RFI QA.pdf

QUESTION RESPONSE

1. Will the Government consider a one-week response date extension to Thursday, 22 May?

Yes, the RFI was extended to May 22, 2025.

2. What is the desired start date for access to the new production platform and for services to begin?

VA anticipates that the notional start date would be July 29, 2025, which is when the current effort will end.

3. What is the expected transition time from incumbent to new vendor should VA change platforms? Does the Government anticipate an overlap?

VA does not anticipate that there would be overlap between contracted efforts. As such, VA also understands that there could some transition period in the event a new solution is employed, however that period should be rather limited. In the event that were to occur, VA would prioritize capabilities /functionalities to ensure timely/uninterrupted service as able.

4. Will the Government consider a FedRamp High minimum authorization for their security environment? Will the Government allow data sharing and system access within a FedRamp High environment?

Based on the sensitivity of the information that would be involved with this effort, the requirement would be set at Moderate. It is unclear why a higher-level authorization is being suggested. If there is additional information that the original poster believes that VA should be aware of, please provide, and VA will consider that information to determine if that level needs to be altered.”

5. In regards to "No direct connections to VA networks; data sharing requires user consent." "The SaaS product shall not have any direct connections or interfaces to VA systems or networks.

Can you define what the VA systems or networks are? Does this include VA Salesforce CRM systems?

5a. No direct connections refers to VA networks means that it is not installed on any VA IT systems.

5b. With respect to this question, VA is noting a general requirement regarding limitation of access to the VA Network as a whole, which may contain PHI/PII data. VA does anticipate that some form of connection may be required, which likely would be done via secure APIs, to targeted systems. VA does note the current contradiction within the document and will clarify in the final iteration of the requirements document.

6. What system data or user data is VA able to share for segmentation, personalization, campaigns and or preferences?

6. The type of system data/user data available will be First name, last name, phone number, email, address, age gender and race demographics, branch of service, transition service time and potentially much more because of the FEDRAMP HIG categorization.

7. What data would potentially be shared with VA providers based on user consent? For an example: A constituent journey for a veteran who gets an email and says they want to learn more about particular benefits?

7 Historically, this platform was used for strategic information campaigns (Veteran/beneficiary/VA employee) on a variety of topics, which may include, but were not limited to awareness of benefits, support in transition from active to civilian life activities and other like events. VA does not currently anticipate that specific data may be provided to VA Providers (e.g. external care providers) at this time, however, any solution should have capability to adapt to the specific strategic campaigns based on VA Mission.

8. On page 3 of PRODUCT DESCRIPTION (PD) - DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS doc: "The platform must also integrate with VA internal data systems, including contact relationship management (CRM) platforms, to support unified data access, enhance campaign targeting, and enable seamless workflow across VA business lines. " -- Please describe each of the systems that the current provider integrates with and if those would be the same moving forward. If there are different systems moving forward, please describe those too.

8. There are multiple systems that may require integration/APIs for connection of data. For instance, one such system is VA Centralized Outreach Module (VACOM). VACOM streamlines identification of potential pools and creation of events for recipients that the solution would then be communicating with about said event. VA cannot at this moment provide the exhaustive list, but will ensure that relevant data systems are identified in its final iteration of the requirements document.

9. Can the Government confirm whether there are internal use cases that will require an Email Marketing Delivery Service, and if so, can the Government include the scale and volume of such requirement. For example, are internal providers/clinician communications included as a use case in the RFI?

Yes, the Government does intend to utilize the Email Marketing Delivery Service for internal VA employee usage (e.g. @va.gov to @va.gov recipients). For instance, Administrations within the Department of Veterans Affairs (VHA, VBA, NCA, and VACO) regularly send all employee messages (AEMs) from senior leadership to all staff personnel within each of these administrations, respectively. For example, an AEM broadcast within VHA will reach approximately 700,000 end user mailboxes.

10. Regarding: "The Contractor shall implement Individual Messaging Capability and shall deliver and track emails and SMS messages for Web applications via secure API’s." Can the Government describe the use cases and the details around the web applications. For example, are these transactional messages?

10. The anticipated use cases that SMS can be applied to are a one-to-many or a one-to-one use case. For example, an API pulls in information like name, email and phone number. The Government would expect to be able to configure a transaction to either message via SMS, email or both.