24-31-A-PMO-OITA PWS - eDiscovery_SaaS and ATO V3.docx

Table of Contents

PERFORMANCE WORK STATEMENT (PWS)

Task Order Administration Data The Office of Chief Counsel (OCC) is the chief legal officer of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and serves as Counsel and legal advisor to the IRS Commissioner on all matters pertaining to the administration and enforcement of the Internal Revenue laws and related statutes. This includes non-tax legal questions. The OCC has a staff of approximately 2,100 nationwide, of which 1,600 are Attorneys in 57 offices nationally.

Executive Summary The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is seeking firm-fixed price agreement for a FedRAMP Moderate, Software-as-a-Solution (SaaS) eDiscovery vendor-hosted cloud-based platform that runs on Microsoft’s Azure Government cloud. The platform shall be capable of eDiscovery processing, including forensic collections, early case assessment, review, analysis, and production to meet the agency’s needs for tax- and general-litigation and associated support services. This solution will allow the IRS to effectively handle the Electronically Stored Information (ESI) generated by the below business processes and following the Electronic Discovery Reference Model (“EDRM”) process. The e-discovery platform must be capable of integration with existing e-discovery and litigation tools, must be capable of reviewing ESI in a wide variety of formats (including chat communications, such as Slack, iMessage, SMS, and Teams), and must be able to facilitate collection of documents from MSOffice 365 and related repositories.

Currently, the IRS uses a vendor-hosted, on premises version of RelativityOne Government. The IRS has a requirement to transition from the on-premises solution to the cloud-based solution to ensure continuity of operations: both for migration of existing workspaces and data and in terms of training by OCC personnel.

Description of Services/Introduction The contractor shall provide all personnel, equipment, supplies, facilities, transportation, tools, materials, supervision, and non-personal services necessary to provide the capabilities to the IRS needed for collecting, preserving, processing, assessing, reviewing, analyzing, and producing ESI as defined in this Performance Work Statement.

Background The IRS (may be referred to as Government or Agency throughout this document) is involved in many document requests, both as an originator and a respondent. These requests occur during the course of tax or general litigation or inquiries from external parties. A typical response to any of these requests can involve a range of data sizes, from hundreds of megabytes to terabytes of unstructured data and thousands to millions of native files that must be reviewed, analyzed, and eventually produced for the requester. A typical incoming production can also involve hundreds of megabytes to terabytes of unstructured data produced either as load files or native files that must be reviewed and analyzed. The legal staff assigned to this work can be as small as a single attorney to several dozen individuals, all concurrently accessing the same dataset.

It is also expected that utilizing a contractor will provide much greater flexibility in terms of meeting evolving needs and integration with external parties such as The United States Department of Justice (DOJ).

Objectives The SaaS objectives are as follows:

· A FedRAMP Moderate Platform SaaS.

· Vendor-hosted cloud-based instance running on Microsoft’s Azure Government cloud.

· Provide 24/7 access to data in active review with a method acceptable to the IRS.

· Ability to restore data in cold storage to active review within 5 business days.

· Provide tools to collect, preserve, process, ingest, and produce data in a wide variety of data formats including, but not limited to: Adobe files, AppleDouble, CAD files, Compressed files, Container files, Database files, Email, EnCase, Excel, Google Workspace, Hangul, HTML, iCalendar, Image Files, Lotus, JungUm Global, OneNote, OpenOffice, PowerPoint, Publisher, Project, Short message, Slack, Text, Vector, Visio, Word, and WordPerfect.

· Provide tools to analyze and review data utilizing advanced technologies and conduct redaction and production of data.

· Provide tools and resources to transfer existing workspaces hosted by Deloitte on Relativity Server 2023 to the new SaaS platform.

· Provide integration between IRS systems, including third party systems such as MSOffice 365 (including Outlook, SharePoint, Teams, OneDrive, etc.), Salesforce and others that may import directly into the e-discovery/ESI review system.

· Provide mobile tools usable in the Android & IOS environments.

· Provide support services as requested by the IRS, including processing/ingestion, end-user training, and consulting related to the e-discovery/ESI review process. These services would also include advising on advanced and complex use of tools, applications, or processes.

SaaS Scope

· Hosted storage capacity minimum:

· Review 54TB (60%)

· Cold Storage 27TB (30%)

· Staging 9TB (10%)

· Capacity for 200 concurrent end-users in the SaaS with the ability to scale.

