IATDR_RFI_Cover_Sheet_2026-06-03.pdf

Request for Information (RFI)

Department of Veterans Affairs Infrastructure Operations – Data Center and Cloud Engineering

Infrastructure Automation Technical Debt Reduction (IATDR) Program

RFI Post date: June 03, 2026 RFI responses due: June 12, 2026

1. Introduction

This is a Request for Information (RFI) only. Do not submit a formal quote. This RFI is for planning purposes only and shall not be considered an Invitation for Bid, Request for Task Execution Plan, Request for Quotation, or a Request for Proposal. Additionally, there is no obligation on the part of the Government to acquire any products or services described in this RFI. Your response to this RFI will be treated only as information for the Government to consider. You will not be entitled to payment for direct or indirect costs that you incur in responding to this RFI. This request does not constitute a solicitation for quotes or the authority to enter negotiations to award a task order/contract. No funds have been authorized, appropriated, or received for this effort.

The information provided may be used by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) in developing its acquisition strategy and Performance Work Statement (PWS). Any information submitted by respondents to this RFI is strictly voluntary; however, any information received shall become the property of the Government and will not be returned to the respondent. Interested parties are responsible for adequately marking proprietary, restricted or competition sensitive information contained in their response.

The Government does not intend to pay for the information submitted in response to this RFI. Product information, brochures, part numbers, and/or other description information may be included with the submission.

The NAICS for this requirement is undecided at this time. Small Business companies with the capability to perform this requirement, in total or in part, are encouraged to participate. If you are interested only in subcontracting opportunities, please indicate this fact clearly in your submission. Please indicate a suggested NAICS code for the requirement requested under this request for information. Please indicate your company size and socio-economic status for applicable NAICS codes. The targeted contract award date is before September 30, 2026.

Be advised that set-aside decisions may be made based on the information provided in response to this RFI. Responses should be as complete and informative as possible.

2. Background

The mission of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Office of Information & Technology (OIT), Infrastructure Operations (IO), Data Center and Cloud Engineering

(DCCE) division operates a complex hybrid enterprise environment spanning on-premises data centers, private cloud infrastructure, and public cloud environments through the VA Enterprise Cloud (VAEC).

Over the past decade, infrastructure teams across the VA enterprise have independently developed thousands of ad-hoc automation scripts, adopted inconsistent infrastructure-as-code and configuration management automation usage patterns, relied on manual execution paths for infrastructure changes, and created duplicative automation logic across organizational boundaries. These conditions represent accumulated infrastructure automation technical debt that increases outage risk, security exposure, labor cost, and time-to-delivery for critical Veteran-facing services.

VA seeks to establish an on-premises enterprise automation control plane that standardizes, governs, and operationalizes infrastructure automation across the hybrid environment. This capability, referred to as the Infrastructure Automation Technical Debt Reduction (IATDR) Program, will enable repeatable, auditable, and policy-governed provisioning and configuration of infrastructure platforms, reducing configuration drift, improving compliance posture, and accelerating infrastructure delivery. Although there are more than 100 existing automation efforts across VA, there is no enterprise design today, therefore, the Government is seeking informational support with any proposed platform.

The attached draft Performance Work Statement (PWS) describes the required platform capabilities and professional services in detail.

*See Attached Draft Performance Work Statement (PWS)*

3. Responding to this RFI

The respondent does not need to meet all requirements but in their response must clearly demonstrate how their solution does or does not meet each of the requirements in this document. For requirements not currently met by the respondent’s solution, they shall propose a plan, cost, and timeline to implement the requirement.

4. Submittal Information:

There is a page limitation for this RFI of 15 pages. The Government will not review any other information or attachments included, that are in excess of the 15-page limit. NO MARKETING MATERIALS ARE ALLOWED AS PART OF THIS RFI. Generic capability statements will not be reviewed. Your response must address capabilities specific to the services required in the attached DRAFT PWS and must include the following:

a. Vendor Information:

Name of Company:

Address:

Point of Contact:

Phone Number:

Email Address:

SAM Unique Entity Identifier (UEI):

Company Business Size & Status:

For Veteran-Owned Small Businesses (VOSB) and Service-Disabled Veteran- Owned Small Businesses (SDVOSB), proof of certification with SBA

Your company’s ability to meet the set aside requirement in accordance with

VAAR 852.219-73 (JAN 2023)

(DEVIATION) VA Notice of Total Set- Aside for Certified Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses and 13 CFR §125.6, which states the contractor will not pay more than 50 percent of the amount paid by the Government to it to firms that are not SDVOSBs.

