2025-R-001 (RFP) ITSC V Help Desk Services DRAFT.pdf

SECTION A – SOLICITATION/CONTRACT FORM

SOLICITATION, OFFER AND AWARD

1. CONTRACT NO.

SOLICITATION NO.

2025-R-001

2. TYPE OF SOLICITATION

3. EFFECTIVE DATE

See Block 22

4. REQUISITION/

PURCHASE NO.

N/A

5. ISSUED BY CODE 6. ADDRESS THE OFFER TO (if other than Item 5)

Office of the Sergeant at Arms

United States Senate

Senate Office Building

Washington, DC 20510-7207

Attn: Contracts Department

Office of the Sergeant at Arms

United States Senate

2 Massachusetts Avenue, NE

Washington, DC 20002

SOLICITATION

7. FOR INFORMATION

CALL OR E-MAIL

A. NAME: Nicole Barnes Sr. Procurement & Contracting Specialist

B. TELEPHONE NO: 202-224-9321 NO COLLECT

CALLS) or EMAIL: acquisitions@saa.senate.gov

8. TABLE OF CONTENTS

SEC DESCRIPTION PAGE(S) SEC DESCRIPTION PAGE(S)

PART I – THE SCHEDULE

A SOLICITATION/CONTRACT FORM I CONTRACT CLAUSES

B SUPPLIES OR SERVICES AND PRICE/COSTS

C STATEMENT OF WORK J LIST OF ATTACHMENTS

D PACKAGING AND MARKING K REPRESENTATIONS AND CERTIFICATIONS

E INSPECTION AND ACCEPTANCE L INSTRUCTIONS, CONDITIONS AND NOTICES TO OFFERORS

F DELIVERIES OR PERFORMANCE

G CONTRACT ADMINISTRATION DATA M EVALUATION FACTORS FOR AWARD

H SPECIAL CONTRACT REQUIREMENTS N CONTRACTOR PROPOSAL

OFFER (Must be fully completed by Offeror)

9. In compliance with the above, the undersigned agrees, if this offer is accepted within calendar days (90 calendar days unless a different period is inserted by the Offeror) from the date of receipt of offers specified above, to furnish any of the items upon which prices are offered at the price set opposite each item, delivered at the designated point(s), within the specified schedule.

10. ACKNOWLEDEMENT OF AMENDMENTS AMENDMENT NO. DATE AMENDMENT NO. DATE

(The Offeror acknowledges receipt of amendments to the SOLICITATION for Offerors and related documents numbered and dated:

11A. NAME TIN NO Dunn & Bradstreet

12. NAME AND TITLE OF PERSON AUTHORIZED TO SIGN

AND ADDRESS

OF OFFEROR

OFFER (Type or Print)

11B. TELEPHONE NO. 11C. CHECK IF REMITTANCE ADDRESS IS

DIFFERENT FROM ABOVE - ENTER SUCH ADDRESS

IN SCHEDULE

13. SIGNATURE 14. DATE SIGNED

AWARD (To be completed by Senate)

15. ACCEPTED AS TO ITEMS NUMBERED 16. AMOUNT

In accordance with purchase orders issued under this contract

16. SUBMIT INVOICES TO ADDRESS SHOWN IN BLOCK 19 (4

copies unless otherwise specified)

ITEM

18. ADMINISTERED BY (If other than Item 5) CODE 19. PAYMENT WILL BE MADE BY CODE

Office of the Sergeant at Arms

United States Senate Financial

Department Washington, DC

20510-7205

20. NAME OF CONTRACTING OFFICER

David W. Baker

21.UNITED STATES SENATE (signature of Contracting Officer) 22. DATE SIGNED

IMPORTANT — Award will be made on this Form, or other authorized official written notice mailto:acquisitions@saa.senate.gov

SECTION B - SUPPLIES OR SERVICES AND PRICE/COSTS

B.1 Scope

The United States Senate (“Senate”) Office of the Sergeant at Arms (“SAA”) is responsible for managing the Information Technology Support Contracts (“ITSC”) for the outsourcing of essential IT services in support of the IT Support Program. This Program will provide support services for workstation and server hardware, operating system software, and application software as well as help desk services for the Senate in Washington, DC, and the fifty (50) states for Senate Member, Committee, Leadership and Officer Offices.

The IT Support Program for the Senate is made up of two contracts: Help Desk and IT Installation. The Help Desk team and IT Installation team shall collaborate to seamlessly support all Senate offices.

a). The Installation Team responsibilities under its contract include, but are not limited to, product acquisition, installation, hardware relocation, maintenance, break-fix issues and managing and executing warranty repairs.

b). The Help Desk Team responsibilities under this contract shall include Help Desk services accessible to DC and state office staff, ensuring timely responses to IT issues during standard business hours, including remote troubleshooting.

c). The Installation Team referenced above in Item A, shall be responsible for the installation and setup of newly acquired hardware, software, devices and related IT hardware.

d). The two contractors shall provide a unified, efficient service experience for the Senate customer.

It is the expectation that the Helpdesk Team and the Installation Team shall always maintain open lines of communication, share relevant information, and coordinate efforts to ensure prompt resolution of customer problems. System Consultants assigned to this contract shall foster collaboration between both teams, providing expertise and support across all aspects of customer service and technical operations.

System Consultants shall work with both teams to streamline processes, improve problem-solving capabilities, and ensure consistent knowledge transfer. (See also J-18, System Consultants).

