B09_SA_1_0001.pdf

COMBINED SYNOPSIS/SOLICITATION

140D0426Q0575

NETWORK CONNECTIVITY – MANAGED OPTICAL NETWORK BACKBONE

This requirement is being issued by the United States Department of the Interior (DOI), Interior Business Center (IBC), Acquisition Services Directorate (AQD), on behalf of Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Cancer Institute (NCI), Center for Biomedical Informatics and Information Technology (CBIIT). AQD operates as a Federal Franchise Fund Contracting Office under the authority of the Government Management Reform Act and provides contracting support to Federal Civilian and Department of Defense Agencies. AQD will handle the solicitation and resultant order administration, as well as payment of invoices.

SECTION 1 – COMBINED SYNOPSIS/SOLICITATION

This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial products or commercial services prepared in accordance with Revolutionary Federal Acquisition Regulations Overall (RFO) Part

12. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation. Offers are being requested and a separate written solicitation will not be issued.

Solicitation number 140D0426Q0575 is issued as a Request for Quote (RFQ) for Network Connectivity – Managed Optical Network Backbone

This acquisition is not set-aside for small business concerns.

This solicitation incorporates provisions and clauses by reference. The full text of provisions and clauses may be accessed electronically at www.acquisition.gov.

List of item numbers:

Item Description Quantity

(Units) Total ($)

Network connectivity – fiber network backbone

1 year+ 4, 1 year options

$TBD *

* = The offeror shall provide the dollar amounts in the price quote.

Description of the Requirements for the items to be acquired, including documentation supporting any brand name description (See 12.102): NCI seeks a U.S.-based managed optical network provider ("Contractor") to deliver and sustain a turnkey, end-to-end backbone service;

covering fiber plant provisioning and the acquisition, configuration, deployment, monitoring, and on-going maintenance and support of all equipment necessary to meet the requirements laid out in this Performance Work Statement.

Date(s) and place(s) of delivery and acceptance and F.O.B. Point: The award will consist of a one year base period and four, one year options. Services shall be provided remotely from the Contractor’s U.S.-based facilities. Onsite service shall only be performed if necessary at the following backbone locations as required to continue operations:

• Frederick — Fort Detrick (430 Miller Drive, Frederick, MD 21702)

• Frederick — ATRF (8560 Progress Drive, Frederick, MD 21701)

• Rockville — Shady Grove (9609 Medical Center Dr, Rockville, MD 20850)

• Bethesda — Buildings 10 and 12A (10 Center Dr, Bethesda, MD 20892; 12 Center Dr, Bethesda, MD 20892)

• Two Northern Virginia sites supporting Amazon Web Services (AWS) Direct Connect (with planned diverse sites for cloud interconnects) *Travel is not anticipated. However, any infrequent travel costs associated with this procurement will be included in the offeror’s Firm-Fixed-Price quote.

A list of solicitation provisions that apply to the acquisition (See 12.205(a)): See Section 6 of the http://www.acquisition.gov/ solicitation.

A list of contract clauses that apply to the acquisition (See 12.205(b)): See Section 7 of the solicitation.

Date, time, and place for receipt of offer and point of contact: Questions related to this Request for Quote (RFQ) package must be emailed to Melissa_Onyszko@ibc.doi.gov not later than 9 AM Eastern Time, August 28, 2026. Any questions received after the specified cut-off date and time will not be accepted or answered. Please be advised that the Government reserves the right to transmit questions and answers of a common interest to all prospective offerors. No oral questions will be accepted.

Quotes submitted in response to this RFQ must be emailed to Melissa_Onyszko@ibc.doi.gov no later than 9 AM Eastern Time, September 9, 2026 to be considered for award.

Please be advised that it is the offeror’s responsibility to ensure the Government receives your submission via the method and to the location specified in the solicitation on or before the specified due date and time. The Government reserves the right to reject quotes that are not submitted in accordance with the instructions. The Government reserves the right to accept or reject late quotes.

Any additional information required by 5.101(c): The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code applicable to this requirement is 517111 “Wired Telecommunication Carriers” Size Standard: 1,500 employees. The Product Service Code is DG10 “IT and Telecom

– Network as a Service.”

SECTION 2 – QUOTE PREPARATION INSTRUCTIONS

In order to participate in this acquisition, the offeror must submit the information below. The Government is not looking for the offerors to copy and paste language from the solicitation into their offer. The Government is requesting concise but complete responses.

Volume 1; Factor 1 – Technical Capabilities, Understanding of the Work, and Management Approach:

No more than 10 pages with 1-inch margins and no smaller than 10 size font and including all attachments.

● Include:

● Name and Address of offeror

● Phone number and email address for offeror point of contact

● Corresponding solicitation number and acknowledgement of amendments

● Unique Entity ID (UEI) in System for Award Management (SAM)

● Technical Assumptions. If not noted in this section of your quote, it will be assumed that the Contractor proposes no assumptions for award and agrees to comply with all of the terms and conditions as set forth herein. The Government will not seek out and identify assumptions, conditions, or exceptions buried within the Contractor’s submission.

• Address the following:

Factor 1 – Technical Capabilities, Understanding of the Work, and Management Approach The Offeror must discuss their technical capabilities, understanding of the work, and management approach to assess its confidence that the Offeror can successfully perform the Performance Work Statement (PWS) requirements and provide reliable and continuous network services.

