Additional_Terms_and_Conditions_RPMS_Software_QA_and_Product_Support_Services.doc

Indian Health Service

Request for Proposal For

Resource and Patient Management System

(RPMS)

Software Quality Assurance

Product Support Services

(RFP) 75H70419R00032

You are invited to submit a proposal in accordance with the requirements of the following Solicitation.

Proposals must be received by the Government no later than the local time on the Due Date stated in the table below.

(301) 443-4470 paul.premoe@ihs.gov

Section B – Products or Services and Prices/Costs

B.1.

CONSIDERATION

The Contractor shall provide the commercial services described in Section C, Description/ Specifications/Performance Work Statement (PWS). Except as otherwise specified in the contract, the Contractor shall furnish the necessary personnel, equipment, materials, services, and otherwise do all things necessary for the performance of the work set forth herein.

B.2. CONTRACT PRICING SEQ CHAPTER \h \r 1 The Indian Health Service (IHS) is planning to issue a labor-hour contract vehicle as a result of this solicitation. The requirement is being solicited among Small Indian Firms only pursuant to The Buy Indian Act, 25 U.S.C. 47. See HHSAR Subpart 326.6—Acquisitions Under the Buy Indian Act for ownership and subcontracting requirements. You are invited to submit a written proposal utilizing the below Schedule of Prices for the services specified in Section C, under Request for Proposal (RFP) 75H70419R00032.

Schedule of Prices Base Year: 12 Months Period CLINs

Base Labor

(OPTIONAL CLINS)

CLINs

Optional Labor

*See B.3.

N/A

N/A

N/A

NTE $10,000

*See B.4.

N/A

N/A

N/A

NTE $7,500

Option Year I: 12 Months Period

CLINs

Base Labor

CLINs

Optional Labor

N/A

N/A

N/A

NTE $10,000

N/A

N/A

N/A

NTE $7,500

Option Year II: 12 Months Period

CLINs

Base Labor

CLINs

Optional Labor

N/A

N/A

N/A

NTE $10,000

N/A

N/A

N/A

NTE $7,500

Option Year III: 12 Months Period

CLINs

Base Labor

CLINs

Optional Labor

N/A

N/A

N/A

NTE $10,000

N/A

N/A

N/A

NTE $7,500

Option Year IV: 12 Months Period

CLINs

Base Labor

CLINs

Optional Labor

N/A

N/A

N/A

NTE $10,000

N/A

N/A

N/A

NTE $7,500

B.3.

TRAVEL LINE ITEMS

Travel Line items shall be treated as part of the effort for the purposes of this contract and shall be handled in the following manner. The Contractor will notify the COR of the requirement at least 30 business days prior to the scheduled travel. Upon COR’s approval, the Contractor shall prepare a proposal reflecting the actual cost of the items and submit it to the COR within 5 business days. The pricing for the proposal shall be based on the commercial catalog pricing and receipts of the all items over $300 shall be included with the invoice.

The Contractor shall be reimbursed for travel costs in accordance with FAR 31.205-46.

Local. The cost of local travel, meal, and/or incidental expenses cost will not be reimbursed for Contractor performance when involving local travels.

Non-local. In the event that non-local travel is required, the Government will reimburse the cost via appropriate contract line item.

B.4. Other Direct Costs (ODCs)

This category includes expenses associated with training activities (e.g., reproduction and shipping), subscriptions to standards such as National Council for Prescription Drug Programs and other software development reference material that may be required, software, and technical subscriptions as required to fulfill the obligations of the contract. All ODCs must be authorized by the COR and shall not exceed the following:

Section C – DESCRIPTION/SPECIFICATIONS

PERFORMANCE WORK STATEMENT (PWS)

Resource Patient Management System (RPMS)

Software Quality Assurance and Product Support Services

Part 1 General Information

1. General: This is a non-personnel services contract to provide services and staff that perform software quality assurance, software quality control, software release management, software application training, and application user support services for the Indian Health Service (IHS) Resource Patient Management System (RPMS) suite of health information system applications. The Government shall not exercise any supervision or control over the contract service providers performing the services herein. Such contract service providers shall be accountable solely to the Contractor who, in turn is responsible to the Government.

