FENCES_RFI.pdf

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION

Secretary of the Air Force Office, Competitive Activities (SAF/OC)

Concepts Development Management (CDM)

1.0 Description

SAF/CDM is seeking information for the FENCES requirement. The FENCES requirement provides and facilitates the use, in accordance with (IAW) the NIST definition of cloud computing, of Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) supported by commercially available Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) offering(s). The Contractor shall provide a solution to allow Special Access

Program (SAP) customers across the DoD to access and utilize multiple commercial cloud capabilities in a SAP accredited manner IAW with DoD SAP Chief Information Officer (SAP

CIO) Authorizing Official (AO) policies and guidelines.

Achieving this objective, the Contractor shall support:

▪ FENCES Platform o Maintain the current scalable Fences platform to continue customer operational mission.

o Develop the Fences platform according to new requirements provided by the sponsor organization.

▪ SAP/CAP Collaboration Environment o Maintain the SAP/CAP collaboration environment to continue customer operational mission.

o Develop the SAP/CAP collaboration environment according to requirements by the sponsor agency.

▪ Customer Engineering Support o Provide field technical engineering (FTE) support services as dictated by customer FENCES requirements.

▪ Migration Support Service o Provide assistance for customers who are migrating from on-premise architectures into the FENCES cloud environment and do not have the technical cloud architectural expertise to re-factor their IT architecture.

1.1 THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) ONLY. This RFI is issued solely for information and planning purposes – it does not constitute a Request for Proposal (RFP) or a promise to issue an RFP in the future. This RFI does not commit the Government to contract for any supply or service whatsoever. Further, the Air Force is not at this time seeking proposals and will not accept unsolicited proposals. Respondees are advised that the U.S. Government will not pay for any information or administrative costs incurred in response to this RFI; all costs associated with responding to this RFI will be solely at the interested party’s expense. Not responding to this RFI does not preclude participation in any future RFP, if any is issued. If a solicitation is released, it will be synopsized on the

SAM.gov and/or NRO ARC website. It is the responsibility of the potential offerors to monitor this site for additional information pertaining to this requirement.

2.0 Background

The DoD SAP CIO is the principal staff assistant and senior advisor to the Secretary of Defense

(SECDEF) and Deputy SECDEF for Information Technology (IT) (including national security systems and defense business systems), Information Resource(s) Management (IRM) and efficiencies. The DoD SAP CIO, through the cognizant program office, as directed by the Under

Secretary of Defense, Intelligence (USD(I)), is tasked to manage the compartmented community’s IT Enterprise and provide capabilities that enable collaboration between the various components (e.g. The Services, DoD Field Activities, Intelligence Elements and offices, etc.).

Information and access sharing above the TS / Special Intelligence (SI) / Talent Keyhole (TK) level is a long-standing challenge throughout the DoD and IC. The associated resources, security and policy challenges all too often outweigh the operational requirement to share and integrate highly compartmented Special Access Program (SAP), Sensitive Compartmented Information

(SCI) or Alternate Compensatory Control Measure (ACCM) activities. This has resulted in inefficient operations, increased costs to do business and has impacted information sharing regarding SAP oversight and governance. To address these challenges, in 2012 USD(I) directed the development of an innovative system to provide secure information sharing to the community through available commercially based cloud computing capabilities. The FENCES development has proven critical to the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) and the Service

SAP Central Office’s ability to communicate, de-conflict and govern. This effort represents the outcome directed by the USD(I) of a core set of services and common infrastructure.

3.0 Requested Information

These questions are designed to gather detailed information from potential vendors about their capabilities, experiences, and specific solutions that align with the requirements outlined in the

RFI. In response to the Draft Performance Work Statement (PWS) Task Requirements for

FENCES (Attachment 1), please respond to the following questions:

(1) Do the requirements listed in the Draft PWS present clear and understandable tasks/sub-tasks? Please clarify if additional information is beneficial for the requirements listed.

(2) What contract strategy (i.e. what contract vehicle(s)) would you recommend the

Government consider for the scope of this requirement?

(3) Do you have any small business concerns related to the scope of this requirement (i.e.

do you believe this requirement is best met as a small business set aside or through large business using a subcontracting plan)?

(4) Are there any specific evaluation criteria you would recommend the Government consider for the source selection of this requirement (i.e. where do you see the biggest differentiating factors between offers proposals based on the stated objectives)?

(5) Upon contract award, the contractor will assume operational responsibility for a complex, pre-existing managed service by receiving a comprehensive portfolio of

Government-Furnished Information (GFI), including source code, system artifacts, and operational data. From your perspective as the receiving contractor, what would an ideal government-led transition plan look like, and what specific knowledge transfer activities and forms of support should the government prepare to ensure you can assume full responsibility with minimal risk and no disruption to service?

