25-51_SSN_8MAY2025.pdf

Internal Revenue Service (IRS)

Engineering & Architecture Services

Sources Sought Notice (SSN) – 25-51-A-PMO-ES-SSN

TO ALL INTERESTED PARTIES

May 8, 2025

INTRODUCTION – This SSN is released pursuant to Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) PART 10, Market Research.

This Sources Sought is issued solely for information and planning purposes only and shall not be construed as either a solicitation or the obligation on the part of Government. This is NOT a solicitation for proposals, proposal abstracts or quotations. This notice is for market research purposes only.

No reimbursement will be made for any costs associated with providing information in response to this announcement or any follow-up information requests.

Respondents will NOT be notified of the results of the analysis. All data received in response to this Sources Sought synopsis that is marked or designated as corporate or proprietary information will be fully protected from release outside the Government. The Government shall not be liable for or suffer any consequential damages for any proprietary information not properly identified. Proprietary information will be safeguarded in accordance with all applicable Government regulations. All documentation shall become the property of the Government and will not be returned.

At a summary level, the Government has interest in and is seeking information regarding the capability of firms who can provide services pertaining to Engineering & Architecture Services.

Request for Information Number: 25-51-A-PMO-ES-SSN Project Title/Short Description: Engineering & Architecture Services NAICS: 541511 - Custom Computer Programming Services PSC: DA01 - IT and Telecom - Business Application/Application Development Support Services (Labor)

SSN Release Date: Thursday/May 8, 2025 SSN Response Date: Thursday/May 15, 2025 Point of Contact: Jennifer Abudayeh, jennifer.p.abudayeh2@irs.gov

REQUIREMENT SCOPE

The period of performance schedule will consist of a 12-month base year and four 12-month option periods.

This contract provides engineering and architectural services to ensure IRS technology systems remain stable, resilient, and aligned with evolving Information Technology (IT) requirements. By focusing on enterprise architecture, infrastructure engineering, data delivery, and system automation, the Contractor will deliver long-term sustainability and operational efficiency across IRS technology platforms. The Contractor will ensure that IRS IT infrastructure follows structured design principles while maintaining compliance with federal security and performance requirements. The Contractor will provide status reports.

The service will provide engineering and architecture services across core IRS technology areas, including infrastructure configuration, cloud and data services, authentication architecture, and application engineering. The Contractor will deliver foundational designs and implementation strategies to enable secure system operation, reliable platform performance, and long-term technology planning.

Contractor will support Technology Shared Service (TSS) critical systems as follows. The activities and responsibilities of the Contractor will include those identified under the task areas listed below.

• Single Sign-On (SSO) Operations – Production support and maintenance of Shared SSO allowing taxpayers and employees access to filing, account management, and enforcement tools.

• Secure Object Repository (SOR) Management – 1) Modernized Electronic Filing (MEF) and Business Master File (BMF) Schema Delivery - Develop and deploy schema updates and conduct daily production monitoring for schema ingestion and monitoring;

2) Maintain the SOR database operation including security scan findings and develop codes and database transition.

• ICAMM & Authorization (Az) Framework – Identity and Access Modernization (IAM), Workforce Identity Platform which leads the Identity, Credential, and Access Management Modernization (ICAMM) initiative supporting IRS’s Zero Trust security framework, enhancing identity verification, authentication, and access control across all IRS applications. Access control is provided by Az Framework.

The scope will consist of the below tasks:

SCOPE TASKS

TASK 1: ENTERPRISE ARCHITECTURE & INFRASTRUCTURE

ENGINEERING

TASK 2: CLOUD & INFRASTRUCTURE OPTIMIZATION

TASK 3: TECHNICAL INTERGRATION & PLATFORM UPGRADES

TASK 4: SYSTEM AUTOMATION & PERFORMANCE OPTIMIZATION

TASK 1: ENTERPRISE ARCHITECTURE & INFRASTRUCTURE -

The Contractor shall deliver services to maintain and enhance the IRS enterprise architecture and infrastructure design landscape. This includes the development of scalable architectural frameworks, infrastructure transition and enhancement strategies, and best practice implementation guidance. The Contractor will coordinate with IRS technical stakeholders to review legacy systems, recommend enhancements, and define high-level architectural roadmaps that ensure IRS systems can evolve without introducing risk to operational continuity or security.

TASK 2: CLOUD & INFRASTRUCTURE OPTIMIZATION -

The Contractor shall deliver engineering services that focus on cloud-based architecture design, hybrid environment configuration, and continuous performance evaluation. This includes maintaining and enhancing cloud governance frameworks, performance dashboards, container management, infrastructure-as-code implementations, incorporating Enterprise Security Audit Trails (ESAT) audit logging and ensure AppDynamics/Splunk dashboards meet NIST 800-53 Audit and Accountability (AU) control standards. The Contractor will ensure cloud services and configurations are consistent, compliant, and efficient.