1.1 Description of Services/Introduction: The services requested under this contract consist of five key task areas in support of software products developed by Indian Health Service (IHS). Task areas include: Quality Assurance (QA), Quality Control (QC), Release Management, User Support, Training Coordination and Software Training (optional task). The offeror will be required to provide sufficient personnel with expert and ample skill sets to include experience to support all key task areas and associated sub-tasks detailed with each task. The offeror will provide all equipment, supplies, facilities, transportation, tools, materials, supervision, and other items necessary to perform the work and objectives defined in this Performance Work Statement (PWS).

1.2 Background: IHS develops and supports a comprehensive integrated health information system which provides a broad range of clinical and business functions at IHS, Tribal and Urban (I/T/U) hospitals and clinics across the country. RPMS is the agency’s primary Health Information Technology (HIT) system. RPMS is similar to the Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture (VistA) in use at the Veterans Administration, having been derived from the same legacy system and sharing many of the same infrastructure and business applications. The RPMS is currently deployed as an InterSystem’s Cache database architecture with VA FileMan file structures. A number of graphical user interface (GUI) applications utilizing various languages, ranging from Delphi to C# .NET, have been developed to support certain business processes, while other applications retain legacy character-based interfaces. RPMS GUI applications principally use a two-tiered architecture utilizing broker-based remote procedure calls, although recent development has focused on a three-tier architecture using web services. In addition, RPMS is currently interfaced to various commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) products.

Business functions supported by the RPMS include, but are not limited to, practice management (e.g. patient registration, scheduling, billing and accounts receivable, release of information), ancillary clinical applications (e.g. inpatient and outpatient pharmacy, laboratory, radiology, image archiving, consults and referrals), and point of care clinical applications for behavioral health, dental, inpatient and ambulatory care. The RPMS is certified as a Certified Electronic Health Record (CEHR) for inpatient and ambulatory settings according to the 2014 version certification criteria published by the Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) for Health Information Technology (HIT). In recent years, the system has been extended to include a personal health record (PHR) system, RPMS Direct secure messaging system, health information exchange (HIE) system, and supporting middleware services.

1.3 Objectives: The objectives of this contract are for the offeror to assist the government with quality software product releases and promote product support through application user support and training. To support these objectives, the offeror will be required to perform activities that include comprehensive software quality assurance, software quality control, product release management, documentation remediation, software product installation, user support and other subtasks outlined in Section 1.4 Scope.

1.4 Scope: This PWS provides Task Areas that define functional and programmatic services that are required to address mixed-lifecycle software applications and mixed method software development approaches. Multiple development methodologies are currently being used. Software quality assurance & quality control should be applied regardless what methodologies are used.

The offeror shall furnish all necessary personnel, materials, services, facilities, (except as otherwise specified herein), and otherwise do all the things necessary for or incident to the performance of the work for the following primary task areas:

1. Software Quality Assurance

2. Software Quality Control

3. Software Release Management

4. Software User Support

5. Software Product Training Coordination

6. Software Training Delivery (optional)

7. Transition Management

8. Contractor Management Reporting

9. 508 Document Remediation

1.5 Period of Performance: The Period of Performance shall be one (1) twelve-month base plus four (4) twelve-month options

PART 2

Acronyms/Definitions:

PART 3

GOVERNMENT FURNISHED ITEMS AND INFORMATION:

3.1. Licenses, Products, and Equipment

Unless otherwise specified herein or in a particular Work Plan, the Contractor shall be responsible for providing all hardware, software, and software licenses required for its employees to carry out the work of the contract.

If an IHS specification requires the Contractor to have in its possession a particular medical device or other equipment not normally required for software development (such as a laboratory printer, EKG machine, etc.) in order to complete software testing, the IHS will supply this equipment to the Contractor. The equipment remains the property of the Government and will be returned to IHS at the conclusion of the development task.

