Other Transaction (OT) Instructions and Evaluation Plan v2 29 NOV 23 FInal.pdf

Foreign Military Sales - Army Case Execution System

(FMS-ACES)

Other Transaction (OT) Instructions and Evaluation Plan - W519TC-23-R-ACES

Version 1.0

20 September 2023

Prepared By:

FMS-ACES

FMS-ACES OT Announcement Distribution Statement A:

18 Sep 2023 Approved for Public Release, Distribution is Unlimited 2

Table of Contents 1 Overview

1.1 Purpose

1.2 Description of Problem

1.3 Approach

1.4 Evaluation Teams

1.5 Notice of Advisory Support and Pre-Proposal / Pre-Award Requirements

1.5.1 A&AS Notice

1.5.2 A&AS Providers

1.5.3 A&AS Non-Disclosure Agreements

1.5.4 Organizational Conflict of Interest (OCI) Definitions:

1.5.5 OCI Pre-Proposal and Pre-Award Requirements:

2 Administrative Instruction to Offerors

2.1 Step 1: Request for White Paper (RWP)

2.2 Step 2: Offeror-defined Product Demonstration

2.3 Step 3: Government-defined Product Demonstration

2.4 Step 4: Request for Prototype Proposal

2.5 Step 5: Competitive Prototype

2.6 Step 6: Single Continuation Award for Solution Prototyping Efforts

2.7 Response for Each Step

2.8 Unclassified Process

2.9 General Guidelines

2.10 Response Submissions

2.11 Response Validity

2.12 Official Transmissions and Communications

2.13 Government Points of Contact

2.14 Questions/Comments

2.15 Supplementary Information

3 OT Steps

3.1 Step 1 White Paper and Offeror Questionnaire

3.1.1 White Paper and Offeror Questionnaire Instructions:

3.1.2 Step 1: White Paper Questions

3.1.3 White Paper Evaluation Criteria

18 Sep 2023 Approved for Public Release, Distribution is Unlimited 3

3.1.4 Basis of Selection (BoS) for upward invitation to Step 2

3.2 Step 2 Offeror-defined Product Demonstration:

3.2.1 Step 2 Offeror-defined Demonstration Instructions

3.2.2 Offeror-defined Demonstration Evaluation Criteria

3.2.3 Basis of Selection (BoS) for upward invitation to Step 3

3.3 Step 3 Government-Defined Product Demonstration

3.3.1 Government-Defined Product Demonstration Instructions

3.3.2 Government-defined Product Demonstration Evaluation Criteria

3.3.3 Basis of Selection (BoS) for Upward Invitation to Step 4

3.4 Step 4 Request for Prototype Proposal

3.4.1 Step 4 Detailed Instructions

3.4.2 Step 4 Evaluation Criteria

3.4.3 Basis of Selection (BoS) for Upward Invitation to Step 5

3.5 Step 5: Competitive Prototype

3.5.1 Step 5 Detailed Instructions

3.5.2 Step 5 Prototype Success Statement

3.5.3 Step 5 Evaluation Criteria

3.5.4 Basis of Selection for Award of Single OT for Solution Prototyping Efforts

3.6 Step 6: Single Continuation Award for Solution Prototyping Efforts

4 Special Requirements

Appendix A: Offeror’s Questionnaire

List of Tables Table 1 Conference Room Locations for Demonstrations ............................. Error! Bookmark not defined.

Table 2 Required heading for each page of questions concerning the FMS-ACES OTA Table 3 Step 1 Ratings Table Table 4 Likert Response Options for Step 2 Assessments Table 5 Step 2 Ratings Table Table 6 Step 3 Ratings Table Table 7 Step 4 Ratings Table Table 8 Step 5 Ratings Table

List of Figures Figure 1 OT Acquisition Process Figure 2 OT Announcement: Gate Criteria, and Overview of Steps 1 through 6

18 Sep 2023 Approved for Public Release, Distribution is Unlimited 4

1 Overview

1.1 Purpose

The purpose of the Other Transaction (OT) Instruction and Evaluation plan is to provide respondents the information and criteria to support a response to the Government. This document provides a summary of the evaluation events, defines the organization, the roles and responsibilities, procedures, and the projected timelines to execute the Other Transaction Agreements (OTA) steps. The objective of the OTA and this plan is to fulfill the Army requirements for the Foreign Military Sales – Army Case Execution System (FMS-ACES) OTA. Through the OTA, the Army is seeking Technical Integration Providers (TIPs) to develop FMS-ACES solutions to meet the requirements in the Statement of Objective (SOO). This document defines the six (6) step process planned for the evaluated competitive process.

1.2 Description of Problem

The U.S. Army is seeking to sunset its current system used for the management of Foreign Military Sales (FMS) cases, Centralized Integrated System - International Logistics (CISIL), an antiquated mainframe system built with Common Business Oriented Language (COBOL). Given its legacy platform and infrastructure, CISIL is unable to keep pace with modern technology and directives to include migration to the cloud, cybersecurity defense, auditability, and financial compliance. Additional Army FMS functionality to improve reporting and provide enhanced business processes are provided by two additional systems: Army Reports and Case Management Application (CMA). The functionality of these two systems will be included in the FMS-ACES solution. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) relies on the military departments to conduct data collection, maintain data integrity, and to ensure interoperability requirements are capable of meeting the needs of the FMS enterprise. DSCA, through U.S. Army Security Assistance Command (USASAC) has tasked the Army’s Program Executive Office-Enterprise Information Systems (PEO-EIS) to award a contract for the FMS-ACES solution.

