VA RFI Co-Located Hosting Services.docx

Co-located Hosting Services for Department of Veterans Affairs This Request for Information (RFI) is issued for information and planning purposes only and does not constitute a solicitation nor does it restrict the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) as to the ultimate acquisition approach.

This notice is issued solely for information and planning purposes - it does not constitute a Request for Quote (RFQ)/Invitation for Bid (IFB)/Request for Proposal (RFP) or a promise to issue an RFQ, IFB, or RFP in the future. This notice does not commit the VA to contract for any supply or service. Further, the VA is not seeking quotes, bids, or proposals at this time and will not accept unsolicited proposals in response to this source sought notice. The VA will not pay for any information or administrative costs incurred in response to this notice. Submittals will not be returned to the responder. Not responding to this notice does not preclude participation in any future RFQ or IFB or RFP, if any is issued. If a solicitation is released, it will be synopsized on the Governmentwide Point of Entry, as appropriate. It is the responsibility of potential offerors to monitor the Governmentwide Point of Entry for additional information pertaining to this requirement.

VA’s Office of Information & Technology (OIT), Connectivity & Collaboration Services (CCS) has a requirement to provide a like-for-like transition of existing contracted Co-located Hosting Services (CHS) for VA’s Gateway North and East locations. The like-for-like transition means that where a technology exists today, it will transition to a like technology provided by the contractor. For example, if a fiber cross connect is currently contracted, a fiber cross connect will be procured on the new contract.

VA intends to upgrade services if the existing contracted services have reached end of life and require an upgrade. The upgrade will be a like-for-similar upgrade. For example, if Battery Distribution Fuse Bays (BDFBs) are currently being used and they are at end of life, the replacement model will be procured as part of the Contractor’s Transition Project.

VA envisions maintaining current legacy services in the initial transition to a new contract vehicle (like-for-like) leveraging existing equipment with a roadmap to an end state of a fully developed and modern CHS solution.

1. Technical Description The contractor shall provide facilities for data centers that will be populated by Government Furnished Equipment (GFE), such as servers, routers and load balancers.

VA may, at its discretion, acquire support services and equipment (i.e. related Labor and Equipment). The contractor shall provide all personnel, transportation, equipment, tools, materials, supplies, installation, management, supervision, engineering, maintenance, testing, and services necessary to make all housed equipment fully operational. The contractor shall provide qualified staff proficient in central office/data center engineering, construction, and maintenance to enable continuous operation of telecommunications systems as appropriate, to include Project Management and Transition Support. These services shall be fully defined if an RFP is issued.

1.1. Description of Current Environment

VA’s four (4) data centers are co-located in carrier facilities in Gateway North (Chicago, IL), Gateway East (Sterling, VA), Gateway South (Dallas, TX), and Gateway West (Santa Clara, CA). There are two (2) providers currently, each providing CHS at geographically separated locations. A dual-carrier approach is currently being taken with diverse path access provided for redundancy at each location. This RFI is only seeking information regarding potential new sites for Gateways North and East.

Each VA Gateway is a Tier 3 data center, with direct connection to Tier 1 Internet Service Providers (ISPs) from both data carriers via geographically redundant fiber points of presence. All four (4) data centers are manned 24x7x365 by contractor staff, and upon notification by VA, access is provided to VA’s leased space to VA authorized personnel, at all times. Each data center provides Smarthands to enable data center personnel to provide hands-on access to GFE, with VA direction.

1.2. Location Requirements

The Contractor shall adhere to TIA-942-B Rated 3 Site Selection criteria. In addition, the Contractor shall ensure the following data center facility requirements are met:

1.2.1. One of the data center locations shall be within 30 miles of Sterling, VA.

1.2.2. One of the data center locations shall be within 30 miles of Chicago, IL.

1.2.3. The contractor's data center shall be at least 2 miles from any airport, to reduce risk, but within a 15-mile radius of an International Airport for ease of commute.

