Call for Solutions - Horizon - Customer Engagement and Digital Services Oversight Rev 1.pdf

CALL FOR SOLUTIONS

Horizon - Customer Engagement and Digital Services Oversight

Project Number ECMA_26-01 Army Open Solicitation (AOS) Number W9128Z-25-S-A002 Call for Solution Title Horizon - Customer Engagement and Digital

Services Oversight Issued By Army Contracting Command – Rock Island, Strategic IT Directorate

Submission Instructions To respond to this Call for Solution, please refer to Sections 5-9 of this Call for Solution

*Solution Briefs Due Date/Time Suspense

22 MAY 2026 at 1500 Central Time

Point of Contracts (POCs) for Solution Brief Submission

Contracting Officer: Tim Volkert, timothy.w.volkert.civ@army.mil Contracting Specialist: Roxanne Schlue, roxanne.m.schlue.civ@army.mil

NOTE: Please advise the cognizant Contracting/Agreements Officer and Specialist as soon as possible via the emails above if your organization intends to submit a Solution Brief in response to this Call for Solution.

*Any submissions that are received by the Contracting/Agreements Officer after the suspense date/time listed above will be deemed late and not evaluated. It is the sole responsibility of the company to ensure that its submission is received in the email inboxes listed above before the deadline specified.

This Call for Solution may result in the Government awarding Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) contracts or non-FAR agreements In Accordance With (IAW) Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) 212.70 – Defense Commercial Solutions Opening. Other Transactions that may be awarded from this Call for Solution are not subject to the FAR or its supplements, as applicable.

1. BACKGROUND.

The Enterprise Cloud Management Agency (ECMA) provides enterprise-scale cloud services to the United States Army. One of the most important aspects of providing this support is excellent customer care and a streamlined onboarding process by decreasing the barrier to entry and accelerating customers’ abilities to meet mission requirements with maximum speed and efficiency using cloud and cloud-based services. ECMA needs to maintain its status as a trusted partner, delivering excellent customer care and a seamless onboarding process throughout the entire service lifecycle.

ECMA’s operating environment continues to rapidly expand. ECMA supports nearly 200 customers distributed across over 1,600 individual cloud accounts, and the customer base is expected to double over the next 3-5 years. Currently, ECMA processes between 100 and 200 change requests per week and supports technical exchange meetings with each new customer. Additionally, ECMA processes between 10 and 25 customer requests a month and simultaneously tracks between 100 and 200 customer initiatives at any given time.

2. PROBLEM STATEMENT.

ECMA requires a highly functional, standards-based approach to customer care, onboarding, policy and decision-making, and business and financial operations.

ECMA’s key capabilities are categorized in the following functional areas:

• Customer Engagement – ECMA must guarantee mission success and serve as a strategic partner with our cloud customers, handling their requirements from cradle to grave. Understanding our customer needs, proactively handling issues, and creating a transparent trusted relationship with customers is essential.

• Strategy and Governance – ECMA desires a lightweight, standardized approach to decision and policy making. From governing tenant onboarding to creation of new cloud and IT policies, ECMA needs to optimize decision making and reduce the time it takes to draw services from ECMA.

• Business and Finance – ECMA requires full lifecycle management of customer facing business needs and finances. Support ranges from billing, to charge back, to cost and service support model creation.

The Government anticipates the total cost for this requirement will be in the price range of $4,000,000 to $5,000,000 for the base year and $20,000,000 to $25,000,000 for total contract value.

3. DESIRED SOLUTION OBJECTIVES.

A successful solution should describe how you can successfully accomplish the following high-level functional needs and how you will maintain the services and features over time. Reaching optimal performance and streamlined operations rapidly is essential.

Customer Engagement - The high-level functional needs include, but not limited to:

• Requirements intake and prioritization o Capture mission requirements and route through governance.

o Conduct analyses of alternatives and prioritization based on mission impact.

o Create and maintain intake automation tools and dashboards.

o Standardized processes for customer and lead management.

o In coordination with the Governance team, coordinate technical reviews, exchanges, and architecture reviews with customers and stakeholders.

o Full transparency for requests for both customer and leadership.