• Technical Capabilities: Discuss the Offeror’s technical expertise, qualified personnel, tools, and resources necessary to perform the requirements, including diverse fiber routing, resilient network design, 10/40/100 Gbps operations and upgrade paths, direct hands-on and on-site troubleshooting, and monitoring, incident detection, notification, and resolution. Discuss the Offeror’s Transition-In Plan, describing a timely, achievable and low risk transition approach. See the PWS for more information regarding Transition-In Plan requirements.

• Understanding of the Work: Discuss the Offeror’s understanding of the PWS objectives, scope, deliverables, dependencies, service level agreements (SLAs), risks, and future requirements, and discuss the Offeror’s approach for fiber provisioning, equipment lifecycle management, service delivery, risk mitigation, and future enhancements, including 400 Gbps capabilities, cloud connectivity, encryption, and automation.

Management Approach: Discuss the Offeror’s management approach detailing escalation procedures, risk and communications management, SLA and performance oversight, quality assurance, reporting, and continuous improvement. See the PWS for the quality assurance plan requirements. Discuss the Offeror’s U.S.-based staffing and its approach to subcontractor oversight and flow-down of domestic service delivery, data residency, and access requirements.

Address the approach for completing the security plan and accreditation requirements in clause 352.239-71, Security Requirements for Information Technology Resources.

Volume 2; Factor 2 – Past Performance:

No more than 2 pages with 1-inch margins and no smaller than 10 size font and including all attachments.

● Include:

● Name and Address of offeror

● Phone number and email address for offeror point of contact

The offeror shall submit the following information with regards to past performance for similar work performed:

• A list of three (3) projects for contracts performed within the last three (3) years (recent) for the Federal or State Government and/or commercial customers that demonstrate past performance similar in scope (nature of the work is similar to the statement of work for this requirement), complexity (requires the same level of knowledge, skills, and experience as would be necessary for this requirement), and size (approximately $2 million).

• Include the following information:

• Contract number, type of contract, and dollar amount;

• Project title and description;

• Government agency or organization;

• Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR’s) name, e-mail address and telephone number;

• Current status; (e.g. completed and/or if in progress, start and estimated completion dates.)

• Key personnel; and (please highlight those individuals who worked on the relevant project(s) and are also being quoted for this effort.)

• Any issues that occurred and how they were resolved.

• A brief narrative of why you deem the reference to be relevant to this effort and the SOW paragraph to which the reference applies.

• For each subcontractor, if applicable, identify three (3) projects with the Federal or State Government and/or commercial customers in accordance with the guidance within this section. **One additional page may be added to the 2-page limit to include subcontractor information only.

• If applicable, include an explanation as to why three projects are not provided.

NOTE:

The Government may also consider information obtained through other sources, including the Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System (CPARS). Past performance information will be utilized to determine the quality of the Contractor’s past performance as it relates to the probability of success of the required effort.

Volume 3; Factor 3 - Price:

● Firm-fixed-price quote submitted on an Excel document detailing a build-up of your price quote. Include at a minimum:

• Firm-fixed-price for each period of performance and the total firm-fixed price for all periods of performance.

• Detailed break-down for all costs included within each period of performance. For example, include labor categories, rates, and material costs. Travel is unlikely, but would be included in the firm-fixed-price of any period of performance. If quoting labor categories and rates from established Government wide acquisition contracts (GWACS), indicate the GWAC number.

• Indicate whether the Service Contact Labor Standards apply to this acquisition.

• Price assumptions and any other pricing information should be included on the excel sheet. If no assumptions are noted in this section of your quote, it will be assumed that the Contractor proposes no assumptions for award and agrees to comply with all of the terms and conditions as set forth herein. The Government will not seek out and identify assumptions, conditions, or exceptions buried within the Contractor’s submission.

Volume 4; Subcontracting Plan:

No more than 3 pages with 1-inch margins and no smaller than 10 size font and including all attachments.

● Include:

● Name and Address of offeror

● Phone number and email address for offeror point of contact

● Unique Entity ID (UEI) in System for Award Management (SAM)

Large businesses are required to submit a small business subcontracting plan including all elements described in RFO 52.219-9 Small Business Subcontracting Plan – Alternate II – Deviation Date JAN 2026. HHS subcontracting goals are as follows for FY26:

Small Business Overall Goal: 25% Small Disadvantaged Business: 5% Women-Owned-Small Business: 5% Service-Disabled-Veteran-Owned-Small Business: 5% HubZone: 3%

**Small Businesses under NAICS 517111 are not required to submit subcontracting plans.

Volume 5; Other:

Submit completed Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT) (See attachment 2;

https://www.itic.org/policy/accessibility/vpat has an editable version). Offerors should insert “NA” for any section on the VPAT that is not applicable.

https://www.itic.org/policy/accessibility/vpat

Offeror agrees to hold the prices in its quote firm for at least 90 calendar days. Offerors must submit one quote and are not encouraged to submit multiple quotes. Partial quotes will not be accepted. The Government intends to issue one award.

The offeror must ensure that your firm is currently registered in SAM at www.sam.gov at the time of quote submission and at the time of award.