3.2 RPMS and Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Software: The IHS will provide the Contractor with all released RPMS code necessary for the Contractor to fulfill the requirements of the contract. The Contractor may from time to time identify a need for access to an unreleased application or patch that is still in development. Such requests will be handled by the Software Quality Assurance (SQA) department on a case by case basis, the risk being that if the Contractor tests software against an unreleased package and that package changes before release, incompatibility may result.

The IHS will assist the Contractor as needed with obtaining software from the VHA or other government entity if the request is determined to be necessary for the programming of IHS requirements.

3.3 RPMS Databases: The IHS will supply the Contractor from time to time with one or more databases obtained from and representative of a typical RPMS installation at an Indian Health Service or Tribal health care facility. Such databases will be “de-identified” by IHS according to OIT security policies before delivery to the Contractor. The purpose of such databases will be to ensure that all software is developed and tested in a representative system before being submitted for field testing.

PART 4

CONTRACTOR FURNISHED ITEMS AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

4.1 General: The Contractor shall furnish all supplies, equipment, facilities and services required to perform work under this contract that are not listed under Part 3 of this PWS. All costs associated with the contractor furnished materials and equipment, other than the ODC items, shall be included as a labor rate calculation.

4.2. Materials: The Contractor shall furnish materials, supplies, and equipment necessary to meet the requirements under this PWS.

4.3. Equipment: The Contractor shall furnish laptops, servers, software and all software development equipment necessary to meet the requirements under this PWS, unless otherwise noted in this PWS.

PART 5

SPECIFIC TASKS

Requirements:

The contractor shall provide fully qualified staff with management and technical skills to perform Software Quality Assurance and Control as well as capabilities to: install software and troubleshoot software errors or issues; provide system and database administration and support; analyze and read various programming languages and the skillsets to support multiple Health Information Technology domains and applications. Staff performance activities will include: ongoing software quality assurance and software quality control; software testing and installation; training coordination; user support; documentation remediation; and release management for the existing RPMS applications. RPMS applications are oriented toward health information management, clinical care, clinical quality measurement, practice management, health information exchange, and software infrastructure. Existing system capabilities include, but are not limited to the following:

· Electronic Health Record

· Inpatient clinical documentation

· Ambulatory clinical documentation

· Laboratory services

· Pharmacy services

· Dental services

· Radiology and electronic imaging systems

· Case Management services

· Additional supporting clinical and ancillary services

· Practice Management Suite

· Patient Registration & Scheduling

· Medical Claim Generation & Billing

· Accounts Receivable

· Referred Care & Purchased Care services

· Additional supporting practice management services

· Clinical Performance Reporting

· Government Performance Reporting Act (GPRA) data collection and reporting

· Additional clinical quality measurement reporting services

· Infrastructure

· MUMPS/Cache Ensemble Database Management services

· VA FileMan system support

· Standard Terminology Services support

· Additional software infrastructure development and maintenance services

In addition, the Offeror shall provide fully qualified staff to support and assess evolving RPMS software lifecycle programs and processes to verify alignment with current best practices in agile software development. This includes a full range of quality assurance activities throughout the development lifecycle.

5.1. Task 1 – Quality Assurance (QA):

Software Quality Assurance work encompasses assurances that supported software products including associated documentation, work products, activities and processes comply with the predefined established government and Health Information Technology standards. The Offeror shall incorporate established standards and propose process improvements that makes the existing quality assurance framework more efficient and effective. Provide services including implementing process improvements, developing and implementing corrective action plans, processing change requests and creating management reports including the Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan (QASP).

The work shall encompass:

· Participate as a team member in the overall software development lifecycle process with the goal to ensure that the quality assurance process is continuously improved to produce products free of defects which helps individual projects to meet both functional and non-functional requirements.

· Manage testing process: objective is to participate and oversee all phases of testing from internal, alpha, and beta testing through national release.

· Ensure the product is defect-free, released on time, and user acceptance level is met.

