Draft PWS_Service_Wide_Online_Survey.pdf

PERFORMANCE WORK STATEMENT

IRS Service-Wide Online Survey Contract | Page 1

PERFORMANCE WORK STATEMENT (PWS)

IRS Service-Wide Online Survey Contract

Submitted by IRS Research, Applied Analytics and Statistics

Agency Internal Revenue Service

Program Service-Wide Online Survey Contract

Contract Number TBD

Date April 23, 2026

DRAFT

IRS Service-Wide Online Survey Contract | Page 2

Contents

Section Page

1. DESCRIPTION OF SERVICES 2

1.1 Background 2

1.2 Scope 3

2. GENERAL INFORMATION 3

2.1 Contractor/Government Communication 3

2.2 Place of Performance 3

2.3 Mission/Emergency Essential 3

3. CONTRACT REQUIREMENTS 4

3.1 Survey Platform Services 4

3.2 Security Requirements 6

3.3 Quality Control Plan 6

3.4 Post-Award Meeting 7

4. PERFORMANCE OBJECTIVES 7

5. GOVERNMENT FURNISHED PROPERTY 7

6. DELIVERABLES 7

7. APPENDICES 8

1. DESCRIPTION OF SERVICES

1.1 Background

The mission of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is to provide America’s taxpayers with top-quality service by helping them understand and meet their tax obligations and by applying the tax law with integrity and fairness to all. IRS Research offices require an externally hosted web survey research tool that enables the creation, administration, and collection of data from complex online surveys for taxpayers, other federal agencies, external partners, and IRS employees. The resulting data supports assessment and improvement of IRS programs, processes, and services and supports customer experience, burden, and other regulatory reporting requirements.

The required survey platform must use a Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program

(FedRAMP)-authorized cloud storage solution, at the High FedRAMP level and must provide advanced functionality for the design, administration, analysis, and reporting of complex surveys while minimizing respondent burden. IRS subject matter experts (SMEs) will directly use the system to create and deploy surveys, collect and analyze data, and develop reports. The vendor shall provide privately branded

URLs or a dedicated server and dedicated IP address from which platform-generated emails will originate.

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This requirement supports efficient, cost-effective survey operations across IRS business areas and must be robust enough to support the survey protocol appropriate for IRS-led taxpayer, employee, and stakeholder research efforts.

1.2 Scope

The IRS requires access to an externally hosted Software as a Service (SaaS) web survey tool that enables authorized IRS users to create, administer, analyze, collect, report on, and download data from complex web-based research surveys. The requirement also includes a digital website feedback platform that allows brief interactive digital (pop-up) surveys to gather qualitative and quantitative feedback on users' feelings, behaviors, and thoughts regarding their online experience. The hosted solution shall reside in a secure environment accessible through Secure Socket Layer (SSL) protocol and shall support creation and administration of Section 508-compliant surveys. The solution shall include customer support, help and how-to documentation accessible from within the IRS firewall, and administrator capabilities to manage users, permissions, and organization-wide privacy settings.

The vendor shall provide pricing or contract coverage for the following base requirements:

1. Fifty (50) SaaS licenses.

2. SaaS subscription tiers supporting unlimited surveys with one (1) million responses.

3. One dedicated server and one dedicated/custom IP address.

4. Dedicated technical support through phone, email, or Teams-compatible messaging and inclusion of software updates.

5. A digital website feedback platform that allows brief interactive digital (pop-up) surveys to gather qualitative and quantitative feedback on users' feelings, behaviors, and thoughts regarding their online experience, priced for up to 350 million page views.

2. GENERAL INFORMATION

2.1 Contractor/Government Communication

The contractor shall designate a focal point as the single point of contact for contract administration and operational communications with the Government. The focal point shall provide clear and consistent written or verbal responses and shall ensure that support requests are acknowledged within one (1) business day after receipt. The contractor shall provide information regarding scheduled outages at least 72 hours before the outage and shall notify the Government within one (1) hour of identifying an emergency issue affecting the service. Meetings may be held virtually or by other mutually agreed means as required by the Government.

