SOURCES SOUGHT
70 -- 9 FAM-e Visas - 9 FAM-e Visas SOO
- Notice Date
- 4/19/2011
- Notice Type
- Sources Sought
- NAICS
- 541519
— Other Computer Related Services
- Contracting Office
- U.S. Department of State, Office of Logistics Management, Acquisition Management, P.O. Box 9115, Rosslyn Station, Arlington, Virginia, 22219
- ZIP Code
- 22219
- Solicitation Number
- REF9FAM
- Archive Date
- 6/9/2011
- Point of Contact
- JoAnn Stewart, Phone: 7038756646, Reaver T. Clements, Phone: 7038755077
- E-Mail Address
-
stewartj@state.gov, clementsrl@state.gov
(stewartj@state.gov, clementsrl@state.gov)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- Statement of Objectives for 9 FAM-e Visas Purpose: The Department of State, Bureau of Consular Affairs, Visa Office of Legislation and Regulations and the Office of Consular Systems and Technology Services, is issuing a Request for Information (RFI) for planning purposes only. This does not constitute an Invitation for Bids nor a Request for Proposals (RFP). The Government does not reimburse respondents for any cost associated with submission of the information being requested or reimburse expenses incurred to interested parties for responses to this RFI, or any subsequent RFP. The purpose of this Request for Information is to receive feedback and Capability Statements from the Small Business community and is in support of market research. Background: Despite recent revisions to the organization and content of the visa volume of the Foreign Affairs Manual, the basic format and content parallel the Immigration and Nationality Act, As Amended, and Volume 22 of the Code of Federal Regulations. With current technological capabilities, much of the earlier rationale for the complex and unusual format is no longer valid. This long-standing format originally was required to ensure that field officers were easily able to cite relevant areas of law and regulation when seeking legal and other opinions of the Department, and in dealing with Members of Congress and the public, including with attorneys representing clients. The Bureau of Consular Affairs now seeks to develop a simpler, more interactive, and searchable 9 FAM (Visas). This is a complicated undertaking that will involve working with the new enterprise search engine being installed as part of the SMART messaging project or another enterprise search engine. The Department's primary search engine, Autonomy, is producing somewhat better search results on 9 FAM than its predecessor did, but it still has difficulty searching through the 4000 pages of 9 FAM visa material. Even a new and more sophisticated search engine will have similar problems without an adequate taxonomy and more simplified text structure for this large volume. Reorganization and simplification of the format and drafting will provide Department users, at home and abroad, improved ability to retrieve unstructured and structured data through the OpenNet unclassified and classified Intranet home pages. Restructuring 9 FAM should permit process-related views of material and make searches easier. Since 2003, the Department has relied on 9 FAM for definitive legal, policy, and procedural guidance. Scope: The Department requires the new 9 FAM be a world-class, electronic 9 FAM-e, or content portal. This new portal will allow a user-friendly interface with enhanced search functionality to query both structured and unstructured content by keywords or similar means. This new portal will also allow easy data aggregation, which should be able to pull links and content together into a single place that helps users know where to go if they are looking for information. It is also envisioned that the new 9 FAM-e will allow more robust self-service capabilities, such as the ability to save previous searches (My Favorites), and allow for more robust user-interaction and a customizable experience. This 9 FAM-e project is intended to provide, the full range of search and knowledge management services required to meet State's responsibilities under Federal legislation and executive orders including the newly implemented Plain Writing Act of 2010, Public Law 111-274. Vendor Submission Instructions: Small Business Vendors who believe that they possess the expertise and experience to fulfill all of the requirements listed in the SOO are invited to please: 1. Submit technical and management capabilities; and experiences, addressing each of these areas in writing. Include: company name; address; e-mail address, telephone number; points of contact; and size of business pursuant to North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS). 2. Include a description of the solutions that may deliver end user functionality, or support the development, deployment, and maintenance of the 9 FAM-e as a system. As part of your discussion, please address the following: (a) Solution description and key features (b) Performance characteristics (c) Any architectural considerations (d) The degree of customization or configuration anticipated to meet the Government's requirements (e) Cost drivers. 3. Discuss any implementation considerations you believe are relevant to the 9 FAM-e initiative as a whole. This discussion may include salient risks and mitigation measures, lessons learned from other projects or agencies, contracting approaches, or any other pertinent information. 4. Describe your firm's capabilities as related to the scope of 9 FAM-e. Vendors are asked to provide relevant examples of previous work or solution implementations, to include client POCs. Federal and state government projects will be considered more relevant than commercial examples. 5. Provide cost or price estimates for the delivery of a complete solution that meets all requirements listed in the Statement of Objectives (SOO). Also please provide possible labor category information for fulfilling the requirements listed in the SOO. Your capabilities package must be company-specific. Capability packages that include teaming partners, subcontractors, etc. are not solicited and will not be reviewed. To the maximum extent possible, submit Non-Proprietary Information. All information received in this RFI that is appropriately marked "Proprietary" will be handled accordingly. Responses to this RFI will not be returned nor will receipt be confirmed. No phone calls related to this RFI will be accepted. All correspondence must be made via email. All responses need to be provided in electronic format (.PDF preferred). Font should be Times New Roman, size 12. Responses should not exceed 20 pages. All packages submitted by email must be free of any computer virus. If a virus is found, the package will be destroyed and a replacement will be requested, which must be provided within three days after notification. Please submit responses no later than 11:00 a.m EDT, May 18, 2011, to stewartj@state.gov. Cut-off for questions and answers is, May 4, 2011; 12 noon EDT. NO TELEPHONE CALLS WILL BE ACCEPTED. After review of vendor's questions, the following reply is issued: Thank you for your questions related to the 9 FAM-e Request for Information (RFI). At this time, 9 FAM-e is at the conceptual level and the most accurate depiction of the 9 FAM-e is contained in the SOO. This RFI is not tied to an acquisition and the responses will be used for informational purposes. We are therefore interested in any proposed solutions that your respective firms bring to the marketing research effort. We will provide additional details that will address your specific questions as we move forward to the acquisition phase.
- Web Link
-
FBO.gov Permalink
(https://www.fbo.gov/spg/State/A-LM-AQM/A-LM-AQM/REF9FAM/listing.html)
- Place of Performance
- Address: Department of State, Office of Logistics Management, Room 200, 2nd Floor, SA-6, 1701 N. Fort Myer Drive, Arlington, Virginia, 22209, United States
- Zip Code: 22209
- Zip Code: 22209
- Record
- SN02428219-W 20110421/110419235035-262d7dac9e478388732900abcbf44cfc (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps Link to This Notice
(may not be valid after Archive Date)
| FSG Index | This Issue's Index | Today's FBO Daily Index Page |