DRAFT PWS v4.8 ELMS _09212022_Industry Day Posted to Contracting Opporutnities.docx

VA Enterprise Learning Management Solution (VA ELMS)

VA-22-56495

PERFORMANCE WORK STATEMENT (PWS)

DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS

Human Capital Services Center (HCSC) Talent Development Solutions Directorate (TDS)

VA Enterprise Learning Management Solution (VA ELMS)

Date: September 21, 2022

VA-22-56495

PWS Version Number: 4.8

Contents

BACKGROUND

The mission of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Human Capital Services Center (HCSC) is to provide a delightful customer experience and engage VA employees with products and services that will enable them to become role models in serving Veterans and their families. The HCSC believes engaged and developed VA employees will change the lives of Veterans and their families for the better. To deliver on this mission, HCSC strives to provide high-quality, effective, and efficient Information Technology (IT) services to those responsible for providing care to Veterans at the point-of-care as well as throughout all the points of Veterans’ health care, benefits delivery, and memorial services in an effective, timely, and compassionate manner. The VA depends on Information Management/Information Technology systems to meet mission goals.

As embodied in the “Department of Veterans Affairs Fiscal Years 2022-2028 Strategic Plan” at Section 4.4.2:

VA as a learning organization reflects a dynamic cycle of information sharing, accessibility, feedback, and improvement. It requires VA to commit to high-value employee professional development and establishing and sharing best practices so that the entire Department - and therefore all Veterans and other beneficiaries whom we serve - benefit. Employees are the focus of the learning organization, without whom VA services cannot be provided. This message is captured by the VA Chief Learning Officer’s vision that ‘engaged and developed VA employees will change the lives of Veterans and their families for the better. VA encourages and supports continuous learning and fosters a leadership-instilled culture of learning, where leadership actionably demonstrates their commitment to employees’ professional development.

The HCSC is a catalyst for Department-wide learning initiatives and strategies that develop and sustain a high-performing workforce. As a result of the VA’s large and diverse user population, HCSC’s vision must be aligned to support and meet the VA’s mission, namely, to be recognized as a public sector leader in employee continuous learning within the Federal Government. In order to meet the VA’s strategic and operational goals and objectives, HCSC needs to implement a new enterprise learning management solution.

The future VA Enterprise Learning Management Solution (VA ELMS) shall include a comprehensive, modernized, and intuitive set of tools to support employees and other workforce members in their individual development planning, succession management, career development, competency assessment, skills acquisition, and training goals. This solution will replace the current solution, integrate with VA’s other human capital management and business solutions, and serve as an authoritative data source to facilitate data management and data sharing across the Department.

HCSC customers and primary stakeholders include the following:

· All VA staff who access training through the enterprise solution ( i.e., All VA employees and support staff with a business reason to access VA training. These individuals include but are not limited to: contractors; volunteers; individuals from other Federal government agencies; clinical trainees, residents, interns, and fellows; other interns; private sector individuals working with VA; individuals working Without Compensation (WOC); and individuals on Extended Leave without Pay.)

· Corporate Senior Executive Management Office (CSEMO)

· Employee Education System (EES) for Veterans Health Administration (VHA) training

· Enterprise Services Engineering (ESE)

· Human Resources (HR) Personnel and Accounting Integrated Data (PAID) system

· Human Capital Investment Plan (HCIP) and Major Initiative Management

· HR Academy

· IT Workforce Development (ITWD) for Office of Information and Technology (OIT)

· Labor Management Relations (LMR) (under OHRA or OHRM – see below)

· National Cemetery Administration (NCA)

· Office of Acquisitions, Logistics, and Construction (OALC)

· Office of Human Resources and Administration (OHRA)

· Office of Human Resources Management (OHRM)

· OIT Operations and Maintenance

· OIT Product Development (PD)

· Technology Acquisition Center (TAC)

· TMS Administrators

· VA Acquisition Academy (VAAA)

· VA Central Office (VACO)

· VA Program Offices (VAPO)

· Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA)

· Veterans Health Administration (VHA)

· VHA Office of Academic Affiliations (OAA)

· Voluntary Services of VHA

APPLICABLE DOCUMENTS

In the performance of the tasks associated with this Performance Work Statement, the Contractor shall comply with the following:

1. 44 U.S.C. § 3541-3549, “Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA) of 2002”

2. “Federal Information Security Modernization Act of 2014”

3. Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) Publication 140-2, “Security Requirements for Cryptographic Modules”

4. FIPS Pub 199. “Standards for Security Categorization of Federal Information and Information Systems,” February 2004

5. FIPS Pub 200, “Minimum Security Requirements for Federal Information and Information Systems,” March 2006

6. FIPS Pub 201-2, “Personal Identity Verification of Federal Employees and Contractors,” August 2013

7. 10 U.S.C. § 2224, "Defense Information Assurance Program"

8. 5 U.S.C. § 552a, as amended, “The Privacy Act of 1974”

