CECLSA PD.docx

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PRODUCT DESCRIPTION (PD)

DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS

Office of Information and Technology Cisco Enterprise Collaboration License Support Agreement (CECLSA)

1.0 BACKGROUND

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Office of Information and Technology (OIT), strives to provide high quality, effective, and efficient Information Technology (IT) services to those responsible for providing care to the Veterans at the point-of-care as well as throughout all the points of the Veterans’ health care in an effective, timely and compassionate manner. VA has a heavy investment in Cisco Systems, Inc. (hereinafter referred to as Cisco) hardware and software, which requires licensing and services for products such as servers, Unified Communications, routers, firewalls, and switches. These products require licensing and technical support services from the vendor to function as intended, and accommodate the capacity, speed, functionality, and security required by the VA to perform enterprise functions and provide services to veterans.

This contract seeks to continue license renewals and Cisco Gold Partner level premium support for vital Cisco product inclusive of Cisco Collaboration Flex Plan, Cisco Intersight Infrastructure Service, Cisco Modeling Labs (CML), Cloud Services Router (CSR) 1000V Virtual Routers, Cisco Unified Border Element (CUBE) services, and Virtual Cisco Unified Session Initiation Protocol Proxy (vCUSP) services. All software licensing and support coverage shall include technical remote assistance 24 hours a day seven days a week, patches, bug fixes, and minor and major software upgrades. Support shall also include access to the Cisco Technical Assistance Center (TAC) 24 hours a day/seven days a week. Contract may also require contractor to provide and support documentation efforts for VA security assessment and authorization (A&A).

2.0 SCOPE OF WORK

The Contactor shall provide Cisco Collaboration Flex Plan, Cisco Intersight Infrastructure Service, CML, CSR 1000V Virtual Router subscriptions, CUBE, and CUSP licensing; in order to provide technical and premium operational support, licenses, and services for VA employees, VA owned or operated servers, and pre-production lab environments. In addition, the contractor shall provide and support documentation efforts for VA security A&A.

3.0 PERFORMANCE DETAILS

The Period of Performance (PoP) shall be one 12-month Base Period, ten Optional Tasks, and four 12-month Option Periods.

3.1 PLACE OF PERFORMANCE

Tasks under this PD shall be performed at Contractor facilities. No on-site requirements are needed for this agreement, services are expected to be provided remotely via commonly used remote software such as Webex, Virtual Private Network (VPN), Citrix Access Gateway (CAG), or Microsoft Teams from within the Continental United States (CONUS) and Outside Continental United States (OCONUS).

4.0 GOVERNMENT FURNISHED PROPERTY

The Government has multiple remote access solutions available to include CAG, Site-to-Site VPN, and RESCUE VPN.

The Government’s issuance of Government Furnished Equipment (GFE) is limited to Contractor personnel requiring direct access to the network to: development environments; install, configure and run Technical Reference Model (TRM) approved software and tools (e.g., Oracle, Fortify, Eclipse, SoapUI, WebLogic, LoadRunner); upload/download/ manipulate code, run scripts, and apply patches; configure and change system settings; check logs, troubleshoot/debug, and test/QA.

When necessary, the Government will furnish cell phones or laptops, for use by the Contractor to access VA networks, systems, or applications to meet the requirements of this PD. The overarching goal is to determine the most cost-effective approach to providing needed access to the VA environment coupled with the need to ensure proper Change Management principles are followed. Contractor personnel shall adhere to all VA system access requirements for on-site and remote users in accordance with VA standards, local security regulations, policies, and rules of behavior. GFE shall be approved by the COR and VA Program Manager (PM) on a case-by-case basis prior to issuance.

Based upon the Government assessment of remote access solutions and requirements of this PD, the Government estimates that the following GFE will be required by this PD:

1. 5 Laptops

2. 5 Cell Phones

The Government will not provide IT accessories including but not limited to Mobile Wi-Fi hotspots/wireless access points, additional or specialized keyboards or mice, laptop bags, extra charging cables, extra Personal Identity Verification card readers, peripheral devices, or additional Random Access Memory (RAM). The Contractor is responsible for providing these types of IT accessories in support of the TO as necessary and any VA installation required for these IT accessories shall be coordinated with the COR.

A Status of Government Furnished Equipment Report shall be delivered to the COR and VA PM as required.

5.0 SPECIFIC TASKS AND DELIVERABLES

The Contractor shall provide all licenses, support, tools, services as described in section 5 of this PD inclusive of all subsections.

In the event Cisco changes any licenses, support or services contained in the PD during the period of performance of this contract, the Contractor agrees it will not provide services at a reduced level to what is currently maintained at the time of contract award.

5.1 PROJECT MANAGEMENT

The Contractor shall provide program management to accomplish the administrative, managerial, logistical, technical, quality assurance/quality improvement, reporting, and security requirements as described in this PD. The Contractor shall identify an individual as the primary Point of Contact (POC) for all project matters. Intellectual property owned by the VA shall be provided to the Contractor in an electronic format and transmitted by a secure communication methodology for use under this PD.

