Questions and Answers FINAL.pdf

Questions and Answers

Solicitation CC-09-HQ-R-0013

1. In Section 4.4 of the RFP, it states that the Contractor shall provide and maintain the technology utilized to complete the tasks as set forth by this performance work statement. Should this be hosted at OCC's data center, or at our data center?

Response: The contractor is providing a service, hosted at their facilities.

Additionally, responsibility for providing and maintaining any hardware or software requirements will be with the Contractor.

2. In Section 4.1 of the RFP, it states that the Contractor's system shall have the ability to receive data starting 3/1/09. How dedicated is OCC to the 3/1/09 start date?

Response: As stated elsewhere in Section 4.1, "The Contractor's system shall be available and ready to collect, aggregate, validate, store, retrieve and report credit card data at the time of contract award." The OCC expects responses that will meet the deadlines described in the solicitation.

2. So that we could properly size the alternative hosted environments, could you please provide additional information on the nine banks which will be issuing credit card data? More specifically, we need a more precise indication as to the number of accounts and records that will be submitted each month, along with any potential growth factors that may be pertinent for sizing.

Response: As of June 30, 2008, the number of accounts/loans based on "open accounts" at these institutions was approximately 282 million accounts. Most data is collected on an account/loan level basis versus a transaction level.

There are approximately eight main source systems, although there can be numerous peripheral systems, from which data may be collected.

3. We have the capability to provide OCC with a comprehensive data collection, aggregation, validation, storage retrieval and reporting services solution for its credit card data, as described in your RFP. This would be a customized solution specifically designed to meet OCC's needs. Is it OCC's expectation that our solution be available and ready to perform this service immediately upon contract award? Does OCC expect that this would be offered as an external service?

Response: The contractor is providing a service, hosted at their facilities.

Additionally, responsibility for providing and maintaining any hardware or software requirements will be with the Contractor. As stated in section 4.1, "The Contractor's system shall be available and ready to collect, aggregate, validate, store, retrieve and report credit card data at the time contract award." The OCC expects responses that meet the deadlines described in the solicitation.

4. Could the OCC please provide a softcopy of the “Section VI - Past Performance Questionnaire” so that we can send it to our relevant clients to fill out?

Response: The Past Performance Questionnaire is included as an attachment to the RFP.

5. Attachment 8 states that the OCI Disclosure/Representation statement --which we understand is the form attached to the second page of Attachment 8 --is to be completed by the "apparent successful offeror" or by "all firms in the competitive range" when the agency negotiates "individual contracts" with those firms.

However, paragraph 2.1 of the RFP at page 49 states that: "Offerors shall complete Attachment 8, and submit as part of its price and business proposal."

These two directions seem to be materially inconsistent. Which direction is correct? Also please confirm that the OCI Disclosure/Representation statement is the form on the second page of Attachment 8.

Response: The instructions noted in Attachment 8, Organizational Conflicts of Interest Disclosure/Representation are applicable to this requirement. Section IV, 2.1 of the RFP is modified to be consistent with these instructions. All applicable Offerors shall comply with the statement described in paragraph (C) of Attachment 8.

6. The OCC mentions 99% and 99.999% uptime. 99.999% will be considerable more expensive to provide. Could the OCC clarify which level is necessary so that we can price appropriately?

Response: The RFP is modified to reflect the requirement to have 99% availability.

7. Section IV (b) page 45 states “Acknowledgement of Solicitation Amendments”.

We did not identify any amendments to acknowledge in the RFP. Are there any solicitation amendments to acknowledge?

Response: At time of submission, offerors shall acknowledge any solicitation amendments by including a copy of the signed amendment page(s) with their proposals.

8. Paragraph 15.0 suggests that the government will obtain sole ownership of all data collected from participating banks. Under the contract, however, the government will not obtain delivery of the data collected from participating banks. Thus, as currently drafted, paragraph 15.0 provides the government with ownership of data that it will not receive. Instead, the government obtains delivery of reports and access to databases that contain the data obtained from the banks. Moreover, under existing non-governmental contracts, the banks have provided the contractor with ownership rights to the same data (after commingling with other banks' data) that will be provided to the contractor and used under the OCC contract. Because, pursuant to FAR 52.227-17, the government obtains unlimited rights (but not ownership) in data delivered or first produced under the OCC contract, and that such data rights are typically sufficient in government contracting, can the ownership provisions of paragraph 15.0 be deleted?”

Response: The provisions of paragraph 15 remain unchanged.

