89603019Q0032_P00001.docx

5. PROJECT NUMBER (if applicable)

CODE

7. ADMINISTERED BY

2. AMENDMENT/MODIFICATION NUMBER

CODE

6. ISSUED BY

8. NAME AND ADDRESS OF CONTRACTOR

4. REQUISITION/PURCHASE REQ. NUMBER

3. EFFECTIVE DATE

9A. AMENDMENT OF SOLICITATION NUMBER

9B. DATED

PAGE OF PAGES

10A. MODIFICATION OF CONTRACT/ORDER NUMBER

10B. DATED

BPA NO.

1. CONTRACT ID CODE

FACILITY CODE

CODE

Offers must acknowledge receipt of this amendment prior to the hour and date specified in the solicitation or as amended, by one of the following methods:

The above numbered solicitation is amended as set forth in Item 14. The hour and date specified for receipt of Offers

E. IMPORTANT:

is extended,

(a) By completing Items 8 and 15, and returning __________ copies of the amendment; (b) By acknowledging receipt of this amendment on each copy of the offer submitted; or (c) By separate letter or electronic communication which includes a reference to the solicitation and amendment numbers. FAILURE OF YOUR ACKNOWLEDGMENT TO BE RECEIVED AT THE PLACE DESIGNATED FOR THE RECEIPT OF OFFERS PRIOR TO THE HOUR AND DATE SPECIFIED MAY is not extended.

12. ACCOUNTING AND APPROPRIATION DATA

(REV. 11/2016)

is required to sign this document and return ___________ copies to the issuing office.

is not, A. THIS CHANGE ORDER IS ISSUED PURSUANT TO: (Specify authority) THE CHANGES SET FORTH IN ITEM 14 ARE MADE IN THE CONTRACT ORDER NO. IN ITEM 10A.

15C. DATE SIGNED

B. THE ABOVE NUMBERED CONTRACT/ORDER IS MODIFIED TO REFLECT THE ADMINISTRATIVE CHANGES SET FORTH IN ITEM 14, PURSUANT TO THE AUTHORITY OF FAR 43.103(b).

RESULT IN REJECTION OF YOUR OFFER. If by virtue of this amendment you desire to change an offer already submitted, such change may be made by letter or electronic communication, provided each letter or electronic communication makes reference to the solicitation and this amendment, and is received prior to the opening hour and date specified.

C. THIS SUPPLEMENTAL AGREEMENT IS ENTERED INTO PURSUANT TO AUTHORITY OF:

D. OTHER

Contractor

16C. DATE SIGNED

14. DESCRIPTION OF AMENDMENT/MODIFICATION

16B. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Except as provided herein, all terms and conditions of the document referenced in Item 9A or 10A, as heretofore changed, remains unchanged and in full force and effect.

15A. NAME AND TITLE OF SIGNER

16A. NAME AND TITLE OF CONTRACTING OFFICER

15B. CONTRACTOR/OFFEROR

STANDARD FORM 30

PREVIOUS EDITION NOT USABLE

Prescribed by GSA - FAR (48 CFR) 53.243 (Type or print) (Type or print) (Organized by UCF section headings, including solicitation/contract subject matter where feasible.)

(Number, street, county, State and ZIP Code) (If other than Item 6) (Specify type of modification and authority) (such as changes in paying office, appropriation date, etc.)

(If required)

(SEE ITEM 11)

(SEE ITEM 13)

(X)

CHECK

ONE

13. THIS ITEM APPLIES ONLY TO MODIFICATIONS OF CONTRACTS/ORDERS,

IT MODIFIES THE CONTRACT/ORDER NO. AS DESCRIBED IN ITEM 14.

11. THIS ITEM ONLY APPLIES TO AMENDMENTS OF SOLICITATIONS

AMENDMENT OF SOLICITATION/MODIFICATION OF CONTRACT

(Signature of person authorized to sign) (Signature of Contracting Officer)

03-19-2019

See SCHEDULE

00039 Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Procurement Division Attn: Hye Park 888 First Street, NE, Room 4J Washington DC 20426

00039 Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Procurement Division Attn:

888 First Street, NE, Room 4J Washington DC 20426

89603019Q0032

X

See CONTINUATION Page

The purpose of this amendment is to (A) provide questions received in response to the solicitation and FERC responses, and (B) amend the solicitation accordingly. The proposal due date has been changed to 1200 EST, April 5, 2019. Attachment 8 - XBRL Pricing Model has been updated and included.

Sonja Ablola Contracting Officer

(A) FERC received 20 questions in response to the solicitation. The questions and answers are provided below.

Question 1: FEDBIZOPs notice and SOW page 16 – States that the contractor shall provide XBRL…such that upon completion the FERC taxonomy shall be certified by XBRL.US – please describe whether the contractor is responsible for obtaining the certification or if the government will take this responsibility.