· Audit incoming software to ensure no changes have occurred without going through the change request process, which includes comparing software changes with the corresponding Change Requests (CRs) and/or Business Needs Statement (BNS).

· Review incoming documentation from the project teams, ensuring all artifacts applicable have been received prior to testing and national release; documentation should be accurate, defect-free and 508 compliant.

· Participate in project team related meetings, including the RPMS PMO meetings, and take proactive approach to prepare for software testing processes.

· Provide testing status updates to the project teams and management, including at a minimum beta testing information and progress.

· Provide status reports to management and project teams on the various stages of the testing process for all applications to help project teams meet their schedules and bring attention to issues or problems.

· Maintain QA Operating Procedures, guidelines, and forms, including Standard Operating Procedures (SOP), Beta Test Agreements (BTA), Beta Test Endorsements (BTE), and Testing and Release Management (TRM) forms.

· Provide recommendations and assistance with updating IHS software related guidelines and documents.

· Collaborate with other contractors and federal staff to support integration testing, alpha testing, and beta testing and coordinate with the respective product owners during all testing activities.

5.2 Task 2 – Quality Control (QC):

The Offeror shall provide services including test planning and accessibility testing for both Section 508 and Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) compliance which apply to all documentation and new software, performance and load testing, unit testing, integration testing, regression testing, standards conformance testing, formative usability testing (remote, cloud based, and mobile lab), meaningful use and industry certification testing support, internal/alpha/beta testing support, and test results reporting.

The Offeror shall:

· Maintain, update and refresh test environments to ensure all SQA test databases are standardized and are representative of production systems.

· Install and verify all incoming software builds to ensure they’re defect-free using testing tools specified by the government and following SQA verification procedures and SAC guidelines and communicate results to the project team.

· Review incoming documents from the project teams, ensuring all required artifacts have been received prior to beta testing and are reviewed for accuracy, punctuation, 508 remediation, and adherence to government regulations and industry standards where applicable.

· Communicate all review results to the project teams in a timely manner and identify issues or concerns related to the software build and associated artifacts (if any).

· Review and execute test scripts received from the project teams for step-by-step execution of instructions, validate software functionality results against intended requirement(s), ensure test script documentation is proofread and accurate, and provide feedback and recommendation to the project team.

· Maintain a software and documentation inventory and repository and related websites.

The Offeror shall provide services including final edits, review, quality control, version control of software builds and required project documentation in an accessible format that conforms to government security and privacy requirements. Supporting documentation activities will include the development and implementation of consistent processes and procedures to maintain a centralized software documentation repository and associated standards. For all software projects, the Offeror shall conduct quality control on the documentation listed below for all software developed. The Government will provide templates to the Offeror for documentation currently being used.

Release notes – a text file distributed by SQA in a standard format defined by IHS. Release notes shall briefly describe issues fixed and/or new functionality delivered by the software and shall contain sufficient information to allow a site manager to safely install the software into RPMS. This includes software prerequisites and dependencies, any atypical hardware or system requirements, and any additional caveats or warnings. Release notes may be abbreviated if installation instructions are delivered in a separate installation or technical manual.

Installation manual – prepared in a format defined by IHS, an installation manual is required for all applications that require procedures for installation and initial configuration that differ significantly from those of other RPMS applications. Installation manuals are not required for software patches, as long as the installation instructions are clearly specified in the release notes. For most applications, installation instructions can be included in the technical manual. If applicable, the installation manual shall be provided in draft form to IHS no later than the beginning of alpha testing to be finalized by an OIT technical writer. Final document will be due upon software release.

Security manual – prepared in a format defined by IHS, a security manual is required for all new software versions. Security manuals describe a variety of security features of the subject software. Security manuals are not distributed to the public but are designed for the internal use of the IHS OIT. Release to other entities must be approved by the Information Systems Security Officer (ISSO). The draft security manual shall be provided to IHS no later than the beginning of alpha testing with the final document due upon software release.

