SECTION_C__STATEMENT_OF_WORK_REVISED.pdf

SECTION C – STATEMENT OF WORK

REVISED

C.1 Background Federal Student Aid (http://www.fsa.ed.gov/), a principal office of the U.S. Department of Education (http://www.ed.gov/), ensures that all eligible individuals can benefit from federally funded or federally guaranteed financial assistance for education beyond high school. Federal Student Aid consistently champions the promise of postsecondary education and training to all Americans – and its value to our society.

Under Federal Student Aid’s Technology Office, the Application Development Group (ADG) is responsible for providing a suite of services enabling the business, promoting and/or developing the effective use of technology to achieve Federal Student Aid’s (FSA) strategic objectives through sound technology planning and investments, use of integrated technical architecture and standards, effective systems development, and production support.

C.2 Objectives The ADG envisions supporting the enterprise-wide Business Architecture that fosters systematic component / solution reuse; maintain and promulgate value-added requirements documentation standards, and effective requirements management and traceability practices; foster the consistent and effective application of project-level change control processes for IT projects the Technology Office and ADG are involved in. Promoting and maintaining a mature Capability Maturity Model Integration organizational maturity level 2 as our standard, we encourage positive and productive relationships between Contractors, the customer, and entities within the Technology Office. ADG promotes and maintains strategic and technology alignment; support business process management, building the integration framework and reusable operational processes.

C.2.1.1 Current and Approved Development Environment Tools and Software:

A. Reporting Tools: Microstrategy, WebFocus, Crystal Reporting B. Databases: Oracle, MySQL, SQLServer;

C. Microsoft (2010) suite of tools: (Access, Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, Project, Visio);

D. Development languages: C, C#, .Net, TCL, Java, HTML, JQuery, JavaScript;

E. Frameworks: .Net primarily used with SharePoint projects; JEE custom web applications F. Technology: UML: Primarily used in requirements and design documentation;

XML; XSLT;

G. Architectural Components:

1) Eclipse: used in java development efforts;

2) Visual Studio – used on .Net and SharePoint system design projects;

3) IBM WebSphere Application Server:

H. Web services technologies: SOAP, WSDL, and UDDI;

I. IBM Rational CLM solution:

1) Rational Team Concert (RTC) – Change Management

2) Rational Requirements Composer (RRC)

3) Rational Quality Manager (RQM)

4) Rational Functional Tester (RFT)

H. Configuration management: ClearQuest, ClearCase, CVS I. Firewall and intrusion detection software;

J. Data management products: ER/Studio for Embarcadero M. Other Technology:

1. Hibernate: used in our Java development web-based application design projects;

2. EJB 3.0 - Java technology; JSF 2.0 - Java technology; Richfaces; Primefaces;

Seam; Spring - Java technology; Axis 2;

N. Enterprise Business Collaboration (EBC) Software and Services. Reference Appendix F – EBC Software & Services

C.2.1.2 FSA Compliance Requirements.

A. Lifecycle Management Methodology (LMM) https://studentaid.ed.gov/about/contracting-info/it-standards B. FSA IT Standards: https://studentaid.ed.gov/about/contracting-info/it-standards) C. Enterprise Test Management Standards:

https://studentaid.ed.gov/about/contracting-info/it-standards#fsa-testing D. FSA Compliance Requirements – Reference Appendix E

C.3.0 Scope The scope shall encompass the following advisory and professional services but is not limited to:

C.3.1 Program Management:

A. Strategy: works with members of the senior management team via the Contract Officer Representative (COR) to align the project outcomes with the overall business goals and objectives.

B. Resource Allocation: ensure project teams have the resources they need; assist with establishing budgets and allocating technical resources to individual teams; assist with establishing priorities within the overall program and allocating resources in line with those priorities; identify tasks that are common to a number of projects to minimize duplicate work; review the skills available within the project teams and assist with arranging any necessary training to improve performance.

C. Planning: work with individual project managers to assist with establishing plans and goals for each project; assist with establishing short and long term objectives, recommend assignment of tasks, assist with allocating budgets and agree to timetables for achieving intermediate and overall goals; assist with establishing a formal reporting structure.

D. Communication: work closely with project managers to track progress and provide updates on any changes in priorities; report to the senior management team (via the COR) on the progress of individual projects and the overall program https://studentaid.ed.gov/about/contracting-info/it-standards https://studentaid.ed.gov/about/contracting-info/it-standards%23fsa-testing

C.3.1.1 Project Management:

E. Planning and Defining Scope: assist with determining what needs to be done, who is going to do it, and when it needs to be done; assist with defining and clarifying project scope; assist with the development and maintaining the project plan/schedule;

assist with defining procedures to support the achievement of the project objectives.

