R--VA Freight Transportation Program - Intent to Sole Source

The Dept of Veterans Affairs intends to sole source the following requirement for custom software application services to Professional Computer Technology Associates, (PCTA) . The North American Industry Classification System code is 541511 with a Size Standard NTE $21,000,000 dollars. The VA Freight Transportation Program (VAFTP) utilizes The Semantic Quick Answers database software product which is a proprietary product of PCTA and is seeking to migrate the current VAFTP components of the proprietary product (currently residing on the DOS-based Symantec Q&A Symantec Q&A version 5.0) to Lantica's Sesame Database Managaement system on Microsoft platform. The conversion includes installation and confirguration of database servers and end-users desktop computers, VA specific training sessions and manuals and ongoing user support. The VAFTP application is only available to VA internal users who will access it through a local area network server and does not currently utilize internet or intranet portals.The award is to be the next generation of a current application utilizing a software database which is a Q&A compatible product. The next generation must provide all of the current capabilities and additional requirements specified in the requirements. Offerors who feel they can provide the same access to the proprietary software and relevant services may contact Ernestine S. Robinson at contact@example.gov. or Dept of Veterans Affairs 810 Vermont Ave NW Washington DC 20420, ATTN: Ernestine S. Robinson. All responses must be received within seven days of this publication. As a result of analyzing responses to this synopsis of intent, the Contracting Officer may determine that the action may be competed. A determination by the Government not to competee this requirement based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. Information received will be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether to conduct a competitive procurement. Office of Acquisition and Materiel Management (OA&MM) VA Freight Transportation Program (VAFTP) STATEMENT OF OBJECTIVE Background The VA Freight Transportation Program (VAFTP) application was designed, developed, and implemented in 1994 and has evolved to its current configuration. The application's present use is limited to VA's centralized transportation centers in Washington, DC, Hillsborough, NJ, and Hines, IL, which covers transportation requests VA-wide. The VAFTP was created within the Office of Acquisition and Materiel Management (OA&MM) utilizing the Semantic Quick Answers (Q&A) database software product and consists of two primary functional applications: (1) Internal Freight and Warehousing Operations Control, and (2) Administrative Support and Maintenance. Presently OA&MM provides all development and maintenance. The VAFTP is used by VA transportation professionals for accepting Transportation Service Provider's (TSP) freight, ocean cargo, and air rates; preparing warehouse inventory and picking lists; rating and routing shipments; creating shipping documents, and generating reports. The current overall security risk associated with operating the VAFTP application has been determined to be Low when considered within the context of the application boundary. The VAFTP is only available to VA internal users and does not capture personal, financial, or healthcare information. User access to the VAFTP is permitted through a local area network server and does not currently utilize internet or intranet protocols. Scope This Statement of Objectives (SOO) is being issued by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to establish a contract for the implementation of the next generation VAFTP application utilizing Lantica Software's Sesame Database Manager which is a Q&A compatible product. The next generation VAFTP application must provide all of the current capabilities and additional requirements specified in the requirements section of this SOO. The contractor is required to design, develop, test, train, deploy, and maintain this solution as described below. Phase One - The contractor must analyze and document the VAFTP - As-Is and - To-Be business processes, and provide a work plan defining deliverables, milestones, and schedule. In addition, the Contractor must analyze and provide all plans and documentations as noted in the requirements section of this SOO. Phase Two - Upon successful completion of the Phase One, and VA's acceptance, the Contractor must migrate the current - Operation New Hope Homeless component Q&A database to the Sesame Database Manager and configure the Sesame product to perform out-of-the-box functionalities to match or exceed the current capabilities. Phase Three - Upon successful completion of Phases One and Two, and VA's acceptance, the Contractor must migrate the current - Puerto Rico Cargo component Q&A database to the Sesame Database Manager and configure the Sesame product to perform out-of-the-box functionalities to match or exceed the current capabilities. Phase Four - Upon successful completion of Phases One through Three, and VA's acceptance, the Contractor must migrate the current - General Freight component Q&A database to the Sesame Database Manager and configure the Sesame product to perform out-of-the-box functionalities to match or exceed the current capabilities. Phase Five - Upon successful completion of previous Phases One through Four, and VA's acceptance, the Contractor must deploy the complete solution to VA's Centralized Transportation Centers (CTC) in Washington, DC; Hillsborough, NJ; and Hines, IL. Requirements The Contractor must provide all resources necessary to complete the execution of this task order, deploy the complete solution, and provide maintenance and technical support services that, at a minimum, will fulfill the requirements identified below. General Requirements: 1. The contractor must have a skilled working knowledge of the Symantec Q&A version 5.0 and Lantica's Sesame Database Management software. 2. The Contractor must provide a weekly update to the COTR to be communicated through email or recorded in meeting minutes. 3. The contractor must provide on-line quick references and users guide with each new version build/release of the applications. 4. The contractor must provide a menu-driven application with command button function controls similar to Microsoft Office applications. Service Requirements: 5. The Contractor must capture and document the VAFTP - As-Is and - To-Be business processes, roles and responsibilities, and requirements specification describing deliverables for all phases. 