Loren Data's SAM Daily™

FBO DAILY - FEDBIZOPPS ISSUE OF APRIL 11, 2014 FBO #4521
DOCUMENT

R -- TAC-15-14622 Quality Assurance for CARS/CAROLS Automated Collection Systems - Attachment

Notice Date

4/9/2014
 

Notice Type

Attachment
 

NAICS

541519 — Other Computer Related Services
 

Contracting Office

Department of Veterans Affairs;Technology Acquisition Center;23 Christopher Way;Eatontown NJ 07724
 

ZIP Code

07724
 

Solicitation Number

VA11814I0216
 

Response Due

4/17/2014
 

Archive Date

6/16/2014
 

Point of Contact

Lindsay Simon
 

E-Mail Address

0-9698<br
 

Small Business Set-Aside

N/A
 

Description

SYSTEM ANALYSIS AND QUALITY ASSURANCE SUPPORT Introduction This RFI is issued solely for information and planning purposes only and shall not be considered an Invitation for Bids, Request for Quotations, or a Request for Proposal, nor does it restrict the Government as to the ultimate acquisition approach. In accordance with FAR 15.201(e), responses to this notice are not offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract. Any contract that might be awarded based on information received or derived from this market research will be the outcome of a separate process. The purpose of this RFI is to identify qualified contractors who are able to meet the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) requirements, determine if commercial items are available or, could be modified to meet VA's requirements, determine the appropriate contract type i.e., firm fixed-price or cost-reimbursement or time and material, understand commercial pricing practices and other market information readily available. Background/Scope VA Technology Acquisition Center (TAC) is seeking sources to provide system analysis in furtherance of quality assurance for the Department's legacy collection systems. The anticipated period of performance is a 12-month base period from date of award; the necessity for options has not yet been determined. The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Office of Information & Technology (OIT), Debt Management Center (DMC) operates and maintains two legacy systems, the Centralized Accounts Receivable System (CARS) and the Centralized Accounts Receivable On-line System (CAROLS). CARS is a computerized subsystem designed to assist the DMC in the collection of government overpayments and to generate reports which are then furnished to DMC. CARS provides processing of cash collections against receivables, printing of records, and generation of letters to debtors regarding overpayments, as well as generates interest and administration cost charge records for overpayments. CAROLS accommodates on-line inquiries, entry and editing of transactions, and updates to master record information. Using CAROLS, the DMC personnel make inquiries on the status of Veteran accounts, and enter transactions for CARS. User entries on CAROLS are reflected in updated batch files that are applied to the on-line CARS database nightly. The VA DMC requires System Analysis and Quality Assurance support for the CARS/CAROL automated collection systems. Recent extensive programming and processing changes have been initiated in the Department's automated collection system that allowed them to implement paperless check processing as required by the Department of the Treasury. The programming changes required a complete redesign of check processing logic. System analysis and quality assurance is now sought for financial processes and to track the payment processing for reporting and accounting purposes. The Contractor shall conduct system analysis in furtherance of quality assurance for the collection systems, document the newly implemented system processes for the legacy production environment, and provide system quality assurance. The production/test environment runs on an IBM mainframe application written in Common Business-Orientated Language (COBOL). Requirements The Contractor shall perform system analysis and quality assurance on the Department's automated collection systems: "The Contractor shall perform quality assurance analysis of proposed functionality changes that potentially affect business logic processes and COBOL code of the application. Proposed changes can derive from identification of capability improvements, resolution of defects, or Department and/or legislative/policy mandates. Based on that quality assurance analysis, the Contractor shall provide assessment of positive or negative impact and functional feasibility. "The Contractor shall create test plans, and upon Government approval of test plans perform tests to validate coding and business logic changes made, and based on validation results provide recommendations for improvements to the application code. "The Contractor shall perform quality assurance analysis of the application and business logic to determine how debt is referred to Treasury Offset Program (TOP) and Cross-Servicing debt collection processes, and the Contractor shall provide recommendations on methods to improve