During performance of the IT Support Program, the SAA reserves the right to consolidate the two Contract scopes into one Contract, if in the best interest of the Senate.

B.2 Description of Help Desk Team Services

The Contractor shall furnish all management, supervision, labor, and supplies and shall work such hours, including overtime, weekend, and holiday work, as may be necessary to ensure the performance of the

Help Desk Team in accordance with the Senate requirements which are set forth in Section C.

Working together with the SAA, the Contractor is encouraged to develop and present for consideration to the Senate new and innovative approaches for continuous improvement in providing these services to the Senate. The Contractor shall present new approaches to the SAA COR for review. The SAA will modify this Contract, in accordance with I.1 Changes, if an approach or approaches are accepted by the SAA.

No travel outside of a fifty (50) mile radius of Washington, DC (Metropolitan Washington Area) is anticipated under this Contract. In the event that travel outside of the Metropolitan Washington Area is required under this Contract, the Contractor shall provide a firm-fixed-price for the required long-distance travel and the SAA may approve the travel by the issuance of a modification prior to the Contractor incurring any travel costs.

B.3 Contract Type

This is a Firm-Fixed-Price (“FFP”) and Labor-Hour (“LH”) contract for commercially available services specified and effective for the period stated.

B.4 Term

This Contract for commercially available products or services includes a two-year Base Period and four (4) one-year option periods, subject to the availability of funds. Exercise of option(s) will be in accordance with Section H.9, Exercise of Options.

B.5 Price Re-determination and Adjustment

The Contractor may offer a price reduction at any time effective upon the date offered by the Contractor and will apply to all services performed or products purchased on or after the effective date of price change. Price increases must be mutually agreed to and incorporated into the Contract through a modification hereto.

B.6 Pricing Schedule

The schedule contains the firm-fixed prices or Labor hour rates for the Contractor. All pricing shall be fully burdened with all administrative costs, inclusive of local travel, local transportation, and other direct costs (ODCs).

B.6.1 Pricing Table

All prices are shown in

USD

Line

Item

# Description

Unit of

Measure

Estimated

Quantity

Fixed

Unit

Price

Total Price /

Not to Exceed

Price

BASE PERIOD: October 1, 2025 – September 30, 2027

0001 Help Desk (FFP) LOT 1 $0.00

0002 Unspecified IT Support Services (LH) HOURS $0.00

0003 Contract Transition (FFP) LOT 1 $0.00

0004 ITSC Program Management (FFP) LOT 1 $0.00

SUB-TOTAL $0.00

OPTION PERIOD 1: October 1, 2027 – September 30, 2028

1001 Help Desk (FFP) LOT 1 $0.00

1002 Unspecified IT Support Services (LH) HOURS $0.00

1003 Reserved

1004 ITSC Program Management (FFP) LOT 1 $0.00

SUB-TOTAL $0.00

OPTION PERIOD 2: October 1, 2028 – September 30, 2029

2001 Help Desk (FFP) LOT 1 $0.00

2002 Unspecified IT Support Services (LH) HOURS $0.00

2003 Reserved

2004 ITSC Program Management (FFP) LOT 1 $0.00

SUB-TOTAL $0.00

OPTION PERIOD 3: October 1, 2029 – September 30, 2030

3001 Help Desk (FFP) LOT 1 $0.00

3002 Unspecified IT Support Services (LH) HOURS $0.00

3003 Reserved

3004 ITSC Program Management (FFP) LOT 1 $0.00

SUB-TOTAL $0.00

OPTION PERIOD 4: October 1, 2030 – September 30, 2031

4001 Help Desk (FFP) EACH 1 $0.00

4002 Unspecified IT Support Services (LH) HOURS $0.00

4003 Reserved

4004 ITSC Program Management (FFP) EACH 1 $0.00

SUB-TOTAL $0.00

TOTAL – All Years $0.00

B.6.2 Labor Rates

Description Labor Rate

BASE PERIOD: October 1, 2025 – September 30, 2027

Labor Category 1 $0.00

Labor Category 2 $0.00

Labor Category 3 $0.00

Labor Category 4 $0.00

Labor Category n. $0.00

Description Labor Rate

OPTION PERIOD 1: October 1, 2027 – September 30, 2028

Labor Category 1 $0.00

Labor Category 2 $0.00

Labor Category 3 $0.00

Labor Category 4 $0.00

Labor Category n. $0.00

Description Labor Rate

OPTION PERIOD 2: October 1, 2028 – September 30, 2029

Labor Category 1 $0.00

Labor Category 2 $0.00

Labor Category 3 $0.00

Labor Category 4 $0.00

Labor Category n. $0.00

Description Labor Rate

OPTION PERIOD 3: October 1, 2029 – September 30, 2030

Labor Category 1 $0.00

Labor Category 2 $0.00

Labor Category 3 $0.00

Labor Category 4 $0.00

Labor Category n. $0.00

Description Labor Rate

OPTION PERIOD 4: October 1, 2030 – September 30, 2031

Labor Category 1 $0.00

Labor Category 2 $0.00

Labor Category 3 $0.00

Labor Category 4 $0.00

Labor Category n. $0.00

Labor Category n. $0.00

SECTION C - STATEMENT OF WORK

C.1 Introduction

In this Statement of Work, the chart approach is used for defining all roles and responsibilities as listed in Table 1. The approach will utilize the RASCI Model (Responsible, Accountable, Supporting, Consulted, Informed).

Table 1. Definition of RASCI Model

Code Role Role Detail Description

R Responsible

Individual operationally responsible for performing a sourcing activity.

