Responses_to_Web_Support_Sources_Sought_Questions_5_Dec_16.docx

1. Question: Is this a follow-on requirement. If so, would it be possible for you to provide the incumbent information (we need the contract number and contractor).

Response: This is a follow on requirement. The incumbent is Phacil, Inc. and the contract number is HHSI236201400003W.

2. Question: Who is the incumbent?

Response: Phacil, Inc. is the incumbent.

3. Question: What qualifies a company to bid on 17-236-SOL-00007?

Response: 17-236-SOL-00007 is not a proposal solicitation but rather a Sources Sought or Request for Information (RFI). A Sources Sought is not a bid; instead it is a solicitation of interest. It is like market research conducted by a government agency to determine the capabilities and interests of the marketplace. Any interested party who believes they can perform the services identified within the Performance Work Statement and Source Sought are able to provide a capabilities statement.

4. Question: What are the specifications for LISTSERV? (PWS reference C.2.3) Response: The LISTSERV responsibilities are for LISTSERV server maintenance and respective software upgrades on the server only. Database management and day to day operations are performed by federal staff.

5. Question: What is the current governance/approval process for SharePoint sites? (PWS reference C.2.7) Response: SharePoint collections/sites are requested by an end user (administrator for the site) by filling out a form. Approval is granted by the federal lead, and the site is created.

6. Question: What is the total number of servers? (PWS Reference C.2.8) Response: Less than 10.

7. Question: What type of monitoring software is being used in the production environment? (PWS reference C.2.10) Response: A variety of tools are being utilized and will be made available; recommendations are also welcomed.

8. Question: In terms of data security, will the environment be rated FIPS Moderate? What are the additional security requirements for the site(s)?

Response: We already have an environment, and are working with internal Federal staff on updating our Systems Security Plans for the entire web environment.

9. Question: Are the site(s) currently hosted in the cloud?

Response: Our sites are hosted in the IHS data center on virtual machines.

10. Question: Where will the site(s) be hosted under the new contract?

Response: Please see the response for question 9.

11. Question: Will the contractor be required to develop system documentation for existing systems?

Response: Unclear what is meant by system, but it is a possibility.

12. Question: Under what type of contract vehicle will this RFP be issued?

Response: Contract type is unknown as the Government is still in market research phrase to determine acquisition strategy and contract type. Please stay tuned for the release of the solicitation.

13. Question: Are the current sites Section 508 compliant?

Response: Section 508 is a moving target, we work to adhere to a high level of 508 compliance and WCAG 2.0 AA conformance, and work to make sure that all of our current sites are 508 compliant.

14. Question: Which version of ColdFusion is installed in your production environment?

Response: CF 11

15. Question: Does ColdFusion run on Windows, UNIX, or another operating system, and which version(s)?

Response: Coldfusion runs on all the above and others. IHS runs it on Windows servers, 2012 R2.

16. Question: Does IHS currently use any wire-framing, prototyping or mockup software?

Response: Visio is commonly used.

17. Question: What is the level of development or customization for the SharePoint sites?

Response: The SharePoint 2013 is a nascent environment in regards to customization at this time. IHS is looking for expertise on how we can further grow and utilize features and the functionality it provides.

18. Question: Is there currently a template for site creation?

Response: Yes.

19. Question: Approximately how many SharePoint users?

Response: ~7500

20. Question: Approximately how much data is currently stored in SharePoint?

Response: Less than 1000GB

21. Question: Are there any third party migration tools currently in use, and if so, which one(s)?

Response: Metalogix Content Matrix

22. Question: Will you consider purchasing third party migration tools?

Response: Please see the response to question 21.

23. Question: Is there currently a SharePoint governance plan in place, and if so, is it documented?

Response: This is in development, and part of the PWS, see C.2.7 (h).

24. Question: Is there existing system architecture documentation?

Response: Yes.

25. Question: Does IHS consider any SharePoint implementation (On Premise, Online, or Hybrid) a viable option?

Response: To clarify, IHS already has a SharePoint implementation; however, the future state would be part of the C.2.7(h) requirement for providing architecture and governance guidance and C.2.7(j) to provide guidance on setup/configuration of using cloud storage versus server storage.

26. Question: Does IHS link, or want to link, network files within SharePoint? If so, does IHS have third party tools to integrate files stored on a network with SharePoint?

Response: Unknown at this time; however, this capability would be under requirement C.2.7(k): to research, develop, and implement features and functionalities that are unavailable at this time.

