PWS ESD TIER 1 RFI 050724.docx

PERFORMANCE WORK STATEMENT (PWS)

DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS

Office of Information & Technology Enterprise Command Operations (ECO)

Enterprise Service Desk (ESD) Tier One Support

Date: February 23, 2024

VA-24-00054952

PWS Version Number: 1.0

Contents

BACKGROUND

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA or “Government”) is committed to creating an interactive experience for its technology users that is easy, pleasant, effective, and personalized. As part of this commitment, the VA is seeking to improve its efficiency and effectiveness of interactions by maintaining Tier-0 (Self-Service Services) and Tier-1 (Enterprise Service Desk (ESD) Services) via a Multi-Vendor Service Provider (MVSP) approach, inclusive of a Tier-1 prime vendor as well as a Contract Center Infrastructure (CCI) vendor from a separate contract.

The purpose of this PWS is to establish a Task Order (TO) that enhances service delivery, reduces cost, increases business focus, and improves the quality of Information Technology (IT) Services to End Users.

The following are key business objectives the VA expects to maintain and enhance the end user experience through vendors partnering via an MVSP environment:

· Improve VA End User efficiency and effectiveness by adopting and leveraging existing knowledge databases within VA’s IT Service Management (ITSM) tool and leading IT service management practices in the areas of customer logging, tracking, reporting, and resolving of IT Tickets and service Requests.

· Improve efficiency and effectiveness by, early identification and Problem Resolution of Root Causes of technical issues including working with specialized Resolver Groups, such as VA staff and designated third parties, before they become trends.

· Improve IT customer service and Ticket Resolution speed through continuous Service Availability (24x7x365), self-service capabilities, and skilled personnel in the areas of industry standard IT products and services.

Each Contractor shall collaborate in an environment where Incidents and Requests for all applications and related infrastructure services related to End User Tier-0 and Tier-1 Services, are received, monitored, tracked, and successfully resolved. IT service management practices used to support the delivery of Services shall be based on Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) best practices and any subsequent version of ITIL adopted in the IT industry and approved for use by VA. This ITIL based framework is a product of VA Office of Information and Technology’s (OIT) collaboration with business partners and industry and is being adopted to identify areas of improvement within the VA’s current organizational landscape.

The Tier-1 Contractor and CCI Contractor shall provide a comprehensive Managed Services solution to support VA requirements for the Services briefly described below and as further defined within Section 5.4 (Managed Services Requirements). The MVSP shall support all VA staff located in Continental United States (CONUS) or Outside of the Continental United States (OCONUS) (e.g., American Samoa, Guam, Philippines, and Germany). All Services are to be provided in the English language, with Spanish Speaking service option as outlined in Optional Task Four.

The scope of the ESD is to provide IT support to all End Users, VA designated executives/executive assistants/ VIP End Users, on a 24x7x365 basis. The contractor shall serve as the Single Point of Contact (SPOC) for all VA End Users (VA employees and VA designated third parties that use or have access to VA approved applications, hardware, software, data, and services that enable them to conduct daily business). The Contractor also shall be responsible for the end-to-end ticketing of all approved VA technologies and will work with the VA’s IT Department and appropriate third parties that provide IT support or services to ensure VA employees, and VA designated third parties are not impeded by, or prevented from, conducting daily business operations due to issues with VA applications, hardware, software, or data networks. In addition, the Contractor shall provide the ability to remotely manage, diagnose, and resolve issues related to VA desktops, laptops and notebooks, and software. Remote management services are those Services required to manage and control such devices and software over the network. This includes, maintaining and troubleshooting the operating systems and supported applications on such devices electronically to minimize the need to dispatch technical personnel, as well as fulfill approved service Requests (including access Requests).

As part of the Services, a separate Contact Center Infrastructure (CCI) vendor will provide, manage, and maintain an Automated Call Distributor (ACD) and Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system, currently the NICE CXOne platform, that integrates with the VA Information Technology Service Management (ITSM) Tool, and deliver services in accordance with ITIL service-based management processes and procedures. In addition, the vendor will develop and conduct customer satisfaction surveys (as required by management) to measure, analyze, and report results to improve End User Service

APPLICABLE DOCUMENTS

In the performance of the tasks associated with this Performance Work Statement, the Contractor shall comply with the following:

1. 44 U.S.C. § 3541-3549, “Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA) of 2002”

2. “Federal Information Security Modernization Act of 2014”

3. Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) Publication 140-2, “Security Requirements for Cryptographic Modules”

4. FIPS Pub 199. “Standards for Security Categorization of Federal Information and Information Systems,” February 2004

5. FIPS Pub 200, “Minimum Security Requirements for Federal Information and Information Systems,” March 2006

6. FIPS Pub 201-2, “Personal Identity Verification of Federal Employees and Contractors,” August 2013

7. 10 U.S.C. § 2224, "Defense Information Assurance Program"

8. 5 U.S.C. § 552a, as amended, “The Privacy Act of 1974.”

