RFI_Amendment_EF-CMS_12.22.17.pdf

Amendment to

Request for Information # 18-001

United States Tax Court

Future Electronic Filing-Case Management System

(EF-CMS)

Date RFI Issued: December 1, 2017 Date Amendment to RFI Issued: December 22, 2017

Responses Due: Tuesday, January 16, 2018

AMENDMENT TO RFI

The Request for Information (RFI) regarding a future Electronic Filing-Case Management System (EF-CMS) that was issued by the United States Tax Court on December 1, 2017, No. 18-001, is amended to add the following four requests for information, and to provide the following additional information:

Requests

Samples of Existing Contracts The Court requests that responses to this RFI include samples of existing contracts, particularly with governmental units, if not subject to a non-disclosure agreement or similar confidentiality provision, to provide products and services that are similar to those described in the RFI. Please also refer to Section 6, Submission Instructions, of the RFI regarding submission of confidential information.

Data Extraction and Indexing The Court expects that a future EF-CMS will allow for the automatic extraction of data from structured machine-readable documents in various formats, and for the automatic transfer of that data into system fields that will facilitate report generation and the provision of case management metrics.

However, the Court also expects that many of the documents that will be filed with the Court in the future, including petitions, waiver requests, briefs, and other filings by self-represented individuals, will include unstructured information typed or handwritten on paper documents. The Court currently scans paper documents and manually enters required data. The Court therefore hopes that a future EF- CMS will also allow, to the extent technically and financially feasible, for automatic data extraction and transfer from unstructured documents handwritten or typed on paper. The Court therefore requests that responses to this RFI discuss the extent to which the capability of a future EF-CMS to automatically extract and transfer data from unstructured documents handwritten or typed on paper is technically and financially feasible.

Distributed Database The Court has established a private cloud and requests that responses include information regarding the extent to which a proposed solution will support a distributed database across two or more sites, and the equipment that would be needed to implement such a solution.

Additional Information

The Court received many questions prior to and during Industry Day, some of which were similar. Rather than restate each question and attempt to provide a separate response to each, the Court provides the following additional information, which is intended to be responsive to most of the questions presented:

Response Date The Court does not currently intend to extend the date by which responses to this RFI are due, which is Tuesday, January 16, 2018.

RFP and Implementation The Court intends to decide whether it will issue a Request for Proposal (RFP) for a future EF-CMS after the Court receives responses to this RFI. The Court has not determined if or when a future EF-CMS will be implemented. The Court has not formulated an expectation as to the development methodology (e.g. agile, waterfall, or other) that will be used to implement a future EF-CMS if the Court decides to issue an RFP. The Court also has not formulated any expectations regarding a timeline or milestones for implementation of a future EF-CMS, or regarding the ordering of workflow implementation priorities. If the Court decides to issue an RFP for a future EF-CMS, and if the Court formulates any such expectations, those expectations will be set forth in the RFP.

Budget The Court is currently operating on a continuing resolution that provides operational funding through January 19, 2018. For the last few years, the Court=s annual appropriation has been in the range of $51-53 million. The Court expects that the responses to this RFI will provide the Court with information on the types and amounts of the costs that are likely to be incurred by the Court if it were to acquire, implement, and maintain a future EF-CMS. The Court requests that responses indicate the degree to which flexibility is possible for potential obligations that cross fiscal year boundaries.

Cloud The Court will consider cloud-based, premises-based, and cloud-premises hybrid hosting technologies for a future EF-CMS. The Court expects that any hosting or other technology that is used for a future EF-CMS will apply best practices for system security and confidentiality, integrity, and availability of data, including protection of personally-identifiable information.

Outside Interfaces The Court expects that a future EF-CMS will not need to interface with any systems at the Administrative Office of the United States Courts.

