The file's text, extracted by GovTribe without its formatting.
PSC Enterprise HR Application Support Services IDIQ:
PeopleSoft HCM Expertise for EHRP Application Support Services
RFP Questions and Answers
(SOL)HHSP2332010EAD – AMENDMENT NUMBER TWO
| 1. Please provide the incumbents contract information: Company name, value, contract number |
| As indicated on page 39 of the RFP, Accenture LLC is the incumbent provider. The contract number is HHSP233201000041G. |
| 2. Is there an incumbent? |
| See response to question 1. |
| 3. The acquisition is being solicited as a Small Business Set-Aside. Would a Veteran Owned be considered? |
| Yes. See Table 2 of the RFP. |
| 4. We are in the process of submitted the MAS application, and we currently are not on the GSA Schedule. Reading through the IDIQ proposal, we received the feeling that you were only looking for proposals from companies that were already on the Schedule. Are we allowed to submit a proposal, and if so would we still be considered a partner for the project? |
| See Table 2 of the RFP. The IDIQ vehicle does not require the small business offeror to hold a GSA Schedule. The IDIQ vehicle will serve as the contract between the Government and any small business selected for award. |
| 5. How does HHS PSC define qualified small business? |
| All small businesses may submit an offer to this RFP. |
| 6. Was there a list of qualified vendors produced based on the RFI responses received in December? |
| The Government conducted a Sources Sought analysis in December. As a result, the Government issued an indefinite-delivery, indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract in the PeopleSoft Human Capital Management (HCM) technology area of expertise for EHRP Application Support Services as a small business set-aside. |
| 7. This solicitation does not mention certified 8a contractor, yet the RFI was looking for 8a firms. Is 8a a requirement for this solicitation? |
| No. See response to question 5. |
| 8. Is the incumbent precluded from being on a team for this solicitation? |
| As a small business set aside, the prime contractor must be a small business and meet FAR 52.219-14, Limitations on Subcontracting. The incumbent contractor is not precluded from teaming with a small business prime contractor. |
| 9. The RFP mentions a consecutive BPA to be released. Do you know the timing of that BPA? Would there be any exclusion of being able to pursue the BPA if work is awarded under this first IDIQ? |
| The Government anticipates releasing the BPA in early to mid-March 2010. The BPA will be open to holders of GSA Schedule IT 70, regardless of whether offerors were already awarded an IDIQ contract under this RFP. When future objectives are identified, PSC will determine whether any conflict of interest provision is warranted on a task order by task order basis. |
| 10. Has the large business BPA been awarded and if so, to whom? If not, when do you expect the RFP for the BPA to be released? |
| No, the BPA has yet to be issued. See response to question 9. |
| 11. As a small business, can our organization be considered for providing services to PSC under both the IDIQ targeted for sheltered market and the blanket BPA? |
| See response to question 9. |
| 12. Related to the previous question, will PSC allow the small business to submit a bid for the IDIQ as the prime and not be precluded from working as a subcontractor to a large entity for the BPA services? |
| Correct. |
| 13. The RFP is extremely detailed and extensive in terms of what is required of the bidders. In essence the RFP requires two proposals, both at the same level of detail. The very tight page constraints further increase the challenge for the bidders. For that reason we respectfully request that the proposal due date be extended. |
| The Government is not granting an extension to the due date. |
Page limits have been increased. See corrections to RFP.
