NA REQUEST FOR INFORMATION Department of Defense Inspector General (DoDIG) Information Technology Initiative 17 November 2003 I. Purpose. The purpose of this request for information (RFI) is to seek ideas and information from industry to support project requirements to increase performance of the existing Department of Defense Inspector General (DoDIG) remote site network infrastructure. II. Policy. 52.215-3 Request for information or Solicitation for Planning Purposes (OCT 1997) (a) The Government does not intend to award a contract on the basis of this solicitation or to otherwise pay for the information solicited except as an allowable cost under other contracts as provided in subsection 31.205-18, Bid an proposal costs, of the Federal Acquisition Regulations. (b) Although “proposal” and “offeror” are used in this Request for Information, your response will be treated as information only. It shall not be used as a proposal (c) This solicitation is issued for the purpose of: “See paragraph I. Purpose above”. III. Scope. This is a request for information and not a request for proposal (RFP). The Department of Defense Inspector General is seeking sources that are capable of providing equipment, services, integration, maintenance, and operational support services. IV. Background. DoDIG desires to interact with vendors, obtain evaluation copies of applicable products, and conduct independent tests to determine if products, tools and/or toolkits submitted are designed, configured and fully ready to support a DoDIG initiative to provi de more consistent and reliable network service to various remote sites. This is a request for information and no contract will be awarded pursuant to this announcement. The contractor must have demonstrated and possess current experience in the networkin g field, particularly in the areas of congestion management and traffic shaping. The products, tools and toolkits submitted will be evaluated to determine if they are compatible with open standards and can be integrated with the DoDIG network. The DoDIG expects vendors to demonstrate the capabilities of their products, and to demonstr ate the ability of their tools and/or toolkits to improve network communications with remote sites. The submission will address methods to improve communications over frame-relay, and may also include recommendations for other methods of communicating wit h remote sites. The products or services recommended must support dynamic congestion management on the LAN side of a remote site and traffic shaping on the WAN side of a remote site. The dynamic congestion management for remote sites must be configurable to force equal sharing of available network bandwidth resources for network users, while not restricting users from utilizing all available bandwidth as network load permits. The devices or services should also include the ability to route network traffi c, and/or perform switching between networked devices as needed to support the functions outlined in this RFI. V. Objective There is no implied promise that all products, tools or toolkits submitted in response to this RFI will be invited to demonstrate capabilities. DoDIG will determine which products are selected according to the needs of the Department. The results of applic able testing will be made available to all vendors chosen to demonstrate their products. Proprietary information will be safeguarded in accordance with applicable Government regulations. The Government shall not be liable for or suffer any consequential damages for any proprietary information not properly identified. If there is a GSA or other contract vehicle already available for the technology being proposed, please include this information in the response. There is no bid package or solicitation document associated with this announcement. The requested information is for planning purposes and does not constitute a commitment, impli ed or otherwise, that a procurement action will be issued. No entitlement to payment of direct or indirect costs or charges by the by the Government will arise as the result of the submission of contractor's information. VI. Instructions to Interested Firms. The government invites comments and interested parties to submit their indication of interest, along with: documentation addressing the technical specifications of their products, tools or toolkits; the costs to the government for the product; any propriet ary/non-disclosure data requirements and availability for testing. Responses should include clearly identified and specific solutions and/or recommendations. Submissions may specify implementers, integrators, or vendor products. However, the use of COTS products and applications should be used to the maximum extent pract icable. The Government reserves the right to contact the vendor to obtain additional information on the response. The vendor shall identify a point of contact with telephone number and email address. In some cases, the Government may request a short briefing or demonstration to gain a better understanding of the response. Responses to this RFI will not be evaluated towards any follow-on effort associated with this initiative. All submissions shall be formatted as follows: · The pages shall be 8½ inches by 11 inches, submitted as a single document in Microsoft Word format, including graphics, illustrations, schedules, and tables. · The document shall contain a single cover page, identifying the vendor and RFI number and a one-page Table of Contents with applicable hyperlinks to each section of the document. The vendor may also elect to include hyperlinks to other key elements of t he document, such as illustrations. · Pages containing narrative material shall have one-and-one-half spaces between paragraphs, six or less lines per vertical inch and shall have one-inch margins or larger on all four sides of the paper. · The text shall be in Times New Roman font, 12-point or larger. Schedules, and tables may use any suitable format, however, the font size must be 10-point or larger. · All pages shall be sequentially numbered and shall include an identifier of the vendor and the RFI number. This information may be included in a header or footer area within the top or bottom margin area. · Spreadsheets embedded within the word document shall include working formulas. All responses to this RFI should be submitted by 2:00 p.m. EST on 02 December, 2003. Submissions to the RFI shall be submitted via mail, as e-mail attachments, or facsimile to: DoDIG/AIM- ALSDATTN: Mr. Frank Bailey 400 Army Navy Drive Rm 426, Arlington, VA 22202 703 604-9839 Fax (703) 604-8994,
[email protected]. For further clarification the Contract Specialists name, phone number and fax are as follows: Ms. Adriene Y. Norman (703) 614-6609 - Phone (703) 695-9746 – Fax Reference Number HF1026-3314-0001