70 -- SSA INTENDS TO NEGOTIATE SOLELY WITH INFRASTRUCTURES FOR INFORMATION FOR CONSULTANT SUPPORT

Notice Date

September 5, 2001

Contracting Office

Social Security Administration, Deputy Commissioner for Finance, Assessment and Management, Office of Acquisition and Grants, 1710 Gwynn Oak Avenue, Baltimore, MD, 21207-5279

ZIP Code

21207-5279

Solicitation Number

3374-01-1830

Response Due

September 13, 2001

Point of Contact

Cynthia Spencer, Contract Specialist, Phone 4109653369, Fax 4109659560, Email cynthia.spencer@ssa.gov -- Wayne Mcdonald, Contract Specialist, Phone 4109659480, Fax 4109659560, Email wayne.mcdonald@ssa.gov

Description

The Social Security Administration (SSA) intends to negotiate solely with Infrastructures for Information (a.k.a. i4i), 116 Spadina Avenue, 5th Floor, Toronto, Ontario M5V 2K6 to acquire consultant support services to provide modifications to i4i's S4/TEXT product. This requirement calls for the development of a customized version of i4i's Tagless Editor? S4/TEXT product to be used as an SGML content creation tool by the Social Security Administration in an authoring evaluation proof of concept (POC) study. The SSA will use the SGML authoring template in an existing client-based software application, in conjunction with Microsoft Word, with the intent to create and edit SGML documents that conform to the POMS DTD, as provided by SSA. The i4i services to be provided include all analysis, development, and technical assistance required providing a working proof-of-concept authoring template to be incorporated as an add-on for Microsoft Word. This template will include all functionality identified by SSA except for functionality that will be initially deferred. This project will be carried out in several steps using i4i's Tagless Editor?: 1) identification of pertinent functional specifications for the prototype Social Security Administration Tagless Editor template; and 2) review and approval of the functional specification to be used for the authoring template development; and 3) Prototype Design. An i4i Product Specialist will need to specify the behaviors a) in the application; b) that are to be in the Behavioral Instance; and c) programmatic behaviors; 4) Behavioral Instance Design, an i4i Product Specialist will need to define a) document creation element labels; and b) any special element behaviors; 5) Template Creation, an i4i developer will create the formatting template used in authoring, this includes defining: a) styles to be applied to tags; and b) graphics handlers if needed; 6) Behavioral Instance Creation, an i4i developer will create the behavioral instance used to guide users during authoring, this includes: a) creating passive suggestions for the S4/Guide; and b) defining special actions as needed; 7) Programmatic Additions, an i4i developer will program any special behaviors. This step also includes integrating the finished Behavioral instance code; 8) Installation, an i4i installation specialist will create the necessary installation scripts as required by the functional specifications. Installation of the Tagless Editor is a simple and straightforward process similar to installing any Microsoft Office product; 9) Documentation, an i4i Documentation specialist will write a simple Users Authoring Guide for the Social Security Administration Tagless Editor including all features customized for the SSA POMS authoring template and a technical installation guide. SSA will review the draft User?s Guide and technical installation guide providing comments and suggestions for improvement. The contractor shall incorporate the changes into the final documents; 10) Quality Assurance, i4i Quality Assurance professionals will test the installation on the target Word version and operating system as well as the functionality of the product against the SSA's functional specifications. i4i's QA testing will be based on a combination of Windows 2000 & NT 4 O/S and Word 97 & 2000 versions; 11) Prototype Deliverables Summary, at the completion of the above tasks i4i will provide to SSA the following: a)Behavioral Instance files and Format Template files based on analysis of the SSA functional specifications excluding agreed upon features; b)A custom developed i4i S4/TEXT MS-Word add-on template incorporating all agreed upon functional specifications; c)Installation package for the S4/TEXT template that has been tested and approved by SSA; and d)An approved Authoring User?s guide and technical installation guide as stated in the functional specifications; 12)Authoring Prototype Performance Expectations, as stated by SSA's functional specifications. At the completion of the development tasks and prototype deliver the end users will be able to: a) Successfully launch the authoring template when downloading documents from the Policy Repository; b) Edit and save the document as an SGML or S4/TEXT file using the authoring template in conjunction with MS-Word; c) Use the S4/Email feature for routing completed documents to analysts or OPTM personnel for review; d)Utilize the MS-Word "Track Changes" feature to incorporate modifications to the S4/TEXT file; and e) Extract the final approved SGML file using the S4/TEXT template for OPTM personnel to upload to the Policy Repository database. This award for consulting services to modify i4i's S4/TEXT Tagless Editor software will extend the Microsoft? Word environment to support a highly customizable structured SGML authoring document environment. The i4i software being used is customizable to suit the business requirements of the SSA's policy repository authoring environment.=20 The i4i software being utilized will be transparent to the authors and allow them to seamlessly compose, interact and collaborate on policy documents extracted from the current SGML based Policy Repository. This is a partial listing of the functional requirements and software specifications. The SGML authoring software being used for the authoring template study must: a) support the creation and editing of valid SGML; b) prevent an author from inadvertently removing or damaging the well-formed base structure of the SGML policy document and from inadvertently introducing elements into an invalid position; c) be able to integrate seamlessly with the Agency standard word processing software, MicroSoft? Word versions 97 through Word 2000 to ensure author use and acceptance; d) be able to conceal the SGML tags and the details of the structure specified by the SSA supplied Document Type Definition (DTD) from the author; e) be able to provide an interactive author-friendly set of suggestions and options based on the cursor location within the document, this