Notice of Intent to Sole Source - Investigative Case Management (ICM)

The ICE Office of Acquisition Management (OAQ), Information Technology Division (ITD), Homeland Security Investigation (HSI) Branchis issuing this “sources sought” notice as a means of conducting additional market research to identify interested parties to support the requirement for the Investigative Case Management (ICM) System, Washington, DC 20536. Responses to this sources sought notice shall be provided by 8AM EST on Friday, June 20, 2025 via email to Trisha Goldsberry, Contracting Officer, at patricia.goldsberry.civ@ice.dhs.gov. Please be advised that the Government has the absolute discretion whether or not to answer any question(s) that it receives, and the Government is not obligated to answer any question(s). The Government intends to only provide answer to questions that help industry better understand the Government's requirements.

ICE would like to thank industry for the time and effort taken to attend the Industry Day in June of 2023 (reference: https://sam.gov/opp/e1d91841563c4dba8bf208a8fd56ff18/view) and respond to the prior Request for Information (RFI) issued in July 2024 (reference: https://sam.gov/opp/b7883d14a16e4d049f6d31f0875bf6f4/view). ICE received over fifty responses and spent a significant amount of time reviewing and analyzing all RFI responses received in order to gain a better understanding of the capabilities available. In addition, ICE appreciates the companies that participated in follow-up market research sessions/demonstrations that allowed ICE to learn more about competing Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS) providers. 

As a result of these market research activities, ICE currently anticipates procurement of the ICM solution on a sole source basis to Palantir Technologies, Inc. (Palantir). The redacted Limiting Sources Justification (LSJ) will ultimately be published to the Government Point of Entry, SAM.gov, at a later date and following the conclusion of market research. The anticipated authority to be cited in the LSJ: FAR 8.405-6(a)(1)(i)(B) Only one source is capable of providing the supplies or services required at the level of quality required because the supplies or services are unique or highly specialized.

Rationale:

ICE has conducted extensive market research that suggests there are no vendors other than Palantir capable of performing the necessary work to meet ICE mission needs. ICE requires a modified COTS solution as opposed to a fully customized solution that is able to meet ALL of the following minimum capabilities: (1) Single integrated platform that supports both investigative case management and Data Analytics capabilities, which includes the creation of an Enterprise Lakehouse repository that can be the authoritative data source for all HSI law enforcement data (such as structured, semi-structured data such as media/content) starting with case management data from ICM; (2) FedRAMP High case management hosting environment; (3) Data Interoperability and Integrations with internal and external partners (to include Criminal Justice Information Services, Department of Justice, National Law Enforcement Telecommunications System, Office of Biometric Identity Management, Customs and Border Patrol, etc.); (4) Support multiple sets of users and hierarchy with clear data delineation, role based, and case level security; (5) Media management (such as PDFs, pictures, video clips, etc. that are attached to an investigative case); (6) Support regular capability releases by leveraging emerging technologies to meet future needs; (7) Full responsibility of the vendor for completing Data migration from the existing solution to a new solution; (8) Service Level Agreements (SLA) with a minimum threshold of 5,000 concurrent users, response time for all data sources queried shall not exceed five (5) seconds 95% of the time, and 99% system availability; (9) Help Desk Support with a minimum of response time of one-hour; and (10) Mobile and Offline Mode. Failure to obtain all of the mission-critical case management needs by September 2026 would result in operational capability gaps. The current ICM Platform is approved for FedRAMP “Moderate” and needs to be upgraded/replaced with a FedRAMP “High” solution to comply with security requirements. Operational capability gaps are a significant and unacceptable risk for ICE. Based on market research Palantir appears to be the only vendor capable of delivering the solution while maintaining the current system within the acceptable level of risk by September 2026. Palantir’s 10-month timeline to deliver all mission-critical case management needs minimizes the risk of operational capability gaps and financial burden. Estimated timelines from other companies provided during market research have thus far suggested a minimum of 18 to 24 months for delivery, which significantly increases the risk of operational capability gaps and financial burden.

Considering the operational and technical capabilities, delivery speed, agency-specific expertise and past working experience with ICE, the Acquisition Team anticipates that Palantir is the only vendor capable of providing the unique and highly specialized services required to meet ICE mission needs.