5.1.1 CONTRACTOR PROJECT MANAGEMENT PLAN

The Contractor shall deliver a Contractor project Management Plan (CPMP) that lays out the Contractor’s approach, timeline and tools to be used in execution of this contract. The CPMP shall take the form of both a narrative and graphic format that displays the schedule, milestones, risks and resource support. The CPMP shall also include how the Contractor shall coordinate and execute planned, routine, and ad hoc data collection reporting requests as identified within the PD. The initial baseline CPMP shall be delivered within 10 business days of the award and concurred upon by the Government and updated in accordance with Section B of the Contract. The Contractor shall designate Contractor project Manager and any additional support personnel they deem necessary and provide the contact information of each individual as part of the CPMP (this will be inclusive of any Cisco designated support personnel as defined in this PD). The Contractor shall update and maintain and deliver the CPMP throughout the period of performance. The CPMP is at a minimum to be updated annually and at the start of each PoP and upon VA request during contract performance.

As part of the CPMP the following elements shall be included:

1. Meeting Reviews – The Contractor shall provide a summary of all ongoing meetings, activities, and deliverables as defined in this PD and their status.

1. Project Management Support – Including Resource Allocation, Training, Personnel, and all other efforts necessary to facilitate contract activities.

Deliverable:

A. Contractor Project Management Plan

5.1.2 JOINT PROGRAM MANAGEMENT OFFICE

Support and management oversight of this contract shall be organized under a Joint Program Management Office (JPMO) that will coordinate general support activities, educational activities, and related support requirements. The JPMO shall consist of the VA COR, VA Program Manager, VA Technical Leads, and key Contractor Management Team personnel. Contractor Management team may consist of any prime and sub-contracted support personnel. The Contractor shall provide and update as needed a single unified Contractor Staff Support Roster. This roster shall also include all required elements as required in paragraph 8.6 minus any Personally Identifiable Information which shall be provided to the COR and Program Manager separately using secure VA approved methods.

The Contractor will provide the COR and Program Manager a single unified report which will include the Contractor support staff name, work e-mail, business contact number, and assigned technology area. The format of this report shall be agreed upon by the Contractor, COR, and PPM. This report shall be updated at a minimum on a quarterly basis unless updates are required due to personnel changes.

The initial Contractor Team Roster shall be delivered to the COR and Program Manager within 10 business days of award. Changes to any assigned Contactor representatives on the JPMO shall be provided to the COR/Program Manager within five business days of change or one business day prior to any scheduled monthly JPMO Meeting whichever is first.

The VA Program Manager in coordination with the CO, COR may issue VA Standard Operating Procedures to support effective oversight and implementation of elements of this contract to which the Contractor shall be required to adhere.

Deliverable:

A. Monthly Contractor Staff Support Roster

5.1.3 PRIVACY TRAINING

The Contractor shall submit Talent Management System (TMS) Training Certificates of completion for VA Privacy and Information Security Awareness and Rules of Behavior and provide signed copies of the Contractor Rules of Behavior in accordance with Section 9, Training, from Appendix C of the VA Handbook 6500.6, “Contract Security”.

The Contractor shall track the status of VA Privacy and Information Security Awareness and Rules of Behavior training for all individuals engaged on the task. The status reporting shall identify a single Contractor Security POC, the names of all personnel engaged on the task, their initial training date for VA Privacy and Information Security and Rules of Behavior training, and their next required training date. This information shall be submitted as part of the Contractor’s Progress, Status, and Management Report. The training referenced above is required to be renewed annually.

Deliverable:

A. TMS Training Certificates (VA Privacy and Information Security Awareness and Rules of Behavior)

5.1.4 ELEVATED PERMISSIONS TRAINING

The Contractor shall ensure that all personnel have completed any and all required training prior to giving any elevated permissions to production or pre-prod environments as deemed by the VA’s Security regulations. The Contractor shall provide Elevated Permissions Training Documentation to the COR and Program Manager. The Contractor will follow VA policies and procedures to identify the need for any elevated permissions and will follow the least privilege model.

Deliverable:

A. Elevated Permissions Training Documentation

5.1.5 ONBOARDING

The Contractor shall manage the onboarding of its staff. Onboarding shall include steps to obtain a VA network and email account, complete training, initiate background investigations, and gain physical and logical access, which may include elevated privileges to the necessary development and test environments for the various systems to be enhanced.

A single Contractor Onboarding POC shall be designated by the Contractor who tracks the onboarding status of all Contractor personnel. The Contractor Onboarding POC shall be responsible for accurate and timely submission of all required VA onboarding paperwork to the COR or his/her onboarding designee. The Contractor shall be responsible for tracking the status of all its staff’s onboarding activities. The Contractor shall provide an Onboarding Status Report which includes updates for all in-process staff, including any staff with outstanding onboarding requests for review by the COR and his/her onboarding designee.