**The Government requests offerors to quote labor categories and rates from their established GWACs. Discounts are requested.

SECTION 3 – EVALUATION OF QUOTES AND BASIS FOR AWARD

The Government will make award utilizing the streamlined procedures at RFO 12.2. The quote will be evaluated in accordance with RFO 12.204. The Contracting Officer (CO) will conduct the acquisition utilizing tradeoffs between the nonprice factors (Technical Capabilities, Understanding of Work, and Management Approach and Past Performance) and price. Technical Capabilities, Understanding of Work, and Management Approach is more important than Past Performance. When Technical Capabilities, Understanding of Work, and Management Approach are combined with Past Performance, they are collectively more important than price. Non-price evaluations will be conducted utilizing confidence ratings. The CO will make award to the offeror quoting a fair and reasonable price and presenting the best value considering the non-price factors and price. The Government is willing to pay a higher price for a higher rated offeror if it is the best value for the Government.

Subcontracting plans will be evaluated on an acceptable/unacceptable basis based upon their approach to meeting the HHS goals. The COR will review the Completed Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT) to confirm it is acceptable.

The CO will review the information in the Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System (CPARS) and SAM Responsibility / Qualification (R/Q) for the prospective awardee in order to perform a responsibility determination as required by RFO 9.

The Government reserves the right not to make an award, if in the opinion of the Government the submission would not provide satisfactory performance at a cost that is considered fair and reasonable and/or economically feasible.

Evaluation Factors for Award:

Factor 1 – Technical Capabilities, Understanding of the Work, and Management Approach

The Government will evaluate the Offeror’s technical capabilities, understanding of the work, and management approach to assess its confidence that the Offeror can successfully perform the PWS requirements and provide reliable and continuous network services.

• Technical Capabilities: The extent to which the Offeror provides technical expertise, qualified personnel, tools, and resources necessary to perform the requirements, including diverse fiber routing, resilient network design, 10/40/100 Gbps operations and upgrade paths, direct hands-on and on-site troubleshooting, and proactive monitoring, incident detection, notification, and resolution. The Government will evaluate the extent to which the Offeror’s Transition-In Plan demonstrates a timely, achievable and low risk transition approach.

• Understanding of the Work: The extent to which the Offeror demonstrates an understanding of the PWS objectives, scope, deliverables, dependencies, SLAs, risks, and future requirements, and provides a clear and feasible approach for fiber provisioning, equipment lifecycle management, service delivery, risk mitigation, and future enhancements, including 400 Gbps capabilities, cloud connectivity, encryption, and automation.

• Management Approach: The extent to which the Offeror presents a clear and feasible management approach detailing escalation procedures, risk and communications management, SLA and performance oversight, quality assurance, reporting, and continuous improvement. The Government will also evaluate the adequacy of the Offeror’s U.S.-based staffing and its approach to subcontractor oversight and flow-down of domestic service delivery, data residency, and access requirements. The Government will evaluate the Offeror’s approach for completing the security plan and accreditation requirements in clause 352.239-71, Security Requirements for Information Technology Resources.

Factor 2 – Past Performance

The Government will evaluate the quality of previous work products the offeror and its key personnel have produced on efforts similar to the size, scope and complexity of requirements within the PWS and the organization’s history of successfully completing these projects.

The Government will obtain past performance information provided by the contractor, using Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System (CPARS), historical past performance information on file; and, any other sources available for Government reference.

Factor 3 - Price:

The Government will consider each offeror’s price in the determination of the best value offeror, ensuring the successful offeror’s price quote is fair and reasonable as it relates to the offered non-price quote.

SECTION 4 – REQUIREMENTS

Performance Work Statement (PWS)

Network Connectivity – Managed Optical Network Backbone Acquisition

1.0. INTRODUCTION/OVERVIEW

1.1 BACKGROUND

NCI seeks a U.S.-based managed optical network provider ("Contractor") to deliver and sustain a turnkey, end-to-end backbone service; covering fiber plant provisioning and the acquisition, configuration, deployment, monitoring, and on-going maintenance and support of all equipment necessary to meet the requirements laid out in this PWS.

1.2 OBJECTIVES

The purpose of this contract is to acquire a comprehensive, outcome-based managed service to operate and enhance the NCI Fiber Network Backbone in support of continuous, secure, resilient, and future-ready connectivity for NCI research and mission operations. The Contractor is expected to provide the qualified personnel, processes, and tools necessary to achieve established service levels and performance objectives, rather than supplementing Government staff.

The effort encompasses continuous network operations and monitoring, capacity and engineering support, path diversity and resilience, cloud connectivity, compliance, documentation, testing, and validation. The service is intended to maintain reliable network operations while supporting evolving capacity, security, resiliency, and cloud connectivity needs.

Performance under this effort is limited to U.S.-based operations. Contractor facilities, personnel duty stations and primary work locations, network endpoints, and data residency must remain within the fifty states and the District of Columbia; offshore performance is outside the scope of the effort.

2.0 CONTRACTOR WORK SCOPE/ REQUIREMENTS

Independently, and not as an agent of the Government, the Contractor shall furnish all necessary services, qualified personnel, materials, equipment, and facilities (except as otherwise specified herein) to perform the work set forth below. The Contractor shall remain solely responsible for control and supervision of employees and any Subcontractors while performing under this contract.