| 14. Title 45 is referenced in the solicitation. We assume you mean Title 42? |
| Correct. See corrections to RFP. |
| 15. What portion or how much of EAD’s current operations is ITIL-based |
| With minor exceptions, no portion of EAD operations is currently ITIL-based. Future decisions on which operational elements will move to ITIL will be made explicit in future task orders. |
| 16. Could EAD provide a complete and current inventory list of tools being used? |
| EAD consistently uses the Peregrine tool mentioned in the RFP and the Microsoft Office suite to deliver services. EAD does not currently utilize other tools in support of service delivery. |
| 17. What is the current configuration tool? |
| See response to question 16. |
| 18. Has the government procured an automated testing tool and if so what is the product? |
| No, the government has not procured an automated testing tool. See response to question 62. |
| 19. Under this section (C.5.3.3 – Requirement Area: 3.3 – Change Management, page 20), the solicitation refers to an On-Demand training tool. Does this relate to Oracle’s User Productivity Kit (UPK) tool or some other COTS solution? |
| EAD purchased the On-Demand training tool from PeopleSoft, prior to its acquisition by Oracle Corporation. |
| 20. From a functional perspective, what is EAD’s current backlog? |
| This information on EAD’s backlog is not available at this time. |
| 21. For each category, described in the list of back log issues, at what rate does the government wish to reduce the back log? |
| EAD has not identified backlog reduction goals at this time. However, EAD is seeking to address multiple backlog issues pertaining to functional enhancements with the anticipated upgrade to PeopleSoft 9.x. |
| 22. Under Business Scenario #1, what specific system does EAD want analyzed? |
| The offeror must analyze the impact to EHRP and associated interfaces. |
| 23. Is submitting a response to Objective (Task) #1 mandatory (Volume 2)? |
| Yes. Volume 2, containing an Objective 1 response is mandatory. |
| 24. Objective 1 outlines the requirement for automated testing for EHRP. Is this currently being done by the incumbent or is it a new program goal? |
| Testing automation is a new program goal. |
| 25. Objective 1 requires limited support for Level 1 and/or Level 2 help desk support. Of the anticipated overall level of effort, what percentage of the work is expected to be Level 1 and/or Level 2? Does EAD expect personnel providing Level 3 help desk support to be able to perform this function within their current roles and capacity? |
| See corrections to RFP. In additional to Level 3 help desk support, EAD also seeks Level 2 functional support to respond to and resolve Level 2 help desk issues as assigned by EAD. EAD requires limited support to supplement federal resources at Level 1, either when federal staff members are on leave or during peak times of support such as after a major release. Therefore Level 1 support is viewed as an occasional requirement to supplement federal resources. Objective 1 places a greater emphasis on Level 3 resources than Level 2 resources however, both skill sets—technical and functional, respectively, are required. |
26. Can you please provide some additional information regarding the production system:
Employee Counts:
How many total rows in the PS_PERSON table How many total rows in the PS_JOB table How many active employees How many retired employees How many non-employees The production system supports all HHS employees including retirees and conforms to federal OPM and HHS personnel management regulations and mandates. Detailed information is proprietary and not publicly available at this time. EAD utilizes DFAS payroll processing services.
HR:
a. Do you use multiple jobs? If so, do secondary jobs get benefits?
b. How many active departments, locations, and job codes?
c. Do you use position management? full or partial?
d. For department security, do you have a centralized data entry area with access to the entire tree or is the data entry decentralized? If decentralized, can you provide a summary break down of the structure?
Benefits:
a. Could you please provide a summary break down of the current benefits structure?
b. The number of benefit programs and number of participants in each?
c. The number/type of the benefit plans per program and the number of participants & dependents in each?
d. The number of benefit carrier interfaces and their execution frequency?
Payroll Interface:
a. The number of company/paygroups and the counts of employees in each?
b. The number of active earnings and deductions codes?
c. Number of paychecks per pay period
User Counts:
a. Number of power users?
b. Number of self-service users?
c. Number of casual users?
d. Number of view-only users?
HCM Software:
a. What bundles/fixes/maintenance packs have been applied?
b. What was the last tax update applied?
Customizations/Modifications:
a. Have the delivered COBOL programs been modified beyond array size adjustments? If so, please explain.
b. What is the largest modification to the delivered code? Does this impact the payroll interface or ben admin
| 27. How many personnel are currently being provided by the incumbent? For the transition plan, are all positions/roles expected to transition? |
| Attachment A contains information on the number of incumbent FTE resources currently utilized by EAD and available for transition. See corrections to the RFP, including to Table 4 and Attachment A which further clarify this information. See the response to question 29. |
| 28. Can you please provide a break down of the current vendor's support team? How many resources in each role and the number of hours worked by role in 2009? |
| Attachment A contains information on the number of incumbent FTE resources currently utilized by EAD and available for transition. See corrections to the RFP, including to Table 4 and Attachment A which further clarify this information. See response to question 29. |
| 29. Can the government please identify the current contractor team’s skill set make-up and FTE allocation? |
| Attachment A contains information on the number of incumbent FTE resources currently utilized by EAD. See corrections to the RFP, including to Table 4 and Attachment A, which show that incumbent resources provide technical and functional support to perform tasks required under Requirement areas 2.0 (Application Operations), 3.1 (Application development) and 3.4 (Quality assurance testing). |
Offerors should carefully read the information in the Objective 1 task description and in Attachment A to understand the Government’s Objective 1 requirements, beyond the roles currently performed by incumbent contractor resources.
