Attachment 7_DHMS WF3 AcquServe User Guide HT0038-21-R-0001.pdf

AcquServe User Guide

In support of the Program Executive Office, Defense Healthcare Management Systems

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Table of Contents

Table of Contents .......................................................................................................... ii

List of Figures ............................................................................................................... ii

List of Acronyms .......................................................................................................... iv

1. Introduction

1.1. IdenTrust

1.2. Operational Research Consultants

1.3. Installing your ECA Certificate

1.4. Initial Setup

1.5. Accessing Your Proposal Slot

2. AcquServe Home Page

2.1. Assembling a Proposal

2.2. Tool Bar

Tools

Help

2.3. Welcome Panel

2.4. Recent Changes Panel

2.5. Proposal Submission Panel

3. RFP Questions

3.1. Add Question Tab

3.2. Upload Questions

3.3. View Your Questions

3.4. View Answers

4. Proposal Files

List of Figures

Figure 1. IdenTrust Certificate Center

Figure 2. Buy ECA Certificate

Figure 3. ECA Certificate Home Page

Figure 4. Confirm Certificate

Figure 5. Certificate Setup

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Figure 6. AcquServe - Available Slots

Figure 7. AcquServe Home Page

Figure 8. AcquServe Tool Bar

Figure 9. Tools Menu

Figure 10. Help Menu

Figure 11. Help Desk Detail

Figure 12. Welcome Panel

Figure 13. Recent Changes Panel

Figure 14. Changes Page

Figure 15. Proposal Submission Panel

Figure 16. RFP Questions

Figure 17. Add Question tab

Figure 18. Choose Section

Figure 19. Question Text Box

Figure 20. Upload Questions

Figure 21. Sample Section IDs, Line Reference, and Questions

Figure 22. Upload Questions File Dialog Box

Figure 23. View Questions

Figure 24. Pending Questions

Figure 25. Submitted Questions

Figure 26. View Answers

Figure 27. Proposal Files

Figure 28. Upload Proposal File

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List of Acronyms

CAC Common Access Card

CO Contracting Officer

CSV Comma Separated Values

DHMS Defense Health Management Systems

DoD Department of Defense

ECA External Certification Authority

ORC Operational Research Consultants

PDF Portable Document Format

PIN Personal Identification Number

PIV Personal Identify Verification

PEO Program Executive Office

RFP Request for Proposals

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1. Introduction

AcquServe provides electronic access through a secure website to allow potential offerors the ability to complete all required information and submit their proposal (including all attachments) in response to a proposal request. This aids the government in evaluating acquisitions and reduces submission rounds through a structured submission process for proposal and pricing materials.

This document provides instructions for submitting proposal responses for the Workforce 3.0 – Managed Solution (WF3) Request for Proposals (RFP) using the AcquServe Offeror Submission Portal.

Tasks that offerors may perform include:

• Submitting RFP Questions and Viewing Government Responses;

• Uploading Proposal Files; and

• Submitting and downloading a complete copy of your AcquServe proposal documents.

AcquServe is accessed via a web browser using the following URL:

https://acquserve.edgeaws.noblis.org/DHMS-WF3. Supported web browsers include Internet Explorer (v11 or later), Firefox, and Chrome.

AcquServe is a secure portal and requires a certificate for user authentication. To login, each individual user must have a Department of Defense (DoD) Common Access Card (CAC), U.S Government issued Personal Identity Verification (PIV) card or a DoD External Certificate Authority (ECA) Medium Assurance Certificate. A DoD ECA certificate can be purchased from IdenTrust or Operational Research Consultants (ORC) as described below.

1.1. IdenTrust

To purchase an ECA certificate from IdenTrust, use a web browser to access the following URL: https://www.identrust.com/certificates/dod-eca-programs. The web page shown in Figure 1 will display. Click the BUY NOW button to start the purchasing process.

IMPORTANT NOTE

The instructions in this document do not supersede the instructions provided by the government.

For assistance, please contact the Noblis Help Desk at DHMS-WF3.VendorHelp@noblis.org or call 703-610-2040. You may be asked to provide your Offeror ID and PIN displayed on your Proposal Slot Home Page.

https://acquserve.edgeaws.noblis.org/DHMS-WF3 https://www.identrust.com/certificates/dod-eca-programs mailto:DHMS-WF3.VendorHelp@noblis.org

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Figure 1. IdenTrust Certificate Center

Click on the *No ECA Agency Affiliation Is Required check box, then click the NEXT button. Select the appropriate radio button for your answer regarding living in the United States, then click the NEXT button. Follow the IdenTrust wizard and select the ECA Medium Assurance option (Figure 2). Complete the final steps to purchase the certificate.

