R499--Value Added Network (VAN) Services (VA-25-00065695)

Request for Information (RFI)- Value Added Network Services (VAN), Financial Services Center Information Technology Service (FSC), Office of Information and Technology

This is a Sources Sought RFI only. Do not submit a proposal. It is requested that all contractors interested in participating in this effort please note their interest and provide indication of their respective capabilities.

This RFI is for planning purposes only and shall not be considered an Invitation for Bids, Request for Quotations, or a Request for Proposal. Additionally, there is no obligation on the part of the Government to acquire any products or services described in this RFI. Your response to this RFI will be treated only as information for the Government to consider. You will not be entitled to payment for direct or indirect costs that you incur in responding to this RFI. This request does not constitute a solicitation for proposals or the authority to enter into negotiations to award a contract. No funds have been authorized, appropriated or received for this RFI. The information provided may be used by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) in developing its acquisition strategy. Interested parties are responsible for adequately marking proprietary, restricted or competition sensitive information contained in their response.

BACKGROUND:

VA FSC is a franchise fund site authorized pursuant to the Government Management Reform Act of 1994 (Public Law 103-356). The Act authorizes designated agencies to provide certain common administrative support services on a reimbursable basis both internally and to other government agencies. In 2006, permanent status was conferred upon the VA Franchise Fund under the Military Quality of Life and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Act 2006, Public Law 109-114. Consequently, the VA FSC receives no federally appropriated funding and is required to market VA FSC services to customers.

VAN services provide Electronic Commerce Branch (ECB) the capability to send and/or receive electronic transactions between the VA and trading partners. ECB utilizes the VAN services to enable commercial vendors to submit their electronic invoices through the VAN and then be picked up by ECB. Additionally, VAN is used to send electronic Purchase Orders to commercial vendors. Without a VAN services contract, these trading partners would have to migrate to another solution to submit or receive electronic transactions or use a paper based process.

The Contractor shall provide ECB with the VAN services to securely exchange non-sensitive business documents between VA and its commercial vendors. The information exchange shall be fast, accurate, and secure with secure storage. Contractor should be able to transfer a minimum of 150,000.00 kilo characters per month with a 10 percent expected growth per year. Details regarding VAN service requirements, Electronic Data Interchange VAN commercial vendors, technical requirements, and VAN interconnections are further defined in Performance Work Statement (PWS) Section 5.1 and associated Attachments 1, 2, and 3. At time of award, the Contractor shall have agreements in place and be able to exchange data with all the listed commercial vendors in Attachment 1.

RFI SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS:

This is a RFI only. Do not submit a proposal or quote. If your company is capable of providing the services, please submit a Vendor Capabilities Statement that includes a description of the capabilities/qualifications/skills your company possesses to perform this work, specifically to include identification of the requested VAN services and timeline of obtaining agreements to exchange data with commercial vendors in Attachment 1 of PWS. Additionally, include at least one (1) relevant project and include the following information: customer name, customer/client point of contact email, total contract value, Period of Performance, brief description of services provided, and indicate if there is a Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System available. A relevant project is similar to the described PWS requirements and has occurred in the past five (5) years. The following information must be provided along with your statement of capabilities:

1) General Information to be Provided in Vendor Response:

Name of Company:

Address:

Point of Contact:

Phone Number:

Fax Number:

Email address:

Company Business Size and Status:

NAICS code(s):

DUNs#:

CAGE Code#:

Rough Order of Materials, to Include Estimated Delivery Timelines:

2) Mark your response as Proprietary Information if the information included is considered to be business sensitive and/or includes trade secrets.

3) Small businesses should also include information as to:

The intent and ability to meet set-aside requirements for performance of this effort, if set-aside, as set forth in Veterans Affairs Acquisition Regulation (VAAR) 852.219-10 (JUL 2016) (DEVIATION) and VAAR 852.219-11 (JUL 2016) (DEVIATION) VA Notice of Total SDVOSB Set-Aside and VA Notice of Total VOSB Set-Aside, respectively, and 13 CFR §125.6, the contractor will not pay more than 50% of the amount paid by the Government to it to firms that are not SDVOSBs or VOSBs as defined by VAAR 852.219-10 (JUL 2016) (DEVIATION) and VAAR 852.219-11 (JUL 2016) (DEVIATION). In accordance with 13 CFR §125.6 regarding limitations on subcontracting requirements, demonstrate how you will not pay more than 50% of the amount paid by the Government to it to firms that are not similarly situated.

Information as to available personnel and financial resources; company names of proposed team members and the PWS requirements planned to be subcontracted to them, which must include the prime planned percentage or the names of the potential team members that may be used to fulfill the set aside requirement.

4) Does your company have an FSS contract with GSA, VA NAC, NASA SEWP, or any other federal contract, that can be utilized to procure the requirement described above? If so, please provide the contract number.

SUBMISSION:

It is requested that interested contractors submit a response (electronic submission) of no more than 10 pages in length, single spaced, 12-point font minimum that addresses the above information. In response to the RFI, interested contractors shall submit the above information by 3:00 PM ET on May 07, 2025 via email to Contract Specialist Erin Butler, Erin.Butler3@ava.gov. The subject line shall read: VAN FSC. Questions regarding this RFI shall be submitted no later than 3:00 PM ET, May 05, 2025 via email to Erin.Butler3@va.gov.