Enclosure No. 1 - RFP Cover Letter, Instructions, & Notices.docx

RFP No. 6-B143-P-00143-00 Enclosure 1

RFP No. 6-B143-P-00143-00

REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL (RFP)

No. 6-B143-P-00143-00

Enclosure No. 1

Financial Management and Procurement Services Procurement Department Argonne National Laboratory 9700 South Cass Avenue, Bldg. 201 Lemont, IL 60439

This document consists of three (3) parts:

· PART I: Cover Letter

· PART II: Instructions for Preparation of Proposals

· PART III: Notices to Offerors

Enclosure 1 Part I:

COVER LETTER

April 29, 2026

Subject: Request for Proposal (RFP) No. 6-B143-P-00143-00 based on Argonne Statement of Work for “ALCF Archive Storage Disk Cache” dated April 29, 2026.

To All Prospective Offerors, UChicago Argonne, LLC, operator of Argonne National Laboratory (Argonne or Laboratory) under a prime contract with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), has the responsibility of obtaining the item(s)/service(s) which are the subject of this Request for Proposal (RFP). You are invited to furnish a firm fixed price proposal to meet this requirement. Your attention is directed to the enclosed documents which constitute the requirements of this RFP and should be fully complied with as indicated.

Enclosures

Enclosure No. 1: RFP Cover Letter, Instructions for Preparation of Proposals, and Notices to Offerors.

This enclosure provides instructions for preparation of your proposal.

Enclosure No. 2: Articles and General Provisions applicable to any resultant agreement/contract, including:

2. Draft Purchase Order.

2A. Appendix "A", Argonne Terms and Conditions (For Commercial Goods and Services), ANL-71-COM, dated October 22, 2025.

2B. Appendix "B", Argonne Statement of Work entitled, “ALCF Archive Storage Disk Cache”, dated April 29, 2026.

2C. Appendix “E”, Low Risk On-Site Supplemental Conditions, (ANL-366L), dated October 1, 2024.

2D. Appendix “E.1” B240 – TCS Supplement to ANL366, ANL-366TCSB, dated November 3, 2025

This enclosure is provided for your information and review and represents the anticipated contractual vehicle, including standard terms, provisions, and the statement of work. Unless otherwise notified during any subsequent negotiations, these documents will be included in any resultant agreement. Any request for deviation from or waiver of the terms or conditions contained herein must be submitted in writing with your proposal and must identify the specific term or condition to be altered, changed, or deleted, together with the basis for the request. Such exceptions, deviations, or conditional assumptions will not of themselves automatically cause a proposal to be deemed unacceptable to the Laboratory. However, a large number of exceptions, or one or more significant exceptions that do not provide benefit to the Laboratory, may result in rejection of your proposal as unacceptable.

Enclosure No. 3: Price Proposal Form, dated April 29, 2026 (Complete and Return).

This is the pricing format to be used when submitting your price proposal.

Enclosure No. 4: Evaluation Criteria, dated April 29, 2026

This enclosure sets forth the proposal evaluation criteria and their relative importance, which will be used to determine whether a submitted proposal is acceptable.

Enclosure No. 5: Pre-Award Information – Representations and Certifications, ANL-70B, dated January 13, 2025. (Complete, Sign, and Return).

This enclosure must be completed in its entirety, signed, dated, and returned with your proposal. It is considered essential, and no award will be issued without receipt of a properly executed Representations and Certifications. Please note that your company is also encouraged to have an active registration in www.SAM.gov prior to award.

Enclosure No. 6: Tax Exemption Certificate, valid through March 1, 2031

This is the Laboratory’s current tax exemption certificate, provided for your reference.

Note that this is a request for proposal, not a contract/agreement. The Laboratory intends to issue an award resulting from this solicitation based on the Best Value/Trade-Off methodology. This RFP is not intended and shall not be construed to commit the Laboratory to pay any cost incurred in connection with any proposal or to procure or contract for any supplies/services. The Laboratory reserves the right to accept or reject any or all proposals if that is determined to be in the best interest of the Laboratory. Award may be made without discussion; therefore, your proposal should be submitted initially on the most favorable terms.

Please acknowledge receipt of this RFP by return email to atkinson@anl.gov.