Deliverable:

A. Onboarding Status Report

5.1.6 PROJECT KICKOFF MEETING

A kickoff meeting shall be held virtually within seven calendar days after receipt of order. The Contractor shall coordinate the date and time of the virtual meeting with the Contracting Officer (CO), the VA PM, the Contract Specialist (CS), and the Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR). The Contractor shall provide a draft agenda to the CO and VA PM at least three calendar days prior to the meeting. Upon Government approval of a final agenda, the Contractor shall distribute to all meeting attendees. During the kickoff-meeting, the Contractor shall present, for review and approval by the Government, the details of the intended approach, work plan, and project schedule for each effort via a Microsoft Office PowerPoint presentation. This shall include a plan to discuss delivery schedule requirements. At the conclusion of the meeting, the Contractor shall update the presentation with a final slide entitled “Summary Report” which shall include notes on any major issues, agreements, or disagreements discussed during the kickoff meeting. The Contractor shall submit the final updated presentation to the CO for review within three calendar days after the meeting. The Contractor shall also work with the CS, the Government’s designated note taker, to prepare and distribute the meeting minutes of the kickoff meeting to the CO, COR, and all attendees within three calendar days after the meeting. The Contractor shall obtain concurrence from the CS on the content of the meeting minutes prior to distribution of the document. For option periods, a kick-off meeting is only needed if requested by the VA PM.

Deliverables:

A. Project Kickoff Meeting Agenda B. Project Kickoff Meeting Minutes

5.1.7 MONTHLY JOINT PROGRAM MANAGEMENT OFFICE MEETING

The Contractor shall conduct and manage virtual monthly JPMO meetings between the VA COR, Program Manager, and Contractor staff. The Contractor (or its designated lead) shall discuss issues, track action items, discuss progress, review deliverables, and address any topics related to the services being provided under this contract. The Contractor shall provide the meeting agenda to all attendees at least one calendar day prior to the meeting. JPMO meeting minutes shall be provided to all attendees within five business days after the meeting. The meeting minutes shall also include any Contractor documentation that was provided for and/or presented at the monthly meetings. The Contractor will provide detailed reporting on any pending action that has had a duration of more than 45 days in any severity level. Reporting format for these meeting minutes shall be coordinated and approved by the COR and Program Manager.

Deliverable:

1. Monthly JPMO meeting minutes.

5.1.8 MIDPOINT GOVERNANCE COMMITTEE MEETING

The Contractor shall participate in a Midpoint Governance Committee (MGC) review, conducted virtually, with OIT leadership to brief on general progress and organizational priorities being supported under this contract. The MGC location will be announced at least 20 business days prior to the event and will be rotated at locations throughout VA. The MGC shall be conducted once a year at an agreed upon time approximately six months into the period of performance. The MGC may be a mix of onsite and virtual attendees from both VA and the Contractor, with the participants primarily consisting of mid-level OIT leadership. Tasks accomplished by the Contractor’s team shall be reported and presented during this meeting. A draft report format and proposed content structure shall be provided and concurred on by the COR and Program Manager. All presentation slides/minutes shall be delivered at least four hours prior to any scheduled MGC.

Deliverable:

1. Governance Committee Slides/Minutes

5.1.9 ANNUAL EXECUTIVE PROGRAM MANAGEMENT REVIEWS (PMR)

The Contractor shall participate in an annual program management review that will be presented to VA senior IT leadership on the status of the overall contract. The purpose of this review is to provide VA senior IT leadership with a “snapshot” of the overall program, ongoing work efforts, meeting performance metrics and service level agreements and any VA designated topics. Contractor travel expenses shall be included in the firm-fixed price of this effort and will not be directly reimbursed to the Contractor. Within five business days after the meeting the Contractor shall provide meeting minutes that include topics covered, key issues/discussion points, actions and copies of all presentations. Coordination of this PMR shall be managed by the VA COR in conjunction with the Program Manager with Contractor support. Format and general content of this PMR briefing shall be provided by VA with guidance from VA senior IT leadership.

Deliverable:

1. Annual PMR Minutes

5.1.10 AD HOC/TIGER TEAM MEETINGS

As determined by VA the Contractor shall support ad-hoc meetings, briefings and task specific tiger teams to meet unique or special requirements under this contract. Requests for this support presented to the Contractor by any VA IT staff member must be vetted and approved by the COR, Program Manager. The Contractor shall designate personnel to support and virtually attend meetings with VA representatives at a time and frequency as requested by the lead for the meeting or tiger team. Meetings will be documented, and meeting minutes published and copies to be provided to the VA COR, Program Manager. The Contractor shall deliver the meeting minutes for any ad-hoc or tiger team meeting one day prior to the next meeting or within five business days, whichever comes first. Ad-hoc and Tiger Team efforts and progress will be reported during meetings of the JPMO, CPMP, and MSC as directed by the COR or Program Manager.