| 30. How many support staff members are currently working? |
| See response to question 29. |
| 31. Please provide a description of the existing EAD operational support team to include organizational alignment of contractors and government personnel to the level of effort, roles, and responsibilities performed by each. |
| Rather than provide the current organizational alignment with roles and responsibilities, the Government is asking each offeror to provide its proposed Objective 1 staffing approach and show how it supports the EAD program organization. |
| 32. On Page 6, lists current federal employees who support the EHRP application, what fulltime resources did the incumbent allocate for support above and beyond the federal employees and what roles did they play? |
| See response to question 29. |
| 33. Is all of the work for Objective 1 currently being performed only by the incumbent? |
| See response to question 29. |
| 34. Is experience with PeopleSoft HCM U.S. Federal Government version 8.9 a pass/fail requirement or will extensive experience with PeopleSoft HCM 8.9 public sector and/or private sector be considered |
| Offerors eligible to be awarded an IDIQ contract to provide enterprise HR application support services for this expertise area must demonstrate experience with PeopleSoft HCM US Federal Government version 8.9 or higher to be considered. |
| 35. On Figure 2. EAD Organizational Components, please provide a breakout of all roles and responsibilities that apply to this RFP. Please specify which roles are filled by contractors and which are filled by federal employees |
| Figure 2 depicts roles for all PSC EAD federal employees and federal employees only. As indicated in Section C.3.2, Objective 1 of this RFP establishes contractor support for the EHRP application O&M support role shown in Table 2. See response to question 31. |
| 36. Is it required that the work performed be on site or is telecommuting permitted? If it's permitted, can the entire team be off site 100% of the time? |
| As indicated in Section F.1, a majority of the work under the Objective 1 task order will occur in the EAD program office, which is located at 8455 Colesville Road, Room 1656, Silver Spring, MD 20910. Offerors are permitted to conduct authorized activities off-site consistent with PSC requirements for personnel and facility security. See also response to question 37. |
As indicated in Section L.1.221, for any work an offeror is proposing to perform offsite, it must provide the following in Volume 2, Section 2.1 of its proposal:
· Roles, if any, that will be performed off-site (not on PSC Silver Spring premises). For the indicated roles, the offeror should identify the activities to be performed off-site, the quality and value of those hours to EAD, the extent of travel required by off-site personnel, and how the offeror will maintain the necessary level of security clearance and background investigations. The offeror also should discuss how it will manage activities performed off-site.
| 37. Although EAD anticipates that the majority of the proposed work will be performed at the program office site in Silver Spring, will EAD be receptive to have some work, particularly involving issue resolution, to be performed remotely by contractor personnel? |
| PSC will allow VPN remote access for off-site contractor personnel. PSC anticipates at a minimum for any on-call, off-site activities to be conducted remotely by contractor personnel. |
As indicated in Section L.1.221, for any work an offeror is proposing to perform offsite, it must provide the following in Volume 2, Section 2.1 of its proposal:
· Roles, if any, that will be performed off-site (not on PSC Silver Spring premises). For the indicated roles, the offeror should identify the activities to be performed off-site, the quality and value of those hours to EAD, the extent of travel required by off-site personnel, and how the offeror will maintain the necessary level of security clearance and background investigations. The offeror also should discuss how it will manage activities performed off-site.
| 38. Please define the page limit meaning of Past Performance? Reference section L.1 Written Response Table 7. Page Limits for RFP Submission. |
| The page limit for Volume 1, Section 2 of the written proposal is 15 pages (see corrections to RFP, Table 7). This page limit does not include the Capability Template or the past performance write-ups. The page limit for each past performance write up is 3 pages. |
| 39. Please confirm that 11 x 17 foldouts be used and counted as one page. |
| Yes, the proposal may include 11” x17” foldouts. A foldout is considered two pages per side and all other instructions related to the written response apply. |
| 40. Please specify the minimum and maximum number of IDIQ awards that PSC expects to make. |
| The Government expects to award an IDIQ contract to one or more offerors. |
| 41. How many IDIQ awardees do you anticipate? |
| See response to question 40. |
| 42. Would you split the O&M task order award to multiple vendors? |
| The Government intends to award Task Order 1/Objective 1 to one offeror. |
43. Will HHS make multiple awards for Task Order 1?
a. Price Template, First Tab, “Workbook Overview”: “The government plans to award Task Order 1/Program Objective 1 to one offeror.” (emphasis added)
b. Section B, page 2: “PSC will award the initial task order for EHRP application support to vendors awarded an IDIQ contract in the PeopleSoft area of expertise as defined in this RFP.” (emphasis added See Corrections to RFP and response to question 37.
PSC will award the initial task order for EHRP application support to one of the vendors awarded an IDIQ contract in the PeopleSoft area of expertise as defined in this RFP.
| 44. Would you consider a single source award? |
| See response to questions 40, 42, and 43. |
| 45. It appears the award over 5 years is $25M, would this $25M include work allocated to the large business BPA, as well? |
| The $25M threshold refers to the NAICS code, not the size of the Objective 1 requirement. |
| 46. Referencing Attachment B_Price Template.xls, Tab-Labor Rates by Labor Category, Column B IDIQ Schedule Rate appears to be formatted as a percent. Will the government please provide an updated attachment B? |
| See Corrections to RFP. |
| 47. L.1.2.2.1 Volume 2, Section 2.1: Project Staffing: What are the “Schedule” rates in Price Template, Second Tab, “Labor Rates by Labor Category”? Are those simply our substantiated rates (GSA Schedule rates, etc.)? Are we required to give a discount? |
| Please see updated Attachment B, Objective 1 Price Template. This version corrects the use of the term “Schedule” with regards to the offeror’s proposed rates. |
Each offeror must make its own business decision on whether it will provide a discount in the price proposal it submits.
