19AQMM21R0302-A004.pdf

19AQMM21R0302

AMENDMENT OF SOLICITATION/MODIFICATION OF CONTRACT

1. CONTRACT ID CODE RATING

2. AMENDMENT/MODIFICATION NO.

3. EFFECTIVE DATE

11/05/2021

4. REQUISITION/PURCHASE REQ. NO. 5. PROJECT NO. (If applicable)

LMAQMCODE

OFFICE OF ACQUISITION MANAGEMENT (A/LM/AQM)

PO BOX 9115, ROSSLYN STATION

US DEPARTMENT OF STATE

ARLINGTON, VA 22219

Terence G. Lord

NAME

703-875-4801

TEL.

lordtg@state.gov

EMAIL

6. ISSUED BY OPEAQMCODE

Global Programs Branch

OPE/AQM/IP/GP

Office of Acquisition (AQM) 1200 Wilson Blvd (SA-06B) Arlington, VA 22209

7. ADMINISTERED BY (If other than Item 6)

9A. AMENDMENT OF SOLICITATION NO.

19AQMM21R0302

CONTACT: DUNS:

CODE FACILITY CODE

8. NAME AND ADDRESS OF CONTRACTOR (No., street, country, state and ZIP Code) (X)

X 9B. DATED (SEE ITEM 11)

08/20/2021

10A. MODIFICATION OF CONTRACT/ORDER NO.

10B. DATED (SEE ITEM 13)

11. THIS ITEM ONLY APPLIES TO AMENDMENTS OF SOLICITATIONS

X XThe above numbered solicitation is amended as set forth in item 14. The hour and date specified for receipt of Offers is extended, is not extended, Offers must acknowledge receipt of this amendment prior to the hour and date specified in the solicitation or as amended, by one of the following methods: (a) By completing items 8 and 15, and returning ____copies of the amendment;(b)By acknowledging receipt of this amendment on each copy of the offer submitted; or (c) By separate letter or telegram which includes a reference to the solicitation and amendment numbers. FAILURE OF YOUR ACKNOWLEDGMENT TO BE RECEIVED AT THE PLACE DESIGNATED FOR THE RECEIPT OF OFFERS PRIOR TO THE HOUR AND DATE SPECIFIED MAY RESULT IN REJECTION OF YOUR OFFER. If by virtue of this amendment you desire to change an offer already submitted, such change may be made by telegram or letter, provided each telegram or letter makes reference to the solicitation and this amendment, and is received prior to the opening hour and date specified.

12. ACCOUNTING AND APPROPRIATION DATA (If required)

13. THIS ITEM ONLY APPLIES TO MODIFICATION OF CONTRACTS/ORDERS. IT MODIFIES THE CONTRACT/ORDER NO. AS DESCRIBED IN ITEM 14.

CHECK ONE A. THIS CHANGE ORDER IS ISSUED PURSUANT TO: (Specify authority) THE CHANGES SET FORTH IN ITEM 14 ARE MADE IN THE CONTRACT ORDER NO. IN ITEM 10A.

B. THE ABOVE NUMBERED CONTRACT/ORDER IS MODIFIED TO REFLECT THE ADMINISTRATIVE CHANGES (such as changes in paying office, appropriation date, etc.) SET FORTH IN ITEM 14, PURSUANT TO THE AUTHORITY OF FAR 43.103(b).

C. THIS SUPPLEMENTAL AGREEMENT IS ENTERED INTO PURSUANT TO AUTHORITY OF:

D. OTHER (Specify type of modification and authority)

E. IMPORTANT: Contractor is not, is required to sign this document and return copies to the issuing office.X

14. DESCRIPTION OF AMENDMENT/MODIFICATION (Organized by UCF section headings, including solicitation/contract subject matter where feasible.)

Amendment 004 is issued for the following reasons:

1. To provide responses to questions relevant to Stage 2 of this solicitation.

2. To provide updated RFP documents to align with responses to questions received and/or to provide further clarity to existing requirements.

The due date for Stage 2 proposal submissions remains 2pm EST, November 15, 2021.

Except as provided herein, all terms and conditions of the document referenced in Item 9A or 10A, as heretofore changed, remains unchanged and in full force and effect.

15A. NAME AND TITLE OF SIGNER (Type or print) 16A. NAME AND TITLE OF CONTRACTING OFFICER (Type or print)

Terence G. Lord

(Signature of person authorized to sign)

15B. CONTRACTOR/OFFEROR 15C. DATE SIGNED

By (Signature of Contracting Officer)

16B. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 16C. DATE SIGNED

NSN 7540-01-152-8070

Previous edition unusable

STANDARD FORM 30 (REV. 10-83)

Prescribed by GSA FAR (48 CFR) 53.243

CGFS : : CGFS

Line Item Summary

Solicitation Number:

19AQMM21R0302

Contract Number: Title: ECA IT Transformation and Operations Support Svcs

Date of Solicitation:

11/05/2021

Line Item No.

