CAP-M RFI Question Responses.pdf

# Question Government Response

Would it be possible to update the RFI and include Oracle as the fourth provider?

The Government is not currently looking for any additional options for cloud providers. However, as detailed in the information request, a brief rationale for clouds other than those currently in use (Amazon, Google, and Microsoft) may be provided.

Can you provide any more information on what you are looking for in a

ROM?

The Government is looking for a contractor to provide access to the cloud services, specifically AWS, Azure, and Google. It currently functions akin to a drawdown account.

Given that the AWS, Google and Azure clouds form the platform, what range of services are you looking for?

- Labor services

- Our company provides Postgres database software as a service capabilities on all 3 of your clouds currently, but not sure what to ROM.

Cost to support of x users?

The current contractor is a small business who provides access to all three clouds. The contractor must be an official reseller. The incumbent contract has some engineering hours to help resolve issues, but the contractor is not the developer. The three clouds have their own enterprise level support via the cloud service providers (CSPs) themselves. The system that is being accredited has: AWS, Azure, and GCP.

Who is the current incumbent (if any) related to the sources sought?

What is the incumbent's current project/job/contract number?

Current contractor is Arch Systems, LLC. Contract #

75N98118D00064 / 70RSAT21FR0000112.

Is the agency open to placing the prospective requirement into the 8(a) program? This requirement will not be placed into the 8(a) program.

The RFI is asking for a Rom and other info that require some detail as to what the day to day work entails, like a draft SOW/PWS or that of the incumbent contract. The RFI describes the purpose of CAP-M Project for DHS employees, but not what the contractor, as steward of the project, actually will be doing. Any ROM based on the info provided would be a wild guess, at best.

Will you provide a draft PWS, SOW, or even SOO or cut and past from the current contract to give us more to go on?

The Government is looking for a contractor to provide access to the cloud services, specifically AWS, Azure, and Google. It currently functions akin to a drawdown account.

Is the designation “commercial clouds” intended to indicate that:

- S&T wants to assess capabilities of businesses to supply access to a literal commercial cloud environment owned and operated by the specified providers? (i.e., Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud Platform, and Microsoft Azure) Or;

- S&T wants to assess the capabilities of businesses to supply access to commercially owned and operated cloud resources developed for and provisioned to Federal clients? (i.e., Fed-ramped cloud resources offered by Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud Platform, and Microsoft Azure).

The clouds are to be provisioned for federal clients.

Are the cloud environments intended to be provided as a managed service (by contractors) or reseller provided cloud services that the Government will manage?

The Government is not looking for anyone to build anything or to integrate the clouds. The system is in place. This is intended as a competition for access to the cloud services.

Are there any services that need to be provided by the contractors to manage the cloud environments (such as - security, performance, cost management)?

The Government is not looking for anyone to build anything or to integrate the clouds. The system is in place. This is intended to gauge the capabilities of the market for a potential competition for access to the cloud services.

The Submission Instructions state, “The total submission page count shall not exceed 5 pages, Times New Roman, Font Size 11, excluding the cover page,” and “Responses must also have a cover letter…” Is the Cover Letter included as part of the 5-page submission maximum? If not, what is the page limit for the cover letter? Cover letter may be one page, in addition to the 5-page limit.

11 What is the current percentage spend per CSP?

The Government currently has unusually low spend because the system is still getting accredited and likely not a good predictor of future spending.

What is the historic spend per CSP, does the historic spend anticipate growth?

Historic spend does anticipate growth as the system is being accredited and therefore cannot be used as an indicator of future spending. It is anticipated that accreditation will be achieved within the calendar year. After accreditation, the system will be used by different entities to test out potential use cases. These use cases may dominantly use one cloud while barely touching the other two, may predominantly use two clouds while ignoring the third, use all three equally, or some other permutation. In each of the previous scenarios, it is impossible to predict which of the clouds will be the one predominantly used and all will differ somewhat in prices. This is also predicated on entities queueing up to use the system. At this time, the future demand signal is unknown.

Multi-Cloud Strategy: Is infrastructure provisioning done in a multi-cloud platform or independently in each cloud environment? Provisitioning is independent in each cloud environment.

Integration and Interoperability: - Are the Clouds expected to integrate with each other?, Are there any specific interoperability standards or requirements to consider?

The system is already in place. Yes, they are integrated at the network and security level.

Cost and Budgeting: - Does DHS require a single pane of glass for cost optimization and reporting for all 3 clouds?

The Government requires cost accounting by CSP that ensures near real-time accounting/costs of services used. A single pane of glass is highly preferred with the right granularity showing services used across CSPs. Utilizing third-party commercial software to achieve this is acceptable.

16 Will this contract be set aside for HUBZone? No set-aside has been determined.

17 What kind of response is being expected in this RFI? Not clear in the RFI. The Information Request in the RFI details the information sought.

Can you provide clarification on what information you're looking for in item b. "Rough Order of Magnitude" ?

- Rough order of magnitude for what?

- And in what units (e.g. time, dollars, cpu usage metrics, storage capacity)

The Government is asking for the Rough Order of Magnitude for providing the capabilities/access to the 3 clouds. How that is broken down by function, cost, or other unit is up to the contractor's discretion.

We are a new 8a small minority owned business and do not currently have a contract vehicle. Is having an existing contract vehicle a hard requirement for this?

The Government is looking for information regarding capabilities only at this point in time.

Will you publish the list of other questions asked and any applicable answers? Yes.

Is this a new requirement or contract renewal? If re-compete, what is the current contract number and who is the incumbent? Current contractor is Arch Systems, LLC. Contract #

75N98118D00064 / 70RSAT21FR0000112.

Will the Government be changing the Solicitation Number upon RFP release?

This is a Request for Information, indicated by the RFI within the number. Any potential solicitation will have a different identification number.

Will the Government consider a set-aside for (8a, HUBZone, EDWOSB, etc.)

The Government is considering all possibilities.

24 When does the Government plan to release the RFP? The timeline is to be determined.

25 Will the Government be making the award for this requirement in FY24? The timeline is to be determined.

On page 2 of the RFI there is a mention of ROM – is this Rough Order of Magnitude both for the cloud infrastructure and the services provided by the contractor? Yes.

Are there any specific challenges or requirements in the current program that need to be addressed? No.

Is cross-cloud interaction across different cloud services providers already established or does it need to be established?

The Government is not looking for anyone to build anything or to integrate the clouds.

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