Joint Command and Control (C2) Capabilities Software Assurance

SOURCES SOUGHT REQUIREMENT: Joint Command and Control (C2) Capabilities Software Assurance THIS IS A SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE ONLY. THIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS. NO SOLICITATION IS AVAILABLE AT THIS TIME. PURPOSE: The Government is in the process of conducting market research to assist the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) in understanding the capabilities available in the market place relevant to information technology, communications, telecommunications and engineering industries to support software assurance for Joint Command and Control (C2) Capabilities. BACKGROUND: DISA Program Executive Office C2 Capabilities (PEO C2C), in coordination with DISA's Defense Information Technology Contracting Organization (DITCO), is requesting information to identify sources capable of providing Information Assurance (IA) support with emphasis on software assurance. Joint C2 is a federated set of C2 programs that form a joint situational awareness, intelligence, force protection, force projection and force employment capability. Joint C2 allows seamless integration of information for the Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff (CJCS), the Combatant Commanders (COCOMs), and the Military Services. It enables joint and multinational operations and extends Department of Defense (DOD) interoperability to other Federal Agencies. Joint C2 supports the President, Vice President, Secretary of Defense, CJCS, COCOMs, Services and Agencies by providing for synchronization of situational awareness, planning and operations from dispersed locations worldwide. It provides responsive C2, the capability to assess the level of success, and flexibility to engage with precision by allowing the Joint Task Force (JTF) commander the ability to maintain dominant battlefield awareness through a fused, integrated, near real-time picture of the battle space. Within the DISA PEO-C2C, the Systems Engineering and Integration (SE&I) Division provides a centralized and efficient set of services to the PEO's Program Management Offices (PMOs). The PEO-C2C vision is to migrate from large legacy programs to a set of net-centric capabilities that offer modern Joint C2 capabilities. To implement this vision, PMOs develop capabilities while focused on their user base, using centralized SE&I support capabilities. SE&I services include architecture (based on the Joint C2 Objective Architecture), requirements analysis, functional analysis, integration, systems engineering (SE) and the SE process, technical/design reviews, configuration management, information assurance (IA), testing, technical experiments/investigations, and capability deployment. IA includes fundamental software security practices provided with software systems engineering by SE&I in compliance with the Defense Information Assurance Certification and Accreditation Process (DIACAP). GENERAL: This Sources Sought notice is issued solely for information and planning purposes and does not constitute a solicitation. In accordance with (IAW) FAR 15.201(e), responses to this Sources Sought notice are not offers and cannot be accepted by the Government for forming a binding contract. This Sources Sought notice is a request for interested parties to describe their technical capabilities, knowledge and expertise with software design, development, production, fielding and sustainment of software applications in accordance with DoD Instruction 8500.2 and the DIACAP (DoD Instruction 8510.01). Not responding to this notice does not preclude participation in a future RFP, if one is issued. Small businesses under the following North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) codes are strongly encouraged to provide timely responses to this notice: 541512 - Computer Systems Design Services - Size Standard $25.5M Businesses may submit further recommendations for NAICS codes. Identification of the above NAICS codes does not bind the Government to issuance of a future solicitation for this requirement under any specific NAICS code. Similarly, any suggested NAICS code recommended by interested vendors does not bind the Government to its use. A response to this Sources Sought notice is desired in order to assist DISA in determining the potential levels of interest and technical capabilities within the small business community to provide required services. This information will be used to assist DISA in establishing the degree to which a small business set-aside is feasible, including the potential for small business/large business team arrangements. This notice encourages responses from qualified and capable Service Disabled-Veteran Owned Small Businesses, Veteran-Owned Small Businesses, Women-owned Small Businesses, HUBZone Small Businesses, Small Disadvantaged Small Businesses, Small Business Administration Certified 8(a) Program Participants, Small Business Joint Ventures and Teaming Partners. REQUESTED INFORMATION: Interested vendors shall submit their capabilities to perform each of the areas outlined below. 1. Describe your capabilities, knowledge and expertise in complying with the DoD 8510 (DIACAP) certification and accreditation (C&A) requirements, with emphasis on C&A in an agile environment including software assurance, use of the Application Software Development (ASD) Security Technical Implementation Guide, ability to conduct rapid and thorough source code reviews, and implementing other IA practices related to software assurance. 2. Describe your capabilities, knowledge and expertise in collecting and analyzing metrics associated with software assurance. Describe those metrics, their applicability and relevance to software development, and the analytical process used to produce recommedations and process enhancements from metrics collection. 3. Describe your capabilities and expertise in software process improvement in an Agile Software environment. Include relevant process improvement activities associated with IA and specifically software assurance. 4. Describe your expertise and ability to select and apply tools to expedite the software assurance process. Include your knowledge with installing, configuring and executing the tools and training users to make use of the tools most efficient. Describe positive impacts and results from application of tools to the software assurance process. 5. Describe your understanding and expertise with Joint C2 capabilities. Provide your expertise in the context of the need for IA and its applicability in the transition from client server architecture to an enterprise-based solution. RESPONSE INSTRUCTIONS: Responses must specifically describe the contractor's capabilities as applicable to the required information outlined in this Sources Sought notice. Interested parties are requested to submit capability statements and state small business status via email no later than 03:00PM EST, 5 December 2012to the Contracting Specialist, Nichole C. Cabral at Nichole.C.Cabral.civ@mail.mil. The Contracting Officer, Christopher A. Gray, shall be copied on email submissions at christopher.a.gray54.civ@mail.mil. Responses shall be submitted electronically. Paper copies will not be accepted. Marketing brochures and/or generic company literature will not be considered. The response must include the business type of the vendor (large business, small business, small disadvantaged business, 8(a)-certified small disadvantaged business, HUBZone small business, woman-owned small business, veteran-owned small business, service-disabled veteran-owned small business, etc.) under the requisite NAICS code(s). All respondents shall indicate whether they possess a DCAA approved cost accounting system to contract under a cost-type contracting arrangement. Respondents shall also indicate any Government Wide Acquisition Contracts (GWACs), Multiple Award Contracts (MACs), or Blanket Purchase Agreements (BPAs), inclusive of the respective contract numbers, on which you are a prime contract holder that may have the ability to support this requirement. Please include your company's name, point of contact, address, phone number, DUNS number, CAGE Code, and Tax ID. Submissions should be in a Microsoft Office compatible format (i.e., Microsoft Work, Power Point, Excel, etc) or Adobe Acrobat, a maximum of 5MB of data, not contain text smaller than 12 fonts (Times New Roman, Cambria, Calibri, or Courier fonts only) with at least one-inch margins on 8 1/2" X 11" paper, and should not exceed more than 10 pages. All data received in response to this Sources Sought notice that are marked or designated as corporate or proprietary information will be fully protected from release outside the Government. Proprietary information and trade secrets, if any, must be clearly marked on all materials. All information received that is marked Proprietary will be handled accordingly. Please be advised that all submissions become Government property and will not be returned. The Government shall not be held liable for any damages incurred if proprietary information is not properly identified. Oral communications are not permissible. FedBizOpps will be the sole repository for all information related to this Sources Sought notice. The opportunity for clarification will not change the submission deadline date identified above. In order to protect the procurement integrity of a future procurement, if any, that may arise from this announcement, information regarding the technical point of contact will not be given and no appointments for presentations will be made. Please refer any questions to the Contracting Specialist, Nichole C. Cabral, via email at Nichole.C.Cabral.civ@mail.mil, or (301) 225-4055 or the Contracting Officer, Christopher A. Gray, at christopher.a.gray54.civ@mail.mil.