47QMCB23R0011_ETSNextGenerationRFP_2023-10-20.pdf

47QMCB23R0011 - RFP - ETSNext Generation

Issuing activity: U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) Federal Acquisition Service (FAS) Office of Travel, Transportation and Logistics (TTL) Travel Support Branch (QMACB)

Solicitation Number: 47QMCB23R0011

Date of Issuance: October 20, 2023 Response Date/Time: Phase 1 - January 31, 2024, at 11:00 p.m. EST Phase 2 - TBD NLT June 30, 2024

Submit to: Phase 1 - submit all Phase 1 documents to erin.lush@gsa.gov with a copy to onthego@gsa.gov Phase 2 - erin.lush@gsa.gov with a copy to onthego@gsa.gov

Number of Pages: 143 Pages excluding attachments

Brief Description of Service: E-Gov Travel Service, Next Generation (ETSNext) Travel and

Expense (T&E) Technology Managed Service

Entity Information: Cover letter to include company name, complete address including street, city, county, state, zip, web address, email, phone, business size, and SAM UEI

Subject: Request for Proposals (RFP) - E-Gov Travel Service, Next Generation (ETSNext) Travel and Expense (T&E) Technology Managed Service

Questions Due: Questions are due November 15, 2023 at 11:00 p.m. EST to erin.lush@gsa.gov with a copy to onthego@gsa.gov.

Pre Proposal Conference Information: The Government will hold a pre-proposal conference on December 7, 2023 that will review the contents of the RFP and response requirements. The date, time and registration link are listed below.

Date: December 7, 2023 Time: 1:00 p.m. EST - 3:00 p.m. EST Registration Link: 47QMCB23R0011 - ETSNext Pre Proposal Conference mailto:erin.lush@gsa.gov mailto:onthego@gsa.gov mailto:erin.lush@gsa.gov mailto:onthego@gsa.gov mailto:erin.lush@gsa.gov https://gsa.zoomgov.com/meeting/register/vJItdOCppjwoHx-tCUTknWOXUBWXqOD7jxA

Table of Contents: Page: 2

Part I-The Schedule Page 3

Section A: Solicitation/contract form Page 3 Section B: Supplies or services and prices/costs Page 4 Section C: Description/specifications/statement of work Page 9 Section D: Packaging and marking Page 68 Section E: Inspection and acceptance Page 69 Section F: Deliveries or performance Page 70 Section G: Contract administration data Page 72 Section H: Special contract requirements Page 75

Part II-Contract Clauses Page 81

Section I: Contract clauses Page 81

Part III-List of Documents, Exhibits, and Other Attachments Page 99

Section J: List of attachments Page 99

Part IV-Representations and Instructions Page 100

Section K: Representations, certifications, and other statements of offerors or respondents Page 100 Section L: Instructions, conditions, and notices to offerors or respondents Page 118 Section M: Evaluation factors for award Page 124

Addendum 1: Section L Addendum Page 143

PART I - THE SCHEDULE

Section A - Solicitation/Contract Form

The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) Federal Acquisition Service (FAS), Office of Travel, Transportation, and Logistics (TTL) is releasing a Request for Proposals (RFP) for the E-Gov Travel Service Next Generation (ETSNext) travel and expense (T&E) technology managed service. GSA FAS will centrally manage the awarded vendor.

Questions are due November 15, 2023 at 11:00 p.m. EST to erin.lush@gsa.gov with a copy to onthego@gsa.gov.

End of Section A mailto:erin.lush@gsa.gov

Section B - Supplies or Services and Prices/Costs

B.01 General: ETSNext will be a single award contract to obtain a T&E technology managed service solution. The contractor shall provide all products, services, management, supervision, labor, facilities, and materials necessary to perform the contract.

B.02 Authority: Use of the ETS is required by the Federal Travel Regulation (FTR) at 41 CFR 301-73.100 and 301-50.3 for civilian Federal agencies and employees. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has designated GSA as an Executive Agent for Shared Services.

B.03 Contract Type: The type of contract for this effort will be a single award hybrid contract that is firm fixed price (FFP) as to the base period CLINs and fixed price with economic price adjustment (FP-EPA) as to the remaining option period CLINs.

B.04 Period of Performance: The Period of Performance (PoP) is as follows:

Base Period: Three years beginning on the date of award, or effective date of the contract, whichever is later.

Option Period 1: Three years beginning immediately after the end of the base period.

Option Period 2: Three years beginning immediately after the end of Option Period 1.

Option Period 3: Three years beginning immediately after the end of Option Period 2.

Option Period 4: Three years beginning immediately after the end of Option Period 3.

B.05 Schedule of Items (Pricing)

B.05.1 Definitions (Pricing): GSA intends to establish Contract Line Item Numbers (CLINs) that allow for separate pricing for the initial setup, service consumption and operation and maintenance phases.

CLIN 0001 and CLIN 0002 - Managed Service T&E Transactions (Travel Reservation, Authorization and Voucher Transactions): For the purposes of pricing, each transaction includes travel planning and reservations via the Online Booking Tool (OBT) and the travel authorization and interface to the agency Financial Management (FM) solutions via the FM Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) (Attachments J-4.1 through J-4.11) and other agency business systems supported by the API Gateway. Transactions also include a digitally signed and approved claim for reimbursement of expenses incurred in the performance of official travel.

