D -- REVERSE AUCTION SERVICES

Notice Date

September 25, 2001

Contracting Office

General Services Administration, Federal Technology Service (FTS), Solutions Development Center (7TS), 819 Taylor Street, Room 11A30, Fort Worth, TX, 76102

ZIP Code

76102

Solicitation Number

7TS-01-0001

Response Due

October 1, 2001

Point of Contact

Patricia Renfro, Contracting Officer, Phone (817) 978-0026, Fax (817) 978-0095, Email patricia.renfro@gsa.gov -- Kathy Garrett, Contracting Officer, Phone (817) 978-3434, Fax (817) 978-4039, Email kathy.garrett@gsa.gov

Description

This is not a solicitation announcement. This is a sources sought synopsis only. The purpose of this sources sought synopsis is to gain knowledge of potential qualified sources and their size classifications (Hubzone 8(a), 8(a), Hubzone, small, small disadvantaged and large business) relative to NAICS Code 514191, $18 Million. Responses to this sources sought synopsis will be used by the government to make appropriate acquisition decisions. After review of the responses to this sources sought, a solicitation will be issued. All firms responding to this sources sought are advised that their response to this notice is not a request to be considered for a contract award. All interested offerors will have to respond to the solicitation announcement in addition to responding to this sources sought announcement. The GSA Federal Technology Service is seeking sources for a government wide acquisition contract, multiple award, indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity, contract for worldwide reverse auction services. The contract period will be for a base period of two years with 3 one-year option periods. The total estimated contract value is $6,000,000.00. The following describes the requirements for the reverse auction services: The contract will require that the Reverse Auction service capability will be from (a) a centralized operation or (b) a desktop application, which the user may configure and control from start to finish. Vendors may respond to either or both the requirement for hosted reverse auction service and/or the desktop application reverse auction service as described below. Orders may originate from a single government buyer, or may be the result of an aggregation of requirements from several government buyers. The service shall allow federal clients and GSA buyers to post requirements for commodities or services. The service shall enable customers, suppliers, and FTS to monitor progression of real-time Reverse Auctions. The government buyer may also obtain Reverse Auction services from FTS for non-IT items and services. The Reverse Auction can employ best value criteria in the evaluation of the suppliers' proposals, and subsequent award of the order. The Reverse Auction has an established start and end time. Suppliers can see the bidding results but have no knowledge as to the other supplier's identities or company names. Private bidding may occur between a government buyer and multiple suppliers (one to many) or between multiple government buyers with common commodity needs and multiple suppliers (many to many). A many-to-many private bid will require the consent of the government buyers. With either configuration, the government buyer's common commodity needs may be aggregated into lots by commodity type. Based on the uniqueness of these lots, there may be more than one private bid lot with each private bid lot having its own set of suppliers. The following describes basic capabilities of Reverse Auction components that allow a single government buyer to interact with multiple sellers to conduct a reverse auction. The system shall allow the government buyer via the Enabler to perform certain critical functions. These functions include the ability to monitor auctions in progress, analyze information on buyers and sellers, and create management and other reports. The Buyers.Gov Exchange portal intends to provide an interface for Reverse Auction services. Hosted Reverse Auction: is one in which a great deal of planning, coordination, and execution on the part of the enabler (auctioneer) is required in order to execute the auction. Typically, it means interfacing with personnel at an auction control center in order to execute the event. Desktop Reverse Auction: is that in which the auction is set up and executed entirely from the users desktop as opposed to interfacing with personnel at an auction operations center for set up and execution of the event. Help Desk: Assists users with desktop auction capability in the event of problems and or errors encountered during the execution or set up of an auction. Personnel knowledgeable of the capabilities of the auction software shall staff the help desk. Mandatory Requirements throughout the remainder of this section of all requirements apply to both Hosted Auctions and Desktop Auctions, unless item is appended with the bracketed letters HA (Hosted Reverse Auction) or (DA) Desktop Auction, which denotes applicability to those respective services only. The Reverse Auction Service shall provide: a. Individual participant training: The Enabler provides training to all auction event participants as necessary. Training is conducted utilizing the Enabler's auctioning software and shall