1.2.4. The contractor's data center shall be at least 300 yards from major railway / train tracks.

1.2.5. The contractor's data center shall be located in at least a 100-year flood zone or better.

1.2.6. The contractor's data center shall be located outside hurricane zone.

1.2.7. The contractor's data center shall be located outside tornado zone.

1.3. Functional Definition

CHS shall include a secure location with cage and racks and include site surveillance. This service also provides external traffic access as required such as; internet and other dedicated connection speeds, space requirements, maintenance support and operational support, as specified.

1.4. Standards

The CHS contractor shall comply with the following standards:

1.4.1. TIA-942 Telecommunications Infrastructure Standard for Data Centers (as updated)

1.4.2. Statement on Standards for Attestation Engagements no. 16 (SSAE 16)

1.4.3. International Organization of Standardizatation standard 27001 Information Security (ISO27001)

1.4.4. Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS)

1.4.5. Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA)

1.5. Power (Electrical)

The Contractor facilities shall meet or exceed the TIA-942-B Rated-3 standard for electrical systems. In addition, the Contractor shall meet the following electrical requirements at each location:

1.5.1. Delivery of the following types of power to the VA’s racks shall be made available:

1.5.1.1. 20Amp, 100/120V, Single Phase,

1.5.1.2. 30Amp, 100/120V, Single Phase,

1.5.1.3. 30Amp, 200/208V, Single Phase,

1.5.1.4. 20Amp, 208V, Three Phase,

1.5.1.5. 30Amp, 208V, Three Phase,

1.5.1.6. 50Amp, 208V, Three Phase,

1.5.1.7. 60Amp, 208V, Three Phase.

1.5.1.8. 20Amp, 220V, Three Phase

1.5.2. National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) L5-20R and L6-30R or L21-30R receptacles are required depending on the Power Distribution Unit (PDU) power type in each rack. No current power requirements exceed basic power requirements (110V/208V/220V | 20A/30A | Single-Phase/Three-Phase). Some cabinets require four total power feeds (2 x A-side and 2 x B-side basic power).

1.5.3. Utility and power distribution feeds shall be redundant and ensure 99.999% power availability.

1.5.4. Utility power shall be fed by independent sources on the electrical grid.

1.5.5. Utility fees shall enter the property via diverse routes.

1.5.6. Utility feeds shall be dedicated to each data center facility.

1.5.7. One utility feed shall be underground and concrete-encased end-to-end.

1.5.8. Maintenance bypasses shall be uninterruptable power supply (UPS) protected.

1.5.9. Circuitry for electrical feeds shall have no single point of failure from grid to cabinet:

1.5.9.1. N + 1 redundant power distribution unit (PDUs) shall feed VA’s CHS space,

1.5.9.2. PDUs shall have redundant, diverse feeds from separate UPS modules,

1.5.9.3. Power distribution systems shall be designed to meet electrical power draw necessary for VA’s CHS environment; and,

1.5.10. The facility shall support a power density up to 200 Watts per sq. ft.

1.6. Cooling and Environment (Mechanical)

The Contractor facilities shall meet or exceed the TIA-942-B Rated-3 standard for mechanical systems or local building codes, or whichever is more stringent. In addition, the Contractor shall ensure the following environment requirements are met at each location:

1.6.1. Dry-bulb temperature and non-condensing humidity range within the CHS environment shall follow recommended ASHRAE standards for Class A environmental envelopes.

1.6.2. Real-time monitoring of all battery(s) and branch circuit(s) to the cooling systems.

1.6.3. The environment shall include non-corrosive, pre-action sprinkler system and/or gaseous fire suppression systems.

1.6.4. Fire detection and pre-action sprinkler systems shall be zoned and shall not affect VA equipment if fire is localized to a non-VA zone; and,

1.6.5. Allows VA to measure temperature and humidity at approximately 48 inches above the raised floor surface on the front intake of each supported equipment cabinet.

