DOCUMENT
R -- Digital Centers - Attachment
- Notice Date
- 3/15/2017
- Notice Type
- Attachment
- NAICS
- 541990
— All Other Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services
- Contracting Office
- Department of Veterans Affairs;Office of Acquisition Operations;Technology Acquisition Center - Austin;1701 Directors Blvd, Suite 600;Austin TX 78744
- ZIP Code
- 78744
- Solicitation Number
- VA118A17N0168
- Response Due
- 3/29/2017
- Archive Date
- 4/28/2017
- Point of Contact
- Ty Senour
- E-Mail Address
-
1-4423<br
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- Development Center Solution for Department of Veterans Affairs Page 7 of 7 Development Center Solution for Department of Veterans Affairs Request for Information (RFI) Introduction This Request for Information (RFI) is issued for information and planning purposes only and does not constitute a solicitation nor does it restrict the Government as to the ultimate acquisition approach. In accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 15.201(e), responses to this notice are not offers and cannot be accepted by the government to form a binding contract. The purpose of this RFI is to identify qualified vendors, who are able to meet the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Office of Information & Technology (OI&T) requirements for a Development Center that provides Agile application development and sustainment services that supports the Veteran-Focused Integration Process (VIP). The Veteran-focused Integration Process (VIP) is a Lean-Agile framework that services the interest of Veterans through the efficient streamlining of activities that occur within the enterprise. The Development Centers (also known as Ignition Centers, Innovation Centers, Delivery Centers, and Capability Centers) are facilities or centers delivering against a common service (e.g. development services, testing services, sustainment services, etc.) for one or more clients/business partners. Any contract/order that might be awarded based on information received or derived from this market research will be the outcome of the competitive process. The purpose of this RFI is to obtain market information on capable sources of supply, industry practices, and input specific to the information provided. The Government is not responsible for any cost incurred by industry in furnishing this information. All costs associated with responding to this RFI will be solely at the interested vendor's expense. Not responding to this RFI does not preclude participation in any future Request for Proposal (RFP), if any is issued. Any information submitted by respondents to this RFI is strictly voluntary. All submissions become Government property and will not be returned. The NAICS code applicable to this acquisition is TO BE DETERMINED (TBD). The Small Business Size Standard for this NAICS code is TBD. Please indicate your company size and socio-economic status for applicable NAICS codes... Scope of Work VA is seeking information regarding Vendor owned, existing Development Centers capable of providing Agile application development and sustainment services with emphasis on collaboration, workplaces of the future and proven industry and/or federal experience in successfully managing over 500 new projects (approximately 10,000 Sprints per year) anticipated by the VA. Vendor will work as an integrated team with OI&T. The Vendor must have existing operational onshore (domestic) facilities. The Vendor shall support various technologies (e.g., C#, Python, Angular JS, JavaScript, HP Almost Tester, Oracle Database Administration, COBOL, MUMPS, PHP, ASP.NET, Java, etc.). In line with the VA s objective and focus on COTS and Cloud-based solutions, the Vendor will support the VA through configuration, interface development, and transition to solutions available in the industry. Also, the Vendor shall collaborate with VA Enterprise Portfolio Management Office (EPMO) organization and product owners (business unit representative) for the Development Services and IT Operations and Services (ITOPS) team for the sustainment services. It is the expectation of the VA to procure services that will allow for development and implementation of new and existing IT projects managed by an Agile process, with a flexible prioritized Product Backlog subject to frequent adjustments, with iteratively delivered functionality up to 10,000 Sprints per year (assumed 2 weeks per Sprint). The Development Center will require multiple cloud development, technical development, sustainment/ maintenance, and keeping the lights on (KTLO) teams working in tandem, with additional teams focused on supporting the Sprint development by providing the capabilities such as testing, release and deployment of the product. Each development team will be required to have a Scrum Master and will have the necessary Agile-Scrum events such as Release planning, Backlog grooming, Sprint planning, Sprint Review, and Retrospective meetings with a frequency based upon the need of that individual team and project. The development team should also be aware of guidance provided as a part of VIP framework. Vendor is expected to conduct a frequent Sprint Review with VA team members and other VA stakeholders. The Sprint Review shall consist of both demonstrations and discussions of work accomplished during the Sprint. VA will be responsible for eliciting requirements such as writing the Epics and User Stories After each Sprint Review, a Sprint Retrospective will be held to discuss the effectiveness of each Sprint and necessary adjustments needed moving forward. Specifically, any workload not completed as planned during the Sprint will need to prioritized and/or added to the Backlog as necessary. Furthermore, the Vendor shall provide consistent, cost-effective, high-quality application development and sustainment services as well as proven processes to re-use existing technology and solutions and the ability to automate and standardize labor intensive processes. The VA will supply the Vendor with the appropriate business knowledge via training and knowledge articles. The Vendor Agile implementation team may be asked to assist VA in identifying and documenting the appropriate workflows and interface protocol between the Vendor-provided Development Center and the VA application delivery centers. The VA s anticipated performance metrics will include, but not be limited to: On Budget: development projects delivered on budget Agile Velocity: To gain understanding of cycle time measurements of the Story Points worked Agile Percentage Rework: To gain understanding of the efforts spent for identifying and fixing errors Test Coverage: To gain understanding of the coverage of the test cases for the functionalities of the executed project Agile Burndown Rate: To gain understanding of the total effort against the amount of work delivered during each iteration Agile Commitment Slippage: To gain understanding of the committed delivery of the Story Points Agile Build Success Rate: To gain understanding of how successful the build is for a particular project Agile Demo Effectiveness: To gain understanding of the demonstration given to the VA Agile Actual Utilization Factor: To gain understanding of the utilization plan for the efforts of the team for each Sprint Test Script Quality: Based on percentage of total test scripts submitted and number rejected The following are key high-level service objectives VA expects to achieve through the Development Center: Implement a rigorous work-intake processes aligned to OI&T governance processes including IT security. This would include but not be limited to Personally Identified Information, background checks, etc. Timely decision making, clear accountability and ownership at all levels. Simplify processes, transactions, and interactions with the VA to support speed to market. Agile application development processes designed and measured for (cycle time). Quick ideation, rapid prototyping, quick provisioning and development. Rapid build releases to deploy enhanced functionality faster to customers in line with the VA release and deployment process. Effective resource planning based on forecasting. Effective onboarding/off-boarding of resources based on demand. Develop a consistent service model and standard approach for providing sustainment services and maximizing resource utilization. Use common tools and techniques to deliver standard service levels. Develop clearly defined and improved estimating models. Creation of robust knowledge management processes. Transformation to solutions available in the industry in support of VA s commitment to buy-first, cloud-first. Recommendations on how the VA could improve productivity (e.g., identifying off-the-shelf-products to replace home-grown code, modernizing code, etc.). The VA currently anticipates an indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity type of contract, with a 5 year ordering period. However, other contract types will be considered. RFI Response Instructions NOTE: The capability package must be clear, concise, and complete. The VA is under no obligation to provide feedback to the company, or to contact the company for clarification of any information submitted in response to this RFI. Provide the following information: Provide Company Information: Company Name CAGE/DUNS Number under which the company is registered in SAM/VetBiz.gov Company Address Point of contact name Telephone number Email address For Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business (SDVOSB)/Veteran Owned Small Business (VOSB) concerns, indicate whether at least 50 percent of the cost of performance incurred is planned to be expended for employees of your concern or employees of other eligible SDVOSB/VOSB concerns. Do you plan to Prime or be a subcontractor? Can your company independently provide the entire range of requirements? If not, which requirements cannot be met and describe teaming arrangement to meet all of the requirements. Brief summary describing your company s available Agile methodology-based solution (business and technical) to meet the requirements, to include: Number of Clients supported Number of Development Centers Number of developers per Development Center Names of technologies used/supported/managed Names of SaaS technologies supported/managed Geographic locations of the Development Centers (city and state). Indicate those that you would recommend to provide service to the VA. Indicate whether your solution meets all of the capabilities identified above (Scope of Work). If not, which capability cannot be met with your Development Center solution? Identify alternative approaches to meeting the capability if available. What are your company s processes to satisfy the requirements for adherence to schedule, agility, flexibility, responsiveness, scalable and reliability, service quality and consistency, and continuous improvement? Indicate any market-leading capabilities that uniquely qualify your company for this opportunity not discussed above. List any existing federal contracting vehicles you are currently listed as a prime under in which these services are within scope. Include the respective agency. What is the proposed standard transition approach for provision of this service? What would be the risks? Provide standard timelines and activities for implementation of this service (based on establishing this service at a client of similar scope and volume). What would be the recommended Service Level targets and measurement windows for the performance metrics below: On Budget: development projects delivered on budget Agile Velocity: To gain understanding of cycle time measurements of the Story points worked Agile Percentage Rework: To gain understanding of the efforts spent for fixing internally identified errors Test Coverage: To gain understanding of the coverage of the test cases for the functionalities of the executed project Agile Burndown Rate: To gain understanding of the total effort against the amount of work delivered during each iteration Agile Commitment Slippage: To gain understanding of the committed delivery of the Story Points Agile Build Success Rate: To gain understanding of how successful the build is for a particular project Agile Demo Effectiveness: To gain understanding of the demonstration given to the VA Agile Actual Utilization Factor: To gain understanding of the utilization plan of the efforts of the team for each Sprint Provide additional performance metrics (if any) that are standard components of your service offering. Include recommended targets and measurement windows Defining Deliverables: Agile methodology offers the opportunity to adjust the way in which deliverables are defined. Rather than undertaking contract modifications to make these adjustments, how can deliverables be defined to ensure flexibility while also ensuring the VA receives something of value and the Vendor has completed an item for payment? Should an Agile ceremony such as a Sprint Review be used as a deliverable? If so, should all source code and documentation be packaged into the deliverable? Pricing Methods: Provide Rough Order of Magnitude (ROM) pricing for the anticipated volume. Address required scalability with narration on pricing methods. In addition provide your response to the following: Should payments to the Vendor be based on a specific Deliverable Description, Sprint, Release, Backlog Item? What other recommendation would you have for payment increments? How would you recommend the VA account for the variation in size and scope of each payment increment? Should payments be broken out by Scrum team? How would you address variations in team efficiency or quality for example if several teams are delivering effectively while other teams are struggling Should we use an agile calculation like Velocity for payment purposes? If so, what calculation method would be recommended? How does the VA ensure the Velocity (or other method suggested) calculation is fair to the VA? Release planning inputs: What would be preferred to support the Agile development model? The latitude to complete these documents in conjunction with the business teams Wait for the documents to be delivered to the development teams The ability to invoke an optional task to complete the documents if delays occur Other Non-Delivery: Agile methodology allows for flexibility. There will be times when a Vendor should be delivering and is not. What methodologies could be used to determine when a Vendor is not delivering appropriately? What mechanisms could be used to incentivize a Vendor to ensure delivery? What mechanisms should be implemented in the event of non-delivery? Scrum team level of involvement: For appropriate VA planning: What is the correct level of VA involvement and oversight for a development Scrum team? What are some viable alternatives if the VA does not have the requisite level of support available? Scrum team composition: Describe the composition of the Scrum teams that can directly impact productivity and the ability of a team to accomplish a feature within a team. Provide information on the composition (roles and numbers of FTEs) in your typical Scrum team. What factors impact the size and composition of the team? Level of effort estimation: Describe the mechanism to estimate accurate level of effort estimation for delivery of functionality. What is the standard intake process and what tools and procedures will be used? What is the ongoing forecasting process and how will your company manage forecasting, levers for forecasting, expectations from client environment and risks that your company has seen as a result? Security and process: How will your company ensure policy and procedures are followed? How will data be protected and regulations complied with? How will your company maintain physical and logical security in a shared environment (multi-client and multi-tenant environment)? One of the initiatives for the Development Center is to transition the current base of legacy applications to COTS and/or Cloud-Based (As-A-Service) solutions. How would your company approach this initiative and what metrics would your company use to determine progress and success of this transformation. Include in your response a proposed pricing model for this initiative If you have operated as a prime vendor in providing a Development Center Solution: Provide a typical organizational chart that accounts for the major roles/ functions for a center you have implemented. This organizational chart should include both your organization s roles and clients roles. Include a brief description of each role listed. Provide a case study (no more than one page), that describes how you implemented and transitioned a client to your Development Center. The client scope, size, and complexity volume must be similar to the VA. Indicate the percentage of the work that was performed by your company as the prime vendor in this case study. Provide a case study (no more than one page), that describes how you provided technical and organizational transformation to a client in your Development Center. The client scope, size, and complexity volume must be similar to the VA. Indicate the percentage of the work that was performed by your company as the prime vendor in this case study. Provide a case study (no more than one page), that describes how coordinated and integrated the support with the client s Operations (Production) team. The client scope, size, and complexity volume must be similar to the VA. Indicate the percentage of the work that was performed by your company as the prime vendor in this case study. Provide a case study (no more than one page), that describes how your company transformed the legacy environment at a client. The client scope, size, and complexity volume must be similar to the VA. Indicate the percentage of the work that was performed by your company as the prime vendor in this case study. Provide a list of the clients that you have successfully implemented and supported as a prime vendor. The client s scope, size, and complexity volume must be similar to the VA. Include Development Center usage (e.g. number of projects/ applications/ Sprints), number of resources, technology supported. The Technology Acquisition Center (TAC) point of contact for this RFI the Contracting Officer. Responses to this RFI shall be submitted electronically by 10:00 AM EST, March 29, 2017 to Ty.senour@va.gov. All proprietary/company confidential material shall be clearly marked on every page that contains such. VA will not be able to grant any extensions to this RFI. To that effect, a virtual Question and Answer session or an Industry Day will be held if VA deems either is necessary. Further information regarding either event will be posted to FBO through this RFI announcement.
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- Document(s)
- Attachment
- File Name: VA118A-17-N-0168 VA118A-17-N-0168_1.docx (https://www.vendorportal.ecms.va.gov/FBODocumentServer/DocumentServer.aspx?DocumentId=3341161&FileName=VA118A-17-N-0168-001.docx)
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- File Name: VA118A-17-N-0168 VA118A-17-N-0168_1.docx (https://www.vendorportal.ecms.va.gov/FBODocumentServer/DocumentServer.aspx?DocumentId=3341161&FileName=VA118A-17-N-0168-001.docx)
- Record
- SN04435472-W 20170317/170315234231-74fab66ee212042740e61691e9d366d4 (fbodaily.com)
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