Telecommunications Center TCC Support

Type of document: Contract Notice
Country: United States

Telecommunications Center TCC Support

Agency:
Department of Commerce

Official Address:
100 Bureau Drive, Building 301
Room B130 Gaithersburg MD 20899-1410

Zip Code:
20899-1410

Contact:
Monica Brown, Phone 2024820932, Email monica.brown@trade.gov

Link:

Date Posted:
22/08/2017

Classification:
D

Contract Description:
DESCRIPTION
1.1 THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) ONLY. This RFI is issued solely for information and planning purposes – it does not constitute a Request for Proposal (RFP) or a promise to issue an RFP in the future. This request for information does not commit the Government to contract for any supply or service whatsoever. Further, the Government is not at this time seeking proposals and will not accept unsolicited proposals. Respondees are advised that the U.S. Government will not pay for any information or administrative costs incurred in response to this RFI; all costs associated with responding to this RFI will be solely at the interested party’s expense.
BACKGROUND
2.1 Mission and Vision
Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO) provides information technology services and solutions to all business units in ITA. OCIO’s mission is:
• To understand and support Department of Commerce and International Trade Administration (ITA) mission
• To provide global technology resources within a reliable, secure infrastructure
• To continually strive to respond to our customer’s needs and improve products and services
The Telecommunications Center (TCC) Manages and maintains the Automated Messaging Handling System (AMHS) system for all DOC agencies within the HCHB. The system provides both classified and unclassified cable support for the Department of Commerce (DOC). The TCC is located in a highly secured classified area that supports the SIPRnet access for the AMHS classified system, and for SIPRnet users. The system operates on a Windows 2008R2 platfom which is currently a Virtual Machine (unclassified).
OBJECTIVES
3.1 The purpose of this request for information is to identify qualified vendors that are interested and capable of providing the required services.
REQUIREMENTS
4.1 Tasks:
4.1.1 Provide program management support
The contractor shall provide program management support under, which includes the management and oversight of all activities performed by contractor personnel supporting the TCC.
The contractor shall institute and maintain a management process that shall be responsible for managing the individual contract and overseeing all contractor personnel and financial resources utilized in performing the contracts. The contractor’s PM must be proactive and responsive to managing contractor resources and meeting DOC ITA OCIO requirements.
The contractor shall use proven and reportable metrics (i.e. dashboards, MS project plans, budgets etc..) that assure that all contract activities are identified, documented, and tracked so that the call order will continuously be evaluated and monitored for timely and quality service. The contractor shall notify the Federal Systems Integration and Management Center (FEDSIM) Contracting Officer (CO), FEDSIM COR and the DOC ITA Technical Point of Contact (TPOC) of any technical, financial, personnel, or general managerial problems encountered throughout the individual contract.

4.2 Progress meetings and reporting
The contractor shall conduct task administrative and support activities, including cost control, progress reporting. The contractor shall plan, monitor, and control technical, cost, and schedule performance of all work efforts. The Contractor task management team shall be available upon notice from the FEDSIM COR or his/her designee, to attend monthly progress meetings with OCIO staff and/or any outside experts or Contractors retained by the OCIO, in order to present, discuss and/or analyze the Contractor’s work products and the OCIO’s needs during installation. Written minutes of these meetings shall be prepared, signed, and submitted for concurrence to the FEDSIM COR by the Contractor’s Task Manager within 48 hours of the meeting. The Contractor shall develop and submit Status Reports to the COR and TPOC for review as requested. The Status Reports shall include a status on completed work, planned work and any significant problems or issues requiring resolution, along with proposed corrective actions.
4.3 Install and configure secure messaging solution
The Contractor shall install and configure its turnkey secure messaging solution in the DOC/ITA/OCIO Telecommunications Center. The contractor shall provide support to two live servers and one test server, which will be located in the Amazon Cloud. The Contractor shall provide all necessary and appropriate information requested by DOC/ITA/OCIO to support DOC/ITA/OCIO’s completion of its own C&A requirements. This DOC/ITA/OCIO documentation shall include, but is not limited to materials to validate the vulnerability mitigation process. These requirements apply to all DOC networks that receive, process, display, store, or transmit DOC information. Certification is the determination of the appropriate level of protection required for each system/network. Certification also includes a comprehensive evaluation of the technical and non-technical security features and countermeasures required for each system/network.
Accreditation is the formal approval by the government to operate the contractor’s IS/networks in a particular security mode using a prescribed set of safeguards at an acceptable level of risk. In addition, accreditation allows IS/networks to operate within the given operational environment with stated interconnections; and with appropriate level of protection for the specified period.
All servers provided to DOC/ITA/OCIO as part of the turn-key system will have a security scanning software (Nessus) installed on them for DOC/ITA/OCIO security to check for any operating system level vulnerabilities and missing patches. Contractor shall provide both end-user and administrative level log-on username/passwords to DOC/ITA/OCIO in order for DOC/ITA/OCIO staff to remotely run this security scanning software.
4.4 Acceptance testing
In the event of system upgrades a Systems Engineering approach is used in the development and deployment of the project. Final testing shall be done to ensure all QA results pass defined tests, with final acceptance and sign-off by DOC/ITA/OCIO.
4.5 Training
The contractor shall provide system administrator level training for approximately 10 admins and user training for up to 50 users, both in person and via WebEx. The contractor shall provide training materials. At ITA’s request, the contractor shall provide additional administrator and/or user training up to twice a year.
4.6 Maintenance
The contractor shall provide onsite maintenance with engineering and technical assistance support of the turnkey secure messaging solution and hardware support for one year after award and up to 4 option years. Product maintenance provides for contractor to maintain the product due to changes in the design, software modifications that support the design changes, problem trouble reports reported by the user, documentation updates and changes, and end user recommendations for changing the product. Contractor shall provide up to 1 additional release per year that covers changes made in the product.
The following shall be supported under the maintenance agreement.
Software/Hardware Support – The Contractor shall support DOC/ITA/OCIO’s service level agreements listed below of responding to both application bugs and/or hardware problems reported to the Contractor during the Telecommunication Center (TCC) operating hours of Monday thru Friday 7 AM to 5 PM ET – excludes federal holidays. Once a problem is received by the Contractor by phone or email, they must contact DOC/ITA/OCIO by phone within 1 hour. If the problem cannot be resolved over the phone, within the hour, the Contractor must then provide an on-site technician within 4 hours of receipt of a phone call or email from DOC/ITA/OCIO. If the problem is reported at the close of the TCC’s normal business hours,
the Contractor must contact the TCC at 7 AM, the next business day, excluding federal holidays. If it is determined by the Contractor to be a hardware failure, the Contractor shall provide all replacement equipment within 24 hours of the problem being deemed hardware. Once the hardware is received within the 24-hour period, the hardware must be installed and functional at DOC/ITA/OCIO within 4 hours.
• Error Correction — Relates to software failure of the product that is reported by the user to us via the Help Desk.
• Replacing defective hardware
• Version Support — Allow the user access to current releases and patches to the Software for core features.
• Patching the operating system software installed on all hardware as new Contractor releases are made available.
• Address all security vulnerabilities as reported by DOC/ITA/OCIO Nessus scans.
• Periodic Maintenance Release
• Software Upgrades
• Providing resolution report with specific details on issue was resolved and receiving DOC/ITA/OCIO) with specific details on how the problem was resolved and get DOC/ITA/OCIO’s concurrence to officially close out the problem.