9. Public Law 109-461, Veterans Benefits, Health Care, and Information Technology Act of 2006, Title IX, Information Security Matters

10. 42 U.S.C. § 2000d “Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964”

11. VA Directive 0710, “Personnel Security and Suitability Program,” June 4, 2010, https://www.va.gov/vapubs/index.cfm

12. VA Handbook 0710, “Personnel Security and Suitability Program,” May 2, 2016, https://www.va.gov/vapubs/index.cfm

13. VA Directive and Handbook 6102, “Internet/Intranet Services,” August 5, 2019

14. 36 C.F.R. Part 1194 “Information and Communication Technology Standards and Guidelines,” January 18, 2017

15. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A-130, “Managing Federal Information as a Strategic Resource,” July 28, 2016

16. 32 C.F.R. Part 199, “Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Uniformed Services (CHAMPUS)”

17. NIST SP 800-66 Rev. 1, “An Introductory Resource Guide for Implementing the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Security Rule,” October 2008

18. Sections 504 and 508 of the Rehabilitation Act (29 U.S.C. § 794d), as amended, January 18, 2017

19. Homeland Security Presidential Directive (12) (HSPD-12), August 27, 2004

20. VA Directive 6500, “VA Cybersecurity Program,” February 24, 2021

21. VA Handbook 6500, “Risk Management Framework for VA Information Systems VA Information Security Program,” February 24, 2021

22. VA Handbook 6500.2, “Management of Breaches Involving Sensitive Personal Information (SPI),” March 12, 2019

23. VA Handbook 6500.5, “Incorporating Security and Privacy into the System Development Lifecycle,” March 22, 2010

24. VA Handbook 6500.6, “Contract Security,” March 12, 2010

25. VA Handbook 6500.8, “Information System Contingency Planning,” April 6, 2011

26. VA Handbook 6500.10, “Mobile Device Security Policy,” February 15, 2018

27. VA Handbook 6500.11, “VA Firewall Configuration,” August 22, 2017

28. OIT Process Asset Library (PAL), https://www.va.gov/process/ . Reference Process Maps at https://www.va.gov/process/maps.asp and Artifact templates at https://www.va.gov/process/artifacts.asp

29. One-VA Technical Reference Model (TRM) (reference at https://www.va.gov/trm/TRMHomePage.aspx)

30. VA Directive 6508, “Implementation of Privacy Threshold Analysis and Privacy Impact Assessment,” October 15, 2014

31. VA Handbook 6508.1, “Procedures for Privacy Threshold Analysis and Privacy Impact Assessment,” July 30, 2015

32. VA Handbook 6510, “VA Identity and Access Management,” January 15, 2016

33. VA Directive and Handbook 6513, “Secure External Connections,” October 12, 2017

34. VA Directive 6300, “Records and Information Management,” September 21, 2018

35. VA Handbook, 6300.1, “Records Management Procedures, “March 24, 2010

36. NIST SP 800-37 Rev 2, “Risk Management Framework for Information Systems and Organizations: A System Life Cycle Approach for Security and Privacy,” December 2018

37. NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5, “Security and Privacy Controls for Federal Information Systems and Organizations,” September 23, 2020 (includes updates as of 12/10/2020)

38. VA Directive 0735, “Homeland Security Presidential Directive 12 (HSPD-12) Program,” October 26, 2015

39. VA Handbook 0735, “Homeland Security Presidential Directive 12 (HSPD-12) Program,” March 24, 2014

40. OMB Memorandum 05-24, “Implementation of Homeland Security Presidential Directive (HSPD) 12 – Policy for a Common Identification Standard for Federal Employees and Contractors,” August 5, 2005

41. OMB Memorandum M-19-17, “Enabling Mission Delivery Through Improved Identity, Credential, and Access Management,” May 21, 2019

42. OMB Memorandum, “Guidance for Homeland Security Presidential Directive (HSPD) 12 Implementation,” May 23, 2008

43. Federal Identity, Credential, and Access Management (FICAM) Roadmap and Implementation Guidance, December 2, 2011, (NOTE: Part A of the FICAM Roadmap and Implementation Guidance, v2.0, was replaced in 2015 with an updated Architecture (https://arch.idmanagement.gov/#what-is-the-ficam-architecture)

44. NIST SP 800-116 Rev 1, “Guidelines for the Use of Personal Identity Verification (PIV) Credentials in Facility Access, “June 2018

45. NIST SP 800-63-3, 800-63A, 800-63B, 800-63C, “Digital Identity Guidelines,” updated March 02, 2020

46. NIST SP 800-157, “Guidelines for Derived PIV Credentials,” December 2014

47. NIST SP 800-164, “Guidelines on Hardware-Rooted Security in Mobile Devices (Draft),” October 2012

48. Draft National Institute of Standards and Technology Interagency Report (NISTIR) 7981, “Mobile, PIV, and Authentication,” March 2014

49. VA Memorandum, VAIQ #7100147, “Continued Implementation of Homeland Security Presidential Directive 12 (HSPD-12),” April 29, 2011 (reference https://www.voa.va.gov/documentlistpublic.aspx?NodeID=514)

50. IAM Identity Management Business Requirements Guidance document, May 2013, (reference Enterprise Architecture Section, PIV/IAM (reference https://www.voa.va.gov/documentlistpublic.aspx?NodeID=514)