Response 1: The contractor is responsible for obtaining the certification. The clarified statement of work is included herein.

Question 2: FedBizOPPs Combined Synopsis/Solicitation Notice, Page 2 and Solicitation Section SOW, Page 16, Paragraph 3. Objective/Scope– States that the contractor shall provide XBRL…such that upon completion the FERC taxonomy shall be certified by XBRL.US – please describe whether the contractor is responsible for obtaining the certification or if the government will take this responsibility.

Response 2: The contractor is responsible for obtaining the certification. The clarified statement of work is included herein.

Question 3: Solicitation Standard Form 1449, Page 1, Block 10 - Cites NAICS 813920 with a size standard of 15M. According to www.naics.com, 823920 is titled Professional Organizations and is described as an industry comprised of establishments primarily engaged in promoting the professional interests of their members and the profession such as bar associations, other associations, societies, review boards, etc. Will the government please confirm that NAICS 813920 is appropriate for this procurement?

Response 3: Code 823920 is not a NAICS code. The posted NAICS code 813920 is the appropriate code; however, we will consider alternate codes such as NAICS 541511.

Question 4: Solicitation Standard Form 1449, Page 1, Block 20 - States that FERC reserves the right add additional forms for conversion after contract award and to increase the contract value by up to 50% by mutual agreement. Please confirm that any changes would be subject to negotiation between the parties to adjust firm fixed prices as appropriate.

Response 4: Yes. Changes are subject to negotiations and written agreement of the parties consistent with 52.212-4 ( c ).

Question 5: Solicitation Section A.2 Price/Cost Schedule, Page 3, CLIN 0004, SOW Task 8. - Conversion of VFP data for prior years up to 7 years. The CLIN states that the government doesn’t know when the CLIN will be exercised. Recommend the government allow offerors to provide option pricing for each year that the CLIN may be exercised.

Response 5: The government does not have dates on when these CLINs will be exercised; therefore, offerors need to factor that risk into their price due to unknown time frame.

Question 6: Solicitation Section A.2 Price/Cost Schedule, Page 5, CLIN 10002, SOW Task 5 and Task 6. - The description states that the POP begins based on the final ruling from the Commission adopting the final taxonomy. Will the government please define what constitutes evidence of the final ruling and adoption, how the contractor will be notified and when performance is required to begin? Also, we recommend that you include a date range for this exercise to happen and consider allowing pricing based on the year it is exercised.

Response 6: Due to commission protocols we are not permitted to release timelines for commission actions. Consequently, offerors shall factor schedule risk into their pricing. FERC will notify the contractor when CLIN 10002 is exercised via contract modification.

Question 7: Solicitation Section A.2 Price/Cost Schedule, Page 5, CLIN 10003, SOW Task 7 Security Requirements. - It is not clear why this CLIN can be priced while the Security requirements of CLIN 0003 are not separately priced. Recommend the government list the Task 7 subtasks that are applicable to this CLIN.

Response 7: This amendment corrects CLINs 10003, 20003, 30003, 40003, and 50003 to show they are not separately priced. See corrected CLINS herein.

Question 8: Solicitation Section A.2 Price/Cost Schedule, Page 5, CLIN 20002, SOW Task 10, Operations Maintenance and Support. - This CLIN states that the POP will begin 1 year following CLIN 10002 dependent on Commission rulings. Will the government please allow pricing based on the year of exercise?

Response 8: Due to the date of the ruling being unknown at this time, we don’t know when the option will be exercised. Offerors shall factor scheduled risk into their pricing.

Question 9: Solicitation Section SOW, Page 30, Paragraph 7.3 Investigation Costs. – This states that contractor assumes the costs for required security clearances including the OPM investigation and that the contractor’s first invoice must be credited the cost of any and all investigations. CLIN 10003 and subsequent Security CLINS states that the costs of Task 7 are part of the Firm Fixed Price for this task. Since the investigation requirements are government requirements, it is reasonable that the government assume these costs or allow the contractor to be reimbursed for the cost of the investigations. We recommend that the government remove the statement requiring the first invoice to be credited for the cost of investigations.

Response 9: FERC will prepay the cost for the background investigation; however, the Contractor shall credit FERC for the cost of the background investigation on the next invoice following the completion of the background investigation.

Question 10: Solicitation Section Instructions for the Submission of Quotations, Page 80, Paragraph VIII-Non-Price Related Exceptions and Assumptions, and Page 81, Paragraph II-Price Related Exceptions and Assumptions. – These sections allow offerors to describe non-price related exceptions and assumptions. It also says that if the government determines that the exception or assumption is not acceptable, the government may determine the quote to be non-responsive. Please provide the conditions under which an assumption or exception would be unacceptable.

