FIOAXpress Software and Implementation
The Department of Commerce/National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration/National Environmental Satellite Data and Information Service (DOC/NOAA/NESDIS), intends to award a Purchase Order pursuant to Simplified Acquisition Procedures under the authority of FAR Part 13.
NESDIS proposes to enter into a contract on a basis of other than full and open competition for the implementation of FOIAXpress. The FOIAXpress software will centralize the ability to handle and track request/appeal submissions, electronically redact responsive documents, and compute and output statistics for the FOIA Annual Report.
This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items prepared in accordance with the format at FAR Subpart 12.6., as supplemented with additional information included in this notice, and it being conducted pursuant to Acquisition Circular 2005-99 effective June 15, 2018 Part Subpart 12.6 and FAR Part 13. The Request for Quote (RFQ) number is 1333MD18QNEEA0027.
The acquisition is being sought as a Small Business set aside for this requirement. The intended procurement will be classified under North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) 511210 - Size Standard 500 employees.
THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONSTITUTES THE ONLY SOLICITATION; QUOTES ARE BEING REQUESTED AND A WRITTEN SOLICITATION WILL NOT BE ISSUED.
The purpose of this acquisition is to provide support for the implementation of FOIAXpress using a Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FEDRAMP) certified Cloud service provider for the benefit of the Chief Administrative Officer/Chief Privacy Officer of the Department of Commerce (DOC)/National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the National Environmental Satellite Data and Information Service (NESDIS) is tasked with managing compliance with federal privacy statutes and best practices.
NESDIS requires the assistance of a Contractor to implement FOIAXpress in a cloud-based environment, make it available with software licenses for four (4) users to collaborate on case processing.
NESDIS proposes to enter into a contract for the implementation of FOIAXpress. The FOIAXpress software will centralize the ability to handle and track request/appeal submissions, electronically redact responsive documents, and compute and output statistics for the FOIA Annual Report.
To realize the efficiencies provided by a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model, NESDIS requirement as a cloud service will provide the below benefits:
- Lower infrastructure and other IT costs for hardware and software maintenance
- More timely application of patches and software updates
- Alignment with ‘Cloud First' Federal Computing Strategy
- Timely upgrade to latest version of the FOIAXpress software to maintain compliance with FOIA reporting requirement
Period of Performance
The period of performance of this task order shall be one (1) 12-month base period and two 12-month option periods.
Scope of Work
The performance requirements described below are those expected to be performed under this task order. Work requirements include the purchase of FOIA management software for NESDIS' FOIA program. NESDIS currently averages 19 FOIA requests per year. Of the average number of requests, 14 are voluminous. 70 gigabytes of storage space is needed to house all files. Formal training required for new product. In accordance with 15 CFR § 4.6(b), NESDIS has 20 working days to process a request.
In order to close a request within the 20 working day window, additional requirements include the following:
- Deadline tracking and alerts tool
- Supports digital forms, letters, email correspondence, reports and common documents to quickly enable digital business
- Compares email threads and removes duplicate messages and attachments without Tech intervention
- Bates Stamping
- Can Generate Court indexing tool
- The ability to analyzes Multiple File Types
- Generate multiples reports by Bates number for record keeping, and end of year reports
- Simplified importing/exporting feature that the end user controls
- Provides side-by-side comparison of near duplicate documents and highlights differences
- FedRAMP certified cloud solution that can be securely accessed from the web.
- Collaboration Tools: Collaboration across teams with shared files, journals and chat features
- Ability to lump related documents into groups
Reporting of Data Security Breaches
The Contractor must ensure that breaches/disclosures of Personally Identifiable Information (PII) due to loss, theft, intercepted transfer, or any other reason, are reported to the Department as soon as the Contractor has knowledge of it. Per OMB Memorandum M-06-19, Federal agencies have a requirement to report breaches of PII security to a Federal incident response center. The Contractor must notify the Department within 30 minutes of discovering the incident (and the Department will not distinguish between suspected or confirmed breaches). The data security plan must be written to reflect this requirement, and the Contractor must provide sufficient notification and documentation of the suspected loss, as it is understood at the time of notification to the Department for this requirement to be met. The Contractor must prepare follow-up reports of the final status of loss events within a 5 business days as advised by the COR.
Security
The contractor will annually provide an artifact of maintenance of FedRAMP certification.
Commerce Acquisition Regulation (CAR) clauses:
CAR 1352.201-70 Contracting Officer's Authority (APR 2010)
CAR 1352.209-73 Compliance with the Laws (APR 2010)
CAR 1352.209-74 Organizational Conflict of Interest (APR 2010)
CAR 1352.239-70 Software License Addendum
CAR 1352.233-70 Agency Protests (APR 2010) {Fill-in paragraph "b": Department of Commerce, NOAA, NESDIS, Field Delegate 1335 East West Highway, room 8472, silver Spring, MD 20910; fill-in paragraph "c": U.S Department of Commerce, Senior Procurement Executive, 1401 Constitution Avenue NW Suite 6422, Washington DC 20230}
The following FAR clause is provided in full text:
FAR clause 52.212-2, EVALUATION--COMMERCIAL ITEMS (OCT 2014)
(a) The Government will award a contract resulting from this solicitation to the responsible offeror whose offer conforming to the solicitation will be most advantageous to the Government, price and other factors considered. The following factors shall be used to evaluate offers: (1) The offerors capability to successfully perform the contract
TECHNICAL EVALUATION CRITERIA
The Government will evaluate the proposed offeror's technical ability to meet the requirement specifications.
