Virginia Contracting Activity, P.O. Box 46563, Washington, D.C. 20050-6563

D -- SYSTEM ENGINEERING, NETWORK ENGINEERING, INTEGRATION, CONFIGURATION MANAGEMENT AND SUPPORT SERVICES DUE 021500 POC Richard Garrison, Technical Representative (202) 231-2387 The Virginia Contracting Activity, on behalf of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) is seeking qualified sources to provide the following information technology (IT) services to develop a source list for future possible procurement. These services include all tasks related to the management, operation, maintenance and support of DIA classified and unclassified networks. This procurement may consolidate a number of existing IT support contracts and provide for additional services not included in existing contracts. The systems to be supported by this contract are located in the Washington D.C. metropolitan area, throughout the Continental United States (CONUS), U.S. Embassies and other locations worldwide. The successful service provider must be able to provide local, CONUS, and global systems services with a high level of expertise and responsiveness. A U.S. security clearance is a condition of employment. Contractor personnel shall be required to be United States citizens that possess Top Secret, Sensitive, Compartmented Intelligence (TS/SCI) clearances and have successfully completed a CI polygraph. Contractors must be able to administer classified contracts. This procurement will include tasks necessary to provide the complete range of system engineering, network engineering, integration, network management, configuration management, operations, maintenance and support services for all DIA networks. The vendors who are able to comply with the requirements of this notice will be requested to attend a more detailed briefing. The vendors shall provide the names and clearance information to the DIA facility when requested to do so. This meeting will provide interested vendors the opportunity to discuss in more detail classified issues the vendors should know about before identifying what levels of support they may be able to provide. Deliverables will include data in the form of presentation materials (overheads, briefing aids, etc.), reference guides, revisions to existing Government documents and Interface Control Documents (ICD), white papers, program plans and other general material as required (analysis, plans, schedules). Responsiveness and timeliness are critical factors for these tasks. While the majority of work is accomplished during regular duty hours (7:00am -- 5:00pm, M-F), DIA operates 24 hours per day, 7 days per week, 365 days per year. There is no time when systems services are not required, and there must always be personnel available during normal duty hours and on-call to resolve IT systems issues. The time required to have someone on-site after notification can range from one to four hours, with recall times dependent on the problem at hand. Successful contractors must be able to demonstrate an integrated and automated support and tracking process for user assistance, troubleshooting and maintenance. In addition, contractors must be able to provide on-site and remote help desk and maintenance services to large, widely dispersed organizations with an extensive inventory of multi-vendorsystems. Contractors must be thoroughly familiar with Department of Defense (DoD), Defense Information Systems Command (DISA) and Diplomatic Telecommunications Service (DTS) networks and must be able to manage multilevel secure worldwide networks using a variety of automated software management tools. Services that may be required include, but are not limited to, the following: desktop outsourcing: on-site and remote help desk services, on-site and on-call maintenance for multi-vendor systems, system upgrades and enhancements, system and network design, network management, network performance assessment, system tuning, application installation, user training on applications (COTS and DIA-specific intelligence applications), client optimization, and administration and optimization of servers and printers. DIA requires a contractor support cadre of highly skilled systems analysts, engineers, and application specialists to handle a myriad of issues related to the architecture, planning, implementation and operation of a complex and diverse set of systems and networks. These personnel will augment DIA staff to solve the most complex integrated system problems. Such personnel need to be experts and certified in the Microsoft NT operating system. While Unix (SUN Solaris 2.x) and Pentium-based Microsoft NT 4.0 are the most prevalent environments, DIA also maintains IBM S/390 systems running modern IBM operating systems and services; Hewlett Packard servers and user agents for the Defense Message System (DMS); some Digital Equipment Corporation Unix servers and clients (Alpha class). Our Huntsville, Alabama site has a host of high performance computers including Crays and high end SGI systems in a clustered environment. Applications to be supported include a variety of databases, Microsoft Office products, Netscape, Lotus Domino/Notes, and many other GOTS and COTS products. Communications services include a variety of encryption devices, routers, gateways, Ethernet LANs (TCI/IP), ATM and associated equipment/protocols. DIA's network architecture will be significantly influenced by the requirement to migrate a number of existing secure networks into multilevel networks, the increasing need to share and access information across the intelligence community, and the requirement to be compatible with common DoD standards. Successful contractors must have a thorough understanding of DoD network architecture and security requirements, as well as significant experience in secure systems engineering. Contractors must be able to use current and future technology to develop the best security solutions for DIA networks. High level services that may be required include, but are not limited to, the following: secure network architecture, design, and engineering; secure system integration and testing; analysis of current systems and processes and introduction of appropriate new technologies; migration of a variety of networks to Microsoft NT and DMS compliant systems; Year 2000 (Y2K) testing, compliance verification, and remediation; directory services design and development; a variety of secure network solutions, including the introduction of multilevel, DMS-compliant mail guards