JITS - RFI Questions Final Draft.xlsx

XLSX spreadsheet 24 KB Posted Apr 17, 2025

Attached to: IT Services RFI Federal contract opportunity
Solicitation number: FA4890RFI0001
Issued by: Department of the Air Force Air Combat Command

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Written by GovTribe AI · Apr 18, 2025

This document is a Request for Information (RFI) for a Joint Warfare Analysis Center (JWAC) IT Services Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract opportunity. The Air Force is seeking a single-award IDIQ contract for comprehensive IT services to be performed at Dahlgren Naval Base, Virginia, with an anticipated solicitation release between late November 2025 and February 2026 and a projected contract award on or about 4/28/26 with performance starting around 6/8/26. The incumbent contractors include Innovative Management Concepts, Inc. and Booz Allen Hamilton, with current contract values of $10.4 million and $33.1 million respectively.

The requirement encompasses broad IT support services, including DevSecOps, cloud migration, development support, and emerging technology integration focusing on AI, machine learning, data engineering, and high-performance computing. Key requirements include staffing personnel with TS/SCI/SAP clearances, supporting approximately 400-600 users across multiple classified environments, and implementing advanced technological capabilities. The government will evaluate proposals equally across all criteria, consider past performance including CPARS ratings, and is open to joint ventures and prime/subcontractor teams. Socioeconomic set-asides will be considered, and the contract will support JWAC's mission with an anticipated annual surge support of 1000-3000 hours.

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Other files for this federal contract opportunity

Other files attached to IT Services RFI, newest first.
File	Type	Posted
Questions and Answers.xlsx	XLSX spreadsheet	Apr 1, 2025
JITS - RFI for JWAC IT Services (JITS).pdf	PDF	Mar 25, 2025
JWAC IT Services (JITS) IDIQ_Final DRAFT for RFI.pdf	PDF	Mar 25, 2025
Copy of JITS - RFI Vendor Response Sheets.xlsx	XLSX spreadsheet	Mar 25, 2025

