This is a Questions and Answers document for RFI 5000194309 regarding Financial Operations (FinOps) services for the Internal Revenue Service. The document contains 54 questions and answers addressing various aspects of the planned FinOps implementation.
Key details revealed include: there is no incumbent contractor, the timeline for moving from linear to exploratory methods is 3-6 months, and personnel will require MBI-High Risk clearance with tax compliance checks. While many technical details are marked as sensitive and will only be provided after award, the IRS confirms they have existing cloud cost monitoring tools, endpoint management systems, and infrastructure tooling in place. The IRS will make final decisions on tooling options, though tools are not a priority in this requirement. On-site travel is anticipated for meetings. Many specifics about cloud applications, costs, and infrastructure requirements are classified as sensitive information to be shared after award. The FinOps practice is meant to align with IRA SOP objectives, with tangible integration occurring after solutions are presented.
The file's text, extracted by GovTribe without its formatting.
Questions for the IRS Regarding RFI 5000194309
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Pg.
Ref.
Question
1
1
1.0
Is there an incumbent currently performing this work? If so, who? What is the contract number? No incumbent performing the work.
2
1
1.0
What is the expected timeline for moving from linear to exploratory methods? 3-6 months
3
1
1.0
How should the FinOps practice integrate with the IRS Modernization strategy? It’s aligned to the IRA SOP objectives; tangible integration should happen after solutions are presented.
4
2
3.1
How many applications are in the current inventory? How many different application tracking repositories track the applications? Sensitive-will be provided after award
5
2
3.1
How many applications are currently in the cloud? Sensitive-will be provided after award
6
2
3.1
What is the backlog of applications moving into the cloud? Sensitive-will be provided after award
7
2
3.1
How many stakeholders are there and what units and teams do they represent? Stakeholders will be provided by the government after award.
8
2
3.1
Will we be provided with access to the Enterprise Architecture (EA)? Specific areas that relate to the tasks
9
2
3.1
Does the EA have to be expanded to include more possible cloud architectures? No it does not
10
2
3.1
Do you have an endpoint management system in place? Yes
11
2
3.1
Do you have a list of existing infrastructure tooling? Yes
12
2
3.1
Will the IRS provide a list of all approved cloud environments? Yes
13
2
3.1
What is the current state of cloud cost allocation and tagging practices? Sensitive-will be provided after award
14
2
3.1
Are there existing cloud cost monitoring tools in place? Yes
15
2
3.1
Are there any existing data collection mechanisms for cloud spend analysis? Yes
16
2
3.1
What level of granularity is required for cost reporting? Detailed, ingress, egress, etc.
17
2
3.1
What cost data sources are currently available? Sensitive-will be provided after award
18
2
3.1
What specific aspects of the TCloud model should be incorporated into this FinOps practice? This is a part of the requirement that requires a solution.
19
2
3.1
Are there any lessons learned from the IRS TCloud implementation? Partially
20
2
3.1
Can you provide the current inventory of cloud applications across AWS and Azure? Sensitive-will be provided after award
21
2
3.1
What training requirements exist for different stakeholder groups? Sensitive-will be provided after award
22
2
3.1
Will the IRS internal private cloud or Enterprise Container Platform be included in this workstream? Sensitive-will be provided after award
23
2
3.1
Will the IRS allow the supplier to decide which tooling to use for the FinOps practice implementation or would the IRS ultimately decide while the supplier provides options? IRS decides option, tools are not a priority in this requirement.
24
2
3.2
What are the specific infrastructure requirements for FinOps tools? Sensitive-will be provided after award
25
3
3.2
What are the specific metrics and KPIs required for cloud cost monitoring? Will be shared as we get closer to award
26
3
3.2
What are the existing Treasury tagging schemas? Sensitive-will be provided after award
27
3
3.2
Are there any IRS-specific tagging requirements? Yes
28
3
3.2
How should the tagging strategy align with chargeback/showback requirements? Sensitive-will be provided after award
29
3
3.2
How does the IRS define an "unfinished" cloud project? Sensitive-will be provided after award
30
3
3.2
Is there an existing inventory of “unfinished”: cloud projects? Yes
31
3
3.2
What criteria should be used to assess resource consumption? n/a
32
3
3.2
What level of comparison is needed between on-prem and cloud costs? Sensitive-will be provided after award
33
3
3.2
What is the current split of workloads between AWS and Azure? Sensitive-will be provided after award
34
3
3.2
Are there plans to add other cloud providers? Sensitive-will be provided after award
35
3
3.2
What is the timeline for planned migrations? Sensitive-will be provided after award
36
3
3.2
What types of applications are planned for cloud migration? Sensitive-will be provided after award
37
3
3.2
How should transformation and refactoring costs be calculated? Sensitive-will be provided after award
38
3
3.2
Will the implementation for the FinOps practice follow the current IRS Enterprise Life Cycle? Sensitive-will be provided after award
39
2
3.2
What are the specific monitoring tool requirements? Sensitive-will be provided after award
40
2
3.2
How should cost optimization decisions be approved? Sensitive-will be provided after award
41
2
3.2
What escalation paths should be established? Sensitive-will be provided after award
42
3
3.2
What change management methodology should be followed? Sensitive-will be provided after award
43
6
5.2
Can we move deliverable dates from award date to when staff-like access is granted? It sometimes takes a while for the IRS to grant staff-like access. The RFI is requesting using industry best practices and knowledge. We have many SMEs experienced in FinOps, but they do not currently have staff-like access. Yes, this is an RFI to measure the field, as such the requirement is not fully mature.
44
7
5.3
How should documentation be maintained for continuous monitoring? Sensitive-will be provided after award
45
8
10.0
Travel is not anticipated, however the government mentioned that onsite visits may be necessary. Please clarify. Travel is anticipated for meetings.
46
18
11.0
What are the current FedRAMP authorization levels required (Low, Moderate, or High)? Sensitive-will be provided after award
47
18
11.0
Are there specific FedRAMP controls that need special attention for the FinOps practice? Yes
48
18
11.0
How should the FinOps practice integrate with existing FedRAMP continuous monitoring? Anticipate the contractor to provide expertise
49
19
11.0
What are the specific SBU (Sensitive but Unclassified) data handling requirements for the FinOps tools? Sensitive-will be provided after award
50
22
11.0
What are the specific personnel screening requirements for the FinOps team? MBI- High Risk, W/ tax compliance check
51
27
11.0
How should role-based access control be implemented for cost management tools? Anticipate the contractor to provide expertise
52
15
11.0
How do backup requirements affect the FinOps infrastructure design? Anticipate the contractor to provide expertise
53
15
11.0
What are the recovery time objectives (RTO) for FinOps systems? What are the recovery point objectives (RPO) for FinOps systems? Sensitive-will be provided after award
54
18
11.0
What are the audit logging requirements for cost management systems? Sensitive-will be provided after award
File details come from the government source that posted it.
Updated .
