralized implementation approach across 280 locations. The contract writing and management system must support the full breadth of Army contracting processes and the proposed solution must support all Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR)/Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) based acquisition rules, to include all referenced Public Law. INSTRUCTIONS TO INTERESTED PARTIES: Request that all interested Offerors answer the following questions listed below (see page restrictions with each) and provide a two-page capability statement that details similar and relevant work experience in the areas of expertise stated above. Please include in your capability statement, your firm's business size and identify any potential joint venture partners. Please answer the Questions/Concerns following: 1. Contract type: The Army is interested in industry views on the use of Firm Fixed Price and Cost Reimbursable contracting in implementing a COTS based solution. Please provide input on best commercial practices which can be utilized to develop the contract type and possible incentives to a capable vendor. Please provide input on areas where Cost Type and Firm Fixed Price line items are considered appropriate in the various phases of the DoD Business Case Lifecycle (BCL). Please explain proposed phases in the context of the BCL. [No more than 1 page] Pricing Structure (i.e., notional Contract Line Item Number (CLIN) structure). The Army understands the need to establish CLINs for differing contract types and phases. However, the Army seeks industry input for identifying a logical breakout of cost elements (e.g. program management office, training, etc.) and for understanding the Contractor's view on where work and CLINs/Sub Line Item Numbers (SLINs) become too granular and unmanageable. [No more than 1 page] 2. The Army anticipates soliciting this requirement as a full and open competition with no predetermined technology platform. Selection of the technology platform and associated architecture will be identified as a part of the proposed solution. With that in mind, the Army seeks to identify industry best practices in the evaluation of software architecture, such as utilizing the Carnegie Mellon University Software Engineering Institute (CMU SEI) methodology for incorporating a software architecture evaluation in a DoD System acquisition (reference http://www.sei.cmu.edu/reports/09tn004.pdf). [No more than 1 page] 3. The Army anticipates the use of a Statement of Objectives in order for Offerors to develop a Performance Work Statement (PWS) which details their approach to fulfilling the requirement. In order for the Army to gather critical decision making information, what information would the Offeror require from the Army that will aid in developing the best possible PWS? What dependencies are found to be common during performance by the contractor on similar requirements that will aid the Army in planning for how data points are identified, determining the typical numbers of reports, and estimating the size of hardware configurations? [No more than 3 pages] 4. On the subject of the Contractor's program management facility and its location, the Army desires input on commercial practices currently being utilized by industry to plan for and control travel and travel costs. What best practices are used to minimize the impact and risk concerning communications and meetings with respect to the Contractor's program management location? For example, please explain the benefits and risks to the Army of allowing Contractors to locate their workforce near or away from the Army's program management office. [No more than 1 page] 5. The Army intends to have the Contractor use its expertise to establish initial and ongoing hardware configurations for the development environment. The Army will retain architectural approval, but anticipates having the Contractor acquire and install the systems at an Army hosted facility. [Note: The Army will require title for hardware and software platforms to pass to the Army.] As such, the Army seeks to obtain input from industry as to what information (e.g. number of users, concurrent users, transactions and active storage required) will be needed in order to estimate the amount of floor space required, the amount of power required and storage capacity needed to estimate the sizing of a development environment. Simply: in order to help the Army in its planning, what dependencies are there, what things do you need to know, and when would you need to know them? [No more than 2 pages] 6. Identify any previously supported efforts to design, develop, deploy and sustain a contract writing capability of similar scale and scope for the public or private sectors. Identify the technology platform that was used in this implementation. Identify the levels of configuration, customization and/or modification that were required. Based on those implementations, what standard interfaces were considered as being available quote mark off-the-shelf? quote mark [No more than 1 page] As a follow on to the question above: What interfaces are currently in place with other Federal, DoD, and/or Army systems today (e.g. GFEBS, Electronic Document Access (EDA), Modernization of Contract Administration Services (MOCAS), Wide Area Work Flow (WAWF)) for any previously supported contract writing systems? [No more than 1 page] 7. What skill sets and labor categories would you anticipate for the project? Please provide a list or resources by position - not a resource schedule. [No more than 1 page] 8. The Army will provide cleansed data. On the subject of data conversion, what issues should the Army be aware of and prepare for when the Contractor is planning and executing data conversion? Also, as a best commercial practice, is it common for the system integrator to perform data conversion or to have a 3rd party (hired by Army or the contractor) perform data conversion? If the Contractor has performed data conversion activities in the past, please explain where and the percentage to which automation has been and can be applied. [No more than 1 page] 9. The Government seeks to identify all businesses, including small businesses that can perform on the proposed effort as a prime or sub-contractor. Joint Ventures (JV), as defined in FAR 19.101(7) (i), are an acceptable approach. All firms, large and small, are to provide: (1) Company Name; (2) CAGE code; (3) Point of Contact (POC) phone and e-mail; (4) Interest in performing as the Prime, Sub-Contractor, within a Joint Venture or all three possible constructs; and (5) A list of any potential primes, sub-contractors and partners that may be a part of your approach. [No more than 3 pages] 10. Please identify the following computing resource requirements in order to achieve efficient, reliable, scalable and secure environments [No more than 4 pages]: a. System Technology - provide technology details of the system. Include system architecture diagrams. What formats are supported for import and export data? b. IT Infrastructure - software (operating system, database, data warehouse, reporting tool, development tools, testing tools), software licenses and hardware equipment (make, model, quantity, number of type of CPUs, disk spaces) used by the system. What are the current storage requirements? What are the hardware/software lifecycle replacement timelines? c. Scalability - maximum number of users (average load and peak load), concurrent users, transactions volume per hour (average load and peak load) and active storage required by the system. What are the limiting factors for the peak load (i.e., bandwidth, CPU, memory, storage, application)? How would the system performance be measured? If so, what metrics are used and how are the measurements gathered? What is the strategy for increasing the capacity of the system for handling more users? d. Security Architecture - Identify the system's current security accreditation status and associated expiration dates. The accreditations can be Authority to Operate (ATO), Interim Authority to Operate (ITAO), or Interim Authority to Test (IATT). Does the system have an Army Certificate of Net-worthiness (CoN)? 11. The Army intends to establish an initial development environment in an Army/DoD data center in order to reduce ramp-up time for the Contractor to use after the contract award date. The Contractor can then implement and maintain ongoing software configurations for all the designing, developing and testing environments. The Army will retain architectural approval, but anticipates having the Contractor acquire and install the systems at an Army hosted facility. [Note: The Army will require title for hardware and software platforms to pass to the Army.] What hardware and/or software can the Government procure to facilitate a faster development, testing and production environment ramp up? [No more than 4 pages] SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS: Participation in response to this RFI will not preclude any vendor from responding to future acquisitions, either individually or as part of a team. Marketing brochures will not be considered adequate information in response to this RFI. Limit responses to a total page limit of twenty-six (26) pages which includes the capability statement and questions/concerns answers. The font shall be Times New Roman and no smaller than 10pt with at least a one-inch margin. This format shall also apply to graphics and tables. Please submit your responses electronically by 1400 CDT 19 July 2013 to carrie.l.holub.civ@mail.mil in a Microsoft Word compatible file.
- Web Link
-
FBO.gov Permalink
(https://www.fbo.gov/notices/153076e6f42f3a23bc2cbcb0a52f70a6)
- Place of Performance
- Address: ACC - Rock Island (ACC-RI) ATTN: AMSAS-AC, Rock Island IL
- Zip Code: 61299-6500
- Zip Code: 61299-6500
- Record
- SN03103099-W 20130630/130628235059-153076e6f42f3a23bc2cbcb0a52f70a6 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
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