RFI Operation and Maintenance for Budget Software

Request for Information (RFI): Budget Formulation and Execution Information Technology System Support ServicesTHIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) ONLY. This RFI is issued solely for information and planningpurposes and does not constitute a solicitation or issuance thereof.Issued By: United States Department of Education, Federal Student Aid (FSA), Washington, DC.Proposed North American Industry Classification System (NAICS): 54151 IT SupportThe purpose of this RFI is to obtain information regarding the availability and capability of qualifiedbusinesses to provide ongoing support of FSA’s Enterprise Project Portfolio Management system. Please refer to the “Scope” and “Information Requested” sections of this RFI for specific information that should be detailed in any capability statement submission.This Request for Information includes:Draft EPPM O&M Support Services Task descriptionDESCRIPTION1.1 BackgroundFederal Student Aid (FSA), an office of the U.S. Department of Education

(ED), plays a central and essential role in America's postsecondary education community. FSA's core mission is to ensure that all eligible Americans can benefit from federal financial assistance including grants, loans, and work study programs, for education beyond high school. To manage federal student aid programs, approximately $1.8 billion per year in discretionary funding is appropriated to FSA for student aid administration.FSA’s Enterprise Project Portfolio Management system (EPPM) is an on-premises application software. The software is used by over 200 FSA staff to support FSA’s budget formulation and execution processes and procedures, which are managed by the FSA Finance Directorate’s Budget Group. Users include FSA Program Managers, Budget Analysts, management, and contractor support staff.EPPM has been used to collect and consolidate FSA’s annual student aid administration budget request since 2012. Budget request information, including business case information, scope/objectives, accounting data, monthly request amounts, and supporting documentation are entered by users as part of FSA’s budget formulation annual planning process. Requests are submitted for two years out from the current fiscal year (FY). The system automates the review and approval of over 200 requests, called Budget Initiative Requests (BIRs), through six stage gates, before being consolidated for inclusion in FSA’s budget request to ED, ED’s request to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and the Congressional Justification submitted to Congress. The system also captures FSA budget data for select key formulation milestones including the President’s Budget and final enacted budget. EPPM also captures business case information, objectives, risks, constraints, and software and licensing information for 35 FSA systems.As part of the budget execution process, EPPM is used to manage FSA’s current year spend plan once the Student Aid Administration account is appropriated by Congress through a Continuing Resolution or an appropriations act. Changes to the spend plan are executed through Budget Change Requests (BCRs). EPPM automates the routing of each request through the review process and updates spend plans once a request is approved. EPPM also provides budget analysts with key reports necessary to analyze FSA’s budget portfolio and reconcile FSA’s budget against its annual appropriation.1.2 Current System Environment EPPM is a Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) software package that integrates Microsoft Project Server 2016, Microsoft SharePoint 2016, and UMT360 Financials. EPPM was originally deployed in March 2012 and was last updated in June 2021 under Release 6.0. No new major releases are anticipated during the term of the anticipated contract.Required support is related to the configured application. Actual maintenance of the hardware infrastructure and some software infrastructure is performed by other vendors on behalf of FSA. The EPPM application is one of several applications running on a server network maintained by FSA’s Employee Enterprise Business Collaboration team and Next Generation Data Center.FSA is currently evaluating alternative budget formulation and execution systems. Acquisition and implementation of a new system may result in EPPM system retirement during the period of performance of the anticipated contract.1.3 Scope The primary objective of this activity is to identify sources available to provide FSA with ongoing support as described in the Task Areas below.Task Area 1, System Operations and Maintenance Support, includes, but is not limited to, the following:Support EPPM upgrades, updates, patches and fixesTestingMaintain system documentationChange requestsApplication maintenance and troubleshootingMonitor daily EPPM Operations activity and system performanceSecurityReportingHelp DeskSelect system administrator activitiesTask Area 2, Support FSA’s Budget Processes, includes, but is not limited to, the following:Budget Formulation – Annual Planning Process Preparation, Support, and CloseoutBudget ExecutionBudget ReportingExpanded description of these services can be found in Attachment 1.1.4 Skill RequirementsThe following qualifications are required to successfully support EPPM O&M:Experience with system security