SOURCES SOUGHT: Acquisition Support Services

This is a SOURCES SOUGHT notice. This request is the initiation of market research under Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 10. This is NOT a solicitation for proposals, proposal abstracts, or quotations. This announcement does not constitute an Invitation for Bids (IFB), Request for Quote (RFQ), or a Request for Proposal (RFP), and it should not be construed as a commitment of any kind by the Government to issue a formal solicitation or ultimately award a contract. Responses to this notice cannot be accepted as offers.

The Government anticipates the applicable North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code assigned to these services to be 541611 – Administrative Management and General Management Consulting Services.  Contractors must be properly registered in the Government System for Award Management at  https://www.sam.gov/portal/public/SAM/.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Office of Procurement is issuing this notice to identify qualified and responsible businesses within SBA’s 8(a) Program that can assist the IRS with its requirement for acquisition management support services. Independently, and not as an agent of the Government, the contractor, as managed by its Program Manager, will be expected to provide the personnel and services necessary to perform acquisition support services in support of the IRS.

It is anticipated that the contractor will work on a wide variety of pre-award, award, and post-award contract actions. All work performed will be accomplished in accordance with the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) and other agency supplemental regulations and policies as appropriate. Work shall be performed in the following locations:

  • New Carrollton, MD
  • New York, NY
  • Atlanta, GA
  • Dallas, TX and
  • Oakland, CA

The following areas describe the broad range of functions and tasks that the Government envisions the contractor supporting:

  1. Pre-award Support: Provide support to the IRS staff in drafting of pre-award documentation (i.e. requirements development, acquisition plans, solicitations, justifications, work statements, assistance with the preparation and issuance of multiple contract vehicles, etc.) for Contracting Officer review and approval.
  2. Contract Administration: Provide research, guidance, and input, including preparation of modifications and applicable documentation for Contracting Officer review and approval, and assist in contract closeout efforts.
  3. Contract File Reviews: Provide support in performing strategic reviews of solicitations and contract award files. Provide support in assuring compliance with the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR), Department of the Treasury Acquisition Regulation (DTAR) and other agency supplemental regulations and policies.

It is anticipated that support for this requirement will be met by skilled, experienced, professional personnel possessing the equivalent of a FAC-C/DAWIA Level II and III certification.

The response to this notice is limited to ten (10) single sided pages (including all attachments, charts, etc.). The response should include the following information clearly marked:

  • Vendor’s name, address, points of contact information, website, DUNS, and cage code.
  • Vendor’s current business designation and size status.
  • Vendor’s tailored capability statements addressing the general areas of this requirement, with appropriate documentation supporting claims of organizational and staff capability and ability to meet the location requirements. If subcontracting or teaming is anticipated in order to deliver technical capability, organizations should address the administrative and management structure of such arrangements.
  • Vendor’s narrative on experience in ensuring staffing needs are met and maintained at multiple locations.
  • Vendor’s narrative on experience providing high-level, FAC-C Level II and III (or equivalent) acquisition support services to Federal agencies.
  • Vendor’s narrative on experience in keeping its staff up-to-date on changes within the Federal Acquisition Regulations.
  • Vendor’s Past Performance – Provide a list of previous contracts where similar services were provided. Provide customer/Government Agency contact information where these services were provided including: contact name and organization, telephone number, and email address.

All responses to this Sources Sought must be submitted electronically (via e-mail) to Sharlene Hagans, Contract Specialist, at Sharlene.A.Hagans@irs.gov.  Telephone and/or email inquiries will not be accepted or acknowledged and no feedback or evaluations will be provided to companies regarding their submissions. Interested vendors should monitor a government point of entry site for further information. Your firm’s response to this sources sought is appreciated.

SUBMISSION TIME AND DATE:

Responses to the information provided above are due no later than October 19, 2022 at 9:00 AM Eastern Standard Time.  Responses received after this date and time may not be considered.