· Accommodate any data generated for electronic discovery, tax litigation, and other needs.

· Collect, process, ingest, and support analysis of said data in alignment with the EDRM process.

· Provide end-users within the IRS with the necessary tools to analyze said data utilizing an array of Technology-Assisted-Review or other analytical tools to produce data out in accordance with the agency’s requirements.

· Provide support services (e.g., processing/loading, help desk, training, workflow analysis, etc.) to assist the IRS with its use of tools.

· Provide and maintain documentation to support IRS’s use of contractor’s tools, including but not limited to process manuals and user guides.

Period of Performance The period of performance shall be for one twelve-month base period and four twelve-month option periods, commencing on the date of award.

Quality Control The contractor shall develop and maintain an effective quality control program to ensure services are performed in accordance with this PWS. The contractor shall develop and implement procedures to identify, prevent, and ensure non-recurrence of defective services. The contractor’s quality control program is the means by which it assures its work complies with the requirements of the contract. At a minimum, the contractor shall develop quality control procedures that address the areas identified in Technical Exhibit 1, “Performance Requirements Summary.” The Quality Control Plan (QCP) shall be submitted within 30 days after contract award to the Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) and within 5 working days when changes are made thereafter. The COR will provide acceptance of the QCP.

Quality Assurance The government shall evaluate the contractor’s performance under this contract in accordance with the Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan (QASP). This plan is primarily focused on what the Government must do to ensure that the contractor has performed in accordance with the performance standards identified in Technical Exhibit 2. The QASP defines how the performance standards will be applied, the frequency of surveillance, and the minimum acceptable defect rate(s).

Recognized Holidays The platform and tools provided by (the) contractor are expected to be available on all state and federal holidays, including the following:

Juneteenth

Hours of Operation

· The IRS anticipates availability of the platform and tools to be 7 days a week, 24 hours a day with level of service of at least 99.9% availability.

· Data in active review should be available 7 days a week, 24 hours a day with level of service of at least 99.9% availability. Data in cold storage should be returned to active review, upon request, within 5 business days.

· Help Desk availability: 8 AM to 8 PM Eastern on weekdays. Help desk will be reachable via telephone, email, and web form.

· After hours technical support available on as-needed basis.

Place of Performance The work to be performed under this contract will be performed at the contractor’s facilities.

Type of Contract The government anticipates a firm fixed price order, based on the storage commitments above.

Security Requirements Contractor personnel performing work under this contract must be cleared for staff-like access per IRM 10.23.2. All facilities and systems must be FedRAMP Moderate authorized and in compliance with all applicable Internal Revenue Manual (IRM) standards. See 5.1.2 below for additional discussion on security.

Physical Security The contractor shall be responsible for safeguarding all government equipment, information, and property provided for contractor use.

Post Award Conference/Periodic Progress Meetings The contractor agrees to attend any post-award conference convened by the contracting activity or contract administration office in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation Subpart 42.5. As appropriate, the COR and other government personnel may meet periodically with the contractor to review the contractor's performance. At these meetings, the Contracting Officer’s Representative will apprise the contractor of how the agency views the contractor's performance, and the contractor will apprise the agency of problems, if any, that are experienced. Appropriate action shall be taken to resolve the issues that are outstanding. These meetings shall be at no additional cost to the agency.

Contracting Officer Representative (COR) The COR will be identified by a separate letter. The COR monitors all technical aspects of the contract and assists in contract administration. The COR is authorized to perform the following functions: assure that the Contractor performs the technical requirements of the contract; perform inspections necessary in connection with contract performance; maintain written and oral communications with the Contractor concerning technical aspects of the contract; issue written interpretations of technical requirements, including Government drawings, designs, specifications; monitors Contractor's performance and notifies both the Contracting Officer and Contractor of any deficiencies; coordinates availability of government furnished property, and provide site entry of Contractor personnel. A letter of designation issued to the COR, a copy of which is sent to the Contractor, states the responsibilities and limitations of the COR, especially with regard to changes in cost or price, estimates, or changes in delivery dates. The COR is not authorized to change any of the terms and conditions of the resulting order.

