D -- Information Technology Services for HHS

This request for information (RFI) is in accordance with the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) clause 52.215-3 (OCT 1997) and is published only to encourage interested Commercial Business parties capable of providing technical support to submit information to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office of the Assistant Secretary for Administration and Management (ASAM), Program Support Center (PSC), Administrative Operations Service (AOS), Office of Information Technology Operations (OITO). The Government intends to award a contract in 2009 and is looking for information to aid their market research for planning purposes. The Government does not intend to award a contract on the basis of this request or to reimburse costs to any firm for their responses to this RFI. All interested, capable, and responsible sources that wish to respond to this RFI are encouraged to submit documentation on their specific capabilities. In addition to relevant and relative capability statements, past performance, and other information, the Government requests responses to provide, as a minimum, the following: 1) Experience: provide prior/current experience of similar size and scope, including contract number, organization supported, indicate whether a prime or subcontractor, contract value, and Government or commercial point of contact with current telephone number and e-mail address. 2) Title Page: The capability package must be assembled with a title page containing the following information: Company name, address, point of contact, phone number, DUNS number, and business size - please include any socioeconomic information. Responses to this RFI will not be returned. A. INTRODUCTION The OITO currently provides services for a sub-set of the HHS Operating Divisions. This sub-set, or Consortium, is comprised of approximately 9,000 users in the DC metro area and in the ten (10) Regional Offices throughout the United States, which represents the following organizations: Administration for Children and Families (ACF); Administration on Aging (AOA); Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ); Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) -- Regional Offices only; Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA); Office of the Secretary (OS); and Program Support Center (PSC). An IT support contract was awarded in October 2005 to provide help desk and desktop services and server and network support to the Consortium through a contractor owned-contractor operated (COCO) task order. This contract currently provides: ? Hardware refresh with maintenance and warranties ? Software refresh with maintenance ? Blackberry refresh with maintenance and warranties ? Network and security hardware ? Internet access ? Network administration ? LAN/WAN connectivity ? Shared network printing with optional color capability including toner ? Web services ? Terminal services ? Remote access ? File and print services ? Network file sharing ? Backup and restore ? Training ? 24 x 7 help desk support ? Desk Side Support ? 24 x 7 Network and Security Operations Additionally, the Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO) located under the Assistant Secretary for Resources and Technology (ASRT)/HHS manages an Enterprise Email System (EES) under a government owned-contractor operated (GOCO) performance based contract, awarded in 2004. The EES provides email services to the Consortium (9,000 users) and all of the large Operating Divisions, except for the National Institutes for Health (NIH) and the HRSA central office, with a total customer base of about 65,000 users. The Government is considering combining these two contracts (IT Support and EES) into one support contract that is COCO and is looking for information and innovative approaches from industry that will enable the Government to seamlessly migrate to a single contract without disrupting its current mission, while enhancing the service offerings for a complete suite of IT services. In addition to seeking information from all sources, the Government would like to determine if these services can be set-aside for small business. Small businesses are encouraged to provide their capabilities for these types of support services, whether prime contractor and/or subcontractor, together as one contract or separately (IT Support and EES). All small businesses (small disadvantaged, woman owned, disabled veteran or veteran owned, 8A and hub zones) are encouraged to submit their interests, relative experience and advice on this RFI. B. PURPOSE The goal of this RFI is to gather industry experience and expert advice on the Government's needs as outlined in the following Scope. The industry responses will be used by the Government to refine the scope of the future requirement for described services. In reviewing the responses, the Government may request a meeting or teleconference with responding firms to gain further insight into their capabilities. The Government will not reimburse costs to any firm for their participation in these meetings or teleconferences. Firms are encouraged not to include marketing informational material that does not relate to the services described in this RFI as it will be discarded by the reviewers. Key information requested: - A description of a high availability network that the firm has maintained and how this can be relevant to the OITO network; - Previous experience where the firm was able to balance compliance for requirements of a high security system against overall needs for operation; - Explanation on how the firm's solutions and experience with Network Operations Center (NOC) and Security Operations Center (SOC) Services will address the scalability to add additional OITO programs in the future; - Explanation of support for COOP and Disaster Recovery operations and support for First Responders responding to natural and health disasters around the world; and - Experience and lessons learned from previous projects where service transitions did not impact operations. C. SCOPE The Government needs are outlined below. Firms are requested to provide relevant experience (past performance) and expert advice on the following types of services: Communications Services: Operate a network that will provide commercial-grade data communications capabilities within the network using industry standard network components and protocols. The network will consist of communication links that can handle a data throughput rate of at least 45 Mbps. In addition, the network will consist of out-of-band communication links to handle the network management capabilities of the NOC. Provide secure remote access to all network services by any end user from any location around the world. NOC and SOC Services: Provide managed security services to monitor, on a 24/7/365 basis, the OITO enterprise networking equipment, such as spanning servers, switches/routers, firewall, servers, and network intrusion detection. The NOC shall provide rapid notification and reporting of both system operational availability and/or system security issues following detection of a component failure or security intrusion incident. Call Center/Help Desk Services: Provide managed services for all end-user devices, including but not limited to, workstations, laptops, printers, scanners, multi-functional devices, and Blackberries. Provide Tier 0 through Tier 3 technical support, on a 24/7/365 basis, using a high-tech, low-touch approach to resolving user issues. Desktop Support Services: Provide desktop support and asset management for all end user devices, including but not limited to workstations, laptops, printers, scanners, multi-functional devices, and Blackberries. Provide services for both remote/home-users and users located in Federal buildings. Business Application Hosting: Provide a facility for hosting HHS mission-related applications and ensure a 99.90% availability standard. COOP/DR Services: Provide facilities, equipment and remote access for designated systems and employees in the event of a disaster and support routine COOP exercises. First Responder Services: Provide immediate resolution support services, on a 24/7/365 basis, to first responders during disaster events. Ensure all emergency responder equipment issues are resolved within one hour, on a 24/7/365 basis, during normal operation. Operations and Maintenance (O&M) Support Services: Provide O&M services for the OITO enterprise networking infrastructure that supports OITO operations. The infrastructure includes but is not limited to end-user devices, networking switching, routers, intrusion detection devices, firewalls, telecommunications devices, and servers. The services will include, at a minimum, staging, configuration, updates, firewall rules changes and Active Directory management. Be responsible for preventative maintenance and equipment lifecycle management. Provide O&M service for software applications, to include installing and upgrading all standard and mission-specific applications. D. DESIRED INFORMATION The Government requests information on: ? how a contractor would provide a fully integrated system to support the requested services above; ? how a contractor would transition from existing operations using innovative and flexible solutions that will address how to minimize service disruption risks for IT support service, particularly email; ? the use of Contractor Owned-Contractor Operated (COCO) versus Government Owned-Contractor Operated (GOCO), advantages/ disadvantages, lessons learned; ? the types of contract vehicle experiences for these services based on Contractor Owned-Contractor Operated (COCO) versus Government Owned-Contractor Operated (GOCO); ? how the technologies would provide monitoring tools, structured processes, and security analysis through event correlation to keep pace with evolving security threats to the HHS network; ? how a contractor would employ Information Technology Information Library (ITIL)-compliant repeatable processes and templates and best business practices; ? performance standards and methods to measure performance, to include an incentive program, for these types of services; ? how a contractor would support OMB requirements including, but not limited to, HSPD-12, Trusted Internet Connection (TIC), the Federal Desktop Core Configuration (FDCC), and IPV6; ? how a contractor would integrate an information management security process with other government agencies and ensure that the agency has sufficient trained personnel; ? the flexibility of customization and automated capabilities for monitoring workstation and dashboard views; ? experiences with insightful performance metrics that are gathered from network devices and included in reporting and the impact on customer satisfaction; ? O&M experiences in support of a wide range of enterprise networking platforms (including hardware, software, and operating systems); ? how a contractor scales to meet service requirements and growth as well future technology upgrades; and ? Lifecycle management - demonstrate knowledge, processes, and lessons learned from equipment phase-in to the end of equipment operational life. The Government appreciates any and all information received. Any information submitted and considered proprietary shall be appropriately marked by the submitter. All submissions shall be marked with the reference number, RFI-OITO-001. Submissions are due February 28, 2008, by 4:00 p.m., and shall be mailed or delivered to the Contracting Office Address listed above, attention: Marc L. Long. If delivery is going to be made in person, please be advised of increased security at the Parklawn Building and arrive early at the loading dock for security inspection and acceptance of your submission. Please call 301-443-4144 for more information on building security procedures for deliveries. Submissions may be submitted electronically to marc.long@psc.hhs.gov., reference number in subject line. As previously stated, one on one discussion with firms providing information by the due date will be scheduled within 30 days after the due date.