Attachment_F_-_QASP.docx

For: Mainframe Services Attachment F Contract Number: < upon award, enter contract number> Contract Description: The Contractor shall provide mainframe computer services in support of administrative, statistical, developmental, and production applications for the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). These services consist of, but are not limited to: providing batch and interactive processing; remote printing; data storage and maintenance; security; communications support; production monitoring; technical assistance to include help desk support by phone; Confidential Information Protection and Statistical Efficiency Act (CIPSEA) compliance; phase-in support; and phase-out support.

Contractor’s name: < upon award, enter contractor name > (hereafter referred to as the Contractor).

Purpose This Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan (QASP) provides a systematic method to evaluate performance for the stated contract. This QASP explains the following:

· What will be monitored?

· How monitoring will take place?

· Who will conduct the monitoring?

· How monitoring efforts and results will be documented?

This QASP is a “living document” and the Government may review and revise it on a regular basis. However, the Government shall coordinate changes with the Contractor. Updates shall ensure that the QASP remains a valid, useful, and enforceable document. Copies of the original QASP and revisions shall be provided to the Contractor and Government officials implementing surveillance activities.

The following FAR clauses may apply:

52.246-4 Inspection of Services – Fixed-Price Government Roles and Responsibilities The following personnel shall oversee and coordinate surveillance activities.

a. Contracting Officer (CO) - The CO shall ensure performance of all necessary actions for effective contracting, ensure compliance with the contract terms, and shall safeguard the interests of the United States in the contractual relationship. The CO shall also assure that the Contractor receives impartial, fair, and equitable treatment under this contract. The CO is ultimately responsible for the final determination of the adequacy of the Contractor’s performance.

Assigned CO: Gary Fontaine Organization or Agency: Bureau of Labor Statistics Telephone: 202-691-6024 Email: fontaine.gary@bls.gov

b. Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) - The COR is responsible for technical administration of the contract and shall assure proper Government surveillance of the Contractor’s performance. The COR shall keep a quality assurance file. At the conclusion of the contract or when requested by the CO, the COR shall provide documentation to the CO. The COR is not empowered to make any contractual commitments or to authorize any contractual changes on the Government’s behalf. The Contractor shall refer any changes they deem may affect contract price, terms, or conditions to the CO for action.

Assigned COR: David Miller Telephone: 202-691-7569 Email: miller.dave@bls.gov

Contractor Representatives The following employees of the Contractor serve as the Contractor’s Contract Manager and Task Manager for this contract.

a. Contract Manager – < upon award, enter contractor name > Telephone: < upon award, enter contractor name > Email: < upon award, enter contractor name >

b. Task Manager - < upon award, enter contractor name > Telephone: < upon award, enter contractor name > Email: < upon award, enter contractor name >

Mainframe Services Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan

QUALITY ASSURANCE SURVEILLANCE PLAN

Performance Standards Performance standards define desired services. The Government performs surveillance to determine if the Contractor exceeds, meets or does not meet these standards.

The Performance Requirements Summary Matrix, in the Performance Work Statement includes performance standards. The Government shall use these standards to determine Contractor performance and shall compare Contractor performance to the Acceptable Quality Level (AQL).

PERFORMANCE REQUIREMENTS SUMMARY

PWS C.5 A-C:

The Contractor shall provide all hardware, software, tape and storage that is necessary to support the BLS’ processing and communications with the Contractor’s facility.

VALIDATED USER/CUSTOMER COMPLAINTS

Government Review of vendor helpdesk tickets and user emails.

Monthly

As received

PWS C.5.D:

The contractor shall provide remote printer services.

VALIDATED USER/CUSTOMER COMPLAINTS

Monthly

PWS C.5 E:

The contractor shall provide software as required.

The contractor shall provide the current release of :

• Core IBM Software

• Language Compilers

• Other Vendor Products

VALIDATED USER/CUSTOMER COMPLAINTS

Monthly

PWS C.5 F:

The contractor shall provide user ID and accounting features.

The contractor shall provide:

• User IDs

• Accounting features

• Account Maintenance

VALIDATED USER/CUSTOMER COMPLAINTS

Government Review of vendor helpdesk tickets, BLS helpdesk tickets, and user emails.

Monthly

PWS C.5.G:

The Contractor shall provide the current and timely release of language compilers, software products, job card formats, PROCOIB Statements and JES2 Statements.

VALIDATED USER/CUSTOMER COMPLAINTS

Monthly

PWS C.5.H:

The Contractor’s environment must comply with BLS security policies.

Warning issued each subsequent day for 14 days.

PERIODIC INSPECTION Government Review of Contractor Mandatory Reporting.

VALIDATED USER/CUSTOMER COMPLAINTS

Monthly

PWS C.5.H:

The Contractor’s environment must comply with BLS security policies.

Resolution of RACF security concerns within 12 hours of notification or detection.

PERIODIC INSPECTION Government Review of Contractor Mandatory Reporting.

VALIDATED USER/CUSTOMER COMPLAINTS

Monthly

PWS D.5.I.1:

The Contractor shall provide for an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) that will supply power in the event of a commercially supplied power failure.

