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FBO DAILY - FEDBIZOPPS ISSUE OF MARCH 03, 2019 FBO #6309
SOURCES SOUGHT

D -- SaaS Solution (VA Pulse)

Notice Date
3/1/2019
 
Notice Type
Synopsis
 
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
36C10B19Q0238
 
Response Due
3/15/2019
 
Archive Date
4/14/2019
 
Point of Contact
Asif.Damji@va.gov
 
Small Business Set-Aside
N/A
 
Description
SaaS Solution Request for Information March 1, 2019 Overview This is a Request for Information (RFI) only issued for the purpose of conducting market research. Accordingly, this RFI constitutes neither a Request for Proposal (RFP) nor a guarantee that one will be issued by the Government in the future; furthermore, it does not commit the Government to contract for any services described herein. Do not submit a Proposal. The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is not, at this time, seeking proposals or quotes, and therefore, will not accept, review, or evaluate unsolicited proposals or quotes received in response hereto. 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. The Government does not reimburse respondents for any costs associated with submission of the information being requested or, reimburse expenses incurred for responses to this RFI. The information provided may be used by VA in developing its acquisition strategy and Product Description (PD)/Performance Work Statement (PWS). Any information submitted by respondents to this RFI is strictly voluntary; however, any information received shall become the property of the Government and will not be returned to the respondent. Interested parties are responsible for adequately marking proprietary, restricted or competition sensitive information contained in their response. This is a request for information and does not obligate the Government in any way, nor does it commit the Government to any specific course of action. The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Technology Acquisition Center (TAC) is seeking to obtain information regarding a possible Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP)-authorized software-as-a-service provider for hosting an Interactive Intranet cloud enterprise solution that provides social collaboration that seamlessly integrates with a FedRAMP authorized Experience Management platform that provides our organization the capabilities to collect, understand and take action on experience data at every meaningful touchpoint. The minimum requirements are as follows: Design, implement, and maintain a well-architected FedRAMP-authorized software-as-a-cloud service that delivers a total Interactive Intranet cloud enterprise solution that provides social collaboration and an Experience Management solution. FedRAMP authorization total solution for both that supports Experience Management Platform to provide feedback to improve the employee s (e.g. Aurea Jive Software) Monitor and comply with various security policies within the FedRAMP-authorized Software as a Service (SaaS) product cloud based solution. Import/export of data capability to the current Aurea Jive Software solution Provide an Enterprise-wide on-site and virtual training program and; provide marketing, user outreach and communication support Provide user real-time analytics, individual reports, and dashboards presented in real-time every dashboard reacts and loads relevant data as you click. Provide the capability to generate Website/Usage/Performance Analytics easily rendered into Adobe and Microsoft Office Suite reports (e.g. Google Analytics) Provide Feedback/Survey/Questionnaire Analytics capability to import and export data (e.g..csv) and having the data rendered into Adobe and Microsoft Office Suite reports. Provide the ability to import/export/interoperate with industry business intelligence platforms and share data across a variety of database management systems. Assist in increasing employee engagement, improve application popularity and to boost trust in the application within the organization. Incorporate a Single Point of Contact between the Service Provider and the Users. A typical Service Desk manages Incidents and Service Requests, and handles communication with the users Provide release and configuration management processes for platform changes The solution must connect the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) community as well as all VA employees in a business social network that strengthens relationships, improves access to information, and delivers tailored solutions to both practitioners and other VA employees that integrates seamlessly into their workflow. The solution(s) must support an enterprise-wide implementation of this collaborative platform for approximately 300,000 in number. While the intention is to make the system available to all VA employees, the actual number of licensed users will be driven by user engagement and organic growth of the user base. As part of the implementation, the contractor shall foster field engagement, provide and assist in onboarding and education, community facilitation and engagement, and provide marketing and communication support for our FedRAMP-authorized Software-as-a-Service provider for hosting an Interactive Intranet cloud enterprise solution that provides social collaboration. The solution should include an Experience Management solution that is FedRAMP authorized. The contractor shall employ a Jive or equivalent FedRAMP authorized Software as a Service (SaaS) solution(s) to include licensing provisions, pilot testing, support and hosting services to ensure continuity and retain momentum gained to date. The Software as a Service (SaaS) solution should include FedRAMP definition and architecture and Section 508 compliance, which take full advantage of cloud