User manual – prepared in a format defined by IHS, a user manual provides a plain language of all user functionality delivered by the software application (or new functionality in the case of software upgrades – patches or versions). This will form the basis for the official user documentation to be prepared by an OIT technical writer. The draft user manual shall be provided to IHS no later than the beginning of alpha testing, and the final document will be due upon software release.

Help documentation – prepared in a format defined by IHS, help documentation is required for all GUI software to assist users with application usage. This documentation will be edited and formatted by an OIT technical writer. The resulting help files will be bundled by the developer into the final software build. The draft help documentation shall be provided to IHS no later than the beginning of alpha testing, and the final document will be due upon software release.

Test checklists and scripts – requirements for test checklists and scripts will be specified by the individual project. Test cases and scenarios for user acceptance and usability testing should be coordinated with the federal product owner.

Draft training materials – the Contractor may be required to develop training materials for specific projects.

Other documentation – certain tasks may require additional documentation.

5.3 Task 3 Release Management:

The Offeror shall provide services in support of release management, including response to customer product inquiries, documentation development and remediation, review and version control of official product releases, and distribution of the software. The established process shall conform to government security and privacy requirements. Supporting activities will include the development and implementation of consistent processes and procedures to maintain a centralized repository, which contains a history of project documentation and software, adherence to associated standards and procedures and the management of the product repository and respective FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) releases.

The Offeror shall provide technical support during implementation and deployments. This support may take the form of:

· Remote and onsite installation/configuration activities

· Provide release reports to management as requested

· Maintain and update release procedures and related documents

· Distribute software releases in accordance with established procedures

· Ensure the software release repositories are updated

· Organize and plan software releases with project teams

· Maintain the release calendar

· Develop deployment help aids (e.g. notes, checklists, and guides)

· Receive, verify, smoke test and release FOIA databases

· Provide Open Source community coordination

Through this task the Offeror shall provide the Government with the most efficient and effective method to release quality software products on a continuous basis in order to meet IHS requirements and stakeholders’ requests. A series of reports and methods for tracking product statistics from testing through release will be required.

5.4 Task 4 User Support:

The Offeror shall provide user and helpdesk support services which shall include: entering, researching, responding and resolving help desk tickets, updating and closing tickets, escalating issues (only after exhausting all problem solving techniques), maintaining and updating knowledge base records, monitoring and reporting all tickets, and providing remote and if requested, onsite support.

This task includes the following activities:

· Troubleshoot issues by applying technical expertise, searching knowledge base records for similar issues, and reviewing software documentation.

· Triage and escalate unresolved issues to appropriate application teams.

· Prioritize urgent/critical tickets using pre-established guidelines to ensure efficient resolution.

· Track issues by opening, updating, and closing support tickets.

· Maintain, create and update Knowledge base records for reporting, retrieval, and resolution of common issues.

· Provide user support reports to management and as requested.

· Maintain and update procedures and related documentation.

· Install and configure RPMS software applications for SQA testing environments, developing expertise in the setup and configuration of the software to assist sites with their installation.

· Provide assistance with transition from application versions.

5.5 Task 5 Training Coordination:

Provide services that are necessary to support training requirements which includes drawing feedback from stakeholders, systems analysts, training specialists, logisticians, and government resources. Coordinate with the customer to ensure that the training meets their needs. Prepare reports and monitor training tasks in support of the contract manager and the government sponsor(s) and participate in planning agency-wide training. Ensure training standards and procedures are followed, reviewed and updated on a regular basis. Prepare the field for the adoption and use of developed software products. Update and validate the training websites on a regular basis.

