DCGS-A Capability Drop 2 RFI, Product Demonstration Request

-Updated 26 JAN 2018- The Government has elected to close this RFI and postpone CD2 Product Demonstrations. The Government is currently refining the DCGS-A CD2 Requirements and will issue a separate RFI with further information once available. No further questions regarding this RFI will be accepted at this time. Any future information regarding DCGS-A CD2 Requirements and associated Product Demonstrations will be posted to FBO under a separate RFI. -End of 26 JAN 2018 Update- -Updated 19 JAN 18- The Government has elected to change the following dates in the RFI. The test harness and product demonstration plan will now be available on 29 JAN 18. The product demonstrations are now planned to start 12 FEB 18. Vendors may ask questions about the product demonstrations prior to 12 FEB 18. Any further changes and announcements will be posted to this amendment. -End of 19 JAN 18 Update- 1.0 Introduction Request for Information. This a Request for Information Only (RFI). Army Contracting Command - Aberdeen Proving Ground (ACC-APG) in support of the Program Executive Office Intelligence, Electronic Warfare, and Sensors (PEO IEW&S), Project Manager Distributed Common Ground System-Army (PM DCGS-A), is conducting market research, via a Product Demonstration, to identify commercial items to satisfy current DCGS-A requirements pertaining to United States (U.S.) Army's DCGS-A Fixed Site facilities. The Government invites all business and academic organizations to respond to this RFI notice. 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. Government may elect not to proceed with a procurement after the results of the RFI. Solicitations are not available at this time. Requests for a solicitation will not receive a response. This notice does not constitute a commitment by the United States Government to contract for any supply or service whatsoever. This RFI is not an authorization to begin work, and the Government will not pay any costs that contractors may incur in response to this RFI. All information submitted in response to this announcement is voluntary. Participation in the Product Demonstration is also voluntary. The United States Government will not pay for information requested nor will it compensate any respondent for any cost incurred in developing information provided to the United States Government. Additionally, the Government will not pay any costs resulting from attendance or participation at the Product Demonstration. Only contractors that respond to this RFI are eligible to participate in the Product Demonstration, which is for market research purposes only. The Government won't award any contracts as a result of the Product Demonstration. Failure to respond to this RFI will not preclude contractor participation in any future RFP or procurement, if any is issued. 2.0 Background AN/FSQ-209(V)1, commonly referred to as the Distributed Common Ground System-Army (DCGS-A) Intelligence Processing Center Version 1 (IPC-v1), is the battlefield intelligence system that hosts DCGS-A software at US Army Fixed Site facilities. It provides fully integrated and timely intelligence on the battlefield. The DCGS-A IPC-v1 is the core framework for a worldwide distributed, network centric, system-of-systems architecture that conducts collaborative intelligence operations and production. The system is housed in the DCGS-A Fixed Site facilities and consists of privately hosted servers and storage arrays. This RFI is specifically focused on identifying commercial items to upgrade/replace the DCGS-A IPC-v1 enterprise data warehouse component, also known as the "Brain." Specifically, the Government is seeking capabilities that can dynamically ingest data from multiple sources, index and store that data, provide common/open interfaces to securely access that data, and to enable data discovery to the rest of the DCGS-A enterprise. TRADOC Capability Manager - Foundation (TCM-F) has developed, in conjunction with the Intelligence Center of Excellence (ICoE), a draft Capability Drop requirements document outlining the operationally relevant requirements for DCGS-A's enterprise data warehouse. Initial Market Research for DCGS-A Capability Drop 2 has determined that Product Demonstrations are required to determine whether commercial items exist that can meet, or meet with minor modifications or custom configurations, the DCGS-A CD2 Requirements. Demonstrations will take place in a location of the Government's choosing, in or around Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD, however vendors may host their software at a location of their choosing. The Demonstration site will only be able to provide one, 20 Amp, 120V circuit, so plan accordingly. Internet connectivity will be provided for capabilities hosted at external locations (e.g., Vendor Site, Public Cloud) and can be used for the demonstration as needed. Capabilities hosted at an external location are subject to verification of estimated hardware (physical or virtual) specifications (e.g., CPU, RAM, Storage). Only companies with existing commercial items, to include existing integrated products meeting the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Definition of a "commercial item", that meet 80% or more of the DCGS-A CD 2 Requirements, will be invited to Product Demonstrations and will be asked to demonstrate these requirements in a maximum 4 hour demonstration. Final demonstration duration will be determined based on the number of requests received by the Government. No feedback will be given to any of the vendors during these sessions on how the demonstrated capability meets or does not meet requirements. The main purpose of the Product Demonstrations to determine the ability of commercial items to meet the DCGS-A CD2 Requirements, however, if time permits after completion of the requirements demo, additional capabilities may also be demonstrated. Again, no feedback on these additional capabilities will be provided. In addition to demonstrating the ability to meet the CD2 Requirements, the Government will perform security scans (e.g., ACAS, NESSUS) on any systems brought to the demonstration site. If there are systems hosted at an external location, the Government requests that vendors provide their own security scan results (e.g., ACAS, NESSUS) to show how the demonstrated capability has been secured for military use. Scan results will be submitted prior to product demonstration. The Government may choose to use a Test Harness to simulate representative data feeds during the product demonstrations. If the Test Harness will be utilized, it will be made available prior to the demonstration to all interested parties no later than 29 JAN 18. Demonstrations are planned to start 12 FEB 18. Direct coordination will occur after the closing of this RFI. Product demonstrations will only be used to determine whether Commercial Items are currently available to meet the Capability Drop 2 requirements to further inform the Capability Drop 2 acquisition. This is not a Source Selection or Evaluation activity and the results will not be used to determine an awardee for any future solicitation. 