Sincerely, Court Atkinson Procurement Specialist E-Mail Address: atkinson@anl.gov

Enclosure 1 Part II:

INSTRUCTIONS FOR PREPARATION OF PROPOSALS

Proposal Submission Format:

The proposal shall be in three (3) parts: Part I – Technical Proposal, Part II - Business Management Proposal, and Part III – Cost/Price Proposal. Each part shall be separate and complete in itself so that evaluation of one may be accomplished independently of and concurrently with evaluation of the other. In no instance shall Part I, Part II, and/or Part III be bound together or presented in such manner as to make them not severable. The Technical and Business Management Proposals shall not contain any reference to cost/pricing. The Technical Proposal must disclose your project approach in as much detail as possible including, but not limited to, the requirements of the Technical Proposal instructions.

Unnecessarily elaborate brochures or other presentations beyond that sufficient to present a complete and effective proposal are not desired and may be construed as an indication of the Offeror’s lack of cost consciousness. Elaborate artwork, expensive visual and other presentation aids are neither necessary nor wanted. Proposals should be prepared with maximum economy, consistent with this procurement, to ensure that the resources of both Offerors and Laboratory evaluators are efficiently utilized.

EMAIL SUBMITTAL OF PROPOSAL IS REQUIRED.

Proposals shall be e-mailed with each part attached as a separate file:

· one file for Part I - Technical Proposal;

· a second file for Part II – Business Management Proposal; and

· a third file for Part III – Cost/Price Proposal.

DO NOT INTERMINGLE THESE DOCUMENTS.

Submissions not conforming to all the requirements of this solicitation may result in rejection of your offer.

Offerors should indicate on the first page and on each subsequent page of their proposal only those pages, sections, paragraphs, or areas, which they consider to be proprietary (do not mark the entire proposal proprietary). Offerors should refer to the enclosure entitled “Pre-Award Information and Booklet of Representations and Certifications,” second page “Notice”. UChicago Argonne, LLC operator of Argonne National Laboratory (Argonne or Laboratory) assumes no liability for disclosure or use of unmarked data and may use or disclose such data for any purpose.

Part I – Technical Proposal:

Enclosure No. 4 identifies the technical and other criteria that will be used to evaluate the merit of the proposals in response to the Statement of Work (SOW). RFP response will be evaluated based on proposed architecture, support offerings and agreement to meet capability and performance goals, if any.

The Technical Proposal shall include responses addressing all requirements set forth in the Statement of Work. To facilitate the Laboratory’s review, the proposal should be presented as an integrated narrative and/or include a point-by-point response to the requirements and options contained in the RFP/SOW, as exemplified in Enclosure No. 4, Evaluation Criteria, Appendix 1 – Technical Criteria. Responses should provide sufficient technical detail to demonstrate how the Offeror will meet each requirement and should not consist solely of conclusory statements such as “Offeror complies,” except where such a response is appropriate to the requirement.

Service offerings must contain a complete description of service, and technical support terms.

Part II – Business/Management Proposal:

Part II shall include, at a minimum, the following information for a responsive Business/Management Proposal. To facilitate the review of proposals, the information presented should follow the format and sequence outlined below.

A. Financial Condition and Capability: Contractor shall provide their most recently completed quarterly or yearly financial statements, inclusive of notes to the consolidated financial statements, in addition to any other supporting documentation that demonstrates the financial health or viability of Offeror’s organization. Financial statements should contain prior period(s) information. Audited Financial Statements are preferred but not required. Unaudited financial statements may result in additional inquiry and/or required supporting evidence.

B. Acceptance Period of Proposal: Offeror shall provide a statement that the proposal will remain valid for acceptance for a minimum period of one hundred and twenty (120) days after the closing date set for receipt of proposals.

C. Authorized Representatives: Offeror shall provide the names, titles, email address, and telephone numbers of the person(s) authorized to negotiate on behalf of the Offeror with the Laboratory.

D. Pre-Award Information: Include a fully completed and signed “ANL-70B Representations and Certifications” with your proposal. A copy of the required Representations and Certifications is included as Enclosure No. 5 to this RFP. In addition, the Offeror is encouraged to register in the System for Award Management (https://www.sam.gov/) prior to submitting a proposal.

