RFI for GLOBAL ANALYTICS PLATFORM (GAP)

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) FOR UNITED STATES SPECIAL OPERATIONS COMMAND (USSOCOM) GLOBAL ANALYTICS PLATFORM (GAP) RFI NUMBER H92442-20-RFI-GAP 1. Purpose. This announcement constitutes a Request for Information (RFI) for informational and planning purposes only. THIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL nor is it to be construed as a commitment by the Government. The information requested will be used within United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) as market research to facilitate decision making (i.e., determining acquisition strategy, small business concerns, etc.) and will not be disclosed outside the Government. Proprietary information submitted shall be appropriately marked. Please note that USSOCOM will NOT be responsible for any costs incurred by interested parties in responding to this RFI. USSOCOM highly encourages responses from capable businesses of all sizes to include all the socioeconomic categories. 2. Background. USSOCOM is a Unified Combatant Command that oversees Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Joint Special Operations Component Commands. USSOCOM is part of the Department of Defense and is the only Unified Combatant Command created by an Act of Congress. USSOCOM develops and employs fully capable Special Operations Forces to conduct global special operations and activities as part of the Joint Force to support persistent, networked and distributed Combatant Command operations and campaigns against state and non-state actors to protect and advance U.S. policies and objectives. USSOCOM is headquartered at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida. The purpose of the Global Analytics Platform (GAP) is to make data available, useful and insightful. The program provides an information system environment for the search, discovery, and collaborative analysis of large volumes of data within a suite of secure web-based applications. The program's architecture is comprised of several interoperable services, including robust entity resolution services; analytic, collaboration and visualization services; information acquisition, processing and access services; and search, persistent query and alerting services. The architecture, which serves as the foundation of GAP, utilizes micro-services and applications that enable security, authentication, access control, collaboration, customization, and data flow in an elastic and scalable manner. As a continually evolving program, USSOCOM envisions that GAP will add, upgrade, and replace individual components, tools, and services, using defined interoperability and interface controls to maintain a leading-edge capability to meet enduring USSOCOM requirements. The before mentioned tools include applications interfacing with robust data ingest, enrichment, transport, and dissemination across intelligence and operations portfolios. The current GAP production instance is deployed to the Intelligence Community's Commercial Cloud Services (C2S) environment and is supported by a dedicated data engineering team. GAP also consists of intelligence targeting support to the find, fix, finish, exploit, and analyze (F3EA) cycle and direct intelligence support to ongoing operations. These cross-functional teams of analysts and technologists utilize technical information from all-source and single intelligence disciplines. These analysts specialize in client-focused innovation, creative problem solving, and measurable results and are integrated to the data science function of the GAP by providing operational need statements to Insights and Analytics (I&A), as well as providing technical subject matter expertise on intelligence-based end user applications. The I&A component of the GAP provides robust data science methodology to operationally relevant data at the edge as well as through the collect, ingest, enrich, transport, and disseminate phases. This function is done through utilization of a state-of-the-art data science technical environment capability organic to the GAP. 3. Objectives. Program Objectives. Ensure continuous and reliable GAP support, facilitate rapid and repeatable evolutionary capability development, and manage the distinct components and tools associated with the program. Provide programmatic support; integration support; hardware, software and data procurement; operational support, system administration, training, systems integration, and technical engineering maintenance. Program Objectives are broken into two lines of effort (LOE): LOE 1. Development and System Upgrades/Improvement Apply data science and artificial intelligence/machine learning disciplines to improve analyst workflow and free trapped technical capacity. Utilize a multi-disciplinary agile software development team model (consisting of small, large, and non-traditional partners) to implement iterative methodologies for the development of applications that will be tested and integrated into the architecture. Provide technical experts (i.e., technical targeting developers, agile developers, network engineers, product designers, test engineers, data base engineers) and data scientists to CONUS and OCONUS forward deployed cross-functional teams to conceptualize, build, deploy, implement, and maintain purpose-built, cutting-edge analytical software tools to aggregate and analyze intelligence data for real time exploitation in support of USSOCOM missions. LOE 2 Operational System Maintenance and Sustainment Support. Sustain the current GAP information technology architecture that utilizes micro-services and applications to enable security, authentication, access control, collaboration, customization, and data flow in an elastic and scalable manner; provide enhancements to existing systems, hardware, software, data procurement, system administration and integration; provide technical engineering maintenance; provide training and desk-side support. Support the GAP's 99.5% operational availability performance requirement twenty-four (24) hours a day, seven (7) days a week, 365 days a year; implement technology upgrades to improve system performance; implement software enhancements to improve system capabilities and customer usability. Provide CONUS and OCONUS forward deployed, on-site technical experts and field support representatives to cross-functional teams to enable system understanding/training, utilization support, and/or on-site system incident monitoring and resolution support. Contract Objectives. Implement a single or multiple-award Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (ID/IQ) contract for an ordering period between 5 - 10 years with a contract ceiling between $300 - $600 million dollars. Option One: Single-award ID/IQ assumes one Contractor will be responsible for LOE 1 and 2 orders Option Two: Multiple-award ID/IQ assumes one Contractor