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Combined Questions

Item #	Question	PWS Reference	Page #	Government Response	Comments
1	Is this a new requirement or an existing requirement?			It is an existing requirement that will become part of an IDIQ. Sample requirements in the draft PWS are meant to be demonstrative of expected task orders, but do not commit the government to issuing these work requirements within this potential IDIQ.
2	How many incumbents are there performing this work?			Known FTE levels are included within the PWS.
3	What are the incumbent names, contract #s, and revenues received under the incumbent contract?			Innovative Management Concepts, Inc. FA489022F0042 Awarded in the amount of $10,435,438.53. BAH 47QTCK18D0004 / 47QFDA22F0027 Awarded in the amount of $33,137,504.83	Can we add the JCCE amount since that is in the scop of this work?
4	How many FTEs were on the previous contract? Has the PWS Changed?			1. Known FTE levels are included within the PWS. 2. Yes, the PWS has been updated. Proposing vendors are expected to read and understand the requirements.
5	What did you like about the previous contract? Dislikes?			Previous contracts have satisfactorily met the government's needs.
6	What is the estimated budget for this opportunity?			This information is not available.
7	What are your Key Performance Indicators?			Please refer to the PWS.
8	Will subcontractor past performance be considered equal to prime contractor past performance?			Yes
9	Will the Government be sponsoring an industry day for this IDIQ? If so, can they confirm day/time/location (or virtual)?
		This will be determined prior to soliciting the requirement when/if the solicitation is posted to SAM.gov
10	Are the example Task Orders outlined in the Draft Performance Work Statement (PWS) representative of the initial Task Orders the government anticipates awarding upon ID/IQ contract activation?	C.5-C.6	7 to 32	Yes, however the exact timelines to Task Order issuance is TBD.
11	For future Task Orders under this ID/IQ, should offerors anticipate workload guidance to be provided primarily in the form of historical Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) levels, as seen in the sample Task Orders, or will the government provide operational workload indicators — such as ticket volume, hardware assets managed, user population supported, software development story points, or target release cadence — to enable tailored, performance-based staffing approaches?	C.5-C.6	7 to 32	The government may provide historical information and supporting data at time of solicitation.
12	Does the government intend to issue this ID/IQ as a single-award or multiple-award vehicle, and if multiple-award is anticipated, will Task Orders be competed across all awardees or will awardees be aligned to specific lanes, mission areas, or customer sets to reduce administrative burden and accelerate tasking?	RFI	1	Single award
13	Does the government have a projected release date for the final RFP, and can industry expect a draft RFP or additional pre-solicitation materials prior to release to support advanced solution development and teaming alignment?	RFI	1	Estimated timeline is for solicitation in late November 2025 ~ February 2026
14	Will the government permit Joint Ventures and Prime/Subcontractor teams to submit proposals as a unified bidding entity, and will such arrangements be evaluated based on the collective qualifications and past performance of the team as a whole?	RFI	1	Yes to both questions.
15	Many ID/IQ vehicles are awarded using weighted past performance criteria. Can the government share its intended evaluation approach for this RFP — including the anticipated weight of past performance relative to technical approach and staffing?	RFI	1	Equally weighted for all criteria.
16	If past performance will be evaluated for recency, can the government confirm whether recency will be defined as performance within the last 3 years, 5 years, or another timeframe measured from the date of solicitation? Given the pace of technological change, we recommend a 3-year recency window to ensure experience aligns with current operational realities.	RFI	1	The Government will take this under advisement. Currently the Government is in the Market Research phase.
17	Does the government intend to release a full draft of the solicitation — including the Performance Work Statement (PWS) with initial Task Orders, Instructions to Offerors, and draft Evaluation Criteria — prior to the final RFP? We recommend doing so, as it would reduce proposal development risk for industry and mitigate acquisition risk for the government by enabling more informed, solution-aligned proposals.	RFI	1	Unknown at this time.
18	If past performance will be evaluated, does the government intend to consider Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System (CPARS) ratings as part of the evaluation? We recommend incorporating CPARS assessments, as vendors with a consistent record of Very Good and Exceptional ratings have demonstrated the ability not only to meet, but to exceed government expectations — a valuable discriminator in performance-focused environments.	RFI	1	Yes
19	Will the government evaluate vendors’ ability to staff positions requiring TS/SCI clearances as part of the past performance assessment? We recommend doing so, as demonstrated performance in recruiting, onboarding, and pricing TS/SCI-cleared personnel directly reduces both cost and execution risk for the government. Vendors with a proven record of staffing 50 or more TS/SCI positions on a single Task Order have shown the operational capacity and clearance infrastructure needed to meet high-demand requirements with minimal ramp-up.	RFI	1	Yes
20	Is the scope of this ID/IQ contract intended to support only the JWAC, or will other commands, agencies, or mission partners be authorized users under this vehicle? If multi-customer use is anticipated, can the government share any information on potential user organizations or tasking profiles?	C.2	3	JWAC only.
21	Can the government provide an estimated surge percentage or range to inform staffing scalability and pricing models? Understanding the potential surge demand — whether driven by mission tempo, emerging tasking, or short-notice operational requirements — will allow offerors to propose responsive and cost-effective surge frameworks that minimize risk to government execution.	C.4.2	5	Typically less than 1000 hours annually. Depends on the effort; hardware refresh required 4 people for a total of 2592 hours for 4 months. Best answer might be 1000-3000 hours depending on the requirement. If the government does not have a quantitative estimate at the time a task order is released we will assign a plug value to allow standardized responses.
22	Will the government consider releasing draft Sections L and M in advance of the final RFP? Early access to proposal instructions and evaluation criteria would enable industry to align solutions more effectively with government objectives, improving the quality of responses and reducing evaluation risk.	PWS/General	N/A	This will be considered.
23	Can the government confirm whether access to Special Access Programs (SAPs) under this requirement will necessitate polygraph examinations, and if so, are there differences based labor category?	C.8.1.6	38	At the time no known requirments exceed TS/SCI/SAP. If a future task order has positions that require a polygraph that will be disclosed to the vendor at the time of solicitation or earlier if possible.
24	The RFI notes that contractor personnel must have SAP access on Day 1. To clarify and inform accurate staffing and onboarding planning:

1. Does “Day 1” refer to the official contract award date or the start of the Period of Performance (PoP)?

2. If “Day 1” refers to the start of the PoP, how many days in advance of PoP commencement does the government anticipate awarding the contract to allow for onboarding and clearance validation?

