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

Small Business Sources Sought This is an 8(a) Small Business Sources Sought notice. This is NOT a solicitation for proposals, proposal abstracts, or quotations. Federal Occupational Health (FOH) seeks... Small Business Sources Sought This is an 8(a) Small Business Sources Sought notice. This is NOT a solicitation for proposals, proposal abstracts, or quotations. Federal Occupational Health (FOH) seeks to obtain information regarding: (1) the availability and capability of qualified small business sources; and (2) their size classification relative to the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for the proposed acquisition. Responses to the information requested will assist the Government in determining the appropriate acquisition method, including whether a set-aside is possible. An organization that is not considered a small business under the applicable NAICS code should not submit a response to this notice. Background The mission of Federal Occupational Health (FOH), a component of the Program Support Center (PSC), within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), is to improve the health, safety, and productivity of the Federal workforce. Granted authority under 5 USC § 7901, FOH promotes and maintains the physical and mental fitness of federal employees of HHS and other federal agencies by providing occupational health programs and services, including: clinical services delivery, expert medical consultation tailored to a particular federal agency’s occupational health service needs, wellness and health promotion services, behavioral health services, and environmental health and safety services. FOH provides occupational health programs and services as centralized services through the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Service and Supply Fund (SSF) authorized at 42 USC 231. The Continuing Appropriations Act, 2021, and Other Extensions Act, Pub. L. No. 116-159, div. C, title I, sec. 2107 (Oct 1, 2020) states that the SSF Statute “shall be applied with respect to any fiscal year as though the phrase ‘central services’ referred to central services for any Federal agency.” This provides specific transfer authority for the provision of occupational health services under 5 USC §7901 for both HHS employees and employees of another federal agency. FOH provides such occupational health services to federal customer agencies through written Interagency Agreements (IAAs). Additional background information about FOH may be found at PSC Federal Occupational Health (FOH) | HHS.gov Purpose The purpose of this requirement is for FOH Information Technology (IT) to procure a full range of qualified IT personnel to perform enterprise-level end-to-end IT operational services to support FOH IT in meeting mission requirements and operational objectives. Objectives The overall objective of this requirement is to provide highly efficient, cost-effective, performance-based IT services for FOH. The Contractor will be required to perform day-to-day operations and maintenance of FOH IT systems, security applications and supporting infrastructure that is used to manage and perform work within FOH. These systems support critical business and program activities. The Contractor will be required to provide a technologically effective solution to maintain and improve the current FOH IT operational infrastructure, support potential future enhancements in response to emerging IT requirements and provide reduced costs and increased efficiency over time in support of the following categories: Infrastructure Monitoring and Management Services Customer Support / Service Desk Operations Program Management and Administration The Contractor will be required to provide administrative, technical, and engineering staff support to develop, implement, and maintain all elements of the assigned FOH IT infrastructure. The Contractor will be required to perform all service delivery responsibilities in compliance with HHS IT standards, direction, guidance, and other application service delivery documents as directed by the Government. The Contractor will be required to maintain a framework that enables disciplined management and execution of changes to FOH IT Systems and the configuration management of those changes. The Contractor will be required to perform proactive planning to ensure high availability, reliability, and responsiveness of FOH IT Systems while adapting to and implementing frequent changes and ensure a quality control environment that conducts appropriate testing of new capabilities to prevent adverse impact to operations or the user’s experience during system modification and/or upgrades. The Contractor will be required to provide superior end-user service delivery through a flexible and responsive delivery methodology capable of quickly and effectively responding to new IT service needs and mission requirements, provide customer-focused service delivery performance targets that align all IT services with FOH requirements and needs, and enable FOH with continuous, highly available, secure and efficient IT service support. The Contractor shall achieve continual improvement in customer satisfaction while meeting or exceeding performance targets. General Requirements The work performed under this effort will require the Contractor to use Government equipment and to adhere to Government policies and procedures. The Contractor will be required to furnish all technically qualified personnel, services, and complete all functions necessary for the performance of the work in the attached draft requirements listed below. Attached is a high-level description of FOH IT Systems describing system and application knowledge, skills, and abilities that may be used in finalizing the overall requirements for the solicitation. Note: Additional Information - Existing FOH IT Systems Architecture and Configuration 2023-2024. Please refer to attachment. Capability Statement/Information Sought Please provide capability to support the following requirements as described accounting for the above Background, Purpose, Objectives, General Requirements and the attached FOH IT System Overview document. Offer any recommended suggestions, clarifications, or industry considerations that may be used by the Government in finalizing their requirements for formal solicitation. Do not include any proprietary information. Infrastructure Monitoring and Management Services Requirements – Approximately 40% The Contractor will be required to maintain existing systems, applications, databases, interfaces and environments in accordance with disciplined engineering practices and in compliance with applicable standards. The Contractor will be required to provide technical support and systems engineering for the analysis, design, integration, installation, testing, and life-cycle support of existing systems associated with the delivery of infrastructure capabilities. Testing may include regression testing, product/system integration testing, system performance testing and user acceptance testing. The Contractor will be required to provide to the Government all developed, modified, or converted source modules, processes, programs, scripts, operating instructions, databases, system fields, documentation, test files and test conditions used to develop each approved system