Inactive 8(a) Set-Aside (FAR 19.8)

*****AMENDED RFI****** Attached are the answers to questions received by respondents to this NOVEMBER RFI, as well as answers recieved to questions received to the April 2024 RFI posted on SAM. Files:... *****AMENDED RFI****** Attached are the answers to questions received by respondents to this NOVEMBER RFI, as well as answers recieved to questions received to the April 2024 RFI posted on SAM. Files: 1) NOVEMBER 2024_HRIS_PTAG RFI Questions- answers__Final 2) APRIL 2024_HRIS_SAM RFI Questions- answers__Final (end of amendment) This PTAG 6.1.1 Sources Sought Notice is strictly for market research ONLY. It is for informational and planning purposes and shall NOT be construed as a solicitation or as an obligation or commitment by the Government at this time. Note: A FAR 13 version of this notice was previously posted in May 2024 on sam.gov under NAICS 541612. As a result, attached are the questions asked by respondents to that posting, as well as the USPTO answers. Please incorporate those answers into your understanding of the requirement. If you responded to the notice in May, please either resend, update,or let us know via email there are no changes to your response. Patent and Trademark Office Acquisition Guidelines (PTAG) The Government intends utilizing the Alternative Competition Method in accordance with the Patent and Trademark Office Acquisition Guidelines (PTAG) and the Patent and Trademark Office Efficiency Act 35 U.S.C. 2(b)(4)(A). This Sources sought notice is intended as preliminary market information gathering which the USPTO will use to determine which vendor(s) is/are the most likely to successfully meet the agency’s needs and are thereby eligible to participate in an alternative competition. As a result of this market research, the solicitation will only be issued to those qualified vendor(s) that are deemed most likely to successfully meet the agency’s requirement as stated below. The applicable North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code is 541612. The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), the Office of Human Resources (OHR) is issuing this RFI to determine the interest and capability of certified, qualified and responsible FSS 8(a) Small Businesses schedule holders that can meet this requirement as defined in the “draft” SOW below, as well as in the answers to the attached Respondents Q&A. #### DRAFT STATEMENT OF WORK #### Background The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) deployed HRConnect to its HR staff, USPTO Managers and USPTO Employees in 2013. The Office of Human Resources (OHR), Human Resources Information Systems (HRIS) Division provides expert level support to help improve and maximize USPTO’s use of HRConnect as well as providing tier 1 customer support to all of the end users of the HRConnect System at the USPTO. OHR primarily uses the email address HRConnect_Support as the way of receiving Tier 1 inquiries from customers. OHR responds to the inquiry via email and may also call the user and share screens using Microsoft Teams. As there are frequent new releases of the HRConnect system, USPTO also spends a lot of time involved with testing, training and communication related to new functionality. The HRIS Division has historically supported the agency in providing a vast array of reports from the HR Systems currently in use; systems such as the Enterprise Data Warehouse (EDW), NFC, HRConnect (HRMS), WebTA or similar Time and Attendance Solutions, USA Staffing – applicant system, and assorted Access databases. These requirements have been in place for the past several years and are expected to remain as OHR/HRIS moves forward. OHR/HRIS recognizes the need to provide information to its user community and customers. To accomplish this OHR/HRIS revamped its own web-site (intranet) to better support the needs of their customer base, ( https://ptoweb.uspto.gov/ptointranet/ohr/index.htm ) OHR/HRIS team seeks to continue keeping this web-site up to date while also bringing other Office of the Chief Administrator (OCAO) web- sites to the same level of quality. The USPTO’s busy employees and supervisors need a user-friendly website with quick access to critical documents that inform the way they live, work, and care for themselves and their families. The OCAO Intranet presence is being redesigned with this in mind. The new CAO web presence will conform to USPTO standards set forth by the OCIO (Office of the Chief Information Officer) Website Management Branch and be designed to appeal to today’s web-savvy employees. These employees have become accustomed to pages that are inviting and dynamic with brief, easy-to-read content and photos that draw them in and the new OCAO web-site needs to reflect these ideas. The ever-changing world of OHR and the way OHR business is processed requires that the processes and procedures are kept up to date and reviewed periodically to maintain accuracy. OHR has some challenges around our processing within the HRConnect tool as well as the accuracy of the associated data. We continue to strive to advance the knowledge and capability of staff by defining and evaluating the current processing of staffing actions with the use of the HRConnect tool and clearly identifying gaps in processes. In addition, data is impacted when processes are not followed. The accuracy of this data is critical and we need to ensure that data is reviewed and validated BEFORE it becomes a part of the final record. OHR has done well since the initial launch of the HRConnect solution 11 years ago. We are now in need of HRC process review and adjustments based upon our lessons learned. HRIS has a need to examine how all processing is done and develop recommendations for how OHR can improve the quality of data in its systems. USA Staffing is the applicant tracking system used by the OHR. A subset of OHR staff require access to this system. E-Verify is the system used by the OHR to determine the eligibility of