IBM and COPAN Hardware and Software Support

Request for Information The purpose of this notice is to perform SOURCES SOUGHT/MARKET RESEARCH. This is a Request for Information (RFI) on qualified support service providers. This is NOT a Request for Proposal (RFP), Request for Quotation (RFQ), or an invitation for bid, nor does its issuance obligate or restrict the Government to an eventual acquisition. All information received from this RFI may be used by the Government and is for planning purposes. The Government does not intend to award a contract on the basis of responses to this RFI nor otherwise reimburse vendors for the preparation of any information submitted or Government use of such information. Responders are solely responsible for all expenses associated with responding to this RFI. Acknowledgement of receipt of responses will not be made, nor will respondents be notified regarding the outcome of the information received. Proprietary information should not be provided. 1.0 DESCRIPTION This RFI is issued for the purpose of obtaining information on current capabilities within the commercial marketplace to support hardware maintenance, software licenses, and software maintenance for International Business Machines (IBM) and Copan hardware and software. Maintenance would include support of a centralized information technology (IT) center oriented around enterprise servers running IBM z/OS, z/VM, z/LINUX, and AIX proprietary operating systems, database management systems, backup and recovery systems and communications systems software. The principle period of maintenance would be 24 hours per day, 7 days per week, 365/366 days per year including holidays, also known as 24x7 maintenance. Please see the attached Performance Work Statement PDF document for details on the support of the IBM and Copan hardware and software. 2.0 REQUESTED INFORMATION The government is interested in hearing from firms or other organizations who meet the requirements described in section 1.0 3.0 SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS 3.1 Do not include classified information in response. Submissions shall be emailed as an attachment to Christina.s.reyes.civ@mail.mil and Irene.m.kremer-palmer.civ@mail.mil by 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time on Thursday, 17 September 2015. Please refer to "RFI - IBM COPAN" in the subject line, and in all correspondence. Submissions shall be in a Microsoft Word (.doc or .docx) or Adobe PDF file in 12-point font and no less than 1 inch margins on 8.5 by 11 inch paper in the following format: 3.1.1 Section 1: Cover page to include company name, individual point of contact name, business address, email address, and DUNS number/CAGE Code. (Limit: 1 page) 3.1.2 Section 2: A brief description of the respondent's experience. (Limit: 1 page) 3.1.3 Section 3: State the contract vehicles your firm offers this service on (i.e., Computer Hardware Enterprise Software Support (CHESS), General Services Administration (GSA), etc.) and the contract number. (Limit: 1 page) SUBMITTERS ARE INSTRUCTED NOT TO SUBMIT ANY PROPRIETARY DATA IN RESPONSE TO THE RFI. SUBMISSIONS CONTAINING PROPRIETARY DATA OR MARKED AS PROPRIETARY DATA WILL NOT BE REVIEWED. 3.2 Questions: The Government does not contemplate entering into a formal question and answer discussion with industry as a result of this RFI, however respondents may include any clarifying questions they wish to see addressed in future communications or similar information within the page limit of Section 2 as described in 3.1.2.