the processes. "The Contractor shall perform testing and review of Government-installed programming modifications to the application to ensure that the modifications are producing the expected output and meeting the requirements of service request business requirements. "The Contractor shall perform quality assurance analysis of Government-identified defects in application system operations outcomes and recommend process/procedural changes for resolution. "The Contractor shall record new service requests in a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet Project Initiation Request (PIR) format and provide the PIR document to Staff using a Microsoft Word format. "The Contractor shall provide informal on-the-job instruction to staff on the application programming logic to enable staff to make code modifications. "The Contractor shall update system documentation to reflect activities on this task. The Contractor shall perform ongoing documentation of workflows and business logic for application processes through weekly e-mail reporting. The Contractor shall summarize all previous month activities on this task including proposed/installed COBOL modifications, business logic processes, and responses to legislative and policy mandates in the Monthly Progress Report. The Monthly Progress Reports shall cover all work completed during the reporting period and work planned for the subsequent reporting period. The report shall also identify any problems that arose and a description of how the problems were resolved. If problems have not been completely resolved, the Contractor shall provide an explanation including their plan and timeframe for resolving the issue. It is expected that the Contractor will keep in communication with the Government accordingly so that issues that arise are transparent to both parties to prevent escalation of outstanding issues. Deliverables: A.Monthly Progress Report Submittal Information This is an RFI only. It is requested that all contractors interested in this effort please note their interest by providing a brief capability statement (electronic submission) of no more than 3 pages, single-spaced, 12 point font minimum, along with any questions, addressing the effort described in the paragraphs below. Marketing material will not be accepted as an indication of capability. Inclusion of COBOL experience as applicable to enterprise-wide systems, specifically for collection purposes, is highly recommended. In response to the RFI, interested contractors shall submit the above information by 3:00PM ET on April 17, 2014, via email to lindsay.simon2@va.gov. The following information must be included in your capability statement: Name of Company: Address: Point of Contact: Phone Number: Email address: This RFI is issued solely for information and planning purposes only and shall not be considered an Invitation for Bids, Request for Quotations, or a Request for Proposal. In accordance with FAR 15.201(e), responses to this notice are not offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract; there is no obligation on the part of the Government to acquire any products or services described in this RFI. Your response to this RFI will be treated only as information for the Government to consider, you are responsible for adequately marking proprietary, restricted or competition sensitive information contained in your response, and all information received in response to this RFI that is marked as proprietary will be handled accordingly. The Government does not intend to pay for the information submitted in response to this RFI, you will not be entitled to payment for direct or indirect costs that you incur in responding to this RFI, and responders are solely responsible for all expenses associated with responding to this RFI. No funds have been authorized, appropriated or received for this effort. The information provided may be used by the VA in developing its acquisition strategy and Performance Work Statement. Points of Contact: David Nostrant, Contracting Officer, Department of Veterans Affairs Technology Acquisition Center, Phone (732) 440-9706, Email david.nostrant@va.gov and Lindsay Simon, Contract Specialist, Department of Veterans Affairs Technology Acquisition Center, Phone (732) 440-9698, Email lindsay.simon2@va.gov.
 

Web Link

FBO.gov Permalink
(https://www.fbo.gov/notices/3bd5ae522865495c3b0862b476a4e1e7)
 

Document(s)

Attachment
 

File Name: VA118-14-I-0216 VA118-14-I-0216.docx (https://www.vendorportal.ecms.va.gov/FBODocumentServer/DocumentServer.aspx?DocumentId=1299690&FileName=VA118-14-I-0216-000.docx)

Link: https://www.vendorportal.ecms.va.gov/FBODocumentServer/DocumentServer.aspx?DocumentId=1299690&FileName=VA118-14-I-0216-000.docx

 

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

Record

SN03334075-W 20140411/140410021245-3bd5ae522865495c3b0862b476a4e1e7 (fbodaily.com)
 

Source

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

---

| FSG Index  |  This Issue's Index  |  Today's FBO Daily Index Page |