Description Quantity Unit Unit Price Total Cost

001 BASE YEAR

Refer to Attachment 7 for Pricing Template/Level of Effort Submission Type of Contract Pricing:

Doc Ref No:

Delivery Date FOB:

1.00 0.00 1.00

YR

1001 OPTION YEAR 1

Refer to Attachment 7 for Pricing Template/Level of Effort Submission Type of Contract Pricing:

Doc Ref No:

Delivery Date FOB:

1.00 0.00 1.00

YR

2001 OPTION YEAR 2

Refer to Attachment 7 for Pricing Template/Level of Effort Submission Type of Contract Pricing:

Doc Ref No:

Delivery Date FOB:

1.00 0.00 1.00

YR

3001 OPTION YEAR 3

Refer to Attachment 7 for Pricing Template/Level of Effort Submission Type of Contract Pricing:

Doc Ref No:

Delivery Date FOB:

1.00 0.00 1.00

YR

4001 OPTION YEAR 4

Refer to Attachment 7 for Pricing Template/Level of Effort Submission Type of Contract Pricing:

Doc Ref No:

Delivery Date FOB:

1.00 0.00 1.00

YR

Section A - Solicitation/Contract Form Identifier Title Date Number of

Pages 1 Applications Tracker 08/17/2021 2 Platform Technology Tracker 08/12/2021 3 Labor Categories/Position Descriptions 11/05/2021 4 ECA DIN Infrastructure Diagram 08/12/2021 5 Past Performance Questionnaire 09/03/2021 6 Employee Tenure and Retention Table 08/12/2021 7 EX-IT Pricing Template 09/03/2021 8 Instructions to Offerors and Advisory Down-Select Process 11/05/2021 9 Evaluation Procedures/Evaluation Factors for Award 09/03/2021 10 Bidders DD254 - 19-AQMM-21-R-0302 08/16/2021

52.252-1 - Solicitation Provisions Incorporated by Reference (Feb 1998)

This solicitation incorporates one or more solicitation provisions by reference, with the same force and effect as if they were given in full text. Upon request, the Contracting Officer will make their full text available. The offeror is cautioned that the listed provisions may include blocks that must be completed by the offeror and submitted with its quotation or offer. In lieu of submitting the full text of those provisions, the offeror may identify the provision by paragraph identifier and provide the appropriate information with its quotation or offer. Also, the full text of a solicitation provision may be accessed electronically at this/these address(es):

https://www.acquisition.gov/far https://www.acquisition.gov/dosar [Insert one or more Internet addresses] (End of provision) Clause Title Fill-ins

52.212-4 Contract Terms and Conditions-Commercial Items (Oct 2018)

52.232-40 Providing Accelerated Payments to Small Business Subcontractors (Dec

2013)

52.203-7 Anti-Kickback Procedures (Jun 2020)

52.203-6 Restrictions on Subcontractor Sales to the Government (Jun 2020)

52.203-5 Covenant Against Contingent Fees (May 2014)

52.203-17 Contractor Employee Whistleblower Rights and Requirement To Inform

Employees of Whistleblower Rights (Jun 2020)

52.204-19 Incorporation by Reference of Representations and Certifications (Dec 2014)

52.204-23 Prohibition on Contracting for Hardware, Software, and Services Developed or Provided by Kaspersky Lab and Other Covered Entities (Jul 2018)

52.232-39 Unenforceability of Unauthorized Obligations (Jun 2013)

52.244-6 Subcontracts for Commercial Items (Jul 2021)

52.204-2 Security Requirements (Mar 2021)

52.204-13 System for Award Management Maintenance (Oct 2018)

52.204-18 Commercial and Government Entity Code Maintenance (Aug 2020)

52.227-14 Rights in Data-General (May 2014)

52.225-25 Prohibition on Contracting with Entities Engaging in Certain Activities or

Transactions Relating to Iran--Representation and Certifications (Jun 2020)

52.204-7 System for Award Management (Oct 2018)

52.204-16 Commercial and Government Entity Code Reporting (Aug 2020)

52.217-5 Evaluation of Options (July 1990)

B-001 - Labor Categories / Position Descriptions

The Contractor and/or the Government may request adding to or deleting from the labor categories listed in this Section. If categories are added, the parties will negotiate the labor rate of said categories prior to incorporation into the contract. All new labor rates shall be calculated in the same manner as in the Contractor's cost proposal submitted in response to the solicitation. The profit/fee rate shall be the same as in the Contractor's cost proposal submitted in response to this solicitation.

The tables in Attachment 3 provide position descriptions and qualifications for the labor categories in each functional area. The following apply to all position descriptions:

- Minimum Years’ Experience shall be experience working in the same role and function as described in the position description – general work experience or experience in another field shall not be counted in meeting the years’ experience criteria

- All certifications are required unless specifically noted as “preferred”.

B-002 - Not-To-Exceed, Fully-Loaded Hourly Labor Rates

Offerors shall utilize the accompanying Excel spreadsheets (Attachment 7) to provide IDIQ-level NTE fully-loaded hourly labor rates for each labor category specified in B-001.

The labor rates specified herein are fixed not-to-exceed (NTE) hourly rates which include the following: wages, indirect costs (including overhead, fringe benefits and general and administrative expenses), and profit.

In accordance with FAR 52.232-7 "PAYMENTS UNDER TIME AND MATERIAL AND LABOR-HOUR CONTRACTS," the Contractor shall only voucher for the time of the personnel whose services are applied directly to the work called for in individual delivery orders and accepted by the Contracting Officer's Representative (COR). The Government shall pay the Contractor for the life of a delivery order at rates effective when the delivery order was issued, unless the delivery order is modified to incorporate rates adjusted pursuant to FAR 52.222-43 "FAIR LABOR STANDARDS ACT AND SERVICE CONTRACT ACT – PRICE ADJUSTMENT (MULTIPLE YEAR AND OPTION CONTRACTS)," or FAR 52.222-44 "FAIR LABOR STANDARDS ACT AND SERVICE CONTRACT ACT - PRICE ADJUSTMENT," as applicable. The Contractor shall maintain time and labor distribution records for all employees who work under the contract.