This document describes the pathway to procure the necessary software system to meet the needs of the FMS enterprise.

1.3 Approach

Under the authority of 10 U.S.C. § 4022, Program Executive Office Enterprise Information Systems seeks to partner with contractors to carry out projects that are directly relevant to enhancing the mission effectiveness of the Army Security Assistance Enterprise (ASAE). The information provided in this project

18 Sep 2023 Approved for Public Release, Distribution is Unlimited 5 announcement is intended to ensure that to the maximum extent practicable, competitive procedures are used by the Army to enter into agreements to carry out one or more prototype projects. Upon successful completion of the prototype project the Government intends to award a follow-on production agreement to one of the participants without the use of competitive procedures.

1.4 Evaluation Teams

The Solution Discovery Team (SDT) will be comprised of government personnel from key process and subject areas. These individuals will be the voting members on evaluation results.

The SDT will also include non-government personnel from the program management office as non-voting advisors. These advisors may be used in the evaluation of OT process steps and proposals and will have signed Non‐ Disclosure Agreements (NDAs) with the Government. The Army understands that information provided in this announcement is presented in confidence and may contain proprietary information, trade secrets, or commercial or financial information and agrees to protect such information from unauthorized disclosure to the maximum extent permitted and as required by law. A respondent’s participation in any part of the selection process under this announcement indicates concurrence with the use of contractor support personnel and their access to submitted materials (artifacts). Support personnel from the following Prime Contractor and its Subcontractors may be used in evaluation:

• Chenega IT Enterprise Services, LLC (CITES)

• ADEPT Force Group, Inc.

• Project XYZ, INC.

1.5 Notice of Advisory Support and Pre-Proposal / Pre-Award

Requirements

1.5.1 A&AS Notice

All Offerors are advised any individual from any legal entity that provided Advisory and Assistance Services (A&AS) and participated in the preparation of non-public information (i.e., non-public prior the release of this Announcement) to include support for the Announcement and other requirements documents including, but not limited to, Business Process Reengineering (BPR) artifacts, cost, or budget

18 Sep 2023 Approved for Public Release, Distribution is Unlimited 6 estimates, has an organizational conflict of interest. See Section instructions in section 1.5.5 below on how to submit a OCI Mitigation Plan.

1.5.2 A&AS Providers

All Offerors are advised that designated companies providing A&AS support will also serve as non-government advisors supporting proposal evaluation(s). The Government will authorize access to any submitted proposals to designated individuals from the below listed companies only to those portions of the proposal and/or evaluation discussions that are necessary to enable them to perform their respective duties. The firm(s) identified below, as well as their parents, subsidiaries, and affiliates and all subcontractors, may be prohibited from competing on this Announcement and/or providing any services or support to the contract(s) resulting from this Announcement:

• Chenega IT Enterprise Services, LLC (CITES)

• ADEPT Force Group, Inc.

• Project XYZ, INC

Offerors submitting responses to this OT announcement are required to enter into a proprietary agreement with the three contractors listed above to allow the three contractors and its subcontractors access to an offeror’s White Paper submission.

In this regard, a contractor that gains access to proprietary information of other companies in performing advisory and assistance services for the Government must agree with the other companies to protect their information from unauthorized use or disclosure for as long as it remains proprietary and refrain from using the information for any purpose other than that for which it was furnished.

Contractors performing advisory services are required to flow proprietary agreements down to its subcontractors. These proprietary agreements shall be submitted with an offeror’s White Paper submission for the Agreements Officer to review.

1.5.3 A&AS Non-Disclosure Agreements

By direction of the AO, the designated individual support contractors affiliated with the above-listed companies each have executed a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) that, in summary, states the support contractor will:

a) Have read, understand, and will abide by the requirements of Section

27 of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy Act (41 USC § 423), 18 Sep 2023 Approved for Public Release, Distribution is Unlimited 7

b) Affirm that there is no direct or indirect personal or family financial interest in any legal entity on the list of Offerors proposing,

c) Protect the Offeror’s proposal information from unauthorized use or disclosure for as long as it remains proprietary; and

d) Refrain from using the proprietary information for any purpose other than that for which it was furnished.

1.5.4 Organizational Conflict of Interest (OCI) Definitions:

Non-Public and Proprietary Information is any Government or third-party information that:

a) Is exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act or otherwise protected from disclosure by statute, Executive order, or regulation; or

b) Has not been disseminated to the general public, and the Government has not yet determined whether the information can or will be made available to the public; or

c) All information designated as proprietary in accordance with law and regulation and held in confidence or disclosed under restriction to prevent uncontrolled distribution.

NOTE: For this FMS ACES Announcement, Non-Public Information includes but is not limited to any information resulting from providing direct support to the Government with Advisory and Assistance Services prior to the release of this Announcement. That support prior to the public release of this Announcement includes the creation of, possession of, or contributions to any content of the Announcement and other FMS ACES specific requirements documents such as, but not limited to, BPR artifacts, cost or budget estimates.

