Inactive

Request for Information Technology Acquisition Center Training Courses 2021 36C10B21Q0157 February 18, 2021 Introduction: This is a Request for Information (RFI) only issued for the purpose of conduct... Request for Information Technology Acquisition Center Training Courses 2021 36C10B21Q0157 February 18, 2021 Introduction: This is a Request for Information (RFI) only issued for the purpose of conducting market research. Accordingly, this RFI constitutes neither a Request for Proposal (RFP) nor a guarantee that one will be issued by the Government in the future; furthermore, it does not commit the Government to contract for any services described herein. Do not submit a Proposal. The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is not, at this time, seeking proposals or formal quotes, and therefore, will not accept, review, or evaluate unsolicited proposals or quotes received in response hereto. This notice is not to be construed as a commitment on the part of the Government to award a contract, nor does the Government intend to pay for any information submitted as a result of this request. The Government does not reimburse respondents for any costs associated with submission of the information being requested or, reimburse expenses incurred for responses to this RFI. The information provided may be used by VA in developing its acquisition strategy and requirements document. Any information submitted by respondents to this RFI is strictly voluntary; however, any information received shall become the property of the Government and will not be returned to the respondent. Interested parties are responsible for adequately marking proprietary, restricted or competition sensitive information contained in their response. This is a request for information and does not obligate the Government in any way, nor does it commit the Government to any specific course of action. Requirements: The mission of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Office of Procurement, Acquisition, and Logistics, Technology Acquisition Center (TAC) is to support our Nation s Veterans by providing acquisition and logistics solutions for VA. In meeting these goals, TAC is responsible for preparing and executing quality contracts that support the Information Technology (IT) efforts and needs of its customers across VA, which enables our customers to provide best value solutions to Veterans and their families. TAC has a large population of General Schedule series 1102 s (GS-1102 s) that are responsible for these IT procurements, all of whom either have obtained Federal Acquisition Certification in Contracting (FAC-C) or are working toward obtaining FAC-C certification. Based on the results of the TAC Training Survey, the TAC requires training courses that align to the needs of its workforce. The Contractor shall provide Continuous Learning Points (CLPs) with the associated training. All training courses shall be virtual instructor led. All training must be delivered prior to the end of June 2021. No training is permitted during 4th quarter of the Fiscal Year. Prior market research has indicated courses provided by Learning Tree International meets the Government s requirements. Training shall have the minimum specifications: Intro to Microsoft Excel: The course shall provide knowledge and skills in creating and editing worksheets, using formulas and functions, sorting and filtering detail data visually and presenting summary information in a consumable and professional format. The Course shall be a be a minimum of three days and shall cover: Summarize data with Excel by incorporating formulas, formatting, and charts and graphs Optimization of worksheets using templates, graphs, and formulas Design simple to complex formulas through nesting Excel functions Importing, fine-tune, and share Excel data Creating, managing, and launching macros DevOps Foundation (DOFD): Course shall teach how to implement Agile information technology (IT) projects, employ Agile-based project management approaches to accomplish the adaptive acquisition framework, and how to use flexible acquisition techniques that align with less rigid procurement policies and procedures. The Course shall be a be a minimum of two days and shall cover: Articulating DevOps objectives and vocabulary Demonstrate the benefits to the business and IT Explore principles and practices including Continuous Integration (CI), Continuous Delivery (CD), testing, security and the Three Ways Aligning DevOps with other frameworks like Agile, Lean and IT Service Management (ITSM) Optimizing improved workflows, communication and feedback loops Identifying automation practices including deployment pipelines and DevOps toolchains Understanding critical success factors and key performance indicators Bring real-world examples to understand Return of Investment (ROI) of DevOps initiative Identifying how best to scale DevOps for the enterprise Achieve the DevOps Institute Foundation Certification Agile Fundamentals Training: The course shall demonstrate how to apply the values and principles of the Agile model for product development, Compare and contrast the most popular Agile approaches, including Scrum and Kanban, Recognize the cultural and mindset challenges of being fully successful with Agile, Create a strong focus on the delivery of customer value, Grow self-organizing teams that frequently deliver valuable, high-quality products. The Course shall be a be a minimum of three days and shall cover: Applying the values and principles of the Agile model for product development Compare and contrasting the most common Agile approaches, including Scrum and Kanban Recognizing the cultural and mindset challenges of being fully successful with Agile Creating a strong focus on the delivery of customer value Growing self-organizing teams that frequently deliver valuable, high-quality products AWS Technical Essentials Training: The course shall introduce AWS products, services, and common solutions. Provides fundamentals to become more proficient in identifying AWS services to make informed decisions about IT solutions based on business requirements and get started working on AWS. The Course shall be a be a minimum of one day and shall cover: Terminology and concepts related to the AWS platform How to navigate the AWS Management Console Key concepts of AWS security measures and AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) Key AWS services, including: Foundational services: Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2), Amazon Virtual Private Cloud (Amazon VPC), Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3), and Amazon Elastic Block Store (Amazon EBS) Database services: Amazon DynamoDB and Amazon Relational Database Service (Amazon RDS) Management services: including AWS Auto Scaling, Amazon CloudWatch, Elastic Load Balancing (ELB), and AWS Trusted Advisor Responses: Please submit the below requested information by 11:59PM ET on February 24, 2021 via email to Contract Specialist, Jessica.Adamitis@va.gov. VA reserves the right to not respond to any, all, or select responses or materials submitted. All VA current requirements identified herein are subject to change at any time. If you experience any problems or have any questions concerning this announcement, please contact Jessica.Adamitis@va.gov. As part of your RFI response, please provide the following information: General Include the following identification information Company Name CAGE/DUNS Number under which the company is registered in SAM/VetBiz.gov Company Address Point of contact name Telephone number Email address VA anticipates that this effort would fall within North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Code 611430, Professional and Management Development Training, which has a size standard of $12.0M. Are you a small or large business under this NAICS and size standard? If you believe there is a more appropriate NAICS code, please provide that to the Government with your rationale. Identify existing contract vehicles (GSA, T4NG, etc.) in which you are a contract holder that can be utilized to procure these services. With respect to the subject effort, would you be the prime contractor? As the Prime Contractor, what tasks under the Requirements would your company perform? If a small business, what type of small business are you? Are you able to comply with FAR 52.219-6 and 52.219-14 in execution of this effort? Are you able to comply with VAAR 852.219-10, VA Notice of Total Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business Set-Aside and with subcontracting limitations in 13 CFR 125.6 in execution of this effort? Has the Requirements provided sufficient detail to describe the technical requirements that encompass the testing services to be performed under this effort? ______ YES _______ NO (if No, answer question 7) If NO , please provide your technical comments/recommendations on elements of the draft PWS that may contribute to a more accurate proposal submission and efficient, cost effective effort. Capability Statement Please submit a capability statement describing your company s ability to meet the requirements in the attached draft PWS. The capability statement shall be limited to 10 pages and address the questions below. 1. Provide a detailed description of each course and demonstrate capability to meet the minimum requirements listed in this RFI. 2. Describe your capability to provide all required training within the Government s timeframe. Include details on scheduling, policy on cancellation/changes, and any approval processes for courses. 3. Describe your virtual instructor led platform and its capability. 4. Provide a Rough Order of Magnitude for each course, including individual student costs, maximums student costs, etc. Include if there is a minimum/maximum student requirement.