• Onboarding and customer management o Full lifecycle management of all aspects of customer engagement, care, and management.

o Centralized management of customer requests, service consumption, and requirements.

o Coordinate tenant activation and account setup.

o Provide training and user education on services.

o Customer acumen and skills management.

o Manage customer relationships, SLAs, and service catalogs.

o Provide secure messaging and chat support.

o Oversee lifecycle management and escalation of issues.

o Maximize use of self-service and automation.

• Reporting and Communications o Customer segmentation and market analysis.

o Issue service status updates, outage notifications, and compliance advisories.

o Deliver executive and tenant communications on cost, utilization, and performance.

o Develop and maintain a customer portal that serves as a central repository of services, spend, costs, requests, and status.

o Provide continual customer feedback and survey capabilities.

Desired outcomes and expectations.

o Being the first line of support for all customer requests/issues.

o Accepting requests for standard and above-baseline services.

o Handling requests for new services or new features for existing services.

o Accepting and processing support requests when self-service is not available or possible.

o Tracking and handling the lifecycle handing of all requests.

o Tracking and reporting outages or unplanned down time.

o Scheduling and planning regular maintenance activities.

o Advising customers on required maintenance and compliance issues.

Strategy and Governance – The high-level functional needs include, but not limited to:

• Governance & Design Review o Operate enterprise governance boards and change‑control forums.

o Coordinate, schedule, and hold architecture, design, and service reviews for compliance with technical, security, and policy standards.

o Approve new service introductions and modernization patterns.

o Publish technical standards, templates, and guidance for Engineering to implement.

o Develop cloud tagging and governance standards.

o Create baseline service level agreements and key performance indicator standards for all service areas.

o Manage privileged‑access and role‑based security standards.

• Policy Alignment & Strategic Planning o Implement, manage and review ECMA policies across functions.

o Develop and maintain operating model, roadmap, and modernization strategy.

o Coordinate with enterprise partners, including but not limited to PAE, ARCYBER, NETCOM, and C5ISR.

o Develop and maintain a product and services catalog that is flexible and dynamic.

• Performance & Technology Management o Provide comprehensive portfolio, demand, and service management.

o Track performance, cost, and compliance metrics across service areas.

o Integrate feedback from Engineering and Operations for continuous improvement.

o Oversee technology transition, modernization decisions, and innovation governance.

o Integrated scheduling across initiatives.

o Risk and issue management.

o Dependency tracking across vendors and suppliers.

o Track market trends and report on relevant emerging technologies.

o Consistent and repeatable design reviews.

o Rapid and timely decision making o Use and maintenance of standard templates and design patterns.

o Conduct feasibility studies and analysis of alternatives.

o Prototype of emerging capabilities.

o Create policies, procedures, and standards for services and operations.

o Perform portfolio management and oversight functions.

o Maintain market awareness and routinely assess new capabilities.

Business and Finance – The high-level functional needs include, but not limited to:

• Financial Operations o Handle customer billing, charge-back, show-back transactions, and CSP invoicing including disputes and inquiries.

o Develop and execute spend plans, budgets, and forecasts.

o Maintain cost-transparency dashboards and financial analytics.

• Service Brokering & Contract Management o Conduct acquisition activities (e.g., requirements gathering, execution).

o Broker commercial cloud services through enterprise contract vehicles.

o Administer and manage vendor contracts, renewals, and license optimization.

o Coordinate enterprise license agreements and cross-tenant cost sharing.

o Maintain inventory of all cloud assets, tracking ownership.

o Vendor and contract management.

• Financial Compliance & Optimization o Implement cloud tagging (in coordination with CSP) and governance standards.

o Ensure fiscal audit readiness, risk management, internal control, and compliance with acquisition standards.

o Conduct cost-optimization and consolidation analyses.

o Reporting of financial KPIs and performance metrics.

