QAs_1.pdf

93310024Q0008 Learning Management System (LMS) Business Consultant/Analyst Support Services Questions and Answers #1

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

1. Vendor requirements include “five (5) years of experience working with learning management systems within the Federal sector, including all aspects of the Standard Form (SF) -182.” Will FMCS allow for exemption or substitution of this requirement if a company has no prior experience working within the federal sector?

Vendor Requirement 4.1 is hereby modified as follows: “The contractor shall have five

(5) years of experience working with learning management systems as well as knowledge of the unique challenges that come with working in the Federal government (i.e., SF-182 requirement, compliance with federal regulations, and directives for reporting).”

2. Are quoters expected to complete background checks prior to the award notification, thus incurring these costs prior to contract award?

FMCS does not expect and is not asking quoters to incur any costs for completion of background checks prior to submitting a quote. Quoters are responsible for devising their own methods to fulfill this requirement. Regardless of method chosen, the successful quoter will be required to commence work promptly following award with employees who possess the required Tier 2 moderate risk level background check.

3. Will the contractor awardee be precluded from competing for future contracts pertaining to the design, implementation, support, etc. of the FCMS LMS program and related systems?

No. The contractor awardee will not be precluded from competing for future contracts related to the FMCS LMS program.

4. Regarding background clearance, does everyone on the team have to hold Tier 2 clearance or can one proposed team member meet this requirement for the company?

As specified in Attachment 2 – Evaluation Criteria and Submission Instructions, all Key Personnel must have the required clearance as specified in the SOW.

5. Who is considered Key Personnel?

Key Personnel include any individual who will have access to FMCS systems and/or data. All of these individuals will be required to have the specified Tier 2 clearance.

6. Are all 200 Users requiring their own account?

Once FMCS selects the new LMS, 200+ users will require user-level accounts. In addition, approximately 5 admin user accounts will be needed.

7. Does FMCS have a data flow process, approval process, workflow process that shows the data, users’ interactions and the SF-182 approvers that can be shared or described?

The current approval process is a workflow from first level to second and third level supervisors, if required.

8. What are the number of stakeholders we will be interviewing? Are they both internal and external to FMCS?

FMCS expects 5-10 stakeholders, all internal, to be interviewed. Stakeholders will include LMS administrators, IT personnel, administrative assistants, training specialists, and general users.

9. What type of resources beyond managing the LMS365 is being implemented by FMCS?

FMCS is unsure what this question is asking.

10. Can you provide some examples of user frustrations?

Per the LMS Manager: inability to pre-sort/filter data to generate reports, limited administrator view for multiple courses, too many clicks to complete a single task

Per LMS Users: interface is not user-friendly, requires many clicks/extra steps to complete tasks, cannot upload certificates from trainings outside of LMS.

11. What compliance requirements is LMS365 lacking?

The current LMS is not lacking any compliance requirements. However, any alternate LMS demonstrated must be FedRAMP compliant.

12. Can you provide how the eHRI data is to be provided as well as what is the output format and the workflow?

eHRI refers to the ability of the LMS manager to provide data via generated reports for HR to fulfill Federal reporting requirements to OPM/other agencies on completion of mandatory training by agency staff.

13. Where is the LMS expected to reside? With the Contractor?

FMCS expects the LMS to be a fully cloud based solution residing in a FedRAMP authorized cloud provider. If the contractor is hosting, they must also be FedRAMP authorized.

14. Will FMCS require Admin privileges?

At a minimum, the eLearning Training Specialist and one (1) IT person will require full admin privileges to the platform.

15. Will FMCS be required to audit the system?

Yes.

16. Are your current LMS365 issues related to lacking local data backups to facilitate LMS365 recovery?

No.

17. With the intrinsic integration of LMS365 to other Microsoft 365 products, is there an expectation that a replacement application should also integrate with all Microsoft 365 products?

At a minimum, the new LMS should be able to host MS Word/PPT/Excel documents as part of course work, have the ability to send email alerts and calendar invites for LMS courses, and support Single Sign-On (SSO) with Microsoft Active Directory.

18. Does the new system need case management features for medication documentation and the ability to deliver training courses for the department?

The new LMS will not need case management features. However, it should have the ability to register individuals, departments, and specific lists into asynchronous and synchronous courses.

19. What types of training are you looking for? i.e. records management training, new employee onboarding, and mediation certification courses.

FMCS develops its own training and/or uses other Federal agency resources. As such, no training needs to be developed for us. However, FMCS does require ability to develop course work directly within the LMS as well as load a variety of source materials into the LMS (SCORM, multimedia, PDFs, Office365 documents and presentations).