Response 10: We can’t comment because offerors comments and assumptions are not known at this time; however, comments and assumptions will be evaluated as part of the proposal evaluation process.

Question 11: Solicitation Section Instructions for the Submission of Quotations, Page 80, and Paragraph VIII-Non-Price Related Exceptions and Assumptions, and Page 81, Paragraph II-Price Related Exceptions and Assumptions. – These sections allow offerors to describe non-price related exceptions and assumptions. It also says that if the government determines that the exception or assumption is not acceptable, the government may determine the quote to be non-responsive. Please provide the conditions under which an assumption or exception would be unacceptable.

Response 11: We can’t comment because offerors comments and assumptions are not known at this time; however, comments and assumptions will be evaluated as part of the proposal evaluation process.

Question 12: Solicitation Section SOW, Page 38, Paragraph Other Direct Costs – Recommended Software Product/Tools. - Does the XBRL Processor have to be written in any specific language?

Response 12: No.

Question 13: Solicitation Section SOW, Page 17, Paragraph 3. Objective/Scope. – This section states that the solution shall include processes to collect XBRL data including the submission process. Please clarify if the government plans to leverage the existing eFiling system or create a separate system for XBRL data.

Response 13: Regardless of the intake system, the contractor shall create a system as described in the SOW to accept, validate and store data from the XBRL submissions in a database that supports the taxonomy to be created by the contractor that will be separate and distinct from the eFiling system.

Question 14: Does the request expect that the database provides additional views to enable backward compatibility for end user applications using ODBC connections tailored to the VFP database structure, or does the proposal anticipate that the end users will update their applications to support the new database structure? Should we assume that the updates to existing end user applications are outside the scope?

Response 14: End users will be required to file XBRL submissions per instructions that will be communicated by the Commission. The previous VFP database structure will no longer be used. Updates to existing end user applications are outside the scope of this solicitation.

Question 15: Solicitation Section SOW, Page 18, Paragraph 2. Place of Performance. - Please clarify if all work needs to be performed on-site or if certain tasks related to taxonomy development or other tasks generally could be performed from the contractor’s location.

Response 15: For purposes of proposal preparation, proposal evaluation, award and contractor performance, place of performance shall be FERC HQ.

Question 16: Solicitation Section SOW, Page 39, Paragraph 4. Deliverables. - The Deliverables timeline requires three instances of the XBRL data collection system to be delivered 8 weeks prior to the plan to deliver the supporting infrastructure, tools and database design for Forms 1, 2, 6, 60 and 714 (and sub-forms) AND the written recommended alternatives for hosting the proposed solution. Given that these deliverables will impact the design and implementation of the system, please clarify these deadlines and the expected approach.

Response 16: The three instances shall be created within the timeline provided. The plan to deploy the system into an operation state including full support and maintenance shall be delivered within the timeline provided. The distinction is that the three instances must be created within the base period while the deployment and support will happen sometime after the base period therefore the plan to deploy the system operationally can be provided at a later time than the development of the three instances of the system.

Question 17: Pricing Model (MS Excel File), Section: Detailed T&M Pricing Information for CLIN 00006, Column F - Extended Value. Please clarify if it is the Government’s intent that column F of the pricing table for CLIN 00006 contains no extended value formulas or a subtotal formula when all of the other CLINs within Attachment 8 appear to generate extended totals and subtotals? Additionally, please clarify if the extended and total values for CLIN 00006 (Labor and Material estimate for evaluation purposes) should be summarized and included in cells E7 and F7 of the Base Period CLIN Summary Table Response 17: Column F in the pricing table for CLIN 6 should have included formulas. Further, the total value for CLIN 00006 should be summarized in cells E7 and F7 of the base period summary table. Corrected pricing model is provided as part of this amendment.

Question 18: Solicitation Section Instructions for the Submission of Quotations, Page 79, Paragraph IV - Key Personnel, states a PMP certification is required for submission. In recognition of the agile approaches required to meet the solicitation’s expected delivery timeframe, would a PMI - ACP certification and/or a SAFe certification meet the requirement?

Response 18: Yes, if an agile methodology is proposed by the contractor then the PMI - ACP (Agile Certified Practitioner) or SAFe (Scaled Agile Framework Enterprise) could be used in lieu of the PMP. The instructions are amended herein.

