Cloud Hosting, System Administration, and Website Support and Development for the Institute of Education Sciences

The Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences (IES) is seeking cloud hosting, system administration, and website support services to manage its web operations currently hosted on Amazon Web Services (AWS). The scope encompasses AWS Infrastructure-as-a-Service access, system administration and support staff, website administration and development services, and system and security software to support survey collection and dissemination websites, databases, web applications, development environments, and analytical software platforms. Key contract requirements include maintaining FISMA Moderate compliance and FedRAMP authorization, achieving 99.9% availability with one-hour disaster recovery capability, providing separate dedicated teams for operations and security functions, supporting approximately 70 virtual servers across two AWS regions, and managing approximately 500 monthly website support requests in the base year. The IES has issued a Request for Information (RFI) as market research to gather vendor capabilities and feedback before formal solicitation, with responses limited to eight pages and due by April 7, 2026, at 12:00 p.m. ET. The RFI requests vendors describe their prior AWS experience, identify any unclear Performance Work Statement sections, confirm service availability, and provide feedback on contract structure and pricing information.

This opportunity is designated as a Total Small Business set-aside, limiting competition to small business entities. The contract covers a base period from July 26, 2026, through July 25, 2027, with four optional one-year renewal periods extending through July 25, 2031, allowing for up to five years of performance. The contractor will manage approximately 40 websites, 400 databases, and 500 users, with website support requests declining from 500 monthly requests in the base year to 100 requests in option year four. The scope includes responsibility for approximately 25 different commercial and open-source software products, including Microsoft SQL Server, Tenable SC Plus, F5 BigIP, and Apache SOLR, as well as optional surge tasks allowing the government to request additional server capacity or technical support personnel with 30 days' notice. While no specific award value or budget range is disclosed in the pre-solicitation notice, the contract represents a significant multi-year commitment to maintain critical federal education survey and data dissemination infrastructure.