20. Broadly, what are your federal requirements around record keeping and compliance?

FMCS follows the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) regulations, NARA Bulletins, NARA Guidance, Office of Management and Budget (OMB) guidance, and the General Services Agency (GSA). This includes compliance with the Federal Records Act (44 USC Chapter 31); 44 USC Chapters 33 & 35; 36 CFR Chapter XII, Subchapter B; OMB/NARA Managing Government Records Directive (M-12-18); and OMB/NARA Guidance on Managing Email (M-12-16) goals.

21. Your current user base is 200. Is there a potential for user growth in the next 5 years?

FMCS expects growth to remain low over the next 5 years with total numbers remaining under 250.

22. Please elaborate on what is meant by federally mandated training. Are these record-keeping requirements for employees, or federal record-keeping compliance requirements?

Federally mandated training is a suite of trainings (most yearly) required of all Federal employees. Additional trainings dependent upon role and responsibility are required of some employees by agencies other than OPMf (i.e. EEO, Office of General Council, etc.)

as well as the agency itself requiring certain trainings of our staff.

23. Could you provide more details about the current challenges with LMS365 and specific functionalities that FMCS finds lacking?

Many, but most prominent: Interface is not user-friendly for LMS admin and users.

Requires many clicks/extra steps to complete tasks. Generating reports is difficult as there are very limited pre-designed reports making it difficult to provide information on mandatory training completion to various stakeholders difficult. The SF182 is not currently integrated and no opportunity for users to upload certificates for courses completed outside the LMS (making tracking training difficult).

24. Are there any specific functionalities or features that FMCS has prioritized for the new LMS that were not detailed in the Statement of Work?

All functionalities were prioritized and stated in the SOW.

25. What are the primary outcomes FMCS hopes to achieve with the new LMS solution?

More user-friendly interface, less clicking/searching by users, report templates available for use, SF182 integration (one stop shop for all training).

26. Are there any specific deliverables not mentioned in the statement of work that you expect from the contractor?

All deliverables are specified in the Statement of Work.

27. Can you elaborate on the metrics or criteria that will be used to evaluate the effectiveness of the new or enhanced LMS systems?

Criteria for evaluating a new LMS system will be based on the assessment of the analysis conducted by the contractor in Phase 1 of the requirement.

28. Could you specify any particular information security standards or compliance requirements that the new LMS must meet?

The new system must be FedRAMP compliant as well as follow the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) regulations and FMCS Information Custodial Requirements for handling records and data.

29. Are there specific protocols for handling FMCS data during and after the project completion?

See Section 10.0 FMCS Information Custodial Requirements.

30. How does FMCS handle change requests or adjustments to the project scope once the work has begun?

In-scope changes will be processed via Modification to the purchase order. Out-of-scope changes are not allowed.

31. What technical support will FMCS provide to the contractor, particularly regarding access to current systems and databases?

FMCS IT will provide the necessary access to current systems and databases to complete this requirement.

32. Are there preferred technologies or platforms that the contractor is expected to use for the demonstrations and implementations?

Preferred platforms are MS Teams and Zoomgov. IT and LMS manager will ensure appropriate level of access to our platforms, if necessary.

33. Is there a defined budget (magnitude) for this project, and are there constraints or flexibilities that should be considered in the proposed solutions?

FMCS cannot provide information regarding the budget.

34. Are there preferred pricing structures (e.g., per-user, flat-rate, tiered pricing)?

Quoters are to provide a single fixed price to accomplish all of the tasks specified in the SOW.

NOTE: This requirement is not for implementation of a new LMS system.

35. Will FMCS provide any resources or tools, or is the contractor expected to furnish all necessary materials and software?

The contractor is expected to furnish all necessary materials and software to complete the work outlined in the SOW.

36. How flexible are the project timelines, and are there any key milestones or dates that the contractor should be aware of?

The contractor is expected to complete all tasks within the 3-month period of performance stated in 7.0 of the SOW.

37. What is the expected turnaround time for feedback and reviews from FMCS on submitted deliverables?

FMCS project manager/team will work within the established project timeline

38. What are the anticipated risks, and what mitigation strategies does FMCS expect the contractor to implement?

There are no anticipated risks as this requirement is just for a gap analysis and recommendation of a replacement system.

39. How should the contractor report and manage potential issues that may arise during the project?

The contractor will work closely with the Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) and project manager and also provide Weekly Status Reports.

40. Could you specify any systems or platforms that the new LMS must integrate with that were not mentioned earlier? For instance, are there specific HR, payroll, or other internal systems that need seamless integration?

All systems/platforms that need to be integrated are specified either in the SOW or in this document (Q&As #1).

41. Are there additional security protocols or data privacy standards specific to FMCS that need to be adhered to by the new LMS?

The LMS must abide by all Federal standards and regulations. There are no additional security protocols or data privacy standards specific to FMCS.

42. What level of user training and support does FMCS anticipate needing from the LMS provider? How extensive should the training materials and sessions be?

This requirement is not for a new LMS; only an evaluation of the current LMS and demonstration of potential alternate LMS systems. As such, no user training is required.