Support Services for R/PPR IT
This Sources Sought notification is for marketing purposes only and does not commit the Government to issuing an award.
In accordance with FAR 19.202-4, this request is for planning purpose only and does not constitute an Invitation for Bid, Request for Proposal, Solicitation, Request for Quote or an indication the Government will contract for the services contained in this announcement. This is a Sources Sought regarding potential sources and is for market research purposes only.
The intent of the SOURCES SOUGHT announcement is to conduct market research to identify sources to support informed decision makers to procure for the attached required service. This notice is a Sources Sought for all interested qualified businesses that meets the requirements in this draft effort.
Business Objective:
The Office of the Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, Office of Policy, Planning and Resources (R/PPR) provides long-term strategic planning and performance measurement for the Department of State's public diplomacy and public affairs activities worldwide. The office assists the Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs (R) in the development of long-term strategic vision and integrates that vision into the Department's strategic planning processes. R/PPR provides a focal point for public diplomacy resource management, consulting closely with regional and functional public diplomacy offices and public affairs sections overseas.
R/PPR has access to significant amounts of budget and financial and program evaluation and analytical data, supported by a myriad of tools and systems that generate valuable information for the Public Diplomacy (PD) community. These tools, systems and data streams, however, are manual, semi-manual and automated, and in many cases stove-piped and duplicative and operated by multiple organizations, making their efficient and effective use elusive. R/PPR envisions a new technology framework that expedites the work of PD practitioners world-wide and serves as a cutting-edge paradigm for other organizations to emulate.
Within this context, R/PPR aims to build upon the history and lessons learned from implementing and operating existing PD tools and systems to define a new "enter once, share extensively" technology framework. R/PPR seeks a streamlined set of user-facing solutions that continue to build upon its recent adoption of the "human-centric" design approach to improve day-to-day workflows, increase tool adaption and usage, minimize unnecessary and duplicative data entry, and maximize data sharing, data analytics and reporting; these user-facing solutions will be powered by a set of integrated databases, data marts and data warehouses. The revamped and newly developed systems must smoothly integrate into existing work flows and where possible ease existing workloads; otherwise they will be underutilized or not used at all. Existing systems must be maintained during the development and incremental rollout of new systems under the envisioned framework.
R/PPR seeks a future technology architecture that leverages, to the greatest extent possible, commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) and open-source technologies that enable faster "time-to-market" delivery of products and services at optimum and reduced cost outlays.
R/PPR wishes to assess the availability and abilities of organizations from all industry sources, both big and small business, to meet the capabilities and requirements listed below. Please identify GSA Schedule or other GWAC, if applicable. Interested sources shall possess and demonstrate an in-depth understanding and long-term experience and success in meeting all of the requirements listed below. Questions are due NLT NOON (EST) April 23, 2015 to kershnerk@state.gov. Responses are due NLT NOON (EST) May 5, 2015 to kershnerk@state.gov. Responses are limited to electronic submissions of no more than 30 pages consisting of font size 12 in Times New Roman and must demonstrate the ability to provide the following specific required services:
1. Integrated Project Strategy & Implementation Plan
a. Environmental Awareness
i. Complete a landscape analysis of current R/PPR IT strategies, recommendations, plans, organizational reports, etc. completed to date, IT systems and environments and other pertinent information
ii. Complete a landscape analysis of current R/PPR tools and IT projects. Develop an understanding of workflows, system interconnections and data exchange requirements
iii. Develop a high-level strategy and plan to achieve R/PPR's envisioned IT framework, integrating any existing strategies, roadmaps and projects in place, to ensure successful implementation of the future technology framework.
iv. Present envisioned plan, strategy and recommendations.
2. Project Management
a. Provide an advanced set of project management services to ensure the successful development and implementation of the R/PPR future technology platform and the ongoing operations and maintenance support of existing R/PPR IT systems.
b. Develop a detailed Project Management Plan describing the approach, organizational resources and management controls to be employed to implement the high-level strategy and plan and to also meet the cost, schedule and technical requirements throughout the execution of a contract.
c. Execute the Project Management Plan through the staffing of expert resources in each of the required technical domains.
3. Steady State IT Systems Operations and Maintenance
a. Provide a team of experienced, qualified individuals to operate and maintain existing systems. R/PPR's current IT portfolio includes approximately five (5) core PD Strategic Planning tools used globally, and a variety of other related management, budget and informational tools (not all operated by R/PPR). The technologies that support these tools include: .Net, HTML5, CSS, JavaScript, JSON, Cold Fusion, Oracle and SQL Server databases, Windows Server OS as well as more simplistic platforms such as Sharepoint and Microsoft Excel. R/PPR has an internal network Sharepoint presence where the Office web page is hosted as well as several program support sub-sites. Hosting platforms include the Microsoft Azure Cloud and the Departments internal network.
4. Integrated Technology Framework Design, Development and Implementation
a. Provide a team of experienced and qualified individuals to develop and/or upgrade systems to operate in the prescribed future R/PPR technology framework and that can deliver solutions for a variety of technical platforms such as web and desktop, mobile, data marts/data warehouses for global/world-wide use. Solutions must be effective in both high and low bandwidth environments and must employ state-of-the-art design and development techniques such as responsive design and platform and operating system independence. Solutions must incorporate any brand identity established for R/PPR products and services.
5. Security, Compliance and Governance
a. Provide expert staffing to ensure that systems are in compliance with all federal government and Department of State IT rules and regulations such as NIST, Section 508, Paperwork Reduction Act, etc.
b. Apply effective software development and product operations life cycle methodologies that enable agile delivery timelines while maintaining high quality in delivered work products
c. Apply effective configuration and change management practices and processes
d. Provide thorough documentation to enable seamless and uninterrupted transition of support back to R/PPR.
e. Advise R/PPR on areas of business process and workflow improvement that will be beneficial to the organization as identified during the course of the project
6. Qualifications
a. Core competencies. Describe how the company's core competencies support the requirements.
b. Past performance. Describe projects of similar type and effort (to include size and complexity), the work that was completed, and the performance and results delivered. Provide Contract Number(s), Point of Contact(s) (POCs), email address(s), phone number(s) for each project.
c. Staffing capability. Provide the core competencies of the employees that would support the requirements. Provide the total number of individuals currently employed by your company capable of supporting the requirements. Provide the number of individuals that are cleared, pre-cleared or can be cleared at the time of award. It is anticipated that a Moderate Risk Public Trust (MPRT) or Secret clearance will be required.
d. Value added. Describe the unique qualifications, experiences, processes, innovations, etc. that the company possesses that would be beneficial to R/PPR, add value and contribute to unequivocal success of this project.
e. Availability. Describe the company's ability to support a remote work and teaming environment with assigned contract staff able to commute to the government location for meetings and collaboration on an ad-hoc basis, approximately three times per week. Government site space is not available.
Kelley S. Kershner , Phone 7038756071, Email kershnerk@state.gov
