Statement of Work.pdf

Statement of Work Northeast Area Campus-Wide Scientific Converged IT

Infrastructure Migration and Engineering Services

1.0 Background

The USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS) relies on its Beltsville Agricultural Research Center (BARC) and USNA campuses to conduct essential research in genomics, food safety, environmental science, and plant and animal health. These campuses are home to some of ARS’s most critical laboratories and IT systems. As outlined in Secretary Rollins’ Reorganization Plan (SM 1078-015), BARC will be gradually vacated over the next several years to ensure essential research can continue without disruption.

During this transition, core operations—operations and maintenance (O&M) at BARC, BHNRC, and USNA, including administrative offices, security, finance, and bioinformatics—must remain fully functional. At the same time, these systems must begin transitioning to USDA’s modern cloud environment to ensure uninterrupted operations today while preparing for the future.

2.0 Scope of Work

This contract spans every critical layer—Brocade (Ruckus) switches, virtualization, facility and server consolidation, databases, storage, and enterprise monitoring and patch management. Retaining a single trusted vendor ensures consistent oversight, unified management, and technical continuity for this complex IT stack—an approach that is especially important during the BARC reorganization, when stability is essential and unnecessary changes must be avoided.

The vendor will design a clear migration roadmap and manage its implementation to deliver a secure, compliant, and high-performing environment aligned with USDA’s cloud adoption and IT consolidation goals.

The scope of this Northeast Area Campus-Wide Converged IT Infrastructure Migration and Engineering effort includes the following:

2.1 Brocade (Ruckus) Switch Layer

The vendor will provide Tier II and Tier III engineering support—handling advanced troubleshooting, making configuration changes, updating firmware, and resolving complex network issues to keeps BARC’s core network running.

If any Brocade hardware fails, the vendor will handle the replacement process (RMA) and install the new equipment to get systems back online quickly. These services are essential to keeping research, administrative, and security systems connected and running smoothly while decisions about BARC’s long-term future are still being made.

2.2 Virtualization Layer

2.2.1 VMWare to Hyper-V Migration: The vendor will lead the migration from VMware to Microsoft Hyper-V in support of USDA’s enterprise virtualization strategy. This change will lower licensing and operational costs while improving integration with the USDA Microsoft ecosystem. The work includes assessing VMware workloads and dependencies, creating a migration plan that prioritizes mission-critical systems, designing a Hyper-V environment that meets USDA-ARS security and compliance standards, and executing the migration using best-practice methodologies. Once complete, the vendor will validate systems for functionality, performance, and compliance with FISMA, NIST SP 800-53, and USDA DM 3515-001, and provide documentation and training for USDA-ARS staff.

2.2.2 VMWare Management & Support: The vendor will continue to support and maintain the existing

VMware environment, ensuring stable operations, performance optimization, and system availability. This includes ongoing management of vSphere, vCenter, and ESXi hosts, as well as applying updates, patches, and providing troubleshooting support

2.3 Facility & Servers Consolidation Layer

The vendor will continue to provide engineering support for the renovation of the BARC server room, which is being prepared to house the consolidated infrastructure from multiple locations. This work ensures the facility can meet the ongoing needs of BARC’s research labs—delivering the computing power and secure access to research data required while preparations are made for migration to USDA’s cloud. The vendor will advise on rack layout, power distribution, cooling capacity, and cable management to optimize efficiency and ensure compliance with USDA-ARS standards. In addition, the vendor will maintain uptime and security compliance for existing servers. As systems are relocated and consolidated, the vendor will work closely with USDA-ARS staff to minimize downtime, protect equipment, and confirm that all systems are fully operational in the renovated facility. These efforts are critical to maintaining a secure, reliable, and scalable foundation for the agency’s mission-critical IT environment.

2.4 Databases Layer

The vendor will provide ongoing support and engineering services for BARC and USNA database environment, ensuring that all systems remain secure, resilient, and fully compliant with federal standards.

This includes maintaining a current comprehensive backup and recovery strategy to protect against data loss and enable rapid restoration of services in the event of system failure. Backups will be performed and tested regularly to verify data integrity and recovery readiness.

To safeguard sensitive research and operational data, the vendor will conduct regular security audits and vulnerability assessments, identifying and remediating potential risks before they can impact system performance or compromise compliance. All work will align with USDA-ARS policies and applicable federal requirements, including FISMA, NIST SP 800-53, and USDA DM 3515-001. These measures will ensure that BARC and USNA databases remain reliable, secure, and capable of supporting mission-critical research and operations without interruption.

2.5 Storage Layers

The vendor will continue to support and consolidate the current USDA-ARS storage systems into a more cost-effective, commodity-based platform, reducing operational expenses while maintaining performance and reliability. This work includes assessing existing storage resources, streamlining configurations, and integrating systems to maximize efficiency and simplify management.

In parallel, the vendor will advance the ongoing migration of on-premises storage to USDA’s cloud environment, ensuring secure transfer, data integrity, and minimal disruption to research and operational activities. All storage activities will be executed in alignment with USDA-ARS security, compliance, and performance standards, providing a scalable foundation that supports both immediate needs and long-term re-organization goals.

2.6 Monitoring & Patching Layers

The vendor will provide enterprise-level monitoring and patch management services to ensure the stability, security, and performance of USDA-ARS’s critical IT infrastructure. During the BARC campus phase-out period, the vendor will continue to monitor all campus network equipment—ensuring uptime, detecting issues in real time, and addressing potential failures before they impact operations.