3. For personnel who currently hold active SAP clearances, what is the average timeframe for revalidation or access transfer under this program’s security protocols?	RFI	1	1. Period of Performance; 2. 30 calendar days; 3. This information will be included in the potential solicitation.
	25	Will the contractor be expected to procure the licenses identified by the Government or will the Government manage the cost of license renewals external to this contract?	C.3.2	4	The government will provide the licenses needed by contract personnel when performing onsite at the government location.
	26	Will the Government be open to contractors bringing innovative commercial solutions to optimize and improve the JWAC IT Operational Environment?	C.3	3	Yes, innovative solutions will be considered.
	27	Will the Contractor be allowed to develop and/or leverage automatic low-to-high development pipelines to streamline development cycles?	C.6	11	Yes; this is in alignment with the government's DevSecOps strategy.
	28	It was noted for the JCCE Lab that approximately 5 FTEs were needed historically to support the workload. Will the Government provide similar historical FTE information for the other aspects of the SOW?	C.6.3	15	The government may provide historical information and supporting data at time of solicitation.
	29	Historically, what amount of time has it taken for new commercial software products to be approved for classified environments?	C.8.1.11	39	An average time is not available. Additional information may be available at the time of solicitation.
	30	The title of the PWS as well as Section C.4.1 references "The JITS - IDIQ contract vehicle." Also, the RFI on page 1 Section 3 shows that the contract type is going to be IDIQ. However, this seems to be more of a defined task order, with the incumbent contract being a GSA VETS 2 task order. Can the government please confirm that the competition for this effort is going to be an Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity contract?	C.4.1	6	We are changing our strategy and an IDIQ best meets the government's needs.
	31	If this is in fact going to be an IDIQ contract, can the government please inform industry what changes and advances in scope are being made to the incumbent task order?	C.4.1	6	Yes there as been many changes since the inception of the current contract.
	32	The government cites a GSA VETS 2 task order as being the incumbent contract. The GSA VETS 2 IDIQ has a lot of lifespan ahead of it, with task orders being able to be awarded under the VETS 2 vehicle all the way up until February 22, 2028 and task orders awarded under VETS 2 can run out all the way until February 22, 2033. Therefore, GSA VETS 2 should still be the most viable option for the government. Can the government confirm that they are still considering using GSA VETS 2 as their acquisition strategy?	N/A	N/A	This requirment if for an IT services based IDIQ, a single task order under Vets2 no longer meets the governments needs. Since an IDIQ is the prefered solution we cannot award an IDIQ against an existing IDIQ.
	33	Which of the following emerging technologies have already been projected as immediate needs based on mission requirements: AI, Machine Learning, Data Engineering services, Quantum Computing, High Performance Computing/Clustering, etc.			AI, Machine Learning, Data Engineering services, High Performance Computing/Clustering are all planned within the next two years; with Quantum Computing to follow later.
	34	What does the government consider "ample ramp time" for surge support requirements? (ie. 15 days, 30 days etc.)	C.4.2	7	Usually 30-60 days but may vary depending on complexity of the support requirements.
	35	Will the government provide existing SOPs per the requirements of Task C.5.2.5 or is the contractor creating initial SOPs?	C.5.2.5	8	The government will provide existing SOPs.
	37	Is there a ceiling value for this IDIQ			This information is not available at this time.
	38	Is there a projected number of awardees			Single award.
	39	Is this a single or multi award			Single award.
	40	Will the task orders be competed or direct awarded to awardees			Single award.
	41	What anticipated award date and start date for base PoP			Award on or about 4/28/26, PoP start on or about 6/8/26
	42	Will this be considered for socioeconomic set asides (ie. 8a)			Yes this will be considered.
	43	How will JWAC assess vendors capability to provide bleeding edge technology			Vendors are expected to describe their capabilities in these areas, but this is not expected to be an evaluation factor.