51. VA Memorandum “Personal Identity Verification (PIV) Logical Access Policy Clarification,” July 17, 2019, https://www.voa.va.gov/DocumentView.aspx?DocumentID=4896

52. Trusted Internet Connections (TIC) 3.0 Core Guidance Documents, https://www.cisa.gov/publication/tic-30-core-guidance-documents

53. OMB Memorandum M-19-26, “Update to the Trusted Internet Connections (TIC) Initiative,” September 12, 2019

54. OMB Memorandum M-08-23, “Securing the Federal Government’s Domain Name System Infrastructure,” August 22, 2008

55. Sections 524 and 525 of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, (Public Law 110–140), December 19, 2007

56. Section 104 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, (Public Law 109–58), August 8, 2005

57. Executive Order 13834, “Efficient Federal Operations,” dated May 17, 2018

58. Executive Order 13221, “Energy-Efficient Standby Power Devices,” August 2, 2001

59. VA Directive 0058, “VA Green Purchasing Program,” July 19, 2013

60. VA Handbook 0058, “VA Green Purchasing Program,” July 19, 2013

61. Office of Information Security (OIS) VAIQ #7424808 Memorandum, “Remote Access,” January 15, 2014, https://www.voa.va.gov/DocumentListPublic.aspx?NodeId=28

62. Clinger-Cohen Act of 1996, 40 U.S.C. §11101 and §11103

63. “Veteran Focused Integration Process (VIP) Guide 4.0,” January 2021, https://www.voa.va.gov/DocumentView.aspx?DocumentID=4371

64. VA Memorandum “Proper Use of Email and Other Messaging Services,” January 2, 2018, https://www.voa.va.gov/DocumentListPublic.aspx?NodeId=28

65. “DevSecOps Product Line Management Playbook” version 2.0, May 2021, https://www.voa.va.gov/DocumentView.aspx?DocumentID=4946

66. NIST SP 500-267B Revision 1, “USGv6 Profile,” November 2020

67. OMB Memorandum M-21-07, “Completing the Transition to Internet Protocol Version 6 (IPv6),” November 19, 2020

68. Social Security Number (SSN) Fraud Prevention Act of 2017

69. Section 240 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) 2018, March 23, 2018

SCOPE OF WORK

The Contractor shall serve as one of the vendors in the MVSP environment to provide Tier-0 and Tier-1 Services. The Contractor shall handle Tier 0/Tier 1 ITSM Incident and Service Requests in accordance with standard operating procedures and Service Level Agreement thresholds. These Services will include the technical, logistical, and programmatic services to fulfill the requirements of this PWS.

The Contractor’s solution shall utilize VA’s selected ITSM tool, currently ServiceNow (SNOW), however, this may change during Period of Performance (PoP). The industry standard ITSM to be utilized will be selected by VA. Should the ITSM tool be updated, the contractor will be required to transition to the new tool. As such, the Contractor shall be required to perform a second transition to the selected ITSM Tool after Transition-In.

This Service delivery environment will be supported by an ACD and IVR system, currently the NICE CXone platform, that is provided and managed by a Contact Center Infrastructure vendor in the MVSP environment. Existing capabilities of the deployed NICE CXone platform include, tailored call tree, front-end messaging capabilities, skills-based routing, integration with the existing ITSM suite to facilitate work item routing of LiveChat and self-service tickets, as well as SMS/text, callback, scheduled callback and Workforce Management forecasting and scheduling capabilities.

The Contractor’s Services shall be able to dynamically scale in real-time to VA’s volumes, including temporary surges of demand, with no degradation of committed Service Levels. The VA ESD covers approximately the following:

· Customer Base: ~600K VA internal employees/contractors with anticipated growth of approximately 5% per year and each customer generating 4.5 contacts per year

· Supports: ~ 900 Applications

· Call Volume: ~190K calls offered per month

· Chat Volume: ~ 4k chats offered per month

· Self-Service Ticket Volume: ~ 40K per month

· SMS/text Volume: pending release

· Average Handle Time: approx. 12.5 mins across all channels

The ESD provides a 24/7/365 operation that is a centralized desk supporting all VA internal employees/contractors including VIPs (~ 1700 senior executives and their executive assistants), that can respond to a host of issues involving hardware, and affected, software, applications, system access, password reset, facility and security.

The Tier 1 support model involves a singular contact queue inclusive of all agents with all agents handling all contact types (calls, LiveChat, self-service tickets and SMS/text) irrespective of the issue presented. Agents utilize extensive knowledge, inclusive of ~2500 Tier 0/1 knowledge articles in the ITSM Knowledge Base, to triage issues presented and provide request fulfillment, incident resolution or routing of incidents and requests to appropriate resolver groups when first-contact resolution cannot be provided.

The performance/functions outlined throughout the PWS are considered non-inherently governmental functions IAW Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Subpart 7.7, and non-personal services IAW FAR 37.104.

PERFORMANCE DETAILS

PERFORMANCE PERIOD

The PoP shall be a five-month base period, four twelve-month option periods, one seven-month option period and three optional tasks, to be exercised at the Government’s discretion.