These records shall document time worked and work performed by each individual on each delivery order.

(end of clause)

The following additional terms apply to labor rate pricing under this IDIQ:

1. The negotiated NTE fully-loaded hourly labor rates are in United States currency.

2. The negotiated NTE fully-loaded hourly labor rates apply to United States citizens only.

3. The negotiated NTE fully-loaded hourly labor rates apply to a normal workweek, as defined in FAR 22.103-1 (Overtime Definition), of 40 hours. A 40-hour normal workweek consists of 8 hours per day x 5 days per week.

4. Each negotiated NTE fully-loaded hourly labor rate consists only of the elements/costs noted in the accompanying Excel pricing tables. For each rate the Contractor shall provide an unloaded base hourly labor rate, and separately note applicable indirect costs (overhead, G&A, and fringe) and profit amount to arrive at the fully-loaded burdened rate. Rates shall not include any other elements/costs. Any other elements/costs that are part of the Contractor’s established compensation plan and consistent with FAR Part 31 shall be allocated at the order level as an Other Direct Cost (ODC) (under fixed-price arrangements) or as a Material (under time-and-materials arrangements). An "arrangement" is defined as "an order" or "part of an order."

5. Any costs included in the negotiated NTE fully-loaded hourly labor rates shall not be charged elsewhere under this IDIQ.

6. At the order level, the Contractor will be given an opportunity to propose fully-loaded hourly labor rates that match or are lower than the respective negotiated NTE fully-loaded hourly labor rates. The Contractor will be paid only at fully-loaded hourly labor rates that are equal to or are less than the respective negotiated NTE fully-loaded hourly labor rates.

7. The fully-loaded hourly labor rates awarded as part of an individual order will apply only to that order.

8. The negotiated NTE fully-loaded hourly labor rates apply only to the labor categories specified in this section. Any additional labor categories will be specified and their associated labor rates will be separately negotiated via modification to this IDIQ.

9. For fixed-price arrangements, the negotiated fully-loaded hourly labor rates will be used to negotiate the fixed price for the arrangement.

10. For labor-hour arrangements and the time portion of time-and-materials arrangements, the negotiated fully-loaded hourly labor rates will be fixed for the period of performance specified in the order.

11. For labor-hour arrangements and the time portion of time-and-materials arrangements, the Government will pay, for each labor category, the negotiated fixed fully-loaded hourly labor rate for only performed labor that meets the labor qualifications specified in the order.

12. For labor-hour arrangements and the time portion of time-and-materials arrangements, labor hours for each labor category will be paid at the same negotiated fixed fully-loaded hourly labor rate regardless of whether the individual performing the labor works (either as an employee or consultant) for the Contractor or a subcontractor.

13. For labor-hour arrangements and the time portion of time-and-materials arrangements, the Government will not pay fully-loaded hourly labor rates that differ from the negotiated fixed fully-loaded hourly labor rates established for the arrangement.

14. For labor-hour arrangements and the time portion of time-and-materials arrangements, the Government will pay the negotiated fixed fully-loaded hourly labor rates multiplied by the actual incurred hours that the Contracting Officer determines allowable, pursuant to FAR 52.212-4 (Alternate I) (Contract Terms and Conditions - Commercial Items).

B-003 - OTHER DIRECT COSTS (ODCs)

Other direct costs (ODCs) will be defined and negotiated at the task order level. ODCs may include, but are not limited to:

- Government-approved travel, such as travel required to deliver training under this contract

- Approved costs for any DOS-mandated training for contractor personnel (“State-Specific”)

- Software licenses or related costs

- Other costs to be defined at the task order level

All ODCs shall be negotiated and pre-approved in advance of incurring the costs.

B-004 - TRAVEL

In performance of this contract, occasional domestic travel to other locations may be required. All local travel (travel within 50 miles of the I495) is non-reimbursable. Travel outside the Washington, DC metropolitan area is receipt reimbursable and in accordance with the Federal Travel Regulation Travel related expenses shall be in accordance with per diem rates established by the General Services Administration (GSA) (as applicable and attainable) and in accordance with FAR 31.205-46. All non-local travel shall be approved in writing by the COR (and pending funds availability) prior to the trip. Costs for transportation may be based upon mileage rates, actual costs incurred, or a combination thereof, provided the method used results in a reasonable charge.

Travel costs shall be considered reasonable and allowable only to the extent that they do not exceed on a daily basis, the maximum per diem rates in effect at the time of the travel. No indirect or labor costs shall be allowed under the travel CLIN. Travel will be addressed on the individual Task Orders.

Transportation of Government equipment may be required. No personal vehicles may be used for this purpose.