	44	Is the government prepared to approve modifications to approve overtime for contractors to support task C.6.1.4	C.6.1.4	11	Instructions on the approval process and use of overtime will be included in the potential solicitation.
	45	What metrics or performance indicators will be used to assess the effectiveness of automation and self-healing capabilities in JCCE environments?	C.6.2.4 – C.6.2.8; C.6.5.18	13, 22	To assess the effectiveness of automation and self-healing capabilities, the government uses indicators such as the responses Ansible provides on run results, monitoring checks and scripts that return results to display on the monitoring dashboards.
	46	How does JWAC plan to integrate new technologies like AI, IoT, Quantum Computing, or High Performance Computing into its current virtualized infrastructure?	C.4.1 (Scope – emerging needs)	6	The government is currently primarily managing an on-premises private cloud using VMWare for virtualization, Ansible for configuration management, and Kubernetes / Rancher for container orchestration. An initial cloud footprint for utilizing AWS services and specialized hardware for running large language models and high performance compute in our on-prem data center have been established. We currently are migrating to cloud-native technologies (containers, object storage, micro-services, immutable infrastructure, ci/cd pipelines) for integration of technologies and deployment of services. The specified technologies will be integrated into this infrastructure through our internal Roadmap planning process.
	47	What are the expectations for container orchestration management (e.g., Kubernetes) across the different classification environments? Will workloads span classification boundaries or remain isolated?	C.3 (Overview of Systems); C.5.2.2; C.5.3.3; C.6.2.22	3, 8, 16	Each development and production environment is independent of the other, with development and deployment occurring in a low to high manner. Workloads will remain isolated to their resident environment.
	48	Are there any current challenges in maintaining STIGs and IAVAs compliance that offerors should consider when developing DevSecOps pipelines?	C.6.1.3; C.6.2.23; C.7.1.5	11, 15, 33	Patching the Windows GitLab runner server and rebuilding the Docker image in which most of the Gitlab pipeline jobs run with updated tools are challenges.. Also, understanding the associated tools is sometimes a challenge. Toolsets are identified in Tables 1 and 2, with the addition of GitLab CI/CD Pipelines, YAML, JSON,Docker and FluxCD.
	49	What is the current DevSecOps toolchain, and should offerors propose new toolsets or ensure compatibility with existing ones?	C.6.4.1; C.6.5.15; C.6.5.29	17, 22, 24	Toolsets are identified in Tables 1 and 2, with the addition of GitLab CI/CD Pipelines, YAML, JSON,Docker and FluxCD. Offerors should expect to integrate tools that have been identified by the government into the government's DevSecOps pipeline.
	50	Can the Government provide more detail in the support section, including the number of users, equipment numbers and locations, and average monthly Trouble Tickets processed?	C.5 (IT Support Services); C.6 (JCCE Development Support Services)	7-10, 11-32	In general JWAC has approximately 400 users with the potential to increase to 600, see PWS section C.3. Each user has three work stations on average. Additional may be availiable depending on the task and will be evaluated at the time of solicitation.
	51	Is email the correct submission method for the subject RFI?	RFI Section 5. Questions and Responses	2	Yes
	52	Can the government confirm the correct email recipients for Notice ID FA4890RFI1001?	RFI Section 5. Questions and Responses	2	Yes, we received your questions.
	53	Does the government intend to award this IDIQ as a multi-award or single award?	RFI Section 1. Description	1	Single (Redundant with questions above)
	54	Does the government intend to award one or both of the sample Task Orders identified in the PWS at the time of IDIQ award?	C.5 (Task Order Example #1) and C.6 (Task Order Example #2)	7, 11	The number of Task Orders to be awarded is not known and can not be guaranteed.
	55	Can the government specify if all positions need to be staffed at award or if there will be phased onboarding, particularly for high-clearance roles?	C.6.6.1 (Staffing Plan); C.7.1.5 (certifications & clearance timeline	11, 33	Staffed at award of the Task Order.
	56	How will surge support be priced and managed? Should offerors include surge staffing in the base proposal or handle it through separate CLINs?	C.4.2 (Surge Support); C.7.1.6 (Travel/ODCs)	7, 34	Instructions for this will be included with the potential solicitation.