• Programming, Planning, Budgeting, and Execution (PPBE) o Enforce Capabilities Programming Guidance.

o Develop PPBE cost models.

o Liaison with Army Budget Office and centralized programming office.

o Track President Budget Program Objective Milestone position.

o Consistent and predictable resourcing of services and operations.

o Timely creation and approval of the annual spend plan.

o Continual monitoring and tracking funds execution.

o Full customer transparency for all costs, services, and consumption.

o Maintaining clean financial management records and auditability.

o Handling customer billing, charge back, show back inquiries.

o Implementing fiscal accountability and compliance.

o Continual forecasting of spend and capacity.

o Creation and maintenance of cost model and cost transparency.

o Cost optimization, consolidation, ELA identification.

o Financial audit compliance.

4. AWARDING INSTRUMENT

IAW with Army Open Solicitation procedures detailed within Solicitation W9128Z-25-S- A002, posted to SAM.gov on 05 May 2026, the Government intends to award a FAR Part 12, Firm-Fixed-Price (FFP) type contract. This Call provides instructions to companies and how the Government will evaluate submissions. This Call for Solution will utilize Commercial Solutions Opening (CSO) procedures. Use of a CSO in accordance with DFARS subpart 212.70 is considered to be a competitive procedure for the purposes of 10 U.S.C. chapter 221 and FAR subpart 6.102.

5. CALL INSTRUCTIONS AND NOTES

In addition to the general guidelines included in the open solicitation, the following guidelines apply to this Call for Solution.

5.1 General Notes

• Offerors are reminded that all awards are subject to the availability of funds and the Government reserves the right to make multiple awards, a single award, or no award as a result of this Call.

• Only a Contracting or Agreements Officer has the authority to enter into, modify, or execute a binding instrument on behalf of the United States Government. All payment obligations are subject to Congressional appropriations.

• In order to be eligible for award, offerors must:

o Possess a Unique Entity ID and be registered in the System for Award

Management prior to award, and maintain active registration throughout the period of performance.

o Register in the prescribed government invoicing system (e.g., Wide Area Work Flow).

o Accurately represent their small business size and status as required.

o Be determined responsible by the Contracting/Agreements Officer and not be suspended, debarred, or otherwise prohibited from receiving an award.

o Disclose any actual or potential Organizational Conflicts of Interest (OCIs) to the Contracting/Agreements Officer prior to award.

• Offerors are responsible for monitoring SAM.gov for any amendments or updates to this Call.

• Notice to Offeror(s): The Government reserves the right to cancel this open Call, either before or after the closing date. If the Government cancels this open Call, the Government has no obligation to reimburse an offeror for any costs.

• The Government may down-select potential awardees under this call for solution

• The Government reserves the right to award more than one (1) award resulting from this Call for Solution or to make no award

• The Government reserves the right to go directly from solution brief to award.

• If the Government exercises its right to go directly from Solution Brief to award, additional information may include detailed pricing, implementation schedules, and technical documentation to support contract negotiations.

• The Government will inform all Offerors whether they have or have not been selected to move forward based on their submitted Solution Brief.

• Those Offerors whose Solution Briefs are deemed “selectable” will be invited to submit a more comprehensive Pitch or Proposal. At that time, a due date and time for the following phase will be communicated. Once an Offeror has been selected past Phase 1, the Government will amend the call to update the evaluation criteria for the next Phase. Submittals must use a standard, readable font (i.e., not requiring magnification), as the document's readability directly impacts the Government's ability to assess the merits of the proposed solution.

Offerors are strongly encouraged to use diagrams, graphics, and concise text to effectively convey complex information. For this purpose, landscape-oriented (11 x 8.5 inch) pages are permissible for visuals but will be counted toward the total page limit, which is strictly enforced. Any pages submitted beyond the maximum allowed will be removed by the Government and will not be evaluated.