The price for each transaction should be “fully loaded,” including all required T&E Managed Service Operation tasks to operate the T&E Managed Service for all ETSNext customer agencies (Requirements C.02.1, C.02.2, C.02.4)).

The number of completed transactions will be assessed on a quarterly basis, and total cost will be based on a transaction unit cost. CLIN 0001 and CLIN 0002 will be FFP CLINs. CLINS 1001, 2001, 3001, 4001, 1002, 2002, 3002, and 4002 will be FP-EPA CLINs. For reference, the most recent full FY travel transaction volume for civilian agencies, and projected volume for FY23 and FY24 are provided below:

https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-41/subtitle-F/chapter-301/subchapter-D/part-301-73/subpart-B/section-301-73.100 https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-41/subtitle-F/chapter-301/subchapter-C/part-301-50/section-301-50.3

FY22 (Actual) 1,607,552

FY23 (Projected) 2,347,076

FY24 (Projected) 2,706,154

Offerors are asked to propose transaction pricing at two volume bands:

CLIN 0001: Up to 3 million transactions annually CLIN 0002: Over 3 million transactions annually

Transaction volumes are estimates only and are not guaranteed. Transactions are expected to ramp up during the transition phase, at a rate that will depend on the transition approach recommended by the Contractor. The Contractor is encouraged to describe any pricing adjustments to reflect ramp-up period, and also any pricing discounts if annual volumes increase over the life of the contract. It is also expected that transactions will decrease in the final option period during a transition-out phase.

The projected transaction volume in this section represents the Government’s estimate based on actual yearly usage for civilian agencies mandated to use ETS2 per FTR 301-50.3, 301-

73.100. In the event new agency customers elect to participate in ETSNext (e.g. U.S.

Department of Defense and other agencies not mandated to use ETSNext), the Government will make a bilaterally negotiated change in accordance with FAR 52.212-4(c) for the quantity of transactions, if necessary. Offerors should be aware that the Government reserves the right to exempt select individuals and agencies from mandatory use of ETSNext in accordance with FTR 301-73.102, 301-50.4 (individuals) and 301-73.104 (agency-wide).

CLIN 3 - T&E Managed Service Implementation: Solution implementation is expected to be completed within the base contract period (CLIN 0003), with agencies onboarding in a phased approach. CLIN 0003 will be a FFP CLIN. This CLIN will be paid in accordance with the awardee’s approved payment schedule.

After implementation of all current ETS2 customer agencies described in CLIN 0003 is complete, additional implementations may be required for new customer agencies such as the Department of Defense. If new implementations are required, this CLIN could be exercised in one of the option periods. In the base period, Offerors should propose the entire implementation effort for civilian agencies as defined in C.02.3. In the option periods, Offerors should propose a plan based on the Government needs, with a defined unit of incremental work (e.g. sprint), and include a description of the team composition and duration of the unit of work, and a quantity of work units required to complete the defined scope. CLINs 1003, 2003, 3003, and 4003 will be awarded as FP-EPA CLINs priced as one unit of incremental work. Before exercising CLINs 1003, 2003, 3003, and 4003, the Government will provide a defined implementation scope and both parties would mutually agree on scope of work and quantity of units of work required to complete the implementation.

Service implementation requirements are defined in Section C.02.3, Service Delivery - Implementation Services. This CLIN must include implementing the Requirements Traceability Matrix (RTM) in the base period. Any customizations above the RTM identified and prioritized for delivery after governance approval and funding is provided will occur using CLIN 0003.

CLIN 0004 - Custom Requirements (0004) or Enhancements (1004, 2004, 3004, 4004): This CLIN may or may not be exercised at the Government’s discretion. This CLIN provides additional capacity for development, modernization and enhancement (DM&E) services to implement ETSNext Program Management Office (PMO) approved enhancements to the overall ETSNext Travel & Expense shared service separate from the ETSNext vendor's commercial roadmap.

This CLIN is intended for use if customizations or enhancements beyond the RTM are identified and prioritized for delivery after governance approval and funding is provided at any point during the period of performance.

After the base period, enhancements are expected to be delivered in an agile or similar incremental and iterative approach that prioritizes collaboration, flexibility, delivery of incremental value, and continuous feedback with stakeholders.

Offerors should propose a unit of incremental work (e.g. sprint), and include a description of the team composition and duration of the unit of work. CLIN 0004 will be awarded as a FFP CLIN.

CLINs 1004, 2004, 3004, and 4004 will be awarded as FP-EPA CLINs priced as one unit of incremental work. Before exercising this CLIN, both parties would mutually agree on scope of work and quantity of units of work required to complete the enhancement work.

CLIN 0005 - Direct Reimbursable Travel CLIN: Contractor travel to support the contract will be an Other Direct Cost (ODC) cost reimbursable (CR) CLIN in accordance with the FTR. Direct Reimbursable CLIN 0005 will not be evaluated at award and will receive a NTE Lump Sum (LS) amount each period. Travel CLINs are not required to be fully funded when travel costs are unknown at the time of award. Once travel costs become known, funding for travel costs must be obligated to the subject contract before the contractor travels. All travel associated with this contract shall be approved in advance, in writing by the Contracting Officer of Record, in accordance with the FTR, and as outlined in section C.05 Contractor Travel.