1.5.5 OCI Pre-Proposal and Pre-Award Requirements:

All Offerors shall inform the AO no later than with submission of the Offeror’s White Paper & Step 1 Proposal:

IF there was no access to or use of non-public information in the development of the proposal, THEN the Offeror shall declare this in the Offer Letter with the following:

18 Sep 2023 Approved for Public Release, Distribution is Unlimited 8

“The undersigned certifies that there was no access to or use of non-public information in the development of the proposal submitted herein.”

IF the Prime Offeror or any of its affiliates possesses or has access to any non-public information relevant to the FMS ACES Announcement Notice ID # W519TC-23-R-ACES, provided by the Government, either directly or indirectly, THEN the Offeror shall provide the AO a copy of their Mitigation Plan and actions that the Offeror has taken or proposes to take to resolve the situation. advise the AO of any OCI Mitigation Plan actions that the Offeror has taken or proposes to take to resolve the situation.

2 Administrative Instruction to Offerors

The OT acquisition process includes six (6) steps resulting in a Continuation OT Prototype Award at the end of step 6. Only those Offerors that receive an Upward Invitation at the end of a step will be eligible to proceed to the next step. Each Upward Invitation will be determined by a corresponding evaluation criteria. An overview of the OT acquisition process is depicted in Figure 1. The first row includes a notional timeline (in calendar days) in which notices will be provided to industry and when industry actions (i.e., responses or demonstrations) are due for each step.

The timeline is subject to change due to quantity of responses received for government review.

Figure 1 OT Acquisition Process

The Offeror’s submissions shall be written in the English language and conform to the instructions below. The Government reserves the right to enter Exchanges or seek clarification at any point in time after the publication of this announcement. The

18 Sep 2023 Approved for Public Release, Distribution is Unlimited 9 costs of preparing, submitting, and participating in any proposal efforts are not considered an allowable direct charge to any Agreement.

Quality of Response Submissions:

a. For all submissions, Offerors are advised to only submit the content that represents the best approach from a technical and price perspective.

b. To be considered for an award, the Offeror's proposed submissions shall include all data and information requested, submitted in accordance with these instructions.

c. The Government reserves the right to reject any Offeror’s submission (i.e., White Paper and Attachments, Oral Presentation / Technology Demonstration, Performance Work Statement) that does not comply with these preparation instructions.

d. All submissions shall be clear, concise and include sufficient detail for effective evaluation and for substantiating the validity of stated claims. The submitted Offeror response shall not simply rephrase or restate the Government requirements but shall provide convincing rationale to address how the Offeror intends to meet these requirements. Offerors shall assume that the Government has no prior knowledge of their capabilities or proposed solution and that the Government will base its evaluation on the information presented in the Offeror's submissions (e.g., White Paper and Attachments, Oral Presentation, Technology Demonstration and Performance Work Statement).

2.1 Step 1: Request for White Paper (RWP)

The purpose of the white paper is to provide a mechanism through which the Government can identify innovative solutions and ideas that address the challenge that FMS-ACES intends to solve.

2.2 Step 2: Offeror-defined Product Demonstration

Each Offeror invited to this step shall demonstrate the proposed solution. Format is Offeror’s choice. Time will be limited to two (2) hours. Offeror will be given thirty (30) minutes prior to start time for setup, and twenty (20) minutes following immediately after the demonstration to package materials and depart. This forum is not a discussion. The Government will observe and listen to the Offeror-defined Demonstration but will not interact (no questions) with the presenters. Demonstrations will be held at the Polk Building located at 2521 S. Clark Street, Crystal City, VA 22202. Offerors specific invitations will have date, time and conference room details.

18 Sep 2023 Approved for Public Release, Distribution is Unlimited 10

For building access, all visitors will require a sponsor for access and will have to register through the Pentagon Force Protection Agency Visitor Management System (VMS).

Primary vendor POC will need to email attendees’ names to Joanna Emerson (joanna.p.emerson.ctr@army.mil) cc'ing Agreements Officer and Agreements Specialist (identified in Section 2.13) and Ms. Emerson will respond with the specific instructions for each attendee to register. Notification of attendees and registrations MUST be completed 72 hours in advance of demonstration date/time. Please arrive 15 minutes prior to set-up time to allow for building access.

Offerors will use the Office WiFi for demonstration connectivity connecting to display screens via HDMI cable.

A Microsoft Teams link will be utilized during the demonstrations to record sessions to support evaluation responses.

2.3 Step 3: Government-defined Product Demonstration

Each Offeror invited to this step shall demonstrate the proposed solution implementing government-defined scenarios, using government-provided data.

Government-defined scenarios and Government-provided data will be provided to those vendors who receive an upward invite to step 3. Time will be limited to three

(3) hours. Offeror will be given thirty (30) minutes prior to start time for setup, and twenty (20) minutes post stop time to package materials and depart. This forum is not intended to be a discussion. The Government will observe and listen to the Government-defined Demonstrations and does not intend to interact (no questions) with the presenters. However, the Government reserves the right to interact and/or ask questions if it is in the best interest of the Government.

2.4 Step 4: Request for Prototype Proposal

Each Offeror invited to this step shall submit a Prototype Proposal consisting of technical approach, price, program management plan, and demonstrated experience. Each offeror will also submit a Performance Work Statement (PWS) aligned to the FMS-ACES SOO (Attachment 003 – FMS-ACES Statement of Objectives).

