RFI TIS 12.4.2023.pdf

441 G St. N.W.

Washington, DC 20548

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION

THIS IS NOT A SOLICITATION

December 4, 2023

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION NOTICE

Reference: Information Technology (IT) Support Services RFI Number: GAO-RFI-0001

To All Vendors:

1.0 INTRODUCTION

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) is issuing this Request for Information (RFI) to seek industry perspectives on technical solutions and optimal innovative approaches that best meet GAO Information Technology (IT) Support Services’ (ISTS) goals outlined in the DRAFT Performance Work Statement (PWS). This RFI is solely for market research purposes and does not constitute a Request for Proposal (RFP) or a commitment to issue a RFP. As GAO embarks on a strategic initiative to enhance our technological capabilities, we are seeking valuable insights from industry experts and solution providers. This RFI aims to gather information on innovative technologies, best practices, and proven methodologies that can support our objectives. We are particularly interested in solutions that align with our mission and invite qualified vendors to share their expertise and offerings. Your input will play a crucial role in shaping our approach and ensuring the success of our upcoming initiatives.

This RFI is issued solely for information and planning purposes per FAR Part10. There is no obligation for the Government to acquire any products or services described in this RFI. In accordance with the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) Subpart 15.201(e), responses to this notice are not offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract. No funds have been authorized, appropriated, or received for this effort. The information provided may be used by GAO in developing its acquisition strategy and informing, refining, and finalizing a Performance Work Statement (PWS). Interested parties are responsible for adequately marking proprietary, confidential, restricted, or competition sensitive information contained in their response. Only electronic responses to this RFI will be accepted. In accordance to FAR Part 52.215-3 The Government will not pay for any administrative cost incurred time expended or information submitted in response to this RFI. Eligibility in participating in a future acquisition does not depend upon a response to this RFI.

It is the intent that the input gathered during this RFI process will influence the scope of work of this requirement and provide future technologies, solutions, and strategies. Failure to participate in the RFI will not impact an interested party’s ability to participate in any future competitive process. GAO reserves the right to cancel this RFI at any time.

2.0 BACKGROUND

GAO, often called the "congressional watchdog,” is an independent, non-partisan agency that works for Congress. GAO examines how taxpayer dollars are spent and provides Congress and federal agencies with objective, non-partisan, fact-based information to help the government save money and work more efficiently. The agency’s mission is to support Congress in meeting its constitutional responsibilities, and to help improve the performance and ensure the accountability of the federal government. We provide Congress with timely information that is objective, fact-based, nonpartisan, nonideological, and balanced. The agency operates its work under strict professional standards with a highly trained professional workforce of approximately 4,600 who are direct customers of this contract.

GAO’s workforce is organized into functional mission teams and mission enablement support offices. To meet GAO’s mission, staff rely heavily on IT services and tools. Within the Office of the Chief Administrative Office (CAO), the Information Systems and Technology Services (ISTS) Office supports the information and knowledge management functions of the agency. As a service provider, ISTS focuses on supporting GAO’s mission and working with business partners to provide access to the IT services and tools needed by the business to perform work efficiently and effectively, from any place at any time, and within affordable cost levels.

3.0 PURPOSE

The purpose of this RFI is to engage with industry-leading vendors and leverage your expertise to inform our decision-making process. Your insights are pivotal as we explore cutting-edge solutions and seek innovative approaches. By sharing your knowledge and solutions, you contribute directly to the development of strategies that will shape the future success of the GAO initiative. In addition, GAO seeks industry’s input regarding potential paths forward and recommendations as to where GAO should focus its efforts in the development of a future solicitation.

As GAO charts the course towards the future of our IT landscape, the following objectives encapsulate our agency’s vision and goals. The accompanying chart details the key focus areas that will guide our journey to achieve an innovative and resilient IT environment. By clearly defining these IT objectives, we aim to set a strategic foundation for transformation and advancement aligning our IT capabilities with the evolving needs of GAO. This chart serves as a visual representation of our commitment to progress, innovation, and excellence in the realm of Information Technology.

The primary objectives of an acquisition would be to:

1. Deliver superior and continuously improving customer experience on par with those staff experience in their private lives with commercial applications.

2. Continuously innovate to improve services and maximize value; continuously streamline ISTS process, procedures, and infrastructure.

