In a request for information released Friday, the California Department of General Services’ (DGS) Office of Fleet and Asset Management (OFAM) looks to survey the marketplace to find possible vendors or suppliers of commercial-off-the-shelf software (COTS) or a software-as-a-service (SaaS) system. Among the takeaways:
- DGS seeks a single solution to encompass and replace OFAM’s legacy system that supports the Federal Surplus Property Program, the State Surplus Property Program (i.e., disposition and transfer approvals), and the Transit Storage Program for inventory storage and billing. The RFI has draft requirements for a desired asset management solution. OFAM asks respondents to review the requirements and offer feedback or suggest alternatives. This solicitation seeks only information; no contract is anticipated. However, once responses have been reviewed, OFAM may do a competitive solicitation through the DGS Office of Business and Acquisition Services (OBAS). Any such solicitation is anticipated to come out as a request for proposals in January.
- The three systems to be replaced are, first, the Surplus Property Management System (SPMS), which is a centralized data repository for DGS’ Federal Surplus Property Program, providing services to eligible recipients of the U.S. General Services Administration’s Surplus Federal Personal Property. Recipients are organizations that request to receive, and are awarded, surplus federal property by the General Services Administration. Second, there’s the California Surplus Property System, a customer-facing portal that interfaces with the SPMS in support of DGS’ State Surplus Property Program. It’s used by state departments to electronically submit property survey reports for review and approval. Third, the Transit Storage database is an inventory storage and billing platform supporting DGS’ Transit Storage Program. It’s used by the program for warehouse management, inventory storage, and monthly billing for state departments.
- Draft business requirements for the integrated solution include multiuser accessibility, different roles and access levels, and the ability for the system administrator to create and grant roles to users. The system must also be able to create and modify system-generated communication for customers like emails and notifications; generate regular and ad hoc reports and queries; allow file import and export; generate text files; and the vendor must provide ongoing system repair, maintenance, and enhancement support. The solution must comply with state SaaS general provisions and cloud computing special provisions for SaaS; with Financial Information System for California (FI$Cal) security and maintenance requirements; and must follow all California Department of Technology security guidelines, and National Institute of Standards and Technology security and privacy controls.
- Questions on the RFI are due by 1 p.m. Dec. 12; responses will come by 5 p.m. Dec. 18. Responses to the RFI are due by 5 p.m. Dec. 29.
