Active Solicitation · DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
AI Summary
The Department of Transportation is seeking information on potential industry partners for managed services related to PeopleSoft Campus Solutions. This RFI aims to gather insights on capabilities for operating and managing the application in a FedRAMP-authorized environment. Responses will inform future procurement actions but do not guarantee contract awards.
This Request for Information (RFI) is issued solely for information and planning purposes and does not constitute a Request for Proposal (RFP), Invitation for Bid (IFB), or a promise to issue an RFP in the future. This RFI does not commit the Government to any contract action or for any supply or service implied or otherwise. These exchanges can improve both the Government's understanding of industry capabilities and the industry's understanding of the Government's needs. Any exchange of information must be consistent with procurement integrity requirements in FAR Overhaul part 3 and protected in accordance with part 24. Respondents are advised that the Government will not pay for any information or administrative costs incurred in response to this RFI. The Government does not intend to award a contract based on this RFI. Responses will be treated as information only and not as a proposal.
INTENT
The Government is conducting an RFI to identify potential industry partners capable of providing end-to-end managed services for its PeopleSoft Campus Solutions (UCAS) environment, which is customized and hosted in a FedRAMP‑authorized Gov Cloud.
Statement of Work
Managed Services for PeopleSoft Campus Solutions
1. Purpose & Objectives
The Academy seeks a qualified Contractor to provide end‑to‑end managed services for its PeopleSoft Campus Solutions (UCAS) environment, which is customized and hosted in a FedRAMP‑authorized Gov Cloud. The Contractor will:
2. Scope of Services
All enhancement and project work shall be executed in accordance with Sections 2.7 through 2.10, including requirements documentation, success criteria definition, validation, and traceability under this contract.
2.1 Application Managed Services
2.2 PUM & Patching
The Contractor shall support impact analysis, testing and validation activities; however, final acceptance decisions remain the responsibility of the Government.
2.3 Enhancements & Minor Projects
The Contractor shall be responsible for eliciting, documenting, and validating functional requirements and acceptance criteria for all backlog items. Requirements shall be sufficiently documented to support implementation, testing, and acceptance and shall be maintained in the work management system (Jira).
2.4 Functional Guidance (On‑Demand)
2.5 Environment & Platform Management
The Contractor shall be responsible for the end‑to‑end management and operation of the UCAS application and its hosted environment, acting as the Cloud Service Provider (CSP) for the purposes of this contract. Responsibilities include management of the application, platform, and supporting infrastructure components required to sustain UCAS operations.
The Contractor shall:
The Contractor’s responsibilities include operational management of the full UCAS hosted environment. Any underlying infrastructure providers (e.g., IaaS) do not assume responsibility for UCAS service delivery under this contract.
2.6 Security & Compliance
2.7 Requirements Management, Solution Delivery, and Traceability
For all work performed under this SOW, including managed services, enhancements, PUM activities, and functional support, the Contractor shall be responsible for performing requirements elicitation, analysis, documentation, and validation as an inherent part of service delivery.
The Contractor shall:
These activities are considered inherent to professional services under this contract and are not separately priced or treated as additional scope.
2.8 Solution Design and Implementation
The Contractor shall implement solutions that meet documented requirements using an approach appropriate to the PeopleSoft Campus Solutions environment and operational needs. Solutions may include, as applicable:
The specific technical approach is at the Contractor’s discretion, provided it satisfies documented requirements and success criteria.
2.9 Success Criteria and Validation
For each task or work item, the Contractor shall define and document objective success criteria describing when the work is complete. At a minimum, success criteria shall:
Success criteria shall be documented prior to completion and used as the basis for Government acceptance.
Completion shall include sufficient knowledge transfer and training to enable Government personnel to reasonably understand, validate, and operate the delivered functionality. Training shall include any additional steps reasonably necessary to support ongoing use and support.
2.10 Work Item Traceability
The Contractor shall use Jira (or Government‑approved system) to maintain traceability for all work. Each work item shall include:
Documentation shall be sufficient for an independent reviewer to determine what was requested, what was delivered, and how completion was verified.
2.11 Task Prioritization and Flexibility
The Government reserves the right to prioritize, defer, accelerate, substitute, or sequence tasks within the scope of this SOW.
Such activities remain within scope where aligned to the objectives of this SOW.