Question 19: Solicitation Section A.2 Price/Cost Schedule, Page 4, CLIN 00006 Description, SOW Task 11 Over and Above (Optional). The contract period that aligns with this CLIN 00006 is stated as being the Base Period which begins on 04-22-2019 and concludes on 01-21-2020. This stated periodicity aligns with the pricing requirements for CLIN 00006 within the Attachment 8 – XBRL Pricing Model which requests Labor Rates for the Base Period only. However, the definition for CLIN 00006 within Section A.2 Price/Cost Schedule, Page 4, CLIN 00006 Description also informs offerors that “The POP for this CLIN [00006] may be extended as Optional CLINs are exercised.” Please confirm that the Time and Material (T&M) rates proposed by offerors in response to CLIN 00006 will only apply to the over and above work for the Base Contract Period POP cited on Page 4 for CLIN 00006 and that T&M pricing for contract periods that extend beyond the Base will be proposed/negotiated with the successful offeror if and as required after contract award.

Response 19: We currently plan to use CLIN 00006 during the base period. If CLIN 00006 is needed after the base period FERC will negotiate the labor rates and modify the contract consistent with FAR 52.212-4 ( C )

Question 20: Could you please tell me if this is a new requirement, or if there is a current or previous contractor who has performed similar services? If available, can you please send along the incumbent contract or task order number?

Response 20: This is a new requirement. There is not an incumbent contractor.

(B) The solicitation is amended as provided below.

A.1 PRICE/COST SCHEDULE

ITEM INFORMATION

This CLIN is not separately priced. The contractor shall comply with the SOW Task 7 Security Requirements during the performance of the contract. Cost for Security Requirements shall be included in the pricing for the respective CLINs.

This is an Optional CLIN.

Contract Period: Option Period 1 POP Begin: Based on the final ruling from the Commission adopting the final Taxonomy POP End: One year

This CLIN is not separately priced. The contractor shall comply with the SOW Task 7 Security Requirements during the performance of the contract. Cost for Security Requirements shall be included in the pricing for the respective CLINs.

This is an Optional CLIN.

Contract Period: Option Period 2 POP Begin: TBD POP End: TBD

The POP for this CLIN will be 1 year following CLIN 10003. The exact dates are TBD based on Commission rulings.

This CLIN is not separately priced. The contractor shall comply with the SOW Task 7 Security Requirements during the performance of the contract. Cost for Security Requirements shall be included in the pricing for the respective CLINs.

This is an Optional CLIN.

Contract Period: Option Period 3 POP Begin: TBD POP End: TBD

The POP for this CLIN will be 1 year following CLIN 20003. The exact dates are TBD based on Commission rulings.

This CLIN is not separately priced. The contractor shall comply with the SOW Task 7 Security Requirements during the performance of the contract. Cost for Security Requirements shall be included in the pricing for the respective CLINs.

This is an Optional CLIN.

Contract Period: Option Period 4 POP Begin: TBD POP End: TBD

The POP for this CLIN will be 1 year following CLIN 30003. The exact dates are TBD based on Commission rulings.

This CLIN is not separately priced. The contractor shall comply with the SOW Task 7 Security Requirements during the performance of the contract. Cost for Security Requirements shall be included in the pricing for the respective CLINs.

This is an Optional CLIN.

Contract Period: Option Period 5 POP Begin: TBD POP End: TBD

The POP for this CLIN will be 1 year following CLIN 40003. The exact dates are TBD based on Commission rulings.

Labor Categories and Rates for CLIN 00006

Statement of Work (3/19/2019)

1. BACKGROUND

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) is an independent agency that regulates the interstate transmission of electricity, natural gas, and oil. FERC’s mission is to ensure reliable, efficient, and sustainable energy for consumers. Fulfilling this mission involves pursuing two primary goals:

1. Ensuring that rates, terms and conditions are just, reasonable and not unduly discriminatory or preferential.

2. Promoting the development of safe, reliable, and efficient energy infrastructure that serves the public interest.

In an effort to support the first goal, the Commission protects consumers through market oversight and surveillance; assuring compliance with tariffs, rules, regulations, and orders; detecting, auditing, and investigating potential violations; and developing and formulating policies and regulations to address emerging issues. The Commission employs various methods in these activities, including:

· Collecting annual and quarterly reports of electric utilities, natural gas and oil pipeline companies and licensees.

· Developing analytic procedures to detect potential manipulation, anticompetitive behavior, and other anomalous activity.

· Analyzing long-term trends in gas and electric markets.

· Developing, issuing, and coordinating policy reforms to address emerging issues affecting wholesale and interstate electric and gas energy markets.

On April 16, 2015, the Commission issued an order announcing its intention to replace its current electronic filing format for financial forms data collections currently submitted through Visual FoxPro (VFP), noting that it would pursue Extensible Markup Language (XML) format as the replacement. This includes Forms 1, 1-F, 2, 2-A, 3-Q electric, 3-Q gas, 6, 6-Q, FERC-60, and FERC-714 (collectively “VFP Forms”).

