Acquisition 360: Pre-award & Debriefing Satisfaction Survey

Request for Approval under the “Generic Clearance for the Collection of Routine Customer Feedback” (OMB Control Number: 0960-0788)

TITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION: Acquisition 360: Pre-award & Debriefing Satisfaction Survey

BACKGROUND: To ensure the Social Security Administration (SSA) continually improves its early vendor engagement efforts and internal acquisition processes and practices, we need robust, timely, and specific feedback from key stakeholders. Building on the Office of Federal Procurement Policy’s (OFPP) efforts on building strong vendor relationships as outlined in its December 4, 2014 Transforming the Marketplace memorandum, all Chief Financial Officers (“CFO”) Act agencies shall take steps to obtain and use industry and internal feedback to strengthen the acquisition function from pre-award activities up to, and including, contract award and debriefings.

PURPOSE: Per OFPP’s memo, SSA plans to administer pre-award and debriefing satisfaction surveys to vendors, contracting officer’s representatives (COR), and contracting staff for their feedback.

The survey goals are to:

• Assess and improve SSA’s performance in early vendor engagement efforts;

• Receive and use industry and internal feedback on various aspects of the acquisition process, such as strength of the requirements development process, solicitation clarity, and the agency’s efficacy in executing awards and debriefing offerors;

• Strengthen SSA’s acquisition function from pre-award activities and debriefings;

• Help the agency identify strengths and weaknesses with industry partnerships; and

• Understand why contracting officers choose certain interagency solutions or contract vehicles over others.

Respondents will receive general instructions and the links to the online surveys via email.

METHODOLOGY: The agency will share the “Rate the Agency” Survey (Attachment A) via email containing a survey link for third parties to answer questions within 4 weeks on pre-award and debriefing activities using a web-based collection tool.

DESCRIPTION OF RESPONDENTS:

External customers: Vendors who submitted proposals for new awards for complex information technology (IT) development, systems, or services of $500,000 or more in fiscal year (FY) 2015.

Internal customers: While internally focused surveys do not require Paperwork Reduction Act approval, we will also be administering surveys to OAG contracting officers and CORs involved in awarding or administering the awards identified above.

TYPE OF COLLECTION: (Check one)

[ ] Customer Comment Card/Complaint Form [x] Customer Satisfaction Survey

[ ] Usability Testing (e.g., Website or Software [ ] Small Discussion Group

[ ] Focus Group [ ] Other: ______________________

CERTIFICATION:

I certify the following to be true:

1. The collection is voluntary.

2. The collection is low-burden for respondents and low-cost for the Federal Government.

3. The collection is non-controversial and does not raise issues of concern to other federal agencies.

4. The results are not intended to be disseminated to the public.

5. Information gathered will not be used for the purpose of substantially informing influential policy decisions.

6. The collection is targeted to the solicitation of opinions from respondents who have experience with the program or may have experience with the program in the future.

Name: Faye Lipsky, Reports Clearance Officer, Social Security Administration

To assist review, please provide answers to the following question:

Personally Identifiable Information:

1. Is personally identifiable information (PII) collected? [ ] Yes [x] No

2. If Yes, is the information that will be collected included in records that are subject to the Privacy Act of 1974? [ ] Yes [ ] No

3. If Applicable, has a System or Records Notice been published? [ ] Yes [ ] No

Gifts or Payments:

Is an incentive (e.g., money or reimbursement of expenses, token of appreciation) provided to participants? [ ] Yes [x] No

BURDEN HOURS

Category of Respondent	Maximum No. of Respondents	Participation Time	Burden Hours
Respondents	50	10	8

FEDERAL COST: The estimated annual cost to the Federal government is ____$0_______

If you are conducting a focus group, survey, or plan to employ statistical methods, please provide answers to the following questions:

The selection of your targeted respondents

1. Do you have a customer list or something similar that defines the universe of potential respondents and do you have a sampling plan for selecting from this universe? [x] Yes [ ] No

If the answer is yes, please provide a description of both below (or attach the sampling plan)? If the answer is no, please provide a description of how you plan to identify your potential group of respondents and how you will select them?

A list of offerors submitting proposals during FY 2015 for IT development contracts of $500,000 or more generated from SSA’s Streamlined Acquisition System. We expect a population of less than 350 third-party offerors. We will select a random sample of the lesser of 50, or 5 percent, of the total population to administer the survey.

Administration of the Instrument

1. How will you collect the information? (Check all that apply)

[x] Web-based or other forms of Social Media

[ ] Telephone

[ ] In-person

[ ] Mail

[ ] Other, Explain

2. Will interviewers or facilitators be used? [ ] Yes [x] No

USE OF RESULTS: This feedback will help the agency identify strengths and weaknesses with industry partnerships so we can make internal improvements on the planning and making of contract awards. We will use the research results to strengthen our acquisition function from pre-award activities up to, and including, contract award and debriefings.

Please make sure that all instruments, instructions, and scripts are submitted with the request.

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