1.7. Connectivity (Telecom)

The Contractor shall meet or exceed TIA-942-B Rated-3 standard for telecommunications. In addition, the Contractor shall ensure the following telecommunications connectivity requirements are met at each location:

1.7.1. The data center shall have dedicated Tier 1 IP backbone connectivity. A Tier 1 network is defined as a network that can reach every other network on the Internet without purchasing IP transit or paying for peering;

1.7.2. The data center shall be carrier-neutral, allowing access and cross-connect to any VA-approved carrier.

1.7.3. The data center shall meet cross-connect requirements:

1.7.3.1. Copper and fiber connections shall be available, and infrastructure supports a minimum of 100Gbps bandwidth,

1.7.3.2. Connections shall span VA cages and non-VA cages serving VA, to include VA’s Trusted Internet Connections (TIC),

1.7.3.3. Data center (inter-VA cage) fiber buildouts shall allow for multi-mode fiber (MMF), 50-micron, OM3/4 grade or single-mode fiber (SMF) 8-micron,

1.7.3.4. Provide TIC connections at each location, using fiber interconnection services, consisting of four (4) additional point-to-point single mode fiber connections with LC connector types capable of supporting 100GBASE-LR4 connectivity per location,

1.7.3.5. POP connections, from data center’s point of presence into the building to VA’s cage(s), shall allow for MMF, 50-micron, OM3/4 grade or SMF 8-micron,

1.7.3.6. MMF or SMF selection will depend on cage distances and transport of circuit,

1.7.3.7. The data center shall continue support for T1 and T3 access in current inventory. There are currently no plans to upgrade interfaces in place on the network equipment,

1.7.3.8. The data center shall continue to support VA’s enhanced Plain Old Telephone System (ePOTS) lines to and within VA’s environment.

1.7.3.9. Pathway and cable conduits / risers in support of connectivity between cages, floors, and related resources as required.

1.7.4. The data center shall include diverse internal and external fiber routes with diverse network entry points.

1.7.5. An internal meet-me-room or telecom exchange point shall be part of the environment.

1.7.6. The data center shall protect the core network from customer access, both physically and logically.

1.7.7. The data center shall provide private data transport interconnectivity between data centers (non-adjacent cages or various buildings); and,

1.7.8. The Contractor’s network shall be monitored from a Contractor-controlled Network Operations Center (NOC).

1.8. Security

The Contractor shall provide physical security at the CHS facilities that meet or exceed TIA-942-B Rated-3 standards. In addition, the Contractor shall ensure the following physical security requirements are met at each location:

1.8.1. The data center shall be staffed 24x7x365.

1.8.2. Mantraps shall be installed to segregate access at the main entrance to the facility.

1.8.3. Dual factor authentication, including biometric screening, is required for entry to secure areas.

1.8.4. Onsite digital video camera surveillance shall be available and monitored 24x7x365, internal and external to the facility, including loading docks and entry points.

1.8.5. Digital video recordings shall be archived for a minimum of five calendar days and include all personnel entering, working within, and exiting VA’s assigned spaces and the Contractor’s data center hallways. A copy of the archived data shall be available to VA upon request by the next business day.

1.8.6. All cabinets shall be lockable, and cages built with 6 sides including top and under raised floor (all sides may be secure mesh).

1.8.7. The Contractor shall allow for VA-owned private access control systems and digital video systems for VA’s cages and cabinets. Alternatively, equipment may be provided for VA use for this purpose.

1.8.8. Smart hands staff shall be direct hires of the prime Contractor or the data center provider.

1.8.9. Visitors shall be tracked with logs maintained and available to VA upon request by the next business day.

1.8.10. A VA-defined list of personnel shall be maintained for authorized access to VA’s co-location space and referenced by the Contractor when access is requested. For instances when access is required by personnel not on the access list, VA authorized personnel will initiate a ticket with the Contractor to allow authorized access on an individual case basis.

