NOTE: PLEASE SEE PARAGRAPH 6 BELOW REGARDING POINT OF CONTACT FOR QUESTIONS AND RESPONSES IN REGARD TO THIS REQUEST FOR INFORMATION. 1. INTRODUCTION: a. This Request for Information (RFI) is issued solely for information and planning purposes; it does not constitute a Request for Proposal (RFP) or a promise to issue an RFP in the future. This request for information does not commit the Government to contract for any supply or service whatsoever. Further, the Department of Defense is not seeking proposals, and will not accept any information or administrative cost incurred in response to this RFI. All costs associated with responding to this RFI will be solely at the interested party’s expense. Not responding to this RFI does not preclude participation in any future RFP. If an RFP is released, it will be synopsized on the Federal Business Opportunities (FedBizOpps) website at http://www.fedbizopps.gov/. It is the responsibility of potential offerors to monitor this and any other pertinent website for additional information pertaining to this requirement. b. The RFI process will be conducted in two phases. The first phase is a request for information only and will allow the Analysis of Alternatives (AoA) team to select representative candidates from each category for estimating program cost and effectiveness. As part of the first phase, the AoA team may conduct an information exchange meeting with representative companies under each of the alternatives cited in Paragraph 2, below. It is anticipated that these meetings will take place in the July timeframe. The second phase will be a request for cost and pricing data from the representative candidates under each alternative. As stated in Paragraph a., this does not constitute an RFP. Life cycle costing information will strictly be used as an aid in ascertaining a Government estimate for these candidate representative solutions as a means to completion of the required Economic Analysis. . 2. PURPOSE: The purpose of this RFI is to gather information to support an AoA for the sourcing/procurement capability of the Department of Defense (DOD). The Government is looking for information in four categories: (1) firms that have the resources (hardware, software, people, facilities) available which would allow the Government to out-source the capability; (2) Commercial Off-the-Shelf (COTS) or Government Off-the-Shelf (GOTS) products capable of fulfilling DOD’s needs; (3) a combination of categories (1) and (2); and (4) development of a solution that would fulfill DoD’s sourcing needs within the stated timeframe. 3. BACKGROUND: As part of the Acquisition Domain’s transformation initiative and in support of the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) Business Management Modernization Program (BMMP), an AoA for the Acquisition Domain, sourcing/procurement process has been launched. This AoA is in support of a Milestone A decision (Concept Refinement Phase). In conjunction with this effort, OSD will assess and define required Acquisition Domain capabilities and develop an Initial Capabilities Document (ICD) with JROC (Joint Requirements Oversight Council) approval/validation. The AoA will assess suitable IT alternatives for the future Acquisition Domain capabilities identified in the ICD. This is a significant Domain undertaking -- one that will serve to shape and directly influence the way the DOD does business in the future. The AoA is being led by the Air Force on behalf of OSD; however, it is a joint effort with representatives from the Military Departments and Defense Agencies. The DoD Acquisition Domain (Sourcing) (DADS) initiative, as envisioned, will enable the DoD to acquire services, supplies, construction, and financial assistance in support of its mission in a standardized, seamless, end-to-end (E2E) shared data environment. DADS will also support mission related assistance through the use of such instruments as grants and cooperative agreements. 4. TIMEFRAMES: For planning purposes, the AoA being conducted is in support of a Milestone A (Concept Refinement Phase) decision scheduled for December 2005. a. Based upon this schedule, it is anticipated that vendors responding to capabilities described under Categories 1 and 2 in Paragraph 2, above, will be deployed in mid-2010. b. For responses to capabilities described under Categories 3 and 4, in Paragraph 2, above, the Government will entertain a spiral/modular solution with an initial deployment. Responses in these two categories should indicate the timeframe to complete deployment of the full operational capabilities. 5. CAPABILITIES: Attachment A is the Initial Capabilities Document (ICD) setting forth the required capabilities. The following paragraphs synopsize this document. Websites containing information referenced herein, and in the ICD, are contained in Paragraph 8. Those responding to this request, must categorize responses by identifying capabilities that currently exist, capabilities currently under development, and capabilities that can be planned and scheduled. For each of these three categories, responses are expected to address each subparagraph below. All responses must be accompanied by a plan addressing the approach, including a schedule, which describes the candidate technology and proposed approach for the DoD Sourcing environment, method of supply/delivery (e.g. full delivery or spiral delivery with proposed approach to provide full capability). training, deployment, maintenance and sustainment. Responses are not to exceed the maximum equivalent of 75 pages, including schedules. For those solutions currently in use within the Federal Government, provide the names of the agencies, the approximate number of users of the system, and a point of contact at the agency. In addition, briefly describe your company, your products and services, history, ownership, financial information, and other information you deem relevant (not to exceed the equivalent of 5 pages). Address and provide a full description of any projects you have been involved in that are similar in concept to what is described in this RFI, including management and operations approach, security requirements, security assurance processes, and any relevant lessons learned (not to exceed the equivalent of 2 pages per project). a. The solution must include a database, document generator and document manager capability (produce and manage documents by accessing data in the database) and must contain a flexible, near real-time