Homeland Security Department officials want to create an automated system to manage task orders from the department’s major information technology procurement programs and are asking for industry input on the best way to do it.
The Enterprise Solutions Office in DHS’ Office of Procurement Operations has asked vendors for suggestions on establishing an Automated Procurement Task Management System (e-PTMS) that would let officials view statistics on procurements under the Enterprise Acquisition Gateway for Leading Edge Solutions (EAGLE) and FirstSource programs. DHS would also like the system to feature user-friendly vendor equipment catalogs and capture all the data needed for the department's ordering system.
In its May 12 request for information, department officials also asked companies for information regarding service-level agreements and the metrics used by industry to measure the effectiveness of hardware and software for maintenance support.
The e-PTMS would need to meet DHS’ requirements for managing data and handle large numbers of users on a wide range of computer systems with different specifications. The RFI states that the new system would complement current contracting systems — not replace them.
DHS expects the e-PTMS to have minimum functionality in these areas:
Phase 1 — Procurement-activity reporting with the ability to view spending data, component order activity, planned acquisitions and ad hoc reports.
Phase 2 — User-friendly catalogs that enable DHS components to search by product offering and compare results.
Phase 3 — Task-order administration that facilitates communications with vendors, the posting of solicitations and proposal evaluations, and the management of award notifications and contract closeouts.
The company chosen for the project will be required to help implement and manage the e-PTMS and offer backup and disaster recovery capabilities, the RFI states.
Officials said the department will own all of the data in the e-PTMS, and EAGLE and FirstSource contractors will not be considered due to potential conflicts of interest.
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