QAs Part 1.xlsx
XLSX spreadsheet 24 KB Posted
- Attached to
- Financial Operations (FinOps)
- Solicitation number
- 5000194309
About this file
This is a Questions and Answers document for the IRS Office of the Chief Technology Officer (OCTO) Financial Operations (FinOps) opportunity, containing vendor questions and government responses regarding the implementation of FinOps practices. The document addresses inquiries about two main task areas: Task 1 (Analyze and Design a FinOps Practice) and Task 2 (Implement FinOps Practices).
Many of the government's responses indicate that sensitive details about the environment, methodology, risks, and internal financial operations will be provided only upon award. Key details revealed include: the requirement is solution-driven rather than tools-focused; the IRS leverages Treasury Cloud (T-Cloud) for hosting services; contractor personnel will require MBI-High risk clearance with tax compliance check; multiple cloud environments are in use (cloud-agnostic approach); and both internal and external training will be provided. The document emphasizes that the IRS is primarily seeking information about vendors' FinOps capabilities at this RFI stage.
View the file
Other files
| File | Type | Posted |
|---|---|---|
| QAs Part 2.docx | DOCX document | |
| QAs Part 4.xlsx | XLSX spreadsheet | |
| QAs Part 3.xlsx | XLSX spreadsheet | |
| RFI - Sources Sought 1-30-25.pdf | ||
| DRAFT PWS.pdf | ||
| RFI - Sources Sought.pdf |
On GovTribe
Work with this file
- Download the original file
- Contacts named in this file
- Similar government files
- Ask GovTribe AI about this file
Text version
Questions
| Questions for IRS OCTO Financial Operations (FinOps) | |||||
| Vendor: | Archetype | ||||
| Page # | Section Number | Reference Text | Questions or Other Observations | Government Response | |
| Page 2 | 1.0 Introduction and Background | The IRS is interested in an evolutionary approach to implementing a FinOps practice… | Can the IRS provide more details on how success will be measured in each phase of the evolutionary FinOps implementation? Will there be specific KPIs or benchmarks? | Details will be shared later, the IRS is looking for solutions rather than tools. Benchmarks , KPIs, will be outlined in the deliverables. Questions concerning environment details, methodology , risks , and internal financial operations are sensitive in nature and will not expanded on during this RFI process. We are currently seeking information to see whether vendors can do FinOps | |
| Page 2 | 3.1 Task 1, Analyze and Design a FinOps Practice | Design IRS FinOps practice based on proven industry best practices and other Treasury FinOps practices, specifically the Treasury Cloud (Cloud) model. | Could you elaborate on the expected alignment with the Treasury Cloud (TCloud) model? | T-Cloud provides hosting services , IRS leverages T-Cloud to spin up environments. | |
| Page 3 | 3.1 Task 1, Analyze and Design a FinOps Practice | Develop a Stakeholder / Persona engagement plan and RACI Matrix. | Will the IRS provide a baseline of existing stakeholders and personas to inform the engagement plan, or is the contractor expected to build this from scratch? | IRS will provide details for contractor to syhtezsize | |
| Page 4 | 3.2 Task 2, Implement FinOps Practices | Establish a continuous monitoring framework to provide transparency of tracked cloud operations. | Does the IRS currently use any specific FinOps tools or platforms (e.g., AWS Cost Explorer, Azure Cost Management,) that should be incorporated into this framework, or is the contractor expected to recommend and implement new tools? | IRS does use tools, however this is a solution driven requirement | |
| Page 10 | 11.0 Security Requirements | The contractor shall comply with IRS-specific security clauses and provisions… | Can the IRS provide further clarity on any anticipated security clearance requirements for contractor personnel? | MBI- High risk with tax compliance check | |
| Page 3 | 3.1 Task 1, Analyze and Design a FinOps Practice | "Identify data and applications sources required for cost analysis..." | What is the risk of incomplete or inaccurate data sources affecting cloud cost analysis? | Sensitive-Specific risks will be provided upon award | |