9. Public Law 109-461, Veterans Benefits, Health Care, and Information Technology Act of 2006, Title IX, Information Security Matters

10. 42 U.S.C. § 2000d “Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964”

11. VA Directive 0710, “Personnel Security and Suitability Program,” June 4, 2010, https://www.va.gov/vapubs/index.cfm

12. VA Handbook 0710, “Personnel Security and Suitability Program,” May 2, 2016, https://www.va.gov/vapubs/index.cfm

13. VA Directive and Handbook 6102, “Internet/Intranet Services,” August 5, 2019

14. 36 C.F.R. Part 1194 “Information and Communication Technology Standards and Guidelines,” January 18, 2017

15. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A-130, “Managing Federal Information as a Strategic Resource,” July 28, 2016

16. 32 C.F.R. Part 199, “Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Uniformed Services (CHAMPUS)”

17. NIST SP 800-66 Rev. 1, “An Introductory Resource Guide for Implementing the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Security Rule,” October 2008

18. Sections 504 and 508 of the Rehabilitation Act (29 U.S.C. § 794d), as amended, January 18, 2017

19. Homeland Security Presidential Directive (12) (HSPD-12), August 27, 2004

20. VA Directive 6500, “VA Cybersecurity Program,” February 24, 2021

21. VA Handbook 6500, “Risk Management Framework for VA Information Systems VA Information Security Program,” February 24, 2021

22. VA Handbook 6500.2, “Management of Breaches Involving Sensitive Personal Information (SPI),” March 12, 2019

23. VA Handbook 6500.5, “Incorporating Security and Privacy into the System Development Lifecycle,” March 22, 2010

24. VA Handbook 6500.6, “Contract Security,” March 12, 2010

25. VA Handbook 6500.8, “Information System Contingency Planning,” April 6, 2011

26. VA Handbook 6500.10, “Mobile Device Security Policy,” February 15, 2018

27. VA Handbook 6500.11, “VA Firewall Configuration,” August 22, 2017

28. OIT Process Asset Library (PAL), https://www.va.gov/process/ . Reference Process Maps at https://www.va.gov/process/maps.asp and Artifact templates at https://www.va.gov/process/artifacts.asp

29. One-VA Technical Reference Model (TRM) (reference at https://www.va.gov/trm/TRMHomePage.aspx)

30. VA Directive 6508, “Implementation of Privacy Threshold Analysis and Privacy Impact Assessment,” October 15, 2014

31. VA Handbook 6508.1, “Procedures for Privacy Threshold Analysis and Privacy Impact Assessment,” July 30, 2015

32. VA Handbook 6510, “VA Identity and Access Management,” January 15, 2016

33. VA Directive and Handbook 6513, “Secure External Connections,” October 12, 2017

34. VA Directive 6300, “Records and Information Management,” September 21, 2018

35. VA Handbook, 6300.1, “Records Management Procedures,“ March 24, 2010

36. NIST SP 800-37 Rev 2, “Risk Management Framework for Information Systems and Organizations: A System Life Cycle Approach for Security and Privacy,” December 2018

37. NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5, “Security and Privacy Controls for Federal Information Systems and Organizations,” September 23, 2020 (includes updates as of 12/10/2020)

38. VA Directive 0735, “Homeland Security Presidential Directive 12 (HSPD-12) Program,” October 26, 2015

39. VA Handbook 0735, “Homeland Security Presidential Directive 12 (HSPD-12) Program,” March 24, 2014

40. OMB Memorandum 05-24, “Implementation of Homeland Security Presidential Directive (HSPD) 12 – Policy for a Common Identification Standard for Federal Employees and Contractors,” August 5, 2005

41. OMB Memorandum M-19-17, “Enabling Mission Delivery Through Improved Identity, Credential, and Access Management,” May 21, 2019

42. OMB Memorandum, “Guidance for Homeland Security Presidential Directive (HSPD) 12 Implementation,” May 23, 2008

43. Federal Identity, Credential, and Access Management (FICAM) Roadmap and Implementation Guidance, December 2, 2011, (NOTE: Part A of the FICAM Roadmap and Implementation Guidance, v2.0, was replaced in 2015 with an updated Architecture (https://arch.idmanagement.gov/#what-is-the-ficam-architecture)

44. NIST SP 800-116 Rev 1, “Guidelines for the Use of Personal Identity Verification (PIV) Credentials in Facility Access,“ June 2018

45. NIST SP 800-63-3, 800-63A, 800-63B, 800-63C, “Digital Identity Guidelines,” updated March 02, 2020

46. NIST SP 800-157, “Guidelines for Derived PIV Credentials,” December 2014

47. NIST SP 800-164, “Guidelines on Hardware-Rooted Security in Mobile Devices (Draft),” October 2012

48. Draft National Institute of Standards and Technology Interagency Report (NISTIR) 7981, “Mobile, PIV, and Authentication,” March 2014