(2) Price.
(b) "Options." The Government will evaluate offers for award purposes by adding the total price for all options to the total price for the basic requirement. The Government may determine that an offer is unacceptable if the option prices are significantly unbalanced. Evaluation of options shall not obligate the Government to exercise the option(s).
(c) 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. Before the offer's specified expiration time, the Government may accept an offer (or part of an offer), whether or not there are negotiations after its receipt, unless a written notice of withdrawal is received before award.
(End of Provision)
The following FAR Provisions and Clauses are incorporated by reference:
52.212-1, Instructions to Offerors (OCT 2015)
52.212-3, Offeror Representations and Certifications-Commercial Items (APR 2016)
52.212-4, Contract Terms and Conditions-Commercial Items (MAY 2015)
52.212-5, Contract Terms and Conditions Required To Implement Statutes or Executive Orders-Commercial Items (MAR 2016) applies to this acquisition
(1) 52.203-19, Prohibition on Requiring Certain Internal Confidentiality Agreements or Statements (JAN 2017) (section 743 of Division E, Title VII, of the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015 (Pub. L. 113-235) and its successor provisions in subsequent appropriations acts (and as extended in continuing resolutions)).
(2) 52.209-10, Prohibition on Contracting with Inverted Domestic Corporations (Nov 2015).
(3) 52.233-3, Protest After Award (Aug 1996) (31 U.S.C. 3553).
(4) 52.233-4, Applicable Law for Breach of Contract Claim (Oct 2004)(Public Laws 108-77 and 108-78 (19 U.S.C. 3805 note)).
In addition the following additional FAR clauses cited in the clause at paragraph (b) are applicable to this acquisition:
52.204-10, Reporting Executive Compensation and First-Tier Subcontract Awards (NOV 2015)
52.209-6, Protecting the Government's Interest when Subcontracting with Contractors Debarred, Suspended, or Proposed for Debarment (OCT 2015)
52.219-6, Notice of Total Small Business Set Aside, (NOV 2011)
52.219-28, Post Award Small Business Program Representation (JUL 2013)
52.222-3, Convict Labor, (JUN 2003)
52.222-19, Child Labor--Cooperation with Authorities and Remedies (FEB 2016)
52.222-21, Prohibition of Segregated Facilities, (APR 2015)
52.222-26, Equal Opportunity, (APR 2015)
52.222-36, Equal Opportunity for Workers with Disabilities (JUL 2014)
52.222-50, Combating Trafficking in Persons (MAR 2015)
52.223-18, Encouraging Contractor Policies to Ban Text Messaging While Driving (AUG 2011)
52.225-1, Buy American Act -- Supplies, (MAY 2014)
52.225-3, Buy American Act - Free Trade Agreements - Israeli Trade Act (MAY 2014)
52.225-13, Restrictions on Certain Foreign Purchases, (JUN 2008)
52.232-33, Payment by Electronic Funds Transfer - System for Award Management, (JUL 2013)
52.233-4, Applicable Law for Breach of Contract Claim (Oct 2004)
52.239-1, Privacy or Security Safeguards (AUG 1996)
52.232-39, Unenforceability of Unauthorized obligations (JUN 2013)
52.232-40, Providing Accelerated Payments to Small Business Subcontractors (DEC 2013)
In order to comply with the Debt Collection Improvement Act of 1996, ALL Vendors must be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM) to be considered for an award of a Federal contract. For information regarding registration in SAM, contact the SAM website at www.sam.gov. Additionally, each offeror must obtain, and provide with the quote, their nine-digit Dun and Bradstreet (DUNS) number.
All questions pertaining to this RFQ must be submitted in writing to Joel.L.Perlroth@noaa.gov. (E-mail only) by 1:00 P.M. EST on June 25, 2018. All responsible sources may submit a quotation which shall be considered by the agency. Quotes must be submitted via electronic means (e-mail) by 1:00 P.M. EST on July 2, 2018; any award resulting from this RFQ will be made based on meeting technical specifications, delivery date, and price. Quotes must be submitted electronically via e-mail to Joel.L.Perlroth@noaa.gov
The anticipated award date is on or about July 14, 2018. Contractors are encouraged to register with the FedBizOpps Vendor Notification Service as well as the Interested Vendors List for this acquisition (see applicable tab within FedBizOpps where this synopsis/solicitation is posted). Potential offerors may direct all inquiries pertaining to the solicitation in writing to Joel.L.Perlroth@noaa.gov. Telephonic requests will not be honored.
Joel L. Perlroth, Contracting Officer, Phone (301) 713-9204, Fax (301) 713-9219, Email joel.l.perlroth@noaa.gov