DISCLAIMER AND IMPORTANT NOTES:

This sources sought is for information and planning purposes only and shall NOT be construed as a solicitation or as an obligation on the part of the Government. This notice does not obligate the Government to award a contract or otherwise pay for the information provided in the response. The Government reserves the right to use information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate. Any concern responding to this notice should ensure that its’ response is complete and sufficiently detailed to allow the Government to determine the concern’s qualifications to perform the work. 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)

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. However, responses to this notice WILL NOT be considered adequate responses to a solicitation.

The Government WILL NOT accept requests for meetings or briefings, and may not answer any questions posed. No phone solicitations or email with regards to the status of a POTENTIAL Request for Proposal (RFP) will be accepted prior to its release. Information and materials submitted in response to this notice WILL NOT be returned.

The Government DOES NOT intend to award a contract on the basis of responses received nor otherwise pay for the preparation of any information submitted.

As a result of this notice, the IRS MAY issue a Request for Proposal (RFP). There is no solicitation available at this time. However, should such a requirement materialize, no basis for claims against the Government shall arise as a result of a response to this RFI or the Government’s use of such information as either part of our evaluation process or in developing specifications for any subsequent requirement.

  • Original Set Aside: 8(a) Set-Aside (FAR 19.8)
  • Product Service Code: R707 – SUPPORT- MANAGEMENT: CONTRACT/PROCUREMENT/ACQUISITION SUPPORT
  • NAICS Code: 541611 – Administrative Management and General Management Consulting Services
  • Place of Performance: Lanham , MD 20706 USA

Full details via beta.sam.gov

SOURCES SOUGHT: IT Acquisition Support Services

THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION. THIS IS NOT A SOLICITATION ANNOUNCEMENT.

The Government does not intend to award a contract based on this notice or to otherwise pay for the information solicited except as an allowable cost under other contracts as provided in subsection 31.205-18, Bid and proposal costs, of the Federal Acquisition Regulation.

Although “proposal” and “offeror” are used in this Request for Information, your response will be treated as information only. It shall not be used as a proposal.

This request for information issued only to conduct a market research study for an anticipated requirement expert IT-Acquisition support services. Participation in this request for information is voluntary.

1. PURPOSE

This is a Department of State (DOS) Sources Sought only.

Non-profit organizations are requested to read and respond to the below accordingly. The responses from this notice may be used as market research to determine an acquisition strategy for an anticipated competitive acquisition.

The Department is seeking information from all offerors that can provide the capabilities below in Section 2.

ALL RESPONSES SHOULD BE SUBMITTED IN WRITING VIA EMAIL TO dicksonms@state.gov with copy t ziembade@state.gov  AS DETAILED IN SECTION 4. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES SHALL ANY RESPONDENT CONTACT ANY OTHER DEPARTMENT OF STATE PERSONNEL REGARDING THIS NOTICE.

THIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL. THIS IS FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSE ONLY; NO QUESTIONS WILL BE ACCEPTED IN RESPONSE TO THIS RFI. NO AWARD WILL BE MADE ON THE BASIS OF RESPONSES RECEIVED TO THIS NOTICE.

2.  RESPONSE CONTENT

Overview

The Department of State (DOS) Bureau of Information Resource Management (IRM) Office of IT Acquisitions (ITA), and the BMP front office are actively engaged in obtaining support for the development of requirements documents and assist in source selection for the Evolve procurement.

Background

The Evolve contract effort for the Department seeks to overhaul the approach to how the Department contracts and administers IT specific services and functions.  To generate the required documentation aligning with the acquisition lifecycle processes and procedures for this effort, services are needed in developing the language and documentation required.  Within these specific IT requirements, there is a need to engage specific technical expertise to aid in the source selection process and the QA process for deliverables of a highly technical nature.

The Department requires expert IT-Acquisition support with the proposed areas as listed below:

Expertise in the areas of:

Engineering, Software Intensive System, Networks and Communication Engineering, Modern Systems Engineering tools and methodologies in the acquisition of new systems.

Development and review of technical performance indicators, measures, and metrics

Identification and development of technical standards, specifications, and outcomes

Development and review of best practices, procedures, guides, and handbooks for CORs related to highly technical subject matter

Development and review of system quality control and assurance, reliability, sustainment, and cybersecurity considerations

Identification of inherent technical risk and mitigation strategies of a highly technical nature.