capability can be tailored for each policy document type (DTD) where applicable; f) support the full range of Microsoft? Word functionality as needed to meet SSA's current and projected authoring requirements; g) support standard spell checking with any Word dictionary; h) support "Find" and "Find and Replace" on text content (ignoring extraneous information such as tags, attribute names and values); i) support intelligent paste, i.e. -- the ability to paste from a MS-Word document and programmatically apply SGML tags based on MS-Word styles; j) support paste into SGML document from MS-Word or text file source; k) support the CALS (Continuous Acquisition and Life-cycle Support) exchange table model specification; l) support the inclusion of a variety of graphics file formats including jpeg, gif, tiff, pdf and pcx.; m) support multiple document types (DTD's), accessible as needed by the author for various policy documents; n) be capable of applying Word styles based on elements in SGML context, tailored to the policy document type; o) be able to track changes made by different authors, present the change history in MS-Word fashion, and save the history in the SGML instance in support of collaborative policy development; p) embody SSA's authoring requirements and document creation editing rules for each policy document type in way that can be applied automatically to ensure validity under all actions; q) allow the author, analyst or editor to adjust the level of guidance provided (given SSA's varied authoring skill levels) -- novice users will need detailed suggestions and options presented as they work, experienced users will want to use fly-out menus; and editors may want control-key based actions; r) when creating a new policy document instance it must generate a document framework based on user-selected options with appropriate headings or captions, so that the author does not have to create the document in a strict top-down, step-wise fashion; s) have a document map option under user control for navigation displaying author-friendly labels (not SGML tags) and actual content; t) support ActiveX controls for viewing special content in-line in the MS-Word document; u) be able to preview a document instance at any time in Microsoft? Internet Explore (version 5.X or greater) using style sheets or must be modifiable to display underlying SGML in HTML format. This provides authors with positive immediate feedback on their documents web-based format and display; v) the author and analyst must have a document map option under user control for navigation displaying user-friendly labels (not SGML tags) and the actual content. Must integrate with SSA's email system so that an SGML instance and all its supporting files (DTD, entities, & graphic inclusions) can be sent as a single package from an author, and opened ready-to-use by another policy author or analyst with the same application in support of collaborative policy development; w) the supporting developer software must have the ability to easily implement the SSA business requirements and capabilities as stated above in its add-on product without requiring the need for a specialized programmer; and x)the application must allow for additional customization (using VBA code level, or by adding COM objects) to enable connections to external processes and or repository databases, and integration with the existing Oracle authoring application and content management system.=20 The above capabilities are critical to the SSA's need to facilitate policy authoring using SGML for policy repository storage, retrieval and content re-purposing. This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial services prepared in accordance with the format in Subpart 12.6, as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation; proposals are being requested and a written solicitation will not be issued. THIS IS THE ONLY ANNOUNCEMENT. A WRITTEN REQUEST FOR QUOTATION WILL NOT BE ISSUED. This procurement is being conducted as a simplified acquisition in accordance with FAR Part 13. The NAICS is 541512 and the SIC is 7379 for this requirement. The small business size standard is $18 million. This Request for Quotation, SSA-RFQ-01-1830 and the incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect through the latest Federal Acquisition Circular. BACKGROUND: This is a follow-on to a previous contract. Infrastructures for Information, Inc., is the only known vendor capable of providing this resource. A fixed-price, sole source award pursuant to FAR PART 13.5 Simplified Acquisition-Test Program for Certain Commercial Items shall be issued for the requirements requested herein. Requests for copies of a solicitation in response hereto will not be honored or acknowledged. INFORMATION: 1) A partial quote will not be accepted; 2) identify labor categories, hourly rates and total amount; and 3) provide a copy of commercial price list; Request for Quotation (RFQ) INSTRUCTIONS: The following provisions at FAR Subpart 52.212-1 Instructions to Offerors?Commercial, (tailored) apply to this acquisition: (a), (b)1 through (b)9, (b)11, (c), (f),and (g). There are no addenda to these provisions. The provisions at FAR Subpart 52.212-2 Evaluation?Commercial Items apply to this acquisition. The Government will award to the responsible offeror whose offer meets the requirements in this RFQ at the lowest cost to the Government. A written notice of award or acceptance of an offer, mailed or otherwise furnished to the successful offeror within the time for acceptance specified in the offer, shall result in a binding contract without further action by either party. Offerors must include a copy of the provision at FAR Part 52.212-3, Offeror Representations and Certifications?Commercial Items, with their offer. The representation and certifications can be found at website -- www.ssa.gov/oag/oag2.htm. The provisions at FAR Subpart 52.212-4, Contract Terms and Conditions?Commercial Items, apply to this acquisition. There are no addenda to these provisions. The following provision at FAR Subpart 52.212-5, Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes or Executive Orders?Commercial Items (tailored), apply to this acquisition: (a)(1), (a)(2), (b)(1),(b)(11) through (b)(15, and (b)(23). The development solution must meet Section 508 compliance -- 1194.41 (Information, Documentation, and Support). Responses must be submitted to the Government Contract Specialist by 3:00p.m. EST Thursday, September 13, 2001 (no exceptions). Faxed responses will not be accepted. =20 =20

Web Link

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Record

Loren Data Corp. 20010907/70SOL006.HTM (D-248 SN50W837)