The base period shall include tasks described in PWS sections 5.0 through 5.5. All Option Periods shall include tasks described in PWS sections 5.0, 5.1, 5.2, 5.4, and 5.5.

Included are Optional tasks for VIP Service Desk (5.6), Spanish Speaking Support (5.7) and Transition-out Services (5.8).

The total PoP shall not exceed 60 months.

PLACE OF PERFORMANCE

Efforts under this contract shall be performed at Contractor facilities that shall be located within the continental United States. The Contractor shall identify the Contractor’s place(s) of performance in the Contractor Project Management Plan (CPMP). Remote telework by contractor personnel must be pre-approved by the COR. Remote telework for agents providing Tier 1 services must be distraction free to prevent degradation of services. Any degradation in services shall be grounds to revoke telework capabilities at the sole discretion of VA through modification of the contract.

ON-SITE ACCESS FOR GOVERNMENT PERSONNEL

The Contractor shall provide a workspace at the Contractor facilities for two VA employees. This workspace will provide VA employees with the ability to view real time managed Services performance data, and the rights to pull service agent activity and Call traffic related reports while at the Contractor facilities. The Contractor shall provide or make available reasonable office equipment and supplies for VA personnel to assist in the administration of the Services, including the following:

· Workspace

· Telephone

· Access to a printer

· Local Area Network (LAN) access (either wired or wireless)

HOURS OF COVERAGE

Services shall be provided to End Users 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year (24x7x365).

TRAVEL

During the base period, and any of the option periods, if exercised, VA anticipates requiring two people for four trips per year to either Washington, DC or Austin, TX for executive level meetings. The duration of each trip will be four calendar days. These costs will not be directly reimbursed by the VA.

SPECIFIC TASKS AND DELIVERABLES

The Contractor shall provide the Services identified in this Section in the manner described in this PWS.

The Contractor shall provide all technical and management services to support the task, including program management, technology management, information and relationship management, human resources management, performance management, quality assurance/quality improvement, management reports, security, contingency/disaster recovery, and value engineering, as described in this PWS. All deliverables/work products shall be considered the intellectual property of VA. Intellectual property shall not be used outside of this contract without the express written consent of the Contracting Officer (CO) in coordination with the VA PM.

The Contractor shall furnish the necessary facilities, personnel, equipment, supplies, and services, as required, to meet the requirements of VA as established herein with the capability to support a wide range of communication channels (e.g., telephone, text, WebChat). In addition, the Contractor shall use existing enterprise toll-free numbers unless otherwise directed. The Contractor shall provide Services and perform all technical and management functions, as described in this PWS, to plan, design, implement, operate Tier-1 solutions. The Contractor shall also manage Tier-0 or self-service support (e.g., triaging tickets submitted through the self-service portal).

The Contractor must be prepared to, and will be required to, perform all Services relative to all actual contact volumes during the aforementioned PoP, notwithstanding the estimated volumes identified herein.

MULTI VENDOR SERVICE PROVIDER ENVIRONMENT

ESD services will be provided in a MVSPenvironment. Disparate contractors will provide complementary services, including the contact center infrastructure and Tier 1 agent services. The Government requires a prime contractor providing the CCI services and a prime contractor providing the Tier 1 agent services, simultaneously. The Government expects these contractors to work cooperatively to the maximum extent possible to ensure seamless, high quality customer service.

The Contractor shall attend all VA-required (virtual and/or onsite) meetings in conjunction with other MVSPs to coordinate with other contractors and entities as described herein.

All materials and communications used to accomplish the work under this Contract shall be non-proprietary and be able to be used collaboratively by MVSP.

As such the Contractor shall ensure activities in support of this Contract are effectively coordinated with ESD stakeholders and other contractors. Where multiple contractors (under separate contracting vehicles) are involved in a task, the Contractor shall not communicate with other contractors without prior notification and approval from the CO, COR, and VA PM.

Activities and areas requiring Contractor coordination and cooperation shall include, but are not limited to, the following:

1. Comprehensive cross-area support and consistent messaging. This includes areas where functional area processes overlap with other program area processes, common data re-use requirements, and data and report submission standards. This interaction and coordination will be ongoing and applies broadly to all aspects of this Contract (e.g., common call flows and scripts, QA monitoring and reporting).

2. The functions/capabilities handoffs between the Contractor, ESD stakeholders, and other MVSP contractors, ensuring coordination and collaboration to provide holistic strategies, solutions, and reporting. For example:

a. Participation in call-flow testing as well as test calls before go-live events to assess performance and capture any lessons learned.

b. Developing or revising procedures, scripts, and use cases to ensure successful execution of services and transfer of tickets and tasks.

c. Knowledge management and sharing.

3. Adhere to VA approved communications, governance, and quality assurance processes.

4. Share all deliverables, systems, data, and tools created from this Contract with stakeholders, at the request of the COR.

5. Contractors shall work cooperatively to identify service improvements and other efficiency projects relevant to CCI and Tier 1 processes and, if any are identified, the Contractor shall assign sufficient staff support to seek to develop process solutions that could be implemented.