49. VA Memorandum, VAIQ #7100147, “Continued Implementation of Homeland Security Presidential Directive 12 (HSPD-12),” April 29, 2011 (reference https://www.voa.va.gov/documentlistpublic.aspx?NodeID=514)

50. IAM Identity Management Business Requirements Guidance document, May 2013, (reference Enterprise Architecture Section, PIV/IAM (reference https://www.voa.va.gov/documentlistpublic.aspx?NodeID=514)

51. VA Memorandum “Personal Identity Verification (PIV) Logical Access Policy Clarification,” July 17, 2019, https://www.voa.va.gov/DocumentView.aspx?DocumentID=4896

52. Trusted Internet Connections (TIC) 3.0 Core Guidance Documents, https://www.cisa.gov/publication/tic-30-core-guidance-documents

53. OMB Memorandum M-19-26, “Update to the Trusted Internet Connections (TIC) Initiative,” September 12, 2019

54. OMB Memorandum M-08-23, “Securing the Federal Government’s Domain Name System Infrastructure,” August 22, 2008

55. Sections 524 and 525 of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, (Public Law 110–140), December 19, 2007

56. Section 104 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, (Public Law 109–58), August 8, 2005

57. Executive Order 13834, “Efficient Federal Operations,” dated May 17, 2018

58. Executive Order 13221, “Energy-Efficient Standby Power Devices,” August 2, 2001

59. VA Directive 0058, “VA Green Purchasing Program,” July 19, 2013

60. VA Handbook 0058, “VA Green Purchasing Program,” July 19, 2013

61. Office of Information Security (OIS) VAIQ #7424808 Memorandum, “Remote Access,” January 15, 2014, https://www.voa.va.gov/DocumentListPublic.aspx?NodeId=28

62. Clinger-Cohen Act of 1996, 40 U.S.C. §11101 and §11103

63. “Veteran Focused Integration Process (VIP) Guide 4.0,” January 2021, https://www.voa.va.gov/DocumentView.aspx?DocumentID=4371

64. VA Memorandum “Proper Use of Email and Other Messaging Services,” January 2, 2018, https://www.voa.va.gov/DocumentListPublic.aspx?NodeId=28

65. “DevSecOps Product Line Management Playbook” version 2.0, May 2021, https://www.voa.va.gov/DocumentView.aspx?DocumentID=4946

66. NIST SP 500-267B Revision 1, “USGv6 Profile,” November 2020

67. OMB Memorandum M-21-07, “Completing the Transition to Internet Protocol Version 6 (IPv6),” November 19, 2020

68. Social Security Number (SSN) Fraud Prevention Act of 2017

69. Section 240 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) 2018, March 23, 2018

70. Office of Management and Budget Memorandum M-19-17, May 21, 2019 MEMORANDUM FOR HEADS OF EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES (whitehouse.gov)

71. Office of Management and Budget Memorandum M-05-24, https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/omb/memoranda/fy2005/m05-24.pdf

72. 38 U.S.C. § 5725, Contracts for data processing or maintenance, http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/granule/USCODE-2009-title38/USCODE-2009-title38-partIV-chap57-subchapIII-sec5725/content-detail.html

73. NIST Special Publication 800-60 Vol 1, Guide for Mapping Types of Information and Information Systems to Security Categories. https://csrc.nist.gov/publications/detail/sp/800-60/vol-1-rev-1/final

74. VA Strategic Plan “Department of Veteran Affairs Fiscal Years 2022-28 Strategic Plan”, March 29, 2022 https://www.va.gov/performance/index.asp#one

Please be advised that any hyperlinks contained within this document are for convenience purposes, only. Due to the dynamic nature of hyperlinks and the information accessed through or embedded therein, coupled with likely revisions to any of the aforementioned documents over the course of any resulting contract, it is incumbent upon the Contractor to ensure that all information required to successfully complete the requirements established herein is independently located, verified for accuracy, and confirmed to be the most up-to-date version available, prior to use.

SCOPE OF WORK

The Contractor shall deliver a Commercial off the Shelf (COTS) solution as Software as a Service (SaaS) in a cloud hosting environment. The Contractor shall provide Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) certification support for both the environment and the solution. As part of the overall solution, the Contractor shall provide the software, hardware, database, hosting, licensing, and services necessary to support the enterprise-wide VA talent development and learning management activities. The Contractor shall provide project management, project management planning, enterprise architecture support, system design and implementation, operation and maintenance support, section 508 accessibility compliance, documentation and activities to support achieving a VA Authority to Operate (ATO), system cloud hosting, system licensing, software maintenance, production support, system integration, application monitoring/program evaluation, transition planning, and data governance support.

PERFORMANCE DETAILS

PERFORMANCE PERIOD

The period of performance (PoP) shall be a twelve (12)-month Base Period, with four (4), twelve (12)-month Option Periods, and several optional tasks for licenses. In no instance shall the cumulative PoP, to include any Option Periods exercised, exceed sixty (60) months.

