ATLAS ChBA Phase 1_Attachment 1 - Statement of Objectives.pdf

Accelerated Transformation of Legacy Applications and Systems (ATLAS) Attachment 1 – Statement of Objectives (SOO)

1. PURPOSE

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Information and Technology Services (AIT) seeks innovative, secure, and resilient IT solutions to support the FAA and Solution Delivery Services (ADE) and enable portfolio-wide rationalization, consolidation, modernization and sustainment of FAA’s application environments. This requirement seeks a strategic partnership to reduce technical debt, improve user experience, enhance security and resiliency, and deliver long-term cost efficiencies while ensuring continuity of operations and safety of the National Airspace System.

2.0 BACKGROUND

ADE provides technical expertise and IT solutions to various FAA lines of business, focusing on systems that support inspections, investigations, and regulatory compliance. Currently, the FAA operates a complex portfolio of custom and off-the-shelf applications, databases, and enterprise platforms. To meet evolving aviation safety demands, the FAA is transitioning from legacy sustainment to a model characterized by cloud-native architectures, artificial intelligence, and automated workflows.

3.0 SCOPE

The scope of this Accelerated Transformation of Legacy Applications and Systems (ATLAS) requirement primarily includes support and modernization of the FAA’s mission support portfolio which currently encompasses approximately 200 applications and 3,000 databases. The scope of any resulting contract(s) may also include modernization and sustainment of applications across the entire FAA. The FAA currently anticipates a period of performance of ten (10) years, including options, for any resulting contract(s).

4.0 PROGRAM OBJECTIVES

The following objectives define the desired end-states for the ATLAS contract(s). Offerors are encouraged to propose innovative technical approaches, methodologies, and Performance Work Statements (PWS) that best achieve these outcomes (Note:

Performance Work Statements are not required until the FAA issues a formal Request for Proposals tentatively planned for Phase 4 of this Challenge Based Acquisition). All qualitative objectives (e.g., ‘intuitive’, ‘seamless’) will be measured using quantitative proxy metrics (e.g., Time-on-Task, System Usability Scale scores, API latency) defined in the Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan (QASP) upon award.

Objective 1: Portfolio Modernization and Technical Debt Reduction

• Outcome: A rationalized application portfolio where legacy systems are transitioned into modular, scalable, and cloud-native architectures.

• Outcome: Elimination of redundant business functions.

• Outcome: Minimal technical debt and a reduced operational footprint for long-term sustainment efficiency.

• Outcome: Use of AI/ML-assisted techniques to accelerate application analysis, code refactoring, automated testing, and identification of consolidation or retirement candidates across the application portfolio.

Objective 2: User Experience (UI/UX)

• Outcome: Human-centered design practices embedded across modernization and development efforts.

• Outcome: User interfaces that are intuitive, consistent and aligned with FAA accessibility standards.

• Outcome: UX patterns and design systems reused across applications to promote consistency and efficiency.

Objective 3: High-Availability Mission Operations

• Outcome: Continuous, stable operation of mission and safety-critical systems, maintaining a consistent availability rate of 99.9% or higher.

• Outcome: Proactive system health management that identifies and remediates anomalies before they impact aviation safety oversight or regulatory compliance.

• Outcome: Resilient disaster recovery and backup capabilities that meet defined Recovery Time and Recovery Point Objectives (RTO/RPO).

• Outcome: Continuously reduced Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) through a sustainable operational model where AIOps and predictive resource management are used to drive a measurable, year-over-year downward trend in cloud consumption costs and maintenance overhead.

• Outcome: Automated operational sustainment with a drastic reduction in routine maintenance overhead through the implementation of self-managing systems and AI-driven workflows that automate patching, upgrades, and incident resolution, allowing human resources to focus on high-value innovation.

Objective 4: Accelerated Value Delivery via DevSecOps

• Outcome: A mature software delivery lifecycle characterized by rapid, iterative releases and integrated security validation.

• Outcome: Enhanced software quality and consistency through the maximum reuse of enterprise shared services and approved functional components.

• Outcome: Transparent, data-driven visibility into development velocity, risk posture, and product health.

• Outcome: Maximized engineering throughput and velocity utilizing a development environment where Generative AI and intelligent automation are integrated into the core workflow (coding, testing, and documentation), resulting in significantly faster feature delivery and reduced time-to-market for modernization priorities.

Objective 5: Enterprise Data Excellence and Intelligent Automation

• Outcome: A unified, "single source of truth" across the enterprise achieved by eliminating data silos and inconsistent datasets.

• Outcome: Actionable, predictive insights derived from enterprise data to support safety operations and resource optimization.

• Outcome: Optimized business processes through the implementation of secure, scalable automated workflows and citizen development opportunities.

• Outcome: Use of AI/ML techniques to derive predictive insights, enable intelligent automation, and support data-driven decision making across mission, safety and resource optimization use cases, with appropriate data governance and model oversight.

Objective 6: Proactive Cyber Security and Compliance

• Outcome: Continuous Authorization to Operate (cATO) through security controls that are natively embedded into the development and operational fabric.

• Outcome: Rapid remediation of vulnerabilities and audit findings within mandated timeframes.

• Outcome: Full alignment with Federal and FAA information security, privacy, and architecture standards.

• Outcome: Use of automation and AI-assisted security analytics to enhance threat detection, vulnerability prioritization, and compliance monitoring while maintaining alignment with Zero Trust and federal security requirements.

Objective 7: Program Governance

• Outcome: Alignment of legacy systems changes, technical debt reduction, and modernization activities with FAA Enterprise Architecture, cybersecurity, and data standards to ensure interoperability, compliance and reduced operational risk.

• Outcome: Data-driven executive oversight enabled through portfolio dashboards and performance metrics that provide visibility into system health, security posture, technical debt, cost and progress of modernization.

• Outcome: Governance processes that ensure responsible and compliant use of AI/ML across modernization, including transparency, auditability, model risk management, and alignment with FAA policies, cybersecurity, and data standards.

Objective 8: Seamless Service Transition

• Outcome: Uninterrupted mission support during the transition of responsibilities, ensuring zero performance degradation for FAA stakeholders.

• Outcome: Effective knowledge transfer and comprehensive documentation that ensures long-term system maintainability and traceability.

• Outcome: Integrated risk management that identifies and mitigates program, technical, and security risks before they impact delivery.

5.0 CONSTRAINTS AND REQUIREMENTS

• Data Rights: All work products, including source code, executables, and documentation, remain the exclusive property of the FAA.

• Standards Compliance: All solutions must adhere to the FAA Acquisition

Management System (AMS), NIST 800-53, and FAA Order 1370.121.

• Place of Performance: Work may be performed at contractor facilities, FAA

Headquarters, or regional centers.