	57	Can the government specify the expected frequency and volume of surge support to assist with planning and pricing?	C.4.2; C.5.1.1 and C.5.4.7 (ad hoc tasks & incident response)	6, 10	Typically less than 1000 hours annually. Depends on the effort; hardware refresh required 4 people for a total of 2592 hours for 4 months. Best answer might be 1000-3000 hours depending on the requirement. If the government does not have a quantitative estimate at the time a task order is released we will assign a plug value to allow standardized responses. (Same answer as #21)	Same as above. Kadra to review
	58	You have mentioned "Contracting Point of Contract (CPOC)". We assume, you mean Point of Contact. Please confirm.	4. REQUESTED INFORMATION	1	Expectation is that this POC be familiar with the vendor's contracts department.
	59	You have mentioned "SP POC Email". We assume you mean SB POC Email. Please confirm.	4. REQUESTED INFORMATION	1	Confirmed
	60	You have mentioned a question seeking last date of last of basic assessment IAW DFARS 252.204-70212 listed in PIEE/SPRS? Do you mean DFARS 252.204-7021 or DFARS 252.204-7020?	4. REQUESTED INFORMATION	1	Disregard at this time, if necessary this will be assessed at the time of solicitation.
	61	In Sections C.6.2, C.6.3, and C.6.4, the government has specified the historical level of effort across those PWS areas, but we do not see where the historical level of effort has been specified in any part of C.5 for Sample Task Order #1 (i.e., C.6.2.1 specifies three senior and three mid-level personnel; C.6.3.2 specifies five FTE historically; and C.6.4.2 specifies eight FTE historically). For the final solicitation, will the government provide historical levels of effort required for the PWS elements covered in C.5?	C.5; C.6.2.1, C.6.3.2, C.6.4.2	PWS pages 7 - 11; 12, 15, and 17	The government may provide historical information and supporting data at time of solicitation.
	62	In Section C.6.4.2, the government stipulates that up to three personnel working on this effort may support with a SECRET clearance, though TS//SCI is preferred. However, the RFI asks performers to acknowledge that "all Contractor personnel to possess TS/SCI/SAP to start performance day 1 of contract award." Can the government clarify whether limited support from SECRET-cleared personnel will be allowed and whether the question in the RFI will be amended to reflect that not all personnel must possess TS/SCI/SAP?	C.6.4.2; RFI	PWS page 17; RFI page 1	Requirements for Secret-cleared personnel can begin onsite on execution day 1 with a Secret clearance. Requirements for TS/SCI/SAP must possess TS/SCI and be approved for SAP on execution day 1. The government will clarify this section before the RFP.
	63	Section 4. Requested Information, of the RFI requests "Date of last basic assessment IAW DFARS 252.204-70212 listed in PIEE/SPRS?" However, there is no DFARS clause numbered 252.204-701212. Please confirm whether this is an error and whether the intended clause is DFARS 252.204-7020 (NIST SP 800-171 DoD Assessment Requirements), which requests submission of assessment dates in PIEE/SPRS?	RFI Section 4. Requested Information	2	Disregard at this time, if necessary this will be assessed at the time of solicitation.
	64	Can the Government clarify the specific SAP access levels required at task order award vs. task order execution?
Would interim TS/SCI clearance be acceptable at award with SAP onboarding support during transition?	C.81.6 - C.8.1.8	77-78	Requirements for Secret-cleared personnel can begin execution onsite on execution day 1 with a Secret clearance. Requirements for TS/SCI/SAP must possess TS/SCI and be approved for SAP on execution day 1.
	65	What is the average timeline for SAP-cleared onboarding at JWAC? Will JWAC sponsor or facilitate access during transition?	C.8.1.6	77	Estimate approximately 2-4 weeks for SCI review of the contractor package for JWAC SCI sponsorship and PAR routing, assuming that ALL paperwork is submitted and complete. SCI and SAP approval processes are run in parallel to avoid delays.
	66	Can JWAC confirm preferred tools beyond the ones listed? Are additional cybersecurity and monitoring tools pre-approved?	C.5.4.2 – C.6.2.14	46-54	Additional Cybersecurity Tools and Monitoring Tools are listed in Table 1. The government has established processes to review and approve any additional or newly identified tools.
	67		Can the Government elaborate on expected surge scenarios (volume, duration, ramp-up times)?	C.4.2	13	Typically less than 1000 hours annually. Depends on the effort; hardware refresh required 4 people for a total of 2592 hours for 4 months. Best answer might be 1000-3000 hours depending on the requirement. If the government does not have a quantitative estimate at the time a task order is released we will assign a plug value to allow standardized responses. (Same answer as #21)