For movement of small quantities of equipment between buildings that are co-located, the use of carts via the sidewalk may be used. Where Department of State shuttle service is available, small items may be transported via the shuttle vehicles.

a) Travel under this Contract is defined as Awardee air and ground transportation, lodging, meals and incidental expenses, and passport/visa costs.

b) Travel costs shall be allocated at the order level as an other direct cost (ODC) (under fixed-price arrangements) or as a Material (under time-and-materials arrangements).

c) Except as otherwise provided herein, the Contractor shall be paid its allowable travel costs in accordance with FAR 31.205-46 (Travel Costs).

d) Travel costs are authorized only for travel beyond a 50-miles’ radius of the Contractor employee’s local place of performance (official duty station) whenever work is required to be accomplished at a remote work site.

e) No travel costs (or associated labor time during travel) shall be allowable for work performed at the Contractor’s local office or any other work site within a 50-miles’ radius of the Contractor employee’s local place of performance (official duty station).

f) No travel costs (or associated labor time during travel) shall be allowable for telecommuting beyond (or within) a 50-miles’ radius of the Contractor's local place of performance (official duty station).

g) Costs when using a privately owned vehicle (POV) for official travel are allowable provided that such costs do not exceed costs that would have resulted from use of other reasonable transportation methods (e.g., taxi, airplane, train). Reasonable associated costs, such as tolls and parking fees, are also generally allowable.

h) When traveling in a POV for official travel, the Contractor shall be paid mileage costs at a rate that does not exceed the POV mileage rate established by the Internal Revenue Service.

i) Costs for car rentals for official travel are allowable pursuant to the following:

1. such rentals are consistent with good business practice;

2. such costs do not exceed costs that would have resulted from use of other reasonable transportation methods (e.g., taxi, airplane, train); and

3. such costs do not exceed the actual cost of renting a compact automobile (maximum of one automobile for four Contractor personnel), unless extenuating circumstances (e.g., excess baggage) require other arrangements and Contracting Officer approval is obtained.

4. Reasonable associated costs, such as tolls and parking fees, are also generally allowable.

j) The Government will pay the Contractor, under the applicable labor category, for each Contractor employee’s travel time to or from authorized work locations as long as the following are met:

1. Payment of travel time described herein is in accordance with the Contractor’s established travel policy.

2. Travel time begins no earlier than two (2) hours prior to the scheduled departure time and concludes upon arrival to the initial destination point (e.g., airport) at the place of performance.

3. The Government will not pay for a Contractor employee's time spent in layovers that are for the convenience of the Contractor employee or Contractor.

4. The Government will not pay more than eight (8) hours per day per Contractor employee for travel time.

5. The Government will not pay for a Contractor employee's travel time that is outside the employee’s regular working hours during the employee's normal workweek.

6. The Government will not pay for a Contractor's employee more than the number of hours in the employee's normal workweek. “Number of hours” includes productive time hours, travel time hours, and paid time off hours (e.g., sick, vacation, holiday).

7. “Productive time hours” consist of hours that, other than travel time hours, directly benefit the contract.

8. Exceptions must be authorized in advance and in writing by the Contracting Officer.

k) Travel must be authorized in advance by the Contracting Officer’s Representative or Government Technical Monitor.

l) The following items concern passports and visas:

1. The Contractor shall be responsible for ensuring that all personnel who will be required to travel outside the United States have a current and valid U.S. passport.

2. The Contractor shall be responsible for obtaining any visas required for travel to foreign countries under this contract.

3. The Contractor's costs for obtaining and maintaining passports and/or visas will be generally allowable, but the Contractor shall pro-rate equitably such costs if they will benefit cost objectives (e.g., contracts) other than this cost objective.

4. The Government will not pay the Contractor for travel expenses when travel is cancelled or modified as a result of the Contractor’s failure to obtain a visa.

5. The Government will not pay the Contractor for the use of private visa procurement services provided by a third party.

m) Costs for travel that has been modified or cancelled are not allowable unless such modification or cancellation was caused by the Government or otherwise exceeded the control of the Contractor.

n) If work under this contract will be performed at the Government site at the Department of State main building ("HST"), 2200 C Street, NW, Washington, DC 20520 (SA-5), or other State Annexes in the metropolitan Washington, DC area, daily commuting time and expenses between the Department of State site and some other location, such as a home office, shall not be allowable under this contract. However, commuting time and expenses between the Department of State site and some other location, such as a home office, shall be allowable when performing occasional official business (e.g., to attend a meeting at the Department of State site).

o) Pursuant to FAR 47.402, 47.403, and the Fly America Act, the Contractor shall use a U.S.-flag air carrier service unless specific conditions exist. If such conditions exist under a fixed-price arrangement, the Contractor shall submit with its order quotation a memorandum explaining why it does not intend to use a U.S.-flag air carrier service. Inclusion of such costs in the awarded fixed-price is contingent upon Government acceptance of such explanation.

If such conditions exist under arrangements when payment is made based on actual costs incurred (e.g., materials portion of time-and-materials arrangements and progress payments based on costs under fixed-price arrangements), the Contractor shall submit with its voucher a memorandum explaining why it did not use a U.S.-flag air carrier service. Reimbursement is contingent upon Government acceptance of such explanation.

B-005 - OVERTIME

The Government generally discourages overtime, so the Contractor agrees to use EX/IT best efforts to avoid (and when applicable, control) overtime. The following additional terms apply to overtime under this contract:

a) Overtime is defined as time worked in excess of the number of hours in a normal workweek.

b) “Number of hours” includes productive time hours, travel time hours, and paid time off hours (e.g., sick, vacation, holiday).

c) “Productive time hours” consist of hours that, other than travel time hours, directly benefit the order.

d) “Travel time hours” consist of hours spent by the employee traveling to or from authorized work locations.