48. Price Template, First Tab, “Workbook Overview”: Why do these labor category descriptions focus on Oracle E-Business and not PeopleSoft? There is no mention in the labor category descriptions of the certifications outlined in L.1.2.2.1 Volume 2, Section 2.1: Project Staffing:
“The template should clearly identify the personnel who hold ITIL certifications at the Foundational, Practitioner, or Manager levels and if the holders are in fact resources proposed to perform the work under Objective 1. The template should clearly identify the personnel who hold PeopleSoft or Oracle certifications.”
Are these certifications mandatory? If so, to which labor categories do they apply?
Please see updated Attachment B, Objective 1 Price Template. This version corrects the labor category descriptions in the price template.
Offerors must judge how to map the experience of each proposed resource to the labor categories provided on the Overview tab of the Objective 1 Price Template. Offerors must then use the Objective 1 Price Template to submit a price for Objective 1, proposing hours and rates for each labor category.
Because the technical and business proposal reviews are conducted separately, offerors must also submit a technical version of the price template. In addition, offerors must also complete Attachment D, the Personnel Capability Template in Volume 2 (Section 2.1) of its response. To the extent that the offeror’s proposed resources possess certifications relevant to Objective 1, the offeror may highlight them using the column “Applicable training and certifications” in Attachment D. In Attachment D, the offeror must also convey the labor category it associates with each proposed resource using the column “Labor Category.”
| 49. In L.1.4.1 Volume 3, Section 1: Proposed Rate Schedule, there is a requirement for rate substantiation. For other than GSA Schedule rates, what form(s) can the “other substantiating documentation” take? |
| See corrections to RFP. |
| 50. If the pricing is not bid using a GSA Schedule contract, what supporting documentation does EAD anticipate should be provided to substantiate the proposed rates provided by the bidder? |
| See answer to question 49. |
| 51. As part of the formal transition, what is the anticipated timeframe that the incumbent will be retained following award to support the transition process? |
| As indicated in section C.6, offerors should assume the availability of incumbent resources through August 15, 2010. See corrections to RFP, Attachment A. |
| 52. Per the solicitation, it appears as if it is PSC’s intent to migrate to PeopleSoft 9.x. What is the anticipated timeframe for that migration and will task orders be issued under the IDIQ to support the upgrade process? |
| PSC anticipates issuing future task order objectives to analyze, implement and support the PeopleSoft 9.x upgrade under the IDIQ contract. EAD will determine its timeline for the upgrade once it completes its analysis. |
| 53. EAD intends to have an upgrade migration assessment for upgrading to PeopleSoft 9.x performed within a proposed six month period. Is there any anticipated timeframe for beginning the assessment process? |
| PSC plans to pursue issuance of Objective 2 soon after the Objective 1 award. |
| 54. Does EAD intend to issue additional task orders under this contract to actually perform the upgrade of PeopleSoft to 9.x? |
| Yes. See response to question 52. |
| 55. Does PSC intend to implement additional PeopleSoft modules e.g., Learning Management components, during the period of performance contained within the solicitation? If so, what PeopleSoft modules are being considered for implementation? |
| EAD is considering the use of PeopleSoft modules such as Enterprise Portal, Self Service, Recruitment, Time and Material and enhanced workflow. EAD will determine what modules will be implemented once its analysis of the PeopleSoft 9.x upgrade is complete. |
| 56. Is the PeopleSoft HCM 8.9 to 9.1 upgrade part of this contract? If so, what is the tentative timeline? |
| Yes. See response to questions 52 and 54. |
| 57. Have you identified any major areas for improvement to be accomplished during the EHRP PeopleSoft platform upgrade, such as: Lowest cost provider, improved T&A capability, Employee and Manager self serve, etc |
| See response to question 55. |
| 58. In reference to PSC’s past solicitation no. HHSP2332009HASS, SRA and IBM were awardees in the PeopleSoft Applications area. Will the current scope of work under solicitation no. HHSP233210EAD overlap in support of the PeopleSoft area or are there clear divisions of support between the two contracts? |
| PSC cancelled the PeopleSoft application area of the Heterogeneous Application Support Services BPA, RFP HHSP2332009HASS. |
| 59. What is the expected level of support for the first task order associated with this IDIQ? |
| Offerors are required to propose a level of effort for the Objective 1 task order. |
Offerors must use the Attachment B, Objective 1 Price Template to submit a price for the base period of Objective 1 and the four option periods in Volume 3 of their response.
