D -- COTS-INTEGRATED FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

Notice Date

December 18, 2000

Contracting Office

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Division of Administration-Acquisition Services Branch, 550 17th Street, N.W., Room 1700PA-4139, Washington, DC 20429

ZIP Code

20429

Solicitation Number

00-00851-C-AF

Response Due

January 17, 2001

Point of Contact

Kim Frischkorn 202-942-3304

E-Mail Address

click here to contact the contract specialist via (kfrischkorn@fdic.gov)

Description

FDIC is seeking firms interested in providing an integrated and scalable Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS) Financial Management System ("FMS or System"). THIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR COMPETITIVE PROPOSALS. This notice is issued as part of FDIC's preliminary market research efforts. FDIC intends to evaluate the responses received to establish which FMS solutions are currently available and appear to have the highest potential for success addressing FDIC's financial, accounting and reporting requirements, business environment, and technical infrastructure along with supporting FDIC's strategic initiatives for paper reduction and e-business. As a result of the evaluation of the responses, FDIC intends to use the information, with other information considered as well, to conduct further market research and product analysis with a smaller, select list of candidate firms. Ultimately, FDIC intends to develop a list of Most Highly Qualified (MHQ) candidate firms for future solicitation purposes. It is anticipated that a solicitation for a new FMS and other related requirements (e.g., maintenance, training) may be issued to the MHQ list of firms in mid-2001, with a planned award later that year. FDIC reserves the right, in its sole discretion and judgment, to determine which firms will participate in the market research process and be ultimately considered as MHQ candidates. While FDIC's preferred approach, at this time, is a COTS FMS that operates in our Information Technology infrastructure, we are also open to firms and public sector entities interested in providing alternative solutions such as cross-servicing by another entity or as an Application Service Provider (ASP). BACKGROUND. FDIC is an independent, government Corporation (quasi-federal agency) created by Congress in the Banking Act of 1933 to maintain stability and public confidence in the nation's banking system. Primary responsibilities include insuring bank and thrift deposits, examining and supervising financial institutions, managing receiverships of failed financial institutions, analyzing banking industry trends and mitigating risk. Since the start of FDIC's deposit insurance program on January 1, 1934, no insured funds have been lost as a result of a bank failure. Within the Corporation, the Division of Finance has the primary responsibility (mission goal) for providing financial and accounting services and overall stewardship of resources for all divisions and offices. It also is responsible for providing accounting and managing financial service to the Bank Insurance Fund, the Savings Association Insurance Fund, and the Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation Resolution Fund as well as failed financial institutions placed into receivership. In support of this mission goal, DOF began using the Walker Interactive Systems Inc's Tamris products (commercial COTS) in 1986 for its core financial processes (General Ledger, Accounts Payable, Purchase Order and subsequently Accounts Receivable). In 1999, approximately 150 daily users made over 7.5 million financial and accounting transactions using this system. It is important to note that these numbers can increase significantly as a result of an increase in bank failures as was the case in 1991/92 when annual transactions ranged between 12,746,000 to 21,358,000 with 2,972 open failed financial institutions in receivership. For informational purposes, FDIC differs from other agencies of the federal government in many ways. For example, the funds we use to support our business activities and operations do not typically come from Congressional appropriations but are derived from assessments on banks and thrifts and earnings on investments. Also, FDIC's business year and associated accounting and financial processes operate on a Calendar Year vice Fiscal Year basis. Further, FDIC does not use the government's Standard General Ledger but have our own Chart of Accounts. In addition, while most federal agencies are required to follow the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) when procuring goods and services, FDIC has established its own contracting policies and procedures which allow us to take advantage of the best practices in both the FAR and private sector purchasing. SCOPE. FDIC's financial and accounting practices and requirements and its current system are based on and support Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). This commercial orientation serves as the foundation for the existing FMS and, as such, a federal/Joint Financial Management Improvement Program-certified software solution will not satisfy all our current