Army Social Media Management Services

SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE FOR ARMY SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGEMENT SERVICES The U.S. Army Contracting Command -New Jersey (ACC-NJ) on behalf of Office of the Chief of Public Affairs (OCPA), Washington DC is currently seeking potential sources with the capability of providing a web-accessible (cloud base) enterprise level social media management software-as-a-service that is FEDRAMP authorized to facilitate engagement, scheduling, team management, content curation, monitoring and reporting for various Army Social media presences. This Sources Sought Notice (SSN) serves as a means of conducting market research to identify sources who have an interest in and the resources to support this requirement. ESTIMATED PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE consists of one year with the possibility of two (2) option years and an assumed performance commencing during 2018. CONTRACT TYPE is anticipated to be Firm Fixed Price (FFP). PLACE OF PERFORMANCE: TBD All data received in response to this Sources Sought that is marked or designated as corporate or proprietary will be fully protected from any release outside the Government. No phone calls will be accepted. ELIGIBILITY The applicable North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) code for this requirement is 541519, "Other Computer Related Services" with a Small Business Size Standard of $27.5M. Interested parties are to provide their NAICS code if different from above and their respective Product Service Code. Businesses of all sizes are encouraged to respond; however, each respondent must clearly identify their business size in their capabilities statement. BASED ON THE RESPONSES TO THIS SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE/MARKET RESEARCH, THIS REQUIREMENT MAY BE SET-ASIDE FOR SMALL BUSINESSES (IN FULL OR IN PART) OR PROCURED THROUGH FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION, and multiple awards MAY be made. All Small Business Set-Aside categories will be considered. Telephone inquiries will not be accepted or acknowledged, and no feedback or evaluations will be provided to companies regarding their submissions. INSTRUCTIONS Interested parties are requested to submit a capabilities statement of no more than ten (10) pages in length in Times New Roman font of not less than 10 pitch. The deadline for response to this Sources Sought is no later than 12:00 pm, EST 27 July 2018. All responses under this Sources Sought Notice must be e-mailed to the Contract Specialist, Tiffany Nosti, and the Contracting Officer Evangelina C. Tillyros, in either Microsoft Word or Portable Document Format (PDF), at tiffany.n.nosti.civ@mail.mil and evangelina.c.tillyros.civ@mail.mil. All questions must be submitted to the contract specialist identified above. The Government is not committed nor obligated to pay for the information provided, and no basis for claims against the Government shall arise as a result of a response to this Sources Sought. Responses to this notice must address, at a minimum, the following items: 1. Respondents are requested to provide answers to the following questions. If your firm is able to provide the capability, please provide additional details regarding your capabilities and product offering. If your firm is unable to provide this capability, please respond in the negative and if applicable provide a justification. Does your firm have the following capabilities: a. The contractor shall provide a web-accessible (cloud based) enterprise level social media management software-as-a-service that is FEDRAMP authorized to facilitate social media content scheduling, planning, engagement, scheduling, team management, content curation, monitoring and reporting for various Army Social media presences. b. Software runtime shall be on a 24/7/365 basis with metric and reporting updates daily. Helpdesk operation is required between the hours of 0900-1700 (EST/EDT). Access to helpdesk support after operational hours in the event of an emergency is required. c. The contractor shall provide access to this software for up to 500 user accounts. Each account will allow users to manage the daily operations of their organization's social media presences. d. A fully customizable reporting feature. Reporting shall support information and metrics for all features on the solution to include, but not limited to, engagement activities, post and content scheduling, team management activities, content curation, syndication activities, content posting, account activation and execution, monitoring and reporting for various Army Social media presences. e. Include what social media platforms your firm can operate with. f. Calendar. A customizable social media content publishing calendar that can synchronize Army wide social media efforts. This calendar should have capability to map out engagement activities, programs, digital