27. Question: Please provide a complete list of third party tools that will be available for SharePoint 2013.

Response: Please see response to question #21. We also utilize Metalogix ControlPoint. However, see C.2.7(k), part of the sources sought is to research, develop, and implement features and functionalities that are unavailable at this time.

28. Question: Will IHS provide final content, or is there the expectation that the contractor will edit/rewrite content?

Response: Please see PWS, C.2.6.(a). There is the occasional need to edit and rewrite content for plain writing and readability.

29. Question: Does IHS utilize a set or standard workflow for quality control and approval of content?

Response: Yes.

30. Question: Does IHS utilize an SLA in terms of response times?

Response: Yes.

31. Question: Is there an in-house design or development team that the contractor would collaborate with?

Response: No, the Contractor is the development team, and all work is overseen and design/development efforts are approved by Federal web management staff.

32. Question: How many systems are currently deployed in support of this IHS effort?

Response: Unknown what is meant by system.

33. Question: What is the growth rate of this system?

Response: Unknown.

34. Question: Will there be any need for any of these systems to be hosted outside of IHS?

Response: Unknown at this time.

35. Question: Other than Microsoft Servers, are any other operating systems / platforms currently operating for IHS?

Response: No

36. Question: What percentage of systems are currently cloud-hosted?

Response: None at this time, although it may be a future request. Please think of scalability in your response.

37. Question: If there is an incumbent can the government, please share with us the current team size?

Response: The incumbent’s specific team size is considered source selection (confidential) information. NOTE: The PWS identifies key personnel (Section C.2.11) which provides the basis of staffing. Additional staffing will vary depending on the staffing solution proposed by each proposal.

38. Question: Is the Government expecting the offeror to response to all section between 2.4 through 2.10?

Response: Yes, Section C.2. is the Scope of Requirements.

39. Question: Is there an Infrastructure vendor who manages the IHS infrastructure?

Response: Infrastructure (hardware) is managed the IHS Office of Information Technology Division of Information Technology Operations Data Center and Enterprise Technology groups.

40. Question: Could the government please define its expectations for a compliant response?

Response: The capabilities statement should address the interested parties’ abilities as it relates to the requirements in the PWS and what was specified in the sources sought within 15 pages.

41. Question: Is the government anticipating a specific type of contract for this effort?

Response: Please see the response to Question 12.

42. Question: Is there a preferred or prescribed format for responses?

Response: No preferred formatting for the capabilities statements.

43. Question: Are there any help desk requirements to support the user community?

Response: IHS web support utilizes the help desk ticketing system used by the IHS Office of Information Technology Customer Support Help Desk.

44. Question: Does the government use Cloud or On-premise installation for its infrastructure requirements?

Response: Unknown; please see response to #39.

45. Question: Can we assume that 175 websites and the 80 web applications go through form FISMA Certification & Accreditation requirements (C&A)?

Response: To clarify, all 175 websites and 80 web applications are all hosted within one domain, ihs.gov are covered under various agency System Security Plans.

46. Question: Can the government specify the technology stack and development toolkits used in the web applications? (PWS Section 2.5) Response: Windows server, IIS, Coldfusion, Tomcat, Java, SQL server.

47. Question: Can the government specify the volume (of user) and performance requirements for websites and web applications? (PWS Section 2.4 and 2.5) Response: This varies for the web applications and if there are specific requirements. They are outlined in the documentation for the specific web application. All websites are under one domain (IHS.gov) in a subfolder structure, so the performance requirements for that are outlined in service availability under C.2.8.

48. Question: In addition to the databases are there data warehouses, data marts etc., that exist in the IHS ecosystem? (PWS Section 2.9) Response: None that fall under the requirements outlined in the PWS for this sources sought notice.

49. Question: In relation to the above, can the government provide us with information on any ETL, Report, Analytics tools used in IHS? (Tableau, Cognos, Microstrategy etc.,) (PWS Section 2.9) Response: Requirements in the sources sought are not related to data warehouses or data marts (see response to #48).

50. Question: Can you provide us with a list of the monitoring toolkits used for Alerts, monitoring and reporting? (PWS Section 2.10) Response: A variety of tools are being utilized and will be made available, recommendations are also welcomed.

51. Question: Are there any database appliances that exist in IHS? (PWS Section 2.9) Response: Yes, there are current database appliances.

52. Question: Will the Government provide Project Server as GFE or is the Contractor responsible for procuring Project Server? (PWS Section 2.12) Response: Project server is an existing product used, and Contractor would be able to continue to use.

53. Question: Will the Government provide the tools/GFE used to perform EVM activities? (PWS Section 2.12) Response: EVM is done through Project Server and Microsoft Project.