6. Collaborate and maintain a balance of interests, transparency, open, honest, frequent, and comprehensive communication to build and maintain relationships of trust and respect.

7. Contractor shall fully cooperate with ESD and its contractors during timeframes when other contractors are in transition phases such as transition in and out.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT

CONTRACTOR PROJECT MANAGEMENT PLAN

The Contractor shall deliver a CPMP that lays out the Contractor’s approach, timeline, and tools to be used in execution of this contract effort. The CPMP should take the form of both a narrative and graphic format that displays the schedule, milestones, risks, and resource support. The CPMP shall also include how the Contractor shall coordinate and execute planned, routine, and ad hoc data collection reporting requests as identified within the PWS. The initial baseline CPMP shall be concurred upon and updated in accordance with Section B of the contract. The Contractor shall update and maintain the VA Program Manager (PM) approved CPMP throughout the PoP. The Plan shall include a subsection on how the Contractor intends to encourage and facilitate the hiring of Veterans in accordance with the PWS.

Deliverable:

A. Contractor Project Management Plan

TECHNICAL KICK-OFF MEETING

A technical kickoff meeting shall be held within 10 business days after award. The Contractor shall coordinate the date, time, and location (can be virtual) with the CO, as the Post-Award Conference Chairperson, the VA PM, as the Co-Chairperson, the Contract Specialist (CS), and the COR. The Contractor shall provide a draft agenda to the CO and VA PM at least five (5) business days prior to the meeting. Upon Government approval of a final agenda, the Contractor shall distribute to all meeting attendees. During the kickoff-meeting, the Contractor shall present, for review and approval by the Government, the details of the intended approach, work plan, and project schedule for each effort via a Microsoft Office PowerPoint presentation. At the conclusion of the meeting, the Contractor shall update the presentation with a final slide entitled “Summary Report” which shall include notes on any major issues, agreements, or disagreements discussed during the kickoff meeting and the following statement “As the Post-Award Conference Chairperson, I have reviewed the entirety of this presentation and assert that it is an accurate representation and summary of the discussions held during the Technical Kickoff Meeting for ESD Tier 1 Support. The Contractor shall submit the final updated presentation to the CO for review and signature within three (3) business days after the meeting. The Contractor shall also work with the CS, the Government’s designated note taker, to prepare and distribute the meeting minutes of the kickoff meeting to the CO, COR, and all attendees within three (3) business days after the meeting. The Contractor shall obtain concurrence from the CS on the content of the meeting minutes prior to distribution of the document.

Deliverables:

1. Kick-off Meeting Agenda

1. Kick-off Meeting Minutes

ESTABLISHMENT OF EXECUTIVE OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE

The Contractor shall designate representative members with the appropriate skills and experience to serve on the Executive Oversight Committee (EOC) which will be chaired by VA and comprised of several key executives from the Contractor and VA, which will meet, at a minimum, on a quarterly basis, and at such time as its members deem appropriate, to perform the following activities:

· Review and analyze the monthly performance reports for the preceding period, including any schedule overruns, Service Level attainment of targets, and any issues or Service Outages that affect Contractors’ overall performance.

· Review and discuss progress on the Resolution of issues.

· Attempt to Resolve, or designate individuals to attempt to Resolve, escalated Issues.

· Review and attempt to address escalated decisions.

· Prepare and deliver a Quarterly Review presentation. Presentation shall be delivered no later than two business days prior to the scheduled EOC meeting.

Contractor members of the Executive Oversight Team will include the Contractor Account Executive Sponsor, and Contractor Account Executive(s) providing oversight to this contract. The Contractor shall provide to VA for review and approval an EOC charter identifying the members, roles/responsibilities, and processes for the EOC.

Deliverable:

A. EOC Charter B. EOC Review Presentation

ESTABLISHMENT OF A MANAGED SERVICES OVERSIGHT COUNCIL

The Contractor shall designate representative members with the appropriate skills and experience to the Managed Services Oversight Council (MSOC) which will be chaired by the VA Supplier Management Executive and will meet monthly to address business requirements, contract performance, performance standards, continuous improvement, benchmarking, quality assurance and escalated issues and disputes. The Contractor shall identify a Single Point of Contact (SPOC) who will provide oversight to this contract and will serve as the Contractor’s highest-ranking representative on such council and have the authority to commit the Contractor (subject to VA reviews and approvals) to implement the course of action as deemed necessary by VA.

· Prepare and deliver a Monthly Review presentation. Presentation shall be delivered no later than two business days prior to the scheduled MSOC meeting.

Deliverable:

A. MSOC Review Presentation

REGULAR MEETINGS AND CONFERENCE CALLS

Contractor and VA representatives shall meet periodically to discuss matters arising under this PWS. Such meetings shall include the following:

· The meetings by the committee and council noted above.

· Such other meetings of VA and the Contractor personnel, including senior management of the Contractor, as the Government may reasonably request.

For each such meeting, the Contractor shall prepare an agenda which will incorporate the topics designated by VA. The Contractor shall distribute the agenda within five (5) business days of each meeting so that the meeting participants can prepare. In addition, the Contractor shall record, and distribute minutes for every meeting for review and concurrence by the Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) within three (3) business days.

