GSA/FEDSIM, 5203 Leesburg Pike, Suite 1100, Falls Church, VA 22041-3467

70 -- PURCHASE OF SOFTWARE SOL GSC-TFGO-9707 DUE 052097 POC Ms. Julia Sevin, Contract Specialist, (703) 756-4016 or Ms. Diana Mullen, Contracting Officer, (703) 756-4022. This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items prepared in accordance with the format in Subpart 12.6, as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation, proposals are being requested and a written solicitation will not be issued. Vendors should reference Request for Proposal (RFP) GSC-TFGO-9707. The solicitation and incorporated provisions and clauses are in accordance with the Federal Acquisition Regulations through Federal Acquisition Circular 90-46. The Standard Industrial Classification Code (SIC) is 5045. The General Services Administration (GSA), Federal Systems Integration and Management Center (FEDSIM) intends to procure on behalf of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Rural Utilities Service (RUS) commercially available software. The USDA, RUS needs comprehensive financial information and operating information and data on all electric utilities to effectively manage the RUS electric loan portfolio. This electric industry information and data will be used to assess the risk to the Government of outstanding loans and aid in the process of approving future loans. The information and data will also be used to study industry trends and issues. RUS requires a database that can be searched and queried for electric utility operating and financial information and data on a near current basis. Information and data must be maintained at least quarterly. However, more current information is preferred. The information and data must cover all sectors of the industry, including investor owned utilities, municipal utilities, cooperatives and government utilities. Sources of information must include, but are not limited to the FERC, the SEC, DOE, other Federal government agencies tasked with collecting utility information and RUS itself. Examples of the instruments used to collect the information are the FERC Form 1, EIA FORM 412, EIA Form 861, RUS Form 7 and 12, and SEC Forms 10k and 10Q. The database will be used by up to 50 employees, but not simultaneously. The products and associated services must be complete and commercially available at the time of bidding. Long term commitment to the proposed product line, customer input into future product, and the viability of the vendor shall be considered during bid evaluation. The vendor must supply comprehensive client list. RUS will not consider a system developed specifically for RUS. Fully capable evaluation copies of the proposed product must be submitted with the proposal. It is the intent of RUS to select one or more systems for a 60 day evaluation period before committing to a 1 year license. During the 60 evaluation period RUS will install the selected evaluation systems. The systems will be evaluated regarding ease of installation, compatibility with existing hardware and software, speed of access under various system configurations, ease of access using supplied search engine, and ease of direct data access using native RUS software. As part of the bid the vendor shallprovide a schedule separating the costs and requirements of providing RUS with a evaluation license and a 1 year license. The software used to install, maintain and access the information and database must run efficiently on RUS information infrastructure. RUS uses a Banyan Vines local area network (LAN). RUS servers have multiple CDROM drives. The preferred mode of remote workstation installation is over the network. Users of the product operate 486 or Pentium based IBM compatible personal computers with the Windows 3.1 operating system. The software must operate on existing RUS hardware and software. The system needs to operate entirely from a network server, or as a minimum, with data stored on the server and operating software installed at the workstation. To accept 32 bit PC software applications during this first year, only the installation of WIN32S will be considered. If WIN32S is required it must be compatible with other vital software applications in use at RUS. Most RUS PC's have 16 Mbytes of RAM.Upgrades to the user PC's for both memory and hard drives will be considered. No upgrades to servers will be considered. RUS will determine if the upgrades will be evaluated against the vendor's response or are a normal and routine upgrade. The software shall include a query engine that is reasonably easy to use by experienced PC users. It must allow for the development of standard reports and be able to save queries. Queries must be transferable to other users. The results of the queries must be transportable to native RUS software such as EXCEL and Word 6.0. The actual database must be relational and directly accessible to RUS through the use of RUS database applications. This capability is required to join or otherwise relate the provided tables with other RUS data. RUS understands that the vendor may consider the structure of the data tables confidential. RUS will consider confidentiality agreements with the vendor. In addition to numerical data queries the product must provide efficient text search capabilities. An example of such a search would be to search all SEC 10k for references to a particular utility. While desirable it is not required that all capabilities reside in a single application. It is important that the product or products provided work well together. Training in the use of the software is required. Up to fifty people may require on site training. The instructor to student ratio shall not exceed 10. It is preferable that training be tailored to RUS analysis versus a standard training program. Hands on training is required. RUS will provide the necessary hardware and other facilities. The vendor shall provide the necessary software to install and use the application and data necessary to conduct the training. The vendor may propose other training regarding the actual use of the data and information. Technical telephone support is required. Response time of less than one business day is required. Options such as GIS data and connectivity to a recognized mapping package is desirable. Mapping software would be considered for 5 to 10 installations depending on cost and ease of use. Consulting or advisory services related performing specific analysis using the information and data may also be offered. Technical telephone support is required with a mandatory response time of less than one business day. Proposals will be evaluated on the basis of the following criteria: (1) The product must be complete and commercially available at the time of bidding, (2) The software used to install, maintain and access the information and database must run efficiently on the RUS information infrastructure, (3) The software must include a query engine that is reasonably easy to use by experienced PC users, (4) The software must allow for the development of standard reports and be able to save queries, (5) Queries must be transferable to other users, (6) Results of the queries must be transportable to native RUS software such as EXCEL and Word 6.0, (7) The actual database must be relational and directly accessible toRUS through the use of RUS database applications, (8) The product must be available for a 60 day evaluation period, (9) Training in the use of the software must be available, (10) Fully capable evaluation copies of the proposed product must be submitted with the proposal, (11) Proposals that do not cover virtually all electric utilities will not be considered, (12) Non Windows based proposals will not be considered. Optional criteria: Desirable options include the following: (1) GIS data and connectivity to a recognized mapping package, (2) Mapping software,(3) Consulting or advisory services. The mandatory evaluation criteria listed above are of equal importance. The Government anticipates awarding a task order to the offeror whose proposal is the most advantageous to the Government, price and other factors considered. Offerors are required to complete and submit with its proposal the Representations and Certifications required by the clause at FAR 52.212-3. The following clauses are incorporated by reference: 52.212-1 Instructions to Offerors-Commercial Items; 52.212-2 Evaluation Commercial Items; 52.212-3 Offeror Representations and Certifications-Commercial Items; 52.212-4 Contract Terms and Conditions-Commercial Items; 52.212-5 Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes or Executive Orders-Commercial Items (for paragraph (b) the following clauses apply: 52.203-6 Restrictions on Subcontractor Sales to the Government; 52.203-10 Price or Fee Adjustment for Illegal or Improper Activity; 52.219-8 Utilization of Small Business Concerns and Small Disadvantaged Business Concerns; 52.222-26 Equal Opportunity; 52.222-35 Affirmative Action for Special Disabled and Vietnam Era Veterans; 52.222-36 Affirmative Action for Handicapped Workers; 52.222-37 Employment Reports on Special Disabled Veterans and Veterans of the Vietnam Era; 52.225-3 Buy American Act-Supplies; 52.225-9 Buy American Act-Trade Agreements Act-Balance of Payments Program; 52.225-18 European Union Sanction for End Products. All responses to this notice shall be due by 11:00AM, local time on May 20, 1997, to the attention of Ms. Julia Sevin, 5203 Leesburg Pike, Suite 1100, Falls Church, VA 22041. (0125)

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