Cloud hosting Solution

Solicitation Number: W911S0-16-R-0008 This Sources Sought Notice (SSN) is for planning and information purposes only and shall not be construed as a commitment or a promise of a contract by the Government. This is not a solicitation. This notice does not constitute a Request for Bid, Request for Quote or Request for Proposal, nor does it restrict the Government as to the ultimate acquisition approach. The Government will not reimburse respondents for any costs incurred in preparation of a response to this notice. For the purpose of this acquisition, the NIACs code is 518210 and the small business size standard is $32.5M Purpose: The intent of U.S. Army Fort Eustis, is to conduct market research to increase competition for this requirement by identifying the availability of qualified commercial sources technically capable of providing the services stated below. Information collected in this SSN will be used to further define the government's requirement and create the appropriate acquisition strategy. This Sources Sought Notice is issued for maximizing competition. Should anything in the requirement be construed as limiting competition, please feel free to contact the MICC Special Competition Advocate (SCA) at dean.m.carsello.civ@mail.mil. Required Capabilities: The Army Training Support Center (ATSC) requires commercial cloud hosting solution (Software-as-a-Service (SaaS)) to host the Army's Learning Content Management System (LCMS) (currently Blackboard) to meet the Government's education mission. The commercially provided Army Lifelong Learning Environment (ALLE), which will include the LCMS, shall support various courseware and learning environments to include full-time resident courses, blended learning, non-resident distance learning, and non-resident self-paced courses. The commercially provided SaaS, which must already include hosting services for Blackboard LearnTM (hosting and Blackboard LearnTM application support - 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, with 99.9% uptime for both the hosting platform and the Blackboard LearnTM application), shall support various courseware and learning environments to include full-time resident courses, blended learning, non-resident distance learning, and non-resident self-paced courses. The SaaS solution will guarantee a 99.9% reliability (99.9% uptime access to content), provide back-up and continuity of operations (COOP), and enable mobile learning by providing course access to students on mobile devices (ipads, tablets, Smartphone's) from anywhere, at any time. This solution will also be a platform for those soldiers and civilians who do not have Commercial Access Cards (CAC) to access publicly releasable unclassified training content. The commercially hosted facility must have Department of Defense Information Assurance accreditation (FedRAMP), or equivalent Department of Defense CIO/G-6 waiver, and be authorized to run the Blackboard LearnTM suite of software. The SaaS solution must provide a production environment, a test and development environment, and a staging environment for the Blackboard LearnTM Software. The SaaS solution must support the interface to other systems through a standard application program interface (API) or common web services. The solution must be scalable, capable of having discrete or blended environments, depending on the school missions and performance requirements. The SaaS solution must be able to reside and play on Windows-based servers (Windows 2008 64-bit), using VMWare technology for virtualization of the servers, and support a MS SQL 2008 or Oracle backend database. The statements shall not exceed five (5) pages and must include: 1) Business name and address; 2) Name of company representative and their business title; 3) Business Size and Type of Small Business (if applicable); 4) Cage Code; 5) Contract vehicles that would be available to the Government for the procurement of the product and service, i.e., General Service Administration (GSA), GSA NASA SEWP, Federal Supply Schedules (FSS), or any other Government Agency contract vehicle. (This information is for market research only and does not preclude your company from responding to this notice.) Interested businesses should be authorized sellers/resellers of proposed software solution. Documentation of technical expertise and capability must be presented in sufficient detail for the Government to determine that your company possesses the necessary functional areas to perform this requirement. Your brief capabilities statement package should articulate your capabilities clearly and adequately in no more than five (5) pages, on letterhead, single spaced, and the minimum font size 11. Potential offerors wishing to respond to this are invited to provide a statement via e-mail. Any questions shall be in writing only. All responses will be used to determine the appropriate acquisition strategy for a potential future acquisition. Response is strictly voluntary; no reimbursement will be made for any costs associated with providing information in response to this synopsis or any follow-up. Responses are due no later than 11:00 EST, 5 February 2015, and shall be electronically submitted to Mr. Jacques Muije, email: Jacques.r.muije.civ@mail.mil.