will be awarded all LOE 2 sustainment orders and another and/or multiple other awardees will be eligible for LOE 1 orders Utilize fixed price and cost reimbursable contract types. Implement commercial best practices to sustain and further develop the GAP architecture without negatively impacting operational readiness. Ensure flexibility to rapidly address short-notice/emerging requirements resulting from real-world contingencies. Access to a variety of multi-disciplinary Agile software development teams to conduct rapid development of software applications Contractor(s) must have an approved accounting system as defined in DFARS 252.242-7006(a)(1) and a facility clearance of Top Secret/ Sensitive Compartmented Information (SCI). The place of performance and proposed dates of performance are as follows: Place of Performance: Crystal City, Virginia Notional Period of Performance: 1 November 2021 - 31 October 2031 Fort Belvoir North Area: National Geospatial Agency Notional Period of Performance: 1 November 2021 - 31 October 2031 Fort Bragg, North Carolina Notional Period of Performance: 1 November 2021 - 31 October 2031 OCONUS Locations Notional Period of Performance: 1 November 2021 - 31 October 2031 4. Information Requested Contractors interested in responding to this RFI shall submit the following information in the format outlined below. Responses shall be detailed (but no more than 15 pages total) and address the information requested below (title pages, cover letter, etc., will not count against the page limit). Respondents are highly encouraged to submit a tailored response to questions rather than a generic capability statement to ensure the needed information is provided. I. Company Information. A. Company Name B. Address: C. Point of Contact: D. CAGE Code E. Phone Number: F. E-mail Address: G. Web Page URL: II. Business size: A. The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) for this effort is 541511, Custom Computer Programming Services. The Small Business Administration small business size standard for this NAICS code is $30M. B. Based on the NAICS code 541511, Custom Computer Programming Services, please indicate your business size (check one): Small Large C. If small business, please check all that apply to your firm: HUBZone Small Business Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business Veteran-Owned Small Business Small Disadvantaged Business Woman-Owned Small Business Economically Disadvantaged Woman-Owned Small Business III. Capabilities A. Identify which LOE your company can support. If both, please clearly respond to both separately in your response. Briefly describe your company's capabilities and services as it relates to the identified LOE and the objectives detailed above. B. Does your company provide services that will meet the objectives as stated in this requirement? Are there specific issues within the requirement that would preclude your company from providing services that would satisfy this requirement? C. Indicate whether your company intends to propose as a Prime or pursue opportunities to contribute to a Prime's proposal as a Subcontractor. If Subcontractor, responses should specify the portion of work to be performed. D. What is your experience supporting classified cloud computing for the Intelligence Community, specifically Amazon's Commercial Cloud Services (C2S) environment? E. What is your experience supporting unclassified cloud development, testing, and integration environments, include specific examples related to authority to operate, credential-based access management, and handling U.S. persons policy? F. What is your experience using Lean-Agile development/principles and/or employment of a Scrum framework? G. What software delivery cadence do you have experience employing (sprint/release)? H. What is your experience using DevSecOps practices to establish Continuous Integration/Continuous Delivery (CI/CD) pipelines to users and continuous monitoring of working software? I. What is your experience rapidly transitioning new technology through a CI/CD system? J. What is your experience sustaining software-based systems? Please cite specific technologies/methodologies leveraged to sustain these systems. K. What is your experience using scientific methods, processes, algorithms, and systems to extract knowledge and insights from structured and unstructured data sets? Please quantify the volume of structured and unstructured data sets you have experience handling. L. Does your company have experience handling incident/problem resolution? What processes have you employed to seek, capture, and manage customer feedback and requirement changes during product development? M. What is your typical transition plan for Government ownership of Intellectual Property? N. What is the one thing about your approach/capabilities that make you stand out amongst competition? O. Provide the following information for requirements deemed similar to this effort: A brief description of the effort Contract number Period of performance Was your company a prime or subcontractor? Dollar value of the project Scope of the portion of the effort your company supported P. If your company is Other Than Small Business, have you partnered or subcontracted with small business to provide the same or similar services as this requirement? Q. If no direct performance or experience with the above, please explain how you will perform tasks (i.e. utilizing experienced subcontractors, teaming arrangements, hiring qualified personnel)? R. If you were the Government, what would your top two evaluation criteria (RFP sections L&M) be for a competition? S. Discuss any recommendations your company may have to optimize the concept of the GAP, to include, but not limited to: Requirements of the Contract Contract Type: ID/IQ, Basic Ordering Agreement, or Blanket Purchase Agreement Pricing Arrangement (Fixed Price or Cost Plus or Multiple) Single or Multiple Award (If recommending Multiple Award, discuss how all awardees would be required to address configuration control and interoperability). If incentive option terms were included in a resultant award, what key metric(s) would you propose the Government evaluate to determine if the Contractor has earned the incentive option term? IV. Other: A. Please list all contract vehicles under which you hold contracts, which could be used to procure this effort. (i.e., OASIS, FABS, etc.). B. Please provide any other information or suggestions that may offer efficiencies in accomplishing this acquisition. 4. Submission Information Responses to this RFI must be submitted via e-mail to Alicia Rasich at alicia.a.rasich.civ@socom.mil no later 1300 (Eastern Standard Time), 31 July, 2020, Friday. Points of Contact (POC): Alicia Rasich Charles Weiner Contract Specialist Contracting Officer 813-826-6486 813-826-7334 alicia.a.rasich.civ@socom.mil charles.weiner@socom.mil