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Request for Information (RFI)

Naval Enterprise Networks (NEN) Supply Chain Management & Integration Capability

1. Purpose Portfolio Acquisition Executive (PAE) Mission Systems (MS), on behalf of Naval Enterprise Networks (NEN), is issuing this Request for Information (RFI) to obtain industry feedback in support of market research and acquisition planning for a Supply Chain Management (SCM) capability. This RFI is issued solely for market research and planning purposes. It does not constitute a Request for Proposal (RFP), solicitation, or commitment by the Government to issue an RFP or to award a contract. Responses are voluntary, do not obligate the Government, and will not result in financial reimbursement.

The Government is seeking industry insight into how commercial supply-chain practices, technologies, and business models can solve a concrete operational problem at Navy and Marine Corps scale. We are deliberately structuring this RFI around the problem, the operating environment, and hard constraints—not a pre-defined solution checklist—so that industry can propose creative, commercially grounded approaches.

This RFI is the first step in the recompete of the End User Hardware (EuHW) contract vehicle (N0039-20-D-0020). The Government will also examine the possibility of incorporating additional procurement, supply chain, and integration work into this acquisition.

While this vehicle will be a Department of the Navy (DON)-wide vehicle, the Government does not intend to make this a mandatory-use contract. However, the Government anticipates that the lower price of items procured under this vehicle (due to competition) coupled with significantly enhanced speed of delivery will render this acquisition the de facto vehicle for commodity IT procurement & delivery.

The Government desires to standardize and streamline the procurement, delivery, and integration of commodity IT hardware and software, aligning them to an established NEN product & service catalog. While the main focus of this vehicle is on capability delivery, the Government also desires the capability to order engineering services to support product & service design activities. The Government does not anticipate that this vehicle will be utilized to support Operations of the network.

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The Government desires a flexible procurement model that features the ability to procure devices outright (e.g., Government Owned, Government Operated (GOGO)) and to lease devices (e.g., Contractor Owned, Government Operated (COGO)).

2. Problem Statement Authorized Navy and Marine Corps customers need to obtain approved information technology—hardware, software, licenses, subscriptions, and related products—rapidly, securely, transparently, and cost-effectively. Today, acquisition-to-delivery cycle times, limited end-to-end visibility, administrative friction, and supply-chain risk exposure impede that outcome. The result is delayed capability for the warfighter, higher total ownership cost, and unnecessary workload on both Government and industry personnel.

What “good” looks like operationally:

• An authorized user with a validated need can identify an approved product, place an order, and receive it at the required location within a commercially competitive timeframe, with minimal intermediate paperwork or manual hand-offs.

• The Government retains continuous, authoritative visibility of every asset, entitlement, warranty, and open order from demand signal through disposition, and can act on that information without waiting for contractor-generated reports.

• Routine transactions require little or no centralized Government intervention once policy and catalog guardrails are set.

• Supply-chain risks that threaten availability, integrity, authenticity, security, cost, or delivery are identified early enough to protect mission timelines.

• The Government can transition providers, technologies, or service models without loss of accountability, open-order continuity, warranty coverage, or historical data.

The fundamental question this RFI asks industry is: How would you solve this problem under the real constraints of the Navy and Marine Corps operating environment as discussed in Sections 3 and 4 below?

3. Situation / Operating Environment The capability must support the information-technology requirements of a geographically distributed force of approximately 750,000 U.S. Navy and 260,000 U.S.

Marine Corps personnel across more than 1,600 CONUS and OCONUS locations.

Demand is continuous, multi-priority, and spans end-user devices, enterprise

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Key characteristics of the environment industry must design against:

• Scale and distribution – High transaction volume across widely dispersed sites, including locations with constrained logistics or connectivity.

• Security and supply-chain integrity – Products and the supply chain itself must meet applicable cybersecurity, authenticity, and supply-chain risk management expectations.

• Accountability – Government retains ownership of assets and data and must be able to demonstrate continuous accountability for financial, operational, and transition purposes.

• Existing ecosystem – Ordering, financial, asset-management, and cybersecurity systems already exist; any new capability must interoperate with them through non-proprietary interfaces where practicable.

• Transition reality – Any future contract must support incremental, overlapping transition from incumbent arrangements without mission interruption.

The Government does not prescribe a particular technical architecture, organizational model, or business construct. Industry is encouraged to surface commercial operating models that already solve analogous problems at comparable scale.

4. Hard Constraints The following constraints are non-negotiable. Solutions that cannot satisfy them are not viable for this environment:

• Government visibility and control – The Government must retain the ability to see and act on authoritative data concerning assets, entitlements, orders, prices, and supply-chain risks at any time.

• Data ownership and portability – All Government data (transactional, asset, entitlement, performance) must remain Government-owned and exportable in usable, non-proprietary formats on demand or at transition.

• Security and supply-chain risk management – Products and the supply chain must support applicable integrity, authenticity, cybersecurity, and risk-mitigation requirements.

• Geographic reach – Capability must support delivery and accountability to authorized CONUS and OCONUS destinations.

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• Transition without disruption – Continuity of supply, open orders, warranties, licenses, and asset accountability must be preserved during any provider or model change.

• Auditability – Performance and cost information must be transparent and sufficient for Government decision-making and oversight.

Everything else—catalog design, ordering workflow, fulfillment model, degree of automation, lease versus purchase mix, organizational structure, etc.—is open for industry to propose.