9. System availability. On page 8, the 2nd bullet states an availability requirement of

99.999%. On page 15, in 4.4 Data Storage, the availability requirement is stated as 99%. The strict 99.999% availability requirement implies the system will be a real-time, on-line transaction processing system. The capabilities of such a system, as well as the associated increased cost to meet the requirement appear inconsistent with the scope of the RFP. Please clarify the requirement.

12. Has the OCC identified which data elements from attachments 1 & 2 are currently available from the banks’ systems? If so, can the OCC identify those data elements?

Response: The contractor shall be required to work with the banks to obtain this information.

13. Do the nine banks currently provide any credit card data or related information whatsoever to the OCC? If so, what is currently provided and how is it submitted to the OCC?

Response: The OCC collects various credit card metrics on a quarterly basis. The field staff obtains the information from the banks and manually input into an OCC database.

14. What provisions will the OCC make under the FFP contract for the unknown number and configuration of internal bank systems, and other variable factors related to the collection of data from potentially multiple systems within each of the nine banks?

Response: The contractor shall be expected to work with the banks to ensure the requirements of the contract are met. If significant issues arise, the contractor shall notify the OCC, accordingly. The OCC will work with the contractor and the Banks to resolve these issues.

15. Are the banks obligated to submit the required data to the OCC under a current mandate or statutory requirement?

Response: The banks are obligated to submit required data under the OCC's supervisory authority.

16. Section 4.2 Data Validation and Verification, page 6, bullet # 6 states, in part, that “edit and data quality rules shall be previously developed and currently in use with existing credit card data collection systems for a significant period of time.”

Specifically, what existing credit card data collection systems is the OCC referring to? What is the OCC’s definition of a significant period of time?

Response: The requirement is for the contractor to implement an initial set of edit and data quality rules based on their knowledge and experience. The expectation is that the contractor shall leverage previous experience with these types of similar efforts to demonstrate the validity of these rules.

17. Must the contractor provide a full disaster recovery capability in a geographically separated center? If so, what are the specific disaster recovery requirements [e.g.

availability, backup, software updates, etc.] for the disaster recovery site?

Response: The contractor shall provide a disaster recovery capability, in accordance with applicable government standard, that is in a geographically separate center. In the event of a disaster, the contractor shall be expected to have systems and data available to the OCC within 24 hours.

18. Will Training need to be provided on MS Excel, Pivot Table and User Design reports?

Response: The statement in section 4.5.3, “These report(s) must be downloadable into a MS Excel format based on the OCC metric dimensions and presentation as depicted in the OCC schedules (see Attachment 3) for the purpose of data analytics, pivot table creation and user designed reports,” requires that the Contractor’s technical solution for reporting supports exporting to Microsoft Excel of the schedules so that users may work with the data external to the Contractor’s system.

19. What is the audience for the 10 possible training sessions that shall be performed at the OCC Training Centers? Banks, OCC or Both?

Response: Users attending the training sessions will include only OCC personnel from both the OCC Field and Headquarters Offices.

20. Is there currently a company providing these services? If so, who?

Response: This is a new solicitation for services as described in the Performance Work Statement.

21. For the 9 banks/credit card issuers providing monthly input data, how many source systems at each institution and approximate volume of accounts per source system?

Response: As of June 30, 2008, the number of accounts/loans based on "open accounts" at these institutions is approximately 282 million accounts. Most data is collected on an account/loan level basis versus a transaction level.

There are approximately eight main source systems, although there can be numerous peripheral systems, from which data may be collected.

22. Page 15, 5.0 Table 1: "Data Collection. The Contractor's system shall be available and ready to collect, aggregate, validate, store, retrieve and report credit card data at the time of contract award."

Page 15, 5.0 Table 1: "Data Collection. The Contractor's system shall have the ability to received data starting March 1, 2009."

Page 17, 5.0 Table 1: "Reporting. The secure website shall be in production ready at the time of contract award. Access to the website shall be provided to OCC approved personnel no later than March 13, 2009."

Question - OCC has stated that the system shall be ready upon contract award, however the data will not be processed until March 1, 2009 with end user access no later than March 13, 2009. What is the process to verify the availability of the solution and criteria to evaluate the technical soundness of the solution upon contract award?

Response: The Contractor’s proposal shall provide appropriate evidence that the proposed solution is currently available or shall be available to meet the deadlines set forth in the Performance Work Statement.

