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The purpose of this Request for Information (RFI) is to identify contractors who can meet Department of Education’s (ED, or the Department) basic requirements in this RFI for Migration and Maintenance of the Department of Education’s Payment Integrity Monitoring Application on Microsoft 365 and Power Platform (M365).

This RFI is issued solely for information and planning purposes - it does not constitute a Request for Quote (RFQ) or a promise to issue an RFQ in the future. The information provided in the RFI is subject to change and is not binding. This RFI does not commit ED to contract for any supply or service whatsoever.

Further, ED is not at this time seeking proposals and will not accept unsolicited proposals. Potential offerors are advised that ED 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 interested party's expense. If an RFQ is released, it will be synopsized on the appropriate government point of entry. It is the responsibility of the potential offerors to monitor these sites for additional information pertaining to this requirement.

All submissions become ED property and will not be returned. Submission information will be shared and reviewed by currently at ED.

Objectives of this RFI:

1. Determine if commercial items and/or non-developmental items are available that-
   
   
   
   1. Meet ED’s requirements without modification;
   
   
   2. Could be modified to meet ED’s requirements; or
   
   
   3. Could meet the ED’s requirements if those requirements were modified to a reasonable extent;
   
   
   4. Request non-binding price information on Commercial-off-the-Shelf/Government off the Shelf (COTS/GOTS) software solutions that meet program objectives and technical requirements
   
   
   
   


2. Request feedback ED’s objectives and requirements


3. Request information on both cost and non-cost factors when evaluating commercial items against custom-developed solutions


4. Request feedback on procurement approaches

Based on RFI responses, ED may decide to host an Industry Day to further engage with the vendor community on this RFI. If a physical location is selected, it will be in the Washington, DC area.

Additional details may shared on the same platform where this RFI is published.

Background

The Department currently employs contractor support for the advancement of the Department’s payment risk management and data analytics performance through evaluation and improvement of policy and procedures, processes, people, controls, data (including measures and metrics), and associated business applications in these key business functions. The Financial Data Integrity Division (FDICD), Office of Financial Management (OFM) within the Office of Finance and Operations (OFO) maintains a comprehensive IT application to collect, calculate, analyze, report, and visualize payment integrity risk data from all offices in the Department to significantly improve the Department’s capacity to demonstrate payment integrity and manage improper payment risk. The application is called the Payment Integrity Monitoring Application (PIMA).

The Department has used PIMA as an opportunity to enhance the agency’s payment integrity program and framework to measure, remediate, reduce, and report improper payments to validate and improve the integrity of all Department payments. This includes leading the Department’s efforts to detect, classify, and report potential improper payments to help grantees, vendors, and other administrative payees reduce the likelihood of misspent funds. OFM currently procures contractor support to execute an integrated plan that leverages data analytics to help identify and prevent the root causes of improper payments.

PIMA detects anomalies in grants payment data. FDICD employs an automated process to review payment data anomalies exceptions and to provide guidance for payment integrity improvements. Case management files for payment anomalies are established within the application for follow-up investigation by the Department’s grants program officials to validate improper payments and determine root causes. PIMA integrates payment analysis, case management, and reporting functions to automate and streamline the detection, recovery, and prevention of improper payments.

One of the priorities supported by OFO is Enterprise Risk Management (ERM). Guidelines for ERM can be found in OMB Circulars A-123 and A-11. OFM helps manage the Department’s financial risk in part through internal controls and payment integrity monitoring. Additionally, OFM is delegated the authority for improper payments reporting under OMB Circulars A-123, Appendix C, and A-136. The PIMA provides automated reporting of identified improper payments to comply with requirements of A-123 and A-136.

Problem Statement

Currently, PIMA is hosted on a cloud service platform (ServiceNow). Because the application is not hosted internally, it must be in compliance with multiple Cyber Security standards set forth by both the Department’s Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO) and those listed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The Department wishes to migrate PIMA to an in-house solution powered by Microsoft Power Platform that will lessen the burden on stakeholders to maintain the application according to these standards and allow the Department to maintain the application with minimal contractor support. The Department is seeking input on the feasibility of migrating PIMA to a Microsoft Power Platform as well as maintaining the new environment.

High-Level Program Objectives and Technical Requirements

• The new PIMA will use the Microsoft 365 and Power Platform (M365) and replace the current ServiceNow platform.


• Application meets the programmatic and data management needs of regulatory guidance and stakeholder/user community (OMB and ED). Must support all data management requirements and options identified in PIMA (such as encryption standards, maintain the privacy of data, record keeping requirements) as well as other statutory mandates supported by PIMA.
  