6. The Contractor must provide a document proposing system architecture and design, hardware and software requirements, implementation, testing, and training strategies, ongoing support and maintenance, as well as providing change management controls. 7. The Contractor must provide a security plan, risk assessment, and contingency plan (backup and disaster recovery procedures) in order to gain Authority to Operate (ATO) within VA environment for the next generation VAFTP application. 8. The Contractor must migrate the current - Operation New Hope Homeless, - Puerto Rico Cargo, and - General Freight components which are residing on the Symantec Q&A version 5.0 to the Lantica's Sesame Database Management system. Subsequent to each migration, the Contractor must conduct user acceptance testing and address all users concerns. 9. The Contractor must deploy the complete solution to VA's Centralized Transportation Centers (CTC) in Washington, DC; Hillsborough, NJ; and Hines, IL. Deployment of the next generation VAFTP must incorporate installation and configuration of database servers and end-users desktop computers, VA specific training sessions and materials, and ongoing user support. 10. The Contractor must perform database optimization operations for faster database fetches and updates as well as application server fine tuning to improve application performance. 11. The Contractor must provide ongoing application maintenance to include installation, configuration, and monitoring of upgrades and service pack releases on the development, test/training, and production environments. In addition, the Contractor must fix system defects and test, validate and certify new releases of the applications on the development and test/training environments prior to the user acceptance testing and production rollout. 12. The Contractor must provide an ongoing helpdesk support and point of contact(s) for product related inquiries and maintenance activities. The Contractor must report any problems discovered in the development, test/training, or production environments and provide appropriate resolution to VAFTP system/application administrators via email. System Requirements: 13. The system must provide ability to receive customer transportation service requests and notify customers of their shipment status. 14. The system must provide ability to permit VAFTP staff to submit shipment requests electronically, run reports on their shipments records, create freight estimates, provide mileage lookups, and less-than-truckload freight cost estimates. 15. The system must provide ability to receive Transportation Service Provider (TSP) invoices, freight rate tenders, special freight rate quotations, Domestic Express Small Package rates, and domestic small package hundredweight rates electronically. 16. The system must provide ability to submit bills of lading to TSPs, customers, vendors, and rate quotation requests to TSPs electronically. 17. The system must provide ability to match TSP invoices with shipment records and payment amounts; and automatically date/time stamp and forward system-approved records electronically to the paying office. 18. The system must provide ability to reject TSP invoices that are out of cost tolerance with shipment cost estimates and automatically date/time stamp and forward system-rejected records electronically to selected users of the central operations center. 19. The system must provide ability to search for and identify user's shipment requests, all shipment requests sent to the central operations center, and all bills of lading issued to show the amount approved for payment. 20. The system must provide ability to prevent unsigned/unauthorized and unfunded shipment requests from being sent forward from users to central operations center. 21. The system must provide ability to track and maintain warehouse receipts, inventories, and shipments. 22. The system must provide ability to prepare ad-hoc reports as well as standard reports for a shipment manifest, current inventory, bill of lading, and rate quotation request for distribution to selected users. 23. The system must provide ability to monitor and notify selected users for archiving freight rate files based on business rules and to perform archiving functions. 24. The system must provide ability to maintain archived shipment records, bills of lading, inventory records, and rates for 6 years. 25. The system must provide ability to provide warning to indicate when a tender or rate quote is within 30 days, 10 days, and 5 days of its expiration date and automatically inactivating expired rates. 26. The system must provide ability to accommodate for multiple warehouse locations of an inventory item (some items exist in very large quantities and are bulky requiring multiple locations). 27. The system must provide ability for system/application administrators to create/activate/remove/inactivate users based on their roles and responsibilities. 28. The system must provide ability for system/application administrators to establish frequently used external links to selected Internet sites. Period of Performance This project must commence on October 3, 2005 and the completed system and all applications must be generated, tested, and accepted by January 30, 2006. Period of performance must include optional annual maintenance for five years post deployment. Contractor Personnel Key personnel offered against this contract may not be replaced for the duration of the award and are subject to the restrictive replacement conditions of key personnel. The Contractor must not replace Key Personnel without the written concurrence of the Contracting Officer's Technical Representative. Contractor Personnel Security Requirements Information System Security The contractor must ensure adequate LAN/Internet, data, information, and system security in accordance with VA standard operating procedures and standard contract language, conditions laws, and regulations. The contractor's firewall and web server must meet or exceed the government minimum requirements for security. All government data must be protected behind an approved firewall. Any security violations or attempted violations must be reported to the VA project manager and VA Information Security Officer as soon as possible. The contractor must follow all applicable VA policies and procedures governing information security, especially those that pertain to