Base Period (3 Years) CLIN Description Unit of

Issue Type of

Fee Total ETSNext

0001 T&E Managed Service Transactions Up to 3 million per year (C.02.1, C.02.2, C.02.4) Each FFP $

T&E Managed Service Transactions Above 3 million per year (C.02.1, C.02.2, C.02.4)

Each FFP $

0003 T&E Managed Service Implementation (C.02.3) Annual FFP $ Optional @ Government Discretion

0004 Custom Requirements/Enhancements Each FFP $ Other Direct Costs

0005 Direct Reimbursable Travel CLIN (Not Evaluated) NTE LS CR $5,000

Option Period 1 (3 Years)

CLIN Description Unit of Issue

Type of Fee Total

ETSNext 1001 T&E Managed Service Transactions

Up to 3 million per year (C.02.1, C.02.2, C.02.4) Each FP-EPA $

T&E Managed Service Transactions Above 3 million per year (C.02.1, C.02.2, C.02.4)

Each FP-EPA $

Optional @ Government Discretion 1003 T&E Managed Service Additional

Implementation (C.02.3) Each FP-EPA $

1004 Custom Requirements/Enhancements Each FP-EPA $ Other Direct Costs

1005 Direct Reimbursable Travel CLIN (Not

Option Period 2 (3 Years)

CLIN Description Unit of Issue

Type of Fee Total

ETSNext 2001 T&E Managed Service Transactions

Up to 3 million per year (C.02.1, C.02.2, C.02.4) Each FP-EPA $

2002 T&E Managed Service Transactions Above 3 million per year (C.02.1, C.02.2, C.02.4) Each FP-EPA $

Optional @ Government Discretion 2003 T&E Managed Service Additional

Implementation (C.02.3) Each FP-EPA $

2004 Custom Requirements/Enhancements Each FP-EPA $ Other Direct Costs

2005 Direct Reimbursable Travel CLIN (Not

Option Period 3 (3 Years)

CLIN Description Unit of Issue

Type of Fee Total

ETSNext 3001 T&E Managed Service Transactions

Up to 3 million per year (C.02.1, C.02.2, C.02.4) Each FP-EPA $

3002 T&E Managed Service Transactions Above 3 million per year (C.02.1, C.02.2, C.02.4) Each FP-EPA $

Optional @ Government Discretion 3003 T&E Managed Service Additional

Implementation (C.02.3) Each FP-EPA $

3004 Custom Requirements/Enhancements Each FP-EPA $ Other Direct Costs

3005 Direct Reimbursable Travel CLIN (Not

Option Period 4 (3 Years)

CLIN Description Unit of Issue

Type of Fee Total

ETSNext 4001 T&E Managed Service Transactions

Up to 3 million per year (C.02.1, C.02.2, C.02.4) Each FP-EPA $

T&E Managed Service Transactions Above 3 million per year (C.02.1, C.02.2, C.02.4)

Each FP-EPA $

Optional @ Government Discretion 4003 T&E Managed Service Additional

Implementation (C.02.3) Each FP-EPA $

4004 Custom Requirements/Enhancements Each FP-EPA $ Other Direct Costs

4005 Direct Reimbursable Travel CLIN (Not

End of Section B

Section C - Description/specifications/statement of work

Definitions

Adoption: An agency user is able to process live travel transactions in ETSNext and no longer requires use of ETS2 for their travel mission.

Agile: The ability to create value through incremental continuous improvement allowing for increased ability to respond to change.

API Gateway: A single entry point for all API calls that come into the ETSNext solution. It provides a streamlined and standardized approach to retrieving and returning data through defined services. In addition to handling access control, it allows fast, reliable delivery within large and complex applications included in ETSNext.

Authorization to Operate (ATO): The official management decision given by a senior Federal official or officials to authorize operation of an information system and to explicitly accept the risk to agency operations (including mission, functions, image, or reputation), agency assets, individuals, other organizations, and the Nation based on the implementation of an agreed-upon set of security and privacy controls. Authorization also applies to common controls inherited by agency information systems.

Continuous Improvement: All areas of service improvement including but not limited to user experience, commercial innovations, configuration changes, API improvements, security risk mitigations, and Government capabilities.

Continuous Monitoring: Maintaining ongoing awareness to support organizational risk decisions after an ATO is issued for an information system. This includes a program established to collect information in accordance with pre-established metrics, utilizing information readily available in part through implemented security controls required as part of obtaining and maintaining an ATO.

Customer Experience (CX): Encompasses all the interactions a person has with a service.

Metrics can include satisfaction with the overall experience, likelihood to continue use, and likelihood to recommend to others.

Discovery: The process of researching, analyzing, and gaining insights into user needs and requirements to inform the design and development of features or services. Discovery reduces the risk of features or services that are not intuitive and do not address user needs.

Federal Information: Information created, collected, processed, maintained, disseminated, disclosed, or disposed of by or for the Federal Government, in any medium or form (OMB Circular A-130).

Full Operating Capability (FOC): FOC is achieved when all capabilities are in place to service all agency transactions previously supported by ETS2 contracts, and ETS2 contracts can begin close-out activities.