be included in the base price of the auction. b. Failure recovery/Risk mitigation: Ability to recover from a catastrophic c. Phone support during auction: Enabler provides telephone support during auction event. (HA). Help Desk: There shall be a help desk available to assist users with desktop auction capability in the event of problems and or errors encountered during the execution or set up of an auction. Personnel knowledgeable of the capabilities of the auction software shall staff the help desk All Enablers receiving a contract under this RFP will be required to establish a simple link from their own (Enabler's) portals/site to the Buyers.Gov website. This will allow Buyers.Gov to be another portal into an enabler's Reverse Auction web site. Mandatory Government Buyer related features: The system shall support establishing a user profile for the Contracting Officer (CO). The profile authorizes the CO to post a Request for Quotations/Proposals, invites specific suppliers to provide quotes, review RFQ and quote item details, and conduct an auction. The system shall support limiting access for Suppliers to participate in a reverse auction only for the Suppliers who are invited to submit bids by the CO. Only those Suppliers chosen by the CO to participate will be able to access the system and compete in the event. The system shall include the capability to allow the CO to specify auction market and business rules. These rules may include such capabilities as determining when an auction starts and ends, establishing permissions and information disclosure parameters for auction participants, managing multiple pricing and auction formats, and setting additional bidding, closing, extension, and business rules that typically govern the auction environment. Specifically, the system shall provide: a. The ability of the government buyer to participate in a real time, live, Internet Reverse Auction. b. The ability to request bids on line items, or lots, or the entire RFQ if applicable. c. The ability for the government buyer to invite specific suppliers to participate. d. Access for the government buyer to see real time, online bidding and all details of the bids at both a line item and total bid level. e. Assign aliases to bidders so their identities are known only to the government. f. Display bid relationships, at a minimum the ability to see the descending relationship between the current bid and the current low bid. g. Maintain communication with bidders, allowing for "stop the action" if communication is interrupted with one of the bidders or another mechanism adequate for dealing with a catastrophic system failure. h. The ability of a prospective government buyer to review the Enabler 's capabilities. i. Bid Display: Real time display of bids as they are received. j. Configure bid controls: The Government can configure how the auction is conducted, such as bid invitations, auto extension, and bidding on all lines or only on a per line (lot) basis of authority. k. Compare bids: The Government can compare final bids on the system and identify the successful bidder after the auction event. Minimum bid decrement modifiable: The Enabler's software allows minimum bid decrement parameter setting and can be modified according to the Government's preferences. m. Proxy bidding: If a bidder loses their connection, the Enabler or CO upon the bidder's request can bid on their behalf. n. View bidder information: The Government Buyer can view bidder information (e.g. line item description, quantity, price, time, identity of vendor, and any other evaluation factor used to determine competitive pricing). in historical "line item" format for each bid submitted during the auction event. Any other government buyer related features are optional and are considered to be value-added features. Mandatory Supplier-Related features: a. Suppliers will be able to bid real time, in a live Internet Reverse Auction. Supplier access includes the ability to submit bids using previously obtained RFQ information and monitor progress of the auction with respect to their bids. b. Sellers can bid on individual line items, line item groups/lots, or on the entire RFQ, as controlled by the CO. c. Contract file documentation reports. The system shall provide electronic and written documentation, in the form of a report, following completion of the event summarizing the history of bids during a Reverse Auction e.g. line item description, number of bidders, quantity, price, time, identity of vendor for each bid, any periods of loss of connectivity, and any other evaluation factor used during the auction to determine awardee, etc. d. Anonymity must be maintained among bidders/suppliers. e. Supplier submit bids: Supplier can submit bids online. f. Supplier review all bids: Supplier can review all bids which have been submitted online. g. Obtain real-time status updates online: Suppliers can determine whether their bid was the lowest bid online. h. Supplier registration: Suppliers are granted access to the event site based on the CO's preferences. They are allowed different levels of access to the site depending on their assigned pre-qualification to bid on one or more lots. i. "Safety net" feature: Software can impose a bid safety net for each bidder, below