Any work at the Government site shall not take place on Federal holidays or weekends unless directed by the Contracting Officer (CO). (If required, the CO may designate the Contractor to work during holidays and weekends.)

There are eleven (11) Federal holidays set by law (USC Title 5 Section 6103) that VA follows:

Under current definitions, five (5) are set by date:

If any of the above falls on a Saturday, then Friday shall be observed as a holiday. Similarly, if one falls on a Sunday, then Monday shall be observed as a holiday.

The other six (6) are set by a day of the week and month:

PLACE OF PERFORMANCE

Work required in accordance with this PWS shall be performed primarily at Contractor facilities. The Contractor shall identify the Contractor’s place of performance in its proposal submission. The Contractor shall be required to be present on the Government site for meetings and other face-to-face customer engagements as detailed in Section 4.3.

TRAVEL

The Government anticipates travel to perform certain tasks associated with the effort, as well as to attend program-related meetings or conferences throughout the PoP. Contractors may be required to perform additional site-visits (i.e., Continental United States (CONUS), only) to government facilities to conduct user and stakeholder engagement and training.

The total estimated number of trips in support of the program-related meetings or conferences for this effort is four (4) travel sessions per year. Anticipated locations include but are not limited to the following, each estimated at five (5) days per trip.

1. Washington D.C.

2. Seattle, WA

3. Orlando, FL

4. Chicago, IL All travel must be in accordance with the Federal Travel Regulations (FTR) and requires advanced written approval by the Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR). Contractor travel within the local commuting area will not be reimbursed.

SPECIFIC TASKS AND DELIVERABLES

The Contractor shall perform each of the Government’s requirements established in Section 5.0 and each of its sub-sections and ensure that all deliverables are submitted.

For purposes of the requirements established herein, please refer to the definitions below:

· Subject Matter Expert: High-level VA ELMS Administrative users

· Pilot Site(s): Local VA Facility/Site that will be selected to pilot (test) ELMS functions. This includes ELMS administrative, learner, and general user functions.

· Full Deployment: Deployment of the ELMS to all VA sites. This includes ELMS administrative, learner, general user, and VA affiliate user functions.

· System Sustainment: Maintenance and operations of full ELMS functions at all VA sites once full deployment has been successful.

· Configuration Workbooks: Implementation guide.

· Configuration Review Documentation: used to document customer configuration requirements.

· Use Case Documentation: A business document which provides a story of how a system, and its actors, will be utilized to achieve a specific goal.

· Configuration Decision Documentation: Used to make informed decisions during the setup and configuration of a system.

· Error Troubleshooting Guide: Technical Documentation to help SME troubleshoot.

PROGRAM MANAGEMENT AND PLANNING

The Contractor shall provide Program Management and Planning for the VA ELMS. The Contractor shall provide a Program Manager (PgM) who shall be responsible for the management and monitoring of the work relating to management and support of all activities throughout the lifecycle of the project to support the phased deployment approach of the VA ELMS with the VA’s Project Management Plan (PMP). The Contractor shall perform all associated tasks to include: ensuring all support activities with the Contractor’s hosting environment team are coordinated; ensuring that VA trouble tickets are well-documented, fully explored, root causes identified and explained, and that system issues are remediated timely; ensuring that VA requests for technical assistance are well-documented, requirements fully understood, solutions fully vetted, and approved by VA prior to deployment; providing an overarching Contractor Project Management Plan (detailed in Section 5.2.1) to ensure vendor resourcing is sufficient to support VA requirements; creating and maintaining a program schedule to ensure VA requirements are met in a timely manner; identifying risks and issues and assisting in elaboration and implementation of risk management strategies and issue resolution tactics; and, coordinating vendor support for all VA-related activities. The PgM shall also ensure its team is represented on all project-related conference calls and virtual meetings, including daily technical calls, weekly sustainment calls, regularly scheduled project calls, and ad hoc project calls.

MEETING FACILITATION

The Contractor shall support the communication and notification of meetings supporting the VA ELMS to include the preparation and distribution of agendas, meeting minutes, and action items; facilitation of meetings, workgroups, and Integrated Product Teams (IPTs); and set up documentation required. The Contractor shall host a weekly status meeting to inform the VA Project Manager (PM) and COR of any issues with the system, progress of content in development, and any upgrades that are scheduled. The Contractor shall host a VA Community of Practice Call (CoP) call every two (2) weeks to answer any questions about the system. The purpose of these calls is to provide VA ELMS Administrators and users (in Option Years 3 & 4) relevant information and updates regarding the ELMS. These meetings shall be held virtually through Microsoft Teams, or a similar virtual platform approved by the Government. For purposes of the requirements established herein, the term “bi-weekly” shall mean every two (2) weeks unless otherwise identified.