F. Resource Planning: Organizing and setting up the project team's structure. Assist with identifying the Integrated Project Team roles and responsibilities;

G. Activity Planning and Sequencing. Assist with developing and carrying out the project plan; assist with setting team direction, assist with assigning work, assist with time estimating, H. Managing Risk: Assist with keeping the project on track; Assist with measuring project progress towards meeting project objectives; assist with identify risks and taking corrective actions; project status reporting

C.3.2 Business Analysis:

A. Business Process Re-engineering: Responsible for conducting analysis of the organization’s business strategic needs;

B. Requirements Definition: Responsible for analyzing the organization’s policies and business approaches; assist with modeling the business process; assist with interpreting the business processes and requirements for technical systems. Business Analysts are the primary liaison with the business area in the identification of requirements. The Business Analyst shall provide support throughout the development lifecycle for the testing, planning, and output reviews, post implementation verification and on-going operations and maintenance (O&M) support.

C. Technical Writing: Assist with the responsibility for providing technical writing in support of application development internally as well as the needs of pre-existing applications, Commercial Off the Shelf (COTS) applications, updating of technical standards and other technical writing needs of the enterprise.

C.3.3 Software Application Development:

A. Full Software Life Cycle Development. Provide support services for a Software

Development Life Cycle (SDLC) process to help produce products that are cost-efficient, effective and of high quality. The SDLC methodology supports the requirements and design, construction, unit testing, release and maintenance (incident response) stages.

B. Application Integration and Maintenance. Assist with enabling the flow of information between disparate software programs, as well as from external data sources; consolidate data and data collection efforts, eliminate redundancies of having each application collect and store data for its own purposes. Create a single point of access to data for the business users who need it, when they need it. Assist with enabling more effective collaboration between individual people and business units.

C.3.4 Operation & Maintenance:

Provide support services for the ADG Portfolio Web-Based Application written using Java, Serena Business Manager (SBM), windows (.NET, SharePoint) and other software development technology; Reference Appendix A – ADG Application System Portfolio.

The Contractor shall:

A. Assist with the implementation and configuration of software in all supported environments (development, test, stage and production);

B. Conduct unit and provide system integration testing support services for all system upgrades due to bug fixes, maintenance and enhancements; design; test, deploy and maintain systems supported by the Application Development Group.

C. Use rapid application prototyping as a methodology for gathering requirements.

D. Use Agile Scrum development as well as waterfall application development methodologies supported by ADG.

E. Assist with the assessment of security risk(s) of automated information systems and design, unit and system integration test, and monitor secure solutions to problems found.

C.3.5 Enterprise Testing:

The Contractor shall provide full lifecycle application test services, to include independent testing and/or provide support to testing as needed for applications developed for Federal Student Aid.

The scope of testing includes, but not limited to:

A. Functional Testing – Comprehensive testing to ensure that the system meets the functional and non-functional agreed-upon requirements.

B. Intersystem Testing - Testing to assess the interfaces and interactions between a system and external systems.

C. Data Migration Testing – Testing to verify mapping between legacy and target source databases by system testers with database administrative expertise.

D. Regression Testing - Testing to assess whether or not software changes to implement new business or technical requirements have negatively impacted unrelated application program or system functions.

E. Performance/Stress Testing -Testing conducted by FSA’s Enterprise Testing team or by the development Contractor to determine scalability, reliability, responsiveness, stress of an application. The system testing Contractor shall be required to provide assistance to the Enterprise Performance Test (EPT) team providing scripts based on functionality according to collaboration between teams.

F. Support Section 508 - Testing of software and web sites/applications to ensure compliance with the Section 508 standards typically conducted by the Department of Education accessibility team. The testing Contactor shall test scripts and application knowledge.

G. Acceptance Testing – Testing performed to determine if the business requirements of a system are met. At FSA the testing Contractor shall provide support during the acceptance phase and the support will be detailed at the task order level. The acceptance testing shall include at a minimum:

1. User Exploratory Testing (UET) - Testing performed by end users to get a preview of the application prior to formal user acceptance testing.

2. User Acceptance Test (UAT) - Testing performed by end users to assess and accept the overall functionality and interoperability of the entire system.

System Testers assist in conducting testing activities.

H. Usability Testing – User-centered evaluation of an application by testing it on users and facilitated, and planned by usability testing subject matter experts.

I. Post Implementation Verification – Testing directly after applications moved into production conducted by either the business users or system test Contractor support team to ensure the application works as required in the production environment.

C.4.0 Requirements.

C.4.1 Program Management:

Program managers shall have a strong background in project management. Require strong leadership skills to coordinate and motivate project teams; shall be adept at financial management to assist with administering budgets across multiple projects and ensure the program meets its requirements.