• The Government may utilize internal Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools to assist in the administrative review and analysis of proposals, such as by summarizing content or verifying compliance with solicitation requirements. However, the use of AI is strictly for support purposes; all final evaluation judgments, all final evaluation judgments and the ultimate selection decision are inherently governmental functions. The Government is committed to protecting all offeror proprietary and source selection sensitive information, and any AI tool used will operate in a secure environment, consistent with all applicable data protection regulations, and will not transmit data to external systems.

• Questions are to be sent only to the Contracting Officer and Specialist (POCs) listed in this Call for Solution by May 18, 2026 @ 11:00 AM Central Time. The following shall be utilized in the email subject line: "Call for Solution - ECMA_26- 01."

5.2 Overview of Submission Phases

The response process for this Call may consist of the following phases:

Phase 1: Solution Brief Offerors will submit a high-level summary of their proposed solution, addressing the government’s objectives and requirements.

Phase 2: Pitch (unless bypassed) Selected offerors may be invited to present and discuss their solution in a live or virtual setting.

Phase 3: Solution Proposal Offerors advancing to this phase will be invited to submit a detailed proposal for final evaluation and potential award.

Detailed submission requirements for Phase 1 are provided in Section 6. Evaluation criteria for Phase 1 are outlined in Section 7. Phase 2 and/or Phase 3 submission requirements and evaluation criteria will be provided via subsequent invitation letters.

6. SOLUTION SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS

6.1 Phase 1 – Solution Brief

6.1.1 Phase 1 – Solution Brief Content

Companies responding to this call shall submit a Solution Brief for evaluation.

Submissions are to be sent via email only to the Contracting Officer and Specialist (POCs) listed in this Call for Solution.

Solution Briefs shall not exceed six (6) written pages using 12-point Times New Roman font. The Government will not consider inserted textboxes/pop-ups or internet links to additional information as part of the Solution Brief and will not consider such information in its evaluation. Solution Briefs are intended to be clear and concise.

Solution Briefs shall include the following at a minimum:

a. Title Page (does not count against page limit)

i. Company Name, Title, Date, Point of Contact Name, E-Mail Address, Phone, Address, and Call reference number. If registered in SAM.gov, include the Commercial and Government Entity (CAGE) code and Unique Entity Identification code. Note: SAM registration is required for any award.

ii. Ensure the Call for Solutions reference number and topic (e.g., Horizon) is clearly identified.

b. Executive Summary (one page, counts against page limit)

i. Provide an executive summary of the offeror and its solution.

c. High-Level Solution/Concept (counts against page limit)

i. Describe the unique aspects of your solution/concept and its relevance to the

Call and how the solution addresses the problem statement and solution objectives.

ii. Describe how the proposed solution/concept fulfills the requirement, its scalability, and the specific benefits it offers in relation to the objectives of this Call.

iii. Provide a proposed schedule and describe how the proposed schedule is achievable for the proposed solution/concept.

iv. A one page (max) Rough Order of Magnitude (ROM).

d. Intellectual Property Statement/Agreement/Disclosures (does not count against page limit)

i. Identify any intellectual property involved in the effort.

ii. Clearly state any associated restrictions on the Government’s use of that intellectual property, proposed licensing models, and data rights assertions.

Include a separate disclosure for each partnering company, if applicable. (See Attachment A - Data Rights Assertion Table). DFARS subpart 252.227-7017(d) may be used for formatting.

The Government may be unable to evaluate the Solution Brief if a company fails to submit the required contents for Phase 1.

6.2 Phase 2 – Pitch

Phase 2 submission requirements and evaluation criteria will be outlined in the invitation to this phase, if selected and unless bypassed.

6.3 Phase 3 – Proposal

Phase 3 submission requirements and evaluation criteria will be outlined in the invitation, if selected, for this phase.

7. EVALUATION PROCESS

7.1 Phase 1 - Gate Evaluation

All submissions to this call for solution will be vetted against the gate criteria in Table 1.

Submissions must pass all the gate criteria to be deemed satisfactory for evaluation.

Table 1. Gate Criteria

Gate Description Pass Fail 1 Submission

Formatting and Completeness

The Solution Brief must be submitted according to the specified format limits. The submission must clearly and comprehensively address all required criteria in Section 6 for the initial compliance review, ensuring no essential elements are missing or ambiguous.

