BPW SOW.docx

Statement of Work Business Plan Writer Software Update

1.0 INTRODUCTION/BACKGROUND.

1.1 In accordance with Executive Order 11625, the Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) provides management and technical assistance to the United States based minority business enterprises (MBE). In addition, to its network of centers located throughout the United States, MBDA offers a suite of applications through its portal (www.mbda.gov) to assist MBEs with establishing and growing their businesses. One such application currently offered through this platform is MBDA’s Business Plan Writer (http://www.mbda.gov/index.cfm?fuseaction=login.main&theme=business_plan_writer&CFID=311218&CFTOKEN=89593625.

1.2 The Business Plan Writer is a free planning tool used by minority businesses and entrepreneurs to document their ideas for new or existing businesses for the purposes of providing a roadmap for execution as well as vehicles to identify funding to begin or expand their business ventures. Developing a business plan is a critical component of establishing or expanding a business. When used effectively, it will assist a business owner with developing a comprehensive understanding of what resources are required to start and sustain a business. MBDA’s Business Plan Writer is a popular tool that allows users to create a complete business plan that can be printed and shared with potential investors and banks to generate working capital for their business. The current web-based application can be accessed from anywhere a user can connect to the Internet. The current application maintains the user’s plan indefinitely and can be revised to accommodate changes to the proposed business.

1.3 The MBDA Business Plan Writer has been used by registered users of MBDA’s portal and is one of MBDA’s most commonly used applications. Use of MBDA’s Business Plan Writer has grown consistently each year. In fiscal year 2011, the business plan writer received over 75,000 visits.

1.4 As a result of changes to banking regulations, an increased number of entrepreneurs, globalization of domestic businesses, and the ability of minority business to access capital, the current business plan writer must be updated to reflect the needs of its current target audience.

2.0 SCOPE OF WORK

2.1 The contractor shall provide a consumer off the shelf business plan development application that can be seamlessly integrated into MBDA’s current suite of applications.

2.2 Contractor software support will be for a performance period of a one-year base period plus four (4) one-year option periods. The requirements for the base year are defined in Section 3. The scope of the optional years will be determined prior to exercising each option year based in part on the number of requirements identified since the base year deployment and any required user interface changes identified by the Government.

2.3 Contractor shall provide for product support for the enterprise business plan writer for 4 option years.

3. REQUIREMENTS/OBJECTIVES

The Government submits to the contractor the following list of requirements for the base year:

3.1 All changes made must comply with MBDA’s accepted software development model (Software Development Lifecycle). The Contractor shall notify the Government of any changes which are not recommended to be included in this base year Business Plan Writer upgrade. All requirements performed under this Statement of Work (SOW) and embodied as a Software release shall be made available to MBDA staff, its grantees, and portal users with no additional development charge other than the charge provided in the original cost estimate.

3.2 Implement/integrate the requirements identified in paragraphs 3.2.1 – 3.2.9 into the proposed application. The requirements attached to this SOW serve as an initial baseline and may be modified to enhance overall functionality of the application. All changes shall be made in strict compliance with current federal regulations supporting the development, deployment, and maintenance of software applications residing on or integrated with federal enterprise platform.

3.2.1 Integrate (through white labeling or co-branding) a consumer -off-the-shelf business plan writer into MBDA’s enterprise architecture.

3.2.2 Create a mechanism to leverage the application’s automated data gathering mechanism to increase MBDA’s ability to identify new clients who would benefit from additional services provided by the Agency or its centers.

3.2.3 Employ automated workflows to guide users through the process of developing a comprehensive business plan.

3.2.4 Provide a comparative analysis of the plan’s cost, resources, and revenues with like businesses. This comparison should be in line with current standards for that industry.

3.2.5 Provide a scoring mechanism to gauge feasibility and soundness of the plan.

3.2.6 Provide a help functionality to assist the writer with understanding complex theories and concepts related to developing a business plan.

3.2.7 Provide the ability for users to collaborate in the development of the plan.

3.2.8 Provide capability for users to store plan indefinitely as well as make changes/updates as needed, save completed plan externally from the application, and print copies of plan for distribution.

3.2.9 Provide reporting capabilities that will allow MBDA to track usage and plan lifecycle.

3.5 ACCEPTANCE TESTING.

3.5.1 The Government will develop and provide a comprehensive Acceptance Test Script to the contractor 90-calendar days prior to the end of the Period of Performance (PoP).

3.5.2 For any new Business Plan Writer functionality resulting in a change to the user interface, the contractor shall insert into the Government provided Acceptance Test Script and Scenario procedures that enable testing of the new functionality by a government user trained in the previous baseline version. The contractor provided scenario and script shall test 100% of the functionality, user interface and message values implemented in the new version.

3.5.3 All Software upgrades must pass a government Acceptance Test with 100% accuracy prior to the end of the PoP.

3.6 PROJECT MANAGEMENT PLAN

3.6.1 The contractor shall provide Project Management Plan 30-calendar days from the date of the award.

3.6.2 The contractor shall track project to ensure milestones are met and project is completed on schedule. The contractor shall use common project management methods, (e.g., Earned Value) to track progress of project and report to Government.

3.6.3 The contractor shall provide bi-weekly written Interim Progress Reports (IPR) indicating the percentage of contract completion.

3.7 PRODUCT MAINTENANCE SUPPORT FOR BUSINESS PLAN WRITER

3.7.1 Contractor shall provide annual product support for an enterprise business plan development application to include:

3.7.1.1 Technical support for software as well as any Contractor generated software upgrades for PoP for each option year.

3.7.1.2 Unlimited help desk support via phone or internet and one (1) on-site visit for up to three (3) days to MBDA Headquarters if telephonic support has not been successful or Government determines need for Contractor support requires an in person visit.

4. PERIOD AND PLACE OF PERFORMANCE/HOURS OF OPERATION

4.1 The period of performance for software upgrades is shown in the table below:

Software Upgrade Period of Performance

4.1.1 All software upgrade deliverables must pass a government acceptance test prior to the end of the period of performance. Contractor will be notified of results of government acceptance test NLT 30 calendar days from receipt of a specific deliverable.

4.2 The period of performance for product maintenance support will not commence until the beginning of Option Year 1, as shown in the table below:

Maintenance Support Period of Performance

Base Year

4.3 Contractor is expected to perform most of the work at the contractor’s own facility, and work their normal hours of operation.

5. CONTRACTOR PERSONNEL

5.1 Contractor Personnel shall include a project manager responsible for the supervision of contractor personnel, coordination with MBDA project staff, and delivery of the resulting application to the government, and a senior developer capable of delivering agile solutions in a rapid application development environment.

6. DELIVERABLE TABLE

30 calendar days after date of award

NLT 15th and last day of each Month