RFI Enterprise WAN Questions and Responses.xlsx
XLSX spreadsheet 28 KB Posted
- Solicitation number
- FDIC-DOA-2025-002
- Issued by
-
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
About this file
This document is a Request for Information (RFI) from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) seeking market research on an Enterprise Private Wide Area Network (WAN) contract. The potential multi-year (10-15 year) contract will cover geographically diverse colocation services, telecommunications services, internet connectivity, and cloud connectivity across seven data center hub locations, regional offices, area offices, and field offices. The network must be a private WAN solution, with all equipment to be provided by the vendor, and FDIC will manage security services internally.
Key response dates include questions due by 2:00 p.m. (ET) on August 18, 2025, and RFI responses due by 2:00 p.m. (ET) on September 8, 2025. The current network uses point-to-point ethernet circuits, and FDIC seeks a single contractor to provide all required services. The RFI explicitly states that SD-WAN, 5G networks, and Zero Trust Architecture are not desired. Responses are limited to 12 pages and should be emailed to Contract Officer Christina V. Brooks, with specific requirements for file format and naming conventions. The FDIC is not subject to Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) and will make procurement decisions based on RFI responses.
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Other files
| File | Type | Posted |
|---|---|---|
| RFI for Enterprise WAN Final.pdf | ||
| Appendix A FDIC Locations Final.xlsx | XLSX spreadsheet |
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Sheet1 Request for Information (RFI) Enterprise Private Wide Area Network Vendor Questions for Clarification
FDIC-DOA-2025-002
| Question # | RFI Section or Appendix | Question | FDIC Response | |
| 1 | 1. Purpose and Objectives - | |||
| a. Colocation Services | Would the government consider a Contractor Managed switch and router infrastructure for intersite connectivity, Cloud connectivity and Internet connectivity at the associated Data Center and Hub locations as opposed to Colocation services? | No | ||
| 2 | 2. Background | Would the government please provide more information on the current WAN infrastructure as far as bandwidths currently used per hub and remote site and current traffic flow (site to hub and/or hub to data center)? | No, this effort is meant to provide a forward looking solution | |
| 3 | 2. Background | Will the government consider SD-WAN for this deployment? SD-WAN can help with choosing the best path (based on latency, jitter, and packet loss) available when inter-connecting the sites over WAN links. Also, the same SD-WAN platform can help with TIC 3.0 compliance when steering traffic directly to cloud or any internet hosted applications. Is that a requirement or desirable? | No | |
| 4 | 1. Purpose and Objectives - |
a. Colocation Services
| 2. Background | Would the government consider the use of a contrator managed unified device (hardware platform) that can perform Routing, NGFW, SD-WAN, SSL decryption etc including compliance with TIC 3.0 guidelines on the same platform (meaning no need for separate devices like routers, firewalls, IPS sensors, AV sensors, and SSL decryption platform). The contractor managed infrastructure is proposed to be located within the contractor PoPs at the data center and hub geographical areas indicated in this RFI, eliminiating the need for FDIC colocation space. | No |
| 5 | 1. Purpose and Objectives - |
b. Backbone Connectivity
c. Regional & Area Office Connectivity
| d. Field Office Connectivity | Is the current transport network for FDIC built upon MPLS circuits, Point to Point circuits, or Data Center fabric between the 7 Data Center (DC) hub locations in particular, and MPLS or Point to Point circuits for the Regional (RO), Area (AO) and Field Offices (FO) as well? Is there a diversity requirement for the Regional, Area, and Field Offices as well? | Current network is point to point ethernet circuits | ||
| 6 | 1. Purpose and Objectives - c. Regional & Area Office Connectivity | |||
| d. Field Office Connectivity | What is the primary transport for the existing Data Center network, as well as the Regional, Area, and Field offices? | Current network is point to point ethernet circuits | ||
| 7 | 1. Purpose and Objectives - c. Regional & Area Office Connectivity | |||
| d. Field Office Connectivity | What are the minimum bandwidth requirements for regional and field offices? | Bandwidth requirements included in appendix A | ||
| 8 | 1. Purpose and Objectives - c. Regional & Area Office Connectivity | |||
| d. Field Office Connectivity | Is private 5G network for FO/AO/RO a consideration for FDIC? | No | ||
| 9 | 1. Purpose and Objectives - b. Backbone Connectivity | Is the FDIC Backbone MPLS based, Point to Point, or Data Center fabric for the 10G links? | Current network is point to point ethernet circuits | |
| 10 | 1. Purpose and Objectives - b. Backbone Connectivity | Given the complexity of your current multi-hub backbone architecture with GFE equipment, what specific transition risks do you anticipate? | Biggest transition risk is operational disruption. | |
| 11 | 2. Background | Are all the services referenced in this RFI in place today? |
Are they all under a single contract?
