Request for Information 36C10B26Q0376 SCM DSO.pdf

Department of Veterans Affairs Healthcare Environment and Logistics Management (HELM) Supply Chain Management

Development Security Operations (SCMDSO) Integration Request for Information 36C10B26Q0376

1. Introduction This Request for Information (RFI) is issued for conducting market research and planning purposes only. Accordingly, this RFI constitutes neither a Request for Quote, Request for Proposal, nor a guarantee that one will be issued by the Government in the future; furthermore, it does not commit the Government to contract for any services described herein. Additionally, this RFI does not restrict the Government as to the ultimate acquisition approach. In accordance with Revolutionary Federal Acquisition Regulation Overhaul 15.101(c), responses to this notice are not offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract.

The purpose of this RFI is to identify qualified vendors, who can meet the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) requirements for HELM SCM DSO Integration Contract. The purpose of this RFI is to obtain market information on capable sources. Your response to this RFI will be treated only as information for the Government to consider. The Government is not responsible for any cost incurred by industry in furnishing this information. All costs associated with responding to this RFI will be solely at the interested vendor's expense. Not responding to this RFI does not preclude participation in any future solicitation, if any is issued. Any information submitted by respondents to this RFI is strictly voluntary. All submissions will become Government property and will not be returned. Interested vendors are responsible for adequately marking proprietary, restricted or competition sensitive information contained in their response.

VA is under no obligation to provide feedback to the company, or to contact the company for clarification of any information submitted in response to this RFI. 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 VA Office of Information and Technology (OIT) Product Delivery Services (PDS) delivers integrated digital capabilities that support Veteran care nationwide. Within PDS, the Health Services Portfolio’s HELM Product Line (PL) implements, modernizes, sustains, standardizes, and streamlines software solutions for supply chain, logistics, expendables, assets, inventory, facilities, prosthetics, and environmental compliance. HELM provides the enterprise capabilities needed to support a unified, efficient, and data driven supply chain and logistics environment across VA.

VA does not currently operate with standardized, enterprise-wide supply chain business processes or technical systems. Numerous functional and capability gaps have been identified through GAO and Office of Inspector General (OIG) audits and internal assessments. VA requires accurate, reliable, and accessible supply chain data to improve ordering, fulfillment, and operational performance. These needs align with VA’s Strategic Supply Chain (SC) Prioritization and Digital Modernization Strategy, which emphasize modernizing legacy systems, strengthening cybersecurity and resilience, improving data quality, enhancing user experience for logisticians, and establishing consistent, interoperable processes across Veterans Health

Administration (VHA), VA Central Office (VACO), Veteran Benefits Administration (VBA), and National Cemetery Administration (NCA).

VA Supply Chain Strategic Objectives are identified below:

1. Standardize and modernize supply chain business processes and systems across all VA medical centers to reduce fragmentation and variation.

2. Improve data quality, visibility, and interoperability across clinical, financial, logistics, and enterprise systems, including integration through VA approved middleware such as HELMs VA Logistics Integration Platform (VALIP) comprised of InterSystems IRIS for Health, Databricks Data Intelligence Platform, Red Hat OpenShift hosted in VA Platform One (VAPO).

3. Enable enterprise-wide forecasting, planning, and decision analytics using accurate, real-time, standardized supply chain data.

4. Strengthen cybersecurity, resilience, and IT sustainability for all supply chain technology products, ensuring compliance with VA security and enterprise architecture standards.

5. Enhance user experience and operational efficiency for logisticians, clinicians, asset managers, and procurement specialists.

6. Enable interoperability with major VA initiatives, including:

• Electronic Health Record Modernization (EHRM) (Oracle Health)

• Financial Management Business Transformation (FMBT) / Integrated Financial

Management System (iFAMS) (CGI Momentum)

• Legacy Veterans Health Information System and Technology Architecture

(VistA) modules

• Enterprise interoperability via VALIP and VA approved APIs/data services

7. Reduce total cost of ownership through modern, cloud-based logistics platforms, automation, and optimized Operation & Maintenance (O& M) practices.

VA Digital Modernization Strategy is as follows:

The VA Digital Modernization Strategy is a broader enterprise-wide initiative designed to transform how the VA delivers technology. The strategy emphasizes security, scalability, usability, reliability and long-term sustainability of VA’s IT ecosystem.

