Amended_-_Combined_Synopsis-Solicitation_AEDS_(Phase_1).doc

Combined Synopsis/Solicitation

U.S. Department of Education

Operations and Maintenance (O&M) of the Application and Eligibility Determination Systems (AEDS) (Phase 1) Solicitation Number ED-FSA-14-R-0041

This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items and services prepared in accordance with Department of Education Acquisition Regulation (EDAR) Subpart 3415.302-70. This announcement constitutes Phase 1 of a two-phase process.

No contract will be awarded as a result of Phase 1. Consistent with the authority provided at EDAR Subpart 3415.302-70 of this requirement, FAR Part 15 is not applicable until Phase 2. Accordingly, movement or non-selection of a vendor from Phase 1 to Phase 2 does not constitute a competitive range determination. Full requirements will be presented in Phase 2. Competitive ranges, if any are determined necessary, will only be made in Phase 2.

This requirement is for the Operations and Maintenance (O&M) of the Application and Eligibility Determination Systems (AEDS). The AEDS supports FSA’s core business objective of accepting and processing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) from current and potential post-secondary school students. (See Attachment 1, Performance Work Statement (PWS) for description of scope)

All responsible offerors may submit the required information below that will be used by the Contracting Officer (CO) to make a determination as to which Offerors will be considered. The CO will limit the number of sources considered to that which is in the best interest of the Federal Government. If an Offeror receives a “No-Go” for any of the information below, the Offeror will no longer be considered.

Offerors shall complete the Information Matrix (Attachment 2) to demonstrate that they meet to following GO/NO-GO information:

1) Current CMMI Level 3 certification or equivalent;

2) Past experience managing mission critical systems with a mandatory start date, of similar size, scope and/or complexity as the AEDS within the past ten (10) years;

The life cycle process for updating and enhancing the current products for annual application update is to develop requirements; update current functional specifications and detail design documents, based upon agreed-upon requirements; make changes to the current code, based on accepted functional specifications; conduct unit testing; acquire sub-contractor system test validation; and submit code to Federal Student Aid staff who conduct User Acceptance Testing. The new release is implemented on a mandatory start date of January 1. This start date is mandated by law in FSA and cannot be slipped.

3) Past technical experience and expertise developing, enhancing and maintaining systems based on Mainframe COBOL/CICS/DB2 architecture, JAVA/JSF/Oracle environment and web-based front end for at least one (1) client within the past ten (10) years. The work must be similar to or more extensive, in terms of scope, magnitude and complexity; as the work being required in the PWS (See Attachment 1);

4) Past technical experience managing a system with variations in demand on the processing system due to significant peak processing periods for at least one (1) client within the past ten (10) years. Relevant work must be similar to or more extensive, in terms of scope, magnitude and complexity, as the work being required in the PWS (See Attachment 1).

5) Rough Order of Magnitude – Offeror’s estimated cost to operate and maintain the AEDS.

BASIS FOR WHICH POTENTIAL SOURCES WILL BE FURTHER CONSIDERED

1. Receive all GO’s for all information requested, and;

2. The Contracting Officer’s (CO) determination of the number of selected offerors appropriate for an efficient competition and in the best interest of the Government.

INSTRUCTIONS TO OFFERORS

Attachment 4 has been provided as a sample of a completed Matrix. Offerors shall complete Attachment 2, AEDS Phase 1 Information Matrix (Matrix) by filling in each column. The information inserted in the Matrix shall be consistent with the information submitted by the Offeror. The Offeror should attach all relevant information to the Matrix.

Past experience for each Go/No-Go information can reference the same client or a combination of multiple clients. Through this matrix, the Offeror should map all responses to the information requested in an easily identifiable method (e.g. provide excerpts of existing and past contract terms, deliverables, and performance reports). Artifacts can be from a teaming partner or subcontractor. Provide specific references to any documents used to demonstrate the information requested. Do not submit capability statements, marketing materials, or similar items. Only submit items described in this solicitation that address the evaluation factors.

The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code is 541519 – Other Computer Related Services (size standard $25.0 Million). Offerors must be registered and/or update their registration in the System for Award Management (SAM) at http://www.sam.gov, in order to be further considered. Offeror must update SAM registration no later than 15 September 2014.

Submission Components

Technical Information Offeror must provide the following:

1. Information Matrix – Attachment 2;

2. Supporting/Reference documents listed in the Information Matrix (the proposed conceptual approach). Offeror will cite and mark the specific references in each document that support each informational request;

Cost Information – Rough Order of Magnitude (ROM)

3. ROM – (Costs likely to be associated with the approach)

Submission Method Offerors shall submit information via email to Carolyn Dickens, Contracting Officer, at carolyn.dickens@ed.gov, and Louis Dixon, Contract Specialist, louis.dixon@ed.gov, with a subject line that reads, “Phase 1 Submission – Application Eligibility and Determination (AEDS)”. All information shall be included as attachments formatted using Adobe PDF format with a duplicate copy compatible with Microsoft Word or Microsoft Excel. The ROM should be included as a separate file.

Except for existing artifacts, Offerors’ information submission should be no less than 12 Times New Roman font with one (1) inch margins on standard 8.5 x 11 paper. Smaller than 12 point font may be used in tables, figures, headers and footers and the ROM. Offerors shall insert the Company’s name in the header of every page and on all artifacts.

Inquiries and Questions Offerors shall submit questions regarding the requested information via email to Carolyn.Dickens@ed.gov and Louis.Dixon@ed.gov no later than 10 September 2014, 12:00PM Eastern Standard Time (EST).

Questions submitted shall state the question, identify the related section of the solicitation, page number and as applicable identify the Offeror’s proposed interpretation or response.

Submission Deadline

Offerors are required to submit their information for Phase 1 by 12:00PM (EST) on 17 September 2014. The time of receipt is considered to be the time in which the hard copy is received at the initial point of entry to the Department’s infrastructure and Contracting Officer’s e-mail box.

Attachments

1. AEDS DRAFT - Performance Work Statement (PWS)

2. AEDS Information Matrix

3. AEDS Cost Information

4. Sample Phase 1 AEDS Information Matrix