Security Support: Any vulnerability or missing patch found by the software will be reported to the Contractor’s Program Manager within 1 business day of being found. These vulnerabilities once reported must be mitigated thru an on-site visit by the Contractor within 5 business days of being notified that is coordinated by the Contractor’s Program Manager and DOC/ITA/OCIO TPOC so not to significantly impact the business hours operations of the TCC. Once vulnerabilities are addresses and/or patches applied, servers will be re-scanned by DOC/ITA/OCIO to ensure they were remediated. A report that outlines all remediated vulnerabilities and/or patches applied must be produced after each visit within Security Support.
New Product Releases Support: All new product releases to be provided by the Contractor must be coordinated between the Contractor’s Program Manager and DOC/ITA/OCIO TPOC as to when the new changes will be tested and eventually installed into DOC/ITA/OCIO production environment, so not to significantly impact the business hours operation of the TCC. The Contractor must provide updated DOC/ITA/OCIO documentation/training (system administration/end-user) prior to any releases being implemented.
The Contractor shall provide/install all general commercial releases of any packaged software within 3 months of its general availability.
Licenses – The Contractor shall provide all necessary software (desktop and server) and hardware (server/appliance) licenses which allow all authorized personnel to completely use all applications/functions/tools etc. of the Contractor’s turn-key system.
5.0 Documentation
All documentation shall be provided to DOC/ITA/OCIO in Microsoft Word, MS Project (for schedules), PowerPoint (presentations) and/or Excel.
6.0 Period of Performance. September 9, 2017 – September 8, 2018
7.0 Security Requirements. All contractors must have a Top Secret Clearance.
RESPONSES
5.1 Interested parties are requested to respond to this RFI with a white paper.
5.2 White papers are due no later than 25 August 2017, 2:00 PM EST. Responses shall be limited to 50 pages and submitted via e-mail only to Monica.Brown@trade.gov. Proprietary information, if any, should be minimized and MUST BE CLEARLY MARKED. To aid the Government, please segregate proprietary information. Please be advised that all submissions become Government property and will not be returned.
5.3. The white paper shall provide administrative information, and shall include the following as a minimum:
A. Name, mailing address, phone number, fax number, and e-mail of designated point of contact.
B. A narrative explanation demonstrating capabilities to meet the requirements specified.
C. Business type (large business, small business, small disadvantaged business, 8(a)-certified small disadvantaged business, HUBZone small business, woman-owned small business, very small business, veteran-owned small business, service-disabled veteran-owned small business) based upon North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code 541519, Other computer related services. “Small business concern” means a concern, including its affiliates, that is independently owned and operated, not dominant in the field of operation in which it is bidding on Government contracts, and qualified as a small business under the criteria and size standards in 13 CFR part 121. A small business concern for the purposes of this procurement is generally defined as a business, including its affiliates, averaging no more than $27.5 million dollars in annual receipts. Respondees are cautioned, however, that this is a general description only. Additional standards and conditions may apply. Please refer to Federal Acquisition Regulation FAR 19 for additional detailed information on Small Business Size Standards. The FAR is available at
SUMMARY
THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) ONLY to identify sources that can provide the services as described above. The information provided in the RFI is subject to change and is not binding on the Government. The Department of Commerce has not made a commitment to procure any of the items discussed, and release of this RFI should not be construed as such a commitment or as authorization to incur cost for which reimbursement would be required or sought. All submissions become Government property and will not be returned.

Response Date:
082517

Sol Number:
SB1350-17-I-04285