SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), Digital Services Support Office (DSSO) is issuing this sources sought notice to conduct market research to identify parties having an interest in and the resources to support this requirement for information technology (IT) operations and maintenance (O&M) support services for applications developed in Salesforce Platform. The result of this market research will contribute to determining the method of procurement. The applicable North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code assigned to this procurement is 541511 . THERE IS NO SOLICITATION AT THIS TIME. This request for capability information does not constitute a request for proposals; submission of any information in response to this market survey is purely voluntary; the government assumes no financial responsibility for any costs incurred. If your organization has the potential capacity to perform these contract services, please provide the following information: Request for Information Instructions: Interested sources may notify APHIS of their interest in performing this type of work. Responses must include: Name of Company and Contact Information to include telephone and e-mail; Business Size and type of ownership (e.g., Large Business, Small Business, HubZone Small Business, Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business (SDVOSB), 8(a), Women-Owned, Small Disadvantaged); Tailored capability statements addressing the particulars of this effort, with appropriate documentation supporting claims of organizational and staff capability. If significant subcontracting or teaming is anticipated in order to deliver technical capability, organizations should address the administrative and management structure of such arrangements. DUNS Number; Responses to the requested information questions in appendix objective section. Three past performance references relevant to the company's ability to perform this type of work and/or literature that supports the company’s capability to perform this work The government will evaluate market information to ascertain potential market capacity to 1) provide services consistent in scope and scale with those described in this notice and otherwise anticipated; 2) secure and apply the full range of corporate financial, human capital, and technical resources required to successfully perform similar requirements; 3) implement a successful project management plan that includes: compliance with tight program schedules; cost containment; meeting and tracking performance; hiring and retention of key personnel and risk mitigation; and 4) provide services under a performance based service acquisition contract. BASED ON THE RESPONSES TO THIS SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE/MARKET RESEARCH, THIS REQUIREMENT MAY BE SET-ASIDE FOR SMALL BUSINESSES OR PROCURED THROUGH FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION. Telephone inquiries will not be accepted or acknowledged, and no feedback or evaluations will be provided to companies regarding their submissions. Submission Instructions: Interested parties who consider themselves qualified to perform the above-listed services are invited to submit a response to this Sources Sought Notice by 10:00 AM CT on February 5, 2021 . All responses under this Sources Sought Notice must be emailed to
[email protected]. If you have any questions concerning this opportunity, please contact:
[email protected]. APPENDIX: Purpose and Objectives BACKGROUND The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is charged with protecting America's agricultural resources by keeping foreign pests and diseases out of the country, minimizing damage caused by wildlife, and protecting certain animals from inhumane treatment. APHIS is using the SalesForce Platform to modernize and/or consolidate a number of its information management systems. For example, APHIS has been implementing an integrated system called APHIS eFile in Salesforce Platform to manage permits and/or authorizations that allow the movement of regulated agricultural articles into and through the United States and uses this system to issue roughly 500,000 permits/authorizations each year. As more applications are implemented in the new APHIS eFile, and other, smaller systems are built in the SalesForce Platform, the need for operations and maintenance (O&M) support for systems developed in the Salesforce Platform will initially increase and become a larger component of IT requirements before decreasing to a steady state. This notice seeks information on the capabilities of companies to perform O&M services for Salesforce based IT systems that APHIS uses to perform daily work. OBJECTIVE The primary objective of issuing the Sources Sought is to seek information and comments from companies that have the capability to effectively perform O&M services for systems developed in the Salesforce Platform. Vendors interested in supporting the Operations and Maintenance for the agency’s systems developed in the Salesforce Platform should have the capability to: Develop systems utilizing Agile processes such as Scrum (e.g., ability to respond to changing requirements in a fast-paced environment with frequent business owner interactions) with a demonstrated track record of completing tasks on schedule and at or close to initial estimates for anticipated level of effort; Demonstrate experience with O&M of applications in Salesforce Platform for third-party developed systems (i.e., providing O&M support for systems other than those developed by the contractor); Demonstrate DevOps capabilities to include version control, automated deployment process and continuous integration ; and Design and maintain solutions (and fixes) in Salesforce technology to minimize operations and maintenance expenses for the client.