Commerce Department Developing Massive IT Services Contract

The Commerce Department is building a new IT contract to be used at every level of the agency, with an eye toward making the department “recognized as a leader” in federal technology.

The department as a whole looks to complete a technology refresh every three to five years, though that has generally been cost prohibitive, according to a request for information posted to SAM.gov.

With the new Commerce Acquisition for Transformational Technology Services, or CATTS, enterprise contract, the department is looking at as-a-service IT options in the hopes of lowering future upgrade costs and to “position itself to meet the strategic goals, deliver its mission and be recognized as a leader within future administrations and the federal enterprise in its use of information technology,” according to the performance work statement.

“The focus of this RFI is to provide the DOC Bureaus a mechanism for quick ordering of needed IT solutions and services at equitable and reasonable prices and to give qualified small businesses a greater opportunity to participate in these requirements,” the document states.

The pool of contractors will be expected to help Commerce components manage their existing IT infrastructure while moving the entire enterprise to a “to be state.”

The contract itself will be split into six task areas: Chief Information Officer Support, Digital Document and Records Management, Managed Service Outsourcing and Consulting, IT Operations and Maintenance, IT Services Management, and Cybersecurity. But the full scope is much larger and broader than the six areas alone.

The set of tasks will include, at least:

• Managing solution delivery projects.
• Eliciting and analyzing requirements.
• Architecting and designing solutions.
• Developing and acquiring solution components.
• Configuring and integrating components.
• Testing solutions.
• Deploying solutions.
• Delivering reliable and scalable IT services to meet growing demands.
• Operating and maintaining the network infrastructure including all components and solutions.
• Providing IT service desk support, security operations support and supporting customers in the use of solutions.

The contractor will also be expected to help OCIO comply with any new IT-related policies to come out of the Office of Management and Budget.

Once completed, Commerce officials plan to make the full contract available to all components within the department—which encompasses agencies like the Census Bureau, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

“Within the federal government, the DOC is also the principal defender and champion of the digital economy,” the PWS notes. “Data from the DOC touches every American and influences daily business decisions. Additionally, data derived from DOC systems enables start-ups, moves markets, protects life and property, and powers both small and multibillion-dollar companies.”

With so many diverse offices and missions, the pool of contractors will have to be equally diverse. The PWS offers a long list of technological areas the contract will support, including: artificial intelligence, application prototyping, backup and recovery services, cloud migration, data analytics, data quality management, DevSecOps, Federal IT Acquisition Reform Act program support, IT acquisition management, market research, Kanban frameworks, national security data intelligence, records document management, web development and management, security operations as-a-service, and many more. 

Moreover, “OCIO is seeking contractors that have the knowledge, skills and awareness of government policies and initiatives, and to perform at a quality level when faced with quick delivery in support of initiatives that have high visibility,” the solicitation states.

The base contract period will be six months, with nine optional add-on periods.

The department published the draft documents ahead of two industry days set for Aug. 12—for all vendors—and Aug. 16—for minority-owned small businesses.

Questions on the RFI are due by 5 p.m. Aug. 16.