Responsible individuals report to the Accountable individual.

Only one individual is accountable for any given activity.

Responsible is a proactive role.

A Accountable

Individual with final accountability for the results of a sourcing activity.

Accountability includes a mandate to dismiss or accept the results by activity as realized by the Responsible individual.

This individual also holds the budget to back the mandate.

Only one individual is accountable for any given activity.

Accountable is a reactive role.

S Supporting

Individuals who support the Responsible individual in realizing the sourcing activity.

They actively participate in realizing/executing/performing the activity.

Supportive individuals report to the Responsible individual.

Multiple individuals can participate in support of the Responsible individual for any given activity.

Supporting is a proactive role.

C Consulted

Individuals who should be consulted in realizing/executing/performing the activity, on the scope, budget, time and value of the activity.

Multiple individuals can be required to be heard for any given activity.

Consulted is a reactive role.

I Informed

Individuals who need to be informed but have no role in the realization/execution/performance of an activity, other than being informed of the result of the activity.

Multiple individuals can be informed of the results of any given activity.

Informed is a passive role.

C.1.1 The Senate environment consists of approximately 140 separate entities that are comprised of

Member offices, Committees, Leadership offices, Officers of the Senate, and support organizations. The

Senate technical environment consists of a collection of Local Area Networks (“LANs”) connected through an overall enterprise architecture to facilitate communications within and between these networks, as well as to centralize services such as Internet/Intranet, enterprise e-mail and database services. See

Attachment J-04.

The Senate’s standard Network Operating System is Microsoft Windows Server, and the standard messaging platform is Microsoft Exchange Server. The Senate reserves the right to switch to another operating system or to a different suite of applications under the terms of this Contract. The environment is known as Senate Messaging and Authentication Services (“SMAS”). The design consists of a single Active

Directory Forest. SMAS provides authentication, messaging, and mobility services for all offices. Resources for offices are provided in a single Active Directory domain, separated by organizational units. All Active

Directory domain controllers, Exchange servers and other integrated services physically reside in central locations and are administered by the SAA. However, the SAA as the SMAS custodian has delegated rights to administer office-specific resources (i.e. user accounts, mailboxes, and computers accounts) to individual office Systems Administrators. This delegation also allows administration of all office-maintained systems, i.e. member servers, workstations, and printers.

Historically, there is some fluctuation in the number of workstations and LANs from year to year.

Supported locations in the Metropolitan Washington Area are listed in Section J, Attachment J-01, “Supported Washington, DC Site Locations.”

C.1.2 Section J, Attachment J-02, “U.S. Senate State Office Locations”, contains a list of the current state office locations that the Contractor is required to support information technology products.

Upon receipt of notification from the SAA State Office Liaison regarding changes in location, office openings, or closures, the Contractor shall promptly update the ticket tracking system with the revised location information, effective as of the official date of change. The Contractor is expected to provide simultaneous support for the current, new, and temporary state office locations during this period.

Additionally, a monthly report of U.S. Senate State Office Locations will be made available on a central file platform, such as Microsoft SharePoint.

Table 2 below presents an approximate summary of the current numerical and geographical distribution of the Senate’s IT hardware. All the Senate’s standard supported hardware (Section J, Attachment J-08 - Senate Standard Hardware Products), support is provided as specified in CLIN 1, Help Desk. The balance of the Senate’s IT hardware is supported by “best effort”, which is defined as a good faith effort to assess and possibly resolve a complex problem within one hour, as detailed in Section C.6.2.2.13. Table 3 further explains the Contractor’s role in supporting Senate locations.

Table 2. Senate IT Hardware

Category DC State Grand Total

Desktops and Workstations 7,752 3,468 11,220

Laptop, Notebook and Tablet Computers

11,617 3,678 15,295

Monitors 9,802 7,279 17,081

Cellular Phones and Accessories 12,382 8,881 21,263

Printers 2,607 1,806 4,413

Scanners 1,312 1,117 2,429

Servers (Physical and VMI) 1,531 1,024 2,555

Video Teleconferencing Hardware and Accessories

403 510 913

UPS Batt, Backup-Filter, Generators, Power

87 74 161

Televisions 5,729 1,262 6,991

Revised January 2024

Table 3. Senate Support Locations

Senate Support Locations Contractor Client

1. Support IT in the State offices. R, A, S C

2. Update ticket tracking system with current U.S.

Senate Office Locations

R, A, S C

3. Support of DC and State Telephone Systems S R

4. Routing DC and State Telephone support calls R, S A

C.1.3 The information maintained in the various offices covered by this Contract (Attachment J-01, J-

02) is sensitive, requires a very high degree of physical and electronic security, and the Contractor shall not disclose this information without prior written approval by the SAA. In the performance of the requirements of the Contract, the Contractor shall make use of advanced technologies, improved workflows, and other alternatives; however, the operational considerations of the Senate and the security of information will always take precedence (see Section J-10 U.S. Sergeant at Arms Standard Operating Procedures (“SOPS”) for Cybersecurity).

C.1.4 The SAA plans a transition period for twelve (12) weeks after award to familiarize the Contractor with the Senate environment and better ensure a high-quality continuity of service under the Contract.