Forms are collected using the VFP application, which the Commission distributes to filers to enter their data. The VFP application has limited validations, mostly to ensure proper data types (e.g., a number field does not allow character data). The filer enters the information into the VFP application and submits the data to FERC via the application. There is a separate VFP application for each VFP Form.

The main steps of the existing form collection process are:

1. Filer prepares data and submits each form separately through a VFP application[footnoteRef:1] provided by FERC [1: The VFP application creates a visual representation of the form that is fillable and requires the filer to type in the data.]

2. The VFP application packages and submits the data to FERC

3. FERC receives the VFP submissions

4. FERC validates the data

5. FERC loads data into database

6. FERC renders each submission into a PDF and posts it to eLibrary

7. Data is made available to the public in yearly produced zipped files available on the FERC website containing VFP coded data

One of the driving factors for reforming and modernizing the data collection process is the age and maintainability of the current database application and collection process. Microsoft no longer supports VFP. Microsoft released the last version of VFP in 2007 and terminated support in 2015. This poses significant software security issues for filers and FERC.

The Commission conducted an XBRL assessment (Attachment 1) to obtain recommendations to replace the VFP forms with XBRL. After reviewing the XBRL assessment, FERC has identified the XBRL standard over custom XML code as the most efficient solution to provide the needed functionality of the Forms. XBRL builds upon XML by adding features important to business reporting, improving efficiency, and reducing burden on FERC staff to make changes to the Forms in response to regulatory changes to the collection of Forms data.

3. OBJECTIVE/SCOPE

The objective of this requirement is to replace the VFP Forms and applications with a technical XBRL solution that allows filers to file in a system that uses XBRL and to allow Commission staff to update taxonomies[footnoteRef:2], filing, and reporting requirements for these Forms independent of IT resources. The objective is to provide subject matter expertise and XBRL transition technical support, and to provide ongoing operational and technical support. The contractor shall develop a FERC taxonomy and necessary components with business analysts and IT staff to ensure filers can file Forms data with the Commission using XBRL. [2: For purposes of this document, we shall use interchangeably taxonomies and FERC taxonomy. A FERC taxonomy means the collection of all taxonomies necessary to cover the filing and data collection requirements of all VFP Forms. ]

The contractor shall provide XBRL consistent with standards set by XBRL US, such that upon completion the FERC taxonomy shall be certified by XBRL.US. The contractor is responsible for obtaining the certification.

In addition to development of a FERC taxonomy, which is the preliminary requirement to the complete XBRL solution, the solution shall include:

a. develop, test, implement and operate a comprehensive technical solution for forms data collections that accommodates all changes to the collection of Forms “VFP Forms” 1,2,6,60, 714 and related sub-forms;

b. develop, obtain FERC approval and deploy an XBRL taxonomy for Forms 1,2,6,60, 714 and related sub-forms data that incorporates industry input, including that of software vendors (FERC taxonomy);

c. advise and guide business analysts, program office staff, and Chief Information Officer (CIO) staff through the development, testing, acceptance, and implementation of an XBRL taxonomy;

d. provide a schedule of actions and milestones required to replace the VFP forms with XBRL;

e. implement the proposed schedule and replace VFP with updated forms collections;

f. provide an XBRL specialist and training for business analysts and non-IT staff to implement changes to the taxonomy;

g. identify IT infrastructure support requirements (e.g. hardware, software) to plan, design, develop, test, deploy, operate, and maintain proposed technical solution.

h. integrate the collection processes into the FERC systems. The XBRL implementation shall cover the processes to collect process and load the XBRL filings into a database. There are four points of integration:

· Submission process - the contractor for accepting XBRL filings shall create a submission process.

· Publishing rendered XBRL per the formats provided on FERC.gov – The contractor shall create a process to publish the Forms as pdfs and html, in eLibrary, and make publicly accessible in a human-readable format, through other means with COR approval.

· Database access to the XBRL forms database - The XBRL database shall be implemented in SQL Server. The contractor shall provide the process to extract XBRL data, including instructions on how to develop the database.

· Access to data within the XBRL database – The contractor shall provide instructions on how to connect and query the XBRL database. The instructions shall provide access for staff and for applications such as SAS or SQL Server to connect and query XBRL data.

To accommodate the Commission’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) and Final Rule schedule and to implement solutions that may be needed during transition to operations, i.e. after filers make first submissions in XBRL, the XBRL database solution shall be tested and ready for deployment within nine (9) months of contract award.

Notice: This procurement applies to the following forms: Form-1, Form-2, Form-6, Form-60, Form-714, Form-3Q Gas, Form-3Q Elec and Form-6Q. It is possible that subsequent to award FERC may identify additional forms that need to be converted to XBRL. FERC reserves the right to increase the contract value by up to 50% on a non-competitive basis consistent with the changes paragraph at 52.212-4 (c).

