2.2.1-Attachment 6 RFI 10-20-2022 Government Responses to Questions.pdf

ICE SEVP I-901 Fee System for RFI 10-20-2022 SEVP I-901 Fee System 2022

Attachment 6: Government Responses to RFQ Question and Answer Template

PWS Paragraph Reference / Other

(Sample. Para 5.1) Industry Questions Government Response

1 PWS Section 3.0 Given the complexity of the system, we believe the government will find it will have more competition if it allows contractors to propose a new, modern architecture as some of the existing components seem near or at their end-of-life timelines making future developments on this technology more challenging.

Given the complexity and criticality of the system we also would recommend allowing for a greater transition period than the 12-month period outlined (we recommend 18 months).

No, the transition period will remain 12 months.

2 PWS Section 2.1 Recommend using standard technology tools (inside from standard bodies or the technology standard within the contractor) rather than any one off/nonstandard technology.

No changes to the Government’s technology standards.

3 PWS Section 3.1 Recommend that the government add language in Section 3.1 to allow contractors to use a simplified bulk transfer for legacy system data to limit the custom refined inquiries (ex. no indexed searching) to allow for more focus and development on the strategic target system.

No changes to the Government’s PWS.

4 PWS Section 2.0 Recommend the government adds language to support any "in flight" transactions being completed on the legacy system in the legacy system and with the current Contractor to limit any inconsistent user experience and support.

Recommend the government adds language to support any "in flight" transactions being completed on the legacy system in the legacy system and with the current Contractor to limit any inconsistent user experience and supp

No changes to the Government’s PWS.

5 PWS Section 3.0 Given the complexity of the system, we believe the government will find it will have more competition if it extends the 12 months transition to a longer period (i.e. 18 months, etc.) to allow for a smoother transition.

No, the transition period will remain 12 months.

6 We believe the government would see greater competition if it allowed contractors to offer card-based processing centers. In addition, the government would see greater competition if it allowed for Financial Agents to use any existing lockbox facilities already used by the government or other components of DHS

Please clarify what a card-based processing center is.

ICE does not have control over the Lockbox facility that is decided by Treasury and the contract has already been awarded.

Exhibit A

7 Question-Why is PCI Level 1 compliance being requested if the government is using pay.gov as the payment gateway and processor? Will the government allow a redirect/light box is used for card data-which would also imply that the website itself does not need to be PCI Level 1 compliant? In addition, can the government provide more details on the number of transactions by card type? Our understanding is that PCI level 1 has a much higher transaction threshold than what is being done for the I-901/SEVIS program.

PCI Level 1 is required. The contractor will act as a front-end system to pay.gov and collects the credit card data to send it to pay.gov who then processes the payment information on the backend. The user never accesses the pay.gov website.

In FY2022 691,200 credit card transactions were processed.

8 Question - What is the frequency of changes (ex.

forms, content, enhancement requests) expected in years 2-5?

We typically do 4-6 updates a year, not including routine security and patch updates.

9 PWS Section 3.5 Section 3.5 reiterates the requirement to maintain the current external I-901 Fee System interface which includes interfacing with Western Union. We recommend the government to outline support and/or assistance available for the contractor if they do not have a business agreement with Western Union. Any assistance the government provide could the contractor regarding this interface to ensure it gets completed in a timely fashion so as not to impact timelines would be recommended.

Government will provide contact information and you can work with the incumbent but government will not incur any costs to interface with Western Union.

10 Section 5.5 Given the transition time and complexity, we believe the government will find it will have more competition if it changes the period of performance to a base of 3 years with 2 one (1) year option periods.

The period of performance will remain the 12-month base period and four (4) 12-month option periods.

11 We recommend additional language allowing for a blended US onshore/offshore (US citizens/non-citizens) for development efforts if the contractor can demonstrate strong segregation of duties/ controls separating application development from access to production data. A blended developer resource pool will allow for more competitive pricing.

The Government’s PWS will remain the same.

12 PWS Section 3.0 Section A.10 e(ii). The government may find additional challenges with a 12-month timeline for transition with a requirement to have 3rd party assessment and remediation before going live for a system that the contractor did not develop. We recommend the government furnish under a NDA the current independent third party security and privacy control validations in place for the system. If this is not available, the government may see less competition. It would be our recommendation to allow flexibility to contractors to provide a net new build of the system to modernize its overall architecture which will also attract more bidders and provide greater competition for the Government.

The Government’s PWS will remain the same.