2.2 Place of Performance

Secured hosting services, training, and customer support shall be provided at the contractor’s place of business or within the contractor’s managed cloud hosting environment. IRS users and survey respondents shall access the hosted platform from within the IRS external internet.

2.3 Mission/Emergency Essential

This contract is mission critical as it supports all of the IRS statutorily-required online taxpayer burden and customer satisfaction surveys.

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3. CONTRACT REQUIREMENTS

3.1 Survey Platform Services

3.1.1 SaaS Subscriptions and Hosting

The contractor shall provide licenses for a SaaS solution for conducting surveys electronically, collecting and analyzing response data, and generating standard and custom reports. The contractor shall also provide a digital website feedback platform that allows brief interactive digital (pop-up) surveys to gather qualitative and quantitative feedback on users' feelings, behaviors, and thoughts regarding their online experience. The hosted web application shall store collected survey data in a separate FedRAMP-authorized cloud environment, at the High FedRAMP level, that is accessible to authorized IRS users from outside the IRS firewall. Authorized IRS users shall have direct access to the system to create and deploy surveys, collect responses, and access raw data and summary reports.

The contractor shall provide and maintain the hosting environment, system configuration, and related infrastructure required to support the survey platform.

• The hosted solution shall support secure access over SSL/HTTPS.

• The platform shall provide a dedicated server and dedicated IP address for IRS use

• The solution shall support unlimited surveys with response capacity as acquired under the contract line items or subscription tier selected by the Government. The digital website feedback platform shall support acquisition tiers for up to 350 million, 500 million, or 750 million page views, as applicable to the contract line items or pricing structure selected by the Government.

3.1.2 Administrative Controls

The SaaS solution shall allow IRS administrators to create and assign user types and permissions, create groups, track metrics related to response usage, remove users, transfer surveys between users, log into user accounts when authorized, and manage organization-wide settings related to data privacy.

The subscription shall be accessible to IRS users using common browsers such as Microsoft Edge and

Firefox, and surveys launched on the SaaS shall be accessible through common web browsers for respondents.

3.1.3 Availability

The SaaS survey platform shall be available 24 hours per day, 7 days per week, except during required maintenance windows. Help desk support for licensed users shall be available Monday through Friday from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM Eastern Time.

3.1.4 Support and Maintenance

The contractor shall provide support for the SaaS solution, system configuration, and bug fixes necessary to support contract performance. The contractor shall provide product upgrades, updates, and enhancements as the product evolves. Unlimited telephone and/or online help desk support shall be available for licensed users during the support window identified in this PWS. Support shall include troubleshooting subscription issues, answering questions regarding documented properties and functionality, and assisting with transfer of existing surveys to the SaaS survey platform.

3.1.5 Survey Tool Functional Requirements

The SaaS survey platform shall provide, at a minimum, the following functionality:

• An easy-to-use point and click interface for creating and revising web-based survey questionnaires

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• Ability to use auto-complete with supplemental data

• Ability to create all common survey question types including choose one, choose many, open-ended text input, drop boxes, rating, ranking, matrix table, continuous sum, and constant sum

• Ability to calculate additional variables from responses to survey items during response collection that can be included in later survey elements or shown to respondents after a survey has been completed

• Ability to restrict open-ended input responses to defined formats (text, numeric, etc.)

• Ability to define response scales (range, numeric, and text labels)

• Ability to set conditional visibility for questions, including same page conditional visibility, based on one or more prior responses

• Ability to set branching and skip criteria based on one or more prior responses

• Ability to pipe responses into later questions and response options

• Support custom response validation, error, and end of survey messages

• Ability to set required questions

• Ability to group questions into blocks that can be included in branching

• Ability to control what survey metadata is collected, including IP addresses.