1.8.11. Security badges shall be provided and available to VA authorized personnel as needed, not separately priced, and not to exceed 30 per facility; and,

1.8.12. Electronic key card access shall be provided to all VA managed cage(s), in accordance with the inventory list.

1.9. Support and Services

The Contractor shall provide support services to the CHS facilities troubleshooting and repair support within the VA CHS environment. For each location, the Contractor shall:

1.9.1. Provide on-site staff at the facility 24x7, capable of performing smart hands work. In addition, provide skilled, certified (CompTIA Network+, Security+, or equivalent) network engineers for such support. Historically, VA requires an average of 24 hours of smart hands work per month per data center. Smart hands support in this SOW is defined as:

1.9.1.1. Onsite / offsite troubleshooting assistance

1.9.1.2. Interface card removal, installation and configuration

1.9.1.3. Pre-wiring of patch panels and in-rack equipment

1.9.1.4. Assisting with RMAs / break-fix incident response

1.9.1.5. Testing cabling or other media for continuity

1.9.1.6. Providing visual verifications to assist in remote troubleshooting

1.9.1.7. Inventorying/labeling of equipment and cables

1.9.1.8. Power cycling equipment and soft booting a server

1.9.1.9. Bootstrapping server or network equipment

1.9.1.10. Moving equipment within VA space

1.9.1.11. Moving or securing cables

1.9.1.12. Equipment installations and configurations

1.9.1.13. Replacement of failed equipment using VA-provided hardware.

1.9.1.14. Replacement of failed network cabling using Contractor-provided replacements of an identical length, grade, connector type, and color (including replacement of existing labels with new labels containing the same information).

1.9.1.15. Replacement of failed power cabling, receptacles, and power distribution units (PDUs) using Contractor-provided replacements of an identical make and model. If an identical make and model are not commercially available, the Contractor shall substitute a replacement of an equivalent quality, gauge, length, connector type, and metering and remote access functionality.

1.9.1.16. Rebooting of failed, locked up, or inaccessible hardware.

1.9.1.17. Reconfiguration of out-of-band management parameters following unintended loss or alteration.

1.9.1.18. Performance of basic diagnostic and troubleshooting functions in conjunction with VA staff or contractors

1.9.2. Provide an on-site, Contractor-operated network operation center (NOC) to monitor all facility alarms, tickets, customer support as well as local news and weather.

1.9.3. Provide acknowledgement of tickets within 30 minutes of submission.

1.9.4. The Contractor shall provide authorized VA personnel and VA authorized Contractors with physical access to VA hardware within a maximum 4-hour window for unplanned maintenance activities.

1.9.5. Dispatch a technician for smart hands support within 4 hours of ticket receipt.

1.9.6. Provide managed shipping and receiving services at the CHS facility locations; this includes the following:

1.9.6.1. Contractor shall provide the use of secured shipping/receiving services to hold VA equipment when it is arriving or leaving the facility,

1.9.6.2. Contractor shall include support for large trucks and 18 wheelers to deliver and pick up palletized equipment,

1.9.6.3. Truck lift-gate services will not be required when dropping off or picking up pallets.

1.9.7. Provide escorted access to data center floor and to/from VA cage space, as required.

1.9.8. Ensure an on-site electrician is on call with 24x7 availability to assist with issues within the environment.

1.9.9. Ensure an on-site cable technician is on call with 24x7 availability to assist with issues within the environment.

1.9.10. Ensure an on-site electrical engineer is on call with 24x7 availability to assist with issues within the environment.

1.9.11. Provide inventory infrastructure assessment services and help transition and/or relocate into a new data center environment.

1.9.12. Prepare the VA’s final installation site, including provisioning of physical space, environmental systems, and network connectivity, including but not limited to: Internetworking connections, fire suppression, HVAC, power, lighting, water, sewer, telephone and communications, physical security systems, network security systems, disaster resistance and recovery systems, cages, racks, and UPS, and emergency power systems, on a 24x7 basis unless otherwise mutually agreed upon and specified;

1.9.13. Allow VA designated Points of Contact (POCs) to come onsite who need to perform a site survey (to be authorized access on an as-needed basis); and,

1.9.14. Provide a site tour and/or client-initiated audit, based on VA request, estimated at once per site per year. A request for a site tour and/or audit will be submitted by VA at least 10 business days in advance. The Contractor’s facility POCs assigned to each location shall be familiar with site policies, processes, procedures and shall provide supporting documentation to VA as needed.