which the bidder is not permitted to place bids, or prompt bidder to be sure it wants to submit a bid at the specified price. Any other supplier related features are optional and are considered to be extra "value added" features. Mandatory Technical features: The system shall fit the definition of a true Internet system and provide a secure marketplace to conduct business. Some of its critical features include: a. the software architecture of the system shall be component-based to the extent possible, and use multi-tier architecture. b. The system shall be designed to support the latest Internet protocols so that users will not be required to use specific hardware or software to connect to and use the system hardware and software independence for users. c.All software shall incorporate the latest standards in the technology of choice e.g. Java-based systems, etc. d. The system shall be able to run in a mission-critical environment and operate 24 hours/day 7 days a week year-round environment with an uptime guarantee of 99.8%, normal to most high-quality web hosting. e. Thin client -No special software or hardware required for buyers or sellers; a standard browser should be sufficient. f. The system shall be hosted in a fireproof, power backed-up, multi-network connected, guarded facility. The system shall offer a high level of security with Secure Socket Layer encryption, data integrity checks, strong authentication, and the speed to successfully conduct real-time bidding events. h. The systems will interface with the Buyers.Gov portal. Enablers must have a URL accessible through the Buyers.Gov website. Auction software shall be capable of displaying the time remaining in the auction event including any extensions or overtimes. j. Desktop software versions as well as web based software versions will be technically consistent. k. Any Software licensing agreements shall be provided with the proposal and cannot conflict with the terms and conditions within this RFP. l. Contracts awarded as a result of this solicitation shall provide Reverse Auction services worldwide from the contractor's base of operations (HA) or CO's desktop (DA). m. The Government intends to permit the use of commercial software. n. Secure user registration: Software allows secure registration of bidders and the Government. o. Latest SSL and encryption: Software must utilize the latest commercial version of Secure Sockets Layer security and encryption capability. p. Allow static preview of auction: Software allows a preview of the auction setup for participants to the auction event. q. Auto extend an auction: Auction can be extended based on pre-specified criteria. r. Database to capture final bids for evaluation: Software captures the best and final bids from each bidder for possible post-auction evaluation. s.Software displays the two lowest most competitive bids, as opposed to the last two bids, regardless of competitiveness. t. Automatic refresh: Software automatically refreshes at the Government-indicated time increments. u. All systems and services acquired under this contract must meet the applicable accessibility standards at 36 CFR 119 at http://www.section508.gov. Any other technical features are considered to be extra "value added" features. Responses to this notice should include company name, address, point of contact, size of business pursuant to North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) and must respond to the following questions: 1.) Is your business a large or small business? 2.) If small, does your firm qualify as a small, emerging small, or a small disadvantaged business? 3.) If disadvantaged, specify under which disadvantaged group and is your firm certified under Section 8(a) of the Small Business Act? 4.) Is your firm a certified "hub zone" firm? 5.) Is your firm a woman-owned or operated business? 6.) Is your firm a certified Service-Disabled Veteran Owned and Veteran-Owned? In addition to the foregoing, you must submit a capabilities statement for either or both hosted reverse auction and/or desktop application reverse auction services as well as your firm's past experience for either or both hosted reverse auction and/or desktop application reverse auction services. Your response must also include you intent to submit an offer as a prime contractor for the final solicitation. All of the above must be submitted in sufficient detail for a decision to be made on a particular small business set-aside. Failure to submit all information requested may result in an unrestricted acquisition. This is not a request for proposals and in no way obligates the Government to award any contract. Responses will be accepted by e-mail no later than 2:00 p.m. central time, on Monday, October 5, 2001. Your response must be sent to patricia.renfro@gsa.gov with a copy to ben.reed@gsa.gov. Reponses to this sources sought is not a request to be added to a prospective bidders list or to receive a copy of the solicitation. All questions shall be directed to Patricia G. Renfro, Contracting Officer at (817) 978-0026, or patricia.renfro@gsa.gov.=20

Web Link

Visit this URL for the latest information about this (http://www.eps.gov/spg/GSA/FTS/7TS/7TS-01-0001/listing.html)

Record

Loren Data Corp. 20010927/DSOL011.HTM (D-268 SN50Y6M6)