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FBO DAILY - FEDBIZOPPS ISSUE OF APRIL 15, 2016 FBO #5257
DOCUMENT

R -- IT Research and Advisory Services - 2016 - Attachment

Notice Date

4/13/2016
 

Notice Type

Attachment
 

NAICS

541618 — Other Management Consulting Services
 

Contracting Office

Department of Veterans Affairs;VA Denver Acquisition & Logistics Center;(003A4D1);555 Corporate Circle;Golden CO 80401-5621
 

ZIP Code

80401-5621
 

Solicitation Number

VA79116N0061
 

Response Due

4/21/2016
 

Archive Date

5/21/2016
 

Point of Contact

Caroline West
 

Small Business Set-Aside

N/A
 

Description

DEAPARTMENT OF VETERAN AFFAIRS REQUEST FOR INFORMATION 1.0PURPOSE This is a SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE / REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI); not a pre-solicitation notice or solicitation for proposals/quotations. Pursuant to FAR Part 10 (Market Research), the purpose of this notice is to: 1)Determine if sources capable of satisfying the agency's requirements exist; 2)Determine if commercial items suitable to meet the agency's needs are available or could be modified to meet the agency's requirements; and 3)Determine the commercial practices of company's engaged in providing the needed service or supply. Pursuant to FAR Part 6 and FAR Part 19, competition and set-aside decisions may be based on the results of this market research; 2.0DESCRIPTION The Agency requires access to subscription based IT Research and Advisory Services to inform key decisions in planning and delivering IT services. The research and advice must be relevant to the requirements of Agency in support of strategic planning, cost reduction, understanding and optimizing software license pricing models, understanding and complying with recent legislation such as the Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act (FITARA), risk mitigation and program interruption. 3.0 DISCLAIMER This RFI is issued solely for information and planning purposes only and does not constitute a solicitation. Additionally, this RFI does not obligate the Government to the issuance of a Request for Proposal. All information received in response to the RFI that is marked Proprietary will be handled accordingly. Responses to the RFI will not be returned. In accordance with FAR 15.202 (e), responses to this notice are not an offer and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract. Responders are solely responsible for all expenses associated with responding to this RFI. Capability Statement Instructions: In response to the attached Draft Statement of Work (SOW), VA hereby solicits capability statements from eligible contractors. These statements shall be no longer than 5 pages (double-spaced, with a minimum of one-inch margins and 12 point font). Interested parties having the capabilities necessary to perform the stated requirements may submit capability statements via the eBuy website. This notice is provided as information to the market place and is an invitation for potential offerors to express interest and provide information regarding their relevant capabilities. Information submitted in response to this notice may be used as a basis for a future solicitation and/or as a basis for more in-depth research of an organization's capability. The Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) anticipates awarding one year contract. 4.0 SUBMISION AND CONTACT INFORMATION Please submit responses via email in Microsoft Office format by 04/21/2016 to the Contracting Office at the below listed address. You may also submit supplemental hardcopy materials such as brochures etc. to the Contracting Specialist Caroline West at the same address. All supplemental material must be received by deadline date. Email and hardcopy responses should be mailed to the following address: Email: caroline.west@va.gov. Mail: VA Denver Acquisition & Logistics Center 555 Corporate Ave Golden, CO 80401 WRITTEN RESPONSES: If providing a written response, please submit not later than 04/21/2016 to caroline.west@va.gov. Name of Organization/Corporation: Corporate Address: Basic Corporate Information: DUNS Number: Point of Contact Name & Title: Phone Number: Email Address: Socio-Economic Category (if known): 0 HUBZone 0 8(a) 0 Small Business 0 Veteran Owned Small Business 0 Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business 0 Women Owned Small Business North American Industry Classification System Code (NAICS), please list all codes: General Services Administration, Federal Supply Schedule information (if applicable): Enterprise Acquisition Systems Services IT Research and Advisory Services MINIMUM TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS 1.0 Introduction The Agency requires access to subscription based IT Research and Advisory Services to inform key decisions in planning and delivering IT services. The research and advice must be relevant to the requirements of Agency in support of strategic planning, cost reduction, understanding and optimizing software license pricing models, understanding and complying with recent legislation such as the Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act (FITARA), risk mitigation and program interruption. 