Presolicitation_Questions_-_FMSITSS.pdf

Pre-Solicitation Questions to Vendors

This is a Request for Information (RFI) issued for market research purposes only.

Solicitations are not available at this time and requests for a solicitation will not receive a response. This notice does not constitute a commitment by the Government, implied or otherwise, that the Government will take any procurement action in this matter. The Government will not be responsible for any costs incurred by respondents or others in furnishing information in response to this RFI.

PBGC intends to issue a single-award, multi-year IDIQ to a vendor for information technology (IT) support services for its financial systems (described in the attached draft statement of objectives). This includes development, modernization and enhancement activities as well as steady-state operations and maintenance of those financial systems. The proposed target date for award is in March of 2018.

In an effort to develop a thorough solicitation, PBGC requests that interested vendors please review the attached draft documentation and provide any recommendations or feedback on ways to improve a potential solicitation. In particular, if interested vendors can provide responses to the following questions it would be appreciated:

1. Are there small businesses capable of satisfying the requirements of the Draft SOO and performing successfully on resulting Task Orders? PBGC is interested in capability statements and/or relevant past experience to demonstrate the business’s capabilities.

2. Are there any task areas under this proposed IDIQ that are unclear or task areas you would suggest adding or removing? Please provide suggested clarification.

3. Is there any additional background or information what would be helpful in understanding the requirements? Are there any pre-solicitation activities (i.e. industry days, etc.) that PBGC could undertake to help increase the quality of submitted proposals?

4. Do you have any recommendations on how best to structure task orders against the IDIQ to maximize staffing efficiency and support for the systems? For example, one task order may include operations and maintenance support (to include periodic maintenance releases) for all systems and then individual task orders issued for individual large development efforts (that may span systems). Alternatively, task orders could be issued for functional tasks across systems such as testing, technical writing, Oracle eBusiness Suite administration/development, report development, technical expertise (e.g. Java, .Net) etc.

5. What details could be included in the task order (based on task area) that would allow you to best estimate the level of effort required to support the tasks?

6. Please provide any feedback or recommendations you have on ordering procedures for task orders.

7. PBGC anticipates awarding at minimum a single task order for system support along with the award of this contract vehicle. It is anticipated that not all systems will be supported on this contract on day-one but will gradually be transitioned to this contract over time until all systems are supported by this contract vehicle. Please provide any thoughts on how this transition might best be addressed (e.g. through task order, CLINs, etc.) to ensure that an end-state exists where all PBGC financial systems are supported by a single team that maximizes sharing of resources.

8. While technical expertise will be the primary skill required, PBGC will also expect the successful vendor to be specialized in the development and maintenance of financial and accounting IT systems. Please provide any thoughts how best to ensure vendors provide financial/accounting as well as IT technical expertise.

9. PBGC envisions engaged and active program management that provides not only just oversight of task activities but actively provides a common, program-wide cross-system view of efforts and seeks to increase program maturity and best meet goals across systems. Please provide any suggestions for requirements that might elicit engaged and active program and cross-system management.

10. Do you have any thoughts on requirements for Key Personnel and other staffing to ensure that PBGC selects the best team with the right skills?

11. Do you have any recommendations for elements to include in a pricing schedule to allow for PBGC to accurately understand the proposed cost for services (i.e. labor rates, labor categories, cost period, etc.)

12. PBGC anticipates using a variety of system development methodologies to complete development efforts from Waterfall to Agile. What contract structure would provide you as the vendor the ability to use and match development methodology to the project and stakeholder preferences?

13. What would be an adequate amount of time to submit proposals after solicitation publication?

14. In regard to performance metrics, what elements can be included that might incentivize meeting and exceeding performance targets?

15. Can you suggest any appropriate performance targets that might be appropriate for the task areas identified?

16. While a significant new system development effort may not be requested on day-one, PBGC would like to evaluate proposals for similar efforts in awarding of the IDIQ. What elements can be included in a solicitation to allow vendors to demonstrate their capabilities for developing new IT systems? For example, would a sample task be the best method?

17. Can you please provide any feedback on the proposed instructions to offerors, proposal format and associated evaluation methods?

18. Please share any information you would like to provide on your capabilities in the task areas covered in the draft IDIQ

19. Do you have any suggestions for potential metrics to measure successful performance.

20. Please provide any other suggestions or recommendations that you may have regarding this proposed solicitation.