Section_C_-_DRAFT_posting.docx

ExPRESS RFP TIB-2016-RFP-0002 DRAFT Section C – Service Center PWS Table of Contents

ExPRESS RFP TIB-2016-RFP-0002 DRAFT Section C

ExPRESS RFP TIB-2016-RFP-0002 DRAFT Section C i

C.1 INTRODUCTION

C.1.1 TSP Overview The Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board (FRTIB) is an independent Federal agency in the Executive branch created by the Federal Employees’ Retirement System Act of 1986 (FERSA), Pub. L. No. 99-335, 100 Stat. 514 (codified as amended largely at 5 U.S.C. § 8351 and §§ 8401-79) to administer the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP). The TSP is similar to 401(k) plans offered to employees in the private sector; it is the largest defined contribution plan in the world, with 4.8 million Participants and over $400 billion in assets.

This single very large plan characteristic (versus administering many plans with smaller enrollments) is sometimes underestimated by Contractors when designing, building, testing, and phasing-in/implementing solutions and services. Understanding this characteristic will be crucial to establishing a Consolidated Service Center while not jeopardizing the operational integrity of the TSP.

C.1.2 Acquisition Objective The FRTIB is seeking to transform the purpose and capabilities of its current call centers, processing centers, and case management from a reactive, fragmented, predominantly one-channel, and paper-driven environment into a state-of-the-art, omnichannel, self-service/automated, anticipatory and consolidated Service Center that supports the FRTIB’s evolving Participant engagement model.

C.1.3 Consolidated Service Center Acquisition The Consolidated Service Center acquisition, hereafter referred to as ExPRESS (Expanding Participant Retirement Engagement Services and Solutions), is a competitive procurement to select a single prime Contractor for retirement services business process outsourcing. The Contractor shall demonstrate proven experience in designing, owning, operating, and managing innovative state of the art service centers with automated and integrated front office and back office capabilities.

The FRTIB is seeking a Contractor to meet the requirements described in Section C of the RFP through the phased implementation approach described in Section C.1.8. The Contractor shall flawlessly phase in current TSP service capabilities to their own Service Center environment and seamlessly access FRTIB legacy systems data to achieve an initial Go-Live beginning on day 1 of the Steady State phase. Go-Live will be approved by FRTIB through Acceptance Criteria according to Section E.8 that will allow the Contractor to exit Phase-In and enter the Steady State phase. Upon achieving this capability, the Contractor shall evolve the capabilities of the Service Center through the Transformation phase into a mature Service Center designed around the Participant Engagement Hub (PEH) concept as portrayed in Section C.1.7 (b).

C.1.4 FRTIB Strategic Direction The FRTIB produced an “Update to the 2013-2017 Strategic Plan” (see FRTIB-Strategic Plan - 2013-2017 in the Document Repository) that is intended to provide insights into the Plan’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT), and its expectations to address these factors. The update identifies efforts to add capacity and strengthen the TSP’s operational infrastructure. The update also connects these efforts with plans to ‘get smarter’ about all aspects of the business, including using this knowledge to create a new Participant experience by delivering flexible, consultative, Participant-centric service.

The FRTIB anticipates significant plan growth to result from the National Defense Authorization Act (https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/house-bill/1735/text) for Fiscal Year 2016, Public Law 144-92 (November 25, 2015), which transitions military retirement plans from a Defined Benefit plan to a blended Defined Benefit/Defined Contribution plan. This change alone could add approximately 600,000 new Uniformed Services Participants to the TSP in 2018, which will impact ExPRESS Service Center’s need for increased capacity and hours of operation.

The ExPRESS acquisition is part of a portfolio of initiatives that seeks to address the SWOT identified in the Strategic Plan, especially with respect to the FRTIB’s operational infrastructure. ExPRESS will help provide the capacity to handle anticipated TSP Plan growth and increased complexity. It will also provide the platform to reshape the programs and services offered to Participants. Figure C.1 provides the SWOT described in the FRTIB Strategic Plan.

