PBES RFI QAs_2026.pdf

Question Response 1 Is the Government open to considering relevant commercial or public sector past performance? The government believes public or commercial past performance is acceptable.

2 Can the Government share the current PBES overall system architecture, including external and internal interfaces, reporting capabilities, source systems, and data warehouse components or constructs?

Yes, the government can provide OV1 and Network Topology. Currently there are no interfaces.

3 What data integration technologies or tools are currently employed, as opposed to manual data integration? Most are manual data integration processes.

4 What are the current challenges associated with system support, and what are the top functional, technical, and/or PMO challenges that a future solution should address?

Challenges: utilize cloud native technology with PBES. PBES was an on premises system placed on top of Cloud One and made to work. It did not take advantage of any cloud native technologies to improve the system. RHEL 8 upgrade. Middleware upgrade.

5 Is there a desire to provide greater flexibility to different user groups while maintaining a single, customized platform?

Yes, its an enterprise system used by planners, programmers and budgeteers.

6 Does the Government have an interest in reducing variability and enforcing increased standardization across users, processes, or configurations? Yes

7 How many distinct budgeting methodologies are currently employed, and which approaches are used (e.g., baseline or factor based, zero based, driver based)?

All the above. Basline budgeting is the standard starting point for most program budget formulation and also for incremental increases based on basic economic assusmptions such as inflation. A factor-based approach is also used to determine funding requirements based on execution (burn) rates for specific programs. Zero-based budget analysis is usually part of every budget cycle to identify areas to reduce costs and align future (and current) budgets with strategic goals. Prior year budget proposals and matched against actual execution of past budgets is also used to support driver-based budgeting.

8 Are there specific aspects of the financial process—such as speed, accuracy, standard reporting, or ad hoc reporting—that the Government would like to see enhanced, and if so, which are the highest priority?

Data integrity is most important. There are minor challenges with data validation that must be addressed to reduce the manual workload required to maintain accuracy.

Recent user feedback support the need for improvements to seamless integration between database tables, data entry, and reporting capabilities to reduce significant bottlenecks exists that hinder productivity and efficiency during peak periods of the budget cycles. Standard reporting exists but there are calls for improvement along with a more intuitive UI experience.

9 Given that Hyperion Planning is currently projected to remain in sustaining support through approximately 2034 and is not expected to receive significant new functional enhancements, what are the Government’s plans or assumptions regarding the future evolution of the PPE capability?

We'd like to migrate to newer planning products/technology.

10 Has the Government evaluated a transition to a cloud based environment? If so, what assessments have been performed to date to determine the feasibility of leveraging Oracle EPM Cloud? Yes, we are assessing the feasibility of leveraging Oracle EPM Cloud. Oracle has done an initial analysis for the feasiblity of leveraging Oracle EPM Cloud.

11 Does the Government have an interest in utilizing artificial intelligence to enhance predictive capabilities or to generate

AI

assisted reference outputs? Yes, GenAI 12 Is the current financial process operating in a stable equilibrium, or is it exhibiting signs of convergence or divergence? The financial processes at the core are mainly solid. Each budget cycle will always introduce new challenges which are driven by current events and changing political priorities among other factors requiring constant adaptation. Steady turnover among analysts adds to the challenges of maintaining continuity of established process continuity and institutional knowledge. System designs must provide structural continuity to mitigate process drift (divergence) while retaining the agility required for mission-critical flexibility.

13 Does the Government have an interest in enhancing reporting capabilities, such as report books, report bursting, increased self service reporting, or greater standardization?

Yes

14 Oracle EPM is currently authorized at FedRAMP IL4 (CUI). Since PBES operates on SIPRNet and requires IL6 or higher authorization, how does the Government envision meeting these security requirements, and is AWS Cloud One expected to be the primary near term deployment approach? AWS Cloud One is the primary near-term deployment approach; PBES currently operates in AWS Cloud One IL6.

15 Can the Government provide the current organizational support model, including internal and external organizations and their respective roles and responsibilities?

Yes

PBES SS_RFI 2026

Q&A

16 What documentation is currently in place to support operations and sustainment (e.g., SOPs, CONOPs), and are these documents considered current and sufficient to provide adequate support today? Yes, bidders library.

17 How many support tickets are currently processed per month, broken down by functional and technical categories (e.g., metadata updates, model changes, defects, security related issues)? Roughly 185-200 a month

18 On average, how many process or configuration change requests are submitted per month? 5-10 changes to back-end; Front-end changes range from 185-200 a month

19 What SLAs are currently defined for the system, and what is the Government’s assessment of performance against those SLA objectives to date? None

20 Can the Government describe the current help desk ticket workflow, including average time to resolution for functional, data integration, and technical ticket types? Tickets are tracked through Jira and have an average resolution time of 10-15 minutes.

21 What percentage or number of help desk tickets are resolved on the first pass (i.e., first contact resolution)? 98% 22 Has the government formalized the acquisition approach and timeline?