Figure 2. Buy ECA Certificate

1.2. Operational Research Consultants

To purchase an ECA certificate from ORC, use a web browser to access the following URL: https://eca.orc.com. The web page shown in Figure 3 will display. Click the Order button for Medium Assurance Identity and Encryption Certificates. Proceed through ORC’s ordering steps to complete the purchase of your certificate.

https://eca.orc.com/

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Figure 3. ECA Certificate Home Page

1.3. Installing your ECA Certificate

After obtaining your digital certificate, install your ECA certificate on the same machine you will using to access AcquServe. You may need to contact your company’s Information Technology (IT) Help Desk depending on your corporate settings or configuration.

1.4. Initial Setup

Use a web browser to access https://acquserve.edgeaws.noblis.org/DHMS-WF3. If you have multiple certificates installed on your machine you will be required to select the correct certificate. If you need to select a different certificate after choosing one, close all browsers and re-enter the URL. Click the OK button to confirm the correct certificate (Figure 4).

Figure 4. Confirm Certificate https://acquserve.edgeaws.noblis.org/DHMS-WF3

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Your certificate information will automatically populate within the AcquServe registration page and be sent to the AcquServe team for account setup. Verify that the Issuer Distinguished Name (DN) displays the company you purchased or obtained your certificate from, Subject DN displays your personal information, and Days Left matches the expiration of your certificate.

Figure 5. Certificate Setup

Please allow up to 24 hours for the Noblis Client Services Help Desk team to complete your account setup and notify you.

After receiving confirmation that your account setup is complete, log into AcquServe using the following URL: https://acquserve.edgeaws.noblis.org/DHMS-WF3.

1.5. Accessing Your Proposal Slot

Once you have received notification that your access to AcquServe is ready, navigate back to https://acquserve.edgeaws.noblis.org/DHMS-WF3 using the same steps used to register. You will receive with the same message from the initial setup in Figure 4. After selecting the same certificate you used to register, the Available Slots page will display in Figure 6. Depending on the setup of the acquisition, you may see one or more available slots. All slots are unique, acquisition specific, and can only be viewed by your proposal team.

Figure 6. AcquServe - Available Slots

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Click on the correct slot to access the AcquServe Home Page (Figure 7).

2. AcquServe Home Page

The AcquServe Home Page (Figure 7) is the default starting page and primary navigation page. It includes links to tools or documents that may be located outside of AcquServe. The Home Page will contain your unique Offeror ID and Personal Identification Number (PIN). This information may be required when you contact the Noblis Help Desk for assistance.

Figure 7. AcquServe Home Page

2.1. Assembling a Proposal

The process of using AcquServe to assemble a proposal includes:

• Uploading your proposal documents into the corresponding Proposal Volumes within the Proposal Files tool

• Submitting your proposal for evaluation using the Proposal Submission Panel

2.2. Tool Bar

To access other pages, use the Tool Bar located at the top of the AcquServe Home Page and all other pages. The Tool Bar provides the following links:

• Tools – Access to various tools

• Help – User assistance

Figure 8. AcquServe Tool Bar

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Tools

To select an AcquServe tool, use the Tools menu on the toolbar (Figure 9).

Figure 9. Tools Menu

The Tools menu links to the following functions:

• Home – Links you back to the AcquServe Home Page (Figure 7).

• Changes – Displays system changes and updates (Figure 14).

• Proposal Files – Upload documents specifically called out for in the RFP (Figure 27).

• RFP Questions – Submit individual questions, bulk questions, and view government responses (Figure 16).

Help

To access help information, use the Help menu on the Tools bar (Figure 10). The Help menu links to the following information:

• Contact Help Desk – Help Desk information

• User Guide – PDF version of this document

Figure 10. Help Menu

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2.2.2.1. Contact Help Desk

To display Help Desk contact information, select Contact Help Desk … (Figure 10).

The information presented includes the Help Desk email address and telephone number as well as your Offeror ID and PIN. To protect sensitive information, Noblis Client Services Help Desk personnel will only answer certain telephone questions after you provide your Offeror ID and PIN.

Figure 11. Help Desk Detail

2.2.2.2. User Guide

Selecting the User Guide option from the Help menu will provide you with an Adobe PDF version of this document.

2.3. Welcome Panel

The Welcome Panel is used to provide brief AcquServe information and quick links to many of the major functionalities of the AcquServe site. A unique Offeror ID and PIN are provided on this screen. If you need to contact our help desk, you may be asked to provide this ID and PIN for verification.

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Figure 12. Welcome Panel

2.4. Recent Changes Panel

The Recent Changes Panel may be used to communicate changes such as proposal due date and time extensions or tool updates. The Recent Changes panel supports the following functions:

• Recent Changes – Displays the five (5) most recent changes.

• View Older Changes – Opens the Changes page, also accessible from the Tools menu. The Changes page displays all system updates (Figure 14).

Figure 13. Recent Changes Panel

Figure 14. Changes Page

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2.5. Proposal Submission Panel

The Proposal Submission Panel allows you submit your completed proposal for evaluation. You may submit your proposal as many times as you would like before the deadline. Only the last submitted copy of your proposal is sent to the evaluation team.