and future requirements. In addition to GAAP requirements, a new FMS must support federal regulatory accounting and reporting as well as FDIC-unique requirements (e.g., assessment collections, receivership accounting). Therefore, the FMS COTS solution FDIC is seeking must be able to fully support and operate on these three levels (i.e., GAAP, federal accounting and reporting, and FDIC-unique processes) with little or no customization. In addition, the solution may include the vendor's COTS integrated procurement module/application as part of the system. GENERAL SYSTEM CAPABILITY AND REQUIREMENTS. In general, the FMS system must be capable of: (1) collecting, processing, maintaining, transmitting, and reporting data about FDIC financial events; (2) supporting financial planning and budgeting activities; and (3) supporting the preparation of financial statements for both FDIC Corporate and its receiverships. It must be fully integrated and include but not be limited to the following core functional requirements: budget formulation and execution, accounting classification, general ledger posting, resource commitments and funds management, payment management, receipts management, cost management, reporting, asset management, treasury/investment management and security. The integrated system shall be based on common data elements, common transaction processing, consistent internal controls, and efficient, single-point transaction entry. Additional requirements include application/module training, vendor provided user support and vendor provided system maintenance. The system shall easily allow for potentially deleting or disabling applications not required by FDIC and including future (additional) enhancements to accommodate new internal accounting procedures and administrative controls, add-on COTS applications and FDIC-unique business practices if and when necessary (e.g., digital signatures). The COTS package should take advantage (e.g., interface) with other applications (i.e., Outlook, Office, Entrust, etc). INFRASTRUCTURE DESCRIPTION AND REQUIREMENTS. The FDIC's Information Technology (IT) infrastructure consists of multiple platforms, including a centralized mainframe, centralized and distributed client/server, multi-tiered architecture, personal and laptop computers, with a private Wide Area Network (WAN) and 300+ Local Area Networks (LAN). The mainframe environment includes a large scale IBM System/390 9672-X37 processor running the OS390 v 2.8 (or higher) Operating System, CICS Transaction Server 1.3 and Web Sphere, using DB2 v 6.0 as the DBMS. [In accordance with our IT Strategic Planning, FDIC has determined that a single DBMS on each platform shall be the focus and current/future direction for the Corporation's information technology architecture. As such, DB2 is the standard for all mainframe applications and MS-SQL Server is the standard for all client/server applications. See the "Responses" Section to this notice pertaining to the DBMS issue.] The LAN environment runs on Windows NT 4.0 SP 6a and the standard desktop configuration is Windows 95 and Microsoft Office Suite 97. The future personal computer environment will be Windows 2000 Professional and Office 2000. The future server operating environment will be Windows 2000 Advanced Server. The laptops use Windows 98. Microsoft SQL Server 7.0 SP 2 is the database software running on the LAN. The messaging environment is based upon Exchange 5.5 with Microsoft Outlook 98 as the workstation client. The FDIC security software includes ACF2 on the mainframe, Windows NT security on the LAN, and Entrust for Public Key and encryption, and Secure Socket Language for encryption on the Extranet. The COTS System must run in the FDIC's infrastructure and be accessible on a national basis for concurrent usage at employee workstations, during travel status and from home. FDIC's web platform utilizes IIS servers using NT 4.0 and the current standard internet browser is Internet Explorer 5.0, with 5.5 planned for the future. The COTS software must use WEB technology, encrypted transmission and supporting hardware, and enable sharing of financial information and data between all FDIC Regional Offices and Headquarters Office. WEB-enabled applications should easily plug into the existing corporate intranet, be accessible using a Internet Explorer 5.0 as the current standard web browser, and not require installation of applications on the user desktop. Web applets for standard business processes should be included. The System should be compatible with a variety of platforms and provide reliable performance in either a two-tier or three-tier environment, and have the capability to integrate Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), Intranets, Interactive Voice Response, Workflow and other technologies. Applications should use On-Line Analytical Processing (OLAP) tools to assist managers in generating reports and analyzing business information. RESPONSES TO FDIC. Firms interested in providing an integrated and scalable commercial FMS COTS System, with training, user support, and full maintenance, are requested to submit an Information Package (IP) including marketing brochures/media for your