• Ability for survey owners to share access to surveys, responses, and reports with other users, if desired

• Spell check for all survey text

• Ability to preview and test surveys prior to finalizing, launching, or activating

• Ability to copy full surveys or individual survey questions within and across surveys

• Ability for respondents to see a summary of their responses

• Templates or other mechanisms for creating 508 compliant surveys

• Ability to distribute surveys using multiple mechanisms including anonymous links and automated email system. Email system should include ability to individually customize survey invitation emails and send reminders to non-responders. Email system should permit “From” line of email invitation to be identified as an IRS e-mailbox of user’s choice. Emails must be sent from a dedicated IP address solely for IRS use.

• Ability to generate QR codes

• Ability to control respondent access to surveys through unique PIN & Passcode

• Allow respondents to continue a survey at a later date

• Ability to set whether surveys can be taken once only or multiple times

• Ability to schedule survey start and end dates

• Ability to notify designated users when specific responses are chosen

• Ability for users to export response data for their surveys in various file formats including Excel, csv, and pdf

• Ability to create and download tables, graphs, and reports summarizing response data

• Ability to export surveys in Word or pdf format.

• Reports of percentages and counts of survey completers, non-starters, undeliverable, and started but non- completed

• Ability to sort, filter, or stratify data and reports

• Ability to create dynamic dashboards with common visualizations (e.g., bar and column charts, scatter plots, heat maps, etc.)

• Ability to import survey data

• Ability to import surveys via .txt or .doc files

• Text analysis tool for narrative responses including a term search, create a term library,

• Clear, detailed instructions and documentation for using the survey tool including but not limited to online searchable reference materials accessible from behind IRS firewall. Documentation is

IRS Service-Wide Online Survey Contract | Page 6 defined as a video walkthrough or step by step tutorials.

• Ability to create mobile-friendly surveys to accommodate respondents who prefer to respond via their smartphone or tablet.

3.1.6 Training

The contractor shall provide introductory training to initial IRS users covering survey creation, question types, survey logic, survey invitations and access methods, survey monitoring, import and export of survey data, survey close-out, data analysis, and report creation. Training shall be available virtually, and all training materials shall be provided to the IRS within 10 business days of the start of the license period. The contractor shall also provide 24/7 access to online training and help materials to support ongoing user adoption and use of product best practices.

3.1.7 Data Storage and Deletion

The contractor shall provide a secure hosting environment for IRS survey creation, administration, and data storage in a FedRAMP-authorized cloud, at the High FedRAMP level, that is maintained separate from other customers. The contractor shall, upon Government request, completely delete surveys, response data, result summaries, reports, and other records, together with backups, or shall provide means for survey owners to do so, to support compliance with federal records retention and privacy requirements.

3.1.8 Section 508 Conformance

The contractor shall provide a current Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT) dated within three (3) years of the current date, or the most recent available. If the contractor is unable to provide a

VPAT, the contractor shall provide an accessibility statement and/or Section 508 compliance statement on company letterhead describing the level of compliance of the product or service. Documents produced under this requirement shall comply with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act.

3.1.9 Property Rights

All surveys and related data generated under this requirement shall be the property of the federal

Government.

3.2 Security Requirements

• The contractor shall provide the survey tool hosting environment for IRS survey creation, administration, and data storage in a FedRAMP-authorized cloud, at the High FedRAMP level, that is maintained separate from other customers.

• The contractor shall provide secure, password-protected access to all surveys and data for designated users.

• The survey platform features and help documentation shall not require plug-ins or scripts that are incompatible with IRS security or systems requirements.

• This requirement does not include staff-like access to IRS data, and personally identifiable information (PII) will not be transferred to, or made accessible by, the contractor under this requirement. Personnel security clearances are therefore not required for this effort unless subsequently directed by the Contracting Officer.

• The contractor shall provide a dedicated IP address for IRS use only.