Project manager is responsible for ensuring that the Integrated Project Team (IPT) completes the project; collaborates with the IPT to develop the Project Plan or Work Breakdown Schedule (WBS); manages the team’s performance of all project tasks;

secures acceptance and approval of deliverables from the Business Owner and responsible stakeholders; responsible for communication, including status reporting, risk management, escalation of issues that cannot be resolved within the IPT; ensures the project is delivered on budget, on schedule, and within scope.

C.4.2 Business Analysis:

The ADG shall provide a draft high level requirements document or scope description to the Contractor at the beginning of each development activity specified via a TO. The Contractor shall then create a high-level business requirements need (defined in the Initiative Vision Phase), more detailed functional and non-functional requirements, use cases, non-functional requirements, constraints, assumptions, and special business design considerations during the Definition Phase. The TO may specify that the Contractor shall assist FSA in further refining and documenting requirements in conjunction with end users and other Government and Contractor personnel designated as the Integrated Project Team (IPT) . The Contractor shall be afforded a period of time (to be determined by the Contractor, the IPT and approved by the COR) to review and seek clarification on the functional requirements as established at the project TO start.

The Contractor shall assume the availability of appropriate Government and other Contractor personnel from appropriate subject matter expert workgroups to provide prompt responses and decisions as needed.

After final review and clarification, all parties from the IPT shall agree that the required deliverables have been accepted. The requirements deliverables are expected to be living documents modified as needed as the IPT explores details of the business requirements.

As a result of the iterative and interrelated nature of requirements analysis, a change management process shall be initiated by FSA during project execution once requirements are baselined and at the time of major project enhancement efforts. As subsequent analysis, design and development activities may identify clarifications or changes; these may be submitted by the Contractor or the Government through the designated change management process, Reference Appendix E – Compliance Requirements (Requirements and Configuration Management Traceability)

C.4.3 Business Process Re-engineering:

FSA may require review of current business process models and shall require business process re-engineering. The Contractor shall document the ‘as-is’ current state if not already documented, work with FSA staff to identify opportunities to optimize processes, make recommendation(s) and improve the business process according to the TO requirements. The Contractor shall develop ‘To-Be’ processes that will be used as one of the drivers for developing detailed requirements.

C.4.4 Requirements Definition:

Requirements definition is an iterative and interrelated analysis, design and prototype development phase. Subject to Task Order requirement, a formal change management process will be initiated at the time of the formal agreement to the requirements.

Subsequent analysis, design and development activities identified through clarifications or changes shall be submitted by the Contractor or the Government through the designated change management process, which may include use of the on-line tools. For example, IBM Rational CLM solution.

Modifications to requirements artifacts after initial acceptance, whether initiated by FSA or the Contractor, also, are anticipated as requirements or technical knowledge become clearer. Modifications shall be discussed, verbally approved, documented and signed, following FSA configuration management policies and practice. Reference Appendix E – Compliance Requirements (Requirements and Configuration Management Traceability)

C.4.5 Technical Writing The Government shall issue individual Task Orders specifying the technical writing support needed to modify or develop select artifacts. During the development of some artifacts the Contractor shall work with an IPT and when developing other artifacts the Contractor may be required to include subject matter experts in the area of Requirements Management Standards, Development Standards, and Enterprise Test Management Standards. Individual Task Orders will indicate if Contractor technical SMEs shall be required to support the technical writer.

C.4.6 Software Documentation Requirements:

A. Release notes – Document shall briefly describe issues fixed and/or new functionality delivered by the software and shall contain sufficient information to allow a site manager to safely install the software. This includes software prerequisites, any atypical hardware or system requirements, and any additional caveats or warnings.

Release notes may be abbreviated if installation instructions are delivered in a separate installation or technical manual.

B. Implementation manual – Prepared in a format defined by ADG, an installation manual shall be required for all applications that require procedures for installation and initial configuration that differ significantly from those of other applications.

Installation manuals are not required for software patches, as long as the installation instructions are clearly specified in the release notes. For most applications, installation instructions can be included in the technical manual.

C. Technical manual – Prepared in a format defined by ADG, a technical manual shall be required for all new software technical manuals are designed to enable site managers to configure and troubleshoot applications, and are the first line of reference for local technical staff.

D. Security manual – Prepared in a format defined by ADG, a security manual shall be required for all new software releases. Security manuals describe a variety of security features of the subject software. Security manuals are not distributed to the public but are designed for the internal use of FSA Technology Offices. Release to other entities must be approved by the Information Systems Security Officer and TO Contracting Officer (TO CO).

E. User manual – In most cases user documentation shall be developed by the functional project team; the Contractor may be expected to contribute text, screen shots, or other content to the user manual.

F. Help documentation – In general, on-line help documentation shall be derived from text developed for the user manual by the functional project team. The Contractor may be required to contribute text, screen shots, or other content for help documentation. Help files provided by the project team shall be incorporated by the Contractor into software builds.

