Information Technology Support Services (ITSS) for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Transportation Security Laboratory (TSL)

THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION ONLY This Request for Information (RFI) is issued solely for information and market research and planning purposes. This RFI shall not be construed as an obligation on the part of the Government. This is NOT a Request for Quotations or Proposals (RFQ or RFP). No solicitation document exists and the Government may or may not issue a formal solicitation as a result of any information received in response to this RFI. The Government will not pay for any response or demonstration expenses. All costs incurred responding to this RFI will be solely at the interested party's expense. Failure to respond to this RFI will not preclude participation in any future solicitation. In accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 15.201(e), responses to this notice are not offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract. The Government reserves the right to use information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate. Any organization responding to this notice should ensure that its response is complete and sufficiently detailed to allow the Government to determine that organization's capabilities. The Government's explicit intent through this RFI is to obtain general product/service information. The Government is not requesting and does not want to receive from respondents any proprietary data, trade secrets, business sensitive information, or information considered CONFIDENTIAL under 18 U.S.C. - 1905. The Government's constraint does not in any way relieve contractors from their responsibility to properly mark proprietary data when it is provided, nor does it alleviate any requirement for the Government to protect marked data. The Government is not obligated to protect unmarked data. The information provided in this RFI is subject to change and is not binding on the Government. All submissions become the property of the Federal Government and will not be returned. I. BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) Office of National Laboratories (ONL) Transportation Security Laboratory (TSL) is seeking information on Information Technology Support Services (ITSS). With its staff of federal employees and contractors, including physicists, chemists, engineers, and mathematicians, TSL is internationally recognized for its unique ability to advance detection technology from conception to deployment through applied research, test and evaluation, assessment, and certification testing. The objective of this TSL ITSS project, if implemented, is to provide TSL with essential support services to effectively manage IT resources, to support known and future software and database development efforts, and to provide laboratory wide IT helpdesk support services including end user account administration and support, network administration of multiple independent and secure networks. Responses to this RFI are solely for the purpose of market research and will be used for a market survey of prospective IT Support services. No content in this RFI shall be interpreted as a commitment on the part of TSL to enter a contract with any respondent or to make any procurement. As stated above, by submitting a response to this RFI, each respondent agrees that any cost incurred in responding to this request, or in support of activities associated with this RFI, shall be the sole responsibility of respondent. The Government incur no obligations or liabilities whatsoever, to anyone, for any costs or expenses incurred by the respondent in responding to this RFI. Through this RFI, TSL will assess the capabilities of respondents to provide the services of experienced IT personnel who can effectively manage the IT resources such as labor, supplies, equipment, and materials, necessary to maintain uninterrupted performance in a fast-paced laboratory environment. The incumbent contractor for this effort is Nextstep Technologies, Inc. under task order 70RSAT21FR0000026 against their General Services Administration (GSA) One Acquisition Solution for Integrated Services (OASIS) contract 47QRAD20D1207. The total value of this task order is $9,728,608.37. II. SUBMISSION OF INFORMATION Please describe your capabilities to deliver the required support services as outlined in the attached draft Statement of Work (SOW). Support for this requirement encompasses: Information Technology and Helpdesk Support; Network and Hardware Support and Administration; and Software/Database Development and Administration, and Special Projects. Your responses shall include, but are not limited to: Descriptions of your capability to provide personnel with the technical skills, knowledge, and experience in the required services disciplines stated above; Your general approach for building and maintaining sufficient resources in these areas; and Your labor mix of skills, if different than the personnel that the Government outlined in the SOW, along with a brief explanation. Please limit your responses to 10 (ten) single-side 8 x 11 pages using 12-point font for text and no less than 8-point font for any images or graphics. Any questions, comments, and/or additional information (if any), should be submitted via e-mail to the DHS Office of Procurement Operations (OPO) Point of Contact (POC) Contracting Officer Robert Marosz at Robert.Marosz@hq.dhs.gov. Responses to this RFI must be submitted via e-mail Mr. Marosz no later than 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on July 9, 2025. III. OTHER Once again, this RFI is for information gathering and planning purposes only and should not be construed as a Request for Proposal or solicitation of an offer. Submission of vendor information constitutes consent to publication of that information in TSL ITSS program documentation. IV. AMENDMENT QUESTIONS AND RESPONSES: Question 01: Labor Category - Project Manager Level II (0.1 FTE): Could you please confirm whether the 0.1 FTE level of effort is accurate for this position, or if it may have been included in error? Response to Question 01: This is accurate. Any resulting contract/task order is not intended to require a full time Project Manager. The management of the on-site personnel is intended to be done remotely and is expected to involve a minimal level of effort from the Project Manager. Question 02: Section 2.1.6 - Wireless Access Zone Support: The task - Support wireless access zones throughout the TSL campus is currently listed under Section 2.1.6. Would this task more appropriately fall under Section 2.1.2 - Communications and Video Teleconferencing (VTC) equipment maintenance and support activities, as it appears closely aligned with the scope of that section? Response to Question 02: The section in question is 2.1.1.16 and is numbered correctly as it falls under section 2.1.1 - End User Helpdesk Support. However, in the document the section is not shown in the correct section (2.1.1) but rater is appended to the end of section 2.1.2 in error. This will be corrected in a future revision. Question 03: The Project Manager position is listed as 0.1 FTE, and we wanted to confirm if that is accurate. Given the scope and complexity of the ITSS requirement, we want to ensure that level of support aligns with the government's expectations and does not require more consistent, dedicated support than reflected. Could you please confirm if the 0.1 FTE is correct or if additional PM support is anticipated? Response to Question 03: Yes, the current level of effort for the Project Manager is anticipated to be 0.1 of a Full-Time Equivalent (FTE); however, per the instructions in the SAM.gov posting, if a respondent's interpretation regarding the labor mix of skills is different than the personnel that the Government outlined in the SOW, then respondents are asked to please submit their level(s) of efforts along with a brief explanation. Question 04: Is the submission deadline still 1:00 p.m. ET on July 9, 2025? Response to Question 04: There will not be an extension for this RFI. Question 05: Additionally, the RFI notes that the incumbent task order was awarded via the GSA OASIS contract vehicle. Could you please clarify if responses to this RFI are limited to current GSA OASIS contract holders, or if any interested party may respond for the purpose of market research? Response to Question 05: As stated in the SAM.gov posting, this RFI is for market research purposes. The results of this market research will contribute to the Government's acquisition planning. This RFI is open to any and all interested parties, not just GSA OASIS contract holders. With that in mind, any Product Service Code (PSC) other than the identified DF10 - IT and Telecom - IT Management as a Service and/or North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Code other than 541519 - Other Computer Related Services that may be applicable and an explanation would be appreciated.