3.3 Quality Control Plan

The contractor is responsible for contract management and quality control. The contractor shall maintain a Quality Control Plan (QCP) and update the plan throughout contract performance. The QCP shall address, at a minimum, system availability, support request handling, outage communication, training delivery, data protection, and corrective action procedures.

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3.4 Post-Award Meeting

The Government may host a post-award meeting with the contractor within 10 business days after contract award. Teleconference or virtual attendance is permissible. The purpose of the meeting is to confirm roles, points of contact, technical approach, implementation timing, and the support required for successful startup. The contractor shall also participate in any initial performance review or follow-up meeting requested by the Government during transition and early operations.

4. PERFORMANCE OBJECTIVES

4.1 Services Summary

The services required under this PWS are summarized into measurable performance objectives that directly support secure and effective operation of the IRS service-wide online survey capability.

4.2 Initial Contract Performance Review

The initial evaluation of contractor performance will determine whether the contractor has successfully started performance, delivered access to the hosted solution, provided required training materials, established support processes, and is operating within the expected schedule and performance parameters of the contract.

5. GOVERNMENT FURNISHED PROPERTY (GFP)

5.1 Government Furnished Property

No GFP is being provided to the Contractor in support of this contract.

6. DELIVERABLES

6.1 Deliverable Summary

All deliverables shall be submitted electronically unless otherwise directed by the Government.

Operational services shall be provided in accordance with the timelines and standards below.

SS# Performance Objective PWS Para Performance Threshold

01 Provide a secure SaaS survey platform 3.1.1; 3.2 Platform available 24 hours per day, seven days per week except for required maintenance.

02 Provide responsive customer support and outage communication 2.1; 3.1.4

Support requests acknowledged within 1 business day; scheduled outages communicated at least 72 hours in advance; emergency issues communicated within 1 hour of identification.

03 Provide initial user training and reference materials 3.1.6

Training materials available within 10 business days of the start of the license period; online help materials available 24/7.

Provide required survey functionality, admin controls, and export/reporting capability

1.2; 3.1.5 All required capabilities identified in the PWS are available to authorized IRS users throughout contract performance.

05 Provide secure data storage, and deletion capability 3.1.7; 3.2

Separate FedRAMP-authorized environment, at the High FedRAMP level and deletion capability available upon Government request.

06 Provide accessibility and documentation artifacts 3.1.8; 6.1; 7.2

Current VPAT (dated within 3 years or most recent available) or acceptable accessibility statement provided; Section 508 requirements satisfied.

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7. APPENDICES

7.1 Appendix A – Optional Capabilities and Additional Pricing Requests (The vendor shall identify whether the following are already included in SaaS subscription):

• Up to twenty (20) optional additional SaaS licenses referenced from the Scope Section 1.2.

• SaaS subscription tiers supporting unlimited surveys with one and a half (1.5) million and two

(2) million responses, as applicable to the pricing structure; referenced from the Scope Section

1.2.

• A digital website feedback platform that allows brief interactive digital (pop-up) surveys to gather qualitative and quantitative feedback on users' feelings, behaviors, and thoughts regarding their online experience, priced for up to 500 million page views; referenced from the Scope Section

1.2.

• A digital website feedback platform that allows brief interactive digital (pop-up) surveys to gather qualitative and quantitative feedback on users' feelings, behaviors, and thoughts regarding their online experience, priced for up to 750 million page views.

• Employee experience survey platform that gathers feedback on the entire employee lifecycle

(onboarding to exit) to understand satisfaction, engagement, tools, culture, and leadership, helping organizations identify strengths and weaknesses for better retention and performance, priced for approximately 75,000 employees.

• Expanded feature that allows researchers to conduct user experience testing through moderated and unmoderated surveys capability.

• IVR integration supporting ingestion of IVR survey data priced for approximately 50,000 responses.

7.2 Appendix B – Contractor provided Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT)