CDSW Hadoop Sources Sought

Sources Sought Notice (SSN)

HPE Ezmeral, Elastic Search, and Ciphertrust Software Renewal Licenses and One Identity Safeguard Software Maintenance

This SSN is for market research purposes only, no award will be made from this notice. 

This SSN is issued solely for information and planning purposes – it does not constitute a Request for Proposal (RFP) or a promise to issue an RFP in the future. This SSN does not commit the IRS to contract for any supply or service. Further, the agency is not at this time seeking proposals and will not accept unsolicited proposals. This SSN is being published to identify potential small business sources capable of providing HPE Ezmeral, Elastic Search, and Ciphertrust software renewal licenses and One Identity Safeguard software maintenance.

Responders are advised that the agency will not pay for any information or administrative costs incurred in response to this SSN; all costs associated with responding to this SSN will be solely at the interested party’s expense. Not responding to this SSN does not preclude participation in any future RFQ, if any is issued. It is the responsibility of the potential offerors to monitor the agency sources for additional information. All information received in response to this SSN marked "Proprietary” will be protected and handled accordingly. Interested parties are responsible for adequately marking proprietary or competition sensitive information contained in their response. Responses to the SSN will not be returned.

Brief Work Description:

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Data Services Cyber Security Data Warehouse (CSDW) requires the procurement of HPE Ezmeral (formally known as MapR), Elastic Search, and Ciphertrust software renewal licenses and One Identity Safeguard software maintenance (formally known as Balabit). This acquisition will refresh and expand upon the capability of the environment already in place. The environment’s goal is to implement a multilayered defense architecture which will deliver the IRS Cybersecurity organization the ability to quickly focus energy on detecting and preventing both internal and external cyber threats.  In addition, the Hadoop environment will provide the Data Services Warehouse team benefits in reducing time spent preparing data, exploring data, and building analytical models.

Specific Tasks:             

The maintenance services shall provide Enhanced Support Coverage on a 24x7x365 basis for software and operating system, technical support, and upgrades for all components of the deployed CSDW Upgrade and shall include the following:

• Telephone and email support centers
• Access to On-line e-support center for web support, online case management, and knowledge base.
• Access to patches, maintenance, and major releases of software updates;
• Shall meet Section 508 standards.

The Contractor shall provide all software release patches/bug fixes for purchased software covered and maintained under the contract at no additional charge to the IRS other than the Standard annual maintenance fee for the devices.  All software releases and patches must be provided with appropriate supporting documentation in electronic or soft format. Maintenance fees will include a technical support option for on-site, phone, and on-line support.

Submission Instructions

The North American Industry Classification Systems (NAICS) Code proposed for the requirement is 513210 – Software Publishers. 

The Government requests that all interested parties submit the information outlined below.

1.         Contractor Name

2.         Address

3.         Point of Contact (POC)

4.         POC phone number and e-mail address

5.         UEI number and CAGE

6.         Business Size to include socio-economic status/category    

7.         Current Government Wide vehicles held as Prime

8.         If you believe the NAICS code listed in this notice is not the best NAICS code for the type of product addressed in this notice, identify an alternative NAICS code that you believe would be more appropriate for the planned procurement.

9.         State whether the aforementioned equipment is manufactured in the United States and, if not, state the name of the country where the equipment is manufactured.

10.       If the aforementioned equipment and related services are available for purchase on any existing Federal Supply Schedule contract(s) or other contracts against which the IRS may be able place orders, identify the contract number(s) and other relevant information.

Questions should be submitted so that they are received by 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time on June 28, 2024. Questions will be anonymized and answered via sources sought notice amendment following the question submission deadline.

Please submit responses to Vanessa Rodgers at vanessa.rodgers@irs.gov no later than July 10, 2024, at 2:00 PM EST. Telephonic inquiries will not be accepted. 

Attachment: Draft Statement of Work