Public Cloud Request for Proposal has been posted

NOAA'S PUBLIC CLOUD REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL HAS BEEN POSTED. THE FOLLOWING LINK WILL TAKE YOU TO THE REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL POSTING: https://www.fbo.gov/index?s=opportunity&mode=form&id=82cb726ffa5976d6b88b1ea3d0deb986&tab=core&_cview=1 This Request for Information (RFI) is for information, planning and market research purposes only and shall not be construed as either a solicitation or obligation on the part of the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The purpose of this Request for Information (RFI) is to help NOAA understand the market and technical solutions capable of providing the full range of services described in the draft Statement of Need (SON). NOAA will use this market research information to assess the market's capability to successfully perform NOAA's Information as a Service Public Cloud requirement. NOAA welcomes responses from all interested parties. NOAA does not intend to make a selection decision or award a contract on the basis of responses. NOAA will not pay for the preparation of any information submitted or NOAA's use of such information. Acknowledgment of receipt of responses will not be made, nor will respondents be notified of the outcome of NOAA's review of the information received. Additionally, NOAA does not intend to hold discussions concerning this RFI with any interested parties. However, NOAA reserves the right to contact vendors individually if additional information is required. Any information concerning a future Request for Proposal will be posted for public viewing. General Instructions Responses to the RFI should not exceed 30 one side printed pages in Microsoft Word format. Responses should be submitted via email to Jack Hahne at jack.hahne@noaa.gov by 10:00 A.M. Eastern Standard Time on November 28, 2014. Responses provided to anyone other than Mr. Hahne will not be reviewed. ***NOTE: Due to the extension of the response date all questions must be submitted in writing to jack.hahne@noaa.gov by 10:00 A.M. EST on 11/21/2014. Questions received after this time may not be answered.*** A complete response to the RFI should include answers to all of the questions below. Responses should demonstrate capability (i.e. specific projects), not merely affirm the respondent's capability (e.g.: The response must go beyond the statement that, "XYZ company can provide Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)."). The attached draft SON describes the following 4 service areas under which task orders may be released to obtain these specific services related to NOAA's IaaS Public Cloud requirement. Please provided configuration, pricing, salient characteristics and any additional information you deem necessary for each of the following service areas: 1. Virtual Machines; 2. Storage Services; 3. Network Bandwidth; 4. Management tools and capabilities (this should itemize all essential services need to make your solution functional, such as memory caching, server/cluster load balancing and VPN) Questions: 1. This requirement is for an offsite Infrastructure as a Service Public Cloud. The respondent should assume they would provide all labor, supervision, equipment, and supplies to perform the work described in the draft Statement of Need. Except as specified in the draft Statement of Need, the respondent should assume they would provide the facilities and infrastructure necessary to perform all service areas. Appendix A presents an example of the service area requirements that could be included in a future requirement. Please provide information, examples or comments to the following: 1. Program and Task Order Management Support; 2. Physical Security/FedRAMP; 3. Contingency Plan; 4. Transition In and Out Plan; 5. Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan; 6. Management Capabilities and Service/Reports; 7. Technology refresh options 2. Are there any gaps (service areas not included in the draft Statement of Need) that you believe to be necessary in order to make the Public Cloud functional or greatly improve functionality? If you identified any gaps in the service areas, please describe any relevant projects where your company provided the service or support identified and what complementary objectives were achieved. Are the described service areas and the capabilities required clearly defined? 3. What changes, additions, updates, and clarifications would you suggest? 4. Do you provide RHEL Linux as a part of IaaS offerings? What Open Source Linux operating Systems do you offer as part of your IaaS offering? 5. How would you suggest pricing this requirement? What is the best practice for Contract Line Item Number (CLIN) structure and pricing? Do you offer any volume discounts? 6. The IGCE for this requirement is not yet finalized; however, it is estimated that the ID/IQ ceiling could be as high as $9.9M for NOAA. Please provide information on past projects that demonstrate your capability to staff and manage a project of this magnitude and complexity in terms of project scope. Also please describe any certifications that demonstrate proven management and quality outcomes. 7. Please provide the following: a. Organization name b. DUNS number c. Organization's website d. Contact Name e. Contact Telephone f. Contact E-mail address g. Size designation h. Number of employees in your organization i. Your organization's three (3) year annual revenue 8. Provide a Technical Point of Contact and a Contracting Point of contact for the most recent Government Agency in which you have provided IaaS Public Cloud services. 9. The government intends to manage account activity at multiple levels of organizational hierarchy. Please explain how your administrative management system will accommodate assigning multiple task orders to a single customer identification number and how this system provides visibility across multiple customer identification numbers. 10. Provide information concerning contract vehicles available to be used by the NOAA in acquiring the services outlined in the draft SON (GSA Federal Schedules, Government wide Acquisition Contract, etc.).