Initial Operating Capability (IOC): Achieved by deploying production services to 100% of the designated IOC users that use standard configurations by no later than 1 year from the start of the base period of performance. The three IOC agencies will consist of: General Services Administration, Department of the Treasury Bureau of the Fiscal Service, and Department of Homeland Security Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers.

Microsurveys: Short, easy surveys that take just a few minutes to complete and are targeted to get feedback on a specific transaction to provide context-sensitive data to help solve issues more efficiently.

Omnichannel: Users should be able to access and manage travel and expense information seamlessly and easily through various channels, including websites, mobile apps, and customer support, all working together to give users a unified and smooth experience.

Posack: Used in Attachment J-13, Travel and Expense Process Flow, this term refers to the positive (or negative) acknowledgement provided by the Financial Management System (FMS) to the Travel & Expense Technology Managed Service. This provides the status of the FMS being able to process Financial Management (FM) transactions sent by the ETS.

Standard Configuration: The service configuration settings that are managed centrally based on T&E Business Standards and will be defined starting in IOC and maintained over the full period of performance. Changes or deviations from the standard configuration are determined via the governance process and GSA’s final approval.

T&E Business Standards: The documented common T&E business needs across agencies using the Federal Integrated Business Framework (FIBF), which focuses on outcomes, data, processes and performance. T&E Business Standards are maintained by GSA’s Office of Governmentwide Policy (OGP).

Tenant (Multi-tenant): In the context of a cloud-hosted service, a tenant is an individual government agency, department, commission, or board. Tenants may share the same web, application, and database infrastructure. However, tenant data, business logic, reporting, and access control shall be separated per tenant. A multi-tenant environment, therefore, can support multiple tenants. Muli-tenant supports resource pooling where the computing resources of a cloud system (e.g., storage, memory, processing, network bandwidth) are pooled to serve multiple consumers using a multi-tenant model (i.e., a single instance of the software and its supporting infrastructure serves multiple consumers) through different physical and virtual resources, each dynamically assigned and reassigned according to consumer demands.

Reference NIST SP 800-210, General Access Control Guidance for Cloud Systems for details.

Touchless: A touchless reservation is one that is confirmed in the online booking tool, and ticketed with no assistance or changes by a travel counselor.

User Experience (UX): Encompasses all the interactions a person has with a product and their experience of that interaction. Metrics can include success rate, error rate, abandonment rate, task completion time, and clicks to completion. Primary user categories are travelers, travel arrangers, travel approvers and system administrators.

C.01 Performance Work Statement - Travel and Expense (T&E) Technology Managed Service

C.01.1 Purpose: GSA FAS is buying a configurable, commercial T&E Technology Managed Service to be deployed and centrally managed Government-wide as described herein. The project name is E-Gov Travel Service Next Generation (ETSNext) and is the third generation of electronic Government travel services (ETS) that will support the missions of Government agencies through an intuitive and streamlined platform that delivers a secure and positive customer experience while mitigating transition costs and risks. The T&E technology managed service includes planning, authorizing, booking, and vouchering for T&E expenses as well as providing audit and reporting services and ensuring travel is performed in compliance with travel regulations. ETSNext will also provide security, integration services, data management, support services (e.g., training, helpdesk, etc.), program management, change management, and transition services under a fully managed shared services model.

C.01.2 Background: GSA has served as the managing partner for the ETS Program since its inception in 2003. In 2022, GSA FAS was designated by the Office of Shared Solutions and Performance Improvement (OSSPI) as the Government-wide shared service provider for the T&E. Use of the ETS is required by the FTR (FTR 301-50.3; 301-73.100) for civilian Federal agencies.

The E-Gov Travel Service 2 (ETS2) was the second-generation service that was awarded to two contractors in 2012-2013: CWTSato Travel, Inc. and SAP Concur Technologies, Inc. Each of these ETS2 contractors provide full-scale end-to-end T&E services for online booking, https://ussm.gsa.gov/fibf-travel/ https://www.regulations.gov/document/BSC-TRT-2022-0003-0019 authorization, voucher, travel agency ticket fulfillment services, and ancillary services for their agency customers through individually awarded task orders. Each service was highly configured and customized to meet agency-unique requirements, policies, and financial system interface/integration needs.

ETS2 currently supports 124 civilian agencies, commissions, boards, etc. through a decentralized service model. Characteristics include:

● 56 custom, agency-specific financial system interfaces

● 59 Task Orders across two master contracts/solutions

● 30 production instances

C.01.3 Vision and Objectives: The vision for ETSNext is to make travel and expense easier, everywhere, every time.

The objectives for ETSNext are to:

● Provide a single, centralized Government-wide travel and expense technology services platform that will streamline processes and improve the user experience so that users can focus more on their agency’s core mission.

● Enable users to easily plan and book travel reservations online and be reimbursed in an automated, policy compliant manner.

● Be intuitive.

● Deliver a secure experience.

● Mitigate transition costs and risks.

Fulfillment of these objectives will be via implementation of the RTM (Attachment J-3) and related performance requirements in Section C.

Figure 1 outlines the anticipated roles and functions for the PMO, the T&E Technology Managed Service provider (i.e., the Contractor), and customer agencies at a high level.