Existing Contractual Vehicles (GWAC, GSA MAS, NASA SEWP, etc.):

If Artificial Intelligence (AI) is part of your Company’s system/solution, provide the below self-certification with their quote/proposal affirming that the identified/proposed AI

System/LLM complies with the two

Unbiased AI Principles, Truth-seeking and Ideological Neutrality, as required by the Office of Management and

Budget (OMB) Memorandum M-26-

04, “Increasing Public Trust in Artificial

Intelligence Through Unbiased AI

Principles”, or indicate otherwise that a self-certification is Not Applicable.

Additionally, your company shall self-certify that the content requested within the AI System/LLM

Development and Operation

Documentation, as identified in OMB

Memorandum M-26-04 as

Transparency Documentation, will be provided for its proposed AI

System/LLM during the period of performance, meet the required transparency threshold and align with the two Unbiased AI Principles.

Failure to include the requisite your company’s self-certification may render the proposal/quotation unacceptable, and therefore ineligible for award. The Government will rely on your company’s self-certification that its proposed AI System/LLM adheres to the Unbiased AI Principles and related requirements. VA reserves the right to request additional information if it determines that doing so is in the Government’s best interest.

b. Provide a summary of your capability to meet the requirements contained within the draft PWS for the following areas:

1) Your proposed on-premises deployment model, including high availability and horizontal scalability, and whether the platform requires an external vendor-managed control plane.

2) How the platform orchestrates and governs infrastructure-as-code execution across hybrid environments, including on-premises virtualization, enterprise container platforms, and public cloud.

3) How you would balance professional services and advisory support against software licensing in your proposed approach.

c. Please provide a Rough Order of Magnitude quote for this requirement. Please include informal pricing for the following:

1. Platform Software Licensing (PWS 5.2/6.1.11)

2. Platform Engineering and Deployment (PWS 5.2.1)

3. Automation Architecture and Standards Development (PWS 5.3)

4. Infasstructure Automation Enablement (PWS 5.4)

5. Module and Blueprint Factory (PWS 5.5)

6. Automation Governance (PWS 5.6)

7. Knowledge Transfer and Training (PWS 5.7)

d. Additionally, please address the following in your response:

1. Whether you would prime as an integrator or lead with an original equipment manufacturer, your anticipated subcontractor mix, and how you would coordinate across the more than 100 existing VA automation efforts.

2. How you would keep any platform evaluation vendor-neutral and requirements-driven. If your company sells or resells automation products, describe how you would maintain that neutrality.

3. Whether you intend to prime as a small business or Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB), your anticipated partners, and rough work share.

4. A two-page summary of your proposed approach and any platform recommendation.

e. Corporate experience or expertise in performing these services and specific examples or references. Specific examples or references provided must include the agency, point of contact, dollar value, and contract number.

f. Has the DRAFT PWS provided sufficient detail to describe the technical requirements that encompass the software development and production operations support services to be performed under this effort.

_____ YES ______ NO (if NO, answer question f.)

g. If “NO”, please provide your technical comments/recommendations on elements of the DRAFT PWS that may contribute to a more accurate proposal submission and efficient, cost-effective effort.

Responses are due no later than 3:00PM (EST) on June 12, 2026. Please note “Infrastructure Automation Technical Debt Reduction (IATDR) RFI” in the subject line of your response. Mark your response as “Proprietary Information” if the information is considered sensitive. The email file size shall not exceed 5 MB.

OFFERORS ARE ADVISED THAT THIS REQUIREMENT MAY BE DELAYED,

CANCELED, OR REVISED AT ANY TIME.