certification accreditation. Security Training All contractor employees and subcontractors under this contract or order are required to complete the VA's on-line Security Awareness Training Course and the Privacy Awareness Training Course annually. Contractors must provide signed certifications of completion to the CO during each year of the contract. This requirement is in addition to any other training that may be required of the contractor and subcontractor(s). Contractor Personnel Security All contractor employees who require access to the Department of Veterans Affairs' computer systems must be the subject of a background investigation and must receive a favorable adjudication from the VA Security and Investigations Center (07C). This requirement is applicable to all subcontractor personnel requiring the same access. If the security clearance investigation is not completed prior to the start date of the contract, the employee may work on the contract while the security clearance is being processed, but the contractor will be responsible for the actions of those individuals they provide to perform work for the VA. 1. Background Investigation The position sensitivity for this effort has been designated as Low Risk and the level of background investigation is a National Agency Check with Written Inquiries. Position Sensitivity Designation Background Investigation Level High Risk Background Investigation Moderate Risk Minimum Background Investigation Low Risk National Agency Check with Written Inquiries 2. Contractor Responsibilities a. The contractor must bear the expense of obtaining background investigations. If the investigation is conducted by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) through the VA, the contractor must reimburse the VA within 30 days. b. Background investigations from investigating agencies other than OPM are permitted if the agencies possess an OPM and Defense Security Service certification. The Vendor Cage Code number must be provided to the Security and Investigations Center (07C), which will verify the information and advise the contracting officer whether access to the computer systems can be authorized. c. The contractor must prescreen all personnel requiring access to the computer systems to ensure they maintain U.S. citizenship or current NACI clearance and are able to read, write, speak and understand the English language. d. After contract award and prior to contract performance, the contractor must provide the following information, in spread sheet format, to the CO: (1) List of names of contractor personnel. (2) Social Security Number of contractor personnel. (3) Home address of contractor personnel or the contractor's address. e. The contractor, when notified of an unfavorable determination by the Government, must withdraw the employee from consideration from working under the contract. f. Failure to comply with the contractor personnel security requirements may result in termination of the contract for default. 3. Government Responsibilities a. The VA Security and Investigations Center (07C) will provide the necessary forms to the contractor or to the contractor's employees after receiving a list of names and addresses. b. Upon receipt, the VA Security and Investigations Center (07C) will review the completed forms for accuracy and forward the forms to OPM to conduct the background investigation. c. The VA facility will pay for investigations conducted by the OPM in advance. In these instances, the contractor will reimburse the VA facility within 30 days. d. The VA Security and Investigations Center (07C) will notify the contracting officer and contractor after adjudicating the results of the background investigations received from OPM. e. All employees of the Contractor must sign a non disclosure form regarding release of data and information pertaining to the contract and publication of data and information of material related to the project. Schedule The Contractor must provide a schedule of deliverables and pricing structures in accordance with this request. The quotation must provide VA with a strategy that incorporates the functionality described in the aforementioned scope and requirements. Pricing shall be submitted by phase, including a list of requirements and all associated costs. Additionally, a Cumulative Price Summary Price sheet shall be submitted, which is inclusive of the base period and annual maintenance option for up to five years post deployment for the installed system. The pricing sheet will have totals for all columns of data - hours, labor dollars, travel, etc which must be summed and totaled. Additionally, the quotation must include as well as an. The Contractor must include all plans and reports as defined herein. Such plans and reports must be incorporated into the overall price and must not be separately priced. Unless otherwise specified, all deliverables must be submitted electronically to the COTR, with a copy going to the Contracting Officer. If for any reason any deliverable cannot be delivered within the scheduled time frame, the Contractor is required to explain why in writing to the Contracting Officer including a firm commitment of when the work will be completed. Travel Contractor may be required to travel to other VA offices outside the VA Central Office, Washington, DC to complete work required under this SOO. The Contractor is entitled to the recovery of reasonable transportation costs incurred for employees when travel is authorized by the Contracting Officer. Allowable travel costs will be determined in accordance with subpart 31.2 of the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR). Reimbursement of travel will be accomplished when the Contractor submits an invoice for travel along with the supporting documentation (receipts are required by the Federal Travel Regulations). Expenses for subsistence and lodging will be reimbursed to the Contractor only to the extent where overnight stay is necessary and authorized for performance of services ordered under this contract at the per diem rates authorized by the Federal Travel Regulations in effect at the time of the stay for the specified location. All travel and per diem expenses will be reimbursed in accordance with the FAR. Submission of Questions and Answers All questions and information requests regarding this requirement shall be directed, in writing, to Ms. Ernestine Robinson at contact@example.gov, +1 (555) 000-0000. The contracting officer for this requirement is Christopher Burroughs contact@example.gov.