| Page 3 | 3.1 Task 1, Analyze and Design a FinOps Practice | "Design IRS FinOps practice based on proven industry best practices and other Treasury FinOps practices." | Are there existing cloud governance policies, and how do they align with Treasury FinOps best practices? | Yes to both questions. | |
| Page 3 | 3.1 Task 1, Analyze and Design a FinOps Practice | "Conduct interviews and analysis to map existing IRS cloud applications and assigned stakeholders." | What cloud environments (AWS, Azure, etc.) are currently in use, and what are the key workloads running in each? | Multiple cloud environments (agnostic) , workload details will be shared upon award | |
| Page 3 | 3.1 Task 1, Analyze and Design a FinOps Practice | "Identify data and applications sources required for cost analysis." | What are the key IRS applications and systems currently hosted in AWS and Azure, and how are they managed? | Sensitive- Detail will be shared upon award | |
| Page 3 | 3.1 Task 1, Analyze and Design a FinOps Practice | "Conduct exploratory analysis and assessment to identify organizational gaps and challenges..." | Are there any known inefficiencies or cost overruns in existing cloud operations that FinOps should immediately address? | Sensitive- Detail will be shared upon award | |
| Page 3 | 3.1 Task 1, Analyze and Design a FinOps Practice | "Develop a plan and begin execution of the data collection." | How is cloud cost data currently collected, and what tools are in use for cost tracking and reporting? | Sensitive- Detail will be shared upon award | 3.2 Task 2, Implement FinOps Practices |
| Page 3 | 3.2 Task 2, Implement FinOps Practices | "The objective of task two will build off task 1 and is a dependency to ensure comprehensive cost management..." | How will cost optimization decisions be balanced against operational priorities and resource constraints? | Sensitive- Detail will be shared upon award | |
| Page 3 | 3.2 Task 2, Implement FinOps Practices | "Design a resource tagging schema factoring in existing Treasury tagging schemas..." | What risks exist in implementing the tagging schema, and how will IRS enforce compliance? | Sensitive- Detail will be shared upon award | |
| Page 3 | 3.2 Task 2, Implement FinOps Practices | "Develop an inventory of unfinished cloud projects that are consuming resources..." | How will IRS define ‘unnecessary cloud resource spend,’ and what criteria will be used to decommission resources? | Sensitive- Detail will be shared upon award | |
| Page 3 | 3.2 Task 2, Implement FinOps Practices | "Establish a capability that can ingest generic cost data from AWS, Azure, etc., and show back and charge back capabilities..." | How will IRS ensure data integrity and security when ingesting cost data from multiple cloud providers? | Sensitive- Detail will be shared upon award | |
| Page 3 | 3.2 Task 2, Implement FinOps Practices | "Establish a capability that can ingest generic cost data from AWS, Azure, etc., and show back and charge back capabilities." | What level of integration exists between cloud cost management tools (e.g., AWS Cost Explorer, Azure Cost Management) and IRS financial systems? | Sensitive- Detail will be shared upon award | |
| Page 3 | 3.2 Task 2, Implement FinOps Practices | "Design a resource tagging schema factoring in existing Treasury tagging schemas." | What tagging strategies are currently used for resource tracking, and how consistently are they applied? | Sensitive- Detail will be shared upon award | |
| Page 3 | 3.2 Task 2, Implement FinOps Practices | "Consolidate reports for visibility across multiple Cloud Service providers (AWS, Azure, etc.) to facilitate data-driven comparisons..." | What cost transparency challenges currently exist across cloud providers (AWS, Azure), and how does IRS plan to address them? | Sensitive- Detail will be shared upon award | |
| Page 3 | 3.2 Task 2, Implement FinOps Practices | "Develop a cost decision framework (e.g., decision tree) that can be applied against plans for applications..." | What cost allocation methodology will IRS use to track expenses at the business unit, application, or service level? | Sensitive- Detail will be shared upon award | |
| Page 3 | 3.2 Task 2, Implement FinOps Practices | "Evaluate the actual cost of the cloud infrastructure, including AWS, Azure, and other managed service provider footprints." | What risks exist around unexpected cost increases from cloud service provider (CSP) changes in pricing models? | Sensitive- Detail will be shared upon award | |