Deliverables:

Required throughout contract Lifecyle:

A. Weekly VA ELMS Status Call Meeting Materials B. Weekly VA ELMS Status Call Meeting Minutes and Action Items

Required only during Option Years 1 and 2, if exercised:

A. Bi-Weekly Pilot Community of Practice Call Meeting Materials B. Bi-Weekly Pilot Community of Practice Meeting Minutes and Action Items

Required only during Option Year 3, if exercised:

A. Bi-Weekly Pilot Site Transition Call Meeting Materials B. Bi-Weekly Pilot Site Transition Call Meeting Minutes and Action Items

Required during Option Years 3 and 4, if exercised:

A. Bi-Weekly Community of Practice Call Meeting Materials B. Bi-Weekly Community of Practice Meeting Minutes and Action Items

KICK-OFF MEETING

The Contractor shall schedule and facilitate a Kick-Off meeting conference call to introduce the PgM, Contractor’s team, discuss timelines, and confirm team roles and responsibilities within 10 days of award. The Contractor shall prepare a PowerPoint or similar presentation to convey the approach to developing and providing the requisite kickoff meeting agenda, materials, and minutes. The Government will review the Contractor’s presentation in advance to approve comments on the intended approach, work plan, project schedule, etc. The Presentation, shall include:

1. Points of contact (POC) – include all stakeholders and the Contractor’s team members anticipated to be involved as well as the roles and responsibilities of all contractor support personnel.

2. Draft approach to implement releases

3. A high-level schedule

4. Proposed Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS) release schedule

5. Overview of the draft Contractor Project Management Plan (CPMP)

6. Draft Support Plan

7. Review of FedRAMP Certification and VA Temporary Authority To Operate/Authority To Operate (TATO/ATO) Status

Deliverables:

A. Kick-Off Meeting Agenda and Materials B. Kick-Off Meeting Minutes

MONTHLY STATUS REPORTS

The Contractor shall deliver a Monthly Status Report (MSR) every month that details the status of key performance indicators for each phase of work, milestones met during the reporting periods, risk tracking, and impediment tracking. The MSR shall include:

a) Project name and contract name

b) Overview and description of the contract

c) Overall high-level assessment of contract progress

d) All work-in-progress and completed during the reporting period

e) Identification of any contract related issues uncovered during the reporting period and especially highlight those areas with a high probability of impacting schedule, cost, or performance goals and their likely impact on schedule, cost, or performance goals

f) Explanations for any unresolved issues, including possible solutions and any actions required of the Government and/or Contractor to resolve or mitigate any identified issue, including a plan and timeframe for resolution

g) Status on previously identified issues, actions taken to mitigate the situation, and/or progress made in rectifying the situation

h) Work planned for the subsequent two (2) reporting periods, when applicable

i) Current contract schedule overlaid on original contract schedule showing any delays or advancement in schedule

j) Original schedule of deliverables and the corresponding deliverables made during the current reporting period

k) Workforce staffing data showing all Contractor personnel performing on the effort during the current reporting period. After the initial labor baseline is provided, each MSR shall identify the full team engaged in the contract including any changes in staffing, identifying each person who was added to the contract or removed from the contract, along with their status on VA mandatory Privacy and Information Security Awareness training. The status shall include their initial training completion date, their next training due date, and their current status (compliant or not). Contractor team members that do not remain compliant with this mandatory training will have their administrator privileges revoked and administrator profiles locked until they become compliant, rendering them incapable of supporting VA through the application.

These reports shall not be the only means of communication between the Contractor, Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR), and the Government Project Manager (PM) to advise of performance/schedule issues and to develop strategies for addressing the issues. The Contractor shall continuously monitor performance and report any deviation from the previous MSR to the COR and PM during routine, regular communication.

Deliverable:

A. Monthly Status Report

COLLABORATIVE DOCUMENTATION STORAGE

The Contractor shall use a Government-owned Project Management collaboration tool and/or document repository site(s) as collaborative documentation storage, to include workflows, dashboards, document libraries, project and contract deliverables, and collaboration areas. The Contractor shall also support the management of work in progress and finalized project artifacts within a Government-owned VA-approved tool for developers, project collaboration, and repository hosting service (for example, GitHub, Jira, Smartsheet, etc.) for documentation (uploading, editing, document collection, etc.), dashboard metrics, requirement tracking, etc. The Contractor shall update the documents in real-time and be made available in the Government-approved collaborative documentation storage solution that is accessible 24-hours per day, seven (7) days per week by Government staff. The tools should synchronize all change information for all team members (VA and Contractor) to access work proficiently without the concern of working on aged information and the information shared between the Contractor and VA should be in real-time.

TECHNICAL WRITING

The Contractor shall provide overall project lifecycle technical writing support. This support shall range from the creation (or the support of creation) and review of project related design, implementation, testing, and user guide documentation, as well as updating the existing project lifecycle documentation due to system functionality enhancements and changes. The Contractor shall also assist VA in the generation of presentations in support of leadership meetings and/or VA communications and in generating trackers in support of the VA’s Talent Development Council (TDC).