2.1 TASKS

The Contractor shall provide a comprehensive, outcome-based managed optical network backbone service to operate, sustain, secure, and enhance the NCI Fiber Network Backbone. The Contractor shall provide the management, qualified personnel, facilities, processes, equipment, fiber connectivity, operational capabilities, and technical expertise necessary to maintain continuous, secure, resilient, and scalable connectivity in support of NCI research and mission operations.

The Contractor shall perform the following task area throughout the period of performance.

TASK AREA: MANAGE OPTICAL NETWORK BACKBONE SERVICE

Task 2.1 - Program and Service Management

The Contractor shall manage and coordinate all activities necessary for successful performance of the managed optical network backbone service. The Contractor shall establish and maintain service management processes addressing operational coordination, communications, escalation, risk management, staffing, technical coordination, and management of activities across the service environment.

The Contractor shall coordinate activities with designated NCI stakeholders and other Government-authorized organizations when dependencies, planned changes, incidents, security matters, or other conditions affect operation of the backbone service.

Task 2.2 - Fiber Plant Provisioning and Maintenance

The Contractor shall provision, operate, and maintain the fiber plant necessary to support NCI backbone connectivity, capacity, availability, and path-diversity objectives.

The Contractor shall perform the engineering, design, procurement or leasing, installation, turn-up, configuration, maintenance, repair, and related activities necessary to sustain required fiber connectivity. Fiber routes shall be engineered and maintained to provide the physical diversity and resilience necessary to minimize single points of failure and support continuity of NCI mission operations.

The Contractor shall coordinate fiber plant changes and maintenance activities with affected NCI facilities, service providers, carriers, and other Government-authorized parties as necessary to maintain service continuity. The Contractor shall provide two weeks notification for routine maintenance. Maintenance shall occur outside of normal Monday through Friday business hours (8:00am - 6:00pm ET).

Task 2.3 - Network Equipment Lifecycle Management

The Contractor shall provide lifecycle management for the optical and network equipment necessary to deliver the managed service.

The Contractor shall acquire, configure, deploy, operate, monitor, patch, maintain, repair, replace, and sustain required equipment throughout its operational lifecycle. The Contractor shall maintain sufficient equipment, components, spares, and replacement capabilities to support continued network operations and shall manage equipment repair and Return Material Authorization (RMA) activities when required.

The Contractor shall proactively identify equipment obsolescence, end-of-life, end-of-support, capacity limitations, security vulnerabilities, and other lifecycle conditions that could adversely affect backbone availability, security, performance, or maintainability.

Task 2.4 - 24×7 Network Operations and Incident Management

The Contractor shall provide continuous 24×7×365 operations and monitoring of the NCI Fiber Network Backbone.

The Contractor shall monitor the health, availability, performance, capacity, and security status of the managed network environment and shall identify, analyze, respond to, escalate, and resolve operational incidents affecting the service.

The Contractor shall perform incident troubleshooting and restoration activities necessary to return affected services to normal operations or implement an approved workaround when immediate restoration is not feasible. The Contractor shall coordinate incident response and escalation with NCI and applicable service providers, carriers, cloud providers, and other Government-authorized organizations as necessary.

The Contractor shall analyze significant and recurring incidents to identify root causes, corrective actions, and opportunities to reduce the likelihood or impact of future service disruptions.

Task 2.5 - Capacity, Engineering, and Modernization

The Contractor shall perform capacity management, network engineering, and modernization activities necessary to sustain current NCI backbone requirements and support anticipated mission growth.

The Contractor shall maintain and engineer the existing 10/40/100 Gbps backbone environment as referenced in Appendix A Network Topology & Sites and support expansion or modification of network connectivity as required by NCI. This effort includes engineering diverse connectivity between Frederick and Bethesda; GCP Interconnect connectivity from Rockville/Shady Grove and Frederick/ATRF to Northern Virginia; evaluation of increased capacity between Rockville and Bethesda; and planning for future backbone capabilities, including potential 400 Gbps connectivity.

The Contractor shall evaluate network utilization, performance, resilience, technology lifecycle, and anticipated demand to identify necessary capacity enhancements and modernization opportunities.

Network enhancements and changes shall be engineered to maintain interoperability, security, resilience, path diversity, and continuity of operations within the managed backbone environment.

Task 2.6 – Secure Network Links, Compliance, and Cloud Interconnect Operations

The Contractor will not be providing cloud services but will be facilitating network connections to the cloud. See Appendix A for the existing links.

The Contractor shall operate and sustain the managed optical network backbone in accordance with applicable NCI and NIH security requirements and the security requirements established elsewhere in the contract.

The Contractor shall implement and maintain end-to-end encryption for backbone connections, including cloud interconnects, perform continuous monitoring, support applicable Risk Management Framework activities, maintain required security-related information, and coordinate with the NCI Information System Security Officer (ISSO) and other authorized security personnel in support of assessments and ongoing security activities.

The Contractor shall operate, maintain, and optimize NCI cloud interconnect connectivity, including AWS Direct Connect connectivity through diverse Northern Virginia locations and GCP Interconnect connectivity supporting the NCI network environment.

Cloud interconnect operations shall maintain the connectivity, redundancy, diversity, throughput, encryption, and operational resilience necessary to support NCI mission requirements.

