RFI CASE MANAGEMENT DATABASE

The International Trade Administration, Office of Enforcement and Compliance seeks information on commercial vendors that are capable of providing both licenses and professional services in order to determine the capabilities of software vendors to help meet requirements of an Antidumping/Countervailing Duty (AD/CVD) Case Management System and Database (CMSD) for purposes of managing AD and CVD proceedings administered by the International Trade Administration's (ITA's) Enforcement and Compliance's (E&C's) Office of AD/CVD Operations. After results of this market research are obtained and analyzed and specifications are developed for ITA's minimum requirements, ITA may conduct a competitive procurement and subsequently award a Contract. If at least two qualified small businesses are identified during this market research stage, then any competitive procurement that resulted would be conducted as a small business set-aside. BACKGROUND: The current AD/CVD CMSD is designed in Lotus Notes (as a database) which contains legacy data dating back to 1970 along with current cases. Lotus Notes is no longer supported by ITA and the current AD/CVD CMSD no longer meets the current needs of E&C. The goal of the new AD/CVD CMSD is to create a single system to capture and organize all case information necessary for analysts and management alike to effectively and efficiently manage and conduct AD/CVD proceedings. This system should provide a single point of data entry, flexible forms with which to track and report on case deadlines , and flexible reporting functionality that allows managers to produce reports that include real time information. The new AD/CVD CMSD will be mostly used internally by E&C Users. There is a need to display a very small portion of the data to the public on the internet. This portion must be updated in real time and be read-only for the public and available without a login to internet users. The information must be text searchable. ITA is seeking a new AD/CVD CMSD solution with the ability to address a number of key requirements as well as take advantage of emerging technologies. A sampling of these requirements includes (described in detail below): - Case Management with robust date calculation/generation and data collection - User/Role-Specific Dashboard - Document Management, Routing\Workflow - Dynamic and Robust Reports/Queries - Administration and Management Tools - Real-Time Data Export to the Internet - Robust Search Capability - Menu-driven user interface - On-Demand Help and Reference Materials - Full Integration with Outlook email, calendar and tasks STATEMENT OF REQUIREMENTS: ITA seeks to obtain specific information in writing from software vendors on their current capabilities to provide CMSD functionality in support of the following business requirements: - Manage and Track Case Information: Capture key information such as Case Number, Product, Country and Case Team Members. Produce due date schedules for nine different types of cases or "segments" of a proceeding. Most proceedings include approximately 100 different tasks and due dates which are tracked in reports, on calendars and, in some cases, displayed on the internet. Whenever possible, relevant information should be pre-populated. - Produce Complex Date Calculations: Calculate, update and retain all date and deadline information, including all deadlines used by management for performance measures for proceeding and segment. System should be able to handle complex date calculations for over 100 active cases and follow interface usability best practices. - Manage Subsets of Information: : Collections of detailed date information and documents should be easily tied to the larger case, shared among team members and easily included in reports. - User/Role-Specific Dashboard: Customizable templates for information display should be available which also tie into Outlook calendars and reporting formats. - Workflow: The solution should include full workflow functionality. Documents and document groups should be tracked to approvers and signatories and the dates and times of signatory or approver approval or rejection should be recorded. Documents should be associated with the relevant case. Document versioning is required. Workflow must be fully integrated with Outlook. - Reports/Queries: All reports and queries should be easily configurable to respond to changing requirements. Individual managers should be able to configure reports and queries for their needs, and reports should provide real-time information. Standard reports should be created as well as "one-off" reports or reports created "on the fly" for immediate short term needs. All data input should be available for retrieval into management reports including information collected in workflows and tasks. Report format should contain easy-to-access functionality allowing managers to print or export information to a standard tabular format (preferably Excel). - Database Administration/Management Tools: Designated E&C administrators must be able to modify keywords, team members and make minor modifications to date calculations in the event that business processes change. Administrators should have enough rights and available tools to be able to assist users in modifying reports and queries and to make global changes to case information (such as globally changing a case number, office assignment, or product description). - Export Information to HTML: The solution must provide a function to extract certain real time information for display on the internet. - Robust Search Capability: Users should be able to quickly locate relevant information using plain language. - Menu-Driven User Interface: Dates should calculate automatically. Users should be able to access and update information with one click. Menus should be offered whenever possible