2. PLACE OF PERFORMANCE

The location of the work performed under this requirement shall be: 888 First Street NE, Washington DC, 20426.

3. TASKS

The contractor shall complete the following tasks described below:

Task 1: PROJECT MANAGEMENT/ KEY PERSONNEL

1.1 Single Point of Contact

The Contractor shall provide a single point of contact, Contractor Project Manager, for the management of the project and coordinate with the Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR). The point of contact shall be responsible for ensuring that the services and deliverables required by FERC are provided in accordance with the contract requirements.

1.2 Pre-Kick-Off Meeting Prep/ Coordination and Draft Project Plan

The contractor shall prepare copies of the draft project plan that was submitted with the proposal for distribution at the Kick-Off meeting.

1.3 Kick-off Meeting

The Contractor shall meet with the COR and other FERC representatives at the 999 North Capitol Street NE, Washington DC within ten (10) business days of the award to discuss all current activities and the scope of work. Two business days prior to the kickoff meeting, the contractor shall provide an agenda for the meeting. At the kickoff meeting, the contractor shall provide the draft project plan and timeline, updated roster of key personnel, and proposed communication schedule.

1.4 Weekly Meetings

The Contractor shall meet weekly with the COR, technical staff and other stakeholders to discuss project updates and critical issues to be resolved. Notify the COR, in writing, within one (1) business day, if issues arise that prevent the Contractor from attending a meeting. Notify the COR, in writing, within three (3) business days of any event which will create a delay in the schedule and/or result in additional cost to FERC. All notifications shall be submitted electronically to the COR in writing and shall document the reason for the delay, the status of the budget, the impact on the project, and the action the Contractor is taking to bring the project back on schedule.

1.5 Technical Meetings

The Contractor shall participate in or facilitate meetings, conference calls, and/or workgroups with FERC Program staff and industry stakeholders. Within three (3) business days of the meeting, develop and provide brief, summarized minutes after meetings that: identify the attendees, summarize the meeting, and document all action items.

1.6 Project Plan

Within 1 week following the kick-off meeting, the contractor shall provide in electronic format an updated project plan to include the following:

Indication within 17 calendar weeks from the contract award date to delivery of the XBRL taxonomy for the VFP Forms.

The project plan shall indicate within 9 months from the contract award date to the tested, accepted and deployment-ready system is completed. Deployment ready includes having converted and transferred all historical VFP submissions to the XBRL database and conversion of three (3) prior years of VFP submissions to XBRL.

Estimated filings per year by Form type to be converted

1.7 Project Management and Reporting

The Contractor shall:

A. SDLC. Follow the Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC) policy (Attachment 2) or deliver the documentation required by FERC of the SDLC when using Agile or similar development methodology on the project collaboration website.

B. Monthly Status Report. Provide a Monthly Status Report for each monthly reporting period, due on or before the 7th business day after the end of the reporting period. This monthly report shall cover all services covered by this agreement. This report shall contain seven (7) sections:

1. Project description,

2. Activities planned for the upcoming reporting period,

3. Activities performed during the prior reporting period,

4. Progress on deliverables as stated in the Project Management Plan

5. Project issues and risks that may impact schedule, budget, and/or quality,

6. Details of the resources used, total hours, and total dollars expended, and

7. Any other program specific requirements (i.e., quarterly reporting, annual reporting, various module updates, etc.).

C. Final Report. Provide a final report that shall include all previously delivered documents, templates and meeting material or presentation slide decks, as well as any incorporated corrections/clarifications based on comments and questions provided by the Government during meetings and presentations. The final deliverable is due no later than 10 business days before the end of the period of performance

Task 2: XBRL Taxonomy and Validation Development.

3.1 Develop and complete a FERC taxonomy

The contractor shall develop taxonomies for the VFP Forms data. Additionally, the contractor shall work with business users and IT staff during the process to create sample XBRL instance documents from previous VFP submissions as a starting point for taxonomy development. This taxonomy will incorporate new fields and concepts from the current data required to be submitted as footnotes as much as possible, to eliminate the need to report data as a footnote. Once the taxonomy is completed, the Contractor shall obtain final approval (via email) within 14 days on the taxonomies from the COR.

3.2 Develop and complete validation rules currently in the VFP forms into an XBRL format

The contractor shall create validation rules in XBRL for the VFP Forms using the rules currently provided in the existing VFP Forms, and develop additional rules as requested with input from program office subject matter experts. The contractor shall obtain final approval (via email) for the validation rules in XBRL from the COR. The contractor alerts the COR that the product is complete, the COR (working with FERC staff) verifies completion and replies to the contractor.