The Contractor shall notify the COR in advance of scheduled meetings with VA representatives or designated alternates (other than meetings pertaining to the provision of specific Services on a day-to-day basis) and shall invite the COR (or whomever the COR designates) to attend such meetings.

Deliverable:

A. Regular Meeting Agenda B. Regular Meeting Minutes

CONTRACTOR PERSONNEL

The Contractor shall ensure that all supervisory and/or management personnel and support staff (not to include agents) are ITIL Foundations certified to the latest ITIL version. The Contractor shall also ensure that all Incident Managers have specific incident management experience (preferably 3 years or more) in the VA environment. The contractor shall ensure all personnel with active VA network access accounts remain active.

REPORTING REQUIREMENTS

The Contractor shall provide the COR with weekly progress reports in electronic format. VA preference for these reports is Microsoft (MS) Word and MS Project formats. These reports shall reflect data as of the last day of the preceding week. The weekly progress reports shall cover all work completed during the reporting period and work planned for the subsequent reporting period. The weekly progress report shall include detailed instructions and explanations for each required data element to ensure that data is accurate and consistent. The report shall identify any issues that arose and a description of how the issues were resolved. If issues have not been completely resolved, the report shall include a discussion of the issue, actions taken to resolve, and an explanation of the Contractor’s plan and timeframe for resolving the issue. The report shall also include an itemized list of all Information and Communication Technology (ICT) deliverables and their current Section 508 conformance status. The Contractor shall monitor performance against the CPMP and report any deviations. The Contractor shall keep in communication with VA as needed to ensure that issues that arise are transparent to both parties.

The table below describes the Service reports in addition to the weekly progress report to be provided by Contractor to the VA in accordance with this PWS. It includes a summary description of the content and frequency of such Service reports.

· Review of resource allocation for past year and progress as compared to road map (goals and objectives).

· Attrition rate for the previous month Monthly

· List of solutions and capabilities needed to meet emerging requirements for ESD support Quarterly

Deliverables:

A. Progress Report B. Security and Virus Incidents Report C. Service Management Report D. Service Portfolio Management Report E. Contractor Personnel Certifications

ONBOARDING/OFFBOARDING

The Contractor shall manage the onboarding and offboarding of its staff. Onboarding includes steps to obtain a VA Personal Identification Verification (PIV) card, network and email account, complete VA required training, initiate background investigations, and gain physical and logical access. In addition, the Contractor shall identify individuals who may require elevated privileges to the necessary development and test environments for the various Systems.

A Contractor Onboarding SPOC shall be designated by the Contractor that tracks the onboarding and offboarding status of all Contractor personnel. The Contractor Onboarding SPOC shall be responsible for complete, accurate and timely submission of all required VA onboarding and offboarding paperwork to the VA COR. The Contractor shall be responsible for tracking the status of all its staff’s onboarding activities to include the names of all personnel engaged on the task, their initial training date for VA Privacy and Information Security training, their next required training date and PIV status. The Contractor Onboarding SPOC shall also report the status at the staff level during status meetings. The Contractor shall provide an Onboarding/Offboarding Status Report weekly for any staff with outstanding onboarding requests for review by the COR. The Contractor shall provide a bi-monthly all staff rosters.

Deliverable:

A. Onboarding/Offboarding Status Report B. All Staff Roster

TRANSITION AND TRANSFORMATION (T&T): TRANSITION-IN

The Contractor shall have one hundred and fifty (150) calendar days from contract award to service 100% of the Enterprise Service Desk (ESD) workload at a performance level that meets the Service Level Agreements (SLAs). The Contractor shall identify a Project Manager to plan, execute and monitor Transition-in activities and work with the Government and the outgoing Contractor to ensure a smooth, timely and complete transfer of services.

To maintain continuity of services and minimize potential negative effects during transitional phases, the Contractor shall develop a comprehensive Transition-In plan that describes the activities and processes needed to complete the Transition-in phases within the 180-day timeframe, which includes a 30-day stabilization period.

The Contractor shall:

1. Provide phase-in transition planning and execution of all PWS-specific tasks during the transition period handing off work from outgoing Contractor to the incoming Contractor.

2. Work closely with the outgoing contractor, VA, and other stakeholders to ensure knowledge transfer is thorough and all encompassing, to include: The transfer of all applicable hardware, software, licenses, services, information stores, configuration and asset repositories, operational and development processes, documentation, knowledge stores, and any other resource associated with the services. The transition planning shall include capturing knowledge of the current ESD design, implementation, and operations.

3. Conduct an initial Transition-in Planning meeting within five (5) business days after the contract kickoff meeting, with the VA COR, VA organizations identified by the COR, the ESD PMO, and outgoing Contractor resources.

4. Document the approach and milestones to transfer the full support requirements responsibilities in a Transition-in Plan.

The Transition-in Plan shall include at a minimum:

1. Review of program documentation.

2. The plan to participate, as an observer of services and metrics performed by the incumbent Contractor for the purpose of facilitating knowledge transfer.

