CTaRRS_--_Questions_and_Answers.pdf

CTaRRS RFQ – Questions and Answers

Questions Answers

1. Could you clarify what the term “cleared” means?

All Contractor personnel must be cleared by the SEC Office of Security Services prior to beginning work on the Contract. The SEC clearance process refers to the Pre-employment, Criminal History, Credit History, and Background Checks. See SEC Clause 6009.05.

2. One of the requirements is:

‘The ability to export records and metadata in a format acceptable for transfer to NARA.’

Could you please provide us with the NARA standard for exports?

NARA Transfer Guidance is available at the following location:

http://www.archives.gov/records-mgmt/policy/transfer-guidance.html

3. Aside from award date, is the SEC able to provide a timeline/sequence of milestones related to award and proof of technology?

There is no requirement for a “proof of technology.” The milestones of contract performance will track the SDLC process at Appendix E. A high level estimate for this process is approximately 6 to 12 months, depending on the proposed solution and other factors.

4. What is the success criteria for the proof of technology?

There is no requirement for a “proof of technology.” The proposed solution will be deployed after successful completion of the SDLC, including the issuance of an Authorization to Operate.

5. What is the timeline for the proof of technology?

See Q&A #3 and #4.

6. Would the Government like this NDA to be submitted with the Offeror’s proposal?

No, NDAs will be completed by the Awardee only.

7. Please confirm that the resumes required for Factor 3 are not part of the 7 page limit for Factor 3.

For factor 3, the page limitation is hereby changed to 5 pages and the page limitation for Factor 3 shall not include resumes.

Each resume has a page limitation of 2 pages.

8. Please confirm that the Small Business Subcontracting plan is not required as part of the proposal submission, but that Offerors should be prepared to submit one upon request.

Correct. SB Subcontracting Plans will be negotiated post selection.

9. What SME (subject matter expertise) resources will be dedicated to this project?

The SEC will make SME resources available from the Business Office, OIT, and the Office of Records Management, as needed.

10. Are you married to your current data model and are there external dependencies based on the current data model?

This is a new solution, not an existing solution.

11. Does the SEC have an estimate of concurrent users during the peak volume periods?

The estimated number of peak concurrent users for Phase I is 115. See “User Capacity” in section C.2.2.

12. Is there legacy system documentation, e.g.

requirements documentation, user guides, administrative guides?

No. See Q&A #10.

13. Is there an existing Authorization to Operate (ATO) process in place and is it documented?

There is an agency-wide SA&A process in place that is documented.

14. "Describe your current solution and supported platforms for mobile. Include any costs per download, if applicable."

Is mobile a requirement or is this just informational?

The quoted language does not appear in the RFQ.

Mobile is not a requirement.

15. What is the SEC’s current software development methodology, e.g. waterfall, Agile?

The SEC’s current Software Development Lifecycle is primarily designed to support a waterfall methodology.

However, a combination waterfall/Agile methodology can be accommodated.

16. Is there a Change Control Board (CCB) already established with documented procedures?

Yes. See Appendix E.

17. In Section C.2.1 Background, there are references to Access databases and potential other legacy data sources. Is the conversion of this data into the new product a part of this project? If so, can additional information be provided on the number of data sources and more information on each data source be provided so that an initial scope and associated level of effort to convert the data be provided?

Bulk conversion or data migration from existing systems is not contemplated by the RFQ. See C.5.4.5.

18. In relation to the end user training, are all 130 end users in the DC area or are they located in various locations? If they are not all in one location, can approximate numbers of end users per location be provided?

All users are located in the SEC Headquarters building, in Washington, DC.

19. Appendix A – Business/Functional Objectives (Page 31 of 78): Records Management functional objectives requires records management features for both relational data records and/or documents. It is a common practice for Federal agencies to establish a centralized records repository for all agency records. Can SEC provide the details of product /system/repository currently used as an enterprise records repository within SEC? If an enterprise records repository exist, can it archive both relation data and documents? How does existing systems within SEC interface with this repository?

The SEC has not established a centralized or enterprise records repository for all agency records. The Office of the General Counsel is currently using a combination of network drives and SharePoint as its record repositories.

20. Appendix A – Business/Functional Objectives (Page 30 of 78): The Management of Documents and Files requires the new system to be able to export copies of cases and/or files for purposes of performing discovery and related activities. What export format is used by the SEC discovery system? Please provide additional details on this export format.

Files must be exportable in their native format and with associated metadata, and in PDF (with OCR). Other formats (especially to accommodate audio, picture, and web files) are desirable.

21. Appendix A – Business/Functional Objectives (Page 31 of 78): All leading COTS document management products in the market uses user’ credential for searching documents. If a user does not have access to documents, the search will not disclose information of such files being available in the system. Can SEC please further clarify the need for search request finding files even if those files are restricted and cannot be accessed by the user issuing the search request?

The SEC envisions circumstances where it may be useful for a user to learn that a particular document type (e.g., motion to dismiss) was used in a different case, even if the user lacks access to the different case. If circumstances warranted, an administrator could grant the user access to the document filed in the different case. (Or arrangements could be made outside of CTaRRS to obtain a copy of the document, once the user learned of its existence through CTaRRS).