NIH Business Systems (NBS) Expert Management Support Services

This is a sources sought notification for commercial services prepared in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR), Part 10, utilizing FAR 13, Simplified Acquisition Procedures. This Sources Sought Notice is for informational and planning purposes only and shall not be construed as a solicitation or as an obligation or commitment by the Government. This notice is intended strictly for market research. This is a Small Business Sources Sought Notice. This is NOT a solicitation for proposals, proposal abstracts, or quotations. The purpose of this notice is to obtain information regarding: (1) the availability and capability of qualified small business sources; (2) whether they are small businesses; HUBZone small businesses; service- disabled , veteran-owned small businesses; 8(a) small businesses; veteran-owned small businesses; woman-owned small businesses; or small disadvantaged businesses; and (3) their size classification relative to the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for the proposed acquisition. Your responses to the information requested will assist the Government in determining the appropriate acquisition method, including whether a set-aside is possible. An organization that is not considered a small business under the applicable NAICS code should not submit a response to this notice. The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code is 541611 - Administrative Management & General Management Consulting Services. It is the intent of the National Library of Medicine (NLM), to procure expert technical consulting services to the NIH Business System (NBS) Project on behalf of the National Institutes of Health. Title: NIH Business Systems (NBS) Expert Management Support Services BACKGROUND The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is implementing a new enterprise system, the NIH Business System (NBS). The overall objective of the NBS is to facilitate the scientific mission of the NIH and provide an administrative/scientific system that is cost effective and provides accurate and timely information. The scope of the NBS includes these business or "functional" areas: acquisition, travel, service and supply fund, supply, research and development contracting, property, and financial management. The NBS will be designed, developed and tested as a fully integrated facility that supports these functional areas and interfaces with other major NIH and Departmental systems. "Best practices" i.e., those business processes determined to be most effective in the business community, were identified for the administrative areas at the NIH. Implementation will require configuration or changes to the new system that will adopt and integrate these best practices. Functional teams under the direction of a functional team manager have been established to oversee this effort. Functional teams will engage in a variety of duties including the design and configuration of the system, establishing workflow for the business processes, customization of the system (only if required and approved by the Steering Committee), defining system interfaces, and participation in pre-deployment and deployment activities. Specific Tasks Independently and not as an agent of the Government, the Contractor shall provide expert management services to the NIH Business System (NBS) Project Office, Deputy Director for Management and the NIH Director and Deputy Director. NIH is seeking the assistance from an individual with an expert understanding of NIH management, budget and related administrative systems, and experience and expertise in management related issues. NIH requires the expert technical consulting services to support the NBS project for a period of four years. Specifically, the contractor shall assist the NBS Functional Manager in the following areas: Provide overall project and business management assistance to the NBS Project Office. These services include: planning; organizing and coordinating assigned projects and activities for the NBS. The specific current tasks include assistance on the following: - Performing complex policy and issue analyses for the NBS Project on a myriad of topics as assigned by the Project Manager. Following these analyses, develops appropriate policy documents/memoranda/reports/presentations for NBS review. - Serves as staff expert to NIH Management and Budget Work Group - Provides management and budgetary analyses to the co-chairs of the MBWG on issues within the purview of the MBWG. - Serves as a staff expert to the Clinical Center Governing Board Project deliverables associated with the implementation phase of the NBS include: - Regular written and/or verbal analyses and reports to the Project Manager, the Deputy Director for Management, NIH and as requested the Director and Deputy Director, NIH. - Monthly reports on all activities performed during the previous month. - Reports as specified by the Project Manager in conjunction with the activities outlined above. Period of Performance: It is anticipated that the period of performance for this requirement will be for approximately one year with two (2) additional 12-month option periods from the date of award. The award is anticipated to be made on August 15, 2010. Place of Performance: Primarily on-site at the following location - 6707 Democracy Blvd, 10TH Floor, Bethesda, MD 20817 Other Considerations: The proposed acquisition will be procured in accordance with the policies and procedures under FAR 13-Simplified Acquisition Procedures. All responsible sources may submit a capability statement which will be considered by the National Library of Medicine. This Sources Sought Notice is not a Request for Quotes (RFQ), nor is an RFQ available. Interested firms responding to this Sources Sought Notice must adhere to the following: (a) Provide a capability statement demonstrating relevant experience, skills and ability to fulfill the Government's requirements for the above. The capability statement should contain enough sufficient detail for the Government to make an informed decision regarding your capabilities; however, the statement should not exceed 10 pages. (b) The capability statement must identify the responder's: small business type and size; DUNS number; NAICS code; and technical and administrative points of contact, including names, titles, addresses, telephone and fax numbers, and e-mail addresses. (c) All capability statements must be submitted electronically no later than 3:00pm eastern standard time on Friday, July 22, 2011 to Raymond Hawkins, hawkinsra@mail.nih.gov. Disclaimer and Important Notes: This notice does not obligate the Government to award a contract or otherwise pay for the information provided in response. The Government reserves the right to use information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate. Any organization responding to this notice should ensure that its response is complete and sufficiently detailed to allow the Government to determine the organization's qualifications to perform the work. Respondents are advised that the Government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted. After a review of the responses received, a pre-solicitation synopsis and solicitation may be published in Federal Business Opportunities. However, responses to this notice will not be considered adequate responses to a solicitation. Confidentiality: No proprietary, classified, confidential, or sensitive information should be included in your response. The Government reserves the right to use any non-proprietary technical information in any resultant solicitation(s). Any organization interested in responding to this sources sought notice must provide a statement of capabilities by e-mail and include your organizations business size by 3pm EST on Friday, July 22, 2011. Information may be requested from Raymond Hawkins at hawkinsra@mail.nih.gov. NO TELEPHONE REQUEST WILL BE ACCEPTED.