IRS-OIT-VI RFI Final.pdf

INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE (IRS)

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI)

OFFICE OF INFORMATION & TECHNOLOGY (OIT)

VIRTUALIZED INFRASTRUCTURE (IRS-OIT-VI)

MARCH 5, 2025

BACKGROUND

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is an agency within the U.S. Department of the Treasury (USDT) responsible for administering and enforcing federal tax laws. It collects taxes, processes tax returns, and provides guidance to taxpayers, ultimately supporting critical Government functions and services. The IRS Office of Information & Technology (OIT) plays a critical role in ensuring that IRS business strategies are guided by sound investments in Information Technology. OIT has a requirement to adapt and modernize their virtualization infrastructure to support multi-cloud and expanded automation options.

The current virtualized infrastructure environment is predominately VMware by Broadcom, with over 15,000 virtual machines, 500 virtualization hosts, at 10+ locations. IRS is seeking industry input with respect to capabilities, services, and pricing to scope a possible replacement, including advanced technical support, and migration services from the current legacy environment.

PURPOSE

THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) ONLY. This RFI is issued solely for market research, planning and information purposes and is not to be construed as a commitment by the U.S. Government to issue a subsequent solicitation (Request for Proposal, etc.). This RFI does not commit the U.S. Government to contract for any supply or service. IRS is not seeking proposals at this time. Further, IRS will not accept unsolicited proposals in response to this RFI. Participants in this market research are advised that the U.S. Government will not pay any costs incurred in response to this RFI. All costs associated with responding to this RFI will be solely at the interested party's expense. Responses to this RFI will be used to identify potential sources, vehicles and set asides for specific small business classifications. Therefore, while not responding to this RFI does not directly preclude a vendor from participating in a future solicitation, not responding to this RFI could impact procurement decisions that affect a vendor’s ability to participate in future solicitation(s). There is no funding set aside for this requirement at the time of this RFI.

In order to establish an Independent Government Cost Estimate (IGCE), the Government is encouraging vendors to provide standard or catalog pricing for the services/products outlined in this RFI. Please note that this is not a request for formal proposal or price quote.

IRS may use the responses to this RFI in developing a procurement strategy. IRS will weigh the capability, quality and expected lifecycle of the proposed solutions, technical environment, flexibility and adaptability to future needs, the quality of the implementation plan, time to implement, total cost of ownership of the system, and the level of risk in consideration of the formal procurement strategy. The information provided in this RFI is subject to change and is not binding on the U.S. Government. All submissions become the property of the U.S. Government and will not be returned. Responses to the RFI may be used to develop U.S. Government documentation. Responses to this RFI may be reviewed by U.S.

Government technical experts drawn from staff within IRS and other Federal agencies.

SCOPE

The Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Office of Information and Technology (OIT) requires a software solution, pre-approved for federal use, and its hardware (if applicable), maintenance, and support.

The prospective contractor shall provide a managed software model that delivers the best solution to support the required virtualized managed infrastructure and data services. The prospective contractor shall provide all aspects of the solution to include deployment, migrations, and installations, warranty and maintenance as well as any required hardware, personnel, processes, technologies, and mix of online and remote support for the IRS’ Enterprise Computing Centers and Service Centers.

Current virtualization model, Software, and Software Licensing consists of but not limited to the following characteristics:

• Approximately 50,000 physical compute cores

• 1,000 physical processor sockets

• 2.0PB RAM

• Hyperconverged storage optional

• 200PB of traditional storage (FC, NFS, iSCSI, NVMe/TCP)

The prospective contractor shall produce Work Products/Deliverables that conform to, and integrate with, existing IRS standards and guidelines. The prospective contractor shall conform to all IRS Security and Disclosure policies.

*** Prospective vendors are encouraged to review the attached draft Statement of Work (SOW) for an overview of the scope and objectives of this requirement. Please note that the SOW is subject to change based upon the feedback and insights gathered through this RFI. ***

RESPONDING TO THIS RFI

Sources able to satisfy the requirements detailed in the SOW are invited to submit information describing their capabilities. Please limit submissions to a MAXIMUM of 15 pages (including cover page, white paper response, diagrams, photos, etc.). Responses shall be provided in Microsoft Word or Adobe PDF format, using 11 font size and 8.5 x 11-inch pages. No hard copies will be accepted.

Submissions shall be received at IRS via email to Ryan.M.Dolan@irs.gov, no later than 11:59pm eastern Sunday, March 23, 2025. Early submissions are encouraged. IRS reserves the right to review late submissions, however, there is no guarantee of review of late submissions.

mailto:Ryan.M.Dolan@irs.gov

Please include the RFI title “RFI Response to IRS-OIT-VI- (Company Name)” in the subject line of your email and provide electronic submission (Word or PDF) of your response.

Responses shall include the information requested below.

The cover page (one page maximum) shall include the following information:

Company Information and Single Point of Contact (Name, Title, Contact Information) SAM.gov Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) Addresses- mailing, website, social media Brief Overview of the Company Number of Employees Business Type, NAICS code(s), Company Size (other than small, small business, Service-Disabled

Veteran Owned Small Business (SDVOSB), etc.)

List of any GSA, NASA SEWP, GWAC Contracts or other Federal Contracts similar to this requirement

In addition to the cover page, the Government requests responses to the questions provided in the attachment “RFI Questions”. Prospective vendors shall limit the responses to the RFI questions and any supplemental documentation, such as diagrams, photos, attachments, testimonials to a MAXIMUM of 15 pages. Responses received by the Government exceeding the 15-page limit will not be reviewed beyond the first 15 pages.

Any company proprietary information, performance capabilities, and/or future modifications should be clearly identified and marked; please segregate proprietary information. Please be advised that all submissions are confidential between the company and the Government, shall be deemed Government property, and will not be returned.

QUESTIONS RELATIVE TO THE RFI

All questions regarding this RFI shall be received at IRS via email at Ryan.M.Dolan@irs.gov, and due no later than 11:59pm eastern Wednesday, March 12, 2025, which is nine days prior to the response deadline. All answers to the questions will be posted via this publication on sam.gov.

TERMS & CONDITIONS

This RFI does not obligate the Government to award a contract or otherwise pay for the information provided in response. All costs associated with responding to this RFI are solely at the responding party's expense. The Government reserves the right to use information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate. Further, the Government may contact the vendor for additional information regarding the information submitted as part of this market research effort.

Any organization responding to this RFI should ensure that its response is complete and sufficiently detailed to allow the Government to determine the organization’s qualifications to perform the work.

Respondents are advised that the Government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted.

After a review of the responses received, a pre-solicitation synopsis and solicitation may be published in Government Point of Entry or other similar source (e.g., GSA E-buy). However, responses to this RFI will not be considered adequate responses to a solicitation.

Responses to this RFI are not offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract or agreement. The Government will not be obligated to pursue any particular acquisition alternative as a result of this RFI. Responses to the RFI will not be returned. Not responding to this RFI does not preclude participation in any future solicitation if one is issued.

The Government reserves the right to contact some, all or none of the responding vendors for further discussions regarding the RFI response. The IRS will reach out to the point of contact listed on the response should we choose to contact any vendor(s). This discussion is for clarification or for further information gathering. This exchange should not be misconstrued as the Governments interest to pursue or enter into any contractual agreement or obligation.