D -- Retirement Systems Modernization Defined-Benefit Technology Solution

This is a synopsis issued for a proposed acquisition to be solicited under Full and Open Competition procedures. The United States Office of Personnel Management (OPM) intends to issue a Request for Proposal (RFP) for a Defined-Benefits Technology Solution for its Retirement Systems Modernization (RSM) initiative. We will consider all responsible sources that submit a proposal and price quotation. The resulting performance-based contract will enable us to license the use of an existing, proven technology solution from an experienced provider of defined-benefits retirement services. The system will be hosted, maintained, and enhanced by the offeror, reducing the risk we face with a large information technology implementation to modernize OPM's retirement systems. The desired solution will provide functionality and processing, and allow us to operate the system with our existing staff resources. We expect to license one or more of a number of already existing proprietary applications that have been designed specifically for defined benefits administration. We encourage interested parties to submit offers either as a single entity or as a teaming effort. The chosen offeror or offerors will provide software and services that will support our administration of the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) and the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS). The total set of capabilities to be provided will be determined based upon the offeror's submissions and will weigh the costs, benefits, and risks, including the required degree of customization of the proposed offeror's solutions. The offeror's solution should support: 1. claims processing: 2. annuity payroll processing and recordkeeping; 3. member recordkeeping; and 4. proactive communications to members and annuitants. It should also include case tracking capabilities to support reconsideration requests, court order processing, and overpayment collections. The solution should also provide self-service capabilities, such as address changes and tax withholding changes, for annuitants, and provide information to enable our customer service representatives to provide customer service to program participants. We wish to purchase the services described in the draft solicitation under terms and conditions similar to those that typically apply to similar purchases in the private sector. However, we have unique Federal Government constraints and we must ensure that the services we purchase meet the Federal retirement system's unique characteristics. We therefore invite interested offerors to review our draft solicitation and provide meaningful comments. To enhance our final solicitation request, please provide answers to the following questions: 1. Please review the draft solicitation, particularly the constraints, which we provide in Attachment 3. Please discuss in detail any constraints or conditions that you view as potentially problematic or have the potential to disproportionately increase the price of the services we are requesting. Provide an explanation of why a particular constraint or condition presents a challenge and suggest an alternative recommendation you think presents less of a challenge and still meets our desired outcome. 2. We wish to secure the benefits of competition, both in terms of pricing and delivery quality, over the life of any contract that may arise from this competition. Therefore, we are contemplating and will consider making a single award (a teaming effort) or multiple awards, in which more than one vendor will receive an award and the population of retirement accounts may be divided among those vendors. Over the life of the contract, we may choose to redistribute retirement accounts among vendors based on price or service quality. Please comment on our proposed approach and identify any implications and describe the risks and rewards associated with such an approach. 3. We wish to allow vendors flexibility in defining the structure of their offers, while still maintaining comparability among offers. Please review the pricing instructions in the draft solicitation (Section B), and comment on whether our form and structure provides you sufficient flexibility to define the elements of a solution in a meaningful way that will be manageable over the life of the contract. Also, please also provide a preliminary outline of the components of your solution by completing the first four columns of Attachment 1, Contract Worksheet, and the first three columns of Attachment 2, Performance Requirements Summary Template. 4. Also provide any additional comments on the draft solicitation that you think we should consider to ensure a healthy competition among prospective offerors and provide prospective offerors with the necessary information to effectively develop a response to this solicitation. 5. We would like to restrict the size of the proposal packages we receive to ensure an efficient evaluation. Please comment on whether the number of pages allowed in Section L is sufficient to enable a complete response to the solicitation. 6. The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for this acquisition is 518210 (Data Processing, Hosting, and Related Services). The corresponding Small Business Administration size standard for this NAICS code is $21.0 million in average annual receipts. In these terms, is your company a large or a small business? While it is not mandatory that offerors provide responses to these questions, we are interested in industry comment on this draft solicitation and encourage you to submit comments and question. We will consider your comments and questions when finalizing the solicitation. However, we will not disclose any questions and comments that are submitted, except as required by FAR 15.201(f). Please send your comments and questions on this draft solicitation to George Leininger, Contract Specialist, either in hardcopy or email, our preferred method. We listed the Contracting Office and email addresses above in this synopsis. Your response to this request is due no later than 5:00 PM Eastern Standard Time, August 6, 2004. We provided technical data and background information relevant to the RFP in Section J of the draft. Place of Performance: United States Duration of the contract period: Various, maximum of ten years if all option periods are executed Delivery Schedule: To be determined by the offeror We anticipate issuing the final solicitation on or about August 23, 2004. Proposals will be due on or about September 10, 2004. An additional opportunity for questions will be offered. Our award decision will be based on a best-value determination: All evaluation factors other than cost or price, when combined, will be significantly more important than price. Demonstrations of software solutions may be required. Anticipated contract award date is December 16, 2004.