to standardize user input. - On-Demand Help and Reference Materials: Help screens and reference information should be tailored to input screens and be case or situation specific. - Full Integration with MS Office Suite: Calendars and tasks should be fully integrated with Outlook. - Training: User and administrator training is required. ? ITA is seeking responses from all responsible sources, including large, foreign, and small businesses. Small businesses are defined under the associated NAICS code for this effort, 518210, as those domestic sources having average annual gross receipts that do not exceed $30 Million for the past three years. Please include your company's size classification in any response to this notice. Companies that can provide such services are requested to email a detailed written response (see requested information defined below) describing their abilities to jemal.williams@trade.gov no later than the response date for this sources sought notice. The report should include achievable specifications and any other information relevant to your product or capabilities. Also, the following information is requested to be provided as part of the response to this sources sought notice: 1. Name of the company(ies) that are experienced in providing the described services, their addresses, and a point of contact for the company (name, phone number, fax number and email address), and DUNS number. 2. Indication of whether the services for which specifications are sent to jemal.williams@trade.gov and a cc: to tiffany.johnson@nist.gov are currently on one or more GSA Federal Supply Schedule contracts and, if so, the GSA FSS contract number(s). 3. Any other relevant information that is not listed above which the Government should consider in developing its minimum specifications and finalizing its market research. THIS SYNOPSIS IS FOR INFORMATION AND PLANNING PURPOSES AND IS NOT TO BE CONSTRUED AS A COMMITMENT BY THE GOVERNMENT. THIS IS NOT A SOLICITATION ANNOUNCEMENT FOR PROPOSALS AND NO CONTRACT WILL BE AWARDED FROM THIS ANNOUNCEMENT. NO REIMBURSEMENT WILL BE MADE FOR ANY COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH PROVIDING INFORMATION IN RESPONSE TO THIS ANNOUNCEMENT AND ANY FOLLOW-UP INFORMATION REQUESTS. DISCLAIMER: It is emphasized that the requested information is for preliminary planning purposes only and does not constitute a commitment, implied or otherwise, that the Department of Commerce will solicit you for such procurement in the future. The Government shall not be responsible for any costs incurred by you in furnishing this information. You are advised that any information provided shall be deemed to be furnished with unlimited rights to the Department of Commerce and the Department of Commerce assumes no liability for the disclosure, use, or reproduction of such data. Your submission of a response to this market research shall be deemed as your understanding and acceptance of these terms. ? Each vendor should submit written responses within the following framework: 1. Vendor profile/background information (Include DUNS Number) a) Company Background 1. Date Incorporated, Size, Core Competencies 2. Litigations (pending or active) 2. Each function listed above under Statement of Requirements is a core system requirement. Vendors should indicate that their CMSD application includes out-of-the-box functions by providing a "Yes" or "No" answers to each item. Out-of-the box means no custom coding, third party integration, or third party tools required to meet the requirement. Vendors should elaborate on each answer to ensure it shows how they can meet the function, 100% out of the box without customization (i.e., custom coding and third party integration or tools). 3. The vendor services listed below are anticipated to be core influencers in the evaluation process. Vendors should elaborate on each with a response to the listed services. a) Customer Service: Methods used by the vendor to provide recurring support such as: 24x7 tier 2 helpdesk (Application), user group meetings to share best practices, conferences etc... b) Business Process Re-Engineering: Ability of the vendor to understand diverse, sometimes, disjointed business processes and requirements and then translate them into effective system workflows and configurations in designing a new AD/CVD CMSD. c) Product Strategy/Innovation: Vendors approach to product innovation, product development and delivery that emphasize reusability, functionality, industry best practices and features that map to current and future requirements in the marketplace. Strategy for releasing new AD/CVD CMSD product enhancements and addressing defects is also pertinent. d) Telework Strategy: Vendor's strategy to meet the specific needs of teleworkers (both domestic and international). e) Professional Services: Vendor's ability to bring together in a timely manner a team of seasoned contract resources (project manager, business analyst etc...) with varying skills sets and technical expertise to support a successful implementation and to provide E&C user training. f) Performance/Reliability/Redundancy: Methods used to ensure optimal system performance for all end-users. g) Risk Management/Quality Assurance: Structured and repeatable methodologies used by the vendor to manage both risk and quality assurance when it comes to producing project deliverables, testing, defect management, configuration management and release management. 5. Please provide pricing information for the software and services described in your response. Response should include the pricing for any required licenses as well as pricing for professional support by labor category. Please indicate if volume pricing discounts are available and how they would be structured. 6. Written responses are limited to a total of fifteen (15) pages. The responses must be in MS WORD.