2.5 Step 5: Competitive Prototype

The Government will enter into a Prototype Agreement with each Offeror invited to this step. Each Offeror shall work collaboratively with the Government towards the development/configuration of a prototype solution that achieves the objectives of the FMS-ACES Prototype Success Statement. The prototype will be managed using mailto:joanna.p.emerson.ctr@army.mil

18 Sep 2023 Approved for Public Release, Distribution is Unlimited 11 government provided Agile work management software. The duration of Step 5, Competitive Prototype, will be no longer than 5 months and will encompass all activities (e.g., design, build, test, deploy, demonstrate) required to realize the success statement.

2.6 Step 6: Single Continuation Award for Solution

Prototyping Efforts

At the conclusion of Step 5, the Government intends to select one vendor to move forward into this step. The Government will issue a continuation award to continue with development of the prototype.

Figure 2 OT Announcement: Gate Criteria, and Overview of Steps 1 through 6

2.7 Response for Each Step

Each offeror shall submit only one (1) electronic response (with multiple files as applicable) that addresses the government’s requirements and instructions for that step.

18 Sep 2023 Approved for Public Release, Distribution is Unlimited 12

The Offeror bears responsibility for submitting the requirements for step 1 by the date / time specified in the announcement posted to SAM.gov. The offeror bears responsibility for submitting the requirements for subsequent steps by the date / time specified in the corresponding Upward Invitation. Offerors are solely responsible for all expenses associated with responding to this announcement.

Response files shall be submitted in electronic (searchable) formats as specified in the instructions for each step. Self-extracting .exe files, hyperlinks, and .zip files are not acceptable. Use of separate files to permit rapid location of all portions, including factors, exhibits, annexes, and attachments is acceptable.

2.8 Unclassified Process

a. All materials, artifacts, demonstrations, pricing information, or any other supporting information and follow-on discussions, as applicable, shall be unclassified.

b. For the proposal process, no information classified as “CUI”, “Confidential”, “Secret”, or “Top Secret” shall be submitted or included in any responses (i.e., questionnaires, white papers, PWS) or solution demonstrations.

c. Any data provided / used for execution of activities within step 3 (e.g., Army data for government-defined scenarios) will be fictitious.

2.9 General Guidelines

The following guidelines apply to all submissions under this Announcement:

a. The Army reserves the right to make a prototype award at any step during the selection process.

b. The Army will not reimburse interested respondents for costs of preparing and submitting materials, artifacts, demonstrations, pricing information, or any other activity during the competitive selection process through Step 4.

c. Use of diagrams and figures to depict the essence of the information presented is strongly encouraged.

2.10 Response Submissions

Offerors shall submit electronic response files through the Department of Defense Safe Access File Exchange (DoD SAFE) website. Access to SAFE is available through the website at: https://safe.apps.mil/.

18 Sep 2023 Approved for Public Release, Distribution is Unlimited 13

Submission steps include the following:

a. Instructions for GUEST and CAC (Common Access Card) users are provided at the website:

i. DoD SAFE is accessible to anyone as a GUEST with a valid commercial e-mail address, instructions can be found at the following URL (https://safe.apps.mil/help/dod-safe-help.xml#guest-view).

ii. Key SAFE attributes are as follows:

• DoD SAFE cannot be used as file storage, as all files are expired and automatically deleted from the system after 7 days.

• Use Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, or Microsoft Edge Chromium. Internet Explorer is not recommended because it limits uploads to 2 GB.

• Add up to 25 files per drop-off with a total combined size of up to

8 GB.

• Allow up to 4 hours for delivery.

b. To submit a response, Offerors must request a Drop-off Request Code no earlier than 14 days prior to the submission due date, by sending an e-mail to the Agreement POCs listed in section 2.13.

c. Upload all response files using the naming convention identified in each step; in place of any blank spaces in the filename, use underscore “_” or dash “-”

d. After submitting through DoD SAFE, send a separate notification e-mail stating that a response submission was made to the Agreement POCs listed in section

2.13 with the following Subject:

i. “FMS-ACES <Vendor Name> Notification Submitted: W519TC-23-R-

ACES

ii. The body of the note shall be short and include the Offeror point of contact.

e. Response submissions that are uploaded to the DoD SAFE site will be assigned a date/time (in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC)) by the DoD SAFE system.

The Government will consider a response to be on time or late based on the

18 Sep 2023 Approved for Public Release, Distribution is Unlimited 14

Offerors last file “UPLOAD” date/time. All Offerors should ensure the “UPLOAD” date and time is before the submission date and time listed in SAM.gov. The following are UTC conversion factors:

i. Eastern Daylight Time - subtract 4 hours from UTC

ii. Eastern Standard Time - subtract 5 hours from UTC

2.11 Response Validity

All responses shall be valid for a minimum of 365 days from the date submitted.

2.12 Official Transmissions and Communications

Any government amendment to the announcement made prior to release of the Upward Invitation for the steps will be issued via SAM.gov.

2.13 Government Points of Contact

The Agreements Officer (AO) and Agreements Specialist (AS) are the SOLE points of contact for this acquisition:

Agreements Officer (AO) Ashley Smith U.S. Army Contracting Command - Rock Island (ACC-RI) 3055 Rodman Avenue Rock Island, IL 61299-8000

(309) 782-4435 ashley.c.smith92.civ@army.mil

Agreements Specialist (AS) Nicole Feddersen U.S. Army Contracting Command - Rock Island (ACC-RI) 3055 Rodman Avenue Rock Island, IL 61299-8000

(309) 782-5691 corene.n.feddersen.civ@army.mil

2.14 Questions/Comments

18 Sep 2023 Approved for Public Release, Distribution is Unlimited 15

Any questions and/or comments submitted to the Government regarding this announcement (solicitation) shall refer to specific text from the announcement in the following format:

E-mail Subject: FMS-ACES <VendorName>_Q-Cmts_Solicitation W519TC-23-R-ACES.