their employees, both U.S. and foreign citizens, to work in the United States. Whenever a new OHR Employee or Contactor needs access to E-Verify, HRIS is responsible for creating an account. HRIS is also responsible for unlocking passwords as needed for OHR staff. The HRIS currently provides a variety of support to its customers through the utilization of contracted services. These contracted services include the support of the HRConnect platform (to include tier one level support to users) and internal (OHR) web-site administration. The OHR/HRIS goal is not only to continue to provide high quality service that OHR/HRIS customers are accustomed to receiving but to also add efficiencies to the organization by bringing these services under one SOW and one OHR support services contractor in an effort to ease management burden and to create a more cohesive support team structure. Purpose The USPTO requires support services in various areas within the HRIS division for the entirety of OHR. The purpose of a proposed HRIS Support Services FSS BPA or Task Order is to attain expert level support with the Human Resource (HR) Connect solution and other enterprise-wide human capital solutions, to help sustain, improve and maximize USPTO’s use of automated human capital solutions. The support service will play an active role in maintaining and improving ongoing operations and processes related to HR solutions. The support service is expected to provide advice and guidance on the use of new HRConnect functionality and supplemental HR systems that would benefit the HRIS function. The HRIS requires general tier one support for Human Resource staff, USPTO Managers, and their Proxies and USPTO employees in the everyday use of HR solutions including but not limited to, HRConnect and the National Finance Center (NFC) EPIC system, as well as with deployment of new functionality for the various HR solutions. The HRIS requires account management support for systems such as the US Staffing system and Electronic Verify (E-Verify). This support includes creating and deleting accounts and resetting or unlocking passwords along with other basic Tier-1 support for various systems that are managed by HRIS. The HRIS requires support in the use of predetermined tools to retrieve data from relational databases and mainframe computers, and provide a variety of data reporting with an emphasis on data quality and accuracy for the purpose of providing statistical data to the OHR and its customers throughout the USPTO. The HRIS requires specialized assistance in the systematic design, development, clean-up, maintenance & continuous management of the OCAO & OHR internal web portals. This role is vital in ensuring the delivery of streamlined, current informatio1111n about OCAO, OHR and USPTO to the USPTO community. SCOPE The primary objective of the SOW is to support the day-to-day operations and objectives of the HRIS Division by providing high quality support to both internal and external customers of HRIS via a skilled cross-functional contractor led team. Task 1 – HRConnect Support The contractor shall: provide advice and guidance on all aspects of HRConnect to include Manager/Proxy, Employee and HR involvement with personnel action processing, payroll document processing, and MUM processing. assist with providing Tier 1 Support as needed and work with the DOC Enterprise Service Center and Treasury to get a fast resolution for items that cannot be resolved internal to USPTO. lead user acceptance testing, and provide training and change management guidance for any system and process changes related to the HRConnect System. assess the current environment related to HRConnect. This could include, but is not limited to, the current OHR organization, position structure and position duties and position performance appraisal plans (PAPs), HRConnect processing rules and workflows, and existing procedures, training and technology being used. Subtask 1 – HR System Support Services - “Consulting and Tier 1 Support” The contractor shall provide Project Management support for HRConnect and National Finance Center (NFC) functionality and deployment of new modules and shall manage the HRConnect release schedule and user acceptance via the creation of user acceptance test scenarios and through the facilitation of testing. The contractor: will interview OHR staff and management about what is / is not working related to HRConnect personnel and payroll processing and the quality of the data in HRConnect. will review existing personnel actions that are being worked along with existing data quality reports. will propose data quality and system processing efficiency measures. will then work with HRIS staff to measure both the quality of the existing system data and the efficiency of existing processing work. will recommend improvements, brief those improvements to Leadership and then work with Leadership, as needed, to implement those improvements. The support will require the rewriting of existing processes, the rewriting of job aids as well as identifying advantageous changes to the work flow processes. The contractor shall: provide strategic and technical advice for the implementation of updates to the HRConnect system. The advice shall identify pros and cons of any specific update (regulatory and enhancements) and be accompanied with guidance on how to best implement change with minimal impact to the system and user community. This advice and guidance will be documented and provided to the HRIS Division Chief for final approval. provide integration support for all future HRConnect modules (For example: Entrance on Duty and Performance Management). work in conjunction with the program office to develop metrics and reporting standards for the HRConnect system. The metrics and reporting standards will be applicable to HRConnect upgrades as well as day to day operations of HRConnect. develop and deliver training on HRConnect. The training will be applicable to all audiences who