Task 2.7 - Documentation and Knowledge Transfer

The Contractor shall maintain current technical, operational, and configuration information sufficient to support effective operation, maintenance, troubleshooting, and continuity of the managed network service.

The Contractor shall maintain information describing the as-built network environment, network topology, fiber routes, equipment configurations, inventories, operational procedures, and other information necessary to understand and support the managed backbone environment.

The Contractor shall maintain current operating procedures, runbooks, and related technical information as the network environment changes.

The Contractor shall provide knowledge transfer to the delegated network team sufficient to maintain Government awareness and understanding of significant network architecture, operational procedures, technologies, changes, and service dependencies.

Task 2.8 - Testing, Resilience, and Service Validation

The Contractor shall perform testing and validation activities necessary to demonstrate the operational readiness, resilience, redundancy, and recovery capabilities of the managed backbone environment.

The Contractor shall conduct planned failover exercises and other appropriate testing to verify network path diversity, redundancy, restoration capabilities, cloud connectivity, and continued operation under failure conditions.

The Contractor shall identify deficiencies discovered through testing, investigate their causes, implement or recommend appropriate corrective actions, and verify remediation as appropriate.

Testing and resilience activities shall be coordinated with NCI to minimize disruption to mission operations and shall support Government-established recovery and continuity objectives.

Task 2.9 - Domestic Service Delivery, Access, and Data Handling

The Contractor shall perform managed service operations from facilities physically located within the United States. Personnel performing network operations, monitoring, on-call support, escalation, engineering, and other managed service functions shall have their duty station and primary work location within the United States.

The Contractor's primary Network Operations Center (NOC), Security Operations Center (SOC) functions supporting this requirement, on-call operations, and escalation functions shall be U.S.-based.

Remote access to Government systems, network management platforms, or operational tooling shall originate from authorized network endpoints located within the United States. Government data associated with performance of the managed service shall not be stored, processed, or transmitted outside the United States.

The Contractor shall apply applicable domestic service delivery, personnel location, network access, and data residency requirements to subcontractors and suppliers supporting contract performance. Offshore service delivery or support shall not be used unless specifically authorized in writing by the Contracting Officer.

For purposes of this requirement, the United States consists of the fifty states and the District of Columbia.

Task 2.10 – Transition Phase-In/Out Plan

1.A transition phase-in plan is required to ensure minimum disruption to vital Government business. Upon completion of the phase-in period the contractor shall be fully staffed and prepared to begin full performance under the requirements of the Contract. The contractor shall ensure that there will be no service degradation during phase-in. The contractor shall propose a phase-in approach in their management approach, and it will be discussed at the Contract Kick-Off Meeting, which will be scheduled after award.

2.In accordance with this requirement, the contractor shall provide a plan for outgoing transition for transitioning work from an active award to a follow-on award or to a Government entity. This transition may be to a government entity, another contractor, or the incumbent contractor under a new award. The contractor shall assist the Government in planning and implementing a complete transition from the award issued under this RFQ to the follow-on entity.

(a) The transition phase-in plan must address the following:

o How the successor contractor will work with the incumbent contractor to facilitate an orderly transition.

o How the successor contractor will work with the incumbent contractor to continue performance without interruption.

o The phase-in period of performance.

o Points of contact involved in the phase-in.

3.A transition phase-out plan is required to facilitate a seamless transition from the incumbent to incoming contractor or government personnel at the expiration of the award. The contractor shall provide a phase-out plan not later than ninety (90) calendar days prior to expiration of the award. The contractor shall identify how it will coordinate with the incoming Contractor and/or Government personnel to transfer knowledge regarding the following:

(a) Project management processes

(b) Points of contact

(c) Location of technical and project management documentation

(d) Status of ongoing technical initiatives

(e) Identify schedules and milestones

(f) Identify actions required of the Government

(g) Establish and maintain effective communication with the incoming contractor/Government personnel for the period of the transition via status meetings

(h) How the incumbent contractor will work with the successor contractor to facilitate an orderly transition to ensure no gap in service.

(i) The phase-out period of performance

4. At the end of the award, if deemed necessary by the Government, the contractor shall provide similar phase-in/phase-out support to the successor contractor, in accordance with FAR 52.237-3, Continuity of Services (Jan 1991).

3.0 DELIVERABLES

All formal deliverables shall be submitted to the COR in the format and via the method directed by the Government. Rejected deliverables shall be corrected and resubmitted within five (5) business days of Government notification unless an alternative timeframe is directed by the

COR.

All reports required herein shall be submitted in electronic format.

All electronic reports submitted shall be compliant with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Additional information about testing documents for Section 508 compliance, including guidance and specific checklists, by application, can be found at:

http://www.hhs.gov/web/508/index.html under "Making Files Accessible."

The contractor shall provide the following deliverables:

Task Deliverable Description Deliverable Due Date

Task 2.1 Program Management Plan (PMP) – Includes Contractor Quality Assurance Plan

(QAP)

Due 30 calendar days after award

Task 2.2, 2.3, 2.7

Network Diagrams Maintained current;

updated following applicable changes

Task 2.1, 2.4

Monthly Operations Report (tickets, performance, capacity, incidents)

Monthly

Task 2.4 Post-incident Reason for Outage (RFO) Report

Within 2 business days following applicable incidents

Task 2.6 Security Compliance Summary

Annually

Task 2.10 Transition In Plan Draft due with proposal, and final due within 5 business http://www.hhs.gov/web/508/index.html

Task Deliverable Description Deliverable Due Date days of receipt of Government comments.