  
  
  • Provides secure and timely access to data to support decision-making, data analysis, and response to data inquiries (OMB, and ED)
  
  
  • Provides consistency in the application of business rules and compliance determinations
  
  
  
  


• Ability to support integration/adoption/compatibility requirements with external and third-party systems and applications


• Developers should have at least 3 years of experience with SAS, SQL, ServiceNow, and M365(Power BI, Power Automate, Power Apps, Power Pages and Dataverse).


• Developers should establish connections between ED Grant database and M365 (Dataverse). They will work with the Oracle database administrators to set up and maintain new connections. If Authority to Operate Process (ATO) is required, the contractor should submit an ATO request.


• Cooperation with M365 administrators to update necessary requirements for developing and maintaining PIMA applications.


• Modular components and applications that can be used/adopted independently or in combination

• Services-based modern architecture to support data access via secure web services and Application Programming Interface (API)

• Training and user support needs are provided during business hours, across multiple time zones. ED staffs will be involved in developing and maintaining the PIMA applications. The contractor will provide step-by-step trainings to ED staffs so that they can develop the same application from scratch.


• Sustainability/Flexibility/Responsiveness – the architecture of the application is flexible enough to accommodate changes in business rules and data management requirements over time. The application can support both known/planned changes (new/revised regulations and standards) and unknown/unplanned changes (emergency response).


• After development, any improvements/modifications developed by ED staffs will be implemented in PIMA application. The contractor will provide an efficient method for new improvements/modifications and document the changes at no additional cost.

• Service availability to support daily operational needs, and emergency response needs


• Application and data services meet all applicable federal and state IT security and data management policies, requirements, and standards


• Web-based information system with user friendly, intuitive UI, 508 compliant

Information Sought from Industry

As permitted by FAR Part 10, FDICD is requesting that interested parties submit RFI responses to the questions below. The response information shall be sufficiently detailed to assist ED in reviewing any proposed technical solution. ED is not obligated to, and will not, pay for any information received as a result of this RFI.

Response format: Must be submitted as an email attachment in either Microsoft Word format or a portable document format (pdf). Limited to 15 double-sided pages, not including the title page or the table of contents. Your submission must use black 12-point font, single-spaced, double-sided. Page margins must be one inch at the top, bottom, and each side. Headers, footers, and page numbering may be outside the 1-inch margin, but not less than a .5-inch margin. Headers, footers tables/figures and page numbering may be in 10-point or 12-point font.

RFI responses should also provide, at a minimum, the following:

• Company name and brief description


• Address


• Point of contact, title, telephone number, email address, and web site address


• Any socio-economic designation such as small business, Service-Disabled business, veteran-owned, etc


• Participation in any Government-Wide (GWAC or GSA schedule)


• If your company has experience providing similar services


• In your response to the questions below, please indicate which question you are responding to for each response.

RFI Questions

Please note that the questions below are applicable to the following category of vendors:

• Questions specifically for COTS/GOTS vendors

Companies are required to answer all questions. In your response to the questions below, please indicate which question you are responding to. Marketing materials will not be considered as an acceptable response to this RFI.

Specific COTS/GOTS Questions:

Questions for COTS/GOTS vendors and commercial vendors that have developed/deployed COTS or GOTS services/applications that meet the Migration of PIMA program objectives and technical requirements.

1. The Department compiles information on cancelled grant funds for its program offices to limit the amount of funds being return to the Treasury. Does your firm have experience producing payment and/or appropriations monitoring reports and informing stakeholders?


2. Describe a situation where you overcame system connection challenges caused by security restrictions imposed by the department.


3. Do you have any similar projects you have undertaken developing a payment monitoring application? Can you share any usability testing or user feedback processes you have incorporated during previous application developments? How will you ensure PIMA application’s security and protect government data? This project migrates PIMA application from ServiceNow to the M365 Power Platform (M365). The current contractor is required to provide transition information, but new contractors may obtain limited information to develop the same application on a different system/M365. Describe your experience developing on the M365 an application with equivalent or better functionality developed on ServiceNow or another platform.


4. Does your company currently have full-time developers specializing in M365(Power BI, Power Automate, Power Apps, Power Pages and Dataverse), SAS, and ServiceNow? If so, please provide their experience history and work samples related to this project.


5. The PIMA application uses grant data queried by SAS connected to the ED Oracle servers. Current M365 is not connected to ED Oracle database. Do you have experience setting up a new connection between an Oracle server and M365 in government agencies? Also, please provide any suggestions/alternatives if the direct connections to the Oracle sever are not available using M365.


6. This project requires user and developer trainings. Grant Program Officers are PIMA users and non-IT staffs working in other offices. Contractors should provide regular training sessions and remind them to use the application in a timely manner. Describe your experience providing effective training and reminders for non-IT government personnel to utilize applications. Also, training for development and maintenance.

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