The contractor will perform the following tasks, which includes, but not limited to:

· Create and distribute approved training surveys to stakeholders and customers

· Incorporate feedback from stakeholders into IHS training plans, policies or procedures and if approved, assist with its implementation

- Develop, update and validate training materials for relevancy, accuracy and 508 compliance, which will include, (at a minimum) the following: catalogs, course outline, background materials, and training aids, course manuals, handouts, completion certificates, and course evaluation surveys

· Create recordings of live training sessions, for both in-person and e-learning sessions, maintain a repository for access and distribution and resolve issues

· Provide management, coordination, and monitoring of training tasks and participate in agency-wide planning

· Create reports to include, at a minimum: list of courses conducted, training attendance, course surveys (before/after training), upcoming training schedules, and results of customer surveys

· Maintain and update the training procedures and related documentation

5.6 Task 6 Training Delivery (Optional):

The Offeror will provide on-site or online training in coordination with product owners, contracted trainers and training coordinator. The Offeror will perform the following tasks, which includes:

· Collect knowledge and feedback from stakeholders and subject matter experts to assist in preparing training materials

· Provide training by conducting online or onsite classroom courses, workshops and seminars

· Participate in developing and revising training courses and preparing appropriate training catalogs and documentation

· Prepare the field for the adoption and use of developed software products by providing training related to setup, configuration and usage

· Assist in creating training related reports

5.7 Task 7 Transition Management

The Offeror shall provide services including preparing and conducting knowledge acquisition sessions with the incumbent at the beginning of the performance period and preparing and conducting knowledge acquisition sessions with follow-on contractors at the end of the performance period.

The Offeror’s understanding of cost, schedule and risks during the contract transition period and the company’s proven experience in mitigating those risks with minimal impact to the government and its’ customers. The Offeror shall provide a staffing plan that includes the offeror’s plan to retain the incumbent contractor staff and ensure timely onboarding of new employees.

5.8 Task 8 Contractor Management Reporting

Planning and Scheduling: All work specified under this contract shall be planned and scheduled through the use of Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) documents. In responding to tasks listed in the WBS, the Offeror shall propose a Work Plan (WP) that describes how the Offeror intends to carry out the requirements of the order. The WP shall include the resources (personnel) that the Offeror will be using for the work as well as a WBS for the task. Unless otherwise specified by IHS, the WBS shall be provided as a Microsoft Project document. Proposed WP and WBS documents must be approved by the COR in consultation with the federal lead for the specific task. Deliverable dates in the approved WBS will be used as a basis for determining Contractor performance. Some tasks may not be completely specified at the time of Work Plan acceptance (e.g. final software requirements pending, training dates pending, etc.). The Offeror’s Work Plan will indicate such unknowns where they exist. The schedule will be regularly updated to reflect completed and pending work, as well as approved adjustments to the schedule. At any point during the period of performance, the Offeror shall be able to produce a current Work Plan and WBS for the contract as a whole. The WBS will be the basis for the product roadmap, backlogs, and release/iteration plans.

Monthly and Earned Value (EV) Reporting: Each month, coincident with the submission of an invoice to IHS, the Offeror will provide a brief narrative report. The report will be broken out by Work Plan and describe activities and accomplishments during the month, as well as any identified issues, risks, or problems that the Offeror wishes to bring to the attention of IHS. Issues, risks, and problems should also include corrective action plans or mitigation plans. The report shall also include contract and program level burn charts (projected versus actual (dollars and hours)), a QASP dashboard (with performance against performance objectives in the PWS), and current staffing plan. It will also be used by the government as a program management tool. The monthly report is not intended to be duplicative of the EV report but to supplement the numeric data in the EV report with narrative comment.

Each month on a date to be established by mutual agreement, the Offeror will provide IHS with the Contractor Performance Reporting (CPR) forms 1-5, or their equivalent, for the preceding EV reporting period. The CPR forms constitute the appropriate data needed for an EV report. The CPR forms shall be itemized by Work Plan and include a breakout of all costs (staff hours by category, travel, and materials) attributed to the work. The report shall provide monthly and cumulative data from the beginning of the contract period. Any EV reporting or procedure requirements imposed by the government that do not adhere to the EV Management standard set forth in the ANSI/EIA 748 1998 standards will be clarified before implementation. Any approved changes to Work Plan that substantially affect the scope of work will be reflected in the EV reporting system to accurately reflect the work requirements on which performance will be evaluated. IHS will provide guidance on the completion of the CPR forms, and detailed specifications for the monthly EV report will be provided by IHS to the Contractor.