2.12 Scope Refinement and Change Control
Requirements under this SOW are expected to evolve as part of ongoing analysis, stakeholder engagement, and operational execution. Activities that remain aligned with the objectives and functional domain of PeopleSoft Campus Solutions (CS) shall be considered within scope.
The following shall be considered within scope and shall not require a contract modification:
Changes addressed through backlog prioritization and in-scope refinement (Section 2) do not require formal Change Requests unless they exceed defined scope boundaries.
Government‑Directed Changes
The Government may direct reprioritization or task substitution without contract modification.
Contractor‑Identified Changes
If the Contractor identifies work that exceeds the defined scope or available capacity, the Contractor shall:
The Contractor shall not proceed with such work without written Government authorization.
3. Out of Scope (unless added via Change Order)
4. Pricing and Service Model
4.1 Fixed Firm Price (FFP) Model
The Contractor shall provide all services described in this SOW on a Fixed Firm Price basis, billed as a recurring monthly fee covering the full scope of managed services and delivery obligations.
The fixed fee shall include, but is not limited to:
4.2 Service Baseline and Scope Boundaries
The Fixed Firm Price shall be based on a reasonable and expected service baseline, including typical operational demand, enhancement backlog, and PUM activity required to support the UCAS environment.
The Contractor is expected to maintain continuous forward progress on prioritized enhancement backlog items in addition to operational support.
The Contractor shall define and document its baseline assumptions as part of its proposal. Baseline expectations shall be informed by typical operational demands of current environment.
The Contractor is expected to manage normal fluctuations in workload, including peak academic periods, within the fixed price.
Activities that remain within the functional scope of PeopleSoft Campus Solutions (CS) and aligned with this SOW shall be considered in scope.
Work that introduces new systems, capabilities outside CS, or materially exceeds baseline expectations may require a contract modification as determined by the Government.
4.3 Optional Automated Regression Testing Capability
The Government may elect to implement automated regression testing for critical UCAS functionality as an optional capability under this contract.
Services under this contract shall be delivered using a blended managed services model operating within a finite delivery capacity. The Contractor shall support operational services, enhancements, and project activities within the available staffing and delivery capacity established under the fixed firm price structure.
If exercised, the Contractor shall:
Pricing
The Contractor shall propose this capability as a separately priced optional component, distinct from the Fixed Firm Price for base services.
The proposal shall include:
The Government reserves the right to:
5. Roles & Responsibilities
Contractor
The Contractor shall provide and be accountable for delivery of services under this contract, including but not limited to:
The Contractor shall:
The Contractor is responsible for execution, documentation, and solution delivery but does not assume ownership of business decisions, requirements approval, or acceptance of completed work.
Academy
The Academy shall provide the following roles and responsibilities:
Business SMEs / Functional Leads
Change Governance (CAB / Approver)
Enterprise Architecture / Technical Oversight (as applicable)
Identity and Access Management (IAM) Coordination (as applicable)
6. Governance & Cadence
7. Agile Delivery Framework
The Contractor shall use an Agile delivery approach appropriate to the nature, priority, and complexity of the work being performed. Delivery activities may use Scrum, Kanban, or a hybrid methodology as agreed upon with the Academy.
The Contractor shall:
Work items shall include:
The Academy reserves the right to adjust priorities, sequencing, and scheduling of work items based on mission and operational needs.
8. SLAs & KPIs[VL5]
8.1 Operational Criticality and Academic Calendar Alignment
The Contractor shall support the UCAS environment in alignment with the Academy’s academic and operational calendar. Certain periods of the academic cycle may require elevated responsiveness, prioritization, coordination, and communication due to increased operational impact and mission sensitivity.
The Academy may designate specific activities, events, or operational periods as high criticality based on mission impact, including but not limited to:
The Academy may adjust work prioritization, escalation expectations, communication cadence, deployment restrictions, and response urgency during these periods.
Severity and operational priority shall be determined based on:
8.2 Incident Response & Resolution Targets
Severity
Response
Work Start
Workaround Target
Resolution Target
P1 – Critical
30 minutes
30 minutes
4 hours
8 hours
P2 – High
30 minutes
1 hour
8 hours
5 business days
P3 – Medium
As prioritized by Academy
As prioritized by Academy
N/A
As prioritized by Academy
P4 – Low
As prioritized by Academy
As prioritized by Academy
N/A
As prioritized by Academy
8.3 Elevated Operational Response
During periods designated by the Academy as operationally critical, the Contractor shall:
For P1 and P2 incidents occurring during operationally critical periods:
8.4 Availability Targets
8.5 KPIs (Reported Monthly)
The Contractor shall provide monthly reporting on, at a minimum:
KPI reporting is intended to support operational transparency, trend analysis, and continuous improvement activities.