computing benefits to maximize capacity utilization, improve Information Technology (IT) flexibility and responsiveness, and minimize immediate and life-cycle cost of any proposed contract. Background: The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Office of Healthcare Transformation (OHT) is charged with building and fostering nationwide adoption of VA s social and collaborative online platform VA Pulse to spread best practices, share expertise and insights, drive innovation, and build a unified VA. VA Pulse is an internal collaborative community for VA employees built on the Jive social business platform. It combines quick access to VA resources with the insights and innovations of staff throughout VA. VA Pulse was developed with input from users in the field to overcome common workplace challenges and create new opportunities for connection, collaboration, and innovation. Open to any VA employee, VA Pulse is designed to reduce communication barriers, encourage information sharing, and facilitate virtual collaboration. After a successful pilot at select facilities involving a limited number of community members early in 2014, VA Pulse launched nationally in September 2014. Driven largely by grassroots, word-of-mouth marketing and viral self-registration, the community grew to more than 40,000 VA staff members by September 2015. Expanding its focus to enterprise implementation across VA including the VHA, the Veterans Benefits Administration, and the National Cemetery Administration VA Pulse had eclipsed 166,000 users as of August 2018. During the past year, the VA Pulse team s efforts centered heavily around technology and promoting VA Pulse as a virtual work hub. Through these efforts, VA Pulse grew from nearly 124,000 to more than 185,000 community members during the past year creating a true digital work hub for a more collaborative VA. Pulse project from the software VA Pulse is built on (Aurea s Jive Interactive Intranet). The VHA OHT VA Pulse team s approach is integrating marketing, communication, community management, and technical services for members of the VA Pulse community. VA Pulse has enabled thousands of VA employees to maintain consistency in communications and programs initiatives moving forward to serve our nation s Veterans, even during several senior VA leadership transitions. The future solution is intended to provide a more robust and secure set of functionalities to extend functionality that supports bi-directional integrations with VA critical business applications. VA Pulse is VA s branded implementation of Jive software, a social collaboration platform. The software is hosted on FedRAMP compliant servers and is (will be) accessed through the public internet at vapulse.va.gov. It is fully managed as a Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) offering with the security and customization of a private cloud environment specifically for this proprietary offering; implementing mandatory security controls for the most stringent government standards, including NIST SP 800-53 and 800-171 to meet the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA), FedRAMP and Defense Acquisition Regulations System guidelines. The platform security impact is FISMA Low with three active VA Authority to Operate (ATOs). AS a part of the social collaboration solution, Qualtrics Experience Management Platform is currently being utilized to collect, understand and take action on experience data, by providing our organization with a modern, sophisticated and simple questionnaire platform. Qualtrics is a Software-as-a-Service, FedRAMP authorized platform. VA issued personal desktops, laptops, and mobile devices can access VA Pulse through the public internet, and authentication is handled through the VA s Single Sign On internal system or email and password login (note that we need to replace email and password login with MFA in a future contract cycle). The VA s NSOC monitors and inspects traffic through the trusted internet connection between vapulse.va.gov and the FedRAMP server. Data transmitted to and from the VA Pulse site contains Personally Identifiable Information of VA staff and contractors, and must be transmitted securely and encrypted at rest. Other security controls apply to the FISMA low system, and are documented and managed through the VA s ATO process. General Company Information It is requested that all companies interested in participating in this effort please note their interest and submit a capability statement demonstrating their ability to meet this requirement and/or submit questions that they may have in regard to the draft PWS/RTM. Please note the business size for North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Code and indicate if you are a Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) or a Veteran-Owned Small Business (VOSB). You will not be entitled to payment for direct or indirect costs that you incur in responding to this RFI. This request does not constitute a solicitation for proposals or the authority to enter into negotiations to award a contract. 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. Interested parties are responsible for adequately marking proprietary, restricted or competition sensitive information contained in their response. The Government does not intend to pay for the information submitted in response to this RFI. Please provide the following information specific to your company: Company Name POC Information CAGE/DUNS Socioeconomic Type For SDVOSB/VOSB firms, indicate whether at least 50% of the cost of performance incurred is planned to be expended for employees of your concern or employees of other eligible SDVOSB/VOSB firms.   