C.1.5 ExPRESS Imperatives To address current state services limitations and prepare the Service Center operational infrastructure for growth, the FRTIB has identified a number of agency imperatives, which FRTIB must achieve through the ExPRESS contract:

(a) Drive a Top-down Organizational Modernization ProgramFigure C.1: TSP SWOT

(1) Establish executive sponsorship and set guiding principles for change and modernization

(2) Synthesize the strategic direction to ensure common understanding across all areas, roles, and Contractors

(3) Ensure operational resilience through geographic diversity

(b) Optimize Support and Delivery Processes

(1) Provide faster execution of business process activities; automate manual processes

(2) Maintain end-to-end perspective across operations

(3) Ensure transparency of Participant interactions

(4) Ensure protection of Participant account information and Personally Identifiable Information (PII)

(c) Manage and Improve Participant Experience

(1) Shift to a Participant experience point of view

(2) Initiate outbound and proactive interactions

(3) Obtain best-in-class skills and provide enhanced services, such as assisted roll-ins

(4) Understand the context of Participant requests

(5) Expand non-voice channels

(6) Collaborate on forms re-engineering for efficiency

(7) Provide more self-service options for the Participant

C.1.6 Current Service Environment

(a) Current Contracts

Current services are provided by multiple Contractors and contracts.

(1) There are two call center services contracts which together handle approximately 3.3 million inbound calls per year via an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system and 2.3 million of those are agent answered. The call centers also handle approximately 55,000 outbound calls per year, 39,000 articles of correspondence received, 55,000 secure messages, and 25,000 fulfillment requests. One contract is a government-owned, Contractor-operated call center located in Clintwood, VA. The other contract is a Contractor-owned, Contractor-operated call center located in Frostburg, MD.

(2) There is a back office mail and document processing services contract that is Contractor-owned, Contractor-operated facility located in Birmingham, AL. The facility receives approximately 970,000 forms a year that are then sent via workflow to the appropriate Service Center staff.

(3) There is a contract for back office operations centers located in Fairfax, VA (Contractor-owned, Contractor-operated) and Birmingham, AL (Subcontractor-owned, Subcontractor-operated) that includes three types of complex services that require specialized skills and capabilities:

(i) Legal processing services are comprised of court order processing and death benefit processing. Both of these legal processing services require a case management approach to properly manage and disposition such transactions.

(ii) Special processing services that are comprised of wide variety of recordkeeping transactions such as, processing adjustments for rejected transactions, resolving loan or other payments that have been returned for insufficient funds, processing forfeitures, restoring forfeitures and abandoned accounts, tax reporting, providing forms validation, and various other transactions that require specific expertise of the OMNI recordkeeping system.

Note: This is not within the scope of this procurement. However, the ExPRESS Contractor shall be required to work closely with the provider for special processing services.

(iii) FRTIB services that provide support to approximately 100 government agency payroll and personnel offices for information/files/transactions submitted to the recordkeeping system regarding Participant indicative data and payroll contributions.

(b) Supporting Services Contracts

Current contracts that provide supporting services are:

(1) The Call Center toll and toll-free numbers for voice and Telecommunication Device for the Deaf (TDD) are currently provided through a carrier contract directly with FRTIB that is not within the scope of this procurement. The toll-free numbers shall be retained for ExPRESS.

(2) Information Technology services not addressed as a requirement here within are provided by another contract (Technology and Enterprise Support Services - TESS) and are not within the scope of this procurement. (See Section C.1.6.(c))

(3) The Interactive Voice Response (IVR) is currently provided through the TESS contract and is within the scope of this procurement.

(4) A print and mail contract supports notices and statement processing and is not within the scope of this procurement.

(5) The TSP website is within the scope of the Transformation Phase of this procurement and is currently supported under the TESS contract. The TSP website is comprised of a public (non-secure) site that is accessible by anyone and a secure site for TSP account holders, which is accessible through a login area on the public TSP site. The TESS contract currently provides all IT infrastructure life cycle services for both public and secure sites. The contract also provides most of the support for the content, design and development of the secure site. However, almost all of the public site content, design and development is provided by the FRTIB through in-house resources with some coordinated support provided by the TESS contract. Support currently provided for the website by the TESS Contractor shall be moved to the ExPRESS Contractor. FRTIB will continue to support the content, design, and development for the public site.

Note: support for the TSP website under the ExPRESS contract will not commence until the Transformation phase due to in flight projects and services under the TESS contract.

(c) Retained Systems

There are a number of systems supported by the TESS contract mentioned in Section C.1.6(b)(2) that are not included in the scope of ExPRESS. The ExPRESS Contractor shall interface with these systems and access necessary data to meet the requirements of Section C:

(1) Omni Recordkeeping system (system of record)

(2) Omni Pay

(3) Data Submission Platform (DSUB)

(4) Payroll Interface

For a listing of interfaces see “Current State and Desired Future Interaction Patterns” in the Document Repository.

(d) Current Services – Opportunities for Improvement

Current operational capabilities are fragmented, reactive, mostly paper-based, and provide limited multichannel capability and integration. Specific areas of improvement that have been identified are:

(1) Notifications and non-digital communication channels

(2) The agent interface

(3) Voice technology [i.e., Private Branch Exchange (PBX), Automated Call Distributor (ACD)]

(4) Document scanning/Optical Character Recognition (OCR) capacity

(5) Workflow and case management

(6) The ThriftLine/IVR architecture and integration

(7) Reporting capacity and capability

(8) Querying Participant data

(9) Knowledge management system

(10) Interfaces to back-end record keeping systems

(11) Integrated channel management

(12) Assistance with rollovers

(13) Improving Participant data provided by agencies

(14) Self-service capabilities

(e) Current Services - Operational View

TSP handles inquiries or requests received from Participants, beneficiaries, agencies, or third-parties acting on behalf of Participants. Additionally, these individuals may be contacted by TSP for reasons such as forms corrections, submission issues, account adjustment, additional information requests, or overpayments.

Currently, inquiries or transactional requests are received through the following communication channels:

(1) ThriftLine/IVR: Automated telephone service is available 24 hours/7 days a week for information or to perform certain transactions using a valid TSP account number and pin.

(2) Phone Calls: Callers may opt out of the ThriftLine/IVR and talk directly with an agent for information between 9:00 am to 7:00 pm U.S. Eastern Time. The agent may request or provide additional information from/to other functional areas.

(3) Mail: Letters, forms, payments, and documents are mailed to various locations for transaction processing and/or response.

(4) Fax: Letters, forms, and documents are sent through facsimile to various locations for transaction processing and/or response.

(5) E-Messaging: Requests for information may be sent through a secure e-messaging system for transaction processing and/or response.

(6) Agency Data Transmissions: Agencies electronically send Participant data (e.g. contributions and indicative data changes).

The diagram in Figure C.2 shows the current siloed work environment with limited work flow that operates in a reactionary manner to servicing Participants. This is primarily due to an unintegrated service center design accompanied by a tactical sourcing approach. Many processes continue to rely on paper-based forms and are not optimized.

Figure C.2: Current Services

(f) Current Services – Technical View

The diagram in Figure C.3 shows key systems, interfaces, and data stores for the Service Center environment as they exist in the Current State. The Contractor shall migrate legacy data on all in-scope systems and build interfaces to retained systems for ongoing data access. For a more information regarding the current services environment see “Current State and Desired Future Interaction Patterns” in the Document Repository.

Figure C.3: Current Services Technical View

C.1.7 Future Service Environment

(a) Service Center

Through the ExPRESS contract, FRTIB is seeking to move from voice-centric call centers, paper-based processing centers, and fragmented case management capabilities to an omni-channel, digital, and integrated Service Center. The Service Center represents an evolution of marketplace capabilities that address the ExPRESS imperatives which are achieved through the phased implementation of the requirements in Section C. Figure C.4 provides an operational view of the Service Center.

Figure C.4: Future Operational View

Some of the important capabilities that the Service Center shall support:

(1) Integrated case management and business rule driven workflow for event, transaction, and issue management across all operations. It shall provide proactive automated alerts for status changes in systems, such as Participant life events or forms processing exceptions.

(2) Knowledge-based solutions shall be supported as well as content management and advanced desktop search.

(3) Decision support/analytics shall be real-time and integrate with FRTIB business intelligence tools.

(4) Video chat, social media and online communities shall be supported for native/hybrid mobile applications and video libraries. (Note: the TSP website is within the scope of the Transformation Phase of ExPRESS. However, no development work on these channels shall commence until the Transformation phase.)

(5) Participant relationship management databases shall provide for account/contact/offer information.

(6) Agents shall provide comprehensive assistance with rollovers.

(7) Agents shall use workstations that are integrated with telephony and co-browsing and real-time feedback from Participants.

