As part of the acquisition process for the program specific Statement of Work, language for CALS should be placed in the solicitation package. The SOW should be directly based upon the TLIM Plan, and be as detailed as possible so that offerors can respond effectively and the goals of the program can be achieved. The Handbook activity should be an integral part of the acquisition process from the beginning. Evaluation criteria should be developed based upon the cost, benefit and risk analyses performed as part of the Handbook process to analyse the offers. The offerors should be requested to address these areas specifically and propose how they will use their approach to CALS to impact cost, schedule and quality. The solicitation language should be developed such that the cost, benefit and risk criteria can be evaluated in the offers received.

The SOW should specify all requirements that the offeror must propose and adhere to once the contract is awarded. In many cases the offeror will be required to provide services in support of the SDE. This has been called a Contractor Integrated Technical Information Service (CITIS), and when industry is requested to provide an on-line information service, a Service Level Agreement should be required. A Service Level Agreement specifies the following:

Service Level Agreement

• Description of On-line Services
• Interoperability and Integration
• Systems Administration
• Access and Availability
• Data Rights and Protection
• Security
• User Training and Support
• Charges and Fees
• Licensing
• Upgrade and Migration
• Rights and Warrantees

It is recommended that the offeror submit a CALS Implementation Plan (CALSIP) as a separate cohesive item in the offer. This serves the purposes of isolating the CALS requirements so they can be specified, evaluated, priced, measured and modified.

Reference information on developing a SOW and sample SOW language for a CALSIP is located in this Handbook