PART 6

LABOR CATEGORIES

Labor Category Descriptions

6.1 Contract Manager (Project Manager Level III)

The Contract manager shall be the primary contact and responsible for managing the performance of all work and providing oversight of all aspects of this contract, including the overall management of the tasks listed in this PWS. Provide team leadership for large and complex projects, or a significant segment of large and complex projects. Analyze new and complex project-related problems that may involve timeline, technology, methodology, tools, solution components and financial management, and create innovative solutions. Provide systems analysis and long and short-range plans for application selection, systems development, systems maintenance, and production activities for necessary support resources. Provide status reports, financial reports and requested updates to federal leads and management. A PMP certificate is recommended for this position and at least 10 years of experience overseeing projects of a similar size and complexity is required.

6.2 Training Coordinator

Provide leadership and management for training tasks that are being performed by the contractor. Provide services to support training requirements which includes drawing input from the stakeholders, systems analysts, training specialists, logisticians, and government resources. Coordinate with the customers to ensure that their training needs are being met. Maintain and update training procedures and surveys as needed and participate in agency-wide training planning. Prepare reports and monitor training tasks in support of the contract manager and the government sponsor(s). Ensure training standards and procedures are followed, reviewed and updated on a regular basis. Prepare the field for the adoption and use of developed software products. Commensurate education and experience.

6.2 Training Specialist (Senior)

Research, develop and revise courses and prepare appropriate training catalogs. Prepare instructor materials (e.g. course outline, background material, and training aids) and student materials (e.g. course manuals, workbooks, handouts, completion certificates, and course critique forms) as requested. Train personnel by conducting formal classroom courses, workshops and seminars which can be onsite or online. Assist in maintaining training standards, procedures and training websites as requested by the training coordinator.

6.3 Training Specialist (Mid-Level)

Research, develop and revise course materials and prepare training catalogs and associated documents. Assist in training setup and preparation for the training course. Prepare materials and handouts including, but not limited to: instructor materials (e.g. course outline, background material, and training aids) and student materials (e.g. course manuals, workbooks, handouts, completion certificates, and course critique forms) as requested. Maintain training standards, procedures and training websites as requested by the training coordinator.

6.4 User Support Team Lead

Provide leadership and management for user support tasks that are being performed by the contractor. As a user support team member, provide services required for user support which includes drawing feedback from the stakeholders, maintaining and updating user support procedures, and participating in agency wide user support planning. Determine the resources required for troubleshooting, triaging and escalating issues as well as documenting knowledge base records. Ensure a high level of customer satisfaction by responding to requests effectively and efficiently. Provide reports in support of the contract manager and the government sponsor(s). Commensurate education and experience.

6.5 User Support Specialist (Senior)

Analyze incoming support requests which can include system level, hardware, database, software applications and business functionality error identification. Diagnose, troubleshoot and resolve issues. If necessary, escalate the unresolved issues to the appropriate technical personnel (e.g. network, hardware, security, application teams). Assist users with troubleshooting site specific configuration issues. All support requests must be acknowledged in a timely manner and tracked using software provided by the Government.

Maintain and update knowledge base records for reporting, retrieval and resolution of common issues.

Ensure user support documentation, websites, and procedures are accurate and up-to-date. Provide user support related reports for management as requested. Prepare the field for the adoption and use of developed software products.

6.6 Quality Assurance Team Lead

Provide leadership and management for software QA/QC tasks that are being performed by the contractor. Establish and maintain processes for evaluating software, associated documentation and software release management. Determine the resources required for quality assurance and quality control (QA/QC). Maintain a high level of quality throughout the software development life cycle. Conduct reviews at pre-determined points throughout the development life cycle.

Provide reports related to QA/QC which include, but not limited to: alpha/beta testing, patch installation status, and nationally released software. Maintain and update QA/QC and release management procedures. Provide milestone status reports and updates on the progress of QA/QC activities to the federal lead, and when requested to project teams.