Task 2.10 Transition Out Plan Due no later than ninety (90) calendar days prior to expiration of the award.

4.0 Contractor Quality Assurance Plan

1. The contractor shall establish and propose a Quality Assurance Plan (QAP) for the work to be performed under the contract. The QAP must address the following:

(a) Who will be responsible for quality control during the performance of the tasks?

(b) What will that person do to ensure compliance to requirements of the tasks?

(c) Where will the quality control activities be performed?

(d) When will the quality control activities be performed?

(e) How will quality control inspections be performed?

(f) How will the quality control activities be documented and reported to the COR?

2. The government may decide to utilize the QAP as the basis for the Government’s Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan (QASP). The QASP will be used by the Government to evaluate the contractor's performance over the life of this award.

5.0 Performance Requirements Summary (PRS)

Performance Requirement Performance Standard Acceptable Quality Level

Network Operations and Incident Response

Provide continuous 24×7×365 monitoring and operations. Respond to Priority 1 incidents within 15 minutes and restore service or implement an approved workaround.

Response within 15 minutes.

Network Capacity, Resilience & Connectivity

Maintain required 10/40/100 Gbps backbone connectivity, path diversity, cloud interconnect redundancy, and

99.99% uptime for the following services:

1. Production AWS Direct Connect capacity necessary to support NCI mission operations.

(2x10Gbps redundant/diverse connections)

2. Lab AWS Direct Connect (2x10Gbps redundant/diverse connections)

3. NCI Backbone between the ATRF and Shady Grove (2x100Gbps redundant/diverse connections)

4. NCI Backbone between the Bethesda and Shady Grove (2x40Gbps redundant/diverse connections)

5. NCI Backbone between lab environments in the ATRF and Shady Grove (2x10Gbps redundant/diverse connections)

Same 99.99% uptime would be required of any future services. Here are likely examples:

1. Production GCP Interconnect (2x10Gbps redundant/diverse connections)

2. Lab GCP Interconnect (2x10Gbps redundant/diverse connections)

3. NCI Backbone between the ATRF and Bethesda (2x100Gbps redundant/diverse connections)

Security & Compliance Operate and optimize AWS Direct Connect via two diverse Northern Virginia sites; deploy/manage GCP Interconnect links from Rockville/Shady Grove and Frederick/ATRF to Northern Virginia. All interconnect traffic and backbone links shall enforce end-to-end encryption with FIPS-validated ciphers; RMF artifacts and continuous monitoring will be maintained per NIH/NIST policies

100% of required backbone connections encrypted

Domestic Service Delivery & Data Protection

Required service delivery, Network and Security monitoring, personnel, remote-access endpoints, and Government data handling remain within the United States unless otherwise authorized by the CO.

100% compliance, except where specifically authorized in writing by the CO.

6.0 PLACE OF PERFORMANCE

Services shall be provided remotely from the Contractor’s U.S.-based facilities.

Onsite service shall be performed at the following backbone locations only if absolutely necessary to continue operations:

Frederick — Fort Detrick (430 Miller Drive, Frederick, MD 21702)

Frederick — ATRF (8560 Progress Drive, Frederick, MD 21701)

Rockville — Shady Grove (9609 Medical Center Dr, Rockville, MD 20850)

Bethesda — Buildings 10 and 12A (10 Center Dr, Bethesda, MD 20892; 12 Center Dr, Bethesda, MD 20892)

Two Northern Virginia sites supporting AWS Direct Connect :

Equinix DC2 - 21715 Filigree Court, Ashburn

Coresite VA1 - 12100 Sunrise Valley Drive, Reston

In the event of an onsite response, the Contractor shall sign in and be escorted by authorized staff. No access to Government data shall be provided; Contractor access is limited to underlying hardware. All travel costs are reimbursed as part of the firm-fixed-price.

7.0 HHS DIGITAL ACCESSBILITY CONFORMANCE STANDARDS

Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act, as amended by the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (P.L. 105-220), requires Federal agencies to develop, procure, maintain, or use information and communication technology (ICT) accessible to people with disabilities. Federal employees and members of the public who have disabilities must have access to and use information and data comparable to that of people without disabilities.

All products, platforms, and services delivered as part of this solicitation that are ICT or contain ICT must conform to all HHS digital accessibility conformance standards identified in the HHS Digital Accessibility Conformance Checklists. The standards include the Revised 508 Standards, which are located at 36 C.F.R. § 1194.1 & Apps. A, B, & C are available at https://www.access-board.gov/ict/, which links to an external website.