1.9.15. The Contractor shall discuss the following details during the site tour/audit:

1.9.15.1. Access policy / physical security policy,

1.9.15.2. Data center monitoring system(s),

1.9.15.3. Fire detection and suppression systems,

1.9.15.4. Water detection and leakage precautions,

1.9.15.5. Cooling and air distribution,

1.9.15.6. Layout of air delivery and return vents,

1.9.15.7. Utility, backup, and conditioned power,

1.9.15.8. Grounding and bonding, input power quality,

1.9.15.9. Network connectivity and carrier availability,

1.9.15.10. General support services available to your customers/tenants,

1.9.15.11. Facility upkeep and maintenance,

1.9.15.12. Fuel logs.

1.10. Features

1.10.1. The contractor shall have a dedicated, indoor staging area that will be used to prepare hardware for installation

1.10.2. The contractor shall make multiple conference rooms available for customer use upon adequate notification by VA.

1.10.3. The contractor shall offer office space, such as an available cubical at minimum, for customer use

1.10.4. The contractor shall offer secure customer storage space for items such as backpacks, suitcases, etc.

1.10.5. The contractor shall offer general use breakroom with kitchen area, refrigerators, coffee, vending machines offering beverages and snacks.

1.10.6. For emergency use as necessary for long duration maintenance or repair activity:

1.10.7. The contractor shall offer cots available for overnight stays

1.10.8. The contractor shall have showers on site for customer use

1.10.9. The contractor's data center shall be easily accessible to staff via airport and roadways

1.10.10. The contractor shall offer the use of wireless Wi-Fi and wired public network (unfiltered) while in the building for laptops, etc.

1.10.11. The contractor shall offer the use of crash cart (KVM) to service customer equipment

1.11. Professional Services

The contractor shall provide professional services to perform planning and design, day to day operations, maintenance and repair, upgrading, and configuration, or any combination of these services, for hosting telecommunications systems within the contractor co-location facility. The Contractor shall provide the professional services in accordance with standard industry engineering practices, Government Codes, Standards and Executive Orders, VA standards, VA project-specific requirements, National and Local Codes and applicable Industry Standards.

The Contractor shall provide the following design and engineering, implementation, and management and maintenance services that include:

1.11.1. Identify hardware (e.g., racks, power distribution systems, and other SRE) , and SRL required by the agency to deliver the required Co-location Hosting Services.

1.11.2. Provide complete project management for design, engineering, implementation, installation, access coordination, provisioning, hardware testing, and service activation for contractor provided equipment (SRE) in coordination and with approval from VA. Coordinate installation activities with VA to minimize the impact on the current environment.

1.11.3. The Contractor shall implement updates in coordination and mutual agreement with VA and test new releases to resolve any security concerns, ensure compatibility with the existing environment, minimize service disruptions, and maintain equipment functionality.

1.12. Service Level Agreements (SLA)

The Contractor shall include all the Key Performance Indicators identifying their associated Acceptable Quality Level values and measured values in the monthly SLA Report (SLAR). Example SLA:

2. RESPONSE SUBMISSION

Please submit responses via email to TAC-AProcurementTeamE@va.gov by 1:00 PM EST, April 15, 2026.

Please include the subject line “VA CHS- [Your company Name]” in your submission. The response should not exceed a 5 MB e-mail limit for all items associated with the RFI response. If your submission exceeds this limitation, please send multiple emails that comply with this requirement. Do not send zipped files as the email server will strip the attachments.

Oral communications are not permissible. SAM.gov will be the sole repository for all information related to this RFI. VA reserves the right not to respond to any or all emails or materials submitted.

Response Guidelines:

Interested parties are requested to respond to this RFI with a capability statement. The capability statement should be concise and cannot exceed 20 pages, and address only the information requested below. The capability statement shall include the following:

2.1. Company Information:

2.1.1. Company name, address, telephone number,

2.1.2. Point of Contact (POC) name and email address

2.1.3. SAM UEI and business size (for small businesses please include socioeconomic status).

2.2. Acquisition Recommendations:

2.2.1. Identify Government-Wide Acquisition Contracts (GWAC) and Federal Supply Schedule(s) under which your company can offer services aligned with this requirement.

