RSIMSS_Presolicitation_Conference_and_Draft_RFP_Questions_and_Answers_-_10_Aug_15.docx

RSIMSS Presolicitation Conference and Draft RFP Questions & Answers

Q1. Are you open to a PaaS environment?

A1. The RSIS development, test, staging and production environments are presently hosted within the DOT Common Operating Environment (COE). There are ongoing initiatives exploring Platform as a Service, among others, internally within FRA and at the Department level. These initiatives are separate from the RSIMSS requirement.

Q2. What’s the current software being used?

A2. See Section C.5.2.1 for a list of software that may be used. Also see RFP Section J, Attachment J-1 for the system descriptions and some of the software being used.

Q3. Does the $1,500,000.00 contract minimum include cost for recommended SW & HW?

A3. Many of the software applications are covered by government enterprise licenses, while some other development tools are covered by the contractor. Computers are to be purchased by the contractor per the section covering Government Furnished Equipment.

Q4. Is US Citizenship required?

A4. No, but the personnel must pass the DOT background clearance check and obtain a PIV card.

Q5. How many data sources are? What types of data are they?

A5. See Attachment J-1 of the RFP

Q6. Would information discovery, data mash-up and proactive risk analysis be of interest as components of your solution selected?

A6. Yes, they would be of interest as components as enhancements to the current capabilities.

Q7. Are you open to a cloud solution, be it public, private or hybrid cloud for part or all of the solution?

A7. All hosting is currently provided by FRA’s Office of Information Technology within the DOT COE and any alternative solutions including cloud need to be compliant with OMB, DOT and FRA policies.

Q8. Is mobility, or the ability to have smart devices used by inspectors, analysts, management or other users a priority or requirement?

A8. These are not a priority or requirement but FRA is looking into these and welcomes any new solutions or recommendations.

Q9. How much of the system is written on COBOL?

A9. None

Q10. What are your Big Data/cloud plans?

A10. FRA will follow the DOT cloud strategy and data management roadmap.

Q11. What other agencies does RSIS interface with (i.e. DOL, SSA)? What problems could this present during implementation? Do you anticipate any?

A11. Other agencies, including PHMSA, get data from RSIS though various methods, such as daily dump. Many other agencies are data consumers from our website. We do not anticipate any problems during implementation.

Q12. What is the IDIQ ceiling amount?

A12. $19.9M for the total life of contract

Q13. What is the current contract value?

A13. Approximately $17.0M

Q14. Are freight railroads the only railroads covered under RSIS?

A14. No, RSIS collects data from passenger operations and Tourist, Historic, and Excursion operations as well.

Q15. What are the anticipated staffing levels?

A15. See RFP for Key personnel, all other team will be proposed by the contractor based on need.

Q16. Data integration is a big deal today. What is DOT doing in reference to data integration with EPA and Hazardous Substance tracking (E-Manifest System)?

A16. RSIS does not integrate with the EPA and E-Manifest System at this time.

Q17. Who does the rulemaking?

A17. FRA’s Office of Chief Counsel, along with subject matter experts from specific program offices in the Office of Railroad Safety provides the impetus for rulemaking. RSIS supports the data collection needs of any rulemaking, as required

Q18. What IDE does FRA predominately use: Visual Studio or Eclipse?

A18. Visual Studio

Q19. Database, table, record count, and size are provided. Please provide a more in depth analytics on the database, i.e.: language, VSAM files, JCL, batch vs. online, tapes, etc.

A19. Databases are built using SQL and SAS. All hosting and back-ups are provided by FRA’s Office of Information Technology.

Q20. Have you done any upfront application portfolio analytics that will provide a deeper understanding of the RSIMSS system?

A20. No

Q21. You stated that one of the top elements of the vision is “clean and reliable data” (i.e. “garbage in – garbage out”). What are the main contributors to “bad data” coming in?

A21. RSIS data quality has a few contributing factors. Some are within the control of FRA and some are not. Since much of the required data collected and contained within RSIS is self-reported by the railroads, the data is subject to partial data field completion, typos, and other manual reporting issues as well as potential transcription errors. Currently, there are processes in place to identify these errors and depending on the reporting method (paper, electronic, AIRGNET, bulk-upload, etc.) the system and/or contractor performs data validation based on a set of business rules at various stages of processing. Certain data may pass the validation rules, but be incorrect and can only be caught by looking for data anomalies and trending.

Q22. Within the scope of this RFP, how do you envision the contractors helping solve the “bad data” ` data?

A22. Process improvements, adopting System to System interfaces, and removing the transcription process will help solve the root cause of much of the bad data. Data validation alone will not solve the root cause but will catch many of the errors.

Q23. Part of the vision is “streamlined internal data collection process.” Is there an external data collection process? In other words, does “internal” encompass data collected from the railroads and inspectors? And would “external” be from the general public?