3. Provide an excellent customer experience, including during modernization and upgrades.

4. Increase speed-to-deliver ISTS capabilities and services to our customers.

5. Flexibility to evolve services as GAO mission needs change.

6. Ensure GAO maintains an IT environment that is available (24x7x365), functional

(fully meeting the needs of our entire organization), reliable and secure.

7. Improve performance, strengthen information security, increase IT agility, while maintaining compliance and decreasing risk.

8. Create a more predictable and consistent ISTS budget, reducing major budget outlays.

9. Where possible, shift from a Capital Expense (CapEx) to Operating Expense (OpEx) model.

GAO’s paramount goal in this exercise is to foster a meaningful exchange between GAO and industry experts. Your insights are pivotal in helping us understand how industry leaders would approach the requirements outlined in the DRAFT PWS while, gathering lessons learned, best practices, and innovative techniques that have proven successful in similar contexts. The facilitation of an exchange of information will lay the foundation for collaborative solutions that could enhance the efficiency, effectiveness, and innovation within our agency. GAO may also use responses from this RFI for Industry Day planning and preparation.

4.0 INFORMATION SOUGHT

The GAO is seeking the following information to be provided by the vendors when responding to the RFI:

• Vendor Information

• Vendor Responses to Questions

4.1 Vendor Information

Vendors shall provide the following information:

• Vendor Name

• Vendor Address

• DUNS Number

• Vendor Website

• Vendor Point of Contact (POC) name, telephone number, and email address.

• Unique Entity Identifier (UEI), number under which the vendor is registered in SAM.gov.

• Include if your solution is available open market and/or via a Government-Wide

Acquisition Contract (GWAC) such as GSA, NASA SEWP, NITAAC, etc.

• GSA/GWAC/MAC Contract Number (if applicable)

• Vendor Socioeconomic Status; Business Size and Status [e.g., Large Business, Service-

Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB), Veteran-Owned Small Business (VOSB), Small Business (SB), etc.]

• The number of years in business operating under NAICS 54151*, if applicable.

4.2 Vendor Responses to Questions

As we seek responses from potential vendors, we encourage detailed and insightful contributions that align with the vision, goals, and objectives outlined in our RFI and attached DRAFT PWS.

We are particularly interested in comprehensive responses that not only address the specific questions posed but also provide context, innovative perspectives, and practical examples. The GAO welcomes recommended changes to the PWS along with suggestions for improvement or areas needing further clarification or definition. The GAO may use the comments provided to revise or improve the PWS to make the requirement as clear as possible to enhance competition.

We value thorough and thoughtful responses that contribute to a deeper understanding of your capabilities and how they can align with and enhance our IT objectives.

The GAO also invites vendors to share contact information for agency POCs who can provide information about their agency’s innovative solutions, best practices, and lessons learned. The vendors shall provide answers to each question listed under Section 6.0 of this RFI.

Thank you for your diligence and collaboration in providing meaningful insights to guide our decision-making process.

5.0 SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS

Please submit responses via email only to mitchenerc@gao.gov . Submissions are due no later than January 8, 2023 at 10:00 a.m. EST. The email subject line must contain the following: “Response to RFI 0001, IT Support Services RFI.” GAO reserves the right to not reply to any emails, responses, questions, and materials submitted in response to the RFI.

Mark your response as “Proprietary Information” if the information included is business sensitive and/or includes trade secrets. Interested vendors are directed to respond to this RFI with documents in PDF format and RFI responses shall not exceed 50 pages total (exclusive of the title/cover page, and table of contents). GAO will not review any data or attachments that are exceed the 50-page limit. All documents must measure 8.5 x 11-inches (charts may be landscaped but must be 8.5 x 11-inches) and shall be in Times New Roman, font size (12), with 1” margins. All pages of the response shall be appropriately numbered, and identified with the RFI number (i.e., RFI-0001). Any documents not in conformance with these requirements may not be reviewed.

6.0 LIST OF QUESTIONS

As vendors respond to the following questions, we encourage a detailed and comprehensive responses that include successful strategies, lessons learned, and innovative solutions. The inclusion of real-world scenarios will greatly contribute to our understanding of your capabilities and the potential impact of your solutions. We appreciate your commitment to transparency and the depth of information you provide in your responses.

Evolving Technology Delivery and Customer Experience

1. Describe how you are adopting Artificial Intelligence (AI) into your projects and provide impact, challenges, outcomes and lessons learned.