(8) Electronic online completion and submission for many forms shall reduce the volume of mail/scanning/OCR processing and the associated errors, including return processing associated with hard copy form submissions received either through the mail or fax.

(9) Self-service alternatives shall allow Participants to complete electronic transactions.

FRTIB has developed a sample set of use cases that characterize many of the capabilities of the Participant Engagement Hub in a document called “Now and Later,” which is located in the Document Repository.

(b) Key Design Concept – Participant Engagement Hub

(1) To enable the ExPRESS Service Center to be realized, FRTIB has defined a category of requirements in Section C.3.1 referred to as the Participant Engagement Hub (PEH). Other lines of service in Section C also contain elements of the PEH where they are more suitably expressed. For this reason, PEH requirements shall be understood in the context of all the requirements for all lines of services in Section C. The Contractor shall clearly identify the PEH design in its offering.

Note: The Section C requirements do not prescribe how the Contractor shall build a PEH from a technical and process perspective, only the capabilities that shall be provided.

(2) These capabilities and their associated applications/suites facilitate all channels of communication, provide a complete (real-time and historical) view of the Participant, and support end-to-end workflow to service Participants, agencies and third parties.

(3) In addition, the PEH facilitates the automation and integration of many front office channels and services with back office administrative and support operations. One of the significant benefits of the PEH design (see Figure C.5) is that it will enable the automation of FRTIB’s current manual and paper-based processes. The following are guiding principles for the PEH requirements:

(i) Deliver more predictive and intentional outcomes for the FRTIB and the Participant. Figure C.5: Participant Engagement Hub

(ii) Provide a choice of engagement options to serve the Participant’s preference including self-service alternatives.

(iii) Provide a seamless customer experience across all channels and Participant engagement preferences by tying together communications infrastructure, business rules, and analytic requirements.

(iv) Provide a greater emphasis on collaboration and the two-way exchange of information between the Participant and the Service Center.

(v) Automate manual processes and forms including alerts for transaction status changes and life cycle events.

(4) FRTIB envisions that the PEH will include, at a minimum, the following general-purpose tools and applications:

(i) CRM and customer service and support functionality, including self-service

(ii) Social CRM tools, such as social engagement and peer-to-peer community support applications

(iii) Email, Web and mobile campaign tools

(iv) Content and learning management (including video)

(v) Knowledge management

(vi) Case management

(vii) Business process modeling and rule servers

(viii) Real-time decision engines

(ix) Multichannel interaction routing engines

(x) Mobile platforms for customer support

(xi) A number of analytics solutions (such as web analytics, interaction analytics and customer journey analytics)

(xii) Electronic forms processing

(xiii) Integrated and intelligent workflow for benefits processing

C.1.8 Achieving the Future Service Environment – Multiphase Implementation The Contractor shall achieve the future service environment by implementing the requirements in Section C through a multiphase implementation approach comprised of three phases:

Figure C.6: ExPRESS Implementation Phases

· Phase-In: Contractor works toward standing-up Steady State requirements while FRTIB current operations and services run in parallel. The Phase-In shall be completed in no less than 9 months per FRTIB constraints as stated in Section H. The Contractor may propose a Phase-In period of greater than 9 months; proposal shall include the rationale for a longer Phase-In period.

The completion of Phase-In shall be subject to Acceptance Criteria according to Section E.8.

· Steady State: Go-Live (Day 1) is when ExPRESS Contractor assumes responsibility of all Steady State requirements.

Operate in Steady State until reliable and stable operations are achieved as measured by consistent month to month achievement of the Service Level Requirements.

· Transformation: Fulfillment of the full PEH design and associated requirements.

Development of Transformation requirements may begin during Steady State but shall only be implemented when operational stability is confirmed upon approval from the government.

The Contractor shall provide a detailed implementation plan that describes how it will deliver its services. The implementation plan shall propose a realistic timeframe that meets the Section C phased requirements and the RFP constraints. The implementation phases are depicted in Figure C.6. More information regarding the current environment, including the attributes of applications and interfaces, is provided in the Current State and Desired Future Interaction Patterns document located in the Document Repository.