See Section 3.4 for further information.

e) Payment for overtime must be authorized in writing by the Contracting Officer and prior to the employee performing any overtime.

f) Payment for overtime must not conflict with any Contractor uncompensated overtime policy or practice.

g) For fixed-price arrangements, the Government will not pay for overtime.

h) For labor-hour arrangements and the time portion of time-and-materials arrangements, any Government payment for Contracting Officer-authorized-employee overtime will be made at the fixed fully-loaded hourly labor rates negotiated in the order for normal workweek performance.

i) A Contracting Officer-authorized employee is a Contractor employee who has been granted permission by the Contracting Officer to work overtime.

B-006 - Minimum and Maximum Contract Amounts (IDIQ)

Per FAR 52.216-22 "INDEFINITE QUANTITY," the minimum for this indefinite quantity contract shall be any quantity or combination of supplies and services equal to the amount(s) set forth below. The Department does not guarantee any other work during the base period or the option years.

- The minimum order amount the contractor must accept is $10,000.00.

- The maximum for this indefinite quantity contract (including options) shall be any quantity or combination of supplies and services not to exceed $90,000,000.00.

The maximum/ceiling of this IDIQ:

1. Includes direct costs, indirect costs, and profit;

2. Is cumulative for all years of performance;

3. Serves as a ceiling amount;

4. Is not funded/obligated, as funding/obligation occurs at the order level;

5. Does not commit the Government to any liability; and

6. Cannot be exceeded unless the Contractor submits advance written notice to the Contracting Officer, and the IDIQ is modified to reflect a new contract maximum/ceiling.

The Government is obligated only to the extent of authorized purchases actually made under the IDIQ.

B-010 - TYPE OF CONTRACT

This is an indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contract. The contract type(s) for an individual task order will be one or a combination of Firm Fixed Price, Time and Materials, and/or Labor Hours in FAR part 16 (Types of Contracts) depending on one or more factors identified in FAR 16.104 (Factors in Selecting Contract

Types). To the extent practicable the Government plans to award on a fixed price basis as defined in FAR 16.202.

The Government anticipates each task order issued under a resulting IDIQ to be one of, or a combination of, the following::

- firm-fixed-price, as defined in FAR 16.202;

- labor-hour, as defined in FAR 16.602; and/or

- time-and-materials, as defined in FAR 16.601

(end of clause)

C-001 - BACKROUND

The Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA/EX/IT) within the Department of State (DOS), is seeking support for EX/IT IT TRANSFORMATION AND OPERATIONS SERVICES requirements. EX/IT provides strategic IT services and IT operational support to over 1,000 end users across the Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs organization, which includes ECA, Global Engagement Center (R/GEC), and Office of Policy, Planning and Resources (R/PPR) within the R Family. To better support this large and growing user base, EX/IT is implementing a significant organizational restructuring, along with an IT transformation and modernization effort to implement new technologies, processes and best practices to enhance delivery of IT services across the Public Diplomacy organization. These complex requirements are anticipated to require significant support resources, potentially in excess of 40-50 FTE, across numerous functional disciplines and technologies. The estimated dollar value of the requirements is between $14-$16M per year.

EX/IT supports the DOS’ larger Information Technology strategic plan, which emphasizes five goals:

leveraging data as a strategic asset; enhancing user and mission effectiveness; modernizing IT infrastructure, processes and security; strengthening IT management including Agile IT governance; and building an IT workforce of the future. This plan and further details can be found at the following link:

https://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/FY-2019-2022-ITSP_FINAL-508._with-Signature.pdf

In providing these transformation and operations services, EX/IT also supports the framework Managing State Projects for Information Technology (MSP-IT), which was developed by IRM utilizing the core DOS Managing State Projects (MSP) framework and adapted specifically for IT projects. MSP-IT expounds upon the importance of using Agile system development principles.

C-002 - OBJECTIVES

The objective of this procurement is to establish an IDIQ to support ECA/EX/IT in implementing a significant organizational restructuring along with an IT transformation and modernization effort to implement new technologies, processes, and best practices to enhance the delivery of IT services across the Public Diplomacy organization. The Contractor shall establish fundamentally new capabilities and business practices, while effectively maintaining ongoing operations during the transition to the planned future state.

To ensure the support contractor has established processes for quality, IT service management, security, and development that can ensure the highest levels of quality, efficiency and innovation for all EX/IT functional areas, the support Contractor shall possess the following certifications:

- Facility Clearance at Secret Level or higher (please specify)

- CMMI Development - Level 3 or higher

- CMMI Service - Level 3 or higher

- ISO 9001 certified

- Cloud certifications: AWS Consulting Partner Network Standard or higher

The following additional certifications are strongly preferred, but not required, to be considered for this IDIQ.

Offerors holding any of these additional certifications should document those certifications held in their technical response:

- ISO 20000 (ITSM)

- ISO 27001 (Security)

- Additional Cloud Certifications:

- Google Cloud Partner

- Microsoft Gold Partner

All development activities shall incorporate a focus on employing Agile/Scrum methodology, Continuous Integration/Continuous Delivery (CI/CD), ITIL Service Management, and DevSecOps best practices to improve efficiency, reduce cost, and ensure applications security is aligned with NIST’s Risk Management Framework (NIST-RMF). See Attachment 1: Applications Tracker and Attachment 2: Platform Technology Tracker for additional information on current EX/IT customers and technical environment as of April 2021.

