Request_for_Information - Distributed Learning Rev1.pdf

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

WASHINGTON HEADQUARTERS SERVICES (WHS)

ACQUISITION DIRECTORATE (AD)

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION

General Information Document Type: Request for Information (RFI) Title: Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller) (OUSD(C)) - DoD Financial Management Certification Program - Distributed Learning (DFMC DL) Requirement Request for Information Post Date: 05/22/24 Request for Information Response Date: 06/06/24 NAICS Code: 611430, Professional and Management Development Training Product Service Code (PSC): U008, Education/Training – Training/Curriculum Development Contracting Office Address: Washington Headquarters Services, Acquisition Directorate, 4800 Mark Center Drive, Alexandria, VA 22350

Background

The OUSD(C) Financial Workforce Management Division (FWMD), as directed by the Director, Human Capital and Resource Management and the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller) (USD(C)) and as stated in the Department of Defense Financial Management Strategy (FY22-26), optimize and evolve FM training solutions in an effort to meet DoD-wide civilian workforce planning needs and facilitate lifecycle management of the Department’s civilian Financial Management (FM) workforce. The FWMD is responsible for ensuring the DoD Financial Management workforce has the competencies, capacity, and tools to acquire, develop, and sustain the talent needed to meet current and future mission requirements.

Department of Defense Instruction (DoDI) 1300.26, DoD Financial Management Certification Program (DFMCP) establishes policy and assigns responsibilities for the DoD Financial Management Certification Program (DFMCP), establishes the DoD Financial Management (FM) Senior Leadership Group (SLG), the FM Component Functional Community Manager (CFCM) Stakeholder Group, and their governing structure, that supports the professional development of the FM workforce and provides a framework for a standard body of knowledge across the FM workforce. IAW this DoDI, all members of the DoD FM workforce are required to achieve and maintain a certain level of certification based on their position; the certification is course-based and requires a certain number of hours of instruction in defined FM and Leadership competencies at defined proficiency levels.

Currently, the DoD FM Certification Program Learning Management System (LMS) is the system of record for documenting the learning and certification achievements of all DoD FM workforce members. The LMS also hosts all of the OUSD(C) distributed learning courses. Each member of the FM workforce accesses LMS to record achievements and to take distributed learning courses.

In order to access LMS, an individual must have a DoD Common Access Card (CAC) and must have an account on the LMS. Only members of the FM workforce can access the LMS. The LMS is operated and maintained by Washington Headquarters Services (WHS) via a Memorandum of

Agreement (MOA) between WHS and OUSD(C). OUSD(C) distributed learning courses are installed and hosted on LMS by WHS IAW this MOA.

Currently, there are eighty-three distributed learning courses in the FWMD course portfolio. The high-level design document, pre-storyboard, storyboard, exam, course script, and courseware source code for these courses will be available to the contractor for use in performing this contract.

All existing courseware was developed using HTML5.

Procurement History for Similar Services:

This requirement has previously been procured via contract HQ0034-20-C-0108 which was a set-aside for SDVOSB. DP George & Company, LLC is the incumbent on this requirement.

Objective/Scope:

The objective of the FWMD is to provide sufficient National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA)-compliant distributed learning courses such that any member of the DoD FM workforce can achieve certification, with the exception of the leadership requirement, entirely via these distributed learning courses.

The scope of this requirement encompasses all of the subject matter required for certification at any level, and it includes all of the expertise required to develop, deliver, and refresh distributed learning courses in support of the Certification Program. Any additional expenditure such as programmatic support requirements required for management and oversight shall be incorporated in the price calculations for each training course within the curriculum.

In addition, the scope includes an initiative aimed at increasing user engagement, improving the learning experience, eliminating duplicative content, and enhancing the effectiveness of the current courses. This initiative will result in 1) increasing the LOI of all or some of the courses from LOI II to LOI III, and 2) a reduction in the number of courses, and course hours supported, by combining course content across two or more courses resulting in a single course.

Services Required:

The contractor shall provide all personnel, equipment, supplies, facilities, transportation, tools, materials, supervision, and other items necessary to:

• Design, develop, test, and deliver web-based curriculum in modules of instruction to support accounting, finance, auditing, budgeting (planning, programming, budgeting, and execution), cost analysis, fiscal law, audit readiness, analysis/decision support, data analytics, acquisition, ethics, and other elements of DoD financial management.

• Provide subject matter expertise (SME) and course content, or use content provided by government SMEs, for web-based curriculum in modules of instruction to support accounting, finance, auditing, budgeting (planning, programming, budgeting, and execution), cost analysis, fiscal law, audit readiness, analysis/decision support, acquisition, ethics, and other elements of DoD financial management.