(a) Phase-In

Phase-In includes work activities that allow the Contractor to progressively develop and build the operational capabilities to achieve Day 1 Go-Live Steady State requirements detailed in Section C using their own personnel, processes, equipment, and facilities. The Contractor shall ensure that it transitions seamlessly and does no harm to the existing Participant experience. The work during this phase includes among other things the onboarding, knowledge transfer, and standing up of Contactor provided systems, facilities, operations, and staff. The Contractor shall be responsible for migrating all in-scope legacy data stores and building interfaces to retained systems (such as the OMNI Recordkeeping system which is the system of record). The Contractor shall work with FRTIB and the incumbent Contractors to complete Phase-In.

FRTIB will approve completion of the Phase-In through Acceptance Criteria according to Section E.8 that provides FRTIB’s approval to proceed to the Steady State phase.

(b) Phase-In Operational Outcomes

(1) Demonstrate Iterative Progress: The Contractor shall successfully meet their milestones leading up to achieving the Acceptance Criteria according to Section E.8.

(2) Successfully Achieve Acceptance Criteria: Achieve the Acceptance Criteria as described in Section E.8. The Phase-In shall be completed in no less than 9 months per FRTIB constraints as stated in Section H.

(c) Steady State – “Go Live”

Upon receipt of the Approval to Operate (ATO) from FRTIB the Contractor shall “Go-Live “on Day 1 of Steady State.

A primary outcome of Steady State is to confirm operational stability of the requirements achieved in the Phase-In over a period of time (months). Confirmation of operational stability shall be determined by meeting the Performance Requirements in Section C.6.The Contractor shall also maintain and build new interfaces as necessary to meet the requirements of Section C.

(d) Steady State Operational Outcomes

(1) Do No Harm: A fully operational Service Center – at a minimum in compliance with Section C.6 Service Level Requirements to confirm operational stability - capable of performing all Participant and Agency Services, Document Processing Services, Legal Processing, Integration Services, and additional back-office interface functions with approximately 110 civilian and uniformed payroll offices for all of the Participants, beneficiaries, and stakeholders of TSP.

(2) Enable Participant Access:

(i) Provide Participants with the ability to access the Service Center – 24 hours, 6 days a week

(ii) Support uniformed services global deployment

(3) Meet Participant Demand: Staff the Service Center dynamically to meet the peaks and troughs of Participant interaction without disruptions in service.

(4) Achieve the Steady State Requirements: Meet all Steady State requirements as expressed in Sections C.

(5) Provide Integrated Case Management & Automated Alerts: Provide integrated workflow and case management across the Service Center. Provide automated alerts to Participants via secure e-messaging for status changes in systems, such as Participant life events or forms processing exceptions.

(e) Transformation

During the Transformation phase, the Contractor shall deliver the Future service environment capabilities described in C 1.7(a), the Transformation requirements described throughout Section C, in order to achieve the ExPRESS Imperatives in Section C.1.5.

The Contractor shall achieve these outcomes with its own personnel, processes, equipment, and facilities in compliance with the requirements of Section C. The Contractor shall ensure that all Contractor operations and processes do no harm or constrain existing FRTIB processes. The Contractor shall maintain and build new interfaces as required to meet the requirements of Section C. The Contractor shall work with FRTIB throughout the Transformation Phase.

(f) Transformation Operational Outcomes

(1) Enable An Omnichannel Service Center: Enable an integrated multiple channels offering that provides the Participant with their choice of engagement in addition to building a 360 degree view of Participant interactions.

(2) Empower the Participant Towards Self-Service: Enable many Participant ‘self-service’ capabilities. Extend automated alerts for status changes in systems, such as Participant life events or forms processing exceptions, beyond secure e-messaging to all channels.

(3) Reduce Paper-Driven Process and Service: Electronic online completion and submission for many forms shall reduce the volume of mail/scanning/OCR processing and the associated errors, including return mail processing associated with hard copy form submissions received either through the mail or fax.

(4) Enable Third Party Consultative Retirement Advice: Allow third party financial advisor(s) to provide seamless retirement consultation from a process and information perspective with the ExPRESS Service Center.

(5) Interface with Real-time Data-driven Decisions Support Systems: Decision support/analytics shall be real-time and integrate with FRTIB business intelligence tools.