To ensure a seamless transition of services from the Outgoing Contractor to the Incoming Contractor, the Outgoing Contractor shall provide all necessary support and cooperation during the twelve-week transition period. This support includes, but is not limited to, providing access to relevant documentation, facilitating knowledge transfer through meetings and training, responding promptly to requests for assistance, and cooperating fully with both the Incoming Contractor and the SAA throughout the transition process. The Outgoing Contractor’s designated Transition Point of Contact shall be actively involved in coordinating these activities to guarantee a smooth and efficient handover of service responsibilities.

C.1.5 The SAA licenses and currently uses the ServiceNow program, including modules for Service Desk, Incident Management, IT Acquisition tracking and Request Management. Any reference to “ticket tracking system” or “ticket tracking software” as those terms are used in this Contract mean ServiceNow application, or any like system(s) that the Senate should decide to use in the future. All data for tracking tickets are entered into this system. All tracking tickets are generated by this system. In addition, the Contractor shall utilize the Knowledge-Centered Service (“KCS”) methodology, principles, and best practices in the delivery of Help Desk services under this contract. Key aspects of KCS methodology, principles, and best practices shall include:

a. Capturing solutions to customer issues within a knowledge base for reuse and continuous improvement;

b. Structured authoring of Help Desk articles to facilitate searching and self-service;

c. First call resolution empowerment for agents to immediately find and apply documented solutions;

d. Measuring and improving defined KCS metrics such as agent utilization of knowledge base, first contact resolution rates, publishing frequency, and search effectiveness;

e. Fostering a knowledge-sharing culture through communities of practice, recognition, and feedback loops;

f. Aligning knowledge management processes with the Senate's mission and service delivery objectives.

C.1.5.1 The SAA reserves the right to audit and provide input on the Contractor’s KCS implementation and related operational practices. Contractor staff shall be sufficiently trained on the KCS methodology principles and tools utilized.

C.2 Background

C.2.1 Although Senate IT systems have evolved in recent years, much like the IT systems of other organizations of its size, the Senate is not quite like other comparable organizations since it has some special environmental elements which the Contractor must accommodate in performance of the Contract. While many organizations strive for centralization of the functions and services for efficient operations, the Senate is a historic institution with an operational environment decentralized to meet the unique needs of the Members. In this environment, Senate offices are required to employ System Administrators (“Sas”), who are typically the first line of technical support within an individual office (see Section C.6.5.1). The Contractor is required to work with the SAs to keep the Office in optimal operational status.

C.2.2 A description of the Senate’s technical environment can be found in Section J, Attachment J-04, Technical Environment.

C.3 Quality Assurance

C.3.1 Quality Assurance Program

The Contractor shall be ISO/IEC 20000 certified in the area of IT Installation (hardware/software), IT Help Desk. The following table, Table 4, identifies the Quality Assurance responsibilities that the Provider and Client will perform.

Table 4. Quality Assurance Program

Quality Assurance Program Contractor Client

1. Maintain appropriate ISO/IEC 2000 series currency. R, A I

2. Exercise ISO/IEC 20000 series practices throughout the performance of this Contract.

R, A I

3. Provide a copy of the current ISO certifications and the dates of the last and next scheduled audits.

R, A I

4. Proprietary procedures must be made available for viewing as appropriate with assigned non-disclosure agreement.

R, A I

5. Provide experienced, qualified personnel, supervision, (including manuals and schematics), and transportation necessary to fulfill the IT support services requirements.

R, A I

6. Provide on-site maintenance and keeping the Senate’s IT hardware in good operating condition consistent with Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) requirements.

R, A I

7. Provide on-site maintenance support for all Senate IT hardware and software, including managing and adequately staffing the Senate’s IT Help Desk to meet or exceed contractual Service Levels.

R, A I

8. Responsible for all costs with maintaining the ISO/IEC 20000 certification.

C.4 Quality Assurance Process

The Contractor Program Manager (“PM”) is responsible for taking specific actions to ensure the quality of the Program Management process in the delivery of goods and services:

a. Support and advocate quality excellence at all times;

b. Provide training in ISO/IEC 20000 quality principles for program team members;

c. Take a leadership role in ensuring quality excellence in the entire support process;

d. Review all processes and workflows in the context of total quality management;

e. Correct any process deficiencies;

f. Employ continuous process improvement techniques;

g. Monitor response and resolution times; and,

h. Undertake any other actions necessary to the delivery of goods and services.

C.4.1 ISO/IEC 20000 Certification

Table 5 identifies general ISO/IEC 20000 requirements associated with this SOW.

Table 5. ISO Certification

ISO Certification Contractor Client

1. ISO Certification in place at time of Contract Award R, A I

2. Maintain valid ISO Certification R, A I

3. Establish and maintain a Quality Management System. R, A I

4. Develop an electronic copy of the Procedures Manual within ninety

(90) days of the end of the transition period.

R, A I

5. Update the Procedures Manual at least annually unless otherwise specified.

R, A I

6. Procedures Manual shall be available at all times to the Contractor PM and the COR or designee in an electronic format.

7. The Procedures Manual is incorporated into this Contract by reference including any changes accepted and incorporated by mutual agreement.

R, A I

8. Make recommendations for any quality forms deemed necessary to meet ISO clauses which may include an Internal Quality Audit, certificates of training, discrepancy reporting, and related items.

R, A C, I

9. Establish reporting content, format, frequency and routing. R, A I

10. Actively promote, support, and initiate continuous improvement to all processes and procedures used in this Contract.