All requirements are applicable to support services and documentation deliverables. All functional performance criteria apply when using an alternative design or technology that achieves substantially equivalent or greater accessibility and usability by individuals with disabilities, than would be provided by conformance to one or more of the requirements in Chapters 4-6 of the Revised 508 Standards, or when Chapters 4-6 do not address one or more functions of ICT. "

508 Testing, Verification, and Documentation: The Contractor must perform accessibility testing using ICT Baseline Tests or other acceptable Section 508 testing methodologies before delivery to ensure conformance with all relevant Section 508 requirements. Each major ICT deliverable must be accompanied by an Accessibility Conformance Report (ACR) using one of the following: NIH Section 508 ACR Creation Tool, HHS Conformance Checklist, VPAT® (WCAG 2.x edition), or another CO-approved template that demonstrates conformance.

Ancillary deliverables--such as slides, invoices, reports, training or other documentation--must be tested for accessibility, and an ACR or equivalent documentation must be provided upon request by the Government. NIH reserves the right to independently verify any deliverable's conformance, and the Contractor must remediate non-conformant items at no additional cost.

https://gcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.access-board.gov%2Fict%2F&data=05%7C02%7CMELISSA_ONYSZKO%40ibc.doi.gov%7C24e1df7f3792467a15c208defd587b51%7C0693b5ba4b184d7b9341f32f400a5494%7C0%7C0%7C639226753632382442%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=F0L9YZKWykr%2Fm790C6jVI8h5iGA5FSvvu%2Boc6NMlEQM%3D&reserved=0 https://gcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.access-board.gov%2Fict%2F&data=05%7C02%7CMELISSA_ONYSZKO%40ibc.doi.gov%7C24e1df7f3792467a15c208defd587b51%7C0693b5ba4b184d7b9341f32f400a5494%7C0%7C0%7C639226753632382442%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=F0L9YZKWykr%2Fm790C6jVI8h5iGA5FSvvu%2Boc6NMlEQM%3D&reserved=0

SECTION 5 – GENERAL ORDER TERMS AND CONDITIONS

5.1 Period of Performance

The period of performance for this order is for a 1-year base and 4, 1-year options.

5.2 Travel & Other Direct Costs

Travel and ODCs are not anticipated in performance of this order. If travel should become necessary, it will be considered as part of the firm-fixed-price amount.

5.3 Points of Contact

Points of contact are as follows:

The CO for this effort is as follows:

Melissa Onyszko Department of the Interior Interior Business Center Acquisition Services Directorate Telephone: 703-964-3638 Email: melissa_onyszko@ibc.doi.gov

The COR for this effort is as follows:

TBD at time of award

SECTION 6 – PROVISIONS

** See Attachment 1 – Contract Certifications and Provisions for additional full-text provisions.

52.252-1 Solicitation Provisions Incorporated by Reference (Feb 1998) This solicitation incorporates one or more solicitation provisions by reference, with the same force and effect as if they were given in full text. Upon request, the Contracting Officer will make their full text available. The offeror is cautioned that the listed provisions may include blocks that must be completed by the offeror and submitted with its quotation or offer. In lieu of submitting the full text of those provisions, the offeror may identify the provision by paragraph identifier and provide the appropriate information with its quotation or offer. Also, the full text of a solicitation provision may be accessed electronically at this/these address(es):

https://www.acquisition.gov/browse/index/far

The following provisions are hereby incorporated by reference:

Provision Title Date 52.203-11 Certification and Disclosure Regarding Payments to

Influence Certain Federal Transactions Sep 2024

52.203-18 Prohibition on Contracting with Entities that Require Certain Internal Confidentiality Agreements or Statements- Representation

Jan 2017

52.204-7 System for Award Management Deviation Date Mar 2026

52.209-2 Prohibition on Contracting with Inverted Domestic Corporations – Representation.

Deviation Date May 2026

52.209-11 Representation by Corporations Regarding Delinquent Tax Liability or a Felony Conviction under any Federal Law

Deviation Date May 2026

52.212-1 Instructions to Offerors – Commercial Products and Commercial Services

Deviation Date Mar 2026

52.217-5 Evaluation of Options July 1990 52.240-90 Security Prohibitions and Exclusions Representation and

Certifications

Mar 2026

SECTION 7 – CLAUSES

NOTICE: System updates may lag policy updates. The System for Award Management (SAM) may continue to require entities to complete representations based on provisions that are not included in agency solicitations. Contracting Officers will not consider these representations when making award decisions or enforce requirements. Entities are not required to, nor are they able to, update their entity registration to remove these representations in SAM.

52.252-2 -- Clauses Incorporated by Reference (Feb 1998) This contract incorporates one or more clauses by reference, with the same force and effect as if they were given in full text. Upon request, the Contracting Officer will make their full text available. Also, the full text of a clause may be accessed electronically at this address:

https://www.acquisition.gov/browse/index/far.