system that would be best suited for FDIC's requirements, infrastructure and business environment (GAAP with federal regulatory accounting and reporting). For best consideration, the marketing brochure/media should fully describe COTS functions and capabilities. A full functional requirements document is not available at this time. Also, through brochure/media information, identify any available/offered integrated (operational) procurement applications. In addition to the IP, a conceptual plan should be provided addressing the following: (A) Your firm's direct and relevant experience in providing, installing, and maintaining a commercial FMS COTS system (GAAP) with applications supporting federal reporting and customer-unique requirements. List implementation partners that have completed an integration of your commercial COTS system since January 1, 1998. Also, identify if your firm has preferred implementation partners for public and/or private sector implementation of commercial FMS COTS. (B) Whether your system will operate within FDIC's IT infrastructure (1) without modification, (2) with minor modification or (3) not as currently offered. If your system is not based on DB2 and MS-SQL Server DBMS, it may still be considered by FDIC as a viable solution. However, it will be subject to additional scrutiny and, at a later time, a separate cost benefit analysis on a total cost basis in terms of development, maintenance, support and interoperability. (C) References and customer points of contact for your COTS FMS (both public and private) where currently operational. References should be comparable in size, requirements and operation to FDIC in terms of multiple geographic sites, 7,000 (or more) employees, multi-fund/multi-parent company, parent-subsidiary (due to-due from) relationships, 7.5 million (or more) transactions per year, 150 (or more) daily users, GAAP accounting with regulatory accounting and reporting. (Note: In 1991/92, annual transactions ranged between 12,746,000 to 21,358,000 with 2,972 open failed financial institutions in receivership.) If available, provide copies of any evaluations of your FMS COTS system conducted by outside, independent organizations. (D) A brief discussion of your vision and future plans for your offered system, including your direction for emerging technologies and growth of electronic commerce. Include why FDIC should be interested in your commercial FMS COTS system and be included on a future solicitation list. The plan, excluding brochure/media information, should be limited to not-more-than 15 single-spaced, single-sided, typed pages. In addition, provide whether your system software is offered on the General Services Administration's Federal Supply Schedule Group 70 Information Technology contract and if so, provide a complete copy of the contract, identifying which line items make up your system, and the corresponding price list. ALTERNATE SOLUTION TO COTS FMS. Firms and/or public sector entities interested in offering FDIC with an alternate solution to COTS FMS (e.g., cross-servicing or ASP) should provide documentation that addresses all information requested in the "Responses" section. The information provided must be in sufficient detail to allow for a general review of the functional capability and merits to satisfy FDIC's requirements stated in the "SCOPE" and GENERAL SYSTEM CAPABILITY AND REQUIREMENTS" sections. MARKET RESEARCH ANALYSIS. During this stage of market research, FDIC, in its sole discretion, shall determine which systems have the highest potential for success and most thoroughly address FDIC's financial, accounting and reporting requirements and business/technical environment. This includes responses received for alternate solutions for our financial and accounting system requirement. To reach this conclusion, FDIC reserves the right to hold (additional/new) market research meetings, including system demonstrations, if necessary, with some, but not necessarily all firms responding to this notice. Lastly, FDIC, in its sole discretion will decide which firms continue in the market research process and which will be solicited for the future requirement or whether to cancel or modify this notice. SUBMISSION GUIDELINES. Five complete copies of the requested material and information are required. The material provided should be clearly labeled and mapped to the information requested by FDIC. The five copies are due on January 17, 2001 and should be provided to FDIC, Division of Administration, Acquisition Section, Attn: Ms. Kim Frischkorn, Contracting Officer, PA1730/4064, Washington, D.C., 20429. Firms responding to this announcement which fail to provide the required information or exceed the page limitation may not be considered further. Facsimile and telephone responses will not be accepted. FDIC will accept hand-delivered copies at the Guards Desk at FDIC, Division of Administration, Acquisition Section, 1700 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., 4th Floor, Washington, D.C. 20006. Questions regarding this notice may be directed to Ms. Frischkorn, on (202) 942-3304 or via email to kfrischkorn@fdic.gov.

Record

Loren Data Corp. 20001220/DSOL002.HTM (W-353 SN5090Y2)