Deliverable:

1. Ad-Hoc/Tiger Team Meeting Minutes

5.1.11 USER ACCESS AND REPORTING

The Contractor shall forward electronically all requests from all sources for the addition of authorized users to the CECLSA to the COR and VA PM for review and approval prior to authorization. Access may not be granted without VA approval. The Contractor shall provide on quarterly basis or upon change a User Access report of all users authorized to use the CECLSA for review and updates. The COR and VA PM shall review and provide any required updates and changes, and actions to the Contractor. The Contractor then shall complete all required changes within five business days.

Deliverable:

A. Quarterly User Access Report

5.2 CISCO COLLABORATION FLEX PLAN LICENSE AND SERVICE

Contractor shall deliver Cisco Collaboration Flex Plan licenses to include cloud, on-premises, and hosted collaboration services and licensing in one unified service and shall provide technical and operational support for meetings, messaging, and unified communications /calling services for VA Knowledge Workers (employees), to include software, upgrades, and support.

The Contractor shall deliver Cisco Collaboration Flex Plan licenses, services and support to VA for the following capabilities and quantities:

Table 1: Base Year Cisco Collaboration Flex Plan

(Section 5.2.1)

(Section 5.2.2)

(Section 5.2.1)

(Section 5.2.1)

(Section 5.2.1)

(Section 5.2.1)

(Section 5.2.1)

(Section 5.2.1)

* The 340,000 KWs at Item 1 in Table 1 must result in 408,000 Calling Entitlements being made available with no additional action needed from VA COR.

** The 340,000 Webex, Webex Teams authorized registration accounts at Item 4 in Table 1 can increase by 20% to 408,000 at no additional cost to the Government.

In addition, all quantities contained in Table 2 shall meet or exceed the following requirements:

1. All Meeting Audio shall have options for Meeting Toll Dial-In Audio or CCA-SP +VoIP.

1. The common area shall be set at 60% of the KW count to include 20% growth.

1. Essential Licenses for analog and Fax machines, shall be set at 2 for every 10KW

1. TelePresence Rooms shall be set at 1 for every 100KW

1. IP Phone licenses shall be set at 1.2 for every 1KW

1. Unity Connection – Enhanced shall be set at 1.2 for every 1 KW

1. Emergency Responder (e911) shall be set at 3 for every 1KW

1. Survivable Remote Telephony (SRST) shall be set at 2 per 1 KW

1. Communications Manager Express (CME) shall be set at 1 for every 10KW

1. Unity Express shall be set to 1 for every 10KW.

5.2.1 CALLING LICENSING AND SERVICES

The Contractor shall deliver enterprise level calling licensing and services under the Cisco Collaboration Flex Plan to include access to Cisco hosted Private Branch Exchange (PBX) calling features as well as Webex, Webex Teams, Webex Hybrid Services, Cisco Unified Communications (UC) Manager, Cisco UC Communications Manager Session Management Edition (SME) Cisco Expressway Series (Core and Edge), Cisco Unity Connection, Soft Clients, Emergency Responder 911, Cisco Unified Survivable Remote Site Telephony (SRST), Cisco Unity Express, Cisco Unified Communications IM and Presence (IM&P), legacy Cisco Jabber and Cisco Unified Attendant Consoles, current and future versions of all software. Webex services include features of meetings, events, training, and support.

All Webex and related Webex Teams services shall be provided as Software as a Service (SaaS) and all components shall be hosted in a Contractor provided cloud hosted service that is Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program authorized (FedRAMP) at a moderate Federal Information Security Modernization Act (FISMA) impact level. The VA Unified Communications Infrastructure team shall have operational and management oversight of this capability with coordination of the COR and VA PM.

For all Webex and related Webex Teams services the number of authorized registration accounts for VA users shall be set initially at 408,000 accounts.

Webex Teams shall provide messaging, File Sharing, white boarding, Video, calling, and seamless communication between government and non-government users. File storage shall include a minimum of 20 GB of data, per KW, and must be stored in a FedRAMP moderate with the ability to utilize common Data Loss Protection (DLP) 3rd party products.

Webex Hybrid services shall include Hybrid Call Service, Calendar Service, Directory Service, Video Mesh, and Data Security Service.

Hybrid Call Service integrate VA call control with Cisco Webex Teams and Cisco Webex Meetings.

Video Mesh Service, Webex meeting engine on-premises to provide local media processing for on-premises video quality and optimized Internet bandwidth.