The following clauses are hereby incorporated by reference:

Clause Title Date 52.203-6 Restrictions on Subcontractor Sales to the Government; Alt I JUN 2020 52.203-12 Limitation on Payment to Influence Certain Federal Transactions JUN 2020 52.203-17 Contractor Employee Whistleblower Rights NOV 2023 52.203-19 Prohibition on Requiring Certain Internal Confidentiality

Agreements or Statements

JAN 2017

52.204-13 System for Award Management Maintenance. Deviation Date

MAR 2026

52.204-19 Incorporation by Reference of Representations and Certifications Deviation Date

MAR 2026

52.209-6 Protecting the Government's Interest When Subcontracting With Contractors Debarred, Suspended, Proposed for Debarment, or Voluntarily Excluded

Deviation Date

MAY 2026

52.209-10 Prohibition on Contracting with Inverted Domestic Corporations Deviation Date

MAY 2026

52.212-4 Contract Terms and Conditions – Commercial Items Deviation Date

MAR 2026

52.219-8 Utilization of Small Business Concerns Deviation Date

JAN 2026

52.219-9 Small Business Subcontracting Plan – Alternate II Deviation Date

JAN 2026

52.219-16 Liquidated Damages-Subcontracting Plan Deviation Date

JAN 2026

52.222-3 Convict Labor Deviation Date

MAY 2026

52.222-19 Child Labor—Cooperation with Authorities and Remedies Deviation Date

MAY 2026

52.222-35 Equal Opportunity for Veterans Deviation Date

MAY 2026

52.222-36 Equal Opportunity for Workers with Disabilities Deviation Date

52.222-37 Employment Reports on Veterans Deviation Date

MAY 2026

52.222-50 Combating Trafficking in Persons Deviation Date

MAY 2026

52.222-54 Employment Eligibility Verification Deviation Date

MAY 2026

52.222-90 Addressing DEI Discrimination by Federal Contractors Deviation Date

52.223-23 Sustainable Products and Services

52.225-13 Restrictions on Certain Foreign Purchases FEB 2021 52.226-8 Encouraging Contractor Policies to Ban Text Messaging While

Driving Deviation Date

MAR 2026

52.227-14 Rights in Data – General MAY 2014 52.229-3 Federal, State, and Local Taxes Deviation Date

OCT 2025

52.232-33 Payment by Electronic Funds Transfer System for Award

Management

OCT 2018

52.232-40 Providing Accelerated Payments to Small Business Subcontractors

MAR 2023

52.233-3 Protest After Award AUG 1996 52.233-4 Applicable Law for Breach of Contract Claim AUG 1996 52.240-91 Security Prohibitions and Exclusions Deviation Date

MAR 2026

52.240-93 Basic Safeguarding of Covered Contractor Information Systems Deviation Date

MAR 2026

52.217-9 Option to Extend the Term of the Contract (Mar 2000)

(a) The Government may extend the term of this contract by written notice to the Contractor within anytime prior to the expiration of the order; provided that the Government gives the Contractor a preliminary written notice of its intent to extend anytime before the contract expires. The preliminary notice does not commit the Government to an extension.

(b) If the Government exercises this option, the extended contract shall be considered to include this option clause.

(c) The total duration of this contract, including the exercise of any options under this clause, shall not exceed 5 year.

(End of clause)

52.219-16 Liquidated Damages-Subcontracting Plan (Deviation Jan 2026)

(a) The Government will measure performance by applying the percentage goals to the total actual subcontracting dollars, or, if a commercial plan is involved, to the pro rata share of actual subcontracting dollars attributable to Government contracts covered by the commercial plan. If, at contract completion or, in the case of a commercial plan, at the close of the fiscal year for which the plan is applicable, the Contractor has failed to meet its subcontracting goals and the Contracting Officer decides in accordance with paragraph (b) of this clause that the Contractor failed to make a good faith effort to comply with its subcontracting plan, established in accordance with the clause in this contract entitled “Small Business Subcontracting Plan,” the Contractor shall pay the Government liquidated damages in a stated amount. The amount of probable damages attributable to the Contractor's failure to comply shall equal the actual dollar amount by which the Contractor failed to achieve each subcontract goal.

(b) Before the Contracting Officer makes a final decision that the Contractor has failed to make a good faith effort to comply with the subcontracting plan, the Contracting Officer shall give the Contractor written notice specifying the failure and permitting the Contractor to demonstrate the good faith efforts it made and to discuss the matter. The Contracting Officer may take failure to respond to the notice as an admission that no valid explanation exists. If, after consideration of all the pertinent data, the Contracting Officer finds that the Contractor failed to make a good faith effort to comply with the subcontracting plan, the Contracting Officer will issue a final decision to that effect and require that the Contractor pay the Government liquidated damages as provided in paragraph (a) of this clause.

(c) With respect to commercial plans, the Contracting Officer who approved the plan will perform the functions of the Contracting Officer under this clause on behalf of all agencies with contracts covered by the commercial plan.

(d) The Contractor has the right of appeal, under the clause in this contract entitled, Disputes, from any final decision of the Contracting Officer.

(e) Liquidated damages shall be in addition to any other remedies that the Government may have.

(End of clause)

52.252-6 Authorized Deviations in Clauses (Nov 2020)

(a) The use in this solicitation or contract of any Federal Acquisition Regulation (48 CFR Chapter 1) clause with an authorized deviation is indicated by the addition of “(DEVIATION)” after the date of the clause.

(b) The use in this solicitation or contract of any Department of the Interior (48 CFR Chapter 14) and Health and Human Services (48 CFR Chapter 3) clause with an authorized deviation is indicated by the addition of “(DEVIATION)” after the name of the regulation.

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR CLAUSES

Electronic Invoicing and Payment Requirements - Invoice Processing Platform (IPP) (Feb 2021)

Payment requests must be submitted electronically through the U. S. Department of the Treasury's Invoice Processing Platform System (IPP).

"Payment request" means any request for contract financing payment or invoice payment by the Contractor.