Identification of Contractor Employees All contract personnel attending meetings, answering Government telephones, and working in other situations where their contractor status is not obvious to third parties are required to identify themselves as such to avoid creating an impression in the minds of members of the public that they are Government officials. They must also ensure that all documents or reports produced by contractors are suitably marked as contractor products or that contractor participation is appropriately disclosed.

Contractor Travel No travel is anticipated or will be funded.

Data Rights The IRS has unlimited rights to all documents/material produced under this contract. All data stored, ingested, or otherwise provided to contractor from the IRS remain the exclusive property of the agency and contractor shall permit and assist with removal or transfer of data to agency or third parties on demand as directed by agency. See section 1.1.13. All documents, data and materials produced under this contract shall be Government owned and are the property of the Government with all rights and privileges of ownership/copyright belonging exclusively to the Government. The Government shall always have full rights of access to all documents, data and materials, which shall be made available to the Government on demand. These documents, data and materials may not be used or sold by the contractor without written permission from the Contracting Officer. All documents, data and materials supplied to the Government shall be the sole property of the Government and may not be used for any other purpose. This right does not abrogate any other Government rights.

Phase In /Phase Out Period To minimize any decreases in productivity and to prevent possible negative impacts on additional services, the contract will encompass a phase in and phase out period. For the phase in period, the Contractor shall have personnel on board during a phase in period of 28 business days from the start of the contract to when end-users will begin to use the tools, referred to as the “go-live date”. The phase in period may be extended by mutual agreement between the Contractor and Government. During the phase in period, the Contractor shall become familiar with performance requirements, produce a tailored process manual and a user guide. In addition, the Contractor will begin to receive and process data from the Government so that users can immediately begin review of data on the go-live date. During the phase out period of 28 days, the Contractor will provide all necessary assistance and support (including the use of any external media) to move data from Contractor’s systems per the agency’s determination and will verify at end of phase out that all data has been removed and destroyed from Contractor’s systems.

Applicable Documents

· Publication 4812 Contractor Security Controls;

· Executive Order (E.O.) 10450;

· OMB Circular A-130, “Management of Federal Information Resources”;

· Treasury Directive Publication (TD P) 15-71Department of the Treasury Security Manual, Chapter II Section 2 and Chapter IV; and

· Titles 5 and 44 of the U.S. Code

· IRM 10.8.1 and 10.8.24

Government Furnished Property, Equipment, And Services Services The Government will provide a COR to serve as liaison with contractor.

Facilities Not applicable.

Utilities Not applicable

Equipment The IRS will provide no other equipment beyond what is required for end-users in the regular performance of their duties. No special equipment or accommodations will be made to satisfy any element of this performance work statement.

Materials The IRS does not expect to produce any additional materials.

PWS SaaS Platform Requirements SaaS Platform The SaaS must meet the following requirements:

a. Must be able to host 90 TB of Electronically Stored Information (ESI) available for agency review upon initial service phase-in. Contractor must provide scalable storage to seamlessly accommodate growth in data volume in follow on year(s) of contract.

b. Primary platform tool must support up to 200 concurrent users in first year of contract with minimal reduction in performance in comparison to a single user.

i. Contractor must have capability to support additional concurrent users beyond 200 on the platform with minimal reduction in performance.

ii. Contractor must have ability to report on user management.

c. Network elements under the control of the contractor must be robust enough to accommodate 300 concurrent users with minimal reduction in performance. Network elements under the control of the contractor should be robust enough to accommodate additional users with minimal reduction in performance.

d. Must provide a means of accessing the system for end-users that is in compliance with Homeland Security Presidential Directive 12 (HSPD - 12) using the Personal Identity Verification (PIV) credentials or equivalent thereof.

e. Must be able to verify that all end-users are accessing system from IRS network or IRS furnished-equipment.

f. Must have all hardware (virtual and physical) dedicated to platform deployed in facilities physically located within the continental United States (CONUS). All data stored, processed, analyzed, etc. within the system must be stored on servers located within CONUS.

g. Must be robust enough to ingest minimum of 500 GB of data per day (higher rate preferred) and scalable to seamlessly store increasing data volume.

h. Must be able to support an individual case comprised of more than 25 TB of data.

i. Must comply with Internal Revenue Manual (IRM) 10.8.1 and 10.8.24 standards.

j. Must be authorized as FedRAMP Moderate and Federal Information Security Modernization Act of 2014 compliant at the time of proposal submission. See Appendix A for FISMA language and Appendix B for FedRAMP Contractual language and Appendix D for IRS Cybersecurity Operational Cloud requirements.

k. FedRAMP Moderate should be for a Software as a Service model.

l. Must be able to achieve compliance with IRS externally-hosted computing standards as set by Cybersecurity.