2.0 Scope Agency requires research and advisory services aligned to individual levels of the IT Organization. This procurement requires individual services targeted to different levels of the IT organization, as follows: "Enterprise IT Manager (2 Members) "IT Manager - with Advisor ( 1 Member) "IT Manager - Reference (1 Member) 2.1 General Requirements 2.1.1. Given the rate of technology change, the complexity of the AGENCY's use of IT, the Contractor shall continue to support this demand by providing a minimum of 4,500 new IT research documents and toolkits annually. Research documents must exclude tweets, blogs and other social media feeds. 2.1.2. The research agenda must be driven by client needs and interest. 2.1.3. Contractor shall have experience in advising DOD, Civilian, as well as Commercial CIOs. The research must provide the insight and data to enable the Government to plan strategically, reduce IT costs, understand software licensing models, reduce software costs, mitigate risk, successfully handle program interruption, and understand and comply with recent legislation including the Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act (FITARA). 2.1.4. For Advisor-level Members and Enterprise IT Managers, Contractor shall provide unlimited inquiry to expert IT analysts that are specialists in specific fields (i.e., not generalists that cross many technologies). Contractor shall provide access to at least 400 analysts for inquiry. 2.1.5. AGENCY values the ability to attend technology and peer networking events without incurring travel costs. This contract will serve locations across the country. The Contractor shall provide at least five in-person peer networking events, annually, at no additional cost. 2.1.6. AGENCY considers Webinars to be a valuable professional development and training opportunity. Contractor shall provide unlimited access to Webinars for all subscribers as well as all members of the IT staff at no additional cost. Contractor shall deliver an average of 20 Webinars per month. 2.1.7. Historically, AGENCY has received value from attendance at IT conferences hosted in the continental U.S. The contractor shall provide AGENCY the ability to purchase additional tickets to industry-leading events in the U.S. Specifically, Advisor-level memberships for Enterprise IT Leaders and IT Managers require tickets to attend role-focused conferences. 2.1.8. The Contractor shall offer a program that is completely objective. No research should be done on a "sponsored" basis, which could potentially compromise independent objectives. 2.2 For IT Managers 2.2.1 AGENCY requires unlimited access to basic IT research to provide foundational knowledge for core IT staff. Research must include immediate insight into current trends and new developments in the IT industry. 2.2.2 AGENCY requires unlimited access to analysts through 30-minute inquiry. 2.2.3 AGENCY requires access to monthly audio commentaries on current IT topics that may be downloaded in an MP3 format. 2.2.4 Contractor shall provide an IT Research database, toolkits and metrics that are timely and relevant to the AGENCY staff. 2.2.5 IT Managers with Advisor-level licenses require unlimited access to analysts through 30-minute inquiry. AGENCY requires research and advisory services to be able to drive continual cost savings within IT through optimization of contract pricing, terms and conditions as well as consolidation, portfolio management and hardware. Inquiries may also be used for contract review with experts in hardware/software contract negotiation. 2.2.6 IT Managers must be supported by an office-based service delivery specialist to assist with any research or inquiry scheduling questions. 2.2.7 Advisor-level IT Managers must receive a ticket to attend IT role-focused conferences. These conferences must be a minimum of three full days, held in the continental U.S. Due to travel restrictions; Contractor must provide two of these events in the Washington, DC area in 2015 to support AGENCY headquarters. 2.2.8 Contractor shall provide on-line peer networking that includes a minimum of 20,000 peers, including at least 500 Federal peers, through a private portal reserved for IT end user clients and Contractor Subject Matter Experts only (no IT vendors). 2.2.9 In addition to unlimited access to upcoming Webinars, IT Managers and their Team Members must have on-demand access to all Webinars hosted in the past 12 months. 2.2.10 Licensed Team members may participate in any of the IT Manager's inquiries with expert analysts to gain knowledge and drive collaboration. 