Offerors must also submit a technical version of the price proposal and a staffing plan with their proposed level of effort in Volume 2, Section 2.1 of their proposal.
| 60. Is contractor required to provide Server Administrators and Help desk support personnel? |
| As Table 4 indicates, Objective 1 does not contain any 5.1, Database Administration, nor 5.2, Server Administration, requirements. See response to question 25. |
61. The Transition requirements of the RFP mention server administration and help desk functions to be part of the contractor’s responsibilities. Is this a support function only or also include an implementation function?
Neither section C.5.1.1 nor Table 4, 1.0 Transition services mention server administration services.
As indicated in Section C.2.2, EAD currently manages and delivers help desk support for EHRP users through the federally managed ESS help desk. As indicated in the response to question 25, the scope of Objective 1 includes Levels 2 and 3 help desk support services. In addition, EAD seeks limited assistance with Level 1 support during peak times of activity to augment other EAD staff performing these duties. Also see response to question 29.
| 62. EAD is considering transition to an Oracle platform for the PAST database, which is on a MVS mainframe. Can data porting concept be used as a solution? If so is it part of the contractor’s responsibilities? |
| This activity is not in scope for Objective 1 at this time. EAD may have interest in issuing a future objective to transition PAST to an Oracle platform, or it may also choose to analyze such a transition as a potential future strategic initiative under the Objective 1 task order. |
| 63. Will the incumbent contractor, Accenture, be precluded from participating in a small business team proposal due to the inherent competitive advantage they would provide based on their legacy program knowledge and experience? |
| See response to question 8. |
| 64. Will a Prime contractor with a CMMi Level 2 Appraisal be scored higher in value than a team proposing a sub-contractor’s CMMi qualification? |
| No. |
65. To assist with our response to the government business scenarios regarding the implications of the Oracle R12 Upgrade and the PeopleSoft Upgrade on EHRP, we request additional information on how EHRP is configured, specifically:
· a. Please describe the core set of foundation configurations such as Dept, Location, Jobcodes, Salary grade, step etc.
· b. Please describe any unique sets of configurations where sub agencies or cusotmer needs are unique, for example Leave rules, union requirements, deduction codes, etc.
· c. What are the common rules applied to all the business agencies (Salary Grade, Step progression, recruitment etc.)?
· d. Please provide examples of any unique rules that were developed to satisfy the needs of an agency or customer.
e. What is the largest customization within EHRP and what were the reasons for building that customization Offerors may assume that the core set of foundation configurations is consistent with the US Federal Government COTS software.
HHS’ requirement to pay personnel above the Title 5 cap rules has resulted in unique configuration.
Offerors may assume rules consistent with federal personnel management regulations and guidelines.
A substantial number of customizations within EHRP results from the conversion to the DFAS payroll provider and supporting Title 38 and Title 42 Pay Plans.
| 66. Requirement 3.4 states that the contractor’s role will be to install an automated testing tool. Has EAD selected and purchased the automated testing tool or should the contractor propose a tool and include the cost in their cost proposal? |
| EAD has neither selected nor purchased a tool. EAD plans to consider tool alternatives for this program goal once Objective 1 has been awarded, with input from the selected contractor. At that time, the Government will purchase the selected tool. Therefore, the contractor may propose a recommended tool in its Objective 1 proposal however it may not include costs for the tool in its cost proposal. |
| 67. Please clarify how work will be determined to be issued as Task Orders under this IDIQ contract versus Call Orders on the anticipated BPA for EAD Enterprise HR Support. |
| Task orders related to application support services specific to PeopleSoft HCM, as defined in the RFP, will be issued under the IDIQ contract. |
| 68. Please provide the most recent EAD EHRP O&M contractor performance versus metrics (i.e. Service Level Agreements (SLAs), Performance-base contract objectives, minimum service agreements, etc.) reports. |
| This information is not available at this time. |
| 69. Does EAD anticipate continuing with a Monthly Point Release cycle for EHRP or has consideration been given to alternative schedules? |
| EAD anticipates continuing with a monthly point release cycle. No consideration has been given to alternative schedules at this time. |
| 70. What is the current financial system? |
| HHS uses the Unified Financial Management System, UFMS, an Oracle Federal Financial COTS application. |
| 71. Who was the implementation contractor? Are they Excluded from bidding? |
| Accenture LLC was involved in implementing EHRP. See response to question 5 and 8. |
| 72. How many development and testing system environments will the contractor be responsible for administering and managing configurations? Please provide descriptions of the various environments, their configurations, and their intended use. |