A23. Internal is referring to the process performed by the contractor from all data sources. There is no external data collection process that we control.

Q24. Do the contractors need to be on-site to develop and maintain the secure internal website? Or can this be performed off-site?

A24. No, off-site is fine.

Q25. Can you clarify the RFP’s scope with regards to Data Collection? You mentioned that you have existing proprietary systems used by inspectors and forms used by the railroads. It was implied that the contractor under this RFP is involved once the data is submitted (i.e. processing) and thus unclear on this RFP’s scope of Data Collection.

A25. Please see Section J, Attachment J-1 of the RFP.

Q26. What are the Key Positions and descriptions on the current contract?

A26. Although there are similarities, the requirements of the new contract are different, and we would prefer to concentrate on the Key Personnel needed for the new contract.

Q27. Who is the incumbent contractor and what is the current contract number?

A27. ActioNet is the incumbent contractor. The contract number is DTFR53-10-C-00002.

Q28. What tools and technologies are currently being used for RSIS?

A28. See answer to Question 2

Q29. What Commercial Off the Shelf (COTS) products are being used to support RSIS?

A29. See answer to Question 2

Q30. How many Government and Contractor FTEs are currently supporting RSIS?

A30. 23

Q31. What specific data analytics tool is used? If no tool, is there an existing DA tool available through an existing DOT or FRA License (i.e. Apache Hadoop for data fusion)?

A31. Currently we are not using a data analytics tool and are unaware of any through an existing FRA license.

Q32. How and where is data reported by the public collected and in which system is the data maintained?

A32. The public does not report any safety data to FRA, per se. Railroads and states are required by regulation to provide certain information to FRA. They can send this via paper, system-to-system, AIRGNET, bulk upload, and API depending on the regulation specifications. For the location where data is maintained please see the data diagrams in Section J, Attachment J-1. These same diagrams are also in the slide deck from the Presolicitation Conference.

Q33. Is RSIS Safety Data Portal built with SAS? If yes, is the new contractor responsible for Operation and Maintenance (O&M)?

A33. The Safety Data Portal was built using .Net and/or ASP.Net, with many of the reports being supplied by SAS. Yes, the contractor will be responsible for this O&M.

Q34. Do you currently use any predictive analytic tool?

A34. No, please see answer to Question 31

Q35. How does PTC play a factor in the current system?

A35. Currently PTC implementation plans are housed in the Secure Information Repository (SIR) and there are two Sharepoint sites in support of PTC activities.

Q36. What are the current GIS capabilities?

A36. RSIS does not have a specific GIS capability but does provide data to and interface with FRA’s GIS program.

Q37. Can you please release a copy of the referenced Data Management Strategy?

A37. Any reference to the RSIS Strategy and Vision can be found in the Presolicitation Conference slidedeck that is posted on FBO.

Q38. In the attachments, there is a task order provided. Can you provide information on how that will be used? Is that something you are expecting a response to?

A38. The task order Statement of Work (SOW) in the attachments section of the draft RFP will be the first task order issued against the IDIQ upon award. The task order SOW will encompass the areas covered under CLIN 00001 on the base IDIQ contract. The final RFP will include the task order SOW and your proposal response would include the task order.

Q39. Is the scope of the current contract the same as this solicitation?

A39. No, but it is similar.

Q40. Can a subcontractor work at their own sites or do they have to report to the prime subcontractor’s site?

A40. This decision would be made by the prime contractor, not the government.

Q41. What tools are being used for maintaining the website currently?

A41. .Net is used to maintain the current website.

Q42. What different databases are you using?

A42. SQL and SAS

Q43. What kind of software solutions are you currently using?

A43. See the answer to Question 2

Q44. Will it be expected that “incumbent” personnel are given first right of refusal for job offers? If so, can we get a list of employees.

A44. It is not expected that “incumbent” personnel be given first right of refusal for job offers.

Q45. Will this be an LPTA procurement or Best Value? If Best Value, will innovation be rewarded?

A45. This will be a best value procurement. The evaluation factors for award will be available in Section M of the final RFP package.

Q46. Since this is an 8(a) set-aside, how will the 50% rule be enforced – by hours or dollars and by year or overall period of performance?

A46. The 50% rule will be enforced by dollars and by each year of performance.

Q47. Will the Government accept ISO 9001:2008 certification in lieu of CMMI Level 2 certification for this requirement?

A47. No

Q48. Will incumbent personnel need to be re-adjudicated if picked up by a successful offeror other than the incumbent contractor?

A48. If this is asking if personnel have to go through the DOT clearance process again, yes they will. The incumbent staff PIV cards are only good until the end of the current contract.

Q49. Since this is an 8(a) set-aside, will the Government issue the solicitation under the 8(a) STARS II contracting vehicle?

A49. No. FRA intends to establish its own IDIQ contract for this requirement, which precludes the use of the 8(a) STARS II contracting vehicle for this requirement.