The Court expects that a future EF-CMS will not need to interface with any IRS systems, except to the extent necessary to provide for batch electronic service on the IRS Office of Chief Counsel. The Court hopes that for calendering and scheduling purposes, a future EF-CMS will allow for easy integration of resource scheduling by non-Court entities, including the General Services Administration, the Court=s court reporting services vendor, and the U.S. Marshal Service.

Data Migration The Court is in the process of formulating a plan for the migration of existing data to a future EF-CMS. The Court has not yet determined whether the migration of existing data will include additional extraction of data from previously-filed documents, or the level of involvement in the data migration process that will be requested from a vendor that is providing a solution for a future

EF-CMS.

Test, Production, and Staging Environments The Court expects that a vendor providing a solution for a future EF-CMS will not be required to manage the test, production, or staging environments.

Paper Filings The Court expects that a future EF-CMS will allow for paper filings under a variety of circumstances.

Number of Users The Court could potentially have as many as 150 concurrent internal users, with a peak period during Court working hours, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Eastern time. The Court does not have data on the number of concurrent external users. The Court does not expect that the user base or content volume will grow significantly during the first few years of a contract providing a solution for a future

EF-CMS.

Independent Changes The Court expects that a future EF-CMS will allow for changes to system rules, and for changes to workflow processes, to be implemented independently of each other.

Outlook The Court has not formulated an expectation regarding the role that Microsoft Outlook will play in a future EF-CMS, or the extent to which Microsoft Outlook will be integrated with calendaring and scheduling. If the Court issues an RFP for a future EF-CMS, and selects a solution based on a Microsoft platform, the Court would expect full integration with Microsoft Outlook.

Electronic Payments The Court expects that a future EF-CMS will not include any requirements for electronic payments in addition to those requirements imposed by pay.gov.

Case Docket Sheets The Court expects that a future EF-CMS will allow for the generation of case docket sheets in a standard format that can be both printed and viewed online.

Language for Searches The Court expects that a future EF-CMS will not include the capability for users to search in languages other than English.

Locking Case Records The Court expects that a future EF-CMS will include rules that allow for Court users to temporarily preclude parties to a particular case from electronic filing in that case.

Current Applications The Court is currently using proprietary, customized applications provided by a vendor for both case management and electronic filing.

Typical Number of Filings There is no typical number of filings in a Tax Court case. Some Tax Court cases are resolved with as few as five filings, while other Tax Court cases are not resolved until after there have been hundreds of filings.

Trial Scheduling Generally, a Tax Court case is not scheduled for trial until the pleadings are complete, all pending motions and other issues are resolved, and a sufficient number of other Tax Court cases are ready to be scheduled for trial at the same trial location. A notice of trial is generally issued five months before trial.

Resolution of Cases in General Docket Status Currently, orders and decisions that resolve a Tax Court case before the case has been assigned to a Judge or to a trial session bear the signature of the Chief Judge.

Staff Attorneys Tax Court staff attorneys currently fill a variety of roles, including providing assistance to Judges and other Court staff on issues that are not case-related. In addition, Tax Court staff attorney provide assistance, for cases that are assigned to Judges and trial sessions, and cases that are in the general docket, including reviewing and analyzing filings, and preparing orders.

Active Directory The Court uses Microsoft Active Directory for user directory services.

Down-select The Court is not using this RFI to down-select any vendors.

Industry Day The Court does not currently intend to release to the public any of the materials that were provided to the Court during the one-on-one sessions at Industry Day. The following companies had representatives at Industry Day on December 14, 2017:

Acumen Solutions

AINS

CALIBRE Systems, Inc.

Chenega Analytic Business Solution DAR Partners, LLC

DXC Technology

ECOMPEX, INC.

eTelic, Inc.

Journal Technology Nuxeo Pegasystems Inc.

Procentrix, Inc.

Salesforce Salient CRGT Sylver Rain Consulting Team Technology, Inc Technology Solutions Provider Thomson Reuters Tybera Development Group, Inc.

Tyler Technologies Vertiba, LLC Washington Technology Group, Inc.