24. Question Reference - RFP CC-09-HQ-R-0013:

Page 9, 4.4: "Loan level data (submission and resubmission) shall be retained for a minimum of eighteen (18) months from the time of receipt. (e.g., Historical data from 2008 shall not be purged until it has been stored within the system for eighteen (18) months.)" Question - What is the OCC's intent for the purged loan level data, i.e. to be archived or destroyed?

Question - What is the OCC's intent for the data and system at the end of the period of performance?

Response: OCC data shall be retained for the life of the contract. Historical data may be archived with prior approval of the OCC. The OCC will maintain ownership of the data as specified in the RFP.

25. Question Reference - RFP CC-09-HQ-R-0013:

Page 16, 5.0 Table 1: "Resubmissions. In the event of resubmission, the Contractor shall update reports previously received or otherwise due (as defined by scheduled detailed herein) within four (4) business days."

Question - What is the data-set scope for resubmission requirements of the monthly reporting, i.e., full submission or incremental changes only?

Response: The selected Contractor shall define the resubmission requirements based on the technical requirements of their solution.

26. Question Reference - RFP CC-09-HQ-R-0013:

Page 8 – 4.4: “OCC reserves the right to periodically transmit data to the contractor for storage and inclusion in reports.”

Question - Can the OCC provide additional information about the frequency and volume of data transmissions?

Response: The scope and frequency of transmitting additional data has not yet been determined. As part of the process of developing specifications for Standardized Reports, the OCC will work with the Contractor to identify data, in excess of that submitted by the banks, which is required for the reports and is maintained by the OCC.

27. The RFP references a need for the Contractor to augment the data from the 9 supervised credit card issuers with data the Contract holds from the same institutions. Please identify the 9 supervised credit card issuers so that we can determine if we hold relevant data.

Response: Due to confidentiality concerns, this information will be provided upon contract award.

28. Is the Contractor required to have previous data collection efforts with the participating institutions?

Response: The contractor shall demonstrate their specific capability and experience to facilitate the government’s determination of the Offeror’s ability to perform successfully on this contract.

29. How often does OCC anticipated needing to gain access to credit bureau data for ad hoc reporting? Does OCC have access to credit bureau data at present?

Response: The Contractor shall provide Credit Bureau data on an as needed basis for reporting as specified by the OCC.

30. OCC references the need for the Contractor to have a set of edit and data quality rules currently in use with existing credit card data collection system for a significant period of time. What constitutes a significant period of time?

Response: The requirement is for the contractor to implement an initial set of edit and data quality rules based on their knowledge and experience. The expectation is that the contractor shall leverage previous experience with these types of similar efforts to demonstrate the validity of these rules.

31. What is a “Single Report”. (4.5.1)?

Response: For clarity and definitional purposes, the Contractor shall detail in their proposal what constitutes the boundaries of a single report as opposed to report specifications, which may require the development of more than one report.

32. Same with 4.9. Does the Training plan have to be submitted prior to contract award or as part of the Contractor’s proposal?

Response: Per the instructions in the RFP, the training plan shall be submitted as part of the vendor’s proposal.

33. Last bullet 4. 2 is confusing. Does the Data Quality Management plan have to be in place prior to contract award or submitted as part of the proposal?

Response: Per the instructions in the RFP, the Data Quality Management plan shall be submitted as part of the vendor’s proposal.

34. Same with 4.4. Does the Data Management Plan have to be submitted prior to contract award or as part of the Contractor’s proposal?

Response: Per the instructions in the RFP, the Data Management Plan shall be submitted as part of the vendor’s proposal.

35. Same with 4.8. Does the Test Plan have to be submitted prior to contract award or as part of the Contractor’s proposal?

Response: Per the instructions in the RFP, the Test Plan shall be submitted as part of the vendor’s proposal.

36. How firm are the timelines for the list of deliverables? Will you accept a revised timeline for implementation?

Response: The OCC is expecting responses that meet the deadlines described in the solicitation.

37. When will the structure/requirements of the reports be provided in advance of the reporting dates?

Response: As detailed in section 4.5.3, “The Contractor shall be responsible for designing, constructing and deploying the standardized reports, within ten (10) business days of receiving a request for creating said reports from the OCC.”

38. Are there a minimum number of reporting data fields required for the starting of the reporting?

Response: The OCC recognizes that bank data quality will initially be reliant on the quality of individual bank information systems; however, the contractor shall be required to work with the banks, as described in the requirements of the Performance Work Statement, to ensure submissions are complete, accurate and timely.

39. Who are the 9 banks specifically?

Response: Due to confidentiality concerns, this information will be provided upon contract award.

