Sources Sought - Morningstar Investment Research Center

Sources Sought Synopsis

This is a Sources Sought Synopsis published by the United States Air Force (the Government or USAF). There is no solicitation available at this time. Requests for a solicitation will not receive a response. The purpose of this sources sought notice is to conduct market research to determine whether there are businesses available capable of providing an alternative product that meets the characteristics below. The Air Force anticipates procuring this product as a FY22 base effort. The period of performance for this subscription is 30 September 2022 – 29 September 2023. Responses to this sources sought notice will assist a determination of whether it is in the best interest of the Government to proceed with a competition.

FSC: 7630

NAICS: 519130

Size Standard: 1,000 employees

Subscription name: The Morningstar Investment Research Center

Supplier name: Morningstar Investment Management LLC

Product description: The Morningstar Investment Research Center is a database that specializes in providing investment information and instruction on investment management. Morningstar offers daily market updates and allows its users to customize their searches to meet their personal investment needs. They publish a monthly e-newsletter to help customers navigate the investment field, and their Investment Classroom offers over 100 courses on stocks, bonds, and portfolio building to help new investors understand the basics of investment.

Product characteristics an equal item must meet to be considered:

•   Must be able to provide 4 monthly newsletters with a 12-month archive
• Must be able to provide daily articles published and archived covering market updates, personal finance/retirement, in-depth fund, stock, etf analyst reports, and college savings plans.
• Needs to be able to provide daily videos published and archived videos covering market updates, personal finance/retirement, college savings plans.
• Needs to be able provide basic to advanced courses for Stocks, Funds, Portfolios and Bonds. Quiz at the end of each level to test knowledge.
• Must be able to interface with all 4 service branch library and Military OneSource websites using industry standard authentication methods to ensure only eligible patrons can access resources from any internet connected computer browsers and mobile devices.
• Must work with contract POC to establish authentication methods to provide optimal accessibility for all eligible patrons.
• Security between the Website and server must be Transport Layer Security (TLS) 1.3
• Must be able to supply or allow retrieval of database usage statistics by Branch of Service (Air Force, Army, Marine Corps, Military OneSource/Other, and Navy)
• Must have HTTP Strict Transport Security (HSTS) with long duration deployed on the servers to mitigate/prevent man-in-the-middle attacks
• Website certificates should be RSA 2048-bits (SHA256withRSA)
• Must be able to interface with the Air Force Portal, Army Knowledge Online (AKO), Marine Corps, Military OneSource, and Navy Digital Library (NDL) and the DoD Library Service Platform

 

The Government will consider responses received within 15 days of issuance of this notice. Information received will normally be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether or not to conduct a full and open competitive procurement or a small business set aside competitive procurement. The Government will not pay for any information received in response to this announcement.

    

If the Government competes this requirement, a synopsis shall be issued utilizing the combined synopsis/solicitation procedure identified in FAR 12.603. If this effort becomes a Small Business Set-Aside, FAR 52.219-14, Limitation on Subcontracting, will apply. Therefore, small businesses that want to be considered for a small business set-aside should demonstrate how they intend to comply. 

A determination not to compete this requirement based upon responses to this notice is an administrative decision by the Government that is solely within its discretion. 

   

Contractors should be aware of the following information:

1. Contractors must include the following information:

              a. Points of contact, addresses, email addresses, phone numbers.

               b. Identification as a large U.S. business, a small U.S. business, or a foreign business. Please note that size indicated should be based on the NAICS code for this effort listed above.

               c. Identification of any other socioeconomic status including: Women-Owned Small Business, Economically Disadvantaged Small Business, 8(a), Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business, Veteran Owned Small Business or HUBZone.

                 d. Company CAGE Code or Unique Entity Identifier Number. 

        2. This requirement is not intended for specific brand name products. Offerors are encouraged to suggest products other than those that may be specifically referenced by brand name. Responses must address how alternate product meet the product characteristics specified above.

          3. Submitted information shall be UNCLASSIFIED.

          4. Responses are limited to of 10 pages in a Microsoft Word compatible format.

Any information submitted by respondents to this sources sought synopsis is strictly voluntary.  The Government will not reimburse the respondents for any costs associated with their response.  This synopsis does not constitute a Request for Proposals nor does its issuance restrict the Government as to its ultimate acquisition approach.  The Government reserves the right to contact the submitting parties, on an as required basis, for further clarification on material provided.  Respondents should not construe this notice as a commitment by the Air Force for any purpose.

Responses should be emailed to Melissa Sanders at melissa.sanders.5@us.af.mil and Eric Johnson at eric.johnson.93@us.af.mil no later than 18 August 2022, 2:00 PM EST.  Any questions should be directed to Melissa Sanders through email (please cc Eric Johnson on all correspondence).   

All responses should be received no later than 18 August 2022, 2:00 PM (Eastern).