Robotics Process Automation (RPA) BPA Recompete

Description: This is a Request for Information (RFI) (hereinafter Notice). This is NOT a solicitation for proposals, proposal abstracts, request for bids or quotations, nor a promise to issue a solicitation in the future. The purpose of this RFI is for the Government to obtain knowledge and information for project planning purposes only. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is interested in scaling up the Robotic Process Automation (RPA) Program within the Information Technology (IT) branch. The RPA program is seeking highly skilled software engineers, architects, business analysts, and technical document specialists to support our Center of Excellence/Program Management Office, Development and Platform teams. The RPA program estimates to develop and deploy 35 to 50 automations per year. These automations vary in complexity and often require multiple external system coordination, as well as basic knowledge of IRS/accounting procedures. The RPA program is also increasing the footprint in Optical/Intelligent Character Recognition to reduce the backlog of paper-based forms and significantly reduce the manual labor required to read these forms and input data into IRS systems. The RPA program is seeking vendors with significant experience in Robotic Process Automation; however, our interest is in technical software engineering concepts and scaling. The RPA program is within the IT branch in the IRS and therefore we address a lot of IT challenges not related to RPA. Some of these areas include FISMA, Authority to Operate, Application Program Interfaces, data input/scraping with mainframes, digitizing paper forms, automating daily tasks and generally providing solutions to complex IT challenges in the government. The RPA Program has three teams making up the Program Structure: Center of Excellence/Program Management Office: Experienced and dedicated resources to participate in the Center of Excellence (CoE) section of the RPA Program and other various Program Management Office (PMO) Support. The mission of the CoE/PMO is to be the direct interface between the RPA Program and the Business Units requesting software / automation development. The CoE will assist with customer outreach, engagement, automation adoption and customer experience management. The CoE will work with the various business units and customers to operationalize the automation Intake Process, translate business processes to automations use cases. As part of the Intake Process, CoE Process Architects will be responsible for determine use case feasibility, scope, and business impact. In addition, CoE/PMO resources will support RPA strategy, best practice, and lessons learned adoption within the RPA program. PMO support will involve, but not limited to, creating Executive level presentations, meeting coordination, document review for any applicable compliance, and general support with strategic planning. 2. Technical Platform Support: The platform team ensure that IRS identified automations and capabilities are successfully integrated, verified, validated, secured, and tested on the RPA platform and with other pre-existing operating tools and systems within the IRS. The Contractor shall ensure that all processes and procedures are identified and documented to allow for successful operation and maintenance of the RPA platform. 3. Software Development: Highly experienced personnel that can support the innovation, expansion, and ideation of RPA capabilities within the IRS. The Contractor personnel will participate in activities such as, but not limited to, evaluating, designing, prototyping, piloting, developing, and implementing RPA automations and extensions towards pre-existing systems, that can be used both on-premises and on the cloud. Will provide and implement solutions that allow for IRS approved capabilities to be implemented and deployed into the IRS environment. Requested Information: Responses to this Notice should adequately address the following topics for the IRS to properly analyze strategies: Information in these categories is the focus of the IRS to scale RPA capabilities: Pricing: Estimates to gather, analyze, categorize, deliver, and maintain, the software engineering of 35-50 Robotic Process Automations per Fiscal Year. Capabilities: Technical capabilities and projects previously completed to showcase ability to meet IRS strategic goals and future program scale. Staffing structure: Ideal team staff levels to support delivery of 35-50 Robotic Process Automations per Fiscal Year. Qualifications/Certifications: Are there qualifications/certifications requirements for individuals or to the vendor as whole who is performing the services? If so, what are they and do they apply to this acquisition? Subcontracting possibilities, specifically for small businesses. Specific questions for advice/analysis: What software, and experience level, does your company support within RPA? How many automations does your company deploy per Fiscal year? Would your company want to participate in a competition for a new Blanket Purchase Agreement with the IRS? Will all your employees be eligible for security clearance, or government building access? What experience does your company offer migrating automations, software, and/or systems from on-premises to cloud architecture? What GSA labor categories are applicable to the requirement? Does your company have any experience with the IRS or GAAP and other tax laws applicable to the business of the IRS? Do you have experience managing a contract that covers multiple geographically separated locations? What would you define as high, medium, and low complexity benchmarks for technical analysis? What is your typical timeline to perform intake, analysis, development, and deployment of one automation in each of the High, Medium, Low complexity categories? What are your top risks or issues encountered when implementing RPA solutions? What was the scope of the largest digitization project your company delivered? What are your top three RPA technology stacks used to perform functions outlined here? Respondent's DUNS number, organization name, address, point of contact, type of business (large or small) and socio-economic status (e.g., 8(a), HUBZone, etc.) pursuant to the applicable NAICS code. Identification of any contract vehicles (e.g., GSA schedule numbers and SIN categories) they may possess or are aware of that would support this possible requirement. Any other information that may be helpful. Vendor's technical and administrative points of contact, including names, titles, addresses, telephone and fax numbers, and e-mail addresses. Questions: Email questions to this Notice shall be sent to the attention of the individual(s) listed in this Notice. Due date for questions is no later than December 4, 2023, at 5:00pm EST. Responses: Email responses to this Notice shall be sent to the attention of individual(s) listed in this Notice. Due date for response is no later than January 2, 2024, at 5:00pm EST. The points of contact for this Notice are: Eldon Freymuth RPA Center Of Excellence Lead contact@example.gov Sharma Sasanka RPA Program Manager contact@example.gov Curnell Garbutt RPA Platform Lead contact@example.gov No page limit is set for responses. However, responses should be concise, adequate, and address all requested information. Any additional information should be included in an Appendix or separate document. Terms and Conditions regarding this Notice: This Notice does not obligate the Government to award a contract or otherwise pay for the information provided in response. All costs associated with responding to this Notice are solely at the responding party's expense. The Government reserves the right to use information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate. Further, the Government may contact the vendor for additional information regarding the information submitted as part of this market research effort. 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 Government Point of Entry or other similar source (e.g., GSA E-buy). However, responses to this notice will not be considered adequate responses to a solicitation. Responses to this notice are not offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract or agreement. The Government will not be obligated to pursue any acquisition alternative because of this notice. Responses to the notice will not be returned. Not responding to this notice does not preclude participation in any future solicitation if one is issued. No proprietary, classified, confidential, or sensitive information should be included in responses to this Notice, unless otherwise appropriately marked by the Respondant. The Government reserves the right to use any non-proprietary technical information received in response to this Notice in any resultant solicitation(s). Do Not Submit any Proposals/Offers in response to this Notice. Place of Contract Performance: Place of performance can be Government of Contractor facility. If contractor facility, it should be located within federally accepted commuting distance of any IRS government facility, the primary IRS facilities for the RPA program are: New Carrollton Federal Building 5000 Ellis Road Lanham, MD IRS main facility 1111 Constitution Avenue Washington, DC