The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Mission Information Technology Services (NMITS) opportunity is a $2 billion-plus small business Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quality (IDIQ) contract designed to help NOAA meet its IT requirements.
The NMITS RFP will be released in FY Q2 2019 and awarded in early 2020. It will have a five-year base period, five one-year option years and the ability to award tasks up to 60 months past the end of the ordering period — for a total of 15 years.
During NMITS Industry Day on Nov. 29, 2018, NOAA indicated it expects to award 10-25 contracts, it does not intend to release another draft Performance Work Statement (PWS), and it will release Industry Day slides and questions and answers in December 2018.
Winning offerors will demonstrate extensive corporate experience and expertise in all the service areaslisted below in addition to crosscutting experience in program, quality, customer satisfaction, prevention, and continuous improvement management. During Industry Day, NOAA CIO Douglas Perry stressed the need for expertise in cloud technologies, Agile methods, and other emerging technologies to help meet NOAA mission requirements.
Enterprise Services
- Technology Assessment and Evaluation
- Systems and Infrastructure Engineering
- Independent Testing and Evaluation
- Logistical Support and Inventory Management
- Asset and Configuration Management
- Technical Writing and Documentation Support
Customer Support Services
- Customer Relationship Management Services
- End User Computing Support
- Customer Experience Management and Operations
- Customer Education and Training
- Customer IT Infrastructure Installation, Build Outs, and Decommissioning
- Service Desk
- Desktop Management
Mission and Business Applications, Tools, Portals, and Web Services
- Business Applications, Tools, Portals, and Web Services
- Software Engineering, Development, and Integration
- Mission and Business Application, Tool Development, Test, Integration, and Maintenance
- Web and Portal Systems Development, Integration, Maintenance, and Management
- Knowledge and Content Management
- Life Cycle Software License Management and Control
Enterprise Computing, Cloud, Storage, Shared and Field Services
- Server and Workstation Baseline Creation, Standardization, Deployment, and Patch Management
- Enterprise Systems Maintenance and Repair
- Field Service Support
- Server Administration and Management
- Storage Administration and Management
- Data Services, Data Administration, and Database Management
- Enterprise Cloud Services, Administration, and Management
- Enterprise Operations, Event Monitoring and Management, Performance Monitoring, and Analysis
- Enterprise Infrastructure Maintenance and Repair
- Service Delivery Center, Data Center, and Equipment Room IT Management
- Enterprise Data Backup, Disaster Recovery (DR), and Continuity of Operations (COOP) Program Operations and Support
Data and Voice Network Services
- Collaboration Services
- Cable and Fiber Installation, Testing, Troubleshooting, and Management
- Network Administration and Maintenance
- Network Operations, Event Monitoring and Management, Performance Monitoring, and Analysis
- Wireless and Mobile Device Support
- Voice Installation, Operations, and Maintenance
- Video and Video Teleconferencing Installation, Operations, and Maintenance
- Knowledge Wall and Video Display Integration, Operations, and Maintenance
- Satellite Communications Initialization, Operations, and Management IT Support
Cybersecurity and Information Assurance Services
- Develop a Security Operations Center (SOC)
- Provide security services
Given the comprehensive nature of the Performance Work Statement requirements and NOAA’s preference for relevant expertise in its diverse mission areas, winning teams should be ensuring their teams provide deep coverage across all requirements.
NOAA requires that offerors have a General Service Administration (GSA) Schedule 70 to bid on NMITS and representatives from GSA were present at Industry Day to explain how offerors can acquire or amend their GSA schedules to meet NMITS requirements by the time the RFP is released.
GSA indicated offerors could create or amend their schedule in as little as 30-45 days if they use the GSA FASt Lane Program or 60-120 days if they use normal GSA channels. NOAA also indicated it would welcome joint venture and contract teaming arrangements; however, all members must have GSA Schedule 70s.
NOAA advised Industry Day attendees that NMITS would co-exist with the existing NOAALink contracts. The NOAALink contracts will enable NOAA staff to order tasks as late December 2020. Given NOAA’s strong mission focus and reliance on incumbent staff to fulfill many specialized mission requirements, offerors should take note of the strengths of incumbent contractors on NOAALink, NOAALink 8(a), and NOAALink Refresh. In addition — many of the incumbents still qualify as small businesses and are likely to be strong competitors.