Security The platform and tool(s) provided by contractor:

a. Must comply with Internal Revenue Manual (IRM) 10.8.1 and 10.8.24 standards.

b. Must be authorized as FedRAMP Moderate and Federal Information Security Modernization Act of 2014 compliant at the time of proposal submission. See Appendix A for FISMA language and Appendix B for FedRAMP Contractual language.

c. FedRAMP Moderate should be for a Software as a Service model

d. Must be able to achieve compliance with IRS externally-hosted computing standards as set by Cybersecurity. See Appendix C and D for further information.

e. Must have access controls for users at the case, item and field level with the tool(s) supplied by contractor for processing, review, production, etc. Tool(s) must have the ability to customize access permissions or apply a standardized template.

f. Must have reporting capability and maintain full audit trail of reviewer and administrator activity including user- and administrator-retrievable individual user search and result histories.

g. Must allow IRS’s technical and application support personnel sufficient level of access to perform remote processing, ingestion, production and export.

Data Ingestion and Processing The tool(s) used for data ingestion and processing:

a. Must be robust enough to ingest minimum of 500 GB of data per day (higher rate preferred) and scalable to seamlessly store increasing data volume.

b. Must be able to process 1TB of data daily with scalability to higher processing amount based on needs of the IRS.

c. Must have the ability to ingest and process American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and Unicode (all common variants) character sets.

d. Must support foreign language detection, including ability to identify primary and secondary languages in documents, ability to filter or categorize collection by language.

e. Must be able to process and ingest:

i. all types of unstructured native-format text-based data commonly found in a Federal agency business environment including but not limited to the following file types: Adobe files, AppleDouble, CAD files, Compressed files, Container files, Database files, Email, EnCase, Excel, Google Workspace, Hangul, HTML, iCalendar, Image Files, Lotus, JungUm Global, OneNote, OpenOffice, PowerPoint, Publisher, Project, Short message, Slack, Text, Vector, Visio, Word, and WordPerfect

ii. load files created in accordance with all IRS and DOJ specifications such as, comma-delimited, EDRM XML, and Concordance load files.

f. Must provide ingestion error reporting/correction.

g. Must provide processing error reporting and remediation capabilities.

h. Must be able to pre-process loaded collections, including deNIST, flatten, decrypt Secure/Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (S/MIME) encrypted files (customer-supplied certificates), extract text and metadata, perform Optical Character Recognition (OCR), and create image versions (e.g., TIFF, PDF, JPEG formats) of native-format and other image format files.

i. Must offer deduplication and near-deduplication, with customizable deduplication parameters (e.g., minimum similarity %).

j. Must have ability to incrementally deduplicate when additional documents are added to the collection.

k. Must maintain parent/child association and document family identification and grouping during all analytic processes.

l. Must have the ability to create and maintain processing templates.

m. Ability to allow end-users to directly upload ESI to the system for processing

Data Analysis and Review The tool(s) used for data analysis and review:

a. Must have the ability to analyze all types of unstructured native-format text-based data commonly found in a Federal agency business environment (with particular emphasis on Microsoft Office and related formats, including Exchange, SharePoint and Lync).

b. Must maintain parent/child association and document family identification and grouping during all review processes.

c. Must give users the ability to choose a broad spectrum of analytic techniques to efficiently review and analyze collections.

d. Must competently handle all common search and Technology-Assisted Review (TAR) techniques including:

i. Predictive coding functionality with Continuous Active Learning (CAL) algorithm with validation reporting; also with user-created training sets.

ii. Algorithm-based document concept clustering capability (with user-specified generality/coherence levels); cluster visualization; ability to specify a user-selected training set in document indexing and categorization; ability to add documents to an existing clustering or indexing/categorization scheme.

iii. Data visualization capability.

e. Must have an advanced search and tagging/coding capability suite available including:

i. Complex Boolean operator string searching, wildcards, stemming, and proximity searching.

ii. Ability to search by Regular Expression (RegEx) character string format rather than keyword (e.g., search for SSNs, telephone #s, or email address formats).