Format the Questions/Comments in Microsoft Excel (.xlsx file extension) file as an attachment with file naming convention:

FMS-ACES_<VendorName>_Q-Cmnts_ Solicitation_ W519TC-23-R-ACES.xls.

Format the MS Excel file with all Questions/Comments as depicted in Table 2 with column headings at the top of each page when printing:

Table 1 Required heading for each page of questions concerning the FMS-ACES OTA

Respondent Company Name Respondent POC Name, Email, Phone Item

Government File Name or Attachment #

Page # Para# Question/Comment Rationale

The AO and AS will address all written inquiries in advance of the response deadline date / time. Only one set of questions will be accepted from each Offeror. The Government may respond with a compilation of frequently asked questions and/or a revised document as time permits. Government responses will not include Offeror identification to ensure the widest distribution possible for all Offerors. See the SAM.gov announcement page for the suspense date / time for any questions and / or comments for step 1. Offerors should submit question via email directly to the AO and AS identified in Section 2.13 Government Points of Contact.

2.15 Supplementary Information

a. Notional Product Roadmap - The government’s notional product roadmap is provided in Attachment 001 – FMS-ACES Product Roadmap. The Product Roadmap outlines the vision, direction, priorities, and progress of the FMS-ACES product. The current Product Roadmap does not contain a time component due to expected variations in the proposed solutions. Offerors are to provide a notional timeline to achieve roadmap as part of the Step 1 submission. The government welcomes alternatives to the provided product roadmap.

b. Offerors can use the product roadmap as a reference in determining/proposing a

(1) team composition to meet requirements, and (2) viable solution to meet the

18 Sep 2023 Approved for Public Release, Distribution is Unlimited 16 primary objective of acquiring a configurable, mature, out of the box, minimally-customized solution.

c. Requirements Master List - Requirements in an Agile environment are usually managed via program, release, and sprint backlogs rather than through formal requirements documents. Due to the complexity and enterprise-wide dependencies that guide FMS-ACES, a hybrid approach will be used that leverages a Requirements Traceability Matrix (RTM) for technical, operational/non-operational, and enterprise requirements as the foundation for backlog development. The government’s Requirements Master List is provided in Attachment 004 – FMS-ACES Requirements Master List (RML).

d. Operational Views - The Operational Views (OV-6c Models) represent the As-Is processes and are provided as reference material to gain a better understanding of the sequences and resources required to execute the operational mission.

The government’s Operational Views (OV-6c Models) are provided in the zip file Attachment 005 - FMS-ACES Operational Views.

e. Statement of Objectives (SOO) - The SOO provides the top-level objectives of the FMS-ACES program. Offerors will use the SOO to develop the PWS during step 4. The government's SOO is provided in Attachment 003 – FMS-ACES Statement of Objectives.

f. Cost Template – At Step 4 of the OT process offerors will submit a price with supporting documentation in this template. Directions on how to fill out this template are contained in the document Cost ROM Template.xlsx (Attachment 002 – FMS-ACES COST ROM Template).

18 Sep 2023 Approved for Public Release, Distribution is Unlimited 17

3 OT Steps

3.1 Step 1 White Paper and Offeror Questionnaire

3.1.1 White Paper and Offeror Questionnaire Instructions:

a. Each Offeror shall complete the Offeror’s Questionnaire (Appendix A) and submit the completed document as part of the white paper submission package.

b. Each Offeror shall prepare and submit a white paper response to the questions identified in section 3.1.2. The white paper will include details on the proposed solution, the technical approach, a Fixed Price/Cost Rough Order Magnitude (ROM) estimate, and a proposed product roadmap.

c. The white paper shall provide sufficient detail to clearly state how the capability will be realized within the proposed solution, noting any dependencies, limitations, constraints, and / or exceptions such that the full implementation is understood and can be differentiated from other possibilities.

d. All content will address new technologies, automation, and state of the art processes that are proposed to solve the problems listed in section 1.2.

e. The purpose of the white paper is to address key aspects of the proposed solution and other relevant factors of the proposed solution. These factors may be discussed in more detail if selected to proceed to step 2 of the evaluation.

f. White paper submissions will conform to the instructions in section 2 and should follow the specific administrative instructions:

i. Should be written in clear, concise, layman style statements.

ii. Limited to TWENTY-EIGHT (28) pages maximum (Cover page, Table of Contents, list of acronyms, and reference matrix not included)

iii. Font size should be no smaller than 11pt. Arial.

iv. All pages should be 8.5”x11” (except 11X17” pages as indicated allowed in the questionnaire.)

v. One-inch (1”) margins with header/footer; All pages should be numbered in the footer right corner; the solicitation title should be centered in the header using the following format: “FMS-