| As stated in requirement 2.4 and table 4, EAD is responsible for managing all environments including the development and testing environments. The contractor will support EAD in performing the activities as described in table 4. Refer to Attachment A for a list and description of all the environments. |
| 73. The information presented on pages 9 – 10 regarding the IDIQ and the BPA states that the BPA will be released consecutively, however the table shows simultaneous dates for the issue and award. Please clarify. |
| Table 2 conveys issuance and award information by month and year only, not actual dates. See response to question 9. |
| 74. What is the estimated value of Objective 1 by year? |
| Offerors are required to submit a price for the base period of Objective 1. In addition, offerors are required to submit a price for a total of four option periods in the price template workbook. |
| 75. Has Task 1 been budgeted? |
| Yes. |
| 76. Please clarify the following paragraph: “This section should identify the experience of the team lead (or prime contractor) (subcontractors are not considered teaming partners). That experience must be similar in nature and size to the support services required to achieve the objectives of Task Order 1/Objective 1 within the PeopleSoft HCM area of expertise of the EAD enterprise HR application support services program. If a subcontractor or teaming partner is proposed and will perform a major or critical aspect of the requirement, the offeror should submit related experience for the subcontractor or teaming partner.” |
| See corrections to RFP. |
The offeror will be submitting one set of past performances for the prime offeror, up to five related experience. For each subcontractor or teaming partner proposed, if any, the offeror will submit an additional set of past performance, no more than three related experience.
| 77. When is the BPA expected to be issued? |
| See answer to question 9. |
78. As we reviewed the RFP referenced above, we noticed that there are references to files that we could not find.
The specific files that we cannot locate are listed below:
1. Page F-1 referred to a PDF file named “Attachment F_Oversight Guide”
2. Page G-1 referred to a PDF file named “Attachment G_PSCForm82”
3. Page B-1 referred to a PDF file named “Attach_B_PriceTemplate”
These files were posted on Thursday, February 18, 2010.
| 79. On Page 5, C.2.2 you list the current support staff of federal employees. Please confirm that you are looking to augment this staff not replace. |
| See answer to question 28. Figure 2 depicts roles for all PSC EAD federal employees and federal employees only. As indicated in Section C.3.2, Objective 1 of this RFP establishes contractor support for the EHRP application O&M support role shown in Table 2. |
| 80. Page 7 last row in Tabel 1. Major EAD Contractor support Roles, you list Hosting Support. Are you looking for contractor to Host your environment or support the staff that currently hosts the environment |
| No. As indicated in Section C.3.2, Objective 1 of this RFP establishes contractor support for the EHRP application O&M support role shown in Table 2. |
| 81. Please confirm that the requirements for Objective 1 are contained in Section C.6 of the RFP, with the exception of C.5.8.5. |
| Section C.5 contains general requirements for the IDIQ vehicle. These general requirements indicate the scope of activities that can be associated with any task order issued under the IDIQ contract. |
Section C.6 specifies how these requirements apply to the PeopleSoft HCM area of expertise and the Objective 1 task order. That is, for any requirement specifically referenced in Table 4, a general description of offeror responsibilities and activities is provided in Section C.5. Therefore, offerors should ensure an understanding of: i) the general requirement contained in C.5 associated with each reference in Table 4 and ii) the specific scope of that requirement as applied to the Objective 1 task order.
All project management requirements in Section C.5.8 apply to the Objective 1 task order. See corrections to RFP.
| 82. Please clarify the purpose of including Objective 2 in the RFP (i.e., there do not appear to be any corresponding requirements in Section L). |
| Objective 2 represents a future optional task order under the IDIQ contract in the PeopleSoft HCM area of expertise. |
| 83. The Offeror requests permission to submit a transmittal letter with its Price proposal. |
| Yes. |
| 84. Will the executive summary be read by the evaluators of Volume 2 (Objective 1)? |
| Yes. |
| 85. Would it be possible to establish a page limit of three for the cover letter and executive summary and then allow the bidder to allocate those pages between the two sections? |
| Yes. |
| 86. L.1., Table 7, p. 80 specifies a limit of 10 pages for the section, and provides subsection headings with no page limits. The instructions in Section L.1.2.2.1 on p. 91 do not appear to correspond to the table. Please clarify the instructions. |
| Section L.1.2.2.1 requests the offeror provide six items. Table 3 clearly indicates that three of those items: the Personnel Capability Template, the commitment letters and resume appendix are excluded from the page limit for Section 2 of Volume 2. In addition, Section L.1.2.2.2 requests a technical version of the price template. Table 7 indicates that this template is also excluded from the page limit for Volume 2, Section 2. |
See corrections to RFP for an updated Table 7.