40. How were the deadlines for the project created? How firm are they (i.e. supplying reports day 1 of requests?)

Response: The OCC is expecting responses that meet the deadlines described in the solicitation.

41. Once project is up and running-how will you validate that it is working? Do you have standards in place?

Response: Section VII, Performance Requirements Matrix provides the OCC a mechanism for ensuring the performance objectives of the contract are successfully met by the contractor.

42. 4.1-"the contractor shall be available and ready to collect, aggregate, validate, store, retrieve, and report credit card data and the time of contract award"-Is this meant from a contractor product perspective, or specific to OCC data requests?

Response: The Contractor’s technical solution shall be available to collect, aggregate, validate, retrieve and report the OCC’s specific credit card data requirements at time of the contract award.

43. 4.2-"the contractor shall be responsible for performing prior analysis on individual and aggregate metrics and on benchmark analysis metrics"-define prior analysis please Response: The RFP is modified to state, “The Contractor shall be responsible for performing analysis on individual and aggregate metrics and on benchmark analysis metrics.

44. 4.2-for a "Data Quality Management Plan" that is due with a proposal, does OCC mean it's own data? Public data examples?

Response: The Data Quality Management Plan shall detail the Contractor’s management of the data from the nine participating banks.

45. 4.4-24x7 access and 99.999% availability- is this realistic?

46. 4.5-Website to be production ready at time of contract award? What kind information should be on site? What constitutes production ready?

Response: The Contractor’s technical solution shall be available to collect, aggregate, validate, retrieve and report the OCC’s specific credit card data requirements at time of the contract award.

47. Section 508 compliance-is this the OCC standard?

Response: OCC is required to comply with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended and support OCC Equal Opportunity (EEO) policy, which defines the OCC workforce to include individuals with disabilities.

48. 4.9-System Training-should this be a generic report that is due with the proposal?

Response: See Section 4.9 of the Performance Work Statement for the requirements on System Training.

49. Will OCC provide specific training requirements before proposals are due?

Response: As described in section 4.9, the Contractor shall submit to the OCC their training plan as part of their proposal. The training plan shall be reflective of the vendor’s proposed technical solution to meet the requirements of the Performance Work Statement.

50. The second sentence of SOO, Section 4.2, Page 6, Bullet #3 states: "The rules shall be previously developed and currently in use with existing credit card data collection systems for a significant period of time." Does this imply that the vendor is required to have prior experience specifically with credit card data collection systems?

Response: The requirement is for the contractor to implement an initial set of edit and data quality rules based on their knowledge and experience. The expectation is that the contractor shall leverage previous experience with these types of similar efforts to demonstrate the validity of these rules.

51. To foster competition, and to provide sufficient time to respond to the proposal requirements will the Government grant a 30 day extension to the proposal due date?

Response: No, the OCC is expecting responses, which shall meet the deadlines described in the solicitation.

52. There is mention of only 9 banks required to submit data. What happens if the scope of the banks changes over time and the OCC wants to include additional banks? Also, could you please confirm the names of the 9 banks being asked to participate?

Response: An increase beyond the nine banks would be outside the scope of the Performance Work Statement. Due to confidentiality concerns, the names of the banks will be provided upon contract award.

53. This RFP is specific to just Credit Card data. Is there a separate initiative to bring a consolidated risk profile across all products and offerings?

Responses: The OCC is expecting responses, which meet the requirements of the Performance Work Statement.

54. The RFP mentions 50 concurrent users. By concurrent users, does the OCC mean users who are simply logged in and sitting idly (e.g. viewing a report on the screen), or does this refer to the users who are simultaneously clicking on content and waiting for page refresh?

Response: The website shall support a minimum of 50 concurrent users simultaneously clicking on content and waiting for pages to refresh.

55. What is the estimated total number of potential end users who would have access to the system?

Response: Currently, the estimated number of potential users would be 100.

This figure may be adjusted accordingly based on the OCC's needs.

56. For security, does the OCC have an existing security system (LDAP, Active Directory, etc) that you would want to leverage, or do you want the Contractor to provide the security system to define/manage users and rights?

Response: The Contractor is providing a service, hosted at their facilities.

Authentication to the system shall not be dependent on any existing OCC system. Responsibility for providing and maintaining any hardware or software requirements will be with the Contractor – including those for necessary to implement authentication.

57. When banks transfer data to the Contractor, is the desired interface a remote FTP server, a Web based interface, or something else?

Response: The Contractor shall provide a technical solution that meets the requirements of the Performance Work Statement, which allows for secure data transfer between the banks and the Contractor in accordance with applicable Federal mandates.