Analysis and evaluation of systems and enterprise resource operating performance (not for organizational performance analysis)

IT- acquisition requirements development, alternative solutions, trade-off studies and other acquisition decision related documents (i.e., alternatives analysis, trade-off studies, market research, technology evaluations, mission needs statement, operational requirements document, etc.)

Complex IT-acquisition planning and strategy development assistance including development of formal acquisition documentation in support of an Acquisition Decision Event (ADE)/ Key Decision Point (KDP) or other milestone determination

Technical input and review of Request for Proposal (RFP); Request for Information (RFI); technical documentation (i.e., work statements, specifications, test, and evaluation plans, etc.)

Technical review of proposals, as well as technical recommendations in support of source selections

Independent testing or evaluation to ensure quality deliverables by programs as related to their stated goals and missions and contractual requirements.

Audits of contracts for adherence to established standards, processes, and procedures and validate conformance with generally accepted business practices.

Evaluating contractor cybersecurity standards, protocols, vulnerability and threat identification and mitigation.

Development of concepts, models, simulations, tools, and metrics to evaluate system tradeoffs and integration strategies and support critical decision making in writing IT-requirements.

Application of statistical analysis and evaluation techniques in relation to IT-requirements.

Development of prototypes and proof-of-concept demonstrations to determine the correct contract requirements.

Design, development and establishment of development environments.

Evaluation of current networking, telecommunications, and communications technology in relation to DOS technologies.

Review of integrating architectures and frameworks for existing and emerging systems and applications for requirements development.

Review of enterprise systems engineering principles to overall systems integration and aggregation considerations for requirements development.

Systems Engineering for acquisition of new systems: Concept Development, Requirements Engineering, System and Enterprise Architecture, System Design and Development, System Integration, Test and Evaluation, and Transition to Operations and Maintenance.

Design, development, and validation of integrating architectures, frameworks and technology roadmaps for existing and emerging systems and applications

Application of system of systems and systems engineering principles to portfolio management, integration and aggregation of mission related systems and technologies

3. OTHER INSTRUCTIONS

Interested firms must demonstrate in their qualifications statement that they are qualified to perform the work outlined in the chart as detailed in section 2.  This should be demonstrated by providing no less than 3 past performance examples of providing this expertise in the federal space.

Interested firms are advised that proposed contract services will include services and actions that are not considered to be inherently governmental functions but may approach being in that category because of the nature of the function, the manner in which the contractor performs the contract, or the manner in which the Government administers contractor performance.   The contract will be subject to the following regulatory requirements:

https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-48/part-3/subpart-3.11

https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-48/part-7/subpart-7.5

https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-48/part-9/subpart-9.5

4. SUBMISSION DETAILS

Interested businesses shall submit electronic responses; responses must be received by dicksonms@state.gov with copy to ziembade@state.gov no later than 4:30 pm Eastern Daylight Time on August 15, 2022.

Please submit all responses electronically to dicksonms@state.gov with copy to ziembade@state.gov at Department of State Office of Acquisition Management prior to submittal date. No phone or email solicitation with regards to the status of the RFP will be accepted prior to its release.

Responses must be submitted electronically, formatted in Microsoft Word. Margins must be 1” on all sides, to print on 8 ½” x 11” paper. Typeface must be Times New Roman, 12-point font. The page limitation shall be four (4) pages total, with one cover page providing high level organization details, follow by three (3) pages/ one (1) page per example; but respondents are cautioned to keep marketing materials and non-specific information to a minimum. No responses shall be accepted via US Mail or Fax.

All responses shall include the company name, address and DUNS Number. The response shall also include the point-of-contract (POC) including name, phone number and e-mail address. Information and materials submitted in response to this request WILL NOT be returned.

  • Original Set Aside: 
  • Product Service Code: R707 – SUPPORT- MANAGEMENT: CONTRACT/PROCUREMENT/ACQUISITION SUPPORT
  • NAICS Code: 541519 – Other Computer Related Services
  • Place of Performance:Arlington , VA 22209 USA

Full details via beta.sam.gov