U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Information Product Data System (IPDS) Request for Information Introduction This is a Request for Information (RFI) only and is not a solicitation for a contract or grant award. This RFI notice is for information purposes only, is not a request for proposals, and does not obligate the Government in any way. A request for proposals may or may not result from this request. The Government will not reimburse the respondents for any costs associated with the information submitted in response to this request. The Government will treat each submission in confidence. Background The USGS is seeking to optimize the way the Bureau tracks information products that require approval. The current document tracking system, Information Product Data System (IPDS), is meeting the needs of the organization but only after many custom workflows and development steps which are costly to maintain. The IPDS application is a document tracking system currently running in a SharePoint 2013 environment. IPDS is the key mechanism for documenting the development and release of USGS Series reports and external publications (i.e., information products). Purpose and Objectives The USGS is seeking information from companies who can quickly develop a simple application or extend the use of a product already created for another customer to track and manage scientific information products through an approval process. This product is required to: 1. Be easily reconfigured to meet USGS approval processes. Different products types have different numbers of approvers. 2. Validate users with Microsoft’s Active Directory database (or the external ADFS authentication) and secure content to only those who are authorized access. 3. Allow information product approval and notification to users when action is required. 4. Allow archive of disseminated information products to conserve storage and remove from view. 5. Provide ability to load or connect to documents in a variety of file formats that support the creation of the information product. 6. Provide simple search capability by product number, author, and various approval roles. 7. Provide for conducting detailed and sophisticated queries and reports of active and archived information products. 8. Allow simultaneous access to create information product requests for at least 2,500 users. 9. Be FedRAMP compliant, if hosted in the cloud. This RFI is intended to inform the USGS about current industry capabilities and performance in these areas. Furthermore, this RFI is intended to provide feedback regarding the acquisition approach described, and solicit alternative approaches that may reduce cost and risk. Information Requested Interested parties should submit a written response which addresses the following topics: 1. Organization information: Organization name and address, business size status (Large, Small, HubZone, etc.), point of contact, email address, phone number. 2. Capabilities: Provide a brief description of your product capabilities and prior experience relevant to this RFI. 3. Rough Order of Magnitude (ROM) Cost Estimate: Provide a ROM cost estimate for COTS product deployment to approximately 2,500 users, and if possible, the cost of migrating existing data. The estimate should include any assumptions and should highlight major cost drivers and opportunities for cost savings. 4. Operations and Sustaining: Describe how product is maintained over time and describe if the product can be customer modified and to what degree. Responses are limited to no more than 20 pages and should be submitted via email by March 16, 2018, at 11:00 AM Eastern Time to the point of contact listed below. The subject line of the submission should be "RFI for USGS IPDS� and attachments should be in PDF. Point of Contact: Contracting Officer, Vickie Floyd at
[email protected]