54. Question: Is the IHS provided time tracking system compatible with Deltek and the required EVM tool? (PWS Section 2.12) Response: Unknown.

55. Question: Are specific EVM reports (format 1, 4, 5) required for monthly reporting? (PWS Section 2.12) Response: See C.2.12(g). The requirement states that they must be provided, the Government is open to how this can be done.

56. Question: How many FTEs are currently supporting this effort?

Response: Please see the response to question 37.

57. Question: When do you expect the RFP to be released?

Response: The Government anticipate the solicitation to be released some time during the second quarter.

58. Question: Can you give us a high level overview of the environments? Do you have Development, Test, Stage, Performance Test environments?

Response: Development, Stage, and Production.

59. Question: Are there any dependencies between the systems (internally or externally)? For example, are any of the systems pulling or pushing data or information to/from another one? If so, can you indicate how many of these interdependencies exist?

Response: Yes, and very few (~5).

60. Question: Are any of them currently configured for mobile devices?

Response: Yes.

61. Question: What is the breakdown of the websites development (Mura, ColdFusion, etc.) and versions of the software in use?

Response: Please see response to #46, 14, and 15.

62. Question: What is the average number of pages per website?

Response: This varies significantly, please visit www.ihs.gov.

63. Question: What is the average number of users per website? Are there any peak periods associated with the websites (for example annual sign ups, etc.)?

Response: We only have one public website www.ihs.gov, everything lives in a subfolder or subdomain structure, average page views per month are ~500K.

64. Question: What is the breakdown of websites in terms of internal vs. external (public) access?

Response: Please visit www.ihs.gov. We also have a small intranet.

65. Question: Do any of the websites require a user login (other than admin to maintain the website)? If so, what type of login is in place currently (2 factor, PIV card, Active Directory, etc.)?

Response:No. Only web applications that live on the IHS.gov domain.

66. Question: Do any of the websites collect / maintain Personally Identifiable Information (PII)?

Response: Please provide a response to the sources sought of your plan to make sure PII that may be collected or maintained stays secure.

67. Question: How many Content Managers are currently supporting this effort that will require support?

Response: There is at least 1 SME for every website within the IHS.gov domain.

68. Question: How do the Content Managers currently request support (phone, email, ticketing system)?

Response: All of the above mentioned modalities.

69. Question: Can you give us a high level overview of the environments? Do you have Development, Test, Stage, Performance Test environments?

Response: All web applications live in the IHS.gov domain as a subfolder, see response #58.

70. Question: Are there any dependencies between the systems (internally or externally)? For example, are any of the systems pulling or pushing data or information to/from another one? If so, can you indicate how many of these interdependencies exist?

Response: Please see response to #59.

71. Question: Are any of them currently configured for mobile devices?

Response: Yes.

72. Question: What is the breakdown of the web applications development (ColdFusion, HTML, etc., etc.) and versions of the software in use?

Response: Please see response to #46, 14, and 15.

73. Question: What is the average size of the applications (workflows, functions, fields, etc.)?

Response: This varies significantly; we have some very large complex applications, and some very small simple applications. Please provide a response to the sources sought of your plan to manage/create web applications of all sizes.

74. Question: What is the average number of users per application? Are there any peak periods associated with the applications (for example annual sign ups, etc.)?

Response: Please see response to #73 and apply it to users of the applications.

75. Question: What is the breakdown of applications in terms of internal vs. external (public) access?

Response: About 50/50

76. Question: Do any of the applications require a user login (other than admin to maintain the website)? If so, what type of login is in place currently (2 factor, PIV card, Active Directory, etc.)?

Response: Yes. Please provide a response to the sources sought of experience implementing various options to make applications more secure.

77. Question: Do any of the applications collect / maintain Personally Identifiable Information (PII)?

Response: Please provide a response to the sources sought of your plan to make sure PII that may be collected or maintained stays secure.

78. Question: How many support requests are received? Please provide some level of breakdown or specification. For example total # of requests per application per year; by Level (Level 1 – simple, Level 2 – more complex, Level 3 – requires development support).

Response: Please provide a response to the sources sought of how various levels of support can be handled.

79. Question: How are the support requests currently handled? Are they entered and tracked in a help / support desk system? What are the current SLAs (if any) regarding the support requests?

Response: Please see response to #43.

80. Question: How many major updates are planned for these applications per year?

Response: This depends on a multitude of factors, please provide a response to the sources sought of your plan to handle varying levels of major updates to web applications.

81. Question: How many minor updates are expected per application per year?

Response: This depends on a multitude of factors, please provide a response to the sources sought of your plan to handle varying levels of minor updates to web applications.