and batch interface capability to both internal and external systems. b. The solution must facilitate improved acquisition cycles such that single transaction data entry is utilized to ensure data consistency throughout the entire solution and the time/steps to generate/process an action are minimized. As part of this capability, the solution must provide the most streamlined method of generating, processing and tracking sourcing actions through an automated routing and/or automated population means. c. The solution must execute DoD acquisition instruments, business rules and formats (including but not limited to: FAR/DFARS, non-FAR, DoDGAR, non-appropriated funds (NAF) instruments, Government-wide Purchase Card transactions) d. Standard shared data must be available through the entire acquisition process from the development of an acquisition strategy to the final disposal of property and archiving of records. e. The solution must be interoperable with other appropriate systems such as foreign or domestic partners (e.g., finance, logistics, contractors/vendors), without the use of specialized networks. It must provide data interaction across DoD sourcing communities/users. f. The solution must accommodate automated closeout activities. g. The solution must be supportable and useable. In support of this item, provide a supportability/usability plan which addresses elements such as Section 508 compliance, operating in contingency/fleet and remote conditions, records management as defined in DOD STD 5015.2, NARA. h. The solution must comply with the requirements of the Global Information Grid (GIG) architecture and must meet Government accreditation and certification standards such as JITC and CJCSI 6212.01B. i. Responses to this RFI must indicate the solution’s evolutionary adaptability for technology insertion – degree of openness, extensibility and scalability. The solution must be Federal Enterprise Architecture and DoD Architecture Framework compliant j. The solution must provide real-time on-screen viewing/printing of live data to facilitate complete tracking/traceability of data elements contained within the solution. k. The solution must provide data integrity to include traceability/auditability of related data elements (e.g., funds tracking, item stock numbers, etc.) at all levels. l. The solution must accommodate analysis of data and permit standard, as well as ad-hoc, query report options. m. In order to provide data for the agency's data warehouse and Business Intelligence capabilities, the agency requires complete access to all data created and/or stored by the proposed solution. In addition, a complete description of the data stored by the application, whether as a data dictionary or as metadata, will be required. Access to the data, and a description of the data, are required to support routine extractions and movement of the information into the agency's data repositories. 6. Questions regarding this announcement shall be submitted, in writing by E-MAIL ONLY, to Joe Ford at mailto:
[email protected]. Verbal questions will NOT be accepted. Questions of a substantive nature will be answered via the FEDBIZOPPS website; accordingly, questions shall NOT contain or request any proprietary and/or classified information. The Government does not guarantee that questions received after 2 Jun 04 will be answered. 7. Responses are due no later than 9 Jun 2004 at 4:00 P.M. EDT in electronic format only. Responses shall be submitted on a single Microsoft Office/Adobe compatible CD to Ms Carolyn Lee, SAF/AQCI, 1500 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 700, Arlington, VA 22209. 8. REFERENCE/COMPLIANCE DOCUMENTS: a. Acquisition/Financial Systems Interface Requirements, JFMIP-SR-02-02, June 2002, http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d04218g.pdf b. Business Enterprise Architecture, http://www.dod.mil/comptroller/bmmp/pages/arch_home.html c. Business Management Modernization Program, http://www.dod.mil/comptroller/bmmp d. DoD Directive 5000.1, The Defense Acquisition System, 12 May 2003 and DoD Instruction (DoDI) 5000.2, Operation of the Defense Acquisition System, 12 May 2003. Both documents may be accessed at http://dod5000.dau.mil/. e. Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Act of 1990 (P.L. 101-576), http://wwwoirm.nih.gov/itmra/cfoact.html f. CJCSI 6212.01B, Interoperability and Supportability of NSS/IT, 8 May 2000 http://www.jsc.mil/jsce3/emcslsa/stdlib/docs/Instructions/6212_01b.pdf g. Core Financial System Requirements, JFMIP-SR-02-01, November 2001, http://www.dfas.mil/library/79004g.pdf h. DODI 5200.40, DoD Information Technology Security Certification and Accreditation Process (DITSCAP), 30 December 1997, http://www.dtic.mil/whs/directives/corres/pdf/i520040_123097/i520040p.pdf i. DoD 5015.2 - STD “Design Criteria Standard for Electronic Records Management Software Applications”, http://www.dtic.mil/whs/directives/corres/pdf/50152std_061902/p50152s.pdf j. Federal Financial Management Improvement Act (FFMIA) of 1996, P.L. 104-208, http://www.dod.mil/comptroller/icenter/inforef/ffmia96.pdf k. Global Information Grid Enterprise Services (GIG ES): Core Enterprise Services (CES) Implementation, http://www.defenselink.mil/nii/doc/ l. Global Information Grid Enterprise Services Strategy (GIG ES), http://www.defenselink.mil/nii/doc/ m. Global Information Grid (GIG) Overarching Policy, Sept 19, 2002, http://www.defenselink.mil/nii/org/cio/ n. Joint Vision 2020, http://www.dtic.mil/jointvision/history.htm o. Joint Technical Architecture (JTA), http://jta.disa.mil/ p. OSD NII DCIO Net-Centric Checklist Version 2.1, http://www.defenselink.mil/nii/doc/ q. Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act (29 U.S.C. 794d), as amended by the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (P.L. 105-220), 7 August 1998, http://www.section508.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=Content&ID=12 9. AMENDMENT TO RFI POSTED JUNE 4, 2004 - USE OF NON-GOVERNMENT CONSULTANTS DURING REVIEWS. Offerors are advised that non-Government consultants may assist the Government during the Government's review of responses to this RFI. These persons shall be authorized access only to those portions of the data and discussions that are necessary to enable them to provide specific technical advice on specialized matters or on particular problems. They shall be expressly prohibited from disclosing this information outside the working group evaluation process.