18 Sep 2023 Approved for Public Release, Distribution is Unlimited 18

ACES<VENDOR NAME> White Paper Response _ W519TC-23-R-

ACES”

g. Cover page: Respondents must provide the following background information:

i. Name of Company

ii. Company Address

iii. Company POC (name, email, phone)

iv. Company URL

v. Where the company is based (US based company/international based company)

vi. Whether the company identifies as Large Business, Small Business, or not a Commercial Endeavor

vii. Whether the company identifies as traditional or non-traditional contractor

viii. Declaration statement of no OCI, if applicable (section 1.5.5). IF not applicable, the Offeror shall submit a separate OCI Mitigation Plan with White Paper submission. OCI Mitigation Plan is not included in the 28-page White Paper page count limitation.

h. All white papers uploaded to SAFE must adhere to the following naming convention:

“FMS-ACES_<VENDOR NAME>_White_Paper_Response_ W519TC-23-R- ACES”; each supplemental document should follow the main naming convention and add the supplemental document reference to the name, e.g., “FMS- ACES_<VENDOR NAME>_White_Paper_Response_W519TC-23-R-ACES_Cost

ROM.

3.1.2 Step 1: White Paper Questions

White paper submissions shall focus on the following elements:

a. Provide a description of the proposed solution components and products to include the following:

i. A description of the proposed solution components and products to include their purpose, service model(s), and license cost/cost model

18 Sep 2023 Approved for Public Release, Distribution is Unlimited 19

(e.g., term, subscription, per user, enterprise agreement) with supporting rationale for selection.

ii. An application architecture diagram [11” X 17” page] depicting the proposed interconnectivity between solution components and products.

iii. A description of the proposed solution components, products, and technologies that comprise the solution and note which are Low Code (LC); No Code (NC) or custom code (CC) and any third-party tools that are integrated into the solution.

iv. A FedRAMP and DISA FedRAMP+ authorization strategy, which includes current authorization status and authorization date of all proposed IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS solution components or products and/or a plan to obtain FedRAMP+ authorization by Step 5 for components or products that do not have an authorization; and a plan to maintain authorizations.

v. A description of the status for existing DoD pATO, ATO, and/or other authorizations for applicable solution components

vi. An explanation of how the solution applies Zero Trust Architecture

(ZTA) and Multifactor Authentication (MFA).

b. Provide a description of how the proposed solution components, products, and approach will fulfill FMS-ACES core capabilities. How will FMS-ACES core capabilities align to the proposed products or components?

i. Architecture and Design: Describe the software architecture and design patterns that will support the desired core capabilities.

ii. Database and Data Management: Describe the database technology and data management approach to store and retrieve data required for the core capabilities.

iii. The Offeror shall identify technical and programmatic benefits, drawbacks, and risk with mitigation strategies.

iv. Testing and Quality Assurance: Describe the testing strategies and quality assurance processes to ensure the capability functions as intended. This includes unit testing, integration testing, performance testing, and user acceptance testing.

18 Sep 2023 Approved for Public Release, Distribution is Unlimited 20

v. Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment: Describe the continuous integration and deployment pipeline to automate the build, testing, and deployment of the software.

vi. Scalability and Performance: Describe the approach to ensure the capability can handle increasing user loads and perform efficiently.

vii. Security and Privacy: Describe how you will implement security measures to protect the capability and its data from unauthorized access or breaches.

viii. Agile and DevSecOps Practices: Describe your agile methodologies and DevSecOps practices to enable iterative development, collaboration, and continuous improvement.

ix. Business Rules and Logic: Describe how your proposed solution components and products can integrate complex business rules and logic to include the method(s) and complexity of changes to rules and logic.

x. Continuity of Operations: Describe how your proposed solution will ensure Continuity of Operations and the approach to disaster recovery.

xi. Data and Attribute visualization: Describe how data, information, and other attributes can be dynamically visualized through ad hoc or canned dashboards, reports, and GUI indicators.

c. Provide a description of the support function approaches i.e., management, testing, training, and deployment to include the following:

i. A description, explanation, and detailed implementation approach to include an agile team structure with proposed Government Product Office and Operational Community roles for the agile implementation method(s) that the Offeror deems appropriate for the scope and scale of the FMS-ACES program.

ii. How management will implement processes and procedures to continually assess the changes being made by the software vendors to assess the impact to the entire FMS-ACES solution and program requirements

iii. A user training approach that considers the development of training materials and the delivery of user training while acknowledging MVCR

18 Sep 2023 Approved for Public Release, Distribution is Unlimited 21 and subsequent capability releases, driving user adoption, and minimizing the impact of training to the operational mission.

iv. Provide an assessment of emerging technologies that support core capabilities provided in the SOO (Attachment 003: Statement of Objectives (SOO)).

v. Provide a notional time horizon applied to the FMS-ACES Notional

Product Roadmap.

d. Describe the Offeror’s team organization structure i.e., teammates with their roles and responsibilities.

e. Include a Fixed Price/Cost Rough Order Magnitude (ROM) estimate.

f. Provide past experiences with descriptions of the Offeror’s experience and level of success (i.e., management and technical approach; and risk strategy with examples) working on projects of a scope, magnitude, and complexity that are similar to the FMS-ACES program.

3.1.3 White Paper Evaluation Criteria

a. The following criteria will be evaluated:

i. White Paper Questions: The extent to which the offeror demonstrates understanding and communicates their approach to how the capability will be realized within the proposed solution, noting any assumptions, dependencies, limitations, constraints, and / or exceptions such that the full implementation is understood and can be differentiated from other possibilities.

ii. Offeror’s Questionnaire (Appendix A): The extent to which the questionnaire is complete; accurate and the Offeror’s team meets OT eligibility requirements IAW 10 U.S.C. 4022(d).