Modifications (Removing or Adding Files/Tables) made after submitting will require you to resubmit by hitting the Submit Proposal button again.

Additional features include:

• Submit Proposal button – Submits the current proposal

• Download Receipt button – Downloads a text receipt containing all the information provided in the submitted proposal

• Download Archive button – Downloads a .zip archive containing all the files, reports, tables, and the receipt of the submitted proposal

• Last Proposal Submission – Displays the time and date of the last proposal submission. During a proposal submission, this area will display a bar showing that the proposal is being submitted.

• Warnings panel – If any findings or warnings were encountered during the last proposal submission, a high-level overview will display here

Figure 15. Proposal Submission Panel

3. RFP Questions

The RFP Questions page allows you to create and submit questions individually or upload multiple questions to the government about the solicitation. Functions in this tool include:

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• Add Question tab – Allows you to submit one question at a time

• Upload Questions tab – Allows you to submit a file containing multiple questions

• View Answers tab – Allows you to view all answers to submitted questions

• View Questions button – Allows you to view previous questions

Note: All questions require a section (or section_id if submitting in bulk/using the Upload Questions tab), line reference, and question text to be submitted. A single question may only be associated with a single section. The Line reference field may accept a single line number, multiple line numbers, and/or a line range. All sections have a randomly assigned section ID associated with it. When using the bulk upload tool, please assign the corresponding section ID to the question using the Download Sections guide.

Figure 16. RFP Questions

3.1. Add Question Tab

The Add Question tab allows you to submit a single question.

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Figure 17. Add Question tab

Begin by clicking on the Select Section button. As shown in Figure 18, you can then select the section that your question relates to from the Choose Section pop-up window.

Figure 18. Choose Section

Enter your question and the referenced line and/or column in the corresponding text box and click the Add Question button to submit it as a pending question.

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Figure 19. Question Text Box

3.2. Upload Questions

The Upload Questions tab provides the option to upload multiple questions at the same time. Use the Download Template button to access the CSV template. Click on Download Sections button to obtain the reference list of the question sections.

Figure 20. Upload Questions

Enter the Section ID associated with the proper section in column A of the template.

Section IDs may be found by clicking on the Download Sections button and referencing the appropriate section name. Enter your related question and line reference in the same row, as illustrated in Figure 21. Save the file when all questions have been entered into the template.

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Figure 21. Sample Section IDs, Line Reference, and Questions

Click on the Upload Questions button to access the dialog box to select your file for upload. Click on Choose Files and located the recently saved template. Once you have confirmed that you have selected the correct template in the tool, click on the Upload button to submit it as pending questions.

Figure 22. Upload Questions File Dialog Box

3.3. View Your Questions

Use the View Questions button on the bottom right of your screen to view or remove your questions. The View Questions menu allows you to view:

• Pending Questions – Displays the table containing your recent pending questions.

• Submitted Questions – Displays the table containing questions that have been submitted to be answered. Note: This table cannot be edited by users.

Figure 23. View Questions

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All submitted questions are placed into the Pending Questions area for your review.

You may delete questions and download a record during this stage. Once questions have been transferred to the government for review, they are removed from pending questions and placed into the Submitted Questions area. Questions within the pending questions area are submitted on hourly basis. Once they have been submitted you may no longer delete the question.

Figure 24. Pending Questions

Figure 25. Submitted Questions

3.4. View Answers

Figure 26 shows the View Answers tab, which allows you to view, search, and download the answers to submitted questions:

• Sort – Sort the Answers Pane by Section or by Date

• Search – Search the text of the questions, answers, and sections for each provided answer. Enter a search keyword into the search field.

• Answers Pane – Displays the answers to all submitted questions along with the question being answered, the section of interest, and the date the answer was posted. Answers reflect the result of any applied search filter or sort order.

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• Navigation Buttons – Navigate across pages if the number of answers requires multiple pages

• Download Button – Download a CSV file containing the answers to all submitted RFP questions. Each line contains the Section ID, the date the answer was posted, the question, and the answer. Downloaded results reflect the result of any applied search filter or sort order.

• Help (?) – Provides help information for this tab

Figure 26. View Answers

4. Proposal Files

The Proposal Files tool allows you to upload, view, remove, and download your proposal files.

Figure 27. Proposal Files

Features of the Proposal Files tool include:

• Add File – Upload a proposal file to a proposal volume

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• Proposal Files View – Displays the names of the files that have been uploaded, organized by proposal volume. Click on a file to view or download it; click on the x next to the filename to remove the file from the Proposal Files tool.

Figure 28. Upload Proposal File

Features of the Upload Proposal File window include:

• Choose Volume dropdown – Select a volume to upload your file to

• Choose File button – Select the proposal file to upload from your local machine

• Upload File button – Upload the file and associate it with the selected volume