iii. Fuzzy search, dictionary search, concept search (keyword-independent), keyword expansion search, “find similar” search (e.g., utilizing algorithmic/statistical similarities such as latent semantic indexing).

iv. Ability to save and recall searches; search result reporting, including number and document location of search term hits; ability to group search reports by custodian or other defined categories.

v. Ability to specify custom tagging or coding templates by case or reviewer type.

vi. Ability to apply rule- or keyword-based persistent highlighting throughout entire collection or a subset thereof. Ability to jump to next highlighted (or responsive) term in document or in collection.

vii. Multiple filtering by metadata fields and user-generated tagging/coding.

viii. Batch or bulk document tagging/coding capability.

1. Ability to propagate decisions to other documents based on varying criteria including families and near duplicate similarity.

ix. Ability to create customized fields, choices, and coding panels.

f. Must have full email threading (including ability to leverage header metadata and normalize for differing server timestamps); ability to identify, group and analyze divergent branches from a parent thread; ability to analyze emails added to the collection against existing thread groups; thread visualization.

g. Must have short message processing capabilities including the ability to display conversations and individual messages sent using SMS, iMessage, Skype, Slack, Bloomberg, and other instant message services.

h. Must have the ability to search and review ANSI and Unicode (all common variants) character sets.

i. Must be able to associate, view and conduct full array of search and analysis functions on translations produced with foreign language original documents, either by file association or placement of translation in additional extracted text metadata field.

j. Must be able to batch or folder review sets, and assign review batches by user.

i. Must not have a limit on number of batches, folders or review sets that can be created.

k. Must be able to display any loaded version of a document, including image (TIFF/PDF/JPEG), native format, extracted text, production version.

l. Must have a broad portfolio of viewer-supported document filetypes, and ability to create images-on-the-fly or bulk convert loaded native documents (e.g., if native application is unavailable on user’s computer).

m. Must be capable of rendering for review all embedded content (e.g., images, links), and content available in alternate displays such as tracked changes, comments, and speakers’ notes.

n. Must have the ability to zoom in/out on view of displayed document image, including full-page view.

o. Must allow end-users to export image (e.g., PDF) of an individual document while viewing it.

p. Must give end-users the ability to re-unitize a document image into multiple documents (i.e., redefine where documents begin and end).

Redaction The tool(s) used to redact:

a. Must have robust redaction capability, including the ability to run rules-based redaction jobs, and at minimum enable:

i. user-definable multiple redactions.

ii. defined character string recognition-based redactions (including searching and redacting using Regular Expressions (RegEx)).

iii. ability to identify and suggest additional redactions based on previous user-specified redactions.

iv. inverse redactions.

v. multiple full-page redaction capability.

vi. ability to insert and customize text boxes within redactions.

vii. ability to customize or configure appearance of redactions.

viii. ability for other users to review and edit (transparent) redactions prior to burn-in.

ix. reporting capability to list redactions and associated text box content by document and page number (to assist with privilege log and Vaughn Index creation).

x. redaction capability for native or near-native Excel spreadsheets, while preserving formulas and other spreadsheet functionality:

xi. the above capabilities can be native to tool(s) or via an add-on enhancement tool that operates within the user interface environment.

b. Compatibility with DOJ redaction tool:

i. at minimum permitting transfer of work product between client and DOJ prior to redaction burn-in (i.e., transfer of ESI containing editable transparent redactions).

ii. this capability can be native to tool(s) or via an add-on enhancement tool that operates within the user interface environment.

c. Must be capable of rendering for redaction all embedded content (e.g., images, links), and content available in alternate displays such as tracked changes, comments, and speakers’ notes.

Production Out

a. Must have the ability to produce load files created in accordance with all IRS and DOJ load file specifications for comma-delimited, EDRM XML, and Concordance load files.

b. Must be able to produce partial or full native format productions.

c. File names for native format productions must be preserved from the original native file ingested into the system.

d. Files produced in the native format must not be modified from the original.

e. Files produced in non-native format must be:

i. TIFF (300 DPI resolution minimum), JPEG, image-only PDF, or text-searchable PDF as determined by end-users.

ii. Black and white, grayscale, or color as determined by end-users and within the limits of the technology.

iii. Producible out of the same dataset with either redactions burned in or with no redactions as required by end-users.

iv. Document control numbered or otherwise alphanumerically identified, and ability to:

1. track numbers/character strings already used with in a case to ensure all pages are uniquely identified.