R, A C, I

11. Coordinate periodic internal and external ISO/IEC 20000 quality management audits.

R, A I

12. Report results from internal and external ISO/IEC 20000 quality management audits.

R, A I

13. Establish written procedures associated with obtaining each service level and the contract deliverable.

14. Report and track ISO non-conformances and corrective measures. R, A I

C.4.1.1 Technical Objectives

a. To optimize service delivery by acquiring IT support services from an ISO/IEC 20000 certified contractor;

b. To provide incentives to the successful Contractor to exceed established service levels across all functional areas;

c. To enhance customer satisfaction, and;

d. To benefit from state-of-the-art processes and approaches to IT support services.

C.4.1.2 Service Level Agreement with Incentives and Penalties

Section J, Attachment J-05, “Service Level Agreement with Incentives and Penalties” summarizes the required service levels for the Installation and Help Desk work as specified in Section C. The Service Level Agreement explains the incentives and penalties associated with the measurements described herein and provides the monthly calculations that result in the summary addition or subtraction from each month’s invoices.

The Contractor may petition the COR or designee in writing for an exception to service levels in a particular transaction when events beyond the Contractor’s control negatively impact the measurements. (See Section J, Attachment J-06, “Service Level Agreement Ticket Review Process.”)

C.4.2 New Employee Orientation

The Senate is a unique working environment. In this regard, the SAA will provide the transition team with a thorough orientation to the Senate environment, the Contractor shall provide that same thorough orientation to all new employees. The orientation will include, but not be limited to the following listed in Table 6.

Table 6. New Employee Orientation

New Employee Orientation Contractor Client

1. Tour of the Senate Buildings: provide familiarity with Senate supported locations in DC.

R, A S, C, I

2. Provide an overview of the Senate leadership, members, committees, and officers.

R, A S, C, I

3. Provide overview of the Senate as a working legislative institution and its effects on the business processes of the Contractor.

R, A S, C, I

4. Provide overview of the typical Senate office environment, including the role of the system administrator and other key office positions.

R, A S, C, I

5. Review of appropriate dress, conduct, and professionalism. R, A S, C, I

6. Explanation of the Senate Customer Support Guidelines (provided by the COR or designee).

R, A S, C, I

7. Overview of this Contract, service level agreements, and SAA organizational structure and functions.

R, A S, C, I

8. Provide overview of Senate IT environment to staff in a Technical Support role.

R, A S, C, I

9. Overview of products and services. R, A S, C, I

10. Provide a comprehensive understanding of their team’s role and available resources.

R, A S, C, I

C.4.3 Employee Interview Process

The Contractor shall incorporate industry best practices into its hiring process. As part of the activity in support of all services under this Contract, the Contractor shall maintain “state of the art” expertise on the hardware, software, and networking systems in use at the Senate using a professional approach to the provision of goods and services. Following the initial transition period, interviews for Washington, DC-based technicians shall include a practical skills assessment. The skills tested in such cases shall represent situations encountered in a typical Senate office.

C.4.4 Timeliness of Tracking Ticket Updates

The Contractor shall maintain and update all tracking tickets by providing a comprehensive status update for each relevant event. A ‘relevant event’ encompasses, but is not restricted to the following scenarios:

Table 7. Ticket Tracking Updates

Receipt of hardware/software from the supplier Staging of hardware prior to delivery or installation

Enroute and arrival status of the technician(s) Disposition of hardware

Any encountered problems or delays Completion of tasks and associated required forms

Departure from the subject office User-provided information

Asset-related details Scheduling information

Associated materials Ticket/task assignment

In situations where the Contractor requires assistance from an SAA support group, the Contractor shall promptly assign a task within the open ticket, providing specific details for completion. Additionally, the Contractor shall utilize the ticket tracking system’s email feature to facilitate real-time communication with the customer, ensuring that updates are accurately recorded within the ticket.

C.4.5 Technician Preparation

The Contractor shall provide all its technicians with easy access to all supported technology. Prior to going to a Senate office to perform technical work, Contractor’s technicians shall:

a. Review the work status,

i. To review the work status, the technician shall read thoroughly all relevant tracking tickets with important information included in or attached to the tracking ticket that will enable the technician to efficiently meet the Senate customers’ needs.

b. Have all the necessary tools,

c. Have a copy of the tracking ticket and any related installation instructions, and

d. Have a work plan/approach in mind.

C.4.5.1 The Contractor technician shall take these steps so that the technician arrives in the office very well-informed such that Senate staff is not requested to reiterate information that is already documented in the tracking ticket.

C.4.6 Technical Skills

In addition to the requirements set forth in Section C.4.3, the Contractor shall update the technical skills of the Contractor staff as IT technology and the supported products evolve and new items are added to Section J, Attachment J-07, “Senate Standard Software Products”, and Section J, Attachment J-08, “Senate Standard Hardware Products.” The Contractor shall submit a report monthly that details the certifications and years of experience for each technician on the Installation, Hardware Maintenance, and Help Desk teams.

C.4.7 Monitoring of Trends

The Contractor shall identify and report common support and IT-related trends and issues within and related to the Senate environment in a format at the COR or designee’s discretion on a weekly basis.

C.4.8 Office Profiles

The Contractor shall maintain an online profile of each office in the Senate’s trouble tracking application (see Section C.1.5), including a description of each supported office’s IT environment, support preferences, and any other data that will enable the technicians and the Contractor’s management team to understand the environment in which work is to be performed. The minimum data points of the office profiles are included in Section J, Attachment J-09, “Office Profile Data Points.” The Contractor shall verify and update current Office Profile data during the Transition period, and on a monthly schedule to ensure the information is accurate.