G. Training materials – The Contractor may be required to develop training materials designed to assist end users and other site IT staff, in installing, managing and/or troubleshooting applications. The types of training materials shall be specified through specific Task Orders and are likely to include, but not be limited to, text sections of training manuals, illustrative screen captures, interactive online demos, and presentation slides (e.g., PowerPoint).

H. Transition Documentation - Contractor may be required to create a transition plan to identify the activities and associated challenges for continued support of applications for transition to FSA and other Contractors. The transition plan and other transition documentation shall be defined in each individual Task Order.

I. Other documentation – certain tasks may require additional documentation, which shall be specified in the individual Task Order.

C.4.7 Software Design The Contractor shall initiate a draft Software Design Document (SDD) in response to the initial software requirements specification. The SDD shall include clear identification of any dependencies on applications or systems outside the scope of the individual Task Order or not under the control of the Contractor that may affect the development schedule or software performance. The timeframe for production of the draft SDD shall be specified in the individual Task Order. It is anticipated that the Contractor may need to perform coding to test and determine the design approach that most effectively meets the requirement(s).

The FSA IPT shall review the proposed SDD within timeframes specified in the WBS and request clarification or changes as needed, whereupon the SDD will be accepted by both (FSA IPT and the Contractor) parties in writing. Different elements of the design may be agreed to by the Government prior to the entire design being approved and ratified; the COR may notify the Contractor in writing that development of individual elements may precede.

C.4.8 Software Application Development The development phase shall begin with FSAs approval and acceptance of the SDD.

Based on the functional requirements, the Contractor may provide interim builds that include logical functional subsets; the content and timing of interim builds shall be discussed and scheduled jointly by the project team. Reference Appendix E – Compliance Requirements (Lifecycle Management Methodology).

The Contractor shall provide technical resources to analyze, design, develop and test new or enhanced ADG software components as defined by an individual Task Order (TO).

All functional requirements for enhancements or new applications will originate with the FSA Business Units subject matter experts or requirements workgroups established by the Federal Student Aid Technology Office.

Functional analysts will be identified by the FSA Technology Office Program Management staff who will then work with the requirements workgroup(s) to obtain requirements details.

The assigned Contractor shall support various activities simultaneously within functional areas such as: performing functional analysis, knowledge management, design, development and testing. These functional areas may include the following tasks, but are not limited to:

1. Collaborate with subject matter expert workgroups representing FSA business unit specialty areas and assigned individual Task Order functional analysts to translate functional requirements into reusable technical design and code;

articulate technical issues that may affect the design approach to the functional requirements.

2. Collaborate with the FSA Technology Office Project Manager to prioritize and assist with estimating schedules and costs for designated development projects;

produce final baseline WBS and update as agreed by the IPT and approved by the

COR.

3. Work with analyst(s) and members of the Integrated Project Team (IPT) to identify any potential changes/enhancements to relevant ADG Application System Portfolio. Reference Appendix A – ADG Application System Portfolio.

4. Design server and interface components; produce design documentation and work with other developers as needed to ensure compatible code reuse from other FSA system components.

5. Code the software applications and provide interim builds as determined jointly by the IPT and approved by the COR;

6. Provide testing of software builds against approved requirements prior to delivery for FSA independent testing and user acceptance testing.

C.4.9 Enterprise Testing:

The Government shall issue individual TOs specifying the testing support for applications. Several levels of testing may be required which align with FSA’s Lifecycle Management Methodology (LMM).

A. The Contractor shall provide thorough testing of software builds against approved requirements for each phase of testing and type of testing using Rational Quality Manager or the tool approved by FSA as specified in each individual TO.

B. The Contractor shall create the testing artifacts (test suites, plans, reporting) based on the phase of testing and the type of testing as specified in each individual TO.

C. The Contractor shall participate in requirements sessions, reviewing the requirements artifacts and provide feedback to ensure the documents provide sufficient clarity for the Contractor to test the requirements for FSA solutions.

D. The Contractor shall support the efforts of all stakeholders providing services in the delivery of the specific application being tested. This includes Vendors supporting requirements, development, IV&V, project management support, performance test, security authorization, and others. The Contractor shall make themselves available to proactively participate in supporting these efforts as well as identifying and articulating the dependencies the Contractor has on these other services/Vendors.

E. The Contractor shall identify risk, provide mitigation strategies to risks and report risks to the COR and project team.

F. The Contractor shall record defects and update defect records using Rational Team Concert or the tool specified by FSA.

G. The Contractor shall create defect management reporting based on test execution times and reported on daily, weekly and monthly using the prescribe format that shall be provided within individual Task Orders.

