SOURCES SOUGHT
R -- IT Governance
- Notice Date
- 12/8/2015
- Notice Type
- Sources Sought
- NAICS
- 541512
— Computer Systems Design Services
- Contracting Office
- Department of State, Office of Acquisitions, Acquisition Management, 1735 N. Lynn St., Arlington, Virginia, 22209, United States
- ZIP Code
- 22209
- Solicitation Number
- SAQMMA16CA0001
- Archive Date
- 1/5/2016
- Point of Contact
- Barbara P Postell, Phone: 7038756077
- E-Mail Address
-
postellbj@state.gov
(postellbj@state.gov)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- Sources Sought Notices (herein referred to as a Request for Information) are issued by the Department of State when performing market research to determine industry interest and capabilities. The Department of State is interested in the capabilities of both small and other than small businesses to perform the services, and is particularly certified 8a, HUBZone, and Service Disabled Veteran Owned (SDVOSB) interested in the capabilities of small business and strongly encourages responses from those businesses. This is a Request for Information announcement only. This is not a solicitation or request for proposal and in no way commits the Government to award a contract. The Government does not intend to award a contract(s) based solely on the submission of this Request for Information nor does it intend to pay for any costs incurred in response to this announcement. The Department of State reserves the right to terminate this request and change its requirements if needed. Responding to this Request for Information does not guarantee participation in future Department activities. Background: The DoS Bureau of Consular Affairs (CA) is responsible for the welfare and protection of U.S. citizens abroad and for the issuance of Passports that enable Americans to travel internationally while at the same time vetting and issuing visas to non-citizens. CA plays a vital role in U.S. Border Security through the issuance (or denial) of travel documents. CA deals with events and issues that have a personal impact, including birth, death, adoption, child custody, citizenship, and relocation to another country. CA also assists citizens who fall victim to crime, accident or illness in other countries, or just want to vote absentee. As the public face of the Department of State for millions of US citizens and foreign nationals around the world, CA plays a vital role in the Department's mission. CA's Consular Systems Technology (CA/CST) delivers and maintains the operation of IT solutions for CA to achieve its mission, providing 24x7x365 support to over 383 sites across the world. CA/CST's portfolio includes over 90 technology systems and applications under operational support with over 125 concurrently active projects stabilizing, modernizing, or enhancing those systems. CST's Division of Service Strategy and Portfolio Management (SSPM) provides services to all CST stakeholders, and includes management of the CST Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC), which within the larger Integrated Service Lifecycle (ISL) governs any changes to the code, architecture or design of consular systems. Performance Objectives and Requirements: The following objectives outline what is to be fulfilled under the Task Order for IT Governance Solutions that are illustrative of current requirements and potential ad hoc projects in support of the Bureau of Consular Affairs (CA). 1.1 Objective 1 - IT Governance and Business Service Management CA/CST's IT Governance processes include oversight of the SLDC, and Stage Gate Review Board (SGR) which meets weekly to review an average of 12 active projects approaching control gates for the initiation, continuation or completion of project work. SGR reviewers include stakeholders across CST and its business customers and require complete and correct information in making project decisions. The seamless operation of the SDLC and its governance boards is critical for CST to continue providing 24x7x365 support to business customers. CST's business customers include thousands of users of consular systems worldwide as well as the American public and foreign nationals. CST's Business Service Management processes include receiving and elaborating requirements for new capabilities, reviewing the alignment of business and IT goals and objectives, as well as communicating and coordinating with business liaisons and management. Minimal, if any, disruptions of CA/CST's governance or business service management processes are acceptable in meeting the requirements for this objective. a. On a weekly basis, collect and analyze project status reports on every CA/CST project. Key performance data from status reports must be transitioned by the end of the week to the CA/CST IT Dashboard maintained in MS SharePoint. b. Curate and report on CA/CST project status using the CA/CST IT Dashboard as needed or as part of larger data calls. c. On a weekly basis, review and analyze artifacts each project to be reviewed at SGR. This includes specific analysis at project initiation gates and baseline adjustment requests to: • Coordinate estimates for full life-cycle cost and schedule using Function Point analysis; • Review and resolve variance between chartered and estimated budget and schedule; • Coordinate analysis of resource availability using the CST Capacity Planning Parametric Model; • Confirm available contract funding to final project budget estimate; • Review and confirm project scope as within contracted scope, as aligned with IT objectives and aligned with enterprise business requirements managed in Rational DOORS; • Review and confirm that all project stakeholders are identified; • Determine management risk scores; • Review and confirm that appropriate project dependencies and risks are identified. d. On a weekly basis, coordinate and confirm readiness for project continuation and completion gates. e. Provide direct support to CA/CST Project Managers as needed to review or develop project management artifacts including charters, schedules, budgets and risk registers; and/or to identify and coordinate Integrated Project Teams towards project success. f. Provide administrative support at weekly governance board meetings, including the SGR, Investment Review Board (IRB) and Business Unit System Liaison Working Group. Administrative functions include developing agendas, preparing of discussion materials, capturing, clearing and distributing meeting notes, and tracking action items through resolution. g. Receive new or enhanced capability requests from business users and develop cost and trade off analyses informing IT and business decision makers. This includes specific analysis to: • Elaborate business requirements with business liaisons and subject matter experts; • Coordinate estimates for full life-cycle cost and schedule using Function Point analysis and the CA/CST Capacity Planning Parametric Model; • Identify any active or planned efforts at risk of being adversely impacted; • Summarize findings for senior CA/CST and business customer governance boards. h. Manage and curate CA enterprise business requirements within the CA Enterprise Requirements Catalog in Rational DOORS. This includes review and analysis to triage, trace and align incoming requirements with enterprise business requirements. i. Review existing governance and business service management processes and tools for opportunities to improve and incorporate industry best practices. j. Provide governance and business service management templates, guidance and training to CA/CST stakeholders. 