3.3 Integrate the XBRL System with FERC’s Current Systems and Environments

The contractor shall provide a fully integrated development, test and production environment for the XBRL data collection system within the existing FERC infrastructure to include changes to applications (see Attachment 3 for list) and databases as required.

FERC will provide the following:

· Windows 2012 R2 Servers

· Microsoft SQL Server 2014 Databases

· SFTP Servers

· Networking and Internet availability

· Windows 10 desktop client (for product development)

· Note: Current desktop client is Windows 7 but will be Windows 10 at the time of award

· Applications at Attachment 3

The contractor shall create three instances of the XBRL data collection system to include a development environment to be used to develop software, databases, tools, and reports; a test environment to test the completed XBRL data collection system; and a production environment to be used by the public to file their forms and to be used by FERC staff to analyze the forms data.

All forms filed using the completed XBRL system shall include a valid company ID (CID) that links the forms to the company registration database tables in the FERCOnline Database.

3.4 Provide Written Process to Apply Maintain Changes to XBRL data

A. The contractor shall provide a written process to apply and maintain changes to the XBRL data collections in accordance with the FERC configuration management policy.

B. The contractor shall provide the capability for the filer to request confidential treatment of data filed through the XBRL system.

C. The contractor shall provide the capability to store public data and non-public data in the XBRL database and use Role-Based access to ensure data is only available as authorized.

2.5 Plan, build and deliver the supporting infrastructure, tools, database design and reporting

The contractor shall develop a plan and deliver the supporting infrastructure, tools and database design for the VFP Forms. The plan shall include but is not limited to, building XBRL databases, storing XBRL data, reporting XBRL information, building and/or using tools to render data from XBRL databases, identifying required ports to be open and implementing an open source or proprietary software to support XBRL data collections.

2.6 Develop Standard Operating Procedures

The contractor shall develop standard operating procedure (SOP) for maintaining the proposed solution. The solution provided by the contractor shall fully replace the current VFP forms. The contractor shall also provide written recommended alternatives for hosting the proposed solution (cloud or on premise). The solution provided shall allow for Role-Based Access to any XBRL tools and backend database access shall follow the concept of least privilege.

Minor taxonomy updates and other standard day-to-day operations completed by FERC end users shall be fully audited and logged. Any updates to the backend database or other system level infrastructure changes shall follow FERC’s Configuration Management Policy (See Attachment 4). The contractor shall provide a reporting capability so that the public can query the XBRL database and download any data from the submitted forms and view human-readable renders of each submission. The download shall not exceed 30 seconds for the download of data for any one filing. Downloads containing multiple years of data and/or multiple companies shall not exceed 30 seconds per year of data or per individual company. For example a download containing two years of data would not exceed one minute (2 years * 30 seconds per year).

Task 3: XBRL Training

3.1 Train business users to develop and maintain XBRL taxonomies

The contractor shall provide hands-on training for up to ten (10) business users in developing, making changes to, and maintaining XBRL taxonomies and validation rules independently from IT Staff and/or external XBRL experts. The training shall also include configuration control and concepts. IT staff shall also participate in XBRL taxonomy development training.

The contractor shall provide written recommendations and alternatives to the Commission on the appropriate open source or commercial software solution and train business users and IT staff on the use of the software to support taxonomy development and maintenance. The contractor shall provide written quick reference guides for all training conducted.

3.2 Train IT staff on XBRL database maintenance

The contractor shall provide hands-on training for up to 10 FERC federal IT staff on XBRL database maintenance, to include building XBRL databases, storing XBRL data, and building and/or using tools to render data from XBRL databases. The contractor shall provide a specific list of roles and responsibilities that shall be for IT staff and not for business staff. The contractor shall also train IT staff on how to use open source or proprietary software to support XBRL data collections. The contractor shall provide written material for all training conducted.

3.3 Provide End User Implementation and Reference Guide

The contractor shall provide a written instruction guide that describes the processes to create XBRL submissions for each of the forms to include how to correct and refile data. The guide shall provide information that directs the filer to the correct website for filing as well as instructions regarding how to process acceptance or rejection confirmation and validation reports for each filing.

3.3a – End User Implementation and Reference Guide – draft This will be the initial completed version of the guide for review by FERC staff 3.3b - End User Implementation and Reference Guide – final This will be the final version that shall be completed by the contractor that will include comments and edits to the draft by the COR

Task 4: Development, Testing, Pre-Deployment, and Preparation for Transition to Operations

For all project activities the contractor must follow the FERC Systems Development Life Cycle Policy or other methodology as approved on the contract. In addition, the contractor shall follow the Commission’s Configuration Management Policy (Attachment 4)

4.1 Develop and Implement a Testing Plan

The contractor shall provide and implement a test plan and conduct Quality Assurance Testing (QA) and User Acceptance Testing (UAT) for the deployment of the taxonomy in the initial environment. This includes, developing test cases, conducting UAT meetings to prepare testers and interested stakeholders, recording the agenda and the meeting minutes IAW FERC CIO Meeting Management Procedures (Attachment 5). The test plan shall provide testing and test results for the following:

1. Provide evidence in the form of documented test results that task 2.1 through 2.6 above have been completed

2. Business staff can add, delete, or update the taxonomy without IT intervention

3. The Commission can perform tasks in accordance with task 3.2 above A complete end-to-end submission of all XBRL forms is successful and verified by the COR. All XBRL validations are correct.

