Admin Management, Data Management, Software Development (Quality Assurance Inspection Software for EMS)

What they want

• Provide one single-tenant (dedicated to VA) COTS SaaS system for EMS operations, hosted on FedRAMP-approved infrastructure (the federal cloud security program), fully operational at award with no custom development
• Licenses for 10 initial users, plus unlimited site and interface licenses for facilities the Government defines
• Configure the system to VA's organizational structure and user permissions, with forms, inspection checklists, audit reports, ad-hoc reports and dashboards for local, regional (VISN) and national levels
• Help load up to two years of EMS records that the Government supplies (Word documents, spreadsheets, electronic forms)
• On-site classroom training plus web-based training before go-live; the Government estimates two sites (Portland and Vancouver), about 60 and 40 trainees
• Maintenance, software updates within 30 days of release, 99.0 percent availability, and a Tier II help desk Monday to Friday 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM Pacific (24/7 during a national crisis)
• Disaster recovery, failover and backups of all software and data, plus multi-factor and replay-resistant sign-in
• Send a system testing and acceptance plan within 5 days after award, hold a technical kickoff within 10 days, and send periodic progress reports

What they'll judge offers on

• Factor 1, Technical: answers to ten questions (COTS SaaS operational at award with no customization, FedRAMP, NIST security standards, multi-factor sign-in, encryption, tracking of loads, tonnage and assets, reports, dashboards and history, access levels, on-site and web training)
• Factor 2, Past Performance
• Factor 3, Price

What to include when you submit

• Part I, executed quote: complete and sign the SF 1449 (Standard Form 1449, the form you sign and return as your offer), including block 17a with your SAM.gov UEI (Unique Entity ID) and blocks 30a to 30c, the amendment acknowledgement, and the VAAR 852.219-75 limitations on subcontracting certificate
• Part II, price: unit and extended prices for line items 0001 through 4001 (base year and four options, one year each), in two decimal places; the price must be all inclusive (labor, licenses, travel, training and fees)
• Do not price optional modules or additional licenses; the Government says they would be added later by agreed modification
• Part III, technical: answer the ten technical questions listed in the revised RFQ; no separate compliance matrix or demonstration is required
• Part IV, past performance: Amendment 0001 says it may be submitted if past performance information is available; there is no minimum or maximum number of contracts
• For past performance, list contracts of similar scope, size and complexity (federal, state, local or private) that are ongoing or completed within the last five years, with company name and address, description of services, reference contact name, phone and email, dates, contract type and total value
• For software and IT references you may give number of supported users and sites instead of facility square footage; CPARS reports (government past performance ratings) are accepted and no questionnaire is needed
• Past performance of a subcontractor or teaming partner may be considered
• Hold your prices firm for 60 calendar days after the due date
• Parts I through III are required to be considered further

After award, you must have

• Tier 1 background check for contractor staff; VA accounts and facility access are provided to the awarded vendor From 36C26026Q1017 0001.docx: There is only a need for a Tier 1 background.

Current contractor

No incumbent: in answers to vendor questions the Government says this is a new requirement, so it is not a follow-on to the earlier subscription a vendor asked about.

Not in the notice text

• Part of the revised RFQ text was cut from what was provided: the price/cost schedule (B.3) with line item details, the contract clauses (including the full limits on subcontracting clause), and the wage determination for the Service Contract Act. Total pricing tables are not available
• Amendment 0001 moves the quote deadline to November 3, 2026, 5:00 PM Pacific; the attached revised RFQ form still prints October 13, 2026 in its offer-due blocks
• The Government did not say how many records are to be loaded, whether they hold personal or health information, or who cleans and maps them
• The Government did not give recovery time or recovery point targets, which will be set with the VA point of contact after award
• The Government did not say whether a FedRAMP Ready or In Process product is accepted, which impact level applies, or when the VA authorization must be complete
• The award date and go-live date are not set; the Government's budget will not be released
• The reporting frequency for the Periodic Progress Report is not given
• Relative importance of the three evaluation factors is not stated