2.2.11 to ensure collaboration and consistency, team members under IT Managers may also require access to research. Contractor shall provide an option for metered research access for team members as well as unlimited research access for team members. Team members must still have access to downloadable and customizable toolkits and metrics described in 2.3.2. 2.2.12 Team Members with metered access must have access to a shared library of documents selected across the team to facilitate collaboration. 2.2.13 AGENCY IT Managers must have the option to purchase additional access to industry-specific research and analysts dedicated to covering the Energy, Utilities and Smart Grid technology. 2.3 For Enterprise IT Managers - Enterprise Architecture 2.3.1 Enterprise IT Managers require access to all requirements listed in Section 2.2 as well as additional insight delivered through an aligned peer partner who is a domain expert. 2.3.2 Licensed Team members may participate in any of the Enterprise IT Leader's inquiries with expert analysts to gain knowledge and drive collaboration. 2.3.3 Contractor shall provide a senior peer partner for Enterprise IT Leaders, with a minimum of 15 years of experience in the role they are aligned to and must have at least 3 years of experience at a director level or higher within Government or Commercial sector. The senior peer partner must have served in this capacity with at least five federal Enterprise IT Leaders at the Director level or higher to bring the required expertise for AGENCY. 2.3.4 Contractor shall provide, at no additional cost, access to two Members-only events per year, each lasting 1.5 days or more. These events must be focused on the Enterprise IT Leader's specific role and current challenges. Contractor shall provide, at no additional cost, the ability to participate monthly in Members-only meetings focused on a critical topic within the Member's role. 3.0 Period of Performance The period of performance will base period of twelve months with no options.. 4.0 Delivery Requirements 4.1. Research Services The Contractor shall provide access to IT Research database, toolkits and metrics that are timely and relevant to the AGENCY and Government personnel. The contractor shall ensure the Government has access to a robust database of IT Research and Toolkits, which includes insight and data to enable the Government to reduce software costs. Licensed Enterprise IT Leaders and IT Managers must receive unlimited access to IT research. 4.2. Advisory Services For Advisor clients, the Contractor shall provide access to: "Access to a private on-line Community of Peers with no vendor or IT service provider participation (for IT Managers, Enterprise IT Leaders) "For the Enterprise IT Leaders: Topic-focused Member exclusive meetings, Webinars, briefings, access to exclusive special interest groups for Enterprise IT Leader clients focusing on topics that are client-driven. "Local Networking events in the Washington, DC area for all subscription holders at no additional cost. "For the Enterprise IT Leader, an experienced subject matter expert in the Enterprise Leader's role (i.e., Enterprise Architecture, Infrastructure & Operations, Security or Vendor Management) must be assigned to deliver contextualized insight and advice against a set service delivery plan. "Unlimited analyst inquiry to subject matter experts. "Symposiums/conferences: Contractor must hold a minimum of 10 conferences in the U.S. that are each a minimum of 3 days. Due to government travel constraints, at least two of these events must be held in the Washington, DC. "Unlimited access for all IT staff, including non-subscription holders to Webinars/Teleconferences "Document Review services. Enterprise IT Leaders and IT Managers must have unlimited access to document review services. Given the different roles, Enterprise IT Leaders and IT Managers must be able to use these services for critical evaluations of strategic documents and/or contract reviews that include red-lining and a written response. "Research Helpdesk support. Dedicated helpdesk support must be available 8 AM to 5 PM Monday through Friday. 5.0 Place of Performance In addition to telephonic meetings and teleconferences, the primary place of performance will be at the contractor's site, various AGENCY sites, and other Government facilities within the continental U.S. 6.0 Travel Not applicable.
 

Web Link

FBO.gov Permalink
(https://www.fbo.gov/spg/VA/VADDC791/VADDC791/VA79116N0061/listing.html)
 

Document(s)

Attachment
 

File Name: VA791-16-N-0061 VA791-16-N-0061_1.docx (https://www.vendorportal.ecms.va.gov/FBODocumentServer/DocumentServer.aspx?DocumentId=2670948&FileName=VA791-16-N-0061-000.docx)

Link: https://www.vendorportal.ecms.va.gov/FBODocumentServer/DocumentServer.aspx?DocumentId=2670948&FileName=VA791-16-N-0061-000.docx

 

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

Record

SN04083106-W 20160415/160413234754-d1e8e231b4c7bcc68d14aeb66819ee54 (fbodaily.com)
 

Source

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

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