3. Milestone schedule of transition activities.

4. Roles and Responsibilities matrix showing key personnel.

5. The plan to transition current support services.

6. Details on accessing and assessment of systems and tools.

7. Transition coordination schedule to meet with Government and Contractor representatives, including all VA organizations that hold responsibilities, to confirm demarcation of responsibilities and interface points for performance of work elements.

8. Transition schedule with tasks, duration, milestones, resource allocation, knowledge transfer sessions, and dates for completion of work transfer to Contractor.

9. Risks and associated risk mitigation plans.

10. Summary and schedule for Government-required training, clearance, and certifications.

The base year of the contract will include overlap opportunities between the incoming and outgoing ESD Contractors where both Contractors share responsibility for providing services during a contract transition period, and where the outgoing Contractor provides necessary training and assistance to the new Contractor to ensure continuity of services. Updates to the Transition-in plan can occur as needed and must be approved by the Government. Approved changes to the Transition-in plan shall be captured in a revised version of the plan, which shall be disseminated to all stakeholders.

The Contractor shall develop an On-Boarding Plan to ensure onboarding actions are performed in an accurate and timely manner throughout the period of performance, especially actions related to access to VA computer systems, and other security requirements. Additionally, the Contractor shall develop a Contractor Resource Continuity Plan that supports Contractor resource continuity, focused on retaining quality contract resources and provisions for timely resource backfill during unprogrammed turnover and/or a surge in service requirements.

Deliverables:

1. Transition-In Plan

1. On-Boarding Plan

1. Contractor Resource Continuity Plan

TRANSITION-IN PHASES

The Transition-in is comprised of the following phases, as described more fully below:

1. Onboarding – onboarding of Contractor personnel following contract award.

2. Pre-Planning – All activity associated with preparation in advance of engaging VA’s subject matter expert (SME) community and the out-going contractor for knowledge acquisition.

3. Tier 1 Services Transfer – All activity associated with the transfer of Tier 1 services from the outgoing Contractor to the incoming Contractor. This phase shall be conducted in four stages, each of which will result in the Contractor assuming responsibility of a fixed percentage of customer contacts until 100% of all contacts are assumed at the end of this phase. For Stage 1 the contractor shall assume 25% of customer contacts, for Stage 2 the contractor shall assume 50% of customer contacts, for Stage 3 the Contractor shall assume 75% of customer contacts, and for Stage 4 the Contractor shall assume 100% of customer contacts.

The Government will utilize the following gates to evaluate the Contractor’s readiness to proceed to the next stage/phase. Evaluation of the Contractor’s readiness will be based on the incoming Contractor’s performance in meeting its SLA metrics.

If the Contractor is deemed “not ready” to enter the next phase by the Government, then the Contractor shall issue a credit. The credit is calculated as 12.5 percent of the Monthly Recurring Charge (MRC) for that service. Further, if the Contractor fails to meet the SLA performance objective for two consecutive months, the Contractor must credit the Agency 25 percent of the MRC for that service; failure to meet the SLA performance objective for three consecutive months requires a credit of 50 percent of the MRC for that service. After the third consecutive month of failure to perform at the specified level, the Agency may discontinue the service through termination of contract.

1. Quality Gate #1 – Exit Detailed Pre-Planning Phase - Entry into Tier 1 Services Transfer Phase

2. Quality Gate #2 – Exit Tier 1 Services Transfer Phase Stage 1 - Entry of Stage 2

3. Quality Gate #3 – Exit Tier 1 Services Transfer Phase Stage 2 - Entry of Stage 3

4. Quality Gate #4 – Exit Tier 1 Services Transfer Phase Stage 3 – Entry of Stage 4

5. Quality Gate #5 – Exit Tier 1 Services Transfer Phase Stage 4

The following is a detailed description of the phases and the requirements of each:

ONBOARDING PHASE

a. Overall Approach The Onboarding phase consists of the activities associated with bringing Contractor personnel into the VA environment in a manner consistent with the contract. This is a continuous process throughout the PoP of the contract and may run concurrently with the other phases described herein.

b. Contractor Onboarding Requirements.

1. Provide qualified staffing resources to deliver Tier 1 services in a manner that meets SLAs as defined in this PWS.

2. Escalate any on-boarding issues immediately to the PM, COR, and CO.

3. Report on-boarding/off-boarding status/metrics in the weekly status report.

PRE-PLANNING PHASE

a. Overall Approach Pre-planning is a period in which Contractor develops the overall transition approach for the Services, prepares the Contractor personnel through education and training before the Tier 1 Services Transfer phase.

b. The Pre-planning phase shall include, but may not be limited to, the following activities:

1. Ensure proper access to required resources, systems, including telephony, and application is granted for all onboarded agents.

2. Ensure all required VA training is completed by all onboarded agents.

3. Develop familiarity and knowledge of the Services and the VA environment including review of Documentation, run books, Problem logs, training materials.