In addition to the KPIs stated in Section C-006, success for each task order under this IDIQ will be measured by the implementation of industry best practices, innovation in improving efficiency and cost, and speed and effectiveness in developing solutions.

To meet these objectives, the Contractor shall:

1. Provide Transformation and O&M Contractor services for a period of one base year and four additional option years, to be exercised at EX/IT’s discretion.

2. Provide a Technical Response that documents the Contractor’s plan and process for performance across the six functional areas outlined in the Statement of Work.

3. Provide a Program Manager to oversee Contractor support services in the six EX/IT functional areas.

The Program manager is accountable for ensuring that efficient and effective processes are followed for all stages of Project Management; Project Initiation and Transition, Project Planning and Coordination, Project Control, and Project Reporting and Communication.

4. Design, submit, and implement Transition Plan upon EX/IT approval to coordinate and transition activities from incumbent(s) to Contractor. Further details delineated in Section C-004 (Deliverables).

5. Maintain KPIs for the entire program and all six functional areas, as indicated Section C-006. This will allow EX/IT to monitor progress against expectations adjust accordingly.

6. Lead and collaborate with workgroups and stakeholders in requirements sessions to develop recommendations and approaches, to be approved by the Government to satisfy the objectives and purposes of each Task Order.

7. Maintain all application environments to include development, test, staging and production in compliance with ECA, DoS, and government-wide security, privacy and operational protocols.

8. Demonstrate how the website application, databases, and other products it will produce will meet all requirements for compliance with Section 508 and the Department of State’s IT Security Requirements.

9. Consult with the COR to determine what is appropriate, effective, and essential for training and develop and provide effective training materials as required.

10. Provide software development, software testing, continuous integration/continuous deployment, configuration management, application change management, critical defect remediation, reporting, continuous improvement, and continuous monitoring services.

11. Provide quality assurance and testing services to ensure that solutions and applications are compliant with existing policies and standards, and any terms specified at the task order level, to accelerate the approval and deployment of new or updated solutions.

12. Develop solutions with and for customers that can be leveraged using the SharePoint platform, including digital collaboration working areas (collaboration sites), simple workflows, document sharing, and the organization’s internal websites (Intranet).

13. Oversee the design and implementation of optimized processes that integrate strategic business objectives with technical solutions and applications to maximize efficiency and effectiveness while reducing costs.

14. Develop and implement non-proprietary, modern, well-designed applications for Department of State that meets the needs of users.

15. Develop, test, and deploy in a modern technology stack to include a modern, industry-standard open-source web application development framework; a modern, open-source relational database; automated testing and deployments and; capable of being hosted in a flexible hosting environment.

16. Build the services using an agile development process that achieves results through continuous capability enhancement, prompt response to emerging needs, demonstrated reliability, and optimized performance with resource utilization minimized.

17. Use short development iterations which will typically result in the delivery of functioning software that can be tested with internal and external users.

18. Maintain a tracking tool and metrics to monitor progress against the Agile Development Management Plan

(ADMP).

19. Identify the format and timing for data deliverables it will provide to report on progress, indicate completion and request acceptance.

20. Indicate that the deliverables are to have functionality scheduled for an available release without defects.

21. Ensure and agree that all deliverables, products, licenses, designs, data, documentation, tests, user research notes, source code, configuration settings and files, and materials developed throughout all Task Order will be the property of the Department of State.

22. Thirty days prior to any Task Order award base period conclusion, provide a Transition Plan for all deliverables, products, and materials. Should options be exercised, the Transition Plan will be updated 30 days prior to the end of each option period.

23. Coordinate with the COR and incumbent vendors, and implement the Transition Plan according to the COR’s direction.

24. Provide assistance to the Government Task Manager (GTM) and potentially other support providers to stand-up and ensure the applications, systems, databases, platforms, and environments are tested and fully operational.

25. Ensure the transition plan includes a detailed inventory of all files, materials, etc. that will be submitted along with detailed instructions to seamlessly set up the websites, applications, databases, systems, platform, etc. At that time, all files, materials, boxes, etc. shall be clearly labeled, packaged, and indexed according to the inventory.

26. During the transition to the Government and/or a new contractor, perform all necessary transition activities, including, but not limited to, continued full services to the Department of State and other customers; participation, at discretion of COR in five or more meetings with the Government or new contractor to effect a smooth transition and provide detailed information on the operation of all deliverables; training of new personnel (contractor or Government) during transition period, in all system operation and maintenance functions; appropriate close-out of outstanding technical and related work.

27. Provide a final report that shall include list of accomplishments, documentation, and customized code developed for the Department of State. Should the Contractor be terminated prior to the end of the scheduled base period, the Contractor shall transfer all project materials to the COR within two weeks of the COR’s request.

C-003 - SCOPE OF WORK

The scope of this acquisition includes services to support implementation of the EX/IT strategic organizational transformation, including establishing fundamentally new capabilities and business practices, while effectively maintaining ongoing operations during the transition to the planned future state. The Contractor shall provide the necessary personnel, expertise, strategic guidance, management structure, and the processes, tools, and services required to satisfy these requirements.