No

23 Has the government completed the migration for CloudOne? Yes, August 2025

24 Will the Government indicate the anticipated inclusive dates of the Transition In period? How many days are planned for the Transition In?

Not at the moment but plan is 60 days

25 Will the Government consider adding a rating/score above the current “Meets” (such as Outstanding) to allow Offerors to be rated/scored for demonstrating strengths such as an innovation, value add, efficiency, and/or cost savings?

Evaluation criteria has not been finalized.

26 Will the Government be providing any labor categories, level of effort numbers, or historical staffing information, to assist offerors in ensuring adequate qualified personnel are proposed to support

PBES?

We can suggest some labor categories but not all.

27 Can the government provide a breakdown of current LCATs and quantities by geographic location as well as government/contractor site?

The current LCATs were based on the contractors determination of our needs from the PWS. SMEs for Planning, Programming and Budget are required. Typically, DRM, BI and Hyerpion Developers and Engineers are needed. If you would like to submit a staffing plan, we can take a look and give you feedback. As far as location, Help, SME and maybe a couple others will be required to work in DC.

28 What Agile framework is currently in use (SAFe, Scrum, hybrid)? Scrumban

29 Are there plans to modernize or replace Oracle components (DRM, Hyperion, OAS)?

Yes, currently in work.

30 What are the current help desk volumes and SLAs? Roughly 185-200 tickets a month 31 What tools/platforms are used for ticketing and knowledge management?

Jira/Confluence/SharePoint

32 What KPIs or performance metrics will define success for this effort?

In-work

33 How does the Government measure user experience and system effectiveness?

Surveys

34 The RFI states that the Government is seeking vendor capabilities for the configuration, operation, maintenance, enhancement, and cloud migration of PBES. Can the Government clarify the relative priority among these areas and the expected balance of effort across them?

Currently in the Cloud as of August 2025. Help Desk, Sustainment and Development would be the priorities.

35 The RFI references Oracle Hyperion, Oracle Data Relationship Management (DRM), Oracle Analytics Server (OAS), Oracle Internet Directory (OID), and AWS cloud migration. Are there additional systems, tools, or external interfaces that vendors should anticipate supporting?

Software that needs to be supported: Oracle EPM 11.2.24, Oracle Analytics Server 5.9, Oracle Data Integrator 12.2.1.4, Oracle Data Relationship Management 11.2.24, Oracle Database 19c, Oracle HTTP Server 12.2.1.4, Oracle Hyperion Planning 11.2.24, Oracle Internet Directory 12.2.1.4, Oracle WebLogic Server 12.2.1.4, Oracle Data Visualization, Oracle Essbase 21c, Docker 19.0.3 (updating to Apache/Mellon), RHEL 7.9 (updating to RHEL 8), and Windows Server 2019. There is no AWS cloud migration requirement. We fully migrated to Cloud One AWS in August 2025.

36 The RFI indicates PBES operates on the SIPR network. What are the anticipated security clearance requirements for personnel, and what proportion of the workforce is expected to require SIPR access?

Secret Clearance (including Help Desk Support) and all required certifications will be included in official PWS.

37 Can the Government provide additional detail regarding the current PBES technical baseline, including system architecture, versioning, and the current status of any cloud migration activities?

Yes

38 How does the scope of this effort compare to the current PBES contract awarded under SBEAS in August 2023? Is this effort intended as a recompete, follow-on, or new requirement?

Yes, this is a recompete.

39 If this effort differs from the current PBES contract, is any portion of the work currently being performed by an existing contractor? If so, can the Government provide the applicable contract vehicle and scope boundaries?

No

40 If portions of this requirement are new, does this represent net-new capability or a reorganization of existing PBES support activities?

No

41 Given PBES supports Air Force planning, programming, and budgeting processes, will the Government assess potential Organizational Conflict of Interest (OCI) considerations for vendors supporting BES Directorate or related efforts? If so, what mitigation approaches are anticipated?

You will claim any OCI concerns you may and mitigate with a plan. We will also inform you of any contractor that is involved in our source selection process.

42 The RFI specifies responses should be submitted in MS Word format. Can the Government clarify whether responses to the accompanying Excel questionnaire may be submitted in narrative Word format, or if both formats are required?

Yes, will be clarified in the RFP.

43 Are there expected workload fluctuations tied to the Planning, Programming, and Budgeting cycle that vendors should consider for staffing?

Yes, POM and PB timelines.

44 Can the Government provide insight into the anticipated acquisition strategy, including potential contract vehicles and whether a set-aside is being considered?

Not at this time.

45 What are the primary challenges or pain points with the current PBES environment that this effort is intended to address?

None at this time.

46 Does the Government anticipate conducting an Industry Day or releasing a draft RFP or PWS following this RFI?

We are in the planning stages but yes, we plan to conduct an industry day or draft RFP release.

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