E. Exceptions and Deviations. Offeror shall provide comments describing whether or not they accept proposed agreement, its schedule articles, statement of work and general/specific terms and conditions. The exceptions, deviations, or conditional assumptions taken must contain sufficient amplification and justification to permit evaluation(s). Such exceptions, deviations or conditional assumptions will not of themselves automatically cause a proposal to be deemed unacceptable to the Laboratory. However, a large number of exceptions or one or more significant exceptions not providing benefit to the Laboratory may result in rejection of your proposal(s) as unacceptable.

Part III – Price Proposal:

The Offeror shall complete Enclosure No. 3, “Price Proposal Form”. The Offeror is expected to propose all base prices, and any options described therein. Offeror shall also provide any narrative information which may be necessary to clarify any items included in the Price Proposal, such as assumptions made, contingencies used, etc.

Enclosure 1 Part III:

NOTICES TO OFFERORS

I. Explanation to Prospective Offerors

Any prospective Offeror desiring a clarification, explanation, or interpretation of the solicitation, statement of work, etc. must request it in an email to atkinson@anl.gov by 4:30PM CST on May 13, 2026, to allow a reply to be provided to all prospective Offerors. Any information given to a prospective Offeror concerning a solicitation will be furnished promptly to all prospective Offerors as written addenda to the solicitation if such information is necessary for submission of an offer, or if the lack of the information would be prejudicial against any other prospective Offeror. Oral explanations or instructions given before the award of an agreement will not be binding.

II. Submission of Offers

A. Offers shall be submitted via e-mail to atkinson@anl.gov by 4:30 PM, CST on May 29, 2026. Please reference the RFP number 6-B143-P-00143-00 in the subject line.

Facsimile, hand delivered, or mailed offers will not be accepted.

B. The first page of the proposal must show—

1. The solicitation number.

2. The name, address, email address, and telephone number of the Offeror and

3. Name, title, and signature of person authorized to sign the proposal. Proposals signed by an agent should be accompanied by evidence of that agent’s authority unless that evidence has been previously furnished to the issuing office.

C. Late Proposals and revisions.

Any proposal received at the email designated in the solicitation after the exact time specified for receipt of offers will not be considered unless it is received before award is made and it is determined by Argonne to be in the best interest of the Laboratory.

D. Offerors may submit modifications to their proposals at any time before the solicitation closing date and time, and may submit modifications in response to an amendment, or to correct a mistake at any time before award.

E. Following the solicitation closing date, Offerors may submit revised proposals only if requested or allowed by the Laboratory Procurement Official.

F. Proposals may be withdrawn by email notice received at any time before award.

III. Selection and Award

A. A proposal may be eliminated from consideration if the proposal is so grossly and obviously deficient as to be totally unacceptable (e.g. should the proposal not represent a reasonable initial effort to address itself to the essential requirements of the RFP or clearly demonstrate that the Offeror does not understand the requirements of the RFP).

B. Offerors should be prepared to respond to requests by the Laboratory Procurement Official for oral presentations or written discussions, or both, facility surveys, and other information as may be necessary to assist in the detailed evaluation process. The Laboratory reserves the right, however, to 1) make a selection without discussion with any of the Offerors; 2) reject any and all offers; and 3) waive informalities and minor irregularities in offers received. It is, therefore, emphasized that each initial offer should be submitted on the most favorable terms to the Laboratory that the Offeror can submit.

C. The Laboratory may solicit, from available sources, experience data concerning an Offeror’s past performance and may consider such information in its evaluation.

D. The Laboratory intends to award an agreement(s) resulting from this solicitation to one or more responsible Offeror(s) whose proposal(s) conforms to this RFP and represents the best value after evaluation in accordance with the evaluation criteria stated in Enclosure No. 4.

E. If the Laboratory Procurement Official determines that the number of proposals that would otherwise be in the competitive range exceeds the number at which an efficient competition can be conducted, the Laboratory Procurement Official may limit the number of proposals in the competitive range to the greatest number that will permit an efficient competition among the most highly rated proposals.

IV. Amendments To Solicitation

If this solicitation is amended, all terms and conditions that are not amended remain unchanged. Offerors shall acknowledge, in writing, receipt of any amendment to this solicitation by the date and time specified in the amendment(s).

V. Proposal Preparation Cost

This Request for Proposal does not commit the Laboratory to pay any cost for the preparation and submission of a proposal, and such costs shall not be paid.

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