Request for Informaiton

A. Description: This Request for Informaiton ("RFI") solicits industry's interest and capability to meet the stated objectives and is for information and planning purposes only. Any reference to a draft acquisition strategy or approach is for planning purposes and subject to change. This does not constitute a Request for Proposal ("RFP") or an Invitation for Bid ("IFB") or a promise to issue one in the future. Furthermore, the Government is not liable for any costs incurred as a result of vendor responses to this RFI. The Government does not intend to award a contract for any supply or service on the basis of this request or to otherwise pay for the information. This request is issued for the purposes of: (1) receiving information and feedback on the interest and capabilities of potential sources; and (2) informing the Government on the type and scope of work, as well as appropriate terms and conditions, involved in meeting the objectives outlined in this RFI. Please note that no solicitation is available at this time. Not responding to this RFI does not preclude participation in any future RFP, if any is issued. If a solicitation is released, it will be synopsized on the Federal Business Opportunities (FedBizOpps) website and the GSA E-buy: http://www.ebuy.gsa.gov . It is the responsibility of the potential offerors to monitor these sites for additional information pertaining to this requirement. Treasury and its financial regulatory agency partners have numerous contracts for hardware, software, financial data subscriptions, and other Information Technology (IT) commodities. It takes significant time and effort to contract for these IT commodities on a case-by-case, recurring annual basis, and such a disseminated approach precludes achieving acquisition economies of scale or influencing more efficient commodity delivery models. FORE-SSITE is the strategic sourcing initiative that will create an on-line forum for leveraging and streamlining the acquisition of IT commodities for Treasury and its financial regulatory agency partners. On behalf of federal government Financial Sector Oversight Council (FSOC) agencies, this RFI is being issued to identify industry suggestions and best practices regarding providing prompt and streamlined access to the procurement of IT commodities from a cadre of pre-approved vendors (via government awarded contracts) through a single commercial enterprise portal. This RFI seeks sources for future Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) acquisitions for a base year plus 4 options years for the enterprise portal vendor as well as for multiple IT commodity suppliers that will be integrated into and accessed through the portal. B. Background : To accomplish the mission needs of FSOC agencies , and to execute the requirements of the Wall Street Reform & Consumer Protection Act (aka Dodd-Frank Act) that impact FSOC agencies , an IT toolset is essential to enable proactive, collaborative, innovative, and prompt responses to dynamic and ever-evolving market conditions. FSOC agencies include: •· Department of the Treasury (Offices and Bureaus) o Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP) o Bureau of Public Debt (BPD) o Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) o Departmental Offices (including Office of Financial Stability (OFS), Office of Financial Research (OFR), Special Inspector General for Troubled Assets Relief Program (SIGTARP), et al) o Financial Crime Enforcement Network (FINCEN) o Financial Management Service (FMS) o Internal Revenue Service (IRS) o U.S. Mint (Mint) o Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) o Office of the Inspector General (OIG) o Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) o Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) •· Consumer Finance Protection Bureau (CFPB) •· Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) •· Federal Depository Insurance Corporation (FDIC) •· Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) •· Federal Reserve Board (FRB) organizations •· Financial Sector Oversight Council (FSOC) •· National Credit Union Administration (NCUAB) •· Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) C. Scope : The following components are envisioned for inclusion in the FORE-SSITE umbrella program: a. Prevalent Information Technology (PIT) Stop - Commercial Cloud Hosted e-Catalog Retail Solution for the IT Commodities listed below -- i.e., an existing industry market website (e.g., Amazon.com, Zappos.com, Trip Advisor.com) with: drop down menu(s) for FORE-SSITE and its functional categories; shopping cart selection and checkout approach; comparative information displayed among vendors (e.g., pricing, delivery timeframes); specific discounted prices offered (e.g., inventory clearance/end of month/quarter/ year sales; peak vs. non-peak pricing); terms and conditions required (e.g., new or refurbished; set-aside), customer ratings (e.g., 1 to 5 stars), and search capability (e.g., network equipment, SAN, software type, etc.). A single contract award will be made for PIT Stop, to provide "one-stop" shopping for FORE-SSITE customers. b. Subscriptions (SUB) Way - Subscription Services for financial, regulatory, and market data, including Bloomberg, S&P, Haver, Reuters, Moody's, Reed Elsevier, SNL, et al. Multiple contracts will be awarded for SUB Way commodities. c. Hardware (Hard) Spot - Hardware (e.g., servers, telecommunications equipment, PCs, storage devices, peripherals such as PDAs, printers, remote access solutions, et al) and supplies (e.g., toner). Multiple contracts will be awarded for Hard Spot commodities. d. Software (Soft) Spot - Software licenses for client, server, operating system, database, data analytic/business intelligence, and COTS mission and administrative needs, including Microsoft, Adobe, Oracle, Hadoop, SaaS, Linux, Solaris, Symantec, et al. Multiple contracts will be awarded for Soft Spot commodities. The following components are envisioned for optional inclusion in the FORE-SSITE umbrella program: e. Space Port - Posting of excess commercially available data center space with corresponding pricing, for production, disaster recovery/backup, test/development, etc. environments, using a free market bidding type approach (a la E-Bay or Craigslist). Multiple contracts will be awarded for Space Port commodities. f. FORE - SSITE Analytic REVIEW (FAREVIEW) - Independent assessments of: a) IT market trends and emerging technologies for timely refreshing of the commodities included on the other FORE-SSITE contracts; and b) comparative analyses of pricing, service level agreements, and other terms and conditions to ensure user needs are economically and satisfactorily met. Multiple contracts will be awarded for FAREVIEW commodities. All items provided under FORE-SSITE contracts must be Trade Agreement Act (TAA) and Section 508 compliant, unless specifically exempted by the Government. D. Instructions: Information is being sought from all entities that supply the IT commodities described in this RFI. Input is requested on best practices and innovative strategies that will meet Governmental mission and business needs, attract diverse vendors, attain competitive pricing, enable expedient delivery of quality goods (and associated services, as requested, to support and maintain them over their life cycle), and create job opportunities on a nation-wide basis to build and sustain economic growth. Responders are requested to specifically address the following. a. It is anticipated that because PIT Stop will provide the platform for actual procuring of IT commodities, it will be solicited and awarded first. Please provide an estimate of the time it would take to ready the enterprise portal for hosting of other IT commodity vendors' products, what key terms and conditions would likely be imposed by the PIT Stop vendor on the IT commodity suppliers, and what a reasonable number of competing vendors would be for hosting on the portal (based on existing industry practices). b. Describe what information an IT commodity provider would need to know from the PIT Stop vendor to prepare a proposal, and what PIT Stop terms and conditions could inhibit or preclude an IT commodity vendor from proposing. c. To emulate commercial business practices, the Government would like the ability to select products/services from the PIT Stop portal based on search and sort capabilities (e.g., lowest price; delivery timeframes; type of business; geographical location). Describe what information would need to be provided by the Government, and in what format, from contracts awarded by the Government for Hard Spot, Soft Spot, et al for incorporation into the PIT Stop enterprise portal to enable this functionality. d. Please describe what alterations (if any) would need to be made to the PIT Stop portal to accommodate FORE-SSITE, how these alterations could be minimized. What interfaces with Government systems (e.g., procurement/financial management systems) would need to be established? e. Please describe what sorts of reports could be readily generated and provided to the Government (e.g., usage per credit card per month; usage by agency; amount and types of commodities awarded to individual vendors; complaints received). f. If no funding were provided upfront by the Government to the PIT Stop vendor, but instead the PIT Stop vendor was compensated for its hosting services through receipt of a certain annual fee from other FORE-SSITE vendors and/or a percentage of each order placed by the Government, describe what factors and range of dollar amounts/%s would need to be specified for a vendor to consider it worthwhile to propose. g. To reimburse the Government for expenses associated with administering FORE-SSITE contracts, a fee-for-service approach will be implemented. What are considered the minimum/maximum amount/% and methodology to be imposed that would not make FORE-SSITE cost prohibitive and be able to attract customers? h. To encourage FORE-SSITE vendors to provide quality commodities in a timely manner at fair and reasonable prices, assure exemplary customer satisfaction levels, and reward those bringing in high volumes of business, an incentive arrangement is being considered. Describe what criteria, evaluation process, and range of dollar amounts/%s should be specified to incentivize a vendor to stellar performance, and under what circumstances actions should be taken to replace/eliminate poor performing vendors. i. The Government has existing contracts or pending procurements that may or may not get folded into the FORE-SSITE initiative (e.g., Treasury-wide enterprise license agreements). Describe what factors would induce or deter inclusion in FORE-SSITE, from a vendor's perspective (existing and new under FORE-SSITE). j. The Government will be responsible