3.1.4 Basis of Selection (BoS) for upward invitation to Step 2

The following guidelines will be used as the BoS for Upward Invitation to Step 2.

a. The following color categories will be assigned to each White Paper submission:

18 Sep 2023 Approved for Public Release, Distribution is Unlimited 22

Table 2 Step 1 Ratings Table

Rating Definition

Green The offeror demonstrates a high level of understanding and communicated their approach to how the capability will be realized in a way that the full implementation is understood and can be differentiated from other possibilities and the Offeror Questionnaire (Appendix A) indicates that the Offeror’s team meets OT eligibility requirements

Amber The offeror demonstrates a moderate level of understanding and communicated their approach to how the capability will be realized in a way that the full implementation is partially understood and can be differentiated from other possibilities and the Offeror Questionnaire (Appendix A) indicates that the Offeror’s team meets OT eligibility requirements

Red The offeror demonstrates a low level of understanding and communicated their approach to how the capability will be realized in a way that the full implementation is minimally understood and cannot be differentiated from other possibilities, or the Offeror Questionnaire (Appendix A) indicates that the Offeror’s team does not meet OT eligibility requirements

i. Offerors that are categorized as Green on the white paper and have properly completed the questions in Offeror’s Questionnaire (Appendix A) will be extended an Upward Invitation to step 2.

ii. Offerors that are categorized as Amber on the white paper and have properly completed the questions in Appendix A may, at the discretion of the selection committee, be extended an Upward Invitation to step 2.

iii. Offerors that are categorized as Red on the white paper or any Offeror that failed to properly fill out Appendix A or fails to meet OT eligibility requirements will not be extended an Upward Invitation to Step 2.

b. An Upward invitation will be sent via email to the POC identified on the Cover page with further instructions for the next step. Offerors selected for Upward Invitation to move to Step 2 shall submit a letter acknowledging receipt within two (2) business days of the Upward Invitation. The letter shall include a list of Offeror team members participating in the Offeror-Defined Product Demonstration, to include the individual’s name, company affiliation, and FMS- ACES role.

c. Offerors not selected for an Upward Invitation to Step 2 will be notified in writing via email to the POC identified on the cover page and will be eliminated from the competition.

18 Sep 2023 Approved for Public Release, Distribution is Unlimited 23

3.2 Step 2 Offeror-defined Product Demonstration:

Only those Offerors extended an Upward Invitation and replied as instructed will participate in Step 2 activities.

3.2.1 Step 2 Offeror-defined Demonstration Instructions

a. The Offeror will acknowledge by email on official letterhead within two (2) business days to the AO and AS that they have received the scheduled date and location for the demonstration and will participate in the Offeror-defined Demonstration.

b. On the scheduled date and location for the Offeror-defined Demonstration, the following schedule shall be followed:

i. The Offeror presenting team shall have 30 minutes immediately preceding the demonstration time to set up and configure the demonstration.

ii. The Offeror presenting team shall have a maximum of two (2) hours for their demonstration.

iii. The Offeror presenting team shall have 20 minutes immediately following the end of the demonstration to package materials and depart the venue.

c. The demonstration team will be limited to the four (4) individuals identified in the Upward Invitation acknowledgement letter. Offeror presenters shall not be temporary proposal consultants or business development staff and must be current employees of the Prime Offeror or designated Team Member.

Substitutions will only be permitted only for emergency situations. Requests for substitutions must be submitted via email to Ms. Joanna Emerson, the AO and AS stating the person (by name) being removed from the demonstration team, the person (by name, company, and title) being added to the demonstration team, and the justification for the substitution.

d. The location for the Offeror-defined Demonstration will be provided in the Upward Invitation for step 2 or separate correspondence from the AO or AS following the Upward Invitation. The demonstration will be an in-person event;

there will be no teleconferencing or video conferencing of the demonstration.

A listing of government provided equipment for the demonstration will accompany the invitation. For planning purposes, assume the demonstration will take place in the Northern Virginia area (e.g., Fort Belvoir, Crystal City) or the New Cumberland, PA area.

18 Sep 2023 Approved for Public Release, Distribution is Unlimited 24

e. Cost shall not be addressed in Step 2. Any such information conveyed will not be acknowledged nor evaluated.

f. The government will neither ask nor answer questions before, during, or after the demonstration. This forum is not a discussion. The government will observe and listen to the information presented by the Offeror.

g. The Offeror shall submit a written Vulnerability Assessment Summary Report prior to the scheduled date for the Offeror-defined Demonstration. The report shall include the results of a vulnerability scan for each product included in the proposed solution. The report shall include remediation plans and expected completion for each positive finding. The summary report shall be limited to no more than two (2) pages for each product included in the proposed solution.

