OPPORTUNITY QUALIFICATION SUMMARY

Purpose

The PALMS SB program is designed to address the FBI’s need for a full range of service requirements that integrate multiple professional service disciplines and ancillary services with the flexibility for all contract types and pricing at the task order level.

PALMS SB is to be a family of Multiple Award, BPA task order contracts for FBI-wide professional service-based requirements. PALMS SB allows for Fixed-Price (all types), Time-and-Materials, and Labor Hour contract types at the task order level. Task orders may also combine more than one contract type (e.g., FFP/Labor Hour etc.) Additionally, task orders may include performance-based measures, and multi-year or option periods.

Two separate PALMS BPAs are anticipated to be awarded to between 10 to 15 Small Business vendors, each. One “Pool” is for labor categories subject to the Department of Labor Services Contract Act (DOL SCA) and the other “Pool” is for labor categories not subject to DOL SCA.

Background

To ensure that employees assigned to FBI Headquarters (HQ) divisions are able to carry out essential functions, qualified support staff is necessary. On February 10, 2014, the FBI created a BPA from the GSA MOBIS Schedule 874. The BPA was entitled Solutions for Administrative and Program Services (SOAPS), which consisted of a base and four options. The SOAPS contract expired on April 10, 2019 and was extended for six months until October 10, 2019.

Scope

The FBI intends the scope of PALMS SB to span many areas of expertise and include any and all components required to formulate a total solution to a professional services-based requirement. The anticipated areas of expertise include, but are not limited to the following categories.

1. Communication
2. Compliance
3. Financial
4. Intelligence
5. Security
6. Transportation

Regardless of the particular area of expertise or mission space of the FBI entity originating the requirement, PALMS SB may be used to support and/or improve an organization’s: (1) Program Management, (2) Management Consulting, (3) Logistics, and/or (4) Financial disciplines that span all life cycle phases for a total integrated solution. For task orders placed under PALMS SB, professional services may be defined as those categories of services provided under one or more of the following

Core Disciplines

1. Program Management Services

Program Management Services includes all services related to leading, facilitating, and ensuring the strategic planning, implementation, coordination, integration, and evaluation of programmatic activities and administrative systems. Examples: Service areas that are included under the Program Management Services discipline include but, are not limited to the following:

2. Management Consulting Services

Management Consulting Services includes all services related to the practice of helping organizations to improve their performance, primarily through the analysis of existing organizational problems and development of plans for improvement. Examples: Service areas that are included under the Management Consulting Services discipline include but, are not limited to the following:

3. Logistics Services

Logistics Services includes the management of the flow of resources, not only goods, between the point of origin and the point of destination in order to meet the requirements of organizations. Logistics services involves the integration of information, transportation, inventory, warehousing, material handling, packaging, security, and any other function necessary to the flow of resources. Examples: Service areas that are included under the Logistic Services discipline include but, are not limited to the following:

4. Financial Management Services

Financial Management Services includes the planning, directing, monitoring, organizing, and controlling of the monetary resources of an organization.
Examples: Service areas that are included under the Financial Management Services discipline include but, are not limited to the following:

Labor Categories

The FBI has mapped the intended PALMS SB labor categories to the Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) for which the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) maintains compensation data. The table maps each industry title to the OMB SOC occupation with the most comparable functional statement.  Industry firms often have differing job descriptions for the same or similar titles.

Labor categories are further defined as Junior, Journeyman, and Senior based on years of experience, education, and duties/responsibilities.

Ancillary Support

Ancillary support services is defined as services not within the scope of PALMS SB that are integral and necessary to complete a total integrated solution under a professional service based requirement within the scope of PALMS SB. Ancillary support services may include, but are not limited to other professional and/or non-professional services; commercial items; IT services and/or components, administrative support; data entry; and, subject matter expertise. The OCO may allow and the Contractor may propose a labor category or labor categories at the task order level not identified, provided that the Contractor complies with all applicable contract clauses and labor laws. Ancillary support may include: (1) Specialized Professional Services Labor, (2) Labor Subject to the Service Contract Act (SCA), and (3) Labor outside the Continental United States (OCONUS).

Requirements

1. PALMS SB will be solicited and awarded under FAR Part 8 “Required Sources of Supplies and Services” Subset 8.4 “Federal Supply Schedules” thus respondents, to the RFI, are to provide evidence of a GSA Schedule; detailing the Schedule number and Period of Performance.
2. Provide documentation of current and active Facility Clearance at the Top Secret level. Top Secret Security Clearances are anticipated to be required under most, but not all, PALMS SB BPA task orders.
3. Demonstrate ability and experience in supporting Federal Government contracts in at least two of the four Core Disciplines.
4. Ability to support the FBI, in possible multiple locations, should you be awarded a PALMS SB BPA.

RFI Details

Capability statements limited to 15 pages, not including the documentation of current and active Facility Clearance.

• RFI Release Date:                               11/15/2019
• RFI Questions Due;                             11/25/2019, 12:00 noon, EST
• RFI Answers Due:                                1/17/2020
• RFI Due:                                               1/31/2020, 9 AM EST

Incumbent Contractors

REPORTED SPENDING (000s)

FY2014                  $ 16,113

FY2015                  $ 48,445

FY2016                  $ 56,395

FY2017                  $ 48,060

FY2018                  $ 87,175