C.4.9 Innovation

The Contractor shall foster an employment environment for its employees to permit innovation and to suggest creative approaches to improve service to the Senate community by leveraging their Senate contract staff as well as corporate resources. The Contractor shall, twice each year at mutually agreed-upon dates, brief the COR on the Contractor’s employment of innovative practices and processes. The briefings shall begin at the conclusion of the Transition Period. Additionally, the Contractor shall, when requested, participate in Senate innovation upgrades, enhancements, automation, and changes.

C.5 REQUIREMENTS

The Contractor shall perform the following requirements.

C.5 CLIN 1: Help Desk

C.5.1 System Administrators

Senate Offices normally employ System Administrators (“Sas”) supported by the SAA, both in Washington, DC and the state offices. Each Senate office has its own network environment and the SAs are typically the first line of technical support for their offices. The Contractor shall provide a Help Desk to support all customers in issues regarding hardware, software, and systems covered. The Help Desk’s primary customers are the SAs.

The SAs make up a significant majority of the call volume to the Help Desk. Because of the role of the SAs, the call volume to the Help Desk is relatively low for the number of other Senate customers because the SAs typically intercept many customer questions. The types of calls received by Help Desk agents, though, tend to skew to the more complex problems since the SAs resolve the easy problems. Consequently, the Contractor shall staff the Help Desk with highly qualified technical support specialists with effective analytical skills as well as strong interpersonal skills, diplomacy, and tact. In some cases, SAs may request that tickets be opened with a higher priority (severity one) rating based on a key customer in their offices having a critical deadline.

C.5.2 Help Desk Availability

C.5.2.1 Help Desk support is available to all Senate staff. The demands on Senate staff to complete tasks rapidly means SAs and Senate staff seeking technical support must speak with Help Desk specialists at the time they call. The need for rapid response requires well-trained technical support specialists with effective analytical and oral communication skills. The specialists shall assist the Senate in resolving workstation, peripheral, and general IT related issues as required. The Help Desk Support Specialist should have at a minimum, the following qualifications:

a. Bachelor’s degree; or 3+ years of relevant experience providing hardware and software problem resolution;

b. Experience and technical skills in Windows Server, Windows Desktop, Mac OS clients, MS Exchange, MS Office, and Network Communications;

c. Customer service skills training is required; and,

d. Good interpersonal skills.

Contractor shall provide all necessary personnel, facilities, hardware, supervision, tools, materials, and incidental items necessary to successfully accomplish the tasks identified herein. The Help Desk shall be located in space provided by the Senate.

For current statistics of Help Desk tracking tickets see Attachment J-17 “Help Desk Statistics.”

C.5.3 Help Desk Scope

C.5.3.1 The scope of Help Desk service includes but is not limited to, software application support, operating system support, file maintenance, workstation and laptop configuration, network configuration, network communications, remote access, peripheral support (printers, monitors, scanners etc.), mobile devices, video teleconference (“VTC”), server support, and general maintenance. The Contractor shall support non-standard IT products on a best effort basis as described in Section C.6.2.2.13.

C.5.3.1.1 The Help Desk shall provide support for users of the Senate telephone services. Using a triage system, the Help Desk shall determine if a caller requires IT or telephone support. If the caller requires assistance with a telephone problem, the Help Desk will follow initial troubleshooting steps. If additional support is required, the Help Desk shall transfer the caller to the appropriate SAA telecommunications support group.

C.5.3.1.2 The Contractor shall be responsible for supporting all hardware and software on the Senate Supported Products lists, Section J, Attachment J-07, “Senate Standard Software Products” and Attachment J-08, “Senate Standard Hardware Products.”

C.5.3.1.3 SAA technical staff are authorized to install internal components and perform hardware and software maintenance without voiding any terms and conditions associated with the maintenance and support agreements under this Contract.

C.5.3.1.4 The Help Desk shall:

a. Respond to requests to the Help Desk promptly and courteously;

b. Expeditiously determine the nature of the request, assist or direct to the appropriate resource;

c. Create a tracking ticket for each request received at Help Desk;

d. Promptly and accurately escalate to other Contractor services such as maintenance team dispatch or other technical departments.

e. Promptly and accurately transfer requests to other Senate departments for issues that are outside the Contractor’s scope of work;

f. Document the tracking ticket with all relevant events as described in Section C.6.7;

g. Maintain a complete history of all requests and each trouble resolution step for both analytical and real time reference;

h. Maintain a profile of each office and site as described in Section C.4.8;

i. Build, maintain, and continuously improve an internal solutions knowledgebase for agent and customer access and support; and

j. Take any actions necessary to accomplish these tasks.

C.5.3.1.5 If after initial analysis the Contractor or Help Desk concludes the support is outside the scope of this Contract (such as some network or enterprise issues), the Contractor or Help Desk shall transfer trouble tickets to designated SAA support staff. The SAA will occasionally request the Contractor, in its capacity as primary disposition agent, to provide on-site assistance in resolving or isolating problems by performing such activities as workstation tests or configuration checks.

C.5.3.1.6 The Senate also maintains separate Help Desks for its Constituent Services Systems (“CSS”). The Contractor shall have procedures to transfer CSS calls to the appropriate CSS vendor help desk. The Contractor shall have processes in place to enable smooth coordination of problem resolution with the CSS vendor help desk. There will be occasions when a coordinated effort will be necessary to eliminate the workstation or server configuration as the source of the problem.

