U.S. Railroad Retirement Board, Purchasing Division, Room 1230, 844 North Rush St., Chicago, IL 60611-2092

D -- INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SERVICES SOL 2000-C-02 DUE 022800 POC Donald C. Augustyn (312) 751-4535 I. This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items prepared in accordance with the format in the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Subject 12.6, as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation. Offers are being requested and a written solicitation will not be issued. II. This solicitation is issued as a Request-For Quotation (RFQ) 2000-C-02. III. The solicitation document and incorporated provisions are those in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular Number 97-15. IV. This solicitation is not a small business set-aside. V. A. The U.S. Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) is an independent federal agency that administers a retirement and survivor benefit program for railroad employees and their families. The RRB was established by the Railroad Retirement Acts of 1937 and 1974. The RRB also administers the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act which provides unemployment and sickness benefits to railroad employees. This RFQ is to establish a Blanket Purchasing Agreement (BPA) for a Contractor to provide Information Technology (IT) support services as described in detail below. B. 1. Assist in definition of end user Internet transactional processing concepts and functional/performance requirements to support the end user process. This consulting may require audits/assessments of Internet processing designs and design documentation, including requirements documents, test plans and procedures. This consulting may require an update of system administration and maintenance procedures for a production system. 2. Provide on-site personnel at the agency headquarters facility located in Chicago, Illinois. Contractor personnel would develop code and provide programming skills to implement custom end user solutions employing Microsoft IIS, Visual Basic, Visual InterDev, MS SQL 7.0 and Active Server Page development. Work may include development of code necessary to integrate the applications with an existing Public Key Infrastructure Vendor and mainframe database (IDMS) IP connectivity. 3. Provide contractor staff to assist the RRB in implementing defined Internet transactional processing applications listed in paragraph B.2. Code development may be necessary to integrate the applications with an existing public key infrastructure vendor and mainframe database (IDMS) IP connectivity. 4. Contractor staff may also provide trouble shooting of software upgrades or new product installation. VI. FAR Provision 52.212.1, Instructions to Offerors-Commercial Items, applies to this acquisition and is hereby included by reference. Offerors must provide the following: 1. Professional Requirement: To be considered for award an individual or firm must include references of successfully completed engagements to demonstrate experience and qualifications in performing this type of engagement with the Microsoft Visual Basic, Visual InterDev, Active Server Page, Microsoft IIS, and MS. SQL 7.0, and component object modeling products. 2. Provide a fixed price hourly rate by skill level, as appropriate, for the initial term, with two one-year options. The hourly rates should be fully loaded to include all telephone support and travel costs. The RRB shall issue task orders in the minimum amount of $25,000 during this initial contract term. 3. Proposal Format: Vendors shall provide the following: a. Detail of Corporate experience to include: Corporate locations from which advisory services provided; Number of years performing advisory services involving the listed Microsoft software products; Detail of corporate and/or Federal government experience including staff expertise/qualifications in working on the required tasks; As potential references, provide the names of three clients (contacts and telephone numbers) for whom similar tasks have been performed. B. Provide a work plan outlining the work tasks necessary to provide the services listed above. Include detail about required analysis activities, staff qualifications, time needs and work steps to satisfy the requirement. Dollar estimates of such task cycles would be appreciated. VI. Proposals will be evaluated using the following criteria: a. Expertise and staff experience; b. Past performance; c. Quality of Work plan. The relationship of price to all other factors is 1:2. Responses will be evaluated according to which firm can meet the functional requirements at the best value to the Government. VII. FAR Provision 52.212-3, Offeror's Representations and Certifications -- Commercial Items, applies to this solicitation. IX. FAR Clause, 52.212-5, Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statues or Executive Orders -- Commercial Items, hereby applies to this acquisition. X. FAR Clause, 52.232-18, Availability of Funds, applies to this solicitation. Offeror certifies price and terms offered in response to this solicitation are valid for 90 calendar days from the date of offer. XI. Offers and supporting documentation shall be received in this office no later than 11:00 a.m. local time, on February 28,2000. Mark outside of the envelope clearly with "RFQ 2000-C-02 enclosed" and bidder's name and address. Facsimile response will not be accepted. The RRB will not send an acknowledgment of receipt of any firm's submission. Posted 02/11/00 (W-SN424727). 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