Figure 1: ETSNext Travel and Expense Shared Service

The following table summarizes key areas of leadership and coordination support in each service area:

Service Area ETSNext PMO

Service Strategy

Customer Experience Optimization

Provide prioritization guidance to simplify user experience. Includes user recruitment, review and approval of research plans, review of service blueprints. Customer experience and user experience research and service design planning, common process and standards, and efficiency improvement recommendations.

Simplify the user-centric design across an omnichannel environment

Governance Make it easier for T&E Technology Managed Service Provider to do business with the Government with a governance model that

● drives alignment between ETSNext service delivery and T&E policy and standards organizations1

● reduces cross-agency variances and streamlines the design of any agency-unique needs to maximize the use of commercial solutions

Service Delivery

Implementatio n Services

Mitigate transition risks using comprehensive planning and rollout effort across government with coordinated delivery commitments between agencies and the ETSNext T&E Technology Managed Service Provider

Solution Management

Product ownership and working with agencies and Contractor to prioritize the roadmap.

Final approval on T&E solution acceptance and technology management compliance (e.g., ATO, Privacy Act, Accessibility, Authentication)

Coordinate T&E solution review/test activities with the ETSNext T&E Technology Managed Service Provider and Federal agencies

Standardize configuration for common travel scenarios

Assure data integrity for interfaces and government-wide/ agency access to travel and expense data

Service Management

Program Management

Maintain tools for integrated project management across agencies and ETSNext T&E Technology Managed Service Provider

Facilitate and track interagency agreements and related service level agreements, schedules, cost and GAO/IG audit requirements

1 OGP and Office of Financial Innovation and Transformation (FIT)

Vendor Management

Administer all contract changes (as approved by the CO) and performance tracking in coordination with PMO Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) and Agency relationship managers.

Oversee the Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan (QASP)

After governance and customer input is gathered, GSA Contracting Officer (CO) (or designated Contracting Officer Representative (COR)) provides final approval and acceptance for all services delivered under this contract

Federal agencies will continue to provide agency-level mission specific T&E policy rules, agency specific T&E requirements, FM/HR integration mapping, testing support, agency reviews for customer-responsible security controls, and agency-level system administration activities (e.g., user maintenance, routing lists, etc.).

The PMO has established a governance model to enable effective management of the ETSNext program; the initial model is depicted in Figure 2 below. The PMO will operate and manage the governance model, including facilitating related sessions and activities. Participating agencies and vendors may be asked to contribute content and information in support of governance activities.

For the IOC, governance activities focus on: (1) engaging participating agencies and selected advisors in supporting system requirements validation and customer agency deployment(s) within the IOC Working Group, and (2) communicating the status of the ETSNext program to key stakeholders across GSA and other agencies (e.g., Senior Travel Officials Council (STOC)).

During the FOC, governance will scale to include all participating agencies and the IOC Working Group will evolve into multiple issue-specific Customer Working Groups. The PMO will also establish a Change Advisory Board (see Figure 2) to facilitate ongoing ETSNext change management and integration of customer needs.

Figure 2: ETSNext Governance Model

C.01.4 Scope: The Contractor shall:

1. Increase customer satisfaction across all agencies and user types;

2. Reduce the time it takes for users to carry out their required T&E mission support activities;

3. Reduce duplicative customizations and maintenance for a better experience and better value across the Government;

4. Strengthen information security infrastructure and processes; and

5. Respond to changes in commercial travel and expense services and customer needs.

The Contractor shall provide an adaptable, Federal policy-compliant single, centralized, enterprise-wide service that includes:

1. A cloud-based T&E managed service platform and environment that is accessible, utilizes an omnichannel approach (web, mobile, tablet, etc.) that is easy to understand, satisfying to use, and continually improved to reduce administrative and end-user burden. The Government does not have a preference for dedicated Government cloud solutions so long as Government security requirements are met. Vendors may take economies of scale and pricing into account when proposing their solution.

2. A streamlined T&E experience leveraging T&E business standards, T&E best-in-class technology services, adaptable architecture, incremental and modular product delivery services, data and reporting services, Information Technology and security management, and deployment services.

3. The operational support and environment including all personnel, IT platform, management processes, materials and equipment necessary.

The following table includes key elements expected in each service area. Detailed tasks for these areas are included in the C.02 Requirement section of the PWS.

Service Area Contractor Services

Service Strategy

Customer Experience Optimization

Delivers customer satisfaction by employing effective program management, clear communication, product/service knowledge and goal-oriented focus in customer experience engagement.

Deliver streamlined T&E customer and user experience, incorporate user feedback into the ETSNext Service Roadmap, provide accessible and intuitive experience across all channels (web, mobile, tablet, etc.)

Growing ETSNext T&E Technology Managed Service and T&E solution to meet the Federal Travel Regulation (FTR) and Joint Travel Regulation by bringing the best of breed T&E technologies and solutions to continually improve the customer experience, then rolling those new technologies into the ETSNext solution.

Improve customer satisfaction and other metrics indicative of customer experience (eg task completion, error rate, help desk tickets, etc).

Governance Supports governance processes for long-term continuous improvement partnership that keeps pace with changing user needs, emerging technology capabilities, and variations in mission needs.

Tracks established baselines and requirements.

Provides artifacts to decision makers on feasibility and approach for new or changed services and capabilities; and supplementary T&E services that GSA may wish to offer in the future via this ETSNext T&E Technology Managed Service as outlined below.