C.1.9 Service Center Lines of Business FRTIB has organized the Service Center lines of business in Section C into four major service categories:

(a) Program Management

(1) Critical Success Factors and Objectives

(2) Governance Structure

(3) Management Controls

(b) Integration Services

(1) Participant Engagement Hub

(2) Cross Functional Services

(c) Participant and Agency Services

(1) Participant Services (focused on the individual Participant)

(2) Agency Services (focused on the Participant’s agency)

(d) Operational Services

(1) Document Processing

(2) Legal Processing

Participant and Agency Services are the customer-facing services of the TSP that are often referred to as the ‘front office’ in the financial services industry and Operational Services are the ‘back office.’ Integration Services are the cross functional capabilities that enable the front and back office to operate as a single consolidated Service Center

The Contractor may organize and locate the lines of business and their associated resources in any manner it wishes to deliver a competitive solution that meets the requirements of Section C. The FRTIB requires that a single prime Contractor provide all services defined in Section C.

C.2 PROGRAM MANAGEMENT

C.2.1 Overview This section defines how FRTIB and the Contractor shall work together to ensure a successful relationship through well understood and defined governance requirements regarding the Service Center contract. The Contractor is responsible for complying with the Program Management and Governance requirements including the decision authorities retained by FRTIB. Program Management requirements are effective day one of contract commencement. These governance requirements do not foreclose any remedies in law or regulation that the Government may assert.

C.2.2 Program Management Critical Success Factors FRTIB recognizes that Program Management Services are an essential component for successful contract management and establishing an ongoing successful FRTIB – Contractor relationship. The FRTIB requires a relationship with the Contractor based on the following critical success factors:

(a) Mutually aligned objectives

(b) A well-defined governance structure

(c) Open and effective communications

(d) Well understood requirements and service levels

C.2.3 Program Management Objectives The Contractor shall work with the FRTIB team to:

(a) Deliver high-quality Service Center services to support the FRTIB agency needs.

(b) Ensure high Participant satisfaction from TSP Participants using the Service Center

(c) Provide continuous improvements to the functionality, creation and delivery of Services to better serve the FRTIB agency objectives.

(d) Participate in integrated planning and management of Service Center services with TESS and other services.

(e) Determine and protect the best interest of the Participants and beneficiaries and reputation of the FRTIB.

(f) Dedicate sufficient time and resources to make the relationship a success.

(g) Support the FRTIB strategic and tactical planning processes for in scope services, including service linkage to agency objectives and technology standards and architectures.

(h) Monitor performance metrics including contracted Service Level Requirements.

C.2.4 Governance Structure The Service Center program management governance structure (see Figure C.7) provides a three level approach to ensure proper strategic, management, and operational oversight by defining responsibilities and decision rights of the associated governance levels or teams. The structure seeks to provide a communications link among the three levels and more effective governance.

(a) Strategic Level

The Strategic Level is comprised of the FRTIB and Contractor executives who have fiduciary responsibilities to their respective organizations and stakeholders.

(1) They ensure that the overall relationship between the parties aligns to the strategic goals and objectives of their respective organizations.

(2) Any conflicts that might affect the relationship at a strategic level are addressed, including competitive conflicts of interests, changes in organizational direction, severe or chronic nonperformance, etc.

(3) Disputes that cannot be resolved at the Management Level are also addressed by the Strategic Level.

(b) Management Level

The Management Level is comprised of the FRTIB and Contractor personnel who have responsibility for ensuring the successful execution of the services to meet the requirements of the contract.

(1) The Management Level ensures end-to-end service delivery is provided to TSP Participants.

(2) The Management Level primary representatives are from the Office of Participant Operations & Policy (OPOP), the Office of Technology Services (OTS), and the Office of Communications & Education (OCE) with other FRTIB functions represented as needed based on program initiatives.

(3) The OTS and OCE representatives on the ExPRESS Management Level are interfaces to other contracts outside the scope of ExPRESS that require service coordination.

(4) The Management Level represents cross functional expertise. These representatives are responsible for reaching back to their respective organizations to acquire skills and support needed for ExPRESS operations and management.

(5) The Management Level ensures compliance with Service Level Requirements by reviewing monthly service level reports and problems/issues escalated by the Service Delivery Teams.

(6) Project progress and milestones are reviewed.

(7) Change management and release management events that impact the delivery of Service Center services are addressed by the Management Level.