• Periodically update OUSD(Comptroller) (OUSD(C)) web-based courses to comply with the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) standards, to include any courses that were developed by OUSD(C) under previous contracts. Depending on the course topic, update courses using contractor-provided SME or government-provided SME.

Updates will reflect any changes to Federal and DoD regulations, policies, standard operating procedures, and guidance.

Critical Task Areas:

NO PWS TASK AREAS

1 4.1 Design, develop, refresh, test, and deliver distributed learning courses in the areas of accounting, finance, auditing, budgeting (planning, programming, budgeting, and execution), cost analysis, fiscal law, audit readiness, audit remediation, analysis/decision support, data analytics, acquisition, ethics, and other elements of DoD financial management.

2 4.1 Deliver all courses at Level of Interaction (LoI) III as defined in Para 4.1.5.2.

3 4.2 Program Management - The contractor shall provide program management for all tasks in this PWS.

4 4.1.2 The contractor shall adhere to stated compliance emphasized.

5 4.3 The contractor shall deliver new Courses Using Contractor Subject Matter Expert

(SME) - The contractor shall provide the required SME, develop, and deliver new distributed learning courses.

6 4.4 The contractor shall deliver New Courses Using Government Subject Matter Expertise (SME) - Using government SME, the contractor shall develop and deliver new distributed learning courses.

7 4.5 The contractor shall conduct Refresh Analysis - The contractor shall conduct a Refresh Analysis (RA) for each refreshed course as the first step in the refresh process.

8 4.6 The contractor shall provide refreshed course using contractor subject matter expert (SME) - The contractor shall provide the necessary SME and shall refresh and deliver distributed learning courses.

9 4.7 The contractor shall provide refreshed course using government subject matter expert (SME) - Using government SME, the contractor shall update and deliver distributed learning courses.

10 10.0 The contractor shall deliver reports, presentations, papers, studies, agendas, meeting minutes, memoranda, e-mails, responses, evaluations, summaries, plans, slides, analysis, and other documents IAW PWS Para 10.

Security Requirements:

All submissions *must include verifiable* information about its firm’s ability to comply with the security requirements for this effort:

All Key Personnel on this contract must have a Secret clearance. All contractor personnel who require access to the OSD network must have a Secret clearance. At a minimum, all contractor personnel assigned to this contract must be a U.S. citizen.

Place of Performance:

The Place of Performance for the majority of the work performed under this contract is the contractor’s facility. Some work, such as course testing, is performed at the government location.

Request for Information Notice:

To facilitate market research, the Government is looking to identify qualified sources designated as a Small Business under the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) 611430, Professional and Management Development Training.

This notice is for market research purposes only and is not a Request for Proposal (RFP), nor does it restrict the Government as to the final acquisition strategy. The Government will not reimburse respondents for any costs incurred in preparation of a response to this notice.

Any firm responding to this notice should ensure that its response is complete and sufficiently detailed to allow the Government to determine the firm’s qualifications to perform the work. While not responding to this RFI does not preclude participation in any future RFP if one is issued, it is highly recommended that all interested and capable firms respond in order to be considered during this market research and acquisition planning phase. The Contracting Officer will use the responses received from this notice to determine the appropriate acquisition strategy such as, if it is appropriate to either solicit as a small business set-aside or an unrestricted competition through SAM.gov.

The Contracting Officer must determine if there is a reasonable expectation of obtaining offers from two or more responsible small business concerns that are competitive in terms of market prices, quality, and delivery in accordance with FAR 19.502-2(b) and FAR 19.203. If at least two

(2) qualified small businesses are identified during this market research stage, any competitive procurement that may result will be conducted as a small business set-aside. When responding please also include any capabilities that will be performed through teaming arrangements (i.e., subcontracting and/or joint ventures).

No questions other than clarifying the information within the RFI will be accepted. The Government will NOT accept phone calls, requests for meetings or briefings. All firms responding to this RFI are advised the Government will not provide or acknowledge receipt of the information received, provide feedback (i.e., capability assessed) to firms with respect to any information submitted, or provide any follow-up information.

Submission Requirements:

Interested firms should submit their response to include a capabilities statement covering experience, staffing and technical capabilities.

The capabilities’ statement must address the Services Required section identified above and demonstrate how your firm’s recent past performance (last 3 years) is relevant to each task listed.

Your capabilities statement must:

• Describe the process you use to develop web-based courses

• Describe your ability to obtain subject matter expertise in accounting, finance, auditing, budgeting (planning, programming, budgeting, and execution), cost analysis, fiscal law, audit readiness, analysis/decision support, data analytics, acquisition, ethics, and other elements of DoD financial management.