Webex shall include Cloud Device Registration service for Webex Room and Desk Devices for DX series, DX70, DX80, EQX, MX series, MX200 G2, MX300 G2, MX700 (all), MX800 (all), SX series, SX10, SX20, SX80, Webex Codec Plus and Pro, Webex Quad Camera, Webex Room 50, Webex Room 55, Webex Room 55 Dual, Webex Room 70 Dual, Webex Room 70 Dual G2, Webex Room Kit, Webex Room Kit P60, Webex Room Kit Plus & Pro Whiteboarding and Mark Up, Cisco Room Bar Pro, Cisco Room Navigator, Cisco Board 55, Board Pro 55, Board Pro 75.

Cloud Device registration will include Connectivity and Sharing from Webex Team application.

5.2.2 CONTACT CENTER LICENSING AND SERVICES

The Contractor shall deliver enterprise level contact center licensing and services under the Cisco Collaboration Flex Plan to include premium capabilities to include browser-based agent desktop, inbound and outbound voice, call recording, touch-tone Interactive Voice Response (IVR), web and voice callbacks, and standard Customer Relationship Connectors (CMR), omnichannel communication such as chat and email, multi-channel reporting and analytics, and supervisor monitoring and barge-in for all types of agents, current and future version of all software. These licenses and services will be deployed at VA on-premises locations.

This service includes design, support, and operational support for the Cisco Unified Contact Center Enterprise (UCCE) platform, as well as the Cisco Packaged Contact Center Enterprise (PCCE) and Cisco Unified Contact Center Express (UCCX). Due to the extensive enterprise support requirements of this platform and to deliver the specific skills, practices, and capabilities to the end user community above and beyond basic entry level product certifications the Contractor shall either have certification as an Advanced Technology Partner (ATP) for this platform or have access to a support vendor that has this same ATP certification for the duration of this effort.

5.2.3 CISCO COLLABORATION FLEX PLAN SUPPORT AND BASE REQUIREMENTS

The Contractor shall provide premium support services for all Enterprise Calling and Contact Center applications and services associated with the Cisco Collaboration Flex Plan inclusive of all services and software as described herein. All hosted Webex services shall have basic support. Cisco Collaboration Flex Plan includes on-premises licensing and software delivery via the existing VA Cisco hosted Smart Net Licensing Portal. The workspace for these services shall be active and available no later than 30 business days after award.

Deliverable(s):

1. Collaboration Flex Plan licensing and software delivered to Cisco hosted Smart Net Licensing Portal

5.2.3.1 CISCO COLLABORATION FLEX PLAN REPORT

The Cisco Collaboration Flex Plan Report shall track and report the following on a quarterly basis to monitor and manage the Cisco Collaboration Flex Plan inventory:

· Total Active Knowledge Workers

· Total Users

· Total Contact Center Concurrent Agents

· Total Active Meeting Hosts/Users

The Contractor shall access the VA Cisco Workspace and determine the number of Knowledge Workers who have used computing or communications devices capable of running the Contractor provided Cloud Services and using the software as defined in this PD as part of their job duties. Knowledge Worker count also includes the employees of any VA affiliate that may use these services.

Utilizing the Cisco provided cloud hosted services the Contractor shall meter and determine the Total Active Meeting Hosts that have initiated at least one “Meeting” in Webex Meetings, Webex Teams, or by phone using a Webex personal conferencing number.

Upon written request from the Contractor, VA will assist and make information available to facilitate verification of the number of Concurrent Agent Contact Center services or software licenses that have been installed, accessed, deployed, or activated. VA and Contactor shall agree that this Concurrent Agent Contact Center count is a true and valid count for the purposes of this review.

Deliverable(s):

A. Cisco Collaboration Flex Plan Report

5.3 TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE CENTER (TAC)

The Contractor shall provide unlimited, direct access to the Cisco TAC for technical US Based Support for all products under this PD. The Contractor shall provide Cisco coverage 24 Hours x 7 Day x 365 Days per Year (24x7x365) via telephone, a web-based portal, e-mail, chat and applications for all hardware and software technical issues. The Contractor shall provide Cisco tracking and progress of the technical support being provided and shall report it as part of the Monthly Status Report. The Cisco TAC shall provide first call access to Cisco support directly to all authorized VA staff and partner contractor support members needing assistance on VA managed Cisco products. VA is the final authority as to whom to grant access to use these services. PD section 5.1.4 defines how access to use the services set forth in this contract is granted and reviewed.

All TAC cases will be opened under this service shall use the standard severity levels as defined in the table 2 below. Cases may be elevated from lower severity levels as needed to resolve or restore services at the request of VA or VA support personnel that initiated the original support case.

Table 2: Severity Level Definitions

performance.

5.4 SERVICE LEVEL AGREEMENT

5.4.1 SERVICE LEVEL AGREEMENT MONITORING PLAN AND REPORT

The Contractor shall provide a Service Level Agreement (SLA) Monitoring Plan and Report that defines how SLA metrics will be monitored throughout the performance of the requirements in this PD as well as a standard method to report.