1.2 Objective 2 - Software Estimation and Vendor Management CA/CST utilizes parametric analysis and software sizing best practices for release planning and IT governance support. CA/CST uses SLIM, a commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) parametric estimation tool to perform quantitative software metrics analysis. Software size measurement is performed with Function Point Analysis, according to the International Function Point Users Group (IFPUG) standard. a. On a monthly basis, collect and analyze software metrics on every release for each development and O&M contract in the CA/CST portfolio, including software size, duration, staffing, defects, effort, averaging 130 active releases per month. b. Measure release size using Function Point Analysis on every software release, including both Agile and Waterfall development methodologies, using both commercial off-the -shelf (COTS) and custom developed code. Function point counts are performed by International Function Point Users Group (IFPUG) Certified Function Point Specialists (CFPS). c. Perform monthly performance tracking with the SLIM parametric tool on every software release in the CA/CST portfolio, develop SLIM parametric performance tracking and forecast reports for each release, and present analysis to support milestone/control gate decisions at weekly Stage Gate Review (SGR) meetings. d. Update the CA/CST Historical Database in the SLIM parametric tool with each completed software release, and update CA/CST historical trend lines for productivity, staffing, duration, and quality. e. Maintain and refine SLIM parametric templates configured for every type of CA/CST application, and maintain standard report templates for CA/CST management review of estimates. f. Perform Function Point counts on business requirements for new or enhanced capabilities, received through business service management processes. Function point counts are performed by International Function Point Users Group (IFPUG) Certified Function Point Specialists (CFPS). g. Maintain the CA/CST Capacity Planning Parametric Model using SLIM, which involves loading the updated SLIM tracking model for each release on a monthly basis, and measuring planned/forecasted schedule and effort impact on CA/CST shared resources (e.g. IV&V). h. For all new contracts (RFP, RFQ), and for maintenance of existing contracts (mods, extensions, etc.), develop parametric cost estimates using the SLIM parametric tool and the CST historical database of completed projects. Function point counts are performed by International Function Point Users Group (IFPUG) Certified Function Point Specialists (CFPS). i. Evaluate vendor development costs against parametric cost estimate, and quantitatively measuring variances. j. Perform independent assessments of bids based on vendor provided historical metrics data, CA/CST historical metrics data, and parametrically derived industry trend lines. k. Perform metrics-based health check by developing an independent parametric estimate using the SLIM tool, to forecast program completion dates, effort, and quality based on actual developer productivity to-date. Constraints and Coordination The following constraints and coordination apply to this requirement: a. Requires development an Organizational Conflict of Interest Plan, including restriction from software development, systems integration and systems implementation activities at CST for three years following the termination of any awarded contract. b. Requires all Function Point counts to be performed by International Function Point Users Group (IFPUG) Certified Function Point Specialists (CFPS). c. Requires parametric analysis to be performed using the SLIM parametric tool, by resources who have achieved advanced proficiency with the SLIM Estimation Certification. d. Requires Key Personnel for IT Governance and Business Service Management to have at least seven years of experience with the Bureau of Consular Affairs or at least 12 years at US Government agencies of similar size and scope as the Bureau of Consular Affairs. e. Tentative Facility Clearance Requirement: SECRET f. Tentative Facility Location Requirement: Within a 5-mile radius of the Bureau of Consular Affairs office at 600 19th Street NW Washington, D.C. 20431 MARKET RESEARCH: Interested parties are requested to respond to this RFI with a capability statement and supporting artifacts. Capability statements should be submitted in Microsoft Word Compatible format and are due no later than December 21, 2015, 4:00PM EDT. Responses shall be limited to 20 pages plus any supporting artifacts and submitted via e-mail to marantzma@state.gov. Proprietary information, if any, should be minimized and must be clearly marked. Please be advised that all submissions become Government property and will not be returned. QUESTIONS: Questions regarding this announcement shall be submitted no later than 3 days after issuance of this notice in writing via e-mail to the marantzma@state.gov. Verbal questions will NOT be accepted. Questions will be answered via e-mail accordingly, questions shall not contain proprietary or classified information. The Government does not guarantee that questions received after December 11, 2015 by 4:00PM will be answered. Point of Contact Michelle Marantz Email: MarantzMA@state.gov
- Web Link
-
FBO.gov Permalink
(https://www.fbo.gov/spg/State/A-LM-AQM/A-LM-AQM/SAQMMA16CA0001/listing.html)
- Place of Performance
- Address: US Department of State, Bureau of Consular Affairs, Washington, District of Columbia, 20006, United States
- Zip Code: 20006
- Zip Code: 20006
- Record
- SN03963927-W 20151210/151208234454-27960268003a9dcc78097194d1e8d85e (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps Link to This Notice
(may not be valid after Archive Date)
| FSG Index | This Issue's Index | Today's FBO Daily Index Page |