| When do the contract/s expire? | Yes, single contract | |||
| 12 | 2. Background -paragraph 2 | Which equipment vendor (e.g. Cisco, Fortinet, etc.) provides your current infrastructure? | All equipment is GFE | |
| 13 | 2. Background -paragraph 2 | Will any of the equipment required to support the new Enterprise Private WAN be GFE or provided by, and managed by the service provider? | All equipment is GFE | |
| 14 | 2. Background -paragraph 2 | Is the FDIC willing to consider circuitry and equipment that would allow growth into an SD-WAN environment? | No | |
| 15 | 2. Background; Figure 1 | What are the addresses of the data centers (hubs)? | The required sites are provided in the RFI. | |
| 16 | Appendix A | Can the FDIC provide us with the specific site addresses regarding RFI FDIC-DOA-2025-002? | No | |
| 17 | 2. Background; Figure 1 | Are there preferred colocation providers or facilities for the seven hub locations? | No | |
| 18 | 2. Background; Figure 1 | Is FO directly connected to one of the 7 hubs? Or is FO physically connected to the closest RO or AO? | All RO/FO connected to nearest hub site | |
| 19 | 2. Background; Figure 1 | In addition to secure local connections at the 4 hub locations for Internet and cloud connectivity, is the FDIC looking for Secure Networking on all the other links providing distributed services? | No | |
| 20 | 2. Background; Figure 1 | For the three hubs (Atlanta, Denver, and New York) without distributed connectivity, does it mean that they are not connected to any FDIC AO/RO/FO | They provide WAN transport to other sites | |
| 21 | 2. Background; Figure 1 | Please confirm if RO and AO are directly connected to the closest FDIC hub. | Yes, this is correct | |
| 22 | 2. Background; Figure 1 | The RFI mentions TIC 3.0 compliance - are you planning to implement any of the newer TIC use cases like cloud-based security services or distributed internet breakouts? | To be determined. | |
| 23 | 2. Background; paragraph 1 | What cloud service providers are you currently using? Will these providers be retained or are new providers being considered? | This solution should meet current and all future needs and provide connectivity options to all major CSPs | |
| 24 | 1. Purpose and Objectives - f.Cloud Connectivity | For the Cloud connectivity, could you please provide who are FDIC Cloud Service Provider(s)? (e.g. AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, Oracle) | This solution should meet current and all future needs and provide connectivity options to all major CSPs | |
| 25 | 1. Purpose and Objectives - f.Cloud Connectivity | Will multi-cloud connectivity require interoperability across all hub locations? Is FDIC considering a common cloud access edge? | Cloud connectivity needs to be available in the four hub sites listed in the RFI. | |
| 26 | 2. Background; paragraph 1 | Are all the data centers existing sites? Will there be any new sites, or do you prefer they remain the same? Will the data centers require new equipment buildout? | The existing sites should remain the same. The datacenters will not change the proposed solution. | |
| 27 | 2. Background and Appendix A | What bandwidth is anticipated for Internet and Cloud at each location? | All bandwidth requirements are listed in appendix A. | |
| 28 | Does FDIC have Security Operation Center (own or through third-party) in place already? | SOC functions are not part of this RFI. | ||
| 29 | 1. Purpose and Objectives | When does the FDIC expect an RFP to be released? | N/A | |
| 30 | 1. Purpose and Objectives | Does FDIC expect a single contractor to provide all the services required for this Enterprise WAN? | Yes, that is the requirement | |
| 31 | 1. Purpose and Objectives | When does the FDIC expect to provide an award? Does FDIC anticipate using a specific contract vehicle (e.g., BPA, BOA, GSA)? | N/A | |
| 32 | Could FDIC provide detailed topology diagrams of the current WAN, including hub interconnects and site-level dependencies? | No, this effort is meant to provide a forward looking solution | ||
| 33 | Is FDIC open to SD-WAN or hybrid WAN architectures, or is the expectation strictly private WAN? | No, the solution should be private. | ||
| 34 | What cloud providers are currently integrated, and are there plans to expand to additional platforms? | This solution should meet current and all future needs and provide connectivity options to all major CSPs | ||
| 35 | What is the expected overlap period between legacy and new WAN environments? | To be determined. | ||
| 36 | Will FDIC provide access to legacy vendor documentation and network configurations? | Will provide on a as-needed basis | ||
| 37 | Are there any blackout periods or critical business windows during which transitions must be avoided? | Transitions must be during non-business hours | ||
| 38 | What level of FDIC staff involvement is expected during site migrations and cutovers? | FDIC will provide onsite resources for access and escort | ||
| 39 | Are there specific FedRAMP baselines or TIC 3.0 use cases FDIC expects to be supported? | To be determined. | ||
| 40 | Will FDIC require integration with existing SIEM or SOC tools for monitoring WAN traffic? | The FDIC will be responsible for all monitoring. | ||
| 41 | Is there a preferred incident response framework or notification SLA for security events? | N/A | ||
