R -- Skills Management System and Support Services

NAVAIR Orlando Training System Division (TSD) in Orlando, FL, intends to award a follow-on sole source Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity Contract (ID/IQC) to the SkillsNET Corporation, 3295 North Hwy. 77, Waxahachie, Texas 75165 to acquire a commercial-off-the-shelf Skills Management System (SMS) software application suite and associated operation, maintenance, analysis, training, and technical support services to support the Navy's migration from task-centric personnel management system to Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSA)-centric system. The Contractor will be required to provide a suite of commercially available web-based tools and corresponding technical services for the collection, validation, analysis, and management, and maintenance of skill and task data for both occupational and non-occupational work in accordance with nationally accepted methods for occupational analysis and standards development. The processes and methods used by the tools shall be based on accepted industrial/organizational psychology to collect reliable and validated data; utilize principles of human behavior to categorize job behaviors; utilize well-defined taxonomies to identify and quantify knowledge, skills, abilities, and tools required for work; utilize science of survey population sampling, survey design, and survey delivery; adhere to legal requirements regarding employment discrimination and legally defensible occupational data; and be based on and compatible with the Department of Labor's O*NET directory of occupational descriptions. The Contractor will be required to provide skill analysts certified in the use of tools and processes to assist the Navy with its ongoing Total Force occupational data capture and analysis efforts. The Total Force encompass all Navy personnel - Enlisted, Officers (Active and Reserve, Afloat and Ashore components), Civilians (Government and Contractor). The resulting Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (ID/IQ) contract will be issued using other than full and open competition pursuant to the statutory authority 10 U.S.C. 2304 (c)(1), as implemented by Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 6.302-1, only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements. Pursuing award through competition would result in substantial duplication of costs that the Government would not recover through competition and would also result in unacceptable delays in fulfilling critical mission requirements, potentially leading to the unavailability of the SMS. The applicable North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) code is 541611, with a small business size standard not to exceed $6,000,000. The anticipated contract award date for the SMS contract is 27 January 2005. This is not a request for quotation, nor an announcement of a forthcoming solicitation. Requests for copies of a solicitation will not be honored or acknowledged. NAVAIR Orlando Training Systems Division (TSD) intends to enter into negotiations with the SkillsNET Corporation ten (10) business days after publication of this notice. Questions regarding the requisite technical capabilities of the product or services being acquired through this sole source acquisition may be directed in writing to the Contract Specialist, Katherine Holcomb, e-mail address: katherine.holcomb@navy.mil or NAVAIR Orlando Training Systems Division (TSD), 12350 Research Parkway, Attn: Katherine Holcomb Code 25333, Orlando, FL 32826. Communications from market research firms will not be acknowledged nor responded to.