SOURCES SOUGHT
R -- eRA Biomedical and Related Research Grant Application Support Services - DRAFT PWS
- Notice Date
- 4/21/2015
- Notice Type
- Sources Sought
- NAICS
- 541990
— All Other Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services
- Contracting Office
- Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, National Library of Medicine, 6707 Democracy Blvd., Suite 105, Bethesda, Maryland, 20894, United States
- ZIP Code
- 20894
- Solicitation Number
- NIHLM2015465
- Archive Date
- 5/19/2015
- Point of Contact
- Em'Ria J. Briscoe, Phone: 3014354384
- E-Mail Address
-
briscoee@mail.nih.gov
(briscoee@mail.nih.gov)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- PWS THIS IS A SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE (SSN) ONLY. THIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL, QUOTATION OR INVITATION TO BID NOTICE AND DOES NOT CONSTITUTE A COMMITMENT BY THE GOVERNMENT. The National Institutes of Health, (NIH), electronic Research Administration (eRA) is conducting a market survey to determine the availability of qualified small businesses, including 8(a) small businesses, small disadvantaged businesses, woman-owned small businesses, service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses or HUBZone small businesses technically capable of providing the following: • Operating a service desk to support business processes for NIH's Grants Management Systems. NOTE: THIS NOTICE IS NOT FOR IT DESKTOP SUPPORT; • Creating end-user documentation (e.g. user manuals, release notes, FAQs); • Providing end-user training; and • Performing functional and performance software testing Background The current contract supports about 45 FTEs. The hours of operation are from 7:00 am through 8:00 pm, Monday through Friday, except federal holidays. The eRA service desk receives approximately 300 service requests per operating day from eRA grants management system users, although requests can exceed 500 during especially heavy demand. Requests are received primarily via telephone, but are also submitted via email and web page. The service desk supports more than 250,000 registered applicants and a community of more than 8,000 grant-process managers, both within and outside of the NIH. The eRA's anticipated resolution rate is greater than 80% on first contact, and the anticipated time on call is less than 20 minutes. The eRA expects to conduct a competitive acquisition and award a contract no later than December 2015. Contract staff members are not required to possess specific industry certifications (e.g. ITIL). Below are the characteristics of the eRA customer support requirements: • Provide tier 1 support (customer request intake, establish or update customer record, gather required problem information) • Provide tier 2 support (diagnose customer problem, implement problem resolution) • Interact with tier 3 support (system owners) to implement additional problem resolution and prevention • Develop tier 0 (user self-help) resources • Capture support knowledge (e.g. troubleshooting steps) for use with the eRA knowledgebase • Participate in meetings and technical discussions as a user advocate • Provide off hours support as required • Monitor systems for potential security/production interruptions • Assist with user provisioning • Assist with user outreach efforts • Refine/optimize support infrastructure tools (e.g. case management and automated call distribution) • Conduct cross-training sessions • Author or contribute to user guides, release note, and FAQs (and other web-published materials) • Develop, implement and maintain procedures and associated training plans for contract staff • Develop and maintain job aides • Document, track and resolve issues and risks at the program level • Perform periodic system status checks • Develop end-user training course information (including web-based tutorials) and conduct end user training • Develop use cases and test plans • Perform functional and performance testing • Provide periodic progress reports • Conduct predictive analysis to determine estimated support resource requirements and consumption • Conduct quality assurance and program management functions A draft Statement of Work (SOW)/ Performance Work Statement (PWS) is attached to this notice. Response Requirements Please submit the following information: Name and address of company and or companies (if there is a teaming arrangement) 1. Corporate capabilities • Service Desk experience. Note: Experience that is related to IT desktop support is not acceptable. • Federal grants management systems experience. Demonstrated Federal grants management system capability and experience similar in size, scope and complexity to the eRA program will be a key success indicator in the Government's assessment. All aspects of the grants lifecycle, including organizational registration, account provisioning, application receipt and validation checking, peer review assignment, award, management, and closeout are provided through the eRA systems and capable organizations shall demonstrate their capability and experience in providing services for all aspects of the grants lifecycle. 2. Relevant experience, including: • Contract name • Contracting Agency or Department • Yearly contract value (in $$) • Period of performance • Description of work and how it relates to the eRA requirements 3. Suggested Contract Type for requirement • All responses should include a suggested contract type (Firm fixed price, Labor Hours/Time & Materials, etc.), and rationale which will provide the most cost efficient and technically effective approach to the contract performance 4. Submission requirements: a. Page limit - Five (5) 8 ½ x 11 pages b.. 1 inch margins (top, bottom and sides) c. Times New Roman font - 12 point d. Page limitation does not include (1 cover page, 1 letter of introduction page, or 1 table of contents page) e. Do not include promotional materials In addition to providing information adequate for the Government to determine capability as specified above, all responding firms are requested to identify their firm's size and type of business. The anticipated North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) code for this acquisition is 541990 - All Other Professional, Scientific and Technical Services, and the Small Business Standard is $14 million. Please submit all information electronically to Em'Ria J. Briscoe at briscoee@mail.nih.gov by May 4, 2015 no later than 4:00 p.m.. NO TELEPHONE REQUESTS WILL BE ACCEPTED. Disclaimer and Important Notes: This notice does not obligate the Government to award a contract or otherwise pay for the information provided in response. The Government reserves the right to use information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate. Any organization responding to this notice should ensure that its response is complete and sufficiently detailed to allow the Government to determine the organization's qualifications to perform the work. Respondents are advised that the Government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted. After a review of the responses received, a pre-solicitation synopsis and solicitation may be published in Federal Business Opportunities. However, responses to this notice will not be considered adequate responses to a solicitation. Confidentiality: No proprietary, classified, confidential, or sensitive information should be included in your response. The Government reserves the right to use any non-proprietary technical information in any resultant solicitation(s).
- Web Link
-
FBO.gov Permalink
(https://www.fbo.gov/spg/HHS/NIH/OAM/ NIHLM2015465/listing.html)
- Place of Performance
- Address: 6705 Rockledge Drive, Bethesda, Maryland, 20817, United States
- Zip Code: 20817
- Zip Code: 20817
- Record
- SN03705785-W 20150423/150421234927-19bf100cc0bd6cbf8121f40f7d2663cc (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps Link to This Notice
(may not be valid after Archive Date)
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