4.2 Provide Deployment, Post Deployment and Operations and Maintenance Support Plan

4.2 a The contractor shall provide a plan that describes how they shall deploy, handle post deployment issues for 90 days post deployment and ensure a smooth transition.

4.2 b The contractor shall provide a list to track post deployment issues, triage and fix any development or taxonomy issues, and provide additional training or communications regarding any adjustments.

4.2 c The contractor shall provide a disposition plan that includes a list of all VFP assets to be removed from the Commission. The disposition plan will contain a list of CRQs that must be created and submitted by the contractor. The CRQs will contain the steps to be performed by the IT Support Services to disposition the VFP assets.

4.3 Provide and Execute Communications Plan

The contractor shall provide a Communications Plan that shall set expectations for the FERC Messaging Transition from VFP to XBRL. The contractor shall provide reports, updates, and statuses that involve a project plan, resources, technical details and approach. Communications shall be provided to and approved by the COR.

A communications plan consists of the following steps:

· what we want to accomplish with the communications (our objectives),

· ways in which those objectives can be accomplished (our goals or work),

· to whom our communications shall be addressed (our audiences),

· how we shall accomplish our objectives (timeframe, meetings, etc.), The audiences requiring communication are as follows, including suggested summaries of communications necessary:

· FERC Executives

· Project Briefing

· Information Overview Session (Town Hall)

· CIO

· Project Plan updates

· Technical details

· Resources

· FERC Program Office Staff

· Special Instructions

· Project Plan

· SharePoint document repository

· Filers of eForms Data

· Physical Media (Posters)

· Email & website updates

· Classroom and Web Based Training

· The public

· Physical Media (Posters)

· Email & website updates

· Classroom and Web Based Training

Task 5: Deployment to Production

The contractor shall deploy the completed system, transition to an operational state, and identify to the government the VFP assets to be dispositioned per the plan described in Section 4.2. The contractor shall validate that the operational system is functioning in accordance with test plans described in Section 4.1. The production system shall have 3 years of converted data as described in the requirement for the project plan in section 1.6.

Task 6: Operations, Maintenance and Support

6.1 Provide ongoing operational and technical support

The contractor shall provide ongoing operational and technical support in accordance with the plan in Section 4.2.

6.2 Provide ongoing operational support of the XBRL taxonomy

The contractor shall develop an operational plan for the supporting updates to the XBRL taxonomy and any other related hardware, software, or services required to support the XBRL taxonomy and applications, databases, reporting, and tools.

6.3 Provide Customer Support

The contractor shall provide Tier 3 and Tier 4 services for customer support incidents related to XBRL system issues. Support must be available during FERC business hours (7:00 AM-6:00 PM (EST) Monday -Friday) excluding holidays and government closures. The FERC definitions for Tier 3 and Tier 4 are as follows:

Tier 3 – Administrative and engineering support for Infrastructure, Enterprise IT Systems and Business Systems. Tier 3 support provides administration including day-to-day system monitoring, higher-level troubleshooting, and an immediate configuration support. Tier 3 support provides escalated support for Enterprise IT and Business Systems.

Tier 4 – Contractor support as well as internal applications developers, engineers and Subject Matter Experts (SME) for Infrastructure, Enterprise IT Systems and Business Systems. This level of expertise has a higher-level skill and view of the IT infrastructure, Enterprise IT Systems and Business Systems. Plan for system availability and capacity using existing performance data and anticipated growth/change needs.

The FERC IT Support Services Contractor shall provide tiers 1 and 2 ticket entry, support and incident routing

Task 7: Security Requirements

7.1 Suitability Requirements

The Contractor shall pre-screen all persons proposed for work under this contract for basic suitability. To facilitate this process, the Contractor shall designate a Security Officer (and an alternate in case of primary Security Officer’s absence) with the authority and responsibility for performing personnel security screening to the maximum extent practical. At a minimum, pre-screening shall include, but not be limited to, criminal records checks, verification of current home address, phone number, and prior work experience.

Other duties shall include the following: ensuring that all security forms are filled out correctly and completely and submitted to the COR in a timely manner; ensuring that only cleared employees are authorized…