C.5.3.1.7 At the discretion of the COR or designee, the SAA technical staff may assist in the resolution of technical problems involving multiple support groups and assist offices in the integration of technologies into the office environment. The SAA support staff will work with the Contractor to ensure any necessary SAA-provided maintenance is coordinated with the Contractor team and properly documented.

C.5.3.1.8 The Senate occasionally allows Senate-owned hardware and software to be taken to a Senate employee’s home for Senate work. The customer or user will bring the hardware to a supported Senate facility for maintenance or resolution of a problem in the event the hardware or software problems with such hardware cannot be resolved over the telephone or via email correspondence. The Contractor shall not perform work at private residences under any circumstances.

C.6 Help Desk Systems Administration (“HDSA”)

C.6.1 The Contractor shall be responsible for administering the Help Desk customer care/trouble-tracking software. The Help Desk System Administration responsibilities include:

a. Generating ad hoc reports for Senate review;

b. Generating routine reports to demonstrate the performance of the Help Desk and of the field technical support;

c. Generating reports to document service levels;

d. The Contractor shall train all Contractor users, including subcontractors or agents, on the use and operation of the ticket tracking system and the use of professional customer service skills including at a minimum, good interpersonal skills in performing Help Desk activities;

e. Configuring application options;

f. Monitoring day-to-day operation; including but not limited to managing dashboards and confirming regular functionality of the ITSM processes;

g. Maintaining and reporting usage statistics;

h. Maintaining customer profiles;

i. Configuring customer web interface;

j. Using diagnostic tools and ad hoc reporting;

k. Training of new staff on the proper use of the ticket tracking system, including upgrades to the system, to include creating training plans;

l. The constructor shall conduct functional testing;

m. Work with SAA staff to coordinate all upgrades including user acceptance testing and production releases;

n. Manage Help Desk software workflows, phases, and tasks;

o. Monitor how the Help Desk uses the ticket tracking system, to identify efficiency and operational improvements;

p. Maintenance of the customer care/trouble-tracking applications which includes monitoring performance, resolving problems, modeling business processes, and ensuring data integrity;

q. The Contractor shall maintain the applications by monitoring application performance and reporting usage statistics;

r. The Contractor shall maintain surveys and assessments related to the ITSC contract.

s. The contractors shall provide use stories and defects in the format of approved SAA development templates;

t. Participate in the SAA change management process;

u. The contractor shall adhere to SAA cybersecurity and information assurance standards;

v. The contractor shall participate in development meetings or ceremonies;

w. This resource must coordinate all work with the SAA Senior Software Developer for ServiceNow;

and,

x. Must have experience with ServiceNow IT Service Management or similar ITSM platforms.

C.6.2 Senate Responsibilities

C.6.2.1 The Help Desk shall be located in a Senate-provided space. Except for incidental support, all Help Desk personnel supporting Senate Washington, D.C. offices shall be located in the Senate-provided space.

The Senate will provide space for Help Desk agents and associated hardware. These locations are described in Section J, Attachment J-14, “Specifications for the Help Desk and Other Work Spaces.”

Additionally, the Senate will provide the following resources for official use only in conducting work under this Contract:

a. No-cost use of the data and telephony connectivity;

b. No-cost physical connection services to data and telephony;

c. Access to ticket tracking software;

d. Telecommunications Devices for the Deaf (“TDD”); and,

e. Automatic Call Distributor (“ACD”) functionality.

C.6.2.1.1 The Senate will provide functionality for call handling with an Automatic Call Distributor (“ACD”) to route calls to agents efficiently and maintain queues as required. The telephone system provided by the Senate includes lines for long-distance calls and TDDs. The Contractor will provide Senate office staff with a single telephone number to call the Help Desk. This number supports Enhanced Call Processing (“ECP”), allowing the customer to select the Contractor’s Help Desk or some other Senate service. The Senate continues to modernize its telephony infrastructure and may install new systems to provide comparable functionality.

C.6.2.2 Contractor Requirements

C.6.2.2.1 The Contractor shall meet the following requirements:

a. When the Senate is in session, Contractor Help Desk services shall be provided at any hour the Senate is in session and until one half (1/2) hour after the Senate adjourns for the day.

b. When the Senate is not in session, all Contractor Help Desk services shall be provided Monday through Friday, 7:00 a.m. through 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time, excluding Federal holidays.

c. The Contractor shall adjust actual staffing levels for the projected workloads at various hours. The Contractor shall be required to staff the Help Desk to meet or exceed the contractual service levels during all hours of operation.

d. The Contractor shall, at a minimum, provide personnel who are certified by the levels indicated in Section C.6.2.2.21 C.5.2.1.

e. The Contractor shall provide all necessary personnel, facilities, equipment, supervision, tools, materials, and incidental items necessary to complete the Contract’s installation requirements.

These include, at a minimum: furniture; workbenches; server equipment; IT hardware; mobile devices; and associated consumables for staff.

C.6.2.2.2 Senate offices need support services twenty-four (24) hours a day. All calls for telephone support when the Help Desk is not open shall receive a follow-up phone call or email response from the on-call Help Desk Technician within fifteen (15) minutes of receipt of the call. The first response from the Help Desk shall be a phone call back to the Point of Contact (“POC”). If the POC doesn’t answer the technician’s initial phone call, the technician will leave a voicemail message and send the POC a follow up email.

For Severity One, Two, and Three calls in Washington DC which cannot be resolved over the telephone, a technician shall offer online diagnosis and resolution when appropriate to those offices that have authorized such service, or a technician from the installation team shall be dispatched to provide on-site support. On-site support is not required for state offices while the Help Desk is not open. A ticket will be opened by the Help Desk and assign it to the appropriate contractor team or SAA department.