(6) Describe your technical architecture and overall approach for monitoring and reporting on performance and availability Service Level Agreements (SLAs). Your response must detail the proposed metrics, the collection architecture for a multi-cloud environment, and your methodology for providing the government with automated, near real-time insight into SLA adherence.

(7) Describe your technical approach for implementing and managing the unique security requirements of SAP/CAP data within a multi-cloud architecture. Your response must detail how your solution will enforce strict data segregation, tailored Zero Trust principles, and the enhanced security controls necessary for classified workloads that go beyond standard commercial cloud protections.

(8) Describe your technical methodology and proposed toolchain for the bulk import of data from legacy systems that utilize disparate and often incompatible data security and tagging tools. Your response must specifically address how you will handle proprietary tags that lock data outside their native environment and how you will translate the security intent of environment-specific tags into a new, unified data protection schema.

(9) Describe your approach to sustaining and enhancing a multi-baseline virtual desktop and collaboration environment that was built entirely using Infrastructure and

Configuration as Code (IaC/CaC) and is governed by a sophisticated, multi-source

ICAM solution. Your response must detail an IaC-aligned strategy that addresses the full scope of the collaboration environment, including its user productivity and collaboration suite, its Mission Data Mesh including the user portal, its integrated

SIEM with automated alerting and security tools, and your approach for implementing a future cross-platform data tagging capability.

(10) Describe your proposed methodology for dramatically accelerating and streamlining the customer onboarding process for a complex, multi-cloud ecosystem. Your response should detail an automation-first approach built around a flexible engagement model that supports a spectrum of customer needs, from rapid, self-service resource provisioning to optional, in-depth architectural support.

(11) Describe your technical approach for a highly available, cloud-agnostic "Cloud

Access Gateway" solution designed to enable multiple, separate SAP networks to securely connect to all authorized Commercial Cloud Service Providers. Your response must detail the proposed architecture, your strategy for ensuring resilience and traffic isolation between networks, and the methodology for managing and monitoring the service as an enterprise-level capability.

3.1 Interested parties are requested to respond to this RFI with a white paper.

3.2 White papers in Microsoft Word for Office 2000 compatible format or Adobe PDF are due no later than 5 January 2026, by 1700 EST.

3.3 Responses shall be limited to 5 pages total and submitted via e-mail only to agatha.hebbe@us.af.mil, christina.fernandez@us.af.mil, and benjamin.ellis.10@us.af.mil.

3.4 Responses are UNLASSIFIED only.

3.5 Proprietary information, if any, should be minimized and MUST BE CLEARLY

MARKED. To aid the Government, please segregate proprietary information.

3.6 Please be advised that all submissions become Government property and will not be returned.

3.7 Part 1 of the white paper shall provide administrative information, be limited to one (1) page, and shall include the following as a minimum:

3.7.1 Name, mailing address, phone number, and e-mail of designated point of contact.

3.7.2 Business type (large business, small business, small disadvantaged business, 8(a)-certified small disadvantaged business, HUBZone small business, woman-owned small business, service-disabled veteran-owned small business, etc.) based upon

North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code 541511, 541512, and/or 541519, as well as Commercial and Government Entity (CAGE) Code and

Unique Entity Identifier (UEI).

3.7.3 The facility security clearance of the offeror.

3.8 Part 2 of the white paper shall answer the questions addressed in Section 3.0 of this RFI and shall be limited to four (4) pages.

4.0 Industry Discussions

4.1 SAF/OC/CDM representatives may or may not choose to meet with potential offerors.

Such discussions would only be intended to get further clarification of potential capability to meet the requirements, especially any development and certification risks.

4.2 It is the intent of the Government to host a virtual Industry Day to discuss the FENCES requirement with interested vendors. Target date for the Industry Day is early-Feb 2026.

5.0 Questions

Questions regarding this announcement shall be submitted in writing by e-mail to the

Contracting POCs, agatha.hebbe@us.af.mil and christina.fernandez@us.af.mil and the

Acquisition Program Manager, benjamin.ellis.10@us.af.mil. Verbal questions will NOT be accepted. Questions will be answered by posting answers to SAM.gov; accordingly, questions shall NOT contain proprietary or classified information. The Government does not guarantee that questions received after 5 January 2026, by 1700 EST will be answered.

6.0 Summary

THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) ONLY to identify sources that can provide contracted services for the SAF/OC/CDM FENCES requirement. The information provided in the

RFI is subject to change and is not binding on the Government. The Air Force has not made a commitment to procure any of the items/services discussed, and release of this RFI should not be construed as such a commitment or as authorization to incur cost for which reimbursement would be required or sought. All submissions become Government property and will not be returned.

7.0 Attachments:

Attachment 1: DRAFT Performance Work Statement (PWS) Task Requirements