1.1 EX/IT Vision

The vision for the EX/IT organization is to be regarded as a strategic IT partner that delivers high-quality, innovative solutions that empower customers to make informed, accurate, data-driven decisions to advance the Public Diplomacy (PD) mission. The challenges of the current state include reactive rather than proactive customer engagement, overly complex and fragmented processes, and dated infrastructure and technology.

To alleviate these pain points and achieve EX/IT desired future state, EX/IT is aggressively modernizing and simplifying its services to become a proactive, strategic, and efficient partner to R Family customers. This transformation involves substantive changes to all existing functional areas, as well as the development and implementation of some entirely new functional areas as described below.

1.2 Functional Areas Overview

The new EX/IT organizational structure will be comprised of the following six (6) functional areas:

A. Customer Engagement:The Customer Engagement functional area is central to the overall ECA EX/IT vision of becoming a customer-centric, “one-stop shop” for IT solutions and support that strategically partners with customers to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of their operations through innovative IT solutions.

With proactive customer engagement, a well-structured portfolio, and a defined service catalog, customers will have improved access to critical data and business intelligence and IT-enabled business processes to effectively advance the Public Diplomacy (PD) mission. This shift represents a significant transformation in the approach to identification and delivery of the solutions and support required by customers. Customer service approaches that previously differed across customer groups and functional silos will be standardized and integrated, reducing cost and complexity. A deliberate focus on proactively engaging and partnering with customers to jointly identify and develop solutions of value will be implemented to boost collaboration and foster innovation.

B. Data & Analytics: As part of the overall vision to become a more proactive and strategic partner in supporting customer missions, EX/IT is establishing an entirely new functional area dedicated to improved management and curation of data assets across ECA. The targeted end state is a structured and holistic approach to better leverage ECA data assets and create a more robust overall framework for data analytics and knowledge management. Once established, this fundamentally new service will enable EX/IT to respond more quickly and effectively to ever-growing customer requests for data reporting as well as provide data-driven decision support.

Over time, EX/IT will develop and deploy improved customer interfaces to provide self-service data reporting and analytics capability through a data-as-a-service operating model to further empower customers to access and use their data more strategically and securely.

C. Solutions: The Solutions functional area partners with ECA customers to build and enhance innovative solutions and applications and integrate them with enterprise systems, to enable data-driven decisions, and optimize workflows. Historically, ECA’s broad range of applications have been developed and deployed largely on-premises rather than leveraging the efficiencies of the cloud. Going forward, EX/IT is planning and executing a full transition to the cloud, consolidating and modernizing applications and technology, and employing Agile methodology, Continuous Integration/Continuous Delivery (CI/CD), and DevSecOps in all solutions and application development. These changes will simultaneously improve efficiency, reduce cost, ensure a proactive approach to engaging customers in the creation of innovative solutions, and improve security that is aligned with the NIST’s Risk Management Framework (NIST-RMF).

D. Platforms: Innovation, modernization, and stability are now paramount to the Platforms functional area as customers rely on EX/IT to succeed in a largely remote work environment, with expanding mobile device usage and increased requirements for reliable remote access to DOS data and systems. Historically, reactive operations and complex, over-engineered Dedicated Internet Network (DIN) infrastructure resulted in inconsistent customer experiences. The transformation of the Platforms functional area will achieve consistent customer satisfaction by providing robust, stable infrastructure and enhancing situational awareness through proactive monitoring. Modernizing equipment and reducing the complexity of processes will also simultaneously increase the efficiency and decrease the operating costs of DIN infrastructure through deployment of a newly consolidated AWS cloud platform. Additional efficiencies will be gained through the implementation of a fee-for-service subscriber model with an optimized footprint. Platforms will rely on the Customer Engagement functional area to provide a “one-stop-shop” for customer support requests and refer appropriate customer inquiries to Platforms personnel to leverage their expertise where appropriate.

E. Security: The new Security functional area represents a shift from EX/IT’s previous compliance-focused approach to a much more proactive and holistic approach to embed security best practices into all aspects of development, deployment and operations to meaningfully improve security and safety.

This new area is critical to providing a safe, secure framework to develop efficient and innovative IT solutions which enable ECA customers to fulfill their Public Diplomacy (PD) mission. Once fully stood up, the Security functional area will implement and manage both long and short-term cyber, data/information, and overall IT security programs and provide automated, continuous security monitoring.

F. Governance: The new Governance functional area is foundational to EX/IT achieving EX/IT strategic vision to develop efficient and innovative IT solutions. It leads and provides the thought leadership for the shifts to agile/Scrum methodology, DevSecOps, increased security monitoring and planning, and risk management and mitigation strategies. The various positions within the Governance functional area will collectively oversee and perform the full range of IT governance functions for EX/IT operations, focusing on the planning and analysis of IT projects, programs, and services, as well as strategically aligning the goals of EX/IT with the broader Public Diplomacy mission. The changes in the EX/IT Governance functional area reflect the evolving need to deliver guidance on ECA’s compliance with laws, policies, and regulations impacting EX/IT IT operations. Consistent with the new emphasis on customer engagement throughout EX/IT, the Governance functional area will consult with ECA customers to identify and specify governance requirements, as well as develop plans, reports, and metrics in keeping with the overall goals and objectives of ECA and the Department of State. With the emphasis on developing a robust cybersecurity framework with mitigated risks and vulnerabilities, the Governance functional area will work closely with Security to focus on addressing cybersecurity architecture, requirements, objectives, and policies.