H. The Contractor shall document lessons learned and apply the lessons for process improvement as appropriate.

I. Transition Documentation - Contractor may be required to create a transition plan to identify the activities and associated challenges for continued support of applications for transition to FSA and other Contractors. The transition plan and other transition documentation shall be defined within the individual Task Order.

C.4.10 Operation and Maintenance (O&M) Support

The Contractor shall be assigned Operation and Maintenance (O&M) responsibilities for a number of ADG applications. For planning purposes, those applications that are expected to be a part of the Contractor’s maintenance scope are listed in Appendix A – ADG Application System Portfolio. However, this listing is not definitive nor all-inclusive and actual assignment of package O&M responsibilities shall be specified within individual Task Orders assigning the Contractor O&M responsibilities in support of the ADG portfolio of applications or namespace shall include one or more of the following elements, but are not limited to:

a) Application User Support

b) Technical and Programmer Support

c) Application Setup, Configuration, and/or Installation

d) Ancillary Projects

1) Security Patch Upgrades Testing

2) System Password Changes Testing

3) Infrastructure Upgrades Testing

4) Software Evergreen Activities

C.4.11 Application User Support

User support for a software application is assigned on a package-by-package basis. In some cases this support is provided by FSA ADG Program Management staff. User support consists of assisting users with the application. These will chiefly be requests for support from local application coordinators or site managers who have exceeded their support skills and have contacted the ADG O&M Help Desk. All user support calls shall originate from and be logged by the ADG O&M Help Desk using the Serena Service Manager (SSM) Request Center tracking tool, where initial reporting and troubleshooting will occur. If the Help Desk is unable to resolve the problem, it shall be referred to the Contractor’s user support specialist for further investigation and resolution.

C.4.12 Technical and Programmer Support Issues that exceed the capability of an application specialist often indicate the presence of a software bug or the need for additional programming. The Contractor shall cooperate with the ADG O&M Help Desk to isolate these issues and identify if a patch is indicated.

All issues originating from end users shall first be reported to and logged by the ADG O&M Help Desk before being referred for programmer support. If such calls are received by the Contractor without having gone through the ADG O&M Help Desk, the Contractor who responds to those calls, shall request that the user contact the ADG O&M Help Desk for future support needs, and shall communicate the current call and response to the ADG O&M Help Desk for official documentation. All Problem Reports (PR) shall be documented and be subjected to approval before development, by IPT and/or the Change Control Board (CCB).

The Contractor shall create software patches to address the above issues and/or deliver minor functional enhancements as determined by the federal task lead and approved by the COR. The Contractor shall conduct patch testing and shall provide testing support in all software migration environments according to FSA policies and under the direction of the ADG Program Management Office.

The Contractor shall provide updates for applicable software documentation and help files as needed to keep these documents current with released patches.

Unless otherwise specified in the maintenance Task Order, development of a new application version or development of new or enhanced functions resulting from a Change Request (CR) are excluded from package maintenance, as these necessitate requirements and design specification process typically outlined in a separate Task Order.

This, also, includes modification and enhancement requests originating with other applications, in order to meet requirements specified for the other application. Such requests might include creation of new application programmer interfaces (API), modification of an existing API, or other enhancements. These requests are coordinated among the task leads for the applications in question and the ADG Program Management Office.

C.4.13 Application Setup, Configuration, and/or Installation C.4.13.1 Technical Coordination and Consultation

Occasionally the Contractor shall be called upon to provide consultation for other developers in order to assist them with separate projects. As parts of a dependency with other FSA applications, system requirements for one application often cannot be met without modifications to other systems. Planning, development, and release of application patches and versions require coordination and cooperation among project leads and developers, many of whom are Contractors. The Contractor shall provide this assistance if the request is properly documented through the ADG O&M Help Desk.

C.4.13.2 Ancillary Projects Discrete activities that require support in planning and integration testing of all ADG system portfolios:

a) Security Patch upgrades

b) System Password changes

c) Infrastructure upgrades

d) Software evergreen activities

C.5.0 Specific Requirements.

C.5.1 Licenses, Products, and Equipment

Unless otherwise specified herein or in a particular individual Task Order, the Contractor shall be responsible for providing all hardware, software, and software licenses required for its employees to carry out the work of the contract.

If the Government’s specifications requires the Contractor to have in its possession particular equipment not normally required for software development (such as a personal identification verification card (PIV), development workstation/laptop, tokens, etc.) in order to complete development and testing, the Government shall supply this equipment to the Contractor. The equipment remains the property of the Government and will be returned to the Government at the conclusion of the development task order.

C.5.2 Schedule and Reporting Requirements.