2. suggest to the end-user the next incremental number or character string when beginning a new production within the same case.

3. Able to accept and display header/footer information as determined by end-users.

f. Must be able to produce any subset of relevant data (metadata or tags/coding) associated with the documents or files in a user-specified format, (e.g., end-user-specified Vaughn index or privilege log formats).

i. End-users must be able to configure what fields to include in index, log or load file. User configurations should be saved and re-usable with in a case and across multiple cases.

g. Must have the ability to produce load files with limited redaction codes implemented (i.e., specify that only redactions with certain redaction codes be burned-in for production);

h. Must have the ability to allow users to configure the appearance of redactions.

Other Requirements The contractor must be able to support other requirements as follows:

a. Tool(s) must be Americans with Disabilities Act section 508 compliant. See Attachment 2, 508 Instructions.

b. Provide external media to ship data to IRS personnel or third parties as specified by end-user.

i. Data must be encrypted and shipped to the specifications as detailed by the IRS. A minimum of FIPS 140-2 validated encryption shall be applied to all data stored on external media.

c. Receive and utilize data on external media shipped from the IRS or third parties to load to system.

i. Data must be encrypted and shipped to the specifications detailed by the IRS. A minimum of FIPS 140-2 validated encryption shall be applied to all data stored on external media.

d. Collect ESI directly from online repositories and content providers

e. Produce ESI directly to online repositories.

f. Browser-based, browser-agnostic user interface.

g. Support for multiple browser windows/screens (e.g., viewer image on one screen, user workspace on another).

h. User interface functionality customizable (a) by case, and (b) by reviewer status (with multiple interfaces available for different types of users in a single case or across cases).

i. All tools supplied by contractor must be able to report usage, data processing, error identification and activities as specified by IRS personnel.

j. Permit customized scripting produced by the IRS or by the Contractor.

k. Ability to handle deposition or transcripts, including:

i. Boolean searching and search result highlighting/tagging/reporting.

ii. Transcript redaction capability.

iii. Linking transcripts to exhibits or other documents in the collection.

iv. Creating word indices/concordances.

l. Ability to export or link specified documents, transcripts and excerpted text from documents or transcripts to LexisNexis CaseMap and Microsoft OneNote.

m. Agency technical personnel must be able to remotely manage processing and administrative functions in the tool, as well as have the option to utilize contractor personnel to do so at the agency’s discretion.

n. Agency works closely with DOJ, and regularly transfers reviewed collections, including work product (e.g., coding, tagging, filtering, redactions), to and from DOJ. Ability to transfer review collections, including all work product, directly to and from contractor-hosted platform to DOJ litigation review tool (currently Relativity), without necessity of exporting as load files and reingesting/processing load files.

o. Ability to handle incoming and produce outgoing electronic productions utilizing physical removable media (e.g., DVD or hard drive) in a manner that is fully compliant with IRS requirements for media protection.

p. Produce documentation to support IRS’s use of contractor’s capabilities

i. Process Manuals: these documents will provide specific instructions on all processes needed to utilize the capabilities provided by contractor.

ii. User Guides: these documents will be distributed to all end users and will serve as guide for end-users.

q. Support by contributing information and documentation for security and integration processes as required by IRS IT to incorporate capabilities into enterprise architecture.

r. Must have ability to support high volume bulk data transfers to and from the IRS to the contractor’s systems via a direct circuit to AT&T MPLS

i. A solution ready to use (such as being a Netbond partner or Netbond-compatible connection) by end of phase-in period is preferable, but must be able to support this requirement before the start of option year 1.

s. Must have ability to support IRS user traffic to and from platform and tools systems via a direct circuit to AT&T MPLS

i. A solution ready to use (such as being a Netbond partner or Netbond-compatible connection) by end of phase-in period is preferable, but must be able to support this requirement before the start of option year 1.

t. Ability to communicate directly (or through end-user’s browser interface) with printers established in IRS’s environment and allow printing of individual or batches of documents at the end-user’s discretion.

u. Ability to save exported ESI directly (or through end-user’s browser interface) on network storage established in IRS’s environment and allow saving of individual or batches of documents at the end-user’s discretion.