The Contractor shall create end user and technical documentation, online help references, product documentation, installation guides, reference materials, and release notes. The Contractor shall implement multiple ways of communicating the changes within the application to users including quick tutorials, posting on landing pages, videos, email, and/or vendor’s suggested communications.

Deliverables:

A. User Help Guides B. Technical Documents C. Online Help References D. Product Documentation E. Installation Guides F. Reference Materials G. Release Notes

PROJECT MANAGEMENT PLANNING

The Contractor shall perform the following:

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 the execution of any resulting contract. The CPMP should 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 PWS. The initial baseline CPMP shall be concurred upon and updated in accordance with Section B of any resulting contract. The Contractor shall update and maintain the VA PM approved CPMP throughout the PoP.

The Contractor shall include in the CPMP, sections or separate plans for:

· Scope Statement

· Schedule Baseline

· Schedule Management

· Work Breakdown Structure

· Quality Management

· Logistical Support

· Communications Management

· Personnel Management

The Contractor shall include an Integrated Master Schedule (IMS), providing an event-driven plan that documents the significant accomplishments for the work delineated within this PWS. The IMS shall be used to assist the Government in planning and scheduling all work efforts. The IMS shall include a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) of associated responsibilities pertaining to Government-provided requirements for the Contractor to complete, as detailed in this PWS. The initial baseline CPMP shall be concurred upon by the Government and updated by the Contractor continuously thereafter.

The Contractor shall update and maintain the VA PM approved CPMP throughout the period of performance. The CPMP is an evolutionary document that shall be updated bi-monthly and identify tasks and deliverables to be completed by the Contractor, as specified in this PWS. For purposes of the requirements established herein, the term “bi-monthly” shall mean twice (2) a month unless otherwise identified The IMS shall include an implementation schedule inclusive of:

· Milestones

· Status tracking

· Duration for each task

· Including Identification of all project Stakeholders (internal and external)

· Gap analysis and risk identification/mitigation strategy for impacted Stakeholders

· Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Informed (RACI) chart

· Defined roles and responsibilities for the Implementation Team, including milestone approvals required from VA governing bodies

· System Design Document (SDD), a design strategy

· Documentation for system integration with internal (VA)/external organizations, as well as application interdependencies (both internal and external)

· Agile design review/acceptance procedures

· User Acceptance Testing (UAT) support

· Privacy and Personnel Security management (site security, data privacy/security)

· Performance monitoring and defect tracking, performance monitoring management, resolution, and Veteran-Focused Integration Process (VIP) processes.

The Contractor PgM shall develop, maintain, and review the IMS on a weekly basis with the Government in order to: review and identify issues, risks, impediments, upcoming milestones, as well as the status of key performance indicators to be determined at the kickoff meeting. The Contractor shall develop a dynamic dashboard, driven by the IMS, that includes real-time updates available for Government review.

The Contractor PgM shall maintain core capabilities Decision Log and ensure all parties from VA have concurred with changes (e.g., updates to data fields, changes to analytic reports, changes in views).

Deliverables:

A. Contractor Project Management Plan (CPMP) B. Integrated Master Schedule (IMS) C. Decision Log

RISK MANAGEMENT

The Contractor shall identify, document, and execute risk planning and mitigation strategies to address VA’s exposure in its operation, maintenance, delivery, and deployment efforts. The Contractor shall identify and manage functional and technical risk factors, including those related to execution of contract requirements. All Risk Management project deliverables and artifacts shall be kept in the Government-owned project management tool throughout the project life cycle.

The Contractor shall provide and use a VA approved Risk Matrix to prioritize new risks as they are identified, in order to determine constraints, probability, and consequence. The Contractor shall identify scheduled variances and associated risks (via Risk Matrix, etc.) by submitting a report to the VA COR upon identification. Risk matrix shall include proposed mitigation(s) and potential impact associated with each mitigation.

The Contractor shall develop and provide a Risk Management Plan (RMP). The RMP shall include Risk Identification, Risk Assessment (Analysis), Risk Mitigation, Risk Contingency Planning, Risk Tracking and Reporting, and Roles and Responsibilities. It shall contain an analysis of likely risks of both high and low impact, as well as mitigation strategies to assist in decision making to avoid project derailment. The RMP shall account for foreseeable risks, contain a risk assessment matrix, and be reviewed and updated monthly by the VA project team. Changes to risks and/or mitigations shall be escalated to VA Human Capital Services leadership.

The Contractor shall provide a Risk Log in support of the risk tracking/mitigation effort and shall be delivered and reviewed to the Government. The Contractor shall track risks and address: issues as they arise; flagging of new risks and issues; analysis of risk severity and recommendations for capturing courses of action(s).

