70--General Purpose Information Technology Equipment

Market Research - The Air Force Systems Network (AFSN) program was tasked by HQ Air Force to conduct a study on the effects of Bandwidth Optimization technology and the possible benefit for reducing the cost of long-haul communications circuits. AFSN, in turn, has decided to conduct an in-depth market study and compile the results into a report that will be presented to the Air Force Communications Agency (AFCA). This study will be accomplished by performing product evaluations and preparing a report. The report will address varied vendors products and how they functioned for requirements given. The report may also be used by various AF activities such as Air Force System Network (AFSN) office, the CITS Program Office, MAJCOM SCs, and others, to assist them in deciding upon their possible implementation of a Bandwidth Optimization product or suite of equipment. All products, or family of products, must meet the following list of requirements to be considered in the study. These listed characteristics/functions were seen as the agency's minimum requirements for the management, reporting, and overall optimization of bandwidth between the WAN and an AF base: Data compression and reduction in total number of packets across the WAN; Quality of Service (QoS) - packet marking, queuing, congestion avoidance, rate limiting, and traffic shaping - to the IP address level; Traffic Analysis - most active senders/receivers, protocol usage, top websites accessed, etc. on both compressed and uncompressed data flows; Hierarchical Management - NOSC, NCC, AFNOC, and AFNOSC access to reports, functions, etc.; Central Reporting - provide reports that can be used to analyze traffic trends on the WAN and could also be used to produce financial accounting reports; Support a fully meshed network of at least 140 locations and provide throughput up to 45 Mbps of compressed data; Hardware must be rack mountable in a standard 19 rack and use 110-130 VAC, 50-60 Hz. Each vendor must provide an end-to-end solution that meets the stated requirements. Vendors are invited to identify products or families of products for evaluation. Vendors should provide a proposed list of equipment, model numbers, and necessary quantities for testing. Vendors should provide documentation on the features supported and GSA (or other Government contract discounted) prices for their family of products. A Product Evaluation Agreement covering a 120 day evaluation period must be executed prior to submitting any products for testing. Vendor product recommendations and Product Evaluation Agreements should be submitted to the AFSN PMO within 5 work days following the date of the GPE advertisement. AFSN will evaluate the submitted products/documents and notify vendors whose products met the requirements. Following notification by the AFSN Program Office, interested vendors must send equipment to AFSN within 10 business days, with return RMA information for return shipment following evaluation. Applicable technical manuals, quick start guides, and other vendor documentation normally provided to a customer should accompany the products. Additionally, engineering support should be made available as required for the duration of the evaluation. AFSN will evaluate the suite of equipment that met the stated requirement, and apply those results to the entire family. The evaluation will be completed by 01 December 2003. In the event an extension of the evaluation period is required by AFSN, the Government will coordinate and obtain approval from the vendor. Product evaluation will be conducted by the Air Force Systems Networking Program Management Office (AFSN PMO), HQ SSG/XON, 501 East Moore Drive, Bldg 884, Maxwell AFB-Gunter Annex, AL 36114. Questions or comments in response to this approach should be submitted within 5 business days of posting of this notice on the Government Wide Point of Entry (GPE). Please submit questions or comments to Ms. Wanda Dixon, Contracting Officer, email address: contact@example.gov or Mr. Kevin Hamilton, Program Manager, email address: contact@example.gov Mailing Address: HQ SSG/XON, 501 East Moore Drive, Bldg 884, Maxwell Air Force Base-Gunter Annex, AL 36114. This is not a solicitation. This is market research only. This notice does not constitute a Request for Proposal, it does not restrict the Government as to the ultimate acquisition approach, nor should it be construed as a commitment by the Government. The Government will not pay for any costs associated with providing information and associated evaluation products and support in response to this announcement and any follow-up information requests.