70RTAC23RFI000001_NOSC NCCS RFI - Final 10-5-2022.pdf

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION

Title: Network Cyber and Cloud Support (NCCS) Services

NOTE: THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) ONLY. This RFI is issued solely for information and market research planning purposes. This RFI shall not be construed as an obligation on the part of the Government. This is NOT a Request for Quotations or Proposals. No solicitation document exists, and the Government may or may not issue a formal solicitation as a result of the responses received to this RFI.

The Government will not pay for any response or demonstration expenses. All costs incurred responding to this RFI will be solely at the interested party's expense. Failure to respond to this RFI will not preclude participation in any future solicitation. Any information received will become the property of the Government and will not be returned to the submitter. Interested parties are responsible for adequately marking proprietary or sensitive information.

The Government’s explicit intent, in this request for information, is to not receive from respondents any proprietary data, trade secrets, business sensitive information, or information considered CONFIDENTIAL under 18 U.S.C. §1905. The Government’s constraint does not in any way relieve contractors from their responsibility to properly mark proprietary data when it is provided, nor does it alleviate any requirement for the Government to protect marked data. The Government is not obligated to protect unmarked data.

The information provided in this RFI is subject to change and is not binding on the Government. All submissions become the property of the Federal Government and will not be returned.

DESCRIPTION

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) information technology environment includes data centers;

colocation facilities; and commercial, private cloud, and Gov-cloud resources interconnected by the Homeland Security Enterprise Network (HSEN) wide area network (WAN) provisioned by commercial telecommunications carriers. The entire environment is known as the Homeland Computing Environment

(HCE).

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is made up of Headquarters (HQ), various Components and Directorates. Each Component has unique and separate requirements and operates in its specific mission space; all are supported by a common unclassified, general purpose local area network (A-LAN), and the HSEN. The data traversing this network are considered Sensitive But Unclassified (SBU) or Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI). Additional networks supporting HQ include the “B-LAN” at the secret classification level and the “C-LAN,” which supports top secret classified data processing.

In support of the various missions within DHS HQ, there were five (5) Security Operations Centers (SOCs) and six (6) Network Operations Centers (NOCs) providing network management, cloud management, and cybersecurity support to various aspects of the DHS mission. These operations centers were at various levels of maturity resulting in inefficiencies in cost, incident response, and situational awareness for management. The Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO) has established a program that streamlines operations by merging these NOCs and SOCs into a centralized Network Operations and Security Center (NOSC). The NOSC will be responsible for Identifying, Protecting and Detecting, Responding and Recovering from all Information Technology events in DHS HQ networks and information processing systems. To fulfill its mission, the NOSC requires support that combines expertise in, network and systems management, cloud management, and cybersecurity. The required support will operate out of three geographical locations: one in the National Capital Region (NCR); one in Stennis, Mississippi; and one in Chandler, Arizona.

The NOSC combines the traditional functions and responsibilities of network and systems management, cloud management, and cybersecurity operations. At Tier 1, the NOSC will detect and triage network, cloud, and cybersecurity operational issues, resolve those susceptible to rapid resolution, and escalate those requiring a more significant response to Tier 2. At Tier 2, the NOSC will coordinate the resolution of networking, cloud, and cybersecurity incidents requiring resources in excess of the limits placed on Tier 1.

The Government prefers that personnel at both Tier 1 and Tier 2 each possess the skills necessary to perform Network and Systems management, cloud management, and cybersecurity operations. The Government is seeking Industry feedback on this proposed approach, as well as suggestions and advice on alternative approaches or solutions, along with capable sources.

PURPOSE OF THIS RFI

The purposes of this RFI are:

1) To gain an understanding of Industry’s view of optimum approaches for providing network and system management, cloud management, and cybersecurity support services for operating NOSC facilities in the National Capital Region (NCR), Mississippi, and Arizona.

2) Obtain Industry feedback on recruiting resources with expertise with network and systems management, cloud management, and cybersecurity expertise.

3) Obtain feedback on the proposed NOSC organizational approach described in this RFI.

4) Obtain feedback on proposed costing structure as described in the RFI.

INFORMATION REQUEST

Interested parties should submit responses addressing one or more of the following areas:

1. Contract Type: DHS is contemplating a single award ordering type vehicle for providing network and system management, cloud management, and cybersecurity staffing services in support of NOSC operations in the National Capital Region, Mississippi, and Arizona.

a. Please describe your capacity to deliver the required network and system management, Cloud management, and cybersecurity services including full time (24x7x365) and part time support and your ability to provide those services at the three NOSC locations.

b. Please describe the recommended contract type (e.g., Labor Hour (LH), Time and Material (T&M), Firm Fixed Price (FFP), or Hybrid) that would be most effective for acquiring the required services and briefly explain why.

