SOURCES SOUGHT
70 -- Software as a Service (SaaS) Email and Collaboration
- Notice Date
- 5/7/2010
- Notice Type
- Sources Sought
- NAICS
- 541519
— Other Computer Related Services
- Contracting Office
- General Services Administration, Office of the Chief Information Officer (I), OCI, 1800 F Street, Room 3211, Washington, District of Columbia, 20405
- ZIP Code
- 20405
- Solicitation Number
- 14558
- Archive Date
- 6/5/2010
- Point of Contact
- Teresa Blake, Phone: 2022085595, Lydia Dawson, Phone: 2025010357
- E-Mail Address
-
teresa.blake@gsa.gov, lydia.dawson@gsa.gov
(teresa.blake@gsa.gov, lydia.dawson@gsa.gov)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- U.S. General Services Administration Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO) Software as a Service (SaaS) Email and Collaboration Request for Information (RFI) The General Services Administration (GSA) Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO) announces the start of the BetterBuy pilot project to receive comments on the intent to replace the current GSA enterprise on-premise email and collaboration support to a web-based, Software as a Service (SaaS) Email and Collaboration services and support contract. Purpose GSA seeks to gain insight into how to replace most effectively our current enterprise support for email and collaboration with a highly innovative, creative, cost-effective, and evolving environment. The ideal solution would be an integrated tool set through which the government monitors performance metrics and that allows the government to manage through roles and business rules rather than physical control of assets and direct software licensing. The government believes that traditional outsourcing and system integration support is insufficiently adaptive and costly and should be replaced for commodity services with a SaaS Cloud Computing offering. Background GSA has historically sought new ideas in technology that would increase customer focus and service to the public. The current possibilities and value in sorting, sharing, and networking collective information can be enhanced by commercially available services. GSA's current technology is aged, consumes valuable resources for in-house management, and represents a continuing burden of delayed access to upgrades with a high cost for maintenance. By acquiring state-of-the-art email and collaboration services in a cloud environment, GSA will equip and empower its employees and increase effective interaction with customers and business partners. The resulting capabilities should act as a catalyst to accelerate and improve the delivery of mission goals and services in the future. Market research has indicated that the acquisition of a progressive services solution that is off-premises, integrated, and web-based can be more cost effective, as well as provide considerable additional capability (tools and opportunities) to serve our agency clients and the public more efficiently. For the purpose of this effort, the definition of Cloud Computing will follow the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) definition (see Note 1) of "a model for enabling convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (e.g., networks, servers, storage, applications, and services) that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or service provider interaction." Likewise, we will use the NIST definition of Software as a Service (SaaS): " The capability provided to the consumer is to use the provider's applications running on a cloud infrastructure. The applications are accessible from various client devices through a thin client interface such as a web browser (e.g., web-based email). The consumer does not manage or control the underlying cloud infrastructure including network, servers, operating systems, storage, or even individual application capabilities, with the possible exception of limited user-specific application configuration settings. Functional Objectives of the Solicitation The objective of the solicitation is to replace existing technology with integrated SaaS service offerings for the GSA Enterprise that provide the following general functionality: Email Contact Management Calendar E-Discovery and Litigation Hold Archive and Backup Collaboration Tools and Technology Solution Installation and Administration Training These functions must provide sufficient security, privacy, and accessibility to meet federal guidelines. The solution should be highly integrated, robust, offer multiple aspects of collaboration, and demonstrate adaptability for future technical developments. Objectives of the Wiki The principal objective of the wiki posting is to gain opinions related to the following two questions: 1. What type of acquisition vehicle would be best suited to accomplish the Statement of Objectives? Full and Open Competition? GWAC? Others? Please provide your rationale for the method you suggest. 2. One of the cornerstones of the GSA OCIO mission is cost effective and pioneering solutions. What type of solutions and services would you propose to meet the statement of objectives? Instructions for Submission of RFI Responses GSA will be using a wiki as the technology for participation under the BetterBuyProject, and anyone can register with the BetterBuy Pilot Wiki in order to participate. GSA is seeking comments and improvements on the draft solicitation documents located on the wiki page. The wiki is meant to provide a forum to encourage questions and commentary prior to the release of a solicitation. The URL for the wiki is http://betterbuy.fas.gsa.gov All responses to the RFI MUST be submitted via the wiki website within two weeks of the posting. Any response to this RFI received via FedBizOpps will not be reviewed. Contractors are invited and encouraged to review the solicitation information and respond specifically to the questions for this RFI posted on the wiki page through the contract format tabs on the left-hand side of the page and to provide any comments, concerns, and/or questions regarding this requirement. Please post your Comments/Questions DIRECTLY in the appropriate section. This process will ensure immediate receipt and facilitate tracking of the information, This RFI is issued solely for information and planning purposes and does not constitute a solicitation. The RFI responses will be treated as information only. Respondents are solely responsible for all expenses associated with responding to this RFI. All comments and questions to this RFI will be reviewed and may be considered for incorporation in the development of the final Email and Collaboration Services requirements document. Note 1- The NIST Definition of Cloud Computing, Authors: Peter Mell and Tim Grance, Version 15, 10-7-09.
- Web Link
-
FBO.gov Permalink
(https://www.fbo.gov/spg/GSA/OCIO/OCI/14558/listing.html)
- Place of Performance
- Address: GSA, Headquarters, 1800 F Street NW, Washington, District of Columbia, 20405, United States
- Zip Code: 20405
- Zip Code: 20405
- Record
- SN02143638-W 20100509/100507234634-021c763f264a81b451d20548c9242b8a (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps Link to This Notice
(may not be valid after Archive Date)
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