1.3 Contractor Services

To transform EX/IT operations for each functional area to align with the vision described above, as well as to function successfully in the new future state, ECA is seeking a Contractor to provide a broad range of services further described below. To ensure the support contractor has established processes for quality, IT service management, security, and development that can ensure the highest levels of quality, efficiency and innovation for all EX/IT functional areas, the support Contractor shall be ISO 9001:2015 and CMMI Level 3 (SVC and DEV) certified. ISO/IEC 20000 and ISO/IEC 27001 certifications are strongly preferred but not required. In addition, all development activities will incorporate a focus on employing Agile/Scrum methodology, Continuous Integration/Continuous Delivery (CI/CD), ITIL Service Management, and DevSecOps best practices to improve efficiency, reduce cost, and ensure applications security is aligned with NIST’s Risk Management Framework (NIST-RMF).

The Contractor shall provide a Program/Project manager to oversee Contractor support services in the six EX/IT functional areas. The Program/Project manager is accountable for ensuring that correct processes are followed for all stages of Project Management; Project Initiation, Project Planning and Coordination, Project Control, and Project Reporting and Communication. This person shall:

- Provide leadership for the entire EX/IT contract and all project teams, especially strategic initiatives related to operationalizing the EX/IT strategic vision

- Ensure high-quality service delivery in all functional areas, including meeting or exceeding all stated KPIs

- Alert management to potential obstacles to progress and proactively recommended alternatives / adjustments to address any issues

- Provide strategic management, effective resource allocation, and risk management and mitigation adjustments to ensure successful project execution

- Track progress in achieving EX/IT objectives and tie progress on initiatives into reporting

- Advance greater adoption of DevSecOps, Agile/Scrum methodology, and other relevant best practices

A. Customer Engagement

One of the core functions of EX/IT is to support programs and end users across the R Family in better leveraging technology to support and enable their mission and business objectives. In the past, this support has been more “reactive,” with customers bringing issues to EX/IT for resolution or bringing ideas for new solutions to be developed and implemented. However, the continued rapid pace of change in technology coupled with the significant shift in customer requirements and delivery models driven by COVID-19, requires a much more flexible, agile, and proactive customer engagement team with corresponding elevated strategic capabilities.

Accordingly, EX/IT seeks IT professionals who can provide an effective bridge between customer business and mission needs and innovative IT solutions. The ability to quickly assess and understand the diverse missions and processes of customers must be integrated with the breadth and depth of IT knowledge required to identify where EX/IT core capabilities can add the greatest value to customers.

To effectively support the stand-up and ongoing management of the new customer-centric support model, the Contractor shall support the following core task areas:

1) Strategic Management and Business Analysis:

- Proactively and collaboratively engage with customers to strategically analyze business processes and identify opportunities for improvement through new IT solutions that facilitate value creation for stakeholders

- Support the assessment of EX/IT strategic goals and recommend courses of action and resource allocation necessary to achieve these goals

- Work closely with the EX/IT Customer Advocate (Government lead for customer relationship management) and across the Solutions, Platforms and Data functional areas to identify innovative solutions, effective delivery models, and improved data access and business intelligence that can improve mission delivery for ECA customers

- Provide experienced staff who possess the critical mix of technical skills and business process analysis, design, and risk identification and mitigation capabilities to effectively assess where enabling technology can be brought to bear to better support ECA missions

2) Training:

- Identify the range of training required by R Family customers to ensure effective use of all technologies, platforms, applications, hardware, and software in use across Public Diplomacy

- Develop and deliver training content to support ECA-developed applications and solutions, as well as supplemental training on broader DOS enterprise technologies and software (e.g., Zoom, Teams, SharePoint, O365, etc.), as needed

- Deliver training in core skills and best practices to enhance customer productivity and compliance with DOS and ECA IT security requirements

- Provide experienced staff with expertise in design and delivery of effective training in a variety of formats, with particular emphasis on remote delivery of training materials

- Ensure that technical expertise supporting the training offering continuously evolves over time to keep pace with best practices and new innovative technologies

3) Service Desk:

- Provide 8x5 customer support for project teams as well as end-users including:Facilitate the restoration of services to end-users within defined agreement terms and as specified at the Task Order level

- Applications support (including ECA-developed applications)

- Audio/visual support including scheduling, set-up, technical support/ troubleshooting for equipment

- Perform upgrades and integrate new devices/software

- Mobile device support

- Network connectivity (DIN, Wi-Fi, and Internet) support

- AMA (Ask Me Anything) support

- Microsoft Teams Management

- ServiceNow EX/ITM Tickets

- Interface with IRM EX/ITC, IT CCB requests and similar customer support tasks

- Provide experienced support staff with strong problem-solving, customer engagement, and communication skills

- Preferred qualifications include ITIL v3 or higher, CompTIA A+, CompTia Security+, and/or HDI-

CSR certified

4) IT Liaison:

- Support EX/IT in effectively partnering with DOS offices throughout the Department, such as the Bureau of Information Resource Management (IRM), which provides enterprise IT resources across the Department, and the Bureau of Diplomatic Security, to ensure that collectively the full range of customer needs for technical support and training are effectively addressed

B. Data & Analytics

EX/IT is seeking a Contractor to help stand up this entirely new…