Deliverables:

A. Risk Management Plan (RMP) B. Risk Log C. Risk Matrix

IMPLEMENTATION KICK-OFF MEETING

The Contractor shall schedule and facilitate an Implementation Kick-Off meeting conference call, for each implementation cycle, to introduce the Contractor’s team, discuss timelines, confirm team roles and responsibilities, review release scope and approach, and communicate critical success factors. The Contractor shall prepare a PowerPoint or similar presentation to convey approach to developing and providing the deliverables, which shall include:

1. Points of contact (POC) – include all stakeholders and the Contractor’s team members anticipated to be involved

2. Release improvements/features/fixes

3. Draft approach to implement the release

4. High-level outline schedules Deliverables:

Base Year:

A. Subject Matter Expert Evaluation Implementation Kick-Off Meeting Agenda and Materials B. SME Evaluation Implementation Kick-Off Meeting Minutes Option Year 1, if exercised:

A. Pilot Site Implementation Kick-Off Meeting Agenda and Materials B. Pilot Site Implementation Kick-Off Meeting Minutes Option Year 2, if exercised:

A. Full Deployment Implementation Kick-Off Meeting Agenda and Materials B. Full Deployment Implementation Kick-Off Meeting Minutes Option Years 3 and 4, if exercised:

A. System Update Implementation Kick-Off Meeting Agenda and Materials B. System Update Implementation Kick-Off Meeting Minutes

IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGY AND SCHEDULE

The Contractor shall develop and deliver a baseline Implementation Schedule and Implementation Strategy for VA approval. The Contractor shall update the schedule for each implementation cycle in Adobe and Microsoft Word. To ensure all aspects of the release are coordinated and integrated appropriately, the Strategy shall include:

1. All necessary tasks to implement the release

2. Predecessor/successor relationships among all tasks

3. Durations for each task

4. Internal and external dependencies

5. Responsible parties/resources necessary to accomplish each task

6. Deliverable review cycles that allow for at least two (2) rounds of Government review and Contractor revisions of deliverables

7. Deliverables noted as milestones

8. Length of time the system would be unavailable to users

The Contractor shall collaborate with VA to incorporate the VA’s internal tasks and resource assignments including, Section 508 testing and remediation, User Acceptance Testing, and the National Release process.

The Contractor shall maintain the Implementation Schedule and shall provide a baselined version Implementation Strategy. Schedule updates shall include percentages of completion for tasks in progress, changes against the baseline schedule, and projected completion dates based on current progress.

Deliverable:

A. Implementation Strategy B. Implementation Schedule

CONTRACTOR PRIVACY TRAINING

The Contractor shall submit status of VA Privacy and Information Security Awareness Training and Signed Rules of Behavior 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 training, and their next required training date. This information shall be included as part of the Monthly Status Report referred to in section 5.1.3.

The Contractor shall submit VA Privacy and Information Security Awareness Training and Signed Rules of Behavior certificates in accordance with Section 9, Training, from Appendix C of the VA Handbook 6500.6, “Contract Security”.

ENTERPRISE ARCHITECURE

The Contractor shall provide an Enterprise Architecture (EA) Plan that establishes a background and overview for both the current and target state environments. This shall include an architecture diagram and supporting narrative description. The Contractor shall adhere to and ensure that the enterprise-wide solution’s architecture is in accordance with the VA Technical Reference Model (TRM). The Contractor shall establish vision and supporting strategic plans including, but not limited to: Goals, Objectives, and supporting Key Performance Indicators. As part of the EA plan the Contractor shall maintain a catalog of Capabilities and Services and knowledge of both internal and external organizations that provide those services and what organizations are consumers of those services.

The Contractor shall include the Information Technology (IT) system architecture design, and planning of current and future technical and functional/business systems by depicting technical, systems, and functional architecture views. Documents shall be delivered in Visio 2016 and PDF format in the EA plan.

The Contractor shall include the Workflows that describe in greater detail how processes operate, how Information Exchange Requirements are met, and how one gets from trigger to outcome for the many business scenarios that each process is to support. The Contractor shall document Education and Training required for each role and for each skill and skill level. The Contractor shall document all System and Application details including but not limited to documentation on how the IT Systems and Applications automate business operations. The Contractor shall document the technologies and products that implement them.

The Contractor shall facilitate and develop an EA plan that enables information sharing, integration, and interoperability while considering service-oriented architecture best practices by aligning architectures with overarching Federal, VA, and OIT architectures, and other related architecture activities. The architecture support provided to the Government shall consider the full life cycle, inclusive of initial planning through systems decommissioning.

The Contractor shall ensure that all documentation captured in the EA plan including Data, Business, Operational, Technical or System adhere to Federal Enterprise Architecture Framework (FEAF) or Department of Defense Architecture Framework (DODAF v2.0+) standards and nomenclature. Artifacts shall be delivered in a Visio 2016 and PDF format.

Deliverable:

A. EA Plan

SYSTEM DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION

All activities captured in each system design and implementation subsections relate to the phased implementation needed for successful implementation of the enterprise-wide solution. The VA will exercise its right to make acceptance decisions, contract revisions, and/or the right to not exercise future option years based on the success of milestones met within each year of the contract performance period.