82. Question: Are any new applications expected to be developed as part of this effort?

Response: On the PWS C.2.3(b), this primary objective is to develop, design, and test the implementation of new website and web application development.

83. Question: Approximately how many pages of content are updated on a daily/weekly/monthly basis?

Response: This varies significantly depending on the webpages, please provide a response to the sources sought of your plan to handle varying levels of content updates.

84. What are the expected/proposed SLAs for content review and loading?

Response: Delivered with 10% variance of the agreed upon time frame.

85. Question: How many content managers are supporting this effort?

Response: Please see response to #67.

86. Question: Are all of the SP sites currently in WSS 3.0?

Response: No.

87. Question: What is the planned timeline to migrate to SharePoint 2013?

Response: As soon as possible.

88. Question: What is the average number of pages per SP Site?

Response: This varies significantly between SharePoint sites, please provide a response to the sources sought of your plan to handle SharePoint sites of varying complexity.

89. Question: What is the total amount of data being managed by the SharePoint sites?

Response: Please see response to #20.

90. Question: What is the average number of users per SP Site? Are there any peak periods associated with the SP Sites (for example annual sign ups, etc.)?

Response: This varies significantly between SharePoint sites. Please provide a response to the sources sought of your plan to handle a multitude of users (see #19 for ~total) and varying levels of peak periods.

91. Question: What is the breakdown of SP Sites in terms of internal vs. external (public) access?

Response: Our SharePoint sites are all internal.

92. Question: Do any of the SP Sites require a user login (other than admin to maintain the website)? If so, what type of login is in place currently (2 factor, PIV card, Active Directory, etc.)?

Response: All SharePoint sites are internal.

93. Question: Do any of the SP Sites collect / maintain Personally Identifiable Information (PII)?

Response: Please provide a response to the sources sought of your plan to make sure PII that may be collected or maintained stays secure.

94. Question: Are any tools currently being used to monitor / manage the SharePoint sites (including backup and recovery, creation, etc.)?

Response: See responses #22 and #27.

95. Question: How many servers are currently being used in the SharePoint site? Are they physical or virtual servers?

Response: 2, SharePoint environment is virtual.

96. Question: How are new servers requested and procured? Do we need to account for this as part of the proposal? How are hardware upgrades managed (CPU, RAM, HD, etc.)?

Response: Infrastructure (hardware) is managed the IHS Office of Information Technology Division of Information Technology Operations Data Center and Enterprise Technology groups.

97. Question: How many support requests are received annually for the SharePoint environment?

Response: Please provide a response to the sources sought of your plan to handle varying levels of support requests for the SharePoint environment.

98. Question: Are there any plans to move to the cloud in the near future? Would that be an option as part of the proposal?

Response: Please see response to #25. Yes, as part of C.2.7 (h) and (j).

99. Question: Can you provide an overview of the web environment (# servers, configuration, architecture, etc.)?

Response: Not at this time.

100. Question: What tools are currently being used to manage and monitor the servers and environment?

Response: Please see response to #50.

101. Question: How many users currently have access to the systems? How is access granted/revoked?

Response: This cannot be answered at this time.

102. Question: Where are the servers currently located?

Response: IHS data center.

103. Question: How often are updates/patches implemented on the servers? Is there a standard process in place for managing this?

Response: At the very least, monthly, and yes.

104. Question: Do you have a current Configuration Management Database (CMDB) that contains information and contacts for all of the supported systems?

Response: Please provide a response to the sources sought of how a CMDB can improve the requirement for C.2.8.

105. Question: Can you provide an overview of the database environment (# servers, configuration, architecture, etc.)?

Response: Not at this time. Please provide a response to the sources sought of experience managing a SQL environment.

106. Question: What tools are currently being used to manage and monitor the databases and performance?

Response: Please provide a response to the sources sought of tools that can be used to effectively manage and monitor databases and performance.

107. Question: Do other applications/systems have databases on these servers, or just the applications/websites included in this RFI?

Response: The requirement is to maintain the SQL environment for anything that lives on the IHS.gov domain.

108. How often are Disaster Recovery tests executed?

Response: Disaster Recovery tests are managed through the Office of Information Technology Division of Security.

109. Question: What tools are in place currently for monitoring systems and sending out alerts?

Response: A variety of tools are used and IHS welcomes any input on your approach to alerts and monitoring.

110. Question: What are the current Service Level Agreements?

Response: Please see 2.8 of the PWS.

111. Question: How many alerts are generated in an average week/month/year, and what types?

Response: Please provide a response to the sources sought of the approach used to manage a varying level of alerts for service availability.