C.5.2.1 Planning and Scheduling

All work specified under this contract shall be planned and scheduled through the use of Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) documents. In responding to each individual Task Order, the Contractor shall propose a work plan that describes how they intend to carry out the requirements of the order. The plan shall include Contractor’s staffing for this work as well as a WBS for the task. The WBS shall be provided as a Microsoft Project document unless otherwise specified by the Government. Proposed work plans and WBS documents must be approved by the COR in consultation with the federal lead for the specific Task Order. Deliverable dates in the approved WBS will be used as a basis for determining Contractor performance. Some Task Orders will be incompletely specified at the time of Task Order acceptance (e.g. pending final software requirements, etc.). The Contractor’s work plan shall indicate such unknowns where they exist. The schedule shall be updated periodically to reflect completed and pending work, as well as approved adjustments to the schedule. At any point during the ordering period, the Contractor shall be able to produce a current work plan and WBS for each Task Order and the contract as a whole.

C.5.2.2 Deliverables

All deliverables will be accepted according to the deliverable review guidelines stated in their individual Task Orders. Please note that the required lifecycle update schedule shall repeat themselves until the Contractor deliverables are accepted. The Contractor may propose additional deliverables. In addition, the Contractor shall update (applicable) deliverables throughout the life of the individual Task Order, as required.

All documentation shall be aligned with the LMM and shall be in the format as stated by the Task Order. The individual Task Order shall provide the templates, and exemplars in LMM standard format. The Contractor may enhance the reports and shall work with the FSA to get approval.

The Government may accept the draft and provide comments for incorporation into the final version.

If the Contractor requires additional guidance to produce an acceptable draft, the Contractor shall arrange a meeting with the FSA TO COR.

All deliverables shall be delivered electronically through the internet approved email service provider to the TO COR and TO IPT members (will be defined at start of individual task orders). Deliverables shall adhere to the industry and Government standards.

Along with each deliverable, the Contractor shall submit a Government Comments Matrix (MS Excel) including row number, deliverable title, section name, paragraph, page number, and any other relevant information; such as figure or table in order to facilitate the Government’s review process.

Deliverables, and the timeframe for their delivery, shall be specified in each authorizing Task Order and the corresponding Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) document that shall be produced in response to the individual Task Order. Reference Appendix C:

Deliverables

C.5.2.3 Inspection and Acceptance.

All reports and task deliverables shall be inspected, tested (where applicable), reviewed, and accepted by the Government within a period of time, but in no case more than 20 business days. If found unacceptable, the Government shall notify the Contractor in writing or by email of the non-acceptance and provide detail why the deliverable was not accepted. The Contractor shall have 10 business days to discuss, correct, or arrive at an acceptable solution with the Government. Acceptance criteria are as follows:

a. All documents stated as deliverables are received for review and acceptance.

b. Deliverable documents are delivered in proper format as specified in the individual Task Order.

c. Deliverable is submitted on time as identified in the authorizing Task Order.

d. Satisfy requirements as outlined in the quality control and assurance plans.

Only the TO COR and the TO CO has the authority to inspect, accept, or reject all deliverables. Final acceptance of all deliverables shall be provided in writing, or in electronic format, to the TO COR/TO CO within 30 days from the end of the task order. Reference Appendix D – Performance Measures.

C.6 Key Personnel.

All key personnel must meet the following criteria:

1. Hold or be able to hold a 6C Public Trust security clearance.

2. Qualifications are submitted to Government for review and approval.

3. Be available during normal working hours.

4. Given two hours’ notice, be able to meet with designated Government personnel, including the TO Contracting Officer and the Contracting Officer’s Technical Representative.

The Government desires that Key Personnel be assigned for the duration of the contract.

Key Personnel shall be assigned for a minimum 12-month periods barring circumstances outside the control of the Contractor, e.g. death or disability.

Should any Key Personnel choose to leave for another reason (e.g. higher pay, job dissatisfaction) prior to six months in place, then any costs associated with security investigations for replacement personnel shall be the sole responsibility of the Contractor.

Their replacement shall have equal or superior qualifications and be provided within 30 calendar days after their known departure date.

The Contractor shall provide a resource plan that will satisfy the staffing needs of the specific Task Order. Reference Appendix B – Labor Categories.

The Government considers 1920 hours (excludes holidays) to be a full years labor for one individual unless otherwise specified in the individual Task Order.

General Personnel Qualifications are listed below:

Senior Level Requirements

1. Minimum 7 years of work experience in specialty area

2. Certifications in specialty area or experience equivalent to certification

3. Experience with tools as defined in and Appendix B-Labor Categories as well as the individual Task Orders.

4. Experience in coordinating across multiple teams and organizations to deliver successful products and services

Intermediate Level Requirements

1. Minimum 5 years of work experience is specialty area

2. Certifications in specialty area or experience equivalent to certification

3. Experience with tools as defined in individual Task Orders.

4. Experience in coordinating across multiple teams and organizations to deliver successful products and services

Junior Level Requirements

1. Minimum 3 years of work experience in specialty area

2. Experience with tools as defined in Task Orders.

C.7 Place and Hours of Performance

The work shall be performed primarily at the Contractor’s facility. Occasional travel shall be required to FSA’s headquarters located at 830 First Street, NE, Washington, DC, 20202, as requested and approved by the COR or in specific Task Orders.

