LMS_Recompete__SOW_2018_Final_Version_5_nh_(4).pdf

Learning Management Platform Support Statement of Work

S t a t e m e n t o f W o r k : L e a r n i n g M a n a g e m e n t P l a t f o r m

1.0 Introduction and Overview

The purpose of this Statement of Work is to procure a contract for s o f t w a r e , s e r v e r l e v e l m a i n t e n a n c e a n d t e c h n i c a l s u p p o r t f o r o u r Learning Management Platform (LMP) for the various distance education courses created by the U.S. Department of Education (Federal Student Aid) for student financial aid administrators. All of these courses as well as the current view of the LMP can be found at https://fsatraining.info/login. The website and domain requires a Registered LMP Partner to provide server level maintenance and technical support for Totara Version

10.0 and higher. We also integrate the Kaltura open source Video (Iris) Version, and a document management tool (Alfresco) within our current platform environment.

1.1 Background

In 2012, Federal Student Aid’s Training and Information Services Division (TISD) implemented a Moodle based learning platform, supported by a contractor. The platform included server set up, hosting and upgrades, Adobe Connect Video conference integration, Kaltura Video Storage and delivery, Alfresco document management system and their own proprietary course registration system. Currently our LMP user profiles exceed 40,000 accounts created over a 5 year period and deliver 120 contact hours of training content to a nationwide audience. We have 3 training developers and 4 administrators employed by the U.S. Department of Education, Federal Student Aid to develop and maintain this LMP.

2.0 Scope of Project

The work shall consist of operations and maintenance of a distance education delivery platform. The solution will deliver and host an online platform for Government provided training materials utilizing a robust backup system such as Amazon Web Services (AWS). The contractor will perform technology support tasks related to Totara, Alfresco and Kaltura open source programs. All course development tasks including content, graphics, and theme CSS design enhancements will be provided by the U.S. Department of Education, Federal Student Aid.

3.0 Constraints

• Shall comply with Sections 504 and 508 of the Rehabilitation Act.

• Shall be functional in Internet Explorer 10+, Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, and Safari

Web browsers (including those that may emerge as industry standards in the future).

• All Current Courses are developed using the Moodle open source standards and will employ the new Totara 11.0 version or higher.

4.0 LMP Requirements

• Deliver and host an online platform for Government developed Totara Theme.

• Shall support all themes that are open source coding developed by Totara Partners.

• Shall support all current plugin modules used by the U.S. Department of Education (ED). ED understands the vendor would need to vet the plugins and determine applicability with Totara versions 11.0 or higher.

• Shall be readily accessible to Federal Student Aid user.

• Be able to support up to 10,000 or more users annually. Be able to support a daily average volume of https://fsatraining.info/

100 real time online users. Future use of the LMP may require a user volume of 500-1000 real time online activity.

• The system must be accessible 24 hours a day / 7 days a week, except scheduled maintenance and upgrade periods.

• Vendor should meet all industry standards for website secure sign-on requirements.

o Provides a dedicated environment.

o Includes hardware independence. If a server fails, vendor should immediately switch service to an available working resource.

• Allows ED/FSA to retain control of the administration of our LMP.

• The vendor shall notify the Department of any scheduled maintenance periods or software upgrades within 48 hours of its occurrence and provide an explanation of the maintenance or upgrade. Should a system outage occur and cause the system to be unavailable for more than 15 minutes, the vendor shall notify the Department immediately after identifying the problem, providing possible solutions and timeframe for when the system will be operational.

• An after action report of problem and how solved to be submitted via a case portal.

• The vendor shall update the LMP to the latest Totara version once testing and approval are completed. Vendor shall have a “sandbox” site for LMP administrators to test new Totara versions or updates prior to updating production site. Updates shall occur no less than once per year.

• Provide system administrators with any additional training documentation applicable to the LMP.

o If possible, provide an integrated Adobe Connect plug-in for the Learning Management

Platform.

• Provide for the delivery of pre-recorded video/audio files using a proprietary plugin or the Kaltura open source Video (Iris) Version.

o Provide a minimum of 2 Terabytes of video/audio throughput annually.

5.0 Training and Customer Service

• Provide an intuitive self-paced online training course or other training resources for Administrators on the use of the system that is available on-demand.

• Provide access to a customer service help desk for administrators such as a case portal. The customer service response rate should be within same business day depending on the urgency of the case submitted.

• Provide access to a technical support help desk for administrators.

6.0 Webinar

• If possible, provide a Learning Management Platform plug-in or interface with Adobe

Connect

• Procure a contract with Adobe Connect for Webinar services that allows for the delivery of single events for up to 1,500 seminar participants. Additionally, the platform should also support small repeating events. The solution must include the following:

Audio/video streaming content Audio and text files Unlimited bandwidth and disk usage Capable of uploading MS Office and PDF documents A variety of learner assessment options Coursework assignments and retrieval A forum environment that permits collaborative discussion on assigned topic

Up to 10 Administrator accounts

7.0 Transition between Vendors

The vendor of record shall work with FSA staff at the beginning and the end of a contract to ensure a seamless transition, including but not limited to, in the transfer/migration of existing data files/records to the newly procured vendor. The new vendor of record shall provide a production and sandbox site that includes the Totara version 10.0 or higher no later than 30 days after the official contract start date. The transition between vendors must safeguard against any disruption of service and loss of pre-existing data.