VALIDATED USER/CUSTOMER COMPLAINTS

Government Review of vendor helpdesk tickets, BLS helpdesk tickets, and user emails.

Monthly

PWS D.5.I.2:

The Contractor shall create DASD volume backups of BLS private volumes and BLS datasets on public volumes.

Report shall have no more than two revisions.

PERIODIC INSPECTION Government Review of Contractor Mandatory Reporting.

VALIDATED USER/CUSTOMER COMPLAINTS

Monthly

PWS C.5.L:

The Contractor shall provide general technical support at no direct cost to the government.

The Contractor provided general technical support shall:

• Be available by telephone during all scheduled hours of operation via a toll-free telephone number.

• Be available for Technical assistance for programming or other problems with Contractor-supplied software.

Government Review of Contractor Mandatory Reporting.

VALIDATED USER/CUSTOMER COMPLAINTS

Weekly

PWS C.5.N.5-7:

The Contractor shall supply a machine-readable file each month.

The Contractor provided machine-readable file shall:

• Provide detailed information about all of the billable items.

• Provide a report that shows all jobs that are submitted, the priority requested, and the priority received.

• Provide a report that shows the summary of billable items by account and the total for BLS.

Report shall be error free 99% of the time.

Report shall have no more than two revisions.

ANALYSIS OF CONTRACTOR'S PROGRESS REPORTS

Government Review of Contractor Mandatory Reporting

VALIDATED USER/CUSTOMER COMPLAINTS

Monthly

Methods of QA Surveillance Various methods exist to monitor performance. The COR shall use the surveillance methods listed below in the administration of this QASP.

Regardless of the surveillance method, the COR shall always contact the Contractor's task manager or on-site representative when a defect is identified and inform the manager of the specifics of the problem. The COR, with assistance from the CO, shall be responsible for monitoring the Contractor’s performance in meeting a specific performance standard/AQL.

PERIODIC INSPECTION. (Inspections may be scheduled Weekly, Monthly, or unscheduled, as required.)

· Government Review of Contractor Mandatory Reporting

· Government Review of vendor helpdesk tickets, BLS helpdesk tickets and user emails.

VALIDATED USER/CUSTOMER COMPLAINTS. (Relies on the user of the service to identify deficiencies. Complaints are then investigated and validated. Highly applicable to services provided in quantity and where quality is highly subjective.)

· Government Review of Contractor Mandatory Reporting

· Government Review of vendor helpdesk tickets, BLS helpdesk tickets and user emails.

PROGRESS OR STATUS MEETINGS.

· Government Review of Contractor Mandatory Reporting

· Government Review of vendor helpdesk tickets and user emails.

ANALYSIS OF CONTRACTOR'S PROGRESS REPORTS. (Evaluate cost, schedule, etc.)

· Government Review of Contractor Mandatory Reporting.

· Government Review of vendor helpdesk tickets and user emails.

Surveillance results may be used as the basis for actions (to include payment deductions) against the Contractor. In such cases, the Inspection of Services clause in the Contract becomes the basis for the CO’s actions.

Ratings Metrics and methods are designed to determine if performance exceeds, meets, or does not meet a given standard and acceptable quality level. A rating scale shall be used to determine a positive, neutral, or negative outcome. The following ratings shall be used:

Documenting Performance

a. ACCEPTABLE PERFORMANCE The Government shall document positive performance. A report template is attached. Any report may become a part of the supporting documentation for fixed fee payments, award fee payments, or other actions.

b. UNACCEPTABLE PERFORMANCE.

When unacceptable performance occurs, the COR shall inform the Contractor. This will normally be in writing unless circumstances necessitate verbal communication. In any case the COR shall document the discussion and place it in the COR file.

When the COR determines formal written communication is required, the COR shall prepare a Contract Discrepancy Report (CDR), and present it to the Contractor's task manager. A CDR template is attached to this QASP.

The Contractor shall acknowledge receipt of the CDR in writing. The CDR will specify if the Contractor is required to prepare a corrective action plan to document how the Contractor shall correct the unacceptable performance and avoid a recurrence. The CDR will also state how long after receipt the Contractor has to present this corrective action plan to the COR. The Government shall review the Contractor's corrective action plan to determine acceptability.

Any CDRs may become a part of the supporting documentation for contract payment deductions, fixed fee deductions, award fee nonpayment, or other actions deemed necessary by the CO.

Frequency of Measurement

a. FREQUENCY OF MEASUREMENT.

During contract/order performance, the COR shall take periodic measurements, monthly or quarterly as specified in the AQL column of the Performance Standards Summary Matrix, and shall analyze whether the negotiated frequency of measurement is appropriate for the work being performed.

b. FREQUENCY OF PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT MEETINGS.

The COR shall meet with the Contractor weekly to assess performance. On a monthly basis the contractor reporting shall be assessed. A written assessment shall be provided monthly.

Prepared by: David Miller

Signature – Contracting Officer’s Representative Performance Report – CDR Template

1. CONTRACT NUMBER: <insert number after award>

2. Prepared by: (Name of COR) David Miller

3. Date and time of observation:

4. Observation:

- Method of surveillance.

- How frequently surveillance was conducted.

- Surveillance results.

- Number of observations.

Prepared by: David Miller