| 87. The sentence , “Describe an incident where you.”, which is positioned at the bottom of the past performance template, was not completed. How should the sentence end? |
| The sentence is deleted. See corrections to RFP. |
| 88. Please confirm that resumes are excluded from the page limit. |
| Yes. |
| 89. Section C.6.2 does not relate to “strategic analysis”. Please confirm that the correct reference is RFP Section C.5.6 Requirement Area 6.0: Strategic Analytical Support Services. |
| The correct reference is Section C.6.3. See corrections to RFP. |
90. On page 86, PSC describes the following business scenario:
HHS has identified the need to upgrade the EHRP system from PeopleSoft HCM 8.9 to PeopleSoft HCM 9.1 It appears that this scenario overlaps with the requirement to present a technical approach for Objective 1 in Volume 2. Please clarify how PSC sees these two areas as being different in terms of purpose and expected content.
This business scenario builds on the requirements for the Objective 2 future optional task order and does not appear to overlap with the Objective 1 technical approach required in Volume 2. Offerors should carefully read instructions for the Objective 1 task order.
| 91. The scenario at the top of page 86 (UFMS system is upgraded affecting the AFPS interface) is almost identical to the scenario in Volume 2 (page 88). Please clarify how PSC sees these two areas as being different in terms of purpose and expected content. |
| The business scenario in section L.1.2.1.1, page 88, is deleted. See corrections to RFP. |
| 92. On page 89, the RFP refers to Table 5. Table 5 includes mapping of requirements for Objective 2. Was the intent to refer to Table 8 instead? |
| Yes. The correct reference is to Table 8. See corrections to RFP. |
| 93. Please confirm that the offeror’s response to Table 8, Performance Management Plan Template, is excluded from the page limit. |
| No, the performance management template is included in the page limit. |
| 94. Are the performance measures/standards limited by the goals area number and name? |
| No, performance measures/standards are not limited by the EAD goal areas (number and name). Rather, offerors should formulate their set of performance measures/standards and then indicate whether a proposed measure/standard supports an EAD goal area. Offerors are also not required to propose measures/standards for all EAD goal areas. |
| 95. Section L.1.3 is missing. Please provide the missing content, if any. |
| There is no missing content in the RFP. The Government has renumbered section L.1.4, L.1.4.1 and L.1.4.2 to L.1.3, L.1.3.1 and L.1.3.2, respectively. See corrections to the RFP. |
| 96. Will there be a separate oral presentation for Task Order 1 / Objective 1 after the IDIQ award is made? |
| Yes. As indicated in Section M of the RFP: |
The government will then evaluate responses for Task Order 1/Objective 1 for offerors awarded the IDIQ contract in the PeopleSoft expertise area. PSC contemplates oral presentations for offerors awarded an IDIQ in the PeopleSoft HCM area of expertise in order for them to present their Objective 1 solution.
Section L..2. “Objective 1 Oral presentations” contains instructions for Objective 1 oral presentations.
| 97. On Page 5, C.2.2 you list the current support staff of federal employees. Please confirm that you are looking to augment this staff not replace it. |
| Correct. |
| 98. What tasks are currently completed remotely by either the current incumbent or Federal Employees? Do the Federal Employees have more remote access then the contractor? |
| See response to questions 36 and 37. |
| 99. Page 16, c.5.2.2 last paragraph, is coverage for 24 hours or for 8 days? Does this coverage need to be onsite |
| Bi-weekly end-of-pay-period processing support requires coverage between 5:00 p.m. Friday through Saturday the next calendar day (a 24 hour period). On-site support is required Friday evening only while the remaining coverage can be remotely supported. |
| 100. What lead time will be given for contractor to ramp up resources for peak times? |
| EAD estimates the selected contractor will receive approximately two to four weeks of lead time. |
| 101. Page 7, C.2.3 you list 3,110 help desk requests and 75 code changes. Of this what percent where done by federal employees and what percent where done the current incumbent? |
| EAD estimates that it utilizes contractor support to execute approximately 80% to 90% of the 75 code changes. |
| 102. Do you host your own applications or outsource it to a vendor? |
| As indicated in Table 1, PSC EAD utilizes the services of NIH’s Center for Information Technology to host applications. |
| 103. What are the key business reasons driving this change in your organization? |
| Refer to Section C.2 of the RFP. |
| 104. Are you using workflow? If so, please describe. |
| Workflow is currently used for PAR and for initiating recruitment processing, including approvals. |
| 105. What is the average hours need to close each ticket by the current incumbent? |
| This information is not available at this time. |
106. How many total employees are included within EHRP? a.
# Salaried employees b.
# Hourly employees See answer to question 26.
107. Can employees have multiple jobs within your organization and be paid according to each respective job separately?
a.
Do you have multiple Compensation programs? If yes, please describe?
b.