When working at Government facilities, work shall be accomplished during normal duty hours (8 AM - 5 PM) unless otherwise approved by the TO COR.

Tokens shall be provided in order for the Contractor to gain access to the application and the Rational suite of tools. The Contractor shall be provided a link to gain access to Rational.

Contractor personnel shall not report to Government facilities to work nor remain at the work locations any time the Government is unexpectedly required to close their offices.

The Contractor shall not be compensated for these Government closures. The Contractor shall be responsible for all notification of their Contractor staff during times of closure.

Appendix A – ADG Application System Portfolio

External Facing - Internet Systems:

System Name Description Technology System Owner

Electronic Cohort Default Rate Appeals (eCDRA)

The Cohort Default Rate Appeals system is a public facing web-based application that facilitates the exchange of information between parties for the challenge/appeal processes. Java

Business Operations

Experimental Sites (xSites)

The Experimental Sites Initiative is ED/FSA’s field-test for changes to specific Title IV statutory/regulatory requirements. Under the experiments, the schools are given exemptions to specific requirements governing student aid delivery in order to demonstrate how these exemptions can help schools streamline procedures/processes, improve student services, and eliminate delays in the delivery of Title IV aid. DoED analyzes the data to evaluate the outcomes of the experiments and their implications on how financial aid policy could be streamlined and simplified. Java

Business Operations

Quality Assurance Survey Reporting System (aka School Reporting Tool (SRT))

The Quality Assurance (QA) Program allows a participating school to set its own financial aid verification process. The School Reporting Tool (SRT) focuses on developing the capability to capture information from schools that participate in the QA Program Java

Business Operations

Internal Facing - Intranet Systems:

System Name Description Technology System Owner

Performance Award Tracking System (PATs)

Internal facing web application designed to assist the Human Resources Office in managing the annual performance awards nomination process; managing the SPOT and Special Act Awards Programs, Time Off and Quality Step Increases (QSI). Manage workflow; robust reporting and dashboards for Approving and Recommending officials, in an efficient way of managing the award nomination process. SBM

Administrative Services

FOIA Integrity Management System

(FIMS)

Internal Facing web-based information system designed to track FOIA requests, check for similarity to prior requests, validate request category assigned, monitor the status of the request, and record efforts being executed to complete the fulfillment of the FOIA request. SBM

Administrative Services

Human Capital Planning & Staffing Solution

(HCPSS)

Human Capital Planning & Staffing Solution (HCPSS). Internal facing web application. Release 1.0 focuses on hiring activities including;

planning and maintenance of position descriptions; vacancy questions, and Interview questions to support the hiring managers. SBM

Administrative Services

Lessons Learned DataBase (LLDB)

The Lessons Learned Database (LLDB) is FSA’s central repository for lessons learned on system development projects. Information contained in this system is used for organizational process improvement. The LLDB system leverages out of the box SharePoint 2010 capabilities wherever applicable. This allows for rapid development of LLDB functionality and easy maintenance of the system in production. In order to meet the requirements, the LLDB User Interface has been customized using SharePoint Designer and deployed as part of the LLDB solution.

Similarly, Visual Studio based custom development was used to implement some use cases where the out of the box solution is either insufficient or provides usability challenges.

SharePoint;

.Net

Technology Office

Appendix B – Labor Categories

Labor Categories Service Area Resource Type Description

Program Management Program Manager

Ensure that the work effort achieves the outcome specified in the ADG business and strategic plan. This involves setting and reviewing objectives, coordinating activities across projects, and overseeing the integration and reuse of interim work products and results. Accountable for schedule, budget, and quality of all program elements;

Reviews/approves project plans for conformance to program strategy, program plan and schedule; Acts as the communications conduit to CO/COR and ADG management staff; conducts periodic briefings/status updates; Escalates decisions to COR/CO as necessary.

Project Manager

Responsible for ensuring that the IPT completes the project; collaborates with the IPT to develop the Project Plan or WBS; manage team’s performance of all project tasks; secure acceptance and approval of deliverables from the Business Owner and responsible stakeholders;

responsible for communication, including status reporting, risk management, escalation of issues that cannot be resolved within the IPT; ensures the project is delivered on budget, on schedule, and within scope.

Functional Expert

Serve as subject matter expert who analyzes user needs to determine functional requirements. Works with technical analysts to incorporate the functional requirements into new or existing systems. May remain involved through the system design, testing or updating technical standards.