The Contractor shall provide a draft SLA Monitoring Plan and Report to the COR and VA PM for review and approval within 90 business days of award. Upon approval, the Contractor shall implement SLA monitoring in accordance with the approved plan and establish an SLA Dashboard that provides near real time SLA metrics data available to the VA. The Contractor shall provide the SLA Report monthly which shall capture data as specified in the Deliverable Metrics/SLAs in this PD with the initial report being due 30 business days after the start of Initial Operating Capability as defined in this PD. The SLA Report shall be delivered in conjunction with the Monthly Status Report. All SLAs in this PD shall be reported monthly. Use of an automated SLA reporting dashboard is encouraged in lieu of written reports.

Deliverable:

5.4.2 TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE CENTER (TAC) SERVICE LEVEL AGREEMENT

TAC Case Response and TAC Case Restoration of Service times shall be reported monthly. This calculation will be used to determine the level of SLA performance and the percentage value of the Firm-Fixed-Price (FFP) that shall be paid by VA for the next monthly invoice if the performance is below the stated SLA requirement. The Government will conduct a monthly review of the defined SLAs against the Contractors provided data and the SLA Monitoring Plan. All SLA metrics shall be rounded up to the closest whole number. No fractional metrics for the final measurement period shall be used.

The Contractor shall meet the required SLA as described in the PD. However, if the Contractor’s performance falls below a required service level identified in the Deliverable Metrics/SLAs below (“TAC Case Response” and “TAC Case Restoration of Service”), the Contractor shall only be paid for the lower service level provided. Please be advised that the VA’s payment for the lower service level provided in no way waives the Government’s right to pursue any remedies available by law, including, but not limited to, termination for breach of contract.

The Contractors failure to meet the Deliverable Metrics/Service Level Agreements as set forth in this PD shall be considered a condition endangering contract performance and may provide grounds for default termination. The Contractor will not be faulted for lower service levels that occur due to external circumstances beyond the Contractor’s control. Restoration metrics that cannot be met due to lack of VA responsiveness or VA owned Network issues preventing restoration will not impact this metric negatively. Any conditions that the Contractor considers relevant to this calculation shall be included in the SLA Monitoring Plan.

For any PD task in which there are multiple SLAs, the credit will be calculated for the lowest service level provided. Furthermore, each metric stands alone, therefore, if a single event impacts multiple SLAs across PD tasks, the Contractor shall be paid for lower service provided for all of the tasks that were impacted.

Table 3 provides the calculation and measurement of each FFP Deliverable Metric/SLA specified. Measurement of Deliverable Metrics/SLAs shall begin 30 days after Government acceptance of the SLA Monitoring Plan.

DELIVERABLE METRICS/SLAs:

TAC Case Response: Cases opened at the Severity 1 and Severity 2 levels shall have a response time of 30 minutes or less. Cases opened at the Severity 3 and Severity 4 levels shall have a response time of 60 minutes or less. 97% of all TAC cases shall have a response time less than minimum acceptable performance level over a monthly cycle. The calculated metrics shall be provided in the Service Level Agreement (SLA) Monitoring Report, detailed logs of all ticket transactions shall be retained for the evaluation timeframe for audit if necessary.

TAC Case Restoration of Service: The restoration times for Severity 1 cases is four hours from notification and eight hours from notification for Severity 2 cases. The restoration times for Severity 3 cases is next business day (NBD) or better. Severity 4 cases shall have a restoration time of 60 days. 97% of TAC cases shall have a restoration time less than minimum acceptable performance level over a monthly cycle. The calculated metrics shall be provided in the SLA Monitoring Report, detailed logs of all ticket transactions shall be retained for the evaluation timeframe for audit if necessary.

Table 3: TAC SLA Measurement and Calculation

5.4.2

Second consecutive month missing the SLA response times during the measurement period will result in a 1.0% reduction of FFP.

Third consecutive month missing the SLA response times during the measurement period will result in a 1.5% reduction of FFP.

Fourth (or any subsequent) consecutive month missing the SLA response times during the measurement period will result in an 2.0% reduction of FFP.

5.4.2

Second consecutive month missing the SLA response times during the measurement period will result in a 1.0% reduction of FFP.

Third consecutive month missing the SLA response times during the measurement period will result in a 1.5% reduction of FFP.

Fourth (or any subsequent) consecutive month missing the SLA response times during the measurement period will result in an 2.0% reduction of FFP.

5.4.2

Second consecutive month missing the SLA response times during the measurement period will result in a 1.0% reduction of FFP.

Third consecutive month missing the SLA response times during the measurement period will result in a 1.5% reduction of FFP.

Fourth (or any subsequent) consecutive month missing the SLA response times during the measurement period will result in an 2.0% reduction of FFP.

5.4.2

Second consecutive month missing the SLA response times during the measurement period will result in a 1.0% reduction of FFP.

Third consecutive month missing the SLA response times during the measurement period will result in a 1.5% reduction of FFP.

