ESS Next RFI_02.pdf

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION

The Defense Health Agency Contracting Activity (DHACA) on behalf of Program Executive Office Defense Healthcare Management Systems (PEO DHMS) seeks information regarding the acquisition and deployment of the ESS Follow-on.

ESS Next aims to provide users with the digital and physical capabilities needed to support the development, testing, and delivery of digital products and applications for the MHS Enterprise. Specifically, ESS Next will offer users access to a standardized list of service offerings from which they can seamlessly self-provision various digital, virtual, and physical services and capabilities. For example, services available for provisioning include, but are not limited to, software services (managed tools/technologies used to execute development and testing), infrastructure services (compute, network, storage), physical space and support services (physical area to perform testing in the METIC, technical and logistical support to conduct OA events), virtual desktop services, and containerization services (serverless compute engine). Ultimately, the goal of ESS Next is to transition existing services to a hybrid “everything as a service” model and ensure users are able to quickly access the tools they need to perform the development and testing of mission-critical products while providing the organization the flexibility to scale, innovate, and optimize costs.

For the purposes of this request for information (RFI), PEO DHMS is requesting industry feedback to (1) develop a future state architecture of the pre-production environment; (2) identify performance standards which industry can meet that achieve the governments objectives; (3) identify opportunities to revise requirements in the draft Performance Work Statement (PWS) to meet government objectives more economically, efficiently, and effectively.

Information Requested:

The Government seeks responses to the following questions.

Company Information:

1. Please provide the following information in table format as depicted below:

Company Name

CAGE Socioeconomic Category

Contract Vehicles

POC Title Phone Email

2. How do your solutions/service offerings align with the requirements we’ve identified in the draft Performance Work Statement? Please provide examples of your proposed service offerings in the categories below:

a. Please provide a short paragraph describing a previous project experience that is relevant to each service. Describe the type of organization you were supporting (e.g., US Government agency, commercial organization) and describe why the nature of your work is relevant to DHMS ESS Next requirement.

b. Please indicate in the attached Excel file the relevance of your experiences using Harvey balls.

3. What challenges have you seen with organizations leading similar digital transformation/cloud migration efforts? How can the government overcome similar challenges in this process?

4. Describe past experiences in evaluating and improving current state architecture. If possible, sanitized deliverables showing both the initiatives and the impact of those would be beneficial. As part of this you may also include:

a. A brief description of the project

b. Contract number.

c. Contract Type

d. Whether the effort was commercial or non-commercial

e. Period of Performance

f. Whether your company was a prime or a sub on this contract

g. Scope of the portion of the effort your company supported.

5. With the above in mind, please also provide details on how you would work with the government to evaluate current state architecture and determine what, if any, improvement is needed.

Strengthening the Government’s Approach

1. Based on the information provided in the draft PWS – what, if any, additional information do you require in order to submit a technical and cost proposal?

2. Are the performance metrics and Service Level Agreements (SLAs) in the draft PWS aligned with industry best practice? What additional performance metrics or changes would you propose to incentivize completion of the government’s objectives?

3. Based on your understanding of these overarching requirements, how (if at all) would you strengthen/build-upon this approach of implementing an everything-as-a-service model?

a. Are there additional as-a-service offerings we should consider?

b. Does this approach sufficiently address the pain points we have laid out? Why or why not?

c. Will this approach continue to address the current needs of the programs? Why or why not?

4. What do you see are the major risk factors in addition to what the government has already identified?

5. What contract type (e.g., Firm Fixed Price, Time & Material) and CLIN structure would you recommend to meet and incentivize performance of the requirements in the draft Performance Work Statement?

Instructions for Submission RFI respondents are encouraged to provide responses and comments to the questions above.

Responses and comments may be utilized in the development of additions or modification to future PEO DHMS Draft RFPs. Please keep responses to the above questions to no more than 7 pages including any appendices, exhibits, diagrams, or supplemental materials. Submissions exceeding the specified page limit may be deemed non-compliant and may not be reviewed.

PEO DHMS requests that questions related to the RFI be submitted to the POC identified below by 3 February 2025.

PEO DHMS requests that responses to the RFI be submitted to the POC identified below by 18 February 2025.

RFI responses should be submitted to the following:

Dominique Brown, Contracting Officer Dominique.u.brown.civ@health.mil

Rachael Bealer, Contract Specialist Rachael.n.bealer.civ@health.mil

No verbal responses will be accepted.

Proprietary information may be submitted; however, RFI respondents are responsible for adequately marking proprietary, restricted or competition sensitive information contained in their response. All submissions will be protected from disclosure outside of Program Executive Office (PEO) DHMS.

In addition, RFI respondents should be aware that PEO DHMS may utilize contractor support personnel from the below listed companies (under existing contracts) to review responses and information submitted. These companies and individual employees are bound contractually by Organizational Conflict of Interest and disclosure clauses with respect to proprietary information, and they will take all reasonable action necessary to preclude unauthorized use or disclosure of an RFI respondent’s proprietary data. RFI responses MUST clearly state whether permission is granted allowing the program office support contractors identified below access to any proprietary information.

Boston Consulting Group Agensys Corporation Monterey Consultants Technology Experts, Inc.

Optima Global Solution

This RFI is not a solicitation. This RFI is for planning purposes only. It does not constitute an RFP or a promise to issue an RFP in the future. This RFI does not commit the Government to mailto:Dominique.u.brown.civ@health.mil mailto:Rachael.n.bealer.civ@health.mil contract for any supply or service whatsoever. Further, PEO DHMS is not seeking proposals at this time and will not accept unsolicited proposals. Respondents are advised that the Government will not pay for any information or administrative costs incurred in response to this RFI. All costs associated with responding to this RFI will be solely at the responding party’s expense.

Participation is not mandatory or required; participation or response to this RFI is not a prerequisite for any future procurement activities.

Attachments:

1 – Draft PWS 2 – Capabilities Table 3 – Use Cases 4 – Draft QASP 5 – Draft PRS Table 6 – Industry Day Slide Deck

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION