R -- INDEPENDENT VERIFICATION AND VALIDATION OF UNIFIED FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

Notice Date

July 17, 2001

Contracting Office

DHHS, Office of the Secretary, Office of Acquisition Management; Room 443H, Humphrey Building; 200 Independence Avenue, S.W.; Washington, D.C. 20201

ZIP Code

20201

Solicitation Number

RFP-20-01-HHS-OS

Response Due

August 1, 2001

Point of Contact

Point of Contact: Cheryl Howe, Contract Specialist, 202-690-5552

Description

This is a combined synopsis solicitation for commercial items prepared in accordance with the format in FAR Subpart 12.6, as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation; proposals are being requested in response to the following statement of work and a written solicitation will not be issued. This is request for proposal RFP-20-01-HHS-OS, for work to be performed for the Office of Finance of the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). This solicitation document and its incorporated provisions are those in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular #97-27. The period of performance shall be from the effective date of contract award through twelve months with two option periods of twelve months each. This acquisition is full and open competition. The NAICS code is 541519 and the size standard is $18.0 million. Work is to be performed at the contractor's place of work. No relocation will be provided. One task order type contract with firm fixed price task orders will be awarded. Background: It is a strategic goal of DHHS to administer its information technologies on an "enterprise" basis to achieve an optimal level of integration and consolidation of cross-functional systems so as to provide better government services at reduced costs. Expert consultant services of an experienced Independent Verification and Validation contractor are needed to assist the Office of Finance in its requirement to deploy a unified financial management system throughout DHHS and oversee its successful implementation and operation. Scope of Work: The contractor will provide Independent Verification and Validation (IV&V) services as directed in specific task orders. The DHHS unified financial system will be comprised of the HCFA Integrated General Ledger Accounting System (HIGLAS) at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the NIH Business System (NBS) at the National Institutes for Health (NIH). It will also include a departmental reporting system and other department wide administrative systems such as grants and procurement. The contract will be managed by the Unified Financial Systems Program Office, under the auspices of the Assistant Secretary for Management and Budget. The contractor shall conduct an independent verification and validation of the Unified Financial Systems project to predict, assess and document the extent to which the project meets planned schedules and budgets by reviewing and inspecting deliverables to assure that software, services, documents or other products conform to contract requirements and are delivered as planned, and that software satisfies testing for performance and other factors. The contractor shall provide several general classes of services including project monitoring, systems assurance, and planning and evaluation services. These services require careful interaction with the UFS Program Office, with the government's systems integrators, and the software vendors and with senior DHHS management officials and others as required. The contractor shall report directly to the Project Officer and shall not play any role in directing or managing work of any other contractor staff. Work products will consist of studies, reports, presentations and briefings. All personnel should have progressive responsibilities for information technology projects and the offeror should demonstrate the ability of its team to manage multitask projects of high complexity and demonstrate its experience with change management principles and operations as they relate to similar projects. The offeror should clearly address how its team will attain completion of task order assignments within estimated time frames and budget constraints. The contractor shall guarantee strict confidentially of information/data that is provided by the government during the performance of the contract. The activities required by this contract are defined by the DHHS as highly critical and highly sensitive, therefore, DHHS automated information systems security procedures will apply. The contractor is required to conduct its business in a manner befitting its special relationship with the government, to operate in the public interest with objectivity and independence, to be free from organizational conflicts of interests, and to have full disclosure of it affairs. Evaluation Criteria: Offerors are required to submit a technical proposal NOT TO EXCEED TWENTY PAGES DOUBLED SPACED (not including resumes of team members and business information or past performance information) based on the three most recent activities on which the offeror has worked that demonstrate the offeror's experience and expertise in this area. Two evaluation factors will be used in the selection process: 1) demonstrated ability to conduct IV&V (weight 50%); and 2) past performance -- provide three references for the most recent past activities (weight 50%). The references must include the contact name, company, fax and phone numbers and a brief synopsis of the project. The offeror must submit loaded hourly rates for all proposed personnel, including subcontractors, for the base and all option years. No other direct costs or travel costs should be proposed at this time. Subcontractor and/or consultant hourly rates must be shown separately from the prime contractor hourly rates. If the offeror proposes any hourly prices based upon a GSA schedule or other multiple award schedule, the contract and support data should be provided for verification. Since the anticipated contract amount may go as high as $5,000,000, a discount from the GSA or other applicable schedule is requested. Technical factors are dominant in source selection, however, the proposed price/rates must be reasonable. The Department anticipates awarding one Indefinite Quantity/Indefinite Delivery type contract with Firm Fixed Price task orders as a result of this solicitation. Task orders will be issued on an as needed basis. The cost of other direct costs, if any, under the individual task orders will be negotiated at time of task order issuance and included in the firm fixed price for that order. If travel should be necessary under a task order, a ceiling amount will be negotiated and travel shall be paid on a reimbursable basis. The government will not pay any fee on other direct costs or travel costs. Offerors should provide one original and five copies of their proposal. Offerors must include a completed copy of the provision at FAR 52.212-3, Offeror Representations and Certifications-Commercial Items, with their proposal (as part of the business proposal). The clauses at FAR 52.214-4, Contract Terms and Conditions-Commercial Items and FAR 52.212-1 instructions to Offerors-Commercial Items, apply to this acquisition. Any clauses or provisions referenced in this notice can be accessed through the Internet address that follows: Offers are due August 1, 2001, by 4:00 Noon EST, at the following location: Department of Health and Human Services, OS/Office of Acquisition Management, Room 443H, Humphrey Building, 200 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, D.C. 20201. The contact point for questions shall be Cheryl Howe, 202-690-5552. If hand delivering, offerors must go to the main Independence Avenue entrance to the guard desk and call either Cheryl Howe, on 690-5552 or call 690-8539, and ask Terrance Brack to pick up your proposal for delivery to the contracting office. The Hubert H. Humphrey Building is a controlled access building. If you intend to handcarry your proposal, you should allow at least 30 minutes for visitor access. It is your responsibility to ensure that proposals are delivered by the due date and time required in the solicitation. Amendments to this solicitation, if any, shall also be published as a Commerce Business Daily synopsis.

Record

Loren Data Corp. 20010719/RSOL004.HTM (D-198 SN50S0X3)