media strategies, multimedia content, campaigns, and events. This calendar shall allow for real-time updates and be fully exportable. The calendar shall allow users to make recommendations for calendar addition that would allow designated users to make approval for incorporation. g. Content Library. The contractor shall provide a customizable content library that makes social media content such as graphics, photos, videos, Army messaging and guidance available to all users to use on their social media platforms. The library shall allow users to make recommendations for library addition that would allow designated users to make approval for incorporation. h. Communication support. The social media software shall provide a fully customizable chat feature to allow users to communicate, coordinate and collaborate. The contractor develop standard operating procedures for chat board participation and moderation. i. Analytical Data. Reports should have capability to support analytical data for trend recognition. Software shall have capability to formulate bar charts, graphs, line charts, showing date/site/alert identifying trending and analysis of data. j. Exportable Formats. Reports shall be exportable in the following formats Adobe PDF (.pdf), Microsoft PowerPoint (.pptx), Microsoft Excel (.csv) k. Content Monitoring. The solution shall provide capability for monitoring of posts, conversations, and comments made to content posted on the Army social media platforms. Criteria will include, but not be limited to, vulgarity, disturbing images, inaccurate post data, Anti-American posts, posts that could potentially impact national security, etc. l. Ability to record and utilize responses to posts to provide information on how social media groups are receiving the information. m. Capability to search for and source high-quality content for publishing on Army social media platforms. n. Capability to develop and maintain a consolidated list of recommended user responses based on daily documentation of social media monitoring. Recommended actions in response to user responses include, but are not limited to: likes, comments, retweets, Re-grams, shares, hiding conversations, flagging/reporting comments, banning users and deleting comments. o. The software shall include a content marketing tool/feature within the Social Media Management software to provide assistance in planning and scheduling social media content for publishing on Army social media platforms. p. The solution shall provide the capability to plan and create meaningful Army communications in support of digital strategies that feature branded content in social media channels and submit for approval. q. Capability to ensure accompanying photography, headlines, tweets, Instagram's, Facebook posts identify accurate events and activities captured by the Army are accurate, clear, and concise. r. Capability to obtain content sourced for Army social media channels that takes into account recent events and, to the extent possible, reflect neutrality in regard to any high visibility, contentious topics about the political environment, national security, U.S. Army and Department of Defense. s. Capability for content sourcing and writing that reflects current trends in the social space, to include, but not limited to: length of post, volume of content published on any given day, mobile optimization, emerging content techniques, optimal publishing times, content sized and proportioned for the platform, use of graphic design such as text overlays, and the use of native functionality (e.g. tags, targeting, content preview, link description boxes, etc.). t. Separate feature with the capability to search, identify, report for removal, and verify the removal status of impostor social media accounts/profiles for 50 designated individuals, to be provided as a "protected list". This feature would use a functional workflow process to remediate impostor accounts. Remediation for the purposes of this effort is defined as following the procedures of the respective social media platform for reporting an impostor account/profile to request the removal, and verify the removal of the reported account. Access and permissions to this feature will be provided to up to 5 individuals. u. Capability to offer various metric reports containing information that can be manipulated for reporting. Metric reports to be exportable to Microsoft Excel and Adobe PDF. Respondents can include additional information, such as brochures, reports, or any other specific information that would enhance the Governments evaluation of the current market conditions for a service contract of this nature. 2. Respondents are requested to also include currently available pricing packages and information on standard subscription options for the capabilities requested above. 3. Respondents must be willing to undergo a Nation Agency Check with Inquiries (NACI) Background Check and Personally Identifiably Information (PII) Training. 