In addition, the vendor will maintain an ongoing patch management program to safeguard the environment against security vulnerabilities. This includes applying tested and approved patches to network switches, the hypervisor layer, servers, and databases in accordance with USDA-ARS security policies and federal compliance requirements. These efforts will help ensure that systems remain secure, compliant, and fully operational throughout the transition and beyond.

3.0 Period of Performance

September 30, 2025 – September 29, 2026

4.0 Facility Security Requirements

The contractor shall work from their office and on-site visit to federal offices. Contractor personnel will be escorted by a USDA employee when on site.

5.0 Primary Area of Contract

BARC Site and USNA Site

6.0 Government Supplied Resources

Access to USDA-ARS NEA systems as needed.

7.0 Minimum Contractor Qualifications & Continuity Requirements

a. Warranty/RMA Alignment. Existing RMA authority and serial-number alignment for Brocade

(Ruckus) and other supported components such that hardware failures can be replaced immediately without re-registration or lapse of coverage.

b. In-Flight Migration Ownership. Current technical lead for the Government-approved VMware-to-Hyper-V migration plan and execution artifacts (risk registers, migration waves, rollback procedures), with authority to resume at the exact cutover point with no re-planning.

c. Production Access & Continuity. Active, approved operational access (accounts, keys, automation, and monitoring integrations) to the NEA/BARC/USNA stack sufficient to perform emergency troubleshooting within existing SLAs on Day 1.

d. No-Downtime Transition. A transition plan that requires zero re-discovery, zero tooling re-implementation, and no re-validation of controls beyond routine continuity checks, ensuring uninterrupted operations of research, administrative, and security systems.

e. Storage Hardware Continuity & Custody. The Contractor shall retain, operate, and provide warranty/RMA-backed support for the incumbent, serial-numbered storage systems currently running USDA-ARS workloads at BARC and USNA—preserving existing configurations and data services—through completion of Government-approved cutovers to USDA cloud targets. No hardware swap-outs, re-imaging, or re-procurement that could interrupt operations may occur during the migration period; all actions must preserve data integrity, performance SLAs, and the current compliance posture.

8.0 Information Sensitivity

The contractor shall adhere to the Privacy Act, Title 5 of the U.S. Code, Section 552a and applicable agency rules and regulations. The Contractor Program Manager shall ensure that all contract personnel take the required USDA Privacy training.

9.0 Accessibility of Electronic and Information Technology

This contract vehicle is subject to applicable industry standards. Each information and communication technology (ICT) product or service furnished under this contract shall comply with said standards at a minimum, as specified in the contract. If any furnished product or service is determined to be noncompliant, the Contracting Officer will notify the Contractor in writing. The Contractor shall, without charge to the Government, remediate or replace the noncompliant products or services within a specified timeframe as determined by the Government in writing. If such remediation or replacement is not completed within the time specified, the Government shall have the following recourses:

1) Cancellation of the contract, delivery, task order, purchase, or line item without termination liabilities;

or

2) In the case of custom ICT being developed by a contractor for the Government, the Government shall have the right to have any necessary changes made or repairs performed by itself or by another firm for the noncompliant ICT, with the contractor liable for reimbursement to the Government for any expenses incurred thereby.

The contractor must ensure all noncompliant ICT products and services are provided pursuant to extensive market research and exhibit the highest level of compliance while satisfying the contract requirements.

For every ICT product or service accepted under this contract by the Government that does not comply with industry standards, the contractor shall, at the discretion of the Government, remediate or upgrade the item with a compliant equivalent product or service, if commercially available and cost neutral, on either a contract specified refresh cycle for the product or service, or on a contract effective option/renewal date, whichever shall occur first.

In addition, vendors and contractors shall comply with the standards, policies, and procedures below for all ICT pursuant to this contract:

For Custom ICT Development Services, the vendor or contractor shall ensure the ICT fully conforms to the applicable industry standards prior to delivery and before final acceptance.

For Installation, Configuration, and Integration Services, the vendor or contractor shall not install, configure, or integrate the equipment and software in a way that reduces the level of conformance with the applicable industry standards.

For Maintenance, Upgrades, and Replacements, the vendor or contractor shall ensure maintenance upgrades, substitutions, and replacements do not reduce the original level of conformance with the applicable industry standards at the time of the contract award.

Service Personnel are ensured by the vendor or contractor to possess the knowledge, skills, and ability necessary to address the applicable industry standards and shall provide supporting documentation upon request.

When providing Hosting Services, the vendor or contractor shall not reduce the existing level of conformance of the electronic content with the applicable industry standards.

When purchasing ICT where 1) industry standard validation is not possible prior to award, 2) the ICT will be changed after the award, or 3) ICT will be hosted in a third-party environment, the vendor or contractor shall test and validate the ICT solution for conformance to the industry standards, in accordance with the required testing methods as defined by the agency.

The vendor or contractor shall document and maintain information regarding the measures taken to ensure compliance with the applicable requirements. This documentation includes but is not limited to testing records, product demonstrations, and reported defects by end users and testers.

In the case of non-compliance where the vendor or contractor claims its products and/or services satisfy the applicable industry standards specified in the contract vehicle, the contracting officer will promptly inform the vendor or contractor in writing of the non- compliance. The vendor or contractor shall, at no cost to the agency, repair or replace the non-compliant products or services within the period specified by the contracting officer.