RSS Instructions to the Offerors.doc

Office of Citizen Services and Communications

Instructions to Offerors for RFP Submissions

This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items prepared in accordance with the format in Subpart 12.6, as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation; proposals are being requested and a written solicitation will not be issued. The solicitation number is GS00V08PD0078 and is issued as a request for proposal. The associated North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) code for this procurement is 518210. This requirement is open to all socio-economic businesses. All interested business offerors may submit a quote.

The selected Offeror must comply with the following commercial item terms and conditions. FAR 52.212-1, Instructions to Offerors - Commercial, applies to this acquisition. Commercial Items, 52.212-3, Offeror Representations and Certifications - Commercial Items. FAR 52.212-4, Contract Terms and Conditions - Commercial Items, applies to this acquisition. The following FAR clauses in paragraph (b) of FAR clause 52.212-5, Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes or Executive Orders-Commercial Items, will apply: 52.222-21, 52.222-26, 52.222-35, 52.222-36, 52.222-37, 52.225-13, 52.232-34. The full text of a FAR clause may be access electronically at http://www.acqnet.gov/far. Company must be registered on Central Contractor Registration (CCR) before an award can be made. If a company is not registered in CCR, they may do so by accessing the following web site at http://www.ccr.gov/.

The General Services Administration (GSA), Office of Management Services, is issuing this Request for Proposal (RFP) on behalf of the GSA Office Citizen Services and Communications (OCSC) to solicit contractors experienced in RSS Aggregation/Syndication services.

The objective of this solicitation is to establish an Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity contract for a hosted solution for USA.gov and its related web properties. The contract will cover the hosted solution and services related to continued maintenance and implementation of the solution. The solution will enable the government to acquire/aggregate content from RSS feeds accessible via the Internet and, conversely, to distribute the content using packages of information designed to enable users to easily package, store and utilize the content, e.g. using pre-packaged “widgets” or other similar devices. The government is requesting proposals for advanced content aggregation and syndication services that will complement and/or replace existing tools maintained by the USA.gov Technologies Division

The government intends to issue a single firm fixed contract for a 1 year base period of performance and 4 one-year options. The government will make the award by evaluating all proposals in accordance with the following instructions. The government shall reserve the right to issue an award based on initial proposals and without discussions.

Proposal Submission:

· The due date for electronic submittal of the Technical and Price Proposals will be May 5, 2008, 2 pm EST to Emil Loczko, Jr., Contract Specialist via email at emil.loczko@gsa.gov using Microsoft Word or PDF attachments.

· Questions must be submitted no later than April 18. 2008, 2:00 pm EST. All pre-award communications and questions will be submitted to the Contract Specialist, Emil Loczko via email at emil.loczko@gsa.gov The government anticipates award on or about May 19, 2008.

As Technical Proposals are reviewed, evaluated prior to reviewing Price Proposals, all technical information shall be in the Technical Proposal to be considered. Do not include any cost data in the technical proposal.

The Technical Proposal will include a written portion as described above. The written portion shall include:

Technical Proposal:

The proposal shall identify whether you are large, or small-, disadvantaged-, service disabled veteran, woman-owned and/or minority-owned business, and provide your federal tax identification number.

The Technical Proposal shall include:

· Past Performance

· Technical Approach in meeting basic requirements

· Technical Approach in meeting requirements of first task order

· Completed Section 508 VPAT (excluded from page limit, instructions below)

· Service Level Agreement which documents the services proposed, acceptable performance measures, and service level guarantees.

· Resumes of key personnel (excluded from page limit)

Offerors may submit marketing materials (brochures, glossies) in addition to, but not in lieu of, the prepared technical proposal. Such materials will not be evaluated.

1. TECHNICAL PROPOSALS

As stated above, the Technical Proposal is limited to 15 pages with a minimum 11-point font size text, and page margins of at least 1 inch on the top, bottom and sides. Resumes, the completed VPAT, and Tables of Content (to consist of topics and page numbers only) are not included in the 15-page limitation. Any attachments, appendices or exhibits are included in the 15-page limitation. If an Offeror’s Technical Proposal exceeds the 15-page limitation, only the first 15 pages will be evaluated and distributed to the evaluation team.

The Technical Proposal shall include:

· Responses to the three evaluation criteria shown here in increasing order of value/importance (Past Performance less than Technical Approach for basic requirements; Technical Approach for basic requirements less than Technical Approach in meeting requirements of the first task.)

· Past Performance – Description of the firm’s capabilities history, including unique characteristics that make the offeror suitable for this work along with no more than three references or examples of current client using their products and services with current contact information for reference confirmation.

· Technical Approach in meeting basic requirements.

· Technical Approach in meeting requirements of first task order.

· Service Level Agreement which documents the services proposed, acceptable performance measures, and service level guarantees.

· Completed VPAT (excluded from page limit, see 508 instructions below).

· Resumes of key personnel (excluded from page limit). Resumes should not exceed 2 pages per individual.

Section 508/Accessibility of Deliverables

The service shall provide a public interface that meets and/or exceeds Section 508 requirements, as determined by GSA's adherence to guidelines set by the U.S. Access Board and general known best practices for accessibility. The Offeror should include a completed VPAT assessment, found at: http://www.itic.org/archives/iti%20voluntary%20product%20accessibility%20template.htm Cost Proposal:

In addition to the technical proposal, Offerors will provide their firm, fixed price cost for doing the work. Price must include all costs to accomplish the work. The cost proposal will show a base period of 1 year with 4 optional periods of 1 year each.

Award:

The award will be made to the responsive offeror whose offer conforms to the solicitation and is most advantageous to the Government, considering the price and technical evaluation criteria listed above. For this request for quotes, the combined weight of the technical factors is greater than the price. However, as quotes become more equal in their technical merit, price becomes more important.

Upon selection of the offeror for award, interviews will be held with the contractor candidates to select the individual for the work.