Key pillars include:

1. Cloud adoption and modernization of legacy systems: VA is moving toward secure, cloud ready, modular, API based platforms that replace aging systems and reduce technical debt.

2. Zero Trust cybersecurity and identity modernization: All systems, including supply chain, must follow Zero Trust principles for identify, access, and continuous monitoring.

3. Modern DevSecOps and agile delivery: Continuous integration, continuous delivery (CI/CD), automated testing, and automated security enforcement across development pipelines.

4. Enterprise Interoperability: Standardized data models, APIs, middleware (such as VALIP), and shared services that ensure systems can exchange data in real time.

5. Improved user experience (UX) and accessibility: Technology should reduce burden on staff, be intuitive, Section 508 compliant, and aligned with human-centered design

6. Data management, governance, and advanced analytics: VA aims to strengthen data governance, implement authoritative data sources, and use analytics/Artificial Intelligence to support enterprise decision making.

The Supply Chain Strategic Objectives are a domain specific extension of the larger Digital Modernization Strategy. Digital Modernization = enterprise technology foundation and Supply Chain Strategic Objectives = how that foundation is applied to logistics

Together, they drive:

• Modern, secure, cloud-based supply chain systems

• Realtime, interoperable logistics data

• Integration with VA’s major enterprise systems

• Standardized workflows across all VA medical centers

• Adoption of DevSecOps, Zero Trust, and modern data architectures

• Improved operational performance and readiness

VA currently relies on approximately 63 disparate legacy systems across 174 sites, resulting in fragmented operations, limited enterprise visibility, and inefficiencies. Standardization and modernization are required to transform SC systems into an integrated, enterprise-wide system of systems that supports responsive, efficient clinical and nonclinical supply operations.

To meet mission needs, VA requires full service, interoperable, standardized, scalable healthcare logistics software solutions with modern supply chain management capabilities. A unified digital environment shall enable lifecycle management efficiencies, data driven decision making, and seamless integration with major initiatives such as the Electronic Health Record Modernization (EHRM) and Financial Management Business Transformation (FMBT) programs. HELM’s mission to provide software development lifecycle (SDLC) support combined with integration with modernization efforts directly support these enterprise requirements by integrating cloud-based logistics capabilities, modernizing legacy applications, and enabling consistent processes across VA’s supply chain functions.

As it pertains to Supply Chain Modernization and the scope of the HELM Product Line, 12 current systems are both funded & maintained by VA OIT while 22 systems are funded by VHA in which HELM OIT provides more limited support consisting of cybersecurity Authority to Operate (ATO) documentation, Section 508, and other IT compliance activities. VA OIT expects an additional 3 to 10 products to come to the HELM Product Line over the next five years that will replace some of the existing systems, while others will be in addition to current systems to provide enhanced supply chain business decision technologies. In addition to modernization activities, existing HELM products require ongoing SDLC support, to include incremental modernization, development, enhancement, sustainment, operation stability, security, hosting, and other Lifecyle support.

HELM is organized into five subproduct lines (SPL): Environmental and Healthcare Management, Healthcare Technology and Asset Management, Expendable Inventory Management, Prosthetics, and Technical Services. Additional products scheduled such as Enterprise Asset Management Computerized Maintenance Management System (EAM CMMS), Inventory Management Modernizations, Data Standardization may be incorporated into the product line over the course of this contract Period of Performance (PoP), see Attachment Att_1_HELM_Products. It is currently known that the EAM CMMS system will require full implementation support across the VA enterprise during the lifetime of this contract.

3. RFI Response Instructions:

All responsible sources may submit a response in accordance with the below information:

NO MARKETING MATERIALS ARE ALLOWED AS PART OF THIS RFI.

Generic capability statements will not be accepted or reviewed.

a. Interested Vendors shall at a minimum provide the following information in the initial paragraph of the submission:

Name of Company:

Address:

Point of Contact:

Phone Number:

Email Address:

Company Business Size

& Status:

For VOSB and SDVOSBs, proof of certification with SBA:

NAICS code(s):

Socioeconomic Data:

If a small business, please identify socio-economic category(ies).