• Describe your ability to deliver high-quality courseware and minimize rework.

• Describe your company’s experience and capability in using information technology to produce courseware.

Your firm’s recent past performance should include contract type (FFP, CPFF, etc.), contract number, the dollar value, period of performance, size, scope of the firm’s prior contracts, whether you acted as prime or subcontractor on the contract and government point of contact name and email address, if any. Firms need to include their business address, point of contact, CAGE code, and small business status.

The following information is also requested and should be included with your firm’s capability information: Please indicate whether your firm will submit a proposal if RFP is issued and whether your firm’s interest is for prime contracting or as a subcontractor.

Do not include proprietary, classified, confidential, or sensitive information in your response to this RFI Notice. The Government reserves the right to use any information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate, including using technical information provided by respondents in any resultant solicitation. Responses to this Notice will not be returned.

Response Format:

To facilitate a timely and comprehensive review of all submitted responses, firms should respond using the format requested in this Notice. Any deviation from this format may lead to the rejection of the response.

All interested firms having the experience, skills, and capabilities necessary to perform the stated requirements are requested to provide capability statements between 3-5 pages – no more than 5 pages maximum- in “Times New Roman” 12-inch font on 8.5 x 11 paper that include the following information:

1. Company name, address, point of contact name, telephone, and email address and web page

URL.

2. CAGE Code and SAM Unique Entity ID (UEI) number.

3. Business size status and socio-economic category (e.g., small, small-disadvantaged, SBA

Certified 8(a), HUBZone, Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned, Women-Owned, and Economically Disadvantaged Women-Owned) based on NAICS Code: 611430 – Professional and Management Development Training.

4. Vendor Facility Clearance, number of Vendor staff members holding a current Secret, and other information demonstrating the Vendor’s ability to satisfy the Security Requirements described above.

5. Documentation that addresses each of the Services Required areas above.

6. Address the impact of contractor performance completed at the contractor site versus

Government space.

7. A description of Past Performance Information for similar contracts and/or projects accomplished within the last 3 years. The description must include where, when, and for whom each similar contract and/or project was performed and a brief description of each contract and/or project, including the contract type, contract number, government point of contact name and email address, if any, size, scope, dollar value, and period of performance. This information must demonstrate how the firm’s recent Past Performance (last 3 years) is relevant to the OUSD(C) requirement.

8. Indicate if your firm would submit a proposal if an RFP is issued and whether the vendor desires to participate in this requirement as a prime contractor, teaming agreement, subcontractor, or joint venture.

No hard copy or facsimile submissions will be accepted. Cover letters and extraneous materials (brochures, etc.) will not be considered.

Subcontracting Information

A. Identify which, if any, critical task areas that your firm will collaborate with a subcontractor or team partner (i.e., small business) (if applicable).

B. Explain the reason for performing those areas identified in the draft PWS as a prime and/or collaborating with a subcontractor, i.e., teaming arrangements and or joint ventures. For example, for any task areas where your firm does NOT have experience on a commercial or government contract to demonstrate specific capabilities, explain how you would attain those abilities. (Example: If you anticipate utilizing subcontractors, please highlight for which specific tasks and the percentage of subcontracting contemplated to fulfill the requirement.)

C. If you intend to subcontract, please include the estimated percentage for Small Business subcontracting opportunities for each critical task area.

Questions/Comment

Please provide your questions or comments by using the format provided at Attachment 1 below no later than 10:00AM EDT, May 30, 2024.

Attachment 1

Question/Comment Number

1 State your question/comment here

2 State your question/comment here

Proprietary information and trade secrets shall NOT be submitted as part of a response.

Capability Statements:

Vendors must demonstrate their ability to comply with the requirements in this RFI in order to be considered capable of satisfying the Government’s requirement.

Submission of Responses:

Please submit your final documentation electronically (via email) no later than 10:00 AM EDT on Thursday, June 6, 2024, to the primary point of contact, Kimberly Darby, Kimberly.h.darby.civ@mail.mil with a copy to Maria Poole at maria.i.baquerizo-poole.civ@mail.mil. The email subject line should be titled “RFI Response OUSD(C) DMFC

DL.”

Submissions to any person other than the ones listed above will not be considered. Submissions after this date will not be considered.

Response to this notice will be reviewed for their applicability to the Government’s need and may be determined “relevant” or “non-relevant”. The Contracting Officer may deem incomplete and/ or insufficient responses received from an interested firm as “not relevant”. At a minimum, the interested firm should provide complete responses to the information requested above.

mailto:Kimberly.h.darby.civ@mail.mil