EDFacts Quality Assurance/Quality Control Support

CAPABILITY STATEMENT INSTRUCTIONS General Information: This SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE is to determine the availability of potential GSA Schedule small businesses (e.g., 8(a), service-disabled veteran owned small business, HUBZone small business, small disadvantaged business, veteran-owned small business, and women-owned small business) that can provide the required work outlined in the attached draft Performance Work Statement (PWS). This Sources Sought Notice is for information and planning purposes only and should not be construed as a commitment by the Government. This is not a solicitation announcement for proposals and no contract will be awarded from this Notice. No reimbursement will be made for any costs associated with providing information in response to this Notice. Respondents will not be notified of the results of this evaluation. Capability statements will not be returned and will not be accepted after the due date. This synopsis does not constitute a Request for Proposal (RFP). Description: The purpose of this announcement is to request information as to the availability of GSA Schedule small businesses with the capability to provide Quality Assurance/Quality Control Support (QA/QC) spanning across all aspects of The Department of Education's EDFacts operations. QA support shall entail providing guidance and deliverables to maintain and enhance planning, processes, and procedures which ensure high-quality performance and prevent quality problems from arising in the management and operation of the EDFacts program. QC support shall entail independently validating that the products and deliverables of EDFacts and its contractors meet established requirements. Support activities could span the project management processes of integration management, scope management, time management, cost management, quality management, communication management, risk management, and procurement management. Objective: 1. This Request for Information (RFI) requests capability statements from GSA schedule small business vendors only. This draft Performance Work Statement (PWS) is anticipated to be a Fixed Price Performance-Based Acquisition (PBA). 2. This RFI is to assist in a small business determination. The scope of the draft PWS encompasses Contractor support to provide Quality Assurance/Quality Control Support. Tasks include: - Quality Assurance Services o Information Technology Investment Management (ITIM) o Risk Management Process o Change Management Process o Platform Infrastructure o Procurement/Acquisition Support - Quality Control Services o EDFacts overall o Specific to individual systems In performing the QA/QC services, the QSP shall: - Produce task deliverables (e.g., an evaluation report on a deliverable from the EDFacts Technology and Support Services II (ETSS II) contractor) - Support the program office's production of a deliverable by producing drafts or sections of documents (e.g., preparing the draft of the business case) - Perform tasks (e.g., conduct user testing) - Provide guidance (e.g., advise on strategic planning to leverage industry best practices) 3. The Small Business Administration (SBA) uses the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Codes to establish size standards on an industry by industry basis. The NAICS code for this acquisition is 541519, Other Computer Related Services. The size standard for this code is based on average annual receipts of $25,500,000.00 for three most recent completed fiscal years. Based on the size standard established, please provide whether or not your company is small or large. If you are a small business please also indicate if your company qualifies under any Socioeconomic category (e.g., 8(a), service-disabled veteran owned small business, HUBZone small business, small disadvantaged business, veteran-owned small business, and women-owned small business). 4. ED will evaluate the capability statements based on the relevant qualifications, knowledge, and expertise demonstrated in the areas below. A solicitation will be issued only to those Offerors that demonstrate the most capabilities in the areas identified below. - Quality Assurance Services o Information Technology Investment Management (ITIM) o Risk Management Process o Change Management Process o Platform Infrastructure o Procurement/Acquisition Support - Quality Control Services o EDFacts overall o Specific to individual systems Structure of Responses: Offerors should submit capability statements in respond to this RFI by e-mail (only) to the Contract Specialist copying the Contracting Officer by December 17, 2014, 2:00 pm Eastern Time. The capability statements shall include Company Name, DUNS Number, GSA Schedule Number, Company Address, Point of Contact, Telephone Number, e-mail Address, and Size of your Organization (i.e. Large Business, Small Business) as validated via the System for Award Management (SAM), and any Socioeconomic category if applicable. The capability statements shall be limited to a maximum of 6 pages (page limit does not include cover page or additional comments, see Request for Comments section), using 12 point font. Offerors shall not include resumes in their capability statements. Please submit capability statements electronically to Gibran Mills (Contract Specialist) at Gibran.Mills@ed.gov and cc: Sylvia Thomas (Contracting Officer) at Sylvia.Thomas@ed.gov . Disclaimer: The requested information to be provided is for planning purposes only and does not constitute a Request for Proposal (RFP) nor does it restrict the Government as to the ultimate acquisition approach. The government does not intend to award a contract on the basis of this RFI or to otherwise pay for the information solicited. Any contract that might be awarded based on information received or derived from this RFI will be the outcome of the competitive process of ED's choice. Request for Comments: Interested parties are requested to additionally submit comments to the draft Performance Work Statement, and identify competition barriers. We are particularly interested in your feedback on the following question: - Based upon your experience with Quality Assurance/Quality Control Support, does the draft PWS, as written, present any barriers to your participation? If so, how?