In addition to the above, the tool(s) used by or capabilities provided by contractor should have the following characteristics:

u. Tool(s) should have an existing or planned functionality able to accomplish the following tasks:

i. Handle EDRM collection phase for unstructured native files from any IRS location.

1. Same tool(s) should be implementable in a hybrid solution consisting of both an IRS-managed on-premises solution (for collection and initial processing of IRS-hosted ESI) and a vendor-managed/hosted environment (for processing/review/analysis/production).

2. Integrate with agency’s current collection and processing tools in either hybrid on-premises/hosted or full hosted environments.

v. Ability to add other integrated third-party or SW developer enhancement modules to base tool(s) at request of agency. Desired future add-on functionality, in addition to collection feature noted above, includes:

ii. Integrated module(s) that allow end-user attorneys to manage legal holds within tool in hybrid on-premises/hosted solution (with on-premises portion capable of implementing legal holds by technical tagging of custodian-based ESI in IRS-hosted Active Directory environment).

iii. Either natively or through an integrated add-on module, must have the ability to support processing, indexing, automated transcription, and searching of audio files.

iv. Either natively or through an integrated add-on module, must have functionality that supports processing and review of other non-text file types (e.g., video, graphics/images); processing and review of messaging platform content; processing and review of mobile device ESI (e.g., from Cellebrite collection); processing and review of web or social media ESI analysis.

w. Ability to import and export ESI and work product from one or more commercially-available specialized FOIA review and administration/reporting platforms (bidder should list all such platforms with which the tool(s) can interoperate).

Contractor Furnished Items and Responsibilities General The Contractor shall furnish all supplies, equipment, facilities, and services required to perform work under this contract that are not listed under Part 3 of this PWS.

Materials The Contractor shall supply the materials it deems necessary to satisfy the terms of this PWS.

Equipment The Contractor shall supply what equipment it deems necessary to satisfy the terms of this PWS.

Performance Requirements Summary The contractor service requirements are summarized into performance objectives that relate directly to mission essential items. The performance threshold briefly describes the minimum acceptable levels of service required for each requirement. These thresholds are critical to mission success.

PERFORMANCE REQUIREMENT SUMMARY (PRS) – E-DISCOVERY LITIGATION SUPPORT

(Minimum Acceptable Standard)

(MAS)

Any outage or failure of tools caused by elements outside of vendor’s responsibility will not be included.

99.9% up

The contractor will propose the details of the activities based on the capabilities of their tools.

Technical Exhibit 1: Performance Requirements Summary

(A deliverable is anything that can be physically delivered but may include non-physical things such as meetings).

The elements of Documentation Quality, as used herein, are defined below.

The Contractor shall provide all information in accordance with the required IRS standards and guidelines as stated in Section C of this PWS task order.

All Deliverables, Documents, and Services shall satisfy program and project requirements, and comply with IRS CMMI standards, existing IRS standards and guidelines, and integrate with IRS, security requirements, and Section 508.

1. Completeness – The document demonstrates sufficient level of detail to show understanding of the requirements, technology and design, customers and operating environment.

1. Feasibility - The document defines information which is formatted properly, contains valid information in support of this task order and provides a deliverable within time constraints.

1. Understandability - The document is to be clean, clearly written, all printed words are legible, and the outline is easy to follow. All diagrams are easy to understand and relevant to the supporting narrative.

1. Accuracy – The document is accurate in presentation exhibiting clear and concise information, technical content, and adherence to accepted elements of style, operational content, and consistent within itself and with other documents.

1. Practicality - The document provides information and guidance that is practical for implementation within the IRS environment and appropriate given the subject organization’s level of maturity.

All deliverables considered “Unacceptable” and not in accordance with the elements of Documentation Quality as stated above will be returned to the contractor for rework, correction and updates. The Contractor shall re-submit the deliverables to the Government within (5) five business days at No Additional Charge to the Government.

Updates to process and user manuals (1.1.13, 1.2.6 and 1.2.7)

Video – format compatible with IRS systems and conforming to IRS requirements Agency Project Lead and Contracting Officer’s Representative

Technical Exhibit 2: Deliverables Schedule

PWS SaaS Services Requirements Sub-Task 1 - Kickoff Meeting A post-award conference will be held in accordance with 1052.242-70, Post Award Conference. Within five (5) business days of award or other mutually agreed upon date, the Contractor shall meet with Government representatives at a mutually agreed upon location or via teleconference. The intent of this meeting is to initiate the communication process between the IRS and the Contractor by introducing key participants, explaining their roles, reviewing communication ground rules, and assuring a common understanding of the requirements and objectives.