2. The DRAFT PWS calls for a proactive and a technologically aggressive methodology to identify and pursue new IT innovations, forecast IT trends, and provide a comprehensive system of support. This includes continual analysis and improvement of IT technologies and equipment. Please detail your company’s previous approaches, strategies, and methodologies with phases and organizational impact.

3. GAO recognizes the benefits of digital transformation. Our transformation journey is aimed at leveraging cutting-edge technologies and services, as well as process changes, to drive efficiency, innovation, automation, and excellence in executing our mission. Please describe solutions, strategies and lessons learned in addressing digital transformation.

4. Share your insights on using low code/no code IT platforms to meet customer expectations efficiently and cost-effectively.

mailto:NextGenRFI_Industryday@va.gov

5. Describe your experience in adopting Power BI for enterprise reporting purposes.

6. Detail your experience in transitioning from legacy or custom IT solutions to Commercial-off-the-Shelf (COTS) platforms, encompassing aspects such as planning, training, education and resource management and ongoing operations.

Section 508 Accessibility

7. Describe strategies, approaches, tools, and other lessons learned that have been utilized for 508 and other accessibility requirements like those in the draft PWS.

Testing

8. Please provide a comprehensive overview of the methods and tools your organization employs to support the testing outlined in the draft PWS. We are particularly interested in understanding the intricacies of your approach, including the integration of specific tools, frameworks, and automation pipelines. Additionally, please share any best practices and lessons learned from your experiences in implementing and refining these processes.

Customer Experience

9. If your company has used Customer Effort Score (CES) and Net Promoter Score (NPS) for customer experience provide insights and best practices on how CES and NPS can be integrated into processes, systems, and customer touchpoints to drive customer satisfaction.

10. Describe your experience with a Customer Experience Survey environment and detail strategies used to exceed the 15% industry standard response rate. Also, please detail lessons learned.

Service Desk

11. Please share industry best practices in creating Omni-channel solutions and how it has been used to impact Customer Relationship Management (CRM), increase operational efficiency, and reduce operating costs.

12. What technology, tools, processes, and strategies have you used to reduce the volume of calls to the Service Desk? Please describe the trend analyses used to inform, transform, and improve processes and their effectiveness.

13. Describe strategies, approaches and lessons learned in utilizing the ServiceNow platform to enhance tracking within the system. (Ticketing, change request, etc.)

Cloud and Digital Environments

14. Please describe mitigation strategies for potential availability and performance issues such as network outages, bandwidth shortages, supporting disaster recovery or spikes in service demand.

15. Describe strategies, approaches and lessons learned related to efficiently and effectively transitioning an organization from on-premise to cloud solutions, such as Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS) to Software as a Service (SaaS).

16. Describe strategies, approaches and lessons learned in providing a single pane of glass approach to customers for IT services.

Monitoring

17. GAO is transitioning to a proactive 24x7x365 monitoring environment. Please detail strategies, approaches, and lessons learned on maintaining a proactive posture and the technologies to integrate multiple data points into a single reporting location.

Asset Management

18. Please detail approaches, strategies and lessons learned related to IT asset management for organizations migrating their services from an on-premises to cloud based model.

19. Describe lessons learned and best practices transitioning from a Government Owned Contractor Operated (GOCO) to a Contractor Owned and Contractor Operated (COCO) model for IT assets and infrastructure.

20. Detail approaches, strategies, and lessons learned for providing laptops as a service.

Contract Transition

21. We are projecting a 90-day transition period that includes the adoption of technologies, change of service offerings and planning to move our organization towards a future state.

Please provide strategies, lessons learned, and key factors that contribute to ensuring a seamless transition.

Contract Type

22. What are impediments to IT innovation and flexibility regarding projects using Firm Fixed Price (FFP) Contracts? What are possible solutions (contract structure, CLIN structure, etc.) to mitigate any issues?

23. What possible administrative overhead or complexities are involved in managing FFP incentive/award fee IT contracts?

24. What incentives and disincentives in Service Level Agreements (SLAs) increase industry’s ability to meet agency needs?

Organizational Change Management

25. The digital transformation journey represents significant change for an IT organization as well as for its customers, and it can present challenges and opportunities. Please describe the elements of a successful change management approach for a comparable transformation, including lessons learned and best practices.