D -- IMPLEMENTATION OF AN INTEGRATED, SCALABLE CONTENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (CMS) THAT ENCOMPASSES WEB AND E-MAIL APPLICATIONS, AND PROVIDES THE CAPABILITY TO ADOPT PRINT PUBLISHING FUNCTIONS IN THE FUTURE

Notice Date

June 28, 2001

Contracting Office

Department of the Interior, Minerals Management Service, Procurement Operations Branch, MS2500, 381 Elden Street, Herndon, Virginia 20170-4817

ZIP Code

20170-4817

Solicitation Number

31168

Response Due

July 2, 2001

Point of Contact

Robin Kisner 703-787-1343 Robin.Kisner@mms.gov

E-Mail Address

Contract Specialist (Robin.Kisner@mms.gov)

Description

The purpose of this amendment is to provide answers to the questions AND extend the due date for proposal submissions for the CBD notice described as IMPLEMTATION OF AN INTEGRATED, SCALABLE CONTENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (CMS) THAT ENCOMPASSES WEB AND E-MAIL APPLICATIONS, AND PROVIDES THE CAPABILITY TO ADOPT PRINT PUBLISHING FUNCTIONS IN THE FUTURE. The original notice was posted on 6/20/2001 and the first amendment was posted the same day. This will be the second amendment. The proposal due date is extended to to July 02, 11:00 a.m., 2001. The following is a list of technical questions received in response to the CBD announcement. Answers immediately follow each question. Question 1. The solicitation on CBDNet appears to be incomplete. The last line of paragraph 10.3.1 reads "Resumes of proposed workers. The resume should I". Is there another location where we can read the full text of the solicitation? <a. Yes. The web site for this announcement is http://cbdnet.access.gpo.gov/browse.html#procurements Click on Class Code D. Scroll down until you see CBD posted dates of June 20, 2001. The title of the CBD announcement is: IMPLEMENTATION OF AN INTEGRATED, SCALABLE CONTENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (CMS) THAT ENCOMPASSES WEB AND E-MAIL APPLICATIONS, AND PROVIDES THE CAPABILITY TO ADOPT PRINT PUBLISHING FUNCTIONS IN THE FUTURE. Due to the length of the announcement, this CBD announcement is appearing twice. The first is the original and the second is an amendment. Numbers listed out of sequence within the text is strictly administrative. The content remains intact. 2. Does DOS intend for the vendor to provide a total COTS solution? We would likely propose a combination of our own COTS software, a content-management application developed for the Department of Energy for which we have a GOTS (government off-the-shelf) license, COTS software from other vendor(s), and customization to integrate the various components for the Liquid State application. b. Would this be acceptable? c. If so, are there limits to the amount of customization and cross-application integration? <a. DOS will consider COTS solutions however we have seen that most COTS solutions will require some customization to meet our work flow. b. Yes. c. Our goal is to have the system integrated in the future with print publication software, this is the only limit we see for cross-application integration.> 3. Is the intent of DOS to request IDIQ, FFP, or T&M proposals? <a.We are open to all options, but it would help us draft our proposal if we knew of any preferences. 4..<What is IDIQ, FFP? T&M I must assume means Time and Materials. <a. We are looking for a bottleline price for a complete projects with no overrun, period. CMS must be functional to our satification for the price submitted by vendor.> 5.It would help if we had more technical information about the requirements (e.g., is there an existing system? is NT the only operating system we need to deal with?). Is there somewhere familiar with the technical requirements that we can talk to? <a. I will be in Washington next week visiting clients at Energy and State and can easily make time to meet with someone about this RFP.< a. Users will be using NT, servers are Unix. b. I can reach for question via phone, not face-to-face, at 202-619-6560.> 6.Are there schedules and timelines associated with the four phases? <a. Phase one: Working prototype -- 1-3 months, Phase two: Replacement of Washington File -- 1-2 months, Phase three: Replacement of usinfo.state.gov -- 2-3 months, Phase four: PD-wide use -- 6 months > 7.Would you consider a 3-week extension on the submittal of the proposal?a.<No> 8.Are you considering developmental software proposals or are you looking for COTS solutions? <a. This is not a developmental system, this is target for full on-line production.> 9.Would you consider a COTS product with some custom development? <a. Yes> 10. Before I will send you the proposal, would you please consider developing it off-site for a considerable savings to your agency?<a.Yes> 11. Also, is the submission deadline of Saturday, June 30, 2001 by 1:00PM Eastern correct? <a.YES 12.Are we correct in interpreting that Minerals Management Service (MMS) is coordinating a Department of State project? <a.YES 13.In various parts of the synopsis/solicitation reference is made to templates (e.g. section 3.9 "...Web-page templates..."; section 4.3.2.5 "...multiple Web templates..."; etc.). Does this mean that IIP has selected a template engine/technology? If so, what template engine/technology has been selected? Does the cost of the template engine need to be included in the proposal?