3.2.2 Offeror-defined Demonstration Evaluation Criteria

The government will evaluate the benefits and risks of the proposed solution based on observations made during the Offeror-defined Demonstration.

a. Step 2 Evaluation Criteria Metrics: The following criteria will be evaluated:

i. User Experience: The extent to which the user can have a positive experience using the capabilities within the proposed solution which includes, but is not limited to, executing segments of the FMS business process with minimal clicks, content organization, solution navigation, guided workflows, the presence of tool tips and other help text, accessibility to context appropriate help articles, ease of creating ad hoc reports and queries, and the configuration of views and workflows without developer assistance.

ii. User Experience: The extent to which the user can have a positive experience using the capabilities within the proposed solution to include navigation, tool tips, online help, ease of creating ad hoc reports, and configure views and workflows without developer assistance.

iii. Data Management: The extent and ease with which data are properly accessed, searched, processed, stored, and analyzed by a user (e.g., analysis in support of research) and through system automation (e.g., AI and ML generated trend analysis) with easily consumable formats.

iv. Access: The extent to which proper access controls can be configured and applied in the proposed system, and the ease with which roles can be created, removed, assigned, and changed.

18 Sep 2023 Approved for Public Release, Distribution is Unlimited 25

v. Business Usability: The extent to which business rules, changes to alerts and notifications can be configured and applied without developer assistance.

vi. Vulnerability Management: The extent to which component system vulnerabilities can be managed, POAMs addressed, and library upgrades and updates can be performed, the level of automated auditing and event notification during operations, and Offeror notification and alert escalation as issues are identified, tracked, and remediated.

b. Offeror-defined Demonstrations will be assessed using a 5-point Likert scale.

The SDT will assess each of the 4 criteria on a scale from 1 to 5 for a total maximum of score of 20 points and a total minimum score of 4 points per Offeror-defined Demonstration. The Likert scale response options for this assessment are defined below in Table 4:

c. The definitions for High, Medium, and Low evaluations are:

i. High: The Offeror-defined Demonstration portrayed a high level of understanding of the evaluation criteria and clearly demonstrated how their proposed solution will address the criteria in a way that the full implementation is understood and can be differentiated from other

Table 3 Likert Response Options for Step 2 Assessments

Response Options

Numerical Value

SDT Observation

Very Dissatisfied 1 The demonstration failed to address how the solution will meet the criteria

Dissatisfied 2 The demonstration addressed how the solution will meet most of the criteria

Satisfied 3 The demonstration addressed how the solution will meet the criteria

Very Satisfied 4 The demonstration addressed how the solution will meet the criteria and exceeded some of the Government’s expectations

Extremely Satisfied 5 The demonstration addressed how the solution will meet the criteria and exceeded most of the Government’s expectations

ii. Medium: The Offeror-defined Demonstration portrayed a moderate level of understanding of the evaluation criteria and partially demonstrated how their proposed solution will address the criteria in a way that the full implementation is understood and can be differentiated from other possibilities.

iii. Low: The Offeror-defined Demonstration portrayed a low level of understanding of the evaluation criteria and did not demonstrate how

18 Sep 2023 Approved for Public Release, Distribution is Unlimited 26 their proposed solution will address the criteria in a way that the full implementation is understood and can be differentiated from other

3.2.3 Basis of Selection (BoS) for upward invitation to Step 3.

a. All five (5) four (4) evaluation criteria listed above are of equal importance.

b. The following color categories will be assigned to each Offeror-defined

Demonstration:

Table 4 Step 2 Ratings Table

Rating Definition

Green Received a composite score of 16 to 20 with no criterion receiving a score of 1.

Received a composite score of at least 4 highs and 1 medium in the five (5) evaluation metrics described above.

Amber Received of composite score of 12 to 15 with no criterion receiving a score of 1 Amber: Received of composite score of 3 highs and 2 mediums in the five (5) evaluation metrics described above.

Red Received a composite score of 4 to 11 or received a score of 1 on one or more criterion.

Red: Received 1 or more low scores in the five (5) evaluation metrics described above.

i. Offerors that are categorized as Green on the Offeror-defined Demonstration will be extended an Upward Invitation to step 3.

ii. Offerors that are categorized as Amber on the Offeror-defined Demonstration may, at the sole discretion of the Government, be extended an Upward Invitation to step 3 if the Government determines there are insufficient Offeror’s rated Green to maintain competition.

Amber rated Offerors will be selected in descending order of combined score until a sufficient number of Offerors needed to maintain competition are upward invited.

iii. Offerors that are categorized as Red on the Offeror-defined Demonstration will not be extended an Upward invitation to step 3.

c. An Upward invitation will be sent via email to the POC identified on the

Cover page with further instructions for the next step. Offerors selected for Upward Invitation to move to Step 3 shall submit a letter acknowledging receipt of the Upward Invitation. The letter shall include a list of Offeror team

18 Sep 2023 Approved for Public Release, Distribution is Unlimited 27 members participating in the Government-Defined Product Demonstration, to include the individual’s name, company affiliation, and FMS-ACES role.

d. Offerors not selected for an Upward Invitation to Step 3 will be notified in writing via email to the POC identified on your cover page and will be eliminated from the competition.

3.3 Step 3 Government-Defined Product Demonstration

3.3.1 Government-Defined Product Demonstration Instructions

a. Only those Offerors extended an Upward Invitation and replied as instructed will participate in step 3 activities.

b. The Offeror shall submit a letter acknowledging within two (2) business days of the Upward Invitation. It will include a list of Offeror team members participating in the Demonstration, to include name, company affiliation, and FMS-ACES role.

c. Each Offeror invited to this step shall demonstrate the proposed solution implementing Government-defined demonstrations, using Government-provided data. Time will be limited to three (3) hours.