RFI - FSI Student Information System.pdf

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SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED

United States Department of State

Foreign Service Institute Office of the Executive Director

RFI – FSI Student Information System (SIS)

INTRODUCTION:

PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL, NO SOLICITATION EXISTS

AT THIS TIME. The United States Government will not pay for information submitted in response to this notice nor will information submitted in response to this notice be returned.

The U.S. Department of State (DOS), Foreign Service Institute, Office of the Executive Director, is conducting a market survey to determine the availability and technical capability of qualified large and small businesses, including small business set-asides, small disadvantaged businesses (SDB), 8(a) small businesses, woman-owned small businesses (WOSB), veteran owned small businesses (VOSB), service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses (SDVOSB), and Historically Under-utilized Business Zone (HUBZone) small businesses capable of assisting the Government in updating or replacing the existing Student Information System (SIS).

This Request for Information (RFI) notice is for informational and planning purposes only and is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government to enter into a future contract. Respondents will not be paid or reimbursed for any information provided to the Government in response to this notice.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION:

The Training Management Systems (TMS) division at FSI manages the current Student Training Management System (STMS). The TMS division works with the FSI Registrar to manage training administration and student records. The TMS division also receives important infrastructure support from FSI’s Office of Management and Information Systems (OMIS) and coordinates work with the Education Delivery Systems (EDS) division, which develops and maintains the Learning Management System (LMSys).

STMS has improved over the years to meet the needs of FSI schools through ongoing custom development. While this custom development approach has enabled the Institute to meet its most fundamental training needs, FSI’s custom development approach has been unable to maintain pace with FSI’s modern business needs. FSI’s STMS is now over two decades old and is inadequate when compared to the functionality and higher efficiency available through other offerings currently in the marketplace.

With today’s advances in mobile technology, students need access to online self-services and training requests regardless of their global location and time zone. Other benefits expected of a modern cloud-based COTS-based SIS at FSI are an increase in business processing efficiency, stemming from manual processes currently found inhuman resources, facility, curriculum, and enrollment management applications. FSI also expects advancements in data confidentiality, integrity, and availability through the enhanced security capabilities offered by a modern system. In addition, the Institute expects to gain

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Additionally, the SIS must be able to track formal and informal learning in classroom, mobile, and blended learning settings and interface with one or more Learning Management Systems (LMSys) used by FSI.

Empowering students, instructors, and staff through the procurement of a new, more capable and contemporary SIS with deployment into its target environment will allow the Institute to bring more efficiency to its business processes and provide scalable, best-of-breed services to its stakeholders.

All Small Business firms that respond are to identify firm size and type of business to the anticipated North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) code 541519 (Other Computer Related Services) with a size standard of $27.5 million.

REQUIREMENTS:

Interested firms are requested to submit a capability statement, limited to no more than thirty pages using Times New Roman size 12 font with 1 inch top, bottom and side margins. All capability statements must be specifically tailored to address the information identified in this notice. Generic corporate marketing information will not be considered responsive to this notice and will not be included in the market research assessment.

Submission instructions are provided below. The capability statement shall include the following:

1. Provide company name, address, telephone number, point of contact (including email address), company size and DUNS number.

2. Provide company institution or organization affiliation.

3. Provide a list of all Professional Federal Supply Schedule contracts and Government-wide

Acquisition Contracts (GWAC) held by the firm. The list should include at minimum the contract number and type of schedule or GWAC.

4. Provide the company’s approach and capabilities in response to the requirement as set forth in the

SOO.

5. The Government requests that all aspects of the SOO be addressed. For areas your firm does not have expertise, you will need to provide how these areas will be successfully performed under the contract.

6. Provide a cost estimate for the scope of the project.

7. Provide any questions or feedback on elements of the SOO that are unclear. This feedback should be designed to assist the Government in improving and clarifying the statement as it is currently written.

The capability statement shall not include the following:

1. Formal proposals or offers; nor

2. Questions or comments not related to this notice.

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SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS:

Only electronic copies of capability statements will be accepted. Responses shall be sent directly to:

PaekJ@state.gov. Include “Student Information System” in the email subject line. Responses and questions to this notice are due by Wednesday, 29 January 2020 at 12:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

THIS NOTICE DOES NOT CONSTITUTE A REQUEST FOR A FORMAL PROPOSAL OR A

PRESOLICITATION NOTICE. THERE IS NO SOLICIATION AT THIS TIME. Submission of any information in response to the market research is purely voluntary. The Government assumes no financial responsibility for any cost incurred. This announcement is for information and planning purposes only and is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government, implied or otherwise, to issue a solicitation or award to contract.

PATH FORWARD:

Capability statements submitted by interested firms will be used as part of market research by DOS representatives to assist in planning possible future technical requirements and developing possible acquisition alternatives, should this announcement lead to an actual procurement. In accordance with FAR 15.201(e), the Government does not presently intend to award a contract, but wants to obtain price, delivery, other market information, or capabilities for planning purposes. Responses to these notices are not offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract.

DOS representatives may contact respondents for additional information, may conduct follow-up Industry Day Conferences, may hold one-on-one meetings with organization representatives, or may issue other notices as part of continued market research to improve our understanding of industry capabilities in relation to satisfying our possible future requirements.

Contracting Office Address:

United States Department of State Foreign Service Institute Office of Acquisitions 4000 Arlington Boulevard Arlington, Virginia 22204

Primary Point of Contact:

PaekJ@state.gov

Attachment:

Attachment A SOO mailto:PaekJ@state.gov mailto:PaekJ@state.gov