Provides periodic system functionality demos to governance.

Develops communication plan and supports communications related to approved changes.

Service Delivery

Implementation Services

T&E solution requirements are configured, tested, accepted with the roll-out schedule outlined in the service roadmap.

Transition planning and support to each agency as defined in Attachment J-5, Agency Profiles 2023, to align agency needs, user stories, and acceptance criteria for full deployment by February 23, 2027.

Threat modeling and vulnerability analyses will be conducted and mitigated for each release.

Solution Management

T&E best-in-class technology services, adaptable architecture, incremental service releases, data and reporting services, technology management, customer support, training and deployment services.

T&E managed services operational support and environment including all personnel, IT platform, management processes, materials and equipment necessary.

The Government seeks effective coordination between the Contractor and any Travel Management Company (TMC) selected by Federal agencies for ongoing management, development, configuration changes and data integration to prevent degradation of service or customer satisfaction throughout the contract lifecycle.

Service Management

Program Management

Proactively manages the Contractor’s services and T&E solution.

Ensures and reports overall progress to achieving key milestones and success in terms of cost, schedule and performance.

Minimizes risk and coordinates activities and develops risk mitigation plans to overcome potential barriers to program performance.

Manages and ensures service delivery, quality, and continuous improvement.

Vendor Management

Complies with contract terms, conditions, deliverables, and performance reporting.

Provides transition-out planning and execution activities when this contract expires.

Given the rapid pace of technology advancement, new services and capabilities are expected to emerge during the course of ETSNext. As commercial T&E services evolve, the Government requires that the Contractor consider these new services and capabilities for continuous improvement. In addition, there are supplementary T&E services that GSA may wish to offer in the future. Should GSA decide to offer these additional services the contract will be modified through a bilateral contract modification. The following are selected examples of additional capabilities or services considered in scope for ETSNext:

1. Relocation services, including Temporary Change of Station (TCS) and Permanent Change of Station (PCS)

2. Conference and Meeting & Event Management

3. Group travel management including Room Block Management

4. Protection of controlled and classified travel information

5. Offline voucher creation capability

6. Additional Department of Defense (DoD) requirements that may not be currently accounted for in Attachment J-1, Policies and Applicable Documents Travel #2 Joint Travel Regulation (JTR)

The contractor shall adhere to and meet the Performance Objectives and Task Areas detailed in this Performance Work Statement (PWS), as well as the applicable laws, regulations, policies, and directives outlined in Attachment J-1, Policies and Applicable Documents.

Any customized development for ETSNext will occur only if funded and approved by the GSA Contracting Officer.

All TMC services, including but not limited to, travel reservation fulfillment, agent assisted, on-site, very important person (VIP), will be procured separately from this contract. The Contractor is required to coordinate and interface with each agency’s TMC to ensure seamless end-to-end travel services. Refer to related specific requirements in the Sections C.02.3, C.02.4, and Attachment J-3: Requirements Traceability Matrix and J- 7 TMC Service Integration and Relationship Plan Guidance.

GSA will manage the ETSNext contract as part of a Shared Travel and Expense Service, on behalf of the Federal Government. ETSNext users are identified in Attachment J-5. GSA reserves the right to add additional users over the life of the contract. Employees of an agency as defined in the FTR § 301–1.1 must use E-Gov Travel Service when the employee’s agency makes it available. Agencies may grant an exception to required use of ETSNext under § 301– 50.4, § 301–73.102, or § 301–73.104 of the FTR and should this occur, GSA will notify the https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-41/section-301-1.1 https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-41/section-301-1.1 https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-41/section-301-50.4 https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-41/section-301-50.4 https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-41/section-301-50.4 https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-41/section-301-73.102 https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-41/section-301-73.102 https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-41/subtitle-F/chapter-301/subchapter-D/part-301-73/subpart-B/section-301-73.104

Contractor. The GSA TTL contracting officer will administer the ETSNext contract. No other agency or entity is authorized to perform contract actions.

C.01.5 Place of Performance: The place of performance for this contract shall be at the contractor’s facilities. The Contractor may be required to attend meetings at Government locations within the United States. The frequency, timing, and logistics of these meetings will be addressed in the integrated master schedule for implementation or customer support plans.

C.02 Requirements

C.02.1 Service Management: For Service Management, the Government seeks to ensure it is strategically managing the program, assessing progress to key milestones and metrics, proactively mitigating risks, raising awareness of customer needs and concerns, and responding to stakeholder concerns. The Contractor shall complete the following tasks:

Service Quality Management

1. Develop and maintain a Service Quality Control Plan (SQCP) to ensure work performed conforms to the scope of work and meets the requirements under this PWS. (SM-1) The SQCP includes the following content:

a. Approach to overall managed service delivery and related inspection methods, which at a minimum includes the following performance areas:

i. the deliverable submission schedule,

ii. the approach to meet the performance requirements in the

Performance Requirements Summary table in Attachment J-2,

iii. customer and user experience,

iv. continuous improvement, and

v. security management.

b. Approach to planning, organizing, and managing internal resources and subcontractors, to include responsible points of contact and lines of authority for each requirement.

c. Approach to handling changes of personnel, providing coverage during absences, and capacity surge support during critical high activity phases such as implementation, significant platform changes, and transition-out.

d. Rationale for specifically assigning subcontractor responsibilities, functions, and work apportionment.

e. Rationale for tracking and reporting progress and costs and integrating the requirements of the contract.

f. Approach to ensure that cost, performance, and schedule comply with task planning.

g. Approach to identification of and resolution of issues and problems, including escalation of procedures for customer complaints.

h. Approach for working cooperatively with agency-selected TMCs to ensure travelers receive confirmed tickets or itineraries prior to trip departure, ensuring reservations are correctly booked and documented, required data elements are collected, solution changes that impact the TMCs are proactively and clearly communicated and tested, and to continuously improve processes to increase efficiency and online adoption and touchless rates.

i. Approach for addressing sustainability opportunities and mitigating climate change risks.