| Page 3 | 3.2 Task 2, Implement FinOps Practices | "From the inventory, develop a strategy and recommendations for reducing unnecessary cloud resource spend." | What level of automation exists today for cost optimization (e.g., auto-scaling, rightsizing, reserved instances)? | Sensitive- Detail will be shared upon award | |
| Page 3 | 3.2 Task 2, Implement FinOps Practices | "Engage stakeholders, build relationships, and communicate effectively to foster a cultural practice around FinOps." | What training and enablement plans exist for IRS teams to adopt FinOps practices effectively? | Internal and External training | |
| Page 3 | 3.2 Task 2, Implement FinOps Practices | "Produce a reporting framework for providing holistic views of cloud cost and usage." | What executive reporting requirements exist for showcasing FinOps maturity and cloud cost efficiency improvements? | Sensitive- Detail will be shared upon award | |
| Page 3 | 3.2 Task 2, Implement FinOps Practices | "Engage stakeholders, build relationships, and communicate effectively to foster a cultural practice around FinOps." | Will IRS require specialized training for finance teams, engineers, and executives on FinOps principles and cloud cost management? | Possibly, this will depend on the data analysis and results of tasks 1 | |
| Page 8 | 6.0 Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan | "The contractor’s performance under this Task Order shall be measured against and monitored by the performance standards..." | How will IRS track and validate the success of FinOps maturity beyond the initial implementation phase? | Sensitive- Detail will be shared upon award | |
| Page 8 | 6.0 Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan | "The contractor’s performance under this Task Order shall be measured against and monitored by the performance standards..." | How will success be measured in terms of FinOps adoption and cost optimization? | Sensitive- Detail will be shared upon award | |
| Page 10 | 11.0 Security Requirements | "IRS shall utilize aggregated and individual security categorization information when assessing interagency and Cloud Service Provider (CSP) connections..." | How does IRS ensure cloud security compliance across multiple service providers (AWS, Azure)? | Sensitive- Detail will be shared upon award | |
| Page 13 | 11.0 Security Requirements | "Security certification and accreditation process for CSP/Contractor systems that collect, maintain, contain or use agency information..." | What security assessment requirements must be met before deploying FinOps solutions? | Sensitive- Detail will be shared upon award | |
| Page 19 | 11.0 Security Requirements | "The IRS or CSP shall ensure that the information system implements FIPS-validated or National Security Agency (NSA)-approved cryptography..." | Are there specific IRS or Treasury encryption standards required for protecting cloud cost data? | Yes, details are internal to IRS | |
| Page 21 | 11.0 Security Requirements | "Sensitive PII is defined as any information that permits the identity of an individual to be directly or indirectly inferred..." | What security requirements exist for protecting Personally Identifiable Information (PII) in FinOps reports? | Sensitive- Detail will be shared upon award | |
| Page 22 | 11.0 Security Requirements | "The CSP/Contractor shall ensure that data is used, only as identified, in the IRS contract..." | What safeguards must be in place to prevent unauthorized access to FinOps cost and usage data? | Sensitive- Detail will be shared upon award | |
| Page 25 | 11.0 Security Requirements | "The CSP/Contractor shall report security incident information according to U.S. Computer Emergency Response, Department of Treasury, IRS, and the FedRAMP Incident Communications procedures..." | What tools and processes will IRS use to detect and respond to unauthorized access or anomalies in cloud cost data? | Sensitive- Detail will be shared upon award | |
| Page 26 | 11.0 Security Requirements | "Sensitive But Unclassified (SBU) information, data, and/or equipment will only be disclosed to authorized personnel on a Need-To-Know basis..." | What security protocols must be followed when transferring cloud cost data between environments? | Sensitive- Detail will be shared upon award |
Sheet1
File details come from the government source that posted it. Updated .