4. Respondents are to provide a listing of relevant recent work that their company has performed in support of a same or similar requirement. 5. What specific technical skills does your company possess which ensure capability to perform these tasks? 6. Include whether your company can satisfy this type of requirement through a web based service, cloud services, software, ect. 7. Provide a statement including small/large business status, and a company profile to include the number of employees, annual revenue history, office locations, DUNS number, ect. 8. Respondents to this notice also must indicate whether they qualify as a Small, Small Disadvantaged, Women-Owned, HUBZone, or Service Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business Concern. 9. Respondents must provide evidence of FEDRAMP authorization of the software solution. This SSN is for information and planning purposes only, and should not be construed as a Request for Proposal (RFP) or a commitment by the U.S. Government. The U.S. Government does not intend to award a contract on the basis of this market survey. All information is to be submitted at no cost or obligation to the Government. The Government reserves the right to reject, in whole or in part, any private sector input as a result of the market survey. The Government is not obligated to notify respondents of the results of this survey. Any information provided will not be returned. If a formal solicitation is generated at a later date, a separate solicitation notice will be published via FedBizOps. BACKGROUND The Office of the Chief of Public Affairs (OCPA), is designated by the Secretary of the Army (SECARMY) as the executive agency with administrative and performance oversight of the United States (U.S.) Army's strategic communication. The OCPA is responsible for providing internal (U.S. Army) and external (the public) audiences with up-to-date and accurate information. Doing so maintains confidence in the Army and its readiness to conduct operations. The OCPA launched the Digital Media Division (DMD) in 2009 to disseminate news and information to online and mobile audiences in order to shape conditions that enhance trust and confidence in the U.S. Army. The DMD executes the Army's social media program and manages the Army's primary social media presences on various online platforms to include, but not limited to: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram. The DMD is responsible for managing daily operations of the Army's official flagship social media presences while also synchronizing the messaging and content publishing across the Army's entire digital footprint. The DMD provides Army leadership with performance analytics of social media content in order to improve future efforts. As the DMD works to expand the U.S. Army's digital footprint, assistance is needed to support accurate dissemination of Army communication. The DMD has a requirement for a social media planning and management solution to provide Army social media managers with a common operating picture of Army social media operations. This solution shall enhance communication and collaboration amongst DMD and Army social media managers. This will aid in protecting the Army's online reputation by mitigating fake accounts, also known as impostor accounts, of Army senior leaders on social media. A comprehensive plan for discovery, reporting, and removal verification for impostor accounts are required. This effort defines an impostor social media account/profile as any user account portraying another person or entity in a misleading or deceptive manner. Accounts that use similar usernames, or are just similar in appearance, are not impostor accounts, nor are accounts that have profiles that clearly state they are not affiliated, or connected, with the similarly named individual. DISCLAIMER "THIS SOURCES SOUGHT IS FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY. THIS IS NOT A "REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL (RFP)" TO BE SUBMITTED. IT DOES NOT CONSTITUTE A SOLICITATION AND SHALL NOT BE CONSTRUED AS A COMMITMENT BY THE GOVERNMENT. RESPONSES IN ANY FORM ARE NOT OFFERS AND THE GOVERNMENT IS UNDER NO OBLIGATION TO AWARD A CONTRACT AS A RESULT OF THIS ANNOUNCEMENT. NO FUNDS ARE AVAILABLE TO PAY FOR PREPARATION OF RESPONSES TO THIS ANNOUNCEMENT. ANY INFORMATION SUBMITTED BY RESPONDENTS TO THIS TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION IS STRICTLY VOLUNTARY. RESPPONSES WILL NOT BE RETURNED TO THE RESPONDER. NOT RESPONDING TO THIS NOTICE DOES NOT PRECLUDE PARTICIPATION IN ANY FUTURE REQUEST FOR QUOTE (RFQ) OR INVITATION FOR BID (IFB) OR RFP, IF ANY ISSUED. IF A SOLICITATION IS RELEASED, IT WILL BE SYNOPSIZED ON THE GOVERNMENT-WIDE POINT OF ENTRY (GPE). IT IS THE RESPONSIBILITY OF POTENTIAL OFFERORS TO MONITOR THE GPE FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMMATION PERTAINING TO THIS REQUIREMENT."