4. Update, as necessary, the Transition-in Plan for VA approval.

5. Deliver Quality Gate #1 presentation demonstrating that all of these activities have been executed to secure VA agreement that the Contractor is prepared to exit the Pre-Planning phase and enter the Tier 1 Services Transfer Phase.

c. Pre-Planning Exit Criteria

1. VA approval of Contractor Transition In plan, On-Boarding Plan and Contractor Resource Continuity Plan.

2. Validation that proposed training and education has been executed for Contractor resources.

3. Validation that all Contractor staff have access to all required systems, including telephony, applications, and resources necessary to perform their required tasks.

Deliverable:

A. Quality Gate #1 presentation

TIER 1 SERVICE TRANSFER PHASE:

a. Overall Approach This is the period during which knowledge will be acquired and the Contractor will assume Services responsibility by performing the following activities:

1. Define knowledge areas (e.g., procedural, systems, conceptual).

2. Work with the outgoing contractor to transfer knowledge as required.

3. Work with VA SMEs to transfer knowledge as required.

4. Identify and remediate any gaps in knowledge transfer.

5. Execute knowledge transfer techniques:

6. This includes SME interviews, process mapping, scenario-based training, review of run books, and utilization of Contractor automated tools.

7. Assume the Tier 1 services from the out-going contractor in accordance with the stages outlined in the subsequent section.

b. The Contractor will assume Services responsibility using an incremental approach consisting of the following four (4) stages, which represent milestones within the Phase:

Stage 1:

Within 60 calendar days after contract award, the Contractor shall assume responsibility for at least 25% of the total Tier 1 support workload from the out-going Contractor. This shall include all calls, live chats, and tickets in queue. The Contractor shall meet all SLA metrics.

The Contractor shall deliver the Quality Gate #2 presentation that shall include, at a minimum, the number of Contract staff onboarded to date, i.e., the number of Contract staff that have obtained access to the required VA resources; the Contract staff that have completed the training required to work independently as a Tier 1 agent, and demonstrates that their performance meets the applicable SLA metrics to obtain VA agreement that the Contractor is prepared to exit Stage 1 and enter Stage 2.

Stage 1 Exit Criteria:

1. The Contractor is performing at least 25% of the workload and their performance meets the Tier 1 Support SLAs requirements. The Contractor is continuing to successfully on-board and train requisite personnel to enter Stage 2.

2. All reporting and documentation performed and logged appropriately in Ticket System and document repository.

3. Active participation in VA operational meetings.

Deliverable:

B. Quality Gate # 2 Presentation

Stage 2:

Within 90 calendar days after contract award, the Contractor shall assume responsibility for at least 50% of the total Tier 1 support workload from the out-going Contractor. This shall include all calls, live chats, and tickets in queue. The Contractor shall meet all SLA metrics.

The Contractor shall deliver the Quality Gate #3 presentation that shall include, at a minimum, the number of Contract staff onboarded to date, i.e., the number of Contract staff that have obtained access to the required VA resources; the Contract staff that have completed the training required to work independently as a Tier 1 agent, and demonstrates that their performance meets the applicable SLA metrics to obtain VA agreement that the Contractor is prepared to exit Stage 2 and enter Stage 3.

Stage 2 Exit Criteria:

1. The Contractor is performing at least 50% of the workload and their performance meets the Tier 1 Support SLAs requirements. The Contractor is continuing to successfully on-board and train requisite personnel to enter Stage 3.

2. All reporting and documentation performed and logged appropriately in Ticket System and document repository.

3. Active participation in VA operational meetings.

Deliverable:

C. Quality Gate # 3 presentation

Stage 3:

Within 120 calendar days after contract award, the Contractor shall assume responsibility for 75% of the total Tier 1 support from the out-going Contractor. This shall include all calls, live chats, and tickets in queue. The Contractor shall meet all SLA metrics.

The Contractor shall deliver the Quality Gate #4 presentation that shall include, at a minimum, the number of Contract staff onboarded to date, i.e., the number of Contract staff that have obtained access to the required VA resources; the Contract staff that have completed the training required to work independently as a Tier 1 agent, and demonstrates that their performance meets the applicable SLA metrics to obtain VA agreement that the Contractor is prepared to exit the Tier 1 Service Transfer phase.

Stage 3 Exit Criteria:

1. The Contractor is performing 75% of the workload and their performance meets the Tier 1 Support SLAs requirements. The Contractor is continuing to successfully on-board and train requisite personnel to enter Stage 4.

2. All reporting and documentation performed and logged appropriately in Ticket System and document repository.

3. Active participation in VA operational meetings.

Deliverable:

D. Quality Gate # 4 presentation

Stage 4:

Within 150 calendar days after contract award, the Contractor shall assume responsibility for 100% of the total Tier 1 support from the out-going Contractor. This shall include all calls, live chats, and tickets in queue. The Contractor shall meet all SLA metrics.

The Contractor shall deliver Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) providing detailed descriptions of the contractor’s operational support processes. These SOPs shall be updated and delivered as required throughout the period of performance.

The Contractor shall deliver the Quality Gate #5 presentation that shall include, at a minimum, the number of Contract staff onboarded to date, i.e., the number of Contract staff that have obtained access to the required VA resources; the Contract staff that have completed the training required to work independently as a Tier 1 agent, and demonstrates that their performance meets the applicable SLA metrics to obtain VA agreement…