	68	Are there current or planned use cases for Quantum Computing, Edge Computing, or HPC under this contract?	C.4.1	12	At this time, the use of these emerging technologies are not fully integrated. This effort focuses on technically proficient personnel not a vendor providing a material solution.
	69	Does JWAC have preferred AI/ML tools (e.g., TensorFlow, PyTorch, CUDA) for mission analytics?	C.6.5.35 – C.6.5.36	75-76	Yes, however these requirements are focused on development rather than analytics. For development, the following are necessary: a thorough understanding of how Kubernetes works, demonstrable skills in LLM Fundamentals, including understanding of LLM architecture, training data, and model limitations, experience with vectorDBs, Agentic workflows, VLLM, and demonstration of familiarity with Natural Language Processing (NLP) concepts, such as tokenization, entity recognition, and sentiment analysis. .
	70	Will JWAC allow teaming where a partner with SAP-cleared personnel leads classified task execution while the prime handles unclassified PM functions?	C.5 + C.8.1.6 + C.6.6.1	38-39,77,76	No, The prime must perform at the highest level of classification, additionally standard subcontracting rules apply with respect the the work performed by the prime vs. a subcontractor.
	71	Will evaluations prioritize technical strength (e.g., DevSecOps, Cloud, AI/ML) if some clearances are pending — provided a strong transition plan is in place?	C.6.6.1 – Staffing Plan	76	All eval factors will be weighted equally.
	72	Is there a Matrix of IAT/8140 Certification Requirements by position?	C.7.1.5	33 of 41	Yes, this information can be provided at solicitation.
	73	Can the Government provide a current LOE of incumbent positions (LCAT/Level)?	C.6.6.1	25 of 41	Current supporting FTEs are already disclosed in the PWS where applicable. We are looking to vendors to provide a proposed solution. The Government will consider releasing current LCATs a the time of solicitation.
	74	Does the customer have instrument in their lab that will require results going into their application (which is running that source code)?	C.5.4.7		Where Cybersecurity processes are concerned, the government's goal is to implement the same automated cybersecurity processes in the lab environment as in the environment described in section C.3, with the exception of any lab-specific differences.
	75	Is Microsoft Exchange used for application messaging?			The government uses a third party solution for messaging
	76	Is the customer using GitLab internal Kubernetes only, or are they using a separate open-source version of Kubernetes.			The government uses Rancher with Kubernetes external to GitLab.
	77	Is the customer using Kubernetes to dynamically control server instantiations (spin up / spin down)?			This question is outside the scope of the requirement in the PWS for qualified personnel.
	78	Several members of the Intelligence community do not use DISS, but rather Scattered Castles to track personnel whom have TS/SCI clearances. If we have personnel who have TS/SCI clearances listed in Scattered Castles (as they support the IC), but not in DISS, may we still submit them for work on this effort. The individuals could be added to DISS post-award.	C8.1.4		The government does have access to Scattered Castles. As long as the eligibility is in DISS or Scattered Casles, the government will vet the contractor package for government sponsorship of SCI access.The government will add the members to DISS post award.
	79	SAM.GOV has this opportunity's NAICS listed as 541519. However, the RFI document "JITS - RFI for JWAC IT Services (JITS).pdf" lists the NAICS as 541990.

Would the government confirm or consider switching the NAICS code for this opportunity back to 541519 (Other Computer Related Services)? This change would allow for a more competitive response of solutions and broaden the pool of qualified vendors. Additionally, our company has extensive experience under NAICS 541519 and is well-positioned to meet the requirements effectively. Given the nature of the work, we believe this classification better aligns with the scope of the solicitation. Would the Contracting Officer be open to reconsidering the NAICS assignment? RFI - Section 3 1 It could be both NAICS, this is just an RFI and final NAICS will be determined later.

File details come from the government source that posted it. Updated Apr 17, 2025.