| 42 | Will FDIC require cost modeling for multiple scenarios, such as phased expansion or bandwidth scaling? | N/A | ||
| 43 | Is there a ceiling or budget range FDIC is targeting for the first 3 years? | N/A | ||
| 44 | What are FDIC’s expectations for latency, jitter, and packet loss across backbone and cloud connections? | To be determined. | ||
| 45 | Are there specific SLA penalties or incentives FDIC has used in past WAN contracts? | N/A | ||
| 46 | Will FDIC require real-time performance dashboards or reporting tools? | The FDIC will be responsible for all monitoring. | ||
| 47 | Response Section 4 - Transition of Services |
4.4
| Could you please clarify the current scope of the FDIC environment as it pertains to this RFI? | Current environment described in section 2 and Appendix A | |
| 48 | Response Section 8 - Service Level Agreements (SLA) |
8.1
| Could you please identify the specific addresses that will require co-location services under the current scope of this RFI? | Specific address are not part of this RFI | |||
| 49 | Response Section 8 - Service Level Agreements (SLA) | |||
| 8.2 | Could you please clarify which specific services or products are being referenced in relation to power availability and redundancy within the FDIC environment? | Power availability and redundancy provided by vendor are colocation sites | ||
| 50 | Response Section 8 - Service Level Agreements (SLA) | |||
| 8.4 | Could you please clarify which specific services or products are being referenced in relation to cross-connects within the FDIC environment? | Cross connects between circuits and other connectivity and FDIC racks in colocation sites | ||
| 51 | Response Section 8 - Service Level Agreements (SLA) | |||
| 8.5 | Could you please clarify which specific services or products are being referenced in relation to cross connects within the scope of this RFI? | Cross connects between circuits and other connectivity and FDIC racks in colocation sites | ||
| 52 | As FDIC is looking for new trends, is Zero Trust Architecture within the scope of this RFI? | No | ||
| 53 | What is the scope of security controls FDIC expected for this Enterprise WAN? | To be determined. | ||
| 54 | What specific compliance certifications are required (e.g., FedRAMP High, FISMA, NIST 800-53, TIC 3.0), and must colocation and WAN partners be certified as well? | The FDIC requires all vendors to comply with certification requirements for Federal regulatory agencies. | ||
| 55 | Would FDIC be open to adopting more modern WAN architectures (e.g., Secure Access Service Edge (SASE), SD-WAN overlay, AI-driven optimization), assuming they meet all compliance/security standards? | No | ||
| 56 | Is FDIC seeking a vendor to manage security services (e.g., firewalls, threat intelligence, DDOS protection, zero trust) or will these remain government-managed via either GFE or other providers, separate from the WAN? | The FDIC will be responsible for these services | ||
| 57 | Does the FDIC envision using advanced traffic optimization and acceleration technologies (e.g., TCP optimization, intelligent routing, and edge caching) to enhance WAN and cloud connectivity performance? | No | ||
| 58 | What lessons learned from other federal agencies' WAN procurements are influencing your approach? | N/A | ||
| 59 | How important is it to have your WAN provider's infrastructure physically close to your field offices versus backhauling everything to major hubs? What performance requirements drive the co-location (vs. using content delivery or application optimization strategies)? | To be determined. | ||
| 60 | How do you envision handling traffic spikes or DDoS attacks? Should your WAN provider have built-in mitigation capabilities? | The FDIC will be responsible for these services | ||
| 61 | Given the evolving threat landscape, how critical is it that your WAN provider has real-time threat intelligence from global traffic visibility? What value would that bring to FDIC? | The FDIC will be responsible for these services | ||
| 62 | Beyond the standard compliance frameworks, are there specific threats or attack vectors that concern FDIC given your role in the financial system? How do you envision your WAN provider helping address these? | N/A | ||
| 63 | What role will your current vendors play during the transition? Are there any contractual obligations or dependencies that could complicate the migration timeline? | Current vendor will provide connectivity until migration has completed to new vendor | ||
| 64 | How important is having security controls integrated into the network infrastructure itself versus relying on separate security appliances? | N/A | ||
| 65 | Given the rapid evolution in cybersecurity, how critical is it that your provider's security capabilities evolve automatically versus requiring separate procurements? | N/A | ||
| 66 | What emerging technologies (AI/ML, Zero Trust, edge computing) do you see as potentially valuable to FDIC over the next 10-15 years? | N/A | ||
| 67 | What are the biggest pain points with your current WAN implementation? What would success look like in the new environment? | To be determined. | ||
| 68 | What types of providers are you expecting to respond to this RFI? Are there any you're particularly interested in or concerned about? | N/A | ||
| 69 | What stakeholders within FDIC will be involved in the evaluation? What matters most to each group? | N/A |
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