D -- RFI: Department of Homeland Security, Enterprise e-Recruitment Solution

This is a Request for Information (RFI) only. No solicitation is available. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has a potential requirement for an enterprise recruitment/hiring solution that can consolidate and modernize its current hiring systems, seamlessly integrate with other non-DHS services (e.g., OPMs USAJobs and NFCs EmpowHR personnel system), and provide sufficient functionality and flexibility to meet the needs of all component organizations. DHS will consider using systems based on commercial or government off-the-shelf software but will not adopt any solution that involves a traditional software development effort. The DHS employee population is approximately 160,000 persons; application inflow to DHS exceeds 2 million resumes/applications annually. In 2004, DHS filled over 28,000 positions. Key high level goals for this system are: Automate the processes used to manage the full recruitment/hiring lifecycle; create a single portal for all job applicants; reduce manual processes and/or eliminate paper-based systems; provide an easy-to-use interface for all system users (hiring managers, HR and EEO professionals; and applicants{internal and external); implement industry best practices; and reduce hiring/recruitment costs. The four hyperlinks provided below are intended to provide prospective vendors with insights into related federal initiatives and guidance. DHS is engaged in preliminary market research and is currently consolidating/refining requirements from its individual components for an enterprise e-Recruitment solution. Accordingly, the purpose of this RFI is to solicit information from the vendor community about products and services in the marketplace which are capable of meeting DHS needs. DHS will consider a multi-system, multiple vendor (company teaming arrangements) approach, if technically feasible and advantageous. Vendors should describe the capabilities of their solutions with respect to the following five major facets of the hiring/recruitment cycle: (1) Workforce Planning (demand planning, supply planning); (2) Requisitioning (job descriptions, approval workflow, job posting); (3) Candidate Talent Searching (candidate marketing, passive and active candidate sourcing including but not limited to job fairs, referrals, resume mining, outreach, unsolicited applications); (4) Candidate Acquisition (referral management, candidate application, candidate screening/assessment, candidate scoring/search); (5) Applicant Tracking (applicant workflow, communications/correspondence management, interview management, personnel security background checks/drug screening, on-boarding); and (6) Reporting/Analytics (regulatory reporting, ad hoc reporting, standard reporting/analytics, advanced analytics). Solutions must be capable of processing a high volume of applications, provide bi-directional interfaces with numerous Human Resources Information Systems (HRIS) systems, be compatible with back end databases such as Oracle, provide integrated e-mail and calendar services, send electronic notifications to applicants, DHS HR staff and hiring managers, possess robust workflow capabilities, provide a candidate portal that allows applicants to monitor the status of their applications, and provide dashboard type functionality for tracking metrics on recruitment activities across DHS departments. Vendor support services should include system administration services that are available for the solution, and system hosting arrangement provided by the vendor. Vendors meeting the above requirements shall submit a written statement of capabilities not to exceed fifteen (15) pages. In addition to a description of the capabilities of the proposed solution, vendors should address in their response what knowledge or experience they have with governmental (federal/state/local) HR systems. Vendors should also state what flexibility/scalability their solutions offer in order to adapt to changing recruitment needs in DHS. Vendors should describe how their solutions function from a technical perspective and identify any hosting services or application service provider (ASP) arrangements that are offered to support the solution. Additionally, DHS requests that vendors provide rough-order-of-magnitude pricing (e.g., including software licenses, consulting rates, hosting fees) for their solutions, given their understanding of the limited number of requirements stated in this RFI. Also, vendors should indicate if their products/services are available through any existing government contract vehicles (e.g,, GSA schedule, GWACS). DHS requests that vendors submit their information in response to this RFI by the response date listed above. Vendors responding to this RFI should provide: (1) name and address of the firm; (2) size of the business; (3) years in business; (4) description of the client base; (5) type of ownership (i.e., large, small, small disadvantaged, woman-owned, hub-zone, and/or disabled veteran). If time permits, and depending on the volume of responses, individual vendors MAY be contacted for a product demo prior to release of a solicitation. The Government will not pay for any costs associated with the demonstration of any software products or any written response to this notice under this request for information announcement. This is a sources sought notice only. It does not constitute a Request for Proposals (RFP), Request for Quotation (RFQ) or an Invitation for Bid (IFB), nor does its issuance restrict the government as to its ultimate acquisition approach. Respondents will not be notified of any results derived from a review of the information provided; however, DHS may utilize the information gathered for technical and acquisition purposes. The government will neither award a contract solely on the basis of this notice, nor pay for any information submitted by respondents. All responses to this notice are to be submitted via e-mail in Microsoft Office format to: curtis.a.courtney@irs.gov. Any demonstration CDs, discs, screen shots, or web links submitted by the vendor must be capable of being run/displayed on a PC with Windows 2000 or XP, and include operator instructions. Additional or supplemental hard copy materials may also be submitted to: Office of Procurement, 6009 Oxon Hill Road, Oxon Hill, MD 20745, ATTN: Curtis Courtney. All packages submitted electronically or by electronic media shall be free of any computer virus. If a virus is found, the package will be destroyed and a replacement provided within 3 days after notification. All data designated as corporate or proprietary information will be fully protected from release outside the government. http://www.opm.gov/egov/EHRI_overview.asp; http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/fy2002/mgmt.pdf; http://www.section508.gov/; http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/egov/