2.2.2. Provide a response to VA assigning NAICs 518210, Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services with a Small Business Size Standard of $40.0M

2.2.3. Recommend contract type, duration, and pricing structure based on Federal Acquisition Regulation and commercial best practices.

2.2.4. Recommend evaluation discriminators VA should consider for source selection.

2.2.5. Identify supply chain or other business considerations VA should consider.

2.3. Technical Expertise:

2.3.1. Describe your service approach to support CHS and describe how this can be scaled to support potential space, power, and HVAC capacity growth requirements into the future. Provide a brief summary describing your company’s available solution (business and technical) to meet the requirements, to include:

2.3.1.1. Square footage, power, and environmental conditions supported

2.3.1.2. Geographic locations (indicate those that you would recommend providing service to VA)

i. Indicate whether your solution meets all of the capabilities identified above. If not, which capability cannot be met with business process outsourcing solution. Identify alternative approaches to meeting the capability if available.

2.3.1.3. What are your company’s processes to satisfy the requirements for adherence to schedule, agility, flexibility, responsiveness, scalability and reliability, service quality and consistency, and continuous improvement?

2.3.1.4. Describe any management processes or recommendations to offset risks related to sudden downsizing or growth requirements?

2.3.2. Provide feedback on the proposed approach, including any alternative recommended approach to a phased roll out in order to transfer service from an existing location to a new location.

2.3.2.1. Please include a description of your transition assistance services that you are able to provide VA.

2.3.3. Recommended Service Level metrics, targets and measurement windows for the following Performance Metrics: Internet Availability, Service Requests, Change Request, Event Notification-Service Availability Impacting, Event Notification-Security Breach (as defined by NIST guidelines), and Response Time-Service Availability Impacting. Provide additional Performance Metrics (if any) that are standard components for these services.

2.3.4. Proposed standard transition/implementation timelines. Address the impact and risks to the implementation timeline of the distance of relocation. Provide standard timelines and activities for implementation of the services (based on establishing this service at a client of similar scope and volume).

2.3.5. If you have operated as a prime contractor in providing a hosting services implementation of this size and magnitude solution:

2.3.6. Provide three case studies (no more than one page each), that describe how you have provided or currently provided these services to an organization of similar scope, size and complexity to VA, which supports at least 1800 square footage of rack space. Describe how you implemented those services. What were the risks and mitigating strategies? Also include data demonstrating zero downtime or 100% facility availability during the previous 10-year period.

2.3.7. Provide a case study (no more than two pages) that describes how you implemented and transitioned a client to your hosting services from pre-existing hosting services provided by another contractor. The client scope, size, complexity and data center infrastructure footprint must be similar to VA. Indicate the percentage of the work that was performed by your company as the prime contractor in this case study.

2.3.8. Provide a list of the number of clients that you have successfully implemented and supported as a prime contractor, demonstrating the number of years’ experience as a data center operator. The client’s scope, size, complexity and data center infrastructure footprint must be similar to VA. Additional information such as power and environmental capacity and geographical scope should be included, as available.

2.3.9. Provide a statement which affirms whether your organization complies or does not comply with the listed requirements stated in this RFI.

2.3.10. Are any of the technical requirements or features listed not typical of an industry standard stack for the hosting services? If so, which ones? Are there any typical industry features that are missing?

2.4. Cost Estimate

2.4.1.1. Rough Order of Magnitude (ROM) pricing for CHS services. This should include implementation, project management and transition of services

DISCLAIMER

Reminder: This Sources Sought issued solely for information and planning purposes only and does not constitute a solicitation. All information received in response to this Sources Sought that is marked as proprietary will be handled accordingly. In accordance with FAR 15.101(c), responses to this notice are not offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract. Responders are solely responsible for all expenses associated with responding to this Source Sought.