In addition, the Contractor will be responsible for evaluating and deploying tools and processes that enable IRS teams to reduce technical debt, improve automation maturity, and eliminate bottlenecks in current infrastructure pipelines. These efforts are aimed at sustaining IRS operational readiness while enabling secure, cost-effective delivery models.

TASK 3: TECHNICAL INTERGRATION & PLATFORM UPGRADES -

These efforts include benchmarking new database versions, creating semantic search capabilities, and evaluating Artificial Intelligence (AI)-assisted data workflows. Additionally, the Contractor will assess legacy platform upgrade requirements and work with IRS teams to design secure, maintainable data processing pipelines. All services shall align with IRS architecture policies and cybersecurity mandates.

TASK 4: SYSTEM AUTOMATION & PERFORMANCE OPTIMIZATION -

The Contractor shall deliver services that improve system reliability, reduce manual administrative overhead, and increase IRS’s ability to detect and respond to performance degradation. These services include implementation of system monitoring tools, observability enhancements, predictive analytics, and proactive engineering processes to ensure systems operate reliably under expected and unexpected workloads.

System observability improvements, health check automation, and user-experience monitoring are vital to ensure early detection of anomalies and prevent system outages. The Contractor will define, implement, and continuously improve automation scripts, dashboards, and threshold-based alerting that help IRS technical teams maintain consistent performance and Service Level Agreement (SLA) compliance.

SUBMISSION INFORMATION

Responses to this SSN are requested in two (2) parts and must be submitted using Attachment 1 - SSN Response Template:

Part I Company Profile - IRS seeks company profile information about the firms that provide services positioned to address the requirements discussed above.

Part II Technical Capability - IRS seeks Industry responses to specific questions. Do not include any support documentation for any company other than your own. This is an analysis of your company’s abilities.

Part I Company Profile:

1. Company Name and Address

2. Company technical Point of Contact (POC) and Contract Lead POC information to include name, title, telephone number, and email address

3. Provide Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) and North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Code.

4. List active governmentwide contracts that your company has been awarded (Government Wide Acquisition Contract (GWACs), Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQs), and Blanket Purchase Agreements (BPAs) – include applicable Special Item Number (SIN) include current Contract Number and Task Area(s) appropriate for this notice

5. Identify Business Classification / Socio-Economic Status (e.g., large, small, 8(a), women owned, hub-zone, SDB, ANC, Service-Disabled Veteran Owned)

6. Contract holder’s capability statement that addresses organizational and staff experience and expertise.

7. Provide a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) to a capability website for your company.

Part II Technical Capability:

1. Based on the provided information, would your company submit a proposal?

2. Does your company provide this service commercially?

3. Does your company have similar or previous experience with the type of work outlined?

4. Does your company have the capability to perform the required services?

5. Does your company have the capability to meet the period of performance schedule requested?

6. Does your company have the capabilities and skill set to set-up requirements and ensure the structure, processes, workflows, and tools are in place to execute this requirement?

7. Does your company have the staff needed (on Day 1) to transition into ongoing development, modernization and enhancement, and operations and maintenance (O&M) support for the existing IRS SOR, SSO, Az Framework, and ICAMM applications?

8. What risks would your company identify with completing a timely transition to support IRS SOR, SSO, Az Framework, and ICAMM Program? How long would you recommend for transition and onboarding?

9. Please describe your experience providing expertise, strategic advisory services, and operational support to IRS SOR, SSO, Az Framework, and ICAMM programs.

Responses shall only contain the completed SSN Response Template and not include any brochures, advertising or any other type of extraneous, graphic literature or documents that have not been requested.

Vendors shall reference 25-51-A-PMO-ES-SSN in the subject line of their response as well as in the subject line of any other correspondence referencing this notice.

Terms and Conditions regarding this Notice This Notice does not obligate the Government to award a contract or otherwise pay for the information provided in response. All costs associated with responding to this Notice are solely at the responding party's expense. The Government reserves the right to use information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate. Further, the Government may contact the vendor for additional information regarding the information submitted as part of this market research effort. Any organization responding to this notice should ensure that its response is complete and sufficiently detailed to allow the Government to determine the organization’s qualifications to perform the work. Respondents are advised that the Government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted. After a review of the responses received, a pre-solicitation synopsis and solicitation may be published in Government Point of Entry or other similar source (e.g., GSA E-buy). However, responses to this notice will not be considered adequate responses to a solicitation.

Responses to this notice are not offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract or agreement. The Government will not be obligated to pursue any particular acquisition alternative as a result of this notice. Responses to the notice will not be returned. Not responding to this notice does not preclude participation in any future solicitation if one is issued.

No proprietary, classified, confidential, or sensitive information should be included in responses to this Notice, unless otherwise appropriately marked by the Respondent. The Government reserves the right to use any non-proprietary technical information received in response to this Notice in any resultant solicitation(s).

Do Not Submit any Proposals/Offers in response to this Notice.

** THE GOVERNMENT WILL NOT RESPOND TO PHONE CALLS. **