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FBO DAILY - FEDBIZOPPS ISSUE OF JULY 24, 2015 FBO #4991
DOCUMENT

D -- TAC-16-22032 Microsoft Enterprise Services Agreement (ESA) - Attachment

Notice Date

7/22/2015
 

Notice Type

Attachment
 

NAICS

541512 — Computer Systems Design Services
 

Contracting Office

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

ZIP Code

07724
 

Solicitation Number

VA11815R0537
 

Response Due

8/5/2015
 

Archive Date

11/12/2015
 

Point of Contact

Kimberly Flynn
 

E-Mail Address

5-1108<br
 

Small Business Set-Aside

N/A
 

Description

THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) ONLY - This request is issued solely for planning and information purposes only, and does not constitute a Request for Proposal, a Solicitation, a Request for Quote, or an indication that the Government will solicit or award a contract for the services contained in this RFI. This notice is not to be construed as a commitment on the part of the Government to award a contract, nor does the Government intend to pay for any information submitted as a result of this request. Furthermore, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Technology Acquisition Center (TAC), is not at this time seeking proposals and will not accept unsolicited proposals. The Government does not reimburse respondents for any costs associated with the submission of the information being requested, or reimburse expenses incurred in the preparation of responses to this RFI. This RFI notice is part of the Government's Market Research, a continuous process for obtaining the latest information from industry with respect to their current and near-term abilities. The North American Industrial Classification for this effort is 541512. It is requested that interested contractors submit a response (electronic submission) of no more than 20 pages in length, single spaced, 12 point font minimum inclusive of the Capabilities Statement and information below. Items 1-11 should be provided in the initial paragraph of the submission. 1.Name of Company 2.Address 3.Point of Contact 4.Phone Number 5.Fax Number 6.Email address 7.Company Business Size and Status 8.NAICS code(s) 9.GSA and/or GWAC, if you are included in one or more. Please include Contract Number, expiration date, etc. 10.Socioeconomic data. If you are a Small Business, can you (as a prime contractor and all small business subcontractors) perform at least 51% of the services identified in the draft PWS? 11.Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) Number The VA TAC is soliciting a Capabilities Statement regarding the feasibility and completeness of the proposed approach to meet the requirements for the draft Performance Work Statement (PWS) (attached) for a Microsoft Enterprise Services Agreement (ESA) from Industry. Any comments and questions related to the requirement should be provided within the body of the email or as a separate attachment and will not be counted toward the 20 page limitation. VA owns and maintains close to $1billion worth of Microsoft software licenses. Microsoft products are a core component of VA infrastructure and thereby must be maintained and operated at the highest standards. Due to the breadth of implementation of these products, VA has on multiple occasions found itself in situations where direct access to and changes to Microsoft source code has been critical to prompt and appropriate problem resolution. Some of these situations have resulted in problems that directly impacted VA delivery of care to Veterans. Correction of these situations sometimes requires access to and changes to Microsoft source code. Therefore, a mandatory requirement of this contract is the ability to: 1) engage Microsoft to make changes to Microsoft source code without voiding product warrantees; 2) ability to ensure that Microsoft incorporates those changes into future commercial releases of the product; 3) provision for direct access to Microsoft tools and product teams; and 4) provision of pre-production Microsoft products along with skilled support of those products, including but not limited to the source code. VA seeks to identify contractors who can provide the services and support as set forth in the attached draft PWS, and as specifically set forth herein. Contractors are asked to identify and provide proof if they are authorized providers of Microsoft Enterprise services. If contractors are not authorized providers of Microsoft Enterprise Services, contractors must provide information as to how their respective solution meets the Government's minimum requirements relative to the Microsoft Enterprise License Agreement (ELA) products identified in PWS Section 1.1. The Contractor's solution shall be able to effect changes to Microsoft source code. These code changes would be made to proprietary source code owned by Microsoft, and, therefore can only be accomplished by Microsoft. The Contractor shall have the ability without voiding any existing software warranty or license terms and conditions to perform the following services: 1)Engage Microsoft directly to effect changes to source code without voiding warranty or any license terms and conditions. 