for modifying awarded FORE-SSITE IDIQ contracts as merited (e.g., addition/deletion/modification of items; refresh/update of technologies; price adjustments; novation agreements) and providing information to the PIT Stop vendor for updating on the portal. What criteria should be considered/ methodology followed to retain a vibrant and evolving vendor pool, add emerging and cutting edge technologies, and update/replace/eliminate outdated or obsolete IT commodities? k. Please describe how FORE-SSITE commodity offerings should be structured to give Government users the a la carte ability to choose (or not) related commodity services (e.g., installation/configuration set up services; maintenance support services) l. Please describe how FORE-SSITE information could be shared to notify the Government of opportunities for consolidating procurements among various organizations (e.g., similar buys at approximately the same time or in geographical proximity) and opportunities for integration of products to fulfill Wall Street Reform Act objectives. m. What considerations/types of remuneration/intellectual property right protections would be required to induce an original equipment manufacturer or original financial data provider to offer its commodities for resale by at least 3 different vendors for one or more commodities, and particularly vendors that would enable achievement of socio-economic goals, to enable competition under FORE-SSITE? How could use of Software as a Service (Saas), different licensing/delivery models, and/or open source vs. proprietary technologies be encouraged? n. The Government intends to set aside procurements for small and disadvantaged businesses at certain dollar thresholds. What sorts of commodities and at what threshold range(s) most lend themselves to this type of arrangement? o. Describe what payment methods would be accepted by FORE-SSITE vendors to procure IT commodities (e.g., purchase cards, purchase orders). Please indicate what types of payment methods at specified dollar thresholds would be conducive to minimizing administrative burden (e.g., non-competitively for micro-purchases using purchase cards; competitively for simplified procurements using purchase cards; purchase orders placed by contracting officer or authorized cardholder designee when simplified threshold is exceeded). p. How adaptable are commercial workflow process to accommodate specific Government requirements (e.g., over certain dollar threshold, designated approving authorities/obligating officials would be able to approve transactions)? What are the ramifications/impacts (if any) of decentralized procurement for FORE-SSITE items (i.e., multiple personnel from FSOC agencies have authority to make individual purchases, vs. one centralized authority to handle all procurement transactions? q. If the Government were to conduct electronic auctions, what considerations should be taken into account (e.g., dollar threshold; anticipated level of competition)? r. How readily/easily could FORE-SSITE vendors adapt to various arrangements (e.g., lease vs. buy; lease with option to buy; previously owned vs. new items; special sale prices to reduce inventory or meet quarterly quotas)? s. What types of social media (e.g., blogs, wikis, RSS feeds regarding addition or discontinuation of item and/or support for it; Facebook; Flickr; Twitter) would be particularly appropriate for use under FORE-SSITE? t. Please describe the merits or potential problems posed by including the FORE-SSITE option items. Are there special considerations that would need to be taken into account (e.g., for publicizing available data center space)? u. Please describe what type of security measures are in place (e.g., to preclude identity fraud; avoid fraudulent or unauthorized purchases; detect intrusions or inappropriate insider activity). v. Please describe the key criteria and evaluation factors needed to select and maintain the best vendors to make FORE-SSITE a success. w. Please indicate any other issues/potential showstoppers relative to FORE-SSITE that would encourage or discourage vendor participation in the program. E . Submission : Submissions shall include the following: 1. Reference RFI Number on Submission: OTPS-RFI-12-0001 2. One hard copy of submission: a. Executive summary i. DUNS ii. Points of contact to include telephone and email addresses iii. Socioeconomic status (e.g. HUBZone, Small, 8(a), etc...) iv. Detail if the submission is PIT or NON-PIT related. b. No more than thirty (30) one-side pages total, with print no smaller than 12 point. c. Content- Responses shall clearly address how the Government's objectives would be fullfilled as detailed above. As well, responses may provide additional suggestions and requirements for the Government's consideration as part of their market research. 3. Two electronic copies on a CD - Include all hardcopy information, but must be formated in MS 2000 or later. 4. At the Government request additional market research meetings may be scheduled in accordance with FAR Part 10. 5. No questions or emails will be accepted regarding this RFI. No contact is to be made with Government personnel in regards to this RFI. 6. Submission of Information shall be submitted NLT October 20, 2011 at 2:00 PM to the following address: a. 6009 Oxon Hill Road, 5 th Fl Mail Room, Oxon Hill MD, 20745 b. Package must be marked with the RFI Number - OPTS-RFI-12-0001