Questions for Industry/Capability Statement Submit a capability statement describing your company s ability to meet the requirements. The capability statement shall be limited to 10 pages. Given the considerations set forth above, the VA is seeking industry feedback on available web based social collaboration Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) cloud-based services and solutions to achieve the envisioned Information Technology (IT) efficiencies, reliability, interoperability, and improvement in secure end-to-end performance through the acquisition of commercially available cloud services. This Request for Information (RFI) invites industry to submit information, comments, capabilities, and recommendations for potential development and implementation of near-term acquisition vehicles and corresponding business models to facilitate the VA s Enterprise Social and Collaboration Cloud Service. The Government is interested in understanding if there are products and services available that can meet the requirements, i.e. VA is not necessarily looking for a one-product solution. Industry is encouraged to provide information about products that can meet one or more capabilities described below.   Please answer the following questions, which are broken out by subject area. Depending on the kinds of offerings you provide, some questions may be inapplicable to your company; therefore, partial responses may be provided, but complete responses to all questions are preferred. Platform Architecture Describe your software-as-a service solution. Describe how your solution is will integrate with the current Aurea JIVE solution. Provide details on data migration with the current solution Include licensing tiers and/or cost if applicable. Please provide a detailed listing and vendor source of Application Program Interfaces (API s) that your solution would use to meet the requirements stated in this RFI. Security Requirements Describe your experience with implementing and maintaining identify management for legacy systems Describe your experience in supporting the VA requirements to obtain/maintain an ATO. Describe your ability to support 508 compliance and applicable accessibility requirements. Describe how your company addresses information assurance for data and privacy concerns of individuals; identify and address potential privacy risks, and responsibilities that result from data placed in a cloud computing environment? Implementation and Deployment Given the size of our website, please describe a typical migration plan. How would you migrate us and how long would it take to migrate our existing site content to the proposed solution? Please include: time frames (how long does a typical migration of this size take?), resources, and any software or technology needed to perform these tasks. How does your platform ensure that implementation/agency partners can efficiently deliver digital experiences without excessive development effort and time? How does your platform minimize the need for excessive agency / 3rd-party effort around managing updates to the platform and related site instances? Help Desk Support Describe strategies for developing, supporting and maintaining user training system(s); and methodology to provide support for on-going user training and modules. Include various communication options to respond to customers that can be incorporated and built on existing support mechanisms. Describe your incident/problem reporting and tracking systems and the ability for authorized customer staff to access those systems directly. How are customer queries and responses tracked and trended? In what format is that information communicated for verification purposes and historical tracking and trending, and how frequently? Availability & Performance Describe your mitigation strategies for potential availability and performance issues such as network outages, bandwidth shortages, supporting disaster recovery or spikes in service demand. Describe the redundancy features of your cloud services that ensure availability and performance. Discuss features of your cloud services that provide for scalability of customer applications and data hosted in your environment. Data Ownership Describe your policies, roles, and responsibilities regarding data ownership. Who owns the Intellectual Property for data hosted in your cloud and artifacts developed in or hosted in your cloud? Platform Questions Describe your platform s social collaboration Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) cloud-based services and its functionality. Please describe how your platform natively supports mobile devices. Describe the security and access levels for digital asset protection that exists to assist in maintaining asset integrity and access. Describe your FedRAMP authorized solution Experience Management solution and how it will seamlessly integrate into the social collaboration Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) cloud-based services. Main POCs: Joe Pignataro, Contract Specialist Joseph.Pignataro@va.gov, 732-795-1115, Asif Damji, Contracting Officer- Asif.Damji@va.gov, 732-440-9674. Please submit your responses through email to the Contract Specialist and Contracting Officer at Joseph.Pignataro@va.gov and Asif.Damji@va.gov. Responses must be received by 12:00PM, NOON, EST on March 15, 2019 NOTE: THIS NOTICE WAS NOT POSTED TO FEDBIZOPPS ON THE DATE INDICATED IN THE NOTICE ITSELF (01-MAR-2019); HOWEVER, IT DID APPEAR IN THE FEDBIZOPPS FTP FEED ON THIS DATE. PLEASE CONTACT 877-472-3779 or fbo.support@gsa.gov REGARDING THIS ISSUE.
 
Web Link
Link To Document
(https://www.fbo.gov/notices/e48c3ab74535263baffb2c0519327b06)
 
Record
SN05237306-F 20190303/190301230025 (fbodaily.com)
 
Source
FedBizOpps Link to This Notice
(may not be valid after Archive Date)

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