3.0 Request for Product Demonstration Any business or academic organization interested in providing a Product Demonstration should provide a response that addresses each section below no later than 17 JAN 18. Vendors that fail to fully respond to a section listed below may not be invited to the demonstrations. The Government will send its detailed product demonstration plan to all interested vendors who can meet 80% or more of the DCGS-A CD 2 Requirements no later than 29 JAN 18. The supporting documents for this RFI are marked as For Official Use Only (FOUO). To obtain a copy of this supporting document (DCGS-A Capability Drop 2 Draft Requirements v1.2 and Draft CD2 Requirements Checklist) send an email with your organization name, address, and CAGE Code to Shaun Cronen, shaun.m.cronen.civ@mail.mil and Christopher Laird, christopher.m.laird2.civ@mail.mil. In addition, vendors may ask questions about the product demonstrations by emailing the previously mentioned Government points of contact prior to 12 FEB 18. Request for Product Demonstrations are due no later than 1600 EST on 17 JAN 18 and must address the following information requests listed below. Sections 1 and 2, expressing interest in providing a Product Demonstration are due to the Government no later than 17 JAN 18 and may not exceed 2 pages plus the Section 1 Requirements Checklist. Sections 3, and 4, providing additional information on the product being demonstrated, are due to the Government no later than 1600 EST on 2 FEB 18 and may not exceed 3 additional pages plus the Section 4 Cost Template for a total of 5 pages plus the Requirements Checklist and Cost Template. Section 1: Draft Capability Drop Document Requirements Checklist Complete the Draft CD2 Requirements Checklist Spreadsheet, attached to this RFI, annotating which requirements the existing solution meets, as well as a short (400 characters or less) description of how the demonstrated product meets each requirement. Again, only companies with existing commercial items, who can meet 80% or more of the DCGS-A CD 2 Requirements, will be invited to Product Demonstrations and will be asked to demonstrate these requirement in a maximum 4 hour demonstration. Section 2: System Description Describe the hardware platform that the demonstrated system is hosted on, to include CPU, RAM, and Storage specifications. As stated above, this is subject to validation as part of the demonstration. Note: The CD2 solution may, at a minimum, need to operate on the equivalent of a Tactical Server Infrastructure (TSI) v2 with the following specifications: 120 CPU Cores, 576 GB RAM 1.9 TB Storage, not including operational data. Section 3: Commerciality Describe how the solution being demonstrated meets the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) definition of a Commercial Item. Section 4: Costs Using the attached CD2 Software Pricing Template provide the following: (A) Provide a Rough Order of Magnitude (ROM) of applicable costs for the solution that will be demonstrated. The ROM should include licensing costs for the following: Term (with durations and price ranges), Perpetual, and/or Annual subscription, as well as Unlimited Enterprise. If the demonstrated solution does not offer any of these licensing methods, mark the box "N/A". In addition, provide a Rough Order of Magnitude (ROM) follow-on maintenance/sustainment support (yearly). (B) If applicable, provide a Rough Order of Magnitude (ROM) of itemized costs for "Minor Modifications" to meet each requirement marked "No" or "Partially" in the Draft CD2 Requirements Checklist completed in Section 1. If "Minor Modifications" are included with the license at no additional cost, mark the box "Included". (C) Provide a Rough Order of Magnitude (ROM) to provide a "Custom Configuration" to add a new data source to the demonstrated solution in the following formats: Unstructured, Structured, Binary with Metadata. If "Custom Configuration" integration costs are included with the license and/or maintenance/sustainment at no additional cost, mark the box "Included". Pending the receipt of requests for Product Demonstrations, the Government reserves the right to modify the acceptance criteria, dates, and/or duration of Product Demonstrations. This notice is part of Government Market Research, a continuous process for obtaining the latest information on the commercial status of the industry. This RFI is for planning purposes, and does not constitute a commitment, implied or otherwise, that a procurement action will follow. The Government will use the information submitted in response to this notice at its discretion and will not provide comments to any submission; however, the Government reserves the right to contact any respondent to this notice for the sole purpose of enhancing understanding of the notice submission. All material provided will be treated as confidential. Company proprietary data will be reviewed by Government employees and authorized representatives only. Responses to this notice are not offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract. Responders are solely responsible for all expenses associated with responding to this RFI, including any subsequent product demonstrations. Non-Disclosure Agreement (1) RFI respondents are informed that employees of the firms identified below may assist the Government with its market research. These individuals will be authorized access to the RFI responses to enable them to perform their respective duties. Such firms may be prohibited from competing on the subject acquisition. MITRE Corp Mr. Robert A. Orlosky The MITRE Corporation CAGE: 7L030 21 W. Lee Street Baltimore, MD 21201-2455 703-983-7622 rorlosky@mitre.org Booz Allen Hamilton Inc. Mr. Ryan Ludwig Booz Allen Hamilton, Inc. CAGE: 17038 8283 Greensboro Drive McLean, VA 22102-3830 732-936-3539 Ludwig_ryan@bah.com Millennium Ms. Susan Han Millennium Corporation CAGE: 3VQP8 1400 Crystal Drive Suite #400 Arlington, VA 22202-3289 571-527-2233 Susan.Han@millgroupinc.com (2) In accomplishing their duties related to the market research, the aforementioned firms may require access to proprietary information contained in the vendor's responses. Therefore, pursuant to FAR 9.505-4, these firms must execute an agreement with each RFI respondent that states that they will (1) protect the offerors' information from unauthorized use or disclosure for as long as it remains proprietary and (2) refrain from using the information for any purpose other than that for which it was furnished. Each RFI respondent must contact the above companies to effect execution of such an agreement prior to the submission of its RFI response and shall submit copies of the agreement with their response.