The meeting shall include an introduction of those in attendance and a discussion of the successful Contractor's approach and plan for scope of work. The Contractor shall provide meeting notes (inclusive of any follow-up actions) to the government within five

(5) business days after the meeting.

DESIRED OUTCOME - Initiate the communication process between the Government and Contractor to ensure a common understanding of award requirements and objectives. Contractor delivers Orientation Briefing Minutes to COR within five (5) business days after the Briefing.

Sub-Task 2 - Project Management Support The Contractor shall identify a Project Manager (PM) as a key personnel member responsible for the overall coordination and management of the O&M activities and performing quality reviews of all products and services delivered within the contract. This individual shall act as the primary point of contact with the government on contract performance issues and escalate any risks or issues.

The contractor will supply one or more deputies to serve in the absence of the project manager.

The Contractor shall communicate with the Government's COR to discuss contract performance.

The PM shall provide management, direction, and leadership in executing this contract and is responsible for all deliverables and services provided under this PWS. The PM will have full management authority to support this requirement, including personnel assigned to work on this project. The PM shall serve as the primary point of contact for the government's Contracting Officer's Representative (COR) in matters concerning this contract and will interact with other government employees as appropriate.

DESIRED OUTCOME – The Contractor shall provide a seasoned Project Manager to ensure that the contract deliverables and Service Level Agreements are met and provide a single point of contact to liaise with the government management team and procurement office.

Sub-Task 3 - Contract Status Reports The Contractor shall provide a summary of work performed, including a list of deliverables, and a list of government furnished property currently and formally possessed by the Contractor at the end of each Base and Optional Period of Performance.

The government also reserves the right to request this report at any point during the performance of the award at the discretion of the Contracting Officer or Contracting Officer Representative. This ad hoc report, if desired, will not be requested more than twice per year during the life of the award and is in addition to the regularly scheduled Period of Performance Summary report.

DESIRED OUTCOME - The Contractor shall provide complete and accurate Period of Performance Summary Reports, Monthly Status Reports, Cost Performance Reports, and Contractor Status Reports.

Sub-Task 4 - Discovery The Contractor will provide subject matter expertise to conduct discovery and assist the IRS with defining and prioritizing the requirements and architectural diagrams for the IRS's e-Discovery SaaS platform. During the discovery phase, the Contractor shall work with the IRS team to identify programmatic requirements needed for the platform. The discovery activities include requirements gathering to conduct the following activities:

a. Produce a target-state architecture

b. Perform a fit-gap analysis of technology needed for the solution, including identification of any new tools/software that may be needed

c. Identify the scope for delivery, including key assumptions and any dependencies from the government or incumbent vendor

d. A comprehensive breakdown of the implementation into a phased release plan, outlining key milestones and deliverables

DESIRED OUTCOME - The Contractor shall deliver requirements for the IRS SaaS platform that meet all the “must-have” requirements in Section 1.2.

Sub-Task 5 - Implementation The contractor will deliver a SaaS platform that meets all the requirements in Section 1.2. The contractor should explain the methodology that will be used to deliver the platform and adhere to IRS, FedRamp, and FISMA security policies.

DESIRED OUTCOME - The Contractor shall deliver the SaaS platform that meets all the “must-have” requirements in Section 1.2.

Sub-Task 6 – Obtain Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) and Authority to Operate (ATO) To facilitate the implementation of the e-Discovery solution in the Testing and Production environment, the Contractor shall create the Security and Privacy Authorization/FedRAMP Package.

Location. The Contractor shall not host any portion of the information, data, information system, infrastructure, or environment in facilities outside the contiguous United States, Alaska, Hawaii, and other U.S. Territories. Information collected, used, stored, maintained, or otherwise processed by the contractor in the performance of this contract shall be accessed, transferred, stored or processed only within the United States. In addition, the maintenance and support operations of the Contractor’s technology and information must take place and originate from within the United States.

FIPS. The Contractor and all of its respective subcontractors shall follow Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS), National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) standards and guidelines, and other laws, mandates, or executive orders pertaining to the operations and protection of information systems and…