Manage software release activities including, but not limited to: software release announcement, software distribution to stakeholders, updating software and documentation distribution site(s), and coordination with other release teams (national and FOIA). Conduct FOIA release activities which includes: updating FOIA database with software releases, tracking FOIA release requests and updating FOIA procedures as needed. Commensurate education and experience.

6.7 Test Engineer (Senior)

Design and implement testing related procedures. Develop, maintain, and update test forms and associated documentation for software products. Conduct testing by installing software, analyzing and verifying test cases, and reporting issues to project teams. Provide testing related expertise in support of software and hardware projects. Coordinate with project teams and participate in all phases of the development life cycle with emphasis on QA/QC processes.

6.8 Quality Assurance Analyst (Senior)

Provide QA/QC related support for personnel performing software development tasks. This includes, but not limited to the review of software products and documentation for correctness, adherence to the design concept and user requirements and government standards, and ensure progress in accordance with schedules. Coordinate with the QA/QC Team Lead and federal project team leads to ensure that problems are resolved in a timely manner. Make recommendations, if needed, for major system installations.

6.9 Technical Writer Level I

Assist in writing and editing software documentation, including reports, manuals, briefings and presentations, functional descriptions, system specifications, guidelines, special reports, and other project deliverables to meet contract requirements. Develop outlines and drafts for review and approval by technical specialists and project management. Ensure all final documents meet applicable contract requirements and regulations, including 508 compliance.

6.10 Technical Writer Level II

Write and edit technical documents, including reports, user manuals, briefings and presentations, functional descriptions, system specifications, guidelines, special reports, and other project deliverables to meet contract requirements. Develop outlines and drafts for review and approval by technical specialists and project management ensuring that final documents meet applicable contract requirements and regulations, including 508 compliance. Research and gather technical and background information for inclusion in project documentation and deliverables in adherence to pertinent government guidelines and regulations.

PART 7

APPLICABLE PUBLICATIONS

7. Applicable Publications (Current Editions) 7.1.

The Offeror must abide by all applicable regulations, publications, manuals, and local policies and procedures listed at the web sites below.

https://www.ihs.gov/rpms/sac/ Section D – PACKAGING AND MARKING

N/A

Section E – INSPECTION AND ACCEPTANCE Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan

Objective: The purpose of this plan is to provide a quality surveillance plan for the services provided under this PWS. This plan provides a basis for the Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) to evaluate the quality of the Contractor’s performance. The oversight provided for in the contract and in this plan will help to ensure that service levels reach and maintain the required levels throughout the contract term. Further, this plan provides the COR with a proactive way to avoid unacceptable or deficient performance, and provides verifiable input for the required annual past performance evaluations.

Performance Standards:

A. Quality Level: By monitoring the Contractor, the COR will determine whether the performance levels set forth in the contract have been attained.

B. Frequency: During the performance of this contract, the COR will take periodic measurements (i.e. conduct surveillance), as specified, and will analyze whether the negotiated frequency of measurement is appropriate for the work being performed. Adjustments may only be made by a modification to the contract.

C. Management Responsiveness: The COR will determine whether the Contractor has managed the contract effectively and efficiently, as specified in the quality standards set forth below. The COR will confirm whether the Contractor has satisfactorily met all reporting requirements, including subcontracting reports when applicable.

D. Evaluation Methods: The COR will conduct performance evaluations based upon the below required performance levels set forth in the contract. The contractor shall provide a QASP dashboard report to the COR on a monthly report to support QASP monitoring. The COR will also perform periodic sampling of source systems and records to ensure the validity of the data contained in the QASP dashboard. The contractor must promptly produce evidence to support the COR’s sampling activities.

Documents should be updated as changes occur within 6 months. In addition, all documents should be reviewed annually.

COR and/or SQA federal lead review the report of issues (if any) quarterly.

In addition, make sure to receive the builds timely (within 1 business day), review activities shall begin within 1 business day of receiving the first test build from the development team, and final verification process shall be within three–five weeks.

COR and/or SQA federal lead review Monthly Status reports with contractor noting issues and actions.