5. Company Information (1 page maximum) Please provide the following:

Company Name:

Commercial and Government Entity (CAGE) Code:

Address (including telephone number and email):

Points of contact:

Size of business pursuant to applicable NAICS codes:

NAICS Code NAICS Code Description Size Standard 541512 Computer Systems Design Services $34M 541519 Other Computer Related Services $34M

Based on the applicable NAICS Code, state whether your company is:

• Small Business (YES/NO)

• Woman-Owned Small Business (YES/NO)

• Small Disadvantaged Business (YES/NO)

• 8(a) Certified (YES/NO)

• HUBZone Certified (YES/NO)

• Veteran-Owned Small Business (YES/NO)

• Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (YES/NO)

Briefly describe your company’s primary business product/service line and any relevant existing Federal Supply Schedule, GWAC, or DoD contract vehicles on which you are a prime.

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6. Industry Feedback Requested (6-page maximum) Please limit the response to no more than six (6) pages, single-spaced, Arial 12-point or larger, not including the company information page. Focus on how you would solve the problem described above under the stated constraints. Do not submit a generic capabilities brochure or sales white paper.

The questions below are deliberately open. They are intended to highlight commercial practices, operating models, and realistic performance expectations—not to confirm that you can execute a pre-written Government solution.

6.1 Solving the Core Problem

1. Describe, at a practical level, how your organization would enable authorized Navy and Marine Corps customers to obtain approved technology rapidly, securely, and with full Government visibility while minimizing administrative burden. What is the operating model you would recommend, and why is it suited to this scale and environment?

2. Provide concrete examples of comparable work (commercial or Government) of similar scope or complexity. For each, note approximate scale (users, locations, or annual transaction volume), your role (prime/sub), and the outcomes achieved relative to cycle time, visibility, cost, or risk.

6.2 Catalog, Ordering, and Cycle Time

3. How would you maintain an accurate, current, searchable catalog of approved offerings and enable largely self-service ordering and tracking? What commercial practices keep catalog data clean and order-to-delivery cycle times short at high volume?

4. What order-cycle-time performance is commercially achievable for routine versus priority requirements, and how should the Government define and measure those standards (including treatment of Government-caused delays)?

5. Describe the operating model(s) you would recommend for achieving the required outcomes, including use of established commercial supply-chain capabilities, sourcing strategies, centralized versus delegated ordering, and purchase, lease, subscription, or as-a-service approaches where appropriate.

6.3 Fulfillment, Visibility, and Risk

6. Describe your approach to fulfillment, distribution, and end-to-end asset/entitlement visibility across CONUS and OCONUS destinations. How do

Page 6 of 7 | NEN Supply Chain Management RFI customers and the Government see committed, forecast, and actual dates, and how are at-risk orders recovered?

7. How do you detect, assess, communicate, and mitigate material supply-chain risks early enough to protect required delivery dates? What recovery options (alternate sources, substitutions, expedited transport, etc.) are realistic at this scale?

8. Describe your capability to support receipt, fulfillment, tracking, packaging, shipping, and delivery to authorized CONUS and OCONUS locations, together with authoritative visibility of accountable assets, ownership, location, configuration, warranty, maintenance, and disposal information.

6.4 Data, Integration, and Transition

9. How would your solution provide Government-accessible transactional and performance data and interoperate with existing Government ordering, financial, asset-management, and cybersecurity systems? Identify non-proprietary interfaces and data-portability practices and identify the level of intellectual property rights (in accordance with DFARS Subparts 227.71 and 227.72) associated with your proposed solution.

10. How would you structure an incremental, overlapping transition that preserves continuity of supply, asset accountability, open orders, warranties, licenses, and historical data? What exit criteria and rollback paths would you recommend?

6.5 Scope, Pricing, and Acquisition Approach

11. Should the SCM acquisition include the actual procurement and furnishing of hardware, software, and licenses, or should technology products be acquired through separate vehicles with the SCM provider responsible primarily for catalog, sourcing coordination, fulfillment, and lifecycle services? Recommend the approach that best serves the Government and explain the trade-offs (competition, volume pricing, lead time, visibility, transitionability, etc.).

12. Identify any existing contract vehicles (e.g., FSS, GWAC, DoD) on which you are a prime that could support this work, and any acquisition-strategy considerations that would improve competition, flexibility, or transitionability.

6.6 Risks, Gaps, and Recommendations

13. What risks, ambiguities, Government dependencies, commercial constraints, or requirement gaps should the Government address before finalizing an SCM requirement? What specific clarifications, data, or acquisition approaches would improve the likelihood of timely, cost-effective delivery?

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14. Identify any current commercial practices, tools, or business models that are not adequately reflected in typical Government SCM approaches but that deliver measurable benefit (cycle-time reduction, risk reduction, automation, cost avoidance, customer experience). Identify any Government policies or processes that could inhibit adoption.

7. Follow-on Discussions The Government is under no obligation to provide feedback on any submission. NEN representatives may elect to hold virtual discussions with one, some, none, or all respondents solely to clarify technical capability, acquisition considerations, or identified risks. The Government may use artificial-intelligence tools to assist in the review and analysis of RFI responses.

8. Response Guidelines The complete response (including company information) should remain within a 5 MB email limit.

Responses must address the problem, situation, and constraints set forth above and answer the questions in Section 6. Generic sales material will not be evaluated. The Government encourages respondents to highlight relevant commercial capabilities, realistic performance expectations, and recommended acquisition approaches.

Vendors shall not use Department of War (DoW) generative AI tools to develop any part of their response.

Submission deadline, email address, and Government points of contact will be provided in the final RFI posting.