<a. No. IIP Currently uses Dreamweaver and Homesite for individual page developement. b. Yes> 14.Is use of Open Source software components an option? <a.Yes> 15. Section 5.6 refers to "...open APIs for integration with other Web and print publishing software." Can you be more specific about the "other software" and how you expect the CMS to interact with it/them?<a.Possible WebObjects, Adobe Systems Publishing and Web Software, Canto Cumulus DAM.> 16.Is there any other documentation/information we need to know about? Section 2 mentions a Statement of Work -- does this document exist? <a. YES, however, the information posted on the CBD was derived from the Statement of Work. You should have all of the information you need to submit a proposal for this effort. 17.Can we find out anything about the technology IIP is currently using? a. IIP Currently uses Dreamweaver and Homesite for individual page developement. We also have Oracle 8 and Lotus Notes for groupware.> 18.We interpret the synopsis/solicitation to indicate that the expected on site work is limited to deployment (section 7.3 refers to arrangements with respect to office accommodations). Is this correct?<a. Development does not have to be on-site, testing implementation and training must be.> 19.Will we have access to an IIP hosted instance of Oracle for development and testing or do we need to include the cost of an Oracle license in our proposal? What about other software/tools (e.g. VPN)?<a.IIP has an Oracle license for development work, all other tools will be provided by vendor.> 20.In what format would you prefer to receive the proposal?<a.PDF> Proposal must be sent to GovWorks at the e-mail address listed on the CBD. We are accepting proposals by e-mail. 21.When do you expect to award the contract?<a. NTL July 31> 22.Is the fact that a business is considered to be small, disadvantaged and/or women owned expected to be a factor in the selection process?<a. No.> 23.Does the RFP require that the CMS be installed and fully operational at two locations, i.e., Washington and Atlanta, GA, concurrently either temporarily or for the duration of the contract?<a.Yes.> 24. We interpret "widely used commercial operating system" as meaning Windows NT, Windows 2000, Unix, and Linux. Are there any operating systems we should add to this list?<a.MacOS X, MacOS 9.x> 25.The term "listserv" typically implies that the CMS must support an email interface to allow users to subscribe/unsubscribe to/from mailing lists. Is this assumption correct or is the intention for the CMS to facilitate email broadcasts, i.e., enable IIP staff to send a broadcast email to all subscribers or subscribers with specific profile characteristics. <a.Yes> 26.How does the IIP intend to deliver content to users in print form?<a.PDF delivery to embassies or commericial printers for physcial distribution.> 27.Since EPS and TIF images are not browser supported, we assume the only requirement is to accept, store, and download those images. Is this correct? <a.Yes.> 28. Is the "Washington File" on the http://usinfo.state.gov page already maintained through a CMS system? <a.No. We run certain CGI and PERL scripts for automatic placement of daily texts on the Web site (Washington File), but we are not running a CMS now. (Our site, "usinfo.state.gov" is the international information site of the State Department, and should NOT be confused with "www.state.gov," which is the main Department Web site for American citizens -- and does run its own CMS system now.) 29. Why is there a desire to change to a new system? <a.We need to move from a collection of static HTML pages to a more dynamic,database-driven system that will allow us to "repurpose" foreign policy information easily and flexibly. 30. Is the client expecting that a web-based CMS tool will allow more staff (w/o programming expertise) to manage content that are not able to efficiently manage content currently? <a. Yes. We anticipate that the CMS will scale up (as the Statement of Work indicates) from production of the Washington File to the entire Web site (usinfo.state.gov). Right now, we have a number of editors who code or otherwise cut-and-paste into HTML pages. This is an inefficient use of the resources of professional editors and reference specialists. We want a CMS that will allow editors to make content decisions and publish to the Web site without coding or becoming immersed in Web design. 31. Is there a particular CMS system that the client is interested in or has use for other purposes? <a. We have examined several platforms, including ones that are XML-based and others using WebObjects. We have not seen any off-the-shelf applications that doesn't require customization. 32. What does the name "Liquid State" refer to? <a. Liquid State is our shorthand term for the concept that digital information is fluid and can be "poured" into a variety of containers or packages. We want to produce foreign policy information that can be seamlessly and quickly formatted and delivered to the right audience. 33. Is this set aside for small business or 8(a)? <a. No.

Record

Loren Data Corp. 20010702/DSOL001.HTM (W-179 SN50Q347)