C.6.2.2.3 Whenever possible, the Help Desk shall resolve a problem over the telephone and on the first call, unless the customer requests otherwise. When a resolution is not possible over the telephone, the Help Desk shall offer online diagnosis and resolution, when appropriate, to those Offices that have authorized such service, or shall dispatch Contractor personnel to resolve the problem on site. When the problem is not within the scope of the Contractor’s responsibilities in accordance with Section C.6.3 Help Desk Scope, the Help Desk shall pass the call on to the appropriate SAA support group and these are not measured as part of the Contractor’s service levels.

C.6.2.2.4 During the initial contact, the Help Desk shall provide the customer with a tracking ticket number for tracking purposes and, if a service technician is dispatched, an estimated time of arrival.

C.6.2.2.5 The Contractor shall manage the Help Desk with a three (3) tier support structure as follows:

Tier 1: Technically skilled agents available and trained to answer calls and to resolve as many requests for assistance as possible on the first call.

Tier 2: Agents must be available to do short term research for tickets that cannot be resolved on the first call. Among the Tier 1 and Tier 2 agents, there shall be certified agents in the following areas:

Microsoft Office (Windows and MAC), Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Server, as well as MAC Operating Systems.

Tier 3: Agents must be available to resolve the more sophisticated, difficult, or time-consuming problems beyond the capability of Tier 1 and 2 agents and which do not require on-site support. These technicians may have other responsibilities than Tier 3 support, but those responsibilities may not detract from the Tier 3 responsibilities. Tier 3 agents are systems engineer level personnel trained to handle critical issues including network issues.

C.6.2.2.6 The Help Desk shall escalate Tier 1 support calls to Tier 2 support if the issue is not resolved within ten (10) minutes unless the caller requests that the initial technician continue troubleshooting the issue. The Help Desk shall escalate all calls that require a higher skill level of support immediately. Help Desk agents shall use the phone transfer function (“warm transfer”) to transfer customers to other support personnel. The initial agent shall remain on the phone until the customer is successfully transferred. This requirement is very important because of the difficulty in reestablishing contact with the customer in order to proceed with providing support services.

C.6.2.2.7 Customers can submit non-urgent problems and requests to the Help Desk via email. The Contractor shall open a tracking ticket within fifteen minutes of receipt of such an email message when the Help Desk is open, and within thirty (30) minutes of the Help Desk opening if the message was received while the Help Desk was closed. In all such cases the Help Desk shall copy the email message text verbatim into the tracking ticket.

C.6.2.2.8 In Washington, DC, in the event the Help Desk cannot resolve a during the initial call, the Contractor shall be required to visit the site experiencing the problem. For state locations, the Contractor may be able to access the system from the Help Desk if the office has authorized such access or utilize the Senator’s Washington DC office to remotely diagnose the state office problem.

C.6.2.2.9 Some Senate Systems Administrators will require the services of the Help Desk on site at the time they place a Help Desk Call. The Contractor shall honor these requests by immediately transferring the ticket to the installation team for dispatch service. The Help Desk is responsible for gathering sufficient information and transmitting that information to the technician so that the customer does not have to spend time repeating information or data. Immediate dispatch shall not alleviate the requirement for the Help Desk agent to create and maintain a tracking ticket.

C.6.2.2.10 The SAA anticipates a percentage of tracking tickets that will not be able to be resolved by the normal escalation process within the Help Desk. The Help Desk Manager shall resolve issues with primary vendors or subject matter experts and apprise the COR or designee of the disposition of those issues to include the names and affiliations of any subject matter experts providing assistance. The SAA technical staff will not accept responsibility for resolving any technical issues that are within the scope of the Contractor’s contractual obligations.

C.6.2.2.11 The Contractor shall provide limited support for Senate proprietary and third-party applications such as the Constituent Services System (“CSS”) applications. The Help Desk and maintenance teams should be sufficiently proficient in root cause analysis and non-standard hardware and software applications commonly used in the Senate to be able to isolate a problem related to proprietary hardware or software and make an appropriate assignment of support responsibility. The Contractor's responsibility is to make such a determination, open the tracking ticket in some cases, refer the customer to the proper support group and then route the tracking ticket(s) to the proper support group.

C.6.2.2.12 The Help Desk shall have remote access capabilities that are limited to those Senate offices that have given their prior approval. The office’s remote access preference will be documented in the Senate’s ticket tracking system Office Support Requests field. Only Senate approved remote access tools shall be used for this purpose.

C.6.2.2.13 The Help Desk shall assist users by responding to questions regarding non-standard hardware and non-standard software based on its general knowledge of related IT products. The technicians shall be responsible for attempting a reasonable solution to a problem. “Attempting a reasonable solution” is defined as the expenditure of up to a total of one (1) hour of the best efforts of the Help Desk. Failing resolution within one (1) hour, the Contractor shall provide the COR or designee with an assessment of the scope of work required to resolve the problem. The SAA may authorize the Contractor to work on products not listed on the Section J-07 and J-08 attachments as part of the core support contract.

C.6.2.2.14 The SAA will provide a Help Desk website on the Senate’s intranet to provide instructions for contacting the Help Desk.

C.6.2.2.15 The Contractor shall provide all necessary personnel; facilities; hardware; supervision; tools;

materials; and incidental items necessary to successfully fulfill the Contract’s requirements.