InstructionsforObtaininganACESBusinessRepresentativeDigitalCertificateforGSASTARSIIProposalSubmission.pdf

Instructions for Obtaining an ACES Business Representative Digital Certificate for GSA STARS II Proposal Submission

April 2015

Table of Contents

List of Figures

List of Acronyms

1 Introduction

2 Obtaining User Access to AcquServe

2.1 IdenTrust

2.2 Operational Research Consultants, Inc. (ORC)

List of Figures Figure 1. IdenTrust Certificate Center

Figure 2. ORC/ACES Business Identity and Encryption Certificates

List of Acronyms ACES Access Certificates for Electronic Services

GSA General Services Administration

ORC Operational Research Consultants, Inc.

RFP Request for Proposal

STARS Streamlined Technology Acquisition Resources for Services

URL Uniform Resource Locator

1 Introduction AcquServe™ provides potential offerors with electronic access (through a secure Internet website) that offerors shall use to complete required price tables and all other proposal submissions in response to the GSA STARS II Request for Proposals (RFP) QTA0015MDA2001. AcquServe provided information includes, but not limited to: empty price tables to be completed by offerors as part of their proposals, and an interface for offerors to:

● provide required user – company profile information,

● indicate which Constellation/Functional Area pairings are being proposed,

● attach all required proposal files,

● accept the offeror’s price information and populate the appropriate price tables, and

● submit the offeror’s proposal.

2 Obtaining User Access to AcquServe Each individual accessing the portal must obtain an Access Certificate for Electronic Services (ACES) Business Representative Certificate. ACES is a Federal Government sponsored program that allows online access to personal information and government Agency services through the use of digital certificates.

NOTE: Offerors are encouraged to initiate the process of obtaining an ACES Business Representative digital certificate(s) as it can take weeks. If a user already has a valid ACES Business Representative Certificate, that user does NOT need to acquire an additional certificate; however, the certificate must remain current through the offer deadline. No other type of certificate besides an ACES Business Representative Certificate will be accepted.

There are two sources for this certificate; these are described in Section 2.1 and Section 2.2.

2.1 IdenTrust

To purchase a Business Representative Certificate from IdenTrust, open a Web browser and type in the following Uniform Resource Locator (URL) to start the process:

http://www.identrust.com/certificates

The web page shown in Figure 1 will display. Click on the “BUY” button for the Business Representative Certificate and follow the IdenTrust application instructions to obtain the certificate. After receiving the certificate, follow the Identrust instructions for installing the certificate on the browser(s) on the computer to be used to access the AcquServe STARS II Proposal Portal.

Note: Be sure to backup the certificate.

http://www.identrust.com/certificates/index.html http://www.identrust.com/certificates/index.html

Figure 1. IdenTrust Certificate Center

2.2 Operational Research Consultants, Inc. (ORC)

To purchase a Business Representative Certificate from ORC, in a Web browser go to the following Uniform Resource Locator (URL) to start the process:

https://aces.orc.com/acesbusinesscertificates/

Figure 2 shows the web page that will display. After reviewing the page, click on “Proceed to Step 1 to read the requirements” at the bottom of the screen and follow the ORC instructions to purchase the certificate. After receiving the certificate, follow the ORC instructions for installing the certificate on the browser(s) on the computer to be used to access the AcquServe STARS II Proposal Portal.

Note: Be sure to backup the certificate.

https://aces.orc.com/aces-business-certificates/ https://aces.orc.com/aces-business-certificates/

Figure 2. ORC/ACES Business Identity and Encryption Certificates