The Contractor shall develop an Enterprise Solution Design Document (ESDD) that shall capture, in detail, how the solution shall be constructed. This document shall capture top-level system architecture, all configuration settings, identification of hardware and software needs, and design information. The ESDD shall be updated with any system change.

The Contractor shall provide a service desk for high level VA system administrators to notify the Contractor of any critical patch, configuration, integration, and system administrative issues with the system. The Contractor shall ensure the service desk provides an online ticketing system, as well as telephone and email access. The Contractor shall ensure the service desk is staffed twelve (12) hours a day (8am-8pm Eastern), five (5) days a week (Monday through Friday). Additionally, the Contractor shall ensure emergency support is available for system outages three hundred sixty-five (365) days a year/ 24 hours per day/7 days per week. For system outage tickets the Contractor shall acknowledge receipt within one hour and resolve the issue within two hours of receipt of VA’s call. For other tickets, the Contractor shall acknowledge receipt within 24 hours and provide resolution within 72 hours. This Service Desk shall include processes for submitting, managing, and closing out tickets. VA anticipates approximately 10-15 tickets per month. The Contractor shall develop a workflow and communication plan for the information flow back through all level of services desk to ensure a global communication lifecycle. The Contractor shall publish a Call-In Tree (Organization Tree or Notification Tree) in coordination with Government providing Service Desk Response Times, addressing issues, tracking, monitoring, lessons learned, and providing After-Action Reports. The Contractor shall design and develop the solution in accordance with the identified VA requirements listed within 5.16 Technical Requirements, and subparagraphs.

The Contractor shall develop a Deployment Plan that addresses the Contractor’s approach to the phased deployment of the solution from initial design to full, enterprise-wide implementation. The Deployment Plan shall include sections that address system design, configuration options, security decisions, data migration plans, system testing, and training plans. Each deployment period shall include the following as part of the Deployment Plan:

1. A pre-deployment preparation period, including data migration, data cleansing, pre-deployment checklist, and training

2. Deployment schedules

3. Readiness Plan and Readiness Assessment

a. Training

b. Testing

c. Service Desk-Vendor Support

d. Defect Management

4. A site readiness checklist

5. A post-deployment checklist

6. Entry and Exit Criteria for deployment with criteria for Go/No Go decision

7. Lessons learned recorded and applied to subsequent deployments

Deliverables:

A. Enterprise Solution Design Document with Updates B. Deployment Plan C. Pre-Deployment Checklist D. Post-Deployment Checklist E. Deployment Schedules F. Service Desk Workflow G. Service Desk Communication Plan H. Service Call-in Tree I. Service Desk After Action Reports

SYSTEM DESIGN

The Contractor shall perform the following:

CONFIGURATION MANAGEMENT

The Contractor shall provide configuration management and configuration control support that includes analysis, change recommendations, tracking, and reporting. The Contractor shall identify and document the characteristics of a configuration item, provide a mechanism and process to control changes to a configuration item, and deliver a means to record and report change processing and implementation status.

The Contractor shall manage the baseline configuration of the platforms, systems, and subsystems and apply configuration management techniques that establish and maintain the integrity of the system and documentation.

The Contractor shall develop and maintain a Configuration Management Plan. The Contractor's methodology shall provide configuration management support for both program and engineering management functions and apply configuration identification to all program elements whose physical and functional properties need to be managed and directly controlled.

The Contractor shall collect, review, track, and archive Configuration Control Documents and support Configuration Control Boards.

The Contractor shall support functional requirements traceability and the establishment of configuration items and configuration baselines, including functional baselines and product baselines.

The Contractor shall conduct, at a minimum, three (3), week-long virtual and in-person configuration workshops for the VA per year. These configuration workshops shall identify Configuration Management options, define what processes and systems are needed to manage the system, audit, and evaluate current configurations, and support determination of solution configuration for future deployments. At the conclusion of each workshop, the Contractor shall provide the VA with Configuration Review Documentations, Use Case Documentation, and Configuration Decision Documentation, and Configuration Workbooks.

Deliverables:

A. Configuration Management Plan B. Configuration Control Documents C. Configuration Workbooks D. Configuration Review Documentation E. Use Case Documentation F. Configuration Decision Documentation

SECTION 508 COMPLIANCE

The Contractor shall ensure that the enterprise solution shall be Section 508 Compliant in accordance with the United States Access Board Section 508 Standards in the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.

The Contractor shall ensure that the enterprise solution shall allow Federal employees with disabilities to have access to, and use of, information and data that is comparable to the access to, and use of, information and data by other Federal employees.

The Contractor shall support all audit and testing conducted by the VA 508 team, to achieve initial approval for production, and throughout the lifecycle of the contract. The Contractor shall provide Plan of Action & Milestone (POA&M) documents to address and remediate all defects found through 508 testing and/or audit.