2)Supply direct access to the use of Microsoft proprietary cyber security threat detection, monitoring, and mitigation tools developed internally by Microsoft for the Windows operating system. 3)File and escalate a Design Change Request in the event of product bugs. This includes filing the appropriate business justification directly with the Microsoft product team on behalf of the VA which will lead to work around instructions or hot fix code to resolve the issue. 4)Influence and impact changes to products in alpha and beta versions. 5)Fully support pre-release versions of Microsoft products in a production environment. 6)Provide technical resources trained directly by the Microsoft's product group on pre-release versions of products. The Capabilities Statements will assist the Government in identifying any firms who possess both the capability and experience to provide Microsoft dedicated technical support representatives and subject matter experts to support and assist VA in overall operation, management, implementation and use of products provided under the Microsoft ELA. With regard to the comments and questions relating to the draft PWS, the Government specifically requests comments and/or questions that will enable a better understanding of the scope of this procurement. This action is to encourage and promote early exchanges of information for this requirement. The Government is seeking comments by interested companies relating to the draft PWS as well as a demonstration of capabilities to successfully perform an effort of this magnitude. Companies are requested to provide questions or concerns they may have with the overall procurement. The requested comments and Capabilities Statements are for informational purposes only. There will not be a formal posting of any questions and comments received or answers to questions, but they will be considered by the Government and may be incorporated in any solicitation that may be posted. VA has not made a commitment to procure any of the services discussed, and release of this RFI should not be construed as such a commitment. Respondents are advised that the Government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted. All information contained in the draft PWS is preliminary and is subject to change in subsequent releases of the PWS. Respondents are encouraged to review the draft PWS and offer written comments, questions and a Capabilities Statement via e-mail to kimberly.flynn1@va.gov no later than close of business August 5, 2015. Comments and questions should reference the applicable PWS paragraph number and be referenced in the body of the email or as an attachment to the email in Microsoft Office format (such comments/questions will not be counted toward the 20 page Capabilities Statement limitation). Comments that relate to recommended language changes must provide a rationale for the recommended change. Interested parties submitting a Capabilities Statement should be brief and concise, yet clearly demonstrate ability to meet the stated requirements for an enterprise wide procurement of this magnitude within the 20 page limitation detailed above. The Capabilities Statement should clearly present evidence that the interested party is fully capable of providing the required Microsoft certified core support services and as such may include any information that the interested party feels is relevant. Prospective offerors are strongly encouraged to submit questions and comments as soon as they are identified. Telephone questions will not be accepted..
 

Web Link

FBO.gov Permalink
(https://www.fbo.gov/notices/6c78e2e868f361c0bb7aca098a661221)
 

Document(s)

Attachment
 

File Name: VA118-15-R-0537 VA118-15-N-0537.docx (https://www.vendorportal.ecms.va.gov/FBODocumentServer/DocumentServer.aspx?DocumentId=2182169&FileName=VA118-15-R-0537-000.docx)

Link: https://www.vendorportal.ecms.va.gov/FBODocumentServer/DocumentServer.aspx?DocumentId=2182169&FileName=VA118-15-R-0537-000.docx

 

File Name: VA118-15-R-0537 DRAFT PWS TAC-15-22032 Microsoft ESA 21JUL2015.docx (https://www.vendorportal.ecms.va.gov/FBODocumentServer/DocumentServer.aspx?DocumentId=2182170&FileName=VA118-15-R-0537-001.docx)

Link: https://www.vendorportal.ecms.va.gov/FBODocumentServer/DocumentServer.aspx?DocumentId=2182170&FileName=VA118-15-R-0537-001.docx

 

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

Record

SN03806957-W 20150724/150723000356-6c78e2e868f361c0bb7aca098a661221 (fbodaily.com)
 

Source

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

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