into existing networks as well as connectivity between databases on different system-high networks; INFOSEC assessments and training; DoD security certification and accreditation support; LAN/WAN configuration management; and database administration. All systems services must be coordinated with close precision. Any system change can have a dramatic impact on activities across the global network. Services management, therefore, is fundamental to this task, and successful contractors must be able to demonstrate the ability to provide a high degree of management expertise. Experience in a global U.S. intelligence systems support environment is highly desired. The ability to surge personnel from one global area to another is a requirement. The ability to rapidly surge resources and skills beyond the specific staff supporting DIA is critically important due to the rapidly changing nature of local and global situations. DIA has the requirement for flexibility, strong technical expertise across a broad range of skills, a deep pool of SCI-indoctrinated talent, exceptional management support and the willingness to get the job done. It is anticipated that a significant effort will be required over the next few years to upgrade DIA's IT systems overseas. This is a requirement based in part on DIA's planned capital equipment replacement program. It is important to recognize that DIA's IT environment is a unified architecture; what is used in the Washington metropolitan area is also used at DIA sites elsewhere in CONUS, 120+ Embassies and other sites world wide. Changes to one component of DIA's IT system at any single location may have significant effects across the global architecture. Contractors must have facilities in CONUS for the staging, integration, testing and shipping of secure systems for overseas installation without being associated with the U.S. Government. Many overseas DIA networks and systems are based on TEMPEST hardware; therefore TEMPEST-certified engineers are required for the majority of overseas installation and maintenance visits. Due to the requirement for timely response to overseas network problems, contractors must be able to provide rapid troubleshooting and maintenance support for secure systems worldwide both remote and on-site Visits to sites for upgrades, new installations and maintenance are a special challenge and must be well planned. Travelers will at times face long transits, the inconvenience of lesser-developed, politically unstable countries, and need to solve challenging technical issues without support from staff or resources in CONUS. Support to facilities demands that individuals possess strong competency in the installation and troubleshooting of local area networks, operating systems and personal computers. The ability to provide customer training in application use and basic troubleshooting techniques is an added requirement. The target environment for these overseas sites is Pentium processor-based systems running the Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 operating system. Applications include Microsoft Office 97 and Lotus Domino/Notes E-mail. Communication protocols include X.25 and TCP/IP. Bandwidth ranges from 9.6 Kbs to T1 speed; the majority of DIA's overseas network operates at the 19.2 Kbs to 64Kbs speed. DIA usually sends teams of two to four individuals (depending on the site's size and complexity) for one to three weeks per new site installation or upgrade; teams may visit more than one site before returning to CONUS. On occasions it is necessary to increase trip duration and/or divert travelers to different locations when emergency repairs are required. DIA anticipates an increase in the requirement for a variety of Internet and Intranet support services, as the intelligence community migrates to web-based services and applications. Services that may be required include, but are not limited to, the following: web-based publishing; web site design and maintenance; web-based application development and integration; web-based training; and management of Intranet networks. Successful contractors must be able to demonstrate the ability to provide these services over a variety of secure networks and protocols. The successful vendor will have the ability to work with the vendors whose hardware and software are procured by the Government. This includes integration and maintenance support of the hardware and software. Vendor must demonstrate the ability to maintain equipment on a worldwide basis. Technicians are permanently located at the following location: Stuttgart, Germany; Japan; Korea; Miami, FL; Los Angles, CA; Hawaii and Washington, DC. In view of the special security requirements for this program, the successful vendor will have developed and put into practice a process to handle all aspects of classified contracting. This includes support in contract administration, pricing, ordering, shipping/distribution, and warehousing of hardware.The successful vendor must be able to demonstrate the process by which classified contracts are handled to provide both product and services. Cleared and experienced individuals must be trained and in place prior to any contract awards to carry out this process in various departments within the vendor's organization. Submissions should be limited to five pages and should be pertinent and specific to the technical areas under consideration for this procurement. Submissions should include the following qualifications: (1) Experience -- an outline of previous applicable projects and specific work previously performed or being performed; (2) Personnel -- name, professional qualifications and specific experience of personnel who will provide the services listed above. Knowledge gained through training may be considered. Include any other specific and pertinent information pertaining to this proposed procurement that would enhance our consideration and evaluation of the information submitted. Vendors interested in participating in this Sources Sought announcement are requested to contact Mr. Richard Garrison (202) 231-2387 at the Defense Intelligence Agency; Attn: SYS-3/Garrison; Bldg. 6000; Bolling AFB; Washington, D.C. 20340-5100 no later than Tuesday 15 Feb 00, or sooner if possible, to be included in the above planned meeting. (Reference: DAP2-0001-00). Vendors must also include telephone number, email/facsimile number. Telephone requests Posted 01/24/00 (W-SN417647). (0024)

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