RFI ENTERPRISE MIDDLEWARE SOFTWARE MAINTENANCE AND SUPPORT-Amendment 001.docx

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) AMENDMENT 0001

RFI Will now Close on March 19, 2026 at 11am EST.

ENTERPRISE MIDDLEWARE SOFTWARE MAINTENANCE AND SUPPORT

Department of Veterans Affairs Financial Services Center

1.0 PURPOSE

This Request for Information (RFI) is issued solely for market research purposes in accordance with Revolutionary Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Overhaul (RFO) Part 10.

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Financial Services Center is seeking information from industry regarding the availability and capability of industry to provide software licensing, maintenance, and technical support services necessary to sustain the VA enterprise middleware transaction processing environment.

The Government is conducting this RFI to:

• Identify capable vendors

• Assess available contract vehicles

• Obtain rough order of magnitude (ROM) pricing

• Validate industry capability to support the requirement

• Obtain feedback regarding the technical requirements This RFI does not constitute a solicitation and does not represent a commitment by the Government to issue a solicitation or award a contract.

The Government will not reimburse respondents for any costs associated with responding to this RFI.

2.0 BACKGROUND

The Department of Veterans Affairs Financial Services Center operates an enterprise electronic commerce middleware platform used to support system-to-system transaction exchange between internal VA enterprise applications and external trading partners.

The platform supports structured electronic transactions including financial, supply chain, healthcare, and other enterprise electronic commerce transactions.

The Government currently operates the environment under a Processor Value Unit (PVU) licensing model supporting both production and non-production environments.

IBM Customer ID: 9372290 IBM Site ID: 3565543 Existing Order Number: 36C10B21F0188

The current licensed capacity for the VA enterprise middleware environment is as follows:

The environment includes the following core components:

• Enterprise middleware integration platform

• Transformation capabilities supporting multiple electronic transaction domains

• Secure proxy gateway licensing supporting controlled inbound connectivity

• Technical advisory and middleware health-check services The Department of Veterans Affairs anticipates up to thirty percent (30%) growth in the middleware environment during the period of performance as additional enterprise systems, integrations, and external trading partners are on-boarded.

To support this anticipated growth, the Government may acquire additional middleware licenses of the same type currently deployed within the environment.

Additional licensing capacity may be acquired in increments of 100 PVU.

3.0 TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS

Technical requirements associated with this environment are provided in:

Attachment A – Enterprise Middleware Software Maintenance and Support Technical Requirements

ENTERPRISE MIDDLEWARE SOFTWARE

Respondents shall review Attachment A when preparing responses.

4.0 CONTRACT VEHICLE INFORMATION

The Government is interested in understanding which existing contract vehicles are available to support this requirement.

Respondents should identify whether the capability can be provided through:

• NASA SEWP

• GSA Multiple Award Schedule

• Other Government-Wide Acquisition Contracts (GWACs) If responding under NASA SEWP, vendors should identify the applicable SEWP contract number and category. Vendors should identify in their response if they are on a GSA MAS Schedule and have a GSA contract number.

5.0 INFORMATION REQUESTED FROM INDUSTRY

Respondents are requested to provide the following information.

5.1 Company Information

Company Name Company Address Point of Contact Phone Number Email Address Applicable Contract Vehicles Business Size/Socioeconomic Category

5.2 Capability Statement

Provide a summary describing the organization's capability to provide the software licensing, maintenance, and technical support services described in Attachment A.

5.3 Technical Capability and Relevant Experience

Describe your experience supporting enterprise middleware environments, specifically those involving:

• enterprise electronic commerce transaction processing

• enterprise system integration

• electronic data interchange (EDI) transformation capabilities

• secure external transaction connectivity

• middleware platform operational support

5.4 Contract Vehicle Availability

Identify any applicable existing contract vehicles through which the vendor can provide the required licensing, maintenance, and support services.

5.5 Technical Feedback (Optional)

Respondents may provide feedback regarding the technical requirements described in Attachment A including:

• recommended clarifications

• industry best practices

• considerations for projected middleware platform growth Feedback should be constructive and based on current industry practices, standards, or emerging technologies.

5.6 Past Performance Supporting Middleware Platforms

Provide examples of relevant middleware environments your organization has supported, including:

• enterprise electronic commerce transaction processing

• enterprise application integration

• electronic data interchange (EDI) transformation

• secure proxy gateway connectivity supporting external trading partners Responses should include examples of similar environments supported by the respondent.

5.7 Platform Licensing and Architecture Knowledge

Respondents shall describe their experience providing software licensing, maintenance, and support services for middleware platforms operating under processor-based licensing models (e.g., Processor Value Unite (PVU)-based models).

Respondents should address:

• experience supporting production and non-production middleware environments

• experience managing license capacity growth

• experience performing platform architecture assessments or health checks

6.0 PRICING INFORMATION REQUESTED (ROM)

The Government requests rough order of magnitude (ROM) pricing for the licensing, maintenance, and technical support services described in Attachment A.

All pricing shall clearly identify underlying assumptions. ROM pricing may be provided in ranges if appropriate for early-stage estimation.

Pricing information provided in response to this RFI is for market research purposes only and will be used to support acquisition planning and budgeting.

Pricing provided shall not be considered binding and will not be used as the basis for a contract award.

7.0 PRICING TABLE

Respondents should complete the following table for existing software products currently in use. Respondents are encouraged to provide their own pricing table (following the format below) for equivalent products if applicable.

8.0 CAPABILITY MATRIX

Respondents should complete the following matrix.

Middleware platform licensing support

Middleware maintenance and subscription support

EDI transformation capability support

Secure proxy gateway support

Middleware architecture health check services

Support for PVU-licensed environments

9.0 RESPONSE FORMAT

Responses shall include the following sections, in order:

1. Company Information

2. Capability Statement

3. Technical Capability

4. Contract Vehicle Availability

5. Capability Matrix

6. Estimated ROM Pricing Responses should be limited to ten (10) pages, excluding pricing tables and marketing materials.

Responses should be submitted in PDF format.

10.0 SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS

Responses shall be submitted electronically via email to:

Sandra Vargo Contract Specialist Department of Veterans Affairs email: sandra.vargo@va.gov Responses are requested no later than:

March 18, 2026 @ 10am EST.

11.0 DISCLAIMER

This RFI is issued for market research purposes only.

This RFI:

• does not constitute a Request for Proposal (RFP)

• does not obligate the Government to issue a solicitation

• does not obligate the Government to award a contract The Government may use information received in response to this RFI to support acquisition planning and strategy development.

ATTACHMENTS

Attachment A Enterprise Middleware Software Maintenance and Support Technical Requirements