8.6 Change Freeze / Operational Protection Periods
The Academy may establish temporary operational protection periods or change restrictions associated with mission-critical events or academic activities.
During such periods:
9. Deliverables
Recurring
One‑Time
As‑Needed
10. RACI (Illustrative)
Activity
Academy
Contractor
Application Operations
A
R
Incident Management (L2/L3)
C
A/R
Enhancements (Build, Test, Deploy)
A (Business SMEs)
R
Requirements Definition & Validation
A (Business SMEs)
R
User Acceptance / Sign-Off
A
R
PUM Planning & Execution
A (Validation & Approval)
R
Security Patching (OS, Middleware, Application Layers)
I/C
A/R
DR / Backup Strategy & Execution
A
R
Access Management (Application Roles)
A
R
Change Approval (CAB)
A
R (prep/execute)
11. Assumptions & Constraints
12. Change Management
Backlog prioritization and in‑scope refinement activities defined in Section 2 do not require formal Change Requests unless scope boundaries are exceeded.
13. Quality Management
The Contractor shall follow documented testing, peer review, and release management practices appropriate to the UCAS environment and risk level of the change.
14. Data & Integrations
15. Security Incident & DR
The Contractor shall support operational security, incident response, and disaster recovery activities necessary to maintain continuity and reliability of the UCAS environment.
The Contractor shall:
16. Staffing & Key Personnel
17. Pricing & Invoicing
The Contractor shall provide services using a blended managed services delivery model operating within a finite delivery capacity.
The Government shall prioritize work items within the available delivery capacity.
The Contractor is not required to execute all requested work concurrently and may sequence work based on priority, operational risk, staffing availability, and mutually agreed planning activities.
18. Term & Transition
Upon expiration or termination, the Contractor shall support a structured transition out period of up to 60 days (or as directed by the Government) to ensure continuity of operations.
Transition out shall include:
Transition out activities shall be performed without degradation to ongoing services.
19. Acceptance Criteria
Acceptance of work under this SOW shall be based on:
SLA achievement alone does not constitute acceptance without the above elements.
20. Tools & Repositories
The Academy shall retain ownership and administrative access to all repositories, documentation spaces, work management systems, automation assets, and operational artifacts used under this contract.
THIS IS A SOURCES SOUGHT ANNOUNCEMENT ONLY.
This Sources Sought Announcement is issued solely for information and planning purposes and to identify interested sources. THIS IS NOT A SOLICITATION. No contract will be awarded from this announcement. This Sources Sought does not constitute an RFP or a promise to issue an RFP in the future. It is subject to change and is not binding on the Government. Further, unsolicited proposals will not be accepted. Funding is not available at this time. The United States Merchant Marine Academy has not made a commitment to procure any of the items/services discussed, and release of this Sources Sought Announcement should not be construed as such a commitment or as authorization to incur cost for which reimbursement would be required or sought.
Response to this Sources Sought Announcement is voluntary and no reimbursement will be made for any costs associated with providing information in response to this and any follow-on information requests. All submissions become Government property and will not be returned. Not responding to this Sources Sought Announcement does not preclude participation in any future RFP if any is issued. If a solicitation is released, it will be synopsized on the SAM.gov website or another Governmentwide Port of Entry (GPE). It is the responsibility of the potential responders to monitor Government GPE sites for additional information pertaining to this subject.
RESPONSES
Any comments to improve the Statement of Work will be appreciated. Interested parties are asked to provide the following information to Daphnee Ravilus (RavilusD@usmma.edu) and Theodore Nigro (Theodore.nigro@dot.gov).
Company Name:
SAM Entity Identification (UEI):
Business Size (Small Business or Other Than):
GSA FSS Contract Number (if any):
Point of Contact Title/Name:
Point of Contact Email:
Proposed NAICS:
Comments:
USMMA - UCAS MANAGED SERVICES CONTRACT - RFI is a federal acquisition solicitation issued by DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION. Review the full description, attachments, and submission requirements on SamSearch before the response deadline.
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