Subject Matter Expert

Analyzes and develops plans and requirements in the subject matter area for complex systems. Coordinates and manages the preparation of analysis, evaluations, and recommendations for existing technology or new technologies or technical standards.

Business Analyst

/Requirements

Works with the business to elicit and document requirements appropriate to project size and complexity.

Knowledge transfer to development and test teams.

Business Process Re- Engineering Specialist - Senior

Works with business to identify and analyze core business processes and workflows. Shall conduct Business Process Mapping and Business Process Reengineering; facilitating workshops with business subject matter experts;

documentation of process and work flows; develop of detailed process maps and business requirements.

Collaborates with team and escalates issues to COR/CO as necessary.

Business Analyst - Senior

Works with the business to elicit and document requirements appropriate to project size and complexity.

Knowledge transfer to development and test teams. May be team lead for business analysts. Collaborates with team and escalates issues to COR/CO as necessary.

Business Analyst- Intermediate

Works with the business to elicit and document requirements appropriate to project size and complexity.

Knowledge transfer to development and test teams. Project assignment will be for small to medium project tasks.

Technical Writer

Resource to create and maintain the software documentation deliverables, standards, user guides and templates

Documentation Specialist - Senior

Gathers, analyzes, and composes technical information.

Conducts research and ensures the use of proper technical terminology. Translates technical information into clear, readable documents to be used by technical and non-technical personnel. Collaborates with team and escalates issues to COR/CO as necessary.

Documentation Specialist - Intermediate

Gathers, analyzes, and composes technical information.

Conducts research and ensures the use of proper technical terminology. Translates technical information into clear, readable documents to be used by technical and non-technical personnel.

Software Application Development Software Engineer

The primary duties of this position shall be to develop, create, and modify general computer applications software or specialized utility programs. Analyze user needs (business requirements) and develop software solutions.

Design software or customize software with the aim of optimizing operational efficiency. May analyze and design databases within an application area, working individually or coordinating with database administration development team.

Applications Systems Analyst/Programmer

Specialist in analyzing, designing and implementing information systems. System analysts assess the suitability of information systems in terms of their intended outcomes and collaborates with end users, software engineers and programmers in order to achieve these outcomes. The systems analyst uses analysis and design techniques to solve business problems using information technology.

The systems analysts may serve as change agents who identify the organizational improvements needed, design systems to implement those changes, and assist in training and motivate business users/owners to use the systems.

Serena Solution Development Specialist

- Senior

Makes solid recommendations based on analysis and provide explanations for operational results for business users.

Design/implement workflows within SBM; Routine maintenance and monitoring of SBM system, documentation and testing; in collaboration with the BA shall help to lead users through requirements gathering, definition, and documenting the requirements; Support the IPT in the requirements gathering and documentation, analysis, design, development, testing, demonstrating and deploying Serena Business Management (SBM) workflows to meet user's requirements; Update SBM application software components; Oversight SBM activities include:

Workflow Design including Sub tasking/Post Items, Application Scripting, Relational/Sub-relational fields, Auxiliary tables (Interactive and externally managed), Security/groups and roles design. Notifications including:

Rules, Escalations, Email Recorder Features, Custom Forms Design including: JavaScript/jQuery, Form Actions, Embedded Objects/Reports, Reporting to include Extensive Report Design (within user environment), Dashboards, Calendar Reports, Multi-table reports, Embedded Structured Query Language (SQL) inside report parameters, Work Center, Feature Design, Troubleshooting; Use of Orchestrations and web services with an understanding of Application Program Interfaces (API), Data Importing; Routine monitoring of SBM logs;

Troubleshoot complex problems that come from end users that require research and new solutions; Define and implement application level architecture design.

Development Specialist

- Intermediate

Labor Category Description is similar to the description for the Serena Solution Development Specialist-Senior.

Configuration Mgmt.

Analyst

Manages configuration of artifacts and code to ensure integrity; tracks and controls changes in the software, tracks software revision and the establishment of baselines.

Information Security

Coordinates with management, programmers, risk assessment staff, auditors, facilities, and other security departments to identify and plan for security in all aspects of data, applications, hardware, telecommunications, and computer installations.

Information Systems Training Specialist

Coordinates development and implementation of specialized training aimed at communicating software/system functions and features to improving individual and organizational performance while using the system. Works closely with the Business Analyst/Technical Writers to ensure training material aligns with the training program. Works closely with the O&M staff to conducts needs assessments, designs, develops, tests, delivers and evaluates system training programs depending on the justified need based on their analysis.

Database Administrator/Architect

Performs tasks which ensure that accurate and valid data are used, based on system requirements/design. Creates the information systems database, maintains the database's security and develops plans for disaster recovery. The data administrator may be called upon to create queries and reports for a variety of user requests.