Project Planning and Scheduling

2. Prepare and maintain an Integrated Master Schedule (IMS) to include a decomposition of the major phases of work for the period of performance awarded. (SM-2) The IMS shall be submitted to a Government project management environment managed by GSA for further dissemination to Government stakeholders in accordance with the SQCP. The IMS includes the following content:

a. Any activities and interdependencies that involve formal contract deliverables, key transition milestones, and agency customers.

b. Key milestones and critical paths should be identified for reporting purposes.

c. Level of detail is Level 3 for most work packages, where Level 1 represents major project elements or phases, Level 2 represents sub-phases, elements or products, and Level 3 represents subordinate work packages and milestones.

3. Provide and maintain a Risk Log to communicate and track key risks and assign mitigation strategies. Ensure risk log entries are complete and rationale for probability and impact ratings are documented. Risks shall have appropriate and actionable mitigation plans with dates for implementation. Any risks that require additional research have a clearly defined action plan and responsible parties related to that research identified. Ensure that risks that are no longer applicable are reported with that status and removed from future logs. (SM-3)

a. Initial risk assessment conducted jointly with the GSA and IOC participating agencies.

b. The Risk Log is an ongoing tool for the purposes of identifying, triaging, and managing risks. Required content includes:

i. Probability and impact severity of all foreseeable programmatic and technical risks.

ii. Mitigation strategies for high and medium exposure risks.

iii. Forecasted date the risk is anticipated to be realized and reference links to applicable tasks in the IMS that the Risk will impact.

c. High and medium exposure risks identified and reported to the Government Information System Security Officer (ISSO) will also be tracked here.

4. Hold recurring strategic planning meeting(s) in accordance with the SQCP to present progress to key milestones, demos as applicable and metric trends, ETSNext IOC and FOC implementations, proactively mitigating risks, raising awareness of customer needs and concerns (e.g., usability findings and mitigations), and responding to stakeholder concerns. Meeting planning, presentation, and recap materials shall be shared with participants as applicable.

Transition-Out Execution

5. Provide a Transition-Out Plan from the ETSNext incumbent to a potential future replacement travel and expense solution or service. (SM-4)

a. This plan will serve as a reference for any future transition planning and will be updated and resubmitted for the actual transition phase.

b. Minimum topics expected include:

i. Project management, data migration/archival processes and return of any GFI to the Government.

ii. Contractor-to-contractor coordination processes, e.g., reference and profile data migration.

iii. Schedules and milestones, resources/ preferred points of contact for each Federal agency transition to successor contractor

iv. Actions required of the Government.

6. Export and make available to view and import the following user and reference data for each Federal agency by the successor travel and expense service/solution contractor and Federal agency use (SM-5):

a. Traveler Information including User and Traveler Profiles

b. Centrally Billed Accounts (CBAs) and their associated Organization(s)

c. Organizational / Hierarchical Structure, Approval/Routing Chains, T&E solution Business Rules, Configurations (e.g., OBT, Authorization, Voucher, etc. and Other Agency Configurable Functionality as appropriate

d. Line of Accounting (LOA) Information

e. Application Programming Interface (API) Information to support agency interfaces/integrations that are separate from the standard APIs.

f. Data Archiving in accordance with the Electronic Records Schedule

(ERS)

Contractor Performance Reporting

7. Closely monitor the progress, schedule, and cost aspects of the program by providing performance reports for each requirement. (SM-6). The contractor performance report data shall be submitted to a Government project management environment managed by GSA for further dissemination to Government stakeholders and updated in accordance with the frequency included in the accepted SQCP.

a. Performance Requirements Summary Performance Metrics

b. Financial Performance, Invoicing Status

c. Estimating Accuracy for Enhancements (Planned vs. Actual Duration)

d. Requirements Change Tracking

e. Adherence to ETSNext Project Milestones

f. Executive Summary Reporting

g. Shared Service Agency Utilization Reporting

h. Lessons Learned and Continuous Improvement Analysis

i. KPIs for all SLAs and Performance Requirements Summary metrics

j. System Performance Management, including uptime, response time and user satisfaction

Performance Standard: Contractor performs strategic planning activities to present the long-term approach to achieving program objectives, what actions to take to realize those goals, and how to deal with the challenges likely to arise as barriers to achieving the desired outcomes.

Proactively manages the program and ensures overall progress to achieving key milestones and success in terms of cost, schedule and performance. Minimizes risk and coordinates activities to direct and control challenges or threats to achieving a program's goals and objectives and includes developing risk mitigation plans to overcome potential barriers to program performance. Delivers customer satisfaction by employing effective program management skills, clear communication, product/service knowledge and goal-oriented focus in program implementation and is responsive to stakeholder concerns. Contractor performance reports and performance metrics are timely and accurate.