The Solution Brief will be disqualified if it exceeds the specified format limits.

Additionally, the submission will be disqualified if it lacks clear and comprehensive details addressing all required criteria in Section 6, or if essential elements necessary for the initial compliance review are missing or ambiguous.

2 Rough Order of Magnitude (ROM)

The Solution Brief must provide a realistic, comprehensive ROM that aligns with the proposed technical solution and adheres to all specified pricing instructions.

The Solution Brief will be disqualified if the ROM is unrealistic, incomplete, or fails to align with the proposed technical approach and specified submission requirements.

Gate Description Pass Fail 3 Commercial

Availability and Efficiency

The Solution Brief must demonstrate a proven, reference-verifiable capability that is foundationally built on Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) and/or Low- Code/No-Code (LCNC) technologies. The submission must explicitly detail how any necessary adaptations will be accomplished with minimal non-recurrent engineering (NRE) effort to prove the solution's efficiency and adherence to commercial standards.

The Solution Brief will be disqualified if it fails to demonstrate an existing, non-proprietary, non-custom, available, and reference-verifiable capability. The submission will also be disqualified if the proposed solution primarily relies on custom development, requires substantial non-recurrent engineering, or otherwise fails to provide sufficient evidence of its reliance on COTS/LCNC components.

4 Technical Merit & Innovation

The Solution Brief must clearly demonstrate transformative innovations across people, process, technology, that includes automation and self-service to deliver a rapid, frictionless customer experience. The submission must detail the use of automation for smart-routing and tasking to ensure operational scalability without a proportional increase in administrative burden.

Furthermore, the submission must incorporate automated cost management, including anomaly detection and predictive forecasting for high-fidelity financial transparency that eliminates manual spreadsheet tracking, and provide a structured framework for iterative capability delivery that continuously integrates new technologies without causing service downtime.

The Solution Brief will be disqualified if (a) its proposed methodology relies on human intensive processes, manual data entry, or labor-intensive workflows; (b) it lacks automated cost management system capable of real-time billing reconciliation; (c) it fails to provide a viable, structured framework for continuous, iterative capability delivery; (d) the proposed solution relies mainly on the creation of new custom capabilities, services, or processes – the proposed solution must be based on pre-existing capabilities that can be implemented quickly without significant delay and yet still tailored to ECMA and Army needs.

Gate Description Pass Fail 5 Customer

Engagement and Business Operations

The Solution Brief must demonstrate a holistic methodology for creating and sustaining customer engagement and business operations by detailing scalable processes that enable the full customer lifecycle. ECMA requires a solution capable of handling 10-25 monthly new service requests and 100-200 concurrent initiatives / projects. The submission must also provide a streamlined, automated approach to customer engagement and management, service management, service level agreement tracking, and customer feedback; a structured governance framework for policy enforcement and performance tracking; and a transparent financial system for billing, brokering, and audit readiness.

The Solution Brief will be disqualified if it fails to demonstrate a scalable customer engagement model capable of meeting the specified request and initiative volumes. The submission will also be disqualified if it omits the required customer engagement lifecycle, fails to provide a structured governance framework, or lacks a transparent financial management system that meets all compliance and operational requirements.

6 Past Performance and Experience

The Solution Brief must provide three (3) specific examples of solutions completed within the last three (3) years that explicitly satisfies similar needs and requirements at a similar sized organization. The submission must ensure the examples provide a verifiable account of executing relevant services at the required scale. Valid points of contact for each example are required.

The Solution Brief will be disqualified if it fails to include the mandatory three (3) examples, if any example falls outside the three-year timeframe, or if the experience does not demonstrate direct fulfillment of similar requirements expressed herein. The submission will also be disqualified if the examples are generically scoped, lack verifiable details, lack a valid point of contact, or fail to reflect the necessary technical complexity.