Fourth (or any subsequent) consecutive month missing the SLA response times during the measurement period will result in an 2.0% reduction of FFP.

5.4.3 CISCO WEBEX & WEBEX TEAMS SERVICE LEVEL AGREEMENT

The Contractor shall provide services and support that conform to the following availability commitment parameters upon the activation and full functionality of Cisco Webex and Webex Teams services.

1. Provide appropriate VA access to all components of Webex and Webex Teams provided and maintained by the Contractor 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year (24x7x365), including leap year. Any unscheduled downtime for the Webex and Webex Teams services shall be counted against the ≥99.95%.

*99.95% system availability calculations shall exclude planned downtime for maintenance that the Contractor cannot perform without interruption to the live system. Non application infrastructure outages do not apply to availability calculation.

2. The Contractor shall notify VA’s COR and VA PM in writing to notify and schedule system maintenance or routine data consolidation to maintain the integrity of the system at least 10 business days in advance with additional notification leading up to the actual downtime. All schedule downtime shall be performed outside of peak system usage times. The system maintenance notification shall include the system(s) affected, changes that will occur, impact the change has on users, and the date/time changes will be in effect. The Contractor shall schedule system maintenance only during the standard maintenance windows provided by VA and properly scheduled system maintenance that impacts system availability will not count against the availability commitment metric.

3. For unscheduled system maintenance, the Contractor shall notify the COR and VA PM via email within one hour of identifying an issue and that unscheduled maintenance will count against the availability of the system if downtime is incurred.

4. Major incidents shall be reported and handled in alignment with VA OIT Major Incident Management (MIM) Process. A major incident is a high-impact, high-urgency incident that affects many users, depriving the business of one or more crucial services. An incident becomes major when it results in a significant disruption to the business and demands a response beyond the routine incident management process.

5. The Contractor shall conduct Root Cause analyses and provide findings to the VA COR and VA PM within three business days of detection if Webex & Webex Teams availability levels have fallen below the levels specified in this section. Provide the VA COR and VA PM with a schedule to resolve the issues within two business days of completion of the Root Cause Analyses.

6. Unscheduled reports shall be delivered as agreed on between the service provider and the VA COR and VA PM on a case-by-case basis.

7. The Contractor shall meet or exceed the Standard Performance to achieve full payment for an invoice. A failure to achieve the Standard Performance within the performance period defined shall result in a credit to VA in the invoice for that period. Specific levels of performance levels below the Standard Performance and the credit to be applied to a VA invoice are defined in table 4 below:

8.

Table 4: Webex SLA Measurement and Calculation

(See Note 1)

Measured: Monthly

Reported: Monthly

Note 1: Webex Availability (AV): Availability is calculated using the following formula:

AV = Uptime (min) – Downtime (min) Uptime (min) Uptime is defined as the available minutes in a given month. For example, a month with 30 days would have an uptime value of 43,200, calculated by the days in a month multiplied by the hours and minutes (30 x 24 x 60 = 43,200).

Downtime incidents and failures are defined as any condition which prevents the service from providing services as designed in portion or its entirety at one or multiple answering sites. Downtime is the total minutes during which any of the services provided through Cisco Webex and Webex Teams cannot be used by VA to perform tasks. Downtime does not include approved scheduled or approved unscheduled maintenance.

5.5 ADDITIONAL SECURITY SUPPORT REQUIREMENTS

The Contractor shall:

1. Be fully responsible and accountable for ensuring compliance with all Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), Privacy Act, FISMA, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS), and VA security and privacy directives and handbooks. This includes conducting compliant risk assessments, routine vulnerability scanning, system patching and change management procedures, and the completion of an acceptable Contingency and Disaster Recovery Plan for the system.

1. Ensure adequate security controls for collecting, processing, transmitting, and storing of Personally Identifiable Information (PII) and Personal Health Information (PHI), as determined by the VA Handbook 6500 and VA Privacy Service, must be in place, tested, and covered by an approved VA Authority to Operate (ATO) prior to hosting, operation, maintenance, or use of the information system, or systems by or on behalf of VA.

1. Assist and support preparation and signoff a VA Business Associate Agreement (BAA).

5.6 RIGHTS IN COMMERCIAL LICENSES AND TECHNICAL DATA AND REPORTS

The Contractor is required to deliver technical data, configurations, documentation or other information during contract performance and any other written deliverables first produced and delivered during contract performance. The Government shall receive Unlimited Rights in intellectual property first produced and delivered in the performance of this contract in accordance with FAR 52.227-14, Rights in Data-General (MAY 2014). This includes all rights to any and all documentation created in support thereof. License rights in any Commercial Computer Software inclusive Cisco Modeling Labs Licenses shall be governed by FAR 52.227-19, Commercial Computer Software License (DEC 2007).

5.7 OPTION PERIODS (IF EXERCISED) OPTIONS TO EXTEND THE TERM OF THE CONTRACT

This requirement may be exercised annually, no more than four 12-month option periods. If exercised by VA, the Contractor shall provide licenses and support in accordance with (IAW) sections 5.1(Project Management), 5.2 (Cisco Collaboration Flex Plan License and Service) 5.3 (Technical Assistance Center), 5.4 (Service Level Agreement), 5.5 (Additional Security Requirements), and 5.6 (Rights in Commercial Licenses and Technical Data and Reports) inclusive of all subsections contained within each aforementioned PD sections during each option period.

5.8 OPTIONAL TASK 1 – WEBEX (BASE PERIOD)

The PD includes a base period optional task that may be exercised at any time during the base period for additional Webex and related Webex Teams services. If exercised by VA, the Contractor shall provide Webex and related Webex Teams services in IAW section 5.2 inclusive of all subparagraphs and in any amount up to the not to exceed (NTE) amount contained in the table below.

Table 5: Webex & Webex Teams Optional Task

5.9 OPTIONAL TASK 2 – KNOWLEDGE WORKERS (BASE PERIOD)

The PD includes a base period optional task that may be exercised at any time during the base period for additional Knowledge Worker licenses. If exercised by VA, the Contractor shall provide Knowledge Workers licenses IAW section 5.2 inclusive of all subparagraphs and in any amount up to the NTE amount contained in the table below.

Table 6: Knowledge Workers Optional Task

5.10 OPTIONAL TASK 3 – CISCO COLLABORATION FLEX PLAN (OPTION PERIODS ONLY)

If exercised by VA during at any time during the option periods, the Contractor shall provide additional Cisco Collaboration Flex Plan licenses and services IAW section 5.2 inclusive of all subparagraphs and in any amount up to the NTE amount contained in the table below per option period. This optional task may be exercised during each of the four option periods.

Table 7: Cisco Collaboration Flex Service

(Section 5.2.1)

(Section 5.2.2)

(Section 5.2.1)

(Section 5.2.1)

(Section 5.2.1)

(Section 5.2.1)

(Section 5.2.1)

(Section 5.2.1)

5.11 OPTIONAL TASK 4 – INTERSIGHT LICENSE AND SUPPORT (BASE & OPTION PERIODS)

Contractor shall deliver Cisco Intersight Infrastructure Service licensing to include on-premises hosting, cloud, and technical support services. This shall provide workload optimization and lifecycle management for VA owned or operated servers. Services and support shall provide technical and operational support for VA OIT.

If exercised by VA, the Contractor shall provide Cisco Intersight Infrastructure Service licenses and technical support, as detailed above, in any amount up to the NTE amount contained in the table below during the base period and all option periods. This optional task may be exercised during the base period of performance and / or each of the four option periods.

Table 8: Cisco Intersight Licenses and Support

Deliverables:

A. Intersight Infrastructure Service licenses and software delivered to Cisco hosted Smart Net Licensing Portal

5.12 OPTIONAL TASK 5 – CISCO MODELING LABS (CML) (BASE & OPTION PERIODS)

Contractor shall provide CML licenses to include updates, procedures, and patches in a pre-production lab environment. The CML licenses can be changed to emulate any configuration and provide test data values to ensure the VA enterprise architecture will perform properly after a change. This shall include software, licenses, upgrades, and support.

If exercised by VA, the Contractor shall provide CML licenses and technical support as detailed above in any amount up to the NTE amount contained in the table below during the base period and all option periods. This optional task may be exercised during the base period of performance and / or each of the four option periods.

Table 9: CML Licenses and Support

A. CML licenses and software delivered to Cisco hosted Smart Net Licensing Portal

5.13 OPTIONAL TASK 6 – CLOUD SERVICES ROUTERS (CSR) 1000V VIRTUAL ROUTER (BASE & OPTION PERIODS)

The Contractor shall provide licenses and technical support for all VA utilized Virtual CSR routers. If exercised by VA, the Contractor shall provide CSR 1000V licenses and technical support in any amount up to the NTE amount contained in the table below during the base period and all option periods. This optional task may be exercised during the base period of performance and / or each of the four option periods.

Table 10: CSR 1000V Licenses and Support

If this optional task is exercised during base period of this contract, the period of performance for the above CSR 1000V licenses and services contained in the table above shall be from October 23, 2024, to September 29, 2025, in order to co-term with the performance of this contract.

A. CSR 1000V licenses and software delivered to Cisco hosted Smart Net Licensing Portal

5.14 OPTIONAL TASK 7 – CISCO UNIFIED BORDER ELEMENT (CUBE) (BASE & OPTION PERIODS)

Contractor shall provide licenses and technical support for all VA utilized CUBE products. If exercised by VA, the Contractor shall provide CUBE licenses and technical support in any amount up to the NTE amount contained in the table below during the base period and all option periods.