utilize HRConnect (Managers, Employees, and HR Specialists). This shall include digital training and aides developed using Camtasia and Articulate (or other like software should USPTO change products) This includes recurring reviewal and modifications for: Job aids HRConnect Basics Training Manager Self Service and Proxy Training New training on new functionality of HRConnect The contractor shall: provide tier one service desk support for all HRConnect customer issues/inquiries and respond to issues/inquiries via the HRConnect Support email in-box with-in two business hours of receipt of notification (email). Results of each interaction must be documented identifying the original problem, steps to resolve the problem and the ultimate solution. The problem must be followed up daily until the problem is resolved. respond to customer support inquires related to HRConnect such as password lockouts, user account set up and authentication, forwarding reports-to change requests and recruit requests to the appropriate Employment group, workflow issues and personnel action request processing issues. provide tier one level assistance with the use of HRConnect and the processing of personnel actions to Human Resource professionals, USPTO Managers and their designated proxies, and USPTO employees and contractors. All interactions and support with/of users will be documented and reported on a monthly basis. In the event the contractor is unable to provide the necessary support in tier one the issue should be escalated to the designated federal point of contact. use the HRConnect Mass Update Module as needed to process personnel actions that move USPTO employees from one organization and/or position to another. The contractor shall perform troubleshooting of system issues. The troubleshooting will be documented (steps, resolutions, impact) and reported on a daily basis until the issue is resolved. create accounts, unlock accounts and delete accounts for OHR Employees and Contractors, as needed, for the eVerifty system. The contractor shall create accounts, reset passwords, unlock accounts, delete accounts and approve OHR requests for USPTO Manager’s access, as needed, to the USA Staffing system. Task 2 – Website Administration Support Services The contractor shall update and redesign the CAO Web presence by updating any of the CAO Intranet and work with the OCIO Website Management Branch to ensure that the page is 508 compliant, complies with the USPTO branding, and is successfully constructed within Dreamweaver and SharePoint. The contractor will work with the OHR Web Team to develop all content, redesign/ additional features, and plug-ins or add-ons required to support the redesign effort. All recommendations will be reviewed by the HRIS Division chief and the Website design team prior to being placed into Dreamweaver. Subtask 1 – OCAO (CAO/OHR/OAS/Telework) Web-Site Clean-Up and Redesign Services The contractor shall develop a plan for the ongoing maintenance and management of all OCAO web-sites (OCAO, OHR, OAS, and Telework). The plan will address the process to refresh and update any content on these web pages. The plan will also address the need to move items on the landing page based upon “hits” on the home page. The contractor shall (following all USPTO procedures) publish all approved updates/changes/corrections via Dreamweaver and coordinate updates/changes/corrections with the Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO) Website Management Branch. ##### END OF DRAFT SOW ##### HOW TO RESPOND TO THIS SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE Note: This requirement is currently active in the 8(a) program. Responses are requested only from Certified 8(a) Small Businesses. All interested 8A contractors should provide the following information in their by email to the contacts listed below: Your contractor name, address, SAMuei, point of contact information, email, phone, website address, 8A certification expiration date, Information about your firms ability to meet the requirement stated above: Please provide a tailored capability statement addressing the particulars of this effort, with appropriate documentation supporting claims of organizational and staff capability. Please identify which requirements/deliverables are on your schedule contract and which are likely open market. If subcontracting or teaming arrangements are anticipated in order to deliver technical capability, organizations should address the administrative and management structure of such arrangements Past Performance – If applicable, please provide info on previous awards including a short description where similar services were provided. Please provide civilian customer/Government Agency contact information including: contact name and organization, telephone number, and email address. QUESTIONS Questions regarding this RFI are due no later than November 7th at 1:00 PM ET and are to be submitted via email to Kendall.jones1@uspto.gov and Christopher.ward@uspto.gov NO PHONE CALLS PLEASE Note: A version of this notice was previously issued on sam.gov under NAICS 541612. As a result, attached are the questions asked by respondents to that posting, as well as the USPTO answers. Please incorporate those answers into your understanding of the requirement. DEADLINE: Responses are due no later than November 14th at 1:00 PM ET and are to be submitted via email to Kendall.jones1@uspto.gov and Christopher.ward@uspto.gov NO PHONE CALLS PLEASE Disclaimer: This Sources Sought Request For Information (RFI) notice is issued solely for Market Research information and planning purposes only and does not constitute a solicitation. All information received in response to this RFI that is marked as proprietary will be handled accordance with procurement integrity requirements. Responses to this notice are not offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract. Responders are solely responsible for all expenses associated with responding to this RFI.