Technical support of U.S. Army Mission Critical Communication Equipment and Systems Acquisition Management Support

This Request For Information (RFI) is for planning purposes only and shall not be considered as an invitation for bid, request for quotation, request for proposal, or as an obligation on the part of the Government to acquire any products or services. Your response to this RFI will be treated as information only. No entitlement to payment of direct or indirect costs or charges by the Government will arise as a result of contractor submission of responses to this announcement or the Government use of such information. This request does not constitute a solicitation for proposals or the authority to enter into negotiations to award a contract. No funds have been authorized, appropriated, or received for this effort. The information provided may be used by the Army in developing its acquisition strategy and statement of work/statement of objectives and performance specifications. Interested parties are responsible for adequately marking proprietary or competition sensitive information contained in their response. The Government does not intend to award a contract on the basis of this request for information or to otherwise pay for the information submitted in response to this RFI. This notice is being publicized in accordance with FAR 5.205(c) to increase competition and broaden industry participation in meeting Government requirements. Industry is advised that comments may be submitted to the point of contact identified in this notice. However, questions will be treated as comments and responses will not be provided at this time. This notice is provided solely for information and planning purposes and does not constitute a Request for Proposal (RFP) nor a promise to issue an RFP in the future and do not commit the Government to a contract for any supply or service. The US Army Project Manager for PM Command Posts (formerly Tactical Radio Communication Systems) is conducting market research to identify potential qualified vendors capable of providing technical services and support of U.S. Army Mission Critical Communication Equipment and Systems Acquisition Management Support. An anticipated contract will be a 5 year Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) vehicle that provides engineering and technical services in support of U.S. Army mission-critical communication equipment and systems. Services include: system engineering, software engineering, logistics support, fielding support and training support, as well as unique depot repair and test bed capabilities required to support mission-critical communication equipment and systems. The equipment delineated further below are all part of the Mission Critical Defense System (MCDS). These equipments are used by the Joint Services, primarily the Army. The hardware/software designs and configurations for these systems are technically complex and dynamic due to the rapidly changing military communications environment. Remote Training and other applicable peripheral/interface devices and equipment will be included for all future upgrades. Requirements are specified for the physical establishment, utilization, management, control inclusive of a contractor maintenance support of a Test Facility for these systems at a contractor designated location. Government objectives and requirements are for the establishment and performance by the contractor of necessary program management and control (cost, task execution and schedule factors), for the performance of software quality assurance management and for the configuration management functions of the MCDS equipments. The Government does not own the data rights and therefore can not organically support these MCDS systems at this time. The supported MCDS systems and equipment include, but are not limited to High Mobility DGM (Digital Group Multiplexer) Assemblages (HMDA) / HS(High Speed) HMDA, AN/TTC/TYC-39 Switch, AN/TTC-56 Single Shelter Switch (SSS) and MSE Family of Switches, Compact Digital Switch (CDS), Switch Multiplexer Unit (SMU), Line Termination Unit (LTU), Vantage, Single Row Nest (SRN) switch components, and derivative variants such as Baseband Node (BBN), Network Operations Center Vehicle (NOCV) and Tactical High Speed Data Network (THSDN)). This equipment operates Mobile Subscriber Equipment and its derivative systems (communications networks) which are crucial to Army global communications. Key technical and program management criteria are established based on the primary capability requirement of potential contractors to perform the technical efforts identified in the Government's draft Statement of Work (SOW). Criteria elements that will be utilized in an evaluation are Program Management, System Engineering, Logistics Support, Software Engineering, Training Devices Upgrade, Fielding Support, Depot Support and Testing Support. An anticipated 5 year IDIQ contract Period of Performance is projected to be on or about 27 August 2008 for a three-year base period between 28 August 2008 - 27 August 2011 and two additional one-year options for continued services. The POP will facilitate continued coverage of essential technical support for mission-critical communications equipment used by the Army, as well as the Joint Services. Tasks may be placed under this IDIQ contract as needed on a Firm-Fixed-Price (FFP), Cost-Plus-Fixed-Fee (CPFF) or Time and Materials (T&M) basis. Any and each potential contractor response to the FedBizOps sources sought announcement will be reviewed to assess the extent to which the contractor's current technical and management capabilities, as well as past performance, would enable the contractor to perform the key program management and technical tasks identified by the criteria elements indicated above. Possible subcontracting opportunities to a prime vendor are unknown at this time. Any interest should be conveyed with a title page containing the vendor name, date, and the name and telephone number of the author and/or other points of contact. A description should provide evidence of vendor experience and briefly summarize the capabilities to support above cited systems. A description should also reflect the vendor's previous demonstrated performance in managing and supporting similar systems comparable in size and complexity. Vendors must provide all such information in writing. Questions and/or comments regarding this notice and SOW may be submitted via e-mail to charles.ade@gsa.gov or charm.yeung@gsa.gov. Verbal questions and/or comments will NOT be accepted.