processesExperience with Microsoft Project Server, SharePoint, SQL Server, SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS), Excel Services, Microsoft Windows Server configuration and capabilitiesWorking knowledge of Federal budget processes (preferred but not required)Project management capabilitiesUnderstanding of the software development lifecycleAbility to gather business and system requirementsAbility to design, configure test and deploy in test and production environmentsAbility to coordinate testing and other activities with FSA infrastructure teams             1.5 Draft Acquisition Approach OverviewFSA is conducting market research by means of releasing an RFI that includes draft EPPM O&M task descriptions. FSA seeks to establish a Firm Fixed Price Contract to facilitate rapid procurement of technical services to accomplish the requirements stated above.This requirement is expected to be solicited and awarded in the 4th Quarter of Government FY2022. FSA anticipates a period of performance consisting of of a 9-week transition period, one 12-month base year and two 12-month option years.All work performed under the anticipated contract is to be done remotely.1.6 RFI LimitationsTHIS IS A RFI ONLY. THIS IS NOT A NOTICE OF SOLICITATION ISSUANCE.This RFI is issued solely for market research to gain information and for planning purposes - it does not constitute a solicitation or a promise to issue a solicitation in the future. This RFI does not commit the Government to contract for any supply or service whatsoever.  If a solicitation is released, it will be published on the Sam.gov website.It is the responsibility of the potential respondents to monitor Sam.gov for additional information pertaining to this potential requirement. The information provided in this RFI is subject to change and is not binding on the Government. Further, the release of the RFI should not be construed as a commitment or as authorization to incur cost for which reimbursement would be required or sought.Respondents are advised that the U.S. Government will not pay for any information or administrative costs incurred in response to this RFI. All costs associated with responding to this RFI will be solely at the respondent’s expense. Failure to respond to this RFI will not preclude participation in any future solicitation, if issued.2.0 REFERENCE DOCUMENTSDraft EPPM O&M Support Services Task Descriptions (Attachment 1)3.0 REQUESTED INFORMATIONResponses to this RFI shall be in the form of a capability statement, which will enhance the Government’s knowledge of market capabilities, potential sources, and assist in the Government’s development of its acquisition strategy.At a minimum, interested respondents are to submit the following information:A. Provide your company information to include: (1) Name and address of respondent (Corporate/principal Office); (2) Name, telephone and email of Point of Contact; (3) CAGE Code; and (4) business size, socio-economic status, and NAICS code(s) registration.B. Describe your Company’s experience and capabilities providing the same or similar services as outlined herein. Indicate whether all tasks delineated herein can be supported by your organization or if subcontracting would be contemplated. If subcontracting would be contemplated, delineate which tasks would be contemplated for subcontracting.C. Describe staff qualifications listed under Skill Requirements.D. Describe any approaches to improving efficiency in performing the tasks listed in Attachment 1.E. Identify the organization(s) for which you have provided or currently provide the same or similar services. Information provided should be within the last 3 years. For each organization identified provide the following:a. Contract nameb. Contract numberc. Total award amountd. Period of performance (including any options)e. Agency (or business) contract awarded byf. Agency (or business) point of contact information to include name, title, phone number,and email addressg. Indicate whether your organization was a prime or subcontractorF. If you hold a GSA Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) or other GWAC contract applicable to [] or any alternatively proposed NAICS, please provide the contract number(s).G. Provide any comments, requests for clarification, or suggestions regarding the scope delineated in this notice.H. Based on a potential award in 4th Quarter Government Fiscal Year 2022, indicate your Company’s interest in submitting a proposal for all tasks described in the Draft task descriptions in Attachment 2.4.0 Responses4.1 Proprietary DataProprietary information is not desired; however, if any is provided, it MUST BE CLEARLY MARKED. All data received in response to this announcement marked or designated as corporate or proprietary information will be protected from release outside of the Government. Only unclassified responses will be accepted. Do not submit classified information.4.2 Response Submittal Responses to this RFI must be in Adobe PDF format. Responses are due no later than 2pm on Tuesday, June 7, 2022, and shall not exceed 10 pages (12-point font minimum). File names should only contain letters and numbers without special characters.  Please be advised that all submissions will not be returned. Responses to this RFI shall be submitted to Earlene.bedford@ed.gov and Kenneth.McCurdy@ed.gov