7.2 Phase 1 - Solution Brief Selection Process

Based on the evaluation, the Solution Brief will be categorized as “Selected for Further Consideration” or “Not Selected for Further Consideration.” The selection of one or more submissions into the next Phase will be based on the criteria listed above, Government need, and funding availability. Solution Briefs considered not to have (1) sufficient merit or relevance to the topic, (2) a Government need, or (3) funds are not expected to be available, the submission may be declined without further review.

Selected for Further Consideration: The submitted Solution Brief has been determined to be of technical merit, represents a feasible and viable solution, and included all required submittals IAW the Call. As such, the Government intends to invite the company to participate in next phase should funding be available.

Not Selected for Further Consideration: The submitted Solution Brief does not represent the necessary degree of technical merit, does not represent a feasible and viable solution and/or did not include all required submittals IAW the Call.

Offerors ‘Selected for Further Consideration’ may be invited to participate in subsequent phases, subject to the availability of funds. The Government reserves the right to limit the number of offerors invited to Phase 2 – Pitch Session (unless bypassed) and/or Phase 3 – Solution Proposal. As such, an Offeror’s solution may be evaluated as ‘Selected for Further Consideration’, however, not invited to Phase 2 and/or Phase 3.

Solution Briefs, whether selected or not selected for subsequent Phases, will be notified in writing as soon as practicable of their evaluation results.

The Army anticipates Topics may routinely receive more Solution Briefs than resources to award. All submissions will be fairly evaluated, however, only select Solution Briefs will be invited to Phase 2 and/or Phase 3. The Government reserves the right to limit the number of Companies invited to Phase 2 and/or Phase 3. As such, a company’s solution may be evaluated to be of merit but not invited to Phase 2 and/or Phase 3.

Solution Briefs that are chosen for Phase 2 and/or Phase 3 will be notified in writing as soon as practicable. The Government reserves the right to bypass Phase 2 into Phase 3 to request a formal proposal should funding be available.

8. NON-GOVERNMENT ADVISORS

As stated in Section I2 of the AOS, non-Government advisors may be used in the evaluation of Solution Briefs, Pitch Sessions, and Solution Proposals, and finalizing terms for award.

Non-Government advisors will have signed non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) with the Government. By submitting a Solution, the Offeror understands that the Government may share proprietary Company information with the identified non-Government advisor(s) for evaluation and administrative purposes only. In addition, the Offeror further understands that it has an opportunity before submitting a Solution Brief to the

Government to enter an NDA directly with the non-government advisor(s), and therefore, waives all claims against the Government for any disclosures of proprietary information by the non-Government personnel. Such NDAs are the responsibility of the Offeror, and the Government shall not be a party to them. Companies shall provide a copy of the signed NDAs to the Government with submissions.

9. ORGANIZATIONAL CONFLICT OF INTEREST (OCI) (no page limit)

The Offeror shall perform an OCI analysis and submit the results of that analysis in addition to the Solution Brief submission. Specifically, the Offeror shall analyze the details of the Call and the implementation of their proposed Solution for actual or potential OCI situations associated with the performance of the Offeror, or any of the Offeror’s proposed teammates or subcontractors, under any contract or agreement the Offeror or the Offeror’s teammates or subcontractors have been or may be awarded by any federal agency or other entity. The Offeror shall describe in detail the methodology used to identify actual or potential OCI issues. The level of detail for OCI analysis may not be the same for all vendors. FAR 9.5 may be used as guidance for OCI analysis. If no conflicts are identified, a risk mitigation plan is not required; however a description of the analysis methodology, and an affirming statement that no conflicts are identified shall be included. This section will not count against submission page limits.

If the Offeror identifies any actual or potential OCIs with respect to the performance of the Offeror or the Offeror’s subcontractors or teammates, the contractor shall provide an OCI Mitigation Plan to be incorporated as an attachment to any resulting contract or agreement. Any proposed avoidance or mitigation techniques shall be consistent with FAR 9.5 and the most recent decisions of the Government Accountability Office and the U.S. Court of Federal Claims.