(8) Informal dispute resolution is also performed at this level, and if the dispute is not able to be resolved in a timely manner it is escalated to the Strategic Level on an exception basis. Any formal disputes will be referred to the Contracting Officer.

(9) Issues requiring the involvement of a government employee with actual authority to bind the government, contract modification, or work or other changes to the contact that should require actual authority to bind the government or that should be the subject of a contract modification, will be referred to the Contracting Officer.

(c) Operational Level

The Operational Level is comprised of the FRTIB and Contractor personnel who have responsibility for the day-to-day delivery of services under the contract.

(1) The Operations Team is comprised of FRTIB-Contractor Service Delivery Teams that meet daily or weekly depending on situational factors.

(2) Decision responsibilities include addressing immediate issues that affect service degradation and outages including the reprioritization of escalated incidents and problems.

(3) The Operations Team may create working groups to address ad hoc or one-time events that require a more dedicated focus to resolve issues.

(4) Issues requiring the involvement of a government employee with actual authority to bind the government, contract modification, or work or other changes to the contract that should require actual authority to bind the government or that should be the subject of a contract modification will be referred to the Contracting Officer.

Figure C.7: Program Management Structure

(d) Contractor Program Executive The Contractor Program Executive has overall responsibility for directing all of the Contractor's activities and has the necessary authority to act for the Contractor in connection with all aspects of the Contract. The Contractor Program Executive key responsibilities are:

(1) Serving as the primary Relationship Manager between the Contractor and the FRTIB

(2) Being knowledgeable about the Services of Contractor and its Subcontractors' products and services

(3) Having experience at running services equal in size and scope to those of the FRTIB

(e) Contractor Service Delivery Managers

(1) Each party designates individuals responsible for the major lines of service, who are the party's primary point of contact for all matters relating to that line of service: The major lines of service are: Program Management, Integration Services, Participant and Agency Services, and Operational Services. Contractor Service Delivery Managers key responsibilities are:

(2) Being knowledgeable about the Services and each of Contractor's and its Subcontractors' products and services

(3) Being experienced at integration and operation of the capabilities of a Service Center (e.g., business processes, infrastructure, operations, and software applications) of a size and scope minimally equal in size and scope to those of the FRTIB

(4) Having experience coordinating end-to-end management processes with other Contractors through Associate Contractor Agreements (ACA) who deliver services outside of the Service Center contract but impact overall enterprise delivery to TSP Participants

C.2.5 Management Controls The following are management controls essential to ensuring proper oversight of the ExPRESS services: Performance Management, Contract Management, Quality Management, Risk Management, Security Management, Change Management, Demand Management, Continuous Improvement Management, Issues Management, Dispute Management, and Procedures Documentation Management.

(a) Performance Management

Performance Management includes:

(1) Overseeing the measurement process by which Service Level Requirements are assessed

(2) Reviewing and monitoring performance and facilitating the development of improvement plans

(3) Conducting exploratory activities to determine how to raise performance levels and recommending changes in Service Level Requirements where appropriate to ensure that they properly reflect agency needs, while balancing costs

(4) Reporting results of Contractor performance against Service Level Requirements to the FRTIB Management Level on a monthly basis.

(b) Contract Management

Responsibility for contracting activities rests solely with the FRTIB ExPRESS Contracting Officer (CO).

(1) The FRTIB ExPRESS CO is responsible for directing any changes in the terms, conditions, or amounts cited in the contract.

(2) No conversation, recommendations, or direction, whether given directly by, or implied by FRTIB personnel, that will affect the scope, schedule, or price of this contract, shall be acted upon by the Contractor unless specifically approved by the FRTIB’s CO.

(3) In the event that the Contractor implements changes to the contract at the direction of any person other than the CO, the Contractor shall not receive reimbursement for work performed pursuant to those unauthorized changes.

(4) Contractual interpretation and assistance may be obtained by contacting the CO.

(5) The Contracting Officer Representative (COR) may require the Contractor's project manager, or a designated alternate, to meet with the CO and other Agency personnel as deemed necessary to discuss contractperformance evaluation. The CO or COR will define a frequency of in-depth reviews with the Contractor, however, if the need arises, the Contractor will meet with the CO or COR as often as required or per the Contractor's request. The agenda of the reviews may include:

(i) Monthly performance assessment data and trend analysis

(ii) Contract cost (actual and/or estimated), Estimated Cost to completion (ETC). Estimated Cost at Completion (EAC), etc.