change request. The Contractor will be required to use industry standards and best practices for system engineering processes in planning, architecting, requirements development and management, design, technical management and control, technical reviews, technical measurements, integrated risk management, configuration management, data management, interface management, decision analysis, systems management, inspections and maintenance, sources of supply and repair, test and evaluation, verification, and validation. It is anticipated that this task may also include: Database Administration and Architecture Services Maintenance Requirements and Analysis, Design and Implementation, and IT Service Delivery System Administration Security Control Assessment (SCA) Services Customer Support / Service Desk Operations Requirements – Approximately 35% The contractor will be required to provide technical support to FOH users via telephone, email, web-based software and desk-side support for a variety of requests including system software, hardware and telecommunications issues. The contractor will be required to identify, document, research, coordinate, monitor and track all issues to ensure timely resolution. The Contractor will be required to manage and monitor FOH IT assets including hardware, software licenses, network resources, and telecommunication resources. The Contractor will be required to develop and maintain FOH asset management protocols and procedures, as well as ensure the accurate and timely capture and update of asset data. Program Management and Administration – 25% The contractor will be required to implement program and project management services for all aspects of the contract through the integrated activities of planning, reporting and risk management. The Contractor will be required to establish, maintain, and administer an integrated project management plan. The Contractor will be required to monitor and ensure project lifecycle management policies and procedures are adhered to as directed by the Government. The Contractor will be required to ensure appropriate project success criteria are defined and can be measured objectively against achievement of goals and justify decisions to move ahead, correct, or terminate. The Contractor will be required to ensure project planning, execution and closure phases are performed in accordance with timelines provided and/or approved by the Government. The Contractor will be required to develop, document, and implement processes to ensure ongoing management and control of the day-to-day activities and technology that is used to deliver and support services. (e.g., infrastructure monitoring and reporting tools, utilities). The Contractor will also be required to develop processes for the systematic monitoring of service delivery performance, assessing metrics, and gathering and analyzing data collected during service operations and reporting results to the Government. The Contractor will be required to establish a data management capability for collection, control, publishing, and delivery of all program documents. The data management system may include, but is not limited to status reports, audit reports, agendas, presentation materials, meeting minutes and knowledge base papers. It is anticipated that this task may also include: Transition In / Transition Out Services Technical Review Board Change / Configuration Control Board Information submission instructions. Questions regarding the contents of this Sources Sought shall be submitted via email to: angeleana.torres@psc.hhs.gov no later than 2:00pm EST on April 17, 2023. Phone calls will not be accepted. The Government reserves the right to respond to some, all, or none of the questions that will be submitted. Capability statements and responses shall address all of the information listed under “Capability statement/information sought”. Capability statements and responses shall be submitted via email to angeleana.torres@psc.hhs.gov no later than 2:00pm EST on April 15, 2023 in the form of a “white paper.” The subject line for the email heading shall be “FOH IT Staffing Support” ([MC(1] Responses should be limited to no more than ten (10) single spaced pages exclusive of marketing slicks or published information available at time of release of the Sources Sought request. Page size is 8.5 x 11 inches with 1-inch margins. Cover page, table of contents, and cover letter will be excluded from the page limit. Text must be a minimum font size/style of 10-point Times New Roman. Tables must be a minimum font size/style of 9-point in the Arial family. Graphics must be at minimum 8-point in the Arial family. Tables and Graphics may use the landscape format. All other text must use the portrait format. Responses to this Sources Sought should include a cover letter with the following information at a minimum: Sources Sought Number; Company’s Name; Company’s DUNS Number; Company Point of Contact, mailing address, telephone and fax numbers, and website address; Name, telephone number, and e-mail address of a company point of contact who has the authority and knowledge to clarify Sources Sought responses with government representatives; Business Size and Size Standard / Classification as validated via the System for Award Management (SAM). All respondents must be registered on SAM located at www.sam.gov; Multiple Award Schedule (MAS)s the services and/or products are offered on (General Services Administration (GSA), National Institutes of Health Information Technology Acquisition and Assessment Center (NITAAC), Solution for Enterprise-Wide Procurement (SEWP), etc.) and schedule information (Schedule #, Contract #, period of performance); Number of years in business; affiliated contractor agreement information: parent company, joint venture partners, and potential teaming partners. Would you need to or want to use a sub-contractor(s)? If yes, how many? Would you be able to justify MAS rates via survey data, or MAS plus survey data for rates not on schedule? Please identify your size classification relative to North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) for this Sources Sought. Include the socio-economic status in order to assist the government in determining the appropriate acquisition method, including whether a set-aside is possible. Disclaimer and Important Notes. This notice does not obligate the Government to award a contract or otherwise pay for the information provided in response. The Government reserves the right to use information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate. Any organization responding to this notice should ensure that its response is complete and sufficiently detailed to allow the Government to determine the organization’s qualifications to perform the work. Respondents are advised that the Government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted. After a review of the responses received, a pre-solicitation synopsis and solicitation may be published in GSA Advantage eBuy. However, responses to this notice will not be considered adequate responses to a solicitation. Confidentiality. No proprietary, classified, confidential, or sensitive information should be included in your response. The Government reserves the right to use any non-proprietary technical information in any resultant solicitation(s). [MC(1]Reminder to update date