2. Required Technical Expertise: The NOSC requires a mix of technical skills (network and system, cloud, and cybersecurity) in order to accomplish its mission.

a. Describe your capability to provide personnel with the technical skills, knowledge, and experience in all of the following technical disciplines: 1) Network and systems management; 2) Cloud management; and 3) Cybersecurity.

b. Describe the approach for building and maintaining sufficient resources in each of the various NOSC locations?

c. Do you consider the Government’s preference for staff expertise to be financially feasible?

Why or why not? Please provide a detailed explanation.

3. Staffing Approach: DHS envisions the NOSC support would consist of junior and journeyman level personnel providing the necessary technical expertise. DHS is explicitly not seeking senior subject matter expert level personnel.

a. Provide feedback on the staffing approach envisioned by the Government.

b. Are the mix of skills the Government describes above technically feasible? If not, provide brief explanation.

4. Tier 1 and Tier 2 Operations: Tier 1 operations will be 24x7x365 with all technical areas represented. Tier 2 operations are also 24x7x365, but do not necessarily have all technical areas represented. What is the recommended minimum labor mix that should be deployed to support Tier 2?

5. NOSC Surge Support: Each NOSC operating location will have continuing needs for support and normal, steady state operations. However, from time to time each location will have a need to increase support for a limited period of time due to a temporary increase or surge in workload such as response to a cyber threat or attack, implementation of a network design transition, or for other network or cybersecurity projects of limited duration. The Department’s expectation is to acquire these services for a specified period of time only and then discontinue those services at the end of that period.

a. What is your capability to provide personnel in response to a surge requirement?

b. How would surge requirements be filled?

c. What is recommended as the best approach for engaging temporary services in the shortest possible amount of elapsed time in response to a cyber threat or attack?

d. How much lead time is necessary to fill surge requirements?

e. Describe your capacity to provide qualified staff for temporary engagements in each of the three NOSC operating locations.

6. Personnel Security Requirements: TS/SCI cleared personnel will be required to be onsite and reside within commuting distance of each of the NOSC locations. These personnel cannot be remote teleworkers and will be required to be onsite at minimum of one day per week and as mission dictates? Normal work may be performed onsite and via telework. Describe the capability to provide personnel with TS/SCI clearances for each of the NOSC locations.

7. Other Considerations: Describe any additional considerations that should be considered by the Government in its planning for a contract for providing network and systems, cloud, and cybersecurity support services for NOSC operations.

SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS

Interested parties are invited to address the questions pertaining to NOSC network and systems management, cloud management, and cybersecurity operations services identified in this RFI. The total submission page count shall not exceed 15 pages, Times New Roman, Font Size 11, excluding the cover page. Only one submission will be reviewed per vendor for this RFI. That submission can respond to one or more questions above. Only electronic submissions will be accepted. Emails with attachments larger than 5 MB shall be broken down into multiple emails with no one attachment exceeding 5 MB. Each electronic submission shall include:

- RFI number and “Network Cyber and Cloud Support Services” in the Subject Line

- If the submission includes more than one electronic email, please include the file number and total files being submitted (e.g., File 1 of 4, File 2 of 4, etc.) in the Subject Line

- In the body of the email, include a Point of Contact (POC), phone number and email address of the person to be contacted regarding any correspondence between the Government and the Vendor. This person should be a primary contact and capable of addressing questions or issues associated with the submission in response to this RFI.

- Include a brief summary of email content, Vendor name and firm’s mailing address

- Business size (large or small) and socio-economic status (i.e. 8(a), small disadvantaged business, HUBZone small business, service-disabled veteran-owned small business, Women-Owned Small Business, etc.)

- The Response Statement as an attachment to the email

Responses to this RFI may be reviewed by Government technical experts drawn from staff within DHS and other Federal agencies. The Government may also use selected support contractor personnel to assist in the review of the responses. These support contractors will be bound by appropriate non-disclosure agreements to protect proprietary and source selection information.

All Responses shall be submitted to the Office of Procurement Operations (OPO) Industry Liaison mailbox at the following email address: opoindustryliaison@hq.dhs.gov no later than NOON Eastern Time, October 25, 2022.

The Government reserves the right to hold one-on-one meetings as a result of responses received from this RFI as part of its market research. Meetings may be held in particular with vendors who provide comprehensive responses to the questions posed.

mailto:opoindustryliaison@hq.dhs.gov