Existing Salary Grade/Step definitions?
Please describe?
c.
How many grades/steps are maintained?
d.
Do you have formal job descriptions?
See answer to question 26.
| 108. Do you have existing compensation plans in place? If yes, would you expect to simply convert into the new system “as is” or possibly design new plans? |
| See answer to question 26. |
109. How many Benefit Programs (as unique groupings of offered plans do you currently support?
a.
# Health Providers?
b.
# Life/ADD Providers?
c.
# Disability Providers?
d.
# Savings/Pension Providers See answer to question 26.
110. Specific to Payroll – please identify:
a.
Type/Frequency of pay-cycles b.
# of Earnings codes c.
# of Deduction codes d.
Do you have work establishments where Locality Tax is a concern See answer to question 26.
| 111. Please describe your benefit offerings or provide any Benefit Summaries that may be available to help review your Programs & Plans. |
| See answer to question 26. |
| 112. How many employees do you currently process in Benefits Administration? |
| See answer to question 26. |
| 113. On what day does your pay week begin (example: Saturday, Sunday, etc…)? |
| See answer to question 26. |
| 114. On what day does your pay week end (example: Saturday, Sunday, etc…)? |
| See answer to question 26. |
| 115. How many companies do you process? |
| See answer to question 26. |
| 116. How many paygroups do you process? |
| See answer to question 26. |
| 117. How many EIN’s do you process? |
| See answer to question 26. |
| 118. How big is your payroll staff? |
| See answer to question 26. |
| 119. How is your payroll work divided up among your payroll staff? |
| See answer to question 26. |
| 120. Do you pay retirees in your payroll system? |
| See answer to question 26. |
| 121. Do you process pay for union employees? If yes, define the following: Number of bargaining units, Number of unions. |
| See answer to question 26. |
| 122. What type of employees do you pay? Hourly, Salary, Hourly exception? |
| See answer to question 26. |
| 123. Do you pay contract employees? |
| See answer to question 26. |
| 124. Attach or provide a payroll processing schedule or flow that depicts what you do when processing your payroll (should consist of the different steps/processes and a short description of those steps or processes) |
| See answer to question 26. |
| 125. What is your biggest manual process you face each time you process your payroll? |
| See answer to question 26. |
| 126. What is the biggest risk you face each time you process your payroll? |
| See answer to question 26. |
| 127. What is your biggest issue that you would like to see changed regarding processing your payroll? |
| See answer to question 26. |
| 128. Is there any reporting that you currently lack for payroll? If so, describe |
| See answer to question 26. |
| 129. Are there any strategic objectives from a payroll perspective that you haven’t been able to achieve? If so, describe. |
| See answer to question 26. |
| 130. Do you use the PeopleSoft Pension module? |
| No. |
| 131. How do you interface payroll expenses to your G/L System? Describe how time is loaded to your paysheets? |
| See answer to question 26. |
| 132. How long does your initial Calc process run? |
| See answer to question 26. |
| 133. How long does your Confirm process run? |
| See answer to question 26. |
| 134. Have you archived any payroll history? |
| See answer to question 26. |
| 135. How many Security Roles and Permission lists do you currently utilize? |
| This information is proprietary and not publicly available at this time. |
| 136. Please describe how your Row Level Security is designed. Please include any challenges you have encountered with current Row Level Security? |
| This information is proprietary and not publicly available at this time. |
137. To understand better the level of customizations, can the following SQL be run and the results given?
SELECT ‘Custom Records’, Count(*)
FROM PSRECDEFN
WHERE RECTYPE = 0
AND LASTUPDOPRID <> 'PPLSOFT'
AND RECNAME Like '<custom prefix>%';
SELECT ‘Customized Records’, Count(*)
FROM PSRECDEFN
WHERE RECTYPE = 0
AND LASTUPDOPRID <> 'PPLSOFT'
AND RECNAME Not Like '<custom prefix>%';
SELECT ‘Custom Pages’, Count(*)
FROM PSPNLDEFN
WHERE LASTUPDOPRID <> 'PPLSOFT'
AND PNLNAME Like '<custom prefix>%';
No.
| 138. We have one quick question that we are struggling on about the one page 508 Compliance. We understand why it is in place, but we do not understand about the terminology that we must use. PeopleSoft has their own policies and procedures that they follow and are compliant too. Since we are coming in and supporting the product, do you want a page on how we are going to feed information to co-workers, or are you simply asking for that we understand the compliance by Oracle, and we will take the actions necessary to continue to abide by the rule? |
| The offeror should define how the services it provides, associated with the PSC Objective 1 task order, will maintain compliance with the established EIT accessibility standards. Note, Objective 1 requires contractor support for enhanced functionality beyond the COTS package. |