Acceptable Quality Level (AQL): Key milestones are met, and performance is timely and accurate 98% of the time.

Service Management Deliverables: Deliverables require no more than 2 revisions within 2 weeks of the original due date for full acceptance.

Deliverable

No.

Description

Due

SM-1 Service Quality Control Plan

(SQCP)

15 days after award; 5 days of modifications

SM-2 Integrated Master Schedule

(IMS)

15 days after award; 5 days of modifications

Updates IAW SQCP

SM-3 Risk Log Weekly

SM-4 Transition-Out Plan 30 days after first live transaction; 15 days after plan request; 15 days after period exercise

SM-5 User and Reference Data for Successor Contractor View and Import

IAW approved Transition-Out Plan and confirmation the incoming contractor can read / use the file

SM-6 Contractor Performance Reporting

IAW accepted Service Quality Control Plan;

Submitted to Government project management environment

C.02.2 Service Strategy: For Service Strategy, the Government seeks support for a government-led governance process that promotes continuous improvement, consistent solution service, and informs the governance process to maximize results for travelers and other stakeholders. The Government also seeks an omnichannel T&E technology managed service that is easy to understand, satisfying to use, and continually improves to reduce the burden of managing and using the travel and expense service. The Contractor shall perform the following tasks:

Governance Input

1. Provide visibility into status of process and technical change requests based on a governance process and change control board specific to GSA and serviced agencies.

2. Support governance by conducting an analysis of each change request to assess impact, feasibility, and viability. (G-1)

3. Provide oversight and ongoing updates to address new and changing federal travel regulations.

4. Participate in governance discussions about potential enhancements and provide recommendations on approaches to achieve desired outcomes.

Solution Architecture

5. Govern the solution architecture and provide solution architecture services including design and planning activities for the ETSNext solution and functionality that complies with T&E business standards, policies and regulations. Ensure solution designs work for the widest range of people, devices, and access needs.

See Attachment J-1, Policies and Applicable Documents and the Attachment J-3, Requirements Traceability Matrix.

6. Document the solution architecture for the ETSNext technology solution service, including the complete ETSNext solution including integrations, TMCs, master data, transactional data, and third-party solutions. (G-2)

7. Ensure solution architecture reduces cross-agency variances and streamlines the design to address agency-unique needs with minimal customizations.

ETSNext Service Roadmap

8. Capture trends and insights to continuously improve T&E business processes and provide those as inputs for governance review. (G-1)

a. Operational pain points should be identified (discovery) via customer and user research and proactively addressed via design improvement recommendations to ensure the T&E services are operating at optimal performance.

9. Advise, maintain, update, and publish the ETSNext service roadmap that communicates release schedules, program milestones, planned release scope, solution objectives, and dependencies for implementing ETSNext for IOC and FOC based on the prioritized backlog. (G-3)

a. Drive alignment between ETSNext service delivery and Travel and Expense policy and standards organizations2

b. ETSNext Service Roadmap shall include prioritization for business impact and scale across the platform and against serviced agencies.

c. ETSNext Service Roadmap shall include new commercially available features, functionalities, modules, or capabilities that enhance the overall usability, accessibility, performance, or value of the ETSNext solution, and that reflect and respond to industry trends.

Customer Experience Managers

10. Provide a customer experience manager assigned to each agency to provide input into service design and the service roadmap, optimize the customer journey, coordinate changes, and track the resolution of issues.

11. Conduct annual Customer Satisfaction surveys and collect metrics from user, agency T&E managers, agency and Government-wide policy officials, and agency and GSA executives. The Government will provide the survey questions, response types, and survey recipients. (CX-1) (Performance Requirements Summary Item 4)

12. Work with the ETSNext PMO and agency-selected TMCs to improve and maximize online adoption and efficiency. Document methods in the Service Quality Control Plan as follows (SM-1) (Performance Requirement Summary Item 5):

a. Establish the baseline, based on historical data, as available for each agency

b. Determine the correct sources of the data: TMC or ETSNext vendor

2 OGP and Office of Financial Innovation and Transformation (FIT)

c. Establish targets above the baseline

d. Report on the results compared to target as part of the Contractor

Performance Summary reporting, at least monthly

e. Perform ongoing root cause analysis for gaps to the targets, including an analysis of the reasons bookings require assistance or are not booked in the OBT

f. Create, document, and execute improvement plans, including system corrections and federal agency communications and training, to improve performance

Usability Testing and Analytics

13. Provide and maintain an easy-to-use user interface.

14. Conduct usability and accessibility testing with end users at regular intervals to ensure system functionality meets their needs. (Performance Requirement Summary Item 6). Document findings in Usability Improvement Opportunity Report (CX-4)

15. Conduct usability testing of features in development prior to release.

(Performance Requirement Summary Item 7)

a. Ensure testing addresses the widest range of people, devices, and access needs.

16. Collect and provide qualitative and quantitative usability and accessibility data (e.g., user goals and pain points, time-on-task, task success, and error rates for reservation, authorization and vouchering tasks). (CX-2)

17. Collect microsurvey user feedback and summarize satisfaction metrics from users.