On-line Application System (OLAS)

The U.S. Department of Education is issuing this Request for Information (RFI) in an effort to conduct market research on application processing solutions, and to make vendors aware of tentative plans to acquire such a solution. See Appendix A for additional background and requirements. The Office of Communications and Outreach (OCO) conducts several award, fellowship, and internship programs that must receive and review applications from candidates. OCO has identified the need for an on-line application processing system (OLAS) capable of accepting applications through a Web interface, managing on-line reviews of submitted applications, and facilitating the scoring and selection of candidates. The goal of this RFI is to ascertain the market availability of the off-the-shelf solutions that could satisfy the needs of the various programs. Specific objectives of this RFI include the following: - Explore the technical solutions available in the marketplace to improve the effectiveness of application processing while reducing costs. - Assess industry capabilities, including those of small businesses, to meet the Department's requirement. - Identify requirements that might unnecessarily constrain the solution, as well as requirements that might have been overlooked. - Obtain information that will facilitate planning. The information provided in response to this RFI may be used by the Department in developing an acquisition strategy and the related performance work statement, statement of objectives, or performance specifications. Not responding to this RFI does not preclude participation in any future solicitation, if issued. Industry feedback is vitally important and the Government will be receptive to any and all ideas received from industry. The responses to this RFI will help to determine marketplace capabilities and help shape the Department's future strategy for procurement of a solution to meet its requirements. Information submitted in response to this RFI will be used for planning purposes only. This notice shall not be construed as a request for proposal. This notice does not obligate the Government to solicit or award a contract, nor does it restrict the Government in its ultimate acquisition approach, nor obligate the Government to pay for any proposal preparation costs. No entitlement to payment for direct or indirect costs or charges by the Government will accrue as a result of a submission or of a response or use of such information. Please note that all submissions become Government property and will not be returned. The Department does not intend to post Questions and Answers as an amendment to this notice. Instead, the Department intends to take those questions as items that will be utilized to strengthen the Department's RFP/Solicitation documents. NO SOLICITATION IS AVAILABLE AT THIS TIME and no date has been established for the solicitation issuance. Interested parties are requested to respond to this RFI with the information specified in the following sections no later than October 22, 2014, 4:00 PM EST. Responses shall be less than 15 single-spaced pages, not including general marketing material, and submitted via e-mail only to the assigned Contract Specialist, Jessalyn Lord, at Jessalyn.Lord@ed.gov, with a courtesy copy to Michele Jennings at Michele.Jennings@ed.gov. Respondents shall provide the following vendor profile information: 1. Company name; 2. Company address; 3. Company website URL; 4. Company point of contact (name, telephone number, fax number and email address); 5. Business type (large business, small business, small disadvantaged business, 8(a)-certified small disadvantaged business, etc.); and 6. A brief summary of the organization's specific experience providing application management and processing support services to various government and non-governmental programs. Please provide answers to the following questions in your response. 1. Are there any requirements that appear to be missing? Do any of the requirements appear overly restrictive? Do you have any concerns about the IT Compliance and Security requirements? 2. How is your solution provided (e.g. perpetual license, service subscription, other)? 3. How should the government specify its capacity requirements to facilitate system sizing and pricing (e.g., number of applicants, number of programs, application window, etc.)? 4. Would you recommend acquiring the system and additional services to configure the system, train users, etc. together or separately? 5. Are your products and services available on any federal contracting vehicles (e.g. GSA Schedule)? If so, which schedule(s), and which one would you recommend? Vendors are invited to include general marketing material for their solution. Vendors are invited to include links to videos, screenshots, or demo instances of their solution. The Department may, at its option, request demonstrations from specific vendors to provide further information or clarification. The request for a demonstration does not indicate any preference for a particular solution. Demonstrations will focus on key requirements, overlooked requirements, and alternatives to extraneous requirements. Key requirements include configuring application forms, configuring reviews, and scoring applications. Information regarding any future solicitation will not be discussed.