(iii) Issues and concerns of both parties

(iv) Projected outlook for upcoming months and progress against expected trends, including a corrective action plan analysis

(v) Recommendations for improved efficiency and/or effectiveness

(vi) Issues arising from the performance monitoring processes.

(6) The COR must coordinate and communicate with the Contractor to resolve issues and concerns regarding marginal or unacceptable performance.

(7) The COR and Contractor should jointly formulate tactical and long-term courses of action. Decisions regarding changes to metrics, thresholds, or service levels should be clearly documented. Changes to service levels, procedures, and metrics will be incorporated as a modification.

(c) Quality Management

Quality Management includes:

(1) Reviewing the quality assurance policies and procedures to ensure adherence with best practices and that quality can be delivered consistently.

(2) Ensuring the effectiveness of quality management processes such as quality control, quality assurance, quality improvement, etc.

(3) Assessing adherence to quality management processes from time-to-time and reporting these results to the FRTIB Management Level.

(d) Risk Management

Risk Management includes:

(1) Identification, assessment, and prioritization of risks followed by coordinated and economical application of resources to minimize, monitor, and control the probability and/or impact of events that may negatively impact the delivery of ExPRESS services..

(2) Implementing strategies to manage risk, including transferring the risk to another party, avoiding the risk, reducing the negative effect or probability of the risk, or even accepting some or all of the potential or actual consequences of a particular risk.

(3) Tracking risks through the use of a risk register tool that identifies probability, impact, and overall risk prioritization of individual risks along with risk mitigation strategies.

(4) Reporting a summary of the risk register to the FRTIB Management Level on a monthly basis.

(e) Security Management

Security Management includes compliance with FRTIB security requirements as stated in Section H.

(f) Change Management

Change Management includes:

(1) Preparing change request documentation

(2) Evaluation of changes

(3) Establishing change prioritization

(4) Recommending changes to FRTIB

(5) Monitoring change results

(g) Demand Management

Demand Management is the coordination of demand through forecasting activities between FRTIB and the Contractor. This management control is critical due to the impact an event can have on a plan the size of the TSP. Demand Management includes:

(1) Preparing demand forecasts

(2) Reviewing forecasts

(3) Identifying change events and impact on forecasts

(4) Identifying action plans to address significant forecast variances

(h) Continuous Improvement Management

Continuous Improvement Management includes:

(1) Identifying improvement opportunities

(2) Assessing cost/benefit of improvement

(3) Assessing risks of improvement along with mitigation controls

(4) Presenting improvement opportunities to the Management and Steering Levels

(i) Issues Management

Issues Management includes:

(1) Developing an issues tracking template

(2) Recording day-to-day operational issues

(3) Reviewing and assigning responsibility for issues

(4) Tracking the closure of issues

(5) Reporting the status of issues

(j) Dispute Management

Dispute Management includes:

(1) Adherence to the Dispute Resolution clause described in Section H

(2) Defining a formal escalation process

(3) Defining a template for presenting escalated disputes

(4) Defining a schedule for submitting escalated disputes

(5) Adhering to the escalation process once established

(k) Procedures Documentation Management

Procedures Documentation Management ensures that all Contractor activities are properly documented and that decisional authority is clearly delineated. The FRTIB retains decisional authority with respect to the interpretation of applicable laws, regulations, and plan materials, the disbursement of funds, the determination of eligibility for participation or benefits, the content of information provided to participants, and the adjudication of benefit claims and disputes. The Contractor is expected to develop and maintain comprehensive standard operating procedures (SOP’s) for all components of its services, templates for routine participant correspondence, a knowledge management system, scripts, and training materials consistent with guidance that the FRTIB provides with respect to its decisional authority.

C.2.6 Requirements Program Management requirements support the effective execution of the Service Center requirements described throughout Section C from an overall mission, and management perspective.

The Contractor shall comply with and implement the requirements in this section according to the phases marked by an “X” in the appropriate column. The phases are described in Section 1.8.

General

10. Shall provide multi-language support to the FRTIB as required.

X

Acceptance and IBR

Performance Management

Contract Management

Quality Management

Risk Management

Security Management

Change Management

Demand Management

Continuous Improvement Management

Issues Management