Unique Entity Identifier

(UEI):

Existing Contractual Vehicles (GWAC, FSS or MAC):

* If you believe there is a more appropriate NAICS code, please provide that to the Government with your rationale.

• FSS - Federal Supply Schedule,

• GWAC - Government-wide Acquisition Contract

• NAICS – North American Industry Classification

• NASA SEWP - National Aeronautics and Space Administration Solutions for Enterprise-

Wide Procurement

• SBA – Small Business Administration

• SDVOSB – Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business

• VOSB – Veteran-Owned Small Business

For SDVOSB / VOSB concerns, please also indicate whether you will be able to comply with VAAR 852.219-10, VA Notice of Total Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business Set- Aside where at least 50 percent of the cost of performance incurred is planned to be expended for employees of your concern or employees of other eligible SDVOSB/VOSB concerns.

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.

b. Provide a summary (not to exceed a total of 12 pages) of your ability to meet the requirements contained within the draft PWS for the following areas:

1. How does your organization expedite the hiring and onboarding of qualified and credentialed IT professionals while minimizing attrition?

2. Provide your direct experience with providing complete Software Development Lifecycle Activities within the Agile framework (development, enhancement, modernization, sustainment) through continuous integration supporting, at a minimum, 15 products concurrently. Include your SAFe Agile Planning Interval (PI) cadence, pre‑PI readiness, delivery of PI objectives, and post‑PI artifacts required in Section 5.2.3., describing the time your organization has demonstrated this capability successfully, place of performance, contact information, contract number, dollar value, and contract vehicle

3. Describe past support, and proposed approach to providing end-to-end cybersecurity support for IT products, including compliance with VA security standards and Risk Management Framework requirements, secure DevSecOps integration, cloud security, vulnerability management, incident response, and continuous monitoring.

Provide examples of demonstrating successful cybersecurity support for similar largescale federal systems.

4. Provide examples of direct experience delivering enterprise-wide major IT system technical integrations and/ or deployments of similar size and scope. Provide the number of sites, lessons learned, technical challenges encountered, and approaches taken to collaborate with other contractors/vendors on separate contract vehicles.

Include if integrations supported Digital Modernization strategies supporting supply chain, logistics, or healthcare operations within federal agencies.

5. Describe a proposed approach to incrementally replace legacy systems by developing, maintaining, and executing an IT Supply Chain Technical Roadmap over the full contract period of performance. Include how you plan to identify modernization priorities, sequence technical capabilities, integrate with VA enterprise initiatives, and ensure alignment with VA Supply Chain Strategic Objectives and the VA Digital Modernization Strategy.

6. Describe your organization’s tiered training approach for both new and existing IT software, including your methods for developing and delivering online training, maintaining training materials, and supporting role-based learning. Provide examples demonstrating how you have successfully performed similar training efforts for large/enterprise implementation, on a large user base.

7. Provide examples of how your organization has leveraged AI/ML to support IT organization priorities to reduce operational contracted costs to the government or enhance DevSecOps team performances.

8. Describe your experience in technically integrating with VA enterprise programs such as EHRM (Oracle Health), FMBT FMS & FMBT iFAMS (CGI Momentum ERP), and VistA legacy systems.

9. Provide examples of experiences supporting a modern containerized enterprise interoperability platform that also provides DevSecOps capabilities (CI/CD, Continuous Security and Automation) and Data Management across functional organizations.

10. Describe the specific project and processes used when your organization consolidated, standardized, normalized, and migrated, a customer's data platform/s into cloud hosted authoritative data repositories accessed by data intelligence tools.

Responses to this RFI shall be submitted electronically no later than 12:00 PM Eastern Standard Time, May 8, 2026, via email to the Technology Acquisition Center (TAC) points of contact:

Contract Specialist: michelle.prinston@va.gov Contracting Officer: jason.king6@va.gov

Please note HELM SCM DSO Integration Contract in the subject line of your response. Mark your response as “Proprietary Information” if the information is considered business sensitive.

All proprietary/company confidential material shall be clearly marked on every page that contains such.

The email file size shall not exceed 5 MB.

RESPONDENTS ARE ADVISED THAT THIS REQUIREMENT MAY BE DELAYED,

CANCELED, OR REVISED AT ANY TIME.

mailto:michelle.prinston@va.gov mailto:jason.king6@va.gov